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HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 C? 2 
 
Edition strictly limited to 500 copies. 
 
 Five extra copies have been printed on Japanese vellum, but 
 are not offered for sale. 
 
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 SURNAMED THE GREAT 
 
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 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF HENRY IV. 
 
 (SURNAMED ''THE GREAT'') 
 
 KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH 
 
 ^:.\.x,\'.v:-;_ai^ 
 
 LONDON 
 
 H. S. NMCHOLS 
 3 SOHO SQUARE and 62A PICCADILLY W. 
 
 MDCCCXCVI 
 
Printed atid Published by 
 
 H. S. NICHOLS 
 AT 3 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON W. 
 

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE 
 
 This History of Henry IV. of France forms the 
 seventh issue of my Historic Memoir Series. The 
 character of this King is one that recommends itself 
 to the sympathy of the Enghsh people, inasmuch as 
 he was so closely allied with, and received consider- 
 able assistance from, Queen Elizabeth of England. 
 
 Henry IV. bore arms from the age of fifteen to 
 forty-five, taking part in more than a hundred combats. 
 
 This history was written by Hardouin de Beaumont 
 de Perefixe, successively Bishop of Rhodez and Arch- 
 bishop of Paris. It was written for the edification of 
 Louis XIV., grandson of Henry IV., and was trans- 
 lated for another grandson, Charles II. of England, by 
 James Dauncey. The first French edition was pub- 
 lished at Amsterdam in 1661. The English edition, 
 published at London, appeared in 1663. Numerous 
 French editions have been published, the latest and 
 best being that issued at Paris in 1876. There is no 
 trace of any other English issue than one published at 
 Paris in 17S5, and that is not absolutely correct. 
 
 For the purpose of this present issue the first 
 
 iv;^97:ie57 
 
Vlll PUBLISHER S NOTE 
 
 English version has been made use of. It was soon 
 perceived, however, that reliance could not be placed 
 upon the translation, and the French edition of 1662, 
 revised by the author, has been carefully consulted 
 from beginning to end. A few notes have been added, 
 and also, at the end, short biographical sketches of 
 notable personages mentioned in the work. 
 
 The next issue of this series will be the " Letters 
 of Madame d'Epinay," in three volumes. 
 
 London, August, 1896. 
 
TRANSLATOR'S ADDRESS 
 
 To His Sacred Majesty Charles II., King of 
 Great Britain, France and Ireland. 
 
 Dread Sir, — With all that humble reverence that 
 becomes a lowly but loyal subject and servant to his 
 sovereign lord and master, cast I at your feet this 
 present Address. Those stars that move in the lowest 
 orb receive their light and lustre from the sun, as well 
 as those that wander in a more exalted heaven, and 
 therefore may possibly be capable of returning some 
 grateful influences, though not in so great a quantity, 
 yet in a quality as pure and candid. 
 
 However, all my courage could not have inspired 
 me with a presumption to present anything of mine to 
 so glorious a majesty, had it not borne in its frontis- 
 piece the name of Henry the Great, your royal and 
 renowned grandfather : a prince of so sublime a virtue, 
 of so heroic a courage, of such activity in war and 
 such prudence in peace, that he justly became both 
 the love and terror of the age he lived in. 
 
 And, great Sir, give me leave to tell you, that never 
 did the life of any prince since the Creation bear so 
 equal a parallel with your Majesty's as that of this 
 
X TRANSLATOR S ADDRESS 
 
 renowned kin^;^. If your miseries and misfortunes have 
 exceeded his, God hath made it by evident de- 
 monstrations appear that He intends to make your 
 glories and happiness as far surpass those of 3'our 
 royal grandfather. You both had Leaguers armed 
 with rebellion, obstinacy and ambition, under a cloak 
 of zeal to religion, to oppose you ; and you both, 
 assisted by a miraculous providence of Heaven, over- 
 came them. You both b}^ arms long struggled for 
 your rights ; but, as if God had intended you both 
 for true fathers of 3'our countries and the foundations 
 whereon He would settle an absolute happiness in your 
 kingdoms, so long afflicted with civil wars and those 
 terrors which attend them, He brought 3'ou both to 
 spotless thrones, unbesmeared wath blood. 
 
 How soon w^as France redeemed from those plagues 
 it so long had endured, at the entrance into the chair 
 of royalty of the great Henry, who as a rising sun, 
 darted forth those salutiferous rays which shone upon 
 and enriched the remotest parts of his territories ! How 
 soon were all factions dissipated ! and how soon did he 
 by his prudent conduct reconcile the most obstinate 
 spirits ! In fine, in how short time was France, from a 
 den of atheists, thieves, and robbers, become the nursery 
 of piety, arts, and industry ! 
 
 England, dread Sovereign, suffered under the same 
 fate her neighbouring sister had long since been subject 
 to, when Heaven was graciously pleased to restore you 
 to your crown ; and you have already made us not 
 
TRANSLATOR S ADDRESS XI 
 
 only hope, but see, that you have designed to restore 
 to us such happiness, that we cannot justly envy those 
 which France enjoyed under her beloved Henry. How 
 well have }-ou settled both our Church and State ! 
 How well have vou reconciled our dissensions ! With 
 how much too great a mercy (give me. Sir, leave to 
 fear so) have you pardoned the most obstinate of your 
 enemies ! And how may we hope (if the malice of 
 those obstinate spirits yet disturb not our tranquillity) 
 to enjoy under your government the most happy and 
 flourishing days that ever Great Britain beheld ! 
 
 But, Sir, that I may conclude, and not seem tedious 
 to your Majesty, may the God of Heaven inspire into 
 the hearts of your people a true sense of your goodness 
 and paternal love to them; may He correct the unjust 
 malice of those who yet dare to be your enemies ; may 
 He incline you still to prosecute such maxims of good 
 government, both in Church and State, as may make 
 both equally flourish ; may He augment your glories, 
 and raise them above those of your grandfather Henry 
 the Fourth ; may He bless us all, by giving you a long 
 and happy reign ; and when that affliction (though 
 late) comes to us of losing you, ma}- we yet be made 
 blessed in that succession from your loins that may 
 endure for ever. 
 
 Thus prays. Sir, the humblest and most faithful, 
 though the meanest of }'Our Majesty's subjects and 
 servants, y ^^ 
 
THE 
 
 AUTHOR TO THE READER 
 
 Reader, — This History of Henry the Great is only 
 a small part of the summary or epitome of the general 
 history of France which I have composed by the com- 
 mand of the King and for the instruction of his Majesty. 
 It having been my intention only to gather together all 
 that might serve to instruct a great prince and render 
 him capable of reigning well, I have not thought it con- 
 venient to enter into a particular recital of things, or to 
 recount at length all wars and affairs as historians do 
 who are to write for all sorts of persons. I have only 
 taken the sum, and recounted those circumstances I 
 have judged the fairest and the most instructive, leaving 
 apart all the rest, to shorten matter, and to give in 
 epitome an account of all that passed, which might 
 inform the mind of the King without surcharging his 
 memory. This hath been my design : if it hath not 
 succeeded so well as could be wished, I hope, Reader, 
 that my endeavour may appear praiseworthy. I doubt 
 not but there are in this work some mistakes which I 
 may not have perceived, but which cannot escape eyes 
 more clear-sighted. The History is accompanied with 
 
xiv THE AUTHOR TO THE READER 
 
 SO many circumstances, that it is almost impossible 
 not to have been deceived in some ; yet I believe I 
 have written nothing for which I have not my warrant. 
 And if you find in any author the contrary of what I 
 have said, I entreat you to consider that our historians 
 do in many things so differ among themselves, that he 
 who takes the judgment of one must necessarily con- 
 tradict the other. In this diversity I have followed 
 those whom I believed the best and most assured. I 
 acknowledge likewise that I could not refrain borrowing 
 from them whole paragraphs where they have pleased 
 me, and where I have thought I could better explain 
 myself by their expressions than my own. However, 
 if this be a fault, it is but a light one, and ought to 
 be pardoned, since ingenuously confessed. For other 
 more remarkable ones I may have committed, I pre- 
 sume on your goodness that. Reader, you will not treat 
 me with the utmost rigour, but that you will have as 
 much indulgence for me as I have in this work had 
 zeal for the service of my King and affection for the 
 good of France. 
 
THE 
 
 TRANSLATOR TO THE READER 
 
 Behold here a Histor\- compiled by one of the 
 most able, and (let me testify thus much) one of 
 the most moderate and impartial pens of Europe. It 
 was fitted for the hand of a king ; and is the life of 
 one whom his own actions will declare to have better 
 deserved the name of Great than that proud Macedo- 
 nian who wept that he had no more worlds to conquer. 
 For though he gained not such signal victories, nor 
 overran so many countries, yet he was possessed of 
 more virtues than the other of cities ; and virtue is 
 the fairest mother of true greatness. But, Reader, I 
 forestall thy delight in its reading : go on, therefore, 
 
 but with deliberation. 
 
 J • ^' 
 
TO THE KING. 
 
 Sire, — That respect and love which all good French- 
 men have still preserved for the happy memory of King 
 Henry the Great, your grandfather, represents itself as 
 vivid to their remembrance as if he still reigned, and 
 renown preserves the splendour of his fair actions in 
 the hearts and mouths of men as fresh and entirely 
 as in the time of his triumphs. But we may say, 
 moreover, when we consider your Majesty, that he 
 has regained a new life in your person, and that he 
 makes himself daily be seen under a visage yet more 
 august, and by virtues which appear as redoubtable to 
 the enemies of France as they are sweet and charming 
 to its people. 
 
 In truth. Sire, that praiseworthy impatience which 
 
 your Majesty has testified (when I presented our 
 
 history to your reading) to come to this glorious 
 
 reign, and for it to leave behind seven or eight others 
 
 of kings that preceded him, is a most certain proof 
 
 that you desire him for your model, and that you 
 
 have resolved to study his conduct and conserve it in 
 
 the government of your estates. Your happy birth,^ 
 
 » 
 ^ Referrint^, doubtless, to the fact that Louis XIV. was the 
 first-born after twenty-three years of his parents' wedded life, 
 and was therefore called Dieudonni. 
 
2 TO THE KING 
 
 and your inclinations wholly royal, lead you to it; the 
 hopes and votes of your subjects agree to it ; the 
 necessities of your kingdom, afflicted with the miseries 
 of the longest war it ever sustained, oblige you to 
 it; and Heaven has disposed you to it by so many 
 graces and eminent qualities that it would be difficult 
 for you not to follow the fair examples of this great 
 monarch. I dare likewise say (and I may speak it 
 with truth) that it will not be impossible for you to 
 surpass him, if you school yourself to improve well 
 all those advantages wherewith Heaven has endowed 
 you above other princes of your age. 
 
 Yes, Sire, Heaven has likewise given you a generous 
 soul, good and beneficent; a spirit elevated and capable 
 of the greatest things ; a memory happy and facile ; a 
 courage heroic and martial; a judgment neat and solid; 
 a strong and vigorous health ; but you have, moreover, 
 been vouchsafed one advantage the King, your grand- 
 father, never had, that is, a majestic presence; an air 
 and port almost divine ; a person and beauty worthy 
 the empire of the universe, which attracts the eye and 
 respect of all the world, and which, without the force 
 of arms, without the authority of commands, will attach 
 to your person all those whom your Majesty shall ad- 
 mit to your presence. 
 
 I will not speak of the prosperity of this kingdom 
 since your happy advancement to the crown : how you 
 have been proclaimed conqueror as soon as king; how, 
 by the helpful counsels of your great ministers, your 
 frontiers have been extended on all sides, and your 
 
TO THE KING 3 
 
 enemies everywhere defeated ; but I ought not to for- 
 get that singular grace which Heaven has conferred 
 on you, by instructing you in the CathoHc rehgion 
 and in true piety, through the continual diligence and 
 example of the Queen your mother ; this was without 
 doubt wanting to the youth of our Henry. 
 
 You cannot, Sire, with so fair a disposition, with 
 so many superabundant favours of Heaven, be content 
 to rest on the glory and reputation of this great prince. 
 Remember, if 3^ou please, that you have done me the 
 honour to tell me more than once that you ardently 
 aspire to a like perfection, and that you have no 
 greater ambition. All France, who at present have 
 their eyes upon you, rejoice to see the effects already 
 second your desires, and that you strive as earnestly 
 to imitate as you have passionately desired to hear 
 the recital of so fair a life. 
 
 Your Majesty knows that wills pass but for weak- 
 nesses when they render not themselves efficacious, 
 and are so far from being worthy of praise that they 
 condemn those who have them so much the more, 
 because they see well what they ought to do, and 
 have not the heart to attempt or undertake it. The 
 way of virtue at first glance seems rough, but it con- 
 ducts to the temple of glory, where it is certain we 
 arrive not by simple thoughts and idle discourses, but 
 by labour, application, and perseverance. 
 
 I have often taken the liberty to represent to your 
 Majesty that royalty is no metier de faineant ; that it con- 
 
 I — 2 
 
4 TO THE KING 
 
 sists almost altogether in action ; that a king ought 
 to make his duty his delight ; and that he ought to 
 know how to reign ; that is, how to hold in his own 
 grasp the helm of his states, the better to conduct 
 them with vigour, wisdom, and justice. 
 
 Who knows not that there is no honour in bearing 
 a title without executing the functions of it ? That it 
 is in vain to have acquired the best knowledge, with- 
 out labouring to reduce it to practice. That it is 
 ridiculous to propose to ourselves a great model unless 
 it be effectually imitated. And, in fine, that it is 
 nothing to understand by heart all the maxims of 
 policy, if we apply them not to their right use ? 
 Without doubt, he that hath eyes and will not open 
 them, who hath arms and will not take the pains to 
 move them, is in a worse state than the blind or the 
 cripple. 
 
 I cannot dissemble. Sire, that unspeakable joy I have 
 sometimes conceived when I have understood from the 
 mouth of your Majesty that you would choose rather never 
 to have worn a crown than not yourself to govern it, but 
 resemble those lazy kings of the first race, who, as 
 all our historians say, served only as idols to the 
 mayors of their palace, and who had had no name 
 other than to mark the year in the chronology. 
 
 But it will be enough to make France know how 
 much your Majesty condemns that sleepy letharg}-, to 
 tell them that you are at present resolved to imitate 
 your grandfather, Henry the Great, who was the most 
 
TO THE KING 5 
 
 active and most laborious of all our kings, who dedi- 
 cated himself with great diligence to the management 
 of his affairs, and who cherished his states and people 
 with the utmost affection and tenderness. This is to 
 declare that your Majesty has taken a firm resolution 
 to put your hand to the work, to know both the in- 
 side and outside of your realm, to preside in your 
 councils, to give weight and motion to all resolutions, 
 to have a continual eye over your revenues, to cause a 
 true, faithful and exact account to be given, to distri- 
 bute graces and recompenses to those of your creatures 
 who shall prove worthy ; in fine, fully and amply to 
 enjoy your authority. It is thus the incomparable 
 Henry acted, whom we have seen to reign, not only 
 in France by right of blood, but over all Europe by 
 the esteem of his virtue. 
 
 In effect, since the first foundation of the French 
 monarchy, history furnishes us not with any reign 
 more memorable by reason of the great events, more 
 replete with the wonders of Divine assistance, more 
 glorious for the prince, and more happy for the people 
 than his ; and it is without flattery or envy that all 
 the universe has given him the surname of Great, 
 not so much for the greatness of his victories, however 
 comparable to those of Alexander or Pompey, as for 
 the greatness of his soul and of his courage, for he 
 never bowed either under the insults of fortune or 
 under the stratagems of his enemies, or under the re- 
 sentments of revenge, or under the artifices of favourites 
 or ministers — he remained always in the same temper, 
 always master of himself. In a word, he remained 
 
6 TO THE KING 
 
 always King and sovereign, without acknowledging 
 other superior than God, justice, and reason. 
 
 Let us then proceed to write the history of his 
 life, which we shall divide into three principal parts. 
 
 The first shall contain what happened from his 
 birth till his coming to the crown of France. The 
 second shall speak of what he did after he came 
 to it until the peace of Vervins ; and the third shall 
 recount his actions after the peace of Vervins until 
 the unhappy day of his death. 
 
 But before all, it is necessary to say something 
 briefly of his genealogy. He was the son of Anthony 
 de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome and King of Navarre, 
 and Jane d'Albret, heiress of that kingdom. 
 
 Anthony was a descendant in a direct male line of 
 Robert, Count of Clermont, fifth son of King St. Louis. 
 This Robert espoused Beatrix, daughter and heiress of 
 John of Burgundy, Baron of Bourbon, by his wife 
 Agnes ; for which cause, Robert took the name of 
 Bourbon, but not the arms, still keeping those of 
 France. 
 
 This wise precaution served well to his descendants, 
 to maintain themselves in the degree of princes of the 
 blood, which those of Courtnay^ lost for not having 
 
 1 Peter, son of Louis le Gros, espoused Isabella, heiress 
 of Courtnay, and took both name and arms — a fault very 
 prejudicial to his descendants, for they tried in 1603 and later 
 to be recognised as princes of the Royal line, but were always 
 unsuccessful. 
 
TO THE KING 7 
 
 acted in the same manner. And besides the virtue 
 which gave a splendour to their actions, the good 
 management and economy which they exercised to con- 
 serve and augment their revenues, the great alhances 
 in which they were dihgent to match themselves, 
 ever refusing to mingle their noble with vulgar blood, 
 and above all, their rare piety towards God and that 
 singular goodness wherewith they acted towards their 
 inferiors, conserved them and elevated them above 
 princes of elder branches ; so that the people, seeing 
 them always rich, puissant, wise, and in a word worthy 
 to command, had imprinted in their spirits, as it were, 
 a prophetic persuasion that this house would one day 
 come to the crown ; and they on their side seemed 
 to have conceived this hope, though it were at great 
 distance, having taken for their word or device, 
 Hope. 
 
 Among the younger branches which issued from 
 this branch of Bourbon, the most considerable and 
 the most illustrious was that of Vendome. It carried 
 this name because they possessed that great country, 
 which came to them in the year 1364 by the marriage of 
 Catherine of Vendome (sister and heiress to Bouchard, 
 last Count of Vendome) with John of Bourbon, Count 
 of the Marches. At this time it was but a county, 
 but was afterwards made a duchy by King Francis I. 
 in the year 1515, in favour of Charles, who was great- 
 grandchild to John and father of Anthony. This 
 Charles had seven male children : Louis, Anthony, 
 Francis, another Louis, Charles, John, and a third 
 Louis. The first Louis and the second died in their 
 
8 TO THE KING 
 
 infancy, and Anthony remained the eldest. Francis, 
 who was Count of Enghien and gained the battle of 
 Cerisoles, died without being married. Charles was a 
 Cardinal of the title of Chrysogone, and Archbishop of 
 Rouen ; he it was who was named the old Cardinal de 
 Bourbon. John lost his Hfe at the battle of St. Quentin. 
 The third Louis was called the Prince of Conde, and 
 by two marriages had several male children. From the 
 first descended Henry Prince of Conde, Francis Prince 
 of Conti, and Charles, who was Cardinal and Arch- 
 bishop of Rouen after the death of the old Cardinal de 
 Bourbon. From the second came Charles Count of 
 Soissons. 
 
 There were eight generations from male in male from 
 St. Louis to Anthony, who was Duke of Vendome, King 
 of Navarre, and father to our Henry. 
 
 As for Jane d'Albret his wife, she was daughter and 
 heiress of Henry d'Albret, King of Navarre, and of 
 Margaret de Valois, sister of King Francis L, and widow 
 of the Duke of Alengon. Henry d'Albret was son of 
 John d'Albret, who became King of Navarre, by his wife 
 Catherine du Foix, sister of King Phcebus, who died 
 without children ; for that realm had entered into 
 the house of Foix by marriage, as it entered after- 
 wards into that of Albret, and since into that of 
 Bourbon. 
 
 Ferdinand, King of Arragon, had invaded and taken 
 Upper Navarre, that is, that part which is beyond 
 the Pyrenean Hills, and the most considerable of that 
 
TO THE KING g 
 
 realm, from King John d'Albret; so that by consequence 
 there remained to the latter only the Lower, that is, that 
 beneath the mountains towards France ; but with it 
 he had the countries of Beam, of Albret, of Foix, of 
 Armagnac, of Bigorre, and many other great seignories 
 which came to him by the houses of Foix and Albret. 
 
 Henry his son had only one daughter, Jane, who was 
 called the " favourite of kings," for King Henry her father 
 and the great King Francis her uncle, with envy of 
 each other, strove most to cherish her. 
 
 The Emperor Charles V. had cast his eyes on her, 
 and caused her to be demanded of her father for his 
 son Philip H., proposing this as a means to pacify their 
 differences touching the kingdom of Navarre. But King 
 Francis I., not thinking it fit to introduce so powerful 
 an enemy into France, causing her to come to Chas- 
 tellerault, affianced her to the Duke of Cleves, and after 
 releasing her of that contract, married her to Anthony 
 of Bourbon, Duke of Vendome ; and the marriage was 
 solemnised at Moulins in the year 1547, the same year 
 that Francis I. died. 
 
 The two young spouses had in their first three or 
 four years two sons, both of whom died in infancy by 
 accidents very extraordinary : the first, because its 
 governess, being herself cold of nature, kept it so hot 
 that she stifled it with heat ; and the second by the 
 carelessness of the nurse, who, playing with a gentle- 
 man, as they danced the child from one to another, let 
 it fall to the ground, so that it died in agony. Thus 
 
lo TO THE KING 
 
 Heaven deprived them of these two little princes, to 
 make way for our Henry, who merited well both the 
 birthright and to be an only son. 
 
 Let us now come to the history of his life. 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE 
 
 PART I 
 
 Containing the History of Henry the Great, 
 FROM HIS Birth until he came to the Crown 
 OF France. 
 
 Henry the Great, son of Anthony of Bourbon, 
 Duke of Vendome, and the Princess of Navarre, was 
 born at Pau, in Beam, on the 13th of December, 
 
 1553- 
 
 His grandfather, Henry dAlbret, who yet lived, 
 
 having understood that his daughter was with child, 
 
 recalled her home to him from the camp in Picardy, 
 
 where she was with her husband, who was governor of 
 
 that province, and who was gone from La Fleche to 
 
 command an army against Charles V. He was desirous 
 
 to take every care for the preservation of this new fruit, 
 
 which, by a secret presentiment, he was wont to say 
 
 ought to revenge him of those injuries the Spaniards 
 
 had done him. 
 
12 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 This courageous princess, then taking leave of her 
 husband, left Compiegne on the 15th of November, 
 traversed all France to the Pyrenees, and arrived at 
 Pau, where the King her father was, on the 4th of 
 December, and on the 13th of the same month she 
 was happily brought to bed of a son. 
 
 Before this. King Henry d'Albret had made his will, 
 which the princess, his daughter, had a great desire to 
 see, because it was reported that it was made to her 
 disadvantage, in favour of a lady that the good man 
 had loved. She durst not speak to him of it ; but 
 he, being advised of her desire, promised to show it 
 to her and put it in her hands when her child was 
 born ; but on condition that at her delivery she should 
 sing a song, "to the end," said he, "that thou bringest 
 not into the world a weak and weeping infant." The 
 princess promised him, and had so much courage that, 
 despite the great pains she suffered, she kept her 
 word, and sang one in the Bearnais language so soon 
 as she understood he had entered the chamber. It 
 was observed that the infant, contrary to the common 
 order of nature, came into the world without weeping 
 or crying. Nor was it fit that a prince who ought to 
 be the joy of all France should be born amidst tears 
 and groans. 
 
 So soon as he was born his grandfather carried 
 him in the skirt of his robe into his own chamber, 
 giving his will, which was in a box of gold, to his 
 daughter, and telling her, " My daughter, see there 
 what is for you ; but this is for me." Whilst he held 
 the infant he rubbed his little lips with a clove of 
 garlic, and made him suck a draught of wine out of 
 
HIS BAPTISM 13 
 
 a golden cup, that he might render his temperament 
 more mascuHne and vigorous. 
 
 The Spaniards had formerly said, in raillery, con- 
 cerning the birth of the mother of our Henry, " O 
 wonder, the cow has brought forth an ewe," mean- 
 ing by the word " cow " Queen Margaret, her mother, 
 whom they called so, and her husband cowkeeper, 
 alluding to the arms of Beam, which are two cows. 
 And King Henry, resting assured of the future great- 
 ness of his little grandchild, taking him often in his 
 arms, kissing him, and remembering the foolish rail- 
 lery of the Spaniards, spoke with joy to all those 
 who came to visit him and congratulate this happy 
 birth. " See," said he, " how my ewe has now 
 brought forth a lion ! " 
 
 He was baptised the year following, on Twelfth- 
 day, being the 6th of January, 1554. For this baptism 
 were expressly made fonts of silver richly gilded, in 
 which he was baptised, in the chapel of the castle of 
 Pau. His godfathers were Henry H., King of France, 
 and Henry d'Albret, King of Navarre, who gave him 
 their name ; and the godmother was Madame Claudia 
 of France, afterwards Duchess of Lorraine. Jacques de 
 Foix, then Bishop of Lescar, and afterwards Cardinal, 
 held him over the font in the name of the most 
 Christian King ; and Madame d'Andovins in the name 
 of Madame Claudia of France. He was baptised b}- 
 the Cardinal of Armagnac, Bishop of Rodez and Vice- 
 legate of Avignon. 
 
 He was, however, difficult to bring up, having 
 seven or eight nurses, of which the last had all the 
 honour. On his being weaned, the King gave him 
 
14 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 for governess Susan de Bourbon, wife of John 
 d'Albret, Baron of Miossens, who educated him in 
 the castle of Coarasse in Beam, situated amongst the 
 rocks and mountains. 
 
 His grandfather would not permit him to be 
 nourished with that delicacy ordinarily used to per- 
 sons of his quality, knowing well that there seldom 
 lodged other than a mean and feeble soul within a 
 soft and tender body. He likewise denied him rich 
 habiliments and children's usual baubles ; or that he 
 should be flattered or treated like a prince, " because 
 all those things were only the causes of vanity, and 
 rather raised pride in the hearts of infants than any 
 sentiments of generosity " ; but he commanded that he 
 should be habited and nourished^ like the other infants 
 of the country, and likewise that they should accustom 
 him to run and mount up the rocks, that by such 
 means he might use himself to labour, and, if we may 
 speak so, give a temperament to that young body to 
 render it the more strong and vigorous, which was 
 without doubt most necessary for a prince who was 
 to suffer so much to reconquer his estate. 
 
 King Henry d'Albret died at Hagetmau in Beam, 
 on the 25th of May, 1555, being fifty-three years old 
 or thereabouts. He ordained by his will that his 
 body should be carried to Pampeluna to be interred 
 with his predecessors, and that in the meantime it 
 should be laid in state in the cathedral of Lescar in 
 Beam. This prince was courageous, of a great spirit, 
 
 ^ It has been said that he was ordinarily nourished with 
 coarse bread, beef, cheese, and garlic, and that often he was 
 made to march bareheaded and with naked feet. 
 
DEATH OF HENRY II. 15 
 
 sweet and courteous to all the world, and so nobly 
 liberal that Charles V. once passing through Navarre, 
 was in such manner received that he protested he had 
 never seen a more magnificent prince. 
 
 After his death, Jane his daughter, and Anthony, 
 Duke of Vendome, his son-in-law, succeeded him. 
 They were at that time at the court of France, and 
 had much difficulty in obtaining leave to retire to Beam ; 
 for King Henry II., pressed to it by bad counsel, would 
 have deprived them of the Lower Navarre, which yet 
 remained to them, pretending that all below the 
 Pyrenees belonged to the realm of France. They 
 knew how justly to oppose against him the states of 
 the country, and the King durst not too much pursue 
 this subject, lest despair should force them to call the 
 Spaniards to their assistance ; but he still remained 
 troublesome to them, and, giving to Anthony the 
 government of Guienne, which had been likewise held 
 by Henry d'Albret, his father-in-law, he deprived him 
 of Languedoc, which he had a long time enjoyed. 
 
 About two years after they returned to the court 
 of France, whither they brought their son, aged about 
 four or five years, who was the j oiliest and best- 
 composed lad in the world ; but they stayed only a few 
 months, and returned again to Beam. 
 
 A little time after, King Henry II. was slain with a 
 blow of a lance by Montgomery. Francis II., his 
 eldest son, succeeded him ; and the Guises, uncles to 
 Mary Stuart, his Queen, seized the government. The 
 princes of the blood would not suffer this, and Louis, 
 Prince of Conde, younger brother to Anthony, called 
 that King to the court to oppose it. 
 
i6 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 During these divisions the Huguenots hatched the 
 Amboise conspiracy against the government ; and the 
 two brothers, Anthony and Louis, being accused as 
 chiefs of it, were arrested in Orleans, and evidence was 
 so strong against Louis that it was believed he would 
 have been beheaded if the death of King Francis IL 
 had not happened. 
 
 Charles IX., who succeeded him, being under age, 
 Queen Catherine, his mother, caused herself to ^-^ - 
 clared regent of the states, and the King . 
 first prince of the blood, was declared lieuicn. 
 general of the realm, to govern the state with her; so 
 that by this means he was kept in France, whither he 
 caused his Queen, Jane, and his young son, Prince 
 Henry, to come. But he did not long enjoy this new 
 dignity, for, the troubles daily continuing, by reason 
 of the surprises which the new reformers made of the 
 chief cities of the kingdom, after having retaken Bruges 
 from them, he came to besiege Rouen, where, visiting 
 one day the trenches, he received a musket shot in the 
 left shoulder, of which he in a few days died at Andely, 
 on the Seine. Had he lived longer the Huguenots had 
 without doubt been but ill-treated in France, for he 
 mortally hated them, though his brother, the Prince 
 of Conde, was the principal chief of their pcLvty. 
 
 The Queen his wife and the little prince his son 
 were at that time at the court of France. The mother 
 returned to Beam, where she publicly embraced Cal- 
 vinism ; but she left her son with the King, under the 
 conduct of a wise tutor named La Gaucherie, who 
 endeavoured to give him some degree of learning, not 
 by the rules of grammar, but by discourses and enter- 
 
HIS EDUCATION 
 
 17 
 
 tainments. To this effect he taught him by heart many 
 fair sentences such as : 
 
 Ou vaincre avec justice, 
 On mourir avec gloire.^ 
 And this : 
 
 Les princes sur leur peuple ont autorite grande, 
 Mais Dieu plus fortement dessus les rois commanded 
 
 In the year 1566 his mother took him from the 
 
 ' ^ "f^rance, and led him to Pau ; and in the place 
 
 lerie, who had died, she gave him Florentius 
 
 oCian, an ancient servant of the house of Vendome, 
 
 a man of a very agreeable conversation and well versed 
 
 in learning, but, however, a Huguenot, who, according 
 
 to the orders of the Queen, instructed the prince in 
 
 that false doctrine. 
 
 In the first troubles of the religion, Francis Duke 
 of Guise had been assassinated by Poltrot at the siege 
 of Orleans, leaving his children in minority. This was 
 in the year 1563. In the second, the Constable of 
 Montmorency received a wound at the battle of St. 
 Denis, of which he died at Paris three days after, the 
 Eve of St. Martin in the year 1567. In the third, in 
 the year 1569, Queen Jane rendered herself protectress 
 of the Huguenot party, being for this purpose come to 
 Rochelle with her son, whom she now devoted to the 
 defence of that new religion. 
 
 In this quality he was declared chief, with his uncle 
 the Prince of Conde his lieutenant, in colleague with 
 
 ^ Either justly gain the victory, 
 Or learn with glory how to die. 
 
 - Kings rule their subjects with a mighty hand ; 
 But God with greater power doth kings command. 
 
 2 
 
i8 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Admiral Coligny. These were two great chieftains, but 
 they committed notable errors ; and this young prince, 
 though not exceeding thirteen years of age, had the 
 spirit to observe them. For he judged well at the 
 great skirmish of Loudun that if the Duke of Anjou^ 
 had had troops ready to assault them, he had done it ; 
 and that, not doing it, he was without doubt in a 
 sorry plight, and therefore should the rather have been 
 assaulted by them ; but they, by not doing it, gave 
 time to all his troops to arrive. 
 
 At the battle of Jarnac he represented to them yet 
 more judiciously that there was no means to fight, 
 because the forces of the princes were dispersed, and 
 those of the Duke of Anjou firmly embodied: but they 
 were engaged too far to be able to retreat. The Prince 
 of Conde was killed in this battle, or rather assassinated 
 in cold blood after the combat, in which he had had 
 his leg broken. 
 
 After that all the authority and hope of the party 
 remained in Admiral Coligny who, to speak truth, was 
 the greatest man of that time of the religion he sided 
 with, but the most unfortunate. 
 
 This admiral having gathered together new forces, 
 hazarded a second battle at Montcontour, in Poitou. 
 He had caused to come to the army our little Prince 
 of Navarre, and the young Prince of Conde, who was 
 likewise named Henry, and placed them in charge of 
 Prince Lodovic of Nassau, who guarded them on a 
 distant hill with four thousand horse. 
 
 The young prince burned with desire to engage 
 in person, but they permitted him not to run so great 
 1 This Duke of Anjou was afterwards Henry III. 
 
HIS FIRST MILITARY SUCCESSES 19 
 
 a hazard. Nevertheless, when the advance guard of 
 the Duke of Alengon was disordered by that of the 
 admiral, there had been no danger to let him fall 
 upon the enemy who were taken with surprise. How- 
 ever, they hindered him, and he now cried out, " We 
 shall lose our advantage, and in consequence the 
 battle." It happened as he had foreseen ; and it was 
 at that hour judged by some that a young man of 
 sixteen years of age had more understanding than the 
 old soldiers. Thus he applied himself thoroughly to 
 what he did : nor had he only a body, but spirit and 
 sound judgment. 
 
 Being saved with the remnants of his army, he 
 made a tour almost round the kingdom, fighting in 
 retreat, and rallying together the Huguenot troops 
 here and there for five or six months, during which 
 he suffered so many hardships that had he not been 
 brought up in the manner he was he would not have 
 been able to support them. 
 
 This young prince, always accompanied with the 
 admiral, led his troops into Guienne, and from thence 
 through Languedoc, where he took Nimes by strata- 
 gem, forced several small places, and burned the 
 suburbs of Toulouse in such manner that the sparks 
 of that fire flew into that great city. The war being 
 thus kindled in the heart of France, he showed him- 
 self on the other bank of the Rhone with his troops, 
 gained by storm the towns of St. Julien and St. Just, 
 and obliged St. Etienne-en-Foret to capitulate. From 
 thence he descended to the banks of the Saone, and 
 afterwards into the middle of Burgundy. Paris 
 trembled a second time at the approach of an army 
 
20 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 SO much the more formidable, because it seemed to 
 be reinforced by the loss of two battles, and to have 
 now gained some advantage over the army of the 
 Catholics which the Marshal de Cosse commanded. 
 
 The council of the King, fearing to hazard all by 
 a fourth encounter, judged it more to the purpose to 
 patch up a peace with that party. It was therefore 
 entered upon, the two armies being near each other, 
 and concluded in the little town of Arnay-le-Duc, on 
 the nth of August, 1570. 
 
 This peace made, everyone returned home. The Prince 
 of Navarre went to Beam, King Charles IX. married 
 Elizabeth, daughter of the Emperor Maximilian II. ; 
 and nothing else seemed thought of but feasts and 
 rejoicings. In the meantime the King, having found 
 that he could never compass his desires on the Hugue- 
 nots by force, resolved to make use of means more easy, 
 but much more wicked. He began to caress them, 
 to feign that he would treat them favourably, to accord 
 them the greater part of those things they desired, and 
 to lull them asleep with hopes of his making war against 
 the King of Spain in the Low Countries, a thing they 
 passionately desired ; and the better to allure them he 
 promised, as a gage of his faith, to marry his sister 
 Margaret to our Henry ; and by these means drew the 
 principal chiefs of their party to Paris. 
 
 His mother Jane, who was come in advance to make 
 preparations for the marriage, died a few days after 
 her arrival — a princess of a spirit and courage above her 
 sex, and whose soul, wholly virile, was not subject to 
 the weaknesses and defects of other women ; but, in 
 truth, a passionate enemy of the Catholic religion. 
 
MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW 21 
 
 Some historians say that she was poisoned with a pair 
 of perfumed gloves, because they feared that she, having 
 a great spirit, would discover the design they had to 
 massacre all the Huguenots ; but if I be not deceived, 
 this is a falsity ; it being more likely, which others say, 
 that she died of a phthisical affection, since those that 
 were about her and served her have so testified. 
 
 Henry her son, who came after her, being in Poitou, 
 received news of her death, and presently took the 
 quahty of King ; for hitherto he had only borne that 
 of Prince of Navarre. x\s soon as he came to Paris, 
 the unhappy nuptials were celebrated, the two parties 
 being married by the Cardinal de Bourbon, on a dais 
 erected for that purpose before the church of Notre- 
 Dame. 
 
 Six days after, which was the day of St. Bartholomew, 
 all the Huguenots who were come to the solemnity 
 had their throats cut ; amongst others, the admiral 
 and twenty other lords of note, twelve hundred gentle- 
 men, three or four thousand soldiers and burgesses, 
 and through all the cities of the kingdom, after the 
 example of Paris near a hundred thousand men. 
 Execrable action ! which never had, nor ever shall 
 again have, if it please God, its parallel. 
 
 What grief must it needs be to our young King to 
 see instead of wines and perfumes so much blood shed 
 at his nuptials, and his best friends murdered, and to 
 hear their pitiful cries, which pierced his ears into the 
 Louvre, where he was lodged ! And, moreover, what 
 visions and fears must needs surprise his very person ! 
 For in effect it was considered whether they should 
 murder him and the Prince of Conde with the rest, 
 
22 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 and all the murderers concluded their death. Neverthe- 
 less, by a miracle, they afterwards resolved to spare them. 
 
 Charles IX. caused them to be brought to his 
 presence, and, having showed them a mountain of 
 dead bodies, with horrible threats, not hearkening to 
 their reasons, told them " Either death or the mass ! " 
 They elected rather the last then the first, and abjured 
 Calvinism ; but because it was known they did it not 
 heartily, they were so straitly observed that they could 
 not escape the court during those two years that 
 Charles IX. lived, nor until a long time after his 
 death. 
 
 During this time our Henry exquisitely dissembled 
 his discontent, though it was very great, and not- 
 withstanding those vexations which might trouble his 
 spirit, he clothed his visage with a perpetual serenity, 
 and humour wholly jolly. This was without doubt the 
 most difficult passage of his life. He had to do with 
 a furious King, and with his two brothers — to wit, the 
 Duke of Anjou, a dissembling prince, who had been 
 educated in massacres, and with the Duke of Alen9on, 
 who was deceitful and malicious ; with Queen Catherine, 
 who mortally hated him, because her divines had fore- 
 told his reign ; and lastly, with the house of Guise, 
 whose power and credit were at present almost bound- 
 less. 
 
 He was doubtless necessitated to act with a marvel- 
 lous prudence in the conduct of himself wath all these 
 people that he might not create in them the least 
 jealousy, but rather beget a great esteem of himself, 
 make submission and gravity accord, and preserve his 
 dignity and life. In the meantime he disengaged him- 
 
HIS PASSION FOR WOMEN 
 
 23 
 
 self from all these difficulties and from all these dangers 
 with an unparalleled address. 
 
 He contracted a great familiarity with the Duke of 
 Guise, who was about his own age, and they often 
 made secret parties of pleasure together ; but he agreed 
 not so well with the Duke of Alengon, who had a 
 capricious spirit ; nor was he overmuch troubled at 
 his ill accord with him, because neither the King nor 
 Queen-mother had any affection for this duke. How- 
 ever, he gave no credit to the bad counsel of that Queen's 
 emissary, who endeavoured to engage his contending in 
 a duel against him ; so much the rather because, con- 
 sidering him as the brother of his King, to whom he 
 owed respect, he knew well it would have proved his 
 loss, and that she would not have been wanting to 
 take so fair a pretext to ruin him. 
 
 He shunned, likewise, other snares laid for him ; but 
 yet not all, for he suffered himself to be overtaken with 
 the allurements of some ladies of the court, whom it is 
 said that the Queen engaged expressly to amuse the 
 princes and nobles and to discover all their thoughts. 
 
 From that time (for vices contracted in the blossom 
 of youth generally accompany men to their tomb) a 
 passion for women proved to be the greatest weakness 
 of our Henry, and possibly was the cause of his last 
 misfortune; for God punishes sooner or later those who 
 wickedly abandon themselves to this criminal passion. 
 
 Besides this, he contracted no other crimes in this 
 court ; and it ought to be attributed to a particular grace 
 of Heaven that he was not infected with all, for there 
 never was a court more vicious or more corrupted. 
 Impiety, atheism, witchcraft, black ingratitude and 
 
24 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 perfidy, poisoning and assassination, reigned there in 
 a sovereign degree ; yet all these abominations, instead 
 of affecting him, fortified him in the natural horror he 
 had against them, and though amongst wicked persons, 
 he had never any thoughts to become their companion, 
 but many to be their enemy. 
 
 On the succeeding St. Bartholomew's Day they looked 
 to finish exterminating the Huguenots ; and to this pur- 
 pose the Duke of Anjou went to besiege Rochelle, carrying 
 Henry with him, but caused him to be so well observed 
 that he could neither turn to the right hand nor to the 
 left. It may be judged what heart-grief it was to him 
 to be made an instrument in the destruction of those 
 who yet remained his friends and servants, and had 
 sought refuge in this city. After a long siege it was 
 relieved by the arrival of the ambassadors of Poland, 
 who came to seek the Duke of Anjou, whom the estates 
 of that country had elected their King. The siege 
 raised, Henry returned to Paris or, rather, was 
 led there, and the Duke of Anjou left France with 
 great regret in order to take possession of his new 
 kingdom. 
 
 Some months afterwards Charles IX. fell mortally 
 sick, vomiting forth blood through all the conduits of his 
 body, so that by many it was believed he was poisoned. 
 
 His extreme malady gave birth to a league made by 
 the Duke of Alen9on, the Marshals of Montmorency and 
 Cosse, and some Catholics with the Huguenot party, to 
 deprive the Queen-mother of the government, and drive 
 the Guises from the court, where they were very power- 
 ful. Our Henry entered into it, not out of any design to 
 stand well with those people, but only that he might 
 
A FUTILE CONSPIRACY 25 
 
 have the means to retire with security into his own 
 country. 
 
 The Queen -mother having heard of these doings, 
 caused him and the Duke of Alengon to be arrested and 
 committed to prison. The Prince of Conde saved him- 
 self happily in Germany. She caused likewise the two 
 Marshals of Montmorency and Cosse to be secured ; 
 and to let the world see she treated not princes of 
 their degree in this manner without sufficient cause, 
 she caused them to be strictly examined on many 
 treasonable interrogatories, which were all false. There 
 were only put to death La Mole, Coconas, and Tour- 
 tray, three gentlemen of note, who had engaged them- 
 selves in their intrigues ; and possibly this execution 
 was necessary to calm the spirit of the nobility and 
 people, who began to murmur that a son of France, 
 and the first prince of the blood, should be treated in 
 this manner. 
 
 In this affair the chancellor would have examined 
 the King of Navarre ; but though captive and 
 threatened, he would not so much wrong his dignity 
 as to reply to him. However, to content the Queen- 
 mother, he made a long discourse, addressing his 
 speech to her, by which he declared many things 
 touching the present state of affairs, but charged no 
 person, as the Duke of Alen9on had weakly and un- 
 worthily done. 
 
 King Charles IX. being near his death, and hating, 
 possibly not without reason, both his two brothers and 
 his mother, sent to seek our Henry, in whom alone he 
 acknowledged to have found faith and honour, and most 
 aifectionately recommended to him his wife and daughter. 
 
26 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Catherine de Medicis, knowing that he had sent 
 for him, was fearful lest he should leave to him the 
 regency, and to this purpose wished to cast some fear 
 into his soul, to the end he should not dare to accept 
 it. As he went to attend the King, who was at Bois 
 de Vincennes, she gave orders that he should be made 
 to pass under the arches, between the guards, who lay 
 in amxbush and posture to massacre him. He startled 
 at first with fear, and recoiled two or three paces 
 backwards. However, Nanzay le Chatre, captain of 
 the lifeguards, reassured him, swearing to him that he 
 should receive no harm; he was therefore constrained, 
 though he trusted but little to his words, to pass 
 through the carbines and halberds. 
 
 After the death of Charles IX., Catherine de 
 Medicis, partly by force and partly by cunning, 
 seized on the regency, en attendant the return of her 
 dear son, the Duke of Anjou, who was named 
 Henry HI. 
 
 When he was returned from Poland she brought 
 the two princes before him to do with them what he 
 pleased, whom, after some chidings and threatenings, 
 he set at liberty. 
 
 These two princes making reflection on the con- 
 tinual dangers they had for two years past been in, 
 resolved with the iirst occasion to deliver themselves 
 from these fears. The Prince of Conde, who was in 
 Germany, had raised levies for the Huguenot part}', 
 who about the end of the reign of Charles IX. had 
 retaken arms ; and Damville, second son of the late 
 Constable and brother of the Marshal of Montmorenc}-, 
 who was a prisoner in the Bastille, had joined himself 
 
CATHERINE DE MEDICIS 27 
 
 to their part}', not taking religion for his pretext (be- 
 cause he was a Cathohc), but the pubhc hberty and 
 reformation of the state. Those CathoHcs who joined 
 themselves in league with the Huguenots were named 
 the Politicians. 
 
 Our Henry could not escape from the court so soon 
 as he desired. He was diligently watched, and his 
 very domestics were as so many spies over him. He 
 knew that if he were surprised whilst trying to leave 
 he would certainly be murdered ; and now, whilst he 
 sought occasions to do so with security, he became 
 enamoured of Madame de Sauves, wife of the secretary 
 of state, then the fairest woman in the whole court. 
 
 In the meantime the Queen-mother, who with so 
 much diligence kept him at court, would have been 
 well contented had he been gone, for the King, her 
 dear son, began to take some knowledge of his own 
 affairs — a thing much displeasing to her, because she 
 would have governed all. She therefore, apprehending 
 that as he took the authority into his own hands, hers 
 would be diminished, believed that she ought to em- 
 broil all by factions and civil wars, of which she alone, 
 as it may be said, had the key, so that nothing could 
 pass without her. This explains the reason wh}' so 
 long as she lived she did nothing but craftily generate 
 troubles and animate different parties, both at court 
 and abroad. 
 
 Amongst these transactions, as the King went to 
 Rheims to be installed, a conspiracy was discovered 
 against his person, fostered by the Duke of Alen9on, 
 at the instigation of the friends of the defunct admiral 
 and of La Mole, who had been his favourite. Many 
 
28 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 believed this to be a thing devised by the Queen- 
 mother, on purpose to astound and weaken the spirit 
 of her son ; the more so because it was she who obHged 
 the King to pardon this crime so Hghtly, neither of the 
 accompHces or instigators being punished for it. How- 
 ever it was, Henry HI. testified on this occasion a 
 particular confidence in our King of Navarre, who, 
 assisted by his friends, served him as captain of his 
 guards the whole way, never stirring from the boot 
 of his coach ; and in this he appeared so much the 
 more generous, having no reason to love him beside 
 the obligation of his duty, being his kinsman and his 
 vassal. 
 
 Henry III. having arrived at Rheims, was on the 
 15th of February installed by the Cardinal of Guise, 
 and on the morrow espoused to Louise de Lorraine, 
 daughter of the Count of Vaudemont, which added 
 yet a greater lustre to the house of Guise, of which 
 Duke Henry was chief, who was then in favour, but 
 afterwards killed at Blois. This prince, one of the 
 bravest in every way that age produced, had ever 
 promised himself to govern the King by Queen 
 Louise, his kinswoman. He had contracted a very 
 close familiarity with the King of Navarre, whom he 
 called his master, as that King called him his gossip. 
 
 Queen Margaret, who, to speak the truth, could 
 not live without intrigues and gallantries, contributed 
 with all her power to the maintenance of this good 
 understanding, and essayed to make Monsieur (the 
 Duke of Alen9on) whom she most passionately loved, 
 enter into it. 
 
 But the union of princes being the overthrow of 
 
THE KING AND MONSIEUR 29 
 
 favourites and governors, the Oueen-mother straightway 
 spoilt this design, by begetting in the King a jealousy 
 of his wife, incensing Monsieur against the Duke of 
 Guise by the remembrance of the massacre of the 
 admiral, continually confounding the King of Navarre 
 b}' the intrigue of some ladies, but particularly of De 
 Sauves, who, enjoying such person as Catherine com- 
 manded her, received the love and services of Monsieur 
 to create a difference between them. 
 
 The Queen-mother maintained likewise an irrecon- 
 cilable hatred between the King and Monsieur, by 
 which means there happened an affair which as much 
 proclaimed the greatness of courage and generosity of 
 our Henry as any action he had done in his life. 
 
 The King, having fallen sick, and being in great 
 danger of death with a pain in his ear, believed him- 
 self to be poisoned, as Francis 11.-^ had been, and 
 accused Monsieur. In this belief he sent to seek the 
 King of Navarre, and commanded him to dispatch 
 Monsieur as soon as he (the King) was dead, endeavour- 
 ing by all reasons possible to persuade him that that 
 wicked man would make him perish and all his if he 
 prevented it not. The favourites of the King, having 
 the same opinion as their master, seeing Monsieur 
 pass, sacrificed him already to their revenge by murder- 
 ing regards. 
 
 Our Henry endeavoured to sweeten the fury of the 
 King, and demonstrated to him the horrible conse- 
 quences of the command : but the King, not content 
 with reasons, contrary to them, comported himself in 
 
 ' Francis II. died of an apostcme in his car, which was 
 believed to be the effects of poison. 
 
30 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 such manner that he wished him to presently execute 
 it, for fear he should fail of it when he was dead. 
 
 If the two brothers — to wit, the King and Monsieur 
 — had been out of the world, the crown appertained 
 to him. Now one in all appearances was about to 
 die, and he might easily find a death for the other, 
 having the favourites, the officers of the King, the 
 Guises, all their friends, and almost all the nobility 
 at his devotion ; for Monsieur was a prince of an ill 
 presence and of low inclinations, yet malign and cruel ; 
 and for all these fine qualities hated by almost all the 
 world, and sustained only by the brave Bussy d'Amboise. 
 How few princes are there who would have let slip so 
 fair an occasion ! I dare boldly speak it, how few are 
 there who would not seek it ! and yet our hero (for 
 in such an action I must perforce call him so) was so 
 far from availing himself of it that he conceived a horror 
 at the furious vengeance of Henry HI. "There is no 
 nobler ambition than to know how to moderate ambition 
 when it is not just, and to endeavour to preserve our 
 conscience and honour rather than acquire a crown 
 by wicked ways. Diadems gained by ill means are not 
 marks of glory to those brows that carry them, but 
 rather frontlets of infamy, such as are placed on thieves 
 and villains." 
 
 Heaven without doubt approved the generous senti- 
 ments of our Henry, and destined to him the sceptre 
 of the fleur de lis, because guiltless of an impatience to 
 reach it before his term. On the contrary, these brothers 
 of the house of Valois who endeavoured to ravish it one 
 from the other died all unhappily, and had for their 
 successor him who by a crime refused to be so. 
 
MONSIEUR JOINS THE HUGUENOTS 31 
 
 Henry III. having recovered, knev;^ well that he had 
 wrongfully accused his brother of having poisoned him, 
 yet he loved him never a whit the more. He daily 
 suffered his favourites to give him a thousand affronts, 
 and to domineer over him in the public assembhes. 
 He likewise wished Bussy d'Amboise, who was his 
 favourite and only support, to be murdered by night 
 at the gates of the Louvre ; and it was believed he 
 had given orders, if the Duke of Alen9on had gone to 
 his assistance (for there were people appointed to come 
 and tell him that Bussy was assassinated) to slay him 
 likewise. Then Monsieur, getting the bridle out of his 
 mouth, escaped from court, put himself in the field, 
 gathered together some malcontents, composed an army 
 and joined with that of the Huguenots, commanded by 
 the Prince of Conde and by Casimir, youngest son of 
 the Count Palatine, who, in these civil wars of re- 
 ligion, twice or thrice led great levies of German horse 
 into France. 
 
 Our Henry was earnestly solicited to follow him, 
 and Monsieur said he had promised him to do it, but 
 they had taken from about him all those who might 
 favour his escape, and placed in their stead people of 
 their own hire. He was moreover promised the lieu- 
 tenant-generalship of the King's army, which was a 
 strong lure to retain him ; nor was the love of the 
 fair De Sauves less powerful. However, the natural 
 spurs of his courage and the fear he had lest Monsieur 
 and the Prince of Conde should seize on the chief com- 
 mand amongst the Huguenot party, which had been his 
 cradle and was to be his castle, as well as the re- 
 monstrances of some of his servants and the inventions 
 
32 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 of Queen Catherine, who expressly incensed the King 
 against him, in the end obHged him to escape, and made 
 him take his resolution. 
 
 He saved himself therefore by feigning to go hunting 
 towards Senlis, and retired to Alen9on, where, however, 
 he did nothing, peace being soon after concluded with 
 them all. There was granted to Monsieur a great por- 
 tion in money and places; to the Huguenots many very 
 advantageous conditions ; to the Prince of Conde the 
 government of Picardy, and the city of Peronne for 
 his retreat ; but to our Henry nothing else but hopes, 
 of which being in the end disabused, he renounced 
 the peace, and re-entered into the Huguenot party ; 
 and quitting the Catholic Church, returned anew to 
 his first religion. It is to be believed that he did it 
 because he was persuaded it was the better. Thus his 
 fault will be worthy of excuse ; nor can he be accused 
 but for not having the true light. In the meantime it 
 must not be forgotten to observe on this, that the 
 greatest reproach his enemies ever made him — I mean 
 those of the League — was his having thus relapsed : 
 and this was likewise the greatest obstacle he found 
 at Rome, when, being converted, he demanded the ab- 
 solution of the Pope. 
 
 The Rochellers received him into their city, but not 
 without great precautions, and not until he had driven 
 from him some people who were neither Catholics nor 
 Huguenots, but atheists, and horribly wicked persons. 
 It has been held that they followed him against his 
 will ; that truly he had served himself of them in some 
 intrigues ; but that it was himself who by secret advice 
 obliged the Rochellers to demand their expulsion. 
 
BIRTH OF THE LEAGUE 33 
 
 After he had sojourned some months at Rochelle, 
 he went to take possession of his government of Guienne, 
 where he had the displeasure to see shut against him 
 the gates of the city of Bordeaux, under the pretext 
 that the inhabitants feared that if he became master 
 of it he would banish the Catholic religion — a very 
 sensible injury to a young prince full of courage ; but 
 he knew most wisely how to dissemble it at present, 
 because he had not power to revenge it, and generously 
 forgot it when he had the means to do it. 
 
 About this time the League took birth, that powerful 
 faction which for twenty years together tormented 
 France, which thought to introduce the Spanish domi- 
 nation, and which would have reversed the order of 
 the succession of the royal family, under the fairest 
 pretext in the world, to wit, the maintenance of the 
 religion of our ancestors. 
 
 At other times, under the reign of Charles IX., there 
 were divers leagues and associations made in Guienne 
 and Languedoc to defend the Church against the Hugue- 
 nots (our heirs will judge whether those who rendered 
 themselves chief of them had most zeal or most am- 
 bition), but they were not pressed so forward nor so 
 diligently formed, and therefore became extinct. The 
 grandees of the realm, however, might by them observe 
 that if at any time such associations were made, it 
 would be a fair means to elevate to a great height 
 him who could render himself their chief. 
 
 Henry Duke of Guise, who had a kinglike heart, 
 had in all likelihood this thought ; or if he at first had 
 it not, the favourites of Henry HI., by persecuting him, 
 forced him to entertain it, and to apply himself to this 
 
 3 
 
34 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 party, to defend himself against them. There were of 
 his house seven or eight princes, all brave to the utmost 
 extent. The principal of them were his brothers, the 
 Duke of Mayenne and the Cardinal de Guise, and the 
 Duke d'Aumale and the Marquis d'Elbeuf, his cousins. 
 
 Now the secession of Monsieur, of which we have 
 spoken, to the Huguenots, and the advantageous peace 
 afterwards granted them, made the League show itself, 
 which was but little in its commencement. Those who, 
 to render themselves powerful, desired a new faction 
 in the state, took up this subject in order to represent 
 by their emissaries the great danger in which the 
 Catholic religion was, and to demonstrate the excessive 
 strength of its enemies, who had on their side the 
 two first princes of the blood and Monsieur, who was 
 their friend. " What would it be," said they, " if he 
 should come to the crown with such ill intentions ? that 
 therefore they ought to advise in good time, and fortify 
 themselves against that danger which threatened the 
 holy Church." They then whispered these considera- 
 tions, and others like them, into men's ears, and when 
 they had thus disposed their minds published them aloud. 
 
 Upon this, the burgesses of Peronne, a free city, 
 and which was accustomed to have so powerful a 
 governor, refused to receive the Prince of Conde, 
 because a Huguenot. He made his complaints to the 
 King, and demanded the execution of the treaty of 
 peace. The Picards opposed him, and were the first 
 that made a league or union for the defence, as they 
 said, of the Catholic Apostolic and Roman faith. The 
 Prince of Conde could never come to terms, and was 
 constrained to retire into Guienne. 
 
THE ESTATES CONVOKED 35 
 
 James Lord d'Humieres was made chief of this 
 league in Picardy, and Aplincourt, a young gentleman, 
 took the oath of the inhabitants of Peronne, by whose 
 example the cities of Amiens, Corbie, St. Quentin, 
 and many others, did the like. Louis de Tremoille 
 began one likewise in Poitou. The Oueen - mother 
 secretly favoured this design, to the end that she might 
 retain her authority among these discords and dis- 
 turbances. The first model and the articles of this 
 league were brought to Paris ; and there were some 
 so zealous as to carry them from house to house, 
 endeavouring to engage the most backward ; but 
 Christopher de Thou, chief president, hindered for 
 the present the progress of this conspiracy. 
 
 Those who were the first inventors of it had de- 
 liberated among themselves, that to the end to give 
 it means to aggrandise itself and to keep the spirits 
 of the people still warm, it was necessary to continue 
 the war with the Huguenots. For this purpose they 
 stirred up divers persons, who surprised their places 
 and committed a thousand affronts against our Henry 
 and the Prince of Conde. And much more, they 
 raised so many factions and complaints on all sides of 
 people who demanded the summoning of the estates, 
 that the King was obliged to agree to it. They 
 assembled at Blois, and began in the month of 
 December, in the year 1576. The Huguenots them- 
 selves were not at all troubled at this convocation, 
 because they imagined that the third estate, which 
 ordinarily is the strongest, and which has most reason 
 to apprehend war, would cause the peace to be con- 
 firmed ; but the union of those who were for war 
 
 3—2 
 
36 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 was so strong that it was resolved to prosecute it 
 with vigour. 
 
 They judged it, notwithstanding, convenient to de- 
 pute beforehand some persons of the assembly to our 
 Henry and to the Prince of Conde, to exhort them to 
 return into the bosom of the CathoHc Church. And 
 this taking no effect, the King was obHged to declare 
 himself chief of the League ; and so from sovereign, 
 become chief of a faction and enemy to a part of his 
 subjects. 
 
 But to be revenged on the Duke of Guise, who 
 was the cause of all these troubles, he issued an edict 
 whereby the princes of the blood were to have pre- 
 cedency of all other princes and peers, as well at the 
 King's coronation as in parliament and elsewhere. 
 This considerably lessened the dignity of the Duke of 
 Guise, who by ancient usage had had the precedency 
 of the princes of the blood who were not peers or 
 whose peerage was of a later date than was his. 
 
 He raised three or four armies who made war 
 against the Huguenots in the Dauphinate, in Guienne, 
 in Languedoc, and in Poitou ; and reduced, and might 
 have quite crushed them, if their ruin had been reso- 
 lutely prosecuted before they could recover their 
 surprise. But the Queen-mother, who only desired 
 the war that she might have affairs in agitation, and 
 not that they might have their issue, persuaded the 
 King her son, for certain studied reasons, to grant 
 them peace. 
 
 The treaty being concluded, the Queen-mother 
 made a voyage into Guienne. She feigned that it 
 was to cause it to be punctually executed, and to 
 
YOUTHFUL FOLLIES 37 
 
 carry her daughter Margaret to the King of Navarre 
 her husband ; but it was in effect to sow seeds of dis- 
 cord among the Huguenots, to the end she might be 
 mistress of that party as she had been of that of the 
 CathoHcs. Henry now kept his Httle court at Nerac ; 
 he had before kept it at Agen, where he was beloved 
 of the people by reason of his justice and goodness. 
 But it happened that at a ball or dance some young 
 people of his own train blew out the candles to com- 
 mit insolencies, which so scandalised the inhabitants 
 that they delivered up their city to the Marshal de 
 Biron, whom the King had sent as governor into 
 the province of Guienne. 
 
 A little time after Henry likewise lost La Reole by 
 another folly of his young people. He had given the 
 government of it to an old Huguenot captain named 
 D'Ussac, who had his visage horribly deformed. His 
 deformity, however, hindered him not from becoming 
 enamoured of one of the ladies attending the Queen- 
 mother, for she had brought many of the most be- 
 witching with her, to kindle a fire everywhere. The 
 Viscount of Turenne, afterwards Duke of Bouillon, 
 then about twenty-one or twenty-two years of age, with 
 some others of his age, would make raillery of this 
 business. Our Henry, instead of commanding them to 
 silence, made himself of their party, and having a 
 fluent spirit, assisted them in launching some mockeries 
 and jeers against this doting lover. No passion renders 
 a heart so sensitive as this. D'Ussac could not suffer 
 this raillery, though proceeding from his master ; but, 
 in spite of his honour and religion, he 3'ielded and 
 delivered up La Reole to Duras, a lord who, having 
 
38 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 been in favour with our Henry, had quitted him out 
 of envy, because he testified less affection to him than 
 to Roquelaire, who was without doubt one of the most 
 honest and most pleasant men of his time. 
 
 The Queen-mother had taken with her, as we have 
 said, Queen Margaret to her husband. Neither of 
 the two spouses was over-well pleased. Margaret, 
 who loved the splendour of the French court, where 
 she swam, if we may so speak, in full intrigues, 
 believed that to be in Guienne was a kind of banish- 
 ment ; and Henry, knowing her humour and carriage, 
 would rather have chosen her room than her com- 
 pany.^ However, seeing it an irremediable ill, he re- 
 solved to suffer it, leaving her an entire liberty. He 
 considered her rather as a sister of his King than as 
 his own wife. He likewise pretended some nullities in 
 the marriage, but waited time and place to make them 
 known. In the meantime, accommodating himself to 
 the season and to the necessity of his affairs, he en- 
 deavoured to draw advantages from her intrigues and 
 from her credit. He received no small one in the con- 
 ference which he and the deputies of the Huguenots 
 had at Nerac with the Queen-mother ; for whilst she 
 thought to enchant them by the charms of those fair 
 ladies she had expressly brought with her, and by the 
 eloquence of Pibrac, Margaret opposed the same articles, 
 gained the gentlemen who were near her mother by 
 the attractions of her ladies ; and employed so well 
 her own that she enchanted the spirit and will of 
 
 1 The King of Navarre did not show any pleasure in receiving 
 a woman whose gallantries had thrown ridicule upon his name. 
 — Martin's History of France, vol. ix. 
 
THE QUEEN -MOTHER'S INTRIGUES 39 
 
 poor Pibrac in such manner that he acted only by 
 her will, and quite contrary to the intentions of the 
 Queen -mother, who, distrusting that a man so wise 
 could be capable of such great folly, was deceived in 
 many articles, and insensibly carried to grant much 
 more to the Huguenots than she had resolved. 
 
 Scarce were eight months spent since the peace, when 
 the Queen-mother, Monsieur, and the Guises began to be 
 weary of it. The Queen-mother, because she would not 
 have the King rest any long time without having need of 
 her negotiations and intermission ; Monsieur, because by 
 rekindling the war he thought to render himself redoubt- 
 able to the King, and to make him give him forces to 
 carry into the Low Countries, which, being revolted 
 from Spain, demanded him for their sovereign ; and, 
 finally, the Guises, because they feared lest the ardour 
 of the League should by too protracted a calm grow 
 cold. 
 
 In these wishes they pressed the King to redemand 
 the places of security granted to the Huguenots ; and 
 Monsieur and the Queen-mother cunningly caused it 
 to be told to our Henry that he should not surrender 
 them, but hold it out that his cause was just, and that 
 his safety consisted in his arms. Margaret, who knew his 
 weakness, and who likewise wished for the war, excited 
 him by the persuasion of ladies whom she retained for 
 this service ; and by the same means animated alike 
 all those braves who approached her ; nor spared she 
 herself with the Viscount of Turenne for this purpose ; 
 so that this prince, possibly with very little justice, and 
 certainl}^ to very ill purpose, was carried to a rupture, 
 and engaged the Huguenots in a new civil war, which 
 
40 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 was named, for the reasons just spoken of, the " War 
 of the Lovers." 
 
 This was the most disadvantageous they ever yet 
 made. By it they lost a great number of strong 
 places ; and were in such manner weakened that had 
 the pursuit of them been finished they could never 
 have regained strength. But Monsieur, who desired to 
 transport all the forces both of the one and the other 
 party into the Low Countries, made himself mediator 
 of the peace, and obtained it by an edict, which was 
 concluded after the conference of Fleix. 
 
 This peace was the cause of almost as many evils 
 to the state as all the former wars had been. The 
 two courts of the two Kings, and the two Kings 
 themselves, plunged headlong into their pleasures ; 
 with this difference, however, that our Henry was not 
 so absolutely lulled asleep with his delights but he 
 thought sometimes of his affairs, being awakened and 
 vividly reminded by the remonstrances of the ministers 
 of his religion, and by the reproaches of the old 
 captains of the Huguenots, who spoke to him with 
 great liberty. But Henry HL was wholly over- 
 whelmed with softness and feebleness. He seemed 
 to have neither heart nor motion ; and his subjects 
 could scarcely have known that he was in the world, 
 but that he daily charged them with new imposts, all 
 the money of which was disposed to the benefit of 
 his favourites. 
 
 He had always three or four at a time, and at 
 present he began to cast his graces on Joyeuse and 
 the two Nogarets — to wit, Bernard and Jean -Louis, 
 of whom the elder died five or six years after, and 
 
COURT FAVOURITES 41 
 
 the younger was Duke d'Epernon, one of the most 
 memorable and most wonderful subjects that the 
 court had ever seen elevated in its favour, and who 
 certainly had qualities as eminent as his fortune. In 
 the meantime the excessive gifts which the King gave 
 to all his favourites excited the cries of the people 
 because they were trampled on ; and their monstrous 
 greatness displeased the princes because they believed 
 themselves despised. In such manner they rendered 
 themselves odious to all the world ; and the hate 
 carried to them fell likewise upon the King, whilst 
 that violence which they obhged him to use towards 
 his parliaments to confirm his edicts of creation and 
 imposts augmented it yet more ; for if his authority 
 made his wishes pass as absolute, he drew upon him 
 the people's curses ; and if the vigour of the sovereign 
 companies, as often happened, stopped them, he at- 
 tracted their disdain. 
 
 The people, who easily lend themselves to re- 
 belhon against their prince when they have lost for 
 him all sentiments of esteem and veneration, spoke 
 strange things of him and his favourites. The Guises, 
 whom the minions — for so the favourites were called — 
 opposed on all occasions, endeavouring to deprive 
 them of their charges and governments, to re-invest 
 themselves, were not wanting to blow the fire and to 
 increase the animosities of the people, particularly of 
 the great cities, whom favourites have always feared, 
 and who have always hated favourites. These were 
 the principal dispositions to the aggrandisement of the 
 League and to the loss of Henry III. 
 
 It is not to our purpose to recount here all the 
 
42 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 intrigues of the court during five or six years, nor 
 the war of the Low Countries, from which Monsieur^ 
 brought nothing but disgrace. It is only necessary to 
 tell that in the year 1584 Monsieur died at the castle 
 of Thierry, without having been married; that Henry III. 
 had likewise no children ; and that it was but too well 
 known he was incapable of ever having any, b}- reason 
 of an incurable disease which he contracted at Venice, 
 on his return from Poland.^ See here the reason why, 
 as soon as Monsieur was adjudged dead by the physicians, 
 the Guises and Queen-mother began to labour each on 
 their side to assure themselves of the crown, as if the 
 succession had been open to them ; for neither the one 
 nor the other accounted for anything our Henry, so 
 much the rather because he was be3'ond the seventh 
 degree, beyond which in ordinary successions is 
 accounted no kindred, and because he was not of that 
 religion of which all the kings of France have been 
 since Clovis, and by consequence incapable to wear 
 the crown or bear the title of " Thrice-Christian." 
 Add to this that he was two hundred leagues distant 
 from Paris, and, as it were, shut up in a corner of 
 Guienne, where it seemed to them easy to ensnare or 
 to oppress him. 
 
 The Queen-mother had a design to give the crown 
 to the children of her daughter married to the Duke 
 of Lorraine, whom she would have treated as princes of 
 the blood, as if the crown of France could fall under 
 
 1 Monsieur, intending to surprise Antwerp, and treating ill 
 the people of the Low Countries, who had called him, was 
 driven thence. 
 
 - From 1575 the rumour was spread that the King and his 
 brother were as mentioned in the text. — Martin's History of France. 
 
PLOTS AND COUNTER-PLOTS 43 
 
 the command of the spindle. Nor was this merely out 
 of the love she had for them, but out of a secret hatred 
 she had conceived against our Henry, because she saw 
 that, contrary to all her wishes, Heaven had opened 
 him a way to come to the throne. 
 
