Chapter VIII: Death of Isabella (2)

[70] "Car si, quant à soy, il luy semble estre chose que ne luy convînt ou ne fût faisable, il ne seroit à propoz, comme elle l'entend tres-bien, d'en faire déclaracion à qui que ce soit; mais, en cas aussi qu'elle jugea le party luy estre convenable et qu'elle y print inclinacion, si, à son advis, la difficulté tumba sur les moyens, et que en iceulx elle ne se peut résoldre sans la participation d'aulcuns de son conseil, vous la pourriez en ce cas requérir qu'elle voulût prendre de vous confiance pour vous déclairer à qui elle en vouldroit tenir propoz, et ce qu'elle en vouldroit communicquer et par quelz moyens." L'Empereur à Renard, 20 septembre, 1553, Ibid., p. 114.

[71] The Spanish match seems to have been as distasteful to the Portuguese as it was to the English, and probably for much the same reasons. See the letter of Granvelle, of August 14, 1553, Ibid., p. 77.

[72] "Les estrangiers, qu'ilz abhorrissent plus que nulle aultre nacion." L'Empereur à Renard, 20 septembre, 1553, Ibid., p. 113.

[73] "Et si la difficulté se treuvoit aux conseillers pour leur intéretz particulier, comme plus ilz sont intéressez, il pourroit estre que l'on auroit meilleur moyen de les gaigner, assheurant ceulz par le moyen desquelz la chose se pourroit conduyre, des principaulz offices et charges dudict royaulme, voyre et leur offrant appart sommes notables de deniers ou accroissance de rentes, priviléges et prérogatives." L'Empereur à Renard, 20 septembre, 1553, Ibid., p. 113.

[74] In order to carry on the negotiation with greater secrecy, Renard's colleagues at the English court, who were found to intermeddle somewhat unnecessarily with the business, were recalled; and the whole affair was intrusted exclusively to that envoy, and to Granvelle, the bishop of Arras, who communicated to him the views of the emperor from Brussels.--"Et s'est résolu taut plus l'empereur rappeler voz collègues, afin que aulcung d'iceulx ne vous y traversa ou bien empescha s'y estans montrez peu affectionnez, et pour non si bien entendre le cours de ceste négociation, et pour aussi que vous garderez mieulx le secret qu'est tant requis et ne se pourroit faire, passant ceste négociation par plusieurs mains." L'Evêque d'Arras à Renard, 13 septembre, 1553, Ibid., p. 103.

[75] "Pour la requerir et supplier d'eslire ung seigneur de son pays pour estre son mary, et ne vouloir prendre personnaige en mariaige, ny leur donner prince qui leur puisse commander aultre que de sa nation." Ambassades de Noailles, (Leyde, 1763,) tom. II. p. 234.

[76] "Le soir du 30 octobre, la reine fit venir en sa chambre, où étoit exposé le saint sacrement, l'ambassadeur de l'empereur, et, après avoir dit le _Veni creator_, lui dit qu'elle lui donnoit en face dudit sacrement sa promesse d'épouser le prince d'Espagne, laquelle elle ne changeroit jamais; qu'elle avoit feint d'être malade les deux jours précédents, mais que sa maladie avoit été causée par le travail qu'elle avoit eu pour prendre cette résolution." MS. in the Belgian archives, cited by Mignet, Charles-Quint, p. 78, note.

[77] "Qu'elle tenoit de dieu la couronne de son royaulme, et que en luy seul esperoit se conseiller de chose si importante." Ambassades de Noailles, tom. II. p. 269.

[78] "Le dit Lieutenant a fait fondre quatre mil escuz pour chaines, et les autres mil se repartiront en argent, comme l'on trouvera mieulx convenir." Renard, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 325.

[79] Strype, Memorials, vol. III. pp. 58, 59.--Holinshed, Chronicles, (London, 1808,) vol. IV. pp. 10, 34, 41.

[80] Strype, (Memorials, vol. III. p. 196,) who quotes a passage from a MS. of Sir Thomas Smith, the application of which, though the queen's name is omitted, cannot be mistaken.

[81] "Si est-ce qu'elle verra assez par icelle sa ressemblance, la voyant à son jour et de loing, comme sont toutes peinctures dudict Titian que de près ne se recongnoissent." Marie, Reine de Hongrie, à l'Ambassadeur Renard, novembre 19, 1553, Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. IV. p. 150.

It may be from a copy of this portrait that the engraving was made which is prefixed to this work.

[82] See the treaty in Rymer, Foedera, vol. XV. p. 377.

[83] "Par là," adds Noailles, who tells the story, "vous pouvez veoir comme le prince d'Espagne sera le bien venu en ce pays, puisque les enfans le logent au gibet." Ambassades de Noailles, tom. III. p. 130.

[84] Holinshed, vol. IV. p. 16.--The accounts of this insurrection are familiar to the English reader, as given at more or less length, in every history of the period.

[85] "L'on a escript d'Espaigne que plusieurs sieurs deliberoient amener leurs femmes avec eulx pardeça. Si ainsi est, vostre Majesté pourra preveoir ung grand desordre en ceste court." Renard, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 351.

[86] "Seullement sera requis que les Espaignolez qui suyvront vostre Alteze comportent les façons de faire des Angloys, et soient modestes, confians que vostre Alteze les aicarassera par son humanité costumiere." Ibid., p. 335.

[87] The particulars of this interview are taken from one of Renard's despatches to the emperor, dated March 8, 1554, ap. Tytler, England under the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary, (vol. II. pp. 326-329,)--a work in which the author, by the publication of original documents, and his own sagacious commentary, has done much for the illustration of this portion of English history.

[88] Florez, Reynas Catholicas, tom. II. p. 890.

