V.
Jan., 1541] CHRISTINA'S BETROTHAL
The vaunted alliance between Charles and Francis did not last long, and less than a year after the Emperor and King had parted at St. Quentin, vowing eternal friendship, a renewal of war seemed already imminent. Francis was bitterly disappointed to find that none of the great results which he expected from Charles's visit had come to pass. The Emperor firmly declined to marry his daughter, and gave no signs of surrendering Milan to the Duke of Orleans. All he would offer was the reversion of the Low Countries as his daughter's portion if she married Orleans. This failed to satisfy Francis, who declared that he would have Milan and nothing else. In order to prevent his niece, Jeanne of Navarre, marrying the Prince of Spain, the King offered her to the Duke of Cleves, who signed a treaty with France this summer, but was not actually affianced to the little Princess until the Duchess of Milan was finally betrothed to Francis of Lorraine. Upon hearing of the alliance between France and Cleves, Charles retaliated by solemnly investing his son Philip with the duchy of Milan. This ceremony took place at Brussels on the 11th of October, and was regarded by Francis as an open act of defiance. He vented his anger on the Constable, who asked leave to retire; while Madame d'Étampes did her best to obtain her rival's disgrace and induce the King to declare war against the Emperor. But Francis was loth to let his old servant go, and said to Montmorency, with tears in his eyes: "How can you ask me to let you leave me? I have only one fault to find with you, that you do not love what I love."[299] The Constable consented to remain, and for the moment the crisis was delayed.
After visiting the forts along the frontier and leaving garrisons in every town, the Emperor came to Namur for Christmas, and prepared for his final departure. Forty chariots were needed for his own use, and all the horses and carts in the neighbouring provinces were requisitioned to provide for the conveyance of his immense suite. On Innocents' Day the Court moved to Luxembourg, and all the gentlemen of the countryside rode out to meet the Emperor. With him came the Queen and the Duchess of Milan, and on the same evening they were joined by the Duke of Lorraine and his son Francis, the Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson. On the Feast of the Three Kings the imperial party attended Mass in the cathedral, and the Emperor, after his usual custom, presented golden cups to three abbeys in the town. And on the same day the marriage of the Marquis to the Duchess of Milan was finally concluded, to the great delight of the old Duke, who was as much pleased as the bridegroom. Two days afterwards Charles took an affectionate farewell of his sister and niece, and went on to Regensburg, leaving them to return to Brussels, while the Duke of Lorraine hastened to Nancy to summon the States and inform his loyal subjects of his son's marriage.[300]
On the 1st of March the contract drawn up by the Imperial Ministers, Granvelle and De Praet, was signed by the Duke of Lorraine at Bar, and on the 20th by the Emperor. The ducal manors of Blamont and Denœuvre were settled upon the Duchess, and, in order that she might not lose any rank by her marriage, the Marquis received the title of Duke of Bar.[301] On the 12th of March the Queen and Duchess both went to the Castle of Beaumont in Hainault, to be present at the splendid reception which the Duke of Aerschot gave his daughter-in-law. The Duchess of Guise herself accompanied the beloved Louise to her future home, and wrote the following account of the festivities to Queen Mary of Scotland from her husband's château at Guise:
"Madame,
March, 1541] WEDDING-BELLS
"I have been so confidently assured that the safest way for letters is to send them by Antwerp merchants that I am sending mine by this means, and your sister will be my postmistress in future. I wrote to tell you of the conclusion of her marriage, and sent the articles of the treaty and the account of her wedding by your messenger. I have just taken her to her new home, a fine and noble house, as well furnished as possible, called Beaumont. Her father-in-law, the Duke, received her very honourably, attended by as large and illustrious a company as you could wish to see. Among others, the Queen of Hungary was present, and the Duchess of Milan, and both the Prince and Princess of Orange, who, by the way, is said to be with child, although this is not quite certain as yet, and I confess I have my doubts on the subject. I think your sister is very well married. She has received beautiful presents, and her husband has made her a very rich wedding-gift. He is young, but full of good-will and excellent intentions. It did not seem at all like Lent, for the sound of trumpets and the clash of arms never ceased, and there was some fine jousting. At the end we had to part—not without tears. I am now back at Guise, but only for one night, and go on to-morrow to La Fère. My brother the Cardinal, and my brother and sister of St. Pol, will be there on Wednesday. For love of them I will stay at La Fère over Thursday, and set out again on Friday, to reach Joinville as soon as may be, in the hope of finding your father still there, as well as our children—that is to say, the little ones and the priests."[302]
Ten days later Louise herself wrote a long and happy letter to her sister from Beaumont, full of the delights of her new home and of the kindness with which she had been received by her husband's family.
