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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea41803 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50261 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50261) diff --git a/old/50261-0.txt b/old/50261-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fd22dbb..0000000 --- a/old/50261-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7394 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Philip II. of Spain, by Martin Andrew Sharp Hume - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Philip II. of Spain - -Author: Martin Andrew Sharp Hume - -Release Date: October 20, 2015 [EBook #50261] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILIP II. OF SPAIN *** - - - - -Produced by Josep Cols Canals, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - - - - Foreign Statesmen - - PHILIP II. OF SPAIN - - [Illustration: colophon] - - - - - PHILIP II. OF SPAIN - - BY - MARTIN A. S. HUME - - EDITOR OF - THE ‘CALENDAR OF SPANISH STATE PAPERS OF ELIZABETH’ - (PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE) - - _Philippus ipse Hispaniæ desiderio magnopere aestuabat, nec aliud - quam Hispaniam loquebatur._ - - SEPULVEDA. - - MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED - ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON - 1911 - - COPYRIGHT - - _First Edition 1897_ - _Reprinted 1899, 1906, 1911_ - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I - - Philip’s failure, and the reasons for it--His birth and infancy--His - appearance and character--His education by Siliceo and Zuñiga--The - emperor meets his son--The consolidation of authority in - Spain--Suggestions for marriage with Jeanne d’Albret--Philip made - Regent of Spain--The emperor’s instructions to his son--His system - of government--Character of his councillors--Philip’s marriage with - Maria of Portugal--Birth of Don Carlos and death of the princess--Doña - Isabel de Osorio--Philip in his domestic relations--Project for - securing to Philip the imperial crown--The suzerainty of Spain over - Italy--Philip’s voyage through Germany.....Page 1 - - CHAPTER II - - The union of the Low Countries to Spain--The Italian suzerainty--The - effects thereof--Etiquette of the House of Burgundy adopted in - Spain--Ruy Gomez--Philip’s voyage--His unpopularity with Germans and - Flemings--Fresh proposals for his marriage--The family compact for - the imperial succession--Defection of Maurice of Saxony--War with - France--Treaty of Passau--Defeat of the emperor at Metz.....20 - - CHAPTER III - - Proposal to marry Philip to Queen Mary of England--The need for - alliance with England--The negotiations of Renard--Opposition - of France--Unpopularity of the match in England--Philip’s voyage - to England--His affability--His first interview with Mary--The - marriage--Philip made King of Naples--Failure of the objects of the - marriage--Philip’s policy in England--Pole’s mission--Philip and the - persecution of Catholics in England--Philip’s disappointment and - departure.....30 - - CHAPTER IV - - Philip in favour of a moderate policy in England--His attitude towards - religion generally--He requests armed aid from England against the - French--The emperor’s embarrassments in Italy--Alba made Philip’s - viceroy in Italy--Factions in Philip’s court--Ruy Gomez and Alba--The - emperor’s abdication--Philip’s changed position--His attitude towards - the papacy--The Spanish Church--Pope Paul IV. and the Spaniards in - Italy--Excommunication of Philip--Invasion of Rome by Alba--Philip’s - second visit to England.....43 - - CHAPTER V - - French intrigue against Mary--England at war with France--Battle - of St. Quintin--Philip’s tardiness--The English contingent--The - loss of Calais--Feria goes to England--His negotiations--Condition - of England--The English fleet used by Philip--Philip and - Elizabeth--Negotiations for peace--Death of Mary--Plans for - Elizabeth’s marriage--Peace of Cateau Cambresis--Philip’s policy in - England.....53 - - CHAPTER VI - - Philip’s plan for a French alliance--His marriage with Elizabeth - de Valois--Philip’s embarrassments in the Netherlands--De - Granvelle--Philip’s departure from Flanders--Condition of - affairs in Spain--The Spanish Church--Death of Paul IV.--The - Inquisition--Bartolomé de Carranza--Philip’s arrival and routine in - Spain--The auto de fé at Valladolid.....64 - - CHAPTER VII - - Arrival of Elizabeth de Valois in Spain--Her influence over - Philip--Position of affairs in France--War with England--Philip’s - attitude towards France--Death of Francis II.--Spanish disaster at Los - Gelves--Position of Spain in the Mediterranean Page 79 - - CHAPTER VIII - - Don Carlos--His relations with Elizabeth de Valois--French intrigues - for his marriage--His illness--The Cortes of Aragon--Jeanne d’Albret - and Henry of Navarre--The Council of Trent and the Inquisition--Philip - and the pope--Renewed struggles with the Turks--Siege of Malta.....88 - - CHAPTER IX - - Troubles in the Netherlands--Granvelle’s unpopularity--William - of Orange and Egmont--Their resignation and protest--Margaret of - Parma--Assembly of the Chapter of the Golden Fleece--Riots at - Valenciennes--Discontent of the Flemish nobles--They retire from - government--Granvelle’s dismissal--The maladministration of the - States--Egmont’s mission to Spain--Philip’s policy in the States--The - Beggars--Orange’s action--Philip determines to exterminate heresy in - the States--Philip’s projected voyage thither.....99 - - CHAPTER X - - Renewed contest between Philip and the papacy--Condition of Don - Carlos--His arrest and imprisonment--Philip’s explanations--Carlos’ - last illness and death--Death of Elizabeth de Valois--The interviews - of Bayonne and the Catholic League--Catharine de Medici--Philip face - to face with Protestantism--Philip and the Moriscos--Rising of the - Moriscos--Deza at Granada--Don Juan of Austria--Expulsion of the - Moriscos from Andalucia.....115 - - CHAPTER XI - - Philip and England--Elizabeth seizes his treasure--Spanish plots - against her--Philip and the northern rebellion--The excommunication - of Elizabeth--Ridolfi’s plot--Philip’s hesitancy--Prohibition of - English trade with Spain--Its futility--Alba’s retirement from - Flanders--Philip’s responsibility for Alba’s proceedings--The tenth - penny--Philip’s disapproval--Orange’s approaches to the French.....136 - - CHAPTER XII - - Philip’s fourth marriage--The killing of Montigny--Anne of - Austria--Philip’s domestic life--His industry--The Escorial--His - patronage of art--His character--Renewed war with the Turks--Don Juan - commands the Spanish force--The victory of Lepanto--Don Juan’s great - projects--Antonio Perez.....153 - - CHAPTER XIII - - The Spanish troops in Flanders--Don Juan sent to Flanders--His - projects for invading England--Mutiny of the Spanish troops - in Flanders--The Spanish fury--Evacuation of Flanders by the - Spanish troops--Perez’s plot against Don Juan--The murder of - Escobedo--Don Juan seizes Namur--Renewal of the war--The battle - of Gemblours--Desperation of Don Juan--His death--Alexander - Farnese.....168 - - CHAPTER XIV - - Philip’s ineffectual action against Elizabeth--The Desmond - rebellion--Philip’s conquest of Portugal--Recall of Alba and Granvelle - to Philip’s councils--Don Antonio, Prior of O Crato--Death of Anne - of Austria--Philip in Portugal--Flight of Antonio--His reception in - England and France--The Duke of Alençon--Philip and Mary Stuart--James - Stuart--Fresh proposals of the Scottish Catholics to Philip--Philip - and Granvelle’s views with regard to England--Lennox and the Jesuits - mismanage the plot--Philip’s claim to the English crown--Expulsion - of Mendoza from England--The English exiles urge Philip to invade - England--Sixtus V.--Intrigues in Rome--The Babington plot.....182 - - CHAPTER XV - - The Infanta to be Queen of England--Approaches of the Scottish - Catholic lords to Philip--Execution of Mary Stuart--Intrigues for - the English succession--Drake’s expedition to Cadiz--The peace - negotiations with Farnese--Preparations for the Armada--Sailing of - the Armada from Lisbon--Its return to Vigo--Medina Sidonia advises - its abandonment--Its strength--Engagements with the English--Panic at - Calais--Final defeat--Causes of the disaster--Philip’s reception of - the news.....202 - - CHAPTER XVI - - Don Antonio in England--Catharine’s support of him--Strozzi’s - defeat at St. Michaels--Philip’s patronage of assassination--Philip - and the League--Renewal of the war of religion in France--The - murder of Guise--Imprisonment of Antonio Perez and the Princess - of Eboli--Perez’s treachery--His escape to Aragon--The _fueros_ - of Aragon--Philip proceeds against Perez--Perez arrested by the - Inquisition of Aragon--Rising in Zaragoza--Perez’s escape--Suppression - of the Aragonese.....223 - - CHAPTER XVII - - Philip and Mayenne--The English attack upon Lisbon--Assassination - of Henry III.--Philip’s plans in France--The war of the League--The - battle of Ivry--Philip’s attitude towards Mayenne--Farnese enters - France--Relief of Paris--Retirement of Farnese--Philip changes - his plans in France--Farnese’s second campaign--Henry IV. goes to - mass--Enters Paris as king--Exit of the Spaniards.....237 - - CHAPTER XVIII - - Blighting influence of Philip’s system on his officers--Effects of - Philip’s routine on the administration--Social condition of Spain and - the colonies--Dr. Lopez and Antonio Perez--Philip II. and Tyrone’s - rebellion--The English sacking of Cadiz--Philip’s resignation--His - last illness and death--Results of his life--Causes of the decadence - of the Spanish power.....249 - - GENEALOGICAL TABLE SHOWING PHILIP’S CLAIM TO THE ENGLISH CROWN.....263 - - APPENDIX.....265 - - - - -CHAPTER I - - Philip’s failure, and the reasons for it--His birth and - infancy--His appearance and character--His education by Siliceo and - Zuñiga--The emperor meets his son--The consolidation of authority - in Spain--Suggestions for marriage with Jeanne d’Albret--Philip - made Regent of Spain--The emperor’s instructions to his son--His - system of government--Character of his councillors--Philip’s - marriage with Maria of Portugal--Birth of Don Carlos and death of - the princess--Doña Isabel de Osorio--Philip in his domestic - relations--Project for securing to Philip the imperial crown--The - suzerainty of Spain over Italy--Philip’s voyage through Germany. - - -For three hundred years a bitter controversy has raged around the -actions of Philip II. of Spain. Until our own times no attempt even had -been made to write his life-history from an impartial point of view. He -had been alternately deified and execrated, until through the mists of -time and prejudice he loomed rather as the permanent embodiment of a -system than as an individual man swayed by changing circumstances and -controlled by human frailties. - -The more recent histories of his reign--the works of English, American, -German, and French scholars--have treated their subject with fuller -knowledge and broader sympathies, but they have necessarily been to a -large extent histories of the great events which convulsed Europe for -fifty years at the most critical period of modern times. The space to be -occupied by the present work will not admit of this treatment of the -subject. The purpose is therefore to consider Philip mainly as a -statesman, in relation to the important problems with which he had to -deal, rather than to write a connected account of the occurrences of a -long reign. It will be necessary for us to try to penetrate the objects -he aimed at and the influences, personal and exterior, which ruled him, -and to seek the reasons for his failure. For he did fail utterly. In -spite of very considerable powers of mind, of a long lifetime of -incessant toil, of deep-laid plans, and vast ambitions, his record is -one continued series of defeats and disappointments; and in exchange for -the greatest heritage that Christendom had ever seen, with the -apparently assured prospect of universal domination which opened before -him at his birth, he closed his dying eyes upon dominions distracted and -ruined beyond all recovery, a bankrupt State, a dwindled prestige, and a -defeated cause. He had devoted his life to the task of establishing the -universal supremacy of Catholicism in the political interests of Spain, -and he was hopelessly beaten. - -The reasons for his defeat will be seen in the course of the present -work to have been partly personal and partly circumstantial. The causes -of both these sets of reasons were laid at periods long anterior to -Philip’s birth. - -The first of the great misfortunes of Spain was an event which at the -time looked full of bright promise, namely, the marriage of Juana, -daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel, to Philip of Austria, son of the -Emperor Maximilian. This marriage eventually burdened the King of Spain -with the German dominions of the House of Austria, the imperial crown, -with its suzerainty over Italy, the duchy of Milan, and, above all, the -rich inheritance of the House of Burgundy, the Franche Comté, Holland, -and the Netherlands. Even before this the crown of Aragon had been -weakened rather than strengthened by the possession of Sicily and -Naples, which latter brought it into inimical contact with France, and -also necessitated the assertion and defence of its rights as a -Mediterranean Power in constant rivalry with Turks and Algerians. This -had been bad, but the vast and scattered territories of Charles V. -cursed Spain with a foreign policy in every corner of Europe. In his -Austrian dominions the emperor was the outpost of Christianity against -the Turk, the bulwark which restrained the Moslem flood from swamping -eastern Europe. His galleys were those which were to keep the -Mediterranean a Christian sea. Flanders and the Franche Comté gave him a -long flat frontier conterminous with France, whose jealous eyes had been -fixed covetously for centuries on the fine harbours and flourishing -towns of the Low Countries. - -Most of these interests were of very secondary importance to Spain -itself. The country had only quite recently been unified; the vast new -dominions which had fallen under its sway in America might well have -monopolised its activity for centuries to come. The geographical -position of the Iberian peninsula itself practically isolated it from -the other countries of Europe, and rendered it unnecessary for it to -take any part in the discords that prevailed over the rest of the -continent; whilst the recent religious struggles with the Moors in Spain -had consolidated Catholic Christianity in the country, and prevented the -reformed doctrines from obtaining any footing there. Spain indeed, alone -and aloof, with a fertile soil, fine harbours, and a well-disposed -population, seemed destined to enjoy a career of activity, prosperity, -and peace. But the possession of Flanders brought it into constant -rivalry with France, and necessitated a close alliance with England, -whilst the imperial connection dragged it into ceaseless wars with the -Turks, and, above all, with the rising power of Protestantism, which -ultimately proved its ruin. Philip, who succeeded to this thorny -inheritance, was, on the other hand, bounded and isolated by mental -limitations as irremovable as the Pyrenees which shut in his native -land. As King of Spain alone, having only local problems to deal with, -modest, cautious, painstaking, and just, he might have been a happy and -successful--even a great--monarch, but as leader of the conservative -forces of Christendom he was in a position for which his gifts unfitted -him. - -He was the offspring of the marriage of first cousins, both his parents -being grandchildren of cunning, avaricious Ferdinand, and of Isabel the -Catholic, whose undoubted genius was accompanied by high-strung -religious exaltation, which would now be considered neurotic. Her -daughter, Juana the Mad, Philip’s grandmother, passed a long lifetime in -melancholy torpor. In Charles V. the tainted blood was mingled with the -gross appetites and heavy frames of the burly Hapsburgs. The strength -and power of resistance inherited from them enabled him, until middle -age only, to second his vast mental power with his indomitable bodily -energy. But no sooner was the elasticity of early manhood gone than he -too sank into despairing lethargy and religious mysticism. Philip’s -mother, the Empress Isabel, came from the same stock, and was the -offspring of several generations of consanguineous marriages. The curse -which afflicted Philip’s progenitors, and was transmitted with augmented -horror to his descendants, could not be expected to pass over Philip -himself; and the explanation of his attitude towards the political -events of his time must often be sought in the hereditary gloom which -fell upon him, and in the unshakable belief that he was in some sort a -junior partner with Providence, specially destined to link his mundane -fortunes with the higher interests of religion. His slow laboriousness, -his indomitable patience, his marble serenity, all seem to have been -imitated, perhaps unconsciously, from the relentless, resistless action -of divine forces. - -On the other hand, his inherited characteristics were accentuated by his -education and training. From the time of his birth his father was -continually at war with infidels and heretics, and the earliest ideas -that can have been instilled into his infant mind were that he and his -were fighting the Almighty’s battles and destroying His enemies. In his -first years he was surrounded by the closest and narrowest devotees, for -ever beseeching the divine blessing on the arms of the absent emperor; -and when the time came for Philip to receive political instruction from -his father, at an age when most boys are frank and confiding, he was -ceaselessly told that his great destiny imposed upon him, above all, the -supreme duty of self-control, and of listening to all counsellors whilst -trusting none. No wonder, then, that Philip, lacking his father’s bodily -vigour, grew up secret, crafty, and over-cautious. No wonder that his -fervid faith in the divinity of his destiny and the sacredness of his -duty kept him uncomplaining amidst calamities that would have crushed -men of greater gifts and broader views. No wonder that this sad, slow, -distrustful man, with his rigid methods and his mind for microscopic -detail, firm in his belief that the Almighty was working through him for -His great ends, should have been hopelessly beaten in the fight with -nimble adversaries burdened with no fixed convictions or conscientious -scruples, who shifted their policy as the circumstances of the moment -dictated. Philip thought that he was fittingly performing a divine task -by nature’s own methods. He forgot that nature can afford to await -results indefinitely, whilst men cannot. - -Philip was born at the house of Don Bernardino de Pimentel, near the -church of St. Paul in Valladolid, on May 21, 1527. His mother was -profoundly impressed with the great destiny awaiting her offspring, and -thought that any manifestation of pain or weakness during her labour -might detract from the dignity of the occasion. One of her Portuguese -ladies, fearing that this effort of self-control on the part of the -empress would add to her sufferings, begged her to give natural vent to -her feelings. “Silence!” said the empress, “die I may, but wail I will -not,” and then she ordered that her face should be hidden from the -light, that no involuntary sign of pain should be seen. - -In this spirit of self-control and overpowering majesty the weak, sickly -baby was reared by his devout mother. Two other boy infants who were -born to her died of epilepsy in early childhood, and Philip, her -first-born, remained her only son. - -In the midst of the rejoicings that heralded his birth news came to -Valladolid that the emperor’s Spanish and German troops had assaulted -and sacked Rome, and that Pope Clement VII. was surrounded by infuriated -soldiery, a prisoner in his own castle of St. Angelo. In the long -rivalry which Charles had sustained with the French king, Francis I., -who had competed with him for the imperial crown, one of the main -factors was the dread of the entire domination of Italy by Spain, by -virtue of the suzerainty of the empire over the country. The excitable -and unstable pontiff, Clement VII., thought that his own interests were -threatened, and made common cause with Francis. The emperor’s troops -were commanded by Charles de Montpensier, Duke of Bourbon, who had -quarrelled with his own sovereign, and was in arms against him, and he -unquestionably exceeded the emperor’s wishes in the capture and sacking -of the eternal city, the intention having been to have held the pontiff -in check by terror rather than to degrade him in the eyes of the world. -Charles made what amends he could for the blunder committed by Bourbon, -and at once suspended the rejoicings for the birth of his heir. But the -gossips in Valladolid gravely shook their heads, and prophesied that the -great emperor’s first-born was destined to be a bane to the papacy in -years to come. It will be seen in the course of the present book that -during the whole of his life Philip regarded the papacy and the persons -of the pontiffs without any superstitious awe, and mainly as instruments -in his hands to achieve the great work entrusted to him by Providence. - -In April 1528, when Philip was eleven months old, he received the oath -of allegiance as heir to the crown from the Cortes of Castile, and from -that time until the return of his father to Spain in 1533 the royal -infant remained under the care of his mother and one of her Portuguese -ladies, Doña Leonor de Mascarenhas, to whom Philip in after-life was -devotedly attached. He was even then a preternaturally grave and silent -child, with a fair pink-and-white skin, fine yellow hair, and full blue -lymphatic eyes, rather too close together. It is no uncommon thing for -princes to be represented as prodigies, but Philip seems, in truth, to -have been really an extraordinary infant, and exhibited great aptitude -for certain studies, especially mathematics. Charles on his arrival in -Spain decided to give to his heir a separate household and masters who -should prepare him for the duties of his future position. A list was -made of the principal priestly professors of the Spanish universities, -which was gradually reduced by elimination to three names. These were -submitted to the empress for her choice, and she selected Dr. Juan -Martinez Pedernales (which name = flints, he ingeniously Latinised into -Siliceo), a professor of Salamanca, who was appointed tutor to the -prince, with a salary of 100,000 maravedis a year. The emperor probably -knew little of the character of his son’s tutor. He had intended in the -previous year to appoint to the post a really eminent scholar, the -famous Viglius, but did not do so. Whatever may have been Siliceo’s -virtues, and according to priestly historians they were many, the -emperor had subsequently a very poor opinion of the way in which he had -performed his duty. - -In a private letter from Charles to his son ten years afterwards, to -which other reference will be made, the emperor says that “Siliceo has -certainly not been the most fitting teacher for you. He has been too -desirous of pleasing you. I hope to God that it was not for his own -ends”; and again, “He is your chief chaplain, and you confess to him. It -would be bad if he was as anxious to please you in matters of your -conscience as he has been in your studies.” But Philip evidently liked -his tutor, for later he made him Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of -Spain. The prince must have been an apt pupil in the studies which most -attracted him. He was never a linguist of any proficiency, but could -read and write Latin well at quite an early age, and certainly -understood French and Italian. But he was a Spaniard of Spaniards, and -nothing shows the strict limitations of his capacity more than the -clumsiness with which he expressed himself even in his own language, -although he frequently criticised and altered the words and expressions -employed by his secretaries. - -The governor appointed to teach Philip the social duties and exercises -fitting to his rank was an honest Spanish gentleman who possessed the -full confidence of the emperor--Don Juan de Zuñiga, Comendador Mayor of -Castile. From him he learnt fencing, riding, and warlike exercises, and -especially dancing, of which during his youth he was very fond. Don Juan -was somewhat uncompromising of speech, and apparently made no attempt -to flatter or spoil his pupil, for the emperor in 1543, when Philip was -sixteen, warns him that he is to prize Don Juan the more for this -quality, and is to follow his advice in all personal and social matters. - -At the age of twelve Philip lost his mother, and two years afterwards, -in 1541, his political instruction may be said to have commenced. The -emperor, although still in the prime of life, was already tired of the -world. His great expedition to Algiers, from which he had hoped so much, -had brought him nothing but disaster and disappointment, and he arrived -in Spain in deep depression. A letter supposed to have been written to -him at the time by Philip, full of religious and moral consolation for -his trouble, is quoted by Cabrera de Cordoba and subsequent historians; -but on the face of it there are few signs of its being the composition -of a boy of fourteen, and it is not sufficiently authenticated to be -reproduced here. The emperor in any case was delighted with his son. He -found him studious, grave, and prudent beyond his years, and during the -period that the father and son were together the great statesman devoted -a portion of every day to initiate his successor in the intricate task -before him. In 1542 Philip was to receive his first lesson in practical -warfare, and accompanied the Duke of Alba to defend Perpignan against -the French, but he saw no fighting, and on his way back to Castile he -received the oath of allegiance of the Aragonese Cortes at Monzon, -Philip himself swearing in October at Saragossa to maintain inviolate -the tenaciously-held privileges of self-government cherished by the -kingdom of Aragon. How he kept his oath will be seen in a subsequent -chapter. The tendency of Charles’s policy was in favour of -centralisation in the government of Spain, and he several times in -writing to his son shows his dislike of the autonomy possessed by the -stubborn Aragonese. He had completely crushed popular privileges in his -kingdom of Castile, and would have liked to do the same in Aragon. This -will probably explain Philip’s eagerness in subsequently seizing upon an -excuse to curtail the rights of the northern kingdom. Before this period -Charles had conceived another project in favour of the consolidation of -Spain. Ferdinand the Catholic, with the papal authority, had seized the -Spanish kingdom of Navarre, and added it to his own dominions. -Thenceforward the titular sovereigns of Navarre were only tributary -princes of France, but they did not lightly put up with their -deprivation, and were a constant source of irritation and danger to -Spain on the Pyrenean frontier. The design of the emperor was nothing -less than to put an end to the feud, by marrying Philip to the heiress -of Navarre, Jeanne d’Albret. It is idle to speculate upon the -far-reaching results which might have ensued from such a match, but in -all probability it would have changed the whole course of modern -history. At the time this design was in view (1539) “to extinguish the -quarrel of Navarre and tranquillise both our conscience and that of our -son,” Philip and Jeanne were twelve years old, and the marriage would -doubtless have taken place but for the vigilance of Francis I. To have -brought the King of Spain over the Pyrenees as Prince of Béarn, and the -semi-independent sovereign of a large part of the south of France, would -have ruined the French monarchy, so poor little Jeanne was married by -force to a man she detested, and Philip had to look elsewhere for a -bride. - -On the occasion of Charles’s own marriage, the dowry from the wealthy -royal family of Portugal had provided him at a critical juncture with -money to carry on the war with France; and now again, with his exchequer -chronically empty, and the demands upon it for warlike purposes more -pressing than ever, the emperor sought to tap the rich stream of the -Portuguese Indies by wedding his son to Princess Maria, daughter of John -III. and of Charles’s sister Catharine, another consanguineous marriage -of which we shall see the result later. Before the affair could be -concluded the emperor was obliged to leave Spain (May 1543). In July of -the previous year Francis I. had fulminated against his old enemy his -famous proclamation of war, and to Charles’s troubles with the -Protestants of Germany was now added the renewed struggle with France, -in which he was to have the assistance of the English king. The -emperor’s intercourse with his son during his stay in Spain had -convinced him of Philip’s precocity in statesmanship, and so he -determined to leave in his hands the regency of Spain in his absence. - -This was one of the most important junctures of Philip’s life. He was -barely sixteen years old, and was thus early to be entrusted with -Charles’s secret system of government, an instruction which left deep -marks upon Philip’s own method for the rest of his life. The two letters -written by Charles to his son before his departure from Spain are of the -utmost importance as providing a key for Philip’s subsequent political -action. Although Philip was entrusted with the ultimate decision of all -subjects, he was to be guided by some of the most experienced and wisest -of Charles’s councillors. First there was the Cardinal-Archbishop of -Toledo, Tavara, and next the Secretary of State, Francisco de los Cobos, -who had been at the emperor’s right hand for so long. The young regent -is secretly told by his father that the reason why these two were -appointed as his principal councillors was because they were -respectively heads of factions, and their rivalry would prevent the -prince from falling under the influence of either political party. With -merciless scalpel the great emperor lays bare, for the benefit of the -lad of sixteen, the faults and failings of the statesmen who are to aid -him in the government. He is warned not to trust any of them separately. -Their hypocrisy, their greed, their frailties of character, and conduct -are pointed out by the worldly-wise ruler to the neophyte; and the moral -of it all is that he should listen to the opinions of every one, and -especially of rivals, and then decide for himself. - -The greatest of the emperor’s Spanish subjects was the Duke of Alba, yet -this is how he is sketched for the benefit of Philip. “The Duke of Alba -would have liked to be associated with them (_i.e._ Cardinal Tavara and -Cobos), and I do not think that he would have followed either party, but -that which best suited his interests. But as it concerns the interior -government of the kingdom, in which it is not advisable that grandees -should be employed, I would not appoint him, whereat he is much -aggrieved. Since he has been near me I have noticed that he aims at -great things and is very ambitious, although at first he was so -sanctimonious, humble, and modest. Look, my son, how he will act with -you, who are younger than I. You must avoid placing him or other -grandees very intimately in the interior government, because he and -others will exert every means to gain your goodwill, which will -afterwards cost you dear. I believe that he will not hesitate to -endeavour to tempt you even by means of women, and I beg you most -especially to avoid this. In foreign affairs and war make use of him, -and respect him, as he is in this the best man we now have in the -kingdom.” And so, one by one, the bishops and ministers who were to be -Philip’s advisers are dissected for his benefit. The prince was ready -enough to learn lessons of distrust, and it afterwards became one of the -main principles of his system that only creatures of his own making -should be his instruments for the political government of Spain. - -Quite as extraordinary as the political instructions were the minute -rules of conduct given by the emperor to his son for the regulation of -his married life and the continuance of his studies. He is not to -consider that he is a man with nothing to learn because he married -early, and is left in so great a position, but is to study harder than -ever. “If this, my son, be necessary for others, consider how much more -necessary is it for you, seeing how many lands you will have to govern, -so distant and far apart.... If you wish to enjoy them you must -necessarily understand and be understood in them; and nothing is so -important for this as the study of languages.” The coming marital -relations of the young prince were in somewhat curious terms, left -entirely to the guidance of Don Juan de Zuñiga, and the lessons enforced -all through the proud and anxious father’s instructions, were piety, -patience, modesty, and distrust. These were Philip’s guiding principles -for the rest of his long life. The prince fully answered the -expectations of his father. During the next few years, full of stress -and storm for the wearying emperor, a close correspondence was kept up -between them, and the plans and principles of the father were gradually -assimilated by the son. - -In November 1543 the Portuguese princess crossed the frontier to marry -Philip. She was of the same height and age as her bridegroom, a plump -bright little creature; but he was already grave and reserved, short and -dapper, but erect and well made, of graceful and pleasant mien. But for -all his gravity he was still a boy, and could not resist the temptation -of going out in disguise to meet her, and mixing in her train. His -coming was probably an open secret, for the princess on the day of his -arrival took care to look especially charming in her dress of crimson -velvet, and with white feathers in her jaunty satin hat. The meeting -took place in a beautiful country house of the Duke of Alba near -Salamanca, and on November 15 the wedding procession entered the city -itself. All that pomp and popular enthusiasm could do was done to make -the marriage feast a merry one. Bulls and cane tourneys, dancing and -buffooning, fine garments and fair faces, seemed to presage a happy -future for the wedded pair. The bride was Philip’s own choice, for his -father had at one time suggested to him Margaret, the daughter of his -old enemy Francis, but the prince begged to be allowed to marry one of -his own kin and tongue, rather than the daughter of a foe, and the -emperor let him have his way. - -Little is known of the short married life of the young couple. It only -lasted seventeen months, and then, after the birth of the unfortunate -Don Carlos, the poor little princess herself died, it was said at the -time from imprudently eating a lemon soon after her delivery. The birth -of the heir had been hailed with rejoicing by the Spanish people, and -the news of the death of the mother caused redoubled sorrow. Philip was -already extremely popular with his people. His gravity was truly -Spanish; his preference for the Spanish tongue, and his reluctance to -marry the French princess, as well as his piety and moderation, had even -now gained for him the affection of Spaniards, which for the rest of his -life he never lost. His early bereavement was therefore looked upon as a -national affliction. For three weeks after the death of his wife the -young widower shut himself up in a monastery and gave way to his grief, -until his public duties forced him into the world again. The Prince of -Orange in his _Apology_, published in 1581, said that even before Philip -had married Maria he had conferred the title of wife upon Doña Isabel de -Osorio, the sister of the Marquis of Astorga. This has been frequently -repeated, and much ungenerous comment founded upon it, strengthened, it -is true, to some extent by the fact that subsequently for some years -marital relations certainly existed between them. It is, however, in the -highest degree improbable that Orange’s assertion was true. In the first -place no Spanish churchman would have dared to marry the prince-regent -before he was out of his boyhood without the knowledge of the emperor, -and the matter is now almost placed beyond doubt by the -already-mentioned document, which proves that Philip had pledged his -word of honour to his father that he had hitherto kept free of all such -entanglements, and would do so in future. Whatever may have been -Philip’s faults, he was a good and dutiful son, with a high sense of -honour, and it is incredible that he would thus early have been guilty -of deceit upon such a subject as this. - -Founded upon the statements of so bitter an enemy of Philip’s as Orange, -and upon the remarks of the Venetian ambassadors that he was incontinent -“_nelli piacere delle donne_”; that, above all things, he delighted, -“_nelle donne; delle quali mirabilmente si diletta_”; and that “_molto -ama le donne con le quali spesso si trattiene_”--it has been usual to -represent Philip as quite a libertine in this respect, and the lies and -innuendoes of Antonio Perez have strengthened this view. That Philip was -perfectly blameless in his domestic relations it would be folly to -assert, but he was an angel in comparison with most of the contemporary -monarchs, including his father; and probably few husbands of four -successive wives have been more beloved by them than he was, in spite of -his cold reserved demeanour. Behind the icy mask indeed there must have -been much that was gentle and loving, for those who were nearest to him -loved him best; his wives, children, old friends, and servants were -devotedly attached to him, even when they disagreed with his actions; -and in the rare intervals of his almost incessant toil at the desk no -society delighted him so much as that of his children. Charles had on -April 24, 1547, won the battle of Mühlberg, and had for the time utterly -crushed the leaders of the Reformation in Germany. The Diet of Augsburg -was summoned, and the Declaration of Faith, which it was hoped would -reconcile all difficulties, was drawn up. This perhaps was the highest -point reached in Charles’s power. Now, if ever, was the time for -carrying into effect his dream for assuring to his son the succession to -almost universal domination. It had been the intention of Ferdinand the -Catholic that Charles, his elder grandson, should succeed to the -paternal dominions, the empire and Flanders, whilst Ferdinand the -younger should inherit Spain and Naples. Charles, however, arranged -otherwise, and made his brother King of the Romans, with the implied -succession to the imperial crown on his elder brother’s death. But as -Philip’s aptitude for government became more and more apparent to his -father, the ambition of the latter to augment the heritage of his son -increased. Ferdinand and his son Maximilian clung naturally to the -arrangement by which the imperial crown should be secured to them and -their descendants, but the emperor determined that as little power and -territory as possible should go with it. Upon Philip accordingly the -vacant dukedom of Milan was conferred in 1546 by special agreement with -Ferdinand, who doubtless thought that it would not be bad for him to -have his powerful nephew as prince of a fief of the empire, and so, to a -certain extent, subordinate to him. But this was no part of Charles’s -plan. Sicily had long been attached to the crown of Aragon, Naples had -been added thereto by Ferdinand the Catholic, and now Milan was to be -held by the King of Spain. Parma and Piacenza also had just been -captured from the papal Farneses by the emperor’s troops (1547), and now -Charles conceived an arrangement by which the suzerainty of the empire -over Italy should be transferred to Spain, the states of Flanders and -Holland secured to the possessor of the Spanish crown, and the emperor -consequently left only with his Austrian dominions, poor and isolated, -with the great religious question rending them in twain. The transfer of -the Italian suzerainty was to be announced later, but Charles secured -the consent of his brother to the rest of his projects by promising to -guarantee the succession of the imperial crown after the death of -Ferdinand to his son, the Archduke Maximilian, who was to marry -Charles’s eldest daughter, Maria. - -As soon as this had been agreed to, the emperor sent the Duke of Alba to -Spain with an able statement of the whole case for Philip’s information, -setting forth the new combination and its advantages, and urging the -prince to make a progress through the territories which were destined to -be his. The voyage was to be a long, and, to a man of Philip’s habits -and tastes, not an attractive one. Notwithstanding the emperor’s -exhortations years before, he spoke no German or Flemish, and indeed -very little of any language but Spanish. He was already of sedentary -habits, and feasts and the bustle of state receptions were distasteful -to him. But he was a dutiful son, and during all the summer of 1548 the -splendid preparations for his voyage kept Castile busy, whilst -Maximilian, the heir to the empire, was on his way to Spain to marry the -Infanta Maria and assume the regency during Philip’s absence. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - The union of the Low Countries to Spain--The Italian - suzerainty--The effects thereof--Etiquette of the House of Burgundy - adopted in Spain--Ruy Gomez--Philip’s voyage--His unpopularity with - Germans and Flemings--Fresh proposals for his marriage--The family - compact for the imperial succession--Defection of Maurice of - Saxony--War with France--Treaty of Passau--Defeat of the emperor at - Metz. - - -Alba left Germany for Spain at the end of January 1548, travelling by -way of Genoa, and taking with him the exposition of the emperor’s new -policy, which was to result in so much trouble and suffering to future -generations. The lordships of Flanders and Holland had never up to this -period been regarded by Charles as attached necessarily to the crown of -Spain. Indeed at various times the cession of Flanders to France had -been amicably discussed, and only shortly before Charles had considered -the advisability of handing the Low Countries over to his daughter Maria -as a dowry on her marriage with Maximilian. But the step of making them -the inalienable possessions of the ruler of Spain would burden the -latter country with an entirely fresh set of interests, and render -necessary the adoption of a change in its foreign policy. Flanders once -attached to the crown of Spain could never fall into the hands of -France, and the latter Power would find itself almost surrounded by -Spanish territory, with its expansion to the northward cut off. In the -event of the Spanish suzerainty over Italy being established also, -French influence in Italy would be at an end, and the papal power -dwarfed. This therefore meant that France and the pope would make common -cause in a secular struggle against Spain. The dishonesty of Ferdinand -the Catholic about Naples had begun the feud, the rivalry of Francis I. -for the imperial crown had continued it, and now if Flanders and -Holland, instead of belonging to harmless Dukes of Burgundy, were to be -held permanently by France’s great rival, the whole balance of power in -Europe would be changed, and France must fight for life. - -The Dukes of Burgundy and Counts of Holland, as possessors of the -Flemish seaboard, had for generations found it necessary to maintain a -close alliance with England, whose interests were equally bound up in -preventing France from occupying the coast opposite its own eastern -shores, the principal outlet for its commerce. By Charles’s new resolve -this obligation to hold fast by England was transferred permanently to -Spain, which country had not hitherto had any need for intimate -political relations with England, except such as arose out of mutual -commercial interests. Spain itself--and no longer the emperor as Duke of -Burgundy--was thus drawn into the vortex of Central European politics, -and herefrom came its ruin. - -That the emperor’s plans were not entirely to the taste of his son is -certain, but whether in consequence of a dread of the new -responsibilities to be forced upon Spain, or from motives of ambition, -is not quite clear. On the face of the correspondence between Alba and -De Granvelle on the subject, it would appear that the latter was the -case. The objection probably arose from the ambitious Alba, fresh from -his German triumphs, who would point out to the young prince that the -arrangement would permanently cut him off from the succession to the -imperial crown, and that the interval of uncertainty which would elapse -before his suggested suzerainty over Italy was established, would give -time for intrigues to be carried on which might render it impracticable -when the time came. At his instance, therefore, the question of his -suzerainty over Italy was left open, and with it what was doubtless -Alba’s objective point, the arrangement by which the succession to the -empire was secured to Maximilian. - -In pursuance of his plan of keeping the Spanish nobles busy in affairs -other than the interior politics of their country, Charles in August -1548, before Philip’s departure on his travels, gave orders which had a -considerable influence in the future history of Spain. The kings of the -petty realms into which the Peninsula had been divided, constantly at -war for centuries with the Moors, had been obliged to depend for their -very existence upon their feudal semi-independent nobles. The kings at -best were but first amongst their peers, and were constantly reminded of -the fact. The “fueros” of each petty dominion were stubbornly upheld -against the rulers, and in the north of Spain, at all events, it had -been for some centuries past a continuous policy of the kings to curb -the power for harm of the nobles and limit the autonomous privileges of -the people. The policy of the emperor, as we have seen, was to -centralise the government of Spain, and to give to its rulers an -overwhelming influence in the councils of Europe. This could only be -effected by making the king the supreme master over the lives and -property of all his subjects, drawing from Spain the growing stream of -riches from the Indies, and attaching the powerful Spanish nobles -personally to their prince. - -The court life of Spain, except for a short time when Charles’s father, -Philip the Handsome, had visited it, had been bluff and simple. The new -order of the emperor introduced for the first time the pompous and -splendid etiquette of the House of Burgundy, which has since been -adopted in most monarchies. By virtue of this the proud Spanish nobility -became personally attached to the household of the prince in nominally -inferior capacities, chamberlains, equerries, ushers, and the like; and -the young hidalgoes of the greatest Houses, all bedizened and bedecked -in finery, no longer hunted the wild boar in their mountain homes, but -dangled in the presence of the monarch and added lustre to his daily -life. - -The change was certainly not in consonance with Philip’s natural -inclinations. His personal tastes were of the simplest; he was always -sober and moderate in eating and drinking, looking with positive disgust -on the excess of Flemings and Germans in this respect. He hated pomp and -blare, and his attire on ordinary occasions was as modest and simple as -it was handsome. But he was a slave to duty, and when the exigencies of -his high station demanded magnificence, he could be as splendid as any -man on earth. So henceforward in public the quiet, modest man moved in -a perfect constellation of glittering satellites. One great consolation -the change gave him. In the emperor’s exhortation to him in 1543 he was -told that in future his young friends must only approach him as his -servants, and “that his principal companions must be elderly men and -others of reasonable age possessed of virtue, wise discourse, and good -example.” But Philip was yet (1548) only twenty-one, and was devotedly -attached to some of the friends of his boyhood, such as Ruy Gomez de -Silva and Gomez Suarez de Figueroa, Count de Feria, and to these and the -like he gave offices which kept them constantly near him. Philip for the -whole of his life was on his guard to prevent favourites from obtaining -influence over him, and few monarchs have been less dominated by -individual courtiers than he. But the man who gained most ascendency -over him was Ruy Gomez, who, as will be shown later, led a party or -school of thought whose policy was for many years followed by the king, -and largely coloured subsequent events. On October 1, 1548, Philip left -Valladolid on his voyage, leaving as regents his sister Maria and her -bridegroom Maximilian. By slow stages, and followed by a great train of -courtiers, he rode through Aragon and Catalonia, worshipping at the -shrines of Saragossa and Monserrate on his way, and receiving the homage -of Barcelona and Gerona. In the bay of Rosas, in the extreme north-east -point of Spain, Andrea Doria awaited him with a splendid fleet of -fifty-eight galleys and a great host of sailing ships. - -Doria, the greatest sailor of his day, who had grown grey in the service -of the emperor, knelt on the shore at the sight of the prince, overcome -with emotion, and said in the words of Simeon: “Now, Lord, let Thy -servant depart in peace, for his eyes have seen Thy salvation.” It is no -exaggeration to say that this intense devotion to the Spanish prince -reflected generally the feeling with which he was regarded in Spain, at -least. The prince landed at Savona in the territory of Genoa, where -princes and cardinals innumerable awaited him. In the city of Genoa he -stayed at the Doria palace, and there Octavio Farnese came to him from -his uncle, Pope Paul III., with a significant message. The Farneses had -but small reason to greet Philip with enthusiasm just then, for the -plans afoot for the aggrandisement of Spain were a grave menace to the -interests of the papacy, and Octavio himself was being kept out of his -principality by the emperor’s troops. But the pope’s champion against -the emperor, Francis I, had recently died, and the pontiff was obliged -to salute the rising sun of Spain, in the hope that he would prove a -better friend to Rome than his father was. So Farnese was fain to bear -to Philip from the pope a sanctified sword and a hat of state, “hoping -that some day he might behold in him the true champion of the Holy -Church.” Milan and Mantua vied with Genoa in the splendour of their -rejoicings for Philip’s arrival, and so through the Tyrol, Germany, and -Luxembourg he slowly made his way to meet his father at Brussels. On -April 1, 1549, he made his state entry into the city, but so great was -the ceremonial, that it was almost night before he arrived at the -palace. Charles was still ailing, but gained, it seemed, new life when -he saw the heir of his greatness. Thenceforward for a time the -festivals, tourneys, and rejoicings went on unceasingly, to a greater -extent, say eye-witnesses, than had ever been known before. Philip had -no taste for such frivolities, but he did his best. He was a graceful, -if not a bold, rider, and the custom of his time demanded that he should -break lances with the rest. His courtly chroniclers relate how well he -acquitted himself in these exercises, and the enthusiasm aroused by his -gallant mien; but less partial judges do not scruple to say that at one -of the tourneys during his stay in Germany on his way home “no one did -so badly as the prince,” who was never able “to break a lance.” His -inclinations were in a totally different direction. The drunken orgies -and rough horseplay of the Germans and Flemings disgusted him, and he -took but little pains to conceal his surprise at what appeared to him -such undignified proceedings. He was unable, moreover, to speak German, -and his voyage certainly did not help forward the project of securing to -him the succession to the imperial crown. - -For the next two years the emperor kept his son by his side, -indoctrinating him with his principles and policy. For two hours nearly -every day the Spanish prince learnt the profound lessons of government -from the lips of his great father, government founded on the principle -of making all other men merely instruments for carrying out the ends of -one. - -Philip had now been a widower for four years, and doubtless during this -period contracted his connection with Doña Isabel de Osorio, by whom he -had several children; and he had one at least by a Flemish lady in -Brussels. His only legitimate son was the lame, epileptic Don Carlos, -and the emperor had no other sons; so during the intimate conferences -which followed Philip’s arrival in Brussels, Charles pressed upon his -heir the necessity of taking another wife, and once more brought forward -Jeanne d’Albret, titular Queen of Navarre, who had claimed a divorce -from the Duke of Cleves, whom she had been constrained to marry. But -whether because cautious Philip saw that to extend his dominions into -the south of France would be a source of weakness rather than strength -to him, or whether he was influenced by the greed for dowry, and the -persuasions of his widowed aunt Leonora, who was with his father in -Brussels, he certainly leant to the side of her daughter, another -Princess Maria of Portugal, aunt of his former wife, and negotiations -were opened in this direction, although Ferdinand, King of the Romans, -the brother of the emperor, tried his hardest to promote his own -daughter to the place of Philip’s consort. Philip had contrived to -persuade his probably not unwilling father to endeavour to promote his -claims to the succession of the imperial crown in the place of -Ferdinand, and the Austrian archives contain full details of the almost -interminable family discussions with this end. At last, in March 1551, a -compact was made with which Philip was forced to be satisfied. It was to -the effect that Ferdinand should succeed Charles as emperor, but that on -the death of Ferdinand the imperial crown should pass to Philip instead -of to Maximilian, who was to govern the empire in his name, holding a -similar position towards Philip to that occupied by Ferdinand towards -Charles. The emperor’s suzerainty over Italy was to be exercised -vicariously by Philip during the life of Ferdinand. This last provision -was a bitter pill for Ferdinand to swallow, but it was, in Charles’s -view, the most important of them all. Spain, with a supremacy over the -Italian states, would be the mistress of the Mediterranean, with -infinite possibilities of extension to the east and in Africa, whilst -France would be checkmated on this side, as she had been on the north. -Philip, who had accompanied his father to Augsburg for the Diet, only -stayed until this arrangement was settled and he had received the fiefs -of the empire, and then (in May 1551) started on his way home to Spain. - -The battle of Mühlberg, three years before, together with the ambition -of Maurice of Saxony, had laid Lutheranism prostrate at the feet of -Charles, but the plan to perpetuate Spanish domination over the empire -once more aroused the spirit of the sovereigns to resistance, and the -powerful Maurice of Saxony, the emperor’s own creature, joined his -fellow-countrymen against him. Sent by Charles to besiege the Protestant -stronghold of Magdeburg, he suddenly changed sides. The opportunity thus -offered was too good to be neglected by France, where Henry II. was now -firmly seated on the throne; and in October 1551 a compact was signed at -Friedwald in Hesse, by which Maurice, the King of France, and the -Protestant princes joined against the emperor. Henry II. had just made -peace with England, and had recovered Boulogne, so that he was in a -better position to face his enemy than ever before. Octavio Farnese, -with the connivance of France, raised a tumult in Italy to recover his -principalities of Parma and Piacenza; and thus Charles found himself -suddenly confronted by war on all sides, just when the prospects of his -House had looked brightest. There is no space in this work to follow the -fortunes of the remarkable campaign in which Maurice swept through -Germany, capturing the imperial cities, surprising the emperor himself -in Innspruck, and forcing Cæsar to fly for his life through the -darkness. Suffice it to say that Charles was humbled as he had never -been before, and was obliged to sign the peace of Passau at the -dictation of Maurice (July 31, 1552) on terms which practically gave to -the Lutheran princes all they demanded. This put an end for once and for -all to the dream of making Philip Emperor as well as King of Spain. Nor -had Henry II. been idle. On his way to join the German Protestants he -had captured the strong places of Alsace and Lorraine, and Charles’s -army before Metz was utterly defeated by Guise (January 1553). In Italy, -too, the emperor was unfortunate, for the French had obtained a footing -in Siena, and had overrun Piedmont. And thus the idea of a permanent -supremacy of Spain over the Italian states also fell to the ground. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - Proposal to marry Philip to Queen Mary of England--The need for - alliance with England--The negotiations of Renard--Opposition of - France--Unpopularity of the match in England--Philip’s voyage to - England--His affability--His first interview with Mary--The - marriage--Philip made King of Naples--Failure of the objects of the - marriage--Philip’s policy in England--Pole’s mission--Philip and - the persecution of Catholics in England--Philip’s disappointment - and departure. - - -In the meanwhile Philip was doing well in Spain. He had raised both men -and money in plenty to reinforce the emperor, and Alba himself was sent -to command them. He pushed on vigorously the negotiations for his -marriage with his Portuguese cousin, whose dowry would once more provide -the sinews of war. But King John III. was less liberal with a dowry for -his sister than he had been for his daughter, and the project hung fire -month after month on this ground alone, notwithstanding the efforts of -Ruy Gomez, who was sent by Philip to Portugal in June 1553 to persuade -the king to loosen his purse strings and send his sister to Spain with a -rich dowry. - -Then, almost suddenly, the whole aspect of affairs changed. It had been -known for some time that the young King of England, Edward VI., was in -failing health, and would probably die without issue, but the uncertain -element in the situation had been the extent of the Duke of -Northumberland’s power and the strength of Protestantism in the country. -Hardly pressed as he was, Charles’s principal preoccupation with regard -to England was to keep on good terms with it, although doubtless many a -time his busy brain must have conjured up circumstances which would -admit of fresh combinations being formed in which England should share. -The events in Germany, the terms of the peace of Passau, and the -unpopularity of Philip out of Spain, had convinced him that his dreams -of ambition for his son in that direction were impossible of -realisation. He must have seen also that the possessor of Flanders and -Holland without the strength of the empire behind him, and with a -covetous France on one flank and Protestant princes on the other, would -be in an untenable position, unless he could depend upon England’s -co-operation through thick and thin. This was the first manifestation of -the evil results which logically followed his ill-starred action in -attaching the dominions of the House of Burgundy permanently to the -crown of Spain. - -Edward VI. died on July 7, 1553, and the popular acclamation of Mary and -the complete collapse of Northumberland’s house of cards, caused a new -departure in the emperor’s political plans. The hollow crown of the -empire might go, with its turbulent Lutheran princes and its poor -patrimony, but if only rich England could be joined in a lasting bond to -Spain, then France would indeed be humbled, Flanders and Italy would be -safe, the road to unlimited expansion by the Mediterranean would be -open, and Spain could give laws to all Latin Christendom, and to -heathendom beyond. - -No time was lost in commencing the preliminaries. The first thing -evidently for the emperor to do was to consolidate Mary’s position on -the throne by counselling prudence and moderation in religious affairs. -The imperial ambassador was instructed immediately (July 29, 1553) to -urge upon the new queen not to be in a hurry openly to avow herself a -Catholic until she had sounded public opinion and conciliated the nobles -who had helped her to the throne. - -Mary entered London on August 3, and in the place of honour near her -rode Simon Renard, the emperor’s ambassador. Only four days afterwards, -on the 7th, he first hinted to the queen that the Prince of Spain would -be a fitting husband for her. She affected to laugh at the idea, but, -Renard thought, not unfavourably. The English people had almost -unanimously fixed upon young Courtney as the queen’s future consort, and -Mary was as yet uncertain how far she could venture to thwart them. “Do -not overpress her,” wrote Granvelle, “to divert her from any other -match, because if she have the whim she will carry it forward if she be -like other women.” But Renard knew the human heart as well as any man, -and his report to the emperor was satisfactory as far as it went. The -next step was to consult Philip himself, the person principally -interested. He was a dutiful son, it is true, but Charles must have -known of his domestic arrangements with Doña Isabel Osorio, and could -not be certain that a man of twenty-six would be absolutely docile. So -Renard was instructed to say no more until a reply came from Spain. But -tongues began to wag in London, and by September 6, Noailles, the French -ambassador, knew what was in the wind. Henceforth it was a duel to the -death between him and Renard. The emperor was still at war with France, -burning to avenge the disaster of Metz; and if this marriage were -effected it would be revenge indeed. From the French embassy accordingly -flowed money in plenty to subsidise disaffection, hints that those who -held Church property would be forced to disgorge it, and panic-striking -rumours of what would happen if Spain got the upper hand in England. The -hatred and prejudice aroused against Philip by Noailles for purely -political reasons in 1553 have left an abundant crop of prejudice, even -to our own times. Philip was a politician and a patriot before all -things. However distasteful to him the marriage may have been, his own -personal pleasure was never his aim, and he saw the increment of -strength which the union with England would bring to his father’s cause -and his own; so, like a dutiful son, he wrote, “I have no other will -than that of your Majesty, and whatever you desire, that I will do.” On -receipt of this news Renard opened the attack, and pressed Philip’s -suit. Mary was coy and doubtful at first, mainly, it would seem, on -personal grounds, but Renard’s persuasions prevailed even over the -powerful Gardiner, and the Queen of England formally accepted the hand -of the Spanish prince when Egmont came with his splendid embassy to -offer it in January 1554. London was in a perfect whirlwind of panic, -thanks mainly to Noailles, and the gallant Egmont himself and his -followers were attacked in the streets by London prentices. Carews, -Wyatts, and Greys struggled, rebelled, and fell, but the queen knew her -own mind now, and in her sight the Spanish marriage meant the -resurrection of her country and the salvation of her people. Philip and -his father doubtless thought so too, in a general way; but that was not -their first object. What they wanted was to humble France for good and -for all, and make Spain henceforward the dictatress of Europe. It was a -disappointment to Philip when, at Valladolid in the early spring, he -learnt the conditions by which he was to be bound for life. They were -very hard, for Mary’s council were determined that the marriage should -not mean the political subjugation of England by Spain, and all Renard’s -cunning and the emperor’s bribes failed to move them. - -Philip was a gallant suitor withal, and determined to do the thing -handsomely if it were to be done at all. First he sent a special envoy, -the Marquis de las Navas, to England, sumptuously attended, with “a -great table diamond mounted as a rose in a superb gold setting, valued -at 50,000 ducats; a necklace of eighteen brilliants, worth 32,000 -ducats; a great diamond with a fine pearl pendant from it, worth 25,000 -ducats; and other jewels, pearls, diamonds, emeralds, and rubies of -inestimable value for the queen and her ladies.” Never before had so -much magnificence been witnessed in Spain as in the preparations for -Philip’s voyage to England. He left Valladolid on May 14, with nearly -1000 horsemen and half the nobility of Spain, all glittering and -flashing with splendour. Puling little Carlos, with his big head and -frail limbs, was by his side for a day on the way to Corunna, and when -Philip left him he was to see him no more as a child. Passionate -devotion and loyalty followed Philip on his progress through -North-western Spain. He was a true national monarch, and his people knew -it. Charles had always been a Fleming before all things, and his -wide-spreading dominions had kept him mostly away from Spain; but the -Spaniards knew well that, no matter what other nations fell under his -sway, Philip would remain a true Spaniard to the end, and rule them all -from the country he loved. It has been said that Philip was naturally -grave and unexpansive, and in his previous voyage in Germany and -Flanders his demeanour had made him extremely unpopular. Charles, -indeed, had to remonstrate with him, when it was already too late, for -his want of geniality. The emperor was determined that his son should -not again fall into a similar error for want of timely warning, and sent -him--as also did Renard--urgent exhortations to bear himself affably, -and to conciliate the stubborn English by respecting all their -prejudices and adopting their customs. It was against his very nature, -but he had schooled himself to self-control and sacrifice, and his most -intimate friends were astonished at the change in his manner from the -day he set foot on English soil at Southampton on July 20, 1554. He was -no longer the grave and moody prince they had known, but smiling, -courteous, and frank. Gifts and favours were lavished on all sides, and -although he came heavily handicapped by the prejudice against him, and -London especially bitterly hated the Spaniards, and did not hesitate to -show it, Philip himself became personally not unpopular during his stay -in England. He brought with him in his fine fleet of 100 sail 6000 or -8000 soldiers to reinforce the emperor in his war with the French, and -not a man of them was allowed to land in England; they and many of -Philip’s courtiers proceeding to Flanders as soon as might be. The -nobles and gentlemen who accompanied the prince were warned that they -must in all respects make way for the English and take a secondary -place. This was gall and wormwood to them, and their scorn and hatred -grew as they became convinced of the fruitlessness of their sacrifice -and that of their master. - -The queen’s first interview with her husband was at night on July 23 in -the bishop’s palace at Winchester. He was dressed in a suit of white kid -covered with gold embroidery, and wore a French grey satin surcoat, “and -very gallant he looked.” He was surrounded by ten of the highest nobles -in Spain, and from the first moment the queen saw him she seems to have -fallen in love with him. She had fervently invoked divine guidance in -her choice, and had managed to work herself into a condition of -religious exaltation, which rendered her peculiarly open to hysterical -influences--for she too was a granddaughter of Isabel the Catholic. All -that pomp and expenditure could do to render the marriage ceremony at -Winchester for ever memorable was done. Philip himself and his friends -had no illusions about the matter. They all confess with depressing -unanimity that the bride was a faded little woman with red hair, and no -eyebrows, and that the Spanish objects in the marriage were purely -political. But Mary looked upon it in quite a different light. She was -taking part in a holy sacrament which was to bring salvation to -thousands of souls, and make her for ever memorable as the saviour of -her country and her race. Philip acted like a gentleman, under very -difficult circumstances. He treated his wife with gentle courtesy, -returning her somewhat embarrassingly frequent endearments with apparent -alacrity, and never by word or deed hinting that her charms were on the -wane. On the day of the marriage Charles had equalised his son’s rank -with that of Mary by making him King of Naples, but still English -suspicion and jealousy resented the idea of his coronation, or even his -aspiring to equal place with the queen. “He had only come,” said the -Londoners, “to beget an heir to the crown, and then he might go--the -sooner the better.” So by the time when the king and queen entered the -city in state on August 27 it was clear that, come what might, Philip -would never be allowed to govern England. “The real rulers of this -country,” wrote one of Philip’s courtiers, “are not the monarchs, but -the council,” and the councillors, though ready enough to accept Spanish -gold, were Englishmen above all things, and would never submit to -Spanish government. The hard terms of the marriage contract had been -accepted by Charles and Philip in the belief that they could be -nullified after the marriage by the influence of the husband over the -wife. It was now seen that however great this influence might be, the -queen herself was almost powerless in the hands of the council and the -nobles who had raised her to the throne. - -Philip whilst in England showed his usual diplomacy. He carefully -abstained from publicly interfering in the government, but he had not -failed to draw to his side some of the principal members of the council, -and his influence certainly made itself felt, if it was unseen. His -efforts were at first entirely directed to the conversion of England to -the faith by preaching and persuasion, the subsequent object, of course, -being the complete return of the country to the papal fold, which would -be but a stepping-stone to the political domination by Spain. But -Charles and Philip were statesmen first, and religious zealots -afterwards. On this occasion, as on several subsequent ones in Philip’s -career, the zeal of the churchmen outran the discretion of the -politicians, and the king-consort’s influence, such as it was, had to be -exercised mainly in the direction of moderation and temporisation. - -Immediately after Mary’s accession the pope had appointed Cardinal Pole -to negotiate for the submission of England to the Holy See, and the -cardinal was eager to set his hand to the work at once. He was an -Englishman of royal blood, a firm Catholic, who had no other end in view -than to bring back his country to what he considered the true faith. -Mary at first was just as eager as Pole, but Charles saw from afar that, -if affairs were to be directed into the course he wished, they must be -managed gently. The new pope, Julius III., was a docile and vicious -pontiff, and was soon brought round to the emperor’s views. He was -induced to alter Pole’s appointment to that of legate, with instructions -first to go to Brussels and endeavour to mediate in the pope’s name -between the emperor and the King of France, and then await a favourable -opportunity for proceeding to England. - -The great difficulty in the English question was the restitution of the -property taken from the Church during the previous reigns. It was -evident to the emperor that, if an uncompromising stand were taken up on -that point, the whole edifice would collapse. Pole was all for complete -and unconditional restitution, and his powers, indeed, gave him little -or no discretion to compromise or abandon the claim of the Church. The -first point therefore agreed upon by Charles and Philip was to delay -Pole’s voyage to England until the pope had been induced to confer large -discretionary powers on Pole, and the latter had been made to promise -that he would do nothing except in accord with Philip. When this had -been effected, and Renard, at Philip’s instance, had seen Pole and -obtained a promise that he would not insist upon restitution of the -property that had passed into private hands, he was allowed to proceed -to England. Forty years afterwards, one of Philip’s English adherents, -Father Persons, told him that all the ill-fortune that had attended his -efforts in England was due to the impious omission at this juncture of -insisting upon some sort of restitution of the ecclesiastical property -in private hands. - -In November 1554 England returned to the bosom of the Church, and Pole -to this extent was satisfied; but he was no politician, and could never -be brought round to the purely Spanish view of English politics, which -may be said indeed of most of Mary’s advisers. - -On the very day of Pole’s arrival it was officially announced that the -queen was with child, and the new legate and the rest of the churchmen -fell into what would now be looked upon as blasphemous comparisons, the -people at large being suddenly caught up by the wave of rejoicing at the -promise of an heir to the throne. The opportunity was discreetly taken -by Philip to cause his instruments to propose in Parliament the sending -by England of armed aid to the emperor against France, and the -nomination of himself as Regent of England in the event of the -looked-for heir outliving his mother. But again the over-zeal of the -churchmen spoilt his game. Bonner and Gardiner began to think that -persecution of Protestants was necessary and holy. Reaction in the -country was the natural result, and Philip and Mary were obliged to -dissolve Parliament in a hurry, without the political plans being -effected. - -Philip’s Spanish chaplains had been extremely unpopular. Such insults -indeed had been offered to them, that they dared not appear in the -streets in priestly garb. But they were really mild and conciliating, -and when the fierce zeal of the English bishops led them to burn the -Protestants, Philip’s principal confessor openly denounced them from the -pulpit, doubtless at his master’s instance--certainly with his approval. -The cruel persecution of the Protestants, indeed, was dead against the -realisation of Spanish aims. Philip and Renard clearly saw that it would -bring about reaction and hatred, and used their influence to stay it. -Charles himself was appealed to by Renard. “If,” he said, “this -precipitancy be not moderated, affairs will assume a dangerous -appearance.” For nearly six months Philip’s efforts stayed the storm of -persecution, and his active intercession saved many condemned to the -stake. - -But Charles was impatient for his presence in Flanders. The deadly -torpor had already seized upon the great emperor. The man who had been -indefatigable in his youth and prime had now sunk into indifference to -the world. For weeks together no word could be got from him, and of -action he was almost incapable. He had begged Philip to come to him -before his honeymoon was over, and had continued to do so ever since. -The king had waited and waited on, in the ever-deluded hope that Mary’s -promise of issue would be fulfilled, but at last even she had become -incredulous, and her husband could delay his departure no longer. By -August 1555 the rogations and intercessions to the Almighty for the safe -birth of a prince were discontinued, and the splendid plot was seen to -be a failure. - -Consider what this meant for Philip and for the Spanish power. An -Anglo-Spanish dynasty ruling England, Spain, and Flanders, supreme over -Italy and the Mediterranean, with the riches of the Indies in its hands, -would have dominated the world. The German Protestant princes, without -effective seaboard, must remain a negligeable quantity outside of their -own country. France, shut in on every side by land and sea, could have -progressed no more, and Spain would have become paramount more -completely than if Charles’s first dream of the universal spread of the -power of the Roman-Austrian empire had been realised. - -But it was not to be, and Philip made the best of it without exhibiting -disappointment. In vain Renard wrote to the emperor that as soon as -Philip’s back was turned the fires of persecution would recommence in -England; Charles would wait no longer, and peremptorily ordered his son -to come to Flanders. On August 26 Mary accompanied her husband to -Greenwich, where he took leave of her three days later. The queen was in -deep affliction, but she bore up before the spectators of the scene. -With one close embrace she bade the king farewell, but so long as the -boat in which he went to Gravesend remained in sight from the windows of -the palace, the unhappy queen, her eyes overflowing with tears, watched -the receding form of her husband, who on his part continued to wave his -hand as a signal of adieu, a quiet, courteous gentleman to the last, -though his heart must have been heavy with disappointment, and his -crafty brain full of plans for remedying it. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - Philip in favour of a moderate policy in England--His attitude - towards religion generally--He requests armed aid from England - against the French--The emperor’s embarrassments in Italy--Alba - made Philip’s viceroy in Italy--Factions in Philip’s court--Ruy - Gomez and Alba--The emperor’s abdication--Philip’s changed - position--His attitude towards the papacy--The Spanish Church--Pope - Paul IV. and the Spaniards in Italy--Excommunication of - Philip--Invasion of Rome by Alba--Philip’s second visit to England. - - -Before Philip left England he drew up for the guidance of the queen and -council full instructions for the administration of affairs. Minutes -were sent to him of the proceedings of the meetings of the council, upon -which, as was his custom during the rest of his life, he made exhaustive -notes and comments. - -The month after his departure he was informed by the council that the -bull had been promulgated surrendering the claim to Church property -alienated to private persons, and against this information the king -emphatically notes that it is “well done,” but in the same document an -indication is given that the zeal of the Catholic council in England is -outrunning discretion, and Philip’s hand is brought down heavily in -favour of cautious moderation. The proposal was that the first-fruits -and tenths, and ecclesiastical revenues which had been suspended or -alienated, should be brought back to their original uses. Here the king -has no approving word to say. He recommends that the question should be -considered by a committee of eight councillors, who should report to him -for decision. He then goes on to urge caution, and to direct that the -Government should not propose any measure to Parliament until it had -been submitted to him. He evidently dreaded the rash zeal of the -Catholic party in England, and did his best to hold it in check; but -before he had been gone from England six months Renard’s prophecy came -true, and the flames of persecution burst out, to be extinguished no -more until the death of the queen. Philip was certainly not responsible -for this; his influence was exerted in the contrary direction. - -Religious persecution was with him simply a matter of political -expediency, and in the existing state of affairs it was the most -injudicious thing in the world for the Catholic party in England to run -to extremes. Philip was a cold-blooded statesman, and was never really -blinded by religious zeal. That he was a deeply religious man, according -to his narrow view, with an all-consuming belief in the identity of -interests between himself and the Almighty, is certain; but his motive -was never the exaltation of the Church itself, or even of Catholicism, -except as the most convenient instrument for establishing the political -predominance of Spain over the rest of the world. - -What Philip wanted of the English councillors was not the hellish -bonfires of Smithfield, but ships and men with which to fight the -French. Here the fervid churchmen were not so ready. The English navy, -the council told Philip, was unfit for sea; but the best of the ships, -with the pick of the sailors and soldiers on board, should as soon as -possible be sent to guard the Channel. This was not enough for the king, -who wrote (September 1555) a vigorous marginal note on the minute, -saying that “England’s chief defence depends upon its navy being always -in good order to serve for the defence of the kingdom against all -invasion. It is right that the ships should not only be fit for sea, but -instantly available.” He wishes the fleet to be put in order, and sent, -not to Dover but to Portsmouth, as the emperor is going to Spain in -November, and wishes twelve or fourteen ships to accompany him beyond -Ushant. This was, of course, the thin end of the wedge. What Philip -really wanted, as will be seen, was to employ the English fleet against -France. - -On the much-desired arrival of Philip in Brussels he found the great -emperor a prey to the last extreme of mental and bodily senile -depression. Things had been going from bad to worse with Charles almost -uninterruptedly since the defection of Maurice of Saxony in 1552. -“Fortune is a strumpet,” he cried at his disaster before Metz, “and -reserves her favours for the young.” And so to the young Philip he had -determined to shift the burden he himself could bear no longer. - -The emperor’s principal embarrassments had occurred in Italy. It will be -recollected that Naples and Sicily belonged to the crown of Spain by -conquest, and that the dukedom of Milan, a vacant fief of the empire, -had been conferred upon Philip. Charles’s warlike and turbulent -representatives in these states had plunged him into endless troubles, -first by their encroachment on the principalities of Parma and Piacenza, -belonging to the papal Farneses, and, secondly, by the seizure of the -republic of Siena. The discontent caused by these encroachments was -taken advantage of by the French king to side with the Italians against -their suzerain, the emperor. The French already held Piedmont, one of -the fiefs of the empire, and now expelled the imperialists from Siena. -The Pope and the Duke of Florence, who had hitherto been neutral, then -sided with the French; the populations of Milan and Naples cried aloud -against the oppression they suffered from the Spanish governors, and the -Spanish imperial domination of Italy seemed tottering to its fall. The -Spanish governors were hastily changed, and an arrangement patched up -with the Medicis. Thenceforward the war was carried on against the -French in Italy with varying success, the Turks frequently making -diversions on the coast in the interest of France. The imperial and -Spanish officials in the various states of Italy were quarrelling with -each other in face of the common enemy, and all was in confusion when -Philip made his marriage journey to England. It was then decided by the -emperor to transfer to his son the crowns of Naples and Sicily, and the -dukedom of Milan, with which he had been nominally invested in 1546, and -the act of abdication of these dominions was read in Winchester -Cathedral before the marriage ceremony. This was doubtless intended as a -first step towards the old project of transferring to Spain the -suzerainty of the empire over Italy, as Philip bad also received a -transference of the rights of the emperor over Siena as soon as the -republic had been recaptured from the French. It will thus be seen how -anomalous was Philip’s position in Italy. He was independent King of -Naples, a tributary prince of the empire in Milan, and a substitute for -the emperor in his suzerainty over Siena. The imperial troops in Milan -had hitherto been a coercive power over the other imperial fiefs, but -they could no longer be so regarded, as they were the forces of a -Spanish prince, who in Milan was himself a tributary prince of the -empire, with no rights over the rest. Philip soon found that it was -practically impossible to govern from England his Italian states in this -complicated condition of affairs, and in November 1554 appointed Alba -with very full powers to exercise all his sovereignties in Italy, with -supreme command of the army. The emperor did not like the idea. We have -seen the opinion he held of Alba and how he dreaded making so great a -noble too powerful, and it was only with great difficulty that he -consented. Alba had been Philip’s principal mentor in England, chafing -at being kept away from the wars, and condemned to humiliating -subordination in a country he hated; but it may safely be assumed that -this was not the only reason why Philip decided to remove him from his -side. - -Already the two political parties which were in after years alternately -to influence Philip were being developed. Ruy Gomez de Silva, his bosom -friend, upon whom he had bestowed the hand of the greatest heiress of -Spain, and whom soon afterwards he was to load with titles, was an -hidalgo of Portuguese birth, ten years older than his master. According -to all contemporary accounts never was royal favour better deserved. No -person has an ill word for Ruy Gomez. Gentle, conciliatory, modest, and -diplomatic, he was the very antithesis of the haughty and intolerant -Alba, and found himself constantly at issue with him on every political -point under discussion. His views and methods were more in consonance -with those of Philip than were the harsh and violent counsels of the -warlike Alba. He was, moreover, nearer the king’s age, and possessed his -real regard. It is not surprising, therefore, that when an opportunity -came for the removal of Alba from the king’s side, Ruy Gomez and his -friends urged it; and in December 1554 the favourite himself went from -England to Brussels to persuade the reluctant emperor to consent to the -appointment. Alba’s administration of Italy opened an entirely new page -in the relations between Spain, Italy, and the papacy, to which -reference will be made in its proper place. - -On October 25, 1555, the renunciation by the emperor of the sovereignty -of the Netherlands took place in the great hall of the palace of -Brussels. The scene, one of the most dramatic in history, has often been -described, and need not here be repeated. All the circumstances added -impressiveness and solemnity to the ceremony. The prematurely aged -emperor, standing on a dais, leaning on the shoulder of the youthful -William the Silent, in a broken voice took leave of the Flemish -subjects, whom he loved best. He had always been a Fleming at heart, and -the leave-taking was an affecting one on both sides. Philip, on the -other hand, was to all intents a foreigner, and though Charles fervently -prayed his son to treat his people well, the Flemings present knew that -his heart and sympathies were in Spain, and that Philip might be a ruler -over them, but never a friend and father, as the emperor had been. -Philip’s own impassibility for once gave way at the affecting scene, and -for some time he could not summon sufficient composure to speak; and -when he did, alas! it was only to confess that, as he could not address -his new subjects in their own tongue, he must depute the task to -another. We may be sure that the Bishop of Arras--the coming De -Granvelle--was elegant, fluent, and appropriate in his speech; but the -charm that loosely held together the states under the House of Burgundy -was broken, and the sturdy burghers felt that henceforward they were to -be regarded as a colony of Spain. On January 16, 1556, the crowns of -Spain were also transferred to Philip, and Charles remained now only -emperor nominally, until the German electors were prepared for the -abdication in favour of Ferdinand. Before he left for Spain and turned -his back upon the world for ever, he arranged (February 1556) a truce -for five years, by the treaty of Vaucelles, with his old antagonist the -King of France. - -Philip now stands on the stage alone, the greatest monarch in the world, -although disappointed of the apostolic crown. We have seen how his -statecraft had been formed, and how from his childhood he had absorbed -the worldly experience of his father. We can see how he had schooled -himself to self-repression, concentration of effort to political ends, -and profound distrust in all men. To his melancholy mysticism and belief -in his divine inspiration, the result of his descent, had been -superadded the teachings of his mentors, and the result was the man who -was to lead to defeat one of the two great forces into which the world -was divided. The judgment on a great historical figure must be -pronounced, not in view of what he achieved, so much as what he aimed -at, and in the case of Philip the objects were great. These objects were -not, however, conceived by him, but were imposed upon him by the -accident of birth. He accepted the inheritance as a sacred duty and -strenuously did his best, but his inherited personal qualities were not -equal to his inherited task, and he failed. - -The irony of events decreed that the very first task to which Philip was -to put his hand was to fight with the Holy See. Charles and his -predecessors had wrested from one pontiff after another the rights of -presentation to all bishoprics, prelacies, and other preferments of the -Church in Spain, so that the Spanish clergy depended now upon their -sovereign more than upon the pope, and the king practically used the -vast revenues of the Church as an instrument of his policy. The royal -council, moreover, had the power of supervision over the ecclesiastical -courts in Spain, nominally to protect Spanish priests from injustice, -but really to make the civil power supreme, and give to the State a -predominance over the Church. The Inquisition itself was quite as much a -political as an ecclesiastical institution, and was jealously regarded -by Philip and his predecessors as under their immediate control, and not -that of the pope. Similar, and even greater power, was exercised by the -king over the Spanish Church in Naples and Sicily, to the exclusion of -papal influence. These facts, together with the encroachments of the -Spaniards in Italy, had been suffered with a bad grace by previous -pontiffs, but Cardinal Caraffa, Paul IV., was a Neapolitan, and a deadly -enemy of the Spanish power, and immediately after his accession began to -intrigue with the King of France to join with him for the purpose of -expelling the Spaniards from Naples, and curbing their power in Italy -generally. The arrogant and intemperate pontiff launched against the -emperor and his son invective more bitter even than he did against -heretics. “The Spaniards,” he was wont to say, were “the vile and abject -spawn of Jews, the dregs of the world,” and “now the time had come when -they should be castigated for their sins, be expelled from their states, -and Italy should be free.” The aid of the Grand Turk was also invoked, -and Henry II., tempted by the bait of conquering Naples by such a -coalition, signed the treaty with the pope in December 1555. - -The emperor’s one desire, however, was to leave his son at peace, and he -offered such terms that in February 1556 Henry II. withdrew from the -papal alliance and signed the truce of Vaucelles. The defection of the -French was only a temporary check to the fiery pontiff. Before four -months had passed he had persuaded the King of France once more to enter -into an offensive alliance with him, and the Sultan Solyman, to fight -against the Catholic king. Wherever the pope’s voice or arm could reach, -persecution and insult were heaped upon Spaniards. When once he had -prevailed upon the King of France to break the truce of Vaucelles he -thought he had his enemy at his mercy. All bounds of decency and decorum -were abandoned, and a violent bull of excommunication was issued against -the emperor and King Philip. The latter is addressed as “the son of -iniquity, Philip of Austria, offspring of the so-called Emperor Charles, -who passes himself off as King of Spain, following in the footsteps of -his father, rivalling, and even endeavouring to surpass him in -infamy.”[1] Alba invaded the papal states, and nearly captured Rome -itself, carrying fire and sword through Italy; but he was well matched -by Guise, who commanded the Franco-Papal army. Then suddenly Henry II. -found that the army from Flanders was marching on Paris, and Guise was -recalled to France. By the intervention of the Doge of Venice a peace -was patched up between the pope and Philip, Alba sulkily entering Rome, -not as a conqueror but as a pretended penitent. The pope was conciliated -with ceremonies and futile concessions, and France and Philip were again -left face to face. - -During the new coalition against him Philip had again urged the English -council to join him in the war against France, but could get no -satisfactory reply. The poor queen was wearing her heart away with -sorrow and disappointment, and the English Catholics in power, from Pole -downwards, were determined not to serve purely Spanish aims or allow -themselves to be diverted from the holy task of extirpating heresy, so -the king, sorely against his will, was obliged, himself, to go to -England and exert his personal influence. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - French intrigue against Mary--England at war with France--Battle of - St. Quintin--Philip’s tardiness--The English contingent--The loss - of Calais--Feria goes to England--His negotiations--Condition of - England--The English fleet used by Philip--Philip and - Elizabeth--Negotiations for peace--Death of Mary--Plans for - Elizabeth’s marriage--Peace of Cateau Cambresis--Philip’s policy in - England. - - -Philip arrived in England on March 20, 1557, and at once tried to -influence his wife to the ends he had in view. She on her part had not -forgiven the intrigues of the French and De Noailles against her, and -was willing to be revenged; but the council and, above all, the nation, -had always dreaded this probable result of a Spanish match. They had no -special quarrel with the King of France, and had no wish to be drawn -into a war with him to benefit Philip’s Italian supremacy. - -In the meanwhile Henry II. tried to counteract Philip’s efforts in -England. The abortive risings at the beginning of Mary’s reign had cast -a great number of refugee Englishmen on to the coast of France--Carews, -Staffords, Tremaynes, and the like,--and these men had always been held -by the French king as a card in his hand to play against Mary in need, -for the purpose of raising a diversion in her own country. He once more -adopted the same policy, making much of the exiles, ostentatiously -helping them, and hinting at hostile designs against Calais, and even -England itself. Henry meant it for a feint, but hare-brained Stafford, -with vague hopes of a crown, started from Dieppe with two ships on -Easter Sunday 1557. He seized Scarborough Castle, but was seized himself -directly afterwards, and he and his friends incontinently lost their -heads. But it was enough that they had been cherished by the French -king, and had started from a French port. With such an argument as this, -Mary was able to persuade her council, and Philip had his way. On June 7 -war against France was declared, and on July 3 the king bade his wife -what was destined to be an eternal farewell, and left for Brussels. -Eight thousand English troops were at once made ready to join Philip’s -army in Flanders, under his young cousin Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of -Savoy, which amounted in all to 50,000 men. Constable Montmorenci -commanded the French force, which was much inferior both in numbers and -quality (24,000 men). Savoy began the campaign by feigned attacks upon -several frontier fortresses, his object being suddenly to turn aside and -attack St. Quintin, a town of wealth and importance whose defences were -known to be ruinous. Savoy’s rapid and unexpected movements completely -puzzled the French, and Coligny, with a small force of about 1200 men, -was ordered to watch him. Coligny made an attempt to surprise Douai, but -was unsuccessful, and then seems to have learnt that Savoy’s real -objective was St. Quintin. He hurried back over the frontier, just in -time to cast himself into the town before it was invested, and then saw -that he was in a trap. The place could not hold out for a week in its -present condition, and he hastily begged Montmorenci to send him relief. -Montmorenci’s idea of relief was to force a thousand men through Savoy’s -lines into the town. In this he failed utterly. The way lay through a -bog, in which the troops sank or were killed by Savoy’s men, and only a -few stragglers reached the town. On the next day (August 10), -Montmorenci brought up his main body, and tried to cast reinforcements -into the town by boats across the Somme. This was found to be -impracticable, and Montmorenci was urged by his men to retire. He had -the river and a morass between himself and Savoy’s army, and thought he -was safe, but by fords and causeways unknown to him, 6000 fine -Burgundian cavalry and a body of the invincible Spanish infantry crossed -to his side. Then when it was too late he gave the order to retire. The -retreat soon became a rout. Six thousand French troops were killed, as -many more captured, all the artillery taken, Montmorenci a prisoner, and -there was no force between Savoy’s victorious army of 50,000 men and the -gates of Paris. - -Here was Philip’s chance--a chance never to occur again. During the -short campaign he had remained at Valenciennes and Brussels, and on the -day of St. Quintin he was in the city of Cambrai. His vocation was not -war, and he knew it. Bells were rung, Te Deums were sung, and the day -after the battle Philip visited his victorious army; but his professed -regret at his absence from the fray was not so deep as that of his -father when he heard the news. The Duke of Savoy begged to be allowed -to follow up his victory by a march upon the capital, but over-caution -was always Philip’s fault, and he would take no undue risk. He doubtless -recollected his own remarks about his father’s invasion of France and -the disaster of Metz. “The emperor,” he said, “had marched into France -eating peacocks, and had marched out eating turnips.” When Charles at -Yuste heard of the victory, he at once asked whether Philip had yet -arrived before Paris. But the war was not ended yet, and brave Coligny -in the town of St. Quintin held out against terrible odds until August -27, when it was taken by assault. The sacking and pillage of the devoted -town and the heartrending cruelty wreaked upon the defenceless people, -mainly by the German mercenaries, will ever remain one of the most -horrible episodes of history. Philip had given orders that women and -children should be spared, but his instructions were set at naught, and -when, on the third day after the capture, he entered the city, he saw -such sights as left upon him impressions of horror which he never -forgot. - -Philip’s army, of various nationalities, was then divided amongst the -French towns he had captured. The rascally German mercenaries quarrelled -and left him in large numbers, many to join the French. The English were -sulky--the Spaniards complained of their conduct before St. Quintin. -Wages were in arrears, their hearts were not in the fight, and they -demanded leave to go home. Philip could not risk unpopularity in England -by refusal, and let them go. - -The French, on the other hand, by the end of the year had a fine army in -north-eastern France, which Guise had hastily brought back from Italy. -The English fortress of Calais had been neglected, and was in a poor -condition for defence. Guise suddenly appeared before it, to the -surprise of the defenders. The outworks were stormed and captured on -January 2 and 3, 1558, and on the 8th the citadel itself was captured. -Lord Wentworth was in command, but the resources at his disposal were -utterly inadequate, and it was impossible with them to hold the place. -As a natural result, the other English fortress of Guisnes, under Lord -Grey, fell a few days afterwards, and the last foothold of the English -in France was gone. Before this disaster had happened Philip had begged -the English council to send him a fresh reinforcement of English troops, -with the ostensible object of ensuring the safety of Calais; but there -were no troops and little money available in England. The war was -extremely unpopular; all the country insisted that they had been dragged -into it to please Philip, and the queen, desirous as she was of pleasing -her husband, was weak and weary, utterly unable to dominate her council, -with whom religious matters in England were the first consideration, and -the predominance of Spain in Europe a matter of no concern. When Guise’s -designs upon Calais were evident, Philip sent his favourite. Count de -Feria, post-haste to England to insist upon the need of sending troops, -at least to defend the fortress. Before he started on his journey news -came of the fall of Calais, but as Guisnes still held out, he proceeded -on his way. Before he embarked from Dunkirk he heard of the surrender of -Guisnes, and delayed his arrival in England, in order not to be the -bearer of the evil tidings. He saw the council in Cardinal Pole’s -chamber on January 28, and presented his master’s demands. Heath was the -spokesman. He was apologetic and sorrowful, but the state of England was -such, he said, that instead of sending men away, they needed troops to -be sent for defence. The south coast and the Isle of Wight were at the -mercy of the French, the Scottish frontier was unprotected and -threatened, and much to the same effect. But if King Philip would send -them 3000 German mercenaries, for which they would pay, they would place -them in Newcastle, and they could then arm 100 ships in the Channel, and -embark 16,000 men, some of whom might be used for Philip’s purposes. The -country was in complete disorder, and Feria says that if 100 men were to -land on the south coast, the country would probably join them against -its friends, by which he doubtless meant the Catholic Government. - -Before this interview the king had written to Feria that Calais and -Guisnes having fallen, it would be better to abandon the idea of sending -English troops to France, but that the whole efforts of the council -should be directed towards the defence of the country itself. From -Feria’s own observation when he first landed at Dover it was indeed -clear, both to him and his master, that in no case would any effective -aid in men reach him from England. - -With much ado Parliament was induced to vote the supplies necessary for -the defence of the country. Feria’s scorn at such cumbrous methods knew -no bounds, and his picture of the complete disorganisation of the -government is most vivid. It was evident now to all that the queen had -not very long to live, and that her renewed dreams of progeny were to be -as baseless as before. What was to come after her was the question, and -each man was thinking of his own future. Philip was in dire want of -money, and begged his wife not to depend upon Parliament alone for -supplies. In vain Gresham tried to borrow large sums at Antwerp on the -queen’s credit; only £10,000 could be got. Devices of all sorts were -suggested, but to no purpose. But still the sums voted by Parliament, -and what else could be collected or borrowed, were sent to Flanders to -pay for the German levies, and spent in fitting out and manning the -English fleet. The distracted English councillors were deluded into an -idea that an attempt would be made to recover Calais; they were -frightened with the false rumour that there was a large French fleet at -Dieppe, that the Hanse towns and Denmark would attack them--anything to -get them to provide a strong English fleet, not ostensibly for Philip’s -purposes. But Philip took care that when the fleet was ready Clinton -should use it as he desired, and the much-talked-of 3000 Germans never -came to England, but when they were ready were utilised for Philip’s -service. “I am writing nothing of this to the queen,” he informs Feria, -“as I would rather that you should prudently work with the councillors -to induce them to ask us to relieve them of these troops.” - -When Feria had frightened the queen and council out of all that was -possible, he left in July to join his master in Brussels, taking care to -pay his visit to “Madam Elizabeth” at Hatfield, with all sorts of -affectionate and significant messages from her loving brother-in-law. -The plan had been, from the time of Mary’s own marriage, to fix Spanish -influence in England, no matter what happened, by marrying Elizabeth to -the Duke of Savoy. But Mary would not restore her sister in blood--she -could not indeed without bastardising herself--and without this the -marriage would have been useless, from Philip’s point of view. But he -temporised still, determined to keep Elizabeth in hand if possible, and -lost no opportunity of showing his amiability to her. - -When Feria left in July there remained in England a member of Philip’s -Flemish council, named Dassonleville. On November 7 he wrote to the king -informing him that Parliament had been called together to discuss the -question of the succession, and pointing out the desirability of Philip -himself being present to influence it in the way he desired, it being -understood that the queen’s death was approaching. - -But Philip had his hands full, and could not go, even on so important an -errand as this. The success of Guise at Calais had emboldened the -French, and at one time a march upon Brussels had appeared inevitable. -Providentially, however, for Philip, the English naval squadron of -twelve ships, already mentioned, was able at a critical moment to turn -the tide of victory in an engagement near Gravelines (July 13, 1558). -Marshal Termes was completely routed, and Guise thenceforward had to -stand on the defensive. Philip’s treasury was quite empty, he was deeply -in debt, his soldiers unpaid, and he hated war. The French king was in -similar straits, and had, moreover, begun to look with apprehension on -the increasing strength of the reform party in France. So a talk of -arrangement began to prevail, and on October 15 the first meeting of -commissioners for peace was held, De Granvelle, with Alba and the Prince -of Orange, representing Philip, and Cardinal Lorraine, with Constable -Montmorenci and Marshal St. André, the French king; whilst English -interests were safeguarded by the Earl of Arundel, Dr. Thirlby, and Dr. -Wotton. Under these circumstances, Philip was obliged to send to England -in his place his friend, the Count de Feria. He arrived on November 9, -and found the queen almost unconscious, so he lost no time in trying to -propitiate the coming queen. He summoned the council, and approved in -Philip’s name of Elizabeth’s succession, and then took horse to salute -the new sovereign. On the 17th, Mary Tudor died, and Philip had a new -set of problems to face. England had slipped through his hands, but -might still be regained if the new queen could be married to his -nominee. Elizabeth showed in her very first interview with Feria that -she would not allow herself to be patronised. She stopped him at once -when he began to hint that she owed her new crown to his master’s -support. “She would,” she said, “owe it only to her people.” The Duke of -Savoy was the first idea of a husband for her in the Spanish interest, -but he was warlike, and the French were still in possession of his -territories, so the English dreaded that he might drag them into another -war, and would not hear of him. Feria hinted to the queen that Philip -himself might marry her, but she was diplomatically irresponsive. -Philip’s conditions, indeed, as conveyed to his ambassador, were such -that Elizabeth could not have accepted them. But it never came so near -as the discussion of conditions. This is not the place to relate at -length the endless intrigues by which it was sought to draw Elizabeth -into a marriage which should render her amenable, or at least innocuous, -to Spain, but it will suffice to say that she was fully a match for the -wily diplomatists who sought to entrap her, and never for a moment, -through all her tergiversation, intended to allow Spanish interests to -dominate English policy. The peace between Spain and France was easily -settled at Cateau Cambresis, Henry being even more anxious for it than -Philip, and he gave way upon nearly every point; but with regard to -England the case was different, and for a long while the English envoys -stood out persistently for the restoration of Calais. So long as there -appeared any prospect of his being allowed to influence English -government, Philip refused to make a separate peace, but at length he -gave Elizabeth clearly to understand that if peace could not be made -without the loss of Calais, then Calais must go. England was in a state -of confused transition, the queen’s position was uncertain, the treasury -was empty, and the war unpopular, so at last the bitter pill, slightly -disguised, had to be swallowed, and the peace of Cateau Cambresis was -signed on April 2, 1559. - -The position was a critical one for Philip and his policy. This was the -parting of the ways, and the course now adopted was to decide the fate -of the Spanish domination. Feria, and after him the Bishop of Aquila, -wrote incessantly during the first months of Elizabeth’s reign that -Spain must dominate England, by force of arms, if need be. Most of the -country was Catholic, many of the principal councillors were in Spanish -pay or had Spanish sympathies, the queen was as yet an uncertain -quantity, and there were several pretenders whose claim to the crown -seemed better than hers. Philip was assured again and again that this -was his chance. If England broke away from him, his own Low Countries -were in danger. Let him, said his councillors, subsidise the Catholic -party, if necessary backed up by force, patronise one of the rival -claimants--Catharine Grey for choice--and remove the troublesome young -queen before her position became consolidated. But Philip was slow. The -merits and objections of every course had to be weighed and discussed -infinitely. By his side was already the young Bishop of Arras, De -Granvelle, fresh from his diplomatic triumph at Cateau Cambresis, whose -methods were modelled upon those of his master, and from whom no -decision could be expected without protracted delay. There was also Ruy -Gomez, always on the side of peace and moderation. In vain haughty Feria -sneered at the timid councils of churchmen, and chafed at his master’s -inaction. Philip would not be hurried. His one wish was to get back to -his dear Spain, and stay there; and from this design, favoured as it was -by Ruy Gomez, Feria and the politicians of the Alba party were powerless -to move him. So England slipped further and further from hands too tardy -to grasp it whilst there was yet time, and those who held as an article -of political faith that the owner of the Netherlands must be in close -alliance with England or perish, looked on in unconcealed dismay. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - Philip’s plan for a French alliance--His marriage with Elizabeth de - Valois--Philip’s embarrassments in the Netherlands--De - Granvelle--Philip’s departure from Flanders--Condition of affairs - in Spain--The Spanish Church--Death of Paul IV.