[89] Philip would have preferred that Charles should carry out his original design, by taking Mary for his own wife. But he acquiesced, without a murmur, in the choice his father made for him. Mignet quotes a passage from a letter of Philip to the emperor on this subject, which shows him to have been a pattern of filial obedience. The letter is copied by Gonzales in his unpublished work, Retiro y Estancia de Carlos Quinto.--"Y que pues piensan proponer su matrimonio con Vuestra Magestad, hallandose en disposicion para ello, esto seria lo mas acertado. Pero en caso que Vuestra Magestad está en lo que me escribe y le pareciere tratar de lo que à mi toca, ya Vuestra Magestad sabe que, como tan obediente hijo, no he tener mas voluntad que la suya; cuanto mas siendo este negocio de importancia y calidad que es. Y asi me ha parecido remitirlo à Vuestra Magestad para que en toda haya lo que le parecierá, y fuere servido." Mignet, Charles-Quint, p. 76.

[90] "Higo en esto lo que un Isaac dexandose sacrificar por hazer la voluntad de su padre, y por el bien de la Iglesia." Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. p. 557.

[91] A single diamond in the ornament which Philip sent his queen was valued at eighty thousand crowns.--"Una joya que don Filipe le enbiaba, en que avia un diamante de valor de ochenta mil escudos." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 4.

[92] Letter of Lord Edmund Dudley to the Lords of the Council, MS. This document, with other MSS. relating to this period, was kindly furnished to me by the late lamented Mr. Tytler, who copied them from the originals in the State Paper Office.

The young Lord Herbert mentioned in the text became afterwards that earl of Pembroke who married, for his second wife, the celebrated sister of Sir Philip Sidney, to whom he dedicated the "Arcadia,"--less celebrated, perhaps, from this dedication, than from the epitaph on her monument, by Ben Jonson, in Salisbury Cathedral.

[93] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 4.--Florez, Reynas Catholicas, tom. II. p. 873.--Memorial des Voyages du Roi, MS.

[94] "Y prevenida de que los Embajadores se quejaban, pretextando que no sabian si hablaban con la Princesa; levantaba el manto al empezar la Audiencia, preguntando _¿Soy la Princesa?_ y en oyendo responder que si; volvia à echarse el velo, como que ya cessaba el inconveniente de ignorar con quien hablaban, y que para ver no necessitaba tener la cara descubierta." Florez, Reynas Catholicas, tom. II. p. 873.

[95] Letter of Bedford and Fitzwaters to the Council, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 410.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 4, 5.--Sepulvedæ Opera, vol. II. pp. 496, 497.

[96] "Il appelle les navires de la flotte de vostre Majesté coquilles de moules, et plusieurs semblables particularitez." Letter of Renard, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 414.

[97] "L'ordre de la Jaretiere, que la Royne et les Chevaliers ont concludz luy donner et en a fait faire une la Royne, qu'est estimée sept ou huict mil escuz, et joinctement fait faire plusieurs riches habillemens pour son Altese." Ibid., p. 416.

[98] Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquia de España, (Madrid, 1770,) tom. II. p. 118.--Ambassades de Noailles, tom. III. pp. 283-286.--Sepulvedsæ Opera, vol. II. p. 498.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 5.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 231.--Holinshed, vol. IV. p. 57.--Memorial des Voyages du Roi, MS.

[99] Strype, Memorials, vol. III. pp. 127, 128.

[100] The change in Philip's manners seems to have attracted general attention. We find Wotton, the ambassador at the French court, speaking, in one of his letters, of the report of it, as having reached his ears in Paris. Wotton to Sir W. Petre, August 10, 1554, MS.

[101] According to Noailles, Philip forbade the Spaniards to leave their ships, on pain of being hanged when they set foot on shore. This was enforcing the provisions of the marriage treaty _en rigueur_. "Apres que ledict prince fust descendu, il fict crier et commanda aux Espaignols que chascun se retirast en son navire et que sur la peyne d'estre pendu, nul ne descendist à terre." Ambassades de Noailles, tom. III. p. 287.

[102] Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. pp. 231, 232.

"Lors il appella les seigneurs Espaignols qui estoient pres de luy et leur dict qu'il falloit desormais oublier toutes les coustumes d'Espaigne, et vifvre de tous poincts à l'Angloise, à quoy il voulloit bien commancer et leur monstrer le chemin, puis se fist apporter de la biere de laquelle il beut." Ambassades de Noailles, tom. III. p. 287.

[103] According to Sepulveda, Philip gave a most liberal construction to the English custom of salutation, kissing not only his betrothed, but all the ladies in waiting, matrons and maidens, without distinction. "Intra ædes progressam salutans Britannico more suaviavit habitoque longiore et jucundissimo colloquio, Philippus matronas etiam et Regias virgines sigillatim salutat osculaturque." Sepulvedæ Opera, vol. II. p. 499.

[104] "Poco dopo comparve ancora la Regina pomposamente vestita, rilucendo da tutte le parti pretiosissime gemme, accompagnata da tante e cosi belle Principesse, che pareva ivi ridotta quasi tutta la bellezza del mondo, onde gli Spagnoli servivano con il loro Olivastro, trà tanti soli, come ombre." Leti. Vita di Filippo II. tom. I. p. 232.

[105] The sideboard of the duke of Albuquerque, who died about the middle of the seventeenth century, was mounted by forty silver ladders! And, when he died, six weeks were occupied in making out the inventory of the gold and silver vessels. See Dunlop's Memoirs of Spain during the reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II. (Edinburgh, 1834,) vol. I. p. 384.

[106] Strype, Memorials, vol. III. p. 130.

[107] Some interesting particulars respecting the ancient national dances of the Peninsula are given by Ticknor, in his History of Spanish Literature, (New York, 1849,) vol. II. pp. 445-448; a writer who, under the title of a History of Literature, has thrown a flood of light on the social and political institutions of the nation, whose character he has evidently studied under all its aspects.

[108] "Relation of what passed at the Celebration of the Marriage of our Prince with the Most Serene Queen of England,"--from the original at Louvain, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 430.--Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquia de España, tom. II. p. 117.--Sandoval, Historia de Carlos V., tom. II. pp. 560-563.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. pp. 231-233.--Sepulvedæ Opera, vol. II, p. 500.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 5.--Memorial de Voyages, MS.--Miss Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, vol. V. pp 389-396.

