Chapter XV: The Closing Scene (3)

[256] Baum (30th October, 1561), p. 117. Languet writes (26th October, 1561). “Dummodo non plures quam 200 conveniant, et sine armis.” _Arc. Secr._ ii. p. 153.

[257] “Admodum severe nunc exequuntur edictum de usu armorum interdicto.” Languet (26th October, 1561): _Arc. Secr._ ii. p. 153. The Huguenots were allowed to retain their arms: “Sotto pretesto che non avrebbe a seguir qualche seditione ... gli Ugonotti la portassero per sicurtà sua.” Barbaro: _Relazione_, 1564.

[258] “Calvinistis infestissimo doctore.” Sanctesius: _Resp. ad Apolog. Bezæ_ (ap. Lannoium, _Hist. Gym. Navarræ_, p. 770).

[259] _Sermon cath. sur les Dimanches_, ii. p. 25. This sermon, though actually of a later date, is a fair specimen of the style of the day.

[260] Sanctesius: _Ad Edicta vet. princ. de Licentia Sect._ 1561.

[261] _Complainte apologétique au Roi_, p. 288.

[262] Thierry: _Recueil des Monumens inéd. de l’Hist. du Tiers État_, ii. p. 683 (4to. Paris).

[263] Thierry: _Tiers État_, ii. p. 712.

[264] “Nostros potius quam adversarios metuo.” (4th Nov. 1561). Baum’s _Beza_.

[265] “Me non minus severe in rabiosos istos impetus vindicaturum.” _Ibid._ ii. _Anhang_, 129.

[266] This was Pierre Craon, called Nez d’Argent, because he had lost his nose in a drunken brawl, and it was replaced by one of silver. He was at one time Professor of Humanity at Rheims, but resigned his chair on turning Protestant, and removed to Paris. The children used to sing a song about him. He was “fort renommé en science,” and worked quite a revolution in pronunciation and orthography, sounding _c_ like _ch_, and substituting _k_ for _c_ in calendrier, Catherine, etc. He also introduced parentheses, commas, accents, diphthongs, and apostrophes. One account says he was hanged in December, 1561. See Jean Lefèvre: _Hist. des Troubles_, i. p. 140.

[267] _Arrêt du Parlement_; _Archives curieuses_, tom. iv.; _Histoire véritable_ (a Huguenot account): _ibid._ p. 49–75.

[268] “Un altro simile spettacolo.” Lett. to Card. Borromeo.

[269] Forbes, ii. pp. 337–338.

[270] Davila: _Hist. Guerres civiles de France_, I. p. 78 (4to. Paris, 1657).

[271] Psalm xci. (_Vulgate_, xc.): “Non timebis ab incursu et dæmonio meridiano.”

[272] Beza Calvino, 6th January, 1562. Baum. App. The _Posidonius_ of the text is evidently the admiral.

[273] See Varillas, i. p. 121; Gacon: _Cour de Cath. d. Méd._

[274] “A rigidioribus pontificiis accusatur Lutheranismi ... jam pulchre simulet ... videatur non multum a nostris dissentire.” Languet, _Epist._ 44, lib. 2. p. 112; 45, p. 116; 63, p. 159 (26th November, 1561).

[275] The original report of the Saverne Conference is given in the _Bulletin de l’Hist. Prot. Français_, iv. p. 184.

[276] It is hardly necessary to caution the reader against accepting these numbers literally.

[277] A print in Montfauçon, which has been often copied, represents the duke himself stabbing a woman.

[278] There are many contemporary and contradictory accounts of the Vassy massacre. _Description du Saccagement exercé cruellement en la Ville de Vassy_. Caen, 1562; _Discours au Vrai de ce qui est dernièrement advenu à Vassi_. Paris, 1562. This account says that the duke heard mass at Dampmartin, and then went on to Vassy, where he alighted at the convent. The _Discours entier de la Persecution ... en la Ville de Vassy, le 1 mars 1562_, says that the duke was disturbed at mass by the singing of the Huguenots [who were outside the walls], and that on his sending to desire them to “wait until mass was over, when they might sing till they burst,” they sang all the louder. See also Alberi: _Vita di Caterina de Medici_, p. 92, note. Dr. Lingard asserts that Brantome was present at the massacre, but the abbé says plainly, “Je n’y étais pas.” The account in the text is substantially Davila’s; the duke’s own statement is in Castelnau.

[279] The duke afterward attempted to justify himself on the ground that the Protestants had begun the attack; but it is not probable that a body of unarmed persons, including many women and children, would have provoked an armed body of men commanded by one of the first soldiers in France. If what Davila says is true, the duke did not regret this opportunity of showing how much he detested the January edict (liv. iii.).

[280] Ste Croix, 15th March, 1562; Cimber, vi. 51.

[281] “Magnifico apparatu,” says Eytzinger; “with 2000 gentlemen and 3000 horses,” says Brulart. The date is uncertain, the authorities giving 15th, 16th, and 20th March.

[282] Monceaux was an undefended country-house, 1½ leag. S.W. of St. Denis, and ¾ leag. E. of Neuilly.

[283] Letter of 12th April, 1562; _Mém. de Condé_, ii. 53.

[284] La Noue: _Politicke Discourses_, Lond. 1587. This translation preserves much of the spirit of the original French.

[285] Luillier to Lymoges, 20th April, 1562. Paris: _Cabinet Historique_, ii. p. 291.

[286] In spite of the disarming edicts, the arms had not been given up, the Huguenots retaining theirs in some districts. Accordingly, on 28th April, 1562, the king wrote to De la Mothe Gondrin, ordering the arms to be restored to the Catholics, “pour leur sûreté et conservation, _leur défendant néanmoins très-expressement_, de par moy, _de n’en mal user_, et de n’entreprendre aucune chose de mauvais, _sous peine d’être punis et châtiés exemplairement_.” Ordinances and letters of Charles IX. in Archives of Lyons.

[287] This statement, if correct, must be the number on paper merely, and even then it would be one in four of the whole population of Paris.

[288] From the _Enqueste sur la Profession religieuse de noble homme Jehan de Montruillon_, 1570, it would appear, that the certificate required to be signed by the parish priest and his curate, the church-wardens and sexton, the district judges and others. It states that the bearer attends mass and confession, that he is married, and that his children were christened in the parish church.

[289] “Ut occidendorum penuria interficiendi finem fecerit.” Eytzinger: _Leo Belg._ p. 31.

[290] It may be objected that, as some of the cases cited in the text occurred after Condé’s revolt, they can not be used to justify it. They are introduced to show the state of public feeling at the time.

[291] See also letter to church of Blois, 18th September, 1557.

[292] “Nobis bellum non esse bonæ voluntatis, ut pax, sed necessitatis ... necessitas quæ nos premit nullam patitur legem contra naturam.”

[293] The reformer Brentius was at one time a decided advocate of the principle of non-resistance; but as he grew older, and witnessed the terrible persecutions of the emperor, he altered his mind, and contended that the subordinate powers, as being also of God, were called upon to resist the higher powers, if they should turn their swords against the people of God.

[294] “Fuerunt aliqui, qui maluerint, plagas accipere quam stringere gladios, ego non fui in ea sententia.” _Epist._ ii. 149 (12th October, 1562).

[295] Trebutien: _Caen, Précis de son Histoire_; also, _Recherches et Antiquités de Caen_.

