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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77401 ***
+
+
+
+
+HOLBEIN’S “AMBASSADORS”
+
+THE PICTURE AND THE MEN
+
+[Illustration: THE “AMBASSADORS.”
+
+_From the Picture by Holbein in the National Gallery, London._
+
+_Art Repro. Co._]
+
+
+
+
+                                 HOLBEIN’S
+                               “AMBASSADORS”
+
+                          THE PICTURE AND THE MEN
+
+                              [Illustration]
+
+                            AN HISTORICAL STUDY
+
+                                    BY
+                             MARY F. S. HERVEY
+
+                                                       “...
+                Tes esprits courageux ne furent pas contans
+                Sans doctement conjoindre avec la peinture
+                L’Art de mathématique et de l’architecture.”
+
+                                                    RONSARD
+
+             _WITH NINETEEN ILLUSTRATIONS AND TWO FACSIMILES_
+
+                                  LONDON
+                     GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET
+                               COVENT GARDEN
+                                   1900
+
+                CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
+                    TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+It may appear a large demand upon the patience of the reader to devote
+an entire volume to subjects connected with one picture. So varied and
+fascinating, however, is the field of study opened up by Holbein’s
+“Ambassadors,” that what was originally intended to occupy but a few
+pages has developed to the present dimensions.
+
+The value of a work of art, as such, must necessarily depend on purely
+æsthetic considerations. But it often happens that other and hardly
+less attractive points of view converge with the artistic aspect. The
+unique position occupied by the “Ambassadors” as an example of French
+cultivation in the early half of the sixteenth century is a case in
+point. Probably no other painting illustrates in the same measure the
+private life and pursuits of an educated Frenchman of the period, as well
+as certain remarkable points relating to public events.
+
+The documents which at last re-established the identity of Holbein’s
+sitters will be found printed _in extenso_ in Part I. of this volume, two
+of them for the first time; while all the facts bearing upon the history
+of the picture have been gathered together into a continuous narrative.
+A large part of the information given throughout the following pages
+is based upon hitherto unpublished manuscripts, and a variety of new
+circumstances has been brought to light respecting both the picture and
+the personages portrayed. Where letters or quotations are inserted in the
+original French, the old orthography has been strictly preserved, with
+the sole exception that the letter _u_, when it stands for a consonant,
+has been replaced by the more familiar _v_. In all cases where the old
+French seemed likely to present any difficulty to the modern reader,
+translations have been appended.
+
+The fact that Holbein copied the floor of _opus Alexandrinum_ depicted in
+the “Ambassadors,” from the grand old mosaic pavement of Abbot Ware in
+Westminster Abbey, may come as a surprise to the reader, and will, it is
+hoped, be as great a pleasure to him to learn as it was to the writer to
+discover.
+
+The short notice in the Appendix respecting George Gyze or Gisze,
+showing the position held by him in the corporation of German merchants
+in London, now made clear for the first time, may also, it is believed,
+offer a point of interest to those acquainted with the fine portrait of
+him, by Holbein, in the Gallery at Berlin.
+
+It remains for the writer to express her gratitude to all those who
+have assisted the researches of which the following pages are the
+result. Special thanks are due to Lady Radnor, for information kindly
+communicated respecting the history of the picture while at Longford
+Castle; to Mrs. Graham Harrison, for translations from the Latin letters
+of Pierre Bunel; to M. Dorlodot des Essarts, Marquis de Selve, for
+permission to reproduce the portrait of the Bishop of Lavaur preserved at
+Villiers, and for the use of a valuable unpublished Papal rescript which
+has formed part of the family archives since the sixteenth century; to
+Lord Francis Hervey, for the translation of Alciati’s Latin verses to
+accompany the emblem “Fœdera Italorum”; to the Astronomer Royal, for an
+opinion respecting the celestial globe painted by Holbein; to the late
+Mr. C. H. Coote, of the British Museum; to Mr. W. H. Rylands, G.A.D.C.;
+to M. Massif, Keeper of the Public Library at Toulouse; M. Auguste Vidal,
+Archivist at Albi (Tarn); the Abbé Cazès, Superior of the Seminary at
+Lavaur; M. Lefèvre-Pontalis, editor of the “Correspondance Politique
+d’Odet de Selve,” in the series of State Papers published by the French
+Foreign Office; M. Tausserat-Radel, editor of the “Correspondance de
+Guillaume Pellicier, Evêque de Montpellier,” in the same series; M.
+Dardenne, Trésorier-Général of the Department of Aude; Dr. Charles
+Fournel, author of the history of the Hospice Beaujon at Paris; M. F.
+Abrand, Régisseur at Polisy; to Mr. Morelli, for permission to use the
+photographs taken by him from the picture of the “Ambassadors”; to
+Messrs. Henry Stevens, Son and Stiles, for leave to reproduce the gores
+of the globe copied by Holbein; and to many others who have cordially
+done what lay in their power to promote the objects of this study.
+
+The writer is also indebted to the keepers of various departmental and
+municipal collections of archives in France; to several Paris notaries
+who have kindly examined for her the ancient legal documents in their
+possession; and to M. Léon Pajot, for researches conducted amongst the
+MSS. preserved at Paris.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                     PAGE
+
+  INTRODUCTION                                                          1
+
+                                  PART I
+
+                        THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE
+
+  CHAPTER I. The History of the “Ambassadors” from 1533 to 1654         5
+
+  CHAPTER II. The History of the “Ambassadors” from 1654 to the
+    present day. Chronology of the Picture                             18
+
+                                 PART II
+
+                            JEAN DE DINTEVILLE
+
+  CHAPTER I. The Early Life of Jean de Dinteville                      35
+
+  CHAPTER II. The First Mission to England of the Bailly of Troyes
+    (1531), and the Calais Interview of 1532                           50
+
+  CHAPTER III. The Bailly of Troyes, French Ambassador in England
+    (1533)                                                             66
+
+  CHAPTER IV. Coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn and Termination of
+    the Bailly’s Long Embassy to England                               83
+
+  CHAPTER V. Short Missions of the Bailly of Troyes to England in
+    1535, 1536, and 1537                                               99
+
+  CHAPTER VI. Disgrace and Return to Favour of the Dinteville
+    family                                                            111
+
+  CHAPTER VII. The Building of Polisy and the Last Years of Jean
+    de Dinteville. His Supposed Portrait at Windsor                   125
+
+                                 PART III
+
+                             GEORGE DE SELVE
+
+  CHAPTER I. The Early Years of George de Selve and his First
+    Diplomatic Employment                                             143
+
+  CHAPTER II. The Bishop of Lavaur Ambassador at Venice and at Rome   156
+
+  CHAPTER III. Repose at Lavaur, and Embassy to Charles V.            169
+
+  CHAPTER IV. The Closing Days of the Bishop of Lavaur. His Portrait
+    at Villiers                                                       184
+
+                                 PART IV
+
+                        THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE
+
+  CHAPTER I. General Description of the Picture—The Death’s-Head—The
+    Dagger—The Order of St. Michael—The Celestial Globe—The
+    Terrestrial Globe                                                 197
+
+  CHAPTER II. The Lutheran Hymn-Book—The Book of Arithmetic—The
+    Geometrical Instruments—The Mosaic Pavement—The Lute—The Seven
+    Liberal Arts—The Silver Crucifix—Occult Science—Conclusion        219
+
+  APPENDIX A. Georg Gyze or Gisze                                     239
+
+  APPENDIX B. “Presbyter Joannes” (Prester John)                      241
+
+  INDEX                                                               243
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                                                                     PAGE
+
+   1. THE “AMBASSADORS,” FROM THE PICTURE BY HOLBEIN IN THE
+        NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON (_full-page_)              _Frontispiece_
+
+   2. REDUCED FACSIMILE OF DOCUMENT PURCHASED FROM M. SAFFROY
+        (_full-page_)                                                  12
+
+   3. REDUCED FACSIMILE OF DOCUMENT PRESERVED AMONGST THE
+        GODEFROY PAPERS, BIBL. DE L’INSTITUT, PARIS (_full-page_)      18
+
+   4. THE CHÂTEAU OF POLISY, FROM AN ORIGINAL DRAWING OF THE
+        EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, PUBLISHED BY M. LUCIEN
+        COUTANT IN THE ALMANACH DE BAR-SUR-SEINE (_full-page_)         35
+
+   5. PORTRAIT OF FRANÇOIS II. DE DINTEVILLE, BISHOP OF AUXERRE,
+        FROM THE MARTYRDOM OF STE. EUGÉNIE, BY FELIX CHRÉTIEN,
+        IN THE CHURCH AT VARZY (_full-page_)                           56
+
+   6. UNNAMED DRAWING BY HOLBEIN IN THE WINDSOR COLLECTION,
+        SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT JEAN DE DINTEVILLE (_full-page_)        110
+
+   7. ARMS OF JEAN DE DINTEVILLE, AS STILL SEEN AT POLISY (_in
+        the text_)                                                    128
+
+   8. ARMS OF THE BISHOP OF AUXERRE, FROM THE TESSELATED PAVEMENT
+        AT POLISY (_in the text_)                                     130
+
+   9. DORMER WINDOW OF THE MAISON DE L’AÛMONIER AT POLISY, SHOWING
+        THE EMBLEM OF FORTUNE (_in the text_)                         131
+
+  10. MARK OF THE PRINTER GRYPHE OF LYONS, SHOWING THE EMBLEM OF
+        FORTUNE (_in the text_)                                       132
+
+  11. THE CATHEDRAL OF LAVAUR AT THE PRESENT DAY (_full-page_)        143
+
+  12. JEAN DE SELVE, PREMIER PRÉSIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENT OF PARIS,
+        FROM BULLART, “ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES ET DES ARTS”
+        (_full-page_)                                                 154
+
+  13. GEORGE DE SELVE, BISHOP OF LAVAUR, FROM A POSTHUMOUS PAINTING
+        AT THE CHÂTEAU OF VILLIERS, SEINE-ET-OISE (_full-page_)       170
+
+  14. _a._ THE “ARMS OF DEATH,” FROM HOLBEIN’S DANCE OF DEATH.
+
+      _b._ THE DEATH’S-HEAD BROOCH IN DINTEVILLE’S CAP (_full-page_)  197
+
+  15. _a._ DINTEVILLE’S DAGGER-SHEATH, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE
+        “AMBASSADORS.”
+
+      _b._ DESIGN FOR A DAGGER-SHEATH AFTER HOLBEIN, AT THE MUSEUM
+        OF BASLE (_full-page_)                                        206
+
+  16. CELESTIAL GLOBE, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE “AMBASSADORS,”
+        reduced scale (_full-page_)                                   210
+
+  17. TERRESTRIAL GLOBE, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE “AMBASSADORS,”
+        reduced scale (_full-page_)                                   214
+
+  18. GORES OF THE NUREMBERG GLOBE COPIED BY HOLBEIN, reduced
+        scale (_full-page_)      _ibid._
+
+  19. HYMN-BOOK, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE “AMBASSADORS” (_full-page_)  218
+
+  20. _a._ BOOK OF ARITHMETIC, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE “AMBASSADORS.”
+
+      _b._ PAGE OF APIAN’S “MERCHANT’S ARITHMETIC,” COPIED BY
+        HOLBEIN (_full-page_)                                         224
+
+  21. _a._ DESIGN OF THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY,
+        WITH DETAILS OF PATTERNS (_in the text_)                      226
+
+      _b._ DESIGN OF THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT IN HOLBEIN’S PICTURE,
+        WITH DETAILS OF PATTERNS (_in the text_)                    _ibid._
+
+
+
+
+HOLBEIN’S “AMBASSADORS”
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Few pictures have attracted more attention than Holbein’s double-portrait
+of two Ambassadors, since its migration in 1890 from Longford Castle to
+the National Gallery. The great qualities which distinguish it as a work
+of art are too well known to need recapitulation here. In conception,
+scale, and elaboration, in all the elements characteristic of Holbein’s
+genius, the picture stands in the foremost rank of that painter’s
+achievement. Moreover, up to 1890, Holbein was unrepresented in the
+National Gallery, though much of his best work was executed in England,
+and for English patrons.
+
+Besides its great and permanent merits, another cause contributed to draw
+notice to this work when it first appeared as national property: the
+identity of the two individuals represented had become lost. Good fortune
+has since restored to us their forgotten names. It is now possible to
+affirm, with complete certainty, that in the personage to the left[1] is
+beheld the image of Jean de Dinteville, Seigneur of Polisy and Bailly of
+Troyes: in the robed figure to the right, that of George de Selve, Bishop
+of Lavaur. How, step by step, the history of Holbein’s masterpiece has
+been recovered it will be one of the objects of the following pages to
+show.
+
+But the unusual character of the picture, the curiosity it has aroused,
+the complex and fascinating setting in which the two friends are placed,
+seem to call for something more than a mere chronicle of its story. It is
+impossible to repress the question, what manner of men were these? or to
+resist the desire to know how far the actual circumstances of their lives
+explain the choice of the many striking objects with which they are seen
+surrounded. As a matter of fact, a closer acquaintance with the mental
+atmosphere they breathed, and with the relations in which they stood to
+contemporary thought and events, throws a flood of light on many points
+which, at first sight, appear obscure. In the history of their life and
+times is to be found the solution of any enigmas suggested by their
+_entourage_.
+
+Returning to the picture with the insight derived from the study of their
+circumstances, it becomes clear that the composition is no less logical
+in thought than symmetrical in design. The varied features presented by
+it, many of which deserve close inspection on their own merits, assume
+new meaning and interest, whether taken separately or viewed in certain
+combinations. Some glimpse is thus obtained, though it may be but an
+imperfect one, of the intentions with which, more than three centuries
+and a half ago, artist and owner built up the intricate harmonies of
+their monumental work.
+
+The subject thus falls naturally into four divisions. The first part
+will be devoted to the history of the picture; the second and third, to
+the lives of the men it represents; the fourth, to some analysis of its
+contents.
+
+
+
+
+PART I
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE
+
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE “AMBASSADORS” FROM 1533 TO 1654
+
+
+When, in 1890, the picture of “The Ambassadors” was purchased for the
+national collection,[2] nothing was known of its story prior to the last
+hundred years. The record began with the fact that it had been owned in
+the latter part of the eighteenth century by Jean-Batiste-Pierre Le Brun,
+a dealer and collector at Paris.[3]
+
+In 1792 Le Brun published the first volume of his “Galerie des Peintres
+Flamands, Hollandais et Allemands,” in which there appeared a very bad
+engraving of “The Ambassadors,” thus inscribed:
+
+    “Tiré du Cabinet de M. Le Brun d’après l’original peint sur
+    bois, hauteur 96 pouces, largeur 54.”[4]
+
+The engraving was accompanied by a biographical notice of Holbein which,
+after recording various points connected with his paintings, continues:
+
+    “Celui dont on voit l’estampe offre les portraits de MM. de
+    Selve et d’Avaux; l’un fut Ambassadeur à Venise, l’autre le
+    fut dans le nord: ils sont accompagnés des attributs des
+    arts qu’ils cultivaient. J’ai depuis vendu ce tableau pour
+    l’Angleterre, où il est maintenant; les figures sont de
+    grandeur naturelle.”[5]
+
+It will be remarked that Le Brun offers no information as to where he
+had acquired his precious possession. In England it came into the hands
+of the dealer Buchanan, who sold it to Jacob, second Earl of Radnor, in
+1808, or the following year.[6] It remained at Longford Castle until
+purchased for the National Gallery.
+
+During the Longford episode, guesses seemed to have rained as to the
+identity of the personages. Some critics favoured the French theory
+derived from Le Brun. Others drew into the service a variety of
+notabilities, ranging from Charles V., Emperor of Germany, downwards. The
+year 1826 seems to have been especially rich in surmise of this type. At
+last someone proposed Sir Thomas Wyat for the courtly personage to the
+left; and this name appears to have clung a little longer than was the
+case with some previous suggestions. At any rate, it was accepted without
+much reflection by the leading authorities on Holbein, Mr. Wornum[7]
+and Dr. Woltmann,[8] and so came to pass as current coin. Dr. Woltmann
+further suggested the name of Leland for the second figure.
+
+But a paper by Mr. Gough Nichols, published in the “Archæologia” for
+1873,[9] easily disposed of these identifications. For one thing, the
+“Ambassadors” bore no resemblance whatever to authentic portraits of the
+individuals they were now supposed to represent, those portraits, in
+Wyat’s case, being also by Holbein.[10] Mr. Gough Nichols had no fresh
+theory to offer in the place of that which he demolished. Returning
+for a moment to the French title of Le Brun’s engraving, he proceeded
+to dismiss the claim to consideration of Selve and Avaux as summarily
+as that of Sir Thomas Wyat and Leland.[11] Holbein’s sitters were left
+nameless. In 1890 there seemed to remain only the traditional title of
+“Two Ambassadors” (shorn of the faulty, but highly important corollary,
+“MM. De Selve et D’Avaux”), and such clues as the internal evidence of
+the picture might afford, to throw any light on the enigma.
+
+It will be necessary now to dwell for a moment on this internal evidence,
+in order to show how completely it bears out the documentary testimony
+which at last came to light.
+
+The only certain clues were, shortly, the following: 1. The signature
+(low down in the left-hand corner): Joannes Holbein pingebat, 1533. 2.
+The French Order of St. Michael worn by the personage to the left. 3.
+The words, AET. SVAE 29, inscribed on the dagger-sheath of the same
+gentleman. 4. A similar inscription, AETATIS SVE (_sic_) 25, on the
+leaves of the closed book which supports the elbow of the right-hand
+personage.
+
+The best authorities united in the belief that Holbein spent the
+year 1533 in England. The Order of St. Michael of France worn by the
+individual to the left, pointed to the probability, but not certainty, of
+his being a Frenchman; scarcely any foreigners, except royal and a few
+other notable personages, being at that time admitted to the Order. The
+task, therefore, so far as the left-hand figure was concerned, was to
+find a man who, having been in England in the year indicated, was at once
+an ambassador, a Knight of the Royal Order of France, and of the desired
+age. Further, it was likely that he would be a Frenchman.
+
+Among the many candidates of varied nationality, the dates and
+circumstances of whose lives, so far as they could be ascertained, were
+investigated by the writer, one only, proposed, with happy insight, by
+Mr. Sidney Colvin,[12] appeared to fit these conditions in every respect.
+
+Jean de Dinteville, Seigneur of Polisy, Bailly of Troyes, and Knight of
+St. Michael, was French Ambassador at the court of Henry VIII. almost
+throughout the year 1533. He was born in September, 1504, and was
+therefore in his twenty-ninth year when he came to England in February,
+1533. Moreover “Polisy,” the name of Dinteville’s seigneurie in Burgundy,
+was found to be marked on the terrestrial globe represented in the
+picture close to the principal personage. The word was, however, slightly
+damaged, which detracted from the certainty of the reading till further
+proof arose to confirm it. That proof was still lacking; while the
+presence of many rival theories, some of them highly ingenious, and each
+claiming to have some special feature in its favour, left the solution
+still doubtful.
+
+The identity of the second personage remained meanwhile as obscure
+as ever. Many names were proposed,[13] but none seemed to offer the
+substantial promise of success which lent cogency to the Dinteville
+theory. The claim of M. de Selve, whose name, as well as the title of
+“The Two Ambassadors,” proved in the end to be survivals of the true
+tradition, was curiously overlooked from the time when that of his
+supposed companion, M. D’Avaux, was found to be a myth. The two names
+had in reality nothing in common. The very fact that they were not
+contemporary proved the arbitrary nature of their connection. While the
+title of Avaux did not exist till more than a hundred years after the
+picture was painted,[14] five out of the six sons of Jean de Selve, the
+famous Premier Président of the parliament of Paris, were ambassadors
+during the sixteenth century and were born within a range of time that
+covered the desired date. Two of them were envoys at Venice, in exact
+accordance with the French tradition.[15] The difficulty was to know
+which brother to select, and to find the precise information which would
+bring him into relation with Dinteville and Holbein in England. Much
+confusion prevails in the popular sources of information which deal with
+this family of diplomatists. This complicated the task of fixing their
+exact ages, necessarily the first step towards success. Where, however,
+so little evidence was forthcoming on which to base any kind of theory,
+the author thought it advisable not to reject an old and plausible
+tradition unless proved to be incorrect.
+
+The rights of the Selve family now received a fresh impulse from another
+quarter. In 1894 the patient research of Mr. Dickes[16] succeeded in
+tracing the story of the picture one step behind the ownership of Le Brun
+to the sale of the property of M. Nicolas Beaujon, a well-known French
+millionaire, who died in the winter of 1786. In the catalogue of that
+sale, which occurred in April and May, 1787, the following curious notice
+may be read:
+
+    “16 _bis._ Un autre tableau de quatre pieds et demi ou environ
+    de hauteur sur près de huit pieds de large;[17] il représente
+    deux ambassadeurs, MM. de Selve et d’Avaux, l’un Ambassadeur à
+    Venise, et l’autre dans les pays du Nord, avec le costume des
+    nations chez lesquelles ils étoient envoyés; et les attributs
+    des arts qu’ils aimoient. On voit aussi une tête de mort en
+    perspective, à prendre de l’angle gauche du tableau,[18] et
+    qui a l’agrément de ressembler en face à un grand poisson. Le
+    tableau est du même Holbein, mais la date de l’année n’y est
+    pas.[19] Il est du règne de François I. ou de Henri II. Ces
+    deux tableaux sont à considérer.”[20]
+
+It now became clear whence Le Brun had drawn his information. He had
+merely repeated the already existing tradition. Notwithstanding the
+errors woven by a lively imagination into the substantial facts of
+the Beaujon catalogue, the importance of the fresh link in the chain
+of evidence was obvious. The new clue added force to the presumption,
+already strong, that the French tradition had a real foundation in fact;
+but that by some unexplained means the name of Avaux had in course of
+time been substituted for that of Dinteville.
+
+Such was the state of things when, in 1895, a fortunate discovery came
+to confirm the probabilities thus evolved, and to raise them to the
+certainty of fact.
+
+In the “Revue de Champagne et de Brie” for 1888, there was published a
+short notice of a picture formerly preserved _at Polisy_, containing the
+portraits of _Jean de Dinteville and George de Selve_![21]
+
+Here then, at last, was the long-delayed solution: doubly satisfactory
+inasmuch as it exactly corroborated the results of so much previous
+research.
+
+The paragraph in the “Revue de Champagne” was based on a catalogue
+published in March, 1888, by M. Saffroy, an antiquarian bookseller of
+Pré-Saint-Gervais, in which a seventeenth-century parchment, describing
+this picture, was offered for sale. The notice in the “Revue” first
+came under the present writer’s observation in 1895. The document there
+mentioned, which M. Saffroy happily still possessed after the lapse of
+seven years, was at once obtained, and furnished exactly the information
+which had so long been sought in vain. The following is its complete text:
+
+    “[Remarques sur le suject d’un tableau excellent des Srs.
+    d’Inteville Polizy, et de George de Selve Evesque de Lavour,
+    contenant leurs emplois, et tems de leur deceds.][22]
+
+    “En ce tableau est representé au naturel Messire Iean de
+    DIntevile chevalier Sieur de Polizy pres de Bar-sur-seyne
+    Bailly de Troyes, qui fut Ambassadeur en Angleterre pour le Roy
+    Francois premier ez années 1532 & 1533[23] & de puis Gouverneur
+    de Monsieur charles de France second Filz diceluy Roy, le quel
+    Charles mourut a forest monstier en l’an 1545, & le dict Sr.
+    de DIntevile en lan 1555. Sepulturé en leglise du dict Polizy.
+    Est aussi represente audict tableau Messire George de Selve
+    Evesque de Lavaur personage de grandes lettres & fort vertueux,
+    & qui fut Ambassadeur pres de LEmpereur Charles cinquiesme,
+    ledict Evesque Filz de Messire Iean de Selve premier president
+    au parlement de Paris, iceluy Sr. Evesque decedé en lan
+    1541 ayant des la susdicte année 1532 ou 1533[23] passe en
+    Angleterre par permission du Roy pour visiter le susdict
+    Sieur de DIntevile son intime amy & de toute sa famile, & eux
+    deux ayantz rencontrez en Angleterre un excellent peinctre
+    holandois l’employerent pour faire iceluy tableau qui a esté
+    soigneusement conservé au mesme lieu de Polizy iusques en lan
+    1653.”[24]
+
+The manuscript consists of an oblong piece of parchment which may have
+been cut at some time from an inventory. From the fact, however, that
+while containing the story of the picture up to the time when it left
+Polisy, it does not state where it was then taken to, it seems possible
+that it was attached to the painting as a label in the early days of its
+next sojourn. If fastened to the frame, it would be obviously superfluous
+to describe where the picture was actually hanging. The date of the
+document is in accordance with this supposition. On submission to the
+authorities at the British Museum, its authenticity was pronounced to
+be indisputable. The body of the manuscript, it was further stated, was
+written just after the middle of the seventeenth century, while the
+heading was added at a slightly later date. Whether originally a label or
+not, it appears early to have become separated from the picture and its
+proprietors, and to have fallen into careful hands, who then added the
+docket.[25]
+
+In 1888 the existence at the present day of the picture thus minutely
+placed on record was of course unknown. The writer in the “Revue de
+Champagne et de Brie” merely called attention to the notice in M.
+Saffroy’s catalogue as to an archæological curiosity connected with a
+name once famous in his province.
+
+It is hardly necessary to point out that the dates and circumstances,
+already related, of Dinteville’s life, are in exact accordance with
+the record of this document. With the new data now at command correct
+information was soon obtained with regard to his companion also.
+
+[Illustration: REDUCED FACSIMILE OF DOCUMENT PURCHASED FROM M. SAFFROY.]
+
+The ecclesiastical rank of George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, gives
+him a place in the great work of the brothers Sainte-Marthe, “Gallia
+Christiana;” and this book furnishes a further point of comparison for
+the correctness of picture and document. Turning to the article on the
+diocese of Lavaur[26] it will be found that George de Selve was appointed
+to that see in 1526, when he was in his eighteenth year, but was only
+consecrated in 1534, when he was in his twenty-sixth year. Recollecting
+that the painting inscribed 1533, and corroborated in this date by the
+Saffroy document, states him to be then in his twenty-fifth year, it
+follows that the agreement between these three authorities is without a
+flaw.
+
+But still further evidence confirms these conclusions. In the Archives of
+the Château of Villiers, owned by the present representative of the Selve
+family, is a _Motu proprio_ of the Pope in favour of George de Selve,
+son of the Premier Président, permitting him to hold several benefices
+“although only seventeen years old.” This Latin deed is dated from Rome,
+the 13th May, 3rd Clement VII. Now, as this Pope was elected in November,
+1523, the month of May of the third year of his pontificate falls in
+1526. This document therefore places beyond all possibility of doubt that
+George de Selve was in his eighteenth year in May, 1526, and consequently
+in his twenty-fifth year, exactly as recorded on the picture when painted
+by Holbein in 1533.[27]
+
+The identity of the “Ambassadors” was now fully established. So also
+was the history and location of the picture down to 1653; but there
+still remained a blank of a hundred and thirty-four years before the
+reappearance of the painting at the Beaujon sale in 1787. Where was it
+and who owned it during this period?
+
+To answer these questions, so far as possible, the history of Polisy and
+its successive proprietors during the century which followed the death of
+Dinteville, the Ambassador, must first be traced.
+
+Jean de Dinteville died unmarried in 1555, leaving all his property to
+his last surviving brother, Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz. The latter,
+whose death occurred only four years later, was, in default of heirs
+male, succeeded at Polisy by his eldest daughter, Claude de Dinteville.
+This lady married, in 1562, François de Cazillac, Baron de Cessac, the
+head of a distinguished family in the south of France, who owned large
+properties in Quercy and Languedoc. For more than ninety years from the
+date of this marriage, the Cazillac family remained in possession of
+Polisy.
+
+Madame de Cessac, the last of the race of Dinteville,[28] survived until
+1619, outliving her husband many years. This lady was a friend of Nicolas
+Camusat, the antiquary; and as it is to him that the next step is due in
+the history of the picture, which he must often have seen, it will be
+well to consider for a moment his relations with Polisy.
+
+Camusat was a canon of the cathedral at Troyes. He occupied himself with
+antiquarian research, and published valuable collections of the papers
+he amassed. His correspondences with the French savants of the day were
+extensive, consisting chiefly of genealogies and local lore intended for
+the literary works on which they were engaged. Amongst those to whom he
+imparted such information were the Godefroy family, Du Puy, D’Hozier, the
+Sainte-Marthe brothers, and other persons celebrated in the annals of
+French learning. He was also interested in art, and himself possessed a
+small collection of paintings.
+
+A letter written by Camusat to Du Puy in which, speaking of François de
+Dinteville, Bishop of Auxerre,[29] he refers to a conversation that had
+taken place between “une sienne niepce” and himself, shows the intimate
+terms on which he stood with the family at Polisy.[30] Madame de Cessac
+seems to have placed the archives of the Château at his free disposition.
+It is certain that she herself gave to him a genealogy of the Polisy
+branch of the house of Dinteville,[31] probably the same that he inserted
+in his “Meslanges Historiques.”[32] This book, which is a standard
+authority for the diplomatic relations of Francis I., owes its principal
+value to the access obtained by Camusat to the Dinteville papers and
+correspondence. It is, at the same time, one of the chief printed sources
+for the history of the family itself.
+
+The connection of Nicolas Camusat with Polisy extended over nearly
+half a century. The earliest letters relating to that place are dated
+1607; the last must have been penned shortly before his death, which
+took place in 1655. They ranged from the time of Mme. de Cessac, niece
+of the “Ambassador,” to that of her grandson, another François de
+Cazillac-Cessac, who removed the picture to Paris. The circumstances
+which probably led to this event must now be briefly recorded.
+
+On the death, in 1619, of Madame de Cessac, Polisy passed to her eldest
+son Charles, who, by his marriage with Susanne d’Escar, left one son
+François, who succeeded him, and one daughter, Claude.
+
+The daughter became the wife of Jean Jaques de la Roche-Fontenilles. Of
+their descendants more will be said hereafter.
+
+The life of François de Cazillac, successively Baron, Vicomte, and
+Marquis de Cessac,[33] forms a corner-stone in the story of the picture,
+and must therefore be dwelt upon with some care. His wife was a lady of
+the Choiseul family; a race united to the Cazillac, and before them to
+the Dinteville, by frequent ties of intermarriage, in many generations.
+One son and two daughters were the offspring of this union.[34] The
+eldest girl was destined to the veil; but hardly was she grown up when
+the death of her brother hurried her home from her convent to become the
+future heiress of her parents. Her return seemed the more urgent as the
+younger sister was so delicate that it was evident she could not long
+survive. On the fatal termination of her illness, the whole inheritance
+would devolve on the elder daughter. Perhaps this point of view may have
+struck a young captain of cavalry, the owner of a neighbouring château,
+Charles le Genevois, Marquis de Blaigny, serving with the Duke of Guise.
+At any rate, in May, 1651, he carried off the young lady, then twenty
+years of age, from her home at Polisy, where she was living with her
+mother during the absence of her father in Languedoc. A hue and cry of
+hot pursuit was at once raised. Royal despatches brought hasty orders
+to the Prince de Conti, Governour of Champagne, to turn out even the
+soldiery, in order to capture the runaway pair. But all the king’s horses
+and all the king’s men were of no avail. The young couple made good their
+escape over the frontier to Franche-Comté,[35] and, in spite of every
+effort to stop the marriage, Charlotte-Marie de Cazillac became the wife
+of M. de Blaigny.[36]
+
+Annoyance at his daughter’s elopement with a man he detested, combined
+no doubt with grief at the untimely death of his other children, seems
+to have put the climax to M. de Cessac’s distaste for his northern home.
+His heart was in the southern country which had been the cradle of his
+race. In spite of their long residence at Polisy, the interests of the
+Cazillac-Cessac family still centred in the south. The heads of the
+house, in succession, were constantly absent in Quercy and Languedoc.
+The elopement of Charlotte-Marie de Cazillac only afforded an additional
+proof of the difficulty of exercising simultaneous control in districts
+so remote from each other.
+
+In the latter part of the sixteenth century, during the wars of religion,
+no part of France had suffered more severely than those southern
+provinces in which the Cazillac estates were situated. For reasons of
+safety, as well as from the fact that François I. de Cazillac (husband of
+the Dinteville heiress) filled the post of Governor of Troyes, Polisy may
+at that time have been considered a more desirable place of abode than
+any of the Châteaux in Quercy or Languedoc; though Polisy itself enjoyed
+no immunity from the troubles which lacerated all France. But in the
+middle of the seventeenth century the motives which, at an earlier date,
+had made residence in the north preferable had ceased to exist. Moreover,
+Charles de Cazillac had magnificently rebuilt the Château of Milhars, the
+chief residence of his family in the south. He had consequently left a
+somewhat embarrassed financial position to his son François, which did
+not improve as time went on. The proceeds which would accrue from the
+sale of the northern properties were therefore of great importance to
+their owner. Thus it came about that the next few years saw the sale of
+all the estates inherited from the Dinteville grandmother.[37] Polisy
+became the property of the Maréchal Du Plessis-Praslin, and was shortly
+afterwards raised to the rank of a Duché-Pairie, with the title of
+Choiseul. Henceforth it drops out of the path of our investigation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE “AMBASSADORS” FROM 1654 TO THE PRESENT DAY. CHRONOLOGY
+OF THE PICTURE.
+
+
+Meanwhile Camusat, ever active in the cause of archæology, carefully
+preserved the record of the famous Polisy Holbein, in letters addressed
+to his friends, the Godefroy brothers. Those letters themselves, with
+possibly one exception, have not been found. But the summary of their
+contents, drawn up by the Godefroy family, exists at the present day at
+the Bibliothèque de l’Institut at Paris; and shall here be given word for
+word:
+
+    “Memoire[38] pour l’intelligence de trois lettres envoyées par
+    Monsʳ. Camusat, chanoine de St. Pierre de Troyes [touchant un
+    tableau faict en Angleterre de George de Selve, ev. de Lavaur
+    qui y estoit allé visiter le bailly de Troies, sr. de Polizi,
+    Jean d’Inteville, lors Amb. pour le Roy].[39]
+
+    “Il y en a deux de Monsr. l’evesque de Lavaur, George de
+    Selve, fils de Mr. le premier president de Selve, lequel Sr.
+    Evesque avoit este invite par Mr. de Polizy, bailly de Troyes,
+    ambassadeur en Angleterre es années 1532 et 1533[40] de le
+    visiter en Angleterre, comme il feit, après en avoir pris congé
+    du Roy. Et estans en Angleterre ils feirent faire l’excellent
+    tableau par un peintre holandois, Holben,[41] lequel tableau a
+    esté conservé en la maison de Polizy, distant seulement d’une
+    lieue de Bar-sur-Seine, cent quarante ans[42] et plus, comme
+    appartenant au seigneur du lieu, Sr. de Sessac, jusques en
+    l’année 1653, qu’il l’a faict transporter à Paris, en sa maison
+    proche la parroisse de St. Sulpice, ledict tableau représentant
+    ledit Sr. de Polizy, Jean de d’Inteville et ledit Sr. Evesque
+    de Lavaur qui fut depuis ambassadeur près de l’Empereur
+    Charles Quint et mourut ledit evesque en l’an 1541. On tient
+    ledit tableau la plus belle pièce de peinture qui soit en
+    France, au jugement des meilleurs peintres. M. le Mareschal du
+    Plessis-Praslain a nagueres achepté la terre de Polisy, trois
+    cens mille livres dudit Sr. de Sessac.
+
+    “On a autrefois entendu de Mr. de Vic,[43] garde des sceaux,
+    qui c’estoit la plus belle pièce de peinture qui fût en France.
+
+    “Mr. George de Selve, et messieurs ses frères, ont dignement
+    servy la France en plusieurs ambassades et légations.”[44]
+
+[Illustration: REDUCED FACSIMILE OF DOCUMENT PRESERVED AMONGST THE
+GODEFROY PAPERS, BIBL. DE L’INSTITUT, PARIS.]
+
+Three points in this document deserve special notice.
+
+Firstly, the name of the painter, “Holben,” is given.
+
+Secondly, it is stated that, on its removal from Polisy, the picture was
+taken to M. de Cessac’s house in Paris.
+
+Thirdly, it is asserted that no less than three letters concerning it had
+been sent by Camusat to the brothers Godefroy.
+
+With regard to the third point, it has been already stated that so far
+no trace of two out of the three letters in question has been found. But
+if the rather ambiguous phrase, “il y en a deux de Monsr. l’evesque de
+Lavaur,” may be interpreted “relating to the Bishop of Lavaur,” there
+is, in the Godefroy collection, a paper which may well correspond to the
+third. It is a copy, dated 1654, of a memorandum drawn up by Camusat,
+on the family and descendants of the Premier Président de Selve. At the
+risk of some amount of repetition, the passage in which the “Ambassadors”
+figure shall here be inserted. Referring to George de Selve, Bishop of
+Lavaur, we read:
+
+    [45]“... Ledit Sr. Evesque ... fust visiter en Angleterre en
+    1532, un sien intime amy, Mr. de Polizy, Jean de d’Inteville,
+    bailly de Troyes lequel estoit lors ambassadeur près du Roy
+    Henry 8; et lors aussy lesdᵗˢ evesque et bailly de Troyes
+    firent faire en Angleterre l’excellent tableau qui est à
+    present a Paris, au logis de M. de Sessac, auquel iceux bailly
+    et evesque sont representez au naturel; ledit tableau fait de
+    la main d’un Hollandois; la pièce est estimée la plus riche et
+    mieux travaillée qui soit en France.”[46]
+
+Thus we possess no less than three documents, all written shortly after
+the middle of the seventeenth century; all giving in the most explicit
+terms the history of the picture up to that date; and each corroborating
+the other in every particular.
+
+The house in Paris to which Holbein’s masterpiece was conveyed in 1653
+can be identified with precision. On the last day of February, 1654,
+the deed was there signed by which the Maréchal Du Plessis-Praslin
+(subsequently Duc de Choiseul) became the owner of Polisy. After
+enumerating the titles of M. de Cessac in the usual way, the document
+describes him as “estant de present en cette ville de Paris logé faubourg
+Saint Germain des Prez, grande rue du Four”; and terminates with the
+words: “Fait et passé a Paris en la maison ou demeurent lesdits Seigneur
+et Dame de Cessac....”[47]
+
+Another deed, four years later in date, amplifies these details. In
+June, 1658, three years before her death, Madame de Cessac, _née_ Marie
+de Choiseul, made her will. She is therein stated to be living “a St.
+Germain des Prez, Rue du Four, en l’un des corps de logis, et derrière de
+la maison, du Chappeaufort, parroisse St. Sulpice.”[48]
+
+The Rue du Four, it is scarcely necessary to add, still exists. The house
+of Chapeaufort was well known until quite recent times, and is described
+in histories of old Paris.[49]
+
+No further notice occurs of Holbein’s “Ambassadors” until the Beaujon
+sale of 1787.
+
+Perhaps this is not surprising when it is considered that the vast
+majority of papers preserved in the archives of France are of legal
+nature; while not one of the documents containing a direct mention of
+the picture, which have hitherto guided us, have any connection with the
+law. They are exclusively derived from the learned antiquaries of the
+seventeenth century, bent on preserving to future generations the records
+of their day. But after the death of Camusat, which took place, at an
+advanced age, in 1655, none of his type remained, conversant with the
+history of the picture, to chronicle its further fate.
+
+The difficulty of tracing the “Ambassadors” in the eighteenth century is
+enhanced by the fact that, in the earlier stages of its existence, that
+work never seems to have formed part of any well-known collection. It
+was, and apparently remained, an isolated family picture of startling
+excellence, celebrated enough at various periods of its career, but
+tending to relapse into oblivion when its proprietors for the time being
+were engrossed in the pursuits of their own generation, or devoid of
+cultivated interests.
+
+Moreover, many changes had come over French taste since the days when
+Méry de Vic had called the “Ambassadors” the most beautiful piece of
+painting in France. Holbein’s sober and restrained art was out of
+date.[50] Who shall say through how many decades the picture may now have
+hung unheeded on the walls of some forgotten mansion!
+
+The darkness which envelopes the story of Holbein’s great work from 1654
+to 1787 is thus partially accounted for. A chance light will doubtless,
+some day, reveal its forgotten track. Yet, even now, it is worth while to
+dwell for a moment on the circumstantial evidence at our command.
+
+Firstly, then, it must be borne in mind that the picture reappears
+in 1787, under the partially changed name of “Portraits de Deux
+Ambassadeurs, MM. de Selve _et d’Avaux_.”
+
+The alteration seems to denote either that it was for a time owned by
+some member of the family of Mesmes, Contes d’Avaux, or was in some
+manner connected with them. Let us see, therefore, if any circumstance
+can be found to bring that family into relation with the heirs of the
+Marquis de Cessac.
+
+More than one such link does, in fact, exist.
+
+It has been noted that when first removed from Polisy in 1653, the
+picture was taken to M. de Cessac’s residence in Paris, in the Rue du
+Four; and that in 1658, when his first wife, Marie de Choiseul, made her
+will, he was still living in the same house. After her death, however,
+he seems never again to have had a permanent home in Paris. At the time
+of his second marriage, to Anne Louise de Broglie, which took place in
+1669, he was indeed in Paris, but at a different address, if not at a
+mere lodging;[51] and the marriage contract specially designates the
+Château of Milhars in Languedoc as the “ordinary habitation” of the
+bridegroom.[52] Milhars had been magnificently rebuilt by his father,
+Charles de Cazillac; and hither the Marquis de Cessac now brought his
+young bride.[53] It was, perhaps, a rash experiment from the point of
+view of domestic felicity. He was now over seventy years of age, while
+she was about four-and-twenty. At the end of two years, unable to
+accustom herself to the seclusion of the country, after the gay life of
+the capital, she left the poor old man in dudgeon, and returned with
+her mother to Paris. M. de Cessac made her an allowance, and henceforth
+they lived separated. His daughter, Madame de Blaigny, now came to live
+at Milhars, and remained, though apparently without much cordiality on
+either side, with her father until his death, which took place in 1679.
+
+What meanwhile became of the picture, when the Marquis de Cessac left
+Paris to take up his abode in the country?
+
+The houses he owned in the capital seem to have been bought and sold as
+mere speculations, having no element of permanence. It is impossible to
+imagine the great family picture wandering from pillar to post in this
+succession of changes. Some more stable home must surely have been found
+for it.
+
+Neither does it appear likely that M. de Cessac sold the one picture he
+had been at pains to preserve, when he parted with Polisy, its home of
+generations.[54]
+
+The natural inference is that he took the “Ambassadors” with him to one
+of his residences in the south.
+
+The three principal estates were Cazillac and Cessac in Quercy, and
+Milhars in Languedoc.
+
+The Barony of Cazillac was sold as early as 1689 by the granddaughter
+of the Marquis de Cessac; and, after that date, falls out of the
+competition. Nevertheless, this place has a point of interest for the
+present investigation. In 1665 the Marquis de Cessac bestowed it upon
+his cousin, Roger de Guénégaud, with the condition that he should in
+future bear the name and arms of Cazillac. The estate was, however,
+too tightly entailed on the immediate heirs of M. de Cessac for the
+donation to take effect; and the result was merely to add one more to the
+crowd of litigants who put in claims to the various property on M. de
+Cessac’s demise. Had the intention succeeded, this would have been an
+exceedingly likely quarter in which to seek the Holbein; even as it is,
+the question arises whether M. de Cessac may not have given the picture
+to the man whom he had wished to establish as the future head of the
+Cazillac family. But here again research has been unproductive of further
+result.[55]
+
+Cessac ultimately passed into the hands of another cousin of the Marquis
+de Cessac, François de la Roche, Marquis de Fontenilles, and owing to
+this circumstance enters into the lists with Milhars.
+
+Notwithstanding the fact that the most minute search has failed to reveal
+any mention of the picture in the exclusively legal documents connected
+with the latter Château,[56] it does not appear unlikely that Milhars
+was indeed the new home to which the picture was transported. It must be
+borne in mind, however, that we here enter the region of guess-work, and
+that the discovery of one little fact is apt to overthrow many pages of
+specious reasoning. The following indications are therefore given merely
+for what they are worth.
+
+On the death of the Marquis de Cessac a lawsuit respecting the
+inheritance took place, in which the principal parties concerned were his
+widow, Annie Louise de Broglie, and his daughter, Charlotte de Blaigny.
+It is of some importance to our object to note that in the end the widow
+accepted a sum of money in lieu of all other claims; and that the entire
+property of the Marquis de Cessac was settled on his granddaughter,
+Marie-Renée Le Genevois, the only child of Madame de Blaigny. This took
+place in 1681.[57]
+
+Unfortunately Charlotte de Blaigny now quarrelled with her daughter, who
+remained with her father in Champagne, while her mother continued to
+reside at Milhars. A designing relation, François de la Roche, Comte and
+Marquis de Fontenilles, took advantage of this state of things to induce
+Madame de Blaigny to disinherit her daughter and make a will in favour of
+himself and of his heirs.
+
+François de la Roche-Fontenilles was the grandson of that Jean-Jacques de
+la Roche-Fontenilles who had married Claude de Cazillac, the only sister
+of the Marquis de Cessac.[58] But for the existence of Marie-Renée, he
+would have been the nearest heir to the property. He now took up his
+abode at Milhars and drew his meshes closer and closer round the unhappy
+old lady who ruled there. No sooner was the will signed than he began to
+dismantle the Château before the very eyes of his aged cousin. Furniture
+and valuables were hastily removed to his house at Toulouse. Fortunately
+Charlotte de Blaigny did not long survive to reap the bitter results of
+her mistake. She died at Milhars in October, 1683, a month after the
+making of the momentous will.
+
+The day after the funeral Fontenilles, in the double capacity he
+assumed of heir to the property and executor of the will, made a formal
+declaration to the effect that “tous les meubles de la dite hérédité sont
+au pouvoir et en la jouissance dudit Sr. Conte de Fontenilles, partie
+desquels ont été apportés du vivant de ladite dame [Charlotte de Blaigny]
+audit Toulouse; et prétend ledit Seigneur Conte y en faire apporter
+davantage.”[59]
+
+Holbein’s picture—if indeed the Château in Languedoc had become its
+home—now perhaps found its way with the rest of the valuables to
+Toulouse. In any case, Milhars remained for some years in the hands of
+M. de Fontenilles.
+
+Under the settlement of 1681, Madame de Blaigny, although certain rights
+may have been reserved to her, had no power whatever to disinherit her
+daughter and settle the property elsewhere. Immediately upon her mother’s
+death, Marie-Renée, now Madame Voisin, therefore instituted legal
+proceedings for the recovery of her inheritance.
+
+The lawsuits dragged on, almost interminably, year after year. In 1686 M.
+and Mme. Voisin were indeed reinstated at Milhars, but only at the price
+of a ruinous pension to be paid annually to M. de Fontenilles. On the
+death of the latter, in 1693, his son and namesake, who now claimed the
+property, renewed his attacks time after time with implacable hostility.
+In 1697 Mme. Voisin was definitely confirmed in the possession of Milhars
+and of the other estates in Languedoc; but Cessac and all the remaining
+property in Quercy (Cazillac, we have seen, had been previously sold),
+had to be ceded to François de Fontenilles. Notwithstanding these
+sacrifices the claims for arrears of pension were still pending in 1700.
+
+Bearing in mind that the picture reappears in 1787 under the partially
+corrupt title of “Portraits de MM. de Selve _et d’Avaux_,” it is
+somewhat startling to find that in the same year, 1683, in which M. de
+Fontenilles, the elder, seized Milhars, his son and successor, named
+above, became the husband of Marie-Thérèse de Mesmes,[60] daughter,
+niece, and sister of a succession of Contes d’Avaux.
+
+Her father, Jean-Jacques de Mesmes, Conte d’Avaux, was a President _à
+mortier_ of the Parliament of Paris. Her uncle, Jean-Antoine de Mesmes,
+Conte d’Avaux, was one of a series of famous ambassadors of the name,
+and, dying unmarried in 1709, made Madame de Fontenilles his heiress.
+Her brother, another Jean-Antoine de Mesmes, Conte d’Avaux, was the
+well-known Premier Président of the Parliament of Paris, who died in 1723.
+
+The connection of François de Fontenilles with the family of Mesmes seems
+to reveal a not improbable path by which the picture may have descended
+to modern times. Either the seizure of Milhars or the acquisition of
+Cessac, perhaps placed it in the possession of La Roche Fontenilles. If
+it remained in his hands, how easily might it have passed in later years
+for part of the property bequeathed to Mme. de Fontenilles by her uncle,
+Jean-Antoine, Conte d’Avaux, and the name of the supposed donor have
+crept into the title!
+
+Mme. Voisin, now known as the Marquise de Milhars, had, however, other
+links with the Mesmes family, which forbid a too exclusive faith in one
+hypothesis. The niece of her husband, François Voisin, a daughter of
+Denis Feydeau de Brou, was the wife of the future Premier Président de
+Mesmes.
+
+Here, then, are two distinct threads connecting the Contes d’Avaux with
+the only two persons, M. de Fontenilles and Mme. Voisin, who seem likely
+to have owned the picture at this period.[61]
+
+All that can be said, in the absence of direct testimony, is that we
+appear to breathe the atmosphere through which the “Ambassadors” passed.
+It would be rash to build too definitely on any particular theory;
+for other paths, which the picture may have taken, lie close at hand.
+Several of the great legal families of France, who were mixed up with the
+Cazillac or their descendants—the Mesmes, Voisin, Brou, Lamoignon—were
+connected by intermarriages; while the Broglie (the family of the second
+Marquise de Cessac) were thus related both to the Lamoignon and Voisin.
+
+If we may for a moment suppose, however, that after the settlement of
+the disputes between Marie-Renée Voisin and François de Fontenilles, the
+picture returned, with other abstracted property—perhaps also with an
+altered name[62]—to Milhars, another curious circumstance comes to light,
+which seems a possible guide to its history.
+
+François Voisin, Marquis de Milhars, died in 1706; and Marie-Renée, left
+a childless widow, had to bethink herself of an heir. Her own nearest
+relation was the hated La Roche Fontenilles, who was, of course, out of
+the question. Her deceased husband’s next of kin were the children of
+his niece, the wife of the Premier Président. But this lady had died in
+1705, leaving only two daughters; moreover, the terms of friendship which
+existed between them and La Roche Fontenilles must have been sufficient
+reason to look elsewhere.
+
+One degree further removed in relationship, the eyes of Mme. Voisin fell
+upon the heir of a distinguished family, Chrétien de Lamoignon, whose
+mother had been Jeanne Voisin, first cousin to the Marquis de Milhars.
+In 1716 Marie-Renée made the will which constituted M. de Lamoignon her
+universal heir. In 1721 she died and he came into possession.
+
+We may pass briefly over the first two generations of the Lamoignon
+family after they succeeded to Milhars. The new proprietors never resided
+at the Château in Languedoc. They owned considerable estates in the
+centre of France at Basville and Lamoignon, whence they derived their
+titles. But their real sphere lay at Paris, where from generation to
+generation they played conspicuous parts in the political events of their
+day. In course of time they probably removed whatever Milhars contained
+of value to one of their other homes.
+
+The special point of interest in connection with this family is that
+Chrétien-François (II.) de Lamoignon,[63] Marquis de Basville, who in
+1765 sold Milhars to the family of Rey de St. Géry, was the intimate and
+lifelong friend of Nicolas Beaujon, at the sale of whose property, in
+1787, the picture once more comes to the surface.
+
+If the Polisy Holbein, notwithstanding stormy interludes, did actually
+descend from heir to heir of the house of Dinteville through this obscure
+period of one hundred and thirty-three years, Chrétien de Lamoignon de
+Basville is precisely the person in whose hands we should now expect to
+find it.
+
+His intimacy with Beaujon gives curious point to these speculations.
+The French millionaire appointed “Monseigneur Chrétien-François de
+Lamoignon,” and his heirs, administrators in perpetuity of the famous
+Hospice (now Hospital) which he founded, and which still bears his
+name.[64] He further begged M. de Lamoignon to be executor of his will,
+as a last proof of the friendship “dont il m’a toujours honoré;” and
+bequeathed to him a fine service of Sevres china.[65]
+
+Beaujon died on the 20th December, 1786. At the end of January, 1787, M.
+de Lamoignon, acting in his capacity of executor, caused an inventory to
+be drawn up of all the deceased gentleman’s property contained in his two
+palaces, the Hotel d’Evreux[66] and the so-called “Chartreuse,” where
+he died. This inventory, which gives minute and interesting particulars
+of all the pictures constituting the galleries of those two residences,
+was drawn up by the notary Maigret, now represented by Maître Houel, in
+whose custody this document at present rests. At the writer’s request
+this gentleman kindly examined the inventory in question; but, strange to
+say, without success. No trace of Holbein’s “Ambassadors” is there to be
+found, although nothing is more certain than that the picture was sold
+three months later at the Beaujon sale, and included in the catalogue of
+the millionaire’s property drawn up for that occasion.
+
+The inference would seem to be that either “The Ambassadors” dwelt in
+some third residence belonging to M. Beaujon, the contents of which were
+not included in the inventory in question, or that, still owned by the
+executor, M. de Lamoignon, who was in chronic need of money, the picture
+was thrown by him into the sale and disposed of at the same time as the
+Beaujon collection.
+
+How it now passed into the hands of Le Brun, thence to an English dealer
+who sold it to Lord Radnor, and finally to the National Gallery, the
+reader already knows.
+
+A table of chronology is appended which sums up the salient points of the
+foregoing narrative.
+
+
+CHRONOLOGY.
+
+1533. Jean de Dinteville, French Ambassador in England, and George de
+Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, are painted in London by Holbein. Subsequently
+the picture is taken to Polisy, Dinteville’s home in Burgundy.
+
+1562. Claude de Dinteville, niece of Jean the Ambassador and heiress of
+Polisy, marries François de Cazillac, Baron de Cessac.
+
+1653. François II. de Cazillac, Vicomte, then Marquis de Cessac, grandson
+of the foregoing, moves the picture to Paris. Having sold Polisy, M. de
+Cessac spends most of the remainder of his life at Milhars in Languedoc.
+
+1679. Death at Milhars of the Marquis de Cessac.
+
+1681. Marie-Renée Le Genevois de Blaigny, granddaughter of the Marquis de
+Cessac, is declared sole heiress of all his possessions.
+
+1683. Charlotte, Marquise de Blaigny, only daughter of the Marquis de
+Cessac, attempts to disinherit her daughter, Marie-Renée, in favour of
+her cousin, François de la Roche-Fontenilles, and of his son, François
+II. de la Roche-Fontenilles.
+
+—— Marriage of the latter gentleman to Marie Thérèse de Mesmes, daughter,
+niece, and sister of a succession of Contes d’Avaux.
+
+—— Marriage of Marie-Renée Le Genevois de Blaigny with François Voisin,
+Marquis de Bougueval, subsequently known as Marquis de Milhars.
+
+—— Death of Charlotte de Blaigny.
+
+    [A long series of lawsuits now ensues between François de
+    Fontenilles, who denudes Milhars, and Marie-Renée Voisin, the
+    rightful heiress. Mme. Voisin at last obtains possession.]
+
+1721. Death of Marie-Renée, who, being childless, leaves Milhars to her
+husband’s cousin, Chrétien de Lamoignon, Marquis de Basville.
+
+1765. Chrétien-François II. de Lamoignon, grandson of the heir of
+Marie-Renée, sells Milhars to the family of Rey de St. Géry.
+
+1786. Death of M. Nicolas Beaujon, Banker to the French Court, whose will
+appoints his intimate friend, Chrétien-François de Lamoignon, Marquis de
+Basville, to be his executor.
+
+1787. Sale of M. Beaujon’s pictures, in the catalogue of which Holbein’s
+“Ambassadors” reappears after a silence of a hundred and thirty-three
+years. The picture now becomes the property of J. B. P. Le Brun.
+
+1792. Publication of the first volume of Le Brun’s “Galerie des Peintres
+Flamands, Hollandais, et Allemands,” in which there is an engraving of
+the “Ambassadors.” Le Brun had previously sold the picture to a dealer in
+England.
+
+1808 or 1809. Holbein’s picture is bought by Jacob, second Earl of
+Radnor, and taken to Longford Castle.
+
+1890. The picture of the “Ambassadors” finds a permanent home in the
+National Gallery.
+
+
+
+
+PART II
+
+JEAN DE DINTEVILLE
+
+
+
+
+JEAN DE DINTEVILLE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE EARLY LIFE OF JEAN DE DINTEVILLE
+
+
+In attempting to follow the career of Jean de Dinteville, and to read
+aright the picture by Holbein, which is, to so large an extent, the
+intimate expression of his mind, it is necessary to step back, in
+imagination, into the sixteenth century, and to see things, so far as
+possible, as an observer of that day would have beheld them. Passing
+events present themselves to contemporaries in proportions widely
+differing from those under which they appear to the student of a later
+day. Circumstances which, as they arose, assumed mountainous dimensions,
+have dwindled to molehills with the lapse of time. Other events, which
+had small beginnings, have subsequently acquired an importance undreamed
+of by lookers-on, in the story of the world’s progress. Again, a third
+category exhibits less divergence between the verdict of contemporary
+opinion and that of posterity. In such cases, it is a less arduous
+task to move into the place of the thinkers and actors of the past,
+and to mark with their eyes, uninfluenced by the knowledge of later
+developments, the scene that unfolded itself to their view.
+
+Only by noting the facts of history in their relation to Dinteville’s
+character and career, rather than to their intrinsic importance,[67] will
+it be possible to obtain a distinct understanding of the man and of his
+work. Often, indeed, the two points of view will be found to converge.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHÂTEAU OF POLISY, FROM AN ORIGINAL DRAWING OF THE
+EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, PUBLISHED BY M. LUCIEN COUTANT IN THE ALMANACH
+DE BAR-SUR-SEINE.]
+
+Jean de Dinteville was born on the 21st of September, 1504. He was the
+third son of Gaucher de Dinteville, Seigneur of Polisy, and of Anne Du
+Plessis.
+
+The race of Dinteville was of ancient descent and allied to the best
+blood in France. It had originally been known as Jaucourt, but early in
+the fourteenth century an ancestor, Pierre de Jaucourt, adopted the name
+of Dinteville, which was that of his seigneurie in Champagne, by which
+the family was henceforth called. The elder line remained and flourished
+at Dinteville. The younger branch, founded by Jean de Dinteville, second
+son of Pierre, settled at Polisy shortly before 1321.
+
+A glance at an old map of France, divided into provinces, shows that, at
+a certain point, the waving boundary between Champagne and Burgundy takes
+a sharp curve upwards, and, doubling back, makes the deepest of many
+indentures in the contour of the northern province. This narrow strip of
+land, surrounded on three sides by the territory of Champagne, formed,
+approximately, the ancient Comté of Bar-sur-Seine. Attached to Champagne,
+and consequently to France, in 1225 (long before the Dinteville family
+settled at Polisy), it passed to Burgundy early in the fifteenth century,
+returning to France with that Duchy in 1477. On this often-debated
+ground, just at the spot where the small river Laigne throws its waters
+into the Seine, stands the Château of Polisy—the chief home of that
+branch of the house of Dinteville with which we are here concerned.
+
+The marriage of the first Dinteville, Seigneur of Polisy, with the
+heiress of Deschenetz[68] (or Echenay, as it is now called) in Champagne,
+brought to the family another considerable fief, which, a century later,
+became the theatre of an exciting drama. A second Jean de Dinteville,
+who held the office of Bailly of Troyes, now reigned there. On a
+dark night, when peace spread all around, the house of Deschenetz was
+treacherously attacked by one Fortespice, a vassal of the Comte de
+Vaudemont, who was the head of that powerful house which later succeeded
+to the Dukedom of Lorraine. The Comte de Vaudemont was Dinteville’s
+kinsman and supposed friend. Taken completely by surprise, the master
+of Deschenetz could offer no resistance. The house was sacked, while he
+himself was made a prisoner, and forced to buy his release by a large sum
+of money. Years later he challenged Fortespice to a duel in the _fosse_
+at Chablis, when both combatants fell mortally wounded.
+
+His son and successor, Claude de Dinteville, entered the service of
+Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Claude attained a distinguished
+position as Surintendant de Finance to the Duke, and perished, fighting
+at his master’s side, at the battle of Nancy, in 1477. His body was
+brought back to Polisy for interment.
+
+With the cession of the Duchy of Burgundy to France, which now took
+place, happier days dawned for the Dinteville family. All questions of
+divided allegiance ceased. The numerous sons of Claude de Dinteville
+entered French service, several of them rising high in their respective
+vocations. One of them, Jacques de Dinteville, was Grand Veneur of France
+under Louis XII., and was also employed as Deputy Governor of Paris
+during the absence of the Duke of Vendôme.[69] Another son, François,
+became Bishop of Auxerre; Pierre was Seneschal of Rhodes, and fell while
+defending the island against the Turks in the memorable siege of 1522;
+and Gaucher, the father of Holbein’s “Ambassador,” was Bailly of Troyes,
+and was attached to the French Court, almost throughout his life, in
+many honourable capacities. He accompanied Charles VIII. to Italy, and
+was appointed Governor of Sienna during the French occupation of that
+city.[70]
+
+On his return to France, Gaucher de Dinteville settled at the Château
+of Thennelières, near Troyes, and in 1496 married Anne Du Plessis,
+daughter of Jean, Seigneur of Ouschamps and La Perrine. Their eldest son,
+François, who ultimately succeeded his uncle as Bishop of Auxerre, was
+born in 1498; and from this date onwards the births of numerous children
+are recorded as having occurred at Thennelières or at Troyes. A few years
+later the family migrated to Polisy.
+
+Gaucher’s tenure of the office of Bailly of Troyes coincides with an
+important period of French law. The Bailly was the Crown officer in
+whose name justice was administered throughout a certain district. Each
+Bailliage, or bailiwick, had its separate Custom, a system naturally
+resulting in much inequality and confusion. To remedy this state of
+things, Louis XII. took the first step towards the unification of the
+legal code, by ordering the publication of the Customs throughout
+the kingdom.[71] The fulfilment of this edict was a work of time, to
+be accomplished only after years of labour. The Custom of Troyes was
+published in 1509, during the term of office of Gaucher de Dinteville,
+and under the immediate presidency of his brother the Bishop of Auxerre.
+The latter, like many of his ecclesiastical contemporaries, was equally
+versed in civil and canon law.
+
+How large a share Gaucher himself had in this important undertaking is
+uncertain. The duties of the Bailly became in course of time almost
+nominal, and devolved upon his deputy, a professional lawyer; but this
+period had hardly yet arrived. In 1505, however, Gaucher was sent by the
+king to Switzerland, where his duties detained him on and off for several
+years.[72]
+
+Nothing is known of the childhood of Jean, the future ambassador, passed,
+it may be surmised, on the breezy plains of Thennelières, or amidst
+the wooded slopes which surround the Château of Polisy. His two elder
+brothers, François and Louis, the latter of whom became a Knight of St.
+John, began their education at the College of Troyes, which at this time
+enjoyed a high reputation; and it is likely enough that in due course
+Jean followed in the same steps. Scholars were entered there from the
+early age of eight years. Again following his eldest brother, he may have
+pursued his later studies at the University of Paris, where the degree of
+Bachelor of Arts could be obtained at fifteen or sixteen years of age.
+
+It may be useful to recall that the instruction imparted there, as at
+most of the older universities of Europe, was based in the first instance
+on the study of the Seven Liberal Arts. These were divided into two
+courses: the first, comprising Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric, was called
+the Trivium; the second, which embraced Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, and
+Astronomy, the Quadrivium. Dinteville’s education, wherever acquired, was
+doubtless laid on these familiar lines.
+
+Destined to succeed to his father’s honours, and in due course to become
+the head of his house, he was early brought into contact with the French
+Court. Indeed, the whole family seems to have found exceptional favour
+there. A manuscript is still preserved[73] which gives the names of those
+who were members of the royal household, and in this list the Dinteville
+family figures extensively. Jean de Dinteville first appears in
+attendance on the royal children between 1521 and 1524, when he holds the
+appointment of Echanson. His life from this time centred at the Court,
+where his father was now Premier Maître d’Hotel to the Dauphin François.
+
+There were many links to connect Gaucher de Dinteville and his sons
+with the royal family of France. Besides the intrinsic merits and
+past services of the father, they possessed powerful friends. Anne de
+Montmorency, the great minister, was their cousin, and did much to shape
+the subsequent career of Gaucher’s sons. In early days, the intimate
+friendship of Madame de Montreuil, a sister of the Grand-Maître Boisy and
+of Admiral Bonnivet, played a large part in their advancement.
+
+It is pleasant to lift for a moment the veil that conceals so much of
+the private life of that remote period, and to contemplate a friendship
+which continued unbroken through two generations.
+
+The Seigneurie of Montreuil was a dependency of Deschenetz, a possession
+of the Dinteville family which ranked second in importance only to
+Polisy, and which they, no doubt, often visited. It was, perhaps, partly
+through the accident of being neighbours in the country that the kindly
+feeling entertained for them by the Châtelaine of that estate ripened
+into the closest intimacy. Madame de Montreuil was governess to the
+royal children; and it was through her mediation that Gaucher received
+his early appointment in connection with them. It was again due to her
+influence that when the little Prince Charles, Duke of Angoulême, the
+youngest of the three sons of Francis I., outgrew her tender care, he was
+placed under the immediate charge of Jean de Dinteville, whom “she loved
+and trusted as her own son.”[74]
+
+Public events meanwhile were gradually ripening towards the great
+catastrophe which was to colour French policy for many years to come.
+In February, 1525, the news of the defeat of the French forces before
+Pavia, where Francis I. was taken prisoner, and the flower of the
+French nobility fell, sent a thrill of horror through France. The king
+was carried to Madrid, only to be released in the following year on
+the humiliating terms of sending his two eldest sons to replace him in
+captivity, pending the payment of a large ransom. From the time of the
+affront placed upon the national pride by this crushing misfortune, the
+main endeavour of French statecraft through a long series of years was
+to convert the enemies of Charles V. into the allies of France, and by a
+succession of skilful diplomatic combinations, open or secret, to form
+coalitions sufficiently powerful to resist the overwhelming might of
+the Empire. Already, during the king’s captivity, the regent, Louise of
+Savoy, had courted the friendship of Henry VIII., imploring him not to
+make war upon an imprisoned king. At about the same period, the first
+French emissary had been despatched to the Court of Solyman, forming the
+beginning of that series of negotiations between the Most Christian King
+and the Turk which, avowed many years later, was to startle Europe.[75]
+Sigismund, King of Poland, and John Zapolski, Waiwode of Transylvania,
+who was endeavouring to wrest the crown of Hungary from Ferdinand, the
+Emperor’s brother, were other objects of French solicitude; to whom, for
+convenience sake, may here be added the Protestant Princes of Germany,
+led by the Elector of Saxony, with whom an alliance was formed a few
+years later.
+
+But the most conspicuous engagement entered into by France, in the early
+days succeeding the Spanish captivity, was the League signed at Cognac in
+May, 1526, by which Francis I., Clement VII., the Signory of Venice, and
+Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, bound themselves in a common alliance
+against the Emperor Charles V.
+
+How deep was the impression made by these events on young Dinteville,
+whose attendance on the royal children kept him in the vortex of French
+politics, may be actually seen in some details of Holbein’s picture, to
+which reference will be made later on. Nor was it surprising that this
+should be so. The League of Cognac was the definite public act by which
+Francis I. made plain his intention to repudiate that part of the Treaty
+of Madrid which involved the cession of the Duchy of Burgundy. Had the
+latter compact been observed in its integrity, Polisy would have become
+a fief of the Empire. The race of Dinteville had been French long ere
+they were Burgundian. At the close of the fifteenth century they had
+resumed with passionate loyalty their complete allegiance to the Crown of
+France. What wonder, then, if Jean de Dinteville gave himself heart and
+soul to the anti-Imperial policy expressed by the League of Cognac, which
+appeared to guarantee the continuance of his French nationality?
+
+In February, 1527, he was appointed Captain and Governor of
+Bar-sur-Seine, on the resignation, probably caused by advancing years,
+of his father.[76] As in the document which records these changes Jean
+is already described as Bailly of Troyes, Gaucher must previously have
+resigned that office also, for the succession to which he had instituted
+his son by royal letters as early as 1520.[77]
+
+Later in the same year Gaucher de Dinteville visited Troyes to request
+the contributions of its inhabitants to the ransom of Francis I.[78] The
+young Bailly was meanwhile kept almost entirely at Court, accompanying
+the royal family from Paris to Blois, and from Blois to Amboise, or the
+various other places to which duty or pleasure determined its movements.