To the last writer I am especially indebted for several particulars in the account of processions and pageants which occupies the preceding pages. Her information is chiefly derived from two works, neither of which is in my possession;--the Book of Precedents of Ralph Brook, York herald, and the narrative of an Italian, Baoardo, an eye-witness of the scenes he describes. Miss Strickland's interesting volumes are particularly valuable to the historian for the copious extracts they contain from curious unpublished documents, which had escaped the notice of writers too exclusively occupied with political events to give much heed to details of a domestic and personal nature.

[109] Holinshed, vol. IV. p. 62.

[110] Ibid., p. 63.

[111] The Spaniards must have been quite as much astonished as the English at the sight of such an amount of gold and silver in the coffers of their king,--a sight that rarely rejoiced the eyes of either Charles or Philip, though lords of the Indies. A hundred horses might well have drawn as many tons of gold and silver,--an amount, considering the value of money in that day, that taxes our faith somewhat heavily, and not the less that only two wagons were employed to carry it.

[112] Holinshed, ubi supra.

[113] Relatione di Gio. Micheli, MS.

Michele Soriano, who represented Venice at Madrid, in 1559, bears similar testimony, in still stronger language, to Philip's altered deportment while in England. "Essendo avvertito prima dal Cardinale di Trento, poi dalla Regina Maria, et con più efficaccia dal padre, che quella riputatione et severità non si conveniva a lui, che dovea dominar nationi varie et popoli di costumi diversi, si mutò in modo che passando l'altra volta di Spagna per andar in Inghilterra, ha mostrato sempre una dolcezza et humanità così grande che non è superato da Prencipe alcuno in questa parte, et benchè servi in tutte l'attioni sue riputatione et gravità regie alle quali e per natura inclinato et per costume, non è però manco grato anzi fano parere la cortesia maggiore che S. M. usa con tutti." Relatione di Michele Soriano, MS.

[114] "Lasciando l'essecution delle cose di giustitia alla Regina, et a i Ministri quand'occorre di condannare alcuno, o nella robba, o nella vita, per poter poi usarli impetrando, come fa, le gratie, et le mercedi tutte; le quai cose fanno, che quanto alla persona sua, non solo sia ben voluto, et amato da ciascuno, ma anco desiderato." Relatione di Gio. Micheli, MS.

[115] Letter of Nicholas Wotton to Sir William Petre, MS.

[116] See the remarks of John Elder, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 258.

[117] "Nella religione,.... per quel che dall'esterior si vede, non si potria giudicar meglio, et più assiduo, et attentissimo alle Messe, a i Vesperi, et alle Prediche, come un religioso, molto più che a lo stato, et età sua, a molte pare che si convenga. Il medisimo conferiscono dell'intrinseco oltra certi frati Theologi suoi predicatori huomini certo di stima, et anco altri che ogni di trattano con lui, che nelle cose della conscientia non desiderano nè più pia, nè miglior intentione." Relatione di Gio. Micheli, MS.

[118] Ibid.

[119] Ibid.

Mason, the English minister at the imperial court, who had had much intercourse with Pole, speaks of him in terms of unqualified admiration. "Such a one as, for his wisdom, joined with learning, virtue, and godliness, all the world seeketh and adoreth. In whom it is to be thought that God hath chosen a special place of habitation. Such is his conversation adorned with infinite godly qualities, above the ordinary sort of men. And whosoever within the realm liketh him worst, I would he might have with him the talk of one half-hour. It were a right stony heart that in a small time he could not soften." Letter of Sir John Mason to the Queen, MS.

[120] If we are to credit Cabrera, Philip not only took his seat in parliament, but on one occasion, the better to conciliate the good-will of the legislature to the legate, delivered a speech which the historian gives _in extenso_. If he ever made the speech, it could have been understood only by a miracle. For Philip could not speak English, and of his audience not one in a hundred, probably, could understand Spanish. But to the Castilian historian the occasion might seem worthy of a miracle,--_dignus vindice nodus._

[121] "Obraron de suerte Don Felipe con prudencia, agrado, honras, y mercedes, y su familia con la cortesía natural de España, que se reduxo Inglaterra toda à la obediencia de la Iglesia Catolica Romana, y se abjuraron los errores y heregias que corrían en aquel Reyno," says Vanderhammen, Felipe el Prudente, p. 4.

[122] Strype, Memorials, vol. III. p. 209.

[123] Philip, in a letter to the Regent Joanna, dated Brussels, 1557, seems to claim for himself the merit of having extirpated heresy in England by the destruction of the heretics. "Aviendo apartado deste Reyno las sectas, i reduzidole à la obediencia de la Inglesia, i aviendo ido sempre en acrecentamiento con el castigo de los Ereges tan sin contradiciones como se haze en Inglaterra." (Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. II. cap. 6.) The emperor, in a letter from Yuste, indorses this claim of his son to the full extent. "Pues en Ynglaterra se han hecho y hacen tantas y tan crudas justicias hasta obispos, por la orden que alli ha dado, como si fuera su Rey natural, y se lo permiten." Carta del Emperador a la Princesa, Mayo 25, 1558, MS.

[124] Micheli, whose testimony is of the more value, as he was known to have joined Noailles in his opposition to the Spanish match, tells us that Philip was scrupulous in his observance of every article of the marriage treaty. "Che non havendo alterato cosa alcuna dello stile, et forma del governo, non essendo uscito un pelo della capitolatione del matrimonio, ha in tutto tolta via quella paura che da principio fù grandissima, che egli non volesse con imperio, et con la potentia, disporre, et comandare delle cose à modo suo." Relatione di Gio. Micheli, MS.

[125] "D'amor nasce l'esser inamorata come è et giustamente del marito per quel che s'ha potuto conoscer nel tempo che è stata seco dalla natura et modi suoi, certo da innamorar ognuno, non che chi havesse havuto la buona compagnia et il buon trattamento ch'ell'ha havuto. Tale in verità che nessun'altro potrebbe essergli stato nè migliore nè più amorevol marito.... Se appresso al martello s'aggiungesse la gelosia, della qual fin hora non si sa che patisca, perche se non ha il Re per casto, almanco dice ella so che è libero dell'amor d'altra donna; se fosse dico gelosa, sarebbe veramente misera." Relatione di Gio. Micheli, MS.

