UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES HISTORY PHILIP THE SECOND. HISTORY OF THE REIGN PHILIP THE SECOND KING OF SPAIN By WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT EDITED BY JOHN FOSTER KIRK VOLUME II. PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. Copyright, 1855, By WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. Copyright, 1874, Bv J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. Copyright, 1882, By WILLIAM G. PRESCOTT. Philip the Second— Vol. II. Li/'pincoW s Press, Philadelphia. I h CONTENTS OF VOL. II. BOOK II. CHAPTER X. PAGB The Confederates i Different Classes of Malecontents i Petition prepared 2 Discussion as to receiving it 3 Speech of Orange 3 Confederates enter Brussels 5 Present the Petition 6 Its Purport .,,....,.. 7 Answer of Margaret 8 Banquet at Culemborg House 11 The Gueux la Symbols and Devices 13 The People emboldened 15 CHAPTER XL Freedom of Worship 16 Brederode at Antwerp . ' < 16 Mission of Bergen and Montig^ny 17 The " Moderation" 18 Singular Fraud 19 Sects of the Reformers 20 Field-Preaching 21 Attended by Great Multitudes 24 (iii) CONTENTS. Alarm at Antwerp 25 Orange sent there . . . ' 26 He restores Quiet 27 Activity of the Regent 28 Her Anxiety . 1 • . 29 Dilatory Course of Philip 30 His Dissimulation 31 Meeting at St. Trond 31 Moderate Party disgusted 32 Deputation to Brussels 33 Boldness of the Confederates 33 Military Preparations 34 Royal Council at Madrid 36 It advises Concessions 37 Philip consents 38 His Insincerity 40 Character of Pius V. 41 He urges an Extermination of Heretics .... 42 Philip's Perfidy 44 His Concessions distrusted 45 CHAPTER XII. The Iconoclasts . . . . Progress of the Reformers . Violence of the Preachers Outbreak of the Iconoclasts , Scandalous Proceedings at Antwerp The Cathedral sacked Timidity of the Citizens . Outrages throughout the Land Extent of the Devastation Consternation at Brussels The Capital in Peril Demand for Freedom of Worship Margaret refuses to grant it She prepares to quit Brussels Is compelled to remain Terms made with the Confederates 47 47 48 49 50 SI 53 55 57- 58 59 63 CONTENTS. The Disorders suppressed Compact with the Reformers The Confederates lose their Influence Margaret changes her Course Seeks the Advice of Vighus . Denounces her late Advisers Indifference of Orange and Hoorne Different Feelings of Egmont Philip informed of the Disturbances View taken in the Royal Council Secret Intelligence of Orange Intercepted Letter of Alva Conference at Dendermonde . Egmont prevents a Decision Charges the Regent with Perfidy Rumors of Philip's Designs Preparations for Resistance Appeal to the German Protestants Orange a Lutheran at Heart . FAGB 64 64 67 68 69 70 71 71 72 73 75 76 17 78 78 80 80 81 82 CHAPTER XIII. The Regent's Authority re-established ... 85 The Party of Reform divided 85 Margaret profits by their Dissensions 86 Publishes a New Edict 86 Levies Troops 87 Resistance of Valenciennes ...... 88 New Petition of the Confederates .... , . 90 Margaret's Haughty Reply 90 The Confederates take up Arms 91 Troops sent against them 92 The Insurgents defeated 93 Tumult in Antwerp 94 Appeased by Orange 97 Siege of Valenciennes 98 It refuses to capitulate 100 Its Bombardment loi Preparations for Assault 102 A* vi CONTENTS. PAGB Unconditional Surrender 102 The Insurrection quelled 104 V CHAPTER XIV. Tranquillity restored 105 Oath of Implicit Obedience 105 Orange requested to subscribe 106 He refuses 107 His Hazardous Position 108 Attempt to persuade him 109 Interview with Egmont no Difference of their Characters in Their Affection for each other 112 William quits the Netherlands 113 Resides at Dillemburg 114 Joined by many of the Nobles 115 Hoorne takes the Oath 115 Egmont's Loyalty 116 Submission of Antwerp 117 Margaret visits it I17 published 119 the King 120 m the German Princes 120 ;derode 121 His Adherents scattered 122 Resistance subdued in Holl^d 123 Severity of the Government . 124 Alarm caused by Alva's Appointment .... 126 Margaret disgusted 126 Apparent Order in the Country 127 Dangerous Elements at Work 128 CONTENTS. vii BOOK III. CHAPTER I. PAGE Alva sent to th]§^ Netherlands 129 The King's Intended Visit 129 His Sincerity distrusted 130 Discussion in the Royal Council 131 Two Courses proposed 132 The King resolves to send Alva 133 Proclaims his Purpose to follow 134 Alva receives his Instructions 137 Sails for Italy 137 Composition of his Army 138 Order of March 140 Passage of the Alps 141 Perilous Route 143 Admirable Discipline 144 Arrival at Thionville 146 Entry into Brussels 147 Interview with the Regent 147 Alva's Commission . 148 Extent of his Powers 149 Mortification of Margaret 150 Her Remonstrances fruitless 152 Alva's Reputation 155 Apprehensions of the People 157 Gloom of Brussels 158 Snare prepared for the Nobles 159 Egmont and Hoorne arrested i6i Sent to the Castle of Ghent 163 Sensation in the Country 164 Margaret determines to retire 165 Satisfaction at Madrid 166 Remark of Granvelle . 167 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER 11. \ PAGB Critel Policy of Alva i68 Order in the Netherlands i68 Emigration prohibited 169 The Council of Blood 170 Its Members . . . 170 Method of Proceeding 173 Enormous Powers 17S Illegal Character 176 Alva in Need of Money 178 Financial Expedients 179 Summons sent to Orange 181 His Son removed to Spain 182 Civil War in France 184 Catherine de Medicis 184 Advice of Philip and Alva 185 The Huguenots defeated , 186 Humiliating Position of Margaret 187 Her Resignation accepted 188 Last Request to Philip 189 She takes Leave of the People 189 Their Regret 191 She retires to Italy 192 Her Political Career 19a Difficulties of her Position 194 \ CHAPTER III. Reign of Terror 197 Decree of the Inquisition 197 Enlarged Powers of Alva 199 Pursuit of Suspected Parties 20c Numerous Arrests 201 Alva's Merciless Spirit 20a Unrelenting Persecution 203 Fortitude of the Victims 203 STATi; ,.. Los Ai)gt CONTENTS. ix PAGB Universal Terror 206 Banishment and Confiscation 206 General Distress 207 Vargas and Hessels 209 The " Wild Gueux" 211 Remonstrances of Maximilian 212 Philip's Stern Reply 213 The People appeal l^Orange 213 He raises Troops 214 Publishes a " Justification" 215 Plan of Invasion 217 Pecuniary Difficulties 217 Defeat of Hoogstraten and Cocqueville .... 218 Count Louis at Heyligerlee 219 Attacked by Aremberg 22a The Patriots victorious 221 Indignation of Alva 223 He prepares to take the Field 223 Displays his Vindictive Feelings 224 Tragic Scenes at Brussels , 226 CHAPTER IV. Trials of Egmont and Hoorne . . . . . 229 The Prisoners at Ghent 229 Sequestration of their Property 229 Their Examination 230 Efforts in their Behalf 231 The Statutes of the Toison d'Or 232 Intercession of Granvelle 233 Articles of Accusation 234 Egmont's Defence . . 236 Manly Language of Hoorne 238 Elaborate Defence by Counsel 238 Piteous Appeal of the Countess Egmont .... 240 Further Delay forbidden 242 The Prisoners sentenced 243 The Rights of the Toison 244 Mockery of J-ustice 246 I* CONTENTS. X"^ CHAPTER V. PAGE Execution of Egmont and Hoorne .... 250 The Counts removed to Brussels 250 Lodged in the Maison du Roi 251 Sentence communicated to Egmont .._... 252 His Emotions 252 His Preparations for Death 253 Affecting Letter to the King 254 Final Arrangements 255 The Place of Execution 256 Mournful Air of the City 257 Egmont's Noble Bearing 258 The Fatal Stroke 259 Horror of the Spectators 259 Hoorne conducted to the Scaffold 260 His Execution 261 Removal of the Bodies 262 Egmont's Character 263 Want of Fixed Principles 265 The Idol of his Countrymen 266 Supposed Enmity of Alva 266 Stern Policy of the Duke 268 His Narrow, Inflexible Mind 269 His Compassion for Egmont's Widow 271 Her Pitiable Condition 272 She solicits Aid from the King 274 Receives a Meagre Pension 275 Results of Egmont's Execution 276 Not foreseen by Alva 278 CHAPTER VI. Secret Execution of Montigny 279 Bergen and Montigny 279 Conjectures as to their Fate 279 Purpose of their Embassy 281 CONTENTS. xi PACB Their Reluctance to undertake it 281 Anxiety to return 283 A Perplexing Dilemma 285 Bergen's Death 286 Montigny confined at Segovia 287 Attempt to escape 287 The Plot detected 288 Supplications of his Wife 289 Process instituted against him 290 The Sentence kept secret 291 Prisoner removed to Simancas 293 Illusive Hopes 295 Pretence for Stricter Confinement 296 Instructions to Arellano 297 Montigny unprepared for his Fate 298 Receives the Consolations of Religion .... 299 His Last Wishes * . 300 His Execution 302 False Reports disseminated 304 Popular Suspicions 305 Philip's Magnanimity 306 Montigny's Estates confiscated 306 Atrocity of the Proceedings 307 Groan and Gachard 308 BOOK IV. CHAPTER I. The Ottoman Empire 312 Method pursued in this Work 31a Ottoman Power in the Sixteenth Century .... 314 Government of Turkey 314 Conscription of Christian Children 315 The Janizaries 317 Conquests of the Turks 318 xii CONTENTS. PAGE Their Naval Power 319 The African Corsairs 320 Terror of the Spanish Coasts 321 Perpetual War on the Mediterranean .... 322 The Captives in Barbary 322 Dragut 324 Fleet sent against Tripoli 325 Refits at Malta 326 Spaniards occupy Gelves 326 Victory of the Turkish Fleet 327 Attack on Gelves 328 Extremity of the Garrison 330 Desperate Sally 331 Slaughter of the Christians 331 Spanish Possessions in Africa 333 Calamitous Shipwreck 334 Expedition from Algiers 334 Siege of Oran and Mazarquivir 337 Assault on Fort St. Michael J38 Invincible Courage of the Spaniards 339 Storming of Mazarquivir 341 Martin de Cordova . . 343 Famine among the Christians 343 Succors from Spain " , . 344 The Siege raised 345 Conquest of Penon de Velez 347 CHAPTER II. The Knights Hospitallers of St. John . . . 349 The Knights of St. John 349 Conflicts with the Moslems 350 Wealth of the Order 350 Its Statutes and Government 351 Fidelity to its Principles 352 The Knights driven from Rhodes 353 Cession of Malta by Charles V. 354 Change in its Condition 355 The Maltese Navy 356 CONTENTS. xiii PAGB Sweeps the Turkish Seas 357 Solyman prepares to take Vengeance , . . . 358 Parisot de la Valette 358 Preparations for Defence 359 Sicilian Viceroy promises Aid 360 Muster of the Knights 360 CHAPTER III. Siege of Malta 362 Description of Malta 362 Its Harbors and Defences 363 Force under La Valette 364 Castle of St. Elmo 365 The Turkish Armament 367 Troops disembarked ........ 368 Skirmishes 369 Turks lay Siege to St. Elmo 369 Garrison reinforced 370 The Outworks taken 372 Fierce Struggle in the Ditch 374 New Batteries raised 375 Effect of the. Fire on St. Elmo 376 Garrison propose to abandon it 376 Commissioners inspect it 379 Report it tenable 380 The Garrison humbled 381 Permitted to remain 381 Assault by the Turks 382 Struggle at the Breach 383 Attempted Escalade 384 The Turks driven back 387 Reinforcement from 11 Borgo 387 Communications cut off 389 Mournful Celebration 391 Fresh Assault 391 Last Triumph of the Garrison 392 Their Desperate Condition 393 Their Heroic Constancy 394 Philip.— Vol. II.— b xiv CONTENTS. PAGE Incredible Resistance 39S St. Elmo taken 396 Brutal Conduct of Mustapha 397 Death of Dragut 398 CHAPTER IV. Siege of Malta 401 II Borgo and La Sangle ....... 401 Reinforcement from Sicily 403 Mustapha offers Terms 404 The Fortresses invested 406 Preparations for the Assault 407 Advance of the Turkish Boats 408 Attack on the " Spur" 409 Courageous Defence 410 Turkish Barges sunk 412 Merciless Slaughter 413 Hassem's Attack repulsed 414 Renewed Cannonade 416 Efforts of the Besieged 417 Timid Policy of the Viceroy 419 Exhortations of La Valette 420 Successive Assaults 422 Perilous Moment 424 Night Attack 426 Losses of the Christians 427 Their Critical Condition 429 Resolute Spirit of La Valette 430 CHAPTER V. Siege of Malta 431 State of the Turkish Army 431 Fruitless Expedients 432 The Troops dispirited 433 Arrival of the Sicilian Fleet 434 Joy of the Garrison 435 CONTENTS. XV FAGB Mustapha prepares to give Battle 436 Ardor of the Spaniards 437 The Turks overpowered 438 Driven to the Ships 439 Departure of the Fleet 439 Arrival of the Viceroy 440 Hospitality of the Knights 441 Fury of the Sultan 44a Losses sustained in the Siege 443 The Operations reviewed 444 Errors of the Turks ' . . . 444 Spirit of the Defenders 44S Character of La Valette 446 Conduct of the Viceroy 447 Honors paid to La Valette 449 He builds a New Capital 451 His Death 453 Subsequent History of tlie Order 454 / CHAPTER VI. Don Carlos . 457 ^ Fate of Carlos and Isabella 457 Theme of Romantic Fiction 457 Early Life of Carlos 458 Charles V.'s Opinion of him 460 Mode of spending the Day 461 Distaste for Study and Manly Exercises .... 462 Character in the Venetian Reports 463 Enfeebled Constitution 465 Recognition as Heir 466 Removal to Alcali. 466 Dangeroiis Illness 467 Miraculous Cure ......... 469 Extravagant Behavior 471 Anecdotes of Carlos 472 Tiepolo's Account of him 475 Strong Attachment of his Friends 476 Disliked by his Father 478 Alliances proposed for him 479 XVI CONTENTS. PAGE His Connection with the Flemings 481 Not confirmed by Documents 482 Outrage on Alva 483 Project of Flight 484 Indications of Insanity 485 Flight prevented 487 Quarrel with Don John 488 Carlos deprived of Liberty 49a Strictly guarded 491 Process against him 492 X' CHAPTER VIL Death of Don Carlos 493 Sensation throughout Spain 493 Philip's Explanations 494 Letter to the Queen of Portugal 494 Insanity intimated as the Ground 497 Difficulties of this View 498 Important Documents missing 498 Communications to the Nuncio 503 Suspicions of Heresy 504 Sympathy with the Flemings 505 Parricidal Designs 506 Philip's Aversion to his Son 507 No Intercourse with the World 51° Attendants and Guards • . . 511 Fruitless Efforts in his Behalf , 512 The Subject buried in Silence 514 Papers of Carlos 515 Philip's Apprehensions 516 Desperation of Carlos 517 Disregard of Admonitions 518 His Excesses 519 His Health destroyed 520 Change in his Deportment 522 Philip's Benediction 523. Death of Carlos 524 Authority for this Account 524 CONTExVTS. xvii PAGB LloJ-ente's Account S'^i Unsubstantiated by Proof 528 Rumors current at the Time 529 Discrepancies of the various Accounts .... 53^ Insufficiency of the Evidence ...... 53* Suspicious Circumstances 534 Motives for getting rid of Carlos 534 Unscrupulous Character of Philip 535 Quarrel in the Palace 537 Obsequies of Carlos S38 Public Sorrow 540 Philip's Feelings 542 His Responsibility 543 CHAPTER VIII. Death of Isabella 546 Amours of Carlos and Isabella 546 Horrible Tale of Revenge 546 No Authority but Rumor S48 Means of establishing the Truth 549 The Queen's Sympathy for Carlos 550 His Feeling towards her 551 No Vulgar Passion 552 Phihp's Kindness to his Wife 55a Her Popularity in Spain 554 Desire to reclaim Carlos ....... 555 Pity for his Fate 555 Her Illness 557 Her Last Hours 558 Final Interview with Philip 559 Message to her Family 560 Her Death 560 Funeral Honors 562 Mission of Cardinal Guise . 563 No Mystery in the Narrative 565 Philip not jealous of Isabella 565 Her Influence over him 566 Brant6me's Portrait of her ....... 567 B* HISTORY OF PHILIP THE SECOND. BOOK II. CHAPTER X. THE CONFEDERATES. Designs of the Confederates. — They enter Brussels. — The Petition. — The Gueux. 1566. The party of the malecontents in the Netherlands comprehended persons of very different opinions, who were by no means uniformly satisfied with the reasonable objects proposed by the Compromise. Some demanded entire liberty of conscience. Others would not have stopped short of a revolution that would enable the country to shake off the Spanish yoke. And another class of men without principle of any kind — such as are too often thrown up in strong political fermenta- tions — looked to these intestine troubles as offering the means of repairing their own fortunes out of the wreck of their country's. Yet, with the exception of the Philip.— Vol. II.— a i 2 THE CONFEDERATES. last, there were few who would not have been content to accept the Compromise as the basis of their demands. The winter had passed away, however, and the con- federacy had wrought no change in the conduct of the government. Indeed, the existence of the confederacy would not appear to have been known to the regent till the latter part of February, 1566. It was not till the close of the following month that it was formally dis- closed to her by some of the great lords.' If it was known to her before, Margaret must have thought it prudent to affect ignorance till some overt action on the part of the league called for her notice. It became then a question with the members of the league what was next to be done. It was finally resolved to present a petition in the name of the whole body to the regent, a measure Avhich, as already intimated, re- ceived the assent, if not the approbation, of the prince of Orange. The paper was prepared, as it would seem, in William's own house at Brussels, by his brother Louis, and was submitted, we are told, to the revision of the prince, who thus had it in his power to mitigate, in more than one instance, the vehemence, or rather violence, of the expressions. - To give greater effect to the petition, it was deter- * Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. pp. 399, 401. » " Libello ah Orangio coeteiisque in lenius verborum genus com- niutato." Vandcr Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 207. — Alonzo del Canto, the royal contador, takes a different and by no means so prob- able a view of William's amendments: " Quand les seigneurs tenaient lours assemblees secr(!;tes k Bruxelles, c'etait en la maison du prince d'Orange, ou lis entraient de nuit par la porte de derrifere : ce fut Ik que la requefe dcs confederes fut modifiee et rendu pire." Corre- spondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 411. u THEIR DESIGNS. 3 mined that a large deputation from the league should accompany its presentation to the regent. Notice was given to four hundred of the confederates to assemble at the beginning of April. They were to come well mounted and armed, prepared at once to proceed to Brussels. Among the number thus enrolled, we find three gentlemen of Margaret's own household, as well as some members of the companies of onhnnance com- manded by the prince, and by the Counts Egmont and Hoorne, and other great lords. ^ The duchess, informed of these proceedings, called a meeting of the council of state and the knights of the Golden Fleece, to determine on the course to be pursued. The discussion was animated, as there was much difference of opinion. Some agreed with Count Barlaimont in regarding the measure in the light of a menace. Such a military array could have no other object than to overawe the government, and was an insult to the regent. In the present excited state of the people, it would be attended with the greatest danger to allow their entrance into the capital.'' The prince of Orange, who had yielded to Margaret's earnest entreaties that he would attend this meeting, took a different view of the matter. The number of the delegates, he said, only proved the interest taken in the petition. They were men of rank, some of them kinsmen or personal friends of those present. Their characters and position in the country were sufficient sureties that they meditated no violence to the state. They were the representatives of an ancient order of 3 Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. p. 59, et seq. 4 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 213. 4 THE CONFEDERATES. nobility ; and it would be strange indeed if they were to be excluded from the right of petition, enjoyed by the humblest individual. In the course of the debate, William made some personal allusions to his own situa- tion, delivering himself with great warmth. His ene- mies, he said, had the royal ear, and would persuade the king to kill him and confiscate his property.^ He was even looked upon as the head of the confederacy. It was of no use for him to give his opinion in the council, where it was sure to be misinterpreted. All that remained for him was to ask leave to resign his offices and withdraw to his estates.* Count Hoorne followed in much the same key, inveighing bitterly against the ingratitude of Philip. The two nobles yielded, at length, so far to Margaret's remonstrances as to give their opinions on the course to be pursued. But when she endeavored to recall them to their duty by reminding them of their oaths to the king, they boldly replied, they would willingly lay down their lives for their country, but would never draw sword for the edicts or the Inquisition. ' William's views in regard to the admission of the confederates into Brussels were supported by much the greater part of the assembly, and finally prevailed with the. regent. On the third of April, 1566, two hundred of the s " Homines genti Nassavice infensissimos de nece ipsius, deque fortunarum omnium publicatione agitavisse cum Rege." Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 215. See also Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 403. fi Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 404. 7 " lis rcpondirent qu'ils ne voulaient pas se battre pour le main- tien de I'inquisition et des placards, mais qu'ils le feraient pour la conservation du pays." Ibid., ubi supra. THE PETITION. 5 confederates entered the gates of Brussels. They were on horseback, and each man was furnislicd with a brace of pistols in his holsters, wearing in other resjoects only the usual arms of a private gentlemen. The Viscount Brederode and Louis of Nassau rode at their head.^ They prudently conformed to William's advice, not to bring any foreigners in their train, and to enter the city quietly, without attempting to stir the populace by any military display, or the report of fire-arms.' Their coming was welcomed with general joy by the inhabit- ants, who greeted them as a band of patriots ready to do battle for the liberties of their country. They easily found quarters in the houses of the principal citizens j and Louis and Brederode were lodged in the mansion of the prince of Orange." On the following day a meeting of the confederates was held at the hotel of Count Culemborg, where they listened to a letter which Brederode had just received from Spain, informing him of the death of Morone, a Flemish nobleman well known to them all, who had perished in the flames of the Inquisition." With feel- ings exasperated by this gloomy recital, they renewed, in the most solemn manner, their oaths of fidelity to the league. An application was then made to Margaret for leave to lay their petition before her. The day following was assigned for the act ; and at noon, on 8 " Eo ipso die sub vesperam conjurati Bnixellas advenere. Erant illi in equis omnino ducenti, forensi veste omati, gestabantque singuli bina ante ephippium sclopeta, prseibat ductor Brederodius, juxthque Ludovicus Nassavius." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 221. 9 Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. pp. 74, 75, '° Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 221. " Ibid., ubi supra. I* 6 THE CONFEDERATES. the fifth of April, the whole company walked in solemn procession through the streets of Brussels to the palace of the regent. She received them, surrounded by the lords, in the great hall adjoining the council-chamber. As they defiled before her, the confederates ranged them- selves along the sides of the apartment. Margaret seems to have been somewhat disconcerted by the presence of so martial an array within the walls of her palace. But she soon recovered herself, and received them graciously." Brederode was selected to present the petition, and he prefaced it by a short address. They had come in such numbers, he said, the better to show their respect to the regent, and the deep interest they took in the cause. They had been accused of opening a corre- spondence with foreign princes, which he affirmed to be a malicious slander, and boldly demanded to be confronted with the authors of it.'^ Notwithstanding this stout denial, it is very possible the audience did not place implicit confidence in the assertions of the speaker. He then presented the petition to the regent, expressing the hope that she would approve of it, as dictated only by their desire to promote the glory of the king and the good of the country. If this was its object, Margaret replied, she doubted not she should be content with it."* The following day was named for them again to wait on her and receive her answer. »* Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. pp. 222, 226. — Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 138. — Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Ba.s, fol. 40. '3 " Nobiles enixi earn rogare, ut proferat nomina eorum qui lioc detulere: cogatque illos accusationem legitime ac palim adomare." Strada, De Bello Belgico, toin. i. p. 222. M " Quando nonnisi Regis dignitatem, patrireque salutem specta- bant, liaud dubi^ postulatis satisfacturam." Ibid., ubi supra. THE PETITION. 7 The instrument began with a general statement of the distresses of the land, much like that in the Compro- mise, but couched in more respectful language. The petitioners had hoped that the action of the great lords, or of the states-general, would have led to some reform. But finding these had not moved in the matter, while the evil went on increasing from day to da)', until ruin was at the gate, they had come to beseech her highness to lay the subject herself before the king, and implore his majesty to save the country from perdition by the instant abolition of both the Inquisition and the edicts. Far from wishing to dic- tate laws to their sovereign, they humbly besought her to urge on him the necessity of convoking the states- general and devising with them some effectual remedy for the existing evils. Meanwhile they begged of her to suspend the further execution of the laws in regard to religion until his majesty's pleasure could be known. If their prayer were not granted, they at least were absolved from all responsibility as to the consequences, now that they had done their duty as true and loyal subjects.*^ The business-like character of this docu- ment forms a contrast to the declamatory style of the Compromise; and in its temperate tone, particularly, we may fancy we recognize the touches of the more prudent hand of the prince of Orange. On the sixth, the confederates again assembled in the l>alace of the regent, to receive her answer. They were in greater force than before, having been joined by a '3 The copy of this document given by Green is from tlie papers of Count Louis of Nassau, Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau tom. ii. pp. 80-84. 8 THE CONFEDERATES. hundred and fifty of their brethren, who had entered the city the night previous, under the command of Counts Culemborg and Berg. They were received by Margaret in the same courteous manner as on the preceding day, and her answer was made to them in writing, being indorsed on their own petition. She announced in it her purpose of using all her influence with her royal brother to persuade him to accede to their wishes. They might rely on his doing all that was conformable to his natural and accustomed benignity. ^^ She had herself, with the advice of her council and the knights of the Golden Fleece, prepared a scheme for moderating the edicts, to be laid before his majesty, which she trusted would satisfy the nation. They must, however, be aware that she herself had no power to suspend the execution of the laws. But she would send instructions to the inquisitors to proceed with all discretion in the exercise of their functions, until they should learn the king's pleasure.'^ She trusted that the confederates would so demean them- selves as not to make it necessary to give different orders. All this she had done with the greater readi- ness, from her conviction that they had no design to make any innovation in the established religion of the country, but desired rather to uphold it in all its vigor. »6 " Lesquels ne doibvent esperer, sinon toute chose digne et con- forme k sa benignite 7iaifve ct accoustumee." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. p. 84. — The phrase must have sounded oddly enough in the ears of the confederates. 17 " Pendant que s'attend sa responce, Son Alteze donncra ordre, que tant par les inquisiteurs, ou il y en a eu jusques ores, que par les officicrs respectivement, soit proced^ diicr^tement et modestement." Ibid., p. 85. THE PETiriON. 9 To this reply, as gracious in its expressions, and as favorable in its import, as the league could possibly have expected, they made a formal answer in writing, which they presented in a body to the duchess on the eighth of the month. They humbly thanked her ^ for the prompt attention she had given to their petition, but would have been still more contented if her answer had been more full and explicit. They knew the embarrassments under which she labored, and they thanked her for the assurance she had given — which, it may be remarked, she never did give — that all pro- ceedings connected with the Inquisition and the edicts should be stayed until his majesty's pleasure should be ascertained. They were most anxious to conform to whatever the king, with the advice and consent of the states-general, duly assembled, should determine in matters of religion ; '^ and they would show their obedience by taking such order for their own conduct as should give entire satisfaction to her highness. To this the duchess briefly replied, that if there were any cause for offence hereafter it would be chargeable not on her, but on them. She prayed the confederates henceforth to desist from their secret practices, and to invite no new member to join their body.'' This brief and admonitory reply seems not to have been to the taste of the petitioners, who would willingly have drawn from Margaret some expression that might «8 " Ne desirons sinon d'ensuyvre tout ce que par Sa Ma'^- avecq I'advis et consentement des estatsgeneraulx assamblez serat ordonn^ pour le maintenement de I'anchienne religion." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. p. 86. *9 " Vous prians de ne passer plus avant par petites practicques se- cretes et de n'attirer plus personne." Ibid., p. 88. A*. lo THE CONFEDERATES. be construed into a sanction of their proceedings. After a short deliberation among themselves, they again ad- dressed her by the mouth of one of their own number, the lord of Kerdes. The speaker, after again humbly thanking the regent for her favorable answer, said that it would have given still greater satisfaction to his asso- ciates if she would but have declared, in the presence of the great lords assembled, that she took the union of the confederates in good part and for the service of the king ; =" and he concluded with promising that they would henceforth do all in their power to give content- ment to her highness. To all this the duchess simply replied, she had no doubt of it. When again pressed by the persevering deputy to express her opinion of this assembly, she bluntly answered, she could form no judgment in the matter." She gave pretty clear evidence, however, of her real opinion, soon after, by dismissing the three gentlemen of her household whom we have mentioned as having joined the league." =° " De bonne part et pour le service du Roy." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. p. 89. =' " Et comme ma dite dame respondit qu'elle le croyt ainsy, n'affermant nullement en quelle part elle recevoit nostre assemblee, luy fut replicque par le dit S''- de Kerdes : Madame, 11 plairast h. V. A. en dire ce qu'elle en sent, ^ quoy elle respondit qu'elle ne pouvoit juger." Ibid., ubi supra. — See also Strada (De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 225), who, however, despatches this interview with the Seigneur de Kerdes in a couple of sentences. ^ Cotmt Louis drew up a petition to the duchess, or rather a re- monstrance, requesting lier to state the motives of this act, that people might not interpret it into a condemnation of their proceedings. To this Margaret replied, with some spirit, that it was her own private affair, and she claimed the right that belonged to every other indi- vidual, of managing her own household in her own way. — One will THE PETITION. n As Margaret found that the confederates were not altogether satisfied with her response to their petition, she allowed Count Hoogstraten, one of her councillors, to inform some of them, privately, that she, had already written to the provinces to liave all jDrocesses in affairs of religion stayed until Philip's decision should \>q known. To leave no room for distrust, the count was allowed to show them copies of the letters. "^^ The week spent by the league in Brussels was a season of general jubilee. At one of the banquets given at Culemborg House, where three hundred confederates were present, Brederode presided. During the repast he related to some of the company, who had arrived on the day after the petition was delivered, the manner in which it had been received by the duchess. She seemed at first disconcerted, he said, by the number of the confederates, but was reassured by Barlaimont, who told her "they were nothing but a crowd of beg- gars."-'' This greatly incensed some of the company, — ^Avith whom, probably, it was too true for a jest. But Brederode, taking it more good-humoredly, said that he and his friends had no objection to the name, since they were ready at any time to become beggars for the service of their king and country. ^^ .This sally Avas readily believe that Louis did not act by the advice of his brother in this matter. See the correspondence as collected by the diligent Groen, Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. pp. 100-105. 23 Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 41. *4 " Ilium quidem, ut Gubernatricis animum firmaret, italocutum, quasi nihil ei k mendicis ac nebulonibus pertimescendum esset." Strada, De Bcllo Belgico, tom. i. p. 226. =5 " Se vero libenter appellationem illam, quce ea cumque esset, accipere, ac Regis patriajque causa Gheusios se mendicosque re ipsa futures." Ibid., ubi supra. 12 THE CONFEDERATES. received with great applause by the guests, who, as they drank to one another, shouted forth, " Vivent les Gueux /" — " Long live the beggars !" Brederode, finding the jest took so well, — an event, indeed, for which he seems to have .been prepared, — left the room, and soon returned with a beggar's wallet, and a wooden bowl, such as was used by the mendicant fraternity in the Netherlands. Then, pledging the com- pany in a bumper, he swore to devote his life and fortune to the cause. The wallet and the bowl went round the table ; and, as each of the merry guests drank in turn to his confederates, the shout arose of " Vivent les Gueux!'''' until the hall rang with the mirth of the revellers.^ It happened that at the time the prince of Orange and the Counts Egmont and Hoorne were passing by on their way to the council. Their attention was at- tracted by the noise, and they paused a moment, when William, who knew well the temper of the jovial com- pany, proposed that they should go in and endeavor to break up their revels. "We may have some business of the council to transact with these men this evening," he said, "and at this rate they will hardly be in a con- dition for it." The appearance of the three nobles gave a fresh impulse to the boisterous merriment of the company; and as the new-comers pledged their friends in the wine-cup, it was received with the same thundering acclamations of "Vivent les Gueux P^"^ =* Strada, De Bello Belgico, ubi supra. — Vander Haer, De Initiis TumuUuum, p. 2H. — Corrcspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 149. — Vandervynckf, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 142, etseq. — This last author tells the story with uncommon animation. =7 So says Strada. (De Bcllo Belgico, torn. ii. p. 227.) But the THE GUEUX. 13 This incident, of so little importance in itself, was afterwards made of consequence by the turn that was given to it in the prosecution of the two unfortunate noblemen who accompanied the prince of Orange. Every one knows the importance of a popular name to a faction, — a nom de guerre, under which its mem- bers may rally and make head together as an independ- ent party. Such the name of " Giceux''' now became to the confederates. It soon was understood to signify those who were opposed to the government, and, in a wider sense, to the Roman Catholic religion. In every language in which the history of these acts has been recorded, — the Latin, German, Spanish, or English, — • the French term Gueux is ever employed to designate this party of malecontents in the Netherlands.^ It now became common to follow out the original idea by imitations of the different articles used by mendicants. Staffs were procured, after the fashion of those in the hands of the pilgrims, but more elaborately carved. Wooden bowls, spoons, and knives became in great request, though richly inlaid with silver, accord- duchess, in a letter written in cipher to the king, tells him that the three lords pledged the company in the same toast of " Vivent les Gueux /" that had been going the rounds of the table. " Le prince d'Oranges et les comtes d'Egmont et de Homes vinrent h. la maison de Culembourg apres le diner; ils burent avec les confederes, et cri^rent aussi vivent les gueux !" Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 409. 28 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 227. — ^Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 143. — The word gueux is derived by Vander Haer from Goth, in the old German form, Geute : " Eandem esse earn vocem gallicam qure esset Teutonum vox, Geuten, quam maiores vei Gothis genti Barbarse tribuissent, vel odio Gothici nominis conviciuin fecissent." De Tnitiis Tumultuum p. 212. Philip.— Vol. II. 2 14 THE CONFEDERATES. ing to the fancy or wealth of the possessor. Medals resembling those stuck by the beggars in their bonnets were worn as a badge; and the " Gueux penny," as it was called, — a gold or silver coin, — was hung from the neck, bearing on one side the effigy of Philip, with the inscription, ^^ Fideles au roi;''' and on the other, two hands grasping a beggar's wallet, with the further legend, "Jiisques a porter la besace ;^ ' — "Faithful to the king, even to carrying the wallet." ^^ Even the garments of the mendicant were affected by the confederates, who used them as a substitute for their family liveries ; and troops of their retainers, clad in the ash-gray habil- iments of the begging friars, might be seen in the streets of Brussels and the other cities of the Netherlands. 3° On the tenth of April, the confederates quitted Brussels, in the orderly manner in which they had entered it ; except that, on issuing from the gate, they announced their departure by firing a salute in honor of the city which had given them so hospitable a Avel- come.3' Their visit to Brussels had not only created a great sensation in the capital itself, but throughout the country. Hitherto the league had worked in darkness, =^ Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, loc. cit. — Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 228. — Arend, in his Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vadeilands, has given engravings of these medals, on which the de- vices and inscriptions v^'ere not always precisely the same. Some of these mendicant paraphernalia are still to be found in ancient cabi- nets in the Low Countries, or were in the time of Vandervynckt. See his Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 143. 30 Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 228. — Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 212. 31 " En sortant de la porte de la ville, ils ont fait une grande d^charge de leurs pistolets." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. i, p. 408. THE GUEUX. 15 as it were, like a band of secret conspirators. But they had now come forward into the light of day, boldly presenting themselves before the regent, and demand- ing redress of the wrongs under which the nation was groaning. The people took heart, as they saw this broad aegis extended over them to ward off the assaults of arbitrary power. Their hopes grew stronger, as they became assured of the interposition of the regent and the great lords in their favor ; and they could hardly doubt that the voice of the country, backed as it was by that of the government, would make itself heard at Madrid, and that Philip would at length be compelled to abandon a policy which menaced him with the loss of the fairest of his provinces. They had yet to learn the character of their sovereign. CHAPTER XL FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. The Edicts suspended. — The Sectaries. — The Public Preachings. — Attempt to suppress them. — Meeting at St. Trond. — Philip's Con- cessions. 1566. On quitting Brussels, the confederates left there four of their number as a sort of committee to watch over the interests of the league. The greater part of the remainder, with Brederode at their head, took the road to Antwerp. They were hardly established in their quarters in that city when the building was surrounded by thousands of the inhabitants, eager to give their visitors a tumultuous welcome. Brederode came out on the balcony, and, addressing the crowd, told them that he had come there, at the hazard of his life, to rescue them from the miseries of the Inquisition. He called on his audience to take him as their leader in this glorious work ; and as the doughty champion pledged them in a goblet of wine which he had brought with him from the table, the mob answered by such a general shout as was heard in the farthest corners of the city.' Thus a relation was openly estab- I " Vos si mecum in hoc preclaro opere consentitis, agite, et qui vestrum salvam libertatem, me duce volent, propinatum hoc sibi po- culum, bencvolentice mcas significationem genialiter accipiant, idque manus indicio contestentur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 231. (16) THE EDICTS SUSPENDED. 17 lished between the confederates and the people, who were to move forward together in the great march of the revolution. Soon after the departure of the confederates from Brussels, the regent despatched an embassy to Madrid to acquaint tlie king with the recent proceedings and to urge his acquiescence in the reforms solicited by the league. The envoys chosen were the baron de Mon- tigny — who had taken charge, it may be remembered, of a similar mission before — and the marquis of Bergen, a nobleman of liberal principles, but who stood high in the regard of the regent. "" Neither of the parties showed any alacrity to undertake a commission which was to bring them so closely in contact with the dread monarch in his capital. Bergen found an apology for some time in a wound from a tennis-ball, which dis- abled his leg ; an ominous accident, interpreted by the chroniclers of the time into an intimation from Heaven of the disastrous issue of the mission. ^ Montigny reached Madrid some time before his companion, mi the seventeenth of June, and met with a gracious re- ception from Philip, who listened with a benignant air to the recital of the measures suggested for the relief of the country, terminating, as usual, with an applica- tion for a summons of the states-general, as the most =» "Estans mesmes personnages si prudes, discrets et tant imbus de tout ce que convient remonstrer a V. M., outre I'affection que j'ay toujours trouve en eux, tant adonnez au service d'icelle." Corre- spondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 24. 3 " Crederes id ab illius accidisse genio, qui non contentus admo- nendo aurem ei vellicasse, nunc quasi compedibus injectis, ne infaus- tum iter ingrederetur, attineret pedes." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i- P- 235. 2* 1 8 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. effectual remedy for the disorders. But, although the envoy was admitted to more than one audience, he obtained no more comfortable assurance than that the subject should receive the most serious consideration of his majesty.* Meanwhile the regent was busy in digesting the plan of compromise to which she had alluded in her reply to the confederates. When concluded, it was sent to the governors of the several provinces, to be laid before their respective legislatures. Their sanction, it was hoped, would recommend its adoption to the people at large. It was first submitte(i to some of the smaller states, as Artois, Namur, and Luxemburg, as most likely to prove subservient to the wishes of the govern- ment. It was then laid before several of the larger states, as Brabant and Flanders, whose determination might be influenced by the example of the others. Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, and one or two other prov- inces, where the spirit of independence was highest, were not consulted at all. Yet this politic manage- ment did not entirely succeed ; and although some few gave an unconditional assent, most of the provinces coupled their acquiescence with limitations that ren- dered it of little worth. 5 This was not extraordinary. The scheme was one which, however large the concessions it involved on the part of the government, fell far short of those demanded 4 " Les seules reponses qu'il ait obtenues de S. M., sont qu'elle y pensera, que ces affaires sont de grande importance, etc." Corre- spondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 426. 5 Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 41. — Hopper, Recueil et Me- morial, p. 78. — Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 216. THE EDICTS SUSPENDED. 19 by the people. It denounced the penalty of death on all ministers and teachers of the reformed religion, and all who harbored them ; and, while it greatly mitigated the punishment of other offenders, its few sanguinary features led the people sneeringly to call it, instead of "moderation," the act of ^'inurderatio7i."^ It fared, indeed, with this compromise of the regent as with most other half-way measures. It satisfied neither of the parties concerned in it. The king thought it as much too lenient as the people thought it too severe. It never received the royal sanction, and of course never became a law. It would therefore hardly have deserved the time I have bestowed on it, except as evidence of the conciliatory spirit of the regent's ad- ministration. In the same spirit Margaret was careful to urge the royal officers to give a liberal interpretation to the existing edicts, and to show the utmost discretion in their execution. These functionaries were not slow in obeying commands which released them from so much of the odium that attached to their ungrateful office. The amiable temper of the government received sup- port from a singular fraud which took place at this time. An instrument was prepared purporting to have come from the knights of the Golden Fleece, in which this body guaranteed to the confederates that no one in the Low Countries should be molested on account of his religion until otherwise determined by the king and the states-general. This document, which carried its spurious origin on its face, was nevertheless eagerly fi " Ceste moderation, que le coinun peuple apelloit meurderation." Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 41. *o FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. caught up and circulated among the people, ready to believe what they most desired. In vain the regent, as soon as she heard of it, endeavored to expose the fraud. It was too late ; and the influence of this imposture combined with the tolerant measures of the government to insi:)ire a confidence in the community which was soon visible in its results. Some who had gone into exile returned to their country. Many who had cher- ished the new doctrines in secret openly avowed them; while others who -were wavering, now that they were relieved from all fear of consequences, became fixed in their opinions. In short, the Reformation, in some form or other, was making rapid advances over the country. 7 Of the three great sects who embraced it, the Luther- ans, the least numerous, were the most eminent for their rank. The AnabajDtists, far exceeding them in number, were drawn almost wholly from the humbler classes of the people. It is singular that this sect, the most quiet and inoffensive of all, should have been uniformly dealt with by the law with peculiar rigor. It may perhaps be attributed to the bad name which attached to them from the excesses committed by their brethren, the famous Anabaptists of Munster. The third denomination, the Calvinists, far outnumbered both of the other two. They were also the most active in the spirit of proselytism. They were stimulated by missionaries trained in the schools of Geneva; and as 7 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. pp. 233, 234, 239. — Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. p. 170. — See the forged document mentioned in the text in the Supplement k Strada, torn. ii. P- 330- THE PUBLIC PREACHINGS. 2 1 tlieir doctrines spread silently over the land, not only men of piety and learning, but persons of the highest social position, were occasionally drawn within the folds of the sect. The head-quarters of the Calvinists were in Flan- ders, Hainault, Artois, and the provinces contiguous to France. The border-land became the residence of French Huguenots, and of banished Flemings, who on this outpost diligently labored in the cause of the Reformation. The press teemed with publications, — vindications of the faith, polemical tracts, treatises, and satires against the Church of Rome and its errors, — those spiritual missiles, in short, which form the usual magazine for controversial warfare. These were dis- tributed by means of peddlers and travelling tinkers, who carried them, in their distant wanderings, to the humblest firesides throughout the country. There they were left to do their work ; and the ground was thus prepared for the laborers whose advent forms an epoch in the history of the Reformation.® These were the ministers or missionaries, whose pub- lic preaching soon caused a great sensation throughout the land. They first made their appearance in West- ern Flanders, before small audiences gathered together stealthily in the gloom of the forest and in the silence of night. They gradually emerged into the open plains, thence proceeding to the villages, until, growing bolder with impunity, they showed themselves in the suburbs of the great towns and cities. On these occasions, 8 Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 150, et seq. — Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. pp. 239, 240. — Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 127. 2 2 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. thousands of the inhabitants, men, women, and chil- dren, in too great force for the magistrates to resist them, poured out of the gates to hear the preacher. In the centre of the ground a rude staging was erected, with an awning to protect him from the weather. Im- mediately round this rude pulpit was gathered the more helpless part of the congregation, the women and chil- dren. Behind them stood the men, — those in the outer circle usually furnished with arms, — swords, pikes, muskets, — any weapon they could pick up, for the occasion. A patrol of horse occupied the ground beyond, to protect the assenibly and prevent inter- ruption. A barricade of wagons and other vehicles was thrown across the avenues that led to the place, to defend it against the assaults of the magistrates or the military. Persons stationed along the high-roads dis- tributed religious tracts, and invited the passengers to take part in the services.' The preacher was frequently some converted priest or friar, accustomed to speak in public, who, having passed the greater part of his life in battling for the Church, now showed equal zeal in overturning it. It might be, however, that the orator was a layman, — some peasant or artisan, who, gifted with more wit, or possibly more effrontery, than his neighbors, felt him- self called on to assume the perilous vocation of a preacher. The discourse was in French or Flemish, whichever might be the language spoken in the neigh- 9 Languet, Epist. seer., quoted by Groen, Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. p. i8o. — See also Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 241. — Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, torn. i. p. 172. THE PUBLIC PREACHINGS. 23 borhood. It was generally of the homely texture suited both to the speaker and his audience. Yet sometimes he descanted on the woes of the land with a pathos which drew tears from every eye, and at others gave vent to a torrent of fiery eloquence that kindled the spirit of the ancient martyr in the bosoms of his hearers. These lofty flights were too often degraded by coarse and scurrilous invectives against the pope, the clergy, and the Inquisition, — themes pecviliarly grateful to his audience, who testified their applause by as noisy dem- onstrations as if they had been spectators in a theatre. The service was followed by singing some portion of the Psalms in the French version of Marot, or in a Dutch translation which had recently appea.red in Hol- land,'" and which, although sufficiently rude, passed with the simple people for a wonderful composition. After this, it was common for those who attended to present their infants for baptism ; and many couples profited by the occasion to have the marriage-ceremony performed with the Calvinistic rites. The exercises were concluded by a collection for the poor of their own denomination. In fine, these meetings, notwith- standing the occasional license of the preacher, seem to have been conducted with a seriousness and decorum which hardly merit the obloquy thrown on them by some of the Catholic writers. The congregation, it is true, was made up of rather motley materials. Some went out merely to learn what manner of doctrine it was that was taught ; others, to hear the singing, where thousands of voices blended «> Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, ubi supra. 24 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. together in rude harmony under the canopy of heaven ; others, again, witli no better motive than amusement, to laugh at the oddity — perhaps the buffoonery — of the preacher. But far the larger portion of the audience went with the purpose of joining in the religious exer- cises and worshipping God in their own way." We may imagine what an influence must have been exer- cised by these meetings, where so many were gathered together, under a sense of common danger, to listen to the words of the teacher, who taught them to hold all human law as liglit in comparison with the higher law of conscience seated in their own bosoms. Even of those who came to scoff, few there were, probably, who did not go away with some food for meditation, or, it may be, the seeds of future conversion implanted in their breasts. The first of these public preachings — which began as early as May — took place in the neighborhood of Ghent. Between six and seven thousand persons were assembled. A magistrate of the city, with more valor than discretion, mounted his horse, and, armed with sword and pistol, rode in among the multitude and undertook to arrest the minister. But the people hastened to his rescue, and dealt so roughly with the unfortunate officer that he barely escaped with life from their hands." From Ghent the preachings extended to Ypres, Bru- ges, and other great towns of Flanders, — always in the suburbs, — to Valenciennes, and to Tournay, in the province of Hainault, where the Reformers were strong " Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, torn. i. p. 173. " Ibid., p. 171. THE PUBLIC PREACHINGS. 25 enough to demand a place of worship within the walls. Holland was ready for the Word. INIinisters of the new religion, as it was called, were sent both to that quarter and to Zealand. Gatherings of great multitudes were held in the environs of Amsterdam, the Hague, Haar- lem, and other large towns, at which the magistrates were sometimes to be found mingled with the rest of the burghers. But the place where these meetings were conducted on the greatest scale was Antwerp, a city containing then more than a hundred thousand inhabitants, and the most important mart for commerce in the Nether- lands. It was the great resort of foreigners. Many of these were Huguenots, who, under the pretext of trade, were much more busy with the concerns of their rdigion. At the meetings without the walls it was not uncommon for thirteen or fourteen thousand persons to assemble. '3 Resistance on the part of the magistrates was ineffectual. The mob got possession of the keys of the city; and, as most of the Calvinists were armed, they constituted a formidable force. Conscious of their strength, they openly escorted their ministers back to the town, and loudly demanded that some place of worship should be appropriated to them within the walls of Antwerp. The quiet burghers became alarmed. As it was known that in the camp of the Reformers were many reckless and disorderly persons, they feared the town might be given over to pillage. All trade ceased. '3 " Se y sont le dimanche dernier encoires faict deux presches, Tune en fran9ois, I'autre en flamand, en plein jour, et estoient ces deux as- semblees de 13 k 14 mille personnes." Correspondance de Margue- rite d'Autriche, p. 65. Philip. — Vol. II. — b 3 26 FREEDOM OP WORSHIP. Many of the merchants secreted their effects, and some prepared to make their escape as speedily as possible."^ Tlie magistrates, in great confusion, applied to the regent, and besought her to transfer her residence to Antwerp, where her presence might overawe the spirit of sedition. But Margaret's council objected to he/' placing herself in the hands of so factious a population ; and she answered the magistrates by inquiring what guarantee they could give her for her personal safety. They then requested that the prince of Orange, who held the office of biirgrave of Antwerp, and whose in- fluence with the people was unbounded, might be sent to them. Margaret hesitated as to this; for she had now learned to regard William with distrust, as as- suming more and more an unfriendly attitude towards her brother. '5 But she had no alternative, and she requested him to transfer his residence to the disorderly capital and endeavor to restore it to tranquillity. The prince, on the other hand, disgusted with the course of public affairs, had long wished to withdraw from any share in their management. It was with reluctance he accepted the commission. '4 Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, pp. 8o-S8. — Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 243. — Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 42. — Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 433. — A Confession of Faith, which appeared in 1563, was revised by a Calvinistic synod, and reprinted at Antwerp, in May of the present year, 1566. The prefatory letter addressed to King Philip, in which the Reformers appealed to their creed and to their general conduct as affording the best refuta- tion of the calumnies of their enemies, boldly asserted that theii number in the Netherlands at that time was at least a hundred thou- sand. Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. p. 158. '5 " La Duquesa, ya demasiado informada de las platicas inclina- ciones y disimulaciones de este Principe, defirio d resolverse en ello." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, cap. 15, MS. THE PUBLIC PREACHINGS. 27 As he drew near to Antwerp, the people flocked out by thousands to welcome him. It would seem as if they hailed him as their deliverer ; and every window, veranda, and roof was crowded with spectators, as he rode through the gates of the capital."'^ The people ran up and down the streets, singing psalms, or shout- ing, " Vivcnt les Gueux f^ while they thronged round the prince's horse in so dense a mass that it was scarcely possible for him to force a passage.'' Yet these demon- strations of his popularity were not altogether satisfac- tory ; and he felt no pleasure at being thus welcomed as a chief of the league, which, as we have seen, he was far from regarding with approbation. Waving his hand repeatedly to those around him, he called on them to disperse, impatiently exclaiming, "Take heed what you do, or, by Heaven, you will have reason to rue it." '^ He rode straight to the hall where the magistrates were sitting, and took counsel with them as to the best means of allaying the popular excitement, and of preventing the wealthy burghers from quitting the city. During the few weeks he remained there, the prince conducted affairs so discreetly as to bring about a better under- standing between the authorities and the citizens. He even prevailed on the Calvinists to lay aside their arms. He found more difficulty in persuading them to relin- quish the design of appropriating to themselves some "^ Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 244. '7 A mob of no less than thirty thousand men, according to Wil- liam's own statement : " A mon semblant, trouvis, tant hors que dedans la ville, plus de trente mil hommes." Correspondance de Guillaume de Taciturne, torn. ii. p. 136. i8"Viderent, per Deum, quid agerent: ne, si pergerent, eos ali- quando poeniteret." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 244. 28 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. place of worship within the walls. It was not till William called in the aid of the military to support him that he compelled them to yield.'' Thus the spirit of reform was rapidly advancing in every part of the country, — even in presence of the court, under the very eye of the regent. In Brussels the people went through the streets byjiight, singing psalms, and shouting the war-cry of Vivetit les Gueux ! The merchants and wealthy burghers were to be seen with the insignia of the confederates on their dress.^ Preparations were made for a public preaching without the walls ; but the duchess at once declared that in that event she would make one of the company at the head of her guard, seize the preacher, and hang him up at the gates of the city ! ^' This menace had the desired effect. During these troublous times, Margaret, however little she may have accomplished, could not be accused of sleeping on her post. She caused fasts to be observed, and prayers to be offered in all the churches, to avert the wrath of Heaven from the land. She did not con- fine herself to these spiritual weapons, but called on '9 For the account of the proceedings at Antwerp, see Correspon- dance de Guillaume le Tacitume, torn. ii. pp. 136, 138, 140, et seq. — Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. pp. 244-248. — Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 42. — Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, pp. 90,91. — Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. pp. 173-176. — Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. =0 " Insignia etiam k mercatoribus usurpari coepta." Strada, De Bcllo Belgico, torn. i. p. 238. " " lis auraient preche hors de Bru.xelles, si Madame n'y avait pourvu, allant jusqu'.\ dire qu'avec sa personne, sa maison et sa garde, elle s'y opposerait, et ferait pendre en sa presence les ministres." Correspondance de Philippe H., torn. i. p. 447. ATTEMPT TO SUPPRESS THE PREACHINGS. 29 the magistrates of the towns to do their duty, and on all good citizens to support them. She commanded foreigners to leave Antwerp, except those only who were there for traffic. She caused placards to be every- where posted up, reciting the terrible penalties of the law against heretical teachers and those who abetted them ; and she offered a reward of six hundred florins to whoever should bring any such offender to punish- ment.^ She strengthened the garrisoned towns, and would have levied a force to overawe the refractory ; but she had not the funds to pay for it. She endeavored to provide these by means of loans from the great clergy and the principal towns ; but with indifferent success. Most of them were already creditors of the govern- ment, and they liked the security too little to make further advances. In her extremity, Margaret had no resource but the one so often tried, — that of invoking the aid of her brother. " I have no refuge," she wrote, " but in God and your majesty. It is with anguish and dismay I must admit that my efforts have wholly failed to prevent the public preaching, which has spread over every quarter of the country."^ She bitterly com- plains, in another letter, that, after "so many pressing applications, she should be thus left, without aid and ^ " So pena de proceder contra los Predicadores ministros y seme- jantes con el ultimo suplicio y confiscacion de hacienda por aplicarlo al provecho de los que havian la aprehension de ellos y por falta de hacienda, su magestad mandara librar del suyo seiscientos florines." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. 23 " Je suis forcee avecq douleur et angoisse d'esprit lui dire de re- chief que nonobstant tous les debvoirs que je fais journellement, . . . je ne puis remedier ny empescher les assemblees des presches pub- Licqiies." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 72. 3* 3° FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. without instructions, to grope her way at random."^'* She again beseeches Philip to make the concessions demanded, in which event the great lords assure her of their support in restoring order. It was the policy of the cabinet of Madrid not to commit itself. The royal answers were brief, vague, never indicating a new measure, generally intimating satisfaction with the conduct of the regent, and throw- ing as far as possible all responsibility on her shoulders. But, besides his sister's letters, the king was careful to provide himself with other sources of information respecting the state of the Netherlands. From some of these the accounts he received of the conduct of the great lords were even less favorable than hers. A letter from the secretary, Armenteros, speaks of the difficulty he finds in fathoming the designs of the prince of Orange, — a circumstance which he attributes to his probable change of religion. "He relies much," says the writer, "on the support he receives in Germany, on his numerous friends at home, and on the general distrust entertained of the king. The prince is making preparations in good season," he concludes, " for de- fending himself against your majesty. "^^ ■•4 " Sans aide et sans ordres, de maniere que, dans tout ce qu'elle fait, elle doit aller en tatonnant et au hasard." Correspondance de Pliilippe II., torn. i. p. 428. 2S " Le prince se prepare de longue main k la defense qu'il sera force de faire contre le Roi." Ibid., p. 431. — It was natural that the relations of William with the party of reform should have led to the persuasion that he had returned to the opinions in which he had been early educated. These were Lutheran. There is no reason to sup- pose that at the present time he had espoused the doctrines of Calvin. Tlie intimation of Armenteros respecting the prince's change of re- ligion seems to have made a strong impression on Philip, On the MEETING AT ST. TROND. 31 Yet Philip did not betray any consciousness of this unfriendly temper in the nobles. To the prince of Orange, in particular, he wrote, ''You err in imagining that I have not entire confidence in you. Should any one seek to do you an ill office with me, I should not be so light as to give ear to him, having had so large experience of your loyalty and your services." "^ " This is not the time," he adds, "for men like you to with- draw from public affairs." But William was the last man to be duped by these fair words. When others inveighed against the conduct of the regent, William excused, her by throwing the blame on Philip. "Re- solved to deceive all," he said, "he begins by deceiving his sister." ^ It was about the middle of July that an event oc- curred \vhich caused still greater confusion in the affairs of the Netherlands. This was a meeting of the confederates at St. Trond, in the neighborhood of Liege. They assembled, two thousand in number, with Count Louis and Brederode at their head. Their great object was to devise some means for their personal security. They were aware that they were held re- sponsible, to some extent, for the late religious move- margin of the letter he wrote against the passage, " No one has said this so unequivocally before," — " No lo ha escrito nadie asi claro." a6 " Vos OS enganariades mucho en pensar que yo no tubiese todn confianza de vos, y quando hubiese alguno querido hazer oficio con migo en contrario i. esto, no soy tan liviano que hubiese dado credito d ello, teniendo yo tanta esperiencia de vuestra lealtad y de vuestros sen'icios." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, torn. ii. p. 171. »7 " Que le roi, resolu de les tromper tous, commen9ait par tromper sa soeur." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 148. 32 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. ments among the people. ^^ They were discontented with the prolonged silence of the king, and they were alarmed by rumors of military preparations, said to he designed against them. The discussions of the assem- bly, long and animated, showed some difference of opinion. All agreed to demand some guarantee from the government for their security. But the greater part of the body, no longer halting at the original limits of their petition, were now for demanding ab- solute toleration in matters of religion. Some few of the number, stanch Catholics at heart, who for the first time seem to have had their eyes opened to the results to which they were inevitably tending, now, greatly disgusted, withdrew from the league. Among these was the younger Count Mansfeldt, — a name des- tined to become famous in the annals of the revolu- tion. Margaret, much alarmed by these new demonstra- tions, sent Orange and Egmont to confer with the confederates and demand why they were thus met in an unfriendly attitude towards the government which they had so lately pledged themselves to support in maintaining order. The confederates replied by send- ing a deputation of their body to submit their grievances anew to the regent. The deputies, twelve in number, and profanely nick- * This responsibility is bluntly charged on them by Renom de Francia: "El dia de las predicaciones oraciones y cantos estando concertado, se acordo con las principales villas que fuese el San Juan siguiente y de continuar en adelante, primero en los Bosques y monta- fias, despues en los anabales y Aldcas y pues en las vilhis, por nie- dida que el numero, la audacia y sufrimiento creciese." Alborotos de Flandes. MS. MEETING AT ST. TROND. zz named at Brussels ''the twelve apostles," "^ presented themselves, with Count Louis at their head, on the twenty-eighth of July, at the capital, Margaret, who with difficulty consented to receive them in person, gave unequivocal signs of her displeasure. In the plain language of Louis, "the regent was ready to burst with anger. ' ' ^ The memorial, or rather remonstrance, pre- sented to her was not calculated to allay it. Without going into details, it is only necessary to say that the confederates, after stating their grounds for apprehension, requested that an assurance should be given by the government that no harm was intended them. As to pardon for the past, they disclaimed all desire for it. What they had done called for applause, not condemnation. They only trusted that his majesty would be pleased to grant a convocation of the states- general, to settle the affairs of the country. In the mean time, they besought him to allow the concerns of the confederates to be placed in the hands of the prince of Orange, and the Counts Egmont and Hoorne, to act as their mediators with the crown, promising in all things to be guided by their counsel. Thus would tranquillity be restored. But without some guarantee for their safety, they should be obliged to protect themselves by foreign aid. 3' The haughty tome of this memorial forms a striking contrast with that of the petition presented by the 29 " Qui vulgari joco duodecim Apostoli dicebantur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 24S. 30 " S'est mise en une telle colore centre nous, qu'elie a pens6 cre- ver." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. ii. p. 178. 3' " Alioqui externa remedia quamvis invitos postremd qiiaesituros." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 248. 34 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. same body not four months before, and shows with what rapid strides the revolution had advanced. The religious agitations had revealed the amount of discon- tent in the country, and to what extent, therefore, the confederates might rely on the sympathy of the people. This was most unequivocally proved during the meeting at St. Trond, where memorials were presented by the merchants, and by persons of the Reformed religion, praying the protection of the league to secure them freedom of worship till otherwise determined by the states-general. This extraordinary request was granted. ^^ Thus the two great parties leaned on each other for sup- port, and gave mutual confidence to their respective movements. The confederates, discarding the idea of grace, which they had once solicited, now darkly inti- mated a possible appeal to arms. The Reformers, on their side, instead of the mitigation of penalties, now talked of nothing less than absolute toleration. Thus political revolution and religious reform went hand in hand together. The nobles and the commons, the two most opposite elements of the body politic, were united closely by a common interest ; and a formidable oppo- sition was organized to the designs of the monarch, which might have made any monarch tremble on his throne. An important fact shows that the confederates coolly looked forward, even at this time, to a conflict with Spain. Touis of Nassau had a large correspondence with the leaders of the Huguenots in France and of the Lutherans in Germany. By the former he had 32 The memorials are given at length by Groen, Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau, lorn. ii. pp. 159-167. MEETING AT ST. TROND. 35 been offered substantial aid in the way of troops. But the national jealousy entertained of the French would have made it impolitic to accept it. He turned there- fore to Germany, where he had numerous connections, and where he subsidized a force consisting of four thousand horse and forty companies of foot, to be at the disposal of the league. This negotiation was con- ducted under the eye, and, as it seems, partly through the agency, of his brother William. ^3 From this mo- ment, therefore, if not before, the prince of Orange may be identified with the party who were prepared to maintain their rights by an appeal to arms. These movements of the league could not be kept so close but that they came to the knowledge of Margaret. Indeed, she had her secret agents at St. Trond, who put her in possession of whatever was done, or even designed, by the confederates. 3* This was fully ex- hibited in her correspondence with Philip, while she again called his attention to the forlorn condition of the government, without men, or money, or the means to raise it.'^ "The sectaries go armed," she writes, ''and are organizing their forces. The league is with them. There remains nothing but that they should band 33 See the letter of Louis to his brother dated July 26th, 1566, Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. p. 178. 34 The person who seems to have principally served her in this re- spectable office was a "doctor of law," one of the chief counsellors of the confederates. Count Megen, her agent on the occasion, bribed the doctor by the promise of a seat in the council of Brabant. Cor- respondance de Philippe II., tom. i. p. 435. 35 " Le tout est en telle desordre," she says in one of her letters, " que, en la pluspart du pais, Ton est sans loy, foy, ni Roy." Corre- spondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 91. — Anarchy could not be better described in so few words. 36 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. together and sack the towns, villages, and churches, of which I am in marvellous great fear." ^ Her fears had gifted her with the spirit of prophecy. She implores her brother, if he will not come himself to Flanders, to convoke the states-general, quoting the words of Eg- mont, that, unless summoned by the king, they would assemble of themselves, to devise some remedy for the miseries of the land and prevent its otherwise inevita- ble ruin. 37 At length came back the royal answer to Margaret's reiterated appeals. It had at least one merit, that of being perfectly explicit. Montigny, on reaching Madrid, as we have seen, had ready access to Philip. Both he and his companion, the marquis of Bergen, were allowed to witness, it would seem, the deliberations of the council of state when the subject of their mission was discussed. Among the members of that body, at this time, may be noticed the duke of Alva; Ruy Gomez de Silva, prince of Eboli, who divided with Alva the royal favor ; Figue- roa, count of Feria, a man of an acute and penetrating intellect, formerly ambassador to England, in Queen Mary's time; and Luis de Quixada, the major-domo of Charles the Fifth. Besides these there were two or three councillors from the Netherlands, among whose names we meet with that of Hopper, the near friend and associate of Viglius. There was great unanimity in the opinions of this loyal body, where none, it will 3* " II ne reste plus sinon qu'ils s'assemblent et que, joincts en- semble, ils se livrent \ faire quelque sac d'eglises, villes, bourgs, ou pais, de quoy je suis en merveilleusement grande crainte." Coire- spondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 121. 37 Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 432. PHILIP ' S CONCESSIONS. 37 be readily believed, was disposed to lift his voice in filvor of reform. The course of events in the Nether- lands, they agreed, plainly showed a deliberate and well-concerted scheme of the great nobles to secure to themselves the whole power of the country. The first step was the removal of Granvelle, a formidable obstacle in their path. Then came the attempt to concentrate the management of affairs in the hands of the council of state. This was followed by assaults on the Inqui- sition and the edicts, as the things most obnoxious to the people ; by the cry in favor of the states-general ; by the league, the Compromise, the petitions, the re- ligious assemblies; and, finally, by the present mission to Spain. All was devised by the great nobles as part of a regular system of hostility to the crown, the real object of which was to overturn existing institutions and to build up their own authority on the ruins. While the council regarded these proceedings with the deepest indignation, they admitted the necessity of bending to the storm, and under present circumstances judged it prudent for the monarch to make certain specified con- cessions to the people of the Netherlands. Above all, they earnestly besought Philip, if he would still remain master of this portion of his empire, to defer no longer his visit to the country. '^ The discussions occupied many and long-protracted sittings of the council ; and Philip deeply pondered, in his own closet, on the results, after the discussions were concluded. Even those mo:t familiar with his habits were amazed at the long delay of his decision in the 38 The fullest account of the doings of the council is given by Hop- per, one of its members. Recueil et Memorial, pp. 81-87. Philip.— Vol. II. 4 38 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. present critical circumstances. ^^ The haughty mind of the monarch found it difficult to bend to the required concessions. At length his answer came. The letter containing it was addressed to his sister, and was dated on the thirty-first of July, 1566, at the Wood of Segovia, — the same place from which he had dictated his memorable despatches the year pre- ceding. Philip began, as usual, with expressing his surprise at the continued troubles of the country. . He was not aware that any rigorous procedure could be charged on the tribunals, or that any change had been made in the laws since the days of Charles the Fifth. Still, as it was much more agreeable to his nature to proceed with clemency and love than with severity,*" he would conform as far as possible to the desires of his vassals. He was content that the Inquisition should be abol- ished in the Netherlands, and in its place be substituted the inquisitorial powers vested in the bishops. As to the edicts, he was not pleased with the plan of Moder- ation devised by Margaret ; nor did he believe that any plan would satisfy the people short of perfect toleration. Still, he would have his sister prepare another scheme, having due reference to the maintenance of the Cath- olic faith and his own authority. This must be sub- mitted to him, and he would do all that he possibly 39 " Ceux du conseil cl'6tat sont etonnes du delai que le Roi met a repondre." Montigny to Margaret, July 21st, Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 434. 40 " Pcur I'inclination naturelle que j'ay toujours eu de traicter mes vassaulx et subjects plus par voyc d'amour et clemcnce, que de crainte et de rigeur, je me suis accommode k tout ce que m'a este possible." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 100. PHILIP'S CONCESSIONS. 39 could in the matter,'" Lastly, in respect to a general pardon, as he abhorred rigor where any other course would answer the end,-^ he was content that it should he extended to whomever Margaret thought deserving of it, — always excepting those already condemned, and under a solemn pledge, moreover, that the nobles would abandon the league and henceforth give their hearty support to the government. Four days after the date of these despatches, on the second of August, Philip again wrote to his sister, touch- ing the summoning of the states-general, which she had so much pressed. He had given the subject, he said, a most patient consideration, and was satisfied that she had done right in refusing to call them together. She must not consent to it. He never would consent to it. '•3 He knew too well to what it must inevitably lead. Yet he would not have her report his decision in the absolute and peremptory terms in which he had given it to her, but as intended merely for the present occa- sion ; so that the people might believe she was still looking for something of a different tenor, and cherish the hope of obtaining their object at some future day ! "•* 41 "Ay treuve convenir et necessaire que Ton conceive certaine aultre forme de moderation de placcart par delk, ayant egard que la saincte foy catholique et mon authorite soyent gardees . . . et y feray tout ce que possible sera." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 103. 42 " N'abhorrissant riens tant que la voye de rigeur." Ibid., ubi supra. 43 "Y assi vos no lo consentais, ni yo lo consentire tan poco." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. i. p. 439. 44 " Pero no conviene que esto se entienda alia, ni que vos teneis esta orden mia, sino es para lo de agora, pero que la esperais para adelante, no desesperando alios para entonces dello." Ibid., ubi supra. 40 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. The king also wrote that he should remit a sufficient Slim to Margaret to enable her to take into her pay a body of ten thousand German foot and three thousand horse, on which she could rely in case of extremity. He further wrote letters with his own hand to the gov- ernors of the provinces and the principal cities, calling on them to support the regent in her efforts to enforce the laws and maintain order throughout the country. '♦s Such were the concessions granted by Philip, at the eleventh hour, to his subjects of the Netherlands ! — concessions wrung from him by hard necessity ; doled out, as it were, like the scanty charity of the miser, — too scanty and too late to serve the object for which it is intended. But slight as these concessions were, and crippled by conditions which rendered them nearly nugatory, it will hardly be believed that he was not even sincere in making them ! This is proved by a revelation lately made of a curious document in the Archives of Simancas. While the ink was scarcely dry on the despatches to Margaret, Philip summoned a notary into his presence, and before the duke of Alva and two other persons, jurists, solemnly protested that the authority he had given to the regent in respect to a general pardon was not of his own free will. "He therefore did not feel bound by it, but reserved to himself the right to punish the guilty, and especially the authors and abettors of sedition in the Low Countries."'''' We feel ourselves at 45 Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, pp. io6, 114. 46 " Comme il ne I'a pas fait librcment, ni spontancment, il n'entend fitre lid par cctte antorisation, mais au contraire il se reserve de punir les coupables, et principalement ceu.x qui ont iik les auteurs et fau- PHIL IP'S. CONCESSIONS. 4 x once transported into the depths of the Middle Ages. This feeling will not be changed when we learn the rest of the story of this admirable piece of kingcraft. The chair of St. Peter, at this time, was occupied by Pius the Fifth, a pope who had assumed the same name as his predecessor, and who displayed a spirit of fierce, indeed frantic, intolerance, surpassing even that of Paul the Fourth. At the accession of the new pope there were three Italian scholars, inhabitants of Milan, Ven- ice, and Tuscany, eminent for their piety, who had done great service to the cause of letters in Italy, but who were suspected of too liberal opinions in matters of faith. Pius the Fifth demanded that these scholars should all be delivered into his hands. The three states had the meanness to comply. The unfortunate men were delivered up to the Holy Office, condemned, and burned at the stake. This was one of the first acts of the new pontificate. It proclaimed to Christendom that Pius the Fifth was the uncompromising foe of heresy, the pope of the Inquisition. Every subsequent act of his reign served to confirm his claim to this distinction. Yet, as far as the interests of Catholicism were con- cerned, a character like that of Pius the Fifth must be allowed to have suited the times. During the latter part of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth, the throne had been filled by a succession of pontiffs notorious for their religious indifference, and their carelessness, too often profligacy, of life. This, teurs des seditions." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 443. — One would have been glad to see the original text of this protest, which is in Latin, instead of M. Gachard's abstract. 4* 42 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. as is well known, was one of the prominent causes of the Reformation. A reaction followed. It was neces- sary to save the Church. A race of men succeeded, of ascetic temper, remarkable for their austere virtues, but without a touch of sympathy for the joys or sorrows of their species, and wholly devoted to the great work of regenerating the fallen Church. As the influence of the former popes had opened a career to the Refor- mation, the influence of these latter popes tended materially to check it ; and long before the close of the sixteenth century the boundary-line was defined, which it has never since been allowed to pass. Pius, as may be imagined, beheld with deep anxiety the spread of the new religion in the Low Countries. He wrote to the duchess of Parma, exhorting her to resist to the utmost, and professing his readiness to supply her, if need were, with both men and money. To Philip he also wrote, conjuring him not to falter in the good cause, and to allow no harm to the Catholic faith, but to march against his rebellious vassals at the head of his army and wash out the stain of heresy in the blood of the heretic.''' 47 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 236. — Among those who urged the king to violent measures, no one was so importunate as Fray Lorenzo de Villacancio, an Augustin monk, who distinguished himself by the zeal and intrepidity with which he ventured into the strongholds of the Reformers and openly denounced their doctrines. Philip, acquainted with the uncompromising temper of the man, and his devotion to the Catholic Church, employed him both as an agent and an adviser in regard to the affairs of the Low Countries, where Fray Lorenzo was staying in the earlier period of the troubles. Many of the friar's letters to the king are still preserved in Simancas, and astonish one by the boldness of their criticisms on the conduct of the ministers, and even of the monarch himself, whom Lorenzo openly PHILIP'S CONCESSIONS. 43 The king noAv felt it incumbent on him to explain to the holy father his late proceedings. This he did throiigli Requesens, his ambassador at the papal court. The minister was to inform his holiness that Philip would not have moved in this matter without his ad- vice, had there been time for it. But perhaps it was better as it was ; for the abolition of the Inquisition in accuses of a timid policy towards the Reformers. In a memorial on the state of the country, prepared, at Philip's suggestion, in the be- ginning of 1566, Fray Lorenzo urges the necessity of the most rigor- ous measures towards the Protestants in the Netherlands. " Since your majesty holds the sword which God has given to you, with the divine power over our lives, let it be drawn from the scabbard, and plunged in the blood of the heretics, if you do not wish that the blood of Jesus Christ, shed by these barbarians, and the blood of the innocent Catholics whom they have oppressed, should cry aloud to Heaven for vengeance on the sacred head of your majesty! . . . The holy King David showed no pity for the enemies of God. He slew them, sparing neither man nor woman. Moses and his brother, in a single day, destroyed three thousand of the children of Israel. An angel, in one night, put to death more than sixty thousand enemies of the Lord. Your majesty is a king, like David ; like Moses, a cap- tain of the people of Jehovah; an angel of the Lord, — for so the Scriptures style the kings and captains of his people ; — and these heretics are the enemies of the living God !" And in the same strain of fiery and fanatical eloquence he continues to invoke the vengeance of Philip on the heads of his unfortunate subjects in the Netherlands, That the ravings of this hard-hearted bigot were not distasteful to Philip may be inferred from the fact that he ordered a copy of his memorial to be placed in the hands of Alva, on his departure for the Low Countries. It appears that he had some thoughts of sending Fray Lorenzo to join the duke there, — a project which received little f ncouragement from the latter, who probably did not care to have so meddlesome a person as this frantic friar to watch his proceedings. An interesting notice uf this remarkable man is to be found in Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II., torn, ii.. Rapport, pp. xvi.-l. 44 FKEEDOM OF WORSHIP. the Low Countries could not take effect, after all, un- less sanctioned by the pope, by whose authority it had been established. This, however, was to be said in con- fidence.''^ As to the edicts, Pius might be assured that his majesty would never approve of any scheme which favored the guilty by diminishing in any degree the penalties of their crimes. This also was to be considered as secret.''^ Lastly, his holiness need not be scandalized by the grant of a general pardon, since it referred only to what concerned the king personally, where he had a right to grant it. In fine, the pope might rest assured that the king would consent to nothing that could pre- judice the service of God or the interests of religion. He deprecated force, as that would involve the ruin of the country. Still, he would march in person, without regard to his own peril, and employ force, though it should cost the ruin of the provinces, but he would bring his vassals to submission. For he would sooner lose a hundred lives, and every rood of empire, than reign a lord over heretics. 5° Thus all the concessions of Philip, not merely his promises of grace, but those of abolishing the Inquisi- tion and mitigating the edicts, were to go for nothing, — mere words, to amuse the people until some effectual 48 " Y por la priesa que dieron en esto, no ubo tiempo de consul- tarlo i. Su Santidad, como fuera justo, y quiza avra sido asi major, pues no vale nada, sino quitandola Su Santidad que es que la pone ; pero en esto conviene que aya el secreto que puede conside-rar." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 445. 49 " Y en esto conviene el mismo secreto que en lo de arnba." Ibid., ubi supra. — These injunctions of secrecy are interpolations in the handwriting of the "prudent" monarch himself. 50 '■ perdere todos mis estados, y cien vidas que tuviesse, porque yo no picnso ni quicro scr senor de hercges." Ibid., p. 446. PHILIP'S CONCESSIONS. 45 means could be decided on. The king must be allowed, for once at least, to have spoken with candor. There are few persons who would not have shrunk from ac- knowledging to their own hearts that they were acting on so deliberate a system of perfidy as Philip thus con- fided in his correspondence with another. Indeed, he seems to have regarded the pope in the light of his confessor, to whom he was to unburden his bosom as frankly as if he had been in the confessional. The shrift was not likely to bring down a heavy penance from one who doubtless held to the orthodox maxim of "No faith to be kept with heretics." The result of these royal concessions was what might have been expected. Crippled as they were by condi- tions, they were regarded in the Low Countries with distrust, not to say contempt. In fact, the point at which Philip had so slowly and painfully arrived had been long since passed in the onward march of the revolution. The men of the Netherlands now talked much more of recompense than of pardon. By a curious coincidence, the thirty-first of July, the day on which the king wrote his last despatches from Segovia, was precisely the date of those which Margaret sent to him from Brussels, giving the particulars of the recent troubles, of the meeting at St. Trond, the demand for a guarantee, and for an immediate summons of the legislature. But the fountain of royal grace had been completely drained by the late efforts. Philip's reply at this time was prompt and to the point. As to the guarantee, that was superfluous when he had granted a general pardon. For the states-general, there was no need to 46 FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. alter his decision now, since he was so soon to be present in the country, s' This visit of the king to the Low Countries, respect- ing which so much was said and so little was done, seems to have furnished some amusement to the wits of the court. The prince of Asturias, Don Carlos, scribbled one day on the cover of a blank book, as its title, "The Great and Admirable Voyages of King Philip ;" and within, for the contents, he wrote, " From Madrid to the Pardo, from the Pardo to the Escorial, from the Escorial to Aranjuez," etc., etc.s* This jest of the graceless son had an edge to it. We are not told how far it was relished by his royal father. 5' " Et, au regard de la covocation desdicts Estats generaulx, comme je vous ay escript mon intention, je ne treuve qu'il y a mati^re pour la changer ne qu'il conviengne aulcunement qu'elle se face en mon absence, mesmes comme je suis si prest de mon partement." Corre- spondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 165. 5= Brantome, Oiuvres, torn. iii. p. 321. CHAPTER XII. THE ICONOCLASTS. Cathedral of Antweqj sacked. — Sacrilegious Outrages. — Alarm at Brussels. — Churches granted to Reformers. — Margaret repents her Concessions. — Feeling at Madrid. — Sagacity of Orange. — His Religious Opinions. 1566. While Philip was thus tardily coming to concessions which even then were not sincere, an important crisis had arrived in the affairs of the Netherlands. In the earlier stages of the troubles, all orders, the nobles, the commons, even the regent, had united in the desire to obtain the removal of certain abuses, especially the In- quisition and the edicts. But this movement, in which the Catholic joined with the Protestant, had far less reference to the interests of religion than to the per- sonal rights of the individual. Under the protection thus afforded, however, the Reformation struck deep root in the soil. It flourished still more under the favor shown to it by the confederates, who, as we have seen, did not scruple to guarantee security of religious wor- ship to some of the sectaries who demanded it. But the element which contributed most to the suc- cess of the new religion was the public preachings. These in the Netherlands were what the Jacobin clubs Avere in France, or the secret societies in Germany and Italy, — an obvious means for bringing together such as were pledged to a common hostility to existing insti- (47) 48 THE ICONOCLASTS. tutions, and thus affording them an opportunity for consulting on their grievances and for concerting the best means of redress. The direct object of these meet- ings, it is true, was to listen to the teachings of the minister. But that functionary, far from confining himself to spiritual exercises, usually wandered to more exciting themes, as the corruptions of the Church and the condition of the land. He rarely failed to descant on the forlorn circumstances of himself and his flock, condemned thus stealthily to herd together like a band of outlaws, with ropes, as it were, about their necks, and to seek out some solitary spot in which to glorify the Lord, while their eneniies_, in all the pride of a dominant religion, could offer up their devotions openly and without fear, in magnilicent temples. The preacher inveighed bitterly against the richly beneficed clergy of the rival Church, whose lives of pampered ease too often furnished an indifferent commentary on the doctrines they inculcated. His wrath was kindled by the pomp- ous ceremonial of the Church of Rome, so dazzling and attractive to its votaries, but which the Reformer sourly contrasted with the naked simplicity of the Protestant service. Of all abominations, however, the greatest in his eyes was the worship of images, which he com- pared to the idolatry that in ancient times had so often brought down the vengeance of Jehovah on the nations of Palestine ; and he called on his hearers not merely to remove idolatry from their hearts, but the idols from their sight.' It was not wonderful that, thus stimulated > " Accendunt aninios Ministri, fugienda non animo mod6, sod et corpore idola: eradicari, extiqiari tantarn summi Dei contumeliam opporterc affirmant." Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 236. CATHEDRAL OF ANTWERP SACKED. 49 by their spiritual leaders, the people should be prepared for scenes similar to those enacted by the Reformers in France and in Scotland, or that Margaret, aware of the popular feeling, should have predicted such an out- break. At length it came, and on a scale and with a degree of violence not surpassed either by the Hugue- nots or the disciples of Knox. On the fourteenth of August, the day before the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin, a mob some three hundred in number, armed with clubs, axes, and other implements of destruction, broke into the churches around St. Omer, in the province of Flan- ders, overturned the images, defaced the ornaments, and in a short time demolished whatever had any value or beauty in the buildings. Growing bolder from the impunity which attended their movements, they next proceeded to Ypres, and had the audacity to break into the cathedral and deal with it in the same ruthless man- ner. Strengthened by the accession of other miscreants from the various towns, they proceeded along the banks of the Lys, and fell upon the churches of Menin, Co- mines, and other places on its borders. The excitement now spread over the country. Everywhere the populace was in arms. Churches, chapels, and convents were involved in indiscriminate ruin. The storm, after sweeping over Flanders and desolating the flourishing cities of Valenciennes and Tournay, descended on Brabant. Antwerp, the great commercial capital of the country, was its first mark." = Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. pp. 250-252. — Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 232, et seq. — Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 96. — Corrcspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, pp. 183, 185. rki!ip._Vol. II.— c 5 5° THE ICONOCLASTS. The usual population of the town happened to be swelled at this time by an influx of strangers from the neighboring country, who had come up to celebrate the great festival of the Assumption of the Virgin. Fortunately, the prince of Orange was in the place, and by his presence prevented any molestation to the procession, except what arose from the occasional groans and hisses of the more zealous spectators among the Protestants. The priests, however, on their return, had the discretion to deposit the image in the chapel, instead of the conspicuous station usually assigned to it in the cathedral, to receive there during the coming week the adoration of the faithful. On the following day, unluckily, the prince was re- called to Brussels. In the evening some boys, who had found their way into the church, called out to the Vir- gin, demanding "why little Mary had gone so early to her nest, and whether she were afraid to show her face in public."' This was followed by one of the party mounting into the pulpit and there mimicking the tones and gestures of the Catholic preacher. An honest waterman who was present, a zealous son of the Church, scandalized by this insult to his religion, sprang into the pulpit and endeavored to dislodge the usurper. The lad resisted. His comrades came to his rescue; and a struggle ensued, which ended in both the parties being expelled from the building by the officers.'' This scandalous proceeding, it may be thought, should have put the magistrates of the city on their guard and 3 " Si Mariette avait peur, qu'elle se retirat sitdt en son nid." Cor- respondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, torn, ii., Preface, p. lii. 4 Ibid., ubi supra. CATHEDRAL OF ANTWERP SACKED. 5^ warned them to take some measures of defence for the cathedral. But the admonition was not heeded. On the following day a considerable number of the reformed party entered the building, and were allowed to continue there after vespers, when the rest of the congregation had withdrawn. Left in possession, their first act was to break forth into one of the Psalms of David. The sound of their own voices seemed to rouse i;hem to fury. Before the chant had died away, they rushed forward as by a common impulse, broke open the doors of the chapel, and dragged forth the image of the Virgin. Some called on her to cry, " Vivent les Gueuxf while others tore off her embroidered robes and rolled the dumb idol in the dust, amidst the shouts of the spectators. This was the signal for havoc. The rioters dispersed in all directions on the work of destruction. Nothing escaped their rage. High above the great altar was an image of the Saviour, curiously carved in wood, and placed between the effigies of the two thieves crucified with him. The mob contrived to get a rope round the neck of the statue of Christ, and dragged it to the ground. They then fell upon it with hat- chets and hammers, and it was soon broken into a hundred fragments. The two thieves, it was remarked, were spared, as if to preside over the work of rapine below. Their fury now turned against the other statues, which were quickly overthrown from their pedestals. The paintings that lined the walls of the cathedral were cut into shreds. Many of these were the choicest specimens of Flemish art, even then, in its dawn, giving 52 THE ICONOCLASTS. promise of the glorious day which was to shed a lustre over the land. But the pride of the cathedral, and of Antwerp, was the great organ, renowned throughout the Netherlands, not more for its dimensions than its perfect workman- ship. With their ladders the rioters scaled the lofty fabric, and with their implements soon converted it, like all else they laid their hands on, into a heap of rubbish. The ruin was now universal. Nothing beautiful^ nothing holy, was spared. The altars — and there were no less than seventy in the vast edifice — were over- thrown one after another; their richly embroidered coverings rudely rent away; their gold and silver vessels appropriated by the plunderers. The sacramental bread was trodden under foot ; the wine was quaffed by the miscreants, in golden dialices, to the health of one another, or of the Gueux ; and the holy oil was pro- fanely used to anoint their shoes and sandals. The sculptured tracery on the walls, the costly offerings that enriched the shrines, the screens of gilded bronze, the delicately carved wood-work of the pulpit, the marble and alabaster ornaments, all went down under the fierce blows of the iconoclasts. The pavement was strewed with the ruined splendors of a church which in size and magnificence was perhaps second only to St. Peter's among the churches of Christendom. As the light of day faded, the assailants supplied its place with such light as they could obtain from the candles which they snatched from the altars. It was midnight before the work of destruction was completed. Thus toiling in darkness, feebly dispelled by tapers the SACRILEGIOUS OUTRAGES. 53 rays of which could scarcely penetrate the vaulted distances of the cathedral, it is a curious circumstance — if true — that no one was injured by the heavy masses of timber, stone, and metal that were everywhere falling around them.s The whole number engaged in this work is said not to have exceeded a hundred men, women, and boys, — women of the lowest description, dressed in men's attire. When their task was completed, they sallied forth in a body from the doors of the cathedral, some singing the Psalms of David, others roaring out the fanatical war-cry of ^'Vivent les Gueiix /" Flushed with success, and joined on the way by stragglers like themselves, they burst open the doors of one church after another ; and by the time morning broke, the principal temples in the city had been dealt with in the same ruthless manner as the cathedral.* No attempt all this time was made to stop these pro- ceedings, on the part of magistrates or citizens. As they beheld from their windows the bodies of armed men hurrying to and fro by the gleam of their torches, and listened to the sounds of violence in the distance, they seem to have been struck with a panic. The Catholics remained within-doors, fearing a general 5 " Nullus ex eo numero aut casu afflictus, aut ruina oppressus de- cidentium ac transvolantium fragmentorum, aut occursu collisuque festinantium cum fabrilibus armis levissim^ sauciatus sit." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 257. — " No light argument," adds the historian, " that with God's permission the work was done under the immediate direction of the demons of hell !" 6 Ibid., pp. 255-258. — Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 237, et seq. — Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. p. 193. — Correspondance de Guillaume le Tacitnme, torn, ii., Preface, pp. liii., liv. 5* 54 THE ICONOCLASTS. rising of the Protestants. The Protestants feared to move abroad, lest they should be confounded with the rioters. Some imagined their own turn might come next, and appeared in arms at the entrances of their houses, prepared to defend them against the enemy. When gorged with the plunder of the city, the in- surgents poured out at the gates, and fell with the same violence on the churches, convents, and other religious edifices in the suburbs. For three days these dismal scenes continued, without resistance on the part of the inhabitants. Amidst the ruin in the cathedral, the mob had spared the royal arms and the escutcheons of the knights of the Golden Fleece, emblazoned on the walls. Calling this to mind, they now returned into the city to complete the work. But some of the knights, who were at Antwerp, collected a handful of their followers, and, with a few of the citizens, forced their way into the cathedral, arrested ten or twelve of the rioters, and easily dispersed the remainder ; while a gallows erected on an eminence admonished the offenders of the fate that awaited them. The facility with which the disorders were r^^pressed by a few reso- lute men naturally suggests the inference that many of the citizens had too much sympathy with the authors of the outrages to care to check them, still less to bring the culprits to punishment. An orthodox chronicler of the time vents his indignation against a people who were so much more ready to stand by their hearths than by their altars.^ The fate of Antwerp had its effect on the country. 7 " Pro focis pugn.itur interdum acrius qu^m pro aris." Strada, De Belle Belgico, torn. i. p. 260. SACRILEGIOUS OUTRAGES. 55 The flames of fanaticism, burning fiercer than ever, quickly spread over the northern as they had done over the western provinces. In Holland, Utrecht, Fries- land, — everywhere, in short, with a few exceptions on the southern borders, — mobs rose against the churches. In some places, as Rotterdam, Dort, Haarlem, the magistrates were wary enough to avert the storm by delivering up the images, or at least by removing them from the buildings.^ It was rarely that any attempt was made at resistance. Yet on one or two occasions this so far succeeded that a handful of troops sufficed to rout the iconoclasts. At Anchyn, four hundred of the rabble were left dead on the field* But the soldiers had no relish for their duty, and on other occasions, when called on to perform it, refused to bear arms against their countrymen. ' The leaven of heresy was too widely spread among the people. Thus the work of plunder and devastation went on vigorously throughout the land. Cathedral and chapel, monastery and nunnery, religious houses of every de- scription, even hospitals, were delivered up to the tender mercies of the Reformers. The monks fled, 8 Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i, p. 201. 9 But the Almighty, to quote the words of a contemporary, jealous of his own honor, took signal vengeance afterwards on all those towns and villages whose inhabitants had stood tamely by and seen the profanation of his temples : " Dios que es justo y zelador de su honra por caminos y formas incomprehensibles, lo ha vengado despues cruelmente, por que todos esos lugares donde esas cosas han aconte- cido han sido tornados, saqueados, despojados y arruinados por guerra, pillage, peste y incomodidades, en que, asi los males y culpa- dos, como los buenos por su sufrimiento y connivencia, han conocido y confesado que Dios ha sido corrido contra ellos." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. 56 THE ICONOCLASTS. leaving behind them treasures of manuscripts and well- stored cellars, which latter the invaders soon emptied of their contents, while they consigned the former to the flames. The terrified nuns, escaping half naked, at dead of night, from their convents, were too happy to find a retreat among their friends and kinsmen in the city." Neither monk nor nun ventured to go abroad in the conventual garb. Priests niight be sometimes seen hurrying away with some relic or sacred treasure under their robes, which they were eager to save from the spoilers. In the general sack not even the abode of the dead was respected ; and the sepulchres of the counts of Flanders were violated, and laid open to the public gaze ! " The deeds of violence perpetrated by the iconoclasts were accompanied by such indignities as might express their contempt for the ancient faith. They snatched the wafer, says an eye-witness, from the altar, and put it into the mouth of a parrot. Some huddled the images of the saints together and set them on fire, or covered them with bits of armor, and, shouting "Vive7it les Gueux P'' tilted rudely against them. Some put on the vestments stolen from the churches, and ran about the streets with them in mockery. Some basted the books with butter, that they might burn the more briskly." By the scholar, this last enormity will not 'o Sfrada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 259. " "En tous ces monast^res et cloistres, ils abattent touttes sepul- tures des comtes et conitesses de Flandres et aultres." Correspon- dance de* Marguerite d'Autriclie, p. 183. " " Hie psittaco sacrosanctum Domini corpus porrigerent: Hic ex . ordine collocatis imaginibus ignem subijcerent, cadentibus insulta- rent : Hic statuis arma induerent, in armatos depugnarent, deiectos, SACRILEGIOUS OUTRAGES. 57 be held light among their transgressions. It answered their purpose, to judge by the number of volumes that were consumed. Among the rest, the great library of Vicogne, one of the noblest collections of the Nether- lands, perished in the flames kindled by these fanatics. '^ The amomit of injury inflicted during this dismal period it is not possible to estimate. Four hundred churches were sacked by the insurgents in Flanders alone.'* The damage to the cathedral of Antwerp, in- cluding its precious contents, was said to amount to not less than four hundred thousand ducats ! *s The loss occasioned by the plunder of gold and silver plate might be computed. The structures so cruelly defaced might be repaired by the skill of the architect. But who can estimate the irreparable loss occasioned by the destruction of manuscripts, statuary, and paintings? It is a melancholy fact that the earliest efforts of the Reformers were everywhere directed against those mon- uments of genius which had been created and cherished by the generous patronage of Catholicism. But if the first step of the Reformation was on the ruins of art, it cannot be denied that a compensation has been found in the good which it has done by breaking the fetters of the intellect and opening a free range in those domains of science to which all access had been hith- erto denied. Viuant Geusij clamare imperarent, ut ad scopum sic ad Christi imagi- ■nem iaculaturi coUimarent, libros bibliothecarum butiro inunctos in ignem conijcerent, sacris vestibus summo ludibrio per vicos palkm vterentur." Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 238. '3 Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 98. •4 Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 182. •5 Strada, De Bello Bclgico, torn. i. p. 260. C* 58 THE ICONOCLASTS. The wide extent of the devastation was not more re- markable than the time in wliich it was accomplished. The whole work occupied less than a fortnight. It seemed as if the destroying angel had passed over the land and at a blow had consigned its noblest edifices to ruin ! The method and discipline, if I may so say, in the movements of the iconoclasts, were as extraor- dinary as their celerity. They would seem to have been directed by some other hands than those which met the vulgar eye. The quantity of gold and silver plate purloined from the churches and convents was immense. Though doubtless sometimes appropriated by individuals, it seems not unfrequently to have been gathered in a heap and delivered to the minister, who, either of himself, or by direction of the consistory, caused it to be melted down and distributed among the most needy of the sectaries.'* We may sympathize with the indignation of a Catholic writer of the time, who exclaims that in this way the poor churchmen were made to pay for the scourges with which they had been beaten. '7 The tidings of the outbreak fell heavily on the ears, of the court of Brussels, where the regent, notwith- standing her prediction of the event, was not any the better prepared for it. She at once called her coun- sellors together and demanded their aid in defending i6 " Y de lo que venia del saco de la plateria y cosas sagradas de la yglesia (que algunos ministros y los del consistorio juntavan en una) distribuyendo d los fieles refoitnados algunos frutos de su reforma- cion, para contentar d los hambrientos." Renom de Francia, Albo- rotos de Flandes, MS. '7 " Haciendoles pagar el precio de los azotes con que fueron azo- tados." Ibid. ALARM AT BRUSSELS. 59 the religion of the country against its enemies. But the prince of Orange and his friends discouraged a resort to violent measures, as little likely to prevail in the present temper of the people. "First," said Eg- mont, " let us provide for the security of the state. It will be time enough then to think of religion." "No," said Margaret, warmly; "the service of God demands our first care ; for the ruin of religion would be a greater evil than the loss of the country."'^ "Those who have any thing to lose in it," replied the count, somewhat coolly, " will probably be of a differ- ent opinion," '' — an answer that greatly displeased the duchess. Rumors now came thick on one another of the out- rages committed by the image-breakers. Fears were en- tertained that their next move would be on the capital itself. Hitherto the presence of the regent had pre- served Brussels, notwithstanding some transient demon- strations among the people, from the spirit of reform which had convulsed the rest of the country. No public meetings had been held either in the city or the uburbs ; for Margaret had declared she would hang up not only the preacher, but all those who attended him.*" The menace had its effect. Thus keeping aloof from '8 "II repondit que la premiere chose k faire etait de conservei I'fetat; que, ensuite on s'occuperait des choses de la religion. Elle repliqua, non sans humeur, qu'il lui paraissait plus necessaire de pourvoir d'abord k ce qu'exigeait le service de Dieu, parce que la mine de la religion serait un plus grand mal que la perte du pays." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 449. »9 " II repartit que tous ceux que avaient quelque chose k perdre, ne I'entendaient pas de cette mani^re." Ibid., p. 450. »> Vide ante, p. 28. 6o THE ICONOCLASTS. the general movement of the time, the capital was looked on with an evil eye by the surrounding country ; and reports were rife that the iconoclasts were pre- paring to march in such force on the place as should enable them to deal with it as they had done with Ant- werp and the other cities of Brabant. The question now arose as to the course to be pur- sued in the present exigency. • The prince of Orange and his friends earnestly advised that Margaret should secure the aid of the confederates by the concessions they had so strenuously demanded ; in the next place, that she should conciliate the Protestants by consent- ing to their religious meetings. To the former she made no objection. But the latter she peremptorily refused. '' It would be the ruin of our holy religion," she said. It was in vain they urged that two hundred thousand sectaries were in arms ; that they were already in possession of the churches ; that if she persisted in her refusal they would soon be in Brussels and massacre every priest and Roman Catholic before her eyes ! " Notwithstanding this glowing picture of the horrors in store for her, Margaret remained inflexible. But her agitation was excessive ; she felt herself alone in her extremity. The party of Granvelle she had long since abandoned. The party of Orange seemed now ready to abandon her. "I am pressed by enemies within and without," she wrote to Philip; "there is no one on whom I can rely for counsel or for aid."=" Dis- " " Et me disoient . . . que Ics sectaires voulloient venir tuer, en ma prdsence, tous les prestres, gens d'^glise et catholicques." Corre- spondance de Marguerite d'Autriclie, p. iS8. ."^ " La duchessc se trouve sans conscil ni assistance, press^e par ALARM AT BJiUSSELS. 6 1 trust and anxiety brought on a fever, and for several days and nights she lay tossing about, suffering equally from distress of body and anguish of spirit.*^ Thus sorely perplexed, Margaret felt also the most serious apprehensions for her personal safety. With the slight means of defence at her command, Brussels seemed no longer a safe residence, and she finally came to the resolution to extricate herself from the danger and difficulties of her situation by a precipitate flight. After a brief consultation with Barlaimont, Aerschot, and others of the party opposed to the prince of Orange, and hitherto little in her confidence, she determined to abandon the capital and seek a refuge in Mons, — a strong town in Hainault, belonging to the duke of Aerschot, which, from its sturdy attachment to the Romish faith, had little to fear from the fanatics. Having completed her preparations with the greatest secrecy, on the day fixed for her flight Margaret called her council together to communicate her design. It met with the most decided opposition, not merely from the lords with whom she had hitherto acted, but from the President Viglius. They all united in endeavoring to turn her from a measure which would plainly inti- mate such a want of confidence on the part of the duchess as must dishonor them in the eyes of the world. The preparations for Margaret's flight had not been I'ennemi au dedans et au dehors." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 455. =23 "Nonobstant touttes ces raisons et remonstrances, par plusieurs et divers jours, je n'y ay voullu entendre, donnant par plusieurs fois soupirs et signe de douleur et angoisse de coeur, jusques k Ik que, par aulcuns jours, la fiebvre m'a detenue, et ay passe plusieurs nuicts sans repos." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 194. Philip.— Vol. II. 6 62 THE ICONOCLASTS. conducted so secretly but that some rumor of them had taken wind ; and the magistrates of the city now waited on her in a body and besought her not to leave them, defenceless as they were, to the mercy of their enemies. The prince was heard to say that if the regent thus abandoned the government it would be necessary to call the states-general together at once, to take meas- ures for the protection of the country.^" And Egmont declared that if she fled to Mons he would muster forty thousand men and besiege Mons in person. ^^ The threat was not a vain one, for no man in the country could have gathered such a force under his banner more easily than Egmont. The question seems to have been finally settled by the magistrates causing the gates of the town to be secured, and a strong guard placed over them, with orders to allow no passage either to the duchess or her followers. Thus a prisoner in her own capital, Margaret conformed to necessity, and, with the best grace she could, consented to relinquish her scheme of departure. "* The question now recurred as to the course to be pursued ; and the more she pondered on the embarrass- ments of her position, the more she became satisfied that no means of extricating herself remained but that proposed by the nobles. Yet in thus yielding to neces- sity she did so protesting that she was acting under '4 Correspon dance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 454. 2S "Egmont a tenu le meme langage, en ajoiitant qu'on l^verait 40,000 hommes, pour aller assieger Mons. Ibid., ubi supra. ^ Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 196. — Strada, De Bcllo Belgico, torn. i. p. 266. — Vita Viglii, p. 48. — Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 99. CONCESSIO.VS OF THE REGENT. 63 compulsion.^ On the twenty-third of August, Margaret executed an instrument by which she engaged that no harm should come to the members of the league for any thing hitherto done by them. She further author- ized the lords to announce to the confederates her consent to the religious meetings of the Reformed, in places where they had been hitherto held, until his majesty and the states-general should otherwise deter- mine. It was on the condition, however, that they should go there unarmed, and nowhere offer disturb- ance to the Catholics. On the twenty-fifth of the month the confederate nobles signed an agreement on their part, and solemnly swore that they would aid the regent to the utmost in suppressing the disorders of the country and in bring- ing their authors to justice; agreeing, moreover, that so long as the regent should be true to the compact the league should be considered as null and void.^ The feelings of Margaret, in making the concessions required of her, may be gathered from the perusal of her private correspondence with her brother. No act in her public life ever caused her so deep a mortifica- tion ; and she never forgave the authors of it. "It was forced upon me," she writes to Philip; "but, happily, you will not be bound by it." And she be- ^7 At Margaret's command, a detailed account of the circumstances under which these concessions were extorted from her was drawn up by the secretary Berty. This document is given by Gachard, Corre- spondance de Philippe II., torn, ii., Appendix, p. 588. ^ The particulars of the agreement are given by Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 45. See also Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol.i.p. 204. — Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, torn. ii. pp. 455, 459. — Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. cxliv. 64 THE ICONOCLASTS. seeches him to come at once, in such strength as would enable him to conquer the country for himself, or to give her the means of doing so."^ Margaret, in early life, had been placed in the hands of Ignatius Loyola. More than one passage in her history proves that the lessons of the Jesuit had not been thrown away. During these discussions the panic had been such that it was thought advisable to strengthen the garrison under command of Count Mansfeldt, and keep the greater part of the citizens under arms day and night. When this arrangement was concluded, the great lords dispersed on their mission to restore order in their several governments. The prince went first to Ant- werp, where, as we have seen, he held the office of burgrave. He made strict investigation into the causes of the late tumult, hung three of the ringleaders, and banished three others. He found it, however, no easy matter to come to terms with the sectaries, who had possession of all the churches, from which they had driven the Catholics. After long negotiation, it was arranged that they should be allowed to hold six, and should resign the rest to the ancient possessors. The arrangement gave general satisfaction, and the principal citizens and merchants congratulated William on having rescued them from the evils of anarchy. Not so the regent. She knew well that the example of Antwerp would become a precedent for the rest of the country. She denounced the compact, as compro- mising the interests of Catholicism, and openly accused =^ " Elle le supplie d'y venir proniptenient, k main armee, afin de Ic conquerir de nouveau." Correspondance de Philippr; II., torn. i. P- 453- CHURCHES GRANTED TO REFORMERS. 65 the prince of having transcended his powers and be- trayed the trust reposed in him. Finally, she wrote, commanding him at once to revoke his concessions. William, in answer, explained to her the grounds on which they had been made, and their absolute necessity in order to save the city from anarchy. It is a strong argument in his favor that the Protestants, who already claimed the prince as one of their own sect, accused him, in this instance, of sacrificing their cause to that of their enemies ; and caricatures of him were made, representing him with open hands and a double face.^" William, while thus explaining his conduct, did not conceal his indignation at the charges brought against him by the regent, and renewed his request for leave to resign his offices, since he no longer enjoyed her confidence. But, whatever disgust she may have felt at his present conduct, William's services were too important to Margaret in this crisis to allow her to dis- pense with them ; and she made haste to write to him in a conciliatory tone, explaining away as far as possible what had been offensive in her former letters. Yet from this hour the consciousness of mutual distrust raised a barrier between the parties never to be overcome. 3' William next proceeded to his governments of Utrecht and Holland, which, by a similar course of measures to that pursued at Antwerp, he soon restored to order. While in Utrecht, he presented to the states of the province a memorial, in which he briefly reviewed the condition of the country. He urged the necessity 3° Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 177. 3« Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, torn. ii. pp. 220, 223, 231, 233; Preface, pji. Ixii.