The same indecisive warfare as before was carried on through the year. The Prince of Orange, who now held the chief command, succeeded in keeping the foe at bay, and built the citadels of Charlemont and Philippeville for the defence of the frontier. But everyone was heartily tired of the campaign, and both parties gladly availed themselves of the opportunity afforded by an exchange of prisoners, to renew negotiations in the autumn. Christina once more exerted herself in this direction, and Vaudemont, who came to Brussels in October to take leave of the Emperor, was employed to make fresh overtures to the French King. But many months passed before any conclusion was reached.[503]
Charles had always hoped that his sister would remain at her post when he left the Netherlands, feeling how invaluable her help would prove to Philip. But Mary was inflexible on this point. In a noble letter which she wrote at the end of August, she reminded him that fifteen years before she had begged to be released from her arduous post in order to devote herself to the care of her unhappy mother, and that, now this privilege could no longer be hers, she wished to spend the rest of her life in Spain with her sister, Queen Eleanor.
"And however great," she adds significantly, "my affection for the King my nephew may be," in Badoer's graphic phrase, "he hates and is hated by her"—"Your Majesty will understand that at my age it would be very hard to begin learning my ABC over again. A woman of fifty, who has held office twenty-four years, ought, it seems to me, to be content to serve one God and one Master for the rest of her life."[504]
There was nothing more to be said, and Charles agreed to Philip's wish that for the present the Duke of Savoy should be appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Low Countries. At length Philip succeeded in tearing himself from the arms of his sorrowful Queen, promising to be back in a fortnight or three weeks. From her palace windows at Greenwich, Mary waved her last farewells to the King, as he sailed down the Thames. He for his part was nothing loth to leave his fretful and melancholy wife, and was satisfied that she would never bear him a child.
On the 8th of September he reached Brussels, and went straight to see his father in the Casino, near the Louvain gate of the park, where he was spending the hot weather. Charles embraced his son tenderly, and after an hour's conversation Philip went on to sup with Queen Mary and Christina on their return from hunting. On the 17th and 18th he attended the Requiem Masses held in S. Gudule for the late Queen Joanna, and afterwards joined in a grand hunting-party given by the Regent in his honour.
Oct., 1555] THE EMPEROR'S ABDICATION
The nobles now flocked to Brussels to be present at the Emperor's abdication. The Prince of Orange arrived from the camp near Liége, and his young wife, Anne of Egmont, was hospitably entertained by the Duchess of Aerschot. Friday, the 25th of October, was the day fixed for the great ceremony. On this afternoon, at three o'clock, the Emperor left the Casino with Philip and the Duke of Savoy, and rode to the palace on his mule. An hour later he entered the great hall, hung with the tapestries of Gideon's Fleece, wearing his mourning robes and the collar of the Order, and leaning on the Prince of Orange's arm. He was followed by Mary of Hungary, Philip, and the Duke of Savoy, who took their places on the daïs at the Emperor's side, while the Knights of the Fleece, the great nobles and Ambassadors, occupied seats below. The deputies, over a thousand in number, who thronged the hall, rose to their feet to receive the Emperor, and then sat down to hear the chief Councillor, Philibert of Brussels, deliver a speech, explaining the reasons for His Majesty's abdication. Then Charles himself addressed the vast assembly. In moving words he recalled the day, forty years before, when, a boy of fifteen, he had been declared of age by his grandfather, the Emperor Maximilian, and glanced briefly at the long record of wars and journeys, and the other chief events of his reign. Finally he commended his successor to them, asking them to serve his son as well as they had served him, and begging his loyal subjects to pardon him for any injustice which he might unwittingly have done them. Tears rolled down the great Emperor's cheeks as he spoke these last words, and Sir Thomas Gresham, who was present, says that there was not a dry eye in the whole assembly.
Christina was present on this memorable occasion. In contemporary prints she is represented standing by the side of the Regent's chair, listening with breathless attention to every word that fell from her uncle's lips. She saw the pathetic scene between the father and son, when Charles, raising Philip from his knees and clasping him in his arms, gave him the investiture of the Provinces, and, turning to the deputies, in a broken voice asked them to excuse his tears, which flowed for love of them. And she listened with still greater emotion to the touching words in which Mary begged the Emperor and the States to forgive whatever mistakes she had made out of ignorance or incapacity, and thanked them from the depth of her heart for their unfailing love and loyalty. Her speech produced a fresh burst of tears, after which Charles thanked his sister for her long and faithful services, and Maes, the Pensionary of Antwerp, bore eloquent testimony to the undying love and gratitude which the States felt for the Queen who had governed them so well.
There were still many formalities to be gone through, many farewells to be said, before Charles could lay down the sovereign power. On the day after his abdication, the Archduke Ferdinand, his favourite nephew, arrived with affectionate messages from his father, who found it impossible to leave Vienna as long as the war with the Turks lasted. The next day he went hunting with the King, Mary, and Christina, and dined with them and Eleanor. On the 3rd of November he left Brussels again after all too short a visit, as Charles wrote to his brother.