 Besides, she was too much deceived, for so able a 
 woman, to believe that the Duke of Guise would favour 
 her in her design. There was much appearance, and 
 after affairs sufficiently testified it, that, feeling himself 
 persecuted by the favourites and ill-treated by the King 
 himself, for their sakes he had thoughts to assure the 
 crown for his own head, for ill-treatments work at 
 least no other effect than to cast into extreme despair 
 souls so noble and elevated as that of this prince. 
 But he, knowing well that of himself he could not 
 arrive at so high a pitch, and that especially because 
 it would be difficult to divert the affection which the 
 people of France naturally have for the princes of the 
 blood, essayed to gain to his side the old Cardinal de 
 Bourbon, who was uncle of our Henry. He promised 
 him therefore that on the death of Henry HI. he 
 would employ all his power and that of his friends 
 to make him king ; and that good man, doting with 
 age, permitting himself to be flattered with these vain 
 hopes, made himself the bauble of the duke's ambition, 
 who by this means drew to his party a great number 
 of Catholics who leaned to the house of Bourbon. 
 
 The question was, if the uncle ought to precede the 
 son of the elder brother in the succession ; and to speak 
 truth, the business was not without some difficulty, 
 because, according to the custom of Paris, the capital 
 of the kingdom, and many other customs, collateral 
 
44 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 representation has no place. This point of right was 
 diversely held by the reverend judges, and many de- 
 bates were held, some in favour of the uncle, and others 
 of the nephew. These were but combats of words — 
 the sword was to decide the difference. It seemed to 
 many great politicians that the Duke of Guise acted 
 contrary to his own interests and design by acknow- 
 ledging that the Cardinal de Bourbon ought to succeed 
 to the crown ; this being to avow that after his death, 
 which could suffer no long delay, it would appertain to 
 our Henry, his nephew. 
 
 Henry HI. knew well his design, or rather it was 
 notified by his favourites, who saw in it their certain 
 ruin, and therefore so much desired to bring back the 
 King of Navarre to the Catholic Church, to the end 
 he might deprive the Leaguers of that specious pretext 
 they had to entertain the League. He sent therefore 
 to him the Duke d'Epernon, who essayed to convert 
 him by reasons of interest and policy. Our Henry 
 hearkened to him ; but he testified that those were not 
 motives sufficiently strong to make him change, and 
 sent him back with many civilities. 
 
 The Huguenots were so vain as to publish and cause 
 to be printed the conference of this prince with the Duke 
 d'Epernon, to show that he was unshaken in his religion, 
 and possibly likewise to engage him more strongly in it. 
 The Duke of Guise was not wanting to profit by it, and 
 demonstrated to the Catholic people the stubbornness of 
 this prince, and what they might hope if he came to the 
 throne with such sentiments. 
 
 To stop, therefore, his way to it, he made the zealous 
 openly renew the League ; and boldly bringing it into 
 
GROWTH OF THE LEAGUE 45 
 
 Paris, where some new religious persons inspired this 
 ardour into people's souls by confessions, held the first 
 public assembly at the college of Fortet, which was 
 called the cradle of the League. Many burgesses, many 
 tradesmen, and likewise some clerks of Paris, entered 
 into it. They carried it to Rome, and presented it to 
 Pope Gregory III. for his approbation; but he never 
 would give it, and continually, so long as he lived, 
 disavowed it. 
 
 As soon as it grew a little great and strong, those 
 who had engendered it made it appear that it was not 
 only to provide for the security of religion for the future, 
 but that at present they might approach themselves near 
 to the crown ; and that they not only would have it 
 against the King of Navarre, who was to succeed, but 
 against Henry III., who now reigned. They kept in 
 salary certain new divines, who durst openly sustain 
 that a prince ought to be deposed who acquits himself 
 not well of his duty: "That no power but that which 
 is well ordered is of God ; otherwise, when it passes 
 due bounds it is not authority, but usurpation ; and 
 that it is as absurd to say that he ought to be king 
 who knows not how to govern, or who is deprived of 
 understanding, as to believe a blind man a fit guide or 
 an immovable statue able to make living men move." 
 
 In the meantime the Duke of Guise had retired to 
 his government of Champagne, feigning himself dis- 
 contented ; but it was to make the Duke of Lorraine 
 sign the League, out of hopes he would cause his son 
 to succeed to the crown, to which he pretended to 
 have right by his mother, daughter to Henry II. He 
 held to this purpose a treaty at Joinville, where he 
 
46 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 likewise found agents from the King of Spain, who 
 signed the treaty, and, as it was reported, did by letters 
 of exchange supply the Duke of Guise with great sums 
 of money. 
 
 At his departure thence, the duke assembled troops 
 on all sides. His friends seized on as many places as 
 they could, not only amongst the Huguenots, but like- 
 wise amongst the Catholics. The King might easily 
 have dissipated these levies had he taken the field ; 
 but the Queen -mother, like self-interested physicians, 
 who would for their profit augment the disease, with- 
 held and amused him in his closet, persuading him 
 that if he w^ould leave to her the management of this 
 affair she would easily reduce the duke to his obedi- 
 ence. To this purpose she held a conference with him 
 at Vitry, and so gave him time to augment his party ; 
 and when he saw himself in a state to fear nothing, 
 he broke up the conference, and made show of some 
 resolution to come directly to Paris. 
 
 The King, astonished, prayed his mother to con- 
 clude an accommodation upon any terms ; which she 
 did by the treaty of Nemours, by which she granted 
 to the duke and other princes of his house the govern- 
 ment of several provinces, many great sums of money, 
 together with a most bloody edict against the Hugue- 
 nots, which forbade the profession of any other religion 
 than the Catholic, under penalty of confiscation of 
 goods and estate ; with command to all preachers and 
 ministers to depart from the realm within one month, 
 and all Huguenots of what degree or quality soever 
 within six months, or otherwise abjure their false re- 
 ligion. This edict was called the Edict of Juillet, 
 
AN AWAKENING 47 
 
 which the League further constrained the King to 
 carry himself into the parhament, and cause it to be 
 ratified/ 
 
 A little after news arrived from Rome that Sixtus V., 
 who succeeded Gregory XVIII. , had approved the 
 League, and had besides fulminated terrible bulls against 
 the King of Navarre and Prince of Conde, declaring 
 them heretics, apostates, chiefs, favourers and pro- 
 tectors of heretics, and as such falling under the 
 censures and pains concluded on the laws and canons, 
 depriving them and their descendants of all lands and 
 dignities, incapable to succeed to any principality what- 
 soever, especially to the kingdom of France ; and not 
 only absolving their subjects from all oaths of fidelity, 
 but absolutely forbidding them to obey them. 
 
 It was now that our Henry had need of all the 
 forces both of his courage and virtue to sustain such 
 rude assaults. He seemed in a manner lulled asleep 
 by his pleasures. When the noise of these great 
 assaults awakened him, he recalled all his virtue, and 
 began to make it appear more vigorously than ever 
 before. And he certainly afterwards avowed that his 
 enemies had highly obliged him by persecuting him 
 in this manner; for had they left him in repose, he 
 would not have been constrained to think of his 
 affairs, and, at the death of Henry III., would not 
 have been in a state to attempt or entertain the 
 crown. 
 
 1 It is said that when Henry of Navarre heard of the King's 
 agreement with the League, his apprehension for his party was 
 such that his moustache became white. — Mathieu : History of 
 France, vol. i. 
 
48 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT \ 
 
 He now did two renowned actions. The first was i 
 
 his commanding Philippe de Mornay (du Plessis Mornay), 
 a gentleman of excellent education, and who could be 
 reproached with nothing but being a Huguenot, to 
 answer the manifesto of the League by an apology, ' 
 
 and by a declaration which he caused to be drawn 
 (June loth, 1585). In this last piece (the chiefs of 
 the League having spread abroad divers calumnies 
 against his honour) he with all submission besought 
 the King his sovereign that he would not be offended 
 if he did pronounce, having still the respect due to 
 his Majesty, that they did falsely and maliciously lie ; 
 and moreover, that to spare the blood of his nobles 
 and avoid the desolation of the poor people, those 
 infinite disorders, and above all those blasphemies, 
 burnings and violations which the license of war must , 
 
 cause, he offered to the Duke of Guise, chief of the 
 League, to decide this quarrel by his person against 
 his, one to one, two to two, ten to ten, or such 
 number as he should please, with arms generally in 
 use by cavaliers of honour, either in the realm of 
 France, or in such place as his Majesty should com- 
 mand, or else in such place as the Duke of Guise 
 himself should choose. 
 
 This declaration had a great effect on people's 
 spirits. They said that force could not be justly em- , 
 
 ployed against him who so far submitted himself to 
 reason ; and the greater part of the nobility approved 
 this generous procedure, and proclaimed aloud that the 
 Duke of Guise ought not to refuse so great an honour. 
 
 That duke wanted no courage to accept the de- 
 fiance ; but he considered that drawing his sword 
 
A BOLD ACTION 49 
 
 against a prince of the blood was in France accounted 
 a kind of parricide ; that otherwise he would willingly 
 have reduced the cause of religion and of the public to 
 a private quarrel. He therefore prudently answered 
 that he esteemed the person of the King of Navarre, 
 and would have no controversy with him ; but that 
 he only interested himself in the Catholic religion, 
 which was threatened, and for the tranquillity of the 
 kingdom, which only and absolutely depended on the 
 unity of religion. 
 
 His other action was as follows. Having heard 
 the noise of those paper thunderbolts which the Pope 
 had thrown out against him, he dispatched a repre- 
 sentative to the King to make his complaints to him, 
 and to demonstrate to him that this procedure con- 
 cerned his Majesty nearer than himself; that he ought 
 to judge that if the Pope took upon himself to decide 
 concerning his succession, and should seize to himself 
 a right to declare a prince of the blood unable to 
 succeed to the crown, he might afterwards well pass 
 further, and dethrone the King himself, as Zachar}^ is 
 reported to have formerly degraded Childeric HI. 
 
 Upon these remonstrances, the King hindered the 
 publication of those bulls in his dominions. But our 
 Henry, not contenting himself therewith, and knowing 
 himself to have friends at Rome, waxed so bold as to 
 fix his and the Prince of Conde's opposition at the 
 corners of the chief streets of that city, by which those 
 princes appealed from the sentence of Sixtus V. to the 
 Court of Peerage of France, giving the lie to whoever 
 accused them of the crime of heresy, offering to prove 
 the contrary in a general council, and in the end pro- 
 
 4 
 
50 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 fessing that they would revenge upon him and upon 
 all his successors the injury done their King, the royal 
 family, and all the courts of parliament.^ 
 
 It could not but be supposed that this opposition 
 would incense to the utmost the spirit of Sixtus V. ; 
 and indeed at first he testified a very furious emotion. 
 However, when his choler was a little assuaged, he 
 admired the great courage of that King who at such 
 a distance had known how to revenge himself and fix 
 the marks of his resentment even at the gates of his 
 palace ; in such manner he conceived so great an 
 esteem for him (so true is it that virtue makes itself 
 reverenced by its very enemies) that he was often 
 afterwards heard say that of all those who reigned in 
 Christendom there was none but this prince and Eliza- 
 beth, Queen of England, to whom he would have 
 communicated those great things which agitated his 
 spirit, if they had not been heretics. Nor could all 
 the prayers of the League ever oblige him to furnish 
 anything towards the charges of this war, which pos- 
 sibly overwhelmed the greater part of their enterprises, 
 because their hopes in part depended on a million 
 which he had promised them. 
 
 Now, as on their side the chiefs of the League 
 endeavoured to attract to their party all the lords 
 and cities they could, our Henry on his part reunited 
 with him all his friends both of the one and the 
 other religion : the Marshal of Damville-Montmorency, 
 governor of Languedoc ; the Duke of Montpensier, 
 prince of the blood, who was governor of Poitou, 
 
 1 This piece of audacity was drawn up at Paris by Pierre de 
 L'Estoile, King's counsellor. 
 
HENRY FORMS A STRONG PARTY 51 
 
 with his son the Prince of Dombes ; the Prince of 
 Conde, who held a part of Poitou, of Saintange, and 
 of Angoumois ; the Count of Soissons, and the Prince 
 of Conti his brother. Of these five princes of the 
 blood, the three last were his cousins-german, the two 
 first were removed one degree further ; and all pro- 
 fessed the Catholic religion, save only the Prince of 
 Conde. He had likewise on his part Lesdiguieres, who 
 from a plain gentleman had by his valour elevated him- 
 self to so high a point that he was master of the 
 Dauphinate, and made the Duke of Savoy tremble ; 
 Claudius de la Tremoille, who possessed great lands 
 in Poitou and Brittany, and had some time before 
 turned Huguenot that he might have the honour to 
 marry his daughter to the Prince of Conde ; Henry 
 de la Tour, Viscount of Turenne, who, either out of 
 complacency or true persuasion, had espoused the new 
 religion ; Chastillon, son to the Admiral Coligny ; La 
 Boulaye, Lord Poitevin ; Rene, chief of the house of 
 Rohan ; George de Clermont d'Amboise ; Francis, Count 
 of Rochefoucauld ; the Lord d'Aubeterre ; James de 
 Caumont La Force ; the Lords de Pons, Saint Gelais- 
 Lansac ; with many other lords and gentlemen of re- 
 nown, all or most of the new religion. At the same 
 time he dispatched to Elizabeth Queen of England and 
 to the Protestant princes of Germany such able agents, 
 that they all joined together in a strong union, the 
 one to maintain the other ; so that all these being 
 united, all things happened contrary to what the League 
 expected ; and our Henry found himself fortified in such 
 manner that he had no longer any apprehension of being 
 oppressed without having the means to defend himself. 
 
 4—2 
 
52 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 King Henry III. was extremely perplexed at this 
 war,^ which was maintained at his expense and to his 
 great prejudice, since they disputed the succession, he 
 yet living and well, and already considered him as one 
 dead. He loved neither the one nor the other party, 
 but did so much cherish his favourites (strange blind- 
 ness !) that he fain would have parted his estate amongst 
 them had it been in his power. The League on their 
 side pretended to have power enough to carry it ; and 
 our Henry hoped to frustrate the designs of both. The 
 Queen-mother, having other wishes for the children of 
 her daughter married to the Duke of Lorraine, promised 
 the King to find means to calm all these tempests. 
 To this purpose she procured a truce with our Henr}-, 
 during which an interview was agreed upon between 
 him and her at the castle of St. Brix, near Coignac, 
 where both met in the month of December. 
 
 There was some difficulty to find security for both ; 
 but especially for the Queen-mother, who was wonder- 
 fully distrustful. Our Henry hereupon did an action 
 of great generosity, which he managed in this manner. 
 There had been a truce agreed upon for the security 
 of this conference, in such sort that if either party 
 broke it, they were in fault, and might justly be 
 arrested. Now some of our Henry's followers, feigning 
 to be traitors, had enticed some of the Catholic cap- 
 tains, too greedy of the booty, to Fontenay, which 
 they would have let them take. By this means the 
 Catholics would have remained convicted of perfidy, 
 and he would have had good pretence to arrest the 
 
 1 This war has been called the " War of the Three Henries," 
 viz., Henry HI., Henry Duke of Guise, and Henry of Navarre. 
 
THE CONFERENCE AT ST. BRIX 53 
 
 Queen-mother ; but this generous prince, having heard 
 of this foul conspiracy, was extremely vexed against 
 those who contrived it, and forbade them to continue 
 it. Was not this proof to all men that he had the true 
 sentiments of honour founded in his soul, and not the 
 mere semblance ? 
 
 And as he testified his generosity in that rencontre, 
 so he made known his constancy and the power of 
 his spirit in all the discourse. The Queen demanding 
 of him what it was he desired, he answered, regarding 
 those ladies she had brought with her, " Madam, 
 there is nothing that I would have ; " as if he would 
 have said that he would not allow himself to be drawn 
 away by such allurements. She endeavoured above 
 all things to disunite him from the other chiefs of his 
 parry, or to render him suspected, offering all that 
 he demanded for himself; but he, knowing well her 
 stratagem, held firmly to his point that he could not 
 treat about anything without communicating it to his 
 friends. 
 
 After a long conversation, she once demanding of 
 him if the pains she had taken would produce no 
 more fruit, especially to her, who only wished for re- 
 pose, he answered her : " Madam, I am not the cause 
 of it, nor is it I who hinder you from resting in your 
 bed ; it is you that hinder me from resting in mine. 
 The pains you take please and nourish you, for repose 
 is the greatest enemy of your life." (Dec. 14th, 1586.) 
 
 He made many other replies very lively and full 
 of spirit ; but above all, that was notable which he 
 made to the Duke of Nevers, of the house of Gonzaga, 
 who accompanied the Queen-mother. This nobleman 
 
54 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 presuming once to tell him that he might live much 
 more honourably near the King than among those 
 people who had no authority ; and that if he should 
 have occasion for money at Rochelle, he would scarce 
 have the credit to raise one impost, he fiercely replied: 
 " Sir, I do at Rochelle all that I please, because I 
 shall please to do nothing but what I ought." 
 
 This conference at St, Brix having produced no- 
 thing but new exasperations, and the Queen -mother 
 having returned, the Guises, who endeavoured by all 
 means possible to revenge themselves on the favourites, 
 made offer of their service to our Henry ; and the 
 Duke of Mayenne sent to tell him that there might 
 be found means for an accommodation, if he would 
 meet them ; that he would come to find him with 
 four horse at whatever place he pleased, and that he 
 would give him his wife and children for hostage. 
 This negotiation had no success, nor can I find the 
 cause why it was interrupted. 
 
 The rest of the winter passed in the two courts 
 in feasts and dances ; for, notwithstanding the miseries 
 and troubles of the kingdom, Queen Catherine had 
 introduced the custom of dancing in all places and 
 at all feasts. This she did, it was said, to amuse 
 the great ones of the court in those vain diver- 
 sions, there being nothing which more dissipates the 
 powers of the spirit, nor which is more capable — if 
 we may say so — to dissolve the forces of the soul, 
 than the ravishing sound of violins, the continual 
 agitation of the body, and the charms of ladies. 
 After the examples of the court, dances and masks 
 reigned in all the realm ; nor could the remonstrances 
 
THE GERMAN ALLIES 55 
 
 of the ministers hinder these dances among the greater 
 part of the Huguenot lords, though there were still 
 some who could not suffer it. 
 
 In the spring some enterprises began on both sides; 
 but they were nothing in comparison to what was 
 done towards the end of the summer. The Protestant 
 princes of Germany sent an army to the assistance of 
 the Huguenots, consisting of five thousand lansquenets 
 or German foot, sixteen thousand Swiss, and six thou- 
 sand German horse. They traversed Lorraine and 
 Champagne, afterwards passed the Seine, and marched 
 towards the Loire, as if they would have passed it, 
 or coasted along it in their re-advancing. At the 
 same time the King of Navarre had gathered his 
 forces towards Rochelle, and endeavoured to come to 
 meet them on the banks of the Loire ; but he was 
 hindered by an army of the King, commanded by the 
 Duke of Joyeuse, who had orders to diligently pursue 
 him. The Duke of Guise had likewise gathered the 
 forces of his party; and though they were very small, 
 followed sometimes the German horse, sometimes 
 skirted them, and oftentimes mixed himself amongst 
 them without any great danger ; so much the rather 
 because this too weighty body of strangers could not 
 easily move, being troubled with a great baggage, not 
 having a chief either of any great credit, or sufficiently 
 intelligent to conduct, and all its captains being at 
 variance one with the other. 
 
 By reason of all these acts this army could 
 never take any good resolution. The Loire was ford- 
 able in many places, for it was about the end of 
 September ; but nevertheless they would not pass it, 
 
56 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 but spread themselves in the country of Beausse, 
 expecting news from the King of Navarre, instead of 
 advancing against the Nivernois, and gaining Bur- 
 gundy. The intention of the King of Navarre was to 
 advance along the Dordogne, and from thence enter 
 into Guienne, and, after having gathered together all 
 his forces, to meet the Protestant army in Burgundy, 
 by the favour of those provinces which were his 
 friends. But the Duke of Joyeuse obstinately pursued 
 him, imagining he fled, because in effect he avoided 
 fighting, having no other end than a conjunction with 
 the Germans. 
 
 This duke had much declined in favour with 
 the King, who had received advice that he inclined 
 much to the League ; not that he loved the Guises, 
 but because he had permitted it to be put into his 
 head by his flatterers that he deserved to be chief of 
 that great party ; and he held the destruction of the 
 Huguenots so certain that he had obtained from the 
 Pope the confiscation of all the sovereign territories 
 of our Henry. Desiring, therefore, to sustain his re- 
 putation and favour, which were then tottering, he 
 pursued him so closely that he overtook him near to 
 Coutras. 
 
 The army of Joyeuse was, as one may say, all of 
 gold, shining with silver and gold laces, with damasked 
 arms, with feathers in great plumes, with embroidered 
 scarfs and velvet coats, with which every lord, accord- 
 ing to the mode of the times, had furnished his com- 
 panies ; but the army of the King of Navarre was all 
 of iron, having no other than grizzled arms, without 
 any ornament, with great belts of buff, and labourers' 
 
THE TWO ARMIES 57 
 
 clothes. The first had the advantage in number, having 
 six hundred horse and a thousand foot more than the 
 other ; the half of its infantry were dragoons and its 
 cavalry almost all lancers, and mostly mounted on 
 managed horses. It had besides for it the name and 
 authority of the King and assurance of rewards ; but 
 the better half of it was composed of new troops, 
 which wanted order and discipline. It had a general 
 without authority ; a hundred chiefs instead of one ; 
 and all young people, brought up in the delights of the 
 court, having sufficient heart and courage, but with- 
 out any experience. 
 
 The other, on the contrary, was composed of all 
 the choice men of its party — the old remnant of the 
 battles of Jarnac and Montcontour, people bred up in 
 the mystery of war, and hardened b}^ the continual 
 endurance of fights and adversities. It had at its 
 head three princes of the blood, the chief of them well 
 obeyed and reverenced as the presumptive heir to the 
 crown, the love of the soldiery, and hope of all good 
 Frenchmen ; besides, it was armed with a necessity 
 either to overcome or die — armour of more proof than 
 either steel or brass. 
 
 Orders being given, the King of Navarre called all 
 his chiefs, and from a little rising ground exhorted 
 them in a few words, but such as were agreeable both 
 to his quality and the time ; taking Heaven to witness 
 that he fought not against his King, but for the de- 
 fence of his religion and right. Afterwards addressing 
 himself to the two princes of the blood, Conde and 
 Soissons, " I shall say nothing else to you," said he, 
 " but that you are of the house of Bourbon ; and if 
 
58 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 God live, I will now show you that I am worthy to 
 be the first-born of the family." ^ 
 
 His valour that day appeared above that of all 
 others. He had placed on his head-piece a plume of 
 white feathers, both to make himself known and be- 
 cause he loved that colour ; so that some putting 
 themselves before him, out of design to shelter and 
 defend his person, he cried out to them, " To your 
 quarter, I pray you ! Do not shadow me, for I would 
 appear." (A bravery without doubt absolutely neces- 
 sary for a conqueror, but which would be temerity 
 and an unpardonable fault in a prince well estab- 
 lished.) He broke the first ranks of the enemy, and 
 took prisoners with his own hand, and came even to 
 handigrips with one named Chateau-Reynard, cornet 
 of a company of men-at-arms, saying to him, " Deliver 
 thy colours ! " 
 
 The battle being gained, some having seen the 
 fugitives, who made a halt, came to tell him that the 
 army of the Marshal of Matignon appeared. He re- 
 ceived this news as a new subject of glory ; and, 
 turning bravely towards his people, " Let us go, my 
 friends," said he ; " this will be a thing never before 
 seen, two battles in one day." 
 
 It was not only his valour that made him worthy 
 to be admired on this occasion ; it was likewise his 
 justice, moderation, and clemency. For his justice we 
 may recount what follows. 
 
 He had debauched the daughter of an officer of 
 Rochelle, a thing which had dishonoured that family 
 
 1 " And we," answered Conde, " will show you that you have 
 good juniors." — Martin's History of France, vol. x. p. 41. 
 
THE BATTLE OF COUTRAS 59 
 
 and very much scandalised him among the Rochellers. 
 A minister, as the squadrons were almost ready to go 
 to the charge and the prayer was to be made, took 
 the liberty to remonstrate with him that God could 
 not favour his arms if he did not beforehand demand 
 pardon for that offence, repair the scandal by a public 
 satisfaction, and restore honour to a family he had 
 deprived of it. The good King humbly hearkened to 
 these remonstrances, fell upon his knees, demanded of 
 God pardon for his fault, and prayed all those who 
 were present to serve as witnesses of his repentance 
 and to assure the father of the maiden that if God 
 gave him the grace to live, he would repair as much 
 as possible the honour he had deprived her of. So 
 Christian a submission drew tears from all present, 
 nor were there any who would not have ventured 
 a thousand lives for a prince who so cordially inclined 
 himself to do reason to his inferiors. 
 
 Having thus overcome himself, God made him con- 
 queror over his enemies ; and who knows but that He 
 exalted him^ because he so Christianly humbled himself ? 
 The enemy's army was wholly defeated, with the loss 
 of five thousand men, and all their cannon, baggage, 
 and ensigns. All their chief commanders were taken 
 prisoners, except two or three, among whom were the 
 Duke of Joyeuse, and Saint-Saviour his brother, who 
 were found dead on the field. ^ 
 
 That night, our conqueror, finding his lodgings full 
 of prisoners and wounded persons of the enemy, was 
 constrained to cause his bed to be carried to those of 
 
 1 This was the battle of Coutras, fought on October 20th, 
 1587. The victors lost only about forty men. 
 
6o HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Du Plessis Mornay ; but the body of Joyeuse being laid 
 forth on the table in the hall, he was forced to go to 
 an upper room ; and there, while he supped, were pre- 
 sented unto him the prisoners, fifty-six foot ensigns, and 
 twenty-two standards and cornets. 
 
 It was a fair and glorious spectacle for this prince 
 to have under his feet that enemy who had obtained 
 from the Pope the confiscation of his territories ; to 
 see his table environed with so many noble captains, 
 and his chamber tapestried with ensigns. But, to 
 speak truly, it was much more agreeable to generous 
 souls to see that, amongst so many subjects of vanity 
 and pride, and in such just resentment of those bloody 
 injuries done him (things which often transport the 
 sweetest souls to insolence and cruelty), there could 
 not be observed either in his words or countenance 
 the least sign that might breed any suspicion that 
 either his constancy or goodness were in the least 
 altered ; but, on the contrary, showing himself as 
 courteous and humane in his victory as he had shown 
 himself brave and redoubtable in fight, he sent back 
 almost all the prisoners without ransom, restored 
 their baggage to many, took great care of the wounded, 
 and gave the bodies of Joyeuse and Saint-Saviour to 
 the Viscount de Turenne, who was their kinsman. He 
 dispatched the next morning his master of requests to 
 the King, to entreat peace of him ; from whence it was 
 judged that so great a courage would overcome all its 
 enemies, and that nothing would be capable to reverse 
 his fortune whom so great a prosperity was not able 
 to move. 
 
 He was, however, blamed for not having hotly 
 
THE GERMAN ALLIES DEFEATED 6i 
 
 pursued his victory, and for having permitted that 
 triumphant army to break up, not again employing it 
 in some great exploit. It was believed, and there was 
 much appearance for it, that he would not press things 
 too forward for fear of too much offending the King, 
 with whom he desired yet to keep some measures, 
 hoping daily that he might reconcile himself to him, 
 and return to court, where it was necessary he should 
 be, that he might be in a condition to take the crown 
 when Henry III. should die. In fine, were it for this 
 reason or any other, he retired into Gascony, and from 
 thence into Beam, under pretext of some pressing 
 affair, carrying with him only five hundred horse and 
 the Count of Soissons, whom he kept near him in the 
 hope of making him espouse his sister. The Prince of 
 Conde returned to Rochelle, and Turenne to Perigord. 
 
 In the meantime that great army of Germans, 
 having received many checks in several places — but 
 especially at Auneau in Beausse, where the Duke of 
 Guise slew or took prisoners three thousand horse, 
 and afterwards at Pont de Gien, where the Duke 
 d'Epernon took twelve hundred lansquenets and almost 
 all the cannon — willingly hearkened to an agreement 
 which the King caused to be proposed to them, and 
 afterwards retired by Burgundy and the county of 
 Montbeliard, but were still pursued farther in that 
 county by the Duke of Guise. 
 
 Now began the year 1588, which all judicious 
 astrologers had called the wonderful year, because 
 they foresaw so great a number of strange accidents 
 and such confusion in natural causes that they were 
 assured that, if the end of the world came not, there 
 
62 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 would happen at least a universal change. Their 
 prognostications were seconded by a number of prodi- 
 gies which happened throughout all Europe. In France 
 there were great earthquakes, along the river Loire and 
 likewise in Normandy. The sea was for six weeks 
 together disturbed with continual tempests, which 
 seemed to confound both heaven and earth. In the 
 air appeared divers fiery spectres, and on the 24th 
 of January Paris was covered with so horrible a dark- 
 ness that those who had the best eyes could scarce 
 see anything at noonday without the help of lights. 
 All these prodigies seemed to signify what soon after 
 took place — the death of the Prince of Conde, the be- 
 sieging of Paris, the subversion of the whole realm, 
 the murdering of the Guises, and lastly, the murder 
 of Henry III. 
 
 As for the Prince of Conde, he died in the month 
 of March, at St. Jean d'Angely, where he then made 
 his residence. Though there had been a secret jealousy 
 between him and the King of Navarre, even to the 
 making of two factions in their party, yet the King 
 deplored his loss with an extreme grief, and, having 
 shut himself up in his closet with the Count de 
 Soissons, he was heard to utter great cries and say 
 that he had lost his right hand. However, after his 
 grief had a little evaporated he recovered his spirits, 
 and, casting all his trust on Divine protection, came 
 forth, saying, with a heart full of Christian assurance, 
 " God is my refuge and strength ; in Him alone I 
 will hope, and I shall not be confounded." 
 
 It was truly a great loss for him. He had now 
 to bear alone all the weight of affairs ; and being 
 deprived of this supporter, remained more exposed to 
 
DEATH OF THE PRINCE OF CONDE 63 
 
 the attempts of the League, who had now only to 
 give a hke blow to his person to remain conquerors 
 in all their affairs. He had therefore just cause to 
 fear their attempts. However, the Duke of Guise had 
 a heart so noble and great that whilst he lived he 
 would never suffer such detestable ways. 
 
 The confidence of the League increased wonderfully 
 by the death of the Prince of Conde. They manifested 
 this by extraordinary rejoicings, and declared it to be an 
 effect of the justice of God and of the apostolic curses. 
 The Huguenots, on the contrary, were in an extreme 
 consternation, considering that they had lost in him 
 their most assured chief, because they believed him 
 firmly persuaded in their religion, but had not the 
 same opinion of the King of Navarre. In effect, the 
 confusion and disorder was so great amongst them 
 that, to all appearance, had the League continued 
 strongly to prosecute them, it might have soon ruined 
 them. The King hated them mortally, and would 
 willingly have consented ; but he wished to manage 
 things in such a manner that their destruction should 
 not prove the aggrandising of the Duke of Guise and 
 his own loss. But this duke, knowing his intentions, 
 pressed him continually to give him forces to utterly 
 exterminate the Huguenots, in whose ruin he hoped 
 to involve the King of Navarre. 
 
 He had this advantage over the King, that he had 
 acquired the love of the people, principally by two 
 means — the first by his opposing himself to the new 
 imposts, and the second by continually being at 
 variance with the favourites, nor ever bending before 
 them ; whilst the doing of the contrary things had 
 made the King fall into an extremely low esteem, and 
 
64 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 had likewise taken away the fervour of some of his 
 servants' love. Here is an example. 
 
 The King had two great men in his council, Pierre 
 d'Espinac, archbishop of Lyons, and Villeroy, secre- 
 tary of state. The Duke d'Epernon, who was fierce 
 and haughty, would treat them according to his proud 
 humour. They grew exasperated against him, and 
 thereupon changed their affection to the Duke of 
 Guise's party, but without doubt still in their hearts 
 remaining most faithful to the King and crown of 
 France, as afterward well appeared, especially in the 
 person of Villeroy. 
 
 In the meantime the King lived after the ordinary 
 manner, in the profusions of an odious luxury and in 
 the laziness of a contemptible retreat, passing his time 
 either in seeing dances or in playing with little dogs, 
 of which he had great numbers of all sorts ; or else in 
 teaching paroquets to speak, or in cutting images, or in 
 other occupations more becoming an infant than a king.^ 
 
 But the Duke of Guise lost no time. He daily made 
 new friends, kept his old ones, caressed the people, 
 testified a great zeal for the ecclesiastics, undertaking 
 their defence against all who would oppress them, and 
 everywhere appeared with the splendour and gravity of 
 a prince, but yet without pride or arrogance. The 
 Parisians were intoxicated with esteem for him ; the 
 greater part of the parliament and most of the other 
 officers attended his functions, and testified to him 
 the affection they owed to the service of the King. 
 
 There were an infinite number of people who had 
 
 1 The nuncio of the Pope thus describes Henry III.: "II 
 est faible et luxurieux, il n'aura pas de posterite." 
 
THE ''SIXTEEN" 65 
 
 signed the League ; and in the sixteen quarters or wards 
 of Paris, when they could not gain the quarteniers or 
 aldermen, they chose one of the most violent of the 
 Leaguers to act in their behalf; by reason of which the 
 people of Paris afterwards called the principal of this 
 party and his faction the "Sixteen" — not that they were 
 but sixteen, for their number exceeded ten thousand, 
 but all dispersed through the sixteen quarters. 
 
 Now the King, principally incited by the Duke 
 d'Epernon, resolved to punish the most forward of this 
 Sixteen, who on all occasions showed themselves furious 
 enemies of that favourite. By this means he thought 
 to overthrow the League and absolutely ruin the credit 
 and reputation of the Duke of Guise. He caused, 
 therefore, some troops secretly to enter Paris, and gave 
 them orders to seize on those persons. 
 
 The Duke of Guise being advised of it, posted from 
 Soissons, where he then was, resolving to perish rather 
 than lose his friends. Barricades were raised in the 
 month of May, ^ even to the gates of the Louvre, and 
 the King's troops were all cut to pieces or disarmed. 
 The Queen-mother, according to her ordinary custom, 
 acted as mediator; but the King, affrighted, and fear- 
 ing to be put in durance, retired to Chartres (May 13). 
 
 The League by this becoming master of Paris, 
 took possession of the Bastille, the Hotel de Ville, and 
 the Temple, and hanged the provost of the merchants 
 and the city lieutenant. And at the same time they 
 possessed themselves of Orleans, Bruges, Amiens, Abbe- 
 ville, Montreuil, Rouen, Rheims, Chalons, and more 
 than twenty other cities in several provinces, the people 
 
 ^ The 12th of May was called the " Day of Barricades." 
 
 5 
 
66 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 everywhere crying, " Long live Guise ! " " Long live the 
 Protector of the Faith ! " 
 
 The King, not without much reason, was extremely 
 alarmed. The Parisians sent to him to Chartres to 
 ask pardon, but withal they demanded the extirpation 
 of heresy. All his friends increased his fears, none 
 fortified his courage. In this distress he knew no 
 securer way to shun that danger which threatened 
 him than by essaying to disarm his subjects. To this 
 end he sent one of his masters of the requests to 
 the parliament, to let them understand that his absolute 
 intention was to forget all that was past, so that 
 everyone might return to his duty, and labour diligently 
 for the reformation of the kingdom ; to further which he 
 found it convenient to assemble the States-general at 
 the end of the year, where they might provide for the 
 assuring a Catholic successor of the blood royal, pro- 
 testing that he would observe inviolably all the resolu- 
 tions of the estates, but that he would have them 
 free and without faction, and that from that day all 
 his subjects should lay down arms. 
 
 It much troubled the Duke of Guise to consent to 
 the laying down arms, fearing lest when he was left 
 defenceless he should remain at the mercy of his enemies, 
 and particularly of the Duke d'Epernon. He therefore 
 stirred up the Parisians by a famous deputation to 
 demand the continuation of the war against the Hugue- 
 nots and the expulsion of that duke. The King, after 
 some resistance, granted both the one and the other ; 
 for he caused to be ratified in parliament an edict 
 most advantageously favourable for the League, and 
 most bloody against the Huguenots, and he bid adieu 
 
THE MURDER OF THE GUISES 67 
 
 to the Duke d'Epernon, who retired into his govern- 
 ment of Angoumois. 
 
 After this the Duke of Guise came to attend the 
 King at Chartres, having the Queen-mother's word for 
 his security, and both gave great assurances of his 
 fidehty, and received all the testimonies he could wish 
 of the affection of the King, insomuch that he made 
 him head of the gens d'arnies of France. 
 
 In the meantime the League gained the upper hand 
 throughout all the provinces on this side of the Loire, 
 and caused deputies for the estates to be elected at its 
 pleasure. In the month of November the estates as- 
 sembled in the city of Blois. It is not necessary here 
 to recount all their intrigues. Finally the King, per- 
 suaded that they had conspired to dethrone him, caused 
 the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal his brother to be 
 slain in the castle,^ and kept prisoner the Cardinal de 
 Bourbon, the Archbishop of Lyons, the Prince of Join- 
 ville, who after the death of his father was called Duke 
 of Guise, and the Duke of Nemours, brother by his 
 mother to the first duke. 
 
 The Queen-mother, under whose pledge the Guises 
 thought themselves in security, was so touched with 
 the reproaches made her, and with the slightings of 
 the King her son, who after this believed he had no 
 more need of her, that she died with grief and vexation 
 a few days after (January 5th, 1589), lamented by no 
 person, not even by her son, and generally hated by 
 all parties. 
 
 In truth, if ever there was an action ambiguous or 
 
 1 The duke on the 23rd and his brother on the 24th of 
 December. 
 
 5—2 
 
68 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 problematical it was that of these murders. The ser- 
 vants of the King said that he was constrained to it 
 by the extreme audacity of the Guises, and that, if he 
 had not prevented them, they would have shaved him 
 and shut him up in a monastery. But the ill repute 
 in which he was held among all men, the general 
 esteem these princes had acquired, and the odious cir- 
 cumstances of the murder, made it appear horrible even 
 in the eyes of the Huguenots, who said that this much 
 resembled the bloody massacre of St. Bartholomew. 
 
 Our Henry observed a wise neutrality in this 
 rencontre. He deplored their death, and praised their 
 valour ; but he said that certainly the King had very 
 weighty motives to treat them in that manner, and 
 for the rest, that the judgments of God were great, 
 and His grace threefold towards him, having avenged 
 him of his enemies, and neither engaged his con- 
 science nor his hand in it. For certain gentlemen 
 having often offered themselves to him with a deter- 
 mined resolution to go and kill the Duke of Guise, 
 he had always let them know that he abhorred such 
 a proposition, and that he would neither esteem them 
 his friends nor honest men if they harboured it in their 
 thoughts. 
 
 His council, being assembled upon the receipt of 
 this grave news, found that he ought not on this 
 account to make any change in the conduct of his 
 affairs, because the King, though he himself might be 
 willing to it, dared not for some months speak of a 
 peace for fear he should make it be believed that he 
 had slain the Guises to favour the Huguenots; so that 
 he continued the war and held several places. 
 
ACTIVITY OF THE LEAGUE 69 
 
 In the meantime the progress of affairs opened out 
 before him a pathway that led to the heart of the 
 kingdom and to the court, which was the post he 
 ought most to covet. 
 
 While Henry III. was amusing himself after the mur- 
 der of the Guises in examining the acts of the estates 
 at Blois, instead of mounting his horse and showing 
 himself in those places where his presence was most 
 necessary, the League, which at first had been astonished 
 at so great a blow, regained its spirits. The great cities, 
 and principally Paris, which were possessed with this 
 madness, having had leisure to dissipate their amaze- 
 ment, passed from fear to pity, and from pity to fury. 
 The Sixteen chose at Paris the Duke d'Aumale for 
 their governor. The preachers and churchmen de- 
 claimed bitterly against the King ; the people pulled 
 down his arms wherever they found them and dragged 
 them through the dirt. The parliament, who would 
 have restrained these hostile demonstrations, were im- 
 prisoned in the Bastille by Bussy le Clerc, a simple pro- 
 tector, but very much esteemed among the Sixteen, 
 and were forced, in order to regain their liberty, to 
 swear to the League. When released from the Bastille, 
 there were many who continued to hold the parliament 
 at Paris ; the others stole away, little by little, and 
 went over to the King, who transferred the parliament 
 to Tours, where they kept their session until the re- 
 duction of Paris, in the year 1594. These, without 
 doubt, testified most fidelity to their King ; but those 
 who remained at Paris rendered him afterwards much 
 greater service, as shall be observed in its place. 
 
 The widow of the Duke of Guise presented her 
 
70 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 request to these to take information of the death of 
 her husband, and demanded of the commissioners that 
 action might be taken against those who should be 
 found convicted of it. She received favourable assu- 
 rances from the procurator-general, and they proceeded 
 very far on this subject, even against the person of 
 Henry III. ; but I cannot say to what point, because 
 the papers were taken from the registers of parliament 
 when Henry the Great re-entered Paris. 
 
 We cannot sufficiently detest such revolts against 
 a sovereign ; but these examples ought to make him 
 know that though he holds his power from on high, 
 yet obedience depends on the caprice of the people, 
 and that he ought so to carry himself as not to attract 
 their hatred ; otherwise, since men have the audacity 
 to blaspheme God, why may they not have it to revolt 
 against kings ? 
 
 Whilst these things were progressing, Henry HI. 
 understood that Pope Sixtus V. had excommunicated 
 him for the murder of Cardinal de Guise. This great 
 fire in a little time set France in a blaze. The Duke 
 of Mayenne, who was at Lyons making war against 
 the Huguenots, being informed by a courier from 
 Roissieu, his secretary (who prevented the King's 
 departure from that city), came into his own govern- 
 ment of Burgundy, assured himself of Dijon and of 
 Provence, and thence passed into Champagne, where 
 the people received him with open arms ; afterwards to 
 Orleans, which had already revolted, and to Chartres, 
 which his presence stirred into action ; and in the 
 end he came to Paris. The Sixteen and many of his 
 friends advised him to take the title of King, which 
 
HENRY III.'S PERPLEXITY 
 
 71 
 
 would be given him by the council which the League 
 had established ; but he refused, contenting himself 
 with the title of Lieutenant-general of the Estate and 
 Crown of France, which he took, as if the throne had 
 been vacant. They likewise broke the seals of the King, 
 and made others, whereon was engraven on one side 
 the arms of France, and on the other an empty throne, 
 and for inscription about it the name and quality of 
 the Duke of Mayenne in this manner : " Charles Duke 
 of Mayenne, Lieutenant of the Estate and Crown of 
 France." 
 
 All France took part in this occurrence, and almost 
 all the cities and provinces of the realm ranged them- 
 selves on the Duke of Mayenne's side. The King, 
 fearful that he should be shut up in Blois, retired to 
 Tours. There now remained only one way for him 
 to defend himself against the many dangers that were 
 ready to environ him, and this was to call to his 
 assistance the King of Navarre, who had five or six 
 thousand men, old soldiers, by whom he was well 
 beloved. Yet he durst not do it, for fear of being 
 deemed a favourer of heretics, or of incurring the blame 
 of violating those edicts against the Huguenots he had 
 so solemnly sworn to in the estates of Blois. He tried 
 therefore all sorts of ways to appease the resentment 
 of the Duke of Mayenne, offering him very advantageous 
 conditions. But what assurance, said the Leaguers, 
 can this duke have, his brothers being murdered in so 
 perfidious a manner ? He therefore would not listen to any 
 of the King's proposals, and Henry HL was constrained 
 to turn his thoughts towards the King of Navarre. 
 
 This prince above all things desired a passage 
 
72 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 over the river Loire. The city of Saumur was given 
 to him, where he estabhshed, as governor, Du Plessis 
 Mornay, who fortified the castle and made it the head 
 of the Huguenot garrisons. Having afterwards from 
 thence approached Tours, his old captains, through 
 distrust of Henry HI., hindered him from going to 
 see that King, whom they feared, they said, lest in 
 a time when treachery was so necessary to draw him 
 out of that labyrinth wherein the action of Blois had 
 involved him, he should buy his absolution at the 
 price of the King of Navarre's life. 
 
 The Duke d'Epernon, who had returned to court 
 to serve his master in his need, and the Marshal d'Au- 
 mont would have engaged him to it, and given him 
 their word of honour ; but his friends could not consent 
 that he should expose himself to the faith of a prince 
 who, as they believed, had not any. In truth their fears 
 were just, and our Henry was without doubt possessed 
 with them as well as they. However, after he had 
 well considered that he acted now for the safety of 
 France, for the service of the King, and to open to 
 himself a way to defend that crown which appertained 
 to him, he resolved to hazard all, and to resign himself 
 absolutely to the holy guard of the Sovereign Protector 
 of kings. 
 
 The city of Tours is situated, as it were, in an island, 
 a little below the place where the river Cher mingles 
 its stream with the Loire, having coasted that great river 
 three or four leagues. The King of Navarre's people 
 wished not that he should trust himself between these 
 rivers, but that the conference should be held beyond 
 the Cher. He almost alone was of an opinion contrary 
 
HENRY GOES TO THE KING'S AID 73 
 
 to them all ; nevertheless, to content them, he was con- 
 strained to hold a council on the banks, and afterwards 
 to permit his captains to pass first, as if to sound the 
 ford. He passed after them, and arrived at Plessis 
 les Tours about three o'clock in the afternoon, in a 
 warlike habit, all dirty and worn by his cuirass, him- 
 self only having a cloak, all his people being in their 
 doublets, and ready to take up their arms, that he 
 might show the King he was not come to make his 
 court to him, but to serve him well. 
 
 He went to meet the King, who heard vespers at 
 the Minimes. The crowd of people was so great that 
 they were a long time before they could join. Our 
 Henry, being within three paces of the King, threw 
 himself at his feet, endeavouring to kiss them ; but the 
 King would not permit him, but, lifting him up, 
 embraced him with great tenderness. They repeated 
 their embraces three or four times, the King calling 
 him his thrice -dear brother, and he calling him his 
 lord. There were now heard to echo the joyful cries 
 of " Vive le Roi ! " which had for a long time been 
 silent, as if the presence of our Henry had given a 
 new birth to the people's affections, which seemed to 
 be extinct in regard to Henry HI. 
 
 After the two kings had for some time entertained 
 each other, our Henry crossed the river and went to 
 lodge at the suburb of St. Symphorien ; for he had 
 been obliged to promise this much to the old Hugue- 
 nots, who believed snares and traps were everywhere 
 laid for him. But he who was urged forward by other 
 motives, and who was endowed with that generous 
 principle, " that we ought not to be too sparing of 
 
74 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 our lives when there is something to be gained which 
 ought to be more precious than Hfe itself to one of 
 great courage," departed at six o'clock the next morn- 
 ing, without consulting his people ; and, attended only 
 by one page, crossed the bridge and went to pay a 
 visit to the King. They entertained one another a 
 long time in two or three conferences, in which our 
 Henry displayed great capacity and judgment. Finally 
 they resolved to raise a powerful army to assault Paris, 
 which was the principal head of the hydra, and gave 
 motion to all the rest — a thing easy for them to do, 
 because the King expected great levies from Switzer- 
 land, whither he had sent Sancy for that purpose, 
 adding that the design of the siege being published 
 it would infallibly attract a great number of soldiers 
 and adventurers, in the hope of a rich pillage. 
 
 The two kings having passed two days together, 
 he of Navarre went to Chinon to cause the rest of 
 his troops to advance, who hitherto had refused to 
 mingle themselves among the Catholics. 
 
 During his absence, the Duke of Mayenne, who 
 had taken the field, fell upon the suburbs of Tours, 
 thinking to surprise the city and the King within it, 
 according to some intelligence he had received. The 
 combat was very bloody, and the duke's design was 
 nearly successful, but after the first endeavours he lost 
 all hope and retired from the contest. 
 
 Afterwards, the King's troops being wonderfully 
 increased, they marched conjointly, he and the King 
 of Navarre, towards Orleans, took all the little places 
 thereabouts, and from thence descended into Beauce, 
 and drew together all of a sudden towards Paris. All 
 
THE TWO KINGS CONTRASTED 75 
 
 the posts round about it, as Poissy, Estampes, and 
 Meulan, were either forced or obtained capitulation, 
 " in which they desired no other security than the 
 word of the King of Navarre, to which they trusted 
 more than to all the writings of Henry III,, so great 
 a profession made he of keeping his word, even to the 
 prejudice of his interests." 
 
 Let us consider a little the different state to which 
 these two kings were reduced by their different con- 
 duct. The one, for having often broken his faith, was 
 abandoned by his subjects, and his greatest oaths found 
 no belief amongst them ; and the other, for having 
 always exactly kept it, was followed even by his greatest 
 enemies. On all occasions he gave marks of his valour 
 and experience in point of war, but above all of his 
 prudence and of those noble inclinations he had to 
 do good and to succour all. He was always seen 
 in the most dangerous places, to accelerate labours, 
 animate his soldiers, sustain them in sallies, comfort 
 the wounded, and cause money to be distributed amongst 
 them. He observed all, inquired into all, and would 
 himself with the marshal of the camp order the lodgings 
 of his soldiers. He observed strictly what was done 
 in the army of Henry HI., where, though he often 
 found faults, he concealed them, out of fear of offending 
 those who had committed them by discovering their 
 ignorance ; and when he believed himself obliged to 
 take notice of them, he did it with so much circum- 
 spection that they could not find any reason to take 
 it in ill part. He was never niggardly of giving praises 
 due to noble actions, nor of caresses and generous 
 deportment to those who came near him ; he enter- 
 
76 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 tained himself with them when he had time to do it, 
 or at least to please them with some good word that 
 they still went away satisfied. He feared not at all to 
 make himself familiar, because he was assured that the 
 more men knew him the more they would esteem him. 
 In fine, the conduct of this prince was such that there 
 was no heart he gained not, nor no friend who would 
 not willingly have become his martyr. 
 
 Paris was already besieged. The King lodged at 
 St. Cloud and our Henry at Meudon, keeping with 
 his troops all that lies between Vanvres to the bridge 
 of Charenton. Sancy had already arrived with his 
 levies of Swiss; and they laboured with orders to 
 give a general assault, to the end they might gain the 
 suburbs beyond the river. The Duke of Mayenne, who 
 was in the city with his troops expecting those supplies 
 the Duke of Nemours was to bring, was in great appre- 
 hension that he should not be able to sustain the 
 furious shock that was preparing, when a young Jacobin 
 of the convent of Paris, named James Clement, spurred 
 on by a resolution as devilish and detestable as it was 
 determined, smote King Henry HI. in the stomach 
 with a knife, from the effects of which he died on 
 the morrow. If the frantic monk had not been slain 
 upon the spot by the King's guards, many things 
 might have been known which are now concealed. 
 
 Our Henry, being informed late in the evening of 
 this mournful accident and of the danger in which the 
 King was, went to his lodging, accompanied only by 
 twenty-five or thirty gentlemen ; and, arriving a little 
 before the King expired, he fell on his knees to kiss 
 hands, and received his last embraces. The King 
 
DEATH OF HENRY HI. 77 
 
 called him many times his good brother and legitimate 
 successor, recommended the kingdom to him, and ex- 
 horted the lords there present to acknowledge him and 
 not to disunite. Finally, after having conjured him to 
 embrace the Catholic religion, he gave up the ghost, 
 leaving his army in an astonishment and a confusion 
 beyond expression, and all the chiefs and captains 
 irresolute and agitated, according to their humours, 
 fancies, or interests. 
 
\ 
 
PART II 
 
 Containing the actions of Henry the Great, 
 
 FROM THE day HE CAME TO THE THRONE OF FRANCE 
 
 UNTIL THE Peace, which was made in the year 
 1598 BY THE Treaty of Vervins. 
 
 The death of Henry III. caused an entire change 
 in the aspect of affairs. Paris, the League, and the 
 Duke of Mayenne were transported from a profound 
 sadness to a furious joy, and the servants of the de- 
 funct King, from a fervent hope to see him revenged, 
 to an extreme desolation. 
 
 This prince who had been the object of the people's 
 hatred being now no more, it seemed that that hatred 
 would cease, and by consequence the fury of the League 
 relent. But on the contrary, not only all those who 
 composed that faction, but likewise many others who 
 had held it a crime to league themselves against Henry 
 III., their Catholic and legitimate King, beheved them- 
 selves in conscience obliged to oppose themselves against 
 our Henry, at least till such time as he should return 
 into the bosom of the true Church, a qualification they 
 believed absolutely necessary for the successor of Charle- 
 magne or St. Louis. So that if the League lost that 
 heart which hatred gave it, it gained one much more 
 specious, from a zeal for religion, and had likewise a 
 most plausible pretext not to lay down arms till Henry 
 should profess the religion of his ancestors. 
 
8o HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 It was very difficult to judge whether the time at 
 which the death of Henry III. happened were good or ill 
 for our Henry ; for on one side it seemed that Providence 
 had drawn him from the utmost parts of the kingdom, 
 where he was like a banished man, and led him by the 
 hand to the fairest portion of France, only to make 
 known his goodness and virtue, and put him in a 
 position to gain that succession, to which had he been 
 absent he would never have been called ; but on the 
 other side, when the multitude of his powerful enemies 
 which armed themselves against him are considered, 
 the small treasure and few forces he had, the obstacle 
 of his religion, and a thousand other difficulties, it could 
 not be certainly judged whether the crown was ordained 
 for him to enjoy or to fall upon his head and crush him 
 to pieces ; and there might be reason to say that if the 
 course of events elevated him, it was upon a throne 
 trembling on the brink of a precipice. 
 
 Whilst Henry III. was in his agony, our Henry had 
 held many tumultuous councils in the same lodgings 
 with those whom he esteemed his most faithful servants. 
 As soon as he understood the King was dead, he retired 
 to his quarters at Meudon and attired himself in the 
 mourning purple. He was presently followed by a 
 large number of noblemen, who accompanied him as 
 much for curiosity as affection. The Huguenots with 
 those troops which he had led presently swore allegi- 
 ance to him, but this number was very small. Some 
 of the Catholics, as the Marshal d'Aumont, Givry, and 
 d'Humieres, swore service to him until death, and that 
 willingly, without desiring any conditions from him ; but 
 the greater part of the others, being either estranged 
 
THE KING'S WISDOM 8i 
 
 by inclination or exasperated by some discontent, or 
 else believing now to have found the time to sell 
 their services, kept at a great distance, and held several 
 little assemblies in divers places, where they formed 
 a number of fantastic designs. 
 
 Each of these proposed to make themselves 
 sovereigns of some city or some province, as the 
 governors had done in the decadence of the house of 
 Charlemagne. The Marshal de Biron, among others, 
 would have had the county of Perigord, and Sancy 
 asked the King not to refuse him. This propo- 
 sition was very dangerous, for if he denied it he in- 
 censed him, and if he accorded his demand he opened 
 the way to all others to make the like, and so the 
 kingdom would be rent in pieces. It was only by his 
 great wisdom and understanding that he could walk safely 
 in so dangerous a path. He therefore charged Sancy 
 to assure the marshal on his part of his affection, of 
 which he would willingly in proper time and place give 
 him all the marks a good subject could expect from his 
 sovereign ; but at the same time he furnished him with 
 so many powerful reasons wherefore he could not accord 
 what he desired, that Sancy, being himself first per- 
 suaded, found it not difficult to work the same effect 
 on the spirit of Biron, whom he persuaded not only 
 to renounce that pretension, but likewise to protest 
 that he would never suffer any part of the realm 
 to be dismembered, in favour of any person whom- 
 soever. 
 
 We may without doubt conclude that the great 
 Henry did reason acutely, and that he explained his 
 reasons in the best manner, since he could on occasions 
 
 6 
 
82 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 SO important persuade such able men against their own 
 interests. 
 
 Biron, being thus gained, went with Sancy to assure 
 themselves of those Swiss which Sancy had brought 
 to the deceased King, but who, being of the Catholic 
 cantons, made some difficulty to bear arms for a 
 Huguenot prince, and that without a new order from 
 their superior. As for the French troops of the de- 
 funct King, it was not so easy to gain them. The 
 lords who commanded them, or who had their chiefs 
 under them, had everyone divers designs ; one would 
 have one thing and the other another, according to 
 their several interests or caprices. 
 
 There were five princes of the house of Bourbon ; 
 to wit, the old Cardinal de Vendome, the Count of 
 Soissons, the Prince of Conti, the Duke of Montpensier, 
 and the Prince of Dombes his son, who instead of being 
 his firmest prop, gave him no little inquietude ; because 
 there was none of them which had not his particular 
 pretension, which proved to him a continual obstacle. 
 
 Many of the lords who were in the army were 
 not very well intentioned, particularly Henry, grand 
 prior of France, natural son to Charles IX. (after- 
 wards Count of Auvergne and Duke of Angouleme), 
 the Duke of Epernon, and Termes Bellegarde, who 
 out of the fear they formerly had lest he should de- 
 prive them of the favour of their master, had opposed 
 him on divers occasions. For the courtiers, as Francis 
 d'O and Manou his brother, Vieuxchatel, and many 
 others, they knowing that our Henry detested their 
 villainous debaucheries, and that he would not prove 
 a person of so ill management as to lavish his revenues 
 
MEETINGS OF THE NOBLES 83 
 
 to supply their luxury, had no great inclination for him. 
 Nevertheless, hoping to iind things better, they resolved 
 to declare in his favour ; but with such conditions as 
 should restrain and bridle him, and in some manner 
 oblige him to depend on them. 
 
 For this purpose there met an assembly of some 
 noblemen at the palace of D'O (a man voluptuous, pro- 
 digal, and therefore not very scrupulous, but who at 
 present made conscience a cloak to render himself 
 necessary), and there resolved not to acknowledge the 
 King till he were a Catholic. Francis d'O, accompanied 
 by some noblemen, had the assurance to carry to 
 him the resolutions of this assembly, and added a 
 studied discourse to persuade him to return to the 
 Catholic religion ; but the King, who had already passed 
 over his greatest fears, made them an answer so mixed 
 with sweetness and gravity, with spirit and reservedness, 
 that, courageously repelling them without too severely 
 taunting them, he testified to them that he desired 
 to attach them to him, but that after all he feared not 
 much the loss of them. 
 
 Some time after the nobility, after divers little 
 assemblies, held a great one with Francis de Luxem- 
 bourg, Duke of Piney. There many propositions being 
 made, at last the Dukes of Montpensier and Piney 
 subtly managed and steered the opinions of the 
 most importunate to this resolution : That they would 
 acknowledge Henry for King, upon these conditions : 
 I. Provided that he would cause himself to be in- 
 structed — for they presupposed that conversion must 
 necessarily follow instruction. 2. That he should not 
 permit the exercise of any but the Catholic religion. 
 
 6—2 
 
84 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 3. That he should neither give charge nor emplo3'ment 
 to the Huguenots. 4. That he should permit the 
 assembly to depute agents to the Pope, to let him 
 understand and agree to the causes which obliged the 
 nobility to remain in the service of a prince separated 
 from the Roman Church. 
 
 The King had the knowledge of this resolution from 
 the Duke of Piney. He thanked them for their zeal 
 for the preservation of the State and the affection they 
 had for his person, promising them that he would sooner 
 lose his life than the remembrance of those good services 
 they had rendered him, and readily granted them all 
 the points they demanded except the second, instead 
 of which he promised them to re-establish the exercise 
 of the Catholic religion through all his territories, and 
 to re-admit the ecclesiastics into the possession of their 
 estates ; and of this he caused a declaration to be en- 
 grossed, which, after all the lords and gentlemen of note 
 had signed it, he sent to be confirmed by that part of 
 the parliament which was at Tours. 
 
 There were many who signed it with some regret, 
 and others who absolutely refused it, among whom were 
 the Duke of Epernon and Louis d'Hopital Vitry. This 
 last, disturbed as it was said by a scruple of conscience, 
 cast himself into Paris and gave himself for some time 
 to the League ; but first of all he abandoned the 
 government of Dourdan, which the defunct king had 
 given him. Such then were the maxims of persons of 
 true honour in the civil wars, that in quitting one 
 party, whichever it was, they quitted likewise those 
 places they held, and returned them to those who 
 had conferred them. 
 
INDECISION OF THE DUKE OF MAYENNE 85 
 
 The Duke of Epernon, protesting that he would 
 never be either Spaniard or Leaguer, and that his con- 
 science would not permit him to stay with the King, 
 demanded leave of him to retire to his government. 
 The King, after having in vain endeavoured to retain 
 him, gave him leave, with many caresses and praises ; 
 but so much was he in his heart troubled at his 
 abandoning him, that it has been believed he cherished 
 against him a secret resentment as long as he lived. 
 
 The Duke of INIayenne was not a little troubled in 
 Paris what resolution he should take. He saw that 
 all the Parisians, even those who had held to the party 
 of the defunct King, had fully resolved to provide for 
 the security of religion ; but that, however, they would 
 all have a King, contrary to some of the Sixteen, who 
 imagined they might form a republic, and turn France 
 into cantons, like to the Swiss ; but those were neither 
 sufficiently powerful in number, riches, nor capacity to 
 conduct such a design. So that most of his friends 
 counselled him to take the title of King ; but when 
 he went about to sound this proposition, he found 
 that it was neither agreeable to the people, nor yet 
 to the King of Spain, from whom he received, and 
 was to receive, his principal support and means of 
 subsistence. 
 
 Hereupon two other counsels were given him : the 
 first, to accord willingly with the new King, who 
 without doubt, in the position things were, would 
 grant him most advantageous conditions ; the other, 
 that he should by declaration publish to the Catholics 
 of the royal army that all resentments becoming extinct 
 by the death of Henry HI., he had no other interest 
 
86 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 than that of religion ; that that point being of Divine 
 obhgation and concerning all good Christians, he sum- 
 moned and conjured them to join with him to exhort 
 the King of Navarre to return to the Church, upon 
 which they promised to acknowledge him immediately 
 as King ; but if he refused to do it, they intended to 
 substitute in his place another prince of the blood. 
 This advice was the best ; and indeed it was proposed 
 by Jeannin, president of the parliament of Burgundy, 
 one of the wisest and most politic heads of his council, 
 and who acted in his affairs without tricks or strata- 
 gems, but with .great judgment and singular honesty. 
 
 The Duke of Mayenne rejected equally both these 
 advices, and took a third ; to wit, causing the old 
 Cardinal de Bourbon (who was at present detained 
 prisoner by order of our Henry) to be proclaimed 
 king, still reserving to himself the quality of Lieu- 
 tenant-general of the Crown. He published after- 
 wards several declarations, one of which he sent to 
 the parliament, the other to the provinces and the 
 nobility, inviting them to endeavour to deliver their 
 King and defend their religion. 
 
 At the same time the King tried by divers negotia- 
 tions, and caused him to be exhorted rather to seek 
 his advancement by his friendship than by the troubles 
 and miseries of France. But to this the duke answered 
 that he had engaged his father in the public cause, and 
 given oath to King Charles X. (for so they called the 
 old Cardinal de Bourbon, who was named Charles), to 
 whom, according to the sentiment of the League, 
 the crown appertained, as to the nearest kinsman of 
 Henry HL In the meantime he entertained plots and 
 
THE KING RETREATS 87 
 
 conspiracies in the royal armj^, where his emissaries 
 from day to day debauched many persons, even of 
 those whom the King beheved most assured. There 
 were many generous enough to resist the temptations 
 of silver ; but nothing was proof against the intrigues 
 of the ladies of Paris, who cunningly attracted the 
 gentlemen and the officers in the city, sparing nothing 
 to allure them. 
 
 Knowing that there daily remained some caught in 
 these snares, and having just reason to fear that those 
 who returned, tempted by their mistresses, might bring 
 back some pernicious designs; and the Duke of Nemours 
 being upon the advance with his troops, to join with 
 the Duke of Mayenne, the Duke of Lorraine being 
 likewise to send his ; and having cause to doubt his 
 retreat might be cut off on all sides, the King found 
 it convenient to decamp from before Paris. 
 
 But before he dislodged, he wrote to the Protestant 
 princes to give them an account of what he did, and 
 to assure them that nothing should be capable of 
 shaking his constancy, or separating him from Christ; 
 and he spoke at present according to his thoughts 
 and conscience, not having any desire to change, 
 which yet the ministers of his religion would not 
 believe, but watched him so close on this subject that 
 they became importunate. 
 
 It was certainly an unspeakable trouble which 
 for three or four years continually he was forced to 
 undergo, to hear on one side the exhortations of those 
 people, and on the other the most constant remon- 
 strances of the Catholics ; for it was necessary that 
 he should allay the distrust of the first and entertain 
 
88 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 the second with continual hopes of himself receiving 
 instruction. How much prudence had he need of! 
 how much patience ! with how much judgment and 
 policy must he manage such great differences ! Cer- 
 tainly he could not do it without employing all the 
 powers of his mind and experience. And he well 
 knew how far it was necessary for a prince to have 
 his mind happily exercised, and to be well instructed 
 how to negotiate and speak well, and to be able 
 when necessary to avail himself of his talent. Without 
 doubt he might at present well praise those who, having 
 had the care of bringing him up, had trained him in 
 his youth to the management of affairs, to dealing 
 with men, and to gaining their affections. 
 
 Those last duties he desired to render his prede- 
 cessor served as a fair pretext for raising his siege 
 before Paris. To put the late King's body in a place 
 where the resentment of the Duke of Guise's creatures 
 might not outrage it, he carried it to Compiegne, and 
 laid it in the Abbey of St. Corneille, where he celebrated 
 all the funeral ceremonies as honourably as the con- 
 fusion of the time would permit. Not able to assist 
 himself, because of his religion, he committed the care 
 to Bellegarde and Epernon, the last of whom accom- 
 panied him thither, and then retired to Angoumois. 
 
 There were three advices given concerning the 
 place to which he ought to retire when he raised his 
 siege from Paris. The first was to repass the Loire 
 and abandon to the League all the provinces on this 
 side of it, because he could only maintain them with 
 difficulty ; the second, to re-advance along the Marne, 
 and, seizing the bridges and cities, await assistance 
 
HIS REINFORCEMENTS 89 
 
 from the Protestant Swiss and Germans who had 
 promised to come to him ; and the third, to march 
 down into Normandy, to assure himself of some cities 
 whose governors were not yet engaged in the League, 
 to gather the money received for taxes, and to accept 
 the assistance from England which Queen Elizabeth 
 had readily promised him, and which could not be 
 long deferred. 
 
 He decided to adopt the last of these advices. 
 Many of the nobles who accompanied him desiring 
 some time to go and refresh themselves, he gave them 
 leave. He sent a part of his troops into Picardy, 
 under the command of the Duke of Longueville ; 
 another into Champagne, under Marshal d'Aumont ; 
 and with three thousand French foot, two regi- 
 ments of Swiss, and twelve hundred horse only, which 
 he kept with him, he descended into Normandy. 
 
 The Duke of Montpensier, who was governor there, 
 came to join him with two hundred gentlemen and 
 fifteen hundred foot. Rolet, governor of Pont d'Arche, 
 a man of courage and spirit, brought him the keys of 
 that place, demanding no other recompense but the 
 honour to serve him. Emer de Chattes, a commenda- 
 tore of Malta, did the same with those of Dieppe. 
 After which the King approached Rouen, where he 
 expected to have some intelligence. 
 
 This enterprise put him in extreme danger, but in 
 revenge gave him a fair occasion to acquire glory in 
 rescuing himself from so great a peril. See how it 
 passed. 
 
 The Duke of Mayenne came to the succour of Rouen 
 with all his forces, and passed the river at Vernon. 
 
go HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 The King, much astonished, retired to Dieppe, and 
 sent to the Dukes of Longueville and d'Aumont to 
 return to him speedily with their forces. The Duke 
 of Mayenne in the meantime seized all the little places 
 about Dieppe, so as to completely invest the King. In 
 fact, he shut him up so closely that if he had not amused 
 himself by an untimely motion to go to Bins in Hainault 
 to confer with the Duke of Parma, he had in that dis- 
 order dissipated the greater part of the King's little army. 
 He had already caused a report to be spread through 
 France, and had written with assurance to all strange 
 princes, that he held the King of Navarre (so he called 
 him) shut up in a little corner, from whence he could 
 not get, except by yielding himself to him or leaping 
 into the sea. The danger appeared so imminent, even 
 to his most faithful servants, that the parliament at 
 Tours sent expressly to him a master of requests, 
 proposing as the only expedient they saw to save the 
 state, to associate him and the Cardinal de Bourbon, 
 his uncle, in the royalty, giving the conduct of civil affairs 
 to the one, and of military affairs to the other. There 
 were likewise the greater part of the captains of his 
 army of opinion that, leaving his forces on shore, well 
 entrenched in their posts, he should as soon as possible 
 embark for England or for Rochelle, for fear that if he 
 should longer delay it he might be shut up by sea as 
 well as by land. To the proposition of the parliament 
 he made answer that he had taken such good measures 
 that the intrigues of the Duke of Mayenne could not 
 deliver the Cardinal de Bourbon, as they apprehended ; 
 and the Marshal de Biron, so stoutly opposed those 
 who counselled him to embark that they desisted. 
 
BATTLE OF ARQUES 91 
 
 It appeared soon after by the proof that the forces 
 of the League, which were thrice as great as his, were 
 not to be feared in proportion to their number ; and 
 that the more commanders they had, the less their 
 power was to be feared. The King was lodged at the 
 Chateau d'Arques, which is seated on a little hill, to stop 
 the passage of the valley which goes to Dieppe. The 
 Duke had formed a design to take this post by sea, by 
 four or five renewed attempts ; and on divers days he 
 essayed to assault the suburbs of Polet, and four or 
 five times was driven back. Our Henry daily did won- 
 ders, and exposed himself so much that once he thought 
 he would have been surprised and encompassed b}^ his 
 enemies. At last the duke, having lost eleven days' 
 time, and a thousand or twelve hundred men, raised the 
 siege and retired into Picardy. 
 
 It was believed that he passed into this province 
 lest the Picards, a free and honest people but very 
 simple, should permit themselves to be surprised by 
 the artifices of the agents of Spain, who would persuade 
 them to cast themselves under the protection of the 
 King their master. 
 