[126] Holinshed, vol. IV. pp. 70, 82.

[127] Soriano notices the little authority that Philip seemed to possess in England, and the disgust which it occasioned both to him and his father.

"L'imperatore, che dissegnava sempre cose grandi, pensò potersi acquistare il regno con occasione di matrimonio di quella regina nel figliuolo; ma non gli successe quel che desiderava, perche questo Re trovò tant'impedimenti et tante difficolta che mi ricordo havere inteso da un personaggio che S. M^{ta.} si trova ogni giorno più mal contenta d'haver atteso a quella prattica perchè non haver nel regno ne autorità nè obedienza, nè pure la corona, ma solo un certo nome che serviva più in apparenza che in effetto." Relatione di Michele Soriano, MS.

[128] "Hispani parum humane parumque hospitaliter a Britannis tractabantur, ita ut res necessarias longe carius communi pretio emere cogerentur." Sepulvedæ Opera, vol. II. p. 501.

[129] "Quando occorre disparere tra un Inglese et alcun di questi, la giustitia non procede in quel modo che dovria..... Son tanti le cavillationi, le lunghezze, et le spese senza fine di quei lor'giuditii, che al torto, o al diritto, conviene ch'il forestiero soccumba; ne bisogna pensar che mai si sottomettessero l'Inglesi come l'altre nationi ad uno che chiamano l'Alcalde della Corte, spagnuole di natione, che procede sommariamente contra ogn'uno, per vie però, et termini Spagnuoli; havendo gl'Inglesi la lor legge, dalla quale non solo non si partiriano, ma vogliano obligar a quella tutti gl'altre." Relatione di Gio. Micheli, MS.

[130] Holinshed, vol. IV. p. 80.--Strype, Memorials, vol. III. p. 227.--Memorial de Voyages, MS.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 236.

[131] Relazione di Roma di Bernardo Navagero, 1558, published in Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti, Firenze, 1846, vol. VII. p. 378.

Navagero, in his report to the senate, dwells minutely on the personal qualities as well as the policy of Paul the Fourth, whose character seems to have been regarded as a curious study by the sagacious Venetian.

"Ritornato a Roma, rinuncio la Chiesa di Chieti, che aveva prima, e quella di Brindisi, ritirandosi affatto, e menando sempre vita privata, aliena da ogni sorte di publico affare, anzi, lasciata dopo il saco Roma stessa, passó a Verona e poi a Venezia, quivi trattenendosi lungo tempo in compagnia di alcuni buoni Religiosi della medesima inclinazione, che poi crescendo di numero, ed in santità di costumi, fondarono la Congregazione, che oggi, dal Titolo che aveva Paolo allora di Vescovo Teatino, de Teatini tuttavia ritiene il nome."

See also Relazione della Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, di Pietro Nores, MS.

[132] Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[133] Ibid.--Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Giannone, Istoria Civile del Regno di Napoli, (Milano, 1823,) tom. X. pp. 11-13.

[134] "Vuol essere servito molto delicatamente; e nel principio del suo pontificato non bastavano venticinque piatti; beve molto più di quello che mangia; il vino è possente e gagliardo, nero e tanto spesso, che si potria quasi tagliare, e dimandasi mangiaguerra, il quale si conduce dal regno di Napoli." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[135] "Nazione Spagnuola, odiata da lui, e che egli soleva chiamar vile, ed abieta, seme di Giudei, e feccia del Mondo." Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.

"Dicendo in presenza di molti: che era venuto il tempo, che sarebbero castigati dei loro peccati; che perderebbero li stati, e che l'Italia saria liberata." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

At another time we find the pope declaiming against the Spaniards, now the masters of Italy, who had once been known there only as its cooks. "Dice..... di sentire infinito dispiacere, che quelli che solevano essere cuochi o mozzi di stalla in Italia, ora comandino." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[136] "Cammina che non pare che tocchi terra; è tutto nervo con poca carne." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[137] "Servì lungo tempore l'Imperatore, ma con infelicissimo evento, non avendo potuto avere alcuna ricompensa, come egli stesso diceva, in premio della sua miglior etá, e di molte fatiche, e pericoli sostenuti, se non spese, danni, disfavore, esilio ed ultimamente un ingiustissima prigionia." Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[138] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Summonte, Historia della Città e Regno di Napoli, (Napoli, 1675,) tom. IV. p. 278.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 20.

[139] Brantôme, who has introduced the constable into his gallery of portraits, has not omitted this characteristic anecdote. "On disait qu'il se falloit garder des patenostres de M. le connestable, car en les disant et marmottant lors que les ocasions se presentoient, comme force desbordemens et desordres y arrivent maintenant, il disoit: Allez moy pendre un tel; attachez celuy là à cet arbre; faictes passer cestuy là par les picques tout à ceste heure, ou les harquebuses tout devant moy; taillez moy en pieces tous ces marauts," etc. Brantôme OEuvres (Paris, 1822,) tom. II. p. 372.

[140] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Summonte, Historia di Napoli, tom. IV. p. 280.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 21.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 23 et seq.

[141] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli tom. X. p. 19.

[142] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Carta del Duque de Alba à la Gobernadora, 28 de Julio, 1556, MS.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. pp. 15, 16.

[143] I have three biographies of the duke of Alva, which give a view of his whole career. The most important is one in Latin, by a Spanish Jesuit named Ossorio, and entitled Ferdinandi Toletani Albæ Ducis Vita et Res Gestæ (Salmanticiæ, 1669). The author wrote nearly a century after the time of his hero. But as he seems to have had access to the best sources of information, his narrative may be said to rest on a good foundation. He writes in a sensible and business-like manner, more often found among the Jesuits than among the members of the other orders. It is not surprising that the harsher features of the portrait should be smoothed down under the friendly hand of the Jesuit commemorating the deeds of the great champion of Catholicism.

