J. H. Merle D'Aubigné - History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Vol. 1-8)

352'Concilii, desiderati da molti, come necessarii per la eresia di Lutero, che ogni di ampliava e per molti discordini che sono nella chiesa.'—Guicciardini, Discorsi politici, Opere inedite , i. p. 388.

353'Al contrario, remedio e piu pericoloso et poi partorire maggiori mali.'— Lettere di Principi , ii. p. 197. Du Bellay, Mémoires , pp. 183-185.

354'Il papa con chi forse avea odio.'—Guicciardini, loc. cit.

355Despatch of the Bishop of Auxerre, ambassador of France, dated December 24, 1532.

356Instructions for the nuncio Rangoni. Pallavicini, liv. iii. ch. xiii.

357Despatch of the Bishop of Auxerre, dated January 1, 1533.

358Du Bellay, Mémoires , p. 177.

359Du Bellay, Mémoires , p. 178.

360The secret articles are in the Bibliothèque Impériale at Paris. MSS. Béthune, No. 8541, fol. 36. Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte , iii. p. 439.

361Bucholz, ix. p. 101. Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte , iii. p. 439.

362Du Bellay, Mémoires , p. 178.

363Ibid. p. 179.

364Ibid. p. 180.

365Henry's instructions are in French. State Papers , vii. p. 423.

366Ibid. p. 428.

367Ibid.

Table of Contents

WHEN the emperor was informed of these matters, he began to knit his brows. A flash of light revealed to him the ingenious plans of his rival, and he took immediate steps to prevent the dangerous union. Charles V., Francis I., Henry VIII., and the pope were all in commotion at the thought of this marriage, and little Catherine was the Briseis around whom met and contended the greatest powers of the world.

=DOUBTS INSINUATED BY CHARLES.=

At first the emperor endeavoured to instil into the pope's mind suspicions of the good faith of the King of France. That was no difficult matter. 'Clement dared not feel confident,' says Du Bellay, 'that the king really wished to do him such great honour.' 368—'The Orleans marriage would certainly be very honourable and advantageous,' said Charles V. and his ministers; 'but his holiness must not rely upon it; the king makes the proposal only with the intention of befooling him and using him to his own benefit.' 369And when the pope repeated the promises of Albany, Gramont, and Tournon, the ministers of Charles kept silence, and replied only by a slight smile. The blow had told. Clement, who always tried to deceive, was naturally inclined to believe that the king was doing the same.

When the emperor and the diplomatists saw that they had made a breach, they attempted a new assault. Charles asked the young lady's hand for Francis Sforza, Duke of Milan. This scheme was worthy of that exuberant genius which Charles always displayed in the invention of means calculated to secure the success of his policy. This union would, in fact, have the double advantage of wresting Catherine and the Milanese from France at one blow. Charles hinted to her uncle that he would do much better to accept for his young relative a real marriage than to run after a shadow. 'It is a great offer, and the match is a good one,' said Clement; 'but the other is so grand and so honourable for my house, regard being had to dignities, that I never could have hoped for such honour ... and so much progress has been made, that I cannot listen to any other proposal without offending the king.' 370

Clement had become hard to please. If the Medici were the descendants of a merchant, the Sforzas came from a peasant, a leader of free troops, a condottiere . Clement looked down upon the Duke of Milan. 'Besides,' says Guiccardini, 'he burnt with desire to marry his niece to the second son of Francis I.' 371This is what he always came back to. Charles told him that Francis wanted, by this offer, to break up the Italian league, and when that was done, the marriage would be broken off too. 372But Clement maintained that the king was sincere in his offer. 'Good!' said the emperor to the pope; 'there is a very simple means of satisfying yourself on that point. Ask the two cardinals to procure immediately from France the powers necessary for settling the marriage contract. You will soon see whether his proposal is anything better than base money which they want to palm off upon you.' 373

The emperor's remarks were not without their effect upon Clement: he was thoughtful and uneasy. The French ambassadors had been lavish of words, but there was nothing written: verba volant . The pope caught at the idea suggested by Charles. If the full powers do not arrive, the king's treachery is unveiled; if they arrive, the game is won. Clement asked for them. 'Nothing is more easy,' said Tournon and Gramont, who wrote to their master without delay. 374