-lxiv. 6* 66 THE ICONOCLASTS. of religioiis toleration, as demanded by the spirit of the age, and as particularly necessary in a country like that, the resort of so many foreigners and inhabited by sects of such various denominations. He concluded by recommending them to lay a petition to that effect before the throne, — not, probably, from any belief that such a petition would be heeded by the monarch, but from the effect it would have in strengthening the prin- ciples of religious freedom in his countrymen. Wil- liam's memorial is altogether a remarkable paper for the time, and in the wise and liberal tenor of its argu- ments strikingly contrasts with the intolerant spirit of the court of Madrid. ^^ The regent proved correct in her prediction that the example of Antwerp would be made a precedent for the country. William's friends, the Counts Hoorne and Hoogstraten, employed the same means for concil- iating the sectaries in their own governments. It was otherwise with Egmont. He was too stanch a Catholic at heart to approve of such concessions. He carried matters, therefore, with a high hand in his provinces of Flanders and Ai»tois, where his personal authority was unbounded. He made a severe scrutiny into the causes of the late tumult, and dealt with its authors so sternly as to provoke a general complaint among the reformed party, some of whom, indeed, became so far alarmed for their own safety that they left the provinces and went beyond sea. Order now seemed to be re-established in the land, through the efforts of the nobles, aided by the confed- 3" The document is given entire by Groen, Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. p. 429, et scq. CHURCHES GRANTED TO REFORMERS. 67 erates, wlio seem to have faithfully executed their part of the compact with the regent. The Protestants took possession of the churches assigned to them, or busied themselves with raising others on the ground before reserved for their meetings. All joined in the good work, the men laboring at the building, the women giving their jewels and ornaments to defray the cost of the materials. A calm succeeded, — a temporary lull after the hurricane; and Lutheran and Calvinist again indulged in the pleasing illusion that, however dis- tasteful it might be to the government, they were at length secure of the blessings of religious toleration. During the occurrence of these events a great change had taken place in the relations of parties. The Catholic members of the league, who had proposed nothing beyond the reform of certain glaring abuses, and least of all any thing prejudicial to their own religion, were startled as they saw the inevitable result of the course they were pursuing. Several of them, as we have seen, had left the league before the outbreak of the iconoclasts ; and after that event but very few remained in it. The confederates, on the other hand, lost ground with the people, who looked with distrust on their late arrangement with the regent, in which they had so well provided for their own security. The confidence of the people was not restored by the ready aid which their old allies seemed willing to afford the great nobles in bringing to justice the authors of the recent disorders. ^3 Thus deserted by many of its own members, distrusted by the Reformers, and detested by 33 Tiepolo, the Venetian minister at the court of Castile at this time, in his report made on his return, expressly acquits the Flemish 68 THE ICONOCLASTS. the regent, the league ceased from that period to exert any considerable influence on the affairs of the country. A change equally important had taken place in the politics of the court. The main object with Margaret, from the first, had been to secure the public tranquillity. To effect this she had more than once so far deferred to the judgment of William and his friends as to pursue a policy not the most welcome to herself. But it had never been her thought to extend that policy to the point of religious toleration. So far from it, she de- clared that, even though the king should admit two religions in the state, she would rather be torn in pieces than consent to it.^* It was not till the coalition of the nobles that her eyes were opened to the path she was treading. The subsequent outrages of the iconoclasts made her comprehend she was on the verge of a preci- pice. The concessions wrung from her at that time by Orange and his friends filled up the measure of her indignation. A great gulf now opened between her and the party by whom she had been so long directed. nobles of what had been often imputed to them, having a hand in these troubles. Their desire for reform only extended to certain cry- ing abuses ; but, in the words of his metaphor, the stream which they would have turned to the irrigation of the ground soon swelled to a terrible inundation : " Contra 1' opinion de' principali della lega, che volevano indur timore et non tanto danno. . . . Dico che questo fu perch^ essi non hebbero mai intentione di ribellarsi dal suo sig'^^ mk Eolamente con questi mezzi di timore impedir che non si introducesse in quel stati il trilnmal dell' Inquisitione." Relatione di M. A. Tie- polo, 1567, MS. 34 "En supposant que le Roi voulut admettre deux religions (ce qu'elle ne pouvait croire), elle ne voulait pas, elle, etre rexecutrice d'une semblable determination ; qu'elle se laisserait plutot mettre en pieces." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 453. MARGARET REPENTS HER CONCESSIONS. 69 Yet where could she turn for support? One course only remained ; and it was with a bitter feeling that she felt constrained to throw herself into the arms of the very party which she had almost estranged from her counsels. In her extremity she sent for the President Viglius, on whose head she had poured so many anath- emas in her correspondence with Philip, — whom she had not hesitated to charge with the grossest peculation. Margaret sent for the old councillor, and, with tears in her eyes, demanded his advice in the present exigency. The president naturally expressed his surprise at this mark of confidence from one who had so carefully excluded him from her counsels for the last two years. Margaret, after some acknowledgment of her mistake, intimated a hope that this would be no impediment to his giving her the counsel she now so much needed. Viglius answered by inquiring whether she were pre- pared faithfully to carry out what she knew to be the will of the king. On Margaret's replying in the affirmative, he recommended that she should put the same question to each member of her cabinet. "Their answers," said the old statesman, "will show you whom you are to trust." The question — the touchstone of loyalty — ^\vas accordingly put ; and the minister, who relates the anecdote himself, tells us that three only, Mansfeldt, Barlaimont, and Aerschot, were prepared to stand by the regent in carrying out the policy of the crown. From that hour the regent's confidence was transferred from the party with which she had hitherto acted, to their rivals. ^s 35 The report of this curious dialogue, somewhat more extended than in these pages, is to be found in the Vita Vighi, p. 47. 70 THE ICONOCLASTS. It is amusing to trace the change of Margaret's sentiments in her correspondence of this period with her brotlier. *' Orange and Hoorne prove themselves, by word and by deed, enemies of God and the king." 3* Of Egmont she speaks no better. " With all his pro- testations of loyalty," she fears he is only plotting mischief to the state. "He has openly joined the Gueux, and his eldest daughter is reported to be a Huguenot. "37 Her great concern is for the safety of Viglius, "almost paralyzed by his fears, as the peo- ple actually threaten to tear him in pieces. "^^ The factious lords conduct affairs according to their own pleasure in the council; and it is understood they are negotiating at the present moment to bring about a coalition between the Protestants of Germany, France, and England, hoping in the end to drive the house of Austria from the throne, to shake off the yoke of Spain from the Netherlands, and divide the provinces among themselves and their friends!^ Margaret's credulity seems to have been in proportion to her hatred, and her hatred in proportion to her former friendship. So it was in her quarrel with Granvelle, and she now dealt the same measure to the men who had succeeded that minister in her confidence. 36 " En paroles et en fails, ils se sont declares contra Dieu et contre le Roi." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 453. 37 Ibid., ubi supra. 38 " Le president, qu'on menace de tous cotes d'assommer et de mettre en pieces, est devenu d'une timidity incroyable." Ibid., p. 460. — Viglius, in his " Life," confirms this account of the dangers with which he was threatened by the people, but takes much more credit to himself for presence of mind than the duchess seems willing to allow. Vita Viglii, p. 48. 39 Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. i. pp. 255, 260. MARGARET REPENTS HER CONCESSIONS. 71 The prince of Orange cared little for the regent's estrangement. He had long felt that his own path lay wide asunder from that of the government, and, as we have seen, had more than once asked leave to resign his offices and withdraw into private life. Hoorne viewed the matter with equal indifference. He had also asked leave to retire, complaining that his services had been poorly requited by the government. He was a man of a bold, impatient temper. In a letter to Philip he told him that it was not the regent, but his majesty, of whom he complained, for compelling him to undergo the annoyance of dancing attendance at the court of Brussels ! '*° He further added that he had not discussed his conduct with the duchess, as it was not his way to treat of affairs of honor with ladies ! *' There was cer- tainly no want of plain-dealing in this communication with majesty. Count Egmont took the coolness of the regent in a very different manner. It touched his honor, perhaps his vanity, to be thus excluded from her confidence. He felt it the more keenly as he was so loyal at heart and strongly attached to the Romish faith. On the other hand, his generous nature was deeply sensible to the wrongs of his countrymen. Thus drawn in opposite directions, he took the middle course, — by no means the safest in politics. Under these opposite influences he remained in a state of dangerous irresolution. His 4° " Disant n'avoir aulcun d'elle, mais bien de Vostre Majeste, la- quelle n'avoit este content me laisser en ma maison, mais m'avoit commaiide me trouver h. Bruxelles vers Son Altesse, ou avoie receu tant de facheries." Supplement \ Strada, tom. ii. p. 505. 4^ " Ne me samblant debvoir traicter affaires de honneur avecq Dames." Ibid., ubi supra. 72 THE ICONOCLASTS. sympathy with the cause of the confederates lost him the confidence of the government. His loyalty to the government excluded him from the councils of the confederates. And thus, though perhaps the most popular man in the Netherlands, there was no one who possessed less real influence in public affairs.*^ The tidings of the tumults in the Netherlands, which travelled with the usual expedition of evil news, caused as great consternation at the court of Castile as it had done at that of Brussels. Philip, on receiving his despatches, burst forth, it is said, into the most violent fit of anger, and, tearing his beard, he exclaimed, "It shall cost them dear ; by the soul of my father I swear it, it shall cost them dear!"''^ The anecdote, often repeated, rests on the authority of Granvelle's corre- spondent, Morillon. If it be true, it affords a solitary exception to the habitual self-command — displayed in circumstances quite as trying — of the "prudent" monarch. The account given by Hopper, who was with the court at the time, is the more probable of the two. According to that minister, the king, when he received the tidings, lay ill of a tertian fever at Segovia. 42 "They tell me," writes Morillon to Granvelle, "it is quite in- credible how old and gray Egmont has become. He does not ven- ture to sleep at night without his sword and pistols by his bedside!" (Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 36.) But there was no pretence that at this time Egmont's life was in danger. Morillon, in his eagerness to cater for the cardinal's appetite for gos- sip, did not always stick at the improbable. 43 " II leur en coutera cher (s'ecria-t-il en se tirant la barbe), il leur en coutera cher; j'en jure par I'ame de mon pere." Gachard, Ana- lectes Belgiques, p. 254.* * ["Tirant la barbe" is merely pulling, or twitching, the beard, — an habitual gesture of Philip's, according to some writers. — Ed.] THE FEELING AT MADRID. 73 As letter after letter came to hini with particulars of the tumult, he maintained his usual serenity, exhibiting no sign of passion or vexation. Though enfeebled by his malady, he allowed himself no repose, but gave unremitting attention to business."^ He read all the despatches, made careful notes of their contents, send- ing such information as he deemed best to his council, for their consideration, and, as his health mended, occasionally attended in person to the discussions of that body. One can feel but little doubt as to the light in which the proceedings in the Netherlands were regarded by the royal council of Castile. Yet it did not throw the whole, or even the chief, blame on the iconoclasts. They were regarded as mere tools in the hands of the sectaries. The sectaries, on their part, were, it was said, moved by the confederates, on whom they leaned for protection. The confederates, in their turn, made common cause with the great lords, to whom many of them were bound by the closest ties of friendship and of blood. By this ingenious chain of reasoning, all were made responsible for the acts of violence; but the chief responsibility lay on the heads of the great nobles, on whom all in the laSst resort depended. It was against them that the public indignation should be directed, not against the meaner offenders, over whom alone the 44 " De tout cela (disje) ne se perdit un seul moment en ce temps, non obstant la dicte maladie de Sa Maj'«, la quelle se monstra sem- blablement selon son bon naturel, en tous ces negoces et actions tous- jours tant modeste, et temperee et constante en iceulx affaires, quelques extremes qu'ilz fussent, que jamais Ton n'a veu en icelle signal, ou de passion contre les personnes d'une part, ou de relasche en ses negoces de I'aultre." Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 104. Philip. — Vol. II. — D 7 74 THE ICONOCLASTS. sword of justice had been hitherto suspended. But the king should dissemble his sentiments until he was in condition to call these great vassals to account for their misdeeds. All joined in beseeching Philip to defer no longer his visit to Flanders ; and most of them recom- mended that he should go in such force as to look down opposition and crush the rebellion in its birth. Such was the counsel of Alva, in conformity with that which he had always given on the subject. But although all concurred in urging the king to expedite his departure, some of the councillors followed the prince of Eboli in advising Philip that, instead of this warlike panoply, he should go in peaceable guise, ac- companied only by such a retinue as befitted the royal dignity. Each of the great rivals recommended the measures most congenial with his own temper, the direction of which would no doubt be intrusted to the man who recommended them. It is not strange that the more violent course should have found favor with the majority. '*5 45 At this period stops the " Recueil et Memorial des Troubles des Pays-Bas" of Joachim Hopper, which covers a hundred quarto pages of the second volume (part second) of Hoynck van Papendrecht's "Analecta Belgica." Hopper was a jurist, a man of learning and integrity. In 1566 he was called to Madrid, raised to the post of keeper of the seals for the affairs of the Netherlands, and made a member of the council of state. He never seems to have enjoyed tlie confidence of Philip in anything like the degree whichGranvelle and some other ministers could boast; for Hopper was a Fleming. Yet his situation in the cabinet made him acquainted with the tone of sentiment as well as the general policy of the court ; while, as a native of Flanders, he could comprehend, better than a Spaniard, the bearing this policy would have on his countrymen. His work, therefore, is of great importance as far as it goes. It is diflTicult to say why it should have stopped in mediis, for Hopper remained still in SAGACITY OF ORANGE. 75 Philip's own decision he kept, as usual, locked in his own bosom. He wrote indeed to his sister, warning her not to allow the meeting of the legislature, and announcing his speedy coming, — all as usual \ and he added that in repressing the disorders of the country- he should use no other means than those of gentleness and kindness, under the sanction of the states. ■''^ These gentle professions weighed little with those who, like the prince of Orange, had surer means of arriving at the king's intent than what were afforded by the royal correspondence. Montigny, the Flemish envoy, was still at Madrid, held there, sorely against his will, in a sort of honorable captivity by Philip. In a letter to his brother. Count Hoorne, he wrote, " Nothing can be in worse odor than our affairs at the court of Castile. The great lords, in particular, are considered as the source of all the mischief. Violent counsels are alto- gether in the ascendant, and the storm may burst on you sooner than you think. Nothing remains but to fly from it like a prudent man, or to face it like a brave one !"•"' William had other sources of intelligence, the secret agents whom he kept in pay at Madrid. From them he learned not only what was passing at the court, but in the very cabinet of the monarch ; and extracts, some- office, and died at Madrid ten years after the period to which he brings his narrative. He may have been discouraged by the remarlcs of Vighus, who intimates, in a letter to his friend, that the chronicler should wait to allow Time to disclose the secret springs of action. See the Epistote ad Hopperum, p. 419. 46 Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 206. ■47 " Questo h il nuvolo che minaccia era i nostri paesi ; e n' uscirfl la tempesta forse prima che non si pensa. Chi la prevede ne d^ r avviso ; e chi n' h avvisato, o con intrepidezza 1' incontri, o con avvedimento la sfugga." Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 118. y6 THE ICONOCLASTS. times full copies, of the correspondence of Philip and Margaret were transmitted to the prince. Thus the secrets which the most jealous prince in Europe sup- posed to be locked in his own breast were often in possession of his enemies; and William, as we are told, declared that there was no word of Philip's, public or private, but was reported to his ears ! "* This secret intelligence, on which the prince ex- pended large sums of money, was not confined to Madrid. He maintained a similar system of espionage in Paris, where the court of Castile was busy with its intrigues for the extermination of heresy. Those who look on these trickish proceedings as unworthy of the character of the prince of Orange and the position which he held should consider that it was in accordance with the spirit of the age. It was but turning Philip's own arts against himself, and using the only means by which William could hope to penetrate the dark and unscrupulous policy of a cabinet whose chief aim, as he bliought, was to subvert the liberties of his country. It was at this time that his agents in France inter- cepted a letter from Alava, the Spanish minister at the French court. It was addressed to the duchess of Parma. Among other things, the writer says it is well understood at Madrid that the great nobles are at the bottom of the troubles of Flanders. The king is levy- ing a strong force, with which he will soon visit the country and call the three lords to a heavy reckoning. In the mean time the duchess must be on her guard not 48 " Nullum prodire h Regis ore verbum seu private seu public^, quin ad ejus aures in Belgium fideliter afferatur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 281. SAGACITY OF ORANGE. 77 by any change in her deportment to betray her con- sciousness of this intent.'*' Thus admonished from various quarters, the prince felt that it was no longer safe for him to remain in his present position, and that, in the words of Montigny, he must be prepared to fight or to fly. He resolved to take counsel with some of those friends who were simi- larly situated with himself. In a communication made to Egmont in order to persuade him to a conference, William speaks of Philip's military preparations as equally to be dreaded by Catholic and Protestant ; for, under the pretext of religion, Philip had no other object in view than to enslave the nation. "This has been always feared by us," he adds; 5° "and I cannot stay to witness the ruin of my country." The parties met at Dendermonde on the third of October. Besides the two friends and Count Hoorne, there were William's brother Louis, and a few other persons of consideration. Little is actually known of the proceedings at this conference, notwithstanding the efforts of more than one officious chronicler to enlighten us. Their contradictory accounts, like so many cross- lights on his path, serve only to perplex the eye of the student. It seems probable, however, that the nobles generally, including the prince, considered the time 49 An abstract of the letter is given by Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 485. 50 " Sa Ma'6 et ceulx du Conseil seront bien aise que sur le pretext de la religion ils pourront parvenir k leur pretendu, de mestre le pais, nous aultres, et nous enfans en la plus miserable servitude qu'on n'auroit jamais veu, et come on ast tousjours craint cela plus que chose que soit." Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. P- 324- 7* 78 THE ICOiVOCLASTS. had arrived for active measures, and that any armed intrusion on the part of Philip into the Netherlands should be resisted by force. But Egmont, with all his causes of discontent, was too loyal at heart not to shrink from the attitude of rebellion. He had a larger stake than most of the company, in a numerous family of children, who in case of a disastrous revolution would be thrown helpless on the world. The benignity with which he had been received by Philip on his mission to Spain, and which subsequent slights had not effaced from his memory, made him confide, most unhappily, in the favorable dispositions of the monarch. From whatever motives, the count refused to become a party to any scheme of resistance; and, as his popularity with the troops made his co-operation of the last im- portance, the conference broke up without coming to a determination. 5' Egmont at once repaired to Brussels, whither he had been summoned by the regent to attend the council of state. Orange and Hoorne received, each, a similar summons, to which neither of them paid any regard. Before taking his seat at the board, Egmont showed the duchess Alava's letter, upbraiding her, at the same 5' Egmont's deposilion at his trial confirms the account given in the text, — that propositions for resistance, though made at the meet- ing, were rejected. Hoorne, in his "Justification," refers the failure to Egmont. Neither one nor the other throws light on the course of discussion. Bentivoglio, in his account of the interview, shows no such reserve ; and he gives two long and elaborate speeches from Orange and Egmont, in as good set phrase as if they had been ex- pressly reported by the parties themselves for publication. The Italian historian affects a degree of familiarity with the proceedings of this secret conclave by no means calculated to secure our confi- dence. Guerra di Fiandra, pp. 123-128. SAGACITY OF ORANGE. 79 time, with her perfidious conduct towards the nobles. Margaret, who seems to have given way to temper or to tears as the exigency demanded, broke forth in a rage, declaring it *' an impudent forgery and the greatest piece of villany in the world l''^^" The same sentiment she repeats in a letter addressed soon after to her brother, in which she asserts her belief that no such letter as that imputed to Alava had ever been written by him. How far the duchess was honest in her decla- ration it is impossible at this day to determine. Eg- mont, after passing to other matters, concludes with a remark which shows, plainly enough, his own opinion of her sincerity. " In fine, she is a woman educated in Rome. There is no faith to be given to ]'ier."53 In her communication above noticed, Margaret took occasion to complain to Philip of his carelessness in regard to her letters. The contents of them, she said, were known in Flanders almost as soon as at Madrid ; and not only copies, but the original autographs, were 52 " Siesse qu'elle jure que s'et la plus grande vilagnerie du monde . . . et que s'et ung vray pasquil fameulx et qui doit ettre forge par- dech^, et beaucoup de chozes semblables." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. p. 400. 53 " En fin s'et una femme nourie en Rome, il n'y at que ajouter loy." Ibid., p. 401. — Yet Egmont, on his trial, afflnned that he re- garded the letter as spurious! (Correspondance de Marguerite d'Au- triche, p. 327.) One who finds it impossible that the prince of Orange could lend himself to such a piece of duplicity may perhaps be stag gered when he calls to mind his curious correspondence with the elector and with King Philip in relation to Anne of Saxony, before his marriage with that princess. Yet Margaret, as Egmont hints, was of the Italian school ; and Strada, her historian, dismisses the ques- tion with a doubt, — "in medio ego quidem relinquo." A doubt from Strada is a decision against Margaret. 8o THE ICONOCLASTS. circulating in Brussels. She concludes by begging her brother, if he cannot keep her letters safe, to burn them. 54 The king, in answer, expresses his surprise at her complaints, assuring Margaret that it is impossible any- one can have seen her letters, which are safely locked up, with the key in his own pocket. ^^ It is amusing to see Philip's incredulity in regard to the practice of those arts on himself which he had so often practised on others. His sister, however, seems to have relied henceforth more on her own precautions than on his, as we find her communications from this time frequently shrouded in cipher. Rumors of Philip's warlike preparations were now rife in the Netherlands ; and the Protestants began to take counsel as to the best means of providing for their own defence. One plan suggested was to send thirty thousand Calvinistic tracts to Seville for distribution among the Spaniards. ^'^ This would raise a good crop of heresy, and give the king work to do in his own dominions. It would, in short, be carrying the war into the enemy's country. The plan, it must be owned, had the merit of novelty. In Holland the nobles and merchants mutually bound themselves to stand by one another in asserting the right of freedom of conscience. s' Levies went forward briskly in Germany, under the direction of Count Louis of Nassau. It was attempted, moreover, to interest the 54 Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 474. 55 Ibid., p. 491. 56 Strad.i, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 282. 57 Ibid., ubi supra. SAGACITY OF ORANGE. 8l Protestant princes of that country so far in the fate of their brethren in the Netherlands as to induce them to use their good offices with Philip to dissuade him from violent measures. The emperor had already offered privately his own mediation to the king, to bring about, if possible, a better understanding with his Flemish subjects. 5^ The offer made in so friendly a spirit, though warmly commended by some of the council, seems to have found no favor in the eyes of their master. 59 The princes of Germany who had embraced the Reformation were Lutherans. They had almost as little sympathy with the Calvinists as with the Catholics. Men of liberal minds in the Netherlands, like William and his brother, would gladly have seen the two great Protestant parties which divided their country united on some common basis. They would have had them, in short, in a true Christian spirit, seek out the points on which they could agree rather than those on which they differed, — points of difference which, in William's estimation, were after all of minor importance. He was desirous that the Calvinists should adopt a confes- sion of faith accommodated in some degree to the ** Confession of Augsburg," — a step which would greatly promote their interests with the princes of Germany.*" But the Calvinists were altogether the dominant party in the Low Countries. They were thoroughly organized, and held their consistories, composed of a 58 Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 109. 59 Ibid., p. 113. *o Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. p. 391. 82 THE ICONOCLASTS. senate and a sort of lower house, in many of the great towns, all subordinate to the great consistory at Ant- werp. They formed, in short, what the historian well calls an independent Protestant republic.*' Strong in their power, sturdy in their principles, they refused to bend in any degree to circumstances, or to make any concession or any compromise with the weaker party. The German princes, disgusted with this conduct, showed no disposition to take any active measures in their behalf, and, although they made some efforts in favor of the Lutherans, left their Calvinistic brethren in the Netherlands to their fate. It was generally understood at this time that the prince of Orange had embraced Lutheran opinions. His wife's uncle, the landgrave of Hesse, pressed him publicly to avow his belief. To this the prince objected that he should thus become the open enemy of the Catholics, and probably lose his influence with the Cal- vinists, already too well disposed to acts of violence.*^ Yet not long after we find William inquiring of the landgrave if it would not be well to advise the king, in terms as little offensive as possible, of his change of religion, asking the royal permission, at the same time, to conform his worship to it.*^ William's father had been a Lutheran, and in that faith had lived and died. In that faith he had educated *' " Praetereh consistoria, id est senatus ac coetus, multis in urbibus, sicuti jam Antverpije ceeperant, instituenint : creatis Magistratibus, Senatoribusque, quorum consiliis (sed ante&. cum Antverpiana curia, ■quam esse principem voluere, communicatis) universa hjereticorum Respub. temperaretur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. 1. p. 283. *« Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. ii. pp. 455, 456. '3 Ibid., p. 496. WILLIAM'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. S3 his son. When only eleven years old, the latter, as we have seen, was received into the imperial household. The plastic mind of boyhood readily took its impres- sions from those around, and without much difficulty, or indeed examination, William conformed to the creed fashionable at the court of Castile. In this faith — if so it should be called — the prince remained during the lifetime of the emperor. Then came the troubles of the Netherlands ; and William's mind yielded to other influences. He saw the workings of Catholicism under a terrible aspect. He beheld his countrymen dragged from their firesides, driven into exile, thrown into dungeons, burned at the stake, and all this for no other cause than dissent from the dogmas of the Romish Church. His soul sickened' at these enormi- ties, and his indignation kindled at this invasion of the inalienable right of private judgment. Thus deeply interested for the oppressed Protestants, it was natural that William should feel a sympathy for their cause. His wife, too, was a Lutheran. So was his mother, still surviving. So were his brothers and sisters, and indeed all those nearest akin to him. Under these influences, public and domestic, it was not strange that he should have been led to review the grounds of his own belief; that he should have gradually turned to the faith of his parents, — the faith in which he had been nurtured in childhood.** At what precise period ''4 I quote almost the words of William in his famous Apology', which suggests the same explanation of his condvict that I have given in the text: " Car puis que des le berceau j'y avois este nourry, Mon- sieur mon Pere y avoit vescu, y estoit mort, ayant chasse de ses Seigneuries les abus de I'Eglise, qui est-ce qui trouvera estrange si cette doctrine estoit tellement engravee en mon c^"eur, et y avoit jettt^ 84 THE ICONOCLASTS. the change in his opinions took place we are not in- formed. But his letter to the landgrave of Hesse, in November, 1566, affords, so far as I am aware, the earliest evidence that exists, under his own hand, that he had embraced the doctrines of the Reformation. telles racines, qu'en son temps elle est venue k apporter ses fruits." Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. v. part. i. p. 392. CHAPTER XIII. THE regent's authority RE-ESTABLISHED. Reaction. — Appeal to Arms. — Tumult in Antweq^. — Siege of Valen- ciennes. — The Government triumphant. 1566, 1567. The excesses of the iconoclasts, like most excesses, recoiled on the heads of those who committed them. The Roman Catholic members of the league withdrew, as we have seen, from an association which connected them, however remotely, with deeds so atrocious. Other Catholics, who had looked with no unfriendly eye on the revolution, now that they saw it was to go forward over the ruins of their religion, were only eager to show their detestation of it and their loyalty to the government. The Lutherans, who, as already noticed, had never moved in much harmony with the Calvinists, were anxious to throw the whole blame of the excesses on the rival sect ; and thus the breach, growing wider and wider between the two great divisions of the Prot- estants, worked infinite prejudice to the common cause of reform. Lastly, men like Egmont, who from patri- otic motives had been led to dally with the revolution in its infancy, seeming indeed almost ready to embrace it, now turned coldly away and hastened to make their peace with the regent. Margaret felt the accession of strength she was daily Philip.— Vol. IT. 8 ( S5 ) S6 REGENT'S AUTHORITY RE-ESTABLISHED. deriving from these divisions of her enemies, and she was not slow to profit by it. As she had no longer con- fidence in those on whom she had hitherto relied for support, she was now obliged to rely more exclusively on herself. She was indefatigable in her application to business. " I know not," writes her secretary, Armen- teros, "how the regent contrives to live, amidst the disgusts and difficulties which incessantly beset her. For some months she has risen before dawn. Every morning and evening, sometimes oftener, she calls her council together. The rest of the day and night she is occupied with giving audiences, or with receiving de- spatches and letters, or in answering them." ' Margaret now bent all her efforts to retrace the humil- iating path into Avhich she had been led, and to re-estab- lish the fallen authority of the crown. If she did not actually revoke the concessions wrung from her, she was careful to define them so narrowly that they should be of little service to any one. She wrote to the gov- ernors of the provinces that her license for public preaching was to be taken literally, and was by no means intended to cover the performance of other re- ligious rites, as those of baptism, marriage, and burial, which she understood were freely practised by the re- formed ministers. She published an edict reciting the terrible penalties of the law against all offenders in this ' " II y a plus de trois rnois, qu' elle se leve avant le jour, et que le plus souvent elle tient conseil le matin et le soir; et tout le reste de la journee et de la nuit, elle le consacre k donner des audiences, k lire les lettres et les avis qui arrivcnt de toutes parts, et &. determiner les r^ponscs k y faire." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 496. — Sleep seems to have been as superfluous to Margaret as to a hero of romance. REACTION. «7 way, and she enjoined the authorities to enforce the execution of it to the letter.' The Protestants loudly complained of what they termed a most perfidious policy on the part of the regent. 'J'he right of public preaching, they said, naturally included that of performing the other reli- gious ceremonies of the Reformed Church. It was a cruel mockery to allow men to profess a religion and yet not to practise the rites which belong to it. The construction given by Margaret to her edict must be admitted to savor somewhat of the spirit of that given by Portia to Shylock's contract. The pound of flesh might indeed be taken ; but if so much as a drop of blood followed, woe to him that took it ! This measure was succeeded by others on the part of the government of a still more decisive character. In- stead of the civil magistracy, Margaret now showed her purpose to call in the aid of a strong military force to execute the laws. She ordered into the country the levies lately raised for her in Germany. These she augmented by a number of Walloon regiments ; and she placed them under the command of Aremberg, Megen, and other leaders in whom she confided. She did not even omit the prince of Orange, for, though Margaret had but little confidence in William, she did not care to break with him. To the provincial gov- ernors she wrote to strengthen themselves as much as possible by additional recruits ; and she ordered them to introduce garrisons into such places as had shown favor to the new doctrines. The province of Hainault was that which gave the " Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. pp. 289, 290. 88 REGENTS AUTHORITY REESTABLISHED. greatest uneasiness to the regent. The spirit of inde- pendence was proverbially high among the people, and the neighborhood of France gave easy access to the Huguenot ministers, who reaped an abundant harvest in the great towns of that district. The flourishing commercial city of Valenciennes was particularly tainted with heresy. Margaret ordered Philip de Noircarmes, governor of Hainault, to secure the obedience of the place by throwing into it a garrison of three companies of horse and as many of foot. When the regent's will was announced to the people of Valenciennes, it met at first with no opposition. But among the ministers in the town was a Frenchman named La Grange, a bold enthusiast, gifted with a stir- ring eloquence, which gave him immense ascendency over the masses. This man told the people that to receive a garrison would be the death-blow to their liberties, and that those of the reformed religion would be the first victims. Thus warned, the citizens were now even more unanimous in refusing a garrison than they had before been in their consent to admit one. Noircarmes, though much surprised by this sudden change, gave the inhabitants some days to consider the matter before placing themselves in open resistance to the government. The magistrates and some of the principal persons in the town were willing to obey his requisition, and besought La Grange to prevail on the people to consent to it. ''I would rather," replied the high-spirited preacher, "that my tongue should cleave to the roof of my mouth, and that I should be- come dumb as a fish, than open my lips to persuade the people to consent to so cruel and outrageous an REACTION. 89 act." 3 Finding the inhabitants still obstinate, the gen- eral, by Margaret's orders, proclaimed the city to be in a state of rebellion, — proscribed the persons of the citi- zens as traitors to their sovereign, and confiscated their property. At the same time, active preparations were begun for laying siege to the place, and proclamation was made in the regent's name, prohibiting the people of the Netherlands from affording any aid, by counsel, arms, or money, to the rebellious city, under the pen- alties incurred by treason. But the inhabitants of Valenciennes, sustained by the promises of their preacher, were nothing daunted by these measures, nor by the formidable show of troops which Noircarmes was assembling under their walls. Their town was strongly situated, tolerably well victualled for a siege, and filled with a population of hardy burghers devoted to the cause, whose spirits were raised by the exhortations of the consistories in the neighboring provinces to be of good courage, as their brethren would speedily come to their relief. The high-handed measures of the government caused great consternation through the country, especially among those of the reformed religion. A brisk corre- spondence went on between the members of the league and the consistories. Large sums were raised by the merchants well affected to the cause, in order to levy troops in Germany, and were intrusted to Brederode 3 "J'aimerais mieux que malangue fut attachee au palais, et devenir muet, comme un poisson, que d'ouvrir la bouche pour persuader au peuple chose tant cnielle et deraisonnable." Chronique contempo- raine, cited by Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 561, note. 8* 90 REGENTS AUTHORITY RE-ESTABLISHED. for the purpose. It was also determined that a last eifort should be made to soften the duchess by means of a petition which that chief, at the head of four hun- dred knights, was to bear to Brussels. But Margaret had had enough of petitions, and she bluntly informed Brederode that if he came in that guise he would find the gates of Brussels shut against him. Still the sturdy cavalier was not to be balked in his purpose ; and, by means of an agent, he caused the petition to be laid before the regent. It was taken up mainly with a remonstrance on the course pursued by Margaret, so much at variance with her promises. It particularly enlarged on the limitation of her license for public preaching. In conclusion, it besought the regent to revoke her edict, to disband her forces, to raise the siege of Valenciennes, and to respect the agreement she had made with the league ; in which case they were ready to assure her of their support in maintaining order. Margaret laid the document before her council, and on the sixteenth of February, 1567, an answer, which might be rather said to be addressed to the country at large than to Brederode, was published. The duchess intimated her surprise that any mention should be made of the league, as she had supposed that body had ceased to exist, since so many of its members had been but too glad, after the late outrages, to make their peace with the government. As to her concession of public preach- ing, it could hardly be contended that that was designed to authorize the sectaries to lay taxes, levy troops, create magistrates,- and to perform, among other religious rites, that of marriage, involving the transfer of large amounts APPEAL ro ARMS. 91 of property. Slie could hardly be thought mad enough to invest them with powers like these. She admonished the petitioners not to compel their sovereign to forego his native benignity of disposition. It would be well for them, she hinted, to give less heed to public affairs, and more to their own ; and she concluded with the assurance that she would take good care that the ruin which they so confidently predicted for the country should not be brought about by them.'' The haughty tone of the reply showed too plainly that the times were changed, — that Margaret was now conscious of her strength, and meant to use it. The confederates felt that the hour had come for action. To retrace their steps was impossible. Yet their pres- ent position was full of peril. The rumor went that King Philip was soon to come, at the head of a power- ful force, to take vengeance on his enemies. To remain as they were, without resistance, would be to offer their necks to the stroke of the executioner. An appeal to arms was all that was left to them. This was accord- ingly resolved on. The standard of revolt was raised. The drum beat to arms in the towns and villages, and re- cruits were everywhere enlisted. Count Louis was busy in enforcing levies in Germany. Brederode's tov/n of Viana was named as the place of rendezvous. That chief was now in his element. His restless spirit delighted in scenes of tumult. He had busied himself in strength- 4 " Suadere itaque illis, lit \ publicis cert^ negotiis abstineant, ac res quique suas in posterum curent : neve Regem brevi affucturum ingenitoe benignitatis oblivisci cogant. Se quidem omni ope curatu- ram, ne, qiiam ipsi ruinam comminentur, per hsec vulgi turbamenta Belgium patiatur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 295. 92 JiEGEA'TS AUTHORITY RE-ESTABLISHED. ening the works of Viana and in furnishing it with artillery and military stores. Thence he had secretly passed over to Amsterdam, where he was occupied in organizing resistance among the people, already, by their fondness for the new doctrines, well disposed to it. Hostilities first broke out in Brabant, where Count Megen was foiled in an attempt on Bois-le-Duc, which had refused to receive a garrison. He was more for- tunate in an expedition against the refractory city of Utrecht, which surrendered without a struggle to the royalist chief. In other quarters the insurgents were not idle. A body of some two thousand men, under Marnix, lord of Thoulouse, "brother of the famous St. Aldegonde, made a descent on the island of Walcheren, where it was supposed Philip would land. But they were baf- fled in their attempts on this place by tlie loyalty and valor of the inhabitants. Failing in this scheme, Thou- louse was compelled to sail up the Scheldt, until he reached the little village of Austruweel, about a league from Antwerp. There he disembarked his whole force, and took up his quarters in the dwellings of the inhab- itants. From this place he sallied out, making depre- dations on the adjoining country, burning the churches, sacking the convents, and causing great alarm to the magistrates of Antwerp by the confidence which his presence gave to the reformed party in that city. Margaret saw the necessity of dislodging the enemy without delay from this dangerous position. She de- spatched a body of Walloons on the service, under command of an experienced officer, Philippe de Lan- noy, lord of Beauvoir. Her orders show the mood she TUMULT IN ANTWERP. 93 was in. "They are miscreants," she said, ''who have placed themselves beyond the pale of mercy. Show them no mercy, then, but exterminate with fire and sword!" 5 Lannoy, by a rapid march, arrived at Aus- truweel. Though taken unawares, Thoulonse and his men made a gallant resistance ; and a fierce action took place almost under the walls of Antwerp. The noise of the musketry soon brought the citizens to the ramparts ; and the dismay of the Calvinists was great as they beheld the little army of Thoulouse thus closely beset by their enemies. Furious at the specta- cle, they now called on one another to rush to the res- cue of their friends. Pouring down from the ramparts, they hurried to the gates of the city. But the gates were locked. This had been done by the order of the prince of Orange, who had moreover caused a bridge across the Scheldt to be broken down, to cut off all communication between the city and the camp of Thoulouse. The people now loudly called on the authorities to deliver up the keys, demanding for what purpose the gates were closed. Their passions were kindled to madness by the sight of the wife — now, alas ! the widow — of Thoulouse, who, with streaming eyes and dishevelled hair, rushing wildly into the crowd, be- sought them piteously to save her husband and their own brethren from massacre. It was too late. After a short though stout resist- ance, the insurgents had been driven from the field, 5 " Nee ullis conditionibus flecti te p)atere ad clementiam ; sed homi- nes scelestos, atque indeprecabile supplicium commeritos, ferro et igiii quamprimum dele." Strada, De BelJo Belgico, torn. i. p. 300. 94 REGENTS AUTHORITY RE-ESTABLISHED. and taken refuge in their defences. These were soon set on fire. Thoulouse, with many of his followers, perished in the flames. Others, to avoid this dreadful fate, cut their way through the enemy, and plunged into the Scheldt, which washes the base of the high land occupied by the village. There they miserably perished in its waters, or were pierced by the lances of the enemy, who hovered on its borders. Fifteen hun- dred were slain. Three hundred, who survived, sur- rendered themselves prisoners. But Lannoy feared an attempt at rescue from the neighboring city; and, true to the orders of the regent, he massacred nearly all of them o-n the spot ! * While this dismal tragedy was passing, the mob im- prisoned within the walls of Antwerp was raging and bellowing like the waves of the ocean chafing wildly against the rocks that confine them. With fierce cries, they demanded that the gates should be opened, calling on the magistrates with bitter imprecations to deliver up the keys. The magistrates had no mind to face the infuriated populace. But the prince of Orange fortu- nately, at this crisis, did not hesitate to throw himself into the midst of the tumult and take on himself the whole responsibility of the affair. It was by his com- mand that the gates had been closed, in order that the regent's troops, if victorious, might not enter the city and massacre those of the reformed religion. This * " Periere in ea pugna, qure prima cum rebellibus commissa est In Belgio, Gheusionim mille ac quingenti : capti circiter trecenti, jugu- latique psen^ omnes Beavorii jussu, quod erupturi Antverpienses, opemque reliquiis victre factionis allaturi crederentur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 301. TUMULT IN ANTWERP. 95 plausible explanation did not satisfy the people. Some called out that the true motive was, not to save the Calvinists in the city, but to prevent their assisting their brethren in the camp. One man, more audacious than the rest, raised a musket to the prince's breast, saluting him, at the same time, with the epithet of "traitor!" But the fellow received no support from his companions, who, in general, entertained too great respect for William to offer any violence to his person Unable to appease the tumult, the prince was borne along by the tide, which now rolled back from the gates to the Meir Bridge, where it soon received such acces- sions that the number amounted to more than ten thousand. The wildest schemes were then agitated by the populace, among whom no one appeared to take the lead. Some were for seizing the Hotel de Ville and turning out the magistrates. Others were for sacking the convents, and driving their inmates, as well as all priests, from the city. Meanwhile, they had got pos- session of some pieces of artillery from the arsenal, with which they fortified the bridge. Thus passed the long night, — the armed multitude gathered together 'like a dark cloud, ready at any moment to burst in fury on the city, while the defenceless burghers, especially those who had any property at stake, were filled with the most dismal apprehensions. Yet the Catholics contrived to convey some casks of powder, it is said, under the Meir Bridge, resolving to blow it into the air, with all upon it, as soon as their enemies should make a hostile movement. All eyes were now turned on the prince of Orange, as the only man at all capable of extricating them from 96 REGENTS AUTHORITY RE-ESTABLISHED. their perilous situation. William had stationed a guard over the mint, and another at the Hotel de Ville, to pro- tect these buildings from the populace. A great part of this anxious night he spent in endeavoring to bring about such an understanding between the two great parties of the Catholics and the Lutherans as should enable them to act in concert. This v/as the less diffi- cult on account of the jealousy which the latter sect entertained of the Calvinists. The force thus raised was swelled by the accession of the principal merchants and men of substance, as well as most of the foreigners resident in the city, who had less concern -for spiritual matters than for the security of life and fortune. The following morning beheld the mob of Calvinists formed into something like a military array, their green and white banners bravely unfurled, and the cannon which they had taken from the arsenal posted in front. On the opposite side of the great square before the Hotel de Ville were gathered the forces of the prince of Orange, which, if wanting artillery, were considerably superior in numbers to their adversaries. The two hosts now stood face to face, as if waiting only the signal to join in mortal conflict. But no man was found bold enough to give the signal for brother to lift his hand against brother.* * [Some of the particulars in the foregoing account seem open to doubt. According to other relations, the bridge destroyed by Orange was merely one of the drawbridges of the fortifications, and the assembly Ckf the people took place in the Place de Meir, which is not near the Scheldt. Yet, as Austruweel lies on the opposite bank, the threatened egress must have been in the direction of the river. Guic- ciardini, in his minute description of Antwerp, makes no mention of a bridge, though one is figured in his plan of the city. — ED.] TUMULT IN ANTWERP. 97 At this juncture William, with a small guard, and accompanied by the principal magistrates, crossed over to the enemy's ranks and demanded an interview with the leaders. He represented to them the madness of their present course, which, even if they were victori- ous, must work infinite mischief to the cause. It would be easy for them to obtain by fair means all they could propose by violence ; and for his own part, he con- cluded, however well disposed to them he now might be, if a single drop of blood were shed in this quarrel, he would hold them from that hour as enemies. The remonstrance of the prince, aided by the con- viction of their own inferiority in numbers, prevailed over the stubborn temper of the Calvinists. They agreed to an accommodation, one of the articles of which was that no garrison should be admitted within the city. The prince of Orange subscribed and swore to the treaty, on behalf of his party ; and it is proof of the confidence that even the Calvinists reposed in him, that they laid down their arms sooner than either the Lutherans or the Catholics. Both these, however, speedily followed their example. The martial array which had assumed so menacing an aspect soon melted away. The soldier of an hour, subsiding into the quiet burgher, went about his usual business ; and tranquillity and order once more reigned within the walls of Ant- werp. Thus by the coolness and discretion of a single man the finest city in the Netherlands was saved from irretrievable ruin.^ 7 For the account of the troubles in Antwerp, see Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 226, et seq. — Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau, torn. iii. p. 59. — Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. Philip. — Vol. II.— e 9 pS REGENT'S AUTHORITY RE-ESTABLISHED. , It was about the middle of March, 1567, that the disturbances occurred at Antwerp. During this time Noircarmes was enforcing the blockade of Valenciennes, but with little prospect of bringing it to a speedy issue. The inhabitants, confident in their strength, had made iBore than one successful sally, burning the cloisters in which the general had lodged part of his troops, and carrying back considerable booty into the city. It was evident that to reduce the place by blockade would be a work of no little time. Margaret wrote to her brother to obtain his permission to resort to more vigorous measures, and, without further delay, to bombard the place. But Philip peremptorily refused. It was much to his regret, he said, that the siege of so fair a city had been undertaken. Since it had been, nothing remained but to trust to a blockade for its reduction.* At this time an army of the confederates, some three or four thousand strong, appeared in the neighborhood of Tournay, designed partly to protect that town, which had refused a garrison, and partly to create a diversion in favor of Valenciennes. No sooner had Noircarmes got tidings of this, than, leaving a sufficient detachment to carry on the blockade, he made a rapid march with the rest of his forces, came suddenly on the enemy, engaged him in a pitched battle, completely routed him, and drove his scattered legions up to the walls of Tour- pp. 300-303. — Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. p. 247. — Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. pp. 526, 527. — Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, pp. 314-317. — Renom de Francia, Al- borotos de Flandes, MS. * Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 310. SIEGE OF VALENCIENNES. 99 nay. That city, now incapable of resistance, opened its gates at once, and submitted to the terms of the conqueror, who soon returned, with his victorious army, to resume the siege of Valenciennes. But the confidence of the inhabitants was not shaken. On the contrary, under the delusive promises of their preacher, it seemed to rise higher than ever, and they rejected with scorn every invitation to surrender. Again the regent wrote to her brother that unless he allowed more active operations, there was great danger the place would be relieved by the Huguenots on the frontier, or by the Gueux, whose troops were scattered through the country. Urged by the last consideration, Philip yielded a reluctant assent to his sister's wishes. But in his letter, dated on the thirteenth of March, he insisted that, be- fore resorting to violence, persuasion and menace should be first tried, and that, in case of an assault, great care should be had that no harm came to the old and infirm, to women or children, to any, in short, who were not found actually in arms against the government.' The clemency shown by Philip on this occasion reflects infi- nite credit on him ; and if it be disposed of by some as mere policy, it must be allowed to be a policy near akin to humanity. It forms a striking contrast with the ferocious mood in which Margaret indulged at this time, when she seems to have felt that a long arrear of 9 Strada gives an extract from the letter: " Deinde si deditio non sequeretur, invaderent quidem urbem, quodque militum est, agerent; ^ CEedibus tamen non puerorum modd, seniimque ac mulierum absti- nerent ; sed civium nullus, nisi dum inter propugnandum se hostem gereret, enccaretur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 311. I oo REGENTS A UTHORITy RE-ESTABLISHED. vengeance was due for the humiliations she had been compelled to endure. The regent lost no time in profiting by the royal license. She first, however, proposed, in obedience to her instructions, to see what could be done by milder measures. She sent two envoys, Count Egmont and the duke of Aerschot, to Valenciennes, in order to expostulate with the citizens and if possible bring them to reason. The two nobles represented to the people the folly of attempting to cope, thus single-handed, as it were, with the government. Their allies had been discomfited one after another. With the defeat before Tournay must have faded the last ray of hope. They besought the citizens to accept, while there was time, the grace proffered them by the duchess, who was willing, if the town submitted, that such as chose to leave it might take their effects and go wherever they listed. But the people of Valenciennes, fortified by the promises of their leaders, and with a blind confidence in their own resources, which had hitherto proved effectual, held lightly both the arguments and offers of the envoys, who returned to the camp of Noircarmes greatly disgusted with the ill success of their mission. There was no room for further delay, and preparations were made for reducing the place by more active operations. Valenciennes stands on the crest of an eminence that sweeps down by a gradual slope towards the river Scheldt, which, washing the walls of the city, forms a good defence on that quarter. The ramparts encom- passing the town, originally strong and of great thick- SIEGE OF VALENCIENNES. loi Bess, were now somewhat impaired by age. -They were protected by a wide ditch, which in some places was partially choked up with rubbish. The walls were well lined with artillery, and the magazines provided with ammunition. In short, the place was one which in earlier days, from the strength of its works as well as its natural position, might have embarrassed an army more formidable than that which now lay before it. The first step of Noircarmes was to contract his lines and closely to invest the town. He next availed him- self of a dark and stormy night to attack one of the suburbs, which he carried after a sharp engagement and left in the charge of some companies of Walloons. The following day these troops opened a brisk fire on the soldiers who defended the ramparts, which was returned by the latter with equal spirit. But, while amusing the enemy in this quarter, Noircarmes ordered a battery to be constructed, consisting at first of ten, afterwards of twenty,- heavy guns and mortars, besides some lighter pieces. From this battery he opened a well-directed and most disastrous fire on the city, de- molishing some of the principal edifices, which, from their size, afforded a prominent mark. The great tower of. St. Nicholas, on which some heavy ordnance was planted, soon crumbled under this fierce can- nonade, and its defenders were buried in its ruins. At length, at the end of four hours, the inhabitants, unable longer to endure the storm of shot and shells which penetrated every quarter of the town, so far humbled their pride as to request a parley. To this Noircarmes assented, but without intermitting his fire for a moment. 9* 102 REGENTS AUTHORITY RE-ESTABLISHED. The deputies informed the general that the city was willing to capitulate on the terms before proposed by the Flemish nobles. But Noircarmes contemptuously told them that " things were not now as they then were, and it was not his wont to talk of terms with a fallen enemy."" The deputies, greatly discomfited by the reply, returned to report the failure of their mission to their townsmen. Meanwhile the iron tempest continued with pitiless fury. The wretched people could find no refuge from it in their dwellings, which filled the streets with their ruins. It was not, however, till two-and-thirty hours more had passed away that a practicable breach was made in the walls ; while the rubbish which had tumbled into the fosse from the crumbling ramparts afforded a tolerable passage for the besiegers, on a level nearly with the breach itself. By this passage Noircarmes now prepared to march into the city, through the open breach, at the head of his battalions. The people of Valenciennes too late awoke from their delusion. They were no longer cheered by the voice of their fanatical leader, for he had provided for his own safety by flight ; and, preferring any fate to that of being delivered ovei" to the ruthless soldiery of Noir- carmes, they offered at once to surrender the town at discretion, throwing themselves on the mercy of their victor. Six-and-thirty hours only had elapsed since the batteries of the besiegers had opened their fire, and during that time three thousand bombs had been thrown '° " Quasi ver6, inquit, vestra conditio eadem hodie sit, ac nudius- tertius. Serd sapitis Valencenatcs : ego cert^ conditionibus non transigo cadente cum hoste." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 314. THE GOVERNMENT TRIUMPHANT. 103 into the city ; " which was thought scarcely less than a miracle in that day. On the second of April, 1567, just four months after the commencement of the siege, the victorious army marched into Valenciennes. As it defiled through the long and narrow streets, which showed signs of the dismal fray in their shattered edifices and in the dead and dying still stretched on the pavement, it was met by troops of women and young maidens bearing green branches in their hands and deprecating with tears and piteous lamentations the wrath of the conquerors. Noir- carmes marched at once to the town -house, where he speedily relieved the municipal functionaries of all re- sponsibility, by turning them out of office. His next care was to seize the persons of the zealous ministers and the other leaders. Many had already contrived to make their escape. Most of these were soon after taken, the preacher La Grange among the rest, and to the number of thirty-six were sentenced either to the scaffold or the gallows.'^ The general then caused the citizens " " Feruntque ter millies explosas murales machinas, moenium qu^m hominum majori strage." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 314.* " So states Margaret's historian, who would not be likely to exag- gerate the number of those who suffered. The loyal president of Mechlin dismisses the matter more summarily, without specifying any number of victims: "El sefior de Noilcarmes se aseguro de muchos prisioneros principales Borgeses y de otros que avian sido los autores. de la rebelion, a los quales se hizo luego en diligencia su pleyto." (Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS.) Brandt, the his- torian of the Reformation (vol. i. p. 251), tells us that two hundred were said to have perished by the hands of the hangman at Valen- * [The "murales machinas," " bombardse," etc., mentioned by Strada, were merely cannon of the different kinds then in use. Bomb- shells were not invented till later. — Ed.] I04 REGENT'S AUTHORITY RE-ESTABLISHED. to be disarmed, and the fortifications, on which were mounted eighty pieces of artillery, to be dismantled. The town was deprived of its privileges and immunities, and a heavy fine imposed on the inhabitants to defray the charges of the war. The Protestant worship was abolished, the churches were restored to their former occupants, and none but the Roman Catholic service was allowed henceforth to be performed in the city. The bishop of Arras was invited to watch over the spiritual concerns of the inhabitants, and a strong gar- rison of eight battalions was quartered in the place, to secure order and maintain the authority of the crown. ^^ The keys of Valenciennes, it was commonly said, opened to the regent the gates of all the refractory cities of the Netherlands. IMaestricht, Turnhout, Ghent, Ypres, Oudenarde, and other places which had refused to admit a garrison within their walls, now surrendered, one after another, to Margaret, and consented to receive her terms. In like manner Megen established the royal authority in the province of Gueldres, and Aremberg, after a more prolonged resistance, in Groningen and Friesland. In a few weeks, with the exception of Ant- werp and some places in Holland, the victorious arms of the regent had subdued the spirit of resistance in every part of the country.'* The movement of the insur- gents had been premature. ciennes, on account of the religious troubles, in the course of this year. '3 For information, more or less minute, in regard to the siege of Valenciennes, see Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. pp. 303-315. — Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, pp. 319-322. — Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 49. — Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, torn. ii. p. 501. — Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. M Strada, De BcUo Belgico, torn. i. pp. 315, 323, et seq. CHAPTER XIV. TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. Oath imposed by Margaret. — Refused by Orange. — He leaves the Netherlands. — Submission of the Country. — New Edict. — Order restored. 1567. The perplexities in which the regent had been in- volved had led her to conceive a plan, early in January, 1567, the idea of which may have been suggested by the similar plan of Viglius. This was to require an oath from the great nobles, the knights of the Golden Fleece, and those in high stations, civil or military, that they would yield implicit and unqualified obedience to the commands of the king, of whatever nature they might be. Her object in this measure was not to secure a test of loyalty. She knew full well who were the friends and who were the foes of the government. But she wished a decent apology for ridding herself of the latter ; and it was made a condition that those who refused to take the oath were to be dismissed from office. The measure seems to have met with no opposition when first started in the council ; where Mansfeldt, Aerschot, Megen, Barlaimont, all signified their readi- ness to sign the oath. Egmont indeed raised some scruples. After the oath of allegiance he had once taken, a new one seemed superfluous. The bare word of a man of honor and a chevalier of the Toison ought E* ( 105 ) lo6 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. to suffice.' But, after a short correspondence on the subject, his scruples vanished before the arguments or persuasions of the regent. Brederode, who held a military command, was not of so accommodating a temper. He indignantly ex- claimed that it was a base trick of the government, and he understood the drift of it. He refused to subscribe the oath, and at once threw up his commission. The Counts Hoorne and Hoogstraten declined also, but in more temperate terms, and, resigning their employ- ments, withdrew to their estates in the country. The person of most importance was the prince of Orange, and it was necessary to approach him with the greatest caution. Margaret, it is true, had long since withdrawn from him her confidence. But he had too much consideration and authority in the country for her to wish to break with him. Nor would she willingly give him cause of disgust. She accordingly addressed him a note, couched in the most insinuating terms she had at her command. She could not doubt he would be ready to set a good example, when his example would be so important in the perplexed condition of the country. Rumors had been circulated to the prejudice of his loyalty. She did not give them credit. She could not for a moment believe that he would so far dishonor his great name and his illustrious descent as to deserve such a re- ' " II ne comprenait pas pourquoi la gouvernante insistait, apr^s qu'il lui avait 6crit une lettre de sa main, contenant tout ce que S. A. pouvait d^sirer d'un gentilhomme d'honneur, chevalier de I'Ordre, naturel vassal du Roi, et qui toute sa vie avait fait le devoir d'homme de bien, comme il le faisait encore journellement." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 321. OATH REFUSED BY ORANGE. 107 proach; and she had no doubt he would gladly avail himself of the present occasion to wipe away all sus- picion.' The despatch enclosed a form of the oath, by which the party was to bind himself to "serve the king, and act for or against whomever his majesty might com- mand, without restriction or limitation," ^ on pain of being dismissed from office. William was not long in replying to a requisition to obey which would leave him less freedom than might be claimed by the meanest peasant in the country. On the twenty-eighth of April, the same day on which he received the letter, he wrote to the regent, declining in the most positive terms to take the oath. Such an act, he said, would of itself imply that he had already vio- lated the oath he had previously taken. Nor could he honorably take it, since it might bind him to do what would be contrary to the dictates of his own conscience, as well as to what he conceived to be the true interests of his majesty and the country."* He was aware that such a demand on the regent's part was equivalent to a dismissal from office. He begged her, therefore, to =» " Ferez cesser les calumnies que dictes se semer centre vous, en- samble tous ces bruits que scavez courrir de vous, encoires que en mon endroict je les tiens faulx at que \ tort lis se dyent; ne pouvant croire que en ung cceur noble et de telle extraction que vous estes, successeur des Seigneurs," etc. Archives de la Maison d' Orange- Nassau, torn. iii. p. 44. 3 " Servir et m'employer envers et contra tous, et comme me sera ordonne de sa part, sans- limitation ou restrinction." Ibid., ubi supra. 4 " Je seroys aulcunement oblige et constrainct, le cas advenant, que on me viendroict \ commander chose qui pourroit venir contra ma conscience ou au desarvice de Sa Ma'-^' at du pays." Ibid., p. 46. Io8 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. send some one fully empowered to receive his commis- sions, since he was ready forthwith to surrender them. As for himself, he should withdraw from the Nether- lands and wait until his sovereign had time to become satisfied of his fidelity. But, wherever he might be, he should ever be ready to devote both life and property to the service of the king and the common weal of the country.^ Whatever hesitation the prince of Orange may have before felt as to the course he was to take, it was clear the time had now come for decisive action. Though the steady advocate of political reform, his policy, as we have seen, had been to attempt this by constitu- tional methods, not by violence. But all his more moderate plans had been overthrown by the explosion of the iconoclasts. The outrages then perpetrated had both alienated the Catholics and disgusted the more moderate portion of the Protestants; while the divisions of the Protestants among themselves had so far para- lyzed their action that the whole strength of the party of reform had never been fairly exerted in the conflict. That conflict, unprepared as the nation was for it, had been most disastrous. Everywhere the arms of the re- gent had been victorious. It was evident the hour for resistance had not yet come. Yet for William to remain in his present position was hazardous in the extreme. Rumors had gone abroad that the duke of Alva would soon be in the Netherlands, at the head af a force sufficient to put 5 " Vous asseurant que, ou que seray, n'espargneray jamais mon corps ni mon bien pour le service de Sa Ma'= et le bien commun de ces pays." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. iii. p. 47. OATH REFUSED BY ORANGE. 109 down all opposition. "Beware of Alva," said his wife's kinsman, the landgrave of Hesse, to William ; "I know him well."^ The prince of Orange also knew him well, — too well to trust him. He knew the hard, inexorable nature of the man who was now com- ing with an army at his back and clothed with the twofold authority of judge and executioner. The first blow would, he knew, be aimed at the highest mark. To await Alva's coming would be to provoke his fate. Yet the prince felt all the dreariness of his situation. "I am alone," he wrote to the Landgrave William of Hesse, "with dangers menacing me on all sides, yet without one trusty friend to whom I can open my heart. "7 Margaret seems to have been less prepared than might have been expected for the decision of Orange. Yet she determined not to let him depart from the country without an effort to retain him. She accord- ingly sent her secretary, Berty, to the prince at Ant- werp, to enter into the matter more freely, and, if pos- sible, prevail on him to review the grounds of his de- cision. William freely, and at some length, stated his reasons for declining the oath. "If I thus blindly sur- render myself to the will of the king, I may be driven to do what is most repugnant to my principles, especi- ally in the stern mode of dealing with the sectaries. I may be compelled to denounce some of my own family, * Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. iii. p. 42. 7 " In ansehung das wir in dissen landen allein seindt, und in hoch- sten noten und gefehrden leibs und lebens stecken, und keinen ver- trauwen freundt umb uns haben, deme wir unser gemiithe und hertz recht eroffnen dorffen." Ibid., p. 39. Philip.— Vol. II. 10 no TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. even my -wife, as Lutherans, and to deliver them into the liands of the executioner. Finally," said he, "the king may send some one in his royal name to rule over us, to whom it would be derogatory for me to submit." The name of "Alva" escaped, as if involuntarily, from his lips, — and he was silent.^ Berty endeavored to answer the objections of the prince, but the latter, interrupting him before he had touched on the duke of Alva, bluntly declared that the king would never be content while one of his great vassals was wedded to a heretic. It was his purpose, therefore, to leave the country at once, and retire to Germany; and with this remark he abruptly closed the conference. The secretary, though mortified at his own failure, besought William to consent to an interview, before his departure, with Count Egmont, who, Berty trusted, might be more successful. To this William readily assented. This celebrated meeting took place at Will- broek, a village between Antwerp and Brussels. Be- sides the two lords there were only present Count Mansfeldt and the secretary. After some discussion, in which each of the friends endeavored to win over the other to his own way of thinking, William expressed the hope that Egmont would save himself in time from the bloody tempest that, he predicted, was soon to fall on the heads of the Flemish nobles.' "I trust in the clemency of my sov- * Strarta, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 319. 9 " Orasse ilium, siibduceret sese, gravidamque cruore tempestatem ab Hispania impendentem Belgarum Proceruin capitibus ne oppe- riretur." Ibid., p. 321. OA Til REFUSED B Y ORANGE. 1 1 1 ercign," answered the count: "he cannot deal harshly with men who have restored order to the coimtry." "This clemency you so extol," replied William, "will be your ruin. Much I fear that the Spaniards will make use of you as a bridge to effect their entrance into the country!" '° With this ominous prediction on his lips, he tenderly embraced the count, with tears in his eyes, bidding him a last farewell. And thus the two friends parted, like men who were never to meet again. The different courses pursued by the two nobles were such as might be expected from the difference of both their characters and their circumstances. Eg- mont, ardent, hopeful, and confiding, easily surren- dered himself to the illusions of his own fancy, as if events were to shape themselves according to his wishes. He had not the far-seeing eye of William, which seemed to penetrate into events as it did into charac- ters. Nor had Egmont learned, like William, not to put his trust in princes. He was, doubtless, as sin- cerely attached to his country as the prince of Orange, and abhorred, like him, the system of persecution avowed by the government. But this persecution fell upon a party with whom he had little sympathy. Wil- liam, on the other hand, was a member of that party. A blow aimed at them was aimed also at him. It is easy to see how different were the stakes of the two nobles in the coming contest, both in respect to their 10 " Perdet te, inquit Orangius, hcec quam jactas dementia Regis, Egnionti; ac videor mihi providere animo, utinam falso, te pontem scilicet futurum, quo Hispani calcato, in Belgium transmittant." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 321. 112 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. sympathies and their interests. Egmont was by birth a Fleming. His estates were in Flanders, and there, too, were his hopes of worldly fortune. Exile to him would have been beggary and ruin. But a large, if not the larger, part of William's property lay without the confines of the Netherlands. In withdrawing to Ger- many, he went to his native land. His kindred were still there. With them he had maintained a constant correspondence, and there he would be welcomed by troops of friends. It was a home, and no place of exile, that William was to find in Germany. Shortly after this interview, the prince went to his estates at Breda, there to remain a few days before quitting the country." From Breda he wrote to Eg- mont, expressing the hope that, when he had weighed them in his mind, he would be contented with the reasons assigned for his departure. The rest he would leave to God, who would order all for his own glory. "Be sure," he added, "you have no friend more warmly devoted to you than myself; for the love of you is too deeply rooted in my heart to be weakened either by time or distance."" It is pleasing to see that party spirit had not, as in the case of more vulgar »» The secretary Pratz, in a letter of the fourteenth of April, thus kindly notices William's departure: "The prince has gone, taking along with him half a dozen heretical doctors and a good number of other seditious rogues." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. 1. p. 526. " "Tibi vero hoc persuade amiciorem me te habere neminem cui quidvis libere imperare potes. Amor enim tui eas egit radices in animo nieo ut minui nullo temporis aut locorum intervallo possit." Arcliives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. iii.-p. 70. — It is not easy to understand why William should have resorted to Latin in his correspondence with Egmont. WILLIAM LEAVES THE NETHERLANDS. 113 souls, the power to rend asunder the ties which had so long bound these great men to each other; to see them still turning back, with looks of accustomed kindness, when they were entering the paths that were to lead in such opposite directions. William wrote also to the king, acquainting him with what he had done, and explaining the grounds of it; at the same time renewing the declaration that, wherever he might be, he trusted never to be found wanting to the obligations of a true and faithful vassal. Before leaving Breda, the prince received a letter from the politic regent, more amiable in its import than might have been expected. Perhaps it was not wholly policy that made her unwilling to part with him in anger. She expressed her readiness to do him any favor in her power. She had always felt for him, she said, the same affection as for her own son, and should ever continue to do so. '3 On the last of April, William departed for Germany. He took with him all his household except his eldest son, the count of Buren, then a boy thirteen years old, who was pursuing his studies at the university of Louvain.'* Perhaps William trusted to the immunities of Brabant, or to the tender age of the youth, for his 13 " Ayant tousjours port^ eri vostre endroit I'affection que je pour- rois faire pour ung mien fils, ou parent bien proche. Et vous vous povez de ce confier, toutes les fois que les occasions se presenteront, que feray le mesme." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, torn. ii. p. 371. M William's only daughter was maid of honor to the regent, who made no objection to her accompanying her father saying that on the young lady's return she would find no diminution !;f the love that had been always shown to her. Ibid., ubi supra. 10* 114 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. protection. If so, he grievously miscalculated. The boy would serve as too important a hostage for his father, and Philip caused him to be transferred to Madrid, where, under the monarch's eye, he was edu- cated in religious as well as in political sentiments very little in harmony with those of the prince of Orange. Fortunately, the younger brother, Maurice, who inherited the genius of his father, and was to carry down his great name to another generation, was allowed to receive his training under the paternal roof.'s Besides his family, William was accompanied by a host of friends and followers, some of them persons of high consideration, who preferred banishment with him to encountering the troubles that awaited them at home. Thus attended, he fixed his residence at Dil- lemburg, in Nassau, the seat of his ancestors, and the place of his own birth. He there occupied himself with studying the Lutheran doctrine under an expe- rienced teacher of that persuasion ; '^ and, while he kept a Avatchful eye on the events passing in his un- happy country, he endeavored to make himself ac- quainted with the principles of that glorious Reforma- ts According to Strada, some thought that Wilham knew well what he was about when he left his son behind him at Louvain, and that he would have had no objection that the boy should be removed to Madrid, — considering that, if things went badly with himself, it would be well for the heir of the house to have a hold on the monarch's favor. This is rather a cool way of proceeding for a parent, it must be admitted. Yet it is not very dissimilar from that pursued by Wil- liam's own father, who, a stanch Lutheran himself, allowed his son to form part of the imperial household and to be there nurtured in the Roman Catholic failh. See Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 373. '^ Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. iii. p. 100. WILLIAM LEAVES THE NETHERLANDS. 115 tion, of which, in connection with political freedom, he was one day to become the champion. The departure of the prince of Orange caused gen- eral consternation in the Netherlands. All who were in any way compromised by the late disturbances watched more anxiously than ever the signs of the coming tempest, as they felt they had lost the pilot who alone could enable them to weather it. Thou- sands prepared to imitate his example by quitting the country before it was too late. Among those who fled were the Counts Culemborg, Berg, Hoogstraten, Louis of Nassau, and others of inferior note, who passed into Germany, where they gathered into a little circle round the prince, waiting, like him, for happier days. Some of the great lords, who had held out against the regent, now left alone, intimated their willingness to comply with her demands. '' Count Hoorne," she writes to Philip, "has offered his services to me, and declares his readiness to take the oath. If he has spoken too freely, he says, it was not from any dis- affection to the government, but from a momentary feeling of pique and irritation. I would not drive him to desperation, and from regard to his kindred I have consented that he should take his seat in the council again." '^ The haughty tone of the duchess shows that she felt herself now so strongly seated as to be nearly indifferent whether the person she dealt with were friend or foe.'^ '7 " Pour ne le jecter d'advantaige en desespoir et perdition, aussy en contemplation de ses parens et alliez, je n'ai peu excuser luy dire qu'il seroit doncques ainsy qu'il avait faict, et qu'il revinst au conseil." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 238. '" William was generous enough to commend Hoorne for this step, Il6 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. Egmont, at this time, was endeavoring to make amends for the past by such extraordinary demonstra- tions of loyalty as should efface all remembrance of it. He rode through the land at the head of his troops, breaking up the consistories, arresting the rioters, and everywhere re-establishing the Catholic worship. He loudly declared that those who would remain his friends must give unequivocal proofs of loyalty to the crown and the Roman Catholic faith. Some of those with whom he had been most intimate, disgusted with this course, and distrusting, perhaps, such a deposit for their correspondence, sent back the letters they had received from him, and demanded their own in return.'' At Brussels Egmont entered into all the gayeties of the court, displaying his usual magnificence in costly fetes and banquets, which the duchess of Parma sometimes honored with her presence. The count's name appears among those which she mentions to Philip as of persons well affected to the government. "It is impossible," she says, "not to be satisfied with his conduct."^ Thus elated by the favor of the regent, — next in im- portance to that of royalty itself, — the ill-fated noble- man cherished the fond hope that the past would now be completely effaced from the memory of his master, — a master who might forget a benefit, but who was " never known to forgive an injury. expressing the hope that it might induce such a spirit of harmony in the royal council as would promote the interests of both king and country. See the letter, written in Latin, dated from Breda, April 14th, in Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. iii. p. 71. '9 Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 322. »o Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 235. SUBMISSION OF THE COUNTRY. 117 The great towns throughout the land had now gen- erally intimated their willingness to submit to the requisitions of Margaret, and many of them had ad- mitted garrisons within their walls. Antwerp only, of the cities of Brabant, remained intractable. At length it yielded to the general impulse, and a deputation was sent to the regent to sue for her forgiveness and to promise that the leaders in the late disturbances should be banished from the city. This was a real triumph to the royal party, considering the motley character of the population, in which there was so large an infusion of Calvinism. But Margaret, far from showing her satis- faction, coolly answered that they must first receive a garrison ; then she would intercede for them with the king, and would herself consent to take up her resi- dence in the city. In this the inhabitants, now well humbled, affected willingly to acquiesce; and soon after Count Mansfeldt, at the head of sixteen companies of foot, marched into Antwerp in battle-array, and there quartered his soldiers as in a conquered capital. A day was fixed for the regent's entry, which was to be made with all becoming pomp. Detachments of troops were stationed in the principal avenues, and on the thirteenth of April Margaret rode into Antwerp, escorted by twelve hundred Walloons, and accompanied by the knights of the Golden Fleece, the great lords, and the provincial magistrates. As the glittering pro- cession passed through the files of the soldiery, along the principal streets, it was greeted with the huzzas of the fickle populace. Thus cheered on her way, the regent proceeded first to the cathedral, where Te Deum was chanted, and on her knees she returned thanks to Il8 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. the Almighty that this great city had been restored without battle or bloodshed to the king and the true faith." As her eyes wandered over the desecrated altars and the walls despoiled of their ornaments, their rich sculpture and paintings, by the rude hand of violence, Margaret could not restrain her tears. Her first care was to recover, as far as possible, the stolen property, and repair the injuries to the building ; the next, to punish the authors of these atrocities ; and the execu- tion in the market-place of four of the ringleaders proclaimed to the people of Antwerp that the reign of anarchy was over. Margaret next caused the churches of the reformed party to be levelled with the ground. Those of the Romish faith, after being purified, and the marks of violence, as far as practicable, effaced, were restored to their ancient occupants. The Protestant schools were everywhere closed. The children who had been bap- tized with Protestant rites were now rebaptized after the Catholic.'''' In fine, the reformed worship was interdicted throughout the city, and that of the Romish Church, with its splendid ritual, was established in its place. On occupying Antwerp, Margaret had allowed ' all who were not implicated in the late riots to leave the city with their effects. Great numbers now availed themselves of this permission, and the streets presented the melancholy spectacle of husbands parting from their " " Egit ipsa privatim magnne Virgini grates, qudd ejus ope tantam urbem sine proelio ac sanguine, Religioni Regique recldidisset." Strada, De Rello Belgico, torn. i. p. 328. "" Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, torn. i. p. 254. A^EW EDICT. 119 wives, parents from their children, or, it might be, taking their families along with them to some kinder land, where they would be allowed to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. But even this glimmering of a tolerant spirit, — if so it can be called, — which Margaret exhibited at the outset, soon faded away before the dark spirit of the Inquisition. On the twenty-fourth of May, she pub- lished an edict written in the characters of blood which distinguished the worst times of Charles and Philip. By this edict, all who had publicly preached, or Avho had performed the religious exercises after the Prot- estant manner, all who had furnished the places of meeting, or had harbored or aided the preachers, all printers of heretical tracts, or artists who with their pencil had brought ridicule on the Church of Rome, — all, in short, who were guilty of these or similar iniqui- ties, were to be punished with death and confiscation of property. Lighter offences were to be dealt with according to the measure of their guilt. The edict containing these humane provisions is of considerable length, and goes into a large specification of offences, from which few, if any, of the reformed could have been entirely exempt. ^3 When this ordinance of the regent was known at Madrid, it caused great dissatisfaction. The king pronounced it "indecorous, illegal, and altogether repugnant to the true spirit of Christianity;"^'' and he "3 Gachard has transferred to his notes the whole of this sanguinary document. See Correspondance de Philippe 11., torn. i. pp. 550, 551. *4 " La peine et le mecontentement qu'il a eprouves, de ce que Ton a fait une chose si illicite, si indecente, et si contraire h. la religion chr6tienne." Ibid., ubi supra. I20 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. ordered Margaret forthwith to revoke the edict. It was accordingly repealed on the twenty-third of July follow- ing. The reader who may be disposed to join heartily in the malediction may not be prepared to learn that the cause of the royal indignation was not that the edict was too severe, but that it was too lenient ! It nowhere denounced the right of private worship. A man might still be a heretic at heart and at his own fireside, so long as he did not obtrude it on the public. This did not suit the Inquisition, whose jealous eye penetrated into the houses and the hearts of men, dragging forth their secret thoughts into open day and punishing these like overt acts. Margaret had some- thing yet to learn in the school of persecution. ^s While at Antwerp, the regent received an embassy from the elector of Saxony, the landgrave of Hesse, and other Protestant princes of Germany, interceding for the oppressed Lutherans and praying that she would not consent to their being so grievously vexed by the Catholic government. Margaret, who was as little pleased at the plain terms in which this remonstrance was conveyed as with the object of it, coldly replied =s Viglius was not too enlightened to enter his protest against the right to freedom of conscience, which, in a letter to his friend Hop- per, he says may lead every one to set up his own gods — " lares aut lemures" — according to his fancy. Yet the president was wise enough to see that sufficient had been done at present in breaking up the preachings. "Time and Philip's presence must do the rest." (Epis tolse ad Hopperum, p. 433.) "Those," he says in another letter, "who have set the king against the edict have greatly deceived him. They are having their ovation before they have gained the victory. They think they can dispose of Flemish affairs as they like at Toledo, when hardly a Spaniard dares to show his head in Brussels." Ibid., p. 428. CRUEL REPRISALS. 121 that the late conduct of the Flemish Protestants doubt- less entitled them to all this sympathy from the German princes, but she advised the latter to busy themselves with their own affairs, and leave the king of Spain to manage his as he thought best.^ Of all the provinces, Holland was the only one which still made resistance to the will of the regent. And here, as we have already seen, was gathered a military array of some strength. The head-quarters were at Brederode's town of Viana. But that chief had left his followers for the present, and had been secretly introduced into Amsterdam, where, as before noticed, he was busy in rousing a spirit of resistance in the citizens, already well prepared for it by their Protestant preachers. The magistrates, sorely annoyed, would gladly have rid themselves of Brederode's pres- ence, but he had too strong a hold on the people. Yet, as hour after hour brought fresh tidings of the disasters of his party, the chief himself became aware that all hopes of successful resistance must be deferred to an- other day. Quitting the city by night, he contrived, with the aid of his . friends, to make his escape into Germany. Some months he passed in Westphalia, occupied with raising forces for a meditated invasion of the Netherlands, when, in the summer of 1568, he was carried off by a fever, brought on, it is said, by his careless, intemperate way of life.^ Brederode was a person of a free and fearless temper, — with the defects, and the merits too, that attach to ^ Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau, torn. iii. pp. 80-93.^ Strada, De Bdlo Belgico, torn. i. p. 329. »7 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 332. Philip.— Vol. II.— F II 122 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. that sort of character. The friendship with which he seems to have been regarded by some of the most estimable persons of his party — Louis of Nassau, especially — speaks well for his heart. The reckless audacity of the man is shown in his correspondence ; and the free manner in which he deals with persons and events makes his letters no less interesting than important for the light they throw on these troubled times. Yet it cannot be denied that, after all, Brede- rode is indebted much more to the circumstances of his situation than to his own character for the space he occupies in the pages of history.^ Thus left without a leader, the little army which Brederode had gathered under his banner soon fell to pieces. Detachments, scattering over the country, com- mitted various depredations, plundering the religious houses, and engaging in encounters with the royal troops under Megen and Aremberg, in which the insurgents fared the worst. Thus broken on all sides, those who did not fall into the enemy's hands, or on the field, were too glad to make their escape into Germany. One vessel, containing a great number of fugitives, was wrecked, and all on board were made prisoners. Among them were two brothers of the name of Battenberg; they were of a noble family, and prominent members of the league. They were ^ Groen's inestimable collection contains several of Brederode's letters, which may remind one in their tone of the dashing cavalier of the time of Charles the First. They come from the heart, mingling the spirit of daring enterprise with the careless gayety of the bon vivant, and throw far more light than the stiff, statesmanlike corre- spondence of the period on the character, not merely of the writer, but of the disjointed times in which he lived. CRUEL REPRISALS. 123 at once, with their principal followers, thrown into prison, to await their doom from the bloody tribunal of Alva. Deprived of all support from without, the city of Amsterdam offered no further resistance, but threw open its gates to the regent and consented to accept her terms. These were the same that had been im- posed on all the other refractory towns. The immu- nities of the city were declared to be forfeited, a garri- son was marched into the place, and preparations were made for building a fortress, to guard against future commotions. Those who chose — with the customary exceptions — were allowed to leave the city. Great numbers availed themselves of the permission. The neighboring dikes were crowded with fugitives from the territory round, as well as from the city, anxiously waiting for vessels to transport them to Embden, the chief asylum of the exiles. There they stood, men, women, and children, a melancholy throng, without food, almost without raiment or any of the common necessaries of life, exciting the commiseration of even their Catholic adversaries."^ The example of Amsterdam was speedily followed by Delft, Haarlem, Rotterdam, Leyden, and the remaining towns of Holland, which now seemed to vie with one another in demonstrations of loyalty to the govern- ment. The triumph of the regent was complete. Her arms had been every^vhere successful, and her authority was fully recognized throughout the whole extent of ^ Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. p. 255. — Me- teren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 50. — Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumul- tuum, p. 327. — Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 533. 124 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. the Netherlands. Doubtful friends and open foes, Catholics and Reformers, were alike prostrate at her feet. 3° With the hour of triumph came also the hour of vengeance. And we can hardly doubt that the re- membrance of past humiliation gave a sharper edge to the sword of justice. Fortresses, to overawe the in- habitants, were raised in the principal towns ;3» and the expense of their construction, as well as of maintaining their garrisons, was defrayed by fines laid on the re- fractory cities.3'' The regent's troops rode over the country, and wherever the reformed were gathered to hear the word they were charged by the troopers, who trampled them under their horses' hoofs, shooting them down without mercy, or dragging them off by scores to execution. No town was so small that fifty at least did not perish in this way, while the number of the victims sometimes rose to two or even three hundred. ^^ Every- 3° Margaret's success draws forth an animated tribute from the president of Mechlin : " De manera que los negocios de los payses bajos por la gracia de Dios y la prudencia de esta virtuosa Dama y Princesa con la asistencia de los buenos consejeros y servidores del Rey en buenos terminos y en efecto remediados, las villas reveldes y alteradas amazadas, los gueuses reducidos 6 huidos ; los ministros y predicantes echados fuera 6 presos ; y la autoridad de su Magestad establecida otra vez." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. 3« This was fulfilling the prophecy of the prince of Orange, who in his letter to Hoorne tells him, " In a short time we shall refuse neither bridle nor saddle. For myself," he adds, " I have not the strength to endure either." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. iii. p. 72. 3» Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 333. 33 See Meteren (Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 49), who must have drawn somewhat on his fancy for these wholesale executions, which, if taken liter.ally, would have gone nigh to depopulate the Netherlands. CRUEL REPRISALS. 125 where along the road-side the traveller beheld the ghastly spectacle of bodies swinging from gibbets, or met with troops of miserable exiles flying irom their native land.^* Confiscation followed, as usual, in the train of persecution. At Tournay, the property of a hundred of the richest merchants was seized and ap- propriated by the government. Even the populace, like those animals who fall upon and devour one of their own number when wounded, now joined in the cry against the Reformers. They worked with the same alacrity as the soldiers in pulling down the Prot- estant churches, and from the beams, in some instances, formed the very gallows from which their unhappy vic- tims were suspended.^ Such is the picture, well charged with horrors, left to us by Protestant writers. We may be quite sure that it lost nothing of its darker coloring under their hands. So strong was now the tide of emigration that it threatened to depopulate some of the fairest provinces of the country. The regent, who at first rejoiced in this as the best means of ridding the land of its ene- mies, became alarmed, as she saw it was drawing off so large a portion of the industrious population. They fled to France, to Germany, and very many to Eng- land, where the wise Elizabeth provided them with homes, knowing well that, though poor, they brought with them a skill in the mechanic arts which would do 34 "Thus the gallowses were filled with carcasses, and Germany with exiles." Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, torn. i. p. 257- 35 " Ex trabibus decidentium templorum, infelicia conformarent patibula, ex quibus ipsi templorum fabri cultoresque penderent." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 333. 126 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. more than gold and silver for the prosperity of 'her kingdom. Margaret would have stayed this tide of emigration by promises of grace, if not by a general amnesty for , the past. But, though she had power to punish, Philip had not given her the power to pardon. And indeed promises of grace would have availed little with men flying from the dread presence of Alva.^ It was the fear of him which gave wings to their flight, as Margaret herself plainly intimated in a letter to the duke, in which she deprecated his coming with an army, when nothing more was needed than a vigilant police. 3^ In truth, Margaret was greatly disgusted by the in- tended mission of the duke of Alva, of which she had been advised by the king some months before. She knew well the imperious temper of the man, and that, however high-sounding might be her own titles, the power would be lodged in his hands. She felt this to be a poor requital for her past services, — a personal in- dignity, no less than an injury to the state. She gave free vent to her feelings on the subject in more than one letter to her brother. In a letter of the fifth of April she says, "You have shown no regard for my wishes or my reputation. By your extraordinary restrictions on my authority, you have prevented my settling the affairs of the country entirely to my mind. Yet, seeing things in so good a 36 " Le bruit de raniv^e prochaine du due, k la tete d'une arm6e, fait fuir de toutes parts des gens, qui se retirent en France, en Angle- terre, au pays de Cloves, en Allemagne et ailleurs." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 546. 37 Ibid., ubi supra. TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. 127 state, you are willing to give all the credit to another, and leave me only the fatigue and danger. ^^ But I am resolved, instead of wasting the remainder of my days, as I have already done my health, in this way, to retire and dedicate myself to a tranquil life in the service of God." In another letter, dated four weeks later, on the third of May, after complaining that the king with- draws his confidence more and more from her, she asks leave to withdraw, as the country is restored to order, and the royal authority more assured than in the time of Charles the Fifth.39 In this assurance respecting the public tranquillity, Margaret was no doubt sincere ; as are also the histo- rians who have continued to take the same view of the matter, down to the present time, and who consider the troubles of the country to have been so far com- posed by the regent that but for the coming of Alva there would have been no revolution in the Nether- lands. Indeed, there might have seemed to be good ground for such a conclusion. The revolt had been crushed. Resistance had everywhere ceased. The au- thority of the regent was recognized throughout the land. The league, which had raised so bold a front against the government, had crumbled away. Its mem- bers had fallen in battle, or lay waiting their sentence 38 " Par les restrictions extraordinaires que V. M. a mises h. mon autorite, elle m'a enleve tout pouvoir, et m'a prive des moyens d'ache- ver rentier retablissement des affaires de ce pays : k present qu'elle voit ces affaires en un bon etat, elle en veut donner I'honnear & d'au- tres, tandis que, moi seule, j'ai eu les fatigues et les dangers." Cor- respondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 523. 39 " Ou rautorite du Roi est plus assuree qu'elle ne I'etait au temps de I'Empereur." Ibid., p. 532. 128 TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. in dungeons, or were wandering as miserable exiles in distant lands. The name of Gueux, and the insignia of the bowl and the beggar's scrip, which they had assumed in derision, were now theirs by right. It Avas too true for a jest. The party of reform had disappeared, as if by magic. Its worship was everywhere proscribed. On its ruins the Catholic religion had risen in greater splendor than ever. Its temples were restored, its services celebrated with more than customary pomp. The more austere and uncompromising of the Reformers had fled the country. Those who remained purchased impunity by a compulsory attendance on mass ; or the wealthier sort, by the aid of good cheer or more substantial lar- gesses, bribed the priest to silence. ■♦° At no time since the beginning of the Reformation had the clergy been treated with greater deference, or enjoyed a greater share of authority in the land. The dark hour of revo- lution seemed, indeed, to have passed away. Yet a Fleming of that day might well doubt whether the prince of Orange were a man likely to resign his fair heritage and the land so dear to his heart without striking one blow in their defence. One who knew the wide spread of the principles of reform, and the sturdy character of the reformer, might distrust the perma- nence of a quiet which had been brought about by so much violence. He might rather think that, beneath the soil he was treading, the elements were still at work which, at no distant time perhaps, would burst forth with redoubled violence and spread ruin over the land- 4° Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, torn. i. p. 258. BOOK III. CHAPTER I. ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. Alva's Appointment. — His remarkable March. — He arrives at Brus- sels. — Margaret disgusted. — Policy of the Duke. — Arrest of Egmont and Hoorne. 1567- While Margaret was thus successful in bringing the country to a state of at least temporary tranquillity, measures were taken at the court of Madrid for shifting the government of the Netherlands into other hands, and for materially changing its policy. We have seen how actively the rumors had been cir- culated, throughout the last year, of Philip's intended visit to the country. These rumors had received abun- dant warrant from his own letters, addressed to the regent a!nd to his ministers at the different European courts. Nor did the king confine himself to professions. He applied to the French government to allow a free passage for his army through its territories. He caused a survey to be made of that part of Savoy through which his troops would probably march, and a map of the proposed route to be prepared. He ordered fresh levies from Germany to meet him on the Flemish fron- F* ( 129 ) 130 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. tier. And, finally, he talked of calling the cortes together, to provide for the regency during his absence. Yet, whoever else might be imposed on, there was one potentate in Europe whose clear vision was not to be blinded by the professions of Philip, nor by all this bustle of preparation. This was the old pontiff, Pius the Fifth, who had always distrusted the king's sincerity. Pius had beheld with keen anguish the spread of heresy in the Low Countries. Like a true son of the Inquisi- tion as he was, he would gladly have seen its fires kin- dled in every city of this apostate land. He had observed with vexation the apathy manifested by Philip. And he at length resolved to despatch a special embassy to Spain, to stimulate the monarch, if possible, to more decided action. The person employed was the bishop of Ascoli, and the good father delivered his rebuke in such blunt terms as caused a sensation at the court of Madrid. In a letter to his ambassador at Rome, Philip complained that the pope should have thus held him up to Christen- dom as one slack in the performance of his duty. The envoy had delivered himself in so strange a manner, Philip added, that, but for the respect and love he bore his holiness, he might have been led to take precisely the opposite course to the one he intended.' ' " Ledit eveque, dans la premiere audience qu'il lui a donnee, a use d'ailleures de termes si ^tranges, qu'il I'a mis en colore, et que, s'il cut eu moins d'amour et de respect pour S. S., cela eut pu le faire revenir sur les resolutions qu'il a prises." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 488. — The tart remonstrance of Philip had its effect. Granvclle soon after wrote to the king that his hohness was greatly disturbed by the manner in which his majesty had taken his rebuke. The pope, Granvclle added, was a person of the best intentions, but HIS APPOINTMENT. 131 Yet, notwithstanding this show of indignation, had it not been for the outbreak of the iconoclasts, it is not improbable that the king might still have continued to procrastinate, relying on his favorite maxim, that "Time and himself were a match for any other two."* But the event which caused such a sensation throughout Christendom roused every feeling of indignation in the royal bosom, — and this from the insult offered to the crown as well as to the Church. Contrary to his wont, the king expressed himself with so much warmth on the subject, and so openly, that the most skejJtical began at last to believe that the long-talked -of visit was at hand. The only doubt was as to the manner in which it should be made, — whether the king should march at the head of an army, or attended only by so much of a retinue as was demanded by his royal state. The question was warmly discussed in the council. with very little knowledge of the world, and easily kept in check by tl|pse who show their teeth to him : " reprimise quando se le muestran los dientes." Ibid., torn. ii. p. Iviii. ""Que lui et le temps en valaient deux autres." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 199. — The hesitation of the king drew on him a sharp rebuke from the audacious Fray Lorenzo Villa- vicencio, who showed as little ceremony in dealing with Philip as with his ministers. " If your majesty," he says, " consulting only your own ease, refuses to make this visit to Flanders, which so nearly concerns the honor of God, his blessed Mother, and all the saints, as well as the weal of Christendom, what is it but to declare that you are ready to accept the regal dignity which God has given you, and yet leave to him all the care and trouble that belong to that dignity? God would take this as ill of your majesty, as you would take it of those of your vassals whom you had raised to offices of trust and honor, and who took the offices, but left you to do the work for them ! To offend God is a rash act, that must destroy both soul and body." Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. ii., Rapport, p. xlviii. 132 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. Ruy Gomez, the courtly favorite of Philip, was for the latter alternative. A civil war he deprecated, as bringing ruin even to the victor. ^ Clemency was the best attribute of a sovereign, and the people of Flanders were a gen- erous race, more likely to be overcome by kindness than by arms."* In these liberal and humane views the prince of Eboli was supported by the politic secretary, Antonio Perez, and by the duke of Feria, formerly ambassador to London, a man who to polished manners united a most insinuating eloquence. But very different opinions, as might be expected, were advanced by the duke of Alva. The system of indulgence, he said, had been that followed by the re- gent, and its fruits were visible. The weeds of heresy were not to be extirpated by a gentle hand ; and his majesty should deal with his rebellious vassals as Charles the Fifth had dealt with their rebel fathers at Ghent. ^ These stern views received support from the Cardinal Espinosa, who held the office of president of the coi»n- cil as well as of grand inquisitor, and who doubtless thought the insult offered to the Inquisition not the least of the offences to be charged on the Reformers. Each of the great leaders recommended the measures most congenial with his own character, and which had they been adopted would probably have required his own services to carry them into execution. Had the pacific course been taken, Feria, or more probably Kuy 3 " Ne extingui quidem posse sine ruina victoris." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 338. — Better expressed by the old Castilian proverb, " El vencido vencido, y el vencidor perdido." 4 "At illos non armis sed beneficiis expugnari." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 339. 5 Ibid., p. 340. HIS APPOINTMENT. ^IZ Gomez, would have been intrusted with the direction of affairs. Indeed, Montigny and Bergen, still detained in reluctant captivity at Madrid, strongly urged the king to send the prince of Eboli, as a man who, by his popular manners and known discretion, would be most likely to reconcile opposite factions.*^ Were violent measures, on the other hand, to be adopted, to whom could they be so well intrusted as to the duke himself, the most experienced captain of his time ? The king, it is said, contrary to his custom, was present at the meeting of the council and listened to the debate. He did not intimate his opinion. But it might be conjectured to which side he was most likely to lean, from his habitual preference for coercive measures.^ Philip came to a decision sooner than usual. In a few days he summoned the duke, and told him that he had resolved to send him forthwith, at the head of an army, to the Netherlands. It was only, however, to prepare the way for his own coming, wliich would take place as soon as the country was in a state sufficiently settled to receive him. 6 " Ouy, et que plus est, oserions presques asseurer Vostre Majeste plusieurs des mauvais et des principaulx, voiant ledit prince de He- boli, se viendront reconcilier k luy, et le supplier avoir, par son moien, faveur vers Vostre Majeste." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn, i. p. 519. 7 The debate is reported with sufficient minuteness both by Cabrera (Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. vii.) and Strada (De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 338). They agree, however, neither in the names of the parties present, nor in the speeches they made. Yet their disagreement in these particulars is by no means so surprising as their agreement in the most improbable part of their account, — Philip's presence at the debate. Philip.— Vol. II. 12 134 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLAxYDS. All was now alive with the business of preparation in Castile. Levies were raised throughout the country. Such was the zeal displayed that even the Inquisition and the clergy advanced a considerable sum towards defraying the expenses of an expedition which they seemed to regard in the light of a crusade.^ Magazines of provisions were ordered to be established at regular stations on the proposed line of march. Orders were sent that the old Spanish garrisons in Lombardy, Na- ples, Sicily, and Sardinia should be transported to the place of rendezvous in Piedmont, to await the coming of the duke, who would supply their places with the fresh recruits brought with him from Castile. Philip meanwhile constantly proclaimed that Alva's departure was only the herald of his own. He wrote this to Margaret, assuring her of his purpose to go by water, and directing her to have a squadron of eight vessels in readiness to convoy him to Zealand, where he proposed to land. The vessels were accordingly equipped. Processions were made, and prayers put up in all the churches, for the prosperous passage of the king. Yet there were some in the Netherlands who remarked that prayers to avert the dangers of the sea were hardly needed by the monarch in his palace at Madrid ! ' Many of those about the royal person soon indulged in the same skepticism in regard to the king's sincerity, as week after week passed away and no ar- rangements were made for his departure. Among the contradictory rumors at court in respect to the king's 8 " Comme si c'eust este uiie saincte guerre." Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 52. 9 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 350. HIS APPOINTMENT. 135 intention, the pope's nuncio wrote, it was impossible to get at the truth." It was easy to comprehend the gen- eral policy of Philip, but impossible to divine the par- ticular plans by which it was to be carried out. If such was the veil which hid the monarch's purposes even from the eyes of those who had nearest access to his person, how can we hope at this distance of time to penetrate it? Yet the historian of the nine- teenth century is admitted to the perusal of many an authentic document revealing the royal purpose, which never came under the eye of the courtier of Madrid. With all the light thus afforded, it is still difficult to say whether Philip ever was sincere in his professions of visiting the Netherlands. If he were so at any time, it certainly was not after he had decided on the mission of Alva. Philip widely differed from his father in a sluggishness of body which made any undertaking that required physical effort exceedingly irksome. He shrank from no amount of sedentary labor, would toil from morning till midnight in his closet, like the humblest of his secretaries. But a journey was a great undertaking. After his visits, during his father's lifetime, to England and the Low Countries, he rarely travelled farther, as his graceless son satirically hinted, than from Madrid to Aranjuez, or Madrid to the Escorial. A thing so formidable as an expedition to Flanders, involving a tedious journey 'o " II repute," says Gachard, "dans une depeche du V^'' septembre, qu'au milieu des bruits contradictoires qui circulent \ la cour, il est impossible de demeler la verite." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn, i., Rapport, p. clvi. 136 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. through an unfriendly land, or a voyage through seas not less unfriendly, was what, under ordinary circum- stances, the king would have never dreamed of. The present aspect of affairs, moreover, had nothing in it particularly inviting, — especially to a prince of Philip's temper. Never was there a prince more jealous of his authority ; and the indignities to which he might have been exposed, in the disorderly condition of the country, might well have come to the aid of his con- stitutional sluggishness to deter him from the visit. Under these circumstances, it is not strange that Philip, if he had ever entertained a vague project of a journey to the Netherlands, should have yielded to his natural habit of procrastination. The difficulties of a winter's voyage, the necessity of summoning cortes and settling the affairs of the kingdom, his own protracted illness, furnished so many apologies for postponing the irksome visit until the time had passed when such a visit could be effectual. That he should so strenuously have asserted his pur- pose of going to the Netherlands may be explained by a desire in some sort to save his credit with those who seemed to think that the present exigency demanded he should go. He may have also thought it politic to keep up the idea of a visit to the Low Countries, in order to curb — as it no doubt had the effect in some degree of curbing — the license of the people, who believed they were soon to be called to a reckoning for their misdeeds by the prince in person. After all, the conduct of Philip on this occasion, and the motives assigned for his delay in his letters to Margaret, must be allowed to afford a curious coincidence with those HIS APPOINTMENT. 137 ascribed, in circumstances not dissimilar, by the Roman historian to Tiberius." On the fifteenth of April, 1567, Alva had his last audience of Philip at Aranjuez. He immediately after departed for Carthagena, where a fleet of thirty-six vessels, under the Genoese Admiral Doria, lay riding at anchor to receive him. He was detained some time for the arrival of the troops, and while there he received despatches from the court containing his commission of captain-general and particular instructions as to the course he was to pursue in the Netherlands. They were so particular that, notwithstanding the broad extent of his powers, the duke wrote to his master complaining of his want of confidence and declaring that he had never been hampered by instructions so minute, even under the emperor." One who has studied the character of Philip will find no difficulty in believing it. On the twenty-seventh of April the fleet weighed anchor; but, in consequence of a detention of some days at several places on the Catalan coast, it did not reach the Genoese port of Savona till the seventeenth of the next month. The duke had been ill when he went on board, and his gouty constitution received no benefit from the voyage. Yet he did not decline the hospitalities offered by the Genoese nobles, who vied " "Ceterum, ut jam jamque iturus, legit comites, conquisivit im- pedimenta, adornavit naves : mox hiemem aut negotia varie causa- tus primo prudentes, dein vulgum, diutissime provincias fefellit." Taciti Annales, I. xlvii. " " Es la primera que se me da en mi vida de cosas desta calidad en cuantas veces he serv'ido, ni de su Magestad CesArea que Dios tenga, ni de V. M." Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 354. 12* 1 38 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. with the senate in showing the Spanish commander every testimony of respect. At Asti he was waited on by Albuquerque, the Milanese viceroy, and by ambassadors from different Italian provinces, eager to pay homage to the military representative of the Span- ish monarch. But the gout under which Alva labored was now aggravated by an attack of tertian ague, and for a week or more he was confined to his bed. Meanwhile the troops had assembled at the appointed rendezvous, and the duke, as soon as he had got the better of his disorder, made haste to review them. They amounted in all to about ten thousand men, of whom less than thirteen hundred were cavalry. But, though small in amount, it was a picked body of troops, such as was hardly to be matched in Europe. The infantry, in particular, were mostly Spaniards, — veterans who had been accustomed to victory under the banner of Charles the Fifth, and many of them trained to war under the eye of Alva himself. He preferred such a body, compact and well disciplined as it was, to one which, unwieldy from its size, would have been less fitted for a rapid march across the mountains. '3 '3 A magnanimous Castilian historian pronounces a swelling pane- gyric on this little army in a couple of lines : " Los Soldados podian ser Capitanes, los Capitanes Maestros de Campo, y los Maestros de Campo Generales." Hechos de Sancho Davila (Valladolid, 1713), p. 26. — The chivalrous Brantome dwells with delight on the gallant bearing and brilliant appointments of these troops, whom he saw in their passage tlirough Lorraine: "Tous vieux et aguerrys soldatz, tant bien en poinct d'habillement et d'armes, la pluspart dorees, et Tautre gravies, qu'on les prenoit plustost pour capitaines que sol- dats." CEuvres, torn. i. p. 60. HIS REMARKABLE MARCH. 139 Besides those of the common file, there were many gentlemen and cavaliers of note, who, weary of repose, came as volunteers to gather fresh laurels under so re- nowned a chief as the duke of Alva. Among these was Vitelli, marquis of Cetona, a Florentine soldier of high repute in his profession, but who, though now embarked in what might be called a war of religion, was held so indifferent to religion of any kind that a whimsical epitaph on the skeptic denies him the possession of a soul.'* Another of these volunteers was Mondragone, a veteran of Charles the Fifth, whose character for chivalrous exploit was unstained by those deeds of cruelty and rapine which were so often the reproach of the cavalier of the sixteenth century. The duties of the commissariat, particularly difficult in a campaign like the present, were intrusted to an experienced Span- ish officer named Ibarra. To the duke of Savoy Alva was indebted for an eminent engineer named Paciotti, whose services proved of great importance in the con- struction of fortresses in the Netherlands. Alva had also brought with him his two sons, Frederick and Ferdinand de Toledo, — the latter an illegitimate child, for whom the father showed as much affection as it was in his rugged nature to feel for any one. To Ferdinand was given the command of the cavalry, composed chiefly of Italians. '5 ^ " Corpus in Italia est, tenet intestina Brabantus ; Ast animam nemo. Cur? quia non habuit." Borgnet, Philippe II. et la Belgique, p. 60. »s No two writers, of course, agree in the account of Alva's forces. The exact returns of the amount of the whole army, as well as of each company, and the name of the officer who commanded it, are to be found in the Documentos ineditos (torn. iv. p. 382). From this it I40 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. Having reviewed his forces, the duke formed them into three divisions. This he did in order to provide the more easily for their subsistence on his long and toilsome journey. The divisions were to be separated from one another by a day's march ; so that each would take up at night the same quarters which had been occupied by the preceding division on the night before. Alva himself led the van.'