BOOK XIII

THE RETURN TO LORRAINE

1559-1578

I.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1559] THE NETHERLANDS REGENCY]

During the last year the Duke of Savoy had repeatedly begged to be relieved of his post as the King's Lieutenant in the Low Countries. By the Treaty of Câteau-Cambrésis he recovered his dominions, and set out on the 15th of June for Paris with a great train of gentlemen and servants, to celebrate his marriage with King Henry's sister. At the same time, the death of the Emperor made Philip's return to Spain necessary. The appointment of a new Regent of the Netherlands became imperative, and everyone expected the Duchess of Lorraine would be chosen to fill the vacant office. A Habsburg by birth, she inherited the capacity for governing which distinguished the women of her house, and had proved her fitness for the post by the wisdom with which she administered her son's State during seven years. Her popularity with all classes of people in the Netherlands was an additional advantage, and when, in the summer of 1558, it had been doubtful if Mary of Hungary would consent to return, the Duchess was the first person whose name was suggested. The Venetian Suriano remarked that the only doubt as to her fitness for the office was that she hardly possessed her aunt's extraordinary vigour and energy.[572] But these doubts had been dispelled by the admirable manner in which she had conducted the negotiations at the recent Conference and the immense credit which she had acquired on all sides. Unfortunately, she had made an enemy of the Bishop of Arras, and excited his jealousy by her private consultations with the Cardinal and Constable, and still more by her friendship with the Prince of Orange. Both Orange and Egmont disliked the Bishop almost as much as they hated the King's Spanish favourites, and lost no opportunity of showing their contempt for the "meddling priest," as they called Philip's confidential counsellor. And both of these proud nobles, seeing no hope of themselves obtaining the Regency, supported the Duchess's claims strongly.[573] But the very popularity which Christina enjoyed, the acclamations which greeted her return from Câteau-Cambrésis, had the effect of arousing Philip's jealousy. He lent a willing ear to Arras and Alva when they spoke scornfully of the Duchess's French connection and of the influence which the Prince of Orange would gain by his marriage with her daughter. Then, in an evil hour both for himself and the Netherlands, the Bishop suggested the name of the Duchess of Parma. Margaret was closely related to the King, and would be far more pliable and ready to follow his counsels than Christina. Philip liked his sister, and shared the Spaniards' jealousy of the great Flemish nobles, more especially of the Prince of Orange, whose intimacy with Christina he regarded with growing suspicion. His mind was soon made up, and when the French Commissioners came to Brussels in May, the appointment of the Duchess of Parma to be Governess of the Low Countries was publicly proclaimed.[574]

The announcement was the signal for an outburst of popular discontent. Orange and Egmont protested loudly at this affront to the Duchess of Lorraine, and complained of the indignity offered to the nation by giving them a ruler of illegitimate birth, whose interests and connections were all foreign, and whose husband had actually borne arms against the late Emperor.

"There is great discontent here," wrote Tiepolo, "at the Duchess of Parma's appointment. The common folk use very insolent language, and say that if a woman is to reign over them they would far rather have the Duchess of Lorraine, whom they know and love and hold to be one of themselves. Every one, indeed, would have greatly preferred this Princess, who is of royal lineage on both sides, and has long dwelt in these provinces, besides being far more gracious and affable to the nobles."[575]

To Christina herself the blow was heavy. She had suffered many trials and disappointments at her enemies' hands, but had never expected to be treated with such ingratitude by the King, who had always professed so much affection for his cousin, and was so deeply indebted to her.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1559] CHRISTINA'S DISAPPOINTMENT]

"The Duchess of Lorraine," wrote Tiepolo, "feels the injustice of the King's decision more deeply than any of her past adversities, and naturally thinks that, after her long and indefatigable exertions in negotiating this peace, taking part in every Conference and adjusting every dispute, she deserved to be treated with greater regard. Everyone here admits that peace was concluded chiefly owing to her wisdom and efforts, and this is all the reward which she has received."[576]

It is scarcely to be wondered at if Christina never wholly forgave Philip for the cruel wrong which he had done her, and if in all her future correspondence with him we trace a strain of reproachful bitterness. Her resolve to leave the Netherlands was now fixed. She could not bear to see another Regent at Brussels, and was not even sure if she cared to live as a subject at her son's Court. Her thoughts turned once more to Italy, and, since the Castles of Tortona and Vigevano were not available, she addressed a petition to Philip through her Italian secretary, asking him to give her the duchy of Bari in Calabria. This principality, once the property of Lodovico Sforza, had been lately bequeathed to Philip by the late Queen Bona of Poland, on condition that he would discharge a considerable debt owing to her son, King Sigismund. The beauty and salubrity of the spot, as well as its association with the Sforzas, probably prompted Christina's request, which ran as follows:

"The Duchess of Lorraine in all humility begs Your Majesty, in consideration of her close relationship and of the great affection which she bore the late Emperor, and of the services which she has rendered both to His Majesty of blessed memory and to yourself, to do her the favour of granting her and her children the duchy of Bari, with the same revenues and independent liberties as were enjoyed by the Queen of Poland. She will undertake to pay the King of Poland the sum of 100,000 crowns due to him, and humbly begs Your Majesty to grant her half of this amount in ready money, the other half in bills on merchants' houses, in order that she may be able to pay the creditors who annoy her daily. Her revenues for the next year are already mortgaged, owing to the necessity laid upon her of supporting her daughters, during the last seven years, and the repeated journeys which she has undertaken to England, and across the French frontier to treat of peace, all of which have involved her in great and heavy expenses...."

