The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria

by Eleanor E. Tremayne

'Madame! may our Lord have you in His holy keeping. Written at Toledo, the 13th of August.

'Further, madame, ... I have ratified the neutrality of Burgundy, as you desire, and I have included you, as well as my brother the archduke and all your country and subjects, in the treaty for the cessation of hostilities, which has been here negotiated; and in all I may be able to do for you, for your affairs and your welfare, I shall always and most willingly do the same for you, my good mother and aunt, as for myself, praying God to give you all your heart's desire. Written at Toledo, the 15th of August 1525.'[108]

We can imagine how much upset Margaret must have been at receiving this severe rebuke which was called forth by the report that the emperor had just received from his ambassadors in London giving an account of an interview they had had with Wolsey, in which he expressed great surprise and annoyance at the truce which Margaret had just concluded with France. 'The treaties of Windsor stipulated,' he said, 'that neither of the contracting parties was to conclude a truce without the consent and full approval of the other one. We have so far adhered to this, that, though the king has been often solicited by the French, he has never given his consent to it.... I should never have thought that, after so many stipulations, promises, and declarations made by madame, she would have been the first to break through them.

'... Any plans and designs which the emperor, Mons. de Bourbon, and the king, my master, may have formed in this particular matter are ruined for ever through madame having granted this truce to our common enemy.

'... In fact, I do not know how I shall be able to appease the king's anger when he hears of it, for he has always maintained that madame was incapable of doing anything in this matter without letting him know first. The perplexity and doubt by which madame is said to be assailed, and which have induced her to take this step, are no excuse for her acting thus; for she ought first to have consulted the king, my master, and stated her reasons, instead of deciding, as she has done, for herself, and then sending an agent to acquaint him with her resolution, which was by no means an honourable proceeding....'[109]

Margaret's reply to her nephew explaining her reasons for her conduct has unfortunately not been preserved, but she evidently found means to soothe his anger, for ere long they were again on the best of terms. Charles was genuinely devoted to his aunt and held her in the highest esteem, and to the end of her life Margaret enjoyed his full confidence, and was always consulted by him on every occasion of importance.

King Francis had been brought to Spain in June, but it was not until August that he was removed from Valencia and its neighbourhood to Madrid. On his arrival in the latter town he was bitterly disappointed to learn that the emperor was away hunting in Segovia, for he had hoped much from a personal interview and his own powers of persuasion. Although comfortably lodged and treated with every mark of respect, the unaccustomed life of seclusion soon told on his health, and the report spread that he was dangerously ill. On hearing of his illness his sister Margaret, Duchess of Alençon, hastened to Spain, provided with full powers from her mother, the regent, to treat for peace. On the evening of September the 18th Charles was out hunting when he received the news that the French king was dying. Immediately he set out for Madrid, and without hardly drawing rein he rode straight to the Alcazar. Francis was asleep when he arrived, but the emperor waited until his prisoner awoke, and then as the invalid slowly raised himself, exclaiming, 'Here I am, my lord emperor, your servant and your slave!' courteously replied, 'Not so; you are my good friend and brother, and I hope that you will always be so.' He begged Francis to keep up his spirits, and only to think of getting well: saying 'that when his sister the Duchess of Alençon arrived, peace and liberty would soon follow, for he only asked for what was reasonable, and did not doubt that Francis would do what was just.'[110] The next day Charles paid the king another visit, and was equally kind and considerate, leaving him very much improved in health. As the emperor descended the stairs from the invalid's room, he met the Duchess of Alençon, who had just arrived, and after warmly greeting her, conducted her to her brother. The Duchess Margaret was a very attractive, graceful woman, and Charles had been warned by his Ministers not to receive her, for as they said, 'Being young and a widow she comes ... to see and to be seen,' and they feared that the emperor might fall in love with her; but though Charles kissed her and had private interviews, not all her charms could make him relax one point in his conditions of her brother's release. After many fruitless efforts and endless discussions Margaret was obliged to return to France without having secured the much-desired peace. On the 19th of November 1525 Perrenot de Granvelle[111] wrote a long letter to Margaret of Austria from Toledo, giving her an account of the Duchess of Alençon's visit:—

'Madame!... In fulfilment of your wishes, and in accordance with the good pleasure of the emperor, ... I forthwith went to take your letters to the king (Francis I.), and on your part to pay him a visit. I had long audiences with him, at four different times after the fever had subsided, when I found him in a good disposition to receive me, though extremely weak from the severity of his malady. He told me that he and his kingdom were much indebted to you, madame, for the desire you had manifested for peace, and a good intelligence and amity between the emperor and him, and consequently for his deliverance; which, if God should please to grant, he must always esteem you, even as a second mother, with whose advice and counsel he should be happy to govern his affairs; adding many other fair and courteous expressions. On this subject and his ardent desire for peace, as well as for the friendship and good graces of the emperor, he spoke much, devising at large the means of effecting it, and always recurring to the idea of a marriage as the principal thing to build upon. He also repeated his assurances of the desire he had to contribute to the aggrandisement of the emperor, and to assist in forwarding all his enterprises, referring all the means and details to the aforesaid Madame d'Alençon.... Madame! I met on my journey the said lady, and delivered to her your letters; and whilst I had this opportunity, with the knowledge and will of the emperor, I went to visit her, and have reason to think that I gave satisfaction without any cause of distrust on the one side or the other.

'Madame! I have since recovered the copy of the letter which the emperor had written to M. de Praet, and of other writings which I now send, as a summary of the communications which here took place. At the commencement, the said lady recapitulated the proposition which had already been entertained respecting the marriage, the ransom, or the cession of the duchy (of Burgundy) on condition that it should be pronounced by the Parliament of Paris a possession belonging of right to the king, who would be ready to give hostages in this case, to ensure its surrender. On this point, however, the emperor declared, as he had before done, without any reference to the marriage, that no ransom would satisfy him, nothing less than the duchy, his ancient heritage, the foundation of his order, of which he bore the name and arms, rejecting the conditions attached to it as wholly inadmissible. Some days afterwards, the said lady made a proposition to the emperor, who went to visit her at her lodgings, to choose arbitrators, which he had before refused, and which he then, as she told me the same day, was ready to agree to. Afterwards, however, when she was in conference with the ambassadors, they came to a standstill when they touched on the aforesaid condition relating to the Parliament of Paris, and the hostages which the emperor, they maintain, would not accept.... Communications have passed in writing on both sides, of which the result has been nothing more than is above related. They have now taken their leave, both the Duchess of Alençon and the ambassadors, declaring that the king has fully made up his mind not to resign the said duchy except on the condition already proposed, choosing rather to submit to perpetual imprisonment; and this very day the said lady has sent to demand her passports, that she may return to France under the same security as she travelled hither, which has been granted her. No further movements or proposals have since taken place, the emperor continuing in the same determination to obtain possession of the duchy; and if the said lady takes her departure, as appears her intention, the hope of peace which has been excited by her arrival, and the subsequent attempts at negotiation, as well as by the arbitration supposed to be agreed on, will altogether vanish for the present.

'Madame! On Sunday last, the 15th of this month, I received by Richard the letters and other papers which you were pleased to send me. The emperor was at that time on a hunting expedition five leagues hence, with a few attendants, having previously taken leave of the Duchess of Alençon; and on his return I presented to him your letters. I discussed with him at length the two principal points relative to the peace or truce, and the commercial arrangements in which your country is concerned.... To all this his Majesty gave a willing ear, and seemed to take in good part all that was said....