III.
May, 1552] CHRISTINA AT DENŒUVRE
The invasion of Lorraine and the harsh treatment which the Duchess suffered at the French King's hands were keenly resented by her imperial relatives. Mary wrote indignantly to Charles at Innsbruck, complaining justly of Henry's violation of the neutrality of Lorraine and of the young Duke's[464] capture. To Christina herself she expressed her anger at the King's wicked act, at the same time advising her to bow to the storm and retire to Blamont for the present. This the Duchess did three days after her son's departure, taking the two Princesses as well as her faithful sister-in-law. Anne's pen was never idle, and on the following Sunday—that of Pâques-fleuries—she sent the Queen a list of all the Princes who were members of the League. But they had not been many days at Blamont, when their peace was disturbed by the arrival of the French King and the Constable, who, after taking possession of Metz, marched through the Vosges on their way to Strasburg, and took up their quarters in the castle. The Duchesses left hurriedly to avoid another meeting with the King, and moved to Denœuvre, where they remained during the next three months. But the strain of recent events had been too much for Christina's strength; she became seriously ill, and her condition was a grave cause of anxiety to Anne and her ladies.
Count Stroppiana, who heard the details of the French invasion from Belloni's own lips at Innsbruck, wrote the following account of the Duchess's wrongs to his master, the Duke of Savoy:
"The King of France, we hear, has occupied Lorraine, and sent the young Duke to Châlons, guarded by 100 men-at-arms, contrary to the promises which he made to the Duchess his mother. She threw herself at his feet, imploring him not to rob her of her son, her only joy and consolation, without whom she could not bear to live, with many other words which would have moved the hardest heart to pity. The King would not listen, and repulsed her with many rough words, forbidding any of the Emperor's subjects to remain in her service on pain of death. He has deprived her of the Regency, and relegated her to a remote country place, where she does nothing but weep and lament, and will certainly die before long, if her great sorrow is not comforted, as she has been ill for some time past. The poor little Duke is said to be ill, too. When he reached the first stage of his journey, he asked for his mother and tutor, and, when he did not see them, wept so bitterly that it was impossible to comfort him."[465]
The boy's tears were soon dried, and he recovered his spirits in the charge of the Duke of Longueville's old tutor, Jean de la Brousse, and the companionship of the royal children. His mother remained long inconsolable for his loss, but the affection of her son's subjects was her best solace. So earnest were their entreaties that she should remain among them that she declined her aunt's urgent invitation to take refuge in Flanders, and decided to stay at Denœuvre. On the 31st of May she wrote as follows to inform the Emperor of her intention:
"Monseigneur,
"At the prayer of my brother Monsieur de Vaudemont, and my sister the Duchess of Aerschot, and the earnest desire of my good people, I have been bold enough to remain here, although Your Majesty had sent me orders to join the Queens. I trust you will not take this in bad part, but will understand that I have only done this at the urgent prayer of my brother and sister, and not out of disrespect to your command, since my sole desire is to obey you all my life, and I beg you to believe this and remember my son and his poor country.
"Your humble niece and servant,
"Chrestienne.
"From Denœuvre, May 31, 1552."[466]
July, 1552] CHRISTINA BANISHED
This letter found the Emperor at the lowest depth of his fortunes. On the 19th of May he was carried in his litter by torchlight over the Brenner in torrents of driving rain, and hardly paused till he arrived at Villach in Carinthia. A few hours after he left Innsbruck, Maurice and his troopers entered the town, plundered the Emperor's quarters, and robbed the baggage which had been forgotten in his hasty departure. The victor might easily have captured the fugitive Emperor, but, as Maurice said himself, he had no cage for so fine a bird.