--The - Inquisition--Bartolomé de Carranza--Philip’s arrival and routine in - Spain--The auto de fé at Valladolid. - - -Philip was as fully alive as were his fiery advisers to the necessity of -keeping friendly with England, but he would have no more war if he could -help it. Moreover, an entirely new combination of a sort which exactly -appealed to his character had suggested itself to him. One of the -principal objects of Henry II., in his anxiety to make peace, was to -unite with Philip in order to withstand the growing power of the -reformers, especially in France. Philip was not actively responsive on -this point, as at the time (early in 1559) it had not reached an acute -stage in his Netherlands dominions, and for the moment it did not suit -his English policy to appear as the champion of extreme Catholicism. It -was settled, however, in the preliminary discussions of the peace envoys -at Cateau Cambresis that Philip’s only son, Carlos, who was now fourteen -years of age, should marry Henry’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who was -three months younger than the prince. When it became evident that -Elizabeth of England might hold her own, and even in time oppose him, it -must have appeared to Philip that an entire change of his policy might -isolate her, and that a close union between the old enemies, France and -Spain, would reduce England to impotence for harm. So Philip’s own name -was substituted for that of his son when the treaty was finally drafted, -and the new policy was inaugurated. This policy was, so far as Philip -was concerned, not an aggressive one against England or against -Elizabeth. The next Catholic heir to the English throne was Mary Stuart, -practically a Frenchwoman, and married to the Dauphin Francis, the -future King of France. It was therefore, above all, necessary for Philip -that the way should not be opened for the Queen of Scots to mount the -English throne. Better far for him that Elizabeth, heretic though she -was, should be there than that a French king should reign over England -and Scotland. Then, indeed, would the Netherlands have been in jeopardy. -The new combination seemed to avert danger from every side. The -coalition was too strong for England to trouble alone, whilst any design -to depose Elizabeth in the interest of Mary Stuart and France could now -be counteracted from the inside by Philip. The Duke of Alba, with a -splendid train of Spanish and Flemish nobles, entered Paris on June 22, -1559, and married by proxy for his master the young French princess, -Elizabeth of the Peace, as the Spaniards afterwards called her. She was -but a child as yet, but already her striking beauty and sweetness had -endeared her beyond compare to the French populace. Brantome and other -contemporary writers describe her personal appearance, but her own wise -letters to her mother, her brother, and to her friend and sister, Mary -Stuart, speak more eloquently still of her mental gifts, and explain the -undoubted influence she gained over the spirit of her husband, who, -notwithstanding the disparity of their years, loved her deeply, and -mourned her sincerely when she died. The marriage rejoicings in Paris -were brought to a sudden and untoward conclusion by the accidental -killing of the King of France, Henry II., by a thrust in the eye at a -tourney, at the hands of Montgomeri, captain of the Scots Guard. - -Philip was still in Belgium, immersed in anxiety and trouble. Already -the want of sympathy between himself and his Flemish subjects was -bearing its natural fruit. Heresy was raising its head there as -elsewhere. The Netherlands had on more than one occasion felt the heavy -hand of the emperor both in matters of religion and in the autonomous -privileges of the various states which constituted the dominions of the -House of Burgundy. But Charles was one of themselves, and from him they -would suffer much. With Philip, ostentatiously a foreigner, it was a -very different matter, and all attempts from him, however innocent, -towards the centralisation of power, which was the kernel of his system, -were tacitly resented by them. The commercial and geographical position -of the Netherlands, in constant touch with England and Germany--the -highway between them indeed--especially exposed the country to the -influence of the new religious ideas; and in Holland, at least, the -Protestant doctrines had before Philip’s accession obtained firm root. -The person of the new monarch was not popular with the Flemings. His -dislike of noisy enthusiasm, his coldness and reserve, his preference -for Spaniards, had already widened the breach that his first appearance -had occasioned, and his people were almost eager to place a bad -interpretation upon all he did. His first step, if it had been taken by -another sovereign, would have been a popular one, but with him it was -the reverse. The three bishoprics of the Netherlands were unwieldy, and -a considerable portion of the country was under the ecclesiastical -control of German bishops. Philip desired to remedy this by the -re-division of the various dioceses and the creation of fourteen new -bishops and three archbishops, the lands of the monasteries being -appropriated for the support of the new prelates. Philip had endeavoured -to keep his plans secret, but they leaked out, and at Philip’s farewell -visit to the States-General at Ghent, on the eve of his departure for -Spain, the members of the assembly denounced in no uncertain terms the -implied policy of Philip to rule them according to Spanish instead of -Flemish ideas. The severe edicts of the emperor against heresy had been -only partially enforced, and in most of the states had been controlled -by the native civil tribunals; but it was concluded that Philip would -inaugurate a new era of rigour, especially as he was retaining under -arms in the Netherlands some 4000 Spanish infantry. Philip had to listen -to some bold talk from the burghers. With him heresy had always been -synonymous with resistance to authority--in his case, he thought, allied -with divinity; and as he left the assembly of the States he must have -made up his mind that here, in his own dominion, the hydra must be -crushed at any cost. As was his wont, however, he dissembled, promised -that the Spanish troops should be withdrawn, and took leave of the -States with fair words. The country was to be governed in his absence by -the Duchess of Parma, daughter of the emperor by a Flemish lady, and now -married to that Ottavio Farnese whose dukedoms had been taken and -subsequently restored to him by the Spaniards. Her principal adviser was -to be the Bishop of Arras (De Granvelle). He was the third son of -Charles’s favourite minister, Secretary Perrennot, a Franche-Comtois, -and consequently a foreigner in Flanders. Upon him the principal brunt -of his master’s unpopularity fell. His appointment as prime minister, he -being a foreigner, was, said the Flemings, a violation of their rights. -But Philip was immovable. He knew by the signatories of the petition for -the removal of the Spanish troops that many of the principal men in the -Netherlands were disaffected, and his suspicions had been aroused -against those prime favourites of his father, the young Prince of Orange -and Count Egmont. But he was, as usual, careful to dissemble his -distrust, and left Egmont as governor of the counties of Flanders and -Artois, and Orange of those of Holland, Zeeland, etc. - -The atmosphere in Philip’s Netherlands dominions was thus full of -gathering storm when he turned his back upon them for the last time to -sail for Spain (August 1559). At the last moment, as he was about to -embark, his indignation at the resistance to his authority seems to have -overridden his reticence. He turned to Orange and told him that he knew -that he was at the bottom of the opposition he had encountered in the -States-General. Orange began by laying the responsibility upon the -States themselves. “No,” said Philip, “not the States, but you! you! -you!” This was Orange’s first warning. In his heart he must have known -now that in future it was to be war to the knife between his sovereign -and himself. In any case he was prudent enough to stay on shore, and -declined to accompany the other Flemish nobles on board the Spanish -fleet. - -If the sky was overcast in the Netherlands, it was almost as lowering in -Spain itself; and this was a matter which lay nearer still to Philip’s -heart. The country had been governed during the king’s absence by his -sister, the widowed Princess Juana of Portugal, as regent. Civil affairs -had shown no decided change. The money that flowed from the Indies had -been mostly seized and squandered upon the foreign wars, and on one -occasion the Seville merchants had ventured to remonstrate. But their -leaders had been loaded with irons and cast into prison, and -henceforward the people patiently bore their burden. Religious matters, -however, were in a less satisfactory condition. It has already been -observed that the policy of Charles and Philip had always been to bring -the Church in Spain under subjection to the monarch, and to weaken the -control of Rome over it. The ecclesiastical benefices were now -practically all at the disposal of the sovereigns, and were distributed -to a large extent with political objects, pensions and payment for -national purposes frequently being charged upon episcopal, and other -revenues, as a condition of presentation of a benefice. The royal -council had assumed the power of reviewing the decisions of -ecclesiastical tribunals, and the same civil power had now claimed the -right of suspending the publication of papal bulls in Spain. - -For some years a controversy had been in progress with the papacy as to -the right of the crown to insist upon the execution of a decision of the -Council of Trent with regard to the reformation of the Spanish cathedral -chapters, which had become very corrupt. The pope had considered this an -interference with his prerogative, and had summoned to Rome the Spanish -bishops who championed the right of the monarch over the Church. The -royal council suspended the papal bulls and forbade the bishops to obey -the pope’s summons. Paul IV. was furious, and this was one of the -reasons for his attempts to ruin the Spanish power. When he fulminated -his famous excommunication of Philip already mentioned, the king -retorted by ordering through the Regent Juana that all the pope’s -messengers bearing the bulls into Spain should be captured and punished. -The council next recommended that Philip should insist upon all papal -nuncios to Spain being Spanish prelates, and that they should be paid by -the pope and not by the king. It did not, however, suit Philip to -proceed too violently against the Church, upon which he knew he must -depend largely as an instrument of his policy. When in 1557 he consented -to the undignified peace with Paul IV., who had been so bitter an enemy -to him, proud Alba said that, if he had had his way, he would have made -Caraffa go to Brussels to sue the king for peace instead of Philip’s -general having to humble himself before the churchman. - -Matters were still extremely strained between Philip and the pope, Paul -IV., when, almost simultaneously with the king’s departure from -Flanders, the pontiff died (August 15, 1559), and during most of the -rule of his successor, Pius IV. (Angelo de Medici), Philip had a ready -and pliant instrument in the chair of St. Peter. - -The gradual slackening of the bonds which bound the Spanish Church to -the papacy, and the laxity of the ecclesiastical control which was a -consequence, had brought about scandalous corruption amongst the higher -and cloistered clergy. The general tone of religion, indeed, at the time -seems to have been one of extreme looseness and cynicism, accompanied by -a slavish adherence to ritual and form. The terms in which the king and -his ambassadors in their correspondence refer to the pontiffs and to the -government of the Church in Rome, are often contemptuous in the last -degree. They are always regarded as simple instruments for forwarding -the interests of “God and your Majesty,” the invariable formula which -well embodies Philip’s own conception of his place in the universe. -Nothing is more curious than the free way in which religious matters -were spoken of and discussed with impunity, so long as the speakers -professed profound and abject submission to the Church, which in this -case really meant the semi-political institution in Spain. - -The Inquisition had from the first been jealously guarded from any real -effective interference on the part of the pope, and by the time of -Philip’s return to Spain had already begun to assume its subsequent -character as a great political instrument in the hands of the monarch, -working on ecclesiastical lines. So far as Philip’s personal experience -extended, nearly all resistance to authority had begun with heresy, and, -with his views as to the identity of his interests with those of the -Almighty, it was evidently a duty to crush out ruthlessly any -manifestation of a spirit which tended to his prejudice. - -There had gone with Philip to England as one of his confessors a learned -and eloquent friar named Bartolomé de Carranza, of the Order of -Preachers. He had been active in his efforts to bring England into the -Catholic fold, and had especially devoted himself to refuting the -arguments upon which the reformers depended. By his zeal and ability he -had gained the good-will of Philip, who had, after his return to -Brussels, raised him to the archbishopric of Toledo and the primacy of -Spain. He shortly afterwards left for his diocese, with instructions to -visit the emperor at Yuste on his way thither. He found Charles dying, -and administered the last consolations to him, whilst another monk, a -spy of the Inquisition, knelt close by, storing up in his mind for -future use against him the words of hope and comfort he whispered to the -dying man. It was afterwards alleged that he had dared to say that we -might hope for salvation and justification by faith alone. Previous to -this (1558) he had published in Antwerp a work called _Commentaries on -the Christian Catechism_, in the preface of which certain words of a -somewhat imprudent tendency were employed. “He wished,” he said, “to -resuscitate the antiquity of the primitive church because that was the -most sound and pure”; and in the body of the book certain propositions -were cautiously advanced, which, however, nothing but the keenest -sophistry could twist into heresy. - -Carranza was at Alcalá de Henares in August 1559, shortly before Philip -left Flanders, when he was summoned by the Regent Juana to Valladolid. -The archbishop had known for some time that the spies of the -Inquisition were around him, and endeavoured diplomatically to delay his -journey until the king should arrive; but Philip had deferred his -departure for a fortnight, because a soothsayer had predicted heavy -storms at sea, and before he could arrive the archbishop, who had then -reached Torrelaguna, was taken from his bed at one o’clock in the -morning and carried to the dungeons of the Inquisition at Valladolid. -His arrest caused the greatest dismay throughout Spain. Contemporaries -made no secret of their belief that he was not imprisoned for religion -at all. His catechism was unanimously approved of by the pope, and by -the Congregation of the Index in Rome. The Council of Trent solemnly and -repeatedly protested against his arrest, and for many years it was a -pitched battle between the Inquisition and the king on the one hand, and -all the Catholic Church on the other. The documents in the case reached -25,000 folios of writing, some of the allegations against the archbishop -being quite ludicrous in their triviality and looseness. In all -probability the first cause of Carranza’s arrest was the jealousy of -Valdes, Archbishop of Seville, the inquisitor-general. He was, like all -the chief inquisitors, a Dominican, and during the many years he had -been at the head of the Holy Office had become intolerably overbearing -and ambitious. Carranza, on the other hand, was a much younger man -(fifty-five), and had, after several years’ absence from Spain, been -suddenly lifted from the position of a simple friar to that of Primate -of Spain, the holder of the richest ecclesiastical benefice in the -world. That Valdes should be jealous was only natural, and in the -absence of any adequate reason for his imprisonment in Carranza’s -writings, it is almost certain that the cause for his first detention -must be sought in this direction. Feria, who, of course, knew him well, -writing from Brussels at the date of his first arrest to Bishop Quadra -in England, says: “Things are going so badly in Spain, and they are -coming to such a pass, that we shall soon not know who are the heretics -and who the Christians. I will not believe evil of the archbishop, or of -his companion, or of the Archbishop of Granada, who has also been -summoned by the Inquisitors. What drives me crazy is to see the lives -led by the criminals (_i.e._ the accused) and those led by their judges, -and to compare their respective intelligence.” The bishop’s (Quadra’s) -reply to this is almost as bold; and a priest sitting at table in Ruy -Gomez’s house is reported to have said without rebuke, speaking of -Carranza, “We shall see by and by whether he is a heretic, but we -already see that he is being persecuted by envy.” When Philip arrived in -Spain the archbishop was in the dark dungeon, where he stayed for two -years, and churchmen everywhere were murmuring at the fate of the -primate. Then the matter assumed a very different complexion. It was now -a question of the vindication of Philip’s favourite tribunal against the -demands of Rome, and for many years Philip held out, making use of every -procrastination and subterfuge of which he was a master, until Pius V. -in 1566 threatened to excommunicate Philip unless Carranza were sent to -Rome. Then after some further delay Philip thought wise to cede the -point, and the archbishop left in April 1567. But his troubles were not -at an end. After a weary delay in Rome, he was fully absolved and -restored by the pope, and the decision sent to Spain for the king’s -ratification. This was deferred until Pius V. died (1572), whereupon the -new pope, Gregory XIII., commenced another interrogatory, which lasted -three years. This ended in the absolution of the archbishop after a -light penance, at the end of which, in a few days, Carranza died. -Through all this the monarch seems to have had no personal feeling -against the primate, but it was necessary at all costs to strengthen the -Inquisition. - -On the arrival of Philip in Spain in the autumn of 1559, his methods and -character were well matured, and he began the regular routine of -government which continued unbroken almost for the next forty years, -endeavouring to rule his wide-spreading dominions from his desk, and -trying to make puppets of all men for his own political ends. The -government was divided into eleven departments, distributed between four -secretaries of state. Letters and documents, after being deciphered, -were sent to the king by the secretary of the department to which they -belonged, often accompanied by a note explaining them or recommending a -particular course. Every letter, to the most trivial detail, was read by -Philip himself, who scrawled over the margins his acceptance or -otherwise of the recommendations, or ordered them to be submitted to the -inner council of state, Ruy Gomez, Alba, the confessor, and one or two -other persons. The results of the conference were sent to the king in a -memorandum from the secretary, and were once more considered. Every -paper was therefore before the king several times. All letters or -replies sent were submitted to him in draft, and frequently amended by -him. At the same time his secretaries kept up a copious semi-private -correspondence with all the Spanish ambassadors and governors, which was -also perused by the king, and frequently contained matters of the -highest importance in secret diplomacy, which it was unadvisable to send -by the usual official channels. It will be seen that this cumbrous -system, by which every individual point was brought before the king’s -personal consideration, entailed an immensity of work, and made prompt -action impossible, even if the king’s own character was capable of -promptitude. Ruy Gomez, Duke of Pastrana and Prince of Eboli, was -high-chamberlain and state councillor, the inseparable friend of the -king, over whom his influence was great. He had taken care to place -around the king secretaries of state attached to his party, the -principal of whom were Eraso and the two Perezes successively--Gonzalo -and Antonio. The Duke of Alba, unlike the other political advisers of -the king, was a great noble, ambitious, harsh, and turbulent, but -partaking of Philip’s own view of the sacredness of the power of the -crown. We have seen that Philip in his youth had been warned by his -father not to trust Alba, or any other great noble, with power in Spain, -and he never did. But the duke was useful in council, because he always -opposed Ruy Gomez, whose soft and peaceful methods he contemned. This -exactly suited Philip, who invariably wished to hear both sides of every -question, and followed his father’s advice to keep rivals and enemies -near him, in order that he might hear the worst that was to be said of -each, whilst he held the balance. - -The king loved to surround himself with mystery, to be unseen by the -crowd except on occasions of great ceremony; and as he got older he -became in public graver and more reserved than ever. He had by this time -probably persuaded himself that he really was a sacred being, specially -selected as the direct representative of the Almighty, to whom Popes and -Churches were merely tools. Certain it is that he considered it -unfitting in him to exhibit any of the usual emotions of humanity. On -his marble mask anger, surprise, or joy left no sign. - -Philip landed in Spain on September 8, 1559, in great danger, the ship -and all her rich freight sinking immediately after he left her. He had -previously instructed the Regent Juana that heresy must be pursued -without mercy in Spain, and she and young Carlos had sat through the -horrors of a great auto de fé in Valladolid at the beginning of June, -where some of the principal ladies of her own court were cruelly -sacrificed. But this did not suffice for Philip. If he was to dominate -the world from Spain, that country, at least, must be free from stain or -suspicion. So the first great public ceremony he attended in the country -that welcomed him was another stately auto at Valladolid. On Sunday, -October 18, he sat on a splendid platform in the open space opposite the -church of St. Martin. The judges of the Holy Office surrounded the -throne, and the multitude, frantic with joy to see their beloved Philip -again, and to enjoy a brilliant holiday, had flocked in for many miles -around, attracted by the festival, and the forty days’ indulgence -promised to them by the Church as a reward for their presence. Before -the assembled multitude Philip solemnly swore to maintain the purity of -the faith and to support the Holy Office. As the condemned criminals -passed his platform, one of them, a gentleman of high birth, married to -a descendant of the royal house of Castile, cried out to the king, “How -is it that a gentleman like you can hand over another gentleman such as -I am to these friars?” “If my son were as perverse as you are,” said -Philip, “I myself would carry the faggots to burn him.” Twelve poor -wretches were then handed over to the civil power for execution, with a -canting request for mercy from the Inquisition, for the Holy Office -itself never officially carried out the last sentence, and invariably -begged hypocritically for mercy for the poor wracked bodies it had -doomed to the fire. - -It is probable that Philip’s object in thus celebrating his return to -his country was intended to give additional prestige to the institution -which he intended to use as a main instrument in keeping his country -free from the dissensions, such as he saw spreading over the rest of the -world. But it will be a mistake to conclude that his proceeding, or even -the Inquisition itself, was unpopular with Spaniards. On the contrary, -Philip seems in this, as in most other things, to have been a perfect -embodiment of the feeling of his country at this time. The enormous -majority of Spaniards exulted in the idea that their nation, and -especially their monarch, had been selected to make common cause with -the Almighty for the extirpation of His enemies. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - Arrival of Elizabeth de Valois in Spain--Her influence over - Philip--Position of affairs in France--War with England--Philip’s - attitude towards France--Death of Francis II.--Spanish disaster at - Los Gelves--Position of Spain in the Mediterranean. - - -But it was time now for Philip to think of the reception of his new -child-wife, whom Alba had married as his proxy in Paris five months -before. Endless questions of etiquette had to be settled, political -arrangements had to be made in Paris that should ensure to Philip the -full benefit of the marriage, the bribing of ministers and the like; and -it was far into the winter before the bride started from Paris, which -she was to see no more. She was the flower of a bad flock, the most -dearly beloved of any of her house, and her slow journey through France -was a triumphal march. The splendid court in which her life had been -passed was very dear to her, and she expected but little happiness in -the rich squalor and rigid grimness of her husband’s palace. She was -going, she knew, to be handed over like a chattel to the enemy of her -country, but she kept up a brave heart, and daily wrote cheerful letters -to her mother. So great was the distrust between the two countries that -the most elaborate precautions were taken on both sides to prevent -surprise or treachery, and Elizabeth was kept for three days in the snow -at Roncesvalles whilst Anthony de Bourbon was bickering with the -Spaniards as to which frontier should be crossed first. Philip was not a -very eager bridegroom this time, for he advanced no farther than -Guadalajara to meet his wife (January 30, 1560). The poor child was so -nervous when she first approached him, that she could only stare dumbly -at his grave face, and made no sign of obeisance. Philip looked older -than his thirty-three years, and doubtless read her dismay aright. His -first rough greeting was, “What are you looking at? Are you looking to -see whether my hair is grey?” But his gentleness soon came back, and, -unpromising as was the commencement, their married life was not unhappy. -He proved to be a most affectionate and devoted husband, as she was a -sweet and tactful wife. - -He soon had an opportunity of showing his devotion. No sooner had the -marriage ceremony been performed in the cathedral of Toledo than the -queen fell ill of smallpox, and in this crisis her husband’s care and -tenderness to her were unremitting. Regardless of the remonstrances of -those who feared for his own health, he was frequently by her side for -long periods, and all through her tardy and critical convalescence his -attentions and kindness were such as to excite the admiration even of -the queen’s French ladies, who were certainly not prejudiced in Philip’s -favour. - -Very much depended upon preserving the life, and even the beauty, of the -young queen. After years of neglect Catharine de Medici might now, by -the death of her husband, Henry II., become practically the ruler of -France. She found the country reft in twain by religious faction, and -she knew that the only means by which she could retain her power was by -establishing herself as the balancing influence between the two -factions. For the moment, with the accession of Francis II. and his -wife, Mary, Queen of Scots, to the French throne, the Guises were -paramount, and almost before the inauguration of the new policy of -friendship between France and Spain, Catharine had begun to cast her -eyes towards Vendôme, the Montmorencis and the Protestants to -counterbalance them. The idea of Henry II. in giving his daughter to -Philip was to cement a league of Catholics against the Huguenots; his -widow’s aim was to secure a hold over Philip through his wife which -should enable her to establish and retain her supremacy in France, come -what might. The Guises had soon shown their power on the accession of -their nephew to the throne by assuming in Mary Stuart’s name so -aggressive an attitude towards Elizabeth that the latter was forced to -resent it. An English force of 8000 infantry, 2000 cavalry, and 32 armed -ships was sent to Scotland and attacked Leith, aided by a considerable -Scottish rebel force. Opposed to them the Queen-mother of Scotland, Mary -of Lorraine, had 5000 Frenchmen and a number of Scotsmen. Guise -clamoured for Philip’s help to beat the English in the interests of his -niece. But this was no part of Philip’s bargain. The most untoward thing -that could happen to him was the deposition of Elizabeth and the union -of England and Scotland under a French sovereign, and the next most -inconvenient thing was that Elizabeth should be victorious over his -allies, the French. So he exerted every effort to frighten both sides -into making a peace. Envoys were sent from Flanders and Spain to assure -Elizabeth that if she did not withdraw her troops from Scotland he would -send a great force to help the French, whilst the Guises were -significantly told that they must be cautious, as their enemies in -France were numerous. Philip’s envoys in England might threaten, but -Elizabeth knew well that Spanish troops would never put a Frenchman in -her place, and she made the most of her knowledge. The English troops in -Scotland were victorious, and Elizabeth now could afford to hector about -the terms of peace. She wanted Calais to be restored, a large indemnity, -and much else, but she ended by accepting terms which humiliated the -Guises, and ensured her against future French aggression from Scotland. - -Materially the peace of Cateau Cambresis had been all in Philip’s -favour, but he had hoped for advantages in other ways as well. The -original idea had been to present a united front to advancing -Protestantism both in France and Flanders, to which end he had hoped to -make a tool of France. But the death of Henry II. and the appearance of -Catharine de Medici in front of the stage had changed the problem. He -now saw a clever intriguing woman, with no religious convictions at all, -ready to rally to either party, and seeking to make a tool of _him_. -This was a _rôle_ that never suited Philip, and he soon made it clear -that his marriage with a French princess had drawn him no closer to -French interests than he was before. Frenchmen suspected of heresy in -Spain were persecuted with greater barbarity than ever by the -Inquisition. French commercial interests were as ruthlessly disregarded -as those of Protestant England itself, whilst the French expeditions to -Florida and elsewhere aroused Philip to the utmost point of arrogance -against his wife’s country. A bitter feud between the Spanish and French -ambassadors in Rome on the point of precedence appears to have been -directly fomented by Philip. The influence, therefore, of Philip’s young -French wife had to be exerted to its utmost to prevent an open rupture -between her brother and her husband. - -Suddenly the whole prospect was again changed by the death of Francis -II. There was no fear now of the French nation becoming dominant in -Scotland and England through Mary Stuart, for Catharine de Medici hated -her daughter-in-law and the Guises, and would not raise a finger to make -them more powerful than they were. But the death of Francis made more -difficult than ever a lasting and sincere alliance between Spain and -France, for Catharine de Medici could not afford to adopt for long an -extreme Catholic policy. Philip at this time was in the very depth of -penury. Every ducat that could be extorted from the Seville merchants or -borrowed from the Fuggers had been obtained. The revenues and -remittances from the Indies had long been anticipated, the Spanish -troops in Flanders were unpaid, and Philip was surrounded by claims that -he could not meet. Under these circumstances he was fain to shut his -eyes for a time to the favour Catharine was showing to the reformers in -France, although he allowed his wife to threaten her with Spanish troops -to help the Catholic party in France if necessary. Catharine knew that -his hands were full, and practically defied him, and Elizabeth of -England did the same. He was powerless to injure them now, for his -system of jealous centralisation and his cumbrous methods were already -producing their disastrous effects. - -The first misfortune, one of the greatest of his life, which resulted -from the confusion of his administration, was the complete destruction -of his fleet in the Mediterranean. When in 1558 the pope and Henry II. -had not hesitated to accept the aid of the infidel against Philip, a -hundred Turkish galleys had sailed from Constantinople under Piali -Pacha, an Italian renegade, and, with the aid of the famous Barbary -corsair, Dragut Reis, had scourged the coasts of Sicily and Naples, -overrun Minorca, and even attacked Nice, and then had captured the -fortress of Tripoli, which belonged to the Knights of St. John of Malta. -When peace was made between France and Spain at Cateau Cambresis in the -following year, the Grand Master of St. John urged Philip to employ the -large force he then had free in Italy and elsewhere to recover Tripoli -for the Order. The enterprise, he said, would be easy now, if it were -done swiftly and secretly, for Dragut, who governed the new conquest, -was busy raiding the interior, and the Barbary Moors, groaning under the -yoke of the Turk, would aid the Christians. Philip’s viceroy in Sicily, -the Duke of Medina Celi, anxious for personal distinction, seconded the -petition of the Grand Master, and Philip consented. Medina Celi was -appointed to the command, and orders were given to Andrea Doria, -commanding the Spanish galleys, and to the viceroys of Naples and Milan, -to aid the expedition with all the forces in their power. The Turkish -fleet was, however, still in the neighbourhood, and the viceroys did -not think prudent to send any of their troops away until it had gone. -Delay after delay took place whilst dispatches were slowly being -exchanged and Philip continually being consulted on points of detail. -The men-at-arms in large numbers broke up and went to their homes, and -when at last the troops were got together and reached Genoa, they found -that the Spanish ambassador there had dismissed the ships that had been -freighted, in the belief that the expedition had been abandoned. Then -when fresh ships had been obtained the soldiers refused to go on board -until they received their over-due pay. With much persuasion and many -promises they were at length embarked, and a shipload of them, 1500 in -number, was wrecked at the mouth of the harbour, causing renewed delay. -Then it was found that the aged Andrea Doria could not accompany the -ships, and had delegated the command to his nephew, John Andrea, under -whom some of the Spanish generals would not serve. But withal, by the -beginning of October 1559, 12,000 good troops were mustered in Messina -under Medina Celi. The Grand Master had originally, six months before, -made promptness and secrecy conditions of success, but long ere this all -the Mediterranean was ringing with the news, and Dragut was on the -alert. Whilst Philip was tardily sending cautious dispatches to his -viceroys, the Sultan had crowded men, ammunition, and stores into -Tripoli, and when after two months’ further delay the Spanish force was -ready to sail, it was found that the rascally contractors had provided -rations which were mostly rotten--just as they did to the Invincible -Armada thirty years afterwards. When finally the fleet sailed (November -20, 1559) the men were sick and discontented, 3000 of them having -already died or deserted. Many of the soldiers mutinied the first day. -Head winds and want of food held them for weeks, and it was January 10, -1560, before the fleet was assembled at Malta. There fresh men had to be -shipped to fill the places of those who had died, and sound rations -procured, and finally, on February 10, 1560, the fleet, 100 sail and a -contingent of galleys and men belonging to the Knights, left Malta. The -small island of Gelves, in the Gulf of Khabes, was easily captured, but -the next day there appeared a fleet of 74 great Turkish galleys full of -janissaries, and 12 others under Dragut from Tripoli. Medina Celi lost -his head, Doria lost his courage, and a hideous panic seized the -Spaniards at the onslaught of the Turks. The commanders fled shamefully, -and 65 ships and 5000 men fell to the tender mercies of the infidel. The -Spaniards entrenched on the island of Gelves under the brave Alvaro de -Sande, held out against terrible odds, 8000 men of them almost without -provisions, quite without water, for six weeks, and then all that were -left of them, about 1000, starved and naked, stood shoulder to shoulder -in the breach to be killed by the victors or carried to Constantinople -to a less worthy fate. - -The Christian power in the Mediterranean was tottering; the fortresses -held by Spain in North Africa especially seemed doomed to destruction, -and Philip was forced to make a supreme effort, and was able in the next -year, 1561, to send out a fresh fleet of 70 galleys, nearly all hired, -to fight the Turk. The whole fleet was lost in a storm before it left -the coast of Spain, and the Turk once more seemed destined to dominate -the Mediterranean. The defence of the Spanish settlement of Mers el -Kebir in the spring of 1563 will always remain one of the most heroic in -history. There a little garrison of barely 200 men held out against a -Turkish force of 20,000, and although they were almost within sight of -the Spanish coast, so cumbrous was Philip’s administration that it took -two months for relief to reach them. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - Don Carlos--His relations with Elizabeth de Valois--French - intrigues for his marriage--His illness--The Cortes of - Aragon--Jeanne d’Albret and Henry of Navarre--The Council of Trent - and the Inquisition--Philip and the pope--Renewed struggles with - the Turks--Siege of Malta. - - -Don Carlos, Philip’s only son and heir, had grown to be a boy of -fourteen. Considering his descent, it is not surprising that he was -deformed both in mind and body, lame and stunted, an epileptic -semi-imbecile. He had been left in charge of his widowed aunt, the -Regent Juana, a gloomy, religious mystic, to whom he was violently -attached, and whose side he could only with difficulty be prevailed upon -to leave. Philip had appointed as his tutor the learned Honorato Juan, -who certainly did his best for the royal pupil. But he could do little -for such a mind as his. As early as October 1558 the tutor wrote to the -king, then in Flanders, that his pupil obstinately refused to study -anything and was beyond control. The king himself, he said, was the only -person who could bring him to order. Philip’s answer was -characteristically cold and inexpressive. Honorato Juan must continue to -look after the prince’s education and separate him from any companions -who might divert him from his studies. But dry as was Philip’s letter to -the tutor, it is clear that the news struck sorrow to his heart, for he -loved his children dearly, and had great hopes for his heir. On a letter -written on March 6, 1559, to Cardinal Pacheco respecting the need for -settling ecclesiastical matters in the Netherlands, the king wrote the -following words in his own hand: “Perhaps the prince my son will not be -so careful of this as I am, and the people here may not try so hard as I -should about it, seeing how desirable it is for the service of God, -which is evidently the only end I aim at.” One of the first acts of -Philip on his arrival in Spain was to take his son under his own care. -When the new queen entered Toledo in state for the marriage ceremony -(February 12, 1560) she was received by her stepson Carlos, yellow with -recent fever, on his left being his young uncle, Don Juan of Austria, -and on the right Alexander Farnese, the son and grandson, respectively, -of the emperor. - -When Elizabeth had left France, her mother, Catharine, had secretly -instructed her to use every effort to win Don Carlos for her younger -sister, Margaret de Valois, afterwards the famous first wife of Henry -IV. Elizabeth’s fascination was great, and she very soon obtained -absolute dominion over the sickly boy. The romantic stories of mutual -love between them may be dismissed now as utterly exploded fables. -Elizabeth had been born and bred in an atmosphere of political intrigue, -she had gone to Spain purely for political reasons, and she was -entrusted with the task of trying to win the greatest matrimonial prize -in Europe for her sister, and to strengthen the union between France -and Spain. She naturally carried out her mission to the best of her -ability. Her efforts with regard to the marriage were utterly fruitless, -for Philip was in no mood for a closer alliance with Catharine de -Medici; but she attached her stepson to her to such an extent by her -pity and kindness during his continual attacks of fever, that at length -the French ambassador could write to Catharine, “The more the prince -hates his father, the greater grows his affection for his stepmother, -the queen, for she has all his regard, and her Majesty is so wise that -she discreetly manages to please both her husband and her stepson.” - -Catharine de Medici’s instructions to her daughter were that if she -could not bring about a marriage between Carlos and her sister Margaret, -she was to strive to forward his union with his aunt, the former Regent -Juana, who was herself anxious for marriage with her nephew of half her -age--anything rather than allow the heir of Spain to marry Mary Stuart. -This latter would have been the best match for Philip, and he knew it. -England would once more have been brought into his grasp, France -checkmated effectually, and Flanders safe. Mary and her minister, -Lethington, were eager for it. But time went on whilst Philip was -procrastinating--probably in consequence of the condition of Carlos. -Elizabeth, Catharine, and the emperor who wanted the heir for his -granddaughter Anne, all intrigued actively against the match, Mary -drifted into her marriage with Darnley, and Philip once more missed his -chance. - -On February 22, 1560, Carlos received the oath of allegiance from the -Cortes of Castile in Toledo, and afterwards returned to the University -of Alcalá, where he was supposed to be studying. His life there was -violent and licentious, and in April 1562, in descending a dark stair to -keep an assignation, he fell and suffered a severe fracture of the -skull. The king, on receiving the news, at once set out from Madrid, his -new capital, travelling through the night, full of anxiety for his son. -He found him unconscious and partially paralysed; the doctors, ignorant -beyond conception, treated him in a way that seems to us now to have -made his death almost inevitable. Purges and bleedings, unguents and -charms, ghastly quackery, such as putting a skeleton in bed with the -invalid, were all tried in turn, until the Italian surgeon Vesale -arrived and performed the operation of trepanning. The prince then -recovered: but if he had been a semi-imbecile before, he now became at -intervals a raving homicidal maniac. The prince and those around him -attributed his recovery entirely to the skeleton of the monk that had -been put to bed with him, and he promised to give four times his weight -in gold for religious purposes. He was then seventeen years of age, and -was found to weigh only 5 stone 6 lbs. - -It was necessary that the heir should receive the oath of allegiance of -the Cortes of Aragon, Cataluña, and Valencia. The Cortes of Castile, -more submissive than the Aragonese, had, though not without some -murmuring, voted the supplies needed by Philip, and were at once -dismissed. The Aragonese Parliament, proud of its privileges, stubborn -to rudeness whenever it was convoked, had not been called together since -1552, although the king was bound by oath to summon it every three -years. The very existence of representative assemblies was opposed to -Philip’s dream of personal centralisation of power, and he detested the -Aragonese Cortes heartily. The French ambassador at the time wrote to -Catharine that the king, when he took the oath, secretly meant “to cut -their claws and dock the privileges that make them insolent and almost -free.” The court was therefore transferred in the autumn of 1563 to the -obscure Aragonese town of Monzon, the king on his way from Madrid laying -the first stone of his vast granite palace of St. Laurence of the -Escorial. He found the rough Aragonese inclined to be fractious, jealous -as usual at any interference of Castilians in their affairs. But Philip -was pressed for money, and was obliged to dissemble. A crisis nearly -occurred when the Cortes touched the mainspring of his governmental -system. The members adopted a protest against the extending power of the -Inquisition, and its interference with other matters than those of -theology. Philip was cold and evasive; he said he would consider the -matter when he returned to Castile. But the Cortes understood the rule -of “grievance first” as well as the English Commons, and replied that no -money should be voted until a satisfactory reply was given to them. -Philip fell ill with rage, but money he must have; and at last he -promised that a regular inspection and inquiry should be instituted into -the powers of the Aragonese Inquisition. With this the Cortes voted him -1,350,000 ducats. They then took the oath of allegiance to Carlos, and -were promptly dismissed. Philip did not forget his grudge against them, -and it went hard with Aragon and its liberties when they gave him a -chance for revenge. - -France had been engaged in the first war of religion, and the Catholic -party had been hardly pressed. The Duke of Guise had recently been -killed (February 24, 1563), the peace of Amboise had been patched up, -and toleration had been established. Anthony de Bourbon, who had married -Jeanne d’Albret, titular Queen of Navarre, had also been killed, and his -widow and ten-year-old son, Henry, had retired to her castle at Pau to -mourn their loss. For many years the rights of the royal house of -Navarre to the kingdom which had been dishonestly filched from them by -Ferdinand the Catholic had been a thorn in the side of Spanish -sovereigns, for the Navarres were still powerful French tributary -princes across the Pyrenees. After Philip’s own projected marriage with -the heiress of the house in his boyhood had fallen through, she had -married Anthony de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme, a prince of the blood royal -of France, and this had made the claim more dangerous for Philip. But -worst of all, Jeanne was a strong Calvinist, and only three lives stood -between her little son and the crown of France. The Guises and their -Catholic followers saw that if he came to the throne their day was gone, -and cast about for means to avert such a catastrophe. Pau was near the -Spanish frontier. Why not seize the queen and two children and hand them -over to the tender mercies of Philip? If they were out of the way, -Navarre could cause no more anxiety, and the stronghold of Protestantism -in France would be empty. So a certain Captain Dimanche was sent by the -Guises secretly to Monzon to broach the matter to Philip. He was raising -a large force at Barcelona to fight the Turks in the Mediterranean. -What would be easier than to send 10,000 of them secretly to creep along -the Pyrenees, make a dash to Pau, and capture Jeanne d’Albret and her -children? What indeed? This was exactly the enterprise to suit Philip, -and Captain Dimanche saw him more than once at dead of night, and the -whole plot was settled. The Guisan Monlucs and their Catholic friends -were to hold the Protestants in check, whilst Philip’s men kidnapped -their quarry. But Dimanche fell ill. He was a Frenchman, and sought aid -of a countryman who lodged in the same house, an underling in the -household of Philip’s French wife. Dimanche let out his secret to his -countryman, who conveyed it to the queen. She was loyal to her husband’s -country, but she was a Frenchwoman, a dear friend of Jeanne d’Albret, -and a daughter of Catharine de Medici, so the news of the treachery went -flying across the Pyrenees, and Jeanne, and Henry of Navarre were saved. -Philip probably to the end of his life never knew that his wife had -frustrated this dangerous plot against France, but it is all clear to us -now, who have her secret correspondence before us. - -But Philip was threatened at this time (the autumn of 1562) with a -greater danger nearer home than France. As the French ambassador wrote, -“The king intends principally to establish obedience to him by means of -the Inquisition.” We have seen how the remonstrances of the Cortes of -Aragon were received; we will now consider how Philip met a more -dangerous attack upon his favourite institution. The Council of Trent, -which had always been a trouble to Philip and his father, met, after -several years’ suspension, early in 1562. Various moderate resolutions -were discussed, but when the French prelates arrived late in the year -with Cardinal Lorraine at their head the blow fell. The French and -German bishops, who had seen the effects of wars of religion, proposed a -radical reform. The priests were to be allowed to marry and the -sacrament to be administered in two kinds. This was bad enough, but, -worst of all, some of the bishops--Philip’s own subjects--tried to shake -off the heavy yoke of the Inquisition. The prosecution of Carranza had -shown to the Spanish bishops that there was no safety for any of them. -Prelates hitherto could only be tried for heresy by the pope, but now -the weak Medici Pope, Pius IV., had been induced to delegate this power -to the inquisitor-general. Most of the Spanish bishops had been in -favour of strengthening the power of the monarch over the Church, but -when it came to handing over their own liberties to the Inquisition it -was another matter. Philip wrote in December 1562 deploring that the -Spanish bishops were not showing fit zeal for the Holy Office, “which -subject must not be touched upon either directly or indirectly.” The -pope was also appealed to, to prevent the Council from interfering in -any way with the Inquisition. When Pius IV., humble servant as he then -was of Philip, mildly remonstrated with him for meddling with the -Council, Vargas, the Spanish ambassador, scolded his Holiness roundly -for his want of consideration for the interests of “God and his -Majesty.” Gradually even Pius IV. began to lose patience. Philip’s grand -promises to him and his needy nephews had been very sparely kept, and it -was clear to the meanest intellect that his pious professions of -attachment for the Church were only with the object of making use of it -for his own interests. At last Philip threatened to withdraw his -ambassador, and the now angry pope defied him, threatening above all to -withdraw from him the right of selling the Crusade bulls of indulgence, -which produced a large revenue. He also began clamouring about -Carranza’s treatment by the Inquisition, and the revenues of the -archbishopric. When Philip asked in 1564 for a renewal of the subsidy he -received from Rome, nothing but evasive answers were given to him. The -breach grew wider and wider. “In Spain,” said the pontiff, “you all want -to be popes and bring the king into everything. If the king wished to be -King of Spain, he” (the pope) “intended to be Pope of Rome. Never,” he -said, “was a pope so ill-treated as he was by the King of Spain and his -ministers.” The death of Guise and the religious settlement in France, -however, caused the withdrawal of many of the French bishops from the -Council of Trent, and Philip, by bribes and threats, once more gained -the upper hand in the assembly. Heretics were excluded, the celibacy of -the clergy decided upon, and the administration of the sacrament in two -kinds prohibited; but a decision was also arrived at which seemed -distantly to affect the omnipotence of the king over the Spanish clergy. -It gave the power to the provincial synods, and as a last resource to -the pope, to examine into the morality of recipients of benefices. A -slight attempt was also made to deprecate the extreme severity of the -Inquisition. These mild resolutions were called by Philip’s ambassador -“works of the devil,” and for over a year the decisions of the Council -of Trent were not published in Spain. When, indeed, they were -promulgated, it was with the saving clause from the king that they -should in no way abrogate or weaken his rights over the clergy, the -benefices, or the tithes. The condition of armed truce between Philip -and Rome continued until the death of Pius IV. in December 1565. - -An attempt to introduce an inquisition of the Spanish type into Naples, -with the avowed object of suppressing political disaffection, nearly -lost Philip the realm. The city rose in revolt against it, and after a -struggle Philip was obliged to give way, and consented to abolish the -dreaded tribunal (1565). He was indeed at the time not in a condition to -coerce Naples. The struggle with the Turks in the Mediterranean had -dragged on almost without intermission. Don Garcia de Toledo had in the -autumn of 1564 managed to capture Peñon de los Velez, a nest of pirates -in the kingdom of Fez, which had been Philip’s main object for a year -previously; but this was no check to the power of the Constantinople -Turks, who were fitting out a great expedition for the purpose of -hurling the Knights of St. John from their last stronghold at Malta. Don -Garcia de Toledo, now Viceroy of Sicily, joined with the Grand Master -Parisot in clamouring for Philip’s aid, unless, he said, all the -Mediterranean was to fall under the rule of the infidel. But clamour as -they might, no hurry could be expected from the king. Toledo was a host -in himself. Men were sent from Sicily, others recruited in Corsica; -Naples was put into a condition of defence, and Toledo, “bigger in -spirit than in body,” complained, and rated soundly, almost rudely, the -slow methods of his master in so great a crisis. At last, on May 19, -Piali Pacha and Dragut Reis, with a vast force of 100,000 men, appeared -before Malta. There were about a tenth of that number of Christian -fighting men on the island, but the isolated fort of St. Elmo, with a -garrison of 600 men, had to bear the brunt of the Turkish attack. After -a month’s hard fighting, when at length the Turks stormed the place only -nine Christians were left alive. From this point of vantage the siege of -the main fortress by the Turks was commenced, with the assistance of the -fleet. The Grand Master had continued to reinforce St. Elmo with his -best men until it fell, and now found himself short-handed. Fresh -prayers went forth to distant Philip and persistent Don Garcia de -Toledo. Strong swimmers carried the Master’s beseeching letters beyond -the reach of the Turkish ships. He could only hold out, he said, twenty -days at most. Sixteen thousand cannon-shots had been fired against his -forts in the first month. All Christianity looked on aghast whilst -Philip was spending his time in religious processions, fasts, and -rogations for the delivery of Malta. Don Garcia’s activity made up for -his master’s tardiness, and, thanks to him mainly, Malta was able to -hold out month after month. When at last a relief squadron was got -together somehow in Sicily, consisting of 28 galleys and 10,000 men, -storm and tempest scattered it again and again, and it was not until the -beginning of September 1565 that it approached Malta, landing its men -and provisions. The defenders were at their last gasp, but this relief -raised their hearts. Again Don Garcia returned with more men and stores, -and after one last attempt to storm the stronghold, the Turks gave up -the game and raised the siege. Malta was saved, but Philip complained -that he did not get full credit for it, because the Grand Master was a -Frenchman and the pope himself was jealous. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - Troubles in the Netherlands--Granvelle’s unpopularity--William of - Orange and Egmont--Their resignation and protest--Margaret of - Parma--Assembly of the Chapter of the Golden Fleece--Riots at - Valenciennes--Discontent of the Flemish nobles--They retire from - government--Granvelle’s dismissal--The maladministration of the - States--Egmont’s mission to Spain--Philip’s policy in the - States--The Beggars--Orange’s action--Philip determines to - exterminate heresy in the States--Philip’s projected voyage - thither. - - -We have seen that Philip had left his Flemish subjects (August 1559) in -no very amiable mood. The opulent, independent communities of the Low -Countries held firmly by the liberties they enjoyed. Every ruler had to -swear--as Philip had done--to uphold and preserve them intact; on that -point nobles and burghers were at one, and amongst the rights they -prized most was that no foreigner should be appointed to any -administrative post. The Burgundian rulers, although foreigners, had got -on well enough with them, and so had the emperor. It was more a question -of tastes and manners than of blood; superabundant hospitality, heavy -eating, deep drinking, and rough speaking quickly commended a man to the -Flemings. The Spaniard of that day was, as he still remains, sober and -abstemious to the highest degree, reticent, sensitive, and proud, and -Philip was a Spaniard to the finger-tips. - -The natural want of sympathy between sovereign and people arising out of -these circumstances doubtless began the trouble which ended in Spain’s -downfall. No part of Philip’s career shows so clearly as his treatment -of the Netherlands the limited and inelastic character of his policy, -the lack of adaptability of his methods; for how should a man be -yielding or conciliatory who supposed that he was part and parcel of -Divine Providence, the one man on earth selected by the Almighty to -carry out His irresistible decrees? There is no reason to suppose that -when he first decided upon the rearrangement of the Flemish dioceses he -desired to offend his subjects; it was probably only a step in his -persistent policy of bringing the clergy of his dominions under his more -immediate control. But in order to pay his new bishops he designed to -appropriate the large revenues of the conventual houses, and he thus -raised up against him all the cloistered clergy. The pope was bribed to -agree to the change, but the Flemings, already sulky, were willing to -listen to the monks, who denounced the innovations of the foreigner -which were to deprive them of their revenues, and what would have been -under other circumstances a not unwelcome reform became a fruitful -source of trouble. There is no doubt, moreover, that before the king -attended the States-General just prior to his departure he had every -intention of withdrawing the Spanish infantry from Flanders now that -peace had been made with France, and the men were badly wanted in -Naples, where his principal danger at present lay. But when the -States-General so roughly demanded of their sovereign the immediate -withdrawal of the troops, Philip’s heart must have hardened and his -pride revolted that these independent-minded Flemings should question -his omnipotence. Another difficulty was that the troops obstinately -refused to budge until they were paid, and the treasury was empty. The -Flemings, who had been bled freely during the war, professed inability -to find any more resources, and the Antwerp bankers shut their -money-bags until some of their previous advances were paid. When Philip -arrived in Spain, his sister Margaret, Duchess of Parma, governess of -the Netherlands, ceaselessly urged him to withdraw the troops. She -assured him that their further stay would cause trouble, and Granvelle -warned him gravely of the results. With the first half of his French -wife’s dowry of 400,000 ducats Philip was able to pay the troops in the -autumn of 1560, and they left in January 1561; but by that time the evil -seed had been sown, and Philip was pestered in every letter with -reminders of the various rights and privileges which he had sworn to -uphold in the respective states. Most of the unpopularity fell upon -Granvelle, who had to carry out the arrangements for the new bishoprics. -He found his task so difficult that before long he “wished to God that -the erection of these new sees had never been thought of,” although the -change made him Primate of the Netherlands, and gave the king the -advantage of thirteen nominated members in the Assembly of Nobles. This -latter fact, indeed, probably to a great extent was the original aim of -the project, and was certainly one of the principal reasons why the -Flemish nobles opposed it so bitterly. - -Granvelle himself, be it recollected, was a foreigner, a -Franche-Comtois, and his luxurious, ostentatious mode of life was an -additional reason for his unpopularity. Margaret, on the other hand, -whose mother had been a Fleming, and whose masculine manners and purely -Flemish tastes commended her to her countrymen, was far from being -unpopular. - -The nobles who had first distinguished themselves by resisting the -further stay of the Spanish troops were William, Prince of Orange, and -Count Egmont. The former was not a Fleming in blood or education, his -principality of Orange being in the south of France, and his descent -mainly German Lutheran. By his county of Nassau, however, he was a -Flemish prince, and had been brought up in the court of the emperor, of -whom he had been a great favourite. His historical name of “the -taciturn” gives a very false idea of his character, especially in his -youth. He was like a Southern Frenchman in manners, gay, fascinating, -prodigal, and voluble. His religious opinions, if he had any, were -extremely lax, and he was as ready to seek his advantage on one side as -another. His religion indeed was as purely political as that of Philip, -but as a statesman he must be ranked far higher, for he had all Philip’s -tenacity and foresight, with an opportunism almost as great as that of -Elizabeth herself. - -Count Egmont, on the other hand, was a dashing and fortunate soldier, -chief of the Flemish nobility, handsome, vain, proud, and honest, but of -limited intelligence, and exceedingly credulous. The first overt step of -these two nobles was to resign the commands they held over the Spanish -troops, on the ground that, if they continued to hold them, they would -lose all influence in the country. When the Spanish troops had left, -Orange and Egmont continued, as usual, to attend the Flemish council of -state appointed by Philip to advise Margaret. But the king before he -departed had arranged that his own Spanish method of administration -should be followed, namely, that the regent and the secretary of state, -Granvelle, should practically manage everything, referring to the -council only such points as they considered necessary. - -As time went on, and Granvelle became more unpopular about the -bishoprics, he referred less and less to the council, and in July 1561 -Orange and Egmont wrote to the king resigning their seats and -complaining bitterly. They had, they said, to bear a share of the -unpopularity of the measures adopted, but had no part in controlling the -policy of the Government. To this Philip returned, as was usual with -him, a temporising answer. He would, he said, consider the matter and -reply at length when Count Horn returned from Madrid to Flanders. - -Horn’s mission to Flanders was to endeavour to reconcile Granvelle with -the nobles, but this was a well-nigh impossible task. It was said that -the cardinal and his parasites were plundering right and left, whilst -public officers were unpaid and the treasury empty, that he was trying -to substitute the unobnoxious inquisition of the Netherlands by the -terrible tribunal of Spain, which certainly was not true, and that his -arrogance and tyranny had become unbearable. Granvelle indeed was the -scapegoat, and had become hateful both to the nobles and to “that -perverse animal called the people,” to use his own words. So Horn’s -mission was too late, like most of Philip’s attempts at conciliation, -and in the spring of 1562 Orange petitioned the Regent Margaret to -convoke the States-General. The regent herself, though full of praise -for the cardinal in her letters to Philip, had no desire to share his -unpopularity, and consented to summon, not the States-General, but a -Chapter of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, or in effect the high -nobility of Flanders. The pretext for the assembly was that Philip had -sent orders that a force of men should be raised in Flanders to be sent -to the aid of the Catholic party in France, now in the midst of their -first struggle with the Huguenots. The discontented Flemish nobles were -in no humour to aid in this, and before the assembly Orange held a -private meeting of them, to press upon them the undesirability of -allowing Granvelle to have the disposal of troops. This was known to the -regent, and she dismissed the assembly as soon as possible, an -arrangement being settled for sending a money subsidy to the French -Catholics instead of an armed force. But before the nobles separated -they decided to send as a delegate to Philip one of their number, -Florence de Montmorenci, Baron de Montigny, the brother of Count Horn, -to represent to the king the unsatisfactory state of the country with -regard to religion and the public finances. He and his brother were -Catholics, but firm upholders of the autonomy of the States. Before he -left, religious matters were indeed in a disturbed condition. Hainhault, -on the French border, with its great commerce and industry in the cities -of Tournai, and Valenciennes especially, had largely accepted the -Protestant faith from the neighbouring French Calvinists. Philip urged -his sister to severity against them, but the magistrates, themselves -Flemings, hesitated to torture their fellow-citizens, whose political -privileges protected them against such treatment. Margaret threatened -the magistrates, and the people of Valenciennes took the matter in their -own hands, broke open the prison, and released the accused. Margaret -might storm, as she did, Philip might cynically recommend that heads -should be lopped, bodies burnt, and mouths gagged, but the Marquis de -Bergues, the governor of Hainhault, was a Fleming, and would not -countenance any infringement on the rights of his people. Upon him then -fell the blame. Nothing that Granvelle could say to the king was bad -enough for Bergues, and in return Egmont, Orange, and Horn ceaselessly -cast the responsibility upon Granvelle. Letter after letter went to the -king in this sense. Philip, as usual, was cool and unmoved. He is not, -he says, in the habit of punishing his ministers without just cause. But -proud Alba did not take it so coolly. “Every time I see the letters of -these three Flemish lords I fall into such a rage, that, if I did not -make a great effort to control myself, your Majesty would think me -frantic.” Granvelle, on his part, tried to fan the flame. “They want to -reduce this country to a sort of republic, in which the king can do more -than they like,” and when the Marquis de Bergues was asked by the Duke -of Arschot what course he would take if the king would not give way, his -reply, as repeated to Philip, was, “By God! we will make him swallow -it.” - -Things thus went from bad to worse. Granvelle at length saw that he -must bend before the storm, and offered concessions to the nobles. But -it was too late. Nearly all the nobles, governors, and Knights of Golden -Fleece had now sworn to stand together to overthrow the hated foreign -cardinal, and a formal letter was sent to the king in March 1563, signed -by Orange, Egmont, and Horn, resigning all share in the government. The -reply was again in Philip’s temporising vein. He was coming to Flanders -himself shortly, and would then inquire into their complaints. In the -meanwhile he could not dismiss Granvelle. The nobles sent another, and a -stronger, letter to the king in answer to this (July 29, 1563), and said -that in future they should absent themselves from the council. At the -same time a formal “remonstrance” was addressed to the regent, and -thenceforward she and Granvelle were left to govern alone. Margaret had -no wish to be dragged down by the impending fall of the minister, and -bluntly told Philip, by her trusty secretary, Armenteros, that, if the -cardinal were maintained against the will of nobles and people, a -revolution might result. Granvelle was assured by the king’s secretary -that Philip would rather lose the States than sacrifice his minister. -The king sent a curt peremptory letter to the nobles reproaching them -for deserting the council for a trifle, and assured the cardinal that he -would not deprive himself of his services. But they arranged between -them that the cardinal should beg for leave of absence to visit his -mother in the Franche Comté and, after much pretended reluctance on the -part of Philip, Granvelle was allowed to depart, to the open rejoicing -of the nobles, the people, and even of the regent. An elaborate -appearance of his departure being spontaneous and only temporary was -made, but when two years afterwards his leave of absence had expired and -he wanted to go back, the king advised him to pass a short time in Rome, -and then he knew for certain that disgrace had fallen upon him. He would -go thither--or to the farthest end of the world--he said, if the king -ordered him, but he much feared that his absence from Flanders would not -mend matters. - -He had departed from Brussels in the spring of 1564, and the three -nobles at once wrote dutiful letters to Philip, who replied graciously. -They once more took an active part in the government, and in the first -few months after Granvelle left, the relief and rejoicing were great. -But the sore still remained behind. Granvelle, indeed, had only carried -out the policy inaugurated by Philip of governing Flanders as a Spanish -province. The policy was not dead though the instrument was disgraced. -Such a system of government, where popular control is loosened, -invariably leads to corruption; and this case was no exception to the -rule. Granvelle’s parasites--Morillon, Bave, Bordey, and the rest of -them--had made his patronage a crying scandal, the judges were -shamelessly bought and sold, the administration was a sink of iniquity, -the inquisitor Titelmans was ferociously hounding to death inoffensive -citizens, even good Catholics, without legal form of trial, and now -Margaret of Parma herself, and her pet secretary, Armenteros, thought it -was time that they should reap a fat harvest; so, after the first joy of -Granvelle’s retreat had passed, it was decided by the nobles to send -Egmont to Spain to explain to the king how the rights he swore to -maintain were still being violated. Egmont might take with him the -vigorous protest of his peers, but Egmont was one of those men whom -princes like Philip have no cause to fear. He was vain and superficial, -and easily soothed into satisfaction. Philip made much of him, promised -him “mounts and marvels,” chided him a little; and sent him home -rejoicing, full of praises for the generosity and magnanimity of the -king. But Philip’s policy was not varied a hair’s-breadth nevertheless. -On the contrary, there is no room for doubt that he had now made up his -mind to break the spirit of the stubborn Flemings for once and for all, -and to stamp out the rebellious talk about rights and privileges which -he had sworn to maintain. There were no mundane rights and privileges -that should stand against the will of God’s own vice-regent upon earth. -“God and his Majesty” had willed that the Flemings must be governed like -the Spaniards, and that was enough. No sooner had Egmont left Madrid -than the king sent strict orders that nothing was to be changed, and -that heresy was to be pursued without mercy or truce. Thousands of -industrious citizens were flocking over to England, carrying their looms -and their household gods with them, and English Protestants looked more -sourly than ever upon Philip and all his works. Philip remained unmoved. -The fewer heretics there were in Flanders the easier would it be for him -to have his way later. “Kill! kill!” wrote one of Philip’s Spanish -friars to him; “we must kill 2000 people all over the States. Your -Majesty has the weapon which God has placed in your hand. Draw it, bathe -it in the blood of heretics, unless you wish the blood of Christ to cry -to God. Moderation touches not your Majesty. Let them seek moderation -in their heresies to save their lives.” - -But Philip was in no hurry; he only told his sister that nothing was to -be changed. “You know,” answered she, “how the Spanish Inquisition is -hated here. I have already told you that to suppress heresy here I am -asked to cast into the flames 60,000 or 70,000 people, and the governors -of the provinces will not allow it. They wish to resign, and I also -shall be obliged to do so.” - -Philip’s answer in a few words gives a clearer idea of his character -than a volume could do. For months he did not answer at all, and then -wrote, “Why all these disquietudes? Are not my intentions understood? Is -it believed that I have any intentions than the service of God and the -good of the States?” Persecution might crush Latin peoples if continued -long enough, but it could not crush the stubborn Dutchmen. There arose -now a new element in the strife. Hitherto the motive power had mostly -been the great nobles, Catholics nearly all of them, whose object was to -prevent the extinction of the political liberties of the States; but now -the religious power of resistance was aroused, and the bourgeoisie stood -shoulder to shoulder crying aloud that no papist should burn them or -theirs for the faith. Many such had fled to England, but the towns of -Holland and Zeeland were full of them still. First the landed gentlemen -protested, under the leadership of Orange’s brother, Louis of Nassau, -and Saint Aldegonde, against the proceedings of the Inquisition; and -they bound themselves by solemn oath to follow the recent example of the -Neapolitans and withstand the “gang of strangers,” who were seeking to -impose the Spanish form of the Holy Office upon them. Then Brederode, -the man of highest lineage and most insatiable thirst in Holland, joined -them, and together they went, a couple of hundred of them, to hand their -solemn protest to the regent. Tears fell from Margaret’s eyes as they -filed past her, for she knew now that her brother’s stubborn spirit had -met its match, and in future it must be war to the knife. Then the -Gargantuan banquet at the hostelry of Culemburg unlocked their tongues -still further, and tippling Brederode gave his memorable toast to the -“Beggars.” No one knew what he meant, perhaps he did not himself know at -the end of such an orgy, but the name caught on, and the sturdy -“Beggars” arose thenceforward from their dykes and marshes to be quelled -no more for good, but to hold for all time to come the country which -they themselves had rescued from the sea. - -The new turn of affairs did not please the great nobles. They were -Catholics, though patriots, and they saw that the championship of the -national cause was about to fall into the hands of the Protestants; so -Egmont, Horn, Montigny, Arschot, and the rest of them did their best to -stem the tide. All but Orange. He knew Philip better than any of them, -and he foresaw that there would be no surrender or conciliation from -him. Why should there be? Could the lieutenant of the Most High stoop to -palter with sottish Brederode and his crew? If Philip had spies in -Flanders, so had Orange in Madrid, and nothing passed without his -knowledge. He had learned of the king’s plans of vengeance, but he could -not afford yet to cast himself into the scale alone with Brederode and -the little gentry, leaving the great nobles on the side of the Spaniard; -so for the moment he stood aloof saying no word either of praise or -condemnation, but seeking to moderate the storm on both sides. But the -spark had caught the tinder. Protestant fervour blazed up in every town -in Flanders in open defiance of the edicts. The regent was powerless. -She could not punish all Flanders, and violent councillors of the Alba -school whispered distrust to Philip even of her, for she wrote -ceaselessly to her brother urging him to gentler methods. His action was -characteristic: at first he authorised his sister to pardon the -confederates and suppress the Inquisition, and with reassuring words -sought to gain Orange to his side. But only a week after (August 9, -1566) he signed a solemn document before a notary, setting forth that he -was not bound by his promise, and would punish all those who had -directly or indirectly aided the disturbances. He avowed to the pope -that the Inquisition in Flanders should be upheld at all costs, and that -his promise to suppress it was void. “Before allowing any backsliding in -religion, or in the service of God, I will lose all my dominions and a -hundred lives, if I had them, for I will never be a ruler of heretics.” -Thus Philip threw down the gage. Then came the sacking of Catholic -churches by the mob in Antwerp, St. Omer, Malines, and elsewhere, sacred -images profaned, sacrilegious mockeries perpetrated, holy mysteries -blasphemously parodied, and priceless treasures of art wantonly wrecked. -The Protestant mob, in fact, was paramount, and the regent and her -inquisition could only look on in dismay, until the former fell ill and -lost all heart. Philip was very far from doing that. Away in distant -Spain, trying to pull the wires that move humanity from his work-room, -his only policy was extermination of heresy, utter and complete. - -Wise Granvelle, even the pope himself, warned him that too much severity -might defeat his own purpose. The king scornfully and coldly rebuked -even the pontiff for his weakness. In the meanwhile Alba was storming in -the council at Philip’s delay in giving the orders for extermination. -But Philip looked upon himself as one who turned the handle of the -wheels of fate, and was in no hurry. He wanted to watch closely which -were the tallest heads to be stricken first. The regent was working -night and day, making such concessions as she dared, whilst putting down -tumult by force of arms. The Catholic nobles too, Egmont especially, -were doing their best with their armed Walloons to suppress with a -strong hand rebellion at Valenciennes and elsewhere, but Orange was in -Antwerp standing apart from both factions, and Saint Aldegonde with a -rabble was in arms outside the city. At length even diplomatic Orange -had to quit the mask. Distrusted by both parties, but idolised by the -peaceful citizens of Antwerp, who only asked to be allowed to live in -quietude, he saw the time had come; and early in 1567 reverted to the -faith of his fathers, and promised to lead the cause of reform. Tumult -immediately ceased; the regent’s severity and conciliation together, and -the blind adhesion of the nobles, except Orange and Brederode, had -suppressed all disorder by the spring, and “all the cities are coming -now to us with halters round their necks.” Orange was in Germany making -preparations for the fray, whilst Flemish Protestants were flying to -England again by the hundred, crying out that Orange and Brederode had -betrayed and abandoned them. Margaret entered Antwerp in state and -rejoicing, and all looked calm and happy, except to those who were led -to the halter and the stake for the service of “God and his Majesty.” It -was but the calm that precedes the storm; and if no one else perceived -this, Philip and Orange certainly did so. The former knew that he must -crush the national feeling, and the nobles that started it, that he must -make Flanders a province of Spain before he could have his own way in -all things, and he decided to go himself with Alba and superintend the -killing, or at least he announced his intention of making the voyage, -which gave him an excuse for raising a considerable fleet and a large -force as an escort. The Queen of England affected to rejoice at her -“good brother’s” coming; but the English fleet was hastily fitted out, -and all England was in a panic of apprehension as to what it might -forebode. In vain the Regent Margaret assured the king that all was -quiet, and that no more punishment was now needed. The king replied that -he wished personally to thank her and others who had brought about the -pacification. - -At last when all was ready in Spain, vast sums of money collected, and -the troops under arms--no longer an escort but an avenging army--Philip -announced that he could not go himself, but would send the Duke of Alba -alone. Then all the world saw what it meant. The regent protested that -the presence of Alba would be fatal, “as he is so detested in this -country that his coming itself will be sufficient to make all the -Spanish nation hated.” If he comes she must retire; and retire she did. -The news of Alba’s coming sped across the Channel by the Protestant -fugitives, and Elizabeth at once retorted by renewed severity against -the Catholics in England. Huguenots in France, Lutherans in Germany, -Protestants in England, all knew now that the time of struggle was -approaching for the faith, and messages of help and mutual support -crossed from one to another. Philip, slaving night and day at his desk, -had quietly planned long before that all the nobles who had dared to -raise their voices in the national cause should be struck at first, and -then that the brand of Spain should be stamped for ever on the rich and -industrious burgesses of the Netherlands. - - - - -CHAPTER X - - Renewed contest between Philip and the papacy--Condition of Don - Carlos--His arrest and imprisonment--Philip’s explanations--His - last illness and death--Death of Elizabeth de Valois--The - interviews of Bayonne and the Catholic League--Catharine de - Medici--Philip face to face with Protestantism--Philip and the - Moriscos--Rising of the Moriscos--Deza at Granada--Don Juan of - Austria--Expulsion of the Moriscos from Andalucia. - - -Whilst Philip was engaged in his hopeless efforts to extirpate national -feeling and the Protestant faith in his Flemish dominions, he was, on -the other hand, carrying on a bitter contest with the Holy See. His -arrogant claims had tired out even the erstwhile obedient Pius IV., but -on his death in December 1565 a man of Philip’s own stamp mounted the -chair of St. Peter. Michael Ghislieri, Pius V., was consumed with the -one idea that the Church must be absolutely omnipotent through -Christendom in all ecclesiastical affairs; and this was in direct -opposition to the keynote of Philip’s policy, namely, that all power -within his dominions must be concentrated in the sovereign. It did not -take long, therefore, for matters to reach a crisis, the main bone of -contention being the king’s direct control of the clergy, and his claim -to withhold the papal bulls from promulgation in Spain. The new pope -issued a number of fresh orders for Church administration and -discipline, which were promptly set aside by Philip’s council, and the -contest then opened. - -First, the pope turned his hand to the Spanish possessions in Italy, -sending peremptory orders to the Neapolitan bishops for them to -promulgate and obey the papal bulls without waiting for the royal -confirmation. This was met by the viceroy, the Duke of Alcalá, by -threatening any bishop who did so with summary imprisonment. Pius tried -by every device imaginable for three years to circumvent the Spanish -position in Naples, but at last in February 1569 had to confess himself -beaten. The patronage was in the hands of Philip, which necessarily made -the bishops his creatures. The pope was equally unsuccessful in Sicily -and in Milan, notwithstanding the efforts of the great cardinal, Charles -Borromeo, and the excommunication of Philip’s governor, the Duke of -Albuquerque. The pope’s action in Spain itself was more effectual. The -various pontiffs had from time to time regranted to the Spanish monarchs -the revenues arising from the sale of the so-called Crusade bulls -granting certain indulgences. Pius V. now refused to do this, on the -ground that the government traffic in these indulgences had become a -scandal. He also continued to worry Philip about Carranza and the -appropriation of the great revenues of his vacant see of Toledo to the -cost of the building of the Escorial. Bitter words and reproaches were -used on both sides. Philip gave way on secondary points, such as the -sending of Carranza to Rome, but he kept fast to his main idea of -retaining control over the clergy and benefices; and the constant -menaces of the Turks in the Mediterranean made it impossible for the -pope to carry to the last extreme the quarrel with the only prince to -whom he could look for protection. Philip, indeed, was assailed by -trouble at all points. His married life, in a domestic sense, was a -happy one, though his constant labour left him but small leisure to -enjoy it. All else was bitterness and disappointment, mostly, it is -true, the result of his rigid unadaptability to circumstances. - -His greatest trouble was undoubtedly the state of his son. His frantic -excesses had become more and more scandalous as he grew older. The -marriage with Mary Stuart had fallen through, in consequence of the -superior quickness of Elizabeth of England, and perhaps in consequence -of Carlos’s own condition. The emperor was working incessantly to gain -the prince’s hand for his daughter Anne; and this was the match which -seemed most probable, and indeed was in principle accepted by Philip. -But the delicate state of health of the prince was Philip’s constant -excuse for not carrying the project into effect. The matter was a -delicate one, and the king was naturally desirous of making it as little -public as possible, but as early as 1562 the king had clearly hinted to -the imperial ambassador that the prince’s judgment and understanding -were defective. Dietrichstein, the emperor’s envoy, saw the prince in -1564, and confirmed the impression already given of him. The Venetian -ambassador in 1563 bluntly reported that the prince was a chronic -lunatic. The oft-told story of his forcing a bootmaker to eat a pair of -boots he had made too tight for him, and also of his murderous attack -on Cardinal Espinosa, need not be repeated here, but they are well -authenticated; and although too much weight need not be given to -Brantome’s repulsive account of the prince’s behaviour in the streets of -Madrid, it is quite consistent with what we know positively of his -character. Philip’s hopes and ambitions for his heir had been great, and -he strove long before he abandoned them. In the hope that serious work -might fix the prince’s mind, his father appointed him in 1567 to the -presidency of the Council of State, but in this position his excesses -and aberrations became the more conspicuous. He openly mocked at and -derided his father, whom he cordially hated, and delighted to thwart. He -had extorted a promise from the king that he should accompany him to -Flanders, but when he learnt at length that Alba was going instead, his -fury passed all bounds. When the duke went to take leave of the prince, -the latter cast himself upon him with his dagger, and only with -difficulty could the old warrior escape from his maniacal violence; and -on another occasion in January 1567, when the Cortes of Castile -presented a petition to the king that the prince should remain in Spain -if his father went to Flanders, he made an open scandal, threatening -with death those deputies who voted in favour of such a petition. This -public exhibition of his lunacy opened the eyes of the world as to his -condition, which could no longer be concealed, and in September of 1567 -Ruy Gomez told the French ambassador that after the impending delivery -of the queen of what, no doubt, would be a son, the future fate of -Carlos would be decided. - -But Carlos himself precipitated events. Philip had decided that his son -should remain in Spain. The prince was determined that he would not. -Philip had gone in December 1567 to pass Christmas in his devotions at -the Escorial as usual, and during his absence, on December 23, Carlos -informed his young uncle, Juan of Austria, of his intention to escape. -Don Juan lost no time. The next day he rode post-haste to the Escorial -and told the king. Philip’s thoughts must have been bitter indeed that -Heaven had afflicted him with such a son. He must have seen that the -great patriotic task to which he had devoted all his life would be -frustrated if handed to such a successor. But he was calm and rigid in -outward guise, and returned to Madrid as intended on January 17, 1568. -The next day he saw the French ambassador, and went with his son to -mass, but still made no sign. Don Juan had before this endeavoured to -dissuade the prince from his intention, and the madman had attempted to -kill even him. It was evident now to the king that he must strike, -however reluctantly. When he consulted his closest councillors on the -subject, for once his feelings broke through his reserve, and his -emotion was terrible. It was a duty he owed to his country and to the -cause for which he lived, to protect them against falling into the hands -of a congenital madman, and he took the course which duty dictated. Late -at night, when the prince was asleep, the king himself, with five -gentlemen and twelve guards, entered the chamber, in spite of the secret -bolts and bars with which it was provided. The prince woke from sleep, -started up, and tried to grasp a weapon; but the weapons were gone. The -unhappy young man then tried to lay violent hands upon himself, but was -restrained. The issues of the room barred, the secret receptacles -opened, the papers taken, himself restrained, the prince recognised his -helplessness, and casting himself on to his bed he sobbed out, “But I am -not mad! I am only desperate.” From that hour he was dead to the world, -which saw him no more. - -Couriers flew with the news all over Europe. Explanations must not be -sought in Philip’s cold diplomatic letters giving foreign courts -information of the event, but in other quarters. The Queen of England -learnt the news on February 2, and on the 6th saw the Spanish -ambassador, when she expressed her surprise, said that the king had -acted with all dignity in the matter, but that she had not been informed -of the reason for the arrest. Letters had come from France even thus -early by which Cecil learnt that the prince had been implicated in a -plot against his father’s life. The ambassador was very indignant at -such an idea, which, he said, could only have emanated from heretics, -children of the devil. - -But it is clear to see that the ambassador himself is as much in the -dark as every one else, for he prays his master to instruct him what -attitude he is to assume, “as the matter has made great noise here, and -no doubt elsewhere.” To this the king coldly replied that no more was to -be said about it. Ruy Gomez was less reticent. He told the French and -English ambassadors in Spain that the prince’s mind was as defective as -his body, and had been getting steadily worse. The king had dissembled -as long as he could, in the hope of improvement, but the prince’s -violence had now become intolerable, and it had been necessary to place -him under restraint. Dr. Man, the English ambassador, fully agreed that -the step had become inevitable, as did all the ambassadors then resident -in Madrid. “It was not a punishment,” wrote Philip to his aunt and -mother-in-law, the grandmother of Don Carlos, “if it were, there would -be some limit to it; but I never hope to see my son restored to his -right mind again. I have chosen in this matter to make a sacrifice to -God of my own flesh and blood, preferring His service and the universal -good to all other human considerations.” - -It was a humiliating position for Philip, who had been so dutiful a son -himself, and had such far-reaching ambitions to hand down to his heir. -It is not surprising that he avoided reference to it as much as -possible. Some sort of trial or examination of the prince took place in -secret before Ruy Gomez, Cardinal Espinosa, and Muñatones, but the -documents have never been found. The rumour that Carlos plotted against -his father’s life was repudiated vigorously by the king and his -ministers, but that he had been disobedient and rebellious is certain, -and probably this was the foundation of the charge of treason brought -against him. The Protestant party, in France and Flanders especially, -were willing enough to wound Philip and discredit the Inquisition by -saying that Carlos was punished for supposed Protestant leanings; and -even in Spain such things were cautiously whispered. There is, however, -not the slightest indication that such was really the case from the -papers of the prince himself and those who surrounded him, unless -perhaps the letter from his friend and almoner, Suarez, to him, in -which he reproaches him for not going to confession, and warns him that -if he persisted in his present course every one would think him mad; -“things so terrible, that in the case of other persons they have caused -the Inquisition to inquire whether they were Christians.” Certainly to -all appearance the prince was as devout a Catholic as his father, and -the idea of attributing to this epileptic imbecile elevated ideas of -political and religious reform is obviously absurd. - -If we must hold Philip blameless with respect to his son’s imprisonment, -we must still keep in suspense our judgment with regard to his -responsibility for the prince’s death, because the evidence as to what -passed after his arrest comes mainly from persons in the king’s interest -and pay, and because the accusation that Carlos was murdered was -formulated by Philip’s bitterest enemy, Antonio Perez, a man, moreover, -utterly unworthy of credit, a murderer, a perjurer, and a traitor to his -country. - -The long secret trial of the prince dragged on. Neither his aunt Juana -nor his beloved stepmother was allowed to see him, and Philip even -forbade his brother, Don Juan, to wear mourning for the trouble that had -befallen the royal house. - -In the meanwhile the prince’s health visibly declined. At best he had -been a continual invalid, burned up with fever and ague, but in -captivity and under examination he became worse. He refused to receive -the consolations of the Church, a freak upon which much superstructure -has been raised. As his madness increased, like many lunatics he took to -swallowing inedible things, jewelry, and other objects of the same sort, -and finally refused to eat anything at all for eleven days. Then in -reply to the king’s remonstrances, he gorged himself, and this brought -him a return of his fever in the worst form. Every sort of mad -proceeding was adopted in turn by the unhappy youth. He would half roast -himself by a fire, and then put ice in his bed. First he would -scornfully refuse the sacraments, and then fulfil scrupulously all the -forms of his Church. At length, probably from weakness, he became -calmer, and there was a momentary hope of his recovery. Llorente (whose -authority is not, however, to be accepted unquestioned) says that the -result of his trial was that he was “found guilty of implication in a -plot to kill the king and to usurp the sovereignty of the Netherlands, -and that the only punishment for this was death.” There are no -trustworthy official documents known which prove this to have been the -case, but nature and the prince’s mad excesses had apparently condemned -him to death, independently of his faults and failings. When he was told -that he was dying he conformed fervently to the rites of his Church, and -sent Suarez to beg his father’s forgiveness. On July 21 the French -ambassador wrote to his master that Don Carlos had eaten nothing but a -few plums and sweetmeats for eight days, and was dying of weakness. “The -king, his father, is much grieved, because, if he die, the world will -talk. I understand that if he live, the castle of Arevalo is to be put -in order, so that he may be lodged in safety and comfort.” - -On July 26 the same ambassador writes to Catharine de Medici saying that -the prince had died the previous day. He attributes the death entirely -to his curious eccentricities of diet and hygiene. Llorente, enemy of -Philip though he was, says that Carlos died a natural death. In face of -this testimony it appears that Philip should be given the benefit of the -doubt. In any case, the Abbé de St. Real’s romantic fictions, which have -been drawn upon by so many historians, may be confidently dismissed as -unworthy of any credit whatever, and Perez’s source is too tainted to be -accepted. When the French ambassador notified the death of Don Carlos, -he told Catharine de Medici that her daughter, the queen, was ill. The -death, however, of her stepson was distinctly in her favour, as it made -the elder of her two little daughters, Isabel Clara Eugenia, heiress to -the crown of Spain. The queen saw this, and begged her mother to express -emphatically her sorrow for the death of the prince. But the queen -herself languished, crushed with the trouble that surrounded her, for -Alba was drowning Flanders in blood, and her own beloved France was -riven by religious disorder. In August it was announced that she was -pregnant, and all Spain prayed that an heir might be born. But she was -sacrificed to the unskilfulness of the Spanish doctors, and died on -October 3, 1568, to the great grief of all Spain and France. The French -ambassador relates the death-bed farewell of Philip and his wife, -“Enough to break the heart of so good a husband as the king was to her.” -And when all was over the king retired in the deepest grief to the -monastery of San Geronimo in Madrid, but not before he had signed -letters to the Duke of Alba and others giving the news of his -bereavement. Nothing short of his own death could prevent Philip from -attending to his beloved papers. - -Once only during Elizabeth’s short married life had the object for which -she was sacrificed seemed on the point of realisation. The open sympathy -manifested in England for the Flemish Protestants, the ever-increasing -boldness of the English corsairs at sea, and the ferment of the -Huguenots in France had caused Philip in 1565 to approve of a plan for -binding Catharine de Medici to him in a league to utterly destroy and -root out the reformed doctrines in their respective territories. The -ostensible occasion was an interview between the Queen of Spain and her -mother at Bayonne, the Duke of Alba being the negotiator of the treaty. -Elizabeth of England was in a panic at the bare idea, and made one of -her rapid movements in favour of Catholicism, and another to draw -Catharine into a negotiation for the marriage of her young son, Charles -IX., with the Queen of England. It was a mere feint, of course, but it -helped towards its purpose. When Catharine reached Bayonne she found -that Alba’s instructions were to pledge her to destroy and break every -Huguenot noble or functionary in France, and to bind her hand and foot -to the extreme Catholic party. The queen-mother affected to agree, but -when she reached home she found all manner of impossible new conditions -necessary. Her second son must marry an Austrian princess and receive a -dominion. The league must also be joined by the emperor, the pope, and -others. So the league at that time came to nothing, for Catharine could -not afford to throw over the Huguenot nobles, who were her constant -balance against the Catholics and the Guises. - -With the death of his French wife it became evident to Philip that he -could depend upon no enduring alliance between the French nation and -himself, and that he must face advancing Protestantism alone. It gave -him no trouble in Spain, thanks mainly to the Inquisition, but in -France, Germany, his own Netherlands, and, above all, in England, it -grew more and more threatening to the basis of his power. Mary of -Scotland, whom he had aided with counsel and money during her short -married life with Darnley, was a prisoner, and the reformers were -predominant in Scotland. Elizabeth of England was firmly established on -the throne, more than holding her own, the English and Dutch corsairs -were scouring the seas after Spanish shipping, and England was burning -with indignation at Alba’s _régime_ of blood in the Netherlands. But -withal Philip had to speak softly and temporise, for he dared not go to -war with Elizabeth whilst Holland was in arms, and the Huguenots strong. -All he could do was by intrigue to endeavour to stir up civil -dissensions both in France and England, and this he did ceaselessly, but -with indifferent success, as will be seen, for both Elizabeth and -Catharine, with their quick vigilance, were far more than a match for -Philip’s slow ponderous methods. Powerless, however, as Philip might be -to stay the progress of heterodoxy abroad, he was determined that it -should gain no foothold in his own country. Early in 1568 he expelled -the English ambassador, Dr. Man, ostensibly in consequence of his too -open profession of the reformed faith, but really to anticipate a demand -which he knew would be made for religious toleration for the ambassador -in return for the similar privilege enjoyed by the Spanish ambassador in -England. Although Protestantism was by the unsparing severity of the -Inquisition stamped out utterly in Spain, Philip’s principle of -absolute uniformity of faith amongst his subjects had to encounter a -serious resistance from another quarter. On the capture of Granada by -the Catholic sovereigns, the most complete religious toleration had been -promised to the Moors. The promise had been broken through the zeal of -Ximenez, and, nominally at least, the whole of the Spaniards of Moorish -descent had during the reign of the emperor been drawn into the Catholic -Church. All the south of Spain was inhabited by a people in course of -gradual amalgamation, and if time had only been given to them, they -would eventually have mingled into a homogeneous race, to the enormous -future advantage of the country. During the emperor’s time an edict had -been issued ordering all people of Moorish blood to discontinue the use -of their distinctive garb and language. It was naturally found -impossible to enforce this within a short period, and the edict was -allowed to fall nearly into abeyance, thanks, in a great measure, to the -liberal contributions of the Moriscos to the cost of the emperor’s wars -against his German Protestants. The Morisco population of the kingdom of -Granada, and Valencia especially, had accordingly, although outwardly -conforming Christians, really clung in secret to the faith and habits of -their fathers, living in industry and usefulness, adding greatly to the -national wealth both by their advanced agricultural science, and the -perfection to which they had brought the production of silk. The -prosperity they attained, and their distinct blood and customs, aroused -the jealousy and hatred of their Christian neighbours, especially during -the periodical struggle with the Turks, when the Moriscos were accused -of sympathy with the national enemy. Philip’s first action against these -useful citizens was prompted--as were most royal edicts in Spain--by a -representation made to him by the Cortes of Castile in 1560, to the -effect that the introduction of African slaves by the Spanish Moriscos -was a disadvantage to the country, and a royal pragmatica was issued -forbidding this. It was a heavy blow, as much of the hard labour of -mountain agriculture and irrigation was done by these slaves, but -measures of a very different character were adopted as soon as possible -after Cardinal Espinosa became inquisitor-general. In 1563 an edict had -been issued prohibiting the Moriscos from wearing or possessing arms, -which caused much discontent and resistance; but at the instance of the -clergy, and more especially of Guerrero, the Archbishop of Granada, and -of Espinosa, a far more serious step was taken early in 1567. The -Moriscos were forbidden to wear their distinctive garb, and were ordered -to dress as Christians, no silk garments being allowed, and the women -going abroad with their faces uncovered. They were to have no locks or -fastenings upon their doors, and within a term of three years were -utterly to discontinue the use of their own language and also adopt -Christian names. Above all, the use of warm baths was prohibited under -brutal penalties. Their customs and traditions, indeed, were to be -trampled upon with apparent wantonness. The Moriscos had always been -quiet, docile people, and the local clergy and authorities had assured -Philip that no difficulty would be experienced in enforcing the edict. -At first the Moriscos adopted the same means of evasion as they had -successfully employed on other occasions, namely, bribery and cajolery. -Espinosa belonged to the war party, and consequently had the Ruy Gomez -party against him, and even the Governor-General of Granada, the Marquis -de Mondejar, and much pressure was exerted upon Philip to induce him to -relax the orders, but, influenced by Espinosa and the churchmen, he -refused. For the first two years the Moriscos sulkily bowed beneath the -yoke, evading and passively resisting as much as possible; but during -this period the Mussulman fervour had been rising, and at length at -Christmas 1568 the storm which had long been brewing burst. A youth, -Aben Humeya, in the Alpujarras had distinguished himself in resisting -the enforcement of the edicts. He was a descendant of the prophet -himself, and was proclaimed by the Moriscos King of Granada. The Moorish -force was organised in the almost inaccessible mountains, whilst envoys -sped from the new king to his co-religionists at Constantinople and on -the other side of the Straits of Gibraltar; but the Turk was busy -organising an expedition against the Venetians, and the Barbary Moors -were split up into independent tribes which could furnish no -considerable combined force, so the Spanish Moriscos were left nearly -unaided, although many isolated companies of Barbary Moors responded to -the call and crossed to Spain. On December 26, 1568, a small body of 180 -Moriscos, under Aben Farax, a dyer of Granada, came down from the -mountains through the driving snow and forced their way into the city of -Granada. The Morisco townspeople, terrified at the risk they ran in -joining so small a force, turned a deaf ear to the exhortations of the -chief. Through the sleeping city the little body of Moors rushed on, -desecrating the Christian temples, cursing the Christian gods, and -killing such few Spaniards as resisted them. And then when a call to -arms from the citadel sounded, Aben Farax and his little force withdrew -once more to the mountains. The large Morisco population of Granada had -made no move, or the city would have been taken, and the Governor -Mendoza, Marquis de Mondejar, took counsel with their head men for -resisting further attack, and urged them to stand loyal to the king -against the mountain marauders. - -In the meanwhile Aben Farax swept through the Vega, carrying death and -torture with him to the Christians, burning villages, and submitting the -defenceless inhabitants to the most heartrending cruelty. Mad with blood -lust, the Moriscos of the band sought to avenge their race for endless -ignominy by outrage upon the country folk of the Vega. Three thousand -Christians were killed, before the king, Aben Humeya, put an end to the -slaughter, and many hundreds of others were sold into slavery across the -Straits in exchange for arms and men. Like wildfire ran the hope through -all Andalucia that at last the resuscitation of the Moorish power in -Spain had come, and the Moriscos from Valencia to the Sierra Nevada -sprang to arms. The hate and rancour of centuries were concentrated in -one mad week of slaughter. Mendoza, Marquis of Mondejar, with such -forces as he could raise, sallied and met the Moors in the pass of -Alfajarali, where he defeated them with great slaughter, and then -pressed on, killing and plundering, until blood and booty themselves -palled. When Mondejar re-entered the city of Granada he brought with him -800 rescued Christian women, who had been destined for sale to the Jews -of Barbary, and the churchmen made this an excuse for urging the -townspeople to fresh vengeance. In the early spring the Marquis de los -Velez set out with another force, gathered up from the idlers of the -cities of Andalucia, with the avowed object of massacre. They came -across 10,000 Morisco women and children fugitives, who had sought -safety on the edge of the great red cliffs overlooking the -Mediterranean. There was no mercy for them. Many cast themselves over -the edge to escape outrage and a lingering death; others, whilst praying -for mercy and avowing the Christian faith, were slaughtered. In two -hours 6000 poor creatures were killed, 2000 of them little children, and -the rest were distributed amongst the soldiers as slaves. But soon -slaves were so plentiful that the value fell, and soldiers deserted to -seek a better market for them, the Spanish forces became utterly -demoralised, and plunder and anarchy spread all over the fertile and -previously prosperous region. Deza, afterwards one of Philip’s cardinals -in Rome, was the representative in Granada of the civil power and the -Inquisition, and exceeded in violence and brutality even the lawless -men-at-arms. He complained constantly to Philip and Espinosa of the -slackness and want of authority of the Governor Mondejar, and at last -the king decided to send to Andalucia a considerable force under his -brother, Don Juan of Austria, to restore order. The young prince, who -had been born in 1547, was one of the handsomest and most gifted men of -his time. He had shared the studies of his unfortunate nephew, Don -Carlos, and of his cousin, Alexander Farnese, and from the time of the -emperor’s death had been treated as a prince of the blood. He had -already distinguished himself in the naval campaign against the Barbary -corsairs in 1567, and now his royal brother sent him once more against -the infidel. He entered Granada in April 1569. He was to do nothing -without first communicating with the king, and was strictly enjoined not -to expose himself to danger or to take any personal part in the mountain -warfare, which was to be left to the Marquis de los Velez. The reasons -probably why Don Juan had been chosen for the command were his youth, -which would, it might be thought, render him amenable to guidance from -Madrid, and the fact that he had from his childhood been indoctrinated -in the diplomatic principles of Ruy Gomez’s party, to which Secretary -Antonio Perez also belonged. But he was a youth of high courage and -great ability, who could ill brook strict control, and he chafed at -being kept in the city of Granada away from the fighting. Philip again -and again directed him to do as he was told and stay where he was. The -task confided to him was a pitiful one. Orders came from Madrid that -every Morisco in Granada was to be sent to Castile. On the day of St. -John 1569, writes the English spy Hogan, “Don Juan gathered together -13,000 Moriscos of Granada, and took 2000 for the king’s galleys, and -hanged some; a great number were sent to labour in the king’s works and -fortifications, and the rest, with their wives and children, kept as -slaves.” Despair fell upon the poor people, innocent mostly of all -participation in the mountain rising, at being dragged from their -beautiful homes and smiling native land to be sent in slavery to arid -Castile; but Deza and Espinosa were pitiless, and their advice alone was -heard in Madrid. The Marquis of Mondejar, the hereditary governor of -Granada, could not brook such ruinous folly to the city he loved, and -left in disgust. - -Things in the meanwhile were going badly for the Spaniards in the -mountains. The king, Aben Humeya, gained a victory at Seron, and the -main body of Spaniards, under the Marquis de los Velez, got out of hand, -provisions and pay were short, and the men deserted in shoals, until at -last Los Velez was left only with the veteran regiment of Naples. Then -Philip and the churchmen saw that they must let Don Juan have his way -and give him active command, whilst the king himself, to be nearer, came -to Cordova. - -But Aben Humeya’s power was slipping away. Dissensions had broken out in -his own family. He had exercised his royal authority with as much -harshness and arrogance as if it had been founded on a rock instead of -on the desert sand, and soon a revolution of his people broke out. The -young king, already sunk in lascivious indulgence, was strangled in his -bed, and his cousin, Ben Abó, was proclaimed King of Granada. - -The juncture was a favourable one for Don Juan, and he lost no time. -With marvellous activity he collected the Spanish forces again around -the Naples regiment; he brought men from all parts of Spain, and by the -end of January 1570 he was besieging the fortress of Galera with 13,000 -soldiers. For a month the siege lasted, and hardly a day passed without -some act of daring heroism on one side or the other. At last by February -16 the place was taken by assault, and the defenders to the number of -3000 killed. Massacre, pillage, and lust again threw the Spanish troops -into a state of demoralisation, and a few days later, in attempting to -recover Seron, an uncontrollable panic seized them, and the seasoned -warriors fled like hares before an insignificant gang of Moors, with a -loss of 600 men. All discipline and order were thrown to the winds; -desertion, anarchy, and murder were all that could be got from Don -Juan’s army, now a mere blood-thirsty rabble. - -The Moorish king would fain make terms, and Don Juan was in favour of -entertaining his approaches. Philip was at his wits’ end with two wars -on his hands, both the result of his blind, rigid policy; his treasury, -as usual, was well-nigh exhausted. Elizabeth of England had recently -seized all the ready money he could borrow for the payment of Alba’s -army, and the Turk was busy in the Mediterranean, with the more or less -overt encouragement of Catharine de Medici. But though Don Juan begged -for clemency for the submissive Moors, the fanatics Deza and Espinosa -would have none of it, and Philip’s zeal was aroused again in the name -of religion to strike and spare not for the interests of “God and your -Majesty.” - -Deza and one of his officials of the Inquisition managed to bribe a Moor -to betray and kill the king, Ben Abó. The body of the dead king was -brought into Granada, and Deza, churchman though he was, struck off the -head and had it nailed to the gate of what was once the Moorish quarter, -with a threat of death to the citizen who should dare to touch it. - -There was to be no mercy to the vanquished, said the churchmen, and -Philip obeyed them, in spite of Don Juan’s protests against their -interference with the clemency of a magnanimous victor. Death or -slavery were the only alternatives, and no mercy was shown. From the -fair plains they and theirs had tilled for eight centuries, from the -frowning Alpujarras, which their tireless industry had forced to yield a -grudging harvest; from the white cities, which had kept alive the -culture of the east when the barbarians had trampled down the -civilisation of the west, all those who bore the taint of Moorish blood -were cast. Bound in gangs by heavy gyves, they were driven through the -winter snow into the inhospitable north. Don Juan, soldier though he -was, was pierced with pity at the sight. “They went,” he wrote to Ruy -Gomez, “with the greatest sorrow in the world, for at the time they -left, the rain, snow, and wind were so heavy that the daughter will be -forced to leave the mother, the husband the wife, and the widow her baby -by the wayside. It cannot be denied that it is the saddest sight -imaginable to see the depopulation of a whole kingdom. But, sir, that is -what has been done!” - -By the end of November 1570 Andalucia was cleared of the Moriscos, and -at the same time cleared of its industry, its prosperity, and its -enlightenment. The fanatic churchmen had had their foolish way, and -Philip went back to his desk, certain in his narrow soul that he had -served the cause of God and the welfare of his country. