Margaret made her entry into Cambray at three o'clock on the afternoon of July 5th, 1529, accompanied by a brilliant suite, and was welcomed by the Cardinal of Liége and Monseigneur von Ysselstein, who had preceded her. The Bishop of Cambray, the Archbishop of Palermo, Count Hochstrate, and many others accompanied the procession which slowly wound its way through the town to the abbey of St. Aubert. Margaret was seated in a magnificent litter, surrounded by a guard of twenty-four archers on horseback, dressed in black suits edged with velvet, and followed by a train of ladies mounted on palfreys. At the abbey, where rooms had been retained for her and her ladies, she alighted, and awaited the arrival of the queen-regent. Two hours later Louise of Savoy made her entry, accompanied by her daughter, the Queen of Navarre, and the Countess of Vendôme; and were immediately conducted to Margaret's apartments, where they remained in conversation with her for two hours. They then retired to the Hôtel St. Paul, opposite the abbey, but connected with it by a temporary covered way which had been erected for the convenience of the princesses, who could thus visit each other unseen. Many years had passed since Margaret and Louise had last met, for they had parted when Margaret set forth on her wedding journey to marry Louise's brother, Philibert of Savoy, and we can imagine that the meeting between the two princesses must have been one not unmixed with pain. For three weeks they remained together, discussing the political situation from all sides. At last, on the 24th of July, at ten o'clock in the morning, peace was proclaimed, but was again broken for various reasons, and in despair the queen-mother threatened to leave. However, a few days later all differences were satisfactorily settled, and the treaty ratified on the last day of July. Margaret again won general admiration for the able way in which she conducted this difficult negotiation. For this treaty, known as 'the Ladies' Peace,' was as advantageous to Spain and the Netherlands as it was humiliating to France. The terms were, in fact, a mitigation of those of the Treaty of Madrid. It was agreed that the restitution of Burgundy was not for the present to be insisted on, though the claim was still maintained. But the king's sons were to be set at liberty on the payment of 2,000,000 crowns, and the marriage with the emperor's sister Eleanor was now to be consummated. King Francis was to abandon all his allies, and renounce his claims on the suzerainty of Flanders and Artois, and abstain from sending further help to the Duke of Gueldres or Robert de la Marck. Charolais was to belong to Margaret for her lifetime, and after her decease to the emperor, but was to revert to the crown of France at his death. The possessions of the Duke of Bourbon and the Prince of Orange were to be ceded to Francis. On the 5th of August the two princesses, attended by the Papal Legate, Salviati, the ambassadors of King Ferdinand and of the King of England, repaired to the cathedral of Notre-Dame, where a solemn mass was celebrated by Robert de Croy, Bishop of Cambray, who preached a sermon on the benefits of peace. The princesses and the English ambassador then knelt before the high altar, and swore on the consecrated Host and the Gospels to faithfully observe the peace just concluded. After which the Dean of Cambray advanced and in a loud voice proclaimed that peace had been concluded between the Pope; the Emperor Charles; Francis, King of France; Ferdinand, King of Bohemia and Hungary; and Henry, King of England. A separate peace between King Henry and Madame Margaret was also proclaimed. The choir chanted a Te Deum, and with a blare of trumpets and clashing of cymbals the heralds announced to the waiting crowds that 'Peace was made.'

The princesses were then conducted with much pomp to their lodgings, and money was thrown broadcast amongst the people, whilst wine flowed freely from fountains in the streets, and the whole town gave itself up to merriment and rejoicing.[139] A beautiful carved wooden mantelpiece was also erected in the council-chamber of the Hôtel of the Liberty at Bruges to commemorate the capture of Francis I. at Pavia, and the consequent treaty of peace between the nations at Cambray. In the centre the statue of Charles V. stands in complete armour, surrounded by twenty-seven shields of various kingdoms with which he was allied. On his right are his paternal grandparents, Maximilian I. and Mary of Burgundy, whilst on his left are his maternal ancestors, Ferdinand and Isabella. This beautiful wooden trophy was the work of Hermann Glosencamp, Andreas Rasch, and Roger de Smet, after a design and under the direction of Lancelot Blondel of Bruges and Guyot de Beaugrant of Malines.[140]

CARVED WOODEN MANTLEPIECE IN THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE, BRUGES,
TO COMMEMORATE THE PEACE OF CAMBRAY
[View larger image]

Clémont Marot and Jean Second also celebrated 'the Ladies' Peace' in verse, though their poems are not of a very high order.

Francis I. awaited the issue of the Congress at the abbey of Mont Saint Martin, and on hearing of the conclusion of peace he set out on the 9th of August to pay Margaret a visit at Cambray, and was present at the festivities given by his mother at the Hôtel Saint Paul. Margaret was anxious to conciliate Francis, who was so soon to become the husband of her niece Eleanor, and during the days they all spent together at Cambray she succeeded in making great friends with him; and Massé, who was an eye-witness, tells us that he left on the 20th for Paris 'quite delighted' with his visit.

A few weeks later we find him writing pathetic letters to Margaret begging her to use her influence with the emperor that his sons (who were kept in Spain until their ransom was paid) might be better treated, for he heard through his officer, Bodin, that they were not as happy as he could wish. Margaret was touched at this mark of the king's confidence, and wrote a long letter to the emperor, begging him to grant Francis's request, for 'Monseigneur, God has given you the blessing of beautiful children, so that you may better feel what a father's love is worth, and can sympathise with the sorrow of the said king; wherefore I beg of you to ... grant his request, which is so just and reasonable....—Your very humble aunt, Margaret.'

Shortly after, the long-delayed marriage between Francis and Eleanor was consummated, the king receiving his sons from the hands of his bride at Bayonne, where he met them at the frontier. The Marshal of Montmorency, who accompanied King Francis, thus writes to Margaret from St. Jean de Luz:—'Madame, I found the queen, whom I have been to see the last few days since her arrival at the frontier, so wise, beautiful, and honest a lady, who conversed with me in as kind and pleasant a manner as possible ... and we ought again to thank God for having given us so good and virtuous a lady, of whom it seems to me that I cannot express to you a third part of the good and honesteté that I found in her.'

Margaret also received constant news from England concerning the progress of Queen Katharine's affairs. In September 1529 Eustace Chapuys had written to her from London telling her of an audience he had had with King Henry, and later with Queen Katharine. The conference with the king, he said, would have been much longer and more to the purpose had not his Majesty been in a hurry to go to dinner in order to repair afterwards to the hunting-field ... as he is in the habit of doing at this season of the year. As usual the conversation turned chiefly on the queen's business, the king treating the matter as one in which he was deeply concerned, and which he had much at heart, and trying to appear very learned in canon law. After dinner the king gave permission for Chapuys to be conducted to the queen's apartments in order that he might deliver the emperor's letter to her. During the interview her Majesty thanked him for all he had said in her favour. On the 27th of September Chapuys wrote another long despatch to Margaret giving lengthy details of a further audience with the king, in which the subject of the queen's divorce was once more fully discussed.[141]

Immediately after the ratification of the Treaty of Cambray Margaret and Louise entered into a negotiation to consolidate the peace by a double marriage between the emperor's children and those of King Francis. From Bologna, where he had gone for his double coronation, Charles sent Margaret the necessary powers to treat in his name. In this document, which is published amongst the State papers of the Cardinal of Granvelle, he says:—'Because of the very great, perfect, and entire confidence which we have in our said lady and aunt, as in ourselves, and in her experience and prudence, which was shown in the conducting, concluding, and perfecting of the said peace made at Cambray, we have by these presents constituted and made our aunt our general and special proxy, etc....'