* He dispensed with artillery, not willing to embarrass his movements in his passage across the mountains. But he employed what was then a novelty in war. Each company of foot was flanked by a body of soldiers carrying heavy muskets with rests attached to them. This sort of fire-arms, from their cumbrous nature, had hitherto been used only in the defence of fortresses. But with these portable rests they were found efficient for field-service, and as such came into general use after this period.'^ Their introduction by appears that the precise number of horse was 1250, and that of the foot 8800, making a total of 10,050. »* A poem in ottava riina, commemorating Alva's expedition, ap- p>eared at Antwerp the year following, from the pen of one Balthazar de Vargas. It has more value in an historical point of view than in a poetical one. A single stanza, which the bard devotes to the victual^ ling of the army, will probably satisfy the appetite of the reader: " y por que la Savoya es montanosa, Y an de passar por ella las legiones, Seria la passada trabajosa Si 4 la gente faltassen provisiones. El real comissario no rcposa. Haze llevar de Italia municiones Tantas que proveyo todo el camino Que jamas falto el pan, y carne, y vino." '7 Ossorio, Albae Vita, torn. ii. p. 237. — Trillo, Rebelion y Guerras HIS REMARKABLE MARCH. 141 Alva may be regarded, therefore, as an event of some importance in the history of military art. The route that Alva proposed to take was that over Mount Cenis, the same, according to tradition, by which Hannibal crossed the great barrier some eigh- teen centuries before.'^ If less formidable than in the days of the Carthaginian, it was far from being the practicable route so easily traversed, whether by trooper or tourist, at the present day. Steep rocky heights, shaggy with forests, where the snows of winter still lingered in the midst of June ; fathomless ravines, choked up with the debris washed down by the moun- tain-torrent ; paths scarcely worn by the hunter and his game, affording a precarious footing on the edge of giddy precipices ; long and intricate defiles, where a handful of men might hold an army at bay and from the surrounding heights roll down ruin on their heads; — these were the obstacles which Alva and his followers had to encounter, as they threaded their toilsome way through a country where the natives bore no friendly disposition to the Spaniards. de Flandes (Madrid, 1592), fol. 17. — Leti, Vita di Filippo II., torn. i. p. 490. '8 So say Schiller (Abfall der Niederlande, S. 363), Cabrera (Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 15), et auct. al. But every schoolboy knows that nothing is more unsettled than the route taken by Hannibal across the Alps. The two oldest authorities, Livy and Polybius, differ on the point, and it has remained a ve.xed question ever since, — the criticism of later years, indeed, leaning to still another route, that across the Little St. Bernard. The passage of Hannibal forms the subject of a curious discussion introduced into Gibbon's journal, when the young historian was in training for the mighty task of riper years. His reluctance, even at the close of his argument, to strike the balance, is singularly characteristic of his skeptical mind. 142 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. Their route lay at no great distance from Geneva, that stronghold of the Reformers ; and Pius the Fifth would have persuaded the duke to turn from his course and exterminate this "nest of devils and apostates,'"' — ^as the Christian father was pleased to term them. The people of Geneva, greatly alarmed at the prospect of an invasion, applied to their Huguenot brethren for aid. The prince of Conde and the Admiral Coligni — the leaders of that party — offered their services to the French monarch to raise fifty thousand men, fall upon his old enemies the Spaniards, and cut them off in the passes of the mountains. But Charles the Ninth readily understood the drift of this proposal. Though he bore little love to the Spaniards, he bore still less to the Reformers. He therefore declined this offer of the Huguenot chiefs, adding that he was able to pro- tect France without their assistance."" The Genevans were accordingly obliged to stand to their own de- fence, though they gathered confidence from the promised support of their countrymen of Berne ; and the whole array of these brave mountaineers was in arms, ready to repel any assault of the Spaniards. on their own territory or on that of their allies, in their passage through the country.* But this was unneces- •9 "A suidar da quel nido di Demoni, le sceleraggini di tanti Ap- postati." Leti, Vita di Filippo II., torn. i. p. 487. «> The Huguenots even went so far as to attempt to engage the Reformed in the Low Countries to join them in assaulting the duke in * [Geneva was not then a member of the Swiss Confederacy, as the language in the text would imply, and, though Berne offered to send a thousand men for its protection, a French garrison was accepted in preference. The other cantons refused to raise any troops, their HIS REMARKABLE MARCH. 143 sary. Though Alva passed within six leagues of Ge- neva, and the request of the pontiff was warmly seconded by the duke of Savoy, the Spanisli general did not deem it prudent to comply with it, declaring that his commission extended no further than to the Netherlands. Without turning to the right or to the left, he held on, therefore, straight towards the mark, anxious only to extricate himself as speedily as possible from the perilous passes where he might be taken at so obvious disadvantage by an enemy. Yet such were the difficulties he had to encounter that a fortnight elapsed before he was able to set foot on the friendly plains of Burgundy, — that part of the ancient duchy which acknowledged the authority of Spain.* Here he received the welcome addition to his ranks of four hundred horse, the flower of the Bur- gundian chivalry. On his way across the country he was accompanied by a French army of observation, some six thousand strong, which moved in a parallel his march through Savoy. Their views were expressed in a work which circulated widely in the provinces, though it failed to rouse the people to throw off the Spanish yoke. See Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 194. jealousy of Berne being such at this period that they would have been very wilhng, according to the native historians, to see its power, which had been extended by conquest, crippled by a foreign enemy. Mean- while, the envoys of Spain and Savoy gave assurances to the Council of Berne that no hostilities were intended by Alva, and that the strictest discipline would be maintained on the march, the Conde de Anguisola offering to remain as a hostage till the danger was past. Tillier, Geschichte des Freistaates Bern, B. iii. S. 423-425. — Ed.] * [The county of Burgundy is meant: no part of the duchy was subject to Philip. — Ed.] 144 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. direction, at the distance of six or seven leagues only from the line of march pursued by the Spaniards, — though without offering them any molestation. Soon after entering Lorraine, Alva was met by the duke of that province, who seemed desirous to show him every respect, and entertained him with princely hospitality. After a brief detention, the Spanish gen- eral resumed his journey, and on the eighth of August crossed the frontiers of the Netherlands. "" His long and toilsome march had been accomplished without an untoward accident, and with scarcely a dis- orderly act on the part of the soldiers. No man's property had been plundered. No peasant's hut had been violated. The cattle had been allowed to graze unmolested in the fields, and the flocks to wander in safety over their mountain-pastures. One instance only to the contrary is mentioned, — that of three troopers who carried off one or two straggling sheep as the army was passing through Lorraine. But they were soon called to a heavy reckoning for their transgres- sion. Alva, on being informed of the fact, sentenced them all to the gallows. At the intercession of the duke of Lorraine, the sentence was so far mitigated by " Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. pp. 350-354. — Ossorio, Albae Vita, torn. ii. p. 232, et seq. — Hechos de Sancho Davila, p. 26. — Trillo, Rebelion y Guerras de Flandes, fol. 16, 17. — Cabrera, Filipe Segimdo, lib. vii. cap. 15. — Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 52. — Lanario, Guerras de Flandes, fol. 15. — Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. — Chronological accuracy was a thing altogether beneath the attention of a chronicler of the sixteenth century. In the confusion of dates in regard to Alva's movements, I have been guided as far as possible by his ovk'n despatches. See Documcntos in6ditos, torn. iv. p. 349, ct seq. HIS REMARKABLE MARCH. 145 the Spanish commander that one only of the three, se- lected by lot, was finally executed." The admirable discipline maintained among Alva's soldiers was the more conspicuous in an age when the name of soldier was synonymous with that of marauder. It mattered little whether it were a friendly country or that of a foe through which lay the line of march. The defenceless peasant was everywhere the prey of the war- rior; and the general winked at the outrages of his fol- lowers as the best means of settling their arrears. What made the subordination of the troops in the present instance still more worthy of notice was the great number of camp-followers, especially courtesans, who hung on the skirts of the army. These latter mustered in such force that they were divided into battalions and companies, marching each under its own banner, and subjected to a sort of military or- ganization, like the men."^ The duke seems to have been as careless of the morals of his soldiers as he was careful of their discipline ; perhaps willing by his laxity in the one to compensate for his severity in the other. It was of the last importance to Alva that his sol- diers should commit no trespass, nor entangle him in a quarrel with the dangerous people through the midst of whom he was to pass, and who, from their superior " Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 354. — Ossorio, Albae Vita, fom. i. p. 241. ^ Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 52. — Old Brantome warms as he contemplates these Amazons, as beautiful and making as brave a show as princesses ! " Plus il y avoit quatre cents courtisanes k cheval, belles et braves comme princesses, at huict cents k pied, bien en point aussi." CEuvres, torn. i. p. 62. Philip. — Vol. II. — g 13 146 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. knowledge of the country, as well as their numbers, could so easily overpower him. Fortunately, he had received such intimations before his departure as put him on his guard. The result was that he obtained such a mastery over his followers, and enforced so perfect a discipline, as excited the general admiration of his contemporaries, and made his march to the Low Countries one of the most memorable events of the period.^'' At Thionville the duke was waited on by Barlaimont and Noircarmes, who came to offer the salutations of the regent and at the same time to request to see his powers. At the same place, and on the way to the capital, the duke was met by several of the Flemish nobility, who came to pay their respects to him, — among the rest, Egmont, attended by forty of his re- tainers. On his entering Alva's presence, the duke exclaimed to one of his officers, "Here comes a great heretic ! ' ' The words were overheard by Egmont, who hesitated a moment, naturally disconcerted by what would have served as an effectual warning to any other man. But Alva made haste to efface the im- pression caused by his heedless exclamation, receiving Egmont with so much cordiality as reassured the in- fatuated nobleman, who, regarding the words as a jest, before his departure presented the duke with two beau- tiful horses. Such is the rather singular story which »4 " Ninguna Historia nos ensena haya passado un Exercito por Pais tan dilatado y marchas tan continuas, sin cometer excesso : La» del Duque es la unica que nos la hace ver. Encantd Jl todo el mundo." Rustant, Historia del Duque de Alva, torn. ii. p. 124. — So also Her- rera, Historia general, torn. i. p. 650. — Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 15.— Strada, Dc Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 354. HE ARRIVES AT BRUSSELS. 147 comes down to us on what must be admitted to be respectable authority. ''s Soon after he had entered the country, the duke de- tached the greater part of his forces to garrison some of the principal cities and relieve the Walloon troops on duty there, less to be trusted than his Spanish veter- ans. With the Milanese brigade he took the road to }3russels, which he entered on the twenty-second of August. His cavalry he established at ten leagues' dis- tance from the capital, and the infantry he lodged in the suburbs. Far from being greeted by acclamations, no one came out to welcome him as he entered the city, which seemed like a place deserted. He went straight to the palace, to offer his homage to the regent. An altercation took place on the threshold between his halberdiers and Margaret's body-guard of archers, who disputed the entrance of the Spanish soldiers. The duke himself was conducted to the bedchamber of the duchess, where she was in the habit of giving audience. She was standing, with a few Flemish nobles by her side ; and she remained in that position, without stir- ring a single step to receive her visitor. Both parties continued standing during the interview, which lasted half an hour, the duke during the greater part of the time with his hat in his hand, although Margaret re- quested him to be covered. The curious spectators of this conference amused themselves by contrasting the courteous and even deferential manners of the haughty *S " Comme le Due le vid de long, il dit tout haut ; Voicy le grand hereticque, dequoy le Comte s'espouvanta : neantmoins, pource qu'on le pouvoit entendre en deux fafons, il I'interpreta de bonne part." Meteren, Hist, des Pajs-Bas, fol. 53. 148 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. Spaniard with the chilling reserve and stately demeanor of the duchess."^ At the close of the interview Alva withdrew to his own quarters at Culemborg House, — the place, it will be remembered, where the Gueux held their memorable banquet on their visit to Brussels. The following morning, at the request of the council of state, the duke of Alva furnished that body with a copy of his commission. By this he was invested with the title of captain-general, and in that capacity was to exercise supreme control in all military affairs.'' By another commission, dated two months later, these powers were greatly enlarged. The country was de- clared in a state of rebellion ; and, as milder means had failed to bring it to obedience, it was necessary to resort to arms. The duke was therefore commanded to levy war on the refractory people and reduce them to submission. He was, moreover, to inquire into the causes of the recent troubles, and bring the suspected parties to trial, with full authority to punish or to par- 26 " Vimos los que alii estdbamos que el Duque de Alba us6 de grandisimos respetos y buenas crianzas, y que Madama estuvo muy severa y mas que cuando suelen negociar con ella Egmont y esios otros Seiiores de acd, cosa que fue muy notada de los que lo miraban." — A minute account of this interview, as given in the text, was sent to Philip by Mendivil, an officer of the artillery, and is inserted in the Documcntos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 397, et seq. "^ This document, dated December ist, 1566, is not to be found in the Archives of Simancas, as we may infer from its having no place in the Documentos ineditos, which contains the succeeding commission. A copy of it is in the Belgian archives, and has been incorporated in Gachard's Correspondance de Philippe II. (tom. ii.. Appendix, No. 88). It is possible that a copy of this commission was sent to Mar- garet, as it agrees so well with what the king had written to her on the subject. HE ARRIVES AT BRUSSELS. 149 don as he might judge best for the public weal."^ Finally, a third commission, of more startling import than the two preceding, and which indeed might seem to supersede them altogether, was dated three months later, on the first of March, 1567. In the former in- struments the duke was so far required to act in subor- dination to the regent that her authority was declared to be unimpaired. But by virtue of this last commis- sion he was invested with supreme control in civil as well as military affairs ; and persons of every degree, including the regent herself, were enjoined to render obedience to his commands, as to those of the king.^ Such a commission, which placed the government of the country in the hands of Alva, was equivalent to a dismissal of Margaret. The title of "regent," which still remained to her, was an empty mockery ; nor could it be thought that she would be content to retain a barren sceptre in the country over which she had so long ruled. It is curious to observe the successive steps by which Philip had raised Alva from the rank of captain-general 28 To this second commission, dated January 31st, 1567, was ap- pended a document, signed also by Philip, the purport of which seems to have been to explain more precisely the nature of the powers intrusted to the duke, — which it does in so liberal a fashion that it may be said to double those powers. Both papers, the originals of which are preserved in Simancas, have been inserted in the Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. pp. 388-396. =9 " Par quoy requerrons 'k ladicte dame duchesse, nostre seur, at commandons k tous noz vassaulx et subjectz, de obeyr audict due d'Alve en ce qu'il leur commandcra, et de par nous, comme aiant telle charge, et comme k nostre propre personne." — This instrument, taken from the Belgian archives, is given entirely by Gachard, Correspon- dance de Philippe II., tom, ii. Appendix, No. 102. 13* 150 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. of the army to supreme authority in the country. It would seem as if the king were too tenacious of power readily to part with it, and that it was only by succes- sive efforts, as the conviction of the necessity of such a step pressed more and more on his mind, that he de- termined to lodge the government in the hands of .Alva. ^^Vhether the duke acquainted the council with the full extent of his powers, or, as seems more probable communicated to that body only his first two commis- sions, it is impossible to say. At all events, the mem- bers do not appear to have been prepared for the exhi- bition of powers so extensive, and which, even in the second of the commissions, transcended those exercised by the regent herself. A consciousness that they did so had led Philip, in more than one instance, to qualify the language of the instrument in such a manner as not to rouse the jealousy of his sister, — an artifice so ob- vious that it probably produced a contrary effect. At any rate, Margaret did not affect to conceal her disgust, but talked openly of the affront put on her by the king, and avowed her determination to throw up the government.^ She gave little attention to business, passing most of her days in hunting, of which masculine sport she was ex- cessively fond. She even threatened to amuse herself with journeying about from place to place, leaving public affairs to take care of themselves, till she should 30 " Despues que los han visto han quedado todos mxiy lastimados, y d todos cuantos Madama habla les dice que se quiere ir d su casa por los agravios que V. M. le ha liecho." Carta de Mcndivil, ap, Documentos ineditoa, torn. iv. p. 399. MARGARET DISGUSTED. 151 receive the king's permission to retire.^' From this in- dulgence of her spleen she was dissuaded by her secretary, Armenteros, who, shifting his sails to suit the breeze, showed, soon after Alva's coming, his intention to pro- pitiate the new governor. There were others of Mar- garet's adherents less accommodating. Some high in office intimated very plainly their discontent at the presence of the Spaniards, from which they boded only calamity to the country.^'' Margaret's confessor, in a sermon preached before the regent, did not scriiple to denounce the Spaniards as so many "knaves, traitors, and ravishers. " 33 And although the remonstrance of the loyal Armenteros induced the duchess to send back the honest man to his convent, it was plain, from the warm terms in which she commended the preacher, that she was far from being displeased with his dis- course. The duke of Alva cared little for the hatred of the Flemish lords. ^ But he felt otherwise towards the re- gent. He would willingly have soothed her irritation, and he bent his haughty spirit to show, in spite of her coldness, a deference in his manner that must have done some violence to his nature. As a mark of re- 31 Carta de Mendivil, ap. Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 403. 32 Ibid., p. 400. 33 " En todo el sermon no trato cuasi de otra cosa sino de que lo^ espanoles eran traidores y ladrones, y forzadores de mugeres, y que totalmente el pais que los sufria era destruido, con tanto escandolo y inaldad que merescia ser quemado." Ibid., p. 401. 34 Yet there was danger in it, if, as Armenteros warned the duke, to leave his house would be at the risk of his life : " Tambien me ha dicho Tomds de Armenteros que diga al Duque de Alba que en nin- guna manera como fuera de su casa porque si lo hace sera con notable peligro de la vida." Ibid., ubi supra. 152 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. spect, he proposed at once to pay her another visit, and in great state, as suited her rank. But Margaret, feign- ing or feeling herself too ill to receive him, declined his visit for some days, and at last, perhaps to mortify him the more, vouchsafed him only a private audience in her own apartment. Yet at this interview she showed more condescension than before, and even went so far as to assure the duke that there was no one whose appointment would have been more acceptable to her.^ She followed this by bluntly demand.'ng why he had been sent at all. Alva replied that, as she had often intimated her desire for a more efficient military force, he had come to aid her in the execution of her measures, and to restore peace to the country before the arrival of his majesty. ^^ The answer could hardly have pleased the duchess, who doubtless considered she had done that, without his aid, already. --/ The discourse fell upon the mode of quartering the troops. Alva proposed to introduce a Spanish garrison into Brussels. To this Margaret objected with great energy. But the duke on this point was inflexible. Brussels was the royal residence, and the quiet of the city could only be secured by a garrison. "If people murmur," he concluded, "you can tell them I am a 35 " Despues de haberse sentado le dijo el contentamiento que tenia de su venida y que ningxin otro pudiera venir con quien ella mas se holgara." Carta de Mendivil, ap. Documentos in6ditos, torn. iv. p. 404. 36 " Que lo que principalmente traia era estar aqui con esta gente para que la justicia fucse obedecida y respetada, y los mandamientos de S. E. ejecutadas, y que S. M. d su venida hallase esto en la paz, tranquilidad y sosiego que era razon." Ibid,, p. 406. MARGARET DISGUSTED. 153 headstrong man, bent on having my own way. I am willing to take all the odium of the measure on my- self. "^^ Thus thwarted, and made to feel her infe- riority when any question of real power was involved, Margaret felt the humiliation of her position even more keenly than before. The appointment of Alva had been from the first, as we have seen, a source of morti- fication to the duchess. In December, 1566, soon after Philip had decided on sending the duke, with the authority of captain-general, to the Low Countries, he announced it in a letter to Margaret. He had been as much perplexed, he said, in the choice of a com- mander as she could have been ; and it was only at her suggestion of the necessity of some one to take the military command that he had made such a nomina- tion. . Alva was, however, only to prepare the way for him, to assemble a force on the frontier, establish the garrisons, and enforce discipline among the troops till he came. 3^ Philip was careful not to alarm his sister by any hint of the extraordinary powers to be conferred on the duke, who thus seemed to be sent only in obe- dience to her suggestion and in subordination to her authority. Margaret knew too well that Alva was not a man to act in subordination to any one. But what- ever misgivings she may have had, she hardly betrayed them in her reply to Philip, in the following February, 1567, when she told the king she "was sure he would 37 " Podrase escusar con estos diciendoles que yo soy cabezudo y que he estado muy opinatre en sacar de aqui esta gente, que yo huelgo de que d ml se me eche la culpa y de llevar el odio sobre mi i. h-ueque de que V. E. quede descargada." Carta de Mendivil, ap, Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 408. 38 Supplement ^ Strada, tom. ii. p. 524. 154 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. never be so unjust, and do a thing so prejudicial to the interests of the country, as to transfer to another the powers he had vested in her. ' ' '^ The appointment of Alva may have stimulated the regent to the extraordinary efforts she then made to reduce the country to order. When she had achieved this, she opened her mind more freely to her brother, in a letter dated July 12th, 1567. ''The name of Alva was so odious in the Netherlands that it was enough to make the whole Spanish nation detested. "•" She could never have imagined that the king would make such an appointment without consulting her." She then, alluding to orders lately received from Madrid, shows extreme repugnance to carry out the stern policy of Philip,"* — a repugnance, it must be confessed, that seems to rest less on the character of the measures than on the dififictilty of their execution. When the duchess learned that Alva was in Italy, she wrote also to him, hoping at this late hour to arrest his progress by the assurance that the troubles were now at an end and that his appearance at the head of an army would only serve to renew them. But the duke was preparing for his march across the Alps, and it would have been as easy to stop the avalanche in its descent as to stay the onward course of this ''man of destiny." The state of Margaret's feelings was shown by the 39"Tenendo per certo che V. M. non vorrk desautorizarnii, per autorizare altri, poi che questo non e giusto, ne manco saria servitio suo, se non gran danno et inconveniente per tuttili negotii." Corre- spondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 505. 40 " II y est si odieu.x qu'il suffirait h. y faire hair toute la nation espagnole." Ibid., p. 556. 4» Ibid., ubi supra. ANECDOTES OF THE DUKE. 155 chilling reception she gave the duke on his arrival in Brussels. The extent of his powers, so much beyond what she had imagined, did not tend to soothe the irritation of the regent's temper; and the result of the subsequent interview filled up the measure of her in- dignation. However forms might be respected, it was clear the power had passed into other hands. She wrote at once to Philip, requesting, or rather requiring, his leave to withdraw without delay from the country. " If he had really felt the concern he professed for her welfare and reputation, he would have allowed her to quit the government before being brought into rivalry with a man like the duke of Alva, who took his own course in everything, without the least regard to her. It afflicted her to the bottom of her soul to have been thus treated by the king." "^ It may have given some satisfaction to Margaret that in her feelings towards the duke she had the entire sympathy of the nation. In earlier days, in the time of Charles the Fifth, Alva had passed some time both in Germany and in the Netherlands, and had left there no favorable impression of his character. In the former country, indeed, his haughty deportment on a question of etiquette had caused some embarrassment to nis master. Alva insisted on the strange privilege of the Castilian grandee to wear his hat in the presence of his sovereign. The German nobles, scandalized by this pretension in a subject, asserted that their order had as good a right to it as the Spaniards. It was not without difficulty that the proud duke was con- 4= " Elle est affectee, jusq'iui fond de I'ame, de la conduite du Roi & son egard." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 367. 156 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. tent to waive the contested privilege till his return to Spain. '•^ Another anecdote of Alva had left a still more un- favorable impression of his character. He had accom- panied Charles on his memorable visit to Ghent, on occasion of its rebellion. The emperor asked the duke's counsel as to the manner in which he should deal with his refractory capital. Alva instantly an- swered, ''Raze it to the ground!" Charles, without replying, took the duke with him to the battlements of the castle ; and, as their eyes wandered over the beautiful city spread out far and wide below, the em- peror asked him, with a pun on the French name of Ghent {Gand), how many Spanish hides it would take to make such a glove (^gant). Alva, who saw his mas- ter's displeasure, received the rebuke in silence. The story, whether true or not, was current among the people of Flanders, on whom it produced its effect.'" Alva was now sixty years old. It was not likely that age had softened the asperity of his nature. He had, as might be expected, ever shown himself the uncom- promising enemy of the party of reform in the Low Countries. He had opposed the concession made to the nation by the recall of Granvelle. The only con- cessions he recommended to Philip were in order to lull the suspicions of the great lords till he could bring them to a bloody reckoning for their misdeeds. '*s The 43 Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 207. *♦ " Seu vera sen ficta, facile Gandavensibus credita, ab iisque in reliquiim Belgium cum Albani odio propagata." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 368. 4S See his remarkable letter to the king, of October 21st, 1563 : "A los que destos merecen, quftenles las cave9as, hasta poderlo POLICY OF THE DUKE. 157 general drift of his policy was perfectly understood in the Netherlands, and the duchess had not exaggerated when she dwelt on the detestation in which he was held by the people. His course on his arrival was not such as to diminish the fears of the nation. His first act was to substitute in the great towns his own troops, men who knew no law but the will of their chief, for the Walloon garrisons, who might naturally have some sympathy with their countrymen. His next was to construct fortresses, under the direction of one of the ablest engineers in Europe. The hour had come when, in the language of the prince of Orange, his countrymen were to be bridled by the Spaniard. The conduct of Alva's soldiers underwent an omi- nous change. Instead of the discipline observed on the march, they now indulged in the most reckless license. "One hears everywhere," writes a Fleming of the time, "of the oppressions of the Spaniards. Confiscation is going on to the right and left. If a man has any thing to lose, they set him down at once as a heretic."^* If the writer may be thought to have borrowed something from his fears,"*' it cannot be hace dissimular con ellos." Papiers d'6tat de Granvelle, torn. vii. P- 233- 46 " Les Espaignols font les plus grandes foulles qu'on ne s^auroit escryre; ils confisquent tout, \ tort, k droit, disant que touts sont here- liques, qui ont du bien, et ont \ perdre." — The indignant writer does not omit to mention the " two thousand" strumpets wh© came in the dulce's train: "so," he adds, "with what we have already, there will be no lack of this sort of wares in the country." Lettre de Jean de Homes, August 25th, 1567, Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. P- 565- 47 Clough, Sir Thomas Gresham's agent, who was in the Low Philip.— Vol. II. 14 158 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. doubted that the panic was general in the country. Men emigrated by thousands and tens of thousands, carrying with them to other lands the arts and manu- factures which had so long been the boast and the source of prosperity of the Netherlands."^ Those who remained were filled with a dismal apprehension, — a boding of coming evil, as they beheld the heavens darkening around them and the signs of the tempest at hand. A still deeper gloom lay upon Brussels, once the gayest city in the Netherlands, — now the residence of Alva. All business was suspended. Places of public resort were unfrequented. The streets were silent and deserted. Several of the nobles and wealthier citizens had gone to their estates in the country, to watch there the aspect of events.*' Most of the courtiers who re- Countries at this time, mentions the license of the Spaniards. It is but just to add that he says the government took prompt measures to repress it, by ordering some of the principal offenders to the gibbet. Burgon, Life of Gresham, vol. ii. pp. 229, 230. 48 The duchess, in a letter to Philip, September 8th, 1567, says that a hundred thousand people fled the country on the coming of Alva ! (Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 357.) If this be thought a round exaggeration, dictated by policy or by fear, still there are positive proofs that the emigration at this period was excessive. Thus, by a return made of the population of London and its suburbs, this very year of 1567, it appears that the number of Flemings was as large as that of all other foreigners put together. See Bulletins de I'Academie Royale de Bruxelles, tom. xiv. p. 127. 49 Thus Jean de Homes, Baron de Boxtel, writes to the prince of Orange: "J ay prins une resolution pour mon faict et est que je fay tout effort de scavoir si Ton poulrast estre seurement en sa maison: si ainsy est, me rctireray en une des miennes le plus abstractement que possible sera; sinon, regardcray de chercher (luekiue residence en desoubs ung aultre Prince." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. ill. p. 125. POLICY OF THE DUKE. 159 mained — the gilded insects that loved the sunshine — had left the regent's palace and gone to pay their homage to her rival at Culemborg House. There every thing went merrily as in the gayest time of Brus- sels. For the duke strove, by brilliant entertainments and festivities, to amuse the nobles and dissipate the gloom of the capital. s" In all this Alva had a deeper motive than met the public eye. He was carrying out the policy which he had recommended to Philip. By courteous and con- ciliatory manners he hoped to draw around him the great nobles, especially such as had been at all mixed up with the late revolutionary movements. Of these, Egmont was still at Brussels, but Ploorne had with- drawn to his estates at Weert.^' Hoogstraten was in Germany with the prince of Orange. As to the latter, Alva, as he wrote to the king, could not flatter himself with the hope of his return. 5^ The duke and his son Ferdinand both wrote to Count Hoorne in the most friendly terms, inviting him to come to Brussels.^s But this distrustful noble- man still kept aloof. Alva, in a conversation with the count's secretary, expressed^the warmest solicitude for the health of his master. He had always been his friend, he said, and had seen with infinite regret that 50 Goethe, in his noble tragedy of " Egmont," seems to have bor- rowed a hint from Shakspeare's "blanket of the dark," to depict the gloom of Brussels, — where he speaks of the heavens as wrapt in a dark pall from the fatal hour when the duke entered the city. Act iv. Scene i. 5' Vera y Figueroa, Vida de Alva, p. 89. 52 Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 578. 53 Ibid., p. 563. l6o ALVA SEA^T TO THE NETHERLANDS. the count's services were no better appreciated by the king. 54 But Philip was a good prince, and, if slow to recompense, the count would find him not ungrateful. Could the duke but see the count, he had that to say which would content him. He would find he was not forgotten by his friends. ^^ This last assurance had a terrible significance. Hoorne yielded at length to an invitation couched in terms so flattering. With Hoog- straten, Alva was not so fortunate. His good genius, or the counsel of Orange, saved him from the snare, and kept him in Germany, s® Having nothing further to gain by delay, Alva de- termined to proceed at once to the execution of his scheme. On the ninth of September the council of state was summoned to meet at Culemborg House. Egmont and Hoorne were present ; and two or three of the officers, among them Paciotti, the engineer, were invited to discuss a plan of fortification for some of the Flemish cities. In the mean time, strong guards had been posted at all the avenues of the house, and cavalry drawn together from the country and estab- lished in the suburbs. The duke prolonged the meeting until information 54 " Qu'il lui avail peine infiniment que le Roi n'eut tenu compte de monseigneur at de ses services, comma il la meritait." Corres- po:idance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 563. 55 " Que s'il voyait M. de Homes, il lui dirait des choses qui le satisferaient, at par lesquelles celui-ci connaitrait qu'il n'avait pas ^te oublie de ses amis." Ibid., p. 564. 56 According to Strada, Hoogstraten actually set out to return to Brussels, but, detained by illness or some other cause on the road, he fortunately received tidings of the fate of his friends in season to profit by it and make his escape. De Ballo Belgico, torn. i. p. 358. ARREST OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. i6r was privately communicated to him of the arrest of Backerzele, Egmont's secretary, and Van Stralen, the burgomaster of Antwerp. The former was a person of great political sagacity, and deep in the confidence of Egmontj the latter, the friend of Orange, with whom he was still in constant correspondence. The arrest of Backerzele, who resided in Brussels, was made without difficulty, and possession was taken of his papers. Van Stralen was surrounded by a body of horse as he was driving out of Antwerp in his car- riage; and both of the unfortunate gentlemen were brought prisoners to Culemborg House. As soon as these tidings were conveyed to Alva, he broke up the meeting of the council. Then, entering into conversation with Egmont, he strolled with him through the adjoining rooms, in one of which was a small body of soldiers. As the two nobles entered the apartment, Sancho Davila, the captain of the duke's guard, went up to Egmont, and in the king's name demanded his sword, telling him at the same time he was his prisoner. 5' The count, astounded by the pro- ceeding, and seeing himself surrounded by soldiers, made no attempt at resistance, but calmly, and with much dignity in his manner, gave up his sword, saying, at the same time, "It has done the king service more S7 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 359. — Ossorio, Albas Vila, torn. ii. p. 248. — Also the memoirs of that " Thunderbolt of War," as his biographer styles him, Sancho Davila himself. Hechos de Sancho Davila, p. 29. — A report, sufficiently meagre, of the affair, was sent by Alva to the king. In this no mention is made of his having accom- panied Egmont when he left the room where they had been conferring together. See Documeutos ineditos, torn. ii. p. 418. 14* 1 62 ALVA SENT TO THE A^E THE ELANDS. than once. "5* And well might he say so; for with that sword he had won the fields of Gravelines and St. Quentin.59 Hoorne fell into a similar ambuscade, in another part of the palace, whither he was drawn while con- versing with the duke's son, Ferdinand de Toledo, who, according to his father's account, had the whole merit of arranging this little drama.^ Neither did the admiral make any resistance, but, on learning Egmont's fate, yielded himself up, saying "he had no right to expect to fare better than his friend."*' It now became a question as to the disposal of the prisoners. Culemborg House was clearly no fitting place for their confinement. Alva caused several castles in the neighborhood of Brussels to be exam- ined, but they were judged insecure. He finally de- cided on Ghent. The strong fortress of that city was held by one of Egmont's own partisans ; but an order s8 " Et tamen hoc ferro sasp^ ego Regis causam non infeliciter defendi." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 359. S9 Clough, Sir Tliomas Gresliam's correspondent, in a letter from Brussels, of the same date with the arrest of Egmont, gives an account of his bearing on the occasion, which differs somewhat from that in the text ; not more, however, than the popular rumors of any strange event of recent occurrence are apt to differ : "And as touching the County of Egniond, he was (as the saying ys) apprehendyd by the Duke, and comyttyd to the offysers : whereuppon, when the capytane that had charge [of him] demandyd hys weapon, he was in a grett rage; and tooke his sword from hys syde, and cast it to the grounde." Burgon, Life of Gresham, vol. ii. p. 234. 5o Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 574. *' Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 359. — Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 54. — Hcchos de Sancho Davila, p. 29. — Ossorio, Albas Vita, tom. ii. p. 248. — Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 223. — Documcntos indditos, tom. iv. p. 418. ARREST OF EGMONT AND IIOORNE. 163 was obtained from the count requiring him to deliver up the keys into the hands of Ulloa, one of Alva's most trusted captains, who, at the head of a corps of Spanish veterans, marched to Ghent and relieved the Walloon garrison of their charge. Ulloa gave proof of his vigilance, immediately on his arrival, by seizing a heavy wagon loaded with valuables belonging to Eg- mont, as it was leaving the castle gate.*^ Having completed these arrangements, the duke lost no time in sending the two lords, under a strong mili- tary escort, to Ghent. Two companies of mounted arquebusiers rode in the front. A regiment of Spanish infantry, which formed the centre', guarded the prison ers ; one of whom, Egmont, was borne in a litter carried by mules, while Hoorne was in his own car- riage. The rear was brought up by three companies of light horse. Under this strong guard the unfortunate nobles were conducted through the province where Egmont had lately ruled "with an authority," writes Alva's secre- tary, "greater even than that of the king."^ But no attempt was made at a rescue ; and as the procession entered the gates of Ghent, where Egmont's popularity was equal to his power, the people gazed in stupefied silence on the stern array that was conducting their lord to the place of his confinement. *•• The arrest of Egmont and Hoorne was known, in a iiew hours after it took place, to every inhabitant of ** Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. ii. p. 226. 63 " Toutes ces mesures etaient necessaires, vu la grande autorite du comte d' Egmont en ces pays, qui ne connaissaient d'autre roi que lui." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. i. p. 582. ^ Ibid., ubi supra. — Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 54. 1 64 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. Brussels ; and the tidings soon spread to the farthest parts of the country. "The imprisonment of the lords," writes Alva to the king, "has caused no disturb- ance. The tranquillity is such that your majesty would hardly credit it."^^ True; but the tranquillity was that of a man stunned by a heavy blow. If murmurs were not loud, however, they were deep. Men mourned over the credulity of the two counts, who had so blindly fallen into the snare, and congratulated one another on the forecast of the prince of Orange, who might one day have the power to avenge them.** The event gave a new spur to emigration. In the space of a few weeks no less than twenty thousand persons are said to have fled the country. ^^ And the exiles were not altogether drawn from the humbler ranks; for no one, however high, could feel secure when he saw the blow aimed at men like Egmont and Hoorne, the former of whom, if he had given some cause of distrust, had long since made his peace with the government. Count Mansfeldt made haste to send his son out of the country, lest the sympathy he had once shown for the confederates, notwithstanding his recent change of opinion, might draw on him the vengeance of Alva. The old count, whose own loyalty could not be im- peached, boldly complained of the arrest of the lords as an infringement on the rights of the Toison cf Or, which body alone had cognizance of the causes that concerned their order, intimating, at the same time, *s " L'emprisonnement des deux comtes ne donne lieu k aucune rumeur ; au contraire, la tranquillite est si grande, que le Roi ne le pourrait croire." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 575. 66 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 359. 67 Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. p. 260, ARREST OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. 165 his intention to summon a meeting of the members. But he was silenced by Alva, who plainly told him that if the chevaliers of the order did meet, and said so much as the credo, he would bring them to a heavy reckoning for it. "As to the rights of the Toison, his majesty has pronounced on them," said the duke, "and nothing remains for you but to submit.'"^ The arrest and imprisonment of the two highest nobles in the land, members of the council of state, and that without any communication with her, was an affront to the regent which she could not brook. It was in vain that Alva excused it by saying it had been done by the order of the king, who wished to spare his sister the unpopularity which must attach to such a proceeding. Margaret made no reply. She did not complain. She was too deeply wounded to complain. But she wrote to Philip, asking him to consider "whether it could be advantageous to him, or deco- rous for her, whom he did not disdain to call his sister, that she should remain longer in a place of which the authority was so much abridged, or rather annihilated."*' She sent her secretary, Machiavelli, with her despatches, requesting an immediate reply from Philip, and adding that if it were delayed she *8 " Que, s'il apprenait que quelques-uns en fissent, encore meme que ce fut pour dire le credo, il les chatierait ; que, quant aux privileges de rOrdre, le Roi, apres un mur examen de ceux-ci, avait prononce, et qu'on devait se soumettre." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 578. ^ " Ade6 contracto ac penS nullo cum imperio moderari, an utile Regi, an decorum ei quam Rex sororem appellare non indignatur, illius meditationi relinquere." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 360. 1 66 ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. should take silence for assent, and forthwith leave the country. The duke of Alva was entirely resigned to the pro- posed departure of Margaret. However slight the restraint her presence might impose on his conduct, it exacted more deference than was convenient, and compelled him to consult appearances. Now that he had shown his hand, he was willing to play it out boldly to the end. His first step after the arrest of the lords was to organize that memorable tribunal for inquiring into the troubles of the country, which has no parallel in history save in the revolutionary tribunal of the French republic. The duke did not shrink from assuming the sole responsibility of his measures. He said, "it was better for the king to postpone his visit to the Netherlands, so that his ministers might bear alone the odium of these rigorous acts. When these had been performed, he might come like a gracious prince, dispensing promises and pardon." 7° This admirable coolness must be referred in part to Alva's consciousness that his policy would receive the unqualified sanction of his master. Indeed, his corre- spondence shows that all he had done in the Low Coun- tries was in accordance with a plan preconcerted with Philip. The arrest of the Flemish lords, accordingly, gave entire satisfaction at the court of Madrid, where it was looked on as the first great step in the measures of redress. It gave equal contentment to the court of 7° " II vaut mieux que le Ro! attende, pour venir, que tous les actes de rigueur aient ^td Ciits ; il entrcra alors dans le pays comnie prince benin et clement, pardonnant, et accordant des faveurs k ceux qui Tauront meritd." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 577. ARREST OF EG MONT AND HOORNE. 167 Rome, where it was believed that the root of heresy was to be reached only by the axe of the executioner. Yet there was one person at that court of more penetra- tion than those around him, the old statesman Gran- velle, who, when informed of the arrest of Egmont and Hoorne, inquired if the duke had "also drawn into his net the Silent one,^^ — as the prince of Orange was popularly called. On being answered in the nega- tive, "Then," said the cardinal, "if he has not caught him, he has caught nothing. ' ' 7' 7' " An captus quoque fuisset Tacitumus (sic Orangium nominabat), atque eo negante dixisse fertur, Uno illo retibus non incluso, nihil ab Duce Albano captum." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p, 360. CHAPTER II. CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. The Council of Blood. — Its Organization. — General Prosecutions. — Civil War in France. — Departure of Margaret. — Her Administra- tion reviewed. 1567- "Thank God," writes the duke of Alva to his sovereign, on the twenty-fourth of October, "all is tranquil in the Low Countries."' It was the same sentiment he had uttered a few weeks before. All was indeed tranquil. Silence reigned throughout the land. Yet it might have spoken more eloquently to the heart than the murmurs of discontent or the loudest tumult of insurrection. "They say many are leaving the country," he writes in another despatch. "It is hardly worth while to arrest them. The repose of the nation is not to be brought about by cutting off the heads of those who are led astray by others." * Yet in less than a week after this we find a royal or- dinance declaring that, "whereas his majesty is averse to use rigor towards those who have taken part in the late rebellion, and would rather deal with them in all ' "Grace h. Dieu, tout est parfaitement tranquille aux Pays-Bas." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 589. ' " Le repos aux Pays-Bas ne consiste pas k faire couper la tete k des homines qui se sent laisse persuader par d'autres." Ibid., p. 576. , (16S) THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD. 169 gentleness and mercy,^ it is forbidden to any one to leave the land, or to send off his effects, without ob- taining a license from the authorities, under pain of being regarded as having taken part in the late trou- bles, and of being dealt with accordingly. All masters and owners of vessels who shall aid such persons in their flight shall incur the same penalties."* The pen- alties denounced in this spirit of "gentleness and mercy" were death and confiscation of property. That the law was not a dead letter was soon shown by the arrest of ten of the principal merchants of Tournay as they were preparing to fly to foreign parts, and by the immediate confiscation of their esta^t^s?*^ Yet Alva v/ould have persuaded the world that he, as well as his master, was influenced only by sentiments of humanity. To the Spanish ambassador at Rome he wrote, soon after the seizure of the Flemish lords, ''I might have arrested more ; but the king is averse to shedding the blood of his people. I have the same disposition myself.® I am pained to the bottom of my soul by the necessity of the measure." 3 " Os habem os hecho entender que nuestra intencion era de no usar de rigor contra nuestros subegetos que durante las revueltas pasadas pudiesenhaberofendido contra Nos, sino de toda dulzura y clernencia seg^un nuestra incUnaclon natural." Documentos ined., torn. iv. p. 440. 4 The ordinance, dated September i8th, 1567, copied from the Archives of Simancas, is to be found in the Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 439, et seq. 5 " Statimque mercatores decern primarios Tornacenses h portu Flissingano fugam in Britanniam adornantes capi, ac bonis exutos custodiri jubet." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 361. * " Mais I'intention de S. M. n'est pas de verser le sang de ses sujets, et moi, de mon naturel, je ne I'aime pas davantage." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. i. p. 576. Philip. — Vol. II. — H 15 ryo CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. But now that the great nobles had come into the snare, it was hardly necessary to keep up the affecta- tion of lenity ; and it was not long before he threw away the mask altogether. The arm of justice — of vengeance — was openly raised to strike down all who had offended by taking part in the late disturbances. The existing tribunals were not considered as com- petent to this work. The regular forms of procedure were too dilatory, and the judges themselves would hardly be found subservient enough to the will of Alva. He created, therefore, a new tribunal, with extraor- dinary powers, for the sole purpose of investigating the causes of the late disorders and for bringing the authors to punishment. It was called originally the "Council of his Excellency." The name was soon changed for that of the "Council of Tumults." But the tribunal is better known in history by the terrible name it received from the people, of the " Council of Bloody It was composed of twelve judges, " the most learned, upright men, and of the purest lives," — if we may take the duke's word for it, — that were to be found in the country.^ Among them were Noircarmes and Barlai- mont, both members of the council of state. The latter was a proud noble, of one of the most ancient families in the land, inflexible in his character, and stanch in his devotion to the crown. Besides these 7 " Novum igitur consessum judicum instituit, exteris in eum plerisque adscitis; qucm Turbarum ille; plebes, Sanguinis appel- labat Senatum." Reidani Annalcs (Lugdunum Batavorum, 1633), P-S- 8 " Les plus savants et les plus int^gres du pays, et de la meilleure vie." Correspondance de Pliilippe II., torn. i. p. 576. THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD. 171 there were the presidents of the councils of Artois and Flanders, the chancellor of Gueldres, and several jurists of repute in the country. But the persons of most con- sideration in the body were two lawyers who had come in the duke's train from Castile. One of these, the doctor Del Rio, though born in Bruges, was of Spanish extraction. His most prominent trait seems to have been unlimited subserviency to the will of his employer.' The other, Juan de Vargas, was to play the most con- spicuous part in the bloody drama that followed. He was a Spaniard, and had held a place in the Council of the Indies. His character was infamous ; and he was said to have defrauded an orphan ward of her patri- mony.'" When he left Spain, two criminal prosecutions are reported to have been hanging over him. This only made him the more dependent on Alva's protec- tion. He was a man of great energy of character, un- wearied in application to business, unscrupulous in the service of his employer, ready at any price to sacrifice to his own interest not only every generous impulse, but the common feelings of humanity. Such, at least, are the dark colors in which he is portrayed by the writers of a nation which held him in detestation. Yet his very vices made him so convenient to the duke that the latter soon bestowed on him more of his confidence than on any other of his followers ; " and in his corre- spondence with Philip we perpetually find him com- 9 Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 300. I" Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 54. " Viglius, who had not yet seen the man, thus mentions him in a letter to his friend Hopper: " Imperium ac rigorem metuunt cujusdam Vergasi, qui apud eum muhum posse, et nescio quid aliud, dicitur." Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 451. 172 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. mending Vargas to the monarch's favor, and contrast- ing his " activity, altogether juvenile," with the apathy of others of the council." As Vargas was unacquainted with Flemish, the proceedings of the court were con- ducted, for his benefit, in Latin. '^ Yet he was such a bungler even in this language that his blunders furnished infinite merriment to the people of Flanders, who took some revenge for their wrongs in the ridicule of their /ppl^ressor. ' As the new court had cognizance of all cases, civil as well as criminal, that grew out of the late disorders, the amount of business soon pressed on them so heavily that it was found expedient to distribute it into several departments among the different members. Two of the body had especial charge of the processes of the prince of Orange, his brother Louis, Hoogstraten, Culemborg, and the rest of William's noble compan- ions in exile. To Vargas and Del Rio was intrusted the trial of Counts Egmont and Hoorne. And two others, Blasere and Hessels, had the most burdensome and imiDortant charge of all such causes as came from the provinces.''' The latter of these two worthies was destined to occupy a place second only to that of Vargas on the bloody roll of persecution. He was a native of Ghent, of sufficient eminence in his profession to fill the office of attorney-general of his province under Charles the " "Une activite toute juvenile." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 583. »3 Ibid., ubi supra. H Bulletins de I'Academie Royale de Belgique, torn. xvi. par. ii. p. S8. COUNCIL OF BLOOD. 173 Fifth. In that capacity he enforced the edicts with so much rigor as to make himself odious to his country- men. In the new career now opened to him he found a still wider field for his mischievous talents, and he entered on the duties of his office with such hearty zeal as soon roused general indignation in the people, who at a later day took terrible vengeance on their oppressor, 's As soon as the Council of Troubles was organized, commissioners were despatched into the provinces to hunt out the suspected parties. All who had officiated as preachers, or had harbored or aided them, who had joined the consistories, who had assisted in defacing or destroying the Catholic churches or in building the Protestant, who had subscribed the Compromise, or who, in short, had taken an active part in the late dis- orders, were to be arrested as guilty of treason. In the hunt after victims, informations were invited from every source. Wives were encouraged to depose against husbands, children against parents. The prisons were soon full to overflowing, and the provincial and the local magistrates were busy in filing informations of the different cases, which were forwarded to the court at Brussels. When deemed of sufficient importance, the further examination of a case was reserved for the council itself. But for the most part the local authori- 'S Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 242. — Hessels was married to a niece of Viglius. According to the old councillor, she was on bad terms with her husband, because he had not kept his promise of resigning the office of attorney-general, in which he made himself so unpopular in Flanders. (Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 495.) In the last chapter of this Book the reader will find some mention of the tragic fate of Hessels. 15* 174 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. ties, or a commission sent expressly for the purpose, were authorized to try the cause, proceeding even to a definitive sentence, which, with the grounds of it, they were to lay before the Council of Troubles. The pro- cess was then revised by the committee for the prov- inces, who submitted the result of their examination to Vargas and Del Rio. The latter were alone empowered to vote in the matter, and their sentence, prepared in writing, was laid before the duke, who reserved to himself the right of a final decision. This he did, as he wrote to Philip, that he might not come too much under the direction of the council. "Your majesty well knows," he concludes, *'that gentlemen of the law are unwilling to decide any thing except upon evi- dence, while measures of state policy are not to be regulated by the laws. ' ' '^ It might be supposed that the different judges to whom the prisoner's case was thus separately submitted for examination would have afforded an additional guarantee for his security. But quite the contrary: it only multiplied the chances of his conviction. When the provincial committee presented their report to Vargas and Del Rio, — to whom a Spanish jurist, audi- tor of the chancery of Valladolid, named Roda, was afterwards added, — if it proposed sentence of death, these judges declared it "was right, and that there was no necessity of reviewing the process." If, on the con- trary, a lower penalty was recommended, the worthy •* " Letrados no sentcncian sino en casos p'robados; y como V. M. sabe, los negocios de Estado son muy difeientcs de las leyes que ellos tienen." Bulletins d(3 1'Acadt^mie Royale de Belgique, torn. xvi. par. ii. p. 52, note. COUNCIL OF BLOOD. 75 ministers of the law were in the habit of returning the process, ordering the committee, witli bitter impreca- tions, to revise it more carefully ! '^ As confiscation was one of the most frequent as well as momentous penalties adjudged by the Council of Blood, it necessarily involved a large number of civil actions; for the estate thus forfeited was often bur- dened with heavy claims on it by other parties. These were all to be established before the council. One may readily comprehend how small was the chance of justice before such a tribunal, where the creditor was one of the parties and the crown the other. Even if the suit was decided in favor of the creditor, it was usually so long protracted, and attended with such ruinous expense, that it would have been better for him never to have urged it.'^ The jurisdiction of the court, within the limits as- signed to it, wholly superseded that of the great court of Mechlin, as well as of every other tribunal, provin- cial or municipal, in the country. Its decisions were final. By the law of the land, established by repeated royal charters in the provinces, no man in the Nether- lands could be tried by any but a native judge. But of the present court, one member was a native of Bur- gundy and two were Spaniards. It might be supposed that a tribunal with such enor- '7 " En siendo el aviso de condemnar i. muerte, se decia que estaba muy bien y no habia mas que ver ; empero, si el aviso era de menor pena, no se estaba d lo que ellos decian, sino tornabase d ver el pro- ceso, y decianles sobre ello malas palabras, y hacianles ruin tratami- ento." Gachard cites the words of the official document, Bulletins de I'Academie Royale de Belgique, torn. xvi. par. ii. p. 67. '8 Ibid , p. 63, et seq. 176 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. mous powers, which involved so gross an outrage on the constitutional rights and long-established usages of the nation, would at least have been sanctioned by some warrant from the crown. It could pretend to nothing of the kind, — ^not even a written commission from the duke of Alva, the man who created it. By his voice alone he gave it an existence. The ceremony of induction into office was performed by the new member placing his hands between those of the duke and swearing to remain true to the faith, to decide in all cases according to his sincere conviction, finally, to keep secret all the doings of the council and to denounce any one who disclosed them.'^ A tribunal clothed with such unbounded power, and conducted on a plan so repugnant to all principles of justice, fell nothing short, in its atrocity, of that Inquisition so much dreaded in the Netherlands. Alva, in order to be the better able to attend the council, appointed his own palace for the place of meeting. At first the sittings were held morning and afternoon, lasting sometimes seven hours in a day." There was a general attendance of the members, the duke presiding in person. After a few months, as he was drawn to a distance by more pressing affairs, he »9 " Qu'ils seraient et demeureraient k jamais bons catholiques, selon que commandait I'feglise catholique romaine; que, par haine, amour, pitie ou crainte de personne, ils ne laisseraient de dire franchement et sinc^rement leur avis, selon qu'en bonne justice ils trouvaient convenir et appartenir; qu'ils tiendraient secret tout ce qui se trai- terait au conseil, et qu'ils accuseraient ceux qui feraient le contmire." Bulletins de I'Academie Royale de Belgique, torn. xvi. par. ii. p. S6. 20 Ibid., p. 57. COUNCIL OF BLOOD. 177 resigned his place to Vargas. Barlaimont and Noir- carmes, disgusted with the atrocious character of the proceedings, soon absented themselves from the meet- ings. The more respectable of the members imitated their example. One of the body, a Burgundian, a fol- lower of Granvelle, having criticised the proceedings somewhat too freely, had leave to withdraw to his own province ; " till at length only three or four coun- cillors remained, — Vargas, Del Rio, Hessels and his colleague, — on whom the despatch of the momentous business wholly devolved. To some of the processes we find not more than three names subscribed. The duke was as indifferent to forms as he was to the rights of the nation."^ " Belin, in a letter to his patron, Cardinal Granvelle, gives full vent to his discontent with " three or four Spaniards in the duke's train, who would govern all in his name. They make but one head under the same hat." He mentions Vargas and Del Rio in particular. Gran- velle's reply is very characteristic. Far from sympathizing with his querulous follower, he predicts the ruin of his fortunes by this mode of proceeding. " A man wlro would rise in courts must do as he is bidden, without question. Far from taking umbrage, he must bear in mind that injuries, like pills, should be swallowed without chewing, that one may not taste the bitterness of them ; ' — a noble maxim, if the motive had been noble. See Levesque, Memoires de Granvelle, torn. ii. pp. 91-94. =" The historians of the time are all more or less diffuse on the doings of the Council of Troubles, written as they are in characters of blood. But we look in vain for any account of the interior organ- ization of that tribunal, or of its mode of judicial procedure. This may be owing to the natural reluctance which the actors themselves felt, in later times, to being mixed up with the proceedings of a court so universally detested. For the same reason, as Gachard intimates, they may not improbably have even destroyed some of the records of its proceedings. Fortunately, that zealous and patriotic scholar has discovered in the archives of Simancas sundry letters of Alva and H* 178 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. It soon became apparent that, as in most proscrip- tions, wealth was the mark at which persecution was mainly directed. At least, if it did not actually form a ground of accusation, it greatly enhanced the chances of a conviction. The commissioners sent to the prov- inces received written instructions to ascertain the exact amount of property belonging to the suspected parties. The expense incident on the maintenance of so many officials, as well as of a large military force, pressed heavily on the government ; and Alva soon found it necessary to ask for support from Madrid. It was in vain he attempted to obtain a loan from the merchants. "They refuse," he writes, "to advance a real on the security of the confiscations, till they see how the game we have begun is likely to prosper !" ^^ In another letter to Philip, dated on the twenty- fourth of October, Alva, expressing his regret at the necessity of demanding supplies, says that the Low Countries ought to maintain themselves and be no tax upon Spain. He is constantly thwarted by the duchess, and by the council of finance, in his appropriation of the confiscated property. Could he only manage things in his own way, he would answer for it that the Flemish cities, uncertain and anxious as to their fate, would readily acquiesce in the fair means of raising a revenue his successor, as well as some of the official records of the tribunal, which in a great degree supply the defect. The result he has em- bodied in a luminous paper prepared for the Royal Academy of Bel- gium, which has supplied me with the materials for the preceding pages. See Bulletins de I'Acaddmie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres, et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, torn. xvi. par. ii. pp. 50-78. "3 " Hasta que vean en que para este juego que se comien9a." Corrcspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 598. GENERAL PROSECUTIONS. 179 proposed by the king.^ The ambitious general, eager to secure the sole authority to himself, artfully touched on the topic which would be most likely to operate with his master. In a note on this passage, in his own hand- writing, Philip remarked that this was but just, but, as he feared that supplies would never be raised with the consent of the states, Alva must devise some expedient by which their consent in the matter might be dispensed with, and communicate it privately to him.^ This pregnant thought he soon after develops more fully in a letter to the duke.°* It is edifying to observe the cool manner in which the king and his general discuss the best means for filching a revenue from the pockets of the good people of the Netherlands. Margaret, — whose name now rarely appears, — scan- dalized by the plan avowed of wholesale persecution, and satisfied that blood enough had been shed al- ready, would fain have urged her brother to grant a general pardon. But to this the duke strongly ob- jected. "He would have every man," he wrote to Philip, " feel that any day his house might fall about his ears.^' Thus private individuals would be induced ^ " Car rincertitude ou celles-ci se trouvent du sort qu'on leur reserve, les fera plus aisement consentir aux nioyens de finances justes et honnetes qui seront etablis par le Roi." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 590. »5 " Porque creo yo que, con la voluntad de los Estados, no se hallaran estas, que es menester ponerlos de manera que no sea me- nester su voluntad y consentimiento para ello. . . . Esto ird. en cifra, y aun creo que seria bien que fuese en una cartilla &. parte que desci- frase el mas confidante." Ibid., ubi supra. =* Ibid., p. 610. *7 " Para que cada uno piense que a la nocl e, 6 d la maiiana, se le puede caei la casa encima." Ibid., p. 4. l8o CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. to pay larger sums by way of composition for their offences. ' ' As the result of the confiscations, owing to the drains upon them above alluded to, proved less than he ex- pected, the duke, somewhat later, proposed a tax of one per cent, on all property, personal and real. But to this some of the council had the courage to object, as a thing not likely to be relished by the states. " That depends," said Alva, "on the way in which they are approached." He had as little love for the states- general as his master, and looked on applications to them for money as something derogatory to the crown. "I would take care to ask for it," he said, " as I did when I wanted money to build the citadel of Antwerp, ■ — in such a way that they should not care to refuse it." ^ The most perfect harmony seems to have subsisted be- tween the king and Alva in their operations for destroy- ing the liberties of the nation, — so perfect, indeed, that it could have been the result only of some previous plan, concerted probably while the duke was in Castile. The details of the execution were doubtless left, as they arose, to Alva's discretion. But they so entirely re- ceived the royal sanction — as is abundantly shown by the correspondence — that Philip may be said to have made every act of his general his own. And not un- frequently we find the monarch improving on the hints of his correspondent by some additional suggestion. =» =8 " Esto se ha de proponer en la forma que yo propuse d los de Anvers los cuatrocientos mill florines para la ciudadela, y que ellob entiendan que aunque se les propone y se les pide, es en tal manera que lo que se propusiere no se ha de dejar de hacer." Documentos in^ditos, torn. iv. p. 492. =9 Thus, for example, when Alva states that the council had declared GENERAL PROSECUTIONS. t8i Whatever evils grew out of the mal-administration of the duke of Alva, the responsibility for the measures rests ultimately on the head of Philip. One of the early acts of the new council was to issue a summons to the prince of Orange, and to each of the noble exiles in his company, to present themselves at Brussels and answer the charges against them. In the summons addressed to William, he was accused of having early encouraged a spirit of disaffection in the nation ; of bringing the Inquisition into contempt ; of promoting the confederacy of the nobles and opening his own palace of Breda for their discussions ; of authorizing the exercise of the reformed religion in Antwerp ; in fine, of being at the bottom of the trou- bles, civil and religious, which had so long distracted the land. He was required, therefore, under pain of confiscation of his property and perpetual exile, to present himself before the council a.t Brussels within the space of six weeks, and answer the charges against him. This summons was proclaimed by the public crier both in Brussels and in William's own town of Breda; and a placard containing it was affixed to the door of the principal church in each of those places. 3° all those who signed the Compromise guilty of treason, Philip notes, in his own handwriting, on the margin of the letter, " The same should be done with all who aided and abetted them, as in fact the more guilty party." (Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 590.) These private memoranda of Philip are of real value to the historian, letting him behind the curtain, where the king's own ministers could not always penetrate. 30 Cornejo, Disension de Flandes, fol. 63, et seq. — Hist, des Trou- bles et Guerres civiles des Pays-Bas, pp. 133-136. — Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. pp. 428-439. — Archives de la Maison d'Orange- Nassau, torn. iii. p. 119. Philip.— Vol. IT. • 16 l82 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. Alva followed up this act by another, which ex- cited general indignation through the country. He caused the count of Buren, William's eldest son, then a lad pursuing his studies at Louvain, to be re- moved from the university and sent to Spain, His tutor and several of his domestics were allowed to accompany him. But the duke advised the king to get rid of these attendants as speedily as possible, and fill their places with Spaniards. 3' This unwar- rantable act appears to have originated with Granvelle, who recommends it in one of his letters from Rome.^ The object, no doubt, was to secure some guarantee for the father's obedience, as well as to insure the loyalty of the heir of the house of Nassau and to re- tain him in the Catholic faith. In the last object the plan succeeded. The youth was kindly treated by Philip, and his long residence in Spain nourished in him so strong an attachment to both Church and crown that he was ever after divorced from the great cause in which his father and his countrymen were embarked. The prince of Orange published to the world his sense of the injury done to him by this high-handed proceeding of the duke of Alva; and the university of Louvain boldly sent a committee to the council to remonstrate on the violation of their privileges. Var- gas listened to them with a smile of contempt, and, as he dismissed the deputation, exclaimed, ^' Non curamus 3» Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 13. 3» " Non-seulement afin qu'il servit d'otage pour ce que son p^re pourrait faire en Allemagne, mais pour qu'il fut 61ev^ catholique- ment." Ibid., torn. i. p. 596. GENERAL PROSECUTIONS. 183 vcstros privilegios,^'' — an exclamation long remembered for its bad Latin as well as for its insolence. ^^ It may well be believed that neither William nor his friends obeyed the summons of the Council of Blood. The prince, in a reply which was printed and circulated abroad, denied the authority of Alva to try him. As a knight of the Golden Fleece, he had a right to be tried by his peers; as a citizen of Brabant, by his countrymen. He was not bound to present himself before an incompetent tribunal, — one, moreover, which had his avowed personal enemy at its head. 3'* The prince, during his residence in Germany, expe- rienced all those alleviations of his misfortunes Avhich the sympathy and support of powerful friends could afford. Among these the most deserving of notice was AVilliam the Wise, a worthy son of the famous old landgrave of Hesse who so stoutly maintained the Protestant cause against Charles the Fifth. He and the elector of Saxony, both kinsmen of William's wife, offered to provide an establishment for the prince, while he remained in Germany, which, if it was not on the magnificent scale to which he had been used in the Netherlands, was still not unsuited to the dignity of his rank. 35 The little court of William received every day fresh accessions from those who fled from persecution in the Netherlands. They brought with them appeals to him 33 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 372. — Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 261. 34 Strada, ubi supra. — Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn, ii. p. 243. — Auberi, Histoire de Hollande, p. 25. 35 Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. iii. p. 159. 1 84 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. from his countrymen to interpose in their behalf. The hour had not yet come. But still he was not idle. He was earnestly endeavoring to interest the German princes in the cause, was strengthening his own resources, and steadily, though silently, making preparations for the great struggle with the oppressors of his country. While these events were passing in the Netherlands, the neighboring monarchy of France was torn by those religious dissensions which at this period agitated, in a greater or less degree, most of the states of Chris- tendom. One half of the French nation was in arms against the other half. At the time of our history the Huguenots had gained a temporary advantage ; their combined forces were beleaguering the capital, in which the king and Catherine de Medicis, his mother, were then held prisoners. In this extremity, Catherine appealed to Margaret to send a body of troops to her assistance. The regent hesitated as to what course to take, and referred the matter to Alva. He did not hesitate. He knew Philip's disposition in regard to France, and had himself, probably, come to an under- standing on the subject with the queen-mother in the famous interview at Bayonne. He proposed to send a body of three thousand horse to her relief. At the same time he wrote to Catherine, offering to leave the Low Countries and march himself to her support with his whole strength, five thousand horse and fifteen thousand foot, all his Spanish veterans included, pro- vided she would bring matters to an issue and finish at once with the enemies of their religion. The duke felt how powerfully such a result would react on the Catholic cause in the Netherlands. CIVIL WAR IN FRANCE. 185 He besought Catherine to come to no terms with the rebels; above all, to make them no concessions. "Such concessions must of necessity be either spiritual or temporal. If spiritual, they would be opposed to the rights of God ; if temporal, to the rights of the king. Better to reign over a ruined land, which yet remains true to its God and its king, than over one left unharmed ibr the benefit of the devil and his followers, the heretics." 3* In this declaration, breathing the full spirit of religious and political absolutism, may be found the true key to the policy of Alva and of his master. Philip heartily approved of the views taken by his general. ^^ As the great champion of Catholicism, he looked with the deepest interest on the religious struggle going forward in the neighboring kingdom, which exer- cised so direct an influence on the revolutionary move- ments in the Netherlands. He strongly encouraged the queen-mother to yield nothing to the heretics. "With his own person," he declared, "and with all that he possessed, he was ready to serve the French crown in its contest with the rebels. "^^ Philip's zeal in the cause was so well understood in France that some of the 36 " Or, il vaut beaucoup mieux avoir un royaume ruine, en le con- servant pour Dieu et le roi, au moyen de la guerre, que de I'avoir tout entier sans celle-ci, au profit du demon et des heretiques, ses sectateurs." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 609. 37 This appears not merely from the king's letters to the duke, but from a still more unequivocal testimony, the minutes in his own handwriting on the duke's letters to him. See, in particular, his summary approval of the reply which Alva tells him he has made to Catherine de Medicis : " Yo lo mismo, todo lo demas que dice en este capitulo, que todo ha sido may d proposito." Ibid., p. 591. 38 Ranke, Civil Wars and Monarchy in France in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Eng. trans.), vol. i. p. 349. 16* l86 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA, Catholic leaders did not scruple to look to him, rather than to their own government, as the true head of their party. 39 Catherine de Medicis did not discover the same un- compromising spirit, and had before this disgusted her royal son-in-law by the politic views which mingled with her religion. On the present occasion she did not profit by the brilliant offer made to her by Alva to come in person at the head of his army. She may have thought so formidable a presence might endanger the independence of the government. Roman Catholic as she was at heart, she preferred, with true Italian policy, balancing the rival factions against each other, to exterminating either of them altogether. The duke saw that Catherine was not disposed to strike at the root of the evil, and that the advantages to be secured by success would be only temporary. He contented himself, therefore, with despatching a smaller force, chiefly of Flemish troops, under Aremberg. Before the count reached Paris, the battle of St. Denis had been fought. Montmorenci fell, but the royal party was victorious. Catherine made a treaty with the discomfited Huguenots as favorable to them as if they, not she, had won the fight. Alva, disgusted with the 39 The cardinal of Lorraine went so far as to offer, in a certain con- tingency, to put several strong frontier places into Alva's hands. In case the French king and his brothers should die without heirs, the king of Spain might urge his own claim through his wife, as nearest of blood, to the crown of France. " The Salic law," adds the duke, " is but a jest. All difficulties will be easily smoothed away with the help of an army." Philip, in a marginal note to this letter, intimates his relisli for the proposal. See Correspondance dc Philippe II., torn, P- 593- DEPARTURE OF MARGARET. 187 issue, ordered the speedy return of Aremberg, whose presence, moreover, was needed on a more active theatre of operations. During all this while Margaret's position afforded a pitiable contrast to the splendid elevation which she had occupied for so many years as head of the govern- ment. Not only had the actual power passed from her iTands, but she felt that all her influence had gone with it. She hardly enjoyed even the right of remonstrance. In this position, she had the advantage of being more favorably situated for criticising the conduct of the administration than when she was herself at the head of it. She became more sensible of the wrongs of the people,— now that they were inflicted by other hands than her own. She did not refuse to intercede in their behalf. She deprecated the introduction of a garrison into the good city of Brussels. If this were necessary, she still besought the duke not to allow the loyal in- habitants to be burdened with the maintenance of the soldiers.** But he turned a deaf ear to her petition. She urged that, after the chastisement already inflicted on the nation, the only way to restore quiet was by a general amnesty. The duke replied that no amnesty could be so general but there must be some exceptions, and it would take time to determine who should be excepted. She recommended that the states be called 40 The municipality of Brussels, alarmed at the interpretation which the duke, after Margaret's departure, might put on certain equivocal passages in their recent history, obtained a letter from the regent, in which she warmly commends the good people of the capital as zealous Catholics, loyal to their king, and on all occasions prompt to show themselves the friends of public order. See the correspondence, ap. Gachard, Analectes Belgiques, p. 343, et seq. 1 88 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. together to vote the supplies. He evaded this also by saying it would be necessary first to decide on the amount of the subsidy to be raised."' The regent felt that in all matters of real moment she had as little weight as any private individual in the country. From this state of humiliation she was at last relieved by the return of her secretary, Machiavelli, who brought with him despatches from Ruy Gomez, Philip's favcfr- ite minister. He informed the duchess that the king, though reluctantly, had at last acceded to her request and allowed her to resign the government of the prov- inces. In token of his satisfaction with her conduct, his majesty had raised the pension which she had hitherto enjoyed, of eight thousand florins, to fourteen thousand, to be paid her yearly during the remainder of her life. This letter was dated on the sixth of October."* Margaret soon after received one, dated four days later, from Philip himself, of much the same tenor with that of his minister. The king, in a few words, intimated the regret he felt at his sister's retire- ment from office, and the sense he entertained of the services she had rendered him by her long and faithful administration. "3 The increase of the pension showed no very extrava- gant estimate of these services; and the parsimonious tribute which, after his long silence, he now, in a few *• Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 481, et seq. 42 Correspoiidance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 583. 43 The king's acknowledgments to his sister are condensed into the sentence with which he concludes his letter, or, more properly, his billet. This is dated October 13th, 1568, and is published by Ga- chard, in the Correspondance de Philippe II., torn, ii., Appendix, No, 119. DEPARTURE OF MARGARET. 189 brief sentences, paid to her deserts, too plainly inti- mated that all she had done had failed to excite even a feeling of gratitude in the bosom of her brother."^ At the same time with the letter to Margaret came a commission to the duke of Alva, investing him with the title of regent and governor-general, together with all the powers that had been possessed by his pre- decessor. '•s Margaret made only one request of Philip, previous to her departure. This he denied her. Her father, Charles the Fifth, at the time of his abdication, had called the states-general together and taken leave of them in a farewell address, which was still cherished as a legacy by his subjects. Margaret would have imitated his example. The grandeur of the spectacle pleased her imagination, and she was influenced, no doubt, by the honest desire of manifesting, in the hour of separa- tion, some feelings of a kindly nature for the people over whom she had ruled for so many years. But Philip, as we have seen, had no relish for these meetings of the states. He had no idea of consenting to them on an emergency no more pressing than the present. Margaret was obliged, therefore, to relin- quish the pageant, and to content herself with taking leave of the people by letters addressed to the principal cities of the provinces. In these she briefly touched on the difficulties which had lain in her path, and on the 44 " Elle re9ut," says De Thou with some huinor, " enfin d'Espagne une lettre pleine d'amitie et de tendresse, telle qu'on a coutiime d'ecrire k une personne qu'on remercie apr^s I'avoir depouillee de sa dignity." Hist, universelle, torn. v. p. 439. 45 A copy of the original is to be found in the Coriespondance de Philippe II., torn, ii., Appendix, No. 118. ipo CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. satisfaction which she felt at having at length brought the country to a state of tranquillity and order. She besought them to remain always constant in the faith in which they had been nurtured, as well as in their loyalty to a prince so benign and merciful as the king, her brother. In so doing, the blessing of Heaven would rest upon them ; and, for her own part, she would ever be found ready to use her good offices in their behalf.''^ She proved her sincerity by a letter written to Philip, before her departure, in which she invoked his mercy in behalf of his Flemish subjects. "Mercy," she said, "was a divine attribute. The greater the power pos- sessed by a monarch, the nearer he approached the Deity, and the more should he strive to imitate the divine clemency and compassion. ''^ His royal pre- decessors had contented themselves with punishing the leaders of sedition, while they spared the masses who repented. Any other course would confound the good with the bad, and bring such calamities on the country as his majesty could not fail to appreciate."''^ Well had it been for the fair fame of Margaret if her coun- sels had always been guided by such wise and mag- nanimous sentiments. The tidings of the regent's abdication were received 46 The letter has been inserted by Gachard in the Analecte's Bel- giques, pp. 295-300. 47 " Suplicar muy liumilmente, y con toda afeccion, que V. M. use de clemencia y misericordia con ellos, conforme d la esperanza que tantas vezes les ha dado, y que tenga en memoria que cuanto mas grandes son los reyes, y se acorcan mas d Dios, tanto mas deben ser imitadores de esta grande divina bondad, poder, y clemencia." Cor- respondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 603. 48 Ibid., loc. cit. DEPARTURE OF MARGARET. 191 with dismay throughout the provinces. All the errors of her government, her acts of duplicity, the excessive rigor with which she had of late visited offences, — all were forgotten in the regret felt for her departure. Men thought only of the prosperity which the country had enjoyed under her rule, the confidence which in earlier years she had bestowed on the friends of the people, the generous manner in which she had inter- posed on more than one occasion to mitigate the hard policy of the court of Madrid. And as they turned from these more brilliant passages of her history, their hearts were filled with dismay while they looked gloomily into the future. Addresses poured in upon her from all quarters. The different cities vied with one another in expres- sions of regret for her departure, while they invoked the blessings of Heaven on her remaining days. More than one of the provinces gave substantial evidence of their good will by liberal donatives. Brabant voted her the sum of twenty-five thousand florins, and Flan- ders thirty thousand.'" The neighboring princ.es, and among them Elizabeth of England, joined with the people of the Netherlands in professions of respect for the regent, as well as of regret that she was to relin- quish the government. 5° Cheered by these assurances of the consideration in which she was held both at home and abroad, Marga- 49 Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 6. 50 " Superavitque omnes Elizabetha Angliae Regina, tarn bonse caraeque sororis, uti scribebat, vicinitate in posterum caritura;" "sive," adds the historian, with candid skepticism, "is amor fuit in Margaritam, sive sollicitudo ex Albano successore." Strada. De Belle Belgico, torn. i. p. 365. 192 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. ret quitted Brussels at the close of December, 1567. She was attended to the borders of Brabant by Alva, and thence conducted to Germany by Count Mans- feldt and an escort of Flemish nobles. s' There bidding adieu to all that remained of her former state, she pur- sued her journey quietly to Italy. For some time she continued with her husband in his ducal residence at Parma. But, wherever lay the fault, it was Margaret's misfortune to taste but little of the sweets of domestic intercourse. Soon afterwards she removed to Naples, and there permanently established her abode, on es- tates which had been granted her by the crown. Many years later, when her son, Alexander Farnese, was called to the government of the Netherlands, she quitted her retirement to take part with him in the direction of public affairs. It was but for a moment ; and her present departure from the Netherlands may be regarded as the close of her political existence. The government of Margaret continued from the autumn of 1559 to the end of 1567, a period of eight years. It was a stormy and most eventful period; for it was then that the minds of men were agitated to their utmost depths by the new doctrines which gave birth to the revolution. Margaret's regency, indeed, may be said to have furnished the opening scenes of that great drama. The inhabitants of the Low Coun- tries were accustomed to the sway of a woman. Mar- s' Historians vary considerably as to the date of Margaret's de- parture. She crossed the frontier of the Netherlands probably by the middle of January, 1568. At least, we find a letter from her to Philip when she had nearly reached the borders, dated at Luxembourg, on the twelfth of that month. HER ADMINISTRATION REVIEWED. 193 garet was the third of her hne that had been intrusted with the regency. In qualifications for the office she was probably not inferior to her predecessors. Her long residence in Italy had made her acquainted with the principles of government in a country where polit- ical science was more carefully studied than in any other quarter of Europe. She was habitually industrious, and her robust frame was capable of any amount of labor. If she was too masculine in her nature to allow of the softer qualities of her sex, she was, on the other hand, exempt from the fondness for pleasure and from most of the frivolities which belonged to the women of the voluptuous clime in which she had lived. She was stanch in her devotion to the Catholic faith; and her loyalty was such that from the moment of assuming the government she acknowledged no stronger motive than that of conformity to the will of her sovereign. She was fond of power; and she well knew that, with Philip, absolute conformity to his will was the only condition on which it was to be held. With her natural good sense, and the general mod- eration of her views, she would, doubtless, have ruled over the land as prosperously as her predecessors, had the times been like theirs. But, unhappily for her, the times had greatly changed. Still, Margaret, living on the theatre of action and feeling the pressure of cir- cumstances, would have gone far to conform to the change. But unfortunately she represented a prince, dwelling at a distance, who knew no change himself, allowed no concessions to others, — whose conservative policy rested wholly on the past. It was unfortunate for Margaret that she never fully Philip.— Vol. II.— I 17 194 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. possessed tl.e confidence of Philip. Whether from distrust of her more accommodating temper or of her capacity for government, he gave a larger share of it, at the outset, to Granvelle than to her. If the regent could have been blind to this, her eyes would soon have been opened to the fact by the rivals who hated the minister. It was not long before she hated him too. But the removal of Granvelle did not establish her in her brother's confidence. It rather increased his distrust, by the necessity it imposed on her of throwing herself into the arms of the opposite party, the friends of the people. From this moment Philip's confidence was more heartily bestowed on the duke of Alva, even on the banished Granvelle, than on the regent. Her letters remained too often unanswered. The answers, when they did come, furnished only dark and mysterious hints of the course to be pursued. She was left to work out the problem of government by herself, sure for every blunder to be called to a strict account. Rumors of the speedy coming of the king suggested the idea that her own dominion was transi- tory, soon to be superseded by that of a higher power. Under these disadvantages she might well have lost all reliance on herself. She was not even supplied with the means of carrying out her own schemes. She was left without money, without arms, without the power to pardon, — more important, with a brave and generous race, than the power to punish. Thus, destitute of resources, without the confidence of her employer, with the people stoutly demanding concessions on the one side, with tlie sovereign sternly refiising them on the other, it is little to say that Margaret was in a false HER ADMINISTRATION REVIEWED. 195 position. Her position was deplorable. She ought not to have remained in it a day after she found that she could not hold it with honor. But Margaret was too covetous of power readily to resign it. Her mis- understanding with her husband made her, moreover, somewhat dependent on her brother. At last came the Compromise and the league. Mar- garet's eyes seemed now to be first opened to the direction of the course she was taking. This Avas followed by the explosion of the iconoclasts. The shock fully awoke her from her delusion. She was as zealous for the Catholic Church as Philip himself; and she saw with horror that it was trembling to its foundations. A complete change seemed to take place in her convictions, — in her very nature. She repu- diated all those with whom she had hitherto acted. She embraced, as heartily as he could desire, the stern policy of Philip. She proscribed, she persecuted, she punished, — and that with an excess of rigor that does little honor to her memory. It was too late. The distrust of Philip was not to be removed by this tardy compliance with his wishes. A successor was already appointed ; and at the very moment when she flattered herself that the tranquillity of the country and her own authority were established on a permanent basis, the duke of Alva was on his march across the mountains. Yet it was fortunate for Margaret's reputation that she was succeeded in the government by a man like Alva. The darkest spots on her administration became light when brought into comparisoai with his reign of terror. From this point of view it has been criticised by the writers of her own time and those of later 196 CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. ages. 5* And in this way, probably, as the student who ponders the events of her history may infer, a more favorable judgment has been passed upon her actions than would be warranted by a calm and deliberate scrutiny. 52 See, among others, Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 128 ; Guerres civiles du Pays-Bas, p. 128; De Thou, Hist, gen., torn. v. p. 439; and Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS., who in these words concludes his notice of Margaret's departure: " Dejando gran reputacion de su virtud y un sentimiento de su partida en los cora- zones de los vasallos de por aci. el qual crecio mucho despues ansi continuo quando se describio el gusto de los humores y andamientos de su succesor." CHAPTER III. REIGN OF TERROR. Numerous Arrests. — Trials and Executions. — Confiscations. — Orange assembles an Army. — Battle of Heyligerlee. — Alva's Proceedings. 1568. In the beginning of 1568, Philip, if we may trust the historians, resorted to a very extraordinary measure for justifying to the world his rigorous proceedings against the Netherlands. He submitted the case to the Inquisition at Madrid ; and that ghostly tribunal, after duly considering the evidence derived from the in- formation of the king and of the inquisitors in the Netherlands, came to the following decision. All who had been guilty of heresy, apostasy, or sedition, and all, moreover, who, though professing themselves good Catholics, had offered no resistance to these, were, with the exception of a few specified individuals, thereby convicted of treason in the highest degree.' This sweeping judgment was followed by a royal edict, dated on the same day, the sixteenth of Feb- ruary, in which, after reciting the language of the Inquisition, the whole nation, with the exception above stated, was sentenced, without distinction of » De Thou, Hist, gen., tom. v. p. 437. — Meteren, Hist, des Pays- Bas, fol. 54. — The latter historian cites the words of the original instrument. 17* (197) 198 REIGN OF TERROR. sex or age, to the penalties of treason, — death and confiscation of property ; and this, the decree went on to say, "without any hope of grace whatever, that it might serve for an example and a warning to all future time !"* It is difficult to give credit to a story so monstrous, repeated though it has been by successive writers without the least distrust of its correctness. Not that any thing can be too monstrous to be believed of the Inquisition. But it is not easy to believe that a sagacious prince like Philip the Second, however will- ing he might be to shelter himself under the mantle of the Holy Office, could have lent himself to an act as impolitic as it was absurd ; one that, confounding the innocent with the guilty, would drive both to despera- tion, — would incite the former, from a sense of injury, to take up rebellion, by which there was nothing more to lose, and the latter to persist in it, since there was nothing more to hope.^ The messenger who brought to Margaret the royal permission to resign the regency delivered to Alva his commission as captain-general of the Netherlands. This would place the duke, as Philip wrote him, be- ' " Voiilans et ordonnans qu'ainsi en soit faict, afin quexeste serl- euse sentence serve d'exemple, et donne crainte pour I'advenir, sans aucune espcrance de grace." Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 54. 3 Among contemporary writers whom I have consulted, I find no authorities for this remarkable statement except Meteren and De Thou. This might seem strange to one who credited the story, but not so strange as that a proceeding so extraordinary should have escaped the vigilance of Llorente, the secretary of the Holy Office, who had all its papers at his command. I have met with no allusion whatever to it in his pages. NUMEROUS ARRESTS. 199 yond the control of the council of finance in the important matter of the confiscations.'' It raised him, indeed, not only above that council, but above every other council in the country. It gave him an authority I not less than that of the sovereign himself. And Alva prepared to stretch this to an extent greater than any sovereign of the Netherlands had ever ventured on. The time had now come to put his terrible ma- chinery into operation. The regent was gone, who, if she could not curb, might at least criticise his actions. The prisons were full; the processes were completed. Nothing remained but to pass sentence and to execute. On the fourth of January, 1568, we find eighty-four persons sentenced to death at Valenciennes on the charge of having taken part in the late movements, — religious or political. ^ On the twentieth of February, ninety-five persons were arraigned before the Council of Blood, and thirty-seven capitally convicted.* On the twentieth of March thirty-five more were con- demned.^ The governor's emissaries were out in every direction. "I heard that preaching was going on at Antwerp," he writes to Philip, "and I sent my own provost there, for I cannot trust the authorities. He arrested a good number of heretics. They will never •♦ " Au moyen de la patente de gouverneur general que le due aura re9ue, il pourra faire cesser les entraves que mettait le conseil des finances \ ce qu'il disposal des deniers des confiscations." Corre- spondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 609. 5 Bulletins de I'Academie Royale de Belgique, torn. xvi. par. ii. p. 62. 6 Ibid., p. 62. 7 Ibid., p. 63. 200 REIGN OF TERROR. attend another such meeting. The magistrates com- plain that the interference of the provost was a violation of their privileges. The magistrates may as well take it patiently. ' ' ® The pleasant manner in which the duke talks over the fate of his victims with his master may, remind one of the similar dialogues between Petit Andr6 and Louis the Eleventh, in "Quentin Durward." The proceedings in Ghent may show the course pur- sued in the other cities. Commissioners were sent to that capital, to ferret out the suspected. No less than a hundred and forty-seven were summoned before the council at Brussels. Their names were cried about the streets and posted up in placards on the public build- ings. Among them were many noble and wealthy in- dividuals. The officers were particularly instructed to ascertain the wealth of the parties. Most of the accused contrived to make their escape. They preferred flight to the chance of an acquittal by the bloody tribunal, — • though flight involved certain banishment and confis- cation of property. Eighteen only answered the sum- mons by repairing to Brussels. They were all arrested on the same day, at their lodgings, and, without ex- ception, were sentenced to death ! Five or six of the principal were beheaded. The rest perished on the gallows.' 8 " Le magistrat s'est plaint de I'infraction de ses privileges, k cause de renvoi dudit prevot ; mais il faudra bien qu'il prenne patience." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 13. 9 Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. pp. 243-247. — 1 he autlior tells us he collected these particulars from the memoirs and diaries of eye-witnesses, — confirmed, moreover, by the acts and public registers of the time. The authenticity of the statement, he adds, is incontestable. TRIALS AND EXECUTIONS. 201 Impatient of what seemed to him a too tardy method of following up his game, the duke determined on a bolder movement, and laid his plans for driving a goodly number of victims into the toils at once. He fixed on Ash Wednesday for the time, — the beginning of Lent, when men, after the Carnival was past, would be gathered soberly in their own dwellings." The officers of justice entered their premises at dead of night, and no less than five hundred citizens were dragged from their beds and hurried off to prison." They all received sentence of death!" "I have re- iterated the sentence again and again," he writes to Philip, "for they torment me with inquiries whether in this or that case it might not be commuted for banishment. They weary me of my life with their '° See the circular of Alva to the officers charged with these arrests, in the Correspondance de Philippe II., torn, ii., Appendi.x, p. 660. " " Et, affin que ledict due d'Alve face apparoir de plus son affec- tion sanguinaire et tyrannicque, il a, passe peu de temps, faict appre- hender, tout sur une nuict [le 3 mars, 1568], en toutes les villcs des pays d'embas, ung grand nombre de ceulx qu'il a tenu suspect en leur foy, et les faict mectre hors leurs maisons et lictz en prison, pour en apr^s, ^ sa commodite, faire son plaisir et volunte avecque lesdicts prisonniers." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, torn. iii. p. 9. — The extract is from a memorial addressed by William to the emperor, vindicating his own course, and exposing, with the indignant eloquence of a patriot, the wrongs and calamities of his country. This document, printed by Gachard, is a version from the German original by the hand of a contemporary. A modern translation — so ambitious in its style that one may distrust its fidelity — is also to be found in the Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 91, et seq. " " Se prendieron cerca de quinientos. . . . He mandado justiciai todos," says Alva to the king, in a letter written in cipher, April 13th, 1563. (Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 488.) Not one escaped 1 It is told with an air of nonchalance truly appalling. I* 202 REIGN OF TERROR. importunities." '3 He was not too weary, however, to go on with the bloody work; for in the same letter we find him reckoning that three hundred heads more must fall before it will be time to talk of a general pardon.'" It was common, says an old chronicler, to see thirty or forty persons arrested at once. The wealthier bur- ghers might be seen, with their arms pinioned behind them, dragged at the horse's tail to the place of execu- tion. 's The poorer sort were not even summoned to take their trial in Brussels. Their cases were despatched at once, and they were hung up, without further delay, in the city or in the suburbs.'* Brandt, in his History of the Reformation, has col- lected many particulars respecting the persecution, especially in his own province of Holland, during that "reign of terror." Men of lower consideration, when dragged to prison, were often cruelly tortured on the rack, to extort confessions implicating themselves or their friends. The modes of death adjudged by the bloody tribunal were various. Some were beheaded with the sword, — a distinction reserved, as it would seem, for persons of condition. Some were sentenced '3 " Que cada dia me quiebran la cabeza con dudas de que si el que delinquio desta manera meresce la muerte, 6 si el que delinquio desta otra meresce destierro, que no me dejan vivir, y no basta con ellos." Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 488. «♦ " En este castigo que agora se hace y en el que vendrd despues de Pascua tengo que pasard de ochocientas cabezas." Ibid., p. 489. '5 " Les Bourgeois qui estoyCt riches de quarante, soixante, et cent mille florins, il les faysoit attacher \ la queue d'un chev.il, et ainsi les faysoit trainer, ayant les mains liees sur le dos, jusques au lieu ou on les debvoit pendre." Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 55. »6 Ibid., ubi supra. TRIALS AND EXECUTIONS. 203 to the gibbet, and others to the stake. '^ This last pun- ishment, the most dreadful of all, was confined to the greater offenders against religion. But it seems to have been left much to the caprice of the judges, sometimes even of the brutal soldiery who superintended the exe- cutions. At least we find the Spanish soldiers, on one occasion, in their righteous indignation, throwing into the flames an unhappy Protestant preacher whom the court had sentenced to the gallows.'^ The soldiers of Alva were many of them veterans, who had borne arms against the Protestants under Charles the Fifth, — comrades of the men who at that very time were hunting down the natives of the New World and slaughtering them by thousands in the name of religion. With them the sum and substance of re- ligion were comprised in a blind faith in the Romish Church, and in uncompromising hostility to the heretic. The life of the heretic was the most acceptable sacrifice that could be offered to Jehovah. With hearts thus seared by fanaticism and made callous by long famili- arity with human suffering, they were the very ministers to do the bidding of such a master as the duke of Alva. The cruelty of the persecutors was met by an indom- itable courage on the part of their victims. Most of the offences" were, in some way or other, connected with religion. The accused were preachers, or had aided and comforted the preachers, or had attended their services, or joined the consistories, or afforded •7 " Ille [Vargas] promiscufe laqueo, igne, homines enecare." Re- idanus, Annales, p. 6. '8 Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. p. 274. 204 REIGN OF TERROR. evidence, in some form, that they had espoused the damnable doctrines of heresy. It is precisely in such a case, where men are called to suffer for conscience' sake, that they are prepared to endure all, — to die in defence of their opinions. The storm of persecution fell on persons of every condition ; men and women, the young, the old, the infirm and helpless. But the weaker the party, the more did his spirit rise to endure his sufferings. Many affecting instances are recorded of persons who, with no support but their trust in Heaven, displayed . the most heroic fortitude in the presence of their judges, and, by the boldness with which they asserted their opinions, seemed even to court the crown of martyrdom. On the scaffold and at the stake this intrepid spirit did not desert them , and the testimony they bore to the truth of the cause for which they suffered had such an effect on the by- standers that it was found necessary to silence them. A cruel device for more effectually accomplishing this was employed by the officials. The tip of the tongue was seared with a red-hot iron, and the swollen mem- ber then compressed between two plates of metal screwed fast together. Thus gagged, the groans of the wretched sufferer found vent in strange sounds that excited the brutal merriment of his tormentors.'' But it is needless to dwell longer on the" miseries en- dured by the people of the Netherlands in this season of trial. Yet, if the cruelties perpetrated in the name of religion are most degrading to humanity, they must >9 " Hark how they singl" exclaimed a friar in the crowd; "should they not be made to dance too?" Brandt, Reformation in the Lovr Countries, vol. i. p. 275. TRIALS AND EXECUTIONS. 205 be allowed to have called forth the most sublime spec- tacle which humanity can present, — that of the martyr offering up his life on the altar of principle. It is difficult — in fact, from the data in my possession, not possible — to calculate the number of those who fell by the hand of the executioner in this dismal persecu- tion." The number, doubtless, was not great as com- pared Avith the population of the country, — not so great as we may find left, almost every year of our lives, on a single battle-field. When the forms of legal proceed- ings are maintained, the movements of justice — if the name can be so profaned — are comparatively tardy. It is only, as in the French Revolution, when thousands are swept down by the cannon, or whole cargoes of wretched victims are plunged at once into the waters, =° It will be understood that I am speaking of the period embraced in this portion of the history, terminating at the beginning of June, 1568, when the Council of Blood had been in active operation about four months, — the period when the sword of legal persecution fell heaviest. Alva, in the letter above cited to Philip, admits eight hun- dred — including three hundred to be examined after Easter — as the number of victims. (Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 489.) Viglius, in a letter of the twenty-ninth of March, says fifteen hundred had been already cited before the tribunal, the greater part of whom — they had probably fled the country — were condemned for contumacy. (Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 415.) Grotius, alluding to this period, speaks even more vaguely of the multitude of the victims, as innu- merable : " Stipatce reis custodias, innumeri mortales necati : ubique una species ut captoe civitatis." (Annales, p. 29.) So also Hooft, cited by Brandt: "The Gallows, the Wheels, Stakes, and Trees in the highways, were loaden with carcasses or limbs of such as had been hanged, beheaded, or roasted ; so that the air, which God had made for respiration of the living, was now become the common grave or habitation of the dead." (Reformation in the Low Coun- tries, vol. i. p. 261.) Language like this, however expressi". e, does little for statistics. Philip.— Vol.. 71. 18 2o6 REIGN OF TERROR. that death moves on with the gigantic stride of pesti- lence and war. But the amount of suffering from such a persecution is not to be estimated merely by the number of those who have actually suffered death, when the fear of death hung like a naked sword over every man's head. Alva had expressed to Philip the wish that every man, as he lay down at night or as he rose in the morning, "might feel that his house, at any hour, might fall and crush him !"" This humane wish was accomplished. Those who escaped death had to fear a fate scarcely less dreadful, in banishment and confiscation of prop- erty. The persecution very soon took this direction ; and persecution when prompted by avarice is even more odious than when it springs from fanaticism, which, however degrading in itself, is but the perver- sion of the religious principle. Sentence of perpetual exile and confiscation was pronounced at once against all who fled the country.^ Even the dead were not spared j as is shown by the process instituted against the marquis of Bergen for the confiscation of his estates on the charge of treason. That nobleman had gone with Montigny, as the reader " Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 4. ^ Sentences passed by the Council of Blood against a great number of individuals — two thousand or more — ^have been collected in a little volume (Sententien en Indagingen van Alba) published at Amstei- dam in 1735. The parties condemned were for the most part natives of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht. They would seem, with very few exceptions, to have been absentees, and, being pronounced guilty of contumacy, were sentenced to banishment and the confiscation of their property. The volume furnishes a more emphatic commentary on the proceedings of Alva than any thing which could come from the pen of the historian. STATE r Los CONFISCA TIONS. 207 may remember, on his mission to Madrid, where he had recently died, — more fortunate than his com- panion, who survived for a darker destiny. The duke's emissaries were everywhere active in making up their inventories of the property of the suspected parties. "I am going to arrest some of the richest and the worst offenders," writes Alva to his master, "and bring them to a pecuniary composition." ""^ He shall next proceed, he says, against the delinquent cities. In this way a round sum will flow into his majesty's coffers.'^ The victims of this class were so numerous that we find a single sentence of the council sometimes comprehending eighty or a hundred individuals. One before me, in fewer v.'ords than are taken up by the names of the parties, dooms no less than a hundred and thirty-five inhabitants of Amsterdam to confisca- tion and exile. ''s One may imagine the distress brought on this once flourishing country by this wholesale proscription ; for, besides the parties directly interested, there was a host of others incidentally affected, — hospitals and charitable establishments, widows and helpless orphans, now re- duced to want by the failure of the sources which sup- plied them with their ordinary subsistence.^ Slow and ^ " Acabando este castigo comenzare d prender algiinos particulares de los mas culpados y mas ricos para moverlos a que vengan i. com- posicion." Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 489. *4 " Destos tales se saquc todo el golpe de dinero que sea possible." Ibid., ubi supra. "5 Sententien van Alva, bl. 122-124. =* " Combien d'Hospitaux, Vefues, et Orphelins, estoyent par ce moyen prives de leur rentes, et moyes de vivre 1" Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 55. 2o8 REIGN OF TERROR. sparing must have been the justice doled out to such impotent creditor^, when they preferred their claims to a tribunal like the Council of Blood ! The effect was soon visible in the decay of trade and the rapid depopulation of the towns. Notwithstanding the dreadful penalties denounced against fugitives, great numbers, especially from the border states, contrived to make their escape. The neighboring districts of Germany opened their arms to the wanderers; and many a wretched exile from the northern provinces, flying across the frozen waters of the Zuyder Zee, found refuge within the hospitable walls of Embden.'^ Even in an inland city like Ghent, half the houses, if we may credit the historian, were abandoned.^ Not a family was there, he says, but some of its members had tasted the bitterness of exile or of death. ^' "The fury of persecution," writes the prince of Orange, "spreads such horror throughout the nation that thousands, and among them some of the principal Papists, have fled a country where tyranny seems to be directed against all, without distinction of faith." 3° Yet in a financial point of view the results did not keep pace with Alva's wishes. Notwithstanding the =7 Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. p. 265. =8 Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 247. =9 Ibid., p. 245. 30 "Par laquelle auparavant jamais ouye tyrannie et persecution, ledict due d'Albe a cause partout telle peur, que aulcuns milles personnes, et mesmement ceulx estans principaul.K papistes, se sont retire/, en dedens peu de temps hors les Pays-Bas, en consideration que ceste tyrannie s'exerce contre tous, sans aulcune distinction de la religion." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, torn, iii, p. 14. / CONFISCA TIONS. 209 large amount of the confiscations, the proceeds, as he complains to Philip, were absorbed in so many ways, especially by the peculation of his agents, that he doubted whether the expense would not come to more than the profits ! ^^ He was equally dissatisfied with the conduct of other functionaries. The commissioners sent into the provinces, instead of using their efforts to detect the guilty, seemed disposed, he said, rather to conceal them. Even the members of the Council of Troubles manifested so much apathy in their vocation as to give him more annoyance than the delinquents themselves ! ^^ The only person who showed any zeal in the service was Vargas. He was worth all the others of the council put together. ^^ The duke might have excepted from this sweeping condemnation Hessels, the lawyer of Ghent, if the rumors concerning him were true. This worthy councillor, it is said, would sometimes fall asleep in his chair, worn out by the fatigue of trying causes and signing death-warrants. In this state, when suddenly called on to pronounce the doom of the prisoner, he would cry out, half awake, and rubbing his eyes, '■^Ad patibulmn! Ad pati- bulum .''" — " To the gallows ! To the gallows !"^ 31 " Que temo no venga d ser mayor la espesa de los ministros que cl util que dello se sacara." Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 495. 3=! " El tribunal todo que hice para estas cosas no solamente no me ayuda, pero estorbame tanto que tengo mas que hacer con ellos que con los delincuentes." Ibid., ubi supra. 33 Vargas passed as summary a judgment on the people of the Netherlands as that imputed to the Inquisition, condensing it into a memorable sentence, much admired for its Latinity: " Hceretici fraxerunt templa, boni nihil faxertint contra, irgo dcbent omnes pati- bulare." Reidanus, Annales, p. 5. 34 " Quand on l\5veilloit pour dire son avis, il disoit tout endormi, 18* 2IO REIGN OF TERROR. But Vargas was after the duke's own heart. Alva was never weary of commending his follower to the king. He besought Philip to interpose in his behalf, and cause three suits which had been brought against that functionary to be suspended during his absence from Spain. The king accordingly addressed the judge on the subject. But the magistrate (his name should have been preserved) had the independence to reply that "justice must take its course, and could not be suspended from favor to any one." "Nor would I have it so," answered Philip (it is the king who tells it): "I would do only what is possible to save the interests of Vargas from suffering by his absence." In conclusion, he tells the duke that Vargas should give no heed to what is said of the suits, since he must be assured, after the letter he has received under the royal hand, that his sovereign fully approves his conduct. ^^ But if Vargas, by his unscrupulous devotion to the cause, won the confidence of his employers, he in- curred, on the other hand, the unmitigated hatred of the people, — a hatred deeper, it would almost seem, than even that which attached to Alva ; owing perhaps to the circumstance that, as the instrument for the execution of the duke's measures, Vargas was brought more immediately in contact with the people than the duke himself. As we have already seen, many, especially of those who dwelt in the border provinces, escaped the storm en se frottant Ics yeux, ad patibulum, ad patibuhim, c'est-Jl-dire, au gibet, au gibet." Aub6ri, M^m. pour servir \ I'Hist. de Hollande, p. 22. 35 Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 12. RESULTS. 2H of persecution by voluntary exile. The suspected parties would seem to have received, not unfrequently, kindly intimations from the local magistrates of the fate that menaced them.^* Others, who lived in the interior, were driven to more desperate courses. They banded together in considerable numbers, under the name of the "wild Gueux,^^ — "Giieiix sauvages,^^ — and took refuge in the forests, particularly of West Flanders. Thence they sallied forth, fell ujDon unsus- pecting travellers, especially the monks and ecclesi- astics, whom they robbed, and sometimes murdered. Occasionally they were so bold as to invade the monasteries and churches, stripping them of their rich ornaments, their plate and other valuables, when, loaded with booty, they hurried back to their fast- nesses. The evil proceeded to such a length that the governor-general was obliged to order out a strong force to exterminate the banditti, while at the same time he published an edict declaring that every district should be held responsible for the damage done to property within its limits by these marauders. ^^ It might be supposed that, under the general feeling of resentment provoked by Alva's cruel policy, his life would have been in constant danger from the hand of the assassin. Once, indeed, he had nearly fallen a victim to a conspiracy headed by two brothers, men of good family in Flanders, who formed a plan to kill him while attending mass at an abbey in the neighborhood 36 Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. i. pp. 263, 264, et alibi. 37 Grotius, Annales, p. 29. — Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 450. 212 REIGN OF TERROR. of Brussels. 3^ But Alva was not destined to fall by the hand of violence. We may well believe that wise and temperate men, like Viglius, condemned the duke's proceedings as no less impolitic than cruel. That this veteran councillor did so is apparent from his confidential letters, though he was too prudent to expose himself to Alva's enmity by openly avowing it.^' There were others, however, — the princes of Germany, in particular, — who had no such reasons for dissembling, and who carried their remonstrances to a higher tribunal than that of the governor-general. On the second of March, 1568, the emperor Maxi- milian, in the name of the electors, addressed a letter to Philip, in behalf of his oppressed subjects in the Netherlands. He reminded the king that he had already more than once, and in most affectionate terms, interceded with him for a milder and more merciful policy towards his Flemish subjects. He entreated his royal kinsman to reflect whether it were not better to insure the tranquillity of the state by winning the hearts of his people than by excessive rigor to drive them to extremity. And he concluded by intimating that, as a member of the Germanic body, the Netherlands had a right to be dealt with in that spirit of clemency which was conformable to the constitutions of the empire. •*" Although neither the arguments nor the importunity 38 Campana, Guerra de Fiandra, fol. 38. — Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. ix. p. 555. 