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - Philip and England--Elizabeth seizes his treasure--Spanish plots - against her--Philip and the northern rebellion--The excommunication - of Elizabeth--Ridolfi’s plot--Philip’s hesitancy--Prohibition of - English trade with Spain--Its futility--Alba’s retirement from - Flanders--Philip’s responsibility for Alba’s proceedings--The tenth - penny--Philip’s disapproval--Orange’s approaches to the French. - - -The persistent plotting of Cardinal Lorraine and the Monlucs to bring -about a union of Spain, France, and the pope, with the object of -fighting Protestantism and placing Mary Stuart on the throne of a -Catholic united kingdom, had failed. Catharine de Medici hated Mary -Stuart and the Guises, and Philip had no wish, if even he had the power, -to fight England for the purpose of making Mary’s French uncles -paramount. Religion apart, it was better for Philip’s policy that -England should remain Protestant than that this should happen, always -provided that he could keep Elizabeth friendly, and either frighten or -cajole her into a position of neutrality towards his rebellious -Protestant subjects in the Netherlands. He could no longer attempt to -dictate to her, as he had sought to do at the beginning of her reign, -but only strove now to gain her goodwill; and both parties were fully -cognisant of their changed position towards each other. - -It was only ten years since Elizabeth’s accession, and even in this -short period Philip’s perverse and inelastic policy had reduced him to a -position of comparative impotence. But with his views, it was hopeless -to expect that he should learn wisdom from events. Reverses and -disappointments usually make men consider whether the course they are -pursuing is a wise one. No such doubt could assail Philip. He was in -union with God to do His work, for the success of which it was necessary -for Philip to have absolute power; and any reverses which occurred were -sent by the Almighty for some good purpose of His own, not to prevent -ultimate success, but to make it the more glorious when it came. - -With such ideas as these, Philip was proof against adversity; it was -impossible to defeat or degrade him. The considerations which rule the -conduct of other men had no influence over him; he was above human laws, -and, no doubt, thought that he was above human frailty. Subornation, -treachery, and secret murder, odious and reprehensible in others, were -praiseworthy in him, for was he not working with and for Providence for -divine ends, before which all mundane and moral considerations must give -way? - -His haughty dismissal of the English ambassador in the spring of 1568 on -religious grounds had been bitterly resented by Elizabeth, -notwithstanding the palliative influence of Philip’s ambassador, Guzman -de Silva. This, and rumours that Cardinal Lorraine had at last succeeded -in obtaining armed help for Mary Stuart against Murray, caused Elizabeth -to repeat her bold and previously successful action. Fresh -encouragement was sent to Condé and the Huguenots. Protestantism in the -Netherlands, under the iron heel of Alba, was accorded a more hearty -sympathy than ever, and expeditions of Flemish refugees were now allowed -almost openly to fit out in English ports to go over and help their -compatriots. Events fought on Elizabeth’s side, and threw Mary Stuart -into her grasp, from which she never escaped. The captive queen -clamoured for Philip’s help, but Philip had no help to give yet beyond -procrastinating generalities. Elizabeth and her ministers were well -served by spies, and were quite cognisant of Philip’s impotence for harm -at present, so far as open hostility was concerned. All they feared was -that he might seek to attain his end by secret plotting, and this was -eventually the course he adopted. For the time, however,--in the autumn -of 1568--he was sincerely desirous of keeping on good terms with -Elizabeth, and instructed his new ambassador, Gerau de Spes, to use -every effort to that end. Late in November 1568 the violence and -indiscretion of De Spes, who began plotting with the English Catholic -party in favour of Mary Stuart as soon as he arrived, had brought -matters to a much less peaceful complexion between Philip and Elizabeth. -This was from no fault of Philip, and was against the tenor of his -instructions. Cardinal Chatillon was in England, arousing sympathy and -obtaining aid for the Huguenots, the Flemish refugees were spreading -abroad a feeling of indignation against Alba’s atrocities in the -Netherlands, and money was being sent daily across to help their -brethren against the oppressor. Privateers and pirates, who called -themselves such, were swarming in the Channel, and few vessels bearing -the flag of Spain escaped their depredations. To escape them, some -ships carrying money--mostly borrowed by Philip from Genoese bankers--to -pay Alba’s troops had to run for refuge into Southampton, Plymouth, and -Falmouth. On the pretence of protecting the specie from the pirates, -most of it was landed, and retained by Elizabeth for her own purposes. -Promises, professions of honesty, and specious excuses of all sorts were -made; negotiations, open and secret, for its recovery went on for years, -but the treasure was never restored to Philip. It was a great blow to -him and a great help to Elizabeth, who was almost alarmed at her own -temerity in seizing the money. Philip retaliated by seizing English -property in Spanish and Flemish ports, immensely inferior in value to -that seized by England. It was an unwise step, because it gave Elizabeth -some ground for retaining what she had taken, and appropriating more, -which she promptly did. Even then Philip could only plead futilely for -restitution. His ambassador stormed and threatened, urged his master to -assert his power and crush Elizabeth. But Philip, and even fiery Alba, -knew better now, and both of them strained every nerve to avoid being -drawn into open hostility towards England. The keynote of Philip’s -foreign policy--that which he had inherited from his Burgundian -forefathers--was to keep on good terms with England. It was only after -many years that he was for a time absolutely driven by circumstances, -and against his will, to fight England outright, and then only with the -object of coercing her into a friendly attitude towards him. In view of -De Spes’s constant assurance that the time had now come when, by giving -a little aid to the English Catholics, Elizabeth might be deposed and -Mary Stuart made Queen of England, Philip referred the decision of the -matter to Alba (February 1569). But Alba frankly told him that he had -neither men nor money for the purpose, and that Elizabeth must be -conciliated at all costs. Even when De Spes’s plotting and insolence -became too much for Elizabeth to bear and she placed him under arrest, -his master told him he must suffer everything patiently for the king’s -sake. The humbler became Philip the more aggressive became Elizabeth. -She refused to have anything to do with Alba, or to recognise him in any -way, and the proud noble took this to heart more even than the seizure -of the treasure. So when De Spes sent him news of the plot in progress -with Arundel, Norfolk, and Lumley; and Ridolfi the banker went over to -Flanders as their envoy to the duke, he was ready enough to listen, and -try to effect by treason what he was powerless to do by war, if only it -could be done without compromising Philip. The latter was more -distrustful even than Alba, and it was only with much apparent -hesitation that he consented to lend aid to Norfolk’s plot. After -Norfolk’s folly and pusillanimity and Cecil’s vigilance had brought -about the collapse of the first conspiracy, and the northern lords were -in arms and, in their turn, begging for Philip’s aid, a good instance -occurred of the inadequacy of the king’s timid temporising policy to the -circumstances of the times. The crisis was really a dangerous one for -Elizabeth, and a little prompt aid from Philip might have turned the -scale. The Catholic north was all in arms, and Mary Stuart’s party was -still a strong one, and yet these are the only words that Philip could -find in answer to the appeal written to Alba on December 16, 1569: -“English affairs are going in a way that will make it necessary, after -all, to bring the queen to do by force what she refuses to reason. Her -duty is so clear that no doubt God causes her to ignore it, in order -that by these means His holy religion may be restored in that country, -and Catholics and good Christians thus be rescued from the oppression in -which they live. In case her obstinacy and hardness of heart continue, -therefore, you will take into consideration the best direction to be -given to this. We think here that the best course will be to encourage -with money and secret favour the Catholics of the north, and to help -those in Ireland to take up arms against the heretics and deliver the -crown to the Queen of Scotland, to whom it belongs. This course, it is -presumed, would be agreeable to the pope and all Christendom, and would -encounter no opposition from any one. This is only mentioned now in -order that you may know what is passing in our minds here, and that, -with your great prudence and a full consideration of the state of -affairs in general, you may ponder what is best to be done.” What could -be weaker than this in a great crisis? - -Events marched too quickly for pondering, and the northern rebellion was -stamped out by the promptness of Elizabeth’s Government whilst Philip -was timidly weighing the chances. This was a fresh triumph for the -Protestant cause throughout Europe, and a new impetus was given to it in -France, Holland, Germany, and Scotland, as well as in England. De Spes -continued to urge upon Philip plans for the overthrow of Elizabeth, but -his charming fell upon deaf ears now. Only once was the king tempted -into any approach to hostility. Stukeley went to Spain with a great -flourish of trumpets, and gave him to understand that Ireland was at his -bidding if a little armed help were provided. At Madrid they thought for -a time that Stukeley was a great man, and entertained him royally; but -Philip and his councillors soon found he was but a windbag, and dropped -him promptly. - -A good example is provided of Philip’s subordination of religion to -politics by his attitude when the pope’s bull excommunicating Elizabeth -was fixed by Felton on the Bishop of London’s gate. The English -Catholics had long been suggesting to Philip that such a bull should be -obtained, but he had no desire to drive Elizabeth farther away from the -Catholic Church than necessary. Her religion was a secondary -consideration, if she would be friendly with him, and he was coldly -irresponsive about the desired excommunication. The English Catholics -then addressed the pope direct; and he, having no interests to serve -other than those of his religion, promptly granted the bull. But when -Philip learnt that the pope had excommunicated Elizabeth without -consulting him, he was extremely indignant, and did not mince his words -in reprehending the pontiff’s action. - -At the instance of his over-zealous ambassador, Philip was induced to -receive Ridolfi, who had again gone as an envoy from Norfolk and Mary to -the pope, Philip, and Alba (July 1571) to seek aid for Norfolk’s second -plot to destroy Elizabeth, whilst at the same time he (Philip) was -negotiating in Madrid with Fitzwilliams a pretended plot by which John -Hawkins was to place his fleet at the disposal of the Spaniards. -Philip’s reference to the subject of killing Elizabeth is -characteristic. He “sincerely desires the success of the business, not -for his own interest, or for any other worldly object, but purely and -simply for the service of God. He was therefore discussing the matter, -and in the meanwhile urged all people concerned not to be premature.” -Whilst he was discussing with his council the murder of Elizabeth, the -queen and Cecil were acting. They had known everything that had been -going on in Madrid and elsewhere; Philip had been hoodwinked again. His -ambassador was expelled with every ignominy, Norfolk deservedly lost his -head, and Philip’s hesitancy once more convinced the English Catholics -that no broad, bold, or timely action in their favour could be expected -from him. - -It had been constantly urged upon Philip that the best way to bring the -English to their knees was to stop their trade with his dominions. He -had always laid it down as a rule that no ships but Spanish should be -allowed to trade in the Spanish territories in America, but the English -adventurers made light of the prohibition, and the settlers were quite -willing to wink at their distant sovereign’s edicts, if they could -profitably exchange their drugs and dyewood for the slaves which the -English brought from the African coast. After Elizabeth’s seizure of -Spanish property the prohibition against English trade was extended to -Spain and the Netherlands. The English clothworkers grumbled, but they -found new outlets for their goods at Embden and Hamburg. On the other -hand, the wine-growers of Spain and the merchants of Flanders were -well-nigh ruined. Spanish ships were harried off the sea, and Philip -was ere long forced to connive at the violation of his own edict in face -of the clamour of the Andalucian shippers, whose produce rotted for want -of sea-carriage and a market. Alba held out as long as he could, but the -persuasions of Orange that the Queen of England should assume the -protectorate of Holland and Zeeland brought even him to his knees at -last. He had always tried to make the restitution of Elizabeth’s -seizures a condition of the reopening of trade, but early in 1573 he was -obliged to give way, to the immense advantage of Elizabeth, who thus -kept the bulk of what she had taken, whilst her subjects again obtained -a free market for their cloth. This agreement alone would prove how -completely Philip’s cumbrous policy of personal centralisation had -failed when applied to a huge disjointed empire such as his. His selfish -dread of responsibility and his constant aim of making catspaws of -others had alienated him at this time from every power except perhaps -for the moment the Venetians and the pope, who both had selfish reasons -for adhering to him, the first as their chief bulwark against the Turk -in the Mediterranean, and the latter because he was champion of the -Church the world over. Alba’s policy of blood and iron had failed too, -in the Netherlands. He had only succeeded in making his own and his -master’s name execrated. From the day he left Spain his enemies there -had been busy. In his absence the party of Ruy Gomez was almost supreme; -the clever favourite had taken care to surround the king with promising -young secretaries, and the failure of Alba to pacify the Netherlands was -made the most of. The duke himself was heartsick of his task, crippled -for want of means, his troops unpaid and mutinous, his fleet destroyed; -and Holland, Zeeland, and a good part of Flanders were still in the -hands of Orange. The constant dropping of detraction at last had its -effect upon Philip, and he was induced to try a new policy. Alba was -allowed to withdraw, with rage at his heart for his failure, which he -ascribed to the lack of support from Madrid, and Luis Requesens was sent -by the influence of the Ruy Gomez party, to endeavour to bring about by -conciliation and mildness the pacification which severity had been -powerless to effect. - -This is not the place for any detailed account to be given of the -proceedings of Alba in the Netherlands, which have so often been -recounted, but it may be interesting to consider how far Philip is -personally responsible for them. It may be conceded at once that the -king would have no sentimental scruples whatever in ordering the -sacrifice of any number of lives he considered necessary for the success -of his object, which in his eyes transcended all human interests. There -is no doubt that when Alba was first despatched to Flanders it was for -the express purpose of utterly stamping out the Flemish claims of -autonomy. The first men to be struck at were the great nobles who had -dared to formulate such a claim. The Regent Margaret was dismissed with -every sign of disgrace. Her edict of toleration was revoked as “illegal -and indecent,” and she herself was ordered to obey the Duke of Alba in -all things. She was the king’s sister, however, and she was allowed to -go to Parma, complaining bitterly of the outrages to which the king had -submitted her. But with Orange, Egmont, Horn, Montigny, and Bergues it -was another matter. At some time or another all of these had raised -their voices, however submissively, in favour of the national rights of -self-government. The blow was carefully planned beforehand, and the -treacherous seizure of Egmont and Horn after the dinner party on -September 9, 1567, immediately after Alba’s arrival in Brussels, was -promptly followed by the even more underhand detention and imprisonment -of Bergues, Montigny, and Renard in Spain. Fortunately the greater -wariness of Orange and Mansfelt saved them from falling victims to -Alba’s lying caresses. The charge against the nobles was not religious, -but purely political. It is true that Orange in his absence was accused -of speaking disrespectfully of the Inquisition, but the real crime was -for having requested the convocation of the States-General on the -pretext that “the king could not determine anything in these provinces -except with the approval of the States-General, which means stripping -the king of all authority and power and adorning him merely with the -title.” That Alba’s persecution was not a religious but a political one, -is also proved by the fact that the conventual clergy were struck at the -same time as the Catholic nobles because they had ventured to protest -against Philip’s reorganisation of the ecclesiastical establishment in -Flanders, which was intended to make him supreme over the clergy, as he -was in Spain. The abbots and monks, we are told, were the first that -fled on Alba’s advent. They were followed by rich burgesses, Catholics -almost to a man. They fled not for religion yet, but because the -ruffianly Spanish and Italian soldiers whom Alba had brought with him -were quartered in all the houses--six in each house--and were robbing, -murdering, and ravishing right and left. They were an unpaid mutinous -rabble, who respected no distinction of nationality, faith, or sex, and -their function was utterly to terrorise the Flemings into abject -submission. When the people began to escape in shoals Alba considered it -necessary to prevent this evasion of his terrorism, and began by hanging -500 citizens who were suspected of attempting to emigrate or to send -property abroad. The people, in fact, were absolutely unresisting, and -flocked to church, as Alba himself records, as plentifully as did -“Spaniards at jubilee time.” At the execution of Egmont and Horn, Alba -expressed his surprise to the king that the populace was so -unmoved--much less so, indeed, than the Spanish soldiers who surrounded -the scaffold--and he feared that the king’s clemency might raise their -courage. Alba was determined that this should not happen if he could -help it. Thus far, then, Philip must be held responsible for Alba’s -acts, namely, for the first seizure of the nobles, and their -condemnation by the tribunal of blood, to the number of about twenty, -and for the terrorism over the friars and the citizens. But here -probably Philip’s personal responsibility ends. He was not wantonly and -fiercely cruel as Alba was. No consideration of any sort was allowed to -stand in the way of what he held to be his sacred task, but he did not -kill for the sake of killing. The flight of Orange’s mercenary Germans -at Heliger Lee, and the consequent collapse of his first attempt at -armed resistance, had been looked upon by most Flemings without any -outward sign of sympathy, and the unprovoked, horrible holocaust of -innocent citizens all over Flanders and Brabant which followed, must be -laid at the door of Alba alone, who intended thus to strike such terror -into the townsfolk as should effectually bridle them if Orange tried his -fortune again; so with the nobles dead or in exile, the townspeople -might be crushed without a show of resistance. As long as only their -national or religious liberty was at stake, the Flemings bent their -necks to the yoke, and Orange in his despairing attempt depended mainly -upon German mercenaries and French Calvinists. On July 14, 1570, Alba -the merciless could read from his gold-covered throne in Antwerp the -amnesty of forgiveness and peace to all the subjects of the king: but -when he ventured to lay hands on the wealth of the Netherlands, then the -blood of the burgesses rose, and those who meekly saw themselves -despoiled of their national rights stood up sturdily against the -depletion of their fat money-bags. The seizure of the treasure by -Elizabeth had been the last stroke to complete Alba’s penury. He had -been importuning plaintively for money almost since his arrival; his -troops had not been paid for two years, and were almost out of hand. -Money he must have, and, certainly without Philip’s consent, he took the -fatal step that at last aroused the slumbering people. The various -provincial assemblies were terrorised into voting a tax of one per cent -on all property, five per cent on sales of land, and, above all, ten per -cent on sales of all other property. Utrecht refused to accept the -impossible tax, and the tribunal of blood condemned the whole property -of the citizens to confiscation. A tax of ten per cent upon commodities -every time they changed hands was proved to be absurd. Alba’s most -faithful henchmen, and even his confessor, pointed this out to him, but -to no purpose. Business was suspended, factories closed. Their -proprietors were threatened with heavy fines if trade was not carried on -as usual. It was obviously impossible, but still the duke would not give -way. - -Philip’s council were indignant at such a measure, and Alba wrote to -Madrid, “Let the tax be reduced as much as may be necessary, but the -king cannot have an idea of the obstacles I encounter here. Neither the -heads smitten off nor the privileges abolished have aroused so much -resistance as this.” - -Nearly all the great bankers upon whom Philip had depended for loans -became insolvent, and appeals against the unwise tax reached Philip by -every post. He knew money must be obtained somehow, and hesitated to -condemn Alba unheard, but he ordered an inquiry to be made, and the -protests grew louder and deeper. Bishops, councillors, loyal servants of -the Spaniards, joined in condemnation. “Everybody turns against me,” -wrote the duke, and for once he was right. - -The “beggars of the sea” seized Brille on April 1, 1572; all Holland and -Zeeland rose. Help and money came from England, and Alba saw himself -face to face with an enraged nation instead of downtrodden serfs. First -he crushed the south and then held the French Huguenots out of Brabant. -Mons was captured, Genlis’s Frenchmen massacred, and swift and -relentless as a thunderbolt swept Alba’s vengeance through the southern -provinces of Flanders. Submission the most abject, or slaughter was the -only alternative. But Holland and Zeeland were made of sterner stuff, -and the shambles of Naarden only made Haarlem the more obstinate. Then -followed that fell struggle which lasted until Alba’s confession of -failure. Cruelty could not crush the Dutchmen, for they were fighting -for their faith now as well as their money, and by the end of 1572 -Philip had become tired of the useless slaughter. It was difficult for -him to revoke or interfere with his commander-in-chief in the midst of -such a war, but long before Alba’s final retirement from Flanders at the -end of 1573, the king showed his displeasure with his proceedings -unmistakably, and it well-nigh broke the old duke’s heart, hard as it -was. When at last Philip wrote that his successor, Requesens, was on his -way to replace him with an amnesty, these were the king’s words: “I am -quite aware that the rebels are perfidious. I understand all your -arguments in favour of a continuance of the system of severity, and I -agree that they are good; but I see that things have arrived at such an -extreme that we shall be obliged to adopt other measures.” Alba’s fall -had been decided upon long before, and Medina-Celi had actually been -sent to Flanders to replace him, but Philip had always hesitated to -withdraw him while he was actually in arms against the enemy. Thirty -years before his father had told him that Alba was the best soldier in -Spain, and Philip knew that he was so still. But how deeply Philip -disapproved of his wanton cruelty in time of peace will be seen by the -words already quoted above, and by his sudden degradation of the -powerful Cardinal Espinosa when the king discovered that he was being -deceived with regard to Alba’s proceedings (September 1572). The number -of victims and the reasons for the sacrifices were kept back by the -favourite, for Espinosa was for crushing the Dutchmen as he had crushed -the Moriscos. But there were others, like Antonio Perez, by Philip’s -side to open his eyes to Alba’s enormities, and one day in the council -the king turned upon the astounded Espinosa and told him roundly that he -lied. When Philip, usually so impassible, said such a thing it meant -disgrace and death, and Cardinal Espinosa promptly went home and died -the same night. - -After that Alba’s disgrace was inevitable, even if it had not been in -principle already decided upon. The evidence, therefore, seems to prove -that Philip did not consider Alba’s cruelty necessary or politic for the -ends he had in view, which, be it repeated, were ultimately political -and not religious. - -Requesens’ new policy at first was eminently successful in drawing away -the Walloons and Catholic Flemings from the side of Orange, and by the -late autumn of 1575 the position of the Protestants had become critical. -Money was running short, the mercenaries were unpaid, and Elizabeth -would not be forced by any persuasion from the position which she had -taken up of helping Orange with money and men, but never pledging -herself so deeply that she could not recede and become friendly with -Philip if it suited her. She had, indeed, managed to get the whole of -the cards in her hand, and could secure his friendship at any time -without cost to herself. But this non-committal policy did not suit -Orange in his present straits, and he began to make approaches to the -French Huguenots. Elizabeth was perfectly willing that he should get -their aid, as in the long-run they too had mainly to depend upon her; -but she changed her tone directly when she learnt that the King of -France and his mother where to be parties to the arrangement. Anything -that should mean a French national domination of Flanders she would -never allow. Better, far better, that Philip and the Spaniards should -stay there for ever, than that the French flag should wave over Antwerp. -So an English envoy, Henry Cobham, was sent to Madrid in August 1575, -with all sorts of loving messages, to open Philip’s eyes to Orange’s -intrigues with the French court. Philip received Cobham coldly, and -referred him to Alba for his answer, which was to the effect that the -king was as willing to be friendly as Elizabeth, and would receive a -resident English ambassador, on condition that he made no claim to -exercise the reformed religion. Not a word about Orange and the French. -Whatever the Huguenots might do, he knew full well that he had only to -hold out his hand to the Guises and the Catholic party, and Catharine -and her son would be paralysed for harm against him. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - Philip’s fourth marriage--The killing of Montigny--Anne of - Austria--Philip’s domestic life--His industry--The Escorial--His - patronage of art--His character--Renewed war with the Turks--Don - Juan commands the Spanish force--The victory of Lepanto--Don Juan’s - great projects--Antonio Perez. - - -Philip was left a widower for the third time in 1568, at the age of -forty-two, with two children, both girls, by his beloved third wife. -With such an empire as his, and with his views of his mission, it was -most undesirable that he should be succeeded by a female, and especially -one of French extraction, and he had already recognised this by causing -some of his young Austrian nephews to be brought up in Spain under his -influence. The emperor, however, largely dependent as he was upon the -Lutheran princes, could not look quite unmoved at Alba’s barbarities in -the ancient patrimony of his House, and became uncomfortably pressing -upon the matter at the commencement of Alba’s rule. Philip resented his -interference, but thought well to disarm him for the future by marrying -the Archduchess Anne, the emperor’s daughter, whom her father had so -persistently put forward as a bride for the unfortunate Carlos. The -preliminaries were easily arranged. Philip was more than double the -bride’s age, and was her uncle, but that mattered nothing. The pope’s -dispensation was obtained, and in August 1570 the new consort travelled -in state through Flanders to take ship for Spain. The fleet which was to -escort the queen was a powerful one, and threw Elizabeth of England into -a fever of alarm until it had safely passed. On her way through Antwerp -the new queen was appealed to by the sorrowing mother of Horn and -Montigny. Her eldest son had fallen on the scaffold, but her second was -alive, a prisoner in the castle of Segovia. He had been smiled upon by -Philip until Alba’s blow had fallen upon his brother and the rest of the -Flemish nobles, and had then suddenly been imprisoned. He was innocent -of all offence, said his mother, a loyal subject, and a good Catholic, -and she prayed the queen earnestly to plead for her son. Anne arrived at -Santander on October 12, 1570, and slowly progressed through Spain to -Segovia for the wedding. For two years the tribunal of blood in Flanders -had been trying the Flemish nobles for treason _in absentia_. Bergues -had died in semi-arrest, and faithful Renard, the victim of Granvelle’s -hate, had also died mysteriously a week after his imprisonment. But -Montigny--Florence de Montmorenci--still remained in seclusion in the -strong castle of Segovia. Philip was always a stickler for the -fulfilment of legal forms, and awaited the result of the trial in -Flanders with ill-disguised impatience. At last the decision came, the -finding being that which might have been foreseen. Montigny was -condemned for treason in defending the action of the Flemish nobles -before the king’s secretary. The judgment was submitted to the -council--Ruy Gomez, Espinosa, and the rest of the camarilla--who advised -that Montigny should be poisoned slowly. But no, the king would have -none of that. The law prescribed death by strangulation for the crime, -and the law must be carried out. A public execution was out of the -question, and the marriage festivities were to be held at Segovia; so -Montigny was spirited away to the bleak castle of Simancas, and on the -very day (October 1) that Philip arranged the pompous ceremony of the -queen’s reception at Segovia he penned an order to the gaoler of -Simancas to hand over to the alcalde of the chancery of Valladolid the -person of Florence de Montmorenci. Arellano had been an inquisitor at -Seville, and was appointed specially to the chancery of Valladolid for -the purpose in hand. To him the most minute instructions were given for -the execution of Montigny. The priest that was to administer the last -consolations to the dying man was named, and at the same time a doctor -was instructed to visit the prisoner daily, ostentatiously taking with -him from Valladolid the usual medicines for fever. The hour of the night -that the alcalde and the executioner were to leave the city and the -smallest particulars were set forth for their guidance, but before and -above all, no one was to know that Montigny had not died a natural -death. His property had been confiscated for his crime, and so, said -Philip, he has nothing to leave; but still he may make a will, and -dispose of the property, if he will consent to do so, in the form of a -man who knows he is dying of a natural illness. He might write to his -wife, too, in the same way. The king is careful to repeat that he had -been tried and condemned by a legal tribunal, and it was only out of -mercy and consideration for his rank that he was to be saved the -ignominy of a public execution. The poor creature expressed his thanks -for the king’s clemency, avowed his unshaken fidelity to the Catholic -Church, and the shameful deed was done in that same round turret room in -which the bishop Acuña, the leader of the Comuneros, lived for years, -before he met a similar fate fifty years previously. Montigny was -executed on October 16, whilst Anne was on her way to Segovia. The first -favour she asked of her husband was to spare the life of Montigny. -Philip replied that he could not have refused to grant her request, but -unfortunately the prisoner had died of sickness. Couriers, swifter than -the queen, had long ago brought to Philip the tidings of the promise -made to Montigny’s mother. Forewarned, forearmed, he doubtless thought, -and the hapless Montmorenci’s fate was sealed by his mother’s apparently -successful intercession with the queen. - -Philip’s fourth wife was a devout, homely, prolific creature, intensely -devoted to her husband and children, of whom she bore many, though most -of them died in early childhood. “She never leaves her rooms, and her -court is like a nunnery,” wrote the French ambassador. All around her -was frigid, gloomy etiquette and funereal devotion. As years and -disappointments gathered on Philip’s head his religious mysticism -deepened. “For God and your Majesty,” was now the current phrase in all -addresses to him. He never gave an order--hardly an opinion--without -protesting that he had no worldly end in all his acts. It was all for -the sake of God, whose instrument he was. For his own part, his life -was a constant round of drudgery and devotion. The smallest details of -government went through his hands, besides the most trivial regulations -with regard to the lives and habits of his subjects. Their dress and -furniture were prescribed with closest minuteness, their styles of -address, number of servants and horses, their amusements, their -funerals, their weddings, their devotions were settled for them by the -gloomy recluse whom they rarely saw. Whilst he was busy with such -puerilities, affairs of great moment were set aside and delayed, his -ambassadors in vain praying for answers to important despatches, his -armies turning mutinous for want of money, and his executive ministers -through his wide domains alternately despairing and indignant at the -tardiness of action which they saw was ruining the cause he championed. - -The king’s only relaxations now were the few hours he could spare in the -bosom of his family, to which he was devotedly attached, especially to -his elder daughter, Isabel. But even in his home life his care for -detail was as minute as it was in public affairs. The most unimportant -trifle in the dress, management, studies, or play of his children came -within his purview. The minutiae of the management of his -flower-gardens, the little maladies of his servants, the good-or -ill-temper of his dwarfs and jesters did not escape his vigilance. The -private and financial affairs of his nobles came as much within his -province, almost, as his personal concerns, the furnishing and -decoration of his rooms had to be done under his personal supervision, -and the vast task of building the stupendous pile of the Escorial on an -arid mountain-side, and adorning it with triumphs of art from the -master hands of all Christendom, was performed down to the smallest -particular under his unwearied guidance. With all his prodigious -industry and devotion to duty, it is no wonder that this want of -proportion in the importance of things clogged the wheels of the great -machine of which he was mainspring, and that the nimble wit of Elizabeth -of England and Catharine de Medici foresaw, in ample time to frustrate -them, the deep-laid ponderous plans against them which he discussed _ad -infinitum_ before adopting. His favourite place for work was at the -Escorial, where, said the prior, four times as many despatches were -written as in Madrid. As soon as a portion of the edifice could be -temporarily roofed in, the monks were installed, and thenceforward -Philip passed his happiest moments in the keen, pure air of the -Guadarramas, superintending the erection of the mighty monument which -forms a fitting emblem of his genius--stupendous in its ambition, -gloomy, rigid, and overweighted in its consummation. Here he loved to -wander with his wife and children, overlooking the army of workmen who -for twenty years were busy at their tasks, to watch the deft hands of -the painters and sculptors--Sanchez Coello, the Carducci, Juan de -Juanes, the Mudo, Giacomo Trezzo, and a host of others--whom he -delighted to honour. As a patron of art in all its forms Philip was a -very Mæcenas. He followed his great father in his friendship for Titian, -but he went far beyond the emperor in his protection of other artists. -Illuminators, miniaturists, and portrait painters were liberally paid -and splendidly entertained. The masterpieces of religious art, the -cunning workmanship of the Florentine goldsmiths and lapidaries, the -marvels of penmanship of the medieval monks, the sculptures of the -ancients, were all prized and understood by Philip, as they were by few -men of his time. This sad, self-concentrated man, bowed down by his -overwhelming mission, tied to the stake of his duty, indeed loved all -things beautiful: flowers, and song-birds, sacred music, pictures, and -the prattle of little children, a seeming contradiction to his career, -but profoundly consistent really, for in the fulfilment of his task he -considered himself in some sort divine, and forced to lay aside as an -unworthy garment all personal desires and convenience, to suppress all -human inclinations. He was a naturally good man, cursed with mental -obliquity and a lack of due sense of proportion. - -Whilst Alba was pursuing his campaign of blood in the Netherlands, -Philip found it necessary once more to struggle for the supremacy of -Christianity in the Mediterranean. It has been related how, after the -heroic defence of Malta, the Turks and Algerines had been finally driven -off with the death of Dragut in 1565. A new sultan, Selim II., had -arisen in the following year, and he had determined to leave Spanish -interests alone and to concentrate his attacks upon the Venetians, -through whom most of the Eastern trade of the Levant passed. Philip’s -interests and those of Venice had not usually been identical, as Spain -aspired to obtain a share of the oriental commerce, and France and the -Venetians had made common cause, more or less openly, with the Turk -against Spain. When the republic saw its great colony of Cyprus attacked -by the Turks, it consequently appealed in the first place to Pius V. -Piala Pasha, the Italian renegade, was already (1569) besieging Nicosia -with a great fleet, whilst the Moriscos were yet in arms in Andalucia. -The inhabitants of Cyprus were welcoming the infidel, and without prompt -and powerful help Cyprus would be lost to Christianity. The pope, at all -events, acted promptly, and sent his legate to Philip with proposals for -an alliance with the Venetians against the common enemy of their faith. -He arrived in Andalucia at the time when the Moriscos had been finally -subdued, and entered Seville with Philip. Alba for the moment had -crushed out resistance in Flanders, and had not yet aroused the fresh -storm by his financial measures. Philip therefore willingly listened to -the pope’s proposal, backed energetically, as it was, by the young -victor of the Moriscos, Don Juan of Austria, all eager to try his sword -against an enemy worthy of his steel; and after three days of devotion -and intercession before the bones of St. Ferdinand in Seville, Philip -decided to lay aside his unfriendliness with the merchant republic and -join it to beat the infidel (spring of 1570). - -By the summer Nicosia had fallen, and before Doria’s galleys from Genoa -and Colonna’s galleys from the pope could be ready for service, private -negotiations were in progress between Venice and the Turks for a -separate peace. Here was always the danger for Philip. His Neapolitan -and Sicilian possessions, as well as the Balearics and the African -settlements, were very open to the Turk, and if the Venetians deserted -him, he would have brought upon his own coasts the scourge of Piali and -his three hundred sail with a fierce army of janissaries. It was not -until the end of 1570, therefore, that Philip was satisfied that the -Venetians would stand firm. Philip’s views undoubtedly extended far -beyond the recapture of Cyprus for the Venetians. This was the first -opportunity that had fallen to him of joining together a really powerful -league to crush the strength of Islam in the Mediterranean. Cardinal de -Granvelle was in Rome, and at last, through his persuasions, Pius V. -regranted to the Spanish king the much-desired privilege of selling the -Crusade bulls, and other financial concessions. Pius had also to give -way on another point which was very near Philip’s heart, for the king -never missed an opportunity of gaining a step forward in his policy of -centralisation of power in himself. Undeterred by the ill success of the -Aragonese in their protest against the abuses in the civil jurisdiction -of the Inquisition, the Catalans had proceeded still further, and had -taken the dangerous step of sending an envoy direct to the pope to beg -him to put an end to the oppression of the Holy Office, by virtue of an -old bull which gave to the pontiff the right to decide in all doubtful -cases, and limited the jurisdiction of the Inquisition to matters of -faith. The pope dared not go too far in offending Philip, but he went as -far as he could, and issued a bull reasserting the right of appeal to -Rome in certain cases. Philip did as he had done before, simply -prohibited the promulgation of the bull in Spain, and clapped the -leaders of the Catalans into the dungeons of the Inquisition. Things had -arrived at this stage when Pius had to beg Philip’s aid for the -Venetians. Then he was obliged to cede to the king’s instances, and -promise not to interfere in any way with the prerogatives of the Spanish -crown. The league against Islam was to be a permanent one, and the -urgent prayers of Don Juan obtained for him the supreme command of the -expedition. He was a fortunate and a dashing young officer, but he was -in no sense the great commander that he has often been represented, and -the work of organisation of his force on this occasion must be credited -mainly to the famous seaman Alvaro de Bazan, Marquis of Santa Cruz; -whilst De Granvelle, who had been appointed Viceroy of Naples, was -indefatigable in his efforts to collect the resources and men necessary -for the struggle. By the summer of 1571, when the Spanish fleet was -gathered at Messina, Cyprus had fallen amidst scenes of hellish carnage -which aroused the Christian force to fury. The fleet of Venice had -suffered much, and notwithstanding the reproaches of the pope for his -tardiness in following up the Turks, who were now harrying the Adriatic, -it was September 1571 before Don Juan and his combined fleets left -Messina. He had 208 galleys, 6 galleasses, and 50 small boats, 29,000 -men-at-arms, and 50,000 sailors and rowers. The force was a great one, -but it had a great task before it. Piali and Uluch Ali had joined, and -had a fleet which had never yet been beaten at sea in the Mediterranean. -Time after time the Turks had shown that in a sea-fight they were -superior to any power in the world; but this was a holy war. The pope -had sent to Don Juan in Naples a blessed banner of blue damask covered -with sacred emblems; all the pomp and solemnity that the Church could -confer upon an expedition was extended to this; prayers and rogations -for its success were sounding through every church in Catholic -Christendom, and, above all, the hearts of men, and women too, were -aflame with enthusiasm when they saw the fervent zeal of the splendid -young prince who was to lead the hosts of Christ against the infidel. -Dressed in white velvet and gold, with a crimson scarf across his -breast, his fair curls glinting in the sun, he looked, they said in -Naples, like a prince of romance, and men, high and low, upon his fleet -were ready to go whithersoever he might lead them. Every man on the -fleet fasted, confessed, and received remission of his sins, and all -felt that they were engaged in a struggle for the Cross. The Turks were -still ravaging the Venetian territories, as they had ravaged Corfu, but -the experienced commanders of Don Juan’s force were opposed to attacking -the dreaded enemy in the open. Better repeat the policy of the past, and -lay siege to some fortified place. Doria especially, was for turning -back and awaiting the spring. But Don Juan would have no such timid -tactics, and decided to attack the Turkish fleet, which, his spies told -him, was lying in the bay of Lepanto. He sighted the enemy at daybreak -on October 7--Sunday--advancing with flags flying and cymbals clashing; -and after giving orders for the fray, Don Juan knelt with all his army -before the crucifixes, the whole of the force being solemnly absolved by -the Jesuits and other monks, who swarmed on the ships. Then through the -fleet in a pinnace the young general sailed, crying out words of -exhortation to his men. “Christ is your general!” “The hour for -vengeance has come!” “You are come to fight the battle of the Cross, to -conquer or to die,” and so forth. There is no space here to describe the -battle in detail. The story is a familiar one; how the Turks were swept -from the seas and their power on the Mediterranean gone for ever. There -was no resisting a force worked up to the pitch of fervour which Don -Juan had infused into his. Much of the glory must be given to the cool -and timely support afforded at a critical moment by the Marquis of Santa -Cruz, but Don Juan, exalted in fervour and enthusiasm, personified the -victory; and to him the palms of conquest were awarded. The world rang -with adulation of the young hero. The pope forgot his dignity, Titian -forgot his ninety-five years, the Christian world forgot prudence and -restraint, and talked of conquering anew the empire of Constantine, of -which Don Juan was to be the ruler. There was one man, however, who did -not move a muscle when he heard the stirring news, and that man was -Philip II. He was at vespers when the courier came, but after he read -the despatch he said no word until the sacred service was over, and then -a solemn Te Deum was sung. But when he wrote to Don Juan it was in no -uncertain words. With his views he was of course incapable of personal -jealousy, though not of suspicion, and he wrote: “Your conduct -undoubtedly was the principal cause of victory. To you, after God, I owe -it, and I joyfully recognise this. I am rejoiced that He has deigned to -reserve the boon for a man who is so dear to me, and so closely allied -in blood, thus to terminate this work, glorious to God and men.” - -The next year Pius V. died and the league was loosened. Don Juan, full -of vast projects of conquest in Tunis, Constantinople, and elsewhere, -with encouragement of Rome and the churchmen, kept his fleet together -for two years, always clamouring for money for his great projects. But -Philip had his hands full now with Alba’s second struggle in the -Netherlands, and had no wish or means for acquiring a great Eastern -empire which he could not hold, and he was already looking askance at -his brother’s ambitious dreams. The mercantile Venetians too, had -justified Philip’s distrustful forebodings and had made a submissive -peace with the Turk, who kept Cyprus, and Philip could not fight the -Turks alone. But Don Juan was not to be entirely gainsaid. In October -1573 he sailed for Tunis, which he captured, almost without resistance, -and then returned to the splendour of Naples, still full of projects for -a vast North African Christian empire, of which he hoped to obtain the -investiture from the new pope, Gregory XIII. Such ambitious dreams as -these had floated through Don Juan’s mind after he had suppressed the -Morisco rising in Andalucia; and even then prudent Ruy Gomez, whose -pupil he had been, took fright, and warned the prince’s secretary, Juan -de Soto, one of his own creatures, that these plans must be nipped in -the bud. The prince was over headstrong then, but he had got quite out -of leading strings now. - -When the king’s orders were sent to him to dismantle Tunis and make it -powerless for future harm, he disobeyed the command. He wanted Tunis as -strong as possible as his own fortress when he should be the Christian -emperor of the East. All this did not please Philip, and he simply cut -off the supply of money. Artful De Granvelle too, the Viceroy of Naples, -saw which way the tide was setting, and took very good care not to -strengthen Don Juan’s new conquest. Within a year Tunis and Goleta were -recovered by the Turk, and the 8000 Spaniards left there by Don Juan -were slaughtered. Neither Philip nor De Granvelle could or would send -any help. Better that the two fortresses should be lost for ever, as -they were, than that the king’s base brother should drag him into -endless responsibilities with his high-flown schemes. - -Don Juan, in fact, was evidently getting out of hand. Ruy Gomez had -recently died; Cardinal Espinosa had also gone, and the most influential -person with the king now was his famous secretary, Antonio Perez. He was -the legitimised son of Charles V.’s old secretary of state, and had been -brought up by Ruy Gomez in his household. Young as he was, he was -already famous for his extravagance, luxury, and arrogance, which added -to the hatred of the nobles of the Alba school against him. He was -overpoweringly vain and ambitious, but was facile, clever, and -ingratiating, and, above all, had the king’s confidence, which once -gained was not lightly withdrawn. Philip, in pursuance of his father’s -principle, liked to have about him as ministers men whom he himself had -raised from the mire, and whom he could again cast down. - -Perez aspired to succeed to Ruy Gomez, and was dismayed to lose so -promising a member of his party as Don Juan. He therefore persuaded the -king to recall Don Juan’s secretary, Soto, who was blamed for -encouraging his young master’s visions; and, to be quite on the safe -side, sent in his place as the prince’s prime adviser another pupil and -page of Ruy Gomez, also a secretary to the king--Juan de Escobedo--with -strict orders that he was to bring Don Juan down from the clouds and -again instil into him the shibboleths of the party of diplomacy, -chicanery, and peace. With such a mentor surely the young prince could -not go wrong, they thought. But Don Juan was stronger than the -secretary. Juan de Escobedo was quickly gained over to his ambitious -views, more completely than Soto had been, and was soon perfectly crazy -to make his master Emperor of the Catholic East. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - The Spanish troops in Flanders--Don Juan sent to Flanders--His - projects for invading England--Mutiny of the Spanish troops in - Flanders--The Spanish fury--Evacuation of Flanders by the Spanish - troops--Perez’s plot against Don Juan--The murder of Escobedo--Don - Juan seizes Namur--Renewal of the war--The battle of - Gemblours--Desperation of Don Juan--His death--Alexander Farnese. - - -Requesens, the Governor of the Netherlands, had died whilst his policy -of conciliation was as yet incomplete. The Catholic Flemings had been to -a great extent reconciled by promises of concessions and through their -jealousy of the Protestant Dutchmen, but the new governor had been -surrounded with insuperable difficulties from the first, legacies from -the Duke of Alba. Most of the seamen were disloyal, and the Flemish -clergy were disaffected, but withal Requesens had not been unsuccessful -amongst the peoples of the Walloon and southern states. No -blandishments, however, could win over the stubborn Dutchmen, now that -they were fighting for the faith and were supported by English and -French Protestants, as well as by the questionable German levies, who -generally turned tail at the critical moment. The Spaniards were beaten -out of their last foothold on Walcheren by the destruction of Julian -Romero’s relieving fleet, and the indomitable determination of the -citizens of Leyden overcame attack after a year of siege; but, worst of -all, the clamour of the Catholic Flemings that they should be relieved -of the presence of the mutinous, murderous, unpaid Spanish soldiery -could not be complied with, although promised, for there was no money to -pay the troops, and they would not budge without it. Philip, in despair, -at one time decided either to drown or burn all the revolting cities of -the Netherlands--burning he thought preferable, as it would seem less -cruel--but Requesens told him that his army was a mutinous mob, who -would not do either without pay. Attempts then were made to come to -terms with Orange, but without success, for, said Requesens, they are -not fighting for their heresy but for their independence. In despair at -last, Requesens died on March 5, 1576. The Spanish troops were more -mutinous than ever now, mere bandits most of them, and Philip was made -to understand clearly by his most faithful adherents in Flanders that -unless these ruffians were withdrawn, Brabant and Hainhault, Artois and -Flanders would follow Holland and Zeeland, and slip out of his grasp. - -Philip bent to the inevitable, and ordered Don Juan to go to Flanders as -governor to carry out the policy of pacification at almost any cost. He -was instructed to proceed direct to his new post, and doubtless Philip -congratulated himself upon so good an opportunity of removing without -offence his ambitious brother from the neighbourhood of the -Mediterranean. Escobedo, his mentor, was warned strictly before he left -Spain that there must be no nonsense. Peace _must_ be made with the -Flemings at all sacrifice and the Spanish troops withdrawn from the -country. Don Juan’s ambition, however, was bounded by no frontiers, and -the pope (Gregory XIII.) had sent instructions to his nuncio to urge a -new plan upon Philip, namely, that he should allow Don Juan to invade -England from Flanders, liberate and marry the captive Queen of Scots, -and rule over a Catholic kingdom of Great Britain. Philip, as was his -wont, was vaguely benevolent to a plan which did not originate with -himself, but had no intention of allowing his policy to be dictated or -forced by others. Suddenly, to his dismay, Don Juan himself, in -disobedience to orders, came to Spain instead of going direct to -Flanders, the idea being doubtless to add his influence to that of the -pope and to prevail upon Philip to adopt his new plans. The king gently -evaded his brother’s importunities and his claims to be treated as an -imperial prince, and without losing temper dispatched Don Juan as soon -as possible on his uncongenial mission. But in his secret way he was -offended at the prince’s disobedience and the attempts to force his -hand, and thenceforward kept a sharp eye and a tight rein on Don Juan -and his adviser Escobedo. False Perez in the meanwhile wormed himself -into the confidence of Don Juan, and learnt that, in despite of the -king, he intended to swoop down upon the coast of England with the -Spanish troops which were to be withdrawn from Flanders. - -But the loss of time by Don Juan’s disobedience and stay in Madrid was -fatal. Soon after Requesens’ death the Council of State, nominated by -Philip as temporary governors of Flanders, found themselves face to -face with a great crisis. The Spanish and Italian troops rebelled for -want of pay and broke into open mutiny, plundering friends and foes -without distinction. The council consisted mostly of Flemish and Walloon -Catholics, and was profoundly divided in sight of the murderous excesses -of the king’s soldiers. Brussels was held in the interests of the -council by Walloon troops, but they were surrounded by Spanish mutineers -outside. During the panic-stricken attempts of the council to bribe the -mutineers into obedience, a plot was formed by Barlemont, one of the -councillors, to admit the Spaniards into the city; but it was -discovered, and Barlemont deprived of the keys. Massacres were reported -at Alost and other towns; the excesses of the mutineers grew worse and -worse. Flemings of all sorts, Catholic and Protestant, lost patience, -and swore they would stand no more of it, but would fight for their -lives and homes. The council was forced to side with the Flemings, -except the Spanish member Rodas, who assumed alone the character of -Philip’s representative, and henceforward the Spanish army of -cut-throats, with their commanders, Sancho de Avila, Vargas, Mondragon, -and Romero, harried, burnt, and killed right and left. - -Philip was in deep distress at the news. Money should be sent; Don Juan -would soon arrive; the offended Flemings should have justice done to -them, and so forth. But the blood-lust of the mutineers could not be -slaked now with fine promises. The council’s troops were defeated again -and again, town after town was ravaged, and at last came the time when -the bands of savage soldiers effected a junction and fell upon the -richest prey of all--the city of Antwerp. On the fatal November 4, 1576, -six thousand mutinous troops, panting for blood and plunder, swooped -down from the citadel on to the town. The citizens had done their best. -Barricades had been raised, the burgesses stood to their arms, and brave -Champigny, the governor,--De Granvelle’s brother, and hitherto a staunch -friend of the Spaniards,--worked heroically. But the Walloons fled, -young Egmont was captured, the citizens, unused to arms, were no match -for the veteran infantry of Sancho de Avila, and Antwerp soon lay a -panting quarry under the claws of the spoiler. Neither age, sex, nor -faith was considered, and when the fury had partly subsided it was found -that 6000 unarmed people, at least, had been slaughtered, 6,000,000 -ducats’ worth of property stolen, and as much again burnt. The States -troops were all killed or had fled, and the only armed forces in the -country were the unbridled Spanish mutineers and the troops of Orange. -Flemings of each faith were welded together now against the wreckers of -their homes, and even those nobles who through all the evil past had -stood by Spain were at one with Orange and the Protestants of the north. - -Don Juan had posted through France in the guise of a Moorish slave to -prevent delay and discovery, but when he reached Luxembourg he was given -to understand by the States that he could only be received as Philip’s -governor now, on certain terms to be dictated to him. This was gall and -wormwood to the proud young prince. Orange knew all about the fine plans -for the invasion of England, secret though they were thought to be, and -at his instance the States insisted upon the Spanish troops being -withdrawn overland, and not by sea. During the winter of 1576 and early -spring of 1577 Don Juan was kept haggling over the terms upon which he -was to be allowed by the Flemings to assume his governorship. The -States-General were assembled at Ghent, and consulted Orange at every -turn. They said that they had bought their liberty now with their blood, -and were not going to sell it again to a new master. Passionate prayers -from Don Juan and his secretary came to Philip by every post that they -should be allowed to fight it out; imploring requests for money and arms -to beat into “these drunken wineskins of Flemings” a sense of their -duty; often wild, incoherent, half-threatening expressions of disgust -and annoyance at the uncongenial task committed to the victor of -Lepanto. He was a soldier, he said, and could not do it; the more he -gave way the more insolent the Flemings became; a woman or a child could -do the work better than he. Escobedo’s letters to Perez, which of course -were shown to the king, were more desperate still. On February 7, 1577, -he wrote: “Oh, I am ready to hang myself, if I were not hoping to hang -those who injure us so. O Master Perez! how stubborn and hateful these -devils have been in hindering our plan. Hell itself must have spewed -forth this gang to thwart us so.” Don Juan himself was just as violent -in his letters. “O Antonio!” he wrote, “how certain for my sorrow and -misfortune is the frustration of our plans, just as they were so well -thought out and arranged.” Herein, it is clear, was the grievance; and -Philip’s grim face must have darkened as he saw the deceit his brother -sought to practise upon him, and how he was to be dragged by the -ambition of a bastard into a struggle with England, at a time when his -treasury was empty, his own states of Flanders in rebellion, and his -mind bent upon far-reaching combinations, which would all be frustrated -if his hand had thus been forced. Humiliating reconciliation with the -Catholic Flemings was nothing to this; and to his brother’s wild -remonstrance and protest he had but one answer, cold and precise--peace -must be made with any sacrifice, consistent only with his continued -sovereignty. At last by pledging his own honour and credit--for he -insolently told the king that no money could be obtained on -_his_--Escobedo borrowed means sufficient to persuade the troops to -march, and the mutinous rascals who had disgraced the name of soldiers -crossed the frontier to Italy amidst the curses of all Flanders. Then -Don Juan entered Brussels at last with the frantic rejoicing of a people -who had emancipated their country by their firmness. But his own face -was lowering, and rage and disappointment were at his heart. He had been -threatening for months to come back to Spain whether the king liked it -or not, and Perez ceaselessly whispered to Philip that now that the -prince’s ambition had been thwarted in one direction, it would strike -higher in another. We now know that Perez garbled and misrepresented Don -Juan’s words, suppressed portions of his letters, and persuaded Philip -that his brother designed treachery to him in Spain. The reason for this -is obvious. Don Juan and Escobedo had definitely drifted away from the -old party of Ruy Gomez, and his return to Spain would have secured a -preponderance to the Duke of Alba, and probably caused Perez’s -downfall. The principal members of the camarilla now were Perez’s -friends, the Marquis de los Velez and Cardinal Quiroga, both of whom -where in favour of peace; but with Don Juan and Alba present they would -be overruled, especially as Zayas, the other secretary of state, was a -creature of Alba. - -When therefore Escobedo rushed over to Spain in July 1577 to arrange -about the payment of the loan he had guaranteed, Perez, after making two -unsuccessful attempts to poison him, had him stabbed one night (March -31, 1578) in the streets of Madrid. Perez asserted that the king had -authorised him to have the deed done six months before, and in this, no -doubt, he told the truth. In any case, great events followed upon this -apparently unimportant crime, as will be related in the proper place. -The Spanish troops had marched out of Flanders in the spring of 1577, -and before many weeks had passed Don Juan again found his position -intolerable. The tone of the Catholic Flemings had quite changed now. -They were loyal and cordial to him, but they let him see that they had -the whip hand, and meant to keep it. His plans had all miscarried; his -brother was cold and irresponsive and kept him without money; he was -isolated, powerless, and heartsick, and determined to end it. Margaret -de Valois, Catharine de Medici’s daughter, had gone to Hainhault on a -pretended visit to the waters of Spa, but really to sound the Catholic -Flemings about their accepting her brother Alençon for their sovereign. -Don Juan feigned the need to receive her, but he had plotted with -Barlemont to get together a force of Walloons upon whom he could depend. -They were hidden in a monastery, and after the prince had hastily -greeted Margaret, he suddenly collected his men, threw himself into the -fortress of Namur, and defied the States. Then began a fresh war, in -which Orange himself for the first time since his rebellion became the -arbiter of the Catholic Flemish States. Here was a fresh blow to Philip. -It was evident that his brother was one of those flighty, vaguely -ambitious, turbulent people, who are the worst possible instruments of -an absolute ruler. For over three months no letter reached Don Juan from -the king, whilst he chafed in Namur. “If,” he wrote to a friend, “God in -His goodness does not protect me, I do not know what I shall do, or what -will become of me. I wish to God I could, without offending my -conscience or my king, dash my brains out against a wall, or cast myself -over a precipice. They neglect me even to the extent of not answering my -letters.” In the meanwhile Orange entered Brussels in triumph, and -Catholics and Protestants made common cause for a time. But not for -long. The extreme Catholic party, under the Duke of Arschot, invited -secretly Philip’s young nephew and brother-in-law, the Archduke Mathias, -to assume the sovereignty of Flanders. The young prince--he was only -twenty, and a fool--escaped from Vienna and arrived at Brussels on -October 26, 1577. This was a blow to Don Juan in Namur, to Orange in -Brussels, and to Philip in Madrid. Philip met the danger at first by -masterly inactivity--in fact the solution might have been made not -altogether distasteful to him; Orange cleverly took the young archduke -under his wing, patronised, adopted, and disarmed him; and Don Juan -busied himself in his fortress settling with his friends outside the -recruiting of a Catholic force, whilst he was still quarrelling with the -States by letter. But by the end of October the Protestants in the -south, encouraged by the turn of affairs and the presence of Orange in -Brussels, turned upon their Catholic fellow-townsmen in Ghent, Bruges, -and elsewhere, and sought to avenge the cruelties perpetrated upon them -in the past by the Catholic Church. The Duke of Arschot and the -representatives of the Catholic States were seized and imprisoned whilst -in session at Ghent, and everywhere the Protestants and Orange seemed to -be sweeping the board. This was too much for Philip. The Archduke -Mathias as tributary sovereign under him of a Catholic Flanders, he -might have accepted, but the Prince of Orange and the Lutherans -paramount from Zeeland to the French frontier he could not stomach. So -the veteran Spanish and Italian infantry who had scourged Flanders -before, were recalled, under Alexander Farnese, the son of Margaret, who -had been the ruler of Flanders when the dissensions began, to the help -of Don Juan and to crush the Protestants. When Alexander and his troops -approached Namur, Orange and Mathias, side by side, were entering -Brussels in state. Elizabeth had insisted upon Orange being made -lieutenant-general with the real power, as a condition of her continued -aid to the States, for she was quite determined upon two points--first, -that no matter what union was effected between the States, the Catholic -party should never be paramount; and secondly, that the French should -not gain a footing there except under her patronage. She had some fear -on this latter point, for Catharine de Medici had long been intriguing -to obtain the sovereignty for her young son Alençon, who was already on -the frontier with a force of Huguenots, whilst the Guises had been -actively helping Don Juan in his recruiting of Catholics. When Parma had -arrived, and Don Juan’s new levies were ready, he marched out of Namur -on the last day of January 1578. The States troops, mostly Netherlanders -and German mercenaries, mustered 20,000 men, and Don Juan’s forces about -the same number. The prince, with Parma, led the centre of the latter -with the pope’s sacred banner floating over their heads. The same spirit -that had led him against the infidel inspired him now, and the banner -testified to it, for it bore the words under a crucifix: “Under this -emblem I vanquished the Turks; under the same will I conquer the -heretics.” And he did so, for on the plain of Gemblours the States -troops under De Goigny, with Egmont, Bossu, Champigny, La Marck, and -Arschot’s brother Havré, were routed completely, without loss on the -Spanish side. The honour of the day belongs to Alexander Farnese, who -with a dashing cavalry charge broke the enemy at a critical moment, the -only men who made any real resistance being the Scottish levies, 600 -strong, under Colonel Balfour. These were saved from the carnage by Don -Juan’s intercession, but of the rest 6000 men were killed in fight, and -the prisoners hanged to a man. - -Philip had had enough of his turbulent brother. He had promised the -envoys from the Catholic States that he should be withdrawn, and it was -privately understood when Alexander Farnese was appointed to go thither -that he should succeed the prince. But the latter for the present still -continued in command, reducing the towns of South Flanders one after the -other, and again issuing a proclamation in Philip’s name offering peace -to the States, on condition of the recognition of the Spanish -sovereignty and the predominance of the Catholic religion. The latter -condition meant the extermination of the Protestants by fire and sword, -and Orange could never accept it. - -By the pacification of Ghent, which Don Juan had in principle confirmed, -religious toleration had been secured, and the States refused to go back -from that position, and again demanded the withdrawal of the -impracticable governor. Philip was, in fact, at his wits’ end what to do -with his brother. Perez had succeeded in persuading the king that Don -Juan’s object was to raise a revolution in Spain and try to grasp the -crown. He could not, therefore, be allowed to come back freely, nor -would the States endure him longer on any terms. He himself felt the -position to be an impossible one, and his letters to his private friends -in Madrid constantly hint at suicide as the only way out of the -difficulty, for he knew now that his faithful secretary Escobedo had -been assassinated in Madrid, and anticipated a similar shameful end for -himself. War to the knife against the States was his only resource, for -he was no diplomatist, but Philip, over his head, left no stone unturned -to try to tempt Orange to abandon his cause. Orange had a restive team -to drive, what with the Catholic majority and nobles, the Protestant -Dutchmen, the extreme Puritans, like Saint Aldegonde; Elizabeth of -England, the French Huguenots, the German mercenaries, and poor Mathias, -now an acknowledged failure. Nothing but the most consummate -statesmanship would serve him, and that he employed. Philip’s -temptations and Don Juan’s storming were equally disregarded. Alençon -and the Frenchmen were invited across the frontier to replace Mathias as -sovereign, and Havré was sent to Elizabeth to assure her that, unless -she helped the States effectually with men and money, they would be -obliged to accept the Frenchmen. This they knew she would never stand. -She disarmed Catharine de Medici with fresh approaches for a marriage -with Alençon, whilst she threatened to help Philip if the French were -allowed to set foot in Flanders except under her auspices. She smiled -upon Philip’s new ambassador Mendoza, and so managed that very shortly -Alençon had to retrace his steps to France, and the States had to look -to her alone for assistance, which she doled out judiciously, and so -kept them firm against the Spaniards. All through the spring and summer -of 1578 Don Juan struggled in toils from which he had not wit enough to -free himself. Heartrending appeals to his brother for guidance, for -money to organise a sufficient force to crush the States for good and -for all, prayers to be allowed to retire, were met with cold -irresponsiveness by Philip, prompted by Perez’s slanders, for Don Juan -must be ruined or Perez himself must fall. At last his chafing spirit -wore out his body. Constant fevers beset him, and in his letters to his -friends he began to predict that his days were drawing to an end, -whatever doctors might say. By the end of September he was delirious, -and on October 1 he died of malignant fever. There were naturally -whispers of poison, even from his confessor, but the details of his -illness given by the physicians in attendance leave no doubt that he -died a natural death, although his death certainly relieved Philip of an -unendurable position, and allowed Farnese, an infinitely superior man, -to take advantage of the strong Catholic national feeling in Belgium to -separate the nobles and peoples of the south from Orange and the -Dutchmen, and so eventually to reserve Catholic Flanders to the Spanish -connection for many years to come. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - Philip’s ineffectual action against Elizabeth--The Desmond - rebellion--Philip’s conquest of Portugal--Recall of Alba and - Granvelle to Philip’s councils--Don Antonio, Prior of O - Crato--Death of Anne of Austria--Philip in Portugal--Flight of - Antonio--His reception in England and France--The Duke of - Alençon--Philip and Mary Stuart--James Stuart--Fresh proposals of - the Scottish Catholics to Philip--Philip and Granvelle’s views with - regard to England--Lennox and the Jesuits mismanage the - plot--Philip’s claim to the English crown--Expulsion of Mendoza - from England--The English exiles urge Philip to invade - England--Sixtus V.--Intrigues in Rome--The Babington plot. - - -Philip’s advisers had for many years been urging him to adopt reprisals -against Elizabeth for her treatment of him. We have seen why, on account -both of policy and necessity, he had not done so by a direct attack. His -indirect attempts at retaliation had been quite ineffectual. He had -subsidised Mary Stuart, he had found money for the northern rebellion, -he had listened to proposals for killing the Queen of England at his -cost, he had countenanced Stukeley’s wild plans for the capture of -Ireland, and he had attempted to avenge the English depredations on his -commerce by stopping English trade and persecuting English traders for -heresy. But in every case the result had been disastrous for him. -Elizabeth’s aid to the Protestants in Holland was bolder and more -effectual than ever, English sailors mocked at his attempts to stop -trade by ruining his own ports, and the Englishmen punished by the -Inquisition were avenged by increased severity against the Catholic -party in England and Ireland. But still he was constantly assured that -the only way to disarm Elizabeth against him was to “set fire to her own -doors” by arousing rebellion in Ireland and aggression of the Catholic -party in Scotland. - -Dr. Sanders had induced the pope to interest himself in favour of James -Fitzmaurice, the brother of the Earl of Desmond, and had himself -obtained the title of the pope’s nuncio. They landed in Ireland with a -small Spanish and Italian force in June 1579, but Elizabeth, through -Walsingham’s spies, was well informed of the movement, and was quite -prepared to deal with it. Philip was willing that others should weaken -his enemy so long as no responsibility was incurred by him, and -Elizabeth was not further irritated against him. When, however, -Fitzmaurice and Sanders found themselves overmatched, and appeals were -made direct to Philip to aid them by sending an armed force to Ireland, -he demurred. Fitzmaurice was ready to promise anything for aid, and the -nuncio at Madrid did his best to inflame Philip’s religious zeal. But he -could not afford to come to open war with England, and, although he -consented to subscribe 25,000 ducats out of the revenues of the -archbishopric of Toledo if the pope would subscribe a similar amount, -and promised to find arms and ammunition, he provided that the fresh -expedition should sail from Spain under the papal flag and be organised -ostensibly by the nuncio. The commanders, moreover, were to be all -Italians, and the Spanish recruits were to be enlisted privately. The -semi-concealment was quite ineffectual in hoodwinking Elizabeth, and the -ill-starred little expedition was all slaughtered at Smerwick in Dingle -Bay (November 1580), as James Fitzmaurice’s force had been previously. -John of Desmond and the Italian commanders had assured Philip only a -month before the massacre, that they would require 8000 footmen and -large stores of arms before they could effect any useful end. But this -would have meant open war with England, and for this he was not -prepared. Once more he proved that his advisers were wrong, and that he -could only curb Elizabeth with overwhelming force, which he had neither -the means nor the desire to employ at the present juncture. He continued -to urge upon his new ambassador that she must be kept in a good humour -at all costs. It was not an easy task, for she was more defiant than -ever now. She knew Philip had his hands full, and the attempted invasion -of Ireland was made the most of for years by her, as an excuse for all -she did in Flanders and elsewhere to injure him. It was an unfortunate -move for Philip, as it afforded Elizabeth a good grievance against him, -and forced him into the weak position of having to justify his action by -throwing the responsibility upon the pope. - -Philip had at this time (1579) special reasons for dreading an open -rupture with England, for he had for some time past been planning a -stroke which would, if successful, enormously increase his power for -harm at sea, in relation to both France and England. In August 1578 -Sebastian of Portugal, the only son of Philip’s sister, Juana--as much a -victim of atavism as was his cousin, Don Carlos--perished in his mad -crusade against the Moors, and his successor on the throne was the aged, -childless cardinal, King Henry. He was recognised as being only a -stop-gap, and after him the claimants were numerous, mostly descended, -although in different degrees, from the king, Don Manoel. The Duchess of -Braganza was daughter of his son Duarte, Philip was son of the elder -daughter of Don Manoel, the Duke of Savoy was a son of the younger -daughter, Beatrix, whilst the children of Alexander Farnese were the -offspring of a younger sister of the Duchess of Braganza. The most -popular pretender, however, was Don Antonio, Prior of O Crato, an -illegitimate son of Luis, a younger son of Don Manoel. - -The fundamental laws of Lamego, now believed to be apocryphal, but then -accepted as genuine, excluded foreigners from the throne, but Philip -asserted that a Spanish king was not a foreigner in Portugal, and began -his intrigues for the succession immediately after Sebastian’s death. -The Perez party had managed to get the old Duke of Alba disgraced and -sent into arrest on an absurdly inadequate charge of conniving at his -son’s marriage against the king’s wish, and De Granvelle had remained in -honourable exile from Spain for many years. But when the great task of -winning Portugal had to be undertaken, Philip knew that glib, brilliant -Perez, with his biting tongue and ready pen, was not the instrument he -wanted; so the stern soldier and the crafty statesman were recalled to -their master’s councils. It was a black day for Perez, although he -probably did not realise at the time how fatal it was to be. During the -short reign of the cardinal-king, money and intrigue were lavished on -all hands to corrupt and terrorise the Portuguese nobles to Philip’s -side; the aged king himself was finally worried into his grave by -pressure exerted upon him to approve of Philip’s claim, and when he -died, the council of regency left by him were by various means coerced -into accepting the King of Spain as their sovereign. But not so the -Portuguese people or the clergy; they clung, almost all of them, to the -Prior of O Crato, the popular native claimant, ambitious, ready, and -sanguine, for the Portuguese bitterly hated the Spaniards, and the true -native heiress, the Duchess of Braganza, was timid and unready; and -before Philip and Alba could arrive Antonio was acclaimed the national -sovereign. Around him all that was patriotic grouped itself, and for a -short time he ruled as king. Philip was moving on to Portugal with that -“leaden foot” of which he was so proud, and by the autumn of 1580 he had -reached Badajoz, on the frontier. Here he fell ill of the mysterious -disease we call influenza, which was afflicting Europe at the time. His -devoted fourth wife, Anne, who accompanied him, prayed that her life -might be taken for his. Her prayer was heard. She died (October 25) and -Philip lived, but the loss deepened his gloom, and in the two years that -he was away from Madrid his yellow beard turned nearly white, and he -came back an old and broken man. How his icy heart turned to his -children at the time may be seen by the letters he constantly wrote to -his elder girls during his absence, full of love and tenderness. -However weary and sad he might be, no courier was allowed to leave -without playful accounts of his adventures, and kindly little messages -to the three orphan children of his last wife. Soon two out of the three -followed their mother to the grave, and only three-year-old Philip was -left as his father’s heir. - -Relentlessly Alba swept down upon Lisbon, as years before he had pounced -upon the Netherlands, and crushed the life out of Portuguese patriotism. -There was no question of creed to stiffen men’s backs here, no William -of Orange to organise and lead them. The yielding Portuguese were made -of different stuff from the stubborn “beggars of the sea,” and Alba rode -roughshod over them with but little resistance. King Antonio was soon a -fugitive, hunted from town to town, holding out for a few weeks in one -fortress, only to be starved into another, proclaimed a bastard and a -rebel, with a great price upon his head; and yet he wandered for eight -months amongst the mountains, safe from betrayal by the peasants whose -native king he was. In the meanwhile Philip was solemnly accepted as -king by the Portuguese Cortes at Thomar (April 3, 1581) with all the -pomp of ancient ceremonial. He was in the deep mourning which he wore -for the rest of his life, and he tells his little girls in a letter at -the time how his heart turned away from the finery which accompanied -him. Then slowly he came to Lisbon to be crowned, whilst the defeated -Antonio fled to France and thence to England, to be a thorn in his side -for the rest of his life. - -The accession of power thus accruing to Philip was a great blow both to -England and France. Granvelle’s management of affairs had been so -masterly that all legal forms had been complied with in Portugal; the -regents and the Cortes had acknowledged Philip as king, and Elizabeth -and Catharine had no excuse for open interference, although what could -be done by private intrigue was effected. Catharine, indeed, had set up -a nebulous far-fetched claim of her own to the Portuguese crown, to -obtain some _locus standi_ in the affair, but this did not prevent her -from opening her arms to the other claimant, Don Antonio, when he -arrived in France. He came to England in July 1581, and was made much of -by the queen. In vain did Mendoza, Philip’s ambassador, demand his -surrender as a rebel. Elizabeth said that she had not yet made up her -mind to help him, though he was no rebel, but King of Portugal, but she -had quite decided not to surrender him to be killed. He was too valuable -a card in her hand for her to let him go, and she made the most of him. -Elizabeth’s and Catharine’s first retort to Philip’s assumption of the -Portuguese sovereignty was a pretence of cordial friendship for each -other, and the resumption of active negotiations for Elizabeth’s -marriage with Alençon. Orange was determined to attract once more to his -side the Flemish Catholics, whom Parma’s diplomacy had estranged from -the rebel cause. He considered that the best way to do this was to -invest Alençon--a Catholic prince--with the sovereignty of the States. -Elizabeth would not allow the French as a nation to gain a footing in -Flanders, but her plan was to make Alençon dependent upon her in hopes -of a marriage, to disarm his brother by the same means, and to secure -that any French interference with Flanders must be of Huguenots, under -her control. It suited Catharine to play the game for the purpose of -reducing Philip to extremities in Flanders, and rendering him less able -to resist attack in Portugal, whilst giving him no excuse for an open -quarrel with the French nation. All the aid, therefore, given to Don -Antonio was in the name of Catharine herself, as a claimant to the -Portuguese crown, and both in this matter and in Flemish affairs Henry -III. himself affected to stand aloof in disapproval. - -It was an artful plan, but it was not to be expected that the Guises -would stand by inactive whilst they saw their king’s only brother and -heir being drawn further into the toils of the Huguenots and the -Protestant Queen of England, and they soon delivered their counter-blow. -As Catharine’s enmity to Philip became more pronounced, the Guises had -drawn closer to him as the champion of Catholicism, of which cause they -were the representatives in France. In February 1580, accordingly, the -Archbishop of Glasgow, the Scottish ambassador in Paris, told Philip’s -ambassador there that he and Guise had prevailed upon Mary Stuart to -place her interests and influence unreservedly in Philip’s hands, and to -send her son James to Spain, to have him brought up and married there, -as the King of Spain wished. This was very important, because Philip had -always been paralysed in his action with regard to Mary by the -consideration that her accession to the throne of England would make the -Guises--Frenchmen--paramount there. But if Mary and the Guises were -henceforward to be his humble servants, the whole position was changed. -Vargas, the ambassador, so understood it. “Such,” he says, “is the -present condition of England, with signs of revolt everywhere, the -queen in alarm, the Catholic party numerous, Ireland disturbed, and -distrust aroused by your Majesty’s fleet, ... that if so much as a cat -moved, the whole fabric would crumble down in three days, beyond -repair.... If your Majesty had England and Scotland attached to you, -directly or indirectly, you might consider the States of Flanders -conquered, in which case you ... could lay down the law for the whole -world.” Guise’s detachment from French interests made all the -difference, and this marked a change of Philip’s policy towards England, -which, as will be shown, ultimately led him into the quagmire of the -Armada. Mary, unfortunately for herself, was always ready for a plot -against her enemy; and Beaton assured Vargas shortly afterwards that she -would not leave prison except as Queen of England. The Catholics were so -numerous, said Beaton, that if they rose, it would be easy, even without -assistance; but if the King of Spain helped, the result would be prompt -and undoubted. Almost simultaneously with this Morton fell, and the -Catholic party in Scotland gained the upper hand. - -James’s cousin, D’Aubigny, Lennox, was now paramount in Scotland, and -with his connivance the country had been flooded by Jesuit missionaries -from seminaries largely depending upon Philip’s bounty. The priests had -gone with the single-hearted desire to re-convert Scotland to the faith, -and innocent of political aims at first; but the Jesuit organisation, -which in its earlier years had met with much opposition from the Spanish -clergy, and especially the Inquisition, had now been assimilated with -Philip’s policy, and doubtless its leaders foresaw the political uses -to which the propaganda might be turned, as certainly did Mary Stuart -and Mendoza, Philip’s ambassador in London, who were prime movers in it. -Philip was willing enough to accept the tempting offer of Mary and -Guise, especially when it reached him soon after in a more direct way by -the despatch of Fernihurst by D’Aubigny to Madrid. The death of Vargas, -the Spanish ambassador in Paris, shelved the matter for a time, but in -April 1581 Mary Stuart reopened negotiations with the new ambassador, -Tassis. She assured him, for Philip’s information, that things were -never more favourably disposed for Scotland to be taken in hand, with a -view to dealing with England subsequently. She begged that a formal -alliance should be signed between Scotland and Spain, and that a Spanish -force should then be sent to Ireland, to be ready for the invasion of -Scotland when summoned. Her son, she said, was determined to return to -the Catholic faith, and she intended that he should be sent to Spain for -that purpose, and for his marriage to Philip’s satisfaction. - -Philip, however, wished to be quite sure that James was sincere in his -religious professions before helping him to the English succession. He -knew that the King of Scots, young as he was, had already established -his fame as a master of deceit. He, James, had told the Jesuit fathers -who were labouring in Scotland that “though for certain reasons it was -advisable for him to appear publicly in favour of the French, he in his -heart would rather be Spanish”; but he knew Father Persons and his -companions were sustained by Spanish money, and that his expressions -would eventually reach Philip. But, to his mother’s despair, he would -never pledge himself too firmly. In January 1582 Mary herself was -somewhat doubtful of her son’s religious sincerity. “The poor child,” -she said, “is so surrounded by heretics that she had only been able to -obtain the assurance that he would listen to the priests she sent him.” -For her own part, she was determined that in future she would bind -herself and her son exclusively to Philip, and to none other. - -James blew hot and cold, and the Catholic nobles began to recognise that -he was too slippery to be depended upon; so they came to a very -momentous conclusion. They sent Father Holt to London to convey a -message to a person to whom he was to be introduced by a disguised -priest. To Holt’s surprise and alarm, the person was Mendoza, the -Spanish ambassador, for he, like most of the missionaries, had up to -that time no idea that a political object underlay their propaganda. His -message was to the effect that if James remained obstinate, the Catholic -nobles had decided to depose him, and either convey him abroad or hold -him prisoner until Mary arrived in Scotland. They besought the guidance -of Philip in the matter, and begged that 2000 foreign troops might be -sent to them to carry out their design. The message was conveyed to Mary -in a softened form, in order not to arouse her maternal solicitude, and -Mendoza begged Philip to send the troops, “with whom the Scots might -encounter Elizabeth, and the whole of the English north country, where -the Catholics are in a majority, would be disturbed. The opportunity -would be taken by the Catholics in the other parts of the country to -rise when they knew they had on their side a more powerful prince than -the King of Scotland.” - -Philip was on the Portuguese frontier at the time, and De Granvelle was -the principal minister in Madrid. He warmly seconded Mendoza’s -recommendations that troops should be sent to the Scots Catholics. “The -affair is so important,” he says, “both for the sake of religion and to -bridle England, that no other can equal it, because by keeping the Queen -of England busy we shall be ensured against her helping Alençon or -daring to obstruct us in any other way.” The Scots nobles were anxious -that the foreign force should not be large enough to threaten their -liberties, and De Granvelle agreed with this. “This is not what his -Majesty wants, nor do I approve of it, but that we should loyally help -the King of Scots and his mother to maintain their rights, and by -promoting armed disturbance, keep the Queen of England and the French -busy at a comparatively small cost to ourselves, and so enable us to -settle our own affairs better.... It is very advantageous that the -matter should be taken in hand by the Duke of Guise, as it will ensure -us against French obstruction. Since we cannot hope to hold the island -for ourselves. Guise will not try to hand it over to the King of France -to the detriment of his own near kinswoman.” Thus far it is evident that -there was no thought in Philip’s councils of invading and absorbing -England in his own dominions. - -It will be noted that these new proposals of the Scots Catholics had not -been made through Tassis and Guise in Paris, as the previous approaches -had been, but through Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador in London, who -had been very active in the matter of the religious propaganda, and who -had entirely gained Mary’s confidence. So long as the negotiations were -kept in their hands, all was conducted wisely and prudently, and -doubtless some such arrangement as that suggested would have resulted. -But the folly of Lennox and the political ineptitude of the Jesuit -missionaries frustrated the whole design. In March 1582 the former wrote -a foolish letter to Tassis, which he sent to Paris by Creighton, laying -bare the whole plan and giving his adhesion to it, but making all manner -of inflated demands. Creighton, he said, had promised him 15,000 foreign -troops, of which he was to have the command; and he asked for a vast sum -of money, and a personal guarantee against loss of fortune. Creighton -also sent to Guise and brought him into the business, and Jesuit -emissaries were appointed to go direct to Rome and Madrid to ask for -aid. Mary and Mendoza were furious, particularly the former, that she -should be endangered by her name being used as the head of the -conspiracy. Creighton had no authority whatever to promise 15,000 men, -nor would the Scottish nobles have accepted such a number, and the idea -that Lennox should command them was absurd. Philip took fright at the -large number of persons who were now privy to the affair, and gave -orders that nothing further was to be done. Guise, ambitious and -officious, as usual, also wanted to take a prominent share in the -direction of the enterprise. He began to make large and vague proposals -for a strong mixed force to be sent from Italy under the papal flag, -whilst he and his Frenchmen made a descent upon the coast of Sussex, his -evident object being to prevent a purely Spanish expedition being sent. -Granvelle and Philip very soon saw whither the affair was drifting, and -nipped it in the bud. They had only been induced to listen to it on the -assumption that the Guises where to work exclusively for Spanish -interests. The moment the contrary appeared, the proposal lost its -attractions for them. It is true that at this time Philip had no -intention of conquering England for himself, but Mary and James must owe -their crown to him alone, and be forced to restore the close alliance -between England and the House of Burgundy, or the change would be -useless to him. Too much French or Italian aid or Guisan influence -spoilt the business for his purpose. But there was still another reason. -He had a large number of English Catholic refugees living on pensions -from him in France, Flanders, and Spain; and they and Sir Francis -Englefield, his English secretary, ceaselessly represented to him their -national dislike and distrust of the French, their secular enemies, and -their jealousy of any plan that should make the Frenchified Scots -masters of England. Almost with one accord the English Catholics urged -this view upon Philip and the Spaniards. All England, they said, would -welcome a Catholic restoration if it came from their old friends, the -Spaniards, but the attempt would fail if it were made under the auspices -of their old enemies, the French. Philip’s policy thenceforward -gradually changed. With the Raid of Ruthven and the fall of Lennox he -saw that for the time the Protestants had conquered, and the plans of -the Scottish Catholics were at an end. Guise was to be flattered and -conciliated, but all Philip’s efforts in future were to confine his -attentions to France, and to alienate him from English and Scottish -affairs. He was told how dangerous it would be for him to leave France -with the Huguenots in possession, and Spanish support was lavishly -promised to him for his ambitious plans at home. - -Guise was flattered but dissatisfied, and sent emissaries to Scotland -and the pope to endeavour to keep alive the plan of landing foreign -troops in Scotland. James pretended to be strongly favourable, but -Philip purposely threw cold water on the plans whilst appearing to -entertain them, to prevent anything being done without his knowledge. In -May 1583 Guise had a new design. Philip and the pope were to find -100,000 crowns, and Guise would have Elizabeth murdered, whilst he -landed in England and raised the country. Father Allen and the English -exiles frowned upon such “chatter and buckler-play,” as they called it. -They would not have any Scotch control over England, they declared, but -would rather the affair were carried through by Spaniards. - -They had a plan of their own. A Spanish force was to be landed in -Yorkshire, accompanied by Westmoreland, Dacre, and other nobles, with -Allen as papal nuncio. Guise heard of this, and wished to co-operate by -landing 5000 men in the south of England at the same time. He sent word -of it to James, who professed to be favourable; he sent Charles Paget in -disguise to England to arrange a place for his landing; he despatched an -envoy to the pope to ask for money and to explain the whole plan. When -Philip learned all this he was naturally angry, and it is clear, from -the notes he has scrawled upon the papers sent to him, that he was -determined that in future Guise should have nothing more to do with his -English and Scottish policy. What opened Philip’s eyes more than -anything else was Guise’s pledge to the English Catholics that his one -object was to restore religion in England and place Mary Stuart on the -throne; “and when this is effected, the foreigners will immediately -retire. If any one attempts to frustrate this intention, Guise promises -that he and his forces will join the English to compel the foreigners to -withdraw.” Well might Philip scatter notes of exclamation around this -passage, for thenceforward he knew that in English affairs Guise was his -rival, and that Allen and the English Catholics were wise in insisting -that England must be taken in hand directly by Spain, and not through -Scotland and the Guises. The Marquis of Santa Cruz, Philip’s great -admiral, had just scattered the fleet that Catharine de Medici had aided -Don Antonio to fit out to hold the Azores; and in the flush of victory -he wrote, in August 1583, begging his master to let him conquer England -in the name of God and Spain. Philip was not quite ready for this yet, -but the idea was germinating, for the English exiles were for ever -pointing out that this was the only course, and that his own descent -from Edward III. Plantagenet gave him a good claim to the crown after -Mary Stuart, her son being excluded by his heresy. - -At last, in 1583, Philip instructed his ambassador in Paris to hint -discreetly at his claims to the English crown. If he was to keep in -close alliance with England, which was necessary for him, it is -difficult to see what other course he could have taken. James was out of -the question now as a successor to his mother, and Elizabeth’s action in -allowing her suitor Alençon to cross over from England to Flanders, and -under her auspices receive the investiture of the sovereignty of -Philip’s patrimonial domain, proved finally that reconciliation with her -personally was impossible. Mendoza, Philip’s ambassador in England, had -been implicated in Throgmorton’s plot, and was ignominiously expelled -from the country. Thenceforward for twenty years all direct diplomatic -relations between the two countries ceased, and a state of war -practically existed. Slowly the idea of the invasion of England grew -under the influence of the English exiles, but the Scottish Catholics, -the Guises, and the papacy were unwearied in their attempts to alter the -plan. James himself, seeing how matters were drifting, again feigned a -desire to become a Catholic, and sent fervent protestations to Philip -and the pope, whilst Guise continued to urge his plan for a landing in -Scotland and an invasion of England over the Border under James. The -English exiles declared that, if such a course were taken the English -Catholics themselves would resist the invasion, as they were determined -the Scots should not rule their country. At last Philip had seriously to -warn the pope that, if the English affair was to be effected, it must be -done by Spain in a very powerful way, and with large money aid from the -pope, Guise being told from Rome that he must not leave France, where he -might serve the Catholic cause better than elsewhere. To aid in this -Philip took care to promote religious disturbance in France, which would -paralyse Henry III. and the Huguenots from helping Elizabeth, and Guise -from promoting the interests of his kinsman James. - -Sixtus V. was elected pope as the result of a secret intrigue, after the -nominees of Philip and the French had both been set aside. He was -therefore not a humble instrument of the Spanish policy, and was a wise, -frugal, and moderate pontiff, ambitious to signalise his reign by some -great religious service, but not desirous of serving Philip’s political -ends. The College of Cardinals was divided into three parties: those who -were strongly in favour of the French view, which aimed at an -arrangement with Elizabeth and James, and desired to exclude Spanish -influence from England; those who were for Philip through thick and -thin; and the “politicals,” who went with the stronger party. - -Olivares, the ambassador, and the Spanish cardinals were bold and -untiring in forwarding Philip’s wishes; but the pope was to be carefully -kept in the dark with regard to his intention to claim the English crown -for himself. The cause of religion was invoked as being his only motive, -inconvenient points were left indefinite, with the certainty that -Caraffa, the secretary of state, would take a pro-Spanish view when the -time came. It was to be hinted to the pope that Philip could not -undertake the invasion to benefit the heretic James, and that the cause -of religion demanded that a sovereign whose orthodoxy was undoubted -should be substituted for him as Mary’s successor; but, if the pope -asked questions as to who was indicated, only vague answers were to be -given to him. At last, partly by cajolery, partly by threats, Olivares -contrived to obtain a written pledge that the pope would give the -investment of the English realm to the person to be nominated by Philip, -and would subscribe 1,000,000 gold crowns to the enterprise, the first -instalment of which was only to be paid after the landing on English -soil. Sixtus was only brought to this after infinite haggling and -misgiving, for Olivares represents him in most insulting and -undiplomatic language to Philip, as a silly, miserly, petulant, -garrulous old man, which probably meant that the pontiff did not meekly -accept the orders of the arrogant minister, at all events without some -slight hesitation. Philip was told that the pope did not dream that the -crown of England would be claimed by him, but that when he learned the -truth he would certainly oppose it. To this the invariable reply was -that he must be shown how necessary it was for a good Catholic to be -chosen to succeed Mary, and, if he mentioned the name of any particular -person, he was to be reminded that he had agreed to abide by Philip’s -nomination. - -In the meanwhile Allen and the English pensioners continued to propagate -the idea of Philip’s own right by birth to succeed Mary owing to the -heresy of James, and this view was forced upon Mary herself by Mendoza -and her confidants in Paris, who were all in Philip’s pay. At length she -was convinced, and in June 1586 she wrote to Mendoza in Paris, giving -the important news that by her will she had disinherited her son in -favour of the King of Spain. - -Just previous to this, Ballard had called upon Mendoza in Paris, and -said he had been sent by certain Catholic gentlemen in England to say -that they had arranged to kill Elizabeth, either by poison or steel, and -they begged for Philip’s countenance and reward after the deed was done. -This was the first word of the Babington plot, and after the reception -of Mary’s important letter by Mendoza, Gifford arrived in Paris, and -gave full particulars of the widespread conspiracy for Philip’s -information. By this time too many people were concerned in the affair -to please Philip’s stealthy methods. Mendoza’s zeal had already outrun -his discretion; he had written a letter to the conspirators hotly -approving the design as one “worthy of the ancient valour of -Englishmen,” and promising them ample support from the Netherlands when -the deed was done. He proposed, further, that they should kill Don -Antonio and his adherents, Cecil, Walsingham, Hunsdon, Knollys, and -Beal. Philip was not squeamish, but even he disapproved of the proposal -to murder Cecil, who, he said, was “very old and had done no harm.” His -approval of the rest of the plan is very characteristic of him. “The -affair is so much in God’s service that it certainly deserves to be -supported, and we must hope that our Lord will prosper it, unless our -sins be an impediment thereto.” He for his part will do all that is -asked of him “as soon as the principal execution is effected. Above all, -_that_ should be done swiftly.” But he blamed Mendoza for his incautious -letters, and expressed fears that they might be betrayed. He himself was -so careful of secrecy that he even kept the matter from Farnese. He sent -two letters for him to Mendoza, the first simply instructing him to -prepare the forces, and the other only to be delivered after the queen’s -murder, giving him final instructions as to their destination. This was -in September 1586, and before Mendoza received the letters Walsingham’s -heavy hand had fallen on the conspirators. It was all confessed, the -letters had been intercepted, the great conspiracy was unmasked, and -Mary Stuart’s doom was sealed, whilst Mendoza’s proved complicity still -further embittered Elizabeth against Philip. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - The Infanta to be Queen of England--Approaches of the Scottish - Catholic lords to Philip--Execution of Mary Stuart--Intrigues for - the English succession--Drake’s expedition to Cadiz--The peace - negotiations with Farnese--Preparations for the Armada--Sailing of - the Armada from Lisbon--Its return to Vigo--Medina Sidonia advises - its abandonment--Its strength--Engagements with the English--Panic - at Calais--Final defeat--Causes of the disaster--Philip’s reception - of the news. - - -The principle of a direct Spanish invasion of England had now been -adopted by Philip as the only means of getting rid of Elizabeth, and -again uniting the country to him in a close alliance. He clearly foresaw -that the absorption of Great Britain into his own dominions would be -resisted to the last by France, the pope, and most of the Italian -princes, as well as by Protestants everywhere, and that the opposition -would be too strong for him to overcome. He therefore decided to -nominate as sovereign his favourite elder daughter, Isabel Clara -Eugenia, whose mother, it will be recollected, was a French princess, -and a daughter of Catharine de Medici. He probably thought by this -nomination to minimise the opposition of France, and that the pope would -be conciliated. - -The Scottish Catholics and Guise, however, did not relish the changed -position. They were being thrust further and further into the -background, and they accordingly made a determined attempt once again to -place themselves in the forefront. Guise saw that the influence of the -Scottish-French party in the Vatican and near Philip was powerless to -overcome that of the Jesuits, Allen and the English exiles, supplemented -by Philip’s own interests, and he therefore intrigued for the pressure -to be brought to bear from Scotland itself upon Philip. He arranged for -Huntly, Morton, and Claude Hamilton to send an emissary, Robert Bruce, -under his (Guise’s) auspices to Philip, offering him, if they where -supported, to restore the Catholic religion in Scotland, to compel James -to become a Catholic, and to release Mary, and, above all, “to deliver -into his Majesty’s hands at once, or when his Majesty thinks fit, one or -two good ports in Scotland near the English border to be used against -the Queen of England.” They asked for 6000 foreign troops paid for a -year and 150,000 crowns to equip their own clansmen. - -There had been great difference of opinion in Philip’s councils as to -the advisability of invading England through Scotland or direct. It was -conceded that the former would be more convenient, but that for the -reasons already stated it would be unpopular with the English Catholics. -But Santa Cruz and all of Philip’s most experienced advisers had -continued to urge upon him the need of having some ports of refuge in -the Channel or the North Sea; and the offer of the Scottish nobles -seemed to provide this, as well as furnishing a diversion in the north, -which would greatly harass Elizabeth. Bruce arrived in Madrid in -September 1586, and met with kindly but vague encouragement from Philip, -who suggested that Bruce should go to Rome and ask the pope for the -money, which he knew to be impracticable. In fact, the plans of the -Armada were now matured and in full preparation, and although the offer -of the Scottish lords was tempting, Philip was determined that Guise -should have no share in his enterprise. Farnese and Mendoza were -requested to report upon the proposal, with a view of obtaining, if -possible, the advantages offered by the Scots without Guise’s -interference. Mendoza was strongly favourable; Farnese was cool and -doubtful. He resented Philip’s half confidence in him, and perhaps also -the complete ignoring of his children’s claim to the English crown, -which was at least as good as Philip’s. He declined to give an opinion -until he knew what were Philip’s real intentions in the invasion. - -Mendoza was strongly in favour of immediately closing with the Scottish -offer. He pointed out that to attack England by sea was to strike her in -her strongest place, whilst a disaster to the Armada, in which all the -national resources had been pledged, would bring irretrievable ruin. But -Philip and Farnese were slow, and wanted all sorts of guarantees and -assurances, which kept Bruce in Flanders and France for months, whilst -his principals, sick of vague half-promises, lost heart, and talked of -going over to the Protestant side, on a pledge that their religion -should be tolerated. Then Bruce was sent back with 10,000 crowns to -freight a number of small boats at Leith and send them to Dunkirk for -Parma’s troops; and the 150,000 crowns demanded by the Scottish lords -were promised when they rose. This was kept from Guise, but he knew all -about it from his spies in Scotland, and was intensely wroth. Catharine -de Medici also learnt of the matter, and thought it a good opportunity -of ridding herself of Guise and checkmating Philip at the same time. She -therefore offered Guise a large subsidy if he would go and help his -kinsman James to the crown. He thought wiser, however, to divulge the -Spanish plot to James himself. Elizabeth also informed James, so that -when Bruce arrived in Scotland the artful young king was forewarned, and -was only vaguely courteous in his reception of the hints that the -Spaniard would help him to avenge his mother. He was indeed now -surrounded by Protestant ministers, and fully understood that he had -more to hope for from Elizabeth than from Philip, a view indeed which -Elizabeth and her party lost no opportunity of impressing upon him. - -In the meanwhile the execution of Mary Stuart had somewhat altered -Philip’s position in relation to England. It became now necessary that -the question of his title to the crown should be settled at once, and -the pope was cautiously approached with the suggestion that he should -give the investiture to the Infanta Isabel. Allen was employed to assure -his Holiness of the desire of the English Catholics that she should be -their sovereign, and to ply him with genealogical essays and pedigrees -proving her right. Cardinal Deza too, the savage bigot who had so -fiercely harried the Moriscos in Andalucia, was prompted to inflame the -pope’s zeal by showing him that only under Philip’s auspices could -Catholicism be firmly established in England. In the meanwhile the -Scottish party, led by Chisholm, Bishop of Dunblane, with the English -Pagets and others, were full of plans for converting James. One -persuasive churchman after another was sent to tackle him, but the wily -Stuart was not to be caught, and it came to nothing. Philip expressed -and showed the deepest grief for the death of Mary Stuart, and fulfilled -her dying wishes most scrupulously, at great cost to himself. There is -no reason to doubt the sincerity of his sorrow, especially as her death -added considerably to the immediate difficulties he had to overcome. -Whilst the intrigues continued in Rome--on Philip’s side to obtain -further aid from the pope, to secure the appointment of Allen as -cardinal, and the recognition of the Infanta as Queen of England, and on -the other side to secure the pontiff’s support of the Franco-Scottish -plans for James Stuart’s conversion, or even an arrangement with -Elizabeth--through all the year 1587 the ports and arsenals of Spain and -Portugal were busy with the preparations for the great expedition. Don -Antonio was in England now, clamouring for armed aid against his enemy, -his every action watched by Philip’s spies; and from them news reached -Spain that a considerable force was being fitted out under Drake in -England in Antonio’s interests again to attack the Azores, or to plunder -the treasure ships from the Indies. But suddenly the dreaded Drake with -his fleet appeared off Cadiz on April 18.