IV.
July, 1540] CROMWELL'S FALL
The Court spent the next three weeks at Bruges, the beautiful old city which was always a favourite with Charles and his sisters, in the ancient Prinzenhof where their mother had died. During these summer days many important events took place, and startling news came from England. On the 10th of June Cromwell was suddenly arrested and sent to the Tower on a charge of high-treason. A fortnight later the new Queen, Anne of Cleves, left Whitehall for Richmond, and on the 9th of July her marriage was pronounced null and void by a decree of Convocation. The ostensible reason for the divorce was a precontract between Anne and Francis of Lorraine. It was true that as children they had been affianced by their respective parents, but, as was common in such cases, all idea of the marriage had been afterwards abandoned, and Henry had professed himself entirely satisfied with the explanations given by Anne's relatives on the subject. But from the first moment that he met his bride at Rochester, on New Year's Day, 1540, he was profoundly disappointed. When Cromwell asked him how he liked her, he replied, "Nothing so well as she was spoken of," adding that, had he known as much of her before as he did now, she should never have set foot in his realm. However, he felt constrained to marry her, for fear of "making a ruffle in the world," and driving her brother into the Emperor's arms. At Whitsuntide he told Cromwell that from the day of his marriage he had become weary of life, and took a solemn oath that before God Anne had never been his lawful wife.
From that moment Cromwell knew that his own fate was sealed. "The King loves not the Queen," he said to Wriothesley. "What a triumph for the Emperor and the Pope!" A week afterwards he was committed to the Tower, and on the 28th of July he was beheaded.[289]
The news of his fall was received with general satisfaction abroad. King Francis gave vent to boisterous joy, and sent his brother word how sincerely he rejoiced to hear that this false and wicked traitor, who had brought the noblest heads in England to the block, was at length unmasked. The Emperor, on the contrary, showed no surprise or emotion when he heard the news from Archdeacon Pate, the new Envoy who had succeeded Wyatt, but merely said: "What! is he in the Tower of London, and by the King's counsel?" And when, on the 6th of July, Pate informed him that the King had repudiated his wife, he cast his eye steadfastly on the speaker, and asked what scruples His Majesty entertained regarding his marriage with the daughter of Cleves. The Ambassador explained, as best he could, what he took to be the motives of the King's action, upon which the Emperor said that he was convinced Cromwell was the true cause of all the terrible crimes which had of late years been committed against religion and order in England. So friendly was the Emperor that Pate wrote to the Duke of Norfolk: "If His Majesty hath thereby lost the hearts of the Electors, he hath in their places gained those of the Emperor and the French King."[290]
June, 1540] RENÉ OF ORANGE
Both at Bruges and Antwerp the news aroused much excitement among the merchants, who were unanimous in the opinion that the King now intended to take the Duchess of Milan "for the true heart which she bore him." But nothing was further from Christina's mind. She had rejoiced at the failure of the King's suit, and saw the Duke of Cleves leave Ghent without regret. Now all seemed ripe for the fulfilment of her long-cherished hopes. The Prince of Orange had been unremitting in his attendance on the Emperor since his arrival, and, as all men knew, was honoured by His Majesty's confidence and affection. His popularity with the army was unbounded, and it was a common saying that wherever the Prince's little pony went, every Dutchman would follow. The Queen looked kindly on his suit, and Christina's heart was already his own. But when, in these bright June days at Bruges, he modestly laid his suit before the Emperor, an unexpected difficulty arose. Three years before a marriage with the Duke of Lorraine's only daughter had been proposed for the young Prince of Orange by his uncle, William of Nassau-Dillenburg, the head of the German branch of the house. The idea met with Henry of Nassau's cordial approval, and at his request the Emperor sent his servant Montbardon to obtain Duke Antoine's consent. This was granted without any difficulty, and the contract was drawn up before the Count of Nassau's death.[291] Now the Duke urged the Prince to keep this long-standing engagement and marry his daughter Anne—the plain but excellent lady whose portrait Holbein had taken for King Henry. The Prince had never seen his destined bride, and was very reluctant to carry out the contract, but the Emperor was resolute. Antoine already had a serious grievance in the matter of Guelders, and it was of the highest importance to secure his alliance. Accordingly, Charles told René that he must prove himself a loyal knight, and with his own hand drew up the articles of the marriage treaty, and sent them to Nancy by the Archdeacon of Arras. Christina's name is never mentioned in the whole transaction. It was the old story of the Count Palatine and the Archduchess Eleanor. She was a daughter of the House of Habsburg, and knew that the Emperor's will must be obeyed. So she could only bow her head in silence and submit to his decrees. If she wept bitter tears, it was in secret, in her quiet chamber in the ancient Cour des Princes at Bruges, looking down on the green waters of the canal.[292]
There was great rejoicing throughout Lorraine when the Emperor's messenger reached Nancy and the marriage was proclaimed. Anne was very popular throughout the duchy, and since her mother's death, a year before, had taken a prominent place at the ducal Court, where her tact and kindness made her universally beloved. The wedding took place in the last week of August at Bar.[293] All the members of the ducal house were present, including the Duke and Duchess of Guise, with their sons and daughters, and the Cardinal of Lorraine, who came from the French Court to pronounce the nuptial blessing.
