Mary having heard that he was suffering from a slight indisposition, the result of too much dissipation, sent over one of her chamberlains to visit him. Philip sent him back with protestations and thanks, and ordered him to announce to the Queen his firm intention to fulfil his promise to return to her, as soon as he had completed some business which obliged him to go to Antwerp. Before leaving Brussels, the Chamberlain remarked to some of the King’s attendants, that he should gladly be the bearer of this good news, but that he had promised “not to give account of his Majesty’s having twice gone abroad in this wretched weather, and of his dancing at weddings, as he feared lest the Queen who was easily agitated might take it too much to heart”.[591]
But no sooner were Mary’s hopes raised, than they were again dashed to the ground, by an order which Philip’s confessor, Alfonso de Castro; his steward, Don Diego de Azevedo, and the rest of his household received, to proceed immediately to Spain, “An indication” says Michiel,[592] “to some persons that the intentions announced by King Philip to the Queen of his being here at the Epiphany, are mere words”. Badoer, the Venetian ambassador at Brussels, told the Doge[593] that this order had pained her intensely, as she took it for an announcement, either that Philip would not return to England for a long while, or that, should he return, he would shortly afterwards proceed to Spain, as was generally believed. “The King’s confessor has arrived here,” continued Badoer, “and repeated a variety of foul language, uttered by the English, indicating their ill-will towards his Majesty, and the Spanish nation, narrating the following incident, that on seeing him and the rest of the royal attendants depart, they made great rejoicing, well-nigh universally.” Philip’s relations with the English in Brussels, and even with Mary’s ambassador there, were observed to differ widely from the courtesy which had characterised them in England, the outcome perhaps of his irritation towards the nation in general, on account of their persistent unwillingness to proceed to his coronation.
As the subject was much discussed in the official despatches of the time, and as it served to increase the general discontent as well as the Queen’s perplexities, it is deserving of more notice than has been hitherto directed to it.
Mary’s continued inability to overcome the determination of the Council not to bestow on him the Crown matrimonial was perhaps more than anything else the cause of his alienation from a wife whom he had never loved, and from a country which he had every reason to dislike. His dignity and his future stake in the realm appeared to him to be alike threatened by the refusal, and dignity was to Philip the breath of his nostrils, while political considerations had by long habit become paramount over all others.[594] To utilise Mary’s affection for these ends seemed to him as legitimate, as to employ any other means to compass them, and his absence, which caused the unhappy Queen intense pain and grief, was to be a powerful factor in undermining her objections, by the skilful manipulation of hope deferred. Moreover, to the demand for his coronation, he added another of far greater moment, a demand that the English should co-operate with him in the long-talked-of war with France. To his first request Mary replied that she did not venture to propose it in Parliament, so large a number of members of the opposition having been returned, and as for the second, Cardinal Pole, of whom even de Noailles spoke as “un homme pacifique,” sent over the Abbot of San Saluto to confer with him. The following extract from a letter from the Venetian ambassador at Brussels shows the delicacy with which both questions were handled. Badoer says that the Abbot, after treating of the peace “in the name of the Queen, performed an earnest office with his Majesty, apologising for her non-adoption of any of the resolutions desired by him, in the matter of the coronation, or with regard to waging war on the most Christian King, as mentioned in my former letters, telling King Philip that when she looks round, and carefully considers the persons about her, she scarcely knows one who has not injured her, or who would fail to do so again were the opportunity to present itself, and that since she is Queen, the afflictions and perils undergone by her have been, and still are, so great, on account of the religion, and from anxiety to preserve public quiet, besides other vexations, that she knew it to be impossible to form either of these important resolutions, without greatly endangering her crown; but that she hoped, in the course of a short time, to comfort the King with what he seems to desire; and in her Majesty’s name, and as his personal servant, the Abbot exhorted him to go to England as soon as possible, but I have heard from a person of quality that his Majesty is not inclined to do so, and that the Emperor is of a contrary opinion. King Philip however has written back to the Queen, feeding her in general terms with this hope, and suggesting that in the meanwhile she could fill up the important offices now vacant, as he shall be satisfied with any appointment made by her, but recommending Lord Paget and the English ambassador in France (Dr. Wotton) for the Chancellorship.”[595]
The Emperor had already conferred the sovereignty of Naples and Milan on Philip at the time of his marriage; on the 22nd of October 1555 he invested him with the Grand Mastership of the Golden Fleece of Burgundy, the proudest and most coveted of all the military orders of knighthood of that day. These were but the preliminaries for his abdication of the kingdom of the Netherlands, which he now, being only in the fifty-sixth year of his age, formally ceded to his son[596] with the sovereignties of Castile and Arragon and their dependencies. Philip at once despatched a gentleman to England to give Mary notice, and to congratulate her on her being able to style herself the Queen of many and great crowns, and on her being no less their mistress than of her own crown of England. He again assured her that on his return from Antwerp, to which place he was going the next day, he would remain a few days with the Emperor, and then go speedily to her. Confiding in the truth of this assertion, Mary ordered the fleet to drop down towards the sea forthwith, and a guard of 100 halberdiers to be at Dover on the 20th January. The Earl of Pembroke was to hold himself in readiness, from one day to another, to go to Calais to receive his Majesty.[597]
And still Philip came not, nor had he apparently any intention of coming. But seeing little present hope of drawing England into a war with France, he concluded, in February 1556, a truce with Henry II. for five years.
Meanwhile, a formidable plot, known as Dudley’s conspiracy to murder the Queen, and place Elizabeth on the throne, was being hatched in London. It was revealed to Cardinal Pole before the decisive moment, but it was some time before the real nature and object of the design were brought to light. On the 17th March, Michiel notified to the Doge: “For many consecutive days, a comet has been visible as it still is, and with this opportunity, a gang of rogues, some twelve in number, who have been arrested, went about the city, saying we should soon see the Day of Judgment, when everything would be burned and consumed. These knaves, with a number of others, availing themselves of this device, agreed to set fire to several parts of the city, to facilitate their project of murder and robbery, and if this be true, due punishment will be inflicted on them.”[598]
A few days later, the affair assumed a more serious aspect, and on the 24th Michiel continued his report:—
“The suspicion about the conspirators, who proposed setting fire to several quarters of the city, for the sake of plunder, had a different root and origin to what was reported, a plot having been lately discovered of such a nature, that had it been carried into effect as arranged, it would doubtless, as generally believed, considering the ill-will of the majority of the population here on account of the religion, besides their innate love of frequent change and innovation, have placed the Queen and the whole kingdom in great trouble, as it was of greater circuit and extent than had been at first supposed.”
They were to have seized all the public money, by an understanding with the officials of the Exchequer, and to facilitate this, were to set fire to different parts of the city, and to the palace, so that the population being occupied with the conflagration, in the midst of the turmoil, they might do their work freely, and after its accomplishment, escape in two of the Queen’s ships well armed and provisioned.[599]