Chapter XXI: Book XIII: The Return to Lorraine (2)

"I hear from a trustworthy source," wrote the Landgrave to
Louis of Nassau, "that the old Duchess of Lorraine is going to
Brussels with both her daughters. She has raised 400,000 crowns
at Antwerp to make war on Denmark, and is to be helped by the
Netherlands with ships, money, and men. Her daughter Renée is
to marry King Eric, and a close alliance against the Danish
King is to be formed between Sweden, Lorraine, the States,
and the Holy Empire. Although I do not hold popular rumours
to be as infallible as Holy Gospel, I count them more worthy
of belief than Æsop's fables or the tales of Amadis de Gaul.
Of one thing I am quite sure: The Duchess does not travel to
Flanders or send an Ambassador to Sweden to roast pears or
dance a galliard. The latest report is that the Duchess is
going to sell her claims on Denmark to the King of Spain, but
I can hardly think His Majesty will be anxious to buy these
barren rights which bring a war in their train. Do not take
my gossip unkindly, but let me know what you hear of this
business."[620]

A cloud of mystery surrounds this visit which Christina paid to Brussels in the summer of 1565. She declined the Regent's invitation to occupy her old quarters in the palace, but stayed in the religious house known as the Cloister of Jericho, and afterwards with the Duchess of Aerschot at Diest. She received visits from Duke Eric, who professed himself ready to raise troops to serve her at the shortest notice, and also from Count Egmont. But all that she could learn from this noble was that, when he urged her claims on the King, and begged him to see that the arrears due to her were paid, Philip replied that Her Highness was the wisest and most virtuous of women, and would always take the best course possible.[621] By August Christina was back in Lorraine, and attended the christening of Nicholas de Vaudemont's new-born daughter, who received the name of Christina.[622]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1566] INTRIGUES WITH SWEDEN]

Whatever others may have felt about the Duchess's designs on Denmark, the King of Sweden was evidently in earnest. Four Ambassadors arrived at Nancy on All Saints' Day, 1565, and went on to Denœuvre. They brought offers from Eric to conquer Norway and Denmark in the Duchess's name and leave her in possession of the latter kingdom, and asked for Madame Renée's hand, in order to confirm the alliance between Lorraine and Sweden. During a whole year the Swedish Envoys remained at Nancy, and prolonged conferences were held between them and the Duke and his mother. A new ally also came to her help in the person of the Czar of Muscovy, who was profuse in his offers of assistance. Christina's hopes rose high, and a medal was struck in 1566, bearing her effigy as Queen of Denmark, with the motto: _Me sine cuncta ruunt_ (Without me all things perish).[623] But one ally after the other failed her. Both the Emperor Maximilian and the Elector of Saxony, who had married a Princess of Denmark, were strongly opposed to her schemes; while the ancient feud between the Danes and Swedes, who, in Silliers's words, "hated each other as much as cats and dogs or English and French," helped to complicate matters.[624] At the same time, she felt reluctant to give her daughter to a man of Eric's unstable character, who had been courting Queen Elizabeth and Christina of Hesse at the same time, and was known to have a low-born mistress. She had good reason to be afraid that the story of King Christian and Dyveke might be repeated, and her fears were justified when, a year later, the King of Sweden raised this favourite to the throne, and was soon afterwards deposed by his subjects. The defection of Peder Oxe, who made his peace with the King of Denmark and returned to Copenhagen at the close of 1566, was another blow, and the ultimate defeat of the Swedes in the following year extinguished her last hopes.[625] Cardinal Granvelle, who had been sent to Italy by Philip to keep him away from the Netherlands, wrote that the Viceroy, with the best will in the world, found it impossible to pay the arrears due to the Duchess, and could not withdraw the garrison at Tortona without the King's leave. As for the Danish expedition, Granvelle told Polweiler that it was more hopeless than ever, and he could only advise Her Highness to abandon the idea.[626]

"Madame de Lorraine," replied the Baron, "is in great
perplexity, abandoned by all her relatives, and, like Tantalus,
is left to die of thirst, looking down on a clear and beautiful
stream."