39 " Valde optaremus tandem aliquam funesti hujus temporis, crimi- naliumque processuum finem, qui non populum tantum nostrum, sed vicinos omnes exasperant." Viglii Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 482. 4° Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 15. RESULTS. 213 of Maximilian had poAver to shake the constancy of Philip, he did not refuse to enter into some explana- tion, if not \ indication, of his conduct. "What I have done," he replied, "has been for the repose of the provinces and for the defence of the Catholic faith. If I had respected justice less, I should have despatched the whole business in a single day. No one acquainted with the state of affairs will find reason to censure my severity. Nor would I do otherwise than I have done, though I should risk the sovereignty of the Netherlands, — no, though the world should fall in ruins around me ! " ■*' Such a reply effectually closed the correspondence. The wretched people of the Netherlands, mean- while, now looked to the prince of Orange as the only refuge left them, under Providence. Those who fled the country, especially persons of higher condition, gathered round his little court at Dillenburg, where they were eagerly devising plans for the best means of restoring freedom to their country. They brought with them repeated invitations from their countrymen to William that he would take up arms in their defence. The Protestants of Antwerp, in particular, promised that, if he would raise funds by coining his plate, they would agree to pay him double the value of it.'^ 41 "Y quando por esta causa se aventurassen los Estados, y me viniesse d caer el mundo encima." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom.ii. p. 27. — Philip seems to have put himself in the attitude of the " justum et tenacem" of Horace. His concluding hyperbole is almost a literal version of the Roman bard : " Si fractus illabatur orbis, Impavidum ferient ruinae," 4= Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 87. 214 REIGN OF TERROR. William had no wish nearer his heart than that of assuming the enterprise. But he knew the difficulties that lay in the way, and, like a wise man, he was not disposed to enter on it till he saw the means of carrying it through successfully.. To the citizens of Antwerp he answered that not only would he devote his plate, but his person and all that he possessed, most willingly, for the freedom of religion and of his country. ^^ But the expenses of raising a force were great, — at the very least, six hundred thousand florins ; nor could he now nndertake to procure that amount, unless some of the principal merchants, whom he named, would consent to remain with him as security.'" In the mean time he was carrying on an extensive correspondence with the German princes, with the leaders of the Huguenot party in France, and even with the English government, — endeavoring to pro- pitiate them to the cause, as one in which every Protestant had an interest. From the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse he received assu- rances of aid. Considerable sums seem to have been secretly remitted from the principal towns in the Low Countries ; while Culemborg, Hoogstraten, Louis of Nassau, and the other great lords who shared his exile, contributed as largely as their dilapidated fortunes would allow. ''5 The prince himself parted with his 43 " II n'est pas seulement content de s'employer 'k la necessite pre- sente par le moyen par eulx propose touchant sa vasselle, ains de sa propre personne, et de tout ce que reste en son pouv|»ir." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 88. 44 Ibid., ubi supra. 45 The funds were chiefly furnished, as it would seem, by Antwerp, and the great towns of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Groningen, ORANGE ASSEMBLES AN ARMY. 215 most precious effects, pawning his jewels, and sending his plate to tlie mint, — "the ornaments of a palace," exclaims an old writer, "but yielding little for the necessities of war." ■»* By these sacrifices a considerable force was assembled before the end of April, consisting of the most irregu- lar and incongruous materials. There were German mercenaries, who had no interest in the cause beyond their pay ; Huguenots from France, who brought into the field a hatred of the Roman Catholics which made them little welcome, even as allies, to a large portion of the Netherlands; and lastly, exiles from the Nether- lands, — the only men worthy of the struggle, — who held life cheap in comparison with the great cause to which they devoted it. But these, however strong in their patriotism, were for the most part simple burghers, untrained to arms, and ill fitted to cope with the hardy veterans of Castile. Before completing his levies, the prince of Orange, at the suggestion of his friend the landgrave of Hesse, prepared and published a document, known as his "Justification," in which he vindicated himself and his cause from the charges of Alva. He threw the original blame of the troubles on Granvelle, denied the quarter of the country where the spirit of independence was always high. The noble exiles with William contributed half the amount raised. This information was given to Alva by Villers, one of the banished lords, after he had fallen into the duke's hands in a disastrous affair, of which some account will be given in the present chapter. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. ii. p. 27. 46 " Ipse Arausionensis monilia, vasa argentea, tapetes, castera supellectilis divendit, digna regio palatio ornamenta, sed exigui ad bellum momenti." Reidanus, Annales, p. 6. 2i6 REIGN OF TERROR. having planned or even promoted the confederacy of the nobles, and treated with scorn the charge of ■having, from motives of criminal ambition, fomented rebellion in a country where he had larger interests at stake than almost any other inhabitant. He touched on his own services, as well as those of his ancestors, and the ingratitude with which they had been requited by the throne. And in conclusion he prayed that his majesty might at length open his eyes to the innocence of his persecuted subjects, and that it might be made apparent to the world that the wrongs inflicted on them had come from evil counsellors rather than himself.*' The plan of the campaign was to distract the duke's 47 The "Justification" has been very commonly attributed to the pen of the learned Languet, who was much in William's confidence, and is known to have been with him at this time. But William was too practised a writer, as Groen well suggests, to make it probable that he would trust the composition of a paper of such moment to any hand but his own. It is very likely that lie submitted. his own draft to the revision of Languet, whose political sagacity he well understood. And this is the most that can be fairly inferred from Languet's own account of the matter : " Fui Dillemburgi per duo- decim et tredecim dies, ubi Princeps Orangiae mihi et aliquot aliis curavit prolixe explicari causas et initia tumultuum in inferiore Ger- mania et suam responsionem ad accusationes Albani." It fared with the prince's "Justification" as it did with the famous " Farewell Ad- dress" of Washington, so often attributed to another pen than his, but which, however much it may have been benefited by the counsels and corrections of others, bears on every page unequivocal marks of its genuineness. The " Justification" called out several answers from the opposite party. Among them were two by Vargas and Del Rio. But in the judgment of Viglius — ^whose bias certainly did not lie on William's side — these answers were a failure. See his letter to Hop- per (Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 458). The reader will find a full discus- sion of the matter by Groen, in the Archives de la Maison d'Orange- Nassau, tom. iii. p. 187. ORANGE ASSEMBLES AN ARMY. 217 attention, and, if possible, create a general rising in the country, by assailing it on three several points at once. A Huguenot corps, under an adventurer named Cocqueville, was to operate against Artois ; Hoogstra- ten, with the lord of Villers, and others of the ban- ished nobles, was to penetrate the country in a central direction, through Brabant ; while William's brothers, the Counts Louis and Adolphus, at the head of a force partly Flemish, partly German, were to carry the war over the northern borders, into Groningen. The prince himself, who established his head-quarters in the neigh- borhood of Cleves, was busy in assembling a force pre- pared to support any one of the divisions, as occasion might require. It was the latter part of April before Hoogstraten and Louis took the field. The Huguenots were still later ; and William met with difficulties which greatly retarded the formation of his own corps. The great difficulty — one which threatened to defeat the enter- prise at its commencement — was the want of money, equally felt in raising troops and in enforcing discipline among them when they were raised. " If you have any love for me," he writes to his friend, the "wise" landgrave of Hesse, " I beseech you to aid me privately with a sum sufficient to meet the pay of the troops for the first month. Without this I shall be in danger of failing in my engagements, — to me worse than death ; to say nothing of the ruin which such a failure must bring on our credit and on the cause." ^* We are con- 48 " En quoy ne gist pas seulement le bien de ce faict, mais aussi mon honeur et reputation, pour avoir promis aus gens de guerre leur paier le diet mois, et que j'aymerois mieulx morir que les faillir ^ ma Philip. — Vol. II. — K 19 2i8 REIGN OF TERROR. stantly reminded, in the career of the prince of Orange, of the embarrassments under which our own Washing- ton labored in the time of the Revolution, and of the patience and unconquerable spirit which enabled him to surmount them. Little need be said of two of the expeditions, which were failures. Hoogstraten had scarcely crossed the frontier, towards the end of April, when he was met by Alva's trusty lieutenant, Sancho Davila, and beaten, with considerable loss. Villers and some others of the rebel lords, made prisoners, escaped the sword of the enemy in the field, to fall by that of the executioner in Brussels. Hoogstraten, with the remnant of his forces, made good his retreat, and effected a junction with the prince of Orange. ■♦^ Cocqueville met with a worse fate. A detachment of French troops was sent against him by Charles the Ninth, who thus requited the service of the same kind he had lately received from the duke of Alva. On the approach of their countrymen, the Huguenots basely laid down their arms. Cocqueville and his principal officers were surrounded, made prisoners, and perished ignominiously on the scaffold. 5° The enterprise of Louis of Nassau was attended with different results. Yet after he had penetrated into Groningen he was sorely embarrassed by the mutinous spirit of the German mercenaries. The province was promesse." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplemeni, p. 89. •♦9 Mendoza, Comentarios, p. 42, et seq. — Cornejo, Disension de Flandes, p. 63. 50 Metcren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 56. — De Thou, Hist, univer- selle, torn. v. p. 443. BATTLE OF IIEYLIGERLEE. 219 defended by Count Arembcrg, its governor, a brave old officer, who had studied the art of war under Charles the Fifth ; one of those models of chivalry on whom the men of a younger generation are ambitious to form themselves. He had been employed on many distinguished services, and there were few men at the court of Brussels who enjoyed higher consideration under both Philip and his father. The strength of his forces lay in his Spanish infantry. He was deficient in cavalry, but was soon to be reinforced by a body of horse under Count Megen, who was a day's march in his rear. Aremberg soon came in sight of Louis, who was less troubled by the presence of his enemy than by the dis- orderly conduct of his German soldiers, clamorous for their pay. Doubtful of his men, Louis declined to give battle to a foe so far superior to him in every thing but numbers. He accordingly established himself in an uncommonly strong position, which the nature of the ground fortunately afforded. In his rear, protected by a thick wood, stood the convent of Heyligerlee, which gave its name to the battle. In front the land sloped towards an extensive morass. * His infantry, on the left, was partly screened by a hill from the enemy's fire ; and on the right he stationed his cavalry, under the command of his brother Adolphus, who was to fall on the enemy's flank, should they be hardy enough to give battle. But Aremberg was too well acquainted with the diffi- culties of the ground to risk an engagement, at least till he was strengthened by the reinforcement under Megen. Unfortunately, the Spanish infantry, accus- 2 20 REIGN OF TERROR. tomed to victory, and feeling a contempt for the dis- orderly levies opposed to them, loudly called to be led against the heretics. In vain their more prudent gen- eral persisted in his plan. They chafed at the delay, refusing to a Flemish commander the obedience which they might probably have paid to one of their own na- tion. They openly accused him of treachery, and of having an understanding with his countrymen in the enemy's camp. Stung by their reproaches, Aremberg had the imprudence to do what more than one brave man has been led to do, both before and since : he sur- rendered his own judgment to the importunities of his soldiers. Crying out that "they should soon see if he were a traitor," s' he put himself at the head of his little army and marched against the enemy. His artil- lery, meanwhile, which he had posted on his right, opened a brisk fire on Louis's left wing, where, owing to the nature of the ground, it did little execution. Under cover of this fire the main body of the Span- ish infantry moved forward ; but, as their commander had foreseen, the men soon became entangled in the morass ; their ranks were thrown into disorder ; and when at length, after long and painful efforts, they emerged on the firm ground, they were more spent with toil than they would have been after a hard day's march. Thus jaded, and sadly in disarray, they were at once assailed in front by an enemy who, conscious 5' " Ains, comme gens predestinez "k leur malheur et de leur general, crierent plus que dcvant centre lay jusques k I'appeler traistre, et qu'il s'cntendoit avec les ennemis. Luy, qui estoit tout noble et courageux, leur dit: ' Ouy, je vous monstreray si je le suis." " Bran- t6me, CEuvres, torn. i. p. 382. BATTLE OF HEYLIGERLEE. 221 of his o-\vn advantage, was all fresh and hot for action. Not\vithstanding their distressed condition, Aremberg's soldiers maintained their ground for some time, like men unaccustomed to defeat. At length Louis ordered the cavalry on his right to charge Aremberg's flank. This unexpected movement, occurring at a critical mo- ment, decided the day. Assailed in front and in flank, hemmed in by the fatal morass in the rear, the Span- iards were thrown into utter confusion. In vain their gallant leader, proof against danger, though not against the taunts of his followers, endeavored to rally them. His horse was killed under him ; and, as he was mounting another, he received a shot from a foot- soldier, and fell mortally wounded from his saddle. s" The rout now became general. Some took to the morass, and fell into the hands of the victors. Some succeeded in cutting their way through the ranks of their assailants, while many more lost their lives in the attempt. The ground was covered with the wounded and the dead. The victory was complete. Sixteen hundred of the enemy were left on that fatal field. In the imagination of the exile thirsting for vengeance, it might serve in some degree to balance 5« Brantome has given us the portrait of this Flemish nobleman, with whom he became acquainted on his visit to Paris, when sent thither by Alva to relieve the French monarch. The chivalrous old writer dwells on the personal appearance of Aremberg, his noble mien and high-bred courtesy, which made him a favorite with the dames of the royal circle: " Un tres beau et tres agreable seigneur, surtout de fort grande et haute taille et de tres belle apparence." (QEuvres, torn. i. p. 383.) Nor does he omit to mention, among other accomplish- ments, the fluency with which he could speak French and several other languages. Ibid., p. 384. 19* 2 22 REIGN OF TERROR. the bloody roll of victims whom the pitiless duke had sent to their account. Nine pieces of artillery, with a large quantity of ammunition and military stores, a rich service of plate belonging to Aremberg, and a considerable sum of money lately received by him to pay the arrears of the soldiers, fell into the hands of the patriots. Yet as serious a loss as any inflicted on the Spaniards was that of their brave commander. His corpse, disfigured by wounds, was recognized, amid a heap of the slain, by the insignia of the Golden Fleece, which he wore round his neck, and which Louis sent to the prince, his brother, as a proud trophy of his victory. ^3 The joy of the conquerors was dimmed by one mournful event, the death of Count Adolphus of Nassau, who fell, bravely fighting, at the head of his troops, one of the first victims in the war of the revolution. He was a younger brother of William, only twenty-seven years of age. But he had already given promise of those heroic qualities which proved him worthy of the generous race from which he sprang.^ The battle was fought on the twenty-third of May, 1568. On the day following. Count Megen arrived with a reinforcement, — too late to secure the victory, but not, as it proved, too late to snatch the fruits of it from the victors. By a rapid movement, he succeeded 53 See a letter written, as seems probable, by a councillor of William to the elector of Saxony, the week after the battle. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn. iii. p. 221. 5-t It is a common repbrt of historians that Adolphus and Aremberg met in single combat in the thick of the fight and fell by each other's hands. See Cornejo, Disension de Flandes, fol. 63 ; Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 282 ; et al. An incident so romantic found easy credit in a romantic age. A L FA'S PROCEEDINGS. 223 in throwing himself into the town of Groningen, and thus saved that important place from falling into the hands of tlie i^atriots.^^ The tidings of the battle of Heyligerlee caused a great sensation through the country. While it raised the hopes of the malecontents, it filled the duke of Alva with indignation, — the greater, as he perceived that the loss of the battle was to be referred mainly to the misconduct of his own soldiers. He saw with alarm the disastrous effect likely to be produced by so brilliant a success on the part of the rebels in the very beginning of the struggle. The hardy men of Fries- land would rise to assert their independence. The prince of Orange, with his German levies, would unite with his victorious brother, and, aided by the inhabit- ants, would be in condition to make formidable head against any force that Alva could muster. It was an important crisis, and called for prompt and decisive action. The duke, with his usual energy, determined to employ no agent here, but to take the affair into his SS The accounts of the battle of Heyhgerlee, given somewhat con- fusedly, maybe found in Herrera, Hist, del Mundo, torn. i. p. 688, at seq., — Campana, Guerra di Fiandra (Vicenza, 1602), p. 42, etseq., — Mendoza, Comentarios (Madrid, 1592), p. 43, et seq., — Comejo, Di- sension de Flandes, fol. 66, et seq., — Carnero, Guerras de Flandes (Brusselas, 1625), p. 24, et seq., — Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 382, et seq., — Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 192, etseq. — The last writer tells us he had heard the story more than once from the son and heir of the deceased Count Aremberg, who sorely lamented that liis gallant father should have thrown away his life for a mistaken point of honor. — In addition to the above authorities, I regret it is not in my power to cite a volume published by M. Gachard since the present chapter was written. It contains the correspondence of Alva relating to the invasion by Louis. 224 REIGN OF TERROR. own hands, concentrate his forces, and march in person against the enemy. Yet there were some things he deemed necessary to he done, if it were only for their effect on the pubhc mind, before entering on the campaign. On the twenty-eighth of May, sentence was passed on the prince of Orange, his brother Louis, and their noble companions. They were pronounced guilty of contu- macy in not obeying the summons of the council, and of levying war against the king. For this they were condemned to perpetual banishment, and their estates confiscated to the use of the crown. The sentence was. signed by the duke of Alva.^* William's estates had been already sequestrated, and a body of Spanish troops was quartered in his town of Breda. Another act, of a singular nature, intimated pretty clearly the dispositions of the government. The duke caused the Hotel de Culemborg, where he had fixed his own residence before the regent's departure, and where the Gueux had held their meetings on coming to Brus- sels, to be levelled with the ground. On the spot a marble column was raised, bearing on each side of the base the following inscription: "Here once stood the mansion of Florence Pallant," — the name of the Count of Culemborg, — "now razed to the ground for the ex- ecrable conspiracy plotted therein against religion, the Roman Catholic Church, the king's majesty, and the country. "57 Alva by this act intended doubtless to 56 Viglii Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 181. — The sentence of tlie prince of Orange may be found in the Sententien van Alba, p. 70. 57 Viglii Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 481. — Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 373. — Vera y Figueroa, Vida de Alva, p. loi. — The Hotel de Culemborg, so memorable for its connection with the early meet- ALVA'S PROCEEDINGS. 225 proclaim to the world, not so much his detestation of the confederacy — that would have been superfluous — as his determination to show no mercy to those who had taken part in it. Indeed, in his letters, on more than one occasion, he speaks of the signers of the Compro- mise as men who had placed themselves beyond the pale of mercy. But all these acts were only the prelude to the dismal tragedy which was soon to be performed. Nearly nine months had elapsed since the arrest of the Counts Egmont and Hoorne. During all this time they had remained prisoners of state, under a strong guard, in the castle of Ghent. Their prosecution had been con- ducted in a deliberate, and indeed dilatory, manner, which had nourished in their friends the hope of a favorable issue. Alva now determined to bring the trial to a close, — to pass sentence of death on the two lords, and to carry it into execution before departing on his expedition. It was in vain that some of his counsellors remon- strated on the impolicy, at a crisis like the present, of outraging the feelings of the nation, by whom Egmont, in particular, was so much beloved. In vain they sug- gested that the two nobles would serve as hostages for the good behavior of the people during his absence, since any tumult must only tend to precipitate the fate of the prisoners. 5^ Whether it was that Alva distrusted ings of the Gueux, had not been long in possession of Count Culem- borg, who purchased it as late as 1556. It stood on the Place du Petit Sablon. See Reiffenberg, Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 363- 58 " His tamen Albanus facil^ contemptis, quippe 'k diuterna rerum experientia. suspicax, et suopte ingenio ab alioruin consiliis, si ultro K* 2 26 REIGN OF TERROR. the effect on his master of the importunities, from nu- merous quarters, in their behalf, or, what is far more likely, that he feared lest some popular rising, during his absence, might open the gates to his prisoners, he was determined to proceed at once to their execution. His appetite for vengeance may have been sharpened by mortification at the reverse his arms had lately ex- perienced ; and he may have felt that a blow like the present would be the most effectual to humble the arrogance of the nation. There were some other prisoners, of less note, but of no little consideration, who remained to be disposed of. Their execution would prepare the public mind for the last scene of the drama. There were nineteen per- sons who, at this time, lay in confinement in the castle of Vilvoorde, a fortress of great strength, two leagues distant from Brussels. They were chiefly men of rank, and for the most part members of the Union. For these latter, of course, there was no hope. Their trials were now concluded, and they were only awaiting their sentences. On the ominous twenty-eighth of May, a day on which the Council of Blood seems to have been uncommonly alert, they were all, without exception, condemned to be beheaded, and their estates were confiscated to the public use. On the first of June they were brought to Brussels, having been escorted there by nine companies of Span- ish infantry, were conducted to the great square in front of the Hotel de Ville, and, while the drums beat to pre- vent their last words from reaching the ears of the by- praesertim offerrentur aversus." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 386. ALVA'S PROCEEDINGS. 227 slanders, their heads were struck off by the sword of the executioner. Eight of the number, who died in the Roman Catholic faith, were graciously allowed the rites of Christian burial. The heads of the remaining eleven were set upon poles, and their bodies left to rot upon the gibbet, like those of the vilest malefactors. =' On the second of June ten or twelve more, some of them persons of distinction, perished on the scaffold, in the same square in Brussels. Among these was Vil- lers, the companion of Hoogstraten in the ill-starred expedition to Brabant, in which he was made prisoner. Since his captivity he had made some disclosures re- specting the measures of Orange and his party, which might have entitled him to the consideration of Alva. But he had signed the Compromise. On the following day five other victims were led to execution within the walls of Vilvoorde, where they had been long confined. One of these has some in- terest for us, Casembrot, lord of Backerzeele, Egmont's S9 Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 386. — Guerres civiles du Pays-Bas, p. 171. — Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 57. — The third volume of the Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau contains a report of this execution from an eye-witness, a courier of Alva, who left Brussels the day after the event and was intercepted on his route by the patriots. One may imagine the interest with which William and his friends listened to the recital of the tragedy, and how deep must have been their anxiety for the fate of their other friends, — Hoorne and Egmont in particular, — over whom the sword of the executioner hung by a thread. We may well credit the account of the consternation that reigned throughout Brussels: " II affirme que c'estoit une chose de I'autre monde, le crys, lamentation et juste com- passion qu'aviont tous ceux de la ville du dit Bruxelles, nobles et ignobles, pour ceste barbare tyrannie, mais que nonobstant, ce cestuy Nero d'Alve se vante en ferat le semblable de tous ceulx quy potra avoir en mains." p. 241. 2 28 REIGN OF TERROR. confidential secretary. That unfortunate gentleman had been put to the rack more than once, to draw from him disclosures to the prejudice of Egmont. But his constancy proved stronger than the cruelty of his persecutors. He was now to close his sufferings by an ignominious death ; so far fortunate, however, that it saved him from witnessing the fate of his beloved master.*^ Such were the gloomy scenes which ushered in the great catastrophe of the fifth of June. *° If we are to believe Bentivoglio, Backerzeele was torn asunder by horses: "Da quattro cavalli fu smembrato vivo in Brusselles il Casembrot gik segretario dell' Agamonte." (Guerra di Fiandra, p. 200.) But Alva's character, hard and unscrupulous as he may have been in carrying out his designs, does not warrant the imputation of an act of such wanton cruelty as this. Happily, it is not justified by historic testimony ; no notice of the fact being found in Strada, or Meteren, or the author of the Guerres civiles du Pays-Bas, not to add other writers of the time, who cannot certainly be charged with undue partiality to the Spaniards. If so atrocious a deed had been perpe- trated, it would be passing strange that it should not have found a place in the catalogue of crimes imputed to Alva by the prince of Orange. See, in particular, his letter to Schwendi, written in an agony of grief and indignation, soon after he had learned the execu- tion of his friends. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn, iii. p. 244. CHAPTER IV. TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. The Examination. — Efforts in their Behalf. — Specification of Charges. — Sentence of Death. — The Processes reviewed. 1568. Nine months had now elapsed since the Counts Egmont and Hoorne had been immured within the strong citadel of Ghent. During their confinement they had met with even less indulgence than was commonly shown to prisoners of state. They were not allowed to take the air of the castle, and were debarred from all intercourse with the members of their families. The sequestration of their property at the time of their arrest had moreover reduced them to such extreme indigence that but for the care of their friends they would have wanted the common necessaries of life.' During this period their enemies had not been idle. We have seen, at the time of the arrest of the two nobles, that their secretaries and their private papers had been also seized. "Backerzeele," writes the duke » Bor, the old Dutch historian, contemporary with these events, says that " if it had not been for the countess-dowager, Hoorne's step-mother, that noble would actually have starved in prison from want of money to procure himself food I" Arend, Algemeene Ge- schiedenis des Vaderlands, D. ii. St. v. bl. 37. Philip. — Vol. II. 20 ( 229 ) 230 TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. of Alva to Philip, "makes disclosures every day re- specting his master, Count Egmont. When he is put to the torture, wonders may be expected from him in this way!"* But all that the rack extorted from the unhappy man was some obscure intimation respecting a place in which Egmont had secreted a portion of his effects. After turning up the ground in every direction round the castle of Ghent, the Spaniards succeeded in disinterring eleven boxes filled with plate, and some caskets of jewels, and other precious articles, — all that now remained of Egmont's once splendid fortune.^ Meanwhile, commissioners were sent into the prov- inces placed under the rule of the two noblemen to collect information respecting their government. The burgomasters of the towns were closely questioned, and, where they showed reluctance, were compelled by menaces to answer. But what Alva chiefly relied on was the examination of the prisoners themselves. On the twelfth of November, 1567, a commission, composed of Vargas, Del Rio, and the Secretary Pratz, proceeded to Ghent and began a personal examination of Egmont. The interrogatories covered the whole ground of the recent troubles. They were particularly directed to ascertain Egmont's relations with the re- formed party, but, above all, his connection with the confederates, — the offence of deepest dye in the vicAV of the commissioners. The examination continued through five days ; and a record, signed and sworn to ' " Ce dernier fait chaque jour des aveux, at on peut s'attendre qu'il dira des merveilles, lorsqu'il sera mis \ la torture." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 589. 3 Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 247. THE EXAMINATION. 231 by the several parties, furnished the basis of the future proceedings against the prisoner. A similar course was then taken in regard to Hoorne.* In the mean time the friends of the two nobles were making active exertions in their behalf. Egmont, as we have already seen, was married to a German princess, Sabina, sister of the elector of Bavaria, — a lady who, from her rank, the charm of her manners, and her irreproachable character, was the most distinguished ornament of the court of Brussels. She was the mother of eleven children, the eldest of them still of tender age. Surrounded by this numerous and helpless fam- ily, thus suddenly reduced from affluence to miserable penury, the countess became the object of general commiseration. Even the stern heart of Alva seems to have been touched, as he notices her "lamentable situation," in one of his letters to Philip. ^ The unhappy lady was fortunate in securing the ser- vices of Nicholas de Landas, one of the most eminent jurists of the country, and a personal fiiend of her 4 The Inferrogatoires, filling nearly fifty octavo pages, were given to the public by the late Baron Reiffenberg, at the end of his valu- able compilation of the correspondence of Margaret. Both the questions and answers, strange as it may seem, were originally drawn up in Castilian. A French version was immediately made by the Secretary Pratz, — probably for the benefit of the Flemish councillors of the bloody tribunal. Both the Castilian and French MSS. were preserved in the archives of the house of Egmont until the middle of the last century, when an unworthy heir of this ancient line suffered them to pass into other hands. They were afterwards purchased by the crown, and are now in a fitting place of deposit, — the archives of the kingdom of Holland. The MS. printed by Reiffenberg is in French. 5 Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. ii. p. 14. 232 TRIALS OF EG MO NT AND HOORNE. husband. In her name, he addressed letters to several of the German princes, and to the Emperor Maximilian, requesting their good offices in behalf of her lord. He also wrote both to Alva and the king, less to solicit the release of Egmont — a thing little to be expected — than to obtain the removal of the cause from the Council of Blood to a court consisting of the knights of the Golden Fleece. To this both Egmont and Hoorne had a good claim, as belonging to that order, the statutes of which, solemnly ratified by Philip himself, guaranteed to its members the right of being tried only by their peers. The frank and independent tone with which the Flem- ish jurist, himself also one of the order, and well skilled in the law, urged this claim on the Spanish monarch, reflects honor on his memory. Hoorne's wife, also a German lady of high con- nections, and his step-mother, the countess-dowager, were unwearied in their exertions in his behalf. They wrote to the knights of the Golden Fleece, in whatever country residing, and obtained their written testimony to the inalienable right of the accused to be tried by his brethren.'^ This was obviously a point of the last importance, since a trial by the Council of Blood was itself equivalent to a condemnation. Several of the electors, as well as other princes of the empire, addressed Philip directly on the subject, beseeching him to deal with the two nobles according to the statutes of the order. Maximilian wrote two letters to the same purpose ; and, touching on the brilliant services of Egmont, he endeavored to excite ^ Supplement k Strada, torn. i. p. 244. EFFORTS IN THEIR BEHALF. 233 the king's compassion for the desolate condition of the countess and her children.' But it was not foreigners only who interceded in behalf of the lords. Mansfeldt, than whom Philip had not a more devoted subject in the Netherlands, im- plored his sovereign to act conformably to justice and reason in the matter.* Count Barlaimont, who on all occasions had proved himself no less stanch in his loy- alty, found himself now in an embarrassing situation, — being both a knight of the order and a member of the Council of Troubles. He wrote accordingly to Philip, beseeching his majesty to relieve him from the necessity of either acting like a disloyal subject or of incurring the reproaches of his brethren.' Still more worthy of notice is the interference of Cardinal Granvelle, who, forgetting his own disgrace, for which he had been indebted to Egmont perhaps as much as to any other person, now generously interceded in behalf of his ancient foe. He invoked the clemency of Philip, as more worthy of a great prince than rigor. He called to mind the former good deeds of the count, and declared, if he had since been led astray, the blame was chargeable on others rather than on himself." But although the cardinal wrote more than once to the king in this strain, it was too late to efface the impression made by former communications, in which he had 7 Supplement \ Strada, torn. i. p. 219.— Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 588. 8 " La suppliant de prendre en cette affaire la determination que la raison et I'equite reclament." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn, i. p. 607. 9 Ibid., p. 614. «> Ibid., p. 599. 20* 234 TRIALS OF EG MO NT AND HOORNE. accused his rival of being a party to the treasonable designs of the prince of Orange." This impression had been deepened by the reports from time to time received from the regent, who at one period, as we have seen, withdrew her confidence altogether from Egmont. Thus the conviction of that nobleman's guilt was so firmly settled in the king's mind that when Alva received the government of the Netherlands there can be little doubt that Egmont was already marked out as the first great victim to expiate the sins of the nation. The arguments and entreaties, therefore, used on the present occasion to dissuade Philip from his purpose had no other effect than to quicken his movements. Anxious to rid himself of importunities so annoying, he ordered Alva to press forward the trial, adding, at the same time, that all should be made so clear that the world, whose eyes were now turned on these pro- ceedings, might be satisfied of their justice." Before the end of December the attorney-general, Du Bois, had prepared the articles of accusation against Egmont. They amounted to no less than ninety, some of them of great length. They chiefly rested on evi- dence derived from the personal examination, sustained by information gathered from other quarters. The first I' " Le Comte d'Egmont," said Granvelle, in a letter so recent as August 17th, 1567, " disait au prince que leurs menees etaient decou- vertes ; que le Roi fasait des armements ; qu'ils ne sauraient lui resister ; qu'ainsi il leur fallait dissimuler, et s'accommoder le micux possible, en attendant d'autres circonstances, pour realiser leurs des- seins." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 561. " " Tout ce qui s'est pass6 doit etre tir^ au claire, pour qu'il soit bien constant que, dans une affaire sur laquelle le monde entier a les yeux fixfe, le Roi et lui ont proc^d^ avec justice." Ibid., p. 609. SPECIFICATION OF CHARGES. 235 article, which indeed may be said to have been the key to all the rest, charged Egmont with having con- spired with William and the other banished lords to shake off the Spanish rule and divide the government among themselves. With this view he had made war on the faithful Granvelle, had sought to concentrate the powers of the various councils into one, had resisted the Inquisition, had urged the meeting of the states-general, in short, had thwarted, as far as possible, in every par- ticular, the intentions of the king. He was accused, moreover, of giving encouragement to the sectaries. He had not only refused his aid when asked to repress their violence, but had repeatedly licensed their meet- ings and allowed them to celebrate their religious rites. Egmont was too stanch a Catholic to warrant his own faith being called into question. It was only in con- nection with the political movements of the country that he was supposed to have countenanced the party of religious reform. Lastly, he was charged not only with abetting the confederacy of the nobles, but with having, in conjunction with the prince of Orange and his associates, devised the original plan of it. It was proof of the good will he bore the league, that he had retained in his service more than one member of his household after they had subscribed the Compromise. On these various grounds, Egmont was declared to be guilty of treason. '3 The charges, which cover a great space, would seem at the first glance to be crudely put together, confound- ing things trivial, and even irrelevant to the question, »3 This tedious instrument is given in extenso by Foppens, Supple- ment ii Strada, torn. i. pp. 44-63. 236 TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. with others of real moment.'* Yet they must be ad- mitted to have been so cunningly prepared as to leave an impression most unfavorable to the innocence of the prisoner. The attorney-general, sometimes audaciously perverting the answers of Egmont,'^at other times giving an exaggerated importance to his occasional admissions, succeeded in spreading his meshes so artfully that it required no slight degree of coolness and circumspec- tion, even in an innocent party, to escape from them. The instrument was delivered to Egmont on the twenty-ninth of December. Five days only were al- lowed him to prepare his defence, — and that, too, with- out the aid of a friend to support or of counsel to advise him. He at first resolutely declined to make a defence at all, declaring that he was amenable to no tribunal but that of the members of the order. Being informed, however, that if he persisted he would be condemned for contumacy, he consented, though with a formal protest against the proceedings as illegal, to enter on his defence. He indignantly disclaimed the idea of any design to subvert the existing government. He admitted the "4 Indeed, this seems to have been the opinion of the friends of the government. Councillor Belin writes to Granvelle, December 14th, 1567, " They have an-ested Hoorne and Egmont, but in their accusa- tions have not confined themselves to individual charges, but have accumulated a confused mass of things." Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 182. 'S For example, see the thirty-eighth article, in which the attorney- general accuses Egmont of admitting, on his examination, that he had parted with one of his followers, suspected of heretical opinions, for a short time only, when, on the contrary, he had expressly stated that the dismissal was final, and that he had never seen the man since. Supplement k Strada, torn. i. p. 40. SPECIFICATION OF CHARGES. 237 charges in regard to his treatment of Granvelle, and defended his conduct on the ground of expediency, — ■ of its being demanded by the public interest. On the same ground he explained his course in reference to some of the other matters charged on him, and especi- ally in relation to the sectaries, — too strong in numbers, he maintained, to be openly resisted. He positively denied the connection imputed to him with the con- federates; declaring that, far from countenancing the league, he had always lamented its existence and dis- couraged all within his reach from joining it. In reply to the charge of not having dismissed Backer- zeele after it was known that he had joined the confed- erates, he excused himself by alleging the good services which his secretary had rendered the government, more especially in repressing the disorders of the iconoclasts. On the whole, his answers seem to have been given in good faith, and convey the impression — probably not far from the truth — of one who, while he did not approve of the policy of the crown, and thought, indeed, some of its measures impracticable, had no design to overturn the government.'^ The attorney-general next prepared his accusation of Count Hoorne, consisting of sixty-three separate charges. They were of much the same import with those brought against Egmont. The bold, impatient temper of the admiral made him particularly open to the assault of his enemies. He Avas still more per- emptory than his friend in his refusal to relinquish his " Egmont's defence, of which extracts, wretchedly garbled, are given by Foppens, has been printed in extenso by M. de Bavay, in his usefvil compilation, Proems du Comte d'Egmont (Bruxelles, 1854), pp. 121-153. 238 TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. rights as a knight of the Golden Fleece and appear before the tribunal of Alva. When prevailed on to waive his scruples, his defence was couched in language so direct and manly as at once engages our confidence. "Unskilled as I am in this sort of business," he re- marks, ''and without the aid of counsel to guide me, if I have fallen into errors they must be imputed not to intention, but to the want of experience. ... I can only beseech those who shall read my defence to believe that it has been made sincerely and in all truth, as becomes a gentleman of honorable descent." '^ By the remonstrances of the prisoners and their friends, the duke was at length prevailed on to allow them counsel. Each of the two lords obtained the services of five of the most eminent jurists of the country, — who, to their credit, seem not to have shrunk from a duty which, if not attended with actual danger, certainly did not lie in the road to preferment.'* The counsel of the two lords lost no time in prepar- ing the defence of their clients, taking up each charge brought against them by the attorney-general, and mi- »7 "Suppliant \ tous ceux qui la verront, croire qu'il a respondu k tous les articles sincerement et en toute verite comme un Gentilhomme bien ne est tenu et oblige de faire." Supplement k Strada, torn. i. p. 209. *8 Foppens has devoted nearly all the first volume of his " Supple- ment" to pieces illustrative of the proceedings against Egmont and Hoorne. The articles of accusation are given at length. His coun- trymen are under obligations to this compiler, who thus early brought before them so many documents of great importance to the national history. The obligations would have been greater if the editor had done his work in a scholar-like way, — instead of heaping together a confused mass of materials, without method, often without dates, and with so little care that the titles of the documents are not seldom at variance with the contents. DEFENCE OF THE PRISONERS. 239 nutely replying to it. Their defence was substan- tially the same with that which had been set up by the prisoners themselves, though more elaborate and sus- tained by a greater array both of facts and arguments.'' Meanwhile, the counsel did not remit their efforts to have the causes brought before the tribunal of the Toison (f Or. Unless this could be effected, they felt that all endeavors to establish the innocence of their clients would be unavailing. Alva had early foreseen the embarrassments to which he would be exposed on this ground. He had accord- ingly requested Philip to stop all further solicitations by making known his own decision in the matter.^ The king, in reply, assured the duke that men of authority and learning, to whom the subject had been committed, after a full examination, entirely confirmed the decision made before Alva's departure, that the case of treason did not come within the cognizance of the Toison d' Or." Letters patent accompanied this note, em- '9 At least such is the account which Foppens gives of the "Justi- fication," as it is termed, of Hoorne, of which tlie Flemisli editor has printed only the preamble and the conclusion, without so much as favoring us with the date of the instrument. (Supplement h. Strada, torn. i. pp. 241-243.) M. de Bavay, on the other hand, has given the defence set up by Egmont's counsel in extenso. It covers seventy printed pages, being double the quantity occupied by Egmont's de- fence of himself. By comparing the two together, it is easy to see how closely the former, though with greater amplification, is fashioned on the latter. Proems du Comte d'Egmont, pp. 153-223. *> Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. i. p. 582. 21 " Quoique, avant le depart du due, il ait et^ reconnu, dans les deliberations qui ont eu lieu &. Madrid en sa presence, que cette pre- tention n'etait pas fondee, le Roi, vu la gravite de I'affaire, a ordonne que quelques personnes d'autorite et de lettres se reunissent de nou- veau, pour examiner la question. — II communique a'j due les considd- 240 TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. powering the duke to try the cause. =" With these credentials Alva now strove to silence, if not to satisfy, the counsel of the prisoners ; and, by a formal decree, all further applications for transferring the cause from his own jurisdiction to that of the Golden Fleece were peremptorily forbidden. Yet all were not to be thus silenced. Egmoifit's countess still continued unwearied in her efforts to excite a sympathy in her lord's behalf in all those who would be likely to have any influence with the govern- ment. Early in 1568 she again wrote to Philip, com- plaining that she had not been allowed so much as to see her husband. She implored the king to take her and her children as sureties for Egmont and permit him to be removed to one of his own houses. If that could not be, she begged that he might at least be allowed the air of the castle, lest, though innocent, his confinement might cost him his life. She alludes to her miserable condition, with her young and helpless family, and trusts in the king's goodness and justice that she shall not be forced to seek a subsistence in Germany, from which country she had been brought to Flanders by his father the emperor. ^^ "YYvt letter, says a chronicler of rations qui ont ete approuv^es dans cette junte, et qui confirment I'opinion precedemment emise." Correspondance de Philippe 11., torn. i. p. 612. " The letters patent were ante-dated as far back as April 15th, 1567, probably that they might not appear to have been got up for the nonce. Conf. Ibid., p. 528. »3 " J'esp^re en la bontd, clemence et justice de Votre Majesty qu'icelle ne voudra souffrir que je sorte vos pays, avec mes onze enfants, pour aller hors d'iceux chercher moyen de vivre, ayant ete amenee par feu de bonne mcmoire I'Empcrcur, votre pSre." Ibid., torn. ii. p. 5. DEFENCE OF THE PRISONERS. 241 the time, was not to be read by any one without sincere commiseration for the writer.'^ The German princes, at tlie same time, continued their intercessions with the king for botu the nobles ; and the duke of Bavaria, and the duke and duchess of Lorraine, earnestly invoked his clemency in their behalf. Philip, wearied by this importunity, but not wavering in his purpose, again called on Alva to press the trial to a conclusion. ^^ Towards the end of April, 1568, came that irruption across the borders by Hoogstraten and the other lords, described in the previous chapter. Alva, feeling prob- ably that his own presence might be required to check the invaders, found an additional motive for bringing the trials to a decision. On the sixth of May, the attorney-general presented a remonstrance against the dilatory proceedings of Egmont's counsel, declaring that, although so many months had elapsed, they had neglected to bring for- ward their witnesses in support of their defence. He prayed that a day might be named for the termination of the process.^ ^ " Haud facil^ sine commiseratione legi k quoquam potest." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 387. — ^According to Alva's biog- rapher, Ossorio, the appeal of the countess wotfld probably have soft- ened the heart of Philip, and inclined him to an "ill-timed clemency," had it not been for the remonstrance of Cardinal Espinosa, then pre- dominant in the cabinet, who reminded the king that " clemency was a sin when the outrage was against religion." (Albse Vita, p. 282.) To one acquainted with the character of Philip the " probability" of the historian may seem somewhat less than probable. =5 Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. ii. p. 18. '^ Supplement ^ Strada, tom. i. p. 90. Philip.— Vol. II.— L 21 242 TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOOKNE. In the latter part of May, news came of the battle won by Louis of Nassau in the north. That now became certain which had before been only probable, — that Alva must repair in person to the seat of war and assume the command of the army. There could be no further delay. On the first of June, a decree was published, declaring that the time allowed for the defence of the prisoners had expired, and that no evidence could henceforth be admitted.^ The counsel for the accused loudly protested against a decision which cut them off from all means of establishing the innocence of their clients. They had abundant testi- mony at hand, they said, and had only waited until the government should have produced theirs. This was plausible, as it was in the regular course for the prose- cuting party to take precedence. But one can hardly doubt that the wary lawyers knew that too little was to be expected from a tribunal like the Council of Blood to wish to have the case brought to a decision. By delay- ing matters, some circumstance might occur — perhaps some stronger expression of the public sentiment — to work a favorable change in the mind of the king. Poor as it was, this was the only chance for safety ; and every day that the decision was postponed was a day gained to th^ clients. But no time was given for expostulation. On the day on which Alva's decree was published, the affair was submitted to the decision of the Council of Blood ; *7 Supplement \ Strnda, torn. i. p. 252. — By a decree passed on tne eighteenth of May, Egmont had been already excluded from any further right to bring evidence in his defence. The documents con- nected with this matter are given by Foppens, Ibid., torn. i. pp. 90-103. SENTENCE OF DEATH. 243 and on the following morning, the second of June, that body — or rather Vargas and Del Rio, the only members who had a voice in the matter — pronounced both the prisoners guilty of treason, and doomed them to death. The sentence was approved by Alva. On the evening of the fourth, Alva went in person to the meeting of the council. The sentences of the two lords, each under a sealed envelope, were produced, and read aloud by the secretary. They were both of precisely the same import. After the usual preamble, they pronounced the Counts Egmont and Hoorne to have been proved parties to the abominable league and conspiracy of the prince of Orange and his associates; to have given aid and protection to the confederates ; and to have committed sundry malpractices in their respective governments in regard to the sectaries, to the prejudice of the holy Catholic faith. On these grounds they were adjudged guilty of treason and rebellion, and were sentenced accordingly to be be- headed with the sword, their heads to be set upon poles and there to continue during the pleasure of the duke ; their possessions, fiefs, and rights, of every de- scription, to be confiscated to the use of the crown. *^ *8 Among the documents analyzed by Gachard is one exhibiting the revenues of the great lords of the Low Countries whose estates were confiscated. No one except the prince of Orange had an income nearly so great as that of Egmont, amounting to 63,000 florins. He had a palace at Brussels, and other residences at Mechlin, Ghent. Bruges, Arras, and the Hague. The revenues of Count Hoorne amounted to about 8500 florins. Count Culemborg, whose hotel was the place of rendezvous for the Gueux, had a yearly income exceed- ing 31,000 florins. William's revenues, far greater than either, rose above 152,000. Correspondance de Philippe H., tom. ii. p. 116. 244 TRIALS OF EG MO NT AND HOORNE. These sentences were signed only with the name of Alva, and countersigned with that of the Secretary Pratz.^ Such was the result of these famous trials, which, from the peculiar circumstances that attended them, especially their extraordinary duration and the illus- trious characters and rank of the accused, became an object of general interest throughout Europe. In re- viewing them, the first question that occurs is in regard to the validity of the grounds on which the causes were removed from the jurisdiction of the Toisoti (T Or. The decision of the "men of authority and learning" referred to by the king is of little moment, considering the influences under which such a decision in the court of Madrid was necessarily given. The only authority of any weight in favor of this interpretation seems to have been that of the President Viglius ; a man well versed in the law, with the statutes of the order before him, and, in short, with every facility at his command for forming an accurate judgment in the matter. His opinion seems to have mainly rested on the fact that in the year 1473 ^ knight of the order, charged with a capital crime, submitted to be tried by the ordi- nary courts of law. But, on the other hand, some years later, in 1490, four knights accused of treason, the precise crime alleged against Egmont and Hoorne, were arraigned and tried before the members of the Toison. A more conclusive argument against Viglius was afforded by the fact that in 1531 a law was passed, under the emperor Charles the Fifth, that no knight of the Golden Fleece could be arrested or tried, for any »9 Supplement k Strada, torn. i. pp. 252-257. THE PROCESSES REVIEWED. 245 offence whatever, by any other body than the members of his own order. This statute was solemnly confirmed by Philip himself in 1550; and no law, surely, could be devised covering more effectually the whole ground in question. Yet Viglius had the effrontery to set this aside as of no force, being so clearly in contempt of all precedents and statutes. A subterfuge like this, which might justify the disregard of any law whatever, found no favor with the members of the order. Aer- schot and Barlaimont, in particular, the most devoted adherents of the crown, and among the few knights of the Toison then in Brussels, openly expressed their dissent. The authority of a jurist like Viglius was of great moment, however, to the duke, who did not fail to parade it.^ But sorely was it to the disgrace of that timid and time-serving councillor that he could thus lend himself, and in such a cause, to become the tool of arbitrary power. It may well lead us to give easier faith than we should otherwise have done to those charges of peculation and meanness which the regent, in the heat of party dissensions, so liberally heaped on him. 3' 30 In a letter dated Jamiary 6th, 1568, Alva tells the king that Viglius, after examining into the affair, finds the evidence so clear on the point that nothing more could be desired. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. ii. p. 4. 31 p'or the facts connected Vkfith the constitution of the Toison d' Or, 1 am indebted to a Dutch work now in course of publication in Am- sterdam (Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, van de vroegste tijden tot op heden, door Dr. J. P. Arend). This work, which is designed to cover the whole history of the Netherlands, may claim the merits of a thoroughness rare in this age of rapid book-making, and of a candor rare in any age. In my own ignorance of the Dutch, 1 must acknowledge my obligations to a friend for enabling me to 21* 246 TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. But, whatever may be thought of the rights possessed by the Toison d' Or in this matter, there can be no doubt as to the illegality of the court before which the cause was brought, — a court which had no warrant for its existence but the will of Alva ; where the judges, contrary to the law of the land, were foreigners ; where the presiding officer was not even necessarily present at the trial of the causes on which he alone was to pass sentence. If so little regard was paid to the law in the compo- sition of this tribunal, scarcely more was shown to it in the forms of proceeding. On the present occasion it does not appear that any evidence was brought forward by the prisoners. And as we are in possession of only a small part of that which sustained the prosecution, it is not easy to form an opinion how far the parties were or were not guilty of the crime imputed to them, — still less whether that crime, according to the laws of the land, amounted to treason. 3* The gravest charge made, read it. I must further add that for the loan of the work I am indebted to the courtesy of B. Homer Dixon, Esq., Consul for the Netherlands in Boston. 3* M. de Bavay has devoted seventy pages or more of his publica- tion to affidavits of witnesses in behalf of the prosecution. (Proems du Comte d'Egmont, pp. 267-322.) But their testimony bears almost exclusively on the subject of Egmont's dealings with the sectaries, — scarcely warranting the Flemish editor's assertion in his preface, that he has been able to furnish "all the elements of the conviction of the accused by the duke of Alva." — M. de Bavay 's work is one of the good fruits of that patriotic zeal which animates the Belgian scholars of our time for the illustration of their national history. It was given to the public only the last year, after the present chapter had been written. In addition to what is contained in former publications, it furnishes us with complete copies of the defence of Egmont, as pre- pared both by himself and his counsel, and with the affidavits above THE PROCESSES REVIEWED. 247 with any apparent foundation, was that of a secret un- derstanding with the confederates. The avowed object of the confederates was, in certain contingencies, to resist the execution of a particular ordinance, ^^ but without any design to overturn the government. This, by our law, could hardly be construed into treason. But in the Netherlands, in the time of the Spanish rule, the law may have been more comprehensive in its import; nor is it likely that the word "treason" was limited in so explicit a manner as by the English statute-book under the Plantagenets.^ We have information of a curious document of the time, that may throw light on the matter. Peter d'Arset, president of Artois, was one of the original members of the Council of Troubles, but had retired from office before the trial of the two lords. It may have been from the high judicial station he held in one of Egmont's provinces, that he was consulted in regard to that nobleman's process. After an examination of the papers, he returned an answer, written in Latin, at great length, and with a purity of style that shows him to have been a scholar. In this, he goes over the whole ground of the accusation, article by article, showing noticed of witnesses on the part of the government. It has supplied me, therefore, with valuable materials, whether for the correction or the corroboration of my previous conclusions. 33 The resistance to which those who signed the Compromise were pledged was to the Inquisition, in case of its attempt to arrest any member of their body. Ante, vol. i. p. 551. 34 By the famous statute, in particular, of Edward the Third, the basis of all subsequent legislation on the subject. Some reflections, both on this law and the laws which subsequently modified it, made with the usual acuteness of their author, may be found in the fifteenth chapter of Hallam's Constitutional History of England. 248 TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. the insufficiency of proof on every cliarge, and by argument and legal reference fully establishing the innocence of the accused. The president's opinion, so independently given, we may readily believe, found too little favor with the duke of Alva to be cited as authority. 35 But even though it were true that the two lords, in that season of public excitement, had been seduced from their allegiance for a time, some charity might have been shown to men who had subsequently broken with their former friends and displayed the utmost zeal in carrying out the measures of the government; a zeal in the case of Egmont, at least, which drew from the regent unqualified commendation. ^^ Something more might have been conceded to the man who had won for his sovereign the most glorious trophies of his reign. But Philip's nature, unhappily, as I have had occasion to notice, was of that sort which is more sensible to injuries than to benefits. Under the circumstances attending this trial, it may seem to have been a waste of time to inquire into the legality of the court which tried the cause, or the regu- 35 The original document is to be found in the archives of Brussels, or was in the time of Vandervynckt, who, having examined it care- fully, gives a brief notice of it. (Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. ii. pp. 256, 257.) The name of its author should be cherished by the his- torian, as that of a magistrate who, in the face of a tyrannical government, had the courage to enter his protest against the judicial murders perpetrated under its sanction. 3*5 Among other passages, see one in a letter of Margaret to the king, dated March 23d, 1567: " Ceulx de son conseil icy, qui s'em- ployent tout fid^lement et diligemment en son service, et entre aultres le comte d' Egmont dont je ne puis avoir synon bon contente- ment." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 235. THE PROCESSES REVIEWED. 249 larity of the forms of procedure. The real trial took place, not in Flanders, but in Castile. Who can doubt that, long before the duke of Alva began his march, the doom of the two nobles had been pronounced in the cabinet of Madrid ? 3' 37 M. de Gerlache, in a long note to the second edition of his history, enters into a scnitiny of Egmont's conduct as severe as that by the attorney-general himself, — and with much the same result. (Hist, du Royaume des Pays-Bas, torn. i. pp. 99-101.) "Can any one believe," he asks, " that if, instead of having the ' Demon of the South' for his master, it had been Charles the Fifth or Napoleon, Egmont would have been allowed to play the part he did with impu- nity so long?" This kind of Socratic argument, as far as it goes, proves only that Plulip did no worse than Charles or Napoleon would have done. It by no means proves Egmont to have deserved his sentence. CHAPTER V. EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. The Counts removed to Brussels. — Informed of the Sentence. — Pro- cession to the Scaffold. — The Execution. — Character of Egmont. — Fate of his Family. — Sentiment of the People. 1568. On the second of June, 1568, a body of three thou- sand men was ordered to Ghent to escort the Counts Egmont and Hoorne to Brussels. No resistance was offered, although the presence of the Spaniards caused a great sensation among the inhabitants of the place, who too well foreboded the fate of their beloved lord. The nobles, each accompanied by two officers, were put into separate chariots. They were guarded by twenty companies of pikemen and arquebusiers ; and a detachment of lancers, among whom was a body of the duke's own horse, rode in the van, while another of equal strength protected the rear. Under this strong escort they moved slowly towards Brussels. One night they halted at Dendermonde, and towards evening, on the fourth of the month, entered the capital.* As the martial array defiled through its streets, there was no one, however stout-hearted he might be, says an eye- witness, who could behold the funeral pomp of the » Relacion de la Justicia que se hizo de los Contes Agamonl y Ome, MS. (250) THE COUNTS /REMOVED TO BRUSSELS. 251 procession, and listen to the strains of melancholy music, without a feeling of sickness at his heart.* The prisoners were at once conducted to the Brod- hiiys, or "Bread-house," usually known as the Maison du Roi, — that venerable pile in the market-place of Brussels, still visited by every traveller for its curious architecture, and yet more as the last resting-place of the Flemish lords. Here they were lodged in separate rooms, small, dark, and uncomfortable, and scantily provided with furniture. Nearly the whole of the force which had escorted them to Brussels was established in the great square, to defeat any attempt at a rescue. But none was made; and the night passed away with- out disturbance, except what was occasioned by the sound of busy workmen employed in constructing a scaffold for the scene of execution on the following day. 3 On the afternoon of the fourth, the duke of Alva had sent for Martin Rithovius, bishop of Ypres ; and, communicating to him the sentence of the nobles, he requested the prelate to visit the prisoners, acquaint them with their fate, and prepare them for their execu- tion on the following day. The bishop, an excellent man, and the personal friend of Egmont, was astounded by the tidings. He threw himself at Alva's feet, im- ploring mercy for the prisoners, and, if he could not ' " Marcharent dans la ville en bataille, et avecques une batterie de tambcrurins et de phiffres si pitieuse qu'il n'y avoit spectateur de si bon ccEur qui ne palist et ne pleurast d'une si triste pompe funebre." Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, QEuvres, torn. i. p. 363. 3 De Thou, Histoire universelle, torn. v. p. 450. — Guerres civiles du Pays-Bas, p. 172. — Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Has, fol. 57. — Relacion de la Justicia que se hizo de los Contes Agamont y Orne, MS. 252 EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. spare their lives, beseeching him at least to grant them more time for preparation. But Alva sternly rebuked the prelate, saying that he had been summoned, not to thwart the execution of the law, but to console the prisoners and enable them to die like Christians/ The bishop, finding his entreaties useless, rose and addressed himself to his melancholy mission. It was near midnight when he entered Egmont's apartment, where he found the poor nobleman, whose strength had been already reduced by confinement, and who was wearied by the fatigue of the journey, buried in slumber. It is said that the two lords, when summoned to Brussels, had indulged the vain hope that it was to inform them of the conclusion of their trial and their acquittal ! s However this may be, Egmont seems to have been but ill prepared for the dreadful tidings he received. He turned deadly pale as he listened to the bishop, and exclaimed, with deep emo- tion, "It is a terrible sentence. Little did I imagine that any offence I had committed against God or the king could merit such a punishment. It is not death that I fear. Death is the common lot of all. But I shrink from dishonor. Yet I may hope that my suffer- ings will so far expiate my offences that my innocent family will not be involved in my ruin by the confisca- 4 " Sur quoy le Due lui repondit fort vivement et avec une espece de colere, qu'il ne I'avoit pas fait venir k Brusselle pour mettre quelque empechement k I'execution de leur sentence, mais bien pour les con- soler et les assister \ mourir chretienncmcnt." Supplement h, Strada, torn. i. p. 259. 5 " Venian en alguna manera contentos de pensar que sus causas andaban al cabo, y que havian de salir presto y bien despachados este dia." Relacion de la Justicia, MS. INFORMED OF THE SENTENCE. 253 tion of my property. Thus much, at least, I think I may claim in consideration of my past services." Then, after a pause, he added, ''Since my death is the will of God and his majesty, I will try to meet it with patience."^ He asked the bishop if there were no hope. On being answered, " None whatever," he re- solved to devote himself at once to preparing for the solemn change. He rose from his couch, and hastily dressed himself. He then made his confession to the prelate, and desired that mass niight be -said, and the sacrament adminis- tered to him. This was done with great solemnity, and Egmont received the communion in the most devout manner, manifesting the greatest contrition for his sins. He next inquired of the bishop to what prayer he could best have recourse to sustain him in this trying hour. The prelate recommended to him that prayer which our Saviour had commended to his disciples. The advice pleased the count, who earnestly engaged in his devo- tions. But a host of tender recollections crowded on his mind, and the images of his wife and children drew his thoughts in another direction, till the kind expostula- tions of the prelate again restored him to himself. 6 " Voicy une Sentence bien rigoureuse, je ne pense pas d'avoir tant offence Sa Majeste, pour meriter un tel traittement ; neanmoins je le prens en patience et prie le Seigneur, que ma mort soil une expiation de mes peches, et que par IS,, ma chere Femme et mes Enfans n'en- courent aucim blame, ny confiscation. Car mes services passez meri- tent bien qu'on me fasse cette grace. Puis qu'il plait k Dieu et au Roy, j'accepte la mort avec patience." Supplement k Strada, torn. i. p. 259. — These remarks of Egmont are also given, with very little dis- crepancy, by Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 56; in the Relacion de la Justicia que se hizo de los Contes Agamont y Orne, MS. ; and in the relation of Mondoucet. ap. Rrantome, CEuvres, torn. i. p. 364. Philip.—VoL. II. 22 254 EXECUTION OF EG MONT AND IIOOKNE. Egmont asked whether it would be well to say any thing on the scaffold for the edification of the people. But the bishop discouraged him, saying that he would be imperfectly heard, and that the people, in their present excitement, would be apt to misinterpret what he said to their own prejudice. Having attended to his spiritual concerns, Egmont called for writing-materials, and wrote a letter to his wife, whom he had not seen during his long confine- ment ; and to her he now bade a tender farewell. He then addressed another letter, written in French, in a few brief and touching sentences, to the king, — which fortunately has been preserved to us. "This morning," he says, '*I have been made acquainted with the sen- tence which it has pleased your majesty to pass upon me. And although it has never been my intent to do aught against the person or the service of your majesty, or against our true, ancient, and Catholic faith, yet I receive in patience what it has pleased God to send me.' If during these troubles I have counselled or permitted aught which might seem otherwise, I have done so from a sincere regard for the service of God and yoilr majesty, and from what I believed the neces- sity of the times. Wherefore I pray your majesty to pardon it, and for the sake of my past services to take pity on my poor wife, my children, and my servants. In this trust, I commend myself to the mercy of God." 7 " Et combien que jamais mon intention n'ait est^ de riens traicter, ni faire contre la Personne, ni le service de Vostre Majesty, ne contre nostre vraye, ancienne, et catholicqiie Religion, si est-ce que je prens en patience, ce qu'il plaist a mon bon Dieu de m'envoyer." Supple- ment \ Strada, tom. i. p. 261, INFORMED OF THE SENTENCE. 255 The letter is dated Brussels, "on the point of death," June 5th, 1568.* Having time still left, the count made a fair copy of the two letters, and gave them to the bishop, entreating him to deliver them according to their destination. He accompanied that to Philip with a ring, to be given at the same time to the monarch. ' It was of great value, and, as it had been the gift of Philip himself during the count's late visit to Madrid, it might soften the heart of the king by reminding him of happier days, when he had looked with an eye of favor on his unhappy vassal. Having completed all his arrangements, Egmont be- came impatient for the hour of his departure ; and he expressed the hope that there would be no unnecessary delay. '° At ten in the morning the soldiers appeared who were to conduct him to the scaffold. They brought with them cords, as usual, to bind the prison- er's hands. But Egmont remonstrated, and showed that he had, himself, cut off the collar of his doublet and shirt, in order to facilitate the stroke of the execu- tioner. This he did to convince them that he medi- tated no resistance; and on his promising that he 8 " Parquoy, je prie k Vostre Majeste me le pardonner, et avoir pitie dc iTia pauvre femme, enfans et serviteurs, vous souvenant de mes services passez. Et sur cest cspoir m'en vois me recommander \ la misericorde de Dieu. De Bruxelles prest h. mourir, ce 5 de Juing 1568." Supplement d Strada, ubi supra. 9 " Et luy donna une bague fort riche que le roy d'Espaigne luy avoit dcnne lors qii'il fut en Espaigne, en signe d'amitie, pour la luy envoyer et faire tenir." Brantome, CEuvres, torn. i. p. 361. '0 " En apres, le comte d'Aiguemont commenca \ soliciter fort I'ad- vancement de sa mort, disant que puis qu'il devoit mourir qv.'on ne le devoit tenir si longuement en ce travail." Mondoucet, Ibid., p. 366. 256 EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. would attempt none, they consented to his remaining with his hands mibound. Egmont was dressed in a crimson damask robe, over whicli was a Spanish mantle fringed with gold. His breeches were of black silk, and his hat, of the same material, was garnished with white and sable plumes." In his hand, which, as we have seen, remained free, he held a white handkerchief On his way to the place of execution he was accompanied by Julian de Romero, maitre de camp, by the captain, Salinas, who had charge of the fortress of Ghent, and by the bishop of Ypres. As the procession moved slowly forward, the count repeated some portion of the fifty-first Psalm, — "Have mercy on me, O God !" — in which the good prelate joined with him. In the centre of the square, on the spot where so much of the best blood of the Netherlands has been shed, stood the scaffold, covered with black cloth. On it were two velvet cushions with a small table, shrouded likewise in black, and supporting a silver crucifix. At the corners of the platform were two poles, pointed at the end with steel, intimating the purpose for which they were intended." I' " II estoit vestu d'une juppe* de damas cramoisy, et d'un manteau noir avec du passement d'or, les chausses de taffetas noir et le bas de chamois bronze, son chapeau de taffetas noir couvert de force plumes blanches et noires." Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, CEuvres, iibi supra. •2 Ossorio, Albse Vita, p. 287. — Guerres civiles du Pays-Bas, p. 177. — Relacion de la Justicia, MS. * [The "Juppe" {jupon, giubbone, doublet) was a tight-fitting gar- ment, suitably covered with a mantle or other outer garment when the wearer went abroad. A crimson robe was, however, the costume of the Toison d' Or, which, with the collar, Egmont is stated by some writers to have worn on the scaffold, removing them before his decapitation. — Ed.] PROCESSION TO THE SCAFFOLD. '■51 In front of the scaffold was the provost of the court, mounted on horseback, and bearing the red wand of office in his hand.'^ The executioner remained, as usual, below the platform, screened from view, that he might not, by his presence before it was necessary, outrage the feelings of the prisoners.'^ The troops, who had been under arms all night, were drawn up around in order of battle ; and strong bodies of arque- busiers were posted in the great avenues which led to the square. The space left open by the soldiery was speedily occupied by a crowd 6f eager spectators. Others thronged the roofs and windows of the build- ings that surrounded the market-place, some of which, still standing at the present day, show, by their quaint and venerable architecture, that they must have looked down on the tragic scene we are now depicting. It was indeed a gloomy day for Brussels, — so long the residence of the two nobles, where their forms were as familiar and where they were held in as much love '3 This personage, whose name was Spel, met with no better fate than that of the victims whose execution he now superintended. Not long after this he was sentenced to the gallows by the duke, to the great satisfaction of the people, as Strada tells us, for the manifold crimes he had committed. De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 387. '4 The executioner was said to have been formerly one of Egmont's servants: "El verdugo, que hasta aquel tiempo no se havia dejado ver, por que en la forma de morir se le tuvo este respeto, hizo su oficio con gran presteza, al qual havia hecho dar aquel maldito oficio el dicho Conde, y dicen aver sido lacayo suyo." Relacion de la Justicia, MS. — This re/acion forms part of a curious compilation in MS., entitled " Cartas y Papeles varios," in the British Museum. The compiler is supposed to have been Pedro de Gante, secretary of the duke of Najera, who amused himself with transcribing various curi- ous "relations' of the time of Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second. 22* 258 EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. and honor as in any of their own provinces. All business was suspended. The shops were closed. The bells tolled in all the churches. An air of gloom, as of some impending calamity, settled on the city. "It seemed," says one residing there at the time, "as if the day of judgment were at hand !" '^ As the procession slowly passed through the ranks of the soldiers, Egmont saluted the officers — some of them his ancient companions — with such a sweet and digni- fied composure in his manner as was long remembered by those who saw it. And few even of the Spaniards could refrain from tears as they took their last look at the gallant noble who was to perish by so miserable an end.** With a steady step he mounted the scaffold, and, as he crossed it, gave utterance to the vain wish that, instead of meeting such a fate, he had been allowed to die in the service of his king and country. '^ He quickly, however, turned to other thoughts, and, kneel- ing on one of the cushions, with the bishop beside him on the other, he was soon engaged earnestly in prayer. With his eyes raised towards heaven with a look of unutterable sadness,'* he prayed so fervently and loud as to be distinctly heard by the spectators. The prel- >S "Todas las boticas se cerraron, y doblaron por ellos todo el dia las campanas de las Yglesias, que no parecia otra cosa si no dia de juicio." Rclacion de la Justicia, MS. '* " Lesquelz pleuroient et regrettoient de voir un si grand capitaine mourir ainsi." Mondoucet, ap. BrantSme, CEuvres, torn. i. p. 267. »7 " II se pourmena quelque peu, souhaytant de pouvoir finir sa vie au service de son Prince et du pais." Meteren, Mist, des Pays-b.is, fol. 58. »8 " Alzo los ojos al cielo por un poco espacio con un semblante tan doloroso, como se puede pensar le tenia en aqucl transito un honibre tan discrcto." Relacion de la Justicia, MS. THEIR LAST MOMENTS. 259 ate, much affected, put into his hands the silver cru- cifix, which Egmont repeatedly kissed; after which, having received absolution for the last time, he rose and made a sign to the bishop to retire. He then stripped off his mantle and robe ; and, again kneeling, he drew a silk cap, which he had brought for the purpose, over his eyes, and, repeating the words, "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit," he calmly awaited the stroke of the executioner. The low sounds of lamentation which from time to time had been heard among the populace were now hushed into silence,'' as the minister of justice, appear- ing on the platform, approached his victim and with a single blow of the sword severed the head from the body. A cry of horror rose from the multitude, and some, frantic with grief, broke through the ranks of the soldiers and wildly dipped their handkerchiefs in the blood that streamed from the scaffold, treasuring them up, says the chronicler, as precious memorials of love and incitements to vengeance.'** The head was then set on one of the poles at the end of the platform, while a mantle thrown over the mutilated trunk hid it from the public gaze." '9 " En gran silencio, con notable lastima, sin que por un buen espacio se sintiese rumor ninguno." Relacion de la Justicia, MS. =0 " Fuere, qui linteola, contempto periculo, Egmontii cruore con- Sperserint, servaverintque, seu monumentum amoris, seu vindictae irritamentum." Strada, De Bello Hclgico, torn. i. p. 394. =*• Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 58. — Guerres civiles du Pays- Bas, p. 177. — Relacion de la Justicia, MS. — M. de Bavay has pub- lished a letter from one of the bishop of Ypres's household, giving an account of the last hours of Egmont, and written immediately after his death. (Proces du Comte d'Egniont, pp. 232-234.) The state- ments in the letter entirely corroborate those made in the te.xt. In- 26o EXECUTION OF EG MO NT AND HOORNE. It was near noon when orders were sent to lead forth the remaining prisoner to execution. It had been assigned to the curate of La Chapelle to acquaint Count Hoorne with his fate. That nobleman received the awful tidings with less patience than was shown by his friend. He gave way to a burst of indignation at the cruelty and injustice of the sentence. It was a poor requital, he said, for eight-and-twenty years of faithful service to his sovereign. Yet, he added, he was not sorry to be released from a life of such inces- sant fatigue.^ For some time he refused to confess, saying he had done enough in the way of confession. '^ When urged not to throw away the few precious mo- ments that were left to him, he at length consented. The count was dressed in a plain suit of black, and wore a Milanese cap upon his head. He was, at this time, about fifty years of age. He was tall, with handsome features, and altogether of a commanding presence.^ His form was erect, and as he passed with a steady step through the files of soldiers, on his way to the place of execution, he frankly saluted those of deed, they are so nearly identical with those given by Foppens in the Supplement h. Strada, that we can hardly doubt that the writer of the one narrative had access to the other. '^ " Que avia servido £ su magestad veinte y ocho aiios y no pensaba tener merecido tal payo, pero que se consolaba que con dar su cuerpo & la tierra, saldria de los continuos trauajos en que havia vivido." Relacion de la Justicia, MS. *3 " Se despita, maugreant et regrettant fort sa mort, et se trouva quelque peu opiniastre en la confession, la regrettant fort, disant qu'il estoit assez confesse." Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, torn. i. p. 365. *» " II ^toit ag^ environ cinquante ans, et etoit d'une grande et belle taille, et d'une phisionomie revenante." Supplement k Strada, torn. i. p. 264. THEIR LAST MOMENTS. 26 1 his acquaintance whom he saw among tlie spectators. His look had in it less of sorrow than of indignation, like that of one conscious of enduring wrong. He was spared one pang, in his last hour, which had filled Egmont's cup with bitterness : though, like him, he had a wife, he was to leave no orphan family to mourn him. As he trod the scaffold, the apparatus of death seemed to have no power to move him. He still re- peated the declaration that, "often as he had offended his Maker, he had never, to his knowledge, committed any offence against the king." When his eyes fell on the bloody shroud that enveloped the remains of Eg- mont, he inquired if it were the body of his friend. Being answered in the affirmative, he made some remark in Castilian, not understood. He then prayed for a few moments, but in so low a tone that the words were not caught by the by-standers, and, rising, he asked pardon of those around if he had ever offended any of them, and earnestly besought their prayers. Then, without further delay, he knelt down, and, repeating the words '^ In ma mis in as, Dojnine," he submitted himself to his fate.^^ His bloody head was set up opposite to that of his fellow-sufferer. For three hours these ghastly trophies remained exposed to the gaze of the multitude. They were then taken down, and, with the bodies, placed in =5 "The death of this man," says Strada, "would have been im- moderately mourned, had not all tears been exhausted by sorrow for Egmont." De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 396. — For the account of Hoorne's last moments, see Relacion de la Justicia, MS. ; Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 58; Supplement h. Strada, tom. i. pp. 265, 266 ; Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, Oi^uvres, tom. i. p. 367 ; De Thou, Hist, universelle, tom. i. p. 451 ; Ossorio, Albse Vita, p. 287. 262 EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HOORNE, leaden coffins, which were straightway removed, — that containing the remains of Egmont to the convent of Santa Clara, and that of Hoorne to the ancient church of Ste. Gudule, To these places, especially to Santa Clara, the people now flocked, as to the shrine of a martyr. They threw themselves on the coffin, kissing it and bedewing it with their tears, as if it had con- tained the relics of some murdered saint ; ^ while many of them, taking little heed of the presence of informers, breathed vows of vengeance, some even swearing not to trim either hair or beard till these vows were exe- cuted.'^ The government seems to have thought it prudent to take no notice of this burst of popular feeling. But a funeral hatchment, blazoned with the arms of Egmont, which, as usual after the master's death, had been fixed by his domestics on the gates of his mansion, was ordered to be instantly removed, — no doubt, as tending to keep alive the popular excite- ment.^^ The bodies were not allowed to remain long in their temporary places of deposit, but were trans- ported to the family residences of the two lords in the country, and laid in the vaults of their ancestors. '^ =6 " Plusieurs allarent k I'eglise Saincte Claire ou gisoit son corp, baisant le cercueil avec grande effusion de larmes, comma si ce fust este les saincts ossemens et reliques de quelque sainct." Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, CEuvres, torn. i. p. 367. 27 Arend, Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. ii. St. v. bl. 66. — Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. i. p. 395. =* " Les gens du comte d'Aiguemont plant^rent ses armes et en- seignes de deuil ^ sa porte du palais ; mais le due d'Albe en estant adverty, les en fit bien oster bientost et emporter dehors." Mon- doucet, ap. Brantome, ffiuvres, tom. i. p. 367. »9 Mondoucet, the French ambassador at the court of Brussels, was among the spectators who witnessed the execution of the two CHARACTER OF EG MO NT. 263 Thus by the luind of the common executioner per- ished these two unfortunate noblemen, who, by their rank, possessions, and personal characters, were the most illustrious victims that could have been selected in the Netherlands. Both had early enjoyed the favor of Charles the Fifth, and both had been intrusted by Philip with some of the highest offices in the state. Philip de Montmorency, Count Hoorne, the elder of the two, came of the ancient house of Montmorency in France. Besides filling the high post of Admiral of the Low Countries, he was made governor of the provinces of Gueldres and Zutphen, was a councillor of state, and was created by the emperor a knight of the Golden Fleece. His fortune was greatly inferior to that of Count Egmont ; yet its confiscation afforded a supply by no means unwelcome to the needy ex- chequer of the duke of Alva. However nearly on a footing they might be in many respects, Hoorne was altogether eclipsed by his friend in military renown. Lamoral, Count Egmont, inherited through his mother, the most beautiful woman of her time, 3° the title of prince of Gavre, — a place on the Scheldt, not far from Ghent. He preferred, however, the more modest title of Count of Egmont, which came to him by the father's side, from ancestors who had reigned over the duchy of Gueldres. The uncommon nobles. He sent home to his master a full account of the tragic scene, the most minute, and perhaps the most trustworthy, that we have of it. It luckily fell into Brantome's hands, who has incorpo- rated it into his notice of Egmont. 30 " La comtesse d'Aiguemont, qui emporta en cette assemblee le bruit d'etre la plus belle de toutes les Flamandes." Correspondancc de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 364. 204 EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND IIOORNE. promise which he early gave served, with his high po- sition, to recommend him to the notice of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, who, in 1544, honored by his pres- ence Egmont's nuptials with Sabina, countess-palatine of Bavaria. In 1546, when scarcely twenty-four years of age, he was admitted to the order of the Golden Fleece, — and, by a singular coincidence, on the same day on which that dignity was bestowed on the man destined to become his mortal foe, the duke of Alva. 3' Philip, on his accession, raised him to the dignity of a councillor of state, and made him governor of the im- portant provinces of Artois and Flanders. But every other title to distinction faded away before that derived from those two victories which left the deepest stain on the French arms that they had received since the defeat of Pavia. "I have seen," said the French ambassador, who witnessed the execution of Egmont, ' ' I have seen the head of that man fall who twice caused France to tremble. "^^ Yet the fame won by his success was probably unfor- tunate for Egmont. For this, the fruit of impetuous valor and of a brilliant cojip-de-main, was very different from the success of a long campaign, implying genius and great military science in the commander. Yet the eclat it gave was enough to turn the head of a man less presumptuous than Egmont. It placed him at once on the most conspicuous eminence in the country, compel- ling him, in some sort, to take a position above his capacity to maintain. When the troubles broke out, 31 Gerlache, Hist, du Royaume des Pays-Bas, torn. i. p. 96. 32 " Qu'il avoit vu tomber la tete de cclui qui avoit fait trembler deux fois la France." Supplement k Strada, torn. i. p. 266. CHARACTER OF EGMONT. 265 Egmont was found side by side with Orange, in the van of the malecontents. He was urged to this rathei by generous sensibility to the wrongs of his countrymen than by any settled principle of action. Thus acting from impulse, he did not, like William, calculate the consequences of his conduct. When those consequences came, he was not prepared to meet them ; he was like some unskilful necromancer, who has neither the wit to lay the storm which he has raised, nor the hardihood to brave it. He was acted on by contrary influences. In opposition to the po^Dular movement came his strong feeling of loyalty, and his stronger devotion to the Ro- man Catholic faith. His personal vanity co-operated with these; for Egmont was too much of a courtier willingly to dispense with the smiles of royalty. Thus the opposite forces by which he was impelled served to neutrq,lize each other. Instead of moving on a decided line of conduct, like his friend, William of Orange, he appeared weak and vacillating. He hesitated where he should have acted. And as the storm thickened, he even retraced his steps, and threw himself on the mercy of the monarch whom he had offended. William better understood the character of his master, — and that of the minister who was to execute his decrees.^^ 33 Morillon, in a letter to Granvelle, dated August 3d, 1567, a iew weeks only before Egmont's arrest, gives a graphic sketch of that nobleman, which, although by no friendly hand, seems to be not wholly without truth : " Ce seigneur, y est-il dit, est haut et pre- sumant de soy, jusques \ vouloir embrasser le faict de la republique et le redressement d'icelle et de la religion, que ne sont pas de son gibier, et est plus propre pour conduire une chasse ou volerie, et, pour dire tout, une bataille, s'il fut este si bien advise que de se cognoistre et se mesurer de son pied ; mais les flatteries perdent ces gens, et on rhilip. — Vol. II. — m 23 266 EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND IIOORNE. Still, with all his deficiencies, there was much both in the personal qualities of Egmont and in his exploits to challenge admiration. "I knew him," says Bran- tome, "both in France and in Spain, and never -did I meet with a nobleman of higher breeding, or more gracious in his manners. ' ' ^ With an address so win- ning, a heart so generous, and with so brilliant a reputation, it is not wonderful that Egmont should have been the pride of his court and the idol of his countrymen. In their idolatry they could not compre- hend that Alva's persecution should not have been prompted by a keener feeling than a sense of public duty or obedience to his sovereign. They industri- ously sought in the earlier history of the rival chiefs the motives for personal pique. On Alva's first visit to the Netherlands, Egmont, then a young man, was said to have won of him a considerable sum at play. The ill will thus raised in Alva's mind was heightened by Egmont's superiority over him at a shooting-match, which the people, regarding as a sort of national tri- umph, hailed with an exultation that greatly increased leur fait accroire qu'ilz sont plus saiges qu'ilz ne sont, et ilz le croient et se bouttent sy avant, que apr^z ilz ne se peuvent ravoir, et 11 est force qu'ilz facent le sault." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nas- sau, torn. i. p. Ixix. 34 " Je diray de lui que c'estoit le seigneur de la plus belle fa9on et de la meilleure grace que j'aye veu jamais, fust ce parmy les grandz, parmy ses pairs, parmy les gens de guerre, et parmy les dames, I'ayant veu en France et en Espagne, et parle k luy." Brantome, CEuvres, torn. i. p. 369. — An old lady of the French court, who in her early days had visited Flanders, assured Brantome that she had often seen Egmont, then a mere youth, and that at that time he was excessively shy and awkward, so much so, indeed, that it was a common jest with both the men and women of the court. Such was the rude stock from which at a later day was to spring the flower of chivalry 1 CONDUCT OF ALVA. 267 the mortification of the duke.^s But what filled up the measure of his jealousy was his rival's military renown ; for the Fabian policy which directed Alva's campaigns, however it established his claims to the reputation of a great commander, was by no means favorable to those brilliant feats of arms which have such attraction for the multitude. So intense, indeed, was the feeling of hatred, it was said, in Alva's bosom, that on the day of his rival's execution he posted himself behind a lattice of the very building in which Egmont had been confined, that he might feast his eyes with the sight of his mortal agony. ^"^ The friends of Alva give a very different vicAv of his conduct. According to them, an illness under which he labored at the close of Egmont's trial was occa- sioned .by his distress of mind at the task imposed on him by the king. He had written more than once to the court of Castile to request some mitigation of Egmont's sentence, but was answered that "this would have been easy to grant if the offence had been against the king; but against the faith, it was impossible." ^^ 35 " Postek in publica Isetiiia dum uterque explodendo ad signum sclopo ex provocatione contenderent, superatus esset Albanus, ingenti Belganim plausu ad nationis suae decus referentium victoriam ex Duce Hispano." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 391. 36 Schiller, in his account of the execution of the two nobles, tells us that it was from a window of the Hotel de Ville, the fine old building on the opposite side of the market-place, that Alva watched the last struggles of his victims. The cicerone, on the other hand, who shows the credulous traveller the ?nemorabilia of the city, points out the very chamber in the Maison du Roi in which the duke secreted himself. — Valeat quantum. 37 " Qu'il avoit procure de tout son povoir la mitigation, mais (jue Ton avoit repondu que, si il n'y eut este aultre offence que celle qui 268 EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. It was even said that the duke was so much moved that he was seen to shed tears as big as peas on the day of the execution. 3^ I must confess, I have never seen any account that would warrant a belief in the report that Alva witnessed in person the execution of his prisoners. Nor, on the other hand, have I met with any letter of his depre- cating the severity of their sentence or advising a mitigation of their punishment. This, indeed, would be directly opposed to his policy, openly avowed. The reader may perhaps recall the homely simile by which he recommended to the queen-mother, at Bayonne, to strike at the great nobles in preference to the com- moners. "One salmon," he said, "was worth ten thousand frogs. "^s Soon after Egmont's arrest, some of the burghers of Brussels waited on him to ask why it had been made. The duke bluntly told them, "When he had got together his troops, he would let them know. ' ' *" Every thing shows that in his method of proceeding in regard to the two lords he had acted on a preconcerted plan, in the arrangement of which he had taken his full part. In a letter to Philip, written soon after the execution, he speaks with complacency touchoit S. M., le pardon fut este facille, mais qu'elle ne pouvoit remectre I'offense faicte si grande k Dieu." Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 8i. 38"J'entendz d'aucuns que son Exc. at jecte des larrnes aussi grosses que poix au temps que Ton estoit sur ces executions." Ibid., ubi supra. — They must have been as big as crocodiles' tears. 39 Ante, vol. i. p. 558. f " Je suis occupe 'k rcunir mes troupes, Espagnoles, Italiennes, et Allcmandes ; quand je serai pret, vous recevrez ma r^ponse." Ar- chives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, torn, iii, p. xx. CONDUCT OF ALVA. 269 of having carried out the royal views in respect to the great offenders.'" In another, he notices the sensation caused by the death of Egmont ; and " the greater the sensation," he adds, ''the greater will be the benefit to be derived from it."*" There is little in all this of compunction for the act, or of compassion for its victims. The truth seems to be that Alva was a man of an arrogant nature, an inflexible will, and of the most narrow and limited views. His doctrine of implicit obedience went as far as that of Philip himself. In en- forcing it, he disdained the milder methods of argument or conciliation. It was on force, brute force alone, that he relied. He was bred a soldier, early accustomed to the stern discipline of the camp. The only law he recognized was martial law; his only argument, the sword. No agent could have been fitter to execute the designs of a despotic prince. His hard, impassible nature was not to be influenced by those affections which sometimes turn the most obdurate from their purpose. As little did he know of fear; nor could danger deter him from carrying out his work. The hatred he excited in the Netherlands was such that, as he was warned, it was not safe for him to go out after dark. Placards were posted up in Brussels menacing ■n " II lui rend compte de ce qu'il a fait pour I'execution des ordres que le Roi lui donna \ son depart, et qui consistaient k arreter et fi chatier exemplairement les principaux du pays qui s'etaient rendus coupables durant les troubles." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 29. 42 " (^'a ete une chose de grand effet en ce pays, que I'execution d'Egmont ; et plus grand a et6 I'effet, plus I'exemple qu'on a vouhi faire sera fructueux." Ibid., p. 28. 23* 270 EXECUTION OF EG MO NT AND TIOORNE. his life if he persisted in the prosecution of Egmont.'*' He held such menaces as light as he did the entreaties of the countess or the arguments of her counsel. Far from being moved by personal considerations, no power could turn him from that narrow path which he pro- fessed to regard as the path of duty. He went surely, though it might be slowly, towards the mark, crushing by his iron will every obstacle that lay in his track. We shudder at the contemplation of such a character, relieved by scarcely a single touch of humanity. Yet we must admit there is something which challenges our admiration in the stern, uncompromising manner, without fear or favor, with which a man of this in- domitable temper carries his plans into execution. It would not be fair to omit, in this connection, some passages from Alva's correspondence, which suggest the idea that he was not wholly insensible to feelings of compassion, — when they did not interfere with the per- formance of his task. In a letter to the king, dated the ninth of June, four days only after the death of the two nobles, the duke says, "Your majesty will under- stand the regret I feel at seeing these poor lords brought to such an end, and myself obliged to bring them to it.'" But I have not shrunk from doing what is for your majesty's service. Indeed, they and their accomplices have been the cause of very great present evil, and one which will endanger the souls of many for years to 43 Ossorio, Albce Vita, p. 278. 44 " V. M. peult considerer le regret que 9a m'a estd de voir ces pauvres seigneurs venus k tels terines, et qu'il ayt fallut que moy en fosse I'executeur." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 252. FATE OF EG MO NTS FAMILY. 271 come. The Countess Egmont's condition fills me with the greatest pity, burdened as she is with a family of eleven children, none old enough to take care of them- selves; and she too a lady of so distinguished rank, sister of the count-palatine, and of so virtuous, truly Catholic, and exemplary life/^ There is no man in the country who does not grieve for her ! I cannot but commend her," he concludes, " as I do now, very humbly, to the good graces of your majesty, beseeching you to call to mind that if the count, her husband, came to, trouble at the close of his days, he formerly rendered great service to the state." '•^ The reflection, it must be owned, came somewhat late. In another letter to Philip, though of the same date, Alva recommends the king to summon the countess and her children to Spain, where her daughters might take the veil and her sons be properly educated. "I do not believe," he adds, ''that there is so unfortunate a family in the whole world. I am not sure that the countess has the means of procuring a supper this very evening !" ""^ Philip, in answer to these letters, showed that he was <5 " Madame d'Egmont me faict grand pitie et compassion, pour la voir chargee de unze enfans et nuls addressez, et elle, dame sy princi- pale, comme elle est, soeur du comte palatin, et de si bonne, vertueuse, catholicque et exemplaire vie, qu'il n'y a homme qui ne la regrette." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, ubi supra. 46 The duke wrote no less than three letters to the king, of this same date, June 9th. The J> reels of two is given by Gachard, and the third is published entire by Reiffenberg. The countess and her misfortunes form the burden of two of them. 47 " II ne croit pas qu'il y ait aujourd'hui sur la terre une maison aussi malheureuse ; il ne salt nieme si la comtesse aura de quoi souper ce soir." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 28. 272 EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND IIOORNE. not disposed to shrink from his own share of responsi- bility for the proceedings of his general. The duke, he said, had only done what justice and his duty de- manded.*^ He could have wished that the state of things had warranted a different result ; nor could he help feeling deeply that measures like those to which he had been forced should have been necessary in his reign. "But," continued the king, "no man has a right to shrink from his duty."^ I am well pleased," he concludes, "to learn that the two lords made so good and Catholic an end. As to what you recommend in regard to the countess of Egmont and her eleven chil- dren, I shall give all proper heed to it." 5° The condition of the countess might well have moved the hardest heart to pity. Denied all access to her hus- band, she had been unable to afford him that consola- tion which he so much needed during his long and dreary confinement. Yet she had not been idle ; and, as we have seen, she was unwearied in her efforts to excite a sympathy in his behalf. Neither did she rely only on the aid which this world can give \ and few nights passed during her lord's imprisonment in which she and her daughters might not be seen making their pious pilgrimages, barefooted, to the different churches of Brussels, to invoke the blessing of Heaven on their '^ " Je treuve ce debvoir de justice estre faict comme il convient et vostre consideration Ir^s-bonne." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 255. 49 " Mais personne ne peult delaisser de se acquitter en ce en quoy il est oblig^." Ibid., ubi supra. so "Quant h la dame d'Egmont et ses unze enfans, et ce que me y repr^sentez, en me les recommandant, je y auray tout bon regard." Ibid., ubi supra. FATE OF EG MO NT'S FAMILY. 273 labors. She had been supported through this trying time by a reliance on the success of her endeavors, in which she was confirmed by the encouragement she received from the highest quarters. ' It is not necessary to give credit to the report of a brutal jest attributed to the duke of Alva, who, on the day preceding the execution, was said to have told the countess "to be of good cheer ; for her husband would leave the prison on the morrow ! " s' There is more reason to believe that the. Emperor Maximilian, shortly before the close of the trial, sent a gentleman with a kind letter to the countess, testifying the interest he took in her affairs and assuring her she had nothing to fear on account of her husband. 5^ On the very morning of Egmont's execution, she was herself, we are told, paying a visit of condolence to the countess of Aremberg, whose hus- band had lately fallen in the battle of Heyligerlee ; and at her friend's house the poor lady is said to have re- ceived the first tidings of the fate of her lord.^^ The blow fell the heavier, that she was so ill prepared for it. On the same day she found herself not only a widow, but a beggar, — with a family of orphan chil- dren in vain looking up to her for the common neces- saries of life.s^ In her extremity, she resolved to apply S' Arend (Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. ii. St. v. bl. 66 j, who gets the story, to which he attaches no credit himself, from a contemporary, Hooft. 52 Supplement k Strada, torn. i. p. 252. 53 " Laquelle, ainsi quelle estoit en sa chambre et sur ces propos, on luy vint annoncer qu'on alloit trancher la teste k son mary." Brantome, CEuvres, tom. i. p. 368. — Under all the circumstances, one cannot insist strongly on the probability of the anecdote. S'l One of her daughters, in a fit of derangement brought on by M* 274 EXECUTION OF EG MONT AND IIOORNE. to the king himself. She found an apology for it in the necessity of transmitting to Philip her husband's letter to him, which, it seems, had been intrusted to her care. 55 She apologizes for not sooner sending this last and most humble petition of her deceased lord, by the extreme wretchedness of her situation, abandoned as she is by all, far from kindred and country. ^^ She trusts in his majesty's benignity and compassion ^^ to aid her sons by receiving them into his service when they shall be of sufficient age. This will oblige her, during the remainder of her sad days, and her children after her, to pray God for the long and happy life of his majesty. 5^ It must have given another pang to the heart of the widowed countess to have been thus forced to solicit aid from the very hand that had smitten her. But it was the mother pleading for her children. Yet Philip, notwithstanding his assurances to the duke of Alva, showed no alacrity in relieving the wants of the countess. On the first of September the excessive grief for her father's fate, attempted to make way with hei- self by throwing herself from a window. Relacion de la Justicia, MS. 55 This was the duplicate, no doubt, of the letter given to the bishop of Ypres, to whom Egmont may have intrusted a copy, with the idea that it would be more certain to reach the hands of the king than the one sent to his wife. 56 " La mis^re oia elle se trouve, etant devenue veuve avec onze enfans, abandonee de tous, hors de son pays et loin de ses parents, I'a empechee d'envoyer plus tot au Roi la derniere et tr^s-humble requete de son defunt mari." Conespondance de Philippe II., tom. ii. p. 31- 57 " De la b^nignit^ et piti^ du Roi." Ibid., ubi supra. 58 " Ce que m'obligerat, le reste de mes tristcs jours, et toute ma posloiite, k prier Dieu pour la longue et heureuse vie de V. M." Ibid., ubi supra. FATE OF EGMONT'S FAMILY. 275 duke again wrote to urge the necessity of her case, de- claring that, if it had not been for a "small sum that he had himself sent, she and the children would have perished of hunger ! " ^9 The misfortunes of this noble lady excited com- miseration not only at home, but in other countries of Europe, and especially in Germany, the land of her birth. ^ Her brother, the elector of Bavaria, wrote to Philip to urge the restitution of her husband's estates to his family. Other German princes preferred the same request, which was moreover formally made by the emperor, through his ambassador at Madrid. Philip coolly replied that ''the time for this had not yet come."*' A moderate pension, meanwhile, was annu- ally paid by Alva to the countess of Egmont, who sur- vived her husband ten years, — not long enough to see her children established in possession of their patri- mony.*^ Shortly before her death, her eldest son, then 59 " S'il ne leur avait pas doiine quelque argent, ils mourraient de faim." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 38. *> It seems strange that Goethe, in his tragedy of " Egmont," should have endeavored to excite what may be truly called a meretricious interest in the breasts of his audience, by bringing an imaginary mis- tress, named Clara, on the stage, instead of the noble-hearted wife, so much better qualified to share the fortunes of her husband and give dignity to his sufferings. Independently of other considerations, this departure from historic truth cannot be defended on any true principle of drcunatic effect. 6' Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 183. ^2 After an annual grant, which rose from eight to twelve thousand livres, the duke settled on her a pension of two thousand gulden, which continued to the time of her death, in 1578. (Arend, Alge- meene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. ii. St. r. bl. 66.) The gulden, or guilder, at the present day, is equivalent to about one shilling and ninepence sterling, or thirty-nine cents. 276 EXECUTION OF EG MO NT AND HOORNE. grown to man's estate, chafing under the sense of in- justice to himself and his family, took part in the war against the Spaniards. Philip, who may perhaps have felt some compunction for the ungenerous requital he had made for the father's services, not only forgave this act of disloyalty in the son, but three years later allowed the young man to resume his allegiance and placed him in full possession of the honors and estates of his ancestors. *5 Alva, as we have seen, in his letters to Philip, had dwelt on the important effects of Egmont's execution. He did not exaggerate these effects. But he sorely mistook the nature of them. Abroad, the elector of Bavaria at once threw his whole weight into the scale of Orange and the party of reform.** Others of the German princes followed his example ; and Maxi- milian's ambassador at Madrid informed Philip that the execution of the two nobles, by the indignation it had caused throughout Germany, had wonderfully served the designs of the prince of Orange. ^^ At home the effects were not less striking. The death of these two illustrious men, following so close upon 63 Philip, Count Egmont, lived to enjoy his ancestral honors till 1590, when he was slain at Ivry, fighting against Henry the Fourth and the Protestants of France. He died without issue, and was succeeded by his brother Lamoral, a careless prodigal, who with the name seems to have inherited few of the virtues of his illustrious father. Arend, Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. ii. St. v. bl. 66. ^■t Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 259. ^ " La mort des comtes d'Egmont et de Homes, et ce qui s'est pass6 avec I'elccteur de Treves, servent merveilleusemcnt ses des- seins." Correspondance de Philippe H., torn. ii. p. 37. SENTIMENT OF THE PEOPLE. 277 the preceding executions, spread a deep gloom over the country. Men became possessed with the idea that the reign of blood was to be perpetual.** All confidence was destroyed, even that confidence which naturally exists between parent and child, between brother and brother. *7 The foreign merchant caught somewhat of this general distrust, and refused to send his commodi- ties to a country where they were exposed to confisca- tion.® Yet among the inhabitants indignation was greater than even fear or sorrow ;*9 and the Flemings who had taken part in the prosecution of Egmont trembled before the wrath of an avenging people. '° ^ " Les executions faites ont imprime dans les esprits une terreur si grande, qu'on croit qu'il s'agit de gouverner par le sang d. perpe- tuite." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 29. *7 " II n'y a plus de confiance du frere au frfere, et du p^re au fils." Ibid., ubi supra. ^ Ibid., ubi supra. *9 " Funestum Egmontii finem doluere Belgse odio majore, qu^m luctu." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 394. 70 The Flemish councillor, Hessels, who, it may be remembered, had particular charge of the provincial prosecutions, incurred still greater odium by the report of his being employed to draft the sen- tences of the two lords. He subsequently withdrew from the bloody tribunal, and returned to his native province, where he became vice- president of the council of Flanders. This new accession of dignity only made him a more conspicuous mark for the public hatred. In 1577. in a popular insurrection which overturned the government of Ghent, Hessels was dragged from his house and thrown into prison. After lying there a year, a party of ruffians broke into the place, forced him into a carriage, and, taking him a short distance from town, executed the summary justice of Lynch law on their victim by hanging him to a tree. Some of the party, after the murder, wern audacious enough to return to Ghent with locks of the giay hair of the wretched man displayed in triumph on their bonnets. Some years later, when the former authorities were re-established, the bones Philip.— Vol. IT. 24 278 EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. Such were the effects produced by the execution of men whom the nation reverenced as martyrs in the cause of freedom. Alva notices these consequences in his letters to the king. But, though he could discern the signs of the times, he little dreamed of the extent of the troubles they portended. "The people of this country," he writes, ''are of so easy a temper that, when your majesty shall think fit to grant them a gen- eral pardon, your clemency, I trust, will make them as prompt to render you their obedience as they are now reluctant to do it."^' The haughty soldier, in his con- tempt for the peaceful habits of a burgher population, comprehended as little as his master the true character of the men of the Netherlands. of Hessels were removed from their unhallowed burial-place and laid with great solemnity and funeral pomp in the church of St. Michael. Prose and verse were exhausted in his praise. His memory was revered as that of a martyr. Miracles were performed at his tomb ; and the popular credulity went so far that it was currently reported in Ghent that Philip had solicited the pope for his canonization ! See the curious particulars in Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. ii. pp. 451-456. 71 " Este es un pueblo tan facil, que espero que con ver la cle- mencia de V. M., haciendose el pardon general, se ganardn los ^imos k que de buena gana lleven la obediencia que digo, que ahora sufren de malo." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. ii. p. 29. CHAPTER VI. SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. Bergen and Montigny. — Their Situation in Spain. — Death of Bergen. — Arrest of Montigny. — Plot for his Escape. — His Process. — Re- moval to Simancas. — Closer Coniinement. — Midnight Execution. I567-I57O. Before bidding a long adieu to the Netherlands, it will be well to lay before the reader an account of a transaction which has proved a fruitful theme of specu- lation to the historian, but which until the present time has been shrouded in impenetrable mystery. It may be remembered that in the year 1566 two noble Flemings, the marquis of Bergen and the baron of Montigny, were sent on a mission to the court of Madrid, to lay before the king the critical state of affairs, imperatively demanding some change in the policy of the government. The two lords went on the mission ; but they never returned. Many conjec- tures were made respecting their fate ; and historians have concluded that Bergen possibly,' and certainly Montigny, came to their end by violence.* But in the » " Le bniit public qui subsiste encore, divulgue qu'il est mort em- poisonn^." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Has, torn. ii. p. 235. — The author himself does not endorse the vulgar rumor. * Meteren tells us that Montigny was killed by poison which his page, who afterwards confessed the crime, pu* in his broth. (Hist. (279) 2So SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. want of evidence it was only conjecture ; while the greatest discrepancy has prevailed in regard to details. It is not till very recently that the veil has been with- drawn through the access that has been given to the Archives of Simancas, that dread repository in which the secrets of the Castilian kings have been buried for ages. Independently of the interest attaching to the circumstances of the present narrative, it is of great importance for the light it throws on the dark unscru- pulous policy of Philip the Second. It has, moreover, the merit of resting on the most authentic grounds, the correspondence of the king and his ministers. Both envoys were men of the highest consideration. The marquis of Bergen, by his rank and fortune, was in the first class of the Flemish aristocracy. ^ Montigny was of the ancient house of the Montmorencys, being a younger brother of the unfortunate Count Hoorne. He occupied several important posts, — ^among others, that of governor of Tournay, — and, like Bergen, was a knight of the Golden Fleece. In the political disturb- ances of the time, although not placed in the front of disaffection, the two lords had taken part with the discontented faction, had joined in the war upon Gran- velle, and had very generally disapproved of the policy of the crown. They had, especially, raised their voices against the system of religious persecution, with a manly des Pays-Bas, fol. 60.) Vandervynckt, after noticing various rumors, dismisses them with the remark, " On n'a pu savoir au juste ce qu'il 6tait devenu." Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 237. 3 His revenues seem to have been larger than those of any other Flemish lord, except Egmont and Orange, — amounting to something more than fifty thousand florins annually. Correspondance de Phi- lippe II., tom. ii. p. 115. BERGEN AND MONTIGNY. 281 independence which had secured for them — it seems undeservedly — the reputation of being the advocates of religious reform. This was particularly the case with Bergen, who, to one that asked how heretics should be dealt with, replied, " If they were willing to be con- verted, I would not trouble them. If they refused, still I would not take their lives, as they might here- after be converted." This saying, duly reported to the ears of Philip, was doubtless treasured up against the man who had the courage to utter it."* The purpose of their embassy was to urge on the king the necessity of a more liberal and lenient policy, to which Margaret, who had not yet broken with the nobles, was herself inclined. It was not strange that the two lords should have felt the utmost reluctance to undertake a mission which was to bring them so directly within the power of the monarch whom they knew they had offended, and who, as they also knew, was not apt to forgive an offence. True, Egmont had gone on a similar mission to Madrid and returned uninjured to Brussels. But it was at an earlier period, when the aspect of things was not so dangerous. His time had not yet come. It was not till after much delay that the other nobles, with the regent, prevailed on Bergen and Montigny to accept the trust, by urging on them its absolute impor- tance for assuring the tranquillity of the country. Even then, an injury which confined the marquis some weeks 4 Correspondance de Philippe II., Rapport, p. xxxvii. — It was re- ported to Philip's secretary, Erasso, by that mischievous bigot. Fray Lorenzo Villavicencio, not, as njay be supposed, to do honor to the author of it, but to ruin him. 24* 282 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. to his house furnished him with a plausible excuse for not performing his engagement, of which he would gladly have availed himself. But his scruples again vanished before the arguments and entreaties of his friends; and he consented to follow, as he could not accompany, Montigny. The latter reached Madrid towards the middle of June, 1566, was graciously received by the king, and was admitted to repeated audiences, at which he did not fail to urge the remedial measures countenanced by Margaret. Philip appeared to listen with complacency, but declined giving an answer till the arrival of the other ambassador, who, having already set out on his journey, was attacked, on his way through France, by a fever. There Bergen halted, and again thought of abandoning the expedition. His good genius seemed ever willing to interpose to save him. But his evil genius, in the shape of Philip, who wrote to him in the most condescending terms, to hasten his journey, beckoned him to Madrid. ^ Besides the two envoys there was another person of consequence from the Low Countries at that time in the capital, — Simon Renard, once Charles's minister at the English court, the inexorable foe of Granvelle. He had been persuaded by Philip to come to Spain, although to do so, he knew, was to put himself on trial for his manifold offences against the government. He was arrested, proceedings were commenced against him, and he was released only by an illness which terminated in his death. There seems to have been a mysterious fascination possessed by Philip, that he 5 Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 439. THEIR SITUATION IN SPAIN. 283 could thus draw within his reach the very men whom every motive of self-preservation should have kept at an immeasurable distance. The arrival of the marquis did not expedite the business of the mission. Unfortunately, about that period news came to Madrid of the outbreak of the iconoclasts, exciting not merely in Spain, but through- out Christendom, feelings of horror and indignation. There was no longer a question as to a more temperate policy. The only thought now was of vengeance. It was in vain that the Flemish envoys interposed to mitigate the king's anger and turn him from those violent measures which must bring ruin on the coun- try. Their remonstrances were unheeded. They found access to his person by no means so easy a thing as before. They felt that somewhat of the odium of the late transactions attached to them. Even the courtiers, with the ready instinct that detects a sovereign's frown, grew cold in their deportment. The situation of the envoys became every day more uncomfortable. Their mission was obviously at an end, and all they now asked was leave to return to the Netherlands. But the king had no mind to grant it. He had been long since advised by Granvelle, and others in whom he trusted, that both the nobles had taken a decided part in fostering the troubles of the country.