+
+The next glimpse obtained of him finds him in these surroundings. In
+October, 1527, Marguerite d’Angoulême, the sister of Francis I., and her
+husband, the King of Navarre,[79] made a short stay at Blois on their
+journey to the south of France. Some point appears to have then been
+under discussion relating to the little Duke of Angoulême (the only one
+of the king’s sons at that time in France, his brothers being prisoners
+at Madrid), and to the young princesses, his sisters. Marguerite writes
+to Anne de Montmorency from Gabarre, a small town in the Landes:
+
+    “... En passant dernierement a Blays,[80] Madame de Montereul
+    et M. le Bailly de Troyes, en me parlant du fait de Monsieur et
+    de Mesdames, me prierent d’escrire a madite dame,[81] ce que
+    j’ai differe jusques a ce que fussiez de retour.”[82]
+
+Montmorency was absent at the moment on his way to England. Henry VIII.
+and Francis I. were becoming more and more deeply engaged in a common
+policy against Charles V. Earlier in the same year, Wolsey had been
+brilliantly received in France. Now the Grand-Maître was sent with Jean
+Du Bellay and the Chancellor of Alençon, at the head of a splendid
+train of gentlemen, to convey the Royal Order of St. Michael to the
+King of England. This was the expedition from which Marguerite awaited
+Montmorency’s return, before writing to the king’s mother.[83]
+
+It would be interesting to know what was the subject upon which Madame de
+Montreuil and the Bailly of Troyes sought to obtain the good offices of
+Louise of Savoy with regard to the children. That the question was not
+unimportant may be inferred from their anxiety to obtain such influential
+assistance, and from the hesitation of the Queen of Navarre to accede to
+their request without previously consulting Montmorency. Her desire to
+conciliate the minister shows the power he had already acquired in the
+internal relations of the French Court.
+
+Was the question connected with religion? History offers no reply; but
+the suggestion awakens some interesting considerations.
+
+In or about 1526, Francis I. had confided the education of the
+little Duke of Angoulême, perhaps by Dinteville’s advice, to Lefèvre
+d’Etaples,[84] a celebrated professor of mathematics and philosophy. This
+learned man was one of the earliest and greatest of the French Reformers.
+He was the author of the first complete translation of the Bible into
+French; it is still in use in the Protestant churches of France. A
+correspondent of Budé[85] and Erasmus,[86] his name carries us into the
+centre of that sphere of intellectual activity with which Dinteville was
+constantly brought into contact both at home and at Court.
+
+In 1527 Francis I. ordered Lefèvre, in conjunction with Gérard
+Roussel,[87] to translate into Latin the Homilies of Chrysostom on the
+Acts of the Apostles.[88] The following year we find Lefèvre teaching
+the Psalms to the little Duke of Angoulême.[89] But by September, 1528,
+both he and Roussel had left the Court to follow Marguerite of Navarre
+to the south of France, where Lefèvre was established in deep retirement
+at Nérac.[90] The links which connected the Bailly of Troyes with such
+men as Lefèvre and Roussel were primarily, no doubt, on the side of
+learning rather than of religion; for the Dinteville family were staunch
+Catholics. But they appear, at any rate at this early date, to have
+belonged to the liberal Catholic group, and to have been averse to the
+extremes of the rigidly orthodox party. Their cordial relations with
+the Queen of Navarre, the Du Bellay, and other advocates of tolerance,
+point to this conclusion, no less than their love of learning and their
+intimacy with the eminent humanists patronized by the French Court.
+The bigotry of Montmorency, on the other hand, was well known. If,
+therefore, they desired to replace the services of Lefèvre by those of
+another teacher of liberal leanings, they did well to apply to the Queen
+of Navarre and her mother, rather than direct to the minister. On this
+point, however, we have no further light.
+
+Persecuted by the Sorbonne and the extreme ecclesiastical zealots, the
+French Reformers were, at this time, upheld by an enlightened section of
+the Roman Catholic party, who desired to see the discipline of the Church
+amended without pushing matters to a split with Rome. It still seemed
+possible to combine these objects, which the efforts of the humanists,
+and the general hatred entertained towards the monks, had rendered
+popular in high places. Louise of Savoy herself was, in early days, not
+opposed to the aims of the innovators. Marguerite of Navarre was, and
+remained, their ardent supporter, though without forsaking the communion
+of Rome.[91] The lines of demarcation were not yet as tightly drawn as
+they were destined to be hereafter. Renée of France,[92] who, married in
+1527 to Ercole d’Este, became the mother of Tasso’s Leonora, was all her
+life the unflinching protectress of the advocates of a purified religion.
+At no time, perhaps, were the prospects of the Reformation brighter
+at the Court of France than in the years now under consideration.
+Francis I., cynical and indifferent himself, though not incapable of
+superstitious fear, alternately protected and persecuted the French
+Lutherans according to the influences which prevailed with him at the
+moment. But in her goodly band of learned men, supported by the liberal
+group in the Roman Catholic Church, France possessed a happy omen for the
+future.
+
+The same revival of letters which had paved the way for the Reformation
+in Germany, had penetrated deeply into France. The humanists formed a
+compact group, almost independent of nationality, corresponding in Latin,
+and pursuing the same objects in each country. The union between the
+leading European nations in these respects was very close. In France
+the ranks of the law, more especially, were crowded with votaries of
+the new learning. Besides the study of classical literature, they
+bestowed eager attention upon mathematics, natural science and astronomy,
+which still included astrology, obtaining the newest instruments from
+Southern Germany, where they were principally made. Celebrated teachers
+were placed at the great provincial universities, specially famous for
+their schools of civil law, the teaching of which was forbidden at the
+University of Paris. The lectures were ardently attended. Foreigners
+as well as Frenchmen gathered in large numbers round any well-known
+luminary. The lecturers themselves were not infrequently members of
+another nation. Thus Andrea Alciati, the famous Italian lawyer, taught
+successively at Avignon and at Bourges; while large numbers of Germans,
+such as Melchior Wolmar, Johann Sturm, subsequently rector of Strasburg
+University, Sleidan, the historian of the Reformation, André Melanchthon,
+a relation of his more famous namesake, helped to promote the cause of
+liberal instruction, and, in many cases, also of the doctrines of Luther.
+As the Reformation advanced in Germany, its influence permeated the ranks
+of the French humanists, hand-in-hand with the purely secular learning
+they had hitherto cultivated. Those who professed the new doctrines were
+known as “Luthériens.” The day of Calvin, who was to impress the final
+and definite stamp on French Protestantism, was yet to come.
+
+The orthodox professors of the University of Paris viewed with distrust
+all this intellectual stir. They regarded the revival of classical
+learning, especially the study of Greek, which enabled people to
+examine the New Testament for themselves, as conducive to heresy. To
+free the path of knowledge from their bigoted restrictions, Guillaume
+Budé persuaded Francis I. to found a college for the special purpose of
+instruction in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, the “Three Languages” as they
+were then called; to which mathematics and other chairs were subsequently
+added. The scheme did not at once come to full maturity; but a variety
+of first-rate professors were engaged, who gave free lectures in their
+several branches, and assembled round them a large group of students of
+international character. Such was the nucleus of the famous Collège Royal.
+
+The Bailly of Troyes was well acquainted with Budé, both at Court and in
+Champagne. The lifelong services of this eminent savant to a succession
+of French kings brought him into constant communication with the members
+of the royal households. As secretary to Charles VIII. and librarian to
+Francis I. he must have been well known to Gaucher de Dinteville. In
+the second capacity, his influence may have been almost incalculable
+on Gaucher’s son. Budé, had, moreover, many connections at Troyes. He
+was related to the Raguier family, one of whom married a sister of
+the Bailly. The Raguiers were of German origin, and later, including
+Charlotte de Dinteville, embraced the reformed religion.[93]
+
+Troyes at this time inclosed within its walls several remarkable men,
+whose fame extended beyond these limits. Among them was Pierre Pithou, a
+celebrated advocate, and the father of yet more eminent sons. Pithou’s
+friendship with Lefèvre d’Etaples added another link to the chain. All
+these names, Budé, Raguier, and Pithou, became Protestant in the next
+generation. For the present things had not gone so far.
+
+In the highest class of society there was, at this early stage, little
+thought of secession. On the contrary, the liberal-orthodox Frenchmen
+were prepared to strain every nerve to avert a schism. They occupied
+a middle position between the ultra-clerical party and the Reformers.
+Their whole energies were directed towards the re-establishment of
+ecclesiastical unity.
+
+At the head of this little band of select intelligence stood the Du
+Bellay family. Guillaume Du Bellay, Seigneur de Langey, the eldest of
+the brothers, and Jean, successively Bishop of Bayonne and of Paris,
+and ultimately Cardinal, were equally conspicuous for their talents in
+peace and war, in religion and in diplomacy.[94] No ambassadors were
+more frequently employed in the negotiations with England which marked
+the years of closest friendship between Henry VIII. and Francis I.
+Guillaume Du Bellay also made repeated visits to Germany in the interests
+of religious unity, an aim which, in a letter to his friend and
+correspondent, Melanchthon, he terms “the most glorious on which mortals
+can be engaged.”[95]
+
+Jean Du Bellay had the same objects at heart. He too writes to
+Melanchthon, signing himself, “Yours from my very heart, Bellaius.”[96]
+A statesman of conspicuous ability, and a leader of much that was best
+in French thought and aspiration at this time, he opened his doors
+freely and dispassionately to all whom learning, merit, or need of any
+kind, commended to his notice. Even Rabelais found a shelter beneath his
+hospitable roof; many of the lesser humanists he drew from obscurity to
+an assured position; he himself was an author of some pretension.
+
+In politics the liberal Catholics were, as might be expected, the keenest
+adversaries of Spain. They supported the divorce of Henry VIII., and all
+the diplomatic combinations directed against Charles V. It is a striking
+fact that nearly all the French ambassadors sent to England during the
+years we now have to consider, belonged, in greater or lesser degree, to
+this group. Some of them, at a later period, when things had developed
+further, embraced the Protestant religion.
+
+The extreme clerical party, on the other hand, which included
+Montmorency, upheld the Imperial alliance. But in the years which
+immediately succeeded Pavia, the susceptibilities of the nation were too
+deeply wounded to admit of any real cordiality between France and Spain.
+The policy of France necessarily took another direction in consequence.
+This coolness towards Spain gave the liberals their opportunity. The
+Grand Maître, realizing the position with his usual cold sagacity, held
+the strings of both parties firmly in his hands. He stood, indeed, on
+terms of friendship with such men as the Du Bellay, who, while protecting
+liberty of opinion and condemning the delinquencies of the clergy, were
+doing their utmost to prevent a rupture with Rome. The Papacy itself
+courted those whose aim was to draw back the Reformers into the fold of
+the Church. Starting from very different grounds, they were obviously
+playing the Pope’s game.
+
+But for the out-and-out Lutherans, whose object was complete severance
+from Rome, Montmorency had no weapon but persecution. His hatred of the
+“heretics” only intensified when time made clear the impossibility of
+any compromise. As the years wore by, the shadows of the coming conflict
+crept onwards, ultimately forcing the party of mediation to make their
+choice between strict orthodoxy and secession. Slowly but surely the
+brilliant promise of an earlier date faded away. But that time had not
+yet come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE FIRST MISSION TO ENGLAND OF THE BAILLY OF TROYES (1531) AND THE
+CALAIS INTERVIEW OF 1532
+
+
+Four years had passed since the release of Francis I., when, in 1530, his
+two eldest sons were at last set free from their Spanish prison. This
+happy event was due in great measure to pecuniary assistance rendered
+by Henry VIII. towards the completion of the French king’s ransom. It
+was followed almost immediately by the marriage of Francis with Eleanor,
+Queen-Dowager of Portugal and sister of the Emperor, which took place in
+fulfilment of one of the clauses of the treaty of Madrid.
+
+The following year, 1531, was a memorable one for the Dinteville
+brothers. It began with the death of their father, which took place
+in March, at the age of seventy-two. In accordance with the curious
+custom of the time, his body was buried at Polisy, his entrails at St.
+Jean-en-Grève at Paris, and his heart at Thennelières, where so much of
+his early married life had been passed.
+
+A now solitary agricultural village, surrounded by blue plains which
+melt into the sky in uninterrupted expansion, Thennelières has little
+left to testify to the brilliant life of which it was once the scene. Of
+the Château formerly inhabited by Gaucher and Anne de Dinteville not one
+stone remains upon another, though the _fosses_ still define the site on
+which it stood. But in the little thick-walled twelfth-century Church,
+the steeple and red roof of which rise at the end of the straggling
+village street, a few interesting relics of bygone days may yet be seen.
+Let into the pavement before the altar of the north transept—both
+transepts are of the sixteenth century—is a square black and white
+tablet, in the centre of which is a “bonne-foi”[97] of flesh-coloured
+marble. Above this are two intertwined hearts of deeper hue, bearing
+respectively the initials “G” and “A.” The tablet is inscribed, “Galtero
+de Dinteville, Anna du Plesseys, chara conjonx, 1531.” A leaden box
+beneath this plaque is said yet to contain the shrivelled heart of
+Gaucher de Dinteville.
+
+On the opposite side of the church is a stained glass window, in which is
+represented a bishop, accompanied by his patron saint, St. Francis. This
+ecclesiastic is no other than Francis I. de Dinteville, Bishop of Auxerre
+(the same who took part in the publication of the Custom of Troyes),
+whose portrait was here erected in 1524 by his nephew and namesake, the
+brother of Jean the “Ambassador.” The window has been badly restored, and
+the portrait is consequently inferior now to that of another window of
+similar subject in the Church of Montmorency.[98]
+
+The tombs at Polisy have perished with the chapel that contained them.
+But a quaint epitaph, in rhymed doggerel, which was placed to the
+memory of Gaucher de Dinteville, survives in a copy preserved at the
+Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris.
+
+    EPITAPHE DE FEU MONSIEUR DE POLISY.
+
+    L’Appuy des bons, Gauche de Dinteville
+    Apres avoir en la guerre civile
+    De France acquis le nom de jeune et sage
+    Apres avoir au renomme passage
+    Que Charles feit a Naples et a Rome
+    Gaigné le bruit de hardi gentilhome
+    Apres avoir a Senes ville antique
+    Esté le chef de la grand republique
+    Apres avoir de Troyes en Champagne
+    Esté bailly, et veu de sa compagne
+    Naistre des fils, dont il veit en sa vie
+    Rhodes,[99] Espagne,[100] et la France[101] servie
+
+    Apres avoir chez le Roy eu loz tel
+    D’estre ordinaire et bon maistre d’hostel
+    Et le premier chez Monsr. le Dauphin
+    Se voyant là approcher de sa fin
+    Et sachant bien qu’heureux on ne peult estre
+    Sans despouiller cette robbe terrestre,
+    Volut donner a ces yeulx anciens
+    Ce dernier bien d’estre fermez des siens
+    Desquelz l’amour et pitié l’ont cy mis
+    Pleins d’ans, d’honneurs, de richesse et d’amis.[102]
+
+Immediately after the death of Gaucher de Dinteville, on the 26th March,
+1531, his eldest son François, who had succeeded his uncle as Bishop
+of Auxerre, did homage in his own name, as well as on behalf of his
+mother, Anne du Plessis, and of his younger brothers and sisters, Jean,
+Guillaume, Gaucher, Charlotte, and Françoise, for the seigneurie of
+Lesches in Brie, which had formed part of the dowry of Anne du Plessis.
+All now inherited it jointly excepting Louis, the second brother, who was
+a Knight Hospitaller.[103]
+
+In his twenty-seventh year, Jean de Dinteville now found himself at the
+head of his house. His position at Court seemed to promise a brilliant
+future, which was further insured by the friendship of his cousin,
+Montmorency, the Admiral De Brion, the Du Bellay brothers, and other
+leaders of French politics. It is probable that at about this time he
+also succeeded to the Collar of St. Michael rendered vacant by the death
+of his father, who had been a Knight of the Order.[104]
+
+Nor were royal favours limited to Jean alone. The same edict that
+confirms his appointment as Governor to Charles, Duke of Angoulême,
+places his brother Guillaume, now Seigneur Deschenetz, in a like capacity
+about the person of the Dauphin, in succession to his father; and
+Gaucher, the youngest brother, Seigneur of Vanlay and Thennelières, in a
+similar position towards Henry, Duke of Orleans. Thus each of the three
+sons of Francis I. was entrusted to the special care of a member of the
+Dinteville family.
+
+But all was not unchequered prosperity. In the July following the death
+of Gaucher the elder, another heavy blow fell upon the brothers. Louis
+de Dinteville, the Knight of St. John, died at Malta, at the age of
+twenty-eight; not without having already given promise of distinction
+similar to that attained by his brothers. He had been early made a
+Knight Commander and Seneschal of Rhodes, probably in the place of his
+uncle, Pierre de Dinteville. After the conquest of Rhodes in 1522, the
+homeless Knights at length, after many vicissitudes, found a permanent
+refuge at Malta, granted to them by Charles V. The Grand Master of the
+Order, Philippe de Villiers l’Isle-Adam, who signs himself “uncle” to
+Montmorency, and was, like him, a cousin of the Dinteville family,
+made a journey to Spain during the captivity of Francis I., in order
+to confer with him and with the Emperor on the future of the Order.
+Whether Louis de Dinteville accompanied L’Isle-Adam on this occasion is
+not known; but it is certain that in the winter of 1529 to 1530, he was
+sent as Ambassador of the Order to the Emperor Charles V., and conducted
+the negotiations which terminated in the cession of Malta, afterwards
+reporting in person to Montmorency, and probably to the French king, the
+successful termination of his mission.[105]
+
+The Order of St. John of Jerusalem was divided into seven “languages,” as
+the branches in various countries were technically called. The English
+language was suppressed soon after the Reformation, but it will be seen
+that the only record preserved in England of Jean de Dinteville’s first
+visit to this country sprang from the connection of his family with this
+illustrious Order.
+
+The death of the Knight of St. John was not the only misfortune which now
+befell the family. The high favour in which they stood had, no doubt,
+awakened jealousies; and there were enemies ready to take advantage of
+any opportunity that might occur, to undermine their credit. Such an
+occasion shortly presented itself, and, unfortunately, in a shape which
+seems to have afforded some justification for the violent attacks made on
+the offender. The eldest brother, François, now Bishop of Auxerre, was
+accused of having inflicted a punishment of undue severity on a peasant
+belonging to his Abbey of Montierender, who had been guilty of poaching
+birds of prey suited to the favourite pastime of hawking. The Parliament
+of Paris, the first legal tribunal of the kingdom, was delighted to
+assert its authority in the teeth of the Crown, which had curtailed many
+of its ancient privileges, by attacking a man who owed his promotion to
+Court favour. The bishop was ordered to appear before it and to stand his
+trial, and things were beginning to look ugly when the powerful influence
+of Montmorency, combined with that of “Madame,” the king’s mother, to
+whom the bishop was chaplain, intervened on his behalf. The culprit was
+hurried away to the house of the Grand-Maître at Chantilly, and there
+kept in security until the storm blew over.[106] It was settled by his
+protectors that he should be sent as ambassador to the Holy See in order
+to remove him for a time from the pursuit of his adversaries. The king,
+who had at first been very angry with his _protégé_, shortly afterwards
+issued a royal proclamation intended to give a milder complexion to the
+whole affair, and to serve as a preliminary to letting the proceedings
+drop.[107] In the July following the bishop was despatched to Rome.
+
+It is tempting to dwell for a moment on the personality of this prelate,
+perhaps the best known to history of all his family. Six years older
+than the Bailly of Troyes, the Bishop of Auxerre exerted a potent
+influence on the intellectual development of the younger brother.
+Nothing is more striking in the meagre records that have come down to
+us, than the constant proof they afford of the affection and community
+of tastes which united these two brothers. “Besides the liberal arts,”
+says the biographer of the bishop, “he was a connoisseur in mechanics,
+loving above all things painting, and having always some painters in his
+house.”[108] Involuntarily Holbein’s presentment of the Bailly of Troyes
+rises before the imagination, so exactly do these words describe it.
+
+But while the career of Jean de Dinteville is unclouded by any hint of
+blame, that of the Bishop of Auxerre is of a chequered character, in
+which light and shadow are almost equally distributed. Hot-tempered,
+and failing often in tact and discretion, his mental parts were yet
+coupled, to judge by the warm friendships he inspired, with considerable
+personal charm. Deeply attached to learning, keenly sensitive to the
+beautiful, he was a typical churchman of the Renaissance, as much layman
+as ecclesiastic. His love of sport, especially his passion for falconry,
+then at the height of fashion, are as oddly contrasted to his exaggerated
+asceticism and frugal diet, as the mermaids of his coat-of-arms to his
+pastoral staff.[109]
+
+Having learnt grammar at the College of Troyes, François de Dinteville
+proceeded to the University of Paris. Here he was a member of the College
+of Navarre, which, as the only one at that time providing lectures in
+divinity outside the walls of the Sorbonne, was popular with theologians
+of moderate views. Thence, probably with the object of studying civil
+law, the future bishop was sent to Poitiers; and, finally, to complete
+his training in both branches of jurisprudence, to the University of
+Padua.
+
+No doubt this residence in Italy, at the crowning moment of the
+Renaissance, gave a definite stamp to his tastes in more ways than one.
+
+On his return to France he was made Almoner to Louise of Savoy. Shortly
+after he was appointed Bishop of Riez, and suffragan to his uncle; upon
+whose death, in 1530, he was promoted to the see of Auxerre. He appeared
+well fitted, therefore, for the arduous duties he was now called upon to
+undertake as French ambassador to the Vatican, at the difficult moment of
+the divorce suit of Henry VIII.
+
+The same year, 1531, witnessed the first mission of the Bailly of Troyes
+to England. The friendship between Henry VIII. and Francis I. was now
+growing apace. Besides the resident ambassadors at either Court, the
+coming and going of special envoys entrusted with messages it was not
+deemed prudent to commit to writing, had assumed great activity. Henry
+VIII. still clung to the hope of forcing Clement VII., through pressure
+from France, to annul his marriage with the Emperor’s aunt, Katherine
+of Aragon. The Pope, since the sack of Rome in 1527 more than ever the
+Emperor’s tool, caught at every straw to postpone a decision which
+must of necessity alienate from him one half of Europe or the other.
+Francis I., anxious for his own purposes to keep Henry at variance with
+the Emperor, saw in the divorce the most obvious means of doing so. He
+accordingly threw the whole weight of his influence on the side of the
+King of England.
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF FRANÇOIS II. DE DINTEVILLE, BISHOP OF AUXERRE,
+FROM THE MARTYRDOM OF STE. EUGÉNIE, BY FELIX CHRÉTIEN, IN THE CHURCH AT
+VARZY.]
+
+Dinteville’s first visit to England, or the first of which we know,
+seems to have been a rapid errand of confidential nature. But, short as
+it was, it is likely that it formed the key to his future advancement,
+for the only English sentence relating to it which has been preserved
+has a decided flavour of success. It has been seen that an intimate
+connection existed between the Dinteville family and the Order of St.
+John of Jerusalem. Sir William Weston was at this time Prior of the
+English language. Dinteville, either now or later, was on friendly terms
+with a young Weston who had been at the University of Paris; but, in any
+case, seems to have been well known to the English knights of the Order
+when, in the late autumn of 1531, he arrived in London. On the 12th
+December Sir John Mablisteyn writes to Sir Giles Russell, “Mr. Tyntervile
+departed on the 3rd, having had good expedition with the king and his
+council.”[110]
+
+Meanwhile the Bishop of Auxerre, at Rome, was busily engaged in urging
+the cause of the divorce. Gilles de la Pommeraye, who was sent as
+resident ambassador to England within three weeks of the termination of
+the Bailly’s brief mission, supported it no less eagerly in London.[111]
+La Pommeraye was on terms of intimacy with the Bishop of Auxerre; and
+the two friends agreed to communicate to each other, if necessary in
+cipher, whatever of importance might occur in their respective spheres of
+duty.[112]
+
+It is clear that, apart from questions of expediency, some members of
+the liberal party in France frankly ranged themselves with the King of
+England on this thorny subject. They saw that the interminable delays of
+the Pope were dictated only by self-interest, unworthy of the high office
+he was called upon to exercise. For that office they had a profound
+respect; for the personality of Clement VII., to judge by scattered
+utterances in the correspondence of the time, their feeling bordered
+on contempt. Henry VIII. had, it was considered, a right to an answer,
+whatever the tenour of that answer might be.
+
+From this point of view, and as showing the charm the king could exercise
+when such was his good pleasure, a letter written at about this time by
+La Pommeraye to the Bishop of Auxerre has its curious side.
+
+    [113] ... “Vous avez raison,” he says, “de me porter envie
+    d’estre avec un si gentil Prince, car je pense que apres le
+    Roy nostre maistre ne s’en trouva passé à deux cens ans, un
+    de meilleur esprit, de meilleure grace ny plus magnanime que
+    cestuy cy: et, à vous parler franchement, le dit Roy nostre
+    maistre est obligé a luy du bon vouloir qu’il luy porte, dequoy
+    je me sens grandement, car je suis traicté icy, non pas comme
+    Ambassadeur, mais comme Prince du pays, logé en la maison[114]
+    dudict Sieur Roy, et quand je le veois veoir, toujours mangeant
+    à sa table; et pource, ne vous esmerveillez si je vous conforte
+    et prie de porter sa querelle....
+
+    “Mr. ce Prince a grand envie de chastier les Prestres de ce
+    pays et ne leur laisser jouir de si grans privilleges qu’ils
+    ont accoustumé, dont est cause le tort qu’on lui faict à Rome,
+    qui est si grand que plus ne peust: c’est chose estrange que
+    l’Empereur ait tant de pouvoir avec le Pape, qu’il soit par ce
+    empesché de rendre raison et justice là où il la cognoist.”[115]
+
+The private letters of the ambassadors and other public characters to
+each other form an interesting commentary on the political events of
+the time. The Bishop of Auxerre, who, in spite of detractors, stood in
+high repute for learning, love of art, and distinguished office, had
+many such correspondents. Among these, to mention only a few conspicuous
+names, were Lazare de Baif, a classical scholar of some celebrity, who
+was now French ambassador at Venice; the Marquis de Saluce, who, after
+enjoying high favour, later became a traitor to the French Crown; and
+Philippe Villiers de L’Isle-Adam, Grand Master of Rhodes. Of lesser
+correspondence, none throws more light on the fortunes of the Dinteville
+brothers at this period than that of Balavoyne, or Belle Avoine, the
+Bishop of Auxerre’s steward in France, who collected his revenues, and
+sent him news of his family, during his absence at Rome.[116]
+
+These letters and those of Berthereau, the secretary of Montmorency,
+enable us to follow with some precision the movements of the Bailly of
+Troyes and his brothers during the year 1532. In the summer Francis I.
+made a tour in Brittany, prior to the annexation of that province to
+the Crown of France, taking with him the Dauphin François. The latter
+selected from among his gentlemen, to be his special attendant on this
+occasion, Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz. Jean de Dinteville and his
+brother Vanlay meanwhile remained with their respective charges, the
+Dukes of Angoulême and of Orleans, at the Court of Queen Eleanor. The
+plan was to spend Easter at Tours, and later to go to meet the king
+and dauphin at Nantes on their return from Brittany.[117] The whole
+scheme was afterwards postponed for a few weeks, and came off with some
+modifications.
+
+In May the Bailly had a slight attack of fever, an enemy that often
+troubled him, and consequently obtained leave to go home for awhile.[118]
+He was keenly interested just now in a new tower and some pictures he
+was adding to Polisy, where his mother and unmarried sister resided
+with him. A little later he was staying at Plessis, the home, it will
+be remembered, of his mother’s family, when Fontaines, the page of the
+deceased Commander of Rhodes, Louis de Dinteville, was struck down with
+the plague. Happily, he recovered; but the Bailly and Vanlay, to avoid
+all risk of infection for the young princes, retired for a time to La
+Bourdaizière, the house of another connection of the family. Almost at
+the same moment, however, an illness which attacked the little Duke of
+Angoulême, but seems to have been only of passing severity, obliged Jean
+to leave his retreat and return to Court sooner than he had intended.
+Shortly after this, Balavoyne received from the Bailly casts of the
+features of the Dauphin and the Duke of Orleans, with the order to
+forward them to the Bishop of Auxerre. From these models their portraits
+were to be executed at Rome.[119]
+
+Thus the summer glided into autumn, which was to be distinguished by an
+event of unusual interest.
+
+The meeting which took place at Calais between Henry VIII. and Francis
+I. in October, 1532, probably marks the culminating point of the
+friendship between the two kings. Though devoid of the excessive luxury
+which distinguished the interview of 1520, known as the Field of the
+Cloth of Gold, it was conducted with much pomp and magnificence. On the
+21st October, Henry, from his town of Calais, and Francis, from the
+French territory of Boulogne, rode out to meet each other. Each king was
+followed by a splendid retinue. The festivities lasted for ten days,
+in the course of which the King of England was received by Francis at
+Boulogne, and returned the hospitality by entertaining the French King at
+Calais. Much is recorded of the gorgeous robes, flashing with rubies and
+diamonds, worn by the two sovereigns; of music, dancing, and feasting,
+of bull and bear baiting, games and wrestling, the latter, curiously
+enough, undertaken, on the French side, chiefly by priests. Valuable
+presents were given and received on either side. But the most welcome
+feature to the King of France of all these courtesies must have been the
+gift of 300,000 crowns made by Henry VIII. to the young princes. This sum
+represented the residue of the loan advanced by him for their father’s
+ransom, which he thus gracefully abandoned. Small wonder that Francis
+hastened to exhibit his gratitude by conferring on the Dukes of Norfolk
+and Suffolk, “comme aux deux estans plus près de la personne dudit roy
+d’Angleterre,” the royal order of St. Michael.[120] Henry responded by
+bestowing the Garter on Montmorency and Brion.
+
+But the main object of the meeting at Calais lay deeper than in the
+desire to exchange mutual civilities. Ostensibly for the purpose of
+concerting measures for the defence of Christendom against Solyman, and
+actually resulting in a treaty to that effect, it was planned, in the
+first place, to discuss a common line of policy directed against Charles
+V., in favour of the divorce and of certain objects that the French
+King had at heart. No doubt the “damned machinations and enterprises
+of the Turk”[121]—with whom, be it noted, Francis I. stood on the most
+friendly terms at the very moment when these words were penned—served as
+an admirable cloak for these designs. No doubt also the Most Christian
+King was anxious to present to Clement VII. an appearance of devotion
+equal to that of his Imperial rival. The real purpose of the interview
+is, however, sufficiently clearly shown by the fact that no ambassadors
+were allowed to be present excepting such as were subjects of the two
+kings. Chapuys, the Imperial envoy in England, displayed much chagrin at
+this decree. The treaty was, in fact, so much waste paper, except for the
+purpose of making dupes; to which account Francis promptly turned it in
+his next dealings with the Pope.
+
+The Bishop of Auxerre had received instructions to come from Rome,
+in order to be present at the Calais meeting, and to report on the
+negotiations he had been conducting at the Holy See. Letters addressed
+to him, however, at Rome, immediately after the interview, show that
+for some reason this plan fell through. His place was taken, at the
+interview, by the Cardinals Tournon and Grammont, who were shortly to
+succeed him at the Papal Court, and who received detailed instructions
+from both kings as to the part to be played by them with regard to the
+King of England’s suit.
+
+But if the Bishop of Auxerre was absent, it can hardly be doubted that
+all his brothers took part in the festivities, in attendance upon their
+respective charges, the three French princes. Henry VIII. had expressed a
+special wish to see at Calais the children whom his liberality had helped
+to release from their Spanish prison. The Duke of Angoulême accompanied
+his two elder brothers to the royal interview, and on first meeting the
+King of England, after the Dauphin and the Duke of Orleans had expressed
+their gratitude to the king, the little boy addressed him in another
+form, “so sweetly and sagely, according to report, that he spoke like
+an angel; so that the English king again embraced him alone, kissing
+him several times.”[122] Indeed, Henry treated all three with marked
+kindness. More than once in the annals of the proceedings he is mentioned
+as playing at tennis with the young princes, and it has been seen that it
+was to them he cancelled the debt due to him from the King of France.
+
+Early in November Henry VIII., accompanied by Anne Boleyn, who, not
+yet queen, had shared the Calais fêtes as Marchioness of Pembroke, set
+sail for England. A new ambassador, Montpesat, returned with him, La
+Pommeraye’s mission being on the verge of conclusion. The fresh selection
+was probably made in consequence of Montpesat’s previous acquaintance
+with the country, and possibly, to some extent, with the language.[123]
+At the outset he appeared hardly so successful as his predecessor. The
+reason of this, in the present temper of the king, was not far to seek.
+“Mons. de Montpesat, the French ambassador,” writes the indefatigable
+gossip, Chapuys, to his Imperial master, “has continually followed the
+king, and been in Court until yesterday.... The queen[124] has been
+informed that the more La Pommeraye solicits the divorce, the more he
+(Montpesat) dislikes it. This is beginning to be perceived, for he has
+not obtained the favour of lodging in this town in the king’s house,
+which the other ambassador did.”[125] It is, perhaps, rash to infer a
+recovery of royal favour from the gifts showered on the ambassador at
+his departure, which were probably a mere formality. In any case, his
+mission was of brief duration, and on its expiration Jean de Dinteville
+was appointed to take his place.
+
+“The Bailly,” writes Balavoyne from Paris, on the 2nd December, 1532,
+to the Bishop of Auxerre at Rome, “has obtained leave of absence until
+Christmas, or if possible until Twelfth Night, by which time he must
+return to Court, and then immediately depart for England. Meanwhile he is
+going to visit Mademoiselle,[126] and set his affairs in order.”[127]
+
+Just at the same time arrangements wee being made for the return of the
+Bishop of Auxerre. His enemies were again showing signs of restlessness,
+and Jean was eager that he should come back to confront them and to end
+their intrigues. The brothers therefore hailed the termination of the
+bishop’s embassy with joy.
+
+On the 26th January, 1533, the Bailly writes to convey to his brother
+the express permission of Montmorency for his departure from Rome. After
+telling him of the instructions given to the Cardinals, Dinteville
+continues:
+
+    [128]“En oultre m’a enchargé ledit Sgr. grand maistre
+    expressément vous escrire que incontinent parties pourrez
+    vous en venir. Je croy bien qu’il sera honneste dire à Dieu.
+    Mais quelques remonstrances, pour service du Roy, ny aultres
+    choses, qu’ilz leur dient, venez vous en, et vous serez le
+    bien venue et receu, je vous en assure, non pas de moy, car
+    ne me trouveres, pour ce que demain m’en pars; et espere, au
+    plaisir de Dieu, trouveres, a vostre arrivée, voz evocations
+    depeschees.”[129]
+
+La Pommeraye meanwhile had written to inquire how the Cardinals were
+behaving to his friend.
+
+    [130]“Soyez asseuré” so runs his letter, “aumoings c’est ma
+    fantaisie, qu’ils ne sont pas voz amys; mais la sagesse d’un
+    homme aussi est de se tenir ferme en ses grans heurts. Je vous
+    advertis bien qu’a l’endroit du maistre quant je suis party de
+    la Cour vous estiez en aussi bonne grace comme eux. Suyvez ce
+    que vous avez commancé et ne variez poinct pour aucune chose
+    qu’ils vous puissent dire; et, moyennant ce que vous direz soit
+    véritable, ne vous souciez du demeurant, car le patron est pour
+    vous et trois des plus vaillans Champions.”[131]
+
+The frank and manly tone of this letter is a refreshing contrast to the
+diplomatic subtleties of much of the official correspondence of the time.
+The “master” and “patron” was of course Francis I. The “three champions”
+may probably be correctly interpreted as Montmorency, Brion and the
+Bishop of Paris.
+
+La Pommeraye’s feeling with regard to the Cardinals was no doubt
+correct. Though a devout son of his Church, and a strong opponent of the
+Lutherans, the Bishop of Auxerre belonged to the liberal, anti-Spanish
+party in France. Cardinal Tournon, on the other hand, was one of the most
+violent of the extreme Catholic section. As such the two men, agreed in
+dogma, were opposed in politics—a position likely enough to engender
+personal animosity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE BAILLY OF TROYES FRENCH AMBASSADOR IN ENGLAND (1533)
+
+
+On the 3rd of February, 1533, the Bailly had reached Boulogne on his way
+to England.
+
+From Calais to Dover was then, as now, the more frequented passage; but
+Boulogne being French territory, it sometimes happened that Frenchmen
+selected that route in preference to the English one by Calais. On
+arriving at Dover the ordinary traveller proceeded on horseback by
+Canterbury and Rochester to Gravesend, whence the journey was generally
+continued by water to London.
+
+Occasionally, however, as with Chaucer’s pilgrims in the opposite
+direction, the entire journey from Canterbury to London was accomplished
+by road. This was especially the case if an official reception was
+intended, when a cavalcade of notabilities would be sent out from London
+to meet the arriving stranger and escort him to the city. On important
+occasions the welcoming _cortége_ went the whole way to Dover. Such
+was the case in 1527, on the arrival of the great embassy conducted by
+Montmorency, Jean Du Bellay, and the Chancellor of Alençon.[132] But even
+when lesser magnates were expected, much ceremony was observed in their
+reception, if demanded by their office. Lodovico Falier, the incoming
+Venetian ambassador in 1528, “was met first of all at a distance of
+eight miles from the city by the ambassador Venier[133] and all the
+Venetians; then, a little in advance, by a knight privy councillor, with
+a good number of horsemen; and thirdly by another privy councillor, an
+LL.D.; who all, one by one, paid the usual compliments in Latin in the
+name of the King and Cardinal, on receiving him, and he performed the
+like office by them in reply.” He next met “the ambassadors from France,
+Milan, and Ferrara, and then the Grand Prior of St. John’s[134] with a
+numerous retinue, he being a very great personage, the chief in London.
+They all accompanied him with very great honour to his lodging in the
+centre of the city, near that of the French ambassador,[135] a very
+worthy person.”[136]
+
+If such was the reception bestowed upon the ambassador of Venice, it may
+be safely assumed that nothing less elaborate was prepared for Dinteville
+at a moment when Henry VIII. was specially anxious to show civility
+to France. It will be remembered, too, that the Bailly was already on
+friendly terms with the Weston family and with the Knights of St. John,
+which would add point to any part they might have to play in his official
+welcome.
+
+Winding through the narrow streets and between the closely-constructed,
+gabled houses of the city of London, the cavalcade would presently reach
+the quarter where the high steeple of old St. Paul’s rose high above
+the surrounding buildings. But Dinteville’s journey was not yet ended.
+Like his friend, La Pommeraye, he had been given apartments in the royal
+palace of Bridewell.[137] Passing through Ludgate and over the Fleet
+Bridge, the procession would now deflect southwards towards the Thames,
+and, descending by the western bank of the Fleet, in a line approximately
+represented by the modern Bridge Street, would draw rein before the
+castellated façade of Bridewell.
+
+The palace stood a little back from the river, on the western angle
+formed by the junction of the Fleet with the Thames. The corresponding
+angle eastwards was occupied by the great monastery of the Black Friars.
+The city wall, which inclosed the latter, here curved abruptly to the
+north within the line of the Fleet, leaving that small stream and the
+royal house of Bridewell without its precincts.
+
+Bridewell Palace was of long and irregular shape. The southern extremity,
+flanked by two corner towers, formed the main front towards the Thames;
+and was pierced by an entrance door abutting on the quay which separated
+the house from the river. The buildings ran back some distance along
+the western shore of the Fleet, and were divided into various groups
+by courts and gardens. The latter were of considerable dimensions,
+filling the opening on the east front overlooking the Fleet, and, on the
+other side, covering the whole space between the palace and the next
+street westwards running down to the Thames. The grounds had recently
+been greatly enlarged by a piece of land acquired from the Knights
+Hospitallers, containing no less than fifteen gardens, which were
+“thrown down and inclosed in the king’s great messuage or manor, called
+Bridewell.”[138]
+
+The original foundation was of very remote origin. The palace was built
+partly on the remains of an ancient castle, which in early days had
+formed the western bulwark of the city of London. Though occupied from
+time to time by various English sovereigns, from King John downwards,
+it had fallen much out of repair when Henry VIII, took it in hand and
+rebuilt it for the reception of Charles V. in 1522. After all, however,
+the Emperor occupied apartments in the adjacent monastery of the Black
+Friars. His suite only were lodged in the new palace, a covered bridge
+being thrown across the Fleet, and an aperture pierced in the city wall
+to give free access to the Emperor’s quarters.
+
+Henry VIII. frequently resided at Bridewell, which is associated with
+several interesting historical events. Hither, in 1528, Cardinal
+Campeggio, ill with gout and fever, was carried through pouring rain,
+when deputed to hear the divorce case, Wolsey riding at his side. The
+palace on this occasion was “superbly decorated and filled with princes,
+prelates and noblemen.”[139] The following year, 1529, Henry VIII. and
+Katherine of Aragon were again at Bridewell, when the same interminable
+question was being argued in the great hall of the Black Friars. After
+the fall of Wolsey and sequestration of his property, the king preferred
+York Place,[140] the confiscated residence of the see of York, which was
+now incorporated with the Palace of Westminster. He could therefore well
+afford to place Bridewell at the disposal of any foreign ambassador to
+whom he desired to show peculiar favour.
+
+It is amusing to find amongst Dinteville’s first proceedings on his
+arrival in England, the importation of “thirty tuns of Gascon wine,”
+the claret of to-day, which was conveyed to London by a ship called the
+“Edmund,” of Lynn.[141]
+
+Whether going westwards to visit the king at Westminster or eastwards to
+see him at Greenwich, the river was the high-road by which the Bailly of
+Troyes would reach his destination. The Thames was the main artery of
+the traffic of London. Its busy wharves, laden with merchandise, each
+with a flight of wooden steps descending to the water, the varied craft
+which plied upon its surface, the many signs which announced the great
+commercial centre, excited much interest in the minds of foreigners.
+
+“London,” writes one of them,[142] “... is the residence of the
+ambassadors and merchants; it is a very notable city situated on the
+Thames, a magnificent river navigable for vessels of any burden, sixty
+miles from the sea, and with a very strong tide. This river is convenient
+for trade, embellishing the city, and rendering it cheerful, and over
+it is a very large stone bridge.[143] London contains many houses on
+either side of the river and two large churches of extreme beauty, in
+one of which the present king’s father is buried.[144] In various parts
+of the city there are many palaces of divers citizens and merchants,
+but the larger ones and the most superb are on the river, the owners
+being the chief personages of the kingdom. Besides the two belonging
+to the king,[145] and one to the queen, the three dukes,[146] the two
+marquises[147] and several bishops, have mansions there, each of them
+worth 12,000 crowns, with very delightful gardens.
+
+“The population of London is immense and comprises many artificers. The
+houses[148] are in very great number, but ugly, and half the materials
+of wood, nor are the streets wide. In short, I am of opinion, all things
+considered, that it is a very rich, populous, and mercantile city, but
+not beautiful....”
+
+When an ambassador was invited to court, the king’s bargeman was
+entrusted with the task of providing a boat, with eight or ten oars, at
+the king’s expense. The guest was thus rapidly conveyed “from Greenwich
+to York Place, Bridewell, and Westminster,” or whatever might be the
+point of destination on the Thames. The charges made on these occasions
+are still on record. One entry notes that “John Johnson, master of
+the king’s barge, for conveying the French ambassador from London to
+Greenwich and back in a boat of ten oars,” paid “each rower 8_d._, and
+the master 16_d._, with 12_d._ for the hire of the boat.”[149]
+
+The king had been eagerly expecting the arrival of the new ambassador,
+being anxious to hear the report of Cardinals Tournon and Grammont from
+Italy, before replying to a recently received Papal despatch. Montpesat,
+who was awaiting the Bailly before departing himself, was even urged to
+send a special messenger to hurry his successor.[150]
+
+Parliament was, in 1533, opened by the king on the 4th February. A state
+attendance followed at the House of Lords, to which several of the
+foreign representatives were bidden. A day or two later, the Papal Nuncio
+and the French ambassador were invited by the king to be present at a
+sitting of the Commons. This time Montpesat, who left a few days later,
+was accompanied by Dinteville, who had just arrived. On leaving the
+Commons, the two Frenchmen, the Papal Nuncio, and the Duke of Norfolk,
+with others of the Council, were “sumptuously banqueted” at the house of
+Sir William Fitzwilliam, Treasurer of the Household. After dinner the
+Nuncio had hoped to have audience of the king; but he was put off till
+the next day, in order that Henry might first hear what the Bailly of
+Troyes had to communicate.[151]
+
+No doubt the report given by the latter was satisfactory to the king.
+Early in January the two French Cardinals had joined the meeting at
+Bologna between Pope and Emperor. Dinteville had been instructed to
+inform Henry VIII. that their presence had produced an excellent effect.
+As a consequence of their persuasions, Clement had consented to come
+to an interview with Francis, planned by the two kings when at Calais.
+It was hoped that by this means some good conclusion might be arrived
+at in the affair of the King of England. For the present, however, his
+Holiness desired that the project might be kept secret. The prospect
+of an alliance between his niece and a son of the King of France had
+doubtless contributed to elicit these dulcet accents from the Pope.
+A further factor probably lay in his desire to draw both kings into
+an Italian league then forming, with the co-operation of the Emperor,
+against the Turk. To this, however, Francis declined his assent.[152]
+Henry accordingly excused himself, in like manner, in the interview which
+now took place with the Nuncio.[153] Venice, it may be added, at this
+moment allied with France and England, gave a similar reply.
+
+Yet, at the very moment when the Pope appeared to be in so affable a mood
+he had but recently issued a brief threatening the King of England with
+excommunication in case he should persist in putting away his first wife
+and entering into a new contract.[154] Meanwhile, in January, 1533, Henry
+had secretly wedded Anne Boleyn. The King of France, on his side, full of
+the project of marrying his second son, Henri, Duke of Orleans, to the
+Pope’s niece, Catherine de’ Medici, was absorbed in the achievement of
+his own ends. That marriage, and indeed the proposed interview itself, so
+Henry VIII. had understood, were to be held out as a reward to Clement
+only if he acted as the two kings wished in the matter of the divorce.
+The alliance of a Medici with a son of the King of France was considered
+a sufficiently tempting bait. But Francis saw in the bribe a means of
+drawing the Pope away from the Emperor, and quietly pursued his plans
+without too much care for the real or supposed condition. To Clement,
+apart from the brilliancy of such a marriage for his niece, it offered a
+way of escape from all his difficulties, supposing he could slip out of
+the hampering condition relating to the King of England’s divorce, and
+thus avoid displeasure to the Emperor. Could he unite on his side both
+Francis and Charles, he would be released from the painful position he
+had so long occupied of a puppet tossed to and fro between the alternate
+threats and caresses of the two great continental powers. The danger of
+a schism in France would be averted. The friendship between England and
+France would be much modified, if not altogether broken. To accomplish
+all this, however, it would be necessary to offer a substantial
+inducement to the King of France, who was closely bound to the English
+king. Clement therefore entered into a secret agreement, as part of
+the marriage contract, by which Francis was to acquire, by cession or
+conquest, certain portions of Italian territory, including the Duchy of
+Milan—that Fata Morgana for whose possession so much French blood and
+treasure had already been expended in vain.[155]
+
+It will thus be seen that each party concerned was playing a double game,
+excepting the King of England. Whatever view be taken of his conduct, he
+at least made no attempt to shuffle the cards beneath the table.
+
+Meanwhile, glad to avail himself of the apparently softened mood of the
+Pope to minimize the effect of the brief on his own subjects, Henry
+lavished attentions on the Nuncio in England, in order that all the world
+might see how amicable were his relations with the Papacy.
+
+Such was the anomalous position of things when the Bailly of Troyes began
+his residence in England. The history of the period has been sifted and
+re-sifted by the most capable hands. It is not intended to dwell on it
+here at greater length than is indispensable to the good understanding of
+the public career of Dinteville, and of the task committed to his charge.
+
+In the intervals of official business the French ambassador no doubt
+found plenty of time to cultivate his private tastes. It would be
+interesting to know how and where he first became acquainted with the
+works of Hans Holbein, and was fired by the desire to sit to that
+painter. The channels are numerous through which this may have taken
+place. Several of Holbein’s early patrons, such as Warham, Archbishop of
+Canterbury, and Sir Henry Guildford, Comptroller of the Household, had
+indeed passed away since Dinteville’s first visit to England in 1531. But
+Sir Thomas More, the first and most conspicuous protector of the artist,
+yet remained. Nicolas Kratzer, too, the king’s astronomer, had been
+painted by him in 1528. In a small society, such as that of the Court of
+Henry VIII., it would have been difficult for anyone interested in art
+to overlook a painter of the merit of Hans Holbein. The Duke of Norfolk,
+and many others who ultimately sat to him, such as Thomas Cromwell, Earl
+of Essex, Sir William Fitzwilliam, and Dr. Buttes, the king’s physician,
+were acquaintances of Dinteville’s, and, though their portraits belong
+to a later date, any one of them may have been instrumental in bringing
+ambassador and painter together. Norfolk, especially, was on friendly
+terms with the Bailly. The Duke corresponded with Montmorency, the
+French statesman who found most favour in England at this period, and
+doubtless for this reason extended special kindness to the cousin and
+_protégé_ of his French friend. Again, the Duke of Norfolk was intimately
+acquainted with Sir Thomas More, and a welcome guest at his house. More
+was now living in retirement at Chelsea, but it does not seem unlikely
+that by the Duke’s introduction, or otherwise, Dinteville may have known
+him.[156] His house had long been the home of that type of learning with
+which the ambassador was familiar through the French humanists. The fame
+of its hospitality extended far beyond the boundaries of England. As
+Roman Catholics, desiring liberal reforms of discipline but not of dogma,
+the two men would also have much in common. If the Bailly of Troyes saw
+at the house in Chelsea, not only the noble single portrait of More, but
+the great family group which formed a corner-stone of Holbein’s fame, he
+may well have been struck with the genius that could produce such works.
+
+Nicolas Kratzer, again, may have been the medium of the introduction.
+The keen interest in mechanics and geometry displayed by the Dinteville
+family, their eagerness about every new instrument, would have been
+certain to draw the ambassador to the society of this interesting
+individual.[157]
+
+Since Holbein’s return from Basle in 1532 his principal patrons had been
+the German merchants of the Steelyard. The privileges granted by English
+kings, from very early times, to the Hanseatic merchants of London, had
+raised their ancient community to great wealth and influence. The large
+scale of their commercial operations, and the facilities they enjoyed for
+obtaining foreign news, lent additional importance to their position.
+They had the right to appoint their own alderman.[158] Tradition tells
+a good deal of the garden in Cosins Lane where men of all classes met
+for business or recreation, discussing their affairs over the delicacies
+imported by the merchants and the Rhenish wine the latter were here
+licensed to sell. Sir Thomas More was said to be the author of one of the
+couplets inscribed over the central door of their guildhall. Kratzer,
+no doubt, was often here; Holbein, as we have seen, painted many of
+the members. But apart from the social tradition, the Steelyard had
+another aspect which has hardly been sufficiently thrown into relief by
+writers on the subject. In the time of Henry VIII., when the knowledge
+of German was very rare amongst the English, the Hanseatic merchants
+were frequently called upon to take part in diplomatic negotiations as
+interpreters. Sometimes they were required to accompany an English envoy
+to the continent, sometimes to translate documents despatched to London.
+Insensibly they were thus drawn into the political sphere, in subordinate
+positions no doubt, but in a manner which accounts for the constant
+mention of their community in the historical papers of the time, and
+for a large measure of the consideration in which they were held. At a
+moment when it was the common policy of England and France to cultivate
+the friendship of the German Protestant princes, in opposition to the
+Emperor—princes who were fully as ignorant of foreign tongues as the
+English themselves—the services of the German merchants were naturally in
+special request. It is quite possible that here also there existed points
+of contact between Dinteville and the Steelyard.[159]
+
+But surmise grows wearisome even when based on evident probabilities. By
+whatever means the event was brought about, it is certain that the spring
+of 1533 found Dinteville and his “intime amy,” the Bishop of Lavaur,
+sitting to Holbein for the picture of the “Ambassadors.” George de Selve
+came over on a visit to the Bailly by the express permission of the King
+of France. For some reason his stay in England was to be concealed from
+Montmorency.[160] It is therefore less than surprising that no notice
+of it occurs in any English records. To keep all knowledge of the
+event from Montmorency would demand a good deal of circumspection. The
+coming and going of messengers between the Grand Maître and the French
+ambassador in England was incessant. The leading Englishmen also, such as
+the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, stood in frequent relations with the
+French side of the Channel.
+
+At some time between February and Easter George de Selve arrived in
+England;[161] at some time before the end of May he departed again.[162]
+Whether any political object lay behind his visit to this country does
+not appear. There is no evidence that it was inspired by other motive
+than that of private friendship.
+
+That much time and thought was bestowed on the composition and details
+of the great picture for which the two ambassadors[163] were now sitting
+is certain. Regarded in connection with the public and private career
+of both Frenchmen, its parts work out with the precision of a Chinese
+puzzle. As it is proposed to devote a special division to the details of
+the picture,[164] it is unnecessary to dwell upon them in the present
+chapter, but it is interesting to observe that they must have been to a
+large extent suggested by Dinteville himself. The Bishop of Lavaur, who
+was but a bird of passage, left England before the picture could have
+been much more than begun. Presumably his portrait was completed, as was
+frequently Holbein’s practice, from a drawing taken from life. But the
+Bailly, who wearied of his protracted stay in this country, and whose
+delicate health suffered from the climate, found no doubt in the progress
+of this picture a constant source of entertainment and interest. Many an
+hour which might otherwise have passed tediously, must have been devoted
+to thinking out with the painter its elaborate details. In no other way
+can the absolute harmony of its complex arrangements with the known life
+and tastes of the principal sitter be explained.
+
+Early in May the French ambassador had a rather sharp attack of tertian
+fever. We hear of the Duke of Norfolk dining with him, and bringing the
+king’s physician, Dr. Buttes, to advise upon his case.[165] Apparently
+the treatment prescribed was successful, for he soon shook off this
+particular illness.
+
+Political events meanwhile were slowly progressing. The spring went by
+in negotiations relating to the settlement of the Scotch quarrel, to the
+proposed General Council, and, above all, to the coming interview between
+Francis I. and the Pope, where it was settled that the Duke of Norfolk
+should represent Henry VIII. The most important event which took place
+in England was the appointment of Cranmer to the see of Canterbury, and
+the king’s resolve that the English archbishop should now pass sentence
+on his case. The Bailly of Troyes implored Henry to keep this intention
+a secret until the Pope should have arrived at Nice. But this the king
+declined to do. He intended to have his new queen crowned with all the
+pomp of state at Whitsuntide, and wished the sentence made public at
+once.[166]
+
+The same courier who bore the despatch containing this information to the
+King of France, conveyed a letter from Dinteville to his brother, the
+Bishop of Auxerre. This document is so curious, both in its public and
+private aspect, that it shall here be given _verbatim_.
+
+It seems that there was a question at this time of sending the Bishop
+of Auxerre on a second embassy to Rome, which explains the political
+commission the Bailly requests him to undertake. The case stood thus:
+Dinteville foresaw that the Pope would be very angry, and probably launch
+his thunderbolts at once against the King of England, on hearing that he
+had deliberately defied the Papal authority by causing sentence to be
+pronounced in England. If it could be said, however, that the marriage
+with Anne Boleyn had taken place by Clement’s own advice, secretly
+tendered some time previously to the French ambassador at Rome, the sting
+of the Papal anathema would naturally be removed, and an understanding
+might yet be arrived at between England and Rome. Hence the ambassador’s
+solicitude upon this point. For private reasons, however, he was much
+opposed to his brother’s return to Rome, if it could be avoided. The rest
+of the letter is interesting from the allusion to Selve’s visit, and from
+the light it throws on the Bailly’s private pursuits.
+
+    “Monsieur,
+
+    [167]“J’ai receu vostre lettre escripte de Sommevoyre, par
+    laquelle me semble que me mandez que autrefoys avez dit aux
+    ambassadeurs de ce Roy, estans par de la, que aviez entendu
+    aux propos de nostre Sainct Père, que pour l’affaire de ce
+    dit Roy seroit meilleur le mariage fait que à faire. Si ainsi
+    estoit, seroit une chose qui grandement luy pourroit servir.
+    Je vous prie me mander, si d’adventure le pape ne se vouloit
+    gouverner de ce costé de deça autrement que à point, si je
+    pourroye bien advertir cedit Roy de ce dont m’en avez mandé,
+    et si pareillement quand les choses viendront bien avant, vous
+    luy vouldriez ramentevoir les propos qu’il vous en a tenu, en
+    lui disant que des lors les communiquastez aux ambassadeurs de
+    ce dit sieur Roy, voyant les affaires du Roy et les siennes
+    n’estre que ung. S’il vous plaist sur cela me manderez vostre
+    advis, lequel ferez bien de consulter ung petit avec nos amys,
+    et par adventure, avec Monseigneur le Grant Maistre et Monsieur
+    de Paris, car la chose est assés de consequence.
+
+    “Au reste, nous vous mercyons bien fort, Monsr. de la
+    Tournelle,[168] mon cousin et moy, des branches de vostre
+    if, que nous soubhaittez, vous advisant que ceans sommes bien
+    fourniz d’arcs de buttes et de maulvais archiers, et moy, pour
+    le pire.
+
+    “Je vous prie m’envoyer le portraict du compas auvale duquel
+    m’avez escript; car je suis bien empesché à comprendre la façon
+    de laquelle il est fait.
+
+    “Je commence bien à me fascher en ce pays ycy, en attendant
+    la fin des six moys, lesquelz escheurent le vingt deuxiesme
+    juillet. Monsr. le grant maistre m’a promis que n’y demoureray
+    que les dits six moys. Je prie à Dieu qu’il me tienne promesse.
+    J’ay eu la fiebvre tierce et y a long temps qu’en suis guery.
+    S’il vous plaist, divisez ung petit avec monsr. de Paris
+    pour mon retour. Je vous advise bien que je suis le plus
+    melancolicque fasché et fascheux ambassadeur que vistez oncques.
+
+    “_Monsr. de Lavor m’a fait cest honneur que de me venir veoir,
+    qui ne m’a esté petit plaisir. Il n’est point de besoing que
+    Mr. le grant maistre en entende rien._[169]
+
+    “J’ai eu des lettres d’Escoce de Monsr. de Beauvois.[170]
+    J’espère la trefve estre conclutte bien tost, et pour ung an,
+    antre ces deux princes.[171]
+
+    “Monsr. de Northfolrc partira d’icy à deux ou trois jours
+    pour s’en aller trouver le Roy. Je vous prie luy faire
+    congnoissance, car par deça son maistre vous tient en bon
+    estime et ancor le m’a il dit depuis huict jours.
+
+    “Quant aux autours, de quoi me mandez, me semble, ne sera que
+    despence de les envoyer, car ce Roy n’ayme point la vollerie,
+    et si en y a tout plain en ce Royaulme.
+
+    “Je ne puis entendre que si allez a Rome que ce soit pour peu
+    de temps. Et si vous m’en croyez, essayiez de tout vostre
+    povoir faire que ung autre ayt la commission. Je vous prie,
+    entendez bien à voz evocations.[172] Je ne puis trouver bon que
+    les laissez derriere.
+
+    “Il me tarde de savoir de vos nouvelles et que direz de la tour
+    et des tableaux.
+
+    “Monsieur, je me recommande humblement à vostre bonne grace;
+    prie à Dieu qui vous doint bonne vie et longue. A Londres, ce
+    XXIIIᵉ. may.
+
+    “Il me fault faire une grosse depense pour se couronnement.
+    J’en ay escript à monseigneur le grand maistre, luy suplient
+    me faire donner quelque argent par le Roy, pour y frayer. J’en
+    scaurois voulontiers des nouvelles. J’en ai escript aussy a
+    Monsr. de Paris qui vous en pourra dire quelque chose et me y
+    peult beaucoup ayder.
+
+                        “Vostre humble serviteur
+
+                                                   “LE BAILLY.”[173]
+
+Dinteville’s wish with regard to his brother was fulfilled. The bishop
+was not sent back as ambassador to Rome. What answer he made as to the
+Papal remark inquired about, does not transpire. But it is curious that
+Chapuys himself speaks of a report circulated some time previously, to
+the effect that the Pope had given a “tacit consent” to Henry’s marriage
+with Anne Boleyn; and that, from the time of Dr. Bonner’s return from
+Rome, who was supposed to have been the bearer of this message, the
+Nuncio, had appeared indifferent to the cause of Queen Katherine.[174]
+
+The Bailly’s request for extra money to defray the expenses in which
+he was involved by the coronation, was acceded to. A French Treasury
+grant records a gift of 500 golden crowns made to Jean de Dinteville, to
+repay him for the extraordinary expenses incurred by him when ambassador
+with the King of England at the time of the coronation of Queen Anne
+Boleyn.[175]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CORONATION OF QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN, AND TERMINATION OF THE BAILLY’S LONG
+EMBASSY TO ENGLAND
+
+
+That auspicious day was now rapidly approaching. The very date, May 23,
+which saw the despatch of Dinteville’s letter, just quoted, was also that
+on which Cranmer pronounced the sentence that declared Henry VIII.’s
+marriage with Queen Katherine to be null and void. Less than a week
+later, the coronation festivities were inaugurated.
+
+The pomp and pageantry of Anne Boleyn’s coronation have been so often
+described that it would be superfluous to dwell on them here, were it not
+for one specially interesting circumstance. There can be little doubt
+that the unsigned account of the proceedings printed by Camusat in his
+“Meslanges Historiques”[176] is the actual report drawn up by Dinteville
+himself for Anne de Montmorency. One little sentence gives us the clue to
+the whole. The Grand Maître had written to the Bailly of Troyes asking
+for details of the ceremonies.[177] In describing the distance traversed
+on foot by Anne Boleyn on the morning of her coronation, the writer
+states that the road might contain in length “autant de fois que _le
+jardin de Chantilly_.” It is hardly necessary to point out that Chantilly
+was the famous château of Anne de Montmorency.
+
+The interest of possessing the Bailly’s own narrative of that wonderful
+scene, in which he himself played a conspicuous part, may perhaps be a
+sufficient excuse for glancing once again at its well-known details:
+
+    [178]“La Royne d’Angleterre,” says the writer, “partit de
+    Grenevich le Jeudy[179] environ les 4 heures après midy, et
+    vint par eauë dans une barque raze, en façon de brigantin,
+    laquelle estoit paincte de ses couleurs par dehors, avec
+    plusieurs bannieres sur le haut de ladicte Barque; et estoient
+    ses Dames et Damoiselles avec elle. Outre il y avoit cent ou
+    six vingts autres semblables Barques qui l’accompagnoient
+    toutes à la flote ensemble, et fort garnies de banieres et
+    estendars. Ils avoient dressé ausdites Barques de petits masts
+    subtils et bien haults, ou estoient attachez des cordages en
+    grande quantité comme a gros Navire, lesquels cordages estoient
+    tous garnis de petites baneroles de tafetas, et a mon advis
+    d’or clinquant, car cela reluysoit fort contre le Soleil; et
+    y avoit force tambourins, trompetes, flustes, et hauxbois; et
+    vindrent depuis Grenevich en moins de demie heure jusques à
+    la tour de Londres, ou toute l’artillerie mena grand bruict.
+    Il fit tres beau veoir ceste arrivée, car outres les barques,
+    je croy qu’il y avoit plus de deux cents petits bots qui tous
+    venoient à la queuë et estoit toute la riviere couverte de
+    basteaux.
+
+    “Le Vendredy la Royne ne bougea de son logis.
+
+    “Le Samedy environ cinq heures apres midy, ladicte Dame vestuë
+    de ses habits royaux qui sont a la mode de ceux de France, ou
+    peu s’en faut, monta en une litière couverte dedans et dehors
+    de Satin blanc; laquelle estoit descouverte, et, dessus elle,
+    l’on portoit un poisle de drap d’or; et apres venoient douze
+    dames sur haquenées, lesquelles estoient toutes vestuës de
+    drap d’or, et pareillement leurs dites haquenées garniës de
+    mesme. Apres venoient douze Damoiselles sur haquenées toutes
+    accoustrées de velour cramoisi. Apres venoit un Cheriot couvert
+    de drap d’or avec son équipage de mesme. Audit Cheriot estoient
+    seulement Madame de Norfort,[180] et la mere de la Royne.[181]
+    Apres, trois Cheriots dorez ou estoient force Damoiselles;
+    et derrière vingt ou trente autres sur haquenées vestuës de
+    velouz noir. A l’entour de la Litière de la Royne estoit Mr.
+    de Suffoc,[182] qui pour ce jour là estoit Connestable [et le]
+    frère de Mr. de Norfol Millor Grillam[183] lequel servoit en la
+    place de sondit frere de grand Mareschal et de grand Chambellan
+    de ce Roiaume qui est office hereditaire. Devant eux marchoient
+    deux hommes lesquels avoient deux grands bonnets fourrez
+    d’hermines, quasi de la sorte du premier Huissier de Paris,
+    lesquels l’on nommoit les Escuyers.
+
+    “Apres estoit l’Ambassadeur de France accompagné de
+    l’Archevesque de Canterbery.[184]
+
+    “Apres estoit celuy de Venise accompagné du Chancelier.[185]
+
+    “Apres, plusieurs Evesques; et puis le reste des grands
+    Seigneurs de ce Royaume, et Gentilzhommes, qui pouvoient estre
+    environ de deux a trois cents.
+
+    “Et devant tous, marchoient les Marchants de France vestus de
+    velouz violet avec une manche des couleurs de la Royne, leurs
+    chevaux encaparassonez de tafetas violet avec quelques croix
+    blanches.
+
+    “Par les carrefours il y avoit eschafaux ou jouoient quelques
+    misteres, et fontaines jettans vin et par les ruës estoient
+    tout les marchants arrangez sans bouger d’une place.”
+
+In such procession the queen arrived at Westminster, where, after
+partaking of some wine, she retired to her apartments.
+
+    “Le Dimanche, au matin,” continues the report, “accompagnée
+    de tous lesdits Seigneurs et Gentilhommes, [ladite Dame] alla
+    a pied depuis son logis jusques à l’Eglise; le chemin par ou
+    elle marchoit estoit tout couvert de drap, et pouvoit contenir
+    ledit chemin en longueur autant de fois que le Jardin de
+    Chantilly. Tous les Evesques et Abbez allerent querir ladite
+    Dame accoustrez de leurs Mitres et ornements Pontificaux,
+    et la conduirent jusques a l’Eglise, et apres avoir oüy une
+    petite Messe, elle monta sur un eschafaut que l’on lui dressa
+    au devant du grand Autel, lequel eschafaut estoit tout couvert
+    de drap rouge; et a l’entour du lieu ou elle estoit assize,
+    qui estoit d’avantage eslevë de deux marches, estoit couvert
+    de tapis veluz. Et là fut le lieu ou se tint ladicte Dame
+    durant le service apres avoir esté couronnée par l’Archevesque
+    de Canturbery lequel luy bailla la Couronne et la sacra tout
+    contre le grand Autel, puis paracheva l’office et la Messe de
+    ladicte Coronation.
+
+    “Et estoit pour ce jour-la Mr. de Suffoc grand Maistre,
+    tousjours pres de ladicte Dame, avec une grande verge blanche
+    en la main: aussi y estoient aupres ledict Milord Grillam et
+    le grand Chambellan. Derriere ladicte Dame estoient force
+    Dames, Duchesses et Comtesses vestuës d’escarlatte, avec
+    manteaux fourrez d’hermines, qui sont manteaux de Duchesses et
+    Comtesses;[186] et leurs chapeaux sur la teste. Pareillement
+    les Ducz et Comtes avec beaucoup d’autres Chevaliers estoient
+    vestus de robes d’escarlate fourrées d’hermines, de la façon
+    quasi des premiers Presidents de Paris, avec leurs chaperons.
+
+    “Ladicte Coronation faicte, ladicte Dame fut conduitte comme
+    ou venir, excepté des Evesques, en une grande salle[187] qui
+    estoit appareillée pour disner.”
+
+There followed a long state dinner, served with great magnificence. The
+queen’s table was on a raised daïs. Cranmer alone, to whom she owed her
+final victory, is mentioned as having a seat at her table, though even he
+was placed “bien loing d’elle.” The greatest of the realm waited upon her
+in their furred robes.
