Her death was deeply lamented throughout the Low Countries, where her return had been daily looked for, and no one mourned her loss more truly than the niece to whom she had been the best of mothers. It was with a sad heart that Christina came back to Cercamp to preside at the second session of the Conference, which opened on the 7th of November. Alarming accounts of their mistress's health now reached the English Commissioners, and Count Feria, whom Philip sent to London, wrote that the Queen's life was despaired of, and that Parliament was in great alarm lest, if she died, the King would cease to care for the recovery of Calais. But, although Arras and Alva still declared that they would never consent to any treaty which did not satisfy the English, the French remained obdurate, and the Commissioners were at their wits' end. The Bishop of Ely was in tears, and on the 18th of November Lord Arundel wrote home that
"it seemed very hard that all others should have restitution of their owne, and poore England, that began not the fray, should bear the burthen and loss for the rest, and specially of such a jewel as Calais."[545]
The next day came the news of the Queen's death. The French, who, Wotton remarked, "have ears as long as those of Midas," were the first to inform Her Majesty's Envoys that their mistress had breathed her last, on the morning of the 17th of November, after sending a message to Elizabeth, recognizing this Princess as her successor, and begging her to maintain the Catholic religion. The new Queen at once sent Lord Cobham to announce her accession to Philip, and assure him of her resolve to hold fast the ancient friendship between England and the House of Burgundy.
Dec., 1558] THE EMPEROR'S FUNERAL
The news of Mary's death decided the Commissioners to adjourn the Conference. The truce was prolonged for two months, and on the 2nd of December they all left Cercamp. Arundel had already started for England, and Wotton was longing to get away, saying "that he was never wearier of any place than he was of Cercamp, saving only of Rome after the sack." The Constable was set at liberty, and received a promise that his 200,000 crowns ransom should be reduced by half, if peace were finally made. Arras, Alva, and Orange, went to the Abbey of Groenendal to see Philip, who had retired to pray for his father's soul, and there received the tidings of his wife's death. Christina returned to Brussels to assist at a succession of funerals. On the 22nd of December a requeim for the Queen of England was chanted in S. Gudule, the Duke of Savoy acting as chief mourner in the King's absence, and on the following day solemn funeral rites for the late Queen of Hungary were performed in the Court chapel, which she and the Emperor had built and adorned. The Duchess of Lorraine was present at this service, together with the Duke of Savoy, the Prince of Orange, and all the chief nobles and Crown officials, while the palace gates were thronged with a crowd of sorrowing people.[546] But the grandest funeral ceremonies ever known in Brussels were those that were celebrated on the 29th of December, in memory of the late Emperor.
Jan., 1559] CHARLES'S WEDDING
Great preparations had been made for this solemnity during the last few weeks. A chapelle ardente was erected in S. Gudule, rising in tiers to the lofty roof, adorned with golden diadems and shields emblazoned with the dead monarch's arms and titles, and lighted with 3,000 candles. Here, on a couch draped with cloth of gold, an effigy of the Emperor was laid, clad in robes of state and wearing the collar of the Order. On the morning of the 29th a long procession wound its way through the narrow streets leading from the palace on the heights of the Caudenberg to the cathedral church, and a stately pageant unfolded the glorious story of Charles of Austria's deeds. A richly carved and gilded ship, drawn by marine monsters, bore the names of his journeys and battles and armorial bearings of the kingdoms over which he reigned, while banners of the Turks and of the other foes whom he had vanquished were plunged in the waves below, and white-robed maidens sat in the stern, bearing the cross and chalice, the symbols of the faith by which he had conquered the world. This imposing group was followed by a representation of the Pillars of Hercules with Charles's motto, Plus oultre, and twenty-four horses decked in coloured plumes and trappings to match the banners of his different States. Each of these pennons was borne by a noble youth, while four Princes supported the great standard of the Empire. Then came the officers of the imperial household, leading Charles's war-horse, and bearing his armour and insignia; the Prince of Orange with his master's sword, Alva with the orb of the world, and the Grand Commander of Castille with the imperial crown. Last of all King Philip himself appeared on foot, clad in a mourning mantle five yards long, and followed by the Duke of Savoy and a long train of Knights of the Golden Fleece, Councillors and Ministers, with the Archers of the Guard bringing up the rear. The procession left the palace at nine, and the funeral service, which included a lengthy oration by the Bishop of Arras's coadjutor, Abbé Richardot, was not over till five o'clock. The next day Philip and all his nobles attended High Mass, and at the end of the celebration the Prince of Orange, standing before the funeral pile, smote his breast three times, repeating the words: "He is dead, and will remain dead; and there is another risen up in his place, greater than ever he has been." So the solemn function ended.
"It was a sight worth going 100 miles to see," wrote Richard Clough, an English apprentice who had been sent by Sir Thomas Gresham from Antwerp, and counted himself fortunate to witness this imposing ceremony. "The like of it, I think, hath never been seen. The Lord give his soul rest!"[547]
The Duchess of Lorraine had been anxious that her son should attend his great-uncle's funeral, but the tardy invitation which Philip sent to Nancy arrived too late, and the young Duke could not reach Brussels in time to take part in the ceremony. To console herself for this disappointment, Christina went to meet Charles at Treves on the 6th of January, and spent two days in his company, before he returned to France for the wedding. His loyal subjects presented him with a marriage gift of 200,000 crowns, double the amount which any Duke of Lorraine had received before. Charles who inherited his mother's lavish generosity, spent most of the money in costly jewels for his bride, and presented the King and Dauphin, Vaudemont and the Guises, with superb robes embroidered with the arms of Lorraine and lined with lynx fur. The wedding was solemnized at Notre Dame on the 22nd of January, with as much splendour as that of the Dauphin in the previous spring. The Guises held open house for ten days in their palatial abode, the "Hôtel de Lorraine et de Sicile," near the royal palace of Les Tournelles, and gave a grand tournament in which the young Duke appeared at the head of a troop splendidly arrayed in corslets of gold and silver, with the alérions, or eagles, of Lorraine on the crest of their helmets. Ronsard celebrated the union of the eagles of Lorraine and the golden lilies of France, and sang the praises of the "Fair Maid of Valois and her bridegroom, the beautiful Shepherd who feeds his flock in the green pastures along the banks of Meuse and Moselle."[548]
The French King and Queen had invited the Duchess in courteous and affectionate terms to be present at the wedding, but she declined on the plea of her deep mourning, as well as of the promise which she had made to preside at the Peace Conference, which was shortly to meet again.[549]