The tide, however, was already turning. Strasburg closed her gates against the French invaders, and early in May an Imperial army attacked Champagne and sent Queen Catherine flying in terror from Reims. Alarmed by these reports, Henry beat a hasty retreat, and contented himself with the empty boast that he had watered his horses in the Rhine. The seat of the war was now transferred to Luxembourg, and Lorraine was once more harassed by the outposts of the two contending armies. From their safe retreat at Denœuvre, Christina and Anne watched the course of the campaign anxiously, and kept up a constant correspondence with Mary of Hungary. The bold measure of placing an Imperialist garrison in Nancy was now proposed by the Duchess, and gladly accepted by her uncle, who realized the advantages of the scheme, and wrote that Lorraine might well be occupied, on the ground of the Duke's detention, and would be restored to him as soon as he was released.[467] Early in July, Christina's trusted servant, Bassompierre, the Bailiff of the Vosges, arrived at Denœuvre with a message from Vaudemont, promising to admit the Imperialist force within the gates of Nancy on condition that the occupation was only temporary. The Duchess promptly sent a lackey to Flanders with a cipher letter to inform the Queen of his consent. But, as ill-luck would have it, the servant fell into the hands of the French, who were besieging Luxembourg, and he was brought before the King and forced to confess the object of his errand. Henry was furious at discovering the plot, and sent a gentleman of his household, Monsieur de Rostain, to Denœuvre, with a letter to the Duchess, saying that he feared her attachment to the Emperor was greater than her maternal love, and desired her to leave Lorraine without delay. Christina sent one of her gentlemen, Monsieur de Doulans, back with Rostain to protest against this order, saying that, after robbing her of her son and depriving her of the Regency, the King would surely not be so cruel as to drive her out of her own dower-house, especially as Denœuvre was a fief of the Empire. But these passionate appeals availed her little. A week later Henry sent another gentleman, Monsieur de Fontaine, to order the Duchess to leave Denœuvre immediately, if she did not wish to feel the full weight of his displeasure. This time the messenger had orders not to return to the King's presence until he had seen the Duchess across the frontier. So with a heavy heart the two Princesses left the land of Lorraine, where they were both so fondly beloved, and took refuge in Alsace. Belloni, who sent the Queen an account of his mistress's latest troubles in his clear Italian handwriting, was desired to tell her aunt that the Duchess had many more things of importance to say, but must wait for a more convenient season. Only one thing she must add, and this was that through all Monsieur de Vaudemont had remained perfectly true and loyal to her, although he was compelled by his office to conform outwardly to the French King's tyranny.[468]
Aug., 1552] BELLONI'S END
On receiving this bad news, Mary sent to beg her niece to come to Flanders without delay, promising the Duchess a home for herself and her little daughters. Unfortunately, as Christina found, this was no easy task. Not only was the whole countryside in peril of daily attacks from the French, but the Marquis Albert had descended like a whirlwind from the Suabian hills, and was spreading terror and destruction along the banks of the Rhine. The next letter which she addressed to her aunt from the imperial city of Schlettstadt, where she had sought refuge, gives vent to these alarms:
"Madame,
"I received the kind and loving letter which Your Majesty was so good as to send me on the 6th of August. It came at the right moment, for I can assure you that I was sorely troubled, but Your Majesty's kindness in saying that I shall be welcome has done me so much good that I feel I do not know how to thank you enough, and am only sorry I cannot set out at once. For the roads are very dangerous, above all for children.... Your Majesty will understand how distressed I shall be until I can find some way of coming to you, and certainly one year will seem to me a hundred, until I am with Your Majesty once more."[469]
This grateful letter was written from Schlettstadt on the 22nd of August, and sent to Brussels by Niccolò Belloni, the only messenger whom Christina felt that she could trust. But fresh trouble awaited her in this direction. Belloni reached Flanders safely, and came back to Lorraine with letters to the Count and Countess of Vaudemont, but disappeared in some mysterious manner two days after he reached Nancy. It seems doubtful whether he died of the plague, as Massimo del Pero wrote to his friend Innocenzo Gadio, or whether he fell into some ambush and was slain by the enemy's hand. The loss was a great one to the Duchess, whom he had served so faithfully and well for the past sixteen years, and the honest Milanese was lamented by all his colleagues. Innocenzo Gadio, sent the sad news to the Princess of Macedonia's daughter, Dejanira, the wife of Count Gaspare Trivulzio, who had formerly received Christina in his castle at Codogno. The Countess expressed her sympathy with her dearest Messer Innocenzo in the warmest terms.
"I am sure," she wrote, "that the death of so beloved a friend will cause my mother the greatest sorrow. When you return to Lorraine," she adds, "please kiss Her Excellency's hands for me, and tell her that the sufferings which she has undergone in those parts grieve me to the bottom of my soul; and tell her too that we, her servants in this country, shall always be ready to risk our lives and all that we have in her service."
"Dejanira, Contessa Trivulzio.
"From Codogno, September 29, 1552."[470]
There were still faithful hearts in this far-off land who never forgot the Duchess whom they had known in early youth, and who followed her fortunes with tender sympathy and affection.
Aug., 1552] AT HOH-KÖNIGSBERG
But now help came to the sorely-tried Princess from an unexpected quarter. The Marquis Albert had haughtily declined to take any part in the conference that was being held at Passau between King Ferdinand and Maurice of Saxony, or to be included in the treaty which was signed between the Emperor and the Elector on the 15th of August. Instead of laying down his arms, he chose to continue his reckless course, and marched through the Rhineland plundering towns and burning villages, "making war," wrote an eyewitness, "as if he were the devil himself."[471] But when he reached Treves he heard of the Duchess's expulsion from Lorraine and her distressed condition, and, with a touch of the old chivalry that made him dear to women, he promptly sent to offer her shelter in his castle of Hoh-Königsberg, the strongest and finest citadel in the Vosges. Christina accepted the offer gratefully, and during the next few weeks the red sandstone fortress which still crowns the heights above Schlettstadt became her abode. She was there still when the Emperor made his way from Augsburg to the banks of the Rhine, at the head of a formidable army.