+
+    “La salle est fort grande et fut sans presse, car il y
+    avoit fort bon ordre, Au dessoubz dudit parquet il y avoit
+    quatre grandes tables qui contenoient la longeur de ladicte
+    salle,[188] ou du hault costé estoient ceux de ce Royaume qui
+    ont la charge des ports,[189] et au dessoubz d’eux à la mesme
+    table force Gentilshommes: a l’autre, aupres et du coste, les
+    Archevesques, Evesques, le Chancelier, et plusieurs Comtes
+    Chevaliers.[190] Aux deux autres tables de l’autres coste de
+    la salle, à celle du hault bout estoit le Maire de Londres
+    accompagné de Messieurs les Eschevins: et à l’autre table
+    estoient les Dames, Duchesses, Comtesses, et autres Dames et
+    Damoyselles.
+
+    “Mr. de Suffolc estoit gorgiaisement accoustré avec force
+    pierreries et perles, sur un coursier encaparaçonné de velours
+    cramoysi; lequel a cheval se pourmenoit par toute la salle et
+    a l’entour des tables. Aussi pareillement faisoit le Millord
+    Grillam, et prenoit garde au service et a l’ordre. Et estoient
+    tousjours nuë teste comme scavez que est la coustume de ce
+    pays. Le Roy se mist en un lieu qu’il avoit faict faire fort
+    a propos, par ou il pouvoit veoir toute la ceremonie, et sans
+    estre veu; ou il fit aller avec luy l’Ambassadeur de France et
+    celuy de Venise.
+
+    “A la porte de la salle y avoit conduicts jettents vin, et
+    en prenoit qui vouloit. Semblablement y avoit cuisines a
+    bailler viandes a tous venantz pour ce jour-la, et y eut une
+    merveilleuse mangerye: trompettes et hault-boys sonnoient a
+    chacun service, et heraulz cryoient largesse.”
+
+The next day a grand tournament of eight against eight, conducted on
+the one side by Lord William Howard, on the other by Sir Nicolas Carew,
+Master of the Horse, terminated the festivities.[191]
+
+Such was the brilliant opening of Anne Boleyn’s short-lived triumph. But
+all was not so smooth as it appeared on the surface. On the 7th June,
+the king requested Dinteville to write to Du Bellay, as the ambassador
+did also to Francis I. and to the Grand Maître, to inform them of
+some intelligence he had received from Rome which had given him great
+annoyance. He had heard that it had been declared in open Consistory,
+on the part of the King of France, that the latter sovereign intended
+to resist the Lutherans in every way possible. Francis did, in fact,
+persecute them in his own kingdom, while making alliances, for political
+purposes, with their leaders in Germany. Henry declared to Dinteville
+that such a declaration in Consistory was sufficient to overthrow all
+the good intelligence they had established with Germany. In his opinion
+it was most ill-advised. He had but a short time before warned Francis
+to communicate to their common allies, the German princes, the project
+of the Papal interview, in order that its purport might not be mistaken.
+Dinteville wrote that he had never seen the king so angry.[192]
+
+Henry was in fact beginning to doubt the sincerity of the King of
+France. The Bailly assured him that, excepting the Medici marriage, of
+which Henry had been told long ago, Francis had no motive in wishing
+to see the Pope beyond the arrangement of the King of England’s great
+affair. Dinteville suspected, however, as he says in his interesting
+letter to the Bishop of Paris, that other causes had contributed to the
+king’s wrath. Henry had heard that further censures of the Church were
+in preparation for him. The common people of England were much attached
+to Katherine of Aragon; and Dinteville, like many foreigners, thought
+it likely they might break into open rebellion if encouraged by a Papal
+sentence of excommunication against the king. In his opinion, one of the
+wisest features of Henry’s rule was the cordiality he kept up with the
+leading personages of the realm. Thus, if things should come to extremes,
+the people would have none to lead them.
+
+The health of the ambassador had been troubling him again, and he ends
+his letter to Jean Du Bellay by a piteous appeal to the bishop to assist
+his departure from England. “Je vous promets sur ma foy,” he writes, “que
+si je y demores encore gueres, j’ai grand peur de y laisser la peau et
+les os. Jamais je ne y ai eu que huit jours de sante. Le 22 du mois qui
+vient[193] mes six mois seront achevez, je voudrois bien qu’il pleust au
+Roy et a Monseigneur le grand Maistre penser et pourveoir un autre de ma
+place.”[194]
+
+On the last day of June he writes to announce to the King of France the
+death of the ex-queen Mary, sister of Henry VIII., widow of Louis XII.,
+and wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.
+
+An event now took place which made a profound sensation at the Court
+of France, and threatened once more to disturb the peace of Europe.
+It forms but an incident, perhaps, in the long roll of history. But
+it echoed in the ears of contemporaries with a sinister roar, and the
+bitter indignation it aroused in France was not soon or lightly appeased.
+As a minor consequence, it probably had considerable influence on the
+composition of certain portions of Dinteville’s picture; and for this
+reason shall here be related in some detail.[195]
+
+Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, had been one of the chief parties to the
+League of Cognac. That combination, it will be remembered, was directed
+against Charles V., and was called into existence by the French king in
+the first heat of his resentment, on his return from captivity. Some
+years later Sforza sent his Chancellor to propose to the King of France
+that a resident French agent should be secretly established at Milan.
+This step, so the Duke believed, would much conduce to the furtherance
+of their common interests. It was also suggested that the appointment
+should be bestowed on a certain Italian gentleman, named Merveilles,[196]
+who for twenty-five years had been in the service of France, and was at
+present an equerry in the household of Francis I. The advantage of this
+selection, if the matter was to be kept secret, was obvious. Merveilles,
+being of Milanese extraction, would not, it was thought, be an object
+of suspicion to the Emperor. To make security sure, however, the French
+emissary was to be provided with a double set of papers, in one of which
+the king was to recommend him to the good graces of the Duke, as though
+Merveilles were merely staying at Milan for the settlement of his private
+affairs. These papers could be shown to Charles V., should any difficulty
+arise. The marriage of Sforza with the Emperor’s niece, Christina,[197]
+daughter of the King of Denmark, was just being negotiated. He was
+therefore doubly anxious to give Charles no cause of offence.
+
+The Duke had probably imagined he could play off the rival sovereigns
+against each other. He hoped thus to strengthen the foundations of his
+tottering throne, on which, as he well knew, the jealous eyes of both
+potentates were always fixed. But he had over-calculated his strength.
+The Emperor got wind of the true position of Merveilles, and neither
+papers nor explanations sufficed to appease his wrath. Sforza was
+frightened, and learned too late that he could not serve two masters.
+Forced into a tardy choice, he sent a cynical message to the Emperor
+to the effect that the course of a few days would show whether his
+affections were fixed on France. He kept his word. Early in July the
+French Court was startled by the intelligence that Merveilles, on some
+trumped-up charge, had been thrown into prison and foully murdered at
+dead of night, by order of the Duke of Milan.
+
+The King of France was furious. Did he consider, when raving over the
+treachery of Sforza, that, just as he had given Merveilles a double set
+of papers, with one of which it was intended to hoodwink the Emperor, so
+he had committed to the two Cardinals negotiating the Medici marriage
+a double set of instructions, one of which had for its object to wrest
+Milan from the hands of his ally, the Duke? For, as early as 1531,
+Francis had proposed to Clement VII., through Cardinal Grammont and
+the Duke of Albany, the reconquest of the Duchy of Milan, as part of
+the secret stipulations of the marriage contract.[198] These proposals
+had recently been repeated and accentuated, of course with the utmost
+secrecy, by Cardinals Grammont and Tournon at Bologna.[199] The
+suspicions of Charles V. had been aroused by the evident eagerness of
+Francis for what appeared so great a _mésalliance_. Was Sforza made aware
+of the Emperor’s fears? Did he reward treachery with treachery? At any
+rate, the blow fell, and great was the fall of it.
+
+Dinteville, at his post in London, must have shared the general quiver of
+indignation. Apart from the brutality of the crime, the insult to France
+in the person of her envoy, the danger of the precedent if the sacred
+position of ambassador could thus be lightly violated, the regret for
+the well-known and respected individual, were keenly felt. The King of
+France, by way of protest, sent despatches to all the Courts of Europe,
+including that of Charles V., to inform them of the outrage. The Emperor
+drily turned the tables on Francis by replying that he had seen the
+king’s letters which proved that Merveilles was only a private gentleman,
+and no ambassador. In due course he bestowed on Sforza, as arranged, the
+hand of his niece.
+
+Thus ended in fierce hatred and discord, so far as the coveted Duchy
+of Milan was concerned, all that the League of Cognac, the Holy League
+as it had once been called, had in years gone by promised of peace
+and harmony. The League had indeed gone through vicissitudes enough
+since its formation in 1526. The Italian alliances were unstable as
+water, and waxed and waned with every moon. But the main trend of
+French policy, to keep the upper hand in Italy, and the Emperor at bay,
+by heading a powerful coalition of the Italian states, had remained
+unchanged. The compact just made between Pope and Emperor at Bologna,
+into which some other Italian states had been drawn, was a blow directed
+at French policy. But this the King of France hoped to parry by the
+Medici marriage. The murder of Merveilles, by which the Duke of Milan
+definitely embraced the Imperial side, was a far more serious matter. “Je
+vous declare,” writes the King of France to the Bailly of Troyes, on the
+16th July, “que je suis delibéré de m’en ressentir jusques au bout, et de
+sorte que la mémoire en demourera perpetuelle.”[200]
+
+Notwithstanding the entreaties of the Bailly of Troyes to be released
+from his post, his presence in England was still deemed too necessary to
+admit of his being replaced.
+
+The interview of the King of France with the Pope was postponed from
+one month to another; the Duke of Norfolk was waiting about in France,
+losing his time; Henry VIII. was growing morose and distrustful. The
+French king, however, had no desire merely to exchange one set of
+allies for another. Though determined not to sacrifice his own objects
+with the Pope, he was ready, short of that, to do all in his power to
+conciliate Henry and retain his friendship. English sympathy had too
+often been useful to France to be lightly thrown overboard. Norfolk and
+his companions were therefore treated with the utmost honour. Francis
+proposed that they should remain at Lyons till the deferred interview
+could take place, and appointed to accompany them the Bishop of Paris,
+Vaulx, La Hargerie, and other gentlemen of standing.
+
+In the midst of all this, urged by the Imperial party amongst the
+Cardinals, and unable, for his public credit, to pass over in utter
+silence the king’s defiance of his authority, the Pope pronounced the
+expected sentence of excommunication against Henry VIII. The step was
+taken with a faint heart, no doubt: Clement had played a double game, and
+was caught in his own trap. Just now, when forced to make the unwelcome
+move, he was especially anxious to give satisfaction to the King of
+France, whom he knew the step must displease. The Pope therefore hastened
+to soften the effect of the sentence, so far as possible, by promising
+that the censures should not come into force before the approaching
+interview. On that occasion, it was hoped, some means of compromise might
+yet be devised. The King of England was profoundly irritated. The Dukes
+of Norfolk and Richmond, Lord Rochford, and other members of the party
+that had been sent to attend the interview, were immediately withdrawn.
+Had it been possible, Henry would have annulled the projected meeting
+of Francis and Clement altogether. The King of France once more filled
+the breach with soft words. He persuaded his English ally to substitute
+other ambassadors for those who had been recalled, urging that, for
+the advantage of the King of England’s cause, it was most desirable he
+should be represented. The Bishop of Winchester and Sir Francis Brian
+were appointed to attend the meeting. So well, indeed, did the French
+king succeed in pacifying the Duke of Norfolk, that, when the latter
+returned to England at the end of August, Dinteville was able to assure
+Francis that he had never seen the King of England in a mood of greater
+confidence and friendship.[201] Henry’s good humour was not destined to
+be of long duration, but for the moment the sun shone again.
+
+Domestic affairs just now claimed an unusual amount of his attention.
+On the 7th of September the future Queen Elizabeth was born at the
+palace of Greenwich. Much correspondence passed on this occasion between
+Dinteville and the King of France, who had promised to act as godfather
+had the child been a boy. Henry’s disappointment on this score was keen;
+doubly so because the position of the infant princess at once entered
+into competition with that of Princess Mary, the daughter of Katherine of
+Aragon. A question was thus raised which the birth of a son would have
+immediately disposed of.
+
+At about the same time the French king sent a letter to convey to
+Dinteville the long-coveted permission to return to his own country.
+
+“Monsieur le Bailly,”[202] writes Francis, “congnoissant très-bien
+le long temps qu’il y a que vous estes pardela, et qu’il est
+très-raisonable que vous faciez un tour chez vous, pour pourveoir et
+donner ordre a vos affaires, je vous ay bien voulu accorder vostre congé
+pour vous en venir quant bon vous semblera; et envoye en vostre lieu le
+Sieur de Castillon, gentilhomme de ma Chambre, porteur de ceste.”[203]
+
+As a matter of fact, however, the new ambassador, Castillon, did not
+arrive in England, and the letter was probably not delivered, until
+the second week in November. The period of the Papal interview was
+at last approaching; and it was, no doubt, thought desirable that
+Dinteville should remain at his post till that event had taken place. The
+blandishments with which Clement and Francis had endeavoured to pacify
+Henry would then be put to the severe test of fact. It would be seen how
+much the king might hope to reap of the promises which had been so freely
+sown. And Francis perhaps felt that the result was likely to put a very
+severe strain on the already weakened friendship between him and his
+“good brother.”
+
+Dinteville, who was in favour with Henry VIII.—several of his letters
+at about this time are dated from Greenwich, where he was the king’s
+guest—was, no doubt, considered more likely to bring things to a good
+issue than a stranger coming fresh to so delicate a task.
+
+Early in October he was able to inform the King of France that a truce
+had been concluded for one year between the Kings of England and
+Scotland. This was chiefly due to the efforts of the Bailly of Troyes, on
+the one hand, and of Beauvais on the other; and certainly reflected some
+credit on their diplomacy.
+
+Before the middle of the month the Pope had at length arrived at
+Marseilles. He was received with all due ceremony by the King of France.
+Mutual efforts were made, by Francis on behalf of Henry VIII., by Clement
+on that of Charles V., to pave the way for a further understanding; but
+in each case without success. The Pope briefly excused himself as to the
+King of England’s affair, by saying he had left the papers concerning it
+at Rome, and that it was therefore idle to discuss it further for the
+present.[204] The main object of the meeting was in fact the marriage
+between Henri, Duke of Orleans, and Catherine de’ Medici. On neither side
+was there any intention of wrecking the policy of which that union was
+the expression by insistence on the demands of importunate friends.
+
+The contract was drawn up on the 27th October. It contained an agreement
+that the Duchy of Milan should be reconquered by the French king at the
+end of eighteen months. Urbino was to be reduced at the joint expense of
+the contracting parties. Two hundred thousand crowns were to constitute
+the dowry, and the Pope was to cede to the French Parma and Piacenza.[205]
+
+It seems wonderful that it should have been worth while to go these
+lengths for such a bubble. Francis, whose practical astuteness was always
+outbalanced by his fervid imagination where Italy was concerned, no doubt
+saw himself already master of the Peninsula. The Pope had completely
+outwitted him.
+
+The King of England entered an indignant protest against the proceedings
+at Marseilles. He told Dinteville to write and say that, whereas it had
+been agreed that the settlement of his affairs should take precedence
+of the Medici marriage, Francis had sacrificed him completely to the
+alliance with the Pope. The Bailly of Troyes felt that the relations
+between the two kings had now reached a pitch not far removed from
+breaking-point. On the repetition of Henry’s reproaches he therefore
+replied with some spirit that he had rather be the poorest gentleman in
+France than convey such expressions to the king his master; that he had
+not come to England to transmit words that would diminish friendship, and
+that he implored the king to carry such observations no further. These
+representations seem to have produced some effect, for Henry thereupon
+turned to Castillon, who had just arrived, and had that day been
+presented at Court, remarking curtly that he was aware it was necessary
+each should endure the other.
+
+Dinteville’s memorandum of this scene adds the characteristic
+postscript:[206] “Nota, que souvent le Roy après ses coleres m’a bien
+dict qu’il m’estimoit tel que je ne dirois ny escriprois chose qui
+diminuast amitié entre eux, et souvent m’ont prié ceux de son Conseil de
+mesme.”[207]
+
+The term of his residence in England at length drew to a close. Two last
+letters he wrote early in November, respectively addressed to the king
+and Grand-Maître, begging to know what reply was deemed most suitable to
+Henry’s complaints and reproaches. In the absence of exact instructions,
+he could only continue to administer such soothing words as his ready wit
+might devise, which in the face of accomplished facts naturally lost much
+of their force.
+
+On the 11th November, 1533, the grant is recorded which permitted “Mons.
+de Dintevilla, bailly de Troes, ambassador to the French king,” to “pass
+beyond sea, with his servants, baggage, etc., and to convey out of the
+realm horses, mules and mulettes, to the number of twenty-six.”[208]
+A week later, on the 18th November, Dinteville set his face towards
+France.[209]
+
+Although the nature of the times was such that he left the alliance
+between England and France cooler than he found it, his official career
+as an ambassador was accounted a success. The fault did not lie at his
+door. Given the difficult and exacting temper of the king with whom he
+had to deal, and the slippery insincerity of his own master, it was
+creditable to have prevented an open rupture between the two sovereigns.
+Personally he was liked by Henry VIII., and the tact and skill with which
+he met the king’s surly moods caused him to be employed in England more
+than once subsequently on short diplomatic errands. His courage stood him
+in as good stead as his courtesy.[210] “Je priay audit Sieur de Norsfort
+et a aucuns qui me semblent estre des principaux du Conseil de cedit
+Sieur Roy,” he writes in his last letter to Montmorency from England,
+“qu’ils donnassent a entendre au Roy leur maistre ... que l’on peut bien
+tant presser et fascher son amy que l’on s’en fait importun.” Before
+leaving, he intends to declare these things to the king himself, “car
+je doubte que Messieurs de son conseil ausquels j’en ay parlé ne luy en
+osent dire si hardiment tel advis comme je feray....”[211]
+
+The gist of it all was that a political alliance can only last so long
+as the contracting parties are bound together by common interests. The
+friendship flickered on intermittently for some time. But the aims of
+England and France had now taken widely divergent paths.
+
+It is not here possible to do more than touch upon the mass of letters
+written and received by the Bailly of Troyes during his stay in England.
+Besides the regular official correspondence with the King of France,
+the Grand-Maître, and the Bishop of Paris, much of which is printed in
+the collection of Camusat, he received friendly letters from the Queen
+of Navarre; from the young Duke of Angoulême (his special charge); from
+Philippe de Chabot, High Admiral of France; Beauvais, French ambassador
+in Scotland; Claude Dodieu, Sieur de Vély, who occupied a similar
+position at the court of the Emperor;[212] Oudart du Biez, Governour of
+Boulogne, who forwarded his posts for him; Breton, secretary to Francis
+I., and doubtless many others whose names have not been preserved.[213]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+SHORT MISSIONS OF THE BAILLY OF TROYES TO ENGLAND IN 1535, 1536 AND 1537
+
+
+On arriving in France, the Bailly of Troyes hurried to Lyons to join the
+king on his return from the interview with the Pope.[214] Francis was
+on his way to Bar-le-Duc, there to meet the Landgrave of Hesse, and to
+conclude with him a treaty in support of the exiled Duke of Wurtemberg in
+opposition to the Emperor.[215]
+
+On the way north, the royal party, which consisted of the king and queen,
+the dauphin, the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, the Duke of Angoulême,
+the two young princesses, Madeleine and Marguerite, George d’Amboise,
+Cardinal Legate, the Chancellor Duprat, and other notabilities, made
+a triumphal entry into Troyes.[216] Great festivities attended this
+function, conducted no doubt by the Bailly in his official position.
+
+The city of Troyes was well suited to an occasion of the kind. A
+traveller, who described it later in the century, represents it as a
+clean and beautiful town, one of the most delightful in France; closely
+built within the fortified walls, yet having such wide straight streets
+that there was space to see on all sides its rich and splendid edifices,
+public and private; amongst which the cathedral of St. Pierre was
+considered one of the finest churches in France.[217]
+
+Not long after these events Dinteville probably visited his cousin
+at Chantilly, in accordance with an invitation he had received from
+Montmorency shortly before leaving England. The records are silent as to
+his further proceedings in the interval which elapsed before his next
+visit to England. It is tolerably safe to infer that the larger part of
+it was spent at Court. Apart from his duties in connection with the Duke
+of Angoulême, the greater familiarity of tone in a letter addressed to
+him by Francis I. when on his next diplomatic errand, speaks clearly of
+increased intimacy and confidence.
+
+The object of this mission, which took place in the autumn of 1535, was
+to convey to Henry VIII. the brief addressed to the French king by Pope
+Paul III.,[218] in consequence of the execution of Fisher and More. In
+this letter Paul demanded that Francis should break off his friendship
+with the King of England, and be prepared to make war upon him at any
+moment the Pope might require. The King of France returned a temporizing
+answer to this peremptory request.[219] Nevertheless, so urgent did he
+consider the case, that he despatched the Bailly of Troyes to England
+in all possible haste, bidding him dislodge at midnight and use extreme
+diligence. After all some delay occurred on the way, and Dinteville only
+landed in England after the middle of September.[220]
+
+The circumstances which led to this summary action on the part of the
+Pope were as follows:
+
+John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, had been sent to
+the Tower for refusing to subscribe to the Act of Supremacy, passed in
+November, 1534. By this Act Henry VIII. was declared Supreme Head of
+the Church in England, and the last vestiges of Papal authority in this
+kingdom were abolished. The new Pope, Paul III., had the indiscretion, at
+this delicate juncture, to bestow a cardinal’s hat upon the imprisoned
+bishop.
+
+The fate of the two captives had been trembling in the balance. The
+Pope’s action immediately sealed it. The prisoners were once more called
+upon to subscribe to the Act, and, having again failed to comply, were
+condemned to death. The aged Fisher was led to the scaffold in June,
+1535. The noble head of Sir Thomas More fell beneath the executioner’s
+axe early in the following month.
+
+The news of these executions was everywhere received with horror
+and consternation. The infuriated Pope instantly prepared a Bull of
+deposition against Henry VIII., the publication of which was for the
+moment suspended by the intercession of the French king.
+
+But Francis had no intention of bestowing his good offices _gratis_.
+Besides the communication of the brief, the Bailly was instructed to make
+various demands of the King of England, no doubt as the price at which
+the French king expected his mediation to be bought.
+
+    “Bailly,” thus familiarly begins a letter addressed by Francis
+    I. to Dinteville soon after the departure of the latter for
+    England, “outre la charge que je vous ay dernièrement donnée
+    à vostre partement, de parler au Roy d’Angleterre du faict de
+    la contribution, je veux que vous lui teniez propos, que si
+    d’adventure l’Empereur me vouloit courir sus, et me ayant faict
+    armer et équipper grossement comme je pourraye estre, et ...
+    pour ne perdre l’occasion et ladicte despence, je la veuille
+    employer au recouvrement de mon Estat et Duché de Milan,
+    Seigneurie de Gennes et Conté d’Ast ... que, en ce cas, ledict
+    Sieur Roy d’Angleterre sera tenu de contribuer jusques à la
+    tierce partie de la despence qui je seray contraint de faire
+    pour l’entretenement de madicte armée. Et ne faillez de tenir
+    royde cela,” continues this curious document, “en façon que
+    ledict Sieur Roy vous accorde ce que dessus.”[221]
+
+In case Henry should ask what his share of the profit was to be if he
+consented to this arrangement, Dinteville was to reply that the principal
+cause which moved the King of France to assemble the said army was for
+Henry’s defence and preservation![222]
+
+The “contribution” mentioned no doubt referred to the terms of a treaty
+aimed against Charles V., which had been signed by the two kings when La
+Pommeraye was ambassador to England, in the spring of 1532.[223] They had
+thereby bound themselves, amongst other conditions, to supply a given
+number of men to each other’s armies, under certain contingencies. But no
+money aid was included in the stipulations of that treaty, and this was
+what Francis now sought to obtain.
+
+Of those personal details which lend colour and variety to the monotonous
+narrative of official life, few have survived of the Bailly’s visit to
+England in 1535.
+
+A glimpse we catch of him, in a letter written by his friend, the Duke
+of Norfolk, riding by way of Kingston and Cobham to Winchester, where
+the king was now staying to avoid the sickness which had broken out in
+London. Norfolk himself had been hastily summoned by Cromwell to join
+the deliberations at Winchester. Stephen Gardiner, bishop of that see,
+who was about to be despatched to France with the answer to Dinteville’s
+proposals, no doubt took part in them also.[224]
+
+An expedition, of which a few more details have been preserved, was
+undertaken jointly by the Bailly of Troyes and Bishop of Tarbes,[225] now
+the resident French ambassador in England. The ostensible object was to
+see the little Princess Elizabeth. Queen Anne, it appears, had frequently
+invited Castelnau to pay this visit. He had hesitated, however, to
+fulfil the behest until encouraged by Dinteville, who urged it as a
+possible means of obtaining an interview with Princess Mary. This point
+the ambassadors had much at heart just now. They were full of a scheme
+for marrying that princess to the Dauphin. To judge by a long paper of
+memoranda, apparently addressed to Dinteville to assist his memory when
+reporting in France, the Bishop of Tarbes was the originator of the plan.
+
+The Frenchmen did not, however, succeed in their object of speaking to
+Princess Mary. They declared, which Chapuys records but did not believe,
+that the unfortunate princess was not only a captive in her chamber, but
+that the windows were nailed up through which she might have been seen.
+Chapuys thought she had voluntarily retired to her own room to conceal
+her annoyance at their visit to her sister, of the real explanation
+of which she was of course unaware.[226] But the report of the Bishop
+of Tarbes, in the memoranda above referred to, is too circumstantial
+to admit of doubt that she was forbidden to speak to the ambassadors,
+although it says nothing of the excessive tyranny of closed-up windows.
+
+    [227]“... Vous scavez le tumulte qui fut entre sa Gouvernante
+    et elle,” so runs the minute, “quant nous fusmes veoir sa
+    petite seur, et qu’il nous a esté dict qu’elle fust mise comme
+    par force dans sa chambre, pour qu’elle ne parlast à nous,
+    et qu’il ne fut possible de la rapaiser et contenir dedans
+    sa chambre, que le Gentilhomme qui nous menoit ne luy eust
+    premierement asseuré, que le Roy son pere luy avoit commandé
+    de luy dire qu’elle ne se montrast point cepandant que nous
+    serions la.”[228]
+
+In the second week of October the Bailly started on his return to France.
+He left not very well satisfied, apparently, with the results of his
+mission. Gardiner had not yet been despatched to France; and Dinteville
+was quite uncertain what measure of success might have been attained.
+
+“Though he is very discreet,” says Chapuys, alluding to Dinteville, “he
+forgot himself so far as to say that the question discussed at Paris,
+whether a prince could be deprived for heresy and infidelity, could
+apply to no one but the King of England; and he judged him deserving of
+deprivation according to the decision of the question.”[229]
+
+The horror aroused by the execution of such men as More and Fisher was
+in fact driving Henry’s best friends into the opposite camp. But neither
+in France had things stood still. The placards posted by the Reformers
+against Mass, in 1534, had been answered by a bloody persecution early in
+1535, which was still fresh in men’s minds. The two parties in religion
+were dividing off. Those among the French Roman Catholics who had hoped
+to avert a schism by opening wide the arms of tolerance to the new
+opinions, were beginning to see that the foundations of the conflict
+lay deeper than they had expected. It was not enough, in France, to
+make common cause against dissolute monks. It was certainly not enough,
+in England, to measure the power of the Reformation by the matrimonial
+vagaries of Henry VIII.
+
+Evidently the Bailly of Troyes had hoped to obtain the money contribution
+sought by Francis, in bare cash. But Henry, as can be seen from his
+instructions to Gardiner, only offered to deduct it from the pensions due
+to him from France, as part-payment.[230] Of the projected marriage for
+Princess Mary, those instructions breathe not one word.
+
+Another factor shortly arose, which once more shuffled the cards of
+European diplomacy. The death of Katherine of Aragon in January, 1536,
+removed the stumbling-block which had so long stood in the way of
+amicable relations between Henry VIII. and Charles V. The change of
+position was at once felt on both sides. It was now the Emperor’s turn,
+as a token of rapprochement, to hinder publication of the Pope’s Bull
+of Privation. On Henry’s part, the altered state of things was quickly
+apparent in his desire to act as a neutral, or even as a mediator, in the
+quarrel between France and the Empire. Those powers were now in a state
+of open rupture.
+
+Early in the year 1536 the French forces invaded Piedmont, and the Court
+moved to Lyons in order to be nearer to the seat of war. Here the English
+ambassadors, the Bishop of Winchester and Sir John Wallop, exchanged some
+diplomatic subtleties with the Bailly of Troyes on the delicate political
+situation which had arisen between England and France.[231]
+
+In April, 1536, the anxiety of the French king grew so great lest Henry
+should lend a willing ear to Imperial advances, that he once more
+despatched the Bailly of Troyes to England “to open unto us,” said Henry
+VIII., “the bottom of his heart.” The French were afraid that the King of
+England might back out of the half-hearted concessions of the previous
+year.
+
+But Dinteville did not arrive as soon as was expected; and Henry, waiting
+to reply to proposals made by the Emperor, grew impatient. Excuses were
+proffered to him that the Bailly had fallen ill on the road, to account
+for the delay. In point of fact, the storm which preceded the trial and
+execution of Anne Boleyn had just burst; and Dinteville, judging this
+an unpropitious moment for the success of his mission, feigned illness
+to gain time.[232] He was too experienced a diplomatist not to know the
+value of choosing his opportunity. At last postponement could be pushed
+no further, and he arrived in England on the 17th May, just in time to
+intercede in vain for his friend, young Weston, who was beheaded on the
+following day.
+
+On the 19th Queen Anne Boleyn was executed within the Tower of London.
+A contrast, indeed, to the brilliant scenes at which Dinteville had
+assisted hardly three years before!
+
+If Chapuys is correct in his account of a conversation between himself
+and Henry VIII. touching the demands made by the representatives of
+France,[233] the Bailly had not been far wrong in believing that he
+should find the English king unfavourably disposed. “He could not well
+say,” so Henry is reported to have spoken, “for what the Bailiff of
+Troyes had come, for his commission was so vain and ill-founded that it
+was a shame; and that he would engage that the Bailly could not tell
+distinctly what charge he had; and that formerly the Bailiff had appeared
+to him a man of good judgment and experience, but now he found him quite
+otherwise.”[234]
+
+To this Chapuys craftily replied that “he thought it might be the fault
+of the matter, and not of the person, that had given him such an opinion
+of the Bailiff.”
+
+But Henry was not to be thus pacified. He insisted that both causes
+concurred; and added a good deal more to the same effect. A subsequent
+letter throws more light on the king’s meaning. The young Duke of
+Angoulême had now been substituted for the dauphin in the project of a
+marriage for Princess Mary. The plan was evidently near the Bailly’s
+heart, and he urged it with proportionate warmth. But the king “doubted
+whether he had any commission to speak” of it,[235] and consequently met
+the overtures of the ambassador with much irritation. Nevertheless the
+pourparlers on the subject of this alliance continued for some months,
+with much earnestness on the French side. La Pommeraye was specially sent
+over in November to speed the cause. The Imperialists, meanwhile, were
+urging with equal eagerness a union between Princess Mary and Don Loys of
+Portugal.[236]
+
+A letter from Cromwell to the English ambassadors in France conclusively
+reveals, however, the first and paramount object of the Bailly’s
+mission of 1536. Cromwell classed its objects under two heads. The
+first, probably a mere pretext, related to the summoning of a general
+Council. The second—and this was the true aim—was _to know the king’s
+determination concerning the desired contribution_.[237] Here then was
+the real gist of the matter. Did Henry mean to disappoint the hopes
+he had raised the previous summer? If so, how far was the Emperor
+responsible for the change? And if the good understanding with Charles
+had really brought about this result, was it worth while for the King of
+France to exert himself further to maintain the fiction of friendship
+with England? Such questions were keenly exercising the minds of French
+politicians.
+
+The answer of the King of England was extremely diplomatic. “As he
+perceived an inclination both in the Emperor and the French king to refer
+their quarrel to his arbitration, he thought the appointment of any
+such contribution at this time would make him an unmeet umpire between
+them.”[238] With this reply the Frenchmen had to be content. On the 9th
+July Dinteville arrived in Lyons on his return from England.[239] He had
+not left, however, until he had promised a pension to Cromwell, in the
+hope of attuning him favourably to French interests.[240]
+
+An event now took place which closely touched the Dinteville family,
+and perhaps was remembered against them unjustly when the days of their
+adversity fell upon them.
+
+In the month of August, 1536, the Dauphin François met his death from
+the effects of drinking a glass of iced water when heated with a game of
+tennis. The idea that he had been poisoned at once arose, and suspicion
+fell on his Italian equerry, Count Sebastiano di Montecuculli. This
+unfortunate man was put to torture in order to extract from him the
+names of supposed confederates. In his agony, after first accusing
+of complicity the Imperial generals, he went on to state that he had
+communicated to Guillaume de Dinteville, Seigneur Deschenetz, both
+at Turin and at Susa, a further design to poison the King of France.
+Deschenetz, who was a gallant soldier, and had been employed by that king
+on various military duties in Italy, was happily able to clear himself.
+Indeed, most modern historians doubt the truth of the accusation against
+Montecuculli himself, which was supported by no vestige of evidence.
+The unhappy victim was, however, condemned to a cruel death, which
+he suffered at Lyons in the month of October. But before the capital
+sentence was carried out he was ordered to make “amende honorable” to
+Deschenetz. Bareheaded and barefoot, clad only in his shirt, and holding
+in his hands a lighted torch, he was conducted round the square of St.
+Jean at Lyons, confessing in a loud voice that the accusation brought
+by him against the Frenchman was an untruth. Ten thousand livres were
+further awarded to the latter from the property of the Count, which was
+declared confiscated to the King of France.[241]
+
+The year 1537 was memorable in English history for the efforts made by
+Cardinal Pole to incite the people to rebellion in favour of the Pope.
+The insurrection which had blazed in the north of England had hardly been
+subdued, when the newly-made cardinal, armed with full Papal authority,
+made his way northwards from Rome to endeavour to rekindle its flames.
+How signal was Pole’s failure is well known. But as his machinations
+formed the occasion of the fifth and, so far as we know, the last mission
+of the Bailly of Troyes to England, it will be well just to touch upon
+them here. No words better sum up the situation of the moment than those
+used by Francis I. in the instructions delivered to the Bailly of Troyes
+“de ce qu’il aura a dire et declarer au Roy d’Angleterre”:
+
+    [242] ... “Le Pape a crée en consistoire Legat, le Cardinal
+    Poule, Anglois, non-seulement en Angleterre mais en tous
+    les lieux ou il luy conviendra a passer pour y aller ... en
+    intention que ou ledit Roy d’Angleterre ne se voudroit reduire
+    par l’amyable à l’obeissance de l’Eglise Romaine et du Sainct
+    Siege, de faire delivrer audict Cardinal par la voye des
+    Marchans une bonne somme d’argent pour donner secours au peuple
+    contre ledict Roy, affin de le contraindre de venir a la dicte
+    obeissance par le moyen de la force....”
+
+The King of France thinks it right to warn his good brother of this
+danger, and asks Henry to let him know privately whether he, Francis, can
+do anything for him or for the good of his affairs.[243]
+
+In reply, Henry VIII. begged Francis to arrest the Cardinal on his way
+through France. In case this should be refused, and that Pole should
+escape to the Netherlands, Gardiner, to whom the orders are addressed,
+is immediately to forward a similar request to the Queen-Regent of those
+countries.[244]
+
+The French king made answer that Pole had entered his dominions with a
+safe-conduct. He was still too uneasy, however, lest Henry should declare
+himself for the Imperial side to venture to thwart him completely. He
+therefore warned the Cardinal Legate to leave French territory within ten
+days. Expelled from France, Pole betook himself to Flanders, only to find
+that the Regent Mary, equally anxious to conciliate England, declined
+to receive him at her court. Finally he took refuge with Cardinal La
+Marck, at Liége; whence, after a useless sojourn of some months, the Pope
+recalled him to Rome.
+
+The English Channel, owing to the war between France and the Low
+Countries, was at this time bristling with Flemish boats, on the
+look-out for any desirable French quarry that might pass between the two
+shores. Rumours had apparently got about of the Bailly’s approaching
+departure from England, for he was not allowed to make the transit
+without encountering an unpleasant adventure. Sir Francis Brian had been
+entrusted by Henry with the task of communicating to the French king
+his reply to the message brought by Dinteville; and it seems to have
+been arranged that Brian should cross the Channel slightly in advance
+of the departing Frenchman. At any rate, at six o’clock in the morning
+of the 8th of April, Sir Francis arrived at Dover; and, the tide being
+favourable a couple of hours later, he set sail for Calais. He intended
+to prepare the way for Dinteville though the English territory in France
+by ordering him post-horses; these animals being just then scarce. But
+the Bailly, who had arrived at Dover on the previous day, had snuffed
+danger in the orders sent beforehand by Brian, that no man was to be
+allowed to cross the Channel until his arrival. What the motive of these
+orders was, it is impossible now to guess. Some intrigue seems to have
+been afoot, which made each envoy desire to be the first to gain the
+ear of the French king, who was close by in Picardy. But Dinteville was
+determined not to be outwitted, and took his own measures accordingly.
+A “busy friar,” one Jean du Pont, by his name a Frenchman, seems to
+have lent him a willing hand, to the acute chagrin of Thomas Winkfield,
+comptroller of the king’s works at Dover. A ship had been duly prepared
+for the Bailly of Troyes, but the start had been postponed in accordance
+with Brian’s orders. Du Pont thereupon “caused a boat to be made
+ready without knowledge of either the mayor, bailiff, or me” (so many
+dignitaries did it require in those days for an ambassador to put to
+sea!), “and before Mr. Brian was aboard the bailly of Troy was under sail
+for Boulogne.”[245] Sir Francis Brian continues the story in a letter to
+Cromwell:
+
+    “Seeing the said bailiff would not take the ship that was
+    prepared for him, and as I suppose thinking by the waye to
+    prevent me,[246] he took thother passenger that lay in the
+    Rode, and went straight to Bollene. When half-way across we saw
+    two little pinckes[247] come from the French coast towards the
+    bailiff’s ship, one made north-east and the other north-west
+    and so they chased him. Our mariners said they were Flemings
+    who had waited there three or four days. Having no news of him,
+    I fear he is taken.”[248]
+
+It is provoking not to hear the end of this exciting scene. But perhaps
+the very silence of the records points to the conclusion that Dinteville
+escaped his pursuers and made good his landing at Boulogne.
+
+[Illustration: UNNAMED DRAWING BY HOLBEIN IN THE WINDSOR COLLECTION,
+SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT JEAN DE DINTEVILLE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+DISGRACE AND RETURN TO FAVOUR OF THE DINTEVILLE FAMILY
+
+
+With the mission of 1537 the Bailly of Troyes vanishes from the arena of
+public affairs. How the following year and a half were spent, there is
+nothing to show. At the end of that time a cloud broke which for some
+years overwhelmed his fortunes and those of his brothers.
+
+The chief offender seems to have been the youngest brother, Gaucher,
+Seigneur of Vanlay and Thennelières, though it is difficult to
+differentiate between him and Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, who was
+implicated in the same disaster. What their crime was does not appear
+very clearly, beyond that they were accused of some form of high treason,
+involving, according to their enemies, a design upon the life of the
+king. That the whole story was a fabrication set afloat by evil-wishers,
+that at any rate against the Bishop of Auxerre, the Bailly of Troyes
+and probably also Deschenetz, there was no particle of incriminating
+evidence, seems more than probable, to judge by the course of subsequent
+events. But none the less it is certain that three out of the four
+brothers had to fly from France towards the end of 1538, and likely that
+even the Bailly was associated with the early stages of their flight. One
+account states indeed that the sentence of banishment issued by the angry
+king reached Jean de Dinteville at Polisy, and hardly allowed him time to
+get across the frontier within the prescribed interval, so stringent were
+its terms.[249]
+
+Almost every family document relating to the period of disgrace appears
+to have been intentionally destroyed. All that is known has to be gleaned
+from scattered allusions in State papers, or in documents of a later
+date, when fortune once more smiled upon the family at Polisy.[250] From
+this fragmentary information it appears that Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse
+d’Etampes, whose ascendency over Francis I. was now becoming more and
+more complete, was the avowed enemy of the Dinteville brothers, and
+permitted no opportunity to slip, by which she might hope to compass
+their ruin. The reason of her enmity was not difficult to gauge. The
+French Court was divided into two parties, each filled with bitter
+animosity towards the other. The King and Madame d’Etampes stood on
+one side; the Dauphin[251] and Diane de Poitiers on the other.[252]
+The Dinteville family, as we know, had been attached to the sons of
+Francis I. since their earliest youth. Deschenetz had been the governor
+of the new Dauphin; and Vanlay, although in early days connected with
+the deceased Dauphin François, had by his own words spent many years in
+the service of his successor.[253] Francis I. was jealous of his heir,
+and harboured increasing suspicions of his son’s loyalty. It is easy
+to imagine how skilfully these cards were played by Madame d’Etampes,
+who saw in the Dauphin’s friends the party of the future, and, in their
+triumph, her own ultimate downfall.
+
+The manœuvres of an ambitious and unscrupulous priest completed the
+catalogue of unfortunate circumstances that were made to tell against the
+brothers. This man, by name Pierre de Mareuil, used the influence he had
+obtained over the Duchesse d’Etampes to further his own unworthy objects.
+Just now he was endeavouring to secure his footing on the episcopal
+ladder by the overthrow of Francis, Bishop of Auxerre. The Bailly of
+Troyes, indeed, regarded Mareuil as the author of all the calamities
+which overtook his house.[254]
+
+Montmorency, whom, two years later, temporary eclipse was to befall from
+the same quarter and partially the same causes—for he also stood on
+friendly terms with the Dauphin—either could not or would not protect
+his cousins. He acted against them with a vehemence which suggests that
+he either shared the suspicions of their guilt or entertained fears for
+his own safety. So far as Jean de Dinteville was concerned, no reflection
+seems ever to have been made upon his loyalty to the throne. His past
+services had been too conspicuous and spoke for themselves. Besides
+this, his attachment to Charles, now Duke of Orleans, was well known;
+and as this prince was not on specially good terms with the Dauphin,
+it would have been absurd to suppose Dinteville capable of committing
+treason in favour of the elder brother. His flight was simply made
+necessary by the disgrace which had overtaken his relations. Three of
+the brothers certainly made good their escape to Venice, but whether the
+Bailly accompanied them as far as Italy seems doubtful. There is no hint
+in any authentic document of his presence there with them. Had he been
+permitted, when the first outburst of royal wrath had subsided, to return
+quietly to Polisy, there to await better days? It would almost seem so. A
+letter written by Claude de Lorraine, Duke of Guise, to Montmorency, from
+Dijon, probably in the early spring of 1539, speaks of only two brothers
+(obviously Deschenetz and Vanlay), whom, in deference to orders from the
+Connétable, he promises to arrest should they appear on French soil. He
+also thanks Montmorency for the gift “de la terre des Chenets,” in case
+it should be confiscated.[255] The letters of Grignan, French ambassador
+at Rome, tell the same story. Only the Bishop of Auxerre and his two
+youngest brothers are mentioned in them. Of the Bailly there is never one
+word.
+
+As though exile were not bad enough, it was aggravated in the case
+of Vanlay with a deep additional sting. Before the storm had burst
+he had quarrelled with his cousin, Jean du Plessis, “the young
+Savonnières.”[256] The latter had incurred Vanlay’s wrath by some
+slighting remark. According to Du Plessis’ account, Vanlay consequently
+repaired to his room early one morning, accompanied by five armed men,
+and forced Du Plessis to sign a paper by which he took back the insulting
+observation. Du Plessis, furious at this act of coercion, demanded the
+king’s permission to challenge Vanlay to a duel. It does not redound to
+the credit of a king who prided himself upon his chivalrous qualities,
+nor to that of the young Savonnières himself, that permission was only
+granted, perhaps only asked, at a time when Vanlay was forbidden, under
+penalty of death, to set foot on French territory. The king’s mandate,
+which accompanied Du Plessis’ challenge, signified that the duel was
+to be fought in the royal presence wherever the Court might be on the
+1st January, 1539. No safe-conduct was offered to the exile. The choice
+therefore presented to Vanlay was either to put his head into the lion’s
+mouth by returning to France, a course probably tantamount to death,
+or to incur the deep stain to his honour of neglecting the challenge.
+He was thus caught in a complete trap. Perhaps the infliction of this
+mortification was the real object of the defiance, as it only reached him
+at Venice, forwarded by his mother from Polisy, eleven days before the
+date fixed for the combat. Under the best of circumstances it would have
+been difficult for him to get back in time.
+
+In his despair Vanlay appealed to the Dauphin, setting forth in a long
+letter the reasons which made it impossible for him to respond to the
+summons. He begs that a neutral place may be appointed where he can go
+in safety of his life. He will then thankfully accept the opportunity
+offered to him of clearing his honour.[257]
+
+In the end he retaliated by appointing his own _rendezvous_ in Italy. On
+the non-appearance of Du Plessis he proceeded to bestow on the arms of
+the latter the same treatment which had been meted to his own in France.
+What that treatment was shall now be told.
+
+On the appointed day the King of France, accompanied by the princes and
+princesses and lords and ladies of the Court, took up his position to
+await the spectacle of the combat. Vanlay having failed to appear, as
+was of course foreseen, the king ordered his arms to be torn from the
+pavilion on which they were emblazoned, and broken in pieces; after
+which they were dragged through the streets of Paris.[258] Such was the
+vengeance wreaked by Francis on a banished servant, who had once enjoyed
+his highest confidence.
+
+The Dinteville brothers had many acquaintances in Italy. The early
+sojourn of the Bishop of Auxerre at Padua, his subsequent residence
+at Rome, and the military missions of the two younger brothers to La
+Mirandola and other Italian centres, appeared to assure to them a
+sufficiency of friends in the land of their exile. The presence of a
+French princess at Ferrara, who made her Court the home of all needy
+countrymen, offered yet another refuge in case of necessity.[259] They
+were not long permitted to enjoy these consolations. It is easy to gather
+from a letter from Grignan to Montmorency, written in April, 1539, the
+colours in which Vanlay had been painted to the French ambassador at
+Rome.[260] He was reaping now the bitter fruit of having been unable to
+accept the French challenge, in addition to the harvest of ignominy
+heaped upon him by the king. If, as seems probable, he was innocent of
+the capital charge, he was indeed an injured man.
+
+Not content with the severe measures already taken against the brothers,
+Francis I. now procured their banishment from the dominions of the
+Emperor, and from Venice, Mantua, and Ferrara. The fugitives took refuge
+at Rome. Here again the king’s arm overtook them, and the Pope was
+angrily called upon to exile them in like manner. The Bishop of Auxerre
+had sought to interest several of the Cardinals on behalf of himself and
+his brothers, in order to obtain permission to remain on Papal territory.
+But Paul III. dared not, if he would, give displeasure to the King of
+France. The next notice, a few months later, shows that Deschenetz and
+Vanlay had been at Bologna, but had left it again; while the Bishop of
+Auxerre was reported to be at Naples.[261]
+
+And here the curtain falls on the movements of the exiles. Hunted
+from place to place, in danger of their lives had they risked showing
+themselves in any of the forbidden states, the only hope of these once
+prosperous men lay in silence and concealment. Where did they next seek
+shelter? There is no word to tell.
+
+Three years pass away. Once more the curtain rises; and, if the opening
+scene is not without shadows, it shows at least a promise of brighter
+days. The facts to be related have the additional interest of resting on
+Jean de Dinteville’s own narrative.[262]
+
+In the summer of 1542, France being again at war with Spain, Charles,
+Duke of Orleans, undertook the conquest of the Duchy of Luxemburg. On
+his way thither he halted for about a fortnight at Joinville and at
+Montier-sur-Saulx. The Bailly of Troyes was in attendance upon the duke,
+who was a faithful friend to him. The king was also of the party; and
+Dinteville seized the opportunity to endeavour, through the mediation
+of Admiral de Brion, to obtain the restitution to his brother François
+of the see of Auxerre and of the abbeys of Montier-la-Celle and
+Montier-Aramey. The revenue of these benefices had been seized three
+years before, when the bishop had been forced to fly. Pierre de Mareuil,
+who had become the unworthy successor of George de Selve in the bishopric
+of Lavaur,[263] had, thanks to the influence of Madame d’Etampes, managed
+to get charge of the see of Auxerre during the bishop’s exile. He had
+appropriated or sold for his own benefit the costly furniture belonging
+to François de Dinteville; he had instituted his own creatures into
+various offices; he had taken possession of the rich abbeys held by the
+banished prelate. It was in vain that the Bailly of Troyes represented
+these facts. The ascendency of Madame d’Etampes over the king’s mind was
+too great to admit of any counter influence. Mareuil had secured that
+lady’s suffrage by presenting to her all or parts of a “chapelle d’or et
+argent doré, garnie de pierreries,” belonging to François de Dinteville,
+which Mareuil had removed from the Cathedral of Auxerre. Portions of this
+splendid “chapelle” had been seen by Madame Du Bellay and other friends
+of the Dinteville brothers in the possession of Madame d’Etampes. They
+comprised “ung reliquaire d’or garny de pierres precieuses; ung aultre
+d’argent doré garny de semblables pierres; ung aultre reliquaire d’argent
+emaillé de bleu, auquel y a une longue et grande pierre appelée lapis
+lazulli entaillée des misteres de la passion.”[264] Reinstatement would
+of course mean restitution of stolen goods. Here, then, was motive enough
+for the lady’s antagonism, apart from all other causes.
+
+Dinteville saw that the situation was too strong for him, and resolved to
+compromise. Such a man as the new Bishop of Lavaur could only be dealt
+with by a bribe. The Bailly of Dijon, Monsieur de Villiers les Potz,
+who was acting on behalf of Dinteville and Madame de Brion, advised him
+to sacrifice one of his brother’s abbeys. The Bishop of Auxerre, who
+had returned to France by the king’s permission, was at two leagues
+distance, “n’ousant s’approcher de la court.” He was consulted on the
+point, but wished, before replying, to discuss the matter with the
+Admiral. A quick decision was, however, imperative. Mareuil, seeing his
+position imperilled, was again stirring up Madame d’Etampes. So well
+had he succeeded, that she had almost gone off then and there to speak
+to the king. Fortunately her purpose was frustrated by good friends
+of the Dinteville family near at hand. Mademoiselle de Théligny,[266]
+the daughter of their old acquaintance Madame de Montreuil, was in the
+castle. A hurried note reached Dinteville, “Depeschez-vous d’appointer et
+contenter cest homme, car il a mis ceste femme en collere contre Monsieur
+d’Aucerre.” The rest of the story is so curious that it shall be told in
+Dinteville’s own words:
+
+    [265]“... Le lendemain, ladicte Damoyselle de Thelligny et
+    Madame de Brou sa seur, s’en vindrent disner avec moi au logis
+    de feu[267] monseigneur d’Orleans. Lesquelles toutes deux
+    me dirent qu’il failloit s’accorder avecques ledict sieur
+    de Lavaur, et que madame d’Estampes s’estoit fort courroucé
+    lorsque ledict sieur de Lavaur vint parler à elle en la chambre
+    ou elle jouoit, et disoit que nous n’estions pas encores ou
+    nous cuydions.... Quoy voyant, je congneuz bien qu’il estoit
+    force de passer par la.[268] Et le lendemain ou le jour mesme
+    (ne scay lequel) je m’en allay trouver ledict sieur de Lavaur
+    en son logis, en une petite chambre basse, où se trouva ledict
+    sieur bailly de Dijon ... et quelques aultres ...; et diz telz
+    motz ou semblables audict Monsieur de Lavaur:
+
+    “‘Monsieur, mes amys m’ont faict entendre que ma dame
+    d’Estampes a tenu depuis deux jours quelques maulvays propos de
+    Monsieur d’Aucerre et de mes frères. Par quoy plus tost que de
+    retourner et rentrer en la malle grace du Roy, nous aymerions
+    mieulx perdre et quitter tous noz biens. Vous scavez que par
+    le passé nous sommes esté amis. Vous tenez propoz de vouloir
+    avoir l’evesché d’Aucerre; je vous supplie et advise de vous
+    contenter d’aultre chose.’
+
+    “Il insista d’avoir l’abbaye de Monstieraramey. Lors le priay
+    de laisser ladicte abbaye de Monstieraramey. A quoy il fit
+    instance, la voullant plus tost que celle de Monstier la
+    Celle. Toutes foys, je lui remonstray que la dicte Abbaye de
+    Monstieraramey estoit prochaine de Polisy et que celle de
+    Monstier la Celle estoit a six ou sept cens livres près, la
+    valleur de celle de Monstieraramey, qui n’estoit pas grand
+    somme. A la fin, ledict sieur de Lavaur s’i accorda. Puis me
+    fist grande instance d’avoir la maison d’Aucerre à Paris; ce
+    que de tout je ne l’en vouluz accorder, bien que quand il
+    seroit nostre amy, non pas ceste la seullement, mais que toutes
+    les aultres estoient à son commendement....”
+
+Gallantly spoken to this clerical cormorant! His greed for fat benefices
+was even now not appeased. There follows a whole string of minor demands,
+met by Dinteville with considerable skill, yielding here and declining
+there, according to the degree of importance of the point in question. At
+last an agreement was arrived at.
+
+    [269] “... et fut conclud que l’on coucheroit par escript.
+    Ce qu’il fut faict le lendemain en ma chambre, au logis de
+    feu mon dict seigneur d’Orleans; absent mon dict seigneur
+    d’Aucerre qui ne s’i voulut trouver.[270] ... Et certiffie
+    pour verité que la resignation de la dicte abbaye de Monstier
+    la Celle qui fut faicte lors audict sieur de Lavaur, et les
+    quittances des meubles et fruitz de l’evesché d’Aucerre, fut
+    par la peur et crainte que Madame d’Estampes ne remist mon dict
+    sieur d’Aucerre et nous tous, ses frères, en la malle grace du
+    Roy, par le moyen et credit que ledict sieur de Lavaur avoit
+    avecques ma dicte dame d’Estampes; et qu’il ne fallust encor
+    s’enfuyr et absenter de ce royaulme, comme on avoit faict; et
+    affin que ladicte dame d’Estampes et ledict sieur de Lavaur
+    n’empeschassent plus que mon dict frere s’en peust revenir et
+    remettre en ses maisons et benefices.”[271]
+
+But not satisfied with the results so far obtained, the Bailly of Troyes
+went to see the Dauphin at Fontainebleau on the subject of his brother’s
+wrongs. In a curious record of the actual conversation which passed
+there, Dinteville elicits from the future king, in a series of cleverly
+posed questions, a complete exculpation of the Bishop. Henri acknowledges
+that “la retraicte et absence de ce royaume de l’évêque d’Aucerre” was
+for no crime of his own, either towards Francis I. or anyone else, but
+only for the disfavour which had fallen on his brothers. He encourages
+Dinteville to defend him in every possible way. Moreover, in an interview
+which the Bishop himself had with the Dauphin, whether simultaneously
+with the Bailly, or on another occasion, does not appear, Henri promises
+him that justice shall be done to him, even should it be necessary to
+call in the arm of the law.[272]
+
+It is perhaps not surprising to find the Dauphin graciously disposed,
+in whose favour the imaginary conspiracy was supposed to have taken
+place. But a greater triumph effected by the Bailly was his success in
+bringing about a meeting between the bishop and Francis I. himself. On
+the return of the king from Burgundy, as he passed through Bar-sur-Seine
+and Joinville, François de Dinteville was granted an audience. In the
+course of this interview the king restored to him all his benefices and
+reinstated him in all his possessions.[273] It shows the weakness of
+Francis that, notwithstanding this concession, the Bishop of Auxerre was
+unable to get the decree completely executed during the king’s lifetime.
+Madame d’Etampes, backed by Mareuil, succeeded in putting a spoke in the
+wheel with regard to a portion of the behest, although the bishop was
+able to resume possession of his see. It may here be stated, once for
+all, that on the accession of Henri II. in 1547, the Bishop of Auxerre
+instituted proceedings against Mareuil, and recovered everything of which
+he had been defrauded. The Dinteville family now returned to the highest
+favour, and henceforth their path was an unclouded one.
+
+The latter years of the Bailly of Troyes were indeed saddened in another
+form. Always delicate, he was overtaken by complete paralysis, which
+obliged him to abandon his public career and to dwell in seclusion
+at Polisy. At what date this misfortune occurred is not known with
+precision. But it seems possible from the allusions to his health
+contained in a letter from Charles, Duke of Orleans, written in August,
+1542, that the first symptoms of it may have appeared at about this
+time. This young prince, the most brilliant and fascinating of the sons
+of Francis I., was now twenty years of age. His genuine concern for the
+well-being of his former governour and lifelong friend, and his spirited
+description of the military operations on which he was engaged, give
+interest to his words.
+
+    [274]“Bailly,” he writes, “aiant ici veu vostre basque,[275]
+    je n’ay voullu permettre s’en retourner, sans vous escripre,
+    par luy, de mes nouvelles, qui sont graces à Dieu tres bonnes
+    et telles que les desirez; et seront encore meilleures,
+    quant j’entendray que vous aurez entierement recouvre vostre
+    santé; à quoy je vous prie entendre bien soigneusement; et
+    en recompense, je vous diray, bailly, que je faiz faire ce
+    qu’il est possible pour la prinse d’Ivoy, que je feray demain
+    commancer à battre d’un autre costé; et tant par cela que par
+    tous autres moiens, j’espere l’emporter, moiennant l’aide de
+    celluy qui donne les victoires. Au reste j’ay eu des nouvelles
+    de Longueval qui n’est que à deux ou trois journées d’icy avec
+    sa trouppe, autant belle et deslibérée que l’on scauroit veoir,
+    ainsi qu’il m’a mandé. Je le feray temporiser au lieu ou il est
+    avecques sa dite trouppe, attendant le retour d’Iversay que
+    j’ay envoié devers le Roy pour me rapporter ce qui luy plaira
+    me commander que je face de ladite trouppe et aussi de celle
+    qui est icy avecques moy. Cependant n’aiant autre chose pour
+    le present, feray fin de me recommander à vous et de priere à
+    Nostre Seigneur, Bailly, qu’il vous doient aussi bonne santé
+    que je la vous désire. Escripte au camp d’Ivoy ce XIIIJᵉ jour
+    d’aoust.
+
+                           “Votre bon maestre
+
+                                                           “CHARLES.
+
+    “A Monr. le bailly de Troyes, l’ung de mes chambellans.”[276]
+
+The Duke of Orleans was successful in his military undertaking. Ivoy, a
+small town in the Ardennes, was reduced, and the conquest of the Duchy of
+Luxemburg completed. But, restless as quicksilver to be off in another
+direction as soon as his object was achieved, he disbanded his troops too
+soon, and the Imperialists reconquered the country in the space of a few
+days.
+
+This rash and impulsive temperament led the young Duke, a few years
+later, to an untimely end. The Court was at Forestmontier in Picardy. The
+plague was about, and Charles insisted on entering a house where a man
+had just died of it. Persuaded that the dreaded enemy could not assail a
+scion of the royal house of France, he rushed into the room whence the
+body had just been removed, and, from sheer bravado, struck the bed with
+his sword. The infected feathers flew up in all directions. The result
+may be imagined. The unfortunate prince sickened, and after a brief
+illness paid the extreme penalty of his rash act. This took place in
+1545.[277]
+
+The memoirs of the time contain many anecdotes of this young prince,
+whose wild impetuosity was balanced by many lovable traits. When a little
+boy five years of age, we hear of him gravely receiving the English
+ambassador at Court, repeating with graceful courtesy his “Soyez le très
+bien venu, Monsieur l’ambassadeur!” when that dignitary, preoccupied with
+his business, was disposed to overlook the greeting of a small boy whom
+he had failed to recognize.[278] A few years later, when Montmorency
+was ill, the little Duke sent to him his own physician and apothecary.
+Such little acts of kindness endeared him to many hearts. His courage,
+indeed, was of the maddest description, and often overstepped the line
+which divides fearlessness from folly. As he grew up and learned to wield
+the sword, he indulged in fighting adventures which were more than mere
+boyish pranks. But a certain chevaleresque grace surrounded all he did—in
+marked contrast to the cold taciturnity which distinguished the character
+of the Dauphin Henri.
+
+It is easy to guess the sorrow that the death of the Duke of Orleans must
+have occasioned the Bailly of Troyes, to whom, through good report and
+evil, he had been a constant friend. The Dinteville brothers recorded
+their grief by the erection of a trophy to his memory at Polisy. This
+monument is described as having been decorated with the arms of all the
+persons from whom the Dinteville family had received kindness.[279]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE BUILDING OF POLISY AND THE LAST YEARS OF JEAN DE DINTEVILLE. HIS
+SUPPOSED PORTRAIT AT WINDSOR
+
+
+It was during these years of leisure necessitated by ill-health, that
+the Bailly of Troyes rebuilt the Château of Polisy from the ground. The
+construction of the new house brings us to an interesting episode in
+his career, namely, his relations with the Italian artists employed by
+the King of France. The great architectural movement which marked the
+era of Francis I. could hardly have been lost on so keen an observer
+as Jean de Dinteville. One by one many of the palaces of the French
+Renaissance had risen before his eyes. His boyhood had witnessed the
+completion of Blois and Chenonceaux; later years had seen the growth of
+Chambord, Azay-le-Rideau, Fontainebleau, the curiously-named Château of
+Madrid, near Paris, and other important constructions. Ecouen, too, the
+magnificent abode of his cousin, the Connétable, was now rising from
+the ground. On all sides the spirit of the age was expressing itself in
+dwellings of surpassing beauty and luxury. Great men and small men built,
+each according to his means. Those who could not afford palaces contented
+themselves with houses of smaller dimensions indeed, but pervaded by the
+same sense of harmonious proportion, emphasized by graceful ornament.
+
+From about the year 1530, when Il Rosso settled in France, a number of
+distinguished Italians were engaged in the royal service, especially at
+Madrid and Fontainebleau. The well-known predilections of the king for
+Italian work set the stamp of fashion on the employment of these artists,
+and for many years the Italians occupied on the royal buildings were
+largely in request beyond the precincts of the Court. On the death of Il
+Rosso, in 1541, the Bolognese, Francesco Primaticcio, succeeded him as
+head of the works at Fontainebleau. He had already been employed by the
+king, after a first visit to France, to collect statues and other works
+of art for him in Italy. Enjoying a high reputation in his own country as
+the pupil of Bagnacavallo and Giulio Romano, the latter of whom he had
+assisted in the decorations of the Palazzo del Te at Mantua, Primaticcio
+soon rose to the first place among his fellow-countrymen in France. He
+was ultimately appointed director of all the royal works, including
+painting, architecture, and sculpture, and continued to fill this post
+until his death, which occurred in 1570.
+
+Associated with Primaticcio in the decorations of Fontainebleau was his
+assistant, Niccolò da Modena, called Niccolò dell’ Abate. Both these men
+undertook many private commissions in addition to their work at Court.
+They were employed, for instance, by Montmorency to decorate his house in
+Paris.[280]
+
+Another Italian, Girolamo della Robbia, brought to France the famous
+secret of his family for the manufacture of glazed tiles. He executed
+extensive works at the Château of Madrid, and probably also at
+Ecouen.[281]
+
+With all these individuals Dinteville must have come into frequent
+contact before his retirement from Court.[282] With another of the
+Italian artists in France, Domenico del Barbier, or, as he is commonly
+called, Domenico Fiorentino, he stood in more immediate relations;
+for this man had early married and settled at Troyes, where he now
+occupied the leading position as architect, painter, engraver, and
+sculptor. For some time Domenico divided his attention between that
+city and Fontainebleau, where he worked successively under Il Rosso and
+Primaticcio. To illustrate the reputation he ultimately enjoyed, it
+suffices to add that many years later he was employed to execute the
+pedestal and vase of the famous group of the Three Graces by Germain
+Pilon, which formed part of Primaticcio’s design for the tomb of Henri II.
+
+Situated between Burgundy and the Netherlands, the city of Troyes had
+early been subject to Flemish influences. These had doubtless had their
+effect in forming the taste of the family at Polisy. Their own Burgundian
+antecedents must not be forgotten. Gradually the permeating sway of the
+French Renaissance recast local traditions in a new mould; and when
+the Italian artists imported by Francis I. gave a further impetus to
+contemporary design, Troyes was found well prepared to receive it. How
+far the presence of Domenico Fiorentino contributed to produce this
+result, it is impossible to determine. But it is certain that a large
+number of the French assistants employed at Fontainebleau were natives of
+the city in Champagne.[283]
+
+Such being the state of things artistic in France, it is interesting to
+note that at the very time when Dinteville began to build his new house,
+Primaticcio and Domenico Fiorentino were his guests at Polisy.
+
+The foundation-stone of the new Château was laid in 1544. On the massive
+central pillar of the great cellar of the castle, the inscription, in
+Gothic letters, may still be read:
+
+    Lan de grace MDXLIIII Jehan de Dinteville bailly de Troies
+    apres avoir achever la basse court feit comencer.
+
+Just at this time the King of France bestowed on Primaticcio the Abbey
+of St. Martin-ès-Aires, at Troyes. The artist had, however, no thought
+of going in person to take possession of his benefice. He consequently
+issued a “procuration” dated from Polisy, and there witnessed by Domenico
+Fiorentino and Hubert Julyot (one of a well-known family of sculptors at
+Troyes), on the 15th December, 1544.[284]
+
+The new house was something more of a stronghold in the old style than
+the majority of dwellings now in fashion. The proximity of the Imperial
+frontier rendered it in fact necessary that the place should be capable
+of defence. War had again broken out between Francis I. and Charles V.,
+and at the very moment when Dinteville set to work, the town of St.
+Dizier, not very far away, had been besieged and taken by the Imperial
+forces.
+
+[Illustration: ARMS OF JEAN DE DINTEVILLE AS STILL SEEN AT POLISY.]
+
+At some period in the history of Polisy the waters of the small river
+Laigne, which flow into the Seine almost beneath the windows of the
+Château, had been diverted from their course to form a complete moat
+round its walls.[285] A variety of towers contributed to the protection
+no less than to the picturesqueness of the place, while a substantial
+keep and drawbridge fortified the main entrance. Possibly some portion of
+these defences were a heritage from older times which the Bailly repaired
+and added to; completing them with the slender and graceful towers seen
+in the illustration.[286] But the new dwelling which now arose within
+this circle of walls was entirely his own work, if certain details, due
+to his brother François, be excepted. Severely simple in aspect where
+the external wall formed one link of the chain of defence, it was
+probably on the inner façade, overlooking the court, that the Bailly
+lavished those decorative effects for which the presence of Primaticcio
+and his fellow-labourers appears to vouch. What was the extent of their
+co-operation there are no means of judging, since that façade has been
+utterly swept away. The coat-of-arms which once adorned it, and a stone
+pediment which perhaps surmounted the principal entrance, are now built
+into a wall in the stable yard. The shield, bearing the arms of the
+Bailly of Troyes, still shows traces of colour. On a scroll beneath it
+are inscribed the words: “Jo. de Dinteville condebat.”
+
+These objects were removed to their present position in this century,
+when the Château was completely modernized. Nearly all traces of former
+splendour, to say nothing of archæological interest, were at the same
+time blotted out. Much may have been previously destroyed by time and
+sieges; for Polisy seems to have borne a full share of the country’s
+misfortunes. The towers and machicolations which we know to have existed,
+the delicate Renaissance ornament which we surmise, have alike perished.
+The featureless modernity which has replaced them offers hardly a
+suggestion of the edifice once raised by the Bailly of Troyes.
+
+The main walls towards the river are, however, still those of his
+construction,[287] as well as several details of the interior. The
+immense thickness of those walls is shown in the deep bay-windows which
+look eastwards over the Laigne. A long series of apartments on the ground
+floor is surmounted by a corresponding suite above, from which a pleasant
+view is obtained over the green undulations of the surrounding country.
+
+One of these rooms on the upper floor contains the chief remaining glory
+of Polisy, the famous _carrelage_, or tesselated pavement, placed there
+in 1545 by the Bishop of Auxerre, who owned a share of the estate.