 It was observed likewise that what hindered the 
 success of his enterprise at Dieppe, and which kept him 
 two or three days without attempting anything at the 
 time he ought to have done it, was the jealousy and 
 contentions between the chiefs who accompanied him, 
 particularly of the Marquis du Pont-a-Mousson, son to 
 the Duke of Lorraine, of the Duke of Nemours, and of 
 the Cavalier d'Aumale ; for they, believing the capture of 
 the King certain, or at least his flight assured, and dis- 
 posing already of the kingdom as of their conquest. 
 
92 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 regarded one another with an eye of jealousy, and each 
 formed designs in his head to have the better part of it. 
 It was observed Hkewise that in one of these combats 
 of Dieppe, the Duke of Mayenne, having at present some 
 advantage, would have gained an entire victory if he 
 had advanced but a quarter of an hour quicker ; but, 
 marching too slowly, he let slip that opportunity he 
 could never redeem, which made the King, who well 
 observed his fault, say, "If he act ever in that manner, 
 I shall be certain always to gain the field." 
 
 I have recounted these particulars, because they make 
 known the defects of that great body the League, and 
 the true causes which hindered its progress, and reduced 
 it to nothing. I find three principal ones. 
 
 The first was the distrust the Duke of Mayenne had 
 of the Spaniards ; for though he could not be without 
 them, yet he could but regard them as his secret 
 enemies ; and they assisted him not for love of himself, 
 but out of the design they had to profit themselves 
 out of the calamities of France. And therefore when 
 they saw that he concurred not with them for their ends, 
 and that he thought only of his own advantage without 
 theirs, they afforded him but feeble succour ; in such 
 manner they let him fall so low that when they would 
 themselves have done it, they could not raise him. 
 
 The second was the jealousy of the chiefs, who never 
 agreed among themselves. They thought more of 
 crossing and ruining one another than of weakening 
 their common enemy; and confounded themselves in 
 such manner by their delusions and partialities that they 
 were ever wanting in the greatest enterprises ; whereas 
 in the party of the King, there was only one chief. 
 
THE KING'S MANNER OF LIVING 93 
 
 to whom all was reported, and by whose orders all 
 passed. 
 
 The third was the heaviness and dulness of the 
 Duke of Mayenne, who at all times moved slowly. 
 His flatterers called this gravity. This defect proceeded 
 principally from his nature ; and was augmented not 
 only by the mass of his body, great and fat beyond 
 all proportion, and which in consequence required a 
 great deal of nourishment and much sleep, but like- 
 wise from a coldness and a numbness which a certain 
 malady had reduced to a habitude in his body. This 
 malady he had contracted at Paris shortly after the 
 death of Henry HI., at which event, some say, the 
 Duke would very unhandsomely rejoice. 
 
 King Henry IV. was not of the same temperament ; 
 for though he very much loved feasting and to divert 
 himself with his friends when he had leisure, neverthe- 
 less, when engaged in affairs of war, or of any other 
 nature, he never sat at table longer than a quarter 
 of an hour, and never slept for more than two or three 
 hours together ; so that Pope Sixtus V., being well in- 
 formed of his manner of living and that of the Duke 
 of Mayenne, confidently prognosticated that the " Bear- 
 nais " (for so he called him, as all the Leaguers did) 
 could not fail to have the better of it, since he lay 
 no longer in bed than the Duke of Mayenne sat at 
 table. 
 
 Officers and servants form themselves after the ex- 
 ample of their masters. Those of the King were 
 ready, cheerful, and vigilant ; who executed his com- 
 mands as soon as they came out of his mouth ; who 
 took care of all, and acquainted him with all. On the 
 
94 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 contrary, those of the Duke were slow, negligent, idle, 
 and who, however pressing the occasion, would not 
 lose anything of their ease and diversions. 
 
 It seemed to me that, for the better understanding 
 of our history, it was necessary to observe these cir- 
 cumstances, which are absolutely essential and very 
 instructive. 
 
 We have particularised at the end of Part I. 
 who were the chiefs of the League, and how they 
 held all the best cities and richest provinces of the 
 realm. I should never end did I recount all the fac- 
 tions, fights, enterprises, and changes which happened 
 in every province for the space of five or six years. We 
 shall follow only the great events, and behold how the 
 providence of God and the incomparable virtue of our 
 Henry so drew France out of its labyrinth of miseries 
 that the state and religion, which might have been 
 destroyed by an irreparable war, were both miracu- 
 lously saved, and flourished with as much happiness 
 and glory as ever. 
 
 Though the Duke of Mayenne had retired from 
 before Dieppe, yet the people were entirely persuaded 
 that the King could not escape him ; particularly the 
 Parisians, whom the Duchess of Montpensier made 
 believe— by couriers sent for this purpose, whom she 
 caused to arrive from day to day — now that he yielded 
 himself, now that he was taken, and at last that he 
 was coming to Paris ; so that there were even many 
 ladies who hired windows in the street of St. Denis 
 to see him pass by. 
 
 Whilst they amused themselves with these false re- 
 ports, they were much astonished to understand that. 
 
HE CAPTURES THE FAUBOURGS 95 
 
 having received a reinforcement of four thousand English, 
 he was now upon his march, and coming directly to 
 Paris. He had intelligence which promised him that 
 if he could gain the suburbs, they would open for him 
 a way into the city. He assaulted therefore those of 
 St. Germain, St. Michael, St. James, St. Marceau, and 
 St. Victor, and carried them unawares ; but he could 
 not gain the quarter of the University, as he hoped, 
 because his cannon was not brought in time. About 
 eight o'clock in the morning on All Saints' Day he 
 entered the suburbs of St. James, where he found the 
 people had no aversion to him, for he saw them not 
 affrighted nor despairingly fleeing, but looking out of 
 their windows to regard him, and crying, " Vive le 
 Roi ! " He used his advantage with a great modera- 
 tion. He forbade all sorts of violence or plunder, and 
 gave orders that divine service should be continued, 
 so that his people peaceably assisted at it with the 
 burgesses, whilst he, having mounted the steeple of St. 
 Germain, attentively considered what was being done 
 in the city. 
 
 That evening, the Duke of Nemours having posted 
 thither with the cavalry, and the Duke of Mayenne 
 following the day after with his infantry, the King re- 
 tired to Montlhery ; but beforehand he drew up his 
 army in battle array in the sight of Paris, and kept 
 them for four hours under arms, to make known to 
 the Parisians the weakness of their chiefs. 
 
 After this Estampes, Vendome, Le Mans, and 
 Alen^on, unable to sustain his presence and arms, sur- 
 rendered to him ; and in the way things were going, 
 and in the manner the chiefs of the League defended 
 
96 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 themselves, he would without doubt have reconquered 
 the whole realm in less than fifteen months, if he had 
 not wanted money. This defect alone retarded the course 
 of his prosperity. The ransoms imposed on cities reduced 
 by force, all that he could borrow, and the money he 
 could raise by taxes, did not half suffice to keep his 
 troops in a body. For this reason he was constrained 
 for four or five years' space to make war in an extra- 
 ordinary manner. When his troops had served some 
 months, and consumed besides their pay all they had 
 foraged in their quarters, he sent them home, as well 
 to refresh them as to preserve their country from the 
 invasions of the League. In like manner when the 
 volunteer gentlemen had spent the money they brought 
 from other homes, he gave them leave to return, to 
 endeavour to furnish themselves for another campaign, 
 inviting them by his example to retrench the super- 
 fluous expense of clothes and equipage, and otherwise 
 treating them with so much civility and courtesy that 
 they never failed him on the most pressing occasions, 
 for they returned as soon as possible, serving him, as 
 we may say, each his quarter. 
 
 In the meantime he fell suddenly upon Normandy, 
 and almost entirely reduced it ; took the cities of 
 Dompfort, Falaise, Lisieux, Bayeux, and Honfleur — this 
 last by a very bloody siege. After his return from 
 thence he took likewise Melun, on the Seine, seven 
 leagues off Paris, and laid siege to Dreux. 
 
 At the news of these conquests, the Duke of 
 Mayenne was obliged, for the sake of his reputation, 
 to come forth out of Paris, to assemble his troops, and 
 to receive, contrary to his inclination, fifteen hundred 
 
HIS ARMY EAGER TO FIGHT 97 
 
 lancers and five hundred carabineers from the Duke of 
 Parma, governor of the Low Countries. These forces 
 were commanded by the Count d'Egmont. 
 
 After this duke had regained several little places 
 which inconvenienced Paris and the country adjacent, 
 he crossed the Seine, by the bridges of Mantes, to 
 succour Dreux, imagining he might do it without 
 hazarding anything. The King, as soon as he had 
 advice of his advance, raised his siege, but with the 
 intention of fighting him, and with this object he drew 
 up his forces at Nonancourt, on the river Eure. 
 
 Two things principally impelled him to this resolu- 
 tion of giving him battle : The one, because, wanting 
 money, he could not long keep his troops together, 
 and had he led them into Normandy he would un- 
 profitably have spent all the revenue of that province, 
 which alone he valued above all others he held. The 
 other, because he perceived so great a rejoicing through- 
 out all his army, who seemed to leap for joy when they 
 were told they were about to attack the enemy, demon- 
 strating by their outward appearances that a day of 
 fighting would be unto them as a day of feasting. 
 
 The Duke of Mayenne was not of opinion that he 
 ought to engage his fortune and honour to the hazard 
 of one day, especially considering the valour of the 
 King's forces in comparison with his, the great ex- 
 perience and incomparable courage of that prince, and 
 with all this, his good fortune, which had already 
 gained so great an ascendency over his that he be- 
 lieved he could no better overcome him than by avoid- 
 ing encounters with him. But the reproaches of the 
 Parisians ; the instances of the legate whom the Pope 
 
 7 
 
98 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 had sent to support the interests of the League ; the 
 Spanish cabal, who on whichever side fortune turned 
 itself, promised themselves great advantages from this 
 battle; and, lastly, the shame of having lost more than 
 forty places in six months without having endeavoured 
 to succour any of them, led him perforce to the relief 
 of Dreux ; and when he was near it, the false news 
 he had that the King was retiring towards the city 
 of Verneuil au Perche, and the bravadoes of the 
 Count d'Egmont, who boasted himself able with his 
 troops alone to defeat the army of the King, caused 
 him to pass the river Eure, over the bridge of Ivry, 
 with extraordinary diligence. 
 
 To speak the truth, both the King and he were 
 equally surprised — the King to discover that he had 
 so soon accomplished his object, and the Duke to see 
 that the King, whom he believed to have taken the 
 way towards Verneuil, was coming directly towards 
 him. But now neither could withdraw if they would, 
 but must necessarily come to a battle, which happened 
 on the 14th of March, near the town of Ivry. 
 
 The histories describe at large the description of 
 the field of battle, the order of both armies, the 
 charges which the battalions and squadrons on both 
 sides made, and the faults of the chiefs of the League. 
 We shall therefore say nothing but what concerns the 
 person of our prince.^ 
 
 1 There was little order in the action : on one wing, the Germans 
 of the League behaved ill and yielded ; on the other, the royalists 
 were beaten, but Biron rallied them with reinforcements. The 
 combat was decided by the central force of either army, the Count 
 d'Egmont leading the Spaniards, and Mayenne the gentlemen of 
 his party against the King. The Leaguers were marshalled too 
 
BATTLE OF IVRY 99 
 
 His rare intelligence, his wonderful genius, and his 
 indefatigable activity in the art of war were all 
 admired. It was wondered how he could give so 
 many orders without perplexing his intellect, and with 
 as little confusion as if he had been in his closet ; 
 how he could so perfectly arrange his troops ; and 
 how, having observed the enemy's design, he could in 
 a quarter of an hour change the whole order of his 
 army ; how during the fight he could be everywhere, 
 take notice of everything, and himself give orders, as 
 if he had had a hundred eyes, and as many arms, 
 the noise, confusion, dust, and smoke augmenting 
 rather than troubling his judgment and knowledge. 
 
 The armies being ready to attack each other, he 
 lifted up his eyes to heaven, and joining his hands, 
 called God to be witness of his intention, invoking 
 His assistance, and praying that He would reduce the 
 rebels to an acknowledgment of him whom the order 
 of succession had given them for their legitimate 
 sovereign. "But Lord," said he, "if it pleaseth Thee 
 to dispose otherwise, or that I should be of the 
 number of those kings whom Thou dedicatest to Thy 
 anger, deprive me of my life with my crown ; consent 
 that I may this day fall a victim to Thy holy will ; 
 let my death deliver France from the calamities of 
 war, and my blood be the last that shall be shed in 
 this quarrel." 
 
 closely together. Henry's squadron got among them, and a san- 
 guinary mclce ensued. The King was reported to be killed, but 
 soon showed his white plume in the path that he had promised. 
 Egmont was slain, Mayenne's standard-bearer fell by Henry's own 
 hand, and the army of the Leaguers was routed and driven from 
 the ground. — Martin's History of France. 
 
 7—2 
 
100 ■ HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Immediately after, he caused his hehiiet to be 
 given him, on the top of which he had a plume 
 of three white feathers ; and having put it on, before 
 he pulled down his visor, he told his squadrons : 
 " My companions, if you this day follow my fortune 
 I shall likewise follow yours. I will overcome, or die 
 with you. Let me only conjure you to keep your ranks ; 
 and if the heat of the combat make you quit them, 
 think at once of rallying — it will be the gain of the 
 battle. You may do so between those three trees 
 which you see there on high, on your right hand (they 
 were three pear trees) ; and if you lose your ensigns, 
 cornets, or banners, lose not the sight of my white 
 feather, which you will always find in the road to 
 honour and victory." 
 
 The result of the battle having been for a long 
 time uncertain, was in the end favourable to him, the 
 principal glory being due to himself alone ; so much 
 the more because he charged most impetuously on that 
 formidable body commanded by the Count d'Egmont, 
 and having entered that forest of lances with his 
 sword in his hand, rendered them useless and con- 
 strained them to resort to their short arms, by which 
 he had a great advantage, because the French were 
 more agile and active than the Flemings; so that in 
 less than a quarter of an hour he had pierced them, 
 dispersed them, and put them to rout ; this being the 
 chief cause of his winning the battle. 
 
 Of sixteen thousand men which the duke had, 
 there were scarce four thousand saved. There re- 
 mained over a thousand horse on the field with the 
 Count d'Egmont, four hundred prisoners of note, and 
 
BATTLE OF IVRY loi 
 
 all the infantry, for the lansquenets were all cut to 
 pieces. They took all his baggage, cannon, ensigns, 
 and cornets — to wit, twenty cornets of cavalry, the 
 white cornet of the duke, the colonel of the German 
 horse, the great standard of Count d'Egmont, and sixty 
 colours of foot. 
 
 The Duke of Mayenne acquitted himself with great 
 valour, and many times endeavoured to rally his troops ; 
 but in the end, for fear of being encompassed, he re- 
 tired towards the bridge of Ivry, and having crossed it, 
 caused it to be broken down to stop those who pursued 
 him, and so escaped to Mantes, thence to St. Denis, 
 and afterwards to Paris. A great part of the fugitives 
 took the same way with him, others took that of the 
 plain and reached the city of Chartres. 
 
 The King having engaged himself during the retreat 
 among a squadron of Walloons, was in great danger of 
 his person, so that his army for some time believed 
 him dead ; upon which the Marshal de Biron, accus- 
 tomed to speak freely to him, and who had taken no 
 part in the fighting, but had been posted with a body 
 of reserves to prevent the rallying of the enemy, could 
 not refrain from saying to him, " Ah, Sire, this is 
 not just ; you have this day done what Biron ought 
 to do, and he only what the King ought to have 
 done." 
 
 This remonstrance was approved by all those who 
 heard it, and the principal chiefs took the liberty to 
 entreat the King not to again expose his person, but 
 to consider that God had not destined him to be a 
 musketeer, but to be King of France ; that all the 
 arms of his subjects ought to fight for him, but that 
 
102 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 they would all become lame and benumbed should 
 they lose the head which gave them motion. 
 
 His valour this day outshone that of the greatest 
 of his chieftains. But besides that, his clemency, 
 his generosity, and his courtesy added a wonderful 
 splendour to his fair actions ; and the manner with 
 which he used his victory was a certain proof 
 that he gained it by his conduct rather than by 
 fortune. 
 
 He chose rather to deal mercifully with the battalions 
 of Swiss than to cut them to pieces, as he might 
 have done. He restored to them their ensigns, and 
 caused them to be escorted back into their own 
 country by his emissaries, by which he gained the 
 affection of five little Catholic cantons. 
 
 He had no greater desire in his heart than to 
 make his subjects know that he desired to spare their 
 blood, and that they had to do with a mild and 
 merciful king, and not with a cruel and implacable 
 enemy. He caused to be proclaimed in the rout, 
 " Save the French, and let your blows fall on the 
 stranger." He had mercy upon all those who demanded 
 quarter, and saved them as much as he could from 
 the hands of the soldiers flushed with victory. He 
 treated the prisoners, particularly the gentlemen, not 
 only with humanity, but likewise with courtesy ; and 
 he loaded with honour, praises, and thanks all the 
 nobility who had fought for him, sharing with them 
 the honour of the day, and giving them embraces as 
 earnests of those recompenses they might expect from 
 him when he should be in power. 
 
 I cannot forget one action which he did of wonder- 
 
A NOBLE ACT 103 
 
 ful goodness, and which was of marvellous efficacy in 
 drawing to him the hearts of his officers and gentle- 
 men. Colonel Thische, or Theodoric of Schomberg, 
 commanding some troops of German horse, had been 
 enforced the evening before the battle by the clamours 
 of those brutes to demand of him those arrears which 
 were due to them; and to represent to him that except 
 upon these conditions they would not fight. The 
 Swiss and Germans of that time used often to act 
 so, of which history furnishes us with a hundred 
 examples. The King, much incensed at such a de- 
 mand, answered him, " How, Colonel Thische ! is this 
 done like a man of honour, to demand money, w^hen 
 you ought to receive orders for the battle ? " The 
 colonel retired, much confused, without making any 
 reply. On the morrow the King, having arranged 
 his troops, remembered he had ill-treated him ; and 
 thereupon, pressed by an impulse which could find no 
 place but in a generous soul, went to seek him and 
 told him, " Colonel, you see we are engaged in an 
 occasion w^hich permits us no long stay ; but it is 
 not just that I should take away the honour of so 
 brave a gentleman as yourself. I declare therefore 
 that I acknowledge you as being an honest man, and 
 one incapable of committing anything unworthy." 
 
 This said, he cordially embraced him ; and the 
 colonel, with tears standing in his eyes, with tender- 
 ness answered him, " Ah, Sire, by restoring me that 
 honour you had deprived me of, you deprive me of 
 my life ; for I should be unworthy if I did not this 
 day lay it down for your service. If I had a thousand, 
 I would willingly lay them all down at your feet." 
 
104 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 In short, he was slain on this occasion, as were many 
 other brave gentlemen. 
 
 I will recount yet another worthy action, which 
 may admirably demonstrate how our Henry spared 
 neither civilities nor caresses to gentlemen who served 
 him well. At night, when he supped at the castle of 
 Rosny, being informed that the Marshal d'Aumont 
 came to render him an account of what he had done, 
 he went forth to meet him ; and having straightway 
 embraced him, carried him into supper, and made him 
 sit at the table, with these obliging words : " That 
 there was great reason he should be at the feast, since 
 he had so well served at his nuptials." 
 
 The terror was so great in Paris after the loss of 
 this battle that if the King had gone directly thither, 
 there is no doubt but that they would have received 
 him without much difficulty. Some said that it was 
 the Marshal de Biron who diverted him, fearing that 
 afterwards, not having more need of him, he should 
 consider him less. Others thought that it was the 
 Huguenot ministers and captains that dissuaded him, 
 because they feared lest he should make arrangements 
 with the Parisians with regard to religion ; and there- 
 fore they counselled him rather to gain this great 
 city by famine, which the Marquis d'O, at present 
 superintendent, pressed very strongly, to the end that 
 the King, taking it in this way, might treat it as a 
 conquered city, draw thence great treasure, seize the 
 rents of the Hotel de Ville, making bankrupt the 
 burgesses for the debts of the King, which were very 
 great. 
 
 The widow of Montpensier, one of the principals 
 
THE KING LAYS SIEGE TO PARIS 105 
 
 of the League, who was accustomed to amuse the 
 people with false news, could not dissemble the mischief 
 of the loss of this battle but by saying that " truly 
 the Duke had lost it, but that the Bcarnais was dead." 
 The burgesses believed it for five or six days ; and this 
 was enough to restrain their first fears, and to gain 
 time to give orders and send to levy assistance on all 
 sides. 
 
 After the battle the King, having stayed some days 
 at Mantes on account of the great rains, retook the 
 field, and took Lagny, Provins, Montereau, and Melun, 
 without listening to the propositions of truce made to 
 him by Villeroy. After having in this march attempted 
 to take the city of Sens with little success, he came 
 to block up Paris, and took all the posts and castles 
 about it, where he lodged garrisons of horse to scour 
 the country. 
 
 The Duke of Mayenne was not therein ; he had left 
 the Duke of Nemours as governor, and had gone to 
 meet the Duke of Parma at Conde on the Escaut, to 
 demand of him some assistance in his necessity. He 
 was in great trouble, and in a just fear of losing Paris, 
 whether he relieved it or whether he permitted it to 
 be taken ; and that the rather because he saw well that 
 if he brought in the Spanish assistance the Sixteen 
 would take that opportunity to again raise themselves 
 up, and possibly out of despite to him place Paris 
 under the Spanish yoke ; for this Sixteen was embit- 
 tered against him, because he had broken up their 
 council of forty, which bridled his authority, and that 
 to show himself absolutely averse to a republican 
 government, which they would have introduced, he 
 
io6 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 had created another council, a keeper of the seals, and 
 four secretaries of state, with whom he governed affairs, 
 without calling them except when he had need of money. 
 
 Besides this trouble there happened to him another 
 subject of inquietude, this being the decease of the old 
 Cardinal de Bourbon, who died at Fontenay, where he 
 was guarded by the Lord de la Boulay. He had reason 
 to fear lest his death should give cause to the Spaniards 
 and to the Sixteen to demand the creation of a king, 
 and that they would press him so much that in the 
 necessity he had of their aid he should be obliged to 
 suffer it. In fact, this was the first condition which 
 the agents of Spain proposed in the treaty they held 
 with him to give him assistance ; and he, from the 
 fear of displeasing them, testified that he ardently 
 wished the convocation of the estates to elect a king, 
 and transferred the place of their assembly from the 
 city of Melun, where he assigned it, to Paris ; that is to 
 say, from a city which he had lost to one in which he 
 was besieged. In the meantime he employed his friends 
 with the parliament and at the Hotel de Ville so as to 
 keep to himself the quality of Lord-general, which being 
 continued to him, he avowed that he feared nothing 
 so much as the estates, and endeavoured with all his 
 might to hinder them, which, to speak truth, com- 
 pleted the ruin of his party. 
 
 Paris being blocked up, the legate (Cardinal Caetan) 
 and the Sixteen forgot nothing that might encourage 
 their people. They consulted their Faculty of Theology, 
 and obtained what resolutions they pleased against him 
 they named the Bearnais. They caused many both 
 general and particular processions to be made, and the 
 
PARIS DURING THE SIEGE 107 
 
 officers renewed their oatli of fidelity to the Hoi)' 
 Union, as they called the League. 
 
 At the same time the Duke of Nemours took great 
 care to put the city in a position of defence ; and the 
 burgesses, being for the most part persuaded that if 
 the King took it he would establish preaching and 
 abolish the mass, were possessed with an extreme 
 ardour, and contributed all that was demanded, either 
 of their purse or labour, towards its fortification. 
 
 There is no finer passage in the history of that 
 time than the relation of this siege — the orders which 
 Nemours gave in the city, the garrisons he established 
 in divers quarters, the sallies he made for the first 
 month, the inventions he used to animate the people, 
 the endeavours and divers practices of the King's 
 friends to bring him into the city, the negotiations 
 held on one side and the other to essay a treaty ; 
 how provisions diminished, how they sought means 
 to make them last, how, notwithstanding all their 
 economy, the famine was extreme ; and how in the 
 end that great city, being within three or four days 
 of utterly perishing, was delivered by the Duke of 
 Parma.^ 
 
 I shall observe only some particulars very memor- 
 able. There were in Paris when it was besieged only 
 two hundred and thirty thousand persons, and among 
 these were nearly thirty thousand of the people of the 
 country round about, who had there sought refuge, 
 and nearly one hundred thousand of the ordinary in- 
 habitants had left the city ; so that in those times 
 
 ^ Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, born 1546, killed in 1592. 
 
io8 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 there were no more than three hundred thousand souls 
 in Paris. 
 
 The King was made to hope that as soon as the 
 Parisians had for seven or eight days seen the granaries 
 and markets without bread, the butcheries without 
 meat, the ports without corn, wine, and other com- 
 modities with which the river is accustomed to be 
 covered, they would take their chiefs by the throat 
 and force them to treat with him ; or at least, if a 
 seditious humour did not so soon prompt them to it, 
 famine would force them in fifteen days. In fact, they 
 had but five weeks' victuals, but they managed them 
 carefully ; and those who had advised the King knew 
 not well the people of Paris, for they are wonderfully 
 patient, nor is there any extremity they are not capable 
 to suffer, provided they have those who know how to 
 lead them, and principally when it is a question of 
 their religion. It cannot be read without astonishment 
 how blind was the obedience and how constant the 
 union of that fierce and indocile people for four whole 
 months of horrible losses and miseries. The famine 
 was so great that the people ate even the herbs that 
 grew in the ditches. Dogs, cats, and hides of leather 
 were food, and some have reported that the lansquenets, 
 or foot soldiers, fed upon such children as they could 
 entrap. 
 
 The Huguenots, ravished with delight to hold that 
 city blocked up which had done them so much mis- 
 chief, insisted strongly in the King's council, and not 
 only cried it there themselves, but caused it to be cried 
 aloud among the soldiers, that it should be assaulted 
 vigorously, and that in six hours it would become a 
 
THE KING'S CLEMENCY 109 
 
 desolate thing. But the good and wise King did not 
 follow those passionate counsels ; he knew well that 
 they would take parts by force, that they might murder 
 all in revenge of the massacres of St. Bartholomew. 
 And moreover he considered that they would thus lay 
 a city desolate, the ruin of which, like a wound struck 
 in the heart, might possibly prove mortal to all France ; 
 that he would in one day dissipate the richest and 
 almost the only treasure of his state, and that no 
 person would be benefited by it except the simple 
 soldiery, who, becoming insolent by so rich a booty, 
 would either overwhelm themselves in their pleasures 
 or abandon him. 
 
 Those who had charge of the victualling of the city 
 committed a great error in not sending forth the 
 numerous poor and useless mouths. The scarcity aug- 
 menting, they sought, too late, means to remedy it ; 
 but not finding any, they sent messengers to the King 
 to gain his permission to allow a certain number to 
 depart, who, hoping for his grace, were already assem- 
 bled near the gate of St. Victor, and had taken leave 
 of their friends and neighbours with those regrets which 
 rend asunder the hearts of even the most insensible. 
 
 The King was so good and merciful that he granted 
 this favour ; but some of his council opposed it so 
 strongly that, for fear of displeasing them, he was at 
 first constrained to send back those miserable people. 
 His clemency, however, could not, for any long time 
 suffer their violence ; for having heard from many 
 who, fearing death less than famine, had leapt from 
 the walls, the pitiful state of the city, and they having 
 truly represented to him what they had beheld of their 
 
no HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 terrible privations through the incredible obstinacy ot 
 the Leaguers, he was so overburdened with grief that 
 the tears started from his eyes ; and having turned 
 himself away to conceal his emotion, he heaved a great 
 sigh, with these words: "O Lord, thou knowest who 
 are the causes of this ; but give me the means to save 
 those whom the obstinate malice of my enemies would 
 cause to perish." 
 
 In vain did the most adverse of his council, and 
 especially the Huguenots, represent to him that these 
 rebels merited no favour ; he resolved to open a passage 
 to the innocent. " I wonder not at all," he said, "that 
 the chiefs of the League or the Spaniards have so little 
 compassion on those poor people — they are only tyrants ; 
 but for myself, who am their father and their King, 
 I cannot bear the recital of these calamities without 
 being touched to the bottom of my soul, or without 
 ardently desiring to remedy them. I cannot hinder 
 those whom the fury of the League possesses from 
 perishing with it ; but for those who implore my 
 clemency, and who are only guilty of the crimes of 
 others, I will stretch forth my arms to them." This 
 said, he commanded that they should permit those 
 miserable people to depart. There were some who 
 crawled, and others who had to be carried. There came 
 out at this time more than four thousand, who all with 
 great and unanimous shouts cried, " Long live the 
 King ! " 
 
 After that day, since they knew it offended him not, 
 the captains who kept the guards daily permitted great 
 bands to escape, and likewise had the boldness to send 
 victuals and refreshments to their friends and to their 
 
THE BESIEGED FED BY THEIR FOES iii 
 
 former hosts, and particularly to the ladies ; for Paris 
 being the common country of the French, there are 
 few people who love it not, and who have not there 
 some gage of friendship which forbids them from pro- 
 curing its loss and utter ruin. 
 
 After the example of the captains, the soldiers took 
 the liberty of conveying to them meat, bread, and barrels 
 of wine over the walls, receiving in exchange some rich 
 goods at an exorbitant price, and making themselves 
 brave at the expense of the merchants, which these in 
 some manner were constrained to tolerate, because the 
 others had no money wherewith to pay them. This 
 made Paris stand out nearly a month longer than it 
 would have done ; but it is almost impossible but that 
 this should always happen on such occasions, as has 
 been seen not so long since. God be pleased for ever 
 hereafter to preserve France from such great ills ! 
 
 After all, the King knew certainly that that great city 
 could not long subsist ; and he desired to gain absolutely 
 their hearts, in order that he might undermine the very 
 foundations of the League. For this reason he combated 
 their obstinacy with an excess of indulgence. He gave 
 passports to the scholars, not being able to refuse the 
 requests of their parents who were with him ; afterwards 
 to the ladies and to the ecclesiastics ; and in the end 
 to those who had shown themselves his most bitter 
 enemies. 
 
 However, to hasten a little the chiefs of the League 
 in coming to a capitulation, it was agreed in his 
 council that he should render himself master of the 
 suburbs. On the evening of the 27th of July he caused 
 them all to be assaulted at once. They were forced in 
 
112 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 less than an hour, and all the gates blocked up, his 
 soldiers having first fortified their quarters and thrown 
 down the houses nearest the ditch. 
 
 By this last action he took the Parisians by the 
 throats, and pressed them so that they could scarcely 
 breathe ; their chiefs by reason of which apprehending 
 that neither their defences, exhortations, nor fear of 
 punishments would be capable to retain them any longer, 
 concluded after ten or twelve deliberations to enter 
 into conference with the King, not out of a cordial 
 intention to treat with him, but only to spin out things 
 to such a length that they might give time to the Duke 
 of Mayenne to make an attempt to succour them. 
 
 They received intelligence from that duke twice 
 every week, and each time he promised them that he 
 would be with them with a powerful army in five or 
 six days. Having fed them with these hopes for five 
 or six weeks, he advanced in the end to Meaux, where 
 Vitry was governor, and from thence gave them some 
 greater hopes of relief. He was, however, too weak to 
 hazard it. 
 
 The Duke of Parma, who had orders from Spain 
 to join with him and not to spare anything for 
 the relief of Paris, came with great unwillingness. 
 He feared lest during his absence the council or 
 cabinet should appoint a successor in his government, 
 and that he should lose more in the Low Countries 
 than he should gain in France. However, he received 
 commands so express that he was constrained to obey. 
 He departed therefore from Valenciennes on the 6th of 
 August, and arrived at Meaux on the 22nd. He brought 
 along with him only twelve thousand foot and three 
 
THE DUKE OF PARMA 113 
 
 thousand horse, but artillery and ammunition for an 
 army thrice as great, and fifteen hundred waggons of 
 provisions to revictual Paris. 
 
 He was without doubt the greatest captain among 
 strangers of the age in which he Hved for all exploits 
 which depend on profound reason and judicious conduct. 
 He had so well laid his plans, so well taken his measures 
 by the most exact maps of the country, and so well 
 meditated on all that could befall him and all that he 
 could do, that he felt himself assured of success. 
 
 Those who were about the King had always made 
 him believe that this duke would not leave the Low 
 Countries, and said that if he did, he would not 
 be able to raise a sufficient force to march into the 
 heart of France, or if he raised any great army, he 
 would not arrive in time to deliver Paris. The King 
 suffered himself to be a little carried away with these 
 false reasons ; but when he understood that he was 
 marching in this manner, he began already to fear that 
 which happened ; and the danger appeared so much the 
 more because he had less foreseen it. In these appre- 
 hensions he was well content to renew the negotiation 
 with the Duke of Mayenne, who on his side feigned 
 to desire a truce more than ever, in order that he 
 might keep him occupied, for fear he should assault 
 Paris by force, and also to sustain the Parisians with 
 the hopes of their final delivery, for the famine made 
 them despair so much that it was no longer in his 
 power, with all his inventions, to restrain them from 
 surrender for more than five or six days at most. 
 
 When the Duke of Parma was within two days' 
 journey of Meaux, he caused it to be signified to the 
 
 8 
 
114 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 King that the Duke of Mayenne could no longer treat 
 except conjointly with him. At first the council of the 
 King was much astonished and in a great irresolution, 
 not knowing what to do. It was without doubt a 
 great blow for the King, and a notable diminishing 
 of the reputation of his arms, to raise a siege which 
 had lasted four months ; and it must needs be a great 
 displeasure to this prince, who was brave and glorious, 
 to raise it on the eve of the taking of that great city, 
 the reduction of which would have been a mortal 
 wound to the League. 
 
 He had, therefore, but one course to take, but which 
 was without doubt very hazardous ; nevertheless, the 
 King resolved upon it. This was to leave a part of his 
 troops in the suburbs, and choose a place of battle, 
 where the rest of the army might engage with the 
 Duke of Parma, and thus avoid the necessity of raising 
 the siege. To this effect, the King, confirmed in it by 
 the advice of La None, Guitry, and Du Plessis Mornay, 
 left only three thousand men on the side of the Uni- 
 versity, and put the rest of his army in battle array 
 in the plain of Bondy, which was between Paris and 
 the Duke of Parma. 
 
 But the Marshal de Biron, disapproving absolutely 
 that counsel, prevailed so far that it was resolved to 
 advance to Chelles with intention to give battle. It 
 was not known whether he gave this advice from 
 jealousy, because he had not given the first counsel, 
 or because it seemed to him too dangerous to remain 
 so near Paris, from whence there might sally fifteen or 
 sixteen thousand men on the day of battle to charge 
 them behind. However this be, his authority was so 
 
DELIVERANCE OF PARIS 115 
 
 great among the men of war, and it was so dangerous 
 just then to contradict that hot spirit, that they were 
 forced to behevc him, and absolutely raise the siege 
 and encamp at Chelles, 
 
 The Duke of Parma seeing that, and judging it not 
 convenient to tight, intrenched himself readily in a 
 marsh so well that he feared not to be forced. He 
 boasted, likewise, that the King should not in that 
 position be able to force him to discharge one pistol ; 
 and yet that he would take a city then in sight, and open 
 a passage on the river to send provisions into Paris. 
 Indeed he executed to the letter what he had said. It 
 was not in the power of the King to oblige him to fight ; 
 and he took Lagny on the Marne, whilst the King was 
 not able to relieve it. Thus Paris was effectually de- 
 livered, receiving on the morrow a very large number 
 of boats laden with all sorts of provisions. Yet their 
 joy was not equal to their comfort, for their too long 
 misery had in such manner weakened their bodies and 
 depressed their courage that they were not capable of 
 any sentiments of rejoicing. 
 
 The troops of the Duke of Nemours, having regained 
 heart by the food abundant, sallied daily with the most 
 courageous of the burgesses, and cut off all provisions 
 from the King's camp in such manner that there being 
 a little scarcity amongst them, sickness began to 
 multiply, and the gentlemen who had flocked thither 
 out of the hopes of a battle began to grow impatient ; 
 which the King seeing, assembled his council to seek 
 some remedy for these straits. He found that through- 
 out his whole army there were very ill dispositions, 
 and that he had better retreat than expose himself 
 
 8—2 
 
ii6 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 to greater affronts. But being loth to quit the enter- 
 prise of Paris, he tried in passing to carry it by 
 storm on the University side, between the gates of St. 
 James and St. Marceau ; which having done in vain, 
 he retired to SenHs, and thence to Creil. In the end, 
 not being able to do better, he took Clermont and 
 Beauvais, which threatened Senlis and Compiegne. 
 Afterwards he put one part of his troops in the towns 
 about Paris, sent another into the provinces to confirm 
 them in their obedience, and kept with himself only a 
 flying army. 
 
 As soon as he had retired, the Dukes of Parma and 
 Mayenne spread their troops over the Brie. Parma, 
 instantly solicited by the Leaguers, besieged Corbeil. 
 He thought to take it in four or five days, but he lay 
 before it a whole month, through the Duke of Mayenne's 
 fault, who, either out of neglect or jealousy, furnished 
 him with ammunition only in small quantities. So 
 that, seeing his army much diminished, and the rest 
 giving themselves up to all sorts of license after the 
 example of the French soldiers, he returned to Flanders 
 much discontented with the conduct of the French 
 nation, whom he had found, as he said, "inconstant 
 and volatile, full of jealousies and divisions, insatiable 
 and ungrateful." His vexatious melancholy surely made 
 him say so. 
 
 Before his departure he heard with displeasure of 
 the loss of Corbeil which had cost him so much. Givry, 
 governor of Brie for the King, regained it in one night 
 by storm, and the League, despite all their endeavours, 
 could not prevail upon the Duke of Parma to stay in 
 France till they had retaken it. He left them only 
 
THE KING OF SPAIN AND THE LEAGUE 117 
 
 eight thousand men of his, promising to return in the 
 spring with a greater army, and counselHng them in 
 the meantime to dally with the King by treaties of 
 peace until the next campaign — a counsel which the 
 Duke of Mayenne was not unwilling to follow, and 
 which kept many towns to his party which were ready 
 to abandon him. 
 
 The expedition of the Duke of Parma into France 
 retarded much the affairs of the King, but did not 
 advance those of the Duke of Mayenne. On the con- 
 trary, it embroiled them, and begat those dispositions 
 which in the end ruined them. For the Duke of Parma, 
 knowing the defects of the Duke of Mayenne, repre- 
 sented to the council of Spain that he was not a proper 
 person for the advancement of their interests, being both 
 too weak and having too little authority to keep in 
 unity so great a party ; too jealous, too slow, and too 
 idle to attend to all things ; and that therefore it was 
 necessar}^ that the King of Spain should take care of 
 the League, and become absolute master of it, and that 
 to this effect he should gain the ecclesiastics and the 
 people of the great cities, who having a great desire 
 to see the form of the government changed, because 
 under the last kings it had been very oppressive to 
 the people, would be easily induced either to join the 
 cities together in the form of cantons, or to make a king 
 whose power should be so limited that he could never 
 weaken them, either by taxes or by arms, as the two 
 last kings had done. 
 
 Therefore the King of Spain finding this plan the 
 more agreeable to his designs, and thinking by it to 
 change France into a republic, or make a king who 
 
ii8 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 should be dependent upon him, considered no longer 
 the Duke of Mayenne so much as he had done and 
 assisted him but weakly, but endeavoured to create 
 factions among the great cities, and particularly that 
 of the " Sixteen " of Paris, not sparing any money ; so 
 that many believed that had he expended such great 
 sums in raising armies he might have conquered a 
 good part of the realm. 
 
 Now our Henry, understanding his designs, laboured 
 on his part to frustrate them. And first, as to the 
 Duke of Mayenne, he flattered him with kindnesses 
 and much good treatment, which he did for two ends ; 
 to wit, to try to win him over, and likewise to 
 render him more suspected by the Spaniards. He like- 
 wise endeavoured to augment in him the disgust he 
 already had for that nation, and withal promised him 
 great advantages if he would come to terms with him. 
 By these means he gradually restrained him, cooled his 
 ardour, and hindered him from carrying things to ex- 
 tremities. And as for the people, knowing that it 
 was the ill-government of his predecessor which had 
 altered their affections and had furnished them with 
 the pretext and occasion of the League to raise their 
 passions, he omitted no diligence nor kindness which 
 might bring them to their duty. 
 
 This good king considered that to cure a disease 
 it is necessary that the causes be taken away, and 
 that to this purpose he had only to correct and 
 sweeten the ill-humours which had put the state into 
 this extremity. What he had seen of it had likewise 
 made him know that three things principally had ren- 
 dered his predecessor odious and contemptible. 
 
HENRY IIi:S FAULTS 119 
 
 The first was his softness and faint-heartedness, 
 which made him, instead of employing those fair 
 talents which God had given him to rule in his state 
 and act in the functions of a king, neglect to apply 
 himself, and not take sufficiently to heart the con- 
 duct of his affairs, but addict himself wholly to his 
 pleasures. As if royalty, which is the greatest and 
 most eminent of all things here below, were only a 
 vain diversion, or as if God had made kings only for 
 the love of themselves, and not for His glory and the 
 common good of men. 
 
 The second was his ill-management and the waste 
 of his revenues, which obliged him to seek extraordinary 
 and oppressive means to exact money. Now he had 
 not only consumed his revenues by his own extreme 
 profuseness and by the immense gifts he made to his 
 favourites — a thing which made the people desperate — 
 but much more by his negligence, because he would 
 not give himself the trouble to take knowledge of or 
 watch over those to whom he intrusted their adminis- 
 tration, who, forgetting that they were only his dis- 
 pensers, became prodigal in a thousand foolish expenses, 
 and distributed them to their creatures, as if they had 
 been their private property. 
 
 The third was the little belief they had in his faith; 
 his manner of acting with his subjects was too subtle, 
 too fine, and too clouded, so that he had always this 
 misfortune, they were in continual distrust of him, and 
 his words and actions seemed false, and they thought 
 they did prudently in believing quite contrary to all 
 he would have them believe. 
 
 Now our Henry, having known that these ill ways 
 
120 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 had conducted his predecessor to a precipice, resolved, 
 as much from the inchnation to do good as from good 
 pohcy, to follow paths quite contrary. 
 
 First, he would show to the League, who disputed 
 the sceptre with him, that he was worthy to carry it; 
 and therefore he acted continually, not only in the 
 field and in matters of war, but in his cabinet by his 
 deliberations of important affairs, by his negotiations, 
 by the order and distribution of his revenues, by his 
 dispensation of his charges and employments, by his 
 knowledge of the principal laws, the order and policy 
 of his realm, and, in fact, in all his actions, like one 
 who contents himself, not with the name of a king, 
 but who would be one in reality. He would have 
 faithful ministers, but would have no companions. He 
 committed to them the care of his affairs in such a 
 manner that he still remained the absolute master and 
 they the servants. He loved them tenderly, as it was 
 just, and used a great familiarity with them, but yet 
 permitted them not to be wanting either in submission 
 or respect. If he took their counsel it was in the form 
 of advice, and he obliged them much oftener by reason 
 to follow his than he followed theirs. He honoured 
 them with his graces and with benefits, but in pro- 
 portion and measure ; he gave them not all to one 
 alone, nor to two or three, but, like a common father, 
 distributed his rewards to all those he judged worthy. 
 And he desired them to receive them from his hands, 
 and not from others, for he knew that to give and 
 do good is the most glorious attribute of sovereignty, 
 which ought not to be communicated to any person. 
 
 In the second place, he took most particular care 
 
HENRY IV:S VIRTUES i2i 
 
 to cause his revenues to be well administered, to which 
 four motives obliged him. The first, because he was 
 naturally, though not covetous, yet a good manager, 
 and one who hated profuseness. The second, because 
 he loved his people, and would spare them as much as 
 he possibly could ; for he made it a matter of conscience 
 the drawing money out of their purses except upon most 
 necessary occasions, and therefore he never kept near him 
 any of those blood-suckers of the court, who draw all to 
 their coffers and who never care from whence it comes 
 so that they have it. The third, because the necessity 
 he had often been in had made him know the 
 value and need of money, and that it was good to 
 manage it well because hard to recover. And the 
 fourth, because not having been brought up ignorant 
 in affairs, as too often princes are, he had been well in- 
 formed that the greatest part of those ills which had 
 afflicted France proceeded from the ill administration 
 of public moneys. And therefore among all the cares 
 he took to govern well his states, he had none greater 
 nor more continual than that of ordering well his 
 revenues and of keeping them in order. The superin- 
 tendents had confused and entangled them into a 
 hundred thousand knots, so that they could neither 
 be loosened nor distinguished ; and they so acted that 
 the management of the revenue, as a treasurer of that 
 time said, was a kind of black art, where nothing could 
 be seen, so that the goods of the prince and the blood 
 of the poor people remained entirely at their discretion. 
 The revenues were at this time under the care of 
 a Norman gentleman named Francis d'O, who had 
 been superintendent since the time of Henry III. This 
 
122 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 man, to speak the truth, was horribly prodigal in all 
 sorts of expenses. His profuseness rendered him more 
 ingenious and more subtle in finding out new inventions 
 to grasp the substance of the people, even to their 
 very marrow, and to perplex more and more the order 
 of the revenues, in order that it might not be discovered 
 what spoil he made. Now though the King knew him 
 for such as he was, nevertheless, because he had a 
 strong cabal with the minions and servants of the 
 defunct Henry HI., who acted the parts of zealous 
 Catholics, he was obliged to allow him to remain in 
 that charge, expecting when his affairs were in a better 
 state to be able to give a check to his insatiable covetous- 
 ness. He little by little himself gained knowledge of 
 the management of his moneys, and quietly introduced 
 some changes, now by one means and then by another, 
 so that he knew in time how to bridle him, and simplified 
 things in such a manner that he could take but little in 
 comparison with what he had done before. 
 
 It would be superfluous to relate with what noble- 
 ness and what freedom our Henry acted with all the 
 world. We may see through the whole course of his 
 life that his very enemies had more confidence in his 
 word alone than in the writings of all others. He used 
 much prudence in all his conduct, but never practised 
 deceit, cunning, nor artifice. The prudent man never 
 walks but by ways straight and virtuous, and the 
 cunning man, on the contrary, by paths crooked and 
 evil. The prudent man can only be generous and 
 good, whilst the other can only be base, deceitful, and 
 unworthy. Now, it is certain that all the life of this 
 great King was nothing but generosity, goodness, 
 
HIS AFFABILITY AND GOODNESS 123 
 
 sweetness, and clemency, and that he had a natural 
 inclination to oblige all sorts of persons, at least with 
 kindnesses, embraces, and sweet words, w^hen he had 
 no other means. He acknowledged the smallest ser- 
 vices when he could do it ; he showed himself easy 
 and affable to all the world, familiar to his soldiers, 
 compassionate to the countr5'-people, so that he would 
 often excuse himself to them, when occasion offered, 
 for the evils they suffered, protesting that he was not 
 the cause of them, but ardently desired that peace 
 which Jesus Christ recommended to Christians, and 
 that it was his enemies who forced him to make that 
 war, which of himself he detested as the source and 
 fountain of all crime and miser}-. There appeared in 
 his countenance a certain gaiet}', in his discourse a 
 vivacity and particular grace of spirit, and in all his 
 actions a resolution and promptitude which contented 
 the most disaffected and animated the most indifferent. 
 Though he was yet a Huguenot, he spoke with respect 
 of the Pope and of the ecclesiastics, treated the noble- 
 men and gentlemen as his companions, and flattered 
 them with the glory of being the right hand of his 
 state and the upholders of the crown upon his head. 
 He scarcely knew what vengeance was ; his great heart 
 was without any gall ; he pardoned injuries, and like- 
 wise easily forgot them, so long as he knew that those 
 who had committed them had repented and were dis- 
 posed to do good, or at least to do no more ill. It 
 was with these arms rather than with the sword that 
 he vanquished his bitterest enemies, that he forced the 
 most obstinate and envenomed hearts to love him, and 
 that of the most passionate Leaguers he made his most 
 
124 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 faithful servants, esteeming it a procedure agreeable to 
 the grandeur and goodness of a sovereign not to lose 
 those he might gain, and to withdraw men from their 
 vices rather than see them sink under them. It may 
 thus be seen how he followed ways quite contrary to 
 those his predecessor had taken. 
 
 After the departure of the Duke of Parma, the two 
 parties, that of the King and that of the League, 
 remained some time in great weakness, and both were 
 equally tormented with the mischief of divisions and 
 jealousies ; but with this difference, that those of the 
 King's party were extinguished by his good conduct 
 and those of the League daily increased. 
 
 There was great jealousy between the Duke of 
 Nemours and the Duke of Mayenne, brothers by the 
 mother's side. Nor was it less between the Duke of 
 Mayenne and the Duke of Lorraine; and much greater 
 between the latter and the Spaniards, who raised a 
 thousand annoyances against him by means of the 
 Sixteen, for as he could not suffer them for com- 
 panions they could not suffer him as master, but 
 desired above all things that the League had another 
 chief than he. 
 
 In the party of the King there were likewise three 
 or four factions. The first, of the rigid and obstinate 
 Huguenots, who did not desire the King to speak of 
 permitting himself to be instructed, threatening to 
 abandon him if he thought of it, and for this purpose 
 observing him continually, and, as it were, counting 
 all his footsteps. The second, that of the Catholics, 
 who were zealous, or who feigned to be so ; these 
 endeavoured to draw him from the Huguenots, and 
 
FACTIONS IN THE KING'S PARTY 125 
 
 murmured when he either gave them charges or 
 employments or entertained them particularly. The 
 third was that of the servants and courtiers of the 
 late King, whom the bearing of our Henry dis- 
 pleased, because he did not give them all they wished 
 and did not permit himself to be led by their fancy. 
 These were for the most part atheists and libertines ; 
 nevertheless they conspired with the Catholics, and 
 caused much inquietude to the King. 
 
 Of these two last factions joined together was a 
 third party formed ; Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, 
 who was called Cardinal de Vendome whilst the old 
 Cardinal de Bourbon lived, was the chief of it. This 
 prince, vain and ambitious, imagining that the crown 
 would be conferred on him if his cousin Henry IV. 
 were excluded, stirred up the Catholics to press his 
 conversion, from the belief he had that the conscience 
 of that King and his affairs not being yet disposed, 
 he could not hearken to it, and would in consequence, 
 by these heedless shifts, be taken for an obstinate 
 heretic, and oblige the Catholics to abandon him, 
 and afterwards turn on his side. This faction was 
 the most dangerous affair that our Henry ever had 
 to deal with, though he seemed to despise it, and 
 called those who were of it Ics Tiercelets, or the 
 Thirdlings. It did not come to the light with an 
 unmasked face, nor ever openly separate itself from 
 the other ; yet because of this it was the more to 
 be feared. But it produced in the end this good, 
 that he was constrained to permit himself to be in- 
 structed and thus wrought to his conversion. 
 
 As for the Huguenots, when they saw that he lent 
 
126 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 an ear to the Catholic doctors, they consulted among 
 themselves, in order that they might entangle him so 
 that he could not escape them, and were of opinion 
 that they ought earnestly to solicit Queen Elizabeth 
 and the Protestant princes of Germany to send him 
 great forces, by whose help they believed they might 
 overcome the League, after which there was no need 
 of his conversion, and in the meantime they would 
 continually keep him, as it were, besieged by those 
 strange forces. Therefore, Elizabeth, who was zealous 
 for the Protestant religion, interested herself very 
 strongly in the cause of this King, generously assisted 
 him, and strenuously solicited the German princes to 
 concur with her.^ 
 
 At the same time the Huguenots pressed him with 
 all their might to grant them an edict for the free 
 exercise of their religion. They pursued their object 
 so strongly that he was forced to accord it them, and 
 they sent it to the parliament sitting at Tours, but 
 they could never get it confirmed by them except with 
 these words: "By proviso only "—the parliament thus 
 showing as much enmity to this false religion as they 
 did to the factions of the League. 
 
 During this time Pope Sixtus V. died (August 27th, 
 1590), leaving in the treasury of the Church five millions 
 of gold which he had hoarded up. He was much dis- 
 gusted with the League, and stretched forth his arms as 
 much as he could to our Henry to recall him into the 
 
 ^ Elizabeth is said to have demanded the restitution of Calais 
 as the price for her services, but Turenne gave her to understand 
 that Henry would ruin his cause by agreeing. — Martin's History of 
 France. 
 
THE ''BATTLE OF THE FLOUR" 127 
 
 Church, whilst the League endeavoured to shut the 
 gates against him that they might exclude him from his 
 royalty. To Sixtus V. Urban VII. succeeded, who held 
 the seat only thirteen days ; and to Urban succeeded 
 Gregory XIV., who, being of a violent spirit and a 
 Spaniard by inclination, zealously embraced the League, 
 as we shall see hereafter. 
 
 I silently pass over divers enterprises made by one 
 party and the other. The Parisians made one upon 
 St. Denis. The Cavalier d'Aumale, one of their chiefs, 
 whom they called the " Lion Rampant of the League," 
 was killed in the midst of the city when he had made 
 himself almost master of it. The King on his side 
 made another attempt upon Paris. It was called the 
 " Battle of the Flour," because he was to surprise the 
 city under pretext of a convoy of flour or meal carried 
 thither ; but it was discovered, and obliged the Duke 
 of Mayenne, upon the vehement cries of the Sixteen, 
 to receive four thousand Spaniards into the garrison, 
 which retarded for more than a year the reduction of 
 Paris. 
 
 It is necessary to understand that neither party 
 having sufficient money to keep their armies continually 
 on foot, they only made war at intervals. When they 
 had been together three months they retired, and then 
 assembled again, and, according as they were stronger 
 or weaker, made their attacks. 
 
 The King, having drawn up his army, besieged the 
 city of Chartres, where La Bourdaisiere commanded. 
 There was but a small garrison within ; yet the siege 
 was long, difficult, and bloody. Its length formed a 
 pretext to the third party for carrying on a number of 
 
128 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 dangerous intrigues, but the taking of the city repressed 
 them for some time. The King restored the govern- 
 ment of Chartres to Chiverni, chancellor of France, 
 who had held it before the League seized it. 
 
 After this the Duke of Mayenne, who saw that he 
 was in no very good state, following the counsel of the 
 Duke of Parma, renewed a conference for peace, which 
 ended without doing anything, and the Princes of Lor- 
 raine and the principal chiefs of the League then held 
 a general assembly at Rheims. It was resolved that, 
 being altogether too weak to resist the King and being 
 in want of money, they should unite themselves more 
 firmly with Spain than they had formerly done ; and 
 to this effect they dispatched the president Janin to 
 Philip IL This president was a man of great ability, 
 and a good Frenchman, who laboured for the League 
 and for the Duke of Mayenne, but who would save the 
 state by saving the religion ; so that while endeavour- 
 ing to win over the Spaniards, he would not serve 
 them or procure their advancement. Yet we cannot 
 doubt but that as he had his ends, they likewise had 
 theirs, and that they designed to make good their ex- 
 penses incurred for the League out of the kingdom of 
 France. 
 
 The Spaniard had in this undertaking the assistance 
 of the new Pope Gregory XIV., who pressed on even 
 more swiftly and more fervently than he ; for without 
 having regard either to the letters which M. de Luxem- 
 bourg, afterwards Duke of Piney, wrote to him on the 
 part of the princes and Catholic lords who were in the 
 King's party, or to the submissions and three humble 
 remonstrances made him by the Marquis of Pisani, who 
 
GREGORY XIV. HELPS THE LEAGUE 129 
 
 was there at Rome deputed from them, he strenuously 
 embraced the party of the League, entered into cor- 
 respondence with the Sixteen, receiving letters from 
 them and writing to them ; and, what is more, he 
 prodigally wasted that treasure which Sixtus V. had 
 heaped up to raise an army of twelve thousand men, 
 giving the command to Count Hercules Sfondrato, his 
 nephew, whom he made expressly Duke of Montmarcian, 
 to authorise him the more by this new title. He accom- 
 panied this army with a monition or bull of excommuni- 
 cation against the prelates who followed the King, and 
 sent it by Marcelin Landriano, his nuncio, with a great 
 quantity of silver to the Sixteen, to be distributed among 
 them and the chiefs of the cabals in the great cities. 
 
 The parliament at Tours having heard of this 
 monition, caused it to be torn by the hand of the 
 common scavenger, and issued a decree against the 
 nuncio. That at Paris, on the contrary, annulled that 
 decree, as being, they said, ordered by persons without 
 power, and commanded that the Holy Father and his 
 nuncio should be obeyed. 
 
 After all, these bulls produced no great effect at 
 present, and the Cardinal de Bourbon strove in vain 
 to make the assembly of the clergy which was held 
 at Chartres declare against the decree at Tours. Nor 
 did the army of the Pope do any great exploits, but 
 was almost entirely dispersed before it could render 
 any service. 
 
 The same fate did not await those troops the King 
 had caused to be raised in Germany by the Viscount 
 de Turenne. They served the King well in his affairs, 
 and gained him notable advantages. As a recompense 
 
 9 
 
I30 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 he honoured this lord with the staff of Marshal of 
 France, to render him the more capable to espouse 
 Charlotte de la Mark, Duchess of Bouillon and sove- 
 reign lady of Sedan, who, although a Huguenot, had 
 been eagerly sought after, both by friendship and force, 
 by the Duke of Lorraine, who desired to marry her 
 to his eldest son, the Marquis du Pont. The King 
 made this match to oppose a man to the Duke of 
 Lorraine, who helped to sustain the League. The new 
 marshal soon justified the King's favour by having 
 among other fair exploits surprised Stenay the night 
 preceding his nuptials. 
 
 The King had another great captain in the Dau- 
 phinate, this being Lesdiguieres, who held that country, 
 having reduced the city of Grenoble, and who saved 
 Provence for him, which the Duke of Savoy thought 
 of seizing and dismembering from the crown. This 
 duke being son-in-law to Philip IL, King of Spain, 
 the power of his father-in-law had raised his ambi- 
 tion and courage and made him forget that constant 
 affection which his predecessors have almost con- 
 tinuously had for France, inasmuch as they have 
 considered themselves much honoured to be pensioners 
 to our kings. But the conduct and valour of Lesdi- 
 guieres made him repent of all his high designs, 
 especially by the battle of Esparon de Palieres and of 
 Pont-Charra, where that duke sustained as much loss 
 as confusion. 
 
 About this time our Henry conceived a passion 
 for the fair Gabrielle d'Estrees, who was of a very 
 noble house ; and that passion, by degrees, grew so 
 strong that whilst she lived she held the principal 
 
ESCAPE OF THE DUKE OF GUISE 131 
 
 place in his heart, so that after having had by her 
 three or four children, he had almost resolved to marry 
 her, though he knew not how to do it, except by 
 hazarding great troubles and very dangerous difficulties. 
 Having taken the city of Noyon, he gave the govern- 
 ment of it to Count d'Estrees, father of this fair one, 
 and shortly after gave him likewise the post of grand 
 master of the artillery, which had been held by John 
 d'Estrees in the year 1550. 
 
 Not long after the siege of Noyon he heard of the 
 escape of the Duke of Guise, who, after many other 
 attempts, had, in broad daylight, got out of the castle 
 of Tours, where he had been imprisoned since his 
 father's death. The news at first no less touched the 
 King than it surprised him. He feared this great name 
 of Guise, which had given him so much trouble ; and 
 he feared lest this young prince should re-engross the 
 love of the people, which his father had possessed to 
 so great an extent. He was troubled to have lost such 
 a pledge, who might have served him in many things. 
 However, after he had meditated a little, his apprehen- 
 sions diminished, and he told those who were about him 
 that he had more reason to rejoice than to be troubled, 
 for it must perforce happen that either the Duke of 
 Guise must take his party— and if he did so he would 
 treat him as his parent and kinsman- — or that he must 
 cast himself into the League ; and then it would be 
 impossible that the Duke of Mayenne and he could 
 continue any long time without contending and be- 
 coming enemies. 
 
 This prognostication was very true. The Duke of 
 Mayenne having seen those rejoicings which all the 
 
 9—2 
 
132 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 League testified at this news, the bonfires made in the 
 great cities, the thanks which the Pope caused pub- 
 hcly to be rendered to God, and the hopes which the 
 Sixteen conceived of seeing revived in this prince the 
 protection and quahties of his father, whom they had 
 idohsed — the Duke of Mayenne, I say, seeing all this, 
 was filled with a very powerful jealousy ; and though 
 he sent him money, with entreaties that they might 
 have an interview, yet notwithstanding he did not look 
 upon him as a new reinforcement, but rather as a new 
 subject of inquietude and trouble to himself. 
 
 This young prince immediately knit himself in firm 
 bond with the Sixteen, and promised to place himself 
 under their protection. By this means, and by the 
 help of the Spaniards, they were emboldened so much 
 that they resolved to get rid of the Duke of Mayenne, 
 not ceasing to cry down his conduct among the people. 
 I have been assured that there were some amongst 
 them who wrote a letter to the King of Spain, by 
 which they cast themselves into his arms, and en- 
 treated him, if he would not reign over them, to give 
 them a king of his race, or to choose a son-in-law for 
 his daughter, whom they would receive with all obedi- 
 ence and fidelity. They decided, besides this, to make 
 a new form of oath for the League, which excluded 
 the princes of the blood, in order that they might 
 oblige all suspected persons who would not swear a 
 thing so contrary to their thoughts to depart out of 
 the city, and to abandon their goods to them. By 
 this artifice they drove away many persons, among 
 others, the Cardinal de Gonde, bishop of Paris, whom 
 they had begun to hate, because, with some clergy of 
 
DE BRISSON HANGED BY THE ''SIXTEEN'' 133 
 
 the city, he honestly endeavoured to dispose the people 
 in favour of the King. 
 
 There remained nothing now but to dissolve the 
 parliament, who watched them day and night, and 
 stopped their undertakings. They had condemned a 
 man named Brigard because he had correspondence 
 with the royalists ; and the parliament having par- 
 doned him, they were so incensed that the most 
 passionate, by conspiracy amongst themselves and by 
 their private authority, having caused those of their 
 faction to take arms, went to seize on the persons of 
 the president, De Brisson, and of De Larcher and 
 Tardiff, councillors, whom they carried prisoners to 
 the Chatelet ; and after some formalities, one of the 
 League pronounced against them the sentence of 
 death, in execution of which they caused them all 
 three to be hanged at the window of the chamber 
 (November 15th, 1591), and on the morrow to be 
 carried to the Greve,^ to the end that they might 
 move the people in their favour ; but the greater part 
 abhorred so damnable an outrage, and even the most 
 zealous of the party remained mute, not knowing 
 whether they ought to approve or blame it. 
 
 Yet there were some of these Sixteen found so de- 
 termined as to go farther. They said they must finish 
 the tragedy, and rid themselves of the Duke of Mayenne 
 if he came to Paris, he being at present at Laon ; that 
 after that they might assure to themselves the city, 
 elect a chief who should be dependent upon them, re- 
 establish the Council of Forty which that duke had 
 
 1 Formerly the public place of execution in Paris. 
 
134 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 abolished, and demand the union of the great cities. 
 And certainly there was some appearance that, having 
 the Bastille, of which Bussy was governor, and having 
 the common people and the garrison of Spaniards for 
 them, they might render themselves masters of Paris, 
 and afterwards treat at their pleasure, either with the 
 King, the Duke of Guise, or the Spaniards ; but they 
 wanted resolution. In the meantime the Duke of 
 Mayenne, having been two days in doubt whether he 
 should come to Paris, because he feared they would 
 shut the gates against him, at length came with a 
 warlike attendance ; and feeling that the parliament 
 durst not attempt to take steps to punish these people, 
 he resolved, whatever might happen, to chastise them 
 himself, and thereupon, without legal formalities, con- 
 demned nine to death. They could only catch four, 
 whom he caused to be hanged in the Louvre ; the other 
 five saved themselves by escaping to Flanders. The 
 most remarkable of these five was Bussy le Clerc who 
 had been constrained to yield the Bastille to the duke's 
 people. He was known to be leading a miserable life 
 in the city of Brussels ; yet still he preserved his hatred 
 for the French, even to the last gasp, which he 
 breathed forth a little before the last declaration of 
 war between the two crowns. 
 
 This terrible blow having quite quelled the faction 
 of the Sixteen, the duke made four presidents of 
 parliament, there being then none at all, for De Brisson 
 had alone remained, the rest being gone to Tours. But 
 he demonstrated by this that he did not well understand 
 his own interests, for, in my opinion, it is impossible 
 that the parliament and the nobility should remain 
 
THE SIEGE OF ROUEN 135 
 
 separate from the King for any length of time ; nor 
 can the force of a party opposed to royalty consist but 
 in two things : to wit, the people or the soldiery. 
 
 As soon as the King had received the aid of England 
 and that of the Protestant princes of Germany, he be- 
 sieged the city of Rouen. This was one of the most 
 memorable sieges of that time. Villars, a provincial 
 gentleman, who was governor, did wonderful actions. 
 The Duke of Parma came to his assistance, having for 
 that purpose joined the Duke of Mayenne ; but Villars, 
 who feared that they would not come in time, and 
 likewise that the Duke of Mayenne would deprive him of 
 his government if allowed to enter his city with a force 
 superior to his own, endeavoured to relieve himself, and 
 by a sally, which might almost be called a battle, drove 
 the besiegers a good distance from the walls. The dukes 
 seeing that, and that he was no longer pressed, retired, 
 and Parma lodged his troops about Rue in Ponthieu. 
 But two months after, Villars wanting victuals, and 
 the courage of the burgesses slackening, he was con- 
 strained to write to the dukes asking them to make 
 haste to come and relieve him. The dukes, on receipt 
 of so pressing a request, reassembled their troops in 
 one day, recrossed the Somme, and, marching without 
 baggage, came more than thirty leagues in four days, 
 though they had on their way four rivers to cross. 
 
 Having arrived within a league of Rouen, they 
 drew up in battle array in a valley on the side of 
 Dernetal. The King, who had gone to Dieppe, find- 
 ing on his return his army too much weakened to 
 resist those within and without, raised the siege, to 
 his great discontent, and having waited at a league's 
 
136 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 distance for twelve months in battle arra}^ he after- 
 wards retired to Pont de I'Arche. It was held by many 
 that had they pursued him he could only with difficulty 
 have shunned a battle. But the Duke of Mayenne, either 
 on account of the jealousy he had of the Duke of 
 Parma, or for other reasons, was obstinately of opinion 
 that it was necessary to take Caudebec, to open the 
 mouth of the Seine, and bring provisions to Rouen. 
 The Duke of Parma was forced to yield to his advice. 
 They took Caudebec in twenty-four hours ; but Parma 
 was wounded in the arm with a musket-shot, and 
 some days after the Duke of Mayenne fell sick, so 
 that both generals were at one time in their litters. 
 
 In the meantime, in five or six days, the army of 
 the King increased by three thousand horse and six 
 thousand infantry, which flocked to his assistance from 
 the adjacent provinces, so that he was stronger than 
 his enemies by nearly five thousand men. Now that 
 fortune had turned he went after them, and shut them 
 up near Yvetot, cutting off all provisions from them, 
 so that they were obliged to dislodge by night and 
 encamp near Caudebec. The two generals being still 
 in bed and their troops very much amazed, the Marshal 
 de Biron beat up one quarter, and in the end defeated 
 their light horse. The King's infantry prepared at the 
 same time to charge the Walloon foot, which without 
 doubt, in the fear they were in, would have demanded 
 quarter; but Biron called them back, for fear, he said, 
 lest they should engage themselves between two quarters 
 of the enemy. It was believed he did this that he might 
 not finish the war, where he had the principal command. 
 And we have a sufficient proof of it at another time. 
 
RETREAT OF THE DUKE OF PARMA 137 
 
 The Baron de Biron, his son, who was Hkewise after- 
 wards marshal, having demanded of him five hundred 
 horse and as many dragoons to go and invest the Duke 
 of Mayenne, who was as it were in a trap, the father, 
 seeing that this enterprise was infaUible, regarded him 
 with an angry look, told him swearing, " How now, 
 villain, wouldst thou have us sent to plant cabbages 
 at Biron." ^ From hence we may know how wars 
 come to be of such continuance, it being to the in- 
 terest of their chiefs to prolong them, because they find 
 in them their advantage in the same manner as lawyers 
 do theirs in retarding a process. 
 
 Some days after the Duke of Parma, being recovered, 
 called to mind all those inventions and stratagems which 
 he had learnt by a long experience and by profound 
 meditation to extricate himself from his difficulties. He 
 found in the end no other way than to pass the river 
 and retreat in all haste towards Paris. For this purpose 
 he caused two forts to be built, directly opposite to 
 each other, on the banks of the Seine, with redoubts 
 which commanded the water, and greater ones on the 
 outside, which looked towards the army of the King. 
 Under the protection of these forts he succeeded in 
 passing, one dark night, all his baggage, cavalry, infan- 
 try, and artillery over bridges of boats, covered with 
 planks which he had had sent from Rouen, whilst the 
 King, who had perceived it too late, could not hinder 
 him. As soon as he had crossed he took his march by 
 the plains of Neufbourg, and made such haste that in 
 four days he arrived at Charenton, not having been 
 
 ^ A French proverb, as to say, " Wouldst thou have me ruin 
 my own fortune ? " 
 
138 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 able to sleep (as he himself avowed afterwards) till 
 he had come into Brie. 
 
 Afterwards he led back his troops to the Low 
 Countries covered with glory, having for the second 
 time made a great king raise his siege when there 
 was least apparent likelihood of it, and having in his 
 sight, deceiving his vigilance and diligence, crossed a 
 great river, or rather arm of the sea, without his being 
 able to assault him. 
 
 This action was so gallant that our Henry could 
 not refrain from wondering at it, esteeming it more 
 glorious than the winning of two battles, acknowledging 
 that the chief work of a great captain was not so much 
 to fight or overcome as to do what he desires without 
 hazarding a combat. 
 