=THE KING'S HESITATION.=

Francis I. was startled when he received their despatch. His proposal was sincere, for he thought it necessary to his policy; but the remarks of Charles V. and Henry VIII. about the daughter of the Florentine merchant, and the astonishment of Europe, which unanimously protested against 'such great disparity of degree and condition,' 375had sunk into his mind. He, so proud of his blood and of his crown ... countenance a misalliance! He hesitated; he would only proceed slowly ... step by step ... and with a long interval after each. 376If Charles, who was impatient to return to Spain, should leave Italy without banding it against France ... then ... new facts, new counsel ... he would consider. But now he was driven to the wall: the question must be answered. Shall Catherine de Medici come and sit on the steps of the throne of St. Louis, or shall she remain in Italy? Shall she continue to receive abominable lessons from her relative Alexander de Medici, a detestable prince who exiled and imprisoned even the members of his own family, and confiscated their property, and was addicted to the most scandalous debauchery? ... or shall she come to France to put in practice those lessons among the people of her adoption? The king must make up his mind: the courier was waiting. One thing decided him. His old gaoler, the emperor, said that this marriage proposal was a trick. If Francis refused what the pope asked, Charles would triumph, and turn against him both pope and Italy. The king's ambition was stronger than his vanity, and coming to a desperate resolution, he had the full powers drawn up, signed, and sent off. 377

They arrived at Bologna about the middle of February. Albany, Gramont, and Tournon carried them in triumph to the pope, who immediately communicated them to the emperor. The latter read the procuration, which contained 'an express clause for settling the marriage of the Duke of Orleans with the Duchess of Urbino,' and was greatly surprised. 378'You see,' said Clement, 'there is no hole by which he can creep out.' Charles could not believe it. 'The king has only sent this document for a show ,' he said to Clement; 'if you press the ambassadors to go on and conclude the treaty, they will not listen to you.' 379A little while ago there had been nothing but words, and now there was only a piece of paper .... The new propositions were communicated to the duke and the two cardinals, who replied: 'We offer to stipulate forthwith the clauses, conditions, and settlements that are to be included in the contract.' 380

=THE EMPEROR'S NEW MANŒUVRES.=

Clement breathed again, and believed in the star of the Medici. If that star had placed his ancestors the Florentine merchants at the head of their people, it might well raise Catherine, the niece of two popes, the daughter and grand-daughter of dukes, to the throne of France. He informed the emperor that everything was arranged, and that the terms of the contract were being drawn up. Clement's face beamed with joy. The emperor began to think the matter serious, 'and was astonished and vexed above all,' says Du Bellay, 'at the frustration of his plan, which was to excite the holy father against the king.' Charles saw that the impetuosity of Francis had been too much for his own slowness; but he knew how to retrace his steps, and the fecundity of his genius suggested a last means of breaking up 'this detestable cabal.'—'Since it is so,' he said, 'I require your holiness at least to include among the conditions of the contract now drawing up, the four articles agreed to between us, the first time you spoke to me of this marriage.' Clement appeared surprised, and asked what articles they were. 'You promised me,' said Charles, 'first that the king should bind himself to alter nothing in Italy; second, to confirm the treaties of Cambray and Madrid; third, to consent to a council; and fourth, to get the King of England to promise to make no innovations in his country until the matter of his divorce was settled at Rome.' The King of France would never agree to such conditions; the pope was dismayed. Would he be wrecked just as he had reached the harbour?—'I made no such promises,' he exclaimed eagerly. 'The holy father,' says Du Bellay, 'formally denied ever having heard of these matters.' 381The altercation between the two chiefs of christendom threatened to be violent. Which of them was the liar? Probably the pope had said something of the kind, but only for form's sake, in order to pacify Charles, and without any intention of keeping his promise. He was the first to recover his calmness; he detested the emperor, but he humoured him. 'You well know, Sire,' he said, 'that the profit and honour accorded by the king to my family in accepting my alliance, are so great, that it belongs to him and not to me to propose conditions.' 382He offered, however, to undertake that everything should remain in 'complete peace.' The emperor, a master in dissimulation, tried to conceal his vexation, but without success; this unlucky marriage baffled all his plans. Francis had been more cunning than himself.... Who would have thought it? The King of France had sacrificed the honour of his house, but he had conquered his rival. Confounded, annoyed, and dejected, Charles paced up and down with his long gloomy face, when an unexpected circumstance revived his hopes of completely embroiling the pope and the King of France.