Here the petition breaks off abruptly, the rest of the page being torn off; but we see by Philip's reply that it contained a bitter complaint of the injustice which he had done Christina by refusing to make her Regent. He wrote to Arras, desiring him to see that the Duchess ceased to repeat these perpetual recriminations on the subject of the Regency, which were as derogatory to her dignity as they were injurious to his interests. He regretted that his own pressing needs made it impossible for him to do as much as he should wish to help her. At the same time he said that, besides the revenue of 4,000 crowns which he had already offered her, and which she had neither refused nor accepted, he was ready to give her another yearly allowance of 10,000 crowns, to be charged on Naples and Milan, pointing out that she could raise money on this income to satisfy her creditors.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1559] WILLIAM OF ORANGE]

"The sincere affection which the King has always felt for the Duchess, and the closeness of their relationship," added the writer, "impels him to advise her to retire to her dower lands of Lorraine and live near her son, in order that she may foster the loyalty and devotion which this young Prince owes her, and give him advice and help that may conduce to his welfare and that of the House of Lorraine. Any other action on her part, the King is convinced, will only excite public suspicion and slander. If, however, the Duchess prefers to live in the kingdom of Naples, the King is ready to offer her the town of Lecce, the most important next to the capital, where she can enjoy all the comforts and amenities of Italian life, together with the respect due to her exalted birth and rank."[577]

This offer, however, did not commend itself to Christina. In spite of its ancient castle and beautiful situation, Lecce was not an independent principality, and had no connection with her family. She replied curtly that she would follow His Majesty's advice and return to Lorraine, as soon as her creditors were satisfied and her affairs sufficiently arranged for her to leave the Netherlands with honour. Upon this, Philip sent the Duchess a sum of 21,000 crowns to defray the expenses of her journeys, and a further substantial advance on the additional revenues which he had assigned her.[578]

But while he was outwardly endeavouring to atone for one act of injustice, he was secretly doing the Duchess another and a more serious injury. The marriage of the Prince of Orange with her daughter Renée had been practically arranged at Câteau-Cambrésis, but some difficulties had arisen regarding the settlements already made by the Prince on his two children by his first marriage, and the heavy debts which he had incurred by his extravagance, amounting, it was said, to 900,000 crowns. Up to this time Philip had openly encouraged the Prince's suit, but both he and Arras looked with alarm on a marriage that would make Orange more powerful and more dangerous than he was already, and were secretly plotting against its conclusion. One day, when Philip was walking in the park at Brussels with the Prince, he told him how much he regretted to find that Madame de Lorraine was strongly opposed to his marriage with her daughter, and had begged him to inform the Prince that she must decline to proceed further with the matter. The King added, in a friendly way, that he had told him this in order that he might look about for another wife while he was still young. The Prince was naturally much annoyed at this unexpected communication, and replied proudly that, if this were the case, he would promptly seek another alliance in Germany, where he had already received several offers of marriage. He was deeply wounded, not without reason, and went off to Paris a few days later, with Egmont and Alva, to remain there as hostages until the conditions of the treaty had been fulfilled. It was not until many months afterwards that he discovered how he had been duped. Christina meanwhile remained in her convent retreat, unconscious of what was happening in her absence, and heard with some surprise that the Prince of Orange had left Court without informing her of his departure.

[Sidenote: JULY, 1559] MARGARET OF PARMA REGENT]

All eyes were now turned to the Palais des Tournelles in Paris, where the Catholic King's marriage to Elizabeth of France, and that of the Duke of Savoy to Margaret, were about to be celebrated. Alva represented his master at the wedding, which was solemnized at Notre Dame on the 22nd of June, and his old enemy Guise proclaimed the new Queen's titles at the church doors, and flung handfuls of gold to the applauding crowds. But their joy was soon changed into mourning. King Henry was mortally wounded by a splintered lance in the tournament that followed, and, after lingering for ten days, breathed his last on the 10th of July, two days after the marriage of his sister and the Duke of Savoy had been quietly solemnized in the neighbouring church of St. Paul.

The news of his father-in-law's death reached Philip at Ghent, where he was preparing for his departure. Here Christina joined him on the 19th, and was greeted with the liveliest demonstrations of affection from both Court and people. Before leaving Brussels, she saw an English gentleman, who was on his way to Italy, and brought her a pressing invitation from Queen Elizabeth to pay a visit to England.[579] Elizabeth had evidently not forgotten the Duchess's friendly intentions on her behalf when she came to London in Mary's reign, nor her more recent conversation with Lord Howard. After her arrival at Ghent, she received frequent visits from Chaloner, the newly appointed Ambassador, and from the French Envoy, Sébastien de l'Aubespine, who had been one of the delegates to the Conference, and could not speak too highly of Madame de Lorraine's goodness and ability. Through him she sent affectionate messages to the young King Francis II. and his Scottish wife, thanking them in the warmest terms for their kindness to her son. Nor was Philip lacking in his attentions. He met the Duchess on her arrival, paid her daily visits, and seemed to fall once more under the old spell. On the 24th he and Christina were both present at a Requiem for the King of France, and dined together afterwards. The same afternoon Philip rode out to receive the Duchess of Parma.[580] The next day the Duke of Savoy returned from Paris, bringing with him the Prince of Orange and Egmont, who were released on parole, and attended the Chapter of the Fleece held by the King in the Church of St. John. On the 7th of August the States met, and the new Regent was formally presented to them. But many voices were raised to protest against the powers conferred upon her, and the States refused to grant the aids demanded unless the Spanish troops were withdrawn. This act of audacity roused Philip's anger, and in his farewell interview with William of Orange he accused him of being the instigator of the measure.