+
+This beautiful piece of Italian work, justly famed as one of the finest
+pavements in France, was probably executed under the supervision of
+Girolamo della Robbia, whether designed by him or by Primaticcio. The
+symmetrical pattern in variously coloured tiles, shows a series of
+allegorical figures of the cardinal and theological virtues, inclosed
+in octagonal medallions, grouped round a central cross. These figures
+are connected by arabesque patterns, interwoven with smaller medallions
+containing emblems of war and of the chase. But the most interesting of
+the series, because it bears directly on the history of the Dinteville,
+who commemorated in the symbolism of this floor the Bishop’s return to
+favour, are the two medallions above and below the central cross. The
+first of these contains the figure of Fortune in her most smiling mood.
+On the white frame which surrounds the goddess may be read the motto of
+the house of Dinteville: ἡ τύχη ἀκολούθος ἔστι τῆς ἀρετῆς, Fortune the
+Companion of Merit. The second more important medallion displays the arms
+of the Bishop of Auxerre, round which the Dinteville motto again appears,
+this time in its more familiar Latin garb, _Virtuti Fortuna Comes_,
+accompanied by the date 1545.
+
+[Illustration: ARMS OF THE BISHOP OF AUXERRE FROM THE TESSELATED PAVEMENT
+AT POLISY.]
+
+The bishop seems indeed to have appropriated the family motto just now
+to his special use; for these were not his only allusions to Fortune.
+In the garden of Polisy, just beyond the spot formerly bounded by the
+moat, a curiously-designed building catches the eye. This house, in
+close proximity to the church, still goes by the name of the “Maison de
+l’Aûmonier.”[288]
+
+The upper floor is finished by a dormer window, flanked by two thick
+columns. These are connected midway by a horizontal mullion, which
+divides the window in such a way as to form the letter H. The large
+columns are surmounted by two smaller ones, finishing in blunt points,
+to resemble miniature towers. The apex of the gable between these mock
+turrets is crowned by a third small column of similar design; and this
+last and most conspicuous turret springs from a pair of Hermes’ wings
+divided by a sphere. In the centre of the upper pane of stained glass is
+the date 1545.
+
+[Illustration: DORMER WINDOW OF THE MAISON DE L’AÛMONIER AT POLISY,
+SHOWING THE EMBLEM OF FORTUNE.]
+
+What is the significance of this elaborate pile of symbolism? The
+printer’s device of a little book published at Lyons in 1542 by Sébastien
+Gryphe, or Gryphius, gives us the solution of at least a portion of it.
+
+The sixteenth century repeated its favourite symbols over and over
+again. Alciati had made famous that form of emblem in which words and
+picture combine to form a single device. But in so doing he had merely
+given classical shape to a general taste. The better-known symbols were
+so familiar that they were readily understood without the explanatory
+text. Such was that adopted by the Bishop of Auxerre in the window of the
+Maison de l’Aûmonier.
+
+The sphere with the wings of Hermes is an emblem appropriated by Fortune.
+Sometimes a youth, sometimes a maiden, with winged feet lightly poised on
+an ever-rolling globe, or wheel,[289] the figure of the deity was well
+known and popular in the sixteenth century. Derived from the antique,
+it had quickly leaped into favour on the revival of learning. There
+were many variations of the familiar allegory. Machiavelli had devoted
+a sonnet to it; Alciati had placed it among his emblems; it had been
+painted and carved, and all were acquainted with the symbols that gave it
+pictorial expression. When, therefore, the winged globe was abstracted
+from the whole subject and used as a separate emblem it was readily
+interpreted. But to guard against all possibility of misunderstanding,
+the printer Gryphius has added to the symbol the motto, _Virtute Duce,
+Comite Fortuna_. The meaning is identical with that of the Dinteville
+motto and conclusively proves the point.[290]
+
+[Illustration: MARK OF THE PRINTER GRYPHE OF LYONS, SHOWING THE EMBLEM OF
+FORTUNE.]
+
+This explanation exhausts, however, but a small portion of the symbolism
+of the window, and the rest is less easy to unravel. What is the meaning
+of the letter H?
+
+The more obvious interpretation is that it stands for “Henri.” The
+Dauphin was the special protector of the Dinteville brothers, and
+to him, probably, the return of the smiles of Fortune was in large
+measure due. But this explanation omits the three columns which are too
+curiously original to be mere accidents of design. Some such symbols
+occur in various works dealing with the occult sciences. They suggest
+a relationship with Hermeticism, and an alternate interpretation of
+the letter H. The Hermes’ wings would gain additional point from this
+explanation, which seems likely to be the true one.
+
+Beyond the Maison de l’Aûmonier is the Basse-Cour, which we know
+from Dinteville’s inscription in the castle cellar to have been
+completed before the new dwelling was begun. Entering one of the
+unpromising-looking doors which give access to the stable, the visitor is
+surprised by a beautiful vaulted undercroft of considerable dimensions.
+It is now used for lumber. Most likely it once supported upper
+apartments, perhaps occupied by the Dinteville family during the building
+of the house. If so, those rooms have entirely disappeared, and have
+given place to lofts of the commonest modern type. The Basse-Cour, it may
+be added, was once of far greater extent than it is at present.
+
+On a slope by the road-side, about half a mile from the Château, is a
+high and slender cross of sixteenth-century workmanship. The origin of
+this interesting monument is veiled in darkness, but an old engraving
+shows more than one cross dotting the landscape around Polisy.
+
+It is known that Jean de Dinteville built a chapel to serve as a
+sepulchre for himself and his family, and that he placed in it the
+epitaphs of those who had gone before him.[291] He was himself laid
+to rest in it when his time came. But no similar monument was in turn
+erected to preserve his memory. Not even the site of the chapel, which
+has wholly disappeared, can now be identified with precision. Possibly it
+is represented in the illustration of Polisy by the building to the left
+pierced by three windows.
+
+About the year 1547, a young relation, Jean de Mergey, came to Polisy
+to be brought up, or “nourished” as the phrase was, in the house of the
+Bailly of Troyes. Fortunately Mergey has left a short memoir of his
+life,[292] which gives us a passing glimpse of Polisy during the four
+or five years of his stay there. Catherine de Mergey, _née_ Dinteville,
+the mother of this boy, was cousin and governess to the daughters of
+Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz; and these relations, as well as François,
+Bishop of Auxerre, seem to have spent much of their time at Polisy.
+Madame de Polisy, widow of Gaucher the elder, lived there until her
+death, which took place in 1545; and the sisters of the Bailly found a
+home there whenever they required one.
+
+The picture drawn by Mergey is a pleasant one, and shall be given in
+his own words. He had begun his education early, having been placed
+at the College of Troyes at the age of eight years. Thence his mother
+transferred him to the Abbey of Montierender; but, says Mergey,
+
+    [293]“... ne voulant estre Moyne, elle me mist avec Mr. de
+    Polizy, Bailli de Troyes, chef de la maison de Dinteville,
+    personnage accomply et orné de toutes vertus et sciences autant
+    que homme de son temps et qualité; aiant esté Gouverneur de
+    Monsieur d’Orleans et Ambassadeur pour le Roy en Angleterre.
+    Mais estant devenu Paralitique et impotent de tous ses
+    membres, et ne pouvant plus a cette occasion demeurer à la
+    Cour, et s’estant retiré chez soy, se mist pour son plaisir
+    et exercice à bastir cette belle maison de Polizy. Lequel me
+    prist en telle amitié, qu’il prenoit bien la peine luy mesme
+    de m’instruire en toutes les sciences desquelles mon jeune age
+    pouvoit estre capable; et aiant demeuré avec luy jusques en
+    l’aage de quatorze ou quinze ans, et me voulant mieux former
+    par la fréquentation du monde et exercice des armes, me donna
+    a Mr. Deschenetz son frère, Chevalier de l’Ordre du Roy,[294]
+    et Capitaine de cinquante hommes d’Armes, avec lequel je fis
+    plusieurs voyages....”
+
+A letter of 1552 (it is dated February, 1551, old style) shows us the
+master of Polisy for the last time. It is written by his uncle, Du
+Plessis Savonnières, the father of Vanlay’s bitter enemy. The cordiality
+of tone speaks well for both writer and recipient.
+
+    [295]“Monsr. mon nepveu,” so it runs, “j’ay receu deux lettres
+    de vous, l’une dattée du IIIJᵉ. jour d’Octobre, et l’autre
+    du XXIIIᵉ. jour de janvier derniers passés. Vous m’escripvez
+    qu’avez receu lettres de ma soeur de Lyencourt[296] et qu’il
+    vous semble qu’elle est bien contente de l’affaire de Monstier
+    la Scelle; elle en a bien raison; elle est bien tenue et
+    obligée à prier Dieu pour monseigneur d’Auxerre, et nous tous,
+    du grand bien qu’il luy plaist faire à Banjamyn.[297] Ma
+    niepce de Lyencourt qui est avec Madame la connestable[298]
+    m’a escript que mondit seigneur d’Auxerre et monsr. des
+    Chenetz estoient à Fontainebleau. Et depuys Nicolas de la
+    Croix m’a escript que mondit seigneur d’Auxerre debvoit
+    arriver à Paris. J’avois pieça entendu la prinse que les gens
+    de l’empereur avoient faicte d’Aspremont. Ledict Nicolas de
+    la Croix m’escript que le bled a vallu à Paris cent dix sept
+    solz tournois le septier, et l’avoyne quarente huit, qui est
+    bien cher.... Il me deplaist de la malladie de ma dame de la
+    Mothe[299] et de sa fille, mademoiselle de Esmon; mais puys
+    qu’elles sont en amandant j’espere que ce ne sera rien. Ceulx
+    qui viennent de la court dient qu’il est grand bruict que le
+    Roy[300] doibt aller en Allemaigne; que le duc Maurice de Sax
+    et autres princes dudict Allemaigne, en grand nombre, sont
+    en armes contre l’empereur et qu’ilz doibvent tenir le party
+    du Roy et estre en son service; que la Royne sera regente en
+    France et qu’elle sera à Reyms; que monsr. l’admiral doibt
+    demourer avecques elle; que monsr. le Cardinal de Tournon doibt
+    estre lieutenant du Roy a Lyon; que le Grand Seigneur faict
+    grands preparatifz pour faire la guerre la presente année,
+    tant par terre que par mer. Je fais mon compte que entendez
+    mieulx toutes ses nouvelles la que l’on ne faict par deça, car
+    en pouvez estre advisé par Messrs. d’Auxerre et des Chenetz
+    qui sont à la court. J’estime que au commancement de ce mois
+    de mars pourray partir de ce pais pour aller à Lyon, passant
+    toutesfois par Grenoble. Quant je seray à Lyon, vous feray
+    scavoir de mes nouvelles et vous envoieray des graynnes pour
+    vostre nouveau jardin.
+
+    “Monsieur mon nepveu, je me recommande humblement à vostre
+    bonne grace et prie Dieu vous donner en santé tres bonne et
+    longue vie—De Montpellier, ce XXJeme. jour de fevrier, 1551.
+
+                          “Vostre oncle et amy
+
+                                                        “DUPLESSYS.”
+
+    “Monsr. mon nepveu, Monsr. de Pollisy, bailly de Troyes.”[301]
+
+Thus the last years of Dinteville’s life glided away.
+
+Notwithstanding his ill-health, he survived all his brothers except
+Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, whom he made his heir. Not one of the
+family attained the age of sixty.
+
+Gaucher, Seigneur of Vanlay, died in 1550, and was buried at
+Thennelières, where he had resided.
+
+The Bishop of Auxerre departed from the stage of this world in September,
+1554. His death took place at the Château of Régennes, his favourite
+place of abode. It is said that he decorated this house, and others
+belonging to the see, with paintings executed by his own hand; art and
+mechanics being his most cherished recreations.[302]
+
+All the brothers had recovered their former prestige before the end came,
+and were honoured servants of the king.
+
+The Bailly, obliged by the paralysis which had overtaken him to pass
+his days in retirement at Polisy, found solace in the occupations he
+could cultivate at home: his building, his garden, his home circle, the
+education of his little cousin in the sciences that had been dear to him
+in his most prosperous days. In these tranquil surroundings we take leave
+of him. Of the last scene, beyond the barest record, we know nothing. How
+keenly he felt the death of the Bishop of Auxerre may perhaps be inferred
+from the silent fact that he survived his brother but a few months.
+
+Jean de Dinteville died at Polisy, in 1555, in the fifty-first year of
+his age. Probably the event took place before the summer, as early in the
+same year Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, was appointed Bailly of Troyes.
+
+Thus ends the story of a typical Frenchman of the reign of Francis I. The
+varied incidents of his career, public and private, are vivid with the
+local colour of his date and nationality. The very contrasts are those
+of the age. Life marched with such a swing that there is hardly a pause
+between the heights of success and the depths of ignominy. No time for
+discussion as to deserved or undeserved: the king’s will is everything.
+Another turn of the wheel, and the branded fugitive is recalled to
+favour. The past is wiped out; and Life resumes her dancing gait as
+though no voice of the night had croaked of banishment and disgrace.
+
+The intellectual aspect is marked by the same extremes. Old and new,
+mediæval and modern, were wrestling for supremacy. While, on the one
+hand, the revival of letters, the progress of science, the discoveries
+of the great navigators, had opened fresh horizons to the understanding,
+the paths of mystery that led back to the middle ages were still freely
+trodden. Astrology, alchemy, and kindred pursuits yet maintained their
+hold on minds permeated by the new learning. There was no proportion, no
+power of differentiation. All subjects were pursued with equal eagerness.
+All were illuminated by the same glow of the imagination, which flung its
+halo over past and present alike. It is this transforming quality which
+fuses into unity the strangely heterogeneous elements of the time, and
+gilds its mistakes no less than its successes.
+
+In the joyous vitality of the age, the love of magnificence, the
+social _bravura_, the spirit of adventure, the same influence of the
+imaginative faculties is apparent. But it is in the passion for art that
+the distinctive note is sounded. Soldier and scholar, statesman and
+priest, all came beneath that sway, which was enhanced and intensified by
+influences derived through a thousand channels from Italy.
+
+It is to be regretted that so little is known of the private friendships
+of the Bailly of Troyes. Some indications of the cordial feelings of
+which he was the object are indeed to be found, here and there, in the
+letters that have been noticed. But the most striking instance of the
+esteem in which he was held has been handed down to posterity by the
+genius of Hans Holbein. For the very fact of Dinteville’s friendship with
+the learned and saintly Bishop of Lavaur is a sufficient testimony to his
+own worth.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No second portrait is known for certain to exist of Jean de Dinteville.
+There is, however, an unnamed drawing by Holbein in the Windsor
+collection, the features of which show such considerable resemblance to
+those of the Bailly of Troyes that it has been thought to represent him
+at a later date. A reproduction of this drawing is here inserted[303]
+that the reader may make the comparison for himself.
+
+The chief difficulty in accepting this theory seems, at first sight, to
+lie in the marked difference of age between the two presentments.[304]
+Dinteville was, as we know, in the twenty-ninth year of his age when
+painted by Holbein in 1533. His last visit to England took place in 1537,
+when he was in his thirty-third year. But there appears to be more than
+four years’ interval between these two portraits, if they be held to
+represent the same man.
+
+Yet, in spite of this objection, the mould of the rather peculiar type of
+countenance is so similar in both cases, that this drawing does, in all
+probability, represent Jean de Dinteville as a somewhat older man.
+
+No one who, when visiting Dresden, has compared the original drawing
+of Morette by Holbein, with his splendid portrait of that envoy,[305]
+can have failed to observe the happy knack by which, in the finished
+painting, the artist has slightly rejuvenated and refined the features
+of his sitter, without losing either likeness or character. Did we
+possess the original drawing of Dinteville, made for the picture of the
+“Ambassadors,” it might, in all likelihood, show less discrepancy with
+the Windsor drawing than is exhibited by the painting itself, where the
+same tendency to emphasize the more favourable aspect of the sitter has
+probably come into play.
+
+Both these drawings—of Morette and of the supposed later Dinteville—once
+formed part of the Arundel collection, and were engraved at that time,
+in the shape of two small rounds, by Wenzel Hollar. One of these is
+inscribed “Mr. Morett”; the other is unnamed. But the fact of their
+having been engraved as pendants suggests the idea that the individuals
+portrayed were connected by tradition as members of the same nation and
+profession, thus further confirming the belief that the unnamed portrait
+represents the Bailly of Troyes.[306]
+
+
+
+
+PART III
+
+GEORGE DE SELVE
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE DE SELVE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE EARLY YEARS OF GEORGE DE SELVE, AND HIS FIRST DIPLOMATIC EMPLOYMENT
+
+
+The career of the Bishop of Lavaur, the ambassador _de robe longue_,
+forms an interesting contrast to that of the _homme d’épée_, or _de robe
+courte_, whose acquaintance has been made in Dinteville. In many respects
+each completes the other. Together they form a typical picture of the
+diplomacy of the day, in which churchmen and laymen played an almost
+equal part.
+
+The political missions of George de Selve, taken alone, would give,
+however, a very inadequate idea of the man. In the case of the Bailly of
+Troyes the secular note is naturally dominant. With the Bishop of Lavaur
+outward events seem dwarfed by the depth and fervour of the inner life.
+His spiritual vocation was all in all to him. The services he rendered to
+diplomacy rather hinder than assist a just estimate of his character and
+attainments. They constitute, indeed, the chief outward landmarks of his
+existence. But in so far as they emphasize the mundane rather than the
+religious aspect of his life they disturb its true proportions.
+
+[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL OF LAVAUR AT THE PRESENT DAY.]
+
+George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, was the third son of Jean de Selve,
+Premier Président of the Parliament of Paris, and of Cécille de Buxi. He
+was born in the winter or early spring of 1508-9, probably about January
+or February.[307]
+
+The family of Selve was said to be of Milanese extraction,[308] and had
+settled in France near Limoges. The first of its members to rise to
+eminence was Jean, the father of the future bishop. Hardly a name in
+French history is more celebrated in the early decades of the sixteenth
+century than that of this great lawyer and statesman; none stands higher
+for probity, political sagacity, and faithful service rendered to the
+Crown.
+
+The young George must have had a varied childhood if the family
+accompanied Jean de Selve to his several spheres of duty. Having
+successively presided over the Parliaments of Rouen and of Bordeaux,
+Jean was sent to Italy, after the battle of Marignan, as Vice-Governour
+of the Duchy of Milan. The earliest associations of which George could
+have had much recollection thus centred in Italy. The sojourn in the
+south terminated in 1521, when the Imperial troops drove the French from
+the Milanese. Jean de Selve now returned to France and received the
+appointment of Premier Président of the Parliament of Paris. Henceforth
+the influences which moulded the youth of the future bishop were, so far
+as is known, derived from his native country.
+
+The boy was now about twelve years old. The early age at which he
+subsequently obtained distinction favours the belief that he must have
+displayed extraordinary precocity in his studies. He himself tells us, as
+will presently be seen, that he received instruction in Greek and Latin
+from the famous scholar, Pierre Danès; indeed, if we may judge from a
+letter written at a later period by Bunel,[309] Danès appears to have
+superintended the whole training of the young student. He could not have
+been in better hands, nor would it be easy to imagine two spirits more
+likely to be congenial than those of master and pupil. The relationship
+developed into a lifelong friendship.
+
+Whether George de Selve subsequently attended the University of Paris is
+unknown. It appears improbable that he came under the influence of the
+Sorbonne. He was reared no doubt in a strict school of Roman Catholic
+theology; for in later years he always showed himself an orthodox son
+of his Church. But the extreme type among the theologians of Paris,
+whose headquarters were at the Sorbonne, had at this time a holy horror
+of those classical languages in which Selve learned to excel under the
+guidance of Danès. The latter, indeed, was among the first professors
+appointed a few years later to the famous Collège Royal, founded to
+impart the very knowledge which the doctors of the Sorbonne would have
+withheld.
+
+At the University of Paris only one of the two great branches of law
+essential to a public career was at this time taught. Instruction in
+civil law was forbidden, and had to be obtained elsewhere. Orleans,
+Poitiers, Bourges, possessed great schools for the secular arm. The
+universities of the provinces equalled that of Paris in efficiency, if
+not in size. Many young Frenchmen also went abroad to complete their
+studies, especially to Italy. It is highly probable that Selve was
+counted among their number, although there exists no positive evidence to
+that effect.
+
+It is certain that he owed some part of his education to the liberality
+of Francis I. While still a youth, he translated eight of Plutarch’s
+“Lives” into French by order of the king; and in the prologue which he
+affixed to this work and addressed to his royal patron, he speaks of the
+obligations under which he is placed to the king, “eslevé ou je suis, et
+moy et les miens, par vos bienfaitz....”[310]
+
+The king’s kindness seems, by these words, to have extended also to the
+brothers of George de Selve. The family of the Premier Président was
+numerous, consisting of six sons,[311] and no less than eight daughters.
+Jean de Selve can hardly have been a rich man, and the assistance
+afforded by Francis I. was doubtless welcome.
+
+The translation from Plutarch’s “Lives” at once brought the name of
+George de Selve into prominence. He states indeed in his preface, with
+laudable modesty, that he could not have completed his work “without
+the aid of Maistre Pierre Danès.” Nevertheless, the achievement was
+considered a remarkable one for so young a scholar; and later writers
+mention Selve as the worthy precursor of Amyot.[312]
+
+The year 1525 saw the long negotiations between France and Spain which
+succeeded the defeat of Pavia, and led up to the release of Francis
+I. The Archbishop of Embrun, better known at a later date as Cardinal
+Tournon, Philippe de Chabot, Admiral de Brion, and Jean de Selve, Premier
+Président of the Parliament of Paris, were the three principal emissaries
+deputed by the Regent, Louise of Savoy, to represent France at the
+conferences held at Toledo. Montmorency joined them occasionally from
+Madrid, where he was in attendance on the captive king; while Gabriel de
+Grammont, Bishop of Tarbes, another future cardinal, was later on added
+to the list of negotiators.
+
+Their efforts were crowned in January, 1526, by the signature of the
+Treaty of Madrid. The settlement was humiliating enough for the King
+of France, but it was due to the skill of the ambassadors that even
+such measure of success was obtained. At least, it restored him to his
+subjects, and enabled him, in the following March, to cross the Bidassoa
+on his way back to France.
+
+The capacity displayed on this occasion by Jean de Selve, and the
+profound knowledge of constitutional law which lent force to his
+diplomatic skill, made a deep impression on the French Court. It was
+desired that the recognition of his great services should assume some
+practical form. Francis therefore determined to reward the father, who
+had already attained every honour that could be bestowed, in the person
+of his son. In the month of May following the king’s release, the Papal
+licence was penned with which we are already acquainted. At the end of
+October in the same year (1526), the see of Lavaur fell vacant by the
+death of Bishop Pierre de Buxi,[313] and George de Selve, now in his
+eighteenth year, was nominated by the king to succeed him.[314]
+
+For the present Selve could only undertake the administration of the
+diocese and enjoy its revenues and title. The Church forbade the
+consecration of a bishop before the completion of his twenty-fifth year.
+
+The appointment of the new prelate was not however allowed to pass
+unchallenged. In 1616 the Concordat had been signed between Francis
+I. and Leo X., by which, in return for the payment of annates, the
+Pope conceded to the King of France the right to nominate to vacant
+benefices. The Gallican Church, which had previously enjoyed the
+privilege of electing its own dignitaries, protested vehemently against
+this innovation. Francis I., whose rule tended more and more towards
+absolute despotism, clung with tenacity to his usurped authority in
+clerical matters. But the local bodies from whom the ancient rights had
+been wrested equally illegally by king and pope, often set up a rival
+claimant, and disputed every inch of the way to the royal nominees. They
+had the more excuse for so doing, because, from the time the Concordat
+was arranged, the king overlooked all canonical rules as to age or
+fitness in the persons proposed,[315] filling the vacant benefices merely
+according to his personal convenience and pleasure. It was due to good
+fortune rather than to any appropriate principle of selection, when the
+royal choice fell upon so eminently suitable a candidate as George de
+Selve. It seems by no means clear, however, in what way the relations
+of the king with the Gallican Church concerned the Legate of Avignon,
+Cardinal Clermont, or why this prelate should now have intervened
+and endeavoured to quash the new appointment. The metropolitan see of
+Avignon, which was subject to papal authority, was governed by a Legate,
+who appointed to bishoprics within its area. But as Lavaur was not
+included in its jurisdiction, the interference of the Cardinal-Legate
+on this occasion seems difficult to account for. Possibly he had been
+promised the right to nominate to this particular vacancy. The fact,
+however, remains that Clermont laid claim to the see of Lavaur, and, to
+judge by the excitement his action aroused at the French Court, with some
+show of right on his side.
+
+In a series of letters still extant,[316] the various members of the
+French royal family urged the Legate to withdraw his claim. Francis I.
+begged him in a letter dated from St. Germain, on the 1st April,
+
+    “pour l’amour de moy et de ma priere, vous desister de la
+    poursuite dudict evesché, vous demettant au proffict du filz
+    dudict premier president de tout le droit que pouvez avoir et
+    pretendre audict evesché.”[317]
+
+The king’s mother, Louise of Savoy, whose right hand Jean de Selve had
+been during the period of her regency, writes with even more insistence:
+
+    “Mon cousin, vous avez par cy devant entendu le désir que le
+    Roy et moy avons que le filz de Monsʳ. le premier president
+    soict pourveu de l’evesché de Lavaur, et pour ce que ledit
+    seigʳ. et moy n’avons encore eu responce de vous qui en ce
+    satisface a nostre intencion, j’ay esté meue, mon cousin, de
+    rechief vous en rescrire, vous prient tres affectueusement, et
+    autant que je sauroys jamais pour nulle autre chose, faire que
+    vous veulhez à la requeste dudit sgʳ. et miene vous desister
+    de la poursuite et aussi de metre au proffit et en faveur du
+    filz dudit premier president de tout le droict que vous pouves
+    pretendre audit benefice; estant asseuré que le dit sʳ. et
+    moy aurons memoire de ce plaisir en melheure chose, de sorte
+    que vous en serez content, vous advisent au demourant et pour
+    conclusion que ledit sʳ. et moy porterons tout outre le filz
+    dudit premier president en cest affaire jusques en faire le
+    nostre propre; pour ce je vous prie encores ung bon cop, mon
+    cousin, que vous veulhez bien y pencer et en cest endroict
+    obtemperer a la tres affectionnée requeste dudit sgʳ. et de
+    moy. Et adieu, mon cousin, lequeilh je prie vous avoir en sa
+    saincte garde. Escript a St. Germain en Laye le premier jour
+    d’avril.”
+
+A postscript follows in her own writing:
+
+    “Je vous prie, mon cousin, que vous complezes au Roy et a moy
+    du contenu cy dessus et vous vous en trouverez bien.
+
+                         “Vostre bonne cousine,
+
+                                                            “LOYSE.”
+
+    “A mon cousin le Cardinal de Clermont, legat d’Avignon.”[318]
+
+Montmorency, too, is pressed into the service by the royal family. His
+intervention had special point, because M. de Clermont, brother of the
+legate, was his deputy in the government of Languedoc, which the king had
+bestowed upon him in the previous year. Writing to the Cardinal on behalf
+of George de Selve, on the 3rd April, Montmorency says that the king and
+his mother “ont la chose si très à cueur que ne le vous pouroys assez
+escripre.”[319]
+
+Remonstrance from such high quarters could not remain unheeded. The
+Cardinal withdrew his claim. Indeed, he had the wit not merely to accede
+to the wishes of the Court, but to do so with grace. On the 22nd June he
+writes to George de Selve in reply, it would seem, to an expression of
+gratitude on the part of the latter:
+
+    “Monsʳ. de Lavaur, mon amy, j’ay receue la lettre que m’avez
+    escripte, et n’est besoing user de remerciement en mon endroit
+    car je suis trop et de tout temps amy de vostre pere, et luy
+    vouldrois faire et a toute la rasse plaisir. Vous adviserez de
+    vostre cousté si en autre chose me voulez emploier et ne me
+    trouverez jamais autre que bon frere plus par effect que de
+    parolle; et ainsi vous prie le croyre; qui sera la fin de la
+    presente apres avoir prié le Createur vous tenir en sa saincte
+    garde. D’Avignon ce XXIJᵉ de jung.
+
+                      “Vostre meilleur frere et amy
+
+                                             “F. CARDˡ DE CLERMONT.”
+
+    “A Monsʳ de Lavaur.”[320]
+
+So the matter was settled, and the promotion of 1526 confirmed. But the
+cumbersome technicalities were so long in adjusting themselves, that
+nearly ten more months elapsed before George de Selve was able to take
+the oath of fidelity for the temporalities of the see of Lavaur.[321]
+
+The year 1529 saw the earliest employment of the Bishop of Lavaur in a
+diplomatic capacity. The first edition of the “Gallia Christiana”[322]
+states that George de Selve was sent as ambassador in this year to both
+Charles V. and the republic of Venice; while a manuscript biographical
+notice of the bishop, preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris,
+confirms this information as regards the embassy to the Emperor.[323] The
+mission to Venice appears also to derive confirmation from the wording of
+the Treasury grant of 1533.[324]
+
+The embassy of George de Selve to the Court of Charles V. in 1529 is of
+special interest to the student of Holbein’s “Ambassadors.” It makes it
+seem highly probable that the young Bishop attended the Diet of Spires as
+one of the representatives of France—a mission which assorts well with
+the presence of the Lutheran hymn-book placed near to him in Holbein’s
+picture. At the very outset of his career he is thus seen occupied with
+those ideas of religious reunion which absorbed so large a share of his
+attention throughout his life.
+
+His youth is indeed a striking circumstance in connection with so
+important an occasion. But such were the Bishop’s precocity of mind
+and gravity of temperament that he seems usually to have produced the
+impression of a man considerably older than was actually the case.[325]
+
+Amongst the works of George de Selve, which were collected and published
+after his death, are two orations, or “Remonstrances,” as he terms
+them, addressed to the Germans, with the object of recalling them to
+the obedience of the Church. Both these discourses were drawn up to be
+delivered at public Diets held in Germany for the promotion of religious
+unity. The second, as will presently be seen, was indited in response to
+a special invitation from Charles V. in the year 1540. The first in date,
+erroneously placed last in order by the editor of the collected “Œuvres,”
+is obviously the work of a very young man. A glance at its contents
+appears to confirm the surmise that it was composed for delivery before
+the Diet held at Spires in 1529.
+
+After so many and exalted personages, says the youthful orator, who
+have here come forward in the hope of appeasing the dissensions of the
+Church, it would be great presumption on the part of anyone to attempt
+to intervene of his own accord. But it would be equally cowardly to
+hold back if called upon to take part in the deliberations. Therefore,
+finding himself summoned, at an hour when no such thing had entered
+his thoughts, by his king, whom it is the will of God that he should
+obey, to come hither and try to assist in the pacification of these
+great divisions; seeing also that his vocation is of those to whom are
+entrusted the salvation of souls; having, furthermore, long felt within
+himself exceeding pain at the calamity of the times and an extreme desire
+to see it remedied, even were it with the loss of all his possessions
+in this world, or even of something more besides; seeing all these
+things, he felt that, notwithstanding he is forbidden by ignorance and
+insufficiency, it was his duty to accept the office imposed upon him.
+He begs that nothing very high or speculative may be expected of him.
+Besides that his mind is incapable of such flights, as one who is a
+simple beginner in the profession of letters, the truth of things has
+not been so hidden that it is necessary to go beyond the judgment of the
+simplest.[326]
+
+It would seem that this discourse was divided into two parts, of which
+only the first has been preserved. The teaching contained in that
+portion requires no minute analysis here. But while keeping well within
+the lines of Roman Catholic doctrine, it is remarkable that Selve already
+strikes the note which predominates in his later writings, basing all his
+arguments on the teaching of the New Testament. His references are always
+made direct to the Scriptures, and, in this instance, to the Epistles of
+St. Paul—a fact which is not without interest in the practice of a young
+Roman Catholic prelate at this period of history.[327]
+
+At the end of the year 1529 George de Selve lost his father. The Premier
+Président was buried in the church of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet at Paris,
+where a rhymed epitaph was placed to his memory,[328] much in the style
+of that of Gaucher de Dinteville.
+
+The death of Jean de Selve caused a real and profound sorrow in the royal
+circles of France. The reflection of this feeling is still apparent in
+a letter written in the following April (1530) by the Queen of Navarre
+to the Archbishop of Bourges. Marguerite recommends to his kindly notice
+the Bishop of Lavaur, who is the bearer of the letter. She begs him to
+continue the affection he bore to “feu monsieur le premier president,”
+towards “ses pauvres enffans.” The occupant of the archiepiscopal see at
+this time was no other than François de Tournon, who as Archbishop of
+Embrun had co-operated with Jean de Selve in the negotiations preceding
+the Treaty of Madrid. He was now on the eve of promotion to the rank of
+cardinal.
+
+In a second letter, written a week later to Anne de Montmorency who was
+busy in the south with his duties as Governour of Languedoc, Marguerite
+performs a like kind office. She had been unwilling, she says, to allow
+the Bishop of Lavaur to leave for the south without asking him to bear
+to Montmorency some news of the Court and of herself.[329] But these
+words are merely a pretext for the warm expressions with which the queen
+recommends to her correspondent the bearer of her letter. “You know,
+as well as I do,” she continues, “the services of the father and the
+greatness of his merits; and what gratitude they deserve towards the
+members of his family.” It would seem from this that Montmorency was at
+this time not acquainted, or but slightly acquainted, with the young
+bishop.
+
+Both these letters are dated from Blois, where Selve had doubtless paused
+to visit the Court on his way to Lavaur.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN DE SELVE, PREMIER PRÉSIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENT OF
+PARIS, FROM BULLART, ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES ET DES ARTS.]
+
+Beyond such scattered hints there are no means of judging of his
+movements in the years which now elapsed.
+
+In the month of November, 1532, another sorrow fell upon him in the death
+of his mother.[330] The following spring saw him in England, the guest of
+his friend, the Bailly of Troyes.
+
+The visit of the Bishop of Lavaur to this country began at some period
+before Easter, 1533,[331] and terminated before the end of May. It is not
+necessary to repeat here the few facts concerning that event which have
+already been narrated in previous chapters.[332]
+
+In December of the same year he was appointed French ambassador at
+Venice. To judge by the wording of the Treasury grant which records the
+first payment made to him, he had already been sent on a short mission to
+that city at a previous time.[333]
+
+The grant is dated from Lyons, where the Court was now sojourning on
+its way back from the interview with Pope Clement VII. Here the Bishop
+probably received his final instructions before setting out to take up
+his new task. Here, also, he must have met again his friend, the Bailly
+of Troyes, who just at this time arrived at Lyons after his long absence
+in England. It is to be presumed, however, that Selve made no long stay,
+as his salary was reckoned from the 12th December.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE BISHOP OF LAVAUR AMBASSADOR AT VENICE AND AT ROME
+
+
+At some time in the course of the year 1534, having completed the
+canonical age, George de Selve was consecrated bishop.[334] Whether this
+took place in France before his departure for Italy, whether he visited
+Rome expressly for the purpose, or received consecration at Venice, there
+are no means of judging. Our next glimpse of him is as French ambassador
+in the last-named city.
+
+It would be tedious to record in detail the minute variations of Italian
+politics which it was the duty of the Bishop of Lavaur to note and report
+to the French Court. During part of the time he spent at Venice, which
+extended over fully three years, George d’Armagnac, Bishop of Rodez,
+was associated with him as ambassador. Many of the despatches sent to
+France are jointly signed by the two prelates. They give a lively idea
+of the rival endeavours of Francis I. and Charles V. to secure the
+friendship of the Italian princes, and of the steps taken by the King of
+France on his part to achieve that desirable end. Every movement of the
+Italians, more especially of the Pope, was watched as a cat watches a
+mouse. Every hair’s-breadth of supposed deviation on their part to the
+Imperial side was made the subject of a report. The relations of Venice
+with the Turk, with whom Francis I. was now on the verge of a definite
+alliance, is another point of interest. Again, in 1536, when war broke
+out between France and the Empire, details gleaned from Italian sources
+of the supposed projects of Charles for the conduct of the campaign form
+a considerable item in the despatches.
+
+It would be more interesting, if it were possible, to follow the private
+pursuits, the friendships and correspondences of George de Selve during
+his stay in Italy.
+
+The Aldine press, under the guidance of Paolo Manuzio, was in full swing.
+Learned men, lay and ecclesiastic, of all types and nations crowded the
+quays of Venice; and a further element of intellectual life was added
+by the constant intercourse with the neighbouring university of Padua.
+Moreover, Venice was the high road to the East; and, whether bent on the
+purchase of rare Greek manuscripts, or on some secret mission from the
+King of France to the Turk, or merely on the active exchange of rich
+merchandise, all passed by her port.
+
+A scholar of high reputation himself, it would have been impossible for
+Selve to breathe such an atmosphere without in some degree imbibing
+its tone. He threw himself keenly into the learned interests by which
+he was surrounded, displaying special eagerness in the collection of
+classical manuscripts. Pierre Danès, to whom he was chiefly indebted for
+his brilliant acquaintance with the ancient languages, had accompanied
+him to Venice, where, says Thevet, “il n’y eut antiquité, cabinet ou
+rareté,” which Danès did not visit.[335] Here, also, the Bishop attached
+to himself another _savant_, Pierre Bunel, who had long sojourned in the
+City of the Lagoons in the service of Selve’s predecessor, Lazare de
+Baif.[336]
+
+Other friendships which George de Selve contracted while in Italy
+are known principally from his letters. Reginald Pole,[337] Cardinal
+Bembo,[338] Sadoleto, Bishop of Carpentras,[339] were counted amongst the
+most intimate of these. It might almost be thought, indeed, that Selve
+had taken the great and gentle Sadoleto for his episcopal model, so many
+are the points of resemblance between the two churchmen.
+
+The first letter we possess written by the bishop himself from the
+beautiful city on the Adriatic is dated in February, 1534, and is
+addressed to the Duchesse de Chartres.[340] George de Selve expresses
+his delight at the prospect of shortly seeing that princess at Venice.
+The tone of this letter and of others indited by him to the same
+princess during his residence in Italy is one of genuine friendliness,
+notwithstanding the sympathies which Renée was well known to harbour
+for the Reformers.[341] But at her Court at Ferrara all classes of her
+countrymen were sure of a welcome. Indeed, the partiality she evinced for
+them was regarded with small favour in the land of her adoption, where
+her path was often a thorny one.
+
+A yet earlier indication of the presence of the Bishop at Venice
+exists in a letter addressed by Bunel to a younger brother of the new
+ambassador, Odet de Selve,[342] who appears at this time to have been
+studying at Padua. Bunel had evidently become acquainted with the latter
+before the arrival of the Bishop of Lavaur, as he alludes in a friendly
+manner to a day recently spent with Odet at the university. The letter
+dilates in warm terms on the piety of the Bishop of Lavaur and on the
+courtesy and frankness of Pole, in which encomium Sadoleto is included.
+The writer adds a special note of admiration for the principles which,
+in his opinion, have enabled Pole to place spiritual objects above all
+mundane philosophy or temporal advantage.[343] Some such estimate of the
+character of the future Cardinal seems to have been formed at this time
+by many of his friends in Italy, and explains the warm regard entertained
+for him by so unworldly a man as George de Selve. The intimacy with Pole
+became indeed one of the salient features of the Bishop of Lavaur’s stay
+in Italy, and there will often be occasion to revert to it.
+
+In other letters addressed by Bunel to various correspondents the
+striking impression made by Selve himself in his new sphere is vividly
+reflected. As soon, says the writer, as he, Bunel, had set eyes on him,
+concerning whose surpassing sanctity, learning, and benevolence he had
+heard such great things, and from so many persons, his one thought became
+to obtain permission to remain near him. Never did he receive holier nor
+sweeter counsel than from this bishop. Again, when, at a later date,
+Bunel wearied of Italy and desired to return to France, the single fact
+that lightened for him the term of waiting was that he dwelt with a
+patron “whose disposition and conduct, as they are of the most virtuous,
+so also are they gracious in a surpassing degree; to whose manner of life
+there could cling not the very shadow or suspicion of aught unseemly;
+in whose every word and deed is nought but gentleness....” He goes
+on to speak of the bishop’s “astounding sagacity in the transacting
+of business, which doth surpass both his years and the credence of
+all men, of his great learning in the Greek tongue, of his wonderful
+eloquence....”[344] Such language may contain for modern ears a ring of
+exaggeration. But it is necessary to quote such passages in order to
+understand the extraordinary estimate of the character and abilities of
+George de Selve entertained by all his contemporaries.
+
+What were his relations with the world of art? Was it possible to dwell
+at Venice when the fame of Titian was at its zenith, when the frescoes
+jointly executed by him with Giorgione on the Fondaco dei Tedeschi shone
+out in pristine freshness, undimmed, as yet, by the hand of time and
+decay, when the beautifying of outward life was a passion with all men,
+when most of those with whom the bishop lived in daily intercourse,
+private or official, were enthusiastic patrons of art,—was it possible,
+under such circumstances, to remain an uninterested spectator?
+
+Indifferent so gifted and sensitive a man was surely not. But the ascetic
+tendencies implanted in him by nature and deepened by rigorous and
+persistent training, stood in sharp contrast to the luxurious vitality
+of Venice. Outside the limits of that religious vocation which absorbed
+almost his whole soul, his love of literature and profound interest in
+the classics formed probably his nearest point of contact with the tastes
+of the fashionable _dilettanti_.
+
+Towards the end of the year 1536 Pole was made a Cardinal, and the Bishop
+of Lavaur wrote to congratulate his friend on his new honour.[345] In the
+following February (1537) Cardinal Pole was appointed Papal Legate to
+England,[346] and started on the abortive expedition intended to raise
+the English people in rebellion against Henry VIII.[347] Another letter
+from Selve addressed to him on this occasion shows how firm a root the
+friendship with Pole had taken in his heart. He has heard, he says, by
+letters which Danès has received, that Pole is about to make a journey
+through “our France,” and he offers him his house and fortune. He has
+also written to the Grand-Maître of France; not that he thought his
+letters would have more influence than the name of Legate and the fame of
+Pole’s virtues, but to satisfy his own mind. He incloses the letters to
+be delivered if Pole thinks fit.[348] Of the political objects of Pole’s
+mission he makes no mention.
+
+It is plain that the position of the Bishop of Lavaur must by now
+have assumed considerable importance, if he was able to send letters
+of recommendation of a Papal Legate to Anne de Montmorency. He was
+in fact rapidly advancing to the front rank of his profession. His
+success was due to sheer merit, for he detested the intrigues by which
+many ecclesiastics sought to obtain promotion. The capacity he had
+displayed for public affairs had gradually been pointing him out for a
+more conspicuous post; and at the very moment of Pole’s journey to the
+north, George de Selve was named French ambassador to the Holy See, in
+conjunction with Cardinal Mâcon. The payments for his new office began on
+the 20th February, 1537.[349]
+
+The mission to Rome seems at first to have been intended to last only
+till the summer.[350] In point of fact, it extended over a very much
+longer time. It is probable, however, that in the autumn the Bishop
+was able to absent himself for some months from his post, as there is
+a gap in the letters dated from Rome, which extends from August to
+November.[351] No doubt he took advantage of this interval to visit his
+diocese, as well as to report to the French Court the results of his
+diplomatic labours.
+
+Throughout the period in which Selve was accredited to the Court of Rome,
+the long-deferred General Council, which was to settle the differences of
+religion, formed a constant subject of negotiation between the Powers.
+The Pope had actually fixed a date on which the Council was to assemble;
+but the war between Francis I. and Charles V. hindered the accomplishment
+of the plan. For this reason, amongst others, it was the urgent desire of
+Paul III. to bring about a peace between the rival sovereigns. So keenly
+did he feel upon this point, that at one moment he actually intended to
+hurl the thunders of the Church upon whichever of the contending parties
+might decline to assent to his proposals. The Cardinals were invited to
+pronounce upon this policy. But it was quickly seen that such a course
+would destroy the position of neutrality which the Pontiff desired to
+maintain; and the idea was therefore abandoned.[352]
+
+Early in the year 1538 Cardinal Carpi, the most intimate confidant of
+Paul III., was sent on a special mission to France, for the purpose of
+inducing the king to consent to make peace with his rival. While heartily
+concurring in the object proposed, the two French ambassadors at Rome
+had their doubts as to the trustworthiness of the Papal messenger. They
+sent a note of warning to Montmorency some weeks before the departure of
+the Cardinal, to bid him be careful in dealing with this Legate, who
+was “the soul of the Pope.” Moreover, they suspected Carpi of a secret
+understanding with the Imperial party, and doubted the sincerity of his
+professed goodwill towards France. They were careful to add, however,
+that his overtures should be met with due cordiality, while recollecting
+caution.
+
+It is a curious fact that at this time Paul contemplated, or pretended to
+contemplate, the re-establishment of peace between the rival sovereigns
+on the basis of the restitution of the Duchy of Milan to France. Whether
+this was merely a bait held out to catch the French king, and thus
+inveigle him into the peace so ardently desired by the Pope, it is
+impossible to say. It is certain that, at a later date, when Francis was
+still scheming to obtain that much-coveted possession, Paul expressed his
+conviction that the Emperor would never yield it up.
+
+The spring of 1538 passed in inconclusive negotiations. The truce of ten
+months between France and the Netherlands, agreed upon at Bomy in July of
+the previous year, had been followed by the shorter suspension of arms in
+the southern campaign, arranged at the end of November. Both agreements
+were now drawing to a close. But such was the mutual distrust of the two
+monarchs, that no permanent peace had been arranged in the interval,
+as had been intended. The Pope resolved to take the matter in hand
+himself. Besides the assembling of the General Council, his heart was
+bent on a coalition scheme by which Francis and Charles should jointly
+oppose the Turk.[353] To both objects the establishment of peace was a
+necessary preliminary. Paul therefore proposed a meeting between the two
+sovereigns, at which he would himself assist and endeavour to bring them
+to terms.
+
+While the triple interview between the King of France, the Emperor of
+Germany, and the Pope, was impending, an intrigue had been set on foot
+at the Court of Rome which went far to justify the distrust felt by the
+French ambassador and his colleague[354] for Cardinal Carpi. The latter
+professed to have obtained possession, probably during his mission to
+France, of a copy of a letter written by Cardinal Mâcon and the Bishop
+of Lavaur to Cardinal Tournon,[355] in which Carpi’s sincerity and the
+reasons of his journey were made the subjects of unfavourable comment.
+The letter, so Cardinal Carpi asserted, had come miraculously to his
+hands. He hastened to lay it before the Pope. Cardinal Tournon, who was
+at this time in Spain, vehemently denied the authenticity of the document
+as soon as news of the affair had reached his ears. He severely upbraided
+Cardinal Carpi, saying the letter was a hoax, and that the Cardinal, if
+he had not forged it himself, had been rash to show it.[356]
+
+Be that as it may, the manœuvre was sufficiently cunningly contrived to
+produce exactly the effect intended by its designer. In an indignant
+despatch addressed to Montmorency on the 1st May, Cardinal Mâcon and the
+Bishop of Lavaur beg to be instantly recalled, in order that they may
+explain by word of mouth the treatment to which they have been subjected.
+The Papal Court, accompanied by the two French ambassadors, was at this
+time at Piacenza, on the way to Nice, where the coming interview was to
+take place. The Frenchmen, so they related, were here suddenly summoned
+into the presence of his Holiness. Cardinal Trivulzi, a faithful servant
+of French interests at the Vatican, was sent for at the same time.
+Carpi then turned upon the French envoys, in the presence of the Pope’s
+relation, Cardinal Farnese, such a torrent of malevolent accusation that
+they could only feel their position as the representatives of France at
+the Holy See henceforth rendered impossible. The Legate had declared
+that, by their “méchans et deshonnestes offices contre sa Sainteté,” they
+had utterly frustrated the purposes of his mission to France. To justify
+his reproaches he had read aloud their supposed letter; declining,
+however, to let them see it, or to show their double signature, which
+it must have borne had it been genuine. For all their asserted
+machinations, Cardinal Carpi threw the blame on Trivulzi, on whom he
+heaped yet more violent invective than on the ambassadors themselves.
+
+On the same day Cardinal Carpi himself wrote to the French Court,
+protesting against the calumnies of the supposed letter and loudly
+asseverating the honesty of his intentions towards France.[357]
+
+A very pretty tangle on the eve of a meeting at which it was intended to
+proclaim general peace. The motive of Cardinal Carpi is tolerably clear.
+The intrigue was a clever attempt to undermine in the eyes of the Pope
+the credit of the three principal cardinals attached to the interests
+of France, Tournon, Mâcon and Trivulzi. That it took place immediately
+before the interview with the King and Emperor at Nice was no doubt a
+matter of subtle calculation. The French ambassadors had, it seems, not
+been far wrong when they suspected Cardinal Carpi of manœuvring in the
+Imperial interest.
+
+The Nuncio in France, on his side, informed Montmorency of the events
+which were going forward at the Papal Court. The Connétable warmly
+espoused the cause of his countrymen, declaring that an offence offered
+to the kings ambassadors was an offence offered to the king himself. He
+wrote to the two envoys, telling them what had passed, and directing
+the Bishop of Lavaur to leave for France immediately in order to report
+upon the circumstances. Cardinal Mâcon was enjoined to use the greatest
+prudence while conducting affairs single-handed. Meanwhile the King of
+France would remain near Romans and Valence, postponing the meeting
+with the Pope and Emperor until Selve’s report had been first heard. So
+dangerous did Montmorency consider the position of Cardinal Trivulzi,
+that he adds an express message to him to beware of poison in his food,
+or of any other attempt against his person.[358]
+
+Selve reached Avignon on the 14th May,[359] three days after his
+departure from Savona,[360] having probably taken ship as far as
+Marseilles to accelerate his journey. In the conditions of those times
+and the bad state of the coast-roads of the Riviera, it would hardly have
+been possible to cover the distance by land in so short a period.
+
+We are left in ignorance as to the results of the communication he had
+to make to his sovereign. The proposed meeting duly came off at Nice
+in the following month.[361] But all the efforts of the Pontiff proved
+unavailing to effect a permanent treaty of peace. The most that could be
+achieved was a suspension of arms for ten years, known in history as the
+Truce of Nice.[362]
+
+Francis and Charles did not, in point of fact, see each other at all
+until the agreement was signed and the Pope had departed. They then
+arranged an interview at Aigues-Mortes which led to conversations of some
+apparent cordiality, and seemed to promise greater practical results.
+
+The Duchy of Milan was, as usual, the central topic of discussion between
+the two sovereigns. A marriage had been discussed at Nice, to take place
+between the Duke of Orleans and the Infanta of Spain. Francis now parted
+from his rival at Aigues-Mortes persuaded that the fulfilment of this
+project would at last restore the Milanese territory to the House of
+Valois, as part of the dowry of the Emperor’s daughter.
+
+The termination of the conference at Nice saw the conclusion of Selve’s
+mission to the Papal Court. Intrigue of the type which marked the final
+period of his embassy must have been peculiarly noxious to a man of his
+sternly upright disposition, who, at the best, bestowed his time on
+secular matters only from a sense of duty towards his sovereign, and, as
+it were, under compulsion. His heart was in his diocese, whither he now
+joyfully turned his steps.[363]
+
+Curiously enough he thus left Italy but a few months before the
+Dinteville brothers fled thither as exiles. What a difference might have
+been effected by the presence there of so true a friend during their
+years of banishment! So few of the private letters of George de Selve
+have been preserved that little is known of the intercourse between
+the families during the period we are now considering. The year 1537,
+however, throws a chance light on the subject, the preservation of which
+is due to the official nature of the correspondence in which it is found.
+
+The Count of La Mirandola, a descendant of the celebrated Giovanni Pico,
+was a firm friend of France, or, in other words, was probably in receipt
+of a French pension. His city and castle,[364] situated in a fertile
+plain at about twenty miles from Modena, formed a valuable strategical
+point in the event of any outbreak of hostilities; and, early in 1537,
+Guillaume de Dinteville, Seigneur Deschenetz, was despatched to La
+Mirandola to strengthen and increase the fortifications.[365] The Count
+meanwhile was absent in France, busy with the various arrangements
+rendered necessary by his alliance with the king.
+
+These circumstances form the subject of two letters written by George
+de Selve from Italy. One, signed in conjunction with the Bishop of
+Rodez, was despatched to the French Court from Venice just before
+Selve’s promotion to Rome. The second is addressed a few months later to
+Deschenetz himself, and shows the good offices in which the ambassadors
+at Rome were engaged on his behalf with the Pope. The writers foretell
+honour and profit to him from his work at La Mirandola; they have
+complained to the ambassador of the Duke of Ferrara of the animosity
+displayed by the duke towards Deschenetz; they have even obtained the
+permission of the Pope to write direct to the duke himself. In short, it
+is easy to read between the lines of the ambassadorial communication, the
+personal friendship which inspired its contents.[366]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+REPOSE AT LAVAUR, AND EMBASSY TO CHARLES V
+
+
+It is uncertain whether the Bishop of Lavaur spent in his diocese the
+whole of the fifteen months which elapsed between his return from Italy
+in the summer of 1538 and his next special appointment. A payment made to
+him subsequently, as a “gift” for services rendered at Venice, Rome, and
+“elsewhere with the Emperor,”[367] seems to indicate that, besides his
+residence in those cities, some temporary mission to the Imperial Court
+may have occurred in this interval.[368] But it is probable that the
+greater part of the time was quietly spent in the old Cathedral city. A
+letter to Pole is dated thence on the 1st January, 1539.[369]
+
+We may take advantage of this interval of repose to make further
+acquaintance with Selve in the sphere he loved best, and in which alone
+he felt truly at ease.
+
+The contrast must indeed have been complete between the worldly pomp
+of the Papal Court, honeycombed by restless ambitions and political
+intrigue, and the rural seclusion of Lavaur.
+
+Surrounded by the sunlit vineclad country of southern France, the
+principal charm of the quiet little provincial town is derived from the
+beauty of its situation. Perched upon a rocky cliff overlooking the
+rushing river Agout, it commands a noble expanse of distant plain and
+hill. The full range of the view is obtained from a broad terrace beyond
+the apse of the Cathedral of St. Alain, which is finely placed on the
+brow of the declivity. The structure itself is of brick, a material often
+used in the churches of the south of France. Architecturally it shows
+considerable diversity of style. Nearly all the changes and additions
+were however made before the sixteenth century; so that the traveller
+who visits Lavaur to-day sees the cathedral much as it appeared in the
+lifetime of George de Selve.
+
+The episcopal palace formerly stood in a line with the cathedral, and
+commanded the same fine view. Fancy conjures up a pleasant picture
+of the ancient residence of the Bishops of Lavaur in the days of its
+prosperity.[370] Casements open to the soft and billowy southern country,
+silence unbroken by any sound but the lapping of the water far below,
+or the occasional clang of the cathedral bell, shady gardens where, in
+the spreading branches of ilex and mulberry-tree, the tiny green canary
+doubtless then, as now, found a happy home.
+
+It was probably in these gentle surroundings that George de Selve indited
+the greater part of those pastoral letters and addresses through which
+we are chiefly acquainted with the current of his inner life. In some of
+them he displays a naive poetry of expression which seems to reflect the
+atmosphere in which they were composed; as, for instance, when he speaks
+of baptism as “la porte par laquelle nous sommes entrez au parc de Jesus
+Christ ou nous sommes maintenant, portants le nom et la marque de ses
+brébis.”[371]
+
+[Illustration: GEORGE DE SELVE, BISHOP OF LAVAUR.
+
+FROM A POSTHUMOUS PAINTING AT THE CHÂTEAU OF VILLIERS, SEINE-ET-OISE.]
+
+The collected works of the Bishop of Lavaur comprise spiritual discourses
+suited to almost every occasion, from the great public questions
+which were dividing the heart of Europe, down to admonitions addressed
+to his own household. In a few instances the titles of the various
+compositions give some clue to the period at which they were written.
+Such is the case with an exhortation “written on first arriving at his
+diocese, to a friend of his who had but just returned home to seek
+repose and leisure.”[372] It is tempting to believe, nor does it seem
+in any way improbable, that the “friend” in question may have been Jean
+de Dinteville, returning to Polisy for a brief spell of “repose and
+leisure” after a long residence at Court. The warm tone of unconventional
+affection rings curiously through the pastoral admonition. “Il me semble
+en vous escrivant,” exclaims the writer, excusing himself for the length
+of his letter, “que je suis avec vous a deviser, qui m’est si grande
+consolation que ie n’en puis ou n’en veux trouver le bout.”[373]
+
+Placed immediately after this epistle is one addressed “to a friend
+grievously ill,” the language of which seems to indicate that it was
+intended for the same individual. The bishop writes in deep anxiety
+about the health of his friend. Were it not that he is detained by so
+many necessary causes, he would himself set out immediately to visit the
+invalid. “Plust a Dieu,” he exclaims, “que je peusse estre aupres de vous
+pour quelques iours!”
+
+Another heading appears to denote, almost conclusively, that the
+discourse in question was addressed to Anne de Montmorency. The
+supposition is borne out by the beginning, “Monseigneur,” a mode of
+address which would only have been employed by the bishop towards
+a superior, and which was almost invariably that used towards the
+Connétable even by men who were themselves of high position. It is
+entitled: “Discours contenant le seul et vrai moyen, par lequel un
+serviteur favorisé et constitué en administration de son Prince, peut
+conserver sa félicité eternelle et temporelle, & eviter les choses qui
+lui pourroient l’une ou l’autre faire perdre.”[374]
+
+The doctrine inculcated in all these compositions is strictly that of the
+Church to which their author belonged, though there is a marked avoidance
+of controversial points and of any sort of exaggeration. On the vexed
+question of justification by faith, for instance, he points out how, if
+a preacher “parle au jourd’huy de vivre en obedience, ou de faire les
+oeuvres comme nécessaires pour la vie éternelle, une partie du monde crie
+après, et dict que e’est un Papiste, et un justiciaire. S’il presche le
+salut par Jesus-Christ, et la redemption des pechez, une autre partie
+du monde crie que c’est un Lutherien, et un seminateur de maulvaise
+doctrine....”[375]
+
+But the striking feature in all the bishop’s writings, and that which
+still, at the present day, breathes life and warmth into the old-world
+formulas, is the deep and glowing note of personal piety which rings
+through every line. Nowhere, perhaps, is this more apparent than in
+the prayers and contemplations intended for private use. The beauty of
+thought and fervour of expression here attained entitle these pieces to a
+high position in the ranks of devotional literature.
+
+At about this time there arose a question of sending the Bishop of Lavaur
+to represent France at a Diet projected by the Emperor, to take place
+in Germany, for the pacification of religion. On some occasion, perhaps
+the mission of 1529, Charles appears to have been deeply impressed by
+the personality of Selve. He now made it an object of special request to
+the King of France that M. de Lavaur should attend this conference, at
+which the Emperor, on his part, was to be represented by the Bishop of
+Lunden.[376]
+
+The scheme progressed so far that Selve actually drew up part of an
+oration for delivery at the Diet. This fragment has been preserved to
+us. It is entitled: “Remonstrances adressentes aux Allemans, faictes
+et mises par escript par messire George de Selve, evesque de Lavaur,
+pour les prononcer publiquement en la diette qui se debvera tenir en
+Allemagne [quand il fust appellé du Roy très-chrestien a la requisition
+de l’Empereur pour y aller procurer la reunion d’iceulx Allemans avec
+l’ordre ecclésiastique].”[377]
+
+The contents of this discourse, so far as completed, exemplify once more
+the weight attached by the bishop to reformation of life and conduct,
+rather than of doctrine, as the true means of attaining religious
+reunion. Just as, six years before, in the “Hymns” selected for Holbein’s
+picture, the keeping of the Ten Commandments, aided by the guidance of
+the Divine Spirit, is indicated as the only path to temporal and eternal
+bliss, so now the same theme is reiterated with yet greater insistence.
+He does not, he says, desire subtle arguments, but will use simple words
+that the very populace can understand. Passions must be moderated, and
+only the divine honour thought of. Reunion must be sought in improved
+discipline, not in attacks upon dogma. The Papal supremacy, the body
+ecclesiastical, the doctrines of the Church must be upheld unimpaired.
+Every needful reform would certainly have come to pass had the holy
+examples of past times been followed in humility and sobriety. The sins
+of Churchmen, their avarice and ambition, have brought things to the
+present pass. Only by returning to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures,
+and of the doctrines received and upheld by the common consent of the
+Universal Church, can the true remedy be found for the dissensions which
+rend Christianity.
+
+There follows an invitation to the Germans to return to the obedience of
+the Pope. But it is easy to read between the lines, even were we not told
+so explicitly in another composition to which there will be occasion to
+return later on, that, in the eyes of the Bishop of Lavaur, the chief
+responsibility for the divisions of the Church rested upon the shoulders
+of the Roman priesthood.
+
+The scheme of despatching the Bishop of Lavaur to attend the Diet was
+abandoned, and the oration was left unfinished. Lazare de Baif, formerly
+French ambassador at Venice, was sent in his stead to Hagenau, where the
+conference ultimately took place. Subsequently a more important Diet was
+held at Ratisbon (1541), without however attaining any definite result.
+
+The exact circumstances which led to the change of plan are not quite
+clear. But from a letter written by Pole to Cardinal Contarini, it
+would appear that the form of Diet at first proposed was regarded with
+disfavour in high quarters at Rome. It was considered an infringement of
+the Papal prerogative that the Emperor, and not the Pope, should have
+convened it.[378] If this objection were hinted to the Bishop of Lavaur,
+through Pole or by other means, it would certainly have led him, as an
+obedient son of his Church, to renounce the execution of the plan.
+
+Apart, however, from any motive of this kind, he seems to have had no
+desire for the new honour thrust upon him. He longed to remain in peace
+at Lavaur, after his absence in Italy, and to devote himself to the
+duties of his diocese.
+
+A letter addressed by Bunel to Castelnau, Bishop of Tarbes, from Lavaur,
+in the spring of 1539, throws some further light upon the thoughts
+and plans of his protector. Castelnau, like some other acquaintances
+of the Bishop of Lavaur, seems to have attributed his unwillingness
+to take advantage of so great an opportunity for worldly distinction
+to undue influence on the part of Bunel, who greatly favoured a life
+of retirement. The latter now sent to the Bishop of Tarbes a long and
+somewhat tart epistle in reply to these animadversions. “My patron” (says
+Bunel towards the end of this letter), “when, with the approval of all
+worthy persons, he returned to fill his office at Lavaur, bestowed on the
+general welfare of mankind a benefit far greater than would be the case
+if, by command of the king, he were now to set forth to Germany.” The
+bishop must indeed go thither, if the king command it; just as Castelnau
+must remain in Spain, if such be the king’s pleasure. Yet it is Bunel’s
+desire that the bishop and himself be suffered to dwell in tranquillity
+at Lavaur; and that Castelnau, in like manner, be permitted to return to
+his diocese as soon as may be.[379]
+
+The sentiments of this letter are those of George de Selve. For the
+moment his desire was fulfilled. His spell of leisure was however of
+short duration. In the autumn of 1539 the post of resident ambassador at
+the Imperial Court became vacant by the death of the Bishop of Tarbes.
+The Emperor had but recently given so striking a proof of the high esteem
+in which he held the Bishop of Lavaur, that the appointment of the latter
+to succeed Castelnau was a foregone conclusion. A Treasury grant of the
+9th October, 1539, enables us to fix the exact date at which George de
+Selve entered upon his new duties.[380]
+
+The talk about the Diet had indeed sunk into a secondary position, so
+far as Selve was concerned. Charles V., on the invitation of Francis I.,
+and, as it were, to emphasize in the sight of the world the friendship
+between the two sovereigns, was about to pass from one end of France to
+the other, ostensibly for the purpose of visiting his rebellious subjects
+at Ghent. For the moment this journey absorbed general attention.
+
+On the 27th November, 1539, the Emperor crossed the Bidassoa. The wording
+of Selve’s appointment specially refers to “the journey which he is
+about to make to Spain.” It is therefore safe to infer that, from the
+outset, the Bishop was of the Imperial company. The Duke of Orleans
+met Charles on the Spanish side of the frontier; Montmorency and the
+Dauphin joined him near Bayonne; the King of France awaited him at
+Loches,[381] and escorted him towards the frontier of the Netherlands as
+far as Saint-Quentin. From Spain to Flanders the journey was a triumphal
+progress. Towns were decorated, pageants initiated, honours heaped on
+the Imperial guest. The common people saw in his presence the ending of
+the wars which had brought so much misery in their train. But the king
+meant something more than this by the lavish welcome he bestowed upon his
+rival. It was expected that Charles, as a graceful acknowledgment of his
+brilliant reception in France, would take that opportunity to rivet the
+friendship by the cession previously promised of the Duchy of Milan. It
+had been specially stipulated before he responded to the invitation to
+pass through France that no advantage should be taken of his presence to
+discuss political matters. The journey was to be simply one of pleasure.
+Francis readily agreed. But he secretly hoped that the Emperor would
+yield spontaneously that which he thus bound himself not to extort. The
+negotiations for the marriage of the Duke of Orleans with the Infanta,
+which had preceded the journey through France, gave him some grounds for
+this expectation.
+
+Never were hopes more completely deceived. Charles passed through the
+country from end to end, receiving a magnificent welcome at Paris on
+the 1st January, 1540, without uttering a single word on the subject so
+eagerly awaited.
+
+The disappointment at the French Court was great. Hope was not yet
+extinguished, however; and, in anticipation of the desired utterance on
+the part of the Emperor, the relations between the two Courts continued
+to be of the most amicable nature.
+
+The Bishop of Lavaur proceeded with the Imperial party to the
+Netherlands. His first letter is dated from Mons, on the 27th January.
+It was expected that Francis would immediately pay a return visit to his
+recent guest. As a refinement of courtesy the King of France therefore
+signified to Charles that henceforth great expenditure in any visits they
+might mutually make to each other would be superfluous, and proposed
+that they should for the future come and go informally in each other’s
+dominions. The Emperor, so Selve reported, was ready to acquiesce in this
+suggestion, but added that after the manner of his reception in France he
+could not do otherwise, on the occasion of the king’s first visit, than
+follow the example that had been set to him.
+
+At Brussels, Hellin, French resident at the court of the
+Queen-Regent,[382] joined the diplomatic labours of the Bishop of
+Lavaur.[383] For a considerable time the despatches sent to France were
+now signed by both negotiators.
+
+Towards the middle of February the Imperial Court moved to Ghent. It was
+thought that, when the Emperor had settled the affairs of that city, he
+would have more leisure to devote to the interests of France. The French
+king and his suite hovered near the borders of Flanders, daily expecting
+that Montmorency would be sent for in order to bring the negotiations
+to the desired conclusion. No message came. Both Henry VIII. and Paul
+III.[384] had expressed the conviction that Charles would never cede the
+Milanese. Francis himself was beginning to lose heart. His projected
+visit to the Netherlands dropped into the background.
+
+Finally Charles moved. Early in March he sent for Bonvalot, his resident
+ambassador at the French Court, to impart to him further instructions
+for communication to the King of France.[385] He now offered Burgundy
+and Flanders in substitution for the Duchy of Milan, as his daughter’s
+marriage portion.
+
+On the 29th March, Selve left Ghent[386] for Aumale, there to receive the
+king’s answer to the proposals made by the Emperor. Francis vehemently
+protested against the new scheme, laying stress on his rights to the
+Milanese territory and on the Emperor’s former promise to yield it.[387]
+The instructions delivered to the Bishop of Lavaur on his return to
+Flanders relate to many other points besides that of the cession of
+Milan. But all knew that in this really lay the crux of the matter, and
+that upon it hung the success or failure of all the negotiations. Which
+way these were tending was abundantly evident. “As for France,” writes
+Wyat to Cromwell, soon after the return of the Bishop of Lavaur to Ghent,
+“things here are as cold as if the past were but dreams.” The changes,
+he continues, introduced by the Emperor into the original proposals for
+his daughter’s dowry have so “disdained” the French king that he is out
+of hope of further treating. They remind Wyat of the tale of the Welshman
+who, being in danger on the sea, vowed a taper as big as the mast; but
+when he came on land, paid a little candle to Our Lady, and “offered her
+to be hanged” if ever she took him on the sea again![388]
+
+The witty Englishman had gauged the situation accurately. The
+negotiations dragged on for some weeks longer, each party in turn making
+proposals inacceptable to the other. But it soon became evident that
+nothing was to be gained by further prolonging them.