[2] Elizabeth had only with -great unwillingness allowed him to sail for Spain, and had warned him -not to do too much harm, but to watch what was being done. As usual, as -soon as he was out of sight of England he took his own course, placed -his vice-admiral, Borough, under arrest for reminding him not to exceed -the queen’s orders, and entered Cadiz harbour, to the dismay of the -Spaniards. He plundered, burned, and sunk all the ships in the port, and -destroyed all the stores he could lay hands upon, and then quietly -sailed out again unmolested. He did damage to the extent of a million -ducats, and if he had disobeyed the queen’s orders still further, he -might have stopped the Armada for good, by burning the ships in Lisbon, -for we now know from Santa Cruz’s own confession that there were no men -or guns on board to protect them. But he no doubt thought he had done -enough, for he knew that his mistress was now engaged in peace -negotiations with Farnese on account of Philip.[3] The English -commissioners, the traitor Crofts, controller of the household, amongst -them, after endless bickering and delay, arranged a place of meeting -agreeable to both parties, and every effort to drag matters out was made -by Farnese, in order to give Philip more time for preparations, whilst -the English were to be lulled by false hopes of peace. How far Elizabeth -herself was deceived in these negotiations is uncertain, but the -commissioners, and the experienced Dr. Dale with them, were not very -long before they came to the conclusion that they were insincere. The -most extraordinary element in the case is that Farnese was at first -ignorant of Philip’s real intention, and wrote strongly urging the king -to let him make peace in earnest and abandon his plans for the invasion -of England. From first to last, indeed, Farnese had no heart or belief -in the enterprise. He foresaw all the difficulties which ultimately -befell it and more, and, although he vehemently justified himself for -his share in the catastrophe, his contemporaries were firm in the belief -that he purposely failed to do his best. It is certain, from frequent -complaints in his letters, that he considered himself aggrieved, and -resented the cool half-confidence with which his uncle treated him. “How -can I,” he says, “give sound advice or make fitting arrangements unless -I am informed of the real objects in view?” - -In the early spring of 1586 Santa Cruz had furnished a complete estimate -of all that would be required for the Armada--a perfect monument of -knowledge and foresight. There were to be 150 great ships, 320 smaller -vessels of from 50 to 80 tons each, 40 galleys and 6 galleasses, 556 in -all, besides 240 flat boats and pinnaces. There were to be 30,000 seamen -and 63,890 soldiers, with 1600 horses; and the extra expenditure was -calculated at 3,800,000 ducats. But to concentrate so powerful a force -as this in Spain itself was too great a task for Philip’s haste, and he -took the first fatal step by arranging that one-half was to be raised by -Farnese in Flanders, for now Philip, like most slow men when they have -once made up their minds, was in a desperate hurry. For thirty years he -had driven his most faithful servants to despair by his stolid -impassibility to English insult and aggression. He had seen his colonies -sacked, his commerce destroyed by English privateers; he had been robbed -of treasure beyond calculation, and suffered every imaginable insult -from a queen whom he could have crushed a dozen times over in the -earlier years of her reign. Leicester, who had fawned upon him, and had -sworn eternal fealty to him, had commanded an army against him in his -own territory; and the English privy councillors, who for years had -battened on his bribes, had connived at the placing on the brows of a -foreigner one of his own ancestral crowns. He had stood all this without -revolt, in the face of his councillors, but, when at last he had lifted -his ponderous “leaden foot,” he must needs do things in haste. Santa -Cruz, old sailor as he was, could ill brook divided command with Parma, -knowing that he must in the end take second place, and he became -discontented and jealous at the alterations of his plans. He urged--as -did every one else--that some safe ports of refuge must first be secured -in the North Sea; but Philip was in a hurry, and trusted to happy -chance. In September 1587 Santa Cruz received his instructions. He was -to go direct to Margate and protect the passage of Parma’s troops -across, and he was on no account to allow himself to be diverted from -this course until he had joined hands with Parma. In vain the old sailor -represented the danger of adopting this plan until they could be sure of -harbours of refuge in case of need. The king still hoped to beguile the -English with thoughts of peace, and answered with harsh hauteur Santa -Cruz’s assurance that hurry meant failure. The old hero, who would have -stood unmoved before an army, incontinently went home and died of a -broken heart (February 1588). Philip so rarely said a hasty word, that -when he did so, the effect was terrible. - -The commanders and nobles on the Armada were jealous and quarrelsome, -already chafing at the delay and appalling mismanagement which resulted -from Philip’s insistence that all details must go through him. The only -man whose rank and power would ensure respect from all of them was the -most splendid noble in Spain, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, who was under -orders to take the Andalucian squadron from Cadiz to Lisbon; and him -Philip appointed to the command. He protested plaintively, and truly, -that he was entirely unfit for the task. He had no experience or -knowledge of the sea, he was always sea-sick, and had no mental capacity -which fitted him to a great command. Philip probably knew this as well -as the duke, or even the duchess, who was very emphatic on the subject; -but it suited him, he thought, to have such a man, because he would be -certain to obey the king’s orders strictly, and Philip was anxious, as -usual, to control the whole expedition with unerring precision from his -cell in the Escorial, hundreds of miles away. When the duke arrived in -Lisbon he found everything in utter confusion. Arms, ammunition, stores, -and men were short. Orders given had not been fulfilled, and many weeks -passed before Medina Sidonia could report that all was ready, -notwithstanding the king’s urgent requests that not a day should be -lost. The most trifling matters were considered and decided by the king -himself in Madrid. Nothing could be done without him. The stronger sorts -of wine must be mixed with a certain quantity of water; the men on the -fleet must be confessed and take the communion before sailing, and must -not use bad language; no private berths or bunks must be erected on the -ships, and scores of similar orders were sent from Madrid solemnly -signed by the king, whilst the duke was praying for men, money, and -stores, and the victuallers, with the connivance of the pursers, were -shipping rotten food, fraudulent both in quantity and quality. At length -in April the preparations had sufficiently advanced for Philip to send -his final instructions to the duke. He is reminded that he is going on a -holy errand in God’s service, and divine aid may therefore be counted -upon. He is to go direct to Margate and then join hands with the Duke of -Parma and protect his passage across, and is not to be diverted from -this even if he hears that Drake has come to Spain. If possible, he was -to send to Parma the promised contingent of 6000 soldiers; and, if by -any mishap he could not join hands with him, he was to capture the Isle -of Wight, and then communicate with Parma, who, in union with him, would -settle the next step. With this instruction a very important closed -despatch was sent, to be delivered to Parma only after he had landed in -England. - -This despatch is of the greatest possible interest as fixing definitely -what where Philip’s ultimate aims in the invasion, and the irreducible -minimum with which he would have been satisfied. If Parma found that -conquest was not easy, and considered it advisable to make peace, there -were three points upon which he was to base his negotiations. First, -that free exercise of the Catholic religion should be allowed; secondly, -that the fortresses occupied by the English in the Netherlands should -be restored to him; and, thirdly, that the damage done to Spain and -Spanish subjects should be made good. The third condition was to be used -mainly as a lever to obtain the other two; but the first condition, -namely, religious toleration, was to be the main object, and with this, -as a last resource, Philip would have been contented. - -On April 25 the sacred standard was delivered to Medina Sidonia with -great pomp in Lisbon. Rogations, prayers, fastings, and propitiatory -masses were performed ceaselessly, not only on board the Armada, but all -over Spain. In the most solemn manner the soldiers and sailors were -inflamed with the idea that they were God’s own chosen warriors, going -under His divine protection to restore the faith to millions of English -people, who were yearning for their coming--to millions held in -subjection by a wicked queen and a few heretics. The weather was -bad--like December, said the duke,--and it was May 30 before the great -fleet could be got out of the Tagus. Head winds and heavy weather kept -them off the coast--some of the ships drifting as far down as Cape St. -Vincent--for a fortnight. By that time the victuals on board were going -bad and running short. Many had to be thrown overboard, and sickness -began to prevail, mainly in consequence of overcrowding and putrid food -and water. By June 14, when the duke was off Finisterre, it became -evident that if the expedition was to continue, fresh provisions would -have to be obtained, and despatch boats were sent to the ports begging -that supplies might be sent to them. Before they could reach the -fleet--June 19--a heavy gale came on, and the duke’s flagship, with -forty other vessels, ran for refuge into Corunna. During the night it -blew a hurricane, and the rest of the ships, scattered as they were and -unable to bear up to windward, were driven far apart and in great peril. -Some of them ran into various Biscay and Galician ports, others were -driven as far north as the Scilly Isles and the English coast, many were -badly damaged, and for days the fate of the majority of them was -uncertain. The duke lost what little heart he had for the expedition, -and seriously advised the king to abandon it. It had been proved now -that the water was putrid and insufficient, the food rotten, except the -rice, and that fraud of the most shameful description had been practised -by the victuallers. The officers, said the duke, did not know their -duty; the whole force was disorganised and too weak to undertake the -task in hand. This was a counsel of despair, and Philip’s only answer -was that not a moment was to be lost in revictualling and refitting the -fleet and proceeding on the voyage. The rough old sea-dogs on the -fleet--Bertondona, Recalde, and Oquendo--were scornful at the timid fine -gentlemen who surrounded them and trembled at the perils of the sea. -They had been breasting the gales of the North Atlantic since they were -boys, and could not understand the doubts and fears which assailed the -crowds of silken-clad landsmen who swarmed on board and got in the way -of the sailormen. The king had appointed a council of officers to advise -the duke. Don Pedro de Valdes was for sailing at once, before even -waiting for the scattered ships to come in. This annoyed the duke, who -was all for delay, and Don Pedro himself ascribed to this feeling his -subsequent abandonment and capture by the English. The king continued to -urge Medina Sidonia to activity, sometimes almost chidingly, and at -last, tired of the obviously wilful delay, he gave peremptory orders -that the Armada was to sail at once. The men were once more confessed -and absolved, and finally on July 22 (N.S.), 1588, the great fleet left -Corunna harbour, not without grave misgivings of the timid duke, which -were openly scoffed at by the sailors. The whole fleet consisted of 131 -sail, with 7050 sailors, 17,000 soldiers, and 1300 officers, -gentlemen-adventurers, priests, and servants. The four galleys soon -found themselves unable to live through the Biscay seas and abandoned -the Armada, taking refuge in various French and Spanish ports. The rest -of the fleet first sighted the Lizard at four o’clock in the afternoon -of Friday, July 30 (N.S.). The moment land was discovered the blessed -flag with the crucifix, the Virgin, and the Magdalen was hoisted, and -signals fired that every man on board the fleet should join in prayer. -Then a council was called, and for the first time the admirals were -informed of the king’s orders. They were dismayed to find that they were -to sail up the Channel to the Straits of Dover, leaving Plymouth, and -perhaps the English fleet, behind them untouched. Recalde warned the -duke against ruining the king’s cause by a too slavish obedience to his -orders, and almost violently urged him to attack and take Plymouth -before going further. The duke replied that “the king had ordered him -strictly to join hands with Parma before anything else, and he had no -discretion in the matter; nor was he so vain as to suppose that the -king would allow him to violate his commands on this, his first -expedition.” The commanders, however, sufficiently worked on the duke’s -fears to prevail upon him to write to the king that night, saying that -as he had not received any reply from Parma to all his despatches, he -purposed to remain off the Isle of Wight until he heard whether the -Flemish forces were quite ready, because, as they had no ports of refuge -in the Channel, he could not wait for Parma off the shoally Flemish -coast. - -The first panic in England had been succeeded by feverish activity; all -that could inflame patriotic zeal was done. The Spaniards, it was said, -were bringing cargoes of scourges and instruments of torture, all adults -were to be put to death, and 7000 wet-nurses were coming in the Armada -to suckle the orphan infants. Such nonsense as this was firmly believed, -and the echoes of it have not even yet entirely died out. Corporations -and individuals vied with each other in providing means for defence; but -withal the land forces, assembled in two _corps d’armée_, one on each -side of the Thames, were but hasty levies, half drilled and armed, and -commanded by the incompetent Leicester. The queen was personally -popular, but if Parma had landed and she had fallen, it is probable that -there would have been no great resistance on the part of the people at -large to the adoption of the Catholic religion. They had changed too -often to care very much about it, if they were allowed to go about their -business without molestation and had a firm, peaceful government. Parma -had from the first insisted that his force was purely for land warfare, -and his boats were merely flat-bottom barges for the transport of his -men. He had been kept terribly short of money, and had borrowed the last -ducat he could get at most usurious interest. His army, moreover, was -small for the work it had to do, and he continued to insist that he must -have the 6000 Spanish soldiers from the Armada which had been promised -him. The English fleets consisted of 197 sail in all, with, at most, -18,000 men on board. Most of these ships--as also was the case with the -Spaniards--were small cargo boats, lightly armed, and quite unfit for -severe fighting. The largest Spanish ship, the _Regazona_, was 1249 tons -burden, and the largest English ship, the _Triumph_, 1100 tons, but, -generally speaking, the Spanish fighting ships were much larger, as they -certainly were of much higher build than the English, the tactics of the -latter always being to fire low into the hulls of their opponents and -avoid grappling and boarding, which they could do, as their lines were -finer and the vessels much more handy. - -The Armada sailed up Channel in a curved line seven miles in extent, -with a light west wind, and at dawn on Sunday the English fleet was -sighted off Plymouth to the number of about fifty sail. The latter soon -gained the wind, and began firing into the Spanish rear-squadron. Then -began the memorable series of skirmishes which decided the fate of -Europe for all time to come. The Spanish ships were out-manœuvred -from the first. They found that the English vessels could sail round -them easily, their superior speed and sailing qualities enabling them to -harass their enemies without coming to close quarters. It was purely -artillery fighting, and in this the English were immensely superior. The -Spaniards shouted defiance and taunts that the English were afraid of -them and dared not approach. Drake and Howard knew where their strength -lay; kept the wind and followed the Armada, always harassing the rear -and flanks. Recalde’s flagship of the rear-squadron was for a time -exposed to the united fire of seven English galleons and became almost a -wreck. This first fight on Sunday demoralised the Spaniards. They felt -they were fighting a defensive battle and were running away from the -enemy. The contempt for their commander, and the knowledge of their -helplessness, crept over them like a paralysis. When late in the -afternoon the duke gave orders for the squadrons to be re-formed and -proceed on their way, Recalde’s damaged ship was found to be unable to -keep up with them. Don Pedro de Valdes went to her assistance, and in -doing so fouled one of his own ships, breaking his bowsprit and -foremast. His ship too became unmanageable. She had 500 men on board and -a large amount of treasure. An attempt was made to take her in tow, but -unsuccessfully. Night was coming on, and the duke himself wanted to get -away from the English, who hung upon his rear only a couple of miles -away. He would fight no more that night if he could help it, and he -abandoned two of the finest ships of his fleet without striking a blow. -Then Oquendo’s great ship, _Our Lady of the Rose_, was accidentally -blown up, and soon became a blazing wreck. The duke ordered the men and -treasure to be taken out of her and the ship sunk. But the heart of the -crews had gone, and such was the panic, that the unwounded survivors -scrambled out of the ship as best they might, leaving the vessel and -their scorched and wounded comrades to their fate. And so from day to -day the spirits of the men fell as they realised their powerlessness, -and the Armada crept up the Channel with the English fleet always -hanging on their rear and to windward of them. Every day the duke sent -beseeching letters to Parma to come out and help him. Parma was -indignant. Help him! How could he help him with flat-bottom barges that -would not stand a freshet, much less a gale? Besides, said he, the -arrangement was that you were to help me, not I help you. Justin of -Nassau, with the Dutch fleet, moreover, was watching as a cat watches a -mouse, and Parma could not stir. The officers sent by the duke declared -that Parma was not ready to come out, even if the Armada had fulfilled -its task. He gave them the lie, and with one of them nearly came to -blows. What if he had no water, or guns, or food on his boats? They were -only barges to carry men across, and were not meant either for fighting -or for a voyage of more than a few hours. Besides, how could he come out -with the wind dead in his teeth and Nassau and Seymour watching him? And -so on Sunday, August 7 (N.S.), just one week after the Lizard was -sighted, the great Spanish fleet was huddled, all demoralised and -confused, in Calais roads, at anchor, whilst the duke in vain sent -hourly petitions to Parma to come out and reinforce him. The crews were -ripe for panic now, and when at midnight eight fireships came flaring -down upon them with the wind from the English fleet, the duke seems to -have lost his head. He did not tow the fireships out of reach, in -accordance with his own previous instructions, but gave orders for his -cables to be cut. All the great ships had two anchors each out, and -these were left at the bottom of the sea, whilst the invincible Armada -crowded and hurtled away. The duke’s intention had been to come back in -the morning, pick up his anchors, and resume his position until Parma -could come out. But if Parma was shut up before, when only Lord Henry -Seymour and Justin of Nassau were watching him, much less could he stir -now that the lord admiral and Drake had joined Seymour. - -The duke brought up in a dangerous position near Gravelines, and when -the morning of Monday dawned he found his fleet scattered and -demoralised, with a stiff west wind blowing and most of his ships -drifted far to leeward. He had only forty ships with him now--one of his -great galleasses, the _San Lorenzo_, had been wrecked at the mouth of -Calais harbour in the confusion of the night--to fight the united -English fleets. The engagement was terrible, lasting from nine o’clock -in the morning till six o’clock at night, the English tactics continuing -to be the same, keeping up a tremendous artillery fire on particular -ships until they were utterly crippled. The Spaniards fought -desperately, but they could rarely come to close quarters, and their -gunnery was greatly inferior to the English. The result, consequently, -was never in doubt. The duke’s ship was in the hottest of the fight, and -her decks were like shambles, for she had been hit by 107 shot. At the -end of the dreadful day she and her consorts were utterly beaten and -riddled; two of the finest galleons, completely unseaworthy, drifted on -to the Flemish coast and were captured, and at dawn on Tuesday what was -left of the Armada was dragging heavily in a strong westerly gale, with -sandbanks on the lee. All spirit and discipline were lost now. The one -idea was to get away from these “devilish people,” who would only fight -with big guns and would not come to close quarters. The duke himself was -for surrender, but Oquendo swore he would throw overboard the first man -who attempted such a thing. He brought his ship alongside the duke’s and -yelled sailor curses upon the landlubber that wanted to run away. “Go -back to your tunny ponds, you chicken-hearted craven,” he cried again -and again; and so the poor duke, in complete collapse, shut himself in -his cabin and was seen no more till he arrived in Spain. At noon a -providential--the Spaniards called it miraculous--wind came from the -south-west, and they were able to weather the dreaded shoals. Oquendo -and the old sailors were now for turning about and fighting again. But -the duke had had enough fighting for the rest of his life, and would -have no more. Besides, there was no ammunition on most of the ships. So -the fatal order was given to run up the North Sea with the wind to the -north of the Orkneys, make a long leg to the west, far out into the -Atlantic, and thence set a course for home. Off the Scottish border the -English fleet left them to their fate. Assailed by tempests almost -unexampled, rotting with pestilence, the water quite putrid now and the -food worse, they struggled to the north and west. Many fell off to -leeward and were seen no more; many sank riddled like sieves in the wild -Atlantic gales; seventeen could not beat far enough to the west and were -dashed to pieces on the frowning coasts of Ulster and Connaught, where -the men who escaped drowning were slaughtered--several thousands of -them--by the English garrisons and the wild Irish kerns. Only -sixty-five ships ever got back to Spain, and of the 24,000 men who -sailed, full of hope that they were going on a sacred crusade to certain -victory, only 10,000 poor, starved, stricken creatures crept back to -Santander. - -A wail of grief went up through Spain. The little-hearted duke abandoned -his ships and men as soon as he sighted Spanish land, and went to his -home in the south in shameful, selfish luxury, with the curses and -insults of a whole populace ringing in his ears. Some said it was -Parma’s jealousy that caused the disaster, others that it was the duke’s -cowardice. Be it as it may, the old sailors, Oquendo and Recalde, who -had borne themselves like the heroes that they were, died of grief and -shame as soon as they brought their battered hulls to port. - -It is difficult to apportion the blame, but one thing is certain, that -the germ of the disaster lay in Philip’s rigid, blighting system, by -which everything, great and small, had to be worked by one weary, -overburdened man from a cell in the Escorial. Spain might curse and -clamour for vengeance, but Philip said not a word. He saw the efforts -and hopes of years scattered like scudding clouds. He saw his impotence -made patent to a scoffing world. He saw his enemies exulting in his -downfall, and his rebel Netherlanders at last free from his grasp. He -saw his treasury empty and his credit ruined, for the pope himself -mocked him, and refused to pay the subsidy he had promised, because the -conditions had not been fulfilled. He saw himself an old and ailing man, -with only a dull child to succeed him; and yet in the face of all this -his marble equanimity never left him. He had, he said, only striven to -do God’s work, and if God in His inscrutable wisdom had ordained that he -should fail, he could only humbly bow his head to the divine decree and -bless Him for all things. - -There was no defeat for such a man as this; and he could afford to be -generous and magnanimous, as he was, to the men whose shortcomings were -the immediate cause of the great catastrophe which ruined the power of a -nation, but could not break the faith or spirit of a man who regarded -himself as the fly-wheel of the machine by which the Almighty worked the -earth. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - Don Antonio in England--Catharine’s support of him--Strozzi’s - defeat at St. Michaels--Philip’s patronage of assassination--Philip - and the League--Renewal of the war of religion in France--The - murder of Guise--Imprisonment of Antonio Perez and the Princess of - Eboli--Perez’s treachery--His escape to Aragon--The _fueros_ of - Aragon--Philip proceeds against Perez--Perez arrested by the - Inquisition of Aragon--Rising in Zaragoza--Perez’s - escape--Suppression of the Aragonese. - - -When Don Antonio fled from Portugal in 1581, Elizabeth and Catharine de -Medici vied with each other in the welcome they extended to him. The -English queen gave him a pension, and he was splendidly lodged at Eton -College, Somerset House, and elsewhere at her expense. Hopes were held -out to him that a fleet should be raised in England for him to hold -those isles of the Azores which continued favourable to him and capture -the rest. He was encouraged to pledge his priceless jewels, the finest -in the world, and whilst his money lasted, privateers and ships were -busily fitted out in his name. But though most of the gems were -ultimately juggled into the hands of Elizabeth and Leicester, the queen -had always stopped short of allowing a hostile fleet openly to leave her -shores to attack Philip in the pretender’s interest. - -Antonio at last got tired of this, and with some difficulty fled to -France. There he found Catharine more ready. He promised her the great -empire of Brazil in exchange for aid, and in 1582 a fleet was got -together under her auspices, commanded by her cousin, Philip Strozzi. In -August the small Spanish garrison at St. Michaels was surrounded by 1500 -Frenchmen on shore, and Strozzi’s fleet of about 40 ships lay off to -blockade the island. Suddenly Santa Cruz’s squadron appeared, somewhat -stronger than Strozzi’s. Antonio seems to have lost heart and fled in -the night with some of the ships; the English privateers which were -expected to join Strozzi did not put in an appearance; Santa Cruz fell -upon the French fleet and utterly destroyed it, Strozzi being killed; -and every prisoner who fell into the hands of the Spaniards instantly -slaughtered. They had no commission from the King of France, and were -treated as pirates. But Catharine was bent upon troubling her late -son-in-law to the utmost, and Antonio still had jewels to pledge, so in -the following year another fleet was got together in France, under Aymar -de Chaste, to hold Terceira. The French were received with open arms by -the islanders who were firm for Antonio, but Santa Cruz swooped upon -this fleet, as he had done on the previous one, with a similar result, -and Catharine became convinced that the Azores, the key as they were to -Philip’s western empire, were his least vulnerable point whilst his -fleets held the sea. But this attitude of the French queen and her son, -and the open patronage and aid she gave to her younger son, Alençon, in -his attempts with Huguenot help to seize the sovereignty of the -Netherlands, convinced Philip that, unless something was done to -withstand the advance of the Protestant power in France, he would in -time find himself surrounded by opponents on all sides. He did his best -to dispose of some of his personal enemies. He approved of Babington’s -plot to kill Elizabeth, he subsidised many unsuccessful attempts to -murder Don Antonio, and certainly two to assassinate the Prince of -Orange, one nearly successful, before the final foul blow was struck by -Gérard in 1584. It is evident, however, from the manner in which he -usually received such proposals, that he did not deceive himself as to -the inefficacy of murder as a political method. He treated it merely as -a palliative, to be used in conjunction with broader action. From the -time when it became evident that Catharine and her son mainly leant to -the side of the Huguenots and the politicians, and that Henry of -Navarre, the head of the reformers in France and the hereditary enemy of -the House of Aragon, would probably succeed to the crown of France, some -bolder action than assassination was necessary for Philip. - -It has been seen how close had grown the connection between him and the -Guises, and how cleverly he had worked upon their hopes and fears to -bring them entirely under his thumb. Alternate flattery, bribes, and -veiled threats at length made Guise the humble servant of Spain. It -suited Philip to feed his ambitious dream of grasping all, or part, of -the French realm, to promise and pay him great subsidies, as he did, to -carry on war in his own country, because, in the first place, it -weakened Catharine and the Huguenots; and, secondly, it left Philip a -free hand in England and Scotland. By the aid of Spanish money and his -own dashing popularity, Guise began by completely gaining to his side -the mob of Paris, and then through all France the Catholic party was -gradually drawn into a great organisation, which enabled Guise to treat -with Philip on something like reciprocal terms. By the spring of 1585 -the bases of the Holy League had been established. The idea was an -ambitious one, but doubtless many of its principal adherents had no -inkling of how completely the ultimate object of the whole organisation -was designed for the furthering of Philip’s political ends, under cover -of a purely religious movement. The dismemberment of France under his -auspices would have been a master-stroke of policy, and such a -consummation seemed at one time to be almost a certainty. To begin with, -an attempt was made to seduce Henry of Navarre into the League; but he -was wary and would not be caught, and consequently, in Philip’s view, -must be crushed. If he had consented to be satisfied with Béarn and the -south-west, Guise might well have had the east, the Duke of Savoy -Provence, and Philip’s daughter, Isabel, in right of her mother, would -have inherited Brittany, whilst Philip would have had a slice of Picardy -and French Flanders. When it was found that Henry of Navarre would not -be cajoled into abandoning any portion of his rightful claim to the -whole realm, the League and Philip induced Sixtus V. to fulminate his -famous bull (September 1585) excommunicating him, his cousin Condé, “and -the whole of this bastard and detestable race of Bourbon.” They and -theirs were to be deprived of all their principalities for ever, and the -excommunication extended to all their adherents. Henry’s reply was as -violent as the provocation. “The man who calls himself Pope Sixtus is -himself a liar and a heretic.” It only needed this bull again to set -flame to the smouldering ashes of the religious war. Henry III. had -already been forced into signing the infamous treaty of Nemours, -depriving the Huguenots of all toleration, and he became for a time, -with bitter hatred in his heart, the bond-slave of Guise. The poor -wretch tried in his weak, silly way to get free by forming fresh -connections with Elizabeth, with the German Lutherans, with Henry of -Navarre, but no party took much notice of him now, and the war went on, -the king being a fugitive from his own capital, and Philip afar off -smiling at the success of his schemes for setting his neighbours by the -ears and paralysing the arms of France that might help Elizabeth against -the Armada. For one moment it looked possible, after Philip’s weakness -had been demonstrated at sea, that all Frenchmen might band together, -forget their dissensions, and turn upon the common enemy; but Guise was -tied hard and fast to Philip by this time, and his ambitions were high. -The Paris mob was at his bidding, and the clergy throughout France. The -wretched king, Henry III., saw no other way out of his dilemma than to -have Guise and his brother killed (December 23, 1588). They had been -warned by Philip’s agents and others many times that this was intended, -but Guise scorned to show any fear, and he fell. With the murder of -Guise it seemed for a time as if the Spanish king’s intrigues in France -had turned out as fruitless as his efforts against England. - -Nor was he much happier at home. It has already been related how, on -March 31, 1578, Escobedo, the secretary of Don Juan, had been murdered -by men in Antonio Perez’s pay, by virtue of an order given by Philip six -months before. However desirable it may have been to put this firebrand -out of the way in the autumn of 1577, when Don Juan was ostensibly -friendly with the States, the murder served no useful purpose whatever -when it was committed, for by that time Don Juan and Farnese were at war -openly with the States. Philip doubtless ascribed the assassination at -first to over-zeal on the part of Perez, and was inclined to condone it. -But it was part of his system to promote rivalry amongst the people who -served him, and another of his secretaries, Mateo Vasquez, whose duty it -was to convey to the king the gossip of the capital, continued, with -perhaps unnecessary insistence, to inform the king that all Madrid was -connecting the name of Perez and the widowed Princess of Eboli with the -murder. The princess was the greatest lady in Spain, a haughty, -passionate termagant, who had borne to Ruy Gomez a very numerous family, -and who since her husband’s death had given a great deal of trouble to -the king, by her erratic and impracticable conduct in the care of her -children and the management of her great household and estates. The -supposed amours between her and Philip have been disproved, but there is -no doubt that the vain, immoral Perez had become her lover, and that -Escobedo, who had formerly been a page of her husband’s, had discovered -this and resented it. There is but little doubt that the princess had in -consequence urged Perez to have the man killed under cover of the king’s -authorisation of many months before. The princess, when she heard that -Vasquez had mentioned her name to the king in connection with the -murder, flew into a violent rage and demanded his punishment. Thereupon -began a great feud between Perez and the princess on the one hand, and -Vasquez on the other, which doubtless caused Philip much inconvenience -and annoyance. He tried his hardest to reconcile the parties, keeping -Perez still in high favour. The princess and Perez were, however, so -persistent that the king at last lost patience, and in July 1579 had -them both arrested. The princess never entirely regained her liberty, -but Perez’s confinement was merely nominal, and he was assured by the -king that he would not be seriously inconvenienced. He was more -extravagant and arrogant than ever under his semi-arrest, and the -princess and he continued to press that he might be tried for the -murder. They knew that he could plead the king’s order, as indeed he -ultimately did, and that Philip hated an open scandal. - -But a great change came when Philip wanted to conquer Portugal, and -restored Alba and his party to favour. For years Perez had been the -bitter enemy of Alba. He had scoffed and mocked at his appearance and -methods; he had been the prime cause of his downfall. Now was the time -for Alba’s revenge. Gradually he surrounded the king with those who took -his view, and the shadows grew deeper and deeper over Perez. For years -the trail was steadily followed, his relations with the princess -unravelled, his own incautious words taken down, until at the end of -1584 all his papers were seized, and Philip learnt how, for his -political ends, Perez had poisoned his ears against Don Juan. It was -seen that the accusations of intended treason in Spain were Perez’s own -interpretation of perfectly innocent passages in Don Juan’s and -Escobedo’s excited letters. Philip learnt also that Perez must have -divulged to the princess the authority given by the king to Perez for -the murder--a state secret. For these offences, and not for murder, -Perez was condemned to ten years’ imprisonment, escaped to sanctuary, -was taken thence, and kept in a dungeon for three years whilst the case -was being completed against him. In 1588 he was put on his trial for -murder, and was ordered to confess all. He feared a trap, and refused. -He was put to the torture, and promised to tell everything. No one could -understand this at the time, but we can see now that, if he had -confessed why the king ordered the murder, and when, he must have -condemned himself, as it would have shown that the “execution,” as it -was euphemistically called, was unnecessary when it was committed and -had been done for private revenge. Before his confession could be taken, -he therefore escaped from prison and fled to Aragon. This, he well knew, -was the course which would distress the king most. - -When he had taken his younger daughter, Catharine, to Zaragoza in 1585 -to be married to Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy (whom Catharine de -Medici had been trying to attract to her side), Philip had taken the -opportunity of making a stay of some duration in his kingdom of Aragon -and Catalonia, and had summoned the Aragonese Cortes at Monzon to swear -allegiance to his young son Philip as heir to the crown. As we have seen -in previous chapters, the Aragonese were extremely jealous of their -representative institutions, and resented all interference from Castile. -Philip had no love for these rough-spoken vassals of his, and their -constant assertion of their liberties, and had only recently been -obliged to bend to a decision of the Aragonese tribunals with regard to -a large semi-independent fief belonging to an illegitimate member of the -royal house, the Duke of Villahermosa, which fief Philip wished to -re-incorporate with the rest of his Aragonese kingdom. Amongst their -other liberties the Aragonese exacted from their sovereign an oath to -maintain what was called the “Manifestacion,” which was not unlike the -English “Habeas Corpus.” Any person accused of crime who set foot in -Aragon could claim to be lodged in the Aragonese prison, in which case -he was certain of enjoying the full rights of defence, protection from -violence or torture, and the benefit of a most enlightened judicial -procedure. The Aragonese had their own judges and laws, the principal -judge--the grand justiciary--being appointed by the king; but the latter -had no power to remove him, and the office was practically hereditary. -When, therefore, Perez reached Aragon he knew he was safe from arbitrary -action, and took refuge first in a Dominican monastery at Calatayud. -Orders arrived a few hours afterwards that he was to be captured, dead -or alive, at any risk or cost, and taken back to Castile. Perez was the -depositary of Philip’s secrets for years. He had taken a quantity of -important papers with him (some of which are now in the British Museum), -and the king was willing to brave the obstinate Aragonese and their -liberties, rather than allow so dangerous a man to slip through his -fingers. Perez claimed the protection of the “Manifestacion,” and on the -news coming to Calatayud of the king’s orders, a rebellious crowd at -once arose and swore that their privileges should not be infringed; and -even the priests in the monastery where Perez had taken refuge flew to -arms to repel any attack by the king’s messengers. Perez was rescued by -the Aragonese police and people, and safely lodged in the gaol of the -“Manifestacion.” All the king could do then was to prosecute him by -law--firstly, for having pretended to possess the royal authority for -killing Escobedo; secondly, for having tampered with despatches and -betrayed state secrets; and thirdly, for having fled whilst proceedings -against him were pending. But Perez did not want to be tried, for upon -these charges he could hardly be acquitted by any tribunal. He -accordingly begged Philip to let him alone, and threatened, if not, to -publish his secret papers; but Philip was resolved to fight it out to -the death now. To be thwarted and threatened by such a man was too much, -even for his patience. Perez must die. For once, however, the king had -to deal with a man even more crafty than himself, who knew every trick -in his armoury and was fighting for his life. Perez drew up a most -masterly exposition of his case, painting the king in his blackest -colours, and presented it to his judges. The tribunal called upon the -king for a refutation. “If,” replied Philip, “it were possible for me to -give an answer in the same public way that Perez has done, his guilt -would be made manifest. My only object in the prosecution has been the -public good. I cannot answer him further without betraying secrets which -must not be revealed, involving persons whose reputation is of more -importance than the punishment of this man, who is a traitor worse than -ever before has sinned against his sovereign.” And with this Philip -allowed his prosecution before the Aragonese tribunal to lapse. It was a -bitter pill for him to swallow. To answer Perez he must have confessed -that the lying scoundrel had made him believe that his own brother, Don -Juan, was a traitor, and that, under this belief, he had allowed him to -die broken-hearted and forsaken in Flanders. - -But he tried another course. The constitution of Aragon provided that -the king’s own servants, even Aragonese, might not claim against him the -protection of their laws, and under this clause Philip claimed to have -Perez delivered to him. The judges decided that Perez did not come under -this provision, and refused to deliver him. Perez was now acquitted, but -was still kept in the prison of the Manifestacion. There his monstrous -vanity had led him to boast of what he would do abroad to avenge -himself. He would bring back Henry of Navarre and the Protestants, and -make him King of Spain. He would make Aragon a republic, and much else -of the same sort. But, above all, he had used expressions which seemed -of doubtful religious orthodoxy. Notes were taken of all his loose -babble, and, as a consequence, the Holy Office in Madrid sent orders to -the Inquisitors at Zaragoza to take him out of the Manifestacion and -lodge him in their own dungeons. The judges of Aragon were now tired of -Perez, who was obviously a scoundrel. They had no wish to quarrel about -him with the king, and, above all, with the Inquisition. They had -vindicated their privileges, and that was enough for them. They were -willing to let the Holy Office have their prisoner. But Perez had no -wish for such a result. His friends aroused the city. The Aragonese -liberties were in peril from the tyrant, they said; and a dangerous -popular rising was the result. On May 21, 1591, the Aragonese -authorities determined to get rid of such a troublesome guest, and -quietly smuggled him into the hands of the Inquisition. With this the -people rose. From the watch towers boomed the alarm bells, furious men -swarmed into the streets, the king’s representative was dragged from his -palace, stripped, stoned, scourged, and nearly killed; the palace of the -Inquisition was besieged; faggots were piled up to burn it and the -Inquisitors inside, as they had burnt others, said the mob. Then the -Inquisitors gave way, and surrendered their prisoner to the populace, -who took him back to the Manifestacion. He tried to escape and failed. -He kept popular ebullition at fever-heat with artful proclamations and -appeals, and unfortunately the hereditary office of grand justiciary -fell at that time to a young man in Perez’s favour, who assumed office -without Philip’s confirmation. To avoid further conflict, after the -authorities had decided that Perez should be restored again to the -Inquisition, the prisoner was secretly hurried out of Zaragoza into the -mountains by his friends, and he escaped, after many wanderings, into -France. He was supremely self-conscious--a monster of misfortune, a -pilgrim of pain, as he called himself,--but he was clever and plausible, -and was received with open arms by Catharine de Bourbon, Henry’s sister, -in her castle of Pau. Henry himself made much of him, and so did -Elizabeth and Essex. Pensions and gifts were showered upon him for -years, for he knew all the weak places in Philip’s armour, and was ready -to sell his knowledge to the highest bidder. Facile, witty, and utterly -unscrupulous, he mingled the most sickening servility with the -haughtiest arrogance. He betrayed and defamed in turn every person who -trusted him, and, whenever he dared, bit the hand upon which he fawned. -For years he tried unsuccessfully to crawl back into the favour of -Philip III., the son of the man whom he had lived by libelling; and long -before his death in Paris, in the midst of poverty (1611), he was -contemptuously forgotten by his benefactors. - -Philip was in no hurry for revenge. An army of 15,000 men was sent from -Castile to occupy Zaragoza under Alonso de Vargas, one of the butchers -of Antwerp. The townspeople were disinclined to hopeless resistance, and -only some of the nobles, the friars, and the country people made any -attempt at it. Anarchy was rife all over Aragon, and Philip’s troops -made a clean sweep of such marauding bands of rebels as stood in their -way. The Aragonese of the richer burgher class were indeed by this time -somewhat ashamed of having championed the cause of such a man as Perez, -and Vargas was soon master of Aragon, the young justiciary and the other -leaders of the rebellion having fled. For a time Philip made no attempt -to punish them, and they were gradually lured back home on promises of -forgiveness. Then suddenly fell Philip’s vengeance. At the end of -December 1591 Vargas was ordered without previous warning to seize and -behead the justiciary, in defiance of the Aragonese constitution, and at -the same time the net of the Inquisition was spread far and wide, and -swept into the dungeons all those who had offended. The few refugee -nobles and Perez thereupon prevailed upon Henry IV. to send a body of -Béarnais troops into Aragon, but the Aragonese joined with Philip’s -troops to expel them, and nothing serious came of the attempt. Some of -the higher nobles of Aragon died mysteriously in the dungeons, and -seventy-nine citizens were condemned to be burnt alive in the -market-place of Zaragoza. Philip, however, intervened, and urged -clemency upon the Holy Office, and only six were actually executed at -the great auto de fé, the rest of the seventy-nine suffering other -punishments, perhaps hardly less severe. The spectacle, and the stern -repression that preceded it, were dire lessons for the Aragonese, who -were thus made to understand that their free institutions must not be -exercised against the will of their sovereign. The constitution was not -formally revoked, in accordance with Philip’s promise, but all men now -understood that henceforward, at least whilst Philip lived, it must be a -dead letter, and no more vain dreams of autonomy were allowed to -interfere with the system of personal centralisation upon which his -government rested. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - - Philip and Mayenne--The English attack upon Lisbon--Assassination - of Henry III.--Philip’s plans in France--The war of the League--The - battle of Ivry--Philip’s attitude towards Mayenne--Farnese enters - France--Relief of Paris--Retirement of Farnese--Philip changes his - plans in France--Farnese’s second campaign--Henry IV. goes to - mass--Enters Paris as king--Exit of the Spaniards. - - -Henry III. thought by one stroke to rid himself of his enemies by -killing Guise, and terrorising his party. “At last,” he said to his -mother, immediately after the execution, “at last I am King of France.” -“You have plunged your country into ruin,” replied Catharine. “You have -boldly cut out the cloth, but do not know how to sew the garment -together.” She spoke truly, for she knew her son. When the news reached -Paris a great gust of rage passed over the city. It was Christmas Day, -but all rejoicing turned to sorrow, and dirges took the place of Te -Deums. From the pulpits thundered denunciations of the royal murderer, -and by the middle of January (1589) the Sorbonne, under the promptings -of the Spanish party, had declared that the subjects of Henry III. were -released from their allegiance. A council of government was formed, with -Mayenne, Guise’s brother, as president and lieutenant-general of the -realm. All through France the example of Paris was followed, and the -League was soon the great governing power of the country, Henry finding -himself little more than King of Blois. He was therefore obliged to draw -closer to Henry of Navarre; and at first Philip feared that this -coalition would unite all Frenchmen against him, now that the popular -Guise had fallen. But Mayenne had no one else to lean upon, and in the -first letter after his brother’s death told the Spanish king that the -whole of the Catholics of France threw themselves at his feet. -Henceforward the springs that moved the puppets in Catholic France -obtained their impulsion from Madrid. Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador, -although he had kept a few miles from the king’s court at Blois, had -since the murder of Guise become more and more incensed with him, as he -drifted nearer to the Huguenot cause, and now fled from the king’s court -without a word of farewell to Paris, in the pretended fear that Henry -intended to have him poisoned. Henceforward the old soldier, the last -disciple of Alba, as he called himself, was tireless in organising and -stimulating the resistance of the people of Paris against the king and -the Huguenots. He was old and blind, but he went from outpost to outpost -animating the soldiers; he laboured day and night with the nuncio, -Gaetano, in stiffening Mayenne, and until his last ducat was spent and -he had no food or firing for himself, he sheltered and fed the starving -and homeless Leaguers. Through all the weary sieges of Paris, until -broken and blind at last he went to end his days in despair as a monk, -Mendoza continued to urge Philip to action against the Huguenots, to -resist the insults offered to himself, to harry France with fire and -sword in the name of the faith--the counsels, indeed, of the old Alba -school to which he belonged. Philip, as usual, was cool and -irresponsive. He told his minister--when he condescended to write to him -at all, which was very rarely--that he must be patient and prudent, and -must seek to be friendly with all parties. Philip, indeed, was far from -pleased at the drift of affairs in France. It was evident thus early -that Mayenne was a weak reed upon whom to depend, and now that -Protestantism and legitimate royalty in France were united, he (Philip) -did not believe in the permanency of the League. All his life he had -been manœuvring against France becoming officially Protestant, which -would have foreboded the dreaded coalition of France, England, Holland, -and the northern powers against him. His treasury, moreover, was drained -almost to its last ducat by the catastrophe of the Armada, and -terrifying rumours were reaching him from his spies in England of a -great fleet of revenge being fitted out by Drake to invade his own -shores, in conjunction with an attack across the Pyrenees by the forces -of Henry of Navarre. Drake and Norris, however, with their joint-stock -fleet in the interests of Don Antonio, turned out to be less formidable -opponents on this occasion than had been feared. Philip was dangerously -ill, and sick at heart. The Portuguese populace was almost entirely in -favour of the native pretender, and was pledged to rise when he -appeared. There were no adequate forces in Spain to resist an attack, -and if the English expedition had not been entirely mismanaged from the -first, there is but little doubt that Philip’s rule in Portugal might -easily have been ended. Want of money, shortness of provisions, and -utter indiscipline of the men on the English fleet, contributed the -germs of failure to the enterprise, and the waste of ten days in burning -and sacking the lower town at Corunna, where the sickness and laxity -caused by the drunkenness of the men practically disabled the English -force, gave the stout-hearted Archduke Albert in Lisbon time to organise -the defence and dominate the Portuguese by terror. In the meanwhile, -too, Philip’s council in Madrid conquered their first paralysis of -dismay, and took such hasty measures as were possible to repel the -invasion. The fatal insistence also of Norris and Don Antonio to leave -Drake and his fleet at Peniche whilst they marched overland to besiege -Lisbon, placed the crown of disaster on the attempt. For Antonio had -overrated his support. Only priests and a few peasants joined his -standard. Lisbon was completely dominated by the archduke, and no -Portuguese dared to raise a head, for fear of losing it. So when Norris -and his 12,000 Englishmen appeared outside Lisbon (May 21, 1589), -without siege-train or battering guns, they found the gates fast closed -against them, and after a week of fruitless bloodshed they had sadly to -retrace their steps again and join Drake’s fleet at the mouth of the -river. Of 18,000 men that sailed out of Plymouth only about 6000 ever -returned, and Don Antonio’s chance of reigning again in Portugal had -gone for ever. - -In August 1589 Mendoza wrote from Paris in jubilant strains. The king -(Henry III.) had been besieging the capital with 40,000 men, and it -could have held out no longer. Mayenne had lost heart, the -much-prayed-for Spanish troops to help them came not. Despair reigned -in the League, when suddenly the last of the Valois, Henry III., in his -turn, fell under the dagger of the fanatic monk Jacques Clement. “It was -the hand of God,” said Mendoza, “that has done this for His greater -glory, and for the advantage of His religion.” Philip, however, never -loved the idea of the killing of kings, and was not so enthusiastic -about this as was his ambassador. He was no hero; and if fanatics began -killing anointed monarchs there was no telling where such an example -would stop. - -The event, moreover, added much to his present perplexity. If Guise had -lived, and Henry of Navarre had been amenable to reason, the realm of -France might have been divided between Guise, Navarre, the Infanta, the -Duke of Savoy, and Philip; but the Huguenot king had assumed the -sovereignty of the whole country as soon as Henry III. fell, and had -already shown that he was a soldier and diplomatist of the highest -order, whom no cajolery would induce to surrender any portion of his -birthright. And yet it was a matter of life and death to Philip that -France should not become a heretic power, and he was obliged to tackle -the monster with what strength he had left. - -The first impulse of the governing council of the League in Paris on the -news of the death of the king was to elect Philip sovereign of France, -but the idea of the Guises had always been to obtain all or part of the -realm for themselves, and consequently Mayenne procured the proclamation -in Paris of Henry of Navarre’s uncle, Cardinal de Bourbon, as Charles X. -He was understood to be only a stop-gap, for he was old, foolish, and -childless, and the problem of the fate of France was still held in -suspense. But they could never even catch their king, for his nephew -Henry seized him before the Leaguers could reach him, and he never let -him go again. It is certain that by this time Philip had slowly made up -his mind that, as he mainly would have to fight and destroy -Protestantism in France, he alone should enjoy the reward. If the affair -could have been settled cheaply and without fighting, the Lorraines, the -Savoys, the Bourbons, and his own House might have divided the spoil; -but if his arms and money had to win the reward, it must be his, and his -alone. It was the most disastrous resolution he could have taken in his -own interest, for it enabled Henry of Navarre to assume the position of -the patriot withstanding foreign aggression; and gradually drew to him -crowds of Frenchmen, who otherwise would have stood aloof. After the -king’s death Henry IV. abandoned the siege of Paris and rapidly moved to -Normandy, where Elizabeth’s subsidies and the aid from his own Rochelle -might reach him. Then he began that brilliant series of victories over -Mayenne that commenced at Arques. Through a country already rallying to -his national banner, he marched to Paris again. He struck terror into -the Leaguers and Spanish inside, who were intriguing for the crown of -France, which the great Bourbon was winning by his sword; and, after -harrying St. Germains, he again marched on to attack Mayenne’s main army -at Dreux. The Spanish Leaguers from Flanders were commanded by Egmont, -the son of the man whom Alba had killed. His cavalry at first charged -Henry’s infantry and broke it. Then the king himself, with his white -plume for a guide, led his 2000 horsemen like a whirlwind against the -Leaguers. Nothing could stand before them. The German mercenaries -dropped their arms and fled, the Lorrainers and Egmont’s Walloons were -swept away by the irresistible avalanche, and the battle of Ivry was won -(March 14, 1590). Then without a pause Paris found itself again -encircled with the victorious troops of the Béarnais. The sufferings of -the rebel city and the events of the struggle cannot be recounted here. -Philip’s far-off share in them alone concerns us for the moment. It is -said by those who were near Philip at the time, that the news of -Mayenne’s rout at Ivry was not entirely displeasing to him. It had been -evident to the Spaniards for some time that Mayenne would take the first -opportunity of causing himself to be proclaimed king in Paris. Mendoza -and Moreo, the Spanish agents in Paris, were already sounding notes of -alarm about him in their letters to the king, and Philip must have -known, now he had lost Ivry, that, come what might, Mayenne’s chance had -gone. It had become certain that, if Henry IV. was to be beaten at all, -it must be by an experienced warrior like Alexander Farnese with great -national forces, that France indeed must be conquered before Philip -could be called its king. The alternative, however, seemed to be a -Protestant rival nation on his frontier, and an entire alteration of the -balance of Europe, in which he would be left isolated and impotent; and -he must fight to the death to prevent that. Farnese had lost much of his -popularity since the Armada, and he fretted at the fact. He knew that -doubts wore whispered to his uncle, not only of his loyalty, but even of -his orthodoxy; and, although Philip expressed himself as being quite -satisfied with his explanations about the Armada, Farnese feared that -his constant ill-health foreboded death by poison. He was weary, too, -with the petty war of treachery, surprises, and skirmishes which still -continued between him and the Dutchmen under William the Silent’s son, -Maurice. It was like new life to him when at last he got the stirring -news from Philip that he was to conquer France for the Church and for -the House of Spain. But for the Salic law, the Infanta would undoubtedly -have been the heiress to the crown, and Philip made light of the Salic -law, and boldly asserted his daughter’s right. Farnese was, above all -things, a prudent commander, and insisted upon having sufficient -resources for the business he had to do, and his persistence on this -point again raised rumours against him. Philip’s principal agent in -France, Moreo, did not hesitate to say that he was a traitor, who was -plotting for his own ends; and the Spanish nobles about Farnese’s -person, seeing which way the tide was running, joined in the sneers at -his slowness. But he would not move, leaving Flanders unprotected, and -risking his fame and life, by crossing the frontier with an inadequate -force. His insistence at length gained his point, and large remittances -were sent to him from Madrid, with which he could organise a good force -of 13,000 men; and by August 23 he joined Mayenne at Meaux and marched -to attack Henry’s besieging army before Paris. Some provisions were -passed into the famished city, the siege was partly raised, and soon the -tactical skill of Farnese began to tell upon Henry’s army, which was -melting away with discouragement. He once more abandoned the siege, and -the League army entered Paris on September 18, 1590. But then began the -feeling that eventually led even the Parisians to welcome Henry. -Farnese made no pretence to respect Mayenne’s authority, and the -Frenchmen who had looked upon the Spanish forces as their allies found -now to their dismay that they were their masters. Mayenne himself was -inclined to be sulky and rebellious, and it was necessary for Farnese to -teach him and Paris that they were powerless without Spanish troops; so -he and his force once more marched towards the Flemish frontier, and -Paris was again invested. Philip’s fanatic councillors insisted that -Farnese had abandoned the task because of his want of sympathy, and the -king grew colder still towards his nephew, and somewhat changed his -plans. It must now have been evident to him that the French nation would -not willingly accept him or his daughter as sovereign, and he reverted -to his former idea of dismemberment. The Infanta really had a good claim -to the duchy of Brittany, which had never formed part of the French -realm, and was excepted from the action of the Salic law. The Duke of -Mercœur, whose wife was also descended from the House of Brittany, -had been holding the province for the League, and was hard pressed. He -begged for aid from Philip, who sent him a force of 5000 men under Don -Juan del Aguila, whilst the Duke of Savoy, Philip’s son-in-law, had -entered Marseilles with his army, Toulouse was garrisoned by 4000 -Spaniards, and all Provence and Dauphiné was falling under the -Savoy-Spanish yoke. The Spaniards in Brittany were not long in showing -their teeth. They seized and fortified Blavet and other ports against -Mercœur himself, and this brought Elizabeth on the scene with 3000 -English troops. She could never have the Spaniards in ports opposite her -shores, she said. And so practically all over France little wars were -being waged. The country, utterly desolated and exhausted, yearned for -peace and firm government before all things, and gradually came to the -conclusion that they were more likely to obtain them from their own -countryman, Henry, than from the Spanish king and his hangers-on. At the -same time Philip’s treasury had become more and more depleted and his -credit quite ruined with the bankers. He was, moreover, himself old and -weary with never-ending labour at small details, and decided to strike a -supreme blow once more to end heresy in France before he gave up the -struggle in despair. Farnese therefore, to his annoyance this time (for -he was obliged to leave Maurice of Nassau in undisturbed possession of -Holland), received fresh orders from the king in September 1591 once -more to cross the frontier and end the fight. - -He found the leaders of the League all at discord one with the other and -with the Spaniards. Mayenne’s vanity and greed had disgusted every one, -and it soon became apparent to Farnese that no aid towards Spanish aims -could be gained from him. He had, indeed, selfishly done his best only a -few months before to impede the solution which might have drawn a -majority of Frenchmen to the side of the League and the Spaniards, -namely, the marriage of the Infanta with the young Duke of Guise. Henry -IV. was besieging Rouen with an army of 20,000 men, nearly all mercenary -Germans and English, and although his energy somewhat delayed Parma’s -advance, when the latter reached Rouen he found Mayenne disinclined to -accept the assistance of the Spaniards, such was his growing jealousy -of them, owing partly to the diplomacy of Henry. It was not until the -end of April 1592 that Parma entered Rouen in triumph. But the triumph -did not last long. Parma was wounded and seriously ill, and found his -supplies cut off and his force hemmed in by Henry. It was only by -consummate strategy that he withdrew with the loss of nearly half his -men to Flanders, there to die in December of the same year (1592). -Philip could not now shut his eyes to the fact that he had lost. -Frenchmen of all classes hated the idea of Spanish domination, Mayenne -and the Catholics understood that the Béarnais was going to win, for he -had taken the patriotic side, and they began to cast about for means to -secure themselves from ruin. If the king would only go to mass, all -might be well. Henry on his side was also desirous of coming to terms. -The war had desolated France, and the time was ripe for an arrangement. -When, however, in January 1593, the Estates met in the Louvre, a last -attempt was made by the Spanish party to have their way by diplomacy. -Feria, the son of Philip’s old friend by his English wife, entered Paris -as the king’s representative to claim the crown for the Infanta, who -might be married to a French prince, to be chosen by Philip, or if the -Estates refused this, that the crown should be given to the Duke of -Guise, who might marry the Infanta. If Philip had proposed the latter -solution first, it might have been accepted; but whilst Feria was -bickering over the Infanta’s impossible claim, and losing precious weeks -in communicating with his distant master almost daily, Henry, outside -the city, was busy gaining over the Estates, showing himself gay, -confident, conciliating, and, above all, French. Gabrielle d’Estrées, -the _politicians_, the Leaguers, the clergy, and his own interests, all -urged him to conform to the Catholic faith. On July 25, 1593, he took -what he called “the mortal leap,” and attended mass at St. Denis. In -March 1594 the Béarnais entered Paris as king. The next day, through a -pitiless storm, the Spanish garrison, with Feria, marched out of the -gate of St. Denis. “Commend me to your master, gentlemen,” cried Henry, -“but come back hither no more.” The war lingered on until Philip was -nearly dying in 1598. Spanish troops still held parts of Picardy and -French Flanders, and once Amiens fell into their hands, but at the end -of the period even Mayenne commanded the French forces against them; and -pride, and belief in the divine support, alone prevented Philip from -making terms before. Henry at last listened to the promptings of the -pope, and made peace with his enemy alone. He broke faith with Elizabeth -and the Dutch, but he consolidated once more the French nation. Philip’s -ill-starred attempts to dominate France had thus failed, but he had -succeeded in preventing it from becoming a Protestant Power. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - - Blighting influence of Philip’s system on his officers--Effects of - Philip’s routine on the administration--Social condition of Spain - and the colonies--Dr. Lopez and Antonio Perez--Philip II. and - Tyrone’s rebellion--The English sacking of Cadiz--Philip’s - resignation--His last illness and death--Results of his - life--Causes of the decadence of the Spanish power. - - -The death of Alexander Farnese had removed from Philip’s service the -last of the great men of his reign. He had been treated by his master in -the same way that all the rest of them had been--with cold -half-confidence and veiled suspicion. There is nothing more -surprising--more pitiable--in the phenomena of Philip’s reign than the -way in which he pressed men of the highest gifts into his service, only -to break their hearts and spirits by his tardiness of action and -inexpansiveness of mind. His system left no room for independent -judgment on the part of his instruments, and any attempt to exercise it -met with the passive, stony resistance, against which one ardent soul -after another dashed itself to death. As Philip grew older, and his -periodical attacks of illness became more frequent, the vast tide of -papers which flowed into the king’s cell became more and more -unmanageable. He had no sense of proportion whatever, and would -frequently waste hours of precious time over ridiculous trifles--the -choice of an unimportant word, the ordering of a religious procession, -or the strictly private affairs of his subjects,--whilst matters of the -highest import to the welfare of his great empire were allowed to drag -on for months without decision. - -The centralising system had now been established to his satisfaction, -and from all four quarters of the earth viceroys, governors, ministers, -and spies sent their contribution of papers to Madrid. Everything came -under the eyes of the monarch, toiling early and late, even when his -malady stretched him on a sick-bed. The council that surrounded him in -his last years was composed of very different men from the Granvelles, -the Albas, the Ruy Gomezes, or even the Perezes, who had served him in -his prime. The principal secretary of state was Don Juan de Idiaquez, -one of the indefatigable writers whom Philip loved. No detail was too -small for Idiaquez. With his swift-current clerkly hand he wrote day and -night, deciphering, drafting, annotating. Every day after the king’s -frugal early dinner Idiaquez came with his bundle of papers, and was -closeted with him until nightfall. The communications had been opened, -considered, and reported upon by the council during the previous night, -and the results were now submitted to Philip. The second secretary, Don -Cristobal de Moura, had charge especially of Portuguese and Castilian -affairs. He had to report his budget of council minutes whilst the king -was dressing in the morning, and the Count de Chinchon had audience for -the affairs of Italy, Aragon, and the south of Spain at, and after, the -king’s dinner. Every draft despatch was read and noted by the king; -Mateo Vasquez, the sly enemy who had hunted Perez, being always at his -side to help him. Whilst the king of the greatest realm on earth, and -four men with the minds of superior clerks, were thus immersed in -endless papers, the social condition of Spain went from bad to worse. -The efforts of Philip had been directed towards making his people as -rigid as monks. Pragmatics had been showered upon Spain, prohibiting for -the hundredth time luxury or splendour in dress, furniture, and -appointments, restricting the use of carriages, abolishing courtesy -titles. No person was allowed to be educated out of Spain, and all -attempts at introducing science in any form were sternly suppressed by -the Inquisition. The most slavish and extravagant conformity in -religious observance was enforced, but the loosest and most licentious -conversation was tolerated. The women of Spain had in previous times -been modest, almost austere and oriental in their retirement. They now -became perfectly scandalous in their freedom, and remained a bye-word -for the rest of civilised Europe for a century afterwards. Camillo -Borghese was sent by the pope to Madrid in 1593, and thus speaks of the -state of affairs at that time: “The main street of Madrid ... is -unutterably filthy, and almost impassable on foot. The better class of -ladies are always in carriages or litters, whilst the humbler folk ride -on donkey-back or pick their way through the mire. The ladies are -naturally shameless, presumptuous, and abrupt, and even in the streets -go up and address men unknown to them, looking upon it as a kind of -heresy to be properly introduced. They admit all sorts of men to their -conversation, and are not in the least scandalised at the most improper -proposals being made to them.” Philip’s pragmatics were useless. -Extravagance checked in one direction broke out in others, and in the -midst of the most appalling poverty, luxury and waste ran riot. The -immense loss of life in constant wars, and the vast emigration to -America, had depopulated wide tracts of country, and the laws which -favoured the aggregation of property in the hands of the Church had -turned whole towns into ecclesiastical settlements. The friars had grown -more insolent as their riches increased, and as the king’s slavishness -to their cloth became more abject, and now during his last years their -power was practically supreme in the king’s court. - -Whilst Philip’s system had reduced his own country to this state, the -ships of Drake, Ralegh, Hawkins, Cumberland, and the rest of them were -harrying the Indies, the English were trading openly with Spanish -settlements in spite of royal prohibition, and in the insensate thirst -for gold, the Spanish colonists were wiping out whole nations of -inoffensive Indians who were unable or unwilling to satisfy their greed. -The missionary friars sometimes raised their voices against the -wholesale murder of their possible converts, but they cried in vain, for -Philip’s hide-bound system only referred the protests against the -slaughter to the men who perpetrated it. Philip’s American possessions -consequently were enriching his enemies rather than himself, and, as -Ralegh said, were furnishing the means for them to carry on war against -him. In the meanwhile his own coasts, both of Italy and Spain, were -practically undefended. The loss of the Armada had been a blow both to -his credit and to his naval power, from which he could never entirely -recover, and neither men, money, nor ships could easily be obtained. - -Perez lived caressed and flattered in Essex House, and knew all that -passed in Spain. Everything which his wickedness and malice could devise -to injure his enemy he urged with ceaseless pertinacity. He persuaded -the queen that her physician, the Jew Dr. Lopez, had plotted with Philip -to murder her. There was just enough foundation to give a plausible -appearance to the assertion, and Lopez was executed (June 7, 1594). That -he was ready to undertake such commissions is doubtless true, but -evidence is now forthcoming which tends to show that in this case Perez -lied, and that Lopez was innocent.[4] - -The accusation, however, was believed by Elizabeth and her ministers, -and when Perez proposed to his ambitious patron Essex a plan for -revenging his mistress he was eager to listen. But there was another -reason as well. The English Catholic refugees were still intriguing, and -urging Philip to take action to secure the crown of England for the -Infanta on Elizabeth’s death, whilst the Scots Catholics were -endeavouring to gain it for James, under their auspices if possible. Now -that a direct invasion of England by Philip was acknowledged to be -impossible, it was constantly pressed upon him by the English exiles -that he might disturb and paralyse Elizabeth by sending armed support to -the Irish Catholics. The complete collapse of the Desmond rebellion in -Munster, and the slaughter of the papal Spanish contingent (1580) had -made Philip cautious; so when Irish priests and emissaries came to him -from Tyrone and O’Donnell, he had been, as usual, vaguely sympathetic, -and took means to discover the real strength behind them before he -pledged himself. Spanish officers were sent to spy out the land and -report upon the capabilities of Tyrone. The latter was still keeping up -an appearance of great loyalty to the English, but his correspondence -with Philip was well known in London, as well as the hopes and promises -sent from Spain to the Irish Catholics. It would be a great stroke if -the fleet, which spies stated was fitting out for Ireland, could be -destroyed. As a matter of fact, Philip was so poor that he could do but -little to help Tyrone; and for years afterwards the agonised appeals of -the Irish Catholics were only answered by fair words and tardy, -inadequate, and ineffectual assistance. But for the moment Elizabeth was -led to believe that a powerful invasion of Ireland was imminent. - -When it came to finding the money and incurring the responsibility of a -direct invasion of Spain, however, the queen more than once drew back, -and it required all hot-headed Essex’s personal influence to bring her -to the point. At last when the commission was granted, the precedent of -the ill-fated Portuguese expedition of 1589 was followed. The first -object was, as then, stated to be the destruction of the King of Spain’s -fleet, and, secondly, the attack upon the homeward-bound Indian -flotilla. Only as a doubtful resource was a rich town to be attacked. As -in 1589, the command was to be divided--on this occasion between -Lord-Admiral Howard and Essex, with Ralegh as lieutenant. It was -difficult to get men to serve. “As fast as we press men on one day,” -writes Ralegh, “they run away the next.” - -The fleets left Plymouth on June 3, 1596. They were divided into four -English squadrons of nearly equal strength, the aggregate consisting of -17 queen’s ships, 76 freighted ships, and some small craft, while the -Dutch squadron had 24 sail. The crews in all amounted to 16,000 men. - -It was known that in Cadiz was concentrated the greater part of what was -left of Philip’s naval strength, and the city was the richest in Spain. -Ranged underneath the walls were 8 war galleys, and 17 galleons and -frigates were in the harbour, whilst 40 great ships were loading for -Mexico and elsewhere. - -On June 20 (O.S.) the fleets appeared before Cadiz, and, thanks to -Ralegh’s intervention, a combined attack was first made upon the -shipping. Essex cast his plumed hat into the sea in his exultation when -he heard the news. At dawn next morning Ralegh led the van in the -_War-sprite_. The city was taken by surprise and was panic-stricken, but -the Spanish ships in harbour had assumed some attitude of defence. The -effect of Philip’s system had been, as we have seen, to paralyse -initiative in his officers, and when there was no time to communicate -with him they were lost. After a few shots had been fired, Sotomayor, -the admiral, withdrew the ships he could save to the end of the bay at -Puerto Real, out of reach of the English guns. At night, before the -decisive attack, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, the craven of the Armada, -but still Philip’s high admiral, arrived. As usual, he could only look -on helplessly, whilst the English squadrons sailed into the harbour, -sank two great galleons, then landed the soldiers, stormed the old -crumbling walls and seized the city, almost without resistance. The -terror inspired now by the English at sea perfectly dominated the -Spaniards. The fortress of Cadiz was ruinous, the guns were old and -dirty, ammunition was short, and after two days of starvation the -defenders made terms of surrender. Every ship in harbour was burnt or -sunk, either by the English or the Spaniards themselves, and the -terrified sailors had been drowned by hundreds, out of sheer fright at -the “devilish folk.” There were 5000 Spanish women who had taken refuge -in the fortress. They were allowed to leave without the slightest -molestation, and the English commanders even provided boats to convey -the nuns and sick from the hospitals to a place of safety. Then for -fifteen days the city was submitted to a systematic pillage. Nothing was -left, and the richest city in Spain was reduced to a smoking wreck. - -“Neither ship, nor fleet, nor Cadiz remains,” wrote Medina Sidonia to -Philip. The fighting, such as it was, had only lasted three hours, and -there had been destroyed, mostly by the Spaniards, 13 Spanish -men-of-war, all the war galleys, and 40 of the best merchantmen in -Spain, with merchandise worth 11,000,000 ducats. The fortresses and -defences were razed to the ground, the first maritime city in the -country was destroyed, and the seal stamped deep on the final decadence -of Spain. - -Philip’s system had brought him to this. He could not defend his own -harbours, much less avenge the injuries done to him. Henry IV. had -beaten him in France, the Nassaus had beaten him in Holland, the -English had beaten him on the sea. He was utterly bankrupt, his country -ruined, his dream of the universal predominance of Catholicism, and the -omnipotence of Spain proved to be a chimera. He was old and weary, -suffering incessant bodily agony, and yet with all this he never lost -his faith in his divine mission and the final success of his cause. “Thy -will, God, be done, not mine,” says an eye-witness of his last days, -were the words constantly on his lips. - -During the spring of 1598 the king was almost unable to move from gout, -but still continued his work at his papers. At the end of June he was -carried to the Escorial in a litter, and soon afterwards malignant -tumours broke out in various parts of his limbs. The pain of his malady -was so intense that he could not even endure a cloth to touch the parts, -and he lay slowly rotting to death for fifty-three dreadful days, -without a change of garments or the proper cleansing of his sores. - -Through all the repulsive and pitiful circumstances that accompanied his -last illness his patience and serenity never left him. His awful -sufferings were borne without a plaint, and his constant words were -those of resignation and assurance of divine forgiveness for his sins. -Night and day, ceaselessly around him, went on the propitiatory offices -of his Church; through the weary hours of pain the eyes of the dying -king were fixed in ecstasy on the holy emblems, and often in his anguish -of devotion he would bite and worry the coarse crucifix which never left -him, the same crucifix that had been grasped by the dying hands of the -emperor. On August 16 the nuncio brought him the papal blessing and -plenary absolution. Philip by this time was incapable of moving, a mere -mass of vermin and repulsive wounds, but his spirit conquered the -frailty of the flesh, and he fervently repeated his immovable faith in -the Church and the cause to which he had devoted his life. On September -1, in the presence of his son and daughter Isabel, the extreme unction -for the dying was administered, and although he had hitherto been so -weak as to be inaudible, he suddenly surprised the priests by himself -reading in a loud voice the last office of the Church. When the -administrant, fearing to tire him, said that it was unnecessary to -repeat the office when the sacrament was administered, the dying man -objected: “Oh yes, say it again and again, for it is very good.” - -Then all the attendants were sent from the room, and Philip was left -alone with his son. “I meant to save you this scene,” he said, “but I -wish you to see how the monarchies of the earth end. You see that God -has denuded me of all the glory and majesty of a monarch in order to -hand them to you. In a very few hours I shall be covered only with a -poor shroud and girded with a coarse rope. The king’s crown is already -falling from my brows, and death will place it on yours. Two things I -especially commend to you: one is that you keep always faithful to the -Holy Catholic Church, and the other is that you treat your subjects -justly. This crown will some day fall away from your head, as it now -falls from mine. You are young, as I was once. My days are numbered and -draw to a close; the tale of yours God alone knows, but they too must -end.” - -This was Philip’s farewell to his royal state, for he concerned himself -no more with mundane affairs. Patient, kindly solicitous for those -around him, in gentle faith and serene resignation, he waited for his -release. On September 11, two days before he died, he took a last -farewell of his son, and of his beloved daughter, the Infanta Isabel, -who for years had been his chief solace and constant companion, even in -his hours of labour. He was leaving her the sovereignty of the -Netherlands, in union with the Archduke Albert, whom she was to marry, -and he urged her to uphold inviolate the Catholic faith in her -dominions. The farewell was an affecting one for the Infanta, but the -father was serene through it all. When it was ended he gave to his -confessor, Father Yepes, his political testament for his son, copied -from the exhortations of St. Louis. He would fain have taken the -sacrament again, but Moura was obliged to tell him that the physicians -feared he was too weak to swallow the host. Towards the next night Moura -warned him that his hour had nearly come, and he smiled gratefully when -he heard it. All through the dragging night in the small gloomy chamber -the prayers and dirges for the dying went on. When for a moment they -ceased, the dying king would urge their continuance. “Fathers,” he said, -“go on. The nearer I draw to the fountain, the greater grows my thirst.” -During the night the watchers thought the great change had come, and -hastily placed in the king’s hand a blessed candle he had kept for many -years to illumine his last moments upon earth. But he was still -collected. “No,” he said, “not yet. The time has not come.” - -Between three and four in the morning, as the first pale streaks of -coming dawn glimmered beyond the stony peaks of the Guadarramas, Philip -turned to Fernando de Toledo, who was at his bedside, and whispered, -“Give it to me; it is time now”; and as he took the sacred taper, his -face was all irradiated with smiles. His truckle bed almost overlooked -the high altar of the cathedral, the building of which had been his -pride, and already the shrill voices of the choristers far below were -heard singing the early mass which he had endowed long ago for his own -spiritual welfare. With this sound in his ears and prayers upon his -lips, his last moments ebbed away. When those around him thought that -all was over and had fallen to weeping, he suddenly opened his eyes -again and fixed them immovably on the crucifix. He shut them no more, -and as they glazed into awful stoniness he gave three little gasps, and -Philip the Prudent had passed beyond. He died gripping the poor crucifix -which still rests upon his breast, and he was buried inclosed in the -coffin he had had made from the timbers of the _Cinco Chagas_, one of -the great galleons that had fought the heretics. In the awful jasper -charnel-house at the Escorial, which will ever be the most fitting -monument of his hard and joyless life, his body has rested through three -centuries of detraction and misunderstanding. - -Through all the tribulations and calamities that have afflicted his -country, the affectionate regard in which Spaniards bear the memory of -Philip the Prudent has never waned. His father was an infinitely greater -man, but he has no such place in the hearts of his countrymen, for -Philip was a true Spaniard to the core, a faithful concentration of the -qualities, good and evil, of the nation he loved. If Spaniards were -narrow and rigid in their religious views, it was the natural result of -centuries of struggle, foot to foot with the infidel; if they were -regardless of human suffering in the furtherance of their objects, it -was because they lavishly and eagerly gave up their own lives for the -same ends, and oriental fatalism had been grafted upon Gothic -stubbornness in their national character. But they, like their king, -were patient, faithful, dutiful, and religious. - -Philip was born to a hopeless battle. Spain, always a poor country of -itself, was saddled by the marriage of Philip’s grandparents with a -European foreign policy which cursed it with continuous wars for a -century. The tradition he had inherited, and his own knowledge, showed -him that his only chance of safety was to maintain a close political -alliance with England. We have seen how, by fair means and by foul, he -strove to this end through a long life, and how from the mere force of -circumstances it was unattainable. Spain’s power was imperilled from the -moment that Philip the Handsome brought the inheritance of Burgundy to -Jane the Mad, and the doom was sealed when Henry Tudor cast his eyes -upon Anne Boleyn; for the first event made a fixed alliance with England -vital, and the second made it impossible. It may be objected that if a -man of nimble mind and easy conscience had been in Philip’s place, and -had fought Elizabeth, Catharine, and Orange with their own weapons of -tergiversation and religious opportunism, the result might have been -different, as it also might have been if he had opened his mind to new -ideas and accepted the reformed faith. But apart from his mental -qualities, and his monastic training, which made such an attitude -impossible for him, his party had been chosen for him before his birth, -and he inherited the championship of obscurantism, as he inherited the -task which obscurantism was powerless to perform. Burdened thus, as he -was, with an inherited work for which neither he, nor his inherited -means, was adequate, it was only natural that he should adopt the -strange views of the semi-divinity of himself and his mission that so -deeply coloured most of the acts of his life. The descendant and the -ancestor of a line of religious mystics, he looked upon himself as only -an exalted instrument of a higher power. Philip of Austria could not be -defeated, because Philip of Austria was not fighting. It was God’s -battle, not his; and he might well be calm in the face of reverses that -would have broken another man’s heart; for he knew, as he often said, -that in the long-run the Almighty would fight for His own hand, and that -defeat for Him was impossible. Where his reasoning was weak was in the -assumption that the cause of the Almighty and the interests of Philip of -Austria were necessarily identical. - - - - -GENEALOGICAL TABLE SHOWING PHILIP’S CLAIM TO THE ENGLISH CROWN - - Edward III. = Philippa of Hainault - | - +---------------------+-------------+--------+------------------------+ - | | | | - Edward, the Duke of Clarence Duke of York Blanche = John of = Constance of -Black Prince | | Plantagenet | Gaunt | Portugal - | Philippa, Countess of March | +-------------+ +----------+ - | | | | | | - RICHARD II. Roger Mortimer, Earl of March | Henry IV. Philippa = John, King Catharine = Henry of - | +-----------+ | | of Portugal | Castile - | | | | | - Anne Mortimer = Richard Henry V. Dom Duarte | - | Plantagenet, Earl | | | - | of Cambridge HENRY VI. Fernando John II. of Castile - | | | - Richard, Duke of York Manoel | - | | Isabel the Catholic - +-------------+------+----------+ | | - | | | | | - RICHARD III. Edward IV. George Plantagenet, Duke | | - | | of Clarence | | - +-------------+------+ | | | - | | | Margaret = Sir R. Pole | Jane the Mad -EDWARD V. DUKE OF YORK | | | | - | +---------+------+---------+---------+ +-------------+ | - | | | | | | | - | Henry, Lord Geoffrey Arthur Reginald Isabel = Charles V. - | Montacute Pole Pole Pole | - | | | | PHILIP - | Catharine = Hastings, | Henry Pole - | Pole | 19th Earl | - | | of | - | | Huntingdon | - | | | - | 20th Earl Geoffrey Pole - | of Huntingdon - | | - | 21st Earl - | of Huntingdon - | - Elizabeth of York = Henry VII. - | - +----------------------------++---------------------------+ - | | | -Henry VIII. James IV. = Margaret = Earl of Angus Mary Tudor = C. Brandon, Duke - | of Scotland | Tudor | (Douglas) | of Suffolk - | | | | - +---------+--------+ | | +-------------------+ - | | | | | | | -EDWARD VI. MARY ELIZABETH | | Frances = Henry Grey, | - | | | Duke of Suffolk | - James V. Margaret = Earl of Lennox | | - | Douglas | (Stuart) +--+------+------+ | - | | | | | | - | +---------+--------+ Catharine Jane Mary | - | | | | | - Mary = Henry Charles Stuart, Earl | Eleanor = Clifford, - | Stuart, | of Lennox | | 2nd Earl - | Lord Darnley | Edward Seymour, | of Cumberland - | | Lord Beauchamp | - JAMES VI. | | Earl of Cumberland - ARABELLA STUART = WILLIAM SEYMOUR - - - - -APPENDIX - - -A list of some of the printed authorities upon which the present -monograph has been based, in addition to the unpublished State papers at -Simancas, in the Archives Nationales (Paris), and in the British Museum, -etc.:-- - - _Calendar of Spanish State Papers_, Elizabeth, Rolls Series, - volumes i. to iv., 1892-1897. - - Prescott, _History of the Reign of Philip II._, 3 volumes, London, - 1855. - - _Estudios sobre Felipe II._ (translation of articles by G. - Maurenbrecher, M. Philippson, and C. Justi, with prologue and - appendices by Ricardo Hinojosa), Madrid, 1887, 1 volume. - - Cabrera de Cordoba, _Felipe II. Rey de España_, Madrid, 1619. - - Leti Gregorio, _Vita del Catolico Ré Filippo II._, Cologne, 1679. - - Porreño, _Vida y Hechos del Señor Rey Felipe II., el Prudente_ (new - edition), Valladolid, 1863. - - Cervero de la Torre, _Testimonio autentico y verdadero de las cosas - notables que pasaron en la dichosa muerte del Rey Felipe II._ (an - account of Philip’s death by his Chaplain), Valencia, 1589, 1 - volume. - - Fernandez Montaña, _Nueva Luz y verdad historica sobre Felipe II._ - (an unrestrained panegyric of Philip from a Catholic priest’s point - of view), Madrid, 1891, 1 volume. - - Fernandez Montaña, _Mas Luz y verdad historica sobre Felipe II. el - Prudente_ (supplement to the same), Madrid, 1892, 1 volume. - - _Correspondence de Granvelle_ (edited by C. Piot), Brussels, 1884. - - _Papiers d’État de Granvelle_ (edited by Weiss), Paris, 1843. - - H. Forneron, _Histoire de Philippe II._, Paris, 1880. - - Martin Hume, _The Year after the Armada_ (for accounts of Philip’s - marriage, the English attack on Portugal, the social condition of - Spain, etc.), London, 1896, 1 volume. - - _Documentos ineditos para la historia de España_, Madrid, in - progress. (A large number of these volumes contain valuable papers - referring to the reign of Philip II.) - - Flores, _Reinas Catolicas_, Madrid, 1770 (an account of the Queens - of Spain). - - Philippson, _Ein Ministerium unter Philipp II._, Berlin, 1895 (an - account of Granvelle’s ministry in Spain, 1579-1586). - - Gachard, _Correspondence de Philip II._, Brussels (correspondence - mainly on Flemish affairs). - - Gachard, _Correspondence de Philippe II. avec ses filles_, Paris, - 1884, 1 volume (familiar letters from the king to his two children - in 1580-1581). - - M. la Fuente, _Historia General de España_, Madrid, 1885. - - Strada, _Histoire de la Guerre de Flandre_, Brussels, 1712, 3 - volumes. - - Muro, Gaspar, _La Princesa de Eboli_, Madrid, 1877, 1 volume (with - valuable preface by Señor Canovas de Castillo). - - Perez Antonio, _Relaciones, etc._, Geneva, 1649, 1 volume. - - Mignet, _Antonio Perez et Philippe II._, Paris, 1881. - - Llorente, _Histoire critique de l’Inquisition_, Paris, 1817. - - Fernandez Duro, _Estudios historicos del Reinado de Felipe II._, - Madrid, 1890 (an account of the disaster of Los Gelves, etc.). - - Fernandez Duro, _La Armada Invencible_, 2 volumes, Madrid, 1885 (a - Spanish account of the Armada). - - Baumstark, _Philippe II. Roi d’Espagne_ (French translation by G. - Kurth), Liège, 1877 (German Catholic view of the king). - - Du Prat, _Elizabeth de Valois_, Paris, 1850 (Life of Philip’s third - wife). - - Ranke, _Zur Geschichte des Don Carlos_ (in the “Wiener Jahrbüchen - der Literatur,” vol. xlvi., gives all the early relations about Don - Carlos), Vienna, 1829. - - Schmidt, _Epochen und Katastrophen: Don Carlos und Philipp II._, - Berlin, 1864 (against Philip). - - Alberi, _Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti_, 15 volumes, Firenze, - 1839-1863. - - V. la Fuente, _Historia eclesiastica de España_, Madrid, 1874. - _Calendars of Venetian State Papers_, Rolls Series, in progress. - - Sepulveda, _De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., Opera_, vol. ii., Madrid, - 1780. - - Motley, _The Rise of the Dutch Republic_, London, 1859. - - Gachard, _Don Carlos et Philippe II._, Brussels, 1863. - - Campana, _Vita del catolico Don Filippo secondo, con le guerre dei - suoi tempi_ (Vicenza, 1605). - - Calderon de la Barca, J. M., _Gloriosa defensa de Malta_, Madrid, - 1796 (best account of the siege of Malta). - - Morel Fatio, _L’Espagne au 16me et 17me Siècles_ (accounts of - Madrid, letters from Don Juan, etc.), Paris, 1878. - - Mendoza, _Guerra de Granada_, Valencia, 1795 (contemporary account - of the Morisco war). - - THE END - - _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. - -FOOTNOTES: - - [1] The bull is printed in full for the first time in Döllinger’s - _Beiträge_. - - [2] The destination of Drake was kept so secret that the first hint - that he might attack Cadiz was only made by Stafford, the English - ambassador in Paris (who was a traitor in Philip’s pay), to Mendoza - on April 9. He told Mendoza that not a living soul but the queen and - Cecil really knew what the design was, the lord admiral himself being - kept in the dark, “as the queen considered him a frank-spoken man.” - It was only by chance hints that Stafford surmised that Cadiz might - be the destination. In the letter by which Philip conveyed the news - of Drake’s ravages in Cadiz to Mendoza he says that he grieves not - so much for the actual harm done, as for the daring insolence of the - thing. - - [3] Immediately after Drake had sailed from Plymouth, André de Loo - arrived in London with a peaceful proposal from Farnese, and the queen - was much distressed that her efforts to recall Drake were ineffectual. - - [4] This evidence will be found printed at length in the fourth volume - of the _Calendar of Spanish State Papers of Elizabeth_ now (August - 1897) in the press. - - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -arrear=> arrears {pg 56} - -the investure from the new pope=> the investure from the new pope {pg -165} - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Philip II. of Spain, by Martin Andrew Sharp Hume - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILIP II. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Philip II. of Spain - -Author: Martin Andrew Sharp Hume - -Release Date: October 20, 2015 [EBook #50261] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILIP II. OF SPAIN *** - - - - -Produced by Josep Cols Canals, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="c"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="279" height="450" alt="book cover" title="" /> -</p> - -<p class="eng">Foreign Statesmen</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_i" id="page_i"></a>{i}</span> </p> - -<p class="cb">PHILIP II. OF SPAIN<br /><br /><br /> -<br /><img src="images/colophon.png" width="175" height="66" alt="colophon" /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_ii" id="page_ii"></a>{ii}</span> </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_iii" id="page_iii"></a>{iii}</span></p> - -<h1>PHILIP II. OF SPAIN</h1> - -<p class="c"> <br /> -BY<br /> -MARTIN A. S. HUME -<br /> -<small>EDITOR OF<br /> -THE ‘CALENDAR OF SPANISH STATE PAPERS OF ELIZABETH’<br /> -(PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE)</small><br /> -<br /><br /> -<i>Philippus ipse Hispaniæ desiderio magnopere aestuabat, nec aliud<br /> -quam Hispaniam loquebatur.</i><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;"><span class="smcap">Sepulveda.</span></span><br /> -<br /><br /> -MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED<br /> -ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON<br /> -1911<br /><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_iv" id="page_iv"></a>{iv}</span><br /> -<small><span class="smcap">Copyright</span><br /> -<i>First Edition 1897</i><br /> -<i>Reprinted 1899, 1906, 1911</i></small> -</p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="" -style="margin:auto auto;max-width:89%;"> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Philip’s failure, and the reasons for it—His birth and infancy—His -appearance and character—His education by Siliceo and -Zuñiga—The emperor meets his son—The consolidation of -authority in Spain—Suggestions for marriage with Jeanne -d’Albret—Philip made Regent of Spain—The emperor’s instructions -to his son—His system of government—Character -of his councillors—Philip’s marriage with Maria of Portugal—Birth -of Don Carlos and death of the princess—Doña Isabel -de Osorio—Philip in his domestic relations—Project for securing -to Philip the imperial crown—The suzerainty of Spain -over Italy—Philip’s voyage through Germany</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_001">Page 1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>The union of the Low Countries to Spain—The Italian suzerainty—The -effects thereof—Etiquette of the House of Burgundy -adopted in Spain—Ruy Gomez—Philip’s voyage—His unpopularity -with Germans and Flemings—Fresh proposals for -his marriage—The family compact for the imperial succession—Defection -of Maurice of Saxony—War with France—Treaty -of Passau—Defeat of the emperor at Metz</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_020">20</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Proposal to marry Philip to Queen Mary of England—The need for -alliance with England—The negotiations of Renard—Opposition<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_vi" id="page_vi"></a>{vi}</span> -of France—Unpopularity of the match in England—Philip’s -voyage to England—His affability—His first interview -with Mary—The marriage—Philip made King of Naples—Failure -of the objects of the marriage—Philip’s policy in England—Pole’s -mission—Philip and the persecution of Catholics -in England—Philip’s disappointment and departure</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_030">30</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Philip in favour of a moderate policy in England—His attitude -towards religion generally—He requests armed aid from England -against the French—The emperor’s embarrassments in -Italy—Alba made Philip’s viceroy in Italy—Factions in Philip’s -court—Ruy Gomez and Alba—The emperor’s abdication— -Philip’s changed position—His attitude towards the papacy—The -Spanish Church—Pope Paul IV. and the Spaniards in -Italy—Excommunication of Philip—Invasion of Rome by -Alba—Philip’s second visit to England</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_043">43</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>French intrigue against Mary—England at war with France—Battle -of St. Quintin—Philip’s tardiness—The English contingent—The -loss of Calais—Feria goes to England—His -negotiations—Condition of England—The English fleet used -by Philip—Philip and Elizabeth—Negotiations for peace—Death -of Mary—Plans for Elizabeth’s marriage—Peace of -Cateau Cambresis—Philip’s policy in England</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_053">53</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Philip’s plan for a French alliance—His marriage with Elizabeth -de Valois—Philip’s embarrassments in the Netherlands—De -Granvelle—Philip’s departure from Flanders—Condition of -affairs in Spain—The Spanish Church—Death of Paul IV.—The -Inquisition—Bartolomé de Carranza—Philip’s arrival and -routine in Spain—The auto de fé at Valladolid<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_vii" id="page_vii"></a>{vii}</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_064">64</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Arrival of Elizabeth de Valois in Spain—Her influence over -Philip—Position of affairs in France—War with England—Philip’s -attitude towards France—Death of Francis II.—Spanish -disaster at Los Gelves—Position of Spain in the -Mediterranean</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_079">79</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Don Carlos—His relations with Elizabeth de Valois—French intrigues -for his marriage—His illness—The Cortes of Aragon—Jeanne -d’Albret and Henry of Navarre—The Council of Trent -and the Inquisition—Philip and the pope—Renewed struggles -with the Turks—Siege of Malta</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_088">88</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Troubles in the Netherlands—Granvelle’s unpopularity—William -of Orange and Egmont—Their resignation and protest—Margaret -of Parma—Assembly of the Chapter of the Golden Fleece—Riots -at Valenciennes—Discontent of the Flemish nobles—They -retire from government—Granvelle’s dismissal—The -maladministration of the States—Egmont’s mission to Spain—Philip’s -policy in the States—The Beggars—Orange’s action—Philip -determines to exterminate heresy in the States—Philip’s -projected voyage thither</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_099">99</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Renewed contest between Philip and the papacy—Condition of Don -Carlos—His arrest and imprisonment—Philip’s explanations—Carlos’ -last illness and death—Death of Elizabeth de Valois—The -interviews of Bayonne and the Catholic League—Catharine -de Medici—Philip face to face with Protestantism—Philip -and the Moriscos—Rising of the Moriscos—Deza at Granada—Don -Juan of Austria—Expulsion of the Moriscos from -Andalucia<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_viii" id="page_viii"></a>{viii}</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_115">115</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Philip and England—Elizabeth seizes his treasure—Spanish plots -against her—Philip and the northern rebellion—The excommunication -of Elizabeth—Ridolfi’s plot—Philip’s hesitancy—Prohibition -of English trade with Spain—Its futility—Alba’s -retirement from Flanders—Philip’s responsibility for Alba’s -proceedings—The tenth penny—Philip’s disapproval—Orange’s -approaches to the French</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_136">136</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Philip’s fourth marriage—The killing of Montigny—Anne of -Austria—Philip’s domestic life—His industry—The Escorial—His -patronage of art—His character—Renewed war with the -Turks—Don Juan commands the Spanish force—The victory -of Lepanto—Don Juan’s great projects—Antonio Perez</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_153">153</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>The Spanish troops in Flanders—Don Juan sent to Flanders—His -projects for invading England—Mutiny of the Spanish troops -in Flanders—The Spanish fury—Evacuation of Flanders by -the Spanish troops—Perez’s plot against Don Juan—The -murder of Escobedo—Don Juan seizes Namur—Renewal of the -war—The battle of Gemblours—Desperation of Don Juan—His -death—Alexander Farnese</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_168">168</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Philip’s ineffectual action against Elizabeth—The Desmond rebellion—Philip’s -conquest of Portugal—Recall of Alba and -Granvelle to Philip’s councils—Don Antonio, Prior of O Crato—Death -of Anne of Austria—Philip in Portugal—Flight of -Antonio—His reception in England and France—The Duke of -Alençon—Philip and Mary Stuart—James Stuart—Fresh proposals<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_ix" id="page_ix"></a>{ix}</span> -of the Scottish Catholics to Philip—Philip and Granvelle’s -views with regard to England—Lennox and the Jesuits -mismanage the plot—Philip’s claim to the English crown—Expulsion -of Mendoza from England—The English exiles urge -Philip to invade England—Sixtus V.—Intrigues in Rome—The -Babington plot</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_182">182</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>The Infanta to be Queen of England—Approaches of the Scottish -Catholic lords to Philip—Execution of Mary Stuart—Intrigues -for the English succession—Drake’s expedition to Cadiz—The -peace negotiations with Farnese—Preparations for the Armada—Sailing -of the Armada from Lisbon—Its return to Vigo—Medina -Sidonia advises its abandonment—Its strength—Engagements -with the English—Panic at Calais—Final defeat—Causes -of the disaster—Philip’s reception of the news</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_202">202</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Don Antonio in England—Catharine’s support of him—Strozzi’s -defeat at St. Michaels—Philip’s patronage of assassination—Philip -and the League—Renewal of the war of religion in -France—The murder of Guise—Imprisonment of Antonio Perez -and the Princess of Eboli—Perez’s treachery—His escape to -Aragon—The <i>fueros</i> of Aragon—Philip proceeds against Perez—Perez -arrested by the Inquisition of Aragon—Rising in -Zaragoza—Perez’s escape—Suppression of the Aragonese</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_223">223</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Philip and Mayenne—The English attack upon Lisbon—Assassination -of Henry III.