BOOK XII
THE PEACE OF CÂTEAU-CAMBRÉSIS
1557-1559
I.
The lull that followed the decisive battle of St. Quentin afforded the Duchess of Lorraine a favourable opportunity for resuming her efforts to open negotiations between the contending monarchs. The Constable, after fighting like a lion and receiving a severe wound, had been made prisoner, and was taken to the Castle of Ghent, where Christina and her daughters were staying. The Duchess paid him daily visits, and brought him letters of condolence from her aunt Eleanor, who wrote that she wished she were still in Flanders to nurse her old friend. More than this: Christina obtained leave for his wife to visit him, and even proposed that the prisoner should be allowed to go to France on parole. These good offices gratified the French King, who was very anxious for his favourite's release, and whose behaviour towards the Duchess now underwent a marked change.[529]
The young Duke Charles was almost fifteen, and his marriage to the Princess Claude was fixed for the following spring. With the King's leave, he sent his steward to Ghent to invite his mother to the wedding, and at the same time make proposals of peace through Montmorency. These letters were laid before Philip by Christina, and a brisk correspondence was carried on between her and the Constable. In December Vaudemont came to Brussels, bringing portraits of Charles and his bride as a gift from Henry II. to the Duchess, and negotiations were actively pursued.[530] But just when the wished-for goal at length seemed to be in sight, and Christina was rejoicing to think of once more seeing her son, all her hopes were shattered by the Duke of Guise's capture of Calais. The surprise had been cleverly planned and brilliantly executed. The new fortifications of the town were unfinished, and after a gallant resistance the little garrison was overpowered and forced to capitulate, on the 8th of January, 1558. This unexpected success revived the courage of the French, and strengthened the Guise brothers in the determined opposition which they offered to peace. The star of their house was at its zenith, and on the 24th of April the marriage of their niece, the young Queen of Scots, to the Dauphin, was celebrated with great splendour at Paris. In deference to his mother's wishes, the Duke of Lorraine's wedding was put off till the following year, when he should have attained his majority; but he figured conspicuously in the day's pageant, and led his lovely cousin in her lily-white robes and jewelled crown up the nave of Notre Dame.[531]
May, 1558] CHRISTINA MEETS HER SON
The French King now gave his consent to Vaudemont's request, that a meeting should be arranged between the Duke and his mother in the neighbourhood of Péronne. Philip, after his wont, raised many difficulties, and insisted that the Bishop of Arras must be present at the interview.[532] At length all preliminaries were arranged, and on the 1st of May Charles left Paris with his uncle Vaudemont and Guise's eldest son, Henri, Prince of Joinville, attended by an escort of 200 horse. The Duchess had already arrived at Cambray with her daughters and Anne of Aerschot, accompanied by Egmont, Arras, and a great train of courtiers, and had prepared a splendid reception for her son. But at the last moment fresh difficulties arose. The Cardinal of Lorraine sent Robertet, the King's secretary, to tell the Duchess that, although her son was most anxious to see her, it would be derogatory to his master's dignity for him to enter King Philip's territories as a suppliant for peace. Would Her Highness therefore consent to come as far as his castle at Péronne? This Philip quite refused to allow, and eventually the village of Marcoing, halfway between Cambray and Péronne, was fixed upon as the meeting-place. An old manor-house which had been partly destroyed in the late military operations was hastily repaired for the occasion, and here, on the 15th of May, the much-desired meeting at length took place.[533] The Frenchmen, who came in riding-clothes, were amazed to find the splendid company awaiting them. The Duchess with the young Princesses, Anne of Aerschot, and the Princess of Macedonia, stood under a bower of leafy boughs, and Egmont and the other courtiers were all richly clad and mounted on fine horses. The coming of the guests was greeted by a gay fanfare of trumpets and roll of drums, together with salutes of artillery. Then the young Duke, springing from his horse, rushed into his mother's arms. At the sight of her boy, Christina burst into tears and almost fainted away. For some minutes she remained unable to speak, and the spectators were deeply moved by her emotion. After repeatedly embracing his mother, Charles kissed his sisters and aunt, and proceeded to salute Egmont and the rest of the company with charming grace; while the happy mother followed his movements with delight, and could not take her eyes off the tall and handsome youth whom she had last seen as a child, and who had grown up the image of his father.
May, 1558] DUKE CHARLES OF LORRAINE
During the conversation which followed, Charles spoke to his mother with great good sense and wisdom, telling her how kindly he was treated at the French Court, and how it would be hard for him to feel at home anywhere else. But directly after his marriage he and his wife intended to return to Nancy, where he hoped that his mother would join them and live among their own people. The Duchess and her children now sat down to an exquisite déjeuner with the Duchess of Aerschot and the Cardinal, while Egmont and Arras entertained Vaudemont and the Prince of Joinville, and the other French gentlemen dined with the members of Christina's suite. After dinner three Spanish jennets which King Philip had sent the young Duke were led out, and Charles mounted a spirited charger given him by the French monarch, and performed a variety of feats of horsemanship before the company, to his mother's great delight. Then the Duchess and her sister and children retired to enjoy each other's company in private, leaving the Cardinal to confer with Arras and Egmont.