Before leaving Ghent, the King arranged a meeting between the two Duchesses in the garden of the Prinzenhof, and afterwards invited Christina to visit him at Flushing, where he spent some days before he embarked. They dined together for the last time on the 12th of August, and seem to have parted friends.[581] Then Christina returned to Brussels to prepare for her own departure, and Chaloner wrote home:

"I heare say the Duchess of Lorraine repaireth shortly hence into Lorraine, smally satisfied with the preferment of the other, for old emulations' sake."[582]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1559] RIVALRY OF THE DUCHESSES]

During the next two months Christina had much to endure. She found a marked change in the Prince of Orange. He treated her with profound respect and courtesy in public, but kept aloof from her in private, and appeared to have transferred his attentions to Margaret of Parma. All idea of his marriage with Renée--"the Duchess of Lorraine's soundlimbed daughter," as she was called by Chaloner--seemed to be abandoned, and in September he left Court to attend the French King's coronation at Reims. There was a general feeling of discontent abroad.

"The new Regent is greatly disliked," wrote John Leigh, an English merchant of Antwerp, "by all estates, who wished to have the Duchess of Lorraine for their ruler, and some of her own ladies have told her that she is a bastard, and not meet for the place."

The States refused to grant the subsidies asked for, and the people clamoured for the removal of the Spaniards. The nobles showed their displeasure by retiring to their country-houses, and the ladies absented themselves from Margaret's receptions to meet in the Duchess of Lorraine's rooms.[583] This naturally provoked quarrels and jealousies, which, as Arras remarked in his letters to Philip, might easily prove serious.

"Then there is rivalry between the Duchess of Lorraine and her of Parma," wrote the Bishop on the 4th of October, at the end of a long tale of troubles. "The best way would be to keep them apart, for all these comings and goings can produce no good result. Fortunately, the former is about to go to Lorraine. We shall see if she leaves her daughters here, or takes them with her. What is certain is that, wherever she and her daughters may be, it will be better for Your Majesty's service they should be anywhere but here, as long as Madame de Parma remains in these parts, and discord prevails between her and the Duchess."[584]

When Arras wrote these words, Christina was already on her way to Lorraine. Philip received a letter from her at Toledo, informing him of her final departure, and wrote to tell Arras that all strife between the Duchesses was now at an end.[585] In the same month a marriage was arranged between William of Orange and Anna of Saxony, the Elector Maurice's daughter. Arras was greatly alarmed when he heard of this alliance with a Protestant Princess, and used all his powers of persuasion to induce the Prince to return to his old suit and marry Mademoiselle de Lorraine. But it was too late. The Prince knew that the Duchess would never forgive the studied neglect with which he had treated her, and, as he told the Bishop, his word was already pledged. A year later he married the Saxon Princess, but lived to repent of this ill-assorted union, and to realize that he had been the dupe of Philip and his astute Minister.[586]

II.

[Sidenote: OCT., 1559] MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS]

Christina's return to Lorraine took place at an eventful moment. The death of Henry II. and the accession of Francis II. placed the supreme power in the hands of the Guise brothers. As the saying ran, "So many Guise Princes, so many Kings of France." The elder branch of the House of Lorraine shared in the triumphs of the younger. The reigning Duke, Charles, had grown up with the young King and Queen, and was tenderly beloved by them. Francis could not bear his brother-in-law to be absent from his side, and after his coronation at Reims, on the 18th of September, he and Mary accompanied the Duke and Duchess on a progress through Lorraine. The festival of the Order of St. Michel was held at Bar, where Charles kept open house for a week, and his aunt, Anne of Aerschot, came to join the family party and meet the daughter of her old companion, Mary of Guise. The charms of the young Queen won all hearts in her mother's native Lorraine, and Francis indulged his passion for sport in the forests of Nomény and Esclaron.[587]

Here, at this favourite hunting-lodge of the Guises, the royal party were joined by the Duke's mother. Christina reached Esclaron on the 11th of October, and was received with every mark of respect and affection. At first, if Brantôme is to be believed, the Duchess-mother was inclined to stand on her dignity, and refused to yield precedence to the youthful Queen; but Mary's grace and sweetness soon dispelled all rivalry, and Christina became the best of friends with both the King and Queen. General regret was expressed at the absence of the young Princesses, whom their mother had left at Brussels; but Christina was aware of the Cardinal's anxiety to arrange a marriage between Renée and the Prince of Joinville, and had no intention of consenting to this arrangement.

"She left her daughters behind her," wrote Throckmorton, the English Ambassador, "because she is unwilling to satisfy the hopes of the House of Guise, and makes not so great an account of their advances as to leave the old friendship of King Philip and his countries. The French, in fact," he adds, "are doing all they can to make the Duchess Dowager a good Frenchwoman, but they will not find it as easy as they think."[588]

At the end of the week Christina went on to Nancy with her son and daughter-in-law, leaving the King and Queen to proceed to Joinville, where Mary was anxious to see her beloved grandmother. She had already appointed Antoinette and her three daughters-in-law to be her ladies-in-waiting, and, as a further proof of affection, had given her grandmother the present which she received from the city of Paris on her state entry. From Blois, where the royal pair spent the autumn and winter, Francis II. sent his brother-in-law the following letter, which throws a pleasant light on the happy relations existing between the two families:

