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HENRY III.
KING OF FRANCE AND POLAND:
HIS COURT AND TIMES.
FEOM NUMEROUS UNPUBLISHED SOURCES,
INCLUDING MS. DOCUMENTS IN THE BIBLIOTHEaUE IMPERIALE,
AND THE ARCHIVES OF FRANCE AND ITALT, ETC.

BY
MARTHA WALKER FREER,
ATJTHOB 0»
"the lute of maegt/eeite d'angot/leme,"
'elizabeth de valois and the cot/kt op philip ii.'
&c. &c.

Lilia non laborant neque nent.

IN THREE VOLUMES.
YOL. III.

LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
SUCCESSORS TO- HENRY COLBURN,
13, GEEAT MAELBOKOUGH STEEET.
185 8.
Tke right of Translation is reserved.

<YALK

CONTENTS OF VOLUME III.

BOOK V.— (continued.)
CHAPTER II.
1585—1587.

King Henry presents the edict of Nemours ;to his parliament — His-
comments thereon — Departure of the Flemish ambassage — Interview
of king Henry with the presidents of the parliament and the provost
of Paris— Bull of excommunication against Henri king of Navarre —
Preparations of the Calvinists for the war — The king of Navarre —
Enthusiasm of his subjects — The League des Seize — Its constitutipn
and influence — Niqholas Poulain — Correspondences of the king — He
makes overtures to the due and duchesse de Nevers — Defeat of Conde'
—His flight to England— Deportment of the due de Guise" — He departs
from Paris for Nancy — His farewell interview with king Henry — Puts
himself at the head of his army — Commencement of the campaign —
Envoys from the German States arrive in Paris — Interview with the
king — Negotiations of Catherine de Medici — Conferences of St. Bris
— The duchesse de Montpensier — Progress of the League — Plots to
seize the person of the king — Euneral oration of Mary Stuart — The
due de Mayenne — Joins his sister madame de Montpensier in a con
spiracy against the royal person — Death of the comtesse de Bouchage
— Marriage of the due d'Epernon — Entry into the realm of the Ger
man levies — Tumults in Paris — Battle of Coutras . . pp. 1 — 55

CHAPTER III.
1587—1588.
Departure of Henry III. for the camp at Gien — Campaign of 1587 —
Return of the king to Paris — His reception — Dissensions between
the due d'Epernon and the archbishop of Lyons and M. de Villeroy —

IV CONTENTS.
Death of the prince de Conde — Arrest of his widow — Articles of
Nancy are rejected by the king — Cabals of the house of Lorraine —
Henry forbids the advance of the due de Guise to Paris — Mission of
Bellievre — Guise disregards the royal mandate — Entry into Paris — In
terview with queen Catherine — Exasperation of the king — Guise is
conducted to the Louvre by the queen- mother — Henry resolves upon
the assassination of the duke — Interview between the king and the
due de Guise — He is suffered to leave the Louvre owing to the inter
position of queen Catherine — His second interview with the king in
the garden of the Tuileries — Henry commands domiciliary visits to
be made in the disaffected quarters of the capital — Agitation in
Paris  pp. 56—102
CHAPTER IV.
1588.
Seditious demonstrations are made against the execution of the royal
edict — Resolution taken to garrison Paris and enforce obedience —
Entry of the Swiss troops and the French gardes de corps under
Crillon and the marechal de Biron — La Journe'e des Barricades —
Negotiations of queen Catherine with the due de Guise — Flight of
the king from Paris — Catherine assumes the conduct of affairs in the
capital — Deportment and measures of the due de Guise — Attitude
of the queen — She maintains her authority— Exultation of the
duchesse de Montpensier — Madame de Guise and the cardinal de
Bourbon arrive in Paris  pp. 103  156

BOOK VI.
CHAPTER I.
1588.

Manifesto issued by Henry III.— Lettera of the due de Guise— As
sembly in the Hdtel de Ville— Election of a new municipality and
other officers of state— Progress of the revolt— Deportment of king
Henry— His political attitude— He grants audience to the deputies
from the parliament of Paris— Procession of Penitents— The new
municipality of Paris is presented to the king by queen Catherine—
The due d'Epernon— His apparent disgrace, and departure for An
gouleme— Negotiations of queen Catherine and M. de ViUeroy with
the due de Guise— Edict of Union— Henry receives the due de Guise

CONTENTS. V
— Details of the sojourn of the duke at Chartres — Papal manifesto
in favour of the League — Enterprise against the life of Epernon —
Henry arrives at Blois — He summarily dismisses his ministers, and
appoints a fresh cabinet — The court at Blois — Princesses of Lorraine
—Opening of the States-General of 1588 .... pp. 157—212

CHAPTER II.
1588.
Seizure of the marquisate of Saluzzo by the_ duke of Savoy — Political
consequences — Intrigues of the due, de Guise — His treasonable enter
prises — Proposal of the States to declare the king of Navarre deposed
from his rank as heir-presumptive of France — Henry declines to sanc
tion the edict — Factious deportment of the members — Their cabals,
and submission to the authority of the due de Guise — Catherine re
ceives repeated warnings respecting the designs of Guise — She sends
for the due de Mayenne — His quarrel with the due de Guise — Assas
sination of madame Duprat — Marriage festivities of Christine de
Lorraine and the grand duke Ferdinand of Tuscany — Emeute
amongst the pages in waiting — Departure from Blois of the duchesses
de Guise and de Montpensier — The assembly decrees the reduction of
the existing taxation — Distress and opposition of the king — His in
terviews with the archbishop of Lyons, and with M. Bernard, orator
of the tiers etat — Henry is compelled to sanction the edict — He is
present at a Te Deum sung in the church of St. Sauveur— The king
resolves the arrest or assassination of the due de Guise — His coun
sellors—The death of Guise is determined — Interviews of the duke
with Henry III. — The duchesse d'Aumale — She warns Henry of his
danger — Measures of the king — Death of the due de Guise — Circum
stances connected with that event — Arrest of the cardinal de Bourbon,
and of the princes and princesses of Lorraine, inmates of the castle
of Blois — Arrest of Chapelle Marteau, and of various deputies of the
States — Interview between the king and his mother Catherine de
Mediei — Council of state — Assassination of the cardinal de Guise is
resolved — Death of the cardinal — Subsequent measures adopted hy
Henry III  pp. 213—272
CHAPTER III.
1588—1589.
Tumults in Paris — Announcement of the death of the due de Guise —
Anguish of madame de Guise — Frantic grief of the duchesse de
Montpensier — She swears to avenge the murder of her brothers-
Hostile measures adopted in the capital— Frenzy of the populace —