 We must not forget how, the first time that the 
 Duke of Parma advanced to the relief of Rouen, the 
 King went to meet him with a part of his army as far as 
 Aumale, so as to hinder him in passing that little river, 
 as well as take notice of him ; and how, with four or 
 five hundred carabineers only, he stopped for a long time 
 all the enemy's army by three or four vigorous charges. 
 The Duke of Parma did not believe that the King was 
 there, not judging that he would hazard his person in 
 so dangerous a post and with so few forces ; but as 
 soon as he knew he was present he caused all his 
 carabineers to give the charge, sustained by his light 
 horsemen. The King seeing his men so pressed made 
 two vigorous charges, during which they drew forth 
 the greater part of the baggage out of the town ; but 
 all the body of the duke's cavalry coming on, the King 
 lost many of his men, and himself ran great danger 
 
THE KING SLIGHTLY WOUNDED 139 
 
 of being slain or taken prisoner ; but God permitted 
 him to be only wounded by a pistol shot in the loins, 
 which would have been mortal if the bullet had had 
 more force, but it pierced only his clothes and his shirt, 
 and somewhat grazed the skin. His valour and his good 
 fortune both equally contributed to draw him out of 
 this peril, and to bring, after so sharp a check, both 
 his person and what remained of his troops into 
 safety. 
 
 The Duke of Parma admired this action, but praised 
 the courage which our Henry had testified more than his 
 prudence ; for when he was asked what he thought 
 of this retreat, he said, that indeed it was very gallant, 
 but for his part he would never bring himself into a place 
 where he should be forced to retire. This was tacitly 
 to say that a prince and a general ought to secure them- 
 selves better. And so all the King's faithful servants 
 came the same evening to entreat him to spare his 
 person, on which the safety of France depended. And 
 the Queen of England, his most faithful friend, prayed 
 him to preserve himself, and at least keep within the 
 duties of a great captain, who ought only to come to 
 blows himself in the last extremity. 
 
 After the raising of the siege of Rouen the greater 
 part of the King's army passed into Champagne in 
 pursuit of the Duke of Parma, and laid siege to the 
 city of Epernay and took it. The Marshal de Biron was 
 killed by a cannon shot, which carried away his head 
 as he was viewing the place (July 26th, 1592). His 
 eldest son, who was named the Baron de Biron, as 
 great a captain as the father and much loved by the 
 King, was shortly after honoured with the same office 
 
140 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 of Marshal of France ; but he lost his head somewhat 
 less gloriously than his father/ 
 
 The Duke of Mayenne and the Duke of Parma 
 having parted ill satisfied with one another, it was not 
 difficult to renew the conferences between the former 
 and the royalists. However, things were not yet ripe. 
 There were some seeds sown, which for some time 
 after brought forth fruit, for the King consented that 
 he would within six months permit himself to be in- 
 structed by those means which might not wrong either 
 his honour or his conscience. He gave leave likewise 
 to the Catholic lords of his party to depute some of 
 themselves to the Pope, to let him understand the 
 duties he applied himself to, and to entreat him to 
 add his authorit}^ and that in the meantime peace 
 should be daily treated of. 
 
 The Duke of Mayenne and his party demanded 
 very advantageous conditions ; but they could not well 
 be rejected, for, to speak the truth, many things at this 
 time did much trouble our Henry. That which most 
 of all perplexed him was that the Duke of Mayenne, 
 violently pressed by the instances of the Pope and the 
 King of Spain, by the remonstrances of those great 
 cities which supported his cause, and likewise by the 
 necessity of his affairs, had called the States-general to 
 Paris to proceed to the nomination of a king. 
 
 Now this nomination would have been the un- 
 doubted ruin of France, and would possibly have 
 caused the absolute expulsion of our Henry ; for there 
 was much appearance and likelihood that all the 
 Catholic potentates of Christendom would have ac- 
 
 1 He was decapitated at the Bastille on July 31st, 1602. 
 
A CONFERENCE DECIDED ON 141 
 
 knowledged that king whom the estates had elected, 
 that the clergy would have done the like, and that the 
 nobility and people, who only followed our Henry 
 because he had the title of King, would not have 
 scrupled to quit him for another to whom the estates 
 had granted it. 
 
 To the end, therefore, that he might hinder this 
 mortal blow, he wisely decided to propose a conference 
 of the lords of his party with these pretentious estates. 
 The Duke of Mayenne was well content with this ex- 
 pedient, because he saw well that the King of Spain 
 desired that he who was elected should espouse his 
 daughter, Isabella Clara Eugenia, and thus the election 
 could not fall upon him, since he was married and had 
 children ; but likewise, out of fear lest they should 
 hearken to an acknowledgment of our Henry, he 
 secretly stirred up some divines to say that this con- 
 ference with a heretic was unlawful ; and by virtue of 
 this advice he wrought in such manner that the estates 
 agreed they would not confer with him, either directly 
 or indirectly, touching his establishment or the doctrine 
 of the faith, but that they would confer with the 
 Catholics among his party, for the good of religion 
 and the public repose. 
 
 The legate, knowing well what this would come 
 to, endeavoured with all his power to hinder the effect 
 of this decision of the estates, but in the end he was 
 constrained to lend his hand to it. The conference 
 was then decided on, and the deputies of both sides 
 assembled at the borough of Surenes, near Paris. 
 
 The estates were assembled in the month of 
 January, in the year 1593, and sat in the great hall 
 
142 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 of the Louvre. There were a few noblemen, a great 
 following of prelates, and a sufficient number of 
 deputies of the third estate, but for the most part 
 creatures of the Duke of Mayenne or paid by the 
 King of Spain. This prince, desiring at any price 
 to have the crown for his daughter, intended to send 
 a powerful army into France, which should hasten the 
 resolutions of the estates ; but happily for our Henry, 
 the incomparable Duke of Parma was dead, and the 
 Spaniard had not in the Low Countries any captains 
 capable of great things. The Count of Mansfield was 
 given the command of the troops, and the Duke of 
 Mayenne went to meet him. They retook Noyon, but 
 that was all. Afterwards they melted away and be- 
 came so weak that, not daring to pass any farther, 
 they returned into Flanders, where Prince Maurice of 
 Nassau found them sufficient employment. 
 
 During the siege of Noyon the young Biron, upon 
 whom the King had recently bestowed the office of 
 admiral, surrendered by the Duke of Epernon in ex- 
 change for the government of Provence, had besieged 
 Selles in Berry, so as to take that thorn out of the 
 foot of the city of Tours. The King, perceiving that 
 this paltry town took him too long a time, had called 
 him thence to go and relieve Noyon, which, however, 
 he was afraid to attempt. These little disasters 
 wonderfully encouraged the hearts of the King's 
 enemies, cooled his friends, and emboldened the 
 faction. The third party, who had kept under cover, 
 now began to move, and likewise a report spread that 
 there were some Catholics who had conspired to seize 
 the person of the King in Mantes, under pretence of 
 
HUGUENOT OR CATHOLIC— WHICH P 143 
 
 snatching him out of the hands of the Huguenots, 
 and carry him to mass whether he wished it or not. 
 He was so much alarmed at it, or feigned to be so, 
 that he took the field, gathered together his surest 
 friends, and caused the English forces to come and 
 lodge in the suburbs of Limay. 
 
 At the same time the Duke de Feria, ambassador 
 from the King of Spain to the States-general, arrived 
 at Paris. He presented to them a very civil letter on 
 the part of his master, and made them a long speech, 
 in which he exhorted them to expedite the naming of 
 a king, offering them all assistance both of men and 
 money. In fact, the King of Spain passionately desired 
 the choosing of one, because, as we have said, he wished 
 to give him in marriage his daughter Isabella, whom he 
 dearly loved. 
 
 It was therefore now time that our Henry should 
 either publish to the world that he would persevere in 
 his religion without wavering, in which case he must 
 resolve on a war of which possibly he might never see 
 the end, or that he should return into the bosom of 
 the Catholic Church. 
 
 The Leaguers who favoured Spain feared above all 
 things this change, which would take from them all 
 pretext ; the good Catholics ardently wished it — they 
 only feared lest his conversion should be feigned ; the 
 rigid Huguenots endeavoured to divert him, threatening 
 him with the judgments of God if he abandoned, they 
 said, the Evangelical truth. But all politicians, both of 
 the one and the other religion, counselled him not to 
 delay it. They told him that of all canons, the canon 
 of the mass would prove best to reduce the cities of 
 
144 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 his kingdom ; they besought him to avail himself of it, 
 and to their prayers they added threats of abandoning 
 him and of withdrawing from his service, being wearied 
 with consuming themselves in his interests for the 
 caprice of some obstinate preaching ministers, who 
 hindered him from embracing the religion of his pre- 
 decessors. 
 
 Besides these human motives, God, who is never 
 wanting to those who seek Him with submission, cleared 
 his understanding with His holy light, and rendered him 
 capable to receive the saving instructions of the Catholic 
 prelates. This resolution taken, he immediately gave 
 notice of it to the deputies of the League in the con- 
 ference of Surenes. It cannot be imagined how great 
 was their astonishment, nor how the Duke of Mayenne 
 was surprised, for they least of all expected to hear 
 this news. 
 
 The Spaniards and the legate, having advice that 
 he was about to turn convert, pressed the estates more 
 vehemently to elect a king ; and seeing that the French 
 would not accept of any but one of their own nation, 
 they proposed that their King should name a French 
 prince, who should reign wholly and individually with 
 the Infanta Isabella. 
 
 When the parliament understood this, and that the 
 estates were not averse to this proposition, that great 
 body, though captive and dismembered, remembering 
 its ancient vigour, ordained that remonstrances should 
 be made to the Duke of Mayenne, that he should main- 
 tain the fundamental laws of the state, and that he 
 should hinder the crown, the lieutenancy of which was 
 committed to him, from being transferred to strangers ; 
 
INTRIGUES OF THE SPANIARDS 145 
 
 moreover, declaring null all treaties made or about to 
 be made which should be contrary to the law of the 
 state. 
 
 It was suspected that this decree was made by 
 collusion with the Duke of Mayenne ; but Villeroy, the 
 greatest statesman of the kingdom, gave testimony on 
 behalf of the parliament that it took the counsel from 
 himself, " Having no other motives than those of honour 
 and duty, as persons who would choose rather to lose 
 their lives than be wanting either of the one or the 
 other, by conniving at the overthrow of the laws of the 
 realm, of which by their institution they are protec- 
 tors, and obliged to maintain them by the oath given 
 them at their reception." These words are all very 
 memorable. 
 
 The vigour of this decree made all those good 
 Frenchmen who were in Paris, and in the estates, take 
 heart ; and at the same time the taking of Dreux, 
 which the King's army forced, caused great astonish- 
 ment among the most ardent of the Leaguers. Never- 
 theless the Spaniards did not cease to pursue their 
 design. The Duke of Mayenne, thinking to stop their 
 course, made excessive demands before any progress 
 should be made towards the election of a king ; but 
 that they might come to their point they granted 
 him all, and in the end they declared that their King 
 would name to the estates the Duke of Guise, to whom 
 he would give his daughter in marriage, together with 
 all forces necessary to assure him of the crown, if they 
 found it convenient to give him their suffrages and 
 elect him. 
 
 Never was man more astonished than the Duke of 
 
 ID 
 
146 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT | 
 
 I 
 
 Mayenne when he saw that he would be constrained 
 to obey his nephew and that his authority must end. 
 His wife, yet more impatient than he, could not refrain 
 from making her spite and jealousy apparent, and rather 
 than suffer that they should confer the crown on this I 
 
 young prince, she counselled her husband to make j 
 
 peace with the King at any price whatsoever. He ' 
 
 was, in fact, resolved to do anything rather than raise 
 his nephew above himself, and therefore he employed 
 all sorts of means to hinder him, and to this purpose 
 concluded a truce with the King, notwithstanding the I 
 opposition of the legate and the Spaniards. 
 
 In pursuance of this truce, the King came to St. 
 Denis, where he met many prelates and divines, under i 
 whose guidance he caused himself to be instructed. 
 An historian reports that the King caused a con- , 
 ference to be held before him between the divines 
 of the two Churches, and, hearing a minister grant 
 that one might be saved in the religion of the Catholics, 
 his Majesty broke silence, and said to the minister, 
 " How ? do you agree that one may be saved in the 
 religion of these gentlemen ? " The minister answering 
 that he doubted it not, provided they lived well, the 
 King very judiciously replied, " Prudence advises that 
 I should be of their religion and not of yours, because 
 being of theirs I may be saved both according to their 
 opinion and yours, but being of yours I can be saved 
 only according to your opinion and not according to j 
 theirs. Prudence therefore teaches me to follow the 
 most assured." And thus, after long instructions, in 
 which he desired thoroughly to be cleared of all his 
 doubts, he abjured his error, made profession of the 
 
THE KING BECOMES A CATHOLIC 147 
 
 Catholic faith, and received absolution in the abbey of 
 St. Denis, in the month of July, 1593, by the ministry 
 of Renaud de Beaune, archbishop of Bruges. 
 
 That evening the whole country between Paris and 
 Pontoise was ablaze with bonfires ; and a great number 
 of Parisians who had flocked to St. Denis to see this 
 ceremony brought back a good report and filled the 
 whole city with esteem and affection for the King, so 
 that they called him no longer Bearnais, but abso- 
 lutely King. 
 
 The estates of Paris did not sit long after this. 
 The Duke of Mayenne dismissed the deputies, who for 
 the most part returned ill satisfied to their provinces, 
 which served not a little to dispose them to render 
 themselves obedient to their legitimate sovereign. 
 
 There remained now no other pretext to the League 
 except that the King had not received absolution from 
 St. Peter's chair, that therefore he was not yet within 
 the bounds of the Church, and that they could not 
 acknowledge him until he had entered at the great 
 gate. He had sent the Duke of Nevers to Rome to 
 negotiate this affair with the Pope, who was very much 
 incensed that the prelates of France had taken upon 
 themselves to absolve him, though they had absolved 
 him but provisionally {ad cautelam) ; for he said that 
 he alone had authority to restore a relapsed person, 
 as having the only sovereign power to bind and to 
 loose ; and for this reason he appeared so enraged 
 that he could not be appeased until he saw the party 
 of the League quite overthrown. 
 
 Now since the life and actions of the King made 
 it appear that his conversion was not feigned, the 
 
 10 — 2 
 
148 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 League, having no other valuable pretext, was dug up, 
 as we may say, by the very roots, so that before the 
 end of the year it fell to the ground, and there re- 
 mained to it only a very small number of places in 
 the uttermost parts of the realm, the other chiefs not 
 being willing to follow to the end the fortunes of the 
 Duke of Mayenne. This prince was very irresolute, 
 and knew not what he ought to do, as much by 
 reason of his natural slowness as of the reluctance he 
 had to quit the sovereign authority which he had in 
 his hands, and out of fear likewise of not finding safety 
 with the King. 
 
 In the meantime Vitry, desiring to be the first to 
 return unto his obedience, as he had been the first 
 to depart from it, brought back the city of Meaux. 
 The Count of Carces delivered that of Aix in Provence. 
 Lyons surrendered of itself, which the Duke of Mayenne 
 partly caused by having endeavoured to make himself 
 master of that city and so snatch it from the Duke of 
 Nemours, his brother on the mother's side, who in- 
 tended to establish a small sovereignty in that country. 
 That he might accomplish his design, he had by secret 
 contrivances made the burgesses rise against that young 
 prince, so that they, having seized his person, had 
 made him a prisoner in the castle of Pierre-Encise. 
 But he found that in this he laboured more for the 
 King than for himself ; for the burgesses who had 
 imprisoned the Duke of Nemours, fearing lest the 
 brothers should agree among themselves to their preju- 
 dice, treated secretly with Colonel Alfonso d'Ornano, 
 lieutenant-general for the King in the Dauphinate, and 
 being well fortified, took the white flag, and cried. 
 
HIS TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO PARIS 149 
 
 " Vive le Roi ! " La Chatre likewise returned to its 
 duty, with the cities of Orleans and Bruges. The 
 reduction of Paris happened on the 22nd of March. 
 The parliament, the provost of the merchants, and the 
 sheriffs, having disposed of this great city, received 
 the King, despite the vain endeavours of some remnant 
 of the faction of the Sixteen. The Duke of Mayenne 
 had gone to Picardy, and Brissac, to whom he had 
 confided the government of Paris for some months 
 past, having taken it from the Count of Belin, broke 
 faith with him, believing he owed it rather to the 
 King than to him. 
 
 The King had shortly before this caused himself to 
 be anointed at Chartres, with the cruse of St. Martin 
 of Tours. The city of Rheims was still in the hands 
 of the League, but he would no longer defer his 
 coronation, because he knew that that ceremony was 
 absolutely necessary to confirm to him the affection 
 and respect of his people. 
 
 It was almost a miracle how, there being four or 
 five thousand Spaniards engarrisoned in Paris and ten 
 or twelve thousand disaffected persons remaining of 
 the cabal of the Sixteen, who all cruelly hated the 
 King, he could nevertheless render himself master of 
 it without striking a blow or without shedding blood, 
 except that of five or six mutineers who came into the 
 streets to call the citizens to arms. His troops having 
 by intelligence seized on the gates, ramparts, and public 
 places, he entered triumphantly into the city by the 
 new gate, by which Henry HL had unhappily fled six 
 years before, and went directly to Notre-Dame to hear 
 mass and cause the " Te Deum " to be sung. After- 
 
I50 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 wards he returned to the Louvre, where he found his 
 officers, and his dinner ready, as if he had always re- 
 mained there. 
 
 After dinner he gave the Spanish garrison a safe- 
 conduct and a good convoy to conduct them as far 
 as the tree of Guise in all security, for so those who 
 brought them into the city had desired. The garrison 
 departed about three o'clock on the day of his entrance, 
 with twenty or thirty of the most obstinate Leaguers, 
 who chose rather to follow strangers than obey their 
 natural prince. He desired to see them depart, and 
 watched them passing from a window by the gate of 
 St. Denis. They all saluted him with their hats very 
 low and with a profound inclination, and he returned 
 the salutes of their chiefs with great courtesy, adding 
 these words: "Commend me to your master; go now 
 in peace, but return no more." 
 
 The same day that he entered Paris the Cardinal 
 de Pelleve, archbishop of Sens, an ardent Leaguer, ex- 
 pired in his palace of Sens. The Cardinal of Placenza, 
 legate from the Pope, had safe-conduct to return home, 
 but he died by the way. Brissac for recompense had 
 the staff of marshal, and a place as honourable coun- 
 sellor to the parliament, a favour very rare in that 
 time. D'O was replaced in his government of Paris, 
 which he had had under Henry HL ; but he did not 
 enjoy it long, dying soon after. That part of the 
 parliament which was at Tours was recalled, and that 
 which was at Paris re-established (for it had been in- 
 terdicted), and both reunited to serve conjointly the 
 King. 
 
 By noon of the day on which our Henry entered, 
 
REJOICINGS IN THE CAPITAL 151 
 
 Paris was everywhere peaceable. The burgesses in 
 a moment grew famihar with the soldiers, the arti- 
 ficers worked in their shops ; in a word, the calm was 
 so profound that nothing interrupted it but the ringing 
 of the bells, the bonfires and the dances which were 
 made in all the streets even till midnight. It is certain 
 that that which caused this joy and wonderful tran- 
 quillity was the great opinion which the people had 
 conceived of the generous goodness of this prince, and 
 the commands he gave for the orderly government of 
 his soldiers. 
 
 There were two actions which he did on the day 
 he entered Paris worthy of observation, proceeding from 
 an admirable justice, goodness, and policy. 
 
 The first was that he suffered the baggage of La 
 Noue, one of his principal officers, to be arrested by 
 the sergeants on his entry into Paris for the debts of 
 his father contracted in his service ; and when La 
 Noue complained to him of this insolence, he answered 
 publicly, " La Noue, you must pay his debts, for I 
 pay likewise those of mine." But after that he took 
 him apart and gave him some precious stones to give 
 to his creditors instead of the baggage which they had 
 seized. Was there ever a finer example of wonderful 
 goodness and strict justice ? 
 
 The second was that the same evening he played 
 at cards with the Duchess of Montpensier, who was of 
 the house of Guise, and one of the most vehement 
 Leaguers of the party. What could be more politic ? 
 
 After this reduction of Paris, the other cities and 
 their governors hastened likewise to conclude their 
 treaties. Villars made his for Rouen, thus gaining to 
 
152 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 himself the government in chief of this city and baih- 
 wick, as well as that of the country of Caux, with 
 the office of admiral, which he was to take out of 
 the hands of Biron, who became Marshal of France 
 with twelve hundred thousand livres in cash, and sixty 
 thousand livres of pension. At the same time, or 
 shortly after, Montreuil and Abbeville in Picardy, 
 Troyes in Champagne, Sens, Riom in Auvergne, Agen, 
 Marmande, and Villeneuve d'Agenois rendered them- 
 selves obedient, and their governors had all they 
 could demand of the King. The city of Poitiers and 
 the country thereabouts yielded likewise by means of 
 its principal magistrates ; and the Marquis of Elbeuf, 
 governor of the League, seeing that he could not 
 hinder the revolution, permitted himself to be drawn 
 in with them, and made his peace with the King, 
 who left him the government of that province. 
 
 In the meantime Count Mansfield entered into 
 Picardy to endeavour to sustain the League, which 
 was in a very low condition, and took La Capelle. 
 The King, in revenge, laid siege to Laon, and made it 
 capitulate, notwithstanding all the endeavours of the 
 Duke of Mayenne to relieve it. 
 
 Balagny, with his cit}^ of Cambray, likewise re- 
 nounced the League and promised service to the 
 King. He had called himself sovereign of this city, 
 and had held it from the time that Henry HL's 
 brother (the Duke of Alen9on) had usurped it from 
 the Baron of Inchi, who in the great rebellion of the 
 Low Countries had quitted the obedience of Spain to 
 join his part}^ In like manner, the cities of Beau- 
 vais and Peronne renounced the League, as did like- 
 
OBSTINACY OF THE DUKE OF MAYENNE 153 
 
 wise that of Amiens, shaking off the yoke of the Duke 
 of Auniale, there remaining to that party in all Picardy 
 only Soissons, La Fere, and Ham. And, what was 
 even more important, the Duke of Guise shook off the 
 Duke of Mayenne, and brought the cities of Rheims, 
 Vitry, and Mezieres unto obedience to the King, who 
 in recompense gave him the government of Provence, 
 from which he was obliged to withdraw the Duke of 
 Epernon, because the people, the parliament, and the 
 nobility had taken arms against him. 
 
 The Duke of Lorraine likewise, who negotiated his 
 peace by the intervention of Bassompierre, concluded 
 it on the 26th of November. But neither the example 
 of this duke, chief of the house of Lorraine, nor the 
 general dissolution of that party, could induce the Duke 
 of Mayenne to withdraw himself from that danger 
 wherein he was about to be overwhelmed. He could 
 not abandon that fair title of Lieutenant-general of 
 the Crown, but flattered himself with the hope that 
 the assistance of Spain might again give his affairs 
 the upper hand. He retired into his government of 
 Burgundy, because that remained yet most true to 
 him, though to keep Dijon he was forced to cut off 
 the head of the mayor and another citizen, who had 
 laboured to reduce it to the King's service. 
 
 Now, since it was the Spaniards who maintained 
 him in his obstinacy, and who made war against the 
 King in his name, it was proposed and agreed in the 
 council to attack them in open war, in order that, 
 being employed in their own country, they might lack 
 the desire and leisure of coming to disquiet the King 
 in his ; for they not only assaulted him by force of 
 
154 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 arms and by practices which encouraged the people in 
 rebeUion, but they wished to take his hfe, and en- 
 deavoured to murder him by base and execrable means. 
 They contrived or favoured many conspiracies against 
 his sacred person, which were, however, discovered. 
 The two which made most noise were that of one 
 Peter Barriere and that of John Castel. 
 
 The first was a soldier, aged about twenty-seven, 
 who, being discovered at Melun in the year 1593, as 
 he sought the opportunity to deliver his detestable 
 blow, was condemned to have his right hand burned, 
 holding the knife with which he would have struck 
 the King, and afterwards to have his flesh torn off with 
 redhot pincers, and to be broken on the wheel alive. 
 
 The second was a young scholar, aged about 
 eighteen, son of a merchant draper of Paris, who kept 
 a shop in front of the palace. This villain, about the 
 end of the year 1594, having thrust himself with the 
 courtiers into the chamber of the fair Gabrielle, where 
 the King was, would have struck him with a knife in 
 the belly, but by good fortune, the King then bowing 
 to salute someone, the blow chanced on his face only, 
 piercing his upper lip and breaking a tooth. It was 
 not discovered at once who had struck the blow ; but 
 the Count of Soissons seeing this young man affrighted 
 stopped him by the arm. He impudently confessed 
 that he had given the blow, and maintained that he 
 was right in doing it. The parliament condemned him 
 to have his right hand burned, his flesh torn off with 
 redhot pincers, and afterwards to be torn in pieces by 
 four horses. This detestable youth showed no sign 
 of pain, so much had they imprinted in his spirit that 
 
BANISHMENT OF THE JESUITS 155 
 
 he would offer a sacrifice acceptable to God by taking 
 out of the world a prince relapsed and excommunicate. 
 The father of this miserable villain was banished, his 
 house in front of the palace demolished, and a pyramid 
 erected in its place. 
 
 The Jesuits under whom this miscreant had studied 
 were likewise accused of having instructed him in 
 this pernicious doctrine ; and they having many 
 enemies, the parliament banished the whole society 
 out of the kingdom on the arrest of their scholar. 
 Yet these fathers were not wanting, notwithstanding 
 that the times were contrary to them, in attempting 
 to sustain their honour, but wrote many things to 
 justify themselves against the charge. And truly those 
 who were not their enemies did not at all believe the 
 society culpable, so that some years after the King 
 revoked the decree of parliament and recalled them, 
 as we shall mention hereafter. 
 
 The success of the war waged against Spain was 
 of another kind to that which the King maintained 
 against the League, which made it apparent that it 
 is a far different thing to assault a stranger equal in 
 strength, over whom nothing is to be gained but by 
 force of arms, than to have to do with rebellious 
 subjects in one's own country, where intrigues and 
 rumours prolong the strife. 
 
 This year the cities of Beaune, Autun, and Aussonne 
 returned to their obedience. Those of Ma9on and 
 Auxerre had returned the year before. The city of 
 Dijon followed their example, and fortified itself 
 against the castle which Biron went to besiege. But 
 in the meantime the Constable of Castile descended 
 
156 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 with a great army of Milanese into Burgundy by the 
 French county, and passed the Saone at Gray with 
 the Duke of Mayenne. 
 
 The King, who had gone into that country, had 
 the boldness to advance as far as Fontaine-Fran9aise. 
 Here it was that with only 1500 men he made head 
 against that great army, and did an exploit of war 
 scarcely imaginable. Villars-Oudan and Sanson, two 
 of the principal officers of the enemy's army, charged 
 furiously on his troops ; Villars charged a body com- 
 manded by the Marshal de Biron, and Sanson another 
 by the side of it. They made them both give way 
 and retreat, flying within sight of the King. It was 
 reported that Villars knowing he was there, so power- 
 ful is the name of king, durst not assault him, but 
 retired on the left hand. But Sanson was not so 
 happy ; for the King having with him only one 
 hundred horse, but all chosen gentlemen of note 
 and mounted to advantage, with his sword in his 
 hand, mingled with the enemy and cut them to pieces. 
 Sanson in endeavouring to rally his people lost his 
 life, but won no small honour. 
 
 The King was in such great danger in this fight 
 that he himself said that on other occasions wherein 
 he had been engaged he had fought for victory, but 
 that in this he had fought for his life. 
 
 Having therefore made the Constable by this en- 
 counter see in what manner he was to act, he so 
 much lowered his courage that he durst attempt 
 nothing, but shortly afterwards retired. The Duke of 
 Mayenne likewise despairing at such ill success, and 
 no longer knowing where to hide his head, had re- 
 
THE DUKE OF MAYENNE GRANTED A TRUCE 157 
 
 solved to retire to Sommerive in Savoy, from whence 
 he would send to demand a safe-conduct into Spain to 
 give an account of his actions to King Philip II. But 
 the goodness of the King took care to divert him from 
 this precipice, and to open to him means of reconcilia- 
 tion. He, to this effect, sent for Lignerac, his con- 
 fidant, assured him of the good-will he always had 
 for the duke, testified to him that he pitied him, 
 that he w^ould be always disposed to receive him into 
 his favour, and that he would permit him to retire in 
 safety to Chalons-sur-Saone until they could conclude 
 a treaty of peace. 
 
 The duke accepted this favour ; and having under- 
 stood that the Pope was disposed to receive the King 
 into the Church, he craved a general truce for the 
 rest of his party. 
 
 The greater part of the King's council, who con- 
 sidered the delays and artifices which he had for six 
 years employed, having begun fifty treaties without ever 
 concluding any, advised the King to grant him no 
 respite but to pursue him to the utmost. But the pru- 
 dence and goodness of the King conformed not with 
 this sentiment, because he was not ignorant of two 
 maxims, which are most true ones ; the one, " that 
 kings may always, when they please, reduce the most 
 rebellious to their duty ; " the other, " that it is very 
 dangerous to reduce great persons to despair," especially 
 persons of the quality of the Duke of Mayenne. And 
 for these reasons, acting on his own opinion and con- 
 trary to the advice of his council, he granted him a 
 truce. The events which followed demonstrate well 
 that this sage prince had more knowledge than all his 
 
158 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 ministers, and how prejudicial it would have been to 
 his interests to do the contrary. 
 
 In the meantime, of those three cities which we 
 have said remained to the League in Picardy ; to wit, 
 La Fere, Ham, and Soissons, the governor of the first, 
 named Colas, had delivered it to the Spaniards, and 
 D'Orvilliers had done the same with Ham. However, 
 this last they did not retain long, for D'Humieres, one 
 of the bravest gentlemen of those times, came, and at 
 the same hour so hotly assaulted it that, after a long 
 and bloody defence, they were hewn in pieces ; but 
 D'Humieres was killed, and more than two hundred 
 brave gentlemen with him. 
 
 This loss so much excited the indignation of the 
 loyal French against the Leaguers that the greater part 
 of the latter fled in despair to the Low Countries and to 
 Spain, where they found at first a favourable reception 
 and good employment, by which they did very great 
 mischief to France. Amongst others was a valiant 
 captain named Rosny, who, imagining that they would 
 extend their utmost rigour to those who, not being 
 governors, had no places to buy their peace with, re- 
 solved to make war so well that either the Spaniards 
 should have cause to recompense him or the King to 
 redeem him. 
 
 He it was who inspired the Count of Fuentes with 
 the design of besieging Cambray after he had forced 
 Cattelet, and who persuaded him to facilitate this great 
 enterprise by taking Dourlens first, in order that the 
 French might not bring an army to relieve it. It was 
 likewise by his counsel that Fuentes went to meet the 
 Duke of Nevers, the Marshal de Bouillon, and Admiral 
 
THE DUKE SUBMITS TO THE KING 159 
 
 Villars, who came to the rehef of Dourlens ; that he 
 fought them, and defeated them with a great slaughter 
 of the French nobihty, and caused Villars, one of 
 the bravest men of his time, to be slain in cold 
 blood. Afterwards returning to Cambray, he took it 
 by famine, and despoiled Balagny of his pretended 
 principality. 
 
 But news most important and long expected com- 
 forted the King for these two great losses of Dourlens 
 and Cambray, which was that he received information 
 that the Holy Father, passing over all those difficulties 
 which the Spaniards formed, had granted his absolution 
 on the i6th of September, by the negotiation and per- 
 sistency of D'Ossat and Du Perron, advocates in the 
 court of Rome, who were afterwards, upon his recom- 
 mendation, honoured with cardinal's caps. 
 
 After this, the Duke of Mayenne, having no longer 
 hopes of holding out, resolved to sue for peace. It 
 was very late, and he could not well expect to be 
 treated otherwise than with the utmost rigour, if the 
 generosity of the King had not been greater than the 
 duke's obstinacy. It is most true that the fair Gabrielle, 
 very well disposed to those who asked his favour, and 
 being at present in hopes to create to herself friends 
 and supports with regard to the marriage of the King, 
 to which she aspired, did not a little assist to obtain 
 a most favourable understanding. Certainly the terms 
 of the edict and the conditions which the King granted 
 him are so honourable that no subject ever had greater 
 advantages from any King of France ; but they would 
 have been greater if before his party had been so much 
 ruined he had treated for those great cities which yet 
 
i6o HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 held him as their chief, and which by this means he 
 might still have kept firm to his interests. 
 
 Some time after he came to Monceaux to salute the 
 King, who, seeing him coming along an alley where 
 he was walking, advanced some paces towards him 
 with all alacrity and good countenance possible, and 
 straightway thrice embracing him, assured him that he 
 esteemed him so absolute a man of honour that he 
 doubted not his word, treating him with as much free- 
 dom as if he had always been his most faithful servant. 
 The duke, surprised with his goodness, said at his 
 departure that it was now only that the King had 
 completely vanquished him. And he afterwards as 
 well performed the duty of a most faithful subject, as 
 the King showed himself a good prince and an exact 
 observer of his word. 
 
 At the same time that this duke had concluded his 
 treaty and obtained an edict from the King which con- 
 firmed it, the Duke of Nemours, his brother by the 
 mother's side, and who was called the Marquis of St. 
 Sorlin whilst the brave Duke of Nemours his elder 
 brother was living, by means of his mother became 
 likewise reconciled to the King, and brought to his 
 obedience some little places which he yet held in 
 Lyonnais and Forez. 
 
 His elder brother, one of the most noble and 
 generous men ever known, died the year before of a 
 strange malady, which made him vomit through his 
 mouth and through all his pores, even to the last drop 
 of his blood. Whether this malady happened to him 
 through his extreme grief when he was shut up in the 
 castle of Pierre-Encise at hearing of the surrender of 
 
SUBMISSION OF THE DUKE OF JOYEUSE i6i 
 
 Vienne, which was his surest retreat, or whether it 
 were caused by a sharp and scalding poison, reported 
 to have been given him by those who feared his re- 
 sentment, he died without being married, and his 
 younger brother, of whom we are now speaking, was 
 father to those Messieurs de Nemours whose deaths 
 we mourned not long since. 
 
 The Duke of Joyeuse, who, after the death of his 
 younger brother, slain in the battle of Villemur, near 
 Montauban, had doffed his attire of capuchin to be- 
 come chief of the League in Languedoc, and had 
 maintained the city of Toulouse and the neighbour- 
 ing countries in his party, took likewise this oppor- 
 tunity to make his submission, and obtained very 
 favourable conditions, by the influence of Cardinal 
 de Joyeuse, his other brother ; amongst other things 
 he was given the staff of marshal of France. The 
 Lord of Boisdaufin received the same recompense, 
 though he had no more than two little places in 
 Maine and Anjou : to wit. Sable and Chateau-Gontier, 
 the King granting him this good treatment rather in 
 consideration of his person than his places. 
 
 All were now submissive, with the exception of the 
 Duke of ^lerceur and the city of Marseilles. This city 
 was governed by Charles de Casaux, the consul, and by 
 Louis d'Aix, the provost, or judge. As these two men 
 were upon the point of delivering it up to the Spaniards, 
 a burgess named Libertat, with a band of his friends, 
 caused the inhabitants to rise against them, and having 
 killed Casaux and driven out Louis d'Aix, placed it in 
 complete submission to the King. 
 
 As for the Duke of Merceur, the King granted him 
 
 II 
 
i62 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 a prolongation of the truce, because he was not able 
 just then to go and dispossess him of the rest of Brit- 
 tany, being much hindered by the siege of La Fere, 
 which he conducted in person, and where he had made 
 but little progress in three or four months. Moreover, 
 it happened when he least expected it that the Arch- 
 duke Albert, who commanded the Spanish army, incited 
 by the counsels of Rosny, of whom we just now spoke, 
 fell upon Calais, and that Rosny, who was a great 
 captain, having first taken the forts of Risban and 
 Nieule, the Spaniards forced the place on the 24th of 
 April, and put all to the sword. Shortly after the 
 King took La Fere, which surrendered for want of 
 provisions. The Spaniards having made the treaty, 
 would accept no hostages from him, saying that they 
 knew he was a generous prince and of good credit, a 
 testimony so much the more glorious for him because 
 it came from the mouth of his enemies. 
 
 The grief which he felt for the loss of Calais was 
 redoubled by that of the cities of Guinez and Ardres, 
 which were likewise taken by the industry and valour 
 of Rosny, who would have done many similar exploits 
 if, happily for France, he had not been killed some 
 months after at the siege of Hulst, near Ghent. 
 
 Now the news of these four or live great losses, 
 sustained one upon the other, cast some terror into 
 the hearts of the people, and the emissaries of Spain 
 sowed new seeds of dissension in their spirits, to 
 that end availing themselves of all sorts of pretexts, 
 but above all, of that of the oppression of the 
 people. This was indeed great, but it was caused by 
 the pillages of war and by the necessity of affairs 
 
THE KING CONVOKES THE ESTATES 163 
 
 rather than by the King's fault, who had no greater 
 desire than to procure the ease of his subjects, as we 
 shall see. 
 
 This cast him into a great affliction and trouble, 
 because he had no treasure to continue the war, and 
 he foresaw by the murmurs already excited that if he 
 crushed the people more he should raise against him- 
 self a new tempest. In this trouble, he had recourse 
 to that great remedy to which it is customary to resort 
 when France is in danger ; that is, the convocation of 
 the estates ; but because the pressing necessity gave 
 him no time to assemble them in a full body, he called 
 only the chiefs of the peers of his estate, of the prelates, 
 and of the nobility, with the officers of justice and of 
 the revenues. 
 
 He desired that the assembly should be held at 
 Rouen, in the great hall of the abbey of St. Ouen, in 
 the midst of which he was seated in a chair elevated 
 in form of a throne, with a cloth and canopy of state. 
 On each side of him were the prelates and lords ; behind, 
 the four secretaries of state ; beneath him, the first presi- 
 dents of the sovereign courts and the deputies of the 
 officers of justice and of the revenues. He made his 
 overtures to them in a speech worthy a true king, who 
 ought to believe that his greatness and authority consist 
 not only in an absolute power, but in the good of his 
 state and the safety of his people. 
 
 ''If I accounted it a glory," said he to them, "to 
 pass for an excellent orator, I should have brought 
 hither rather good words than good-will ; but my am- 
 bition tends to something higher than well-speaking ; 
 I aspire to those glorious titles of Redeemer and 
 
 II — 2 
 
i64 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Restorer of France. Already, by the favours of Heaven, 
 by the counsels of my faithful servants, and by the 
 sword of my brave and generous nobility (from which 
 I distinguish not my princes, the quality of gentleman 
 being the fairest title we possess), I have delivered it 
 from slavery and ruin. I desire at present to restore it 
 to its former power and to its ancient splendour. Par- 
 ticipate, my subjects, in this second glory, as you have 
 participated in the first. I have not called you hither 
 as my predecessors have done, to force you blindly to 
 approve my will. I have caused you to be assembled 
 to receive your counsels, to believe them, to follow them, 
 and, in a word, to put myself in guardianship under 
 your hands. This is a desire which seldom possesses 
 kings grey-haired and victorious like myself; but the 
 love I bear my subjects, and the extreme desire I have 
 to preserve my state, makes me find all things easy and 
 honourable." 
 
 The assembly, moved even to the bottom of their 
 hearts by such tender words, laboured with affection 
 to find the wherewithal to continue the war ; and to 
 this effect they ordained that one year's payment of 
 all officers' salaries should be gathered, and that for 
 two years only there should be imposed one sou per 
 pound on all which entered into walled cities, excepting 
 only corn, which is the nourishment of the poor. This 
 last resort caused much trouble in the provinces beyond 
 the Loire. But Rosny,^ whom the King had some months 
 before made superintendent, no less able than faithful, 
 as we shall show elsewhere, joined to this stock a 
 
 1 Marquis of Rosny, the celebrated Sully, born 1560, died 
 
 1641. 
 
AMIENS SURPRISED BY THE SPANIARDS 165 
 
 great sum of money which the receivers had diverted, 
 and which he caused to be returned to the King's 
 coffers. 
 
 In the meantime the King of Spain, finding the forces 
 both of his body and mind diminishing by a languor 
 which afterwards degenerated into a horrible malady, 
 feared lest his weakness should cause revolts in his 
 countries so distant from one another. Moreover, he 
 had expended his revenues, and passionately desired to 
 give the Low Countries to his dearest daughter Isabella ; 
 and for these reasons had made known to the Holy 
 Father that he desired peace, and his Holiness had 
 sent the general of the Cordeliers to dispose him more 
 particularly to it. 
 
 But now, when some progress was made in it, there 
 happened an accident which retarded it for more than 
 a year. Hernand Teillo, governor of Dourlens for the 
 Spaniards, being notified of the little care which the 
 burgesses of Amiens took in the guard of their city, 
 surprised it one morning about nine o'clock when they 
 were at mass, it being Lent time, having caused the 
 gate to be blocked with a cart laden with nuts, of 
 which a sack was purposely spilt to amuse the soldiers 
 of the guard. This troublesome news astonished the 
 King so much the more because he was at present re- 
 joicing and diverting himself at Paris. He had given 
 orders that all important packets should be brought 
 directly to him and not to others, and that they should 
 bring him them at all hours whatsoever, so that being 
 in a profound sleep after attending a ball a courier 
 came to awaken him to tell him of this accident. 
 
 He immediately leapt out of bed and sent for three 
 
i65 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 or four of his greatest confidants to consult with them. 
 They all judged that it happened at a very unfortunate 
 time, because the Duke of Merceur was powerful in 
 Brittany, the rest of the factions being yet concealed 
 under their ashes, the Huguenots making cabals or 
 secret councils, and the consternation of Paris being 
 very great, for it beheld itself by this means become a 
 frontier. But the heroic courage of the King, whom 
 so many perils could not terrify, was not startled by 
 this ; on the contrary, he resolved to encounter it at 
 once and go immediately to invest Amiens before the 
 Spaniards were longer settled in it. 
 
 His greatest captains were not of this mind ; but, 
 notwithstanding that, he, who had greater knowledge 
 and more constancy than them all, undertook it 
 courageously, not so much, said he, on account of his 
 expectation of succeeding by human means as of the 
 confidence he had in God, who had always done him 
 the grace to assist him. 
 
 And in truth it may be said that God assisted the 
 King more visibly on this occasion than He had ever 
 done. For he discovered many conspiracies against his 
 person, particularly one amongst the religious orders, 
 whom an agent of the King of Spain, as it was 
 said, would have induced to kill him ; and also very 
 dangerous cabals which the money of the same king 
 upheld at Paris, which observed all his actions, and 
 had designed one day to seize his person at his castle 
 of St. Germain-en-Laye. 
 
 Moreover, his people answered as they ought to 
 his paternal affection, not denying him anything that 
 he demanded to hasten the siege ; and all the Leaguers, 
 
THE KING BESIEGES AMIENS 167 
 
 desiring to testify to him their thankfuhiess for all his 
 goodnesses, served him so faithfully and vigorously on 
 this occasion, whilst others wavered and kept their 
 stations, that he was obliged to say that he acknow- 
 ledged that the greater part of that people hated not 
 his person, but only the Huguenot religion. 
 
 The siege was for some time difficult and doubtful, 
 and if the King of Spain had employed all his power, 
 the King could never have succeeded in it. But the 
 King of Spain had become very melancholy; he desired 
 only repose, and cared no more for conquests, so that 
 he gave not any of those assistances which the arch- 
 duke demanded. The archduke ceased not, however, 
 to use his greatest endeavours to raise the siege. He 
 presented himself before the quarter of Longpre with 
 very great forces on a day when he was not expected, 
 which put the French into so great a fear and dis- 
 order that had he known how to avail himself of the 
 occasion, and had he not lost time in consultation, 
 he would have put those three thousand men into 
 the city, as he had intended. 
 
 The King, on returning from hunting, found a 
 general fear throughout his army, and likewise some 
 of his principal officers quite daunted. In so great a 
 danger neither his heart nor his head failed him; he dis- 
 sembled his fear, gave orders with coolness, and showed 
 himself everywhere with a cheerful countenance, and 
 with discourses as resolute as after a victory. He 
 made his forces nimbly draw into the field of battle, 
 which he had chosen three days before, eight hundred 
 paces from the lines. From this place, having con- 
 sidered the excellent order of the Spanish army, the 
 
i68 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 little assurance of his, and the weakness of his posts, 
 which he had not had leisure to fortify, he was a little 
 moved, and doubted of the success of the da3\ When 
 leaning on the pommel of his saddle, with his hat in 
 his hand, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he uttered 
 these words with a loud voice : " O Lord, if it be 
 to-day Thou wilt punish me as my sins deserve, I offer 
 my head to Thy justice ; spare not the culpable, but. 
 Lord, for Thy holy mercy's sake, take pity on the 
 poor kingdom, and smite not the flock for the offence 
 of the shepherd." 
 
 The wonderful efficacy of these words cannot be 
 expressed ; they were in a moment carried through the 
 whole army, and it seemed as if some virtue from Heaven 
 had given courage to the French. 
 
 The archduke, therefore, finding them resolved and 
 in good countenance, durst not pass further. Some 
 other attempts he afterwards made which did not suc- 
 ceed, and he retired by night into the country of Artois, 
 where he dismissed his army. At length Hernand Teillo, 
 being slain by a musket shot, the besieged capitulated, 
 and the King established as governor in the city the 
 Seigneur de Vic, a man of great order and exact dis- 
 cipline, who by the royal command began to build a 
 citadel there. 
 
 At his departure from Amiens, the King led his 
 army to the very gates of Arras to visit the archduke ; 
 he remained three days in battle array, and saluted the 
 city with some volleys of cannon. Afterwards, seeing 
 that nothing appeared, he retired towards France, ill 
 satisfied, he gallantly said, with the courtesy of the 
 Spaniards, who would not advance so much as one pace 
 
THE DUKE OF MERCEUR'S OBSTINACY 169 
 
 to receive him, but had with an ill grace refused the 
 honour he did them. 
 
 The Marshal de Biron served him extraordinarily 
 well at this siege ; and the King, when he had returned 
 to Paris, and the citizens had given him a reception 
 truly royal, said to them, showing them the marshal, 
 " Gentlemen, see here the Marshal de Biron, whom I 
 do willingly present both to my friends and to my 
 enemies." 
 
 There remained now no appearance of the League in 
 France, except the Duke of Merceur, yet keeping a corner 
 of Brittany. The King had often granted him a truce, 
 and offered him great conditions, but he was so in- 
 toxicated with ambition to make himself duke of that 
 country that he found out daily new fancies to delay 
 the concluding of peace, imagining that time might afford 
 him some favourable revolution, and flattering himself 
 with I know not what prophecies, w'hich assured him 
 that the King should die in two years. 
 
 At last the King, wearied with so many excuses, 
 turned his head that way, resolving to chastise his 
 obstinacy as it deserved. The duke would certainly have 
 been lost, if he had not been advised to save himself 
 b}' offering his only daughter to the elder son of the 
 fair Gabrielle d'Estrees, Duchess of Beaufort. 
 
 His delegates could at first obtain nothing else but 
 that he should immediately depart from Brittany, and 
 give up those places which he held, which done, his 
 Majesty would grant him forgiveness for all his past 
 misdeeds, and receive him into his favour. But the 
 King being of a tender heart, and desiring to advance 
 his natural son by so rich and noble a marriage, granted 
 
lyo HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 him a very advantageous edict, which was verified in 
 the parHament, as all those of the chiefs of the League 
 were. This arrangement was made at Angers, the 
 contract of marriage signed at the chateau, and the be- 
 trothal celebrated with the same magnificence as if he 
 had been a legitimate son of France. He was four 
 years old and the maiden six. 
 
 The King gave him the duchy of Vendome, by the 
 same rights that other dukes hold them, which the 
 parliament verified, not without great repugnance, and 
 with this condition, that it should be no precedent 
 for the other goods of the King's patrimony, which by 
 the laws of the realm were considered as reunited to 
 the crown from the time of his coming to it. 
 
 From Angers the King passed into Brittany. He 
 stayed some time at Nantes, and from thence went to 
 Rennes, where the estates were held. He passed about 
 two months in this city in feasts, joys, and diversions ; 
 but yet ceasing not to seriously employ himself in 
 hastening the expedition of many affairs. For it is to 
 be observed that this great prince employed himself 
 all the mornings in serious things, and dedicated the 
 rest of the day to his diversions ; yet not in such 
 manner that he would not readily quit his greatest 
 pleasures when there was anything of importance to 
 be done ; and he still gave express orders not to delay 
 the notification to him of such things. 
 
 He abolished a great many superfluous garrisons 
 in this country ; suppressed many imposts which the 
 tyranny of many persons had introduced during the 
 war ; disbanded all those pilfering troops which laid 
 waste the land ; sent forth the provosts into the country 
 
PEACE AT LAST 171 
 
 against the thieves, who were in great number ; restored 
 justice to its authority, which Hcense had weakened ; 
 and gathered four miUions, of which the estates of the 
 country of their own free-will levied eight hundred 
 thousand crowns. So he laboured profitably for those 
 two ends which he ought most to desire ; to wit, the 
 ease of his people and the increase of his treasures, two 
 things which are incompatible when a prince is neither 
 just nor a good manager, or lets his money be managed 
 by others without taking diligent care of his accounts. 
 
 Thus was a calm of peace restored to France within 
 itself, after ten years' civil war, by a particular grace 
 of God on this kingdom, and by the labour, diligence, 
 goodness, and valour of the best king that ever was. 
 And in the meantime a peace was earnestly sought for 
 between the two crowns of France and Spain. The 
 two kings equally wished it : our Henry, because he 
 passionately desired to ease his people and to let them 
 regain their forces after so many bloody and violent 
 agitations ; and Philip, because he found himself draw- 
 ing to the end of his days, and that his son Philip III. 
 was not able to sustain the burden of a war against so 
 great a king. 
 
 The plenipotentiaries of one side and the other had 
 been assembled for three months in the little city of 
 Vervins, with the papal nuncio. Those of France were 
 Pompone de Bellievre and Nicholas Brulard de Sillery, 
 both councillors of state, and the last likewise president 
 of the parliament, who, acting agreeably and without 
 jealousies, determined on the most difficult articles in 
 very little time, and, according to the order they re- 
 ceived from the King, signed the peace on the 2nd of 
 
172 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 May. On the 12th of the same month it was pubhshed 
 at Vervins. 
 
 It would be too long to insert here all the articles 
 of the treaty ; I shall say only that it was agreed that 
 the Spaniards should surrender all the places they had 
 taken in Picardy, as well as Blavet, which they yet held 
 in Brittany ; that the Duke of Savoy should be com- 
 prehended in this treaty, provided he delivered to the 
 King the city of Berry, which he held in Provence ; 
 and for the marquisate of Saluces, which that duke had 
 taken from France towards the latter end of the reign 
 of Henry III., that it should be remitted to the judgment 
 of the Holy Father, who was to decide that controversy 
 in a year. 
 
 The publication of the peace was made on the 
 same day through all the cities of France and the Low 
 Countries, with such great rejoicings that the report 
 of them spread to the utmost bounds of Christendom ; 
 but none were more truly pleased than our Henry, who 
 was accustomed to say that, it being a thing barbarous 
 and contrary to the laws of nature and Christianity 
 to make war for the love of war, a Christian prince 
 ought never to refuse peace if it were not absolutely 
 disadvantageous to him. 
 
PART III 
 
 Briefly containing what Henry the Great did 
 
 AFTER THE PeACE OF VeRVINS, MADE IN THE YEAR 
 
 1598, UNTIL HIS Death, which happened in the 
 
 YEAR 161O. 
 
 Hitherto we have followed the fortune of our 
 Henry through ways craggy and intricate, over rocks 
 and precipices, during times very troublesome and 
 full of storms and tempests. Now we are about to 
 trace it through paths more fair, in the sweetness 
 of calm and quiet peace ; where, however, his virtue 
 slept not in his repose, but appeared always active ; 
 where his great soul was employed without ceasing in 
 the true functions of royalty, and where, in fine, among 
 his diversions, he made his most necessary and most 
 important duties his principal pleasures. 
 
 In the two first parts of his life which we have 
 seen he was by constraint a man of war and of the 
 field ; in this last a man of counsel and a great poli- 
 tician, but in both invincible and indefatigable. 
 
 The true duty of a sovereign consists principally 
 in protecting his subjects. He must both defend them 
 against strangers and repress the factions and attempts 
 of rebels. It is for this purpose that he has the power 
 of arms placed in his hands, and that it is advanta- 
 geous to him to perfectly understand the mystery of 
 
174 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 war. But that comprehends but a part of his func- 
 tions, and we may truly say that it is neither the 
 most necessary nor the most satisfactory, for besides 
 being able to manage his wars by his lieutenants, who 
 doubts him to be the most happy prince that governs 
 his affairs in such a manner that he has no need of 
 his sword, but is powerful enough to distribute justice, 
 punish the wicked, and to honour and reward deserv- 
 ing men ; to confer graces and recompenses, to keep 
 good order, and conserve the laws ; to maintain his 
 provinces in tranquillity, sustain his reputation and 
 greatness by his good conduct, inform himself often 
 and diligently of all that passes, make himself feared 
 by his enemies and esteemed by his allies ; and, like a 
 sovereign, himself to preside at his council, listen to 
 ambassadors and answer them ; to settle great affairs 
 by treaty and negotiation ; to watch incessantly, so as 
 to prevent all ill, and deprive wicked persons and 
 enemies of their power to hurt ; to encourage com- 
 merce and the study of sciences and the fine arts ; to 
 make his kingdom rich, flourishing, and abundant ; 
 to fetch wealth from all quarters of the earth ; but, 
 above all, to procure the glory and service of God, so 
 that his kingdom may be as a paradise of delights 
 and a harbour of felicity ? These are, in my opinion, 
 employments worthy of a powerful king, a Christian 
 and wise king, who, being the shepherd of his people 
 (as Homer often calls the great King Agamemnon) 
 ought not only to know how to drive away the wolves 
 — I mean, make war — but likewise understand how to 
 manage his flock, preserve them from all diseases, and 
 fatten and multiply them. 
 
BIRON MADE DUKE AND PEER 175 
 
 The peace being proclaimed, to the incredible joy 
 of the French, Flemings, and Spaniards, it was 
 solemnly sworn by the King on the 21st of June, in 
 the church of Notre Dame, on the Cross and the 
 holy Evangelists, in the presence of the Duke of Arscot 
 and the Admiral of Arragon, ambassadors sent by the 
 King of Spain for that purpose ; and afterwards Cardinal 
 Archduke Albert, governor of the Low Countries for 
 that King, swore it on the 26th of the same month, 
 in the city of Brussels, the Marshal de Biron assisting, 
 whom our Henry had newly honoured with the dignity of 
 duke and peer, confirmed in parliament, as much in 
 order to bestow more splendour upon that embassy as 
 to recompense those great services which that lord had 
 rendered him in his wars. 
 
 In this voyage the Spaniards spared neither caresses 
 nor praises of this new duke, to inspire him with pride 
 and vanity, and intoxicated him to such an extent with 
 a good opinion of himself, that he took it into his 
 head that the King owed him more than he would ever 
 be able to give him, and that if his valour were not 
 sufficiently honoured in France, he would find someone 
 elsewhere who would set a higher value upon it. This 
 afterwards produced very ill effects. 
 
 Many among the French, who were unacquainted 
 with the pitiful state of the King of Spain and of his 
 affairs, could not comprehend why this prince had 
 bought the peace at so dear a rate as the surrender of 
 six or seven strong places, and amongst others, Calais 
 and Blavet, which might be called the keys of France. 
 On the contrary, the Spaniards, who saw that their 
 King was dying, that his treasury was exhausted, the 
 
176 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Low Countries shattered to pieces, Portugal and his 
 estates in Italy on the point of revolt, and his son, 
 a good prince in reality, but who was fond of repose, 
 were astonished that the French, having so bravely 
 retaken Amiens, and reunited all their forces after the 
 treaty with the Duke of Merceur, had not pressed farther 
 into the Low Countries, seeing that in all appearance 
 they might either have conquered them, or at least 
 made breaches in them. The King answered that if 
 he had desired peace, it was not because he was weary 
 of the hardships of war, but to give leave to afflicted 
 Christendom to breathe ; that he knew well, from the 
 position in which things were, that he might have de- 
 rived great advantages, but that God often overturns 
 princes in their greatest prosperity ; and that a wise 
 man ought never, out of the opinion of some favourable 
 event, to be averse to a good accord, nor rely too much 
 upon the appearance of his present happiness, which may 
 change by a thousand unexpected accidents, it having 
 often happened that a man who is thrown down and 
 wounded has killed him who wanted to make him beg 
 for his life. 
 
 It was known in a little time that King Philip II. 
 had more need of the peace than France, for his sick- 
 ness increased. He suffered, for twenty-two days con- 
 tinually, from a perpetual bloody flux : and a little 
 before his death four abscesses formed in his breast, 
 from which proceeded a continual swarm of vermin, 
 which all the attention of his officers was unable to 
 check. 
 
 In this strange sickness, his firmness was won- 
 derful ; nor did he abandon the reins of government 
 
FIREARMS FORBIDDEN TO BE CARRIED 177 
 
 until his last breath, for he took care before his death 
 to arrange the marriage of his son with Margaret, 
 daughter of the Archduke of Grat2; and also that of 
 his dear daughter Isabella with the Cardinal Archduke 
 Albert, of the same blood as herself, giving him for 
 dowry the Low Countries and the county of Burgundy, 
 on condition of its reversion if he died without issue. 
 
 He had already signed the articles of peace ; but 
 his mortal sickness would not permit him to take the 
 oath to it with the same solemnities as the King and 
 archduke had done. Philip III., his son and successor, 
 acquitted himself of this obligation on the 21st of May, 
 1601, in the city of Valladolid, and in the presence of 
 the Count of Rochepot, ambassador of France. 
 
 The license of wars having for many years per- 
 mitted mischiefs with impunity, there were still to be 
 found a great number of vagabonds, who believed it 
 was still allowed them to take the goods of others at 
 pleasure ; and there were others who thought they had 
 the right to do themselves justice by acts of violence, 
 not acknowledging any laws but force. This obliged 
 our wise King to begin the reformation of the state by 
 the re-establishment of public security. To this effect 
 he forbade the carrying of firearms to all persons of 
 whatever position, upon pain of the confiscation of their 
 arms and horses, and a fine of two hundred crowns 
 for the first offence, and death for the second ; per- 
 mitting anyone to arrest those who carried them except 
 his light-horsemen, his gens d'armes, and his body- 
 guards, who were allowed to bear them only when they 
 were on service. 
 
 To the same purpose, and to ease the country of 
 
 12 
 
lyS HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 the multitudes of the mihtar}^, he dismissed not only 
 the greater part of his new troops, but likewise reduced 
 by half his old ones. He reduced the companies of 
 orderlies to a very small number, and abolished the 
 guards of the governors of the provinces and lieutenants 
 of the King, being unwilling to suffer anyone besides 
 himself to have that glorious mark of sovereignty 
 about their persons. 
 
 The wars had spoiled all commerce, reduced cities 
 to villages, villages to old ruins, and lands to deserts; 
 nevertheless the tax-collectors constrained the poor 
 husbandmen to pay taxes for those fruits they had 
 never gathered. The cries of these miserable people, 
 who had nothing but their tongues to complain with, 
 touched to the quick so just and so good a King, 
 that he made an edict by which he released them of 
 all they owed him for the time past, and led them 
 to expect he would ease them more for the future. 
 
 Moreover, having understood that during the troubles 
 a large number of false nobles had been created, 
 who were exempted from the tax,^ he commanded that 
 they should be sought out ; nor did he confirm their 
 usurpation for a money consideration, as has some- 
 times been done, to the great prejudice of other persons 
 
 1 Taille. Besides the personal services which the corvee con- 
 stituted, the serfs owed to their lord presents in money and in kind. 
 The ancient name given to the pecuniary fine was that of ce^is. 
 From the thirteenth century it was replaced by the word taille, 
 which seems to have had for origin the custom that the collectors 
 of the said tax had of marking upon a piece of wood the sum 
 received. In many instances the extent of this charge on the serfs 
 was in proportion to the good pleasure of his master. But in some 
 instances the extent of the charge was regulated each year in ad- 
 vance, and was then called taille ahonne. 
 
THE NOBLES TO PRACTISE ECONOMY lyg 
 
 liable to taxation, but he insisted that the tax should 
 be reimposed upon them, to the end that by this 
 means they might assist the poor people to bear a 
 good part of the burden, as being the richer. 
 
 He desired with much affection to do good to his 
 true nobility, and repay them those expenses they had 
 been at in his service ; but his coffers were empty, 
 and moreover, all the gold in Peru would not have 
 been sufficient to satisfy the appetite and luxury of so 
 many people. For King Henry HI. had by his own ex- 
 ample and that of his favourites, raised expenses so high 
 that lords wanted to live like princes, and gentlemen 
 like lords, for which purposes they were forced to 
 alienate the possessions of their ancestors, and change 
 those old castles, the illustrious tokens of their nobility, 
 into tinsel, gilding, retinue, and horses. Afterwards, 
 when they were indebted beyond their credit, they 
 fell back either upon the King's coffers, demanding 
 pensions, or on the backs of the people, fleecing 
 them by a thousand robberies. The King, wishing 
 to remedy this disorder, declared very stoutly to his 
 nobility that he desired them to accustom themselves 
 to live every man on his means, and that, for this 
 purpose, he would be well content, since they now 
 enjoyed peace, that they should go and see their 
 country houses and make their estates yield a good 
 return. Thus he eased them of the great and ruinous 
 expenses of the court, by sending them back into the 
 provinces, and made them understand that the best 
 capital they could have was that of good manage- 
 ment. Moreover, knowing that the French nobility 
 prides itself upon imitating the King in all things, 
 
 12 — 2 
 
i8o HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 he showed them by his own example how to do away 
 with all superfluity of clothing, for he ordinarily wore 
 a grey cloak with a doublet of satin or taffeta, without 
 slashing, lace, or embroidery. He praised those who 
 were clad in this manner, and laughed at the others, 
 who carried, he said, their mills and their woods and 
 forests on their backs. 
 
 About the end of the year he was seized with a 
 sudden and violent sickness at Monceaux. All France 
 was affrighted ; his life was despaired of, and the 
 rumours which spread nearly revived the factions ; but 
 in ten or twelve days he was on foot again, as if God 
 had only sent him this sickness to reveal to him 
 what evil intent there still was in the kingdom, and 
 to give him the satisfaction of feeling, through the 
 sorrow of his people, the pleasure of being loved. 
 
 At the height of his illness, he spoke to his friends 
 these beautiful words : "I do not at all fear death, for 
 I have faced it in the greatest dangers ; but I avow that 
 I am unwilling to leave this life until I have restored 
 this kingdom to that state of splendour which I have 
 proposed to myself, and until I have testified to my 
 people, by governing them well and easing them of 
 their many taxes, that I love them as if they were 
 my children." 
 
 After his recovery, continuing in his praiseworthy 
 design of putting his affairs in order, he came to ' St. 
 Germain-en-Laye to settle the items of expenditure of 
 his household, as well as for the guard of frontiers and 
 garrisons, maintenance of forces, artillery, naval affairs, 
 and many other charges. He had then in his council 
 (as we may say we have at present) very great men, 
 
THE KING'S COUNCIL 
 
 lOl 
 
 and most experienced in all sorts of matters ; but he 
 still showed himself more able and more enlightened 
 than they. He examined and discussed all the par- 
 ticulars of his expenditure with a judgment and a 
 clearness of spirit truly admirable, and he retrenched 
 and cut off all that was possible, retaining only what 
 was necessary. Amongst other things, he cut down the 
 superfluous expenses of the tables in his house, not so 
 much that he might spare himself, as to oblige his 
 subjects to moderate their prodigality in eating and 
 drinking, and to hinder them from ruining their whole 
 houses by keeping too great kitchens. And thus, by 
 the example of the King, which is always of more force 
 than the laws or correction, luxury was soon converted 
 into economy, very necessary for the state. 
 
 He had chosen for his council very able and faithful 
 ministers, such as Chiverny, Bellievre, Sillery, Sancy, 
 Jeannin, Villeroy, and Rosny. I speak not here at all 
 of his great military advisers, as the Marshal de Biron, 
 Lesdiguieres, governor of Dauphine, the Duke of 
 Mayenne, the Constable of ^Montmorency, the Marshal 
 de la Chastre, the Marshal d'Aumont, Guitry, La Noue, 
 and many others, of whose services he did not avail 
 himself in the administration of state affairs, though 
 he often conversed with them, and by way of com- 
 pliment sometimes communicated to them things of 
 consequence, asking their advice. 
 
 The Chancellor de Chiverny, who had been raised 
 to this office in the reign of Henry HI., was a man 
 cold, deceitful, and calculating, but, as his enemies 
 said, he was a much better practitioner than councillor 
 of state. 
 
i82 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 He died the year following, and in his place the 
 King appointed Pompone de Bellievre, a man per- 
 fectly accomplished in the knowledge of the rights and 
 interests of France, and a most expert negotiator, as 
 he well showed in the treaty of Vervins. He was old 
 when the King gave him this charge, and therefore 
 said himself that he only entered upon it to go out 
 of it. He induced the King to issue a severe edict 
 against duels ; he established very good order in the 
 council, and ordained that none should be received as 
 "master of requests"^ who had not been ten whole 
 years in one of the supreme companies, or sixteen in 
 other of the subordinate seats. 
 
 Nicholas Brulard de Sillery, president of the Cap 
 in the parliament of Paris, who was his son-in-law, 
 and who had been his companion at Vervins, was of 
 a gentle, easy, and affable disposition, but one which 
 saw further ahead than people believed. It has been 
 said that the public never saw any emotion either in 
 his countenance or discourse. 
 
 Harlay-Sancy was a man free, bold, and dauntless, 
 who feared no person when it was a question of the 
 service of the King ; but he was rather abrupt, and 
 spoke to him too freely, as may be seen by what he 
 said concerning Madame Gabrielle, who knew how to 
 return it to him. 
 
 As for Jeannin, president of the parliament of 
 Burgundy, and Villeroy, chief secretary of state, they 
 had both taken part with the League, and yet very 
 
 1 Maitre des reqiictes : formerly a magistrate who reported on a 
 man's petition before the King's Council ; now one who draws 
 reports before the Council of State on all state affairs. 
 
THEIR CHARACTERISTICS 183 
 
 profitably served both the King and France, having 
 in what they did striven only for the defence of the 
 Catholic religion, and not out of a spirit of faction. 
 They had hindered the Spaniards from encroaching 
 upon this realm, and the Duke of Mayenne from 
 throwing himself completely into their arms, as his 
 despair had often inclined him to do. They agreed 
 both in this point, that they loved the state and 
 royalty passionately and that they had great judg- 
 ment, but, in other respects, their temperaments were 
 very different. 
 
 Jeannin was an old Gaul, who desired to manage 
 his affairs by ancient forms, according to the laws 
 and ordinances ; a good lawyer, firm and resolute, 
 who went directly towards his end, and who knew no 
 subtle turnings and windings, but entirely loved the 
 public good. 
 
 Villeroy was one of the wisest and most adroit 
 courtiers that was ever seen. He had a clear and 
 unprejudiced mind, which would unravel with an in- 
 credible facility the most embroiled affairs, and explain 
 them agreeably and intelligibly, and directed them as he 
 pleased. He was wonderfully active withal, and most 
 excellent at finding expedients, taking his business by 
 so sure a hold that it was difficult for it to escape him. 
 
 The King often conferred with these councillors, as 
 they were still called, and not ministers, as they have 
 been called since. He spoke to them of his affairs, 
 sometimes to be instructed, and sometimes to instruct 
 them, which he did either in his study, or walking in 
 the gardens of the Tuileries, Monceaux, St. Germain, 
 and Fontainebleau, He discoursed often with them 
 
i84 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 apart, summoning them one after another ; and he did 
 this either to obhge them to speak to him with more 
 hberty, or not to tell them all together what he only 
 wished to tell to some particularly, or for some other 
 reason which without doubt was due to good policy. 
 He said that he found none amongst them who satisfied 
 him like Villeroy, and that he could dispatch more 
 business with him in an hour than with the others in 
 a whole day. 
 
 As for Maximilian de Bethune, Baron of Rosny, 
 and afterwards Duke of Sully, he had been brought up 
 with the King in the Huguenot religion, and the King 
 had recognised his capacity and affection in divers 
 affairs of consequence, but above all, that he had a 
 genius for the good management of finances, and that 
 he had all the qualities requisite for that purpose. In 
 fact, he was a man of good order, exact, a good 
 manager, and a man who kept his word ; neither 
 prodigal nor ostentatious, nor inclined to vain follies 
 or expenses, play, banquets, or any other vanity not 
 becoming to a man entrusted with such an employ- 
 I ment. Moreover, he was vigilant, laborious, expeditious, 
 1 and one who dedicated almost his whole time to his 
 laffairs and little to his pleasure; and withal, he had 
 ihe gift of piercing into the very bottom of matters, 
 and unravelling those twistings and knots with which 
 financiers, when they are not trusty and faithful, en- 
 deavour to conceal their deceits. 
 
 We have already told how the King desired above 
 all things to provide for economy in the management 
 of his revenues, and the reasons for which he had been 
 obliged to leave Francis d'O in the position of superin- 
 
ROSNY SUPERINTENDENT OF REVENUES 185 
 
 tendent. After this man was dead, he gave that office 
 to five or six persons, whom he beHeved both capable 
 and honest men ; he was persuaded that he would be 
 better served by them than by one alone, imagining 
 that they would serve as checks and controllers of one 
 another. But quite the contrary happened ; everyone 
 threw the blame upon his companion ; nothing was 
 advanced, and if any of them wanted to act, the 
 others did not fail to cross him by their jealousies, 
 so that they only agreed in this point, that everyone 
 looked that his salary was well paid him, which cost 
 the King six times as much as if he had had only 
 one superintendent, whilst he drew no profit from this 
 multitude. 
 