[296] Talcy (dép. Loir et Cher) is on the right bank of the Loire, not far from Beaugency. One room in the chateau is still called the “chambre de Médicis.” There is a tradition that the Bartholomew Massacre was planned here. It is now in the possession of a Protestant; but, owing to frequent alteration, little remains of the original building, except the donjon and a tower or two.

[297] This edict is computed to have caused the death of 50,000 persons. Jean de Serres (Engl. transl.), p. 703; _Mém. de Condé_; Brulart’s _Journal_ (13th June, 1562); _Gacon_, i. 58. Castelnau speaks of the “licence débordée de mal faire.”

[298] Medicis MSS.

[299] Claude Haton reckons that 800 or 900 heretics were killed in Paris in June, 1562, and adds: “God knows that many porters and rag-gatherers were made rich, and many Huguenots poor.”

[300] The Pincourt or Paincourt of the plans. It was in the Faubourg St. Jacques, beyond the walls, and on the road to Ménilmontant. The Rue Popincourt forms the chief communication between the Rue Ménilmontant and the Faubourg St. Antoine.

[301] Les Tragiques: _Les Fers_, p. 226 (ed. Jannet, Paris, 1857).

[302] Pasquier: _Lettres_, p. 272; Bayle, _sub voce_ “Lorraine.”

[303] _Revue Retrospective_, v. p. 81.

[304] _Sommaire des Choses accordées entre les Ducs de Guise, de Montmorenci et Marèchal Saint-André._ Capefigue recognizes the authenticity of this atrocious document.

[305] Chaloner writes from Madrid (1st May, 1562): “They devise how the Guisians may be assisted, for ... the prevailment of that side importeth them as the ball of their eyes.” Haines: _State Papers_, p. 382.

[306] Throckmorton writes: “The Pope hath lent 100,000 crowns, and doth monthly pay besides 6000 soldiers.” Forbes: _State Papers_, ii. p. 4.

[307] Forbes: _State Papers_, ii. pp. 16–20, 22–25.

[308] _Ibid._ p. 54; see Latin version of letter, pp. 55–57.

[309] The popular tradition says that Chassebœuf was hanged _after_ the St. Bartholomew, by order of Henry of Guise.

[310] In order to disappoint the enemy, the clergy often appropriated the church treasures, and thus the circulating medium of the kingdom was quadrupled. Brantome declares that “there was now in France more millions of gold than there had previously been livres of silver.”

[311] Paris: _Cab. Hist._ vi. p. 205. Perissin’s vigorous engraving, “Le massacre fait à Tours par la populace, 1562,” represents dead bodies lying naked on the river bank gnawed by dogs and birds; men in boats braining with clubs such as tried to save themselves by swimming, soldiers shooting at them in the water; men tied to trees and disemboweled, etc.

[312] _Vie de Coligny_, p. 269.

[313] For an English account of the siege, see Forbes: _State Papers_, pp. 117–127.

[314] La Poupelière, whom some writers have confounded with the historian, La Popelinière, says: “En tous les rencontres de ceux de la religion, il a fait piller, ne laissant que les murailles et que les terres qui ne se pouvaient emporter.” _Canton d’Athis_, p. 44.

[315] Cf. De Bras de Bourgeville, a contemporary. _Mém. de l’Acad. de Caen_, 1852.

[316] “Par l’oreille, l’épaule, et l’œil Dieu a mis trois rois au cercueil;” meaning Francis II., Navarre, and Henry II.

[317] Jean de Troyes, abbot of Gastines, and Sapin, a councillor of parliament. The life of a third, Odo de Selves, was spared, but he died a few days after of fright.

[318] “Errants et vacables par les champs.” Floquet: _Hist. du Parl. de Norm._ ii. p. 408. The _Registres_ of the Hôtel-de-Ville of Rouen (4th Nov., 1562) contain a conciliatory letter from Catherine worthy of more attention than it has hitherto received.

[319] Castelnau, p. 125; Throckmorton to Queen, 3d January, 1563, in Forbes, _State Papers_, pp. 251, 263, 276.

[320] “The cavalry left their ranks, thinking it no shame to enrich themselves with the spoils of the Papists.” _Vie de Coligny_, p. 277.

[321] Montaigne, liv. i. ch. xlv. (_De la Battaille de Dreux_), highly extols this movement, comparing it with that where Philopœmen defeated Machanidas.

[322] Damville was the constable’s second son.

[323] “The constable, so hated by the Reformed, had met with the same fate, but for the interference of a gentleman named Vesines, who showed them the baseness of the act.” _Vie de Coligny_, p. 277.

[324] “Ita tantæ pugnæ exitum moderatus est Deus, neutra uti pars victa aut victrix dici possit.” Eytzinger, p. 43; Throckmorton’s letter in Forbes, p. 251; and Andelot’s on p. 263.

[325] Paré: _Œuvres_, p. 796 (fol. Lyons, 1641). La Noue estimates the killed alone at 9000; but nothing can be more hap-hazard than the way in which writers of the period speak of numbers. Jean de Serres says the prince lost about 2200 foot and 150 horse. 800 gentlemen alone were killed. Forbes, p. 276. Beza speaks of 150 horse killed and taken; but on the enemy’s side “infinita sunt vulnera et cædes maxima.” Walsingham reckons the admiral’s force after the battle as 5000 horse and 2000 foot, while Guise had 3000 horse and 16,000 foot. Forbes, p. 259. Coligny writes to Elizabeth: “Notre cavalerie est intacte.”

[326] Martin thinks the account of the Bishop of Riez “evidemment arrangé, surtout en ce qui regarde Vassi.” _Hist. France_, ix. p. 152, note.

[327] Forbes, p. 277.

[328] _Ibid._ pp. 339 and 343.

[329] Schardius redivivus (fol. 1673): _Responsio_, iii. p. 113; _Epistola_, iii. 119.

[330] Labitte, p. 15.

[331] Paris: _Cab. Hist._ ii. p. 289; iii. p. 48; _Vie de Coligny_, p. 289; _Recueil des Chants Hist._ Paris, 1842.

[332] Wright’s _Elizabeth_, i. 125.

[333] Letter dated 29th March, 1563.

[334] Correro, the Venetian embassador, writes: “Come cominciorno a rubare, rovinare e ammazzare, usando mille crudeltà, questo fu avvertimento alle povere gente, che da loro istessi cominciorno a dire: Ma che religione è questa? Costoro che fanno professione d’intender meglio l’evangelio di nissuno altra, e dove trovano mai che Cristo comandasse che se pigliasse la robba del prossimo e si ammazzasse il compagno? E con simili considerazioni si frenevano, ne piu si precipitavano come prima.” Tommaseo, ii. p. 118.

[335] Jean de Serres puts a similar reply into the mouth of the Duke of Guise, when a complaint was made to him that, in these “uncivil tumults” many Catholics were slain: “There is no remedy,” he made answer; “we have too much people in France. I will deal so as victuals shall be good cheap.” _Hist._ p. 703 (transl.).

[336] The particulars of this plot are given in a letter from Claude of Lorraine to Damville, the date of which has been fraudulently altered from 1563 to 1560. See Vauvilliers, i. 315. Tavannes says the plot was concocted at Trent by the cardinal, and Lestoile dates the League from this period.