vi CONTENTS.
Reply of Henry III. to the deputation sent to Blois by the town of
Orleans — Supine indifference manifested by the king — Interview of
Henry's ambassadors with pope Sixtus V.— Demands made by the
pontiff— Illness of queen Catherine — Her last days — Demise of the
queen — Her will and funeral obsequies — Illness of Henry III. —
Arrival of Diane duchesse d'Angouleme — .Condition of affairs — Re
volts throughout France — Escape of the due de Nemours — Henry
conducts his prisoners to the castle of Amboise — He dissolves the
States-general — Exploits of the king of Navarre — He offers to ad
vance to the rescue of the king — Progress of the revolt in Paris —
Arrest of the first president of the parliament Achille de Harlay, and
of various members deemed to be hostile to the League — They are
incarcerated in the Bastille — Ferocious violence of the populace —
Madame de Montpensier appears in the public processions — Con
spiracy of M. du Guast — Henry conducts his prisoners back to Blois
— He gives liberty to the duchesse de Nemours — Correspondence of
Henry III. with Epernon — He is counselled to enter into alliance
with the king of Navarre — Madame d'Angouleme undertakes the ne
gotiation — Military measures adopted — Mission of Sancy and Schom
berg to raise levies in Switzerland and Germany — Departure of the
king for Tours — His prisoners — The parliament is translated from
Paris to Tours — Entry into Paris of the due de Mayenne — His re
luctance to accept the office of chief of the League — The council of
Forty — Negotiation of Duplessis Mornay with Henry III. — Treaty
between the two Henrys — Advance of the due de Mayenne and the
army of the League into Beausse — Intervention of the legate Moro-
sini to promote a reconciliation between Henry III. and the due de
Mayenne  pp. 273 — 328

CHAPTER IV.
1589.
Proceedings of the court at Tours— The marechal de Retz — Edicts pro
mulgated hy the parliament — Interview between Henry III. and the
king of Navarre — Enthusiastic reception of the latter by king Henry
and the royalists at Tours — Enterprise of the due de Mayenne in
the town of Tours — Danger of the king — Assault of the suburb St.
SymphorieU — Retreat of the army of the League — Position of affairs
in Paris — Tumults and license of the mob — Tlie two Henrys place
themselves at the head of an army to assault Paris — Intervening
military operations — Negotiations with Rome — Excommunication of
Henry III. — Reception of the bull in France — Repulse of the due
d'Aumale from before Senlis by a royalist division under the due de
Longueville — Entry into France of the foreign levies — Jacques
Clement — The duchesse de Montpensier and the chieftains of the

CONTENTS. Vll
League conspire the assassination of Henry III. — -Arrival of the
royal army at St. Cloud — Siege of Paris — Departure of Clement for
the camp — Assassination of Henry III. — His letter to queen Louise —
Demise of the king — -Proclamation of Henri Quatre — The duchesse
de Montpensier — Her transports and the rejoicings in Paris over the
death of the king— Defection of the nobles from the cause of Henri
rV. — Henry raises the siege of Paris — He deposits the body of the
deceased king at Compiegne — Incidents connected with the interment
of the king — Benefactions of Henry IIL— Anguish of queen Louise
at the decease of Henry III. — She endeavours to avenge his murder
— Her life of seclusion and beneficence — Demise of queen Louise —
Device and motto of Henry III  pp. 329—384

BOOK V.
(Continued.)

HENEY III. KING OF FRANCE
HIS COUET AND TIMES.

CHAPTER II.
4 1585—1587.
King Henry presents the edict of Nemours to his parliament — His
comments thereon — Departure of the Flemish ambassage— Interview
of king Henry with the presidents of the parliament and the provost
of Paris — Bull of excommunication against Henri king of Navarre —
Preparations of the Calvinists for the war — The king of Navarre —
Enthusiasm of his subjects — The League des Seize— Its constitution
and influence — Nicholas Poulain — Correspondences of the king — He
makes overtures to the due and duchesse de Nevers — Defeat of Conde"
• — His flight to England — Deportment of the due de Guise — He departs
from Paris for Nancy — His farewell interview with king Henry— Puts
himself at the head of his army — Commencement of the campaign-
Envoys from the German States arrive in Paris — Interview with the
king — Negotiations of Catherine de Medici — Conferences of St. Bris
— The duchesse de Montpensier — Progress of the League — Plots to
seize the person of the king1 — Funeral oration of Mary Stuart — The
due de Mayenne — Joins his sister madame de Montpensier in a con
spiracy against the royal person — Death of the comtesse de Bouchage
— Marriage of the due d'Epernon — Entry into the realm of the Ger
man levies — Tumults in Paris — -Battle of Coutras.
Not content with having extorted so humiliating a
treaty from the necessity of their sovereign, the princes
of Lorraine and their adherents insisted that Henry
should- present the edict to his parliament, and give re-
b 2

4 HEXRT III. KING OF FRANCE, [^5^5 —
newed sanction to the treaty of Xemours, by personally
commanding the registration of the decree. The car
dinals de Bourbon and de Guise arrived in Paris to be
present at the ceremonial. Catherine, however, dissa
tisfied -with herself, with the treaty, and -with all the
world, retired to Chenonceau. The health of the queen
was now much broken ; and the vigour of her once iron
constitution yielded before the anxieties of her position,
and her mortification at beholding her long-tried coun
sels superseded by those of Epernon and his partisans.
She -was much tormented with gout, which assailed her
alternately in her arms, feet, and stomach ; moreover,
the queen had caught a violent cold during her pro
tracted negotiations with the due de Guise, an accident
which at first threatened her with an attack of pleurisy.
Both the favourites repaired to Paris, to give their
royal master the benefit of their support at this season.
The dissensions between them, however, neutralized the
pleasure which their presence might have conferred on
their royal master. The due de Joyeuse obedientlv
went out to meet his rival on his return from Xemours,
but no greeting passed between the two, and for several
days "the dukes" refused to speak to each other, until
the king pathetically implored them to be united and
at peace.1 The treaty recently concluded seems to
have been their subject of contention at this season.
The due de Joyeuse, a warm partisan of Lorraine,
maintained its necessity and legality ; while Epernon
inveighed against its clauses, and predicted, as after
wards became apparent, that the convention of Xemours
was a first step towards the downfall of the royal dynastv
1 " Les dues se morguerent deux jours un grant regret de leur maitre
qm en jeta maintes lannes les voyant ainsi divises. Ils se parlent main-
tenant, mais dans leur ames ik ne se veulent pas du bien."  Lett d
Louis Cardinal de Guise au Due de Nevers. ilS. Bibl. Imp. B^+h
8S66, p. 67. 17 Janvier, 15S6.