 When he discovered that so many people only con- 
 fused his finances, he returned them again into the 
 hands of one man, and this was Sancy. But a short 
 time after, finding him more proper for other employ- 
 ments than that, he gave him Rosny for a companion, 
 afterwards making Rosny alone superintendent. 
 
 Rosn}', before he entered upon this office, had pro- 
 vided himself with all the knowledge necessary to acquit 
 himself well of it ; he knew perfectly all the revenues 
 of the kingdom, and all the expenses which were neces- 
 sary. He communicated all he knew to the King, who 
 on his part had likewise studied all these things so 
 thoroughly, that a hundred crowns could not be laid 
 out but he would know whether it were well or ill 
 employed. As it is to the advantage of an unfaithful 
 steward that his master should be ignorant and make 
 no inspection into his affairs, so it is of a true and 
 faithful servant that he should be well instructed, and 
 
1 86 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 clearly see them, in order that he may know how 
 worthily to esteem his services. 
 
 Besides, his temperament agreed perfectly well with 
 that of the King. When he trusted him with his revenues, 
 he desired him that he would never take even a bottle 
 of wine or the smallest present without telling him. 
 And when Rosny did tell him of it, he immediately 
 consented to it, and likewise was so glad that, in 
 serving him well, he found his reward, that oftentimes 
 he added gifts of his own, to give him courage to serve 
 him still better and better. But Rosny never received 
 them till they were duly ratified in the chamber of 
 accounts, so that all the world might know the liberality 
 of the King towards him, and that he might not be 
 reproached with making use of his favour to drain his 
 coffers. 
 
 Under the administration of this superintendent, the 
 first law which the King made concerning affairs of this 
 nature was the immutable constancy of their ordering, 
 which was never to alter, after it was once agreed and 
 concluded on ; for as the most desperate things are by 
 good order redressed by a firm and decided manner of 
 action, so the best established and most assured become 
 dispersed under a light head, which does, undoes, and 
 does again without ceasing, and which on the morrow 
 revokes what it commanded to-day. 
 
 Rosny soon gave indubitable proofs of his capacity, 
 for having visited only four generalities,^ he in a short 
 
 ^ A general place for receipt of revenues, of which there 
 are twenty in France, viz. : Paris, Rouen, Caen, Nantes, Tours, 
 Bruges, Poitiers, Agen, Toulouse, Montpellier, Aix, Grenoble, 
 Lyons, Dijon, Chalons, Amiens, Orleans, Limoges, Soissons, and 
 Moulins. — Translator's Note. 
 
HE REFORMS OLD ABUSES 187 
 
 time got in a million and half of money which was 
 in arrear ; and after the capture of Amiens by the 
 Spaniards he readily found money to raise a great 
 army and furnish the expense of the siege, so that he 
 was one of the principal instruments in the recovery 
 of that great city. 
 
 It is well to take notice of an expedient which, 
 amongst others, he discovered to hinder the pilferings 
 of the tax-gatherers, for that is necessary at all times. 
 He knew that there were some persons in the King's 
 council who were in collusion with the traitants ^ and 
 farmers, and who caused the farms and duties to be 
 adjudged to the council at a low price, and often caused 
 them to be given to them at a great reduction. To 
 hinder, therefore, these people from eating the cake 
 amongst them, he stopped the_ hands x)f, the general 
 farmers, forbidding the linHer-farmers to pay them any- 
 t bing . but themselves to bring the money ot ttieir 
 under-farms into the exchequer. He doubled by this 
 means the revenues of the King, for the under-farms 
 and under-rents were found to be greater by almost 
 two-thirds than the general rents and leases. 
 
 The members of the council and the collectors at 
 first exclaimed loudly against his conduct ; they laid 
 snares everywhere for him, and caused him a thousand 
 troubles ; but in time he brought them to reason. 
 Likewise all those who had no right to demand any- 
 thing of him, and who ceased not to importune him 
 when they could get nothing from him, stormed 
 against his hardness ; but he cared not for their idle 
 
 ^ The farmers of certain branches of the revenue under the 
 old French monarchy. 
 
1 88 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 wrath ; he onl}^ wished legally to pay the debts of the 
 King, and readily to pay what was ordained for good 
 ends, for he did not know what it was to be asked 
 a hurjdred times for that which was truly due. 
 /"vVe have lingered somewhat the longer on this point 
 of the revenues, because it is the most important of 
 all ; that by which all things are done, and without 
 which nothing can be done, on which depends either 
 the ease or the oppression of the people and the good 
 or ill success of all designs or enterprises. 
 
 Our Henry at the same time would have liked to 
 ''take care for the reformation of the clergy, which in 
 truth was in great disorder, as well in temporal matters 
 — its goods having been usurped during the wars by the 
 Huguenots and wicked Catholics — as in spiritual, the 
 greater part of both prelates and pastors being as 
 ignorant as depraved ; but he could not yet apply 
 suitable remedies. The necessity to which he was 
 driven, of recompensing those who had w^ell served 
 him, constrained him to tolerate abuses, and even to 
 commit them, disposing of benefices as formerly Charles 
 Martel had done ; for he gave them to unfit persons, 
 to married men, to soldiers, to children, and even to 
 women, to compensate them for the loss of their 
 husbands killed or ruined in his service. 
 
 I have not attempted to excuse this fault ; for 
 there can never be any lawful reason given for the 
 prostitution of the goods of the sanctuary to the use 
 of the profane, or employing the treasures of the Cross 
 in other services than that of the altar. I know well 
 that many ecclesiastics themselves act otherwise, but 
 who doubts these people to be worse than those Jews 
 who played at dice upon the holy robe of Jesus Christ ? 
 
THE CLERGY AND THE KING 189 
 
 About the end of this year, the general assembly of 
 the clergy was held at Paris, and it drew up a remon- 
 strance to the King, by which the prelates prayed 
 him to cause the Council of Trent to be published 
 in France ; not to charge his conscience with the 
 nomination to bishoprics, abbacies, and other benefices 
 having the charge of souls ; not to give any laymen 
 the right to draw upon benefices ; not to permit 
 churches and holy places to be profaned as they then 
 were, but to see that they were repaired and Divine 
 service re-established. 
 
 As regards the Council of Trent, it must be under- 
 stood that it was received in France as affects those 
 Articles concerning the faith, but not generally as to 
 those which concerned policy and discipline, because 
 it seemed to many that these last were for the most 
 part contrary to the liberty of the Galilean Church and 
 the rights of the King. For which reasons, whatever 
 endeavours the zealous have made, they could never 
 bring about its reception, the parliaments having always 
 strongly opposed it. 
 
 To the harangue of the clergy, the King eloquently 
 answered, but in few words, that he acknowledged 
 what they had said concerning the nomination of 
 benefices was true, but that he was not the author 
 of that abuse. That having come to the crown during 
 the flames of a civil war, he had run wherever he 
 beheld the greatest fire to extinguish it. That, now 
 that he had peace, he would endeavour again to raise 
 up those two pillars of France, to wit, piety and justice. 
 That, God willing, he would restore the Church to as 
 good an estate as it was in the time of Louis XII. 
 
igo HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 "But," said he, "contribute, I pray you, on your side; 
 let your good examples as much incite the people to 
 do good as they have been heretofore diverted. You 
 have exhorted me to my duty, and I exhort you to 
 yours ; let us emulate one another in this. My pre- 
 decessors have given you fair words, but I with my 
 grey jacket will give you good deeds. I am all grey 
 without, but you shall find me gold within. I will see 
 your note-books {cahiers) and answer them as favour- 
 ably as I possibly can." 
 
 All his prudence and all his address were not too 
 much to teach him to govern himself so that both the 
 Catholics and Pope might be content with his conduct, 
 and the Huguenots have no cause to be alarmed or form 
 themselves into cantons. His duty and his conscience 
 inclined him to the assistance of the first ; but reasons 
 of state, and the great obligations he had to the last 
 did not permit him to make them despair. To keep, 
 therefore, a necessary balance, he granted them an edict 
 more ample than the preceding one. It was called 
 " The Edict of Nantes," because it was concluded the 
 year before (April 13th, 1598) in that city whilst he was 
 there. By this he granted them all liberty for the exer- 
 cise of their religion and likewise liberty to be admitted 
 to charges, hospitals, and colleges, and to have schools 
 in certain places, and the right of preaching everywhere ; 
 and many other things, of which they were afterwards 
 deprived by reason of their rebellions and other mis- 
 deeds. 
 
 The parliament strongly opposed it for more than a 
 year ; but in the end, when they were made to under- 
 stand that not to accord security to the Huguenots, 
 
THE POPE AND THE DUCHY OF FERRARA 191 
 
 who were both powerful and quarrelsome, would be 
 to kindle war afresh in the kingdom, they confirmed it. 
 
 On the other hand, to quiet the Pope, who might 
 be annoyed at this edict, the King showed him all 
 possible manner of respect, and strenuously embraced 
 his interests, as appeared in the affair of Ferrara, in 
 the years 1597 and 1598. 
 
 This duchy is a fief male of the holy see, with which 
 the Popes had formerly invested the lords of the house 
 of Est, with provision for its reversion in default of 
 legitimate male issue. Alphonso d'Est, second of that 
 name, and last duke, died in the year 1597, without 
 children, and had left great treasures to Caesar d'Est, 
 bastard of the first Alphonso, his kinsman. He had 
 done all he possibly could to obtain the investiture of 
 the duchy on this bastard, who, although not able to 
 obtain it, nevertheless took possession of it after the 
 death of the second Alphonso, resolving to maintain it 
 by force of arms, Clement VIII. w^as obliged to make 
 war against him to dispossess him. The princes of 
 Italy took part in the quarrel^ and the Dukes of Guise 
 and Nemours w^ere upon the point of undertaking the 
 defence of Caesar, whose near kinsmen they were, being 
 the sons of Anne d'Est, daughter of Hercules II., Duke 
 of Ferrara, and Madame Renee de France, Anne in her 
 first marriage having espoused Francis, Duke of Guise, 
 and, in her second, James, Duke of Nemours. The 
 King of Spain likewise secretly favoured Caesar, not 
 desiring that the Pope should grow greater in Italy by 
 reacquiring that duchy. But Henry the Great was not 
 backward in taking this occasion to offer his sword and 
 his forces to the Holv Father. The allies knowing this 
 
192 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 were extremely disheartened, and Caesar was constrained 
 to come to a compromise with the Pope, to whom he 
 surrendered all the Duchy of Ferrara. There remained 
 to him only the cities of Modena and Reggia, which 
 the Emperor maintained to be lief of the Empire, and 
 of which he gave him the investiture, from whence come 
 the present Dukes of Modena. 
 
 If the fervour which the King testified on this oc- 
 casion for the interests of the holy see sensibly obliged 
 the Pope, the care which he daily took to bring back the 
 Huguenots into the bosom of the Church was no less 
 agreeable to him. He acted to this purpose in such 
 a manner that, from day to day, many of the greatest 
 understanding and the best quality were converted. 
 But what was more important was his taking the young 
 Prince of Conde from the hands of the Huguenots, 
 who had kept him diligently at St. Jean d'Angely ever 
 since the death of his father, which happened in the 
 year 1587, and brought him up in the false religion, 
 .with great hope of making him one day their chief and 
 protector. The King, considering that it would be 
 both prejudicial to the safety of the young prince and 
 to his own interests to leave him longer there, knew 
 so well how to gain the chief men of the party that 
 they suffered him to be brought to court ; and he gave 
 him as tutor John, Marquis of Pisani, a lord of rare 
 merit and of wisdom without reproach, who forgot not 
 to instruct him well in the Catholic religion and in 
 the truest sentiments of honour and virtue. He was 
 then but seven or eight years old. When he reached 
 his ninth year the King gave him the government of 
 Guienne, loving him tenderly and cherishing him as 
 his presumptive successor. 
 
MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SISTER 193 
 
 During this time of peace nothing was spoken of 
 but rejoicings, feasts, and marriages. That of the 
 Infanta of Spain, Isabella Clara Eugenia, and of the 
 Archduke Albert, was solemnised in the Low Coun- 
 tries, and that of Madame Catherine, sister of the 
 King, with Henry, Duke of Bar, eldest son of Charles IL, 
 Duke of Lorraine, at Paris. 
 
 Catherine was forty years of age, and more agree- 
 able than fair, having one leg a little short. She was 
 very clever, loved learning, and knew much for a woman, 
 but was an obstinate Huguenot. The King feared lest 
 she should marry some Protestant prince, who by this 
 means might become the protector of the Huguenots, 
 and be like another king in France. For this reason 
 he gave her to the Duke of Bar ; thinking, moreover, 
 to gain more credit among the Catholics by allying 
 himself with the house of Lorraine. Before this he 
 had used all possible means to convert her, even to 
 the employment of threats ; but not being able to suc- 
 ceed, he said one day to the Duke of Bar, " My brother, 
 it is you who must vanquish her." 
 
 There was some difficulty about the place and the 
 ceremony of celebration of this marriage ; the duke 
 wanted it performed at the church, and the princess 
 by a Huguenot minister. The King found a middle 
 course. He caused it to take place in his closet, 
 whither he led his sister by the hand, and commanded 
 his natural brother, who had for about two years been 
 Archbishop of Rouen, to marry them. This new arch- 
 bishop at first refused to perform the ceremony, alleging 
 the canons were against it, but the King represent- 
 ing to him that his closet was a consecrated place, 
 
 13 
 
194 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 and that his presence suppHed the want of all solem- 
 nities, the poor archbishop had no longer the power to 
 resist him. 
 
 This marriage being made for the good of the 
 Catholic religion, it seemed that the Pope should have 
 been content. Nevertheless, not willing to suffer an 
 ill that a good might come of it, he declared that the 
 Duke of Bar had incurred excommunication for having 
 without the dispensation of the Church contracted a 
 marriage with a heretic ; nor could the duke, whatever 
 entreaties he made, obtain absolution. It was neces- 
 sary for God to lend His hand. This princess died 
 three years after with sadness and melancholy at seeing 
 herself live in a discontented manner with her husband, 
 who daily pressed her to turn Catholic, 
 
 Besides the solemnities of these marriages, many 
 other things engaged the attention of the court. Two 
 notable changes — one of the Duke of Joyeuse, the 
 other of the Marchioness of Belleisle — caused it as- 
 tonishment. 
 
 The Duke of Joyeuse, who had quitted the habit 
 of capuchin to become chief of the League in Langue- 
 doc, one day, without saying anything to an3^body, 
 retired to his convent at Paris, and resumed the 
 habit. A few days after there was much astonish- 
 ment at seeing him whom they had seen the week 
 before dancing at balls, as one of the most gallant, 
 preach in the pulpit in that habit of penitence. 
 It was said that the holy exhortations of his mother, 
 who from time to time reminded him of his vow, and 
 some ambiguous words which the King had thrown 
 out in conversation with him, made him think that 
 
A HUNTING INCIDENT 195 
 
 he could no longer live in the world either with 
 safety of conscience or with honour. 
 
 The Marchioness of Belleisle, sister to the Duke 
 of Longueville, and widow of the Marquis of Belleisle, 
 eldest son of the Marshal de Retz, having received 
 some secret annoyance, renounced likewise the world, 
 and went and shut herself up in the convent of the 
 Feuillantines at Toulouse, where she took the veil and 
 ended her days. 
 
 After this news came to the court that Phillipin, 
 bastard of the Duke of Savoy, was killed in a duel 
 by the Seigneur de Crequ}^ of whom it might be 
 without flattery said that he was one of the most 
 gallant and bravest men of his time. The history of 
 this combat may be found written in so many places, 
 and is yet so firm in the memory of all those who 
 wear swords, that it would be superfluous to recount 
 the details. 
 
 The chase was now the King's ordinary diversion. 
 
 It is recounted that while hunting in the forest of 
 
 Fontainebleau, accompanied by many lords, he heard 
 
 a great noise of horns, huntsmen, and dogs, which 
 
 seemed to be a long way off, but all at once 
 
 approached them. Some of his company who were 
 
 twenty paces in front of him saw a great black man 
 
 among the bushes, who alarmed them so much that 
 
 they could not tell what became of him ; but they 
 
 heard him cry out to them with a frightful voice, 
 
 " M'attendez-vous," or, " m'entendez-vous," or, " amen- 
 
 dez-vous"; that is, "Do you expect me?" or "Do you 
 
 understand me ? " or else, "Amend yourselves." The 
 
 woodmen and country people thereabouts said that it 
 
 13—2 
 
196 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 was no extraordinary thing, for they had often seen 
 this black man, whom they named the " Great 
 Hunter," with a pack of hounds which hunted at full 
 cry, but never did any harm. 
 
 Numberless accounts are told in all countries in 
 the world of like illusions in regard to such hunters. 
 If we give any credit to them, we may believe them 
 either to be the tricks of sorcerers, or of some evil 
 spirits to whom God gives permission to convince the 
 incredulous, and make them see that there are sub- 
 stances apart from and a Being above man. 
 
 Now if prodigies are signs, as some have said, of 
 great and awful events, it may be believed that this 
 presaged the strange death of the fair Gabrielle, which 
 happened some days after (April, 1599). The love 
 which the King had for her, instead of being extin- 
 guished by enjoyment, had become so strong that 
 she had ventured to demand of him that he should 
 acknowledge his fault and legitimatise his children by a 
 subsequent marriage ; and he was not able absolutely to 
 refuse her this grace, but entertained her still with hopes. 
 
 Those who love the glory of this great King can 
 with difficulty believe that he would have done such an 
 action, which without doubt would have caused a low 
 opinion of him, and levelled against him his people's 
 hatred. However, it was to be feared that the allure- 
 ments of this woman, who had found his weakness, 
 added to the flattery of the courtiers whom she had 
 almost all gained either by presents or kindnesses, 
 might engage this poor prince to a dishonour. And 
 without dissembling, he had his soul too tender towards 
 ladies. He was master of all his other passions, but 
 
DEATH OF GABRIELLE D'ESTREES 197 
 
 he was a slave to this ; nor can his memory be justified 
 from this reproach, for although admirable in all other 
 parts of his life, he ought not to be imitated in this. 
 
 In the meantime Gabrielle, still flattering herself 
 with the hope of shortly becoming his wife, in conse- 
 quence of those hopes he himself had given her, 
 managed so well that she obliged him to demand of 
 the Pope commissioners to try the divorce between 
 him and Queen Margaret. The King, in order that 
 he might find favour with the Holy Father, and 
 render him more favourable to his intentions, caused 
 it to be said secretly, by Sillery, his ambassador, that 
 he would marry Marie de Medicis, his niece, sister to 
 the Duke of Florence, for whom nevertheless it was 
 believed that he had not then any desire. 
 
 And the Pope, whether he distrusted his intention, 
 or whether he saw that Queen Margaret did not en- 
 courage it, protracted the business, and returned only 
 ambiguous answers. It was likewise said that being 
 one day much pressed by the Cardinal d'Ossat and by 
 Sillery to give consent to their master, or else, they 
 said, he may go further, and espouse the duchess, he 
 was so astonished at these words that he immediately 
 remitted the conduct of this affair to the hands of God, 
 and commanded a fast throughout the city of Rome, 
 while he himself prayed asking God to inspire him with 
 what should be best for his glory and for the good of 
 France ; that at the end of his prayer he cried out 
 in ecstasy, " God hath provided ! " and that a few 
 days after there arrived a courier at Rome, bringing 
 news of the death of the duchess. 
 
 In the meantime the King grew impatient at these 
 
igS HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 delays ; and it was to be feared lest resentment at being 
 neglected should cause the same inconveniences to him 
 as formerly to Henry VIIL, King of England, or lest 
 by the counsel of some flatterers, forcing the goodness 
 of his nature, he should be persuaded to rid himself of 
 Queen Margaret by whatever means he could. 
 
 Gabrielle was at that time great with her fourth 
 child, when the feast of Easter approaching, and the 
 King desiring to perform his devotions for that holy 
 season far from all object of scandal, he sent her to 
 Paris, accompanying her just half-way. She with no 
 small grief parted from him, recommending to him her 
 children with tears in her eyes, as if she had some 
 secret presentiment, telling him that she should never 
 see him again. 
 
 At Paris she lodged in the house of Zamet, the 
 famous treasurer. After having dined with him, and 
 heard Tenebres'^ at St. Anthony's (being Holy Thursday), 
 on her return, while walking in the garden, she was 
 struck with apoplexy of the brain. The first attack 
 of it having passed, she would no longer stay in that 
 house, but caused herself to be carried to that of 
 Madame de Sourdis, her aunt, near St. Germain 
 I'Auxerrois. All the rest of that day and the morrow 
 she suffered from swoonings and convulsions, of which 
 she died on the Saturday morning. 
 
 The causes of her death were variously related ; 
 but, however, it was a happiness to France, since it 
 deprived the King of an object for which he was about 
 to lose both himself and his estate. His grief was as 
 
 1 A service in the Roman Church used three days before 
 Easter, and called les trois jours de tenebres. 
 
REASONS FOR DIVORCE 199 
 
 great as his love had been ; yet he, not being one 
 of those feeble souls who please themselves in per- 
 petuating their sorrows and in bathing themselves in 
 their tears, not only received consolation, but sought 
 it, although still preserving for the children, and par- 
 ticularly for the Duke of Vendome, that affection he 
 had borne the mother. 
 
 All good Frenchmen earnestly desired that so good 
 a king might leave legitimate children. They dared 
 not press him to take a wife who would bear him 
 children so long as Gabrielle lived, for fear lest he 
 should espouse her, and for the same reason Queen 
 Margaret would not give her consent to the dissolu- 
 tion of his marriage. But when Gabrielle was dead 
 she willingly lent her hand to it, and herself addressed 
 a request to the Holy Father to demand the dissolu- 
 tion, adducing two principal reasons for nullity. The 
 first was the want of consent, for she alleged she had 
 been forced to it by King Charles IX., her brother; 
 the second was the proximity of kindred (they being 
 related in the third degree), for which, she said, there 
 had never been any valid dispensation. 
 
 In like manner the lords of the kingdom and the 
 parliament besought his Majesty by solemn deputations 
 that he would think of taking a wife, representing to 
 him the inconveniences and the danger in which France 
 would be if he should die without children. These 
 deputations will not seem strange to those who know 
 our ancient history, where it may be seen that neither 
 the king nor his children married except by the advice 
 of his barons, and this passed at that time almost for 
 a fundamental law of the state. 
 
200 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 The King, touched with these just supphcations of 
 his subjects, addressed his request to the Pope, con- 
 taining the same reasons as that of Queen Margaret, 
 and charged the Cardinal d'Ossat and Sillery, his am- 
 bassador extraordinar}', whom he had sent to Rome 
 to obtain the judgment of the Pope concerning the 
 restitution of the marquisate of Sahices, to push on 
 this aifair instantly. 
 
 The cause having been reported to the consistory, 
 the Pope gave commission to the prelates to judge it 
 in France, according to the rights of that crown, which 
 does not permit Frenchmen to be transported for such 
 affairs beyond the mountains, whither it would be 
 almost impossible to bring the necessary proofs and 
 witnesses. These prelates were the Cardinal de Joyeuse, 
 the Pope's nuncio, and the Archbishop of Aries, who, 
 having examined both parties and seen the proofs pro- 
 duced on each side, together with the request of the 
 three estates of the kingdom, declared this marriage 
 null, and permitted them to marry whom they should 
 think fit. 
 
 Queen Margaret, who for many years had left the 
 King and voluntarily shut herself up in the strong 
 castle of Usson, in Auvergne, had now permission to 
 come to Paris, money given her to pay her debts, great 
 pensions, the possession of the Duchy of Valois, with 
 some other lands, and the right to retain the title of 
 Queen. She lived for fifteen years longer, and built a 
 palace near Pre-aux-Clercs, which was afterwards sold 
 to pay off her debts and pulled down to build other 
 houses. She was very fond of good musicians, having 
 a delicate ear, and also of wise and eloquent men, 
 
THE NEW QUEEN 201 
 
 because she was of a fine intellect and very agreeable in 
 her discourse. For the rest, she was liberal even to 
 prodigality, pompous and magnificent, but she did not 
 know what it was to pay her debts. This is without 
 doubt the greatest of all a prince's faults, because there 
 is nothing so much against justice, of which he ought 
 to be the protector and example. 
 
 The marriage being dissolved, Bellievre and Villeroy 
 (fearing lest the King should engage himself in new 
 loves and be taken in those snares which the fairest 
 of the court laid for him) persuaded him by many 
 great reasons of state to fix his thoughts on Marie de 
 Medicis, who was daughter to Francis and niece to 
 Ferdinand, Grand Dukes of Tuscany. 
 
 The Cardinal d'Ossat and Sillery made known his 
 intention to the Grand Duke Ferdinand, her uncle; and 
 Alincourt, son to Villeroy, whom he had sent to thank 
 the Holy Father for his speedy justice touching the 
 aforesaid dissolution of his marriage, had orders to 
 testify to him that the King, among all the daughters 
 of the sovereign houses of Christendom, had found no 
 princess more agreeable to him. The business was 
 managed with so much activity and vigilance by the 
 diligence of those who had undertaken it, that the 
 King found himself finally engaged. The contract of 
 marriage was signed at Florence by his ambassadors 
 on the 4th of April, 1600, and Alincourt in seven 
 days brought him the news to Fontainebleau. He was 
 at that time assisting at the famous conference or dis- 
 pute between David du Perron, Bishop of Evreux, 
 afterwards Cardinal, and Philip du Plessis Mornay, 
 at which truth nobly triumphed over falsehood. 
 
202 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 The solemnities at Florence, the magnificence of 
 the Grand Duke, the ceremonies of the affiancing and 
 marriage of this Queen, of her embarking, her being 
 convoyed by the galleys of Malta and Florence, and 
 her reception at Marseilles, at Avignon, and at Lyons, 
 have all been related elsewhere, and therefore I shall 
 speak nothing of them. 
 
 Whilst the marriage was being arranged at Flo- 
 rence, the King, having a heart which could for no 
 long time keep its liberty, became enslaved to a new 
 object. 
 
 It is to be understood that Mary Touchet, who 
 had been mistress to Charles IX., and whose son was 
 the Count of Auvergne, had been married to the Lord 
 d'Entragues, and had by him many children, amongst 
 them a very fair daughter named Henriette, who was 
 consequently sister on the mother's side to the Count 
 of Auvergne. This Count was then about thirty years 
 old, and she about eighteen. 
 
 It is but too well known that flatterers and cowardly 
 sycophants ruin everyone in the courts of great 
 men, and also corrupt their persons. It is these 
 who sweeten the poison, who embolden the prince to 
 do ill, who make him familiar with vice, who seek 
 and facilitate occasions for it, and who act, as we 
 ma}^ say, the part of Satan and the tempter. It is 
 impossible to purge courts of these plagues ; they in- 
 sinuate themselves, in spite of the utmost endeavours, 
 into the palaces of the great ; they render themselves 
 agreeable by new diversions, gain the ear by flattering 
 praises, by pleasant and well-devised fables and great 
 falsehoods ; and when they have gained their entrance 
 
THE FAIR GABRIELLE'S SUCCESSOR 203 
 
 they envenom the hearts and poison the souls of the 
 most innocent. 
 
 Our Henry, great prince as he was, had such 
 people near him, who knowing his weakness as to 
 women, instead of fortifying him against it and re- 
 straining him like true friends, spurred him forward 
 as it were in his weakness, and made their fortunes 
 from his faults. It was these who, by commending the 
 beauty, the engaging ways, the wit, and the diverting 
 and pleasant discourse of Mademoiselle d'Entragues, 
 made him first have a desire to see and to love her. 
 They could not have done a worse service to their 
 master than this. She had certainly many charms, 
 but she was no less clever and cunning. Her refusals 
 and modesty did more and more provoke the King's 
 passion. Though he was not prodigal, he caused a 
 hundred thousand crowns to be taken to her at once. 
 She refused them not, and reciprocally testified much 
 love and impatience for so great a king ; but she 
 cunningly caused her father and mother to get in the 
 way, and observe her so closely that she could not give 
 him a good opportunity to speak to her. 
 
 She let him understand that she was grieved that 
 she could not keep her word with him ; that it was 
 necessary to have the consent of her father and mother, 
 for which on her part she would labour. Afterwards, 
 after many delays and procrastinations, she told him 
 that they could not be brought to so delicate a point, 
 unless, if only to secure their consciences towards God 
 and their honour towards the world, his Majesty would 
 make her a promise of marriage ; that she had no 
 desire to use the document to his prejudice, and that 
 
204 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 if she did so, she knew well there was no official who 
 durst challenge a man who had fifty thousand men of 
 war at his command ; but that these good people de- 
 sired it should be so, and that he need make no difficulty 
 to please their fancy, since he would be giving her but 
 a little bit of paper in exchange for the most precious 
 thing she had in the world. At last, she managed to 
 work upon his mind so cleverly that he gave her a 
 promise under his hand by which he agreed to espouse 
 her in a year, provided that during that time she 
 brought forth a male child. 
 
 All this intrigue may be seen in the memoirs of 
 Sully, where he says that the King having led him 
 alone into the first gallery of Fontainebleau, showed 
 him this promise written under his hand, and de- 
 manded his advice. Instead of formally answering 
 him concerning it, he tore it in two pieces. The King 
 was quite astonished, and said angrily, " How ! now 
 I believe that you are a fool " ; to which the other 
 answered, " It is true. Sire, that I am a fool, and 
 could wish I were more so, so that I alone in France 
 were one." He also says that on his departure from 
 the gallery, the King entered his closet and called for 
 a pen and ink, and that he believed it was to write 
 another. However this be, this promise caused much 
 trouble afterwards, for the lady wished it to be made 
 valid, as we shall relate. 
 
 At the same time that the King was endeavouring 
 to obtain the dissolution of his first marriage at Rome, 
 he also requested the Holy Father to decide the difference 
 concerning the restitution of the marquisate of Saluces, 
 the decision of which had been referred to him by the 
 treaty of Vervins, 
 
THE MARQUISATE OF S A LUCES 205 
 
 To understand this well, it must be known that this 
 marquisate was a fief dependent upon the Dauphinate, 
 which King Francis I. had seized by right of reversion, 
 in default of heirs male in the succession of the lords 
 that held it. Now, in 1588, during the assize of the 
 estates of Blois, the Duke of Savo}^ understanding that 
 the League was becoming very strong in France, and 
 that apparently that monarchy would be dismembered, 
 snatched this marquisate without having any subject 
 of quarrel ; he only pretended to justif}' this unjust 
 usurpation with the pretext that he seized it from fear 
 lest Lesdiguieres should possess himself of it, and by 
 this means establish the Huguenot religion in the 
 midst of his territories. 
 
 Seven years after, to wit, in the year 1595, when 
 the King had gone to Lyons, after the battle of Fon- 
 taine-Fran9aise, the duke, who foresaw that the King 
 would again take possession of this marquisate, pro- 
 posed to him some arrangement concerning it. The 
 King offered to give it to one of his sons, to hold it 
 in faith and homage, with some other conditions, but 
 the duke demanded it without any dependence, and 
 so this negotiation was broken off. 
 
 The King's ambassadors treating on the general peace 
 at Vervins urgently demanded the restitution of that fief. 
 Those of the duke, who were present, alleged in favour 
 of their master that the marquisate appertained to him 
 as being a fief of Savoy, and that he had several 
 essential titles to prove its dependency, which it was 
 necessary to see in order to decide the difference with 
 knowledge of the facts. Now it would have taken up 
 too much time to have them sent from Savoy, and the 
 
2o6 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Pope's nuncio hurried on the peace, for fear lest 
 during these delays some accident might happen to 
 break it ; so that, in order not to retard it, it was 
 judged convenient to refer to the Pope the decision 
 of this affair, on condition that he should terminate 
 it in a year. 
 
 The French during that time earnestly solicited at 
 Rome to have it decided. The Savoyards objected 
 only through fear of losing their cause by default. 
 Both sides produced their titles. Those of the French 
 were the best, and, moreover, they had had peace- 
 able possession for more than sixty years, which was 
 more than sufficient to gain prescription. The year 
 being expired, the Pope demanded of the King a 
 further prolongation of two months to give in his 
 sentence of arbitration, and that in the meantime the 
 marquisate should be sequestrated in his hands. The 
 King willingly consented, but the duke mistrusted that 
 the Pope wanted to keep it for one of his nephews ; and 
 his ambassador having testified this mistrust, the Pope 
 refused to meddle any further either with the gage or 
 with the arbitration. 
 
 The duke imagined that his best way was to use 
 delay, since it might happen that either the French 
 King would grow weary of pursuing this business, or 
 that some more important affair might divert his 
 thoughts into another channel. Moreover, knowing 
 that there were many disaffected persons who could 
 not be cured of the opinion that the King was still in 
 his heart a Huguenot, and among them many secret 
 and dangerous enemies, so that no year passed without 
 many conspiracies against his person, it was possible 
 
THE DUKE OF SAVOY'S ARTIFICES 207 
 
 that in the end some of them might succeed. In fact, 
 during that year there had been three discovered, of 
 which the one that made most noise was that of a 
 woman, who volunteered to the Count of Soissons to 
 poison the King ; but the count brought her to justice, 
 and she was burned ahve in the Greve. 
 
 In order, therefore, to gain time, he desired to come 
 to France himself, having so good an opinion of his 
 own cunning that he felt assured that he would obtain 
 from the King the gift of this marquisate ; or at least 
 he intended to make such proposals, and to employ 
 so many artifices that it would take more than a year 
 to put them straight. He said that his ambassador 
 had sent him word that he had heard the King say 
 that if they were together they would soon decide this 
 difference like friends, and it was this good word which 
 had caused him to make this voyage. But many sus- 
 pected, and with apparent reason, that he had a design 
 to win over some of the King's council, to sound the 
 disaffected and observe and awake discontent, to cast 
 abroad seeds of corruption and division, and to renew 
 such intrigues as he might have at court. Others 
 imagined that he was discontented with Spain, because 
 Philip II., having given the Low Countries as a dowry 
 to his youngest daughter, had left to the eldest, wife of 
 this duke, only a crucifix and an image of Our Lady. 
 Moreover, he had indeed received some causes for dis- 
 pleasure at the hands of the ministers of Spain ; and 
 he spread abroad a report, whether it were true or 
 false, that he had undertaken this voyage without 
 communicating with Philip III., his brother-in-law. In 
 fact, everyone judged according to his fancy ; and 
 
2o8 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 possibly none divined his secret thoughts, there never 
 having been a prince more close or less penetrable 
 than he. And some said his heart was covered with 
 mountains as well as his country, that is because he 
 was hunchbacked and Savoy was mountainous. 
 
 He brought with him a train which well set forth 
 his degree, for he had with him twelve hundred horse ; 
 but all his officers were clad in mourning, on account 
 of the death of his wife, which many took as a bad 
 omen. The King desiring to receive him according to 
 his dignity, commanded all the cities to render him 
 the same honour as if he were there in person. 
 
 He came to Lyons by the river Rhone, and was 
 received by La Guiche, governor of that city. But the 
 chapter of St. John would not give him the place of 
 canon and count of that church, because he no longer 
 possessed the county of Villars, by virtue of which the 
 counts of Savoy had been at other times received. 
 Added to this, he had not his titles, nor would he 
 give time to prove his nobility, with which the chapter 
 will not dispense in the case of anyone except the King. 
 
 From Lyons he came to Roanne, and descended 
 by water to Orleans, afterwards coming post to Fon- 
 tainebleau, where the King was. He arrived on the 
 20th of December, accompanied by seventy horse. To 
 acquire confidence with the King, he complained loudly 
 against the Spaniards, and disclosed, or feigned to 
 disclose to him, his most secret thoughts, and a de- 
 sign he had to drive them out of Italy. He told him 
 his friends, his means, and his information with regard 
 to it, and he tried to make him believe that he was 
 opening his heart to him ; that he was an earnest 
 
THE CENTENARY JUBILEE AT ROME 209 
 
 Frenchman, and desired to consult the interests of 
 France without reserve. The King listened to him 
 with attention, and thanked him for his good inten- 
 tions ; but after saying that, he finished thus : " I am 
 of opinion that we should decide first those affairs 
 between us, and then talk of others." Three days 
 after, the King went to Paris, where they were to 
 discuss more fully the subject which had brought the 
 duke to France. 
 
 The beginning of the last year of the fifteenth 
 century, that is, the year 1600, was celebrated for 
 the centenary jubilee, which was opened at Rome. 
 There were twenty -four thousand French at Rome, 
 some moved by devotion, others by curiosity, among 
 whom were a large number of Huguenots, who went 
 to see the great ceremony. They were able to do it 
 with all security, for during the great jubilee the 
 Inquisition ceased at Rome, where at any time it was 
 much less rigorous than in Spain. The Duke of Bar 
 was in disguise at this jubilee. He went to demand 
 license for his marriage, and absolution of the Holy 
 Father. He obtained absolution in the manner related 
 by Cardinal d'Ossat in his letters ; but in spite of his 
 submission he could not obtain the license, nor did he 
 procure it till the death of Madame Catherine, his wife, 
 three years later. 
 
 The beginning of this year saw the King and the 
 Duke of Savoy live with so much familiarity, and so 
 many proofs of friendship, that it might have been 
 believed they had but one heart. The French courtesy 
 and civility obliged the King to treat the duke with 
 great honour, and the desire which the duke had of 
 
210 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 obtaining from him the marquisate moved him to a 
 great complacency, and to seek all means to render 
 himself agreeable to so great a King. The court of 
 France declared that it had never seen a more perfect 
 courtier, the ladies a more pleasing gallant, and the 
 officers of the King and the great ones a prince more 
 liberal. He knew how to behave himself with the 
 King, so as neither to act as his companion nor his 
 servant ; and if he wished to appear inferior to him 
 in grandeur, he endeavoured to be superior to him in 
 generosity and liberality. He gave with open hand, 
 even to the principal men of the court. The King 
 permitted them to accept his presents, and on his 
 side gave very large ones to the duke. He treated 
 him well, and made the chiefs of the court treat him 
 well also, every day providing him with some new 
 object of pleasure. Among other things, he desired 
 that he should see his parliament, which our kings 
 have usually shown to strange princes as a compen- 
 dium of their greatness and the place where their 
 majesty sits with the greatest splendour. They went 
 together into the lantern^ of the great chamber, where 
 they with great delight heard a very singular cause 
 pleaded, specially chosen, and the sentence or agree- 
 ment pronounced by Harlay, first president, a person 
 so grave and so eloquent that all which came from 
 his mouth seemed to come from that of Justice herself. 
 There was no civility nor courtesy which the King 
 failed to show to the duke ; but after all he would not 
 give way in regard to the marquisate. The duke tried 
 
 1 A place which looked into the parliament-house, and I 
 suppose so called because they might see and not be seen. — 
 Translator's Note. 
 
THE KING IS FIRM 2ii 
 
 to gain his end by all means in his power ; sometimes 
 he offered to hold it in homage from the crown; some- 
 times he proposed that the King should share his great 
 designs on the Milanese and on the Empire ; some- 
 times he set before him the programme of a powerful 
 league to destroy the Spaniards in Italy. But the 
 King was too wise to be gulled by gilded shadows ; ^ 
 he answered that he had no ambition to conquer the 
 possessions of another, but only to recover his own ; 
 that he would speak no further of this affair to the 
 duke, as he considered they should refer it to their 
 council. Therefore they named some representatives, 
 who conferred together ; but as those of the King 
 insisted on the restitution of the marquisate, while 
 those of the duke endeavoured to keep it for him, 
 nothing was concluded. 
 
 Yet though all the duke's hopes of obtaining any- 
 thing had vanished, he did not lose courage, but trusted 
 to the intrigues he had renewed with some of the great 
 ones of the court, and particularly with the Duke of 
 Biron. Many believe that he began now to corrupt 
 him, and that he entrusted this business to a gentle- 
 man of Burgundy, named Lafhn, of the house of 
 Beauvais la Node, the most pernicious and traitorous 
 fellow that could be found in France, for he made a 
 trade of carrying tales from one to another. The King 
 knew him well, and often seeing him very familiar with 
 Biron, he had the goodness to tell the marshal more 
 than once, " Let not that man approach you ; he is a 
 plague, and he will ruin you." 
 
 1 The French is, " Prendre le change," which is taken for 
 flying out at a wrong deer like hounds of riot. 
 
 14—2 
 
212 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 The duke knew that Biron loved the King, because 
 he had raised him to the greatest dignities of his realm, 
 and that the prince likewise honoured him with his 
 good-will. It was therefore necessary to cause him to 
 lose this affection before he would be able to render 
 him capable of any evil design. 
 
 Biron was without doubt brave and valiant to the 
 utmost, but so puffed up with his gallantry, that he 
 could not suffer anybody to equal him. After the peace 
 of Vervins, not having anything more to do, he continu- 
 ally boasted of his great deeds. According to his own 
 words he had done everything, and he intoxicated 
 himself so much with his own praise that he raised 
 his own valour above the King's. He believed that 
 Henry owed his crown to him, and so could refuse him 
 nothing, and should be governed by him absolutely. 
 These bravadoes displeased the King. He was annoyed 
 that his subject should think that he equalled him in 
 valour, but much more that he should have the pre- 
 sumption to hope to govern him, who had ten times 
 more brains and good judgment than the marshal. 
 
 It is certainly a noble ambition, and not only well 
 placed, but absolutely necessary for a king, to believe 
 none of his subjects more worthy than himself. When 
 he has not this good opinion of himself, he lets himself 
 be governed by those whom he believes more able than 
 himself, and by this means soon falls into captivity ; 
 therefore, though he may be deceived, he ought still 
 to esteem himself the most capable person to govern 
 in his whole realm. I may say rather that he cannot 
 deceive himself in this, because there is no person 
 more proper than himself, however ignorant he be, to 
 
BIRON'S INSUPPORTABLE VANITY 213 
 
 rule his kingdom, God having destined this function to 
 him, and not to others, and the people being always 
 disposed to receive commands when they come out of 
 his sacred mouth. 
 
 Henry the Great had therefore become greatly 
 annoyed with the Marshal de Biron because of his 
 vanity. The Duke of Savoy, praising one day the 
 noble actions and great services of the Marshals de 
 Biron, both father and son, the King answered that 
 it was true they had served him well, but that he 
 had had great difficulty to moderate the drunkenness 
 of the father and the extraordinary whims of the son. 
 The duke remembered his words, and caused them to 
 be carried by Laffin to Biron, who, touched in his most 
 sensitive part, was transported to a thousand extrava- 
 gances ; and having lost all respect, lost likewise his 
 affection for the King. It has been suspected that he 
 at once abandoned himself to all manner of wicked 
 designs, and that he promised to enter into a league 
 which the Duke of Savoy was about to make with the 
 King of Spain, on condition that he gave him his 
 daughter in marriage, and assisted him to make him- 
 self Duke of Burgundy. 
 
 After the Duke of Savoy had remained more than 
 two months at the court of France, showing, as the 
 proverb says, "A merry countenance at an ill game," ^ 
 and hiding his annoyance under an apparent joy, but 
 not knowing how to return without shame nor to stay 
 longer with advantage, the King, who did not wish to 
 give him cause to say that he had treated him harshly, 
 gave him to understand that if the marquisate was 
 1 I.e., concealing his dissatisfaction. 
 
214 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 SO necessary to him, and that he could not restore 
 it without great inconvenience, he would be content 
 to take La Bresse in exchange. This condition seemed 
 no less hard to the duke than that of the restitution 
 of the marquisate. However, in order that he might 
 have some pretext to retire with honour, he seemed 
 not averse to it, and there were some articles drawn 
 up which he professed were not disagreeable to him ; 
 but he demanded time to consider the alternative of 
 the restitution or exchange, and to take the advice of 
 the grandees of his duchy on so important a subject. 
 The King, therefore, granted him for this purpose 
 three clear months. 
 
 Shortly afterwards he took leave of the King, who 
 conducted him to Pont Charenton, and instructed the 
 Baron of Lux and Praslin to accompany him to the 
 frontier. He returned by Champagne and Burgundy, 
 from whence he entered La Bresse, and went to 
 Bourg. They were very pleased to see him return 
 safely, because they feared that he might be detained 
 in France. Indeed there were some who counselled 
 the King to keep him till such time as he should 
 restore the marquisate ; but the King, much offended 
 at this proposition, answered angrily that they studied 
 to dishonour him, but that he would rather lose his 
 crown than incur the least suspicion of having broken 
 his faith, even to the greatest of his enemies. 
 
 The three months being expired, and the duke not 
 having fulfilled his promise, the King was annoyed, 
 and pressed him to decide at once which course he 
 would pursue. The duke found new delays, but pro- 
 mised daily to satisfy the King. In the meantime he 
 
THE DUKE OF SAVOY'S STRATAGEMS 215 
 
 communicated to the council of Spain the danger in 
 which he was, pointing out that the loss of the mar- 
 quisate would put him in such a position that he 
 would not have the power to serve the Spaniards ; 
 that it would open the door to the French to trouble 
 Italy ; and that this tempest, after having laid waste 
 his country, would fall upon Milan. The council of 
 Spain apprehended well the urgency of the question, 
 but, proceeding very slowly, were a long time before 
 they decided to take action. At last the Count of 
 Fuentes, governor of Milan, received instructions, two 
 months later than he ought to have, to vigorously assist 
 this prince. He therefore came to Milan, where, with 
 two millions of gold which were ready, he began to 
 make great preparations. 
 
 After the duke had in various ways protracted the 
 negotiations for almost two months longer, the King, 
 wearied with these delays, made preparations to bind 
 this Proteus, who changed himself into all sorts of 
 forms, and to force him to give a decided answer. 
 He advanced to Lyons, whither he had sent his council 
 beforehand. The duke, learning of his approach, had 
 recourse to fresh stratagems. He sent to him three 
 ambassadors, who conjointly proposed an arrangement, 
 by which they declared that their master was ready 
 to fulfil the treaty made at Paris, and that he promised 
 to restore the marquisate ; but the one who held the 
 secret refused to sign the articles till the duke had 
 first shown them to his council and signed them. By 
 this trick the duke gained seven or eight days more ; 
 but the King, resolved to press him to a conclusion, 
 still pursued him, discovered his subterfuge, and left 
 
2i6 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 him no further opportunity for delay. He was forced 
 therefore to answer positively, and he promised to 
 surrender the marquisate by the i6th of August. 
 
 Upon this assurance, the King caused Le Bourg- 
 I'Espinasse, an old colonel of infantry, with the Swiss 
 troops, to advance and take possession of the marquisate. 
 As he approached the duke threw off his mask, and 
 answered clearly that, according to the conditions pro- 
 posed, war was not so hard to him as peace. Thereupon 
 the King was obliged to come to what he had long 
 foreseen, to wit, an open war. He declared it therefore 
 on the nth of August, but with these express terms, 
 that he did it only to recover the marquisate, and 
 without prejudice to the treaty of Vervins, which he 
 desired to observe inviolably. 
 
 At the same time he gave information of this rupture 
 to all the neighbouring princes, and made them under- 
 stand the just reasons he had. This great King knew 
 well that among Christians the breach of peace is 
 extremely odious, and that without reasons which 
 thoroughly convince our spirits, we ought never to 
 trouble the public tranquillity. 
 
 The King at that time was at Grenoble, where he 
 had, to begin this war, only three or four companies 
 of ordnance.^ Some proposed that he should order 
 his regiment of guards to advance. He answered, that 
 he would not send them from him, that they were the 
 Tenth Legion, which never fought without Csesar.^ But 
 in a short time the French nobility and adventurers 
 
 1 Compagnies d'ordonnance: certain privileged companies, quite 
 independent of any rej^iment. 
 
 2 Julius Csesar would never let the Tenth Legion fight except 
 with him. 
 
THE KING MARCHES AGAINST HIM 217 
 
 flocked to him on all sides, as if to a marriage or a 
 ball. 
 
 The Marshal de Biron, though still disaffected, having 
 gathered some troops, laid waste the country of Bresse 
 in many places. With his cannon he forced the city 
 of Bourg ; but the citadel defended itself better, and 
 proved indeed the only difficulty in this war. Crequy, 
 entering into Savo}', gained the city of Montmelian 
 about midnight, but not the castle. 
 
 The Pope, alarmed by the first sparks of this fire, 
 and fearing lest it should set all Italy alight, set himself 
 immediately to extinguish it. He dispatched a prelate, 
 who bore the title of Patriarch of Constantinople, to 
 point out to Henry the evil consequences of this rupture, 
 and to conjure him in the name of God not to carry 
 it any farther. The King assured him that he had 
 no design to trouble the peace of Italy ; that he was 
 a Christian and a just prince ; that God had given 
 him a kingdom sufficient to content him, but that he 
 desired to regain what belonged to his crown; and that 
 if he had had other and greater designs, he would 
 have made greater preparations. 
 
 In a few days he departed and entered into Savoy. 
 His presence so much astonished the city of Cham- 
 bery that he made the garrison depart by a quick 
 capitulation. He then made himself master of 
 Tarentaise and La Morienne, by taking in two or 
 three days the city of Conflans, and that of La 
 Charbonniere, which until then were thought to be 
 impregnable. 
 
 Still the Duke of Savoy did not stir. He was so 
 little concerned that he hunted and danced whilst his 
 
2i8 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 provinces were being despoiled, and he seemed rather 
 to be a spectator than an adversary. His subjects 
 likewise did not seem much astonished at the King's 
 progress ; they said that if he took any places in 
 Savoy, their duke would take others in France. It 
 could not be divined from whence this great security 
 proceeded. Some believed that the duke assured 
 himself by I know not what prognostications of 
 astrologers, who had foretold that in the month of 
 August there should be no King in France — which 
 happened to be very true, for at that time he was 
 victorious in the midst of Savoy. Others believed 
 that the duke yet trusted to the understanding he 
 had with the Marshal de Biron, whose fidelity, much 
 shaken by his artifices while he was in France, was 
 now almost entirely alienated by the fresh reasons of 
 discontent the marshal had suffered during this war. 
 For the King showed that he no longer had any trust 
 in him ; he did not treat him with such great freedom 
 as he had done before ; and he committed the prin- 
 cipal direction of this conquest to Lesdiguieres, who, 
 indeed, was better acquainted with the country and 
 the manner of making war in those mountains than 
 Biron. This preference furiously incensed so proud a 
 spirit, for he believed nothing could or ought to be 
 done without him. Afterwards the refusal of the King 
 to give him the government of the city of Bourg put 
 him quite out of his senses. From this time he had 
 none but extravagant and criminal thoughts, and began, 
 as it was said, to treat with the Duke of Savoy for 
 the purpose of kindling a new civil war in France. I 
 cannot relate the particulars of this design, because 
 they were never clearly known. 
 
THE KING EVERYWHERE VICTORIOUS 219 
 
 The Duke of Savoy believed his fortresses of 
 Montmehan in Savoy, and of Bourg in Bresse, im- 
 pregnable, and felt sure of the safety of his country in 
 regard to them. He was much surprised to learn that 
 the Marquis of Brandis, governor of Montmelian, had 
 agreed to surrender it in a certain time. Upon this 
 news he put himself in the field, and used all his en- 
 deavours to get into a position to relieve it. He had 
 recourse to the assistance of the Spaniards ; but the 
 Count of Fuentes, who desired to further complicate 
 matters, refused his forces in his need, and in the 
 meantime, the term of the capitulation having expired, 
 he lost Montmelian, to the great astonishment of his 
 subjects and no less shame of Brandis. Want of vic- 
 tuals and ammunition caused him likewise in some 
 weeks to lose the citadel of Bourg, in which the 
 governor held out to the last extremity. 
 
 The King, passing by the side of Geneva, sub- 
 dued the country of Chablais and Faussigni. The 
 inhabitants of Geneva took the fort of St. Catherine, 
 which the Savoyards had built to annoy them, and 
 demolished it. After this the King desired to visit 
 Geneva, famous as being one of the ramparts of the 
 Protestant religion. Theodorus Beza, the chief in age 
 as well as in doctrine of all the Huguenot ministers, 
 spoke a few words to him. The Marshal de Biron, 
 having considered the place, which the inhabitants had 
 taken forty years to fortif)' with much care and expense, 
 either to cause himself to be esteemed a great captain, 
 or to show the zeal he had for the Catholic religion, 
 boasted he could take it in twenty days. The King 
 was not pleased with this speech, because France had 
 
220 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 taken Geneva under its protection since the reign of 
 Francis I., and was obliged to defend it against the 
 Duke of Savoy, who claimed that that seignory be- 
 longed to him. 
 
 In the meantime the Pope, desiring above all things 
 to extinguish the fire of this war, had dispatched to 
 the King and the duke his nephew the Cardinal Aldo- 
 brandin, who incessantly laboured to make peace. His 
 greatest difficulty was to find knots strong and sure 
 enough to hold the Duke of Savoy, for those of his 
 promises and his faith were so uncertain and so slip- 
 pery that one could not trust them. 
 
 At the same time the King, whose thoughts upon 
 his marriage the war had not interrupted, embarked 
 on the Rhone and went down to Lyons, where the 
 Queen his new spouse had arrived and was expecting 
 him. 
 
 The legate would not discontinue his entreaties for 
 peace. He followed him to Lyons for this purpose, 
 where he made his entrance fifteen days after the 
 Queen. The ambassadors of Savoy followed him ; but 
 their power was given in such terms that the duke 
 might find means to disavow them. However, when 
 they saw the citadel of Bourg reduced to extremity, 
 they urgently solicited the legate to renew the over- 
 tures of peace. But he would do nothing until they 
 had told him in writing that they desired it for the 
 good of their master's affairs. 
 
 When the articles were drawn up and agreed to, 
 they were signed on the one part and the other; and 
 the peace was published at Lyons on the 17th of 
 January, 1601, by which the duke yielded to the King, 
 
TERMS OF THE TREATY OF PEACE 221 
 
 and to the kings of France, his successors, the country 
 and seignories of Bresse, Bugey, and Valromey, and 
 generally all that appertained to him lying along the 
 river Rhone, from the egress of Geneva, and also the 
 bailiwick and barony of Gex ; this to be in exchange 
 of the marquisate of Saluces, which the King absolutely 
 resigned to the duke and his heirs. The treaty agreed 
 likewise that all the places taken by the King from the 
 Duke of Savoy should be restored ; but all the King's 
 pretended rights against the said duke should be re- 
 served to him, according to the provisions of the 
 treaties of Cateau in Cambresis, and of Vervins. 
 
 By this exchange both the one and the other 
 equally gained. The King, for a marquisate of little 
 extent, distant from all his territories and encompassed 
 by those of Savoy, and which he could only keep by 
 great garrisons, which would consume twice as much 
 as the revenue it yielded, gained a country of more 
 than twenty-five leagues in extent, which bordered 
 upon and enlarged his frontier, in which he had eight 
 hundred gentlemen, and which was very fertile and 
 abundant, principally in grazing land. The duke, in 
 appropriating to himself the marquisate, took a trouble- 
 some thorn out of his foot, or rather a sword which 
 pierced through his body, and placed himself in a 
 position of security ; for while the French held it he 
 dared not go out of Turin, except with three or four 
 hundred horse for convoy, and he was forced to main- 
 tain large garrisons in the middle of his country. 
 
 The treaty being signed, the King departed from 
 Lyons by post, to return to Paris, whither the Queen 
 followed him by easy stages. Soon after her arrival he 
 
222 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 took her to see his buildings of St. Germain-en-Laye. 
 This was one of his dehghts, and certainly a very 
 innocent one, and which agrees well with a powerful 
 prince after he has paid his great debts and eased his 
 people of their heavy load of oppressive impositions; 
 for by raising these proud edifices he leaves the fair 
 marks of his greatness and riches to posterity; he em- 
 bellishes his kingdom, attracts the admiration of his 
 people, makes strangers know that his coffers swell with 
 treasure, gives life and bread to a great number of poor 
 workmen, labours profitably for his own convenience 
 and for that of his successors; and last, but not least, 
 makes architecture, sculpture, and painting flourish, 
 which have ever been highly esteemed by all the most 
 polite nations of the world. 
 
 Our Henry only took this diversion to recreate his 
 spirit after labours, and not to employ it. For he had 
 a soul too great and a genius too elevated to dedicate 
 itself wholly to such mean things, much less to fix it 
 on vain amusements. It is true that he built, that he 
 hunted, that he was merry ; but this was without 
 diverting himself too much from his affairs, without 
 abandoning the helm of state, which he held as firmly 
 and diligently during the calm as during the tempest. 
 
 Moreover, he took care not to grow sleepy whilst 
 it was fair weather, which is often deceitful ; for be- 
 sides knowing that a good king ought to labour for 
 his country during peace as well as during war, he 
 knew that the Spaniard and the Savoyard still grum- 
 bled and secretly plotted against him. The Count of 
 Fuentes, having raised a great army to assist the 
 Savoyards, was annoyed because the peace had de- 
 
WAR WITH SPAIN AVOIDED 223 
 
 prived him of the occasion to employ it. Some places 
 he had taken in Picardy during the war between the 
 two crowns had made him vain, and caused him to 
 believe that he should always gain the advantage over 
 the French. At the same time the King of Spain had 
 put to sea a fleet, commanded by one Doria, which would 
 doubtless have made a descent upon Provence if the 
 peace had not been made. And although it was con- 
 cluded, this did not prevent Fuentes from making an 
 attempt upon Marseilles, with the object of again 
 causing a rupture. Those whom he informed of his 
 plans offered the King to draw six or seven hundred 
 men into a snare, and keep them prisoners or cut 
 them to pieces. But the King did not deem it worth 
 while to give an opportunity to his enemies to break 
 the peace, and to re-enter upon a war which might 
 have proved very dangerous, they being so powerfully 
 armed. Moreover, he feared lest there were still in 
 France some fire concealed under the embers which, 
 in the confusion of war, might more easily show itself 
 in attempts upon his person. For, to tell the truth, he 
 had more reason to fear their knives and daggers than 
 their swords. He therefore wisely discountenanced this 
 enterprise, and answered the Marseillians that he knew 
 not how to steal a victory ; that ambuscades were not 
 honest except in war ; and that it was necessary for 
 his honour to take heed that he did not in any manner 
 contribute to that rupture his enemies had a design to 
 make. 
 
 After this the Spaniards, finding that this wise 
 Argus had too many eyes and too much vigilance to 
 be surprised on any side, resolved to employ their 
 
224 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 arms in pious and honourable enterprises. A part of 
 their army was sent to Hungary, which was then 
 being attacked by the Turks. The Duke of Merceur, 
 having gone to seek in that country a juster glory than 
 in the civil wars of France, commanded the Emperor's 
 forces. He made known to the infidels, by many gallant 
 exploits, and more particularly by the memorable re- 
 treat of Canise, that French valour was chosen by 
 God to sustain the Christian religion. Nor was there 
 any doubt but that he would have quite chased them 
 out of the kingdom, of which they had invaded more 
 than one half, if he had not died the following year of 
 a fever, which seized him at Nuremburg as he was 
 about to pay his devotions at the shrine of the Lady 
 of Loretto. 
 
 Sometime after this an accident happened by which 
 the King took occasion to let the Spaniards know that 
 he would not suffer anything against his honour nor 
 against the dignity of his estate. Rochepot was his 
 ambassador in Spain. Some gentlemen of his train, 
 of whom one was his nephew, while bathing in the 
 river chanced to have a quarrel with some Spaniards, 
 and killing two, took refuge in the ambassador's house. 
 The friends of the Spaniards so much excited the people 
 that they besieged the house, and were ready to set it 
 on fire. The magistrate, to prevent the tragic effects 
 of this fury, was constrained to do an injustice, and 
 to violate the freedom of the ambassador's houee ; so 
 he repaired thither with assistance, and led them to 
 prison. The King of Spain,, being troubled at having 
 violated the right of nations, sent to demand pardon 
 of the ambassador ; yet the Frenchmen still remained 
 prisoners. 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF AMBASSADORS 225 
 
 There were many things said and written concerning 
 the rights and privileges of ambassadors. It is true, 
 said some, that an ambassador alone has right of 
 sovereign justice in his palace ; but the people of his 
 train are subject to the justice of the nation in which 
 they are, for those faults they commit outside his palace, 
 and so if they be taken outside of it they may be pro- 
 ceeded against ; and though this rigour is not generally 
 observed, and the respect shown to the ambassador's 
 person is usually extended to all those that follow him, 
 yet, however, this is a courtesy, and not a right. But 
 it is not permissible to search for the criminal in the 
 palace of the ambassador, which is a sacred place, and 
 a sanctuary for his people. It should not, however, 
 be abused, or used as a retreat for wicked persons, 
 nor give sanctuary to the subjects of a prince against 
 the laws of his realm ; for in such cases, on complaint 
 to his master, he is bound to do justice. 
 
 Now the King being justly offended at the injury 
 done to France in the person of his ambassador, and 
 not judging the satisfaction the magistrate had given 
 him sufficient, commanded the ambassador to return 
 immediately ; which he did, without taking leave of 
 the King of Spain. He forbade at the same time all 
 commerce with Spaniards ; and foreseeing that in these 
 circumstances they might make an attack on the towns 
 of Picardy, he with great diligence departed from Paris 
 to visit that frontier, and came to Calais. 
 
 The people, who had begun to taste the sweetness of 
 repose, and to till their lands with patience, trembled 
 for fear lest a new war should expose them once more 
 to the license of the soldiers. But God had pity on 
 
 15 
 
226 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 these poor people. The Pope having undertaken to 
 remedy those mischiefs which threatened Christendom, 
 happily settled the quarrel without bloodshed. The 
 Spaniards gave up the prisoners, whom his Holiness 
 consigned some days after into the hands of the Count 
 of Bethune, ambassador of France at Rome ; and the 
 King afterwards sent the Count of Barraut as ambassador 
 to Spain. 
 
 Whilst the King was at Calais, whither, as we have 
 said, he went, the archduke, who was pursuing before 
 Ostend the most famous siege ^ since that of Troy, 
 feared with some reason lest the King's approach should 
 retard the progress of his enterprise, in which he had 
 already lost so many men, and spent so much time, 
 shot, money, and ammunition. He sent therefore to 
 compliment him, promising him on the part of Spain 
 satisfaction for the violence done to the lodgings of his 
 ambassador, but entreating him not to permit the 
 besieged to take advantage of the state of affairs. The 
 King, who never let himself be overcome with courtesy 
 any more than by arms, sent the Duke of Aiguillon, 
 eldest son of the Duke of Mayenne, to assure him that 
 he desired to maintain peace, that he had only advanced 
 on the frontiers to dissipate some designs which were 
 being contrived, and that he trusted the equity of the 
 King of Spain, which he doubted not, would do him 
 justice. 
 
 Whilst he was in Calais Queen Elizabeth sent Lord 
 Edmonds, her principal confidant, to visit him. In 
 answer to which obliging civility, he sent the Marshal 
 
 1 This siege lasted three years, three months, and three days, 
 from July, 1601, to September, 1604. 
 
BIRON'S VISIT TO ENGLAND 227 
 
 de Biron to England, accompanied by the Count of Au- 
 vergne, and the choice of the nobiHty of his court, to 
 represent to her the regret the King felt, while he was 
 so near to her, at not being able to enjoy the pleasure 
 of seeing her. 
 
 This Queen endeavoured by all means possible to 
 show the French her greatness and power. One day, 
 holding Biron by the hand, she showed him a large 
 number of heads fixed on the Tower of London, telling 
 him that thus they punished rebels in England, and 
 recounting to him the reasons for which she put to 
 death the Earl of Essex, whom she had once so tenderly 
 loved. Those who heard the discourse remembered 
 it afterwards, when they saw the Marshal de Biron fallen 
 into the same misfortune, and lose his head, after having 
 lost the favour of the King. 
 
 We must not forget to relate that before the King 
 made his voyage to Calais he had taken the Queen 
 with him to enjoy the jubilee in the city of Orleans, 
 where the Holy Father had ordained the stations for 
 France to begin. His sincere and unfeigned piety gave 
 a fair example to his people, who saw him go to pro- 
 cessions with great devotion, and pray to God with 
 no less attention, his heart agreeing with his lips. He 
 laid the foundation-stone of the church of the Holy 
 Cross at Orleans, which the Huguenots had thrown 
 down forty years before, and gave a considerable sum 
 of money to rebuild it. 
 
 All France, during this holy jubilee, had earnestly 
 prayed to Heaven that it would be pleased to give 
 them a Dauphin, to deliver them from those misfor- 
 tunes in which they would be plunged if the King 
 
 15—2 
 
228 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 should die without male children. Their vows were 
 heard, and the Queen was happily brought to bed of 
 a son at Fontainebleau, on the day of St. Cosmo (27th 
 of September). They gave him at his baptism the 
 name of Louis, so sweet and dear to France for the 
 memory of the great St. Louis, and of the good King 
 Louis XIL, father of the people. He was afterwards 
 given the surname of the Just ; and at the present day 
 we consider it not the least of his titles to have been the 
 father of Louis the wise and virtuous. His birth was 
 preceded by a great earthquake, which happened some 
 days before. The birth was very hard, and the infant 
 laboured until he was all of a purple colour, which 
 possibly ruined the principal organs of health and good 
 constitution. The King, invoking on him the benedic- 
 tion of Heaven, gave him his blessing, and placed his 
 sword in the infant's hand, praying to God that He 
 would give him the grace to use it only for His glory 
 and for the defence of the people. The princes of the 
 blood which were with him in the Queen's chamber 
 saluted the Dauphin one after another. I omit to tell 
 at length how express couriers carried the news into 
 all the provinces, and of the public rejoicings through- 
 out the whole kingdom, particularl}- in the great cit}' 
 of Paris, where the people as much loved Henry the 
 Great as they had hated his predecessor, of the com- 
 pliments the King received from all the potentates of 
 Europe, and of the accustomed present from the Holy 
 Father on all occasions, to wit, the blessed swathing- 
 bands, which he sent by Seigneur Barbarino, who 
 became Cardinal and afterwards Pope Urban VHL 
 Five days before, the Queen of Spain had been brought 
 
BIRTH OF LOUIS XI I L 229 
 
 to bed of her first child, a daughter, whom at the font 
 of baptism they called Anne. The Spaniards rejoiced 
 no less than if it had been a son, for in that country- 
 females may succeed to the crown. The most far- 
 seeing amongst the French hkewise took part in this 
 joy, but for another reason, which was that this 
 princess being of the same age as the Dauphin, it 
 seemed that Heaven had ordained them for one 
 another, and that she ought one day to be his spouse; 
 as, indeed, Louis XIII. had this happiness, and France 
 still possesses it, admiring on all occasions the rare 
 wisdom, the exemplary piety, and heroic constancy of 
 this great princess. ^ 
 
 In acknowledgment of the grace which God had 
 done to the King in giving him a Dauphin, which 
 was the sum of his wishes, he redoubled his care and 
 diligence to acquit himself well of his duty to his 
 state, to better, as he said, the succession of his son. 
 We will here recount some establishments and orders 
 he made to that purpose. 
 
 Need of money had obliged him during the siege 
 of Amiens to create triennial officers in his revenues. 
 The necessity having now passed away, he knew that 
 there was no need of so many people to rifle his 
 purse, and that it was impossible but something 
 should every day remain in the hands of each one 
 of these. He therefore discharged these new officers, 
 and commanded that the old system should be re- 
 established. From this suppression were excepted the 
 treasurers of the exchequer, and those of casual for- 
 feitures or fines. 
 
 1 Louis XIII. married Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip III. 
 of Spain and Margaret of Austria. 
 
230 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Rosny had so well bridled both the gatherers and 
 the farmers that they could no longer rob the ex- 
 chequer with impunity. But this was not enough ; 
 they had filled their purses so well before he was 
 superintendent, that the King with infinite justice 
 ordained a tribunal, composed of a certain number 
 of judges chosen out of the sovereign courts, and 
 called it the Chamber Royal. This tribunal he 
 instructed to make an exact search of the mis- 
 demeanours of those who had managed the King's 
 moneys, and it made a great many disgorge. A large 
 number, however, found means to escape ; some out 
 of consideration of their alliances, others by force 
 of money gaining those who were near the King, 
 principally his mistresses, and even corrupting the 
 judges themselves. So much is it true that gold 
 pierces everywhere, and that nothing is proof against 
 this pernicious metal. We need not then wonder 
 that those people filled their coffers as full as they 
 could, since the fuller they heaped them, the easier 
 was their justification. 
 
 I have already said it, and I say it again (for it 
 cannot be too often nor too much observed), that 
 there is but one remedy for this disorder, which is 
 the greatest of disorders in the state, and the cause 
 of all others, and that is the vigilance and exactness 
 of the King. He must himself hold the strings of 
 his purse, keep his eye upon his coffers, know exactly 
 what is in them and what comes out of them. He 
 must know how his moneys accrue, to what uses they 
 are employed, and those who manage them ; and above 
 all, he must make them give a good account, as our 
 
THE KING REFORMS MORE ABUSES 231 
 
 Henry did, so that if they be honest men they cannot 
 be corrupted, and if they are knaves they will have no 
 opportunity for their knavery. 
 
 He was informed that there were two other disorders 
 in his realm, which extremely impoverished it, and took 
 from it all the gold and silver. The one was the trans- 
 portation of it to strange countries, into Italy, Germany, 
 and Switzerland, where the smaller potentates melted it 
 and made money of a baser alloy. The other was the 
 luxury which consumed likewise a great quantity in 
 embroideries, silver and gold lace on clothes, and no 
 less in the gilding of wainscots and chimney-pieces, 
 and various articles of furniture. 
 
 He made two severe edicts, which prohibited these 
 abuses. For the first, he renewed the ancient orders 
 concerning the transport of gold and silver, adding the 
 punishment of death to the transgressors ; and he com- 
 manded all governors to take great care that these 
 prohibitions were observed, and not to give any passports 
 to the contrar}', or else they would be considered as 
 accessories. 
 
 By the second he prohibited, under penalty of 
 great fines for the first time, and of imprisonment for 
 the second, the wearing of gold and silver upon clothes, 
 or employing it in gildings. This edict was rigorously 
 observed, because it excepted no person. The King 
 himself submitted to the law he had made, and looked 
 with disfavour on a prince of the blood who did not 
 obey this reformation. 
 
