[85] The Fregosi were one of the four great plebeian families of Genoa, and gave many Doges to the Republic. Mario de Birague was sent as ambassador to Genoa in the summer of 1574, and John Galeazzo Fregoso commanded the two galleys of the said ambassador. Both were received with great joy at Genoa, though Fregoso was a banished citizen. Charrière, Négotiations de la France dans le Levant, iii. 609. For a full account of the disturbances at Genoa see Thuanus, iii. 113-128.
[86] Beauvoir, or Beauvois, de la Nocle was one of the Huguenot chiefs (among whom were Montgomery and the Vidame de Chartres), who were in the Faubourg St. Germain during the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew, and succeeded in making their escape. He and d’Arènes were the principal spokesmen of the Deputies at Paris. He was one of the French gentlemen who accompanied the army of Casimir which invaded France in 1587 under Dohna. In 1591 Henry IV. sent him as his ambassador to England.
[87] Buren, in Gelderland, was taken by the Spanish General Hierges, at the end of June 1575. For details of the siege see Thuanus, iii. 73; Strada, i. 393. The date of the final rupture of the negotiations was July 13, 1575.—Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, Part IV. ch. iii.
[88] For a sketch of Mondragon’s life and character see Motley, United Netherlands, iii. 342-3. The expedition which Busbecq mentions as contemplated was carried out on September 27. See Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, Part IV. ch. iii.
[89] ‘At the same time in the assembly of the Confederate States, the question of asking the protection of some powerful neighbouring Sovereign was long and hotly debated, as some were inclined to the Empire, and the Princes and States of the Empire, others to the King of France, and others again to the Queen of England. The side, however, prevailed which was in favour of an English alliance.’—Thuanus, iii. 79. For a full account see Meteren, 153-155.
[90] See page [128], and note.
[91] Duke Eric of Brunswick succeeded his father the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, in the principalities of Gottingen and Calenberg. Brought up as a Lutheran, he afterwards became a Roman Catholic. He fought on the Spanish side at St. Quentin, and was subsequently employed in the Netherlands and Portugal. He does not seem to have taken his rejection much to heart, as in the following December he married Dorothea, daughter of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine (see note, page 63), and sister of Charles, the reigning Duke. Busbecq’s Queen honoured the marriage of her rejected suitor with her presence (see page [129]). He died at Pavia in 1584. In the opinion of Thuanus (iii. 703), he was ‘terribilis suis, neque tamen re ulla memorabili gesta admodum clarus.’ His widow afterwards married the Marquis de Varembon, the lover of Mademoiselle de Tournon, whose pathetic story is told by her royal mistress. See Mémoires de Marguerite, 110-114.
[92] Bourg-la-Reine, near Sceaux.—De l’Estoile, i. 85.
[93] Marie Elizabeth (or Isabel) was born October 27, 1572, a few weeks after the massacre of Saint Bartholomew; Queen Elizabeth of England was her godmother. An interesting account of her is given by Brantôme, whose aunt, Madame de Crissé, was her governess. According to him she had a great idea of her own importance: ‘Une fois, elle estant malade, le Roy son oncle (Henry III.) demeura trois jours sans l’aller voir; au troisiesme il y alla. Lors qu’elle le sentit à la porte elle fit semblant de dormir, et se tourna de l’autre costé; et, encore que le Roy l’appellast par trois fois, elle fit de la sourde, jusques à ce que madame de Crissé, ma tante et sa gouvernante, la fit tourner vers le Roy, envers lequel elle fit de la froide, et ne luy dict pas deux mots: et s’en estant departi d’avec elle, sa gouvernante se corrouçant contre elle, luy demanda pourquoy elle avoit faict ce trait et cette mine. Elle respondit: “Hé quoi! ma mere, comment me fust-il esté possible de faire cas de luy, et luy faire bonne chere, que, despuis trois jours que je suis malade, il ne m’a pas veue une fois, non pas seulement envoyé visiter, moy qui suis sa niepce, et fille de son aisné, et qui ne luy fais point de déshonneur.”’—Brantôme, v. 245.