—Philip’s plans in France—The war of the -League—The battle of Ivry—Philip’s attitude towards Mayenne—Farnese -enters France—Relief of Paris—Retirement of Farnese—Philip -changes his plans in France—Farnese’s second -campaign—Henry IV. goes to mass—Enters Paris as king—Exit -of the Spaniards<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_x" id="page_x"></a>{x}</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_237">237</a></td></tr> - -<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a></th></tr> - -<tr><td>Blighting influence of Philip’s system on his officers—Effects of -Philip’s routine on the administration—Social condition of -Spain and the colonies—Dr. Lopez and Antonio Perez—Philip -II. and Tyrone’s rebellion—The English sacking of Cadiz—Philip’s -resignation—His last illness and death—Results of his -life—Causes of the decadence of the Spanish power</td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_249">249</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><a href="#Genealogical_Table_showing_Philips_Claim_to_the_English_Crown"><span class="smcap">Genealogical Table showing Philip’s Claim to the -English Crown</span></a></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_263">263</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><a href="#APPENDIX"><span class="smcap">Appendix</span></a></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_265">265</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a>{1}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Philip’s failure, and the reasons for it—His birth and -infancy—His appearance and character—His education by Siliceo and -Zuñiga—The emperor meets his son—The consolidation of authority -in Spain—Suggestions for marriage with Jeanne d’Albret—Philip -made Regent of Spain—The emperor’s instructions to his son—His -system of government—Character of his councillors—Philip’s -marriage with Maria of Portugal—Birth of Don Carlos and death of -the princess—Doña Isabel de Osorio—Philip in his domestic -relations—Project for securing to Philip the imperial crown—The -suzerainty of Spain over Italy—Philip’s voyage through Germany.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">F<small>OR</small> three hundred years a bitter controversy has raged around the -actions of Philip II. of Spain. Until our own times no attempt even had -been made to write his life-history from an impartial point of view. He -had been alternately deified and execrated, until through the mists of -time and prejudice he loomed rather as the permanent embodiment of a -system than as an individual man swayed by changing circumstances and -controlled by human frailties.</p> - -<p>The more recent histories of his reign—the works of English, American, -German, and French scholars—have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a>{2}</span> treated their subject with fuller -knowledge and broader sympathies, but they have necessarily been to a -large extent histories of the great events which convulsed Europe for -fifty years at the most critical period of modern times. The space to be -occupied by the present work will not admit of this treatment of the -subject. The purpose is therefore to consider Philip mainly as a -statesman, in relation to the important problems with which he had to -deal, rather than to write a connected account of the occurrences of a -long reign. It will be necessary for us to try to penetrate the objects -he aimed at and the influences, personal and exterior, which ruled him, -and to seek the reasons for his failure. For he did fail utterly. In -spite of very considerable powers of mind, of a long lifetime of -incessant toil, of deep-laid plans, and vast ambitions, his record is -one continued series of defeats and disappointments; and in exchange for -the greatest heritage that Christendom had ever seen, with the -apparently assured prospect of universal domination which opened before -him at his birth, he closed his dying eyes upon dominions distracted and -ruined beyond all recovery, a bankrupt State, a dwindled prestige, and a -defeated cause. He had devoted his life to the task of establishing the -universal supremacy of Catholicism in the political interests of Spain, -and he was hopelessly beaten.</p> - -<p>The reasons for his defeat will be seen in the course of the present -work to have been partly personal and partly circumstantial. The causes -of both these sets of reasons were laid at periods long anterior to -Philip’s birth.</p> - -<p>The first of the great misfortunes of Spain was an<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a>{3}</span> event which at the -time looked full of bright promise, namely, the marriage of Juana, -daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel, to Philip of Austria, son of the -Emperor Maximilian. This marriage eventually burdened the King of Spain -with the German dominions of the House of Austria, the imperial crown, -with its suzerainty over Italy, the duchy of Milan, and, above all, the -rich inheritance of the House of Burgundy, the Franche Comté, Holland, -and the Netherlands. Even before this the crown of Aragon had been -weakened rather than strengthened by the possession of Sicily and -Naples, which latter brought it into inimical contact with France, and -also necessitated the assertion and defence of its rights as a -Mediterranean Power in constant rivalry with Turks and Algerians. This -had been bad, but the vast and scattered territories of Charles V. -cursed Spain with a foreign policy in every corner of Europe. In his -Austrian dominions the emperor was the outpost of Christianity against -the Turk, the bulwark which restrained the Moslem flood from swamping -eastern Europe. His galleys were those which were to keep the -Mediterranean a Christian sea. Flanders and the Franche Comté gave him a -long flat frontier conterminous with France, whose jealous eyes had been -fixed covetously for centuries on the fine harbours and flourishing -towns of the Low Countries.</p> - -<p>Most of these interests were of very secondary importance to Spain -itself. The country had only quite recently been unified; the vast new -dominions which had fallen under its sway in America might well have -monopolised its activity for centuries to come. The geographical -position of the Iberian peninsula itself<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a>{4}</span> practically isolated it from -the other countries of Europe, and rendered it unnecessary for it to -take any part in the discords that prevailed over the rest of the -continent; whilst the recent religious struggles with the Moors in Spain -had consolidated Catholic Christianity in the country, and prevented the -reformed doctrines from obtaining any footing there. Spain indeed, alone -and aloof, with a fertile soil, fine harbours, and a well-disposed -population, seemed destined to enjoy a career of activity, prosperity, -and peace. But the possession of Flanders brought it into constant -rivalry with France, and necessitated a close alliance with England, -whilst the imperial connection dragged it into ceaseless wars with the -Turks, and, above all, with the rising power of Protestantism, which -ultimately proved its ruin. Philip, who succeeded to this thorny -inheritance, was, on the other hand, bounded and isolated by mental -limitations as irremovable as the Pyrenees which shut in his native -land. As King of Spain alone, having only local problems to deal with, -modest, cautious, painstaking, and just, he might have been a happy and -successful—even a great—monarch, but as leader of the conservative -forces of Christendom he was in a position for which his gifts unfitted -him.</p> - -<p>He was the offspring of the marriage of first cousins, both his parents -being grandchildren of cunning, avaricious Ferdinand, and of Isabel the -Catholic, whose undoubted genius was accompanied by high-strung -religious exaltation, which would now be considered neurotic. Her -daughter, Juana the Mad, Philip’s grandmother, passed a long lifetime in -melancholy torpor. In Charles V. the tainted blood was mingled with the -gross appetites<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a>{5}</span> and heavy frames of the burly Hapsburgs. The strength -and power of resistance inherited from them enabled him, until middle -age only, to second his vast mental power with his indomitable bodily -energy. But no sooner was the elasticity of early manhood gone than he -too sank into despairing lethargy and religious mysticism. Philip’s -mother, the Empress Isabel, came from the same stock, and was the -offspring of several generations of consanguineous marriages. The curse -which afflicted Philip’s progenitors, and was transmitted with augmented -horror to his descendants, could not be expected to pass over Philip -himself; and the explanation of his attitude towards the political -events of his time must often be sought in the hereditary gloom which -fell upon him, and in the unshakable belief that he was in some sort a -junior partner with Providence, specially destined to link his mundane -fortunes with the higher interests of religion. His slow laboriousness, -his indomitable patience, his marble serenity, all seem to have been -imitated, perhaps unconsciously, from the relentless, resistless action -of divine forces.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, his inherited characteristics were accentuated by his -education and training. From the time of his birth his father was -continually at war with infidels and heretics, and the earliest ideas -that can have been instilled into his infant mind were that he and his -were fighting the Almighty’s battles and destroying His enemies. In his -first years he was surrounded by the closest and narrowest devotees, for -ever beseeching the divine blessing on the arms of the absent emperor; -and when the time came for Philip to receive political instruction from -his father, at an age when most boys are frank<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a>{6}</span> and confiding, he was -ceaselessly told that his great destiny imposed upon him, above all, the -supreme duty of self-control, and of listening to all counsellors whilst -trusting none. No wonder, then, that Philip, lacking his father’s bodily -vigour, grew up secret, crafty, and over-cautious. No wonder that his -fervid faith in the divinity of his destiny and the sacredness of his -duty kept him uncomplaining amidst calamities that would have crushed -men of greater gifts and broader views. No wonder that this sad, slow, -distrustful man, with his rigid methods and his mind for microscopic -detail, firm in his belief that the Almighty was working through him for -His great ends, should have been hopelessly beaten in the fight with -nimble adversaries burdened with no fixed convictions or conscientious -scruples, who shifted their policy as the circumstances of the moment -dictated. Philip thought that he was fittingly performing a divine task -by nature’s own methods. He forgot that nature can afford to await -results indefinitely, whilst men cannot.</p> - -<p>Philip was born at the house of Don Bernardino de Pimentel, near the -church of St. Paul in Valladolid, on May 21, 1527. His mother was -profoundly impressed with the great destiny awaiting her offspring, and -thought that any manifestation of pain or weakness during her labour -might detract from the dignity of the occasion. One of her Portuguese -ladies, fearing that this effort of self-control on the part of the -empress would add to her sufferings, begged her to give natural vent to -her feelings. “Silence!” said the empress, “die I may, but wail I will -not,” and then she ordered that her face should be hidden from the -light, that no involuntary sign of pain should be seen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a>{7}</span></p> - -<p>In this spirit of self-control and overpowering majesty the weak, sickly -baby was reared by his devout mother. Two other boy infants who were -born to her died of epilepsy in early childhood, and Philip, her -first-born, remained her only son.</p> - -<p>In the midst of the rejoicings that heralded his birth news came to -Valladolid that the emperor’s Spanish and German troops had assaulted -and sacked Rome, and that Pope Clement VII. was surrounded by infuriated -soldiery, a prisoner in his own castle of St. Angelo. In the long -rivalry which Charles had sustained with the French king, Francis I., -who had competed with him for the imperial crown, one of the main -factors was the dread of the entire domination of Italy by Spain, by -virtue of the suzerainty of the empire over the country. The excitable -and unstable pontiff, Clement VII., thought that his own interests were -threatened, and made common cause with Francis. The emperor’s troops -were commanded by Charles de Montpensier, Duke of Bourbon, who had -quarrelled with his own sovereign, and was in arms against him, and he -unquestionably exceeded the emperor’s wishes in the capture and sacking -of the eternal city, the intention having been to have held the pontiff -in check by terror rather than to degrade him in the eyes of the world. -Charles made what amends he could for the blunder committed by Bourbon, -and at once suspended the rejoicings for the birth of his heir. But the -gossips in Valladolid gravely shook their heads, and prophesied that the -great emperor’s first-born was destined to be a bane to the papacy in -years to come. It will be seen in the course of the present book that -during the whole of his life<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a>{8}</span> Philip regarded the papacy and the persons -of the pontiffs without any superstitious awe, and mainly as instruments -in his hands to achieve the great work entrusted to him by Providence.</p> - -<p>In April 1528, when Philip was eleven months old, he received the oath -of allegiance as heir to the crown from the Cortes of Castile, and from -that time until the return of his father to Spain in 1533 the royal -infant remained under the care of his mother and one of her Portuguese -ladies, Doña Leonor de Mascarenhas, to whom Philip in after-life was -devotedly attached. He was even then a preternaturally grave and silent -child, with a fair pink-and-white skin, fine yellow hair, and full blue -lymphatic eyes, rather too close together. It is no uncommon thing for -princes to be represented as prodigies, but Philip seems, in truth, to -have been really an extraordinary infant, and exhibited great aptitude -for certain studies, especially mathematics. Charles on his arrival in -Spain decided to give to his heir a separate household and masters who -should prepare him for the duties of his future position. A list was -made of the principal priestly professors of the Spanish universities, -which was gradually reduced by elimination to three names. These were -submitted to the empress for her choice, and she selected Dr. Juan -Martinez Pedernales (which name = flints, he ingeniously Latinised into -Siliceo), a professor of Salamanca, who was appointed tutor to the -prince, with a salary of 100,000 maravedis a year. The emperor probably -knew little of the character of his son’s tutor. He had intended in the -previous year to appoint to the post a really eminent scholar, the -famous Viglius, but did not do so. Whatever<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a>{9}</span> may have been Siliceo’s -virtues, and according to priestly historians they were many, the -emperor had subsequently a very poor opinion of the way in which he had -performed his duty.</p> - -<p>In a private letter from Charles to his son ten years afterwards, to -which other reference will be made, the emperor says that “Siliceo has -certainly not been the most fitting teacher for you. He has been too -desirous of pleasing you. I hope to God that it was not for his own -ends”; and again, “He is your chief chaplain, and you confess to him. It -would be bad if he was as anxious to please you in matters of your -conscience as he has been in your studies.” But Philip evidently liked -his tutor, for later he made him Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of -Spain. The prince must have been an apt pupil in the studies which most -attracted him. He was never a linguist of any proficiency, but could -read and write Latin well at quite an early age, and certainly -understood French and Italian. But he was a Spaniard of Spaniards, and -nothing shows the strict limitations of his capacity more than the -clumsiness with which he expressed himself even in his own language, -although he frequently criticised and altered the words and expressions -employed by his secretaries.</p> - -<p>The governor appointed to teach Philip the social duties and exercises -fitting to his rank was an honest Spanish gentleman who possessed the -full confidence of the emperor—Don Juan de Zuñiga, Comendador Mayor of -Castile. From him he learnt fencing, riding, and warlike exercises, and -especially dancing, of which during his youth he was very fond. Don Juan -was somewhat uncompromising of speech, and apparently made no<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a>{10}</span> attempt -to flatter or spoil his pupil, for the emperor in 1543, when Philip was -sixteen, warns him that he is to prize Don Juan the more for this -quality, and is to follow his advice in all personal and social matters.</p> - -<p>At the age of twelve Philip lost his mother, and two years afterwards, -in 1541, his political instruction may be said to have commenced. The -emperor, although still in the prime of life, was already tired of the -world. His great expedition to Algiers, from which he had hoped so much, -had brought him nothing but disaster and disappointment, and he arrived -in Spain in deep depression. A letter supposed to have been written to -him at the time by Philip, full of religious and moral consolation for -his trouble, is quoted by Cabrera de Cordoba and subsequent historians; -but on the face of it there are few signs of its being the composition -of a boy of fourteen, and it is not sufficiently authenticated to be -reproduced here. The emperor in any case was delighted with his son. He -found him studious, grave, and prudent beyond his years, and during the -period that the father and son were together the great statesman devoted -a portion of every day to initiate his successor in the intricate task -before him. In 1542 Philip was to receive his first lesson in practical -warfare, and accompanied the Duke of Alba to defend Perpignan against -the French, but he saw no fighting, and on his way back to Castile he -received the oath of allegiance of the Aragonese Cortes at Monzon, -Philip himself swearing in October at Saragossa to maintain inviolate -the tenaciously-held privileges of self-government cherished by the -kingdom of Aragon. How he kept his oath will be seen in a subsequent -chapter. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a>{11}</span> tendency of Charles’s policy was in favour of -centralisation in the government of Spain, and he several times in -writing to his son shows his dislike of the autonomy possessed by the -stubborn Aragonese. He had completely crushed popular privileges in his -kingdom of Castile, and would have liked to do the same in Aragon. This -will probably explain Philip’s eagerness in subsequently seizing upon an -excuse to curtail the rights of the northern kingdom. Before this period -Charles had conceived another project in favour of the consolidation of -Spain. Ferdinand the Catholic, with the papal authority, had seized the -Spanish kingdom of Navarre, and added it to his own dominions. -Thenceforward the titular sovereigns of Navarre were only tributary -princes of France, but they did not lightly put up with their -deprivation, and were a constant source of irritation and danger to -Spain on the Pyrenean frontier. The design of the emperor was nothing -less than to put an end to the feud, by marrying Philip to the heiress -of Navarre, Jeanne d’Albret. It is idle to speculate upon the -far-reaching results which might have ensued from such a match, but in -all probability it would have changed the whole course of modern -history. At the time this design was in view (1539) “to extinguish the -quarrel of Navarre and tranquillise both our conscience and that of our -son,” Philip and Jeanne were twelve years old, and the marriage would -doubtless have taken place but for the vigilance of Francis I. To have -brought the King of Spain over the Pyrenees as Prince of Béarn, and the -semi-independent sovereign of a large part of the south of France, would -have ruined the French monarchy, so poor little Jeanne was married by<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a>{12}</span> -force to a man she detested, and Philip had to look elsewhere for a -bride.</p> - -<p>On the occasion of Charles’s own marriage, the dowry from the wealthy -royal family of Portugal had provided him at a critical juncture with -money to carry on the war with France; and now again, with his exchequer -chronically empty, and the demands upon it for warlike purposes more -pressing than ever, the emperor sought to tap the rich stream of the -Portuguese Indies by wedding his son to Princess Maria, daughter of John -III. and of Charles’s sister Catharine, another consanguineous marriage -of which we shall see the result later. Before the affair could be -concluded the emperor was obliged to leave Spain (May 1543). In July of -the previous year Francis I. had fulminated against his old enemy his -famous proclamation of war, and to Charles’s troubles with the -Protestants of Germany was now added the renewed struggle with France, -in which he was to have the assistance of the English king. The -emperor’s intercourse with his son during his stay in Spain had -convinced him of Philip’s precocity in statesmanship, and so he -determined to leave in his hands the regency of Spain in his absence.</p> - -<p>This was one of the most important junctures of Philip’s life. He was -barely sixteen years old, and was thus early to be entrusted with -Charles’s secret system of government, an instruction which left deep -marks upon Philip’s own method for the rest of his life. The two letters -written by Charles to his son before his departure from Spain are of the -utmost importance as providing a key for Philip’s subsequent political -action. Although Philip was entrusted with the ultimate decision<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a>{13}</span> of all -subjects, he was to be guided by some of the most experienced and wisest -of Charles’s councillors. First there was the Cardinal-Archbishop of -Toledo, Tavara, and next the Secretary of State, Francisco de los Cobos, -who had been at the emperor’s right hand for so long. The young regent -is secretly told by his father that the reason why these two were -appointed as his principal councillors was because they were -respectively heads of factions, and their rivalry would prevent the -prince from falling under the influence of either political party. With -merciless scalpel the great emperor lays bare, for the benefit of the -lad of sixteen, the faults and failings of the statesmen who are to aid -him in the government. He is warned not to trust any of them separately. -Their hypocrisy, their greed, their frailties of character, and conduct -are pointed out by the worldly-wise ruler to the neophyte; and the moral -of it all is that he should listen to the opinions of every one, and -especially of rivals, and then decide for himself.</p> - -<p>The greatest of the emperor’s Spanish subjects was the Duke of Alba, yet -this is how he is sketched for the benefit of Philip. “The Duke of Alba -would have liked to be associated with them (<i>i.e.</i> Cardinal Tavara and -Cobos), and I do not think that he would have followed either party, but -that which best suited his interests. But as it concerns the interior -government of the kingdom, in which it is not advisable that grandees -should be employed, I would not appoint him, whereat he is much -aggrieved. Since he has been near me I have noticed that he aims at -great things and is very ambitious, although at first he was so -sanctimonious, humble, and modest. Look, my son, how he will act<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a>{14}</span> with -you, who are younger than I. You must avoid placing him or other -grandees very intimately in the interior government, because he and -others will exert every means to gain your goodwill, which will -afterwards cost you dear. I believe that he will not hesitate to -endeavour to tempt you even by means of women, and I beg you most -especially to avoid this. In foreign affairs and war make use of him, -and respect him, as he is in this the best man we now have in the -kingdom.” And so, one by one, the bishops and ministers who were to be -Philip’s advisers are dissected for his benefit. The prince was ready -enough to learn lessons of distrust, and it afterwards became one of the -main principles of his system that only creatures of his own making -should be his instruments for the political government of Spain.</p> - -<p>Quite as extraordinary as the political instructions were the minute -rules of conduct given by the emperor to his son for the regulation of -his married life and the continuance of his studies. He is not to -consider that he is a man with nothing to learn because he married -early, and is left in so great a position, but is to study harder than -ever. “If this, my son, be necessary for others, consider how much more -necessary is it for you, seeing how many lands you will have to govern, -so distant and far apart.... If you wish to enjoy them you must -necessarily understand and be understood in them; and nothing is so -important for this as the study of languages.” The coming marital -relations of the young prince were in somewhat curious terms, left -entirely to the guidance of Don Juan de Zuñiga, and the lessons enforced -all through the proud and anxious father’s instructions, were piety, -patience, modesty, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a>{15}</span> distrust. These were Philip’s guiding principles -for the rest of his long life. The prince fully answered the -expectations of his father. During the next few years, full of stress -and storm for the wearying emperor, a close correspondence was kept up -between them, and the plans and principles of the father were gradually -assimilated by the son.</p> - -<p>In November 1543 the Portuguese princess crossed the frontier to marry -Philip. She was of the same height and age as her bridegroom, a plump -bright little creature; but he was already grave and reserved, short and -dapper, but erect and well made, of graceful and pleasant mien. But for -all his gravity he was still a boy, and could not resist the temptation -of going out in disguise to meet her, and mixing in her train. His -coming was probably an open secret, for the princess on the day of his -arrival took care to look especially charming in her dress of crimson -velvet, and with white feathers in her jaunty satin hat. The meeting -took place in a beautiful country house of the Duke of Alba near -Salamanca, and on November 15 the wedding procession entered the city -itself. All that pomp and popular enthusiasm could do was done to make -the marriage feast a merry one. Bulls and cane tourneys, dancing and -buffooning, fine garments and fair faces, seemed to presage a happy -future for the wedded pair. The bride was Philip’s own choice, for his -father had at one time suggested to him Margaret, the daughter of his -old enemy Francis, but the prince begged to be allowed to marry one of -his own kin and tongue, rather than the daughter of a foe, and the -emperor let him have his way.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a>{16}</span></p> - -<p>Little is known of the short married life of the young couple. It only -lasted seventeen months, and then, after the birth of the unfortunate -Don Carlos, the poor little princess herself died, it was said at the -time from imprudently eating a lemon soon after her delivery. The birth -of the heir had been hailed with rejoicing by the Spanish people, and -the news of the death of the mother caused redoubled sorrow. Philip was -already extremely popular with his people. His gravity was truly -Spanish; his preference for the Spanish tongue, and his reluctance to -marry the French princess, as well as his piety and moderation, had even -now gained for him the affection of Spaniards, which for the rest of his -life he never lost. His early bereavement was therefore looked upon as a -national affliction. For three weeks after the death of his wife the -young widower shut himself up in a monastery and gave way to his grief, -until his public duties forced him into the world again. The Prince of -Orange in his <i>Apology</i>, published in 1581, said that even before Philip -had married Maria he had conferred the title of wife upon Doña Isabel de -Osorio, the sister of the Marquis of Astorga. This has been frequently -repeated, and much ungenerous comment founded upon it, strengthened, it -is true, to some extent by the fact that subsequently for some years -marital relations certainly existed between them. It is, however, in the -highest degree improbable that Orange’s assertion was true. In the first -place no Spanish churchman would have dared to marry the prince-regent -before he was out of his boyhood without the knowledge of the emperor, -and the matter is now almost placed beyond doubt by the -already-mentioned document, which proves that Philip<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a>{17}</span> had pledged his -word of honour to his father that he had hitherto kept free of all such -entanglements, and would do so in future. Whatever may have been -Philip’s faults, he was a good and dutiful son, with a high sense of -honour, and it is incredible that he would thus early have been guilty -of deceit upon such a subject as this.</p> - -<p>Founded upon the statements of so bitter an enemy of Philip’s as Orange, -and upon the remarks of the Venetian ambassadors that he was incontinent -“<i>nelli piacere delle donne</i>”; that, above all things, he delighted, -“<i>nelle donne; delle quali mirabilmente si diletta</i>”; and that “<i>molto -ama le donne con le quali spesso si trattiene</i>”—it has been usual to -represent Philip as quite a libertine in this respect, and the lies and -innuendoes of Antonio Perez have strengthened this view. That Philip was -perfectly blameless in his domestic relations it would be folly to -assert, but he was an angel in comparison with most of the contemporary -monarchs, including his father; and probably few husbands of four -successive wives have been more beloved by them than he was, in spite of -his cold reserved demeanour. Behind the icy mask indeed there must have -been much that was gentle and loving, for those who were nearest to him -loved him best; his wives, children, old friends, and servants were -devotedly attached to him, even when they disagreed with his actions; -and in the rare intervals of his almost incessant toil at the desk no -society delighted him so much as that of his children. Charles had on -April 24, 1547, won the battle of Mühlberg, and had for the time utterly -crushed the leaders of the Reformation in Germany. The Diet of Augsburg -was summoned, and the Declaration of Faith, which it was hoped would -reconcile<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a>{18}</span> all difficulties, was drawn up. This perhaps was the highest -point reached in Charles’s power. Now, if ever, was the time for -carrying into effect his dream for assuring to his son the succession to -almost universal domination. It had been the intention of Ferdinand the -Catholic that Charles, his elder grandson, should succeed to the -paternal dominions, the empire and Flanders, whilst Ferdinand the -younger should inherit Spain and Naples. Charles, however, arranged -otherwise, and made his brother King of the Romans, with the implied -succession to the imperial crown on his elder brother’s death. But as -Philip’s aptitude for government became more and more apparent to his -father, the ambition of the latter to augment the heritage of his son -increased. Ferdinand and his son Maximilian clung naturally to the -arrangement by which the imperial crown should be secured to them and -their descendants, but the emperor determined that as little power and -territory as possible should go with it. Upon Philip accordingly the -vacant dukedom of Milan was conferred in 1546 by special agreement with -Ferdinand, who doubtless thought that it would not be bad for him to -have his powerful nephew as prince of a fief of the empire, and so, to a -certain extent, subordinate to him. But this was no part of Charles’s -plan. Sicily had long been attached to the crown of Aragon, Naples had -been added thereto by Ferdinand the Catholic, and now Milan was to be -held by the King of Spain. Parma and Piacenza also had just been -captured from the papal Farneses by the emperor’s troops (1547), and now -Charles conceived an arrangement by which the suzerainty of the empire -over Italy should be transferred to Spain, the states of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a>{19}</span> Flanders and -Holland secured to the possessor of the Spanish crown, and the emperor -consequently left only with his Austrian dominions, poor and isolated, -with the great religious question rending them in twain. The transfer of -the Italian suzerainty was to be announced later, but Charles secured -the consent of his brother to the rest of his projects by promising to -guarantee the succession of the imperial crown after the death of -Ferdinand to his son, the Archduke Maximilian, who was to marry -Charles’s eldest daughter, Maria.</p> - -<p>As soon as this had been agreed to, the emperor sent the Duke of Alba to -Spain with an able statement of the whole case for Philip’s information, -setting forth the new combination and its advantages, and urging the -prince to make a progress through the territories which were destined to -be his. The voyage was to be a long, and, to a man of Philip’s habits -and tastes, not an attractive one. Notwithstanding the emperor’s -exhortations years before, he spoke no German or Flemish, and indeed -very little of any language but Spanish. He was already of sedentary -habits, and feasts and the bustle of state receptions were distasteful -to him. But he was a dutiful son, and during all the summer of 1548 the -splendid preparations for his voyage kept Castile busy, whilst -Maximilian, the heir to the empire, was on his way to Spain to marry the -Infanta Maria and assume the regency during Philip’s absence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a>{20}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>The union of the Low Countries to Spain—The Italian -suzerainty—The effects thereof—Etiquette of the House of Burgundy -adopted in Spain—Ruy Gomez—Philip’s voyage—His unpopularity with -Germans and Flemings—Fresh proposals for his marriage—The family -compact for the imperial succession—Defection of Maurice of -Saxony—War with France—Treaty of Passau—Defeat of the emperor at -Metz.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">A<small>LBA</small> left Germany for Spain at the end of January 1548, travelling by -way of Genoa, and taking with him the exposition of the emperor’s new -policy, which was to result in so much trouble and suffering to future -generations. The lordships of Flanders and Holland had never up to this -period been regarded by Charles as attached necessarily to the crown of -Spain. Indeed at various times the cession of Flanders to France had -been amicably discussed, and only shortly before Charles had considered -the advisability of handing the Low Countries over to his daughter Maria -as a dowry on her marriage with Maximilian. But the step of making them -the inalienable possessions of the ruler of Spain would burden the -latter country with an entirely fresh set of interests, and render -necessary the adoption of a change in its foreign policy. Flanders once -attached to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a>{21}</span> crown of Spain could never fall into the hands of -France, and the latter Power would find itself almost surrounded by -Spanish territory, with its expansion to the northward cut off. In the -event of the Spanish suzerainty over Italy being established also, -French influence in Italy would be at an end, and the papal power -dwarfed. This therefore meant that France and the pope would make common -cause in a secular struggle against Spain. The dishonesty of Ferdinand -the Catholic about Naples had begun the feud, the rivalry of Francis I. -for the imperial crown had continued it, and now if Flanders and -Holland, instead of belonging to harmless Dukes of Burgundy, were to be -held permanently by France’s great rival, the whole balance of power in -Europe would be changed, and France must fight for life.</p> - -<p>The Dukes of Burgundy and Counts of Holland, as possessors of the -Flemish seaboard, had for generations found it necessary to maintain a -close alliance with England, whose interests were equally bound up in -preventing France from occupying the coast opposite its own eastern -shores, the principal outlet for its commerce. By Charles’s new resolve -this obligation to hold fast by England was transferred permanently to -Spain, which country had not hitherto had any need for intimate -political relations with England, except such as arose out of mutual -commercial interests. Spain itself—and no longer the emperor as Duke of -Burgundy—was thus drawn into the vortex of Central European politics, -and herefrom came its ruin.</p> - -<p>That the emperor’s plans were not entirely to the taste of his son is -certain, but whether in consequence of a dread of the new -responsibilities to be forced upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a>{22}</span> Spain, or from motives of ambition, -is not quite clear. On the face of the correspondence between Alba and -De Granvelle on the subject, it would appear that the latter was the -case. The objection probably arose from the ambitious Alba, fresh from -his German triumphs, who would point out to the young prince that the -arrangement would permanently cut him off from the succession to the -imperial crown, and that the interval of uncertainty which would elapse -before his suggested suzerainty over Italy was established, would give -time for intrigues to be carried on which might render it impracticable -when the time came. At his instance, therefore, the question of his -suzerainty over Italy was left open, and with it what was doubtless -Alba’s objective point, the arrangement by which the succession to the -empire was secured to Maximilian.</p> - -<p>In pursuance of his plan of keeping the Spanish nobles busy in affairs -other than the interior politics of their country, Charles in August -1548, before Philip’s departure on his travels, gave orders which had a -considerable influence in the future history of Spain. The kings of the -petty realms into which the Peninsula had been divided, constantly at -war for centuries with the Moors, had been obliged to depend for their -very existence upon their feudal semi-independent nobles. The kings at -best were but first amongst their peers, and were constantly reminded of -the fact. The “fueros” of each petty dominion were stubbornly upheld -against the rulers, and in the north of Spain, at all events, it had -been for some centuries past a continuous policy of the kings to curb -the power for harm of the nobles and limit the autonomous privileges of -the people. The policy<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a>{23}</span> of the emperor, as we have seen, was to -centralise the government of Spain, and to give to its rulers an -overwhelming influence in the councils of Europe. This could only be -effected by making the king the supreme master over the lives and -property of all his subjects, drawing from Spain the growing stream of -riches from the Indies, and attaching the powerful Spanish nobles -personally to their prince.</p> - -<p>The court life of Spain, except for a short time when Charles’s father, -Philip the Handsome, had visited it, had been bluff and simple. The new -order of the emperor introduced for the first time the pompous and -splendid etiquette of the House of Burgundy, which has since been -adopted in most monarchies. By virtue of this the proud Spanish nobility -became personally attached to the household of the prince in nominally -inferior capacities, chamberlains, equerries, ushers, and the like; and -the young hidalgoes of the greatest Houses, all bedizened and bedecked -in finery, no longer hunted the wild boar in their mountain homes, but -dangled in the presence of the monarch and added lustre to his daily -life.</p> - -<p>The change was certainly not in consonance with Philip’s natural -inclinations. His personal tastes were of the simplest; he was always -sober and moderate in eating and drinking, looking with positive disgust -on the excess of Flemings and Germans in this respect. He hated pomp and -blare, and his attire on ordinary occasions was as modest and simple as -it was handsome. But he was a slave to duty, and when the exigencies of -his high station demanded magnificence, he could be as splendid as any -man on earth. So henceforward in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a>{24}</span> public the quiet, modest man moved in -a perfect constellation of glittering satellites. One great consolation -the change gave him. In the emperor’s exhortation to him in 1543 he was -told that in future his young friends must only approach him as his -servants, and “that his principal companions must be elderly men and -others of reasonable age possessed of virtue, wise discourse, and good -example.” But Philip was yet (1548) only twenty-one, and was devotedly -attached to some of the friends of his boyhood, such as Ruy Gomez de -Silva and Gomez Suarez de Figueroa, Count de Feria, and to these and the -like he gave offices which kept them constantly near him. Philip for the -whole of his life was on his guard to prevent favourites from obtaining -influence over him, and few monarchs have been less dominated by -individual courtiers than he. But the man who gained most ascendency -over him was Ruy Gomez, who, as will be shown later, led a party or -school of thought whose policy was for many years followed by the king, -and largely coloured subsequent events. On October 1, 1548, Philip left -Valladolid on his voyage, leaving as regents his sister Maria and her -bridegroom Maximilian. By slow stages, and followed by a great train of -courtiers, he rode through Aragon and Catalonia, worshipping at the -shrines of Saragossa and Monserrate on his way, and receiving the homage -of Barcelona and Gerona. In the bay of Rosas, in the extreme north-east -point of Spain, Andrea Doria awaited him with a splendid fleet of -fifty-eight galleys and a great host of sailing ships.</p> - -<p>Doria, the greatest sailor of his day, who had grown grey in the service -of the emperor, knelt on the shore at the sight of the prince, overcome -with emotion, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a>{25}</span> said in the words of Simeon: “Now, Lord, let Thy -servant depart in peace, for his eyes have seen Thy salvation.” It is no -exaggeration to say that this intense devotion to the Spanish prince -reflected generally the feeling with which he was regarded in Spain, at -least. The prince landed at Savona in the territory of Genoa, where -princes and cardinals innumerable awaited him. In the city of Genoa he -stayed at the Doria palace, and there Octavio Farnese came to him from -his uncle, Pope Paul III., with a significant message. The Farneses had -but small reason to greet Philip with enthusiasm just then, for the -plans afoot for the aggrandisement of Spain were a grave menace to the -interests of the papacy, and Octavio himself was being kept out of his -principality by the emperor’s troops. But the pope’s champion against -the emperor, Francis I, had recently died, and the pontiff was obliged -to salute the rising sun of Spain, in the hope that he would prove a -better friend to Rome than his father was. So Farnese was fain to bear -to Philip from the pope a sanctified sword and a hat of state, “hoping -that some day he might behold in him the true champion of the Holy -Church.” Milan and Mantua vied with Genoa in the splendour of their -rejoicings for Philip’s arrival, and so through the Tyrol, Germany, and -Luxembourg he slowly made his way to meet his father at Brussels. On -April 1, 1549, he made his state entry into the city, but so great was -the ceremonial, that it was almost night before he arrived at the -palace. Charles was still ailing, but gained, it seemed, new life when -he saw the heir of his greatness. Thenceforward for a time the -festivals, tourneys, and rejoicings went on unceasingly, to a greater -extent, say<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a>{26}</span> eye-witnesses, than had ever been known before. Philip had -no taste for such frivolities, but he did his best. He was a graceful, -if not a bold, rider, and the custom of his time demanded that he should -break lances with the rest. His courtly chroniclers relate how well he -acquitted himself in these exercises, and the enthusiasm aroused by his -gallant mien; but less partial judges do not scruple to say that at one -of the tourneys during his stay in Germany on his way home “no one did -so badly as the prince,” who was never able “to break a lance.” His -inclinations were in a totally different direction. The drunken orgies -and rough horseplay of the Germans and Flemings disgusted him, and he -took but little pains to conceal his surprise at what appeared to him -such undignified proceedings. He was unable, moreover, to speak German, -and his voyage certainly did not help forward the project of securing to -him the succession to the imperial crown.</p> - -<p>For the next two years the emperor kept his son by his side, -indoctrinating him with his principles and policy. For two hours nearly -every day the Spanish prince learnt the profound lessons of government -from the lips of his great father, government founded on the principle -of making all other men merely instruments for carrying out the ends of -one.</p> - -<p>Philip had now been a widower for four years, and doubtless during this -period contracted his connection with Doña Isabel de Osorio, by whom he -had several children; and he had one at least by a Flemish lady in -Brussels. His only legitimate son was the lame, epileptic Don Carlos, -and the emperor had no other sons; so during the intimate conferences -which followed Philip’s arrival<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a>{27}</span> in Brussels, Charles pressed upon his -heir the necessity of taking another wife, and once more brought forward -Jeanne d’Albret, titular Queen of Navarre, who had claimed a divorce -from the Duke of Cleves, whom she had been constrained to marry. But -whether because cautious Philip saw that to extend his dominions into -the south of France would be a source of weakness rather than strength -to him, or whether he was influenced by the greed for dowry, and the -persuasions of his widowed aunt Leonora, who was with his father in -Brussels, he certainly leant to the side of her daughter, another -Princess Maria of Portugal, aunt of his former wife, and negotiations -were opened in this direction, although Ferdinand, King of the Romans, -the brother of the emperor, tried his hardest to promote his own -daughter to the place of Philip’s consort. Philip had contrived to -persuade his probably not unwilling father to endeavour to promote his -claims to the succession of the imperial crown in the place of -Ferdinand, and the Austrian archives contain full details of the almost -interminable family discussions with this end. At last, in March 1551, a -compact was made with which Philip was forced to be satisfied. It was to -the effect that Ferdinand should succeed Charles as emperor, but that on -the death of Ferdinand the imperial crown should pass to Philip instead -of to Maximilian, who was to govern the empire in his name, holding a -similar position towards Philip to that occupied by Ferdinand towards -Charles. The emperor’s suzerainty over Italy was to be exercised -vicariously by Philip during the life of Ferdinand. This last provision -was a bitter pill for Ferdinand to swallow, but it was, in Charles’s -view, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a>{28}</span> most important of them all. Spain, with a supremacy over the -Italian states, would be the mistress of the Mediterranean, with -infinite possibilities of extension to the east and in Africa, whilst -France would be checkmated on this side, as she had been on the north. -Philip, who had accompanied his father to Augsburg for the Diet, only -stayed until this arrangement was settled and he had received the fiefs -of the empire, and then (in May 1551) started on his way home to Spain.</p> - -<p>The battle of Mühlberg, three years before, together with the ambition -of Maurice of Saxony, had laid Lutheranism prostrate at the feet of -Charles, but the plan to perpetuate Spanish domination over the empire -once more aroused the spirit of the sovereigns to resistance, and the -powerful Maurice of Saxony, the emperor’s own creature, joined his -fellow-countrymen against him. Sent by Charles to besiege the Protestant -stronghold of Magdeburg, he suddenly changed sides. The opportunity thus -offered was too good to be neglected by France, where Henry II. was now -firmly seated on the throne; and in October 1551 a compact was signed at -Friedwald in Hesse, by which Maurice, the King of France, and the -Protestant princes joined against the emperor. Henry II. had just made -peace with England, and had recovered Boulogne, so that he was in a -better position to face his enemy than ever before. Octavio Farnese, -with the connivance of France, raised a tumult in Italy to recover his -principalities of Parma and Piacenza; and thus Charles found himself -suddenly confronted by war on all sides, just when the prospects of his -House had looked brightest. There is no space in this work to follow the -fortunes of the remarkable<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a>{29}</span> campaign in which Maurice swept through -Germany, capturing the imperial cities, surprising the emperor himself -in Innspruck, and forcing Cæsar to fly for his life through the -darkness. Suffice it to say that Charles was humbled as he had never -been before, and was obliged to sign the peace of Passau at the -dictation of Maurice (July 31, 1552) on terms which practically gave to -the Lutheran princes all they demanded. This put an end for once and for -all to the dream of making Philip Emperor as well as King of Spain. Nor -had Henry II. been idle. On his way to join the German Protestants he -had captured the strong places of Alsace and Lorraine, and Charles’s -army before Metz was utterly defeated by Guise (January 1553). In Italy, -too, the emperor was unfortunate, for the French had obtained a footing -in Siena, and had overrun Piedmont. And thus the idea of a permanent -supremacy of Spain over the Italian states also fell to the ground.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a>{30}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Proposal to marry Philip to Queen Mary of England—The need for -alliance with England—The negotiations of Renard—Opposition of -France—Unpopularity of the match in England—Philip’s voyage to -England—His affability—His first interview with Mary—The -marriage—Philip made King of Naples—Failure of the objects of the -marriage—Philip’s policy in England—Pole’s mission—Philip and -the persecution of Catholics in England—Philip’s disappointment -and departure.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">I<small>N</small> the meanwhile Philip was doing well in Spain. He had raised both men -and money in plenty to reinforce the emperor, and Alba himself was sent -to command them. He pushed on vigorously the negotiations for his -marriage with his Portuguese cousin, whose dowry would once more provide -the sinews of war. But King John III. was less liberal with a dowry for -his sister than he had been for his daughter, and the project hung fire -month after month on this ground alone, notwithstanding the efforts of -Ruy Gomez, who was sent by Philip to Portugal in June 1553 to persuade -the king to loosen his purse strings and send his sister to Spain with a -rich dowry.</p> - -<p>Then, almost suddenly, the whole aspect of affairs changed. It had been -known for some time that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a>{31}</span> young King of England, Edward VI., was in -failing health, and would probably die without issue, but the uncertain -element in the situation had been the extent of the Duke of -Northumberland’s power and the strength of Protestantism in the country. -Hardly pressed as he was, Charles’s principal preoccupation with regard -to England was to keep on good terms with it, although doubtless many a -time his busy brain must have conjured up circumstances which would -admit of fresh combinations being formed in which England should share. -The events in Germany, the terms of the peace of Passau, and the -unpopularity of Philip out of Spain, had convinced him that his dreams -of ambition for his son in that direction were impossible of -realisation. He must have seen also that the possessor of Flanders and -Holland without the strength of the empire behind him, and with a -covetous France on one flank and Protestant princes on the other, would -be in an untenable position, unless he could depend upon England’s -co-operation through thick and thin. This was the first manifestation of -the evil results which logically followed his ill-starred action in -attaching the dominions of the House of Burgundy permanently to the -crown of Spain.</p> - -<p>Edward VI. died on July 7, 1553, and the popular acclamation of Mary and -the complete collapse of Northumberland’s house of cards, caused a new -departure in the emperor’s political plans. The hollow crown of the -empire might go, with its turbulent Lutheran princes and its poor -patrimony, but if only rich England could be joined in a lasting bond to -Spain, then France would indeed be humbled, Flanders and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a>{32}</span> Italy would be -safe, the road to unlimited expansion by the Mediterranean would be -open, and Spain could give laws to all Latin Christendom, and to -heathendom beyond.</p> - -<p>No time was lost in commencing the preliminaries. The first thing -evidently for the emperor to do was to consolidate Mary’s position on -the throne by counselling prudence and moderation in religious affairs. -The imperial ambassador was instructed immediately (July 29, 1553) to -urge upon the new queen not to be in a hurry openly to avow herself a -Catholic until she had sounded public opinion and conciliated the nobles -who had helped her to the throne.</p> - -<p>Mary entered London on August 3, and in the place of honour near her -rode Simon Renard, the emperor’s ambassador. Only four days afterwards, -on the 7th, he first hinted to the queen that the Prince of Spain would -be a fitting husband for her. She affected to laugh at the idea, but, -Renard thought, not unfavourably. The English people had almost -unanimously fixed upon young Courtney as the queen’s future consort, and -Mary was as yet uncertain how far she could venture to thwart them. “Do -not overpress her,” wrote Granvelle, “to divert her from any other -match, because if she have the whim she will carry it forward if she be -like other women.” But Renard knew the human heart as well as any man, -and his report to the emperor was satisfactory as far as it went. The -next step was to consult Philip himself, the person principally -interested. He was a dutiful son, it is true, but Charles must have -known of his domestic arrangements with Doña Isabel Osorio, and could -not be certain that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a>{33}</span> a man of twenty-six would be absolutely docile. So -Renard was instructed to say no more until a reply came from Spain. But -tongues began to wag in London, and by September 6, Noailles, the French -ambassador, knew what was in the wind. Henceforth it was a duel to the -death between him and Renard. The emperor was still at war with France, -burning to avenge the disaster of Metz; and if this marriage were -effected it would be revenge indeed. From the French embassy accordingly -flowed money in plenty to subsidise disaffection, hints that those who -held Church property would be forced to disgorge it, and panic-striking -rumours of what would happen if Spain got the upper hand in England. The -hatred and prejudice aroused against Philip by Noailles for purely -political reasons in 1553 have left an abundant crop of prejudice, even -to our own times. Philip was a politician and a patriot before all -things. However distasteful to him the marriage may have been, his own -personal pleasure was never his aim, and he saw the increment of -strength which the union with England would bring to his father’s cause -and his own; so, like a dutiful son, he wrote, “I have no other will -than that of your Majesty, and whatever you desire, that I will do.” On -receipt of this news Renard opened the attack, and pressed Philip’s -suit. Mary was coy and doubtful at first, mainly, it would seem, on -personal grounds, but Renard’s persuasions prevailed even over the -powerful Gardiner, and the Queen of England formally accepted the hand -of the Spanish prince when Egmont came with his splendid embassy to -offer it in January 1554. London was in a perfect whirlwind of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a>{34}</span> panic, -thanks mainly to Noailles, and the gallant Egmont himself and his -followers were attacked in the streets by London prentices. Carews, -Wyatts, and Greys struggled, rebelled, and fell, but the queen knew her -own mind now, and in her sight the Spanish marriage meant the -resurrection of her country and the salvation of her people. Philip and -his father doubtless thought so too, in a general way; but that was not -their first object. What they wanted was to humble France for good and -for all, and make Spain henceforward the dictatress of Europe. It was a -disappointment to Philip when, at Valladolid in the early spring, he -learnt the conditions by which he was to be bound for life. They were -very hard, for Mary’s council were determined that the marriage should -not mean the political subjugation of England by Spain, and all Renard’s -cunning and the emperor’s bribes failed to move them.</p> - -<p>Philip was a gallant suitor withal, and determined to do the thing -handsomely if it were to be done at all. First he sent a special envoy, -the Marquis de las Navas, to England, sumptuously attended, with “a -great table diamond mounted as a rose in a superb gold setting, valued -at 50,000 ducats; a necklace of eighteen brilliants, worth 32,000 -ducats; a great diamond with a fine pearl pendant from it, worth 25,000 -ducats; and other jewels, pearls, diamonds, emeralds, and rubies of -inestimable value for the queen and her ladies.” Never before had so -much magnificence been witnessed in Spain as in the preparations for -Philip’s voyage to England. He left Valladolid on May 14, with nearly -1000 horsemen and half the nobility of Spain, all glittering<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a>{35}</span> and -flashing with splendour. Puling little Carlos, with his big head and -frail limbs, was by his side for a day on the way to Corunna, and when -Philip left him he was to see him no more as a child. Passionate -devotion and loyalty followed Philip on his progress through -North-western Spain. He was a true national monarch, and his people knew -it. Charles had always been a Fleming before all things, and his -wide-spreading dominions had kept him mostly away from Spain; but the -Spaniards knew well that, no matter what other nations fell under his -sway, Philip would remain a true Spaniard to the end, and rule them all -from the country he loved. It has been said that Philip was naturally -grave and unexpansive, and in his previous voyage in Germany and -Flanders his demeanour had made him extremely unpopular. Charles, -indeed, had to remonstrate with him, when it was already too late, for -his want of geniality. The emperor was determined that his son should -not again fall into a similar error for want of timely warning, and sent -him—as also did Renard—urgent exhortations to bear himself affably, -and to conciliate the stubborn English by respecting all their -prejudices and adopting their customs. It was against his very nature, -but he had schooled himself to self-control and sacrifice, and his most -intimate friends were astonished at the change in his manner from the -day he set foot on English soil at Southampton on July 20, 1554. He was -no longer the grave and moody prince they had known, but smiling, -courteous, and frank. Gifts and favours were lavished on all sides, and -although he came heavily handicapped by the prejudice against him, and -London especially bitterly hated the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a>{36}</span> Spaniards, and did not hesitate to -show it, Philip himself became personally not unpopular during his stay -in England. He brought with him in his fine fleet of 100 sail 6000 or -8000 soldiers to reinforce the emperor in his war with the French, and -not a man of them was allowed to land in England; they and many of -Philip’s courtiers proceeding to Flanders as soon as might be. The -nobles and gentlemen who accompanied the prince were warned that they -must in all respects make way for the English and take a secondary -place. This was gall and wormwood to them, and their scorn and hatred -grew as they became convinced of the fruitlessness of their sacrifice -and that of their master.</p> - -<p>The queen’s first interview with her husband was at night on July 23 in -the bishop’s palace at Winchester. He was dressed in a suit of white kid -covered with gold embroidery, and wore a French grey satin surcoat, “and -very gallant he looked.” He was surrounded by ten of the highest nobles -in Spain, and from the first moment the queen saw him she seems to have -fallen in love with him. She had fervently invoked divine guidance in -her choice, and had managed to work herself into a condition of -religious exaltation, which rendered her peculiarly open to hysterical -influences—for she too was a granddaughter of Isabel the Catholic. All -that pomp and expenditure could do to render the marriage ceremony at -Winchester for ever memorable was done. Philip himself and his friends -had no illusions about the matter. They all confess with depressing -unanimity that the bride was a faded little woman with red hair, and no -eyebrows, and that the Spanish objects in the marriage were purely -political.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a>{37}</span> But Mary looked upon it in quite a different light. She was -taking part in a holy sacrament which was to bring salvation to -thousands of souls, and make her for ever memorable as the saviour of -her country and her race. Philip acted like a gentleman, under very -difficult circumstances. He treated his wife with gentle courtesy, -returning her somewhat embarrassingly frequent endearments with apparent -alacrity, and never by word or deed hinting that her charms were on the -wane. On the day of the marriage Charles had equalised his son’s rank -with that of Mary by making him King of Naples, but still English -suspicion and jealousy resented the idea of his coronation, or even his -aspiring to equal place with the queen. “He had only come,” said the -Londoners, “to beget an heir to the crown, and then he might go—the -sooner the better.” So by the time when the king and queen entered the -city in state on August 27 it was clear that, come what might, Philip -would never be allowed to govern England. “The real rulers of this -country,” wrote one of Philip’s courtiers, “are not the monarchs, but -the council,” and the councillors, though ready enough to accept Spanish -gold, were Englishmen above all things, and would never submit to -Spanish government. The hard terms of the marriage contract had been -accepted by Charles and Philip in the belief that they could be -nullified after the marriage by the influence of the husband over the -wife. It was now seen that however great this influence might be, the -queen herself was almost powerless in the hands of the council and the -nobles who had raised her to the throne.</p> - -<p>Philip whilst in England showed his usual diplomacy. He carefully -abstained from publicly interfering in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a>{38}</span> government, but he had not -failed to draw to his side some of the principal members of the council, -and his influence certainly made itself felt, if it was unseen. His -efforts were at first entirely directed to the conversion of England to -the faith by preaching and persuasion, the subsequent object, of course, -being the complete return of the country to the papal fold, which would -be but a stepping-stone to the political domination by Spain. But -Charles and Philip were statesmen first, and religious zealots -afterwards. On this occasion, as on several subsequent ones in Philip’s -career, the zeal of the churchmen outran the discretion of the -politicians, and the king-consort’s influence, such as it was, had to be -exercised mainly in the direction of moderation and temporisation.</p> - -<p>Immediately after Mary’s accession the pope had appointed Cardinal Pole -to negotiate for the submission of England to the Holy See, and the -cardinal was eager to set his hand to the work at once. He was an -Englishman of royal blood, a firm Catholic, who had no other end in view -than to bring back his country to what he considered the true faith. -Mary at first was just as eager as Pole, but Charles saw from afar that, -if affairs were to be directed into the course he wished, they must be -managed gently. The new pope, Julius III., was a docile and vicious -pontiff, and was soon brought round to the emperor’s views. He was -induced to alter Pole’s appointment to that of legate, with instructions -first to go to Brussels and endeavour to mediate in the pope’s name -between the emperor and the King of France, and then await a favourable -opportunity for proceeding to England.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a>{39}</span></p> - -<p>The great difficulty in the English question was the restitution of the -property taken from the Church during the previous reigns. It was -evident to the emperor that, if an uncompromising stand were taken up on -that point, the whole edifice would collapse. Pole was all for complete -and unconditional restitution, and his powers, indeed, gave him little -or no discretion to compromise or abandon the claim of the Church. The -first point therefore agreed upon by Charles and Philip was to delay -Pole’s voyage to England until the pope had been induced to confer large -discretionary powers on Pole, and the latter had been made to promise -that he would do nothing except in accord with Philip. When this had -been effected, and Renard, at Philip’s instance, had seen Pole and -obtained a promise that he would not insist upon restitution of the -property that had passed into private hands, he was allowed to proceed -to England. Forty years afterwards, one of Philip’s English adherents, -Father Persons, told him that all the ill-fortune that had attended his -efforts in England was due to the impious omission at this juncture of -insisting upon some sort of restitution of the ecclesiastical property -in private hands.</p> - -<p>In November 1554 England returned to the bosom of the Church, and Pole -to this extent was satisfied; but he was no politician, and could never -be brought round to the purely Spanish view of English politics, which -may be said indeed of most of Mary’s advisers.</p> - -<p>On the very day of Pole’s arrival it was officially announced that the -queen was with child, and the new legate and the rest of the churchmen -fell into what would now be looked upon as blasphemous comparisons,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a>{40}</span> the -people at large being suddenly caught up by the wave of rejoicing at the -promise of an heir to the throne. The opportunity was discreetly taken -by Philip to cause his instruments to propose in Parliament the sending -by England of armed aid to the emperor against France, and the -nomination of himself as Regent of England in the event of the -looked-for heir outliving his mother. But again the over-zeal of the -churchmen spoilt his game. Bonner and Gardiner began to think that -persecution of Protestants was necessary and holy. Reaction in the -country was the natural result, and Philip and Mary were obliged to -dissolve Parliament in a hurry, without the political plans being -effected.</p> - -<p>Philip’s Spanish chaplains had been extremely unpopular. Such insults -indeed had been offered to them, that they dared not appear in the -streets in priestly garb. But they were really mild and conciliating, -and when the fierce zeal of the English bishops led them to burn the -Protestants, Philip’s principal confessor openly denounced them from the -pulpit, doubtless at his master’s instance—certainly with his approval. -The cruel persecution of the Protestants, indeed, was dead against the -realisation of Spanish aims. Philip and Renard clearly saw that it would -bring about reaction and hatred, and used their influence to stay it. -Charles himself was appealed to by Renard. “If,” he said, “this -precipitancy be not moderated, affairs will assume a dangerous -appearance.” For nearly six months Philip’s efforts stayed the storm of -persecution, and his active intercession saved many condemned to the -stake.</p> - -<p>But Charles was impatient for his presence in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a>{41}</span> Flanders. The deadly -torpor had already seized upon the great emperor. The man who had been -indefatigable in his youth and prime had now sunk into indifference to -the world. For weeks together no word could be got from him, and of -action he was almost incapable. He had begged Philip to come to him -before his honeymoon was over, and had continued to do so ever since. -The king had waited and waited on, in the ever-deluded hope that Mary’s -promise of issue would be fulfilled, but at last even she had become -incredulous, and her husband could delay his departure no longer. By -August 1555 the rogations and intercessions to the Almighty for the safe -birth of a prince were discontinued, and the splendid plot was seen to -be a failure.</p> - -<p>Consider what this meant for Philip and for the Spanish power. An -Anglo-Spanish dynasty ruling England, Spain, and Flanders, supreme over -Italy and the Mediterranean, with the riches of the Indies in its hands, -would have dominated the world. The German Protestant princes, without -effective seaboard, must remain a negligeable quantity outside of their -own country. France, shut in on every side by land and sea, could have -progressed no more, and Spain would have become paramount more -completely than if Charles’s first dream of the universal spread of the -power of the Roman-Austrian empire had been realised.</p> - -<p>But it was not to be, and Philip made the best of it without exhibiting -disappointment. In vain Renard wrote to the emperor that as soon as -Philip’s back was turned the fires of persecution would recommence in -England; Charles would wait no longer, and peremptorily ordered his son -to come to Flanders. On<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a>{42}</span> August 26 Mary accompanied her husband to -Greenwich, where he took leave of her three days later. The queen was in -deep affliction, but she bore up before the spectators of the scene. -With one close embrace she bade the king farewell, but so long as the -boat in which he went to Gravesend remained in sight from the windows of -the palace, the unhappy queen, her eyes overflowing with tears, watched -the receding form of her husband, who on his part continued to wave his -hand as a signal of adieu, a quiet, courteous gentleman to the last, -though his heart must have been heavy with disappointment, and his -crafty brain full of plans for remedying it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a>{43}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Philip in favour of a moderate policy in England—His attitude -towards religion generally—He requests armed aid from England -against the French—The emperor’s embarrassments in Italy—Alba -made Philip’s viceroy in Italy—Factions in Philip’s court—Ruy -Gomez and Alba—The emperor’s abdication—Philip’s changed -position—His attitude towards the papacy—The Spanish Church—Pope -Paul IV. and the Spaniards in Italy—Excommunication of -Philip—Invasion of Rome by Alba—Philip’s second visit to England.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">B<small>EFORE</small> Philip left England he drew up for the guidance of the queen and -council full instructions for the administration of affairs. Minutes -were sent to him of the proceedings of the meetings of the council, upon -which, as was his custom during the rest of his life, he made exhaustive -notes and comments.</p> - -<p>The month after his departure he was informed by the council that the -bull had been promulgated surrendering the claim to Church property -alienated to private persons, and against this information the king -emphatically notes that it is “well done,” but in the same document an -indication is given that the zeal of the Catholic council in England is -outrunning discretion, and Philip’s hand is brought down heavily in -favour of cautious<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a>{44}</span> moderation. The proposal was that the first-fruits -and tenths, and ecclesiastical revenues which had been suspended or -alienated, should be brought back to their original uses. Here the king -has no approving word to say. He recommends that the question should be -considered by a committee of eight councillors, who should report to him -for decision. He then goes on to urge caution, and to direct that the -Government should not propose any measure to Parliament until it had -been submitted to him. He evidently dreaded the rash zeal of the -Catholic party in England, and did his best to hold it in check; but -before he had been gone from England six months Renard’s prophecy came -true, and the flames of persecution burst out, to be extinguished no -more until the death of the queen. Philip was certainly not responsible -for this; his influence was exerted in the contrary direction.</p> - -<p>Religious persecution was with him simply a matter of political -expediency, and in the existing state of affairs it was the most -injudicious thing in the world for the Catholic party in England to run -to extremes. Philip was a cold-blooded statesman, and was never really -blinded by religious zeal. That he was a deeply religious man, according -to his narrow view, with an all-consuming belief in the identity of -interests between himself and the Almighty, is certain; but his motive -was never the exaltation of the Church itself, or even of Catholicism, -except as the most convenient instrument for establishing the political -predominance of Spain over the rest of the world.</p> - -<p>What Philip wanted of the English councillors was not the hellish -bonfires of Smithfield, but ships and men<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a>{45}</span> with which to fight the -French. Here the fervid churchmen were not so ready. The English navy, -the council told Philip, was unfit for sea; but the best of the ships, -with the pick of the sailors and soldiers on board, should as soon as -possible be sent to guard the Channel. This was not enough for the king, -who wrote (September 1555) a vigorous marginal note on the minute, -saying that “England’s chief defence depends upon its navy being always -in good order to serve for the defence of the kingdom against all -invasion. It is right that the ships should not only be fit for sea, but -instantly available.” He wishes the fleet to be put in order, and sent, -not to Dover but to Portsmouth, as the emperor is going to Spain in -November, and wishes twelve or fourteen ships to accompany him beyond -Ushant. This was, of course, the thin end of the wedge. What Philip -really wanted, as will be seen, was to employ the English fleet against -France.</p> - -<p>On the much-desired arrival of Philip in Brussels he found the great -emperor a prey to the last extreme of mental and bodily senile -depression. Things had been going from bad to worse with Charles almost -uninterruptedly since the defection of Maurice of Saxony in 1552. -“Fortune is a strumpet,” he cried at his disaster before Metz, “and -reserves her favours for the young.” And so to the young Philip he had -determined to shift the burden he himself could bear no longer.</p> - -<p>The emperor’s principal embarrassments had occurred in Italy. It will be -recollected that Naples and Sicily belonged to the crown of Spain by -conquest, and that the dukedom of Milan, a vacant fief of the empire, -had been conferred upon Philip. Charles’s warlike and turbulent<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a>{46}</span> -representatives in these states had plunged him into endless troubles, -first by their encroachment on the principalities of Parma and Piacenza, -belonging to the papal Farneses, and, secondly, by the seizure of the -republic of Siena. The discontent caused by these encroachments was -taken advantage of by the French king to side with the Italians against -their suzerain, the emperor. The French already held Piedmont, one of -the fiefs of the empire, and now expelled the imperialists from Siena. -The Pope and the Duke of Florence, who had hitherto been neutral, then -sided with the French; the populations of Milan and Naples cried aloud -against the oppression they suffered from the Spanish governors, and the -Spanish imperial domination of Italy seemed tottering to its fall. The -Spanish governors were hastily changed, and an arrangement patched up -with the Medicis. Thenceforward the war was carried on against the -French in Italy with varying success, the Turks frequently making -diversions on the coast in the interest of France. The imperial and -Spanish officials in the various states of Italy were quarrelling with -each other in face of the common enemy, and all was in confusion when -Philip made his marriage journey to England. It was then decided by the -emperor to transfer to his son the crowns of Naples and Sicily, and the -dukedom of Milan, with which he had been nominally invested in 1546, and -the act of abdication of these dominions was read in Winchester -Cathedral before the marriage ceremony. This was doubtless intended as a -first step towards the old project of transferring to Spain the -suzerainty of the empire over Italy, as Philip bad also received a -transference of the rights of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a>{47}</span> emperor over Siena as soon as the -republic had been recaptured from the French. It will thus be seen how -anomalous was Philip’s position in Italy. He was independent King of -Naples, a tributary prince of the empire in Milan, and a substitute for -the emperor in his suzerainty over Siena. The imperial troops in Milan -had hitherto been a coercive power over the other imperial fiefs, but -they could no longer be so regarded, as they were the forces of a -Spanish prince, who in Milan was himself a tributary prince of the -empire, with no rights over the rest. Philip soon found that it was -practically impossible to govern from England his Italian states in this -complicated condition of affairs, and in November 1554 appointed Alba -with very full powers to exercise all his sovereignties in Italy, with -supreme command of the army. The emperor did not like the idea. We have -seen the opinion he held of Alba and how he dreaded making so great a -noble too powerful, and it was only with great difficulty that he -consented. Alba had been Philip’s principal mentor in England, chafing -at being kept away from the wars, and condemned to humiliating -subordination in a country he hated; but it may safely be assumed that -this was not the only reason why Philip decided to remove him from his -side.</p> - -<p>Already the two political parties which were in after years alternately -to influence Philip were being developed. Ruy Gomez de Silva, his bosom -friend, upon whom he had bestowed the hand of the greatest heiress of -Spain, and whom soon afterwards he was to load with titles, was an -hidalgo of Portuguese birth, ten years older than his master. According -to all contemporary<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a>{48}</span> accounts never was royal favour better deserved. No -person has an ill word for Ruy Gomez. Gentle, conciliatory, modest, and -diplomatic, he was the very antithesis of the haughty and intolerant -Alba, and found himself constantly at issue with him on every political -point under discussion. His views and methods were more in consonance -with those of Philip than were the harsh and violent counsels of the -warlike Alba. He was, moreover, nearer the king’s age, and possessed his -real regard. It is not surprising, therefore, that when an opportunity -came for the removal of Alba from the king’s side, Ruy Gomez and his -friends urged it; and in December 1554 the favourite himself went from -England to Brussels to persuade the reluctant emperor to consent to the -appointment. Alba’s administration of Italy opened an entirely new page -in the relations between Spain, Italy, and the papacy, to which -reference will be made in its proper place.</p> - -<p>On October 25, 1555, the renunciation by the emperor of the sovereignty -of the Netherlands took place in the great hall of the palace of -Brussels. The scene, one of the most dramatic in history, has often been -described, and need not here be repeated. All the circumstances added -impressiveness and solemnity to the ceremony. The prematurely aged -emperor, standing on a dais, leaning on the shoulder of the youthful -William the Silent, in a broken voice took leave of the Flemish -subjects, whom he loved best. He had always been a Fleming at heart, and -the leave-taking was an affecting one on both sides. Philip, on the -other hand, was to all intents a foreigner, and though Charles fervently -prayed his son to treat his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a>{49}</span> people well, the Flemings present knew that -his heart and sympathies were in Spain, and that Philip might be a ruler -over them, but never a friend and father, as the emperor had been. -Philip’s own impassibility for once gave way at the affecting scene, and -for some time he could not summon sufficient composure to speak; and -when he did, alas! it was only to confess that, as he could not address -his new subjects in their own tongue, he must depute the task to -another. We may be sure that the Bishop of Arras—the coming De -Granvelle—was elegant, fluent, and appropriate in his speech; but the -charm that loosely held together the states under the House of Burgundy -was broken, and the sturdy burghers felt that henceforward they were to -be regarded as a colony of Spain. On January 16, 1556, the crowns of -Spain were also transferred to Philip, and Charles remained now only -emperor nominally, until the German electors were prepared for the -abdication in favour of Ferdinand. Before he left for Spain and turned -his back upon the world for ever, he arranged (February 1556) a truce -for five years, by the treaty of Vaucelles, with his old antagonist the -King of France.</p> - -<p>Philip now stands on the stage alone, the greatest monarch in the world, -although disappointed of the apostolic crown. We have seen how his -statecraft had been formed, and how from his childhood he had absorbed -the worldly experience of his father. We can see how he had schooled -himself to self-repression, concentration of effort to political ends, -and profound distrust in all men. To his melancholy mysticism and belief -in his divine inspiration, the result of his descent, had been -superadded the teachings of his mentors, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a>{50}</span> the result was the man who -was to lead to defeat one of the two great forces into which the world -was divided. The judgment on a great historical figure must be -pronounced, not in view of what he achieved, so much as what he aimed -at, and in the case of Philip the objects were great. These objects were -not, however, conceived by him, but were imposed upon him by the -accident of birth. He accepted the inheritance as a sacred duty and -strenuously did his best, but his inherited personal qualities were not -equal to his inherited task, and he failed.</p> - -<p>The irony of events decreed that the very first task to which Philip was -to put his hand was to fight with the Holy See. Charles and his -predecessors had wrested from one pontiff after another the rights of -presentation to all bishoprics, prelacies, and other preferments of the -Church in Spain, so that the Spanish clergy depended now upon their -sovereign more than upon the pope, and the king practically used the -vast revenues of the Church as an instrument of his policy. The royal -council, moreover, had the power of supervision over the ecclesiastical -courts in Spain, nominally to protect Spanish priests from injustice, -but really to make the civil power supreme, and give to the State a -predominance over the Church. The Inquisition itself was quite as much a -political as an ecclesiastical institution, and was jealously regarded -by Philip and his predecessors as under their immediate control, and not -that of the pope. Similar, and even greater power, was exercised by the -king over the Spanish Church in Naples and Sicily, to the exclusion of -papal influence. These facts, together with the encroachments of the -Spaniards in Italy, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a>{51}</span> been suffered with a bad grace by previous -pontiffs, but Cardinal Caraffa, Paul IV., was a Neapolitan, and a deadly -enemy of the Spanish power, and immediately after his accession began to -intrigue with the King of France to join with him for the purpose of -expelling the Spaniards from Naples, and curbing their power in Italy -generally. The arrogant and intemperate pontiff launched against the -emperor and his son invective more bitter even than he did against -heretics. “The Spaniards,” he was wont to say, were “the vile and abject -spawn of Jews, the dregs of the world,” and “now the time had come when -they should be castigated for their sins, be expelled from their states, -and Italy should be free.” The aid of the Grand Turk was also invoked, -and Henry II., tempted by the bait of conquering Naples by such a -coalition, signed the treaty with the pope in December 1555.</p> - -<p>The emperor’s one desire, however, was to leave his son at peace, and he -offered such terms that in February 1556 Henry II. withdrew from the -papal alliance and signed the truce of Vaucelles. The defection of the -French was only a temporary check to the fiery pontiff. Before four -months had passed he had persuaded the King of France once more to enter -into an offensive alliance with him, and the Sultan Solyman, to fight -against the Catholic king. Wherever the pope’s voice or arm could reach, -persecution and insult were heaped upon Spaniards. When once he had -prevailed upon the King of France to break the truce of Vaucelles he -thought he had his enemy at his mercy. All bounds of decency and decorum -were abandoned, and a violent bull of excommunication was issued against -the emperor and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a>{52}</span> King Philip. The latter is addressed as “the son of -iniquity, Philip of Austria, offspring of the so-called Emperor Charles, -who passes himself off as King of Spain, following in the footsteps of -his father, rivalling, and even endeavouring to surpass him in -infamy.”<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Alba invaded the papal states, and nearly captured Rome -itself, carrying fire and sword through Italy; but he was well matched -by Guise, who commanded the Franco-Papal army. Then suddenly Henry II. -found that the army from Flanders was marching on Paris, and Guise was -recalled to France. By the intervention of the Doge of Venice a peace -was patched up between the pope and Philip, Alba sulkily entering Rome, -not as a conqueror but as a pretended penitent. The pope was conciliated -with ceremonies and futile concessions, and France and Philip were again -left face to face.</p> - -<p>During the new coalition against him Philip had again urged the English -council to join him in the war against France, but could get no -satisfactory reply. The poor queen was wearing her heart away with -sorrow and disappointment, and the English Catholics in power, from Pole -downwards, were determined not to serve purely Spanish aims or allow -themselves to be diverted from the holy task of extirpating heresy, so -the king, sorely against his will, was obliged, himself, to go to -England and exert his personal influence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a>{53}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>French intrigue against Mary—England at war with France—Battle of -St. Quintin—Philip’s tardiness—The English contingent—The loss -of Calais—Feria goes to England—His negotiations—Condition of -England—The English fleet used by Philip—Philip and -Elizabeth—Negotiations for peace—Death of Mary—Plans for -Elizabeth’s marriage—Peace of Cateau Cambresis—Philip’s policy in -England.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">P<small>HILIP</small> arrived in England on March 20, 1557, and at once tried to -influence his wife to the ends he had in view. She on her part had not -forgiven the intrigues of the French and De Noailles against her, and -was willing to be revenged; but the council and, above all, the nation, -had always dreaded this probable result of a Spanish match. They had no -special quarrel with the King of France, and had no wish to be drawn -into a war with him to benefit Philip’s Italian supremacy.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile Henry II. tried to counteract Philip’s efforts in -England. The abortive risings at the beginning of Mary’s reign had cast -a great number of refugee Englishmen on to the coast of France—Carews, -Staffords, Tremaynes, and the like,—and these men had always been held -by the French king as a card in his hand to play against Mary in need, -for the purpose of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a>{54}</span> raising a diversion in her own country. He once more -adopted the same policy, making much of the exiles, ostentatiously -helping them, and hinting at hostile designs against Calais, and even -England itself. Henry meant it for a feint, but hare-brained Stafford, -with vague hopes of a crown, started from Dieppe with two ships on -Easter Sunday 1557. He seized Scarborough Castle, but was seized himself -directly afterwards, and he and his friends incontinently lost their -heads. But it was enough that they had been cherished by the French -king, and had started from a French port. With such an argument as this, -Mary was able to persuade her council, and Philip had his way. On June 7 -war against France was declared, and on July 3 the king bade his wife -what was destined to be an eternal farewell, and left for Brussels. -Eight thousand English troops were at once made ready to join Philip’s -army in Flanders, under his young cousin Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of -Savoy, which amounted in all to 50,000 men. Constable Montmorenci -commanded the French force, which was much inferior both in numbers and -quality (24,000 men). Savoy began the campaign by feigned attacks upon -several frontier fortresses, his object being suddenly to turn aside and -attack St. Quintin, a town of wealth and importance whose defences were -known to be ruinous. Savoy’s rapid and unexpected movements completely -puzzled the French, and Coligny, with a small force of about 1200 men, -was ordered to watch him. Coligny made an attempt to surprise Douai, but -was unsuccessful, and then seems to have learnt that Savoy’s real -objective was St. Quintin. He hurried back over the frontier, just in -time to cast himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a>{55}</span> into the town before it was invested, and then saw -that he was in a trap. The place could not hold out for a week in its -present condition, and he hastily begged Montmorenci to send him relief. -Montmorenci’s idea of relief was to force a thousand men through Savoy’s -lines into the town. In this he failed utterly. The way lay through a -bog, in which the troops sank or were killed by Savoy’s men, and only a -few stragglers reached the town. On the next day (August 10), -Montmorenci brought up his main body, and tried to cast reinforcements -into the town by boats across the Somme. This was found to be -impracticable, and Montmorenci was urged by his men to retire. He had -the river and a morass between himself and Savoy’s army, and thought he -was safe, but by fords and causeways unknown to him, 6000 fine -Burgundian cavalry and a body of the invincible Spanish infantry crossed -to his side. Then when it was too late he gave the order to retire. The -retreat soon became a rout. Six thousand French troops were killed, as -many more captured, all the artillery taken, Montmorenci a prisoner, and -there was no force between Savoy’s victorious army of 50,000 men and the -gates of Paris.</p> - -<p>Here was Philip’s chance—a chance never to occur again. During the -short campaign he had remained at Valenciennes and Brussels, and on the -day of St. Quintin he was in the city of Cambrai. His vocation was not -war, and he knew it. Bells were rung, Te Deums were sung, and the day -after the battle Philip visited his victorious army; but his professed -regret at his absence from the fray was not so deep as that of his -father when he heard the news. The Duke of Savoy begged to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a>{56}</span> allowed -to follow up his victory by a march upon the capital, but over-caution -was always Philip’s fault, and he would take no undue risk. He doubtless -recollected his own remarks about his father’s invasion of France and -the disaster of Metz. “The emperor,” he said, “had marched into France -eating peacocks, and had marched out eating turnips.” When Charles at -Yuste heard of the victory, he at once asked whether Philip had yet -arrived before Paris. But the war was not ended yet, and brave Coligny -in the town of St. Quintin held out against terrible odds until August -27, when it was taken by assault. The sacking and pillage of the devoted -town and the heartrending cruelty wreaked upon the defenceless people, -mainly by the German mercenaries, will ever remain one of the most -horrible episodes of history. Philip had given orders that women and -children should be spared, but his instructions were set at naught, and -when, on the third day after the capture, he entered the city, he saw -such sights as left upon him impressions of horror which he never -forgot.</p> - -<p>Philip’s army, of various nationalities, was then divided amongst the -French towns he had captured. The rascally German mercenaries quarrelled -and left him in large numbers, many to join the French. The English were -sulky—the Spaniards complained of their conduct before St. Quintin. -Wages were in arrears, their hearts were not in the fight, and they -demanded leave to go home. Philip could not risk unpopularity in England -by refusal, and let them go.</p> - -<p>The French, on the other hand, by the end of the year had a fine army in -north-eastern France, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a>{57}</span> Guise had hastily brought back from Italy. -The English fortress of Calais had been neglected, and was in a poor -condition for defence. Guise suddenly appeared before it, to the -surprise of the defenders. The outworks were stormed and captured on -January 2 and 3, 1558, and on the 8th the citadel itself was captured. -Lord Wentworth was in command, but the resources at his disposal were -utterly inadequate, and it was impossible with them to hold the place. -As a natural result, the other English fortress of Guisnes, under Lord -Grey, fell a few days afterwards, and the last foothold of the English -in France was gone. Before this disaster had happened Philip had begged -the English council to send him a fresh reinforcement of English troops, -with the ostensible object of ensuring the safety of Calais; but there -were no troops and little money available in England. The war was -extremely unpopular; all the country insisted that they had been dragged -into it to please Philip, and the queen, desirous as she was of pleasing -her husband, was weak and weary, utterly unable to dominate her council, -with whom religious matters in England were the first consideration, and -the predominance of Spain in Europe a matter of no concern. When Guise’s -designs upon Calais were evident, Philip sent his favourite. Count de -Feria, post-haste to England to insist upon the need of sending troops, -at least to defend the fortress. Before he started on his journey news -came of the fall of Calais, but as Guisnes still held out, he proceeded -on his way. Before he embarked from Dunkirk he heard of the surrender of -Guisnes, and delayed his arrival in England, in order not to be the -bearer of the evil tidings. He saw the council in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a>{58}</span> Cardinal Pole’s -chamber on January 28, and presented his master’s demands. Heath was the -spokesman. He was apologetic and sorrowful, but the state of England was -such, he said, that instead of sending men away, they needed troops to -be sent for defence. The south coast and the Isle of Wight were at the -mercy of the French, the Scottish frontier was unprotected and -threatened, and much to the same effect. But if King Philip would send -them 3000 German mercenaries, for which they would pay, they would place -them in Newcastle, and they could then arm 100 ships in the Channel, and -embark 16,000 men, some of whom might be used for Philip’s purposes. The -country was in complete disorder, and Feria says that if 100 men were to -land on the south coast, the country would probably join them against -its friends, by which he doubtless meant the Catholic Government.</p> - -<p>Before this interview the king had written to Feria that Calais and -Guisnes having fallen, it would be better to abandon the idea of sending -English troops to France, but that the whole efforts of the council -should be directed towards the defence of the country itself. From -Feria’s own observation when he first landed at Dover it was indeed -clear, both to him and his master, that in no case would any effective -aid in men reach him from England.</p> - -<p>With much ado Parliament was induced to vote the supplies necessary for -the defence of the country. Feria’s scorn at such cumbrous methods knew -no bounds, and his picture of the complete disorganisation of the -government is most vivid. It was evident now to all that the queen had -not very long to live, and that her renewed dreams of progeny were to be -as baseless as before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a>{59}</span> What was to come after her was the question, and -each man was thinking of his own future. Philip was in dire want of -money, and begged his wife not to depend upon Parliament alone for -supplies. In vain Gresham tried to borrow large sums at Antwerp on the -queen’s credit; only £10,000 could be got. Devices of all sorts were -suggested, but to no purpose. But still the sums voted by Parliament, -and what else could be collected or borrowed, were sent to Flanders to -pay for the German levies, and spent in fitting out and manning the -English fleet. The distracted English councillors were deluded into an -idea that an attempt would be made to recover Calais; they were -frightened with the false rumour that there was a large French fleet at -Dieppe, that the Hanse towns and Denmark would attack them—anything to -get them to provide a strong English fleet, not ostensibly for Philip’s -purposes. But Philip took care that when the fleet was ready Clinton -should use it as he desired, and the much-talked-of 3000 Germans never -came to England, but when they were ready were utilised for Philip’s -service. “I am writing nothing of this to the queen,” he informs Feria, -“as I would rather that you should prudently work with the councillors -to induce them to ask us to relieve them of these troops.”</p> - -<p>When Feria had frightened the queen and council out of all that was -possible, he left in July to join his master in Brussels, taking care to -pay his visit to “Madam Elizabeth” at Hatfield, with all sorts of -affectionate and significant messages from her loving brother-in-law. -The plan had been, from the time of Mary’s own marriage, to fix Spanish -influence in England, no matter what happened, by marrying Elizabeth to -the Duke of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a>{60}</span> Savoy. But Mary would not restore her sister in blood—she -could not indeed without bastardising herself—and without this the -marriage would have been useless, from Philip’s point of view. But he -temporised still, determined to keep Elizabeth in hand if possible, and -lost no opportunity of showing his amiability to her.</p> - -<p>When Feria left in July there remained in England a member of Philip’s -Flemish council, named Dassonleville. On November 7 he wrote to the king -informing him that Parliament had been called together to discuss the -question of the succession, and pointing out the desirability of Philip -himself being present to influence it in the way he desired, it being -understood that the queen’s death was approaching.</p> - -<p>But Philip had his hands full, and could not go, even on so important an -errand as this. The success of Guise at Calais had emboldened the -French, and at one time a march upon Brussels had appeared inevitable. -Providentially, however, for Philip, the English naval squadron of -twelve ships, already mentioned, was able at a critical moment to turn -the tide of victory in an engagement near Gravelines (July 13, 1558). -Marshal Termes was completely routed, and Guise thenceforward had to -stand on the defensive. Philip’s treasury was quite empty, he was deeply -in debt, his soldiers unpaid, and he hated war. The French king was in -similar straits, and had, moreover, begun to look with apprehension on -the increasing strength of the reform party in France. So a talk of -arrangement began to prevail, and on October 15 the first meeting of -commissioners for peace was held, De Granvelle, with Alba and the Prince -of Orange, representing Philip, and Cardinal Lorraine, with Constable<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a>{61}</span> -Montmorenci and Marshal St. André, the French king; whilst English -interests were safeguarded by the Earl of Arundel, Dr. Thirlby, and Dr. -Wotton. Under these circumstances, Philip was obliged to send to England -in his place his friend, the Count de Feria. He arrived on November 9, -and found the queen almost unconscious, so he lost no time in trying to -propitiate the coming queen. He summoned the council, and approved in -Philip’s name of Elizabeth’s succession, and then took horse to salute -the new sovereign. On the 17th, Mary Tudor died, and Philip had a new -set of problems to face. England had slipped through his hands, but -might still be regained if the new queen could be married to his -nominee. Elizabeth showed in her very first interview with Feria that -she would not allow herself to be patronised. She stopped him at once -when he began to hint that she owed her new crown to his master’s -support. “She would,” she said, “owe it only to her people.” The Duke of -Savoy was the first idea of a husband for her in the Spanish interest, -but he was warlike, and the French were still in possession of his -territories, so the English dreaded that he might drag them into another -war, and would not hear of him. Feria hinted to the queen that Philip -himself might marry her, but she was diplomatically irresponsive. -Philip’s conditions, indeed, as conveyed to his ambassador, were such -that Elizabeth could not have accepted them. But it never came so near -as the discussion of conditions. This is not the place to relate at -length the endless intrigues by which it was sought to draw Elizabeth -into a marriage which should render her amenable, or at least innocuous, -to Spain, but it will suffice to say that she was fully a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a>{62}</span> match for the -wily diplomatists who sought to entrap her, and never for a moment, -through all her tergiversation, intended to allow Spanish interests to -dominate English policy. The peace between Spain and France was easily -settled at Cateau Cambresis, Henry being even more anxious for it than -Philip, and he gave way upon nearly every point; but with regard to -England the case was different, and for a long while the English envoys -stood out persistently for the restoration of Calais. So long as there -appeared any prospect of his being allowed to influence English -government, Philip refused to make a separate peace, but at length he -gave Elizabeth clearly to understand that if peace could not be made -without the loss of Calais, then Calais must go. England was in a state -of confused transition, the queen’s position was uncertain, the treasury -was empty, and the war unpopular, so at last the bitter pill, slightly -disguised, had to be swallowed, and the peace of Cateau Cambresis was -signed on April 2, 1559.</p> - -<p>The position was a critical one for Philip and his policy. This was the -parting of the ways, and the course now adopted was to decide the fate -of the Spanish domination. Feria, and after him the Bishop of Aquila, -wrote incessantly during the first months of Elizabeth’s reign that -Spain must dominate England, by force of arms, if need be. Most of the -country was Catholic, many of the principal councillors were in Spanish -pay or had Spanish sympathies, the queen was as yet an uncertain -quantity, and there were several pretenders whose claim to the crown -seemed better than hers. Philip was assured again and again that this -was his chance. If England broke away from him, his own Low Countries -were in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a>{63}</span> danger. Let him, said his councillors, subsidise the Catholic -party, if necessary backed up by force, patronise one of the rival -claimants—Catharine Grey for choice—and remove the troublesome young -queen before her position became consolidated. But Philip was slow. The -merits and objections of every course had to be weighed and discussed -infinitely. By his side was already the young Bishop of Arras, De -Granvelle, fresh from his diplomatic triumph at Cateau Cambresis, whose -methods were modelled upon those of his master, and from whom no -decision could be expected without protracted delay. There was also Ruy -Gomez, always on the side of peace and moderation. In vain haughty Feria -sneered at the timid councils of churchmen, and chafed at his master’s -inaction. Philip would not be hurried. His one wish was to get back to -his dear Spain, and stay there; and from this design, favoured as it was -by Ruy Gomez, Feria and the politicians of the Alba party were powerless -to move him. So England slipped further and further from hands too tardy -to grasp it whilst there was yet time, and those who held as an article -of political faith that the owner of the Netherlands must be in close -alliance with England or perish, looked on in unconcealed dismay.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a>{64}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Philip’s plan for a French alliance—His marriage with Elizabeth de -Valois—Philip’s embarrassments in the Netherlands—De -Granvelle—Philip’s departure from Flanders—Condition of affairs -in Spain—The Spanish Church—Death of Paul IV.—The -Inquisition—Bartolomé de Carranza—Philip’s arrival and routine in -Spain—The auto de fé at Valladolid.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">P<small>HILIP</small> was as fully alive as were his fiery advisers to the necessity of -keeping friendly with England, but he would have no more war if he could -help it. Moreover, an entirely new combination of a sort which exactly -appealed to his character had suggested itself to him. One of the -principal objects of Henry II., in his anxiety to make peace, was to -unite with Philip in order to withstand the growing power of the -reformers, especially in France. Philip was not actively responsive on -this point, as at the time (early in 1559) it had not reached an acute -stage in his Netherlands dominions, and for the moment it did not suit -his English policy to appear as the champion of extreme Catholicism. It -was settled, however, in the preliminary discussions of the peace envoys -at Cateau Cambresis that Philip’s only son, Carlos, who was now fourteen -years of age, should marry Henry’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who was -three<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a>{65}</span> months younger than the prince. When it became evident that -Elizabeth of England might hold her own, and even in time oppose him, it -must have appeared to Philip that an entire change of his policy might -isolate her, and that a close union between the old enemies, France and -Spain, would reduce England to impotence for harm. So Philip’s own name -was substituted for that of his son when the treaty was finally drafted, -and the new policy was inaugurated. This policy was, so far as Philip -was concerned, not an aggressive one against England or against -Elizabeth. The next Catholic heir to the English throne was Mary Stuart, -practically a Frenchwoman, and married to the Dauphin Francis, the -future King of France. It was therefore, above all, necessary for Philip -that the way should not be opened for the Queen of Scots to mount the -English throne. Better far for him that Elizabeth, heretic though she -was, should be there than that a French king should reign over England -and Scotland. Then, indeed, would the Netherlands have been in jeopardy. -The new combination seemed to avert danger from every side. The -coalition was too strong for England to trouble alone, whilst any design -to depose Elizabeth in the interest of Mary Stuart and France could now -be counteracted from the inside by Philip. The Duke of Alba, with a -splendid train of Spanish and Flemish nobles, entered Paris on June 22, -1559, and married by proxy for his master the young French princess, -Elizabeth of the Peace, as the Spaniards afterwards called her. She was -but a child as yet, but already her striking beauty and sweetness had -endeared her beyond compare to the French populace. Brantome and other -contemporary writers describe her personal<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a>{66}</span> appearance, but her own wise -letters to her mother, her brother, and to her friend and sister, Mary -Stuart, speak more eloquently still of her mental gifts, and explain the -undoubted influence she gained over the spirit of her husband, who, -notwithstanding the disparity of their years, loved her deeply, and -mourned her sincerely when she died. The marriage rejoicings in Paris -were brought to a sudden and untoward conclusion by the accidental -killing of the King of France, Henry II., by a thrust in the eye at a -tourney, at the hands of Montgomeri, captain of the Scots Guard.