 A prodigious amount of money was likewise expended 
 in silks, by the buying of which a large sum of money 
 had got into the hands of strangers. The King seeing 
 
233 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 this, and considering that the use of these stuffs was 
 very good and desirable, thought it best to introduce 
 the manufacture into France, in order that the French 
 might profit by it instead of strangers. To this purpose 
 he gave instructions for the planting of a large number 
 of white mulberry trees in those parts of the country 
 where they would best thrive, and particularly in 
 Touraine, to rear silkworms. He also ordered that 
 persons who understood the manufacture should be 
 brought to France, for the purpose of teaching the 
 French people. 
 
 If care had been taken after his death to maintain 
 this order, and to extend it to other provinces, it might 
 have saved France more than five millions, which it 
 sends out every year to provide silk stuffs. Besides, 
 a million persons, useless for other labours, such as 
 old people, young women, and children, might have 
 gained a living by it, and the employers would have 
 been able more easily to pay the imposts and taxes 
 out of the profit on their industry. 
 
 There was yet a much greater mischief, which, as 
 we may say, dried up the very entrails of the kingdom : 
 this was the excessive usury. Those who managed 
 their affairs badly, that is to say, the greater part 
 of the nobility, borrowed money at lo or 12 per 
 cent. In this there were two great inconveniences. 
 The first was that the interest gradually dug up the 
 foundations of the richest and most ancient houses, 
 which are the props and pillars that uphold the state. 
 The second, that the merchants, taking the oppor- 
 tunity to lay out their money to such great advantage 
 and without any risk, absolutely abandoned all com- 
 
HE REDUCES THE RATE OF INTEREST 233 
 
 merce, the streams of which once dried up, there must 
 needs follow a famine of gold and silver in the king- 
 dom, for France hath no other mines than its traffic 
 and the sale of its merchandise. 
 
 These considerations compelled the King not only 
 to prohibit all usury, but ordain as penalty the confis- 
 cation of the sum lent, and heavy fines besides. After- 
 wards the parliament appointed councillors in all 
 provinces to make inquiry after usurers, and to reduce 
 all interests or mortgages to 6t per cent. They were 
 before this 10 or 12 per cent., as we have said. The 
 reason of this high percentage was that when usury was 
 instituted money was much more scarce; but now that 
 since the discovery of the Indies it was greatly multi- 
 plied, it was only just to abate its interest. 
 
 With the same object of enriching his people and 
 of bringing abundance and plenty into his kingdom, 
 the King always listened to proposals which might 
 serve to enlarge commerce, to bring comfort to his 
 people, and to till and make fruitful the most sterile 
 places. He endeavoured as much as it was possible to 
 make rivers navigable ; he caused all bridges and 
 causeways to be repaired, and the great roads to be 
 paved, knowing that whilst they are not well kept, 
 travelling is difficult, and commerce is by that means 
 interrupted. From whence happen the same disorders 
 in a kingdom as in a man's body when the passage of 
 the blood and senses are not free. 
 
 When he passed through the country he carefully 
 regarded all things, took notice of the necessities and 
 disorders, and remedied all with promptitude. Under 
 his favour and protection were established in many 
 
234 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 parts of the kingdom manufactures of linen and woollen 
 cloths, laces, ironware, and other things. 
 
 Following his example, the burgesses repaired their 
 houses which the war had ruined. The gentlemen, 
 having laid by their arms, having only a switch in 
 their hands, devoted themselves to the management of 
 their estates, and to augmenting their revenues. All 
 the people attended their work ; and it was a wonder 
 to see this kingdom, which live or six years before had 
 been, we may say, a den of serpents and venomous 
 beasts, being filled with thieves, robbers, vagabonds, 
 and good-for-nothing persons, changed by the diligence 
 of the King into a hive of innocent bees, who emulated 
 each other in giving proofs of their industry and in 
 gathering wax and honey. Idleness was a disgrace 
 and a kind of crime ; and indeed it is, as the proverb 
 says, the mother of all vices. The mind which takes 
 no care to employ itself seriously in something is un- 
 profitable to itself and pernicious to the public. And 
 therefore the provosts made diligent search for loiterers, 
 vagabonds, and low persons, and sent them to the 
 galleys to serve the King, to make them work whether 
 they would or no. 
 
 There is no happiness so stable and assured that 
 it may not be easily troubled. There happened this 
 year two things which might have overturned all France, 
 had not the King averted them in good time. 
 
 The assembly of the notables or chiefs at Rouen, 
 which was held in the year 1596 to raise money for the 
 King to continue the war and pay his debts, had granted 
 him, as we have said, the imposition of one sou per 
 pound on all merchandise carried into walled cities. 
 
A BURDENSOME TAX 235 
 
 " The state," says Tacitus, the greatest pohtician 
 among historians, " cannot be maintained without 
 forces, nor the forces without pa3'ment, nor these paid 
 without impositions ; consequently they are necessary, 
 and it is just that everyone should contribute to the 
 expenses of a state of which he makes a part, as well 
 as partake of those conveniences and that protection 
 it enjoys. But these impositions ought to be moderate, 
 proportionate to the power of every one ; and every 
 one ought to bear his part. Moreover, care should be 
 taken that the expense of raising them exceed not the 
 principal ; that they be not levied so as to appear odious, 
 as on commodities which are the sustenance of the 
 poor ; and that they be blood drawn gently from the 
 veins, and not marrow forced from the bones." Now 
 this imposition of a sou per pound was not of this nature. 
 It was very oppressive ; for in every city they searched 
 the merchants' goods, opened their bales, and saw all 
 that was brought to them, so that liberty was quite lost 
 in the kingdom. Moreover, it was excessive ; for on 
 any merchandise ten or twelve times sold, it was found 
 that it paid as much in taxation as it was worth. There 
 was also great expense in the sale of it ; for men were 
 forced to employ as many factors as would have formed 
 an army, who, all desiring to make themselves rich as 
 well as their masters, were so vexatious to the mer- 
 chants that the latter became desperate. And the 
 strangest thing of all was that there were in the 
 King's council pensioners to these farmers, who sup- 
 ported them in their violences, and rejected all the 
 complaints made of their misdemeanours. 
 
 The people arc always subject to the criminal error 
 
236 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT i 
 
 of considering that when justice is denied them they | 
 may do it themselves, and have recourse to force when 
 their prayers are of no avail. This is the cause of 
 almost all seditions, and it made all those beyond the 
 Loire, incensed at this imposition, drive away the 
 factors, and even kill some of them. The farmers on 
 the other hand increased the mischief by their furious 
 threats that they would dismantle the rebellious cities, 
 and that they would build citadels to keep them in 
 awe. And I believe that these gentlemen desired it to 
 be so, not from love to the King's authority, of which 
 they were always talking, but for their own private 
 revenge and advantage. ; 
 
 The King, hearing of these commotions, and fearing 
 lest they were raised by the emissaries of the faction 
 of the Duke de Biron, which he had just then dis- 
 covered, shortly after Easter departed from Fontaine- | 
 bleau, arrived at Blois, and went from thence to Poitiers. 
 There he favourably hearkened to the complaints of 
 his people, and remonstrated with the deputies of the ^ 
 cities of Guienne, saying that the imposts raised were i 
 not to enrich his ministers and favourites, as had been ' 
 the custom of his predecessor, but to provide the neces- 
 sary expenses of the state ; that if his means had been 
 sufficient for it, he would not have taken anything out 
 of his subjects' purses ; but since he had first employed 
 all his own,-^ it was just that they should contribute 
 some of theirs ; that he passionately desired the ease 
 of his subjects, and that none of his predecessors had 
 so much wished for their prayers to God to bless 
 the years of his realm as he ; that those stories told , 
 ^ He had sold the lands of his patrimony. 
 
MARSHAL BIRON'S CONSPIRACY 237 
 
 them of his design to build castles in their cities were 
 false and seditious, for he desired to have no other 
 forts than the hearts of his subjects. 
 
 By these gentle remonstrances he calmed all the 
 seditions without having need of chastising them, ex- 
 cepting that the consuls of Limoges were deposed, and 
 the pancarte (for so they called the tax) established. 
 But this was only for the honour of the royal authority, 
 for shortly after this the prince, the best and most just 
 that ever lived, knowing the great vexation it caused, 
 revoked and entirely abolished it. 
 
 The second thing, which gave him yet more trouble, 
 and which bid fair to overthrow his kingdom if it were 
 not remedied, was the conspiracy of Marshal de Biron. 
 It should be understood that Laffin had been the prin- 
 cipal instrument in the intrigue between the marshal 
 and the Duke of Savoy. He had carried letters to 
 and fro, and had had conferences with the duke and 
 with the Count of Fuentes, so that he understood the 
 whole business. But, seeing that there was no faith 
 to be placed in the words of the Savoyard, and that 
 Biron seemed to waver, he resolved to reveal the whole 
 plot to the King, either because he feared that if he 
 too long delayed it it might be got wind of by other 
 means, or because he hoped by this service to gain a 
 substantial reward and restore himself to the favour 
 of the King, with whom he was on very bad terms. 
 
 Having laid his plans, he employed the Vidame^ of 
 Chartres, his nephew, to obtain from the King his 
 grace and forgiveness for all he had done, on con- 
 dition that he disclosed to him his accomplices in the 
 
 ^ Vidanie is a lord who holds his lordship in fief of a bishop. 
 
238 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 conspiracy and furnished him with proofs. He had 
 preserved several letters committed to his keeping ; 
 but they were not sufficiently incriminating. He there- 
 fore took steps to procure one which would serve his 
 purpose. 
 
 Biron had some notes written with his own hand, 
 wherein the conspiracy was fully set out. Laffin 
 pointed out to him that it was imprudent to keep 
 them and to communicate them, because his writing 
 was too well known, and that it would be safer to 
 make a copy and burn the original. Biron approving 
 his counsel, gave them to him to transcribe. He there- 
 fore transcribed them whilst Biron was in bed. Then, 
 giving him the copy and crumpling up the original, he 
 made a pretence of casting it into the fire ; but by a 
 premeditated cunning he cast in some other papers and 
 kept the original. A thing of this importance was 
 worthy the care of Biron himself, so that he might be 
 sure of the documents being burnt ; but he not taking 
 it, because God so willed, that negligence cost him his 
 life, as we shall see. 
 
 After this Laffin, continuing his endeavours to 
 gather some more important secrets, went disguised to 
 Milan. He conferred with the Count of Fuentes ; but 
 this close and able Spaniard, knowing well that he 
 would betray them, showed himself more reserved. It 
 has been reported that Laffin, having knowledge of this 
 distrust, was fearful lest he should cause him to be got 
 rid of, and therefore returned by unfrequented roads. 
 The Duke of Savoy, being informed of this by Fuentes, 
 kept prisoner the secretary of Laffin, named Renaze, for 
 fear lest he should go and bear witness against Biron. 
 
MARSHAL BI RON'S CONSPIRACY 239 
 
 In their conferences they had proposed to dis- 
 member the kingdom of France. The Duke of Savoy- 
 was to have Provence and the Dauphinate ; to Biron 
 was allotted Burgundy and La Bresse, with the third 
 daughter of the duke in marriage, and fifty thousand 
 crowns for dowry ; while some others were to be lords 
 of other provinces, with the quality of peers. All these 
 petty sovereigns should hold their right from the King 
 of Spain. To accomplish this design, the Spaniards 
 had agreed to enter the kingdom with one powerful 
 army, and the Duke of Savoy with another. They 
 intended to arouse the Huguenots, and at the same 
 time revive discontents in various places and animate 
 the people, already much incensed b}^ the pancarte. 
 
 All these propositions, it is said, were made at the 
 time of the war against Savoy ; and the Marshal de 
 Biron, being incensed at the King's refusal to give 
 him the citadel of Bourg, had not only lent his ear, 
 but had involved himself very deeply in these damnable 
 designs. However, he seemed to have repented of them, 
 for he had confessed them to the King while walking 
 with him in the cloister of the Cordeliers^ at Lyons, 
 and had asked pardon of him ; but he had neglected 
 to obtain a written forgiveness, contrary to the advice 
 of the Duke d'Epernon, who was wiser and more 
 prudent than he. 
 
 Shortly after, sorry that he abandoned his designs, 
 he again commenced to intrigue against the King. 
 Moreover, he spoke of the King with little respect, 
 belittling the splendour of his worthy actions, glorifying 
 his own, and boasting that he had put the crown on 
 ^ The Franciscan monks. 
 
240 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 the King's head and preserved France, In fact, all his 
 discourses were bravadoes, rhodomontades, and threats. 
 All this was reported to the King. He was informed 
 that Biron undervalued his great deeds, extolled the 
 power of the King of Spain, praised the wisdom of 
 that prince's council, his liberality in rewarding all good 
 services, and his zeal in defence of the true religion. 
 The King answered cleverly and prudently to those who 
 brought him these reports, that he knew the heart of 
 Biron, and that it was faithful and affectionate ; that, 
 in truth, his tongue was intemperate, but that in con- 
 sideration of those good actions he had done he would 
 pardon his unwise speech. 
 
 Now two things consummated his ruin, and obliged 
 the King to search to the very bottom of his wicked 
 designs. The first was the too great number of his 
 friends, and the affection of the soldiery, which he 
 made boast of, as if they had been entirely dependent 
 on his command and ready to do whatever he wished. 
 The second was the great friendship he had with the 
 Count of Auvergne, brother by the mother's side to 
 Mademoiselle d'Entragues, who was called the Mar- 
 chioness of Verneuil. By the first he made the King 
 jealous, and caused himself to be feared ; and by the 
 other he rendered himself odious to the Queen, who 
 imagined, and possibly not without cause, that he would 
 make a party in the kingdom to maintain that rival 
 and her children, to the prejudice of the Queen. 
 
 Now the King desiring to sift this affair to the 
 bottom, sent for Laffin, who came to Fontainebleau, 
 more than a month before the King departed for 
 Poitou. He had at first some secret interviews with 
 
BIRON SUMMONED TO COURT 241 
 
 him, and afterwards very open ones. Laffin gave the 
 King a large number of papers, amongst others, those 
 notes in Biron's own hand of which we have before 
 spoken. Laffin's information to the King caused great 
 disquietude in his spirit, so that all the time he was 
 at Poitiers he was observed to be extremely pensive, 
 and the court after his example was plunged in a 
 sad astonishment, though none could divine the cause. 
 
 On his return from Poitiers to Fontainebleau he 
 sent for the Duke de Biron. The duke at first hesi- 
 tated about coming, and excused himself with many 
 weak reasons. The King pressed him, and sent some 
 of his squires to him ; afterwards the president Jeannin 
 brought him word that he should receive no harm, 
 provided he prepared himself to receive grace, and did 
 not aggravate his crime b}^ his pride and impenitence. 
 
 Biron knew that Laffin had been to the court, but 
 he was more assured of that man than of himself. 
 Moreover, the Baron de Lux, his confidant, who was 
 there at the time, had told him that Laffin had un- 
 doubtedly kept his counsel, and had not revealed 
 anything which might injure him. De Lux believed 
 this to be true, because the King, after having enter- 
 tained Laffin, had told him with a merry countenance, 
 " I am glad I have seen this man ; he has eased me 
 of many distrusts and suspicions." 
 
 In the meantime the friends of Biron wrote to him 
 not to be such a fool as to come to the court ; that 
 it would be safer for him to justify himself by attorney 
 than in person. But notwithstanding this advice, and 
 against the warning of his own conscience, after having 
 deliberated for some time he came to Fontainebleau, 
 
 16 
 
242 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 when the King no longer expected him, but was mak- 
 ing preparations for his arrest. 
 
 The histories of that time recount exactly all the 
 circumstances of the trial, imprisonment, and death of 
 the marshal. I shall content myself with the most 
 important. 
 
 The insolence and blindness of this unhappy man 
 cannot be sufficiently wondered at, nor, on the con- 
 trary, can the goodness and clemency of the King, 
 who endeavoured to overcome his obstinacy, be enough 
 praised. Confession of a fault is the first sign of 
 repentance. The King, speaking to him privately, 
 conjured him to confess all those communications and 
 treaties he had made with the Duke of Savoy, pledging 
 his faith that he would bury all in eternal oblivion. 
 He told him that he knew well enough all the par- 
 ticulars, but desired to hear them from his mouth, 
 swearing to him that though his fault should be greater 
 than the worst of crimes his confession should be 
 followed by an unconditional pardon. Biron, instead 
 of acknowledging it, or at least excusing himself with 
 modesty, as speaking to his justly offended King, in- 
 solently answered him that he was innocent, and that 
 he had not come to justify himself, but to learn the 
 names of his backbiters, and demand justice, which 
 otherwise he would procure for himself. Though this 
 too haughty answer greatly aggravated his offence, the 
 King nevertheless gently told him to think further of 
 it, and that he hoped he would take better counsel. 
 
 The same day, after supper, the Count of Soissons 
 exhorted him likewise, on the part of the King, to con- 
 fess the truth, concluding his advice with that sentence 
 
THE RESULT OF HIS OBSTINACY 243 
 
 of the wise man, " Sir, know that the anger of the 
 king is as the messenger of death." But Biron 
 answered him more fiercely than he had the King. 
 
 The next morning the King, whilst walking in his 
 gardens, again conjured him to confess the conspiracy, 
 but he could draw nothing from him but protestations 
 of innocence and threats against his accusers. 
 
 Upon this the King felt himself agitated even to 
 the bottom of his soul with conflicting thoughts, not 
 knowing what he ought to do. The affection he had 
 borne him, as well as his great services, withheld the 
 King's just anger from him ; but the gross blackness 
 of his crime, added to his pride and obstinacy, gave 
 rein to his justice, and incited him to punish the 
 criminal. Besides, the danger with which both his 
 state and person were threatened seemed impossible 
 to be averted otherwise than by cutting off the head of 
 a conspiracy the foundation of which was scarce visible. 
 
 In this trouble of spirit he retired to his closet, 
 and, falling on his knees, prayed to God with all his 
 heart to inspire him with a good resolution. He was 
 accustomed to act thus in all his great affairs, esteem- 
 ing God as his surest counsellor and most faithful 
 assistance. After his prayer, as he said afterwards, he 
 found himself delivered from his trouble, and resolved 
 to hand Biron over to justice, if his council found 
 that the proofs they had in writing were so strong 
 that there could be no doubt of his guilt. He chose 
 for this purpose four of his council, to wit, Bellievre, 
 Villeroy, Rosny, and Sillery, and showed them the 
 proofs. They declared with one voice that they were 
 more than sufficient. 
 
 16 — 2 
 
244 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Yet after this he made a third attempt to subdue 
 this proud heart. He employed this time remonstrances, 
 prayers, and assurances of pardon if he would acknow- 
 ledge his crime ; but he answered still in the same 
 manner, adding that if he knew his accusers he would 
 break their heads. 
 
 At last the King, wearied with his rhodomontades 
 and obstinacy, left him, saying, " Well, then, we must 
 learn the truth in another place. Farewell, Baron de 
 Biron." These words were as lightning, the forerunner 
 of the thunderbolt which was to overwhelm him. The 
 King, by degrading him from the many dignities with 
 which he had honoured him, showed that he was 
 about to abase him much more than ever he had 
 raised him. 
 
 On coming from the Queen's chamber, where he 
 had been playing at primero, Vitry, captain of the 
 King's guard, demanded his sword, and arrested him 
 as his prisoner. Praslin, also captain of the guard, 
 secured the Count of Auvergne. The next day they 
 were conducted, under a strong escort, by water to 
 the Bastille. 
 
 Biron had a very large number of friends ; but on 
 this occasion wherein he was accused of having con- 
 spired against the person of the King, they were all 
 mute. His relations at the Court cast themselves on 
 their knees before the King, not to demand justice of 
 him, but to implore his mercy. Lord de la Force, 
 afterwards Marshal of France, spoke for them all. If 
 Biron had at first spoken with as much humility and 
 submission as they did, he would doubtless have ob- 
 tained the King's grace ; but it was now too late. 
 
HIS TRIAL 245 
 
 There was now no room for clemency ; it had given 
 place to justice. 
 
 The King commanded his parliament to conduct 
 the trial, and sent a special commission to the chief 
 president, to the president Potier de Blancmesnil, and 
 to two councillors, to draw up the instructions at the 
 request of the attorney-general. 
 
 The proofs were very strong, and the defence of 
 Biron very weak. He showed plainly at his trial, which 
 was a matter of life and death, that he had less brains 
 than heart ; for he acknowledged his writing, which 
 he might have denied, and thus have gained time until 
 it could be proved. The document had been written 
 at the time of the war against the Duke of Savoy. 
 He pretended that the King had pardoned him at 
 Lyons for all his rebellious actions. But the King 
 sent letters under his great seal to the parliament, by 
 which he revoked that grace; but little account was 
 taken of it, because, firstly, the grace he had granted 
 him was but verbal; and, secondly, the parliament held 
 that there were crimes the King could not pardon, 
 such as those of Icse-majcste, divine and human, and 
 those which are of great scandal and prejudice to the 
 public. When they came to the re-examination and 
 confronting of witnesses, and presented Laffin to 
 Biron, instead of reproaching him as a man who was 
 incapable of bearing true witness, he acknowledged him 
 as an honest man and a brave gentleman ; but after- 
 wards, when he heard his deposition read, he began 
 to upbraid him and to call him traitor, magician, and 
 devilish fellow. But it was too late, and his reproaches 
 no longer availed him. 
 
246 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 He believed that Renaze was still a prisoner in 
 Piedmont ; but he had escaped some time before, and 
 was now presented to him. He fancied that he saw 
 a phantom or ghost. He remained astonished and 
 dumb ; and without reproaching him, heard his de- 
 position, which agreed with that of Laffin. The}' 
 deposed, besides what we have already stated, that 
 he had plotted with the governor of Fort St. Catherine 
 to kill the King when he went to reconnoitre that place, 
 Biron arranging to march a little before him clad in a 
 certain fashion, in order that he might be recognised. 
 They said likewise that another of his designs was to 
 seize the King when he was hunting, or otherwise ill- 
 accompanied, and carry him off into Spain. 
 
 The impeachment being thus made in the Bastille 
 by four commissioners, he was conducted to the palace 
 down the river, escorted by the regiment of guards. 
 He was tried in parliament, seated on the selleUe or 
 defendant's stool, all the chambers of the assembly 
 except the peers being present, though they also had 
 been called. Afterwards he was taken back to the 
 Bastille. 
 
 On the morrow (31st of July, 1602) it was put to the 
 vote. Of one hundred and fifty judges, there was not 
 one who did not concur in the sentence of death. 
 He was declared attainted and convicted of the crime 
 of lese-majeste, for the conspiracies made by him against 
 the person of the King, designs upon his estate, trea- 
 sons, and treaties with his enemies, he being marshal 
 of the armies of the said King. And for reparation of 
 his crimes he was deprived of all his estates, honours, 
 and dignities, and condemned to have his head cut 
 
HIS EXECUTION 247 
 
 off in the Place de la Greve ; his goods, movable 
 and immovable, taken and confiscated to the King ; 
 his lands of Biron for ever deprived of the title of 
 peerage ; and those and all his other lands reunited 
 to the demesnes of the crown. 
 
 The King, under pretext of doing a favour to his 
 kindred, but really fearing some tumult, because he 
 was much loved by the soldiery and had a great 
 number of friends at court, changed the place of his 
 execution to the Bastille. The chancellor, going with 
 the chief president, caused him to be led to the 
 chapel, where about ten o'clock he pronounced his 
 sentence, which he heard with one knee on the 
 ground, wath a great deal of patience ; only when they 
 came to the words, " conspiracies against the person 
 of the King," he rose up and cried out, " There is no 
 such thing ; that is false ; blot out that ! " Finally, 
 the chancellor, according to form, redemanded of him 
 the collar of his order, his ducal crown, and his 
 marshal's staff. He had not the two last with him, 
 but the first, which he drew out of his pocket and 
 gave up. 
 
 It is unnecessary to recount all his discourses, his 
 reproaches, his passions, his lamentations, his exclama- 
 tions, and a hundred other extravagances (for so we 
 may call them) to which he was carried away. 
 
 About five o'clock that evening he was led to the 
 scaffold, where he had his head cut off. It was 
 observed that it bounded three times, forced by the 
 impetuosity of his spirits, and that there issued more 
 blood from it than from the trunk of his body.^ He 
 
 Mt is stated that the executioner was obliged to strike him 
 unawares. 
 
248 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 was carried to the church of St. Paul, where he was 
 buried without any ceremony, but amidst a great con- 
 course of people, who all had tears in their eyes, and 
 lamented that brave spirit, which a detestable ambition 
 and a too violent pride had brought to so unhappy 
 an end. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that the marshal was very 
 ignorant, but extremely curious about the predictions of 
 astrologers, diviners, necromancers, and other deceivers. 
 It was held likewise that Laffin had gained his favour 
 by making him believe that he held communication 
 with the devil, who had assured him that Biron would 
 become a sovereign. It was said likewise that when 
 he was young he went disguised one day to see a 
 fortune-teller, who foretold that he should be a very 
 great lord, but that he should have his head cut off, 
 upon which, being annoyed, he outrageously beat him. 
 Another diviner told him that he should be a king, if 
 a blow from a sword behind did not prevent it. It 
 was also foretold that he should die by the hand of a 
 Burgundian ; and it was found that the executioner 
 who cut off his head was a native of Burgundy. 
 
 Laffin and Renaze obtained full pardon. Hebert, 
 secretary to Marshal Biron, suffered the ordinary and 
 extraordinary-^ questioning without confessing anything, 
 yet he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment. 
 Shortly after the King gave him his liberty; yet the 
 resentment of what he had suffered having more power 
 over him than the favour, he fled to Spain, where he 
 ended his days. 
 
 The Baron de Lux, Biron's chief confidant, came 
 
 ^ The rack. 
 
FATE OF BIRON'S ACCOMPLICES 249 
 
 to court by the king's command. He told him all that 
 he knew, and possibly more. By this means he ob- 
 tained his pardon, and was confirmed in his olTlces, 
 and also in the government of the castle of Dijon and 
 the city of Beaune. The King kept the government 
 of Burgundy for the Dauphin, and gave the lieutenancy 
 to Bellegarde, who afterwards became governor-in-chief. 
 
 Montbarot Lord Breston was sent to the Bastille 
 on certain evidence against him, but being found 
 innocent, he was soon released. 
 
 The Baron of Fontanelles, a gentleman of good 
 family, was not so fortunate. For having a hand in 
 the conspiracy, and, in addition, treating on his own 
 account with the Spaniards with regard to the sur- 
 render of a little island on the coast of Brittany, he 
 was broken on the wheel by sentence of the great 
 council. The King, in consideration of his family, 
 which was illustrious, granted that in the sentence 
 he should not be called by his proper name, but his- 
 tory could not be silent about it. 
 
 The Duke of Bouillon, finding himself likewise 
 somewhat involved in the Biron affair, judged it con- 
 venient to retire to his viscounty of Turenne, where 
 the King, being informed that he was still plotting 
 against him, sent for him to come and justify himself. 
 Instead of coming, he wrote a very eloquent letter, 
 in which he stated that, knowing that his accusers 
 were both extremely wicked and very cunning, he en- 
 treated the King to dispense with his coming to court, 
 and grant that, to satisfy his Majesty, all France, and 
 his own honour, he should be heard at the chamber of 
 Castres, by virtue of the privilege granted to those of 
 
250 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 the pretended reformed religion, and that he would 
 send thither his accusers and accusations. In pursu- 
 ance of which he came to Castres, presented himself 
 to the chamber, and recorded his appearance. The 
 King was not at all pleased with this answer. He 
 blamed the judges of Castres for what they had done, 
 and sent to tell him that there was as yet no question 
 of handing him over to justice, and that therefore he 
 desired him to come to court as soon as possible. 
 
 Being informed by his friends at court of the 
 resolution of the King, who had sent the president 
 Commartin to make known his will, the duke departed 
 from Castres, went to Orange, passed Geneva, and re- 
 tired to Heidelberg to the Prince Palatine, saying — sage 
 politician that he was — that he ought neither to come 
 to terms with his King nor go near him whilst his 
 anger lasted. This business stood still some years, 
 and we shall see in its place how it terminated. 
 
 It must here be acknowledged that the favour of 
 Rosny served at this time as a pretext to almost all the 
 discontents and conspiracies of the nobles. The King 
 had given him four or five important posts, because 
 he believed he could not sufficiently recompense those 
 services he had rendered him. In this the King merits 
 only praise, for a good master cannot do too much for 
 a good and faithful servant. But though the trouble- 
 some and discontented spirits might complain that 
 the King gave him too many posts and employments, 
 yet they could not lament his giving him too much 
 power, or that he gave it to him alone ; for we may 
 truthfully say that Rosny had not the liberty to do 
 anything of his own accord. He was forced in all 
 
ROYAL FAVOURS 251 
 
 things to address himself directly to the King, who 
 would himself distribute his favours and recompenses 
 to those he thought worthy, so that they might acknow- 
 ledge the whole obligation as coming from him. This 
 great prince knew well that he who gives all may do 
 all, and that he who gives nothing is nothing but what 
 it may please him who gives all. He had too much 
 courage and too much glory to suffer that another 
 should act in the most noble function of his royal 
 authority. Whatever favour or familiarity any had 
 with him, if they did not conduct themselves with a 
 profound respect, or if they failed to speak or act as 
 they ought with their master and their King, they 
 would doubtless soon fall into disgrace ; this was, as 
 we have observed, one of the causes of Biron's fall. 
 Judge, then, if he who would not allow any to act 
 the companion with him would allow them to act the 
 sovereign. Judge also if he would have been content 
 that his ministers should simply take his consent on 
 any matter, or that they should speak to him of things 
 for conscience' sake, after having themselves resolved on 
 them. No ; without doubt he wished everything to 
 proceed from his initiative, that the choice should be 
 his, that he alone should have the power to raise up 
 and cast down, and that none but himself should be 
 the arbiter of the fortunes of his subjects. Not but 
 that he considered, as was just, the recommendations 
 of the great men of his realm as well as of his 
 ministers in conferring favours, employments, and posts, 
 but it was always in such a manner that he made 
 the recipients know that they owed them to him 
 alone, which the following example well demonstrates. 
 
252 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 The bishopric of Poitiers having become vacant, 
 Rosny instantly besought him to consider on this 
 occasion one Frenouillet, well known as a clever man 
 and a great preacher. Notwithstanding this recom- 
 mendation the King gave it to the abbot of Roche- 
 posai, who himself possessed many good qualities, and 
 was son of a gentleman who had served him well 
 with his sword in wars, and with his knowledge 
 and talents in embassies. Some time after, the 
 bishopric of Montpellier became vacant. The King 
 himself sent for Frenouillet, and told him that he 
 would give it to him, but on condition that he should 
 acknowledge no obligation to any but him. By this 
 it may be seen that he really considered the recom- 
 mendation of Rosny ; but it may likewise be perceived 
 that the power of that favourite who was the cause of 
 so much jealousy was limited. I call him favourite 
 because he had the most splendid employments, though 
 actually he had no pre-eminence over others of the 
 council, for Villeroy and Jeannin were more considered 
 than he in negotiations and foreign affairs, as were 
 Bellievre and Sillery for justice and policy and home 
 affairs ; and it must not be imagined that either in 
 any way depended on Rosny. There was only one head 
 in the state, and that was the King, who chose all his 
 members, and from whom alone they received spirit 
 and force. 
 
 About the end of this year, the Duke of Savoy, 
 thinking to revenge and compensate himself for the 
 loss of his county of Bresse on the city of Geneva, 
 attempted to take it by storm. The enterprise was 
 planned by Lord d'Albigny, and the duke, having 
 
THE DUKE OF SAVOTS VAIN ENTERPRISE 253 
 
 passed the mountains, believed it to be infallible. 
 D'Albigny conducted two thousand men to within half 
 a league of the city, yet was not so rash as to expose 
 himself, but left the direction of the attack to others. 
 At first it was completely successful ; more than 
 two hundred men mounted the ladders, gained the 
 ramparts, and ran through all the city without being 
 perceived. In the meantime the burgesses were awakened 
 by the cries of some of the guard, who had seen some 
 of the assailants, and who had been attacked by them. 
 A gunner, who was to have broken a gate inside, to 
 enable those without to enter, was slain, after which 
 they were overwhelmed on all sides. The greater part 
 endeavoured to regain their ladders, but these having been 
 broken to pieces by the cannon, there was no means of 
 escaping, and they were nearly all slain, or broke their 
 necks by leaping into the ditch. Thirteen were taken 
 alive, mostly gentlemen, amongst them being Artignac, 
 who had served as second in command to Don Philipin. 
 They jaelded on the assurance that they should be 
 treated as prisoners of war, but the furious cries of 
 the common people, who represented the danger in 
 which their city was of massacres, violation, universal 
 destruction, or perpetual slavery, forced the council of 
 this little republic to condemn them, like thieves, to 
 the infamous death of the gibbet. Their heads, with 
 fifty-four others of those who were killed, were stuck on 
 poles, and their bodies cast into the Rhone. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy, disheartened by such ill-success, 
 and overwhelmed with the reproaches of all Christendom 
 for having attempted such an enterprise in time of peace, 
 hastily recrossed the mountains, leaving his troops near 
 
254 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 to Geneva, and endeavoured to excuse himself to the 
 the Swiss, under whose protection, as well as under 
 that of France, the city was, for having attempted to 
 surprise it, saying that he had not done it to trouble the 
 repose of the confederation, but to hinder Lesdiguieres 
 from, seizing it for the King. 
 
 The dukes of Savoy had long pretended that this 
 city appertained to their sovereignty, and that the 
 bishops, who bore the title of earls and were for some 
 time lords of it, held it from them. This, however, the 
 bishops never acknowledged, always maintaining that 
 they depended immediately on the Empire. The 
 Genevese, on their part, maintained that it was a free 
 city, and subject in temporal things neither to their 
 bishops, whom they expelled in 1533 when they un- 
 happily renounced the Roman Catholic religion, nor to 
 the Duke of Savoy, but to the Empire alone, for which 
 reason they always bore the eagle displayed on their 
 gates. Both had very specious titles to show their 
 rights ; but at that time the city of Geneva enjoyed 
 full liberty, and had done so for more than sixty 
 years, having become an ally of the cantons of 
 Switzerland. Now the Swiss were comprehended in 
 the treaty of Vervins as allies of France, and in conse- 
 quence so was the city of Geneva. This the King had 
 declared to the Duke of Savoy; but it did not, how- 
 ever, deter the latter from this undertaking, hoping 
 that if it succeeded the King of Spain and the Pope 
 would uphold him in it, and that the King for so 
 small a thing would not break the peace. 
 
 The Genevese, furiously incensed against him, began 
 to make war courageously. They entered his country 
 
THE KING AND THE GENEVESE 255 
 
 and took some small towns, hoping that the King and 
 the Swiss would second these expressions of their re- 
 sentment, and that all the princes of Germany would 
 likewise come to their assistance. But the King de- 
 sired to keep the peace, and was too wise to kindle a 
 war in which he could not make religion and policy 
 agree or unite the honour and interests of France, who 
 was obliged to protect her allies, with the good graces 
 of the Pope, whose duty inclined him to destroy the 
 Huguenots. He therefore sent De Vic to assure the 
 Genevese of his protection, and gave them to under- 
 stand that peace was necessary for them and war 
 ruinous, and that they ought to embrace the one and 
 shun the other. Having little power by themselves, 
 and not being able to do anything without the 
 King's assistance, they were obliged to consent and 
 enter into a treaty with the Savoyard, in which it 
 was clearly laid down that they were included in the 
 treaty of Vervins, and that the duke could not build 
 any fortress within four leagues of their city. 
 
 It happened about the same time that the city of 
 Met2 rose against the governor of the citadel, who was 
 named Sobole. He had been made lieutenant by the 
 Duke d'Epernon, to whom Henry HI. had given the 
 government-in-chief, but had deserted this duke and 
 placed himself under the protection of the King. He 
 had a brother who was second to him in command. 
 
 During the last war against Spain these two 
 brothers had accused the principal inhabitants of 
 Metz of having conspired to deliver the city to the 
 Spaniards. Many were imprisoned, and some put to 
 the rack ; but none were found guilty. Therefore the 
 
256 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 burgesses, believing with reason that this was a calumny, 
 conceived a hatred against these Soboles, and drew up 
 several petitions against them, accusing them of a 
 great number of exactions and cruelties. The Duke 
 d'Epernon, who without doubt upheld these burgesses 
 at the court, was sent by the King to settle this dif- 
 ference. The Soboles, who had offended him, no longer 
 trusted him. They would not permit him to enter the 
 strongest citadel, nor let the garrison go out to meet 
 him ; so that being justly incensed, he made matters 
 worse instead of better, and roused the anger of the 
 inhabitants to such a pitch that they barricaded them- 
 selves against the Soboles. The King who knew that 
 the least sparks were capable of kindling a great fire, 
 was not content with sending La Varenne, but went 
 himself, being desirous of visiting that district. Sobole 
 gave the place into the King's hands, and he gave it to 
 Arquien, lieutenant-colonel of the regiment of guards, 
 with the rank of lieutenant of the King, to comm.and in 
 the absence of the Duke d'Epernon, the governor, who 
 had no great power while the King lived. 
 
 The King stayed until after Easter at Metz. Whilst 
 he was there, he listened to the request which the Jesuits 
 made for their re-establishment. He reserved his de- 
 cision until he went back to Paris, and gave leave to 
 Father Ignatius Armand and Father Coton to come and 
 plead their cause. This they did ; and Father Coton, 
 being clever and witty, and a very famous preacher, 
 soon gained the favour of all the court, and pleased 
 the King so well that he obtained from his Majesty 
 the reinstating of the society in the kingdom, con- 
 trary to the opinion and advice of some of his council. 
 
DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND 257 
 
 He then re-established them by an Act which he caused 
 to be confirmed in parHament ; and caused the pyramid 
 to be thrown down which had been erected before the 
 palace, and on which were many cutting sarcasms in 
 verse and prose against these fathers. Thus their 
 banishment was gloriously repaired ; and, what was more 
 important, the King kept with him Father Coton as his 
 chaplain-in-ordinary and confessor and director of his 
 conscience. This was not, however, till the year 1604. 
 
 In the years 1602 and 1603 we have still three or 
 four important things to observe. The first is that the 
 King at his departure from Metz went to Nancy to visit 
 his sister, the Duchess of Bar, who died the year 
 following, childless. The second, that he renewed the 
 alliance with the Swiss, and some months after, with 
 the Grisons, notwithstanding the obstacles which the 
 Count of Fuentes put in the way of it. The third is, 
 that on returning to Paris he received news of the 
 death of Elizabeth, Queen of England, one of the most 
 illustrious and most heroic princesses that ever reigned, 
 and who governed her realm with more prudence and 
 power than any of her predecessors had ever done. 
 There was nothing wanting to the happiness of her 
 kingdom save the Catholic religion, which she banished 
 from England. And we might give her the name of 
 good as well as great, if she had not dealt so cruelly 
 as she did with her cousin - german, Mary Stuart, 
 Queen of Scotland, whom she kept as a prisoner for 
 eighteen years, and then beheaded, on account of some 
 conspiracies which the servants and friends of that 
 poor princess had made against her person. 
 
 James VI., King of Scotland, and son of Mary, 
 
 ^7 
 
258 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 being the nearest of the blood-royal of England, suc- 
 ceeded Elizabeth, who had put his mother to death. 
 He caused himself to be called King of Great Britain, 
 so as to unite under the same title the two crowns of 
 England and Scotland. 
 
 The alliance of so powerful a king either with 
 France or Spain might make the balance incline to 
 whichever side it were turned. Therefore the kings 
 of both nations immediately sent magnificent ambassa- 
 dors to salute him, each endeavouring to draw him to 
 his side. Rosny went on the part of Henry the Great. 
 He obtained the confirmation of the ancient treaties 
 between France and England. The ambassador of 
 Spain was not so fortunate in his negotiations. The 
 Spaniards were forced to allow that the place of treaty 
 should be appointed in England, and to grant the 
 English free traffic in all their territories, even in the 
 Indies, and also give them liberty of conscience in 
 Spain, so that they should not be subject to the 
 Inquisition nor obliged to salute the holy sacrament 
 in the streets, but only to turn aside. 
 
 France was in a profound peace, externally by the 
 renewal of the alliances with the Swiss and with 
 England, and internally by the discovery of the con- 
 spiracies, which were now quite overthrown. The 
 King enjoyed a repose worthy his labours, and his 
 past troubles made his pleasures all the more sweet. 
 However, he was not idle, for he endeavoured with as 
 much diligence to preserve peace as he had used courage 
 and valour in making war. 
 
 He was often heard to say that though he could 
 make the empire of France as powerful in Europe as 
 
THE PRACTICE OF DUELLING 259 
 
 that of the Ottomans was in Asia, and easily conquer 
 all the territories of his neighbours, yet he would not 
 do so great a dishonour to his word, by which he was 
 bound to preserve peace. 
 
 His most ordinary diversions during this time were 
 hunting and building. He at the same time maintained 
 workmen at the church of the Holy Cross at Orleans, 
 at St. Germain-en-Laye, at the Louvre, and at the 
 Place Royale. 
 
 The nobility of France during this peace could not 
 be entirely still. Some passed their time in hunting, 
 other with ladies ; some in pursuit of learning, others 
 in travelling into foreign countries ; while others again 
 continued the exercise of war under Prince Maurice in 
 Holland. But the greater part, whose hands, as it 
 were, itched, and who sought to signalise their valour 
 without departing from their country, became punctilious, 
 and for the least word, or even for a wry look, put 
 their hands to their swords. Thus that madness of 
 duels entered into the hearts of the gentlemen ; and 
 these combats were so frequent that the nobility shed 
 as much blood in the meadows with their own hands 
 as their enemies had made them lose in battle. 
 
 The King therefore issued a second and most severe 
 edict, which prohibited duels, confiscating the goods 
 of those who disobeyed his orders, and rendering their 
 persons liable to arrest. For a while this prohibition 
 chilled the ardour of the most violent ; but because 
 the King often pardoned this crime, not being able to 
 refuse it to those who had faithfully served him in 
 his need, in a little time the trouble became almost 
 as bad as before. 
 
 17 — 2 
 
26o HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 His custom of receiving from all persons any in- 
 formation that might enrich his kingdom, caused him 
 to learn that there were in various places in France 
 very good gold, silver, copper, and lead mines ; and 
 that if they were worked, there would be no need to 
 buy from strangers. He considered also that though no 
 great profit might accrue from working them, yet many 
 idle persons might be employed ; and likewise that those 
 criminals whose offence did not merit death might be 
 condemned for so many years to work in them. He 
 therefore made an Act which renewed the ancient orders 
 concerning the officers, directors, and workers of mines ; 
 and they began to work in the Pyrenees, where it is 
 most certain that there formerly was gold, and that 
 there still is. Had they continued this labour, they 
 might, to all appearance, have gained notable advan- 
 tages ; but either through the negligence of the over- 
 seers or the impatience of the French, who become 
 discouraged with everything that does not at once 
 fulfil their desires, this work was discontinued. 
 
 Another very great convenience for Paris was under- 
 taken, viz., the joining of the rivers Loire and Seine 
 by the Briare canal. Rosny laboured in this under- 
 taking with much outlay, spending upon it nearly three 
 hundred thousand crowns ; but the work was inter- 
 rupted, for what reason I do not know. It was 
 resumed in the reign of Louis XHL, and was then 
 completed. 
 
 Another scheme was also proposed, the object of 
 which was to join the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, 
 by uniting the Garonne, which falls into the Atlantic, 
 and the Aube, which falls into the Mediterranean 
 
NEW RELIGIOUS ORDERS 261 
 
 below Narbonne. This was to be accomplished by 
 means of canals connecting the two rivers. The 
 county of Languedoc offered to contribute ; but diffi- 
 culties arose which hindered this enterprise. 
 
 Navigation was established by the great care which 
 the King had taken to keep his coasts in security, 
 and to punish pirates severely when they were caught. 
 Ships were no longer content to make voyages to the 
 ordinary places, but went also to the New World, the 
 way to which they had almost forgotten since the time 
 of Admiral Coligni. A gentleman of Saintonge named 
 Du Gas made, with the King's commission, the 
 voyage to Canada. 
 
 Among all these things we must not forget a large 
 number of new religious companies which were or- 
 ganised at Paris. Amongst these were the Recollets,^ 
 who were a branch of the order of St. Francis, the 
 Capuchins, and the Feuillantines.^ There were also 
 the Carmelites and the Barefooted Friars, both of 
 which orders came from Spain ; and the Brothers of 
 Charity, vulgarly called the " ignorant brothers," who 
 came from Italy, All of them built convents out of 
 the alms and charity of devout persons. 
 
 In the midst of this profound calm, which the 
 King enjoyed, and during all these fair occupations 
 which were worthy of him, he was not without 
 troubles and vexations which perplexed his spirit. He 
 had none greater than those in connection with his 
 wife and his mistresses. 
 
 1 So called because only those were admitted who were of a 
 collected, serious mind. 
 
 - Founded at Feuillant, in Languedoc. 
 
262 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 We have already related how Mademoiselle d'En- 
 tragues had conquered him. He had given her the 
 land of Verneuil, near Senlis, and had made it a mar- 
 quisate. After he was married his infatuation for her 
 continued, and he took her with him on all his jour- 
 neys, and gave her apartments at Fontainebleau. 
 
 These things extremely offended the Queen. The 
 pride of the marchioness more furiously incensed her, 
 for she always spoke of the Queen in terms either in- 
 sulting or disdainful, sometimes saying that if justice 
 were done she should occupy the place of that fat 
 banker.^ 
 
 The Queen, on her side, with reason hated her, 
 and made complaints of her to all her friends. But 
 this was not the way to gain the favour of the King. 
 She would have acted more wisely if she had dissem- 
 bled her displeasure, and b}- her kindness made herself 
 paramount in that heart which rightly belonged to 
 her. The King loved to be flattered, and was to 
 be gained by tenderness and affection. The philtre 
 of love is love itself; and it was this that she ought 
 to have employed with him, and not grumblings, 
 scorn, and evil looks, which onl}- serve more and 
 more to disgust a husband, and make him find 
 more pleasure in the allurements of a mistress who 
 takes care to be always agreeable and obliging. 
 But instead of acting in this manner she was always 
 in contention with the King. She exasperated him 
 continually by her complaints and reproaches ; and 
 when he sought to find repose from the cares of 
 state he encountered nothing but gall and bitterness. 
 
 1 Alluding, I suppose, to the dukes of Florence, who are all 
 merchants. — Translator's Note. 
 
THE QUEEN'S VINDICTIVENESS 263 
 
 She had among her attendants a Florentine woman, 
 daughter of her nurse, named Leonora Gahgay, a 
 creature extremely ugly, but very clever, who had won 
 the affections of her mistress to such a degree that she 
 exercised almost unlimited authority over her. It has 
 been said that this woman, fearing that the Queen 
 her mistress would love her less if she perfectly loved 
 the King her husband, kept her from him as much as 
 she could, in order that she might the better retain 
 her influence over her. Afterwards, so that she might 
 have an accomplice in her designs, she married a 
 Florentine domestic of the Queen, named Conchini, of 
 sHghtly better extraction than herself, being grandson 
 of Battista Conchini, who had been secretary to Cosmo 
 Duke of Florence. 
 
 The common opinion was, that these two persons 
 laboured conjointly, as long as the King lived to keep 
 alive an evil spirit in the Queen, and to make her 
 always troublesome and ill-humoured towards him; so 
 that, in the seven or eight years they were together, if 
 he had one day of peace and quiet with her he had 
 ten of discontent and vexation. In this the King's 
 fault was the greater, because he gave the occasion of 
 these troubles ; and the husband being, as St. Paul 
 says, the head of the wife, ought to set her a good 
 example, and keep faithful to her. 
 
 We have observed this once for all ; but we cannot 
 too often reflect " that sin is the cause of all disorder, 
 and that for a little pleasure it causes a thousand 
 troubles and a thousand mischiefs, even in this world 
 itself." The King being now but just fifty years of 
 age, began this year to have some slight attacks of 
 
264 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 gout, which possibly were the effects of his excessive 
 voluptuousness, as well as of his labours. 
 
 To return to the marchioness. It happened one 
 day that the Queen, being very much offended at her 
 discourse, threatened her, saying that she ought to 
 know how to bridle her evil tongue. The mar- 
 chioness upon this seemed sad and grieved. She 
 shunned the King, and told him that she desired that 
 he would no longer demand anything of her, because 
 she feared that the continuation of his favours would 
 be prejudicial both to her and her children. Her de- 
 sign was to inflame his passion more by showing her- 
 self more difficult. But when she saw that her cunning 
 had not all the effect she hoped, and that the Queen's 
 anger was increased to such a point that indeed there 
 was some danger to her and her children, she decided 
 on another plan. D'Entragues, her father, demanded 
 permission of the King to carry her out of the kingdom 
 to avoid the vengeance of the Queen. The King 
 granted her demand more easily than she thought he 
 would ; whereupon, being excessively enraged, her father 
 and the Count d'Auvergne, her brother by the mother's 
 side, began to treat secretly with the ambassador of 
 Spain with regard to taking refuge in the territories 
 of his King, casting themselves absolutely into his 
 arms. 
 
 The ambassador thought that this business would 
 be very advantageous to his master, and that, in the 
 proper time and place, he might avail himself of the 
 promise of marriage which the King had given to 
 the marchioness. He therefore readily granted them 
 all that they asked, and added all the fair promises 
 
ARREST OF D'AUVERGNE 265 
 
 with which weak and feeble spirits are Hable to be 
 intoxicated. 
 
 The King had granted them permission to retire 
 from France, but without the children, believing that 
 they would go to England, to the Duke of Lennox 
 and the Earl d'Aubigny, of the house of Stuart, who 
 were their near kinsmen. When, however, he under- 
 stood that they were desirous of retiring to Spain, 
 he resolved to hinder them, but at first to employ fair 
 means to do it. He therefore sent for the Count 
 d'Auvergne, who was then at Clermont, and was so 
 much beloved in the province that he believed he 
 might securely stay there. He refused to come before 
 he had his pardon granted in due form for all that he 
 might have done. This was a sort of crime to dictate 
 terms to his King, who, however, sent him the pardon, 
 but with the proviso that he should make his imme- 
 diate appearance. 
 
 This, however, did not allay his misgivings. He 
 remained in the province, where he kept himself on his 
 guard, with all precautions imaginable. Nevertheless, 
 cunning as he was, the King by a clumsy artifice 
 entrapped him. Being colonel of the French cavalry, 
 D'Auvergne was desired to attend a muster of a com- 
 pany of the Duke of Vendome. He went well mounted, 
 keeping himself at a good distance, that he might not 
 be surprised. Nevertheless, D'Eurre, lieutenant of that 
 company, and Nerestan, approaching him to salute him, 
 mounted on ponies so as to remove his suspicion, but 
 with three soldiers disguised as attendants, cast him 
 from his horse, and made him prisoner. They led him 
 to the Bastille, where he was seized with a great fear 
 
266 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 when he found himself lodged in the same chamber 
 where the Marshal de Biron, his great friend, had 
 been. 
 
 Immediately afterwards the King caused D'Entragues 
 also to be arrested, who was carried to the Conciergerie ; ^ 
 and also the marchioness, who was left in her lodgings 
 under the guard of the Cavalier de Guet. Then, desiring 
 to make known by public proofs the ill-intention of the 
 Spaniards, who seduced his subjects and excited and 
 fomented conspiracies in his realm, he handed over the 
 prisoners to the parliament, who, having convicted them 
 of conspiring with the Spaniards, declared (ist of 
 February) the Count d'Auvergne, D'Entragues, and an 
 Englishman named Morgan, who had been the agent 
 of the negotiations, guilty of treason, and condemned 
 them to be beheaded as such. They also ordered the 
 marchioness to be conducted with a strong guard into 
 the convent at Beaumont, near Tours, where she was 
 to remain until more ample evidence had been produced 
 against her, at the request of the attorney-general. 
 
 The Queen spared no solicitations to get this 
 sentence pronounced, believing that its execution would 
 satisfy her resentment, but the goodness of the King 
 was proof against her vindictiveness. The love which 
 he had for the marchioness was not so entirely extinct 
 that he could resolve to sacrifice what he had adored, 
 and he would not permit them to pronounce the sentence. 
 Two months and a half afterwards, to wit, on the 15th of 
 April, he, by letters under his great seal, commuted the 
 penalty of death on the Count d'Auvergne and the Lord 
 
 ^ These were prisons in the jurisdiction of " Parlements " 
 before the Revokition. 
 
HIS ESTATES AWARDED TO THE QUEEN 267 
 
 d'Entragues, into perpetual imprisonment ; and that on 
 Morgan to perpetual banishment. Some time after he 
 changed the imprisonment of D'Entragues into con- 
 finement to his house at Malesherbes in Beauce. 
 He likewise permitted the marchioness to retire to 
 \'erneuil, and seven months having passed without the 
 attorney-general procuring any proof against her, he 
 caused her to be declared absolutely innocent of the 
 crime of which she was accused. 
 
 There now remained only the Count d'Auvergne, 
 who, being the most to be feared, was the worst 
 treated ; for the King not only kept him prisoner at 
 the Bastille, where he lay for twelve whole years, but 
 likewise deprived him of his property in the county 
 of Auvergne. He had received the title from King 
 Henrv HI. 
 
 Queen Margaret maintained that the gift of the 
 title was not valid, because the marriage contract of 
 Catherine de Medicis, her mother, to whom that 
 county belonged, allowed substitution of her goods, 
 and that substitution, she said, extending to daughters 
 in default of males, the county was to come to her 
 after the death of Henry HI., nor could he give it 
 to her prejudice. 
 
 The parliament having listened to her reasons and 
 seen her proofs, annulled the donation made by 
 Henry III., and awarded her this county. In recom- 
 pense of this obligation and many others she had 
 received from the King, she bequeathed all her estates 
 to the Dauphin, only reserving the usufruct of them 
 for herself during her life. 
 
 The Count d'Auvergne, thus despoiled, remained 
 
268 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 in the Bastille until the year 1616, when Queen Mary 
 de Medicis, having need of him during the troubles, 
 delivered him from thence, and caused him to be 
 justified. She caused likewise the registers of parlia- 
 ment and of the notaries to be taken off the file, 
 with all informations which might preserve the memory 
 of his crime. By this an example may be seen how 
 time causes a mutability in all things, and how it 
 changes the greatest hatreds into the strongest affec- 
 tions, and on the contrary, transmutes the strongest 
 affections into mortal hatreds. 
 
 By searching into the plot of the father of the 
 marchioness to deliver her with her children to the 
 Spaniards, the designs of the Duke of Bouillon were 
 likewise discovered, who was from that time the only 
 person able to give the King any trouble in his own 
 kingdom. It is most certain that this prince had 
 conferred on him very great favours, having given 
 him the staff of marshal of France and arranged his 
 marriage with the heiress of Sedan ; and this lord 
 had likewise very well served him in his greatest 
 necessities. But after the King became converted to 
 the Catholic faith. Bouillon diminished much of his 
 affection, and, moved partly by zeal for his false 
 religion and partly by ambition, he conceived vast 
 designs of making himself chief and protector of the 
 Huguenot party, and under that pretext of becoming 
 master of the provinces beyond the Loire. It was 
 believed that with this object he had much helped 
 to exasperate the spirit of the Marshal de Biron ; and 
 also that he had made a treaty with the Spaniards, 
 who were to furnish him with what money he desired. 
 
DESIGXS OF THE DUKE OF BOUILLON 269 
 
 but not with forces, for fear of becoming odious to 
 the Protestants. 
 
 It was but too visible that, after the conversion of 
 the King, Bouillon had incessantly laboured to arouse 
 distrust and discontent in the spirits of the Huguenots, 
 and to unite them into a compact body, persuading 
 himself that that body must necessarily have a head, 
 and that they could choose no other but himself; and 
 for these reasons many assemblies were called, and 
 many particular and general synods of those of this 
 religion held, wherein nothing was heard but com- 
 plaints and murmurs against the King, whom they 
 continually wearied with new requests and demands. 
 
 Moreover, it was found that this duke had emis- 
 saries and servants in Guienne, and particularly in 
 Limousin and Quercy, who held private councils among 
 the nobility, distributed money, and took oath of those 
 who promised him service, and who had formed de- 
 signs against ten or twelve Catholic cities. 
 
 The King, judging that he ought to dig up the root 
 of this mischief before it extended further, and not 
 knowing indeed how far it might extend, resolved to 
 go and apply the remedy himself. He departed from 
 Fontainebleau in December, having sent before him 
 Jean Jacques de Mesmes, Lord of Roissy, to Limoges, 
 to take proceedings against those who were culpable. 
 
 Immediately all this conspiracy vanished in smoke. 
 The best advised came to the King to cast themselves 
 at his feet. The chief agent of the Duke of Bouillon 
 being informed that an order had been given for his 
 arrest, came to the King and told him all he knew 
 before, and a great deal that he did not know. The 
 
270 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Others either fled out of the kingdom or else hid them- 
 selves. Five or six unfortunate persons being taken 
 were beheaded at Limoges, and their heads stuck on 
 the tops of the gates, their bodies burnt, and the ashes 
 thrown into the air. Three or four others suffered the 
 same punishment at Perigord. There were ten or 
 twelve condemned for contumacy and their effigies 
 hanged ; amongst others, Chappelle-Biron and Giversac 
 of the house of Cugnac. But in all these proceedings 
 there were found no proofs in writing, nor yet by any 
 formal deposition against the Duke of Bouillon, so 
 cunningly had he managed this business. 
 
 Before these executions the King, having made his 
 entrance into Limoges, returned to Paris, He earnestly 
 desired that after this the Duke of Bouillon should 
 acknowledge and humble himself; for if he remained 
 impenitent he would be obliged to prosecute him to the 
 utmost, and if he did prosecute him he offended all 
 that great body of Protestants who were his faithful 
 allies. He therefore secretly employed all means which 
 he could devise to induce him to depend on his 
 clemency rather than on the intercession of strangers, 
 which could not be pleasing to a sovereign, in the case 
 of his officer and subject. The duke desired even more 
 than he to extricate himself from this trouble; but he 
 believed he could not find security at court, because 
 Rosny, who was not his friend, and who was jealous 
 at seeing him of more consequence than himself in the 
 Huguenot party, had such great influence with the King. 
 So that after many treaties and negotiations, the King 
 resolved to go after him at Sedan with an army. 
 
 Rosny laboured with great zeal to make preparations 
 
THE KING TREATS WITH THE DUKE 271 
 
 for this expedition. The King confided much to him ; 
 and by honouring him, he desired to testify to the 
 Huguenots that if he attacked the Duke of Bouillon, it 
 was not against their religion, but against rebellion, 
 that he was angry. For this purpose he made the land 
 of Sully into a duchy and peerage ; and, therefore, we 
 shall henceforward call Rosny Duke of Sully. Sully's 
 opinion was that the King should pursue the Duke of 
 Bouillon to the utmost. Villeroy and the rest of the 
 council were of a contrary judgment ; they did not think 
 it advisable to hazard the siege of Sedan, because the 
 length of that undertaking might possibly revive divers 
 factions in other parts of the kingdom, and give time 
 to the Spaniards to assault the frontiers of Picardy, to 
 the discontented Duke of Savoy to cast himself with the 
 forces of the Milanese on disarmed Provence, and to 
 the Huguenots and Protestants of Germany to come 
 to the assistance of their friends. 
 
 The King clearly foresaw all these inconveniences ; 
 and, therefore, having advanced to Donchery during 
 the absence of Sully who had gone to provide artillery, 
 he treated with the Duke of Bouillon and received him 
 into his favour, on condition that he should humble 
 himself before his Majesty, receive him into the city 
 of Sedan, and deliver up the castle to him to keep it 
 with what garrison he should think fit, for four years. 
 
 These were the public conditions ; but by secret 
 articles the King promised the duke to stay but five 
 days in Sedan, and to put only fifty men in the castle, 
 who should immediately depart upon humble suppli- 
 cation made by the duke. All these things were 
 faithfully executed, and without the least distrust 
 
272 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 either on the one side or the other. The duke came 
 to meet the King at Donchery, where he besought his 
 pardon. The King received him as if he had never 
 done any wrong, and five or six days after entered 
 into Sedan, where he stayed only three days, and then 
 returned to Paris. The duke accompanied him as far 
 as Mousson ; but some days after, when he understood 
 that the parhament had confirmed his pardon, in which 
 were hkewise comprehended his friends who had been 
 condemned by default at Limoges, he came to the 
 court, where he received more honours and kindnesses 
 than ever. This was the custom of that great king. 
 He had a heart like a lion's against the proud and 
 against rebels ; but he was pleased to relieve with an 
 unparalleled goodness those he had overcome, when by 
 their submission they rendered themselves worthy to 
 receive his grace. And the Duke of Bouillon, who 
 perfectly knew his nature (for they had long lived and 
 fought together), was careful to comport himself with 
 all that prudence and compliancy which an intelligent 
 man, such as he was, could be capable of. 
 
 Notwithstanding this great generosit}- and goodness 
 of the King, his kingdom was no less troubled with 
 incredible treacheries and conspiracies. Such were the 
 treason of L'Oste, the attempt on the city of Mar- 
 seilles by Merargues, and another on Narbonne and 
 Leucate by the Luquisses. 
 
 L'Oste was secretary to Villeroy, and his godson. 
 It was his duty to decipher the dispatches. This un- 
 fortunate man revealed all the secrets of the King's 
 affairs to some members of the council of Spain, who 
 had bribed him with a pension of twelve hundred 
 
THE FATE OF TWO TRAITORS 273 
 
 crowns, which they promised him whilst he was in 
 that country with the ambassador Rochepot, On his 
 treachery being discovered he fled, and as he was 
 pursued by the provosts and the marshals he drowned 
 himself in the river Marne, near the ferry of Fay. It 
 may easily be judged that Villeroy, whose fidelity by 
 this means remained exposed to the King's reasonable 
 suspicions and to the calumnies of his enemies, was 
 sensibly troubled. He would undoubtedly have had 
 some difficulty in clearing himself of this business, 
 however innocent he might have been, if the King, who 
 saw him in such great affliction, had not had the good- 
 ness to visit him himself, and by that honour brought 
 him the comfort of justifying him in the face of all 
 calumnies which the envious might sow against him. 
 
 Merargues was a gentleman from Provence, of a 
 very good family, who, having assurance that he should 
 the following year be sheriff^ of Marseilles, had pro- 
 mised to deliver that city to the Spaniards during his 
 shrievalty. He was so imprudent and so foolish as 
 to reveal his design to a slave in the galleys at Mar- 
 seilles, who gave information of it to the court, 
 thinking by this means to gain his liberty. 
 
 Upon this information Merargues, who was then 
 at Paris, was watched so closely that they found him 
 conferring with the secretary of the ambassador of 
 Spain, and almost all they said was heard. They 
 searched him, and found in the fold of his garter a 
 note containing the plan of the conspiracy. He was 
 arrested, and beheaded by sentence of the parliament 
 
 1 V'iguier: a magistrate under the old monarchy in the south 
 of France, subordinate to the " seneschal." 
 
 18 
 
274 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 of Paris on the 19th of December. His body was 
 quartered, and his quarters fixed before the city gates ; 
 his head was carried to Marseilles, to be stuck on a 
 pike upon a tower of one of the principal gates. The 
 secretary of the ambassador was arrested as well as 
 he, and would have been in great danger if the King 
 had been as furious as those who counselled him, who 
 desired a rupture with Spain. 
 
 This affair gave rise to considerable discussion 
 amongst politicians concerning the rights of ambas- 
 sadors and their people ; but Henry the Great himself 
 decided the question thus : " Ambassadors," said he, 
 " are sacred by the right of nations. They abuse this 
 right when they contrive any treason against the state 
 or against the prince to whom their master has sent 
 them, and consequently this right ought not to secure 
 them from being sought out and punished. Moreover, 
 it is not to be presumed that they are either ambas- 
 sadors or that they represent the sovereign who sends 
 them when they commit those treacheries which their 
 masters would neither commit nor avow. However, 
 there is more generosity in not behaving on this point 
 with extreme severity, but in reserving the right to 
 chastise them without it." And to this purpose, being 
 well read in history, he alleged that example of the 
 Roman senate, who having discovered that the am- 
 bassadors of the Allobroges were concerned in the 
 conspiracy of Catiline, contented themselves with com- 
 manding them to depart the city. This was his opinion, 
 and as he always followed the most generous maxims, 
 he forbade that any action should be taken against the 
 secretary, whom the judges were about to question. 
 
TREASON OF THE LUQUISSES 275 
 
 In the meantime the ambassador, thinking to cloak 
 this perfidy by his exclamations, came to complain to 
 the King that the rights of nations were being violated, 
 and in them the dignity of ambassadors ; and that the 
 King his master would resent it as became a great 
 prince when offended. The King, answering him with 
 a wise coldness, represented unto him what his secre- 
 tary had conspired with Merargues. The ambassador, 
 not willing either to own the man or approve his action, 
 turned the business another way, and complained that 
 the King had made the first breach of the peace of 
 Vervins by assisting the Hollanders with men and 
 money. The King replied that, as regarded the men, 
 they did not go by his orders, and that there were 
 Frenchmen in the service of the archduke as well as in 
 that of the Hollanders ; but that it was in his power 
 to do what he pleased with his money, and to lend 
 it or give it without anyone having a right to say 
 anything. The ambassador was very angry, and some 
 high words passed on one side and the other. Finally 
 the King returned him his secretary, as he had resolved 
 to do in the first instance. 
 
 The Luquisses were two brothers, Genoese by ex- 
 traction, who had made an agreement with the governor 
 of Perpignan to deliver to him Narbonne and Lucate. 
 It is certain that it was not in their power to execute 
 this design, and that there was more ill-will in them 
 than danger of its success. Nevertheless, they were 
 taken and carried to Toulouse, where the parliament 
 sent both to the gibbet. 
 
 It seemed that not only the malice of men, but 
 folly itself now conspired against France; for the same 
 
 18—2 
 
276 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 da}' that Merargues was executed an unhapp}- fool made 
 an attempt on the sacred person of the King, throwing ■ 
 himself upon him with a dagger in his hand as he passed 
 on horseback over the Pont-Neuf, returning from hunt- j 
 ing. The attendants of the King running up, made 
 him let go his hold, and would have killed him on the 
 spot if it had not been forbidden by the King, who 
 caused him to be taken prisoner to Fort Eveque. He 
 was called John de ITle, and was a native of Vineux, ] 
 near Senlis. He was examined b}' the president 
 Jeannin, who could get no reasonable answer from him, 
 for he was indeed quite out of his senses. He believed 
 himself king of all the world, and said that, Henry IV. j 
 having usurped and taken France from him, he wished I 
 to chastise him for his temerity. Upon which the ' 
 King, judging that he was sufficiently punished by his 
 foil}', commanded that he should only be kept in prison, 
 where he died not long after. j 
 
 Those who desired war did not fail to take advan- ; 
 tage of all these conspiracies and undertakings of the 1 
 Spaniards to incense the King's spirit. They repre- 1 
 sented to him that he ought not to wait for others 
 from his perpetual enemies ; that having used all their 
 endeavours to hinder him from coming to his crown, ; 
 they continued daily to attempt something against his i 
 repose and life ; that their ambushes were more to be 
 feared in peace than in war ; that it were better to 
 break with them, because they would have less means | 
 to hurt him, being no longer within his realm ; that he j 
 had more to gain in attacking them by open force than j 
 in counter-plotting all their treacherous devices, which j 
 they concealed under the cloak of peace and friend- ! 
 
PHILIP III. OF SPAIN 277 
 
 ship. They moreover represented to him the bad state 
 of the Spanish finances; that having expended all their 
 treasure in the wars in the Low Countries, they were 
 obliged to have recourse to extraordinary means to re- 
 plenish it. But above all, they did not fail to lay 
 before him the great and advantageous qualities that 
 he had over Philip III., his adversary, in order that 
 he might be the easier induced to attack a man whom 
 they taught him to despise and consider weaker. 
 
 I may say, in connection with King Philip III., 
 that although his mind was very acute, and his father, 
 Philip II., had given him all knowledge necessary to 
 govern, nevertheless from a certain timidity and distrust 
 of himself, too common in many great men, shunning 
 trouble and hardships, he had allowed the government 
 to devolve almost entirely on the Marquis of Denia, 
 whom he made Duke of Lerma. It would be difficult 
 to tell how this man rendered himself odious, and how 
 the other was little esteemed so long as this lasted; 
 but God finally opened the eyes of this young prince. 
 He broke his chains ; and he who had become, as it 
 were, his master, thought there was no better way of 
 diverting all the calamities which might happen than 
 by becoming a churchman and a cardinal. 
 
 We may in passing make some reflections on the 
 pitiful state to which a sovereign reduces himself, who, 
 for not maintaining his dignity as he ought, necessarily 
 becomes an object of disdain and aversion to his sub- 
 jects. Without doubt the greatest misfortune that can 
 befall him is to be regarded as inferior and subject to 
 another ; to have his ears continually filled with the 
 voice of his people, crying on all sides, '* Govern us ! " 
 
278 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 and to permit himself to be guided by five or six wicked 
 flatterers, who make him beheve that he is master, 
 though he exercises not one function, rather than by 
 the truth or judgment of his whole kingdom. For if 
 he desire to know whether he be truly sovereign or 
 no, he need only regard himself without flattery. If 
 it be he that gives commands on his own initiative ; if 
 he himself chooses the persons ; if the officers about 
 him are of his own making ; if he has ever said, " I 
 will have it so," in any affair of importance; if he see 
 himself always followed and accompanied by grandees ; 
 if those who have business, who seek employments, 
 and who have need of his favour, are in his ante- 
 chamber ; and, finally, if none of his realm have more 
 respect paid to them, or are sought more assiduously, 
 then he shall clearly know who it is that reigns. But 
 it is not enough for him to know who it is. He must, 
 after the example of Philip III., of whom we were just 
 now speaking, endeavour to put himself in possession 
 of his authority. It is in this that the courage of a 
 prince principally consists ; for in what can he better 
 make known his resolution and valour than in taking 
 upon himself that degree and power which God has 
 given him ? Is there a truer point of honour for a 
 king than to maintain in his person the rights of 
 his royalty ? Without dissembling, it shows more 
 weakness and shame for a sovereign to submit to him 
 who ought to be dependent on his will than to flee 
 in the day of battle before his enemies ; for the bravest 
 sometimes run away, and the courage of a king consists 
 much less in fighting with his hands than in govern- 
 ing with his head. What use is it for him to over- 
 
THE KING'S MAJESTY 279 
 
 come his enemies if he see himself beneath his own 
 subject, who under pretext of serving him reduces him 
 and his kingdom into fetters, and who dares invest 
 himself with all the glory and all the advantage of 
 command, making him believe that it is to ease him ' 
 of the burden ? 
 