[337] Blaise de Montluc: _Commentaires_ (Panthéon Littéraire, Paris, 1836). His shattered monument may still be seen at Estillac near Agen. The warrior, armed from head to foot, lies bare-headed on a marble slab, his arms crossed over his breast; his features are coarse and bold, his beard and mustache thick and long.

[338] The Abbé Caveyrac in his _Apology for Louis XIV._ (note, p. 7) says of the subsequent recantation of this blood-thirsty renegade, that “he returned _sincerely_ to God.” Let us hope he did, but on better grounds than Caveyrac’s word for it.

[339] Le Baron de Chapuys-Montlaville: _Hist. de Dauphiné_, ii. p. 358 (8vo. Paris, 1829).

[340] “Ruboribus interfusa, ut lutum sanguine maceratum.” Thuanus: _De Vita sua_, lib. i. p. 1165.

[341] _Archives curieuses_, iii. 227; Varillas: _Hist. Charles IX._ (Cologne, 1684).

[342] Discours de ce qui a été faict ès villes de Vallence et Lyon. 1562. A party pamphlet to be read with great caution.

[343] In one of these convents was found “La machination écrite et signée faisant rôles des maisons des évangelistes et de toutes autres personnes (qui n’avaient point de maison), pour les mettre à mort, hommes, femmes et enfants, dans le 4 du dit mois de Mai.” This “machination” had no existence but in the imagination of the writer.

[344] Pilot: _Occupation de Grenoble par les Protestants_.

[345] Arcère: _Hist. de la Ville de Rochelle_, i. p. 358 (4to. Rochelle, 1756); Vincent: _Recherches sur les commencements de Rochelle_: “La maladie d’abattre les images était quasi universelle.”

[346] One George Bosquet wrote a justification of this massacre: “_Hugoneorum heret. Tolosæ conjur. profligatio memoriæ posita_,” which was condemned by the council as a defamatory libel (18th June, 1563).

[347] Imberdis, p. 3.

[348] Jean de Serres (Serranus) adds that in the following year, 1563, a troop of fifty horse surprised the town, tied Ralet to the top of his house, and fired at him until they killed him (p. 701).

[349] Vitet: _Hist. Dieppe_, p. 77. (Paris, 1844.)

[350] De Bras: _Antiquités de Caen_, p. 170.

[351] The whole of this frightful catalogue will be found in the “Théâtre des cruautés des hérétiques de notre temps, 1588.” Reprinted in the _Archives curieuses de France_ (Cimber and Danjou), tom. vi. series 1. p. 299. See also in the same collection, chap. xiv. of the _Discours sur le Saccagement des Églises, etc. en 1562_, by Claude de Sainctes, and the _Vrai Tocsain_. We must not accept for truth all recorded by this writer, but after the most ample deduction from his narrative there remains much to lament and condemn.

[352] Wright’s _Elizabeth_, i. 118.

[353] _Ibid._ i. 131.

[354] This letter was partly the composition of L’Hopital, and was written by Montaigne, the essayist, at that time one of the royal secretaries.

[355] Langueti Epist. ii. 281, (20th January, 1564): “Se enim satis expertum quantum malorum.... Reginam nihil jam minus cogitare quam....”

[356] Instructions dated 1562, in Le Plat, v. pp. 151, 155.

[357] See a remarkable dispatch on this subject in the Rouen Library, Leber, Bundle D, No. 5725.

[358] A portrait of Alva, by Titian, is at Warwick Castle.

[359] See Freer: _Elizabeth de Valois_, ii. ch. 2. In this chapter we prefer to call the queen by her Spanish name, Isabella.

[360] Per il gran caldo. _Li Grandissimi Apparati_, etc. Padova, 1565.

[361] Walsingham to Smith, 14th September, 1572. Digges: _Compleat Ambassador_, p. 241.

[362] The attendants of the court were so numerous, that they could not be accommodated in the town, but had to lodge in the adjacent villages or live in tents pitched in the surrounding fields.

[363] Abel Jouan: _Voyage de Charles IX._, printed by Baschi, Baron d’Aubais, in his _Pièces fugitives pour servir à l’histoire de France_. 4to. Paris, 1759. See also _Mém. de Marguerite_.

[364] _Recueil des choses notables qui ont esté faites à Bayonne_, etc. 8vo. Paris, 1566; _Li Grandissimi Apparati e Reali Trionfi fatti nella città di Baiona_. 8vo. Padova, 1565.

[365] Raumer: _Illustrations_, i. p. 121.

[366] _Papiers d’État_ de Granvelle, ix. p. 298. 4to. Paris, 1852, ed. Weiss.

[367] “Che a loro sono occorse questi ruine per non aver voluto creder e far quello che lui più di 8 anni li avvisò,” etc. 7th May, 1568.

[368] Davila gives the same idea in different words: lib. iii. Mathieu (_Hist. France_, i. 283) says his authority was Calignon, a Catholic, whose Memoirs were published by Gomberville in his Supplement to the _Memoirs of Nevers_.

[369] Baschet: _La Diplomatie Vénitienne_, p. 522. Paris, 1862.

[370] It is clear from Alva’s letters first published in the _Papiers d’Etat du Cardinal Granvelle_, ix. pp. 281–330, that the general belief in a league to exterminate the Huguenots is erroneous, although Adriani (_Storia Fiorent._) says expressly that Catherine had agreed upon what they called “Sicilian Vespers,” and that the king was to retire to the strong castle of Moulins in the Bourbonnais, where he would be safe. But Adriani is the only person who ever saw the MSS. in which he professed to read this. De Thou evidently did not believe the story (ii. 377, _scribunt_ is his word); and Castelnau (liv. vi. ch. 1) implies as much.

[371] Monitorium et Citatio in _Mém. de Condé_. 4to. 1743. The French protest and remonstrance are in the same collection. A remarkable memoir by Bapt. Dumesnil is given in Bouchel: _Bibl. du Droit Franç._ p. 549; and _Preuves des lib. Egl. Gall._ chap. iv. No. 27.

[372] The cardinal had occasioned great scandal by taking a wife and calling her Countess of Beauvais, after his diocese.

[373] Some authorities give “Paris,” for even in a matter which ought to be well known do the contemporary accounts differ.

[374] Paris: _Cab. Hist._ iii. p. 56.

[375] “Qu’il n’avait fait, ni fait faire l’homicide, et qu’il ne l’avait approuvé ni approuvait.” Brulart’s _Journal_, 29th January, 1566. This is hardly consistent with what he wrote at the time of the murder: supra, p. 222.

[376] Jean de Serres.

[377] _Lettres_, liv. v. lett. 3.

[378] _Remonstrance envoyée au Roi par la Noblesse de la R. R. du Maine_. 1565.

[379] Cimber, vi. 309; _Discours des troubles_ (5th June, 1566).

[380] This was said in the hearing of L’Hopital. Davila, i. 163 (Fr. transl.).

[381] “Il y sera comme s’il était mort.” Archives de l’Empire, _Papiers Simancas_, carton B. In reading Catherine’s letters to her daughter we must not forget that they were to be seen by Philip also, and that she could not be truthful, even when writing to her own children.

[382] Brantome speaks in rapture of this “gentille et gaillarde armée,” which was accompanied by “quatre cents courtisanes à cheval, belles et braves comme princesses, et huit cents à pied, bien en point aussi.”