*587-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 5
of Valois. The revolution in affairs at court, however,
had diminished the arrogance of Epernon. Formerly
the duke's assurance had been so inordinate, that often
he permitted princes of the blood to address him bare
headed, whilst he himself remained covered. The
change in the favourite's deportment gave rise to the
saying, "that Epernon had never before known where
to seek his hat, but that now he had fortunately found
it !" The due de Joyeuse had never assumed such
overbearing airs ; and his extreme suavity of manner
offered a notable contrast to the blustering of his rival,
who was now often ironically honoured by the courtiers
with the appellation of Monseigneur le premier Mignon.
On the 7th day of July the king proceeded to the
Chambers, to cause the registration of the obnoxious
treaty wrung from him. The senators had been com
manded to assume their robes of ceremony ; and never
was the royal cortege more brilliant than on the day
when Henry met his parliament to announce the de
gradation of Henri de Navarre, and to proclaim a
bloody crusade against his subjects of the south, de
faulters from the orthodox faith. The king looked pale
and harassed ; his words were few after he took his seat
on the throne, and with a gesture of the hand he directed
the chancellor to explain the purport of the edict to
the Chambers. On leaving the Palais some feeble
cheers were uttered for the king and the edict. Henry,
however, took no notice of these plaudits, but sat still
with compressed lips. H e bitterly felt his humiliation ;
but he possessed neither energy nor ability to free
himself from the yoke. In thus coercing their sove
reign, the due de Guise and his colleagues forgot the
one trait of unflinching vindictiveness at the root of
the king's character ; for long his majesty's animosity
might slumber, but its awakening carried terror and
vengeance signal as his endurance had been passive.

6 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [lj8J —
" Mark well, mon oncle," said Henry, on descending
from his coach in the courtyard of the Louvre, " against
my conscience, but most cordially, I gave my edict of
pacification of Poitiers to the Huguenots of my realm.
To-day I have revoked this said edict to the tranquil
lizing, as you say, of my conscience, but most reluc
tantly, because I foresee that this said revocation will
entail the ruin of my realm !" The due de Xevers,
who being still at Borne, was enlightened by the keen
comment of Sixtus V. on passing events, wrote to the
cardinal de Bourbon in language of unmeasured con
demnation of the terms wrested from the sovereign.
" Monseigneur, you must excuse me if I show you that
the due de Guise has gone far beyond the things which
we had previously agreed. It was indeed a great fault
to treat the king as an enemy, and to impose conditions
injurious to the royal dignity. You actually forgot
that you were the subjects of the king, and proceeded
to treat with him as if you yourselves were sovereigns,
or, at least, deputies sent by some potent prince ! I
fear me, monseigneur, that the king's motives, in
making such concessions, have not been those of cle
ment forbearance, or of zeal for the faith. The edict
which his majesty has just presented to the parliament
terrifies me ; he therein sanctions the taking up of
arms, the appropriation of the public treasure, and
every other of your past acts of hostility. Believe me,
monseigneur, the king has not spoken as he thinks;
and the command he has promulgated to others to
forget the late occurrences, is to himself as a secret
bond never to forgive, but to make you all repent vour
deeds on the first opportunity.1 I conjure you, there-
1 " Cependant il ne paroit que le roi approuve la sainte Ligue, ni qu'il
y adhere sincerement. On ne doute point que ce ne soit de belles ap-
parences pour tirer de 1' argent, et que lorsqu'il en sera venu a bout, il
changera de conduite: le temps le decouvrira !" — Lettres de Busbecq

I587-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 7
fore, submit yourself now, and restram the ardour of
MM. de Guise, and try that your future deportment
be such that you may hereafter obtain, if possible, the
free pardon of your sovereign."1 This wise though
unpalatable counsel was not heeded ; indeed, the popular
agitation was such in all the great cities, inflamed by
the seditious orations of the clergy, that now the most
unconditional reconciliation with the king, and the
abandonment of the League by the great chieftains,
could alone have restored the royal authority, or have
neutralized the evil already perpetrated.
The day after his progress to the Chambers the king
gave final audience to the Flemish deputies, whose ar
rival had so fatally precipitated the measures of the
due de Guise. The king informed them briefly " that
he had as great a complaint as their countrymen against
the king of Spain, who aided the pernicious designs of
MM. de Guise ; nevertheless, on account of the con
dition of the kingdom, he could not then afford the
protection they demanded." His majesty promised to
aid the States as far as lay in his power, and to re
commend their cause to the protection of the king of
Navarre and of the queen of England.2 He then took
a cordial farewell of the deputies, and proceeded to
give audience to the two chief presidents of the parlia
ment of Paris, the prevbt des Marchands, the dean of
Notre Dame, and the cardinal de Guise — all these per
sonages having been summoned to the Louvre by-com
mand. " It gives me satisfaction," began his majesty,
"to have been able to follow the good advice which
you united in giving me to revoke my edict of Poitiers.
I acknowledge that I have had difficulty in reconciling
myself to this step ; not because I am less zealous for
the faith than any one of yon, but because I believed
1 Mem. de Nevers, tome i. p. 670.
2 De Thou.

8 HENRT III. KING OF FRANCE, [l585—
that insuperable obstacles would beset any other design.
The die, however, is now cast ; and I have reason to be
lieve that, with the help and succour of so many en
lightened personages, I may hope to bring the pending
war to a happy conclusion. Nevertheless, to under
take this war with any hope of success, I must have
three large armies : one army will remain with me, a
second I shall despatch into Guyenne, and the third
must advance to the German frontier to arrest the ad
vance of mercenary troops ; for whatever you may be
pleased to believe and to assert, it is certain that these
Germans, summoned by M. de Conde, are already ad
vancing into our country. These matters, messieurs,
must be met and provided for immediately, before the
enemy is at our doors. I repeat, it is against my judg
ment that this war has been begun ; nevertheless, I am
resolved to spare neither pains, nor exertions, nor cost,
to bring it to a happy conclusion. It is just, however,
that, as you did not choose to be guided by the wisdom
of your sovereign when he advised you to maintain
the edicts, you should aid him in providing for this
said war. I have throughout acted on your desires
and responsibility ; but it is not my intention to bear
alone the burden of this war !" Henry paused ; then
addressing the first president of the parliament of Paris,
he said : " M. le Premier, I commend your zeal and that
of your colleagues, who, you tell me, so very highly ap
prove the revocation of the edict, and have so earnestly
exhorted me to defend the faith. I have, however to
remark to you that war is not made without adequate
funds to meet its expenses ; therefore you will apprize
your said colleagues that so long as the war continues
it will be useless for them to pester me for the restora
tion of their salaries, which the necessity of the times
has caused to be curtailed. As for you, M. le Prevdt
you will have the goodness to assemble my loyal burghers