+
+To the Bishop of Lavaur the coolness that ensued between the two
+sovereigns was a bitter disappointment. Keenly alive to the ills and
+sufferings that had been wrought by the long wars that had ravaged
+Europe, he looked to a good understanding between the King of France
+and the Emperor as the necessary preliminary to those ecclesiastical
+reforms which were the dearest object of his life. From the outset of
+his career his heart had been set on that reconciliation of religious
+differences, beneath the _ægis_ of a regenerated and purified Rome, which
+for a moment had appeared a not impossible dream. How deeply he had felt
+the iniquity and corruption of the body ecclesiastical, which he had
+been called upon to witness during his mission to the Papal Court, we
+shall shortly see. The prospect of the interview at Nice had then created
+hope of a permanent peace between the two great continental powers which
+should afford leisure for the consideration of the affairs of the Church.
+This hope was, as we know, raised only to be immediately dashed by the
+inconclusive results of that meeting. Again, the proposal for a marriage
+between the Duke of Orleans and the Infanta of Spain seemed to promise a
+happier era. Now this prospect also was rendered abortive by the refusal
+of the Emperor to surrender Milan. War seemed, to those looking on, to be
+once more within measurable distance.
+
+Filled with the thoughts inspired by all these circumstances, it was
+during the term of his embassy to the Netherlands that the Bishop of
+Lavaur indited the ripest and most powerful of all the compositions
+included in his collected works. For what occasion it was intended, or
+whether it was ever delivered, is unknown. It is entitled, “Discours
+du vrai et seul moyen de faire une bonne et perpetuelle paix entre
+l’Empereur et le Roy tres chrestien: faict par George de Selve, Evesque
+de la Vaur, estant ambassadeur dudict Roy tres chrestien, vers ledict
+Empereur.”[389]
+
+It shows the bishop in the plenitude of his mental powers. He has shaken
+off the diffidence of early youth, and speaks with the full consciousness
+of the authority bestowed upon him by his sacred office.
+
+Peace and war, he says, have already been several times between these two
+sovereigns. War has been very fertile of evil, but peace has been sterile
+of good. He proposes to demonstrate how, by the use of right means, peace
+can be made good and fruitful for all Christianity.
+
+The cause of war has been that these princes, instead of first serving
+God, have preferred their private passions and personal interests. The
+worst result of this has been that the lives of ecclesiastics have come
+to such extremity of wickedness as would have been impossible had the
+wars of these two princes not prevented remedy, or rather, thrust the
+delinquents yet further into impiety.
+
+The leaders of the Church have brought their position and dignity into
+derision, rather than abandon their vices, their covetousness, their
+ambition. The result has been that a great part of Germany has fallen
+away from the Church, and that other countries threaten to follow
+the same course. Yet all the negligence of which ecclesiastics have
+been guilty, has been accompanied by a pretence of good words, and of
+willingness to provide against these evils.
+
+How far these professions were sincere, may be judged by the effects.
+
+Popes, who condemned and pursued the Lutheran heretics, had in their
+private surroundings openly mocked Christ and the Christian religion.
+Others had showed in their lives that He to whom they gave least
+authority was the Blessed Saviour: of Whom they willingly occupied the
+place, but Whom they took good care not to resemble.
+
+Besides the irreligion of the heads of the Church, which it would be
+impossible to detest sufficiently, it should be considered what harm is
+wrought by the nature and quality of all ecclesiastical promotions; which
+are such that it may be said that never did the devil invent, nor could
+he possibly invent, a more active venom with which to poison every part
+of Christianity.
+
+The Cardinals, who should hold the place of Apostles, and be, as it were,
+the flower of the universal Church, for many years have only owed their
+promotion to Papal interests or to the protection of a prince. Except a
+very small number who are deserving, all have reached their position by
+purchase, or by ambition. Bishoprics are given to them that they never
+visit; and from this corrupt multitude the Pope is elected by a majority
+of votes, generally bought with money, or princes’ favour.
+
+The promotion to bishoprics is just as illegal. Popes and princes bestow
+them with equal levity, simply by favour, on unknown or unfit persons,
+or on children. Of such stuff are those made who have the care of souls.
+Only to provide for the man is thought of, not for the diocese. And
+whereas the Apostles and their successors proceeded to the election
+of bishops with so great reverence, beseeching the divine assistance:
+to-day, bishops are made with raillery and light talk, and with far less
+reflection than would be bestowed if it were a question of placing a new
+cook in the kitchen.
+
+The appointments to benefices are equally bad, if not worse. The Pope
+gives them to any unknown person, or to a courtier who does not pretend
+to be a priest and will never see his cure. The poor parishes are
+desolate and abandoned. A trade is made of benefices, which are treated
+as speculations, divided, and mortgaged.
+
+Bishops who have themselves been so lightly promoted are yet more
+careless in the making of priests. The bishop being generally absent from
+the diocese, intrusts his charge to a substitute. Out of a thousand of
+these there is not one who does the work from devotion, or from a desire
+to serve; it is merely undertaken to gain a livelihood by repeating
+masses. Most of these men cannot even read; especially in France, where
+the priests, in their vulgarity, ignorance and irreverence, surpass those
+of all other countries. This corruption of ecclesiastics is the greatest
+wound of Christendom. It has been made much worse by the wars between the
+two princes, because, instead of taking measures to cure it, their only
+thought has been to avoid giving offence to the Popes, to whose party
+passions they pander for their own benefit. And the Popes have availed
+themselves of the wars to turn everything to their private advantage.
+
+From all this the Lutheran heresy, due in great measure to the
+deformities of Churchmen, has gained force and vigour....
+
+These wars have also encouraged the Turk....
+
+Then, what sufferings to the poor have they not caused!—spiritual
+neglect, bloodshed, famine, and pestilence. The poverty of the small folk
+is incredible throughout the dominions of these two princes....
+
+Again, the wars have produced miscarriage of justice....
+
+The very princes themselves, seeking each his own profit, have not found
+it; on the contrary, each has become impoverished.
+
+What then is the remedy for so many and great evils?
+
+The only true and certain remedy is the acknowledgment and confession
+of sin; belief in the justice of God; confidence in His mercy; and the
+resolve to lead amended lives. Only by penitence can these two princes
+hope to avoid divine condemnation. Their actions have been such that
+their forces are weakened, their honour trodden in the dust, their
+consciences stained. The only means by which they may hope to avert
+eternal punishment is by sorrow, repentance, and amendment.
+
+No peace made between them has ever gone to the root of the matter. To be
+permanent and effective peace must rest on good and not on evil.
+
+A long and eloquent peroration concludes this remarkable composition,
+and sets forth in further detail the manner of arriving at the only true
+peace.
+
+This powerful indictment of the vices of the Roman hierarchy shows very
+clearly to how great an extent Selve anticipated the conclusions of the
+Council of Trent with regard to matters of Church discipline. His chosen
+companions, Pole, Sadoleto, Contarini,[390] belonged to the same small
+group among the ecclesiastics, whose influence, direct or indirect, did
+so much to bring about the Counter-Reformation. Had the life of the
+Bishop of Lavaur been prolonged, it appears highly probable that he would
+have been among the delegates summoned to assist in the deliberations at
+Trent. As it was, his friend and later successor in the see of Lavaur,
+Pierre Danès, was twice appointed to attend that assembly as one of the
+representatives of France.[391]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE CLOSING DAYS OF THE BISHOP OF LAVAUR. HIS PORTRAIT AT VILLIERS
+
+
+In the summer of 1540 the Bishop of Lavaur begged permission to resign
+his public career, for the future to devote himself wholly to the care of
+his diocese.
+
+Meanwhile, following the court from place to place on the Emperor’s
+progress through Holland, the month of August found Selve at the Hague.
+An urgent letter to Montmorency, who, on the verge of disgrace,[392]
+still had charge of the correspondence with ambassadors, shows the almost
+feverish anxiety which possessed the bishop to be released from his post.
+The “days are years” to him. “Vous supplions, Monseigneur, après m’avoir
+tant faict d’autres grâces, ne m’oublier point maintenant jusques là que
+de me laisser ici plus longuement.”[393]
+
+Yet the man who thus passionately implored release from a post which was
+the zenith of other men’s ambitions, was now only in his thirty-second
+year.
+
+Ten days later he repeats the same request, but with a breath of relief,
+Montmorency having apparently answered in a manner not unfavourable
+to his desire. Probably the Connétable had consented to his departure
+so soon as a suitable substitute could be found; for Selve mentions
+several names of persons in his opinion specially fitted to replace
+him as ambassador with the Emperor.[394] But, adds the bishop, with
+characteristic modesty, the number of those more capable than himself to
+fill the post is so great, that this point can present no difficulty.
+
+He includes in his letter a request to Montmorency to remember his
+brothers, having regard to the services of their father and to their own
+ability. “What is asked for them,” he adds, with dignified simplicity,
+“is only that they should be put in the way of earning their living by
+work and by service.”
+
+The explanation must have read curiously to Montmorency. The habit
+of the times had accustomed him to receive continual petitions for
+advantageous posts unaccompanied by any such suggestion of corresponding
+responsibility. The Connétable himself had not been unduly scrupulous in
+amassing his enormous wealth.
+
+It would seem from the letter in question that Montmorency had sent
+to the Bishop of Lavaur some part of the arrears of his salary, the
+defections in which, combined with the expense of continual journeys with
+the Imperial Court, were putting him to serious straits. The irregularity
+with which these payments were made, and the distress of ambassadors who
+frequently saw themselves constrained to keep up an honourable appearance
+on their often slender private means, are chronic features in the
+diplomatic correspondence of the period.
+
+The letters of the Bishop of Lavaur give a lively idea of the
+unhealthiness of the cities of the Low Countries at the time of his
+mission. While at the Hague he reported that a third part of the Court
+had fallen ill, some of tertian, some of daily fevers. There had already
+been several deaths. His own house was full of sick people. Arrived at
+Antwerp, where he trusted to have found a cleaner atmosphere, he was
+told that in that city alone there were more than seven thousand cases
+of illness, and that the whole surrounding country was in a similar
+state.[395]
+
+The Emperor meanwhile, who was suffering from gout, had dispensed with
+the company of the ambassadors in his recent journeys. The Court,
+including the diplomatic circle, only met again at Brussels on the 1st
+September. On the same day the Bishop of Lavaur wrote to Montmorency,
+overjoyed at the news that he was at last to be relieved. M. de Vély had
+been appointed to succeed him.[396]
+
+The political facts recorded in the correspondence of the Bishop of
+Lavaur at this period are not of great moment. A kind of lull had fallen
+on everything since the fiasco of the negotiations for a closer union
+with France. Charles V., still lame from his last attack of gout, pale
+and feeble, hardly showed himself to the Court. Granvella displayed such
+reticence in his communications with the French ambassador that the
+latter no longer cared to question him.[397] The Imperial party were, in
+fact, as disappointed on their side at the rejection of their proposals
+by the French king as Francis himself was at the tenour of those offers.
+To the practical intelligence of Charles V. it was impossible to
+understand the objection felt by the King of France to the substitution
+of Burgundy and Flanders for the Duchy of Milan, a far more valuable
+concession than the Italian territory would have been. In political
+sagacity, in cold clear grasp of a situation, the Emperor by a long way
+surpassed his rival. But, for that very reason, he failed to take into
+account the imaginative temperament of Francis, so far removed from his
+own, and the halo with which that king was apt to invest the objects of
+his desire. Of these, Milan was the very essence, and was therefore clung
+to with corresponding obstinacy. Moreover, the aims of the two sovereigns
+in dealing with this subject were diametrically opposed. Charles sought
+to banish French influence from Italy, and was ready to pay a good price
+to effect his purpose. Francis wished by the acquisition of Milan to
+consolidate his position in the peninsula. Mutual disappointment could
+alone result from such diversity of character and aim.
+
+Under these circumstances the breach between the two Courts, though still
+laboriously veiled by a show of friendship, necessarily widened from
+month to month.
+
+Weakened by the rigorous abstinence which he habitually practised, as
+well as by the worries of his responsible position, the Bishop of Lavaur
+now fell a victim to a severe attack of the prevalent tertian fever.
+In his next letters he begs that, if ready to start, M. de Vély may be
+despatched instantly, for he, Selve, is unable to attend to the king’s
+business. As to his recovery, he resigns himself entirely to the Divine
+Will; but he fears it will be long and slow. Such has been the case with
+others who have sickened in the same way. Indeed, the Low Countries
+disagree with him to such a point that he thinks it impossible he should
+get well there; and a large part of those who accompany him are even more
+ill than himself.[398]
+
+The fever appears to have increased, for he shortly after “thanks God
+that he has passed one day without a fresh attack.” Nevertheless M.
+de Vély’s arrival was postponed from week to week, and instructions
+were continually sent to the bishop for communication to Granvella, in
+spite of the fact that he was so feeble as to be unable to leave his
+bed. The Emperor was to leave Brussels in three weeks’ time; and, as
+it was important that the business of the last despatches should be
+transacted before his departure, the sick man writes an urgent appeal to
+the King of France to despatch M. de Vély without further delay. Under
+such circumstances it can hardly cause surprise that he should have had
+relapse after relapse, which further undermined his already enfeebled
+constitution. He now resolved to travel in a litter to France on receipt
+of permission to depart, sooner than remain a single day longer than
+necessary in the infected atmosphere.
+
+Notwithstanding the severity of his fever he still continued to inform
+Montmorency of such public events as he could follow from his bed
+of sickness. The arrival of the Prince and Princess of Orange, the
+assembling of the Estates of the country in the presence of the Emperor
+and Queen of Hungary, the speech of the Imperial Chancellor, are amongst
+the intelligence thus transmitted.
+
+At last, to his infinite joy, he received the tidings that M. de Vély had
+actually started. He gratefully acknowledges this piece of good news in
+a letter dated the 5th October, the last of the series. On the 10th of
+October M. de Vély arrived at Brussels. The French Court appears to have
+realized at last that the case was urgent; for the new envoy performed
+the journey by post, three days in advance of his suite.[399]
+
+Notwithstanding his arrival, Selve was kept at his post until the middle
+of the following month. A Treasury grant of the 12th November, 1540,
+still qualifies him “ambassador with the Emperor.” A second similar
+grant, however, dated on the 22nd of the same month, shows that his term
+of office at last expired on the 18th November.[400]
+
+Henceforth the bishop was free to return to his beloved flock at Lavaur.
+Henceforth he could give himself completely to his pastoral duties in the
+pure and peaceful atmosphere of the little southern diocese, for which he
+had so often sighed.
+
+It is sad to think how short a time was left to him in which to fulfil
+this, his dearest wish. When he returned to Lavaur his health was broken,
+his days were numbered. The terrible fever which had prostrated him in
+the Netherlands still clung to his shattered frame, and refused to be
+shaken off.
+
+His retirement was so complete that not even a passing mention of his
+name occurs in the various series of documents in which, so short a time
+before, it had blazed in the full glare of publicity.
+
+But a letter addressed at a later period by Bunel to Danès supplies
+the want, and gives some idea of the concluding scenes of the bishop’s
+life.[401]
+
+“On such days as the fever of the Bishop of la Vaur was not upon him,”
+says Bunel, “I often, since he had thus requested me, used to visit him.
+Ever did he discourse of things divine, and of good and holy living. At
+times he would lament that, being hindered by sickness, he was unable
+to take part in everything that occurred in his diocese.... On such
+occasions, when I would humbly beseech him for the present to set aside
+burdensome matters, and such as might increase his dejection, he would
+very cheerfully discourse to this effect: that never did he spend his
+time more happily than when engaged in the discharge of his duty.... He
+said furthermore that, although he was prevented by sickness from taking
+advantage of his high calling in order to exhort his flock to virtue,
+yet that even the risk of death could not and ought not to hinder him
+from the care of those things which pertained to the health of their
+souls. Wherefore he would fain learn of others such things as he could
+not himself know; not indeed that he might be the more severe on any in
+particular, but that he might make trial of every manner of remedy. By
+such meditations, which were most sweet, his melancholy, said he, was
+nowise increased, but rather diminished....”[402]
+
+Thus, intent to the last upon the welfare of his people, the bishop
+gently awaited his latter end. A few short months yet remained to him,
+in which to find solace in the society of his friend; to bask perhaps,
+on his less suffering days, in the sunshine of southern France, generous
+even in winter; above all, to provide for the spiritual needs of the
+flock committed to his charge. But the burning spirit of the man who
+combined with the accomplishments of a scholar the ardour of an apostle,
+had too early consumed its earthly tabernacle. Slowly but surely his life
+was ebbing away.
+
+The approach of death appears to have been very gradual. On the 19th
+March he made his will; after which he still lingered for several weeks.
+Then, when the first flush of spring was spreading in green waves over
+the southern landscape, George de Selve, twenty-first Bishop of Lavaur,
+sank to his last rest. Worn out in body, though not in mind, by the
+travail of things divine, he passed away on the 12th April, 1541, in the
+thirty-third year of his age.[403]
+
+His remains were laid to rest at Lavaur, in the cathedral which had so
+often witnessed his ministrations.[404]
+
+The monument raised to his memory perished at the time of the French
+Revolution. Not even the site of the grave is known at the present day.
+The curious epitaph, formed upon the letters of his name, together with
+the answer supposed to proceed from his spirit, once inscribed upon his
+tomb, have, however, been preserved for us by the editor of his collected
+works:[405]
+
+    “G  Grandement fortuné en toutes entreprises:
+     E  Excellent en vertu, sa guide familière:
+     O  Orné de contenance ensemble douce et fière:
+     R  Riche de toutes parts à un Prelat requises:
+     G  Gouvernant deuëment les ouailles comprises
+     E  En tout son Evesché: du peuple la lumière:
+     S  S’esloignant du forfaict: amy de vie entière:
+     D  De touts costez conneu par ses vertuz exquises:
+     E  Estimé et aimé des hommes vertueux:
+     S  S’humiliant à tous, mesmes aux vicieux:
+     E  Et orné de tout ce qui accomplit un homme:
+     L  L’Evesque de la Vaur cy git, qui à iamais
+     V  Vivra, pour ses vertuz, en eternelle paix,
+     E  Et pour autant, Passant, n’empesche point son somme.
+
+    _L’Esprit dudict de Selve, aux Humains._
+
+    Ce n’est pas moy, c’est vous, qui n’estes point en vie:
+    Ce n’est pas vous, c’est moy, qui suis exempt de mort:
+    Ny moy, ny vous, mais Dieu est le puissant et fort:
+    Et vous, et moy, à lui avons l’ame asservie.”[406]
+
+The sorrow caused by the early death of the Bishop of Lavaur was deep
+and sincere. Bunel mourned for him as for a father. “There was never a
+good or wise man intimately acquainted with thy brother,” so he writes to
+Odet de Selve, “who did not desire to resemble him.”[407] And to Danès
+he says, “I did fervently love and most deeply revere him.... I seem
+moreover to have noted this, that those who have attained with unusual
+speed unto maturity seldom live to an advanced age. For what can years
+contribute unto men beside moderation, prudence, skill and experience in
+the most important matters! All these things this man possessed in so
+high a degree that first the Senate of Venice, then the Roman Pontiff,
+and finally the Emperor, to all of whom the King sent him to treat of
+the weightiest matters, marvelled at his surpassing virtue, his great
+experience in human affairs and his administrative skill.”[408]
+
+There can be no doubt that Bunel did not exaggerate the general opinion
+formed of George de Selve by his contemporaries. The reputation of
+his extraordinary gifts has indeed survived to the present day, and
+is reflected in every notice that has been printed of his life. A
+distinguished modern historian has paid a high tribute to the brilliant
+and precocious talents displayed by him on his various embassies, and
+records the impression everywhere produced by his learning.[409]
+
+It would appear that Odet de Selve proposed to Bunel to write a biography
+of the bishop. Bunel did not decline an undertaking which he himself had
+been the first to desire. But for some reason he was unable to devote
+himself to the task at the required moment,[410] and the work was left
+undone. It is to be regretted that posterity should thus have been
+deprived of a contemporary account of so remarkable a man composed by one
+to whom it would have been a labour of love. Bunel suggested to Odet,
+however, that his brothers translations from the Greek, and discourses
+on the Christian religion, should be carefully preserved, and, at some
+future time, given to the world.[411] This was done; the theological
+portion constituting those collected works which have been so freely
+quoted in the course of this sketch.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The portrait of George de Selve given in the illustration, page 170,
+is taken from an oil painting in the possession of the Marquis de
+Selve at the Château of Villiers, near La Ferté-Alais, Department of
+Seine-et-Oise, and is reproduced here by the kind permission of the
+proprietor.
+
+This portrait, which is life-size, on canvas, is the only one known
+to exist of the Bishop of Lavaur besides that of the “Ambassadors.”
+The coat-of-arms of the Selve family and the following inscription are
+painted on the background:
+
+    GEORGE DE SELVE EVEQUE DE LAVAUR AMBASSADEUR A VENISE A ROME ET
+    VERS LEMPEREUR CHARLE QUINT MORT JEUNE A SON DIOCESE EN MDXLI.
+
+The picture is posthumous. It forms a pendant to the portrait of
+Jean-Paul de Selve, Bishop of Saint-Flour (brother of George), and was
+obviously painted at the same time and by the same hand. Jean-Paul de
+Selve was only made a bishop comparatively late in the sixteenth century,
+long after his brother’s decease, and, as both prelates are represented
+in episcopal dress, it is evident that the portrait of George de Selve
+can only have been painted many years after his death. The style of
+painting, which is highly mannerized, bears out these indications; if,
+indeed, it does not point to a yet later date.
+
+The portrait of Jean-Paul de Selve has an inscription identical in
+orthography, and in shape and size of letters, with that on the portrait
+of George. If these inscriptions are contemporaneous with the painting,
+as appears to be the case, both portraits must be posthumous, as the
+wording records the date of death in each case. The demise of the Bishop
+of Saint-Flour occurred in 1570.
+
+But the painter of these portraits, whoever he was, must have had
+something to go upon in producing them; probably, in the case of George,
+some old likeness which he generalized somewhat freely to bring it into
+line with the fashion of a later day. Family tradition, moreover, would
+have preserved the memory of the colouring and general appearance of so
+distinguished a bishop.
+
+Here it is that the interest of the comparison with Holbein’s portrait
+comes in. The Villiers presentment of George de Selve shows the same
+dark eyes and hair, the same fashion of beard, that we are already
+acquainted with in the “Ambassadors.” The emaciated features of the
+later picture tell, indeed, of the effect that years of asceticism,
+combined with feeble health, had wrought upon the frame of the bishop.
+But, when every allowance is made, the resemblance between the two
+portraits is sufficient, it is thought, to show that they represent the
+same individual, and to lend interest to the examination of the Villiers
+picture.
+
+
+
+
+PART IV
+
+THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE
+
+
+
+
+THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE—THE DEATH’S-HEAD—THE DAGGER—THE ORDER
+OF ST. MICHAEL—THE CELESTIAL GLOBE—THE TERRESTRIAL GLOBE
+
+
+Benvenuto Cellini, in his “Autobiography,” records an interesting
+conversation which took place between Francis I. and himself. The artist
+was submitting to his patron a drawing for a fountain at Fontainebleau.
+
+“The king began by asking me,” says Cellini, “what I had meant to
+represent by the fine fancy I had embodied in this design, saying ... he
+knew well I was not like _those foolish folk who turn out something with
+a kind of grace, but put no intention into their performances_.” Cellini
+then addressed himself to the task of exposition, “showing the king that
+certain of his figures embodied those arts and sciences in which his
+Majesty took pleasure and which he so generously patronized. On the right
+hand was to be seen Learning, accompanied by emblems which indicated
+Philosophy, and her attendant branches of knowledge.” The Art of Design,
+Music, and Generosity followed in due place.[412]
+
+The design thus described is but a typical instance of the love of
+allegory which characterized the period. It would be idle to multiply
+examples, for their name is legion. Whether in the shape of personified
+qualities, such as are seen in the Polisy “carrelage” of 1545, or of
+inanimate emblems of learning, or of those minor forms of symbolism
+expressed by the all-popular “devise,” they permeate art in every
+direction. Classical allegories, resuscitated from their grave of
+centuries, are met half-way by the heraldic symbolism, the badges and
+devices called into existence by the wars of chivalry. The various forms
+of the Dance of Death contribute their peculiar quota to the prevailing
+tendency. North and South foster, each in its own kind and degree, the
+love of expressing things by riddles, the sense of which, half-hidden and
+half-revealed, was intended to afford some play to the ingenuity of the
+observer.
+
+[Illustration: THE “ARMS OF DEATH” FROM HOLBEIN’S “DANCE OF DEATH.”
+
+THE DEATH’S-HEAD BROOCH IN DINTEVILLE’S CAP.]
+
+This was particularly the case with the “devise” or emblem now at the
+height of fashion, especially in France. The first edition of Alciati’s
+“Emblems,” which attained an almost incredible popularity, was published
+at Augsburg in 1531. But as early as 1522 a collection of one hundred
+emblems was made by him at Milan and privately circulated among his
+friends.[413]
+
+Beneath the level of finished elegance which had made Alciati’s emblems
+the classics of their domain, every amateur tried his hand upon these
+toys of the imagination. Every French nobleman, from the sovereign
+downwards, had his personal _devise_, or more often a series of them.
+Montmorency, for instance, had a variety of emblems of his own.
+
+The publishers’ mark is among the few forms of this widely-spread taste
+which have survived to the present day. One such, that of the printer
+Gryphius of Lyons, has already enabled us to interpret the emblem placed
+by the Bishop of Auxerre on the Maison de l’Aûmonier at Polisy.
+
+This tendency, so frequently exhibited in the art and literature of the
+sixteenth century, found its way naturally enough into Holbein’s picture
+of the two “Ambassadors.”
+
+It is curious that while the emblems employed in sacred subjects (those,
+for instance, by which we recognize certain saints) are a matter of
+common knowledge, the symbolism used in secular art has been to a large
+extent neglected, and is occasionally treated as almost non-existent.
+Both branches were in reality expressions of the same spirit—a spirit
+that it is absolutely essential to take into account if we are to obtain
+any real grasp of the vein of thought illustrated in Holbein’s painting.
+
+In the preceding chapters the origin of the picture has been traced, as
+well as a great part of its subsequent history. The lives of the two
+men whose outward and visible forms it has preserved for us have been
+followed in outline; and something has been seen of the circumstances
+which helped to mould them to the types presented by the painter. It
+now remains for us to examine in closer detail the work itself, and to
+ascertain what traces it bears, beyond the mechanical correspondence of
+dates and seasons, of the soil from which it sprang. The connection will
+be found to be even closer and richer than might have been anticipated.
+The picture reveals itself, in fact, as the exact logical outcome of the
+circumstances which produced it.
+
+The very first thing which strikes the spectator, the contrast between
+the swordsman on one side and the gownsman on the other, is intensely
+characteristic of the era and profession of the two ambassadors.
+
+Brantôme has an amusing passage which well illustrates this point.
+Himself a dashing swordsman, he inveighs with energy against the
+preference exhibited by Francis I. for the employment of “gens de robe
+longue” as ambassadors, rather than of those, in Brantôme’s opinion, far
+superior, “de robe courte.”[414] He notes especially one occasion at Rome
+when, according to his ideas, the swaggering attitude of a swordsman
+would have better served the cause of the King of France than the tame
+verbosity which, in his view, constituted the only weapon of the man of
+the gown. The latter, in this instance, was doubly represented by the
+Bishop of Mâcon and Monsieur de Vély, with both of whom acquaintance has
+been made in the course of these pages.
+
+    “Une chose voudrois-je bien scavoir,” he exclaims, “si ... il y
+    eust eu quelque brave et vaillant chevalier de l’Ordre du Roy,
+    ou un capitaine de gensdarmes, ou autre valeureux gentilhomme
+    de main et de bonne espée et bravache, ... encor si l’Empereur
+    se fust tant advancé en paroles, s’il n’eust pas songé deux ou
+    trois fois, quand il eust veu l’autre parler à luy et respondre
+    bravement, quelquesfois mettant la main sur le pommeau de
+    l’espée, quelquesfois au costé pour faire semblant de prendre
+    sa dague, quelquesfois faire une desmarche brave, quelquesfois
+    tenir une posture altière, maintenant son bonnet enfoncé,
+    maintenant haussé avec sa plume,[415] ores au costé, ores au
+    devant, ores en arrière, maintenant laisser pencher à demy sa
+    cappe[416] comme qui voudroit l’entortiller à l’entour du bras
+    et tirer l’espée.... Au lieu que M. de Mascon et M. de Vely,
+    encor qu’il respondit un peu bien pour son estat et profession,
+    ne pouvoit tenir autre contenance, sinon quelquefois avec les
+    doigts rabiller son bonnet carré, racoustrer, et entendre bien,
+    avec ses deux mains serrées et les pouces étendus, sa cornette
+    de taffetas, retrousser sa grande robbe de velours ou de satin
+    sur les costez; tout cela ne pouvoit donner la moindre terreur
+    du monde, ny a penser rien de peur dans l’âme.” ...[417]
+
+So far the pen of the vivacious Brantôme. Without necessarily endorsing
+his reasoning, it may be said that his words form a striking comment on
+the costumes exhibited to us by Holbein, whose work must now be examined
+in detail.
+
+DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE.—The Bailly of Troyes stands to the left, the
+Bishop of Lavaur to the right, of a solid wooden table, of two shelves,
+which occupies the centre of the painting.
+
+Dinteville is richly clad in a slashed doublet of rose-coloured satin,
+a black jacket and surcoat. The latter is lined with ermine, with which
+the shoulder-puffs, further adorned with gilt tags, are piped. The oval
+medallion of the French Order of St. Michael is suspended from a gold
+chain worn round the neck. With the right hand he grasps a gold dagger,
+the elaborately-chased sheath of which bears the inscription: AET. SVAE
+29. A large green and gold silk tassel, of surprisingly fine execution,
+hangs, with the dagger, from his girdle.[418] The hilt of a sword,
+protruding from the surcoat, while its sheathed point may be seen in
+the shadow near the ground, shows that Dinteville followed the fashion,
+then almost universal in France, of wearing both dagger and sword.[419]
+His left arm reposes on the upper shelf of the table: the tapering white
+fingers droop carelessly over its edge. The whole attitude bespeaks easy
+self-confidence. On his head a small black cap, worn jauntily on one
+side, is adorned by a diminutive silver skull placed on a fanciful shield.
+
+The features of the Bailly of Troyes abound with vivacity and
+intelligence. The ample dark hair is cut square on the forehead, and
+worn full on either side of the face; the silky moustache and beard are
+of a rich chestnut-brown. Brilliant dark eyes, surmounted by strongly
+marked brows, look straight at the spectator. A tinge of mockery hovers
+in their glance, as well as in the curves of the small, firmly-closed
+mouth. Notwithstanding vigour of type, and a certain effect of burliness,
+partly due to the width of costume then in vogue, signs are not wanting
+of the delicate health from which the Bailly so frequently suffered. The
+excessive transparency of the warm, brown skin, the almost hectic flush
+on the high cheek-bones, the refined, sharply-cut eyelids and prominent
+eyes, all of which are rendered with extraordinary skill by the painter,
+tell of a constitution the reverse of robust.
+
+A marked contrast to Jean de Dinteville, the serious and somewhat heavy
+figure of George de Selve next claims our attention. Dressed in a long
+gown of chocolate-coloured brocade of large design, lined with brown fur,
+the Bishop of Lavaur leans his right elbow on a closed book, probably
+intended to represent some portion of the Holy Scriptures.[420] On the
+leaves of this book, which rests on the top shelf of the double table,
+are the words: AETATIS SVE (_SIC_) 25. The square Catholic cap crowns
+a head that is grave beyond its years. Like his companion, Selve has
+abundant dark hair and beard. But, in his case, their hue is deeper and
+colder; and the eyes which look out from beneath the thick dark brows
+are still and lustreless. Indeed, the contrast of vitality between the
+two figures is so great as to suggest the fact we already know, that the
+bishop’s stay in England was of limited duration, and that his portrait
+was probably not completed from life.
+
+The table which divides the two friends is covered by a Turkish cloth and
+is littered with musical and mathematical instruments. A celestial globe,
+placed near Dinteville, a sundial, a decagon, and other geometrical
+paraphernalia, are scattered on the upper shelf. The lower one is
+occupied by a terrestrial globe; a lute with a broken string (the case
+of which is seen beneath the table); an open German hymn-book, in which
+words and music are plainly legible; a German book of arithmetic, kept
+open by a square; a pair of compasses, and some flutes. The background of
+the picture is formed by a curtain of green damask, which half-conceals
+a small silver Crucifix, hung high up in the left-hand corner. The floor
+is a very beautiful one of coloured mosaic. But the most striking feature
+of all this remarkable _mise-en-scène_ is a large oval object placed
+slanting-wise in the very centre of the foreground. Close examination
+reveals this to be a skull, or Death’s-head, distorted by reflection in a
+curved mirror.[421]
+
+The threads of this complex web are woven into each other with
+astonishing ingenuity. A few of the more interesting objects shall
+now be described separately, which will pave the way for some account
+of their significance in combination. The Death’s-head may serve as a
+starting-point; the conspicuous position assigned to it at once revealing
+its importance.
+
+THE DEATH’S-HEAD.—It has been pointed out by more than one observer,
+beginning with the late Dr. Wornum,[422] that the composition of
+the “Ambassadors” bears striking resemblance to one of Holbein’s
+illustrations of the “Dance of Death.” The design in question is the
+last of the series, and is entitled “Die Wapen des Thotss” (“The Arms
+of Death”).[423] On either side of a central erection culminating in an
+hour-glass and in a pair of skeleton arms in the act of projecting a huge
+stone, stand a man and a woman, symbolical no doubt of human life.[424]
+In the foreground, corresponding exactly to the position occupied by the
+distorted skull of the “Ambassadors,” is a Death’s-head, displayed on a
+shield which resembles in general character the mount of the silver skull
+which Dinteville wears in his cap.
+
+The repetition of the Death’s-head twice over in the picture of the
+“Ambassadors,” the singular resemblance of the composition to the design
+just described, the name borne by the latter, “The Arms of Death,” solve
+at least one of the mysteries of the picture. Dinteville had apparently
+made acquaintance in England with the “Dance of Death” series, and had
+adopted the skull or Death’s-head—“die Wapen des Thotss”—as his personal
+badge or _devise_.
+
+It can hardly be doubted that this is the true explanation of the
+repeated symbols of Death that appear in the picture. Moreover, it may be
+remembered that in one of the early sets of the “Dance of Death,” which
+Dinteville may have seen, the design called “die Wapen des Thotss” bears
+the alternative inscription: “Gedenck das end”—_memento mori_.[425]
+
+The gloomy thought, perhaps, coincided with the ambassador’s mood. He
+was often ill. The vision of Death hovered constantly before his eyes.
+He declares to his brother that he is “the most melancholy ambassador
+that ever was seen,”[426] and implores the Bishop of Paris to procure
+his recall lest he leave in this country “his skin and his bones.”[427]
+The murder of Merveilles[428] at Milan probably accentuated his sinister
+forebodings and added to them the anticipation of a speedy renewal of
+war. Under such circumstances the choice of the “Arms of Death” for his
+_devise_ seems but a natural outcome of his frame of mind.
+
+Holbein’s “Dance of Death” was first published at Lyons in 1538. The
+composition of the series belongs, however, to a much earlier date,
+and was in fact completed before Holbein left Basle in 1526. The death
+of the engraver, Hans Lützelburger, which occurred in the same year,
+long delayed publication. But Holbein no doubt possessed proofs of the
+engravings produced up to that period, several sets of which still
+exist.[429] There is therefore no difficulty in supposing that Dinteville
+saw them when he was in England in 1533.
+
+“The device,” says a well-known writer on the subject,[430] “was assumed
+for the purpose of mystification—was, in fact, an ingenious expression of
+some particular conceit of the wearer containing a hidden meaning.” It
+was not to be “so plain as to be understood by all, nor so obscure as to
+require a sphinx to interpret.”
+
+In exact accordance with the conditions thus laid down, the large
+Death’s-head in the picture of the “Ambassadors” is so ingeniously
+contrived that the real significance is not apparent until the spectator
+has discovered the proper spot from which to look at it. Then it stands
+revealed, at once and incontrovertibly.
+
+The very shadow reflected in the glass has been painted in with the skull
+that throws it: thus adding to the mystification by making this shadow
+appear to fall in a different direction from the others of the picture.
+The painted reflection is indeed but the shadow of the shadow of Death;
+and, as such, not subject to the laws which govern things of solid
+substance. It is, in fact, an emblem; not a reality.
+
+THE DAGGER.—Richly chased in arabesque fruits and foliage springing from
+the head and trunk of a satyr who occupies the centre of the sheath, the
+gold dagger clasped in Dinteville’s right hand is a highly characteristic
+specimen of Holbein’s design.
+
+On the sheath, just above the bold and clear inscription: AET. SVAE 29,
+there is a confused appearance of further minute lettering. Although
+difficult or impossible to decipher now, it seems likely from their
+position and shape that these parallel strokes were once legible
+characters.[431] Ornament of this form and in this place would be
+meaningless. Properly speaking, a _devise_ was composed of two parts,
+emblem and motto; and here, if anywhere, the verbal half of the _devise_
+of the Death’s-head would naturally be sought, as it was a common
+practice to introduce a motto upon some part of a weapon. Further,
+such a motto would be likely to appear in a small and, probably, much
+abbreviated form, in accordance with the rule that the _motif_ of a
+device should be concealed as deeply as possible.
+
+In addition to abbreviation, a barbaric compound of more than one
+language occasionally figures as the motto of a dagger, intentionally
+increasing the difficulties of interpretation. In the museum at
+Basle,[432] there is a design after Holbein for the sheath of such a
+weapon, which, on a space corresponding to that which, on Dinteville’s
+dagger, shows his age, bears the mysterious inscription: MORQUNOT. It has
+been suggested that this strange conglomeration might be resolved into:
+_MOR_TE _QU_IESCAT _NOT_; a hotch-potch of Latin and German which may
+be translated: “Death stills all ills.” Precedents are not wanting in
+favour of a polyglot reading of this kind. In this instance the meaning,
+if correct, would gain satirical point by its position on a death-dealing
+weapon.
+
+Something of this kind, perhaps even this very motto in further
+abbreviated form, may once have been expressed by the miniature strokes
+on the sheath of Dinteville’s dagger. The two German books open before
+him bring the supposed German ending of the motto within the range of
+possibility. This reading is, however, purely hypothetical; though there
+is a strong inherent probability that the opening letters MOR of the
+Basle design, contain an allusion to Death.
+
+It is not necessary, however, to pin our faith to any particular
+motto. The number of adages that referred to Death was very large. The
+often-repeated “Disce mori” (Learn to die) was the motto of Sadoleto,
+Bishop of Carpentras, whose acquaintance has been made as the friend of
+George de Selve. “La Mort n’y mord pas” was that of the poet Clement
+Marot. Innumerable other instances might be quoted. The best known of
+them all, the familiar “Memento mori,” was, as has been seen, inscribed,
+in one set of engravings, over “The Arms of Death”; and through this
+circumstance comes into special consideration here.
+
+[Illustration: DINTEVILLE’S DAGGER-SHEATH FROM THE PICTURE OF THE
+“AMBASSADORS.”
+
+DESIGN FOR A DAGGER-SHEATH AFTER HOLBEIN, AT THE MUSEUM OF BASLE.]
+
+THE ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL.—This Order was founded in 1469 by Louis XI.,
+and was composed of thirty-six gentlemen with the sovereign for their
+perpetual head. It was called the “Ordre du Roi,” and was a coveted
+distinction for nearly a century after being instituted. The Order of St.
+Michael was, in fact, the French equivalent of the Order of the Garter in
+England, and of the Fleece in Spain. Throughout the reign of Francis I.,
+and for some time subsequently, it stood alone as the one great order of
+France.[433] The roll of the knights was unfortunately destroyed during
+the French Revolution. But the names of a good many of those admitted to
+the order under Francis I. and his predecessors can be gathered from the
+pages of contemporary literature, and show them invariably to have been
+persons in high office or of distinguished family.
+
+The Grand Collar of the order, from which was suspended the image of the
+Archangel, was composed of cockle-shells linked together by a complicated
+system of chain-work.[434]
+
+On certain occasions, carefully enumerated in the statutes, the knights
+were, however, exempted from the obligation of wearing the Collar. These
+exceptions shall be quoted in the words of the statutes. After laying
+down the rule respecting the Grand Collar, article iii. continues:[435]
+
+    “... excepté en armes, où il suffira seulement porter ledict
+    imaige saint Michel pendant a une chainette d’or ou lacet de
+    soye, qui ainsi faire le vouldra. Et pareillement quand ledict
+    Souverain ou l’un desdicts Chevaliers iront par pays ou seront
+    en leurs maisons a privée, mesmes en chasse, ou en autres lieux
+    ou ils n’auront aucune compagnie ou assemblée de gens d’estat,
+    ne seront point astrains de porter ledict Grand Collier,
+    fors seulement ledict imaige de l’Ordre en la façon que dict
+    est.”[436]
+
+It will be noted how precisely Holbein’s representation of the Order
+coincides with the rules laid down in this extract for the “Petit Ordre,”
+which Dinteville wears in the picture.
+
+This “Petit Ordre,” as it was called in opposition to the “Grand Ordre”
+with the Collar of scallop-shells, was worn daily by the knights. They
+were forbidden to part with the Order, or to discard its use in one of
+the two forms, on any pretence whatever, even were it to save their
+lives.[437]
+
+The treatment of the pendant image of the saint came to vary considerably
+as time went on. When worn with the Collar, it was occasionally a
+clear-cut figure, without encircling rim, similar to the English
+“George.” But the oval medallion of gold depicted by Holbein was no doubt
+the usual and more correct form. It is to be seen in innumerable French
+portraits of about this date. Several instances may be found in the
+Louvre. In at least one of these—the portrait of Francis I., attributed
+to Clouet[438]—the medallion, which here has a black enamel rim, is
+_percé à jour_ in similar fashion to that worn by the Bailly of Troyes.
+
+Another good example, because within a short time contemporary with the
+“Ambassadors,”[439] is seen in the portrait of Alfonso I. d’Este, Duke
+of Ferrara, by Battista Dossi, which now hangs in the Gallery at Modena.
+Here the medallion of the order is wholly wrought in French colours, blue
+and gold. The border of the oval is of leaf-pattern worked in gold; while
+the figures, also in gold, of the Archangel and prostrate dragon are
+relieved upon a background of bright blue enamel.
+
+Instances of these variations might, however, be multiplied indefinitely.
+Within certain general limits, a good deal of liberty was permitted
+to the designer. The forms of Archangel and fiend vary in every fresh
+instance. The one essential point was that the image should tell its
+story: that being given, individual taste settled the rest. Nothing could
+be more fallacious than to apply the standards of uniformity derived from
+an age of machine-work to the free fancy and unfettered pencil of the
+sixteenth century.[440]
+
+THE CELESTIAL GLOBE.[441]—It has been a matter of some discussion whether
+or not this globe is meant to record an astrological observation. To
+settle the point, a photograph was submitted to the Astronomer Royal,
+who kindly gave as his opinion that it appeared to represent an ordinary
+celestial globe, which would also be used for astrological purposes,
+and in much the same way. It would therefore be impracticable to tell
+from the picture whether an astrological, or simply an astronomical
+observation were intended.
+
+Astrology apart, however, the central position awarded to “Galacia,” the
+cock, a very ancient device of France, appears to suggest a secondary
+meaning of another kind. The furious attitude of the game-bird,
+apparently directed against the falling and flying vultures, would
+surely be unnecessary, supposing a mere constellation to be represented.
+It seems to symbolize the onslaught of France upon her foes, and their
+ultimate downfall and flight.
+
+The celestial globe also stands here for Astronomy as one of the Seven
+Liberal Arts.
+
+It is not known from what original this globe was copied.
+
+THE TERRESTRIAL GLOBE.[442]—Much interest attaches to this instrument
+both on its own account and for its special relations with Dinteville’s
+life and career.
+
+From the point of view of the geographer it is interesting to find
+that this hand-globe of small dimensions is a facsimile in size and
+contours of that discovered in 1885 by the late Mr. Henry Stevens of
+Vermont.[443] As such, it affords a second example of a globe of which
+only Mr. Stevens’ copy had hitherto been known to exist. The gores
+purchased by him—for the globe was not found in finished form—gave rise
+to a lively dispute among special students of the subject. Mr. Stevens
+at once identified his find as the lost globe of Johann Schöner of 1523.
+This view was maintained and further elaborated by the late Mr. C. H.
+Coote of the British Museum, who, on the death, in 1886, of Mr. Henry
+Stevens, edited that gentleman’s notes on the subject, and added to them
+a valuable introduction.[444]
+
+[Illustration: CELESTIAL GLOBE, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE “AMBASSADORS.”
+
+(Reduced in scale.)]
+
+The attribution to Schöner was not, however, allowed to pass
+unchallenged. Among other competent geographers who disputed the claim,
+Baron Nordenskiöld and, in his wake, Mr. Justin Winsor,[445] asserted
+their conviction that the gores in question were those of a spurious
+Hartmann globe dating from about 1540. The discovery that it was painted
+by Holbein in 1533 of course put an end to this theory.
+
+The date of the production of this globe is thus narrowed to a possible
+range of about ten years. The track of the first circumnavigation of the
+world by the Spaniards, laid down upon it, proves that it cannot have
+been designed until after the return of that expedition in 1522. The fact
+of its appearance in Holbein’s “Ambassadors” shows that it must have been
+published before 1533.
+
+All authorities agree in the opinion that this globe was made at
+Nuremberg. Amongst other indications, the name of that city is marked
+conspicuously in the centre of Europe, and rendered with equal emphasis
+by Holbein.
+
+A curious feature is the line of demarcation fixed by Pope Alexander VI.
+to divide the Spanish and Portuguese possessions of the new world. This
+line is explained in the original globe and in its copy by Holbein by the
+words: “Linea Division̄is Castellorū et Portugallen̄.”
+
+Two little ships are to be seen on the Nuremberg gores. They show the
+course of Magellan’s voyage, the line of which is traced all round the
+world. These two ships are reproduced by Holbein, one north, one south
+of the Equator, in about the same positions as those marked on the
+gores. But the line of circumnavigation is omitted, because Magellan’s
+voyage was not the point to which it was, in this case, intended to draw
+attention, nor the object for which the globe was depicted.
+
+A careful comparison shows that the two globes have about a hundred
+names in common: identical save for one or two trifling variations of
+orthography.
+
+A more striking divergence is seen in a number of names inserted in
+Holbein’s globe, which are not found upon the original. These additions
+are all in Europe, and principally in France and Spain. The writer
+is informed on highly competent authority[446] that no professional
+map-maker would have crowded this quantity of names on to a hand-globe of
+small dimensions. All the extra words must have been added by an amateur
+for some special reason.
+
+The truth of this observation is at once made manifest by the fact that
+“Polisy,” the name of Dinteville’s Château in Burgundy, is amongst the
+places marked in France.
+
+A further curious point makes it doubly clear that the object was to
+invite the spectator’s attention to certain centres in Europe of peculiar
+interest to the ambassador. The position of the globe in the picture is
+such, handle downwards, that the names marked upon it, if copied exactly
+from the model, would naturally appear wrong side up. This is, in fact,
+the case with the large continent of “Affrica,” which had no connection
+with the purposes in view. But, in the continent of Europe, the names are
+placed by Holbein _in reversed position_, so as to be easily legible.[447]
+
+The places added, no doubt on Dinteville’s initiative, are nearly twenty
+in number. They consist of five provinces[448] and four towns,[449]
+including Polisy, inserted in France; four provinces in Spain,[450] two
+cities in Italy;[451] Sinus Adriaticus; and the telling names, Servia,
+Polonia, and Saxonia.
+
+The additions are precisely such as an acquaintance with Dinteville’s
+life and career would lead us to look for.
+
+France is naturally the country where he has chiefly increased their
+number. His native Burgundy; his home at Polisy; Paris and Lyons, where
+he had spent so much of his life at Court; Bayonne, the seat of many
+important negotiations during the troubles with Spain; Brittany, recently
+incorporated with the French Crown; Languedoc, of which his cousin and
+protector Montmorency was the Governor: these are amongst the first names
+we should expect to find, and do find, inserted.
+
+Spain ranks second in the proportion of places added—a fact sufficiently
+explained by the relations of France with Charles V., which dominated
+the whole tenour of her diplomacy. Moreover, Spain was familiar ground
+to Dinteville’s brothers, if not to himself. Vanlay had been employed to
+carry despatches between France and Spain during the negotiations which
+preceded the Treaty of Madrid. Deschenetz had been brought up in the
+household of Henry, Count of Nassau, at the Spanish Court.[452] Louis
+de Dinteville had been sent thither as ambassador by the Knights of St.
+John.[453] Here then were links enough to give that country a prominence
+second only to France in the estimation of the Bailly of Troyes. But it
+was probably the political aspect which he chiefly intended to emphasize.
+The key to Dinteville’s additions to the globe, outside France, is to be
+found in the course of French diplomacy between 1525 and 1533.
+
+Rome, placed by her great position in the forefront of public affairs,
+seems an addition natural enough to the map of Italy. The recent mission
+of the Bishop of Auxerre to the Holy See gave a touch of personal
+interest to the political importance of the name.[454] Genoa, the
+second city added to Italy, was still claimed by the King of France as
+his rightful possession and included in his titles. Venice, the great
+emporium of South German commerce with the East, was already marked on
+the Nuremberg globe. Closely allied with France, the city of the Lagoons
+was the port through which all her secret negotiations with the Turk were
+conducted. Thence the various emissaries despatched by the French King
+traversed the Adriatic to reach the court of Solyman. It is therefore not
+surprising to find that Dinteville has included Sinus Adriaticus in his
+list of additions, and that Servia, whose capital, Belgrade, had been
+conquered by the ally of France, Solyman II., finds a conspicuous place
+among the countries of Southern Europe. Constantinople was already marked
+on the model globe.
+
+Polonia and Saxonia are the two additions which remain to be considered.
+These names represent two further powers allied with France: Sigismund,
+King of Poland, and the Protestant princes of Germany, at whose head
+stood the Elector of Saxony.
+
+Thus we have in Dinteville’s additions to the globe a kind of epitome of
+the foreign relations of France, in the period which immediately preceded
+the creation of the picture. It will presently be seen that the Lutheran
+Hymn-book, placed near the Bishop of Lavaur, is equally symbolical of her
+religious diplomacy.
+
+The interpretation thus arrived at is the necessary corollary of the
+choice of names made by the Bailly for insertion upon the globe. To
+imagine those additions to be the result of pure chance would be to
+suppose an effect without a cause. The single fact among them of the word
+“Polisy” forbids such an idea. If it was worth while to insert them at
+all, they must have been the result of some principle of selection: a
+mere globe could have been simply copied from the model.
+
+[Illustration: TERRESTRIAL GLOBE, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE “AMBASSADORS.”
+
+(Reduced in scale.)]
+
+[Illustration: GORES OF THE NUREMBERG GLOBE COPIED BY HOLBEIN.]
+
+The following is a complete list of the names marked, in the given
+hemisphere, on either globe. Dinteville’s additions have been printed in
+_italic_ type, for convenience of comparison. In a few instances, where
+the surface of the picture has been slightly damaged, portions of names
+have become obliterated; but in all cases where the words do not form
+part of Dinteville’s additions, the parent globe supplies the defective
+letters.
+
+  LIST OF NAMES ON THE STEVENS GLOBE.   LIST OF NAMES ON HOLBEIN’S GLOBE.
+
+      Insula Espaliola                  .....a .sp......
+      Antiglie Insule                   Antiglie Insul..
+      Accores                           Accores
+      Medera                            Medera
+      Canarie                           Canarie
+      S. Anthoni                        S. Anthoni
+      S. Jacobi                         S. Jacobi
+      Insule Hesperide                  Insule Hesperidū
+      S. Thome                          S. Thome
+      Brisilici terra                   Brisilici R.
+      Islandia                          Isl.....
+      Europa                            Europa
+      Angli                             Angli
+      Scocia                            Scocia
+      Ibernia                           Ibernia
+              Lisibono                  Portugal
+      Hispania                          Hispania
+                                            _Castil_
+                                            _Aragon_
+                                            _Navar_
+                                            _Grana_
+      Francia                           Francia
+                                            _Pritann_
+                                            _Norma..ia_
+                                            _Avern_
+                                            _Burgund_
+                                            _Languedoc_
+                                                _P..ris_
+                                                _Leon_
+                                                _Polisy_[455]
+                                                _Baion_
+      Italia                            Italia
+                                                _Roma_
+              Venetia                           Venecie
+                                                _Genua_
+      Maiorica                          Maiorica
+      Minorica                          Minorica
+      Corsica                           Corsica
+      Sardinia                          Sardinia
+      Sicilia                           Sicilia
+      Creta                             Creta
+      Rodis                             Rodis
+      Ciprꝰ                             Cipra
+      Germania                          Germania
+              Nurēberga                         Nurēberga
+                                        _Saxonia_
+                                        _Polonia_
+                                        _Servia_
+              Cōstāti                           Cōstāti
+      Prussia                           Prussia
+      Dacia                             Dacia
+      Russia                            Russia
+      Grecia                            Greci
+      Dalma                             Dalmacia
+      Cremani                           Cremania
+      Norbegia                          Norbegia
+      Scania                            Scania
+      Svetia                            Svetia
+      Lappia                            Lappia
+      Russia (second time)              Russia (second time)
+      Desertū magnū                     Desertū m....
+      Naymano rum reg:                  N.... .....
+      Livonia                           Livonia
+      Moscovia                          Moscovia
+      Bulgaria                          Bulgaria
+      Tartaria Cumanie                  Tartaria Cumanie
+      Bisermino um terra                Bisermino um terra
+      Tartaria Corasine                 Tartari.. Corasine
+      Tartaria Torqueste                Tartaria Tor..ues..e
+      Cambera                           C..m....
+      Persarū reg:                      Persarū Reg..
+      Chaldea                           Chaldea
+      Nagai                             Nagai
+      Iberia                            Iberia
+      Turchia                           Turchia
+      Armenia                           Armenia
+      Georgia                           Georgia
+      Mosalia                           Mosalia
+      Mesopotamia                       Mesopotamia
+      Siria                             Syria
+              Jerosolima                        Jerosolima
+      Arabia Sterilis                   Arabia Sterilis
+              ᵒMecha                            ᵒM....
+      Arabia Felix et Leaman            ...... ..... .. L..man
+              Aden                              Aden
+      Affrica                           Affrica
+      Barbaria                          Barbaria
+              Fessa                             Fessa
+      Getulia                           Getulia
+      Senega                            Senega
+      C. Viride                         C. Viride
+      Ginoia                            Ginoia
+      C. de palmis                      C. di Palmis
+      Libya Interior                    Libia Interior
+      Libya desertum                    Libie Desertum
+      Marmarica                         Marmarica
+      Egiptꝰ                            Egiptꝰ
+              Alexā                             Alexā
+      Habesch presbyter Joannes[456]    Habesch ..esbiter ...nnes[456]
+      Ethiopia                          Ethiopia
+      Ethiopia sub Egiptꝰ               Ethiopia sub Egiptꝰ
+              Seyla                             ...la
+      Orguene Regnū                     Orguene Regnū
+      Melli regnū                       Melli Regnū
+      Nubie regnū                       Nubi.. Regnū
+      Rio de Camareos                   Rio de Camareos
+      Rio de Gaban                      Rio de G.....
+      Angra das Aldas                   An... ... .....
+
+                          (Seas, Gulfs, etc.)
+
+                                        _Sinꝰ Adriaticus_
+      Pōtꝰ Euxinꝰ                       Pōtꝰ Euxinꝰ
+      Hircanū et Caspiū.. mā            Hircanū et Caspiū Ma..
+      Persicū et Bessara Si.            Persicū et Bes...a Si..
+      Arabicꝰ Sinꝰ                      Arabicꝰ Sin...
+
+                               (Rivers.)
+
+      Renꝰ                              (Rhine marked but not named)
+      Danubiꝰ                           Danubius
+      Neper Fl.                         Neper Fl.
+      Meroe Nilꝰ Fl.                    Meroe Nilꝰ Fl.
+      Troglodite                        Troglo....
+      Mãgi Congo                        Mãgi Congo
+      Tanais                            Tanais
+                                        (The Seine and Rhone are also
+                                          marked by Holbein, but unnamed)
+
+                         (Divisional Lines, etc.)
+
+      Arcticꝰ Circulꝰ                   Arct.. ......
+      Tropicꝰ Cancri                    Tropicꝰ Cancri
+      Equinoctialis circulꝰ             Æquinoccialis Circulꝰ
+      Tropicꝰ Capricorni                Tropicꝰ Capricorni
+      Linea divisionis Castellanorū et  Linea Divisionis Castellanorū et
+        Portugallen̄                       Portugallen̄
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE LUTHERAN HYMN-BOOK—THE BOOK OF ARITHMETIC—THE GEOMETRICAL
+INSTRUMENTS—THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT—THE LUTE—THE SEVEN LIBERAL ARTS—THE
+SILVER CRUCIFIX—OCCULT SCIENCE—CONCLUSION
+
+
+THE LUTHERAN HYMN-BOOK.—The introduction of a German Hymn-book on the
+lower shelf of the table, near George de Selve, tends to confirm the
+belief that the Bishop of Lavaur had already been sent to Germany in a
+diplomatic capacity as early as 1529, and had there probably attended the
+Diet of Spires.[457] Certainly, no two hymns could better exemplify his
+views regarding religious reunion than those selected in the picture.
+
+On the left-hand page is seen the “Veni Creator Spiritus” in Luther’s
+German rendering: on the right, Luther’s “Shortened Version of the Ten
+Commandments.”[458]
+
+[Illustration: HYMN BOOK FROM THE PICTURE OF THE “AMBASSADORS.”]
+
+Both these hymns are to be found in Johann Walther’s “Geystliche
+Gesangbüchlein,” published at Wittemberg in 1524.[459] This, the first
+Lutheran Hymn-book containing music as well as words which was used
+in the Reformed Churches of Germany, was the basis of numerous later
+editions, chiefly published in South Germany. A distinguishing mark
+of Walther’s “Gesangbuch,” in which it is followed by all these South
+German reproductions, is the preservation of the old word “Glast,”[460]
+instead of the more modern “Glantz,” in the hymn “Kom Heiliger Geyst.”
+This feature may be observed in Holbein’s copy. A slight difference in
+the termination of each verse suggests that the example he had before
+him may have belonged to one of the later editions referred to above. If
+so, that edition must have followed the original very closely; for the
+actual number XIX. placed by Walther over the second hymn, “Mensch wiltu
+leben seliglich,” is copied into the picture. Either by inadvertence, or
+because the first hymn, “Kom Heiliger Geyst,” was here intended to figure
+only as an antiphon,[461] the number is however placed by the painter
+over “Kom Heiliger Geyst,” instead of over “Mensch wiltu.”
+
+The following is the exact text of the two hymns, as given in the
+Chorale-book of the “Ambassadors”:
+
+    XIX.
+
+    KOm Heiliger Geyst Herregott
+    erfüll mit Deiner gnaden gut
+    Deiner gleubgē Hertz mut un̄ sin
+    dein brūstig lib entzūd in ihn.
+    O Herr durch Deines lichtes glast
+    zu dem glaubē versamlet hast
+    das volck aller Welt zungē
+    [das sey] dir Herzu lob gesungen gesungen.
+
+[On the opposite page:]
+
+    Mensch wiltu leben seliglich
+    und bei Gott bliben e[wiglich]
+    Soltu halten die zehen gebot
+    die uns gebeut unser Gott unser [Gott]
+                                          D[ein]....[462]
+
+Coming now to the setting of the two hymns, it is to be remarked that
+while Walther preserved the old and familiar melody of “Kom Heiliger
+Geyst,” the music of “Mensch wiltu leben seliglich” first appeared in the
+“Gesangbuch” of 1524.[463] The melody of the former hymn is in the treble
+part, that of the second in the tenor. As the book copied in Holbein’s
+picture is a tenor part-book, only the counterpoint sung by that voice is
+found to the hymn “Kom Heiliger Geyst”; while, to the second hymn, the
+melody is given, which in this instance resided in the tenor.[464]
+
+The reader who has followed the career of the Bishop of Lavaur through
+the earlier pages of this volume will have seen how large a part the hope
+of religious reunion between the Roman Catholic and Reformed Churches
+played in his life. To find means to promote that end was the object of
+his most earnest thought; to see it accomplished, the dearest wish of
+his heart. The healing of the schism, so the bishop held, could only be
+sought in a better endeavour, under guidance from above, to live in
+conformity with the divine teaching. When therefore it is found that the
+two hymns chosen in Holbein’s picture to emphasize this point are “Come,
+Holy Ghost” and the “Ten Commandments,” it is evident that a more telling
+selection could not have been made.
+
+Had a Latin text of the “Veni Creator” and the Commandments been chosen,
+in accordance with the use of the Roman Catholic Church, they would have
+conveyed nothing to the spectator of the Lutheran schism and of efforts
+towards reunion. But the German version at once emphasizes the desired
+point.
+
+The doctrine expressed by these two hymns belonged, moreover, to all
+Christian bodies, orthodox or the reverse. They therefore appeared
+singularly fitted to furnish the common ground so much desired.
+
+The “Veni Creator Spiritus” was (and still is) the great hymn of
+Christendom for all specially solemn occasions. Selve must have heard
+it on the opening day of the Diet of Spires. Soon he would again listen
+to its strains, on the occasion of his own consecration as bishop.[465]
+In the Lutheran churches it was sung on all Sundays and Festivals.[466]
+Thus, no hymn had a more universal character.
+
+It has been plausibly suggested that some of the German objects
+introduced into the picture may have been a loan from Nicolas Kratzer,
+the astronomer. In the present instance, however, this idea does not
+commend itself as probable. There does not seem any reason to suppose
+that Kratzer, an orthodox Catholic, who had no professional relationship
+with theology, was the possessor of a collection of Lutheran hymns.
+If not the property of the Bishop of Lavaur, the book may easily have
+belonged to Cranmer. Official ties had brought him into contact with the
+Bailly of Troyes;[467] while the connections of the archbishop with the
+Protestants of South Germany are well known.[468] But it is not necessary
+to push the question further, for the channels were multitudinous, both
+within and without the Steelyard, through which the Hymn-book might have
+been obtained.
+
+THE BOOK OF ARITHMETIC.—If a satisfactory reason is forthcoming for the
+representation of the Hymn-book in the German tongue, what can be said to
+account for the fact that the book of Arithmetic is couched in the same
+language?
+
+The question brings the reader to one of the _collective_ meanings of the
+picture. The language of this book, significantly kept open by a square,
+was probably a matter of indifference, being introduced, so far as can
+be seen, only to symbolize Arithmetic as one of the Seven Liberal Arts.
+The interest centred on the numbers, not on the nationality of the book.
+Any well-known manual of arithmetic, in any language, would have attained
+this object.
+
+Some separate significance, which it has not been possible to fathom, may
+of course attach to the book beyond the one here specified; many of the
+objects of the _mise-en-scène_ being made to do duty two or three times
+over, first singly, and then in varied combination.
+
+It may be noted also that the Bailly of Troyes shared, to the fullest
+extent, the love of his time and country for setting such riddles deep.
+The whole picture is conceived in that spirit of the _devise_ which
+was “assumed for the purpose of mystification” and contained “a hidden
+meaning.” If the use of the German language, with which both ambassadors
+were probably familiar, would complicate the problem of interpretation,
+Dinteville would have been likely to prefer it for that very reason.
+
+The “Merchant’s Arithmetic Book” selected to represent one branch of the
+Seven Liberal Arts, was a widely disseminated manual at the period under
+consideration, and was therefore eminently representative of the subject
+of which it treats.[469] The exact title is: “Eyn Newe unnd wolgegründte
+underweysung aller Kauffmannss Rechnung in dreyen büchern ... durch
+Petrum Apianū von Leyssnick u. Astronomei zu Ingoldstat Ordinariū
+verfertiget.” (A new and well-grounded Instruction in all Merchant’s
+Arithmetic, in three books ... compiled by Peter Apian of Leisnig,
+Astronomer in Ordinary at Ingoldstadt.) The colophon reads; “Gedrückt und
+volendt zu Ingoldstadt durch Georgium Apianum von Leyssnick im Jar nach
+der Geburt Christi 1527 am 9. tag Augusti.” (Printed and completed at
+Ingoldstadt by George Apian of Leisnig, in the year after the birth of
+Christ 1527, on the 9th day of August.)[470] The page copied by Holbein
+is in Book III., Q 8, verso.[471]
+
+This manual of arithmetic may have been borrowed from one of the
+merchants of the Steelyard, or possibly from Kratzer.
+
+SOME OF THE GEOMETRICAL INSTRUMENTS.—Several of these instruments are
+repetitions of those introduced by Holbein into his portrait of Nicolas
+Kratzer, painted in 1528.[472] Such are the compasses, seen on the lower
+portion of the wooden stand; and the columnar dial, the astrolabe, and
+the decagon, placed upon the upper shelf.
+
+It has been suggested that the torquetum which occupies a conspicuous
+position on the top of the table, represents an instrument invented by
+Apian, of which an illustration is given by him in a book published this
+very year (1533).[473] Variations of this instrument, however, are not,
+it appears, uncommon at about this period. Nevertheless, the attribution
+to Apian does not seem improbable, bearing in mind that he was also the
+author of the book of Arithmetic and was a compatriot of Kratzer’s.
+
+[Illustration: BOOK OF ARITHMETIC, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE “AMBASSADORS.”
+(Reduced in scale.)
+
+PAGE OF APIAN’S “MERCHANT’S ARITHMETIC” COPIED BY HOLBEIN. (Reduced in
+scale.)]
+
+A curious question arises in connection with the hands of some of the
+instruments, the shadows from which fall perplexingly at cross-purposes,
+pointing sometimes one way, sometimes another. The reader must please
+himself in deciding whether this was done to bring out special numbers
+and indicate definite, though now inexplicable meanings, or whether
+it was merely the result of carelessness on the part of assistants
+who probably executed some of the mechanical details. In the case of
+the Death’s-head, the divergence of the shadow was too remarkable to
+be attributed to accident, and was, moreover, accounted for by having
+been painted from a reflection. But in the _minutiæ_ of some of the
+mathematical instruments, such lapses from strict science may be due to
+chance, and are not unknown to Holbein’s practice. In the series of the
+Seven Liberal Arts, these instruments help to symbolize Astronomy and
+Geometry.
+
+THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT.—It is an easy step from these illustrations of
+mathematical science to the further symbol of Geometry, the beautiful
+floor of “Opus Alexandrinum,” unique in Holbein’s performance, and
+perhaps in the annals of pictorial art. And it is surely a point of
+high interest to observe that this design is an accurate copy of the
+well-known mosaic pavement in the Sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, for
+the construction of which marbles and workmen were brought from Italy by
+Abbot Richard Ware in the reign of Henry III. Nothing brings the English
+sojourn of the great painter more closely home to us, than to fancy
+him wandering through the aisles of the venerable Abbey—venerable even
+then—to sketch the outlines of the historic pavement trodden by so many
+generations before and since that time.
+
+[Illustration: DESIGN OF THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY, WITH
+DETAILS OF PATTERNS.
+
+DESIGN OF THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT IN HOLBEIN’S PICTURE, WITH DETAILS OF
+PATTERNS.]
+
+The mosaic pavement of Westminster consists of a square centre filled
+with interwoven circles, and flanked on either side by oblong strips,
+which complete the width of the Sanctuary.[474] The square centre
+contains the portion copied by Holbein in the floor of the “Ambassadors.”
+Range upon range of beautiful patterns adorn the interlacing circles of
+the Westminster mosaic. The reduced scale and perspective view necessary
+for the picture, has obliged Holbein to simplify some of these to a
+certain extent. Occasionally he has borrowed smaller patterns from the
+narrower strips of mosaic on either side of the central figure. But in
+several instances the patterns are copied with undeviating precision;
+while the main lines of the great central figure itself, in reversed
+order, are reproduced in the painting with the utmost fidelity. The
+colouring is slightly varied to meet the exigencies of another art.
+
+In the presence of so much that is accurate, one notable deviation
+strikes the eye. The central circle of the Westminster mosaic is filled,
+at the present day, with a plain round slab of marble, somewhat similar
+to those which Holbein has placed in the angles of his reproduction.
+The central circle of the mosaic of the “Ambassadors,” on the other
+hand, contains a six-pointed star: that double triangle which in a
+thousand applications played so large a part in the emblematic art of
+the Middle Ages. A famous figure of Geometry, it was equally well known
+as the symbol of the Trinity and as the mystical “Solomon’s Seal” of the
+alchymists.