[383] Had Coligny’s proposal to stop Alva’s march been adopted, France might have been saved much misery; for among other things it would have satisfied the craving for war felt by that restless nation: “A quoi (_sc._ la guerre) la plûpart étaient portés par le génie de la nation, qui ne saurait demeurer en repos.” _Vie de Coligny_, p. 319.

[384] Schardius: _De Rebus gest. sub. Maximil._ ii. 64.

[385] Bouillon: _Mém._ i. p. 21.

[386] Capefigue: _La Réforme_, ch. xxxii., gives the text of the “Instruction à M. Feuquières.” La Noue speaks of “certain intercepted letters coming from Spain,” p. 389 (Engl. transl.).

[387] La Noue, p. 390 (Engl. transl.); De Thou, liv. xlii.

[388] La Popelinière, xiii. 81.

[389] Alva to king, 28th June, 1567: “Es increible el contentamiente con que estan los catolicos de Francia de ver pasar estas fuerzas de VM. en Flandres, que les paresce ser esta su redempcion; y así me dijo un secretario del Card. de Lorena ... que el Card. su amo y toda la casa de Guisa estavan resueltos como las fuerzas de VM. estuviesen en Flandres, irse ellos á la corte, donde entien que esto les hará tan gran sombra que serán vistos diferentemente de como lo han sido hasta aqui.” Navarrete: _Docum. ined._ vi. 371.

[390] “Certo sciverunt Pontif. Rom. et reliquos principes ... constituisse jam tentare Galliam ... conduxit itaque rex ad eam rem perficiendam xx. signa Helvetiorum.”--To the same purport writes Castelnau, 383.

[391] “Habillé en ménagier faisant ses vendanges.” Pasquier, _Lettres_, ii. 117 (ed. 1723).

[392] La Noue, p. 395 (Engl. transl.).

[393] Had the Huguenots succeeded, they would have burned Paris. For the proofs of such an improbable story see _Hist. relig. pol. etc. de la Comp. de Jésus_, by J. Crétineau-Joly (3 éd. Paris, 1859), ii. ch. ii. p. 85.

[394] Gachard: _Corresp. Philippe II._, tom. i. p. 593.

[395] “Car tant plus de morts, moeingz d’ennemys.” Letter of 8th October, 1567. _Livre du Roy_. Grenoble MS. Gordes proving too merciful in carrying out these harsh instructions, the cruel and intemperate Maugiron was appointed his colleague.

[396] As crowds of American ladies are reported to have gone out to witness the first battle of Bull Run.

[397] The Huguenots adopted white, the king’s color, to indicate their loyalty; their opponents chose red, the emblem of Spain.

[398] One account says that the constable was really killed by “un autre Ecossais,” who shot him in the loins.

[399] “Expetebat pacem, et ob eam rem adduxerant eum in suspicionem apud vulgus ii qui sperant se ex calamitatibus publicis aucturos suas opes et suam potentiam.... Fuit amans patriæ et moderatior,” etc. Languet, _Epist._ i. 33

[400] “Edoctus suo malo ... omnino hoc incumbit ut Edictum ubique mandetur executioni.” Languet, _Epist._ ii. 357.

[401] Borrel: _Hist. de l’Église Réf. de Nimes_, 12mo. Toulouse, 1856, p. 51.

[402] Baragnon: _Hist. de Nimes_, tom. ii.; an anonymous _Histoire de la Ville de Nimes_, 8vo. Amsterd. 1767.

[403] Charronet: _Les Guerres de Religion dans les Hautes Alpes_, p. 50. (8vo. Gap, 1863).

[404] “Ce qui restait du pillage des Huguenots était repillé par les Catholiques.” Castelnau.

[405] “Discours des Raisons,” etc., in _Anc. Collect. Mém. France_, xlviii. p. 224.

[406] La Noue, p. 409.

[407] Longjumeau is about four leagues south of Paris, on the old coach-road to Orleans.

[408] Mezeray: _Abrégé_, iii. p. 1051. Montluc says: “Le prince et l’amiral firent un pas de clerc, car ils avaient l’avantage des jeux.” _Comment._

[409] Memoirs of Gaspar de Coligny (Edin. 1844), p. 116.

[410] Die Menschen verwilderten mit den Ländern.

[411] Archives of Tours. Luzarche (Victor): _Lettres historiques_, p. 81 (Tours, 1861).

[412] Archives of Tours. Luzarche (Victor): _Lettres historiques_, p. 89 (Tours, 1861).

[413] Languet, i. 58.

[414] “Reclamarunt autem quantum potuerunt legati pontif. Rom. et reg. Hisp. immo aiunt eos Regi minitatos esse bellum, si hæreticis pacem concederet, sed Regem ita respondisse ut eos terruerit.” Languet, i. 62.

[415] Gachard: _Corresp. de Philippe II._, vol. i. p. 609 (4to. Bruxelles, 1848).

[416] Archives of Provins: Registres de Baptême. Charronnet: _Guerres de Religion_, p. 60. Comptes consulaires de Gap. 1569.

[417] Claude Haton, p. 534.

[418] Thierry: _Tiers-État_, ii. 726.

[419] _Laderchii Ann. Eccles._ xxiii. 125, in Sismondi, xix. p. 21.

[420] _Journal de Lestoile._ The Orange Societies were originally bound by a similar oath to “pay allegiance to the king and his successors so long as they support the Protestant ascendancy.” The loyal Catholics threatened to shut up Charles in a convent, and put another in his place, if he tried to protect the Huguenots. De Thou, v. p. 516.

[421] Dom Vaissette: _Hist. Languedoc_, tome v. p. 216, _note_.

[422] On the vaulted ceiling of the Tour de la Ligue is a striking fresco representing Condé as Mars, Biragne as Vulcan, Catherine as Juno, Margaret of Valois as a Muse, with other well-known historic =characters=.

[423] Of this passage, Jean de la Haize, orator of La Rochelle, said: “La faveur du ciel s’étant déclarée si miraculeusement pour votre conservation, que la délivrance des enfans d’Israël par la Mer Rouge n’est point plus admirable et extraordinaire.” _Second Discours bref_, in Arcère, i. p. 369, _note_. Villegomblain (_Mém._ i. p. 16), says they crossed “near Les Rosiers,” four leagues below Saumur, which must be a mistake. A spot just above Cosne was pointed out to me by a lineal descendant of one of the sharers of this flight.

[424] In the Cotton MSS. (_Caligula_ E, vi. fol. 90) there is an inventory of jewels and trinkets mortgaged to Elizabeth by Joan of Navarre, Condé, and the admiral, 12th June, 1569.

[425] Champernon married a daughter of the famous Count of Montgomery.

[426] Raleigh’s Works, vi. pp. 157–158, 211.

[427] Mezeray describes the frost of 1570–71 as lasting three months, during which the fruit-trees, even in Languedoc, were frozen down to their roots. In March, 1572, Smith, the English embassador, writes from Blois, complaining of “thirty days’ continued frost and snow.”

[428] Leicester to Randolph (March 13), blames Condé’s “overmuch rashness,” and says his arm was broken by a shot. Wright’s _Elizabeth_, i. 313.

[429] Champollion-Figéac: _Documents hist. inédits_, iv. p. 486 (4to. Paris, 1848).

[430] When Charles heard the news of Condé’s death “surgit e lecto, properat ad summam ædem, alta voce depromit canticum _Te Deum_, jubet campanas omnes solenniter pulsari.”