On the 7th of September he entered Strasburg; on the 15th he crossed the river and encamped at Landau. A week before he sent one of his bravest Burgundian captains, Ferry de Carondelet, to visit her at Hoh-Königsberg and invite her to visit him in the camp.[472] Christina obeyed the summons joyfully, and a few days after the Emperor reached Landau she and Anne of Aerschot made their way by the Rhine to the imperial camp. The Prince of Piedmont rode out to meet them, and Anne's kinsfolk, Egmont and d'Aremberg joined with Emanuel Philibert and Ferrante Gonzaga in welcoming the distressed ladies and condoling with them on the terrors and hardships which they had undergone. Only one thing grieved Christina. The Emperor firmly refused to admit her trusted Councillor, Bassompierre, into his presence, being convinced that he had betrayed his mistress and played into the French King's hands. Nothing that she could say altered his opinion in this respect, and she thought it wiser to send the Bailiff to Nancy, where he was able to watch over her interests and send reports to the Queen of Hungary.[473]
Charles was suffering from gout and fever, and Christina was shocked to see his altered appearance. The fatigues and anxieties of the last few months had left their mark upon him. His face was pale and worn, his hands thin and bloodless, and he spoke with difficulty owing to the soreness of his mouth and the leaf which he kept between his lips to relieve their dryness. Only his eyes kept the old fire, and no one could divine the thoughts which lay hidden under the mask-like face. As Morosyne wrote after an interview which he had with the Emperor about this time: "He maketh me think of Solomon's saying: 'Heaven is high, the earth is deep, and a king's heart is unsearchable.'"[474] But he was full of kindness for Christina, telling her that she and her children would always find a home at Brussels. Since, however, her cousin of Guise had entrenched himself in Metz and the country round was swarming with soldiery, he advised her to remain at Heidelberg for the present.
Nov., 1552] CHARLES. V. AND ALBERT
The Duchess obeyed this advice and retired to her brother-in-law's Court. The Palatine was growing old, his beard had turned white and his strength began to fail, but his influence was as great as ever in Germany. Morosyne, who met him at Spires, pronounced him to be the wisest and best of all the Electors, and was touched by the affection with which he spoke of the late King Henry VIII., declaring that his shirt never lay so near his skin as King Edward's noble father lay near his heart. The Ambassador's secretary, Roger Ascham, made friends with Hubert, who sent him long dissertations on the pronunciation of Greek, and invited him to Heidelberg. Now Frederic and his wife welcomed the Duchess and her children with their wonted hospitality, and insisted on keeping them until the end of the year; but Christina's heart was with her poor subjects, who suffered severely from the ravages of the war. From Nancy, Bassompierre sent word that the Marquis Albert had suddenly deserted his French allies, and had captured Aumale and carried him in triumph to the imperial camp before Metz.[475]
Here, on the 20th of November, Charles came face to face with the man who had wronged him so deeply. "God knows what I feel," he wrote to Mary, "at having to make friends with the Marquis Albert, but necessity knows no law."[476] At least, he accepted the situation with a good grace. Morosyne was present when the Emperor came riding into the camp on a great white horse of Naples breed, and, seeing Albert, took his hand with a gracious smile, and shook it warmly twice or thrice.
"The Marquis fixed his eyes fast on the Emperor's countenance, as one that meant to see what thoughts his looks betrayed. When he saw that all was well, or at least could not see but all seemed well, he spake a few words, which His Majesty seemed to take in very good part."
Calling a page to his side, he took a red scarf, the Imperialist badge, from his hands, and gave it to the Marquis. Albert received it with deep reverence, saying that he had not fared badly when he wore these colours before, and trusted the Emperor's gift would bring him the same good fortune as of old.[477]
Feb., 1553] THE EMPEROR TO RETURN
The return of the wanderer saved Charles from utter ruin. His affairs were still going badly. Vieilleville, the French Governor of Verdun, seized the boats laden with provisions for the imperial camp, which Christina had sent down the Rhine, and laid violent hands on six waggons of choice fruits, wines, and cakes, which were despatched from Nancy for her uncle's table. Worse than this, he contrived to enter Pont-à-Mousson, which Fabrizio Colonna held, disguised as a messenger from the Duchess, and obtained possession of this important place by stratagem.[478] The valour of Guise and the strong fortifications of Metz were proof against the reckless courage of Albert and the might of the imperial army. The heavy rains and biting cold of an early winter increased the sufferings of the troops, and, after losing half his army by famine and dysentery, Charles was compelled to raise the siege at the New Year. "Fortune is a woman," he remarked to one of his captains; "she abandons the old, and keeps her smiles for young men."[479] In this forced retreat the Marquis performed prodigies of valour, and succeeded in bringing his guns safely over roads rendered impassable by a sudden thaw. The bulk of the army was dismissed, only the veteran Spanish and German forces being quartered in Artois and Luxembourg, and Charles himself set out for Brussels. His failing strength compelled him to halt on the way, and Morosyne gave it as his opinion that the Emperor would never reach the end of his journey alive. But his spirit was indomitable as ever, and on Sunday, the 6th of February, he entered Brussels in an open litter, amid scenes of the wildest enthusiasm.
"To-day," wrote the Ambassador of Savoy, "I have witnessed the safe arrival of the Emperor. He was received with the greatest transports of joy and delight by the whole people, who feared that he was dead and that they would never see him again."
And Charles himself wrote to Ferdinand that, now he was once more in his native land and in the company of his beloved sisters, he would soon recover his health.[480]