CHARLES V. (1548)
By Titian (Munich)
To face p. [322]
The Emperor remained at Augsburg throughout the summer, endeavouring to effect a lasting settlement of the religious question. On the 30th of June the so-called "Interim" was proclaimed, a compromise which satisfied no one, and was described by Thomas Hoby, a young Englishman who came to Augsburg this summer on his way to Italy, as an attempt to set up the old Babylon again in Germany.[407] A fortnight later the Diet was prorogued, and Charles started for the Netherlands, where he arrived on the 8th of September, after more than two years' absence.
A few weeks before his arrival a marriage had taken place, greatly to Mary's satisfaction, between the widowed Princess of Orange and the Duke of Aerschot.[408] This nobleman, the premier peer of the realm and doyen of the Golden Fleece, had lost his second wife in 1544, but was still in the prime of life, and, as his daughter-in-law, Louise de Guise, told her sister, was honoured and beloved throughout the Netherlands. Christina could not herself be present at the wedding, but her brother-in-law Nicolas went to Brussels to give his sister away. Here he fell in love with Count Egmont's sister Margaret, and asked her hand in marriage. This alliance met with the warm approval of the Emperor and the Regent, but caused Christina many searchings of heart. Already more than one attempt had been made by the Guises to marry Vaudemont to a French bride, and she feared that this union would excite great displeasure in some quarters. In her alarm she wrote to the Emperor, begging him to forbid the marriage as dangerous to the welfare of her State. Charles, however, declined to interfere, and sent Granvelle's brother, Chantonnay, to advise his niece politely to mind her own business.
"Since the Count of Vaudemont is bent on marrying," he wrote to his Envoy, "it is far better that he should come here for a wife than go to France; and the Duchess need not feel in any way responsible for the alliance, which is entirely his own doing.... And, indeed, I do not see how he could honourably break his word, since we ourselves urged our cousins of Egmont to agree to his proposals. But tell him to come here as soon as he can, to prevent the French from making any more mischief!"[409]
Dec., 1548] ADOLF OF HOLSTEIN
There was nothing more to be said, and the wedding was celebrated in the Court chapel at Brussels, after vespers, on the 23rd of January, 1549. The bride, richly clad in cloth of gold and decked with priceless gems, was led to the altar by the Queen, while Charles brought in the bridegroom. A banquet and masque were afterwards held in the palace, at the close of which Mary once more took the bride by the hand and conducted her into the nuptial chamber, hung with crimson brocade and costly tapestries. The next morning the newly-wedded Countess appeared at Mass, in another costume of green velvet embroidered in silver, and jousts and dances succeeded each other during the following three days, ending with a magnificent banquet given by the Duchess of Aerschot.[410]
Among the company present on this occasion was the Dowager Queen Eleanor, who came to Brussels on the 5th of December, to make her home with her beloved brother and sister. On his death-bed Francis I. was seized with remorse for the way in which he had neglected his wife, and begged his daughter Margaret to atone for his shortcomings. But although Margaret carried out her father's last instructions faithfully, and asked his widow to remain at Court, the new King showed his stepmother scanty kindness, and Eleanor left France with few regrets. Another guest at Margaret of Egmont's wedding was Christina's cousin, Duke Adolf of Holstein, the King of Denmark's youngest brother. Most of his life had been spent in Germany, and he had taken part in the campaign of Mühlberg with his friend Albert of Brandenburg. Now, following the wild Marquis's example, he came to Brussels in October, 1548, and entered the Emperor's service. This new recruit was cordially welcomed, and gave a signal proof of his valour by carrying off the first prize in the tournament held at the palace.
Christina herself maintained the prudent attitude which she had adopted with regard to Vaudemont's marriage, and refused to countenance by her presence a union which excited much unfriendly criticism in France. Two other weddings in which she was also keenly interested took place about the same time. On the 20th of October her old suitor, the brilliant and volatile Duke of Vendôme, was married at Moulins to Jeanne d'Albret, the heiress of Navarre. This strong-minded Princess, who refused to wed the Duke of Cleves, and took objection to Aumale because his brother was the husband of Diane de Poitiers's daughter, fell suddenly in love with Vendôme, and insisted on marrying him in spite of her mother's opposition. So radiant was Jeanne on her wedding-day that King Henry declared her to be the most joyous bride whom he had ever seen. Six weeks later Aumale himself was married at St. Germain to Anna d'Este, daughter of Duke Ercole II. of Ferrara and Renée of France. Ronsard sang the praises of this Italian Venus who had taken the Mars of France for her lord, and Vendôme, gay and inconsequent as ever, sent his old rival in war and love a merry letter, bidding him follow his good example, and stay at home to play the good husband.[411] This union with the King's first cousin satisfied the highest ambitions of the Guises, while Anna's charm and goodness were a source of lasting content to Duchess Antoinette. Christina was one of the first to greet the bride on her arrival at Joinville. At first the two Princesses, Brantôme tells us, looked at each other shyly, but with evident curiosity. The tale of Aumale's courtship was well known, and Christina naturally felt keen interest in the Este Princess who came from Beatrice's home and was the cousin of Francesco Sforza. "Anna," writes the chronicler, "was tall and beautiful, but very gentle and amiable. The two ladies met and conversed together, and were soon the best of friends."[412]