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1567] LES GUEUX]

But a few faithful friends were still left. In May, 1566, the Duchess of Aerschot came to Lorraine with her young son, and spent the summer in her old home. The troubles in the Netherlands filled her with the utmost anxiety, and her family, like many others, was divided. All her own sympathies were with William of Orange and Egmont in the struggle for freedom, but her stepson, Philip of Aerschot, and her cousin, Count d'Aremberg, were among the few nobles who refused to join the League, and stood fast by the Regent. Margaret of Parma looked coldly on her, owing to Anne's connection with Christina and the Prince of Orange, and did not even send her an invitation to her son Alexander's wedding. With her wonted good sense, Anne refused to notice this affront, and told her friends that she was too unwell to attend the festivities, which excited much discontent by their profuse extravagance.[627] But the situation was painful, and she was glad to retire to Lorraine and enjoy the company of Christina and her venerable aunt, Duchess Antoinette. Together they read the affectionate letters which Mary Stuart wrote from her Northern home, and sighed over the perils surrounding the young Queen. In spite of her relatives' advice, she had married Darnley, the handsome Scottish boy whom her uncle the Cardinal of Lorraine termed "that great nincompoop of a girl," and was already learning to her cost the mistake that she had made.

Terrible news now came from Flanders. Riots broke out in Antwerp and Ghent, and spread rapidly through the provinces. The great church of St. John was plundered, Hubert van Eyck's famous Adoration was only saved by the presence of mind of the Canons, and the tomb of Christina's mother, Queen Isabella, was hacked to pieces.[628] In Brussels S. Gudule was stripped of its pictures and statues, and the cry of "Vivent les Gueux!" rang through the courts of Charles V.'s palace. The Regent tried in vain to escape, and was forced to turn for help to the Prince of Orange and her most bitter enemies. Anne returned home to find public affairs in dire confusion, and retired to her dower-house at Diest. After her departure Christina became seriously ill, and in the spring of 1567 her daughters entreated the Countess of Aremberg to come to Lorraine, saying that her presence would be the best medicine for their mother. Margaret obeyed the summons and spent three months at Nancy and Denœuvre.[629] On her return she told Granvelle's friend, Provost Morillon, that the King made a great mistake in being so unfriendly to the House of Lorraine, and that if Madame died the Duke would become altogether French, and his duchy might at any moment fall into the hands of France. Charles was Catholic to his finger-tips, and entirely devoted to his mother, but after her death no one could tell what might happen.[630] These representations were not without effect. Philip wrote in a more kindly strain to the Duchess, and sent one of his Chamberlains--Don Luis de Mendoza--to wait upon her at Nancy, and remain in Lorraine until the arrival of the Duke of Alva, who was now despatched from Spain to replace Margaret of Parma as Captain-General of the Netherlands. In July he crossed the Mont Cenis, and marched through Lorraine at the head of a force of picked Spanish and Italian soldiers. Brantôme rushed to Nancy to see this "gentle and gallant army," with their fine new muskets and pikes, but the sight filled many of the spectators with profound misgivings.[631]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1568] DEATH OF EGMONT]