</p> - -<p>Philip was still in Belgium, immersed in anxiety and trouble. Already -the want of sympathy between himself and his Flemish subjects was -bearing its natural fruit. Heresy was raising its head there as -elsewhere. The Netherlands had on more than one occasion felt the heavy -hand of the emperor both in matters of religion and in the autonomous -privileges of the various states which constituted the dominions of the -House of Burgundy. But Charles was one of themselves, and from him they -would suffer much. With Philip, ostentatiously a foreigner, it was a -very different matter, and all attempts from him, however innocent, -towards the centralisation of power, which was the kernel of his system, -were tacitly resented by them. The commercial and geographical position -of the Netherlands, in constant touch with England and Germany—the -highway between them indeed—especially exposed the country to the -influence of the new religious ideas; and in Holland, at least, the -Protestant doctrines had before Philip’s accession obtained firm root. -The person of the new monarch was not popular with the Flemings. His -dislike<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a>{67}</span> of noisy enthusiasm, his coldness and reserve, his preference -for Spaniards, had already widened the breach that his first appearance -had occasioned, and his people were almost eager to place a bad -interpretation upon all he did. His first step, if it had been taken by -another sovereign, would have been a popular one, but with him it was -the reverse. The three bishoprics of the Netherlands were unwieldy, and -a considerable portion of the country was under the ecclesiastical -control of German bishops. Philip desired to remedy this by the -re-division of the various dioceses and the creation of fourteen new -bishops and three archbishops, the lands of the monasteries being -appropriated for the support of the new prelates. Philip had endeavoured -to keep his plans secret, but they leaked out, and at Philip’s farewell -visit to the States-General at Ghent, on the eve of his departure for -Spain, the members of the assembly denounced in no uncertain terms the -implied policy of Philip to rule them according to Spanish instead of -Flemish ideas. The severe edicts of the emperor against heresy had been -only partially enforced, and in most of the states had been controlled -by the native civil tribunals; but it was concluded that Philip would -inaugurate a new era of rigour, especially as he was retaining under -arms in the Netherlands some 4000 Spanish infantry. Philip had to listen -to some bold talk from the burghers. With him heresy had always been -synonymous with resistance to authority—in his case, he thought, allied -with divinity; and as he left the assembly of the States he must have -made up his mind that here, in his own dominion, the hydra must be -crushed at any cost. As was his wont, however, he dissembled, promised -that the Spanish troops<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a>{68}</span> should be withdrawn, and took leave of the -States with fair words. The country was to be governed in his absence by -the Duchess of Parma, daughter of the emperor by a Flemish lady, and now -married to that Ottavio Farnese whose dukedoms had been taken and -subsequently restored to him by the Spaniards. Her principal adviser was -to be the Bishop of Arras (De Granvelle). He was the third son of -Charles’s favourite minister, Secretary Perrennot, a Franche-Comtois, -and consequently a foreigner in Flanders. Upon him the principal brunt -of his master’s unpopularity fell. His appointment as prime minister, he -being a foreigner, was, said the Flemings, a violation of their rights. -But Philip was immovable. He knew by the signatories of the petition for -the removal of the Spanish troops that many of the principal men in the -Netherlands were disaffected, and his suspicions had been aroused -against those prime favourites of his father, the young Prince of Orange -and Count Egmont. But he was, as usual, careful to dissemble his -distrust, and left Egmont as governor of the counties of Flanders and -Artois, and Orange of those of Holland, Zeeland, etc.</p> - -<p>The atmosphere in Philip’s Netherlands dominions was thus full of -gathering storm when he turned his back upon them for the last time to -sail for Spain (August 1559). At the last moment, as he was about to -embark, his indignation at the resistance to his authority seems to have -overridden his reticence. He turned to Orange and told him that he knew -that he was at the bottom of the opposition he had encountered in the -States-General. Orange began by laying the responsibility upon the -States themselves. “No,” said Philip, “not the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a>{69}</span> States, but you! you! -you!” This was Orange’s first warning. In his heart he must have known -now that in future it was to be war to the knife between his sovereign -and himself. In any case he was prudent enough to stay on shore, and -declined to accompany the other Flemish nobles on board the Spanish -fleet.</p> - -<p>If the sky was overcast in the Netherlands, it was almost as lowering in -Spain itself; and this was a matter which lay nearer still to Philip’s -heart. The country had been governed during the king’s absence by his -sister, the widowed Princess Juana of Portugal, as regent. Civil affairs -had shown no decided change. The money that flowed from the Indies had -been mostly seized and squandered upon the foreign wars, and on one -occasion the Seville merchants had ventured to remonstrate. But their -leaders had been loaded with irons and cast into prison, and -henceforward the people patiently bore their burden. Religious matters, -however, were in a less satisfactory condition. It has already been -observed that the policy of Charles and Philip had always been to bring -the Church in Spain under subjection to the monarch, and to weaken the -control of Rome over it. The ecclesiastical benefices were now -practically all at the disposal of the sovereigns, and were distributed -to a large extent with political objects, pensions and payment for -national purposes frequently being charged upon episcopal, and other -revenues, as a condition of presentation of a benefice. The royal -council had assumed the power of reviewing the decisions of -ecclesiastical tribunals, and the same civil power had now claimed the -right of suspending the publication of papal bulls in Spain.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a>{70}</span></p> - -<p>For some years a controversy had been in progress with the papacy as to -the right of the crown to insist upon the execution of a decision of the -Council of Trent with regard to the reformation of the Spanish cathedral -chapters, which had become very corrupt. The pope had considered this an -interference with his prerogative, and had summoned to Rome the Spanish -bishops who championed the right of the monarch over the Church. The -royal council suspended the papal bulls and forbade the bishops to obey -the pope’s summons. Paul IV. was furious, and this was one of the -reasons for his attempts to ruin the Spanish power. When he fulminated -his famous excommunication of Philip already mentioned, the king -retorted by ordering through the Regent Juana that all the pope’s -messengers bearing the bulls into Spain should be captured and punished. -The council next recommended that Philip should insist upon all papal -nuncios to Spain being Spanish prelates, and that they should be paid by -the pope and not by the king. It did not, however, suit Philip to -proceed too violently against the Church, upon which he knew he must -depend largely as an instrument of his policy. When in 1557 he consented -to the undignified peace with Paul IV., who had been so bitter an enemy -to him, proud Alba said that, if he had had his way, he would have made -Caraffa go to Brussels to sue the king for peace instead of Philip’s -general having to humble himself before the churchman.</p> - -<p>Matters were still extremely strained between Philip and the pope, Paul -IV., when, almost simultaneously with the king’s departure from -Flanders, the pontiff died (August 15, 1559), and during most of the -rule of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a>{71}</span> his successor, Pius IV. (Angelo de Medici), Philip had a ready -and pliant instrument in the chair of St. Peter.</p> - -<p>The gradual slackening of the bonds which bound the Spanish Church to -the papacy, and the laxity of the ecclesiastical control which was a -consequence, had brought about scandalous corruption amongst the higher -and cloistered clergy. The general tone of religion, indeed, at the time -seems to have been one of extreme looseness and cynicism, accompanied by -a slavish adherence to ritual and form. The terms in which the king and -his ambassadors in their correspondence refer to the pontiffs and to the -government of the Church in Rome, are often contemptuous in the last -degree. They are always regarded as simple instruments for forwarding -the interests of “God and your Majesty,” the invariable formula which -well embodies Philip’s own conception of his place in the universe. -Nothing is more curious than the free way in which religious matters -were spoken of and discussed with impunity, so long as the speakers -professed profound and abject submission to the Church, which in this -case really meant the semi-political institution in Spain.</p> - -<p>The Inquisition had from the first been jealously guarded from any real -effective interference on the part of the pope, and by the time of -Philip’s return to Spain had already begun to assume its subsequent -character as a great political instrument in the hands of the monarch, -working on ecclesiastical lines. So far as Philip’s personal experience -extended, nearly all resistance to authority had begun with heresy, and, -with his views as to the identity of his interests with those of the -Almighty, it was evidently a duty to crush out ruthlessly<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a>{72}</span> any -manifestation of a spirit which tended to his prejudice.</p> - -<p>There had gone with Philip to England as one of his confessors a learned -and eloquent friar named Bartolomé de Carranza, of the Order of -Preachers. He had been active in his efforts to bring England into the -Catholic fold, and had especially devoted himself to refuting the -arguments upon which the reformers depended. By his zeal and ability he -had gained the good-will of Philip, who had, after his return to -Brussels, raised him to the archbishopric of Toledo and the primacy of -Spain. He shortly afterwards left for his diocese, with instructions to -visit the emperor at Yuste on his way thither. He found Charles dying, -and administered the last consolations to him, whilst another monk, a -spy of the Inquisition, knelt close by, storing up in his mind for -future use against him the words of hope and comfort he whispered to the -dying man. It was afterwards alleged that he had dared to say that we -might hope for salvation and justification by faith alone. Previous to -this (1558) he had published in Antwerp a work called <i>Commentaries on -the Christian Catechism</i>, in the preface of which certain words of a -somewhat imprudent tendency were employed. “He wished,” he said, “to -resuscitate the antiquity of the primitive church because that was the -most sound and pure”; and in the body of the book certain propositions -were cautiously advanced, which, however, nothing but the keenest -sophistry could twist into heresy.</p> - -<p>Carranza was at Alcalá de Henares in August 1559, shortly before Philip -left Flanders, when he was summoned by the Regent Juana to Valladolid. -The archbishop<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a>{73}</span> had known for some time that the spies of the -Inquisition were around him, and endeavoured diplomatically to delay his -journey until the king should arrive; but Philip had deferred his -departure for a fortnight, because a soothsayer had predicted heavy -storms at sea, and before he could arrive the archbishop, who had then -reached Torrelaguna, was taken from his bed at one o’clock in the -morning and carried to the dungeons of the Inquisition at Valladolid. -His arrest caused the greatest dismay throughout Spain. Contemporaries -made no secret of their belief that he was not imprisoned for religion -at all. His catechism was unanimously approved of by the pope, and by -the Congregation of the Index in Rome. The Council of Trent solemnly and -repeatedly protested against his arrest, and for many years it was a -pitched battle between the Inquisition and the king on the one hand, and -all the Catholic Church on the other. The documents in the case reached -25,000 folios of writing, some of the allegations against the archbishop -being quite ludicrous in their triviality and looseness. In all -probability the first cause of Carranza’s arrest was the jealousy of -Valdes, Archbishop of Seville, the inquisitor-general. He was, like all -the chief inquisitors, a Dominican, and during the many years he had -been at the head of the Holy Office had become intolerably overbearing -and ambitious. Carranza, on the other hand, was a much younger man -(fifty-five), and had, after several years’ absence from Spain, been -suddenly lifted from the position of a simple friar to that of Primate -of Spain, the holder of the richest ecclesiastical benefice in the -world. That Valdes should be jealous was only natural, and in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a>{74}</span> -absence of any adequate reason for his imprisonment in Carranza’s -writings, it is almost certain that the cause for his first detention -must be sought in this direction. Feria, who, of course, knew him well, -writing from Brussels at the date of his first arrest to Bishop Quadra -in England, says: “Things are going so badly in Spain, and they are -coming to such a pass, that we shall soon not know who are the heretics -and who the Christians. I will not believe evil of the archbishop, or of -his companion, or of the Archbishop of Granada, who has also been -summoned by the Inquisitors. What drives me crazy is to see the lives -led by the criminals (<i>i.e.</i> the accused) and those led by their judges, -and to compare their respective intelligence.” The bishop’s (Quadra’s) -reply to this is almost as bold; and a priest sitting at table in Ruy -Gomez’s house is reported to have said without rebuke, speaking of -Carranza, “We shall see by and by whether he is a heretic, but we -already see that he is being persecuted by envy.” When Philip arrived in -Spain the archbishop was in the dark dungeon, where he stayed for two -years, and churchmen everywhere were murmuring at the fate of the -primate. Then the matter assumed a very different complexion. It was now -a question of the vindication of Philip’s favourite tribunal against the -demands of Rome, and for many years Philip held out, making use of every -procrastination and subterfuge of which he was a master, until Pius V. -in 1566 threatened to excommunicate Philip unless Carranza were sent to -Rome. Then after some further delay Philip thought wise to cede the -point, and the archbishop left in April 1567. But his troubles were not -at an end. After a weary delay in Rome, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a>{75}</span> was fully absolved and -restored by the pope, and the decision sent to Spain for the king’s -ratification. This was deferred until Pius V. died (1572), whereupon the -new pope, Gregory XIII., commenced another interrogatory, which lasted -three years. This ended in the absolution of the archbishop after a -light penance, at the end of which, in a few days, Carranza died. -Through all this the monarch seems to have had no personal feeling -against the primate, but it was necessary at all costs to strengthen the -Inquisition.</p> - -<p>On the arrival of Philip in Spain in the autumn of 1559, his methods and -character were well matured, and he began the regular routine of -government which continued unbroken almost for the next forty years, -endeavouring to rule his wide-spreading dominions from his desk, and -trying to make puppets of all men for his own political ends. The -government was divided into eleven departments, distributed between four -secretaries of state. Letters and documents, after being deciphered, -were sent to the king by the secretary of the department to which they -belonged, often accompanied by a note explaining them or recommending a -particular course. Every letter, to the most trivial detail, was read by -Philip himself, who scrawled over the margins his acceptance or -otherwise of the recommendations, or ordered them to be submitted to the -inner council of state, Ruy Gomez, Alba, the confessor, and one or two -other persons. The results of the conference were sent to the king in a -memorandum from the secretary, and were once more considered. Every -paper was therefore before the king several times. All letters or -replies sent were submitted<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a>{76}</span> to him in draft, and frequently amended by -him. At the same time his secretaries kept up a copious semi-private -correspondence with all the Spanish ambassadors and governors, which was -also perused by the king, and frequently contained matters of the -highest importance in secret diplomacy, which it was unadvisable to send -by the usual official channels. It will be seen that this cumbrous -system, by which every individual point was brought before the king’s -personal consideration, entailed an immensity of work, and made prompt -action impossible, even if the king’s own character was capable of -promptitude. Ruy Gomez, Duke of Pastrana and Prince of Eboli, was -high-chamberlain and state councillor, the inseparable friend of the -king, over whom his influence was great. He had taken care to place -around the king secretaries of state attached to his party, the -principal of whom were Eraso and the two Perezes successively—Gonzalo -and Antonio. The Duke of Alba, unlike the other political advisers of -the king, was a great noble, ambitious, harsh, and turbulent, but -partaking of Philip’s own view of the sacredness of the power of the -crown. We have seen that Philip in his youth had been warned by his -father not to trust Alba, or any other great noble, with power in Spain, -and he never did. But the duke was useful in council, because he always -opposed Ruy Gomez, whose soft and peaceful methods he contemned. This -exactly suited Philip, who invariably wished to hear both sides of every -question, and followed his father’s advice to keep rivals and enemies -near him, in order that he might hear the worst that was to be said of -each, whilst he held the balance.</p> - -<p>The king loved to surround himself with mystery, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a>{77}</span> be unseen by the -crowd except on occasions of great ceremony; and as he got older he -became in public graver and more reserved than ever. He had by this time -probably persuaded himself that he really was a sacred being, specially -selected as the direct representative of the Almighty, to whom Popes and -Churches were merely tools. Certain it is that he considered it -unfitting in him to exhibit any of the usual emotions of humanity. On -his marble mask anger, surprise, or joy left no sign.</p> - -<p>Philip landed in Spain on September 8, 1559, in great danger, the ship -and all her rich freight sinking immediately after he left her. He had -previously instructed the Regent Juana that heresy must be pursued -without mercy in Spain, and she and young Carlos had sat through the -horrors of a great auto de fé in Valladolid at the beginning of June, -where some of the principal ladies of her own court were cruelly -sacrificed. But this did not suffice for Philip. If he was to dominate -the world from Spain, that country, at least, must be free from stain or -suspicion. So the first great public ceremony he attended in the country -that welcomed him was another stately auto at Valladolid. On Sunday, -October 18, he sat on a splendid platform in the open space opposite the -church of St. Martin. The judges of the Holy Office surrounded the -throne, and the multitude, frantic with joy to see their beloved Philip -again, and to enjoy a brilliant holiday, had flocked in for many miles -around, attracted by the festival, and the forty days’ indulgence -promised to them by the Church as a reward for their presence. Before -the assembled multitude Philip solemnly swore to maintain<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a>{78}</span> the purity of -the faith and to support the Holy Office. As the condemned criminals -passed his platform, one of them, a gentleman of high birth, married to -a descendant of the royal house of Castile, cried out to the king, “How -is it that a gentleman like you can hand over another gentleman such as -I am to these friars?” “If my son were as perverse as you are,” said -Philip, “I myself would carry the faggots to burn him.” Twelve poor -wretches were then handed over to the civil power for execution, with a -canting request for mercy from the Inquisition, for the Holy Office -itself never officially carried out the last sentence, and invariably -begged hypocritically for mercy for the poor wracked bodies it had -doomed to the fire.</p> - -<p>It is probable that Philip’s object in thus celebrating his return to -his country was intended to give additional prestige to the institution -which he intended to use as a main instrument in keeping his country -free from the dissensions, such as he saw spreading over the rest of the -world. But it will be a mistake to conclude that his proceeding, or even -the Inquisition itself, was unpopular with Spaniards. On the contrary, -Philip seems in this, as in most other things, to have been a perfect -embodiment of the feeling of his country at this time. The enormous -majority of Spaniards exulted in the idea that their nation, and -especially their monarch, had been selected to make common cause with -the Almighty for the extirpation of His enemies.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a>{79}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Arrival of Elizabeth de Valois in Spain—Her influence over -Philip—Position of affairs in France—War with England—Philip’s -attitude towards France—Death of Francis II.—Spanish disaster at -Los Gelves—Position of Spain in the Mediterranean.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">B<small>UT</small> it was time now for Philip to think of the reception of his new -child-wife, whom Alba had married as his proxy in Paris five months -before. Endless questions of etiquette had to be settled, political -arrangements had to be made in Paris that should ensure to Philip the -full benefit of the marriage, the bribing of ministers and the like; and -it was far into the winter before the bride started from Paris, which -she was to see no more. She was the flower of a bad flock, the most -dearly beloved of any of her house, and her slow journey through France -was a triumphal march. The splendid court in which her life had been -passed was very dear to her, and she expected but little happiness in -the rich squalor and rigid grimness of her husband’s palace. She was -going, she knew, to be handed over like a chattel to the enemy of her -country, but she kept up a brave heart, and daily wrote cheerful letters -to her mother. So great was the distrust between the two countries that -the most elaborate<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a>{80}</span> precautions were taken on both sides to prevent -surprise or treachery, and Elizabeth was kept for three days in the snow -at Roncesvalles whilst Anthony de Bourbon was bickering with the -Spaniards as to which frontier should be crossed first. Philip was not a -very eager bridegroom this time, for he advanced no farther than -Guadalajara to meet his wife (January 30, 1560). The poor child was so -nervous when she first approached him, that she could only stare dumbly -at his grave face, and made no sign of obeisance. Philip looked older -than his thirty-three years, and doubtless read her dismay aright. His -first rough greeting was, “What are you looking at? Are you looking to -see whether my hair is grey?” But his gentleness soon came back, and, -unpromising as was the commencement, their married life was not unhappy. -He proved to be a most affectionate and devoted husband, as she was a -sweet and tactful wife.</p> - -<p>He soon had an opportunity of showing his devotion. No sooner had the -marriage ceremony been performed in the cathedral of Toledo than the -queen fell ill of smallpox, and in this crisis her husband’s care and -tenderness to her were unremitting. Regardless of the remonstrances of -those who feared for his own health, he was frequently by her side for -long periods, and all through her tardy and critical convalescence his -attentions and kindness were such as to excite the admiration even of -the queen’s French ladies, who were certainly not prejudiced in Philip’s -favour.</p> - -<p>Very much depended upon preserving the life, and even the beauty, of the -young queen. After years of neglect Catharine de Medici might now, by -the death<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a>{81}</span> of her husband, Henry II., become practically the ruler of -France. She found the country reft in twain by religious faction, and -she knew that the only means by which she could retain her power was by -establishing herself as the balancing influence between the two -factions. For the moment, with the accession of Francis II. and his -wife, Mary, Queen of Scots, to the French throne, the Guises were -paramount, and almost before the inauguration of the new policy of -friendship between France and Spain, Catharine had begun to cast her -eyes towards Vendôme, the Montmorencis and the Protestants to -counterbalance them. The idea of Henry II. in giving his daughter to -Philip was to cement a league of Catholics against the Huguenots; his -widow’s aim was to secure a hold over Philip through his wife which -should enable her to establish and retain her supremacy in France, come -what might. The Guises had soon shown their power on the accession of -their nephew to the throne by assuming in Mary Stuart’s name so -aggressive an attitude towards Elizabeth that the latter was forced to -resent it. An English force of 8000 infantry, 2000 cavalry, and 32 armed -ships was sent to Scotland and attacked Leith, aided by a considerable -Scottish rebel force. Opposed to them the Queen-mother of Scotland, Mary -of Lorraine, had 5000 Frenchmen and a number of Scotsmen. Guise -clamoured for Philip’s help to beat the English in the interests of his -niece. But this was no part of Philip’s bargain. The most untoward thing -that could happen to him was the deposition of Elizabeth and the union -of England and Scotland under a French sovereign, and the next most -inconvenient thing was that Elizabeth should be victorious over his -allies, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a>{82}</span> French. So he exerted every effort to frighten both sides -into making a peace. Envoys were sent from Flanders and Spain to assure -Elizabeth that if she did not withdraw her troops from Scotland he would -send a great force to help the French, whilst the Guises were -significantly told that they must be cautious, as their enemies in -France were numerous. Philip’s envoys in England might threaten, but -Elizabeth knew well that Spanish troops would never put a Frenchman in -her place, and she made the most of her knowledge. The English troops in -Scotland were victorious, and Elizabeth now could afford to hector about -the terms of peace. She wanted Calais to be restored, a large indemnity, -and much else, but she ended by accepting terms which humiliated the -Guises, and ensured her against future French aggression from Scotland.</p> - -<p>Materially the peace of Cateau Cambresis had been all in Philip’s -favour, but he had hoped for advantages in other ways as well. The -original idea had been to present a united front to advancing -Protestantism both in France and Flanders, to which end he had hoped to -make a tool of France. But the death of Henry II. and the appearance of -Catharine de Medici in front of the stage had changed the problem. He -now saw a clever intriguing woman, with no religious convictions at all, -ready to rally to either party, and seeking to make a tool of <i>him</i>. -This was a <i>rôle</i> that never suited Philip, and he soon made it clear -that his marriage with a French princess had drawn him no closer to -French interests than he was before. Frenchmen suspected of heresy in -Spain were persecuted with greater barbarity than ever by the -Inquisition. French commercial interests<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a>{83}</span> were as ruthlessly disregarded -as those of Protestant England itself, whilst the French expeditions to -Florida and elsewhere aroused Philip to the utmost point of arrogance -against his wife’s country. A bitter feud between the Spanish and French -ambassadors in Rome on the point of precedence appears to have been -directly fomented by Philip. The influence, therefore, of Philip’s young -French wife had to be exerted to its utmost to prevent an open rupture -between her brother and her husband.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the whole prospect was again changed by the death of Francis -II. There was no fear now of the French nation becoming dominant in -Scotland and England through Mary Stuart, for Catharine de Medici hated -her daughter-in-law and the Guises, and would not raise a finger to make -them more powerful than they were. But the death of Francis made more -difficult than ever a lasting and sincere alliance between Spain and -France, for Catharine de Medici could not afford to adopt for long an -extreme Catholic policy. Philip at this time was in the very depth of -penury. Every ducat that could be extorted from the Seville merchants or -borrowed from the Fuggers had been obtained. The revenues and -remittances from the Indies had long been anticipated, the Spanish -troops in Flanders were unpaid, and Philip was surrounded by claims that -he could not meet. Under these circumstances he was fain to shut his -eyes for a time to the favour Catharine was showing to the reformers in -France, although he allowed his wife to threaten her with Spanish troops -to help the Catholic party in France if necessary. Catharine knew that -his hands were full, and practically<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a>{84}</span> defied him, and Elizabeth of -England did the same. He was powerless to injure them now, for his -system of jealous centralisation and his cumbrous methods were already -producing their disastrous effects.</p> - -<p>The first misfortune, one of the greatest of his life, which resulted -from the confusion of his administration, was the complete destruction -of his fleet in the Mediterranean. When in 1558 the pope and Henry II. -had not hesitated to accept the aid of the infidel against Philip, a -hundred Turkish galleys had sailed from Constantinople under Piali -Pacha, an Italian renegade, and, with the aid of the famous Barbary -corsair, Dragut Reis, had scourged the coasts of Sicily and Naples, -overrun Minorca, and even attacked Nice, and then had captured the -fortress of Tripoli, which belonged to the Knights of St. John of Malta. -When peace was made between France and Spain at Cateau Cambresis in the -following year, the Grand Master of St. John urged Philip to employ the -large force he then had free in Italy and elsewhere to recover Tripoli -for the Order. The enterprise, he said, would be easy now, if it were -done swiftly and secretly, for Dragut, who governed the new conquest, -was busy raiding the interior, and the Barbary Moors, groaning under the -yoke of the Turk, would aid the Christians. Philip’s viceroy in Sicily, -the Duke of Medina Celi, anxious for personal distinction, seconded the -petition of the Grand Master, and Philip consented. Medina Celi was -appointed to the command, and orders were given to Andrea Doria, -commanding the Spanish galleys, and to the viceroys of Naples and Milan, -to aid the expedition with all the forces in their power. The Turkish -fleet was, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a>{85}</span> still in the neighbourhood, and the viceroys did -not think prudent to send any of their troops away until it had gone. -Delay after delay took place whilst dispatches were slowly being -exchanged and Philip continually being consulted on points of detail. -The men-at-arms in large numbers broke up and went to their homes, and -when at last the troops were got together and reached Genoa, they found -that the Spanish ambassador there had dismissed the ships that had been -freighted, in the belief that the expedition had been abandoned. Then -when fresh ships had been obtained the soldiers refused to go on board -until they received their over-due pay. With much persuasion and many -promises they were at length embarked, and a shipload of them, 1500 in -number, was wrecked at the mouth of the harbour, causing renewed delay. -Then it was found that the aged Andrea Doria could not accompany the -ships, and had delegated the command to his nephew, John Andrea, under -whom some of the Spanish generals would not serve. But withal, by the -beginning of October 1559, 12,000 good troops were mustered in Messina -under Medina Celi. The Grand Master had originally, six months before, -made promptness and secrecy conditions of success, but long ere this all -the Mediterranean was ringing with the news, and Dragut was on the -alert. Whilst Philip was tardily sending cautious dispatches to his -viceroys, the Sultan had crowded men, ammunition, and stores into -Tripoli, and when after two months’ further delay the Spanish force was -ready to sail, it was found that the rascally contractors had provided -rations which were mostly rotten—just as they did to the Invincible<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a>{86}</span> -Armada thirty years afterwards. When finally the fleet sailed (November -20, 1559) the men were sick and discontented, 3000 of them having -already died or deserted. Many of the soldiers mutinied the first day. -Head winds and want of food held them for weeks, and it was January 10, -1560, before the fleet was assembled at Malta. There fresh men had to be -shipped to fill the places of those who had died, and sound rations -procured, and finally, on February 10, 1560, the fleet, 100 sail and a -contingent of galleys and men belonging to the Knights, left Malta. The -small island of Gelves, in the Gulf of Khabes, was easily captured, but -the next day there appeared a fleet of 74 great Turkish galleys full of -janissaries, and 12 others under Dragut from Tripoli. Medina Celi lost -his head, Doria lost his courage, and a hideous panic seized the -Spaniards at the onslaught of the Turks. The commanders fled shamefully, -and 65 ships and 5000 men fell to the tender mercies of the infidel. The -Spaniards entrenched on the island of Gelves under the brave Alvaro de -Sande, held out against terrible odds, 8000 men of them almost without -provisions, quite without water, for six weeks, and then all that were -left of them, about 1000, starved and naked, stood shoulder to shoulder -in the breach to be killed by the victors or carried to Constantinople -to a less worthy fate.</p> - -<p>The Christian power in the Mediterranean was tottering; the fortresses -held by Spain in North Africa especially seemed doomed to destruction, -and Philip was forced to make a supreme effort, and was able in the next -year, 1561, to send out a fresh fleet of 70 galleys, nearly all hired, -to fight the Turk. The whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a>{87}</span> fleet was lost in a storm before it left -the coast of Spain, and the Turk once more seemed destined to dominate -the Mediterranean. The defence of the Spanish settlement of Mers el -Kebir in the spring of 1563 will always remain one of the most heroic in -history. There a little garrison of barely 200 men held out against a -Turkish force of 20,000, and although they were almost within sight of -the Spanish coast, so cumbrous was Philip’s administration that it took -two months for relief to reach them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a>{88}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Don Carlos—His relations with Elizabeth de Valois—French -intrigues for his marriage—His illness—The Cortes of -Aragon—Jeanne d’Albret and Henry of Navarre—The Council of Trent -and the Inquisition—Philip and the pope—Renewed struggles with -the Turks—Siege of Malta.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">D<small>ON</small> C<small>ARLOS</small>, Philip’s only son and heir, had grown to be a boy of -fourteen. Considering his descent, it is not surprising that he was -deformed both in mind and body, lame and stunted, an epileptic -semi-imbecile. He had been left in charge of his widowed aunt, the -Regent Juana, a gloomy, religious mystic, to whom he was violently -attached, and whose side he could only with difficulty be prevailed upon -to leave. Philip had appointed as his tutor the learned Honorato Juan, -who certainly did his best for the royal pupil. But he could do little -for such a mind as his. As early as October 1558 the tutor wrote to the -king, then in Flanders, that his pupil obstinately refused to study -anything and was beyond control. The king himself, he said, was the only -person who could bring him to order. Philip’s answer was -characteristically cold and inexpressive. Honorato Juan must continue to -look after the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a>{89}</span> prince’s education and separate him from any companions -who might divert him from his studies. But dry as was Philip’s letter to -the tutor, it is clear that the news struck sorrow to his heart, for he -loved his children dearly, and had great hopes for his heir. On a letter -written on March 6, 1559, to Cardinal Pacheco respecting the need for -settling ecclesiastical matters in the Netherlands, the king wrote the -following words in his own hand: “Perhaps the prince my son will not be -so careful of this as I am, and the people here may not try so hard as I -should about it, seeing how desirable it is for the service of God, -which is evidently the only end I aim at.” One of the first acts of -Philip on his arrival in Spain was to take his son under his own care. -When the new queen entered Toledo in state for the marriage ceremony -(February 12, 1560) she was received by her stepson Carlos, yellow with -recent fever, on his left being his young uncle, Don Juan of Austria, -and on the right Alexander Farnese, the son and grandson, respectively, -of the emperor.</p> - -<p>When Elizabeth had left France, her mother, Catharine, had secretly -instructed her to use every effort to win Don Carlos for her younger -sister, Margaret de Valois, afterwards the famous first wife of Henry -IV. Elizabeth’s fascination was great, and she very soon obtained -absolute dominion over the sickly boy. The romantic stories of mutual -love between them may be dismissed now as utterly exploded fables. -Elizabeth had been born and bred in an atmosphere of political intrigue, -she had gone to Spain purely for political reasons, and she was -entrusted with the task of trying to win the greatest matrimonial prize -in Europe for her sister, and to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a>{90}</span> strengthen the union between France -and Spain. She naturally carried out her mission to the best of her -ability. Her efforts with regard to the marriage were utterly fruitless, -for Philip was in no mood for a closer alliance with Catharine de -Medici; but she attached her stepson to her to such an extent by her -pity and kindness during his continual attacks of fever, that at length -the French ambassador could write to Catharine, “The more the prince -hates his father, the greater grows his affection for his stepmother, -the queen, for she has all his regard, and her Majesty is so wise that -she discreetly manages to please both her husband and her stepson.”</p> - -<p>Catharine de Medici’s instructions to her daughter were that if she -could not bring about a marriage between Carlos and her sister Margaret, -she was to strive to forward his union with his aunt, the former Regent -Juana, who was herself anxious for marriage with her nephew of half her -age—anything rather than allow the heir of Spain to marry Mary Stuart. -This latter would have been the best match for Philip, and he knew it. -England would once more have been brought into his grasp, France -checkmated effectually, and Flanders safe. Mary and her minister, -Lethington, were eager for it. But time went on whilst Philip was -procrastinating—probably in consequence of the condition of Carlos. -Elizabeth, Catharine, and the emperor who wanted the heir for his -granddaughter Anne, all intrigued actively against the match, Mary -drifted into her marriage with Darnley, and Philip once more missed his -chance.</p> - -<p>On February 22, 1560, Carlos received the oath of allegiance from the -Cortes of Castile in Toledo, and afterwards returned to the University -of Alcalá, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a>{91}</span> he was supposed to be studying. His life there was -violent and licentious, and in April 1562, in descending a dark stair to -keep an assignation, he fell and suffered a severe fracture of the -skull. The king, on receiving the news, at once set out from Madrid, his -new capital, travelling through the night, full of anxiety for his son. -He found him unconscious and partially paralysed; the doctors, ignorant -beyond conception, treated him in a way that seems to us now to have -made his death almost inevitable. Purges and bleedings, unguents and -charms, ghastly quackery, such as putting a skeleton in bed with the -invalid, were all tried in turn, until the Italian surgeon Vesale -arrived and performed the operation of trepanning. The prince then -recovered: but if he had been a semi-imbecile before, he now became at -intervals a raving homicidal maniac. The prince and those around him -attributed his recovery entirely to the skeleton of the monk that had -been put to bed with him, and he promised to give four times his weight -in gold for religious purposes. He was then seventeen years of age, and -was found to weigh only 5 stone 6 lbs.</p> - -<p>It was necessary that the heir should receive the oath of allegiance of -the Cortes of Aragon, Cataluña, and Valencia. The Cortes of Castile, -more submissive than the Aragonese, had, though not without some -murmuring, voted the supplies needed by Philip, and were at once -dismissed. The Aragonese Parliament, proud of its privileges, stubborn -to rudeness whenever it was convoked, had not been called together since -1552, although the king was bound by oath to summon it every three -years. The very existence of representative<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a>{92}</span> assemblies was opposed to -Philip’s dream of personal centralisation of power, and he detested the -Aragonese Cortes heartily. The French ambassador at the time wrote to -Catharine that the king, when he took the oath, secretly meant “to cut -their claws and dock the privileges that make them insolent and almost -free.” The court was therefore transferred in the autumn of 1563 to the -obscure Aragonese town of Monzon, the king on his way from Madrid laying -the first stone of his vast granite palace of St. Laurence of the -Escorial. He found the rough Aragonese inclined to be fractious, jealous -as usual at any interference of Castilians in their affairs. But Philip -was pressed for money, and was obliged to dissemble. A crisis nearly -occurred when the Cortes touched the mainspring of his governmental -system. The members adopted a protest against the extending power of the -Inquisition, and its interference with other matters than those of -theology. Philip was cold and evasive; he said he would consider the -matter when he returned to Castile. But the Cortes understood the rule -of “grievance first” as well as the English Commons, and replied that no -money should be voted until a satisfactory reply was given to them. -Philip fell ill with rage, but money he must have; and at last he -promised that a regular inspection and inquiry should be instituted into -the powers of the Aragonese Inquisition. With this the Cortes voted him -1,350,000 ducats. They then took the oath of allegiance to Carlos, and -were promptly dismissed. Philip did not forget his grudge against them, -and it went hard with Aragon and its liberties when they gave him a -chance for revenge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a>{93}</span></p> - -<p>France had been engaged in the first war of religion, and the Catholic -party had been hardly pressed. The Duke of Guise had recently been -killed (February 24, 1563), the peace of Amboise had been patched up, -and toleration had been established. Anthony de Bourbon, who had married -Jeanne d’Albret, titular Queen of Navarre, had also been killed, and his -widow and ten-year-old son, Henry, had retired to her castle at Pau to -mourn their loss. For many years the rights of the royal house of -Navarre to the kingdom which had been dishonestly filched from them by -Ferdinand the Catholic had been a thorn in the side of Spanish -sovereigns, for the Navarres were still powerful French tributary -princes across the Pyrenees. After Philip’s own projected marriage with -the heiress of the house in his boyhood had fallen through, she had -married Anthony de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme, a prince of the blood royal -of France, and this had made the claim more dangerous for Philip. But -worst of all, Jeanne was a strong Calvinist, and only three lives stood -between her little son and the crown of France. The Guises and their -Catholic followers saw that if he came to the throne their day was gone, -and cast about for means to avert such a catastrophe. Pau was near the -Spanish frontier. Why not seize the queen and two children and hand them -over to the tender mercies of Philip? If they were out of the way, -Navarre could cause no more anxiety, and the stronghold of Protestantism -in France would be empty. So a certain Captain Dimanche was sent by the -Guises secretly to Monzon to broach the matter to Philip. He was raising -a large force at Barcelona to fight the Turks in the Mediterranean.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a>{94}</span> -What would be easier than to send 10,000 of them secretly to creep along -the Pyrenees, make a dash to Pau, and capture Jeanne d’Albret and her -children? What indeed? This was exactly the enterprise to suit Philip, -and Captain Dimanche saw him more than once at dead of night, and the -whole plot was settled. The Guisan Monlucs and their Catholic friends -were to hold the Protestants in check, whilst Philip’s men kidnapped -their quarry. But Dimanche fell ill. He was a Frenchman, and sought aid -of a countryman who lodged in the same house, an underling in the -household of Philip’s French wife. Dimanche let out his secret to his -countryman, who conveyed it to the queen. She was loyal to her husband’s -country, but she was a Frenchwoman, a dear friend of Jeanne d’Albret, -and a daughter of Catharine de Medici, so the news of the treachery went -flying across the Pyrenees, and Jeanne, and Henry of Navarre were saved. -Philip probably to the end of his life never knew that his wife had -frustrated this dangerous plot against France, but it is all clear to us -now, who have her secret correspondence before us.</p> - -<p>But Philip was threatened at this time (the autumn of 1562) with a -greater danger nearer home than France. As the French ambassador wrote, -“The king intends principally to establish obedience to him by means of -the Inquisition.” We have seen how the remonstrances of the Cortes of -Aragon were received; we will now consider how Philip met a more -dangerous attack upon his favourite institution. The Council of Trent, -which had always been a trouble to Philip and his father, met, after -several years’ suspension, early in 1562. Various moderate resolutions -were discussed, but when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a>{95}</span> French prelates arrived late in the year -with Cardinal Lorraine at their head the blow fell. The French and -German bishops, who had seen the effects of wars of religion, proposed a -radical reform. The priests were to be allowed to marry and the -sacrament to be administered in two kinds. This was bad enough, but, -worst of all, some of the bishops—Philip’s own subjects—tried to shake -off the heavy yoke of the Inquisition. The prosecution of Carranza had -shown to the Spanish bishops that there was no safety for any of them. -Prelates hitherto could only be tried for heresy by the pope, but now -the weak Medici Pope, Pius IV., had been induced to delegate this power -to the inquisitor-general. Most of the Spanish bishops had been in -favour of strengthening the power of the monarch over the Church, but -when it came to handing over their own liberties to the Inquisition it -was another matter. Philip wrote in December 1562 deploring that the -Spanish bishops were not showing fit zeal for the Holy Office, “which -subject must not be touched upon either directly or indirectly.” The -pope was also appealed to, to prevent the Council from interfering in -any way with the Inquisition. When Pius IV., humble servant as he then -was of Philip, mildly remonstrated with him for meddling with the -Council, Vargas, the Spanish ambassador, scolded his Holiness roundly -for his want of consideration for the interests of “God and his -Majesty.” Gradually even Pius IV. began to lose patience. Philip’s grand -promises to him and his needy nephews had been very sparely kept, and it -was clear to the meanest intellect that his pious professions of -attachment for the Church were only with the object of making use of it<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a>{96}</span> -for his own interests. At last Philip threatened to withdraw his -ambassador, and the now angry pope defied him, threatening above all to -withdraw from him the right of selling the Crusade bulls of indulgence, -which produced a large revenue. He also began clamouring about -Carranza’s treatment by the Inquisition, and the revenues of the -archbishopric. When Philip asked in 1564 for a renewal of the subsidy he -received from Rome, nothing but evasive answers were given to him. The -breach grew wider and wider. “In Spain,” said the pontiff, “you all want -to be popes and bring the king into everything. If the king wished to be -King of Spain, he” (the pope) “intended to be Pope of Rome. Never,” he -said, “was a pope so ill-treated as he was by the King of Spain and his -ministers.” The death of Guise and the religious settlement in France, -however, caused the withdrawal of many of the French bishops from the -Council of Trent, and Philip, by bribes and threats, once more gained -the upper hand in the assembly. Heretics were excluded, the celibacy of -the clergy decided upon, and the administration of the sacrament in two -kinds prohibited; but a decision was also arrived at which seemed -distantly to affect the omnipotence of the king over the Spanish clergy. -It gave the power to the provincial synods, and as a last resource to -the pope, to examine into the morality of recipients of benefices. A -slight attempt was also made to deprecate the extreme severity of the -Inquisition. These mild resolutions were called by Philip’s ambassador -“works of the devil,” and for over a year the decisions of the Council -of Trent were not published in Spain. When, indeed, they were -promulgated,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a>{97}</span> it was with the saving clause from the king that they -should in no way abrogate or weaken his rights over the clergy, the -benefices, or the tithes. The condition of armed truce between Philip -and Rome continued until the death of Pius IV. in December 1565.</p> - -<p>An attempt to introduce an inquisition of the Spanish type into Naples, -with the avowed object of suppressing political disaffection, nearly -lost Philip the realm. The city rose in revolt against it, and after a -struggle Philip was obliged to give way, and consented to abolish the -dreaded tribunal (1565). He was indeed at the time not in a condition to -coerce Naples. The struggle with the Turks in the Mediterranean had -dragged on almost without intermission. Don Garcia de Toledo had in the -autumn of 1564 managed to capture Peñon de los Velez, a nest of pirates -in the kingdom of Fez, which had been Philip’s main object for a year -previously; but this was no check to the power of the Constantinople -Turks, who were fitting out a great expedition for the purpose of -hurling the Knights of St. John from their last stronghold at Malta. Don -Garcia de Toledo, now Viceroy of Sicily, joined with the Grand Master -Parisot in clamouring for Philip’s aid, unless, he said, all the -Mediterranean was to fall under the rule of the infidel. But clamour as -they might, no hurry could be expected from the king. Toledo was a host -in himself. Men were sent from Sicily, others recruited in Corsica; -Naples was put into a condition of defence, and Toledo, “bigger in -spirit than in body,” complained, and rated soundly, almost rudely, the -slow methods of his master in so great a crisis. At last, on May 19, -Piali Pacha and Dragut Reis, with a vast force of 100,000 men,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a>{98}</span> appeared -before Malta. There were about a tenth of that number of Christian -fighting men on the island, but the isolated fort of St. Elmo, with a -garrison of 600 men, had to bear the brunt of the Turkish attack. After -a month’s hard fighting, when at length the Turks stormed the place only -nine Christians were left alive. From this point of vantage the siege of -the main fortress by the Turks was commenced, with the assistance of the -fleet. The Grand Master had continued to reinforce St. Elmo with his -best men until it fell, and now found himself short-handed. Fresh -prayers went forth to distant Philip and persistent Don Garcia de -Toledo. Strong swimmers carried the Master’s beseeching letters beyond -the reach of the Turkish ships. He could only hold out, he said, twenty -days at most. Sixteen thousand cannon-shots had been fired against his -forts in the first month. All Christianity looked on aghast whilst -Philip was spending his time in religious processions, fasts, and -rogations for the delivery of Malta. Don Garcia’s activity made up for -his master’s tardiness, and, thanks to him mainly, Malta was able to -hold out month after month. When at last a relief squadron was got -together somehow in Sicily, consisting of 28 galleys and 10,000 men, -storm and tempest scattered it again and again, and it was not until the -beginning of September 1565 that it approached Malta, landing its men -and provisions. The defenders were at their last gasp, but this relief -raised their hearts. Again Don Garcia returned with more men and stores, -and after one last attempt to storm the stronghold, the Turks gave up -the game and raised the siege. Malta was saved, but Philip complained -that he did not get full credit for it, because the Grand Master was a -Frenchman and the pope himself was jealous.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a>{99}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Troubles in the Netherlands—Granvelle’s unpopularity—William of -Orange and Egmont—Their resignation and protest—Margaret of -Parma—Assembly of the Chapter of the Golden Fleece—Riots at -Valenciennes—Discontent of the Flemish nobles—They retire from -government—Granvelle’s dismissal—The maladministration of the -States—Egmont’s mission to Spain—Philip’s policy in the -States—The Beggars—Orange’s action—Philip determines to -exterminate heresy in the States—Philip’s projected voyage -thither.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">W<small>E</small> have seen that Philip had left his Flemish subjects (August 1559) in -no very amiable mood. The opulent, independent communities of the Low -Countries held firmly by the liberties they enjoyed. Every ruler had to -swear—as Philip had done—to uphold and preserve them intact; on that -point nobles and burghers were at one, and amongst the rights they -prized most was that no foreigner should be appointed to any -administrative post. The Burgundian rulers, although foreigners, had got -on well enough with them, and so had the emperor. It was more a question -of tastes and manners than of blood; superabundant hospitality, heavy -eating, deep drinking, and rough speaking quickly commended a man to the -Flemings. The Spaniard of that day was, as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a>{100}</span> still remains, sober and -abstemious to the highest degree, reticent, sensitive, and proud, and -Philip was a Spaniard to the finger-tips.</p> - -<p>The natural want of sympathy between sovereign and people arising out of -these circumstances doubtless began the trouble which ended in Spain’s -downfall. No part of Philip’s career shows so clearly as his treatment -of the Netherlands the limited and inelastic character of his policy, -the lack of adaptability of his methods; for how should a man be -yielding or conciliatory who supposed that he was part and parcel of -Divine Providence, the one man on earth selected by the Almighty to -carry out His irresistible decrees? There is no reason to suppose that -when he first decided upon the rearrangement of the Flemish dioceses he -desired to offend his subjects; it was probably only a step in his -persistent policy of bringing the clergy of his dominions under his more -immediate control. But in order to pay his new bishops he designed to -appropriate the large revenues of the conventual houses, and he thus -raised up against him all the cloistered clergy. The pope was bribed to -agree to the change, but the Flemings, already sulky, were willing to -listen to the monks, who denounced the innovations of the foreigner -which were to deprive them of their revenues, and what would have been -under other circumstances a not unwelcome reform became a fruitful -source of trouble. There is no doubt, moreover, that before the king -attended the States-General just prior to his departure he had every -intention of withdrawing the Spanish infantry from Flanders now that -peace had been made with France, and the men were badly wanted in -Naples, where his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a>{101}</span> principal danger at present lay. But when the -States-General so roughly demanded of their sovereign the immediate -withdrawal of the troops, Philip’s heart must have hardened and his -pride revolted that these independent-minded Flemings should question -his omnipotence. Another difficulty was that the troops obstinately -refused to budge until they were paid, and the treasury was empty. The -Flemings, who had been bled freely during the war, professed inability -to find any more resources, and the Antwerp bankers shut their -money-bags until some of their previous advances were paid. When Philip -arrived in Spain, his sister Margaret, Duchess of Parma, governess of -the Netherlands, ceaselessly urged him to withdraw the troops. She -assured him that their further stay would cause trouble, and Granvelle -warned him gravely of the results. With the first half of his French -wife’s dowry of 400,000 ducats Philip was able to pay the troops in the -autumn of 1560, and they left in January 1561; but by that time the evil -seed had been sown, and Philip was pestered in every letter with -reminders of the various rights and privileges which he had sworn to -uphold in the respective states. Most of the unpopularity fell upon -Granvelle, who had to carry out the arrangements for the new bishoprics. -He found his task so difficult that before long he “wished to God that -the erection of these new sees had never been thought of,” although the -change made him Primate of the Netherlands, and gave the king the -advantage of thirteen nominated members in the Assembly of Nobles. This -latter fact, indeed, probably to a great extent was the original aim of -the project, and was certainly one of the principal<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a>{102}</span> reasons why the -Flemish nobles opposed it so bitterly.</p> - -<p>Granvelle himself, be it recollected, was a foreigner, a -Franche-Comtois, and his luxurious, ostentatious mode of life was an -additional reason for his unpopularity. Margaret, on the other hand, -whose mother had been a Fleming, and whose masculine manners and purely -Flemish tastes commended her to her countrymen, was far from being -unpopular.</p> - -<p>The nobles who had first distinguished themselves by resisting the -further stay of the Spanish troops were William, Prince of Orange, and -Count Egmont. The former was not a Fleming in blood or education, his -principality of Orange being in the south of France, and his descent -mainly German Lutheran. By his county of Nassau, however, he was a -Flemish prince, and had been brought up in the court of the emperor, of -whom he had been a great favourite. His historical name of “the -taciturn” gives a very false idea of his character, especially in his -youth. He was like a Southern Frenchman in manners, gay, fascinating, -prodigal, and voluble. His religious opinions, if he had any, were -extremely lax, and he was as ready to seek his advantage on one side as -another. His religion indeed was as purely political as that of Philip, -but as a statesman he must be ranked far higher, for he had all Philip’s -tenacity and foresight, with an opportunism almost as great as that of -Elizabeth herself.</p> - -<p>Count Egmont, on the other hand, was a dashing and fortunate soldier, -chief of the Flemish nobility, handsome, vain, proud, and honest, but of -limited intelligence, and exceedingly credulous. The first overt step of -these<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a>{103}</span> two nobles was to resign the commands they held over the Spanish -troops, on the ground that, if they continued to hold them, they would -lose all influence in the country. When the Spanish troops had left, -Orange and Egmont continued, as usual, to attend the Flemish council of -state appointed by Philip to advise Margaret. But the king before he -departed had arranged that his own Spanish method of administration -should be followed, namely, that the regent and the secretary of state, -Granvelle, should practically manage everything, referring to the -council only such points as they considered necessary.</p> - -<p>As time went on, and Granvelle became more unpopular about the -bishoprics, he referred less and less to the council, and in July 1561 -Orange and Egmont wrote to the king resigning their seats and -complaining bitterly. They had, they said, to bear a share of the -unpopularity of the measures adopted, but had no part in controlling the -policy of the Government. To this Philip returned, as was usual with -him, a temporising answer. He would, he said, consider the matter and -reply at length when Count Horn returned from Madrid to Flanders.</p> - -<p>Horn’s mission to Flanders was to endeavour to reconcile Granvelle with -the nobles, but this was a well-nigh impossible task. It was said that -the cardinal and his parasites were plundering right and left, whilst -public officers were unpaid and the treasury empty, that he was trying -to substitute the unobnoxious inquisition of the Netherlands by the -terrible tribunal of Spain, which certainly was not true, and that his -arrogance and tyranny had become unbearable. Granvelle<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a>{104}</span> indeed was the -scapegoat, and had become hateful both to the nobles and to “that -perverse animal called the people,” to use his own words. So Horn’s -mission was too late, like most of Philip’s attempts at conciliation, -and in the spring of 1562 Orange petitioned the Regent Margaret to -convoke the States-General. The regent herself, though full of praise -for the cardinal in her letters to Philip, had no desire to share his -unpopularity, and consented to summon, not the States-General, but a -Chapter of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, or in effect the high -nobility of Flanders. The pretext for the assembly was that Philip had -sent orders that a force of men should be raised in Flanders to be sent -to the aid of the Catholic party in France, now in the midst of their -first struggle with the Huguenots. The discontented Flemish nobles were -in no humour to aid in this, and before the assembly Orange held a -private meeting of them, to press upon them the undesirability of -allowing Granvelle to have the disposal of troops. This was known to the -regent, and she dismissed the assembly as soon as possible, an -arrangement being settled for sending a money subsidy to the French -Catholics instead of an armed force. But before the nobles separated -they decided to send as a delegate to Philip one of their number, -Florence de Montmorenci, Baron de Montigny, the brother of Count Horn, -to represent to the king the unsatisfactory state of the country with -regard to religion and the public finances. He and his brother were -Catholics, but firm upholders of the autonomy of the States. Before he -left, religious matters were indeed in a disturbed condition. Hainhault, -on the French border, with its great commerce and industry in the cities -of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a>{105}</span> Tournai, and Valenciennes especially, had largely accepted the -Protestant faith from the neighbouring French Calvinists. Philip urged -his sister to severity against them, but the magistrates, themselves -Flemings, hesitated to torture their fellow-citizens, whose political -privileges protected them against such treatment. Margaret threatened -the magistrates, and the people of Valenciennes took the matter in their -own hands, broke open the prison, and released the accused. Margaret -might storm, as she did, Philip might cynically recommend that heads -should be lopped, bodies burnt, and mouths gagged, but the Marquis de -Bergues, the governor of Hainhault, was a Fleming, and would not -countenance any infringement on the rights of his people. Upon him then -fell the blame. Nothing that Granvelle could say to the king was bad -enough for Bergues, and in return Egmont, Orange, and Horn ceaselessly -cast the responsibility upon Granvelle. Letter after letter went to the -king in this sense. Philip, as usual, was cool and unmoved. He is not, -he says, in the habit of punishing his ministers without just cause. But -proud Alba did not take it so coolly. “Every time I see the letters of -these three Flemish lords I fall into such a rage, that, if I did not -make a great effort to control myself, your Majesty would think me -frantic.” Granvelle, on his part, tried to fan the flame. “They want to -reduce this country to a sort of republic, in which the king can do more -than they like,” and when the Marquis de Bergues was asked by the Duke -of Arschot what course he would take if the king would not give way, his -reply, as repeated to Philip, was, “By God! we will make him swallow -it.”</p> - -<p>Things thus went from bad to worse. Granvelle<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a>{106}</span> at length saw that he -must bend before the storm, and offered concessions to the nobles. But -it was too late. Nearly all the nobles, governors, and Knights of Golden -Fleece had now sworn to stand together to overthrow the hated foreign -cardinal, and a formal letter was sent to the king in March 1563, signed -by Orange, Egmont, and Horn, resigning all share in the government. The -reply was again in Philip’s temporising vein. He was coming to Flanders -himself shortly, and would then inquire into their complaints. In the -meanwhile he could not dismiss Granvelle. The nobles sent another, and a -stronger, letter to the king in answer to this (July 29, 1563), and said -that in future they should absent themselves from the council. At the -same time a formal “remonstrance” was addressed to the regent, and -thenceforward she and Granvelle were left to govern alone. Margaret had -no wish to be dragged down by the impending fall of the minister, and -bluntly told Philip, by her trusty secretary, Armenteros, that, if the -cardinal were maintained against the will of nobles and people, a -revolution might result. Granvelle was assured by the king’s secretary -that Philip would rather lose the States than sacrifice his minister. -The king sent a curt peremptory letter to the nobles reproaching them -for deserting the council for a trifle, and assured the cardinal that he -would not deprive himself of his services. But they arranged between -them that the cardinal should beg for leave of absence to visit his -mother in the Franche Comté and, after much pretended reluctance on the -part of Philip, Granvelle was allowed to depart, to the open rejoicing -of the nobles, the people, and even of the regent. An elaborate -appearance of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a>{107}</span> departure being spontaneous and only temporary was -made, but when two years afterwards his leave of absence had expired and -he wanted to go back, the king advised him to pass a short time in Rome, -and then he knew for certain that disgrace had fallen upon him. He would -go thither—or to the farthest end of the world—he said, if the king -ordered him, but he much feared that his absence from Flanders would not -mend matters.</p> - -<p>He had departed from Brussels in the spring of 1564, and the three -nobles at once wrote dutiful letters to Philip, who replied graciously. -They once more took an active part in the government, and in the first -few months after Granvelle left, the relief and rejoicing were great. -But the sore still remained behind. Granvelle, indeed, had only carried -out the policy inaugurated by Philip of governing Flanders as a Spanish -province. The policy was not dead though the instrument was disgraced. -Such a system of government, where popular control is loosened, -invariably leads to corruption; and this case was no exception to the -rule. Granvelle’s parasites—Morillon, Bave, Bordey, and the rest of -them—had made his patronage a crying scandal, the judges were -shamelessly bought and sold, the administration was a sink of iniquity, -the inquisitor Titelmans was ferociously hounding to death inoffensive -citizens, even good Catholics, without legal form of trial, and now -Margaret of Parma herself, and her pet secretary, Armenteros, thought it -was time that they should reap a fat harvest; so, after the first joy of -Granvelle’s retreat had passed, it was decided by the nobles to send -Egmont to Spain to explain to the king how the rights<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a>{108}</span> he swore to -maintain were still being violated. Egmont might take with him the -vigorous protest of his peers, but Egmont was one of those men whom -princes like Philip have no cause to fear. He was vain and superficial, -and easily soothed into satisfaction. Philip made much of him, promised -him “mounts and marvels,” chided him a little; and sent him home -rejoicing, full of praises for the generosity and magnanimity of the -king. But Philip’s policy was not varied a hair’s-breadth nevertheless. -On the contrary, there is no room for doubt that he had now made up his -mind to break the spirit of the stubborn Flemings for once and for all, -and to stamp out the rebellious talk about rights and privileges which -he had sworn to maintain. There were no mundane rights and privileges -that should stand against the will of God’s own vice-regent upon earth. -“God and his Majesty” had willed that the Flemings must be governed like -the Spaniards, and that was enough. No sooner had Egmont left Madrid -than the king sent strict orders that nothing was to be changed, and -that heresy was to be pursued without mercy or truce. Thousands of -industrious citizens were flocking over to England, carrying their looms -and their household gods with them, and English Protestants looked more -sourly than ever upon Philip and all his works. Philip remained unmoved. -The fewer heretics there were in Flanders the easier would it be for him -to have his way later. “Kill! kill!” wrote one of Philip’s Spanish -friars to him; “we must kill 2000 people all over the States. Your -Majesty has the weapon which God has placed in your hand. Draw it, bathe -it in the blood of heretics, unless you wish the blood of Christ to cry -to God. Moderation<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a>{109}</span> touches not your Majesty. Let them seek moderation -in their heresies to save their lives.”</p> - -<p>But Philip was in no hurry; he only told his sister that nothing was to -be changed. “You know,” answered she, “how the Spanish Inquisition is -hated here. I have already told you that to suppress heresy here I am -asked to cast into the flames 60,000 or 70,000 people, and the governors -of the provinces will not allow it. They wish to resign, and I also -shall be obliged to do so.”</p> - -<p>Philip’s answer in a few words gives a clearer idea of his character -than a volume could do. For months he did not answer at all, and then -wrote, “Why all these disquietudes? Are not my intentions understood? Is -it believed that I have any intentions than the service of God and the -good of the States?” Persecution might crush Latin peoples if continued -long enough, but it could not crush the stubborn Dutchmen. There arose -now a new element in the strife. Hitherto the motive power had mostly -been the great nobles, Catholics nearly all of them, whose object was to -prevent the extinction of the political liberties of the States; but now -the religious power of resistance was aroused, and the bourgeoisie stood -shoulder to shoulder crying aloud that no papist should burn them or -theirs for the faith. Many such had fled to England, but the towns of -Holland and Zeeland were full of them still. First the landed gentlemen -protested, under the leadership of Orange’s brother, Louis of Nassau, -and Saint Aldegonde, against the proceedings of the Inquisition; and -they bound themselves by solemn oath to follow the recent example of the -Neapolitans and withstand the “gang of strangers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a>{110}</span>” who were seeking to -impose the Spanish form of the Holy Office upon them. Then Brederode, -the man of highest lineage and most insatiable thirst in Holland, joined -them, and together they went, a couple of hundred of them, to hand their -solemn protest to the regent. Tears fell from Margaret’s eyes as they -filed past her, for she knew now that her brother’s stubborn spirit had -met its match, and in future it must be war to the knife. Then the -Gargantuan banquet at the hostelry of Culemburg unlocked their tongues -still further, and tippling Brederode gave his memorable toast to the -“Beggars.” No one knew what he meant, perhaps he did not himself know at -the end of such an orgy, but the name caught on, and the sturdy -“Beggars” arose thenceforward from their dykes and marshes to be quelled -no more for good, but to hold for all time to come the country which -they themselves had rescued from the sea.</p> - -<p>The new turn of affairs did not please the great nobles. They were -Catholics, though patriots, and they saw that the championship of the -national cause was about to fall into the hands of the Protestants; so -Egmont, Horn, Montigny, Arschot, and the rest of them did their best to -stem the tide. All but Orange. He knew Philip better than any of them, -and he foresaw that there would be no surrender or conciliation from -him. Why should there be? Could the lieutenant of the Most High stoop to -palter with sottish Brederode and his crew? If Philip had spies in -Flanders, so had Orange in Madrid, and nothing passed without his -knowledge. He had learned of the king’s plans of vengeance, but he could -not afford yet to cast himself into the scale alone<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a>{111}</span> with Brederode and -the little gentry, leaving the great nobles on the side of the Spaniard; -so for the moment he stood aloof saying no word either of praise or -condemnation, but seeking to moderate the storm on both sides. But the -spark had caught the tinder. Protestant fervour blazed up in every town -in Flanders in open defiance of the edicts. The regent was powerless. -She could not punish all Flanders, and violent councillors of the Alba -school whispered distrust to Philip even of her, for she wrote -ceaselessly to her brother urging him to gentler methods. His action was -characteristic: at first he authorised his sister to pardon the -confederates and suppress the Inquisition, and with reassuring words -sought to gain Orange to his side. But only a week after (August 9, -1566) he signed a solemn document before a notary, setting forth that he -was not bound by his promise, and would punish all those who had -directly or indirectly aided the disturbances. He avowed to the pope -that the Inquisition in Flanders should be upheld at all costs, and that -his promise to suppress it was void. “Before allowing any backsliding in -religion, or in the service of God, I will lose all my dominions and a -hundred lives, if I had them, for I will never be a ruler of heretics.” -Thus Philip threw down the gage. Then came the sacking of Catholic -churches by the mob in Antwerp, St. Omer, Malines, and elsewhere, sacred -images profaned, sacrilegious mockeries perpetrated, holy mysteries -blasphemously parodied, and priceless treasures of art wantonly wrecked. -The Protestant mob, in fact, was paramount, and the regent and her -inquisition could only look on in dismay, until the former fell ill and -lost all heart. Philip was very far<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a>{112}</span> from doing that. Away in distant -Spain, trying to pull the wires that move humanity from his work-room, -his only policy was extermination of heresy, utter and complete.</p> - -<p>Wise Granvelle, even the pope himself, warned him that too much severity -might defeat his own purpose. The king scornfully and coldly rebuked -even the pontiff for his weakness. In the meanwhile Alba was storming in -the council at Philip’s delay in giving the orders for extermination. -But Philip looked upon himself as one who turned the handle of the -wheels of fate, and was in no hurry. He wanted to watch closely which -were the tallest heads to be stricken first. The regent was working -night and day, making such concessions as she dared, whilst putting down -tumult by force of arms. The Catholic nobles too, Egmont especially, -were doing their best with their armed Walloons to suppress with a -strong hand rebellion at Valenciennes and elsewhere, but Orange was in -Antwerp standing apart from both factions, and Saint Aldegonde with a -rabble was in arms outside the city. At length even diplomatic Orange -had to quit the mask. Distrusted by both parties, but idolised by the -peaceful citizens of Antwerp, who only asked to be allowed to live in -quietude, he saw the time had come; and early in 1567 reverted to the -faith of his fathers, and promised to lead the cause of reform. Tumult -immediately ceased; the regent’s severity and conciliation together, and -the blind adhesion of the nobles, except Orange and Brederode, had -suppressed all disorder by the spring, and “all the cities are coming -now to us with halters round their necks.” Orange was in Germany making -preparations for the fray, whilst Flemish Protestants were flying<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a>{113}</span> to -England again by the hundred, crying out that Orange and Brederode had -betrayed and abandoned them. Margaret entered Antwerp in state and -rejoicing, and all looked calm and happy, except to those who were led -to the halter and the stake for the service of “God and his Majesty.” It -was but the calm that precedes the storm; and if no one else perceived -this, Philip and Orange certainly did so. The former knew that he must -crush the national feeling, and the nobles that started it, that he must -make Flanders a province of Spain before he could have his own way in -all things, and he decided to go himself with Alba and superintend the -killing, or at least he announced his intention of making the voyage, -which gave him an excuse for raising a considerable fleet and a large -force as an escort. The Queen of England affected to rejoice at her -“good brother’s” coming; but the English fleet was hastily fitted out, -and all England was in a panic of apprehension as to what it might -forebode. In vain the Regent Margaret assured the king that all was -quiet, and that no more punishment was now needed. The king replied that -he wished personally to thank her and others who had brought about the -pacification.</p> - -<p>At last when all was ready in Spain, vast sums of money collected, and -the troops under arms—no longer an escort but an avenging army—Philip -announced that he could not go himself, but would send the Duke of Alba -alone. Then all the world saw what it meant. The regent protested that -the presence of Alba would be fatal, “as he is so detested in this -country that his coming itself will be sufficient to make all the -Spanish nation hated.” If he comes she must retire; and retire<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a>{114}</span> she did. -The news of Alba’s coming sped across the Channel by the Protestant -fugitives, and Elizabeth at once retorted by renewed severity against -the Catholics in England. Huguenots in France, Lutherans in Germany, -Protestants in England, all knew now that the time of struggle was -approaching for the faith, and messages of help and mutual support -crossed from one to another. Philip, slaving night and day at his desk, -had quietly planned long before that all the nobles who had dared to -raise their voices in the national cause should be struck at first, and -then that the brand of Spain should be stamped for ever on the rich and -industrious burgesses of the Netherlands.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a>{115}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Renewed contest between Philip and the papacy—Condition of Don -Carlos—His arrest and imprisonment—Philip’s explanations—His -last illness and death—Death of Elizabeth de Valois—The -interviews of Bayonne and the Catholic League—Catharine de -Medici—Philip face to face with Protestantism—Philip and the -Moriscos—Rising of the Moriscos—Deza at Granada—Don Juan of -Austria—Expulsion of the Moriscos from Andalucia.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">W<small>HILST</small> Philip was engaged in his hopeless efforts to extirpate national -feeling and the Protestant faith in his Flemish dominions, he was, on -the other hand, carrying on a bitter contest with the Holy See. His -arrogant claims had tired out even the erstwhile obedient Pius IV., but -on his death in December 1565 a man of Philip’s own stamp mounted the -chair of St. Peter. Michael Ghislieri, Pius V., was consumed with the -one idea that the Church must be absolutely omnipotent through -Christendom in all ecclesiastical affairs; and this was in direct -opposition to the keynote of Philip’s policy, namely, that all power -within his dominions must be concentrated in the sovereign. It did not -take long, therefore, for matters to reach a crisis, the main bone of -contention being the king’s direct control of the clergy, and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a>{116}</span> claim -to withhold the papal bulls from promulgation in Spain. The new pope -issued a number of fresh orders for Church administration and -discipline, which were promptly set aside by Philip’s council, and the -contest then opened.</p> - -<p>First, the pope turned his hand to the Spanish possessions in Italy, -sending peremptory orders to the Neapolitan bishops for them to -promulgate and obey the papal bulls without waiting for the royal -confirmation. This was met by the viceroy, the Duke of Alcalá, by -threatening any bishop who did so with summary imprisonment. Pius tried -by every device imaginable for three years to circumvent the Spanish -position in Naples, but at last in February 1569 had to confess himself -beaten. The patronage was in the hands of Philip, which necessarily made -the bishops his creatures. The pope was equally unsuccessful in Sicily -and in Milan, notwithstanding the efforts of the great cardinal, Charles -Borromeo, and the excommunication of Philip’s governor, the Duke of -Albuquerque. The pope’s action in Spain itself was more effectual. The -various pontiffs had from time to time regranted to the Spanish monarchs -the revenues arising from the sale of the so-called Crusade bulls -granting certain indulgences. Pius V. now refused to do this, on the -ground that the government traffic in these indulgences had become a -scandal. He also continued to worry Philip about Carranza and the -appropriation of the great revenues of his vacant see of Toledo to the -cost of the building of the Escorial. Bitter words and reproaches were -used on both sides. Philip gave way on secondary points, such as the -sending of Carranza to Rome, but he kept fast to his main idea of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a>{117}</span> -retaining control over the clergy and benefices; and the constant -menaces of the Turks in the Mediterranean made it impossible for the -pope to carry to the last extreme the quarrel with the only prince to -whom he could look for protection. Philip, indeed, was assailed by -trouble at all points. His married life, in a domestic sense, was a -happy one, though his constant labour left him but small leisure to -enjoy it. All else was bitterness and disappointment, mostly, it is -true, the result of his rigid unadaptability to circumstances.</p> - -<p>His greatest trouble was undoubtedly the state of his son. His frantic -excesses had become more and more scandalous as he grew older. The -marriage with Mary Stuart had fallen through, in consequence of the -superior quickness of Elizabeth of England, and perhaps in consequence -of Carlos’s own condition. The emperor was working incessantly to gain -the prince’s hand for his daughter Anne; and this was the match which -seemed most probable, and indeed was in principle accepted by Philip. -But the delicate state of health of the prince was Philip’s constant -excuse for not carrying the project into effect. The matter was a -delicate one, and the king was naturally desirous of making it as little -public as possible, but as early as 1562 the king had clearly hinted to -the imperial ambassador that the prince’s judgment and understanding -were defective. Dietrichstein, the emperor’s envoy, saw the prince in -1564, and confirmed the impression already given of him. The Venetian -ambassador in 1563 bluntly reported that the prince was a chronic -lunatic. The oft-told story of his forcing a bootmaker to eat a pair of -boots he had made too tight for him, and also of his murderous attack -on<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a>{118}</span> Cardinal Espinosa, need not be repeated here, but they are well -authenticated; and although too much weight need not be given to -Brantome’s repulsive account of the prince’s behaviour in the streets of -Madrid, it is quite consistent with what we know positively of his -character. Philip’s hopes and ambitions for his heir had been great, and -he strove long before he abandoned them. In the hope that serious work -might fix the prince’s mind, his father appointed him in 1567 to the -presidency of the Council of State, but in this position his excesses -and aberrations became the more conspicuous. He openly mocked at and -derided his father, whom he cordially hated, and delighted to thwart. He -had extorted a promise from the king that he should accompany him to -Flanders, but when he learnt at length that Alba was going instead, his -fury passed all bounds. When the duke went to take leave of the prince, -the latter cast himself upon him with his dagger, and only with -difficulty could the old warrior escape from his maniacal violence; and -on another occasion in January 1567, when the Cortes of Castile -presented a petition to the king that the prince should remain in Spain -if his father went to Flanders, he made an open scandal, threatening -with death those deputies who voted in favour of such a petition. This -public exhibition of his lunacy opened the eyes of the world as to his -condition, which could no longer be concealed, and in September of 1567 -Ruy Gomez told the French ambassador that after the impending delivery -of the queen of what, no doubt, would be a son, the future fate of -Carlos would be decided.</p> - -<p>But Carlos himself precipitated events. Philip had<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a>{119}</span> decided that his son -should remain in Spain. The prince was determined that he would not. -Philip had gone in December 1567 to pass Christmas in his devotions at -the Escorial as usual, and during his absence, on December 23, Carlos -informed his young uncle, Juan of Austria, of his intention to escape. -Don Juan lost no time. The next day he rode post-haste to the Escorial -and told the king. Philip’s thoughts must have been bitter indeed that -Heaven had afflicted him with such a son. He must have seen that the -great patriotic task to which he had devoted all his life would be -frustrated if handed to such a successor. But he was calm and rigid in -outward guise, and returned to Madrid as intended on January 17, 1568. -The next day he saw the French ambassador, and went with his son to -mass, but still made no sign. Don Juan had before this endeavoured to -dissuade the prince from his intention, and the madman had attempted to -kill even him. It was evident now to the king that he must strike, -however reluctantly. When he consulted his closest councillors on the -subject, for once his feelings broke through his reserve, and his -emotion was terrible. It was a duty he owed to his country and to the -cause for which he lived, to protect them against falling into the hands -of a congenital madman, and he took the course which duty dictated. Late -at night, when the prince was asleep, the king himself, with five -gentlemen and twelve guards, entered the chamber, in spite of the secret -bolts and bars with which it was provided. The prince woke from sleep, -started up, and tried to grasp a weapon; but the weapons were gone. The -unhappy young man then<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a>{120}</span> tried to lay violent hands upon himself, but was -restrained. The issues of the room barred, the secret receptacles -opened, the papers taken, himself restrained, the prince recognised his -helplessness, and casting himself on to his bed he sobbed out, “But I am -not mad! I am only desperate.” From that hour he was dead to the world, -which saw him no more.</p> - -<p>Couriers flew with the news all over Europe. Explanations must not be -sought in Philip’s cold diplomatic letters giving foreign courts -information of the event, but in other quarters. The Queen of England -learnt the news on February 2, and on the 6th saw the Spanish -ambassador, when she expressed her surprise, said that the king had -acted with all dignity in the matter, but that she had not been informed -of the reason for the arrest. Letters had come from France even thus -early by which Cecil learnt that the prince had been implicated in a -plot against his father’s life. The ambassador was very indignant at -such an idea, which, he said, could only have emanated from heretics, -children of the devil.</p> - -<p>But it is clear to see that the ambassador himself is as much in the -dark as every one else, for he prays his master to instruct him what -attitude he is to assume, “as the matter has made great noise here, and -no doubt elsewhere.” To this the king coldly replied that no more was to -be said about it. Ruy Gomez was less reticent. He told the French and -English ambassadors in Spain that the prince’s mind was as defective as -his body, and had been getting steadily worse. The king had dissembled -as long as he could, in the hope of improvement, but the prince’s -violence had now become<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a>{121}</span> intolerable, and it had been necessary to place -him under restraint. Dr. Man, the English ambassador, fully agreed that -the step had become inevitable, as did all the ambassadors then resident -in Madrid. “It was not a punishment,” wrote Philip to his aunt and -mother-in-law, the grandmother of Don Carlos, “if it were, there would -be some limit to it; but I never hope to see my son restored to his -right mind again. I have chosen in this matter to make a sacrifice to -God of my own flesh and blood, preferring His service and the universal -good to all other human considerations.”</p> - -<p>It was a humiliating position for Philip, who had been so dutiful a son -himself, and had such far-reaching ambitions to hand down to his heir. -It is not surprising that he avoided reference to it as much as -possible. Some sort of trial or examination of the prince took place in -secret before Ruy Gomez, Cardinal Espinosa, and Muñatones, but the -documents have never been found. The rumour that Carlos plotted against -his father’s life was repudiated vigorously by the king and his -ministers, but that he had been disobedient and rebellious is certain, -and probably this was the foundation of the charge of treason brought -against him. The Protestant party, in France and Flanders especially, -were willing enough to wound Philip and discredit the Inquisition by -saying that Carlos was punished for supposed Protestant leanings; and -even in Spain such things were cautiously whispered. There is, however, -not the slightest indication that such was really the case from the -papers of the prince himself and those who surrounded him, unless -perhaps the letter from his friend and almoner, Suarez, to him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a>{122}</span> in -which he reproaches him for not going to confession, and warns him that -if he persisted in his present course every one would think him mad; -“things so terrible, that in the case of other persons they have caused -the Inquisition to inquire whether they were Christians.” Certainly to -all appearance the prince was as devout a Catholic as his father, and -the idea of attributing to this epileptic imbecile elevated ideas of -political and religious reform is obviously absurd.</p> - -<p>If we must hold Philip blameless with respect to his son’s imprisonment, -we must still keep in suspense our judgment with regard to his -responsibility for the prince’s death, because the evidence as to what -passed after his arrest comes mainly from persons in the king’s interest -and pay, and because the accusation that Carlos was murdered was -formulated by Philip’s bitterest enemy, Antonio Perez, a man, moreover, -utterly unworthy of credit, a murderer, a perjurer, and a traitor to his -country.</p> - -<p>The long secret trial of the prince dragged on. Neither his aunt Juana -nor his beloved stepmother was allowed to see him, and Philip even -forbade his brother, Don Juan, to wear mourning for the trouble that had -befallen the royal house.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile the prince’s health visibly declined. At best he had -been a continual invalid, burned up with fever and ague, but in -captivity and under examination he became worse. He refused to receive -the consolations of the Church, a freak upon which much superstructure -has been raised. As his madness increased, like many lunatics he took to -swallowing inedible things, jewelry, and other objects of the same sort, -and finally refused<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a>{123}</span> to eat anything at all for eleven days. Then in -reply to the king’s remonstrances, he gorged himself, and this brought -him a return of his fever in the worst form. Every sort of mad -proceeding was adopted in turn by the unhappy youth. He would half roast -himself by a fire, and then put ice in his bed. First he would -scornfully refuse the sacraments, and then fulfil scrupulously all the -forms of his Church. At length, probably from weakness, he became -calmer, and there was a momentary hope of his recovery. Llorente (whose -authority is not, however, to be accepted unquestioned) says that the -result of his trial was that he was “found guilty of implication in a -plot to kill the king and to usurp the sovereignty of the Netherlands, -and that the only punishment for this was death.” There are no -trustworthy official documents known which prove this to have been the -case, but nature and the prince’s mad excesses had apparently condemned -him to death, independently of his faults and failings. When he was told -that he was dying he conformed fervently to the rites of his Church, and -sent Suarez to beg his father’s forgiveness. On July 21 the French -ambassador wrote to his master that Don Carlos had eaten nothing but a -few plums and sweetmeats for eight days, and was dying of weakness. “The -king, his father, is much grieved, because, if he die, the world will -talk. I understand that if he live, the castle of Arevalo is to be put -in order, so that he may be lodged in safety and comfort.”</p> - -<p>On July 26 the same ambassador writes to Catharine de Medici saying that -the prince had died the previous day. He attributes the death entirely -to his curious<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a>{124}</span> eccentricities of diet and hygiene. Llorente, enemy of -Philip though he was, says that Carlos died a natural death. In face of -this testimony it appears that Philip should be given the benefit of the -doubt. In any case, the Abbé de St. Real’s romantic fictions, which have -been drawn upon by so many historians, may be confidently dismissed as -unworthy of any credit whatever, and Perez’s source is too tainted to be -accepted. When the French ambassador notified the death of Don Carlos, -he told Catharine de Medici that her daughter, the queen, was ill. The -death, however, of her stepson was distinctly in her favour, as it made -the elder of her two little daughters, Isabel Clara Eugenia, heiress to -the crown of Spain. The queen saw this, and begged her mother to express -emphatically her sorrow for the death of the prince. But the queen -herself languished, crushed with the trouble that surrounded her, for -Alba was drowning Flanders in blood, and her own beloved France was -riven by religious disorder. In August it was announced that she was -pregnant, and all Spain prayed that an heir might be born. But she was -sacrificed to the unskilfulness of the Spanish doctors, and died on -October 3, 1568, to the great grief of all Spain and France. The French -ambassador relates the death-bed farewell of Philip and his wife, -“Enough to break the heart of so good a husband as the king was to her.” -And when all was over the king retired in the deepest grief to the -monastery of San Geronimo in Madrid, but not before he had signed -letters to the Duke of Alba and others giving the news of his -bereavement. Nothing short of his own death could prevent Philip from -attending to his beloved papers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a>{125}</span></p> - -<p>Once only during Elizabeth’s short married life had the object for which -she was sacrificed seemed on the point of realisation. The open sympathy -manifested in England for the Flemish Protestants, the ever-increasing -boldness of the English corsairs at sea, and the ferment of the -Huguenots in France had caused Philip in 1565 to approve of a plan for -binding Catharine de Medici to him in a league to utterly destroy and -root out the reformed doctrines in their respective territories. The -ostensible occasion was an interview between the Queen of Spain and her -mother at Bayonne, the Duke of Alba being the negotiator of the treaty. -Elizabeth of England was in a panic at the bare idea, and made one of -her rapid movements in favour of Catholicism, and another to draw -Catharine into a negotiation for the marriage of her young son, Charles -IX., with the Queen of England. It was a mere feint, of course, but it -helped towards its purpose. When Catharine reached Bayonne she found -that Alba’s instructions were to pledge her to destroy and break every -Huguenot noble or functionary in France, and to bind her hand and foot -to the extreme Catholic party. The queen-mother affected to agree, but -when she reached home she found all manner of impossible new conditions -necessary. Her second son must marry an Austrian princess and receive a -dominion. The league must also be joined by the emperor, the pope, and -others. So the league at that time came to nothing, for Catharine could -not afford to throw over the Huguenot nobles, who were her constant -balance against the Catholics and the Guises.</p> - -<p>With the death of his French wife it became evident to Philip that he -could depend upon no enduring alliance<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a>{126}</span> between the French nation and -himself, and that he must face advancing Protestantism alone. It gave -him no trouble in Spain, thanks mainly to the Inquisition, but in -France, Germany, his own Netherlands, and, above all, in England, it -grew more and more threatening to the basis of his power. Mary of -Scotland, whom he had aided with counsel and money during her short -married life with Darnley, was a prisoner, and the reformers were -predominant in Scotland. Elizabeth of England was firmly established on -the throne, more than holding her own, the English and Dutch corsairs -were scouring the seas after Spanish shipping, and England was burning -with indignation at Alba’s <i>régime</i> of blood in the Netherlands. But -withal Philip had to speak softly and temporise, for he dared not go to -war with Elizabeth whilst Holland was in arms, and the Huguenots strong. -All he could do was by intrigue to endeavour to stir up civil -dissensions both in France and England, and this he did ceaselessly, but -with indifferent success, as will be seen, for both Elizabeth and -Catharine, with their quick vigilance, were far more than a match for -Philip’s slow ponderous methods. Powerless, however, as Philip might be -to stay the progress of heterodoxy abroad, he was determined that it -should gain no foothold in his own country. Early in 1568 he expelled -the English ambassador, Dr. Man, ostensibly in consequence of his too -open profession of the reformed faith, but really to anticipate a demand -which he knew would be made for religious toleration for the ambassador -in return for the similar privilege enjoyed by the Spanish ambassador in -England. Although Protestantism was by the unsparing severity of the -Inquisition stamped out<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a>{127}</span> utterly in Spain, Philip’s principle of -absolute uniformity of faith amongst his subjects had to encounter a -serious resistance from another quarter. On the capture of Granada by -the Catholic sovereigns, the most complete religious toleration had been -promised to the Moors. The promise had been broken through the zeal of -Ximenez, and, nominally at least, the whole of the Spaniards of Moorish -descent had during the reign of the emperor been drawn into the Catholic -Church. All the south of Spain was inhabited by a people in course of -gradual amalgamation, and if time had only been given to them, they -would eventually have mingled into a homogeneous race, to the enormous -future advantage of the country. During the emperor’s time an edict had -been issued ordering all people of Moorish blood to discontinue the use -of their distinctive garb and language. It was naturally found -impossible to enforce this within a short period, and the edict was -allowed to fall nearly into abeyance, thanks, in a great measure, to the -liberal contributions of the Moriscos to the cost of the emperor’s wars -against his German Protestants. The Morisco population of the kingdom of -Granada, and Valencia especially, had accordingly, although outwardly -conforming Christians, really clung in secret to the faith and habits of -their fathers, living in industry and usefulness, adding greatly to the -national wealth both by their advanced agricultural science, and the -perfection to which they had brought the production of silk. The -prosperity they attained, and their distinct blood and customs, aroused -the jealousy and hatred of their Christian neighbours, especially during -the periodical struggle with the Turks, when the Moriscos were accused<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a>{128}</span> -of sympathy with the national enemy. Philip’s first action against these -useful citizens was prompted—as were most royal edicts in Spain—by a -representation made to him by the Cortes of Castile in 1560, to the -effect that the introduction of African slaves by the Spanish Moriscos -was a disadvantage to the country, and a royal pragmatica was issued -forbidding this. It was a heavy blow, as much of the hard labour of -mountain agriculture and irrigation was done by these slaves, but -measures of a very different character were adopted as soon as possible -after Cardinal Espinosa became inquisitor-general. In 1563 an edict had -been issued prohibiting the Moriscos from wearing or possessing arms, -which caused much discontent and resistance; but at the instance of the -clergy, and more especially of Guerrero, the Archbishop of Granada, and -of Espinosa, a far more serious step was taken early in 1567. The -Moriscos were forbidden to wear their distinctive garb, and were ordered -to dress as Christians, no silk garments being allowed, and the women -going abroad with their faces uncovered. They were to have no locks or -fastenings upon their doors, and within a term of three years were -utterly to discontinue the use of their own language and also adopt -Christian names. Above all, the use of warm baths was prohibited under -brutal penalties. Their customs and traditions, indeed, were to be -trampled upon with apparent wantonness. The Moriscos had always been -quiet, docile people, and the local clergy and authorities had assured -Philip that no difficulty would be experienced in enforcing the edict. -At first the Moriscos adopted the same means of evasion as they had -successfully employed on other occasions, namely, bribery<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a>{129}</span> and cajolery. -Espinosa belonged to the war party, and consequently had the Ruy Gomez -party against him, and even the Governor-General of Granada, the Marquis -de Mondejar, and much pressure was exerted upon Philip to induce him to -relax the orders, but, influenced by Espinosa and the churchmen, he -refused. For the first two years the Moriscos sulkily bowed beneath the -yoke, evading and passively resisting as much as possible; but during -this period the Mussulman fervour had been rising, and at length at -Christmas 1568 the storm which had long been brewing burst. A youth, -Aben Humeya, in the Alpujarras had distinguished himself in resisting -the enforcement of the edicts. He was a descendant of the prophet -himself, and was proclaimed by the Moriscos King of Granada. The Moorish -force was organised in the almost inaccessible mountains, whilst envoys -sped from the new king to his co-religionists at Constantinople and on -the other side of the Straits of Gibraltar; but the Turk was busy -organising an expedition against the Venetians, and the Barbary Moors -were split up into independent tribes which could furnish no -considerable combined force, so the Spanish Moriscos were left nearly -unaided, although many isolated companies of Barbary Moors responded to -the call and crossed to Spain. On December 26, 1568, a small body of 180 -Moriscos, under Aben Farax, a dyer of Granada, came down from the -mountains through the driving snow and forced their way into the city of -Granada. The Morisco townspeople, terrified at the risk they ran in -joining so small a force, turned a deaf ear to the exhortations of the -chief. Through the sleeping city the little body of Moors rushed on, -desecrating the Christian temples,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a>{130}</span> cursing the Christian gods, and -killing such few Spaniards as resisted them. And then when a call to -arms from the citadel sounded, Aben Farax and his little force withdrew -once more to the mountains. The large Morisco population of Granada had -made no move, or the city would have been taken, and the Governor -Mendoza, Marquis de Mondejar, took counsel with their head men for -resisting further attack, and urged them to stand loyal to the king -against the mountain marauders.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile Aben Farax swept through the Vega, carrying death and -torture with him to the Christians, burning villages, and submitting the -defenceless inhabitants to the most heartrending cruelty. Mad with blood -lust, the Moriscos of the band sought to avenge their race for endless -ignominy by outrage upon the country folk of the Vega. Three thousand -Christians were killed, before the king, Aben Humeya, put an end to the -slaughter, and many hundreds of others were sold into slavery across the -Straits in exchange for arms and men. Like wildfire ran the hope through -all Andalucia that at last the resuscitation of the Moorish power in -Spain had come, and the Moriscos from Valencia to the Sierra Nevada -sprang to arms. The hate and rancour of centuries were concentrated in -one mad week of slaughter. Mendoza, Marquis of Mondejar, with such -forces as he could raise, sallied and met the Moors in the pass of -Alfajarali, where he defeated them with great slaughter, and then -pressed on, killing and plundering, until blood and booty themselves -palled. When Mondejar re-entered the city of Granada he brought with him -800 rescued Christian women, who had been destined for sale to the Jews -of Barbary, and the churchmen<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a>{131}</span> made this an excuse for urging the -townspeople to fresh vengeance. In the early spring the Marquis de los -Velez set out with another force, gathered up from the idlers of the -cities of Andalucia, with the avowed object of massacre. They came -across 10,000 Morisco women and children fugitives, who had sought -safety on the edge of the great red cliffs overlooking the -Mediterranean. There was no mercy for them. Many cast themselves over -the edge to escape outrage and a lingering death; others, whilst praying -for mercy and avowing the Christian faith, were slaughtered. In two -hours 6000 poor creatures were killed, 2000 of them little children, and -the rest were distributed amongst the soldiers as slaves. But soon -slaves were so plentiful that the value fell, and soldiers deserted to -seek a better market for them, the Spanish forces became utterly -demoralised, and plunder and anarchy spread all over the fertile and -previously prosperous region. Deza, afterwards one of Philip’s cardinals -in Rome, was the representative in Granada of the civil power and the -Inquisition, and exceeded in violence and brutality even the lawless -men-at-arms. He complained constantly to Philip and Espinosa of the -slackness and want of authority of the Governor Mondejar, and at last -the king decided to send to Andalucia a considerable force under his -brother, Don Juan of Austria, to restore order. The young prince, who -had been born in 1547, was one of the handsomest and most gifted men of -his time. He had shared the studies of his unfortunate nephew, Don -Carlos, and of his cousin, Alexander Farnese, and from the time of the -emperor’s death had been treated as a prince of the blood. He had -already distinguished himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a>{132}</span> in the naval campaign against the Barbary -corsairs in 1567, and now his royal brother sent him once more against -the infidel. He entered Granada in April 1569. He was to do nothing -without first communicating with the king, and was strictly enjoined not -to expose himself to danger or to take any personal part in the mountain -warfare, which was to be left to the Marquis de los Velez. The reasons -probably why Don Juan had been chosen for the command were his youth, -which would, it might be thought, render him amenable to guidance from -Madrid, and the fact that he had from his childhood been indoctrinated -in the diplomatic principles of Ruy Gomez’s party, to which Secretary -Antonio Perez also belonged. But he was a youth of high courage and -great ability, who could ill brook strict control, and he chafed at -being kept in the city of Granada away from the fighting. Philip again -and again directed him to do as he was told and stay where he was. The -task confided to him was a pitiful one. Orders came from Madrid that -every Morisco in Granada was to be sent to Castile. On the day of St. -John 1569, writes the English spy Hogan, “Don Juan gathered together -13,000 Moriscos of Granada, and took 2000 for the king’s galleys, and -hanged some; a great number were sent to labour in the king’s works and -fortifications, and the rest, with their wives and children, kept as -slaves.” Despair fell upon the poor people, innocent mostly of all -participation in the mountain rising, at being dragged from their -beautiful homes and smiling native land to be sent in slavery to arid -Castile; but Deza and Espinosa were pitiless, and their advice alone was -heard in Madrid.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a>{133}</span> The Marquis of Mondejar, the hereditary governor of -Granada, could not brook such ruinous folly to the city he loved, and -left in disgust.</p> - -<p>Things in the meanwhile were going badly for the Spaniards in the -mountains. The king, Aben Humeya, gained a victory at Seron, and the -main body of Spaniards, under the Marquis de los Velez, got out of hand, -provisions and pay were short, and the men deserted in shoals, until at -last Los Velez was left only with the veteran regiment of Naples. Then -Philip and the churchmen saw that they must let Don Juan have his way -and give him active command, whilst the king himself, to be nearer, came -to Cordova.</p> - -<p>But Aben Humeya’s power was slipping away. Dissensions had broken out in -his own family. He had exercised his royal authority with as much -harshness and arrogance as if it had been founded on a rock instead of -on the desert sand, and soon a revolution of his people broke out. The -young king, already sunk in lascivious indulgence, was strangled in his -bed, and his cousin, Ben Abó, was proclaimed King of Granada.