A French life of the duke, printed some thirty years later, is only a translation of the preceding, Histoire de Ferdinand-Alvarez de Toledo, Duc d'Albe (Paris, 1699). A work of more pretension is entitled Resultas de la Vida de Fernando Alvarez tercero Duque de Alva, escrita por Don Juan Antonio de Vera y Figueroa, Conde de la Roca (1643). It belongs, apparently, to a class of works not uncommon in Spain, in which vague and uncertain statements take the place of simple narrative, and the writer covers up his stilted panegyric with the solemn garb of moral philosophy.

[144] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 27.--Consulta hecha a varios letrados y téologos relativamente a las desavenencias con el Papa, MS. This document is preserved in the archives of Simancas.

[145] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, Guerra da Campaña de Roma, (Madrid, 1589,) p. 14.--Summonte, Historia di Napoli, tom. IV. p. 270.

The most circumstantial printed account of this war is to be found in the work of Alessandro Andrea, a Neapolitan. It was first published in Italian, at Venice, and subsequently translated by the author into Castilian, and printed at Madrid. Andrea was a soldier of some experience, and his account of these transactions is derived partly from personal observation, and partly, as he tells us, from the most accredited witnesses. The Spanish version was made at the suggestion of one of Philip's ministers,--pretty good evidence that the writer, in his narrative, had demeaned himself like a loyal subject.

[146] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 25.--Carta del Duque de Alba à la Gobernadora, 8 de Setiembre, 1556, MS.

"In tal mode, non solo veniva a mitigar l'asprezze, che portava seco l'occupar le Terre dello stato ecclesiastico, ma veniva a sparger semi di discordia, e di sisma, fra li Cardinali, ed il Papa, tentando d'alienarli da lui, e mostrargli verso di loro riverenza, e rispetto." Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.

[147] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.

[148] "Stava intrepido, parlando delle cose appartenenti a quel'uffizio, come se non vi fusse alcuna sospezione di guerra, non che gl'inimici fussero vicini alle porte." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[149] "Pontifex eam conditionem ad se relatam aspernatus in eo persistebat, ut Albanus copias domum reduceret, deinde quod vellet, a se supplicibus precibus postularet." Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., lib. I. cap. 17.

[150] Sismondi, Histoire des Français, tom. XVIII. p. 17.

[151] "Quel Pontefice, che per ciascuna di queste cose che fosse cascata in un processo, avrebbe condannato ognuno alla morte ed al fuoco, le tollerava in questi, come in suoi defensori." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[152] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.

[153] The details of the siege of Ostia are given with more or less minuteness by Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.; Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 72 et seq.; Campana, Vita del Catholico Don Filippo Secondo, con le Guerre de suoi Tempi, (Vicenza, 1605,) tom. II. fol. 146, 147; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. II. cap. 15.

[154] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 86 et seq.

The Emperor Charles the Fifth, when on his way to Yuste, took a very different view from Alva's of the truce, rating the duke roundly for not having followed up the capture of Ostia by a decisive blow, instead of allowing the French time to enter Italy and combine with the pope.--"El emperador oyó todo lo que v. md. dize del duque y de Italia, y ha tornado muy mal el haver dado el duque oidos à suspension de armas, y mucho mas de haver prorrogado el plazo, por parecelle que será instrumento para que la gente del Rey que baxava à Piamonte se juntasse con la del Papa, ó questa dilacion sera necessitar al duque, y estorvalle el effecto que pudiera hazer, si prosiguiera su vitoria despues de haber ganado à Ostia, y entredientes dixo otras cosas que no pude comprehender." Carta de Martin de Gaztelu à Juan Vazquez, Enero 10, 1557, MS.

[155] Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., p. 13.

[156] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 165.

[157] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 220.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 86.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. III. cap. 9.

[158] Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 226.

[159] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 40.

[160] Sismondi, Histoire des Français, tom. XVIII. p. 39.

[161] "Encendido de colera, vino a dezir, Que Dios se auia buelto Español." Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 228.

[162] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 35.

[163] Norres, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Flippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 237.--Ossorio, Albæ Vita, tom. II. p. 64.

[164] The particulars of the siege of Civitella may be found in Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.; Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 222 et seq.; Ossorio, Albæ Vita, tom. II. pp. 53-59; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. III. cap. 9; De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 87 et seq., &c.

[165] "Quiso guardar el precepto de guerra que es: Hazer la puente de plata al enemigo, que se va." Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 285.

[166] "No pensava jugar el Reyno de Napoles contra una casaca de brocado del Duque de Guisa." Vera y Figueroa, Resultas de la Vida del Duque de Alva, p. 66.

[167] "Quiso usar alli desta sexeridad, no por crueza, sino para dar exemplo a los otros, que no se atreuiesse un lugarejo a defenderse de un exercito real." Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 292.

[168] Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 302.--Ossorio, Albæ Vita, tom. II. p. 96.--Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.

[169] "Los enemigos han tomado a Seña con saco, muerte, y fuego...... Entraran en Roma, y la saqueran, y prenderan a mi persona; y yo, que desseo ser c[=o] Christo, aguardo sin miedo la corona del martirio." Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 303.

"Si mostró prontissimo e disposto di sostenere il martirio." Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.

[170] Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 306.

[171] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, Guerra de Roma, pp. 306-311.--Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.--Ossorio, Albæ Vita, tom. II. p. 117 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 11.

[172] "Dixo a Don Fernando de Toledo su hijo estas palabras: Temo que hemos de saquear a Roma, y no querria." Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 312.

[173] Ibid., ubi supra.

[174] "Il Cardinal Sangiacomo, suo zio, dopo la tregua di quaranta giorni, fu a vecerlo e gli disse: Figliuol mio, avete fatto bene a non entrare in Roma, come so che avete potuto; e vi esorto che non lo facciate mai; perchè, tutti quelli della nostra nazione che si trovarono all'ultimo sacco, sono capitati male." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[175] Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[176] Sismondi, Histoire des Français, tom. XVIII. p. 41.