The Prince of Orange had already resigned all his offices and retired to Germany, but Egmont and his friend Count Horn were caught in the fatal snare, and were both arrested at a banquet in Alva's house on the evening of the 9th of September. The news filled Europe with consternation. In her distress Christina wrote several letters to the King of Spain, pleading passionately for the Count's release, and recalling his great deeds and the devotion which he had always shown to the King's service.[632] Her appeals were seconded by the Duke and his wife, by Vaudemont,--Egmont's own brother-in-law--by the Duke and Duchess of Bavaria, the Elector Palatine, and all the Princes of the Empire. Maximilian himself addressed two autograph letters to Philip, praying for the Count's release, and the Knights of the Golden Fleece protested against this violation of the rules of their Order. But all was in vain. Philip vouchsafed no answer to any of these appeals, saying he would not change his mind if the sky were to fall on his head,[633] and on the 6th of June, 1568, the Grande Place witnessed the execution of the hero of Gravelines. A fortnight before this shocking event, Anne, Duchess of Aerschot, breathed her last at Diest, thankful to escape from a world so full of misery, and only grieving to think that her vast dower and fine estates would not pass to their rightful owner, William of Orange.[634] In the same month of May the first battle was fought between the revolted nobles and the Spanish forces, and Margaret of Aremberg's husband fell fighting valiantly in the mêlée. Meanwhile civil war had broken out again in France, and in November, 1567, the Constable Montmorency, the old Nestor of France, was killed in a battle at St. Denis, fighting against the Huguenots, with Condé and his own nephew Coligny at their head. Old friends were falling on every side, and before Christina's tears for her sister-in-law were dried, she and the aged Duchess of Guise were mourning the sad fate of Antoinette's luckless granddaughter, the Queen of Scots, who had been compelled to abdicate her throne, and was now a captive in the hands of her rival, Queen Elizabeth.

V.

While civil war was raging all round, and Christina's best friends were dying on the scaffold or the battle-field, the marriage of her daughter Renée brought a ray of light into her life. The tale of Renée's courtships almost rivals that of her mother's. The Kings of Sweden and Denmark, William of Orange and Henri de Joinville, were only a few among the candidates who sought her hand. Granvelle once proposed the Duke of Urbino as a suitable match, and Philip was anxious to marry her to his handsome and popular half-brother, Don John of Austria. But the Duchess declined this offer repeatedly, saying that no child of hers should ever wed a bastard. When in the summer of 1567, Don Luis de Mendoza again urged this suit on the King's behalf, the Duchess informed him that her daughter's hand was already promised to Duke William of Bavaria, the eldest son of the reigning Duke Albert and his wife, the Archduchess Anna. The contract was signed in September, and the marriage took place early in the following year,[635] and turned out very happily. Throughout his life the Bavarian Duke maintained worthily the strong Catholic traditions of his house, and proved a dutiful and affectionate son-in-law. Christina spent the following winter at the Castle of Friedberg in Bavaria, where she was once more dangerously ill, and Silliers as usual complained bitterly of Philip's neglect and unkindness in never making inquiries after her health. But, in spite of all rebuffs, neither the Baron nor his mistress had abandoned their dreams of conquering Denmark, and in April, 1569, Cardinal Granvelle wrote to the King from Rome:

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1572] DEATH OF SILLIERS]

"Madame de Lorraine is still trying to recover her father's
kingdom, and both she and her Councillor, Silliers, are
continually begging me for help in this matter. In vain I have
replied for the hundredth time that I am too far from Madrid
and the Low Countries to know if the affair is practicable,
and have pointed out that, in the first place, the Dutch will
never break with Denmark; secondly, that the Emperor would
object to any attempt of this kind; and, thirdly, that Your
Majesty's hands are full. In fact, I have told her that I
cannot see any solid foundations for her hopes. But she returns
to the charge again and again."[636]

It was the last flicker of an expiring flame. After this, even Christina seems to have recognized the futility of her schemes, and the death of Silliers finally decided her to abandon them altogether. This "vain, insupportable, and foolish man," as the Cardinal called him, and whom her son, the Duke, also detested cordially, lost his life in Bavaria, in September, 1572, being killed by a shot from a crossbow, which was said to be accidental, but which Granvelle and his other enemies ascribed to a paid assassin.[637] During the last twenty years, it must be owned, Silliers had been the Duchess's evil genius; but, in spite of all his faults, he was sincerely attached to his mistress, and his devotion to her interests cannot be questioned.