[431] One of the medals struck at Rome to commemorate this victory represents the pope and cardinals kneeling and receiving from heaven an answer to their prayers: the inscription is from the _Te Deum_: “Fecit potentiam in brachio suo; dispersit superbos.” Bonanni: _Numism. Pontif. Rom._ No. 14 (2 vols. fol. Romæ, 1699).

[432] Catena, _Vita di Pio V._ p. 85. He wrote to Catherine to fight the enemies of God “_ad internecionem usque_;” and to Anjou to show himself “_omnibus inexorabilem_.” He describes Coligny as “_exsecrandum illum ac detestabilem hominem_, si modo homo appellandus est.” See also No. xi. to Charles (6th March, 1569), in Potter’s _Lettres de Pio V._ (8vo. Paris, 1826), where “punire hæreticos eorumque duces omni severitate” will hardly support the writer in the _Dublin Review_ (October, 1865), who contends that the Church exulted over the St. Bartholomew massacre, not because the victims were _heretics_, but because they were _rebels_. In the prayer ordered by Clement IX. to be read on 1st May, Pius V. is described as elect “ad conterendos ecclesiæ hostes.”

[433] “Death or Victory” had been Henry’s motto in certain court masques, until Catherine, whose curiosity was piqued by the three Greek initials he used, ordered him to discontinue them.

[434] Some years ago there was in the cabinet of Alfred de Vigny, the author of _Cinq Mars_, a portrait, by an unknown painter, of Prince Henry, when not more than three years old. It was full of character and life.

[435] Sir James Stephen says that Andelot was slain at Moncontour. _Lectures, Hist. France_, ii. p. 123. He died at Saintes, 27th May; Moncontour was fought 3d October.

[436] D’Acier was ransomed for 10,000 crowns, on hearing of which the pope wrote angrily to Count Santa Fiore, “che non avesse il comandamento di lui osservato _d’ammazzar subito qualunque heretico_ gli fosse venuto alle mani.” Catena: _Vita Pio V._

[437] _Simancas Archives_, Bouillé, ii. 448.

[438] Henry of Nassau had left his studies to join his brothers: “dantem operam literis Argentorati fratres secum abduxerunt.” Languet: _Epist. Secr._ i. 117.

[439] Raleigh: _Hist. World_, bk. v. ch. ii. sec. 8, p. 356 (fol. 1614).

[440] _Mém. de Perussis_ in Aubais, p. 106. The furniture and valuables--sculptures by Goujon, and pictures by Italian artists--filled 80 wagons, and produced 400,000 dollars by public auction in Paris.

[441] _Epist. Pii papæ V._ Edid. Gouban, Antwp. 1640: “Nihil est eâ misericordià crudelius.” Lib. iii. ep. 45, Octob. 20.

[442] _Hist. France_ (Le Fère and Piguerre), fol. 1581, p. 119, _b_.

[443] De Thou. v. p. 610.

[444] Villegomblain: _Mém. des Troubles_, i. 255.

[445] Gilbert de Voisins: _Traité de Géognosie_.

[446] Weld’s _Auvergne and Piedmont_ contains an interesting and picturesque description of a portion of this district.

[447] Henry and the Prince of Condé had each a regiment at the head of which they made their apprenticeship in arms.

[448] Matthieu, i. liv. v. p. 327.

[449] Chatillon-sur-Loing (not _sur-Loire_), is in Loiret, five leagues S.E. of Montargis, and 16 leagues E. of Orleans, on the left bank of the Loing.

[450] _Simancas Archives_: Bouillé, ii. p. 454.

[451] Le Pipre: _Abrégé chron. de la Maison du Roi_, p. 30. (4to. ed.).

[452] See also J. Rondinelli: _Oratio in exequiis Karoli IX._ Florentiæ, 1574.

[453] Walsingham to Leicester, 29th August, 1570.

[454] Digges: _Compleat Ambassador_, p. 7.

[455] Ad Camer. p. 132. “Omnes affirmant esse eximiæ voluntatis regem; sed potentes sunt factiones eorum qui pacem improbant ... omnia sunt hic tranquilla, nec dubitat quisquam regem esse pacis cupidissimum.” p. 136.

[456] Baschet, p. 252.

[457] “Nullam luci cum tenebris communionem, nullamque catholicis cum hæ. reticis ... compositionem esse posse.” Letter of 29th January, 1570, Potter.

[458] Tours Archives. Luzarche: _Lettres historiques_ (1861), p. 129.

[459] “Voyant maintenant les affaires de mon royaume réduites au bon état qu’elles sont (Dieu merci), après qu’il lui a plu pacifier des troubles qui y étaient.” MSS. Bibl. Imp. in Soldan: _Frankreich und die Bartholomæusnacht_.

[460] Bouillé, ii. 456, _note_. See also _État de France_, i. 12 _b_ (ed. 1579). _Le Tocsain_, p. 93 (ed. 1579).

[461] “Non sine magna procerum indignatione.” Elsewhere he is described as a “monstrum nulla virtute redemptum.”

[462] “Miroir de la Justice divine.” L’Estoile.

[463] Davila, i. p. 500.

[464] He was made Duke of Nevers after his marriage with Henrietta of Nevers, sister of Catherine of Cleves, the widow of Prince Porcien. Henrietta was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Nevers and Margaret of Bourbon, sister to Anthony of Navarre. Maria, the youngest daughter, married Henry of Condé in 1572.

[465] Capefigue.

[466] He is reported to have spent several hours at his forge on the very eve of the massacre.

[467] Under date 22d March, 1751, Smith writes to Burghley from Blois: “Inordinate hunting, so early in the morning and so late at night, without sparing frost, snow, or rain, and in so despotic a manner as makes her (Catherine) and those that love him to be often in great fear.”

[468] “Sanguineum reddebat in feras, _non_ in homines.” Raumer (i. p. 271) suggests the omission of _non_, as being at variance with history.

[469] The _Archives curieuses_ (viii.) contain a statement of the sums paid by the king for the animals thus slain.

[470] _Recueil de ce qui a été faict à l’entrée_, etc., in the Library of Ste. Geneviève.

[471] _Hist. de France_ (by Le Fère de Laval and Piguerre), fol. 1581. _Mém. État de France_, i. 40.

[472] Charronet, p. 65.

[473] A “chanson” of this period strikingly prefigures the massacre of 1572. Here is one verse:

Nos capitaines, corporiaux,
Ont des corselets tout nouveaux
Et des cousteaux
Pour Huguenots egorgetter
Et une escharpe rouge
Que tous voulons porter, etc.

_Le Roux de Lincy_, ii. 295.

In another chanson (No. xvii.) Coligny is threatened:

Pendu à une potence,
Paissant de sa chair et peau
Le corbeau.

[474] “There were men near to his sovereign (Charles IX.) who wished to bring him up in the Reformed religion; but he (Philip) would anticipate them, and embroil all the world beforehand.” Letter in Le Plat: _Mon. Hist. Concil. Trident. Collect._ v. p. 571 (4to. Lovain, 1781–1787).

[475] Walsingham, 25th June, 1571.

[476] “Che ’l Francese sia quasi necessitato desiderare la guerra con Spagnuoli.” Tommaseo: _Relations Vénitiennes_, ii. p. 171.

[477] Walsingham to Leicester, 5th March, 1572; Digges, p. 49.

[478] Alberi: _Vita di Caterina de’ Medici_.

