Loud was the outcry, not only at Rome and Madrid, but even amongst the High Catholic party in France, against the “State Cardinal” who was trampling the Church beneath his feet.[26] The Pope made less noise than his partisans; he recognised that a new power had arisen in France, and he had no desire to suffer worse things at the hands of this redoubtable Minister. He contented himself by sending his nephew, Cardinal Francisco Barberini,[27] as Legate to France to lodge a formal protest and endeavour to accommodate the affair, and hastened to despatch the dispensation for the marriage of Henriette-Marie, which had been long awaited. Richelieu had caused a gentle hint to be conveyed to the Holy Father that, if his consent were any longer withheld, it might be necessary to celebrate the marriage without it.
Richelieu did not rest content with the recovery of the Valtellina. He concerted with the Duke of Savoy a movement which, if successful, would shake the Spanish power in Northern Italy to its foundations. A quarrel between Charles Emmanuel and Genoa was to form the pretext for an invasion of the territory of that republic; the Duke would attack, and France would furnish an auxiliary army. Genoa was, not only the ally, but the banker of Spain, and its capture would bring about a financial panic in that country, and, at the same time, interrupt her maritime communications with the Milanese.
At the beginning of 1625 all was in readiness; Charles Emmanuel had mobilised his army; a considerable force under the command of Lesdiguières was being collected on the frontier; and the Dutch had promised to send a squadron to the Mediterranean to assist in the blockade of Genoa. Suddenly, to the astonishment and indignation of Richelieu, and, indeed, of all patriotic Frenchmen, came the news of a fresh Huguenot insurrection. The Rochellois, angry and alarmed that their repeated demands for the destruction of Fort Saint-Louis, the bugbear of their town, had had no effect, had imagined the moment favourable to secure by a recourse to arms what they despaired of obtaining by any other means. They had appealed to Rohan and Soubise, and the two brothers had been so blind to the interests both of their country and their faith as to agree to co-operate with them. On January 17, Soubise, in command of a number of vessels fitted out by the Rochellois, seized the Île de Ré, and captured in the harbour of Blavet, on the Breton coast, seven royal vessels which lay there, after which he laid siege to the fort which commanded the place.
On the news of Soubise’s proceedings, the Duc de Vendôme, governor of Brittany, had raised all the noblesse of the province and what infantry he could muster to oppose him; but a report reached the King that Vendôme was actually in league with Soubise and the Rochellois, and that they had attacked Blavet at his instigation, and with the intention of handing it over to him. Upon this Louis XIII despatched Bassompierre to Brittany, with full powers to take what action he considered necessary against Vendôme, in the event of this information being correct. The marshal left Paris on January 28 and proceeded to Angers, where he gave orders that a regiment which was in garrison there should follow him to Brittany so soon as possible, with four pieces of cannon. He then went to Nantes, where he arranged with the governor to furnish him with as many men as he could raise. On arriving at Hennebon, however, he learned that Soubise had abandoned the siege of the fort at Blavet and sailed away, carrying off with him six of the seven ships which he had seized; the other he had been obliged to abandon, together with one of his own ships, which had been damaged by collision with a jetty at the entrance to the harbour.
The following day he proceeded to Blavet, where he found Vendôme with the force which he had raised to oppose Soubise. The prince was greatly distressed to learn that he was suspected of being in collusion with the rebels, and wished to know whether Bassompierre intended to request the Parlement of Rennes to hold an inquiry into his conduct. But the marshal, having satisfied himself that, though “César Monsieur,” as he was called, was not a person in whom much confidence could be reposed, he was, on this occasion at any rate, innocent of the charge which had been brought against him, assured him that he had no such intention. About the middle of February he returned to Paris to render an account of his journey to the King, and to assure him of the innocence of his half-brother, at which his Majesty was doubtless much relieved. However, before many months had passed, Louis XIII was obliged to place his restless relative under lock and key.
After his descent upon Blavet, Soubise seized the Île d’Oléron, and by the spring, thanks to the exertions of Rohan, the Huguenots in Upper Languedoc, Quercy, and the Cévennes were in revolt. It is true that even in these districts many stood aloof and refused to embarrass the Government at a time when it was engaged in hostilities with the most implacable enemies of their faith; but the insurrection was sufficiently formidable to cause great uneasiness, and to necessitate the retention at home of troops which might otherwise have been employed beyond the Alps. In these circumstances, it was impossible for Richelieu to push the war in Liguria with the vigour which he had intended. “It was then,” writes Bassompierre, “that the Cardinal de Richelieu said wisely to the King that, so long as there was a party established within his realm, it would never be possible to undertake anything outside it; and that he ought to think of exterminating it before meditating other designs.” On April 9 the Duke of Savoy defeated the Genoese and Spaniards before Voltaggio, and a fortnight later the Constable took Gavi. But, acting doubtless in accordance with the orders of the French Government, Lesdiguières declined to undertake the siege of Genoa without a fleet, and Charles Emmanuel pressed him in vain.
The death of James I, which occurred on March 27, 1625, did not delay the marriage of his son—now Charles I—and Henriette-Marie, which was celebrated in Notre-Dame on May 11, the Duc de Chevreuse acting as proxy for the King. On the 24th Buckingham arrived unexpectedly to escort the bride to England, and caused, Bassompierre tells us, a great sensation, “both by his person, which was very handsome, and by his jewels and apparel and his great liberality.”
Buckingham tried to persuade Richelieu to sign the League of the North and couple the restoration of the Palatinate with the Valtellina question; but the Cardinal was disinclined to surrender France’s liberty of action, besides which, the presumptuous and frivolous favourite did not inspire him with any confidence.
Bassompierre was one of the nobles appointed to escort the new Queen of England to Boulogne, where she embarked on June 22. But, unfortunately, he preserves a discreet silence concerning certain incidents which occurred en route, as it would be interesting to have his version of the romance of “M. de Bocquinguem” and Anne of Austria, which so profoundly irritated Louis XIII against his consort and laid the foundations of that ill-will which for a time prevailed between England and France.
In September the islands of Ré and Oléron were retaken, and the fleet of the Rochellois defeated by Montmorency, who commanded the King’s ships. But in Liguria things were going badly for France. The Swiss had allowed more than 20,000 Austrians to pass into Italy to the assistance of the Spanish and Genoese, who had carried the war into Piedmont and laid siege to Verrua, while the Valtellina was also threatened. Reinforcements were urgently demanded, and one morning, while the Privy Council was sitting, Louis XIII sent for Bassompierre, offered him the command of the new army which he proposed to despatch into Italy, and asked what troops he would require. The marshal “spoke as well as God wished to inspire him on this matter,” and answered that if his Majesty would permit him to choose 6,000 foot and 800 horse from the Army of Champagne, he would send at once into Switzerland to raise 4,000 men, who would join him at Geneva, and that with these forces he would engage, not only to force the enemy to raise the siege of Verrue, but to capture some places in the Milanese.