Christina spent the next six years chiefly at Nancy or Denœuvre, in the company of her children and grandchildren. The Duke had a large family of three sons and six daughters, the eldest of whom, Christina, bore a strong likeness to her grandmother both in face and character. This Princess and her cousin Louise de Vaudemont, the daughter of Nicholas by his first wife, Margaret of Egmont, were great favourites with the Duchess-mother, and spent much time in her society. Louise was a fair and gentle maiden, whose charms captivated Henry, Duke of Anjou, when he came to Lorraine in 1573, on his way to take possession of the throne of Poland. He was accompanied by his mother, Queen Catherine, who spent a week at Nancy, and after her son's departure remained some days at Blamont with Christina. When, two years later, Henry succeeded his brother, Charles IX., the new King's first thought was to make the Princess of Lorraine his wife. Christina was too ill to leave her bed, but Duchess Antoinette, still young in spite of her eighty years, brought the bride to Reims, where the wedding was celebrated two days after Henry III.'s coronation. The Duke and his sister Dorothea were present at the ceremony, as well as all the Guise Princes.[638] Five days afterwards, on the 20th of February, 1575, the Duchess Claude, whose health had long been failing, and who had lately given birth to twin daughters, died in the ducal palace, at the age of twenty-eight, leaving the Duke an inconsolable widower. He was only thirty-two, and although he lived till 1608, never married again. Soon after Claude's death, her eldest daughter, Christina, went to live with her grandmother, Catherine de' Medici, at the French Court. This masterful lady, who quarrelled with her own daughter Margaret, was very fond of Christina, and kept this young Princess constantly at her side during the next fourteen years.

[Sidenote: DEC., 1575] MARRIAGE OF DOROTHEA]

In the following December, Elizabeth of Austria, the widow of Charles IX., and daughter of the Emperor Maximilian II., visited Nancy on her way back to Vienna, and was escorted on her journey by Renée and her husband, the Duke of Bavaria. They were all three present at the wedding of the Princess Dorothea, who was married in the Church of St. Georges, on the 26th of December, to Duke Eric of Brunswick.[639] This wild and restless Prince had always been on friendly terms with Christina and her family, and was one of King Philip's favourite captains and a Knight of the Golden Fleece. He had lately lost his first wife, and succeeded his father in the principalities of Göttingen and Calenberg, although his roving tastes made him prefer foreign service to residence on his own estates. Now, at the age of forty-seven, he became the husband of Christina's younger daughter. In spite of her lameness, this Princess inherited much of her aunt Dorothea's charm and gaiety, and was fondly beloved by her brother and all his children. She took especial interest in the improvements which the Duke was never tired of making at Nancy, and helped him in laying out the beautiful terraced gardens, adorned with fountains and orangeries, in the precincts of the ducal palace. And the bell in the new clock-tower, which the Duke built in 1577, was named Dorothea, after the Duchess of Brunswick.[640] Charles himself, like his father, was a Prince of cultured tastes, who studied the Latin and Italian poets and took delight in Ronsard's verses. The foundation of the University at Pont-à-Mousson bore witness to his love of learning, while he employed scholars to collect precious books and manuscripts, and sent his gardeners to inspect the royal palaces at Fontainebleau and St. Germain, and to bring back rare plants and exotics.[641]

In these last years of Christina's life at Nancy, new hopes and interests were suddenly brought into her life by Don John of Austria's arrival in the Low Countries. When terrorism and massacre had failed to crush the revolted provinces, the hero of Lepanto was appointed Governor, in the hope that he might succeed in restoring order, by appealing to his illustrious father's memory and ruling the Netherlands according to his example. In October, 1576, Don John travelled through France in the disguise of a Moorish servant, and, after spending one night in Paris, came to Joinville to consult the Duke of Guise on a romantic scheme which he had formed to release and marry the captive Queen of Scots. Then he hurried on to Luxembourg and proclaimed his intention of withdrawing the Spanish troops and granting a general amnesty. The coming of this chivalrous Prince, with his message of peace, filled the people of the Netherlands with new hope. Don John was received with open arms by the Duke of Aerschot and his half-brother, Anne of Lorraine's son, Charles de Croy, Marquis of Havré. His first act was to restore the lands and fortune of the late Count Egmont to his widow, the Countess Palatine Sabina, and her innocent children. This rejoiced the heart of Madame d'Aremberg, who had been spending the winter at Nancy with the Duchess, and Christina's nephew, Charles de Croy, told Don John frankly that the Low Countries would gladly have him, not only for their Governor, but for their King. Christina herself was deeply stirred, and sent a member of her household to Luxembourg with a letter welcoming the Prince in the warmest terms, and thanking him for the cheering news which he had sent her.