"MY DEAR BROTHER,

"I am longing for news of you and my sister, and have not heard from either of you since you reached Nancy. Next week I take my sister, the Catholic Queen, to Châtelhérault on her way to Spain, after which I shall return to Blois, and not move again before Easter. As you may imagine, I cannot be in this house without missing you very much. I shall await your return with the utmost impatience, and wish you were here to enjoy the fine rides which I have made in my forest. I must thank you for the good cheer that you are giving my sister, which is the best proof of your perfect love for me. And I am quite sure that in this you are helped by my aunt your mother, Madame de Lorraine, for whom I feel the deepest gratitude, and whom I should like to assure of my readiness and anxiety to do her every possible service. And I pray God, my dearest brother, to have you in His holy keeping."[589]

[Sidenote: DEC., 1559] CHRISTINA RETURNS TO NANCY]

The young Duke and Duchess were both of them longing to accept this pressing invitation and return to the gay French Court. Charles as yet took little interest in public affairs which required serious attention. Confusion reigned in every department. In many instances the ducal lands had been seized and their revenues appropriated to other uses, while the whole country had suffered from the frequent incursions of foreign troops, and famine and distress prevailed in many districts. Under these circumstances the help of the Duchess-mother was sorely needed. Vaudemont, having neither health nor capacity to cope with these difficulties, had retired into private life, and by degrees Christina resumed most of her old functions. She applied herself to reforming abuses and restoring order in the finances, and at the same time helped her son and daughter-in-law in entertaining the nobles who flocked to Nancy to pay them homage. Her daughters came to join her at Christmas, and she settled once more in her old quarters in the ducal palace. In March the Duke returned to the French Court, and his mother was left to act as Regent during his absence.[590]

After visiting Remiremont and Bar, Charles and his wife went on to spend the summer with the King and Queen at Amboise, where they gave themselves up to hunting and dancing, and enjoyed suppers at Chenonceaux and water-parties on the Loire. But this joyous life was rudely disturbed by the discovery of a Huguenot conspiracy, which was put down with ruthless severity, and was followed by continual alarms. The King and Duke had to be escorted by 500 men-at-arms on their hunting-parties, and the Cardinal of Lorraine never left his room without a guard of ten men bearing loaded pistols. On the 10th of June Mary of Guise died in Edinburgh Castle, and her remains were brought back to her native land and buried in her sister's convent church, St. Pierre of Reims. The whole Court went into mourning, and Throckmorton was so moved by the young Queen's tears that he declared "there never was a daughter who loved her mother better."[591] Meanwhile the aspect of affairs grew daily more threatening. There were riots in the provinces, and rumours of plots at Court. The Duke of Lorraine was present at the Council held at St. Germain for the defence of the realm, but left for Nancy when the Court moved to Orleans in October.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1561] LA REINE BLANCHE]

Two months later the young King died there very suddenly. He fainted at vespers one evening, and passed away at midnight on the 5th of December, 1560. His brother Charles, a boy of ten, was proclaimed King in his stead, and his mother, Catherine de' Medici, assumed the Regency. Three days afterwards Throckmorton wrote that the late King was already forgotten by everyone but his widow, who, "being as noble-minded as she is beautiful, weeps passionately for the husband who loved her so dearly, and with whom she has lost everything." The young Queen behaved with admirable discretion. On the day after the King's death she sent the Crown jewels to her mother-in-law, and, as soon as the funeral had been solemnized, begged leave to go and visit her mother's grave at Reims. After spending three weeks with her aunt, Abbess Renée, Mary went to stay with her grandmother at Joinville, where she was joined by Anne of Aerschot, the one of all her mother's family to whom she clung the most closely, calling her "ma tante," and consulting her in all her difficulties.[592]

Christina herself was full of sympathy for this young Queen, whose early widowhood recalled her own fate, and she joined cordially in the invitation which the Duke sent Mary to pay a visit to Nancy. "The Queen of Scotland," wrote Throckmorton to Elizabeth on the 1st of May, 1561, "is at Nancy with the Dowager, whom here they call Son Altesse." Christina rode out with her son to meet their guest on the frontiers of Lorraine, and her uncles, the two Cardinals, Aumale, Vaudemont, and the Duchess of Aerschot, all accompanied her to Nancy.

The touching beauty of the young widow created a profound sensation at the Court of Lorraine. Brantôme describes her as "a celestial vision"; Ronsard sang of the charms which transfigured _son grand deuil et tristesse_, and made her more dangerous in this simple white veil that rivalled the exquisite delicacy of her complexion than in the most sumptuous robes and dazzling jewels; and Clouet drew his immortal portrait.[593] The Duke arranged a series of fêtes to distract the young Queen's mind and help to dry her tears. There were masques and dances at Nancy, hunting-parties and banquets at Nomény, where Mary stood godmother to the Count Vaudemont's youngest child; and the Court was gayer than it had been for many years. But intrigue was once more rife at the French Court, and all manner of proposals were made for the young widow's hand. The King of Denmark, Frederic III., the Prince of Orange, the Archduke Charles, the Dukes of Bavaria and Ferrara, were all suggested as possible husbands. The fascination which Mary had for the boy-King Charles IX. was well known, and Catherine de' Medici, who had never forgiven Mary for calling her a shopkeeper's daughter, was secretly plotting to keep her away from the Court, and yet prevent her marriage to Don Carlos, whom she wished to secure for her youngest daughter, Margot. The Cardinal of Lorraine was known to be eager for the Spanish marriage, and both Christina and Anne did their best to forward his scheme, which was the subject of many letters that passed between Granvelle, the Duchess of Aerschot, and Mary herself. But Philip, without actually declining the offer, always returned evasive answers, whether he shrank from placing his sickly and wayward son in an independent position, or whether he feared the power of the Guise faction.[594]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1561] CORONATION OF CHARLES IX.]