[479] Walsingham (6th August, 1571) gives an account of this interview from the report of the prince himself. Digges, p. 174. The _État de France_ (i. 44.) says Catherine was present, which is a mistake.

[480] Walsingham to Burleigh, 12th August, 1571. “Galli apud Hispanos in tantum suspicionem vivere.” _Schardius Rediv._ iv. p. 177.

[481] Walsingham to Leicester (22d April, 1571) shows Teligny’s footing with the king. The embassador hints at opposition to the war against Spain lest it should give the management to other hands and parties.

[482] After Teligny’s murder she married William of Orange. The present Count of Paris is descended from Louisa of Coligny, through his mother Helena of Mecklenburg.

[483] She admired in Coligny “un assortiment rare de vertus et de talens qui lui rendaient la haute idée de l’ancien héroïsme.” Arcère: _Hist. Rochelle_ (4to. 1756), i. p. 392. In order to prevent the marriage, the nuncio Salviati proposed her assassination: “Le remède serait de se débarrasser, par tous les moyens possibles, de cette méchante fiancée.” Coquerel: _La Sainte-Barthélemy_ (Paris, 1859), p. 27, _note_.

[484] Digges, p. 122. Walsingham to Burghley, 12th August, 1571.

[485] About this time Catherine wrote to La Mothe-Fénelon: “L’amiral est ici avec nous, qui ne désire rien plus que d’aider en tout ce qu’il peut ... comme aussi à s’employer en toutes choses concernant le bien du service du roi comme son fidèle sujet.” 27th September, 1571.

[486] Fénelon to the king, 30th September, 1571, repeating Walsingham’s dispatch to his own government.

[487] _Mém. of Coligny._ Translated by D. D. Scott (12mo. Edinburgh, 1844).

[488] Fénelon’s Dispatches, October, 1571.

[489] “La maison de Montmorency étaient ceux qui en avaient porté les premières paroles.” _Mém. de Marguerite._

[490] Chantonnay’s letter of 23d May, 1562; also hinted at in Aubespine, p. 844.

[491] Walsingham to Leicester, 17th February, 1571.

[492] He was married 17th September, 1570.

[493] Popelinière, ii. fol. 44 _b_.

[494] Charles to De Ferrals, 5th October, 1571. “The most eminent and faithful of my servants agree with me that, in the present condition of my kingdom, this marriage is the best means of ending all troubles.” Raumer, i. 277. The correspondence in Digges is to the same effect.

[495] Walsingham writes 16th August: “The queen-mother had provided both jewels and wedding.” Digges, p. 135.

[496] _Le Tocsain_ (ed. 1579), p. 77.

[497] “Linerolles, who by the house of Guise and the rest of the Spanish faction was made an instrument to dissuade his master....” (8th December, 1571.) “Linerolles, the chief dissuader of the marriage.” 31st December, 1571, in Digges. For another account see Freer’s _Henry III._ i. p. 72. Sorbin (_Le vray Resveille-Matin_) says he was killed at Bourgueil, _not_ at Blois.

[498] “Toutes marques, vestiges, et monumens des dites exécutions, etc. ... ordonnons le tout estre osté et effacé.”

[499] Felibien, ii. p. 1112.

[500] There is a letter from Charles to Marshal Cossé (6th November, 1571): “Je veux que vous fassiez ôter la pyramide, et _que vous me fassiez obéir_, car le temps est venu qu’il le faut faire.” Soldan, ii. p. 423.

[501] It stood here until destroyed in the Revolution.

[502] Anquetil, Peyrat, and others say _May_, but Sir Thomas Smith, writing from Blois, 3d March, 1572, says: “This day the Queen of Navarre is looked for;” and Walsingham (29th March) reports an interview with her at Blois. Charles writes to Fénelon (8th March) that the Queen of Navarre arrived eight or nine days ago.

[503] L’Estoile (_Journ. Henri III._) and Sully both give the same story, evidently from common gossip.

[504] The whole tenor of Charles’s letter to Fénelon (8th March, 1572) is in contradiction to the story given in the text. He says: “My aunt shows a good disposition to conclude the marriage.... There is a very good appearance of it.”

[505] _Lettres du Card. d’Ossat_ (fol. Paris, 1641), Lettre 185, p. 426. The Edinburgh reviewer (June, 1826) pressed this very unfairly against Dr. Lingard. The “enemies” might have been Spain. Catena, who had been secretary to the cardinal, speaks out more distinctly, but his report will not bear examination: “Io voglio punir questi malvaggi e felloni, facendogli tagliar tutti a pezzi, o non esser re, perdendo affatto la corona.” _Vita del Papa Pio V._ p. 196 (Roma, 1647).

[506] Davila, liv. v.; Capilupi: _Lo Stratagema_; and De Thou give this story, but the latter does not believe it. Ant. Gabut (_Vita Pii V._) gives the inscription on the ring which Charles sent to Alessandrino after the death of Pius V.: “Non minus hæc solida est pietas, ne solvi.” In the _Mém. Etat de France_, the legate “s’en allait bien content.” I. 150.

[507] Digges, 3d March, 1572, p. 193.

[508] “Il est du tout impossible de l’y disposer si chaudement.” L. Paris: _Cab. Hist._ ii. p. 231.

[509] Soldan treats it as a fable, _note_ 142.

[510] Mackintosh: _Hist. England_, iii. Appendix D. Raumer, i. p. 281. After a description of the admiral’s murder and the massacre, the king “hopes that _now_ the holy father will make no more difficulties about the dispensation.”

[511] “Con alcuni particolari che io porto, de’ quali ragguaglierò N. S^{ne} a bocca, posso dire di non partirmi affatto male expedito.” Letter to Rusticucci (6th March, 1572), in _Lettere del Sr. Ch. Alessandrino_, quoted by Ranke, _Franz. Gesch._ bk. iv. ch. 3.

[512] Her description of Catherine’s facility of lying is short and graphic: “Elle me le renie _comme beau meurtre_ et me rit au nez.”

[513] Baschet, p. 488.

[514] Walsingham to Burghley, 29th March, 1572; Digges.

[515] “Capitis sui jacturam facturum esse” Gabut: _Vita Pii V._ in _Acta Sanctorum_ (Maii), I. cap. v. § 240 (fol. Antverp. 1580).

[516] _Journal de L’Estoile_, p. 73. The words are rather different in the _Reveille-Matin_, but the sense is the same.

[517] Grabut, _Vita Pii V._ cap. v. § 244. If Charles was not misleading the pope, these “designs” may have been the Flemish war.

[518] Bouillé: _Hist. Guise_, ii. 492.

[519] Claude Haton: _Mém._ ii. p. 663.

[520] This is clear from her despairing language to Fénelon: “Vous êtes sur le point de perdre un tel royaume et grandeur pour mes enfans ... nous pourrions avoir ce royaume entre les mains d’un de nos enfans.” 2d February, 1571, _Corresp. diplom._ Paris, 1840–41, ed. by Teulet.

[521] The nuncio promised him 100,000 crowns. Walsingham to Cecil, 8th February, 1572, in Wright’s _Elizabeth_, p. 386. See also letter of 17th February, in Digges, p. 43.

[522] Charles, writing to Fénelon (19th Jan. 1572), mentions a discussion about inserting the words “_of attacks under pretext of religion_,” and what Walsingham had said on the matter about a general Protestant Confederation. See Digges, pp. 169–173.