+
+The first question that arises when considering this discrepancy is
+whether any alteration has taken place in the central ornament of the
+Westminster mosaic since the painter sketched it?
+
+Probably this has been the case. The pavement has been much patched and
+repaired at various times, and, in the judgment of the late Sir Gilbert
+Scott, “the eye of the great centre circle has a very modern look.”[475]
+If the six-pointed star once adorned that centre, Holbein’s picture
+has preserved for us an interesting record of the appearance it then
+presented.
+
+If, on the other hand, the further surmise of Sir Gilbert Scott is
+correct, that the centre was “probably originally occupied with an
+engraved plate of brass,” an unsuitable subject for the painter, the
+latter would not have had far to seek for the star he has introduced.
+That ornament was to be seen in abundance, on a small scale, in the
+mosaics of the Shrine of Edward the Confessor and elsewhere in the Abbey.
+
+THE LUTE.—Balancing the terrestrial globe on the lower shelf of the
+table, a ten-stringed lute divides the two books already described.[476]
+
+Taken in its most obvious application, this instrument serves as an
+illustration of Music in the Seven Liberal Arts.
+
+Closer inspection reveals, however, that one string of the lute _is
+broken_—a discovery which yields some further curious results.
+
+It is hardly necessary to dwell on the universally accepted
+interpretation of a broken string as an emblem of Death. In the lute we
+have thus a further insistence on those melancholy symbols which play so
+large a part in the composition of the picture.
+
+But, beyond this, another more specialized meaning may perhaps have been
+intended, which, remembering the political import of the terrestrial
+globe and book of chorales, seems worth consideration.
+
+In the first known edition of Alciati’s “Emblems,”[477] there is one
+inscribed “Fœdera Italorum.”[478] It is composed, as usual, of two parts:
+the pictorial device and explanatory text. In this instance the former
+is a lute[479] and the accompanying Latin poem expounds the author’s
+meaning in selecting that symbol. The significance is wholly political.
+The latest commentator of Alciati believes that this emblem was composed
+to commemorate the League of Cognac of 1526,[480] which, as already
+explained, united the princes of Italy in a common bond with France and
+England against the Emperor. Italian patriots anticipated from this
+league a cessation of those internecine feuds by which their unhappy
+country had been rent no less than by the intrigues and invasions of
+foreigners. It was this hope of peace which inspired the choice and
+composition of the emblem presented by Alciati to his sovereign, the Duke
+of Milan.
+
+    “Hanc citharam a lembi quæ formâ halieutica fertur,
+      Vendicat et propriam Musa latina sibi,
+    Accipe Dux; placeat nostrum hoc tibi tempore munus,
+      Quo nova cum socijs fœdera inire paras.
+    Difficile est, nisi docto homini tot tendere chordas:
+      Unaque si fuerit non bene tenta fides,
+    Ruptave (quod facile est) perit omnis gratia concha
+      Illique præcellens cantus ineptus erit.
+    Sic Itali coërunt proceres in fœdera: concors
+      Nil est quod timeas, si tibi constet amor:
+    At si aliquis desciscat (uti plerumque videmus)
+      In nihilum illa omnis solvitur harmonia.”
+
+    “This lute, called ‘Fisher’ for its boat-like form,
+      And claimed by Muse of Latium for her own,
+    Lord Duke, accept; as welcome at this time,
+      When you are bent on new alliances.
+    ’Tis hard, save for skilled hands, these chords to tune;
+      And be there one ill-tuned or broken string,
+    Easy mischance! all grace of music dies,
+      And disconcerted is the concert fair.
+    So, when the lords of Italy unite
+      In congress, fear not whilst good will stands firm,
+    But if (as chanceth oft) one start aside,
+      Dissolved is harmony, and comes to nought.”[481]
+
+It is easy to see how striking is the application of this emblem to the
+events which took place in the summer of 1533 at Milan, the actual centre
+for which it was composed. Nothing could more aptly illustrate Alciati’s
+metaphor of the broken string than the sudden secession of the Duke of
+Milan from his alliance with France—an alliance which was a leading
+feature of that very League to celebrate which the emblem is believed
+to have been composed. The startling manner of Sforza’s defection,
+proclaimed by the ruthless murder of the French envoy, Merveilles,
+emphasizes the point.[482] The very hand in which Alciati had placed his
+exhortation to peace had roughly snapped the string of the lute. In a
+moment the face of French politics was changed. The clash of arms in the
+near future seemed the only possible reply to the affront. The jangle of
+discord was all that remained of the fair promise of harmony.
+
+Viewed in this light, the lute of Holbein’s “Ambassadors” acquires
+a meaning which well agrees with the important position assigned to
+it in the picture and with the political significance of some of the
+surrounding objects.
+
+It is of course neither possible nor desirable to press an interpretation
+of this kind too far. But, considering the enormous popularity of
+Alciati’s emblems, and the practical certainty that Dinteville was
+familiar with them, the suggestion can hardly be considered far-fetched
+or improbable.
+
+It seems likely enough, indeed, that the ambassador was personally
+acquainted with Alciati. At the very time when the picture was being
+painted, that great jurisconsult was filling the Chair of Law at
+Bourges, which he held from 1529 to 1534. His fame was immense, and
+hearers flocked to his lectures. Francis I. himself was occasionally
+counted amongst his audience; and it seems tolerably certain that
+Dinteville, whose life, when in France, was spent almost entirely at
+Court, must have been present at one or other of these discourses.
+
+Just at the same moment, the Augsburg edition of the “Emblems” was
+achieving popularity by leaps and bounds. The woodcuts that it contained
+were, however, very inadequate; and, anxious to remedy this defect,
+Alciati was now occupied in arranging with the printer, Christian
+Wechel, to bring out an improved and refined edition at Paris.[483] In
+short, the threads which connected Alciati with France, and with the
+familiar surroundings of the Bailly of Troyes, were numerous, and appear
+to place beyond doubt the acquaintance of the latter with the “Book of
+Emblems.”[484]
+
+THE SEVEN LIBERAL ARTS occupy a considerable place in the scheme of the
+picture. Having been frequently alluded to in detail, their collective
+appearance shall now be briefly summed up.
+
+It has already been stated[485] that these were divided into two parts.
+The first group, comprising Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric, had to do with
+the things of speech. The two ambassadors themselves, whose profession
+at that period was largely dependent on the dialectic skill of the
+negotiator, may be held to personify this division.
+
+The second part was concerned with things of fact, and embraced Music,
+Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astronomy.
+
+Music is represented by the Lute, the Hymn-book, and the Case of Flutes.
+
+Arithmetic is symbolized by Apian’s “Kauffmannss Rechnung.”
+
+Geometry is illustrated by the various mathematical instruments,
+including the Square and Compasses, and by the Mosaic Pavement.
+
+Astronomy shares with Geometry many of the mathematical instruments, and
+is further represented by the two Globes, celestial and terrestrial.
+
+THE SILVER CRUCIFIX.—This is perhaps the most puzzling object of the
+whole elaborate _mise-en-scène_. Pushed away in the upper corner of the
+picture, as inconspicuously as possible, half-hidden half-revealed by
+the green drapery of the background, the very fact of its mysterious
+introduction in such varied surroundings announces some definite object
+to be attained by its presence. Was it placed there in allusion to the
+sacred calling of the Bishop of Lavaur? Was it intended as a further
+indication of the only means by which, in his opinion, the divisions of
+the Church could be healed and unity re-established?
+
+The Crucifix hangs, however, above Dinteville, not above George de Selve.
+But there is no doubt that the Bailly of Troyes and the liberal Catholic
+party in France, led by the Du Bellay brothers, fully shared the bishop’s
+views. Reunion on the basis of the common grounds of faith formed the
+essence of their ecclesiastical policy—a policy which was just now
+reaching its climax. In secular diplomacy, these efforts towards a better
+understanding with the Protestants of Germany, corresponded with the
+anti-Imperial alliances which Dinteville so fervently upheld, and which
+he illustrated by his additions to the terrestrial globe.
+
+THE OCCULT SCIENCES.—Whether the picture contains, besides its more
+palpable meanings, any hint in the direction of alchemy and astrology,
+would seem to be a moot point. Votaries of occult science would probably
+claim the presence of the mystic “Solomon’s Seal” in the mosaic floor as
+evidence in their favour, and might further be disposed to deduce many
+things from the presence of the square and compasses, and from the choice
+and arrangement of the numbers indicated by the various instruments. On
+that abstruse path the writer cannot pretend to follow them.
+
+It is a fact, however, that just at this period such pursuits were
+at the height of fashion, not only in France, but throughout the
+educated circles of Europe. Men of the highest intelligence, such, for
+instance, as Pirkheimer, at Nuremberg, still believed in them and set
+horoscopes;[486] whilst the subject of the transmutation of metals
+claimed general attention. At the Court of France, where the protection
+afforded by the king to humanistic studies made all branches of learning,
+or _quasi_-learning, fashionable, the mediæval sciences were specially
+in vogue. “On s’applique surtout aux fausses sciences,” says M. Decrue
+de Stoutz, writing of the French Court at this period. “L’astrologie et
+l’alchimie ont plus de crédit que l’astronomie et la chimie.”[487] The
+peculiar fashion of the Maison de l’Aûmonier at Polisy seems to suggest
+that the Dinteville brothers had not escaped some share of the general
+infection.
+
+At the outset of their career, when Jean received his first appointment
+at Court, and his brother François was Almoner to Louise of Savoy, the
+famous Cornelius Agrippa, the “Great Agrippa” of our nursery rhymes, was
+physician to that princess. He soon lost his post at the French Court,
+having favoured the enterprise of the Connétable de Bourbon. But the
+Dinteville brothers were in all probability acquainted with his writings,
+which had achieved enormous celebrity, as well as with other literature
+of Hermetic art.[488] Their favourite sciences, geometry and astronomy,
+were closely linked with occult science on their more abstract side.
+
+Is any illustration of this obscure range of study to be found in the
+accessories of the picture? It is difficult to answer this question with
+any degree of certainty, the evidence appearing insufficient to afford
+definite proof of such an intention. But if for a moment the hypothesis
+be allowed, the presence of the Crucifix would gain additional point
+as an indication that only the higher forms of these pursuits, such as
+were countenanced by Churchmen, were here cultivated.[489] Cornelius
+Agrippa, in explaining his Key to Occult Science, describes a mysterious
+kind of Death to all worldly affections as a necessary preliminary to
+the true understanding of philosophy. This was the common ground on
+which dignitaries of the Church and men of his type could meet. Agrippa
+specially illustrates his meaning by quoting the passage from St. Paul,
+Colossians iii., verse 3. Whatever is to be found in books, says Agrippa,
+concerning the virtue of magic, astrology, and alchemy, is false and
+deceitful when literally understood. A mystical sense is to be sought in
+those studies, and this sense can only be attained by means of the Death
+above alluded to. “This precious Death,” he continues, “is granted but
+a small number of people, beloved by God, or favoured with a propitious
+influence of the stars, or supported by their own merits, and the secret
+of the art.”[490]
+
+Ideas such as these seem to harmonize not ill with the Device of Death
+selected, in its more material sense, for representation in the picture,
+when taken in conjunction with the presence of the Crucifix. But the
+point leads into a region too abstruse to be further pursued here, and
+with these few general remarks the reader must be left to decide as he
+pleases on the presence or absence of intentional allusion to occult
+science.
+
+CONCLUSION.—Enough has been said here to prove, with tolerable certainty,
+that while the general design and masterly realization of the whole
+subject is due to the genius of the artist, the peculiar train of
+thought expressed in the manifold details, is the outcome of the mind
+of Jean de Dinteville. From the simply pictorial point of view, the
+introduction and position of such objects as the foreshortened Skull
+and half-hidden Crucifix could not be accounted for. An extraneous
+influence has here been at work. The closer the examination of the
+picture, the more this conviction is brought home to the attentive
+spectator. The objects selected for illustration precisely represent the
+pursuits and occupations most in vogue at the time in France. Geometry
+and mechanics, the foundations of the builder’s art just then attaining
+classical expression in the lovely creations of the French Renaissance;
+Music, especially that of the lute, which was so fashionable that
+every Frenchman of exalted position carried a lutist in his train; the
+ingeniously contrived and artistically rendered _devise_; these, as the
+literature of the period abundantly testifies, were among the favourite
+studies and pastimes of the Court of France. When to these are added the
+personal touches arising from the special career and idiosyncrasy of
+each ambassador, the additions to the Terrestrial Globe, the choice of
+the Lutheran hymns, and the other striking details already enumerated,
+it becomes evident that only the active influence of the principal
+sitter could have produced so perfect an epitome of the lives of the two
+Frenchmen.
+
+For, while the views of the Bishop of Lavaur receive their full meed of
+attention in the picture, it may certainly be reckoned to the credit of
+the Bailly of Troyes that such should be the case. The brief visit of
+George de Selve terminated so early that little, if any, progress can
+have been made with the _minutiæ_ of the great composition before he took
+his leave.
+
+To Jean de Dinteville, therefore, we owe a record, probably unique in the
+domain of art, of the thoughts and studies, the hopes and fears, which
+swayed his country and generation, and, through them, were reflected in
+his individual life.
+
+But it is to the magnificent skill of the painter, Hans Holbein, that
+the preservation of that record is due in the interesting form we see
+to-day; and it is to him alone that we are indebted for having wrought
+the heterogeneous objects which accompany his noble presentment of the
+two Ambassadors into the abiding unity of a great work of art.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX A
+
+GEORG GYZE, OR GISZE
+
+
+A letter written by Thomas Houth to the Earl of Kildare, Lord Deputy of
+Ireland, shows that in 1533 Holbein’s sitter, Georg Gyze, was Deputy to
+the Alderman of the Steelyard.
+
+The portion of the document which here concerns us, in which recovery is
+sought of a debt owed by one Wolff, in the employment of Kildare, to a
+man named Peter Rych, runs as follows:
+
+    “Your servant Wolff is indebted to the bearer, as appears
+    by bills of Wolff’s son-in-law’s hand. I ascertained at the
+    Steelyard that the handwriting was his, _by the evidence of
+    George Gyes, the Alderman’s Deputy_....”[491]
+
+The origin of the name of Gyze, and the variations in the mode of
+spelling it, have been a considerable puzzle to students of Holbein.
+It occurs several times over on the addresses of letters and other
+accessories introduced into the portrait of this German merchant painted
+by Holbein in 1532, and each time takes a different form. Perhaps the
+most salient version is that placed in the portrait beneath the motto,
+“Nulla sine merore voluptas,” where the name is variously read “G.
+Gisze,” or “Gyze,” according to whether the second letter is taken to be
+an “i,” followed by a long “s,” or whether the two strokes are combined
+into one letter, and read as a “y.”[492]
+
+Equal uncertainty appears to prevail as to the type of German used in the
+various inscriptions. The catalogue (1891) of the Berlin Gallery, where
+the portrait now is, spells “Gisze,” and says, “An der Wand Briefe mit
+seiner Adresse in _hoch_deutscher Mundart.” (On the wall letters with
+his address in _High_ German dialect.) Dr. Woltmann, in the first volume
+of “Holbein und seine Zeit” (2nd German edition, 1874), writes “Gyze,”
+and says (in his note, page 366), “Die Adressen auf den Briefen sind in
+_nieder_-deutschen Sprache geschrieben.” (The addresses on the letters
+are written in _Low_ German language.) In his second volume (1876,
+“Verzeichniss der Werke von Hans Holbein d. J.,” No. 115), Dr. Woltmann
+alters the spelling to “Gysse,” a form which adds another stroke to the
+name and corresponds with no rendering given by Holbein.
+
+Where authorities differ so widely a further suggestion may perhaps be
+permissible.
+
+It must be recollected that the merchants of the Hansa came from many
+different localities, and brought a variety of dialects to the Steelyard
+of London. At this time, when the spelling of proper names was, like
+some of the languages to which they belonged, still in a fluid state,
+and largely phonetic, the rendering of any given name was liable to vary
+very considerably, according to local circumstances and the pleasure or
+_provenance_ of the writer.
+
+Whether we read Gisze or Gyze, the name was probably a variation
+of that of Gueiss, which was one of the most distinguished of the
+Steelyard, and frequently reappears in its annals. The family belonged
+to Cologne. Albert von Gueiss was a representative of the Steelyard at
+the conference held at Bruges in 1520 between England and the Hansa.[493]
+He was Burgher-master of Cologne in 1523 and 1526.[494] As it is
+recorded in the portrait of George Gyze by Holbein that the sitter was
+in his thirty-fourth year in 1532, he may have been a younger brother
+or possibly a son of this Albert von Gueiss. Further research in the
+archives of Cologne would perhaps reveal his exact identity.
+
+Besides the form already quoted, Holbein gives the name on the portrait
+in several other versions: “Gisse” and “Ghisse,” and, in Latin, “...
+Georgii Gysenii.” (See Berlin catalogue under “Holbein.”)
+
+The name of Gueiss is also found in three different shapes in the records
+of the Steelyard: “Albertum von Gueyss,” “Albert von Gueiss,” and “Albert
+_Gissen_.”[495]
+
+The third form “Gissen” is practically or wholly identical[496] with at
+least one of Holbein’s renderings of the name; while Gueiss, Gisze, Gyze,
+and Gyes are sufficiently nearly related to make it appear tolerably
+certain that, in the loose orthography of the period, they represent the
+same name, varied according to the fancy or nationality of the writer.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX B
+
+“PRESBYTER JOANNES” (PRESTER JOHN)
+
+
+“The idea” (says Colonel Yule)[497] “that a Christian potentate of
+enormous wealth and power, and bearing this title, ruled over vast tracts
+in the far East, was universal in Europe from the middle of the twelfth
+to the end of the thirteenth century, after which time the Asiatic
+story seems gradually to have died away, whilst the Royal Presbyter was
+assigned to a locus in Abyssinia; the equivocal application of the term
+_India_ to the East of Asia and the East of Africa facilitating this
+transfer. Indeed I have a suspicion, contrary to the view now generally
+taken, that the term may from the first have belonged to an Abyssinian
+Prince, though circumstances led to its being applied in another quarter
+for a time.
+
+“Be that as it may, the inordinate report of Prester John’s magnificence
+became especially diffused from about the year 1165, when a letter full
+of the most extravagant details was circulated, which purported to have
+been addressed by this potentate to the Greek Emperor Manuel, the Roman
+Emperor Frederick, the Pope, and other Christian sovereigns. By the
+circulation of this letter, glaring fiction as it is, the idea of this
+Christian Conqueror was planted deep in the mind of Europe, and twined
+itself round every rumour of revolution in further Asia....”
+
+The title of Prester John, borne by this semi-mythical Christian hero,
+was transmitted to his successors in Africa; and at the time when Holbein
+copied the name of his kingdom on to the globe of the “Ambassadors,” was
+the common appellation of David, King of Abyssinia.
+
+Lord Herbert of Cherbury[498] has a curious passage concerning this
+personage. In his narrative of the meeting that took place at Bologna
+between Charles V. and the Pope in the winter of 1532-33,[499] he says:
+
+“During this interview I find in our records a Portuguez in the name
+of David King of the Ethiopians (vulgarly called Prete Jan) presented
+himself Ambassador to his Holiness; for authorizing which Charge he
+brought with him not only Letters of Credence (translated out of the
+Chaldee to the Italian and Portugal tongues) wherein the said King
+declared himself to be descended from Queen Candace, mentioned in the
+Acts of the Apostles, but a Crucifix of gold; the further effects of
+his employment being to require some excellent artificers and 2000
+Arquebusiers whom he would use in a war against the Turk in Egypt, when
+his Holiness would compose the differences in Western Parts, and join all
+Christian Princes for recovery of the Holy Land; pretending thereupon
+in the name of that King to render obedience to the Pope as the true
+successor of St. Peter. But this (as Augustino de Augustini, an Italian
+there present, and sometimes servant to Cardinal Woolsey, hath it in his
+letter to Cromwell[500]) made the rest suspected; and the rather that
+other circumstances made it probable, that this Ambassador was suborned
+partly by the Portugal to countenance his monopoly of spices towards
+those parts (much grudged by his neighbour Princes), and partly by the
+Pope to advance his authority and reputation.”
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+[1] The terms right and left signify, throughout this study, the
+spectator’s right and left.
+
+[2] The picture was acquired, with two others, from the late Earl of
+Radnor, for £55,000; of which £25,000 was contributed by the State, and
+£30,000 by Messrs. Nath. Rothschild and Sons, Sir Edward Guinness, Bart.
+(now Lord Iveagh), and Mr. Charles Cotes. (See Catalogue of the National
+Gallery, under “Holbein.”)
+
+[3] The husband of Mme. Vigée Le Brun, the painter.
+
+[4] These measurements are incorrect. See note 4, page 9.
+
+[5] Le Brun, “Galerie des Peintres Flamands, Hollandais et Allemands.”
+Paris, 1792, vol. i., page 7.
+
+[6] The following entries occur in the Account Books of Longford Castle:
+
+    1808, Feb. 18, Buchanan, Picture Dealer, on account, £100.
+    1809, June 24, Buchanan and his assignee Halden, £1,000.
+
+As on a print of the picture at the British Museum a note is inscribed,
+“sold by Buchanan for 1,000 guineas,” there can be no doubt that the
+entries in question refer to “The Ambassadors.” These and other facts
+relating to the Longford period in the story of the picture have been
+kindly communicated to the writer by Lady Radnor.
+
+[7] “Some account of the Life and Works of Hans Holbein,” by Ralph
+Nicholson Wornum, London, 1867, chap. xiv., page 275.
+
+[8] “Holbein und seine Zeit,” by Dr. Alfred Woltmann, second German
+edition, vol. i., page 372, vol. ii., page 141.
+
+[9] “Archæologia,” vol. xliv., part ii., pp. 450-455. (“Remarks on some
+pictures of Quintin Matsys and Holbein in the Collection of the Earl of
+Radnor at Longford Castle,” by John Gough Nichols, Esq., F.S.A.) In spite
+of errors of fact and speculation, Mr. Gough Nichols’ treatment of the
+subject was by far the most scientific it had met with up to that time.
+
+[10] Amongst the Windsor drawings by Holbein there are two portraits of
+Wyat. Several oil paintings also exist of this personage.
+
+[11] Curiously enough, Mr. Gough Nichols actually cites the name of
+George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, but rejects it, having examined it
+only with regard to the left-hand figure, which obviously is not that of
+a Bishop! So near did he come to the truth.
+
+[12] “Times,” September, 1890. “Art Journal,” January, 1891.
+
+[13] It seems unnecessary to record here the many interesting suggestions
+put forward for the identification of Holbein’s sitters. An exception
+should perhaps be made with regard to Mr. Sidney Colvin’s proposal
+of Nicholas Bourbon, the poet, for the second figure; because, in
+consequence of an article from his pen in the “Art Journal” for January,
+1891, the idea was repeated in more permanent form, though merely as a
+surmise, by Mr. Lionel Cust, in the “Dictionary of National Biography”
+(art. “Holbein”). It is sufficient to say here that Mr. Colvin
+immediately withdrew his suggestion when the real identity of the second
+individual was made known. (“Times,” Dec. 10, 1895.)
+
+[14] The seigneurie of Avaux in Champagne was raised to the rank of a
+Comté in 1638, in favour of Jean Jacques de Mesmes, who had married the
+heiress of that estate.
+
+[15] See note relating to the sons of Jean de Selve, part iii.
+
+[16] “Times,” May 15, 1894. Mr. Dickes had a different theory of his own
+which his interesting find materially assisted to overthrow.
+
+[17] The catalogue of the National Gallery (1898) gives the dimensions
+as follows: “In oil, of ten vertical panels, 6 ft. 10 in. high, by 6 ft.
+10¼ in. wide.” It is curious that while the catalogue of the Beaujon
+sale makes the picture much wider than high, Le Brun’s description,
+about five years later in date, exactly reverses those proportions. Le
+Brun’s measurements are obviously the less incorrect of the two, as the
+engraving in the “Galerie des Peintres Flamands,” etc., shows that the
+picture, if represented in proportions that at all corresponded with the
+original, was, in his time, much higher than broad; but both descriptions
+must have been very inaccurate. Excessive carelessness on the part of the
+French writers is probably the main explanation of the discrepancies.
+
+[18] The spectator’s right.
+
+[19] The signature and date have been recorded as existent or
+non-existent at various times in the history of the picture, according
+to the condition of the painting and of the light at the moment of
+examination. In the excellent circumstances it now enjoys, both one and
+the other are plainly visible.
+
+[20] Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des Estampes, Cote Yᵈ, 184;
+and a second copy in the same library, Imprimés, V, 8201, 18. Catalogue
+de tableaux ... après le décès de M. Beaujon ... redigé par P. Rémy et C.
+F. Julliot, fils. Pp. 7 et 8, Ecole des Pays-Bas, Jean Holbein. In the
+margin of the first copy named is a note in ink: “Prix de vente 602L. A
+été vendu avec le No. précédent et pour la même somme.” The preceding
+number (16) is under the same heading “Jean Holbein.” But as it is said
+to represent “La Cour de François II.,” who began to reign in 1559, while
+Holbein died in 1543, it is scarcely necessary to observe that, _if
+rightly described_, it can have had nothing to do with this painter. The
+sale began on April 25, 1787; the “Ambassadors” and its companion picture
+were disposed of on May 5.
+
+[21] “Revue de Champagne et de Brie,” vol. xxiv., page 318. M.
+Lefèvre-Pontalis alludes to the same notice in his preface to the
+“Correspondance politique d’Odet de Selve,” edited by him for the French
+Foreign Office.
+
+[22] The paragraph in brackets is in another writing. See facsimile,
+facing page 12.
+
+[23] Up to Easter (April 13), 1533, the year was still 1532 by the old
+reckoning.
+
+[24] “[Remarks on the subject of an excellent picture of the Sieur
+d’Inteville Polizy, and George de Selve, Bishop of Lavour, showing the
+offices they held, and the time of their decease.
+
+“In this picture is represented, life-size, Messire Jean de Dintevile
+chevalier Sieur de Polizy, near Bar-sur-Seyne, Bailly of Troyes, who
+was Ambassador in England for King Francis I. in the years 1532 [O.S.]
+and 1533 and since Governour of Monsieur Charles de France, second son
+(_sic_) of the said King; the same Charles died at Forest Monstier in
+the year 1545, and the said Sr. de Dintevile in the year 1555. Interred
+in the Church of the said Polizy. There is also represented in the said
+picture, Messire George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, a personage of great
+learning and virtue, who was Ambassador with the Emperor Charles V.;
+the said Bishop was the son of Messire Jean de Selve, Premier President
+of the Parliament of Paris; the said Bishop died in 1541, having in the
+above-mentioned year 1532, or 1533, gone to England by permission of the
+King, to visit the said Sieur de Dintevile, his intimate friend, and also
+of all his family; and they two having met in England an excellent Dutch
+painter, employed him to make this picture, which was carefully preserved
+at the said place, Polizy, up to the year 1653.”
+
+This document is now the property of the Trustees of the National Gallery.]
+
+[25] Possibly the writing of the docket might be identified by a person
+conversant with the handwritings of the French antiquaries of the
+seventeenth century, who did such good service by the preservation of
+ancient manuscripts.
+
+[26] “Gallia Christiana” (Lutetiæ, 1715), vol. xiii. (1722), page 344.
+“Ecclesia Vaurensis,” No. xxi., Georgius de Selve.
+
+[27] This deed, preserved at Villiers-par-Cerny, near La Ferté-Alais
+(Seine-et-Oise), and never before published, was kindly placed at the
+writer’s disposal by the Marquis de Selve. The Papal licence forms an
+authoritative standard by means of which the many loose statements
+regarding the bishop’s age, with which the printed notices of his life
+abound, may be easily checked. Villiers was owned by Jean de Selve,
+Premier President, father of the Bishop of Lavaur, at least as early as
+1528.
+
+[28] Joachim de Dinteville, the head of the elder line who resided at
+Dinteville in Champagne, died in 1607. He was Lieutenant du Roi in that
+province, and a man of great ability and reputation. His correspondence
+has been published in the “Revue de Champagne et de Brie.” With his
+demise the male line of the house of Dinteville became extinct in both
+branches.
+
+[29] Brother to Jean, the Ambassador.
+
+[30] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Du Puy, 702 f. 147. Camusat to Du Puy.
+Madame de Cessac was niece to the Bishop of Auxerre.
+
+[31] Paris, Bibl. Nat. MSS. fr. nouv. acquisition, 6208 (“Corr. des
+frères de Sainte-Marthe”), f. 74. Camusat to MM. de Sainte-Marthe,
+Troyes, 21 August (probably 1607). “Je vous envoye une généalogie qui m’a
+esté donnée par la dame de Sesac, laquelle est de la maison de Polizy
+Dinteville....”
+
+[32] “Meslanges Historiques,” part ii., p. 211 (Troyes, 1st ed., 1619).
+
+[33] Not to be confounded with a distant connection, Louis de Castlenau,
+Marquis de Cessac, a celebrated gambler, who is alluded to by various
+writers of the time. John Evelyn mentions having paid this person a sum
+of money owed to him by Lord Berkeley, which Castelnau immediately played
+away. (“Diary,” Bray’s ed., vol. ii., p. 107.)
+
+[34] Dubuisson-Aubenay, “Journal des guerres civiles,” edited by M.
+Saige, vol. ii., pp. 65-73. The Dictionaries of Nobility, etc., mention
+only the daughter, Charlotte-Marie, who survived.
+
+[35] Imperial territory.
+
+[36] Dubuisson-Aubenay, “Journal des guerres civiles,” vol. ii., pp.
+65-73.
+
+[37] Polisy was sold 1654, Deschenetz in 1656, the smaller properties no
+doubt following suit as occasion offered.
+
+[38] Memoir in explanation of three letters sent by Monsʳ. Camusat, Canon
+of St. Pierre at Troyes, [touching a picture made in England of George de
+Selve, Bp. of Lavaur, who had gone thither to visit the Bailly of Troies,
+Sr. de Polizi, Jean d’Inteville, at that time the king’s ambassador].
+
+There are two relating to the Bishop of Lavaur, George de Selve, son of
+M. le Premier President de Selve, which Bishop had been invited by M. de
+Polizy, bailly of Troyes, ambassador in England in the years 1532 [O.S.]
+and 1533, to visit him in England, which he did, having first taken
+leave of the king. And being in England, they had made the excellent
+picture by a Dutch painter, Holben, which picture was preserved in the
+House of Polizy, distant but one league from Bar-sur-Seine, a hundred
+and forty [_sic_] years and more, as belonging to the Seigneur of the
+place, Sʳ. de Sessac, until the year 1653, when he had it removed to
+Paris, to his house near the parish of St. Sulpice; the said picture
+representing the said Sr. de Polizy, Jean de d’Inteville, and the said
+Bishop of Lavaur who was afterwards ambassador with Charles V.; the said
+Bishop died in 1541. The said picture is considered the finest piece of
+painting in France in the opinion of the best painters. M. le Maréchal du
+Plessis-Praslain bought the estate of Polisy for three hundred thousand
+livres from the said Sr. de Sessac.
+
+M. de Vic, garde des sceaux, formerly said that it was the most beautiful
+piece of painting in France.
+
+M. George de Selve, and his brothers, worthily served France in various
+embassies and legations.
+
+[39] The portion between brackets is in another hand. See facsimile, on
+opposite page.
+
+[40] It will be remembered that these dates are reckoned in the old
+style, _i.e._, the year beginning at Easter. Jean de Dinteville was
+in England on this occasion from February to November, 1533. The
+commencement of his sojourn would therefore belong to 1532, by the old
+reckoning.
+
+[41] The name “Holben” is inserted between the lines, but is in the
+same hand and of the same date as the writing which surrounds it. See
+facsimile, on opposite page.
+
+[42] Obviously a slip of the pen for “cent vingt ans.”
+
+[43] “Méri de Vic, sieur d’Ermenonville, président au parlement de
+Toulouse, conseiller d’Etat, garde des sceaux (24 Dec., 1621), mort le 2
+sept. 1622.” (Lalanne, “Dict. Hist. de la France.”)
+
+[44] Paris, Bibl. de l’Institut, Collection Godefroy, Portefeuille 216,
+f. 34.
+
+[45] “... The said Bishop ... went to visit in England in 1532 [O.S.] an
+intimate friend of his, Mr. de Polizy, Jean de d’Inteville, bailly of
+Troyes, who was then ambassador with Henry VIII.; and then also the said
+Bishop and Bailly of Troyes had made in England the excellent picture
+which is now at Paris, in the dwelling of M. de Sessac, in which the said
+Bailly and Bishop are represented life-size; the said picture is by the
+hand of a Dutchman; the piece is esteemed the richest and best wrought
+that is to be found in France.”
+
+[46] Paris, Bibl. de l’Institut, Fonds Godefroy, p. 520, ff. 282 and
+283. Mémoire de M. Camusat, chanoine de Troyes touchant les enfans et
+descendans de Mr. le premr. président de Selves, etc. Dated 1654.
+
+[47] Archives of Polisy, kindly communicated by M. Abrand, the
+proprietor’s agent.
+
+[48] Paris, Arch. Nat., Y 25, fol. 325.
+
+[49] Berty et Tisserand, “Topographie Historique du vieux Paris” (Région
+du Bourg St. Germain), pp. 155, 157, 159. (Paris, 1876.)
+
+[50] In 1779 Carlos de la Traverse wrote from St. Ildefonse (Spain) to M.
+d’Angeviller, proposing to him to buy some cartoons for tapestry designed
+by Holbein. But the offer was declined on the ground that Holbein was
+“_un peintre sec et demi-gothique_.” (“Nouvelles Archives de l’Art
+français,” IIᵉ Série, t. i., 7th of the collection, pp. 258-262.) The
+cartoons in question represented scenes from the Passion.
+
+[51] In 1661 M. de Cessac signed a deed in the house “on pend pour
+enseigne le Croissant,” Rue de Bourbon (Toulouse, Arch. de la Hte.
+Garonne). In 1669, the date of his marriage with Anne Louise de Broglie,
+he was in the Rue des Boucheries, Faubourg St. Germain. The marriage
+contract reveals that he possessed at this time, in all, three houses in
+Paris; the other two being situated in the Rue des “Viels” Augustins. He
+had therefore parted with the “logis” in the Rue du Four. The contract
+confers on him the power to sell, or exchange, in like manner, the three
+houses now in question. Subsequent legal deeds show a series of further
+changes.
+
+[52] Archives du Var, B 197 (quoted by M. Dardenne).
+
+[53] Milhars is situated in the Department of Tarn, on a rocky height
+commanding the junction of the small river Cérou with the Aveyron. For
+all the facts relating to the history of the Château, and for many of
+those which concern its occupants, the writer is indebted to M. Henri
+Dardenne, of Carcassonne, Trésorier-Général of the Department of Aude.
+This gentleman, who is the author of an interesting (unpublished) history
+of Milhars and its successive owners, based on original documents, most
+kindly placed his manuscript at the writer’s disposal.
+
+[54] Camusat himself possessed portraits of Guillaume, Seigneur
+Deschenetz, and Gaucher, Seigneur de Vanlay, brothers of Jean the
+Ambassador, as well as that of their cousin, Joachim de Dinteville, head
+of the elder branch of the family, whose residence was at Dinteville in
+Champagne. The two first-named portraits Camusat left by will (Paris,
+Bibl. de l’Institut, Coll. Godefroy, vol. 308, f. 116), to D’Hozier,
+author of the “Nobiliaire de Champagne”; that of Joachim de Dinteville,
+to the Abbé Bonhomme, a well-known collector of the time at Troyes. (See
+Bonnaffé, “Les Collectionneurs de l’ancienne France”). The indifference
+displayed by the Marquis de Cessac to Dinteville records, in allowing
+Camusat to acquire these portraits (either at the time of the sale of
+Polisy, or earlier), brings into strong relief the value placed upon “The
+Ambassadors,” which seems to have been the only picture retained. This
+is the more striking, as M. de Cessac possessed, it appears, a “Cabinet”
+of portraits of some interest, derived from the neighbourhood of his
+family estates, Cessac and Cazillac. Two of these were reproduced for Du
+Chesne’s “Hist. des Cardinaux François” (Paris, 1660, pages 426 and 521).
+The two Cardinals in question belonged respectively to the dioceses of
+Cahors and Limoges; proving sufficiently that the Marquis de Cessac who
+owned their portraits was François de Cazillac, and not, as M. Bonnaffé
+states (“Dict. des Amateurs français”), Louis de Castelnau, the notorious
+card-player, whose property lay in quite a different part of the country.
+(See also note, page 15.)
+
+[55] The deed recording the attempted donation was drawn up at Milhars,
+1st September, 1665. Roger de Guénégaud was the son of Henri Du Plessis
+Guénégaud, Marquis de Plancy, the well-known Secretary of State and
+Garde des Sceaux. This gentleman had married Isabelle (or Elizabeth) de
+Choiseul, daughter of Charles de Choiseul, Marquis de Praslin, and of
+Claude de Cazillac, aunt of M. de Cessac. As such, Roger de Guénégaud
+descended, through his mother, in as direct a line from the Dinteville
+heiress as the Marquis de Cessac himself. The latter lived on terms of
+intimate friendship with these relations. Mme. de Sévigné records having
+met M. de Cessac at Fresnes, the country place of Du Plessis Guénégaud.
+(Letter to the Marquis de Pomponne, 1st August, 1667.)
+
+[56] M. Aug. Vidal of Albi (Tarn) kindly made researches for the writer
+on this point, both in the Archives at Toulouse and at the Château of St.
+Géry, now owned by Madame O’Byrn, a descendant of the family of Rey de
+St. Géry, who purchased Milhars from the Lamoignon family in 1765. This
+lady, who has at St. Géry a large quantity of legal papers brought from
+Milhars, was good enough to place them at M. Vidal’s disposition, but
+unfortunately without result.
+
+[57] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MSS. français, 28,998, f. 17a, De la
+Roche-Fontenilles. At the end are the words: “Copie pour Monsieur
+Voisin,” and the date 1685.
+
+[58] See _ante_, page 15.
+
+[59] Dardenne MS., p. 164, quoted from the Minutes Gaugiron, p. 51. These
+are one of M. Dardenne’s most important sources. M. Gaugiron was a notary
+of Milhars, with whom many of the legal documents of this period were
+deposited.
+
+[60] St. Simon (“Mémoires”), who has nothing but sarcasm for the family
+of Mesmes in general, is full of admiration for the goodness, amiability,
+and unaffected piety of Mme. de Fontenilles. This lady seems to have been
+in every way a contrast to her husband.
+
+[61] It will be seen later on, however, that the Voisin inheritance was
+bequeathed elsewhere, so that on Mme. Voisin’s side the connection could
+only have affected the fate of the picture by supposing that it was given
+to, or purchased by, the Premier Président, before her death.
+
+[62] Marie-Renée, who, owing to her quarrel with her mother and residence
+in Champagne, probably knew nothing of the story of the picture, would
+certainly have been none the wiser if this were the case.
+
+[63] Perhaps no member of the Lamoignon race is better known to history
+than this one. Born in 1735, Chrétien-François de Lamoignon, Marquis de
+Basville et de Milhars, became a President _à mortier_ of the Parliament
+of Paris in 1758. Mixed up in the political storms which preceded the
+outbreak of the Revolution, he shared the exile of his party in 1772;
+was recalled; appointed Garde des Sceaux in 1787; resigned the following
+year, and died at Basville in 1789.
+
+[64] Chrétien-François died, however, and his son fled, at the outbreak
+of the Revolution, so the arrangement came to an untimely end.
+
+[65] Nicolas Beaujon, a native of Bordeaux, had raised himself, not
+always by the most creditable means, from a humble origin to a position
+of great wealth and influence. He was Banker to the Court, and Treasurer
+to the Order of St. Louis. Although society smiled at the eccentricities
+of the _parvenu_, the magnificence of his house and collections made
+it impossible to overlook their owner. His charities, moreover, were
+immense. For these and the facts given in the text respecting Beaujon,
+the writer is indebted to Dr. Charles Fournel, whose little work,
+“L’Hôpital Beaujon depuis son origine jusqu’à nos jours” (Paris, E.
+Deuter, 1884), gives the only correct information to be had respecting
+the millionaire, being founded throughout on original documents. The
+popular compendiums of biography bristle, as usual, with errors; not
+excepting Jal, who, however, gives one authentic document.
+
+[66] Now the Elysée, the residence of the President of the Republic.
+
+[67] The letters and chronicles of the time are rich in local colouring,
+and are preferable for the present object to the stately histories
+written in a subsequent age. The immense stores of manuscripts preserved
+in the public libraries of France, especially in the Bibliothèque
+Nationale at Paris, fortunately facilitate the task to a great extent.
+Among printed sources none are more valuable than the various series
+of State Papers, published both in England and France, the “Meslanges
+Historiques” of Camusat, and—for a contemporary French view of the events
+of the time—the Memoirs of the Du Bellay brothers.
+
+[68] Literally, “Des Chenets,” and often so written in early records. But
+the name soon lost its original meaning and was corrupted into one word.
+
+[69] Paris, Arch. Nat., X¹ᵃ 8611, dated Amboise, 4th Dec., 1516.
+
+[70] Ph. de Comines, “Mémoires” (ed. by Mlle. Dupont for the Soc. de
+l’Hist. de France), vol. ii., p. 436.
+
+[71] Michelet, “Hist. de France au XVIᵉ̀ᵐᵉ siècle” (ed. 1855),
+“Renaissance,” pp. 190, 191.
+
+[72] A royal order of 1511 permits Gaucher de Dinteville to recover
+certain moneys due to him from the heirs of Jean, Duc de Nemours, which
+he had previously been unable to claim owing to absence from home. In
+this deed he is called “Seigneur de Pollisy et bailli de Troyes.”
+
+[73] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds fr. 7853.
+
+[74] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Cab. des Titres, Pièces Orig., vol. 1004, No. 65,
+Dossier Dinteville.
+
+[75] Charrière, “Négociations de la France dans le Levant” (Doc. inéd.
+sur l’hist. de France), vol. i., part ii., chap. i., “Premières Relations
+de la France avec la Porte.”
+
+[76] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fond fr. 5502, f. 50.
+
+[77] Paris, Arch. Nat., X¹ᵃ 1523 (Rég. du Conseil, f. 33).
+
+[78] Boutiot, “Hist. de Troyes,” p. 285.
+
+[79] Marguerite, the widowed Duchesse d’Alençon, was married to the King
+of Navarre in January, 1527.
+
+[80] Blois.
+
+[81] Louise of Savoy, the king’s mother.
+
+[82] Génin, Lettres de Marguerite de Valois, vol. i., Lettre 56, p. 224.
+Marguerite “à mon nepveu, M. le Grant-Maistre, de Gabarre, le 17 Octobre,
+1527.”
+
+[83] It was not the first, nor perhaps the second visit, which Anne de
+Montmorency had paid to our shores. In 1519 he had been one of eight
+hostages, four nobles and four commoners, sent to England in connection
+with the cession of Tournay to France. He bore at that time the title of
+La Rochepot, which has caused Du Bellay to confound him with his younger
+brother, subsequently known by that name (see Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne
+de Montmorency,” part i., p. 13, note 1). One of his fellow-hostages
+in 1519 was Charles de Solier, Comte de Morette, later more than once
+French ambassador in England, and the subject of the magnificent portrait
+by Holbein now in the Dresden Gallery. Another was Antoine des Prez,
+Seigneur de Montpesat, who also returned subsequently as ambassador (see
+“Mémoires Du Bellay,” ed. Petitot, vol. i., p. 282). Hall is wrong in
+saying that there were only four hostages altogether, but identifies
+Montmorency correctly (see Ellis’s “Original Letters,” 3rd series, vol.
+i., letter lxxviii., where the passage from Hall’s Chronicle is quoted).
+
+[84] Lefèvre had previously been the instructor of Renée of France,
+whose sympathies with the Reformers were well known. (Fontana, “Renata
+di Francia,” vol. i., p. 275, where the further authority is cited:
+Franz Blümmer, “Renata von Ferrara,” p. 24.) Jacques Lefèvre was born at
+Etaples about 1455, and died at Nérac in 1537.
+
+[85] Guillaume Budé was born at Paris in 1467. He was secretary to
+Charles VIII.; was sent by Louis XII. on various missions to the Holy
+See; was appointed Master of the King’s Library under Francis I., and
+persuaded that sovereign to found the Collège Royal. His learning and his
+proficiency in Greek brought him high reputation; he was also the author
+of many works and translations on a variety of subjects. Budé died in
+1540.
+
+[86] Desiderius Erasmus was born at Rotterdam in 1467. Famous alike for
+profound learning and biting wit, no one, perhaps, exercised greater
+influence than he in preparing the way for the Reformation. Like many
+of the humanists of his time, especially those of France, he was not,
+however, prepared to go to the extreme length of secession from Rome,
+and was therefore blamed by the Lutherans, rather unjustly perhaps, for
+weakness and half-heartedness. His relations with England, especially
+with Warham and More, and his portraits by Holbein, are too well known to
+need more than a passing mention here. It was owing to his introduction
+that Holbein first came to England, and was received into the house of
+Sir Thomas More. Erasmus died at Basle in 1536.
+
+[87] Roussel, another divine of Lutheran leanings, became confessor to
+the Queen of Navarre, and subsequently Bishop of Oloron.
+
+[88] Erasmus to Lefèvre, 24 March, 1527. Quoted by Ch. Schmidt, “Gérard
+Roussel.”
+
+[89] Ch. Schmidt, _ibid._, p. 74.
+
+[90] Erasmus to Germain Brie, 21 September, 1528, quoted by Schmidt,
+“Gérard Roussel.”
+
+[91] This princess had been brought up by Madame de Châtillon, a lady
+of high accomplishments, later secretly re-married, it was said, to the
+Bishop Jean du Bellay.
+
+[92] Daughter of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne.
+
+[93] Boutiot, “Hist. de la ville de Troyes,” p. 432. (Paris, 1874.)
+
+[94] Guillaume Du Bellay, Seigneur de Langey, was born at Glatigny, near
+Montmirail, in 1491, and died 1543. He was Viceroy of Piedmont from
+1537, and displayed high capacity in whatever work he undertook. He was
+part-author of the well-known memoirs, completed by his brother Martin
+Du Bellay.—Jean Du Bellay, Cardinal, was born 1492, and died at Rome in
+1560. As statesman, churchman, ambassador, and author, his career was one
+of the most distinguished of the reign of Francis I.
+
+[95] Coxe, “Life of Melanchthon,” p. 371.
+
+[96] _Ibid._
+
+[97] That is, two hands clasped in each other.
+
+[98] A third souvenir of the Dinteville, and record of their artistic
+tastes, in the Church of Thennelières, is the beautiful but ruined white
+marble figure of Louise de Coligny, wife of Gaucher the younger, who
+inherited Thennelières from his father. It is apparently of Italian
+workmanship, and was formerly recumbent. It now leans disconsolate in an
+upright position against the wall of the church, despoiled of its black
+marble base. See, for an account of the Church of Thennelières, and
+illustrations of its curiosities, M. Charles Fichot, in the “Statistique
+Monumentale de l’Aube.”
+
+[99] Louis de Dinteville, Knight of Rhodes.
+
+[100] Guillaume, fourth son of Gaucher, was brought up in the household
+of Henry, Count of Nassau, who was attached to the Court of Charles V.
+The Count of Nassau was related to the Dinteville family, and at his
+death left to Guillaume a house in Paris. On this side the family had
+both Spanish and German connections.
+
+[101] François (II.), Bishop of Auxerre; Jean, Bailly of Troyes; and
+Gaucher the younger, who was employed in the public service to carry
+despatches, etc. All the brothers further held Court appointments.
+
+[102] The following is a literal prose translation of the epitaph:
+
+    “The support of the good, Gauche de Dinteville
+    After having in the civil wars
+    Of France acquired the name of sage though young;
+    After having in the renowned expedition
+    Made by Charles to Naples and Rome,
+    Won the name of a brave gentleman;
+    After having, in the ancient city of Sienna,
+    Filled the post of head of the Republic;
+    After having been Bailly of Troyes
+    In Champagne, and seen born to him
+    Sons, by whom, in his lifetime,
+    Rhodes, Spain and France were served;
+    After having in the King’s house had the lot
+    Of a good Maître d’hostel in Ordinary,
+    And of First Maître d’hostel to M. le Dauphin:
+    Seeing his end at last approaching,
+    And knowing that happy none can be
+    Until he has put off this terrestrial robe,
+    He desired to give to his agèd eyes
+    That last happiness, of being closed by his own family;
+    The love and pity of whom have laid him here,
+    Full of years, honours, riches, and friends.”
+
+[103] Paris, Arch. Nat., P. 164², côte 1494.
+
+[104] Gaucher de Dinteville attended the coronation of Francis I. as a
+Knight of St. Michael. (Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds fr. 32865, Chevaliers
+de l’Ordre de St. Michel depuis 1515 jusqu’en 1560. This list is,
+however, incomplete, being an early attempt to reconstruct the roll of
+the Knights after the destruction of the original at the time of the
+French Revolution. The MS. expressly states, with regard to Jean, that
+the only documentary evidence at the disposal of the compiler was an
+act of 1588, in which Jean is termed Chevalier de l’Ordre du Roi, and
+the manuscript list of the Knights drawn up by D’Hozier, in 1660, which
+gives him the same quality. D’Hozier, a famous genealogist, and author
+of the “Nobiliaire de Champagne,” had every opportunity for obtaining
+correct information, and had, of course, access to the roll which was
+subsequently destroyed. Although the exact date of Jean’s admission to
+the Order is unknown, the fact of his having been a Knight of St. Michael
+is therefore incontestable.)
+
+[105] Charrière, “Négociations de la France dans le Levant,” vol. i., p.
+146, Villiers L’Isle-Adam to Montmorency.
+
+[106] Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., p. 172.
+
+[107] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, 702, fol. 131.
+
+[108] Lebeuf, “Mémoires concernant l’Eglise d’Auxerre,” pp. 138-199,
+quoted by Sandret, “Revue Hist. et Nobiliaire,” xiii., 220.
+
+[109] See illustration, Part II., chap. vii.
+
+[110] Letters and Papers, For. and Dom., Henry VIII., vol. v., 1531-32,
+No. 579.
+
+[111] Gilles de la Pommeraye was a right-hand man of Montmorency. He
+had previously been French ambassador at the court of the Archduchess
+Margaret at Brussels.
+
+[112] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” Letter of La Pommeraye to the Bishop of
+Auxerre, March 10, 1532.
+
+[113] ... “You are right to envy me being with so amiable a prince, for I
+think that after the king our master, there has been none for two hundred
+years past of greater intelligence or grace, or more magnanimous than
+this one. And to speak frankly to you, the said king our master is under
+an obligation to him for the good will he shows him, by which I profit
+greatly, for I am treated here, not as an ambassador, but as a prince of
+the country; lodged in the house of this said king, and, when I go to
+see him, always eating at his table. So you must not wonder if I beg and
+exhort you to uphold his quarrel.
+
+“This prince has a great wish to chastise the priests of this country and
+not to allow them to enjoy such great privileges as has been their habit;
+which is caused by the wrong that is being done him at Rome, which is
+so great that it could not be surpassed. It is a strange thing that the
+Emperor should have so much power over the Pope as to prevent him doing
+right and justice there where he knows them to be.”
+
+[114] Bridewell Palace.
+
+[115] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” part ii., p. 78b, La Pommeraye to the
+Bishop of Auxerre, 20 March, 1532. The avowed object of La Pommeraye’s
+mission was to support the king’s desire that his cause should be heard
+in England and not at Rome. (Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. v.,
+1531-32, No. 614, Chapuys to Charles V.)
+
+[116] Balavoyne was the maternal uncle of Théodore de Bèze, the historian
+of the French Reformation, whose uncle, on the paternal side, Monsieur de
+Bèze the elder, an orthodox Catholic, died beneath the protecting roof of
+the bishop’s house in Paris, during the absence of the latter in Rome.
+Paris, Bibl. de l’Institut, Coll. Godefroy, p. 254, Nos. 23, 24.
+
+[117] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll. Dupuy, vol. 726, ff. 90, 91. Letter from
+Berthereau to the Bishop of Auxerre.
+
+[118] _Ibid._, vol. 728, f. 51.
+
+[119] Paris, Bibl. de l’Institut, Coll. Godefroy, Letter of Balavoyne to
+the Bishop of Auxerre, Nantes, 25 August, 1532.
+
+[120] Du Bellay, “Mémoires,” ed. Petitot, vol. ii., p. 133. These were
+certainly the only English subjects admitted to the French Order at this
+period. The reason given by Du Bellay for the selection of the two dukes
+sufficiently proves the high esteem in which the distinction was held.
+
+[121] Camusat, “Meslanges Historiques,” p. 110. Traicté touchant la
+contribution que le Roy et le Roy d’Angleterre doyvent faire pour la
+deffension du Turc. See also p. 109, Double des traictés, etc.
+
+[122] Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv., 1527-33, No. 832.
+Zuan Antonio Venier to the Signory, Oct. 31, 1532.
+
+[123] See note 7, p. 42. Morette, another of the hostages, had already
+been over on a short mission in the spring of 1528.
+
+[124] Katherine of Aragon.
+
+[125] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. v., 1531-32, No. 1579, Chapuy
+to Charles V., Nov. 26, 1532. The “king’s house” in question was the
+palace of Bridewell.
+
+[126] Perhaps his unmarried sister at Polisy, or possibly his mother.
+Married women were sometimes termed Mademoiselle, though in this case the
+appellation would not have been strictly correct, the rank of Gaucher de
+Dinteville entitling his widow to the name of Madame.
+
+[127] Paris, Bibl. de l’Institut, Coll. Godefroy, portfolio 225, ff. 23,
+24.
+
+[128] “Besides this, the Grand Maître expressly charged me to write to
+you that the moment they have left you can come away. I am sure it will
+be quite right to say good-bye. But whatever remonstrances, on the score
+of the king’s service or other things, are made, come away; and you will
+be welcomed and well received, I assure you; not by me, for you will
+not find me, as I leave to-morrow; and I hope, please God, that on your
+arrival, you will find your appeals despatched.”
+
+[129] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, 726, f. 107. The Bailly of Troyes
+to the Bishop of Auxerre, 26 Jan., 1533.
+
+[130] “Be assured, at least such is my fancy, that they are not your
+friends; but, also, the wisdom of a man is to sit firm in his great
+encounters. I can tell you that you were in as good grace with the
+master, when I left Court, as they. Continue as you have begun, and vary
+nothing, no matter what they may say; and, so long as you speak the
+truth, care nothing for the rest, for the patron is on your side and
+three of the most valiant champions.”
+
+[131] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” part ii., p. 115b. Gilles de la Pommeraye
+to the Bishop of Auxerre at Rome. From La Morlaix, near Rennes (in
+Brittany), 4 Dec., 1532.
+
+[132] Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv. (1527-1533), No.
+188. Marco Antonio Venier to the Doge and Signory of Venice, London, 20
+October, 1527.
+
+[133] Whom Falier came to succeed as resident ambassador.
+
+[134] Sir William Weston.
+
+[135] Jean Du Bellay, at this time Bishop of Bayonne, was in 1528
+resident French ambassador in London.
+
+[136] Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv. (1527-33), No. 380.
+
+[137] Letters and Papers, For. and Dom., Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533),
+Nos. 768 and 1227, De Dinteville to Cromwell.
+
+[138] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. v., 1531-1532, No. 627, Grant
+18. Bridewell Palace has fared badly compared with some other houses of
+the same date, for not only has every trace of it disappeared, but few
+records or prints exist to give an idea of its appearance in Tudor times.
+The early period at which it ceased to be a royal residence probably
+accounts for this deficiency. Edward VI. converted it to benevolent
+purposes as a kind of workhouse for vagrants; and this use, gradually
+approaching the functions of a house of correction, was continued in
+the new buildings erected after the Great Fire almost to the present
+day. Nearly all the engravings of Bridewell refer to its later history.
+There are, however, one or two exceptions, on a small scale, and on
+these the above description is founded. Perhaps the most accurate idea
+of the palace in Tudor times is to be obtained from the “View of London
+and Southwark in 1543,” by Anthony Vanden Wyngrerde (Oxford, Bodleian
+Library; a facsimile in pen-and-ink by N. Whittock may be seen at the
+Guildhall, London). As certain details of this view agree with a later
+drawing of about 1660, it is likely that it is more correct than the
+intermediate version by Ralph Aggas, which shows variations not to be
+found either in the earlier or later engraving mentioned (“Civitas
+Londinum,” a map of London, Westminster and Southwark, surveyed by Ralph
+Aggas about the year 1560, Guildhall Library). The view of 1660 may be
+seen in “Bridewell Palace as it appeared about the year 1660” (Published
+for the Proprietors by W. Herbert, Penlington Place, Lambeth, 1817). The
+same work gives a vignette professing to represent Bridewell in the year
+1540. As this view differs equally from that given by Wyngrerde (1543)
+and that of 1660, it should probably be received with caution.
+
+[139] State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv. (1527-1533), No. 374, Gerardo
+Molza to the Marchioness of Mantua. So great was the throng that, in
+leaving, some of the Italians actually lost their shoes.
+
+[140] Subsequently known as Whitehall.
+
+[141] Letters and Papers, For. and Dom., Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533),
+No. 1595, Grant 10, February 16, 24 Henry VIII.
+
+[142] Mario Savorgnano, State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv. (1527-1533), No.
+682, quoted from the Sanuto Diaries, 25 August, 1531. The whole letter
+is of great interest, as is also No. 694 in the same volume (Report of
+England made to the Senate by Ludovico Falier, 10 November, 1531). The
+Venetians write with enthusiastic admiration of the country and capital.
+
+[143] Old London Bridge; the only bridge London at that time possessed.
+It was massively constructed on a large number of boat-shaped piers, and
+covered with houses and shops. There was also a beautiful Gothic Chapel
+upon it.
+
+[144] St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. The latter part of the
+sentence alludes of course to Henry VII.’s Chapel.
+
+[145] Westminster (in which York Place was now included) and Bridewell.
+
+[146] Howard, Duke of Norfolk; Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; Fitzroy, Duke of
+Richmond. (State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv., No. 682.)
+
+[147] Grey, Marquis of Dorset; Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter. (_Ibid._)
+
+[148] Apparently of the lesser citizens, apart from the palaces
+previously described.
+
+[149] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. iv. (1531-1532), pp. 310 and
+316, March and November, 1529. The ambassador was one of Dinteville’s
+predecessors.
+
+[150] _Ibid._, vol. vi. (1533), No. 111, Montpesat to Montmorency.
+
+[151] _Ibid._, vol. vi. (1533), No. 160, Chapuys to Charles V., London,
+15 February, 1533.
+
+[152] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” p. 4. Mémoire et Instruction a Monsieur le
+Bailly de Troyes, etc., 27 January, 1533.
+
+[153] Letters and Papers, vol. vi. (1533), No. 160, Chapuys to Charles
+V., 15 February, 1533.
+
+[154] _Ibid._, vol. v. (1532), No. 1545, Clement VII. to Henry VIII., 15
+November, 1532.
+
+[155] Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., pp. 207, 213,
+where a list of authorities will be found.
+
+[156] It is quite possible that Dinteville was acquainted with More
+before the embassy of 1533. La Pommeraye, writing from England to the
+Bishop of Auxerre in the summer of the previous year, says, “Mr. Morres,
+_que vous congnoissez_, qui estoit Chancelier de ce Roy s’est desfaict,
+ou l’on l’a desfaict, ne sçay lequel, de sa Chancellerie, & est demeuré
+personne privée....” (Mr. Morres [note by Camusat: Th. Morus], _whom you
+know_, who was Chancellor to this king, has resigned or has been deprived
+of his Chancellorship, I do not know which, and has retired into private
+life.) Camusat, “Meslanges Historiques,” p. 93, Gilles de la Pommeraye,
+from London, to the Bishop of Auxerre at Rome, June 21st, 1532.
+
+[157] Some of the instruments seen in the picture of the “Ambassadors”
+are identical with those introduced into the portrait of Kratzer, and may
+have been lent by him (see Part IV., chap. ii.).
+
+[158] In 1533 George Gyze, or Gisze, the subject of Holbein’s fine
+portrait now at Berlin, was the Alderman’s Deputy (see Appendix A.).
+
+[159] On one occasion the king sent instructions to Cromwell to despatch
+Barnes immediately in post, to Germany, with Deryk (or Diryk). (Foxe,
+“Life of Melanchthon,” p. 385.) Holbein, as is well known, painted two
+Dericks in 1533: Derick Born, whose portrait is now at Windsor, Derick
+Tybis at Vienna. The latter certainly, the former probably, was a German
+merchant of London. As the king’s servants were frequently spoken of by
+their Christian names only (Holbein as “Haunce,” Kratzer as “Nicolas”),
+either of these Dericks may have been the one sent on the diplomatic
+mission. Augustus de Augustinus, a foreign agent in English pay, writing
+to Cromwell from Ratisbon, incloses a copy of an Imperial decree,
+presumably written in German, with the comment, “_Any of the Steelyard
+merchants will interpret it to you_.” (Letters and Papers, vol. v.,
+1532, No. 1027.) In 1538 Kratzer forwarded to Cromwell various papers
+through the agency of Hans Holbein. It is well known that Kratzer never
+acquired the English tongue. Had Holbein more success? (Ellis’s “Original
+Letters,” 3rd series, vol. i., p. 230.)
+
+[160] See the letter of the Bailly of Troyes to his brother, the Bishop
+of Auxerre, p. 79.
+
+[161] See the extract from Camusat’s memoir on the children and
+descendants of the Premier Président de Selve, p. 20. Camusat there
+states that the Bishop of Lavaur came over to England on a visit to
+Dinteville in 1532; which year ended, according to the old French
+reckoning, on Easter eve, 1533.
+
+[162] See p. 79, Dinteville’s letter to the Bishop of Auxerre, 23 May,
+1533.
+
+[163] Selve had almost certainly been already employed in this capacity
+by the King of France. See Part III.
+
+[164] Part IV. of this study.
+
+[165] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533), No. 465, Chapuys
+to Charles V., 10 May, 1533.
+
+[166] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” p. 128, Bailly of Troyes to Francis I., 23
+May, 1533.
+
+[167] “I have received your letter written from Sommevoyre, by which I
+understand you to tell me that some time ago you said to the ambassadors
+of this king [_i.e._, the King of England] when in Italy, that you had
+heard the Pope say that, regarding the affair of this said king, the
+marriage would be better made than to make. If this was so, it is a
+thing which would be of great service to him [_i.e._, to the King of
+England]. Pray let me know whether, in case the Pope does not desire to
+take another course than the one mentioned respecting the affairs of
+this country, I might inform this said king of what you told me; and
+similarly, if things should become very threatening, whether you would
+remind the Pope of the expressions he then used to you, telling him that
+you at once communicated them to the ambassadors of this said king,
+seeing the affairs of the king [of France] and his, to be but one. If
+you please, send me your opinion on this matter, which you will do well
+to discuss a little with our friends, and perhaps with Monseigneur the
+Grand-Maître and the Bishop of Paris [Jean du Bellay], for the thing is
+of considerable importance.
+
+“For the rest, we thank you very much, M. de la Tournelle, my cousin and
+I, for the branches of your yew-tree which you offer to us, but over here
+we are well furnished with arquebuses and with bad archers, of whom I am
+the worst.
+
+“Pray send me a drawing of the oval compass of which you wrote; I cannot
+at all understand the fashion in which it is made.
+
+“I am growing very weary in this country, while awaiting the end of the
+six months, which will expire on the 22nd July. The Grand-Maître promised
+me that I should only remain here for the said six months. I pray God he
+may keep his word. I have had tertian fever, but recovered from it long
+ago. Please consult a little with M. de Paris about my return. I assure
+you very earnestly that I am the most melancholy, weary and wearisome
+ambassador that ever was seen.
+
+“M. de Lavor did me the honour to come to see me, which was no small
+pleasure to me. There is no need for the Grand-Maître to hear anything
+about it.
+
+“I have had letters from Scotland from M. de Beauvois. I hope the truce
+will soon be concluded, for one year, between these two princes.
+
+“The Duke of Norfolk will leave here in two or three days to go and join
+the king [of France]. Pray make his acquaintance, for here his master
+holds you in good esteem; he told me so within a week.
+
+“As for the vultures [a species of hawk is here meant], I think it would
+only be an expense to send them, for this king does not like falconry,
+and this country is full of such birds.
+
+“I cannot believe that if you go to Rome, it will only be for a short
+time. If you will believe me, do your utmost to get the commission given
+to somebody else. Pray attend well to your legal appeals. I cannot think
+it well that you should leave them behind.
+
+“I am longing to have news of you and to know what you say to the tower
+and to the pictures. Sir, etc. From London this 23rd May.
+
+“I shall have to go to great expense for this coronation. I have written
+on the subject to the Grand-Maître, begging him to ask the king to give
+me some money to meet it with. I should be very glad to hear something of
+it. I also wrote to M. de Paris, who may mention it to you, and who can
+help me a great deal about it.
+
+                           “Your humble servant,
+
+                                                             “THE BAILLY.”
+
+[168] The family to which this gentleman belonged was a distinguished
+one, but it does not appear which individual this was.
+
+[169] The italics are the present writer’s.
+
+[170] French ambassador in Scotland.
+
+[171] The Kings of England and Scotland.
+
+[172] “Evocation” was a legal term which signified the removal of a cause
+from the jurisdiction of a lower tribunal to that of a higher one.
+
+[173] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll. Dupuy, vol. 726, f. 46. From the Bailly of
+Troyes to his brother, the Bishop of Auxerre, 23rd May, 1533.
+
+[174] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533), No. 465, Chapuys
+to Charles V., May 10, 1533. Bonner returned from Rome in January, 1533.
+See also Froude, “Divorce of Catherine of Aragon,” chap. xii.
+
+[175] Paris, Arch. Nat., J. 962, No. 527. Pagny, 21 Dec., 1533.
+
+[176] Camusat found it amongst the Polisy papers. See “Meslanges
+Historiques,” part ii., p. 211.
+
+[177] Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., p. 205.
+
+[178] “The Queen of England left Greenwich on Thursday at about four
+o’clock in the afternoon, and came by water in a flat barque, like a
+brigantine, which was painted in her colours outside, and had several
+flags flying from it; her ladies and maids of honour being with her.
+There were besides a hundred or a hundred and twenty other similar
+barques, which accompanied her, and were much decorated with banners and
+standards. They had erected on the said barques small masts, slender and
+very high, to which were attached a great quantity of ropes, as on a
+large ship, these ropes being all dressed with little flags of taffetas,
+and, in my opinion, of gold metal, for they shone strongly in the sun.
+There were also many tambourines, trumpets, flutes, and hautbois. All
+came in less than half-an-hour from Greenwich to the Tower, where the
+artillery was very loud. It was very beautiful to see this arrival, for
+besides the barques, there were, I think, more than two hundred small
+craft following behind; the whole surface of the river was covered with
+boats.
+
+“On Friday the Queen did not leave her apartments.
+
+“On Saturday at about five o’clock in the afternoon, the said Lady,
+attired in her royal robes, which are in the fashion of those of France,
+or nearly so, mounted a litter, covered within and without with white
+satin. The litter was open, and above her was carried a canopy of cloth
+of gold. Behind came twelve ladies on hackneys, who were all dressed in
+cloth of gold, and their hackneys draped in the same. Then came twelve
+young ladies on hackneys, all arrayed in crimson velvet. There followed
+a chariot covered with cloth of gold, with trappings to match. In this
+chariot were only the Duchess of Norfolk and the Queen’s mother. Then
+came three gilt chariots, where sat various young ladies; and, behind
+these, twenty or thirty others on hackneys draped with black velvet.
+
+“Around the litter of the Queen were the Duke of Suffolk, who for that
+day was High Constable, and the brother of the Duke of Norfolk, Lord
+William, who was serving in the place of his said brother as Earl Marshal
+and Lord Chamberlain, which offices are hereditary in this kingdom.
+Before them went two men, called equerries, who had great bonnets lined
+with ermine, almost similar to those of the Premier Huissier of Paris.
+
+“After these came the Ambassador of France, accompanied by the Archbishop
+of Canterbury.
+
+“Afterwards, the Ambassador of Venice, with the Lord Chancellor.
+
+“After these, several bishops, and then the rest of the great lords
+and gentlemen of this kingdom, to the number, perhaps, of two or three
+hundred.
+
+“And, before all, went the merchants of France, clad in violet velvet,
+having each one sleeve in the colours of the Queen; their horses
+caparisoned in violet taffetas powdered with white crosses.