</p> - -<p>The juncture was a favourable one for Don Juan, and he lost no time. -With marvellous activity he collected the Spanish forces again around -the Naples regiment; he brought men from all parts of Spain, and by the -end of January 1570 he was besieging the fortress of Galera with 13,000 -soldiers. For a month the siege lasted, and hardly a day passed without -some act of daring heroism on one side or the other. At last by February -16 the place was taken by assault, and the defenders to the number of -3000 killed. Massacre, pillage, and lust again threw the Spanish troops -into<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a>{134}</span> a state of demoralisation, and a few days later, in attempting to -recover Seron, an uncontrollable panic seized them, and the seasoned -warriors fled like hares before an insignificant gang of Moors, with a -loss of 600 men. All discipline and order were thrown to the winds; -desertion, anarchy, and murder were all that could be got from Don -Juan’s army, now a mere blood-thirsty rabble.</p> - -<p>The Moorish king would fain make terms, and Don Juan was in favour of -entertaining his approaches. Philip was at his wits’ end with two wars -on his hands, both the result of his blind, rigid policy; his treasury, -as usual, was well-nigh exhausted. Elizabeth of England had recently -seized all the ready money he could borrow for the payment of Alba’s -army, and the Turk was busy in the Mediterranean, with the more or less -overt encouragement of Catharine de Medici. But though Don Juan begged -for clemency for the submissive Moors, the fanatics Deza and Espinosa -would have none of it, and Philip’s zeal was aroused again in the name -of religion to strike and spare not for the interests of “God and your -Majesty.”</p> - -<p>Deza and one of his officials of the Inquisition managed to bribe a Moor -to betray and kill the king, Ben Abó. The body of the dead king was -brought into Granada, and Deza, churchman though he was, struck off the -head and had it nailed to the gate of what was once the Moorish quarter, -with a threat of death to the citizen who should dare to touch it.</p> - -<p>There was to be no mercy to the vanquished, said the churchmen, and -Philip obeyed them, in spite of Don Juan’s protests against their -interference with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a>{135}</span> clemency of a magnanimous victor. Death or -slavery were the only alternatives, and no mercy was shown. From the -fair plains they and theirs had tilled for eight centuries, from the -frowning Alpujarras, which their tireless industry had forced to yield a -grudging harvest; from the white cities, which had kept alive the -culture of the east when the barbarians had trampled down the -civilisation of the west, all those who bore the taint of Moorish blood -were cast. Bound in gangs by heavy gyves, they were driven through the -winter snow into the inhospitable north. Don Juan, soldier though he -was, was pierced with pity at the sight. “They went,” he wrote to Ruy -Gomez, “with the greatest sorrow in the world, for at the time they -left, the rain, snow, and wind were so heavy that the daughter will be -forced to leave the mother, the husband the wife, and the widow her baby -by the wayside. It cannot be denied that it is the saddest sight -imaginable to see the depopulation of a whole kingdom. But, sir, that is -what has been done!”</p> - -<p>By the end of November 1570 Andalucia was cleared of the Moriscos, and -at the same time cleared of its industry, its prosperity, and its -enlightenment. The fanatic churchmen had had their foolish way, and -Philip went back to his desk, certain in his narrow soul that he had -served the cause of God and the welfare of his country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a>{136}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Philip and England—Elizabeth seizes his treasure—Spanish plots -against her—Philip and the northern rebellion—The excommunication -of Elizabeth—Ridolfi’s plot—Philip’s hesitancy—Prohibition of -English trade with Spain—Its futility—Alba’s retirement from -Flanders—Philip’s responsibility for Alba’s proceedings—The tenth -penny—Philip’s disapproval—Orange’s approaches to the French.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">T<small>HE</small> persistent plotting of Cardinal Lorraine and the Monlucs to bring -about a union of Spain, France, and the pope, with the object of -fighting Protestantism and placing Mary Stuart on the throne of a -Catholic united kingdom, had failed. Catharine de Medici hated Mary -Stuart and the Guises, and Philip had no wish, if even he had the power, -to fight England for the purpose of making Mary’s French uncles -paramount. Religion apart, it was better for Philip’s policy that -England should remain Protestant than that this should happen, always -provided that he could keep Elizabeth friendly, and either frighten or -cajole her into a position of neutrality towards his rebellious -Protestant subjects in the Netherlands. He could no longer attempt to -dictate to her, as he had sought to do at the beginning of her reign, -but only strove now to gain her goodwill; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a>{137}</span> both parties were fully -cognisant of their changed position towards each other.</p> - -<p>It was only ten years since Elizabeth’s accession, and even in this -short period Philip’s perverse and inelastic policy had reduced him to a -position of comparative impotence. But with his views, it was hopeless -to expect that he should learn wisdom from events. Reverses and -disappointments usually make men consider whether the course they are -pursuing is a wise one. No such doubt could assail Philip. He was in -union with God to do His work, for the success of which it was necessary -for Philip to have absolute power; and any reverses which occurred were -sent by the Almighty for some good purpose of His own, not to prevent -ultimate success, but to make it the more glorious when it came.</p> - -<p>With such ideas as these, Philip was proof against adversity; it was -impossible to defeat or degrade him. The considerations which rule the -conduct of other men had no influence over him; he was above human laws, -and, no doubt, thought that he was above human frailty. Subornation, -treachery, and secret murder, odious and reprehensible in others, were -praiseworthy in him, for was he not working with and for Providence for -divine ends, before which all mundane and moral considerations must give -way?</p> - -<p>His haughty dismissal of the English ambassador in the spring of 1568 on -religious grounds had been bitterly resented by Elizabeth, -notwithstanding the palliative influence of Philip’s ambassador, Guzman -de Silva. This, and rumours that Cardinal Lorraine had at last succeeded -in obtaining armed help for Mary Stuart against Murray, caused Elizabeth -to repeat her bold and previously successful<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a>{138}</span> action. Fresh -encouragement was sent to Condé and the Huguenots. Protestantism in the -Netherlands, under the iron heel of Alba, was accorded a more hearty -sympathy than ever, and expeditions of Flemish refugees were now allowed -almost openly to fit out in English ports to go over and help their -compatriots. Events fought on Elizabeth’s side, and threw Mary Stuart -into her grasp, from which she never escaped. The captive queen -clamoured for Philip’s help, but Philip had no help to give yet beyond -procrastinating generalities. Elizabeth and her ministers were well -served by spies, and were quite cognisant of Philip’s impotence for harm -at present, so far as open hostility was concerned. All they feared was -that he might seek to attain his end by secret plotting, and this was -eventually the course he adopted. For the time, however,—in the autumn -of 1568—he was sincerely desirous of keeping on good terms with -Elizabeth, and instructed his new ambassador, Gerau de Spes, to use -every effort to that end. Late in November 1568 the violence and -indiscretion of De Spes, who began plotting with the English Catholic -party in favour of Mary Stuart as soon as he arrived, had brought -matters to a much less peaceful complexion between Philip and Elizabeth. -This was from no fault of Philip, and was against the tenor of his -instructions. Cardinal Chatillon was in England, arousing sympathy and -obtaining aid for the Huguenots, the Flemish refugees were spreading -abroad a feeling of indignation against Alba’s atrocities in the -Netherlands, and money was being sent daily across to help their -brethren against the oppressor. Privateers and pirates, who called -themselves such, were swarming in the Channel, and few vessels bearing -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a>{139}</span> flag of Spain escaped their depredations. To escape them, some -ships carrying money—mostly borrowed by Philip from Genoese bankers—to -pay Alba’s troops had to run for refuge into Southampton, Plymouth, and -Falmouth. On the pretence of protecting the specie from the pirates, -most of it was landed, and retained by Elizabeth for her own purposes. -Promises, professions of honesty, and specious excuses of all sorts were -made; negotiations, open and secret, for its recovery went on for years, -but the treasure was never restored to Philip. It was a great blow to -him and a great help to Elizabeth, who was almost alarmed at her own -temerity in seizing the money. Philip retaliated by seizing English -property in Spanish and Flemish ports, immensely inferior in value to -that seized by England. It was an unwise step, because it gave Elizabeth -some ground for retaining what she had taken, and appropriating more, -which she promptly did. Even then Philip could only plead futilely for -restitution. His ambassador stormed and threatened, urged his master to -assert his power and crush Elizabeth. But Philip, and even fiery Alba, -knew better now, and both of them strained every nerve to avoid being -drawn into open hostility towards England. The keynote of Philip’s -foreign policy—that which he had inherited from his Burgundian -forefathers—was to keep on good terms with England. It was only after -many years that he was for a time absolutely driven by circumstances, -and against his will, to fight England outright, and then only with the -object of coercing her into a friendly attitude towards him. In view of -De Spes’s constant assurance that the time had now come when, by giving -a little aid to the English Catholics, Elizabeth<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a>{140}</span> might be deposed and -Mary Stuart made Queen of England, Philip referred the decision of the -matter to Alba (February 1569). But Alba frankly told him that he had -neither men nor money for the purpose, and that Elizabeth must be -conciliated at all costs. Even when De Spes’s plotting and insolence -became too much for Elizabeth to bear and she placed him under arrest, -his master told him he must suffer everything patiently for the king’s -sake. The humbler became Philip the more aggressive became Elizabeth. -She refused to have anything to do with Alba, or to recognise him in any -way, and the proud noble took this to heart more even than the seizure -of the treasure. So when De Spes sent him news of the plot in progress -with Arundel, Norfolk, and Lumley; and Ridolfi the banker went over to -Flanders as their envoy to the duke, he was ready enough to listen, and -try to effect by treason what he was powerless to do by war, if only it -could be done without compromising Philip. The latter was more -distrustful even than Alba, and it was only with much apparent -hesitation that he consented to lend aid to Norfolk’s plot. After -Norfolk’s folly and pusillanimity and Cecil’s vigilance had brought -about the collapse of the first conspiracy, and the northern lords were -in arms and, in their turn, begging for Philip’s aid, a good instance -occurred of the inadequacy of the king’s timid temporising policy to the -circumstances of the times. The crisis was really a dangerous one for -Elizabeth, and a little prompt aid from Philip might have turned the -scale. The Catholic north was all in arms, and Mary Stuart’s party was -still a strong one, and yet these are the only words that Philip could -find in answer to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a>{141}</span> the appeal written to Alba on December 16, 1569: -“English affairs are going in a way that will make it necessary, after -all, to bring the queen to do by force what she refuses to reason. Her -duty is so clear that no doubt God causes her to ignore it, in order -that by these means His holy religion may be restored in that country, -and Catholics and good Christians thus be rescued from the oppression in -which they live. In case her obstinacy and hardness of heart continue, -therefore, you will take into consideration the best direction to be -given to this. We think here that the best course will be to encourage -with money and secret favour the Catholics of the north, and to help -those in Ireland to take up arms against the heretics and deliver the -crown to the Queen of Scotland, to whom it belongs. This course, it is -presumed, would be agreeable to the pope and all Christendom, and would -encounter no opposition from any one. This is only mentioned now in -order that you may know what is passing in our minds here, and that, -with your great prudence and a full consideration of the state of -affairs in general, you may ponder what is best to be done.” What could -be weaker than this in a great crisis?</p> - -<p>Events marched too quickly for pondering, and the northern rebellion was -stamped out by the promptness of Elizabeth’s Government whilst Philip -was timidly weighing the chances. This was a fresh triumph for the -Protestant cause throughout Europe, and a new impetus was given to it in -France, Holland, Germany, and Scotland, as well as in England. De Spes -continued to urge upon Philip plans for the overthrow of Elizabeth, but -his charming fell upon deaf ears now. Only once<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a>{142}</span> was the king tempted -into any approach to hostility. Stukeley went to Spain with a great -flourish of trumpets, and gave him to understand that Ireland was at his -bidding if a little armed help were provided. At Madrid they thought for -a time that Stukeley was a great man, and entertained him royally; but -Philip and his councillors soon found he was but a windbag, and dropped -him promptly.</p> - -<p>A good example is provided of Philip’s subordination of religion to -politics by his attitude when the pope’s bull excommunicating Elizabeth -was fixed by Felton on the Bishop of London’s gate. The English -Catholics had long been suggesting to Philip that such a bull should be -obtained, but he had no desire to drive Elizabeth farther away from the -Catholic Church than necessary. Her religion was a secondary -consideration, if she would be friendly with him, and he was coldly -irresponsive about the desired excommunication. The English Catholics -then addressed the pope direct; and he, having no interests to serve -other than those of his religion, promptly granted the bull. But when -Philip learnt that the pope had excommunicated Elizabeth without -consulting him, he was extremely indignant, and did not mince his words -in reprehending the pontiff’s action.</p> - -<p>At the instance of his over-zealous ambassador, Philip was induced to -receive Ridolfi, who had again gone as an envoy from Norfolk and Mary to -the pope, Philip, and Alba (July 1571) to seek aid for Norfolk’s second -plot to destroy Elizabeth, whilst at the same time he (Philip) was -negotiating in Madrid with Fitzwilliams a pretended plot by which John<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a>{143}</span> -Hawkins was to place his fleet at the disposal of the Spaniards. -Philip’s reference to the subject of killing Elizabeth is -characteristic. He “sincerely desires the success of the business, not -for his own interest, or for any other worldly object, but purely and -simply for the service of God. He was therefore discussing the matter, -and in the meanwhile urged all people concerned not to be premature.” -Whilst he was discussing with his council the murder of Elizabeth, the -queen and Cecil were acting. They had known everything that had been -going on in Madrid and elsewhere; Philip had been hoodwinked again. His -ambassador was expelled with every ignominy, Norfolk deservedly lost his -head, and Philip’s hesitancy once more convinced the English Catholics -that no broad, bold, or timely action in their favour could be expected -from him.</p> - -<p>It had been constantly urged upon Philip that the best way to bring the -English to their knees was to stop their trade with his dominions. He -had always laid it down as a rule that no ships but Spanish should be -allowed to trade in the Spanish territories in America, but the English -adventurers made light of the prohibition, and the settlers were quite -willing to wink at their distant sovereign’s edicts, if they could -profitably exchange their drugs and dyewood for the slaves which the -English brought from the African coast. After Elizabeth’s seizure of -Spanish property the prohibition against English trade was extended to -Spain and the Netherlands. The English clothworkers grumbled, but they -found new outlets for their goods at Embden and Hamburg. On the other -hand, the wine-growers of Spain and the merchants of Flanders were -well-nigh<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a>{144}</span> ruined. Spanish ships were harried off the sea, and Philip -was ere long forced to connive at the violation of his own edict in face -of the clamour of the Andalucian shippers, whose produce rotted for want -of sea-carriage and a market. Alba held out as long as he could, but the -persuasions of Orange that the Queen of England should assume the -protectorate of Holland and Zeeland brought even him to his knees at -last. He had always tried to make the restitution of Elizabeth’s -seizures a condition of the reopening of trade, but early in 1573 he was -obliged to give way, to the immense advantage of Elizabeth, who thus -kept the bulk of what she had taken, whilst her subjects again obtained -a free market for their cloth. This agreement alone would prove how -completely Philip’s cumbrous policy of personal centralisation had -failed when applied to a huge disjointed empire such as his. His selfish -dread of responsibility and his constant aim of making catspaws of -others had alienated him at this time from every power except perhaps -for the moment the Venetians and the pope, who both had selfish reasons -for adhering to him, the first as their chief bulwark against the Turk -in the Mediterranean, and the latter because he was champion of the -Church the world over. Alba’s policy of blood and iron had failed too, -in the Netherlands. He had only succeeded in making his own and his -master’s name execrated. From the day he left Spain his enemies there -had been busy. In his absence the party of Ruy Gomez was almost supreme; -the clever favourite had taken care to surround the king with promising -young secretaries, and the failure of Alba to pacify the Netherlands was -made the most of. The duke himself was heartsick of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a>{145}</span> his task, crippled -for want of means, his troops unpaid and mutinous, his fleet destroyed; -and Holland, Zeeland, and a good part of Flanders were still in the -hands of Orange. The constant dropping of detraction at last had its -effect upon Philip, and he was induced to try a new policy. Alba was -allowed to withdraw, with rage at his heart for his failure, which he -ascribed to the lack of support from Madrid, and Luis Requesens was sent -by the influence of the Ruy Gomez party, to endeavour to bring about by -conciliation and mildness the pacification which severity had been -powerless to effect.</p> - -<p>This is not the place for any detailed account to be given of the -proceedings of Alba in the Netherlands, which have so often been -recounted, but it may be interesting to consider how far Philip is -personally responsible for them. It may be conceded at once that the -king would have no sentimental scruples whatever in ordering the -sacrifice of any number of lives he considered necessary for the success -of his object, which in his eyes transcended all human interests. There -is no doubt that when Alba was first despatched to Flanders it was for -the express purpose of utterly stamping out the Flemish claims of -autonomy. The first men to be struck at were the great nobles who had -dared to formulate such a claim. The Regent Margaret was dismissed with -every sign of disgrace. Her edict of toleration was revoked as “illegal -and indecent,” and she herself was ordered to obey the Duke of Alba in -all things. She was the king’s sister, however, and she was allowed to -go to Parma, complaining bitterly of the outrages to which the king had -submitted her. But with Orange, Egmont,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a>{146}</span> Horn, Montigny, and Bergues it -was another matter. At some time or another all of these had raised -their voices, however submissively, in favour of the national rights of -self-government. The blow was carefully planned beforehand, and the -treacherous seizure of Egmont and Horn after the dinner party on -September 9, 1567, immediately after Alba’s arrival in Brussels, was -promptly followed by the even more underhand detention and imprisonment -of Bergues, Montigny, and Renard in Spain. Fortunately the greater -wariness of Orange and Mansfelt saved them from falling victims to -Alba’s lying caresses. The charge against the nobles was not religious, -but purely political. It is true that Orange in his absence was accused -of speaking disrespectfully of the Inquisition, but the real crime was -for having requested the convocation of the States-General on the -pretext that “the king could not determine anything in these provinces -except with the approval of the States-General, which means stripping -the king of all authority and power and adorning him merely with the -title.” That Alba’s persecution was not a religious but a political one, -is also proved by the fact that the conventual clergy were struck at the -same time as the Catholic nobles because they had ventured to protest -against Philip’s reorganisation of the ecclesiastical establishment in -Flanders, which was intended to make him supreme over the clergy, as he -was in Spain. The abbots and monks, we are told, were the first that -fled on Alba’s advent. They were followed by rich burgesses, Catholics -almost to a man. They fled not for religion yet, but because the -ruffianly Spanish and Italian soldiers whom Alba had brought with<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a>{147}</span> him -were quartered in all the houses—six in each house—and were robbing, -murdering, and ravishing right and left. They were an unpaid mutinous -rabble, who respected no distinction of nationality, faith, or sex, and -their function was utterly to terrorise the Flemings into abject -submission. When the people began to escape in shoals Alba considered it -necessary to prevent this evasion of his terrorism, and began by hanging -500 citizens who were suspected of attempting to emigrate or to send -property abroad. The people, in fact, were absolutely unresisting, and -flocked to church, as Alba himself records, as plentifully as did -“Spaniards at jubilee time.” At the execution of Egmont and Horn, Alba -expressed his surprise to the king that the populace was so -unmoved—much less so, indeed, than the Spanish soldiers who surrounded -the scaffold—and he feared that the king’s clemency might raise their -courage. Alba was determined that this should not happen if he could -help it. Thus far, then, Philip must be held responsible for Alba’s -acts, namely, for the first seizure of the nobles, and their -condemnation by the tribunal of blood, to the number of about twenty, -and for the terrorism over the friars and the citizens. But here -probably Philip’s personal responsibility ends. He was not wantonly and -fiercely cruel as Alba was. No consideration of any sort was allowed to -stand in the way of what he held to be his sacred task, but he did not -kill for the sake of killing. The flight of Orange’s mercenary Germans -at Heliger Lee, and the consequent collapse of his first attempt at -armed resistance, had been looked upon by most Flemings without any -outward sign of sympathy, and the unprovoked, horrible holocaust of -innocent citizens<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a>{148}</span> all over Flanders and Brabant which followed, must be -laid at the door of Alba alone, who intended thus to strike such terror -into the townsfolk as should effectually bridle them if Orange tried his -fortune again; so with the nobles dead or in exile, the townspeople -might be crushed without a show of resistance. As long as only their -national or religious liberty was at stake, the Flemings bent their -necks to the yoke, and Orange in his despairing attempt depended mainly -upon German mercenaries and French Calvinists. On July 14, 1570, Alba -the merciless could read from his gold-covered throne in Antwerp the -amnesty of forgiveness and peace to all the subjects of the king: but -when he ventured to lay hands on the wealth of the Netherlands, then the -blood of the burgesses rose, and those who meekly saw themselves -despoiled of their national rights stood up sturdily against the -depletion of their fat money-bags. The seizure of the treasure by -Elizabeth had been the last stroke to complete Alba’s penury. He had -been importuning plaintively for money almost since his arrival; his -troops had not been paid for two years, and were almost out of hand. -Money he must have, and, certainly without Philip’s consent, he took the -fatal step that at last aroused the slumbering people. The various -provincial assemblies were terrorised into voting a tax of one per cent -on all property, five per cent on sales of land, and, above all, ten per -cent on sales of all other property. Utrecht refused to accept the -impossible tax, and the tribunal of blood condemned the whole property -of the citizens to confiscation. A tax of ten per cent upon commodities -every time they changed hands was proved to be absurd. Alba’s most -faithful henchmen, and even his confessor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a>{149}</span> pointed this out to him, but -to no purpose. Business was suspended, factories closed. Their -proprietors were threatened with heavy fines if trade was not carried on -as usual. It was obviously impossible, but still the duke would not give -way.</p> - -<p>Philip’s council were indignant at such a measure, and Alba wrote to -Madrid, “Let the tax be reduced as much as may be necessary, but the -king cannot have an idea of the obstacles I encounter here. Neither the -heads smitten off nor the privileges abolished have aroused so much -resistance as this.”</p> - -<p>Nearly all the great bankers upon whom Philip had depended for loans -became insolvent, and appeals against the unwise tax reached Philip by -every post. He knew money must be obtained somehow, and hesitated to -condemn Alba unheard, but he ordered an inquiry to be made, and the -protests grew louder and deeper. Bishops, councillors, loyal servants of -the Spaniards, joined in condemnation. “Everybody turns against me,” -wrote the duke, and for once he was right.</p> - -<p>The “beggars of the sea” seized Brille on April 1, 1572; all Holland and -Zeeland rose. Help and money came from England, and Alba saw himself -face to face with an enraged nation instead of downtrodden serfs. First -he crushed the south and then held the French Huguenots out of Brabant. -Mons was captured, Genlis’s Frenchmen massacred, and swift and -relentless as a thunderbolt swept Alba’s vengeance through the southern -provinces of Flanders. Submission the most abject, or slaughter was the -only alternative. But Holland and Zeeland were made of sterner stuff, -and the shambles of Naarden only made Haarlem<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a>{150}</span> the more obstinate. Then -followed that fell struggle which lasted until Alba’s confession of -failure. Cruelty could not crush the Dutchmen, for they were fighting -for their faith now as well as their money, and by the end of 1572 -Philip had become tired of the useless slaughter. It was difficult for -him to revoke or interfere with his commander-in-chief in the midst of -such a war, but long before Alba’s final retirement from Flanders at the -end of 1573, the king showed his displeasure with his proceedings -unmistakably, and it well-nigh broke the old duke’s heart, hard as it -was. When at last Philip wrote that his successor, Requesens, was on his -way to replace him with an amnesty, these were the king’s words: “I am -quite aware that the rebels are perfidious. I understand all your -arguments in favour of a continuance of the system of severity, and I -agree that they are good; but I see that things have arrived at such an -extreme that we shall be obliged to adopt other measures.” Alba’s fall -had been decided upon long before, and Medina-Celi had actually been -sent to Flanders to replace him, but Philip had always hesitated to -withdraw him while he was actually in arms against the enemy. Thirty -years before his father had told him that Alba was the best soldier in -Spain, and Philip knew that he was so still. But how deeply Philip -disapproved of his wanton cruelty in time of peace will be seen by the -words already quoted above, and by his sudden degradation of the -powerful Cardinal Espinosa when the king discovered that he was being -deceived with regard to Alba’s proceedings (September 1572). The number -of victims and the reasons for the sacrifices were kept back<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a>{151}</span> by the -favourite, for Espinosa was for crushing the Dutchmen as he had crushed -the Moriscos. But there were others, like Antonio Perez, by Philip’s -side to open his eyes to Alba’s enormities, and one day in the council -the king turned upon the astounded Espinosa and told him roundly that he -lied. When Philip, usually so impassible, said such a thing it meant -disgrace and death, and Cardinal Espinosa promptly went home and died -the same night.</p> - -<p>After that Alba’s disgrace was inevitable, even if it had not been in -principle already decided upon. The evidence, therefore, seems to prove -that Philip did not consider Alba’s cruelty necessary or politic for the -ends he had in view, which, be it repeated, were ultimately political -and not religious.</p> - -<p>Requesens’ new policy at first was eminently successful in drawing away -the Walloons and Catholic Flemings from the side of Orange, and by the -late autumn of 1575 the position of the Protestants had become critical. -Money was running short, the mercenaries were unpaid, and Elizabeth -would not be forced by any persuasion from the position which she had -taken up of helping Orange with money and men, but never pledging -herself so deeply that she could not recede and become friendly with -Philip if it suited her. She had, indeed, managed to get the whole of -the cards in her hand, and could secure his friendship at any time -without cost to herself. But this non-committal policy did not suit -Orange in his present straits, and he began to make approaches to the -French Huguenots. Elizabeth was perfectly willing that he should get -their aid, as in the long-run they too had mainly to depend upon her;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a>{152}</span> -but she changed her tone directly when she learnt that the King of -France and his mother where to be parties to the arrangement. Anything -that should mean a French national domination of Flanders she would -never allow. Better, far better, that Philip and the Spaniards should -stay there for ever, than that the French flag should wave over Antwerp. -So an English envoy, Henry Cobham, was sent to Madrid in August 1575, -with all sorts of loving messages, to open Philip’s eyes to Orange’s -intrigues with the French court. Philip received Cobham coldly, and -referred him to Alba for his answer, which was to the effect that the -king was as willing to be friendly as Elizabeth, and would receive a -resident English ambassador, on condition that he made no claim to -exercise the reformed religion. Not a word about Orange and the French. -Whatever the Huguenots might do, he knew full well that he had only to -hold out his hand to the Guises and the Catholic party, and Catharine -and her son would be paralysed for harm against him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a>{153}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Philip’s fourth marriage—The killing of Montigny—Anne of -Austria—Philip’s domestic life—His industry—The Escorial—His -patronage of art—His character—Renewed war with the Turks—Don -Juan commands the Spanish force—The victory of Lepanto—Don Juan’s -great projects—Antonio Perez.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">P<small>HILIP</small> was left a widower for the third time in 1568, at the age of -forty-two, with two children, both girls, by his beloved third wife. -With such an empire as his, and with his views of his mission, it was -most undesirable that he should be succeeded by a female, and especially -one of French extraction, and he had already recognised this by causing -some of his young Austrian nephews to be brought up in Spain under his -influence. The emperor, however, largely dependent as he was upon the -Lutheran princes, could not look quite unmoved at Alba’s barbarities in -the ancient patrimony of his House, and became uncomfortably pressing -upon the matter at the commencement of Alba’s rule. Philip resented his -interference, but thought well to disarm him for the future by marrying -the Archduchess Anne, the emperor’s daughter, whom her father had so -persistently put forward as a bride for the unfortunate Carlos.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a>{154}</span> The -preliminaries were easily arranged. Philip was more than double the -bride’s age, and was her uncle, but that mattered nothing. The pope’s -dispensation was obtained, and in August 1570 the new consort travelled -in state through Flanders to take ship for Spain. The fleet which was to -escort the queen was a powerful one, and threw Elizabeth of England into -a fever of alarm until it had safely passed. On her way through Antwerp -the new queen was appealed to by the sorrowing mother of Horn and -Montigny. Her eldest son had fallen on the scaffold, but her second was -alive, a prisoner in the castle of Segovia. He had been smiled upon by -Philip until Alba’s blow had fallen upon his brother and the rest of the -Flemish nobles, and had then suddenly been imprisoned. He was innocent -of all offence, said his mother, a loyal subject, and a good Catholic, -and she prayed the queen earnestly to plead for her son. Anne arrived at -Santander on October 12, 1570, and slowly progressed through Spain to -Segovia for the wedding. For two years the tribunal of blood in Flanders -had been trying the Flemish nobles for treason <i>in absentia</i>. Bergues -had died in semi-arrest, and faithful Renard, the victim of Granvelle’s -hate, had also died mysteriously a week after his imprisonment. But -Montigny—Florence de Montmorenci—still remained in seclusion in the -strong castle of Segovia. Philip was always a stickler for the -fulfilment of legal forms, and awaited the result of the trial in -Flanders with ill-disguised impatience. At last the decision came, the -finding being that which might have been foreseen. Montigny was -condemned for treason in defending the action of the Flemish nobles -before the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a>{155}</span> king’s secretary. The judgment was submitted to the -council—Ruy Gomez, Espinosa, and the rest of the camarilla—who advised -that Montigny should be poisoned slowly. But no, the king would have -none of that. The law prescribed death by strangulation for the crime, -and the law must be carried out. A public execution was out of the -question, and the marriage festivities were to be held at Segovia; so -Montigny was spirited away to the bleak castle of Simancas, and on the -very day (October 1) that Philip arranged the pompous ceremony of the -queen’s reception at Segovia he penned an order to the gaoler of -Simancas to hand over to the alcalde of the chancery of Valladolid the -person of Florence de Montmorenci. Arellano had been an inquisitor at -Seville, and was appointed specially to the chancery of Valladolid for -the purpose in hand. To him the most minute instructions were given for -the execution of Montigny. The priest that was to administer the last -consolations to the dying man was named, and at the same time a doctor -was instructed to visit the prisoner daily, ostentatiously taking with -him from Valladolid the usual medicines for fever. The hour of the night -that the alcalde and the executioner were to leave the city and the -smallest particulars were set forth for their guidance, but before and -above all, no one was to know that Montigny had not died a natural -death. His property had been confiscated for his crime, and so, said -Philip, he has nothing to leave; but still he may make a will, and -dispose of the property, if he will consent to do so, in the form of a -man who knows he is dying of a natural illness. He might write to his -wife, too, in the same way. The king is<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a>{156}</span> careful to repeat that he had -been tried and condemned by a legal tribunal, and it was only out of -mercy and consideration for his rank that he was to be saved the -ignominy of a public execution. The poor creature expressed his thanks -for the king’s clemency, avowed his unshaken fidelity to the Catholic -Church, and the shameful deed was done in that same round turret room in -which the bishop Acuña, the leader of the Comuneros, lived for years, -before he met a similar fate fifty years previously. Montigny was -executed on October 16, whilst Anne was on her way to Segovia. The first -favour she asked of her husband was to spare the life of Montigny. -Philip replied that he could not have refused to grant her request, but -unfortunately the prisoner had died of sickness. Couriers, swifter than -the queen, had long ago brought to Philip the tidings of the promise -made to Montigny’s mother. Forewarned, forearmed, he doubtless thought, -and the hapless Montmorenci’s fate was sealed by his mother’s apparently -successful intercession with the queen.</p> - -<p>Philip’s fourth wife was a devout, homely, prolific creature, intensely -devoted to her husband and children, of whom she bore many, though most -of them died in early childhood. “She never leaves her rooms, and her -court is like a nunnery,” wrote the French ambassador. All around her -was frigid, gloomy etiquette and funereal devotion. As years and -disappointments gathered on Philip’s head his religious mysticism -deepened. “For God and your Majesty,” was now the current phrase in all -addresses to him. He never gave an order—hardly an opinion—without -protesting that he had no worldly end in all his acts. It was all for -the sake of God, whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a>{157}</span> instrument he was. For his own part, his life -was a constant round of drudgery and devotion. The smallest details of -government went through his hands, besides the most trivial regulations -with regard to the lives and habits of his subjects. Their dress and -furniture were prescribed with closest minuteness, their styles of -address, number of servants and horses, their amusements, their -funerals, their weddings, their devotions were settled for them by the -gloomy recluse whom they rarely saw. Whilst he was busy with such -puerilities, affairs of great moment were set aside and delayed, his -ambassadors in vain praying for answers to important despatches, his -armies turning mutinous for want of money, and his executive ministers -through his wide domains alternately despairing and indignant at the -tardiness of action which they saw was ruining the cause he championed.</p> - -<p>The king’s only relaxations now were the few hours he could spare in the -bosom of his family, to which he was devotedly attached, especially to -his elder daughter, Isabel. But even in his home life his care for -detail was as minute as it was in public affairs. The most unimportant -trifle in the dress, management, studies, or play of his children came -within his purview. The minutiae of the management of his -flower-gardens, the little maladies of his servants, the good-or -ill-temper of his dwarfs and jesters did not escape his vigilance. The -private and financial affairs of his nobles came as much within his -province, almost, as his personal concerns, the furnishing and -decoration of his rooms had to be done under his personal supervision, -and the vast task of building the stupendous pile of the Escorial on an -arid<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a>{158}</span> mountain-side, and adorning it with triumphs of art from the -master hands of all Christendom, was performed down to the smallest -particular under his unwearied guidance. With all his prodigious -industry and devotion to duty, it is no wonder that this want of -proportion in the importance of things clogged the wheels of the great -machine of which he was mainspring, and that the nimble wit of Elizabeth -of England and Catharine de Medici foresaw, in ample time to frustrate -them, the deep-laid ponderous plans against them which he discussed <i>ad -infinitum</i> before adopting. His favourite place for work was at the -Escorial, where, said the prior, four times as many despatches were -written as in Madrid. As soon as a portion of the edifice could be -temporarily roofed in, the monks were installed, and thenceforward -Philip passed his happiest moments in the keen, pure air of the -Guadarramas, superintending the erection of the mighty monument which -forms a fitting emblem of his genius—stupendous in its ambition, -gloomy, rigid, and overweighted in its consummation. Here he loved to -wander with his wife and children, overlooking the army of workmen who -for twenty years were busy at their tasks, to watch the deft hands of -the painters and sculptors—Sanchez Coello, the Carducci, Juan de -Juanes, the Mudo, Giacomo Trezzo, and a host of others—whom he -delighted to honour. As a patron of art in all its forms Philip was a -very Mæcenas. He followed his great father in his friendship for Titian, -but he went far beyond the emperor in his protection of other artists. -Illuminators, miniaturists, and portrait painters were liberally paid -and splendidly entertained. The masterpieces of religious art, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a>{159}</span> -cunning workmanship of the Florentine goldsmiths and lapidaries, the -marvels of penmanship of the medieval monks, the sculptures of the -ancients, were all prized and understood by Philip, as they were by few -men of his time. This sad, self-concentrated man, bowed down by his -overwhelming mission, tied to the stake of his duty, indeed loved all -things beautiful: flowers, and song-birds, sacred music, pictures, and -the prattle of little children, a seeming contradiction to his career, -but profoundly consistent really, for in the fulfilment of his task he -considered himself in some sort divine, and forced to lay aside as an -unworthy garment all personal desires and convenience, to suppress all -human inclinations. He was a naturally good man, cursed with mental -obliquity and a lack of due sense of proportion.</p> - -<p>Whilst Alba was pursuing his campaign of blood in the Netherlands, -Philip found it necessary once more to struggle for the supremacy of -Christianity in the Mediterranean. It has been related how, after the -heroic defence of Malta, the Turks and Algerines had been finally driven -off with the death of Dragut in 1565. A new sultan, Selim II., had -arisen in the following year, and he had determined to leave Spanish -interests alone and to concentrate his attacks upon the Venetians, -through whom most of the Eastern trade of the Levant passed. Philip’s -interests and those of Venice had not usually been identical, as Spain -aspired to obtain a share of the oriental commerce, and France and the -Venetians had made common cause, more or less openly, with the Turk -against Spain. When the republic saw its great colony of Cyprus attacked -by the Turks, it consequently appealed in the first place to Pius V.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a>{160}</span> -Piala Pasha, the Italian renegade, was already (1569) besieging Nicosia -with a great fleet, whilst the Moriscos were yet in arms in Andalucia. -The inhabitants of Cyprus were welcoming the infidel, and without prompt -and powerful help Cyprus would be lost to Christianity. The pope, at all -events, acted promptly, and sent his legate to Philip with proposals for -an alliance with the Venetians against the common enemy of their faith. -He arrived in Andalucia at the time when the Moriscos had been finally -subdued, and entered Seville with Philip. Alba for the moment had -crushed out resistance in Flanders, and had not yet aroused the fresh -storm by his financial measures. Philip therefore willingly listened to -the pope’s proposal, backed energetically, as it was, by the young -victor of the Moriscos, Don Juan of Austria, all eager to try his sword -against an enemy worthy of his steel; and after three days of devotion -and intercession before the bones of St. Ferdinand in Seville, Philip -decided to lay aside his unfriendliness with the merchant republic and -join it to beat the infidel (spring of 1570).</p> - -<p>By the summer Nicosia had fallen, and before Doria’s galleys from Genoa -and Colonna’s galleys from the pope could be ready for service, private -negotiations were in progress between Venice and the Turks for a -separate peace. Here was always the danger for Philip. His Neapolitan -and Sicilian possessions, as well as the Balearics and the African -settlements, were very open to the Turk, and if the Venetians deserted -him, he would have brought upon his own coasts the scourge of Piali and -his three hundred sail with a fierce army of janissaries. It was not -until the end of 1570, therefore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a>{161}</span> that Philip was satisfied that the -Venetians would stand firm. Philip’s views undoubtedly extended far -beyond the recapture of Cyprus for the Venetians. This was the first -opportunity that had fallen to him of joining together a really powerful -league to crush the strength of Islam in the Mediterranean. Cardinal de -Granvelle was in Rome, and at last, through his persuasions, Pius V. -regranted to the Spanish king the much-desired privilege of selling the -Crusade bulls, and other financial concessions. Pius had also to give -way on another point which was very near Philip’s heart, for the king -never missed an opportunity of gaining a step forward in his policy of -centralisation of power in himself. Undeterred by the ill success of the -Aragonese in their protest against the abuses in the civil jurisdiction -of the Inquisition, the Catalans had proceeded still further, and had -taken the dangerous step of sending an envoy direct to the pope to beg -him to put an end to the oppression of the Holy Office, by virtue of an -old bull which gave to the pontiff the right to decide in all doubtful -cases, and limited the jurisdiction of the Inquisition to matters of -faith. The pope dared not go too far in offending Philip, but he went as -far as he could, and issued a bull reasserting the right of appeal to -Rome in certain cases. Philip did as he had done before, simply -prohibited the promulgation of the bull in Spain, and clapped the -leaders of the Catalans into the dungeons of the Inquisition. Things had -arrived at this stage when Pius had to beg Philip’s aid for the -Venetians. Then he was obliged to cede to the king’s instances, and -promise not to interfere in any way with the prerogatives of the Spanish -crown. The league against Islam was to be a permanent one,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a>{162}</span> and the -urgent prayers of Don Juan obtained for him the supreme command of the -expedition. He was a fortunate and a dashing young officer, but he was -in no sense the great commander that he has often been represented, and -the work of organisation of his force on this occasion must be credited -mainly to the famous seaman Alvaro de Bazan, Marquis of Santa Cruz; -whilst De Granvelle, who had been appointed Viceroy of Naples, was -indefatigable in his efforts to collect the resources and men necessary -for the struggle. By the summer of 1571, when the Spanish fleet was -gathered at Messina, Cyprus had fallen amidst scenes of hellish carnage -which aroused the Christian force to fury. The fleet of Venice had -suffered much, and notwithstanding the reproaches of the pope for his -tardiness in following up the Turks, who were now harrying the Adriatic, -it was September 1571 before Don Juan and his combined fleets left -Messina. He had 208 galleys, 6 galleasses, and 50 small boats, 29,000 -men-at-arms, and 50,000 sailors and rowers. The force was a great one, -but it had a great task before it. Piali and Uluch Ali had joined, and -had a fleet which had never yet been beaten at sea in the Mediterranean. -Time after time the Turks had shown that in a sea-fight they were -superior to any power in the world; but this was a holy war. The pope -had sent to Don Juan in Naples a blessed banner of blue damask covered -with sacred emblems; all the pomp and solemnity that the Church could -confer upon an expedition was extended to this; prayers and rogations -for its success were sounding through every church in Catholic -Christendom, and, above all, the hearts of men, and women too, were -aflame with enthusiasm when they<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a>{163}</span> saw the fervent zeal of the splendid -young prince who was to lead the hosts of Christ against the infidel. -Dressed in white velvet and gold, with a crimson scarf across his -breast, his fair curls glinting in the sun, he looked, they said in -Naples, like a prince of romance, and men, high and low, upon his fleet -were ready to go whithersoever he might lead them. Every man on the -fleet fasted, confessed, and received remission of his sins, and all -felt that they were engaged in a struggle for the Cross. The Turks were -still ravaging the Venetian territories, as they had ravaged Corfu, but -the experienced commanders of Don Juan’s force were opposed to attacking -the dreaded enemy in the open. Better repeat the policy of the past, and -lay siege to some fortified place. Doria especially, was for turning -back and awaiting the spring. But Don Juan would have no such timid -tactics, and decided to attack the Turkish fleet, which, his spies told -him, was lying in the bay of Lepanto. He sighted the enemy at daybreak -on October 7—Sunday—advancing with flags flying and cymbals clashing; -and after giving orders for the fray, Don Juan knelt with all his army -before the crucifixes, the whole of the force being solemnly absolved by -the Jesuits and other monks, who swarmed on the ships. Then through the -fleet in a pinnace the young general sailed, crying out words of -exhortation to his men. “Christ is your general!” “The hour for -vengeance has come!” “You are come to fight the battle of the Cross, to -conquer or to die,” and so forth. There is no space here to describe the -battle in detail. The story is a familiar one; how the Turks were swept -from the seas and their power on the Mediterranean gone for ever. There -was no resisting<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a>{164}</span> a force worked up to the pitch of fervour which Don -Juan had infused into his. Much of the glory must be given to the cool -and timely support afforded at a critical moment by the Marquis of Santa -Cruz, but Don Juan, exalted in fervour and enthusiasm, personified the -victory; and to him the palms of conquest were awarded. The world rang -with adulation of the young hero. The pope forgot his dignity, Titian -forgot his ninety-five years, the Christian world forgot prudence and -restraint, and talked of conquering anew the empire of Constantine, of -which Don Juan was to be the ruler. There was one man, however, who did -not move a muscle when he heard the stirring news, and that man was -Philip II. He was at vespers when the courier came, but after he read -the despatch he said no word until the sacred service was over, and then -a solemn Te Deum was sung. But when he wrote to Don Juan it was in no -uncertain words. With his views he was of course incapable of personal -jealousy, though not of suspicion, and he wrote: “Your conduct -undoubtedly was the principal cause of victory. To you, after God, I owe -it, and I joyfully recognise this. I am rejoiced that He has deigned to -reserve the boon for a man who is so dear to me, and so closely allied -in blood, thus to terminate this work, glorious to God and men.”</p> - -<p>The next year Pius V. died and the league was loosened. Don Juan, full -of vast projects of conquest in Tunis, Constantinople, and elsewhere, -with encouragement of Rome and the churchmen, kept his fleet together -for two years, always clamouring for money for his great projects. But -Philip had his hands full now with Alba’s second struggle in the -Netherlands, and had no<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a>{165}</span> wish or means for acquiring a great Eastern -empire which he could not hold, and he was already looking askance at -his brother’s ambitious dreams. The mercantile Venetians too, had -justified Philip’s distrustful forebodings and had made a submissive -peace with the Turk, who kept Cyprus, and Philip could not fight the -Turks alone. But Don Juan was not to be entirely gainsaid. In October -1573 he sailed for Tunis, which he captured, almost without resistance, -and then returned to the splendour of Naples, still full of projects for -a vast North African Christian empire, of which he hoped to obtain the -investiture from the new pope, Gregory XIII. Such ambitious dreams as -these had floated through Don Juan’s mind after he had suppressed the -Morisco rising in Andalucia; and even then prudent Ruy Gomez, whose -pupil he had been, took fright, and warned the prince’s secretary, Juan -de Soto, one of his own creatures, that these plans must be nipped in -the bud. The prince was over headstrong then, but he had got quite out -of leading strings now.</p> - -<p>When the king’s orders were sent to him to dismantle Tunis and make it -powerless for future harm, he disobeyed the command. He wanted Tunis as -strong as possible as his own fortress when he should be the Christian -emperor of the East. All this did not please Philip, and he simply cut -off the supply of money. Artful De Granvelle too, the Viceroy of Naples, -saw which way the tide was setting, and took very good care not to -strengthen Don Juan’s new conquest. Within a year Tunis and Goleta were -recovered by the Turk, and the 8000 Spaniards left there by Don Juan -were slaughtered. Neither Philip nor De Granvelle<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a>{166}</span> could or would send -any help. Better that the two fortresses should be lost for ever, as -they were, than that the king’s base brother should drag him into -endless responsibilities with his high-flown schemes.</p> - -<p>Don Juan, in fact, was evidently getting out of hand. Ruy Gomez had -recently died; Cardinal Espinosa had also gone, and the most influential -person with the king now was his famous secretary, Antonio Perez. He was -the legitimised son of Charles V.’s old secretary of state, and had been -brought up by Ruy Gomez in his household. Young as he was, he was -already famous for his extravagance, luxury, and arrogance, which added -to the hatred of the nobles of the Alba school against him. He was -overpoweringly vain and ambitious, but was facile, clever, and -ingratiating, and, above all, had the king’s confidence, which once -gained was not lightly withdrawn. Philip, in pursuance of his father’s -principle, liked to have about him as ministers men whom he himself had -raised from the mire, and whom he could again cast down.</p> - -<p>Perez aspired to succeed to Ruy Gomez, and was dismayed to lose so -promising a member of his party as Don Juan. He therefore persuaded the -king to recall Don Juan’s secretary, Soto, who was blamed for -encouraging his young master’s visions; and, to be quite on the safe -side, sent in his place as the prince’s prime adviser another pupil and -page of Ruy Gomez, also a secretary to the king—Juan de Escobedo—with -strict orders that he was to bring Don Juan down from the clouds and -again instil into him the shibboleths of the party of diplomacy, -chicanery, and peace. With such a mentor surely the young prince could -not go wrong, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a>{167}</span> thought. But Don Juan was stronger than the -secretary. Juan de Escobedo was quickly gained over to his ambitious -views, more completely than Soto had been, and was soon perfectly crazy -to make his master Emperor of the Catholic East.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a>{168}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>The Spanish troops in Flanders—Don Juan sent to Flanders—His -projects for invading England—Mutiny of the Spanish troops in -Flanders—The Spanish fury—Evacuation of Flanders by the Spanish -troops—Perez’s plot against Don Juan—The murder of Escobedo—Don -Juan seizes Namur—Renewal of the war—The battle of -Gemblours—Desperation of Don Juan—His death—Alexander Farnese.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">R<small>EQUESENS</small>, the Governor of the Netherlands, had died whilst his policy -of conciliation was as yet incomplete. The Catholic Flemings had been to -a great extent reconciled by promises of concessions and through their -jealousy of the Protestant Dutchmen, but the new governor had been -surrounded with insuperable difficulties from the first, legacies from -the Duke of Alba. Most of the seamen were disloyal, and the Flemish -clergy were disaffected, but withal Requesens had not been unsuccessful -amongst the peoples of the Walloon and southern states. No -blandishments, however, could win over the stubborn Dutchmen, now that -they were fighting for the faith and were supported by English and -French Protestants, as well as by the questionable German levies, who -generally turned tail at the critical moment. The Spaniards were beaten -out of their last<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a>{169}</span> foothold on Walcheren by the destruction of Julian -Romero’s relieving fleet, and the indomitable determination of the -citizens of Leyden overcame attack after a year of siege; but, worst of -all, the clamour of the Catholic Flemings that they should be relieved -of the presence of the mutinous, murderous, unpaid Spanish soldiery -could not be complied with, although promised, for there was no money to -pay the troops, and they would not budge without it. Philip, in despair, -at one time decided either to drown or burn all the revolting cities of -the Netherlands—burning he thought preferable, as it would seem less -cruel—but Requesens told him that his army was a mutinous mob, who -would not do either without pay. Attempts then were made to come to -terms with Orange, but without success, for, said Requesens, they are -not fighting for their heresy but for their independence. In despair at -last, Requesens died on March 5, 1576. The Spanish troops were more -mutinous than ever now, mere bandits most of them, and Philip was made -to understand clearly by his most faithful adherents in Flanders that -unless these ruffians were withdrawn, Brabant and Hainhault, Artois and -Flanders would follow Holland and Zeeland, and slip out of his grasp.</p> - -<p>Philip bent to the inevitable, and ordered Don Juan to go to Flanders as -governor to carry out the policy of pacification at almost any cost. He -was instructed to proceed direct to his new post, and doubtless Philip -congratulated himself upon so good an opportunity of removing without -offence his ambitious brother from the neighbourhood of the -Mediterranean. Escobedo, his mentor, was warned strictly before he left -Spain that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a>{170}</span> there must be no nonsense. Peace <i>must</i> be made with the -Flemings at all sacrifice and the Spanish troops withdrawn from the -country. Don Juan’s ambition, however, was bounded by no frontiers, and -the pope (Gregory XIII.) had sent instructions to his nuncio to urge a -new plan upon Philip, namely, that he should allow Don Juan to invade -England from Flanders, liberate and marry the captive Queen of Scots, -and rule over a Catholic kingdom of Great Britain. Philip, as was his -wont, was vaguely benevolent to a plan which did not originate with -himself, but had no intention of allowing his policy to be dictated or -forced by others. Suddenly, to his dismay, Don Juan himself, in -disobedience to orders, came to Spain instead of going direct to -Flanders, the idea being doubtless to add his influence to that of the -pope and to prevail upon Philip to adopt his new plans. The king gently -evaded his brother’s importunities and his claims to be treated as an -imperial prince, and without losing temper dispatched Don Juan as soon -as possible on his uncongenial mission. But in his secret way he was -offended at the prince’s disobedience and the attempts to force his -hand, and thenceforward kept a sharp eye and a tight rein on Don Juan -and his adviser Escobedo. False Perez in the meanwhile wormed himself -into the confidence of Don Juan, and learnt that, in despite of the -king, he intended to swoop down upon the coast of England with the -Spanish troops which were to be withdrawn from Flanders.</p> - -<p>But the loss of time by Don Juan’s disobedience and stay in Madrid was -fatal. Soon after Requesens’ death the Council of State, nominated by -Philip as temporary<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a>{171}</span> governors of Flanders, found themselves face to -face with a great crisis. The Spanish and Italian troops rebelled for -want of pay and broke into open mutiny, plundering friends and foes -without distinction. The council consisted mostly of Flemish and Walloon -Catholics, and was profoundly divided in sight of the murderous excesses -of the king’s soldiers. Brussels was held in the interests of the -council by Walloon troops, but they were surrounded by Spanish mutineers -outside. During the panic-stricken attempts of the council to bribe the -mutineers into obedience, a plot was formed by Barlemont, one of the -councillors, to admit the Spaniards into the city; but it was -discovered, and Barlemont deprived of the keys. Massacres were reported -at Alost and other towns; the excesses of the mutineers grew worse and -worse. Flemings of all sorts, Catholic and Protestant, lost patience, -and swore they would stand no more of it, but would fight for their -lives and homes. The council was forced to side with the Flemings, -except the Spanish member Rodas, who assumed alone the character of -Philip’s representative, and henceforward the Spanish army of -cut-throats, with their commanders, Sancho de Avila, Vargas, Mondragon, -and Romero, harried, burnt, and killed right and left.</p> - -<p>Philip was in deep distress at the news. Money should be sent; Don Juan -would soon arrive; the offended Flemings should have justice done to -them, and so forth. But the blood-lust of the mutineers could not be -slaked now with fine promises. The council’s troops were defeated again -and again, town after town was ravaged, and at last came the time when -the bands of savage soldiers effected a junction and fell upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a>{172}</span> the -richest prey of all—the city of Antwerp. On the fatal November 4, 1576, -six thousand mutinous troops, panting for blood and plunder, swooped -down from the citadel on to the town. The citizens had done their best. -Barricades had been raised, the burgesses stood to their arms, and brave -Champigny, the governor,—De Granvelle’s brother, and hitherto a staunch -friend of the Spaniards,—worked heroically. But the Walloons fled, -young Egmont was captured, the citizens, unused to arms, were no match -for the veteran infantry of Sancho de Avila, and Antwerp soon lay a -panting quarry under the claws of the spoiler. Neither age, sex, nor -faith was considered, and when the fury had partly subsided it was found -that 6000 unarmed people, at least, had been slaughtered, 6,000,000 -ducats’ worth of property stolen, and as much again burnt. The States -troops were all killed or had fled, and the only armed forces in the -country were the unbridled Spanish mutineers and the troops of Orange. -Flemings of each faith were welded together now against the wreckers of -their homes, and even those nobles who through all the evil past had -stood by Spain were at one with Orange and the Protestants of the north.</p> - -<p>Don Juan had posted through France in the guise of a Moorish slave to -prevent delay and discovery, but when he reached Luxembourg he was given -to understand by the States that he could only be received as Philip’s -governor now, on certain terms to be dictated to him. This was gall and -wormwood to the proud young prince. Orange knew all about the fine plans -for the invasion of England, secret though they were thought to be, and -at his instance the States insisted upon the Spanish troops<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a>{173}</span> being -withdrawn overland, and not by sea. During the winter of 1576 and early -spring of 1577 Don Juan was kept haggling over the terms upon which he -was to be allowed by the Flemings to assume his governorship. The -States-General were assembled at Ghent, and consulted Orange at every -turn. They said that they had bought their liberty now with their blood, -and were not going to sell it again to a new master. Passionate prayers -from Don Juan and his secretary came to Philip by every post that they -should be allowed to fight it out; imploring requests for money and arms -to beat into “these drunken wineskins of Flemings” a sense of their -duty; often wild, incoherent, half-threatening expressions of disgust -and annoyance at the uncongenial task committed to the victor of -Lepanto. He was a soldier, he said, and could not do it; the more he -gave way the more insolent the Flemings became; a woman or a child could -do the work better than he. Escobedo’s letters to Perez, which of course -were shown to the king, were more desperate still. On February 7, 1577, -he wrote: “Oh, I am ready to hang myself, if I were not hoping to hang -those who injure us so. O Master Perez! how stubborn and hateful these -devils have been in hindering our plan. Hell itself must have spewed -forth this gang to thwart us so.” Don Juan himself was just as violent -in his letters. “O Antonio!” he wrote, “how certain for my sorrow and -misfortune is the frustration of our plans, just as they were so well -thought out and arranged.” Herein, it is clear, was the grievance; and -Philip’s grim face must have darkened as he saw the deceit his brother -sought to practise upon him, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a>{174}</span> how he was to be dragged by the -ambition of a bastard into a struggle with England, at a time when his -treasury was empty, his own states of Flanders in rebellion, and his -mind bent upon far-reaching combinations, which would all be frustrated -if his hand had thus been forced. Humiliating reconciliation with the -Catholic Flemings was nothing to this; and to his brother’s wild -remonstrance and protest he had but one answer, cold and precise—peace -must be made with any sacrifice, consistent only with his continued -sovereignty. At last by pledging his own honour and credit—for he -insolently told the king that no money could be obtained on -<i>his</i>—Escobedo borrowed means sufficient to persuade the troops to -march, and the mutinous rascals who had disgraced the name of soldiers -crossed the frontier to Italy amidst the curses of all Flanders. Then -Don Juan entered Brussels at last with the frantic rejoicing of a people -who had emancipated their country by their firmness. But his own face -was lowering, and rage and disappointment were at his heart. He had been -threatening for months to come back to Spain whether the king liked it -or not, and Perez ceaselessly whispered to Philip that now that the -prince’s ambition had been thwarted in one direction, it would strike -higher in another. We now know that Perez garbled and misrepresented Don -Juan’s words, suppressed portions of his letters, and persuaded Philip -that his brother designed treachery to him in Spain. The reason for this -is obvious. Don Juan and Escobedo had definitely drifted away from the -old party of Ruy Gomez, and his return to Spain would have secured a -preponderance to the Duke of Alba, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a>{175}</span> probably caused Perez’s -downfall. The principal members of the camarilla now were Perez’s -friends, the Marquis de los Velez and Cardinal Quiroga, both of whom -where in favour of peace; but with Don Juan and Alba present they would -be overruled, especially as Zayas, the other secretary of state, was a -creature of Alba.</p> - -<p>When therefore Escobedo rushed over to Spain in July 1577 to arrange -about the payment of the loan he had guaranteed, Perez, after making two -unsuccessful attempts to poison him, had him stabbed one night (March -31, 1578) in the streets of Madrid. Perez asserted that the king had -authorised him to have the deed done six months before, and in this, no -doubt, he told the truth. In any case, great events followed upon this -apparently unimportant crime, as will be related in the proper place. -The Spanish troops had marched out of Flanders in the spring of 1577, -and before many weeks had passed Don Juan again found his position -intolerable. The tone of the Catholic Flemings had quite changed now. -They were loyal and cordial to him, but they let him see that they had -the whip hand, and meant to keep it. His plans had all miscarried; his -brother was cold and irresponsive and kept him without money; he was -isolated, powerless, and heartsick, and determined to end it. Margaret -de Valois, Catharine de Medici’s daughter, had gone to Hainhault on a -pretended visit to the waters of Spa, but really to sound the Catholic -Flemings about their accepting her brother Alençon for their sovereign. -Don Juan feigned the need to receive her, but he had plotted with -Barlemont to get together a force of Walloons upon whom he could depend. -They<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a>{176}</span> were hidden in a monastery, and after the prince had hastily -greeted Margaret, he suddenly collected his men, threw himself into the -fortress of Namur, and defied the States. Then began a fresh war, in -which Orange himself for the first time since his rebellion became the -arbiter of the Catholic Flemish States. Here was a fresh blow to Philip. -It was evident that his brother was one of those flighty, vaguely -ambitious, turbulent people, who are the worst possible instruments of -an absolute ruler. For over three months no letter reached Don Juan from -the king, whilst he chafed in Namur. “If,” he wrote to a friend, “God in -His goodness does not protect me, I do not know what I shall do, or what -will become of me. I wish to God I could, without offending my -conscience or my king, dash my brains out against a wall, or cast myself -over a precipice. They neglect me even to the extent of not answering my -letters.” In the meanwhile Orange entered Brussels in triumph, and -Catholics and Protestants made common cause for a time. But not for -long. The extreme Catholic party, under the Duke of Arschot, invited -secretly Philip’s young nephew and brother-in-law, the Archduke Mathias, -to assume the sovereignty of Flanders. The young prince—he was only -twenty, and a fool—escaped from Vienna and arrived at Brussels on -October 26, 1577. This was a blow to Don Juan in Namur, to Orange in -Brussels, and to Philip in Madrid. Philip met the danger at first by -masterly inactivity—in fact the solution might have been made not -altogether distasteful to him; Orange cleverly took the young archduke -under his wing, patronised, adopted, and disarmed him; and Don Juan -busied himself in his fortress settling<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a>{177}</span> with his friends outside the -recruiting of a Catholic force, whilst he was still quarrelling with the -States by letter. But by the end of October the Protestants in the -south, encouraged by the turn of affairs and the presence of Orange in -Brussels, turned upon their Catholic fellow-townsmen in Ghent, Bruges, -and elsewhere, and sought to avenge the cruelties perpetrated upon them -in the past by the Catholic Church. The Duke of Arschot and the -representatives of the Catholic States were seized and imprisoned whilst -in session at Ghent, and everywhere the Protestants and Orange seemed to -be sweeping the board. This was too much for Philip. The Archduke -Mathias as tributary sovereign under him of a Catholic Flanders, he -might have accepted, but the Prince of Orange and the Lutherans -paramount from Zeeland to the French frontier he could not stomach. So -the veteran Spanish and Italian infantry who had scourged Flanders -before, were recalled, under Alexander Farnese, the son of Margaret, who -had been the ruler of Flanders when the dissensions began, to the help -of Don Juan and to crush the Protestants. When Alexander and his troops -approached Namur, Orange and Mathias, side by side, were entering -Brussels in state. Elizabeth had insisted upon Orange being made -lieutenant-general with the real power, as a condition of her continued -aid to the States, for she was quite determined upon two points—first, -that no matter what union was effected between the States, the Catholic -party should never be paramount; and secondly, that the French should -not gain a footing there except under her patronage. She had some fear -on this latter point, for Catharine de Medici had long been intriguing -to obtain the sovereignty<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a>{178}</span> for her young son Alençon, who was already on -the frontier with a force of Huguenots, whilst the Guises had been -actively helping Don Juan in his recruiting of Catholics. When Parma had -arrived, and Don Juan’s new levies were ready, he marched out of Namur -on the last day of January 1578. The States troops, mostly Netherlanders -and German mercenaries, mustered 20,000 men, and Don Juan’s forces about -the same number. The prince, with Parma, led the centre of the latter -with the pope’s sacred banner floating over their heads. The same spirit -that had led him against the infidel inspired him now, and the banner -testified to it, for it bore the words under a crucifix: “Under this -emblem I vanquished the Turks; under the same will I conquer the -heretics.” And he did so, for on the plain of Gemblours the States -troops under De Goigny, with Egmont, Bossu, Champigny, La Marck, and -Arschot’s brother Havré, were routed completely, without loss on the -Spanish side. The honour of the day belongs to Alexander Farnese, who -with a dashing cavalry charge broke the enemy at a critical moment, the -only men who made any real resistance being the Scottish levies, 600 -strong, under Colonel Balfour. These were saved from the carnage by Don -Juan’s intercession, but of the rest 6000 men were killed in fight, and -the prisoners hanged to a man.</p> - -<p>Philip had had enough of his turbulent brother. He had promised the -envoys from the Catholic States that he should be withdrawn, and it was -privately understood when Alexander Farnese was appointed to go thither -that he should succeed the prince. But the latter for the present still -continued in command, reducing the towns of South Flanders one after the -other,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a>{179}</span> and again issuing a proclamation in Philip’s name offering peace -to the States, on condition of the recognition of the Spanish -sovereignty and the predominance of the Catholic religion. The latter -condition meant the extermination of the Protestants by fire and sword, -and Orange could never accept it.</p> - -<p>By the pacification of Ghent, which Don Juan had in principle confirmed, -religious toleration had been secured, and the States refused to go back -from that position, and again demanded the withdrawal of the -impracticable governor. Philip was, in fact, at his wits’ end what to do -with his brother. Perez had succeeded in persuading the king that Don -Juan’s object was to raise a revolution in Spain and try to grasp the -crown. He could not, therefore, be allowed to come back freely, nor -would the States endure him longer on any terms. He himself felt the -position to be an impossible one, and his letters to his private friends -in Madrid constantly hint at suicide as the only way out of the -difficulty, for he knew now that his faithful secretary Escobedo had -been assassinated in Madrid, and anticipated a similar shameful end for -himself. War to the knife against the States was his only resource, for -he was no diplomatist, but Philip, over his head, left no stone unturned -to try to tempt Orange to abandon his cause. Orange had a restive team -to drive, what with the Catholic majority and nobles, the Protestant -Dutchmen, the extreme Puritans, like Saint Aldegonde; Elizabeth of -England, the French Huguenots, the German mercenaries, and poor Mathias, -now an acknowledged failure. Nothing but the most consummate -statesmanship would serve him, and that he employed. Philip’s -temptations and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a>{180}</span> Don Juan’s storming were equally disregarded. Alençon -and the Frenchmen were invited across the frontier to replace Mathias as -sovereign, and Havré was sent to Elizabeth to assure her that, unless -she helped the States effectually with men and money, they would be -obliged to accept the Frenchmen. This they knew she would never stand. -She disarmed Catharine de Medici with fresh approaches for a marriage -with Alençon, whilst she threatened to help Philip if the French were -allowed to set foot in Flanders except under her auspices. She smiled -upon Philip’s new ambassador Mendoza, and so managed that very shortly -Alençon had to retrace his steps to France, and the States had to look -to her alone for assistance, which she doled out judiciously, and so -kept them firm against the Spaniards. All through the spring and summer -of 1578 Don Juan struggled in toils from which he had not wit enough to -free himself. Heartrending appeals to his brother for guidance, for -money to organise a sufficient force to crush the States for good and -for all, prayers to be allowed to retire, were met with cold -irresponsiveness by Philip, prompted by Perez’s slanders, for Don Juan -must be ruined or Perez himself must fall. At last his chafing spirit -wore out his body. Constant fevers beset him, and in his letters to his -friends he began to predict that his days were drawing to an end, -whatever doctors might say. By the end of September he was delirious, -and on October 1 he died of malignant fever. There were naturally -whispers of poison, even from his confessor, but the details of his -illness given by the physicians in attendance leave no doubt that he -died a natural death, although his death certainly relieved Philip of an -unendurable<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a>{181}</span> position, and allowed Farnese, an infinitely superior man, -to take advantage of the strong Catholic national feeling in Belgium to -separate the nobles and peoples of the south from Orange and the -Dutchmen, and so eventually to reserve Catholic Flanders to the Spanish -connection for many years to come.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a>{182}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Philip’s ineffectual action against Elizabeth—The Desmond -rebellion—Philip’s conquest of Portugal—Recall of Alba and -Granvelle to Philip’s councils—Don Antonio, Prior of O -Crato—Death of Anne of Austria—Philip in Portugal—Flight of -Antonio—His reception in England and France—The Duke of -Alençon—Philip and Mary Stuart—James Stuart—Fresh proposals of -the Scottish Catholics to Philip—Philip and Granvelle’s views with -regard to England—Lennox and the Jesuits mismanage the -plot—Philip’s claim to the English crown—Expulsion of Mendoza -from England—The English exiles urge Philip to invade -England—Sixtus V.—Intrigues in Rome—The Babington plot.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">P<small>HILIP’S</small> advisers had for many years been urging him to adopt reprisals -against Elizabeth for her treatment of him. We have seen why, on account -both of policy and necessity, he had not done so by a direct attack. His -indirect attempts at retaliation had been quite ineffectual. He had -subsidised Mary Stuart, he had found money for the northern rebellion, -he had listened to proposals for killing the Queen of England at his -cost, he had countenanced Stukeley’s wild plans for the capture of -Ireland, and he had attempted to avenge the English depredations on his -commerce by stopping English trade and persecuting English traders for -heresy. But in every<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a>{183}</span> case the result had been disastrous for him. -Elizabeth’s aid to the Protestants in Holland was bolder and more -effectual than ever, English sailors mocked at his attempts to stop -trade by ruining his own ports, and the Englishmen punished by the -Inquisition were avenged by increased severity against the Catholic -party in England and Ireland. But still he was constantly assured that -the only way to disarm Elizabeth against him was to “set fire to her own -doors” by arousing rebellion in Ireland and aggression of the Catholic -party in Scotland.</p> - -<p>Dr. Sanders had induced the pope to interest himself in favour of James -Fitzmaurice, the brother of the Earl of Desmond, and had himself -obtained the title of the pope’s nuncio. They landed in Ireland with a -small Spanish and Italian force in June 1579, but Elizabeth, through -Walsingham’s spies, was well informed of the movement, and was quite -prepared to deal with it. Philip was willing that others should weaken -his enemy so long as no responsibility was incurred by him, and -Elizabeth was not further irritated against him. When, however, -Fitzmaurice and Sanders found themselves overmatched, and appeals were -made direct to Philip to aid them by sending an armed force to Ireland, -he demurred. Fitzmaurice was ready to promise anything for aid, and the -nuncio at Madrid did his best to inflame Philip’s religious zeal. But he -could not afford to come to open war with England, and, although he -consented to subscribe 25,000 ducats out of the revenues of the -archbishopric of Toledo if the pope would subscribe a similar amount, -and promised to find arms and ammunition, he provided that the fresh -expedition should<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a>{184}</span> sail from Spain under the papal flag and be organised -ostensibly by the nuncio. The commanders, moreover, were to be all -Italians, and the Spanish recruits were to be enlisted privately. The -semi-concealment was quite ineffectual in hoodwinking Elizabeth, and the -ill-starred little expedition was all slaughtered at Smerwick in Dingle -Bay (November 1580), as James Fitzmaurice’s force had been previously. -John of Desmond and the Italian commanders had assured Philip only a -month before the massacre, that they would require 8000 footmen and -large stores of arms before they could effect any useful end. But this -would have meant open war with England, and for this he was not -prepared. Once more he proved that his advisers were wrong, and that he -could only curb Elizabeth with overwhelming force, which he had neither -the means nor the desire to employ at the present juncture. He continued -to urge upon his new ambassador that she must be kept in a good humour -at all costs. It was not an easy task, for she was more defiant than -ever now. She knew Philip had his hands full, and the attempted invasion -of Ireland was made the most of for years by her, as an excuse for all -she did in Flanders and elsewhere to injure him. It was an unfortunate -move for Philip, as it afforded Elizabeth a good grievance against him, -and forced him into the weak position of having to justify his action by -throwing the responsibility upon the pope.</p> - -<p>Philip had at this time (1579) special reasons for dreading an open -rupture with England, for he had for some time past been planning a -stroke which would, if successful, enormously increase his power for -harm at<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a>{185}</span> sea, in relation to both France and England. In August 1578 -Sebastian of Portugal, the only son of Philip’s sister, Juana—as much a -victim of atavism as was his cousin, Don Carlos—perished in his mad -crusade against the Moors, and his successor on the throne was the aged, -childless cardinal, King Henry. He was recognised as being only a -stop-gap, and after him the claimants were numerous, mostly descended, -although in different degrees, from the king, Don Manoel. The Duchess of -Braganza was daughter of his son Duarte, Philip was son of the elder -daughter of Don Manoel, the Duke of Savoy was a son of the younger -daughter, Beatrix, whilst the children of Alexander Farnese were the -offspring of a younger sister of the Duchess of Braganza. The most -popular pretender, however, was Don Antonio, Prior of O Crato, an -illegitimate son of Luis, a younger son of Don Manoel.</p> - -<p>The fundamental laws of Lamego, now believed to be apocryphal, but then -accepted as genuine, excluded foreigners from the throne, but Philip -asserted that a Spanish king was not a foreigner in Portugal, and began -his intrigues for the succession immediately after Sebastian’s death. -The Perez party had managed to get the old Duke of Alba disgraced and -sent into arrest on an absurdly inadequate charge of conniving at his -son’s marriage against the king’s wish, and De Granvelle had remained in -honourable exile from Spain for many years. But when the great task of -winning Portugal had to be undertaken, Philip knew that glib, brilliant -Perez, with his biting tongue and ready pen, was not the instrument he -wanted; so the stern soldier and the crafty statesman were recalled to -their master’s councils.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a>{186}</span> It was a black day for Perez, although he -probably did not realise at the time how fatal it was to be. During the -short reign of the cardinal-king, money and intrigue were lavished on -all hands to corrupt and terrorise the Portuguese nobles to Philip’s -side; the aged king himself was finally worried into his grave by -pressure exerted upon him to approve of Philip’s claim, and when he -died, the council of regency left by him were by various means coerced -into accepting the King of Spain as their sovereign. But not so the -Portuguese people or the clergy; they clung, almost all of them, to the -Prior of O Crato, the popular native claimant, ambitious, ready, and -sanguine, for the Portuguese bitterly hated the Spaniards, and the true -native heiress, the Duchess of Braganza, was timid and unready; and -before Philip and Alba could arrive Antonio was acclaimed the national -sovereign. Around him all that was patriotic grouped itself, and for a -short time he ruled as king. Philip was moving on to Portugal with that -“leaden foot” of which he was so proud, and by the autumn of 1580 he had -reached Badajoz, on the frontier. Here he fell ill of the mysterious -disease we call influenza, which was afflicting Europe at the time. His -devoted fourth wife, Anne, who accompanied him, prayed that her life -might be taken for his. Her prayer was heard. She died (October 25) and -Philip lived, but the loss deepened his gloom, and in the two years that -he was away from Madrid his yellow beard turned nearly white, and he -came back an old and broken man. How his icy heart turned to his -children at the time may be seen by the letters he constantly wrote to -his elder girls during his absence, full of love and tenderness. -However<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a>{187}</span> weary and sad he might be, no courier was allowed to leave -without playful accounts of his adventures, and kindly little messages -to the three orphan children of his last wife. Soon two out of the three -followed their mother to the grave, and only three-year-old Philip was -left as his father’s heir.</p> - -<p>Relentlessly Alba swept down upon Lisbon, as years before he had pounced -upon the Netherlands, and crushed the life out of Portuguese patriotism. -There was no question of creed to stiffen men’s backs here, no William -of Orange to organise and lead them. The yielding Portuguese were made -of different stuff from the stubborn “beggars of the sea,” and Alba rode -roughshod over them with but little resistance. King Antonio was soon a -fugitive, hunted from town to town, holding out for a few weeks in one -fortress, only to be starved into another, proclaimed a bastard and a -rebel, with a great price upon his head; and yet he wandered for eight -months amongst the mountains, safe from betrayal by the peasants whose -native king he was. In the meanwhile Philip was solemnly accepted as -king by the Portuguese Cortes at Thomar (April 3, 1581) with all the -pomp of ancient ceremonial. He was in the deep mourning which he wore -for the rest of his life, and he tells his little girls in a letter at -the time how his heart turned away from the finery which accompanied -him. Then slowly he came to Lisbon to be crowned, whilst the defeated -Antonio fled to France and thence to England, to be a thorn in his side -for the rest of his life.</p> - -<p>The accession of power thus accruing to Philip was a great blow both to -England and France. Granvelle<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a>{188}</span>’s management of affairs had been so -masterly that all legal forms had been complied with in Portugal; the -regents and the Cortes had acknowledged Philip as king, and Elizabeth -and Catharine had no excuse for open interference, although what could -be done by private intrigue was effected. Catharine, indeed, had set up -a nebulous far-fetched claim of her own to the Portuguese crown, to -obtain some <i>locus standi</i> in the affair, but this did not prevent her -from opening her arms to the other claimant, Don Antonio, when he -arrived in France. He came to England in July 1581, and was made much of -by the queen. In vain did Mendoza, Philip’s ambassador, demand his -surrender as a rebel. Elizabeth said that she had not yet made up her -mind to help him, though he was no rebel, but King of Portugal, but she -had quite decided not to surrender him to be killed. He was too valuable -a card in her hand for her to let him go, and she made the most of him. -Elizabeth’s and Catharine’s first retort to Philip’s assumption of the -Portuguese sovereignty was a pretence of cordial friendship for each -other, and the resumption of active negotiations for Elizabeth’s -marriage with Alençon. Orange was determined to attract once more to his -side the Flemish Catholics, whom Parma’s diplomacy had estranged from -the rebel cause. He considered that the best way to do this was to -invest Alençon—a Catholic prince—with the sovereignty of the States. -Elizabeth would not allow the French as a nation to gain a footing in -Flanders, but her plan was to make Alençon dependent upon her in hopes -of a marriage, to disarm his brother by the same means, and to secure -that any French interference with Flanders must be of Huguenots, under -her<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a>{189}</span> control. It suited Catharine to play the game for the purpose of -reducing Philip to extremities in Flanders, and rendering him less able -to resist attack in Portugal, whilst giving him no excuse for an open -quarrel with the French nation. All the aid, therefore, given to Don -Antonio was in the name of Catharine herself, as a claimant to the -Portuguese crown, and both in this matter and in Flemish affairs Henry -III. himself affected to stand aloof in disapproval.</p> - -<p>It was an artful plan, but it was not to be expected that the Guises -would stand by inactive whilst they saw their king’s only brother and -heir being drawn further into the toils of the Huguenots and the -Protestant Queen of England, and they soon delivered their counter-blow. -As Catharine’s enmity to Philip became more pronounced, the Guises had -drawn closer to him as the champion of Catholicism, of which cause they -were the representatives in France. In February 1580, accordingly, the -Archbishop of Glasgow, the Scottish ambassador in Paris, told Philip’s -ambassador there that he and Guise had prevailed upon Mary Stuart to -place her interests and influence unreservedly in Philip’s hands, and to -send her son James to Spain, to have him brought up and married there, -as the King of Spain wished. This was very important, because Philip had -always been paralysed in his action with regard to Mary by the -consideration that her accession to the throne of England would make the -Guises—Frenchmen—paramount there. But if Mary and the Guises were -henceforward to be his humble servants, the whole position was changed. -Vargas, the ambassador, so understood it. “Such,” he says, “is the -present condition of England,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a>{190}</span> with signs of revolt everywhere, the -queen in alarm, the Catholic party numerous, Ireland disturbed, and -distrust aroused by your Majesty’s fleet, ... that if so much as a cat -moved, the whole fabric would crumble down in three days, beyond -repair.... If your Majesty had England and Scotland attached to you, -directly or indirectly, you might consider the States of Flanders -conquered, in which case you ... could lay down the law for the whole -world.” Guise’s detachment from French interests made all the -difference, and this marked a change of Philip’s policy towards England, -which, as will be shown, ultimately led him into the quagmire of the -Armada. Mary, unfortunately for herself, was always ready for a plot -against her enemy; and Beaton assured Vargas shortly afterwards that she -would not leave prison except as Queen of England. The Catholics were so -numerous, said Beaton, that if they rose, it would be easy, even without -assistance; but if the King of Spain helped, the result would be prompt -and undoubted. Almost simultaneously with this Morton fell, and the -Catholic party in Scotland gained the upper hand.</p> - -<p>James’s cousin, D’Aubigny, Lennox, was now paramount in Scotland, and -with his connivance the country had been flooded by Jesuit missionaries -from seminaries largely depending upon Philip’s bounty. The priests had -gone with the single-hearted desire to re-convert Scotland to the faith, -and innocent of political aims at first; but the Jesuit organisation, -which in its earlier years had met with much opposition from the Spanish -clergy, and especially the Inquisition, had now been assimilated with -Philip’s policy, and doubtless its leaders<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a>{191}</span> foresaw the political uses -to which the propaganda might be turned, as certainly did Mary Stuart -and Mendoza, Philip’s ambassador in London, who were prime movers in it. -Philip was willing enough to accept the tempting offer of Mary and -Guise, especially when it reached him soon after in a more direct way by -the despatch of Fernihurst by D’Aubigny to Madrid. The death of Vargas, -the Spanish ambassador in Paris, shelved the matter for a time, but in -April 1581 Mary Stuart reopened negotiations with the new ambassador, -Tassis. She assured him, for Philip’s information, that things were -never more favourably disposed for Scotland to be taken in hand, with a -view to dealing with England subsequently. She begged that a formal -alliance should be signed between Scotland and Spain, and that a Spanish -force should then be sent to Ireland, to be ready for the invasion of -Scotland when summoned. Her son, she said, was determined to return to -the Catholic faith, and she intended that he should be sent to Spain for -that purpose, and for his marriage to Philip’s satisfaction.</p> - -<p>Philip, however, wished to be quite sure that James was sincere in his -religious professions before helping him to the English succession. He -knew that the King of Scots, young as he was, had already established -his fame as a master of deceit. He, James, had told the Jesuit fathers -who were labouring in Scotland that “though for certain reasons it was -advisable for him to appear publicly in favour of the French, he in his -heart would rather be Spanish”; but he knew Father Persons and his -companions were sustained by Spanish money, and that his expressions -would eventually reach Philip. But, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a>{192}</span> his mother’s despair, he would -never pledge himself too firmly. In January 1582 Mary herself was -somewhat doubtful of her son’s religious sincerity. “The poor child,” -she said, “is so surrounded by heretics that she had only been able to -obtain the assurance that he would listen to the priests she sent him.” -For her own part, she was determined that in future she would bind -herself and her son exclusively to Philip, and to none other.</p> - -<p>James blew hot and cold, and the Catholic nobles began to recognise that -he was too slippery to be depended upon; so they came to a very -momentous conclusion. They sent Father Holt to London to convey a -message to a person to whom he was to be introduced by a disguised -priest. To Holt’s surprise and alarm, the person was Mendoza, the -Spanish ambassador, for he, like most of the missionaries, had up to -that time no idea that a political object underlay their propaganda. His -message was to the effect that if James remained obstinate, the Catholic -nobles had decided to depose him, and either convey him abroad or hold -him prisoner until Mary arrived in Scotland. They besought the guidance -of Philip in the matter, and begged that 2000 foreign troops might be -sent to them to carry out their design. The message was conveyed to Mary -in a softened form, in order not to arouse her maternal solicitude, and -Mendoza begged Philip to send the troops, “with whom the Scots might -encounter Elizabeth, and the whole of the English north country, where -the Catholics are in a majority, would be disturbed. The opportunity -would be taken by the Catholics in the other parts of the country to -rise<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a>{193}</span> when they knew they had on their side a more powerful prince than -the King of Scotland.”</p> - -<p>Philip was on the Portuguese frontier at the time, and De Granvelle was -the principal minister in Madrid. He warmly seconded Mendoza’s -recommendations that troops should be sent to the Scots Catholics. “The -affair is so important,” he says, “both for the sake of religion and to -bridle England, that no other can equal it, because by keeping the Queen -of England busy we shall be ensured against her helping Alençon or -daring to obstruct us in any other way.” The Scots nobles were anxious -that the foreign force should not be large enough to threaten their -liberties, and De Granvelle agreed with this. “This is not what his -Majesty wants, nor do I approve of it, but that we should loyally help -the King of Scots and his mother to maintain their rights, and by -promoting armed disturbance, keep the Queen of England and the French -busy at a comparatively small cost to ourselves, and so enable us to -settle our own affairs better.... It is very advantageous that the -matter should be taken in hand by the Duke of Guise, as it will ensure -us against French obstruction. Since we cannot hope to hold the island -for ourselves. Guise will not try to hand it over to the King of France -to the detriment of his own near kinswoman.” Thus far it is evident that -there was no thought in Philip’s councils of invading and absorbing -England in his own dominions.</p> - -<p>It will be noted that these new proposals of the Scots Catholics had not -been made through Tassis and Guise in Paris, as the previous approaches -had been, but through Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador in London,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a>{194}</span> who -had been very active in the matter of the religious propaganda, and who -had entirely gained Mary’s confidence. So long as the negotiations were -kept in their hands, all was conducted wisely and prudently, and -doubtless some such arrangement as that suggested would have resulted. -But the folly of Lennox and the political ineptitude of the Jesuit -missionaries frustrated the whole design. In March 1582 the former wrote -a foolish letter to Tassis, which he sent to Paris by Creighton, laying -bare the whole plan and giving his adhesion to it, but making all manner -of inflated demands. Creighton, he said, had promised him 15,000 foreign -troops, of which he was to have the command; and he asked for a vast sum -of money, and a personal guarantee against loss of fortune. Creighton -also sent to Guise and brought him into the business, and Jesuit -emissaries were appointed to go direct to Rome and Madrid to ask for -aid. Mary and Mendoza were furious, particularly the former, that she -should be endangered by her name being used as the head of the -conspiracy. Creighton had no authority whatever to promise 15,000 men, -nor would the Scottish nobles have accepted such a number, and the idea -that Lennox should command them was absurd. Philip took fright at the -large number of persons who were now privy to the affair, and gave -orders that nothing further was to be done. Guise, ambitious and -officious, as usual, also wanted to take a prominent share in the -direction of the enterprise. He began to make large and vague proposals -for a strong mixed force to be sent from Italy under the papal flag, -whilst he and his Frenchmen made a descent upon the coast of Sussex, his -evident object<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a>{195}</span> being to prevent a purely Spanish expedition being sent. -Granvelle and Philip very soon saw whither the affair was drifting, and -nipped it in the bud. They had only been induced to listen to it on the -assumption that the Guises where to work exclusively for Spanish -interests. The moment the contrary appeared, the proposal lost its -attractions for them. It is true that at this time Philip had no -intention of conquering England for himself, but Mary and James must owe -their crown to him alone, and be forced to restore the close alliance -between England and the House of Burgundy, or the change would be -useless to him. Too much French or Italian aid or Guisan influence -spoilt the business for his purpose. But there was still another reason. -He had a large number of English Catholic refugees living on pensions -from him in France, Flanders, and Spain; and they and Sir Francis -Englefield, his English secretary, ceaselessly represented to him their -national dislike and distrust of the French, their secular enemies, and -their jealousy of any plan that should make the Frenchified Scots -masters of England. Almost with one accord the English Catholics urged -this view upon Philip and the Spaniards. All England, they said, would -welcome a Catholic restoration if it came from their old friends, the -Spaniards, but the attempt would fail if it were made under the auspices -of their old enemies, the French. Philip’s policy thenceforward -gradually changed. With the Raid of Ruthven and the fall of Lennox he -saw that for the time the Protestants had conquered, and the plans of -the Scottish Catholics were at an end. Guise was to be flattered and -conciliated, but all Philip’s efforts in future were to confine his -attentions to France, and to alienate<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a>{196}</span> him from English and Scottish -affairs. He was told how dangerous it would be for him to leave France -with the Huguenots in possession, and Spanish support was lavishly -promised to him for his ambitious plans at home.</p> - -<p>Guise was flattered but dissatisfied, and sent emissaries to Scotland -and the pope to endeavour to keep alive the plan of landing foreign -troops in Scotland. James pretended to be strongly favourable, but -Philip purposely threw cold water on the plans whilst appearing to -entertain them, to prevent anything being done without his knowledge. In -May 1583 Guise had a new design. Philip and the pope were to find -100,000 crowns, and Guise would have Elizabeth murdered, whilst he -landed in England and raised the country. Father Allen and the English -exiles frowned upon such “chatter and buckler-play,” as they called it. -They would not have any Scotch control over England, they declared, but -would rather the affair were carried through by Spaniards.</p> - -<p>They had a plan of their own. A Spanish force was to be landed in -Yorkshire, accompanied by Westmoreland, Dacre, and other nobles, with -Allen as papal nuncio. Guise heard of this, and wished to co-operate by -landing 5000 men in the south of England at the same time. He sent word -of it to James, who professed to be favourable; he sent Charles Paget in -disguise to England to arrange a place for his landing; he despatched an -envoy to the pope to ask for money and to explain the whole plan. When -Philip learned all this he was naturally angry, and it is clear, from -the notes he has scrawled upon the papers sent to him, that he was -determined that in future Guise should have nothing more to do with his -English and Scottish policy. What<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a>{197}</span> opened Philip’s eyes more than -anything else was Guise’s pledge to the English Catholics that his one -object was to restore religion in England and place Mary Stuart on the -throne; “and when this is effected, the foreigners will immediately -retire. If any one attempts to frustrate this intention, Guise promises -that he and his forces will join the English to compel the foreigners to -withdraw.” Well might Philip scatter notes of exclamation around this -passage, for thenceforward he knew that in English affairs Guise was his -rival, and that Allen and the English Catholics were wise in insisting -that England must be taken in hand directly by Spain, and not through -Scotland and the Guises. The Marquis of Santa Cruz, Philip’s great -admiral, had just scattered the fleet that Catharine de Medici had aided -Don Antonio to fit out to hold the Azores; and in the flush of victory -he wrote, in August 1583, begging his master to let him conquer England -in the name of God and Spain. Philip was not quite ready for this yet, -but the idea was germinating, for the English exiles were for ever -pointing out that this was the only course, and that his own descent -from Edward III. Plantagenet gave him a good claim to the crown after -Mary Stuart, her son being excluded by his heresy.</p> - -<p>At last, in 1583, Philip instructed his ambassador in Paris to hint -discreetly at his claims to the English crown. If he was to keep in -close alliance with England, which was necessary for him, it is -difficult to see what other course he could have taken. James was out of -the question now as a successor to his mother, and Elizabeth’s action in -allowing her suitor Alençon to cross over from England to Flanders, and -under her<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a>{198}</span> auspices receive the investiture of the sovereignty of -Philip’s patrimonial domain, proved finally that reconciliation with her -personally was impossible. Mendoza, Philip’s ambassador in England, had -been implicated in Throgmorton’s plot, and was ignominiously expelled -from the country. Thenceforward for twenty years all direct diplomatic -relations between the two countries ceased, and a state of war -practically existed. Slowly the idea of the invasion of England grew -under the influence of the English exiles, but the Scottish Catholics, -the Guises, and the papacy were unwearied in their attempts to alter the -plan. James himself, seeing how matters were drifting, again feigned a -desire to become a Catholic, and sent fervent protestations to Philip -and the pope, whilst Guise continued to urge his plan for a landing in -Scotland and an invasion of England over the Border under James. The -English exiles declared that, if such a course were taken the English -Catholics themselves would resist the invasion, as they were determined -the Scots should not rule their country. At last Philip had seriously to -warn the pope that, if the English affair was to be effected, it must be -done by Spain in a very powerful way, and with large money aid from the -pope, Guise being told from Rome that he must not leave France, where he -might serve the Catholic cause better than elsewhere. To aid in this -Philip took care to promote religious disturbance in France, which would -paralyse Henry III. and the Huguenots from helping Elizabeth, and Guise -from promoting the interests of his kinsman James.</p> - -<p>Sixtus V. was elected pope as the result of a secret intrigue, after the -nominees of Philip and the French<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a>{199}</span> had both been set aside. He was -therefore not a humble instrument of the Spanish policy, and was a wise, -frugal, and moderate pontiff, ambitious to signalise his reign by some -great religious service, but not desirous of serving Philip’s political -ends. The College of Cardinals was divided into three parties: those who -were strongly in favour of the French view, which aimed at an -arrangement with Elizabeth and James, and desired to exclude Spanish -influence from England; those who were for Philip through thick and -thin; and the “politicals,” who went with the stronger party.</p> - -<p>Olivares, the ambassador, and the Spanish cardinals were bold and -untiring in forwarding Philip’s wishes; but the pope was to be carefully -kept in the dark with regard to his intention to claim the English crown -for himself. The cause of religion was invoked as being his only motive, -inconvenient points were left indefinite, with the certainty that -Caraffa, the secretary of state, would take a pro-Spanish view when the -time came. It was to be hinted to the pope that Philip could not -undertake the invasion to benefit the heretic James, and that the cause -of religion demanded that a sovereign whose orthodoxy was undoubted -should be substituted for him as Mary’s successor; but, if the pope -asked questions as to who was indicated, only vague answers were to be -given to him. At last, partly by cajolery, partly by threats, Olivares -contrived to obtain a written pledge that the pope would give the -investment of the English realm to the person to be nominated by Philip, -and would subscribe 1,000,000 gold crowns to the enterprise, the first -instalment of which was only to be paid after the landing on English -soil. Sixtus was only brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a>{200}</span> to this after infinite haggling and -misgiving, for Olivares represents him in most insulting and -undiplomatic language to Philip, as a silly, miserly, petulant, -garrulous old man, which probably meant that the pontiff did not meekly -accept the orders of the arrogant minister, at all events without some -slight hesitation. Philip was told that the pope did not dream that the -crown of England would be claimed by him, but that when he learned the -truth he would certainly oppose it. To this the invariable reply was -that he must be shown how necessary it was for a good Catholic to be -chosen to succeed Mary, and, if he mentioned the name of any particular -person, he was to be reminded that he had agreed to abide by Philip’s -nomination.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile Allen and the English pensioners continued to propagate -the idea of Philip’s own right by birth to succeed Mary owing to the -heresy of James, and this view was forced upon Mary herself by Mendoza -and her confidants in Paris, who were all in Philip’s pay. At length she -was convinced, and in June 1586 she wrote to Mendoza in Paris, giving -the important news that by her will she had disinherited her son in -favour of the King of Spain.