[177] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 43.

[178] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 314.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 128.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 45.--Ossorio, Albæ Vita, tom. II. p. 131.

[179] "Hoggi il mio Rè ha fatto una gran sciocchezza, e se io fossi stato in suo luogo, et egli nel mio, il Cardinal Carafa sarebbe andato in Fiandra à far quelle stesse sommissioni à sua Maestà che io vengo hora di fare à sua Santità." Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 293.

[180] Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[181] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 45.--Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 293.--Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 316.

[182] Charles the Fifth, who received tidings of the peace at Yuste, was as much disgusted with the terms of it as the duke himself. He even vented his indignation against the duke, as if he had been the author of the peace. He would not consent to read the despatches which Alva sent to him, saying that he already knew enough; and for a long time after "he was heard to mutter between his teeth," in a tone which plainly showed the nature of his thoughts. Retiro y Estancia, ap. Mignet, Charles-Quint, p. 307.

[183] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 46.

[184] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 50.--Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.

[185] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 50.

[186] "Della quale se altri non voleva aver cura, voleva almeno averla esso; e sebbene i suoi consigli non fossero uditi, avrebbe almeno la consolazione di avere avuto quest'animo, e che si dicesse un giorno: che un vecchio italiano che, essendo vicino alla morte, doveva attendere a riposare e a piangere i suoi peccati, avesse avuto tanto alti disegni." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.

[187] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 2.--Carta del Rey Don Felipe Segundo a Ruy Gomez de Silva a XI. de Março, 1557, MS.--Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. pp. 61, 63.

[188] Tytler, in his England under Edward VI. and Mary, (vol. II. p. 483,) has printed extracts from the minutes of the council, with the commentaries of Philip by the side of them. The commentaries, which are all in the royal autograph, seem to be as copious as the minutes themselves.

[189] Herrera, Historia General del Mundo, de XV. Años del Tiempo del Señor Rey Don Felipe II., (Valladolid, 1606,) lib. IV. cap. 13.--Gaillard, Histoire de la Rivalité de la France et de l'Espagne, (Paris, 1801,) tom. V. p. 243.

[190] See Tytler's valuable work, Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary. The compilation of this work led its candid author to conclusions eminently favorable to the personal character of Queen Mary.

[191] Conf. De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 148; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 4; Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9; Herrera, Historia General, lib. IV. cap. 14.

The historian here, as almost everywhere else where numerical estimates are concerned, must content himself with what seems to be the closest approximation to the truth. Some writers carry the Spanish foot to fifty thousand. I have followed the more temperate statement of the contemporary De Thou, who would not be likely to underrate the strength of an enemy.

[192] See the letters of the duke published in the Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, (tom. V., passim,)--business-like documents, seasoned with lively criticisms on the characters of those he had to deal with.

[193] Relazione della Corte di Savoja di Gio Francesco Morosini, 1570, ap. Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti, vol. iv.

[194] See the letter of the queen to Philip, in Strype, Catalogue of Originals, No. 56.

[195] Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 115.

[196] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 147.--Commentaires de François de Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire de France, par MM. Michaud et Poujoulat, (Paris, 1838,) tom. VII. p. 535.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. IV. cap. 14.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 5.

[197] "Ils furent tous deux, dans leur jeunes ans,..... sy grands compagnons, amis et confederez de court, que j'ay ouy dire à plusieurs qui les ont veus habiller le plus souvant de mesmes parures, mesmes livrées,..... tous deux fort enjoüez et faisant des follies plus extravagantes que tous les autres; et sur tout ne faisoient nulles follies qu'ils ne fissent mal, tant ils etoient rudes joüeurs et malheureux en leurs jeux." Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. III. p. 265.

[198] "Il falloit les nourrir ou les faire mourir de faim, qui eust peu apporter une peste dans la ville." Mémoires de Gaspard de Coligni, ap. Collection Universelle des Mémoires particuliers relatifs à l'Histoire de France, (Paris, 1788,) tom. XL. p. 252.

[199] Ibid.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 151.--Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. p. 540.--Garnier, Histoire de France, (Paris, 1787,) tom. XXVII. p. 358.

[200] There is not so much discrepancy in the estimates of the French as of the Spanish force. I have accepted the statements of the French historians, Garnier, (Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 354,) and De Thou, (tom. III. p. 148,) who, however, puts the cavalry at one thousand less. For authorities on the Spanish side, see Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 7.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. IV. cap. 15.--Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9.

[201] Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. p. 548.

[202] Ibid., ubi supra.--Monpleinchamp, Histoire d'Emmanuel Philibert Duc de Savoie, (Amsterdam, 1699,) p. 146.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 157.

The first of these writers, François de Rabutin, is one of the best authorities for these transactions, in which he took part as a follower of the duc de Nevers.

[203] "Encore à sortir des bateaux, à cause de la presse, les soldats ne pouvoient suivre les addresses et sentes qui leur estoient appareillées; de façon qu'ils s'escartoient et se jettoient à costé dans les creux des marets, d'où ils ne pouvoient sortir, et demeuroient là embourbez et noyez." Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. p. 549.

[204] Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 361.

[205] I quote the words of Monpleinchamp, (Histoire du Duc de Savoie, p. 147,) who, however, speaks of the fire as coming from the artillery,--hardly probable, as the French batteries were three miles distant, up the river. But accuracy does not appear to be the chief virtue of this writer.

[206] "Manda au prince, pour toute réponse, qu'il étoit bien jeune pour vouloir lui apprendre son metier, qu'il commandoit les armées avant que celui-ci fût au monde, et qu'il comptoit bien en vingt ans lui donner encore des leçons." Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 364.

[207] Rabutin, who gives this account, says it would be impossible to tell how the disorder began. It came upon them so like a thunderclap, that no man had a distinct recollection of what passed. Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. p. 550.

[208] "Appellant à lui dans ce trouble le vieux d'Oignon, officier expérimenté, il lui demanda: Bon homme, que faut-il faire? Monseigneur, répondit d'Oignon, il y a deux heures que je vous l'aurois bien dit, maintenant je n'en sais rien." Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 368.