J5&7-1 HIS COURT AND TIMES. 9
of Paris, and say to them, that as the revocation of the
edict has also given them such unfeigned pleasure, I
trust that they will not object to furnish me with the
sum of 200,000 gold crowns. I have caused a careful
computation to be made, and I find that the war will
cost on an average 400,000 crowns a month. You
perceive, monseigneur de Guise," continued Henry,
angrily addressing the cardinal, "that I am making
arrangements to enter quickly on your war, and that
with my own contribution I have raised money for its
exigencies for the space of one month. It rests with
the clergy to afford the remaining funds. I do not
intend to ruin my royal domain, nor yet to await the
consent of the pope. This war is a religious war;
therefore I shall have no scruples of conscience in
availing myself of the revenues of the church. It is
chiefly owing to the clamour of the clergy that this
war has been agitated ; it is a holy war, and therefore
it shall be maintained at the expense of the church !"
The king then waved his hand in token of dismissal.
The personages were mute with astonishment at a
speech so angry and Sarcastic. One of the presidents
presently asked permission1 to reply. Henry rose, and
exclaimed vehemently, " Messieurs ! not one word — I
do not want to hear your useless and stupid speeches ;
but I desire to witness your deeds !" His majesty
then abruptly quitted the saloon.1
The irritation demonstrated by Henry produced
great and visible disquietude-, nevertheless, ultimately
the impression was adverse to the royal cause. It led
people to overrate the influence of the princes of Lor
raine, which had compelled their sovereign to an un
dertaking avowedly so distasteful. The true power of
the crown was prostrate, despite the ebullition of tem
per wherewith his majesty essayed to veil his defeat.
1 De Thou, liv. kxxi., p. 335.

10 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l585 —
For a time the people pitied ; then they began to scorn
and to defy the authority which had suffered such out
rage. The inconsistency of Henry's demeanour in
creased this contempt; and it is lamentable to read
of the pitiful imbecility which could induce the king,
the day following his indignant protest, to sally forth
from the Louvre at the head of a disorderly troop, and
to parade the streets of the capital playing with a cup-
and-ball. This exhibition of himself Henry was not
ashamed to repeat on several occasions; indeed, for
some weeks his majesty wore a bilboquet at his girdle ;
and from Epernon to the meanest page of the ward
robe, all the courtiers followed the example of their
royal master, and practised assiduously until they be
came expert players.1
The arrival of the due de Guise in Paris compelled the
king for the moment to lay aside his follies. The duke
entered Paris in the guise of a conqueror. The streets
were decorated ; and a vast concourse of people thronged
on the roads for more than a league beyond the gates
of the capital to hail their orthodox champion. None
of the personages appertaining to the royal household,
however, rode out to greet the duke, " but," says the
cardinal de Guise, " what was better still, he had a
throng of nobles, citizens, and churchmen." The
duke's cavalcade numbered between six and seven hun
dred horsemen. On entering the capital Guise pro
ceeded to his hotel, where he was received by the due
de Mayenne, and by the duchesses de Guise, de Mont
pensier, and de Retz. The following day the duke
went to the Louvre to make his obeisance to kin"
Henry. He was accompanied by the princes of his
house, by two hundred cavaliers, and by a guard of
honour, which had been assigned for the safe keeping
of his person by the treaty of Nemours. The duke
1 Journal de Henri III. L'Etoile, annee 15S5-7.

*587-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 11
advanced to the dais, and bending the knee, raised the
king's hand to his lips. Henry received this homage'
with grave dignity; and after exchanging a few words
in public, he signed to his potent subject to follow him
to his cabinet. There the two conferred for some short
time ; and when they emerged the duke accompanied
the king to hear vespers in the chapel de Thotel de
Bourbon. "The king," says the cardinal de Guise,
"gave and continued to give M. my elder brother
cordial greeting."1 The presence of the duke, never
theless, acted as an extinguisher on the royal festivities.
Henry, therefore, commenced a course of penance and
fasting for his past sins, as his majesty said, of such
extraordinary rigour that the pope was presently com
pelled to send a special envoy into France to admonish
him to desist. " The king," writes the imperial ambas
sador, " has given himself over to such strange acts of
devotion that every one fears his health; and life will be
the sacrifice, or that he will become completely super
stitious and credulous." Probably one of the secret
causes of Henry's retreat was to rid himself of the pre
sence of the due de Guise whom he hated and feared,
and by whom he dreaded to be compelled into making
fresh concessions.
The king of Navarre, during these transactions, pub
lished a declaration, in which he set forth in eloquent
language the injustice of the recent edict, and the inte
rested motives of the princes of Lorraine. The pertur
bation of Henri's mind had been such when he heard of
the signature of the treaty of Nemours that, it is said, in
one night the half of his moustache turned grey. With
the utmost spirit and decision, however, Henri pre
pared for the deadly combat offered by his ambitious
foes. He sent to demand succours from all the Pro-
1 MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de Be"th. vol. 8S66. Lettre du Cardinal de
Guise k M. de Nevers.

12 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, []58J —
testant princes of Europe, especially from Elizabeth
queen of England and the palatine Casimir ; and before
the end of August he had concluded a league with the
due de Montmorency and Conde. He next sent a
private missive to the king to remonstrate on the gross
injustice of the design to exclude him from the succes
sion ; and offered to march to the rescue of his majesty,
and to put down the intolerable tyranny of MM. de
Guise. The due de Montmorency, moreover, addressed
a letter to the cardinal de Bourbon, and warned him
not to fall into the snare laid by the enemies of his
house. One more overture was ostentatiously volunteered
by the Catholic party to achieve the conversion of the
reprobate and jest-loving Henri de Navarre preparatory
to the promulgation of a papal excommunication and
interdict, which was to inaugurate the coming war, and
to justify the summary seizure of Beam, the stronghold
of Calvinism. The pope, though he had stoutly main
tained the royal prerogative when Henry found himself
beleaguered by rebels, yet when his Holiness was sum
moned in the name of the king and of the Cathohc
League to fulminate the church's anathema against
heresy, Sixtus believed himself bound to comply. Pre
viously, however, the cardinal de Leuoncourt, M.
d'Angennes, Brulart, secretary of state, and Cueuilly,
one of the factious ecclesiastics of Paris, proceeded to
Nerac to confer with the king of Navarre. Henri
heard them patiently, and replied by refusing to change
his religion. De Lenoncourt then, to gain time, pro
posed an interview between queen Catherine and the
king of Xavarre at Champigny, to which the latter as
sented, provided that the due de Guise laid down arms
and the royal generals in the south suspended their
operations. The envoys then requested the king to
postpone the advance of the German levies until after

