[106] John von Manderschiet Blankenheim, Bishop of Strasburg, 1572-92. The town of Saverne was an appanage of the Bishopric, and here in later times the Bishops of Strasburg had a magnificent château.
[107] ‘Limer, or Lime-hound, the same as Bloud-hound, a great dog to hunt the wild boar.’—World of Words.
[108] Gaspard de Schomberg, Comte de Nanteuil, was descended from a German family of Meissen, but educated at Angers, in France. In 1562 he fought in defence of the last-named town on the Protestant side. He afterwards entered the royal service and fought for the king at Moncontour. He was next employed on a mission to the German Princes to induce them to form a league against Spain. He accompanied Henry III. to Poland, as his Seneschal. He was one of those who persuaded Henry IV. to go to Mass, and took a prominent part in the negotiations for peace between him and his rebellious subjects. He was on several occasions employed as the agent of the French Government for raising German troops. When Busbecq saw him he had just come to Paris with Bassompierre and Count Mansfeldt to conclude a bargain with the King for a levy of 8,000 mercenaries.
The Kinskys were an ancient Bohemian family. Perhaps, in the course of his negotiations for hiring German troops, Schomberg had some dealings with Maximilian’s protégé.
[109] This was no exaggeration, as the following extract from the Diary of a contemporary will show: ‘Le lundi 5e décembre, la Roine veufve, madame Ysabel d’Austriche, partist de Paris, pour s’en retourner à Vienne, chés son père et sa mère: et lui bailla le Roy messieurs de Luxembourg, comte de Rais, et l’évesque de Paris, pour l’accompagner: qui la rendirent entre les mains des députés par l’Empereur son père, pour la recevoir à Nanci en Lorraine. Elle fut fort aimée et honorée par les François tant qu’elle demeura en France, nommément par le peuple de Paris, lequel, plorant et gémissant à son départ, disoit qu’elle emportoit avec elle le bonheur de la France.’—De l’Estoile, i. 95.
Miss Freer (Henry III., vol. ii. p. 40), says ‘the Queen quitted Paris during the first week of August, 1575.’ She was led into this error by the description given by Godefroy (Le Cérémonial François, i. 927) of Elizabeth’s entrance into Orleans on August 21, and has confounded her journey to Amboise (see p. [96]), with her return to Germany.
[110] I.e., Hither Austria. The possessions of the House of Hapsburg in Swabia and Alsace.
[111] This is the lady who refused to marry Henry VIII. because she had only one head! See note p. [63].
[112] The incidental touches, in which Busbecq makes us acquainted with the character of his mistress, require some little additions in order to place before the reader an adequate idea of this good and interesting lady. She was born June 5, 1554, and was consequently a baby of a few months old when Busbecq started for the East. She was married to Charles IX. of France, Nov. 26, 1570, when she was but sixteen. In her new sphere she quickly won the respect and love of all who knew her. Two years after her marriage, and just before the birth of her daughter, came the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. During that awful night she was quietly sleeping, unaware of the horrors that were passing around her. Next morning she heard the news, ‘Hélas, dit-elle soudain, le Roy mon mary, le sçait-il?—Ouy, madame, repondit-on: c’est luy mesme qui le fait faire.—O mon Dieu! s’escria-t-elle, qu’est cecy? et quels conseillers sont ceux-là qui luy ont donné tel advis? Mon Dieu, je te supplie et te requiers de luy vouloir pardonner; car, si tu n’en as pitié, j’ay grande peur que cette offense ne luy soit pas pardonnée.’—Brantôme, v. 297.
During her husband’s last illness it was noticed that when she came to see him she did not take a seat by his pillow, but chose the position from which she could best gaze at the loved features; she did not speak, no sound passed her lips, but ever and anon she raised her handkerchief to her face, and wiped away the silent tears; even the hardened courtiers were touched by this picture of agony suppressed. After her husband’s death it was observed by one of the women of her bedchamber that she constantly took the little silver candlestick, which served as a night-light, inside the curtains of her bed, and as soon as she thought her attendants were asleep, she knelt up to read and pray. It is interesting to find that during her widowhood she became a diligent reader of the Bible. After her return to Vienna she founded the Nunnery of Santa Clara, where she resided till the time of her death, which took place January 22, 1592, in the 38th year of her age. See vol. i. p. [70].