'Charles (1515)'
In addressing the deputies from the States-General Charles made the following speech: 'Gentlemen, I thank you for the honour and great affection you bear me. Be good and loyal subjects, and I will be your good prince.'
Margaret does not appear to have been consulted about Charles's emancipation until it was an accomplished fact, and we can well understand that, accustomed as she had been to exercise sovereign power for eight years, she felt some secret anxiety in seeing this power taken from her. Monsieur de Croy, Seigneur de Chièvres, had always opposed the princess's administration, and was anxious to exclude her from the government; it was therefore an added blow to know that he would now, as Charles's counsellor, be in a position to deprive her of her nephew's confidence.
Margaret no longer presided at the State Council, and was only appealed to as a matter of form. The emperor's letters were not communicated to her, and she even heard rumours that she was accused of personal avarice and of having been unsuccessful in her rule. She keenly resented these accusations and complained to her father, and also addressed a memorandum to her nephew containing a sketch of her government, and accounts, with a full list of the gifts and payments made out of her private income.
Maximilian replied that he has written to Charles, and encloses a copy of the letter, in which he says: 'We make no doubt, because of the honour and love you owe to our very dear daughter, your aunt, that you communicate your chief and most arduous business to her, and that you take and use her good advice and counsel, from which, for natural reasons, you will always find more comfort, help, and support than from any other. In which, as a royal father, we exhort you always to continue, begging you affectionately to remember the way she laboured during your minority in the administration of your country ... and also that you are her whole heart, hope, and heir,—that you will give her a good allowance, such as she has had until now ... for she has well deserved it from you.'
On August the 20th, 1515, Margaret presented a memorandum to her nephew before the assembled Council containing a justification of her government, which began thus: 'Monseigneur, as I evidently perceive, after having had such long patience, that by divers means they try to give you suspicions of me, your humble aunt, to withdraw me from your goodwill and confidence, which would indeed be a poor recompense for the services which I have rendered you until now, I am constrained to excuse myself....' She bitterly complains of the way she has been put aside, and protests against the calumnies brought against her. To justify her conduct, she recalls her services during Charles's minority, and firmly maintains that she always acted uprightly and loyally without any profit to herself, serving the prince from love, without any thought of gain. If any error should be found in the detailed account presented to the Council, she requests that it may be pointed out to her before the prince, so that she can answer it herself, for 'I prefer,' she says, 'that they should speak before me, than behind my back.' She then relates all the principal acts of her government, from the time the emperor first confided the regency to her care, and recalls her long struggles with the Duke of Gueldres, who, aided and abetted by the King of France, broke all treaties, and feared neither God nor man; and recounts the part she played in the alliance with England, and also at the Treaty of Cambray, which was only brought to a successful issue after much pain and trouble. She indignantly denies that she has been the cause of renewed wars with Gueldres, for far from seeking war, she has ever striven for peace. 'And what has been the reward of all this service and sacrifice?' From the time of her appointment as regent she has given her time and money for her nephew's service, without touching a 'denier,' and spent more than three thousand florins from her own income. The prince's proposed emancipation was kept from her, though had her advice been asked she would not have opposed it; her opinion was no longer asked, and through calumnious imputations it was tried to injure her with her nephew. The payment of her pension was purposely delayed, though every nobleman could count on receiving the allowance due to him. 'If mine is larger,' she adds, addressing herself to her nephew, 'I am also your only aunt, and have no other son nor heir but you, and I know of no one to whom your honour is dearer than to me. You can rest assured, Monseigneur, that when it pleases you to make use of my services, and hold and treat me with the esteem which is reasonable, I will serve you well and loyally, not sparing my person or my goods, as I have done heretofore. But if you are pleased to give ear to what they tell you against me, and allow me to be treated as I see they have begun to do, I would much rather look after my own small affairs and gracefully retire, as I have already begged the emperor to allow me to do by my secretary, Marnix, when he was lately with him.'
After the young prince had listened to this eloquent justification, he declared, and the Chancellor agreed, 'that Madame was held fully discharged from all things, with many other fine words and promises.' On the back of the paper is a note containing the names of the councillors present when Charles received the document, and at the end is a full account of the money received at different times from the Flemish States, and an appendix showing the various gifts from Margaret's own collection of treasures which she gave for the service of her government during her regency.
Peace was once more restored, and we hear of Margaret accompanying Charles at the various festivities which marked his majority.
The following extract is from Margaret's memorandum of gifts and sacrifices made by her during regency:—
'1. To the Duke of Juliers, who had accompanied her on her return from Germany, a large silver-gilt goblet, weighing sixteen marks, which had been given to her by the town of Antwerp.