1587-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 13
this interview with the queen — those mercenary troops
being already on the march under the baron de Dhona,
lieutenant of prince Casimir. This request Henri
likewise declined; and the deputies took leave of the
king greatly exasperated, and having obtained none of
their demands. The bull of excommunication and
interdict was therefore published about the middle of
the month of September, 1585.1 It commenced by
stating that the functions of his sacred office compelled
his Holiness to draw the apostolic sword against two
sons of wrath, Henri de Bourbon, ci-devant king of
Navarre, and Henri de Bourbon, prince de Conde.
The document then in the usual form absolved their
subjects from their allegiance ; declared the princes
anathematized, deprived of their possessions, rank, and
dignities, and especially proclaimed them incompetent
to succeed to the crown of France.
The king of Navarre showed himself not less valiant
with his pen than with his sword. Almost immediately
a manifesto was issued in the name of the excommuni
cated princes, and boldly affixed to the public edifices
in Rome. The king there retorted on Sixtus the term,
" heretic," " anathematized," and challenged him to
submit his own doctrines and conduct to the scrutiny
of a general council. " The kings my royal ancestors
have in days of yore chastised such officious blunder-
makers as M. St. Sixte, soi-disant pope of Rome, when
ever they notably transgressed the bounds of justice and
right, as, with the help of God and of all Christian
princes, I hope to do."2 Sixtus was convulsed with
1 " Declaration de notre St. Pere Sixte V. a l'encontre de Henri de
Bourbon soi-disant roi de Navarre, et de Henri semblablement de Bour
bon pr^tendu prince de Cond^, here'tiques, contre leurs posterites et suc-
cesseurs."  Archives Curieuses, tome ii. Goldast : Monarchie de l'Empire,
p. 124.
2 Journal de Henri III. De Thou. Hotman : Brutum Fulmen
Sixtus V. adversus Henricum.

14 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, ['5S5 —
fury when he read this manifesto, and offered large
rewards for the apprehension of the " insolent apostate"
who had presumed so to sully the precincts of the holy
city. The search was made in vain ; Henri's loyal
coadjutor escaped the inflictions of papal revenge.
The powerful mind of Sixtus, however, involuntarily
Tendered homage to genius, even when its weapons
assailed his dignity and infallibility ; and the same im
pulse which caused him to eulogize Elizabeth queen of
England and to desire her friendship, impelled the
pontiff generously to predict the eventual triumph of
the king of Navarre over his foes.
The contest which had menaced France ever since
the accession of Heniy III. now commenced in earnest.
The character of the three Henrys, each the chieftain
of a faction, was as diverse as the causes they individu
ally defended. The king, luxurious, facile, sarcastic,
and vindictive ; the due de Guise, a warrior by descent,
chivalrous, skilled in diplomacy, ambitious, and daunt
less ; the king of Navarre, able, insinuating, alike ready
with a jest or a tear, inconstant in friendship, and of
surprising activity and resource — such were the com
batants about to vindicate their respective feuds. The
liberal opinions professed by the king of Navarre fasci
nated many ; and but for the brand of heresy, France
undoubtedly would have hailed the Bearnnois as chief
and leader of her armies. The mind of Henri de Na
varre harmonized with his wiry and nervous frame ;
perpetually in motion, perpetually excited, now inter
changing coarse jests with his brave Gascons, or bran
dishing bons mots with his nobles, Henri was never at
rest. He had no vocation for study or meditation ¦
the dry scholastic harangues of his churchmen wearied
him ; his religion was his badge, not his paraclete • his
nature was essentially social and jovial. The business
and glory of Henri's life was warfare ; his genial temper

1587-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 15
and kind heart shone amid the stirring scenes and
pathetic incidents of camp life: his recreation he found
at the feet of Corisandre d'Andouins, Gabrielle
d'Estrees, or in the smiles of that beauty whose bright
eyes held enthralled for the moment the valiant heart
of the king of Navarre.
In Paris, meanwhile, that most seditious confedera
tion, termed La Ligue des Seize, was at this time
organizing — the bulwark in reality of the designs of
Guise and his patron king Philip ; for the provincial
associations not eventually absorbed into this Parisian
league soon fell to pieces. Its originator is said to have
been one M. de Roche-Blond, an opulent burgess, who,
being moved by the calamities and irreligion of the
times, resolved to oppose an antidote, and, perchance,
a barrier, to the universal corruption. For this purpose
he first consulted with Prevost, his parish priest, the
turbulent cure of St. Severin. The cure of St. Benoit,
Mathieu Boucher, was, by the advice of Prevost, next
taken into the counsels of the soi-disant reformers. A
small council was then organized of these parsons, to
which were added the names of de Lannoy, Acarie, a
counsellor, and of two needy advocates named Menager
and Cruce. The sittings of the secret society were
holden in the College -de Fortet, afterwards called the
cradle of the League, or in the Sorbonne, in the
chamber of Boucher. A further number of persons
soon joined the society, which in a few weeks numbered
about twenty persons, "all prudent, zealous for the
faith, and enemies of kingly tyranny." Five individuals
out of this number were next elected to watch over and
report every event that happened in the sixteen sections
into which the city of Paris was then divided.1 These
1 Hence the name of the confederation, " the League of the Seize
quartiers de la ville et fauxbourgs d'icelles." — Hist, de la Ligue. Cayet :
Chronologie Novennaire. De Thou. Davila.

16 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [ijSj—
individuals were Cruce, Chapelle, Louchart, and Busse.
The strictest subordination existed ; none of the mem
bers of the club being permitted to associate at pleasure
with other persons, but were compelled previously to
apply for a licence from the council. Every member
took an oath of fidelity and secrecy, and swore to bring
as many recruits to the cause as his influence, wealth,
or persuasion rendered possible. On stated evenings
the society met to receive reports, issue directions, and
concert measures. When the cabal had been thus far
organized, the members, with Roche-Blond at their
head, offered their aid and services to the due de Guise
to work for the common weal ; and principally to insure
the succession of a Catholic prince, in case his majesty
should demise without leaving heirs male. The League
des Seize, through the intervention of the princes of
Lorraine, therefore put itself into communication with
the clergy of the capital, but so secretly that the spies
and agents of Villequier and others of the royal minis
ters could never surprise the members in conclave.
These men, therefore, disaffected, and for the most part
agitators for their own sordid interests, prowled stealthily
over the capital, laying snares for all, practising on the
consciences of the weak and credulous, and entrapping
others by most scandalous machinations and threats of
betrayal to the authorities. The chief stronghold of
the League was the confessionals of the capital. There
the fanatic priesthood raged, denounced, and terrified
their penitents by pictures of the temporal and eternal
pains decreed agamst the upholders of heresy. Eveiy
crime, they said, became venal which aided iu purging
the land from its curse; every hostile deed brouo-ht
down on its perpetrator the blessing of the Most Hio-h
and would be more efficacious hereafter for the weal of
the soul than the most lavish outpourings of the trea
sury of the saints, the key of wliich, in the hands of