 Our Henry was not of this temper. His goodness 
 was extreme, but it was neither sluggish nor timid ; 
 his knowledge and understanding were not useless, but 
 always laborious and active. Nothing was above him 
 but God himself; nothing on any side of him but 
 justice and clemency, his two faithful counsellors. 
 The most hardy of his ministers trembled when he 
 but bent his brow; all familiarities immediately ceased, 
 and none dared to speak when he was pleased to take 
 the tone of master. 
 
 Now this great King thus preserving the splendour 
 of his majesty, we cannot wonder if he were esteemed 
 above Philip HI., who at that time suffered himself 
 to be absolutely governed. And therefore, because they 
 knew he understood his weakness, they believed that 
 he would be more easily persuaded to make war against 
 him. Indeed he was sufficiently resolved to that ; 
 and after so many injuries as he had received from 
 the Spaniard, his resentment had no great need of a 
 spur. However, before he would undertake so arduous 
 a task, he wished to make all his arrangements so 
 exactly, gather together so much money, artillery, and 
 ammunition, fortify so well his frontiers, keep such 
 good order within his kingdom, assure himself of so 
 many friends and allies, raise such powerful armies, 
 and, finally, make his party so strong, that the success 
 
28o HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 should not at all be doubtful, and that when he en- 
 countered that ambitious power, he might be assured 
 of overthrowing it ; and therefore he judged it not 
 to the purpose too much to hasten. 
 
 In the meantime he neglected not other means to 
 acquire reputation, thinking it not less glorious to 
 blazon forth his name by the repute of his wisdom 
 in counsels than by the power of his arms. By the 
 latter he had been victorious over the rebels and the 
 Spaniards ; by the former, he rendered himself arbi- 
 trator of the great differences of Christendom, and 
 acquired a superiority so much more noble, because 
 given him without constraint. 
 
 Pope Clement VIII. having died about the end of 
 the year 1605, Henry wished to employ his influence 
 in causing the choice of the cardinals to fall on one of 
 his friends. The Cardinal of Joyeuse, his ambassador, 
 and his other agents laboured so well that they elected 
 Alexander de Medicis, Cardinal of Florence. He took 
 the name of Leo XL, but he died at the end of seven- 
 teen days ; so the business had to be gone through 
 again. The King did not wish that they should take 
 pains in the choice of another of his friends ; and 
 declared that France took no other interest than that 
 an honest man should be chosen. The conclave in 
 the end chose Cardinal Borghese, who was named 
 Paul V. 
 
 In the first years of his papacy a great difference 
 which was begun under his predecessors was rekindled, 
 which would have set on fire all Italy, and possibly 
 all Christendom, if our Henry had not taken care to 
 extinguish it. 
 
THE SEIGNIORY OF VENICE 281 
 
 The seigniory of Venice had formerly made an 
 ordinance or decree which prohibited the monks from 
 purchasing lands in their dominions above the value 
 of twenty thousand ducats, and enjoining everyone 
 who had purchased above that value to remit it to the 
 seigniory, who would reimburse them the purchase- 
 money and the improvements they had made on the 
 property. Following in the footsteps of this ancient 
 decree, they made another, which forbade the founding 
 or building of new churches, convents, and monasteries 
 without express permission of the seigniory, under 
 penalty of banishment, and confiscation of such foun- 
 dations and buildings. 
 
 It was, indeed, part of the function and charge of 
 bishops to prevent this multiplication of convents ; but 
 either through negligence or through being too easily 
 persuaded, they gave permission to all that asked ; so 
 much so that the commonwealth, instead of the 
 prelates, found themselves obliged to take notice of 
 it ; otherwise it would soon have happened that all 
 their cities w^ould have been nothing else but convents 
 and churches, and all their revenues, which ought to 
 bear the charge of the state and serve for the support 
 of married people, who furnish it with soldiers, mer- 
 chants, and labourers, would have been expended only 
 in the maintenance of nuns and friars. 
 
 The seigniory therefore made another decree, which 
 prohibited ecclesiastics from purchasing any real pro- 
 perty, except by permission of that body. At the 
 same time it happened that an abbot and a canon, 
 being accused of horrible crimes committed in the 
 territories of the seigniory, were imprisoned upon 
 
282 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 secular authority, which was considered very strange 
 on the other side of the mountains, where the eccle- 
 siastics are not at all subject to secular justice. 
 
 Now Paul v., on coming to the pontifical chair, 
 was not able to overlook, he said, all these attacks 
 of the secular power on the ecclesiastical, and dis- 
 patched at the same time two briefs^ to his nuncio 
 at Venice, one containing the revocation of the 
 decrees made by the seigniory with regard to the 
 purchasing of temporal estates, and the other com- 
 manding the restitution of the abbot and the canon 
 to the chapter of the church. The nuncio announced 
 this to the seigniory, who answered sharply that their 
 authority came from themselves ; that no person but 
 the}' had to do with it ; and that they would know 
 how to maintain it against any who attempted to 
 oppose it. Both sides employed the best scholars of 
 the time to defend their rights and confute the argu- 
 ments of their adversaries. A very large number of 
 manifestoes and treatises were written, full of legal 
 arguments, passages of Holy Scripture, authorities of 
 fathers and councils, and parallels drawn from history. 
 
 In the meantime the Pope, extremely offended at 
 this answer, thundered out an excommunication against 
 the Doge and the seigniory, if within twenty-four days 
 they did not revoke their decrees and consign the two 
 prisoners to the hands of the nuncio. The seigniory 
 was not at all moved by this, but boldly declared the 
 sentence of excommunication null and out of rule ; nor 
 was there any ecclesiastic in their whole territories 
 who attempted to publish it, or dared to observe the 
 
 ^ Pastoral letters. 
 
THEIR QUARREL WITH THE POPE 283 
 
 interdict or stop Divine service. The Capuchins and 
 the Jesuits, however, resolved to depart, and asked 
 permission of the seig^niory. They granted it to the 
 Capuchins, with hberty to return when they pleased ; 
 but the Jesuits were prohibited from ever re-entering 
 their dominions. 
 
 While the quarrel between these two powers was 
 becoming very grave, the Spaniards were looking out 
 with a sharp eye to make their profit out of these divi- 
 sions, and secretl}- fomented the strife while pretending 
 to be desirous of healing it. On the one side they 
 encouraged the Venetians, and emboldened them to 
 maintain their rights ; and on the other they com- 
 manded their governors of Naples and Milan to serve 
 the Holy Father with all their powers. Henr}' the 
 Great, more sincere and more disinterested, embraced 
 this opportunity to establish his power in Ital}- in a 
 more fair and just manner. He assured the Pope 
 that, as the eldest son of the Church, he would always 
 sustain its interests, and that in case of rupture he 
 would go in person to its help with an arm}' of fort}' 
 thousand men ; but he entreated him that, before it 
 came to this, he would grant that he might use his 
 best endeavours to settle matters peaceably. 
 
 He answered likewise to the ambassador of \'enice, 
 who asked for his assistance, that he owed it to the 
 Holy Father before all others ; and therefore he ex- 
 horted the seigniory to permit him to mediate in the 
 affair, which they might do without wounding their 
 honour or rights. 
 
 Both parties having accepted his mediation, he 
 dispatched Cardinal Joyeuse into Italy, who managed 
 
284 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 this negotiation with so much address, that in the 
 end he effected a reconciliation. The treaty contained 
 four principal articles: i. That the seigniory should 
 consign the two prisoners in the hands of the am- 
 bassador of France, to remit them to his Holiness. 
 
 2. That they should revoke the manifesto and declara- 
 tion they had made against the apostolic censors. 
 
 3. That they should restore to all ecclesiastics their 
 property. 4. That the Pope should give them absolu- 
 tion, and that in requital they should send to thank 
 him by a noble embassy, and assure him of their filial 
 obedience. 
 
 On the morrow the Cardinal de Joyeuse, coming to 
 the place assigned by the seigniory, the doors being shut, 
 in the presence of the Doge and twenty-five senators, 
 and of the ambassador of France, revoked the excom- 
 munication, and gave absolution to the seigniory. All 
 this was effected without the slightest intervention on 
 the part of the Spaniards, though they endeavoured to 
 share in it. Thus both parties had some sort of satis- 
 faction by the good offices of Henry the Great. 
 
 The business of the Jesuits, however, for some 
 months retarded the treaty. It came very near break- 
 ing it off altogether, because the Pope, considering 
 that they were driven away for his sake, firmly re- 
 solved that the seigniory should re-establish them in 
 their propert}', and the seigniory were equally obstinate, 
 preferring rather to hazard all than to consent to it. 
 At last the Pope, persuaded by the eloquence of Car- 
 dinal Perron, who was then at Rome, thought it better 
 to waive this point than hazard the outbreak of a war 
 throughout Christendom ; and the Jesuits therefore 
 
THE KING'S SUCCESSFUL MEDIATION 285 
 
 remained banished from the lands of the seignior}-. 
 Alexander VIL, by his intercession, afterwards caused 
 them to be re-established. 
 
 If the accommodation of the differences between 
 the Pope and the Venetians added much to the renown 
 and reputation of our Henry, reviving the credit of 
 France bej'ond the mountains, where it seemed dead, 
 and depressing by as much that of the Spaniards, 
 which before seemed paramount, the treaty which he 
 managed between the King of Spain and the States 
 or United Provinces purchased him no less fame 
 among the Protestants and the people of the north. 
 I will briefl}' relate the circumstances. 
 
 The United Provinces, commonl}' called Holland, 
 from the name of the largest of the seven provinces 
 which composed this body, had some reason to com- 
 plain that the King had made the treaty at Vervins 
 without their consent, and that he had bound himself 
 not to assist them, either directl}' or indirectly. He 
 had, however, kept them supplied with money, and also 
 had permitted a large number of volunteers, including 
 many nobles, to enlist themselves in their service to 
 such an extent that there were many regiments com- 
 posed entirely of Frenchmen. It was not therefore 
 without apparent reason that the Spaniards cried out 
 that he had clearly infringed the treat}' of Vervins ; 
 but these reproaches were not just, for they had broken 
 it beforehand by a hundred attempts, of which we have 
 mentioned some. 
 
 In the meantime the King, who was very careful 
 of his money, was weary of furnishing the United 
 Provinces with so much, and earnestly desired to see 
 
286 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 them in a position in which they would not put him 
 to so much expense. There was only one way to 
 effect this, and that was by securing them peace with 
 the Spaniards. He therefore resolved to work for this 
 end, and chose the president Jeannin, a man of great 
 good sense, to manage this negotiation. 
 
 The two parties at first consented to a truce 
 of eight months, during which the estates of the 
 United Provinces, in order that they might treat 
 with more reputation and security, prayed the King 
 to grant them an offensive and defensive alliance. 
 This, of which the following are the principal articles, 
 he willingly granted them. 
 
 He promised faithfully to assist and aid them by 
 all means in his power to obtain from the King of 
 Spain a good and assured peace. If it pleased God 
 that they should obtain it he would cause it to be 
 faithfully observed, and would defend them against all 
 who should dare to infringe it ; and to this end he 
 would maintain in their service ten thousand foot at 
 his own expense, so long as they should have need 
 of them. Reciprocally the states agreed that if he 
 were assaulted in his kingdom they would assist him 
 with five thousand foot at their own expense ; and 
 they would leave it to the King's choice to take this 
 assistance in soldiers, or in ships fitted and furnished 
 at all points to fight at sea. 
 
 The Spaniards were extremely alarmed at this 
 alliance. Don Pedro de Toledo, one of the greatest 
 lords of Spain, passing through France to go to the 
 Low Countries, made great complaints to the King ; 
 but many imagined that all the noise he made tended 
 
THE KING AND DON PEDRO DE TOLEDO 287 
 
 only to oblige him to treat of peace with the 
 Hollanders, for Spain was exhausted with a war so 
 long, so tiresome, and so bloody, with such great 
 expense and so little progress. 
 
 Don Pedro, as is characteristic of the true Spanish 
 nobility, was of an austere and grave countenance, high 
 and magnificent in his words when it was a question of 
 the honour and glory of his nation and the power of 
 his king, but otherwise courteous and civil, submissive 
 and respectful where he should be so, gallant, witty, 
 and clever. We must not omit to mention several 
 interesting incidents which took place during his visit 
 to the King. 
 
 The King, believing that he had brought him threats 
 of war, and knowing that the Spaniards had spread 
 abroad a report that he was quite lame with the gout 
 and unable to mount on horseback, wished to show 
 him that his health and activity were not at all 
 diminished. He received him in the great gallery at 
 Fontainebleau, and made him take twenty or thirty 
 turns at so great a pace that he put him out of breath, 
 then saying to him, " You see now, sir, how well 
 I am!" 
 
 At this first audience Don Pedro brought his beads 
 in his hand. He represented to the King the general 
 interest that all Catholic princes had in the ruin or 
 conversion of heretics, and the great wars which his 
 master had waged for this purpose. Afterwards changing 
 his discourse, he told him that the Catholic King 
 earnestly desired to ally himself more closely with him, 
 and to make marriages between their children, pro- 
 vided that the King would renounce the alliance and 
 
288 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 protection of the Low Countries. The King frankl}' 
 answered that his children were of as noble blood as 
 could be found ; that he desired no constrained friend- 
 ships nor conditions ; that he could not abandon his 
 friends ; but that those, who would not be such, would 
 repent of being his enemies. 
 
 Don Pedro upon this exalted the greatness and power 
 of Spain. The King, without being moved, let him know 
 that it was like the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, composed 
 of several sorts of materials, and which had feet of cla}'. 
 Don Pedro then came to reproaches and threats. The 
 King, however, was more than a match for him, and 
 told him that if the King of Spain continued his at- 
 tempts, he would carry flames even into the Escurial, 
 and that if he once mounted on horseback he would 
 soon be at Madrid. The Spaniard arrogantly answered 
 him, " King Francis was there, indeed." " Therefore," 
 replied the King, " I would go there to revenge his 
 injuries, those of France, and my own." 
 
 After some high words, the King with a calmer voice 
 said to him, " My lord ambassador, you are a Spaniard 
 and I a Gascon, let us not grow angry." They returned 
 then to the language of sweetness and civility. 
 
 Another time the King, showing him his buildings 
 at Fontainebleau, asked him what he thought of them. 
 He replied that in his opinion God was lodged ver}' 
 narrowly. There were then but two chapels, which 
 were in the court, and were certainly very small. The 
 King could not bear to have his piety accused, and 
 therefore answered him very sharply : " You Spaniards 
 know not how to give God other than material temples ; 
 we Frenchmen lodge God not only in stones, we lodge 
 
DON PEDRO KISSES THE KING'S SWORD 289 
 
 Him in our hearts ; but though He should be lodged in 
 yours, I fear it would be in stone still." 
 
 From Fontainebleau they came to Paris, where the 
 King one day showed him his gallery of the Louvre, 
 and asked his opinion of it. " The Escurial is just 
 such another thing," said Don Pedro. " I believe it," 
 replied the King ; " but has it a Paris about it like 
 my gallery ? " 
 
 One day Don Pedro, seeing at the Louvre the King's 
 sword in the hands of one of his cloak-bearers, advanced 
 to it, and putting one knee on the ground, kissed it, 
 "rendering this honour," he said, " to the most glorious 
 sword in Christendom ! " 
 
 During the eight months' truce of which we have 
 spoken, the president Jeannin incessantly laboured for a 
 treaty. There were two great difficulties ; one, that 
 the King of Spain would not treat with the United 
 Provinces but as with subjects, and they on their part 
 wished to be acknowledged as free and independent ; 
 the other, that the Prince of Orange, whose power 
 and authority would be extremely weakened by the 
 peace, opposed it by a thousand artifices, being up- 
 held in it by the province of Zealand, which was 
 always anxious for war, and by some cities of its 
 faction. 
 
 These two obstacles were in the end surmounted. 
 The Spaniard yielded on the first, and acknowledged 
 the states as free states, provinces, and countries ; and 
 for the second, the King spoke so sharply to the Prince 
 of Orange that he dared not stop the course of the 
 treaty. It did not end, however, in a peace, as was 
 to be desired, but only in a truce of twelve years, 
 
 19 
 
290 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 during which time the commerce of both countries was 
 to be free and assured. 
 
 The renown of this negotiation carried the King's 
 glory throughout all Europe. The Doge of Venice 
 told the French ambassador in the senate that the 
 seigniory had fresh cause to admire the prudent con- 
 duct of the King, who never deceived himself in his 
 undertaking, nor ever gave blow in vain ; that he 
 was the true upholder of the repose and felicity of 
 Christendom ; and that nothing more could be desired 
 for the happiness of his kingdom but that he might 
 reign for ever. A eulogy so much the more worthy 
 and glorious because we may say with truth that 
 Venice has always been the seat of political wisdom, 
 and that the praises which come from that senate are 
 as so many oracles. 
 
 The friendship and protection of this great king was 
 sought on all sides. All was referred to his arbitration, 
 and all implored his assistance. And as he was equally 
 powerful and wise, feared and loved, there was none 
 who dared contradict his judgment, or attack those 
 whom he protected. But he was so just that he would 
 not encroach upon the rights of another, nor maintain 
 the rebellions of subjects against their sovereign, a 
 notable proof of which he gave in the affair of the 
 Moors. 
 
 It is well known that the Moors or Saracens invaded 
 Spain towards the year 725. The Christians, with the 
 aid of the French, had regained it from them little by 
 little, so that there remained to them no more than the 
 kingdom of Granada, which was small in extent, but very 
 rich, and extremely populous, because all the remnants 
 
THE MOORS SOLICIT HELP OF HENRY 291 
 
 of that infidel nation had retired into that little space. 
 Ferdinand King of Arragon, and Isabella Queen of 
 Castile, completed the conquest of that kingdom in the 
 year 1492, and so put an end to the government of the 
 Moors and to the Mohammedan religion in Spain, 
 forcing the iniidels to accept baptism, or to retire into 
 Africa. 
 
 Now as those who had thus professed the Christian 
 religion only did so because they were obliged to, they 
 for the most part remained Mohammedans in their 
 hearts, or Jews (for there were many Jews amongst 
 them), and secretly brought up their children in their 
 unbelief. To this, however, the Spaniards themselves 
 largely contributed, by putting great distinction be- 
 tween the new Christians and the old ; for they would 
 not receive the new ones either to charges or holy 
 orders, they would not intermarry with them, and, 
 what is worse, levied blackmail upon them, and op- 
 pressed them with excessive imposts. So that these 
 unfortunate people, seeing themselves thus trampled on, 
 and being too weak to free themselves from their yoke, 
 resolved to address themselves to some foreign power, 
 but which should be Christian, because that of the King 
 of Morocco, or the other princes of Africa, would have 
 appeared too odious. With this object they secretly had 
 recourse by deputies to our Henry, when he was still 
 only King of Navarre. Afterwards, in the year 1595, 
 when they saw that he had overcome the League, and 
 had got the upper hand in his affairs, they again im- 
 plored his protection. He listened favourably to their 
 propositions, sent disguised agents into Spain to see 
 the state of their affairs, and gave them hope that he 
 
 19 — 2 
 
292 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 would assist them. And he might easily have done it, 
 since he was at war with the King of Spain, and it 
 is lawful to make use of all sorts of arms to defend 
 ourselves against our enemies. In the year 1608 they 
 again returned and earnestly solicited him to accept 
 their propositions and offers, and to give them an answer 
 from his own mouth. He told them plainly that the 
 quality of most Christian King which he bore prevented 
 him from undertaking their defence so long as the peace 
 of Vervins lasted ; but that if the Spaniards should first 
 openly infringe it, he would have just cause to receive 
 them under his protection. 
 
 Their deputies having lost all hopes in this quarter, 
 addressed themselves to the King of England, whom 
 they found still less disposed than he to lend them 
 assistance. In the meantime, their plots, having taken 
 wind in the court of Spain, caused both fear and 
 astonishment, for there were nearly a million of them, 
 and they owned almost all the commerce, particularly 
 in oils, which is very great in that country. 
 
 King Philip III. could see no safer way to hinder 
 the dangerous effects of their conspiracies than banishing 
 them from his territories. This he did by an edict 
 of the loth of January, 1610, which was executed with 
 much cruelty, inhumanity, and treachery ; for in trans- 
 porting these unfortunate people into Africa, as they 
 had begged, part were drowned in the sea, others de- 
 spoiled of all they had, so that those who had not yet 
 departed, perceiving the ill-treatment of their com- 
 panions, fled towards France, one part by land to 
 St. Jean de Lus, to the number of one hundred and 
 fifty thousand, others in French vessels, which brought 
 
THEIR BANISHMENT FROM SPAIN 293 
 
 them into various ports of the kingdom. But those 
 who came by land were not much better treated by 
 the French than the others had been by the Spaniards, 
 for in crossing the Landes^ they were almost all robbed 
 and stripped, and their wives and daughters ravished ; 
 so that finding so little safety in a country wherein 
 they had believed they would find refuge, they em- 
 barked by the King's permission at the ports of 
 Languedoc, and crossed over into Africa, where they 
 have become implacable and most cruel enemies to all 
 Christians. Some few families remained in the maritime 
 cities of the kingdom, as in Bordeaux and Rouen. 
 
 The King, instead of protecting these infidels, was 
 planning a gigantic undertaking towards the Levant, for 
 the glory and extension of the Christian religion. But 
 he would not declare himself till he had so ordered 
 the affairs of Christendom that there should be no fear 
 of any trouble or division, and that it might make use 
 of all its forces against so powerful an enemy as the 
 Grand Turk. In pursuance of this idea he had sent 
 three or four gentlemen into the Levant, who, under 
 the pretext of travelling and visiting the holy places, 
 reconnoitred the country, the disposition of the people, 
 the state of their forces, and the garrisons and govern- 
 ment of the Turks ; which having well considered, 
 he estimated that after having settled the interests 
 and procured the union of the Christian princes, he 
 might in three or four years at most ruin this terrible 
 power, and that with an army of thirty-five thousand 
 foot and twelve thousand horse only. Alexander the 
 Great had no more forces to destroy the empire of 
 
 ^ Dry, sandy ground. 
 
294 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 the Persians, which without doubt was greater and 
 more powerful than that of the Turks. 
 
 1 shall recount what his great design for the reunion 
 of Christendom was when I have briefly observed some 
 important things which happened in the three or four 
 last years of his life. 
 
 As he laboured diligently to heap up money, the 
 sinews of war, so he listened to all propositions made 
 for gaining it, so much the more willingly because his 
 design was to abolish all taxes and impositions.^ This 
 could not be done without greatly diminishing his 
 revenue, so it was necessary to find some other way of 
 getting funds in its place. Now this he hoped to 
 find in the demesnes of the crown, which he desired 
 entirely to release and increase by a number of new 
 rights, and particularly by that of the greffes,^ which 
 had been quite withdrawn for five or six years, but had 
 brought him in fifteen million francs a year. After his 
 death, however. Queen Mary de Medicis re-established 
 it on a much larger scale than before. 
 
 As for the impost, our Henry had a desire to buy 
 from the owners all the salt-marshes of Poitou and 
 Brittany, and then when he had them in his own 
 hands, to sell the salt upon the spot at what price 
 he pleased to the merchant, who would again retail 
 it through the whole kingdom without constraint or 
 imposition. This would have done away with the 
 necessity for so many overseers, controllers, factors, 
 officers, and a hundred others, who, without exaggera- 
 
 ^ La gabellc : excise duties, principally in salt. 
 
 2 The grejjcs was a due to the King of £i 3s. gd. upon the 
 sale of wood in several places. 
 
FINANCIAL REFORMS 295 
 
 tion, amounted to nearly twenty thousand, all fed and 
 paid at the expense of the King and public, and 
 against whom he had often very great complaints. 
 Thus the poor country people would not be burdened 
 by them with the imposition on salt, forcing them 
 willy-nilly to take yearly a certain quantity ; and it is 
 certain the people would have had it a great deal 
 cheaper, and the King have raised much more money, 
 without expense, trouble, or vexation of his subjects. 
 
 Now it must be acknowledged that the King, in 
 seeking means to fill his coffers, and to find some 
 other way than taxes, made some imposts and also 
 created officers ; but it must also be admitted that he 
 removed many things which gave cause of complaint. 
 And moreover, to pay his old debts and find means for 
 the rewards and pensions due to those who had served 
 him in his wars against the League, he was obliged 
 to enact for their benefit several things which they 
 proposed, so that he loaded himself with envy and 
 reproaches which ought more justly to have fallen 
 upon those people than upon himself. But those who 
 knew his intentions did not blame him, for they called 
 that prudence and wise economy which some termed 
 avarice and insatiable covetousness. 
 
 Moreover, though this prince was desirous for the 
 comfort of his people and the grandeur of his state, 
 nevertheless it cannot be denied that he was sometimes 
 deceived in the choice of the means, which were not 
 always so innocent as his intentions. Two in par- 
 ticular are worth relating, of which the one made 
 some noise but never succeeded, and the other has had 
 very dangerous consequences. 
 
296 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 The first was an inquisition of the rents at the 
 Hotel de Ville, by which those who had not come 
 by them honestly were to be compelled to give them 
 up. This in itself was very just ; but the greater 
 part of the rents having changed owners, or been 
 parted, he must perforce trouble an infinite number 
 of families, so that all Paris was roused, and the 
 tenants had recourse to their provost of the mer- 
 chants. This was Miron, who was likewise civil 
 lieutenant, a man very zealous in the service of the 
 King, as he had shown on several occasions, but 
 withal a very honest man, and one whom no interest 
 in the world could bribe against the people, whose 
 magistrate he was. He boldly championed the cause 
 of the people, and spoke in the assemblies of the 
 Hotel de Ville, acted with the superintendent vigour- 
 ously, and made remonstrances to the King. But in 
 these remonstrances his warmth caused him to make 
 some odious comparisons, not of the King's person, 
 but of some of his council. 
 
 The Louvre stormed ; the people of the court 
 cried out that he had blasphemed ; those whom he 
 had mentioned in his speeches, and those who were 
 interested in this inquisition after rents used all their 
 endeavours to incense the King and to persuade him 
 rigorously to punish this boldness. On the other 
 hand, the people, hearing that their magistrate was 
 threatened, unanimously rose up to protect him. The 
 burgesses came in troops about his house to defend 
 it ; but Miron entreated them to retire, and not to 
 make him a criminal. He told them that there was 
 nothing to fear ; that they had to do with a king as 
 
THE KING AND THE PROVOST 297 
 
 sweet and just as he was great and wise, and who 
 would not let himself be carried away by the per- 
 suasions of evil counsellors. 
 
 Upon this, those who wished him ill employed all 
 their endeavours to persuade the King to take him by 
 force, and to assert his supreme authority. But he 
 wisely answered these people that authority does not 
 always consist in pushing matters to the utmost 
 extremity ; that the time, the persons, and the cause 
 ought to be regarded ; that having been ten years 
 extinguishing the fire of civil war, he feared even the 
 least sparks ; that Paris had cost him too much to 
 hazard the least danger of losing it, which seemed 
 to him certain if he followed their counsel, because 
 he should be obliged to make terrible examples, which 
 would in a few days deprive him of the glory of his 
 clemency and the love of his people, which he prized 
 as much as, nay above, his crown ; that he had on 
 a hundred other occasions proved the fidelity and 
 honesty of Miron, who had no ill-intention, but with- 
 out doubt believed himself obliged by the duty of 
 his office to do what he did ; that if some incon- 
 siderate words had escaped him, he might well pardon 
 them for his past services ; that after all, if this man 
 affected to be the martyr of the people, he would not 
 give him that glory nor bring upon himself the name 
 of persecutor or tyrant ; and, finally, that it was not 
 on such valuable occasions that he ought to prosecute 
 a man, when people desired his destruction. 
 
 Thus this wise King knew how to prudently dissem- 
 ble a little fault ; he did not even want to know what 
 had passed, for fear of being obliged to strike some blow 
 
298 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 of authority which might possibly have had dangerous 
 consequences. He received, therefore, very favourably 
 the excuses and humble submission of Miron, and 
 afterwards prohibited the inquisitions of rents, which 
 had caused so much trouble. 
 
 The second means of which he availed himself to 
 raise money, and which was of very dangerous con- 
 sequence, was the paillette, or annual right. To un- 
 derstand this properly we must go back a little in 
 histor3^ 
 
 The offices of judicature, of police, and of the re- 
 venues had formerly been exercised in France, under 
 the first and second race of our kings, by gentlemen ; 
 for the nobility were obliged to study and understand 
 the laws of the kingdom. They were chosen for the 
 maturity of their age and judgment ; they were changed 
 from time to time, from one seat to another ; and they 
 took no fees from suitors, except a very moderate 
 salary which the public paid them rather for honour 
 than recompense. Afterwards, towards the end of the 
 second race and at the beginning of the third, the 
 nobility became ignorant and weak, and the plebeians 
 and burgesses, having gained a knowledge of the laws, 
 raised themselves little by little to these charges, both 
 judicial and financial, and began to make them of 
 higher value, because they drew all their honour and 
 dignity thence, not having any other by birth, as the 
 gentlemen had. Yet they had not very much to do, 
 for the churchmen possessed almost all the jurisdiction, 
 and had their officers who administered justice. 
 
 In the meantime the parliament, which before was 
 as the council of state of the kingdom, and an epitome 
 
THE OLD ORDER OF THINGS 299 
 
 of the States-general, took upon themselves the decision 
 of differences between particular persons, whereas be- 
 fore they only treated of great affairs of policy ; there- 
 fore Philip the Fair, or, according to some others, his 
 son, Louis X., made it stationary at Paris. Now this 
 company of judges became most illustrious, because 
 the King often took his seat amongst them, the dukes, 
 peers, and prelates of the realm formed a part of them, 
 and the most able people in legal matters were chosen 
 to fill places there. They made the power of other 
 judges-royal depend upon them, to wit, the bailiffs and 
 seneschals, who, though before this they had been 
 sovereign judges, became now subordinate to them. 
 
 At various times after, other kings created many other 
 parliaments, but with the sole intention of causing justice 
 to be administered without any pecuniary interest, and 
 by it they filled their coffers with wages to pay these 
 officers. 
 
 At this time the number of the officers of justice 
 was very small, and the order which was observed to 
 fill the vacancies in parliament perfectly good. The 
 custom was to keep a register of all the able advocates 
 and lawyers, and when any ofiice was vacant they 
 chose three, whose names they carried to the King, 
 who chose one of them. But the favourites and the 
 courtiers soon corrupted this order. They persuaded 
 the kings not to confine themselves to those presented, 
 but to name one of their own choosing, the object, of 
 course, being that these favourites might extract some 
 present from him who should be made on their recom- 
 mendation. And the abuse was so great that often the 
 offices were filled with ignorant and low people ; and 
 
300 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 so people of merit held the position of an advocate 
 much more honourable than that of a counsellor. 
 
 The mischief daily increased, and the rich people 
 becoming extremely desirous of these posts for lucre, 
 and their wives out of vanity, those who governed 
 began to make a regular traffic in them. Thus under 
 Louis XII., his coffers being exhausted by the long 
 Italian wars, the offices of the revenue commenced to 
 be openly sold. However, that good king having soon 
 foreseen the dangerous consequence, resolved to re- 
 imburse those who had bought them ; but dying with- 
 out fulfilling his good intention, Francis I., of whom 
 he had well predicted that he would spoil all,^ sold 
 likewise those of judicature. At various times after- 
 wards new ones were created, with the sole purpose of 
 raising money. 
 
 Afterwards Henry II., his son, created the presi- 
 dents, and Charles IX. and Henry III., heaping ill 
 upon ill and ruin upon ruin, made a great number of 
 other creations of all sorts, in order to have these 
 wares to sell ; and, moreover, they sold offices when 
 they were vacant, either by death or forfeiture. 
 
 Hitherto the evil had been great, but not incurable. 
 When these offices became vacant, a part only need 
 have been suppressed, and the rest filled with persons 
 of capacity and merit. Thus in twenty years this ants' 
 nest of officers might have been reduced to a very small 
 number, and those honest people. 
 
 But the business was not in this way made known 
 to Henry the Great ; they represented it to him in 
 another sense. They gave him to understand that 
 1 He had often said, " That fat boy will spoil all." 
 
THE ORIGIN OF THE ''PAULETTE" 301. 
 
 since he drew no profit from vacant offices, being 
 almost always obliged to give them, he would do well 
 to find the means to discharge in this way a part of 
 the wages he paid his officers, which he might do by 
 granting them their offices for their heirs, reserving a 
 moderate sum of money which they should yearly pay, 
 yet without forcing anyone, so that it should be a 
 favour and not an oppression. This was named the 
 annual right, otherwise the pauldte, from the name of 
 the proposer Paulet, who gave the counsel and was the 
 first farmer. All the officers were only too pleased to 
 pay this right, so as to assure their offices to their 
 heirs. We need not here tell the mischief and in- 
 convenience which this wicked invention caused. 
 
 I will not weary the reader with all the ceremonies 
 and rejoicings made at the birth and baptism of all 
 the children of Henry the Great, nor at the various 
 marriages of the princes and grandees of the court, 
 amongst others, of the Prince of Conde and the Duke 
 of Vendome, which were celebrated in July, i6og. 
 
 The Prince of Conde espoused Charlotta Margarita 
 of Montmorency, daughter of the Constable, who was 
 wonderfully fair and had a splendid presence, which 
 the King having noticed, was more struck with her 
 than he had ever been with any other, which shortly 
 after caused the retreat of the Prince of Conde, who 
 carried her into Flanders, and thence retired to Milan. 
 The King was extremely displeased at seeing the first 
 prince of his blood cast himself into his enemies' hands. 
 
 The Duke of Vendome espoused Mademoiselle de 
 Merceur, to whom he had been affianced since the year 
 1597, as we have said before. The mother of the lady, 
 
302 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 however, being very proud and haughty, threw so many 
 obstacles in the way of this marriage that it would 
 never have taken place if the King had not concerned 
 himself in it. This was not the least difficult thing in 
 his life, for he had a high and obstinate spirit to bend; 
 however, he employed only ways of gentleness and per- 
 suasion, acting in this business only as a father who 
 loved his son, and not as a King who would be obeyed. 
 I do not think it necessary to dwell at any very 
 great length on the King's ordinary diversions, these 
 being hunting, building, feasts, play, and walking. I will 
 add only that in feasts and merriments he would appear 
 as good a companion and as jovial as another ; that he 
 was of a merry humour when he had the glass in his 
 hand, though very sober ; that his mirth and witti- 
 cisms were the best part of the good cheer ; that he 
 showed no less agility and strength in combats at the 
 barrier, courses at the ring, and all sorts of gallantries 
 than the youngest lords ; that he took delight in balls 
 and sometimes danced. Some thought it wrong that 
 so great a prince should descend to such follies, and 
 that a greybeard should take pleasure in acting the 
 young man. It may be said in his excuse that the 
 great cares of his mind had need of these diversions. 
 But I know not what to answer to those who re- 
 proach him with too great a love for playing at cards 
 and dice, little befitting a great king ; and that withal 
 he was no great gamester, but greedy of coin, fearful 
 at great stakes, and petulant upon a loss. To this I 
 must acknowledge that it was a fault in this great 
 king, who was no more exempt from blots than the 
 sun. 
 
THE KING'S GREATEST WEAKNESS 303 
 
 It might be wished for the honour of his memory 
 that he had been only guilty of this ; but that continual 
 weakness he had for fair ladies was much more blamable 
 in a Christian prince, in a man of his age, who was 
 married, to whom God had shown so many graces, and 
 who had conceived such great designs in his spirit. 
 Sometimes he had desires which were passing, and 
 only fixed for a night ; but when he met with beauties 
 which struck him to the heart, he loved even to folly, 
 and in such transports of passion he resembled anyone 
 rather than Henry the Great. 
 
 The fable says that Hercules took the spindle and 
 spun for the love of the fair Omphale. Henry 
 did meaner things for his mistresses. He once dis- 
 guised himself like a countryman, with a wallet of 
 straw on his back, to gain access to the fair Gabrielle ; 
 and it has been reported that the Marchioness of 
 Verneuil had more than once seen him at her feet 
 bewailing her disdain and insults. 
 
 Twenty romances might be made of the intrigues of 
 his loves with the Countess of Guiche, when he was 
 but King of Navarre ; with Jacqueline of Bueil, whom 
 he made Countess of Moret ; and with Charlotta 
 d'Essards, without counting many other ladies, who 
 held it a glory to have some charm for so great a 
 king. 
 
 The high esteem and affection which the French 
 had for him hindered them from being offended at 
 such scandals ; but the Queen his wife was extremely 
 annoyed at it, and it hourly caused controversies between 
 them. The King, who was in fault, endured it very 
 patiently, and employed his greatest confidants, and 
 
304 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 sometimes his confessor, to appease his spirit, so that 
 he continually had a reconciliation to make. These 
 contentions were so common that the court, which at 
 first was astonished at them, in the end took no 
 notice. 
 
 Conjugal duty without doubt obliged the King not 
 to violate his faith to his legitimate spouse, or at least 
 not to keep his mistresses in her sight. But if in this 
 point he ought to have been a good husband, so ought 
 he to have been likewise in that of authority, and in 
 accustoming his wife to obey him with more sub- 
 mission, and not trouble him as she did with hourly 
 complaints, reproaches, and even threats. 
 
 The trouble and displeasure of these domestic vexa- 
 tions certainly retarded the execution of the great 
 design which he had formed for the good and perpetual 
 repose of Christendom, and for the destruction of the 
 Ottoman power. 
 
 It has been variously spoken of, but I have extracted 
 the following from the memoirs of the Duke of Sully, 
 who certainly must know something about it, being as 
 he was so great a confidant of this king. 
 
 The King desiring to put in execution those projects 
 he had conceived after the peace of Vervins, believed 
 that he ought first to establish in his kingdom an un- 
 shaken peace, by reconciling all spirits both to him 
 and among themselves, and taking away all causes of 
 bitterness ; and that, moreover, it was necessary for 
 him to choose people capable and faithful, who might 
 see in what way his revenues or estates might be 
 bettered, and to make himself so well acquainted with 
 all his affairs that he might discern the good from the 
 
THE CREDIT OF FRANCE RE-ESTABLISHED 305 
 
 ill, feasible from impossible enterprises, and such as 
 were proportionate to his revenues ; for an expense 
 made beyond them draws the people's curses, and 
 those are generally followed by God's. 
 
 He granted an edict to the Huguenots, in order 
 that the two religions might live in peace. Afterwards 
 he made a certain and fixed order to pay his debts and 
 those of the kingdom contracted by the disorders of 
 the times, the profuseness of his ancestors, and by the 
 payments and purchases of men and places which he 
 was forced to make during the war with the League. 
 (Sully showed him an account in the year 1607, by 
 which it appeared that he had paid eighty-seven 
 million francs.) This re-established the reputation and 
 credit of France among strangers, by whom it was 
 before held in very low estimation. 
 
 That done, he continually laboured to join in his 
 great design all Christian princes, offering to give them 
 all the fruit of his undertakings against the infidels, 
 without reserving anj^thing for himself; for he did not 
 wish, he said, for any other kingdom than France. 
 
 He likewise endeavoured on all occasions to ex- 
 tinguish disorders and to pacify differences among the 
 Christian princes as soon as they arose, and that 
 with no other interest than that of the reputation of a 
 generous, disinterested, wise, and just prince. 
 
 He became very friendly with all nations and their 
 princes that seemed best disposed towards France, such 
 as the United Provinces, the Venetians, the Swiss, and 
 the Orisons. After having bound them to him by very 
 strong ties, he endeavoured to negotiate with the three 
 great kingdoms of the north, England, Denmark, and 
 
 20 
 
3o6 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Sweden, to discuss and decide their differences, and 
 likewise to endeavour to reconcile them to the Pope, 
 or at least to minimise their hatred and enmit}', so 
 that they might live together. This would have been 
 advantageous to the Pope, for they would thereby have 
 acknowledged him as the first prince of Christendom 
 as to temporal affairs, and in that case rendered him 
 all respect. He endeavoured to do the same thing 
 among the electors, the states and cities of the 
 Empire, being obliged particularly, he said, to take 
 care of an empire which had been founded by his 
 predecessors. Afterwards he sounded the lords of 
 Bohemia, Hungary, Transylvania, and Poland to know 
 if they would concur with him in the design of taking 
 away and rooting up for ever all causes of trouble and 
 division in Christendom. He treated after that with 
 the Pope, who approved and praised his plan, and 
 desired to contribute on his part all that was possible. 
 He desired perfectly to unite all Christendom, so 
 that it should be one body, which would have been, 
 and rightly so, called the Christian commonwealth. To 
 effect this, he had determined to divide it into fifteen 
 dominions or states, so as to make them of equal 
 power and strength, and whose limits should be so 
 well specified by the universal consent of the whole 
 fifteen that none could pass beyond them. These 
 were to be the Pontificate or Papacy, the Empire of 
 Germany, France, Spain, Great Britain, Hungary, 
 Bohemia, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Savoy or the 
 kingdom of Lombardy, the seigniory of Venice, the 
 Italian commonwealth, Belgium or the Low Countries, 
 and the Swiss. 
 
THE KING'S ''GREAT DESIGN'' 307 
 
 Of these states there were to have been five suc- 
 cessive : France, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, and 
 Lombardy ; six elective : the Papacy, the Empire, 
 Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, and Denmark ; four re- 
 pubHcs ; two of which were to be democratic, to wit, 
 the Belgians and the Swiss, and two aristocratic or 
 seigniories, that of Venice and that of the small Italian 
 princes and towns. 
 
 The Pope was to have, besides those lands he 
 possessed, the whole kingdom of Naples, and was 
 also to receive the homage of the Italian common- 
 wealth and of the island of Sicily. 
 
 The seigniory of Venice were to do homage to the 
 Pope for Sicily, by kissing his toe and giving a golden 
 crucifix every twenty years. 
 
 The Italian commonwealth would have been com- 
 posed of the states of Florence, Genoa, Lucca, Mantua, 
 Parma, Modena, Monaco, and other small places which 
 were likewise to be held of the holy see, by payment 
 of a crucifix of gold worth ten thousand francs. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy, besides those lands he possessed, 
 was likewise to have Milan, and all was to be created 
 a kingdom by the Pope, under the title of the kingdom 
 of Lombardy, and which would have taken Montferrat 
 in exchange for Cremona. 
 
 Franche-Comte, Alsatia, Tyrol, and the country of 
 Trent with their dependencies were to have been in- 
 corporated with the Helvetian or Swiss republic, and 
 simple homage was to be done by them to the Emperor 
 of Germany every twenty-five years. 
 
 All the seventeen provinces of the Low Countries, 
 Protestant as well as Catholic, were to have been 
 
 20 — 2 
 
3o8 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 established as a free and sovereign republic, except for a 
 like homage to the Empire ; and this dominion was to 
 have been increased by the duchy of Cleves, of Juliers, 
 of Berghe, of La Mark, Ravenstein, and other small 
 neighbouring seigniories. 
 
 To the kingdom of Hungary were to have been joined 
 the states of Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia. 
 
 The Emperor was to renounce aggrandising himself 
 by any confiscation, disinheritance, or reversion of male 
 fiefs, but was to be able to dispose vacant fiefs in 
 favour of persons not of his kindred, by the consent 
 of the electors and princes of the Empire. It was 
 likewise to have been agreed that the Empire should 
 never upon any occasion whatsoever be held succes- 
 sively by two princes of one house, for fear of its be- 
 coming hereditary, as it has been for a long time in 
 Austria. 
 
 The kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia were to 
 have been likewise elective by the voice of seven electors ; 
 to wit (i) that of the nobles, clergy, and cities of that 
 country ; (2) of the Pope ; (3) of the Emperor ; (4) of 
 the King of France ; (5) of the King of Spain ; (6) of 
 the King of England ; (7) of the Kings of Sweden, 
 Denmark, and Poland, who were to count as one. 
 
 Besides, to regulate the differences which might arise 
 between the confederacy, and to decide them without 
 violence, there was to have been established an order and 
 form of procedure by a general council, composed of sixty 
 persons, four on the part of each dominion, which was 
 to have been situated in some city in the midst of 
 Europe, such as Metz, Nancy, Cologne, or some other 
 equally convenient. There were likewise to have been 
 
THE OBJECT OF THE DESIGN 309 
 
 established three other councils, each of twenty men, 
 which were to report to the grand council. 
 
 Moreover, by the consent of the general council, 
 which was to be called the senate of the Christian 
 commonwealth, there was to be established an order 
 and regulation between sovereign and subjects, to hinder 
 on one side the oppression and tyranny of princes, and on 
 the other side the complaints and rebellions of subjects. 
 There was likewise to have been raised and assured a 
 reserve of money and men, to which every dominion 
 was to contribute according to the assessment of the 
 grand council, for the assistance of the dominions liable 
 to the attacks of infidels, to wit, Hungary against those 
 of the Turks, and Sweden and Poland against those of 
 the Muscovites and Tartars. 
 
 When all these fifteen dominions had been well 
 established with their rights, their governors and limits, 
 which he hoped might be done in less than three 
 years, they were together to have chosen three general 
 captains, two military and one naval, who were at once 
 to have assaulted the Ottoman empire. To this each 
 dominion was to have contributed a certain quantity 
 of men, ships, artillery, and money, according to the 
 tax imposed. The total sum which they were to 
 furnish was to amount to 265,000 foot, 50,000 horse, a 
 train of 217 pieces of artillery, with waggons, officers, 
 and ammunition proportionate, and 117 great ships 
 and galleys, besides vessels of less power, fireships, 
 and ships of burden. 
 
 This establishment would have been advantageous 
 to all Christian princes and states. There was only 
 the house of Austria which would suffer any loss. 
 
3IO HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 and which was to be despoiled for the benefit of 
 others. But the plan was to make them consent either 
 willingly or force them to it in this manner. First, we 
 must suppose that, on the part of Italy, the Pope, 
 the Venetians, and the Duke of Savoy were to be 
 informed of the King's designs, and would then 
 assist with all their forces, especially the Duke of 
 Savoy, who was then greatly pleased, because the King 
 gave his daughter in marriage to Victor Amadeo, son 
 of the duke. In Germany four electors, to wit, those 
 of Palatine, Brandenburg, Cologne, and Mentz were like- 
 wise to know it and favour it. The Duke of Bavaria 
 had their word, and that of the King, to raise him to 
 the Empire ; and many imperial cities had alread}' 
 addressed themselves to the King, to beseech him to 
 honour them with his protection, and to maintain them 
 in their privileges, which had been abolished by the 
 house of Austria. In Bohemia and Hungary communi- 
 cation was held with the lords and nobility, and the 
 people, desperate with the weight of that yoke, were 
 ready to shake it off, and to throw themselves into the 
 arms of him who should first extend them. 
 
 All these dispositions being so favourable to him, 
 the business of Cleves happened, which furnished him 
 with a fair occasion to begin the execution of his pro- 
 jects, which was to be carried out in this manner. 
 
 Having raised an army of forty thousand men, as 
 he did, he was in his march to send to all the princes 
 of Christendom, to give them the knowledge of his just 
 and holy intentions. After this, under the pretext of 
 going to Cleves, he was to seize all the passages of 
 the Meuse, and at once assault Charlemont, Maestricht, 
 
HOW IT WAS TO BE EXECUTED 311 
 
 and Namur, which were badly fortified. At the same 
 time the cities of the Low Countries would cry out for 
 liberty, and the lords put themselves in the field for 
 the same purpose, and blazon the Belgian lion with 
 the fleur-de-lis. The Hollanders would infest the coasts 
 with their ships to hinder the commerce of the Flemings 
 by sea, as it was shut up by the French by land, which 
 was to have been done to hasten the people to shake 
 off the Spanish rule, and to address themselves to the 
 King and to his allies, asking them to pray the King 
 of Spain to give them liberty, and out of his goodness 
 to restore peace to them, which they could never hope 
 for so long as they were under his dominion. 
 
 In all probability, at the approach of so great an 
 army, the understanding between the principal lords, 
 the insurrection of the great cities, and the love which 
 these people had always had for liberty, would have 
 caused all Flanders to rise, especially when they had 
 seen the wonderful order and exact discipline of the 
 King's soldiers, who would live like good guests, paying 
 for all, and not doing the least outrage upon pain of 
 death ; and when it became known that he laboured 
 only for the safety of the people, not reserving for 
 himself anything of all his conquests except the glory 
 and the satisfaction of having restored those provinces 
 to their liberty, without keeping so much as a castle 
 or village to himself. 
 
 At the same time that he had put Flanders into a 
 free state, and settled the difference of the succession 
 of Cleves, all the princes interested in this business, 
 the electors we have named, and the deputies of many 
 great cities, were to come to thank him, and entreat him 
 
312 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 that he would join his prayers and his authority to the 
 supphcations they had to make to the Emperor, to 
 dispose him to restore the states and cities of the 
 Empire to their ancient rights and immunities ; above 
 all, in the free election of a King of the Romans, 
 without using any constraint, promises, or threats. To 
 this effect it was to be from that moment resolved that 
 they should elect one of another house than that of 
 Austria, They had agreed among themselves that it 
 should be the Duke of Bavaria. The Pope would join 
 with them in this request, which would have been made 
 so urgently that it would have been difficult for the 
 Emperor, unarmed as he was, .to refuse it. 
 
 The like request was to have been made to the King 
 and his associates by the people of Bohemia, Hungary, 
 Austria, Styria, and Carinthia ; above all, for the right 
 they had to choose their own prince themselves, and 
 to put themselves under that form of government they 
 should think best, by the advice of their friends and 
 allies. To which the King condescending, would use 
 all sorts of fair means, prayers and supplications, even 
 below his dignity, that it might be seen he intended 
 not so much to avail himself of force as of equity 
 and reason. 
 
 After this the Duke of Savoy would demand of the 
 King of Spain, with all sorts of civility and in the name 
 of his children, that he would be pleased to give them 
 a dowry for their mother as good and advantageous as 
 he had to their aunt Isabella ; and in case of refusal, 
 the King was to permit Lesdiguieres to assist him 
 with fifteen thousand foot, and two thousand horse, for 
 the conquest of Milan or the country of Lombardy, in 
 
THE PROBABLE RESULTS 313 
 
 which he would have been favoured by the greater part 
 of the princes of Italy. 
 
 This done, he with his associates were to beseech 
 the Pope and the Venetians to become arbitrators be- 
 tween him and the King of Spain, to terminate peace- 
 ably those differences which were ready to break forth 
 between them, by reason of Naples, Sicily, Navarre, and 
 Roussillon. And then, to show that he had no thought 
 of his own aggrandisement, nor other ambition than 
 to secure the peace of Christendom, he would be ready 
 to yield to the Spaniards Navarre and Roussillon, 
 provided that they restored Naples and Sicily ; not 
 for himself, for he desired no other kingdom than 
 France, but for the Pope and the Venetians, to 
 whom he would have yielded his right over those 
 countries. 
 
 Finally, by an apostolic legate and by the remon- 
 strances of all his associates, he would have let the 
 King of Spain understand his design, together with the 
 princes of his house, and would conjure them by the 
 blood of Jesus Christ to consent to it, as being holy, 
 pious, charitable, glorious, and profitable to all Christen- 
 dom. They would lay before him the advantages which 
 would come to himself, and endeavour to make him 
 comprehend that he would be richer, less disturbed, and 
 more peaceable ; and that in twenty years Spain, which 
 was almost deserted, would be repeopled, and become 
 the most flourishing state of Europe. I believe it would 
 have been difficult to persuade him to it ; for irregular 
 and ill - advised ambition embraces chimeras rather 
 than solid things, and chooses rather to possess vast 
 and desert countries than a reasonable extent well 
 
314 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 cultivated and well peopled ; but possibly arms might 
 have convinced him, had reason failed. 
 
 For the rest, the King had resolved to renounce all 
 pretension ; not to keep anything of what he conquered ; 
 not to attempt anything which should not be approved 
 by his allies, and which he saw them not disposed to 
 contribute to ; not to begin in many distant places at 
 a time, but to pursue his expeditions by degrees, wait- 
 ing for the success of the first before he engaged in 
 others ; to show himself to be without ambition, with- 
 out covetousness or pride in the distribution of quarters, 
 victuals, spoils and conquests ; to favour the weak and 
 necessitous states ; to always send some honourable and 
 profitable acknowledgment to all the captains or soldiers 
 who had performed some worthy exploit ; never to enter 
 into those difficulties which so often arise between friends 
 and allies, but to always appear an equal, just, and 
 common friend ; to treat honourably the men of war 
 with praises or reproofs when they deserved them, and 
 to maintain strict discipline, prohibiting disorder, viola- 
 tions, and burnings, so that he might be received as 
 the restorer of nations and one who brought peace and 
 liberty, not ruin and desolation. 
 
 He had prepared his designs, made his preparations, 
 and arranged all his means to this end, with all the 
 diligence imaginable, for the space of eight or nine 
 years. He had made friends and allies on all sides, 
 and kept up communications everywhere. He had 
 won over the college of cardinals by great pensions, 
 had drawn to his service all the good captains in 
 Germany and Switzerland, and had likewise enlisted 
 all the good writers in Christendom on his side ; for 
 
THE NUMBER OF THE FORCES 315 
 
 indeed he would have chosen rather to persuade than 
 force people, and instruct them so well in his in- 
 tentions that they should regard his arms as forces 
 held in reserve, to be used only as a last resort. 
 
 This was the groundwork of his design, which, 
 without dissembling, was so great that it may be said 
 it was conceived by an intelligence more than human. 
 But great as it was, it was not above his power ; for 
 if princes do not limit their undertakings by their 
 power it happens that they ruin their states, just as 
 a man who undertakes a suit at law, or makes greater 
 bargains than his purse is able to sustain, is obliged 
 in the end to sell his stock and is swamped in a sea 
 of debts and troubles. 
 
 Besides his forces, which were great in number, 
 but ten times greater in valour, being all chosen men, 
 and having amongst them four thousand gentlemen, 
 daring all things in the sight of their King, the Prince 
 of Orange was to put himself in the field with fifteen 
 thousand foot and two thousand horse, and the Prince 
 of Anhalt in Germany with ten thousand. The Elec- 
 tors and the Duke of Bavaria had in readiness twice 
 as many, who would have met at places agreed upon 
 at the first sound of the trumpet. The Venetians and 
 the Duke of Savoy would each have been ready with 
 a considerable army at the first signal given. As for 
 the Swiss, besides a lev}' of six thousand chosen men 
 who came to the King, he might have had as many 
 more as he desired. As regards money, all his troops 
 were paid for three months, his garrisons well furnished, 
 all his storehouses on the frontiers full, and his cap- 
 tains honoured with great presents which he had 
 
3i6 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 made them. He had fourteen milhon hvres in the 
 Bastille, seven millions in the hands of the treasurer 
 of the exchequer, which formed the profits of the pre- 
 ceding year, and two millions in other hands. Moreover, 
 there was the current revenue, which was more than 
 twenty-seven millions ; and besides all this. Sully, his 
 chief treasurer, assured him of forty millions extra- 
 ordinary for three years ; so that he might maintain a 
 four years' war without burdening his subjects with new 
 charges. But he proposed to carry it on so vigorously 
 that it could last but a short time ; for he held that 
 a wise prince when he is obliged to declare war ought 
 to make it powerful and short, and at once astonish 
 the world with formidable preparations, because by this 
 means the greatness of the expense becomes economy, 
 and the conquests made through fear of his arms reach 
 further than those made by his arms themselves. 
 
 I have told you what was his design ; none but 
 God knows what would have been its success. We 
 may say, however, judging according to appearances, 
 that it could not but be happy, for there appeared no 
 prince nor state in Christendom who would not have 
 favoured it, or who would have taken the part of the 
 house of Austria, except the Duke of Saxony in 
 Germany, and the Duke of Florence in Italy. But 
 the King might have satisfied them both — the first, 
 by assisting against him the heirs of that Duke 
 "William, who had formerly been despoiled of the 
 electorate by the Emperor Charles V. ; the second, 
 by stirring up Pisa, Sienna, and Florence to cry for 
 liberty and shake off their yoke under the Medicis. 
 
 But it is time that I told you what the business 
 
THE AFFAIR OF CLEVES AND JULIERS 317 
 
 of Cleves and Juliers was, which had furnished him 
 with an occasion to take arms, and opened ways to 
 him to begin his great design. John WilHam, Duke 
 of JuHers, Cleves, and Berghe, Earl de la Mark 
 and Ravensburg, was the son of Duke William and 
 Mary of Austria, sister to the Emperor Charles V., 
 and grandchild to Duke John. Having died without 
 children, on the 25th of March, i6og, the question of 
 his succession was the cause of trouble in the neigh- 
 bouring states. He had four sisters, the first married 
 to the Marquis of Brandenburg, the second to the 
 Count Palatine of Neuburg, the third to the Duke of 
 Deux-Ponts, and the fourth to the Marquis of Burgaw. 
 The children of these marriages claimed succession, the 
 nearest excluding the furthest off, and the sons the 
 daughters. The Duke of Saxony, descended from an 
 elder daughter of Duke John, grandfather of Duke 
 William, said likewise that it belonged to him in pre- 
 ference to all the others, because it was concluded, 
 in the marriage contract of that lady, that in the 
 event of there being no male heir to the house of 
 Juliers, the succession should return to him and his 
 descendants ; and as this had actually happened, it 
 necessarily followed that the succession was open to 
 him. The Duke of Nevers also pretended to the duchy 
 of Cleves, as he alone carried the name and arms of 
 Cleves ; and the Count of Maulevrier for the same reason 
 demanded the count}' of La Mark, for he was the eldest 
 De la Mark, and in this quality he claimed likewise 
 the duchy of Bouillon and the seigniory of Sedan, 
 which were held by the Viscount of Turenne, Marshal 
 de Bouillon. The Emperor said that all these preten- 
 
3i8 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 sions were ill founded, for those lands, being male fiefs, 
 could not descend to daughters, but in default of males 
 devolved to the Empire, and therefore he should have 
 the disposal of them. He secretly gave the investiture 
 to Leopold of Austria, Bishop of Strasburg, and sent 
 his forces to seize those lands under pretext of right, 
 and in the meantime commanded the parties to appear 
 before his imperial majesty to prefer their claims. 
 
 The Duke of Nevers and the Count of Maulevrier 
 were not very energetic in their claims, because they 
 were given to understand that the fiefs they demanded 
 were united, and could not be dismembered. The 
 claims of the Marquis of Brandenburg and the Marquis 
 of Neuburg appearing to be the best, there was bitter 
 conflict between them. The Landgrave of Hesse, their 
 common friend, became mediator for them, and induced 
 them to agree to decide their difference in a friendly 
 manner, without employing their forces, except against 
 usurpers, the administration of the succession remaining 
 equal and common amongst them, saving the rights of 
 the Emperor. But in the meantime Leopold of Austria 
 arrived with his forces and seized Juliers. 
 
 The two princes resolved to drive him out, and 
 sought assistance on all sides, particularly imploring 
 that of the King, to whom they sent the Prince of 
 Anhalt with the letters of the Electors Palatine and of 
 the Duke of Wiirtemburg, who assured him that his 
 arms would be just, powerful, and by the grace of God 
 victorious. The Prince of Anhalt no doubt conversed 
 with him of many other things touching the "great 
 design." The King gave him a most gracious reception, 
 and received his propositions with an unparalleled joy. 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR 319 
 
 He answered him, in terms as obliging as he could, 
 that he would march in person to the assistance of his 
 good allies ; and that until such time as he could set 
 out with an equipage befitting a king of France, he 
 would send some troops on in advance, which he did 
 about the end of the year i6og. But moreover he prayed 
 him to let the confederate princes understand that they 
 would do him great wrong if they thought that he 
 intended any prejudice to the Catholic religion in 
 that country ; for he desired above all things that the 
 exercise of it should be preserved as it was before 
 the death of Duke William, who was a Catholic, but 
 Brandenburg and Neuburg were Protestants. 
 
 The Emperor likewise sent one of his confidential 
 ambassadors, entreating him not to favour the rebellion 
 and injustice of these princes, and to consider that he 
 could not assist them without doing wrong to the 
 Catholic religion. Henry the Great answered him 
 that, being the most -Christian King, he knew well 
 how to maintain and enlarge his title, but that it was 
 only a question of succouring his friends, to whom he 
 should never be wanting so long as he had life. 
 
 During the whole winter he gave orders for all pre 
 parations for this expedition, which was only the cover 
 to a greater one. Being resolved to undertake it per- 
 sonally, he endeavoured, before his departure from the 
 kingdom, to establish such good order in the govern- 
 ment of it that no trouble could happen during his 
 absence. He believed that the best way to secure this 
 was to leave the regency to the Queen ; but because 
 he knew that she was governed by Conchini, whom he 
 did not care for, he appointed a council composed of 
 
320 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 fifteen persons to assist her, these being the Cardinals 
 de Joyeuse and du Perron ; the Dukes of Mayenne, 
 Montmorency, and Montbazon; the Marshals de Brissac 
 and de Fervaques ; Chateau-Neuf, who was to have 
 been keeper of the seals of the regency, for the King 
 wished to take his chancellor with him ; Achille de 
 Harlay, first president of parliament ; Nicholas, first 
 president of the chamber of accounts ; the Count of 
 Chateau-Vieux and the Lord of Liancourt, two wise 
 gentlemen; Pontcarre, councillor of parliament; Gevres, 
 secretary of state ; and Maupeou, controller of the 
 revenues. 
 
 Moreover, he established a council of five persons 
 in every one of the twelve provinces of France ; to wit, 
 one person for the clergy, one for the nobility, one for 
 justice, one for the revenues, and one for the body of 
 the cities ; and these twelve minor councils were to 
 have correspondence with and dependence on the great 
 one, which was to take its resolutions by voting, the 
 Queen having only her vote. Its power was defined 
 by the general instructions formed by the King, and 
 nothing might be done without informing his Majesty 
 of it, if it were a thing which his instructions did not 
 clearly enough explain. Thus, though absent, he kept 
 the reins of government and tied the hands of the 
 Oueen, in case she should be inclined to take too much 
 authority, or be induced to abuse her command. 
 
 Whilst he applied his mind to these things, some 
 persons, amongst others Conchini and his wife, put it 
 into the mind of the Queen that she should, to acquire 
 more dignity and splendour in the eyes of the people, 
 and more advantageousl)- to authorise her regency, be 
 
THE KING'S FOREBODINGS 321 
 
 consecrated and crowned before the departure of the 
 King. For the same reasons that she desired it, the 
 King found it not agreeable to him ; besides which 
 this ceremony could not be performed without a great 
 deal of expense and great loss of time, which would 
 keep him at Paris and retard his designs. He was 
 extremely impatient to depart from that city. I do 
 not know what secret instinct pressed him to be gone 
 as soon as possible, but the consecration troubled him; 
 yet he could not refuse this mark of his affection to 
 the Queen, who passionately desired it. 
 
 Sully recounts that he heard him say more than 
 once: "My friend, this consecration presages me some 
 misfortune. They will kill me ; I shall never depart 
 from this city. My enemies have no other remedy but 
 my death ; they have told me that I shall be killed 
 at the first great magnificence that I make, and that 
 I shall die in a coach. This makes me often, when 
 I am in one, be seized with tremblings, and be fearful 
 in spite of myself." 
 
 They counselled him to shun these ill prophecies, 
 to depart on the morrow, and leave the consecration to 
 take place without him. But the Queen was extremely 
 offended ; and he obligingly remained to satisfy her. 
 The consecration took place at St. Denis on the 13th 
 of May ; and the Queen on the i6th of the same 
 month was to make her entry into Paris, where mag- 
 nificent preparations had been made in her honour. 
 
 Already had the forces of the King met at their 
 rendezvous on the frontiers of Champagne. Already 
 had the nobility, who had come from all parts, sent 
 their equipages. The Duke of Rohan had gone to 
 
 21 
 
322 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 organise the six thousand Swiss ; and fifty pieces of 
 artillery had been sent from the arsenal. The King 
 sent to demand of the Archduke and the Infanta in 
 what manner they desired that he should cross their 
 country, either as a friend or an enemy. Every hour 
 of delay seemed to him a year, as if he had had 
 presage of some misfortune to himself; and certainly 
 both heaven and earth had given but too many pro- 
 gnostications of what happened. A very great eclipse 
 of the whole body of the sun, which happened in the 
 year 1608 ; a terrible comet, which appeared the year 
 preceding ; earthquakes in several places ; monsters 
 born in various parts of France ; rains of blood, which 
 fell in several places ; a great plague, which afflicted 
 Paris in the year 1606 ; apparitions of phantoms, and 
 many other prodigies kept men in fear of some 
 horrible event. 
 
 His enemies were at present perfectly quiet, which 
 possibly was not caused only by their consternation 
 and by the fear of the success of his arms, but also 
 by the expectation they had of the success of some 
 great blow, in which lay all their hopes. There un- 
 doubtedly were many conspiracies against the life of 
 this good king, since from twenty places warning was 
 given of it. Both in Spain and Milan a report was 
 spread in print of his death. Eight days before he was 
 assassinated a courier passed through the city of Liege, 
 who said that he carried news to the princes of Ger- 
 many that the King was killed. At Montargis a paper 
 was found upon the altar, containing the prediction of 
 his approaching death by a premeditated blow. The 
 report that he would not outlive that year, and that 
 
RAVAILLAC THE REGICIDE 323 
 
 he would die a tragic death in the fifty-seventh year of 
 his age, ran through France. He himself, who was not 
 over-credulous, placed some faith in these warnings, 
 and seemed as one condemned to death, so sad and 
 downcast was he, though naturally he was neither 
 melancholy nor fearful. 
 
 There had been in Paris for about two years a 
 certain wicked rogue named Francis Ravaillac, a native 
 of the country of Angoumois ; red-haired, a visionary, 
 with a melancholy look, who had been a monk, but after 
 having quitted the frock turned notary, and came to Paris. 
 It was not known whether he came for the purpose of 
 striking this blow or whether he had been induced to 
 do this execrable deed by those people who, knowing 
 that he had yet in his heart some leaven of the League 
 and that false persuasion that the King was about to 
 overturn the Catholic religion in Germany, judged him- 
 self a proper person to deliver the blow. 
 
 If it be asked who were the devils who inspired 
 him with so damnable a thought, and who spurred him 
 forward to put it into execution, this history answers 
 that it knows nothing, and that in a thing so important 
 it is not permissible to give currency to suspicions and 
 conjectures as assured truths. The judges themselves 
 who examined him dared not open their mouths, but 
 spoke very reservedly. 
 
 On the day after the consecration, being the 14th of 
 May, the King came from the Louvre about four o'clock 
 in the afternoon, to go to the arsenal to visit Sully, who 
 was indisposed, and to see the preparations made at 
 the bridge of Notre Dame and the Hotel de Ville for 
 the reception of the Queen. He was in the body of 
 
 21 — 2 
 
324 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 the coach, having the Duke d'Epernon by his side ; 
 the Duke de Montbazon, the Marshal de Lavardin, 
 Roquelaure, La Force, Mirabeau, and Liancourt, chief 
 equerry, were in front and in the boots. His coach on 
 entering from the street of St. Honore into that of the 
 Ferronnerie, found on the right hand a cart laden with 
 wine, and on the left another laden with hay. As the 
 street is very narrow because of the shops built against 
 the wall of the churchyard of the Holy Innocents, the 
 coach was obliged to stop. King Henry II. had formerly 
 commanded the shops to be pulled down, to render the 
 passage more free, but it was never carried out. Alas, 
 that one half of Paris had not rather been beaten down 
 than have seen this great misfortune, which has been the 
 cause of so many other miseries ! The footmen having 
 passed through the churchyard of the Holy Innocents 
 to avoid the block, and no person being near the 
 coach, Ravaillac, who for a long time had obstinately 
 followed the King to give his blow, observing the side 
 on which he sat, thrust himself between the shops and 
 the coach, and, setting one foot on one of the spokes 
 of the wheel and the other against a post, gave him 
 a stab with a knife between the second and third ribs, 
 a little beneath the heart. At this blow the King cried 
 out, " I am wounded ! " But the villain, not in the 
 least terrified, redoubled the blow, and struck him in 
 the heart. The King died immediately, without so 
 much as heaving a sigh. The murderer was so reso- 
 lute that he gave yet a third blow, which fell on the 
 sleeve of the Duke of Montbazon. Afterwards, he neither 
 attempted to flee nor to conceal his knife, but stood still, 
 as if to show himself and to glory in so fair an exploit. 
 
THE BURIAL OF THE KING 325 
 
 He was arrested on the spot, examined by the com- 
 missioners of parliament, judged by the chamber of 
 assemblies, and sentenced to be dragged to pieces by 
 four horses in the Greve, which he underwent, after 
 having had the flesh of his breasts, arms, and thighs 
 torn off with burning pincers, without testifying the 
 least fear or grief at such terrible tortures. This 
 strongly confirmed the suspicion that certain emis- 
 saries, under the mask of piety and religion, had 
 instigated him to do the deed by the false assurance 
 that he would die a martyr if he killed him whom 
 they pretended was the sworn enemy of the Church. 
 
 The Duke d'Epernon, seeing that the King was 
 dead, caused the coach to turn back, and carried his 
 body to the Louvre, where it was opened in the 
 presence of twenty-six physicians and surgeons, who 
 found that in the course of nature he might have lived 
 another thirty years. 
 