[209] "Noirs comme de beaux diables." Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. III. p. 185.

[210] "Icelles compagnies de fantrie, en ce peu qu'elles se comportoient, autant belles, bien complettes et bien armées, que l'on en avoit veu en France il y avoit long-temps." Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. p. 551.

[211] "A ces nouvelles s'esleverent tellement leurs esprits et courages, qu'ils recoururent incontinent aux armes, et n'oyoit-on plus partout que demander harnois et chevaux, et trompettes sonner à cheval, ayant chacun recouvert ses forces et sentimens pour venger la honte précédente; toutefois ce murmure se trouva nul, et demeura assoupi en peu d'heure." Ibid., p. 552.

[212] Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9.

According to some accounts, the loss did not exceed fifty. This, considering the spirit and length of the contest, will hardly be credited. It reminds one of the wars with the Moslems in the Peninsula, where, if we are to take the account of the Spaniards, their loss was usually as one to a hundred of the enemy.

[213] For the preceding pages, see Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. pp. 548-552.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 7.--Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9.--Monpleinchamp, Vie du Duc de Savoie, pp. 146-150.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. IV. cap. 15.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. 154-160.--Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. pp. 361-372.--Carta de Felipe 2do à su padre anunciandole la victoria de San Quentin, MS.

[214] "Pues yo no me hallé alli, de que me pesa lo que V. M. no puede pensar, no puedo dar relaçion de lo que paso sino de oydas." Carta de Felipe 2do à su padre, 11 de Agosto, 1557, MS.

[215] This appears by a letter of the major-domo of Charles, Luis Quixada, to the secretary, Juan Vazquez de Molina, MS.

"Siento que no se puede conortar de que su hijo no se hallase en ello."

[216] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 7

[217] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 246.

[218] It is Brantôme who tells the anecdote, in his usual sarcastic way. "Encor, tout religieux, demy sainct qu'il estoit, il ne se peut en garder que quant le roy son fils eut gaigné la bataille de Sainct-Quentin de demander aussi tost que le courrier luy apporta des nouvelles, s'il avoit bien poursuivi la victoire, et jusques aux portes de Paris." OEuvres, tom. I. p. 11.

Luis Quixada, in a letter written at the time from Yuste, gives a version of the story, which, if it has less point, is probably more correct. "S. Magd. está con mucho cuidado por saber que camino arrá tomado el Rey despues de acabada aquella empresa de San Quintin." Carta de 27 de Setiembre, 1557, MS.

[219] "Para no entrar en Francia como su padre comiendo pabos, i salir comiendo raizes." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 8.

[220] "Si l'on m'oyoit tenir quelque langage, qui approchast de faire composition, je les suppliois tous qu'ils me jettassent, comme un poltron, dedans le fossé par dessus les murailles: que s'il y avoit quelqu'un qui m'en tint propos, _je ne lui en ferois pas moins_." Coligni, Mémoires, ap. Collection Universelle des Mémoires, tom. XL. p. 272.

[221] Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. V. p. 253.

[222] Burnet, Reformation, vol. III. p. 636.

[223] For notices of the taking of St. Quentin, in greater or less detail, see Coligni, Mémoires, ap. Collection Universelle des Mémoires, tom. XL.; Rabutin, Mémoires, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. p. 556 et seq.; De Thou. Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. 164-170; Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 9; Monpleinchamp, Vie du Duc de Savoie, p. 152.

Juan de Pinedo, in a letter to the secretary Vazquez, (dated St. Quentin, August 27,) speaking of the hard fighting which took place in the assault, particularly praises the gallantry of the English: "Esta tarde entre tres y quatro horas se ha entrado San Quentin à pura fuerça peleando muy bien los de dentro y los de fuera, muy escogidamente todos, y por estremo los Ingleses." MS.

[224] Letter of the earl of Bedford to Sir William Cecil, (dated "from our camp beside St. Quentin, the 3rd of Sept. 1557,") ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II p. 493.

[225] According to Sepulveda, (De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., lib. I. cap. 30,) no less than four thousand women. It is not very probable that Coligni would have consented to cater for so many useless mouths.

[226] "The Swartzrotters, being masters of the king's whole army, used such force, as well to the Spaniards, Italians, and all other nations, as unto us, that there was none could enjoy nothing but themselves. They had now showed such cruelty, as the like hath not been seen for greediness: the town by them was set a-fire, and a great piece of it burnt." Letter of the earl of Bedford to Cecil, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 493.

[227] Rabutin, Mémoires, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. pp. 537-564.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. 149-170.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9.

The best account of the siege of St. Quentin is to be found in Coligni's Mémoires, (ap. Collection Universelle des Mémoires, tom. XL. pp. 217-290,) written by him in his subsequent captivity, when the events were fresh in his memory. The narrative is given in a simple, unpretending manner, that engages our confidence, though the author enters into a minuteness of detail which the general historian may be excused from following.

[228] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. 173-177.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 13.--Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., lib. I. cap. 32.

[229] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III, pp. 163, 176.--Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 377 et seq.

[230] "C'etoit un proverbe reçu en France pour désigner un mauvais général, un guerrier sans mérite, de dire: _il ne chassera pas les Anglois de la France_." Gaillard, Rivalité de France et de l'Espagne, tom. V. p. 260

[231] "Aussi les Anglois furent si glorieux (car ils le sont assez de leur naturel) de mettre sur les portes de la ville que, lors que les François assiegeront Calais, l'on verra le plomb et le fer nager sur l'eau comme le liege." Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. III. p. 203.

[232] Burnet, History of the Reformation, vol. III. p. 646.

[233] Ibid., p. 650.

[234] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 238.--Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 512.--Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. p. 598.--Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 10.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 21.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. V. cap. 5.--Monpleinchamp, Vie du Duc de Savoie, p. 154.

[235] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 21.

[236] "Nous sommes vainqueurs; que ceux qui aiment la gloire et leur patrie me suivent." De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 240.

[237] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 21.

[238] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 240.--Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 516.

[239] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 21.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 241.