</p> - -<p>Just previous to this, Ballard had called upon Mendoza in Paris, and -said he had been sent by certain Catholic gentlemen in England to say -that they had arranged to kill Elizabeth, either by poison or steel, and -they begged for Philip’s countenance and reward after the deed was done. -This was the first word of the Babington plot, and after the reception -of Mary’s important letter by Mendoza, Gifford arrived in Paris, and -gave full particulars of the widespread conspiracy for Philip<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a>{201}</span>’s -information. By this time too many people were concerned in the affair -to please Philip’s stealthy methods. Mendoza’s zeal had already outrun -his discretion; he had written a letter to the conspirators hotly -approving the design as one “worthy of the ancient valour of -Englishmen,” and promising them ample support from the Netherlands when -the deed was done. He proposed, further, that they should kill Don -Antonio and his adherents, Cecil, Walsingham, Hunsdon, Knollys, and -Beal. Philip was not squeamish, but even he disapproved of the proposal -to murder Cecil, who, he said, was “very old and had done no harm.” His -approval of the rest of the plan is very characteristic of him. “The -affair is so much in God’s service that it certainly deserves to be -supported, and we must hope that our Lord will prosper it, unless our -sins be an impediment thereto.” He for his part will do all that is -asked of him “as soon as the principal execution is effected. Above all, -<i>that</i> should be done swiftly.” But he blamed Mendoza for his incautious -letters, and expressed fears that they might be betrayed. He himself was -so careful of secrecy that he even kept the matter from Farnese. He sent -two letters for him to Mendoza, the first simply instructing him to -prepare the forces, and the other only to be delivered after the queen’s -murder, giving him final instructions as to their destination. This was -in September 1586, and before Mendoza received the letters Walsingham’s -heavy hand had fallen on the conspirators. It was all confessed, the -letters had been intercepted, the great conspiracy was unmasked, and -Mary Stuart’s doom was sealed, whilst Mendoza’s proved complicity still -further embittered Elizabeth against Philip.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a>{202}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>The Infanta to be Queen of England—Approaches of the Scottish -Catholic lords to Philip—Execution of Mary Stuart—Intrigues for -the English succession—Drake’s expedition to Cadiz—The peace -negotiations with Farnese—Preparations for the Armada—Sailing of -the Armada from Lisbon—Its return to Vigo—Medina Sidonia advises -its abandonment—Its strength—Engagements with the English—Panic -at Calais—Final defeat—Causes of the disaster—Philip’s reception -of the news.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">T<small>HE</small> principle of a direct Spanish invasion of England had now been -adopted by Philip as the only means of getting rid of Elizabeth, and -again uniting the country to him in a close alliance. He clearly foresaw -that the absorption of Great Britain into his own dominions would be -resisted to the last by France, the pope, and most of the Italian -princes, as well as by Protestants everywhere, and that the opposition -would be too strong for him to overcome. He therefore decided to -nominate as sovereign his favourite elder daughter, Isabel Clara -Eugenia, whose mother, it will be recollected, was a French princess, -and a daughter of Catharine de Medici. He probably thought by this -nomination to minimise the opposition of France, and that the pope would -be conciliated.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a>{203}</span></p> - -<p>The Scottish Catholics and Guise, however, did not relish the changed -position. They were being thrust further and further into the -background, and they accordingly made a determined attempt once again to -place themselves in the forefront. Guise saw that the influence of the -Scottish-French party in the Vatican and near Philip was powerless to -overcome that of the Jesuits, Allen and the English exiles, supplemented -by Philip’s own interests, and he therefore intrigued for the pressure -to be brought to bear from Scotland itself upon Philip. He arranged for -Huntly, Morton, and Claude Hamilton to send an emissary, Robert Bruce, -under his (Guise’s) auspices to Philip, offering him, if they where -supported, to restore the Catholic religion in Scotland, to compel James -to become a Catholic, and to release Mary, and, above all, “to deliver -into his Majesty’s hands at once, or when his Majesty thinks fit, one or -two good ports in Scotland near the English border to be used against -the Queen of England.” They asked for 6000 foreign troops paid for a -year and 150,000 crowns to equip their own clansmen.</p> - -<p>There had been great difference of opinion in Philip’s councils as to -the advisability of invading England through Scotland or direct. It was -conceded that the former would be more convenient, but that for the -reasons already stated it would be unpopular with the English Catholics. -But Santa Cruz and all of Philip’s most experienced advisers had -continued to urge upon him the need of having some ports of refuge in -the Channel or the North Sea; and the offer of the Scottish nobles -seemed to provide this, as well as furnishing a diversion in the north, -which would greatly harass<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a>{204}</span> Elizabeth. Bruce arrived in Madrid in -September 1586, and met with kindly but vague encouragement from Philip, -who suggested that Bruce should go to Rome and ask the pope for the -money, which he knew to be impracticable. In fact, the plans of the -Armada were now matured and in full preparation, and although the offer -of the Scottish lords was tempting, Philip was determined that Guise -should have no share in his enterprise. Farnese and Mendoza were -requested to report upon the proposal, with a view of obtaining, if -possible, the advantages offered by the Scots without Guise’s -interference. Mendoza was strongly favourable; Farnese was cool and -doubtful. He resented Philip’s half confidence in him, and perhaps also -the complete ignoring of his children’s claim to the English crown, -which was at least as good as Philip’s. He declined to give an opinion -until he knew what were Philip’s real intentions in the invasion.</p> - -<p>Mendoza was strongly in favour of immediately closing with the Scottish -offer. He pointed out that to attack England by sea was to strike her in -her strongest place, whilst a disaster to the Armada, in which all the -national resources had been pledged, would bring irretrievable ruin. But -Philip and Farnese were slow, and wanted all sorts of guarantees and -assurances, which kept Bruce in Flanders and France for months, whilst -his principals, sick of vague half-promises, lost heart, and talked of -going over to the Protestant side, on a pledge that their religion -should be tolerated. Then Bruce was sent back with 10,000 crowns to -freight a number of small boats at Leith and send them to Dunkirk for -Parma’s troops; and the 150,000 crowns demanded by<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a>{205}</span> the Scottish lords -were promised when they rose. This was kept from Guise, but he knew all -about it from his spies in Scotland, and was intensely wroth. Catharine -de Medici also learnt of the matter, and thought it a good opportunity -of ridding herself of Guise and checkmating Philip at the same time. She -therefore offered Guise a large subsidy if he would go and help his -kinsman James to the crown. He thought wiser, however, to divulge the -Spanish plot to James himself. Elizabeth also informed James, so that -when Bruce arrived in Scotland the artful young king was forewarned, and -was only vaguely courteous in his reception of the hints that the -Spaniard would help him to avenge his mother. He was indeed now -surrounded by Protestant ministers, and fully understood that he had -more to hope for from Elizabeth than from Philip, a view indeed which -Elizabeth and her party lost no opportunity of impressing upon him.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile the execution of Mary Stuart had somewhat altered -Philip’s position in relation to England. It became now necessary that -the question of his title to the crown should be settled at once, and -the pope was cautiously approached with the suggestion that he should -give the investiture to the Infanta Isabel. Allen was employed to assure -his Holiness of the desire of the English Catholics that she should be -their sovereign, and to ply him with genealogical essays and pedigrees -proving her right. Cardinal Deza too, the savage bigot who had so -fiercely harried the Moriscos in Andalucia, was prompted to inflame the -pope’s zeal by showing him that only under Philip’s auspices could -Catholicism be firmly established in England. In the meanwhile the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a>{206}</span> -Scottish party, led by Chisholm, Bishop of Dunblane, with the English -Pagets and others, were full of plans for converting James. One -persuasive churchman after another was sent to tackle him, but the wily -Stuart was not to be caught, and it came to nothing. Philip expressed -and showed the deepest grief for the death of Mary Stuart, and fulfilled -her dying wishes most scrupulously, at great cost to himself. There is -no reason to doubt the sincerity of his sorrow, especially as her death -added considerably to the immediate difficulties he had to overcome. -Whilst the intrigues continued in Rome—on Philip’s side to obtain -further aid from the pope, to secure the appointment of Allen as -cardinal, and the recognition of the Infanta as Queen of England, and on -the other side to secure the pontiff’s support of the Franco-Scottish -plans for James Stuart’s conversion, or even an arrangement with -Elizabeth—through all the year 1587 the ports and arsenals of Spain and -Portugal were busy with the preparations for the great expedition. Don -Antonio was in England now, clamouring for armed aid against his enemy, -his every action watched by Philip’s spies; and from them news reached -Spain that a considerable force was being fitted out under Drake in -England in Antonio’s interests again to attack the Azores, or to plunder -the treasure ships from the Indies. But suddenly the dreaded Drake with -his fleet appeared off Cadiz on April 18.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Elizabeth had<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a>{207}</span> only with -great unwillingness allowed him to sail for Spain, and had warned him -not to do too much harm, but to watch what was being done. As usual, as -soon as he was out of sight of England he took his own course, placed -his vice-admiral, Borough, under arrest for reminding him not to exceed -the queen’s orders, and entered Cadiz harbour, to the dismay of the -Spaniards. He plundered, burned, and sunk all the ships in the port, and -destroyed all the stores he could lay hands upon, and then quietly -sailed out again unmolested. He did damage to the extent of a million -ducats, and if he had disobeyed the queen’s orders still further, he -might have stopped the Armada for good, by burning the ships in Lisbon, -for we now know from Santa Cruz’s own confession that there were no men -or guns on board to protect them. But he no doubt thought he had done -enough, for he knew that his mistress was now engaged in peace -negotiations with Farnese on account of Philip.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> The English -commissioners, the traitor Crofts, controller of the household, amongst -them, after endless bickering and delay, arranged a place of meeting -agreeable to both parties, and every effort to drag matters out was made -by Farnese, in order to give Philip more time for preparations, whilst -the English were to be lulled by false hopes of peace. How far Elizabeth -herself was deceived in these negotiations is uncertain, but the -commissioners,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a>{208}</span> and the experienced Dr. Dale with them, were not very -long before they came to the conclusion that they were insincere. The -most extraordinary element in the case is that Farnese was at first -ignorant of Philip’s real intention, and wrote strongly urging the king -to let him make peace in earnest and abandon his plans for the invasion -of England. From first to last, indeed, Farnese had no heart or belief -in the enterprise. He foresaw all the difficulties which ultimately -befell it and more, and, although he vehemently justified himself for -his share in the catastrophe, his contemporaries were firm in the belief -that he purposely failed to do his best. It is certain, from frequent -complaints in his letters, that he considered himself aggrieved, and -resented the cool half-confidence with which his uncle treated him. “How -can I,” he says, “give sound advice or make fitting arrangements unless -I am informed of the real objects in view?”</p> - -<p>In the early spring of 1586 Santa Cruz had furnished a complete estimate -of all that would be required for the Armada—a perfect monument of -knowledge and foresight. There were to be 150 great ships, 320 smaller -vessels of from 50 to 80 tons each, 40 galleys and 6 galleasses, 556 in -all, besides 240 flat boats and pinnaces. There were to be 30,000 seamen -and 63,890 soldiers, with 1600 horses; and the extra expenditure was -calculated at 3,800,000 ducats. But to concentrate so powerful a force -as this in Spain itself was too great a task for Philip’s haste, and he -took the first fatal step by arranging that one-half was to be raised by -Farnese in Flanders, for now Philip, like most slow men when they have -once made up their minds, was in a desperate hurry. For thirty<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a>{209}</span> years he -had driven his most faithful servants to despair by his stolid -impassibility to English insult and aggression. He had seen his colonies -sacked, his commerce destroyed by English privateers; he had been robbed -of treasure beyond calculation, and suffered every imaginable insult -from a queen whom he could have crushed a dozen times over in the -earlier years of her reign. Leicester, who had fawned upon him, and had -sworn eternal fealty to him, had commanded an army against him in his -own territory; and the English privy councillors, who for years had -battened on his bribes, had connived at the placing on the brows of a -foreigner one of his own ancestral crowns. He had stood all this without -revolt, in the face of his councillors, but, when at last he had lifted -his ponderous “leaden foot,” he must needs do things in haste. Santa -Cruz, old sailor as he was, could ill brook divided command with Parma, -knowing that he must in the end take second place, and he became -discontented and jealous at the alterations of his plans. He urged—as -did every one else—that some safe ports of refuge must first be secured -in the North Sea; but Philip was in a hurry, and trusted to happy -chance. In September 1587 Santa Cruz received his instructions. He was -to go direct to Margate and protect the passage of Parma’s troops -across, and he was on no account to allow himself to be diverted from -this course until he had joined hands with Parma. In vain the old sailor -represented the danger of adopting this plan until they could be sure of -harbours of refuge in case of need. The king still hoped to beguile the -English with thoughts of peace, and answered with harsh hauteur Santa -Cruz’s assurance that hurry meant failure.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a>{210}</span> The old hero, who would have -stood unmoved before an army, incontinently went home and died of a -broken heart (February 1588). Philip so rarely said a hasty word, that -when he did so, the effect was terrible.</p> - -<p>The commanders and nobles on the Armada were jealous and quarrelsome, -already chafing at the delay and appalling mismanagement which resulted -from Philip’s insistence that all details must go through him. The only -man whose rank and power would ensure respect from all of them was the -most splendid noble in Spain, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, who was under -orders to take the Andalucian squadron from Cadiz to Lisbon; and him -Philip appointed to the command. He protested plaintively, and truly, -that he was entirely unfit for the task. He had no experience or -knowledge of the sea, he was always sea-sick, and had no mental capacity -which fitted him to a great command. Philip probably knew this as well -as the duke, or even the duchess, who was very emphatic on the subject; -but it suited him, he thought, to have such a man, because he would be -certain to obey the king’s orders strictly, and Philip was anxious, as -usual, to control the whole expedition with unerring precision from his -cell in the Escorial, hundreds of miles away. When the duke arrived in -Lisbon he found everything in utter confusion. Arms, ammunition, stores, -and men were short. Orders given had not been fulfilled, and many weeks -passed before Medina Sidonia could report that all was ready, -notwithstanding the king’s urgent requests that not a day should be -lost. The most trifling matters were considered and decided by the king -himself in Madrid. Nothing could be done without him. The stronger sorts -of wine must<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a>{211}</span> be mixed with a certain quantity of water; the men on the -fleet must be confessed and take the communion before sailing, and must -not use bad language; no private berths or bunks must be erected on the -ships, and scores of similar orders were sent from Madrid solemnly -signed by the king, whilst the duke was praying for men, money, and -stores, and the victuallers, with the connivance of the pursers, were -shipping rotten food, fraudulent both in quantity and quality. At length -in April the preparations had sufficiently advanced for Philip to send -his final instructions to the duke. He is reminded that he is going on a -holy errand in God’s service, and divine aid may therefore be counted -upon. He is to go direct to Margate and then join hands with the Duke of -Parma and protect his passage across, and is not to be diverted from -this even if he hears that Drake has come to Spain. If possible, he was -to send to Parma the promised contingent of 6000 soldiers; and, if by -any mishap he could not join hands with him, he was to capture the Isle -of Wight, and then communicate with Parma, who, in union with him, would -settle the next step. With this instruction a very important closed -despatch was sent, to be delivered to Parma only after he had landed in -England.</p> - -<p>This despatch is of the greatest possible interest as fixing definitely -what where Philip’s ultimate aims in the invasion, and the irreducible -minimum with which he would have been satisfied. If Parma found that -conquest was not easy, and considered it advisable to make peace, there -were three points upon which he was to base his negotiations. First, -that free exercise of the Catholic religion should be allowed; secondly, -that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a>{212}</span> fortresses occupied by the English in the Netherlands should -be restored to him; and, thirdly, that the damage done to Spain and -Spanish subjects should be made good. The third condition was to be used -mainly as a lever to obtain the other two; but the first condition, -namely, religious toleration, was to be the main object, and with this, -as a last resource, Philip would have been contented.</p> - -<p>On April 25 the sacred standard was delivered to Medina Sidonia with -great pomp in Lisbon. Rogations, prayers, fastings, and propitiatory -masses were performed ceaselessly, not only on board the Armada, but all -over Spain. In the most solemn manner the soldiers and sailors were -inflamed with the idea that they were God’s own chosen warriors, going -under His divine protection to restore the faith to millions of English -people, who were yearning for their coming—to millions held in -subjection by a wicked queen and a few heretics. The weather was -bad—like December, said the duke,—and it was May 30 before the great -fleet could be got out of the Tagus. Head winds and heavy weather kept -them off the coast—some of the ships drifting as far down as Cape St. -Vincent—for a fortnight. By that time the victuals on board were going -bad and running short. Many had to be thrown overboard, and sickness -began to prevail, mainly in consequence of overcrowding and putrid food -and water. By June 14, when the duke was off Finisterre, it became -evident that if the expedition was to continue, fresh provisions would -have to be obtained, and despatch boats were sent to the ports begging -that supplies might be sent to them. Before they could<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a>{213}</span> reach the -fleet—June 19—a heavy gale came on, and the duke’s flagship, with -forty other vessels, ran for refuge into Corunna. During the night it -blew a hurricane, and the rest of the ships, scattered as they were and -unable to bear up to windward, were driven far apart and in great peril. -Some of them ran into various Biscay and Galician ports, others were -driven as far north as the Scilly Isles and the English coast, many were -badly damaged, and for days the fate of the majority of them was -uncertain. The duke lost what little heart he had for the expedition, -and seriously advised the king to abandon it. It had been proved now -that the water was putrid and insufficient, the food rotten, except the -rice, and that fraud of the most shameful description had been practised -by the victuallers. The officers, said the duke, did not know their -duty; the whole force was disorganised and too weak to undertake the -task in hand. This was a counsel of despair, and Philip’s only answer -was that not a moment was to be lost in revictualling and refitting the -fleet and proceeding on the voyage. The rough old sea-dogs on the -fleet—Bertondona, Recalde, and Oquendo—were scornful at the timid fine -gentlemen who surrounded them and trembled at the perils of the sea. -They had been breasting the gales of the North Atlantic since they were -boys, and could not understand the doubts and fears which assailed the -crowds of silken-clad landsmen who swarmed on board and got in the way -of the sailormen. The king had appointed a council of officers to advise -the duke. Don Pedro de Valdes was for sailing at once, before even -waiting for the scattered ships to come in. This annoyed the duke,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a>{214}</span> who -was all for delay, and Don Pedro himself ascribed to this feeling his -subsequent abandonment and capture by the English. The king continued to -urge Medina Sidonia to activity, sometimes almost chidingly, and at -last, tired of the obviously wilful delay, he gave peremptory orders -that the Armada was to sail at once. The men were once more confessed -and absolved, and finally on July 22 (N.S.), 1588, the great fleet left -Corunna harbour, not without grave misgivings of the timid duke, which -were openly scoffed at by the sailors. The whole fleet consisted of 131 -sail, with 7050 sailors, 17,000 soldiers, and 1300 officers, -gentlemen-adventurers, priests, and servants. The four galleys soon -found themselves unable to live through the Biscay seas and abandoned -the Armada, taking refuge in various French and Spanish ports. The rest -of the fleet first sighted the Lizard at four o’clock in the afternoon -of Friday, July 30 (N.S.). The moment land was discovered the blessed -flag with the crucifix, the Virgin, and the Magdalen was hoisted, and -signals fired that every man on board the fleet should join in prayer. -Then a council was called, and for the first time the admirals were -informed of the king’s orders. They were dismayed to find that they were -to sail up the Channel to the Straits of Dover, leaving Plymouth, and -perhaps the English fleet, behind them untouched. Recalde warned the -duke against ruining the king’s cause by a too slavish obedience to his -orders, and almost violently urged him to attack and take Plymouth -before going further. The duke replied that “the king had ordered him -strictly to join hands with Parma before anything else, and he had no -discretion in the matter;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a>{215}</span> nor was he so vain as to suppose that the -king would allow him to violate his commands on this, his first -expedition.” The commanders, however, sufficiently worked on the duke’s -fears to prevail upon him to write to the king that night, saying that -as he had not received any reply from Parma to all his despatches, he -purposed to remain off the Isle of Wight until he heard whether the -Flemish forces were quite ready, because, as they had no ports of refuge -in the Channel, he could not wait for Parma off the shoally Flemish -coast.</p> - -<p>The first panic in England had been succeeded by feverish activity; all -that could inflame patriotic zeal was done. The Spaniards, it was said, -were bringing cargoes of scourges and instruments of torture, all adults -were to be put to death, and 7000 wet-nurses were coming in the Armada -to suckle the orphan infants. Such nonsense as this was firmly believed, -and the echoes of it have not even yet entirely died out. Corporations -and individuals vied with each other in providing means for defence; but -withal the land forces, assembled in two <i>corps d’armée</i>, one on each -side of the Thames, were but hasty levies, half drilled and armed, and -commanded by the incompetent Leicester. The queen was personally -popular, but if Parma had landed and she had fallen, it is probable that -there would have been no great resistance on the part of the people at -large to the adoption of the Catholic religion. They had changed too -often to care very much about it, if they were allowed to go about their -business without molestation and had a firm, peaceful government. Parma -had from the first insisted that his force was purely for land warfare, -and his boats were merely flat-bottom barges<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a>{216}</span> for the transport of his -men. He had been kept terribly short of money, and had borrowed the last -ducat he could get at most usurious interest. His army, moreover, was -small for the work it had to do, and he continued to insist that he must -have the 6000 Spanish soldiers from the Armada which had been promised -him. The English fleets consisted of 197 sail in all, with, at most, -18,000 men on board. Most of these ships—as also was the case with the -Spaniards—were small cargo boats, lightly armed, and quite unfit for -severe fighting. The largest Spanish ship, the <i>Regazona</i>, was 1249 tons -burden, and the largest English ship, the <i>Triumph</i>, 1100 tons, but, -generally speaking, the Spanish fighting ships were much larger, as they -certainly were of much higher build than the English, the tactics of the -latter always being to fire low into the hulls of their opponents and -avoid grappling and boarding, which they could do, as their lines were -finer and the vessels much more handy.</p> - -<p>The Armada sailed up Channel in a curved line seven miles in extent, -with a light west wind, and at dawn on Sunday the English fleet was -sighted off Plymouth to the number of about fifty sail. The latter soon -gained the wind, and began firing into the Spanish rear-squadron. Then -began the memorable series of skirmishes which decided the fate of -Europe for all time to come. The Spanish ships were out-manœuvred -from the first. They found that the English vessels could sail round -them easily, their superior speed and sailing qualities enabling them to -harass their enemies without coming to close quarters. It was purely -artillery fighting, and in this the English were immensely superior. The -Spaniards shouted defiance and taunts that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a>{217}</span> English were afraid of -them and dared not approach. Drake and Howard knew where their strength -lay; kept the wind and followed the Armada, always harassing the rear -and flanks. Recalde’s flagship of the rear-squadron was for a time -exposed to the united fire of seven English galleons and became almost a -wreck. This first fight on Sunday demoralised the Spaniards. They felt -they were fighting a defensive battle and were running away from the -enemy. The contempt for their commander, and the knowledge of their -helplessness, crept over them like a paralysis. When late in the -afternoon the duke gave orders for the squadrons to be re-formed and -proceed on their way, Recalde’s damaged ship was found to be unable to -keep up with them. Don Pedro de Valdes went to her assistance, and in -doing so fouled one of his own ships, breaking his bowsprit and -foremast. His ship too became unmanageable. She had 500 men on board and -a large amount of treasure. An attempt was made to take her in tow, but -unsuccessfully. Night was coming on, and the duke himself wanted to get -away from the English, who hung upon his rear only a couple of miles -away. He would fight no more that night if he could help it, and he -abandoned two of the finest ships of his fleet without striking a blow. -Then Oquendo’s great ship, <i>Our Lady of the Rose</i>, was accidentally -blown up, and soon became a blazing wreck. The duke ordered the men and -treasure to be taken out of her and the ship sunk. But the heart of the -crews had gone, and such was the panic, that the unwounded survivors -scrambled out of the ship as best they might, leaving the vessel and -their scorched and wounded comrades to their fate. And so from day<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a>{218}</span> to -day the spirits of the men fell as they realised their powerlessness, -and the Armada crept up the Channel with the English fleet always -hanging on their rear and to windward of them. Every day the duke sent -beseeching letters to Parma to come out and help him. Parma was -indignant. Help him! How could he help him with flat-bottom barges that -would not stand a freshet, much less a gale? Besides, said he, the -arrangement was that you were to help me, not I help you. Justin of -Nassau, with the Dutch fleet, moreover, was watching as a cat watches a -mouse, and Parma could not stir. The officers sent by the duke declared -that Parma was not ready to come out, even if the Armada had fulfilled -its task. He gave them the lie, and with one of them nearly came to -blows. What if he had no water, or guns, or food on his boats? They were -only barges to carry men across, and were not meant either for fighting -or for a voyage of more than a few hours. Besides, how could he come out -with the wind dead in his teeth and Nassau and Seymour watching him? And -so on Sunday, August 7 (N.S.), just one week after the Lizard was -sighted, the great Spanish fleet was huddled, all demoralised and -confused, in Calais roads, at anchor, whilst the duke in vain sent -hourly petitions to Parma to come out and reinforce him. The crews were -ripe for panic now, and when at midnight eight fireships came flaring -down upon them with the wind from the English fleet, the duke seems to -have lost his head. He did not tow the fireships out of reach, in -accordance with his own previous instructions, but gave orders for his -cables to be cut. All the great ships had two anchors each out, and -these were left at the bottom<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a>{219}</span> of the sea, whilst the invincible Armada -crowded and hurtled away. The duke’s intention had been to come back in -the morning, pick up his anchors, and resume his position until Parma -could come out. But if Parma was shut up before, when only Lord Henry -Seymour and Justin of Nassau were watching him, much less could he stir -now that the lord admiral and Drake had joined Seymour.</p> - -<p>The duke brought up in a dangerous position near Gravelines, and when -the morning of Monday dawned he found his fleet scattered and -demoralised, with a stiff west wind blowing and most of his ships -drifted far to leeward. He had only forty ships with him now—one of his -great galleasses, the <i>San Lorenzo</i>, had been wrecked at the mouth of -Calais harbour in the confusion of the night—to fight the united -English fleets. The engagement was terrible, lasting from nine o’clock -in the morning till six o’clock at night, the English tactics continuing -to be the same, keeping up a tremendous artillery fire on particular -ships until they were utterly crippled. The Spaniards fought -desperately, but they could rarely come to close quarters, and their -gunnery was greatly inferior to the English. The result, consequently, -was never in doubt. The duke’s ship was in the hottest of the fight, and -her decks were like shambles, for she had been hit by 107 shot. At the -end of the dreadful day she and her consorts were utterly beaten and -riddled; two of the finest galleons, completely unseaworthy, drifted on -to the Flemish coast and were captured, and at dawn on Tuesday what was -left of the Armada was dragging heavily in a strong westerly gale, with -sandbanks on the lee. All spirit and discipline<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a>{220}</span> were lost now. The one -idea was to get away from these “devilish people,” who would only fight -with big guns and would not come to close quarters. The duke himself was -for surrender, but Oquendo swore he would throw overboard the first man -who attempted such a thing. He brought his ship alongside the duke’s and -yelled sailor curses upon the landlubber that wanted to run away. “Go -back to your tunny ponds, you chicken-hearted craven,” he cried again -and again; and so the poor duke, in complete collapse, shut himself in -his cabin and was seen no more till he arrived in Spain. At noon a -providential—the Spaniards called it miraculous—wind came from the -south-west, and they were able to weather the dreaded shoals. Oquendo -and the old sailors were now for turning about and fighting again. But -the duke had had enough fighting for the rest of his life, and would -have no more. Besides, there was no ammunition on most of the ships. So -the fatal order was given to run up the North Sea with the wind to the -north of the Orkneys, make a long leg to the west, far out into the -Atlantic, and thence set a course for home. Off the Scottish border the -English fleet left them to their fate. Assailed by tempests almost -unexampled, rotting with pestilence, the water quite putrid now and the -food worse, they struggled to the north and west. Many fell off to -leeward and were seen no more; many sank riddled like sieves in the wild -Atlantic gales; seventeen could not beat far enough to the west and were -dashed to pieces on the frowning coasts of Ulster and Connaught, where -the men who escaped drowning were slaughtered—several thousands of -them—by the English garrisons and the wild Irish kerns.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a>{221}</span> Only -sixty-five ships ever got back to Spain, and of the 24,000 men who -sailed, full of hope that they were going on a sacred crusade to certain -victory, only 10,000 poor, starved, stricken creatures crept back to -Santander.</p> - -<p>A wail of grief went up through Spain. The little-hearted duke abandoned -his ships and men as soon as he sighted Spanish land, and went to his -home in the south in shameful, selfish luxury, with the curses and -insults of a whole populace ringing in his ears. Some said it was -Parma’s jealousy that caused the disaster, others that it was the duke’s -cowardice. Be it as it may, the old sailors, Oquendo and Recalde, who -had borne themselves like the heroes that they were, died of grief and -shame as soon as they brought their battered hulls to port.</p> - -<p>It is difficult to apportion the blame, but one thing is certain, that -the germ of the disaster lay in Philip’s rigid, blighting system, by -which everything, great and small, had to be worked by one weary, -overburdened man from a cell in the Escorial. Spain might curse and -clamour for vengeance, but Philip said not a word. He saw the efforts -and hopes of years scattered like scudding clouds. He saw his impotence -made patent to a scoffing world. He saw his enemies exulting in his -downfall, and his rebel Netherlanders at last free from his grasp. He -saw his treasury empty and his credit ruined, for the pope himself -mocked him, and refused to pay the subsidy he had promised, because the -conditions had not been fulfilled. He saw himself an old and ailing man, -with only a dull child to succeed him; and yet in the face of all this -his marble equanimity never left him. He had, he said, only striven to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a>{222}</span> -do God’s work, and if God in His inscrutable wisdom had ordained that he -should fail, he could only humbly bow his head to the divine decree and -bless Him for all things.</p> - -<p>There was no defeat for such a man as this; and he could afford to be -generous and magnanimous, as he was, to the men whose shortcomings were -the immediate cause of the great catastrophe which ruined the power of a -nation, but could not break the faith or spirit of a man who regarded -himself as the fly-wheel of the machine by which the Almighty worked the -earth.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a>{223}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Don Antonio in England—Catharine’s support of him—Strozzi’s -defeat at St. Michaels—Philip’s patronage of assassination—Philip -and the League—Renewal of the war of religion in France—The -murder of Guise—Imprisonment of Antonio Perez and the Princess of -Eboli—Perez’s treachery—His escape to Aragon—The <i>fueros</i> of -Aragon—Philip proceeds against Perez—Perez arrested by the -Inquisition of Aragon—Rising in Zaragoza—Perez’s -escape—Suppression of the Aragonese.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">W<small>HEN</small> Don Antonio fled from Portugal in 1581, Elizabeth and Catharine de -Medici vied with each other in the welcome they extended to him. The -English queen gave him a pension, and he was splendidly lodged at Eton -College, Somerset House, and elsewhere at her expense. Hopes were held -out to him that a fleet should be raised in England for him to hold -those isles of the Azores which continued favourable to him and capture -the rest. He was encouraged to pledge his priceless jewels, the finest -in the world, and whilst his money lasted, privateers and ships were -busily fitted out in his name. But though most of the gems were -ultimately juggled into the hands of Elizabeth and Leicester, the queen -had always stopped short of allowing a hostile fleet openly to leave her -shores to attack Philip in the pretender’s interest.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a>{224}</span></p> - -<p>Antonio at last got tired of this, and with some difficulty fled to -France. There he found Catharine more ready. He promised her the great -empire of Brazil in exchange for aid, and in 1582 a fleet was got -together under her auspices, commanded by her cousin, Philip Strozzi. In -August the small Spanish garrison at St. Michaels was surrounded by 1500 -Frenchmen on shore, and Strozzi’s fleet of about 40 ships lay off to -blockade the island. Suddenly Santa Cruz’s squadron appeared, somewhat -stronger than Strozzi’s. Antonio seems to have lost heart and fled in -the night with some of the ships; the English privateers which were -expected to join Strozzi did not put in an appearance; Santa Cruz fell -upon the French fleet and utterly destroyed it, Strozzi being killed; -and every prisoner who fell into the hands of the Spaniards instantly -slaughtered. They had no commission from the King of France, and were -treated as pirates. But Catharine was bent upon troubling her late -son-in-law to the utmost, and Antonio still had jewels to pledge, so in -the following year another fleet was got together in France, under Aymar -de Chaste, to hold Terceira. The French were received with open arms by -the islanders who were firm for Antonio, but Santa Cruz swooped upon -this fleet, as he had done on the previous one, with a similar result, -and Catharine became convinced that the Azores, the key as they were to -Philip’s western empire, were his least vulnerable point whilst his -fleets held the sea. But this attitude of the French queen and her son, -and the open patronage and aid she gave to her younger son, Alençon, in -his attempts with Huguenot help to seize the sovereignty<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a>{225}</span> of the -Netherlands, convinced Philip that, unless something was done to -withstand the advance of the Protestant power in France, he would in -time find himself surrounded by opponents on all sides. He did his best -to dispose of some of his personal enemies. He approved of Babington’s -plot to kill Elizabeth, he subsidised many unsuccessful attempts to -murder Don Antonio, and certainly two to assassinate the Prince of -Orange, one nearly successful, before the final foul blow was struck by -Gérard in 1584. It is evident, however, from the manner in which he -usually received such proposals, that he did not deceive himself as to -the inefficacy of murder as a political method. He treated it merely as -a palliative, to be used in conjunction with broader action. From the -time when it became evident that Catharine and her son mainly leant to -the side of the Huguenots and the politicians, and that Henry of -Navarre, the head of the reformers in France and the hereditary enemy of -the House of Aragon, would probably succeed to the crown of France, some -bolder action than assassination was necessary for Philip.</p> - -<p>It has been seen how close had grown the connection between him and the -Guises, and how cleverly he had worked upon their hopes and fears to -bring them entirely under his thumb. Alternate flattery, bribes, and -veiled threats at length made Guise the humble servant of Spain. It -suited Philip to feed his ambitious dream of grasping all, or part, of -the French realm, to promise and pay him great subsidies, as he did, to -carry on war in his own country, because, in the first place, it -weakened Catharine and the Huguenots; and, secondly, it left Philip a -free hand in England and Scotland. By the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a>{226}</span> aid of Spanish money and his -own dashing popularity, Guise began by completely gaining to his side -the mob of Paris, and then through all France the Catholic party was -gradually drawn into a great organisation, which enabled Guise to treat -with Philip on something like reciprocal terms. By the spring of 1585 -the bases of the Holy League had been established. The idea was an -ambitious one, but doubtless many of its principal adherents had no -inkling of how completely the ultimate object of the whole organisation -was designed for the furthering of Philip’s political ends, under cover -of a purely religious movement. The dismemberment of France under his -auspices would have been a master-stroke of policy, and such a -consummation seemed at one time to be almost a certainty. To begin with, -an attempt was made to seduce Henry of Navarre into the League; but he -was wary and would not be caught, and consequently, in Philip’s view, -must be crushed. If he had consented to be satisfied with Béarn and the -south-west, Guise might well have had the east, the Duke of Savoy -Provence, and Philip’s daughter, Isabel, in right of her mother, would -have inherited Brittany, whilst Philip would have had a slice of Picardy -and French Flanders. When it was found that Henry of Navarre would not -be cajoled into abandoning any portion of his rightful claim to the -whole realm, the League and Philip induced Sixtus V. to fulminate his -famous bull (September 1585) excommunicating him, his cousin Condé, “and -the whole of this bastard and detestable race of Bourbon.” They and -theirs were to be deprived of all their principalities for ever, and the -excommunication extended to all their adherents. Henry’s reply was as<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a>{227}</span> -violent as the provocation. “The man who calls himself Pope Sixtus is -himself a liar and a heretic.” It only needed this bull again to set -flame to the smouldering ashes of the religious war. Henry III. had -already been forced into signing the infamous treaty of Nemours, -depriving the Huguenots of all toleration, and he became for a time, -with bitter hatred in his heart, the bond-slave of Guise. The poor -wretch tried in his weak, silly way to get free by forming fresh -connections with Elizabeth, with the German Lutherans, with Henry of -Navarre, but no party took much notice of him now, and the war went on, -the king being a fugitive from his own capital, and Philip afar off -smiling at the success of his schemes for setting his neighbours by the -ears and paralysing the arms of France that might help Elizabeth against -the Armada. For one moment it looked possible, after Philip’s weakness -had been demonstrated at sea, that all Frenchmen might band together, -forget their dissensions, and turn upon the common enemy; but Guise was -tied hard and fast to Philip by this time, and his ambitions were high. -The Paris mob was at his bidding, and the clergy throughout France. The -wretched king, Henry III., saw no other way out of his dilemma than to -have Guise and his brother killed (December 23, 1588). They had been -warned by Philip’s agents and others many times that this was intended, -but Guise scorned to show any fear, and he fell. With the murder of -Guise it seemed for a time as if the Spanish king’s intrigues in France -had turned out as fruitless as his efforts against England.</p> - -<p>Nor was he much happier at home. It has already been related how, on -March 31, 1578, Escobedo, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a>{228}</span> secretary of Don Juan, had been murdered -by men in Antonio Perez’s pay, by virtue of an order given by Philip six -months before. However desirable it may have been to put this firebrand -out of the way in the autumn of 1577, when Don Juan was ostensibly -friendly with the States, the murder served no useful purpose whatever -when it was committed, for by that time Don Juan and Farnese were at war -openly with the States. Philip doubtless ascribed the assassination at -first to over-zeal on the part of Perez, and was inclined to condone it. -But it was part of his system to promote rivalry amongst the people who -served him, and another of his secretaries, Mateo Vasquez, whose duty it -was to convey to the king the gossip of the capital, continued, with -perhaps unnecessary insistence, to inform the king that all Madrid was -connecting the name of Perez and the widowed Princess of Eboli with the -murder. The princess was the greatest lady in Spain, a haughty, -passionate termagant, who had borne to Ruy Gomez a very numerous family, -and who since her husband’s death had given a great deal of trouble to -the king, by her erratic and impracticable conduct in the care of her -children and the management of her great household and estates. The -supposed amours between her and Philip have been disproved, but there is -no doubt that the vain, immoral Perez had become her lover, and that -Escobedo, who had formerly been a page of her husband’s, had discovered -this and resented it. There is but little doubt that the princess had in -consequence urged Perez to have the man killed under cover of the king’s -authorisation of many months before. The princess, when she heard that -Vasquez had mentioned<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a>{229}</span> her name to the king in connection with the -murder, flew into a violent rage and demanded his punishment. Thereupon -began a great feud between Perez and the princess on the one hand, and -Vasquez on the other, which doubtless caused Philip much inconvenience -and annoyance. He tried his hardest to reconcile the parties, keeping -Perez still in high favour. The princess and Perez were, however, so -persistent that the king at last lost patience, and in July 1579 had -them both arrested. The princess never entirely regained her liberty, -but Perez’s confinement was merely nominal, and he was assured by the -king that he would not be seriously inconvenienced. He was more -extravagant and arrogant than ever under his semi-arrest, and the -princess and he continued to press that he might be tried for the -murder. They knew that he could plead the king’s order, as indeed he -ultimately did, and that Philip hated an open scandal.</p> - -<p>But a great change came when Philip wanted to conquer Portugal, and -restored Alba and his party to favour. For years Perez had been the -bitter enemy of Alba. He had scoffed and mocked at his appearance and -methods; he had been the prime cause of his downfall. Now was the time -for Alba’s revenge. Gradually he surrounded the king with those who took -his view, and the shadows grew deeper and deeper over Perez. For years -the trail was steadily followed, his relations with the princess -unravelled, his own incautious words taken down, until at the end of -1584 all his papers were seized, and Philip learnt how, for his -political ends, Perez had poisoned his ears against Don Juan. It was -seen that the accusations of intended treason in Spain were Perez’s own -interpretation<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a>{230}</span> of perfectly innocent passages in Don Juan’s and -Escobedo’s excited letters. Philip learnt also that Perez must have -divulged to the princess the authority given by the king to Perez for -the murder—a state secret. For these offences, and not for murder, -Perez was condemned to ten years’ imprisonment, escaped to sanctuary, -was taken thence, and kept in a dungeon for three years whilst the case -was being completed against him. In 1588 he was put on his trial for -murder, and was ordered to confess all. He feared a trap, and refused. -He was put to the torture, and promised to tell everything. No one could -understand this at the time, but we can see now that, if he had -confessed why the king ordered the murder, and when, he must have -condemned himself, as it would have shown that the “execution,” as it -was euphemistically called, was unnecessary when it was committed and -had been done for private revenge. Before his confession could be taken, -he therefore escaped from prison and fled to Aragon. This, he well knew, -was the course which would distress the king most.</p> - -<p>When he had taken his younger daughter, Catharine, to Zaragoza in 1585 -to be married to Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy (whom Catharine de -Medici had been trying to attract to her side), Philip had taken the -opportunity of making a stay of some duration in his kingdom of Aragon -and Catalonia, and had summoned the Aragonese Cortes at Monzon to swear -allegiance to his young son Philip as heir to the crown. As we have seen -in previous chapters, the Aragonese were extremely jealous of their -representative institutions, and resented all interference from Castile. -Philip had no love for these rough-spoken<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a>{231}</span> vassals of his, and their -constant assertion of their liberties, and had only recently been -obliged to bend to a decision of the Aragonese tribunals with regard to -a large semi-independent fief belonging to an illegitimate member of the -royal house, the Duke of Villahermosa, which fief Philip wished to -re-incorporate with the rest of his Aragonese kingdom. Amongst their -other liberties the Aragonese exacted from their sovereign an oath to -maintain what was called the “Manifestacion,” which was not unlike the -English “Habeas Corpus.” Any person accused of crime who set foot in -Aragon could claim to be lodged in the Aragonese prison, in which case -he was certain of enjoying the full rights of defence, protection from -violence or torture, and the benefit of a most enlightened judicial -procedure. The Aragonese had their own judges and laws, the principal -judge—the grand justiciary—being appointed by the king; but the latter -had no power to remove him, and the office was practically hereditary. -When, therefore, Perez reached Aragon he knew he was safe from arbitrary -action, and took refuge first in a Dominican monastery at Calatayud. -Orders arrived a few hours afterwards that he was to be captured, dead -or alive, at any risk or cost, and taken back to Castile. Perez was the -depositary of Philip’s secrets for years. He had taken a quantity of -important papers with him (some of which are now in the British Museum), -and the king was willing to brave the obstinate Aragonese and their -liberties, rather than allow so dangerous a man to slip through his -fingers. Perez claimed the protection of the “Manifestacion,” and on the -news coming to Calatayud of the king’s orders, a rebellious crowd at -once arose and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a>{232}</span> swore that their privileges should not be infringed; and -even the priests in the monastery where Perez had taken refuge flew to -arms to repel any attack by the king’s messengers. Perez was rescued by -the Aragonese police and people, and safely lodged in the gaol of the -“Manifestacion.” All the king could do then was to prosecute him by -law—firstly, for having pretended to possess the royal authority for -killing Escobedo; secondly, for having tampered with despatches and -betrayed state secrets; and thirdly, for having fled whilst proceedings -against him were pending. But Perez did not want to be tried, for upon -these charges he could hardly be acquitted by any tribunal. He -accordingly begged Philip to let him alone, and threatened, if not, to -publish his secret papers; but Philip was resolved to fight it out to -the death now. To be thwarted and threatened by such a man was too much, -even for his patience. Perez must die. For once, however, the king had -to deal with a man even more crafty than himself, who knew every trick -in his armoury and was fighting for his life. Perez drew up a most -masterly exposition of his case, painting the king in his blackest -colours, and presented it to his judges. The tribunal called upon the -king for a refutation. “If,” replied Philip, “it were possible for me to -give an answer in the same public way that Perez has done, his guilt -would be made manifest. My only object in the prosecution has been the -public good. I cannot answer him further without betraying secrets which -must not be revealed, involving persons whose reputation is of more -importance than the punishment of this man, who is a traitor worse than -ever before has sinned against his sovereign.” And<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a>{233}</span> with this Philip -allowed his prosecution before the Aragonese tribunal to lapse. It was a -bitter pill for him to swallow. To answer Perez he must have confessed -that the lying scoundrel had made him believe that his own brother, Don -Juan, was a traitor, and that, under this belief, he had allowed him to -die broken-hearted and forsaken in Flanders.</p> - -<p>But he tried another course. The constitution of Aragon provided that -the king’s own servants, even Aragonese, might not claim against him the -protection of their laws, and under this clause Philip claimed to have -Perez delivered to him. The judges decided that Perez did not come under -this provision, and refused to deliver him. Perez was now acquitted, but -was still kept in the prison of the Manifestacion. There his monstrous -vanity had led him to boast of what he would do abroad to avenge -himself. He would bring back Henry of Navarre and the Protestants, and -make him King of Spain. He would make Aragon a republic, and much else -of the same sort. But, above all, he had used expressions which seemed -of doubtful religious orthodoxy. Notes were taken of all his loose -babble, and, as a consequence, the Holy Office in Madrid sent orders to -the Inquisitors at Zaragoza to take him out of the Manifestacion and -lodge him in their own dungeons. The judges of Aragon were now tired of -Perez, who was obviously a scoundrel. They had no wish to quarrel about -him with the king, and, above all, with the Inquisition. They had -vindicated their privileges, and that was enough for them. They were -willing to let the Holy Office have their prisoner. But Perez had no -wish for such a result. His friends aroused the city.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a>{234}</span> The Aragonese -liberties were in peril from the tyrant, they said; and a dangerous -popular rising was the result. On May 21, 1591, the Aragonese -authorities determined to get rid of such a troublesome guest, and -quietly smuggled him into the hands of the Inquisition. With this the -people rose. From the watch towers boomed the alarm bells, furious men -swarmed into the streets, the king’s representative was dragged from his -palace, stripped, stoned, scourged, and nearly killed; the palace of the -Inquisition was besieged; faggots were piled up to burn it and the -Inquisitors inside, as they had burnt others, said the mob. Then the -Inquisitors gave way, and surrendered their prisoner to the populace, -who took him back to the Manifestacion. He tried to escape and failed. -He kept popular ebullition at fever-heat with artful proclamations and -appeals, and unfortunately the hereditary office of grand justiciary -fell at that time to a young man in Perez’s favour, who assumed office -without Philip’s confirmation. To avoid further conflict, after the -authorities had decided that Perez should be restored again to the -Inquisition, the prisoner was secretly hurried out of Zaragoza into the -mountains by his friends, and he escaped, after many wanderings, into -France. He was supremely self-conscious—a monster of misfortune, a -pilgrim of pain, as he called himself,—but he was clever and plausible, -and was received with open arms by Catharine de Bourbon, Henry’s sister, -in her castle of Pau. Henry himself made much of him, and so did -Elizabeth and Essex. Pensions and gifts were showered upon him for -years, for he knew all the weak places in Philip’s armour, and was ready -to sell his knowledge to the highest bidder. Facile, witty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a>{235}</span> and utterly -unscrupulous, he mingled the most sickening servility with the -haughtiest arrogance. He betrayed and defamed in turn every person who -trusted him, and, whenever he dared, bit the hand upon which he fawned. -For years he tried unsuccessfully to crawl back into the favour of -Philip III., the son of the man whom he had lived by libelling; and long -before his death in Paris, in the midst of poverty (1611), he was -contemptuously forgotten by his benefactors.</p> - -<p>Philip was in no hurry for revenge. An army of 15,000 men was sent from -Castile to occupy Zaragoza under Alonso de Vargas, one of the butchers -of Antwerp. The townspeople were disinclined to hopeless resistance, and -only some of the nobles, the friars, and the country people made any -attempt at it. Anarchy was rife all over Aragon, and Philip’s troops -made a clean sweep of such marauding bands of rebels as stood in their -way. The Aragonese of the richer burgher class were indeed by this time -somewhat ashamed of having championed the cause of such a man as Perez, -and Vargas was soon master of Aragon, the young justiciary and the other -leaders of the rebellion having fled. For a time Philip made no attempt -to punish them, and they were gradually lured back home on promises of -forgiveness. Then suddenly fell Philip’s vengeance. At the end of -December 1591 Vargas was ordered without previous warning to seize and -behead the justiciary, in defiance of the Aragonese constitution, and at -the same time the net of the Inquisition was spread far and wide, and -swept into the dungeons all those who had offended. The few refugee -nobles and Perez thereupon prevailed upon Henry IV. to send a body of -Béarnais troops into<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a>{236}</span> Aragon, but the Aragonese joined with Philip’s -troops to expel them, and nothing serious came of the attempt. Some of -the higher nobles of Aragon died mysteriously in the dungeons, and -seventy-nine citizens were condemned to be burnt alive in the -market-place of Zaragoza. Philip, however, intervened, and urged -clemency upon the Holy Office, and only six were actually executed at -the great auto de fé, the rest of the seventy-nine suffering other -punishments, perhaps hardly less severe. The spectacle, and the stern -repression that preceded it, were dire lessons for the Aragonese, who -were thus made to understand that their free institutions must not be -exercised against the will of their sovereign. The constitution was not -formally revoked, in accordance with Philip’s promise, but all men now -understood that henceforward, at least whilst Philip lived, it must be a -dead letter, and no more vain dreams of autonomy were allowed to -interfere with the system of personal centralisation upon which his -government rested.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a>{237}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Philip and Mayenne—The English attack upon Lisbon—Assassination -of Henry III.—Philip’s plans in France—The war of the League—The -battle of Ivry—Philip’s attitude towards Mayenne—Farnese enters -France—Relief of Paris—Retirement of Farnese—Philip changes his -plans in France—Farnese’s second campaign—Henry IV. goes to -mass—Enters Paris as king—Exit of the Spaniards.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">H<small>ENRY</small> III. thought by one stroke to rid himself of his enemies by -killing Guise, and terrorising his party. “At last,” he said to his -mother, immediately after the execution, “at last I am King of France.” -“You have plunged your country into ruin,” replied Catharine. “You have -boldly cut out the cloth, but do not know how to sew the garment -together.” She spoke truly, for she knew her son. When the news reached -Paris a great gust of rage passed over the city. It was Christmas Day, -but all rejoicing turned to sorrow, and dirges took the place of Te -Deums. From the pulpits thundered denunciations of the royal murderer, -and by the middle of January (1589) the Sorbonne, under the promptings -of the Spanish party, had declared that the subjects of Henry III. were -released from their allegiance. A council of government was formed, with -Mayenne, Guise’s brother, as president and lieutenant-general<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a>{238}</span> of the -realm. All through France the example of Paris was followed, and the -League was soon the great governing power of the country, Henry finding -himself little more than King of Blois. He was therefore obliged to draw -closer to Henry of Navarre; and at first Philip feared that this -coalition would unite all Frenchmen against him, now that the popular -Guise had fallen. But Mayenne had no one else to lean upon, and in the -first letter after his brother’s death told the Spanish king that the -whole of the Catholics of France threw themselves at his feet. -Henceforward the springs that moved the puppets in Catholic France -obtained their impulsion from Madrid. Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador, -although he had kept a few miles from the king’s court at Blois, had -since the murder of Guise become more and more incensed with him, as he -drifted nearer to the Huguenot cause, and now fled from the king’s court -without a word of farewell to Paris, in the pretended fear that Henry -intended to have him poisoned. Henceforward the old soldier, the last -disciple of Alba, as he called himself, was tireless in organising and -stimulating the resistance of the people of Paris against the king and -the Huguenots. He was old and blind, but he went from outpost to outpost -animating the soldiers; he laboured day and night with the nuncio, -Gaetano, in stiffening Mayenne, and until his last ducat was spent and -he had no food or firing for himself, he sheltered and fed the starving -and homeless Leaguers. Through all the weary sieges of Paris, until -broken and blind at last he went to end his days in despair as a monk, -Mendoza continued to urge Philip to action against the Huguenots, to -resist the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a>{239}</span> insults offered to himself, to harry France with fire and -sword in the name of the faith—the counsels, indeed, of the old Alba -school to which he belonged. Philip, as usual, was cool and -irresponsive. He told his minister—when he condescended to write to him -at all, which was very rarely—that he must be patient and prudent, and -must seek to be friendly with all parties. Philip, indeed, was far from -pleased at the drift of affairs in France. It was evident thus early -that Mayenne was a weak reed upon whom to depend, and now that -Protestantism and legitimate royalty in France were united, he (Philip) -did not believe in the permanency of the League. All his life he had -been manœuvring against France becoming officially Protestant, which -would have foreboded the dreaded coalition of France, England, Holland, -and the northern powers against him. His treasury, moreover, was drained -almost to its last ducat by the catastrophe of the Armada, and -terrifying rumours were reaching him from his spies in England of a -great fleet of revenge being fitted out by Drake to invade his own -shores, in conjunction with an attack across the Pyrenees by the forces -of Henry of Navarre. Drake and Norris, however, with their joint-stock -fleet in the interests of Don Antonio, turned out to be less formidable -opponents on this occasion than had been feared. Philip was dangerously -ill, and sick at heart. The Portuguese populace was almost entirely in -favour of the native pretender, and was pledged to rise when he -appeared. There were no adequate forces in Spain to resist an attack, -and if the English expedition had not been entirely mismanaged from the -first, there is but little doubt that Philip’s rule in Portugal might -easily have been ended. Want of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a>{240}</span> money, shortness of provisions, and -utter indiscipline of the men on the English fleet, contributed the -germs of failure to the enterprise, and the waste of ten days in burning -and sacking the lower town at Corunna, where the sickness and laxity -caused by the drunkenness of the men practically disabled the English -force, gave the stout-hearted Archduke Albert in Lisbon time to organise -the defence and dominate the Portuguese by terror. In the meanwhile, -too, Philip’s council in Madrid conquered their first paralysis of -dismay, and took such hasty measures as were possible to repel the -invasion. The fatal insistence also of Norris and Don Antonio to leave -Drake and his fleet at Peniche whilst they marched overland to besiege -Lisbon, placed the crown of disaster on the attempt. For Antonio had -overrated his support. Only priests and a few peasants joined his -standard. Lisbon was completely dominated by the archduke, and no -Portuguese dared to raise a head, for fear of losing it. So when Norris -and his 12,000 Englishmen appeared outside Lisbon (May 21, 1589), -without siege-train or battering guns, they found the gates fast closed -against them, and after a week of fruitless bloodshed they had sadly to -retrace their steps again and join Drake’s fleet at the mouth of the -river. Of 18,000 men that sailed out of Plymouth only about 6000 ever -returned, and Don Antonio’s chance of reigning again in Portugal had -gone for ever.</p> - -<p>In August 1589 Mendoza wrote from Paris in jubilant strains. The king -(Henry III.) had been besieging the capital with 40,000 men, and it -could have held out no longer. Mayenne had lost heart, the -much-prayed-for Spanish troops to help them came not.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a>{241}</span> Despair reigned -in the League, when suddenly the last of the Valois, Henry III., in his -turn, fell under the dagger of the fanatic monk Jacques Clement. “It was -the hand of God,” said Mendoza, “that has done this for His greater -glory, and for the advantage of His religion.” Philip, however, never -loved the idea of the killing of kings, and was not so enthusiastic -about this as was his ambassador. He was no hero; and if fanatics began -killing anointed monarchs there was no telling where such an example -would stop.</p> - -<p>The event, moreover, added much to his present perplexity. If Guise had -lived, and Henry of Navarre had been amenable to reason, the realm of -France might have been divided between Guise, Navarre, the Infanta, the -Duke of Savoy, and Philip; but the Huguenot king had assumed the -sovereignty of the whole country as soon as Henry III. fell, and had -already shown that he was a soldier and diplomatist of the highest -order, whom no cajolery would induce to surrender any portion of his -birthright. And yet it was a matter of life and death to Philip that -France should not become a heretic power, and he was obliged to tackle -the monster with what strength he had left.</p> - -<p>The first impulse of the governing council of the League in Paris on the -news of the death of the king was to elect Philip sovereign of France, -but the idea of the Guises had always been to obtain all or part of the -realm for themselves, and consequently Mayenne procured the proclamation -in Paris of Henry of Navarre’s uncle, Cardinal de Bourbon, as Charles X. -He was understood to be only a stop-gap, for he was old, foolish, and -childless, and the problem of the fate of France was still held in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a>{242}</span> -suspense. But they could never even catch their king, for his nephew -Henry seized him before the Leaguers could reach him, and he never let -him go again. It is certain that by this time Philip had slowly made up -his mind that, as he mainly would have to fight and destroy -Protestantism in France, he alone should enjoy the reward. If the affair -could have been settled cheaply and without fighting, the Lorraines, the -Savoys, the Bourbons, and his own House might have divided the spoil; -but if his arms and money had to win the reward, it must be his, and his -alone. It was the most disastrous resolution he could have taken in his -own interest, for it enabled Henry of Navarre to assume the position of -the patriot withstanding foreign aggression; and gradually drew to him -crowds of Frenchmen, who otherwise would have stood aloof. After the -king’s death Henry IV. abandoned the siege of Paris and rapidly moved to -Normandy, where Elizabeth’s subsidies and the aid from his own Rochelle -might reach him. Then he began that brilliant series of victories over -Mayenne that commenced at Arques. Through a country already rallying to -his national banner, he marched to Paris again. He struck terror into -the Leaguers and Spanish inside, who were intriguing for the crown of -France, which the great Bourbon was winning by his sword; and, after -harrying St. Germains, he again marched on to attack Mayenne’s main army -at Dreux. The Spanish Leaguers from Flanders were commanded by Egmont, -the son of the man whom Alba had killed. His cavalry at first charged -Henry’s infantry and broke it. Then the king himself, with his white -plume for a guide, led his 2000 horsemen like a whirlwind against the -Leaguers. Nothing could stand<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a>{243}</span> before them. The German mercenaries -dropped their arms and fled, the Lorrainers and Egmont’s Walloons were -swept away by the irresistible avalanche, and the battle of Ivry was won -(March 14, 1590). Then without a pause Paris found itself again -encircled with the victorious troops of the Béarnais. The sufferings of -the rebel city and the events of the struggle cannot be recounted here. -Philip’s far-off share in them alone concerns us for the moment. It is -said by those who were near Philip at the time, that the news of -Mayenne’s rout at Ivry was not entirely displeasing to him. It had been -evident to the Spaniards for some time that Mayenne would take the first -opportunity of causing himself to be proclaimed king in Paris. Mendoza -and Moreo, the Spanish agents in Paris, were already sounding notes of -alarm about him in their letters to the king, and Philip must have -known, now he had lost Ivry, that, come what might, Mayenne’s chance had -gone. It had become certain that, if Henry IV. was to be beaten at all, -it must be by an experienced warrior like Alexander Farnese with great -national forces, that France indeed must be conquered before Philip -could be called its king. The alternative, however, seemed to be a -Protestant rival nation on his frontier, and an entire alteration of the -balance of Europe, in which he would be left isolated and impotent; and -he must fight to the death to prevent that. Farnese had lost much of his -popularity since the Armada, and he fretted at the fact. He knew that -doubts wore whispered to his uncle, not only of his loyalty, but even of -his orthodoxy; and, although Philip expressed himself as being quite -satisfied with his explanations about the Armada, Farnese feared that -his constant ill-health<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a>{244}</span> foreboded death by poison. He was weary, too, -with the petty war of treachery, surprises, and skirmishes which still -continued between him and the Dutchmen under William the Silent’s son, -Maurice. It was like new life to him when at last he got the stirring -news from Philip that he was to conquer France for the Church and for -the House of Spain. But for the Salic law, the Infanta would undoubtedly -have been the heiress to the crown, and Philip made light of the Salic -law, and boldly asserted his daughter’s right. Farnese was, above all -things, a prudent commander, and insisted upon having sufficient -resources for the business he had to do, and his persistence on this -point again raised rumours against him. Philip’s principal agent in -France, Moreo, did not hesitate to say that he was a traitor, who was -plotting for his own ends; and the Spanish nobles about Farnese’s -person, seeing which way the tide was running, joined in the sneers at -his slowness. But he would not move, leaving Flanders unprotected, and -risking his fame and life, by crossing the frontier with an inadequate -force. His insistence at length gained his point, and large remittances -were sent to him from Madrid, with which he could organise a good force -of 13,000 men; and by August 23 he joined Mayenne at Meaux and marched -to attack Henry’s besieging army before Paris. Some provisions were -passed into the famished city, the siege was partly raised, and soon the -tactical skill of Farnese began to tell upon Henry’s army, which was -melting away with discouragement. He once more abandoned the siege, and -the League army entered Paris on September 18, 1590. But then began the -feeling that eventually led even the Parisians to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a>{245}</span> welcome Henry. -Farnese made no pretence to respect Mayenne’s authority, and the -Frenchmen who had looked upon the Spanish forces as their allies found -now to their dismay that they were their masters. Mayenne himself was -inclined to be sulky and rebellious, and it was necessary for Farnese to -teach him and Paris that they were powerless without Spanish troops; so -he and his force once more marched towards the Flemish frontier, and -Paris was again invested. Philip’s fanatic councillors insisted that -Farnese had abandoned the task because of his want of sympathy, and the -king grew colder still towards his nephew, and somewhat changed his -plans. It must now have been evident to him that the French nation would -not willingly accept him or his daughter as sovereign, and he reverted -to his former idea of dismemberment. The Infanta really had a good claim -to the duchy of Brittany, which had never formed part of the French -realm, and was excepted from the action of the Salic law. The Duke of -Mercœur, whose wife was also descended from the House of Brittany, -had been holding the province for the League, and was hard pressed. He -begged for aid from Philip, who sent him a force of 5000 men under Don -Juan del Aguila, whilst the Duke of Savoy, Philip’s son-in-law, had -entered Marseilles with his army, Toulouse was garrisoned by 4000 -Spaniards, and all Provence and Dauphiné was falling under the -Savoy-Spanish yoke. The Spaniards in Brittany were not long in showing -their teeth. They seized and fortified Blavet and other ports against -Mercœur himself, and this brought Elizabeth on the scene with 3000 -English troops. She could never have the Spaniards in ports opposite her -shores, she said. And so practically<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a>{246}</span> all over France little wars were -being waged. The country, utterly desolated and exhausted, yearned for -peace and firm government before all things, and gradually came to the -conclusion that they were more likely to obtain them from their own -countryman, Henry, than from the Spanish king and his hangers-on. At the -same time Philip’s treasury had become more and more depleted and his -credit quite ruined with the bankers. He was, moreover, himself old and -weary with never-ending labour at small details, and decided to strike a -supreme blow once more to end heresy in France before he gave up the -struggle in despair. Farnese therefore, to his annoyance this time (for -he was obliged to leave Maurice of Nassau in undisturbed possession of -Holland), received fresh orders from the king in September 1591 once -more to cross the frontier and end the fight.</p> - -<p>He found the leaders of the League all at discord one with the other and -with the Spaniards. Mayenne’s vanity and greed had disgusted every one, -and it soon became apparent to Farnese that no aid towards Spanish aims -could be gained from him. He had, indeed, selfishly done his best only a -few months before to impede the solution which might have drawn a -majority of Frenchmen to the side of the League and the Spaniards, -namely, the marriage of the Infanta with the young Duke of Guise. Henry -IV. was besieging Rouen with an army of 20,000 men, nearly all mercenary -Germans and English, and although his energy somewhat delayed Parma’s -advance, when the latter reached Rouen he found Mayenne disinclined to -accept the assistance of the Spaniards, such was his growing<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a>{247}</span> jealousy -of them, owing partly to the diplomacy of Henry. It was not until the -end of April 1592 that Parma entered Rouen in triumph. But the triumph -did not last long. Parma was wounded and seriously ill, and found his -supplies cut off and his force hemmed in by Henry. It was only by -consummate strategy that he withdrew with the loss of nearly half his -men to Flanders, there to die in December of the same year (1592). -Philip could not now shut his eyes to the fact that he had lost. -Frenchmen of all classes hated the idea of Spanish domination, Mayenne -and the Catholics understood that the Béarnais was going to win, for he -had taken the patriotic side, and they began to cast about for means to -secure themselves from ruin. If the king would only go to mass, all -might be well. Henry on his side was also desirous of coming to terms. -The war had desolated France, and the time was ripe for an arrangement. -When, however, in January 1593, the Estates met in the Louvre, a last -attempt was made by the Spanish party to have their way by diplomacy. -Feria, the son of Philip’s old friend by his English wife, entered Paris -as the king’s representative to claim the crown for the Infanta, who -might be married to a French prince, to be chosen by Philip, or if the -Estates refused this, that the crown should be given to the Duke of -Guise, who might marry the Infanta. If Philip had proposed the latter -solution first, it might have been accepted; but whilst Feria was -bickering over the Infanta’s impossible claim, and losing precious weeks -in communicating with his distant master almost daily, Henry, outside -the city, was busy gaining over the Estates, showing himself gay, -confident, conciliating, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a>{248}</span> above all, French. Gabrielle d’Estrées, -the <i>politicians</i>, the Leaguers, the clergy, and his own interests, all -urged him to conform to the Catholic faith. On July 25, 1593, he took -what he called “the mortal leap,” and attended mass at St. Denis. In -March 1594 the Béarnais entered Paris as king. The next day, through a -pitiless storm, the Spanish garrison, with Feria, marched out of the -gate of St. Denis. “Commend me to your master, gentlemen,” cried Henry, -“but come back hither no more.” The war lingered on until Philip was -nearly dying in 1598. Spanish troops still held parts of Picardy and -French Flanders, and once Amiens fell into their hands, but at the end -of the period even Mayenne commanded the French forces against them; and -pride, and belief in the divine support, alone prevented Philip from -making terms before. Henry at last listened to the promptings of the -pope, and made peace with his enemy alone. He broke faith with Elizabeth -and the Dutch, but he consolidated once more the French nation. Philip’s -ill-starred attempts to dominate France had thus failed, but he had -succeeded in preventing it from becoming a Protestant Power.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a>{249}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Blighting influence of Philip’s system on his officers—Effects of -Philip’s routine on the administration—Social condition of Spain -and the colonies—Dr. Lopez and Antonio Perez—Philip II. and -Tyrone’s rebellion—The English sacking of Cadiz—Philip’s -resignation—His last illness and death—Results of his -life—Causes of the decadence of the Spanish power.</p></div> - -<p class="nind">T<small>HE</small> death of Alexander Farnese had removed from Philip’s service the -last of the great men of his reign. He had been treated by his master in -the same way that all the rest of them had been—with cold -half-confidence and veiled suspicion. There is nothing more -surprising—more pitiable—in the phenomena of Philip’s reign than the -way in which he pressed men of the highest gifts into his service, only -to break their hearts and spirits by his tardiness of action and -inexpansiveness of mind. His system left no room for independent -judgment on the part of his instruments, and any attempt to exercise it -met with the passive, stony resistance, against which one ardent soul -after another dashed itself to death. As Philip grew older, and his -periodical attacks of illness became more frequent, the vast tide of -papers which flowed into the king’s cell became more<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a>{250}</span> and more -unmanageable. He had no sense of proportion whatever, and would -frequently waste hours of precious time over ridiculous trifles—the -choice of an unimportant word, the ordering of a religious procession, -or the strictly private affairs of his subjects,—whilst matters of the -highest import to the welfare of his great empire were allowed to drag -on for months without decision.</p> - -<p>The centralising system had now been established to his satisfaction, -and from all four quarters of the earth viceroys, governors, ministers, -and spies sent their contribution of papers to Madrid. Everything came -under the eyes of the monarch, toiling early and late, even when his -malady stretched him on a sick-bed. The council that surrounded him in -his last years was composed of very different men from the Granvelles, -the Albas, the Ruy Gomezes, or even the Perezes, who had served him in -his prime. The principal secretary of state was Don Juan de Idiaquez, -one of the indefatigable writers whom Philip loved. No detail was too -small for Idiaquez. With his swift-current clerkly hand he wrote day and -night, deciphering, drafting, annotating. Every day after the king’s -frugal early dinner Idiaquez came with his bundle of papers, and was -closeted with him until nightfall. The communications had been opened, -considered, and reported upon by the council during the previous night, -and the results were now submitted to Philip. The second secretary, Don -Cristobal de Moura, had charge especially of Portuguese and Castilian -affairs. He had to report his budget of council minutes whilst the king -was dressing in the morning, and the Count de Chinchon had audience for -the affairs of Italy, Aragon, and the south of Spain at, and after, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a>{251}</span> -king’s dinner. Every draft despatch was read and noted by the king; -Mateo Vasquez, the sly enemy who had hunted Perez, being always at his -side to help him. Whilst the king of the greatest realm on earth, and -four men with the minds of superior clerks, were thus immersed in -endless papers, the social condition of Spain went from bad to worse. -The efforts of Philip had been directed towards making his people as -rigid as monks. Pragmatics had been showered upon Spain, prohibiting for -the hundredth time luxury or splendour in dress, furniture, and -appointments, restricting the use of carriages, abolishing courtesy -titles. No person was allowed to be educated out of Spain, and all -attempts at introducing science in any form were sternly suppressed by -the Inquisition. The most slavish and extravagant conformity in -religious observance was enforced, but the loosest and most licentious -conversation was tolerated. The women of Spain had in previous times -been modest, almost austere and oriental in their retirement. They now -became perfectly scandalous in their freedom, and remained a bye-word -for the rest of civilised Europe for a century afterwards. Camillo -Borghese was sent by the pope to Madrid in 1593, and thus speaks of the -state of affairs at that time: “The main street of Madrid ... is -unutterably filthy, and almost impassable on foot. The better class of -ladies are always in carriages or litters, whilst the humbler folk ride -on donkey-back or pick their way through the mire. The ladies are -naturally shameless, presumptuous, and abrupt, and even in the streets -go up and address men unknown to them, looking upon it as a kind of -heresy to be properly introduced. They admit all sorts of men to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a>{252}</span> their -conversation, and are not in the least scandalised at the most improper -proposals being made to them.” Philip’s pragmatics were useless. -Extravagance checked in one direction broke out in others, and in the -midst of the most appalling poverty, luxury and waste ran riot. The -immense loss of life in constant wars, and the vast emigration to -America, had depopulated wide tracts of country, and the laws which -favoured the aggregation of property in the hands of the Church had -turned whole towns into ecclesiastical settlements. The friars had grown -more insolent as their riches increased, and as the king’s slavishness -to their cloth became more abject, and now during his last years their -power was practically supreme in the king’s court.</p> - -<p>Whilst Philip’s system had reduced his own country to this state, the -ships of Drake, Ralegh, Hawkins, Cumberland, and the rest of them were -harrying the Indies, the English were trading openly with Spanish -settlements in spite of royal prohibition, and in the insensate thirst -for gold, the Spanish colonists were wiping out whole nations of -inoffensive Indians who were unable or unwilling to satisfy their greed. -The missionary friars sometimes raised their voices against the -wholesale murder of their possible converts, but they cried in vain, for -Philip’s hide-bound system only referred the protests against the -slaughter to the men who perpetrated it. Philip’s American possessions -consequently were enriching his enemies rather than himself, and, as -Ralegh said, were furnishing the means for them to carry on war against -him. In the meanwhile his own coasts, both of Italy and Spain, were -practically undefended. The loss of the Armada had been a blow both to -his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a>{253}</span> credit and to his naval power, from which he could never entirely -recover, and neither men, money, nor ships could easily be obtained.</p> - -<p>Perez lived caressed and flattered in Essex House, and knew all that -passed in Spain. Everything which his wickedness and malice could devise -to injure his enemy he urged with ceaseless pertinacity. He persuaded -the queen that her physician, the Jew Dr. Lopez, had plotted with Philip -to murder her. There was just enough foundation to give a plausible -appearance to the assertion, and Lopez was executed (June 7, 1594). That -he was ready to undertake such commissions is doubtless true, but -evidence is now forthcoming which tends to show that in this case Perez -lied, and that Lopez was innocent.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>The accusation, however, was believed by Elizabeth and her ministers, -and when Perez proposed to his ambitious patron Essex a plan for -revenging his mistress he was eager to listen. But there was another -reason as well. The English Catholic refugees were still intriguing, and -urging Philip to take action to secure the crown of England for the -Infanta on Elizabeth’s death, whilst the Scots Catholics were -endeavouring to gain it for James, under their auspices if possible. Now -that a direct invasion of England by Philip was acknowledged to be -impossible, it was constantly pressed upon him by the English exiles -that he might disturb and paralyse Elizabeth by sending armed support to -the Irish Catholics. The complete collapse of the Desmond rebellion in -Munster, and the slaughter of the papal<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a>{254}</span> Spanish contingent (1580) had -made Philip cautious; so when Irish priests and emissaries came to him -from Tyrone and O’Donnell, he had been, as usual, vaguely sympathetic, -and took means to discover the real strength behind them before he -pledged himself. Spanish officers were sent to spy out the land and -report upon the capabilities of Tyrone. The latter was still keeping up -an appearance of great loyalty to the English, but his correspondence -with Philip was well known in London, as well as the hopes and promises -sent from Spain to the Irish Catholics. It would be a great stroke if -the fleet, which spies stated was fitting out for Ireland, could be -destroyed. As a matter of fact, Philip was so poor that he could do but -little to help Tyrone; and for years afterwards the agonised appeals of -the Irish Catholics were only answered by fair words and tardy, -inadequate, and ineffectual assistance. But for the moment Elizabeth was -led to believe that a powerful invasion of Ireland was imminent.</p> - -<p>When it came to finding the money and incurring the responsibility of a -direct invasion of Spain, however, the queen more than once drew back, -and it required all hot-headed Essex’s personal influence to bring her -to the point. At last when the commission was granted, the precedent of -the ill-fated Portuguese expedition of 1589 was followed. The first -object was, as then, stated to be the destruction of the King of Spain’s -fleet, and, secondly, the attack upon the homeward-bound Indian -flotilla. Only as a doubtful resource was a rich town to be attacked. As -in 1589, the command was to be divided—on this occasion between -Lord-Admiral Howard and Essex, with Ralegh as lieutenant. It was -difficult to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a>{255}</span> get men to serve. “As fast as we press men on one day,” -writes Ralegh, “they run away the next.”</p> - -<p>The fleets left Plymouth on June 3, 1596. They were divided into four -English squadrons of nearly equal strength, the aggregate consisting of -17 queen’s ships, 76 freighted ships, and some small craft, while the -Dutch squadron had 24 sail. The crews in all amounted to 16,000 men.</p> - -<p>It was known that in Cadiz was concentrated the greater part of what was -left of Philip’s naval strength, and the city was the richest in Spain. -Ranged underneath the walls were 8 war galleys, and 17 galleons and -frigates were in the harbour, whilst 40 great ships were loading for -Mexico and elsewhere.</p> - -<p>On June 20 (O.S.) the fleets appeared before Cadiz, and, thanks to -Ralegh’s intervention, a combined attack was first made upon the -shipping. Essex cast his plumed hat into the sea in his exultation when -he heard the news. At dawn next morning Ralegh led the van in the -<i>War-sprite</i>. The city was taken by surprise and was panic-stricken, but -the Spanish ships in harbour had assumed some attitude of defence. The -effect of Philip’s system had been, as we have seen, to paralyse -initiative in his officers, and when there was no time to communicate -with him they were lost. After a few shots had been fired, Sotomayor, -the admiral, withdrew the ships he could save to the end of the bay at -Puerto Real, out of reach of the English guns. At night, before the -decisive attack, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, the craven of the Armada, -but still Philip’s high admiral, arrived. As usual, he could only look -on helplessly, whilst the English squadrons<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a>{256}</span> sailed into the harbour, -sank two great galleons, then landed the soldiers, stormed the old -crumbling walls and seized the city, almost without resistance. The -terror inspired now by the English at sea perfectly dominated the -Spaniards. The fortress of Cadiz was ruinous, the guns were old and -dirty, ammunition was short, and after two days of starvation the -defenders made terms of surrender. Every ship in harbour was burnt or -sunk, either by the English or the Spaniards themselves, and the -terrified sailors had been drowned by hundreds, out of sheer fright at -the “devilish folk.” There were 5000 Spanish women who had taken refuge -in the fortress. They were allowed to leave without the slightest -molestation, and the English commanders even provided boats to convey -the nuns and sick from the hospitals to a place of safety. Then for -fifteen days the city was submitted to a systematic pillage. Nothing was -left, and the richest city in Spain was reduced to a smoking wreck.</p> - -<p>“Neither ship, nor fleet, nor Cadiz remains,” wrote Medina Sidonia to -Philip. The fighting, such as it was, had only lasted three hours, and -there had been destroyed, mostly by the Spaniards, 13 Spanish -men-of-war, all the war galleys, and 40 of the best merchantmen in -Spain, with merchandise worth 11,000,000 ducats. The fortresses and -defences were razed to the ground, the first maritime city in the -country was destroyed, and the seal stamped deep on the final decadence -of Spain.</p> - -<p>Philip’s system had brought him to this. He could not defend his own -harbours, much less avenge the injuries done to him. Henry IV. had -beaten him in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a>{257}</span> France, the Nassaus had beaten him in Holland, the -English had beaten him on the sea. He was utterly bankrupt, his country -ruined, his dream of the universal predominance of Catholicism, and the -omnipotence of Spain proved to be a chimera. He was old and weary, -suffering incessant bodily agony, and yet with all this he never lost -his faith in his divine mission and the final success of his cause. “Thy -will, God, be done, not mine,” says an eye-witness of his last days, -were the words constantly on his lips.</p> - -<p>During the spring of 1598 the king was almost unable to move from gout, -but still continued his work at his papers. At the end of June he was -carried to the Escorial in a litter, and soon afterwards malignant -tumours broke out in various parts of his limbs. The pain of his malady -was so intense that he could not even endure a cloth to touch the parts, -and he lay slowly rotting to death for fifty-three dreadful days, -without a change of garments or the proper cleansing of his sores.</p> - -<p>Through all the repulsive and pitiful circumstances that accompanied his -last illness his patience and serenity never left him. His awful -sufferings were borne without a plaint, and his constant words were -those of resignation and assurance of divine forgiveness for his sins. -Night and day, ceaselessly around him, went on the propitiatory offices -of his Church; through the weary hours of pain the eyes of the dying -king were fixed in ecstasy on the holy emblems, and often in his anguish -of devotion he would bite and worry the coarse crucifix which never left -him, the same crucifix that had been grasped by the dying hands of the -emperor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a>{258}</span> On August 16 the nuncio brought him the papal blessing and -plenary absolution. Philip by this time was incapable of moving, a mere -mass of vermin and repulsive wounds, but his spirit conquered the -frailty of the flesh, and he fervently repeated his immovable faith in -the Church and the cause to which he had devoted his life. On September -1, in the presence of his son and daughter Isabel, the extreme unction -for the dying was administered, and although he had hitherto been so -weak as to be inaudible, he suddenly surprised the priests by himself -reading in a loud voice the last office of the Church. When the -administrant, fearing to tire him, said that it was unnecessary to -repeat the office when the sacrament was administered, the dying man -objected: “Oh yes, say it again and again, for it is very good.”</p> - -<p>Then all the attendants were sent from the room, and Philip was left -alone with his son. “I meant to save you this scene,” he said, “but I -wish you to see how the monarchies of the earth end. You see that God -has denuded me of all the glory and majesty of a monarch in order to -hand them to you. In a very few hours I shall be covered only with a -poor shroud and girded with a coarse rope. The king’s crown is already -falling from my brows, and death will place it on yours. Two things I -especially commend to you: one is that you keep always faithful to the -Holy Catholic Church, and the other is that you treat your subjects -justly. This crown will some day fall away from your head, as it now -falls from mine. You are young, as I was once. My days are numbered and -draw to a close; the tale of yours God alone knows, but they too must -end.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a>{259}</span>”</p> - -<p>This was Philip’s farewell to his royal state, for he concerned himself -no more with mundane affairs. Patient, kindly solicitous for those -around him, in gentle faith and serene resignation, he waited for his -release. On September 11, two days before he died, he took a last -farewell of his son, and of his beloved daughter, the Infanta Isabel, -who for years had been his chief solace and constant companion, even in -his hours of labour. He was leaving her the sovereignty of the -Netherlands, in union with the Archduke Albert, whom she was to marry, -and he urged her to uphold inviolate the Catholic faith in her -dominions. The farewell was an affecting one for the Infanta, but the -father was serene through it all. When it was ended he gave to his -confessor, Father Yepes, his political testament for his son, copied -from the exhortations of St. Louis. He would fain have taken the -sacrament again, but Moura was obliged to tell him that the physicians -feared he was too weak to swallow the host. Towards the next night Moura -warned him that his hour had nearly come, and he smiled gratefully when -he heard it. All through the dragging night in the small gloomy chamber -the prayers and dirges for the dying went on. When for a moment they -ceased, the dying king would urge their continuance. “Fathers,” he said, -“go on. The nearer I draw to the fountain, the greater grows my thirst.” -During the night the watchers thought the great change had come, and -hastily placed in the king’s hand a blessed candle he had kept for many -years to illumine his last moments upon earth. But he was still -collected. “No,” he said, “not yet. The time has not come.”</p> - -<p>Between three and four in the morning, as the first<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a>{260}</span> pale streaks of -coming dawn glimmered beyond the stony peaks of the Guadarramas, Philip -turned to Fernando de Toledo, who was at his bedside, and whispered, -“Give it to me; it is time now”; and as he took the sacred taper, his -face was all irradiated with smiles. His truckle bed almost overlooked -the high altar of the cathedral, the building of which had been his -pride, and already the shrill voices of the choristers far below were -heard singing the early mass which he had endowed long ago for his own -spiritual welfare. With this sound in his ears and prayers upon his -lips, his last moments ebbed away. When those around him thought that -all was over and had fallen to weeping, he suddenly opened his eyes -again and fixed them immovably on the crucifix. He shut them no more, -and as they glazed into awful stoniness he gave three little gasps, and -Philip the Prudent had passed beyond. He died gripping the poor crucifix -which still rests upon his breast, and he was buried inclosed in the -coffin he had had made from the timbers of the <i>Cinco Chagas</i>, one of -the great galleons that had fought the heretics. In the awful jasper -charnel-house at the Escorial, which will ever be the most fitting -monument of his hard and joyless life, his body has rested through three -centuries of detraction and misunderstanding.</p> - -<p>Through all the tribulations and calamities that have afflicted his -country, the affectionate regard in which Spaniards bear the memory of -Philip the Prudent has never waned. His father was an infinitely greater -man, but he has no such place in the hearts of his countrymen, for -Philip was a true Spaniard to the core, a faithful concentration of the -qualities, good and evil, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a>{261}</span> the nation he loved. If Spaniards were -narrow and rigid in their religious views, it was the natural result of -centuries of struggle, foot to foot with the infidel; if they were -regardless of human suffering in the furtherance of their objects, it -was because they lavishly and eagerly gave up their own lives for the -same ends, and oriental fatalism had been grafted upon Gothic -stubbornness in their national character. But they, like their king, -were patient, faithful, dutiful, and religious.</p> - -<p>Philip was born to a hopeless battle. Spain, always a poor country of -itself, was saddled by the marriage of Philip’s grandparents with a -European foreign policy which cursed it with continuous wars for a -century. The tradition he had inherited, and his own knowledge, showed -him that his only chance of safety was to maintain a close political -alliance with England. We have seen how, by fair means and by foul, he -strove to this end through a long life, and how from the mere force of -circumstances it was unattainable. Spain’s power was imperilled from the -moment that Philip the Handsome brought the inheritance of Burgundy to -Jane the Mad, and the doom was sealed when Henry Tudor cast his eyes -upon Anne Boleyn; for the first event made a fixed alliance with England -vital, and the second made it impossible. It may be objected that if a -man of nimble mind and easy conscience had been in Philip’s place, and -had fought Elizabeth, Catharine, and Orange with their own weapons of -tergiversation and religious opportunism, the result might have been -different, as it also might have been if he had opened his mind to new -ideas and accepted the reformed faith. But apart from his mental -qualities, and his monastic training, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a>{262}</span> made such an attitude -impossible for him, his party had been chosen for him before his birth, -and he inherited the championship of obscurantism, as he inherited the -task which obscurantism was powerless to perform. Burdened thus, as he -was, with an inherited work for which neither he, nor his inherited -means, was adequate, it was only natural that he should adopt the -strange views of the semi-divinity of himself and his mission that so -deeply coloured most of the acts of his life. The descendant and the -ancestor of a line of religious mystics, he looked upon himself as only -an exalted instrument of a higher power. Philip of Austria could not be -defeated, because Philip of Austria was not fighting. It was God’s -battle, not his; and he might well be calm in the face of reverses that -would have broken another man’s heart; for he knew, as he often said, -that in the long-run the Almighty would fight for His own hand, and that -defeat for Him was impossible. Where his reasoning was weak was in the -assumption that the cause of the Almighty and the interests of Philip of -Austria were necessarily identical.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a>{263}</span></p> - -<p><a name="Genealogical_Table_showing_Philips_Claim_to_the_English_Crown" id="Genealogical_Table_showing_Philips_Claim_to_the_English_Crown"></a></p> - -<p class="c"> -<a href="images/geneological-table_lg.png"> -<br /> -<img class="enlargeimage" -src="images/enlarge-image.png" -alt="" -width="18" -height="14" /></a> -<a href="images/geneological-table_huge.png"> -<img class="enlargeimage" -src="images/enlarge-image.png" -alt="" -width="28" -height="24" /> -<br /> -<img src="images/geneological-table_lg.png" width="600" height="368" alt="" /></a> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a>{264}</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a>{265}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX</h2> - -<p class="nind">A <small>LIST</small> of some of the printed authorities upon which the present -monograph has been based, in addition to the unpublished State papers at -Simancas, in the Archives Nationales (Paris), and in the British Museum, -etc.:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Calendar of Spanish State Papers</i>, Elizabeth, Rolls Series, -volumes i. to iv., 1892-1897.</p> - -<p>Prescott, <i>History of the Reign of Philip II.</i>, 3 volumes, London, -1855.</p> - -<p><i>Estudios sobre Felipe II.</i> (translation of articles by G. -Maurenbrecher, M. Philippson, and C. Justi, with prologue and -appendices by Ricardo Hinojosa), Madrid, 1887, 1 volume.</p> - -<p>Cabrera de Cordoba, <i>Felipe II. Rey de España</i>, Madrid, 1619.</p> - -<p>Leti Gregorio, <i>Vita del Catolico Ré Filippo II.</i>, Cologne, 1679.</p> - -<p>Porreño, <i>Vida y Hechos del Señor Rey Felipe II., el Prudente</i> (new -edition), Valladolid, 1863.</p> - -<p>Cervero de la Torre, <i>Testimonio autentico y verdadero de las cosas -notables que pasaron en la dichosa muerte del Rey Felipe II.</i> (an -account of Philip’s death by his Chaplain), Valencia, 1589, 1 -volume.</p> - -<p>Fernandez Montaña, <i>Nueva Luz y verdad historica sobre Felipe II.</i> -(an unrestrained panegyric of Philip from a Catholic priest’s point -of view), Madrid, 1891, 1 volume.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a>{266}</span></p> - -<p>Fernandez Montaña, <i>Mas Luz y verdad historica sobre Felipe II. el -Prudente</i> (supplement to the same), Madrid, 1892, 1 volume.</p> - -<p><i>Correspondence de Granvelle</i> (edited by C. Piot), Brussels, 1884.</p> - -<p><i>Papiers d’État de Granvelle</i> (edited by Weiss), Paris, 1843.</p> - -<p>H. Forneron, <i>Histoire de Philippe II.</i>, Paris, 1880.</p> - -<p>Martin Hume, <i>The Year after the Armada</i> (for accounts of Philip’s -marriage, the English attack on Portugal, the social condition of -Spain, etc.), London, 1896, 1 volume.</p> - -<p><i>Documentos ineditos para la historia de España</i>, Madrid, in -progress. (A large number of these volumes contain valuable papers -referring to the reign of Philip II.)</p> - -<p>Flores, <i>Reinas Catolicas</i>, Madrid, 1770 (an account of the Queens -of Spain).</p> - -<p>Philippson, <i>Ein Ministerium unter Philipp II.</i>, Berlin, 1895 (an -account of Granvelle’s ministry in Spain, 1579-1586).</p> - -<p>Gachard, <i>Correspondence de Philip II.</i>, Brussels (correspondence -mainly on Flemish affairs).</p> - -<p>Gachard, <i>Correspondence de Philippe II. avec ses filles</i>, Paris, -1884, 1 volume (familiar letters from the king to his two children -in 1580-1581).</p> - -<p>M. la Fuente, <i>Historia General de España</i>, Madrid, 1885.</p> - -<p>Strada, <i>Histoire de la Guerre de Flandre</i>, Brussels, 1712, 3 -volumes.</p> - -<p>Muro, Gaspar, <i>La Princesa de Eboli</i>, Madrid, 1877, 1 volume (with -valuable preface by Señor Canovas de Castillo).</p> - -<p>Perez Antonio, <i>Relaciones, etc.</i>, Geneva, 1649, 1 volume.</p> - -<p>Mignet, <i>Antonio Perez et Philippe II.</i>, Paris, 1881.</p> - -<p>Llorente, <i>Histoire critique de l’Inquisition</i>, Paris, 1817.</p> - -<p>Fernandez Duro, <i>Estudios historicos del Reinado de Felipe II.</i>, -Madrid, 1890 (an account of the disaster of Los Gelves, etc.).</p> - -<p>Fernandez Duro, <i>La Armada Invencible</i>, 2 volumes, Madrid, 1885 (a -Spanish account of the Armada).</p> - -<p>Baumstark, <i>Philippe II. Roi d’Espagne</i> (French translation by G. -Kurth), Liège, 1877 (German Catholic view of the king).<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a>{267}</span></p> - -<p>Du Prat, <i>Elizabeth de Valois</i>, Paris, 1850 (Life of Philip’s third -wife).</p> - -<p>Ranke, <i>Zur Geschichte des Don Carlos</i> (in the “Wiener Jahrbüchen -der Literatur,” vol. xlvi., gives all the early relations about Don -Carlos), Vienna, 1829.</p> - -<p>Schmidt, <i>Epochen und Katastrophen: Don Carlos und Philipp II.</i>, -Berlin, 1864 (against Philip).</p> - -<p>Alberi, <i>Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti</i>, 15 volumes, Firenze, -1839-1863.</p> - -<p>V. la Fuente, <i>Historia eclesiastica de España</i>, Madrid, 1874. -<i>Calendars of Venetian State Papers</i>, Rolls Series, in progress.</p> - -<p>Sepulveda, <i>De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., Opera</i>, vol. ii., Madrid, -1780.</p> - -<p>Motley, <i>The Rise of the Dutch Republic</i>, London, 1859.</p> - -<p>Gachard, <i>Don Carlos et Philippe II.</i>, Brussels, 1863.</p> - -<p>Campana, <i>Vita del catolico Don Filippo secondo, con le guerre dei -suoi tempi</i> (Vicenza, 1605).</p> - -<p>Calderon de la Barca, J. M., <i>Gloriosa defensa de Malta</i>, Madrid, -1796 (best account of the siege of Malta).</p> - -<p>Morel Fatio, <i>L’Espagne au 16<sup>me</sup> et 17<sup>me</sup> Siècles</i> (accounts of -Madrid, letters from Don Juan, etc.), Paris, 1878.</p> - -<p>Mendoza, <i>Guerra de Granada</i>, Valencia, 1795 (contemporary account -of the Morisco war).</p></div> - -<p class="c"> -THE END<br /> -<br /> -<i>Printed by</i> <span class="smcap">R. & R. Clark, Limited</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i>.<br /> -</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><p class="cb">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The bull is printed in full for the first time in -Döllinger’s <i>Beiträge</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The destination of Drake was kept so secret that the first -hint that he might attack Cadiz was only made by Stafford, the English -ambassador in Paris (who was a traitor in Philip’s pay), to Mendoza on -April 9. He told Mendoza that not a living soul but the queen and Cecil -really knew what the design was, the lord admiral himself being kept in -the dark, “as the queen considered him a frank-spoken man.” It was only -by chance hints that Stafford surmised that Cadiz might be the -destination. In the letter by which Philip conveyed the news of Drake’s -ravages in Cadiz to Mendoza he says that he grieves not so much for the -actual harm done, as for the daring insolence of the thing.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Immediately after Drake had sailed from Plymouth, André de -Loo arrived in London with a peaceful proposal from Farnese, and the -queen was much distressed that her efforts to recall Drake were -ineffectual.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> This evidence will be found printed at length in the fourth -volume of the <i>Calendar of Spanish State Papers of Elizabeth</i> now -(August 1897) in the press.</p></div> -</div> - -<p><a name="transcrib" id="transcrib"></a></p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" -style="padding:2%;border:3px dotted gray;"> -<tr><th align="center">Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:</th></tr> -<tr><td align="center">arrear=> arrears {pg 56}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">the investure from the new pope=> the investure from the new pope {pg 165}</td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Philip II. of Spain, by Martin Andrew Sharp Hume - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILIP II. 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