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diff --git a/77401-0.txt b/77401-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..50ff28a --- /dev/null +++ b/77401-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11512 @@ +*** 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 +A large part of the information given throughout the following pages +is based upon hitherto unpublished manuscripts, and a variety of new +circumstances has been brought to light respecting both the picture and +the personages portrayed.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 *** |