* To that 6 See the letters of the royal contador, Alonzo del Canto, from Brus- sels. (Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. pp. 411, 425.) Gran- velle, in a letter from Rome, chimes in with the same tune, — though, as usual with the prelate, in a more covert manner: " Le choix de Berghes et Montigny n'est pas mauvais, si le but de leur mission est d'informer le Roi de I'etat des choses: car ils sont ceux qui en ont le mieux connaissance, et qui peut-Stre y ont pris le plus de part." Ibid., p. 417. 284 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. country they were never to return. Philip told them he had need of their presence for some time longer, to advise with him on the critical state of affairs in Flanders. So thin a veil could not impose on them ; and they were filled with the most serious apprehen- sions. They wrote to Margaret, begging her to request the king to dismiss them ; otherwise they should have good cause to complain both of her and of the nobles, who had sent them on a mission from which they would gladly have been excused. ^ But Margaret had already written to her brother to keep them in Spain until the troubles in Flanders should be ended. ^ On the recep- tion of the letter of her envoys, however, she replied that she had already written to the king to request leave for them to return. ^ I have found no record of such a letter. In the spring of 1567, the duke of Alva was sent to take command in the Netherlands. Such- an appoint- ment, at such a crisis, plainly intimated the course to be pursued, and the host of evils it would soon bring on the devoted country. The conviction of this was too much for Bergen, heightened as his distress was by his separation, at such a moment, from all that was most 7 " Autrement, certes, Madame, aurions juste occasion de nous doloir et de V. A. et des seigneurs de par delk, pour nous avoir com- mande de venir ici, pour recevoir honte et desplaisir, estantz forces journellement de veoir et oyr choses qui nos desplaisent jusques ^ I'ame, et de veoir aussy le peu que S. M. se sert de nous." Cor- respondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 498. 8 This letter is dated November i8th, 1566. (Ibid., p. 486.) The letter of the two lords was written on the last day of the December following, 9 Her letter is dated March Sth, 1567. Ibid., p. 516. DEATH OF BERGEN. 285 dear to him on earth. He fell ill of a fever, and grew rapidly worse, till at length it was reported to Philip that there was no chance for his recovery unless he were allowed to return to his native land." This placed the king in a perplexing dilemma. He was not disposed to let the marquis escape from his hands even by the way of a natural death. He was still less inclined to assent to his return to Flanders. In this emergency he directed Ruy Gomez, the prince of Eboli, to visit the sick nobleman, who was his personal friend. In case Gomez found the marquis so ill that his recovery was next to impossible, he was to give him the king's permission to return home. If, however, there seemed a prospect of his recovery, he was only to hold out the hope of such a permission." In case of the sick man's death, Gomez was to take care to have his obsequies performed in such a way as to show the sorrow of the king and his ministers at his loss, and their respect for the lords of the Low Countries ! " He was moreover, in that event, to take means to have the marquis's property in the Nether- lands sequestrated, as, should rebellion be proved against him, it would be forfeited to the crown. This curious and, as it must be allowed, highly confidential " Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. i. p. 535. '' " De lui dire (mais seulement apres qu'il se sera assure qu'une gudrison est \ peu prfes impossible) que le Roi lui permet de retoumer aux Pays-Bas : si, au contraire, il lui paraissait que le marquis put se r^tablir, il se contcnterait de lui faire esperer cette permission." Ibid.. P- 535- '- " II sera bien, en cette occasion, de montrer le regret que le Roi et ses ministres ont de sa mort, et le cas qu'ils font des seigneurs des Pays-Bas 1" Ibid., p. 536. 286 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. epistle was written with the king's own hand. The address ran, " Ruy Gomez — to his hands. Not to be opened nor read in the presence of the bearer." Wliicli part of the royal instruction the minister thought best to follow for the cure of the patient — whether he gave him an unconditional permission to return, or only held out the hope that he would do so — - we are not informed. It matters little, however. The marquis, it is probable, had already learned not to put his trust in princes. At all events, the promises of the king did as little for the patient as the prescriptions of the doctor. On the twenty-first of May he died, — justifying the melancholy presentiment with which he had entered on his mission. Montigny was the only victim that now remained to Philip ; and he caused him to be guarded with redoubled vigilance. He directed Ruy Gomez to keep an eye on all his movements, and to write to the governors of Navarre, Catalonia, and other frontier places, to take precautions to intercept the Flemish lord in case of his attempting to fly the country. '^ Montigny was in fact a prisoner, with Madrid for the limits of his prison. Yet, after this, the regent could write to him from Brussels that she was pleased to learn from her brother that he was soon to give him his conge.''* If the king said this, he had a bitter meaning in his words, beyond what the duchess apprehended. It was not long, however, that Montigny was allowed to retain even this degree of liberty. In September, '3 Correspondance de Philippe II., ubi supra. M " EUe espi^re le voir sous peu, puisque le Roi lu' a fait dire que son intention ^tait de lui donner bient6t son conge." Ibid., p. 558. — The letter is dated July 13th. HIS ARREST. 287 1567, arrived the tidings of the arrest of the Counts Egmont and Hoorne. Orders were instantly issued for the arrest of Montigny. He was seized by a detach- ment of the royal guard and borne off to the alcazar of Segovia. 's He was not to be allowed to leave the fortress day or night ; but as much indulgence was shown to him as was compatible with this strict con- finement ; and he was permitted to take with him the various retainers who composed his household, and to maintain his establishment in prison. But what in- dulgence could soften the bitterness of a captivity far from kindred and country, with the consciousness, moreover, that the only avenue from his prison con- ducted to the scaffold ! In his extremity, Montigny looked around for the means of effecting his own escape ; and he nearly succeeded. One, if not more, of the Spaniards on guard, together with his own servants, were in the plot. It was arranged that the prisoner should file through the bars of a window in his apartment and lower himself to the ground by means of a rope ladder. Relays of horses were provided to take him rapidly on to the sea-port of Santander, in the north, whence he was to be transported in a shallop to St. Jean de Luz. The materials for executing his part of the work were conveyed to Montigny in the loaves of bread daily sent to him by his baker. Every thing seemed to promise success. The bars of the window were removed.'^ '5 The order for the arrest, addressed to the conde de Chinchon, alcayde of the castle of Segovia, is to be found in the Documentos in^ditos, torn. iv. p. 526. »' This fact is mentioned in a letter of the alcayde of the fortress, 288 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. They waited only for a day when the alcayde of the castle would not be likely to visit it. At this juncture the plot was discovered through the carelessness of the maitre-d'' hotel. This person neglected to send one of the loaves to his master, which contained a paper giving sundry directions respecting the mode of escape and men- tioning the names of several of the parties. The loaf fell into the hands of a soldier. '^ On breaking it, the paper was discovered, and taken by him to the captain of the guard. The plot was laid open ; the parties were arrested, and sentenced to death or the galleys. The king allowed the sentence to take effect in regard to the Spaniards. He granted a reprieve to the Flem- ings, saying that what they had done was in some sort excusable, as being for the service of their master. Besides, they might be of use hereafter, in furnishing testimony in the prosecution of Montigny.'^ On this compound principle their lives were spared. After languishing some time in prison, they were allowed to return to the Low Countries, bearing with them letters from Montigny, requesting his friends to provide for them in consideration of their sacrifices for him. But giving an account of the affair to the king. Correspondance de Phihppe II., torn. ii. p. 33. »7 The contents of the paper secreted in the loaf are given in the Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. pp. 527-533. — The latter portion of the fourth volume of this valuable collection is occupied with documents relating to the imprisonment and death of Montigny, drawn from the Archives of Simancas, and never before communicated to the public. »8 " II ne les fera point executer, mais il les retiendra en prison, car jls peuvent servir k la verification de quelque point du proems de Montigny lui-meme." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 37- HIS PROCESS. 289 they were provided for in a much more summary manner by Alva, who, on their landing, caused them to be immediately arrested, and banished them all from the country, under pain of death if they returned to it ! " The greatest sympathy was felt for Montigny in the Netherlands, where the nobles were filled with indigna- tion at the unworthy treatment their envoy had received from Philip. His stepmother, the dowager-countess of Hoorne, was as untiring in her efforts for him as she had been for his unfortunate brother. These were warmly seconded by his wife, a daughter of the prince of Epinoy, to whom Montigny had been married but a short time before his mission to Spain. This lady wrote a letter in the most humble tone of supplication to Philip. She touched on the blight brought on her domestic happiness, spoke with a strong conviction of the innocence of Montigny, and with tears and lamenta- tions implored the king, by the consideration of his past services, by the passion of the blessed Saviour, to show mercy to her husband."" Several months elapsed, after the execution of the Counts Egmont and Hoorne, before the duke com- menced proceedings against Montigny; and it was not till February, 1569, that the licentiate Salazar, one of the royal council, was sent to Segovia in order to »9 Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 60. -o " Et consommee en larmes et pletirs afin que, en consideration des services passes de sondit mari, de son jeune age a elle, qui n'a dt6 en la compagnie de son mari qu'environ quatre mois, et de la passion de Jesus-Christ, S. M. veuille lui pardonner les fautes qu'il pourrait avoir commises." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 94. Philip.— Vol II.— n 25 290 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. interrogate the prisoner. The charges were of the same nature with those brought against Egmont and Hoorne. Montigny at first, like them, refused to make any reply, — standing on his rights as a member of the Golden Fleece. He was, however, after a formal pro- test, prevailed on to waive this privilege. The exami- nation continued several days. The various documents connected with it are still preserved in the Archives of Simancas. M. Gachard has given no abstract of their contents. But that sagacious inquirer, after a careful perusal of the papers, pronounces Montigny' s answers to be "a victorious refutation of the charges of the attorney-general. ' ' " It was not a refutation that Philip or his viceroy wanted. Montigny was instantly required to appoint some one to act as counsel in his behalf. But no one was willing to undertake the business, till a person of little note at length consented, or was rather compelled to undertake it by the menaces of Alva."^ Any man might well have felt a disinclination for an office which must expose him to the ill will of the government, with little chance of benefit to his client. Even after this, Montigny was allowed to languish another year in prison before sentence was passed on him by his judges. The proceedings of the Council of Blood on this occasion were marked by a more flagitious contempt of justice, if possible, than its pro- ceedings usually were. The duke, in a letter of the eighteenth of March, 1570, informed the king of the particulars of the trial. He had submitted the case, " Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 123, note. » Ibid., p. 90. HIS PROCESS. 291 not to the whole court, but to a certain number of tlie councillors, selected by him for the purpose.'^ He does not tell on what principle the selection was made, Philip could readily divine it. In the judgment of the majority, Montigny was found guilty of high treason. The duke accordingly passed sentence of death on him. The sentence was dated March 4th, 1570. It was precisely of the same import with the sentences of Egmont and Hoorne. It commanded that Montigny be taken from prison and publicly beheaded with a sword. His head was to be stuck on a pole, there to remain during the pleasure of his majesty. His goods and estates were to be confiscated to the crown.-'* The sentence was not communicated even to the Council of Blood. The only persons aware of its existence were the duke's secretary and his two trusty councillors, Vargas and Del Rio. Alva had kept it thus secret until he should learn the will of his master, ^s At the same time he intimated to Philip that he might think it better to have the execution take place in Castile, as under existing circumstances more eligible than the Netherlands. Philip was in Andalusia, making a tour in the southern provinces, when the despatches of his viceroy reached him. He was not altogether pleased with their tenor. Not that he had any misgivings in regard to the sen- tence ; for he was entirely satisfied, as he wrote to 23 " Visto el proceso por algunos del Consejo de S. M. destos sus Estados por mi nombrados para el dicho efecto." Documentos ino- ditos, torn. iv. p. 535. =4 The sentence may be found, Ibid., pp. 535-537. =s " Porque no viniese d noticia de ninguno de los otros hasta saber la voluntad de V. M." Ibid., p. 533. 292 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. Alva, of Montigny's guilt. "^ But he did not approve of a public execution. Enough blood, it might be thought in the Netherlands, had been already spilt ; and men there might complain that, shut up in a foreign prison during his trial, Montigny had not met with justice. "^ There were certainly some grounds for such a complaint. Philip resolved to defer taking any decisive step in the matter till his return to the north. Meanwhile, he commended Alva's discretion in keeping the sentence secret, and charged him on no account to divulge it, even to members of the council. Some months elapsed after the king's return to Madrid before he came to a decision, — exhibiting the procrastination so conspicuous a trait in him, even among a people with whom procrastination was no miracle. It may have been that he was too much occupied with an interesting affair which pressed on him at that moment. About two years before, Philip had had the misfortune to lose his young and beautiful queen, Isabella of the Peace. Her place was now to be supplied by a German princess, Anne of Austria^ his fourth wife, still younger than the one he had lost. She was already on her way to Castile ; and the king may have been too much engrossed by his preparations for the nuptial festivities to have much thought to bestow on the concerns of his wretched prisoner. =* " Asi que constando tan claro de sus culpas y delictos, en cuanto al hecho de la justicia no habia que parar mas de mandarla ejecutar." Docuinentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 539. *7 " Por estar acd el delincuento que dijcran que se habia hecho en- tre compadics, y como opreso, sin se poder defender juridicamente." Ibid., p. 561. HIS PROCESS. 293 The problem to be solved was how to carry the sen- tence into effect and yet leave the impression on the public that Montigny had died a natural death'. Most of the few ministers whom the king took into his confi- dence on the occasion were of opinion that it would be best to bring the prisoner's death about by means of a slow poison administered in his drink or some article of his daily food. This would give him time, moreover, to provide for the concerns of his soul.''^ But Philip objected to this, as not fulfilling what he was pleased to call the ends of justice. =' He at last decided on the garrote, — the form of execution used for the meaner sort of criminals in Spain, but which, producing death by suffocation, would be less likely to leave its traces on the body.^ To accomplish this, it would be necessary to remove Montigny from the town of Segovia, the gay residence of the court, and soon to be the scene of the wedding- ceremonies, to some more remote and less frequented spot. Simancas was accordingly selected, whose stern, 28 " Parescia d los mas que era bien darle un bocado 6 echar algim genero de veneno en la comida 6 bebida con que se fuese muriendo poco a poco, y pudiese componer las cosas de su dnima como en- fermo." Documentos indditos, torn. iv. p. 561. ^ " Mas d S. M. parescio que desta manera no se cumplia con la justicia." Ibid., ubi supra. — These particulars are gathered from a full report of the proceedings, sent, by Philip's orders, to the duke of Alva, November 2d, 1570. 3=" The garrote is still used in capital punishments in Spain. It may be well to mention, for the information of some of my readers, that it is performed by drawing a rope tight round the neck of the criminal, so as to produce suffocation. This is done by turning a stick to which the rope is attached behind his head. Instead of this apparatus, an iron collar is more frequently employed in modern executions. 25 294 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. secluded fortress seemed to be a fitting place for the perpetration of such a deed. The fortress was of great strength, and was encompassed by massive walls, and a wide moat, across which two bridges gave access to the interior. It was anciently used as a prison for state criminals. Cardinal Ximenes first conceived the idea of turning it to the nobler purpose of preserving the public archives. 3' Charles the Fifth carried this enlightened project into execution ; but it was not fully consummated till the time of Philip, who prescribed the regulations, and made all the necessary arrange- ments for placing the institution on a permanent basis, — thus securing to future historians the best means for guiding their steps through the dark and tortuous pas- sages of his reign. But even after this change in its destination the fortress of Simancas continued to be used occasionally as a place of confinement for pris- oners of state. The famous bishop of Zamora, who took so active a part in the war of the co7mmidades, was there strangled by command of Charles the Fifth. The quarter of the building in which he suffered is still known by the name of "el cuho del obispo,^' — "The Bishop's Tower. "^^ 3» This is established by a letter of the cardinal himself, in which he requests the king to command all officials to deliver into his hands their registers, instruments, and public documents of every descrip- tion, — to be placed in these archives, that they may hereafter be pre- served from injury. His biographer adds that few of these documents — such only as could be gleaned by the cardinal's industry — reach as far back as the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Quintinilla, Vida de Ximenes, p. 264. 3* M. Gachard, who gives us some interesting particulars of the ancient fortress of Simancas, informs us that this tower was the scene of some of his own labors there. It was an interesting circumstance, REMOVAL TO SIMANCAS. 295 To this strong place Montigny was removed from Segovia, on the nineteenth of August, 1570, under a numerous guard of alguazils and arquebusiers. For greater security he was put in irons, a superfluous piece of cruelty, from which Philip, in a letter to Alva, thought it necessary to vindicate himself, as having been done without his orders. ^^ w^ might well im- agine that the last ray of hope must have faded away in Montigny's bosom as he entered the gloomy portals of his new abode. Yet hope, as we are assured, did not altogether desert him. He had learned that Anne of Austria had expressed much sympathy for his suf- ferings. It was but natural that the daughter of the Emperor Maximilian should take an interest in the persecuted people of the Netherlands. It was even said that she promised the wife and stepmother of Montigny to make his liberation the first boon she would ask of her husband on coming to Castile.^ And Montigny cherished the fond hope that the influence of the young bride would turn the king from his pur- pose, and that her coming to Castile would be the signal for his liberation. That Anne should have yielded to such an illusion is not so strange, for she had never seen Philip ; but that Montigny should have been beguiled by it is more difficult to understand. In his new quarters he was treated with a show of respect, if not indulgence. He was even allowed some that he was thus exploring the records of Montigny's sufferings in the very spot which witnessed them. 33 " Asi lo cumplio poniendole grillos para mayor seguridad, aun- que esto fue sin orden, porque ni esto era menester ni quisiera S. M. que se hubiera hecho." Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 561. 34 Meteren, Hist, des Pays-Bas, fol. 60. 296 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. privileges. Tliough the guards were doubled over him, he was permitted to have his own servants, and, when it suited him, to take the fresh air and sunshine in the corridor. Early in October the young Austrian princess landed on the northern shores of the kingdom, at Santander. The tidings of this may have induced the king to quicken his movements in regard to his prisoner, willing perhaps to relieve himself of all chance of importunity from his bride, as well as from the awk- wardness of refusing the first favor she should request. As a preliminary step, it would be necessary to abridge the liberty which Montigny at present enjoyed, to con- fine him to his apartment, and, cutting off his commu- nications even with those in the castle, to spread the rumor of his illness, which should prepare the minds of the public for a fatal issue. To furnish an apology for his close confinement, a story was got up of an attempt to escape, similar to what had actually occurred at Segovia. Peralta, alcayde of the fortress, a trustworthy vassal, to whom was com- mitted the direction of the affair, addressed a letter to the king, enclosing a note in Latin, which he pretended had been found under Montigny' s window, containing sundry directions for his flight. The fact of such a design, the writer said, was corroborated by the appear- ance of certain persons in the disguise of friars about the castle. The governor, in consequence, had been obliged to remove his prisoner to other quarters, of greater security. He was accordingly lodged in the Bishop's Tower, — ominous quarters ! — where he was no longer allowed the attendance of his own domestics, CLOSER CONFINEMENT. 297 but placed in strict confinement. Montigny had taken this proceeding so ill, and with such vehement com- plaints of its injustice, .that it had brought on a fever, under which he was now laboring. Peralta concluded by expressing his regret at being forced by Montigny's conduct into a course so painful to himself, as he would gladly have allowed him all the indulgence compatible with his own honor. ^s This letter, which had all been concocted in the cabinet at Madrid, Avas shown openly at court. It gained easier credit from the fact of Mon- tigny's former attempt to escape; and the rumor went abroad that he was now lying dangerously ill. Early in October, the licentiate Alonzo de Arellano had been summoned from Seville and installed in the office of alcalde of the chancery of Valladolid, distant only two leagues from Simancas. Arellano was a person in whose discretion and devotion to himself Philip knew he could confide ; and to him he now intrusted the execution of Montigny. Directions for the course he was to take, as well as the precautions he was to use to prevent suspicion, were set down in the royal instruc- tions with great minuteness. They must be allowed to form a remarkable document, such as has rarely pro- ceeded from a royal pen. The alcalde was to pass to Simancas, and take with him a notary, an executioner, and a priest. The last should be a man of undoubted piety and learning, capable of dispelling any doubts or errors that might unhappily have arisen in Montigny's mind in respect to the faith. Such a man appeared 35 This lying letter, dated at Simancas, October loth, with the scrap of mongrel Latin which it enclosed, may be found in the Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. pp. 550-552. N* 29S SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. to be Fray Hernando del Castillo, of the order of St. Dominic, in Valladolid ; and no better person could have been chosen, nor one more open to those feelings of humanity which are not always found under the robe of the friar. 3^ Attended by these three persons, the alcalde left Valladolid soon after nightfall on the evening of the fourteenth of October. Peralta had been advised of his coming; and the little company were admitted into the castle so cautiously as to attract no observation. The governor and the judge at once proceeded to Montigny's apartment, where they found the unhappy man lying on his pallet, ill not so much of the fever that was talked of, as of that sickness of the heart which springs from hope deferred. When informed of his sentence by Arellano, in words as kind as so cruel a communication would permit, he was wholly overcome by it, and for some time continued in a state of pitiable agitation. Yet one might have thought that the warnings he had already received were such as might have prejDared his mind in some degree for the blow. For he seems to have been in the condition of the tenant of one of those inquisitorial cells in Venice, the walls of which, we are told, were so constructed as to approach each other gradually every day, until the wretched inmate was crushed between them. After Montigny had sufficiently recovered from his agitation to give heed to it, the sentence was read to him by the notary. He was still to be allowed a day before the execution, in order to gain time, as Philip had said, to 36 Tlie instructions delivered to the licentiate Don Alonzo de Arellano arc given in full, Docunientos indditos, torn. iv. pp. 542-549. HIS SENTENCE ANNOUNCED TO II I M. 299 settle his affairs with Heaven, And although, as the alcalde added-, the sentence passed on him was held by the king as a just sentence, yet, in consideration of his quality, his majesty, purely out of his benignity and clemency, was willing so far to mitigate it, in regard to the form, as to allow him to be executed, not in public, but in secret, thus saving his honor, and suggesting the idea of his having come to his end by a natural death. ^^ For this act of grace Montigny seems to have been duly grateful. How true were the motives assigned for it, the reader can determine. Having thus discharged their painful office, Arellano and the governor withdrew, and, summoning the friar, left the prisoner to the spiritual consolations he so much needed. What followed, we have from Castillo him- self. As Montigny's agitation subsided, he listened patiently to the exhortations of the good father ; and when at length restored to something like his natural composure, he joined with him earnestly in prayer. He then confessed and received the sacrament, seem- ing desirous of employing the brief space that yet remained to him in preparation for the solemn change. At intervals, when not actually occupied with his de- votions, he read the compositions of Father Luis de Granada, whose spiritualized conceptions had often solaced the hours of his captivity. Montigny was greatly disturbed by the rumor of his 37 " Aunque S. M. tenia por cierto que era muy juridica, habida consideracion i. la calidad de su persona y usando con el de su Real clemencia y benignidad hat)ia tenido por bien de moderarla en cuanto d la forma mandando que no se ejecutase en publico, sino alii en secreto por su honor, y que se daria a entender haber muerto de aquella enfermedad." Documentos in^ditos, torn. iv. p. 563. 300 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. having been shaken in his religious principles and having embraced the errors of the Reformers. To correct this impression, he briefly drew up, with his own hand, a confession of faith, in which he avows as implicit a belief in all the articles sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church, and its head, the Vicar of Christ, as Pius the Fifth himself could have desired. '^ Having thus relieved his mind, Montigny turned to some temporal affairs which he was desirous to settle. They did not occupy much time. For, as Philip had truly remarked, there was no occasion for him to make a will, since he had nothing to bequeath, — all his property having been confiscated to the crown. ^^ If, however, any debt pressed heavily on his conscience, he was to be allowed to indicate it, as well as any provision which he particularly desired to make for a special purpose. This was on the condition, however, that he should allude to himself as about to die a natural death.'"' Montigny profited by this to express the wish that masses, to the number of seven hundred, might be said for his soul, that sunxiry sums might be appropriated to private uses, and that some gratuities might be given to 38 The confession of faith may be found in the Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 553. 39 " Si el dicho Flores de Memoranci quisiese ordenar testamento no habrd para que darse d esto lugar, pues siendo confiscados todos sus bienes y por tales crimines, ni puede testar ni tiene de qu6." Ibid., p. 548. 40 " Empero si todavfa quisicre hacer alguna memoria de deudas 6 descargos se le podrd permitir como en esto no se haga mencion alguna de la justicia y ejccucion que se liace, sino que sea hecho como memorial de honibre cnfermo y que se tcmia morir." Ibid., ubi supra. HIS LAST MOMENTS. 301 certain of his faithful followers. It may interest the reader to know that the masses were punctually per- formed. In regard to the pious legacies, the king wrote to Alva, he must first see if Montigny's estate would justify the appropriation; as for the gratuities to servants, they were wholly out of the question.'*' One token of remembrance, which he placed in the hands of Castillo, doubtless reached its destination. This was a gold chain of delicate workmanship, with a seal or signet ring attached to it, bearing his arms. This little token he requested might be given to his wife. It had been his constant companion ever since they were married ; and he wished her to wear it in memory of him, — expressing at the same time his regret that a longer life had not been granted him, to serve and honor her. As a dying injunction, he be- sought her not to be entangled by the new doctrines or to swerve from the faith of her ancestors. If ever Montigny had a leaning to the doctrines of the Reformation, it could hardly have deepened into conviction ; for early habit and education reasserted their power so entirely at this solemn moment that the Dominican by his side declared that he gave evi- dence of being as good and Catholic a Christian as he could wish to be himself.''^ The few hours in which Montigny had thus tasted of the bitterness of death seemed to have done more to wean him from the vani- 4' "Quant aux merc^des qu'il a accordees, il n'y a pas lieu d'y donner suite." Correspondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 169. *» " En lo uno y en lo otro tuvo las demostraciones de catolico y buen cristiano que yo deseo para mi." See the letter of Fray Her- nando del Castillo, Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. pp. 5S4-559. Philip.— Vol. IT. 26 302 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. ties of life than the whole years of dreary imprisonment he had passed within the walls of Segovia and Simancas. Yet we shall hardly credit the friar's assertion that he carried his resignation so far that, though insisting on his own innocence, he admitted the sentence of his judges to be just ! "^ At about two o'clock on the morning of the sixteenth of October, when the interval allowed for this solemn preparation had expired, Father Castillo waited on the governor and the alcalde, to inform them that the hour had come, and that their prisoner was ready to receive them. They went, without further delay, to the cham- ber of death, attended by the notary and the execu- tioner. Then, in their presence, while the notary made a record of the proceedings, the grim minister of the law did his work on his unresisting victim.'^ No sooner was the breath out of the body of Mon- tigny than the alcalde, the priest, and their two companions were on their way back to Valladolid, reaching it before dawn, so as to escape the notice of the inhabitants. All were solemnly bound to secrecy in regard to the dark act in which they had been engaged. The notary and the hangman were still further secured by the menace of death in, case they 43 " Fuele creciendo por horas el desengaiio de la vida, la paciencia, el sufrimiento, y la conformidad con la voluntad de Dios y de su Rey, cuya scntencia siempre alabo por justa, mas siempre protestando de su inocencia." Documentos ineditos, tom. iv. pp. 554-559. 44 " Y acabada su pMtica y de encomendarse d Dios todo el tiempo que quiso, el verdugo hizo su oficio dandole garrote." See the account of Montigny's death despatched to the duke of Alva. It was written in cipher, and dated November 2d, 1570. Ibid., p. 560, et seq. HIS LAST MOMENTS. 303 betrayed any knowledge of the matter ; and they knew full well that Philip was not a man to shrink from the execution of his menaces. ''^ The corpse was arrayed in a Franciscan habit, which, coming up to the throat, left the face only exposed to observation. It was thus seen by Montigny's servants, who recognized the features of their master, hardly more distorted than sometimes happens from disease, when the agonies of death have left their traces. The story went abroad that their lord had died of the fever with which he had been so violently attacked. The funeral obsequies were performed, according to the royal orders, with all due solemnity. The vicar and beneficiaries of the church of St. Saviour officiated on the occasion. The servants of the deceased were clad in mourning, — a token of respect recommended by Philip, who remarked, the servants were so few that mourning might as well be given to them ; '■^ and he was willing to take charge of this and the other ex- penses of the funeral, provided Montigny had not left money sufficient for the purpose. The place selected for his burial was a vault under one of the chapels of the building ; and a decent monument indicated the spot where reposed the ashes of the last of the envoys who came from Flanders on the ill-starred mission to Madrid.''^ 45 " Ponierdo pena de muerte d los dichos escribano y verdugo si lo descubriesen." Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 564. 4^ " Y no serd inconveniente que se de Into d sus criados pues son pocos." La orden que ha de tener el Licenciado D. Aloj\zo de Arellano, Ibid., p. 542, et seq. 47 Ibid., p. 549. CoiTespondance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 159. 304 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. Such is a true account of this tragical affair, as derived from the king's own letters and those of his agents. Far different was the story put in circulation at the time. On the seventeenth of October, the day after Montigny's death, despatches were received at court from Peralta, the alcayde of the fortress. They stated that, after writing his former letter, his prisoner's fever had so much increased that he had called in the aid of a physician ; and, as the symptoms became more alarming, the latter had entered into a consultation with the medical adviser of the late regent, Joanna, so that nothing that human skill could afford should be wanting to the patient. He grew rapidly worse, however, and as, happily. Father Hernando del Castillo, of Valla- dolid, chanced to be then in Simancas, he came and administered the last consolations of religion to the dying man. Having done all that a good Christian at such a time should do, Montigny expired early on the morning of the sixteenth, manifesting at the last so Catholic a spirit that good hopes might be entertained of his salvation.*^ This hypocritical epistle, it is hardly necessary to say, like the one that preceded it, had been manufactured at Madrid. Nor was it altogether devoid of truth. The physician of the place, named Viana, had been called in 3 and it was found necessary to intrust him with the secret. Every day he paid his visit to the castle, and every day returned with more alarming accounts of the condition of the patient ; and thus the minds of the community were j)repared for the fatal termination of 48 Carta de D. Eugcnio cle Peralta d S. M., Simancas, 17 de Octu- bre, 1570, Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 559. HIS LAST MOMENTS. 305 his disorder. Not that, after all, this was unattended with suspicions of foul play in the matter, as people reflected how opportune was the occurrence of such an event. But suspicions were not proof. The secret was too well guarded for any one to penetrate the veil of mystery ; and the few who were behind that veil loved their lives too well to raise it. Despatches written in cipher, and containing a full and true account of the affair, were sent to the duke of Alva. The two letters of Peralta, which indeed were intended for the meridian of Brussels rather than of Madrid, were forwarded with them. The duke was told to show them incidentally, as it were, without obtruding them on any one's notice,"' that Montigny's friends in the Netherlands might be satisfied of their truth. In his own private communication to Alva, Philip, in mentioning the orthodox spirit manifested by his victim in his last moments, shows that with the satis- faction which he usually expressed on such occasions was mingled some degree of skepticism. "If his inner man," he writes of Montigny, "was penetrated with as Christian a spirit as he exhibited in the outer, and as the friar who confessed him has reported, God, we may presume, will have mercy on his soul. "5° In the original draft of the letter, as prepared by the king's 49 " No las mostrando de proposito sino descuidadamente dlas per- sonas que paresciere, para que por ellas se divulgue haber fallescido de su muerte natural." Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 564. 50 " El cual si en lo interior acabo tan cristianamente como lo mostro en lo exterior y lo ha referido el fraile que le confeso, es de creer que se habrd apiadado Dios de su anima." Carta de S. M. al Duque de Alba, del Escurial, d 3 de Noviembre, 1570, Ibid., p. 565. 26* 3o6 SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. secretary, it is further addfed, "Yet, after all, who cau tell but this was a delusion of Satan, who, as we know, never deserts the heretic in his dying hour?" This sentence — as appears from the manuscript still preser\'ed in Simancas — was struck out by Philip, with the remark in his own hand, "Omit this, as we should think no evil of the dead!"5i Notwithstanding this magnanimous sentiment, Philip lost no time in publishing Montigny to the world as a traitor, and demanding the confiscation of his estates. The Council of Blood learned a good lesson from the Holy Inquisition, which took care that even Death should not defraud it of its victims. Proceedings were instituted against the memory of Montigny, as had be- fore been done against the memory of the marquis of Bergen. 5^ On the twenty-second of March, 1571, the duke of Aiva pronounced sentence, condemning the memory of Florence de Montmorency, lord of Mon- tigny, as guilty of high treason, and confiscating his goods and estates to the use of the croAvn; "it having come to his knowledge," the instrument went on to say, " that the said Montigny had deceased by natural death in the fortress of Simancas, where he had of late been held a prisoner !" ^3 51 " Esto mismo borrad de la cifra, que de los muertos no hay que hacer sino bucn juicio." Documentos ineditos, torn. iv. p. 525, note. 52 The confiscated estates of the marquis of Bergen were restored by Philip to that nobleman's heirs in 1577. See Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, torn. ii. p. 235. 53 " Attendu que est venu ^ sa notice que ledict de Montigny seroit alle de vie h trespas, par mort naturclle, en la forteresse de Sy- mancques, ou il cstoit dcrni^rement detenu prisonier." Correspon- dance de Philippe II., torn. ii. p. 171. REFLECTIONS. 307 The proceedings of the Council of Blood against Montigny were characterized, as I have already said, by greater effrontery and a more flagrant contempt of the common forms of justice than were usually to be met with even in that tribunal. A bare statement of the facts is sufficient. The party accused was put on his trial — if trial it can be 'called — in one country, while he was held in close custody in another. The court before which he was tried — or rather the jury, for the council seems to have exercised more of the powers of a jury than of a judge — was on this occasion a packed body, selected to suit the purposes of the prosecution. Its sentence, instead of being publicly pronounced, was confided only to the party interested to obtain it, — the king. Even the sentence itself was not the one carried into effect ; but another was substituted in its place, and a public execution was supplanted by a midnight assassination. It would be an abuse of language to dignify such a proceeding with the title of a judicial murder. Yet Philip showed no misgivings as to his own course in the matter. He had made up his mind as to the guilt of Montigny. He had been false to his king and false to his religion, — offences which death only could expiate. Still we find Philip resorting to a secret exe- cution, although Alva, as we have seen, had supposed that sentence was to be executed on Montigny in the same open manner as it had been on the other victims of the bloody tribunal. But the king shrank from ex- posing a deed to the public eye which, independently of its atrocity in other respects, involved so flagrant a violation of good faith towards the party who had come, 3o8 NOTICE OF GACHARD. at his sovereign's own desire, on a public mission to Madrid. With this regard for the opinions of his own age, it may seem strange that Philip should not have endeavored to efface every vestige of his connection with the act, by destroying the records which estab- lished it. On the contrary, he not only took care that such records should be made, but caused them, and all other evidence of the affair, to be permanently pre- served in the national archives. There they lay for the inspection of posterity, which was one day to sit in judgment on his conduct. In the part of this History which relates to the Netherlands, I have been greatly indebted to two eminent scholars of that country. The first of these, M. Gachard, who has the care of the royal archives of Belgium, was commissioned by his government, in 1844, to visit the Peninsula for the purpose of collecting materials for the illustration of the national history. The most important theatre of his labors was Simancas, which, till the time of his visit, had been carefully closed to natives as well as foreigners. M. Gachard profited by the more liberal arrangements which, under certain restrictions, opened its historical treasures to the student. The result of his labors he is now giving to the world by the publication of his " Correspondance de Philippe II.," of which two volumes have already been printed. The work is published in a beautiful form, worthy of the auspices under which it has appeared. It consists chiefly of the correspond- ence carried on by the Spanish government and the authorities of the Netherlands in the reign of Philip the Second, — the revolutionary age, and of course the most eventful period of their history. The official despatches, written in French, are, it is true, no longer to be found in Simancas, whence they were removed to Brussels on the accession of Albert and Isabella to the sovereignty of the Low Coun- tries. But a large mass of correspondence which passed between the court of Castile and the Netherlands is still preserved in the Spanish archives. As it is, for the most part, of a confidential nature, con- GACHARD AND GROEN. 309 taining strictures on men and things intended only for the eyes of the parties to it, it is of infinite value to the historian. Not only has it never before been published, but, with the exception of a portion which passed under the review of the Italian Strada, it has never been submitted to the inspection of the scholar. With the aid of this rich collection, the historian is enabled to enter into many details, hitherto unknown, of a personal nature, relating to the actors in the great drama of the revolution, as well as to disclose some of the secret springs of their policy. M. Gachard has performed his editorial duties with conscientious- ness and ability. In a subsequent volume he proposes to give the entire text of the more important letters ; but in the two already pub- lished he has confined himself to an analysis of their contents, more or less extended, according to circumstances. He has added ex- planatory notes, and prefixed to the whole a copious dissertation, presenting a view of the politics of the Castilian court, and of the characters of the king and the great officers of state. As the writer's information is derived from sources the most authentic as well as the least accessible to scholars, his preliminary essay deserves to be care- fully studied by the historian of the Netherlands. M. Gachard has further claims to the gratitude of every lover of letters by various contributions in other forms which he has made to the illustration of the national history. Among these his " Corre- spondance de Guillaume le Taciturne," of which three volumes in octavo have already appeared, has been freely used by me. It con- sists of a collection of William's correspondence, industriously gath- ered from various quarters. The letters differ from one another as widely in value as might naturally be expected in so large and miscel- laneous a collection. The other scholar by whose editorial labors I have profited in this part of my work is M. Groen van Prinsterer. His voluminous pub- lication, "Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau," the first series of which embraces the times of William the Silent, is derived from the private collection of the king of Holland. The contents are vari- ous, bat consist chiefly of letters from persons who took a prominent part in the conduct of affairs. Their correspondence embraces a mis- cellaneous range of topics, and with those of public interest combines others strictly personal in their details, thus bringing into strong relief the characters of the most eminent actors on the great political theatre. A living interest attaches to this correspondence, which we shall look 3IO GROEN AND REIFFENBERG. for in vain in the colder pages of the historian. History gives us the acts, but letters like these, in which the actors speak for themselves, give us the thoughts, of the individual. M. Groen has done his part of the work well, adhering to the origi- nal text with scrupulous fidelity, and presenting us the letters in the various languages in which they were written. The interstices, so to speak, between the different parts of the correspondence, are skilfully filled up by the editor, so as to connect the incongruous materials into a well-compacted fabric. In conducting what, as far as he is concerned, may be termed the original part of his work, the editor has shown much discretion, gathering information from collateral contemporary sources; and, by the side-lights he has thus thrown over the path, he has greatly facilitated the progress of the student and enabled him to take a survey of the whole historical ground. The editor is at no pains to conceal his own opinions ; and we have no dif- ficulty in determining the religious sect to which he belongs. But it is not the less true that he is ready to render justice to the opinions of others, and that he is entitled to the praise of having executed his task with impartiality. One may notice a pecuHarity in the criticisms of both Groen and Gachard, the more remarkable considering the nations to which they belong ; that is, the solicitude they manifest to place the most favora- ble construction on the conduct of Philip, and to vindicate his memory from the wholesale charges so often brought against him, of a sys- tematic attempt to overturn the liberties of the Netherlands. The reader, even should he not always feel the cogency of their arguments, will not refuse his admiration to the candor of the critics. There is a third publication, recently issued from the press in Brus- sels, which contains, in the compass of a single volume, materials of much importance for the history of the Netherlands. This is the " Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche," by the late Baron Reif- fenberg. It is a part of the French correspondence which, as I have mentioned above, was transferred, in the latter part of Philip the Second's reign, from Simancas to Brussels, but which, instead of re- maining there, was removed, after the country had passed under the Austrian sceptre, to the imperial library of Vienna, where it e.xisls, in all probability, at the present day. Some fragments of this corre- spondence escaped the fate which attended the bulk of it ; and it is gleanings from these which Reiffenberg has given to the world. That country is fortunate which can command the services of such GROEN AND REIFFENBERG. 3'i men as these for the illustration of its national annals, — men who with singular enthusiasm for their task combine the higher qualifications of scholarship, and a talent for critical analysis. By their persevering labors the rich ore h;is been drawn from the mines where it had lain in darkness for ages. It now waits only for the hand of the artist to convert it into coin and give it a popular currency. BOOK IV. CHAPTER I. THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. Condition of Turkey. — African Corsairs. — Expedition against Tripoli. — War on the Barbary Coast. 1559-1563- There are two methods of writing history, — one by following down the stream of time and exhibiting events in their chronological order, the other by dis- posing of these events according to their subjects. The former is the most obvious ; and where the action is simj^le and continuous, as in biography, for the most part, or in the narrative of some grand historical event, which concentrates the interest, it is probably the best. But when the story is more complicated, covering a wide field and embracing great variety of incident, the chronological system, however easy for the writer, becomes tedious and unprofitable to the reader. He is hurried along from one scene to another without fully apprehending any ; and as the thread of the nar- rative is perpetually broken by sudden transition, he carries off only such scraps in his memory as it is hardly possible to weave into a connected and con- CONDITION OF TURKEY. Z^l sistent whole. Yet this method, as the most simple and natural, is the one most affected by the early- writers, — by the old Castilian chroniclers more par- ticularly, who form the principal authorities in the present work. Their wearisome pages, mindful of no order but that of time, are spread over as miscellaneous a range of incidents, and having as little relation to one another, as the columns of a newspaper. To avoid this inconvenience, historians of a later period have preferred to conduct their story on more philosophical principles, having regard rather to the nature of the events described than to the precise time of their occurrence. And thus the reader, possessed of one action, its causes and- its consequences, before passing on to another, is enabled to treasure up in his memory distinct impressions of the whole. In conformity to this plan, I have detained the reader in the Netherlands until he had seen the close of Margaret's administration, and the policy which marked the commencement of her successor's. During this period, Spain was at peace with her European neighbors, most of whom were too much occupied with their domestic dissensions to have leisure for foreign war. France, in particular, was convulsed by religious feuds, in which Philip, as the champion of the Faith, took not only the deepest interest, but an active part. To this I shall return hereafter. But, while at peace with her Christian brethren, Spain was engaged in perpetual hostilities with the Moslems, both of Africa and Asia. The relations of Europe with the East were altogether different in the sixteenth century from what they are in our day. The Philip. — Vol. II. — o 27 314 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. Turkish power lay like a dark cloud on the Eastern horizon, to which every eye was turned with appre- hension ; and the same people for whose protection European nations are now willing to make common cause were viewed by them, in the sixteenth century, in the light of a common enemy. It was fortunate for Islamism that, as the standard of the Prophet was falling from the feeble grasp of the Arabs, it was caught up by a nation like the Turks, whose fiery zeal urged them to bear it still onward in the march of victory. The Turks were to the Arabs what the Romans were to the Greeks. Bold, warlike, and ambitious, they had little of that love of art which had been the dominant passion of their pre- decessors, and still less of that refinement which, with the Arabs, had degenerated into effeminacy and sloth. Their form of government was admirably suited to their character. It was an unmixed despotism. The sovereign, if not precisely invested with the theocratic character of the caliphs, was hedged round with so much sanctity that resistance to his authority was an offence against religion as well as law. He was placed at an immeasurable distance above his subjects. No hereditary aristocracy was allowed to soften the de- scent and interpose a protecting barrier for the people. All power was derived from the sovereign, and, on the death of its proprietor, returned to him. In the eye of the sultan, his vassals were all equal, and all equally his slaves. The theory of an absolute government would seem to imply perfection in the head of it. But, as perfec- tion is not the lot of humanity, it was prudently pro- CONDITION OF TURKEY. 315 vided by the Turkish constitution that the suUan should have the benefit of a council to advise him. It con- sisted of three or four great officers, appointed by him- self, with the grand vizier at their head. This func- tionary was possessed of an authority far exceeding that of the prime minister of any European prince. All the business of state may be said to have passed through his hands. The persons chosen for this high office were usually men of capacity and experience ; and in a weak reign they served by their large au- thority to screen the incapacity of the sovereign from the eyes of his subjects, while they preserved the state from detriment. It might be thought that powers so vast as those bestowed on the vizier might have ren- dered him formidable, if not dangerous, to his master. But his master was placed as far above him as above the meanest of his subjects. He had unlimited power of life and death ; and how little he was troubled with scruples 'in the exercise of this power is abundantly shown in history. The bow-string was too often the only warrant for the deposition of a minister. But the most remarkable of the Turkish institutions, the one which may be said to have formed the key- stone of the system, was that relating to the Christian population of the empire. Once in five years a general conscription was made, by means of which all the children of Christian parents who had reached the age of seven, and gave promise of excellence in mind or body, were taken from their homes and brought to the capital. They were then removed to different quarters, and placed in seminaries where they might receive such instruction as would fit them for the duties 31 6 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. of life. Those giving greatest promise of strength and endurance were sent to places prepared for them in Asia Minor. Here they were subjected to a severe training, to abstinence, to privations of every kind, and to the strict discipline which should fit them for the profession of a soldier. From this body was formed the famous corps of the janizaries. Another portion were placed in schools in the capi- tal or the neighboring cities, where, under the eye of the sultan, as it were, they were taught various manly accomplishments, with such a smattering of science as Turkish, or rather Arabian, scholarship could supply. When their education was finished, some went into the sultan's body-guard, where a splendid provision was made for their maintenance. Others, intended for civil life, entered on a career which might lead to the highest offices in the state. As all these classes of Christian youths were taken from their parents at that tender age when the doc- trines of their own faith could hardly have taken root in their minds, they were without difficulty won over to the faith of the Koran ; which was further com- mended to their choice as the religion of the state, the only one which opened to them the path of prefer- ment. Thus set apart from the rest of the community, and cherished by royal favor, the new converts, as they rallied round the throne of their sovereign, became more stanch in their devotion to his interests, as well as to the interests of the religion they had adopted, than even the Turks themselves. This singular institution bore hard on the Christian population, who paid this heavy tax of their own off- STATE CONDITION OF TURKEY. 317 spring. But it worked well for the monarchy, which, acquiring fresh vigor from the constant infusion of new blood into its veins, was slow in exhibiting any signs of decrepitude or decay. The most important of these various classes was that of the janizaries, whose discipline was far from termi- nating with the school. Indeed, their whole life may be said to have been passed in war, or in preparation for it. Forbidden to marry, they had no families to engage their affections, which, as with the monks and friars in Christian countries, were concentrated on their own order, whose prosperity was inseparably connected with that of the state. Proud of the privi- leges which distinguished them from the rest of the army, they seemed desirous to prove their title to them by their thorough discipline and by their promjjtness to execute the most dangerous and difficult services. Their jDost was always the post of danger. It was their proud vaunt that they had never fled before an enemy. Clad in their flowing robes, so little suited to the war- rior, armed with the arquebuse and the scimitar, — in their hands more than a match for the pike or sword of the European, — with the heron's plume wav- ing above their heads, their dense array might ever be seen bearing down in the thickest of the fight; and more than once, when the fate of the empire trembled in the balance, it was this invincible corps that turned the scale and by their intrepid conduct decided the fortune of the day. Gathering fresh reputation with age, so long as their discipline remained unimpaired they were a match for the best soldiers of Europe. But in time this admirable organization experienced a 27* 3r8 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. change. One sultan allowed them to marry ; another, to bring their sons into the corps ; a third opened the ranks to Turks as well as Christians ; until, forfeiting their peculiar character, the janizaries became con- founded with the militia of the empire. These changes occurred in the time of Philip the Second ; but their consequences were not fully unfolded till the following century. ' It was fortunate for the Turks, considering the un- limited power lodged in the hands of their rulers, that these should have so often been possessed of the courage and capacity for using it for the advancement of the nation. From Othman the First, the founder of the dynasty, to Solyman the Magnificent, the contemporary of Philip, the Turkish throne was filled by a succession of able jDrinces, who, bred to war, were every year enlarging the boundaries of the empire and adding to its resources. By the middle of the sixteenth century, besides their vast possessions in Asia, they held the eastern portions of Africa. In Europe, together with the countries at this day acknowledging their sceptre, they were masters of Greece ; and Solyman, overrun- ning Transylvania and Hungary, had twice carried his victorious banners up to the walls of Vienna. The ' For the preceding pages I have been indebted, among other sources, to Sagredo, " Memorias historicas de los Monarcas Otho- manos" (trad. Cast., Madrid, 1684), and to Ranke, " Ottoman and Spanish Empires;" to the latter in particular. The work of this emi- nent scholar, resting as it mainly does on the contemporary reports of the Venetian ministers, is of the most authentic character; while he has the rare talent of selecting facts so significant for historical illustration that they serve the double purpose of both facts and reflections. AFRICAN CORSAIRS. 319 battle-ground of the Cross and the Crescent was trans- ferred from the west to the east of Europe ; and Ger- many in the sixteenth century became what Spain and the Pyrenees had been in the eighth, the bulwark of Christendom. Nor was the power of Turkey on the sea less for- midable than on the land. Her fleet rode undisputed mistress of the Levant ; for Venice, warned by the memorable defeat at Prevesa in 1538, and by the loss of C)'^prus and otlier territories, hardly ventured to renew the contest. That wily republic found that it was safer to trust to diplomacy than to arms, in her dealings with the Ottomans. The Turkish navy, sweeping over the Mediterranean, combined with the corsairs of the Barbary coast, — who, to some extent, owed allegiance to the Porte, — and made frequent descents on the coasts of Italy and Spain, committing worse ravages than those of the hurricane. From these ravages France only was ex- empt ; for her princes, with an unscrupulous policy which caused general scandal in Christendom, by an alliance with the Turks, protected her territories some- what at the expense of her honor. The northern coast of Africa, at this time, was occu- pied by various races, who, however they may have differed in other respects, all united in obedience to the Koran. Among them was a large infusion of Moors descended from the Arab tribes who had once occupied the south of Spain, and who, on its reconquest by the Christians, had fled that country rather than renounce the religion of their fathers. Many even of the Moors then living were among the victims of this 320 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. religious persecution; and they looked with longing eyes on the beautiful land of their inheritance, and with feelings of unquenchable hatred on the Spaniards who had deprived them of it. The African shore was studded with towns, — some of them, like Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, having a large extent of territory adjacent, — which owned the sway of some Moslem chief, who ruled them in sovereign state, or, it might be, acknowledging, for the sake of protection, a qualified allegiance to the Sultan. These rude chiefs, profiting by their maritime position, fol- lowed the dreadful trade of the corsair. Issuing from their strongholds, they fell on the unprotected merchantman, or, descending on the opposite coasts of Andalusia and Valencia, sacked the villages and swept off the wretched inhabitants into slavery. The Castilian government did what it could for the protection of its subjects. Fortified posts were estab- lished along the shores. Watch-towers were raised on the heights, to give notice of the approach of an enemy. A fleet of galleys, kept constantly on duty, rode off the coasts to intercept the corsairs. The war was occa- sionally carried into the enemy's country. Expeditions were fitted out to sweep the Barbary shores or to batter down the strongholds of the pirates. Other states, whose territories bordered on the Mediterranean, joined in these expeditions; among them Tuscany, Rome, Na- ples, Sicily, — the two last the dependencies of Spain, — and above all Genoa, whose hardy seamen did good service in these maritime wars. To these should be added the Knights of St. John, whose little island of Malta, with its iron defences, boldly bidding defiance AFRICAN CORSAIRS. 321 to tlie enemy, was thrown into the very jaws, as it were, of the African coast. Pledged by their vows to per- petual war with the infidel, these brave knights, thus stationed on the outposts of Christendom, were the first to sound the alarm of an invasion, as they were foremost to repel it. The Mediterranean in that day presented a very different spectacle from what it shows at present, — swarming, as it does, with the commerce of many a distant land, and its shores glittering with towns and villages that echo to the sounds of peaceful and pro- tected industry. Long tracts of deserted territory might then be seen on its borders, with the blackened ruins of many a hamlet, proclaiming too plainly the recent presence of the corsair. The condition of the peasantry of the south of Spain, in that day, was not unlike that of our New England ancestors, whose rural labors might at any time be broken by the war-whoop of the savage, as he burst on the peaceful settlement, sweeping off its wretched inmates — those whom he did not massacre — to captivity in the wilderness. The trader, instead of pushing out to sea, crept timidly along the shore, under the protecting wings of its fortresses, fearful lest the fierce enemy might dart on him unawares and bear him off to the dungeons of Africa. Or, if he ventured out into the open deep, it was under a convoy of well-armed galleys, or, armed to the teeth himself, prepared for war. Scarcely a day passed Avithout some conflict between Christian and Moslem on the Mediterranean waters. Not unfrequently, instead of a Moor, the command was intrusted to some Christian renegade, who, having o* } 322 TJIB OTTOMAN EMPIRE. renounced his country and his religion for the roving life of a corsair, felt, like most apostates, a keener hatred than even its natural enemies for the land he had abjured.' In these encounters there were often displayed, on both sides, such deeds of heroism as, had they been performed on a wider theatre of action, would have covered the actors with immortal glory. By this perpetual warfare a race of hardy and expe- rienced seamen was formed in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean ; and more than one name rose to eminence for nautical science as well as valor, with which it would not be easy to find a parallel in other quarters of Christendom. Such were the Dorias of Genoa, — a family to whom the ocean seemed their native element, and whose brilliant achievements on its waters, through successive generations, shed an undying lustre on the arms of the republic. The corsair's life was full of maritime adventure. Many a tale of tragic interest was told of his exploits, and many a sad recital of the sufferings of the Christian captive, tugging at the oar, or pining in the dungeons of Tripoli and Algiers. Such tales formed the burden of the popular minstrelsy of the period, as well as of more elegant literature, — the drama, and romantic fiction. But fact was stranger than fiction. It would have been difficult to exaggerate the number of the Christian captives, or the amount of their sufferings. = Cervantes, in his story of tlie Captive's adventures in Don Quix- ote, tells us that it was common with a renegado to obtain a certificate from some of the Christian captives of his desire to return to Spain, so that, if he were taken in arms against his countrymen, his conduct would be set down to compulsion, and he would thus escape the fangs of the Inquisition. AFRICAN CORSAIRS. 323 On the conquest of Tunis by Charles the Fifth, in 1535, ten thousand of these unhappy persons, as we are assured, walked forth from its dungeons, and knelt, with tears of gratitude and joy, at the feet of their liberator. Charitable associations were formed in Spain for the sole purpose of raising funds to ransom the Barbary prisoners. But the ransom demanded was frequently exorbitant, and the efforts of these benevo- lent fraternities made but a feeble impression on the whole number of captives. Thus the war between the Cross and the Crescent was still carried on along the shores of the Mediterra- nean, when the day of the Crusades was past in most of the other quarters of Christendom. The existence of the Spaniard — as I have often had occasion to remark — was one long crusade ; and in the sixteenth century he was still doing battle with the infidel as stoutly as in the heroic days of the Cid. The furious contests with the petty pirates of Barbary engendered in his bosom feelings of even keener hostility than that which grew up in his contests with the Arabs, where there was no skulking, predatory foe, but army was openly arrayed against army and they fought for the sovereignty of the Peninsula. The feeling of religious hatred rekindled by the Moors of Africa extended in some degree to the Morisco population, who still occupied those territories on the southern borders of the monarchy which had belonged to their ancestors, the Spanish Arabs. This feeling was increased by the suspicion, not altogether without foundation, of a secret correspondence between the Moriscos and their brethren on the Barbary coast. These mingled sentiments of hatred and suspicion 324 7'HE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. sharpened the sword of persecution, and led to most disastrous consequences, which before long will be unfolded to the reader. Among the African corsairs was one by the name of Dragut, distinguished for his daring spirit and the pes- tilent activity with which he pursued the commerce of the Spaniards. In early life he had been made prisoner by Andrew Doria ; and the four years during which he was chained to the oar in the galleys of Genoa did not serve to mitigate the feelings of hatred which he had always borne to the Christians. On the recovery of his freedom he resumed his desperate trade of a corsair with renewed activity. Having made himself master of Tripoli, he issued out, with his galleys, from that stronghold, fell on the defenceless merchantman, rav- aged the coasts, engaged boldly in fight with the Christian sqqadrons, and made his name as terrible throughout the Mediterranean as that of Barbarossa had been in the time of Charles the Fifth. The people of the southern provinces, smarting under their sufferings, had more than once besought Philip to send an expedition against Tripoli, and, if possible, break up this den of thieves and rid the Mediterranean of the formidable corsair. But Philip, who was in the midst of his victorious campaigns against the French, had neither the leisure nor the resources, at that time, for such an enterprise. In the spring of 1559, however, he gave orders to the duke of Medina Celi, viceroy of Sicily, to fit out an armament for the purpose, to obtain the co-operation of the Italian states, and to take com- mand of the expedition. A worse choice for the command could not have been EXPEDITION AGAINST TRIPOLI 325 made ; and this not so much from the duke's inexperi- ence ; for an apprenticeship to the sea was not deemed necessary to form a naval commander, in an age when men passed indifferently from the land-service to the sea-service. But, with the exception of personal cour- age, the duke of Medina Cell seems to have possessed none of the qualities requisite in a commander, whether by land or sea. The different Italian powers — Tuscany, Rome, Na- ples, Sicily, Genoa — all furnished their respective quotas. John Andrew Doria, nephew of the great Andrew, and worthy of the name he bore, had com- mand of the galleys of the republic. To these was added the reinforcement of the grand master of Malta. The whole fleet amounted to more than a hundred sail, fifty-four of which were galleys ; by much the larger part being furnished by Spain and her Italian prov- inces. Fourteen thousand troops embarked on board the squadron. So much time was consumed in prepa- ration that the armament was not got ready for sea till late in October, 1559, — too late for acting with advan- tage on the stormy African coast. This did not deter the viceroy, who, at the head of the combined fleet, sailed out of the port of Syracuse in November. But the elements conspired against this ill-starred expedition. Scarcely had the squadron left the port when it was assailed by a tempest, which scat- tered the vessels, disabled some, and did serious damage to others. To add to the calamity, an epidemic broke out among the men, caused by the bad quality of the provisions furnished by the Genoese contractors. In his distress, the duke of Medina Cell put in at the Philip.— Vol. II. 28 326 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. island of Malta. He met with a hospitable reception from the grand master ; for hospitality was one of the obligations of the order. Full two months elapsed before the duke was in a condition to re-embark, with his force reduced nearly one-third by disease and death. Meanwhile, Dragut, having ascertained the object of the expedition, had made every effort to put Tripoli in a posture of defence. At the same time he sent to Constantinople, to solicit the aid of Solyman. The Spanish admiral, in the crippled condition of his arma- ment, determined to postpone the attack on Tripoli to another time, and to direct his operations for the pres- ent against the island of Jerbah, or, as it was called by the Spaniards, Gelves. This place, situated scarcely a league from the African shore, in the neighborhood of Tripoli, had long been known as a nest of pirates who did great mischief in the Mediterranean. It was a place of ill omen to the Spaniards, whose arms had met there with a memorable reverse in the reign of Ferdi- nand the Catholic. 3 The duke, however, landing with his whole force, experienced little resistance from the Moors, and soon made himself master of the place. It was defended by a fortress fallen much out of repair ; and, as the Spanish commander proposed to leave a garrison there, he set about restoring the fortifications, or rather constructing new ones. In this work the whole army actively engaged ; but nearly two months were consumed before it was finished. The fortress was then mounted with artillery, and provided with ammunition and whatever was necessary for its defence. 3 See the History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. iii. part ii. chap. 21. EXPEDITION AGAINST TRIPOLI 327 Finally, a garrison was introduced into it, and the command intrusted to a gallant officer, Don Alvaro de Sande. Scarcely had these arrangements been completed, and the troops prepared to re-embark, when advices reached the duke that a large Turkish fleet was on its way from Constantinople to the assistance of Dragut. The Spanish admiral called a council of war on board of his ship. Opinions were divided. Some, among whom was Doria, considering the crippled condition of their squadron, were for making the best of their way back to Sicily. Others, regarding this as a course unworthy of Spaniards, were for standing out to sea and giving battle to the enemy. The duke, perplexed by the opposite opinions, did not come to a decision. He was soon spared the necessity of it by the sight of the Ottoman fleet, under full sail, bearing rapidly down on him. It consisted of eighty-six galleys, each carry- ing a hundred janizaries ; and it was commanded by the Turkish admiral Piali, a name long dreaded in the Mediterranean. At the sight of this formidable armament the Chris- tians were seized with a panic. They scarcely offered any resistance to the enemy, who, dashing into the midst of them, sent his broadsides to the right and left, sinking some of the ships, disabling others, while those out of reach of his guns shamefully sought safety in flight. Seventeen of the combined squadron were sunk; four-and-twenty, more or less injured, struck their col- ors ; a few succeeded in regaining the island, and took shelter under the guns of the fortress. Medina Celi and Doria were among those who thus made their way to 328 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. the shore ; and under cover of the darkness, on the following night, they effected their escape in a frigate, passing, as by a miracle, without notice, through the enemy's fleet, and thus securing their retreat to Sicily. Never was there a victory more humiliating to the vanquished, or one which reflected less glory on the victors.'* Before embarking, the duke ordered Sande to defend the place to the last extremity, promising him speedy assistance. The garrison, thus left to carry on the contest with the whole Turkish army, amounted to about five thousand men ; its original strength being considerably augmented by the fugitives from the fleet. On the following morning, Piali landed with his whole force, and instantly proceeded to open trenches before the citadel. When he had established his bat- teries of cannon, he sent a summons to the garrison to surrender. Sande returned for answer that, "if the place were won, it would not be, like Piali's late vic- tory, without bloodshed." The Turkish commander waited no longer, but opened a lively cannonade on the ramparts, which he continued for some days, till a practicable breach was made. He then ordered a general assault. The janizaries rushed forward with their usual impetuosity, under a murderous discharge of artillery and small arms from the fortress as well as from the shipping, which was so situated as to support the fire of the besieged. Nothing daunted, the brave Moslems pushed forward over the bodies of their fallen 4 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. ix. p. 415, et seq. — Herrera, His- toria genera], lib. v. cap. 18. — Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. v. cap. 8. — Sagrcdo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 234, et seq. DESPERATE DEFENCE OF GEL FES. 329 comrades ; and, scrambling across the ditch, the lead- ing files succeeded in throwing themselves into the breach. But here they met with a spirit as determined as their own, from the iron array of warriors, armed with pike and arquebuse, who, with Sande at their head, formed a wall as impenetrable as the ramparts of the fortress. The contest was now carried on man against man, and in a space too narrow to allow the enemy to profit by his superior numbers. The be- sieged, meanwhile, from the battlements, hurled down missiles of every description on the heads of the assailants. The struggle lasted for some hours. But Spanish valor triumphed in the end, and the enemy was driven back in disorder across the moat, while his rear files were sorely galled, in his retreat, by the inces- sant fire of the fortress. Incensed by the failure of his attack and the slaughter of his brave followers, Piali thought it prudent to wait till he should be reinforced by the arrival of Dragut with a fresh supply of men and of battering-ordnance. The besieged profited by the interval to repair their works, and when Dragut appeared they were nearly as well prepared for the contest as before. On the corsair's arrival, Piali, provided with a heavier battering-train, opened a more effective fire on the cita- del. The works soon gave way, and the Turkish com- mander promptly returned to the assault. It was con- ducted with the same spirit, was met with the same desperate courage, and ended, like the former, in the total discomfiture of the assailants, who withdrew, leaving the fosse choked up with the bodies of their slaughtered comrades. Again and again the attack 28* 33° THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. was renewed, by an enemy whose numbers allowed the storming-parties to relieve one another, while the breaches made by an unintermitting cannonade gave incessant occupation to the besieged in repairing them. Fortunately, the number of the latter enabled them to perform this difficult service ; and though many were disabled, and there were few v/ho were not wounded, they still continued to stand to their posts, with the same spirit as on the iirst day of the siege. But the amount of the garrison, so serviceable in this point of view, was fatal in another. The fortress had been provisioned with reference to a much smaller force. The increased number of mouths was thus doing the work of the enemy. Notwithstanding the strictest economy, there was already a scarcity of pro- visions ; and at the end of six weeks the garrison was left entirely without food. The water too had failed. A soldier had communicated to the Spanish commander an ingenious process for distilling fresh water from salt.^ This afforded a most important supply, though in a very limited quantity. But the wood which furnished the fuel necessary for the process was at length ex- hausted, and to hunger was added the intolerable misery of thirst. Thus reduced to extremity, the brave Sande was not reduced to despair. Calling his men together, he told them that liberty v/as of more value than life. Any s " Hallo Don Alvaro un remedio para la falta del agua que en parte ayudo d la necessidad, y fue, que uno de su campo le mostro, que el agua salada se podia destilar por alambique, y aunque salio buena, y se bevia, no se hazia tanta que bastasse, y se gastava mucha lena, de que tenian falta." Herrera, Historia general, torn, i, p. 434. DESPERATE DEFENCE OF G ELVES. ZIT- thing was better than to surrender to such an enemy. And he proposed to them to sally from the fortress that very night, and cut their way, if possible, through the Turkish army, or fall in the attempt. The Spaniards heartily responded to the call of their heroic leader. They felt, like him, that the doom of slavery was more terrible than death. That night, or rather two ho.urs before dawn on the twenty-ninth of June, Don Alvaro sallied out of the fortress, at the head of all those who were capable of bearing arms. But they amounted to scarcely more than a thousand men, so greatly had the garrison been diminished by death or disabled by famine and disease. Under cover of the darkness, they succeeded in passing through the triple row of intrenchments without alarm- ing the slumbering enemy. At length, roused by the cries of their sentinels, the Turks sprang to their arms, and, gathering in dark masses round the Christians, presented an impenetrable barrier to their advance. The contest now became furious; but it was short. The heroic little band were too much enfeebled by their long fatigues, and by the total want of food for the last two days, to make head against the overwhelm- ing number of their assailants. Many fell under the Turkish scimitars, and the rest, after a fierce struggle, were forced back on the path by which they had come, and took refuge in the fort. Their dauntless leader, refusing to yield, succeeded in cutting his way through the enemy, and threw himself into one of the vessels in the port. Here he was speedily followed by such a throng as threatened to sink the bark and made re- sistance hopeless. Yielding up his sword, therefore. 332 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. he was taken prisoner, and led off in triumph to the tent of the Turkish commander. On the same day the remainder of the garrison, un- able to endure another assault, surrendered at discre- tion. Piali had now accomplished the object of the expedition ; and, having re-established the Moorish authorities in possession of the place, he embarked, with his whole army, for Constantinople. The tidings of his victory had preceded him ; and, as he proudly sailed up the Bosphorus, he was greeted with thunders of artillery from the seraglio and the heights surround- ing the capital. First came the Turkish galleys, in beautiful order, with the banners taken from the Chris- tians ignominiously trailing behind them through the water. Then followed their prizes, — the seventeen vessels taken in the action, — the battered condition of which formed a striking contrast to that of their con- querors. But the prize greater than all was the prison- ers, amounting to nearly four thousand, who, manacled like so many malefactors, were speedily landed, and driven through the streets, amidst the shouts and hoot- ings of the populace, to the slave-market of Constan- tinople. A few only, of the higher order, were re- served for ransom. Among them were Don Alvaro de Sande and a son of Medina Celi. The young noble- man did not long survive his captivity. Don Alvaro recovered his freedom, and lived to take ample ven- geance for all he had suffered on his conquerors. * * For the account of the heroic defence of Gelves, s^e — and recon- cile, if the reader can — Herrcra, ubi supra ; Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. ix. pp. 416-421 ; Leti, Filippo II., torn. i. pp. 349-352; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, hb. v. cap. 11, 12; Campana, Vita di Filippo II., par, fVAJi ON THE BARBAE y COAST. 333 Such was the end of the disastrous expedition against Tripoli, which left a stain on the Spanish arms that even the brave conduct of the garrison at Gelves could not wholly wipe away. The Moors were greatly elated by the discomfiture of their enemies ; and the Spaniards were filled with a proportionate degree of despondency, as they reflected to what extent their coasts and their commerce would be exposed to the predatory incur- sions of the corsairs. Philip was especially anxious in regard to the safety of his possessions on the African coast. The two principal of these were Oran and Ma- zarquivir, situated not far to the west of Algiers. They were the conquests of Cardinal Ximenes. The former place was won by an expedition fitted out at his own expense. The enterprises of this remarkable man were conducted on a gigantic scale, which might seem better suited to the revenues of princes. Of the two places Oran was the more considerable ; yet hardly more im- portant than Mazarquivir, which possessed an excellent harbor, — a thing of rare occurrence on the Barbary shore. Both had been cherished with care by the Castilian government, and by no monarch more than by Philip the Second, who perfectly understood the importance of these possessions, both for the advan- tages of a commodious harbor, and for the means they gave him of bridling the audacity of the African cruisers.^ ii. lib. 12 ; Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 237, et seq. — Sepulveda, De Rebus gestis Philippi II., pp. 63-87. 7 " Questa sola utilitk ne cava il Re di quei luoghi per conservatione de' quali spende ogni anno gran somma di denari delle sue entrate." Relatione de Soriano, 1560, MS. 334 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. In 1562, the king ordered a squadron of four-and- twenty galleys, under the command of Don Juan de Mendoza, to be got ready in the port of Malaga, to carry supplies to the African colonies. But in crossing the Mediterranean the ships were assailed by a furious tempest, which compelled them to take refuge in the little port of Herradura. The fury of the storm, how- ever, continued to increase ; and the vessels, while riding at anchor, dashed one against another with such violence that many of them foundered, and others, parting their cables, drifted on shore, which was cov- ered far and wide with the dismal wrecks. Two or three only, standing out to sea and braving the hurri- cane on the deep, were so fortunate as to escape. By this frightful shipwreck, four thousand men, including their commander, were swallowed up by the waves. The southern provinces were filled with consternation at this new calamity, coming so soon after the defeat at Gelves. It seemed as if the hand of Providence was lifted against them in their wars with the Mussul- mans.® The Barbary Moors, encouraged by the losses of the Spanish navy, thought this a favorable time for recover- ing their ancient possessions on the coast. Hassem, the dey of Algiers, in particular, a warlike prince, who had been engaged in more than one successful en- counter with the Christians, set on foot an expedition against the territories of Oran and Mazarquivir. The government of these places was intrusted, at that time, to Don Alonzo de Cordova, count of Alcaudete. In 8 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. ix. p. 426. — Sepulveda, De Rebus gestis Philippi II., p. 90. WAJi ON THE BARBAE Y COAST. 335 this post he had succeeded his father, a gallant soldier, •who, five years before, had been slain in battle by this very Hassem, the lord of Algiers. Eight thousand Spaniards had fallen with him on the field, or had been made prisoners of war.' Such were the sad auspices under which the reign of Philip the Second began, in his wars with the Moslems. '° Oran, at this time, was garrisoned by seventeen hun- dred men ; and twenty-seven pieces of artillery were mounted on its walls. Its fortifications were in good repair ; but it was in no condition to stand a siege by so formidable a force as that which Hassem was muster- ing in Algiers. The count of Alcaudete, the governor, a soldier worthy of the illustrious stock from which he sprang, lost no time in placing both Oran and Mazar- 9 The details of the battle were given, in a letter dated September Sth, 1558, by Don Alonzo to the king. His father fell, it seems, in an attempt to rescue his younger son from the hands of the enemy. Though the father died, the son was saved. It was the same Don Martin de Cordova who so stoutly defended Mazarquivir against Hassem afterwards, as mentioned in the text. Carta de Don Alonso de Cordova al Rey, de Toledo, MS. '0 The tidings of this sad disaster, according to Cabrera, hastened the death of Charles the Fifth (Filipe Segundo, lib. iv. cap. 13). But a letter from the imperial secretary, Gaztelu, informs us that care was taken that the tidings should not reach the ear of his dying master : " La muerte del conde de Alcaudete y su desbarato se entendio aqui por carta de Dn Alonso su hijo que despacho un correo desde Toledo con la nucva y por ser tan ruyn y estar S. Magd. en tal disposicion no se le dixo, y se tendra cuydado de que tampoco la sepa hasta que plazca d Dios este libre ; porque no se yo si hay ninguno en cuyo tiempo haya sucedido tan gran desgracia como esta." Carta de Mar- tin de Gaztelu al Secretario Molina, de Yuste, Set. 12, 1558, MS.^ The original of this letter, like that of the preceding, is in the Archives of Simancas. 336 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. quivir in the best state of defence which his means allowed, and in acquainting Philip with the peril in which he stood. Meanwhile, the Algerine chief was going briskly for- ward with his preparations. Besides his own vassals, he summoned to his aid the petty princes of the neigh- boring country; and in a short time he had assembled a host in which Moors, Arabs and Turks were promis- cuously mingled, and which, in the various estimates of the Spaniards, rose from fifty to a hundred thousand men. Little reliance can be placed on the numerical esti- mates of the Spaniards in their wars with the infidel. The gross exaggeration of the numbers brought by the enemy into the field, and the numbers he was sure to leave there, with the corresponding diminution of their own in both particulars, would seem to infer that in these religious wars they thought some miracle was necessary to show that Heaven was on their side, and the greater the miracle the greater the glory. This hyperbolical tone, characteristic of the old Spaniards, and said to have been imported from the East, is par- ticularly visible in the accounts of their struggles with the Spanish Arabs, where large masses were brought into the field on both sides, and where the reports of a battle took indeed the coloring of an Arabian tale. The same taint of exaggeration, though some- what mitigated, continued to a much later period, and may be observed in the reports of the contests with the Moslems, whether Turks or Moors, in the sixteenth century. On the fifteenth of March, 1563, Hassem left Algiers, WAR ON THE BARBAE Y COAST. 337 at the head of his somewhat miscellaneous array, send- ing his battering-train of artillery round by water, to meet him at the port of Mazarquivir. He proposed to begin by the sie'^e of this place, which, while it would afford a convenient harbor for his navy, would, by its commanding position, facilitate the conquest of Oran. Leaving a strong body of men, therefore, for the investment of the latter, he continued his march on Mazarquivir, situated at only two leagues' distance. The defence of this place was intrusted by Alcaudete to his brother, Don Martin de Cordova. Its fortifica- tions were in good condition, and garnished with near thirty pieces of artillery. It was garrisoned by five hundred men, was well provided with ammunition, and was victualled for a two months' siege. It was also protected by a detached fort, called St. Michael, built by the count of Alcaudete, and, from its com- manding position, now destined to be the first object of attack. The fort was occupied by a few hundred Spaniards, who, as it was of great moment to gain time for the arrival of succors from Spain, were ordered to maintain it to the last extren^ity. Hassem \vas not long in opening trenches. Im- patient, however, of the delay of his fleet, which was detained by the weather, he determined not to wait for the artillery, but to attempt to carry the fort by esca- lade. In this attempt, though conducted with spirit, he met with so decided a repulse that he abandoned the project of further operations till the arrival of his ships. No sooner did this take place than, landing his heavy guns, he got them into position as speedily as possible, and opened a lively cannonade on the walls Philip. — Vol. II. — p 29 338 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. of the fortress. The walls were of no great strength. A breach was speedily made ; and Hassem gave orders for the assault. No sooner was the signal given than Moor, Turk, Arab, — the various races in whose veins glowed the hot blood of the south, — sprang impetuously forward. In vain the leading files, as they came on, were swept away by the artillery of the fortress, while the guns of Mazarquivir did equal execution on their flank. The tide rushed on, with an enthusiasm that overleaped every obstacle. Each man seemed emulous of his com- rade, as if desirous to show the superiority of his own tribe or race. The ditch, choked up with the debris of the rampart and the fascines that had been thrown into it, was speedily crossed ; and while some sprang fearlessly into the breach, others endeavored to scale the Avails. But everywhere they were met by men as fresh for action as themselves, and possessed of a spirit as intrepid. The battle raged along the parapet, and in the breach, whei3 the struggle was deadliest. It was the old battle, so often fought, of the Crescent and the Cross, the fiery African and the cool, indom- itable European. Arquebuse and pike, sabre and scim- itar, clashed fearfully against each other; while high above the din rose the war-cries of "Allah!" and "St. Jago !" showing the creeds and countries of the com- batants. At one time it seemed as if the enthusiasm of the Moslems would prevail ; and twice the standard of the Crescent was planted on the walls. But it was speedily torn down by the garrison, and the bold adventurers who had planted it thrown headlong into- the moat. H^A/i ON THE BARBARY COAST. 339 Meanwhile, an incessant fire of musketry was kept up from the ramparts; and hand-grenades, mingled with barrels of burning pitch, were hurled down on the heads of the assailants, whose confusion was increased as their sight was blinded by the clouds of smoke which rose from the fascines that had taken fire in the ditch. But, although their efforts began to slacken, they were soon encouraged by fresh detachments sent to their support by Hassem, .and the fight was renewed with redoubled fury. These efforts, however, proved equally ineffectual. The Moors were driven back on all points ; and, giving way before the invincible courage of the Spaniards, they withdrew in such disorder across the fosse, now bridged over with the bodies of the slain, that, if the garrison had been strong enough in num- bers, they might have followed the foe to his trenches and inflicted such a blow as would at once have termi- nated the siege. As.it was, the loss of the enemy was fearful : while that of the Spaniards, screened by their defences, Avas comparatively light. Yet a hundred lives of the former, so overwhelming were their numbers, were of less account than a single life among the latter. The heads of fifty Turks, who had fallen in the breach or in the ditch, were cut off, as we are told, by the gar- rison, and sent, as the grisly trophies of their victory, to Oran ; " showing the feelings of bitter hatred — per- haps of fear — with which this people was regarded by the Christians. The Moorish chief, chafing under this loss, reopened his fire on the fortress with greater fury than ever. He then renewed the assault, but with no better success. »» Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. lo. 34° THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. A third and a fourth time he returned to the attack, but in vain. In vain, too, Hassem madly tore off his turban, and, brandishing his scimitar, with imprecations on his men, drove them forward to the fight. There was no lack of spirit in his followers,^ who poured out their blood like water. But it could not shake the constancy of the Spaniards, which seemed even to grow stronger as their situation became more desperate; and as their defences were swept away, they threw themselves on their knees, and from behind the ruins still poured down their volleys of musketry on the assailants. Yet they could not have maintained their ground so long, but for a seasonable reinforcement received from Mazarquivir. But, however high the spirit, there is a limit to the powers of endurance ; and the strength of the garrison was rapidly giving way under incessant vigils and want of food. Their fortifications, more- over, pierced through and through by the enemy's shot, were no longer tenable ; and a mine, which Hassem was now prepared to run under the ramparts, would complete the work of destruction. They had obeyed their orders, and stood to their defence gallantly to the last ; and they now obtained leave to abandon the fort. On the seventh of May, after having sustained eight assaults and a siege of three weeks from a host- so superior to them in numbers, the garrison marched out of the fortress of St. Michael. Under cover of the guns of Mazarquivir, they succeeded in rejoining their comrades there with but little loss, and were gladly welcomed by their commander, Don Martin de Cor- dova, who rendered them the honor due to their heroic WJ/i ON THE BARBAE Y COAST. 341 conduct. That same day Kassem took possession of the fortress. He found only a heap of ruins." The Moorish prince, stung with mortification at the price he had paid for his victory, and anxious, more- over, to anticipate the arrival of succors from Spain, now eagerly pressed forward the siege of Mazarquivir. With the assistance of his squadron, the place was closely invested by sea and land. Batteries of heavy guns were raised on opposite sides of the castle ; and for ten days they thundered, without interruption, on its devoted walls. When these had been so far shaken as to afford an opening to the besiegers, Hassem, willing to spare the further sacrifice of his men, sent a summons to Don Martin to surrender, intimating, at the same time, that the works were in too ruinous a condition to be defended. To this the Spaniard coolly replied that, "if they were in such a condition, Hassem might come and take them." On the signal from their chief, the Moors moved rapidly forward to the attack, and were soon brought face to face with their enemy. A bloody conflict fol- lowed, in the breach and on the ramparts. It continued more than five hours. The assailants found they had men of the same mettle to deal with as before, and with defences yet stronger than those they had encountered in the fortress of St. Michael. Here again the ardor J2 For this siege, the particulars of which are given in a manner sufficiently confused by most of the writers, see Ferreras, Hist. d'Es- pagne, torn. ix. p. 431, et seq. ; Cabrera, Filipe Segimdo, lib. vi. cap. 10; Sepulveda, De Rebus gestis Philippi II., p. 94; Salazar de Men- doza, Monarquia de Espana (Madrid, 1770), tom. ii. p. 127 ; Miniana, Historia de Espana, pp. 341, 342; Caro de Torres, Historia de las Ordenes militares, fol. 154. 29* 342 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE, of the African proved no match for the cool and steady courage of the European ; and Hassem's forces, repulsed on every quarter, withdrew in so mangled a condition to their trenches that he was in no state for several days to renew tlie assault. '^ It would be tedious to rehearse the operations of a siege so closely resembling in its details that of the fortress of St. Michael. The most conspicuous figure in the bloody drama was the commander of the garrison, Don Martin de Cordova. Freely exposing himself to hardship and danger with the meanest of his followers, he succeeded in infusing his own unconquerable spirit into their bosoms. On the eve of an assault he might be seen passing through the ranks with a crucifix in his hand, exhorting his men, by the blessed sign of their redemption, to do their duty, and assuring them of the protection of Heaven.''* Every soldier, kindling with the enthusiasm of his leader, looked on himself as a soldier of the Cross, and felt assured that the shield of the Almighty must be stretched over those who were thus fighting the battles of the Faith. The women caught somewhat of the same generous ardor, and, instead of confining themselves to the feminine occu- pations of nursing the sick and the wounded, took an active part in the duties of the soldiers and helped to lighten their labors. Still, the condition of the garrison became daily more precarious, as their strength diminished and their »3 According to Cabrera (Filipe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. 12), two thousand infidels fell on this occasion, and only ten Christians ; a fair proportion for a Christian historian to allow. Ex uno, etc. '4 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. ix. p. 455. IFAJi ON THE BARBAE Y COAST. 343 defences crumbled around them under the incessant fire of tlie besiegers. The count of Alcaudete in vain endeavored to come to their relief, or at least to effect a diversion in their favor. Sallying out of Oran, he had more than one sharp encounter with the enemy. But the odds against him were too great ; and, though he spread carnage among the Moslem ranks, he could ill afford the sacrifice of life that it cost him. In the mean time, the two garrisons were assailed by an enemy from within, more inexorable than the enemy at their gates. Famine had begun to show itself in some of its hideous forms. They were already reduced to the necessity of devouring the flesh of their horses and asses ; '^ and even that was doled out so scantily as too plainly intimated that this sustenance, wretched as it was, was soon to fail them. Under these circumstances, their spirits would have sunk, had they not been sus- tained by the exj^ectation of succor from Spain ; and they cast many a wistful glance on the Mediterranean, straining their eyes to the farthest verge of the horizon, to see if they could not descry some friendly sail upon the waters. But Philip was not unmindful of them. Independ- ently of the importance of the posts, he felt his honor to be deeply concerned in the protection of the brave men who were battling there for the cause not merely of Castile, but of Christendom. No sooner had he been advised by Alcaudete of the peril in which he stood than he gave orders that a fleet should be equipped to go to his relief. But such orders, in the disabled condition of the navy, were more easily given than 'S Campana, Vita di Filippo II., torn. ii. p. 138. 344 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. executed. Still, efforts were made to assemble an arma- ment and get it ready in the shortest possible time. Even the vessels employed to convoy the India galleons were pressed into the service. The young cavaliers of the southern provinces eagerly embarked as volunteers in an expedition which afforded them an opportunity for avenging the insults offered to the Spanish arms. The other states bordering on the Mediterranean, which had, in fact, almost as deep an interest in the cause as Spain herself, promptly furnished their contingents. To these were to be added, as usual, the galleys of the Knights of Malta, always foremost to unfurl the banner in a war with the inlidel. In less than two months an armament consisting of forty-two large galleys, besides smaller vessels, well manned and abundantly supplied with provisions and military stores, was assembled in the port of Malaga. It was placed under the command of Don Antonio de Mendoza, who, on the sixth of June, weighed anchor and steered directly for the Bar- bary coast. On the morning of the eighth, at early dawn, the sentinels on the ramparts of Mazarquivir descried the fleet like a dark speck on the distant waters. As it drew nearer, and the rising sun, glancing on the flag of Cas- tile, showed that the long-promised succor was at hand, the exhausted garrison, almost on the brink of despair, gave themselves up to a delirium of joy. They em- braced one another, like men rescued from a terrible fate, and, with swelling hearts, offered up thanksgivings to the Almighty for their deliverance. Soon the cannon of Mazarquivir proclaimed the glad tidings to the gar- rison of Oran, who replied from their battlements in WA/C ON THE BARBARY COAST. 345 thunders which carried dismay into the hearts of the besiegers. If Hassem had any doubt of the cause of these rejoicings, it was soon dispelled by several Moor- ish vessels, which, scudding before the enemy, like the smaller birds before the eagle, brought report that a Spanish fleet under full sail was standing for Mazar- quivir. No time was to be lost. He commanded his ships lying in the harbor to slip their cables and make the best of their way to Algiers. Orders were given at once to raise the siege. Every thing was abandoned. Whatever could be of service to the enemy was de- stroyed. Hassem caused his guns to be overcharged, and blew them to pieces.'* He disencumbered himself of whatever might retard his movements, and, without further delay, began his retreat. No sooner did Alcaudete descry the army of the besiegers on its marcli across the hills than he sallied out, at the head of his cavalry, to annoy them on their retreat. He was soon joined by his brother from Ma- zarquivir, with such of the garrison as were in condition for service. But the enemy had greatly the start of them. When the Spaniards came up with his rear- guard, they found it entirely composed of janizaries ; and this valiant corps, maintaining its usual discipline, faced about and opposed so determined a front to the assailants that Alcaudete, not caring to risk the advan- tages he had alread}^ gained, drew off his men and left a free passage to the enemy. The soldiers of the two garrisons now mingled together and congratulated one another on their happy deliverance, recounting their i6 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espngne, torn. ix. p. 461. P* 346 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. exploits and the perils and privations they had en- dured; while Alcaudete, embracing his heroic brother, could hardly restrain his tears as he gazed on his wan, emaciated countenance and read there the story of his sufferings. The tidings of the repulse of the Moslems were re- ceived with unbounded joy throughout Spain. The deepest sympathy had been felt for the brave men who, planted on the outposts of the empire, seemed to have been abandoned to their fate. The king shared in the public sentiment, and showed his sense of the gallant conduct of Alcaudete and his soldiers by the honors and emoluments he bestowed on them. That nobleman, besides the grant of a large annual revenue, was made viceroy of Navarre. His brother, Don Martin de Cor- dova, received the encomienda of Hornaclros, with the sum of six thousand ducats. Officers of inferior rank obtained the recompense due to their merits. Even the common soldiers were not forgotten ; and the govern- ment, with politic liberality, settled pensions on the wives and children of those who had perished in the siege. '^ 17 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. ix. p. 442, et seq. — Cabreid, Filipe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. 13.— Campana, Vita di Filippo II., torn, i. pp. 137-139. — Herrera, Hist, general, lib. x. cap. 4. — The last his- torian closes his account of the siege of Mazarquivir with the follow- ing not inelegant and certainly not parsimonious tribute to the heroic conduct of Don Martin and his followers: " Despues de noventa y dos dias que sostuvo este terrible cerco, y se embarco para Espaiia, quedando para siempre glorioso con los soldados.que con el se halla- ron, ellos por aver side tan obedientes, y por las hazanas que hizieron, y el por el valor y prudencia con que los govern6: por lo qual es coniparado A qualquicra de los niayores Capitanes del mundo." His- toria general, lib. x. cap. 4. JVAJ? ON THE BARBARY COAST. 47 Philip now determined to follow up his success; and, instead of confining himself to the defensive, he pre- pared to carry the war into the enemy's country. His first care, however, was to restore the fortifications of Mazarquivir, which soon rose from their ruins in greater strength and solidity than before. He then projected an expedition against Penon de Velez de la Gomera, a place situated to the west of his own possessions on the Barbary coast. It was a rocky island-fortress, which from the great strength of 'its defences, as well as from its natural position, was deemed impregnable. It was held by a fierce corsair, whose name had long been terrible in these seas. In the summer of 1564, the king, with the aid of his allies, got together a powerful armament and sent it at once against Penon de Velez. This fortress did not make the resistance to have been expected; and, after a siege of scarcely a week's dura- tion, the garrison submitted to the superior valor — or numbers — of the Christians.'^ This conquest was followed up, the ensuing year, by an expedition under Don Alvaro Bazan, the first mar- quis of Santa Cruz, — a name memorable in the naval annals of Castile. The object of the expedition was to block up the entrance to the river Tetuan, in the neighborhood of the late conquest. The banks of this river had long been the refuge of a horde of pestilent marauders, who, swarming out of its mouth, spread over the Mediterranean and fell heavily on the com- merce of the Christians. Don Alvaro accomplished his object in the face of a desperate enemy, and, after »8 Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. 18. — Herrera, Hist, general, torn. i. p. 559, et seq. 348 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. some hard fighting, succeeded in sinking nine brigan- tines laden with stones in the mouth of the river, and thus effectually obstructed its navigation. '' These brilliant successes caused universal rejoicing through Spain and the neighboring countries. They were especially important for the influence they exerted on the spirits of the Christians, depressed as these had been by a long series of maritime reverses. The Span- iards resumed their ancient confidence as they saw that victory had once more returned to their banner ; and their ships, which had glided like spectres under the shadow of the coast, now, losing their apprehensions of the corsair, pushed boldly out upon the deep. The Moslems, on the other hand, as they beheld their navies discomfited and one strong place after another wrested from their grasp, lost heart, and for a time, at least, were in no condition for active enterprise. But, while the arms of Spain were thus successful in chastising the Barbary corsairs, rumors reached the country of hostile preparations going forward in the East, of a more formidable character than any on the shores of Africa. The object of these preparations was not Spain itself, but Malta. Yet this little island, the bulwark of Christendom, was so intimately connected with the fortunes of Spain that an account of its mem- orable siege can hardly be deemed an episode in the history of Philip the Second. 19 The afFair of the Rio de Tetuan is given at length in the despatches of Don Alvaro Bazan, dated at Ceuta, March loth, 1565. The corre- spondence of this commander is still preserved in the family archives of the marquis of Santa Cruz, from which the copies in my possession were take.i. CHAPTER II. THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS OF ST. JOHN, Masters of Rhodes. — Driven from Rhodes. — Established at Malta. — Menaced by Solyman. — La Valette. — His Preparations for Defence, 1565. The order of the Knights of Malta traces its origin to a remote period, — to the time of the first crusade, in the eleventh century. A religious association was then formed in Palestine, under the title of Hospitallers of St, John the Baptist, the object of which, as the name imports, was to minister to the wants of the sick. There was a good harvest of these among the poor pil- grims who wandered from all parts of Europe to the Holy Land. It was not long before the society assumed other duties, of a military nature, designed for the de- fence of the pilgrim no less than his relief; and the new society, under the name of the Knights Hospi- tallers of St. John, besides the usual monastic vows, pledged themselves to defend the Holy Sepulchre and to maintain perpetual war against the infidel.' In its new form, so consonant with the spirit of the age, the institution found favor with the bold crusaders, and the accession of members from different parts of » Helyot, Hist, des Ordres religieux et militaires (Paris, 1792, 4to) torn. iii. pp. 74-78. — Vertot, History of the Knights of Malta ''Eng. trans., I^ondon, 1728, fol.), vol. ii. pp. 18-24. Philip. — Vol.. II. 30 (349) 350 THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN. Christendom greatly enlarged its power and political consequence. It soon rivalled the fraternity of the Templars, and, like that body, became one of the prin- cipal pillars of the throne of Jerusalem. After the fall of that kingdom and the expulsion of the Christians from Palestine, the Knights of St. John remained a short while in Cyprus, when they succeeded in con- quering Rhodes from the Turks, and thus secured to themselves a permanent residence. Placed in the undisputed sovereignty of this little island; the Knights of Rhodes, as they were now usually called, found themselves on a new and independent theatre of action, where they could display all the re- sources of their institutions and accomplish their glo- rious destinies. Thrown into the midst of the Mussul- mans, on the borders of the Ottoman Empire, their sword was never in the scabbard. Their galleys spread over the Levant, and, whether alone or with the Vene- tians, — the rivals of the Turks in those seas, — they faithfully fulfilled their vow of incessant war with the infidel. Every week saw their victorious galleys return- ing to port with the rich prizes taken from the enemy \ and every year the fraternity received fresh accessions of princes and nobles from every part of Christendom, eager to obtain admission into so illustrious an order. Many of these were possessed of large estates, which, on their admission, were absorbed in those of the com- munity. Their manors, scattered over Europe, far ex- ceeded in number those of their rivals, the Templars, in their most palmy state." And on the suppression of » Boisgelin, on the authority of Matthew Paris, says that in 1224 the Knights of St. John had 19,000 manors in different parts of Europe, MASTERS OF RHODES. 351 that order, sucli of its vast possessions as were not seized by the rapacious princes in whose territories they were lodged were suffered to pass into the hands of the Knights of St. John. The commanderies of the latter — those conventual establishments which faithfully re- flected the parent institution in their discipline — -were so prudently administered that a large surplus from their revenues was annually remitted to enrich the treasury of the order. The government of this chivalrous fraternity, as pro- vided by the statutes which formed its written consti- tution, was in its nature aristocratical. At the head was the grand master, elected by the knights from their own body, and, like the doge of Venice, holding his office for life, with an authority scarcely larger than that of this dignitary. The legislative and judicial functions were vested in councils, in which the grand master enjoyed no higher privilege than that of a double vote. But his patronage was extensive, for he had the nomination to the most important offices, both at home and abroad. The variety and high-sounding titles of these offices may provoke a smile in the reader, who might fancy himself occupied with the concerns of a great empire, rather than those of a little brotherhood of monks. The grand master, indeed, in his manner of living, affected the state of a sovereign prince. He sent his ambassadors to the principal European courts; and a rank was conceded to him next to that of crowned heads, — above that of any ducal potentate. ^ while the Templars had but 9000. Ancient and Modern Malta (London, 1805, 4to), vol. ii. p. 19. 3 For an account of the institutions of the order of St. John, see 352 THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN. He was enabled to maintain this position by the wealth which, from the sources already enumerated, flowed into the exchequer. Great sums were spent in placing the island in the best state of defence, in con- structing public works, palaces for the grand master, and ample accommodations for the various languages, — a technical term, denoting the classification of the members according to their respective nations; finally, in the embellishment of the capital, which vied in the splendor of its architecture with the finest cities of Christendom. Yet, with this show of pomp and magnificence, the Knights of Rhodes did not sink into the enervating luxury which was charged on the Templars, nor did they engage in those worldly ambitious schemes which provoked the jealousy of princes and brought ruin on that proud order. In prosperity, as in poverty, they were still true to the principles of their institution. Their galleys still spread over the Levant, and came back victorious from their caravans, as their cruises against the Moslems were termed. In every enterprise set on foot by the Christian powers against the enemies of the Faith, the red banner of St. John, with its eight- pointed cross of white, was still to be seen glittering in the front of battle. There is no example of a military institution having religion for its object which, under every change of condition and for so many centuries, maintained so inflexibly the purity of its principles and so conscientiously devoted itself to the great object for which it was created. Helyot, Ordres religieux, torn. ii. p. 58, et seq.; also the Old and New Statutes, appended to vol. ii. of Vertot's History of the Kniglits of Malta. MASTERS OF RHODES. 353 It was not to be expected that a mighty power, like that of the Turks, would patiently endure the existence of a petty enemy on its borders, which, if not formida- ble from extent of population and empire, like Venice, was even more annoying by its incessant hostilities and its depredations on the Turkish commerce. More than one sultan, accordingly, hoping to rid themselves of the annoyance, fitted out expeditions against the island, with the design of crushing the hornets in their nest. But in every attempt they were foiled by the valor of this little band of Christian chivalry. At length, in 1522, Solyman the Second led an expedition in person against Rhodes. For six months the brave knights, with their own good swords, unaided by a single Eu- ropean power, withstood the whole array of the Otto- man Empire ; and when at length forced to surrender, they obtained such honorable terms from Solyman as showed he knew how to respect valor, though in a Christian foe. Once more without a home, the Knights of St. John were abroad on the world. The European princes, affecting to consider the order as now extinct, pre- pared to confiscate whatever possessions it had in their several dominions. From this ruin it was saved by the exertions of L'Isle Adam, the grand master, who showed, at this crisis, as much skill in diplomacy as he had before shown prowess in the field. He visited the principal courts in person, and by his insinuating ad- dress, as well as arguments, not only turned the sov- ereigns from their purpose, but secured effectual aid for his unfortunate brethren. The pope offered them a temporary asylum in the papal territory; and Charles 354 THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN. the Fifth was induced to cede to the order, the island of Malta and its dependencies, with entire jurisdiction over them, for their permanent residence. Malta, which had been annexed by Charles's pre- decessors to Sicily, had descended to that monarch as part of the dominions of the crown of Aragon. In thus ceding it to the Knights of St. John the politic prince consulted his own interests quite as much as those of the order. He drew no revenue from the rocky isle, but, on the contrary, was charged with its defence against the Moorish corsairs, who made fre- quent descents on the spot, wasting the country and dragging off the miserable people into slavery. By this transfer of the island to the military order of St. John he not only relieved himself of all further ex- pense on its account, but secured a permanent bulwark for the protection of his own dominions. It was wise in the emperor to consent that the gift should be burdened with no other condition than the annual payment of a falcon in token of his feudal su- premacy. It .was also stipulated that the order should at no time bear arms against Sicily; a stipulation hardly necessary with men vrho, by their vows, were pledged to fight in defence of Christendom, and not against it."* In October, 1530, L'Isle Adam and his brave- asso- ciates took possession of their new domain. Their liearts sank within them as their eyes wandered over the rocky expanse, forming a sad contrast to the beau- tiful "land of roses" which had so long been their 4 The original deed of cession, in Latin, is published by Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 157, at seq. ESTABLISHED AT MALTA. 355 abode. s But it was not very long before the wilder- ness before them was to blossom like the rose, under their diligent culture.^ Earth was brought in large quantities, and at great cost, from Sicily. Terraces to receive it were hewn in the steep sides of the rock; and the soil, quickened by the ardent sun of Malta, was soon clothed with the glowing vegetation of the South. Still, it did not raise the grain necessary for the consumption of the island. This was regularly imported from Sicily, and stored in large pits or cav- erns, excavated in the rock, which, hermetically closed, preserved their contents unimpaired for years. In a short time, too, the island bristled with fortifications, which, combined with its natural defences, enabled its garrison to defy the attacks of the corsair. To these works was added the construction of suitable dwellings for the accommodation of the order. But it was long after, and not until the land had been desolated by 5 " Rhodes," from the Greek /ioJov. The origin of the name is re- ferred by etymologists to the great quantity of roses which grew wild on the island. The name of Malta {Melita) is traced to the wild honey, /^>U, of most excellent flavor, found among its rocks. 6 A recent traveller, after visiting both Rhodes and Malta, thus alludes to the change in the relative condition of the two islands : " We are told that, when L'Isle Adam and his brave companions first landed on this shore, their spii-its sank within them at the contrast its dry and J^arren surface presented to their delicious lost Rhodes ; I have qualified myself for adjudging that in most respects the tables are now turned between the two islands, and they certainly afford a very decisive criterion of the results of Turkish and Christian domin- ion." The Earl of Carlisle's Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters (Boston, 1855), p. 204; — an unpretending volume, which bears on every page evidence of the wise and tolerant spirit, the various schol- arship, and the sensibility to the beautiful, so characteristic of its noble author. 356 THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN. the siege on which we are now to enter, that it was crowned with the stately edifices that eclipsed those of Rhodes itself, and made Malta the pride of the Mediterranean. 7 In their new position the knights were not very dif- ferently situated from what they had been in the Levant. They were still encamped among the infidel, with the watch-fires of the enemy blazing around them. Again their galleys sailed forth to battle with the corsairs and returned laden with the spoils of victory. Still the white cross of St. John was to be seen in the post of danger. In all the expeditions of Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second against the Barbary Moors, from the siege of Tunis to the capture of Penon de Velez, they bore a prominent part. With the bravery of the soldier they combined the skill of the mariner \ and on that disastrous day when the Christian navy was scat- tered before Algiers, the Maltese galleys were among the few that rode out the tempest.^ It was not long 7 For the account of Malta I am much indebted to Boisgelin, " An- cient and Modern Malta." This work gives the most complete view of Malta, both in regard to the natural history of the island and the military and political history of the order, that is to be found in any book v^ith which I am Acquainted. It is a large repository of facts crudely put together, with little to boast of on the score of its literary execution. It is interesting as the production of a Knight of St. John, one of the unhappy few who survived to witness the Jreachery of his brethren and the extinction of his order. The last of the line, he may well be pardoned if, in his survey of the glorious past, he should now and then sound the trumpet of glorification somewhat too loudly. 8 " The galleys of the order alone resisted the fury of the waves ; and when Charles the Fifth vfcfas told that some vessels appeared still to live at sea, he exclaimed, ' They must indeed be Maltese galleys which can outride such a tempest !' The high opinion he had formed ESTABLISHED AT MALTA. 357 before the name of the Knights of Malta became as formidable on the southern shores of the Mediterranean as that of the Knights of Rhodes had been in the East. Occasionally their galleys, sweeping by the mouth of the Adriatic, passed into the Levant and boldly encoun- tered their old enemy on his own seas, even with odds greatly against them.' The Moors of tlie Barbary coast, smarting under the losses inflicted on them by their indefatigable foe, more than once besought the Sultan to come to their aid and avenge the insults offered to his religion on the heads of the offenders. At this juncture occurred the capture of a Turkish galleon in . the Levant. It was a huge vessel, richly laden, and defended by twenty guns and two hundred janizaries. After a desperate action, she was taken by the Maltese galleys, and borne off, a welcome prize, to the island. She belonged to the chief eunuch of the imperial harem, some of the fair inmates of which were said to have had an interest in the precious freight. '° These persons now joined with the Moors in the demand for vengeance. Solyman shared in the general indignation at the insult offered to him under the walls, as it were, of his own of this fleet was fully justified ; for the standard of the order was soon in sight." Boisgehn, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. ii. p. 34. 