+
+“At the cross-ways there were scaffoldings, where Mysteries were being
+played, and fountains running wine; the streets were all lined with the
+tradespeople, who were kept stationary....
+
+“On Sunday morning, accompanied by all the said lords and gentlemen, the
+Lady went on foot from her apartments to the church; the road by which
+she walked was all covered with cloth, and might be of about the same
+length as the garden of Chantilly. All the bishops and abbots went to
+fetch the said Lady, accoutred in their mitres and pontifical ornaments,
+and conducted her to the church; and after having heard a low mass, she
+mounted on a daïs that had been arranged for her in front of the high
+altar, which daïs was all covered with red cloth; and round the spot
+where she sat, which was further raised by two steps, was laid a velvet
+carpet. And in this place the Lady remained after having been crowned
+by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who placed the crown on her head and
+anointed her at the high altar, and then completed the office and mass of
+the said coronation.
+
+“The Duke of Suffolk, High Constable for that day, remained always near
+the said Lady, with a great white staff in his hand; close by were also
+the said Lord William and the Lord Chamberlain. Behind the said Lady were
+various ladies; duchesses and countesses dressed in scarlet, with cloaks
+lined with ermine, which are the robes of duchesses and countesses, and
+their hats on their heads. Similarly the dukes and earls, with many other
+knights, were dressed in robes of scarlet lined with ermine, almost of
+the fashion of those of the Premiers Présidents at Paris, with their
+hoods.
+
+“When the coronation was over the Lady was conducted back as on arrival,
+with the exception of the bishops, and taken to a great hall where dinner
+was prepared....
+
+“The hall is very large and was not crowded, for very good order was
+kept. Beneath the queen’s daïs there were four great tables which filled
+the whole length of the hall. At the upper end were those of this
+kingdom who have charge of the Ports, and beneath them, at the same
+table, various gentlemen: at the corresponding table, at the top and
+side, were the Archbishops and Bishops, the Lord Chancellor, and several
+Earl-Knights. At the two other tables on the other side of the hall, at
+the upper one were the Mayor of London accompanied by the Aldermen; and,
+at the other table, the ladies, Duchesses, Countesses, and other ladies
+and young ladies.
+
+“The Duke of Suffolk was gorgeously accoutred, with many stones and
+pearls, on a courser caparisoned in crimson velvet: he rode about on
+his horse, round the hall and amongst the tables. Lord William did the
+same, looking after the service and keeping order. Both remained always
+bare-headed, which you know is the custom of this country. The king was
+in a place that he had had made for the occasion, whence he could see all
+the ceremony without being seen; where he took with him the Ambassadors
+of France and of Venice.
+
+“At the door of the hall there were conduits spouting wine, anyone
+who pleased might take some. Similarly there were kitchens to provide
+food for anyone who came that day; it was a marvel how much was eaten.
+Trumpets and hautbois sounded for every service, and heralds cried
+largesse.”
+
+[179] May 29 Anne Boleyn was fetched in state by the Mayor and
+Corporation of London, and brought to the Tower, whence she returned
+to Westminster on Saturday for her coronation on Whit Sunday, June 1.
+(Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533), No. 601.
+
+[180] The stepmother of the Duke.
+
+[181] The Countess of Wiltshire.
+
+[182] Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.
+
+[183] Lord William Howard, brother to the Duke of Norfolk, who, it will
+be remembered, was now absent in France.
+
+[184] Dinteville and Cranmer.
+
+[185] Carlo Capello and Sir Thomas Audley.
+
+[186] Peeress’s robes corresponding to those still worn by peers.
+
+[187] Westminster Hall.
+
+[188] The hall seems, in fact, to have been arranged much like a College
+hall at the present day, with the high table across the top and the long
+tables below placed at right angles to it.
+
+[189] The Barons of the Cinque Ports.
+
+[190] Knights of the Garter?
+
+[191] Camusat, “Meslanges Historiques,” part ii., p. 17. Narration de
+l’Entrée et couronnement de la Royne d’Angleterre Anne de Boulan à
+Londres, le 2 (it should be, le 1) juin, 1533.
+
+[192] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533), No. 707. Francis
+wrote back a pacifying answer denying all knowledge of the rumours
+referred to.
+
+[193] The 22nd July. Dinteville’s embassy was reckoned from the 22nd
+January.
+
+[194] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” part ii., p. 130_b_, Mr. de Polizy, Bailly
+of Troyes, to M. Du Bellay, Bishop of Paris, 7 June, 1533.
+
+[195] See description of the Lute, Part IV.
+
+[196] His name was really Maraviglia, but had become gallicized by long
+residence in France.
+
+[197] The subject, at a later period, when a young widow, of Holbein’s
+beautiful portrait, now the property of the Duke of Norfolk.
+
+[198] Ranke, “Zeitalter der Reformation,” vol. iii., p. 313. Decrue de
+Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., p. 207.
+
+[199] Decrue, etc., p. 213, where a list of authorities is given.
+
+[200] Camusat, “Meslanges Historiques,” part ii., p. 135. Francis I. to
+the Bailly de Troyes, 16 July, 1533. See also the following letter from
+the same to the same, 12 August, 1533.
+
+[201] Camusat, “Meslanges Historiques,” p. 139. The Bailly of Troyes to
+Francis I., 3 September, 1533.
+
+[202] “M. le Bailly, knowing well how long you have been over there, and
+that it is very reasonable you should go to your home to put your affairs
+in order, I have been willing to grant you leave to depart whenever it
+may please you; and am sending to take your place the Sieur de Castillon,
+a gentleman of my chamber, who is the bearer of this.”
+
+[203] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” part ii., page 9. Francis I. to the Bailly
+of Troyes, 6 Sept., 1533.
+
+[204] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” part ii., page 142. The Bailly of Troyes to
+the King of France, Greenwich, 2 Nov., 1533.
+
+[205] Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., page 213.
+
+[206] “Nota, that often the king after his tempers has said to me that he
+esteems me such that I should neither say nor write anything to diminish
+friendship between them, and that his Council have begged me to the same
+effect.”
+
+[207] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” part ii., pp. 19-21.
+
+[208] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., No. 1481, Grant 10.
+
+[209] _Ibid._, No. 1435, Castillon to the Bishop of Paris, London, 17
+November, 1533.
+
+[210] “I begged the Duke of Norfolk and others who seemed to be among
+the principal members of the Council of this said king, to give the king
+their master to understand ... that one may so press and worry a friend
+as to become importunate.”
+
+“... for I doubt if the gentlemen of his Council to whom I spoke will
+dare to say such things to him as boldly as I shall say them.”
+
+[211] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” part ii., p. 143. The Bailly of Troyes to
+the Grand-Maître, 7th November, 1533.
+
+[212] Claude Dodieu, Sieur de Vély, was repeatedly employed as French
+ambassador to Charles V., and also to the Holy See. He was made Bishop of
+Rennes in 1541, and died in 1558.
+
+[213] Some of the most interesting of these letters are only known to
+have existed by entries in catalogues, having been amongst the objects
+of the thefts from French libraries perpetrated in the first half of the
+present century. See “Dictionnaire des Pièces autographes volées,” etc.,
+by MM. Lalanne et Bordier, Paris, 1851.
+
+[214] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MSS. fr. 15629, No. 473.
+
+[215] Sleidan, 132-135. Clairembault, 334, No. 4949; quoted by Decrue de
+Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., p. 221.
+
+[216] Boutiot, “Hist. de la Ville de Troyes,” p. 346.
+
+[217] Documents inédits sur l’Histoire de France. Relations des Amb.
+Vénétiens. Voyage de Jerôme Lippomano, Amb. de Venise en France, par son
+sécrétaire.
+
+[218] Clement VII. had died in September, 1534, and Cardinal Farnese
+(Paul III.) had been elected Pope in his place.
+
+[219] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll. Dupuy, vol. 265, f. 239. Letter of Anne de
+Montmorency to Cardinal Du Bellay.
+
+[220] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. ix. (1535), No. 434. Chapuys
+to Charles V.
+
+[221] “Besides the charge which I gave you the other day on your
+departure, to speak to the King of England on the subject of the
+contribution, I wish you to say to him that if perchance the Emperor were
+disposed to invade me, and that I had to arm and equip on a large scale
+as might be the case, and that ... in order not to lose the occasion
+and the said expenditure, I chose to employ it for the recovery of my
+State and Duchy of Milan, Seigneurie of Genoa, and County of Asti, that,
+in this case, the said King of England would be bound to contribute
+up to the third portion of the expense I should have to incur for the
+maintenance of my said army. And do not fail to uphold this stiffly, so
+that the said king may accede to the terms above demanded.”
+
+[222] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” part ii., p. 12v. Letter from Francis I. to
+the Bailly of Troyes, from Esclarron, 29th Aug., 1535.
+
+[223] _Ibid._, p. 84v. (Traicté entre les Roys de France et d’Angleterre.)
+
+[224] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. ix., 1535, No. 420. Norfolk
+to Cromwell.
+
+[225] Anthoine de Castelnau.
+
+[226] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. ix. (1535), No. 594. Chapuys
+to Charles V.
+
+[227] “... You know the tumult which occurred between her and her
+governess when we went to see her little sister, and that we were told
+that she was placed as though by force in her room, in order that she
+might not speak to us, and that it was only possible to appease her and
+keep her in her room when the gentleman who conducted us had told her
+that the king her father had ordered him to say to her that she was not
+to show herself while we were there.”
+
+[228] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” p. 21, “autre memoire non datté,” etc.
+Chapuys’ letter enables us to fix the date.
+
+[229] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. ix. (1535), No. 595. Chapuys
+to Charles V.
+
+[230] _Ibid._, vol. ix. (1535), No. 443. Henry VIII. to Gardiner.
+
+[231] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. x. (1536), No. 375. Gardiner
+and Wallop to Henry VIII.
+
+[232] _Ibid._, vol. x. (1536), No. 908. Chapuys to Charles V.
+
+[233] The Bishop of Tarbes accompanied Dinteville to Court.
+
+[234] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. x. (1536), No. 1069. Chapuys
+to Charles V.
+
+[235] _Ibid._, vol. xi. (1536), No. 304. Henry VIII. to Gardiner and
+Wallop.
+
+[236] _Ibid._, vol. xi. (1536), No. 1143.
+
+[237] _Ibid._, vol. x. (1536), No. 1084. Cromwell to Gardiner and Wallop.
+
+[238] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. x. (1536), No. 1084. Cromwell
+to Gardiner and Wallop.
+
+[239] _Ibid._, vol. xi. (1536), No. 52. Bishop of Faenza to Mons.
+Ambrogio.
+
+[240] _Ibid._, vol. xi. (1536), No. 228. Castelnau, Bishop of Tarbes, to
+Cardinal Du Bellay.
+
+[241] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll. Dupuy, vol. 547, f. 308. Camusat, “Mesl.
+Hist.,” part iii., p. 44.
+
+[242] ... “The Pope, in Consistory, has created Legate, the Englishman,
+Cardinal Poule (Pole), not only for England, but for every place which it
+may suit him to pass through on his way thither ... with the intention,
+in case the King of England will not return by peaceable means to the
+obedience of the Roman Church and of the Holy See, of delivering to
+the said Cardinal, through the merchants, a good sum of money, for the
+purpose of assisting the people against the said king, in order to oblige
+him to return to the said obedience by means of force....”
+
+[243] Camusat, “Meslanges Historiques,” p. 13. Instruction au Bailli de
+Troyes, etc., Moussi, 2 March, 1537.
+
+[244] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xii., part i., No. 817. Henry
+VIII. to Gardiner, Westminster, 3 April, 1537.
+
+[245] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xii., part i. (1537). F.
+Wyngfeld to Cromwell, Dover, 8 April, 1537.
+
+[246] _I.e._ forestall.
+
+[247] Flemish fishing-boats. The name is still in use.
+
+[248] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xii., part i. (1537), No.
+884. Sir Francis Brian to Cromwell, Calais, 9th April. (These extracts
+are given in the abridged form printed in the Letters and Papers.)
+
+[249] The only source that the writer has been able to find for this
+statement is contained in a paper on Polisy by M. Lucien Coutant,
+published in the “Almanach de Bar-sur-Seine” for 1864. M. Coutant, as
+a rule, is very unreliable; but in this instance the facts appear too
+circumstantial to be entirely without foundation.
+
+[250] Nearly all modern writers refer the disgrace of the Dinteville to
+the accusation made by Montecuculli against Deschenetz at the time of
+the Dauphin’s death. But this is obviously incorrect, for not only did
+the accuser make “amende honorable” to the accused, but Deschenetz is
+found after that time in full enjoyment of the confidence of the king and
+Grand-Maître. It is quite possible, however, that his enemies made use
+of that occasion as a basis for fresh insinuations against him, and as
+a lever to stir up anew the king’s suspicions. The older writers merely
+state that the accusation was one of high treason.
+
+[251] Henri, formerly Duke of Orleans, was now Dauphin. Charles, Duke
+of Angoulême, had succeeded to the title of Duke of Orleans when Henri
+became Dauphin.
+
+[252] Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., pages 398, 399.
+
+[253] Ribier, “Lettres et Mémoires d’Estat,” vol. i., page 294. Gaulcher
+de Dinteville, Seigneur de Vanlay, to the Dauphin, Venice, 20th Dec.,
+1538.
+
+[254] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Pièces Orig., vol. 1004, Dossier Dinteville, ff.
+84, 85.
+
+[255] Ribier, “Lettres et Mémoires d’Estat,” vol. i., page 373. The Duke
+of Guise to the Connétable, Dijon, 10th Feb.—Whether the year was 1539,
+1540, or 1541, makes no difference to the argument; but it was probably
+the first of the three years named.
+
+[256] Nephew of Vanlay’s mother, whose brother was Seigneur Du Plessis,
+de Savonnières, d’Ouschamps and de la Perrine.
+
+[257] Ribier, “Lett. et Mém. d’Estat,” vol. i., p. 294. Gaulcher de
+Dinteville (Seigneur de Vanlay) to the Dauphin, Venice, 20 Dec., 1538.
+
+[258] _Ibid._, vol. i., p. 301.
+
+[259] Renée, daughter of Louis XII., married in 1527 to Ercole, son of
+the Duke of Ferrara. See also _ante_, p. 45.
+
+[260] Ribier, “Lett. et Mém. d’Estat,” vol. i., p. 449. Grignan to the
+Connétable, 29 April, 1539.
+
+[261] Ribier, “Lett. et Mém. d’Estat,” vol. i., p. 479. Grignan to the
+Connétable, Rome, 21 Oct., 1539.
+
+[262] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MSS. fr. 20440, pp. 81-84. Deposition of the
+Bailly of Troyes in favour of his brother, the Bishop of Auxerre.
+
+[263] Selve died in April, 1541.
+
+[264] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, 702, ff. 138-9. (A gold reliquary
+set with precious stones; another of silver-gilt set with similar stones;
+another reliquary of silver enamelled in blue, with a long and large
+stone called lapis lazuli, engraved with the mysteries of the Passion.)
+
+[265] “On the following day the said Damoyselle de Thelligny and Madame
+de Brou, her sister, came to dine with me at the apartment of the late
+Duke of Orleans. Which ladies both told me it would be necessary to
+come to an agreement with the said Bishop of Lavaur, and that Madame
+d’Estampes had become very angry when the said M. de Lavaur had come to
+speak to her in the room where she was playing at cards, and had said
+that we were not yet where we imagined.... Seeing which I recognized that
+we should be obliged to take that course. And the next or the same day (I
+do not remember which) I went to find the said Bishop of Lavaur in his
+apartment, in a little low room, where was the Bailly of Dijon ... and
+a few others ...; and I said these, or similar, words to the Bishop of
+Lavaur:
+
+“‘Sir, my friends have told me that Madame d’Estampes has in the last two
+days spoken ill words of Monsieur d’Aucerre and of my brothers. For which
+reason, sooner than to fall again into the king’s disfavour, we would
+rather lose all we possess. You know that in past times we were friends.
+You speak of wishing to have the bishopric of Aucerre; I beg and warn you
+to content yourself with something else instead.’
+
+“He insisted that he wished to have the Abbey of Monstier-aramey. I then
+begged him to give up the said Abbey of Monstier-aramey. He continued to
+insist, desiring it rather than that of Monstier-la-Celle. Nevertheless
+I showed him that the said Abbey of Monstier-aramey was close to Polisy,
+and that that of Monstier-la-Celle was of the same value, within six or
+seven hundred livres, which was not a great sum. In the end, the said
+Bishop of Lavaur agreed to this.
+
+“He then made a great fuss about having the house of the see of Auxerre
+at Paris, which I would not at all agree to, although, if he became our
+friend, not only that one, but all others would be at his service....”
+
+[266] Married women were called “Mademoiselle;” only those whose husbands
+were knights had the right to the title of “Madame.” Decrue de Stoutz,
+“La Cour de France au seizième siècle,” p. 74.
+
+[267] Charles, Duke of Orleans, died in 1545, and this document, though
+referring to 1542, was drawn up at a later date.
+
+[268] _I.e._, to resign one of the abbeys.
+
+[269] “... And it was agreed this should be put in writing. Which was
+done on the following day in my room, at the apartment of the said late
+Duke of Orleans; in the absence of the said Bishop of Auxerre, who
+declined to be present.... And I truthfully certify that the resignation
+of the said Abbey of Monstier-la-Celle, which was then made to the said
+Bishop of Lavaur, and the receipts given for the furniture and revenues
+of the bishopric of Auxerre, proceeded from the fear and dread lest
+Madame d’Estampes should replace the said Bishop of Auxerre, and all
+of us, his brothers, in the bad graces of the king; and lest it should
+again be necessary to fly and remain out of the kingdom, as had been
+done before; and in order that the said Madame d’Estampes and the said
+Bishop of Lavaur might no longer prevent my brother from returning and
+re-possessing himself of his houses and benefices.”
+
+[270] The Bishop protested against this enforced resignation. See
+Camusat, “Promptuarium sacrarum antiquitatem Tricassinæ diocesis,” p. 25.
+
+[271] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Pièces Orig., vol. 1004, Dossier Dinteville, ff.
+84, 85.
+
+[272] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, 702, f. 134.
+
+[273] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, 702, f. 134. Camusat,
+“Promptuarium,” etc., pp. 26-28, June, 1542.
+
+[274] “Bailly, having seen your basque here, I would not allow him to
+return without sending you some news of me through him; which are, thank
+God, very good, and such as you desire them to be; but they will be still
+better when I hear that you have quite recovered your health, which I
+beg you to take great care of; and, in return, I will tell you, bailly,
+that I am doing all that is possible to reduce Ivoy, which I shall attack
+to-morrow from another side; and by these and all other means, I hope to
+take the place, with the aid of Him who is the giver of victory. For the
+rest, I have had news from Longueval, who is only at two or three days’
+march from here, with his troop, which I am told is as fine and resolute
+a one as one could wish to see. I shall make him hang about the place
+where he is with his said troop, pending the return of Iversay, whom I
+have sent to the king to bring me back orders as to what it will please
+him that I should do with the said troop, and also with that which is
+with me here. Meanwhile, having nothing more to say at present, I will
+end, recommending myself to you, and praying Our Lord, Bailly, that He
+may give you as good health as I wish to you. Written from the camp
+before Ivoy this 14th day of August, [1542].
+
+                            “Your good master,
+
+                                                                 “CHARLES.
+
+“To M. the Bailly of Troyes, one of my chamberlains.”
+
+[275] The deceased Louis de Dinteville, Seneschal of Rhodes, also had
+a Basque servant. This may have been the same one, or perhaps it was a
+fashion of the moment to have a Basque attendant.
+
+[276] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll. Dupuy, vol. 726, f. 117.
+
+[277] Brantôme, “Hommes Illustres Français,” Discours xlvi., Eloge du Duc
+d’Orléans. Decrue de Stoutz, “La Cour de France,” etc., pp. 31, 32.
+
+[278] Decrue de Stoutz, _ibid._, p. 23.
+
+[279] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Pièces Orig., vol. 1004, Dossier Dinteville, f.
+87a.
+
+[280] Primaticcio designed for the house of the Connétable allegorical
+figures of the cardinal virtues, which were executed in fresco by
+Niccolò dell’ Abate. The house was situated in the Rue Sainte-Avoie, now
+Rue du Temple. It was subsequently the Hôtel de Mesmes. See Félibien,
+“Entretiens sur les Vies et les ouvrages des plus excellents peintres,”
+tome i., p. 523, and Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., p.
+419.
+
+[281] Mrs. Mark Pattison, “The Renaissance in France,” vol. ii., p. 269.
+
+[282] He may indeed have been acquainted with greater than they. In 1540
+Benvenuto Cellini was in the service of the French Court, and twenty-one
+years earlier, when the future Bailly was yet a boy, Lionardo da Vinci
+died at the Château Cloux, near Amboise.
+
+[283] The writer is indebted for nearly all the facts relating to
+the artists of Troyes, and to the Italians employed by Dinteville,
+to the very interesting paper by M. Albert Babeau (Secretary of the
+Soc. Acad. de l’Aube), entitled, “Doménique Florentin, Sculpteur du
+seizième siècle.” It was published in “Réunion des Sociétés savantes
+des Départements à la Sorbonne, du 4 au 7 Avril 1877. Section des
+Beaux-Arts.” Paris, Plon, Nourrit et Cie. 1890, part i., page 108.
+
+[284] Archives de l’Aube, registre G. 66, fol. viˣˣ, xii, vᵒ. Quoted by
+M. Babeau, _loc. cit._, who gives the detailed heading of the Latin act.
+
+[285] This has since been filled in on one side. An old map, preserved at
+Polisy, shows the original plan, which is partly indicated also in the
+illustration, page 35.
+
+[286] Page 35. See also his letter to the Bishop of Auxerre, May 23,
+1533, page 81.
+
+[287] They are seen in the long gabled front overlooking the river, in
+the illustration, p. 35.
+
+[288] Was this an allusion to the Bishop of Auxerre’s appointment as
+almoner to the king and other royal personages? The repetition of the
+date 1545, and the symbol of Fortune about to be explained, make it clear
+that the house was built by him.
+
+[289] In the _carrelage_ of Polisy the goddess is seen with both globe
+and wheel, as well as with the horn of plenty, but without the wings.
+The attributes varied in different versions. The sphere with the Hermes’
+wings is sometimes interpreted as the rising sun, equally a symbol of
+Fortune.
+
+[290] “Christophori Longolii Lucubrationes. Lugduni, apud Seb. Gryphium,
+1542.” The winged globe is here surmounted by the Gryphon, etc., which
+formed the rest of the bookseller’s device; but these attributes do
+not concern us here. The “Orations of Longolius” are bound up with the
+“Epistles of P. Bunelli,” published in 1551 at Paris, by Ch. Etienne. The
+volume is rare.
+
+[291] Camusat, “Mesl. Hist.,” part ii., p. 212.
+
+[292] _Ibid._, at the end of the volume. The memoir has also been
+reprinted in some of the French collections of famous memoirs.
+
+[293] ... “as I did not wish to become a monk, she placed me with M. de
+Polizy, Bailly of Troyes, head of the house of Dinteville, a personage
+as accomplished and as adorned with all virtues and sciences as any
+man of his time and quality; having been governour to M. d’Orléans and
+ambassador for the king in England. But having become paralytic, and
+helpless in all his limbs, and being unable for this reason to continue
+at Court, and having therefore retired to his own home, he began for
+his pleasure and entertainment to build this beautiful house of Polizy.
+Which personage showed me such friendship that he would take the trouble
+himself to instruct me in all the sciences of which my youth was capable;
+and, when I had remained with him up to the age of fourteen or fifteen
+years, wishing to form me better by the frequenting of society and the
+exercise of arms, he gave me to M. Deschenetz, his brother, Chevalier
+of the King’s Order, and captain of fifty men-at-arms, with whom I made
+several journeys....”
+
+At a later date Mergey fought for “la religion” (_i.e._, the reformed
+religion), under La Rochefoucauld; but wishing to have, as he says,
+“another string to his bow,” he did not forget to cultivate “Mr. de
+Sesac” (a follower of the Guise), who had meanwhile become the husband
+of Claude de Dinteville, the eldest daughter of Deschenetz and heiress
+of Polisy. This was the lady with whom, in later years, Camusat was
+acquainted, and through whom he learnt the story of Holbein’s masterpiece
+(see Part I., p. 14). It will be perceived, therefore, how close was
+the connection between Jean de Dinteville, uncle to this lady, and the
+documents derived from Camusat which relate the history of the picture.
+
+[294] It is probable that at the time of disgrace Jean de Dinteville
+either resigned or was deprived of the Order of St. Michael, and that
+Henri II., on his accession, made his special _protégé_ among the
+Dinteville brothers, Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, a knight of the
+order in the place of Jean, whose health no longer allowed him to leave
+home. Article XV. of the statutes of the order provides that any knight
+can be deprived for treason, or for the accusation of treason. It further
+lays down that if a knight be grievously wronged by his sovereign, and
+cannot obtain justice after having requested it, and allowed due time
+to elapse, that knight may return the collar and quit the order without
+forfeiting his honour.
+
+[295] “My nephew, I have received two letters from you, one dated the
+4th October, the other the 23rd January last. You write to me that you
+have received letters from my sister De Lyencourt and that it appears
+to you that she is much pleased with the affair of Monstier la Scelle;
+she may well be so; she is indeed bound and obliged to pray God to bless
+Monseigneur d’Auxerre, as we all are, for the great benefit he has been
+pleased to confer on Benjamin. My niece De Lyencourt, who is with Madame
+la Connestable, wrote me word that the said Monseigneur d’Auxerre and
+Monsr. Des Chenetz were at Fontainebleau. And since then Nicolas de la
+Croix has written to me that the said Monseigneur d’Auxerre was about to
+arrive at Paris. I had heard of the capture of Aspremont by the forces
+of the Emperor. The same Nicolas de la Croix writes to me that wheat
+has been sold at Paris for a hundred and seventeen _solz tournois_ the
+_septier_, and oats for forty-eight, which is very dear.... I am sorry
+to hear of the illness of Madame de la Mothe and her daughter, but as
+they are mending, I hope it will be nothing. Those who come from Court
+say that there is a great rumour that the king is to go to Germany; that
+Duke Maurice of Saxony and other German princes are in arms against the
+Emperor, and that they will take the side of the king and enter his
+service; that the queen will be Regent in France, and will be at Rheims;
+that Monsr. l’Admiral will remain with her; that Cardinal Tournon will
+be the king’s lieutenant at Lyons; that the Grand Seigneur [the Turk]
+is making great preparations for war in the present year, both by land
+and sea. I expect you hear all these news better where you are than we
+do here, for you can receive information from Messrs. d’Auxerre and des
+Chenetz, who are at Court. I think that by the beginning of the month
+of March I shall be able to leave this country to go to Lyons, taking
+Grenoble on the way. When I am at Lyons, you shall have news of me, and I
+will send you some seeds for your new garden.
+
+                             “My nephew, etc.,
+
+“From Montpellier, 20th February, 1551 (N.S. 1552).
+
+                          “Your uncle and friend,
+
+                                                              “DUPLESSYS.”
+
+“To my nephew, M. de Pollisy, Bailly of Troyes.”
+
+[296] Guillaume Du Plessis, Seigneur de Liancourt, was a younger
+brother of Dinteville’s correspondent, Charles Du Plessis, Seigneur
+de Savonnières, d’Ouschamps, and de la Perrine. Both were brothers of
+Dinteville’s mother. Guillaume, Seigneur de Liancourt, died in 1550. The
+lady mentioned in the text was his widow.
+
+[297] The Bishop of Auxerre had presented the Abbey of Montier-la-Celle
+to his first cousin, Benjamin, son of Guillaume, Seigneur de Liancourt.
+
+[298] De Montmorency.
+
+[299] Dinteville’s sister, Charlotte, had married Louis Raguier, Seigneur
+de la Motte de Tilly.
+
+[300] Henri II.
+
+[301] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. fr. 20465, f. 299a.
+
+[302] Le Beuf, “Mémoires concernant l’histoire ecclesiastique, etc.,
+d’Auxerre,” page 588. The Bishop had a favourite painter, named Felix
+Chrétien, whom he had raised from the position of simple chorister to
+that of canon of the cathedral, on account of his delicacy of hand in
+penmanship and painting. Chrétien possessed considerable talent, and
+was the painter of a large triptych representing the “Martyrdom of Ste.
+Eugénie,” which still hangs in the church of Varzy, in the diocese of
+Auxerre (Dept. of Nièvres), though now in a terribly dilapidated state.
+The portrait of the Bishop is introduced amongst a group in the central
+panel of this picture. (See illustration, p. 56.) Chrétien reproduced
+the features of the Bishop a second time, in a smaller work, which is in
+every way inferior to the picture at Varzy. This is the “Stoning of St.
+Stephen,” which now hangs in the north ambulatory of the Cathedral of
+Auxerre. The Emperor Louis Napoleon offered a large sum, without success,
+for the “Martyrdom of Ste. Eugénie,” which he wished to purchase for the
+Empress. Being unable to obtain the picture, he had a copy made of it.
+Varzy is a place which travellers should by no means pass by. The church
+is of very beautiful thirteenth-century Gothic, and resembles a small
+cathedral. The ancient inn was formerly a religious house, and with its
+tower and court is strikingly picturesque. The same family has now owned
+it for upwards of two hundred years.
+
+[303] See illustration, page 110.
+
+[304] Unless it may be assumed that the drawing in question was
+executed by Holbein on one of his later journeys abroad, which would
+give some additional latitude of time. On his way to “High Burgundy,”
+for instance, in the summer of 1538, he would almost pass the gates of
+Polisy, if the direct route across France were selected. (High Burgundy,
+or Franche-Comté, was Imperial territory, and lay due east of French
+Burgundy, in which Polisy was situated.) If the Bailly of Troyes sat
+to Holbein for this drawing at about the time suggested, the days of
+adversity which shortly fell upon the Dinteville family would explain the
+fact that, so far as is known, no painting was ever made from it.
+
+[305] Both hang in one room at the Dresden Gallery.
+
+[306] The late Sir Frederick Burton was of this opinion, which is also
+held by Mr. Sidney Colvin (see his letter to the “Times,” September,
+1890).
+
+[307] The authentic sources for the date of Selve’s birth are given Part
+I., p. 13. None of the popular compendiums of biography, etc., so far as
+the writer is acquainted with them, are to be trusted.
+
+[308] Bayle denies this, and says the name in its original form is De
+Salva, and is of Limousin origin (Dictionary, ed. 1739, Art. Selve).
+
+[309] “Petri Bunelli Epistolæ,” Paris, 1551. Letter to Danès (1541), p.
+95.
+
+[310] “Educated where I am, both I and those belonging to me, by your
+benefaction....”
+
+[311] Of these all, excepting one, sooner or later served the king
+as ambassadors. They are usually given in the following order: 1,
+Lazare, Gentilhomme de la Chambre du Roi, ambassador in Switzerland; 2,
+Jean-Paul, Bishop of St. Flour, ambassador (at a late date) at Rome; 3,
+George, Bishop of Lavaur, the subject of this memoir; 4, Odet, Président
+du Grand Conseil, ambassador in England, at Venice, and at Rome, where
+he died; 5, Jean, Abbé de Saint Vigor; 6, François, ambassador at
+Constantinople.
+
+[312] Jacques Amyot, author of a famous translation of Plutarch’s
+“Lives,” was born 1513, and died 1593. He was tutor to the sons of Henri
+II., was sent on a mission to the Council of Trent, and was Bishop of
+Auxerre from 1571 until his death.
+
+[313] Probably a relation of Selve’s mother.
+
+[314] All the confusion in popular sources as to the date of Selve’s
+birth appears to have arisen from one misstatement or misprint, to the
+effect that he was promoted to the episcopate in 1524. Coupled with the
+unquestioned fact that he was made a bishop when in his eighteenth year,
+it was therefore loosely inferred that he must have been born in 1506.
+The facts given above show that the circumstances of his appointment to
+Lavaur were such as to preclude all possibility of its having taken place
+before 1526; even were the Papal licence (page 13) not proof positive as
+to his age.
+
+[315] The Cardinal of Lorraine, of the house of Guise, was made
+Archbishop of Rheims in 1534, at nine years old.
+
+[316] The originals of these letters are at the Château of Villiers near
+La Ferté Alais, and belong to the Marquis de Selve, to whose courtesy
+the writer is indebted for their use here. Copies are to be found in the
+Bibl. Nat. at Paris (Carrés d’Hozier, vol. 579). They bear no date of
+year in either series, but only of day and month. Those addressed to the
+Cardinal-Legate must, however, have been written in the spring following
+Selve’s appointment, _i.e._, in 1527. Two series of letters are mixed up
+both in the originals and the copies, as at least one letter from the
+Queen of Navarre was not written till after the death of the Président de
+Selve, which occurred in 1529.
+
+[317] “... for love of me, and at my request, to abandon your claim
+to the said bishopric, resigning in favour of the son of the Premier
+Président every right you may have or claim to the said bishopric.”
+
+[318] “My cousin, you have already heard of the king’s desire, and mine,
+that the son of Monsʳ. the Premier Président should be provided with the
+bishopric of Lavaur; and as the king and I have not yet received a reply
+from you which satisfies our intention, I have been moved, my cousin, to
+write to you again about it, begging you very affectionately and as much
+as I know how to beg for anything, that you would desist, at the request
+of the said lord and of me, from your claim, and also would dispose to
+the profit and in favour of the son of the said Premier Président of
+all right that you may pretend to the said benefice; assuring you that
+the said lord and I will recollect this favour in a thing of greater
+consequence, in such a way that you will be satisfied. For the rest,
+and in conclusion, you must know that the said lord and I will support
+the son of the said Premier Président right through this affair, making
+it our own; for which reason I earnestly beg you again, my cousin, to
+be so good as to think over it, and to yield in this matter to the very
+affectionate request made by the said lord and by me. And thus fare
+well, my cousin, etc.... Written at St. Germain en Laye, 1st April.
+(Postscript.) I pray you my cousin to oblige the king and me in the
+matter above treated of, and you will find it to your advantage.
+
+                            “Your good cousin,
+
+                                                                  “LOYSE.”
+
+“To my cousin, Cardinal Clermont, Legate of Avignon.”
+
+[319] “... have the thing so greatly at heart that I cannot sufficiently
+write it to you.”
+
+[320] “Monsr. de Lavaur, my friend, I have received the letter that you
+wrote to me, and there is no need that you should thank me, for I am too
+much and too old a friend of your father’s, and should wish to please
+him and all his race. You, on your side, will consider whether there is
+anything else I can do for you, and you will never fail to find me a good
+brother, yet more in deeds than in words, and this I beg you to believe.
+Which shall be the conclusion of this present, etc. From Avignon this
+22nd June.
+
+                      “Your best brother and friend,
+
+                                                  “F. CARDˡ. DE CLERMONT.”
+
+“To Monsʳ. de Lavaur.”
+
+[321] St. Germain, 3rd May, 1528. Paris, Arch. Nat., P556¹, côte 710.
+Bibl. de l’Institut, Coll. Godefroy, Mémoire de M. de Camusat sur les
+enfants et descendants du Premier Président de Selve.
+
+[322] “Gallia Christiana,” 1656, vol. iii., p. 1142. The notice there
+given respecting the missions of 1529 is omitted in the edition of 1715
+(hitherto quoted in this work), where the article on George de Selve was
+rewritten and enlarged. This circumstance might appear to throw doubt on
+the accuracy of the information conveyed in the earlier edition. But as
+it receives confirmation from several other independent sources, it is
+probable that the facts of the previous edition are correct; but that the
+early diplomatic labours of the Bishop were thrown into shade by the more
+important work of his riper years dwelt upon in the later edition.
+
+[323] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Cab. d’Hozier, vol. 304, f. 28.
+
+[324] See note at the end of this chapter.
+
+[325] Most observers will agree that the appearance of the Bishop of
+Lavaur in Holbein’s portrait bears out this remark.
+
+[326] “Œuvres de Feu Révérend Père en Dieu, George de Selve, Evesque de
+la Vaur,” Paris, 1559. “Autres Remonstrances faictes par ledict De Selve
+auxdicts Alemans.”
+
+[327] The Diet of Spires of 1529 was, as is well known, one of the
+most reactionary of the great assemblies held at the epoch of the
+Reformation. A large majority of those who attended it were partisans
+of Rome. Consequently, the resolutions passed were all in favour of the
+old order of things, and actually reversed many decisions advantageous
+to the Lutherans which had formerly been agreed upon. For a moment, the
+Reformation received a sharp check. As a result of the proceedings, the
+minority drew up the famous declaration which first gave rise to the name
+of “Protestants.”
+
+[328] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. fr. 842, f. 122ᵇ.
+
+[329] Archives of the Château de Villiers (Marquis de Selve); and Paris,
+Bibl. Nat., Carrés d’Hozier, vol. 579, f. 341. Marguerite, Queen of
+Navarre, to the Grand-Maître de Montmorency, Blois, 18th April.
+
+[330] Paris, Bibl. de l’lnstitut, Coll. Godefroy, f. 414. Obsèques de la
+femme du premier président de Selve, 27th November, 1532.
+
+[331] Easter fell in this year on the 13th April.
+
+[332] See pp. 11, 19, 20, 77-78, 80.
+
+[333] “A Mʳᵉ George de Selve, évesque de Lavaur, ... pour aller comme
+ambassadeur devers le duc et seigneurie de Venise, et illec ... _devant
+ledit temps_, pour leur communiquer les choses dont il lui a donné charge
+et celles qui adviendroient ci après.”—Lyons, 2nd December, 1533. Paris,
+Bibl. Nat., Cabinet d’Hozier, vol. 304 (Dossier Selve), f. 15, Extraits
+de Comptes, etc. See also page 151.
+
+[334] “Gallia Christiana” (1715), vol. xiii. (1722), p. 344. Ecclesia
+Vaurensis, No. xxi., Georgius de Selve.
+
+[335] Thevet, “Histoire des plus illustres Hommes,” etc., Paris, 1661,
+vol. viii., chap. ii., p. 25.
+
+[336] Pierre Bunel, called by Bayle (“Dict.,” second edition, 1735) “one
+of the politest Latin writers that lived in the sixteenth century,”
+was born at Toulouse in 1499. He studied with much distinction at the
+University of Paris, and proceeded thence to Padua. He was three years
+in the service of Lazare de Baif at Venice (the friend, as we know, of
+the Bishop of Auxerre); afterwards entering that of George de Selve, with
+whom he remained until the death of that prelate. He then found himself
+plunged into poverty, from which he was rescued by the Du Faur family,
+one of whom sent Bunel to Italy as tutor to his sons. Bunel died of
+fever, at Turin, in 1546.
+
+[337] Reginald Pole, the celebrated Cardinal, was born in 1500, and was
+the son of Sir Richard Pole and of Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of
+Salisbury. He was educated at Charterhouse and Oxford, after which he
+was sent by King Henry VIII. to study at Padua. He steadily opposed the
+divorce of the king, and in 1532 had drawn such a hornets’ nest about
+his ears in England that he asked permission to go abroad again to study
+theology. He now resided for some years at Padua, and either there or
+at Venice made acquaintance with Selve. Bembo, Longolius, Sadoleto,
+Contarini, Ludovico Priuli, were among the circle of his friends. The
+Pope employed him on a committee for reforming the discipline of the
+Church, but the greater part of his time was spent in endeavouring
+to raise the European powers against Henry VIII., with the view to
+re-establish the Papal authority in England. He was one of the Legates
+sent to the Council of Trent. On the death of Cranmer in 1557 Pole became
+Archbishop of Canterbury. He died on the same day as Queen Mary, November
+17, 1558.
+
+[338] Pietro Bembo, born at Venice in 1470, was one of the most
+celebrated Italian writers of the sixteenth century. After a varied
+existence he was appointed secretary to Leo X. in conjunction with
+Sadoleto. On the death of that Pope he retired to Padua, where his house
+became a centre of intellectual life. He was made a Cardinal in 1539,
+and subsequently Bishop of Gubbio and of Bergamo. He died, covered with
+honours, in 1547.
+
+[339] Jacopo Sadoleto, Cardinal, in whom brilliant talents were united
+with extraordinary charm of disposition, was born at Modena in 1477.
+He studied at Ferrara at the same time as Bembo, which was the origin
+of their friendship, and was afterwards secretary to Leo X. Sadoleto
+never asked a favour for himself. He was appointed Bishop of Carpentras
+(a Papal see in the south of France, depending from Avignon) in 1517.
+Although reluctant to leave his diocese, such were his qualities of
+mind and character that he was frequently summoned to Rome on important
+commissions, and was made a Cardinal in 1536, without having in any way
+sought or coveted distinction. His gentleness, goodness, and moderation
+made him beloved by all; he even protected heretics, saying, “Je ne sais
+comment la nature m’a créé, mais je ne puis haïr parce qu’on ne partage
+pas mon opinion” (Guettée, “Hist. de l’Eglise de France,” vol. viii., p.
+222). His correspondence with Calvin (from whose opinions he of course
+entirely differed) is well known. Melanchthon sent him every new work he
+published. After being employed in many high offices, Sadoleto died at
+Rome in 1547.
+
+[340] Renée of France bore this title until her husband succeeded, as
+Ercole II., to the dukedom of Ferrara, which happened later in this same
+year (1534).
+
+[341] Selve even tried to obtain for her the release of some of her
+French _protégés_ who had been imprisoned on the accusation of heresy.
+(Bart. Fontana, “Renata di Francia,” vol. i., p. 344.)
+
+[342] See note 2, p. 145.
+
+[343] “Petri Bunelli Epistolæ,” p. 114. To Odet de Selve, from Venice, 16
+January 1534.
+
+[344] “Petri Bunelli Epistolæ,” pp. 30 and 45.
+
+[345] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xii., part i., No. 14, Geo.
+Selva, Bp. of La Vaur to Cardinal Pole. Venice, 3 Non. Jan. 1536 (Latin).
+
+[346] “Dict. Nat. Biography,” Art. Pole.
+
+[347] See p. 108.
+
+[348] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xii., No. 516, Geo. Selva,
+etc., to Card. Pole.
+
+[349] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. Clairembault, 1215, f. 75. The payments for
+the post of ambassador at Venice expire February 19; those for Rome begin
+on the following day.
+
+[350] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. Clairembault, 1215, f. 78.
+
+[351] _Ibid._, MS. fr. 2968, f. 87; Ribier, “Lettres et Mémoires
+d’Estat,” vol. i., p. 66.
+
+[352] Ribier, “Lettres et Mémoires d’Estat,” vol. i., p. 41. Cardinal
+Mascon and the Bishop of Lavaur to the King of France, Rome, 12th July,
+1537. _Ibid._, p. 76. The same to the Grand-Maître de Montmorency, Rome,
+December, 1537.
+
+[353] Ribier, “Lettres et Mém. d’Estat,” vol. i., p. 128, Card. Mascon
+and the Bp. of Lavaur to the Conn. de Montmorency, Rome, 14th March, 1538.
+
+[354] Strictly speaking the Bishop of Lavaur alone was accredited as
+French ambassador to the Holy See, but throughout this period he and
+Cardinal Mâcon acted in concert.
+
+[355] Letters and Papers, vol. xiii., part i. (1538), No. 972, Card.
+Tournon to Card. Carpi, Valentia, May 10.
+
+[356] _Ibid._, same time and place.
+
+[357] Ribier, “Lett. et Mém. d’Estat,” vol. i., pages 147 and 150. Mascon
+and Lavaur to the Connétable de Montmorency. Carpi to the same. Piacenza,
+1st May, 1538.
+
+[358] _Ibid._, page 150. The Connétable de Montmorency to Cardinal Mascon
+and the Bishop of Lavaur, 14th May, 1538.
+
+[359] Letters and Papers, vol. xiii., part i., No. 1004, Montmorency to
+Castillon, Avignon, 14th May, 1538.
+
+[360] “Monseigneur de Lavaur ... est parti ce jourd’huy matin en
+diligence, pour aller trouver le Roy....”—Ribier, “Lett. et Mém.
+d’Estat,” vol. i., page 154. Cardinal Mascon to the Connétable, Savona,
+11th May, 1538.
+
+[361] June, 1538.
+
+[362] Which was broken at the end of four years (1542), when war was
+again declared between France and the Empire.
+
+[363] The final payment he received as ambassador to the Holy See expired
+June 30, 1538.
+
+[364] The shell of the castle of the Pico family still exists, though
+in a half-ruinous condition. A theatre has been established in one part
+of the building, which has lost all traces of former magnificence. The
+latter can only be guessed at from the great height of some of the
+apartments. The decision of the municipal authorities some years ago,
+to pull down the old city walls of La Mirandola, has fatally robbed the
+little town of poetry and picturesqueness, but it contains one or two
+interesting churches.
+
+[365] Paris, Archives des Affaires Etrangères, Corr. politiques, Rome,
+vol. iii., f. 401ᵇ, La Mirandola.
+
+[366] Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, vol. xliv., f. 27ᵃ, and Aff.
+Etrang., Corr. polit., Rome, vol. iii., f. 401.
+
+[367] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. Clairembault, 1215, f. 78. Compiègne, 9th
+October, 1538.
+
+[368] Perhaps it refers to 1529. There would be nothing surprising in the
+long postponement, as the ambassadors’ salaries were in chronic arrears.
+
+[369] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xiii., part i., No. 11. Geo.
+de Selve, Bp. of Lavaur, to Cardinal Pole.
+
+[370] The episcopal palace was demolished in the present century by the
+person who had acquired it at the time of the French Revolution, who
+pulled it to pieces, and sold it stone by stone, lest the edifice should
+be claimed as ecclesiastical property. The grounds and site are now used
+as public gardens. Lavaur ceased to be a bishopric towards the end of the
+eighteenth century.
+
+[371] “The gate by which we have entered into the park of Jesus Christ
+where we are now, bearing the name and mark of His sheep.”—“Œuvres de Feu
+Révérend Père en Dieu, George de Selve, Evesque de la Vaur.” Paris, 1559.
+
+[372] “Œuvres de George de Selve,” etc.
+
+[373] “It seems to me, when writing to you, that I am with you in
+conversation, which is so great a consolation to me that I cannot or will
+not find an ending to it.”—_Ibid._
+
+[374] “Discourse containing the only true means by which a servant
+favoured by his Prince and entrusted by him with the administration of
+affairs, may preserve eternal and temporal felicity, and avoid those
+things which might cause him to lose either one or the other.”—“Œuvres,”
+etc.
+
+[375] “... speak to-day of living in obedience, or of doing good works
+as necessary to eternal life, one half of the world cries out that he
+is a Papist and an advocate of justification by works. If he preach
+salvation through Jesus Christ and the redemption of sins, the other half
+of the world exclaims that he is a Lutheran and a disseminator of false
+doctrine....”—_Ibid._ (Letter addressed to a certain “Frère François” who
+was preaching at Lavaur in the bishop’s absence.)
+
+[376] Ribier, “Lett. et Pap. d’Estat,” vol. i., page 468. Relation of
+the Bishop-Elect of Avranches on his return from Spain in September,
+1539. The Bishop-Elect of Avranches had been sent on a special mission to
+the Spanish Court, where Anthoine de Castelnau, Bp. of Tarbes, was now
+resident French ambassador.
+
+[377] “Remonstrances addressed to the Germans, composed and put in
+writing by George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, to be publicly pronounced
+at the Diet which will be held in Germany [when he was summoned by the
+Most Christian King, at the request of the Emperor, to go thither in
+order to procure the reconciliation of the said Germans with the order
+ecclesiastical].”—“Œuvres de George de Selve,” and Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS.
+fr. 3114, f. 1. The portion of the title placed in brackets was evidently
+added as a docket in the customary manner by a later hand.
+
+[378] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xiv., part 1, No. 1090.
+Card. Pole to Card. Contarini, Carpentras, 8 June, 1539. (Pole had found
+a refuge near Sadoleto, at Carpentras, in the intervals between his
+diplomatic missions.)
+
+[379] “Petri Bunelli Familiares Aliquot Epistolæ,” Lutetia, 1551, page
+80. To the Bishop of Tarbes, French ambassador with the Emperor. (Latin.)
+
+[380] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. Clairembault, 1215, f. 77.
+
+[381] Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., pp. 376, 377.
+
+[382] Mary, Queen-dowager of Hungary, regent of Flanders, sister of
+Charles V.
+
+[383] Ribier, “Lett. et Mém. d’Estat,” vol. i., p. 353. Hellin had been
+appointed to that post on account of his intimate knowledge of the
+Flemish tongue.
+
+[384] _Ibid._, vol. i., p. 449. Grignan, ambassador at Rome, to the
+Connétable, April, 1539.
+
+[385] Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i., p. 383.
+
+[386] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xv. (1540), No. 448. Wyat to
+Cromwell, Ghent, 2nd April, 1540.
+
+[387] _Ibid._, No. 457. Instructions given to the Bishop of La Vaur, etc.
+Aumale, 4 April, 1540.
+
+[388] _Ibid._, No. 508. Sir Thomas Wyat to Cromwell. Wyat was at this
+time English ambassador at the Imperial Court.
+
+[389] “Discourse upon the true and only means by which a good and
+perpetual peace may be made between the Emperor and the Most Christian
+King: composed by George de Selve, Bishop of la Vaur, when ambassador of
+the said King with the said Emperor.” (“Œuvres de G. de Selve,” etc.)
+
+[390] Gasp. Contarini, born at Venice in 1483, was sent by that republic
+as ambassador to Charles V.; and, after the release of Clement VII. from
+the Castle of Sant’ Angelo, which Contarini had helped to bring about,
+filled a similar post at the Holy See. Paul III. made him a Cardinal in
+1535. He was Papal Legate at the Diet of Ratisbon in 1540. Contarini
+urged upon Charles V. the desirability of restoring peace between the
+nations, and exhorted the bishops assembled at the Diet to renounce
+luxury, ambition, and avarice, to succour the poor, to stay in their
+dioceses, and to be careful to select worthy persons for ecclesiastical
+promotion; in all of which we see the counterpart of the opinions held by
+George de Selve. Contarini died at Bologna in 1542.
+
+[391] Although convened in 1542, the first session of the Council of
+Trent was only opened in December, 1545; the final one, after many
+breaks, one of which lasted ten years, took place in 1563. A famous
+_bon-mot_ is recorded of Danès when assisting at the conferences. As one
+of the French representatives was declaiming against the delinquencies
+of the Papal Court, the Bishop of Orvieto exclaimed scornfully, _Gallus
+cantat._ Instantly Danès replied, _Utinam ad Galli cantum Petrus
+resipiscerat!_ (Quoted by Sismondi, “Hist. des Français,” tom. xi., page
+380.)
+
+[392] The collapse of the friendship with Charles V., and the failure to
+promote a marriage between the Duke of Orleans and the Infanta of Spain
+which should bring in its train the restitution of Milan to France,
+were the signal for the fall of the Connétable. Throughout his career
+attached to the Spanish alliance, the success of these negotiations
+would have placed the brightest jewel in his crown of fame. They failed;
+and the position of the great minister trembled in the balance. Madame
+d’Etampes, jealous of his good understanding with the Dauphin, used
+her influence against him. Finally, in October, 1540, the Emperor gave
+the _coup-de-grâce_ to French aspirations by bestowing Milan on his
+son Philip. Henceforth that territory was lost to French ambition.
+Montmorency, shortly after deprived of all share in the management of
+public affairs, lived in complete retirement until the accession of the
+Dauphin (Henri II.), in 1547, restored to him position and importance.
+
+[393] “Imploring you, Monseigneur, after having done me so many
+other favours, not to forget me so far as to leave me here any
+longer.”—“Correspondance de Guillaume Pellicier,” edited by M.
+Tausserat-Radel for the French Foreign Office. George de Selve to the
+Connétable, The Hague, 7th August, 1540.
+
+[394] M. de Saveuse, formerly Bailly of Amiens, and M. de Castillon, late
+ambassador in England.
+
+[395] “Corr. de Pellicier,” edited by M. Tausserat-Radel. George de Selve
+to the Connétable, Antwerp, 25th August, 1540.
+
+[396] _Ibid._, 1st September, 1540.
+
+[397] _Ibid._, Brussels, 8th September, 1540.
+
+[398] “Corr. de Pellicier,” G. de Selve to the Connétable. Brussels,
+September, 1540.
+
+[399] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xvi. (1540-41), No. 161. Pate
+to the Privy Council, 14th October, 1540.
+
+[400] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. Clairembault, 1215, f. 79.
+
+[401] Bunel writes to justify himself from the accusation (see page 175),
+that he had influenced the bishop’s decision to retire to his diocese,
+thus cutting short a brilliant worldly career. It was also believed that
+Bunel had encouraged his patron to lead a life of exaggerated austerity,
+which had hurried him to a premature death.
+
+[402] “Petri Bunelli Epistolæ,” Paris, 1551. To P. Danès. Tholosæ, 14
+Calend. Sextil., MDXLI. (Latin).—Bayle’s “Dictionary,” Art. Bunel.
+
+[403] Many authorities give the date of Selve’s death as 1542. The
+inscription on his portrait at Villiers, however (see page 193), and
+Bunel’s letters, place beyond dispute the fact that it occurred in 1541,
+as stated above. Several of Bunel’s letters dated in the summer and
+latter part of this year enlarge upon the grief caused by the bishop’s
+decease. Bayle’s “Dictionary” (Art. Bunel), the “Nouvelle Biographie
+Générale,” etc., also give the year correctly.
+
+[404] “Gallia Christiana,” _loc. cit._
+
+[405] “Œuvres de feu révérend Père en Dieu,” etc.
+
+[406] The following is a rough literal translation of the epitaph. It
+makes no pretence to finish or metre, being merely intended to give the
+meaning.
+
+    “G  Greatly fortunate in every enterprise:
+     E  Excelling in virtue, his familiar guide:
+     O  Of countenance at once gentle and proud:
+     R  Rich in all qualities required in a Prelate:
+     G  Governing duly the flocks in his Bishopric
+     E  Enclosed: the light of the people:
+     S  Sin’s enemy: of blameless life the friend:
+     D  Distinguished on all sides for his surpassing merits:
+     E  Esteemed and honoured by virtuous men:
+     S  Submissive to all, even to the undeserving:
+     E  Endued with all that which becomes a man:
+     L  Lieth here the Bishop of la Vaur, who by his
+     V  Virtue will live for ever, in peace
+     E  Eternal. And thus, O Traveller, disturb not his repose.
+
+_The spirit of Selve to those on earth_:
+
+    It is not I, but you, who do not live:
+    It is not you, but I, who am exempt from death:
+    Nor I, nor you, but God, is the mighty and the strong:
+    And you, and I, are servants of His Will.”
+
+[407] “Petri Bunelli Epistolæ,” page 94. To Odet de Selve—Tholosæ, prid.
+Calend. Januar., 1541. (Latin.)
+
+[408] “Petri Bunelli Epistolæ,” page 95. To Peter Danès. Tholosæ, 14
+Calend. Sextil., 1541. (Latin.)
+
+[409] Sismondi, “Hist. des Français,” vol. xi., page 380.
+
+[410] Poverty is the probable explanation of Bunel’s inability to give
+his time to the writing of his patron’s life. See note 2, page 157.
+
+[411] “Petri Bunelli Epistolæ,” page 94. To Odet de Selve.
+
+[412] “Benvenuto Cellini, Life,” translated by J. A. Symonds, vol. ii.,
+p. 187.
+
+[413] H. Green, “Andrea Alciati and his Book of Emblems,” London, 1872.
+Mr. Green believes that the collection of 1522 was never published,
+years of laborious research having failed to reveal a single copy. That
+it should have been reputed published shows, however, the wide fame the
+emblems at once attained. Pierre Bunel speaks of Alciati’s emblems in
+a letter dated from Venice in 1530 (“Petri Bunelli Epistolæ,” Lutetiæ,
+1551). This must have referred to the Milan collection, as the first
+edition brought out at Augsburg by Steyner was only published in the
+following year.
+
+[414] “Robe longue” was worn by lawyers and ecclesiastics; “robe courte”
+by laymen.
+
+[415] Feathers were not yet as universal in 1533 as they became a few
+years later, when Brantôme wrote.
+
+[416] The short cape also came into fashion at a rather later period.
+
+[417] Brantôme, “Hommes Illustres François,” Discours xlv. (François I.),
+Digression contre les ambassadeurs de robe longue. “One thing I should
+like much to know; if there had been present some brave and valiant
+knight of the King’s Order, or a captain of gensdarmes, or any other
+valorous gentleman with a good sword and bravado, whatever the Emperor
+might have advanced in words, whether he would not have thought twice on
+seeing the other speak and reply to him bravely; sometimes putting his
+hand on the hilt of his sword, sometimes to his side as though to draw
+his dagger, sometimes making a defiant gesture, sometimes drawing himself
+up proudly, now with his cap drawn down, now raised up with its feather,
+now placed on one side, now forward, now backward, now letting his cape
+hang half-way as one who is about to twist it round his arm, in order to
+draw his sword.... Instead of which M. de Mascon and M. de Vely, although
+he (_sic_) replied fairly well for his calling and profession, could show
+no other front than to smooth his square cap from time to time with his
+fingers; to re-dispose his skull-cap of taffetas, to listen well, with
+his two hands clasped and his thumbs extended, to gather up the sides of
+his long gown of velvet or satin: all this could not inspire the smallest
+terror in the world, nor instil any thought of fear into any soul....”
+
+[418] It may be pointed out that Dinteville’s costume shows many points
+of similarity with that of Morette, in the portrait by Holbein at Dresden.
+
+[419] Besides the allusion already quoted from Brantôme, the literature
+of the time has many allusions to “la dague et l’épée,” the ordinary
+accoutrement at this period of the French gentleman. In 1530, when the
+children of France were released from captivity on the payment of their
+father’s ransom, it was ordered that the French and Spanish gentlemen who
+met on the Bidassoa to effect the exchange, were to be armed only with
+“dagger and sword,” _i.e._, to wear their every-day dress and not full
+armour, so as to forestall any possibility of treachery on either side.
+(Du Bellay, “Mémoires,” ed. Petitot, vol. ii., page 93.) See also for the
+mention of the same arms, the “Life of Benvenuto Cellini,” translated by
+Symonds, page 169. In pictures the double weapon is frequently seen: in
+England more especially among those representing persons who favoured
+Continental fashions. Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, wears dagger,
+tassel, and sword in the well-known portrait at Hampton Court. Instances
+could easily be multiplied. Planché (“Cyclopædia of Costume,” vol. ii.,
+page 159) states that Rabelais attributes the origin of this fashion to
+Spain.
+
+[420] It was a common practice to represent ecclesiastics leaning on or
+holding a book; sometimes inscribed to show it was the Bible or other
+work connected with religion.
+
+[421] It resumes normal proportions when viewed downwards from the
+right-hand side of the picture.
+
+[422] “Some Account of the Life and Works of Hans Holbein.” By Ralph
+Nicholson Wornum, London, 1867, p. 180.
+
+[423] See illustration, page 196.
+
+[424] And not, as Dr. Woltmann, with singular absence of imagination,
+suggests, Holbein and his wife! (“Holbein und seine Zeit,” 2nd German
+edition, vol. i., p. 278.)
+
+[425] Woltmann, “Holbein,” vol. i., p. 279.
+
+[426] See _ante_, page 80.
+
+[427] Page 90.
+
+[428] Page 91.
+
+[429] At the British Museum, Paris, Berlin, etc. See Woltmann, “Holbein,”
+vol. i., chap. xii., and vol. ii., pp. 174-179.
+
+[430] Mrs. Bury Palliser, “Historic Devices, Badges, and War-cries,” page
+4.
+
+[431] The credit of having pointed this out belongs to Mr. C. L.
+Eastlake, late Keeper of the National Gallery. Mr. Eastlake thought
+he could discern the letters ASCU, or ASQU, preceded by a doubtful H.
+The writer confesses to inability to decipher these letters; but fully
+appreciates the value of the suggestion that some inscription was
+intended. An alternative reading to that suggested in the text would be
+that the lettering represents the name or initials of the goldsmith who
+wrought the sheath (supposing the design to have been actually executed).
+It was not unusual for armourers to sign any fine piece of work. In this
+case the letters might possibly be brought into relation with Hans von
+Antwerpen, a goldsmith residing in London, who had sat to Holbein in
+1532, and is known to have executed some of his designs.
+
+[432] Dr. Daniel Burckhardt, director of the Museum, has no doubt that
+this drawing, though not an original, is copied from one by Holbein, of
+whose style it indeed bears every mark. The writer is indebted to Dr.
+Burckhardt’s kindness for all the facts connected with this design. It
+is not the original of the dagger in the “Ambassadors,” as a glance at
+the illustration on the opposite page will show; but it furnishes an
+interesting point of comparison with the one in question.
+
+[433] In 1560, François II., shortly before his death, bestowed the
+Order of St. Michael simultaneously on eighteen gentlemen, at the
+instigation of the House of Guise. Down to the death of Henri II., the
+royal order had always been held in very great esteem, the statutes
+limiting the number of knights to thirty-six. Continuing the precedent
+of François II., Charles IX. admitted so many to the order that it
+became despised and neglected. (See “Mémoires de Castelnau,” with the
+additions by Le Laboureur, vol. i., pages 11 and 355.) It was not till
+1578 that Henri III. founded the Order of the Holy Ghost in consequence
+of the deterioration of that of St. Michael. The members nominated to
+the new order were received knights of St. Michael on the eve of their
+installation as knights of the Holy Ghost. Hence they were called
+“Chevaliers _des Ordres_ du Roi.” (Lalanne, “Dict. Hist. de la France.”)
+
+[434] Francis I. slightly altered the original arrangement of the
+connecting chain to make it simulate the rope of the Cordeliers, in
+allusion to his patron, St. Francis.
+
+[435] “Excepting under arms, when it will suffice to wear only the said
+image of St. Michael suspended from a small gold chain or silk lace,
+whoever pleases to do so. And similarly when the said sovereign or one
+of the said knights shall be travelling, or at their houses in private,
+or hunting, or in other places where there is no company or considerable
+assembly, they shall not be obliged to wear the said Grand Collar, but
+only the said image of the Order, in the manner appointed.”
+
+[436] “Statuts de l’Ordre de St. Michel,” Imprimerie Royale, 1725,
+article iii. This edition of the statutes was drawn up, as the preface
+informs us, by collation of all copies then available, whether printed
+or manuscript. Excepting in one or two trifling verbal details, these
+statutes are identical, as the writer has proved by comparison, with
+those contained in the “Livre des Ordonnances des chevaliers de l’ordre
+du treschrestien roy de france Loys XIᵉ a l’honneur de sainct Michel,”
+printed at Paris, in 1512, by Guillaume Eustace. The later edition has
+been quoted in the text only for the sake of the more modern orthography.
+
+[437] Brantôme, “Hommes Illustres français,” Discours lxxxii., art. v.,
+M. de Tavannes.—“Statuts de l’Ordre de St. Michel,” art. iv.
+
+[438] No. 126. It is No. 109 in the Catalogue of the Louvre by M.
+Frédéric Villot (1880).
+
+[439] Alfonso I. died in 1534; the portrait cannot therefore have been
+substantially _later_ in date than the “Ambassadors.” He was the father
+of Ercole d’Este, who in 1527 married Renée of France.
+
+[440] There are two interesting sketches by Holbein, for the Order of St.
+Michael, in the Basle Museum. They show far more freedom and spirit than
+the St. Michael of the “Ambassadors.” Possibly the latter was more or
+less a copy from the actual medallion worn by Dinteville; or it was put
+in by an assistant.
+
+[441] See illustration, page 210.
+
+[442] Compare illustrations, page 214. The gores found by Mr. Stevens
+are reproduced here by kind permission of Messrs. Henry Stevens, Son and
+Stiles.
+
+[443] See the writer’s letter to the “Academy,” February 6th, 1892. The
+Stevens globe is now the property of Mr. Kalbfleisch of New York.
+
+[444] “Johann Schöner. A reproduction of his globe of 1523, long lost....
+By Henry Stevens of Vermont.... Edited by C. H. Coote. London, 1888.”
+Schöner was a distinguished mathematician, astronomer, and geographer.
+Born in 1477 at Carlstadt, his name is chiefly associated with Nuremberg,
+where, at various intervals, he spent long periods of his life. He
+corresponded with Copernicus; and Melanchthon contributed prefaces
+to several of his books. The latter, which are mainly concerned with
+astronomy and mathematics, and the then kindred subjects of astrology and
+medicine, also include treatises on the various celestial and terrestrial
+globes of which he was the author. Four of Schöner’s earth-globes, if we
+include that under consideration, have come down to the present day. A
+specimen of the earliest, dated 1515, is preserved at Frankfort; of the
+second (1520) in the Germanic Museum at Nuremberg; the gores found by Mr.
+Stevens are supposed to represent the third (1523); and the fourth (1534)
+may be seen in the Grand-Ducal Library at Weimar. Schöner died in 1547.
+Further information may be found, if desired, in the interesting book
+named above.
+
+[445] See Mr. Coote’s article on Maximilianus Transylvanus, “Athenæum,”
+July 16th, 1892.
+
+[446] The late Mr. C. H. Coote, British Museum.
+
+[447] In the illustrations, p. 214, to facilitate comparison with the
+Stevens’ globe, Holbein’s copy has been placed in the same position as
+the original gores. To see Holbein’s globe as it is placed in the picture
+and described above, this book must be turned round, so as to present the
+globe handle _downwards_.
+
+[448] Pritann. (Britannia), Norma..ia., Avern., Burgund., Languedoc.
+
+[449] Paris, Leon, Baion, Polisy. The rivers Seine and Rhone are also
+laid down by Holbein, but left unnamed, probably through lack of space.
+
+[450] Castil., Aragon., Navar., Grana.
+
+[451] Roma, Genua.
+
+[452] See page 52, note 2.
+
+[453] Page 54.
+
+[454] Page 55.
+
+[455] The _S_ in Polisy is partially effaced.
+
+[456] See Appendix B.
+
+[457] See _ante_, page 151.
+
+[458] See illustration, page 218.
+
+[459] They are there respectively numbered II. and XIX. In both cases
+the words in the form given are due to Luther: the first hymn being his
+translation of the ancient “Veni Creator,” the second his paraphrase of
+the Ten Commandments. The latter first received the title given to it
+by him, “Die zehen Gebot kürtzer gefasst” (“A shortened Version of the
+Ten Commandments”), in the Wittemberg “Gesangbuch” of 1529. In Walther’s
+“Gesangbuch” it is simply numbered “XIX.”
+
+[460] Brightness, brilliancy.
+
+[461] The first strophe of the “Veni Creator” was, in fact, used as an
+antiphon in the Roman Catholic Church. (Antiphon: “A short piece of plain
+song introduced before a psalm or canticle, to the tone of which it
+corresponds, while the words are selected so as specially to illustrate
+and enforce the evangelical or prophetic meaning of the text.”—Grove’s
+“Dictionary of Music and Musicians.”) The suggestion that an antiphon
+was intended in the picture gains some force from the fact that while a
+faint “D...” is seen beneath the second hymn (“Mensch wiltu”), pointing
+to the commencement of the second verse (“Dein Gott allein und Herr bin
+ich,” representing the First Commandment), no second verse is indicated
+in the case of “Kom Heiliger Geyst,” which is limited to one strophe.
+The opening of the “Veni Creator” was actually printed as an antiphon
+in the “Baseler Plenarium” of the year 1514, beneath a woodcut, by Hans
+Scheuffelin, representing the Descent of the Holy Ghost. (Winterfeld,
+“Dr. Martin Luther’s deutsche Geistliche Lieder,” Leipzig, 1840.)
+
+[462] The words between brackets, where the surface of the panel has been
+injured, are supplied from Winterfeld, “Dr. Martin Luther’s deutsche
+geistliche Lieder” (Leipzig, 1840), where Walther’s hymns are reproduced.
+The only exception is in the last line of the second hymn, where the
+repetition of the word “Gott” is obviously intended. In Walther’s
+“Gesangbuch,” in place of the repetitions seen above, “Halleluia” is
+twice sung at the end of “Kom Heiliger Geyst,” and “Kyrioleis” once at
+the conclusion of the first verse of “Mensch wiltu.” (A stroke over
+a letter implies a suppressed consonant. Thus, for “gleubgē” read
+“gleubgen”; for “brūstig,” “brunstig”; for “un̄,” “und,” and so on.) For
+an English rendering of the first hymn the reader is referred to the
+numerous translations of the “Veni Creator,” all of which give the sense
+generally, not literally. The second hymn is a paraphrase of the Ten
+Commandments, opening with an admonition to obey the behests they contain.
+
+[463] Winterfeld, “Dr. Martin Luther’s Geistliche Lieder.”