[Sidenote: NOV., 1576] DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA]

"I can only praise God," she wrote, "for your appointment to
the government of the Low Countries, and trust that the same
success that, thanks to your great valour and prudence, has
everywhere attended you will continue to crown your efforts.

"Your very loving and more than
very affectionate cousin,
"CHRÉTIENNE.

"Blamont, November 12, 1576."[642]

In her anxiety to see Don John, the Duchess set out for Pont-à-Mousson; but when she reached Nancy, on the 12th of December, she heard that the Prince had already left Luxembourg for the Netherlands, and sent him the following letter by a confidential servant, who was to tell him many things which she could not commit to paper:

"MY COUSIN,

"The singular wish that I have to see Your Highness, and confer
with you on many points of the highest importance, induced
me to leave Blamont and come to Pont-à-Mousson, in order to
be near you and to have an opportunity of seeing you and
conversing together, as you will learn more fully from this
gentleman whom I am sending to wish you all prosperity and
success in your noble designs and enterprises, as well as to
tell you many things which I beg you to hear and believe."[643]

Don John replied in the same friendly spirit, telling her his plans and thanking her most warmly for her advice.

"As for me," he wrote, "I am exceedingly obliged to Your
Highness for your offers, and shall always be most grateful for
your advice and help, knowing, Madame, your great experience
and wisdom in affairs. God knows how anxious I was to come and
see Your Highness on my journey here, and kiss your hands, but
it was impossible owing to the urgency of affairs requiring my
presence here. I am very glad indeed," he adds in a postscript,
"to hear that you are in good health."[644]

The Prince was evidently impressed by the soundness of the Duchess's judgment and by her great popularity in the Netherlands, for when, a few weeks later, he began to realize the hopeless nature of his task, and begged for his recall, he repeatedly told Philip that, in his opinion, the Duchess of Lorraine would be the best person to take his place.

"The Duchess of Lorraine," he wrote on February 16, 1577,
"has all the qualities necessary for the government of these
provinces, which she would administer far better than I can,
because they are beginning to hate me, and I know that I hate
them."

Again, a little later:

"I find in Madame de Lorraine a real desire to serve Your
Majesty. She has come to Pont-à-Mousson to see if she can be of
help to me, and I am sure would gladly execute any orders that
she may receive."

[Sidenote: OCT., 1578] DEATH OF DON JOHN]

Christina heard with delight of Don John's joyous entry into Brussels on May Day, and received with deep thankfulness his letter informing her of the departure of the hated Spanish troops. But these high hopes were doomed to disappointment. The war soon broke out again, and after Don John's victory of Gembloux in January, 1578, Madame de Lorraine was one of the first persons to whom he announced the news by letter.[645] Both of the Duchess's sons-in-law joined in supporting Don John, and in May, 1578, the Duke of Brunswick brought a force of 3,000 Germans to join him at Namur. Dorothea accompanied her husband, and was about to pay the Prince a visit, when she received a message from her brother Charles, informing her of their mother's serious illness, and left hastily for Nancy.[646]

Five months afterwards a premature death closed the brilliant adventurer's career, and Christina was left to grieve over the tragic end of this Prince, of whom so much had been expected.

FOOTNOTES:

[572] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1533.

[573] T. Juste, "Philippe II.," 209; Gachard, "Correspondance de Guillaume d'Orange," i. 431; Granvelle, v. 628.

[574] T. Juste, 206; Venetian Calendar, vii. 83.

[575] Venetian Calendar, vii. 83.

[576] Venetian Calendar, vii. 83.

[577] Granvelle, v. 625-627.

[578] Venetian Calendar, vii. 112.

[579] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, i. 82.