The Prince of Orange's martial appearance and his splendid suite made a favourable impression on his new relatives, as Antoinette de Bourbon wrote to her daughter in Scotland:
"I have delayed longer than I intended before writing to you, but we have been so well amused by the wedding of Mademoiselle de Lorraine that until this moment I have not had leisure to begin this letter. Yesterday we left the assembled company. There was a very large gathering, and the wedding took place last Tuesday. Monsieur le Prince arrived honourably attended, and is, I can assure you, a very charming and handsome Prince. He is much pleased with his bride, and she is devoted to him. They are to go home in a fortnight. The fête was at Bar, but there were very few strangers present—only a few nobles and ladies of the neighbourhood."[294]
On the 27th of September the Prince of Orange brought his bride to Brussels, where the States were assembled. The whole Court rode out to welcome the happy pair, and escorted them to the Nassau palace, where the Prince changed his travelling dress for a Court mantle, and hastened to pay his respects to the Emperor. A succession of fêtes was given in their honour, and dances, masques, and banquets, were the order of the day. The Princess charmed everyone by her gracious manners, and her fine figure and splendid clothes and jewels became the object of general admiration.
Oct., 1540] ANNE OF LORRAINE
On the 2nd of October a grand tournament was given in the Prince's house, which the Emperor, Queen Mary, and Christina, honoured with their presence. René himself challenged all comers at the barriers, and his wife was the most charming hostess. Before Charles left, he presented Anne with a costly ring, and appointed the Prince to succeed Antoine de Lalaing as Stadtholder of Holland and Friesland. Three days afterwards the newly-married pair left Court for their own home at Breda, and the Emperor set out on a progress through Artois and Hainault, leaving his sister and niece at Brussels.
René's wife soon became a great favourite with the Queen, and Christina danced as gaily as the rest at the wedding fêtes. But it is significant that the only mention made of her in contemporary records is in the despatches of the English Ambassador, Richard Pate, who tells us that the Duchess of Milan spent much of her time in the company of her brother-in-law, the Palatine.[295] Frederic had come to Brussels to confer with the Emperor on German affairs, and, if possible, to raise a loan of 600,000 ducats for his intended campaign against Denmark. But although Charles professed himself ready and anxious to oblige his good cousin, the Regent would give him no answer, and ended by telling him to get the money from the Imperial Treasury. Richard Pate held long and confidential conversations with the Palatine, who recalled his visit to Windsor with delight, and spoke with warm admiration of the beauty of the singing in St. George's Chapel. He was curious to know if his old friend the King had grown as fat as he was represented in recent portraits, and rejoiced to hear that His Majesty was lusty and merry. As for the Duchess of Milan, he could only feel sorry that so charming a lady should still lack a husband, and frankly regretted that she had not married King Henry, or, failing him, the Prince of Orange.[296] After his return to Germany, Frederic made another attempt to bring about his sister-in-law's marriage to the Duke of Cleves, who still hesitated between his old love for Christina and his reluctance to give up Guelders. But negotiations were already in progress with another suitor, who had bided his time patiently, and who was now at length to obtain his reward.
1539-41] LOUISE DE GUISE
The Prince of Orange's union with Anne of Lorraine had strengthened the ties that bound her father to the Emperor, and a second marriage, which took place this autumn, united the two houses still more closely. Among the young nobles who accompanied René to Bar for his wedding was Charles, Prince of Chimay, the eldest son of the Duke of Aerschot, the wealthy and powerful Governor of Brabant, who was foremost among the Regent's confidential advisers, and whom she affectionately called by the pet name of "Moriceau." On the death of his mother in 1539, the young Prince had succeeded to her vast estates, and lived at the fine castle of Beaumont, near the French frontier. At Bar he saw and fell in love with Louise de Guise, the lovely girl whom Henry VIII. would gladly have made his wife. But there were difficulties in the young suitor's way. His own family began by opposing the marriage, and it was some time before Charles's consent could be obtained. The Duke of Guise had long been the Emperor's most bitter enemy, and was known to have strongly opposed his journey through France. Fortunately, Duchess Antoinette was from the first on the lovers' side, and succeeded in gaining her husband's consent. For some time past King Francis had been trying to arrange a marriage between her eldest son, the Count of Aumale, and the Pope's granddaughter, "Vyquetorya Farnese," as Louise calls her in one of her letters. But the Pope haggled over the dowry, and insisted on asking the Emperor's consent; so that Antoinette had a troublesome task in her lord's absence, and complained sorely to the Queen of Scotland of these vexatious delays.
"By way of consolation, however," she writes on the 30th of November, "we have an offer for your sister. Monsieur le Duc d'Aerschot has sent to ask for her, on behalf of his eldest son, the Prince of Chimay, a youth about twenty, handsome and well brought up, we hear. He will give him a portion of 50,000 crowns a year, and he will have some fine estates, such as the duchy of Aerschot, the principality of Chimay, the counties of Beaumont and Porcien, most of them near Guise. I have told your father, who is at Court, and he approves, and has spoken to the King and to our brothers, who all advise us to accept the proposal. So do my brother-in-law [the Duke of Lorraine] and my mother [Madame de Vendôme]. It has been arranged that we should all meet at Bar on the Conception of Our Lady, as my lord the Duke wishes the matter to be settled at his house. I hope your father will be there, but if not he will give me the necessary powers. If things can be arranged, she will be well married, for the Prince has great possessions and beautiful houses, and plate and furniture in abundance. But it is a great anxiety to be treating of two marriages at once."[297]
Happily for the good Duchess, the young Prince had his way, and the contract between him and Louise was duly signed at Bar on the 22nd of December. On the same day the Emperor, accompanied by the Regent and Duchess of Milan, paid a visit to the Duke of Aerschot at Beaumont, and offered him their warmest congratulations on his son's marriage.[298] The wedding took place at Joinville in the following March, by which time Christina's own marriage to Louise's cousin was arranged, and all Lorraine rang with the sound of wedding-bells.