[523] There is abundant evidence in the Fénelon correspondence. On the 20th March, 1572, Charles writes that Queen Mary “had exhorted the Duke of Alva to hasten to send ships to Scotland to seize her son,” and that “she would commit herself to the King of Spain.” He bids Fénelon tell her to write no more such ciphers, and “de se départir de telles pratiques et menées.” Walsingham’s correspondence shows that Spain, Guise, the pope, and others were conspiring to prevent Elizabeth from helping Flanders by an invasion of Ireland, “to which the king was not privy.” Digges, p. 36 (Letter of 8th February), p. 38.

[524] Charles to Fénelon, 20th March, 1572: “We are in great hope of the marriage (of Alençon).... If it be accomplished, I shall not be ungrateful.”

[525] Raumer, i. 196.

[526] _Simancas_ Archives. Paris: _Cab. Hist._ iii. 67.

[527] Gachard: _Bull. Acad. Brux._ xvi. 1849 (pte. 1).

[528] _Simancas Archives._ Paris: _Cab. Hist._ iii. 67.

[529] “Quelque bon jeu.” Bouillé.

[530] Gachard: _Corresp. de Philippe II._ 4to. Bruxelles, 1848, t. ii. p. 269.

[531] Ellis’s _Letters_, p. 10; see also pp. 16 and 18.

[532] _Mém. de Duplessis-Mornay_, Paris, 1824.

[533] Walsingham to Burghley, 18th July, 1572. Grotius, _Ann._ p. 37, says 5000 foot and 500 horse.

[534] Alva’s letters of 13th and 21st June, and 18th July.

[535] The Grand Seignor heard of the proposed Flemish war, and offered to help Charles with two galleys and some troops. Sully: _Mém._ i. p. 15 (Engl. ed.).

[536] Baschet, p. 540: “La guerra per quattro o sei di continui fu tenuta deliberata.” Tommaseo: _Relations Vénitiennes_, ii. p. 171.

[537] “Tuttavia ne far ogni maggiore istanza.” See also his letters dated 20th and 23d August. Alberi: _Vita di Caterina de Medici_, 4to. Florence, 1838.

[538] Digges, p. 231.

[539] Letter to Burghley. Digges, pp. 231–234.

[540] Sir Thomas Smith writes 22d August: “There is no revocation (recall of troops) done nor meant.” Digges, p. 237.

[541] The Memoirs of Tavannes put this beyond a doubt.

[542] Digges, p. 234.

[543] Favyn says 10th June; an inscription in the _État de France_ gives _Idus Junii_ (13th).

[544] Letter to Mdlle. de Guillerville, 12 June, 1572; Paris. _Cab. Hist._ ii. p. 227. Sir H. Norris testifies to the unhealthiness of Paris: he took a house beyond the walls, “to be out of the corrupt air of the town, which surely is such as none other to be compared to Paris.” Wright: _Elizabeth_, i. 306. See also Coryat: _Crudities_.

[545] Mdlle. Vauvilliers, whose conscientious biography of Joan of Navarre is marred by the absence of dates and authorities, says that an autopsy was _several times ordered, but never made_ (iii. p. 194). On the other hand, the _Chronologie Novennaire_ expressly states that Caillard, her physician, and Desnœuds, her surgeon, dissected the queen’s brain, which they found in a sound state. On her death, see Villegomblain: _Mém. des Troubles_, i. 259; Bury: _Hist. Henri IV._ (4to. Paris, 1765); Favyn: _Hist. Navarre_, p. 863 (fol. Paris, 1612).

[546] _Lettres missives de Henri IV._ i. p. 31. _Collect. des Doc. Hist. France._

[547] Matthieu, I. liv. vi. p. 343. A long list of these warnings will be found in the _Reveille-Matin_.

[548] “Non solo con le parole ma con gli effetti;” and Michieli adds, “quanto agli effetti, quello che è poi seguito contra gli Ugonotti.”

[549] Michieli: _Relazione_; Baschet. Salviati wrote (24th August): “Quando scrissi ai giorni passati che l’ammiraglio _s’avanza troppo_, e che gli darebbero sù l’unghe (a rap on the knuckles), già mi era accorto che non lo volevano più tollerare.” Walsingham was quite of Coligny’s opinion about the war.

[550] Tavannes says: “There was no other resolution for the massacre than what the admiral and his adherents occasioned.”

[551] Grabut says the marriage took place, “Gregorii XIII. permissu.” _Acta Sanctorum._

[552] “Lunedì (25 Agosto) la corte se ritira a Fontanablo, dove la regina farà il suo parto.” Petrucci, letter 20th August. On the 23d, giving Duke Cosmo an account of the attempt on the admiral’s life, he says: “Si pensava che la corte partisse martedì prossimo” (26th August).

[553] Davila says that when she was asked whether she would take Henry for her husband, she made no reply, and that Charles with his own hand bent her head as if to nod assent. Margaret is silent on the matter.

[554] Charles IX. to Ferrails, 24th August: “All my subjects have exhibited the greatest joy and contentment” at the marriage. It is clear from this letter that the dispensation had not arrived. Raumer, i. 281.

[555] This is in direct contradiction to Tavannes, who says: “il continue ses audaces, importune, se fâche, _menace de partir_,” etc. P. 416.

[556] We abridge rather than translate Anjou’s narrative, whose authenticity is doubtful. It will not bear minute comparison with other statements of indisputable truthfulness.

[557] See Salviati’s letter of 24th August. Mackintosh: _Hist. England_. Anjou does not mention the presence of the duke at this meeting.

[558] “Maurevers et non pas Maurevel,” according to the _Art de Vérifier_, but erroneously; he is also called Moruel, Montravel, Maurevert, and Moureveil. His real name was Louvier, sire de Maurevert en Brie. For his murderous services he was rewarded with two good abbeys. L’Estoile’s _Journal_. He accompanied Marshal de Retz on his embassy to England in 1573, and on his arriving at Greenwich, where the court was staying, he was recognized by a page, and pointed out as “the admiral’s murderer!” A shout of execration was raised, he was chased by the rabble, and never dared show himself again. _Etat de France_, ii. 217. He was killed in 1583, in the Rue St. Honoré, by young Arthur Mouy, who was immediately after shot by one of the guards who always attended the _tueur du roi_. Villegomblain, _Mém._ p. 144. _Journal du Règne de Henri III._ p. 71, ed. Cologne, 1672. This last epithet could hardly have been earned by the commission of one murder--that of Mouy. At the siege of Rochelle, none of the principal officers would associate with him, and he was sent to an isolated post. See Bouillon’s _Memoirs_, p. 14.

[559] Some writers have supposed that through her daughter Margaret, Catherine discovered a scheme concerted between Charles and Coligny to banish both her and the Guises from court; and that a common danger made her combine with Duke Henry to crush the Huguenots, trusting to find the means afterward of counterbalancing the house of Lorraine.

[560] It was the hotel of the Counts of Ponthieu; and in the 18th century became an inn, under the title, “Hotel de Lisieux.” _Hommes illustres de la France_, 1747.

[561] He left with a “sad and dejected countenance,” says the _Reveille-Matin_: “Si facesse pallido e restasse smarrito oltro modo, e senza dir parola si ritirasse.” Giovanni Michieli, _Relazioni_, November, 1572.

[562] Letter of Petrucci, 23d August. _Archiveo Mediceo._

[563] Cimber, vii. p. 211.