[580] Sébastien de l'Aubespine, "Négociations au Règne de François II.," 43, 66.

[581] Venetian Calendar, vii. 119, 121; Gachard, iv. 72.

[582] Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 583.

[583] Groen, i. 49; Kervyn de Lettenhove, ii. 8; Venetian Calendar, vii. 112.

[584] Groen, i. 35; Granvelle, v. 652.

[585] Granvelle, v. 672, vi. 29.

[586] Groen, i. 49, 52; "Correspondence de Granvelle," iii. 529.

[587] Calmet, ii. 1552; Pfister, ii. 246; Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, i. 562.

[588] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, Foreign, ii. 55.

[589] A. de Ruble, 308; Bibliothèque Nationale, 123, 4, f. 40.

[590] Calmet, ii. 1353; Pfister, ii. 246.

[591] Venetian Calendar, vii. 163; Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, Foreign, iii. 224.

[592] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, Foreign, iv. 91; Venetian Calendar, vii. 290.

[593] A. de Ruble, 210; Brantôme, xii. 116; Aubespine, 752.

[594] Aubespine, 80-84; Bouillé, ii. 74; Venetian Calendar, vii. 290.

[595] Brantôme, xii. 117.

[596] Aubespine, 867.

[597] Schlegel, 253; Granvelle, vi. 1.

[598] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, Foreign, ii. 458, iii. 328.

[599] A. Churchill, "Collection of Voyages and Travels," vi. 458.

[600] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, Foreign, v. 554; Granvelle, vi. 683.

[601] Pimodan, 215.

[602] Granvelle, vii. 488.

[603] Pfister, ii. 184; H. Lepage, "Le Palais Ducal de Nancy," 3.

[604] Calmet, iii. 30.

[605] Granvelle, vii. 344; Calmet, iii. 434, 438.

[606] Granvelle, vii. 488.

[607] Gachard, "Correspondance de Guillaume, Prince d'Orange," ii. 67; Groen, i. 214.

[608] "Mémoires de Granvelle," xxxv. 19.

[609] Granvelle, vii. 437-440.

[610] Schäfer, v. 111, 112.

[611] Granvelle, vii. 533, 671, viii. 522.

[612] Calmet, iii. 1359; Granvelle, viii. 46.

[613] Granvelle, viii. 345.

[614] _Ibid_., viii. 472.

[615] Granvelle, viii. 609.

[616] _Ibid._, viii. 637.

[617] Granvelle, viii. 637.

[618] Granvelle, ix. 22, 28; Schäfer, v. 114.

[619] Granvelle, ix. 373.

[620] Groen, i. 408.

[621] Granvelle, ix. 498.

[622] _Ibid_., ix. 496.

[623] Schäfer, v. 116-118; Calmet, ii. 26.

[624] Granvelle, ix. 661-664; Groen, i. 303.

[625] Schäfer, v. 167.

[626] Granvelle, "Correspondance," i. 126, 178.

[627] _Ibid._, i. 43, 524.

[628] Granvelle, "Correspondance," i. 444.

[629] _Ibid._, i. 494.

[630] Granvelle, "Correspondance," ii. 494.

[631] Brantôme, i. 104.

[632] Gachard, "Correspondance de Philippe II.," i. 18.

[633] Gachard, "Correspondance de Philippe II.," i. 588, 738, 762.

[634] Granvelle, "Correspondance," iii. 235.

[635] Calmet, i. 265.

[636] Granvelle, "Correspondance," iii. 463.

[637] _Ibid._, v. 418.

[638] Pimodan, 254.

[639] Calmet, i. 265; Pfister, ii. 256.

[640] Pfister, ii. 246; H. Lepage, "La Ville de Nancy," 63, "Palais Ducal," 3.

[641] Pfister, ii. 496.

[642] Gachard, "Correspondance de Philippe II.," v. 29.

[643] _Ibid._, v. 92.

[644] Granvelle, "Correspondance," vi. 521.

[645] _Ibid._, vii. 572.

[646] Granvelle, vii. 638.