"Madame,
"Since God gave me this great blessing of a good husband, I have never found time to write to you. But I can assure you that I count myself indeed fortunate to be in this house, for, besides all the grandeur of the place, I have a lord and father-in-law whom I may well call good. It would take three sheets of paper if I were to tell you all the kindness with which he treats me. You may therefore be quite satisfied of your sister's happiness, and she is further commanded to offer you the very humble service of the masters and lords of this house, who beg that you will employ them on any occasion that may arise, since they will always be very glad to obey your wishes. We also have a very wise and virtuous Queen, who has done me the greatest honour by coming here to our house, expressly, as she condescended to say, to receive me. She told me herself that she meant to take me for her very humble daughter and servant, and that in future she hoped I should be often in her company, which, considering how little she has seen of me, was exceedingly kind. The Duchess of Milan said the same, and was the best and kindest of all. We may soon hope to see her in Lorraine, for her marriage to the Marquis is in very good train. Since my mother went home, she has sent a letter asking me to find out if this route to Scotland will be shorter than the other. If this is the case, and you like to send me your letters for her, I shall be delighted. Only, Madame, you must be sure to address your packets to the Duke of Aerschot, which will be easy for you, as then the merchants who come from Scotland will leave them at Antwerp or Bruges, or any other town, and they will not fail to reach me, since my father-in-law is greatly loved and honoured throughout the Netherlands. And I pray that God will give you a long and happy life.
"Your very humble and obedient sister,
"Louise of Lorraine.
"From Beaumont, the 25th day of March."[303]
The keenest interest in these marriages was shown at the Court of Scotland. King James wrote cordial letters from Edinburgh to his sister-in-law and to the Duke of Aerschot, and congratulated the Princess of Orange on her happy expectations, begging her to write to him and his wife more frequently.[304] Anne had always been on affectionate terms with her aunt and cousins at Joinville, and the presence of Louise at Brussels this summer was another bond between them.
April, 1541] AN UNWILLING BRIDE
Meanwhile King Francis was greatly annoyed to hear of the Duchess of Milan's marriage. He complained bitterly to the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of their brother's desertion, and vowed that Antoine and his son should feel the full weight of his displeasure. He was as good as his word, and, when the Prince assumed the title of Duke of Bar, disputed his rights to this duchy on the ground that it was a fief of the Crown. In order to satisfy these new claims, the Duke was compelled to sign an agreement on the 22nd of April, by which he and his son consented to do homage to the King for the duchy of Bar, and to grant free passage of French troops through this province.[305]
At the same time Francis invited the Duke of Cleves to come to Blois, as he wished his marriage to the Princess of Navarre to be celebrated without delay. On the 11th of April the States assembled at Düsseldorf were amazed to hear from Chancellor Olisleger that their Duke, being unable to obtain the Duchess of Milan's hand without the surrender of Guelders, was about to contract another marriage with the Princess of Navarre, and had actually started on his wedding journey.[306] The King and Queen of Navarre had always been averse to their daughter's union with the Duke of Cleves, but Margaret's resistance was overcome by the royal brother whom she adored, and her husband gave a reluctant consent to the marriage; but the little Princess Jeanne, a delicate child of twelve, refused in the most determined manner to marry this foreign Prince. In vain she was scolded and whipped, and threatened by her uncle the King with worse punishments. For many weeks the child persisted in her refusal, and, when compelled to yield, signed a protest on the eve of her marriage, which with the secret connivance of her parents was duly witnessed and preserved. On the 14th of June, 1540, the strange wedding was finally solemnized at Châtelhérault, on the Garonne. A series of Arcadian fêtes in beautiful summer weather were given by King Francis, who never lost an opportunity for indulging his love of romance. Arbours and colonnades of verdure were reared on the river-banks. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were seen riding forth in quest of adventure; high-born ladies, clad as nymphs and dryads, danced on the greensward by torchlight.[307] The bridegroom gave his bride magnificent jewels, although Jeanne was never seen in public, and did not even appear at the ball on the night before the wedding. Finally, when all were assembled in the royal chapel, and the King came to lead his niece to the altar, the little Princess, weighed down by her costly jewels and gold and silver brocades, was unable to walk. "Take her by the neck!" cried the impatient monarch to Montmorency, and the Constable of France, not venturing to disobey the royal command, lifted up the frightened child in his arms and bore her to the altar before the eyes of the whole Court. As he did so he was heard to mutter, "C'en est fini, de ma faveur, adieu lui dis!" and, surely enough, the day after the wedding he received his dismissal, and left Court, never to return during the lifetime of Francis.[308]
July, 1541] CHRISTINA'S WEDDING
The Duke had agreed, in order to satisfy the King and Queen of Navarre, that the marriage should be merely formal, and consented to leave his unwilling bride with her parents for another year. Accordingly, three days later he bade them farewell, and rode, attended by a strong French escort, through the Ardennes, and travelled down the Moselle and Rhine to Cologne. As he passed through Luxembourg he saw the trained bands gathering in force on the frontier, and heard that they were assembling under Count Büren to meet his successful rival, Francis of Lorraine, and bring him to Brussels for his wedding.[309]