[564] Michieli, the Venetian embassador, says that Guise had nothing to do with it (Baschet: _Relazioni_, p. 551), and adds that on _Friday_ night the queen and Anjou told Charles of the plot.

[565] The Neustadt letter has “Brüdern und Mütter.” _Archiv. f. Geschichte, etc._ xvii. 1826 p. 278 (8vo. Wien). This periodical contains a curious letter from an eye-witness of the massacre addressed to L. Gruter, bishop of Wiener-Neustadt, entitled _Relation der franz. auff St. Bartholomäi Tag vorgegangenen erschröcklischen Execution über die Hugenoten, 1572, den 24 Augusti, anno 1572_.

[566] With a few verbal changes, the account of this interview is taken from Golding’s _Life of Jasper Coligny_. London, 1576.

[567] La Chapelle des Ursins made the same reproach to Catherine, July, 1572. St. Foix: _Hist. Ordre Saint-Esprit_, i. p. 203.

[568] “So ime auf den Füss trette, wolle er demsellben auf die Versen tretten.” _Neustadt Letter_, p. 278.

[569] “Hic regi in arcano quædam a Colinio insinuata divulgatum est; alii tamen negant et secretum hoc de industria a regina impeditum, ne....” De Thou.

[570] This is from Anjou’s narrative; but whether proceeding from him, or De Retz (as some think), there are no means of testing it.

[571] “Il avait alentour de lui neuf médecins et onze chirurgiens.” _Mém. de l’État de France_, ii. 31 _b._

[572] La Noue.

[573] The Hôtel de Clisson, afterward de la Miséricorde, was purchased by the Duchess of Guise in 1553. The old gate-way forms the entrance to the modern École des Chartes.

[574] “Le malheur avait voulu que Maurevel avait failli son coup.” _Mém. de Marguerite._

[575] “Se l’archibugiata ammazava subito l’ammiraglio, non mi risolvo a credere che si fosse a un pezzo.” Salviati’s letter of August 24.

[576] This meeting is not mentioned in Anjou’s narrative; but there must have been some such preliminary consultation between the conspirators.

[577] Catherine afterward asserted that she had desired the death of six men only: “Reginam dictitare se tantum sex hominum interfectorum sanguinem in suam conscientiam recipere.” Serranus: _Status Reipubl._ x. 29.

[578] It is stated in the Neustadt letter that the Swiss soldiers of Navarre mounted guard inside the house, while the French guard were posted outside, immediately after the king’s visit on Friday, and that the pass-word was very strict, in order to prevent any fresh attempt on the admiral’s life. _Archiv. für Geschichte_, etc. xvii. 1826, p. 278.

[579] Paris: _Cabinet Hist._ ii. 259.

[580] _Archives de Mons._

[581] Digges, p. 254.

[582] Brantome calls De Retz the first and principal adviser of the deed; Davila says that he obtained the king’s consent to the massacre; and Margaret states that the queen-mother sent him to Charles between nine and ten o’clock at night, “because he (De Retz) had more influence with him,” and that he justified his mother and Anjou for trying to get rid of that pest “the admiral.” Tavannes partly supports these statements. I give the preference (reluctantly) to Anjou’s narrative, because it removes much of the confusion which would otherwise envelop the remainder of this eventful day.

[583] On this Menselius remarks, that if the account be true, “Ipse (Anjou) cum matre minime cædis detestandæ particeps habendus esset, sed solus rex Carolus eandem animo concessisset.” _Bibliotheca Historica_, vii. pars 2^a, p. 213. Lipsiæ, 1795. Few will agree with the conclusion.

[584] Juan de Olaegni says that Marcel, “cabeça de los vezinos,” was sent for, but the city registers say Le Charron. Gachard: _Particularités inédites_ in _Bull. Acad. Sci. Bruxelles_, xvi. 1849, p. 235. If the “au soir bien tard” of Anjou’s narrative means “late in the afternoon,” there were probably two meetings, at the latter of which Marcel was present.

[585] “Envoiez et portez ... de fort grand matin.” _Registres_ in Cimber’s _Archives Curieuses_.

[586] _Réveille-Matin._ Margaret, writing twenty-four years after the event, says that Henry, by the king’s advice, had invited them to the Louvre, where they would be safer in case of tumult. I give the preference to her statement.

[587] Mr. Froude (x. 397) writes _Malin_, which is probably a misprint.

[588] Favyn (_Hist. Navarre_, p. 867) says that after supper, “about eleven o’clock,” the king went down to his forge with Navarre, Condé, and others, where they all worked as usual, until between one and two, when the tocsin was rung.

[589] The _Réveille-Matin_ and the _Mém. État de France_ say, “attended only by a fille-de-chambre.”

[590] “Ainsi que le jour commençait à poindre.” Now as the sun rose that day at five o’clock, this would make it a little after four, which does not harmonize with other statements.

[591] We must remember that Anjou is vindicating himself, and that his narrative, like the confession of a criminal, endeavors to extenuate his crime.

[592] According to Burg, he, Koch, and Grunenfelder were the admiral’s murderers; he does not mention Dianowitz. “At unus [M.K.] e tribus audacior bipenni (_i. e._, halberd) ilium miserum transfixit, tertio ipse [C.B.] eum graviter percussit, itaque septimo tactus tandem (mirum!) in caminum cecidit.” Letter of August 26, from Joachim Opserus, then at the College of Clermont, to the Abbot of St. Gall. _Archives de l’Hist. Suisse_, Zürich, ii. 1827. The Neustadt letter does not corroborate this account.

[593] The Neustadt letter says the admiral was in bed, pretending to be asleep: “Danach wider zu Beth gelegt, und schlaffendt angenomen, dan er woll gedacht es wurde ime ietzo gelten.” P. 279.

[594] A similar story--too well founded on the traditions of Würtemberg to admit of doubt--is told of the reformer Brenz (Brentius); but in his case the period during which the hen supplied him with food was eight days.

[595] “Tened piedad de la vejez,” writes Olaegui.

[596] Beza: _Mors Ciceronis_.

[597] Juan de Olaegui says that Guise “le dió un pistoletazo en la cabeza,” and then flung him from the window. This is probably the pistol-shot which so alarmed the royal murderers at the Louvre, though another report (Alva’s _Bulletin_) says it was fired at the body as it lay dead in the court-yard. The Neustadt letter represents Coligny as struggling vigorously against four Swiss soldiers (das irer vier kümmerlich ime bezwingen mögten), and that a French soldier killed him by shooting him in the mouth. Behm was rewarded with the hand of a natural daughter of Cardinal Lorraine, and Philip II. gave him 6000 scudi (ostensibly as a dowry) for his life. See Petrucci’s letter (September 16, 1572), in Alberi, _Vita di Caterina_, p. 149. In 1575 he was captured by the Huguenots near Jarnac, as he was returning from Spain, and put to death.

[598] Alva’s _Bulletin_. Tavannes says: “embrasse la fenêtre;” Serranus: “brachio fenestræ columnam complectitur, ibi acceptis aliquot vulneribus.”

[599] It is uncertain to whom the disgrace of this last indignity attaches, some imputing the cowardly act to Angoulême. Alva, who was instructed by Gomicourt, says Guise did it; so also the _Journal de Henri III._: “Le roi donna un coup de pied ... ainsi que le Duc de Guise en avait donné au feu amiral,” p. 118. (Cologne, 1672.)