 His entrails were the same hour sent to St. Denis 
 and interred without any ceremony. The Jesuit fathers 
 demanded the heart, and carried it to the church of 
 La Fleche, where this great King had given them his 
 house to build a beautiful college. The body, embalmed, 
 wrapped in lead, placed in a coffin of wood, with a 
 cloth of gold over it, was laid in the King's chamber 
 under a canopy, with two altars on each side, on which 
 mass was said for eighteen days continuously. After- 
 wards it was taken to St. Denis, where it was buried 
 with the ordinary ceremonies, eight days after that of 
 Henry HI., his predecessor. For the body of Henry HI. 
 had remained until then in the church of St. Corneille 
 in Compiegne, whence the Dukes d'Epernon and 
 
326 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 de Bellegarde, formerly his favourites, brought it to 
 St. Denis, and caused the funeral rites to be cele- 
 brated, courtesy making it necessary that he should 
 be buried before his successor. 
 
 The King's death was concealed from the city all 
 the rest of the day of the murder and a good part 
 of the next ; whilst the Queen disposed the grandees 
 and the parliament to give her the regency. She 
 obtained it without much difficulty, having led the 
 young king her son to the parliament, the Prince of 
 Conde and the Count of Soissons, who alone could 
 have opposed it, being absent. The former was at 
 Milan, as we have said before ; and the latter at his 
 house at Blandy, whither he had retired discontented 
 some days before the consecration of the Queen. 
 / When the report of this tragical event was 
 /spread through Paris, anS they knew that the King, 
 whom they believed only wounded, was dead, that 
 mixture of hope and fear which kept this great city 
 in suspense, suddenly broke forth into extravagant 
 cries and furious groans. Some through grief became 
 immovable as statues ; others ran through the streets 
 like madmen ; others again embraced their friends 
 without saying anything but, "Oh, what misfortune!" 
 Women were seen with dishevelled hair, running about 
 howling and lamenting ; fathers said to their children, 
 " What will become of you, my children ? you have 
 lost your Father." Those who had most apprehension 
 of the time to come, and who remembered the horrible 
 calamities of the past wars, lamented the misfortune of 
 France, and said that that accursed blow which had 
 pierced the heart of the King cut the throat of all 
 
THE KING'S CHILDREN 
 
 327 
 
 true Frenchmen. It is reported that many were so 
 severely stricken with grief that they died, some upon 
 the spot, and others a few days after. In fact, this 
 seemed not to be mourning for the death of one man 
 alone, but for one-half of all men. It might have 
 been said that everyone had lost his whole family, 
 all his goods, and all his hopes by the death of this 
 great king. 
 
 He died at the age of fifty-seven years and five 
 months, in the thirty-eighth year of his reign over 
 Navarre, and the twenty-first of that over France. 
 
 He was married twice, as we have said before ; 
 first with Margaret of France, by whom he had no 
 children, and the second time with Mary de Medicis. 
 Margaret was daughter to King Henry II., and sister 
 to the Kings Francis II., Charles IX., and Henry III. 
 He was divorced from her by sentence of the prelates 
 deputed for that purpose from the Pope. Mary de 
 Medicis was daughter to Francis, and niece to Ferdi- 
 nand, dukes of Florence. She bore him three sons 
 and three daughters. 
 
 The sons were all born at Fontainebleau. The first, 
 Louis, was born on the 27th of September, 1601. He 
 was king after Henry, and had the surname of the 
 Just. The second was born on the i6th of April, 
 1607. He had the title of Duke of Orleans, but no 
 name, because he died in the year 161 1, before the 
 ceremony of his baptism was celebrated. The third 
 was born on the 25th of April, 1608, and was named 
 John Battista Gaston, and had the title of Duke of 
 Anjou, but on the death of the second son, that of Duke 
 of Orleans was given him, which he bore till his death. 
 
328 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 The eldest of the daughters was born at Fontaine- 
 bleau on the 22nd of November, 1602. She was the 
 second child, and was named Elizabeth, or Isabella. 
 She was married to Philip IV., king of Spain. She 
 was a princess of brave heart, and had a spirit and 
 brain above her sex ; the Spaniards therefore said that 
 she was truly daughter to Henry the Great. The 
 second daughter was born at the Louvre on the loth 
 of February, 1606. She was given the name of Chris- 
 tina ; and she espoused Victor Amadeo, Prince of Pied- 
 mont, afterwards Duke of Savoy, a prince of the 
 greatest virtue and capacity. The third was born in 
 the same place, on the 25th of November, being the 
 feast of St. Catherine, in the year i6og, and was 
 named Henrietta Maria. She became the wife of the 
 unfortunate King of England, Charles Stuart, whom 
 his subjects cruelly despoiled of his royalty and life. 
 
 Besides these six legitimate children, he had eight 
 natural ones, of four different mistresses, without count- 
 ing those whom he did not own. 
 
 By Gabrielle d'Estrees, Marchioness of Monceaux 
 and Duchess of Beaufort, he had Caesar, Duke of Ven- 
 dome, who was born in June, 1594 ; Alexander, grand 
 prior of France, who died a prisoner of state ; and 
 Henrietta, married to Charles of Lorraine, Duke of 
 Elbeuf. 
 
 By Henrietta de Balsac d'Entragues, whom he 
 made Marchioness of Verneuil, he had Henry, bishop 
 of Metz, and Gabrielle, who espoused Bernard of 
 Nogaret, Duke of Valette, afterwards Duke d'Epernon. 
 
 To Jacqueline de Bueil, to whom he gave the 
 county of Moret, was born Anthony, Count of Moret, 
 
HIS LOVE FOR THEM 329 
 
 who was killed in the service of the Duke of Orleans 
 in the battle of Castelnaudary, where the Duke of 
 Montmorency was taken. This was a young prince 
 whose spirit and courage promised much. Jacqueline 
 de Bueil was afterwards married to the Marquis of 
 Vardes. 
 
 By Charlotta d'Essards, to whom he gave the estate 
 of Romorantin, he had two daughters — Jane, who 
 became abbess of Fontevrault, and Mary Henrietta. 
 He loved all his children, legitimate and natural, with 
 a hke affection, but with different consideration. He 
 would not permit them to call him Monsieur, a name 
 which seemed to render children strangers to their 
 fathers, and which denoted servitude and subjection, 
 but he desired that they should call him Papa, a 
 name of tenderness and love. And certainly in the 
 Old Testament God took the names of Lord, the 
 Mighty God, the God of Hosts, and others, to set 
 forth His greatness and power; but in the Christian 
 law, which is a law of grace and charity. He com- 
 mands us to make our prayers as His children, by 
 those sweet words, " Our Father, which art in heaven." 
 
 Henry was of middle stature, nimble, active, and 
 hardened to labour and travel. His body was well 
 formed, his temperament able and strong, and his health 
 perfect ; but about the age of fifty years he had some 
 slight attacks of the gout, but they soon passed away, 
 and left behind them no weakness. His forehead was 
 broad, his eyes full of vivacity and assurance, his nose 
 aquiline, his complexion ruddy, his countenance sweet 
 and noble, and yet withal his presence warlike and mar- 
 tial ; his hair was brown and very thin. He wore his 
 
330 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 beard long and his hair very short. He began to grow 
 grey at the age of thirty-five years, of which he was 
 accustomed to say to those who wondered at it, " It 
 is the wind of my adversities which has blown me 
 this." 
 
 Indeed, to consider well all his life from his very 
 birth, few princes will be found who have suffered as 
 much as he ; and it would be difficult to tell if he had 
 more crosses or more prosperities. He was born the 
 son of a king, but of a king despoiled of his states. 
 He had a mother who was generous and courageous, 
 but a Huguenot and an enemy of the court. He 
 gained the battle of Coutras ; but he lost shortly after 
 the Prince of Conde, his cousin and his right hand. 
 The League stirred up his virtue, and made it known, 
 but it nearly overthrew him. Henry III. having called 
 him to his assistance, he found himself at the gates of 
 
 I Paris, as if God had led him by the hand ; but Paris 
 
 armed itself against him, and all his hopes were almost 
 dissipated by the scattering of the army which be- 
 sieged that city. It was without doubt a great piece 
 of good fortune that the crown of France fell to him, 
 there having never been a succession more distant in 
 any hereditary state ; for there were ten or eleven 
 degrees between Henry III. and him, and when he was 
 born there were nine princes of the blood before him, 
 to wit. King Henry II. and his five sons. King Anthony 
 of Navarre, his father, and two sons of that Anthony, 
 
 \ elder brothers of our Henry. All these princes died 
 
 to make room for his succession. But he found it in 
 
 \ such a state of confusion that we may say he suffered 
 
 an infinity of labours, pains, and hazards before he 
 
HIS Tiro WIVES 331 
 
 could gather the fair flowers of this crown. While very 
 young he espoused the sister of King Charles, which 
 seemed a match very advantageous for him ; but this 
 marriage was a snare to entrap both him and his 
 friends. Afterwards that lady, instead of being his 
 comfort, became his trouble, and instead of being 
 his honour, became his shame. His second wife 
 brought him forth fair children, to his no little joy ; 
 but her grumblings and contempt were the cause of 
 a thousand discontents. He triumphed over all his 
 enemies, and became arbitrator of Christendom; but 
 the more powerful he made himself the greater became 
 their hatred and the more means they sought to 
 destroy him ; so that after having plotted an infinite 
 number of conspiracies against his life, they found in 
 the end a Ravaillac, who executed what so many others 
 had failed in. 
 
 Now, it must be acknowledged that all these adver- 
 sities which he suffered whetted his spirit and his 
 courage, and that at last he became the greatest of 
 kings, because he came to the crown through so many 
 difficulties and at a very mature age. 
 
 And certainly it is difficult and very rare for those 
 who are born to a crown, and bred up in the hope of 
 mounting a throne after the death of their father, or 
 who find themselves too soon raised to it, ever to learn 
 well the art of reigning if they be not so happy as to 
 be educated under the care of a mother so virtuous 
 and so well-intentioned as that great Queen who has so 
 dihgently caused King Louis XIV., her son, to be in- 
 structed in all good sentiments and in all maxims of 
 Christian policy, or so happy as to be blessed with a 
 
332 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 minister so wise and so devoted to their good as 
 that young monarch has found in the person of 
 Cardinal Mazarin. 
 
 The reasons for this are, that commonly those persons 
 into whose hands they fall during the infancy of the 
 sovereign, desiring to keep to themselves the authority 
 and the government, instead of causing them to apply 
 their minds to things solid and necessary, act so 
 cunningly that they employ them only in trifles un- 
 worthy of them. Instead of laying incessantly before 
 their eyes the true grandeur of kings, which consists 
 in the exercise of their authority, they feed them only 
 with appearances and images of that greatness — 
 exterior pomps and magnificences, wherein there is 
 only pride and vanity. In fact, instead of instructing 
 them diligently in what they ought to know and in 
 what they ought to do (for all the knowledge of kings 
 ought to be reduced to practice), they keep them in 
 profound ignorance of their affairs, that they may 
 always be masters, and that they may never be able 
 to do without them. From whence it happens that 
 a prince, though he be great, knowing his own weak- 
 ness, judges himself incapable to govern ; and from 
 the moment that he holds this opinion, he will re- 
 nounce the conduct of his state, if he have not indeed 
 extraordinary natural qualities and a heart truly royal. 
 Moreover, these persons hinder honest men from ap- 
 proaching those tender ears ; or if they cannot hinder 
 their approach, they render them suspected, and de- 
 prive them of all credence in the minds of these young 
 princes. Moreover, they have some emissaries who in- 
 fatuate them with flatteries, with excessive praises and 
 
WEAK KINGS AND STRONG 333 
 
 adorations ; who never let them know anything but 
 what shall serve their own ends ; who accentuate their 
 defects by continual adulation ; who make them believe 
 they have a perfect intelligence of all things when they 
 know nothing ; who make them conceive that royalty is 
 only a sovereign bauble, that work befits not a king, 
 and that the functions of government being laborious, 
 are in consequence base and servile. In this manner they 
 soon disgust them with their own command ; they accus- 
 tom them to have masters because they have yet neither 
 enough knowledge nor courage to be masters. And 
 thus these poor princes, never being contradicted, but 
 always adored ; not having any experience of them- 
 selves, nor ever having suffered pain or necessity, 
 become often presumptuous and absolute in their 
 fancies, and believing in their right to be considered 
 as gods, they begin to think of nothing but their 
 passion, pleasure, and caprice, as if mankind were 
 created for them, whilst they were created to order 
 and govern mankind wisely. They let profusion and 
 waste be made of the life and goods of their subjects ; 
 and, with an unparalleled insensibility, take no more 
 notice of their laments and groans than of the low- 
 ings of an ox whose throat is being cut. 
 
 On the contrary, those who come to the crown at 
 a greater distance in relationship and at a riper age, 
 are nearly always better instructed in their affairs. 
 They apply themselves more strongly to govern their 
 states ; they will always hold the rudder ; they are 
 more just, more tender, and more merciful ; they 
 know better how to manage their revenues ; they 
 preserve with more care the blood and the goods of 
 
334 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 their subjects ; they more willingly hear their com- 
 plaints, and do better justice ; they do not so rigor- 
 ously use their absolute power, which often makes 
 the people despair, and causes revolutions. 
 
 If the reason why they are so be searched for, it 
 will be found that it is because they have been in a 
 place where they have often heard truth ; where they 
 have understood what ignominy it is for a prince not 
 to enjoy his own personal power, but to leave it to 
 another; where, though they have had some flatterers, 
 they have likewise had open enemies, who by censur- 
 ing their faults have induced a reformation ; where 
 they have heard blamed the faults of that government 
 under which they were, and have blamed them them- 
 selves, so that they are obliged to do better, and not 
 to follow what they have condemned ; where they 
 have studied to govern themselves wisely, because 
 they were dependants, and fearful of punishment ; 
 where they have often heard the complaints of indi- 
 viduals and seen the miseries of the people ; and where 
 they have understood by suffering what evil is, and to 
 have pity on those who suffer injustice, because they 
 themselves have proved the rigour of a too severe 
 government. We have two fair examples in Louis XII., 
 surnamed the " Father of the People," and in our 
 Henry, two of the best kings who have borne the 
 sceptre of the fleur-de-lis. 
 
 Now whoever would gather together and worthily 
 arrange all the heroic virtues, noble actions, and eminent 
 qualities of Henry the Great, would make him a crown 
 much more precious and resplendent than that where- 
 with his head was adorned on the day of his corona- 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 tion. That fund of freedom and sincerity, free and 
 exempt from malice, from gall and bitterness, should 
 be more precious than gold. His renown and his 
 glory, which will never end, should be the circle. 
 His victories of Coutras, of Arques, of Ivry, of 
 Fontaine-Fran9aise ; his negotiations of the peace of 
 Vervins; his mediation between the Venetians and the 
 Pope ; and between Spain and the Low Countries ; 
 and that great League with all the princes of 
 Christendom, for execution of the design of which we 
 have spoken, should be the branches. Then his warlike 
 valour, his generosity, his constancy, his good faith, 
 his wisdom, his prudence, his activity, his vigilance, his 
 economy, his justice, and a hundred other virtues, 
 should be the precious stones. Amongst these, that 
 paternal and cordial love he had for his people would 
 cast a fire more lively and bright than the carbuncle ; 
 the firmness of his courage, always invincible in danger, 
 would bear the price and beauty of a diamond; and his 
 unparalleled clemency, which raised up those whom his 
 valour had overthrown, would appear like an emerald 
 which spreads joy before the eyes of all that behold it. 
 To continue the metaphor, the many wise laws which 
 he made for justice, for police, and for his revenues ; 
 the many good and useful establishments of all sorts of 
 manufactures which produced to France many millions 
 yearly ; the many proud buildings, as the galleries of 
 the Louvre, the Pont-Neuf, the Place Royale, the College 
 Royal, the quays for merchants on the river Seine, 
 Fontainebleau, Monceaux, St. Germain ; the many 
 public works, bridges, causeways, highways repaired ; 
 the many churches rebuilt in various places of the 
 
336 
 
 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 engraving 
 
 and embellish- 
 
 realm, should be as the 
 ments. 
 
 'Let us crown, then, with a thousand praises the 
 immortal memory of that great King, the darling of the 
 French and the terror of the Spaniards, the glory of 
 his age and the admiration of posterity. Let us make 
 him live in our hearts and in our affections, in spite 
 of the rage of those wicked persons who deprived him 
 of life. Let us shout forth as many acclamations to 
 his glory as he has done benefits to France. He was a 
 Hercules, who cut off the head of the Hydra by over- 
 turning the League. He was greater than Alexander 
 and greater than Pompey, because he was as valiant, 
 but he was more just; he gained as many victories, 
 but he gained more hearts. He conquered the Gauls 
 as well as Julius Caesar ; but he conquered them to 
 give them liberty, while Caesar subjugated them to 
 enslave them. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 
 
 ADMIRAL COLIGNY. 
 
 Gaspard de Coligny, the second of that name, admiral of 
 France, and known as the admiral of Chatillon, was born 
 February i6th, 1517. He distinguished himself in the wars 
 of Francis I., and was appointed colonel-general of the 
 French infantry. He afterwards became admiral of France 
 and governor of Picardy and Artois. Towards 1560 he 
 commenced to make open profession of the reformed religion, 
 and became then, with the Prince of Conde, leader of the 
 Calvinist party. He displayed great capacity in the 
 organisation of the forces of his party, and knew how to 
 repair his faults and disasters with a rare ability. On the 
 night of the massacre of St. Bartholomew he was strangled. 
 His assassin, Besme, threw his corpse into the court at 
 the feet of the Duke of Guise, who was waiting for it. 
 
 ANNE, DUKE OF MONTMORENCY. 
 
 Anne, first Duke of Montmorency, the most illustrious 
 personage of his house, was born March 15th, 1492, died 
 at Paris November 12th, 1567. Son of William of Mont- 
 morency and of Anne Pot, he fought at Marignan (1515), 
 and on returning from a mission to England (1520) was 
 appointed first gentleman of the bedchamber to Francis I., 
 with whom he had been brought up. He assisted at the 
 defence of Mezieres, and went through the Italian campaign, 
 
 22 
 
338 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 terminated by the disaster of Italy, being for his services 
 nominated marshal of France. With La Palisse he pur- 
 sued the Constable of Bourbon, who had invaded Provence, 
 and he was taken prisoner at Pavia. He contributed to the 
 conclusion of the treaty of Madrid, and in the same year 
 became grand master of the King's household and governor 
 of Languedoc. 
 
 Created Constable in 1538, he had for several years 
 almost complete control of the home and foreign affairs of 
 France. In consequence, however, of a breach of faith 
 towards Francis I. on the part of Charles V., the Constable 
 was disgraced, and he lived in retirement until the accession 
 of Henry II. Being then recalled to the Court, he regained 
 all his former influence. In 1548 he punished with the 
 greatest rigour the rebels of Bordeaux. He was created 
 duke and peer, and commanded the army which took posses- 
 sion of Lorraine. He showed his mihtary incapacity in the 
 campaign of Flanders, and also afterwards in the battle of 
 St. Quentin, where he was taken prisoner. Released upon 
 parole, he was the chief agent in the negotiation of the 
 treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, which excited against him 
 general indignation. Again disgraced at the death of 
 Francis II., he was obliged to resign to the Duke of Guise 
 his post of grand master. 
 
 On the accession of Charles IX. he reconciled himself 
 with the Duke, and formed with him and the marshal of 
 Saint-Andre a irmnvirat directed against the Protestants, 
 whom he hated, and by whom he was made prisoner at the 
 battle of Dreux. The civil war recommenced in 1567, and 
 on the Huguenots menacing Paris he offered them battle 
 on the plain of St. Denis. Here he was mortally wounded, 
 and died two days afterwards. 
 
 His wife was Madeleine, daughter of Rene, bastard of 
 Savoy, by whom he had five sons and seven daughters. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 339 
 
 ANNE, DUKE OF JOYEUSE. 
 
 Anne, Duke of Joyeuse, admiral of France, was born in 
 1561. He was first known by the name of d'Arques. He 
 became one of the favourites of Henry HI., who loaded 
 him with riches and honours, created him duke, and arranged 
 his marriage with Margaret of Lorraine, The King also 
 bought for him the position of admiral, and appointed him 
 governor of Normandy. Sent at the head of a brilliant 
 army against the King of Navarre, he gave him battle at 
 Coutras on October 20th, 1587, but w-as defeated and killed. 
 
 ANTHONY DE BOURBON. 
 
 Anthony de Bourbon, King of Navarre, was born in 
 1518. Son of Charles de Bourbon (Duke of Vendome) and 
 Frangoise d'Alen^on, he married, in 1548, Jeanne d'Albret, 
 daughter of Henry H., King of Navarre, who brought him 
 as dowry the principality of Beam, together with the title 
 of King of Navarre. He withdrew from public affairs during 
 the reign of Henry H., but after the death of Francis H. 
 was appointed lieutenant-general of the kingdom, and about 
 this time became a Catholic. He commanded the army 
 which besieged Rouen, where he received a wound which 
 his imprudences rendered mortal. He died November 17th, 
 1562. 
 
 BIRON. 
 
 Armand de Gontaut, Baron de Biron, a celebrated cap- 
 tain, was born about 1524, and killed by a cannon-ball at 
 the siege of Epernay, July 26th, 1592. He distinguished 
 himself in the wars of Piedmont and in the religious wars, 
 being appointed grand master of artillery in 1569. He 
 negotiated with Mesme the peace of St. Germain. After 
 
 22 — 2 
 
340 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 the death of Henry III. he ralhed to Henry IV., and gave 
 evidence of his great mihtary talents at Arques and Ivry. 
 
 His son Charles de Gontaut, Duke de Biron, born in 
 1562, was decapitated at the Bastille, 1602. 
 
 COLONEL ALFONSO D'ORNANO. 
 
 Alfonso d'Ornano was born in 1548, and died in 1610. 
 Colonel-general of the Corsicans in the service of France, 
 Governor of Valence, then of Pont St. Esprit, he took an 
 active part in the wars of religion, and was one of the first 
 to recognise Henry IV., who created him lieutenant-general 
 of Guyenne and marshal of France. 
 
 COUNT OF SOISSONS. 
 
 Charles de Bourbon, Count of Soissons, son of Louis, 
 Prince of Conde, and of Frangoise d'Orleans-Longueville, 
 born November 3rd, 1566, died November ist, 1612. 
 
 Although a cathohc, he fought at Coutras with Henry 
 of Navarre, the sister of whom he sought in vain to marry. 
 In 1589 he went to Tours to join Henry III. who had been 
 chased from Paris, was taken prisoner by the Duke of 
 Mercceur, and confined at Nantes, from which place he 
 succeeded in escaping, then rejoined Henry IV. at the siege 
 of Dieppe, and was appointed grand master of France. He 
 remained some years away from the court, and returned there 
 only in 1600, went through the Savoy campaign, and obtained 
 the government of Dauphiny. He took an active part in the 
 intrigues of Marie Medicis, and contributed to the banish- 
 ment of Sully. 
 
 DE BRISSON. 
 
 Barnabe Brisson, president of the parhament of Paris, 
 was born in 1531. After the Day of the Barricades he 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 341 
 
 refused to obey the King, who had transferred the parha- 
 ment to Tours, He remained at Paris, and replaced Achille 
 de Harlay, who had been imprisoned in the Bastille, as first 
 president. His irresolute conduct caused him to be sus- 
 pected by the Sixteen, who (November 15th, 1591) arrested 
 him, and he was hanged to a beam in the council chamber 
 at the palace. 
 
 D'OSSAT. 
 
 Arnaud d'Ossat, cardinal and celebrated diplomatist, was 
 born July 20th, 1537, died at Rome, 1604. Originally valet- 
 de-chambre, he became preceptor to John of Marca. He 
 received the tonsure, and obtained the professorships of 
 rhetoric and philosophy at the University, some time after- 
 wards becoming secretary to Paul de Foix, ambassador at 
 Rome. On the death of the latter he retained his appoint- 
 ments under Cardinals Louis d'Este and de Joyeuse. 
 Scarcely had Henry IV. mounted the throne when d'Ossat 
 commenced the work of reconciling the former with the 
 Pope, and after long negotiations was successful. He 
 remained some time at Rome, and settled some affairs of 
 great importance, amongst others the divorce of Henry IV. 
 
 DUKE OF ANJOU. 
 
 Hercules-Francis, Duke of Alen9on, afterwards Duke of 
 Anjou, fifth son of Henry II. and Catherine de Medicis, 
 was born March i8th, 1554, died at Chateau-Thierry in 1584. 
 He put himself at the head of the disaffected party in 1574, 
 for which he was arrested, together with Henry of Navarre ; 
 he was, however, set at liberty on the accession of Henry III. 
 shortly after. 
 
 His whole life was a succession of perfidies ; and a 
 wit of the time, in making allusion to the traces left upon 
 
342 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 his face by the sinall-pox, said that one ought not to be 
 astonished at his deformity, because it was necessary to have 
 " two noses with a double face." 
 
 It was he who, to disembarrass himself of his favourite, 
 Bussy d'Amboise, the lover of Madame de Montsoreau, 
 revealed to the husband of the latter the secret of this 
 adulterous liaison. 
 
 DUKE OF AUMALE. 
 
 Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Aumale, one of the chiefs 
 of the League, was born in 1554, died at Brussels 1631. 
 Appointed governor of Paris after the murder of the Duke 
 of Guise, he was beaten by the Royalists near Senlis. After 
 the conversion of Henry IV. he surrendered several places 
 to the Spaniards, and being condemned to death par contnmace, 
 was obliged to quit France. 
 
 DUKE OF EPERON. 
 
 Jean-Louis de Nogaret, Duke of Eperon, was born in 
 May, 1554, died January 13th, 1642. He attached himself 
 to the Duke of Anjou, and then for a time to the King of 
 Navarre. At the Court of Henry HI. he became one of 
 the favourites of the King, who loaded him with honours 
 and riches. He received charge of several governments, 
 and was also appointed admiral, which post he resigned in 
 favour of his brother Bernard. After the death of the 
 King, he refused to serve Henry IV., who left to him, 
 however, the government of Provence, where the duke 
 tried to make an independent principahty, but his pride and 
 cruelty rendered him odious. He ultimately became recon- 
 ciled to the King, and was by his side when the latter 
 was struck by Ravaillac. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 343 
 
 FRANCIS, DUKE OF GUISE. 
 
 Francis of Lorraine, Duke of Aumale and of Guise, eldest 
 son of Claude, first Duke of Guise, was the most distinguished 
 man of that house. He was born at the castle of Bar, Feb- 
 ruary 17th, 1519, and died before Orleans, February, 1563. 
 Prince of Joinville, Marquis of Mayenne, and peer, he became 
 successively Duke of Aumale, grand master, grand chamber- 
 lain, and first huntsman of France, and lord lieutenant of the 
 kingdom. He distinguished himself at the taking of Mont- 
 medy (1542), at the defence of St. Dezier (1544), and at the 
 siege of Boulogne. He made himself illustrious by his glorious 
 defence of Aletz, which was besieged by Charles V., who was 
 obliged to retire, after having lost 30,000 men. Recalled from 
 Italy, where he had conducted a campaign with varied success, 
 he was created lieutenant-general, and was able in less than a 
 month to become possessor of Calais and Thionville, exploits 
 which caused universal joy in France and placed him at the 
 summit of popularity. His influence became all-powerful 
 when the accession of Francis II. also brought to the throne 
 his niece Mary Stuart. After the death of the King he was 
 exiled. In 1561 he formed with the Constable of Montmor- 
 ency and the IMarshal de Saint-Andre an alliance under the 
 name of the Triiimvirat, and retired to his estates, but was soon 
 recalled. It was whilst on his way to the Court that, passing 
 by Vassy, his people had with the Calvinists that bloody 
 quarrel known as the " massacre of Vassy," and which was 
 the signal for civil war. Guise, at the head of the Catholic 
 army, retook Rouen from the Reformers, whom he defeated 
 at Dreux, and then besieged Orleans. It was at the last 
 mentioned place that he was assassinated by Poltrot. A 
 serious wound in the face, received at the siege of St. Dizier, 
 had given to him the surname of Balafrc (slashed). 
 
344 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 DUKE OF GUISE. 
 
 Henry of Lorraine, called the Balafre (as his father), 
 Prince of Joinville, peer and grand master of France, gover- 
 nor of Champagne and of Brie, was born December 31st, 
 1550, and was assassinated at Blois, December 23rd, 1588. 
 
 At the age of sixteen years he went to serve in Hungary 
 against the Turks, signalized himself at the battles of Jarnac 
 and of Montcontour, compelled Coligny to raise the siege of 
 Poitiers, quitted the Court after the peace of St. Germain, and 
 returned there to prepare the massacre of St. Bartholomew, 
 when he brought about the assassination of Coligny. In 
 1575 he beat the Protestants at Dormans, and organised the 
 League which the year following the King was compelled to 
 sign. He made an unsuccessful attack on Strasburg, beat 
 the German auxiliaries who had come to the assistance of the 
 King of Navarre, and arrived the following year in Paris, in 
 spite of the prohibition of the King, who had been forced to 
 quit the town in consequence of the day of havricades. Ap- 
 pointed lieutenant-general of the kingdom, he attended the 
 meeting of the States-General assembled at Blois, where 
 Henry HI., excited to a state of exasperation, caused him to 
 be assassinated. 
 
 He married, in 1570, Catherine of Cleves, Countess d'Eu, 
 by whom he had fourteen children. 
 
 DUKE OF GUISE. 
 
 Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, Prince of Joinville, 
 Duke de Joyeuse, Count d'Eu, peer and grand master of 
 France, admiral of the seas of the Levant, governor of 
 Champagne and of Provence, was born August 20th, 1571, 
 and died at Cuna, September 30th, 1640. He was the eldest 
 son of the Duke Henry assassinated at Blois, and on the day 
 of his father's death he was arrested and committed to the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 345 
 
 Chateau of Tours, from which he at last succeeded in escap- 
 ing. Having failed in his endea\our to become king by 
 marrying the daughter of Philip II., he submitted, in 1594, 
 to Henry IV., poignarded the Marshal of St. Pol, who re- 
 proached him with his defection, and in 1596 he brought 
 Marseilles under royal authority. 
 
 DUKE OF JOYEUSE. 
 
 Henry, Count du Bouchage, Duke of Joyeuse, marshal 
 of France, brother of the preceding, was born in 1567, died 
 at Rivoli (Piedmont) September 27th, 1608. After having 
 followed for some time a military career, he became a 
 Capuchin upon the death of his wife in 1587. He returned 
 to his former profession when his brother, Antoine-Scipio, 
 was drowned in the Tarn after the combat at Villemur 
 (October 20th, 1592), but it was not until 1596 that he came 
 to an arrangement with Henry IV., who gave him the 
 marshal's baton. 
 
 DUKE OF MAYENNE. 
 
 Charles of Lorraine, Marquis then Duke of Mayenne, was 
 born March 26th, 1554, died at Soissons the 3rd or 4th 
 of October, 161 1. He was the second son of Francis of 
 Lorraine, Duke of Guise, assassinated by Poltrot, and of 
 Anne d'Este. After having served in the ranks of the 
 Catholic army in the campaign of Jarnac and Montcontour, 
 he went to assist Venice against the Turks, was present at 
 the siege of La Rochelle, was created duke and peer, and 
 accompanied Henry HI. in Poland, took an active part in 
 the formation of the League. He was at Lyons at the time 
 that his brothers were murdered at Blois, and, warned in 
 time, was able to avoid the order issued to arrest him. 
 
 He raised Burgundy, of which he was governor, went to 
 
346 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Paris in the February following, organized there a govern- 
 ment, and marched against Henry III. who had united his 
 forces with those of Henry IV. As is known the assassina- 
 tion of Henry III. took place. Soon declaring war against 
 Henry IV. he was beaten at the battles of Arques and of 
 Ivry. After this last defeat he went to Flanders to seek 
 assistance to permit him to re-victual Paris, which was 
 strictly besieged by the royal army, but which the Duke of 
 Parma succeeded in relieving. It was only at the last that 
 he came to terms with Henry IV., by whom he was treated 
 with every respect. He married, in 1576, Henrietta of Savoy, 
 Marchioness of Villars. 
 
 DUKE OF NEVERS. 
 
 Louis de Gonzagne, Duke of Nevers, was born the i8th 
 of September, 1539 ; died at Nesle, October 22, 1595. Son 
 of Frederick II., Duke of Mantua, he became a naturalized 
 Frenchman, was made prisoner at the battle of Saint-Quentin, 
 married Henrietta of Cleves, sister and heiress of the last two 
 dukes of Cleves, became Governor of Piedmont, and protested 
 energetically when Henry HI. ceded to the Duke of Savoy 
 the towns which France still possessed on the other side of 
 the Alps. He took an active part in the wars of religion, was 
 one of the organizers of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, 
 when he saved the life of Conde, his brother-in-law. He 
 accompanied the Duke of Anjou to Poland. After having 
 served the League, he attached himself to Henry IV., and 
 was with him at the battles of Ivry and of Aumale, and was 
 sent by him as ambassador to Rome, and created superin- 
 tendent of the finances. 
 
 DU PLESSIS MORNAY. 
 
 Phihp de Mornay, one of the most illustrious of the pro- 
 testant party, and surnamed the Pope of the Huguenots, was 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 347 
 
 born at Buhy (Seine and Oise) November 5, 1549; died at 
 the Foret-sur-Sevre (Deux-Sevres) November 11, 1623. He 
 embraced Calvinism early in life, travelled in Italy and 
 Germany, managed to escape St. Bartholomew, passed 
 over to England, and, on his return, attached himself to 
 the King of Navarre, who frequently charged him with most 
 important missions to England and elsewhere. Mornay con- 
 tributed to the reconciliation of Henry HI. and Henry IV., 
 and was successful when sent as ambassador to Queen Eliza- 
 beth. After the death of Henry IV., he did his best to 
 prevail upon his co-religionists to obey the regent, but was 
 unsuccessful. 
 
 JAMES CLEMENT. 
 
 James Clement, the assassin of Henry III., was born at 
 Sorbon (Ardennes) in 1567, killed at St. Cloud, August ist, 
 1589. The Leaguers honoured him as a martyr. 
 
 LESDIGUIERES. 
 
 Francis de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguieres, Marshal and 
 Constable of France, one of the greatest captains of his 
 time, was born at Saint-Bonnet de Champsaur (High Alps) 
 April ist, 1543, died at Valencia, September 28th, 1626. 
 He early embraced Calvinism, and from the first of the 
 religious wars took arms and distinguished himself in 
 Dauphiny. He had followed the King of Navarre to Paris, 
 but an illness of his wife (Claudina de Beranger) recalled 
 him to Dauphiny, and he thus escaped the massacre of 
 St. Bartholomew. The following year he again took arms, 
 compelled the Marshal de Bellegarde to raise the siege of 
 Livron, surprised Gap and obtained favourable conditions 
 of peace for his co-religionists. In 1585 he made himself 
 Master of Montelimart, and of D'Embrun, then entered 
 Provence, where he gained numerous victories over the 
 
348 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 Leaguers. He was most successful in all his undertakings, 
 and in 1597 he was made lieutenant-general of the kingdom 
 by Henry IV. In 1608 he received the baton of Marshal 
 of France, and the title of Counsellor of Honour to the 
 parliament of Paris. 
 
 Under the regency of Marie de Medicis, who created 
 him duke and peer, he did all that he could to prevent the 
 protestants taking arms, and refused to join them when the 
 Assembly at Rochelle decided to declare war. After that 
 he had abjured, he was named successively marshal-general 
 and constable. 
 
 MARSHAL DE BOUILLON. 
 
 Henry de la Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount de Turenne, was 
 a Calvinist much favoured by Henry IV., who created him 
 marshal of France. From this time he was known as the 
 Marshal de Bouillon, he having married Charlotte, sister 
 of the late Duke of Bouillon. 
 
 MARSHAL DE COSSE. 
 
 Arthur de Cosse, marshal of France, called the Marshal 
 de Cosse, was born about 1512, died January 15th, 1582. 
 He distinguished himself at the defence of Metz, of 
 Marienbourg, and at the battle of Montcontour. Beaten by 
 the Calvinists at Arnay-le-Duc, then accused of being in 
 communication with them, he was arrested, and was released 
 only the year following. 
 
 MARIE DE MEDICIS. 
 
 Marie de Medicis was born at Florence April 26, 1573 ; 
 died at Cologne July 3, 1643. Daughter of Francis I., Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany, and of Jane, Archduchess of Austria, she 
 married Henry IV., by proxy, at Florence, October 5, 1600. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 349 
 
 She set out on the 17th for France, and was met at Lyons 
 by the King, who was occupied with the Savoy war. The 
 couple did not agree long, the Queen's sour temper, her 
 allowing herself to be governed by Italians, and the King's 
 gallantries, soon caused dissensions between them. Their 
 misunderstanding was so extreme that, at the time, it was 
 even rumoured that the Queen had arranged the assassination 
 of her husband. This has been disproved. 
 
 Marie de Aledicis was declared regent immediately upon 
 the death of her husband, thanks to d'Epernon. Sully was 
 dismissed, and she soon dissipated the savings of her husband. 
 
 Her incapacity, and the intrigues of her favourites, raised 
 against her the princes and nobility, with whom she signed 
 the treaty of Saint-Menehould (1614), but who continued 
 hostilities against her until she marched against them at the 
 head of some troops. The majority of her son was declared 
 in the month of October of the same year, but she, never- 
 theless, continued to rule, and caused to be celebrated, at 
 Bordeaux, in spite of the opposition of the nobility, the 
 marriage of Louis with the Infanta Anne, and that of her 
 daughter Elizabeth with the Infante don Philip, and con- 
 cluded, at Loudon, the peace with Conde. Soon after this 
 being put on one side, she obtained permission to retire to 
 Blois, where she was guarded as a prisoner ; she escaped 
 from there and commenced a war against her son, which 
 terminated with the treaty of Angouleme. Next year she 
 joined the rebel princes, who, beaten at Ponts-de-Ce, were 
 compelled to sign the peace at Angers. After the death of 
 Luynes, Marie was taken into favour again, and showed a 
 wisdom of conduct, which was owing to the influence of 
 Richelieu, who, thanks to her, was appointed Cardinal and 
 Minister of State. Soon jealous of Richelieu's ascendancy 
 over the King, Marie headed a powerful conspiracy. Van- 
 quished and abandoned by the King, she quitted France and 
 
350 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 retired to the low countries, then to Holland, and afterwards 
 to her son-in-law, Charles I. of England, who attempted to 
 arrange for her return to France. Compelled to leave 
 London, she retired to Cologne. 
 
 GABRIELLE D'ESTREES. 
 
 Gabrielle d'Estrees was born about 1571, died 1599. 
 After having been the mistress of Henry HI. and several 
 others, she transferred her affections to Henry IV., who 
 became deeply attached to her. He created her Marchioness 
 of Monceaux, then Duchess of Beaufort, and even had 
 thoughts of marrying her ; but her death, from apoplexy, 
 prevented this union. She was enceinte at the time, and 
 was believed to have been poisoned. 
 
 FRANCIS D'O. 
 
 Francis, Marquis d'O, statesman, was born at Paris 
 1535, where he died 1594. His marriage with Charlotte- 
 Catherine de Villequier (1573) introduced him to the Court, 
 where he became a favourite of Henry HI., who made him 
 superintendent of finances, first gentleman of the chamber, 
 &c. After the assassination of Henry HI. he rallied to 
 Henry IV. 
 
 FRANCIS II. 
 
 Francis II., King of Navarre, was born in January, 1544, 
 at the Chateau of Fontainebleau, died at Ambois, December 
 5th, 1560. Eldest son of Henry II. and Catherine de Medicis, 
 he married in 1558 Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. On 
 July 10, 1559, he succeeded his father, and during his short 
 reign was completely under the influence of the Guises, 
 uncles of his wife. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 351 
 
 PRINCE OF CONDE. 
 
 (Henry I. of Bourbon.) 
 
 Prince Henry of Conde was born December 29th, 1552, 
 died at St. Jean-d'Angely, March 5th, 1588. He served 
 from his youth in the Protestant army, and nearly perished 
 at the massacre of St. Bartholomew, but finally consented, 
 with his cousin of Navarre, to abjure. It was suspected 
 that his death was due to poison. 
 
 PRINCE OF CONDE. 
 (Henry //. of Bourbon.) 
 
 Henry II. of Bourbon, Prince of Conde, posthumous 
 son of the preceding, was born in 1588, died 1646. Brought 
 up in the Catholic religion, he married Charlotte de Mont- 
 morency, who inspired such a lively passion in Henry IV. 
 that her husband was obliged to lead her out of France. 
 He returned only after the death of the King. 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 Maximilian de Bethune, Baron, then Marquis of Rosny, 
 Duke of Sully, one of the greatest ministers that France has 
 ever had, was born in 1560 and died 1641. 
 
 He belonged to a younger branch of the house of Bethune, 
 and was the second of the seven children of Francis, Baron 
 of Rosny, and of Charlotte Dauvet. Being a Calvinist he 
 escaped with difficulty the massacre of St. Bartholomew, 
 attached himself to Henry of Navarre, took part in his most 
 perilous expeditions and was named his chamberlain ordinary 
 and counsellor of Navarre. He followed the Duke of Anjou 
 in the expedition to Flanders, then returned to assist at the 
 battle of Coutras, and fought at the side of Henry at Arques 
 and Ivry, where he was covered with wounds. 
 
352 HISTORY OF HENRY THE GREAT 
 
 In 1596 he entered the Council and was charged with 
 other counsellors to make a tour through the provinces in 
 order to verify the accounts of the treasurers and receivers, 
 and was able to bring to the king the sum of 500,000 crowns. 
 Nominated superintendent of the finances (1599) he displayed 
 the rarest ability in the exercise of his function. 
 
 He showed an extraordinary perseverance and an in- 
 flexible rigour in diminishing the expenses, augmenting the 
 receipts, and reforming abuses. All the friendship of the 
 king was necessary to sustain him against the numerous 
 enemies who rose against him in consequence of his action. 
 
 In 1609 he was able to pay a state debt of 100 million 
 francs, to raise the revenue from 9 to 16 millions, and had 
 yet a reserve of 22 millions. The artillery was on a formidable 
 footing, and the arsenals full of arms and provisions. Soon 
 after Henry IV. 's death he resigned. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbeville, 152 
 
 Aiguillon, Duke of, 226 
 
 Albert, Archduke, commander of the 
 
 Spanish army, 162 ; married to 
 
 the Infanta, 193 
 Aldobrandin, Cardinal, 220 
 Alen^on, Duke of, ig 
 Amboise conspiracy hatched by 
 
 Huguenots, 16 
 Amiens, city of, renounces the League, 
 
 153 ; taken by Spaniards, 165 ; 
 
 besieged by Henry IV., 166; is 
 
 captured, 168 
 Andely, death of King Anthony of 
 
 Navarre at, 16 
 Angers, 170 
 Anjou, Duke of, 18 ; elected King of 
 
 Poland, 24 
 Armand, Father Ignatius, 256 
 Arnay-le-Duc, peace concluded at, 20 
 Arragon, Ferdinand, King of, 7 
 Auneau, defeat of Germans at, 61 
 Aussonne, 155 
 Autun, 155 
 Auvergne, Count of, 240 ; arrested, 
 
 244 
 Auxerre, 155 
 
 Balagny, 152, 159 
 Baptism of Henry the Great, 13 
 Bar, Duke of, 193, 209 
 Bar, Duchess of, 257 
 Barraut, Count of, 226 
 Barricades, raising of, 65 
 Barriere, Peter, 154 
 Bassompierre, 153 
 Bastille, the, 134 
 Battle of the Flour, 127 
 Beaumont, convent at, 26G 
 Beaune, 155 
 Beauvais, 152 
 
 Bellegarde, Termes, 82 
 Belleisle, Marchioness of, 194, 195 
 Bellievre, i8r, 182, 201, 243, 252 
 Bethune, Count of, 226 
 Biron, Marshal de, 81, 90; remark to 
 the king, loi; his great authority, 
 114; remark to his son, liaron 
 de Biron, 137 ; is killed, 139 
 Biron, Baron de, succeeds his father, 
 139; becomes Marshal of France, 
 152 ; is praised by the king, 169 ; 
 created duke and peer, 175 ; cor- 
 rupted by Laffin, 211 ; his vanity, 
 212 ; loses his affection for the 
 king, 213 ; his conspiracy, 238 et 
 seq.; arrested, 244; executed, 247 
 
 Birth of Henry the Great, 11 
 
 Blancmesnil, Potier de. 245 
 
 Blavet, 172, 175 
 
 Boisdaufin, Lord of, 161 
 
 Borghese, Cardinal, 280 
 
 Bouillon, Duke of, 37 
 
 Bouillon, Marshal de, 158, 249, 268, 
 269, 271, 272 
 
 Bourbon, Anthony de, Duke of 
 Vendome, father of Henry the 
 Great, genealogy of, C; succeeds 
 to the kingdom of Navarre, 15 ; 
 his death, iG 
 
 Bourbon, Cardinal de, 8, 43, 86 ; 
 death of, 106 
 
 Bourbon, John of, 7 
 
 Bresse, La, 214, 252 
 
 Brie, 138 
 
 Brigard, 133 
 
 Brissac, Marshal de, 320 
 
 Brisson, de, 133, 134 
 
 Bruges, retaken from reformers, iG ; 
 submits to the king, 149 
 
 Burgundy, 156 
 
 Bussy le Clerc, 69, 134 
 
 23 
 
354 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Calais taken by the Spaniards, 162 
 
 Calvinism publicly embraced by 
 mother of Henry IV., 16 
 
 Cambray, 152, 158, 159 
 
 Capuchins, 261 
 
 Carces, Count of, 148 
 
 Carmelites, 261 
 
 Casaux, Charles de, 161 
 
 Castel, John, 154 
 
 Castile, Constable of, 155 
 
 Castres, 250 
 
 Catherine, Madame, sister of Henry 
 IV., marries the Duke of Bar, 
 193 ; her death, 194 
 
 Cattelet, 158 
 
 Caudebec, 136 
 
 Caux, 151 
 
 Chalons-sur-Saone, 157 
 
 Chambery, 217 
 
 Charenton, 137 
 
 Charles V., Emperor, demands Jane 
 d'Albret, 9 
 
 Charles IX., succession of, i5 ; mar- 
 ried, 20 ; offers to marry his 
 sister Margaret to the Prince of 
 Navarre, 20 ; draws principal 
 chiefs of Huguenot party to 
 Paris, 20 ; mortally sick, 24 ; 
 sends for Henry of Navarre, 
 25 ; death of, 26 
 
 Chartres, Henry HI. retires to, 65 ; 
 besieged, 127; Chiverni restored 
 to governorship of, 128; Laffin 
 interceded for by his nephew, the 
 Vidame of, 237 
 
 Chastillon, 51 
 
 Chateau-Neuf, 320 
 
 Chateau-Vieux, Count of, 320 
 
 Chateau-Reynard, 58 
 
 Chatelet, 133 
 
 Chiverny, 181 
 
 Christian, Florentius, appointed 
 tutor to Henry IV., 17 
 
 Clement VIII., Pope, death of, 280 
 
 Clement, James, kills Henry HI., 76 
 
 Clermont, Count of, 6 
 
 CoHgny, Admiral, 18 
 
 Commartin, President, 250 
 
 Conchini, 263, 319, 320 
 
 Conciergerie, the, 266 
 
 Conde, Henry, Prince of, raises 
 levies for Huguenots, 26 ; death 
 of, 62 
 
 Conde, Louis, Prince of, 8 ; opposes 
 the Guises, 15 ; arrested at Or- 
 
 leans with his brother Anthony, 
 16; killed, 18 
 
 Conde, young Prince of, 192 
 
 Conflans, 217 
 
 Conti, Prince of, 82 
 
 Corbeil, besieged by Parma, 116; re- 
 taken by Givry, 116 
 
 Cosse, Marshal de, 20 
 
 Coton, Father, 256, 257 
 
 Courtnay, 6 
 
 Coutras, battle of, 56 et seq. 
 
 D'Aix, Louis, 161 
 D'Albigny, Lord, 252, 253 
 D'Albret, Jane, 6 ; death of, 20 
 D'Amboise, George de Clermont, 51 
 Damville-Montmorency, Marshal of, 
 
 50 
 
 D'Arques, Chateau, gi ; battle of, 91 
 
 D'Aumale, Duke, chosen governor of 
 the " Sixteen," 69 
 
 D'Aumont, Marshal, 8g, 181 
 
 D'Auvergne, Count, 264, 265, 266, 
 267 
 
 D'Egmont, Count, 97 
 
 Denia, Marquis of, 277 
 
 D'Entragues, Count, 264 ; arrested, 
 266 
 
 D'Entragues, Henriette, mistress of 
 Henry IV., 202-3; the Queen in- 
 censed against her, 262 
 
 D'Epernon, Duke, favourite of Henry 
 III., 41 ; incites the King to 
 punish the "Sixteen," 65; re- 
 tirement of, 67 ; returns to Court, 
 72 ; declines to stay with Henry 
 IV., 85; deprived of his govern- 
 ment, 153; sent to Metz to re- 
 store order, 256 ; present at the 
 death of the King, 324 
 
 D'Espinac, Pierre, Archbishop of 
 Lyons, 64 
 
 D'Est, Alphonso, 191 ; Caesar, 191 ; 
 Anne, 191 
 
 D'Estrees, Count, 131 
 
 D'Estrees, Gabrielle, mistress of 
 Henry IV., 130; death of, 196, 
 198 
 
 D'Eurre, 265 
 
 D'Humieres, James, Lord, 35 ; swears 
 allegiance to Henry IV., 80; killed 
 in battle, 158 
 
 Dieppe, 135 
 
 Dijon, 155 
 
INDEX 
 
 355 
 
 D'O, Francis, vainly attempts to 
 induce the King to become 
 Catholic, 83 ; dies, 150 ; referred 
 to, 184 
 
 Dombes, Prince of, 82 
 
 Donchery, 271 
 
 Doria, 223 
 
 D'Ornano, Colonel Alfonso, 14S 
 
 D'Ossat, 159, 197, 200, 201, 209 
 
 Dourlens, 158 
 
 Dreux, 97, 145 
 
 D'Ussac, Huguenot governor of La 
 Reole, his deformity, 37; ena- 
 moured of a lady, 37 ; jeered at 
 by the young bloods of Henry's 
 party, 37 ; gives up the city to 
 the enemy, 37-S 
 
 Edmonds, Lord, 226 
 
 Elbeuf, Marquis of, 152 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen of England, 51 ; is 
 
 solicited by the Huguenots, 126; 
 
 sends Lord Edmonds to Henry 
 
 IV., 226; her remark to Biron, 
 
 227 ; death of, 257 
 Emer de Chattes, 8g 
 Epernay, Marshal de Biron killed 
 
 at, 139 
 Estampes, 95 
 Estates, assembly of, at Blois, 35 
 
 Ferdinand, King of Arragon, 7 
 
 Feria, Duke of, 143 
 
 Ferrara, duchy of, 192 
 
 Fervaques, Marshal de, 320 
 
 Feuillantines, convent of, 195 
 
 Feuillantines, the, 261 
 
 Florence, contract of marriage signed 
 at, 201 ; solemnities at, 202 
 
 Foix, Catherine du, 8 
 
 Fontaine-Fran^aise, 156 
 
 Fontanelles, Baron of, 249 
 
 Fontainebleau, 183 ; birth of a dau- 
 phin at, 22S; 241, 262, 269, 28S, 
 289 
 
 Fortet, public assembly at College of, 
 
 45 
 Forty, Council of, 133 
 Francis L, 7 
 Francis H., succession of, 15; death 
 
 of, 16 
 Francis, Duke of Guise, assassinated, 
 
 17 
 
 Frenouillet, 252 
 
 Friars, barefooted, 261 
 
 Fuentes, Count of, 158, 222, 223, 237 
 
 Galigav, Leonora, 263 
 
 Gas, du, goes to Canada, 261 
 
 Germany, Protestant princes of, 55 
 
 Gevres, secretary of state, 320 
 
 Givry sv^^ears allegiance to Henry 
 IV., 80; takes Corbeil, iiG 
 
 Godfathers of Henry IV., 13 
 
 Gonde, Cardinal de, 132 
 
 Gray, 156 
 
 Gregory XIV., Pope, 128 
 
 Grenoble, city of, 130, 216 
 
 Guet, Cavalier de, 266 
 
 Guienne, government of, given to 
 the young Prince of Conde, 192 ; 
 the King remonstrates with the 
 deputies of the city of, 236 
 
 Guise, Duke of, 43-G, 65, G6; assassi- 
 nation of, 67 
 
 Guise, Duke of (son), escape of, 131 
 
 Guises seize government, 15 
 
 Guitry, 181 
 
 Ham, held by the League, 153; given 
 up to the Spaniards by the 
 governor, 158 ; retaken, 158 ; 
 death of D'Humieres at, 158 
 
 Harlay, first president of parliament, 
 his eloquence, 210 ; appointed a 
 member of the regency council, 
 320 
 
 Hebert, Marshal Biron's secretary, 
 tortured on the rack, 248 
 
 Heidelberg, 250 
 
 Henry d'Albret, sends for daughter, 
 ir ; his death, 14 
 
 Henry II., death of, 15 
 
 Henry III., accession of, 26; con- 
 spiracy against, 27 ; confidence 
 in Henry of Navarre, 28 ; es- 
 poused to Louise of Lorraine, 
 28 ; falls sick, 29 ; is perplexed 
 at the war, 52 ; excommunicated 
 by the Pope, 70 ; goes to Tours, 
 71; dies, 77; his faults, 119 
 
 Henry the Great, birth of, 12; treat- 
 ment by his grandfather, 12-14 ; 
 brought to Court of France, 15 ; 
 with Coligny takes Nimes, towns 
 of St. Julian and St. Just, 19 ; 
 
356 
 
 INDEX 
 
 becomes King of Navarre, 21 ; 
 marriage, 21 ; brought before 
 Charles IX. after massacre of St. 
 Bartholomew, 22 ; passion for 
 women, 22 ; goes with Duke of 
 Anjou to besiege Rochelle, 24 ; 
 is sent for by Charles IX., 25 ; 
 is closely watched at Court, 
 27 ; is enamoured of Madame 
 de Sauves, 27 ; friendship with 
 Henry III., 28; is commanded 
 by him to kill Duke of Alen9on, 
 29 ; leaves the Court, 32 ; returns 
 again to Protestant religion, 32 ; 
 is admitted into Rochelle, 32 ; 
 takes possession of his govern- 
 ment of Guienne, 33 ; action with 
 regard to Pope's bulls, 49 ; in- 
 terview with Queen-mother, 52 ; 
 address to Princes Conde and 
 Soissons, 57 ; assists Henry HI., 
 71; retires to Meudon, 80; raises 
 siege of Paris, 88 ; goes to Rouen, 
 89 ; retires to Dieppe, 90 ; re- 
 ceives suggestion from Tours 
 parliament, 90 ; assaults the 
 suburbs of Paris, 95 ; attacks 
 Normandy, 96 ; his clemency at 
 Ivry, 102 ; his acknowledgment 
 to Colonel Thische, 103 ; storms 
 Paris between St. James and St. 
 Marceau, 116; letires to Senlis 
 and to Creil, 116; flatters May- 
 enne, 118; different factions in 
 party of, 124 ; siege of Chartres 
 by, 127; army increased, 136; 
 is wounded, 139 ; receives com- 
 munication from Queen Eliza- 
 beth, 139 ; besieges city of Eper- 
 nay, 139 ; gives his consent to 
 be instructed in the Catholic re- 
 ligion, 140 ; conspiracy to seize 
 him at Mantes, 142; notifies his 
 resolution to deputies at Surenes, 
 144 ; goes to St. Denis, 146 ; 
 abjures the Protestant religion, 
 146; receives absolution, 147; is 
 anointed, 149; enters Paris, 149; 
 besieges Laon, 152 ; Rheims, 
 Vitry and Mezieres return to, 
 153; his life is attempted, 154, 
 156 ; receives notice of the Pope's 
 absolution, 159 ; has an interview 
 with the Duke of Mayenne, 160 ; 
 gives recompense to those who 
 
 submit, 161 ; Marseilles is de- 
 livered to him, 161 ; takes La 
 Fere, 162 ; convenes the estates, 
 163 ; determines to invest Amiens, 
 166; captures that city, 168; 
 visits Arras, 168 ; goes to Brit- 
 tany, 170; swears to the peace, 
 175 '■ gives his reasons for wish- 
 ing for peace, 176; illness at 
 Monceaux, 180 ; offers his sword 
 and forces to the Pope, 191 ; is 
 requested to take a wife, igg ; 
 is divorced, 199; is engaged, 
 201 ; several attempts against 
 his life, 207 ; receives a visit 
 from the Duke of Savoy, 208- 
 214 ; his advice to Marshal de 
 Biron, 211 ; annoyed with him 
 because of his vanity, 213 ; de- 
 clares war against Savoy, 216; 
 goes to Lyons to meet Marie de 
 Medicis, 220 ; goes to Calais, 
 225 ; goes to Poitiers, 236 ; sees 
 Baron de Biron, 242 ; goes to 
 Metz, 256 ; sends Rosny to Eng- 
 land, 258 ; prohibits duels, 259 ; 
 makes Rosny Duke of Sully, 271 ; 
 decides the rights of ambassa- 
 dors, 274 ; his life attempted, 
 276 ; his interview with Don 
 Pedro, 288, and the Prince of 
 Orange, 289 ; desires to purchase 
 the salt-marshes, 294 ; causes an 
 inquisition of the rents at the 
 Hotel de Ville, 296 ; account of 
 his mistresses, 303 ; money paid 
 to former opponents, 305 ; his 
 " Great Design " to unite all 
 Christendom, 306, 307 et seq. ; 
 decides to leave the regency to 
 the Queen, 319 ; expresses his 
 fears to Sully, 321 ; is assas- 
 sinated, 324 
 
 Huguenots, hatch conspiracy, 16 
 
 Hulst, siege of, 162 
 
 Inchi, Baron of, 152 
 Intermittent nature of war, 127 
 Isabella Clara Eugenia, Infanta of 
 
 Spain, marriage of, 193 
 Ivry, battle of, 98 — loi 
 
 James of Scotland, 257 
 Jarnac, battle of, 18 
 
INDEX 
 
 357 
 
 Jeannin or Janin, President, 86, 128, 
 181 — 183, 241, 252, 276, 289 
 
 Jesuits, 155 
 
 Joyeuse, Cardinal de, 161, 280, 283, 
 284, 320 
 
 Joyeuse, Duke of, 40 ; army of, 56 ; 
 death of, 59 
 
 Joyeuse, Duke of, 194 
 
 Juillet, edict of, 46 
 
 Juliers, John Wilham, Duke of, 317 
 
 La Boulave, 51 
 
 La Bourdaisiere, 127 
 
 La Charbonniere, 217 
 
 La Chastre, Marshal de, iSi 
 
 La Chatre, 149 
 
 La Fere, 153, 158; siege of, 162 
 
 Laffin, 211, 213, 237, 247, 248 
 
 La Force, Lord de, 244 
 
 La Gaucherie, tutor to Henry the 
 
 Great, 16; death of, 17 
 La Mark, Charlotte de. Duchess of 
 
 Bouillon, 130 
 La Morienne, 217 
 Landriano, Marcelin, 129 
 La None, 151 
 Laon, 133 
 Larcher, de, 133 
 La Reole, 37 
 La Tour, Henry de, 51 
 La Tremoille, Claudius de, 51 
 League, the, birth of, 33 ; Sixtus V. 
 
 approves of, 47 ; 158, 161 
 Le Mans, 95 
 Leopold of Austria, 31S 
 Lesdiguieres, governor of Dauphine, 
 
 51, 181, 218 
 Liancourt, Lord of, 320 
 L'lle, John de, attempts to kill 
 
 Henry IV., 276 
 Limoges, 237, 240, 241, 269 
 Loire, river, joined with Seine, 260 
 Longue\ille, Duke of, 89, 195 
 Lorraine, Duke of, 87, 153 
 L'Oste, treason of, 272 
 Loudun, skirmish at, 18 
 Louvre, the, 134 
 Low Countries, flight of Leaguers to, 
 
 158 
 Luquisses, the, conspiracy of, 272, 275 
 Lux, Baron de, 241, 248 
 Lyons, 148 ; peace signed at, 220 
 
 Macon, 155 
 Manou, 82 
 
 Mansfield, Count of, 142 
 
 Mantes, King Henry IV. stays at, 
 
 105 
 
 Margaret, Queen, returns to her 
 husband, 38 ; comes to Paris, 
 200 
 
 Marseilles, 272 
 
 Martel, Charles, 188 
 
 Maulevrier, Count of, 317 
 
 Maupeou, 320 
 
 INIayenne, Duke of, 54, 70 ; takes 
 title of Lieutenant-General, 71 ; 
 attacks Tours, 74 ; his indecision, 
 85 ; goes to relief of Rouen, 89; 
 distrusts Spaniards, 92 ; physical 
 state of, 93 ; his vacillating 
 policy before Ivry, 95 — 97 ; his 
 conduct during the battle, loi ; 
 jealous of Duke of Nemours and 
 Duke of Lorraine, 124 ; receives 
 Spaniards into Paris, 127; his 
 jealousy of the young Duke of 
 Guise, 131 ; 133 — 136 ; calls to- 
 gether the States-general for 
 nomination of a king, 140; sur- 
 prise at the King's resolution, 
 144, 145 ; dismisses deputies, 147 ; 
 153, 156, 157 ; sues for peace, 159 ; 
 goes to Monceaux to salute the 
 King, 160; 181, 183, 320 
 
 Meaux, 112, 148 
 
 Medicis, Alexander de, elected Pope 
 under the name of Leo XL, 280 ; 
 his death, 280 
 
 Medicis, Catherine de, causes herself 
 to be declared regent, 16 ; seizes 
 regency on death of Charles IX., 
 26 ; her plots and intrigues, 36 
 et seq. ; death of, 67 
 
 Medicis, Marie de, 197, 201, 262, 2G8, 
 320, 321 
 
 Merargues, treason of, 272, 273 ; exe- 
 cution of, 276 
 
 Merceur, Duke of, 161, 169, 176, 224 
 
 Metz, city of, 255 
 
 Miron, champions the cause of the 
 people, 296 — 298 
 
 Modena, 192 
 
 Monceaux, 160 ; illness of Henry IV. 
 at, 180 
 
 Monsieur, death of, 42 
 
 Montargis, 322 
 
 Montcontour, Prince of Navarre and 
 Prince of Conde at battle of, 
 18 
 
35« 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Montmorency, Constable of, mortally 
 wounded at battle of St. Denis, 17 
 Montmorency, Duke of, 320 
 Montpensier, Duchess of, 94, 151 
 Montpensier, Duke of, 82, 89 
 Montreuil, 152 
 Morgan, 266 
 
 Mornay, Philip du Plessis, 48, 1 14, 201 
 Mousson, 272 
 
 Nantes, 170; Edict of, 190 
 
 Narbonne, 272 
 
 Nemours, treaty of, 46 
 
 Nemours, Duke of, 76, 87, 95 ; puts 
 
 Paris in a state of defence, 107 ; 
 
 148, 191 
 Nerestan, 265 
 Neufbourg, 137 
 Nevers, duke of, 53 ; sent to Rome, 
 
 147; 158, 317, 318 
 Nimes taken, 19 
 Nonancourt, 97 
 Noyon, 131, 142 
 Nurses of Henry IV., 13 
 
 Orleans, Francis Duke of Guise 
 assassinated at siege of, 17; the 
 city submits to the King, 149 
 
 Ostend, siege of, 226 
 
 Paris, siege of, 76 ; relieved by Duke 
 of Parma, 114; general assembly 
 of clergy held at, i8g 
 
 Parma, Duke of, go ; at Conde, 105 ; 
 delivers Paris, 114; is discon- 
 tented with French troops, 116; 
 hears of the loss of Corbeil, 116; 
 advises the Council of Spain 
 against Mayenne, 117; goes to 
 help the besieged city of Rouen, 
 1351 wounded, 136; extricates 
 himself from his difficulties, 137; 
 to the King's amazement, 13S ; 
 expresses his admiration of King 
 Henry's action, 139 
 
 Pau, Henry IV. taken from Court 
 of France and led to, by his 
 mother, 17 
 
 Pedro de Toledo, Don, 286-288 
 
 Relieve, Cardinal de, 150 
 
 Perron, David du, 159, 201, 284, 320 
 
 Peronne, city of, renounces the 
 League, 152 
 
 Philip II., 151 
 
 Phillipin killed in a duel, 195 
 
 Picardy, 149, 158, 172, 225 
 
 Pierre-Encise, castle of, 148, 160 
 
 Piney, Duke of, 83, 84 
 
 Pisani, Marquis of, 128, 192 
 
 Placenza, Cardinal de, 150 
 
 Poitiers, bishopric of, 252 
 
 Poltrot, Francis Duke of Guise 
 
 assassinated by, 17 
 Pompone de Bellievre, 171 
 Pont-a-Mousson, Marquis du, 91 
 Pontcarre, 320 
 Pont de I'Arche, 136 
 Pontoise, 147 
 Praslin, 244 
 
 QuERCY, 269 
 
 Raillery of Spaniards at birth of 
 Henry IV., 13 
 
 Ravaillac, Francis, 323, 324; assassi- 
 nates Henry IV., 325 
 
 Recollets, the, 261 
 
 Reggia, 192 
 
 Renaud de Beaune, 147 
 
 Renaze, 246, 248 
 
 Rene, 51 
 
 Rennes, 170 
 
 Retz, Marshal de, 195 
 
 Rheims, general assembly at, 128; 
 submits to Henry IV., 153 
 
 Rochefoucauld, Francis, Count of, 51 
 
 Rochelle, siege of, 24 
 
 Rochepot, Count of, 177, 224, 273 
 
 Rohan, Duke of, 321 
 
 Rolet, 89 
 
 Roquelaire, 38 
 
 Rosny, Captain, 158 ; counsels 
 Spanish commander, 162 ; assists 
 in taking of Guinez and Ardres, 
 162 ; is killed, 162 
 
 Rosny, Marquis of, 164, 181; character 
 of, 184-186 ; 204, 230, 243, 250, 
 252 ; goes to England, 258 ; 
 created Duke of Sully, 271 
 
 Rouen, King of Navarre killed at 
 siege of, 16; siege of, 135; es- 
 tates convened at, 153; assembly 
 of notables at, 234 
 
 St. Bartholomew, massacre of, 21 
 St. Brix, conference at, 54 
 St. Denis, attacked by Parisians, 127 
 St. Germain-en-Laye, plot to seize 
 
 the person of the King at, 166 
 St. Jean d'Angely, 192 
 
INDEX 
 
 359 
 
 St. Ouen, estates convened in abbey 
 
 of, 163 
 Saint-Saviour killed at the battle of 
 
 Coutras, 59 
 St. Sorlin, Marquis of, iCo 
 Saluces, question of marquisate re- 
 ferred to the Pope, 204 
 Sancy, 74, 76, Si, 181, 182, 185 
 Sanson, 156 
 Saone, the, 156 
 Saxony, Duke of, 317 
 Savoy, Duke of, 51, 130, 172 
 Savoy, Duke of, his visit to France, 
 
 208 ; plots with Biron, 213 ; 
 
 quits France, 214; 217, 238, 239, 
 
 242, 252. 253, 254, 271 
 Sedan, 271, 272 
 
 Seine, river, joined with Loire, 260 
 Selles, 142 
 Senlis, 262 
 
 Sfondrato, Count Hercules, 129 
 Sillery, Nicholas Brulard de, 171, 
 
 181, 182, 197, 243, 252 
 Sixteen, the, 65, 105, 118, 129, 132, 
 
 133, 134, 149 
 Sixtus v., Pope, death of, 126 
 Sobole, 255, 256 
 Soissons, 153 
 Soissons, Count of, 82, 154 ; receives 
 
 proposition to poison the King, 
 
 207; exhorts Biron to seek the 
 
 King's pardon, 242 
 Somme, the, 135 
 Sommerive, 157 
 Sourdis, Madame de, 198 
 Stenay, 130 
 Stuart, Mary, 257 
 Succession of Anthony, Duke of 
 
 Vendome, 15 
 Sully, Duke of, see Rosny, Marquis of 
 Surenes, meeting of deputies at, 141 
 
 Tardiff, 133 
 Tarentaise, 217 
 
 Teillo, Hernand, surprises Amiens. 
 
 165 ; is killed, 168 
 Thirdlings, the, 125 
 Thische, Colonel, 103 
 Touchet, Mary, 202 
 Toulouse, 161 
 Tours, 134, 266 
 Troyes, 152 
 Tuileries, 183 
 Turenne, Viscount de, 129 
 
 Urban VII., Pope, 127 
 
 Valenciennes, 112 
 
 Valladolid, 177 
 
 Valois, Margaret de, 8 
 
 Vendome, 95 
 
 Vendome, Cardinal de, 82 
 
 Vendome, Catherine of, 7 
 
 Vendome, Duke of, 199, 265 
 
 Venice, Doge of, his opinion of Henry 
 the Great's diplomacy, 290 
 
 Verneuil, 262, 267 
 
 Vervins, peace of, 6 ; plenipoten- 
 tiaries meet at, 171 ; 204, 254 
 
 Vic, Seigneur de, appointed governor 
 of Amiens, 168 
 
 Vienne, 161 
 
 Villars-Oudan, 156 
 
 Villemur, 161 
 
 Villeroy, 64, 145, 181 et seq., 201, 243, 
 252, 271 
 
 Vitry, 112, 148, 153, 244 
 
 Vitry, Louis d'Hopital, 84 
 
 War of the Lovers, 40 
 Will of Henry d'Albret, 14 
 
 Y\'ETOT, army of enemies shut up 
 there by Henry IV., 136 
 
 Zamet, 198 
 
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