[1504] Alva to Philip II, April 5, May 22, 1572, in Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II, II, 239. In December, 1570, the marshal Cossé was sent to La Rochelle. In March, 1571, Cossé and Biron were sent a second time.
[1505] See Walsingham, Letter of August 12, 1571, to Leicester. He gained a great ascendency over Charles IX (Languet, Epist. ad Camer., 132-36, 140. “Count Ludovic is the King’s avowed pensioner.”)—C. S. P. For., No. 2,156, November 29, 1571. Some of his correspondence is in Archives de la maison d’Orange-Nassau, III.
[1506] On the secret interview of Charles IX, Louis of Nassau, and La Noue at Blois, see D’Aubigné, Book VI, chap. i, 282; Mémoires de la Huguerye, I, 25. The Dutch cause suffered fearfully in this autumn. On November 1 and 2 a frightful storm made terrible inundations on the coast; hundreds of vessels were wrecked; in West Frisia alone nearly 20,000 persons were drowned (Archives de la maison d’Orange-Nassau, III, 385).
[1507] For details, see Capefigue, III, 44. Charles IX gave evasive replies to all the remonstrances of the Spanish ambassador (Languet, Epist. secr., I, 177, August 15, 1571).
[1508] C. S. P. For., No. 1,578, Walsingham to Cecil; Nég. Tosc., III, 694.
[1509] Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II sur les Pays-Bas, II, 239—Alva to Philip II, April 5, 1572; cf. p. 250; Archives de la maison d’Orange-Nassau, III, 441. The Prince of Orange in 1569 began the practice of issuing letters of marque and reprisal in virtue of his position as sovereign prince of Orange. As a result in the next year the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay were crowded with vessels hostile to Spain. The most famous of these marauders soon destined to become known as the “Beggars of the Sea” was Adrian de Bergues. On one occasion within the space of two days, he overhauled and captured two merchant fleets, the one of 40, the other of 60 sail (Arch. de la maison d’Orange-Nassau, III, 351). Upon the importance of La Rochelle as a seaport, see La Noue, chap. xxviii. Some of Strozzi’s correspondence when in command of the fleet before La Rochelle in 1572 is in F. Fr., XV, 555; cf. Nég. Tosc., III, 760-63.
[1510] C. S. P. For., No. 1,921, August 12, 1571. Languet makes Charles IX’s reply less emphatic than this. Languet, Epist. secr., I, 177, August 15, 1571. I am inclined to believe that Walsingham colored the anecdote. Languet shows the hesitations and vacillations of Charles IX, pp. 132, 136, 140. The Spanish ambassador’s grounds of fear for Flanders were the more substantial because the garrisons that had occupied St. Jean-d’Angély, Niort, Saintes, and Angoulême during the late war were newly stationed in the border fortresses of Picardy. To Alava’s alarmed inquiry Charles IX blandly replied that “the reason why these troops were sent to the frontiers was to give them employment, because if the King had disbanded them all at once the soldiery might have mutinied for lack of pay” (C. S. P. Ven., No. 499, February 19, 1571; No. 575, August 1, 1571).
[1511] “The only impediment to the marriage between the prince of Navarre and the lady Margaret is religion.”—C. S. P. For., No. 2,038, Walsingham to Cecil, September 16, 1571. The whole matter was referred to eight counselors to settle: those of the Huguenots were Jeanne d’Albret, La Noue, Louis of Nassau, and Francourt (C. S. P. For., March 29, 1572; Archives de la maison d’Orange-Nassau, III, 417). The Pope made objection that, aside from the difference of religion, the parents of Henry of Navarre and Marguerite of Valois were relatives within the third degree, and refused to grant the dispensation for the marriage (Nég. Tosc., III, 712-14). To this demur the Huguenots triumphantly argued that it was not necessary for the Pope or any other priest to give dispensation, since it was a royal marriage and it was not fitting for the King’s authority to be demeaned by that of the church (Claude Haton, II, 661). There was violent opposition by radical Huguenots, especially the pastors, to the marriage, and fear lest the Pope’s refusal to grant a dispensation might lead to a rupture between France and Rome like that of England under Henry VIII (Nég. Tosc., III, 733 and 740). Finally it was arranged that the marriage should be celebrated by a priest of the church of Rome, and that Henry would accompany his wife to mass in the church where the ceremony was to be held, but that he was to retire before the service so that he was neither to be present at the mass nor hear it said (ibid., 662 and note, 663, note). The cardinal of Lorraine, with his usual “trimming” wrote to the queen mother: “Madame, je vous baise très humblement les mains de ce qu’il vous plaît me mander la conclusion du marriage de madame vostre fille, puisqu’il est au contentement de vos majestés et selon les désirs des catholiques.”—Collection des autographes, No. 278, April 17, 1572.
For the preliminaries of the marriage of Marguerite of Valois and Henry of Navarre see Revue des deux mondes, October 1, 1884, pp. 560-64.
[1512] C. S. P. Ven., No. 516; August 15, 1571. Spain and France clashed in Switzerland, too, at this time. For Switzerland refused to permit forces to fight the Turk on the ground that the Swiss were unused to maritime warfare, yet the Grisons and the Tyrol raised two regiments for the French King (ibid., For., No. 189, March 25, 1572, from Heidelberg or Strasburg).