9 Ibid., p. 61, at alibi. '° The value of the freight was estimated at more than 80,000 ducats: " Se estimo la presa mas de ochenta mil ducados, de sedas de levante, y alombras y otras cosas, cada uno piense lo que se diria en la corte del Turco, sobre la perdida desta nave tan poderosa, y tan rica." La verdadera Relacion de todo lo qiie el Ano de M. D. LXV. ha succedido en la Isla de Malta, por Francisco Balbi de Cor- reggio, en todo el Sitio Soldado (Barcelona, 1568), fol. 19. 358 THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN. capital; and he resolved to signalize the close of his reign by driving the knights from Malta, as he had the commencement of it by driving them from Rhodes. ■ As it was not improbable that the Christian princes would rally in support of an order which had fought so many battles for Christendom, Solyman made his preparations on a formidable scale. Rumors of these spread far and wide ; and, as their object was unknown, the great powers on the Mediterranean, each fancying that its own dominions might be the point of attack, lost no time in placing their coasts in a state of defence. The king of Spain sent orders to his viceroy in Sicily to equip such a fleet as would secure the safety of that island. Meanwhile, the grand master of Malta, by means of spies whom he secretly employed in Constantinople, received intelligence of the real purpose of the expe- dition. The post of grand master, at this time, was held by Jean Parisot de la Valette, a man whose extra- ordinary character, no less than the circumstances in which he was placed, has secured him an imperishable name on the page of history. He was of an ancient family from the south of France, being of the la?igitage of Provence. He was now in the sixty-eighth year of his age." In his youth he had witnessed the memorable siege of Rhodes, and had passed successively through every post in the order, from the humblest to the high- est, which he now occupied. With large experience he combined a singular discretion, and an inflexible spirit, founded on entire devotion to the great cause in which he was engaged. It was the conviction of this self- " Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 17. PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE. 359 devotion which, in part at least, may have given La Valette that ascendency over the minds of his brethren which was so important at a crisis like the present. It may have been the anticipation of such a crisis that led to his election as grand master in 1557, when the dark- ness coming over the waters showed the necessity of an experienced pilot to weather the storm. No sooner had the grand master learned the true destination of the Turkish armament than he sent his emissaries to the different Christian powers, soliciting aid for the order in its extremity. He summoned the knights absent in foreign lands to return to Malta and take part with their brethren in the coming struggle. He imported large supplies of provisions and military stores from Sicily and Spain. He drilled the militia of the island, and formed an effective body of more than three thousand men ; to which was added a still greater number of Spanish and Italian troops, raised for him by the knights who were abroad. This force was augmented by the extraordinary addition of five hundred galley-slaves whom La Valette withdrew from the oar, promising to give them their fi-eedom if they served him faithfully. Lastly, the fortifications were put in repair, strengthened with outworks, and placed in the best condition for resisting the enemy. All classes of the inhabitants joined in this work. The knights themselves took their part in the toilsome drudgery ; and the grand master did not disdain to labor with the humblest of his followers. He not only directed, but, as hands were wanted, he set the example of carrying his own orders into execution. Wherever his presence was needed, he was to be found, — minis- 360 THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN. taring to the sick, cheering the desponding, stimulating the indifferent, chiding the dilatory, watching over the interests of the little community intrusted to his care with parental solicitude. While thus employed. La Valette received a visit from the Sicilian viceroy, Don Garcia de Toledo, the conqueror of Pefion de Velez. He came, by Philip's orders, to concert with the grand master the best means of defence. He assured the latter that so soon as he had assembled a fleet he would come to his relief; and he left his natural son with him, to learn the art of war under so experienced a commander. La Valette was comforted by the viceroy's promises of succor. But he well knew that it was not to the promises of others he was to trust, in his present exigency, but to his own efforts and those of his brave companions. The knights, in obedience to his call, had for the most part now arrived, each bringing with him a number of servants and other followers. Some few of the more aged and infirm remained behind ; but this not so much from infirmity and age as from the importance of having some of its members to watch over the interests of the community at foreign courts. La Valette was touched by the alacrity with which his brethren repaired to their posts, to stand by their order in the dark hour of its fortunes. He tenderly embraced them ; and soon after- wards, calling them together, he discoursed with them on the perilous position in which they stood, with the whole strength of the Moorish and Turkish empires mustering against them. "It was the great battle of the Cross and the Koran," he said, " that was now to be fought. They were the chosen soldiers of the Cross; PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE. 361 and, if Heaven required the sacrifice of their lives, there could be no better time than this glorious occasion." The grand master then led the way to the chapel of the convent, where he and his brethren, after devoutly con- fessing, partook of the sacrament, and, at the foot of the altar, solemnly renewed their vows to defend the Church against the infidel. With minds exalted by these spiritual exercises, all worldly interests seemed from that moment, says their historian, to lose their hold on their affections. They stood like a company of martyrs, — the forlorn hope of Christendom, pre- pared, as their chief had said, to offer up their lives a sacrifice to the great cause in which they were engaged. Such were the feelings with which La Valette and his companions, having completed their preparations, now calmly awaited the coming of the enemy." " Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. pp. 192-195. — Sagredo, Mo- narcas Othomanos, p. 244. — Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 26, et seq. — Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. ii. pp. 71-73. — De Thou, Hist, universelle, torn. v. pp. 51-53. — J. M. Calderon de la Barca, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta (Madrid, 1796), p. 28. Philip, — Vol. II.— Q 31 CHAPTER III. SIEGE OF MALTA. Condition of Malta. — Arrival of the Turks. — They reconnoitre the Island. — Siege of St, Elmo. — Its Heroic Defence. — Its Fall. 1565. Before entering on the particulars of this memorable siege, it will be necessary to make the reader somewhat acquainted with the country which was the scene of operations. The island of Malta is about seventeen miles long and nine broad. At the time of the siege it contained some twelve thousand inhabitants, exclusive of the members of the order. They were gathered, for the most part, into wretched towns and villages, the principal one of which was defended by a wall of some strength and was dignified with the title of Civita No- table, — "Illustrious City." As it was situated in the interior, near the centre of the island, the knights did not take up their residence there, but preferred the northeastern part of Malta, looking towards Sicily and affording a commodious harbor for their galleys. The formation of the land in this quarter is very remarkable. A narrow, rocky promontory stretches out into the Mediterranean, dividing its waters into two small gulfs, — that on the west being called Marza Mu- siette, or Port Musiette, and tliat towards the east, which now bears the name of Valetta harbor, being then known (362) CONDITION OF THE ISLAND. 3C3 as the Great Port. The extreme point of the promon- tory was crowned by the castle of St. Ehiio, built by the order, soon after its arrival in the island, on the spot which commanded the entrance into both harbors. It was a fortress of considerable strength, for which it was chiefly indebted to its position. Planted on the solid rock, and washed, for the greater part of its cir- cuit, by the waters of the Mediterranean, it needed no other defence on that quarter. But towards the land it was more open to an enemy; and, though protected by a dry ditch and a counterscarp, it was thought necessary to secure it still further by means of a ravelin on the southwest, which La Valette had scarcely completed before the arrival of the Turks. Port Musiette, on the west, is that in which vessels now perform quarantine. The Great Port was the most important ; for round that was gathered the little community of knights. Its entrance, which is not more than a quarter of a mile in width, is commanded by two headlands, one of them crested, as above men- tioned, by the fort of St. Elmo. The length of the harbor may be nearly two miles ; and the water is of sufficient depth for ships of the greatest burden to ride there in security, sheltered within the encircling arms of the coast from the storms of the Mediterranean. From the eastern side of this basin shoot out two projecting headlands, forming smaller harbors within the Great Port. The most northerly of these strips of land was defended by the castle of St. Angelo, round which clustered a little town, called by way of emi- nence // Borgo, "The Burgh," — now more proudly styled "The Victorious City." It was here that the 364 SIEGE OF MALTA. order took up its residence, — the grand masters estab- lishing themselves in the castle ; and great pains were taken to put the latter in a good state of defence, while the town was protected by a wall. On the par- allel strip of land, known as the island of La Sangle, from a grand master of that name, stood a fort, called the fort of St. Michael, with a straggling population gathered around it, now busily employed in strength- ening the defences. Between the two headlands lay the Port of Galleys, serving, as its name imports, as a haven for the little navy of the order. This port was made more secure by an iron chain drawn across its entrance, from the extreme point of one headland to the other. Such were the works constructed by the knights in the brief period during wliich they had occupied the island. They were so far imperfect that many a com- manding eminence, which the security of the country required to be strongly fortified, still remained as naked and exposed as at the time of their arrival. This imperfect state of its defences presented a strong contrast to the present condition of Malta, bristling all over with fortifications, which seem to form part of the living rock out of which they spring, and which, in the hands of a power that holds possession of the sea, might bid defiance to the world. The whole force which La Valette could muster in defence of the island amounted to about nine thousand men. This included seven hundred knights, of whom about six hundred had already arrived. The remainder were on their way, and joined him at a later period of the siege. Between three and four thousand were CONDITION OF THE ISLAND. 365 Maltese, irregularly trained, but who had already gained some experience of war in their contests with the Barbary corsairs. The rest of the army, with the exception of five hundred galley-slaves, already no- ticed, and the personal followers of the knights, was made up of levies from Spain and Italy, who had come over to aid in the defence. The useless part of the population — the infirm and the aged — had for the most part been shipped off to Sicily. There still remained, however, numbers of women and children ; and the former, displaying the heroic constancy which in times of trouble so often distinguishes the sex, did good service during the siege, by tending the sick and by cheering the flagging spirits of the soldier.' This little army La Valette distributed on the several stations, assigning each to some one of the languages, or nations, that the spirit of emulation might work its effects on the chivalry of the order. The castle of St. Elmo was the point of first importance. It covered so contracted a piece of ground that it scarcely afforded accommodation for a thousand men ; and not more than eight hundred were shut up within its walls at the commencement of the siege.' Its dimensions did not admit of its being provided with magazines capable of » Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 197. — Balbi, Verdadera Re- lacion, fol. 28. — The latter chronicler, who gives a catalogue of the forces, makes the total amount of fighting-men not exceed six thou- sand one hundred. He speaks, however, of an indefinite number besides these, including a thousand slaves, who in various ways con- tributed to the defence of the island. » " De modo que quado los turcos llegaron sobre sant Ermo, hauia ochocientos hombres dentro para pelear." Balbi, Verdadera Rela- cion, fol. 37. 31* 366 SIEGE OF MALTA. holding any large quantity of provisions or military stores, for which it was unfortunately obliged to rely on its communication with II Borgo, the town across the harbor. The masonry of the fort was not in the best repute ; though the works were lined with at least thirty pieces of artillery, looking chiefly towards the land. Its garrison, which usually amounted to sixty soldiers, was under the command of an aged knight, named De Broglio. The grand master reinforced this body with sixty knights under the bailiff of Negropont, a veteran in whose well-tried valor La Valette placed entire confidence. He was strengthened by two com- panies of foreign levies, under the command of a Spanish cavalier named La Cerda.^ Various other points were held by small detach- ments, with some one of the order at the head of each. But the strength of the force, including nearly all the remainder of the knights, was posted in the castle of St. Angelo a^jd in the town at its base. Here La Valette took his own station, as the spot which by its central position would enable him to watch over the interests of the whole. All was bustle in this quarter, as the people were busily employed in strength- ening the defences of the town, and in razing buildings in the suburbs, which the grand master feared might afford a lodgment to the enemy. In this work their labors were aided by a thousand slaves, taken from the prison, and chained together in couples. "• 3 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 31. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 198. 4 " En este tiempo ya todos los esclauos assi de sant Juan como de particulares estauan en la carcel, que seria Lien mil esclatios. Y ARRIVAL OF THE TURKS. z^n On the morning of the eighteenth of May, 1565, the Turkish fleet was descried by the sentinels of St. Ehno and St. Angelo, about thirty miles to the eastward, standing directly for Malta. A gun, the signal agreed on, was fired from each of the forts, to warn the in- habitants of the country to withdraw into their vil- lages. The fleet amounted to one hundred and thirty royal galleys, with fifty of lesser size, besides a number of transports with the cannon, ammunition, and other military stores.^ The breaching-artillery consisted of sixty-three guns, the smallest of which threw a ball of fifty-six pounds, and some fcAV, termed basilicas, carried marble bullets of a hundred and twelve pounds' weight.* The Turks were celebrated for the enormous calibre of their guns, from a very early period ; and they con- tinued to employ those pieces long after they had given way, in the rest of Europe, to cannon of more moder- ate and manageable dimensions. The number of soldiers on board, independently of the mariners, and including six thousand janizaries, was about thirty thousand, — the flower of the Ottoman army.' Their appointments were on the most perfect quando los sacauan a trabajar a las postas adonde se trabajaua, los sacauan de dos en dos, asidos de vna cadena." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37. 5 Ibid., fol. 23. 6 Ibid., fol. 21. — Vertot says, of a hundred and sixty pounds' weight (Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 202). Yet even this was far sur- passed by the mammoth cannon employed by Mahomet at the siege of Constantinople, in the preceding century, which, according to Gibbon, threw stone bullets of si,x hundred pounds. 7 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 26. — The old soldier goes into the composition of the Turkish force, in the general estimate of which he does not differ widely from Vertot. 368 SIEGE OF MALTA. scale, and every thing was provided requisite for the prosecution of the siege. Never, probably, had there been seen so magnificent an armament in the waters of the ]\Iediterranean. It was evident that Solyman was bent on the extermination of the order which he had once driven into exile, but which had now renewed its strength and become the most formidable enemy of the Crescent. The command of the expedition was intrusted to two officers. One of these, Piali, was the same admiral who defeated the Spaniards at Gelves. He had the direction of the naval operations. The land-forces were given to Mustapha, a veteran nearly seventy years of age, whose great experience, combined with military talents of a high order, had raised him to the head of his profession. Unfortunately, his merits as an officer were tarnished by his cruelty. Besides the command of the army, he had a general authority over the whole expedition, which excited the jealousy of Piali, who thought himself in- jured by the preference given to his rival. Thus feelings of mutual distrust arose in the bosoms of the two chiefs, which to some extent paralyzed the operations of each. The Turkish armada steered for the southeastern quarter of the island, and cast anchor in the port of St. Thomas. The troops speedily disembarked, and spread themselves in detached bodies over the land, devastating the country, and falling on all stragglers whom they met in the fields. Mustapha, with the main body of the army, marching a short distance into the interior, occupied a rising ground only a few miles from II Borgo. It was with difficulty that the inhabitants could be prevented from issuing from the gates, in order OPERATIONS AGAINST ST. ELMO. 1^9 to gaze on the show presented by the invaders, whose magnificent array stretched far beyond the hills, with their bright arms and banners glittering in the sun, and their warlike music breathing forth notes of defiance to the Christians. La Valette, in his turn, caused the standard of St. John to be unfurled from the ramparts of the castle, and his trumpets to answer in a similar strain of defiance to that of the enemy. ^ Meanwhile, the grand marshal, Coppier, had sallied from the town at the head of a small troop and fallen upon some of the detachments which were scouring the country. The success of his arms was shown by the gory heads of the slaughtered Turks, which he sent back to II Borgo as the trophies of victory.^ La Va- lette's design in permitting these encounters was to familiarize his men with the novel aspect and peculiar weapons of their enemies, as well as the fierce war-cries which the Turks raised in battle. But the advantages gained in these skirmishes did not compensate the losses, however light, on the part of the Christians ; and after two knights and a number of the common file had been slain, the grand master ordered his followers to remain quietly within the walls of the town. It was decided, in the Turkish council of war, to begin operations with the siege of the castle of St. Elmo, as the possession of this place was necessary to secure a safe harbor for the Turkish fleet. On the twenty-fourth of May the trenches were opened, — if that can be said where, from the rocky, impenetrable nature of the ground, no trenches could be dug, and 8 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 34. 9 Ibid., ubi supra. 370 SIEGE OF MALTA. the besiegers were obliged to shelter themselves behind a breastwork formed of planks, having the space be- tween them filled with earth brought from a distance, and held together by straw and rushes. At certain intervals Mustapha indicated the points for batteries. The principal of these was a battery where ten guns were mounted, some of them of the largest calibre; and although artillery-practice was very different from what it is in our times, with so much greater experience and more manageable engines, yet masonry stronger than that of St. Elmo might well have crumbled under the masses of stone and iron that were now hurled against it. As the works began to give way, it seemed clear that the garrison must rely more on their own strength than on that of their defences. It was resolved, therefore, to send to the grand master and request reinforcements. The Chevalier de la Cerda was intrusted with the mis- sion. Crossing over to II Borgo, he presented himself before La Valette and insisted on the necessity of further support if the fort was to be maintained against the infidel. The grand master listened, with a displeasure which he could not conceal, to this application for aid so early in the siege, especially as it was made in the presence of many of the knights, who might well be disheartened by it. He coldly asked La Cerda what loss the garrison had suffered. The knight, evading the question, replied that St. Elmo was in the condition of a sick man who requires the aid of the physician. "I will be the physician," said La Valette, "and will bring such aid that, if I cannot cure your fears, I may at least hope to save the place from falling into the OPERATIONS AGAINST ST. ELMO. sn hands of the enemy." So impressed was he with the importance of maintaining this post to the last extremity, if it were only to gain time for the Sicilian succors, that he was prepared, as he said, to throw himself into the fortress, and, if need were, to bury himself in its ruins. From this desperate resolution he was dissuaded by the unanimous voice of the knights, who represented to him that it was not the duty of the commander-in-chief to expose himself like a common soldier and take his place in the forlorn hope. The grand m.aster saw the justice of these remonstrances ; and, as the knights contended with one another for the honor of assuming the post of danger, he allowed fifty of the order, to- gether with two companies of soldiers, to return with La Cerda to the fort. The reinforcement was placed under command of the Chevalier de Medrano, a gallant soldier, on whose constancy and courage La Valette knew he could rely. Before his departure, the strength of the force was increased by the arrival of several knights from Sicily, who obtained the grand master's leave to share the fortunes of their brethren in St. Elmo. The troops were sent across the harbor, together with supplies of food and ammunition, in open boats, under cover of a heavy fire from the guns of St. Angelo. A shot happened to fall on a stone near the trenches, in which Piali, the Turkish admiral, was standing ; and, a splinter striking him on the head, he was severely, though not mortally, wounded. La Valette took ad vantage of the confusion created by this incident to despatch a galley to Sicily, to quicken the operations of the viceroy and obtain from him the promised suc- cors. To this Don Garcia de Toledo replied by an 372 SIEGE OF MALTA. assurance that he should come to his relief by the middle of June." It was now the beginning of that month. Scarcely had Medrano entered St. Elmo when he headed a sally against the Turks, slew many in the trenches, and put the remainder to flight. But they soon returned in such overwhelming force as compelled the Christians to retreat and take refuge within their works. Unfor- tunately, the smoke of the musketry, borne along by a southerly breeze, drifted in the direction of the castle ; and under cover of it the Turks succeeded in getting possession of the counterscarp. As the smoke cleared away, the garrison were greatly dismayed at seeing the Moslem standard planted on their own defences. It was in vain they made every effort to recover them. The assailants, speedily intrenching themselves behind a parapet formed of gabions, fascines, and wool-sacks, established a permanent lodgment on the counterscarp. From this point they kept up a lively discharge of musketry on the ravelin, killing such of its defenders as ventured to show themselves. An untoward event soon put them in possession of the ravelin itself. A Turkish engineer, reconnoitring that outwork from the counterscarp, is said to have perceived a sentinel asleep on his post. He gave notice to his countrymen ; and a party of janizaries succeeded, by means of their lad- ders, in scaling the walls of the ravelin. The guard, though few in number and taken by surprise, still en- deavored to maintain the place. A sharp skirmish >o Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37, et seq. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. pp. 200-202. — Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 42. — Cabrera, Filipe Scgundo, lib. vi. cap. 24. HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. -^-^^t ensued. But the Turks, speedily reinforced by their comrades, who flocked to their support, overpowered the Christians and forced them to give way. Some few succeeded in effecting their retreat into the castle. The janizaries followed close on the fugitives. For a moment it seemed as if Moslem and Christian would both be hurried along by the tide of battle into the fort itself. But fortunately the bailiff of Negropont, Medrano, and some other cavaliers, heading their fol- lowers, threw themselves on the enemy and checked the pursuit. A desperate struggle ensued, in which science was of no avail, and victory waited on the strongest. In the end the janizaries were forced to retreat in their turn. Every inch of ground was con- tested ; until the Turks, pressed hard by their adver- saries, fell back into the ravelin, where, with the aid of their comrades, they made a resolute stand against the Christians. Two cannon of the fortress were now brought to bear on the outwork. But, though their volleys told with murderous effect, the Turks threw themselves into the midst of the fire, and fearlessly toiled, until, by means of gabions, sand-bags, and other materials, they had built up a parapet which secured them from annoyance. All further contest was ren- dered useless ; and the knights, abandoning this im- portant outwork to the assailants, sullenly withdrew into the fortress." '' In Vertot's account of this affair, much is said of a nondescript outwork, termed a cavalier, — conveying a different idea from what is understood by that word in modern fortifications. It stood without the walls, and was connected with the ravehn by a bridge, the posses- sion of which was hotly contested by the combatants. Balbi, tlie Spanish soldier, so often quoted, — one of the actors in the siege, rhilip.— Vol. II. 32 37-4 SIEGE OF MALTA. While this was going on, a fresh body of Turks, bursting into the ditch through a breach in the counter- scarp, endeavored to carry the fortress by escalade. Fortunately, their ladders were too short ; and the gar- rison, plying them with volleys of musketry, poured down at the same time such a torrent of missiles on their heads as soon strewed the ditch with mangled limbs and carcasses. At this moment a party, sallying from the fort, fell on the enemy with great slaughter, and drove them — such as were in condition to fly — back into their trenches. The engagement, brought on, as we have seen, by accident, lasted several hours. The loss of the Turks greatly exceeded that of the garrison, which amounted to less than a hundred men, twenty of whom were members of the order. But the greatest loss of the besieged was that of the counterscarp and ravelin. Thus shorn of its outworks, the castle of St. Elmo stood like some bare and solitary trunk exposed to all the fury of the tempest." The loss of the ravelin gave the deepest concern to La Valette, which was not mitigated by the considera- tion that it was to be charged, in part at least, on the negligence of its defenders. It made him the more solicitous to provide for the security of the castle ; and he sent his boats over to remove the wounded and re- though stationed at the fort of St. Michael, — speaks of the fight as being carried on in the ditch. His account has the merit of being at once the briefest and the most intelligible. " Ball)i, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 40, 41. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. pp. 203-205. — Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 48, at seq. — Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 245. — Cabrera, Filipe Se- gundo, lib. vi. cap. 24. — Herrera, Historia general, lib. xii. cap. 4. HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 375 place them by an equal number of able-bodied knights and soldiers. It was his intention that the garrison should not be encumbered with any who were unable to assist in the defence. Among the new recruits was the Chevalier de Miranda, — one of the most illustrious members of the order, who had lately arrived from Sicily, — a soldier whose personal authority, combined with great military knowledge, proved eminently useful to the garrison. The loss which the besiegers had sustained in the late encounter was more than counterbalanced by the arrival, at this time, of Dragut, the famous pasha of Tripoli, with thirteen Moorish galleys. He was wel- comed by salvos of artillery and the general rejoicing of the army ; and this not so much on account of the re- inforcement which he brought — the want of which was not then felt — as of his reputation ; for he was no less celebrated as an engineer than as a naval commander. The sultan, who had the highest opinion of his merits, had ordered his generals to show him the greatest defer- ence ; and they at once advised with him as to the best means of prosecuting the siege. The effect of his counsel was soon seen in the more judicious and effi- cient measures that were adopted. A battery of four culverins was established on the western headland com- manding the entrance of Port Musiette. It was de- signed to operate on the western flank of the fortress ; and the point of land on which it stood is still known by the name of the redoubtable corsair. Another battery, much more formidable from the number and size of the pieces, was raised on an emi- nence to the south of St. Elmo, and played both upon 376 SIEGE OF MALTA. that fort and upon the castle of St. Angelo. The counterscarp of the former fortress was shaved away, so as to allow a free range to the artillery of the be- siegers j '^ and two cannon were planted on the ravelin, which directed a searching fire on the interior of the fortress, compelling the garrison to shelter themselves behind retrenchments constructed under the direction of Miranda.''' The artillery of the Turks now opened with dreadful effect, as they concentrated their fire on the naked walls of St. Elmo. No masonry could long withstand the tempest of iron and ponderous marble shot which was hurled from the gigantic engines of the besiegers. Fragments of the wall fell off as if it had been made of plaster ; and St. Elmo trembled to its foundations under the thunders of the terrible ordnance. The heart of the stoutest warrior might well have faltered as he saw the rents each day growing wider and wider, as if gaping to give entrance to the fierce multitude that was swarming at the gates. In this extremity, with the garrison wasted by the constant firing of the enemy, worn down by excessive toil, many of the knights wounded, all of them harassed by long-protracted vigils, it was natural that the greater part should feel they had done all that duty required of them, and that without loss of honor they might re- tire from a post that was no longer tenable. They ac- cordingly resolved to apply to the grand master to send '3 Balbi, Verdadera Rclacion, fol. 39. '4 Ibid., fol. 39-42. — Calderon, Gloriosa Dcfensa de Malta, p. 46. — De Thou, Hist, universelle, torn. v. p. 58. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 204. — Miniana, Hist, de Espana, p. 350. HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 377 his boats at once to transport them and the rest of the garrison to II Borgo. The person whom they chose for the mission was the Chevalier de Medrano, who, as La Valette would know, was not likely to exaggerate the difficulties of their situation. Medrano accordingly crossed the harbor, and, in an interview with the grand master, explained the pur- pose of his visit. He spoke of the dilapidated state of the fortifications, and dwelt on the forlorn condition of the garrison, which was only to be sustained by con- stant reinforcements from II Borgo. But this was merely another mode of consuming the strength of the order. It would be better, therefore, instead of prolonging a desperate defence, which must end in the ruin of the defenders, to remove them at once to the to^vn, where they could make common cause with their brethren against the enemy. La Valette listened attentively to Medrano' s argu- ments, which were well deserving of consideration. But, as the affair was of the last importance to the in- terests of his little community, he chose to lay it be- fore the council of Grand Crosses, — men who filled the highest stations in the order. They were unani- mously of the same opinion as Medrano. Not so was La Valette. He felt that with the maintenance of St. Elmo was connected the very existence of the order. The viceroy of Sicily, he told his brethren, had declared that if this strong post were in the hands of the enemy he would not hazard his master's fleet there to save the island. And, next to their own good swords, it was on the Sicilian succors that they must rely. The knights must maintain the post at all haz- 32* 378 SIEGE OF MALTA. ards. The viceroy could not abandon them in their need. He himself would not desert them. He would keep them well supplied with whatever was required for their defence, and, if necessary, would go over and take the command in person, and make good the place against the infidel, or die in the breach. The elder knights, on learning the grand master's decision, declared their resolution to abide by it. They knew how lightly he held his life in comparison with the cause to which it was consecrated ; and they avowed their determination to shed the last drop of their blood in defence of the post intrusted to them. The younger brethren were not so easily reconciled to the decision of their superiors. To remain there longer was a wanton sacrifice of life, they said. They were penned up in the fort, like sheep, tamely waiting to be devoured by the fierce wolves that were thirsting for their blood. This they could not endure ; and, if the grand master did not send to take them off at once, they would sally out against the enemy and find an honorable death on the field of battle. A letter signed by fifty of the knights, expressing their determination, was accordingly despatched by one of their number to II Borgo. La Valette received the communication with feelings in which sorrow was mingled with indignation. It was not enough, he said, for them to die the honorable death which they so much coveted. They must die in the manner he prescribed. They were bound to obey his commands. He reminded them of the vows taken at the time of their profession, and the obligation of every loyal knight to sacrifice his life, if necessary, for HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 379 the good of the order. Nor would they gain any thing, he added, by abandoning their post and returning to the town. The Turkish army would soon be at its gates, and the viceroy of Sicily would leave them to fheir fate. That he might not appear, however, to pass too lightly by their remonstrances, La Valette determined to send three commissioners to inspect St. Elmo and report on its condition. This would at least have the advantage of gaining time, when every hour gained was of importance. He also sent to Sicily to remon- strate on the tardiness of the viceroy's movements, and to urge the necessity of immediate succors if he would save the castle. The commissioners were received with joy by the refractory knights, whom they found so intent on their departure that they were already beginning to throw the shot into the wells, to prevent its falling into the hands of the Turks. They eagerly showed the com- missioners every part of the works, tlie ruinous condi- tion of which, indeed, spoke more forcibly than the murmurs of the garrison. Two of the body adopted the views of the disaffected party, and pronounced the fort no longer tenable. But the third, an Italian cavalier, named Castriot, was of a different way of thinking. The fortifications, he admitted, were in a bad state, but it was far from a desperate one. With fresh troops and the materials that could be furnished from the town, they might soon be put in condition to hold out for some time longer. Such an opinion, so boldly avowed, in opposition to the complaints of the kniglits, touched their honor. A hot dispute arose be- 380 SIEGE OF MALTA. tween the parties; and evil consequences might have ensued, had not the commander, De Broglio, and the bailiff of Negropont, to stop the tumult, caused the alarm-bell to be rung, which sent every knight to his post. Castriot, on his return, made a similar report to the grand master, and boldly offered to make good his words. If La Valette would allow him to muster a force, he would pass over to St. Elmo and put it in condition still to hold out against the Ottoman arms. La Valette readily assented to a proposal which he may perhaps have originally suggested. No compulsion was to be used in a service of so much danger. But volunteers speedily came forward, knights, soldiers, and inhabitants of both town and country. The only difficulty was in making the selection. All eagerly contended for the glory of being enrolled in this little band of heroes. La Valette wa^ cheered by the exhibition of this generous spirit in his followers. It gave assurance of success stronger than was to be derived from any for- eign aid. He wrote at once to the discontented knights in St. Elmo and informed them of what had been done. Their petition was now granted. They should be re- lieved that very evening. They had only to resign their posts to their successors. "Return, my breth- ren," he concluded, "to the convent. There you will be safe for the present ; and I shall have less apprehen- sion for the fate of the fortress, on which the preserva- tion of the island so much depends." The knights, who had received some intimation of the course the affair was taking in II Borgo, were HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 381 greatly disconcerted by it. To surrender to others the post committed to their own keeping would be a dis- honor they could not endure. When the letter of the grand master arrived, their mortification was extreme; and it was not diminished by the cool and cutting con- tempt but thinly veiled under a show of solicitude for their personal safety. They implored the bailiff of Negropont to write in their name to La Valette and beseech him not to subject them to such a disgrace. They avowed their penitence for the course they had taken, and only asked that they might now be allowed to give such proofs of devotion to the cause as should atone for their errors. The letter was despatched by a swimmer across the harbor. But the grand master coldly answered that veterans without subordination were in his eyes of less worth than raw recruits who submitted to discipline. The wretchedness of the knights at this repulse was unspeakable ; for in their eyes dishonor was far worse than death. In their extremity they addressed them- selves again to La Valette, renewing their protestations of sorrow for the past, and in humble terms requesting his forgiveness. The chief felt that he had pushed the matter far enough. It was perhaps the point to which he had intended to bring it. It would not be well to drive his followers to despair. He felt now they might be trusted. He accordingly dismissed the levies, re- taining only a part of these brave men to reinforce the garrison ; and with them he sent supplies of ammuni- tion, and materials for repairing th.e battered works. 's '5 For the preceding pages, setting forth the embassies to La Valette, and exhibiting in such bold relief the character of the grand master, 382 SIEGE OF MALTA. During this time the Turkish commander was press- ing the siege with vigor. Day and night the batteries thundered on tlie ramparts of the devoted fortress. The ditch was strewed with fragments torn from the walls by the iron tempest; and a yawning chasm, which had been gradually opening on the southwestern side of the castle, showed that a practicable breach was at length effected. The uncommon vivacity with which the guns played through the whole of the fifteenth of June, and the false alarms with which the garrison was harassed on the following night, led to the belief that a general assault was immediately intended. The sup- position was correct. On the sixteenth, at dawn, the whole force of the besiegers was under arms. The appointed signal was given by the discharge of a can- non ; when a numerous body of janizaries, formed into column, moved swiftly forward to storm the great breach of the castle. Meanwhile, the Ottoman fleet, having left its anchor- age on the eastern side of the island, had moved round, and now lay off the mouth of the Great Port, where its heavy guns were soon brought to bear on the seaward side of St. Elmo. The battery on Point Dragut opened on the western flank of the fortress; and four thou- sand musketeers in the trenches swept the breach with showers of bullets, and picked off those of the garrison who showed their heads above the parapet. I have been chiefly indebted to Vertot (Knights of Malta, vol. ii. pp. 309-312). The same story is told, more concisely, by Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 60-67 ; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. 25 ; De Thou, Hist, universelle, torn. v. p. 61 ; Campana, Filippo Secondo, par. ii. p. 159 ; Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 44, 45. HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 383 The guns of the besieged, during this time, were not idle. They boldly answered the cannonade of the vessels ; and on the land-side the play of artillery and musketry was incessant. The besieged now concen- trated their aim on the formidable body of janizaries, who, as already noticed, were hurrying forward to the assault. Their leading files were mowed down, and their flank cruelly torn, by the cannon of St. Angelo, at less than half a mile's distance. But, though stag- gered by this double fire on front and flank, the jani- zaries were not stayed in their career, nor even thrown into disarray. Heedless of those who fell, the dark column came steadily on, like a thunder-cloud ; while the groans of the dying were drowned in the loud battle-cries with which their comrades rushed to the assault. The fosse, choked up with the ruins of the ramparts, afforded a bridge to the assailants, who had no need of the fascines with which their pioneers were prepared to fill up the chasm. The approach to the breach, however, was somewhat steep; and the breach itself was defended by a body of knights and soldiers, who poured volleys of musketry thick as hail on the assailants. Still they pushed forward through the storm, and, after a fierce struggle, the front rank found itself at the summit, face to face with its enemies. But the strength of the Turks was nearly exhausted by their efforts. They were hewn down by the Christians, who came fresh into action. Yet others succeeded those who fell, till, thus outnumbered, the knights began to lose ground, and the forces were more equally matched. Then came the struggle of man against man, where each party was spurred on by the fury of religious hate, 384 SIEGE OF MALTA. and Christian and Moslem looked to paradise as the reward of him who fell in battle against the infidel. No mercy was asked ; none was shown ; and long and hard was the conflict between the flower of the Moslem soldiery and the best knights of Christendom. In the heat of the fight an audacious Turk planted his standard on the rampart. But it was speedily wrenched away by the Chevalier de Medrano, who cut down the Mussulman and at the same moment received a mortal wound from an arquebuse.'^ As the contest lasted far into the day, the heat became intense, and added sorely to the dis- tress of the combatants. Still, neither party slackened their efforts. Though several times repulsed, the Turks returned to the assault with the same spirit as before ; and when sabre and scimitar were broken, the com- batants closed with their daggers, and rolled down the declivity of the breach, struggling in mortal conflict with each other. While the work of death was going on in this quar- ter, a vigorous attempt was made in another to carry the fortress by escalade. A body of Turks, penetrating into the fosse, raised their ladders against the walls, and, pushed forward by their comrades in the rear, endeavored to force an ascent, under a plunging fire of musketry from the garrison. Fragments of rock, logs of wood, ponderous iron shot, were rolled over the parapet, mingled with combustibles and hand- 's The remains of Medrano were brought over to II Borgo, where La Valette, from respect to his memory, caused them to be laid among those of the Grand Crosses : " El gran Maestre lo mando enterrar en una sepultura, adonde se entierran los cavalleros de la gran Cruz, por- que esta era la mayor honra, que en tal tiempo le podia hazer, y el muy bien la mcrecia." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 51. HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 385 grenades, which, exploding as they descended, shat- tered the ladders, and hurled the mangled bodies of the assailants on the rocky bottom of the ditch. In this contest one invention proved of singular use to the besieged. It was furnished them by La Valette, and consisted of an iron hooj), wound round with cloth steeped in nitre and bituminous substances, which, when ignited, burned with inextinguishable fury. These hoops, thrown on the assailants, enclosed thern in their fiery circles. Sometimes two were thus imprisoned in the same hoop; and, as the flowing dress of the Turks favored the conflagration, they were speedily wrapped in a blaze which scorched them se- verely, if it did not burn them to death. '^ This inven- tion, so simple, — and rude, as in our day it might be thought, — was so disastrous in its effects that it was held in more dread by the Turks than any other of the fireworks employed by the besieged. A similar attempt to scale the walls was made on the other side of the castle, but was defeated by a well- directed fire from the guns of St. Angelo across the harbor, — ^which threw their shot with such precision as to destroy most of the storming-party and compel the rest to abandon their design.'^ Indeed, during the "7 The invention of this missile Vertot claims for La Valette. (Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 215.) Balbi refers it to a brother of the order, named Ramon Fortunii. Verdadera Relacion, p. 48. 18 The first shot was not so successful, killing eight of their own side! — " Mas el artillero, o fuesse la prissa, o fuesse la turbacion que en semejantes casos suele sobre venir en los hombres el se tuvo mas a mano drecha, que no deviera, pues de aquel tiro mato ocho de losr nuestros que defendian aquella posta." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 50. Philip. — Vol. II. — r 33 386 SIEGE OF MALTA. whole of the assault, the artillery of St. Angelo, St. Michael, and II Borgo kept up so irritating a fire on the exposed flank and rear of the enemy as greatly embarrassed his movements and did good service to the besieged. Thus the battle raged along the water and on the land. The whole circuit of the Great Port was studded with fire. A din of hideous noises rose in the air, — the roar of cannon, the rattle of musketry, the hissing of fiery missiles, the crash of falling masonry, the shrieks of the dying, and, high above all, the fierce cries of those who struggled for mastery ! To add to the tu- mult, in the heat of the fight, a spark falling into the magazine of combustibles in the fortress, it blew up with a tremendous explosion, drowning every other noise, and for a moment stilling the combat. A cloud of smoke and vapor, rising into the air, settled heavily, like a dark canopy, above St. Elmo. It seemed as if a volcano had suddenly burst from the peaceful waters of the Mediterranean, belching out volumes of fire and smoke, and shaking the island to its centre ! The fight had lasted for some hours ; and still the little band of Christian warriors made good their stand against the overwhelming odds of numbers. The sun had now risen high in the heavens, and, as its rays beat fiercely on the heads of the assailants, their im- petuosity began to slacken. At length, faint with heat and excessive toil, and many staggering under wounds, it was with difficulty that the janizaries could be brought back to the attack ; and Mustapha saw with chagrin that St. Elmo was not to be won that day. Soon after noon, he gave the signal to retreat ; and the Moslem HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 387 host, drawing off under a galling fire from the garrison, fell back in sullen silence into their trenches, as the tiger, baffled in his expected prey, takes refuge from the spear of the hunter in his jungle. '^ As the Turks withdrew, the garrison of St. Elmo raised a shout of victory that reached across the waters and was cheerily answered from both St. Angelo and the town, whose inhabitants had watched with intense Interest the current of the fight, on the result of which their own fate so much depended. The number of Moslems who perished in the assault can only be conjectured. But it must have been very large.. That of the garrison is stated as high as three hundred men. Of these, seventeen were knights of the order. But the common soldier, it was observed, did his duty as manfully throughout the day as the best knight by whose side he fought.^" Few, if any, of the survivors escaped without wounds. Such as were badly injured were transferred at once to the town, and an equal number of able-bodied troops sent to replace them, together with supplies of ammunition, and ma- terials for repairing, as far as possible, the damage to the works. Among those who suffered most from their wounds was the bailiff of Negropont. He obstinately refused to be removed to the town ; and when urged 19 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 49-51. — Calderon, Glpriosa De- fensa de Malta, p. 72, et seq. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. pp. 214-216. — Cabrera, Filipe Segtmdo, lib. vi. cap. 25. — Sagredo, Monar- cas Othomanos, p. 245. — Herrera, Historia general, lib. xii. cap. 6. *° " En este assaltc y en todos me ban dicho cavalleros, (jue pelearo no solamente ellos, y los soldados, mas que los for9ados, bonas vollas, y Malteses murieron con tanto animo, como qualquiera otra persona de mayor estima." Ibid., fol. 51. 388 SIEGE OF MALTA. by La Valette to allow a substitute to be sent to relieve him, the veteran answered that he was ready to yield up his command to any one who should be appointed in his place ; but he trusted he should be allowed still to remain in St. Elmo and shed the last drop of his blood in defence of the Faith.'" A similar heroic spirit was shown in the competition of the knights, and even of the Maltese soldiers, to take the place of those who had fallen in the fortress. It was now not merely the post of danger, but, as might be truly said, the post of death. Yet these brave men eagerly contended for it, as for the palm of glory; and La Valette was obliged to refuse the appli- cation of twelve knights of the language of Italy, on the ground that the complement of the garrison was full. The only spark of hope now left was that of receiv- ing the succors from Sicily. But the viceroy, far from quickening his movements, seemed willing to play the part of the matador in one of his national bull-fights, — allowing the contending parties in the arena to ex- haust themselves in the struggle, and reserving his own appearance till a single thrust from his sword should decide the combat. Still, some chance of prolonging its existence re- mained to St. Elmo while the communication could be maintained with St. Angelo and the town, by means of which the sinking strength of the garrison was con- 2» " Que si su senoria Illastrissima tenia otra persona, para tal cargo major, q la embiasse, quel lo obedeceria como a tal, mas quel queria quedar en sant Ermo, como privado cavallero, y por sa religion sacri- ficar su cuerpo." Balbi, Verdadcra Relacion, fol. 44. HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 389 tinually renewed with the fresh life-blood that was poured into its veins. The Turkish commander at length became aware that, if he would end the siege, this communication must be cut off. It would have been well for him had he come to this conclusion sooner. By the advice of Dragut, the investment of the castle was to be completed by continuing the lines of in- trenchment to the Great Port, where a battery mounted with heavy guns would command the point of debarka- tion. While conducting this work, the Moorish cap- tain was wounded on the head by the splinter from a rock struck by a cannon-shot, which laid him senseless in the trenches. Mustapha, commanding a cloak to be thrown over the fallen chief, had him removed to his tent. The wound proved mortal; and, though Dragut survived to learn the fate of St. Elmo, he seems to have been in no condition to aid the siege by his counsels. The loss of this able captain was the severest blow that could have been inflicted on the besiegers. While the intrenchments were in progress, the enemy kept up an unintermitting fire on the tottering ramparts of the fortress. This was accompanied by false alarms, and by night-attacks, in which the flaming missiles, as they shot through the air, cast a momentary glare over the waters, that showed the dark outlines of St. Elmo towering in ruined majesty above the scene of desola- tion. The artillery-men of St. Angelo, in the obscurity of the night, were guided in their aim by the light of the enemy's fireworks.'" These attacks were made '^ " La escuridad de la noche fue luego muy clara, por la grade 33* 390 SIEGE OF MALTA. by the Turks not so much in the expectation of carry- ing the fort, though they were often attended with a considerable loss of life, as for the purpose of wearing out the strength of the garrison. And dreary indeed was the condition of the latter : fighting by day, toil- ing through the livelong night to repair the ravages in the works, they had no power to take either the rest or the nourishment necessary to recruit their exhausted strength. To all this was now to be added a feeling of deeper despondency, as they saw the iron band closing around them which was to sever them forever from their friends. On the eighteenth of the month the work of invest- ment was completed, and the extremity of the lines was garnished with a redoubt mounting two large guns, which, with the musketry from the trenches, would sweep the landing-place and effectually cut off any fur- ther supplies from the other side of the harbor. Thus left to their own resources, the days of the garrison were numbered. La Valette, who had anxiously witnessed these opera- tions of the enemy, had done all he could to retard them, by firing incessantly on the laborers in the hope of driving them from the trenches. When the work was completed, his soul was filled with anguish; and his noble features, which usually wore a tinge of melan- choly, were clouded with deeper sadness, as he felt he must now abandon his brave comrades to their fate. catidad de los fuegos artificiales, que de ambas partes se arojavan, y de tal manera que los que estavamos en san Miguel, veyamos muy claramcnte sant Ermo, y los artilleros de sant Angel y de otras partes apuntavan, a la lumbre de los fuegos enemigos." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 48. HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 391 On the twentieth of the month was the festival of Corpus Christi, which in happier days had been always celebrated with great pomp by the Hospitallers. They did not fail to observe it, even at this time. A proces- sion was formed, with the grand master at its head ; and the knights walked clad in the dark robes of the order, embroidered with the white cross of Malta. They were accompanied by the whole population of the place, men, women, and children. They made the circuit of the town, taking the direction least exposed to the enemy's fire. On reaching the church, they prostrated themselves on the ground, and, with feelings rendered yet more solemn by their own situation, and above all by that of their brave comrades in St. Elmo, they implored the Lord of Hosts to take pity on their distress, and not to allow his enemies to triumph over the true soldiers of the Cross. ^ During the whole of the twenty-first, the fire of the besiegers was kept up with more than usual severity, until in some places the crumbling wall was shot away, down to tlie bare rock on which it stood. ^"^ Their pioneers, who had collected loads of brushwood for the purpose, filled up the ditch with their fascines ; which, as they were covered with wet earth, defied the efforts of the garrison to set them on fire. Throughout the following night a succession of false alarms kept the soldiers constantly under arms. All this prognosticated a general assault. It came the next day. With the earliest streak of light, the Turkish troops were in motion. Soon they came pouring in ovej the *3 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 53. =4 Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 214, 392 SIEGE OF MALTA. fosse, which, choked up as it was, offered no impedi- ment. Some threw themselves on the breach. The knights and their followers were there to receive them. Others endeavored to scale the ramparts, but were driven back by showers of missiles. The musketry was feeble, for ammunition had begun to fail. But everywhere the assailants were met with the same unconquerable spirit as before. It seemed as if the defenders of St. Elmo, exhausted as they had been by their extraordinary sufferings, had renewed their strength, as by a miracle. Thrice the enemy returned to the assault; and thrice he was repulsed. The carnage was terrible. Christian and Mussulman grap- pling fiercely together, until the ruins on which they fought were heaped with the bodies of the slain. The combat had lasted several hours. Amazed at the resistance which he met with from this handful of warriors, Mustapha felt that, if he would stop the waste of life in his followers, he must defer the possession of the place for one day longer. Stunned as his enemies must be by the blow he had now dealt, it would be beyond the powers of nature for them to stand another assault. He accordingly again gave the signal for retreat ; and the victors again raised the shout — a feeble shout — of triumph; while the banner of the order, floating from the ramparts, proclaimed that St. Elmo was still in the hands of the Christians. It was the last triumph of the garrison.^ They were indeed reduced to extremity ; with their »S Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. pp. 216, 217. — Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 54. — Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 80, et Beq. — Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. 25. HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 393 ammunition nearly exhausted, their weapons battered and broketi, their fortifications yawning with breaches, like some tempest-tossed vessel with its seams opening in every direction and ready to founder, the few sur- vivors covered with wounds, and many of them so far crippled as to be scarcely able to drag their enfeebled bodies along the ramparts. One more attack, and the scene would be closed. In this deplorable state, they determined to make an effort to communicate with their friends on the other side of the harbor and report to them their condition. The distance was not great; and among the Maltese were many excellent swimmers, who, trained from childhood to the sea, took to it as to their native element. One of these offered to bear a message to the grand master. Diving and swimming long under water, he was fortunate enough to escape the enemy's bullets, and landed safe on the opposite shore. La Valette was deeply affected by his story, though not surprised by it. With the rest of the knights, he had watched with straining eyes the course of the fight; and, though marvelling that, in spite of odds so great, vic- tory should have remained with the Christians, he knew how dearly they must have bought it. Though with little confidence in his success, he resolved to answer their appeal by making one effort to aid them. Five large barges were instantly launched, and furnished with a reinforcement of troops and supplies for the garrison. The knights thronged to the quay, each eagerly con- tending for the perilous right to embark in them. They thought only of their comrades in St. Elmo. It turned out as La Valette had foreseen. The land- 394 SIEGE OF MALTA. ing-place was commanded b)^ a battery of heavy guns, and by hundreds of musketeers, menacing instant death to whoever should approach the shore. But the knights were not allowed to approach it ; for the Turkish ad- miral, lying off the entrance of the Great Port, and aware of the preparations that were making, sent a flo- tilla of his lighter vessels into the harbor to intercept the convoy. And so prompt were their movements that, unless the Christians had put back again with all speed, they would have been at once surrounded and captured by the enemy. The defenders of St. Elmo, who had watched from the ramparts the boats coming to their assistance, saw the failure of the attempt ; and the last ray of hope faded away in their bosoms. Their doom was sealed. Little more was left but calmly to await the stroke of the executioner. Yet they did not abandon themselves to an unmanly despair; but, with heroic constancy, they prepared to die like martyrs for the good cause to which they had consecrated their lives. That night was passed, not in vain efforts to repair the defences, with the hope of protracting existence some fcAv hours longer, but in the solemn preparation of men who felt themselves standing on the brink of eternity. They prayed, confessed, received the sacra- ment, and, exhorting one another to do their duty, again renewed their vows, which bound them to lay down their lives, if necessary, in defence of the Faith. Some, among whom Miranda and the bailiff of Negro- pont were especially noticed, went about encouraging and consoling their brethren, and, though covered with wounds themselves, administering such comfort as they HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO. 395 could to the sick and the dying ; and the dying lay thick around, mingled with the dead, on the ruins which were soon to become their common sepulchre.^ Thus passed away the dreary night ; when, tenderly embracing one another, like friends who part forever, each good knight repaired to his post, prepared to sell his life as dearly as he could. Some of the more aged and infirm, and those crippled by their wounds, were borne in the arms of their comrades to the spot where, seated on the ruins and wielding their ineffectual swords, they prepared, like true and loyal knights, to die upon the breach. They did not wait long. The Turks, so often balked of their prey, called loudly to be led to the assault. Their advance was not checked by the feeble volleys thrown at random against them from the fortress ; and they were soon climbing the ascent of the breach, still slippery with the carnage of the preceding day. But, with all their numbers, it was long before they could break the little line of Maltese chivalry which was there to receive them. Incredible as it may seem, the struggle lasted for some hours longer, while the fate of St. Elmo hung suspended in the balance. At length, after a short respite, the Turkish host rallied for a last assault ; and the tide of battle, pouring through the ample breach with irresistible fury, bore down cava- lier and soldier, leaving no living thing upon the ^ " Ellos como aquellos q la manana havia de ser su postrer dia en este mudo, unos con otros se confessavan, y rogavan a nuestro senor que por su infinita misericordia, la tuviesse de sus animas, pues le costaron su preciossissima sangre para redemirlas." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 54. — See also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. pp. 217, 218 ; — Cabrera, Fillpe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. 25. 396 SIEGE OF MALTA. ramparts. A small party of the knights, escaping in the tumult, threw themselves into the chapel; but, finding that no quarter was given to those who surren- dered, they rushed out and perished on the swords of the enemy. A body of nine cavaliers, posted near the end of the fosse, not far from the ground occupied by Dragut's men, surrendered themselves as prisoners of war to the corsairs; and the latter, who, in their piratical trade, had learned to regard men as a kind of merchandise, happily refused to deliver up the Christians to the Turks, holding them for ransom. These were the only members of the order w^ho sur- vived the massacre. ^7 A few Maltese soldiers, however, experienced swimmers, succeeded, amidst the tumult, in reaching the opposite side of the harbor, where they spread the sad tidings of the loss of St. Elmo. This was speedily confirmed by the volleys of the Turkish ordnance ; and the standard of the Crescent, planted on the spot so lately occupied by the banner of St. John, showed too plainly that this strong post, the key of the island, had passed from the Christians into the hands of the infidel. ^^ ^ Vertot, whose appetite for the marvellous sometimes carries him into the miraculous, gives us to understand that not one of the garri- son survived the storming of St. Elmo. (Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 219.) If that were so, one would like to know how the historian got his knowledge of what was doing in the fortress the day and night previous to the assault. The details quoted above from Balbi account for this knowledge, and carry with them an air of probability. (Ver- dadera Relacion, fol. 55.) a8 " Luego que entraron los Turcos en sant Ermo, abatieron el es- tadarte de san Juan, y en su lugar plantaron una vandera del gran Turco, y en todo aquel dia no hizioron otra cosa, que plantar vaderas, y vanderillas por la muralla, segun su costumbre." Ibid., fol. 55.— FALL OF ST. ELMO. 397 The Ottoman fleet, soon afterwards, doubling the point, entered Port Musiette, on the west, with music playing, and gay with pennons and streamers; while the rocks rang with the shouts of the Turkish soldiery, and the batteries on shore replied in thunders to the artillery of the shipping. The day on which this occurred, the twenty-third of June, was that of the festival of St. John the Baptist, the patron of the order. It had been always cele- brated by the knights with greater splendor than any other anniversary. Now, alas ! it was to them a day of humiliation and mourning, while they had the ad- ditional mortification to see it observed as a day of triumphant jubilee by the enemies of the. Faith. '^ To add to their distress, Mustapha sullied his vic- tory by some brutal acts, which seem to have been in keeping with his character. The heads of four of the principal knights, among them those of Miranda and the bailiff of Negropont, were set high on poles looking towards the town. A spectacle yet more shocking was presented to the eyes of the besieged. The Turkish general caused the bodies of several cavaliers — some of them, it is said, while life was still palpitating within them — to be scored on the bosoms with gashes in the form of a cross. Thus defaced, See also, for the storming of St. Elmo, Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 81-84, — Miniana, Hist, de Espana, p. 351, — Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. 25, — Campana, Filippo Secondo, par. ii. p. 159, — Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 245, — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 219, et seq. »9 " A todos nos pesava en el anima porque aquellas eran fiestas que Eolian hazer los cavalleros en tal dia, para honor deste su santo avo- gado." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 55. Philip— Vol. II. 34 398 SIEGE OF MALTA. they were lashed to planks and thrown into the water. Several of them drifted to the opposite shore, where they were easily recognized by their brethren; and La Valette, as he gazed on the dishonored remains of his dear companions, was melted to tears. But grief .soon yielded to feelings of a sterner nature. He com- manded the heads of his Turkish prisoners to be struck off and shot from the large guns into the enemy's lines, — by way of teaching the Moslems, as the chron- icler tells us, a lesson of humanity ! ^ The number of Christians who fell in this siege amounted to about fifteen hundred. Of these one hundred and twenty-three were members of the order, and among them several of its most illustrious warriors.^' The Turkish loss is estimated at eight thousand, at the head of whom stood Dragut, of more account than a legion of the common file. He was still living, though speechless, when the fort was stormed. He was roused from his lethargy by the shouts of victory, and when, upon turning with inquiring looks to those around, he was told the cause, he raised his eyes to heaven, as if in gratitude for the event, and expired. ^'^ The Turkish commander, dismantling St. Elmo, — which, indeed, was little better than aheap of ruins, — sent some thirty cannon, that had lined the works, as the trophies of victory, to Constantinople. ^3 30 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 58. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 220. 31 Balbi has given a catalogue of the knights who fell in the siege, with the names of the countries to which they respectively belonged. Verdadera Relacion, fol. 56. 32 Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. ii. p. 219. 33 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 33. FALL OF ST. ELMO. 399 Thus ended the memorable siege of St. Ehno, in which a handful of warriors withstood, for the space of a month, the whole strength of the Turkish army. Such a result, while it proves the unconquerable valor of the garrison, intimates that the Turks, however efficient they may have been in field-operations, had little skill as engineers, and no acquaintance with the true principles of conducting a siege. It must have been obvious, from the first, tlmt to bring the siege to a speedy issue it was necessary to destroy the commu- nications of St. Elmo with the town. Yet this was not attempted till the arrival of Dragut, who early recommended the construction of a battery for this purpose on some high land on the opposite side of the Great Port. In this he was overruled by the Turkish commander. It was not till some time later that the line of investment, at the corsair's suggestion, was continued to the water's edge, — and the fate of the fortress was decided. St. Elm'o fell. But precious time had been lost, — an irreparable loss, as it proved, to the besiegers ; while the place had maintained so long and gallant a resist- ance as greatly to encourage the Christians, and in some degree to diminish the confidence of the Mos- lems. "What will not the parent cost," exclaimed Mustapha, — alluding to St. Angelo, — "v/hen the child has cost us so dear I"^^ 34 The two principal authorities on whon^I have relied for the siege of Malta are Balbi and Vertot. The former was a soldier, who served through the siege, his account of which, now not easily met with, was printed shortly afterwards, and in less than three years went into a second edition, — being that used in the present work. As Balbi Wiis 400 SIEGE OF MALTA. both an eye-witness and an actor on a theatre so hmited that nothing could be well hidden from view, and as he wrote while events were fresh in his memory, his testimony is of the highest value. It loses nothing by the temperate, homebred style in which the book is writ- ten, like that of a man anxious only to tell the truth, and not to mag- nify the cause or the party to which he is attached. In this the honest soldier forms a contrast to his more accomplished rival, the Abbe de Vertot. This eminent writer was invited to compose the history of the order, and its archives were placed by the knights at his disposal for this purpose. He accepted the task ; and in performing it he has sounded the note of panegyric with as hearty a good will as if he had been a knight hospitaller himself. This somewhat detracts from the value of a work which must be admitted to rest, in respect to materials, on the soundest historical basis. The abbe's turn for the romantic has probably aided, instead of hurting him, with the generality of readers. His clear and sometimes eloquent style, the interest of his story, and the dramatic skill with which he brings before the eye the peculiar traits of his actors, redeem, to some e.xtent, the prolixity of his narrative, and have combined not merely to commend the book to popular favor, but to make it the standard work on the subject. CHAPTER IV. SIEGE OF MALTA. II Borgo invested. — Storming of St. Michael. — Slaughter of the Turks — Incessant Cannonade. — General Assault. — The Turks repulsed. — Perilous Condition of II Borgo. — Constancy of La Valette. 1565. The strength of the order was now concentrated on the two narrow slips of land which run out from the eastern side of the Great Port. Although some account of these places has been given to the re.ader, it will not be amiss to refresh his recollection of what is henceforth to be the scene of operations. The northern peninsula, occupied by the town, — // JSo?-go, — and at the extreme point by the castle of St. Angelo, was defended by works stronger and in better condition than the fortifications of St. Elmo. The care of them was divided among the different languages, each of which gave its own name to the bastion it defended. Thus, the Spanish knights were intrusted with the bastion of Castile, on the eastern corner of the Peninsula, — destined to make an important figure in the ensuing siege. The parallel slip of land was crowned by the fort of St. Michael, — a work of narrower dimensions than the castle of St. Angelo, — at the base of which might be seen a small gathering of houses, hardly deserving the 34* ( 401 ) 402 SIEGE OF MALTA. name of a town. This peninsula was surrounded by fortifications scarcely yet completed, on which the grand master La Sangle, who gave his name to the place, had generously expended his private fortune. The works were terminated, on the extreme point, by a low bastion, or rather demi-bastion, called the Spur. The precious interval gained by the long detention of the Turks before St. Elmo had been diligently em- ployed by La Valette in putting the defences of both La Sangle and II Borgo in the best condition possible under the circumstances. In this good work all united, • — men, women, and children. All were animated by the same patriotic feeling, and by a common hatred of the infidel. La 'Valette ordered the heavy guns to be taken from the galleys which were lying at anchor, and placed on the walls of the fortresses. He directed that such provisions as were in the hands of individuals should be delivered up for a fair compensation and transferred to the public magazines.' Five companies of soldiers, stationed in the Notable City, in the inte- rior of the island, he now ordered to II Borgo, where their services would be more needed. Finally, as there were no accommodations for prisoners, who, indeed, could not be maintained without encroaching on the supplies necessary for the garrison. La Valette com- manded that no prisoners should be made, but that all who fell into the hands of the victors should be put to the sword.* It was to be on both sides a war of exter- mination. * By another ordinance, La Valette caused all the dogs in La Sangle and II Borgo to be killed, because they disturbed the garrisons by nighl and ate their provisions by day. Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 29, » Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 2. PREPARATIONS OF THE BESIEGED. 403 At this juncture, La Valette had the satisfaction of receiving a reinforcement from Sicily, which, though not large, was of great importance in the present state of affairs. The viceroy had at length so far yielded to the importunities of the Knights of St. John who were then at his court, impatiently waiting for the means of joining their brethren, as to fit out a squadron of four galleys, — two of his own, and two belonging to the order. They had forty knights on board, and seven hundred soldiers, excellent troops, drawn chiefly from the Spanish garrisons in Italy. The vessels were placed under command of Don Juan de Cardona, who was in- structed to return without attempting to land, should he find St. Elmo in the hands of the enemy. Cardona, who seems to have had a good share of the timid, vacil- lating policy of his superior, fearful of the Ottoman fleet, stood off and on for some days, without ap- proaching the island. During this time St. Elmo was taken. Cardona, ignorant of the fact, steered towards the south, and finally anchored off Pietra Negra, on the opposite side of the island. Here one of the knights was permitted to go on shore to collect information. He there learned the fate of St. Elmo ; but, as he care- fully concealed the tidings, the rest of the forces were speedily landed, and Cardona, with his galleys, was soon on the way to Sicily. The detachment was under the command of the Chevalier de Robles, a brave soldier, and one of the most illustrious men of the order. Under cover of night, he passed within gun-shot of the Turkish lines without being discovered, and was so fortunate as to bring his men in safety to the side of the English liar- 404 SIEGE OF MALTA. bor opposite to II Borgo, which it washes on the north. There he found boats awaiting his arrival. They had been provided by the grand master, who was advised of his movements. A thick fog lay upon the waters ; and under its friendly mantle Robles and his troops crossed over in safety to the town, where they were welcomed by the knights, who joyfully greeted the brave companions that had come to share with them the perils of the siege. ^ While this was going on, Mustapha, the Turkish commander, had been revolving in his mind whether it were not possible to gain his ends by negotiation instead of war, and thus be spared the waste of life which the capture of St. Elmo had cost him. He flat- tered himself that La Valette, taking warning by the fate of that fortress, might be brought to capitulate on fair and honorable terms. He accordingly sent a mes- senger with a summons to the grand master to deliver up the island, on the assurance of a free passage for himself and his followers, with all their effects, to Sicily. The envoy chosen was a Greek slave, — an old man, who had lived from boyhood in captivity. Under pro- tection of a flag of truce, the slave gained admission into St. Angelo, and was conducted blindfold to the presence of the grand master. He there delivered his message. La Valette calmly listened, but without deigning to reply; and when the speaker had ended, the stern chief ordered him to be taken from his pres- 3 Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 4. — Balbi.'Verdadera Rela- cion, fol. 64. — Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 94. — Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 296. PREPARATIONS OF THE BESIEGED. 405 ence and instantly hanged. The wretched man threw himself at the feet of the grand master, beseeching him to spare his life, and protesting that he was but a poor slave, and had come, against his will, in obedience to the commands of the Turkish general. La Valette, who had probably no intention from the first to have his order carried into execution, affected to relent, de- claring, however, that should any other messenger ven- ture hereafter to insult him with the like proposals he should not escape so easily. The terrified old man was then dismissed. As he left the presence, he was led through long files of the soldiery drawn up in im- posing array, and was shown the strong works of the castle of St. Angelo. "Look," said one of the officers, pointing to the deep ditch which surrounded the fort- ress, "there is all the room we can afford your master; but it is deep enough to bury him and his followers!" The slave, though a Christian, could not be persuaded to remain and take his chance with the besieged. They must be beaten in the end, he said, and, when retaken by the Turks, his case would be worse than ever.* There was now no alternative for Mustapha but to fight; and he had not lost a moment since the fall of St. Elmo in pushing forward his preparations. Trenches had been opened on the heights at the foot of Mount Coradin, at the southern extremity of the Great Port, and continued on a line that stretched to Mount St. 4 Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa dc Malta, p. 91. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 3. — De Thou, Histoire universelle, torn. v. p. 67. — Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. 26. — Sagredo, Monarcas Otho- manos, p. 246. 4o6 SIEGE OF MALTA. Salvador. Where the soil was too hard to be readily turned up, the defences were continued by a wall of stone. Along the heights, on different points of the line, batteries were established, and mounted with guns of the heaviest calibre. Batteries were also raised on the high ground which, under the name of Mount Sceberras, divides Port Musiette from the Great Port, terminating in the point of land crowned by St. Elmo. A few cannon were even planted by the Turks on the ruins of this castle. Thus the Christian fortresses were menaced on every point ; and, while the lines of the besiegers cut off all communication on the land-side, a detachment of the fleet, blocking up the entrance to the great port, effec- tually cut off intercourse by sea. The investment by land and by sea was complete. Early in July the wide circle of batteries, mounting between sixty and seventy pieces of artillery, opened its converging fire on the fortresses, the towns, and the shipping, which lay at anchor in the Port of Gal- leys. The cannonade was returned with spirit by the guns of St. Angelo and St. Michael, well served by men acquainted with their duty. So soon as the breaches were practicable, Mustapha proposed to begin by storming St. Michael, the weaker of the two fort- resses ; and he determined to make the assault by sea as well as by land. It would not be possible, however, to bring round his vessels lying in Port Musiette into the Great Port without exposing them to the guns of St. Angelo. He resorted, therefore, to an expedient startling enough, but not new in the annals of warfare. He caused a large number of boats to be dragged STORMING OF ST. MICHAEL. 407 across the high land which divides the two harbors. This toilsome work was performed by his Christian slaves j and the garrison beheld with astonishment the Turkish flotilla descending the rugged slopes of the opposite eminence and finally launched on the waters of the inland basin. No less than eighty boats, some of them of the largest size, were thus transported across the heights. Having completed this great work, Mustapha made his preparations for the assault. At this time he was joined by a considerable reinforcement under Hassem, the Algerine corsair, who commanded at the memorable sieges of Oran and Mazarquivir. Struck with the small size of the castle of St. Elmo, Hassem intimated his surprise that it should have held out so long against the Turkish arms; and he besought Mustapha to intrust him with the conduct of the assault that was to be rnade on Fort St. Michael. The Turkish general, not unwilling that the presumptuous young chief should him- self prove the temper of the Maltese swords, readily gave him the command, and the day was fixed for the attack. Fortunately, at this time, a deserter, a man of eome consequence in the Turkish army, crossed over to II Borgo and acquainted the grand master with the de- signs of the enemy. La Sangle was defended on the north, as already noticed, by a strong iron chain, which, stretching across the Port of Galleys at its mouth, would prevent the approach of boats in that direction. La Valette now caused a row of palisades to be sunk in the mud, at the bottom of the harbor, in a line extending from the extreme point of La Sangle to the foot of Mount Coradin. These were bound 4o8 SIEGE OF MALTA. together by heavy chains, so well secured as to oppose an effectual barrier to the passage of the Turkish flo- tilla. The length of this barricade was not great. But it was a work of much difficulty, — not the less so that it was necessary to perform it in the night, in order to secure the workmen from the enemy's guns. In little more than a week it was accomplished. Mustapha sent a small body of men, excellent swim- mers, armed with axes, to force an opening in the barrier. They had done some mischief to the work, when a party of Maltese, swimming out, with their swords between their teeth, fell on the Turks, beat them off, and succeeded in restoring the palisades. ^ Early in the morning, on the fifteenth of July, two cannon in the Ottoman lines, from opposite sides of the Great Port, gave the signal for the assault. Hassem prepared to lead it, in person, on the land-side. The attack by water he intrusted to an Algerine corsair, his lieutenant. Before the report of the cannon had died away, a great number of boats were seen by tJie garri- son of St. Michael putting off from the opposite shore. They were filled with troops, and among these, to judge from their dress, were many persons of condition. The account is given by the old soldier so often quoted, who, stationed on the bastion of the Spur, had a full view of the enemy. It was a gay spectacle, these Moslem chiefs in their rich Oriental costumes, with their gaudy- colored turbans, and their loose flowing mantles of 5 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 6i, 62, 68. — Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 95-100. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. pp. 4-7. — Cabrera, Filipc Scgundo, lib. vi. cap. 26. — Herrera, Historia general, lib. xii. cap. 7. STORMING OF ST. MICHAEL. 409 crimson or of cloth of gold and silver ; the beams of the rising sun glancing on their polished weapons, — their bows of delicate workmanship, their scimitars from the forges of Alexandria and Damascus, their muskets of Fez.* "It was a beautiful sight to see," adds the chronicler, with some naivete, " if one could have looked on it without danger to himself."^ In advance of the squadron came two or three boats, bearing persons whose venerable aspect and dark-colored robes proclaimed them to be the re- ligious men of the Moslems. They seemed to be reciting from a volume before them, and muttering what might be prayers to Allah, — possibly invoking his vengeance on the infidel. But these soon dropped astern, leaving the way open for the rest of the flotilla, which steered for the palisades, with the intention evidently of forcing a passage. But the barrier proved too strong for their efforts; and, chafed by the musketry which now opened on them from the bastion, the Algerine commander threw himself into the water, which was somewhat above his girdle, and, followed by his men, advanced boldly towards the shore. Two mortars were mounted on the rampart. But, through some mismanagement, they were not worked ; and the assailants were allowed to reach the foot of the bastion, which they prepared to carry by escalade. Applying their ladders, they speedily began to mount; fi " No avia hombre que no ti-uxesse aljuba, el que menos de grana, muchos de tela de oro, y de plata, y damasco carmesi, y muy buenas escopetas de fez, cimitaras de Alexandria, y de Damasco, arcos muy finos, y muy ricos turbantes." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 70. 7 " Cargadas de gente muy luzida, vista per cierto muy linda, sine fuera tan peligrosa." Ibid., ubi supra, rhilip.— Vol. II.— s 35 41 o SIEGE OF MALTA. when they were assailed by showers of stones, hand- grenades, and combustibles of various kinds; while huge fragments of rock were rolled over the parapet, crushing men and ladders and scattering them in ruin below. The ramparts were covered with knights and soldiers, among whom the stately form of Antonio de Zanoguerra, the commander of the post, was conspicu- ous, towering above his comrades and cheering them on to the fight. Meantime the assailants, mustering like a swarm of hornets to the attack, were soon seen replacing the broken ladders and again clambering up the walls. The leading files were pushed upward by those below ; yet scarcely had the bold adventurers risen above the parapet when they were pierced by the pikes of the soldiers or struck down by the swords and battle-axes of the knights. At this crisis, a spark unfortunately falling into the magazine of combusti- bles, it took fire, and blew up with a terrific explosion, killing or maiming numbers of the garrison, and rolling volumes of blinding smoke along the bastion*. The besiegers profited by the confusion to gain a footing on the ramparts ; and, when the clouds of vapor began to dissipate, the garrison were astonished to find their enemies at their side, and a number of small banners, such as the Turks usually bore into the fight, planted on the walls. The contest now raged fiercer than ever, as the parties fought on more equal terms, — the Mussul- mans smarting under their wounds, and the Christians fired with the recollection of St. Elmo and the desire of avenging their slaughtered brethren. The struggle continued long after the sun, rising high in the heavens, poured down a flood of heat on the combatants ; and STORMING OF ST. MICHAEL. 411 the garrison, pressed by superior numbers, weary, and faint with wounds, were hardly able to keep their foot- ing on the slippery ground, saturated with their own blood and that of their enemies. Still the cheering battle-cry of St. John rose in the air, and their brave leader, Zanoguerra, at the head of his knights, was to be seen in the thickest of the fight. There too was Brother Robert, an ecclesiastic of the order, with a sword in one hand and a crucifix in the other, though wounded himself, rushing among the ranks and ex- horting the men to "fight for the faith of Jesus Christ, and to die in its defence."^ At this crisis the commander, Zanoguerra, though clad in armor of proof, was hit by a random musket- shot, which stretched him lifeless on the rampart. At his fall the besiegers set up a shout of triumph, and redoubled their efforts. It would now have gone hard with the garrison had it not been for a timely reinforce- ment which arrived from II Borgo. It was sent by La Valette, who had learned the perilous state of the bastion. He had, not long before this, caused a float- ing bridge to be laid across the Port of Galleys, — thus connecting the two peninsulas with each other and affording a much readier means of communication than before existed. While this was going on, a powerful reinforcement was on its way to the support of the assailants. Ten boats of the largest size, having a thousand janizaries 8 " Nuestro predicador fray Ruberto, el qual en todo el assalto yva por todas las postas con un crucifixo en la una mano, y la espada en la otra : animandonos a bien moiir, y pelear por la fe de lesu Christo : y fue herido este dia su paternidad." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 73- 412 SIEGE OF MALTA. on board, were seen advancing across the Great Harbor from the opposite shore. Taking warning by the fate of their countrymen, they avoided the palisades, and, pursuing a more northerly course, stood for the extreme point of the Spur. By so doing they exposed them- selves to the fire of a battery in St. Angelo, sunk down almost to the water's level. It was this depressed condition of the work that secured it from the notice of the Turks. The battery, mounted with five guns, was commanded by the Chevalier de Guiral, who coolly waited until the enemy had come within range of his shot, when he gave the word to fire. The pieces were loaded with heavy balls, and with bags filled with chain and bits of iron. The effect of the discharge was terrible. Nine of the barges were shattered to pieces, and immediately sank.' The water was covered with the splinters of the vessels, with mutilated trunks, dis- severed limbs, fragments of clothes, and quantities of provisions; for the enemy came prepared to take up their quarters permanently in the fortress. Amidst the dismal wreck a few wretches were to be seen struggling with the waves and calling on their comrades for help. But those in the surviving boat, when they had recov- ered from the shock of the explosion, had no mind to remain longer in so perilous a position, but made the best of their way back to the shore, leaving their com- panions to their fate. Day after day the waves threw upon the strand the corpses of the drowned men ; and the Maltese divers long continued to drag up from the 9 " Echo nueve barcas delas mayores a fondo que no sc salvo nin- guno, y auria en estas barcas ochocicntos Turcos." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 72. SLAUGHTER OF THE TURKS. 413 bottom rich articles of wearing-apparel, ornaments, and even purses of money, which had been upon the persons of the janizaries. Eight hundred are said to have perished by this disaster, which may, not improb- ably, have decided the fate of the fortress; for the strength of the reinforcement would have been more than a match for that sent by La Valette to the support of the garrison.'" Meanwhile, the succors detached by the grand master had no sooner entered the bastion than, seeing their brethren so hard beset, and the Moslem flags planted along the parapet, they cried their war-cry and fell furiously on the enemy. In this they were well sup- ported by the garrison, who gathered strength at the sight of the reinforcement. The Turks, now pressed on all sides, gave way. Some succeeded in making their escape by the ladders, as they had entered. Others were hurled down on the rocks below. Most, turning on their assailants, fell fighting on the rampart which they had so nearly won. Those who escaped hurried to the shore, hoping to gain the boats, which lay off at some distance ; when a detachment, sallying from the bastion, intercepted their flight. Thus at bay, they had no alternative but to fight. But their spirit was gone ; and they were easily hewed down by their pursuers. Some, throwing themselves on their knees, piteously begged for mercy. *' Such mercy," shouted 1° This seems to have been Balbi's opinion: "En conclusion, la casa mata del comendador Guiral fue este dia a juyzio de todos la salvacion de la Isla, porque si las barcas ya dichas echavan su gete en tierra, no les pudieranios resistir en ninguna manera." Verdadera Relacion, fol. 73. 35* 414 SIEGE OF MALTA. the victors, "as you showed at St. Elmo !" " and buried their daggers in their bodies. While this bloody work was going on below, the knights and soldiers gathered on the exposed points of the bastion above presented an obvious mark to the Turkish guns across the water, which had not been worked during the assault, for fear of injuring the assailants. Now that the Turks had vanished from the ramparts, some heavy shot were thrown amonf the Christians, with fatal effect. Among others who were slain was Frederick de Toledo, a son of the viceroy of Sicily. He was a young knight of great promise, and was under the especial care of the grand master, who kept him constantly near his person. But when the generous youth learned the extremity to which his brethren in La Sangle were reduced, he secretly joined the reinforcement which was going to their relief, and did his duty like a good knight in the combat which followed. While on the rampart, he was struck down by a cannon-shot ; and a splinter from his cuirass mor- tally wounded a comrade to whoiii he was speaking at the time. While the fight was thus going on at the Spur, Hassem was storming the breach of Fort St. Michael, on the opposite quarter. The storming-party, consisting of both Moors and Turks, rushed to the assault with their usual intrepidity. But they found a very different en- emy from the spectral forms which, wasted by toil and suffering, had opposed so ineffectual a resistance in the last days of St. Elmo. In vain did the rushing tide of assailants endeavor to force an opening through the " Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 13. \ SLAUGHTER OF THE TURKS. 415 Stern array of warriors, which, like a wall of iron, now filled up the breach. Recoiling in confusion, the lead- ing files fell back upon the rear, and all was disorder. But Hassem soon reformed his ranks, and again led them to the charge. Again they were repulsed with loss ; but, as fresh troops came to their aid, the little garrison must have been borne down by numbers, had not their comrades, flushed with their recent victory at the bastion, hurried to their support, and, sweeping like a whirlwind through the breach, driven the enemy with dreadful carnage along the slope and compelled him to take refuge in his trenches. Thus ended the first assault of the besiegers since the fall of St. Elmo. The success of the Christians was complete. Between three and four thousand Mussul- mans, including those who were drowned, — according to the Maltese statements, — fell in the two attacks on the fortress and the bastion. But the arithmetic of an enemy is not apt to be exact." The loss of the Chris- tians did not exceed two hundred. Even this was a heavy loss to the besieged, and included some of their best knights, to say nothing of others disabled by their wounds. Still, it was a signal victory; and its influence was felt in raising the spirits of the besieged and in inspiring them with confidence. La A^'alette was careful to cherish these feelings. The knights, followed by the whole population of II Borgo, went in solemn proces- sion to the great church of St. Lawrence, where Te " Compare Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 13, and Balbi Verdadera Relacion, fol. 73. — The latter chronicler, for a wonder, raises the sum total of the killed to a somewhat higher figure than the abbe, — calling it full four thousand. 41 6 SIEGE OF MALTA. Deum was chanted, while the colors taken from the in- fidel were suspended from the walls as glorious trophies of the victory. '3 Mustapha now found that the spirit of the besieged, far from being broken by their late reverses, was higher than ever, as their resources were greater, and their fortifications stronger, than those of St. Elmo. He saw the necessity of proceeding with greater caution. He resolved to level the defences of the Christians with the ground, and then, combining the whole strength of his forces, make simultaneous assaults on II Borgo and St. Michael. His first step was to continue his line of intrenchments below St. Salvador to the water's edge, and thus cut off the enemy's communication with the opposite side of the English Port, by means of which the late reinforcement from Sicily had reached him. He further strengthened the battery on St. Salvador, arming it with sixteen guns, — two of them of such enormous calibre as to throw stone bullets of three hundred pounds' weight. From this ponderous battery he now opened a crush- ing fire on the neighboring bastion of Castile, and on the quarter of II Borgo lying nearest to it. The storm of marble and metal that fell upon the houses, though these were built of stone, soon laid many of them in '3 The particulars of the assaults on St. Michael and the Spur are given by Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 61-74 1 &i^d with more or less inaccuracy by Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. pp. 8-13 ; Calde- ron, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 110-116; De Thou, Histoire universelle, torn. v. pp. 72-74; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. v. cap. 26; Herrera, Historia general, lib, xii. cap. 7; Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 246; Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, torn. ii. p. 160. INCESSANT CANNONADE. 417 ruins ; and the shot, sweeping the streets, killed num- bers of the inhabitants, including women and children. La Valette caused barriers of solid masonry to be raised across the streets for the protection of the citizens. As this was a work of great danger, he put his slaves upon it, trusting, too, that the enemy might be induced to mitigate his fire from tenderness for the lives of his Moslem brethren. But in such an expectation he greatly erred. More than five hundred slaves fell under the incessant volleys of the besiegers ; and it was only by the most severe, indeed cruel treatment, that these un- fortunate beings could be made to resume their labors.'* La Valette at this time, in order to protect the town against assault on the side of the English Port, caused a number of vessels laden with heavy stones to be sunk not far from shore. They were further secured by anchors bound to one another with chains, forming altogether an impenetrable barrier against any approach by water. The inhabitants of II Borgo, as well as the soldiers, were now active in preparations for defence. Some untwisted large ropes and cables to get materials for making bags to serve as gabions. Some were busy with manufacturing different sorts of fireworks, much relied on as a means of defence by the besieged. Others were employed in breaking up the large stones from the '4 Cruel indeed, according to the report of Balbi, who tells us that the Christians cut off the ears of the more refractory, and even put some of them to death, — pour encottrager les autres : " Han muerto en esta Jornada al trabajo mas de quinientos esclavos ; mas los pobres llegaron atal de puros cansados y acabados del trabajo continuo, que no podian estar en pie, y se dexavan cortar las orejas y matar, por no poder trabajar mas." Balbi, Verdadera Rolacion, fol. 66. 41 8 SIEGE OF MALTA. ruined buildings into smaller ones, which proved effi- cient missiles when hurled on the heads of the assailants below. But the greatest and most incessant labor was that of repairing the breaches, or of constructing retrenchments to defend them. The sound of the hammer and the saw was everywhere to be heard. The fires of the forges were never suffered to go out. The hum of labor was as unintermitting throughout the city as in the season of peace ; but with a very different end. '5 Over all these labors the grand master exercised a careful superintendence. He was always on the spot where his presence was needed. His eye seemed never to slumber. He performed many of the duties of a soldier, as well as of a commander. He made the rounds constantly in the night, to see that all was well and that the sentinels were at their posts. On these occasions he freely exposed himself to danger, showing a carelessness of his own safety that called forth more than once the remonstrances of his brethren. He was indeed watchful over all, says the old chronicler who witnessed it; showing no sign of apprehension in his valiant countenance, but by his noble presence giving heart and animation to his followers.'* Yet the stoutest heart which witnessed the scene might well have thrilled with apprehension. Far as the eye could reach, the lines of the Moslem army '5 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 67, 'j'j. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 18. — Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, torn. ii. p. 160. •* " En fin era in todo diligente, vigilante y animoso, y jamas se conoscio en su valeroso semblante ninguna seiial de tenior, antes con su prcscncia dava esfuer90 y animo k sus cavalleros y soldados." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 77. CONDUCT OF THE VICEROY. 419 Stretched over hill and valley ; while a deafening roar of artillery from fourteen batteries shook the solid earth, and, borne across the waters for more than a hundred miles, sounded to the inhabitants of Syracuse and Catania like the mutterings of distant thunder.'^ In the midst of this turmoil, and encompassed by the glittering lines of the besiegers, the two Christian fortresses might be dimly discerned amidst volumes of fire and smoke, which, rolling darkly round their summits, almost hid from view the banner of St. John, proudly waving in the breeze, as in defiance of the enemy. But the situation of the garrison, as the works crum- bled imder the stroke of the bullet, became every day more critical. La Valette contrived to send information of it to the viceroy of Sicily, urging him to delay his coming no longer, if he would save the island. But, strange to say, such w^as the timid policy that had crept into the viceroy's councils that it was seriously dis- cussed whether it was expedient to send aid at all to the Knights of Malta i Some insisted that there was no obligation on Spain to take any part in the quarrel, and that the knights should be left to fight out the battle with the Turks in Malta, as they had before done in Rhodes. Others remonstrated against this, declaring it would be an eternal blot on the scutcheon of Castile if she should desert in their need the brave chivalry '7 "' Luego que todas estas baterias comenijaron de batir, y todas en un tiempo, era tanto el ruydo y temblor que parecia quererse acabar el mudo, y puedese bien creer que el ruydo fuesse tal, pues se sentia muy claramente dende Carag09a, y dende Catania, que ay ciento y veynte millas de Malta a estas dos ciudades." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 78. 420 SIEGE OF MALTA. who for so many years had been fighting the battles of Christendom. The king of Spain, in particular, as the feudatory sovereign of the order, was bound to protect the island from the Turks, who moreover, once in pos- session of it, would prove the most terrible scourge that ever fell on the commerce of the Mediterranean. The more generous, happily the more politic, counsel prevailed ; and the viceroy contrived to convey an assurance to the grand m.aster that if he could hold out till the end of the following month he would come with sixteen thousand men to his relief.'^ But this was a long period for men in extremity to wait. La Valette saw with grief how much deceived he had been in thus leaning on the viceroy. He deter- mined to disappoint his brethren no longer by holding out delusive promises of succor. "The only succor to be relied on," he said, "was that of Almighty God. He who has hitherto preserved his children from danger will not now abandon them."'^ La Valette reminded his followers that they were the soldiers of Heaven, fighting for the Faith, for liberty and life. "Should the enemy prevail," he added, with a politic suggestion, "the Christians could expect no better fate than that of their comrades in St. Elmo." The grand master's admonition was not lost upon the soldiers. "Everyman of us," says Balbi, "resolved to die rather than surrender, and to sell his life as ^ Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iil. pp. 21, 22. »9 " Dixo publicamente, que el no aguardava socorro ya sino era del omnipotente Dies cl qual era el soccorro verdadero, y el que hasta entonces nos havia librado, y que ni mas ni menos nos libraria por el avenir, delas manos dclos encmigos de su santa fee." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 81. GENERAL ASSAULT. 421 dearly as possible. From that hour no man talked of succors."*" One of those spiritual weapons from the papal arm- ory, which have sometimes proved of singular efficacy in times of need, came now most seasonably to the aid of La Valette. A bull of Pius the Fourth granted plenary indulgence for all the sins which had been committed by those engaged in this holy war against the Moslems. "There were few," says the chronicler, "either women or men, old enough to appreciate it, who did not strive to merit this grace by most earnest devotion to the cause, and who did not have entire faith that all who died in the good work would be at once received into glory. "^' More than two weeks had elapsed since the attempt, so disastrous to the Turks, on the fortress of St. Mi- chael. During this time they had kept up an uninter- mitting fire on the Christian fortifications \ and the effect was visible in more than one fearful gap, which invited the assault of the enemy. The second of Au- gust was accordingly fixed on as the day for a general attack, to be made on both Fort St. Michael and on the bastion of Castile, which, situated at the head of the English Port, eastward of II Borgo, flanked the line of defence on that quarter. Mustapha was to conduct in person the operations against the fort ; the assault ^ " Esta habla del gran Macstre luego fue divulgada, y asi toda la gente se determino de primero morir que venir a manos de turcos vivos, pero tainbien se determino de vender muy bien sus vidas, y asi ya no se tratava de socorro." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion.ubi supra. " " No quedo hombre ni muger de edad para ello que no lo ganasse con devocion grandissima, y con muy firme esperan<;a y fe de yr ala gloria, muriendo en la Jornada." Ibid., fol. 71. Philip— Vol. II. 36 422 SIEGE OF MALTA. on the bastion he intrusted to Piali ; — a division of the command by which the ambition of the rival chiefs would be roused to the utmost. Fortunately, La Valette obtained notice, through some deserters, of the plans of the Turkish command- ers, and made his preparations accordingly. On the morning of the second, Piali' s men, at the appointed signal, moved briskly forward to the assault. They soon crossed the ditch, but partially filled with the ruins of the rampart, scaled the ascent in face of a sharp fire of musketry, and stood at length, with ranks somewhat shattered, on the summit of the breach. But here they were opposed by retrenchments within, thrown up by the besieged, from behind which they now poured such heavy volleys among the assailants as staggered the front of the column and compelled it to fall back some paces in the rear. Here it was en- countered by those pushing forward from below; and some confusion ensued. This was increased by the vigor with which the garrison now plied their musketry from the ramparts, hurling down at the same time heavy logs, hand-grenades, and torrents of scalding pitch on the heads of the assailing column, which, blinded and staggering under the shock, reeled to and fro like a drunken man. To add to their distress, the feet of the soldiers were torn and entangled among the spikes which had been thickly set in the ruins of the breach by the besieged. Woe to him who fell ! His writhing body was soon trampled under the press. In vain the Moslem chiefs endeavored to restore order. Their voices were lost in the wild uproar that raged dround. At this crisis the knights, charging at the head GENERAL ASSAULT. 423 of their followers, cleared the breach, and drove the enemy with loss into his trenches. There the broken column soon reformed, and, strengthened by fresh troops, was again brought to the attack. But this gave a respite to the garrison, which La Valette improved by causing refreshments to be served to the soldiers. By his provident care, skins containing wine and water, Avith rations of bread, were placed near the points of attack, to be distributed among the men.*^ The garrison, thus strengthened, were enabled to meet the additional forces brought against them by the enemy; and the refreshments on the one side were made, in some sort, to counterbal- ance the reinforcements on the other. Vessels filled with salt and water were also at hand, to bathe the wounds of such as were injured by the fireworks. "Without these various precautions," says the chron- icler, "it would have been impossible for so few men as we were to keep our ground against such a host as now assailed us on every quarter." '^ Again and again the discomfited Turks gathered strength for a new assault, and as often they Avere re- pulsed with the same loss as before, — till Piali drew off his dispirited legions, and abandoned all further attempts for that day. It fared no better on the other quarter, where the =* "Tenia mandado, que en todos los dias de assalto se llevassen por todas las postas adonde se peleasse, muchos buyvelos de vino aguado, y pan para refrescar sii gente, pues de gente no podia." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 91. '^ " Si todas estas buenas ordenes no uviera, no bastaran fuer9as hiimanas para resistir a tanta furia pertinacia, principalmete siendo nosotros tan pocos, y ellos tantos." Ibid., ubi supra. 424 SIEGE OF MALTA. besiegers, under the eye of the commander-in-chief, were storming the fortress of St. Michael. On every point the stout-hearted chivalry of St. John were vic- torious. But victory was bought at a heavy price. The Turks returned to the attack on the day follow- ing, and on each succeeding day. It was evidently their purpose to profit by their superior numbers to harass the besieged and reduce them to a state of ex- haustion. One of these assaults was near being attended with fatal consequences. A mine which ran under the bastion of Castile was sprung, and brought down a wide extent of the ram- part. The enemy, prepared for the event, mounting the smoking ruins, poured through the undefended breach, — or defended only by a handful of the garri- son, who were taken unawares. The next minute, the great standard of the Ottomans was planted on the walls. The alarm was raised. In a fev/ moments the enemy would have been in the heart of the town. An ecclesiastic of the order, Brother William by name, terrified at the sight, made all haste to the grand master, then at his usual station in the public square. Rushing into his presence, the priest called on him to take refuge, while he could, in the castle of St. An- gelo, as the enemy had broken into the town. But the dauntless chief, snatching up his pike, with no other protection than his helmet, and calling out to those around him, ''Now is the time! let us die together !"=^ hurried to the scene of action, where, rallying his fol- 24 "El gran Maestre sin mudarse, ni alterarse de su semblante valeroso, dixo, Vamos a morir alia todos cavalleros, q oy es el dia." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 90. THE TURKS REPULSED. 425 lowers, he fell furiously on the enemy. A sharp struggle ensued. More than one knight was struck down by La Valette's side. He himself was wounded in the leg by the splinter of a hand-grenade. The alarm-bell of the city rang violently. The cry was raised that the grand master was in danger. Knights, soldiers, and towns- men came rushing to the spot. Even the sick sprang from their beds and made such haste as they could to the rescue. The Moslems, pressed on all sides, and shaken by the resolute charge, fell back slowly on the breach. The cavaliers would now fain have persuaded the grand master, who was still standing among a heap of the slain, to retire to some place of safety and leave the issue of the battle to his companions. But, fixing his eye on the Ottoman standard, still floating above the walls, he mournfully shook his head, in token of his resolution to remain. The garrison, spurred on by shame and indignation, again charged the Moslems, with greater fury than before. The colors, wrenched from the ramparts, were torn to shreds in the struggle. The Christians prevailed ; and the Turks, quailing before their invincible spirit, were compelled, after a long and bloody contest, to abandon the works they had so nearly won. Still the grand master, far from retiring, took up his quarters for the night in the neighborhood of the breach. He had no doubt that the enemy would re- turn under cover of the darkness and renew the assault before the garrison had time to throw up retrench- ments. It was in vain his companions besought him to withdraw, to leave the fight to them, and not to risk a life so precious to the community. "And how can an 426 SIEGE OF MALTA. old man like me," he said, "end his life more glo- riously than when surrounded by his brethren and fighting the battles of the Cross P''''^ La Valette was right in his conjecture. No sooner had the darkness fallen than the Turkish host, again under arms, came surging on across the ruins of the rampart towards the breach. But it was not under cover of the darkness ; for the whole bay was illumined by the incessant flash of artillery, by the blaze of com- bustibles, and the fiery track of the missiles darting through the air. Thus the combat was carried on as by the light of day. The garrison, prepared for the attack, renewed the scenes of the morning, and again beat off the assailants, who, broken and dispirited, could not be roused, even by the blows of their officers, to return to the assault.** On the following morning. La Valette caused Te Deum to be sung in the church of St. Lawrence, and tjianks to be offered at the throne of grace for their deliverance. And if the ceremonies were not con- ducted with the accustomed pomp of the order of St. John, they were at least accompanied, says the chron- 25 Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 24. =* Vertot speaks of this last attack as having been made on the eighteenth of August. His chronology may be corrected by that of Balbi, whose narrative, taking the form of a diary, in which the trans- actions of each day are separately noted, bears the stamp of much greater accuracy. Balbi gives the seventh of Augfvist as the date. — For the preceding pages see Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 89-93, — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. pp. 18-24, — Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 146-150, — De Thou, Histoire universelle, tom. V. p. 83, et seq., — Cabrera, Filipe Scgundo, lib. vi. cap. 27, — Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. ii. p. 16, — Let:, Vita di Filippo II., tom. i. p. 450. THE TURKS REPULSED. 427 icier, who bore his part in them, by the sacrifice of contrite hearts, — as was shown by the tears of many a man, as well as woman, in the procession.''^ There was indeed almost as much cause for sorrow as for joy. However successful the Christians had been in maintaining their defence, and however severe the loss they had inflicted on the enemy, they had to mourn the loss of some of their most illustrious knights, while others lay disabled in their beds. Among the latter was De Monti, admiral of the order, now lying seriously ill of wounds received in the defence of St. Michael, of which he was commander. Among the deaths was one which came home to the bosom of La Valette. A young cavalier, his nephew, had engaged in a perilous enterprise with a comrade of his own age. The hand- some person and gilded armor of the younger La Valette made him a fatal mark for the enemy ; '^ and he fell, together with his friend, in the ditch before the bastion, under a shower of Turkish bullets. An obstinate struggle succeeded between Christians and Turks for the bodies of the slain. The Christians were victorious ; and La Valette had the melancholy satisfaction of rendering the last offices to the remains of his gallant kinsman. The brethren would have condoled with him on his loss. But his generous nature shrank from the indulgence of a selfish sorrow. "All are alike dear to me," he said; "all of you I look on as my children. I mourn for *7 " Y sino solenne como en esta religion se suele hazer, alomenos cotrita a lo que las lagrimas de muchos hombres y mugeres davan serial." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 94. 28 "Y como el comendador era hombre de linda disposicion, y ar- mado de unas armas doradas y ricas, los turcos tiraron todos a el." Ibid., fol. 76. 428 SIEGE OF MALTA. Polastra" (the friend of the young Valette) "as I do for my own nephew. And, after all, it matters little. They have gone before us but for a short time." ^ It was indeed no season for the indulgence of private sorrows, when those of a public nature pressed so heavily on the heart. Each day the condition of the besieged was becoming more critical. The tottering defences both of II Borgo and La Sangle were wasting away under the remorseless batteries of the besiegers. Great numbers, not merely of the knights and the soldiers, but of the inhabitants, had been slain. The women of the place had shown, throughout the whole siege, the same heroic spirit as the men. They not only dis- charged the usual feminine duties of tending and relieving the sick, but they were often present in the battle, supplying the garrison with refreshments, or carrying the ammunition, or removing the wounded to the hospital. Thus sharing in the dangers of their hus- bands and fathers, they shared too in their fate. Many perished by the enemy's fire ; and the dead bodies of women lay mingled among those of the men, on the ramparts and in the streets. 3° The hospitals were filled with the sick and wounded, though fortunately no epidemic had as yet broken out to swell the bills of mortality. Those of the garrison who were still in a condition to do their duty were worn by long vigils and excessive toil. To fight by day, to raise intrenchments or to repair the crumbling works by night, was the hard duty of the soldier. Brief was the respite allowed him «9 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, ubi supra. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 14. 30 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 66, 82. CONSTANCY OF LA VALETTE. 429 for repose, — a repose to be broken at any moment by the sound of the alarm-bell, and to be obtained only amidst so wild an uproar that it seemed, in the homely language of the veteran so often quoted, **as if the world were coming to an end."^' Happily, through the provident care of the grand master, there was still a store of provisions in the magazines. But the ammunition was already getting low. Yet the resolution of the besieged did not fail them. Their resolution had doubtless been strength- ened by the cruel conduct of the Turks at St. Elmo, which had shoAvn that from such a foe there was no mercy to be expected. The conviction of this had armed the Christians with the courage of despair. On foreign succor they no longer relied. Their only reliance was where their chief had taught them to place it, — on the protection of Heaven ; and La Valette, we are assured, went every day during the siege to the church of St. Lawrence, and there sol- emnly invoked that protection for the brave men who, alone and unaided, were thus fighting the battles of the Faith.3^ The forlorn condition of the defences led, at length, the council of Grand Crosses, after much deliberation, to recommend to La Valette to abandon II Borgo and to withdraw with the troops and the inhabitants into the castle of St. Angelo. The grand master saw at once the disastrous consequences of such a step, and 3' Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 78. 3» " Mucha'; vezes solo se yva a san Loren9o, y alii en sn aparta- miento hazia sus oraciones. Y enoste exercicio se occupava quando se tenia algun sosiego." Ibid., fol. 84. 43° SIEGE OF MALTA. he rejected it without a moment's hesitation. To withdraw into the castle, he said, would be to give up all communication with St. Michael, and to abandon its brave garrison to their fate. The inhabitants of the town would fare no better. The cistern which supplied St. Angelo with water would be wholly inadequate to the demands of such a multitude; and they would soon be reduced to extremity. "No, my brethren," he concluded; "here we must make our stand; and here we must die, if we cannot maintain ourselves against the infidel. "33 He would not even consent to have the sacred relics, or the archives of the order, removed thither, as to a place of greater security. It would serve to discourage the soldiers, by leading them to suppose that he dis- trusted their power of maintaining the town against the enemy. On the contrary, he caused a bridge commu- nicating with the castle to be broken down, after calling off the greater part of the garrison to assist in the de- fence of II Borgo. By these measures he proclaimed his unalterable determination to maintain the town to the last, and, if need were, to die in its defence.^ 33 Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 29. 34 " Lo qual sabido por el gran Maestre como aquel que jamas penso sino morir el primo por su religion, y por quitar toda sospecha despues de aver hecho llevar en sant Angel todas las reliquias y cosas de mas valor, mando quitar la puente, dando a entender a todo el mundo que enel no avia retirar, sino morir en el Burgo, o defenderlo." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 94. — See also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 29, — Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 167, at seq. CHAPTER V. SIEGE OF MALTA. The Turks dispirited. — Reinforcement from Sicily. — Siege raised. — Mustapha defeated. — Rejoicings of tlie Christians. — Mortificatioa of Solyman. — Review of the Siege. — Subsequent History of La Valette. 1565. While the affairs of the besieged wore the gloomy- aspect depicted in the last chapter, those of the be- siegers were not much better. More than half of their original force had perished. To the bloody roll of those who had fallen in the numerous assaults were now to be added the daily victims of pestilence. In consequence of the great heat, exposure, and bad food, a dysentery had broken out in the Moslem army and was now sweeping off its hundreds in a day. Both ammunition and provisions were running low. Ships bringing supplies were constantly intercepted by the Sicilian cruisers. Many of the heavy guns were so much damaged by the fire of the besieged as to re- quire to be withdrawn and sent on board the fleet, — an operation performed with a silence that contrasted strongly with the noisy shouts with which the batteries had been raised.' But these movements could not be ' " Ya seles conocia, que les faltavan muchas pie9as que avian em- barcado, y cada noche se sentia como las retiravan, ala sorda sin los alaridos que davan al principio quando las plantaron." Balbi, Verda- dera Relacion, fol. loi. (431) 432 SIEGE OF MALTA. conducted so silently as to escape the notice of the gar- rison, whose spirits were much revived by the reports daily brought in by deserters of the condition of the enemy. Mustapha chafed not a little under the long-protracted resistance of the besieged. He looked with apprehen- sion to the consequences of failure in an expedition for which preparations had been made on so magnificent a scale by his master and with so confident hopes of success. He did not fail to employ every expedient for effecting his object that the military science of that day — at least Turkish science — could devise. He ordered movable wooden towers to be built, such as w-ere used under the ancient system of besieging forti- fied places, from which, when brought near to the works, his musketeers might send their volleys into the town. But the besieged, sallying forth, set fire to his towers and burned them to the ground. He caused a huge engine to be made, of the capacity of a hogs- head, filled with combustibles, and then swung, by means of machinery, on the rampart of the bastion. But the garrison succeeded in throwing it back on the heads of the inventors, where it exploded with terrible effect. Mustapha ran his mines under the Christian defences, until the ground was perforated like a honey- comb and the garrison seemed to be treading on the crust of a volcano. La Valette countermined in his turn. The Christians, breaking into the galleries of the Turks, engaged them boldly under ground ; and sometimes the mine, exploding, buried both Turk and Christian under a heap of ruins. Bafiled on every point, with their ranks hourly REINFORCEMENT FROM SICILY. 