Here great preparations had been made to do honour to the Emperor's niece, and the guests came from far and wide. Christina's trousseau was worthy of her exalted rank, and the Queen presented her with a wonderful carcanet of rubies, diamonds, and emeralds, with pendants of large pear-shaped pearls. The marriage was solemnized on Sunday, the 10th of July, in the great hall where, twenty-six years before, Isabella of Austria, had been married to the King of Denmark. Only two of the foreign Ambassadors were absent from the wedding banquet—the Englishmen Vaughan and Carne—a fact which naturally excited much comment. King Henry changed colour when Chapuys told him of Christina's marriage, and was at no pains to conceal his surprise and vexation. He said repeatedly that he wondered how the Emperor could allow so noble and renowned a Princess to marry the Marquis, when there could be no doubt that Anne of Cleves was his lawful wife, and insisted that this had been the chief reason of his own separation from this lady. After the wedding he again referred to the incident, and told Chapuys in confidence that the Duke of Lorraine had secretly made over his rights on Guelders to the French King, and would never help the Emperor against France, since Monseiur de Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine were entirely on the French side. Chapuys listened with polite attention, and reported most of the King's conversation for the amusement of the Court at Brussels.[310]
Here a series of fêtes took place after the wedding. A grand tournament was held in front of the hôtel-de-ville, followed by the mock siege of a fortress in the park, and a hunting-party in the Forest of Soignies.[311]
On the 14th, the Duke and Duchess of Bar left Brussels to pay a round of visits in the neighbourhood and "see the country," and on the 27th the Queen went to meet them at the Duke of Aerschot's hunting-palace at Heverlé, near Louvain, and spent several days there with the two other newly-married couples, the Prince and Princess of Orange and the Prince and Princess of Chimay.[312]
Aug., 1541] A NOBLE LADY
Finally, on the 1st of August, the bride and bridegroom set out on their journey, attended by a brilliant company, which included the Prince and Princess of Orange, the Duke of Aerschot, the Prince and Princess of Chimay, the Counts of Berghen, Büren, and Brederode. They travelled by slow stages, resting at Namur, Luxembourg, Thionville, and Metz. Triumphal arches were erected over the gates of each city, and the burghers came out in procession to greet the bride. At Metz Christina was presented with an illuminated book on "Marriage," by the Regent of the University, Édmond du Boullay, and the Chapter of Toul offered her a gold cup, filled with 300 crowns, while the city gave her 200 crowns and ten barrels of choice wine.[313]
On the 8th the wedding-party reached Pont-à-Mousson, and found a large family gathering waiting to receive them. A few days before the Cardinal of Lorraine had joined the Duke and Duchess of Guise at Joinville, and had accompanied them to Pont-à-Mousson, as Antoinette wrote,
"in order to give our new Lady her first greeting and conduct her to Nancy. Great preparations have been made to welcome her, and there is to be some fine jousting. I will tell you if there is anything worth writing, and must confess I am very curious to see if the Marquis makes a good husband. At least the country rejoices greatly at the coming of so noble and excellent a lady."[314]
The Duchess of Guise had collected most of her family for the occasion, and brought four of her sons—Aumale, Mayenne, Charles, Archbishop of Reims, and Louis, Bishop of Troyes—to Pont-à-Mousson, as well as her little grandson, the Duke of Longueville, the Queen of Scotland's son by her first marriage. Duke Antoine and his younger son, Nicholas de Vaudemont, Bishop of Metz, were also present, together with all the chief nobles of Lorraine.
It was a strange meeting. Guise and his sons had often crossed swords with the Prince of Orange and Aerschot, and the Duke had refused to meet the Emperor on his memorable visit to Chantilly. Now he was engaged in repairing the forts along the frontier in view of another war, an occupation which had at least one merit in his wife's eyes, and kept him longer at home than he had been for many years. All alike, however, friends and foes, joined in giving the new Duchess a hearty welcome, and drank joyously to the health and prosperity of the illustrious pair.
At Pont-à-Mousson Francis took his bride to the convent of Poor Clares, to see his grandmother, Philippa of Guelders, who had taken the veil twenty years before, but still retained all her faculties, and was the object of her sons' devoted affection. The Duke of Guise and his wife constantly visited the good old lady, whose name appears so often in Antoinette's letters, and who now embraced her new granddaughter tenderly and gave the bridal pair her blessing. The next day Christina entered Nancy, where immense crowds assembled to receive her, and choirs of white-robed maidens welcomed her coming at the ancient gateway of La Craffe. One quaint medieval practice which had lasted until this century was dispensed with. It was the custom for a band of peasants from the neighbouring village of Laxou, to beat the pools in the marshes under the palace walls all through the night when the Princes of Lorraine brought their brides home, to drive away the frogs, whose croaking might disturb the ducal slumbers. But instead of this, the peasant women of Laxou stood at the palace gates as the Duchess alighted, and presented her with baskets of flowers and ripe strawberries and cherries.[315]
Aug., 1541] REJOICINGS AT NANCY
A grand tournament was held the following morning, on the Place des Dames in front of the ducal palace, in which many of the Flemish nobles took part, and was followed by a state banquet and ball—"all very sumptuously done," wrote Lord William Howard, the English Ambassador.[316] Then the wedding festivities came to an end, the gay party broke up, and the old city which was henceforth to be Christina's home resumed its wonted air of sleepy tranquillity.