I5&7-1 HIS COURT AND TIMES. 17
the supreme pontiff, turned only at the ring of mun
dane gold. The people, therefore, were invited to help
themselves liberally and to take no stint of heretic
blood. The princes of Lorraine, meanwhile, selected three
inhabitants of Paris, the sieurs de Meneville, Conrard,
and Beauregard, as their medium of intercourse with
the League des Seize : all communications were to be
addressed through these individuals until MM. de Guise
deemed it politic to treat in person with their adherents.
The duchesse de Montpensier, nevertheless, openly em
barked with zeal in the association, which she aided
with money, and by the many and various secret advices
which her rank enabled her to glean. Since the decease
of her husband1 madame de Montpensier had spent her
leisure in dabbling in all imaginable conspiracies likely
to assuage her hate for the sovereign, and to advance
the interests of her brothers. Her wealth, which was
enormous, gained her followers and influence, riveted
by the versatility of her accomplishments and by her
ability. No arts did the duchess despise to win ad
herents. Her moods were as variable : some individuals
she would persuade and fascinate with tender blandish
ments ; others she would inflame by the vehemence of
her declamation ; while the philosophical she equally
propitiated by discussing the sophistry of the schools,
soaring in hardy dogma above the most sceptical of
cynics. Her tongue lashed pitilessly, while her pen
indited the bitterest of satires. Another qualification
madame de Montpensier possessed, and which she often
exercised to the confusion of the prodigals of the court ;
— she excelled in the art of arithmetic, and could de
tect almost at a glance any flaw or deception in the
financial statements promulgated by the authority of
1 Louis due de Montpensier died at his superb palace at Champigny
September 23, 1582.
VOL. III. C

IS HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l585 —
the sovereign. Her step-son, the due de Montpensier,
a young man distinguished by no particular abilities,
suffered himself also at this period to be influenced by
the overwhelming energy of the duchess.
The League des Seize, after the publication of the
treaty of Nemours, was reinforced by many important
adherents. Amongst these, however, came a traitor to
the cause, whose revelations, if Henry and his ministers
had possessed common prudence, energy, and decision,
ought to have brought these agitators to condign
punishment. Early in the year 15S5, Nicholas Pou
lain, lieutenant of the provost of l'Isle de France, was
induced by the emissaries of the League to join the
association. Poulain's qualifications were many, his
situation was important, anfl he was endowed with per
sonal courage, resource, and resolution. His admission
into the councils of the League, therefore, was speedilv
effected. The first work assigned to Poulain was the
purchase of arms to the amount of 6,000 francs; a
task of difficulty and peril to most men, as a recent
edict had forbidden the armourers of Paris to sell
weapons without taking a written acknowledgment
from the purchaser. This mission Poulain executed
under cover of his office, and caused the weapons, as
they were purchased, to be conveyed during the night
and stowed in apartments in the hotels de Guise,
Montpensier, and other abodes of the malcontents.
Poulain, however, soon after his initiation, beheld
with astonishment aud misgivings the extensive intel
ligence possessed by the Seize throughout everv class
of the capital. Half of the superior officers of La
Chambre des Comptes had been suborned by their
comrade Marteau de la Chapelle, one of the five
original founders of the association; many members
of the high court of parliament enrolled themselves at
the private exhortation of the president Neuilly ¦ while

1587.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 19
the master of the Mint, Roland, and many advocates
1 of the Cour des Aydes, followed the same pernicious
example. Agents were actively engaged in canvassing
for the League amongst the guilds and trade-unions
of the capital. The ferrymen and watermen of the
Seine, to a man, gave in their adhesion; as did also
the pork-butchers, the horse-dealers, and the hardware
venders of Paris. All these classes, during the years
1585 and 1586, took the oath of secrecy, obedience,
and fidelity to the leaders of the great League for " the
defence of the faith betrayed by the criminal partiality
demonstrated by the king their sovereign lord for the
king of Navarre and for his favourites !" The due de
Guise regulated, encouraged, reprimanded, and trained
these bands of factious, demagogues, fondly hoping that
the possession of Paris would give him the much-
coveted diadem at the decease of the king : yet so cau
tiously did the duke proceed, that he is not seriously
compromised in the subsequent revelations made by
Nicholas Poulain.
During the autumn months of the year 1585 the
king made some faint efforts to conciliate several per
sonages whom his inconsistency and levity had alien
ated. He wrote urgent letters to the queen his
mother, praying her majesty to return to Paris, and
thanking her in grateful language for the services
which she had rendered to the state at Epernay and
Nemours.1 Catherine, as soon as she was able to
travel, returned to Paris; nevertheless, the same par
tial alienation continued to exist between the queen
and her son. The king, prompted by Epernon, dis
trusted his mother; while Catherine, unaccustomed to
have her dicta submitted for the approval of a third
party, steadily refused to attend the council or even to
1 Lettre de Henri III. a la Reyne sa Mere. MS. Bibl. Imp. Beth.
887-1, fol. 360. c 2

20 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l58j—
enter the Louvre. Some letters also passed between
the king and his sister Marguerite, who, perceiving a
war to be again inevitable, and wearying' of her position
of sufferance at the court of Nerac, suddenly took the
resolve to retire to Agen, one of her dowry towns, and
there to hold herself independent equally of her hus
band and her brother. The inhabitants of Agen re
ceived their countess with due enthusiasm ; but there
also Marguerite's want of restraint and decorum alien
ated her adherents.
The king next addressed the duchesse de Nevers in
most cordial fashion ; for Henry was sensible how much
he owed to the scruples and sage counsels of the duke
her husband, and was very sincerely desirous of a re
conciliation with the duchess. A sense of contempt
must have pervaded the mind of madame de Nevers as
she perused this familiar and even coaxing epistle, and
remembered the insult to which she had been subjected
by the king in his undisciplined resentment.
HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE TO MADAME LA
DUCHESSE DE NEYEKS.
Ma Cousine, — Having found an opportunity to write to you,
you have me hopelessly on your hands ; not, however, to trouble
your repose, but to assure you that the affection I bore you before
you quitted Paris has not diminished : on the contrary, it has
gathered strength ; so that as long as I live I vow to bear you all
honour and love, and to demean myself as your very faithful rela
tive and good friend. And this, ma cousine, I swear to you by
the Styx, the inviolable oath of the gods ! In all sincerity, how
ever, I pray you to beheve my words, and to remember me some
times. Adieu, ma bonne cousine, I am yours entirely ; and say the
same to M. de Nevers, as you will both soon experience. Return
hither soon ; for it is not seemly that you should both be absent
(from Paris) for so long a period. I kiss your hand, ma cousine
a thousand times. -rr_ , '
ilENET.1
1 Henri III. a Madame la Duchesse de Nevers. Bibl Iron n^i
S794, fol. 365. MS. ' P' etD'