433 thinned by disease, the Moslem troops grew sullen and dispirited ; and now that the bastion of Castile, with its dilapidated works, stood like some warrior stripped of his armor, his defenceless condition inviting attack, they were in no heart to make it. As their fire slack- ened and their assaults became fewer and more feeble, the confidence of the Christians was renewed, until they even cherished the hope of beating off the enemy without the long-promised succors from Sicily. For- tunately for the honor of Spain, the chivalry of St. John were not driven to this perilous attempt. Yielding, at length, to the solicitations of the knights and the enthusiasm of the army, the viceroy, Don Garcia de Toledo, assembled his fleet in the port of Syracuse, and on the twenty-fifth of August weighed anchor. The fleet consisted of twenty-eight galleys, and carried eleven thousand troops, chiefly Spanish veterans, besides two hundred knights of the order, who had arrived from other lands in time to witness the closing scene of the drama. There was also a good number of ad- venturers from Spain, France, and Italy, many of them persons of rank, and some of high military renown, who had come to offer their services to the knights of Malta and share in their glorious defence. Unfortunately, in its short passage the fleet encoun- tered a violent gale, which did so much damage that the viceroy was compelled to return to Sicily and repair his galleys. He then put to sea again, with better fortune. He succeeded in avoiding the notice of the enemy, part of whose armament lay off" the mouth of the Great Port, to prevent the arrival of succors to the besieged, — and on the sixth of September, under cover Philip. — Vol. II. — t 37 434 SIEGE OF MALTA. of the evening, entered the Bay of Melecca, on the western side of the island.' The next morning, having landed his forces, with their baggage and military stores, the viceroy sailed again for Sicily, to bring over an additional reinforce- ment of four thousand troops, then waiting in Messina. He passed near enough to the beleaguered fortresses to be descried by the garrisons, whom he saluted with three salvos of artillery, that sent joy into their hearts. ^ It had a very different effect on the besiegers. They listened with nervous credulity to the exaggerated reports that soon reached them of the strength of the reinforcement landed in the island, by which they expected to be speedily assaulted in their trenches. Without delay, Mustapha made preparations for his departure. His heavy guns and camp-equipage were got on board the galleys and smaller vessels lying off the entrance of the Great Port, — and all as silently and expeditiously as possible. La Valette had hoped that some part of the Spanish reinforcement would be de- tached during the night to the aid of the garrison, when he proposed to sally on the enemy, and, if nothing better came of it, to get possession of their cannon, so much needed for his own fortifications. But no such aid arrived ; and through the long night he impatiently 2 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. io6, et seq. — Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 33. — Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 172- 176. — De Thou, Histoire universelle, torn. v. p. 88. — Cabrera, Filipe Segiindo, lib. vi. cap. 28. — Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, torn, ii. p. 166. 3 " Como nuestra armada estuvo en parte q la descubriamos cla- ramente, cada galcra tiro tres vezes." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 104. SIEGE RAISED. 435 listened to the creaking of the wheels that bore off the artillery to the ships.* With the first light of morning the whole Ottoman force was embarked on board the vessels, which, weigh- ing anchor, moved round to Port Musiette, on the other side of St. Elmo, where the Turkish fleet, the greater part of which lay there, was now busily preparing for its departure. No sooner had the enemy withdrawn than the besieged poured out into the deserted trenches. One or two of those huge pieces of ordnance, which, from their unwieldy size, it was found impossible to re- move, had been abandoned by the Turks, and remained a memorable trophy of the siege. ^ The Christians were not long in levelling the Moslem intrenchments ; and very soon the flag of St. John was seen cheerily waving in the breeze, above the ruins of St. Elmo. The grand master now called his brethren together to offer up their devotions in the same church of St. Lawrence where he had so often invoked the protection of Heaven during the siege. " Never did music sound sweeter to human ears," exclaims Balbi, "than when those bells sum- moned us to mass, at the same hour at which, for three months past, they had sounded the alarm against the 4 " En el retirar su artilleria, tan calladamente que no se sentia sino el chillido de las niedas, y Dios sabe lo que al gran Maestre pesava, porque siempre tuvo esperan9a de ganarle parte della, si el soccorro se descubriera." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 105. 5 The armory in the government palace of Valetta still contains a quantity of weapons, sabres, arquebuses, steel bows, and the like, taken at different times from the Turks. Among others is a cannon of singular workmanship, but very inferior in size to the two pieces of ordnance mentioned in the text. (See Bigelow's Travels in Malta and Sicily, p. 226.) Those glorious trophies of the great siege should have found a place among the national relics. 436 SIEGE OF MALTA. enemy." * A procession was formed of all the members of the order, the soldiers, and the citizens. The ser- vices were performed with greater solemnity, as well as pomp, than could be observed in the hurry and tumult of the siege ; and, with overflowing hearts, the multi- tude joined in the Te Deum, and offered up thanks to the Almighty and the Blessed Virgin for their deliver- ance from their enemies.^ It was the eighth of Sep- tember, the day of the Nativity of the Virgin, — a memorable day in the annals of Malta, and still ob- served by the inhabitants as their most glorious anni- versary. Hardly had the Turkish galleys, with Mustapha on board, joined the great body of the fleet in Port Musi- ette, than that commander received such intelligence as convinced him that the report of the Spanish numbers had been greatly exaggerated. He felt that he had acted precipitately, thus without a blow to abandon the field to an enemy his inferior in strength. His head may well have trembled on his shoulders, as he thought of returning thus dishonored to the presence of his indig- nant master. Piali, it is said, was not displeased at the mortification of his rival. The want of concert between them had in more than one instance interfered with the fi " Yo no creo que musica jamas consolasse humanos sentidos, como d nosotros consolo el son de nuestras campanas, alos echo, dia dela Natividad de nuestra seiiora. Porque el gran Maestre las hizo tocar todas ala hora que se solia tocar al arma, y avia tres meses que no his aviamos oydo sino para arma." Balbi, Vcrdadera Relacion, fol. 105. 7 " Esta manana pues tocaron la missa, la cual se canto muy de ma- fiana, y en pontifical, muy solemnemcnte, dando gracias d nuestro senor Dios, y d su bcndita madre por las gracias que nos avian hecho." Ibid., ubi supra. MUSTAPHA DEFEATED. 437 success of their operations. It was now, however, agreed that Mustapha should disembark, with such of the troops as were in fighting-order, and give battle to the Span- iards. Piali, meanwhile, would quit the port, which lay exposed to St. Elmo, — now in his enemy's hands, — ■ and anchor farther west, in the roads of St. Paul. The troops from Sicily, during this time, had ad- vanced into the interior, in the neighborhood of Citta Notable, — or, as it is now called, Citta Vecchia. They were commanded by Ascanio de la Corna, an officer who had gained a name in the Italian wars. Alvaro de Sande was second in command, the same captain who made so heroic a defence in the isle of Gelves against the Turks. The chivalrous daring of the latter officer was well controlled by the circumspection of the former. La Valette, who kept a vigilant eye on the move- ments of the Turks, was careful to advise Don Ascanio that they had again disembarked, and were on their march against him. The Spanish general took up a strong position on an eminence the approach to which was rugged and difficult in the extreme. Thus secured, the prudent chief proposed to await the assault of the Moslems. But the knights of St. John who had ac- companied the Sicilian succors, eager for vengeance on the hated enemies of their order, called loudly to be led against the infidel. In this they were joined by the fiery De Sande and the greater part of the troops. When the Moslem banners, therefore, came in sight, and the dense columns of the enemy were seen advancing across the country, the impatience of the Christians was not to be restrained. The voices of 37* 438 SIEGE OF MALTA. the officers were unheeded. Don Ascanio saw it was not wise to balk this temper of the troops. They were hastily formed in order of battle, and then, like a mountain-torrent, descended swiftly against the foe. On their left was a hill, crowned by a small tower that commanded the plain. The Turks had succeeded in getting possession of this work. A detachment of Spaniards scaled the eminence, attacked the Turks, and, after a short struggle, carried the fort. INIean- while, the Maltese chivalry, with Sande and the great body of the army, fell with fury on the front and flanks of the enemy. The Turkish soldiers, disgusted by the long and disastrous siege, had embarked wifh great alacrity ; and they had not repressed their murmurs of discontent when they were again made to land and re- new the conflict. Sullen and disheartened, they were in no condition to receive the shock of the Spaniards, Many were borne down by it at once, their ranks were broken, and their whole body was thrown into disarray. Some few endeavored to make head against their assail- ants. Most thought only of securing safety by flight. The knights followed close on the fugitives. Now was the hour of vengeance. No quarter was given. Their swords were reddened with the blood of the infidel.^ Mustapha, careless of his own life, made the most intrepid efforts to save his men. He was ever in the liottest of the action. Twice he was unhorsed, and had nearly fallen into the hands of his enemies. At length, rallying a body of musketeers, he threw himself into the rear, to cover the retreat of the army. Facing 8 " No dexando de pelear aquel dia, y en sangrentar muy bien sus espadas." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 119. MUSTAPHA DEFEATED. 439 about, he sent such a well-directed volley among his pursuers, who were coming on in disorder, that they were compelled to halt. Don Alvaro's horse was slain under him. Several knights were wounded or brought to the ground. But, as those in the rear came up, Mustapha was obliged to give way, and was soon swept along with the tide of battle in the direction of the port of St. Paul, where the fleet was at anchor. Boats were in readiness to receive the troops; and- a line of shallops, filled with arquebusiers, was drawn up along- side of them, to cover the embarkation. But the Spaniards, hurried forward by the heat of the pursuit, waded up to their girdles into the sea, and maintained an incessant fire on the fugitives, many of whom fell under it, while others, vainly endeavoring to swim to the ships, perished in the waves ; and their bodies, tossed upon the sands, continued for many a day to poison the atmosphere.' This was the last effort of Mustapha ; and the Turkish admiral, gathering together the wreck of his forces, again weighed anchor, and, spreading his sails to the breeze, steered his course for the Levant." 9 " Lo qual se vio claramente dende a dos o tres dias porque los cuerpos que se avian ahogado subieron encima del agua, los quales eran tantos que parecian mas de tres mil, y avia tanto hedor en todo aquello que no se podia hombre llegar ala cala." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 120. — As an offset against the three thousand of the enemy who thus perished by fire and water, the chronicler gives us four Christians slain in the fight, and four smothered from excessive heat in their armor ! '° For the preceding pages see Balbi (Verdadera Relacion, fol. 117- 121), who contrived to be present in the action; also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. pp. 35-37, — De Thou, Histoire universelle, torn. v. p. 89, — Miniana, Hist, de Espaiia, p. 353, — Campana, Vitadi Filippo 440 SIEGE OF MALTA. The principal officers of the Spanish army, together with the knights, then crossed over to II Borgo." They met there with a cordial welcome; but the knights, as they embraced their comrades, were greatly shocked by their appearance, — their wan and care-worn counte- nances, their emaciated figures, their long and matted hair, and their squalid attire. Many were disfigured by honorable scars ; some were miserably maimed ; others wore bandages over wounds not yet healed. It was a piteous sight, too plainly intimating the extremity of suffering to which they had been reduced ; and as the knights gazed on their brethren, and called to mind the friends they had lost, their hearts were filled with unspeakable anguish." On the fourteenth of September, the viceroy reap- peared with the fleet, bearing the remainder of the re- inforcement from Sicily. The admiral's pennant dis- played a cross, intimating that it was a holy war in which they were engaged. '^ As the squadron came proudly up the Great Port, with pennons and streamers gayly flying from its masts, it was welcomed by salvos of ar- tillery from the fortresses and bastions around ; and the rocky shores, which had so long reverberated only with the din of war, now echoed to the sounds of jubilee. Secondo, tom.ii. p. 160, — Henera, Historia general, torn. i. p. 591, — Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 180, et seq. '' " Se vinieron al Burgo, tanto por ver la persona del gran Maestre tan dichosa y valerosa, como por ver la grandissima disformidad y llaneza de nuestras baterias." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 121. '* Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 39. »3 " Al entrar del qual despues que la Real capitana uvo puesto sus estandartes los pusieron todas las demas, y muy ricos, la Real traya enla flama un crucifixo muy devoto." Balbi, Verdidera Relacion, fol. 122. REJOICINGS OF THE CHRISTIANS. 441 The grand master came down to the landing-place below St. Angelo, to receive the viceroy, with the nobles and cavaliers who followed in his train. They had come too late to share the dangers of the besieged, but not too late to partake their triumph. They were courteously conducted by La Valette, across the scene of desolation, to his own palace, which, though in an exposed quarter of the fown, had so far escaped as to be still habitable. As the strangers gazed on the re- mains of the fortifications, nearly levelled to the ground, they marvelled that the shadowy forms which they saw gliding among the ruins could have so long held out against the Moslem armies. Well had they earned for their city the title of Vittoriosa, "The Vic- torious," which, suppilanting that of II Borgo, still commemorates its defence against the infidel. La Valette had provided an entertainment for his illustrious guests, as good as his limited resources would allow; but it is said that the banquet was re- inforced by a contribution from the viceroy's own stores. ''' On the departure of the Spaniards he showed his gratitude, while he indulged his munificent spirit, by bestowing handsome presents on the captains and a liberal largess of money on the soldiers.'^ '4 " Fueronse para Palacio, adonde dio el gran Maestre a todos muy realmente de cenar, porque ya el governador del Gozo le avia embiado muchos refrescos, y don Garcia y todos los capitanes del armada le presentaron de la misma manera." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 122. »s Balbi expresses his satisfaction at the good cheer, declaring that the dainties brought by the viceroy, however costly, seemed cheap to men who had been paying two ducats for a fowl, and a real and a half for an egg. Ibid., ubi supra. T* 442 SIEGE OF MALTA. On his way, the viceroy had discovered the Ottoman fleet formed in compact order and standing under press of sail towards the east. He was too far inferior in strength to care to intercept its course ; '* and the squadron reached in safety the port of Constantinople. Solyman had already received despatches preparing him for the return of the fleet and the failure of the expedition. It threw him into one of those paroxysms of ungovernable passion to which the old sultan seems to have been somewhat addicted in the latter years of his life. With impotent fury, he stamped on the let- ters, it is said, and, protesting that there was none of his officers whom he could trust, he swore to lead an expedition against Malta the coming year and put every man in the island to the sword ! '=' He had the mag- nanimity, however, not to wreak his vengeance on the unfortunate commanders. The less to attract public notice, he caused the fleet bearing the shatterec^ re- mains of the army to come into port in the night-time , thus affording a contrast sufficiently striking to the spectacle presented by the brilliant armament which a few months before had sailed from the Golden Horn amidst the joyous acclamations of the multitude. The arms of Solyman the Second, during his long and glorious reign, met with no reverse so humiliating as his failure in the siege of Malta. To say nothing of tlie cost of the maritime preparations, the waste of life was prodigious, amounting to more than thirty thousand men. Moors included, and comprehending the very best troops in the empire. This was a loss '^ lierrera, Historia general, vol. i. p. 592. »7 Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 38. RE VIE IV OF .THE SIEGE. 443 of nearly three-fourths of the original force of the be- sieging army, — an almost incredible amount, showing that pestilence had been as actively at work as the sword of the enemy. '^ Yet the loss in this siege fell most grievously on the Christians. Full two hundred knights, twenty- five hundred soldiers, and more than seven thousand inhabitants, — men, women, and children, — are said to have perished.'' The defences of the island were razed to the ground. The towns were in ruins, the villages burnt, the green harvests cut down before they had time to ripen. The fiery track of war was over every part of Malta. Well might the simple inhabitants rue the hour when the Knights of St. John first set foot upon their shores. The military stores were exhausted, the granaries empty; the treasury was at the lowest ebb. The members of the order had now to begin the work of constructing their fortunes over again. But still they enjo)^ed the glory of victory. They had the proud consciousness of having baffled, with their '8 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 121. — De Thou reduces the mor- tality to twenty thousand (Hist, universelle, torn. v. p. 592). Herrera, on the other hand, raises it to forty thousand (Historia general, torn. i. p. 90). The whole Moslem force, according to Balbi, was forty- eight thousand, exclusive of seamen. Of these about thirty thousand •were Turks. The remainder belonged to the contingents furnished by Dragut and Hassem. Conf. fol. 25 and 121. »9 Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 128. — Balbi gives a list of all the knights who perished in the siege. Cabrera makes a similar estimate of the Christian loss (Filipe Segundo, lib. vi. cap. 28). De Thou rates it somewhat lower (Hist, imiverselle, torn. v. p. 90) ; and Vertot lower still (Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 38). Yet Balbi may be thouglit to show too little disposition, on other occasions, to exaggerate the loss of his own side, for us to suspect him of exaggeration here. 444 SIEGE OF MALTA. own good swords, the whole strength of the Ottoman empire. The same invincible spirit still glowed in their bosoms, and they looked forward with unshaken confidence to the future. Such were the results of this memorable siege, — one of the most memorable sieges, considering the scale of the preparations, the amount of the forces, and the spirit of the defence, which are recorded on the pages of history. It v.'ould not be easy, even for a military man, after the lapse of three centuries, to criticise with any degree of confidence the course pursued by the combatants, so as to determine to what causes may be referred the failure of the besiegers. One obvious fault, and of the greatest moment, was that already noticed, of not immediately cutting off the communi- cations with St. Elmo, by which supplies were con- stantly thrown into that fortress from the opposite side of the harbor. Another, similar in its nature, was, that, with so powerful a navy as the Turks had at their command, they should have allowed communications to be maintained by the besieged with Sicily, and re- inforcements thus introduced into the island. We find Mustapha and Piali throwing the blame of this mutu- ally on each other, especially in the case of Cardona, whose most seasonable succors might easily have been intercepted, either by land or by sea, with proper vigi- lance on the part of the Turkish commanders. A serious impediment in the way of the besiegers was the impossibility of forcing a subsistence for the troops from a barren spot like Malta, and the extreme diffi- culty of obtaining supplies from other quarters, when so easily intercepted by the enemy's cruisers. Yet the REVIEW OF THE SIEGE. 445 Turkish galleys lying idle in the western port might have furnished a ready convoy, one might suppose, for transports bringing provisions from the Barbary coast. B'lt we find no such thing attempted. To all these causes of failure must be added the epidemic, which, generated under the tropical heats of a Maltese sum- mer, spread like a murrain through the camp of the besiegers, sweeping them off by thousands. It operated well for the besieged that the great ad- vance made in the science of fortification was such, in the latter half of the sixteenth century, as in a great degree to counterbalance the advantages secured to the besiegers by the use of artillery, — especially such clumsy artillery, and so awkwardly served, as that of the Turks. But these advantages would have proved of little worth had it not been for the character of the men who were to profit by them. It was the character of the defenders that constituted the real strength of the defence. This was the true bulwark that resisted every effort of the Ottoman arms when all outward de- fences were swept away. Every knight was animated by a sentiment of devotion to his order, and that hatred to the infidel in which he had been nursed from his cradle and which had become a part of his exist- ence. These sentiments he had happily succeeded in communicating to his followers, and even to the people of the island. Thus impelled by an unswerving prin- ciple of conduct, the whole body exhibited that unity and promptness of action which belongs to an indi- vidual. From the first hour of the siege to the last, all idea of listening to terms from the enemy was rejected. Every man was prepared to die rather than surrender. Philip.— Vol. II. 38 446 SIEGE OF MALTA. One exception only occurred, — that of a private soldier in La Sangle, who, denying the possibility of holding out against the Turks, insisted on the necessity of accepting the terms offered to the garrison. The ex- ample of his cowardice might have proved contagious ; and the wretched man expiated his offence on the gallows.*" Above all, the strength of the besieged lay in the character of their chief. La Valette was one of those rare men whom Providence seems to raise up for special occasions, so wonderfully are their peculiar qualities suited to the emergency. To that attachment to his order which he had in common with his brethren, he miited a strong religious sentiment, sincere and self- sacrificing, which shone through every act of his life. This gave him an absolute ascendency over his follow- ers, which he had the capacity to turn to full account. He possessed many of the requisites for success in action ; great experience, a quick eye, a cool judg- ment. To these was united a fixedness of purpose not to be shaken by menace or entreaty, and which was only to be redeemed from the imputation of obstinacy by the extraordinary character of the circumstances in which he was placed. The reader will recall a memorable example, when La Valette insisted on de- fending St. Elmo to the last, in defiance not only of the remonstrance, but the resistance, of its garrison. =° " En todo este sitio nose a justiciadosino un solo Italiano Senes, el qual mando justiciar Melchior de Robles : porque dixo publica- mente estando en el mayor aprieto, que mas valiera que tomaramos las quatro pagas que los turcos nos ofrccian, y el passage." Balbi, Verdadcra Relacion, fol. 128. RE VIE IV OF THE SIEGE. 447 Another equally pertinent is his refusal, though in opposition to his council, to abandon the town and retire to St. Angelo. One can hardly doubt that on his decision, in both these cases, rested the fate of Malta. La Valette was of a serious turn, and, as it would seem, with a tendency to sadness in his temperament. In the portraits that remain of him, his noble features are touched with a shade of melancholy, which, taken in connection with his history, greatly heightens the interest of their expression. His was not the buoyant temper, the flow of animal spirits, which carries a man over every obstacle in his way. Yet he could comfort the sick and cheer the desponding ; not by making light of danger, but by encouraging them like brave men fearlessly to face it. He did not delude his followers by the promises — after he had himself found them to be delusive — of foreign succor. He taught them, instead, to rely on the succor of the Almighty, who would never desert those who were fighting in his cause. He infused into them the spirit of martyrs, — that brave spirit which, arming the soul with con- tempt of death, makes the weak man stronger than the strongest. There is one mysterious circumstance in the history of this siege which has never been satisfactorily ex- plained, — the conduct of the viceroy of Sicily. Most writers account for it by supposing that he only acted in obedience to the secret instructions of his master, unwilling to hazard the safety of his fleet by interfering in behalf of the knights, unless such interference became absolutely necessary. But even on such a supposition 448 SIEGE OF MALTA. the viceroy does not stand excused ; for it was little less than a miracle that the knights were not exterminated before he came to their relief; and we can hardly suppose that an astute, far-sighted prince, like Philip, who had been so eager to make conquests from the Moslems in Africa, would have consented that the stronghold of the Mediterranean should pass into the hands of the Turks. It seems more probable that Don Garcia, aware of the greater strength of the Turkish armament, and oppressed by the responsibility of his situation as viceroy of Sicily, should have shrunk from the danger to which that island would be exposed by the destruction of his fleet. On any view of the case, it is difficult to explain a course so irreconcilable with the plan of operations concerted with the grand master, and the promises of support given to him by Don Garcia at the beginning of the siege. La Valette, we are told, subsequently complained of the viceroy's conduct to Pius the Fifth ; and that pontiff represented the affair to the king of Spain. Don Garcia had, soon after, the royal permission to retire from the government of Sicily. He withdrew to the kingdom of Naples, where he passed the remainder of his days, without public employment of any kind, and died in obscurity." Such a fate may not be thought, after all, conclusive evidence that he had not acted in obedience to the private instructions of his sovereign. The reader, who has followed La Valette through the siege of Malta, may perhaps feel some curiosity to learn the fate of this remarkable man. The discomfiture of " For this act of retributive justice, so agreeable to the feehngs of the reader, I have no other authority to give than Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. i8. REVIEW OF THE SIEGE. 449 the Turks caused a great sensation throughout Europe. In Rome the tidings were announced by the discharge of cannon, iUuminations, and bonfires. The places of public business were closed. The shops were shut. The only places opened were the churches; and thither persons of every rank — the pope, the cardinals, and the people — thronged in procession, and joined in public thanksgiving for the auspicious event. The rejoicing was great all along the shores of the Mediterranean, where the inhabitants had so severely suffered from the ravages of the Turks. The name of La Valette was on every tongue, as that of the true champion of the cross. Crowned heads vied with one another in the honors and compliments which they paid him. The king of Spain sent him a present of a sword and poniard, the handles of which were of gold superbly mounted with diamonds. The envoy, who delivered these in presence of the assembled knights, accom- panied the gift with a pompous eulogy on La Valette himself, whom he pronounced the greatest captain of the age, beseeching him to continue to employ his sword in defence of Christendom. Pius the Fifth sent him — ^what, considering the grand master's position, may be thought a singular compliment — a cardinal's hat. La Valette, however, declined it, on the ground that his duties as a cardinal would interfere with those which devolved on him as head of the order. Some referred his refusal to modesty ; others, with probably quite as much reason, to his unwillingness to compro- mise his present dignity by accepting a subordinate station." ^ Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. pp. 39, 40. — Calderon, Gloriosa 3^* 450 SIEGE OF MALTA. But La Valette had no time to dally with idle com- pliments and honors. His little domain lay in ruins around him ; and his chief thought now was how to restore its fortunes. The first year after the siege, the knights had good reason to fear a new invasion of the Moslems ; and Philip quartered a garrison of near fif- teen thousand troops in the island for its protection. ^^^ But Solyman fortunately turned his arms against a nearer enemy, and died in the course of the same year, while carrying on the war against Hungary.^ Selim, his successor, found another direction for his ambition. Thus relieved of his enemies, the grand master was enabled to devote all his energies to the great work of rebuilding his fallen capital and placing the island in a more perfect state of defence than it had ever been. He determined on transferring the residence of the order to the high land of Mount Sceberras, which divides the two harbors and which would give him the command of both. His quick eye readily discerned those advantages of the position, which time has since fully proved. Here he resolved to build his capital, to Defensa de Malta, pp. 189, 190. — De Thou, Hist, universelle, torn. v. p. 91. =3 " Havia en la Isla de Malta quinze mil hombres de pelea, los quales bastaran para resistir a qualquiera poder del gran Turco en campana rasa." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 129. — Besides the Spanish forces, a body of French adventurers took service under La Valette, and remained for some time in Malta. =■1 Vertot tells us that the projected expedition ot Solyman against Malta was prevented by the destruction of the grand arsenal of Con- stantinople, which was set on fire by a secret emissary of La Valette. (Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 41.) We should be better pleased if the abbd had given his authority for this strange story, the probability of which is not at all strengthened by what we know of the grand master's character. SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF LA VALETTE. 451 surround it with fortifications, and, at the same time, to enlarge and strengthen those of St. Elmo. But his treasury was low. He prepared a plan of his improvements, which he sent to the different European princes, requesting their co-operation, and urging the importance to them all of maintaining Malta as the best bulwark against the infidel. His plan met with gen- eral approbation. Most of the sovereigns responded to his appeal by liberal contributions, — and among them the French king, notwithstanding his friendly relations with the sultan. To these funds the members of the order freely added whatever each could raise by his own credit. This amount was still further swelled by the proceeds of prizes brought into port by the Maltese cruisers, — an inexhaustible source of revenue. Funds being thus provided, the work went forward apace. On the twenty-eighth of March, 1566, the grand master, clad in his robes of ceremony, and in the presence of a vast concourse of knights and in- habitants, laid the first stone of the new capital. It was carved with his own arms ; and a Latin inscription recorded the name of "Valetta," which the city was to bear in honor of its founder.^? More than eight thousand men were employed on the work j and a bull of Pius the Fifth enjoined that their labors should not be suspended on fete-days.^ It seemed to be regarded »s It was common for the Maltese cities, after the Spanish and Italian fashion, to have characteristic epithets attached to their names. La Valette gave the new capital the title of " Umillima" — " most humble," — intimating that humility was a virtue of highest price with the fraternity of St. John. See Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. i. p. 29. 26 " Plus de huit mille ouvriers y furent employes ; et afin d'avancer 452 SIEGE OF MALTA. as a Christian duty to provide for the restoration of Malta. =^ La Valette superintended the operations in person. He was ever to be seen on the spot, among the workmen. Tliere he took his meals, discussed affairs of state with his council, and even gave audi- ence to envoys from abroad. "* In the midst of these quiet occupations, there were some occurrences which distracted the attention and greatly disturbed the tranquillity of La Valette. One of these was the disorderly conduct of some of the younger knights. Another was a dispute in which he was involved with the pope, who, in the usual encroach- ing spirit of the Vatican, had appropriated to himself the nomination to certain benefices belonging to the order. These unpleasant affairs weighed heavily on the grand master's mind; and he often sought to relieve his spirits by the diversion of hawking, of which he was extremely fond. While engaged in this sport, on a hot day in July, he received a stroke of the sun. He was imme- plus aisement les travaux, le Pape Pie V. commanda qu'on y travaillat sans discontinuer, meme les jours de Fetes." Helyot, Hist, des Ordres religieux. =7 The style of the architecture of the new capital seems to have been, to some extent, formed on that of Rhodes, though, according to Lord Carlisle, of a more ornate and luxuriant character than its model : " I traced much of the military architecture of Rhodes, which, grave and severe there, has here both swelled into great amplitude and blossomed into copious efflorescence ; it is much the same relation as Henry VH.'s Chapel bears to a bit of Durham Cathedral." (Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters, p. 200.) The account of Malta is not the least attractive portion of this charming work, to which Felton's notes have given additional value. ^^ Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. p. 42. SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF LA VALETTE. 453 diately taken to II Borgo. A fever set in ; and it soon became apparent that his frame, enfeebled by his un- paralleled fatigues and hardships, was rapidly sinking under it. Before dying, he called around his bed some of the brethren to whom the management of affairs was chiefly committed, and gave them his counsel in respect to the best method of carrying out his plans. He especially enjoined on them to maintain a spirit of unity among themselves, if they would restore the order to its ancient prosperity and grandeur. By his testa- ment, he liberated his slaves, some fifty in number; and he obtained the consent of his brethren to bequeath a sum sufficient to endow a chapel he had built in Valetta to commemorate his victory over the infidels. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin ; and in this chapel he desired that his body might be laid. Hav- ing completed these arrangements, he expired on the twenty-first of August, 1568. La Valette's dying commands were punctually exe- cuted by his brethren. The coffin enclosing his remains was placed on board of the admiral's galley, which, with four others that escorted it, was shrouded in black. They bore the household of the deceased, and the members of the order. The banners taken by him in battle with the Moslems were suspended from the sterns of the vessels, and trailed through the water. The procession, on landing, took its way through the streets of the embryo capital, where the sounds of labor were now hushed, to the chapel of Our Lady of Victory. The funeral obsequies were there performed with all solemnity; and the remains of the hero were consigned to the tomb, amidst the tears of the multitude, who had 454 SIEGE OF MALTA. gathered from all parts of the island, to pay this sad tribute of respect to his memory.^ The traveller who visits Malta at the present day finds no object more interesting than the stately cathe- dral of Valetta, still rich in historical memorials and in monuments of art, of which even French rapacity could not despoil it. As he descends into its crypts and wanders through its subterranean recesses, he sees the niche where still repose the remains of La Valette, surrounded by the brave chivalry who fought, side by side with him, the battles of the Faith. And surely no more fitting place could be found for his repose than the heart of the noble capital which may be said to have been created by his genius-^" The Knights of St. John continued, in the main, faithful to the maxims of La Valette and to the principles of their institution. For more than two centuries after his death, their sword was ever raised against the infidel. Their galleys still returned to port freighted with the spoils of the barbarian. They steadily continued to advance in power and opu- lence; and while empires rose and crumbled around them, this little brotherhood of warlike monks, after a lapse of more than seven centuries from its foun- 29 Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. iii. pp. 42-48. — Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. i. pp. 127-142. y> An interesting description of this cathedral, well styled the West- minster Abbey of Malta, may be found in Bigelow's Travels in Sicily and Malta (p. 190), — a M'ork full of instruction, in which the writer, allowing himself a wider range than that of the fashionable tourist, takes a comprehensive survey of the resources of the countries he has visited, while he criticises their present condition by an enlightened comparison with the past. SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF LA VALETTE. 455 dation, still maintained a separate and indei^endent existence. In the long perspective of their annals there was no event which they continued to hold in so much honor as the defence of Malta by La Valette. The eighth of September — the day of the nativity of the Virgin — • continued to the last to be celebrated as their proudest anniversary. On that day the whole body of the knights, and the people of the capital, walked in solemn procession, with the grand master at their head, to the church of St. John. A knight, wearing the helmet and mailed armor of the ancient time, bore on high the victorious standard of the order. A page by his side carried the superb sword and poniard presented by Philip the Second. As the procession passed into the church, and the standard was laid at the foot of the altar, it was announced by flourishes of trumpets and by peals of artillery from the fortresses. The services were performed by the prior of St. John's; and, while the Gospel was read, the grand master held the naked sword aloft, in token that the knights were ever ready to do battle for the Cross. 3' When the ceremony was concluded, a fine portrait of La Valette was exhibited to the people ; and the brethren gazed with feelings of reverence on his majestic lineaments, as on those of the saviour of their order. ^^ 3' " Lorsqu'on commence I'Evangile, le Grand-Maitre la prend des mains du Page et la tient toute droite pendant le terns de I'Evangile. C'est la seule occasion ou Ton tient I'epee nue h. I'Eglise." Helyot, Hist, des Ordres religieux, torn. iii. p. 93. 3» Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. i. p. 35. — The good knight dwells with complacency on the particulars of a ceremony in which he had often borne a part liirnself. It recalled to his mind the 456 SIEGE OE MALTA. But all this is changed. The Christians, instead of being banded against the Turk, now rally in his defence. There are no longer crusades against the infidel. The age of chivalry has passed. The objects for which the Knights Hospitallers were instituted have long since ceased to exist ; and it was fitting that the institution, no longer needed, should die with them. The knights who survived the ruin of their order became wanderers in foreign lands. Their island has passed into the hands of the stranger; and the flag of England now waves from the ramparts on which once floated the banner of St. John. glorious days of an order which he fondly hoped might one day be restored to its primitive lustre. CHAPTER VI. DON CARLOS. His Education and Character. — Dangerous Illness. — Extravagant Behavior. — Opinions respecting him. — His Connection with the Flemings. — Project of Flight. — Insane Conduct. — Arrest. 1567, 1568. We must now, after a long absence, return to the shores of Spain, where events were taking place of the highest importance to the future fortunes of the mon- archy. At the time when the tragic incidents described in the preceding Book were passing in the Netherlands, others, not less tragic, if we may trust to popular rumor, were occurring in the very palace of the monarch. I allude to the death of Don Carlos, prince of Asturias, and that of Isabella of Valois, Philip's young and beau- tiful queen. Tlie relations in which the two parties stood to each other, their untimely fate, and the mystery in which it was enveloped, have conspired with the sombre, unscrupulous character of Philip to suggest the most horrible suspicions of the cause of their death. The mystery which hung over them in their own time has not been dissipated by the researches of later chron- iclers. For that very reason, it has proved an inex- haustible theme for fiction, until it might be thought to have passed from the domain of history into that of romance. It has been found especially suited to the Philip._VoL. II.— u 39 (457) 458 DON CARLOS. \ purposes of the drama; and the dramatic literature of J Europe contains more than one masterpiece from the 'hand of genius, which displays in sombre coloring the loves and the misfortunes of Carlos and Isabella.' The time for discussing so dark and intricate a sub- ject had not arrived while the Spanish archives were jealously locked up even from native scholars. But now that happily a more liberal system has prevailed, and access has been given to the dread repositories of the secrets of the Spanish sovereigns, the time seems to have come for investigating this mysterious story. And if I cannot boast that I have been able to dispel the doubts that have so long gathered around the subject, I may at least flatter myself that, with the materials at my command, I have the means of placing the reader in a better point of view than has yet been enjoyed for surveying the whole ground and forming his own con- clusions. Don Carlos was born on the eighth of July, 1545. His mother, Mary of Portugal, then only eighteen years of age, died a few days after giving birth to her ill-fated child. Thus deprived from the cradle of a mother's watchful care, he experienced almost as little of his father's; for until Carlos was fourteen years old ^hilip was absent most of the time, either in the Low Countries or in England.~> The care of the child ' Alfieri, Schiller, and, in our day, Lord John Russell, have, each according to his own conceptions, exhibited the poetic aspect of the story to the eyes of their countr^-men. The Castilian dramatist Montalvan, in his " Principe Don Carlos," written before the middle of the seventeenth century, shows more deference to historic accu- racy, as well as to the reputation of Isabella, by not mixing her up in any way with the fortunes of the prince of Asturias. HIS EDUCATION AND CHARACTER. 459 was intrusted during the greater part of this period to Philip's sister, the Regent Joanna, — an excellent woman, but who, induced probably by the feeble con- stitution of Carlos, is said to have shown too much indulgence to the boy, being more solicitous to secure his bodily health than to form his character. In our easy faith in the miracles claimed for education, it sometimes happens that we charge on the parent or the preceptor the defects that may be more reasonably referred to the vicious constitution of the child. As Carlos grew older, Philip committed the care of his instruction to Honorato Juan, a member of the emperor's household. He was a well-trained scholar, and a man of piety as well as learning ; and soon after assuming the task of the prince's preceptor he embraced the religious profession. The correspondence of Hono- rato Juan with Philip, then in Flanders, affords a view of the proficiency of Carlos when eleven or twelve years old. The contentment which the king evinces in the earlier letters diminishes as we advance ; and anxious doubts are expressed, as he gathers the unwel- come information from his tutor of his pupil's indiffer- ence to his studies.* In the year 1556, Charles the Fifth stopped some time at Valladolid, on his way to his cloistered retreat at Yuste.* He there saw his grandson, and took careful ' This correspondence is printed in a curious volume, of the greatest rarity, entitled, Elogios de Don Honorato Juan (Valencia, 1659), p- 60, et seq. * [On hearing of the emperor's arrival in Castile, his grandson had shown an extreme desire to see him, and, not being permitted to go and meet him, had sent one of his attendants with a short letter, writ- 46o DON CARLOS. note of the boy, the heir to the vast dominions which he had himself so recently relinquished. He told over his campaigns to Carlos, and how he had fled at Inns- bruck, where he barely escaped falling into the hands of the enemy. Carlos, who listened eagerly, inter- rupted his grandfather, exclaiming, "I never would have fled ! ' ' Charles endeavored to explain the neces- sity of the case ; but the boy sturdily maintained that he never would have fled, — amusing and indeed de- lighting the emperor, who saw in this the mettle of his own earlier days.^ Yet Charles was not blind to the defects of his grandson, — to the wayward, overbearing temper, which inferred too much indulgence on the part of his daughter the regent. He reprehended Carlos for his want qf deference to his aunt ; and he plainly told the latter that if she would administer 3 " Egli in collera reiterd con maraviglia et riso di S. M. et de" circumstanti, che mai egli non saria fuggito." Relatione di Badoaro, MS. ten, as his governor, Don Garcia de Toledo, states, without assistance from any one, — "sin ayudarse de nadie." It has been printed in fac-simile by M. Gachard, and both the expressions and the hand- writing — the latter singularly legible and in no respect resembling a schoolboy's scrawl-^eom to disprove the notion that Don Carlos was naturally defective in intelligence and incapable of instniction. (S. C. C. M', Yo e sabido que V. M' esta en salvamento, y e holgado dello infinitamente, tanto que no lo puedo mas encarecer. Suplico d V. M' me haga saber si e de salir d recebir a V M', y adonde. Ay va don Pedio Pimentel, gentilhombre de mi camara y mi embaxador, al qual suplico d V. M' mande lo que en esto se ha de hazer, para que el me lo escriva. Bcso las manos de V. M'. En Valladolid, 2 de otubre. Muy humilde hijo de V. M', El Principe.") The accents and punctuation have been added by M. Gacliard, without the neces- sity for any change in the orthography. — Ed.] :i. HIS EDUCATION AND CHARACTER. 461 more wholesome correction to the boy the nation would have reason to thank her for it/ After the emperor had withdrawn to his retreat, his mind, which kept its hold, as we have seen, on all matters of public interest beyond the walls of the monastery, still reverted to his grandson, the heir of his name and of his sceptre. At Simancas the corre- spondence is still preserved which he carried on with Don Garcia de Toledo, a brother of the duke of Alva, who held the post of ayo, or governor of the prince. In one of that functionary's letters, written in 1557, when Carlos was twelve years old, we have a brief chronicle of the distribution of the prince's time, somewhat curious, as showing the outlines of a royal education in that day. Before seven in the morning Carlos rose, and by half- past eight had breakfasted, and attended mass. He then went to his studies, where he continued till the hour of dinner. What his studies were we' are not told. One writer of the time says, among other things, he read Cicero's Offices, in order the better to learn to control his passions.^ At eleven he dined. He then amused himself with his companions by playing at quoits, or at trucos, a kind of billiards, or in fencing, and occasionally riding. At half-past three came a light repast, the meritnda ; after which he listened to reading, or, if the weather was fine, strolled in the 4 " Reprehendio al Principe su nieto su poca mesura i mucha desen- boltura con que vivia i trataba con su tia, i encomend61a su correccion, diziendo era en lo q mas podia obligar a todos." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. ii. cap. 11. 5 " Ne attende ad altro che a leggirli gli officii di M. Tullio per acquetare quel troppo ardenti desiderii." Relatione di Badoaro, MS. 39* 462 DON CARLOS. fields. In the evening he supped ; and at half-past nine, having gone through the prayers of his rosary, he went to bed, where, as his ayo says, he usually made but one nap of it till the morning. It was certainly a primitive way of life, in which more regard seems to have been had to the cravings of the body than of the mind, and as regular in its routine as the monastic life of his grandfather at Yuste. Yet Don Garcia does not fail to intimate his discontent with the want of interest shown by his pupil not merely in his studies, but in fencing, cane-playing, and other manly exercises, so essential to the education of a cavalier of that day.'' He notices, at the same time, the first symptoms of those bilious attacks which already menaced the prince's .constitution, and so effectually undermined it in later years.' In another epistle, Don Garcia suggests that it might be well for the emperor to allow Carlos to visit him at Yuste, trusting that his grandfather's authority would accomplish what his own had failed to do.* But this suggestion found no favor, apparently, with the royal recluse, who probably was not disposed to do penance himself by receiving so troublesome an inmate in his 6 " En lo del estudio esta poco aprovechado, porque lo haze de mala gana y ansy mesmo los otros exercicios de jugar y esgremyr, que para todo as menester premya." Carta de Garcia de Toledo al Emperador, 27 de Agosto, 1557, MS. 1 " Hasta agora no se que los medicos ayan tratado de dar ninguna cosa al principe para la colera, ny yo lo consintiera hazer, sin dar primero quenta dello a vuestra magestad." Ibid. 8 " Dcseo mucho que V. M. fuese servido que el principe diese una buelta por alld para velle por que entendidos los impedimentos que en su edad ticne mandasse V. M. lo que fuera de la horden con que yo le sirvo se deba mudar." Del mismo al mismo, 13 de Abril, 1558, MS. HIS EDUCATION AND CHARACTER. 463 family. The emperor's own death, which occurred shortly after this, spared him the misery of witnessing the disastrous career of his grandson. The reports of the Venetian ministers — those precious documents that contain so much instruction in respect to matters both of public and domestic interest — make occasional allusions to the prince at this period. Their notices are by no means flattering. They de- scribe Carlos as of a reckless, impatient temper, fierce, and even cruel, in his disposition, » and so arrogant as to be unwilling to stand with his head uncovered, for any long time, in the presence of the emperor or his father." Yet this harsh picture is somewhat redeemed by other traits; for he was generous, though to a degree of prodigality, — giving away his trinkets and jewels, even his clothes, in default of money. He had a fear- less heart, with a strong passion for a military life. He was far from frivolous in his tastes, despising buffoons, and saying himself so many good things that his tutor carefully made a collection of them." This portrait 9 So cruel, according to the court gossip picked up by Badoaro, that, when hares and other game were brought to him, he would occasionally amuse himself by roasting them alive! — " Dimostra havere un animo fiero, et tra gli effetti che si raccontano uno e, che alle volte, che dalla caccia gli viene portato o lepre o simile animale, si diletta di vedirli arrostire vivi." Relatione de Badoaro, MS. JO " Da segno di dovere essere superbissimo, perche non poteva sofferire di stare lungamente ne innanzi al padre ne avo con la ber- retta in mano, et chiama il padre fratello, et 1' avO padre." Ibid. " " Dice a tutti i propositi tante cose argute che '1 suo ministro ne raccolse un libretto." Ibid. — Another contemporary also notices the precocious talents of the boy, as shown in his smart sayings : " Dexo de contar las gracias que tiene en dichos maravillosos que andan por boca de todos desparzidos, dexo de contar lo que haze para provar lo / 464 DON CARLOS. of a youth scarcely fourteen years old seems as highly overcharged, whether for good or for evil, as portraits of princes usually are.* que dize." Cordero, Promptuario de Medallas, ap. Castro, Historia de los Protestantes Espaiioles, p. 328. * [The most trustworthy description of the person and character of Don Carlos is probably that given in a letter of the baron von Dietrichstein, imperial minister at the court of Madrid, who had received a particular charge to inquire into the habits and moral and physical qualities of the prince. This report, written in June, 1564, when Carlos had but recently recovered from one of his attacks of fever, describes him as mot disagreeable in features, though exceed- ingly pale. His figure was not only bad but deformed, one shoulder being higher and one leg longer than the other, with a sunken chest, and a slight hump on the back. His voice was thin, and he expressed himself with difficulty, though not unintelligibly. ^' He spoke to me several times, and, according to his habit, asked me many questions, which, however, contrary to what I had been led to expect, seemed to me very pertinent." In regard to other points the minister was unable to write from personal observation. He had received the usual accounts of the prince's violent and obstinate temper, but thought that many of his defects might be attributed to ill health, or might have been corrected by education, as he was said to have an excellent memory and much acuteness, the evidences oftTiiTTatter quality being the sharp sayings which"" he was only too apt to let drop. fTie was naturally very gluttonous, but had been restricted to a regimen, being allowed only a single dish, consisting of a boiled capon seasoned with the juice of a leg of mutton. His only drink was water, as he had an aversion to wine. > ^^He is extremely devout {gottsforchtig), and a great lover of justice and of truth ; he cannot endure falsehood, or any one whom he has ever found guilty of it, while he makes much of men who are worthy, upright, virtuous, honorable, and distin- guished. He exacts punctual service, and shows favor and affection to those from whom he receives it." ^As to a point on which the Emperor was very solicitous for information, — "an ad procreandam prolem aptus vel inaptus sit," — no one could speak with confidence: " nemo est qui aliquid certi hac in re possit affirmare." Koch, Quellen zur Geschichte des Kaisers Maximilian H. — Ed.] ins EDUCATION AND CHARACTER. 465 Yet the state of the prince's health may be fairly mentioned in extenuation of his defects, — at least of his infirmity of temper. For his bilious temperament already began to show itself in the form of intermittent fey gr. with which he continued to be afflicted for the remainder of hisjife. UndeT thlslIepresslng~di5Dfder his spirits sank, his body wasted away, and his strength failed to such a degree that it was feared he might not reach the age of manhood." In the beginning of 1560, Isabella of France came to Castile, and on the second of February was united to Philip. By the preliminaries of the treaty of Cateau- Cambresis, her hand had been assigned to Don Carlos ; but Mary Tudor having died before the ratification of the treaty, the name of the father was substituted for that of the son, and the royal maiden was affianced to Philip. The marriage-ceremony was performed, with great splendor, at Toledo. Carlos was present ; and, as he gazed on the beautiful bride, it is not improbable that some feelings of resentment may have mingled with regret when he thought of the unceremonious manner in which her hand had been transferred from him to. his father. But we should be slow to believe that Isabella could have felt any thing like the tender sentiment that romantic historians have attributed to her, for a boy of fourteen, who had so few personal attractions to recommend him. '* " Le pauvre prince est si bas et extenue, il va d'heure a heure tant affoiblissant, que les plus sages de ceste court en ont bien petite esperance." L'feveque de Limoges au Roi, i" Mars, 1559, ap. Nego- ciations relatives au Rfegne de Fran9ois II., p. 291. U* 466 DON CARLOS. On the twenty-second of the same month, Carlos was formally recognized by the cortes of Castile as heir to the crown. On this occasion the different members of the royal family were present, together with the great nobles and the representatives of the commons. The prince rode in the procession on a white horse superbly caparisoned, while his dress, resplendent with jewels, formed a sad contrast to the sallow and sickly coun- tenance of its wearer. '3 He performed his part of the ceremony with dignity and feeling. When Joanna, his aunt, and his uncle, Don John of Austria, after taking the oath, would have knelt, according to custom, to kiss his hand, he would not allow it, but affectionately raised and embraced them. <^But when the duke of Alva inadvertently omitted the latter act of obeisance, the prince received him so coldly that the haughty noble- man, rebuked by his manner, perceived his error, and humbly acknowledged it.'*> In the autumn of the following year, with the hope of mending his health by change of air, Carlos removed to Alcala de Henares, famous for its university founded by the great Ximenes. He had for his companions two youths, both destined to a conspicuous part in the history of the times. One was Philip's illegitimate brother, Don John of Austria, the hero of Lepanto ; the other was the prince's cousin, Alexander Farnese, son of Margaret of Parma, who was now in the course '3"Delante de la Princesa venia don Carlos a su juramento con mal calor de quartanaria en un cavallo bianco con rico guamimiento i gualdrapa de oro i plata bordado sobre tela de ore parda, como el vestido galan con muchos botones de perlas i diamantes." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. v. cap. 7. • '•* Ibid., ubi supra. DANGEROUS ILLNESS. 467 of training which was one day to make him the greatest captain of his time. The three boys were nearly of the same age ; but in their accomplishments and personal appearance the uncle and the cousin afforded as strong a contrast to their royal kinsman as in the brilliant fortunes that awaited them.'^ Carlos had not been at Alcala many months before he met with an accident which was attended with most disastrous consequences. One evening in April, 1562, as he was descending a flight of stairs, he made a mis- step, and fell headlong down five or six stairs against a door at the bottom of the passage.'* He was taken up senseless, and removed to his chamber, where his physicians were instantly summoned, and the necessary remedies applied. '^ At first it seemed only a simple contusion on the head, and the applications of the »5 Strada, in a parallel which he has drawn of the royal youths, gives the palm to Don John of Austria. His portrait of Carlos is as little flattering in regard to his person as to his character: " Carolus, praster colorem et capillum, ceteriim corpore mendosus ; quippe humero elatior, et tibia altera longior erat ; nee minus dehonesta- mentum ab indole feroci et contumaci." De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 609. '^ According to Guibert, the French ambassador, Carlos was engaged in a love-adventure when he met with his fall, — having descended this dark stairway in search of the young daughter of the porter of the garden. See Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 119. '7 " Este dia despues de haber comido queriendo su Alteza bajar por una escalera escura y de ruines pasos echo el pie derecho en vacio, y dio una vuelta sobre todo el cuerpo, y asi cayo de cuatro 6 cinco escalones. Dio con la cabeza un gran golpe en una puerta cerrada, y quedo la cabeza abajo y los piesarriba." Relacion de la Enfermedad del Principe por el Doctor Olivares, Documentos ineditos, torn. xv. P- 554- 468 DON CARLOS. doctors had the desired effect. But soon the symptoms became more alarming. Fever set in. He was attacked by erysipelas ; his head swelled to an enormous size ; he became totally blind; and this was followed by delirium. It now appeared that the skull was frac- tured. The royal physicians were called in ; and after a stormy consultation, in which the doctors differed, as usual, as to the remedies to be applied, it was deter- mined to trepan the patient. The operation was carefully performed ; a part of the bone of the skull was removed; but relief was not obtained.* Meanwhile, the greatest alarm spread through the country at the prospect of losing the heir-apparent. Processions were everywhere made to the churches, prayers were put up, pilgrimages were vowed, and the discipline. was unsparingly administered by the fanatical multitude, who hoped by self-inflicted penance to avert the wrath of Heaven from the land. Yet all did not avail. We have a report of the case from the pen of Dr. Olivares, the prince's own physician. Some of the remedies were of a kind that would look strange enough if reported by a medical journal of our own day. After all efforts of professional skill had failed, and the unguent of a Moorish doctor, famous among the people, had been rubbed on the body without success, it was resolved to make a direct appeal to Heaven. In the monastery of Jesus Maria lay the * [There were nine physicians and surgeons in attendance on the prince, among them the celebrated Vesalius, who seems, by a letter from the court, to have had an important share in the cure. See Gachard, Don Carlos et Philippe II., torn. i. — Ed.] DANGEROUS ILLNESS. 469 bones of a holy Franciscan, Fray Diego, who had died \ a hundred years before, in the reign of Henry the Fourth, in the odor of sanctity. King Philip and his court went in solemn procession to the church ', and in their presence the mouldering remains of the good father, still sweet to the nostrils, as we are told, were taken from their iron coffin and transported to the prince's apartment. They were there laid on his bed ; y and the cloth that wrapped the skull of the dead man / was placed on the forehead of Carlos.'^ Fortunately,| the delirious state of the patient prevented the shockl that might otherwise have been given to his senses. 7 That very night the friar appeared to Carlos in his / sleep. He was muffled in his Franciscan robe, with a green girdle about his waist, and a cross of reeds in his hand; and he mildly bade him "be of good cheer, I for that he would certainly recover." From this time, as the physician who reports the case admits, the patient \ began speedily to mend. The fever subsided, his head \ returned to its natural dimensions, his eyes were restored \ to sight. At the end of something less than two months \ from the date of the accident, Carlos, who had shown a marvellous docility throughout his illness,'' was enabled i to walk into the adjoining apartment and embrace his father, who during the critical period of his son's ill- 's Ferreras, Hist, de I'Espagne, torn. ix. p. 429. '9 Dr. Olivares bears emphatic testimony to this virtue, little to have been expected in his patient : " Lo que 4 su salud cumplia hizo de la misma suerte, siendo tan obediente d los remedies que k todos espan- taba que por fuertes y recios que fuesen nunca los reuso, dntes todo el tiempo que estuvo en su acuerdo el mismo los pedia, lo cual fu6 grande ayuda para la salud que Dios le dio." Documentos in^ditos, torn. XV. p. 571. Philip.— Vol. II. 40 470 DON CARLOS. ness had established his residence at Alcala, showing the solicitude natural to a parent in such an extremity.* The merit of the cure was of course referred to Fray- Diego.^" An account of the miracle, duly authenti- cated, was transmitted to Rome ; and the holy man, on the application of Philip, received the honors of canonization from the pontiff. The claims of the new saint to the credit of achieving the cure were confi- dently asserted by the Castilian chroniclers of that and succeeding ages ', nor have I met with any one hardy enough to contest them, unless it be Dr. Olivares him- self, who, naturally jealous of his professional honor, intimated his conviction — this was before the canoniza- =~ Another rival appeared, to contest the credit of the cure with the ■kQlies.xiiLjVay Diego. This was Our Lady of Atocha, the patroness of Madrid, whose image, held in the greatest veneration by Philip the Second, was brought to the chamber of Carlos soon after the skeleton of the holy friar. As it was after the patient had decidedly begun to mend, there seems to be the less reason for the chroniclers of Our Lady of Atocha maintaining, as they sturdily do, her share in the cure. (Perada, La Madofla de Madrid (Valladolid, 1604), p. 151.) The veneration for the patroness of Madrid has continued to the present day. A late journal of that capital states that the queen, accompanied by her august consort and the princess of Asturias, went, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1854, '"^ solemn procession to the church, to decorate the image with the collar of the Golden Fleece. •■■-■ [According to a letter of the Florentine minister, who had his information from an eye-witness, the spectacle of the father's grief was even more affecting than the condition of the son. When, how- ever, it was thought that the latter had only a few hours to live, Philip yielded to the entreaties of his counsellors that he should leave Alcala, and set out in the middle of the niglit, having Jirst given directions to the duke of Alva and the count of Feria in regard to the manner of conducting the obsequies. See Gachard, Don Carlos et Philippe IL, torn, i.— ED.] HIS EXTRA VA GANT BEIIA VI OR. 47 1 tion — that, with some allowance for the good wrought ~^ by Fray Diego's intercession and the prayers of the righteous, the recovery of the prince was mainly to be 1 ^.nCj referred to the skill of his physicians. =' ^OM-^' QO^'W^^ But the recovery of Carlos does not seem to have been so complete as was at first thought. There is good reason to suppose that the blow on his head did some permanent injury to the brain.* At least this may be inferred from the absurd eccentricities of his subse- quent conduct and the reckless manner in which he abandoned himself to the gratification of his passions. In 1565, on his recovery from one of those attacks of quartan fever which still beset him, Philip remarked, " " Con todo eso tomando propriamente el nombre de milagro, a mi juicio no lo fue, porque el Principe se euro con los remedios naturales y ordinaries, con los cuales se suelen ciirar otros de la misma enferme- dad estando tanto y mas peligrosos." Documentos ineditos, tom. xv, P- 570- * [This is expressly stated by Cabrera; but M. Gachard considers the assertion completely disproved by the tenor of the will executed by Carlos in May, 1564, a document which he characterizes as full of sense and good feeling and breathing the noblest and most generous sentiments, while its interest is enhanced by its being " the sole monu- ment which we have of the mind, thoughts, and character of Don Carlos." It is a very long instrument, prepared, under the prince's directions, by Hernan Suarez, a legist of Toledo, with injunctions to keep it strictly secret. The most noticeable clauses are those in which the testator expresses his strong affection for his former tutor, Hono- rato Juan, his desire that Martin de Cordova may be suitably rewarded for his heroic defence of Mazarquivir, and his intention that his two slaves Diego and Juan, whom he has wished to have instructed in the art of sculpture, shall, if they conduct themselves well, be declared free ; but if their characters shall prove to be such that liberty would not be an advantage to them, he bequeaths one to the bishop of Osma (Honorato Juan) and the other to the marquis of Tdvara, with an injunction for their good treatment. — Ed.] 472 DON CARLOS. with a sigh, to the French minister, St. Sulpice, "that he hoped his repeated warnings might restrain the prince, for the future, from making such fatal inroads on his health. ' ' "" But the unfortunate young man profited as little by such warnings as by his own expe- rience. Persons about the court at this period have left us many stories of his mad humors, which formed the current scandal at Madrid. Brantome, who was there in(^i5647)says that Carlos would patrol the streets with a number of young nobles of the same lawless habits with himself, assaulting the passengers with drawn swords, kissing the women, and insulting even ladies of the highest rank with the most opprobrious epithets. "^ It was the fashion for the young gallants of the court to wear very large boots. Carlos had his made even larger than usual, to accommodate a pair of small pistols. Philip, in order to prevent the mischievous practice, ordered his son's boots to be made of smaller dimensions. But when the bootmaker brought them to the palace, Carlos, in a rage, gave him a beating, and then, ordering the leather to be cut in pieces and stewed, he forced the unlucky mechanic to swallow this unsavory fricassee — as much as he could get down of it — on the spot.''* =" Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 132. *3 " II aymoit fort \ ribler le pave, et faire \ coups d'espee, fust de jour, fust de nuit, car il avoit avec luy dix ou douze enfans d'honneur dcs plusgrandes maisonsd'Espagne. . . . Quand il alloit par les rues quclquc belle dame, et fust elle des plus grandes du pays, il la prenoit ct la baisoit par force devant tout le monde ; il Tappelloit putain, bagasse, chienne, et force autres injures leur disoit-il." Brantome, ffiuvies, tom. i. p. 323. 24 " Dio un bofeton a Don Pedro Manuel, i guisadas i picadas en HIS EXTRAVAGANT BEHAVIOR. 473 On one occasion he made a violent assault on his governor, Don Garcia de Toledo, for some slight cause of offence. On another, he would have thrown his chamberlain, Don Alonzo de Cordova, out of the win- dow. These noblemen complained to Philip, and be- sought him to release them from a service where they were exposed to affronts which they could not resent. The king consented, transferring them to his own ser- vice, and^ppointed Ruy Gomez de Silva, prince of Eboli, his favorite minister, the governor of Carlos. ^sp> But the prince was no respecter of persons. Cardi- nal Espinosa, president of the Council of Castile, and afterwards grand inquisitor, banished a player named Cisneros from the palace, where he was to have per- formed that night for the prince's diversion. It was menudas pie9as hizo comer las votas al menestral." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22. — De Foix, a French architect employed on the Escorial at this time, informed the historian De Thou of the prince's habit of wearing extremely large leggings, or boots, for the purpose mentioned in the text: " Nam et scloppetulos binos summa arte fabricatos caligis, quae amplissimse de more gentis in usu sunt, eum gestare solitum resciverat." (Historise sui Temporis, lib. 41.) I cite the original Latin, as the word caligcB has been wrongly rendered by the French translator into culottes fi =s Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22. * [De Castro (Hist, de los Protestantes Espaiioles) considers the story of Carlos having treated the bootmaker in the manner described .is a calumny invented by his father's ministers. It may seem a more probable supposition that it was a popular exaggeration of some inci- dent characteristic enough of an irritable and exacting but not actually frenzied nature. The extravagances of language related, with more or less truth, by Brantome, might be similarly explained. " Whatever he has on his heart," writes the imperial minister, " he utters without resei-ve, indifferent as to whom it hits." — Ed.] 40* 474 ^^^ CARLOS. probably by Philip's orders. But, however that may be, Carlos, meeting the cardinal, seized him roughly by the collar, and, laying his hand on his poniard, ^ex- claimed, "You scurvy priest, do you dare to prevent Cisneros from playing before me ? By the life of my father, I will kill you!"^ The trembling prelate,* throwing himself on his knees, was too happy to escape with his life from the hands of the infuriated prince. r-l Whether the latter had his way in the end, in regard to the comedian, is not stated. But the stuff of which a grand inquisitor is made is not apt to be of the yielding sort. A more whimsical anecdote is told us by Nobili, the Tuscan ambassador then resident at the court. Carlos, having need of money, requested a merchant, named Grimaldo, to advance him the sum of fifteen hundred ducats. The money-lender readily consented, thanking the prince for the favor done him, and adding, in the usual grandiloquent vein of the Castilian, that "all he had was at his disposal."^ Carlos took him at his word, and forthwith demanded a hundred thousand ducats. In vain poor Grimaldo, astounded by the 26 "Curilla vos os atreveis a mi, no dexando venir a servirme Cis- neros? por vida de mi padre que os tengo de matar." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22. =7 " II qual Niccolo lo fece subito et co' parole di Complimento reiide gfratie k sua Altezza offerendoli sempre tutto quel che per lui si poteva." Lettera di Nobili, Ambasciatore dei Granduca di Toscagna al Re Pliilippo, 24 di Luglio, 1567, MS. * [Espinosa was not at this time either a bishop or a cardinal. He received the hat and was appointed to the see of Siguenza in the spring of 1568, during the imprisonment of Don Carlos. Gachard, Don Carlos et Philippe II., torn. i. — Ed.] HIS DISPOSITION. 475 request, protested that **it would ruin his credit; that what he had said was only words of compliment." Carlos replied, ''he had no right to bandy compli- ments with princes ; and, if he did not in four-and- twenty hours pay the money to the last real, he and his family would have cause to rue it." It was not till after much negotiation that Ruy Gomez succeeded in prevailing on the prince to be content with the more modest sum of sixty thousand ducats, which was ac- cordingly furnished by the unfortunate merchant.''* The money thus gained, according to Nobili, was squandered as suddenly as it was got. There are, happily, some touches of light to relieve the shadows with which the portrait is charged. Tie- polo, who was ambassador from Venice at the court of Madrid in 1567, when Carlos was twenty-two years old, gives us some account of the prince. He admits his arrogant and fiery temper, but commends his love of truth, and, what we should hardly have expected, the earnestness with which he engaged in his devo- tions. He was exceedingly charitable, asking, ''Who would give, if princes did not?"^ He was splendid in his way of living, making the most liberal recom- pense not only to his own servants, but to the king's, who were greatly attached to him. 3° He was ambitious 28 " Ci si messe di mezzo Ruigomes et molti altri n^ si h mai possuto quietar' fin tanto che Niccolo no" li ha prestato sessantamila scudi co' sua polizza senza altro assegniamento." Lettera di Nobili, MS. =9 " Mostra di esser molto religioso solicitando come fa le prediche et divini officii, anzi in questo si pud dir che eccede 1' honesto, et suol dire, Chi debbe far Elemosine, se non la danno i Prencipi ?" Relatione di Tiepolo, MS. 3° " !fe splendetissimo in tutte le cose et massime nel beneficiar chi 476 DON CARLOS. of taking part in the conduct of public affairspand was sorely discontented when excluded from them — as seems to have been usually the case — ^by his father. 3' It was certainly to the prince's credit that he was able to inspire those who approached him most nearly with strong feelings of personal attachment. Among these were his aunt Joanna, the regent, and the queen, Isabella, who, regarding him with an interest justified by the connection, was desirous of seeing him married to her own sister. His aunt Mary and her husband, the Emperor Maximilian, also held Carlos, whom they had known in early days, in the kindest remembrance, and wished to secure his hand for their eldest daughter. lo serve: II che fa cosi largamente che necessita ad amarlo anco i servitori del Padre." Relatione di Tiepolo, MS. 31 " fe curioso nel intendere i negozii del stato, ne i quali s'intro- metterebbe volontieri, et procura di saper quello che tratta il Padre, et che egli asconde gli fa grande offesa." Ibid. — Granvelle, in one of his letters, notices with approbation this trait in the character of Carlos : " Many are pleased with the prince, others not. I think him modest, and inclined to employ himself, which, for the heir of such large dominions, is in the highest degree necessary." Raumer, Six- teenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 128.* *'• [Some apparent inconsistencies in the character of Don Carlos aie perhaps best established by the extracts from his account-books pub- lished in the Coleccion de Documentos ineditos para la Hist, de Es- pana, torn, xxvii. In these we find him paying for the maintenance and education of abandoned children and discharging the obligations of an imprisoned debtor, while on another occasion he gives an alms of one hundred reals to Damian Martin, " father of the girls beaten by order of his highness. Perhaps the worst story told of him is that of his having one day shut himself up in his stables and inflicted serious injuries on more than a score of horses. The strongest evidence for this seems to be an allusion to it in a letter of Hernan Suarez, afterwards cited. — Ed.] IIIS DISPOSITION. 477 A still more honorable testimony is borne by the rela- tions in which he stood to his preceptor, Honorato Juan, who, at the prince's solicitation, had been raised to the bishopric of Osma. Carlos would willingly have kept this good man near his own person. But he was detained in his diocese; and the letters from time to time addressed to him by his former pupil, whatever may be thought of them as pieces of composition, do honor to the prince's heart. " My best friend in this life," he affectionately writes at the close of them, "I will do all that, you desire. "^^ Unfortunately, this good friend and counsellor died in 1566. By his will, he requested Carlos to select for himself any article among his effects that he preferred. He even gave him authority to change the terms of the instrument and make any other disposition of his property that he thought right ! '^ It was a singular proof of confidence in the testator, unless we are to receive it merely as a Spanish compliment, — somewhat perilous, as the case of Grimaldo proves, with a person who interpreted compliments as literally as Carlos. From all this, there would seem to have been the germs of generous qualities in the prince's nature, which, under a happier culture, might have been turned to some account. But he was placed in that lofty 32 " Mi mayor amigo que tengo en esta vida, que har^ lo que vos me pidieredes." Elogios de Honorato Juan, p. 66. — The last words, it is true, may be considered as little more than a Castilian form of epistolary courtesy. 33 " Su Alteza anada, y quite todo lo que le pareciere de mi testa- mento, y este mi Codicilo, que aquello que su Alteza mandare lo doy, y quiero que sea tan valido como si estuviesse expressado en este mi Codicilo, o en el testamento." Ibid., p. 73. 478 DON CARLOS. Station which exposed him to the influence of parasites, who flattered his pride, and corrupted his heart, by- ministering to his pleasures. From the eminence which he occupied, even the smallest errors and eccentricities became visible to the world and the objects of un- sparing criticism. Somewhat resembling his father in person, he was different from him both in his good qualities and his defects, so that a complete barrier was raised between them. Neither party could comprehend the other; and the father was thus destitute of the means which he might else have had of exerting an influence over the son. The prince's dissipated way of life, his perpetual lapses from decorum, or, to speak more properly, his reckless defiance of decency, out- raged his father, so punctilious in his own observance of the outward decencies of life. He may well have dwelt on such excesses of Carlos with pain ; but it may be doubted if the prince's more honorable desire to mingle in public affairs was to the taste of Philip, who was too tenacious of power willingly to delegate it, beyond what was absolutely necessary, to his own min- isters. The conduct of his son, unhappily, furnished him with a plausible ground for distrusting his capacity for business. ^ Thus distrusted, if not held in positive aversion, by his'iktlier ; excluded from any share in the business of the state, as well as from a military life, which would seem to have been well suited to his disposition ; sur- rounded by Philip's ministers, whom Carlos, with too much reason, regarded as spies on his actions, — the unhappy young man gave himself up to a reckless course of life, equally ruinous to his constitution and HIS DISPOSITION. 479 to his character ; until the people, who had hailed with delight the prospect of a native-born prince, now felt a reasonable apprehension as to his capacity for govern-y ment.^ ^ But, while thus an object of distrust at home, abroad more than one sovereign coveted an alliance with the heir of the Spanish monarchy. Catherine de Medicis would gladly have secured his hand for a younger sister of Isabella, in which project she was entirely favored by the queen. This was in 1565 ; but Philip, in his usual procrastinating spirit, only replied, " They must reflect upon it."3s He looked with a more favorable eye on the proposals warmly pressed by the emperor and empress of Germany, who, as we have seen, still cherished a kindly remembrance of Carlos, and wished his union with their daughter Anne. That princess, who was a year younger than her cousin, claimed Spain as her native land, having been born there during the regency of Maximilian. But although the parties were of suitable age, and Philip acquiesced in the proposals for their marriage, his want of confidence in his son, if we may credit the historians, still moved him to defer the celebration of it.^^ Anne did indeed live to mount the throne of Castile, but as the wife, not of Carlos, but of Philip, after the death of Isabella. Thus, by a singular^ fatality, the two princesses who had been destined for the son were each of them married to the father.* 34 " Cosi come sono allegri i Spagnuoli d' haver per loro 'S>\g^^ un Re naturale : cosi stanno molto in dubio qual debbe esser il suo governo." Relatione di Tiepolo, MS. 35 Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 132. 3* Herrera, Historia general, torn. i. p. 680. * [Of the different matrimonial designs of which Don Carlos, as 48o DON CARLOS. The revolutionary movement in the Netherlands was at this time the great subject that engaged the attention heir to the greatest monarchy of Europe, was the object, the most amusing was the suit vigorously prosecuted on her own behalf by his aunt, the princess Juana, who, having missed the throne of Portugal, aspired to that of Spain as the fittest compensation, and rejected with contempt offers from several of the Italian princes. The nearness of blood could be no obstacle in a family which, aided by papal dispen- sations, was accustomed to carry intermarriage to nearly the same extent as the Peruvian Incas ; while her ten years' seniority to her nephew seemed, probably, to the princess herself an additional recom- mendation, as insuring a continuance of the care and solicitude she had bestowed upon his infancy, and which she may have thought him likely always to need. The Spanish nation took the same view, and the cortes of Castile petitioned Philip to effect the marriage. Carlos, however, held different sentiments, which he expressed with his usual bluntness, nojt only declaring in private his determination not to wed the princessi^but presenting himself before the cortes and rating it for having dared to meddle in the matter, as well as for having requested his father not to take him to the Netherlands. yA proposal to which he showed himself better inclined was started originally by the Guises, who, on the death of Francis 11. of France, conceived the idea of forming what was thought a still more splendid connection for their ill-fated niece. Catherine de Medicis set herself diligently to coun- termining this project, — in every way inimical to her interests, — and succeeded by threats in extorting from the Cardinal of Lorraine a promise to desist from pursuing it. It was, however, revived after Mary's arrival in Scotland, her subjects being favorable to an alliance which offered the strongest counterpoise to the power of England, — a patriotic consideration that led the Reformers to stifle the motives which might have been expected to rouse their strenuous opposition. A like consideration might have led Philip to regard the match with favor if he had not — in contrast to his own father and to fathers in general — wished to postpone the marriage of his son until assured of the latter's fitness to render himself an agreeable husband. Such, at least, was the excuse he alleged for delaying an acceptance of the ©fiiperor's offer, which Carlos, on the other hand, was eager to accept. \FIe had obtained a portrait of the princess Anne, and fancied himself deeply in love with her. Being asked on one occasion by the queen HIS CONNECTION WITH THE FLEMINGS. 481 of the Spaniards; and Carlos is reported to have taken a lively interest in it. According to Antonio Perez, the Flemings then at the court made positive overtures to the prince to head the revolt. ^^ Strada speaks of Bergen and Montigny, then at Madrid, as the channel of communication through which Carlos engaged to settle the affairs of that distracted country.^^ That a person of his ardent temper should have felt sympathy with a people thus bravely struggling for its liberties, is not improbable; nor would one with whom "to think and to speak was the same thing" 39 be at all unlikely to express himself on the subject with much more freedom than discretion. And it may have been in allusion to 37 Raumer (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 153), who cites a manuscript letter of Antonio Perez to the councillor Du Vaire, extant in the Royal Library of Paris. A passage in a letter to Carlos from his almoner, Doctor Hernan Suarez de Toledo, has been inter- preted as alluding to his intercourse with the deputies from Flanders : " Tambien he llorado, no haber parecido bien que V. A. hablase a los procuradores, como dicen que lo hizo, no se lo que fue, pero si que cumple mucho hacer los hombres sus negocios propios, con consejo ageno, por que los muy diestros nunca fian del suyo." The letter, which is without date, is to be found in the archiepiscopal library of Toledo. 38 De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 376. 39 " fe principe," writes the nuncio, " che quello, che ha in cuore, ha in bocca." Lettera del Nunzio al Cardinale Alessandrini, Giugno, 1566, MS. where his thoughts were, he answered, " Three hundred leagues from here." "Where, then?" she asked, smiling. "With my cousin," he replied. This ungallant answer, reported in a letter of the French minister, seems a sufficient refutation of his pretended love for his step-mother, though her kindness and compassion for him, and the reverence with which it was repaid, are well established./ See Gachard, Don Carlos et Philippe II., passim. — ED.] Philip. — Vol. II. — v 41 482 I^ON CARLOS. this that his almoner, Suarez, in a letter without date, implores the prince " to abandon his dangerous designs, the illusion of the Evil One, which cannot fail to bring mischief to himself and disquiet to the monarchy."'" The letter concludes with a homily, in which the good doctor impresses on the prince the necessity of filial obedience, by numerous examples, from sacred and profane story, of the sad end of those who had im- piously rejected the counsels of their parents/' But, although it is true that this hypothesis would explain much that is enigmatical in the subsequent his- tory of Carlos, I must confess I have met with no con- firmation of it in the correspondence of those who had the direction of affairs in the Low Countries, nor in the charges alleged against Montigny himself, — where an attempt to suborn the heir-apparent, one might sup- pose, would have been paraded as the most heinous offence. Still, that Carlos_^egajdedhimsel£_a5_Jii^ [proper_persQn_to_be intrustedjAath_Ui£_jm]ssion_tg_^^ \Netherlands is evident~Ifom his treatment of Alva ■/wherTThantobleman was appointed to the command of the army. On that occasion, as the duke came to pay his respects to him previous to his departure, the prince fiercely 40 " Que eran de grandisimo engano, y error peligrosisimo, inven- tado y buscado todo por el demonio, para dar travajo a V. A. y pensar darle d todos, y para desasogear, y aun inquietar la grandeza de la monarquia." Carta de Hernan Suarez al Principe, MS. 4' The intimate relations of Doctor Suarez with Carlos exposed him to suspicions in regard to his loyalty or his orthodoxy, — we are not told which, — that might have cost him his life, had not this letter, found among the prince's papers after his death, proved a sufficient voucher for the doctor's innocence. Soto, Anotaciones k la Historia de Talabera, MS. HIS CONNECTION WITH THE FLEMINGS. 483 said, "You are not to go to Flanders; I will go there myself." Alva endeavored to pacify him, saying that it was too dangerous a mission for the heir to the throne ; that he was going to quiet the troubles of the country and prepare it for the coming of the king, when the prince could accompany his father, if his presence could be spared in Castile. But this explanation served only to irritate Carlos the more ; and, drawing his dagger, he turned suddenly on the duke, exclaiming, "You shall not go; if you do, I will kill you." A struggle ensued, — an awkward one for Alva, as to have injured the heir-apparent might have been construed into trea- son. Fortunately, being much the stronger of the two, he grappled with Carlos, and held him tight, while the latter exhausted his strength in ineffectual struggles to escape. But no sooner was the prince released than he turned again, with the fury of a madman, on the duke, who again closed with him, when the noise of the fray brought in one of the chamberlains from an adjoining room ; and Carlos, extricating himself from the iron grasp of his adversary, withdrew to his own apartment.''^ Such an outrage on the person of his minister was regarded by Philip as an indignity to himself. It widened the breach, already too wide, between father and son ; and so great was their estrangement that, when living in the same palace, they seem to have had no communication with each other. '•^ Much of Philip's time, however, at this period, was passed at the Esco- 43 Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 13. — Strada, De Bello Bel- gico, torn. i. p. 376. — Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria (Madrid, 1627), fol. 37. 43 Letter of Fourquevaulx, January 19th, 1568, ap. Raumer, Six- teenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 85. 484 DON CARLOS. rial, where he was watching over the progress of the magnificent pile which was to commemorate the victory of St. Quentin. But, while in his retreat, the ministers placed about his son furnished the king with faithful reports of his proceedings. Such was the deplorable state of things, when Carlos came to the fatal determination to escape from the annoyances of his present position by flying to some foreign land, — to what country is not certainly known ; some say to the Netherlands, others to Germany. The latter, on the whole, seems the most probable ; as in the court of Vienna he would meet with his promised bride, and friends who would be sure to welcome him.* As he was destitute of funds for such a journey, he proposed to raise them through a confidential agent, one of his own household, by obtaining loans from * [His intention, as stated in the letters from the court, was to go to Italy ; according to some reports, with the ulterior purpose of pro- ceeding to Flanders, while others, with less probability, represent him as designing to raise an insurrection in the Italian provinces subject to Spain. There was also a rumor of his intending to fly to Portugal, which, according to Fourquevaulx, was the opinion of Philip, founded, perhaps, chiefly on the fact that Carlos was the heir presumptive to the throne of that kingdom. ^\s one strong motive of his projected flight seems to have been his disgust at Alva's appointment and Philip's pretended change of purpose as to his own visit to the Neth- erlands, after having expressly promised to take his son with him, it may be inferred that the latter country was the prince's real destina- tion, as also that he hoped to receive aid from the emperor, — who had been appealed to by the Flemish nobles, and who was eager to re- ceive Carlos as his son-in-law,^uch a project was far less wild than it may now appear. Striking examples in the preceding century, that especially of Louis XI. while dauphin, — to which M. Gachard has pointed as a somewhat analogous case, — were still fresh in the recol- lection of the world. — Ed.] PROJECT OF FLIGHT. 4S5 different cities. Such a reckless mode of proceeding, which seemed at once to proclaim his purpose, inti- mated too plainly the heedlessness of his character and his utter ignorance of affairs. But, while these negotiations were in progress, a cir- cumstance occurred exhibiting the conduct of Carlos in such a light that it may claim the shelter of insanity. The story is told by one of the prince's household, an ayuda de cd?nara, or gentleman of the chamber, who was present at the scene, which he describes with much simplicity. For some days his master, he tells us, had no rest, frequently repeating that "he desired to kill a man with whom he had a quarrel !"^ The same thing he said — without, however, intimating who the man was — • to his uncle, Don John of Austria, in whom he seems to have placed unbounded confidence. This was near Christmas in 1567. It was customary on the twenty- eighth of December, the day of the Innocents, for the members of the royal family to appear together ajid take the sacrament in public. Carlos, in order to prepare for this, on the preceding evening went to the church of St. Jerome, to confess and receive absolution. But the confessor, when he heard the strange avowal of his murderous appetite, refused to grant absolution. Carlos applied to another ecclesiastic, but with as little success. In vain he endeavored to argue the case. They recommended him to send for more learned 44 " Avia muchos dias, que el Principe mi Senor andaba inquieto sin poder sosegar, y decia, que avia de matar d un hombre con quien estaba mal, y de este dio parte al Senor Don Juan, pero sin declararle quien fuese." De la Prision y Muerte del Principe Don Carlos, MS. 41* 486 DON CARLOS. divines and take their opinion. He did so forthwith ; and no less than fourteen monks from the convent of Our Lady of Atocha, and two from another quarter, were brought together to settle this strange point of casuistry. Greatly shocked, they were unanimous in their opinion that, under the circumstances, absolution could not be granted. Carlos next inquired whether he might not be allowed to receive an unconsecrated wafer, which would obviate the scandal that his omit- ting to take the sacrament would infallibly occasion in the court. The reverend body were thrown into fresh consternation by this proposal. The prior of Atoclia, who was among the number, wishing to draw from Carlos the name of his enemy, told him that this intelligence might possibly have some influence on the judgment of the divines. The prince replied that "his father was the person, and that he wished to have his life ! " ''5 The prior calmly inquired if any one was to aid him in the designs against his father. But Carlos only repeated his former declaration; and two hours after midnight the conclave broke up, in unspeakable dismay. A messenger was despatched to the Escorial, where the king then was, to acquaint him with the whole affair.'^ Such is the report of the ayuda de cdmai-a, who says he was in attendance on the prince that night. The authority is better for some parts of the story than for others. There is nothing very improbable in the sup- 45 " Pero el Prior le engafio, con persuadirle dixese cual fuese el hombre, por que seria possible podcr dispensar conforme k la satis- faccion, que S. A. pudiese tomar, y entonces dixo, que era el Rey su Padre con quien eslaba mdl, y le havia de matar." De la Prision y Mu(!rte del Principe Don Carlos, MS. 46 Ibid. PROJECT OF FLIGHT. 487 position that Carlos — whose thoughts, as we have seen, lay very near the surface — should have talked in the wild way reported of him, to his attendants. But that he should have rej^eated to others what had been drawn from him so cunningly by the prior, or that this appall- ing secret should have been whispered within earshot of the attendants, is difficult to believe. It matters little, however, since, whichever way we take the story, it savors so much of downright madness in the prince as in a manner to relieve him from moral responsibility. By the middle of January, 1568, the prince's agent had returned, bringing with him a hundred and fifty thousand ducats. It was not more than a fourth of the amount he had demanded. But it answered for the present, and the remainder he proposed to have sent after him in bills of exchange*' Having completed his preparations, he communicated his intentions to his uncle, Don John, and besought him to accompany him in his flight. But the latter, after fruitlessly expostu- lating with his kinsman on the folly of his proceeding, left Madrid for the Escorial, where he doubtless reported the affair to the king, his brother. On the seventeenth, Carlos sent an order to Don Ramon de Tassis, the director-general of the posts, to have eight horses in readiness for him that evening. Tassis, suspecting all was not right, returned an answer that the horses were out. On the prince repeating his orders in a more peremptory manner, the postmaster 47 " Ya avia llegado de Sevilla Garci Alvarez Osorio con ciento y cincuenta mil escudos de los seiscientos mil que le avia embiado a buscar y proveer : y que assi se apercibiesse para partir en la noche siguiente pues la resta le remitirian en polizas en saliendo de la Corte." Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria, fol. 40. 488 DON CARLOS. sent all the horses out, and proceeded himself in all haste^ to the Escorial."^ ^he king was not long in taking his measures. Some days previous, "this very religious prince," says the papal nuncio, "according to his wont, had caused prayers to be put up, in the different monasteries, for the guidance of Heaven in an affair of great moment^ ^ Such prayers might have served as a warning to Carlos. But it was too late for warnings. Philip now proceeded, without loss of time, to Madrid, where those who be- held him in the audience-chamber on the morning of the eighteenth saw no sign of the coming storm in the serenity of his countenance. 5° That morning he attended mass in public, with the members of the royal family. After the services, Don John visited Carlos in his apartment, when the prince, shutting the doors, demanded of his uncle the subject of his conversation with the king at the Escorial. Don John evaded the questions as well as he could, till Carlos, heated by his suspicions, drew his sword and attacked his uncle, who, 48 Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria, fol. 40. — Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22. 49 " Sono molti giorni che stando il Re fuori comand6 segretamenic che si facesse fare orationi in alcuni monasterii, accio nostro Signore Dio indrizzasse bene et felicemente un grand negotio, che si li offeriva. Questo h costume di questo Prencipe veramente molto religioso, quando li occorre qualche cosa da esseguire, che sia importante." Lettera del Nunzio, 24 di Gennaio, 1568, MS. so " On the next day, when I was present at the audience, he ap- peared with as good a countenance as usual, although he was already determined in the same night to lay hands on his son, and no longer to put up with or conceal his follies and more than youthful extrava- gances." Letter of Fourquevaulx, February sth, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 138. Ills ARREST. 489 retreating, with his back to the door, called loudly on the prince to desist, and threw himself into a posture of defence. The noise made by the skirmish fortu- nately drew the notice of the attendants, who, rushing in, enabled Don John to retreat, and Carlos withdrew in sullen silence to his chamber. s' The prince, it seems, had for some time felt himself insecure in his father's palace. He slept with as many precautions as a highwayman, with his sword and dagger by his side, and a loaded musket within reach, ready at any moment for action. s* For further se- curity, he had caused an ingenious artisan to construct a bolt in such a way that by means of pulleys he could fasten or unfasten the door of his chamber while in bed. With such precautions, it would be a perilous thing to invade the slumbers of a desperate man like Carlos. But Philip was aware of the difficulties ; and he ordered the mechanic to derange the machinery so that it should not work ; and thus the door was left without the usual means for securing it.^^ The rest is told by the ayuda de cdmara above mentioned, who was on duty that night, and supped in the palace. It was about eleven o'clock, on the evening of the s» Letter of Fourquevaulx, ubi supra. — Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS. 52 Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS. — Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 21, 1568, MS. — De Thou, taking his account from the architect Louis de Foix, has provided Carlos with still more formidable means of defence: " Ce Prince inquiet ne dormoit point, qu'il n'eut sous son chevet deux epees nues et deux pistolets chargez. II avoit encore dans sa garderobe deux arquebuses avec de la poudre et des balles, toujours pretes k tirer." Hist, universelle, torn. v. p 439. 53 Ibid, ubi supra. V* 49 o DON CARLOS. eighteenth, when he observed the king coming down- stairs, wearing armor over his clothes, and his head protected by a hehnet. He was accompanied by the duke of Feria, captain of the guard, with four or five other lords, and twelve privates of the guard. The king ordered the valet to shut the door and allow no one to enter. The nobles and the guard then passed into the prince's chamber; and the duke of Feria, stealing softly to the head of the bed, secured a sword and dagger which lay there, as well as a musket loaded with two balls. Carlos, roused by the noise, started up, and demanded who was there. The duke, having got possession of the weapons, replied, "It is the council of state." Carlos, on hearing this, leaped from his bed, and, uttering loud cries and menaces, endeavored to seize his arms. At this moment, Philip, who had prudently deferred his entrance till the weap- ons were mastered, came forward, and bade his son re- turn to bed and remain quiet. The prince exclaimed, "What does your majesty want of me?" "You will soon learn," said his father, and at the same time or- dered the windows and doors to be strongly secured, and the keys of the latter to be delivered to him. All the furniture of the room, with which Carlos could commit any violence, even the andirons, were re- moved. s* The king, then turning to Feria, told him that "he committed the prince to his especial charge, and that he must guard him well." Addressing next the other nobles, he directed them "to serve the 54 " Cosi S. M'a fece levare tutte I'armi, et tutti i ferri sino k gli alari di quella camera, et conficcare le finestre." Lettera di Nobili, Gen- naio 21, 1568. MS. Ills ARREST. 491 prince with all proper resi:)ect, but to execute none of his orders without first reporting them to himself; finally, to guard him faithfully, under penalty of being held as traitors." At these words Carlos exclaimed, "Your majesty had better kill me than keep me a prisoner. It will be a great scandal to the kingdom. If you do not kill me, I will make away with myself." "You will do no such thing," said the king, "for that would be the act of a madman." "Your majesty," replied Carlos, "treats me so ill that you force me to this extremity. I am not mad, but you drive me to despair ["^s Other words passed between the monarch and his son, whose voice was so broken by sobs as to be scarcely audible. s* Having completed his arrangements, Philip, after securing a coffer which contained the prince's papers, withdrew from the apartment. That night, the duke of Feria, the count of Lerma, and Don Rodrigo de Mendoza, eldest son of Ruy Gomez, remained in the prince's chamber. Two lords, out of six named for the purpose, performed the same duty in rotation each succeeding night. From respect to the prince, none of them were allowed to wear their swords in his pres- ence. His meat was cut up before it was brought into his chamber, as he was allowed no knife at his meals. ss " Aqui al90 el principe grandes bozes diziendo, mateme Vra M<1 y no me prenda porque es grande escandalo para el reyno y sino yo me matare, al qual respondio el rey que no lo hiciere qiie era cosa de loco, y el principe respondio no lo hare como loco sino como desesperado pues Vra Mt* me trata tan mal." Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS. 5« " Erasi di gik tomato nel letto il Principe usando molte parole fuor di proposito : le quali non furno asverttite come dette quasi sin- ghiozzando." Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 25, 1568, MS. 492 DON CARLOS. The prince's attendants were all dismissed, and most of them afterwards provided for in the service of the king. A guard of twelve halberdiers was stationed in the pas- sages leading to the tower in which the apartment of Carlos was situated. Thus all communication from with- out was cut off; and, as he was unable to look from his strongly barricaded windows, the unhappy prisoner from that time remained as dead to the world as if he had been buried in the deepest dungeon of Simancas. The following day, the king called the members of his different councils together, and informed them of the arrest of his son, declaring that nothing but his duty to God, and the welfare of the monarchy, could have moved him to such an act. The tears, according to one present, filled his eyes as he made this avowal." He then summoned his council of state, and com- menced a process against the prisoner. His affliction did not prevent him from being present all the while and listening to the testimony, which, when reduced to writing, formed a heap of paper half a foot in thick- ness. Such is the account given of this extraordinary proceeding by the ayuda de camaraJ'^ 57 " Y a cada uno de por si con lagrima^f^egun me ha certificado quien lo vio) les daba cuenta de lf|S^^ion del Principe su hijo." Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS. 58 " Martes veinte de Enero de 1568, Uamo S. M. d su cdmara d los de el Consejo de Estado, y estubieron en ella desde la una de la tarde asta las nueve de la noche, no se sabe que se tratase, el Rey hace informacion, Secretario de ella es Oyos, hallase el Rey pressente al examen de los testigos, ay escripto casi un feme en alto." Ibid. — I have two copies of this interesting MS., one from Madrid, the other from the library of Sir Thomas Phillips. Llorente's translation of the entire document, in his Histoire de I'lnquisition (torn. iii. pp. 151-158), cannot claim the merit of scrupulous accuracy. CHAPTER VII. DEATH OF DON CARLOS. Causes of his Imprisonment. — His Rigorous Confinement. — His Ex- cesses. — His Death. — Llorente's Account. — Various Accounts.— Suspicious Circumstances. — Quarrel in the Palace. — Obsequies of Carlos. 1568. The arrest of Don Carlos caused a great sensation throughout the country, much increased by the myste- rious circumstances which had attended it. The wildest rumors were afloat as to the cause. Some said the prince had meditated a design against his father's life; others, that he had conspired against that of Ruy Gomez. Some said that he was plotting rebellion, and had taken part with the Flemings ; others suspected him of heresy. Many took still a different view of the matter, — censuring the father rather than the son. ^'His dag- ger foUo^ved close upon his smile, ^^ says the historian of Philip: "hence some called him wise, others severe."' Carlos, they said, never a favorite, might have been rash in his thoughts and words ; but he had done no act which should have led a father to deal with his son so harshly. But princes were too apt to be jealous of their ' " Unos le llamaban prudente, otros severo, porque su risa i cuchillo eran confines." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. viii. cap. 22. — These remarkable words seem to escape from Cabrera, as if he were noticing only an ordinary trait of character. Philip. — Vol. II. 42 (493^ 494 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. successors. They distrusted the bold and generous spirit of their offspring, whom it would be wiser to win over by admitting them to some reasonable share in the government. "But others there were," concludes the wise chronicler of the times, "who, more prudent than their neighbors, laid their finger on their lips, and were silent."* For some days Philip would allow no post to leave Madrid, that he might be the first to send intelligence of this event to foreign courts. ^ On the twenty-fourth he despatched circular letters to the great ecclesiastics, the grandees, and the municipalities of the chief cities in the kingdom. They were vague in their import, stating the fact of the arrest, and assigning much the same general grounds with those he had stated to the councils. On the same day he sent despatches to the principal courts of Europe.* These, though singularly vague and mysterious in their language, were more pregnant with suggestions, at least, than the letters to his subjects. The most curious, on the whole, and the one that gives the best insight into his motives, is the letter he addressed to his aunt, the queen of Portugal. She was sister to the emperor his father, — an estimable lady, whom Philip had always held in great respect. "Although," he writes, "it has long been obvious » " Mirabanse los mas cuerdos sellando la boca con el dedo i el silencio." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22. 3 " In questo mezo h. prohibito di mandar corriero nessuno, volendo essere Sua Maestk il primo d dar alii Prencipi quest' aviso." Lettera del Nunzio, Gennaio 21, 1568, MS. * [These letters are dated the 20th and the 21st, and those to the grandees, the municipalities, etc., the 22d. — Ed.] CAUSES OF HIS IMPRISONMENT. 495 that it was necessary to take some order in regaid to the prince, yet the feelings of a father have led me to resort to all other means before proceeding to extremity. But affairs have at length come to such a pass that, to fulfil the duty which, as a Christian prince, I owe both to God and to my realm, I have been compelled to place my son in strict confinement. Thus have I been willing to sacrifice to God my own flesh and blood, preferring his service and the welfare of my people to all human considerations/ I will only add that this determination has not been brought about by any misconduct on the part of my son, or by any want of respect to me ; nor is this treatment of him intended by way of chastisement, — for that, however just the grounds of it, would have its time and its limit. ^ Neither have I resorted to it as an expedient for reforming his disorderly life. The proceeding rests altogether on another foundation ; and the remedy I propose is not one either of time or experience, but is of the greatest moment, as I have already remarked, to satisfy my obligations to God and my people."^ 4 " En fin yo he querido hacer en esta parte sacrificio k Dios de mi propia carne y sangre y preferir su servicio y el bien y beneficio publico d las otras consideraciones humanas." Traslado de la Carta que su magestad escrivio d la Reyna de Portugal sobre la prision del Principe su hijo, 20 de Enero, 1568, MS. s "Solo me ha parecido ahora advertir que el fundamento de esta mi determinacion no depende de culpa, ni inovediencia, ni desacato, ni es enderezada d castigo, que aunque para este havia la muy suficiente materia, pudiera tener su tiempo y su termino." Ibid. 6 " Ni tampoco lo he tomado por medio, teniendo esperanza que por este camino se reformardn sus excesos y desordenes. Tiene este negocio otro principio y razon, cuyo remedio no consiste en tiempo, ni medios ; y que es de mayor importancia y consideracion para satis- 496 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. In the same obscure strain Philip addressed Zuftiga, his ambassador at the papal court, — saying that, "al- though the disobedience which Carlos had shown through life was sufficient to justify any demonstration of severity, yet it was not this, but the stern pressure of necessity, that could alone have driven him to deal in this way with his first-born, his only son."' facer yo d la dicha obligacion que tengo a Dios nuestro sefior y d los dichos mis Reynos." Traslado de la Carta desumagestaddla Reyna de Portugal, MS. 7 " Pues aunque es verdad que en el discurso de su vida y trato haya habido ocasion de alguna desobediencia 6 desacato que pudieran justificar qualquiera demostracion, esto no me obligaria d. llegar d tan estrecho punto. La necesidad y conveniencia lian producido las causas que me ban movido muy urgentes y precisas con mi hijo pri- mogenito y solo." Carta del Rey d su Embajador en Roma, 22 de Enero, 1568, MS.® * [Of the other letters written by Philip at this time, one to the duke of Alva, dated the 23d, begins with the remark, "You are so well acquainted with the character and disposition of the prince my son, and with his mode of acting, that it will not be necessary to enlarge much upon the matter to you in order to justify what has been done, or that you may understand the end which is proposed." He then speaks of things having gone so far since Alva's departure, and of particular and important acts carried to such an extent (" intervenido actos tan particulares y de tanta consideracion, y llegddose d tales terminos"), as to make necessary the course pursued. After the usual account of the motives, as not proceeding from any personal outrage to himself, he charges Alva not to communicate to any one the ground of the business, or the end to which it is directed. In a later letter, dated April 6th, Philip declines to give a more explicit declaration, as the duke had recommended, of the causes which had determined his action. For Alva's own satisfaction, he says, this can- not be necessary, since his knowledge of the prince's nature, condition, and conduct would enable him, with the intimations already given, to infer the ground and the object, and to understand that as the one could not be removed by any temporary expedient, so the other was CAUSES OF HIS IMPRISON'MENT. 497 This ambiguous language — implying that the im- prisonment of Carlos was not occasioned by his own misconduct, and yet that the interests of religion and the safety of the state both demanded his perpetual imprisonment — may be thought to intimate that the cause referred to could be no other than insanity. This was plainly stated by the prince of Eboli, in a communication which, by the king's order, he made to the French minister, Fourquevaulx. The king, Gomez said, had for three years past perceived that the prince's head was the weakest part of him, and that he was at no time in complete possession of his understanding. He had been silent on the matter, trusting that time would bring some amendment. But it had only made things worse ; and he saw with sorrow that to commit the sceptre to his son's hands would be to bring inevitable misery on his subjects and ruin on the state. With unspeakable anguish, he had therefore resolved, after long deliberation, to place his son under con- straint.^ 8 Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 136. intended to be a true and complete remedy, and to obviate the mis- chiefs that would otherwise ensue both during the king's lifetime and after his decease. As to the opinion of the world, it was not deemed advisable to publish any further statement at present with the view of rectifying that, but, as it was probable that the heretics and rebels would seek to strengthen their cause by alleging that Carlos was sus- pected of a defection from the faith, or of treasonable designs, Alva was, in this case, to endeavor to stifle such rumors, both as injurious to the prince's honor and as utterly at variance with the truth, and devoid of all foundation. Gachard, Don Carlos et Philippe II., torn, ii., Appendice D. — Ed.] 42* 498 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. This at least is intelligible, and very different from Philip's own despatches, — where it strikes us as strange, if insanity were the true ground of the arrest, that it should be covered up under such vague and equivocal language, with the declaration, moreover, usually made in his letters, that "at some future time he would explain the matter more fully to the parties." One might have thought that the simple plea of insanity would have been directly given, as furnishing the best apology for the son, and at the same time vindicating the father for imposing a wholesome restraint upon his person.* But, in point of fact, .the excessive rigor of the confinement, as we shall have occasion to see, savored much more of the punishment dealt out to some high offender than of the treatment of an un- fortunate lunatic. Neither is it probable that a crim- inal process would have been instituted against one who by his very infirmity was absolved from all moral responsibility. There are two documents, either of which, should it ever be brought to light, would probably unfold the true reasons of the arrest of Carlos. The Spanish ambassador, Zuniga, informed Philip that the pope, dissatisfied with the account which he had given of the transaction, desired a further explanation of it from his majesty.' This, from such a source, was nearly 9 " Querria el Papa saber por carta de V. M. la verdad." Carta de Zuniga al Rey, 28 de Abril, 1568, MS. * [It can hardly be doubted that Philip wished this plea to be inferred from the language of his letters, while there were obvious reasons why he should not publicly state it in direct terms. His own expressions, on occasions mentioned in subsequent notes, were CAUSES OF HIS IMPRISONMENT. 499 equivalent to a command. For Philip had a peculiar reverence for Pius the Fifth, the pope of the Inqui- sition, who was a pontiff after his own heart. The king is said never to have passed by the portrait of his holiness, which hung on the walls of the palace, with- out taking off his hat." He at once wrote a letter to the pope containing a full account of the transaction. It was written in cipher,* with the recommendation that it should be submitted to Granvelle, then in Rome, if his holiness could not interpret it." This letter is doubtless in the Vatican. f »° Lorea, Vida de Pio Quinto (Valladolid, 1713), p. 131. " In the Archives of Simancas is a department known as the Pairo- nato, or family papers, consisting of very curious documents, of so private a nature as to render them particularly diflficult of access. In this department is deposited the correspondence of Zufiiga, which, with other documents in the same collection, has furnished me with some pertinent extracts. very similar to those of Ruy Gomez in the conversation referred to in the text.— Ed.] * [This is a mistake : the pope had little acquaintance with Span- ish, and Zuniga, in handing him the letter, requested him, if he wished to have it translated into Italian, to employ Granvelle for this purpose, which was done. — Ed.] f [This letter, which, as M. Gachard remarks, was expected, from the terms in which it is mentioned by Philip himself, writing to Zufiiga, to " raise all the veils," has come to light, through the discovery that a Latin translation of it had been published (or rather buried) in the twenty-third volume of the Annales ecclesiastici of Laderchi (Rome, 1733, fol.), that historian having found the original among the papers of Cardinal Alessandrino, secretary of state to Pius V. It bears the date of May 13th. After asserting his readiness to repose unlimited confidence in his holiness, as in a true parent, Philip proceeds to give what he calls a clearer account of the proceeding, from which there would be no difficulty in understanding its cause and object. He had often meditated, he says, on the burden which God had 500 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. The Other document is the process. The king, imme- diately after the arrest of liis son, appointed a special commission to try him. It consisted of Cardinal Espinosa, the prince of Eboli, and a royal councillor, Bribiesca de Munatones, who was appointed to prepare the indictment. The writings containing the memora- ble process instituted by Philip's ancestor, John the Second of Aragon, against his amiable and unfortunate son, who also bore the name of Carlos, had been obtained from the archives of Barcelona. They were translated from the Catalan into Castilian, and served for the ominous model for the present proceedings, which took the form of a trial for high treason. In conducting this singular prosecution, it does not appear imposed upon him in committing to him the rule and administration of so many states and kingdoms, that he might maintain them in order and peace, in conformity to the orthodox faith and obedience to the holy see, and transmit them, after his brief course, in security and peace to his successor, on whom their further preservation would depend ; but in punishment for his sins it had pleased God that his son should have so many and so great defects, partly of intellect, partly of natural character, as to be destitute of all fitness for the post ; and as all other remedies and expedients had proved vain, it had been found necessary at last, in view of the grave inconveniences to be appre- hended if the succession were to devolve upon him, to incarcerate him, and then to deliberate further, in accordance with circumstances, how the king's end could be attained without his incurring blame. This luminous exposition is followed by an earnest entreaty that the pope will not divulge any of the particulars contained in it, and with the reiterated declaration that the prince had not been guilty of rebel- lion or heresy. In presenting this letter Zuiiiga was ordered, if the pope should make further inquiries, to excuse himself from entering into details. Pius, however, who was a person of few words when not forced into discussion, contented himself with some expressions of condolence. Gachard, Don Carlos ct Philippe II., torn. ii. — Ed.] CAUSES OF HIS IMPRISONMENT. 501 that any counsel or evidence appeared on behalf of the prisoner, although a formidable amount of testimony, it would seem, was collected on the other side. But, in truth, we know little of the proceedings. There is no proof that any but the monarch, and the secret tribunal that presided over the trial, — if so it can be called, — ever saw the papers. In 1592, according to the historian Cabrera, they were deposited, by Philip's orders, in a green box, strongly secured, in the Archives of Simancas," — where, as we have no later information, they may still remain, to reward the labors of some future antiquary. '3 " " Estan en el archive de Simancas, donde en el ano mil i quini- entos i noventa i dos los metio don Cristoval de Mora de su Camara en un cofrecillo verde en que se conservan." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22. '3 It is currently reported, as I am informed, among the scholars of Madrid, that in 1828 Ferdinand the Seventh caused the papers con- taining the original process of Carlos, with some other documents, to be taken from Simancas ; but whither they were removed is not known. Nor since that monarch's death have any tidings been heard of them.