In the midst of the festivities at Nancy, Mary fell ill of fever, and as soon as she was fit to travel returned to Joinville, to be nursed by her grandmother; while Christina accompanied her son and his wife to Reims for the new King's sacring on the 15th of May. The magnificence of the Duchess-mother's appearance on this occasion excited general admiration. Grief and anxiety had left their traces on her face, but, in spite of advancing years and sorrow, Christina was still a very handsome woman. Among all the royal ladies who met in the ancient city, none was more stately and distinguished-looking than Madame de Lorraine. As her chariot, draped with black velvet fringed with gold, and drawn by four superb white horses of Arab breed, drew up in front of the Cardinal's palace, a murmur of admiration ran through the crowd. The Duchess sat at one window, clad in a long black velvet robe, and wearing a jewelled diadem on her head, with a flowing white veil and cap of the shape that became known at the French Court as _à la Lorraine_, and was adopted by Mary, Queen of Scots, for her habitual use. At the other sat her lovely young daughter Renée, the coveted bride of many of the Princes who were present that day, while on the opposite seat was the Princess of Macedonia, an august white-haired lady, with the chiselled features of the proud Greek race to which she belonged. The Queen-mother, Catherine de' Medici, stood at a window of the Archbishop's palace to watch the entry of the Lorraine Princes, and as she saw the Duchess alight, she exclaimed: "That is the finest woman I know!" Then, descending the grand staircase, she advanced to meet Christina with a stately courtesy, and thanked her for the honour she was doing her son.

"Herself a very proud woman," writes Brantôme, "she knew that she had her match in the Duchess, and always treated her with the highest honour and distinction, without ever yielding one jot of her own claims."[595]

The Duke of Lorraine bore the sword of state at the great ceremony on the morrow, while Francis of Guise held the crown on the boy-King's head, and his brother, the Cardinal, anointed his brow with the holy chrism. "Everything," as Charles IX. wrote to the Bishop of Limoges, "passed off to the great satisfaction of everyone present;"[596] and when all was over, Madame de Lorraine and her children accompanied the King and his mother to a country-house belonging to the Cardinal in the neighbourhood, and enjoyed a week's repose in delicious spring weather. Then the Court went on to St. Germain, where the Queen of Scots came to take leave of her husband's family, and with many tears bade farewell to the pleasant land of France, which she had loved all too well for her own happiness.

III.

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1561] DEATH OF DOROTHEA]

On the death of Christian II. of Denmark, his elder daughter, Dorothea, the widowed Electress Palatine, assumed the royal style and title. But as she was childless herself, and lived in retirement at Neuburg, in the Upper Palatinate, the faithful subjects who still clung to their rightful monarch's cause turned to Christina, the Duchess-Dowager of Lorraine, and begged her to assert her son's claims to the throne, saying that they regarded him as their future King. Chief among these was Peder Oxe, an able public servant who had been exiled by Christian III., and came to visit the Duchess in the convent of La Cambre at Brussels in 1559, soon after the captive monarch's death. Peder tried to enlist her sympathies on behalf of her father's old subjects, and assured her that the recovery of Denmark would be an easy matter, owing to the unpopularity of the new King, Frederic III. At first Christina lent a willing ear to these proposals, but her friend Count d'Aremberg succeeded in convincing her of the futility of such an enterprise, while both Philip and Granvelle firmly refused to support the scheme.[597] Peder Oxe, however, followed Christina to Nancy, where he became a member of the Ducal Council, and did good service in restoring order in the finances.

Other Danish exiles sought refuge at the Court of Lorraine, where their presence naturally revived Christina's dreams of recovering her father's throne. All manner of rumours were abroad. In March, 1561, Chaloner heard that the French King and the Duke of Lorraine were about to invade Denmark. Three months later Mary, Queen of Scots' faithful servant, Melville, wrote from Heidelberg that the Duchess-Dowager of Lorraine had come there to persuade her sister, the old Countess Palatine, to surrender her rights on Denmark to her nephew, the Duke of Lorraine. Christina spent some time with her sister, and was joined in September by the Duke, who came to escort her home.[598] The Palatine Frederic's successor, Otto Heinrich, had died in 1559, and his cousin, the reigning Elector, Frederic of Zimmern, the brother of the Countess Egmont and her sister Helene, was deeply attached to Dorothea, and, like his predecessor, professed the Lutheran faith. A year after Christina's visit Dorothea died suddenly at Neuburg, and was buried by her husband's side in the Church of the Holy Ghost at Heidelberg. The Palatine Frederic erected a fine monument over her grave, with the following inscription:

"To the most noble Lady, Dorothea, Countess Palatine, and Queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, the beloved consort of the Elector Frederic II., this tomb was raised by Frederic III., by the grace of God Elector Palatine, in the year 1562, as a token of love and gratitude to this his most dear and excellent kinswoman."

Dorothea's tomb was destroyed with that of her husband and many others when Louis XIV.'s armies sacked and burnt Heidelberg in 1693, but an English traveller who visited the castle and Church of the Holy Ghost thirty years before, preserved this inscription in his diary.[599]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1563] DUKE OF GUISE'S MURDER]

Christina came to Heidelberg with her son and both her daughters in the autumn of the year 1562, and was present at Frankfurt on the 24th of November, when her cousin Maximilian was crowned King of the Romans. On this occasion the Emperor Ferdinand collected as many of the imperial family as possible around him. The Dukes and Duchesses of Bavaria and Cleves were present, as well as most of the Electors and Princes of the Empire; while Ibrahim Bey, the Sultan's Ambassador, brought camels and rugs and Persian jars as gifts from his master. Among the old friends whom the Duchess met at Frankfurt were the Prince of Orange, Counts Egmont and Jacques d'Aremberg. They greeted her with renewed friendliness, and from their lips she heard how badly things were going in the Low Countries, and how unpopular the Regent and her Minister, the newly-created Cardinal de Granvelle, had become with all classes of people.[600] The Emperor and all his family returned to Heidelberg after the coronation, and were splendidly entertained by the Palatine, who was anxious to arrange a marriage between one of his sons and Mademoiselle de Lorraine. But Frederic's strong Lutheran tenets were a serious obstacle to this plan. At the recent coronation he had refused to attend Mass, and had remained in the vestry of the cathedral until the service was over.