I.587-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 21
The king also wrote to the due de Nevers, praying
him to remain faithful to the royal cause, and pro
mised to bestow upon him one of the first vacant
governments. The duke had sent an Italian retainer,
the sieur de Cabriani, to the court to negotiate some
matters with the king. This Cabriani wrote to the
duchesse de Nevers to request her influence in per
suading her husband still to remain aloof from the
League : " Madame, if ever you wished to convince
the king and the queen that you have loved them, now
is your opportunity by using your influence over mon
seigneur your husband, to whom his majesty has de
spatched Montclar, exempt of his guard, to explain at
length his intentions and desires to monseigneur."1
Henry offered the due de Nevers the government of
Picardy — that centre of the League. A governor of less
reputed orthodoxy would have been unceremoniously
rejected by the Picardians ; but the king felt confidence
that, although the latter might be permitted by Nevers
to cabal, any armed demonstration would be rigidly
suppressed. These propositions being highly acceptable
to the duke, he returned to court on taking leave of
the pope, and proved of great assistance to his sovereign
in moderating and balancing the designs of the due de
Guise. The king also partially reconciled himself to
the cardinal de Bourbon, whose professions of loyal
deference Henry accepted; while his majesty feigned
to acquiesce in the prelate's interpretation of the laws
relative to the royal succession. Overtures of renewed
friendship were also successfully made by the king to
the due de Retz, who, on the elevation of " the dukes,"
had indignantly resigned his offices in the household of
the sovereign.
The due de Mayenne, meantime, entered Guyenne
1 Le Sieur de Cabriani, agent du Due de Nevers, a Madame la Duchesse
de Nevers. MS. Bibl. Imp. Beth. 8877, fol. 12.

22 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [jS^-
with the troops of the League, and formed a junction
with the marechal de Matignon. The latter was a
faithful servant of the crown, and a great enemy of the
princes of Lorraine. Matignon, therefore, in pursuance
of secret instructions which he had received from court,
suggested, as was supposed, by Epernon, traversed iu
every way the designs of Mayenne. The due de Mont
morency, Chatillon, and Lesdiguieres held Languedoc ;
while the latter, in the course of a few days, captured
all the most important places in Dauphiny. Conde,
meantime, was not idle ; the exigencies of the times,
and the perils with which the decree of proscription
menaced the faith, had effaced his differences with the
king of Navarre, and had once more united the two as
faithful brothers-in-arms. Conde, therefore, issued
from his trusty refuge of St. Jean, and marched to be
siege Brouage. Whilst before this place, Conde received
advices of an insurrection in Angers, the garrison of
which rose and murdered their governor. The citadel,
where the mutineers retired, was immediately besieged
by a small division of royal troops under Brissac.
Conde, thereupon, withdrew a portion of his army from
before Brouage, and resolved to raise the siege of the
citadel, and by the aid of the rebels to seize the town
of Angers. The prince, however, lost eleven days in
issuing instructions and gathering levies; therefore,
when he arrived before Angers, the place had capitu
lated to the due de Joyeuse, who had been hastily sent
by the king to put down the revolt. On attempting
to retire back again into the Pays d'Aunis, Conde found
himself entangled by the army under Joyeuse, which
lay in wait for him on the banks of the Loire; while
lower down, on the opposite side of the river, another
detachment, encamped close to Saumur, threatened to
cut to pieces the gallant little army of the prince, even
did it escape this first peril. Thus entrapped on all

I587 ] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 23
sides, Conde, resolving not to afford the enemy the
prestige of a victory, disbanded his troops, and after
exhorting each man to escape singly across the river as
opportunity afforded, and join his companions in arms
before Brouage, he himself fled in disguise to Avranches,
from whence he embarked for Jersey. Conde after
wards proceeded to England, where the result of his
conference with Elizabeth was his triumphant return to
the port of La Rochelle, which had been partially
blockaded by the royal fleet, with ten vessels and the
sum of 50,000 crowns, sent by the queen as a gift to
the king of Navarre.1 No further enterprises were
essayed during the remainder of the year 1585 ; the
due de Mayenne retired into winter quarters in Angers,
while Matignon withdrew to Bordeaux.
The due de Guise during these transactions was
quietly concerting his future designs, and providing
funds for the vigorous prosecution of the war. For
this purpose he mortgaged several of his lands,2 and
with the moneys thus raised continued his private levies
in Germany. His demeanour towards the king was
respectful, and even deferential. During the winter
of 1585, the banquets and entertainments at the hotel
de Guise were numerous. It has been conjectured that
at this season, Guise, having obtained the desired edict
for the total proscription of heresy, could he have trusted
the king, and have relied on his sincerity and on the
faithful execution of the treaty of Nemours, never
would have tampered in those enterprises which occa
sioned such deplorable calamity. The wily cunning of
the king, and the ironical cordiality of his tone,3 justly
1 De Thou, liv. lxxxi. Davila : Hist, de la Ligue.
2 " On reduit Guise par la pauvrete\ II vient d'engager sa meilleure
terre de 25,000 livres de revenues.'' — DepSches de I'Ambassadeur de
Savoie. Archives de Turin — Michelet : La Ligue.
3 " Le roy est vindieatif et dissimule." — DepSches Ine"dites de I'Am
bassadeur de Savoie. Archives de Turin — Michelet : La Ligue. " Je

24 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l585~
inspired the duke with distrust. Besides, the conduct
and language of Epernon were offensive and menacing
as ever ; and the latter was imprudent enough to de
clare, " that in his judgment the king ought never to
pardon the enterprises of MM. de Guise, and the con
cessions exacted by them at Chalons." The evident
decline of the favour of Joyeuse was deemed by the
duke another ominous indication of the king's ill-
will. It was true that the due de Joyeuse had been
gratified with the command of the army sent to the
midland provinces, but yet that dignity had been be
stowed upon him rather as a general well approved by
the League, than as a mark of royal favour. A cloud
at this season evidently enveloped the able mind of
Guise, whatever might be its origin. Perhaps it may
have been an irresistible presentiment of future woe,
such as has ofttimes weighed upon and temporarily
paralyzed the most aspiring intellects on the eve of
great and perilous enterprises. " The king now refuses
to consult the queen his mother, whom he suspects;
the friends of Guise are uneasy, and the duke goes no
longer to the Louvre, except at the head of 300 gentle
men," writes the ambassador of Savoy at this period.1
The duke, however, continued assiduously to visit and
confer with the municipal authorities of the capital.
He also frequented the house of madame de Sauve, who
still preserved that extraordinary beauty which had
formerly caused Henry III., Henri de Navarre, and
Conde to contend as rivals for her favours. The duke
seldom presented himself at the council, at which the
most indecorous scenes of strife were of frequent occur
rence. Edicts had been issued for the confiscation of

crois qu'on verra hientost eclater ce que Ie roi couve au fonds de l'&me
le dedain qu'il porte dans sa poitrine. " — Ibid.
1 " Guise va toujours a pied au milieu de ses gentilhommes a cheval,
20 Fevrier, 1586."— Ibid.