* * [A rumor was long current in Spain that a certain box at Siman- cas contained the so-called " process" of Don Carlos. This box was opened, during the French occupation, by order of General Kellermann, and was found to contain the process of Don Rodrigo de Calderon, marquis of Siete Iglesias, who was condemned and executed in 1621. M. Gachard deduces the conclusion that all the reports relating to the deposit or removal of the papers were equally unfotmded. He doubts, indeed, whether such papers ever existed, con- tending that no regular process, with the object of disinheriting the heir-apparent, could have been instituted by a mere commission, and that at the most the business intrusted to Ruy Gomez and his associates was to collect facts and take evidence on which to base a formal indictment, or acte d' accusation. But the positive statements of so 502 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. In default of these documents, we must resort to conjecture for the sokition of this difficult problem ; and there are several circumstances which may assist well-informed and careful a writer as Cabrera are not to be lightly set aside. The foreign ministers at the court all speak, in their earlier letters, of the intention to institute a process ; and the papal nuncio, in a despatch of March 2d, after saying that the affair of the prince was no longer talked of at the court, and that it was not known that any charges against him had yet been put in writing, adds that it was nevertheless probable that this was being done secretly. That a sen- tence obtained in this manner would have been, as M. Gachard re- marks, contrary to " the most elementary notions of justice as well as to the fundamental laws of Castile," affords no proof that the method would have seemed unsatisfactory to Philip, who was a stickler for forms, but not for legality, much less justice, in the execution of his own purposes. So far as probabilities are concerned, the only question is whether, in the present instance, such a method would have subserved his end, which was, as the whole array of evidence shows and as M. Gachard irresistibly argues, to deprive Carlos of the succession. But to attain this end by strictly legal means would have been all but impossible. The assent of the cortes of Castile, which had sworn allegiance to Carlos, would have been requisite, and perhaps the sanction of a papal dispensation relieving them from their oaths. The latter might have been easily obtained by a monarch whose power was the great bulwark of the Church ; but the cortes, much as it was in the habit of yielding to encroachments on popular rights, had a stronger regard for the right of succession to the throne, which involved the sacredness of all other rights and the unity of the nation. The fact that Carlos was an only son, however little it might weigh with Philip, would itself have been an insuperable objection with the great body of his subjects. Merely to have mooted the matter in public would have let loose a storm of discus- sion and opposition which the king had from the first taken every precaution to avoid. Yet it was necessary that the acts of so "prudent" a monarch should be provided in case of need with the pretence of a justification ; and it can hardly be doubted that this mockery of a prosecution was carried through with the same punc- tilious observances as had characterized the case of Montigny. — Ed.] CAUSES OF HIS IMPRISONMENT. 503 lis in arriving at a conclusion. Among the foreign ministers at that time at the court of Madrid, none took more pains to come at the trutli of this affair — as his letters abundantly prove — than the papal nuncio, Castaneo, archbishop of Rossano. He was a shrewd, sagacious prelate, whose position and credit at the court gave him the best opportunities for information. By Philip's command, Cardinal Espinosa gave the nuncio the usual explanation of the grounds on which Carlos had been arrested. "It is a strange story," said the nuncio, "that Avhich we everywhere hear, of the prince's plot against his father's life." "It would be of little moment," replied the cardinal, "if the danger to the king were all ; as it would be easy to protect his person. But the present case is worse, — if worse can be \ and the king, who has seen the bad course which his son has taken for these two years past, has vainly tried to remedy it ; till, finding himself unable to exer- cise any control over the hair-brained young man, he has been forced to this expedient." '* Now, in the judgment of a grand inquisitor, it would probably be thought that heresy, or any leaning to heresy, was a crime of even a deeper dye than parri- cide. The cardinal's discourse made this impression on the nuncio, who straightway began to cast about for proofs of apostasy in Don Carlos. The Tuscan »4 " Rispose che questo saria el manco, pcrche se non fosse stato altro pericolo che della persona del R^ si saria guardata, et rimediato altramente, ma che ci era peggio, si peggio pud essere, al che sua Maestk ha cercato per ogni via di rimediare due anni continui, perch^ vedeva pigliarli la mala via, ma non ha mai potuto fermare ne regolare questo cervello, fin che h. bisognato arrivare a questo." Lettera del Nunzio, Gennaio 24, 1568, MS. 504 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. minister also notices in his letters the suspicions that Carle's was not a good Catholic. '^ A confirmation- of this •\iew of the matter may be gathered from the remarks of Pius the Fifth on Philip's letter in cipher, above- noticed. "His holiness," writes the Spanish ambassador, " greatly lauds the course taken by your majesty; for he feels that the preservation of Chris- tianity depends on your living many years, and on your having a successor who will tread in your footsteps." '' But, though all this seems to intimate pretty clearly that the religious defection of Carlos was a predominant motive for his imprisonment, it is not easy to believe that a person of his wayward and volatile mind could have formed any settled opinions in matters of faith, or that his position would have allowed the Reformers such access to his person as to have greatly exposed him to the influence of their doctrines. Yet it is quite possible that he may have taken an interest in those political movements abroad which in the end were directed against the Church. I allude to the troubles in the Low Countries, which he is said to have looked upon with no unfriendly eye. It is true, there is no proof of this, so far as I am aware, in the correspondence of the Flemish leaders. Nor is there any reason to sup- pose that Carlos entered directl)into a correspondence »5 " Non lascer6 per6 di dirle, ch' io ho ritratto et di luogo ragio- nevole, clie si sospetta del Prencipe di poco Cattolico : et quelle, che lo fk credere, h che fin' adesso non li han fatto dir messa." Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 25, 1568, MS. 16 " ]?] Pjt^p^ alaba muclio la determinacion de V. M. porque entiende que la conscrvacion de la Christiandad depende de que Dios de d V. M. muchos anos de vida y que despues tenga tal sucesor que sepa seguir sus pisadas." Carta de Zufiiga, Junio 25, 1568, MS. CAUSES OF HIS IMrRISONMENT. 505 with them himself, or indeed committed himself by any overt act in support of the cause,'' But this A/as not necessary for his condemnation : it would ha^e been quite enough that he had felt a sympathy forrthe dis- tresses of the people. From the residence of Egmont, Bergen, and Montigny at the court, he had obvious means of communication with those nobles, who may naturally have sought to interest him in behalf of theii countrymen. The sympathy readily kindled in the ardent bosom of the young prince would be as readily expressed. That he did feel such a sympathy may perhaps be inferred by his strange conduct to Alva on the eve of his departure for the Netherlands.* But the people of that country were regarded at Madrid as in actual rebellion against the crown. The reformed doctrines which they avowed gave to the movement the character of a religious revolution. For a Spaniard to countenance it in any way was at once to prove himself false both to his sovereign and his faith. In ^^ Leti has been more fortunate in discovering a letter from Don Carlos to Count Egmont, found among the papers of that nobleman at the time of his arrest. (Vita di Filippo II., torn. i. p. 543.) The historian is too discreet to vouch for the authenticity of the docu- niimt, which indeed would require a' better voucher than Leti to obtain our confidence. •••■ [His conduct to Alva is sufficiently explained by the fact that the appointment of the latter had dashed his own hopes of going to the Netherlands as the representative of the crown, — a position to which he probably considered himself entitled when it became certain that Philip was not going in person. A pretence was made of giving him a share in the domestic administration, by way of consoling him for the disappointment ; but it was soon abandoned, on the plea — very possibly a well-founded one — that he threw all the affairs intrusted to him into disorder. Gachard, Don Carlos et Philippe II., tom. ii. — Ed.] Philip. — Vol. II. — w 43 5o6 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. such a light, we may be quite sure, it would be viewed both by Philip and his minister, the grand inquisitor. Nor would it be thought any palliation of the crime that the offender was heir to the monarchy.'^ As to a design on his father's life, Philip, both in his foreign despatches and in the communications made by his order to the resident ministers at Madrid, wholly acquitted Carlos of so horrible a charge. '^ If it had any foundation in truth, one might suppose that Philip, instead of denying, would have paraded it, as furnishing an obvious apology for subjecting him to so rigorous a confinement. It is certain, if Carlos had really enter- tained so monstrous a design, he might easily have found an opportunity to execute it. That Philip would have been silent in respect to his son's sympathy with the Netherlands may well be believed. The great champion of Catholicism would naturally shrink from publishing to the world that the taint of heresy infected his own blood.* / '8 De Castro labors hard to prove that Don Carlos was a Prot- estant. If he fails to establish the fact, he must be allowed to have shown tha,t the prince's conduct was such as to suggest great doubts of his orthodoxy, among those who approached the nearest to him. See Historia de los Protestantes Espanoles, p. 319, et seq. '9 " Sua Maest^ ha dato ordine, che nelle lettere, che si scrivono a tutti li Prencipi et Regni, si dica, che la voce ch' h uscita ch 1' Pren- cipe havesse cercato di offendere la Real persona sua propria h falsa, et questo medesimo fa dire a bocca da Ruy Gomez all' Imbasciatori." Lettera del Nunzio, Gennaio 27, 1568, MS. *■ [The silence or denial of Philip in regard to either of the causes mentioned would be of little weight, if there were motives for con- cealment ; and such motivesobviously existed in regard to the accusa- tion of a design against his life on the part of his son, as well as ins RIGOROUS CONFINEMENT. 507 But, whatever may have been the motives which de- termined the conduct of Philip, one cannot but suspect that a deep-rooted aversion to his son lay at the bottom of them. The dissimilarity of their natures placed the two parties, from the first, in false relations to each other.. The heedless excesses of youth were regarded with a pitiless eye by the parent, who, in his own indulgences, at least did not throw aside the veil of decorum. The fiery temper of Carlos, irritated by a long-continued system of distrust, exclusion, and espion- nage, at length -broke out into such senseless extrava- gances as belong to the debatable ground of insanity. And this ground afforded, as already intimated, a plausible footing to the father for proceeding to ex- tremities against the son.* in regard to the imputation of heresy. The two charges were, in fact, closely connected. Both, if put forward, would, as he himself remarks in letters already cited, have been accepted by the " heretics and rebels" as tending to strengthen their party. But in his disclosures to Alva and to the pope, which they were to bury in their own bosoms, Philip may be believed to have written the truth, so far at least as negations were concerned ; and in those letters, as has been seen, he contradicts both allegations, not only as dishonorable and injurious, but as utterly groundless. — Ed.] * [M. Gachard, referring to those letters of Philip which he con- siders as " lifting a corner of the veil," expresses the opinion that an attentive consideration of the hints and denials they contain will lead to the conviction that "^e projected flight of Don Carlos was the real and immediate cause of his arrest/^ The immediate cause, or pretext, it may possibly have been ; though there is not the remotest apparent allusion to it in any of Philip's letters, and the theory would seem to be directly contradicted by the explicit statement, in more than one of them, that the important step had not been determined by the faults of the prince, or adopted as a means either of punishment or of reformation, since in that case recourse would have been had to a 5o8 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. Whatever were the offences of Carlos, those who had the best opportunities for observation soon became diiferent mode of procedure. (See, in particular, letter to Alva ol April 6th.) But there is reason to believe that the measure had been decided upon long before Carlos conceived his project of escape. Philip himself speaks of it repeatedly as the result of long deliberation. The French minister, Fourquevaulx, had written to Charles IX. on August 2ist, 1567, that Philip was so much displeased with the conduct of his son that, if it were not for the talk it would occasion, it was thought he would shut him up in a tower. In a note announcing the arrest to Catherine de Medicis, the ambassador recalls the fact that he had made the same statement to her, and had also mentioned a re- mark made to hirri by Ruy Gomez some days before the queen's last accouchemenl^to the effect that an important resolution was depend- ing on the sex of the child to which she was about to give birthp<['^The Venetian minister asserts, in a letter of February nth, that the king had been thinking of the matter for three years ; and this is confirmed by the account given to Fourquevaulx by Ruy Gomez by the king's order {ante, p. 497). It is far more likely, therefore, that the projected flight was itself a result of the prince's knowledge of this design, than the cause of its being carried out.^J^ut the real cause is apparent enough from the king's letters, the mysterious tone of which seems to have been adopted only to hide the fact that there were no particular acts which he could allege as a sufficient justification of the purpose he so clearly intimated never to release his son or allow him to suc- ceed to the thronefs^It is true that in his first letter to Alva he spoke of "particular and important acts;" but when the duke asked for details he was told that he might easily infer the causes from his general knowledge of the prince. On the other hand, Philip states repeatedly and explicitly that his act and purpose were grounded on defects of intellect and character in the prince which it had been found impossible to correct, and which rendered him unfit to rule. The only question, therefore, that remains to be solved is, whether Philip's opinion of his son's incapacity was a correct and impartial one. '^he notion that Carlos was insane or imbecile is utterly unten- \able. Persons who knew him well have recorded their opinion that his extravagancies and eccentricities were the results of youthful folly and a bad education, and that he was endowed with high qualities both of intellect and of heart^His confessor, Fray Diego de Chaves, HIS RIGOROUS CONFINEMENT. 509 satisfied tliat it was intended never to allow him to regain his liberty or to ascend the throne of his ances- tors.^ On the second of March, a code of regulations was prepared by Philip relative to the treatment of the prince, which may give some idea of the rigor of his confinement. He was given in especial charge to Ruy Gomez, who was placed at the head of the establish- ment ; and it was from him that every person employed about Carlos was to receive his commission. Six other ^ " Si tien per fermo che privaranno il Prencipe della successione, et non lo liberaranno mai." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, MS. in a conversation with the imperial minister during the imprisonment of Carlos, spoke of the defects of his character as attributable to an obstinacy which had never been corrected by proper discipline, but added that he had many great virtues, and might be expected, if the present correction were followed by amendment, to become a good and virtuous prince. Brantome expresses the belief that if he had lived to get rid of his youthful wildness he would have turned out a very great prince, a soldier and a statesman. The Italian letter- writers, including the papal nuncio, state that both the grandees and the people had the highest hopes of him and looked forward to his accession as destined to inaugurate a new system of government, under which the great nobles would recover their ancient influence and the nation its liberties. Whether these two results were com- patible may be doubted ; but the existence of such anticipations and the facts on which they were grounded furnish probably the best key to Philip's views and course of action. The good and bad qualities of Don Carlos were alike perilous to the continuance of that policy of repression on which Philip considered the security of the throne and of the monarchy as depending. To his ministers, the members of that consulta which formed his only advisers, the danger must have seemed still more personal. On the whole, the popular verdict that Carlos owed his fate to the fears and jealousy of the king and his ministers is the one that accords best with all the evidence which has yet been brought to light.— Ed.] 43* 5IO DEATH OF DON CARLOS. nobles were appointed both to guard the prince and render him service. Two of the number were to remain in his apartment every night, — the one watch- ing while the other slept ; reminding us of an ingenious punishment among the Chinese, where a criminal is obliged to be everywhere followed by an attendant, whose business it is to keep an unceasing watch upon the offender, that, wherever he turns, he may still find the same eye riveted upon him !* \^During the day it was the duty of these nobles to remain with Carlos and lighten by their conversation the gloom of his captivity. But they were not to talk on matters relating to the government, above all to the prince's imprisonment, on which topic, if he addressed them, they were to remain obdurately silent. They were to bring no messages to him, and bear none from * [Prescott has omitted to mention that on the 25th of January the prince had been removed from his own chamber, which was in an entresol, to a small room on the same floor, situated in a tower, which had but one entrance and one window, the latter so barred as to admit light only through the upper part. An opening was made in the partition-wall, to admit of his hearing mass when celebrated in an adjoining apartment, but a wooden barrier prevented his exit by this passage. It was then that the regulations were adopted which are mentioned in the text ; though they were not reduced to writing until the date there assigned to them. When these dispositions and the change of his attendants were announced to him by Ruy Gomez, Carlos asked if Don Rodrigo de Mendoza, who had been in his service only a short time, but to whom he was strongly attached, and whose character is said to have justified his preference, was also to leave him. Being answered in the affirmative, he took the young nobleman in his arms, and, embracing him closely, with tears in his eyes, assured him of his affection and of his desire that he might one day be in a condition to give proofs of it. Gachard, Don Carlos at Philippe II., torn, ii.— Ed.] HIS RIGOROUS CONFINEMENT. 5" him to the world without ; and they were to maintain inviolable secrecy in regard to all that passed within the walls of the palace, unless when otherwise permitted by the king. Carlos was provided with a breviary and some other books of devotion ; and no works except those of a devotional character were to be allowed him." This last regulation seems to intimate the exist- ence of certain heretical tendencies in Carlos, which it was necessary to counteract by books of an opposite character, — unless it might be considered as an omi- nous preparation for his approaching end. /^Besides the six nobles, no one was allowed to enter the apartment but the prince's physician, his barbero, or gentleman of the chamber, and his valet. The last was taken from the monteros, or body-guard of the king." There were seven others of this faithful corps who were at- tached to the establishment, and whose duty it was to bring the dishes for his table to an outer hall, whence they were taken by the vwntero in waiting to the prince's chamber. A guard of twelve halberdiers was also stationed in the passages leading to the apartment, to intercept all communication from without. Every person employed in the service, from the highest noble to the meanest official, made solemn oath, before the prince of Eboli, to conform to the regulations. On this nobleman rested the whole responsibility of en- 21 " Para rezarse le diesen las Oras, Breviario i Rosario que pidiese, i libros solamente de buena dotrina i devocion, si quisiese leer y oir." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22. " The motitero was one of the body-guard of the king for the night. The right of filling this corps was an ancient privilege accorded to the inhabitants of a certain district named Espinosa de los Monteros. Llorente Histoire de 1' Inquisition, torn. iii. p. 163. 512 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. forcing obedience to the rules, and of providing for the security of Carlos. The better to effect this, he was commanded to remove to the palace, where apart- ments were assigned to him and the princess his wife, adjoining those of his prisoner. The arrangement may have been commended by other considerations to Philip, whose intimacy with the princess I shall have occasion to notice hereafter.^ The regulations, severe as they were, were executed to the letter. Philip's aunt, the queen of Portugal, wrote in earnest terms to the king, kindly offering herself to remain with her grandson in his confinement and take charge of him like a mother in his affliction.^ " But they were very willing," writes the French min- ister, "to spare her the trouble. "^^ The emperor and empress wrote to express the hope that the confinement of Carlos would work an amendment in his conduct, and that he would soon be liberated, ^everal letters passed between the courts, until Philip closed the cor- respondence by declaring that his son's marriage with *3 The regulations are given in extenso by Cabrera (Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22) ; and the rigor with which they were enforced is attested by the concurrent reports of the foreign ministers at the court. In one respect, however, they seem to have been relaxed, if, as Nobili states, the prince was allowed to recreate himself with the perusal of Spanish law-books, which he may have consulted with reference to his own case : " H!i domandato, che li siano letti li statuti, et le leggi di Spagna : ne' quali spende molto studio. Scrive assai di sua mano, et subito scritto lo straccia." Lettera di Nobili, Giugno 8, 1568, MS. 24 " Per questa causa dunque il Kh et Regina vechia di quel regno hanno mandato qui \m ambasciatore a far offitio col R^ cattolico per il Prcncipe, dolcrsi del caso, offerirsi di venire la Regina propria a governarlo como madre." Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS. *5 Raumer, Si.\teenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. ii. p. 141. HIS RIGOROUS CONFINEMENT. 513 the princess Anne could never take place, and that he would never be liberated. =*\ Philip's queen, Isabella, and his sister Joanna, who seem to have been deeply afflicted by the course taken with the prince, made ineffectual attempts to be allowed to visit him in his confinement ; and when Don John of Austria came to the palace dressed in a mourning suit, to testify his grief on the occasion, Philip coldly rebuked his brother, and ordered him to change his mourning for his ordinary dress.^ Several of the great towns were prepared to send their delegates to condole with the monarch under his affliction. But Philip gave them to understand that he had only acted for the good of the nation, and that their condolence on the occasion would be superfluous.'* When the deputies of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia were on their way to court with instructions to inquire into the cause of the prince's imprisonment and to urge his speedy liberation, they received, on the way, so decided an intimation of the royal displeasure that they thought it prudent to turn back, without venturing to enter the capital. "^ .** Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. ii. pp. 146, 148. =7 " Reyna y Princesa lloran : Don Juan va cada noche i Palacio, y una fue muy llano, como de luto, y el Ray le rinio, y mando no andubiesse de aquel modo, sino como solia de antes." Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS. ^ " Sua Maestk ha fatto intendere a tutte le cittk del Reyno, che non mandino huomini o imbasciator nessuno, ne per dolersi, ne per cerimonia, ne per altro ; et pare che habbia a caro, che nessuno glie ne parli, et cosi ogn' huomo tace." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, MS. =9 Letter of Fourquevaulx, April 13, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. ii. p. 143. — A letter of condolence. W* 514 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. In short, it soon came to be understood that the affair of Don Carlos was a subject not to be talked about. By degrees it seemed to pass out of men's minds, like a thing of ordinary occurrence. "There is as little said now on the subject of the prince," writes the French ambassador, Fourquevaulx, "as if he had been dead these ten years." 3° His name, in- deed, still kept its place among those of the royal family, in the prayers said in the churches. But the king prohibited the clergy from alluding to Carlos in their discourses. Nor did any one venture, says the same authority, to criticise the conduct of the king. " So complete is the ascendency which Philip's wisdom has given him over his subjects, that, willing or unwill- ing, all promptly obey him ; and, if they do not love him, they at least appear to do so." ^^ Among the articles removed from the prince's chamber was a coffer, as the reader may remember, containing his private papers. Among these were a number of letters intended for distribution after hi« from the municipality of Murcia was conceived in such a loyal and politic vein as was altogether unexceptionable. " We cannot reflect," it says, " without emotion, on our good fortune in having a sovereign so just, and so devoted to the weal, of his subjects, as to sacrifice to this every other consideration, even the tender attachment which he has for his own offspring." This, which might seem irony to some, was received by the king, as it was doubtless intended, in perfect good faith. His endorsement, in his own handwriting, on the cover, shows the style in which he liked to be approached by his loving subjects: " This letter is written with prudence and discretion." A translation of the letter, dated February i6th, 1568, is in Llorente, Histoire de rinquisition, tom. iii. p. 161. 30 Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. . S' Ibid., ubi supra. HIS RIGOROUS CONFINEMENT. 515 departure from the country. One was addressed, to his father, in which Carlos avowed that the cause of his flight was the harsh treatment he had experienced from the king.3» Other letters, addressed to different nobles and to some of the great towns, made a similar state- ment ; and, after reminding them of the oath they had taken to him as successor to the crown, he promised to grant them various immunities when the sceptre should come into his hands. ^ With these papers was also found one of most singular import. It contained a list of all those persons whom he deemed friendly or inimical to himself. At the head of the former class stood the name of his step-mother, Isabella, and of his uncle, Don John of Austria, — both of them noticed in terms of the warmest affection. Such is the strange account of the contents of the coffer given to his court by the papal nuncio. These papers, we are told, were submitted to the judges who conducted the process, and formed, doubt- less, an important part of the testimony against the 32 " Quella per il Rfe conteneva specificatamente mold agravii, che In molti anni pretendi, che li siano statti fatti da Sua MaestSi, et diceva ch' egli se n' andava fuori delli suoi Regni per no poter sop- portare tanti agravii, che \\ faceva." Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS. 33 Ibid. 34 " Vi ^ ancora una lista, dove scriveva di sua mano gli amici, et li nemici suoi, li quali diceva di havere a perseguitare sempre fino alia morte, tra li quali il prinio era scritto il R^ suo padre, di poi Rui Gomez et la moglie, il Presidente, il Duca d'Alba, et certi altri." Ibid. 5i6 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. prince. It may have been from one of the parties concerned that the nuncio gathered his information. Yet no member of that tribunal would have ventured to disclose its secrets without authority from Philip, who may possibly have consented to the publication of facts that would serve to vindicate his course. If these facts are faithfully reported, they must be allowed to furnish some evidence of a disordered mind in Carlos. The king, meanwhile, was scarcely less a prisoner than his son ; for from the time of the prince's arrest he had never left the palace, even to visit his favorite residences of Aranjuez and the Pardo, nor had he passed a single day in the occupation, in which he took such delight, of watching the rising glories of the Escorial. He seemed to be constantly haunted by the apprehension of some outbreak among the people, or at least among the partisans of Carlos, to effect his escape ; and when he heard any unusual noise in the palace, says his historian, he would go to the window, to see if the tumult were not occasioned by an attempt to release the prisoner. ^s There was little cause for apprehension in regard to a people so well disciplined to obedience as the Castilians under Philip the Second. But it is an ominous circumstance for a prisoner that he should become the occasion of such apprehension. Philip, however, was not induced by his fears to mitigate in any degree the rigor of his son's confine- ment, which produced the effect to have been expected 35 " No salio el Rey de Madrid, ni aun a Aranjuez, ni a San Lorenzo a ver su fabrica, tan atento al negocio del Principe estaba, i sospechoso a las murmuraciones de sus pueblos fieles i reverentes, que ruidos es- traordinarios en su Palacio le hazian mirar, si eran tumultos para sacar a su Alteza de su camara." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. viii. cap. 5. HIS RIGOROUS CONFINEMENT. 517 on one of his fiery, ungovernable temper. At first he was thrown into a state bordering on frertzy, and, it is said, more than once tried to make away with himself. As he found that thus to beat against the bars of his prison-house was only to add to his distresses, he resigned himself in sullen silence to his fate, — the sullenness of despair. In his indifference to all around him, he ceased to take an interest in his own spiritual concerns. Far from using the religious books in his possession, he would attend to no act of devotion, refusing even to confess, or to admit his confessor into his presence. 3* These signs of fatal indifference, if not of positive defection from the Faith, gave great alarm to Philip, who would not willingly see the soul thus perish with the body.3^ In this emergency he employed Suarez, the prince's almoner, who once had some influence over his master, to address him a letter of expostulation. The letter has been preserved, and is too remarkable to be passed by in silence. Suarez begins with reminding Carlos that his rash conduct had left him without partisans or friends. The effect of his present course, instead of mending his condition, could only serve to make it worse. "What will the world say," continues the ecclesiastic, "when it shall learn that you now refuse to confess, — when, too, it shall discover other dreadful things of which 3<> " Onde fu chiamato il confessore et il medico, ma egli seguitando nella sua disperatione non volse ascoltare n^ I'unno nfe I'altro." Let- tera del Nunzio., MS. — My copy of this letter, perhaps through the inadvertence of the transcriber, is without date. 37 " Ne volendo in alcun mode curare ne il corpo n^ 1' anima, la qual cosa faceva stare il R^ et gli altri con molto dispiacere, vedendoli massima di continue crescere il male, et mancar la virtu ' Ibid. Philip.— Vol. II. 44 5ii DEATH OF DON CARLOS. you have been guilty, some of which are of such a nature that, did .they concern any other than your highness, the Holy Office would be led to inquire whether the author of them were in truth a Christian ? ^ It is in the bitterness and anguish of my heart that I must declare to your highness that you are not only in danger of forfeiting your worldly estate, but, what is worse, your own soul." And he concludes by im- ploring Carlos, as the only remedy, to return to his obedience to God, and to the king, who is His repre- sentative on earth. But the admonitions of the honest almoner had as little effect on the unhappy youth as the prayers of his attendants. The mental excitement under which he labored, combined with the want of air and exercise, produced its natural eifect on his health. Every day he became more and more emaciated ; while the fever which had so long preyed on his constitution now burned in his veins with greater fury than ever. To allay the intolerable heat, he resorted to such desperate expedients as seemed to intimate, says the Papal nun- cio, that if debarred from laying violent hands on him- self he would accomplish the same end in a slower 38 " Vea V. A. que hardn y dirdn todos quando se entienda que no se confiesa, y se vayan descubriendo otras cosas terribles, que le son tanto, que llegan d. que el Santo Oficio tuviera mucha entrada en otro para saber si era cristiano 6 no." Carta de Hernan Suarez de Toledo al Principe, Marzo 18, 1568, MS.* * [The apparent significance of this passage is much weakened by the fact that the circumstances under which the letter was written make it extremely doubtful whether it was not intended to serve the purpose of the prince's enemies and pretended judges. — Ed.] HIS EXCESSES. 519 way, but not less sure. He deluged the floor with water, not a little to the inconvenience of the com- panions of his prison, and walked about for hours, half naked, with bare feet, on the cold pavement. ^^ He caused a warming-pan filled with ice and snow to be introduced several times in a night into his bed, and let it remain there for hours together.''" As if this were not enough, he would gulp down such draughts of snow-water as distance any achievement on record in the annals of hydropathy. He pursued the same mad course in respect to what he ate. He would ab- stain from food an incredible number of days,"*' and then, indulging in proportion to his former abstinence, would devour a pasty of four partridges, with all the paste, at a sitting, washing it down with three gallons or more of iced water ! ^ 39 " Spogliarsi nudo, et solo con una robba di taffetk su le carni stai quasi di continuo ad una finestra, dove tirava vento, caminare con li piedi discalzi per la camara que tuttavia faceva stare adacquata tanto che sempre ci era 1' acqua per tutto." Lettera del Nunzio, MS. 40 " Farsi raffredare ogni notte due o tre volti il letto con uno scaldaletto pieno di neve, et tenerlo le notte intiere nel letto." Ibid. 41 Three days, according to one authority. (Lettera di Nobili di 30 di Luglio, 1568, MS.) Another swells the number to nine days (Carta de Gomez Manrique, MS.) ; and a third — one of Philip's cab- inet ministers — has the assurance to prolong the prince's fast to eleven days, in which he allows him, however, an unlimited quantity of cold water: " Ansi se determine de no comer y en esta determinacion pascaron onze dias sin que bastasen persuasiones ni otras diligencias d que tomase cosa bevida ni que fuese para salud sino aqua fria." Carta de Francisco de Erasso, MS. 4* " Doppo essere stato tre giorni senza mangiare molto fantastic© et bizzaro mangi6 un pasticcio fredolo di quatri perdici con tutta la pasta: et il medesimo giorno bevve trecento once d'aqqua fredda." Lettera di Nobili, Liiglio 30, 1568, MS. — Yet Carlos might have found 520 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. No constitution could long withstand such violent assaults as these. The constitution of Carlos gradually tc\thi warrant for his proceedings, in regard tosthe use of snow and iced water, in the prescriptions of more than one doctor of his tim&> De Castro — who displays much ingenuity, and a careful study of authori- ties, in his discussion of this portion of Philip's history — quotes the writings of two of these worthies, one of whom tells us that the use of snow had increased to such an extent that not only was it recom- mended to patients in their drink, but also to cool their sheets ; and he forthwith prescribes a warming-pan, to be used in the same way as it was by Carlos. Historia de los Protestantes Espanoles, p. 370.*" * [In the paragraph to which the above note is appended, the author has mixed up details which belong to different periods, and which it is essential to keep distinct. The long abstinence from food, evincing an actual intention of suicide, — proceeding, as M. Gachard remarks, from a natural despair when the unhappy victim could no longer feel any doubt as to the fate reserved for him, — occurred in February. The king, when informed of it, coolly remarked that his son would eat when he was hungry. The prediction proved correct, and, instead of being injured by his long fast, the health of Carlos seemed to be improved by it. His mood was also changed : he con- fessed and received the eucharist, — a state of things which led to hopes that his liberation would shortly take place. Philip, however, in a letter to his sister, the empress, wrote that it was a mistake to infer from the prince's having been allowed to receive the communion that there was no defect in his understanding : in such cases there were moments when the intellect was more sane than at others, and, moreover, one's mind might be sufficiently sound for the right per- formance of private and personal acts and yet be altogether defective in matters pertaining to government and public affairs. The incident had, therefore, he said, made no change in his intention. At what time Carlos had recourse to the hygiene of ice and snow (for there is no pretext that these were employed with a direct intention of harming himself) is somewhat uncertain. The practice is mentioned, in what may be called the official reports, as the direct cause of his illness and death. M. Gachard says it would be easy not only to add to the evi- dence Do Castro lias adduced of the common use of these remedies, but HIS LAST MOMENTS. 521 sank under them. His stomach, debilitated by long inaction, refused to perform the extraordinary tasks that were imposed on it. He was attacked by inces- sant vomiting; dj^sentery set in; and his strength rapidly failed. The physician, Olivares, who alone saw the patient, consulted with his brethren in the apartments of Ruy Gomez. "^ Their remedies failed to restore the exhausted energies of nature ; and it was soon evident that the days of Carlos were numbered. To no one could such an announcement have given less concern than to Carlos ; for he had impatiently 43 " Visitabale el Doctor Olivares Protomedico i salia a consultar con sus cbnpaiieros en presencia de Rui Gomez de Silva la curacion, curso i accidentes de la enfermedad." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22. to prove that Carlos had been in the habit of employing them long before his confinement. But he very properly refuses to allow any weight to a jelation of facts coming from so suspicious a source; and, even if its correctness were established, it would, as he justly argues, leave the responsibility on the king himself. It was, in fact, an outrage to common sense to charge any such excesses, or their results, on a prisoner who was under incessant surveillance day and night, and who was not permitted to cut his own food. "Who," asks M. Gachard, " procured for him the iced water which he used so im- moderately, and the ice which he placed in his bed? Did not Ruy Gomez, I'ame damnee du roi, if I may be pardoned the expression, preside over all the details of the regimen to which the grandson of Charles the Fifth was subjected?" The weakness of the apology put forth in a circular to the foreign ministers — pretending that the conse- quences were not anticipated, and that if restrained from tliese acts the prince would have committed others "still more fatal" (!) — needs no remark. With regard to the last and most important of the excesses attributed to Carlos, his devouring a pasty of four partridges, — not, as Prescott seems to intimate, on several occasions, but on one only, and this immediately before his final illness, — a further mention of the circumstances will be made in a subsequent note. — ED. 44* 522 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. looked to death as to his release. From this hour he seemed to discard all earthly troubles from his mind, as he fixed his thoughts steadfastly on the future. At his own request, his confessor, Chavres, and Suarez, his almoner, were summoned, and assisted him with their spiritual consolations. The closing scenes are recorded by the pen of the nuncio : "Suddenly a wonderful change seemed to be wrought by divine grace in the heart of the prince. Instead of vain and empty talk, his language became that of a sensible man. He sent for his confessor, devoutly confessed, and, as his illness was such that he could not receive the host, he humbly adored it ; showing throughout great contrition, and, though not refusing the proffered remedies, manifesting such contempt for the things of this world, and such a longing for heaven, that one would have said God had reserved for this hour the sum of all his grace." ''^ • He seemed to feel an assurance that he was to sur- vive till the vigil of St. James, the patron saint of his country. When told that this would be four days later, he said, "So long will my misery endure. "''^ jje would willingly have seen his father once more before his death. But his confessor, it is said, dissuaded the monarch,* on the ground that Carlos was now in so 44 " Mostrando molta contritione, et se bene si lassava curare il corpo per non causarsi egli stesso la morte, mostrava perd tanto disprezzo delle cose del mondo, et tanto desiderio delle celesti ; che pareva veramente che Nostro Signore Dio gli havesse riserbato il cuinulo di tutti le gratie h. quel ponto." Lettera del Nunzio, MS. 43 " Tanto hanno da durare le mie miserie." Ibid. [* M. Gachard considers this excuse as unfounded. But, admit- ting it, he adds, "should Philip have followed this counsel? . . . Had HIS LAST MOMENTS. 523 happy a frame of mind that it were better not to dis- turb it by drawing off his attention to worldly objects. Philip, however, took the occasion, when Carlos lay asleep or insensible, to enter the chamber ; and, steal- ing softly behind the prince of Eboli and the grand prior, Antonio de Toledo, he stretched out his hand towards the bed, and, making the sign of the cross, gave the parting benediction to his dying son."® Nor was Carlos allowed the society of his amiable step-mother7~the queen,~nOT~6f~lTi5"TinTrr"jfcTnna^ToI sw^STen byTheir jkind^ ^15?ntioMJT^^]tterness^_o f_ death. *7 It was his sad fate to die, as he had lived throughout his confinement, under the cold gaze of his enemies. Yet he died at peace with all; and some of the last words that he uttered were to forgive his father for his imprisonment, and the ministers — naming Ruy Gomez and Espinosa in particular — who advised him to it.''^ 46 " And so," says Cabrera, somewhat bluntly, " the king withdrew to his apartment, with more sorrow in his heart, and less care :" "Algunas oras antes de su fallecimiento, por entre los onbros del Prior don Antonio i de Rui Gomez le ech6 su bendicion, i se recogi6 en su camara co mas dolor i menos cuidado." Filipe Segundo, lib. viii. cap. 5. 47 "II R^ non r ha visitato, ne lassato che la Regina ne la Princi- pessa lo veggiano, forse considerando che poi che gik si conosceva disperato il caso suo, queste visite simih poterono piu presto contur- bare 1' una et 1' altra delle parti, che aiutarli in cosa nessuna." Lettera del Nunzio, MS. 48 " II Prencipe di Spagna avante la morte diceva, che perdoneva a tutti, et nominatamente al Padre, che 1' haveva ca'cerato, et a Ruy he not the bowels of a father?" One can feel no hesitation in answering both questions in the negative. — Ed.] 524 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. Carlos now grew rapidly more feeble, having scarce strength enough left to listen to the exhortations of his confessor, and with low, indistinct murmurings to adore the crucifix which he held constantly in his hand. On the twenty-fourth of July, soon after midnight, he was told . it was the Vigil of St. James. Then suddenly rousing, with a gleam of joy on his countenance, he intimated his desire for his confessor to place the holy taper in his hand ; and feebly beating his breast, as if to invoke the mercy of Heaven on his transgressions, he fell back, and expired without a groan. '^^ "No Catholic," says Nobili, "ever made a more Catholic end." 50 Such is the account given us of the last hours of this most unfortunate prince, by the papal nuncio and the Tuscan minister, and repeated, with slight discrepan- cies, by most of the Castilian writers of that and the following age. 5' It is a singular circumstance that, al- though we have such full reports both of what preceded and what followed the death of Carlos, from the French Gomez, cardinal Presidente, Dottor Velasco, et altri, per lo consiglio de' quali credeva essere stato preso." Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 28, 1568, MS. 49 " Et battendosi il petto come poteva, essendoli mancata la virtu a poco a poco, ritirandosi la vita quasi da membro in membro, espird con molta tranquillity et constanza." Lettera del Nunzio, MS. so " Et testificono quelli, che vi si trovorno che Christiano nessuno pu5 morir pivi cattolicamente, ne in maggior sentimento di lui." Lettera di Nobili, Luglio 30, 1568, MS. 5' See, among others, Quintana, Historia de la Antiguedad, Nobleza y Grandcza de la Villa y Corte de Madrid (1629), fol. 368, — Colme- nares, Historia de la Insigne Ciudad de Segovia (Madrid, 1640), cap, 43, — Pinclo, Anales de Madrid, MS., — Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. viii. cap. 5, — Herrera, Historia general, lib. xv. cap. 3, — Carta de Francisco de Erasso, MS., — Carta de Gomez Manrique, MS. LLORENTE'S ACCOUNT. 525 ambassador, the portion of his correspondence which embraces his death has been withdrawn, whether by accident or design, from the archives. 5=" But probably no one without the walls of the palace had access to better sources of information than the two ministers first mentioned, especially the papal nuncio. Their intelligence may well have been derived from some who had been about the person of Carlos. If so, it could not have been communicated without the appro- bation of Philip, who may have been willing that the world should understand that his son had died true to the Faith. A very different account of the end of Carlos is given by Llorente. And as this writer, the secretary of the Inquisition, had access' to very important ma- 52 Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 147. — Von Raumer has devoted some fifty pages of his fragmentary com- pilation to the story of Don Carlos, and more especially to the closing scenes of his life. The sources are of the most unexceptionable kind, being chiefly the correspondence of the French ministers with their court, existing among the MSS. in the Royal Library at Paris. The selections made are pertinent in their character, and will be found of the greatest importance to illustrate this dark passage in the history of the time. If I have not arrived at the same conclusions in all respects as those of the illustrious German scholar, it may be that my judgment has been modified by the wider range of materials at my command.® * [Fragments of two letters written by the French ambassador, De Fourquevaulx, on the 26th of July, have been preserved. They notice the death of Carlos as proceeding from the excesses mentioned in tlie text. In one of them, however, the writer says, " I saw his face when his body was deposited with the monks of San Domingo el Real : it showed no effects of disease, except that it was somewhat yellow ; but I understand that the rest of the body was mere bones." Gachanl. Don Carlos et Philippe II., tom. ii., Appendice C. — Ed.] 526 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. terials, and as his account, though somewhat prolix, is altogether remarkable, I cannot pass it by in silence. According to Llorente, the process already noticed as having been instituted against Carlos was brought to a close only a short time before his death. No notice of it, during all this time, had been given to the pris oner, and no counsel was employed in his behalf. By tlie ninth of July the affair was sufficiently advanced for a "summary judgment." It resulted, from the evidence, that the accused was guilty of treason in both the first and second degree, — as having endeavored to compass the death of the king, his father, and as having conspired to usurp the sovereignty of Flanders. The counsellor Munatones, in his report which he laid before the king, while he stated that the penalty imposed by the law on every other subject for these crimes was death, added that his majesty, by his sov- ereign authority, might decide that the heir-apparent was placed by his rank above the reach of ordinary laws. And it was further in his power to mitigate or dispense with any penalty whatever, when he consid- ered it for the good of his subjects. In this judgment both the ministers, Ruy Gomez and Espinosa, declared their concurrence. To this the king replied that, though his feelings moved him to follow the suggestion of his ministers, his conscience would not permit it. He could not think that he should consult the good of his people by placing over them a monarch so vicious in his dispo- sition and so fierce and sanguinary in his temper as Carlos. However agonizing it might be to his feelings as a father, he must allow the law to take its course LLORENTE'S ACCOUNT. 527 Yet, after all, he said, it might not be necessary to proceed to this extremity. The prince's health was in so critical a state that it was only necessary to relax the precautions in regard to his diet, and his excesses would soon conduct him to the tomb ! One point only was essential, that he should be so well advised of his situ- ation that he should be willing to confess and make his peace with Heaven before he died. This was the greatest proof of love which he could give to his son and to the Spanish nation. Ruy Gomez and Espinosa both of them inferred from this singular ebullition of parental tenderness that they could not further the real intentions of the king better than by expediting as much as possible the death of Carlos. Ruy Gomez accordingly communicated his views to Olivares, the prince's physician. This he did in such ambiguous and mysterious phrase as, while it intimated his meaning, might serve to veil the enor- mity of the crime from the eyes of the party who was to perpetrate it. No man was more competent to this delicate task than the prince of Eboli, bred from his youth in courts, and trained to a life of dissimulation. Olivares readily comprehended the drift of his dis- course, — that the thing required of him was to dispose of the prisoner in such a way that his death should appear natural and that the honor of the king should not be compromised. He raised no scruples, but readily signified his willingness faithfully to execute the will of his sovereign. Under these circumstances, on the twentieth of July, a purgative dose was admin- . j^ istered to the unsuspecting patient, who, as may be i\ imagined, rapidly grew worse. It was a consolation to 528 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. his father that, when advised of his danger, Carlos consented to receive his confessor. Thus, though the body perished, the soul was saved. ^3 Such is the extraordinary account given us by Llo- rente, which, if true, would at once settle the question in regard to the death of Carlos. But Llorente, with a disingenuousness altogether unworthy of an historian in a matter of so grave import, has given us no knowledge of the sources whence his information was derived. He simply says that they are " certain secret memoirs of the time, full of curious anecdote, which, though not possessing precisely the character of authen- ticity, are nevertheless entitled to credit, as coming from persons employed in the palace of the king" !=* Had the writer condescended to acquaint us with the names, or some particulars of the characters, of his authors, we might have been able to form some estimate of the value of their testimony. His omission to do this may lead us to infer that he had not perfect confi- dence in it himself. At all events, it compels us to trust the matter entirely to his own discretion, a virtue which those familiar with his inaccuracies in other matters will not be disposed to concede to him in a very eminent degree. ^s 53 Llorente, Histoire de I'lnquisition, torn. iii. p. 171, et seq. 54 " Quoique ces documens ne soient pas authentiqueSi ils meritent qu'on y ajoute foi, en ce qu'ils sent de certaines personnes employes dans le pakiis du roi." Ibid., p. 171. 55 TIuis, for example, he makes the contradictory statements, at the distance of four pages from each other, that the prince did, and that he did not, confide to Don Jolin his desire to kill his father (pp. 148, 152). The fact is that Llorente in a manner pledged himself to solve the mystery of the prince's death, by announcing to his readers, at VARIOUS ACCOUNTS. 529 His narrative, moreover, is in direct contradiction to the authorities I have ah^eady noticed, especially to the two foreign ministers so often quoted, who, with the advantages — not a few — that they possessed for getting correct information, were indefatigable in collecting it. "I say nothing," writes the Tuscan envoy, alluding to the idle rumors of the town, "of gossip unworthy to be listened to. It is a hard thing to satisfy the populace. It is best to stick to the truth, without caring for the opinions of those who talk wildly of improbable matters, Avhich have their origin in ignorance and malice. "^^ Still, it cannot be denied that suspicions of foul play to Carlos were not only current abroad, but were enter- tained by persons of higlier rank than the populace at home, — where it could not be safe to utter them. Among others, the celebrated Antonio Perez, one of the household of the prince of EboliTTnlorms us that, "as the king had found Carlos guilty, he was con- demned to death by casuists and inquisitors. But, in order that the execution of this sentence might not be the outset, that "he believed he had discovered the truth." One fact he must be allowed to have established, — one which, as secretary of the Inquisition, he had the means of verifying, — namely, that no pro- cess was ever instituted against Carlos by the Holy Office. This was to overturn a vulgar error, on which more than one writer of fiction has built his story. 56 " Le cicalerie et novellacce che si dicono sono molto indigne d'essere ascoltate, non che scritte, perch^ in vero il satisfar al popo- laccio in queste simili cose h molto difficile ; et meglio h. fare siccome porta il giusto et 1' honesto, senza curarsi del giudicio d' huomini in- sani, et che parlano senza ragione di cose impertinenti et impossibili di autori incerti, dappochi et maligni." Lettera di Nobili, Luglio 30, 1568. MS. riiiiip.—YoL. II.— X 45 53° DEATH OF DON CARLOS. brought too palpably before the public, they mixed for four months together a slow poison in his food." ^^ This statement agrees to a certain extent with that of a noble Venetian, Pietro Giustiniani, then in Cas- tile, who assured the historian De Thou that "Philip, having determined on the death of his son, obtained a sentence to that effect from a lawful judge. But, in order to save the honor of the sovereign, the sentence was executed in secret, and Carlos was made to swallow some poisoned broth, of which he died some hours afterwards. ' ' ^^ Some of the particulars mentioned by Antonio Perez may be thought to receive confirmation from an account given by the French minister, Fourquevaulx, in a letter dated about a month after the prince's arrest. "The prince," he says, " becomes visibly thinner and more dried up ; and his eyes are sunk in his head. They give him sometimes strong soups and capon broths, in which amber and other nourishing things are dissolved, that he may not wholly lose his strength and fall into decrepitude. These soups are prepared privately in the chamber of Ruy Gomez, through which one passes into that of the prince." It was not to be expected that a Castilian writer should have the temerity to assert that the death of Carlos was brought about by violence. Yet Cabrera, the best-informed historian of the period, who in his 57 LeUer of Antonio Perez to the counsellor Du Vair, ap. Raunier, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 153. 58 " Mais afin de sauver I'honneur du sang royal, I'arret fut execute en secret, et on Uii fit avaler un bouillon empoisonn^, dont il mourut quelques heures apr^s, au commencement de sa vingt-troisi^me an- nt5e." De Thou, Ilistoire univcrsclle, torn. v. p. 436. VARIOUS ACCOUNTS. ^31 boyhood liad frequent access to the house of Ruy Gomez, and even to the royal palace, while he describes the excesses of Carlos as the cause of his untimely end, makes some mysterious intimations, which, without any forced construction, seem to point to the agency of others in bringing about that event. ^^ Strada, the best-informed, on the whole, of the for- eign writers of the period, and who, as a foreigner, had not the same motives for silence as a Spaniard, qualifies his account of the prince's death as having taken place in the natural way, by saying, "if indeed he did not perish by violence."*" The prince of Orange, in his bold denunciation of Philip, does not hesitate to proclaim him the murderer of his son.*' And that inquisitive gossip-monger, Brantome, amidst the bitter jests and epigrams which, he tells us, his countrymen levelled at Philip for his part in this trans- action, quotes the authority of a Spaniard of rank for the assertion that after Carlos had been condemned by his father — in opposition to the voice of his council — ■ 59 " Mas es peligroso manejar vidrios, i dar ocasion de tragedias fa- mosas, acaecimientos notables, violentas muertes por los secretes exe- cutores Reales no sabidas, i por inesperadas terribles, i por la estraneza i rigor de justicia, despues'de largas advertencias a los que no cui- dando dellas incurrieron en crimen de lesa Magestad." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. vii. cap. 22. — The admirable obscurity of the passage, in which the historian has perfectly succeeded in mystifying his critics, has naturally led them to suppose that more was meant by him than meets the eye. *° " Ex morbo ob alimenta partim obstinate recusata, partim in- temperanter adgesta, nimiamque nivium refrigerationem, super animi segritudinem {si tnodh vis ab/uil) in Divi Jacobi pervigilio extinctus est." Strada, De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 378. ^' Apologie, ap. Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. v. par. i, p. 3S9. 532 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. the prince was found dead in his chamber, smothered with a towel ! ^ Indeed, the various modes of death assigned to him are sufficient evidence of the un- certainty as to any one of them.*^ A writer of more recent date does not scruple to assert that the only liberty granted to Carlos was that of selecting the manner of his death out of several kinds that were proposed to him;*'* — an incident which has since found a more suitable place in one of the many dramas that have sprung from his mysterious story. In all this the historian must admit there is but little evidence of positive value. The authors — with the ex- ception of Antonio Perez, who had his account, he tells us, from the prince of Eboli — are by no means likely to have had access to sure sources of information; 62 " Parquoy le roi conclud sur ses raisons que le meilleur estoit de le faire mourir; dont un matin on le trouva en prison estouffe d'un linge." Brantome, Qiuvres, torn. i. p. 320. — A taste for jesting on this subject seems to have been still in fashion at the French court as late as Louis the Fourteenth's time. At least, we find that monarch telling some one that " he had sent Bussy Rabutin to the Bastile for his own benefit, as Philip the Second said when he ordered his son to be strangled." Lettres de Madame de Sevigne (Paris, 1822), torn. viii. p. 368. *3 A French contemporary chronicler dismisses his account of the death of Carlos with the remark that, of all the passages in the his- tory of this reign, the fate of the young prince is the one involved in the most impenetrable mystery. Matthieu, Breve Compendio de la Vida privada de Felipe Segundo (Span, trans.), MS. ^4 The Abbe St. Real finds himself unable to decide whether Carlos took poison, or, like Seneca, had his veins opened in a warm bath, or, finally, whether he was strangled with a silk cord by four slaves sent by his father to do the deed, in Oriental fashion. (Verdadera Histo- ria de la Vida y Muerte del Principe Don Carlos, Span, trans., MS.) The doubts of St. Real are echoed with formal solemnity by Leti. Vita di Filippo II., torn. i. p. 559. SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. 533 while their statements are contradictory to one an- other, and stand in direct opposition to those of the Tuscan minister and of the nuncio, the latter of whom had, probably, better knowledge of what was passing in the councils of the monarch than any other of the diplomatic body. Even the declaration of Antonio Perez, so important on many accounts, is to a consid- erable degree neutralized by the fact that he was the mortal enemy of Philip, writing in exile, with a price set upon his head by the man whose character he was assailing. It is the hard fate of a person so situated, that even truth from his lips fails to carry with it con- viction. *s If we reject his explanation of the matter, we shall find ourselves again thrown on the sea of conjecture, and may be led to account for the rumors of violence *s Von Raumer, who has given an analysis of this letter of Antonio Perez, treats it lightly, as coming from "a double-dealing, bitter enemy of Philip," whose word on such a subject was of little value. (Six- teenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 155.) It was certainly a singular proof of confidence in one who was so habitually close in his concerns as the prince of Eboli, that he should have made such a communication to Perez. Yet it must be admitted that the narrative derives some confirmation from the fact that the preceding portions of the letter containing it, in which the writer describes the arrest of Carlos, conform with the authentic account of that event as given in the text. It is worthy of notice that both De Thou and Llorente concur with Perez in alleging poison as the cause of the prince's death. Though even here there is an important discrepancy ; Perez asserting it was a slow poison, taking four months to work its effect, while the other authorities say that its operation was immediate. Their general agreement, moreover, in regard to the employment of poison, is of the less weight, as such an agency would be the one naturally surmised under circumstances where it would be desirable to leave no trace of violence on the body of the victim. 534 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. on the part of Philip by the mystery in which the whole of the proceedings was involved, and the popu- lar notion of the character of the monarch who di- rected them. The same suspicious circumstances must have their influence on the historian of the present day, as, with insufficient though more ample light than was enjoyed by contemporaries, he painfully endeavors to grope his way through this obscure passage in the life of Philip. Many reflections of ominous import naturally press upon his mind. From the first hour\ of the prince's confinement it was determined, as weA have seen, that he was never to be released from it. \ Yet the preparations for keeping him a prisoner were \ on so extraordinary a scale, and imposed such a burden on men of the highest rank in the kingdom, as seemed to argue that his confinement was not to be long. It is a common saying, — as old as Machiavelli, — that to a deposed prince the distance is not great from the throne to the grave. Carlos, indeed, had never worn a crown. But there seemed to be the same reasons as if he had, for abridging the term of his imprisonment. All around the prince regarded him with distrust. The king, his father, appeared to live, as we have seen, in greater apprehension of him after his confinement than before." S** The ministers, whom Carlos hated," says the nuncio, "knew well that it would be their ruin should he ever ascend the throne."^ Thus, while ** If we may take Brantome's word, there was some ground for such apprehension at all times: "En fin il estoit un terrible masle; et s'il east vescu, assurez-vous qu'il s'en fust faict acroire, et qu'il eust mis le pere en curatelle." CEuvres, torn. i. p. 323. ^7 " Li piu favoriti del R6 erono odiati da lui a morte, et adesso SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. 535 the fears and the interests of all seemed to tend to his removal, we find nothing in the character of Philip to counteract the tendency. For when was he ever known to relax his grasp on the victim once within his power, or to betray any feeling of compunction as to sweeping away arTobstacle from his path ? One has only to call to mind the long confinement, ending with the mid- night execution, of Montigny, the open assassination of the prince of Orange, the secret assassination of tlie secretary Escovedo, the unrelenting persecution of Pe- rez, his agent in that murder, and his repeated attempts to despatch him also by the hand of the bravo. These are passages in the history of Philip which yet remain to be presented to the reader, and the knowledge of ^rQ^'^*' v/hich is necessary before we can penetrate into the .j^cO^^ depths of his dark and unscrupulous character. CL'^'-f "Jho (:i^U If it be thought that there is a wide difference be tween these deeds of violence and the murder of a son, we must remember that in affairs of religion Philip acted avowedly on the principle that the end justifies the means ; that one of the crimes charged upon Car- los was defection from the faith; and that Philip had once replied to the piteous appeal of a heretic whom they were dragging to the stake, "Were my son such a wretch as thou art, I would myself carry the fagots to burn him !"^ tanto piu, et quando questo venisse a regnare si teneriano rovinati loro." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, MS. 68 Aiite, vol. i. p. 396.* — It is in this view that Dr. Salazar de Meri- l^ft^^U « [M. Gachard remarks that he was inclined to discredit this terrible speech, till he found it confirmed by a passage in a letter of the 536 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. But, in whatever light we are to regard the death of Carlos, — whether as caused by violence, or by those insane excesses in which he was allowed to plunge during his confinement, — in either event the responsi- bility, to a great extent, must be allowed to rest on ^Philip, who, if he did not directly employ the hand "v^ of the assassin to take the life of his son, yet by his rigorous treatment drove that son to a state of despera- tion that brought about the same fatal result.^ J7 doza does not shrink from asserting that, if Phihp did make a sacrifice of his son, it rivalled in sublimity that of Isaac by Abraham, and even that of Jesus Christ by the Almighty! " Han dicho de el lo que del Padre Eterno, que no perdono d su propio Hijo. Lo que del Patri- arca Abraham en el sacrificio de Isaac su unigenito. A todo caso humano excede la gloria que de esto le resulta, y no hay con quien comparalla." (Dignidades de Castilla y Leon, p. 417.) He closes this rare piece of courtly blasphemy by assuring us that in point of fact Carlos died a natural death. The doctor wrote in the early part of Philip the Third's reign, when the manner of the prince's death was delicate ground for the historian. ^9 Philip the Second is not the only Spanish monarch who has been charged with the murder of his son. Leovogild, a Visigothic king of the sixth century, having taken prisoner his rebel son, threw him into a dungeon, where he was secretly put to death. The king was an Arian, while the young prince was a Catholic, and might have saved his life if he had been content to abjure his religion. By the Church of Rome, therefore, he was regarded as a martyr ; and it is a curious circumstance that it was Philip the Second who procured the canoni- zation of the slaughtered Hermenegild from Pope Sixtus the Fifth. — For the story, taken from that voluminous compilation of Florez, "La French minister, Sebastien de I'Aubespine, who, writing to Catherine de Mcdicis in January, 1562, relates his endeavors to obtain the release of the queen's apothecary, imprisoned by the Inquisition. " The only answer I could get from his majesty," he writes, " was, that if it were his own son, and he had sinned in this particular, he would put him to death." Gachard, Don Carlos el Philippe II., torn. i. p. 57. — Ed.] QUARREL IN THE PALACE. 537 While the prince lay in the agonies of death, scarcely an hour before he breathed his last, a scene of a very different nature w:is passing in an adjoining gallery of the palace. A quarrel arose there between two court- iers, — one of them a young, cavalier, Don Antonio de Leyva, the other Don Diego de Mendoza, a nobleman who had formerly filled with great distinction the post of ambassador at Rome. The dispute arose respecting some coplas, of which Mendoza claimed to be the author. Though at this time near sixty years old, the fiery temperament of youth had not been cooled by age. Enraged at what he conceived an insult on the part of his companion, he drew his dagger. The other as promptly unsheathed his sword. Thrusts were ex- changed between the parties ; and the noise of the fracas at length reached the ears of Philip himself. Indignant at the outrage thus perpetrated within the walls of the palace and at such an hour, he ordered his guards instantly to arrest the offenders. But the com- batants, brought to their senses, had succeeded in making their escape, and taken refuge in a neighboring church. Philip was too much incensed to respect this asylum ; and an alcalde, by his command, entered the church at midnight and dragged the offenders from tlie sanctuary. Leyva was put in irons, and lodged in the Espana sagrada," I am indebted to Milman's History of Latin Chris- tianity (London, 1854), (vol. i. p. 446), one of the most remarlcable works of the present age, in which the author reviews, with curious erudition and in a profoundly philosophical spirit, the various changes that-have taken place in the Roman hierarchy; and while he fully ex- poses the manifold errors and corruptions of the system, he shows throughout that enlightened charity which is the most precious of Christian graces, as unhappily it is the rarest. X* 538 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. fortress of Madrid ; while his rival was sent to the tower of Simancas. "It is thought they will pay for this outrage with their lives," writes the Tuscan minis- ter, Nobili. "The king," he adds, "has even a mind to cashier his guard for allowing them to escape." Philip, however, confined the punishment of the nobles to banishment from court ; ^° and the old courtier, Men- doza, profited by his exile to give to the world those remarkable compositions, both in history and romance, that form an epoch in the national literature.* A few days before his death, Carlos is said to have made a will, in which, after imploring his father's par- don and blessing, he commended his servants to his care, gave away a few jewels to two or three friends, and disposed of the rest of his property in behalf of sundry churches and monasteries.'' Agreeably to his wish, his body was wrapped in a Franciscan robe, and was soon afterwards laid in a coffin covered with black velvet and rich brocade. At seven o'clock that same evening, the remains of Carlos were borne from the chamber where he died, to their place of interment.'^ The coffin was supported on the shoulders of the 70 Lettera di Nobili, Luglio 30, 1568, MS. 71 I have before me another will made by Don Carlos in 1564, in Alcald de Henares, the original of which is still extant in the Archives of Simancas. In one item of this document he bequeaths five thou- sand ducats to Don Martin de Cordova for his gallant defence of Mazarquivir. 72 Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 28, 1568, MS. — Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. 369. * [His History of the War of Granada was composed during his exile, but the W(jrk by which Mendoza is best known, Lazarillo de T6rmes, had been published in 1553, and is supposed to have been written while the author was a student at Salamanca. — Ed.] HIS OBSEQUIES. 535 prince of Eboli, the dukes of Infantado and Rio Scco, and other principal grandees. In tlie court-yard of tlie palace was a large gathering of the members of the religious fraternities, dignitaries of the church, foreign ambassadors, nobles and cavaliers about the court, and officers of the royal household. There were there also the late attendants of Carlos, — to some of whom he had borne little love, — who, after watching him through his captivity, were now come to conduct him to his final resting-place. Before moving, some wrangling took place among the parties on the question of prece- dence. Such a spirit might well have been rebuked by the solemn character of the business they were engaged in, which might have reminded them that in the grave, at least, .there are no distinctions. But the perilous question was happily settled by Philip himself, who, from an open window of the palace, looked down on the scene, and, with his usual composure, gave direc- tions for forming the procession." The king did not accompany it. Slowly it defiled through the crowded streets, where the people gave audible utterance to their grief, as they gazed on the funeral pomp, and their eyes fell on the bier of the prince who, they had fondly hoped, would one day sway the sceptre of Castile, and whose errors, great as they were, were all forgotten in his unparalleled misfortunes.'^ 73 " Partieron con el cuerpo, aviendo el Rey con la entereza de aniino que mantuvo sienpre, conpuesto desde una ventana las dife- rencias de los Consejos disposiendo la precedencia, cesando assi la competencia." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. viii. cap. 5. 74 The particulars of the ceremony are given by the Nunzio, Let- tera di 28 di Luglio, MS. — See also Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. 369. 540 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. The procession moved forward to the convent of San Domingo Real, where Carlos had desired that his ashes might be laid. The burial-service was there performed, with great solemnity, in presence of the vast multitude. But, whether it was that Philip distrusted the prudence of the preachers, or feared some audacious criticism on his conduct, no discourse was allowed to be delivered from the pulpit. For nine days religious services were performed in honor of the deceased ; and the office for the dead continued to be read, morning and evening, before an audience among whom were the great nobles and the officers of state, clad in full mourning. The queen and the princess Joanna might be seen, on these occasions, mingling their tears with the few who cher- ished the memory of Carlos. A niche was excavated in the wall of the church, within the choir, in which the prince's remains were deposited. But they did not rest there long. In 1573 they were removed, by Philip's orders, to the Escorial ; and in its gloomy chambers they were left to mingle with the kindred dust of the royal line of Austria. ^^ 7S Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS. — Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. 369. — Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 28, 1568, MS. — Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. viii. cap. 5.* * [Among other rumors in regard to the prince's death was one that he had been beheaded. It is even asserted in the Memoirs of Saint-Simon that the body lay in the coffin with the head separated from it and placed between the legs. This, at least, seems to be dis- proved by a manuscript which came into Prescott's possession after the first publication of the present volume, and which he transmitted to M. Gachard, by whom it has been printed. It is dated at the Escorial, August 2ct, 1795, and bears no signature, but is conjectured by M. Gachard to have been written by a person holding some post HIS OBSEQUIES. 541 Philip wrote to Zufiiga, his ambassador in Rome, to intimate his wish that no funeral honors should be paid there to the memory of Carlos, that no mourning should be worn, and that his holiness would not feel under the necessity of sending him letters of condo- lence.'* Zufiiga did his best. But he could not prevent the obsequies from being celebrated with the lugubrious 7* Carta del Rey k Zufiiga, Agosto 27, 1568, MS. at the Spanish court. The writer states that he had seen the body of Carlos, which was entire and showed only such changes as the length of time which had elapsed since his death would naturally have pro- duced. But a better-authenticated account of the condition and appearance of the body in 1812, when it was exhumed by order of Colonel Bory de Saint-Vincent, an officer on the staff of Marshal Soult, is also cited by M. Gachard. It was written by Colonel Bory himself, and originally printed by the Baron de Reiffenberg in his edition of Vandervynckt's Histoire des Troubles des Pays-Bas. The coffin was found in its proper position relatively to those of the other members of the family, ranged in order of date ; but it was so much heavier than any of the rest that it could not be entirely lifted out of the place of deposit. It was supported, however, and the lid, having evidently been removed on a former occasion and clumsily replaced, was easily detached. " Instead of a fine mummy," continues the writer, " habited like those we had just seen, we found compact lime, the uneven surface of which was hard and pebbly. This lime had been removed in some places, as if to seek traces of the body, which had no doubt been covered with it in order to prevent recognition. Some parts had in fact been laid bare. On tearing off other pieces of this substance, we found bones and strips of skin or flesh reduced to the consistence of old rags." The existence of the skull was also verified, with much of the hair well preserved, though reddish and brittle, but with no remains of the integuments either on the frontal or parietal bones, which were both laid bare. An attempt was made to discover if the vertebral column, which alone could be supposed to have escaped corrosion, were intact ; but it was interrupted by the arrival of an orderly to announce that the army was in motion. — Ed.] Philip.— Vol.. IT. 46 542 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. pomp suited to the rank of the departed. A catafalque was raised in the cliurch of Saint James ; the services were performed in presence of the ambassador and his attendants, who were dressed in the deepest black ; and twenty-one cardinals, one of whom was Granvelle, assisted at the solemn ceremonies." But no funeral panegyric was pronounced, and no monumental inscrip- tion recorded the imaginary virtues of the deceased.'' Soon after the prince's death, Philip retired to the monastery of St. Jerome, in whose cloistered recesses he remained some time longer secreted from the eyes of his subjects. "He feels his loss like a father," writes the papal nuncio, "but he bears it with the patience of a Christian." '^ jje caused despatches to be sent to foreign courts, to acquaint them with his late bereavement. In his letter to the duke of Alva he indulges in a fuller expression of his personal feel- ings. "You may conceive," he says, "in what pain and heaviness I find myself, now that it has pleased God to take my dear son, the prince, to himself. He died in a Christian manner, after having, three days before, received the sacrament, and exhibited repent- 77 " Digo la missa el Cardenal Tarragona, asistiendo d las honras 21 cardenales ademas de los obispos y arzobispos." Aviso de un Italiano pldtico y familiar de Ruy Gomez de Silva, MS. 78 " Oracion funebre," writes the follower of Ruy Gomez, " no la hiibo, pero yo hizo estos epitaphios y versos por mi consolacion." Ibid. — Whatever "consolation" the Latin doggerel which follows in the original may have given to its author, it would have too little interest for the reader to be quoted here. 79 " II R6 como padre ha scntito molto, ma come christiano la comporta con quella patienza con che dovemo ricevere le tribula- tioni che ci manda Nostro Signore Die." Lettera del Nunzio, Lu- glio 24, 1568, MS. HIS OBSEQUIES. 543 ance and contrition, — all which serves to console me under this affliction. For I hope that God has called him to himself, that he may be with him evermore; and that he will grant me his grace, that I may endure this calamity with a Christian heart and patience." ^^ Thus, in the morning of life, at little more than twenty-three years of age, perished Carlos, prince of Asturias. No one of his time came into the world under so brilliant auspices ; for he was heir to the noblest empire in Christendom ; and the Spaniards, as they discerned in his childhood some of the germs of future greatness in his character, looked confidently forward to the day when he should rival the glory of his grandfather, Charles the Fifth. But he was born under an evil star, which counteracted all the gifts of fortune and turned them into a curse. His naturally wild and headstrong temper was exasperated by disease, and, when encountered by the distrust and alienation of him who had the control of his destiny, was exalted into a state of frenzy, that furnishes the best apology for his extravagances, and vindicates the necessity of some measures, on the part of his father, to restrain fhem. Yet can those who reject the imputation of murder acquit that father of inexorable rigor towards his child in the measures which he employed, or of the dreadful responsibility which attaches to the con- sequences of them ?* ^° Raumer has given an extract from this letter, Sixteenth and Sev- enteenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 149. * [M. Gachard, while even more emphatic than Prescott in his con- demnation of the cruel treatment and " moral tortures" by which he 544 DEATH OF DON CARLOS. considers Don Carlos to have been driven to desperation and his end precipitated, is, on the other hand, far more decided in rejecting all the accounts of his having perished by violence. He dismisses them, indeed, with the single remark that " they destroy each other." But the inconsistency of several stories in regard to details is no con- vincing proof that they do not all contain the essential truth, or that one of them may not be true in every particular. There were con- tradictory reports in regard to the death of Montigny, leading some inquirers to discredit altogether the story of his assassination until the fact was established by documentary proof. The popular belief seems to have been grounded simply on the suspicious circumstances of the case. In the present case the grounds for a like belief are far stronger and more abundant. The circumstances were, indeed, such as to raise a strong presumption against Philip, and throw upon him the burden of proof, — not, indeed, in a court of law, could he ha:ve been brought before such a tribunal, but before the bar of history, where he now stands, (fie had deprived Carlos of his liberty, immured him in the strictest confinement, surrounded him with his own creatures bound to execute his will and sworn to secrecy in regard to all that might take place, forbidden the access of all other persons, including the nearest of kin and the highest in rank, the officials of the kingdom and the representatives of foreign powers, and thus prevented all pub- licity or any relation of the facts by unsuspected witnesses. Nor does the presumption against him stop here : on the contrary, it is strength- ened at every step of the inquiry. He had announced that his object was one not to be gained by temporary expedients, and had made known his intention that Carlos was not to succeed him on the throne^ He had intimated that his son was by his mental and moral defe(;ts unfitted to rule ; but no council of physicians was summoned, and no investigation was made of which the results were ever published. To have deprived Carlos of the succession without the fullest proofs of his incapacity would have been all but impossible ; and even could the legal impediments have been removed and the assent of the cortes obtained, this would only have hadthe effect of dividing the nation and sowing the seeds of civil war. vThere was, therefore, no sure way in which Philip could deprive his son of his inheritance except by depriving him of his lifgT' That the obstacle thus presented would not have seemed insurmountable in his eyes, we know both from his own words and from the general tenor of his acts. And with Philip were leagued, as his chief counsellors and his special confidants in this EVIDENCE AGAINST Fill LIP. 545 affair, Ruy Gomez and Espinosa, to both of whom Carlos had shown himself inimical, and who, as was noted by all observers at the time, had cause to tremble for their own safety if he were suffered to live and reign. The question remains whether the presumption thus raised is over- come by the crediljility of the relations put forth at the time in regard to the death of Carlos. These relations are twofold. The official account, addressed to the municipalities, recites briefly and generally the prince's excesses in eating and in the use of ice and iced water, followed by long abstinence from food and consequent reduction of the system, as the causes of his death. This account is considered by .M. Gachard as on many grounds unworthy of credence. But surely the fact that the story sent forth by Philip bears the marks of falsehood warrants the inference that he had strong motives for concealing the truth. M. Gachard, however, while rejecting this story, accepts as probable and sufficiently authenticated that which is found in the letters of several of the foreign ministers, though it is neither dissimilar in character nor better supported by evidence. It is given by some of the writers as only one of many rumors, and by the others without any mention of their authority, but impliedly as the account allowed to be current at the court. It attributes the death of Carlos to his having eaten a huge pasty of partridges, so highly seasmied as to prodtice an iyttolerable thirst, which he sought to relieve by enormous draughts of water, the result being a violent seizure of vomitings and discharges from the bowels, ending in a debility of the stomach which rendered all remedies unavailing. Any thing more suspicious than this story it would be difficult to conceive. It has all the air of having been invented to account for symptoms and appear- ances which would have pointed at once to the administration of poison, — the mode of death alleged by Antonio Perez, whose testi- mony has been too lightly discredited, as well as by De Thou and Llorente. Even if the facts be accepted, the only construction to which they are subject is one that makes no essential difference in regard to the question at issue. If those who, when Carlos was at liberty, had restricted his diet to a measured quantity of the simplest food, placed before him when a prisoner the dish described and allowed him to devour it, their intention cannot be doubtful. If the account by Colonel Bory de Saint-Vincent of the disinterment of the body and its condition be accepted as trustworthy, the evidence against Philip will be complete. — Ed.] 46* CHAPTER VIII. DEATH OF ISABELLA. Queen Isabella. — Her Relations with Carlos. — Her Illness and Death. — Her Character.* 1568. Three months had not elapsed after the young and beautiful~queai of Philip the Second had wept over the fate of her unfortunate step-son, when she was herself called upon to follow him to the tomb. The occur- rence of these sad events so near together, and the re- lations of the parties, who had once been designed for each other, suggested the idea that a criminal passion subsisted between them, and that, after her lover's death, Isabella was herself sacrificed to the jealousy of a vindictive husband. One will in vain look for this tale of horror in the native historians of Castile. Nor does any historian of that day, native or foreign, whom I have consulted, in noticing the rumors of the time, cast a reproach on the fair fame of Isabella ; though more than one must be allowed to intimate the existence of the prince's passion for his step-mother.' Brantome tells us that ' Besides Brantome and De Thou, elsewhere noticed in this con- nection, another writer of that age, Pierre Matthieu, the royal his- toriographer of France, may be thought to insinuate something of the kind, when he tells us that " the circumstance of Isabella so soon (546) ISABELLA- S RELATIONS WITH CARLOS. 547 when Carlos first saw the queen " he was so captivated by her charms that he conceived from that time a mor- tal spite against his father, whom he often reproached for the great wrong he had done him in ravishing from him this fair prize." *'And this," adds the writer, ''was said in part to have been the cause of the prince's death; for he could not help loving the queen at the bottom of his soul, as well as honoring and rev- erencing one who was so truly amiable and deserving of love." =* He afterwards gives us to understand that many rumors were afloat in regard to the manner of the queen's death, and tells a story, not very probable, of a Jesuit who was banished to the farthest Indies for denouncing, in his pulpit, the wickedness of those who could destroy so innocent a creature. ^ A graver authority, the prince of Orange, in his public vindication of his own conduct, openly charges Philip with the murder of both his son and his wife. It is to be noticed, however, that he nowhere intimates following Carlos to the tomb had suggested very different grounds from those he had already given as the cause of his death." (Breve Compendio de la Vida privada del Rey Felipe Segundo, MS.) But the French writer's account of Philip is nearly as apocryphal as the historical romance of St. Real, who, in all that relates to Carlos in particular, will be found largely indebted to the hvely imagination of his predecessor. *"Aussi dit on que cela fut cause de sa mort en partie, avec d'autres subjects que je ne dirai point \ ceste heure ; car il ne se pou- voit garder de I'aimer dans son ame, I'honorer et reverer, tant il la trouvoit aymable et agreable \ ses yeux, comme certes elle I'estoit en tout." Brantome, CEuvres, torn. v. p. 128. 3 " Luy eschappa de dire que c'avoit este fait fort meschamment de Tavoir fait mourir et si innocentement, dont il fut banny jusques au plus profond des Indes d'Espagne. Cela est tres que vray, k ce que I'on dit." Ibid., p. 132. 548 DEATH OF ISABELLA. that either of the parties was in love with the other ; and he refers the queen's death to Philip's desire to open the way to a marriage with the Princess Anne of Austria/ Yet these two authorities are the only ones of that day, so far as I am aware, who have given countenance to these startling rumors. Both were for- eigners, far removed from the scene of action : one of them a light, garrulous Frenchman, whose amusing pages, teeming with the idle gossip of the court, are often little better than a Chronique Scandaleuse ; the other, the mortal enemy of Philip, whose character — ■ as the best means of defending his own — he was assail- ing with the darkest imputations. "^ No authority, however, beyond that of vulgar rumor, was required by the unscrupulous writers of a later time, who discerned the capabilities of a story like that of Carlos and Isabella, in the situations of romantic interest which it would open to the reader. Improving 4 Apologie, ap. Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. v. par. i, p. 389. — Strada, while he notices the common rumors respecting Carlos and Isabella, dismisses them as wholly unworthy of credit : " Mihi, super id quod incomperta sunt, etiam veris dissimilia videntur." De Bello Belgico, torn. i. p. 379.* * [A brief citation of facts and dates will suffice to refute the theory ri- put forth in the Apology. In letters written on the 19th of May, Phihp definitively renounced the project of a marriage between Carlos and the archduchess Anne, and recommended that she should accept an offer which had been made by the French king. Maximilian accord- ingly empowered his brother, the archduke Charles, whom he was sending on a mission to Madrid, to conclude the alliance with Charles IX. Before he could set out, intelligence arrived of the death of Carlos, followed, while he was on his way, by that of the queen's decease. He weis then instructed to offer his sister's hand to Philip, who cannot, therefore, have expected the proposal, though he readily accepted it. — Eu.] HER RELATIONS WITH CARLOS. 549 on this hint, they have filled in the outlines of the pic- ture with the touches of their own fancy, until the in- terest thus given to this tale of love and woe has made it as widely known as any of the classic myths of early Grecian history, s Fortunately, we have the power, in this case, of es- tablishing the truth from unsuspicious evidence, — that of Isabella's own countrymen, whose residence at the court of Madrid furnished them with ample means of personal observation. Isabella's mother, the famous Catherine de Medicis, associated with so much that is terrible in our imaginations, had at least the merit of watching over her daughter's interests with the most affectionate solicitude. This did not diminish when, at the age of fifteen, Elizabeth of France left her own land and ascended the throne of Spain. Catherine kept up a constant correspondence with her daughter, sometimes sending her instructions as to her conduct, at other times medical prescriptions in regard to her health. She was careful also to obtain information re- specting Isabella's mode of life from the French am- bassadors at the court of Castile ; and we may be quite s At the head of these writers must undoubtedly be placed the Abbe St. Real, with whose romantic history of Don Carlos I am only acquainted in the Castilian translation, entitled " Verdadera Historia de la Vida y Muerte del Principe Don Carlos." Yet, ro- mance as it is, more than one grave historian has not disdained to transplant its flowers of fiction into his own barren pages. It is edi- fying to see the manner in which Leti, who stands not a little in- debted to St. Real, after stating the scandalous rumors in regard to Carlos and Isabella, concludes by declaring, " Ma come io scrivo his- toria, e non romanzo, non posso affirmar nulla di certo, perche nulla di certo h6 possuto raccore." Leti, Vita di Filippo II., torn. i. p. 560. 550 DEATH OF ISABELLA. sure that these loyal subjects would have been quick to report any injurious treatment of the queen by her husband. A candid perusal of their despatches dispels all mys- tery, — or, rather, proves there never was any cause for mystery. The sallow, sickly boy of fourteen — for Car- los was no older at the time of Isabella's marriage — was possessed of too few personal attractions to make it probable that he could have touched the heart of his / beautiful step-mother, had she been lightly disposed. I But her intercourse with him from the first seems to i have been such as naturally arose from the relations of j the parties, and from the kindness of her disposition, I which led her to feel a sympathy for the personal in- / firmities and misfortunes of Carlos. Far from attempt- \ ing to disguise her feelings in this matter, she displayed \ them openly in her correspondence with her mother, \and before her husband and the world. I Soon after Isabella's arrival at Madrid, we find a letter from the bishop of Limoges to Charles the Ninth, her brother, informing him that "his sister, on enter- ing the palace of Madrid, gave the prince so gracious and affectionate a reception that it afforded singular contentment to the king, and yet more to Carlos, as appeared by his frequent visits to the queen, — as fre- quent as the etiquette of a court much stiffer than that of Paris would permit."^ Again, writing in the fol- *" Monsieur le prince d'Hespaigne fort extenue, la vint saluer, qu'elle receut avec telle caresse et comportement, que si le p^re et toute la compaignie en ont receu ung singulier contentement ledit prince I'a encores plus grand, comme il a desmonstre depuis et de- monstre lorsqu'il la visite, qui ne peut cstre souvent ; car, outre que les conversations de ce pays ne sont pas si fr^quentes et faciles qu'en HER RELATIONS WITH CARLOS. 55f lowing month, the bishop speaks of the queen as en- deavoring to amuse Carlos, when he came to see her in the evening, with such innocent games and pastimes as might cheer the spirits of the young prince, who seemed to be wasting away under his malady.^ The next year we have a letter to Catherine de Medi- cis from one of Isabella's train, who had accompanied her from France. After speaking of her mistress as sometimes supping in the garden with the princess Joanna, she says they were often joined there by "the prince, who loves the queen singularly well, and, as I suspect, would have had no objection to be more nearly, related to her."^ There is nothing improbable in the supposition that Carlos, grateful for kindness to which he had not been too much accustomed, should, as he France, sa fi^vre quarte le travaille tellement, que de jour en jour il va s'extenuant." L'6veque de Limoges au Roi, 23 fevrier, 1559, Negociations relatives au Regne de Fran9ois II., p. 272. 7 " Ayant ladite dame mis toute la peine qu'il a este possible \ luy donner, aux soirs, quelque plaisir du bail et autres honnestes passe- temps, desquels il a bon besoin, car le pauvre prince est si bas et ex- tenue, il va d'heure ^ heure tant affoiblissant, que les plus sages de ceste court en ont bien petite esperance." L'Eveque de Limoges au Roi, !«■■ mars, 1559, Ibid., p. 291.* 8 " La royne et la princesse la visitent bien souvent, et sopent en un jardin qui est aupres de la meson, et le prince avec elles, qui aime la royne singuli^rement, de fa9on qu'il ne ce peut soler de an dire bien. jfe croys qu'il voudroit estre davantage son parent." Claude de . . . il la Reine M^re, aout, 1560, Ibid., p. 460. * [The reports that Carlos was "wasting away" would, for obvious reasons, be very agreeable to Catherine de Medicis and the French court. None of the other letters of this period contain such frequent and hopeless accounts of the prince's health as those cif the French minister. — Ed.] 552 DEATH OF ISABELLA. grew older, have yielded to the influence of a princess whose sweet disposition and engaging manners seem to have won the hearts of all who approached her, or that feelings of resentment should have mingled with his regret as he thought of the hard fate which had placed a barrier between them. It is possible, too, when we consider the prince's impetuous temper, that the French historian De Thou may have had good authority for asserting that Carlos, >/' after long conversations in the queen's apartment, was often heard, as he came out, to complain loudly of his father's having robbed him of her. ' ' 5 ^ut it could have been no vulgar passion that he felt for Isabella, and certainly it received no encour- agement from her, if, as Brantome tells us, " insolent and audacious as he was in his intercourse with all other women, he never came into the presence of his step- mother without such a feeling of reverence as seemed to change his very nature." Nor is there the least evidence that the admiration excited by the queen, whether in Carlos or in the cour- tiers, gave any uneasiness to Philip, who seems to have reposed entire confidence in her discretion. And while we find Isabella speaking of Philip to her mother as "so good a husband, and rendering her so happy by his attentions, that it made the dullest spot in the world agreeable to her," '° we meet with a letter from the 9 " On entendit aussi tres-souvent ce jeune Prince, lorsqu'il sortoit de la chambre de la Reine Elizabeth, avec qui il avoit de longs et fr^quens entretiens, se plaindre et marquer sa colore et son indigna- tion, de ce que son pere la lui avoit enlevee." De Thou, Histoire univcrselle, torn. v. p. 434. 10 " Vous dir^s-ge, madame, que sy se n'estoit la bonne compaignie oi je suis en se lieu, et I'hcur que j'ai de voir tous les jours le roy HER RELATIONS WITH CARLOS. 553 French minister, Guibert, saying that " the king goes on loving the queen more and more, and that her in- fluence has increased threefold within the last three months."" A few years later, in 1565, St. Sulpice, then ambassador in Madrid, writes to the queen-mother in emphatic terms of the affectionate intercourse that subsisted between Pliilip and his consort. "I can assure you, madam," he says, "that the queen, your daughter, lives in the greatest content in the world, by reason of the perfect friendship which ever draws her more closely to her husband. He shows her the most unreserved confidence, and is so cordial in his treat- ment of her as to leave nothing to be desired." " The writer quotes a declaration made to him by Philip, that " the loss of his consort would be a heavier misfortune than had ever yet befallen l«im." '^ Nor was this an empty profession in the king, as he evinced by his indulgence of Isabella's tastes,* — even those national tastes which were not always in accord- ance with the more rigid rules of Castilian etiquette. mon seigneur, je trouverois se lieu I'un des plus facheux du monde. Mais je vous assure, madame, que j'ay un si bon mari et suis si heu- reuse que, quant il le seroit cent fois davantage, je ne m'y facherois point." La Reine Catholique h. la Reine M^re, Negociations rela- tives au R^gne de Fran9ois II., p. 813. " Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 129. " Ibid., p. 130. »3 Ibid., ubi supra. [* Not, however, by his fidelity to his marriage- vows. Tlie queen, according to the Venetian ministers Tiepolo and Soranzo, was well aware of her husband's gallantries, which were numerous, but she had been too well trained by Catherine de Medicis to utter the least com- plaint. Her only endeavor, we are told, was to please him and to act in all things conformably to his will. — Ed.] Philip. — Vol. II. — y 47 554 DEATH OF ISABELLA. To show the freedom with which she lived, 1 may per- haps be excused for touching on a few particulars already noticed in a previous chapter. On her coming into the country, she was greeted with balls and other festivities, to which she had been accustomed in the gay capital of France. Her domestic establishment was on a scale of magnificence suited to her station ; and the old courtier, Brantome, dwells with delight on the splendid profusion of her wardrobe and the costly jewels with which it was adorned. When she went abroad, she dispensed with her veil, after the fashion of her own country, though so much at variance with the habits of the Spanish ladies. Yet it made her a greater favorite with the people, who crowded around her wherever she appeared, eager to catch a glimpse of her beautiful features. SHfe brought into the country a troop of French ladies and waiting-women, some of whom remained and married in Castile. Such as re- turned home she provided with liberal dowries. To persons of her own nation she was ever accessible, — • receiving the humblest as well as the highest, says her biographer, with her wonted benignity. With them she conversed in her native tongue. But in the course of three months her ready wit had so far mastered the Castilian that she could make herself understood in that language, and in a short time spoke it with ele- gance, though with a slight foreign accent, not un pleas- ing. Born and bred among a people so different from that with whom her lot was now cast, Isabella seemed to unite in her own person the good qualities of each. The easy vivacity of the French character was so hap- pily tempered by the gravity of the Spanish as to give IIER RELATIONS WITH CARLOS. 555 an inexpressible charm to her manners.''' Thus riclily endowed with the best gifts of nature and of fortune, it is no wonder that Elizabeth of France should have been the delight of the courtly circle over which she presided and of which she was the greatest ornament. Her gentle nature must have been much disturbed by witnessing the wild capricious temper of Carlos and the daily increasing estrangement of his father. Yet she did not despair of reclaiming him. At least, we may infer so from the eagerness with which she sec- onded her mother in pressing the union of her sister, Catherine de Medicis' younger daughter, with the prince. "My sister is of so excellent a disposition," the queen said to Ruy Gomez, "that no princess in Christendom would be more apt to moderate and accommodate herself to mj^ step-son's humors, or be better suited to the father, as well as the son, in their relations with each other. ' ' '^ But, although the min- ister readily adopted the queen's views in the matter, they met with little encouragement from Philip, who at that time seemed more inclined to a connection with the house of Austria. In the preceding chapter we have seen the pain occasioned to Isabella by the arrest of Carlos. Although so far a gainer by it as it opened to her own posterity the way to the succession, she wept, as the ambassador Fourquevaulx tells us, for two days, over the misfortune 14 " Ceste taille, elle I'accompagnoit d'un port, d'une majeste, d'un geste, d'un marcher et d'une grace entremeslee de I'espagnole et de la fran9oise en gravite et en douceur." See Brant&me (CEuvres, torn. V. p. 129), whose loyal pencil has traced the lineaments of Isabella as given in the text. ''S Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 131. 556 DEATH OF ISABELLA. of her step-son, until forbidden by Philip to weep any longer.'* During his confinement, as we have seen, she was not permitted to visit him, — not even to soften the bitterness of his dying hour. And how much her presence would have soothed him at such a time may be inferred from the simple memorandum found among his papers, in which;^e assigns her the first place among his friends, as having been ever the most loving to him. '7 ^The same affection, however we may define it, which he had borne her from the first, he retained to the last hour of his life. All that was now granted to Isabella was the sad consolation of joining with the princess Joanna, and the few friends who still cherished the memory of Carlos, in celebrating his funeral obse- quies. Not long after that event, it was announced that the queen was pregnant;* and the nation fondly hoped that '* Letter of Fourquevaulx, February 8th, 1568, ap. Ibid., p. 139. f •7 "Gli amici, in primo loco la Regina, ia quale diceva che gli era amorevolissima, Don Giovanni d'Austria suo carissimo et diletissimo zio," etc. Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS. * [The fact had been known by the court long previously. The Tuscan minister, in a letter of March 30th, says it was feared that her grief on account of the prince's imprisonment would occasion a miscarriage. — Ed.] f [In an earlier letter, announcing the arrest of Carlos, Fourque- vaul.x writes to Catherine de Medicis, " The queen is afflicted at it, and weeps from love of both, seeing that the prince also loves her marvellously." A note of the same date (January 19th) from " 6liza- bet," as she subscribes herself, to Fourquevaulx, has been preserved, in which she says she feels the misfortune as if it were that of her own son, being indebted to the prince for his friendsliip, and wishing to serve him in return. " Dicu a voulu qu'il est declare ce qu'il est, k. mon grand regret." The king, whose pain at being compelled to such HER ILLNESS. 557 it would find a compensation for the loss of its rightful prince, in the birth of a new heir to the throne. But this hope was destined soon to be destroyed. Owing to some mismanagement on the part of the physicians, who, at an early period, misunderstood the queen's situation, the medicines they gave her had an injurious effect on her constitution.'^ It is certain that Isabella placed little confidence in the Spanish doctors, or in their prescriptions.'' There may have been good ground for her distrust ; for their vigorous applications savor not a little of the Sangrado school of practice, directed quite as much against the constitution of the patient as against his disease. About the middle of September a fever set in, which, though not violent, was so obstinate as to defy all the efforts of the phy- sicians to reduce it. More alarming symptoms soon followed. The queen frequently swooned. Her ex- tremities became torpid. Medicines were of no avail, for her stomach refused to retain them.™ Processions »8 Letter of Fourquevaulx, October 3d, 1568, ap. Raumer, Six- teenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 158. 19 " Pero la Reyna hacia muy poco caudal de lo que los medicos decian, dando a entender con su Real condicion y gracioso semblante tener poca necesidad de sus medicinas." Relacion de la Enfermedad y Essequias funebres de la Serenissima Reyna de Espaiia Dona Ysa- bel de Valois, por Juan Lopez, Catedratico del Estudio de Madrid (Madrid, 1569), fol. 4. =» Ibid., ubi supra. — The learned professor has given the various symptoms of the queen's malady with as curious a minuteness as if he had been concocting a medical report. As an order v/as issued, shortly after the publication of the work, prohibiting its sale, copies of it are exceedingly rare. a measure also afflicts her, has commanded her not to write about the matter till he permits her. Gacliard, Don Carlos et Pliiiippe IL — Ed.J 47* 558 DEATH OF ISABELLA. tvere everywhere made to the churches, and young and old joined in prayers for her recovery. But these prayers were not heard. The strength of Isabella con- tinued rapidly to decline, and by the last of September her life was despaired of. The physicians declared that science could go no further, and that the queen's only hope must be in Heaven.^' In Heaven she had always trusted ; nor was she so wedded to the pomps and glories of the world that she could not now will- ingly resign them. As her ladies, many of them her countrywomen, stood weeping around her bed, she endeavored to console them under their affliction, kindly expressing the interest she took in their future welfare, and her regret that she had not made them a better mistress, — "as if," says a contemporary, who has left a minute record of her last moments, "she had not been always more of a mother than a mistress to them all !" ''^ On the evening of the second of October, as Isabella felt herself drawing near her end, she made her will. She then confessed, partook of the sacrament, and, at her desire, extreme unction was administered to her. Cardinal Espinosa and the king's confessor, the bishop of Cuenga, who were present, while they offered her spiritual counsel and consolation, were greatly edified by her deportment ; and, giving her their parting bene- " Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. 390. — Letter of Fourquevaulx, October 3d, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 139. — Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel, ubi supra. — Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS. »» " Porque en efecto, el niodo y manera conque ella las trataba, no hera de senora d quicn pareciesen servir, sino de madre y companera." Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad dc la Reyna Ysabel, loc, cit. HER ILLNESS. 559 diction, they went away deeply affected by the spirit of Christian resignation which she displayed.^ Before daybreak, on the following morning, she had 'her last interview with Philip. We have the account of it from Fourqucvaulx. "The queen spoke to her husband very naturally," says the ambassador, "and like a Christian. She took leave of him forever, and never did princess show more goodness and piety. She commended to him her two daughters, and her principal attendants, beseeching him to live in amity with the king, of France, her brother, and to maintain peace, — with other discourse, which could not fail to touch the heart of a good husband, which the king was to her. He showed, in his replies, the same composure as she did, and promised to obey all her requests, but added, he did not think her end so near. He then withdrew, — as I was told, — in great anguish, to his own chamber."'^ Philip sent a fragment of the true cross, to comfort his wife in her last moments. It was the most precious of his relics, and was richly studded with pearls and diamonds. ^^^ Isabella fervently kissed the sacred relic, and held it, with the crucifix, in her hand, while she yet lived. Not long after the interview with her husband, the ambassador was summoned to her bedside. He was '•3 Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel, loc. cit. — Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS. *» Letter of Fourqucvaulx, October 3d, 1568, ap. Raumer, Six- teenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 159. *s " Habia ordenado se tragese el lignum crucis del Rey nuestro Seiior, que es una muy buena parte que con grandismo hornato de oro y perlas de supremo valor S. M. tiene." Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna Isabel. 560 DEATH OF ISABELLA. the representative of her native land, and of the dear friends there she was never more to see. "She knew me," writes FourquevauLx, "and said, 'You see me in the act of quitting this vain world, to pass to a more pleasant kingdom, there, as I hope, to be forever with my God. Tell my mother, the queen, and the king, my brother, to bear my death with patience, and to comfort themselves with the reflection that no happiness on earth has ever made me so content as the prospect now does of approaching my Creator. I shall soon be in a better situation to do them service, and to implore God to take them and my brothers under his holy pro- tection. Beseech them, in my name, to watch over their kingdom, that an end may be put to the heresies which have spread there. And I will pray Heaven, in its mercy, to grant that they may take my death with patience, and hold me for happy.' " ^ The ambassador said a few words of comfort, endeav- oring to give her, if possible, some hopes of life. But she answered, " You will soon know how near I am to my end. God has given me grace to despise the world and its grandeur, and to fix all my hopes on him and Jesus Christ. Never did a thought occasion . me less anxiety than that of death." " She then listened to the exhortations of her con- fessor, remaining in full possession of her consciousness till a few minutes before her death. A slight restless- ness seemed to come over her, which soon subsided, and she expired so tranquilly that it was impossible to fix the moment when she gave up the ghost. Yet she 36 Letter of Fourqucvaulx, ap. Raunicr, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 159. HER OBSEQUIES. 561 opened her eyes once, bright and glancing, and it seemed as if she would address me some further com- mands, — at least, her looks were fixed on me."'' Not long before Isabella's death, she was delivered of a daughter. Its birth was premature, and it lived only to be baptized. The infant was laid in the same coffin with its mother; and that very evening their re- mains were borne in solemn procession to the royal chapel.'^ The tolling of the bells in the churches and monasteries throughout the city announced the sad tidings to the people, who filled the air with their cries, making everywhere the most passionate demon- strations of grief; °5 for the queen, says Brantome, "was regarded by them not merely with feelings of reverence, but of idolatry. " ^^ »7 Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, loc. cit. — The correspond- ence of the French ambassador Fourquevaulx is presented, in MS., in the Royal Library at Paris. Raumer, with his usual judgment, has freely extracted from it; and the freedom with which I have drawn upon him shows the importance of his extracts to the illustra- tion of the present story. I regret that my knowledge of the existence of this correspondence came too late to allow me to draw from the original sources. »8 " Bistieron a la Reyna de habito de S. Francisco, y la pusieroi. en un ataud poniendo con ella la infanta que en poco espacio habi- endo recebido agua de Espiritu Santo murio." Juan Lopez, Rela- cion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel. =9 " Fue cosa increible el doblar, y chamorear, por todas las parro- quias, y monasterios, y hospitales. Lo cual causo un nuebo dolor y grandisimo aumento de tristeza, siendo ya algo tarde los grandes que en la corte se hallaban, y mayordomos de S. M. sacaron el cuerpo dc la Reyna, y binieron con el a la Capilla Real." Ibid. 30 "Jamais on ne vit peuple si desole ny si afflige, ni tant jeter de hauts cris, ny tant espandre de larmes qu'il fit. . . . Que, pour ma niere de parler, vous eussiez dit qu'il I'idolatroit plustost qu'il ne I'honoroit et revcroit." Brantome. CE ivres, tom. v. p. 131. Y* 562 DEATH OF ISABELLA. In the chapel were gathered together whatever was illustrious in the capital, — the high ecclesiastics, and the different religious bodies, the grandees and cava- liers of the court, and the queen's ladies of honor. At the head of these stood the duchess of Alva, the mis- tress of the robes, with the duchess of Feria — an Eng- lish lady, married to the Spanish ambassador at the court of Mary Tudor — and the princess of Eboli, a name noted in history. The coffin of the deceased queen, covered wifch its gorgeous pall of brocade, was placed on a scaffold shrouded in black, and surrounded with numerous silver sconces bearing wax tapers, that shed a gloomy lustre over the scene. 3' The services were performed amidst the deepest stillness of the audience, unless when broken by the wailings of the women, which mingled in sad harmony with the chant of the priests and the sweet and solemn music that accom- panied the office for the dead.^^ Early on the following morning the coffin was opened in presence of the duchess of Alva and the weeping ladies of her train, who gazed for. the last time on fea- tures still beautiful in death. ^3 The duchess then filled 3» " Puesto el cuerpo por este orden cubierto con un muy rico pano de brocado rodeado el cadalso de muchas achas en sus muy sumtuo- sos blandones de plata." Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel, ubi supra. 32 " Las damas en las tribunas de donde oye misa con hartos suspi- ros y sollozos llebaban el contrapunto d la suave, triste y contempla- tiba musica, conque empezaron el oficio la capilla de S. M." Ibid., ubi supra. 33 " Las cuales viendo apartar el cueipo, dieron muchos gritos, y suspiros y abriendole la duquesa de Alba, trajo muchos polbos de olores aromaticos'de grande olor y fragrancia, y embalsamon a la Reyna : la cual aunque habia pasado tanto ticmpo estaba como si HER OBSEQUIES. 563 the coffin with flowers and sweet-scented herbs; and the remains of mother and child were transported by the same sorrowing company to the convent of the barefooted Carmelites. Here they reposed till the year 15735 when they were borne, with the remains of Car- los, to the stately mausoleum of the Escorial ; and the populace, as they gazed on the funeral train, invoked the name of Isabella as that of a saint.^ In the course of the winter. Cardinal Guise arrived from France with letters of condolence from Charles the Ninth to his royal brother-in-law. The instruc- tions to the cardinal do not infer any distrust, on the part of the French monarch, as to the manner of his sister's death. The more suspicious temper of the queen-mother, Catherine de Medicis, is seen in her directions to Fourquevaulx to find out what was said on the subject of her daughter's death, and to re- port it to her.^s It does not seem that the ambassador gathered any information of consequence to add to his former details. Philip himself maj have had in his mind the possible existence of such suspicions when he told the cardinal that "his best consolation for his loss was derived from his reflection on the simple and excellent life of the queen. All her attendants, her ladies and maids, knew how well he had treated her, as was sufficiently proved entonces acabara de morir, y con tan gran hermosura en el rostro que noparecia esta muerta." Juan Lopez, Relacion delaEnfermedad de la Reyna Isabel, ubi supra. 34 Letter of St. Goar, June i8th, 1573, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 163. — Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. 370. 35 Letter of Catherine de Jiledicis, ap. Raumer, vol. i. p. 162. 564 DEATH OF ISABELLA. by the extraordinary sorrow which he felt at her death. Hereupon," continues the cardinal, "he broke forth into a panegyric on her virtues, and said, were he to choose again, he could wish nothing better than to find just such another." 3* It was not long before Philip made the attempt. In eighteen months from the date of his conversation with the cardinal, the thrice-wid- owed husband led to the altar his fourth and last wife, Anne of Austria, — like her predecessor, as we have seen, the destined bride of his son. The facility with which her imperial parents trusted the young princess to the protection of Philip may be thought to intimate pretty clearly that they, at least, had no misgivings as to the king's treatment of his former wife.* Isabella, at her decease, was but twenty-three years of age, eight of which she had been seated on the throne of Spain. She left two children, both daugh- ters, — Catherine, afterwards married to the duke of Savoy, and Clara Eugenia, who became with her hus- band, the Archduke Albert, joint ruler of the Nether- lands, and who seems to have enjoyed a greater share of both the love and the confidence of Philip than he ever vouchsafed to any other being. Such is the story of Queen Isabella, stripped of the coloring of romance, for which, in truth, it has been quite as much indebted to the pen of the historian as 36 Lettei' of Cardinal Guise, February 6th, 1569, ap. Raumer, vol. i. P- 163. [■* The proposal, as already mentioned, had come from the emperor. Catherine de Medicis also no sooner heard of Isabella's death than she offered another of her daughters for the vacant place. Gachard, Don Carlos et Philippe II.— Ed.] HER CHARACTER. 565 to that of the poet. From the whole account it ap- pears that, if Carlos at any time indulged a criminal passion for his step-mother, such a passion was never requited or encouraged by Isabella, who seems to have felt for him only the sentiments that were justified by their connection and by the appeal which his misfor- tunes made to her sympathy. Notwithstanding some feelings of resentment, not unnatural, when, in the words of Brantome, "he had been defrauded of so fair a prize," there is yet little evidence that the prince's passion for her rose higher than the sentiments of love and gratitude which her kindness might well have awakened in an affectionate nature. ^^ And that such, with all his errors, was the nature of Carlos, is shown, among other examples, by his steady attachment to Don John of Austria, his uncle, and by his devotion to his early preceptor, the bishop of Osma. There is no proof that Philip was at any time dis- pleased with the conduct of his queen, or that he regarded his son in the light of a rival. Least of all is___thei£„aaything in the history of the time to show that he sacrificed his wife to his jealousy. ^^ The con- 37 The openness with which Carlos avowed his sentiments for Isa- bella may be thought some proof of their innocence. Catherine de Medicis, in a letter to Fourquevaulx, dated February 23d, 1568, says, alluding to the prince's arrest, " I am concerned that the event very much distresses my daughter, as well with regard to her husband as in respect of the prince, who has always let her know the good will he bears to her." Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 141. 38 The French historian De Thou, by no means disposed to pass too favorable a judgment on the actions of Philip, and who in the present case would certainly not be likely to show him any particular grace, rejects without hesitation the suspicion of foul play on the part Pliilip.— Vol. II. 48 566 DEATH OF ISABELLA. trary is well established by those of her own country- men who had free access to her during her lifetime, — some of them in the hour of her death, — whose corre- spondence with her family would not have failed to intimate their suspicions had there been any thing to suspect. Well would it be for the memory of Philip the Second could the historian find no heavier sin to lay to his charge than his treatment of Isabella. From first to last he seems to have regarded her with the in- dulgence of an affectionate husband. Whether she ever obtained such an ascendency over his close and cautious nature as to be allowed to share in his confi- dence and his counsels, may well be doubted. Her temper would seem to have been too gentle, too devoid of worldly ambition, to prompt her to meddle with affairs for which she was fitted neither by nature nor education. Yet Brantome assures us that she exercised a most salutary influence over her lord in his relations with France, and that the value of this influence was appreciated in later times, when the growing misunder- standings between the two courts were left to rankle, without any friendly hand to heal them.^^ <*Her of the king: "Quelqnesuns soup9onnerent Philippe de I'avoir fait empoissoner, parce qu'il lui avoit fait un crime de la trop grande fa- niiliarite qu'elle avoit avec Dom Carlos. II est neanmoins facile de se convaincre du contraire, par la grande et sincere douleiir que sa mort causa, tant k la Cour que dans toute I'Espagne ; le Roi la pleura, comme une femme qu'il aimoit tres-tendrement." Histoire universelle, torn. V. p. 437. 39 Brantome, GEuvres, torn. v. p. 137. — Yet Isabella's mother, Cath- erine de Medicis, found fault with her daughter, in the interview at Bayonne, for having become altogether a Spaniard, saying to her, tauntingly, "Aluy Espanola venis." To which the queen meekly re« ITER CHARACTER. 5^7 death," he continues, "was as bitter to her own na- tion as it was to the Spaniards; and if the latter called her 'the Queen of Peace and. Goodness,' the former with no less reason styled her 'the Olive-branch.' "•*° "But she has passed away," he exclaims, "in the sweet and pleasant April of her age, — when her beauty was such that it seemed as if it might almost defy the assaults of time.""' The queen occupies an important place in that rich gallery of portraits in which Brantome has endeavored to perpetuate the features of his contemporaries. In no one of them has he traced the lineaments with a more tender and delicate hand. Even the breath of scandal has had no power to dim the purity of their expression. Of all that illustrious company which the artist has brought in review before the eyes of posterity, there is no one to whom he has so truly rendered the homage of the heart as to Elizabeth of France. But from these scenes of domestic sorrow it is time that we should turn to others of a more stirring and adventurous character. plied, " It is possible that it may be so ; but you will still find me the same daughter to you as when you sent me to Spain." The anecdote is told by Alva in a letter to the king. Carta del Duque de Alva al Rev, MS. 40 " Aussi I'appelloit-on la Reyna de la paz y de la bondad, c'est-k- dire la Reyne de la paix et de la bonte ; et nos Fran9ois I'appellarent I'olive de paix." Brantome, QEuvres, tom. v. p. 129. 41 " Elle est morte au plus beau et plaisant avril de son aage. . . . Car elle estoit de naturel et de tainct pour durer longtemps belle, et aussi que la vieillesse ne I'eust ose attaquer, car sa beaute fut este plus forte." Ibid., p. 137. END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. ^268 1 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below JUN 6 tB^' lAY » ^m '*^%l^£V^M -j^tURfl NOV 13 moi It 1 ..nil I,-;. --.(.I-IH,' IKl'lllI) \srtUAN 1 ] 7m Ui^^ W3V2519I9 JANll»» RF*^'^"^-^"^ TTTTV LiPRARY rOS Al\lTKl.kS I Illiillillllllllillllll Ulili ... . - ^^ 3 1158 01280 4596 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 871 137 6