Meanwhile religious strife was raging in France, and Christina returned to Nancy to find that civil war had broken out. Earlier in the year the massacre of a peaceable congregation at Wassy, near Joinville, had excited the fury of the Huguenots, and a fierce struggle was being waged on the frontiers of Lorraine. The Duke's own kindred were divided. Condé was the leader of the revolted party, while his brother Antoine, King of Navarre--l'Échangeur, as he was called, because he was said to change his religion as often as he did his coat--was mortally wounded, fighting on the King's side, in the siege of Rouen. A month later the Constable de Montmorency was made prisoner in the Battle of Dreux, by his own nephew Coligny. On the 21st of February, 1563, Christina and her son were attending the baptism of the Duke of Aumale's son Claude, when a messenger arrived with the news that the Duke of Guise had been stabbed by a Huguenot fanatic in the camp before Orleans. After a public funeral in Notre Dame, the remains of Antoinette's most illustrious son were buried at Joinville, amid the lamentations of the whole nation.[601]

Fortunately, the duchy of Lorraine escaped the horrors of civil war. On the 18th of May, 1562, Charles made his long-deferred state entry into Nancy, and took a solemn vow to observe the rights of his subjects before he received the ducal crown. But he still consulted his mother in all important matters, and treated her with the utmost respect and affection.[602] His own time and thoughts were chiefly occupied in enlarging and beautifying the ducal palace. He extended the Galerie des Cerfs, and built a fine hall, adorned with frescoes of the Metamorphoses of Ovid, a translation of which had been dedicated to his grandfather, Duke Antoine, by the poet Clement Marot. At the same time he rebuilt the old Salle du Jeu de Paume on the model of one at the Louvre, and made a picture-gallery above this new hall, which he hung with portraits of the ducal family.[603]

Christina also devoted much attention to the improvement of her estates. She rebuilt the salt-works at Les Rosières, which had been abandoned in the last century, and placed an inscription on the gates, recording that in February, 1563, these salt-works were erected by

"Christina, by the grace of God Queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, Sovereign of the Goths, Vandals, and Slavonians, Duchess of Schleswig, Dittmarsch, Lorraine, Bar, and Milan, Countess of Oldenburg and Blamont, and Lady of Tortona."[604]

[Sidenote: NOV., 1563] BIRTH OF A GRANDSON]

Several indications of the active part that she took in affairs of State appear in contemporary records. In 1564, with the Pope's sanction, she concluded an agreement with the Bishop of Toul, by which he made over his temporalities to the Duke of Lorraine. Christina, as she explained to Granvelle, had taken this step to avoid the see from becoming the property of France; but her action roused the indignation of her uncle, the Emperor Ferdinand, who rebuked his good niece sharply for venturing to meddle with the affairs of the Imperial Chamber.[605]

On the 8th of November, 1563, the Duchess Claude gave birth to her first child, a boy which was named Henry, after her father, the late King of France. Both Charles IX. and Philip II. consented to stand godfathers, and the French King announced his intention of attending the child's christening in person. His visit, however, was put off, as the young Duchess fell seriously ill of smallpox, and was eventually fixed to take place at Bar after Easter. There was even a rumour that King Philip, whose presence in the Low Countries was earnestly desired, would visit Lorraine on his journey, and meet the French monarch on the 1st of May. The prospect of seeing Catherine and her son with an armed force in Lorraine filled Christina with alarm. The Queen-mother, as she knew, was very jealous of the Duchess-Dowager's influence with her son, and neglected no means of placing French subjects in positions of authority at the Ducal Court;[606] while her recent intrigues with the Huguenot leaders might lead to the introduction of Protestant rites at the ceremony. Before the date fixed for the christening, however, Christina received an unexpected visitor in the person of Cardinal Granvelle, who had been compelled to bow to the storm and leave the Netherlands. In a private note which he sent to Granvelle on the 1st of March, 1564, Philip had desired the Cardinal to retire to Besançon on plea of paying a visit to his mother, whom he had not seen for nineteen years. The desired permission was readily granted by the Regent, and, to the great satisfaction of the nobles, the hated Minister left Brussels on the 13th of March. "Our man is really going," wrote William of Orange to his brother Louis. "God grant he may go so far that he can never return!"[607]

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1564] GRANVELLE AT NANCY]

