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

It will no doubt be remembered that the young Prince of Wurtemberg, whom the emperor was leading in his train across the Alps, having escaped with his governor, had loudly demanded back the states of which Austria had robbed his father. Francis was chiefly occupied about him at Avignon. 'At this place,' says the historian Martin du Bellay, 'the king assembled his council, and deliberated on a request made to him not only by young Duke Christopher of Wurtemberg and his father, but by his uncles, Duke William and Duke Louis of Bavaria. Christopher himself had written to Francis I.: "Sire," he said, "during the great and long calamity of my father and myself, what first made hope spring up in our hearts was the thought that you would interpose your influence to put an end to our misery.... Your compassion for the afflicted is well known. I doubt not that, by your assistance, we shall soon be restored to our rights."' 523

Francis, always on the watch to injure his rival, was delighted at this proceeding, and did not conceal his joy from the privy council. 'I desire much,' he said, 'to see the dukes of Wurtemberg restored to their states, and should like to help them, as much to weaken the emperor's power as to acquire new friendships in Germany. But,' he added, 'I would do it under so colourable a pretext , that I may affirm that I have infringed no treaty.' 524To humble the emperor and to exalt the protestants, without appearing to have anything to do with it, was what Francis desired.

=DU BELLAY SENT TO GERMANY.=

William du Bellay urged the king to return the duke a favourable answer. A friend of independence and sound liberty, he was at that time the representative of the old French spirit, as Catherine de Medici was to become the representative of the new—that is to say, of the Romish influence under which France has unhappily suffered for nearly three centuries. It has been sometimes said that the cause of France is the cause of Rome; but the noblest aspirations of the French people and its most generous representatives condemn this error. Popery is the cause of the pope alone; it is not even the cause of Italy; and if the contrary opinion still exists in France, it is a remnant of the influence of the Medici.

The transition from Marseilles to Avignon was, however, a little abrupt. To ally the eldest son of the Church with the protestants at the very moment he left the pope's arms, in a city which belonged to the holy see, and in the ancient palace of the pontiffs, seemed strange to the French, whose eyes were still fascinated by the pomp of Rome. This was noticed by Du Bellay, who, wishing to facilitate the transition, explained to the council 'that a diet was about to be held at Augsburg, where the reparation of a great injustice would be discussed; that an innocent person implored the king's assistance; that it was the practice of France to succour the oppressed everywhere; that precious advantages might result from it ... besides, there could be no doubt of success, and as the cause of Duke Christopher would be conducted in the diet according to the rights, usages, immunities, and privileges of the German nation, the emperor could not prevent justice being done.... Let us send an ambassador,' added Du Bellay, 'to support the claims of the dukes of Wurtemberg, and Austria must either restore these princes to their states, or arouse the hostility of all Germany against it.' 525Francis was already gained. He hoped not only to take Wurtemberg from Austria, but also to get up a general war in Germany between the protestants and the empire, of which he could take advantage to seize upon the states which he claimed in Italy. When his detested rival had fallen beneath their combined blows, the religious question should be settled. The king, who had meditated all this in the intervals of his conferences with Clement VII., ordered Du Bellay to proceed to Augsburg forthwith, and charged him 'to do everything in his power, with a sufficiently colourable pretext , towards the re-establishment of the dukes of Wurtemberg.' 526Du Bellay was satisfied. He wished for more than the king did; he desired to emancipate France from the papal supremacy, and with that object to draw Francis and protestantism closer together. That was difficult; but this Wurtemberg affair, which presented itself simply as a political question, would supply him with the means of overcoming every difficulty. This was where he would have to set the wedge in order to split the tree. He thought that he could make use of it to counteract the effects of the conference which the king had just held with the pope by contriving another between the two most anti-papistical princes in Europe. Du Bellay departed, taking the road through Switzerland.

=DU BELLAY IN SWITZERLAND.=

He had his reasons for adopting this route. The emperor and his brother consented, indeed, that their rights should be discussed in the diet, but it was only that they might not appear to refuse to do justice: everybody knew that Ferdinand had no intention of restoring Wurtemberg. The balance was at that time pretty even in Germany between Rome and the Gospel, and the restitution of Wurtemberg would make it incline to the side of the Reformation. If Austria would not give way, she would have to be constrained by force of arms. Du Bellay desired, therefore, to induce the protestant cantons of Switzerland, bordering on Wurtemberg, to unite their efforts with those of protestant Germany in wresting that duchy from the Austrian rule. Francis, who knew how to manage such matters, had conceived the design of placing in the hands of the Helvetians, probably through Du Bellay, a certain sum of money to cover the expenses of the campaign. But it seems that the protestant cantons did not agree to the arrangement. 527

When Du Bellay arrived at Augsburg, he met the young Duke Christopher. He entered into conversation with him, and they were henceforth inseparable: this prince, so amiable, but at the same time so firm, was his man. He is to be the lever which the counsellor of Francis I. will use to stir men's minds, and to unite Germany and France.... The first thing to be done was to restore him to his throne. The French ambassador paid a visit to the delegates from Austria. 'The king my master,' he said, 'is delighted that this innocent young man has at last found a harbour in the midst of the tempest. His father and he have suffered enough by being driven from their home.... It is time to restore the son to the father, the father to the son, and to both of them the states of their ancestors. If entreaties are not sufficient,' added Du Bellay firmly, 'the king my master will employ all his power.' 528Thus did France take up her position as the protector of the distressed; but there was something else underneath: the chief object of the king was to strike a blow at the emperor; that of Du Bellay, to strike the pope.

Christopher, who received encouragement from every quarter, appeared before the diet on the 10th of December, 1533. He was no longer the captive prince whom Charles had led in his train. The poor young man, who not long ago had been compelled to flee, leaving his companion behind him, hidden among the reeds of a marsh in the Norican Alps, stood now before the German diet, surrounded by a brilliant throng of nobles, the representatives of the princes who supported his claims, and having as assistants (that is, as espousing his quarrel) the delegates of Saxony, Prussia, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Luneburg, Hesse, Cleves, Munster, and Juliers. The King of Hungary pleaded his cause in person: 'Most noble seigniors,' he began, 'when we see the young Duke Christopher of Wurtemberg deprived of his duchy without having done anything to deserve such punishment, disappointed by the Austrians in all the hopes they had given him, unworthily treated at the imperial court, 529compelled to make his escape by flight, imploring at this moment by earnest supplications your compassion and your help—we are profoundly agitated. What! because his father has done wrong, shall this young man be reduced to a hard and humiliating life? Has not the voice of God himself declared that the son shall not bear the iniquities of the father?'