The alternative proposal, she proceeded to say, deserved consideration, seeing the great anxiety which the Duke of Lorraine's son showed for the marriage. No doubt the Emperor's niece, with her large dowry, would be a very honourable match for him, and well worth the surrender of his rights on Guelders; but, since it was most desirable to recover this duchy without delay, it might be well to secure the help of Lorraine by this means.
The situation was a difficult one, and from the moment of the old Duke's death in June, 1538, Mary had never ceased to entreat Charles to come to Flanders and take active measures for the recovery of Guelders before it was too late. Throughout the winter Duke William went from town to town, endearing himself to his new subjects; and when the deputies of Lorraine asserted their master's superior claims, he told them that he would never give up Guelders to any mortal man. By the death of his father on the 6th of February, 1539, he succeeded to the rich provinces of Cleves and Jülich, and became the wealthiest and most powerful Prince in North Germany.[244]
March, 1539] ANNE OF CLEVES
Still Charles put off his coming, and told his sister that he was bent on undertaking a second Crusade against the Turks, and could not spare the time for a journey to Flanders. This was too much for Mary's equanimity, and she protested in the strongest language against the Emperor's folly in exposing his person to such risks, declaring that this Crusade would not only prove the utter ruin of the Netherlands, but of all Christendom.[245] Fortunately, Mary's remonstrances were supported by the Emperor's wisest Councillors, and, in deference to their representations, he decided to abandon his Crusade for the present and come to Flanders. This decision was confirmed by the discontent which the Duke of Cleves's intrigues helped to foment in Ghent—always a turbulent city—as well as by the news that the King of England had entered into a close alliance with Cleves, and was about to marry his sister.
Cromwell, with his habitual duplicity, had been in correspondence with the German Princes while he professed to be zealous for the Emperor's alliance; and in March Christopher Mont, his Envoy to Frankfort, was desired to make diligent inquiries as to the shape, stature, and complexion, of the Duke of Cleves's sister Anne. If these were satisfactory, he was to suggest that proposals of marriage should be made by that Prince and his brother-in-law, the Elector John Frederick of Saxony. Mont sent glowing descriptions of the lady's beauty, and was bold enough to declare that she excelled the Duchess of Milan as much as the golden sun excels the silver moon.[246]
Henry was now all on fire to see the Lady Anne, although he had not yet lost all interest in Christina, whose name still figures constantly in letters from Brussels. On the 6th of April we hear that the Duchess of Milan is sick of fever, and ten days later Cromwell writes to the King that Her Grace is no longer sick, and that "at Antwerp the people still cherish a hope that Your Highness will yet marry her."[247] If he could not make her his wife, the King was determined to prevent another suitor from succeeding where he had failed, and renewed his offer of his daughter Mary with a large dowry to the Duke of Cleves. William, however, showed no alacrity to avail himself of this offer, and sent Envoys both to Brussels and Toledo to press his suit for Christina's hand.
The sudden death of the Empress at Toledo on the 1st of May altered all Charles's plans. A few weeks before this Isabella had given birth to a son, who only lived a few hours, and Charles had written to inform his sister of the infant's death. On the 2nd of May he wrote a few touching lines with his own hand to tell Mary the grievous news. The doctors had pronounced her to be out of danger, but catarrh attacked the lungs, and proved fatal in a few hours.
"I am overwhelmed with sorrow and distress, and nothing can comfort me but the thought of her good and holy life and the devout end which she made. I leave you to tell my subjects over yonder, of this pitiful event, and ask them to pray for her soul. I will do my best to bow to the will of God, whom I implore to receive her in His blessed paradise, where I feel certain that she is. And may God keep you, my dear sister, and grant you all your desires."[248]