The Cardinal had by this time recognized his fatal mistake in persuading the King to appoint the Duchess of Parma Regent instead of Madame de Lorraine, "by which action," as he himself wrote, "I made the Prince of Orange my enemy."[608] He was the more anxious to recover Christina's good graces, while she on her part does not appear to have borne him any grudge for his share in the transaction. His way led him through Lorraine, and when he reached Pont-à-Mousson he found a messenger from the Duchess begging him to come and see her at Nancy. On his arrival he was received by the Duke's _maître d'hôtel_, and conducted to lodgings in the palace. This "very fine house," and the hospitality with which he and his companions were entertained, gratified the Cardinal, and after supper he was received by the Duchess-Dowager, with whom he had a long interview in the Grande Galerie.[609] They conversed freely of the troubles in the Netherlands. Christina was anxious to justify herself from the charge of fomenting these dissensions, and declared that she had nothing to say against the Duchess of Parma, and only complained of her refusal to allow a Mass for her father, King Christian II., to be said in the Court chapel on the anniversary of his death. But she had many complaints to make of the King, who had only written to her five times in the last five years, and who insisted on keeping her Castle of Tortona in his own hands, and employed the revenues of the town to pay the garrison, without giving her any compensation. Granvelle could only allege the unsettled state of Lombardy and the disorder of Milanese finances as excuses for Philip's behaviour. The Duchess further confided to him her fears regarding the French King's visit, and the intrigues of Catherine, who was always endeavouring to destroy the harmony that prevailed between herself and her daughter-in-law. Granvelle did his best to allay these alarms, and assured her that the rumours as to the large force that was to accompany him to Lorraine were absolutely false.

Another subject on which Christina consulted the Cardinal was her designs against Denmark. The young King Frederic III. at first professed great friendship for her, and opened negotiations for his marriage with her daughter Renée--a proposal which she was reluctant to accept.[610] This idea, however, was soon abandoned, and the outbreak of war between Denmark and Sweden seemed to afford an opportunity for advancing her own claims. Peder Oxe and his companion in exile, Willem von Grümbach, urged her to raise an army and invade Jutland, assuring her that the discontented Danish nobles were only longing for an excuse to rise in a body and dethrone the usurper. But Christina realized that it would be useless to make any attempt without Philip's support, which she begged Granvelle to obtain. The Cardinal, however, quite declined to approach the King on the subject, and told the Duchess that a rupture with Denmark would make him more unpopular in Flanders than he was already, saying that he had no wish to be stoned by the Dutch. Before leaving Nancy he discussed the situation at length with the Duchess's latest friend, Baron de Polweiler, the Bailiff of Hagenau, a brave and loyal servant of Charles V., who had warmly espoused Christina's cause and was in correspondence with the Danish malcontents. The Baron was a wise and practical man, and agreed with Granvelle that the best course of action would be to keep up the agitation in Denmark, without taking further measures until the coming of King Philip, which was now confidently expected.[611]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1564] ILLNESS OF CHRISTINA]

After the Cardinal's departure, Christina fell ill at Denœuvre, and was unable to accompany the Duke, who came to fetch her, and insisted on putting off the child's christening until his mother was fit to travel. At length, on the 2nd of May, the Duchess and her daughters started for Bar, where the christening was celebrated on the following day, and Christina held her grandson at the font. There was no display of armed force, nor was any attempt made to introduce Lutheran rites. On the contrary, the Queen-mother and all her suite were most amiable, the greatest good-will prevailed on all sides, and the whole party spent the next week in feasting, jousting, and dancing, while Ronsard composed songs in honour of the occasion. On the 9th of May the young King resumed his progress to Lyons, and the aged Duchess Antoinette, who had come to Bar at the Cardinal of Lorraine's prayer, returned to Joinville with her son. Christina's worst alarms had been dispelled, but her suspicions were to some extent justified by the revival of the French King's old claims to Bar, and the advance of certain new pretensions, which were eventually referred to a court of justice in Paris. What annoyed her scarcely less was the inferior quality of the ring sent by the King of Spain to Duchess Claude, which excited more than one unpleasant comment, although Count Mansfeldt, who stood proxy for Philip, informed her privately that Margaret of Parma had spent double the sum named by His Majesty on his christening present.[612]

IV.

In July, 1564, Christina fell dangerously ill, and Silliers told Polweiler that his mistress was suffering from a grave internal malady. In November she had a severe relapse, and her death was hourly expected. Her children and servants nursed her with untiring devotion, and her friends at Brussels were deeply concerned. Anne d'Aerschot, Margaret d'Aremberg, Egmont, and the Prince of Orange, made frequent inquiries; and even Queen Mary wrote from Scotland to ask after the Duchess's health. Philip alone took no notice of her illness, and his indifference was keenly resented by Christina and her whole family. "For the love of God," wrote Silliers to Polweiler, "do your best to see that Madame is consoled, or she will certainly die of grief and despair." And he poured out a passionate complaint, setting forth his mistress's wrongs, and saying how, after cheating her out of Vigevano, the King kept both the castle and revenues of her dower city in his hands, and allowed her subjects to be exposed to the depredations of the Spanish garrison. "To my mind," he adds, "this is a strange proof of the singular affection which he professes to have for my Lady!"[613] Granvelle himself was much concerned, and, when Polweiler wrote to report an improvement in the Duchess's condition, expressed his thankfulness, saying that the loss of such a Princess would be a heavy blow to the cause of religion, as well as the greatest calamity that could befall Lorraine. He owned that Madame had been harshly treated, and could only counsel patience and assure her of Philip's good-will; but he confessed that the task was a disagreeable one. When Philip wrote at last, it was merely to exhort the Duchess to be patient, as the whole world was in travail, and to promise that her claims should be settled by the Cardinal.[614] Meanwhile fresh appeals reached Christina every day from her Danish partisans, while King Eric of Sweden, who had declared war on Denmark, opened negotiations with her through his French Minister, Charles de Mornay. A marriage between this young King and Renée was proposed, and Eric offered to support the Duchess's rights to Denmark if she could obtain the help of the Emperor and of the Netherlands. Ferdinand, however, quite declined to countenance any attack on his ally, and begged his dear niece not to stir up strife in Germany, although he assured her of his paternal love and readiness to help her in the recovery of her rights by peaceable methods. A few weeks after writing this letter the good Emperor died, and, as Christina knew, she could expect little from his successor Maximilian, who had never forgiven her friendship with Philip in bygone days, and did not even send her the customary announcement of his father's death.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1565] DUKE ADOLF'S MARRIAGE]