[240] "Ma della caualleria niuno fu quasi, ch'ò non morisse combattendo, ò non restasse prigione, non potendosi saluar fuggendo in quei luoghi paludosi, malageuoli." Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 10.

[241] For the accounts of this battle, see Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 10.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 21.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. 239-241.--Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 513 et seq.--Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Mémoires, tom. VII. p. 598.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. V. cap. 5.--Ferreras, Histoire Générale d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 396.--Monpleinchamp, Vie du Duc de Savoie, p. 155.

I know of no action of which the accounts are so perfectly irreconcilable in their details as those of the battle of Gravelines. Authorities are not even agreed as to whether it was an English fleet that fired on the French troops. One writer speaks of it as a Spanish squadron from Guipuscoa. Another says the marines landed, and engaged the enemy on shore. It is no easy matter to extract a probability from many improbabilities. There is one fact, however, and that the most important one, in which all agree,--that Count Egmont won a decisive victory over the French at Gravelines.

[242] There is an interesting letter of Philip's sister, the Regent Joanna, to her father, the emperor, then in the monastery at Yuste. It was written nearly a year before this period of our history. Joanna gives many good reasons, especially the disorders of his finances, which made it expedient for Philip to profit by his successful campaign to conclude a peace with France,--the same which now presented themselves with such force to both Philip and his ministers. The capture of Calais, soon after the date of Joanna's letter, and the great preparations made by Henry, threw a weight into the enemy's scale which gave new heart to the French to prolong the contest, until it ended with the defeat at Gravelines.--Carta de la Princesa Juana al Emperador, 14 de Diciembre, 1557, MS.--Carta del Emperador à la Princesa, 26 de Diciembre, 1557, MS.

[243] Relatione di Giovanni Micheli, MS.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 2, 4.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secundo, parte II. lib. 11.

[244] Relatione di Giovanni Micheli, MS.

[245] "Yo os digo que yo estoy de todo punto imposibilitado à sostener la guerra.... Estos términos me parecen tan aprestados que so pena de perderme no puedo dejar de concertarme." Letter of Philip to the Bishop of Arras, (February 12. 1559,) ap. Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 454, et alibi.

Philip told the Venetian minister he was in such straits, that, if the French king had not made advances towards an accommodation, he should have been obliged to do so himself. Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 11.

[246] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 16.--Ferreras, Histoire Générale d'Espagne, tom. VII. p. 397.

[247] "Habló que era de tener en mas la pressa del Condestable, que si fuera la misma persona del Rey, porque faltando el, falta el govierno jeneral todo." Carta del Mayordomo Don Luis Mendez Quixada al Secretario Juan Vazquez de Molina, MS.

[248] The French government had good reasons for its distrust. It appears from the correspondence of Granvelle, that that minister employed a _respectable_ agent to take charge of the letters of St. André, and probably of the other prisoners, and that these letters were inspected by Granvelle before they passed to the French camp. See Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 178.

[249] Some historians, among them Sismondi, seem to have given more credit to the professions of the politic Frenchman than they deserve, (Histoire des Français, tom. XVIII. p. 73.). Granvelle, who understood the character of his antagonist better, was not so easily duped. A memorandum among his papers thus notices the French cardinal: "Toute la démonstration que faisoit ledict cardinal de Lorraine de désirer paix, estoit chose faincte à la françoise et pour nous abuser." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 168.

[250] "Adjoustant que, si Calaix demeuroit aux François, ny luy ny ses collègues n'oseroyent retourner en Angleterre, et que certainement le peuple les lapideroit." Ibid., p. 319.

[251] "Were I to die this moment, want of frigates would be found written on my heart." The original of this letter of Nelson is in the curious collection of autograph letters which belonged to the late Sir Robert Peel.

[252] Philip's feelings in this matter may be gathered from a passage in a letter to Granvelle, in which he says that the death of the young queen of Scots, then very ill, would silence the pretensions which the French made to England, and relieve Spain from a great embarrassment. "Si la reyna moça se muriesse, que diz que anda muy mala, nos quitaria de hartos embaraços y del derecho que pretenden à Inglaterra." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 643.

[253] "Tras esto véola muy indignada de las cosas que se han hecho contra ella en vida de la Reina: muy asida al pueblo, y muy confiada que lo tiene todo de su parte (como es verdad), y dando à entender que el Pueblo la ha puesto en el estado que está: y de esto no reconoce nada à V. M. ni à la nobleza del Reino, aunque dice que la han enviado à prometer todos que la serán fieles." Memorias de la Real Academia de la Historia, (Madrid, 1832,) tom. VII. p. 254.

[254] "Non manco bella d'animo che sia di corpo; ancor'che di faccia si puó dir' che sia piu tosto gratiosa che bella." Relatione di Giovanni Micheli, MS.

[255] "Della persona è grande, et ben formata, di bella carne, ancor che olivastra, begl'occhi, et sopra tutto bella mano, di che fa professione, d'un spirito, et ingegno mirabile: il che ha saputo molto ben dimostrare, con l'essersi saputa ne i sospetti, et pericoli ne i quali s'è ritrovata cosi ben governare.... Si tien superba, et gloriosa per il padre; del quale dicono tutti che è anco più simile, et per cio gli fu sempre cara." Ibid.

[256] The Spanish minister, Feria, desired his master to allow him to mention Mary's jealousy, as an argument to recommend his suit to the favor of Elizabeth. But Philip had the good feeling--or good taste--to refuse. Memorias de la Real Academia, tom. VII. p. 260.

[257] "Dijo que convendria consultarlo con el Parlamento; bien que el Rey Católico debia estar seguro que en caso de casarse, seria él preferido á todos." Ibid., p. 264.

[258] "Paresceme que seria bien que el conde le hablasse claro en estas cosas de la religion, y la amonestasse y rogasse de mi parte que no hiziesse en este parlamento mudança en ella, y que si la hiciesse que yo no podria venir en lo del casamiento, como en effecto no vendria." Carta del Rey Phelipe al Duque de Alba, 7 de Febrero, 1559, MS.