+
+[464] See Mr. Barclay Squires’ letter to the “Times,” November 14, 1891.
+The information there given is based upon Dr. Kade’s reprint of Walther’s
+“Gesangbuch.”
+
+[465] It will be recollected that this hymn still forms part of the
+services of the Church of England for the Ordering of Priests and for the
+Consecration of Bishops.
+
+[466] Spangenberg’s “Kirchengesenge,” Magdeburg, 1545; quoted by
+Winterfeld, “Der Evangelische Kirchengesang,” p. 306.
+
+[467] “Je receuz ces jours passez voz lettres du premier mars.... J’ay
+aussy eu le pacquet de celles que m’escripvoit Monsʳ l’Archevesque de
+Cantorberi auxquelles je faiz response.”—Claude Dodieu, Sieur de Vély,
+French ambassador with the Emperor, to the Bailly of Troyes. From
+Paris, 2nd May, 1533. (Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll. Dupuy, vol. 263, f.
+96.)—Throughout the period of Henry VIII.’s divorce and re-marriage with
+Anne Boleyn Cranmer had probably much to do with the Frenchmen. It will
+be remembered that in the procession for Anne Boleyn’s coronation he and
+Dinteville rode side by side. (See _ante_, page 85.)
+
+[468] Cranmer’s second wife, whom he married in Germany in 1532, the year
+before he became Archbishop of Canterbury, was the daughter of Osiander,
+the Reformer.
+
+[469] See illustration, page 224, for a comparison of the page painted by
+Holbein with the corresponding page of the original book.
+
+[470] Peter Apian, or Bienewitz (of which name Apian is the Latinized
+form), born 1495 at Leisnig in Saxony, became Professor of Mathematics
+(which included astronomy, etc.) at Ingoldstadt in Bavaria, where he
+died in 1552. It appears probable enough that he may have been a friend
+and correspondent of Kratzer, who was himself a native of Munich.—George
+Apian, mentioned in the colophon, was evidently a member of the same
+family, and a printer.
+
+[471] The facts given above are taken from a letter to the “Athenæum,”
+July 30th, 1892, in which the late Mr. C. H. Coote announced his very
+interesting discovery of a copy of this book in the British Museum, and
+the identification of the very page seen in the picture.
+
+[472] Now in the Louvre.
+
+[473] See Mr. W. Fred. Dickes in the “Magazine of Art,” November, 1891.
+
+[474] It was formerly of much greater extent than at present, but a
+portion was removed, and other portions damaged, when “the new altar” was
+erected early in the eighteenth century. See Dart, “Westmonasterum, or
+History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of St. Peter’s, Westminster,”
+2 vols. fol., 1724.
+
+[475] Sir G. G. Scott, “Gleanings from Westminster Abbey,” second
+edition, 1863.
+
+[476] The Hymn-book and Book of Arithmetic.
+
+[477] Published by Steyner at Augsburg in 1531, and reprinted by him in
+the same year, as well as in 1532, 1533, and 1534. Mr. Henry Green, in
+his authoritative treatise on “Andrea Alciati and his Book of Emblems”
+(London, 1872), has shown that in all probability the so-called first
+edition of Milan, 1522, existed only in manuscript.
+
+[478] Mr. W. Fred. Dickes was the first to point out the probable
+connection between the lute in Holbein’s picture and this emblem
+(“Magazine of Art,” November, 1891). The plausibility of the suggestion
+is happily not invalidated by the fact that Mr. Dickes unfortunately
+failed to notice the broken string—a circumstance which, on Alciati’s
+own showing (see the poem cited in the text), exactly reverses the
+significance of the symbol. This oversight naturally led Mr. Dickes to a
+wholly fallacious interpretation of the emblem. Had that gentleman read
+Alciati’s explanation of the device in question, he could not have been
+so misled.
+
+[479] Mr. Dickes says “a lute and two books” (“Magazine of Art,”
+November, 1891), which of course brings the emblem much closer to
+Holbein’s representation. Whether the manuscript collection of Alciati’s
+“Emblems” of 1522 (see above, note 1) contained “two books,” and whether
+that collection came under the notice of Holbein and his sitters, it is
+impossible to say; no copy of it being known to exist. But had Mr. Dickes
+carefully consulted the only version of Alciati’s “Emblems” which had
+been _published_ up to 1533—namely, that issued by Steyner—he would have
+seen that the device there consists of a lute _only_. The two books first
+appear many years after the picture was painted.
+
+[480] Green, “Andrea Alciati and his Book of Emblems” (London, 1872), pp.
+12, 43-45. In later editions of Alciati’s “Emblems,” “Fœdera Italorum”
+was inscribed “Ad Maximilian Mediolani Ducem.” If it was indeed sent
+to Maximilian, it must have been composed many years earlier than here
+suggested, as Maximilian was dethroned on the conquest of the Duchy of
+Milan by the French, in 1515. It is noteworthy, however, that the name
+of Maximilian is only appended to this emblem at a considerably later
+date, when it may have been printed in error for Francesco, who was the
+reigning duke in 1526. Mr. Green, indeed, appears so satisfied that the
+League of Cognac gave birth to this emblem, that he excludes it from the
+possible list of emblems comprised in the Milan collection of 1522, as
+having been composed at a later date. Internal evidence proves that it
+was addressed to one of these two Dukes of Milan; to which of them is not
+very important. The same fair hopes of peace in Italy, which were evoked
+by the accession of Maximilian, were revived by the League of Cognac,
+under Francesco. The argument remains the same.
+
+[481] The writer is indebted for this translation to the kindness of Lord
+Francis Hervey.
+
+[482] See, for an account of all the circumstances, Part II., pp.
+90-93. The picture had of course been begun earlier in the year, but
+it must have taken a considerable time to think out all the elaborate
+accessories, and still longer to execute them.
+
+[483] This edition was subsequently translated into French by Jean Le
+Fèvre, a native of Dijon and Canon of Langres (in which diocese Polisy
+was situated), and was dedicated to the friend of the Dinteville family,
+Philippe de Chabot, Admiral de Brion.
+
+[484] Andrea Alciati was born in the Milanese in 1492. He studied
+at Pavia and Bologna, and took his degree as Doctor of Laws in the
+twenty-second year of his age. In 1518 he was appointed to the Chair of
+Jurisprudence at Avignon. Returning to Italy in 1521, he remained at
+Milan till 1529, when he returned to France; this time to lecture on law
+at Bourges, where he stayed till 1534. He now resided at various Italian
+centres until his death, which took place in 1550. Erasmus and Paul
+Jovius were among his friends, and his society was sought on all hands.
+Charles V. and Francis I. alike protected him. The “Emblems,” which he
+composed as a recreation from his deeper studies, had extraordinary
+celebrity, and were printed and reprinted in innumerable editions and
+languages throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One such
+was given to the world by the printer Gryphius at Lyons in 1548. It is
+curious that the motto of the Dinteville family, “Virtuti Fortuna Comes,”
+which, it has been seen, was also that of Gryphius in slightly altered
+form, was used by Alciati as early as 1522, in conjunction with the
+spread wings and other symbols of Hermes.
+
+[485] See Part II., page 39.
+
+[486] Hagen, “Deutschlands literarische und religiöse Verhältnisse im
+Reformations-Zeitalter,” vol. i., chap. vi.
+
+[487] Decrue de Stoutz, “La Cour de France au XVIᵉ̀ᵐᵉ siècle,” page 159.
+Renée of France also cultivated these sciences at the Court of Ferrara.
+(Bart. Fontana, “Renata di Francia, Duchessa di Ferrara,” vol. iii., page
+360.)
+
+[488] It is a curious thing that Agrippa, whose name has descended
+to posterity as the incarnation of black magic, enjoyed for a time a
+European reputation for learning of the highest kind. Ecclesiastics such
+as the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal La Marck, and Cardinal Campeggio,
+were his special protectors. The freedom with which he expressed his
+opinion of the monks seems first to have drawn from his enraged enemies
+those accusations of meddling with black art which afterwards sullied his
+fame. His talents were universal. Secretary, soldier, knight, doctor of
+law, physic, and divinity, equally at home in France, Germany, England,
+and Italy, his life was as varied as the professions he undertook to
+exercise. But by some fault of tact or temper on his part his career
+always broke off just when apparently about to prosper, and ended in
+bitterness and disappointment. Agrippa died at Grenoble in 1535.
+
+[489] As opposed to the black magic which was considered to emanate from
+the Evil One, and, as such, prohibited with the utmost rigour.
+
+[490] Bayle’s “Dictionary,” ed. 1735, Art. Agrippa. The letters from
+which these passages are quoted were probably not published until a later
+date, but their purport appears to have formed the substance of that
+“Key” which Agrippa was in the habit of explaining to favoured persons.
+
+[491] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533), No. 1170. Thomas
+Houth to the Earl of Kildare. In the index to the volume in question
+Gyes is erroneously identified with one Gee, an altogether different
+individual, as can be verified by reference to the letters, in the same
+volume, which refer to the latter person.—The Alderman at this time
+was probably Barthold Beckman, of Hamburg. (Lappenberg, “Urkundliche
+Geschichte des Hansischen Stahlhofes zu London,” p. 157.)
+
+[492] In this second form perhaps equivalent to “Gijze.” The “z” would
+have a hissing sound similar to “ss.”
+
+[493] Lappenberg, “Urkundliche Geschichte,” etc. Urkunden (No. clii.,
+Aus dem Archive zu Cöln), p. 173. Sir Thomas More was one of the
+representatives of England on this occasion.
+
+[494] _Ibid._, part i., p. 80, No. 11.
+
+[495] _Ibid._, p. 81, Nos. 11 and 57, and part ii. (Urkunden), p. 173.
+Dr. Lappenberg adds a fourth version, which he brings under the same
+head: “Hans van der Biesen,” which stands, in his opinion, for “Hans van
+der Giesen.” (_Ibid._, p. 81, Nos. 39 and 40.)
+
+[496] The entry occurs as “Albert Gissen Kammer” (Albert Gisse’s or
+Albert Gissen Room). If we may assume “Gissen” to be here in the genitive
+case, the nominative “Gisse” would show perfect identity with one of
+Holbein’s versions of the name.
+
+[497] “The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian,” newly translated and
+edited, with notes, by Colonel Henry Yule, C.B., vol. i., p. 205, note 3.
+
+[498] “Life and Reign of Henry VIII.” (1532-33, “Ambassador sent to the
+Pope from the King of Ethiopia”).
+
+[499] See Holbein’s “Ambassadors,” p. 72.
+
+[500] Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533), No. 156.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Abate, Niccolò dell’, 126.
+
+  Act of Supremacy, 100.
+
+  Agout, river, 170.
+
+  Agrippa, Cornelius, 233, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 234, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Aigues-Mortes, 166.
+
+  Albany, Duke of, 91.
+
+  Alchemy, 138, 227, 232-234.
+
+  Alciati, Andrea, 46, 131, 198, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 228-231, 231,
+        _note_ 3.
+
+  Alençon, Chancellor of, 42.
+
+  Alfonso I. d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, _see_ Este.
+
+  Allegory, 197.
+
+  “AMBASSADORS,” HOLBEIN’S PICTURE OF THE;
+    purchased for the National Gallery, 1, 5, 31-32;
+    personages represented, 1, 10, 11, 19, 20, 77, 200-202;
+    owned by Le Brun, 5-6, 31-32;
+    by Jacob, Earl of Radnor, 6, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 31-32;
+    documents showing history of picture, 11, 18, 20;
+    notice in Beaujon catalogue, 9-10, 31-32;
+    description of picture, 200-203;
+    details of same, 203-236 (_see also under each head_).
+
+  Ambassadors _de robe longue_ and _de robe courte_, 143, 199-200, 199,
+        _note_ 1.
+
+  Amboise, Château of, 42, 126, _note_ 3.
+
+  Amboise, George d’, Cardinal Legate, 99.
+
+  Amyot, Jacques, Bishop of Auxerre, 146, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Angeviller, Conte d’, 22, _note_ 1.
+
+  Angoulême, Charles, Duke of, _see_ Charles.
+
+  Angoulême, Duchesse d’, _see_ Louise.
+
+  Angoulême, Marguerite d’, _see_ Marguerite.
+
+  Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, 62, 72, 79, 82, 83-89, 102, 105.
+
+  Antwerp, 186.
+
+  Apian, George, 224, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Apian, Peter, 224-225, 224, _note_ 2.
+
+  Aragon, Katherine of, _see_ Katherine.
+
+  Arithmetic, 223, 224, 225, 232.
+
+  Arithmetic, Book of, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 203, 223-224.
+
+  Armagnac, Georges d’, Bishop of Rodez, 156, 167.
+
+  “Arms of Death” (design by Holbein), 203-204.
+
+  Arms of François II., Bishop of Auxerre, 56, 130.
+
+  Arms of Jean de Dinteville, 128-129.
+
+  Arts, the Seven Liberal, 39;
+    in picture of “Ambassadors,” 210, 223, 225, 228, 231-232.
+
+  Arundel Collection, 140.
+
+  Aspremont, 136.
+
+  Asti, county of, 101.
+
+  Astrology, 45, 138, 210, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 233-234.
+
+  Astronomy, 45, 210, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 225, 232, 233-234.
+
+  Audley, Sir Thomas, Lord Chancellor, 85, _ibid._, _note_ 6.
+
+  Aumale, 178.
+
+  Auxerre, cathedral of, 117, 137, _note_ 1.
+
+  Auxerre, François I. de Dinteville, Bishop of, _see_ Dinteville.
+
+  Auxerre, François II. de Dinteville, Bishop of, _see_ Dinteville.
+
+  Auxerre, Jacques Amyot, Bishop of, _see_ Amyot.
+
+  “Avaux, M. d’,” 5, 7, 8, 10, 22,
+    _see also_ Mesmes.
+
+  Avaux, seigneurie in Champagne, 9, _note_ 1.
+
+  Avignon, 46, 148, 149, 166, 231, _note_ 3.
+
+  Azay-le-Rideau, 125.
+
+
+  Baif, Lazare de, French Ambassador at Venice, etc., 59, 157, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 2, 174.
+
+  Bailly, office of, 38.
+
+  Bailly of Troyes, The, _see_ Dinteville.
+
+  Balavoyne, steward of Bishop of Auxerre, 59, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 63.
+
+  Barbier, Domenico del, _see_ Domenico Fiorentino.
+
+  Bar-sur-Seine, 11, 19, 36, 41, 121.
+
+  Basle, 75.
+
+  Basse-Cour of Polisy, 127, 133.
+
+  Basville, _see_ Lamoignon.
+
+  Basville, seigneurie, 29.
+
+  Bayonne, 176, 213.
+
+  Beaujon, Hospice (now Hospital), 30, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Beaujon, Nicolas, 9, 21, 29, 30-32, 30, _note_ 2.
+
+  Beauvais, M. de, French Ambassador in Scotland, 80, _ibid._, _note_
+        2, 95, 98.
+
+  Belgrade, 214.
+
+  Bellay, Guillaume Du, Seigneur de Langey, 35, _note_ 1, 44, 47,
+        _ibid._, _note_ 2, 48, 53, 232.
+
+  Bellay, Jean Du, successively Bishop of Bayonne and Paris, and
+        Cardinal, 42, 44, 45, _note_ 1, 47, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 48, 53,
+        65, 66, 67, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 80, 89-90, 98, 232.
+
+  Bellay, Madame Du, 117.
+
+  Bellay, Martin Du, 47, _note_ 2.
+
+  Bembo, Pietro, Cardinal, 158, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Berthereau, secretary to Montmorency, 59.
+
+  Bèze, M. de, 59, _note_ 2.
+
+  Bèze, Théodore de, 59, _note_ 2.
+
+  Bidassoa, river, 146, 176, 201, _note_ 2.
+
+  Biez, Oudart Du, Governour of Boulogne, 98.
+
+  Black Friars, 68, 69.
+
+  Blaigny, Charles le Genevois, Marquis de, 16, 26.
+
+  Blaigny, Charlotte Marie de Cazillac, Marquise de, _see_ Cazillac.
+
+  Blaigny, Marie Renée Le Genevois de, _see_ Le Genevois.
+
+  Blois, Château of, 42, 125.
+
+  Boisy, Grand-Maître, 39.
+
+  Boleyn, Queen Anne, _see_ Anne Boleyn.
+
+  Bologna, 72.
+
+  Bomy, Truce of, 163.
+
+  Bonhomme, Abbé, 24, _note_ 1.
+
+  Bonner, Dr., 82, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Bonnivet, Admiral, 39.
+
+  Bonvalot, François, Abbot of St. Vincent of Besançon, Imperial
+        Ambassador in France, 177.
+
+  Bordeaux, 30, _note_ 2, 144.
+
+  Born, Derick, 76, _note_ 1.
+
+  Boulogne, 60, 61, 66, 98, 110.
+
+  Bourbon, Connétable de, 233.
+
+  Bourdaizière, La, 60.
+
+  Bourges, Archbishop of, _see_ Tournon, François de.
+
+  Bourges, University of, 46, 145, 231, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Brandon, Charles, Duke of Suffolk, 85, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 87-88, 90.
+
+  Brantôme, 199-200, 201, _note_ 2.
+
+  Breton, secretary to Francis I., 98.
+
+  Brian, Sir Francis, 94, 109-110.
+
+  Bridewell, Palace of, 58, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 63, _ibid._, _note_ 3,
+        67-71, 68, _note_ 1.
+
+  Brion, Madame de, 117.
+
+  Brion, Philippe de Chabot, Admiral de, 65, 98, 116, 118, 146.
+
+  Brittany, 59, 213.
+
+  Brittany, Anne of, wife of Louis XII., 45, _note_ 2.
+
+  Broglie, Anne Louise de, second Marquise de Cessac, 23, 25, 28.
+
+  Brou, Denis Feydeau de, 28.
+
+  Brou, Madame de, 118.
+
+  Brun, Le, _see_ Le Brun.
+
+  Brussels, 177, 186, 187, 188.
+
+  Buchanan, picture-dealer, 6, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 32.
+
+  Budé, Guillaume, 43, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 46, 47.
+
+  Bunel, Pierre, 144, 157, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 159, 160, 174-175, 189,
+        190, _note_ 1, 191-192.
+
+  Burgundy, Charles the Bold, Duke of, 37.
+
+  Burgundy, County of (High Burgundy or Franche Comté), 16, 139, _note_
+        2, 177, 186.
+
+  Burgundy, Duchy of, 36, 37, 41, 121, 127, 139, _note_ 2, 213.
+
+  Buttes, Dr., physician to Henry VIII., 74, 78.
+
+  Buxi, Cécille de, wife of Jean de Selve, 143, 147, _note_ 1, 154.
+
+  Buxi, Pierre de, Bishop of Lavaur, 147.
+
+
+  Cahors, 24, _note_ 1.
+
+  Calais, 60-63, 66, 109;
+    meeting of Henry VIII. and Francis I. at (1532), 60-63.
+
+  Calvin, 46, 158, _note_ 3.
+
+  Campeggio, Cardinal, 69, 233, _note_ 3.
+
+  Camusat, Nicolas, Canon of Troyes, 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 24, _note_ 1,
+        134, _note_ 1.
+
+  Canterbury, Archbishops of, _see_ Cranmer, Warham.
+
+  Capello, Carlo, Venetian Ambassador in England, 85, _ibid._, _note_ 6.
+
+  Carew, Sir Nicolas, Master of the Horse to Henry VIII., 88.
+
+  Carpentras, 174, _note_ 1.
+
+  Carpentras, Bishop of, _see_ Sadoleto.
+
+  Carpi, Ridolfo Pio, Bishop of Faenza, Cardinal, 162-165.
+
+  _Carrelage_ at Polisy (tesselated pavement), 129-130, 197.
+
+  Castelnau, Anthoine de, Bishop of Tarbes, French Ambassador in
+        England and with Charles V., 102-103, 105, _ibid._, _note_ 3,
+        172, _note_ 2, 174-175.
+
+  Castelnau, Louis de, Marquis de Cessac, 15, _note_ 5, 24, _note_ 1.
+
+  Castillon, Sieur de, French Ambassador in England, 95, 96.
+
+  Catherine de’ Medici (Duchess of Orleans, subsequently Queen of
+        France), 72, 96, 99.
+
+  Cazillac, Charlotte-Marie de, Marquise de Blaigny, 16, 17, 23, 25-27,
+        31.
+
+  Cazillac, Claude de, Baronne de Fontenilles, 15, 26.
+
+  Cazillac, Claude de, Marquise de Praslin, 25, _note_ 1.
+
+  Cazillac, François I. de, Baron de Cessac, _see_ Cessac.
+
+  Cazillac, François II. de, Marquis de Cessac, _see_ Cessac.
+
+  Cazillac, seigneurie in Quercy, 24, 27.
+
+  Cellini, Benvenuto, 126, _note_ 3, 197.
+
+  Cessac, Baronne de, _see_ Dinteville, Claude de.
+
+  Cessac, François I. de Cazillac, Baron de, 14, 17, 31.
+
+  Cessac, François II. de Cazillac, Marquis de, 15-17, 19-21, 22-25,
+        _ibid._, _note_ 1, 26, 31.
+
+  Cessac, Marquise de, _see_ Broglie, Anne-Louise de.
+
+  Cessac, Marquise de, _see_ Choiseul, Marie de.
+
+  Cessac, seigneurie in Quercy, 24, 25, 27, 28.
+
+  Chabot, Philippe de, Admiral de Brion, 65, 98, 116, 146.
+
+  Chambord, 125.
+
+  Champagne, 14, _note_ 1, 16, 24, _note_ 1, 36, 46, 52, 127.
+
+  “Champagne et de Brie, Revue de,” 10-12, 14, _note_ 1.
+
+  Chantilly, 55, 83, 100.
+
+  Chapeaufort, Maison du, 21.
+
+  Chapuys, Eustace, Ambassador of Charles V. in England, 62, 63, 103,
+        105-106.
+
+  Charles VIII., King of France, 37, 51.
+
+  Charles IX., King of France, 207, _note_ 1.
+
+  Charles V., Emperor of Germany, 6, 40, 41, 42, 48, 52, _note_ 2, 57,
+        69, 72, 73, 76, 90-92, 95, 99, 101, 102, 104, 106, 107, 116,
+        128, 151, 152, 156, 157, 162, 163, 165, 166, 169, 172-182, 182,
+        _note_ 1, 184-188, 184, _note_ 1, 193.
+
+  Charles, Duke of Angoulême, subsequently Duke of Orleans, 40, 42, 43,
+        44, 53, 59, 60, 62, 98, 99, 100, 106, 112, _note_ 2, 113, 116,
+        118, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 119, 121-124.
+
+  Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, 37.
+
+  Chartres, Duchess of, _see_ Renée.
+
+  “Chartreuse,” The, 30.
+
+  Châtillon, Mme. de, 45, _note_ 1.
+
+  Chelsea, More’s house at, 74, 75.
+
+  Chenonceaux, 125.
+
+  Choiseul, Charles de, Marquis de Praslin, 25, _note_ 1.
+
+  Choiseul, Duché-Pairie, 17.
+
+  Choiseul, family of, 16.
+
+  Choiseul, Isabelle de, 25, _note_ 1.
+
+  Choiseul, Marie de, first Marquise de Cessac, 16, 21, 22.
+
+  Chrétien, Félix, 137, _note_ 1.
+
+  Christina, Duchess of Milan, niece of Charles V., 91, _ibid._, _note_
+        1.
+
+  Chronology of Holbein’s “Ambassadors,” 31.
+
+  Cinque Ports, Barons of the, 87, _note_ 4.
+
+  Clement VII., Pope, 41, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 72, 73, 78, 79, 82, 91,
+        93, 95-96, 99, 100, _note_ 2, 155.
+
+  Clermont, Cardinal, Legate of Avignon, 148-150.
+
+  Clermont, M. de, 150.
+
+  Clouet, 209.
+
+  Cloux, Château, 126, _note_ 3.
+
+  Cobham, 102.
+
+  Cognac, League of, 41, 90, 92, 228, _ibid._, _note_ 4.
+
+  Coligny, Louise de, wife of Gaucher de Dinteville the younger, 51,
+        _note_ 2.
+
+  Collège Royal (Coll. de France), 46, 145.
+
+  Cologne, Archbishop of, 233, _note_ 3.
+
+  Compass, an oval, 80.
+
+  Compasses, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 203, 224, 232, 233.
+
+  Concordat, The, 147.
+
+  Contarini, Cardinal, 158, _note_ 1, 182, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Conti, Prince de, Governour of Champagne, 16.
+
+  Copernicus, 210, _note_ 3.
+
+  Cosins Lane, 75.
+
+  Council, The General, 78, 106, 162, 163.
+
+  Cranmer, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, 78, 85-87, 222, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 3, 223, _note_ 1.
+
+  Croix, Nicolas de la, 135, 136.
+
+  Cromwell, Thomas, minister of Henry VIII., subsequently Earl of
+        Essex, 74, 76, _note_ 1, 102, 106, 107.
+
+  Crucifix, Silver, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 203, 232, 234, 235.
+
+
+  Dagger, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 7, 201, 205-207, 206, _note_ 1.
+
+  Dagger-sheath, design for, after Holbein, 206, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Dagger and sword, worn together, 200, 201, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  “Dance of Death,” Holbein’s, 203, 204.
+
+  Dance of Death, The, 198.
+
+  Danès, Pierre, 144, 145, 146, 157, 183, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 189, 191.
+
+  Dauphin François, The, _see_ François.
+
+  Dauphin Henri, The, _see_ Henri.
+
+  Death, Agrippa’s Mystical, 234-235.
+
+  “Death, Arms of,” 203-204, 207.
+
+  Death, Device and Emblems of, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 203-207,
+        228, 235.
+
+  Death, Mottoes concerning, 206.
+
+  Death’s-head Brooch, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 201, 203.
+
+  Death’s-head, Distorted, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 10, 203-205,
+        203, _note_ 1, 206, 225, 235.
+
+  Derick, _see_ Born _and_ Tybis.
+
+  Deschenetz (Echenay), seigneurie, 17, _note_ 1, 36, 37, 40, 113-114.
+
+  Deschenetz, Seigneur, _see_ Dinteville, Guillaume de.
+
+  Device of Death, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 204-207, 235.
+
+  Device or _Devise_, 197-198, 204-207, 235.
+
+  Diane de Poitiers, “Grande Sénéchale,” subsequently Duchesse de
+        Valentinois, 112.
+
+  Diet of Hagenau (1540), 172-173, 174.
+
+  —— Ratisbon (1541), 174, 175.
+
+  —— Spires (1529), 151-153, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 219, 222.
+
+  Dijon, Bailly of (M. de Villiers les Potz), 117-118.
+
+  Dinteville, Charlotte de, wife of Louis Raguier, Seigneur de la
+        Mothe, sister of Jean the “Ambassador,” 47, 53, 136, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 1.
+
+  Dinteville, Claude de, Surintendant de Finance to Charles the Bold,
+        Duke of Burgundy, uncle to Jean the “Ambassador,” 37.
+
+  Dinteville, Claude de, wife of François I. de Cazillac, Baron de
+        Cessac, niece of Jean the “Ambassador,” 14, 15, 17, 31, 134,
+        _note_ 3.
+
+  Dinteville, François I. de, Bishop of Auxerre, uncle of Jean the
+        “Ambassador,” 37, 38, 51, 53, 56.
+
+  Dinteville, François II. de, Bishop of Auxerre, brother of Jean the
+        “Ambassador,” 15, 38, 39, 51, 53, 55-60, 62-65, 78, 79-81, 111,
+        113-121, 129-131, 133, 135-138, 214, 233.
+
+  Dinteville, Françoise de, sister of Jean the “Ambassador,” 53, 63,
+        _note_ 4, 134.
+
+  Dinteville, Gaucher I. de, father of Jean the “Ambassador,” 37-42,
+        47, 50-53, 53, _note_ 2, 54.
+
+  Dinteville, Gaucher II. de, Seigneur of Vanlay and Thennelières,
+        brother of Jean the “Ambassador,” 51, _note_ 2, 52, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 3, 53, 59, 60, 62, 111-116, 137, 213.
+
+  Dinteville, Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, brother of Jean the
+        “Ambassador,” 14, 52, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 53, 59, 107-108,
+        111-114, 116, 133-138, 167-168, 213.
+
+  Dinteville, Jacques de, Grand Veneur de France, uncle of Jean the
+        “Ambassador,” 37.
+
+  DINTEVILLE, JEAN DE, SEIGNEUR OF POLISY AND BAILLY OF TROYES (subject
+        of Holbein’s portrait).
+    Birth and lineage, 36;
+    position at French Court, 39, 40, 42, 52, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 53,
+        59, 60, 62, 63, 99-101, 111-113, 116-121, 122, 134;
+    Bailly of Troyes and Governour of Bar-sur-Seine, 41;
+    Knight of St. Michael, 7-8, 53, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 134, _note_ 2,
+        201-208;
+    first embassy to England (1531), 54, 56-57;
+    second and longest ditto (1533), 66-98;
+    third ditto (1535), 100-103;
+    fourth ditto (1536), 105-107;
+    fifth and last ditto (1537), 108-110;
+    in disgrace with Francis I., 111-113;
+    back at Court, 116-121;
+    paralyzed, 121;
+    builds Polisy, 125-133;
+    death, 138.
+
+  —— His portrait by Holbein (“Ambassadors”), 1, 10-11, 18-20, 31,
+        77-78, 200;
+    _see also under “Ambassadors.”_
+
+  —— Supposed portrait amongst the Holbein drawings at Windsor, 139.
+
+  Dinteville, Jean de, son of Pierre de Jaucourt, ancestor of Jean the
+        “Ambassador,” 36.
+
+  Dinteville, Jean de, another ancestor, 36-37.
+
+  Dinteville, Joachim de, Seigneur of Dinteville in Champagne, 14,
+        _note_ 1, 24, _note_ 1.
+
+  Dinteville, Louis de, Knight Commander of the Order of St. John of
+        Jerusalem, brother of Jean the “Ambassador,” 39, 53, 54, 60,
+        213.
+
+  Dinteville, Pierre de, Seneschal of the Order of St. John of
+        Jerusalem, uncle of Jean the “Ambassador,” 37, 54.
+
+  Dinteville, seigneurie in Champagne, 14, _note_ 1, 24, _note_ 1, 36.
+
+  St. Dizier, 128.
+
+  Dodieu, Claude, Sieur de Vély, French Ambassador with Charles V., 98,
+        _ibid._, _note_ 2, 186-188, 199-200, 222, _note_ 3.
+
+  Domenico Fiorentino (Domenico del Barbier), 126-128.
+
+  Dossi, Battista, 209.
+
+  Dover, 66, 109-110.
+
+  Du Bellay, _see_ Bellay, Du.
+
+  Du Faur, _see_ Faur, Du.
+
+  Du Plessis, _see_ Plessis, Du.
+
+  Duprat, Chancellor, 99.
+
+  Du Puy, _see_ Puy, Du.
+
+
+  Ecouen, Château of, 125.
+
+  Eleanor, sister of Charles V., Queen-Dowager of Portugal, Queen of
+        France, 50, 59.
+
+  Elizabeth, Princess, daughter of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, 94,
+        102-103.
+
+  Emblems, Alciati’s Book of, 198, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 228-231, 228,
+        _notes_ 1-4, 231, _notes_ 1 _and_ 2.
+
+  Embrun, Archbishop of, _see_ Tournon, François de.
+
+  Epitaph of Gaucher I. de Dinteville, 51.
+
+  Epitaph of George de Selve, 190.
+
+  Erasmus, 43, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 231, _note_ 3.
+
+  Ercole II. d’Este, _see_ Este.
+
+  Escars, Susanne d’, wife of Charles de Cazillac, Baron de Cessac, 15.
+
+  Esmon, Mademoiselle de, 136.
+
+  Este, Alfonso I. d’, Duke of Ferrara, 209.
+
+  Este, Ercole II. d’, Duke of Ferrara, 45, 115, _note_ 3, 159, _note_
+        1, 168.
+
+  Este, Leonora d’, 45.
+
+  Etampes, Duchesse d’ (Anne de Pisseleu), 112-113, 117-121, 184,
+        _note_ 1.
+
+  Evelyn, John, 15, _note_ 5.
+
+  Evreux, Hotel d’, 30, _ibid._, _note_ 3.
+
+
+  Falconry, 55, 56, 80.
+
+  Falier, Lodovico, Venetian Ambassador in England, 66.
+
+  Farnese, Alessandro, Cardinal, 164.
+
+  Faur, Du, 157, _note_ 2.
+
+  Ferdinand, King of Hungary, 41.
+
+  Ferrara, 67, 115, 116, 158, _note_ 3, 159.
+
+  Ferrara, Dukes of, _see_ Este.
+
+  Ferrara, Duchess of, _see_ Renée.
+
+  Fisher, John, Bishop of Rochester, 100-101, 104.
+
+  Fitzwilliam, Sir William, Treasurer of the Household to Henry VIII.,
+        71, 74.
+
+  Flanders, 109, 176, 177, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 178, 186.
+
+  Fleece, Order of the, 207.
+
+  Fleet, the river, 67-69.
+
+  Flutes, Case of, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 203, 232.
+
+  Fontainebleau, 120, 125, 126, 127, 135, 197.
+
+  Fontaines, page of Louis de Dinteville, 60.
+
+  Fontenilles, _see_ Roche, De la.
+
+  Forestmontier, 11, 123.
+
+  Fortespice, vassal of the Comte de Vaudemont, 37.
+
+  Fortune, emblems of, at Polisy, 130-132.
+
+  Four, Rue du (at Paris), 21.
+
+  France, Collège de, _see_ Collège Royal.
+
+  France, Kings of, _see_ Charles, Francis, Henri, Louis.
+
+  Franche-Comté, 16, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 139, _note_ 2.
+
+  Francis I., King of France, 10, 11, 19, 40-47, 50, 52, 53, _note_
+        2, 54-62, 64, 65, 72, 73, 76, 78-81, 89-98, 99-102, 104, 105,
+        107-110, 111, 112, 114-122, 125-128, 134, 145-150, 156, 157,
+        162, 163, 165-167, 172, 173, 175-182, 186, 187, 192, 197, 199,
+        207, 209, 214.
+
+  Francis II., King of France, 207, _note_ 1.
+
+  François, The Dauphin, eldest son of Francis I., 39, 40, 42, 50, 52,
+        53, 62, 103, 106, 107, 112, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+
+  Gabarre, 42.
+
+  Gardiner, Stephen, Bishop of Winchester, 102, 103, 105.
+
+  Garter, Order of the, 61, 207.
+
+  Gaucher de Dinteville, _see_ Dinteville.
+
+  Genevois, Le, _see_ Le Genevois.
+
+  Genoa, 101, 214.
+
+  Geometry, 225, 227, 232, 233, 235.
+
+  Germany, 41, 45-47, 89, 136, 172, 214, 219.
+
+  St. Géry, Château of, 25, _note_ 2.
+
+  St. Géry, Rey de, _see_ Rey.
+
+  Ghent, 175, 177, 178.
+
+  Globe, Celestial, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 202, 209-210, 232.
+
+  Globe, Terrestrial, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 202, 210-218, 228,
+        232, 235.
+
+  Godefroy family, The, 14, 18.
+
+  Godefroy papers (Bibl. de l’Institut), 18, 20.
+
+  Grammont, Gabriel de, Bishop of Tarbes, Cardinal, 62, 64-65, 71, 72,
+        91, 92, 146.
+
+  Grand-Maître, _see_ Montmorency.
+
+  Grand-Seigneur (the Turk), _see_ Solyman II.
+
+  Grand Veneur de France, _see_ Dinteville, Jacques de.
+
+  Granvella, Cardinal (Nic. Perrenot, minister of Charles V.), 186-188.
+
+  Greenwich, 70, 71, 84, 94-95.
+
+  Grenoble, 136, 233, _note_ 3.
+
+  Grignan, French Ambassador at Rome, 114-115.
+
+  Gryphe or Gryphius, printer of Lyons, 131-132, 198.
+
+  Guénégaud, Henri Du Plessis, Marquis de Plancy, 25, _note_ 1.
+
+  Guénégaud, Roger de, 24, 25, _note_ 1.
+
+  Guildford, Sir Henry, Comptroller of the Household to Henry VIII., 74.
+
+  Guise, Claude de Lorraine, Duke of, 113.
+
+  Guise, Duke of, 16.
+
+  Guise, The, 134, _note_ 3.
+
+  Gyze, Gisze, Gyes, George, 75, _note_ 3;
+    _see also_ _Appendix A_, p. 239.
+
+
+  Hagenau, Diet of (1540), 174.
+
+  Hague, The, 184, 185.
+
+  Hargerie, Seigneur de La, 93.
+
+  Hellin, French resident at Brussels, 177, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Henri, successively Duke of Orleans, Dauphin, and Henri II., King of
+        France, 10, 42, 54, 59, 60, 61-62, 72, 96, 99, 112, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 2, 113, 114, 120, 121, 123, 127, 132, 134, _note_ 2,
+        136, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 137, 184, _note_ 1, 207, _note_ 1.
+
+  Henry VIII., King of England, 8, 20, 40, 42, 47, 48, 50, 56-58,
+        60-63, 67-74, 76, 78-82, 83, 88, 89-90, 93-98, 100-102, 104-109.
+
+  Henry, Count of Nassau, Grand Chamberlain of Charles V., 52, _note_
+        2, 213.
+
+  Hermes’ wings, 131-132, 231, _note_ 2.
+
+  Hermeticism (Hermetic Art), 132, 233.
+
+  Hesse, Philip, Landgrave of, 99.
+
+  HOLBEIN, HANS, THE YOUNGER, 1, 5-7, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 8, _note_ 2,
+        9, 10, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 11, 13, 19, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 20-22,
+        26, 31-32, 35, 41, 43, _note_ 3, 56, 74-78, 134, _note_ 3,
+        139, 140, 198, 199, 202, 203-206, 208, 209, _note_ 3, 211-212,
+        215-218, 220-221, 224-227, 230, 235-236.
+
+  —— “Dance of Death,” 203-204.
+
+  —— Design for the “Arms of Death,” 203-204, 207.
+
+  —— —— for the Order of St. Michael, 209, _note_ 3.
+
+  —— —— after, for a Dagger-sheath, 206.
+
+  —— Drawing at Dresden, of Morette, 140.
+
+  —— —— —— Windsor, supposed to represent Dinteville, 139, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 2, 140.
+
+  —— Engravings after, by Hollar, _see_ Hollar.
+
+  —— Portraits by:
+    The “Ambassadors,” _see under that head_.
+    Born, Derick, 76, _note_ 1.
+    Buttes, Dr., 74.
+    Cromwell, Thomas, 74.
+    Erasmus, 43, _note_ 3.
+    Fitzwilliam, Sir William, 74.
+    Guildford, Sir Henry, 74.
+    Gyze or Gisze, Georg, 75, _note_ 2, _Appendix A_ (pp. 239-240).
+    Kratzer, Nicolas, 74, 75, _note_ 1, 224, _ibid._, _note_ 4.
+    Milan, Christina, Duchess of, 91, _note_ 1.
+    More, Sir Thomas, 75.
+    More family, 75.
+    Morette, Comte de, 42, _note_ 7, 140, 201, _note_ 1.
+    Norfolk, Duke of, 74.
+    Steelyard Merchants, 75.
+    Tybis, Derick, 76, _note_ 1.
+    Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, 74.
+
+  Holland, 184.
+
+  Hollar, Wenzel, 140.
+
+  Holy Ghost, Order of the, 207, _note_ 1.
+
+  Hospice (now Hôpital) Beaujon, 30, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Howard, Lord William, 85, _ibid._, _note_ 4, 87-88
+
+  Hozier, D’, 14, 24, _note_ 1, 53, _note_ 2.
+
+  Humanists, the French, 45 _et seq._
+
+  Hungary, Ferdinand, King of, _see_ Ferdinand.
+
+  Hungary, John Zapolski, King of, _see_ Zapolski.
+
+  Hymn-book, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 151, 173, 202, 214, 219-223,
+        228, 235.
+
+
+  Instruments, Geometrical, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 202, 224-225,
+        232, 233, 235.
+
+  Italian artists employed in France, 125-127, 128, 129-130.
+
+  Iversay, M. d’, 122.
+
+  Ivoy, 122-123.
+
+
+  Jaucourt, Pierre de, 36.
+
+  John, King of England, 69.
+
+  St. John of Jerusalem, Order of, 39, 53, 54, 57, 67, 68, 213.
+
+  Joinville, 116, 121.
+
+  Julyot, Hubert, 128.
+
+
+  Katherine of Aragon, Queen of England, 57, 63, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 69,
+        83, 89, 94, 104.
+
+  Kingston, 102.
+
+  Kratzer, Nicolas, astronomer to Henry VIII., 74, 75, _ibid._, _note_
+        2, 222, 224, 225.
+
+
+  Laigne, river, 36, 128, 129.
+
+  Lamoignon (place), 29.
+
+  Lamoignon, Chrétien de, Marquis de Basville, 29.
+
+  Lamoignon, Chrétien-François (II.) de, Marquis de Basville et de
+        Milhars, Président _à mortier_ of the Parliament of Paris,
+        Garde des Sceaux, 29, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 30-31, 32.
+
+  Langey, _see_ Bellay, Guillaume Du.
+
+  Languedoc, 14, 16, 17, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 150, 153, 213.
+
+  Lavaur (Lavor, La Vaur), Bishops of, _see_ Buxi, Danès, Selve.
+
+  Lavaur, Cathedral of, 170.
+
+  Le Brun, Jean-Batiste-Pierre, 5-6, 10, 31, 32.
+
+  Lefèvre d’Etaples, Jacques, 43, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 44, 47.
+
+  Le Genevois, Charles, Marquis de Blaigny, 16, 26.
+
+  Le Genevois, Marie Renée, wife of François Voisin, subsequently
+        Marquise de Milhars, 26-29, 31-32.
+
+  Leland, John, 6-7.
+
+  Lesches, in Brie, 53.
+
+  Liancourt, Madame de, 135, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Liancourt, Seigneur de, _see_ Plessis, Du.
+
+  Limoges, 24, _note_ 1, 144.
+
+  Lionardo da Vinci, 126, _note_ 3.
+
+  L’Isle-Adam, Philippe de Villiers, Grand Master of the Knights of St
+        John of Jerusalem, 54, 59.
+
+  Loches, 176.
+
+  London, 57, 63, 66-71, 75, 76, 92, 102;
+    description of (1531), 70;
+    Mayor of (Sir Stephen Pecock), 88;
+    Tower of, 84.
+
+  Longford Castle, 6, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 32.
+
+  Longueval, M. de, 122.
+
+  Lorraine, Claude de, Duke of Guise, 113.
+
+  Lorraine, Dukedom of, 37.
+
+  Louise of Savoy, Duchess of Angoulême, mother of Francis I., 40, 42,
+        _ibid._, _note_ 5, 43, 45, 55, 56, 148-149, 233.
+
+  Low Countries, The, _see_ Netherlands.
+
+  Lunden, Bishop of (John Vesalius, Archbishop of Linden), 172.
+
+  Lute, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 202, 227-231, 232, 235.
+
+  Luther, 46, 219, _ibid._, _note_ 3.
+
+  Lutheran Hymn-book in picture of “Ambassadors,” _see_ Hymn-book.
+
+  Lutherans (Luthériens), 45, 46, 49, 65, 89, 172, 181, 222.
+
+  Lützelburger, Hans, 204.
+
+  Luxemburg, Duchy of, 116.
+
+  Lyencourt, _see_ Liancourt.
+
+  Lyons, 93, 99, 105, 107, 108, 131-132, 136, 155, 198, 204, 213.
+
+
+  Mablisteyn, Sir John, 57.
+
+  Mâcon, Charles de Hémard, Bishop of, Cardinal, 161-165, 163, _note_
+        2, 199-200.
+
+  Madeleine, daughter of Francis I., subsequently Queen of Scotland, 99.
+
+  Madrid, 40, 146.
+
+  Madrid, Château of (near Paris), 125, 126.
+
+  Madrid, Treaty of, 41, 50, 146, 213.
+
+  Magellan, 212.
+
+  Magic, 234, _ibid._, _notes_ 1 _and_ 2.
+
+  Maison de l’Aûmonier (Polisy), 130-133, 130, _note_ 1, 198, 233.
+
+  Maison du Chapeaufort (Paris), 20, 21.
+
+  Malta, 54.
+
+  Mantua, 116.
+
+  Manuzio, Paolo, 157.
+
+  Maraviglia, _see_ Merveilles.
+
+  Marck, Cardinal La, 109, 234.
+
+  Mareuil, Pierre de, Bishop of Lavaur, 113, 117-121.
+
+  Marguerite d’Angoulême, successively Duchesse d’Alençon and Queen of
+        Navarre, sister of Francis I., 42, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 43-45,
+        98, 153-154.
+
+  Marguerite, Princess, daughter of Francis I., 99.
+
+  Marignan, Battle of, 144.
+
+  Marseilles, meeting of Francis I. and Clement VII. at, 72, 78, 89,
+        93-94, 95-96, 99.
+
+  Mary, ex-Queen of France, sister of Henry VIII., wife of Charles
+        Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, 90.
+
+  Mary, Queen-Dowager of Hungary, Regent of the Netherlands, sister of
+        Charles V., 109, 177, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Mary, Princess, daughter of Henry VIII. and Katherine of Aragon, 94,
+        103.
+
+  Mass, placards against, 104.
+
+  Maurice of Saxony, 136.
+
+  Mechanics, 55, 137, 235.
+
+  Melanchthon, André, 46.
+
+  Melanchthon, Philip, 46, 48, 158, _note_ 3, 210, _note_ 3.
+
+  Mergey, Catherine de, 133.
+
+  Mergey, Jean de, 133-134, 134, _note_ 1.
+
+  Merveilles or Maraviglia, French agent at Milan, 90-93, 90, _note_ 4,
+        230.
+
+  Mesmes, Jean-Antoine de, Conte d’Avaux, ambassador, 27, 28, 31.
+
+  Mesmes, Jean-Antoine de, Conte d’Avaux, Premier Président of the
+        Parliament of Paris, 27, 28, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 29, 31.
+
+  Mesmes, Jean-Jacques de, Conte d’Avaux, Président _à mortier_ of the
+        Parliament of Paris, 27, 31.
+
+  Mesmes, Marie-Thérèse de, wife of François de la Roche, Marquis de
+        Fontenilles, 27, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 28, 31.
+
+  Metals, transmutation of, 233.
+
+  St. Michael, Order of (Ordre du Roi), 7-8, 42, 53, _ibid._, _note_
+        2, 61, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 200, 201, 207-209, _notes_ 207-209.
+
+  Milan, city of, 198, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 228, _note_ 1, 230, 231,
+        _note_ 3.
+
+  Milan, Duchy of, 67, 73, 90-92, 96, 101, 144, 163, 166, 176-179, 184,
+        _note_ 1, 186, 187, 228, _note_ 4.
+
+  Milan, Francesco Sforza, Duke of, 41, 90-93, 228, _note_ 4, 229, 230.
+
+  Milan, Maximilian, Duke of, 228, _note_ 4, 229.
+
+  Milhars, Château of, 17, 23, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 24, 25, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 2, 26-29, 31-32.
+
+  Milhars, Marquis de, _see_ Voisin, François.
+
+  Milhars, Marquise de, _see_ Le Genevois, Marie Renée.
+
+  Mirandola, La, 115, 167, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Mirandola, La, Pico, Count of, 167.
+
+  Modena, 167, 209.
+
+  Modena, Niccolò da, 126.
+
+  Mons, 177.
+
+  Montecuculli, Count Sebastiano di, 107-108, 112, _note_ 1.
+
+  Montier-Aramey, abbey of, 117-119.
+
+  Montierender, abbey of, 55, 134.
+
+  Montier-la-Celle, abbey of, 117-121, 135, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Montier-sur-Saulx, 116.
+
+  Montmorency, Anne de, successively Maréchal, Grand-Maître, and
+        Connétable de France, 39, 42, _ibid._, _note_ 7, 43, 44, 48-49,
+        53, 54, 55, 59, 61, 64, 65, 77, 79, 80, 83, 97, 98, 100, 113,
+        115, 125, 126, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 146, 150, 153, 154, 161, 162,
+        164, 165, 171, 176, 177, 184, 185, 186, 188, 198, 213.
+
+  Montmorency, church of, 51.
+
+  Montmorency, Madame de (Madame la Connétable), 135, _ibid._, _note_ 3.
+
+  Montpesat, Antoine des Prez, Seigneur de, French ambassador in
+        England, 42, _note_ 7, 63.
+
+  Montreuil, Madame de, 39-40, 42-43, 118.
+
+  Montreuil, seigneurie, 40.
+
+  More, Sir Thomas, 43, _note_ 3, 74, 75, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 76,
+        100-101, 104.
+
+  Morette, Charles de Solier, Comte de, French hostage, subsequently
+        ambassador, in England, 42, _note_ 7, 63, _note_ 1, 140, 201,
+        _note_ 1.
+
+  Mosaic Pavement, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 203, 225-227, 233.
+
+  —— Westminster Abbey, 225-227.
+
+  Motte de Tilly, De la, 136, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+    _See also_ Raguier.
+
+  Motto of the Dinteville family, 130, 132, 231, _note_ 3.
+
+  Mottoes concerning Death, 206-207.
+
+  Mottoes on weapons, 205, 206.
+
+  Music, 197, 219, 221, 223, 229, 232, 235.
+
+
+  Naples, 51, 116.
+
+  Nassau, Henry, Count of, 52, _note_ 2, 213.
+
+  National Gallery, The, 1, 5-6, 31-32.
+
+  Navarre, College of (University of Paris), 56.
+
+  Navarre, Henri d’Albret, King of, 42, _ibid._, _note_ 3.
+
+  Navarre, Marguerite d’Angoulême, Queen of, _see_ Marguerite.
+
+  Nérac, 44.
+
+  Netherlands (Low Countries), 109, 127, 163, 176, 177, 179, 185, 186,
+        187, 188.
+
+  Niccolò dell’ Abate, or, da Modena, 126.
+
+  Nice, meeting of Francis I., Charles V., and Paul III. at, 164, 166,
+        179.
+
+  Nice, Truce of, 166.
+
+  Nichols, John Gough, 6, _ibid._, _note_ 5, 7, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Norfolk, Duchess of, 85, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Norfolk, Thomas Howard, second Duke of, Lord Treasurer and Earl
+        Marshal, 61, 70, _note_ 5, 71, 74, 77, 78, 81, 85, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 4, 93, 94, 98, 102.
+
+  Nuncio, the Papal, in England (Antonio de Pulleo, Baron de Burgo),
+        71, 73, 82.
+
+  Nuncio, the Papal, in France, 165.
+
+  Nuremberg, 210, _note_ 3, 211, 214, 233.
+
+
+  Occult Sciences, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 232-235.
+
+  —— Agrippa’s Key to, 234, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  “Opus Alexandrinum,” _see_ Mosaic Pavement.
+
+  Orange, Prince and Princess of, 188.
+
+  Orders of Knighthood, _see_ Fleece, Garter, Holy Ghost, St. John of
+        Jerusalem, St. Michael.
+
+  Orleans, Dukes of, _see_ Henri, Charles.
+
+  Orleans, University of, 145.
+
+  Ouschamps, Seigneur of, _see_ Plessis, Du.
+
+
+  Padua, University of, 56, 115, 157, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 158, _notes_ 1
+        _and_ 2, 159.
+
+  Paris, 15, 18-21, 22, 23, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 27, 29, _ibid._, _note_
+        1, 31, 37, 42, 43, _note_ 2, 50, 55, 115, 119, 125, 126,
+        _ibid._, _note_ 1, 143, 144, 146, 153, 176, 213.
+
+  Paris, Bishop of, _see_ Bellay, Jean Du.
+
+  Paris, Premier Président of the Parliament of, _see_ Mesmes, Selve.
+
+  Paris, President _à mortier_ of the Parliament of, _see_ Lamoignon,
+        Mesmes.
+
+  Paris, University of, 39, 46, 56, 144, 145, 157, _note_ 2.
+
+  Parma, 96.
+
+  St. Paul’s, old Cathedral of, 67.
+
+  Paul III., Pope, 100, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 101, 104, 108-109, 116,
+        156, 162-166, 168, 174.
+
+  Pavement, Mosaic, _see_ Mosaic Pavement.
+
+  Pavement, tesselated, at Polisy, 129-130.
+
+  Pavia, battle of, 40, 48.
+
+  Pavia, University of, 231, _note_ 3.
+
+  Perrine, La, _see_ Plessis, Du.
+
+  Philip of Spain, 184, _note_ 1.
+
+  Piacenza, 96.
+
+  Piedmont, invaded by the French, 104.
+
+  Pirkheimer, 233.
+
+  Pithou, Pierre, advocate of Troyes, 47.
+
+  Plessis, Anne Du (Madame de Polisy), wife of Gaucher I. de
+        Dinteville, mother of Jean the “Ambassador,” 38, 51, 52, 53,
+        60, 63, _ibid._, _note_ 4, 114, _note_ 2, 134, 135, _note_ 1.
+
+  Plessis, Benjamin Du, son of Guillaume, Seigneur de Liancourt, 135,
+        _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Plessis, Charles Du, Seigneur of Savonnières, Ouschamps, and La
+        Perrine, uncle of Dinteville the “Ambassador,” 135-136, 135,
+        _note_ 1.
+
+  Plessis, Guillaume de, Seigneur of Liancourt, uncle of Dinteville the
+        “Ambassador,” 135, _note_ 1.
+
+  Plessis, Jean Du, the elder, Seigneur of Ouschamps and La Perrine,
+        maternal grandfather of Dinteville the “Ambassador,” 38.
+
+  Plessis, Jean Du, the younger (“the young Savonnières”), 114-115, 135.
+
+  Plessis, Le, seigneurie, 60.
+
+  Plessis-Praslin, Maréchal Du, subsequently Duc de Choiseul, 17, 19,
+        21.
+
+  Plutarch’s “Lives,” 145-146.
+
+  Poitiers, Diane de, 112.
+
+  Poitiers, University of, 56, 145.
+
+  Poland, Sigismund, King of, 41, 214.
+
+  Pole, Reginald, Cardinal, 108-109, 158, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 159, 161,
+        169, 174, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Polisy, Château and Seigneurie of, 8, 10-12, 14-17, 18-21, 31, 36,
+        37, 38, 40, 41, 50, 60, 63, _note_ 4, 111, 113, 121, 124, 125,
+        127-133, _ibid._, _various notes_, 134, 135, 138, 139, _note_
+        2, 171, 197, 198, 213, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 214, 216, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 1.
+
+  Polisy, Madame de, _see_ Plessis, Anne Du.
+
+  Polisy, M. de, _see_ Dinteville, Jean de.
+
+  Polonia, 213, 214.
+
+  Pomponne, Marquis de, 25, _note_ 1.
+
+  Pont, Jean Du, a “busy friar,” 110.
+
+  Potz, M. de Villiers les, Bailly of Dijon, 117-118.
+
+  “Presbyter Joannes” (Prester John), 217;
+    _see also_ _Appendix B_, page 241.
+
+  Primaticcio, Francesco, 126-130.
+
+  Puy, Du, 14.
+
+
+  St. Quentin, 176.
+
+  Quercy, 17, 24.
+
+
+  Rabelais, 48.
+
+  Radnor, Jacob, second Earl of, 6.
+
+  Radnor, William, fifth Earl of, 5, _note_ 1.
+
+  Raguier family, 47.
+
+  Raguier, Louis, Seigneur de la Motte de Tilly, 136, _note_ 1.
+
+  Ratisbon, Diet held at (1541), 174.
+
+  Reformers, French, 43-49, 104.
+
+  Régennes, Château of (Diocese of Auxerre), 137.
+
+  Renaissance, French, 127, 129, 235.
+
+  Renée of France, successively Duchess of Chartres and of Ferrara,
+        daughter of Louis XII., 43, _note_ 1, 45, _ibid._, _note_ 2,
+        115, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 159, _ibid._, _notes_ 1 _and_ 2, 209,
+        _note_ 2, 233, _note_ 2.
+
+  Rey de St. Géry, family of, 25, _note_ 2, 29, 32.
+
+  Rhodes, Knights of, _see_ St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of.
+
+  Richmond, Henry, Duke of, 94.
+
+  Riez, Bishop of (François II. de Dinteville), 56.
+
+  Robbia, Girolamo della, 126, 129.
+
+  “Robe courte” and “Robe longue,” 143, 199-200, 199, _note_ 1.
+
+  Robes of peers and peeresses, 87, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Roche, François I. de la, Conte and Marquis de Fontenilles, 26, 27,
+        31.
+
+  Roche, François II. de la, Marquis de Fontenilles, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31.
+
+  Roche, Jean-Jaques de, Baron de Fontenilles, 15, 26.
+
+  Rochepot, La, Anne de Montmorency, Seigneur de, 42, _note_ 7.
+
+  Rochepot, La, François de Montmorency, Seigneur de, 42, _note_ 7.
+
+  Rochford, George Boleyn, Viscount, brother of Anne Boleyn, 94.
+
+  Rodez, Georges d’Armagnac, Bishop of, 156, 167.
+
+  Romans, 165.
+
+  Rome, 48, 49, 51, 55, 57, 59, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 60, 62, 64, 79, 82,
+        89, 109, 114, 115, 116, 156, 158, _note_ 3, 161, _note_ 5, 162,
+        163, 169, 179, 199, 213.
+
+  Rosso, Il, 125-126.
+
+  Roussel, Gérard, 44, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Russell, Sir Giles, commander of Battisford and Dingley, 57.
+
+
+  Sadoleto, Jacopo, Bishop of Carpentras, Cardinal, 158, _ibid._,
+        _note_ 3, 159, 174, _note_ 1.
+
+  St. Alain, Cathedral of (Lavaur), 170.
+
+  St. Dizier, 128.
+
+  St. Géry, Château of, 25, _note_ 2.
+
+  St. Géry, Rey de, _see_ Rey.
+
+  St. John of Jerusalem, Order of, 39, 53, 54, 57, 67, 68, 213.
+
+  St. Michael, Order of (Ordre du Roi), 7-8, 53, _ibid._, _note_ 2,
+        61, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 200, 201, 207-209, _notes_ 207-209.
+
+  St. Quentin, 176.
+
+  St. Simon, 27, _note_ 1.
+
+  Sainte-Marthe brothers, 13, 14.
+
+  Saluce (Saluzzo), Marquis de, 59.
+
+  Saveuse, M. de, Bailly of Amiens, 185, _note_ 1.
+
+  Savona, 166.
+
+  Savonnières, _see_ Plessis, Du.
+
+  Saxonia, 213, 214.
+
+  Saxony, Elector of, 41, 214.
+
+  Schöner, Johann, of Carlstadt, 210, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 211.
+
+  Science, Occult, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 138, 232-235.
+
+  Scotland (Escoce), 81, _ibid._, _notes_ 1 _and_ 2, 95, 98.
+
+  Seine, river, 36, 128.
+
+  Selve, François de, ambassador at Constantinople, brother of the
+        Bishop of Lavaur, 145, _note_ 2.
+
+  SELVE, GEORGE DE, BISHOP OF LAVAUR (subject of Holbein’s portrait).
+    Birth and lineage, 143;
+    education, 144-146;
+    Bishop of Lavaur, 13, 147, _ibid._, _note_ 2;
+    Diet of Spires (1529), 151, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 219, 222;
+    visit to England (1533), 11, 19, 20, 77-80, 154, 202, 235-236;
+    ambassador at Venice (1534-1537), 154, 156-161;
+    at Rome (1537-1538), 161-166;
+    interlude at Lavaur, 169-175;
+    addresses and orations, 152, 170-174, 179-182;
+    ambassador with the Emperor (1539-1540), 175-188;
+    last days at Lavaur, 188-190;
+    death, 190.
+
+  —— His portrait by Holbein (“Ambassadors”), 1, 10-11, 19, 20,
+        77-78, 202;
+    _see also under “Ambassadors.”_
+
+  —— Posthumous portrait at Villiers, 192.
+
+  Selve, Jean de, Premier Président of the Parliament of Paris, father
+        of the Bishop of Lavaur, 9, 11, 13, 19, 20, 143-147, 148-150,
+        153-154.
+
+  Selve, Jean de, Abbé of Saint Vigor, brother of the Bishop of Lavaur,
+        145, _note_ 2.
+
+  Selve, Jean-Paul de, Bishop of Saint-Flour, ambassador at Rome,
+        brother of the Bishop of Lavaur, 145, _note_ 2, 193.
+
+  Selve, Lazare de, ambassador in Switzerland, eldest brother of the
+        Bishop of Lavaur, 145, _note_ 2.
+
+  Selve, Odet de, Président du Grand Conseil, ambassador in England,
+        at Venice, and at Rome, brother of the Bishop of Lavaur, 145,
+        _note_ 2, 159, 191, 192.
+
+  “Selve, M. de,” 5, 7, 8, 22.
+
+  Servia, 213-214.
+
+  Sesac, _see_ Cazillac.
+
+  Seven Liberal Arts, The, _see_ Arts, the Seven Liberal.
+
+  Sévigné, Madame de, 25, _note_ 1.
+
+  Sforza, Francesco, Duke of Milan, 41, 90-93, 228, _note_ 4, 229, 230.
+
+  Sienna (Senes), 37, 52.
+
+  Sigismund, King of Poland, 41, 214.
+
+  Sinus Adriaticus, 213, 214.
+
+  Skull in picture of “Ambassadors,” _see_ Death’s-head.
+
+  Sleidan, Johann, 46.
+
+  “Solomon’s Seal” (double triangle), 227, 233.
+
+  Solyman II., the Grand Turk, 40-41, 61, 72, 73, 136, 156-157, 163,
+        214.
+
+  Sorbonne, The, 44, 144, 145.
+
+  Spain (Espagne), 52, 164, 176, 201, _note_ 2, 213.
+
+  Spain, Infanta of (Mary of Castile, daughter of Charles V.), 166,
+        176, 177, 178, 179, 184, _note_ 1.
+
+  Spires, Diet of (1529), 151-153, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 219, 222.
+
+  Square, in picture of “Ambassadors,” 203, 232, 233.
+
+  Steelyard, The, 75, 76, _ibid._, _note_ 1, 224, _Appendix A_
+        (239-240).
+
+  Stevens, Mr. Henry, of Vermont, 210, _ibid._, _note_ 3.
+
+  Sturm, Johann, rector of Strasburg University, 46.
+
+  Suffolk, Charles Brandon, Duke of, 85, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 87-88, 90.
+
+  Supremacy, Act of, 100.
+
+  Switzerland, 38, 145, _note_ 2.
+
+
+  Tarbes, Bishop of, _see_ Castelnau.
+
+  Thames, river, 67, 68, 70, 71.
+
+  Théligny, Mademoiselle de, 118.
+
+  Thennelières, 38, 50, 51, _note_ 2, 54.
+
+  Toledo, 146.
+
+  Tournelle, M. de la, 79, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Tournon, François de, successively Archbishop of Embrun, of Bourges,
+        etc., Cardinal, 62, 64-65, 71, 72, 91-92, 136, 146, 153, 164.
+
+  Tower of London, The, 84, 105.
+
+  Transylvania, Waiwode of, _see_ Zapolski.
+
+  Trent, Council of, 182, 183, _ibid._, _note_ 1.
+
+  Trivulzi, Cardinal, 164-165.
+
+  Troyes, 17, 38, 39, 42, 47, 51, 52, 56, 99-100, 127, _ibid._, _note_
+        1, 128, 138.
+
+  Troyes, The Bailly of, _see_ Dinteville, Jean de.
+
+  Troyes, Baillies of, belonging to Dinteville family, 37-38, 41, 52,
+        138.
+
+  Troyes, College of, 39, 56, 134.
+
+  “Turk,” The, _see_ Solyman.
+
+  Tybis, Derick, 76, _note_ 1.
+
+
+  Urbino, 96.
+
+
+  Valence, 165.
+
+  Vanlay, Seigneur de, _see_ Dinteville, Gaucher II. de.
+
+  Varzy, 137, _note_ 1.
+
+  Vaudemont, Comte de, 37.
+
+  Vaulx, Seigneur de, 93.
+
+  Vély, Sieur de, _see_ Dodieu.
+
+  Venice, 9, 67, 72, 85, 154, 156-161, 167.
+
+  Venier, Marco Antonio, Venetian ambassador in England, 67.
+
+  Vic, Méry de, Garde des Sceaux, 19, _ibid._, _note_ 5.
+
+  Villiers-les-Potz, M. de, Bailly of Dijon, 117-118.
+
+  Villiers-par-Cerny, Château of, 13, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 148, _note_ 1,
+        193-194.
+
+  Voisin, François, Marquis de Bougueval, subsequently Marquis de
+        Milhars, husband of Marie-Renée Le Genevois, 27, 28, 29, 31.
+
+  Voisin, Marie-Renée, Marquise de Milhars, _see_ Le Genevois.
+
+
+  Waiwode, _see_ Zapolski.
+
+  Wallop, Sir John, English ambassador in France, 105.
+
+  Walther’s “Gesangbuch,” 219-223.
+
+  Ware, Richard, Abbot of Westminster, 225.
+
+  Warham, William, Archbishop of Canterbury, 43, _note_ 3, 74.
+
+  Westminster Abbey, 70, _ibid._, _note_ 3, 86, 225, 227.
+
+  —— Mosaic Pavement of, _see_ Mosaic Pavement.
+
+  Westminster Hall, 87, _ibid._, _notes_ 2 _and_ 3, 88.
+
+  —— Palace, 69, 70, 71, 86.
+
+  Weston, Sir William, Prior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, 57,
+        67, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Weston, Young, 57, 105.
+
+  Whitehall, 69, _note_ 2.
+
+  Wiltshire, Countess of, mother of Anne Boleyn, 85, _ibid._, _note_ 2.
+
+  Winchester, 102.
+
+  Winchester, Bishop of, _see_ Gardiner, Stephen.
+
+  Winkfield, Thomas, comptroller of the king’s works at Dover, 110.
+
+  Wolmar, Melchior, 46.
+
+  Wolsey, Cardinal, 42, 67, 69.
+
+  Woltmann, Dr., 6.
+
+  Wornum, Ralph Nicholson, 6.
+
+  Wurtemberg, Duke of, 99.
+
+  Wyat, Sir Thomas, 6, 7, _ibid._, _note_ 2, 178, _ibid._, _note_ 3.
+
+
+  York Place (Whitehall), 69, 71.
+
+  York, see of, 69.
+
+
+  Zapolski, John, Waiwode of Transylvania, King of Hungary, 41.
+
+
+CHISWICK PRESS: PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COURT,
+CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+ERRATA
+
+Transcriber’s Note: The errata have been corrected.
+
+
+P. 11, note 3, line 4 from bottom, _for_ “d’Intevile” _read_
+“d’Inteville.”
+
+P. 36, line 7 from top, _for_ “de Jaucourt” _read_ “Jaucourt.”
+
+P. 47, line 8 from top, _for_ “these” (second time) _read_ “them.”
+
+P. 57, line 2 from bottom, _for_ “De la Pommeraye” _read_ “La Pommeraye.”
+
+P. 72, lines 7 and 9 from bottom, _for_ “Henry” _read_ “Henri.”
+
+P. 76, note 1, _for_ “from Lucca, a letter consisting chiefly of foreign
+political news,” _read_ “various papers.”
+
+P. 78, note 2, _for_ “Bishop of Troyes” _read_ “Bailly of Troyes.”
+
+P. 82, line 3 from top, _dele_ “Campeggio.”
+
+P. 96, line 4 from top, _for_ “Henry” _read_ “Henri.”
+
+P. 96, line 5 from top, _for_ “of Medicis” _read_ “de’ Medici.”
+
+P. 96, line 10 from bottom, _for_ “France” _read_ “Francis.”
+
+P. 109, line 14 from top, _for_ “Margaret” _read_ “Mary.”
+
+P. 125, line 13 from bottom, _for_ “Chenonceau” _read_ “Chenonceaux.”
+
+P. 129, line 4 from bottom, _for_ “tessellated” _read_ “tesselated.”
+
+P. 130, beneath illustration, _ibid._
+
+P. 145, line 3 from bottom, _for_ “five” _read_ “six.”
+
+P. 174, line 13 from top, _for_ “(1540)” _read_ “(1541).”
+
+P. 199, line 3 from top, _for_ “study of symbols” _read_ “symbolism.”
+
+P. 233, note 3, _for_ “de la Mark,” _read_ “La Marck.”
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77401 ***