Another ally whose help the Duchess tried to enlist was the old Landgrave, Philip of Hesse, whose daughter Christina, after being wooed for some years by the King of Sweden, was finally married to Duke Adolf of Holstein on the 20th of January, 1565. As Granvelle remarks, it was a strange ending to this Prince's long courtship of Madame de Lorraine, but he probably still hoped to support her cause in Denmark. And as the Prince of Orange was asked to represent King Philip at the marriage, Christina would have an opportunity of consulting him about her Danish expedition.[615] But the Prince refused to leave Flanders, and a serious relapse prevented the Duchess from attending the wedding. As soon as she had recovered sufficiently, Christina dictated a letter to her beloved sister Anne, who was still her most faithful friend:

"Your letter was most welcome, as I had not heard from you lately, and I thank you warmly for all that you say. I am getting better, but am not very strong yet. As to the Swedish business, I am anxious to know the name of the person whom you mention as having the greatest affection for me and mine, and who might help me with the King. And as I know that you only desire my good, I beg you to keep your eyes open, and tell me who are my best friends at Court. I quite agree with you that it is useless to fish in troubled waters. Monsieur d'Egmont's journey to Spain is a surprising event! The cause is unknown to me, but it must be some matter of importance. Thank you again with all my heart for the love that is expressed in your letters."[616]

The friends to whose influence at Court Anne had referred were the Count and Countess of Aremberg, who stood high in favour with the King and the Regent, and were in constant correspondence with Christina.

"Would to God," wrote Margaret of Aremberg, "that Madame de Lorraine could obtain the King's favour! She would then be easily able to regain her own, as the Danes hate their King, and he has no power over them. But I confess I have lost all hopes of this ever coming to pass."[617]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1565] JOURNEY TO BRUSSELS]

By the advice of these friends, the Duchess now decided to send Baron de Polweiler to Spain to beg the King for the 300,000 crowns due to her, in order that she might avail herself of the opportunity presented by the war between Sweden and Denmark, and open the campaign in the summer. Upon this Granvelle felt it his duty to inform his master of the Duchess's plans, which might, he thought, be successful if the King could help her with subsidies, since she had several allies in Germany.[618] Duke Eric of Brunswick offered to raise an army and take the command of the expedition, and the Landgrave of Hesse promised to help on condition that she gave her daughter Renée in marriage to one of his sons; while, by way of removing Philip's objections, the Cardinal dwelt on the advantages of restoring the true faith in these Northern kingdoms. But this plan was frustrated by the Archduke Ferdinand's refusal to give Polweiler leave of absence, and as Silliers, who offered to go in his stead, would only have made matters worse, Christina resolved to ask Count Egmont to plead her cause at Madrid. Even Granvelle, who had no love for the Count, approved of this plan. Egmont was known to be devoted to the Duchess, and his great popularity in the Low Countries would go far to remove the objections to a breach with Denmark in those provinces. Unfortunately, in spite of his good-will, Egmont effected no more for Christina than he did for the liberties of the Netherlands. He was royally entertained by Philip and his courtiers, and loaded with presents and flatteries, but, when he came to business, received nothing but vague words and empty promises.

On his return to Flanders in April, his house was crowded with visitors, and the Duchess, finding that she could obtain no answer to her letters, determined to go to Brussels herself. In June she set out on her journey, saying that she was going to kiss the Holy Coat at Treves and pay her devotions to the Blessed Sacrament of the Miracle at Brussels, in fulfilment of a vow made when she had been at the point of death.[619] Her pilgrimage excited great curiosity, and even Polweiler was in the dark as to its object, but felt convinced that she meant to see Egmont and Eric of Brunswick, and that they would soon hear of a sudden call to arms.

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

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

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

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

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

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1567] LES GUEUX]

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

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

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1568] DEATH OF EGMONT]

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

V.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"MY COUSIN,

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

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

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

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

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

Again, a little later:

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

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

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

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

FOOTNOTES:

[572] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1533.

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

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

[575] Venetian Calendar, vii. 83.

[576] Venetian Calendar, vii. 83.

[577] Granvelle, v. 625-627.

[578] Venetian Calendar, vii. 112.

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

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

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

[582] Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 583.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[595] Brantôme, xii. 117.

[596] Aubespine, 867.

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

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

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

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

[601] Pimodan, 215.

[602] Granvelle, vii. 488.

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

[604] Calmet, iii. 30.

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

[606] Granvelle, vii. 488.

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

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

[609] Granvelle, vii. 437-440.

[610] Schäfer, v. 111, 112.

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

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

[613] Granvelle, viii. 345.

[614] _Ibid_., viii. 472.

[615] Granvelle, viii. 609.

[616] _Ibid._, viii. 637.

[617] Granvelle, viii. 637.

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

[619] Granvelle, ix. 373.

[620] Groen, i. 408.

[621] Granvelle, ix. 498.

[622] _Ibid_., ix. 496.

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

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

[625] Schäfer, v. 167.

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

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

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

[629] _Ibid._, i. 494.

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

[631] Brantôme, i. 104.

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

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

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

[635] Calmet, i. 265.

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

[637] _Ibid._, v. 418.

[638] Pimodan, 254.

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

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

[641] Pfister, ii. 496.

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

[643] _Ibid._, v. 92.

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

[645] _Ibid._, vii. 572.

[646] Granvelle, vii. 638.