J587-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 25
all property, lands, and lordships appertaining to the
king of Navarre and to Conde ; and under this decree
Henry appropriated the revenues of the duchy of
Vendome. Envoys were, during the winter, despatched
to Rome to petition his Holiness to sanction the perma
nent alienation of certain church lands appertaining to
vacant benefices which it was proposed to suppress ; and
to ask the assent of Sixtus V. to the succour of 100,000
gold crowns, which the Gallican church had at length
offered to pay monthly, for a limited period, in aid of
the costs of the war.
Whilst these preparations were in progress for the
renewal of the campaign in the spring of 1586, intel
ligence reached Paris that the Protestant princes of
Germany had deputed certain, noble personages to pro
ceed to the court of France, and mediate between the
king and his subjects of the reformed faith. This
step was thought to be a justifiable interference by the
princes, especially as meantime they arrested the march
of the great army preparing to invade France under
the banner of the king of Navarre. The most violent
Leaguers of the council; nevertheless, insisted that the
advance of these ambassadors should be forbidden, as,
the king having given his royal word to proscribe
heresy, war, they said, was therefore inevitable. The
proposal, which was still persisted in by Henry, that
the queen-mother should again proceed into Guyenne
to confer with her son-in-law, likewise gave infinite
offence to the due de Guise. " It is not in accord with
your majesty's engagements to treat for a peace, or
even for a suspension of arms ; if the king of Navarre
sees the right and abjures his heresy, still your majesty
must receive his tardy submission with arms in your
hand !" " Mon cousin," responded Henry, drily, " I
greatly dread that in your zeal to destroy le preche,
you will abolish the mass."

26 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^5^5—
The campaign of 1586 had been opened by the cap
ture of some small places in Guyenne by Mayenne, who
wrote bitter complaints to the government respecting
the impediments thrown in his way, and the little zeal
displayed by the officers of the crown to furnish him
with supplies. Matignon, meanwhile, laid siege to the
fortress of Castonel, and sent a summons to Mayenne
to request him to advance into the neighbourhood of
Bordeaux, as the king of Navarre at the head of a gal
lant army menaced that important city. The destina
tion of Henri was not, however, to assault Bordeaux ;
he steadily advanced and compelled Matignon to' raise
the siege of Castonel, and pursued him to the confines
of Poitou. The chagrin which the due de Guise ex
perienced at this check, and at the want of zeal dis
played by the king, determined the duke to quit Paris
at the commencement of May to place himself at the
head of the army of Champagne, then encamped in the
environs of Chalons to oppose the progress of the Ger
man troops when they entered France. Moreover, the
king affected to treat the war as one peculiarly of pri
vate interests; and in the financial demands which his
majesty made to his parliaments, he generally intro
duced the name of the duke as. the cause and originator
of the unwelcome pecuniary demand. Hence these
edicts were popularly termed Edits Guisards. The
exhibition of this petty spleen injured the royal prestige;
it rendered more conspicuous the degradation of the
throne ; while the emissaries of the Paris Leaguers failed
not to draw unfavourable deductions relative to Henry's
orthodoxy, and of his private desire that the heretic
king of Navarre should be hailed as heir-presumptive.
It is a remarkable coincidence that the fall of Henry III.,
who had commenced his public career as the extermi
nator of the Calvinists and the instigator of the mas
sacre of Paris, should have been principally hastened by

I587-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 27
a suspicion that he regarded with undue favour that
religion which he had then so bitterly persecuted.
The due de Guise, therefore, took leave of the king
on the 28th day of May. It is possible that the duke's
departure from the capital may have been as much dic
tated by prudent foresight as by military ardour. A
brief reaction seems to have then set in for the king ;
for the rigid levy of taxes, and the contributions de
manded for the carrying on of the war, had thrown a
temporary unpopularity on the League. Edicts innu
merable instituting new offices, which were immediately
sold to the highest bidder, were daily presented to the
chambers, with an intimation that either that method
of raising money must be sanctioned, or another expe
dient devised by the members. A tumult in the streets
of Paris, in which a cry of " Vive Guise !" had been
promptly suppressed, served to encourage the hopes of
the royal adherents. Epernon even boldly suggested
to his master to arrest the duke, and cause him to be
imprisoned at Vincennes, and volunteered himself to
execute the warrant. Amidst these dangers Guise
moved calmly and loftily ; and, doubtless, one cause
which contributed to the impunity with which he con
tinued to thwart and defy his sovereign was his power
of self-concentration and support, which never required
the solace of sympathy from another. This rare faculty
enabled the duke at this period to treat with compara
tive indifference the dubious support of Catherine de
Medici and the neglect of Philip II. — who, absorbed by
the conduct of affairs in the Low Countries, and by the
preparations in the port of Lisbon for his Invincible
Armada, left his allies very much at this period to their
own resources, delivered, as he now was,from apprehension
of French intervention to disturb the operations of Far
nese, his viceroy in Flanders. On taking leave of the
king, Guise said, " I perceive that my enemies, sire, even

2S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l585—
during your majesty's life, may wrest from me my
honour, and perhaps my life. I will, however, take
care to demonstrate to them previously the incredible
misfortunes such a project will entail. Sire ! one
hundred years hence the rankling of such a wound shall
be felt !" 1 Bold words were these, full of ominous
menace and foresight. The due de Guise proceeded to
JoinviUe ; from thence he repaired to Nancy to confer
with the due de Lorraine ; afterwards he journeyed to
Chalons, the head quarters of his army, where many
valiant soldiers impatiently awaited the advent of their
chief. As soon as Guise had quitted Paris, the king, listless
and relieved from a scrutiny which he had found in
tolerable, hastened to take recreation after his owrn
peculiar fashion in the monastery of Capuchins, in which
he shut himself up for a whole week, seeing no one
excepting Epernon and Villequier.. The king then re
moved to Vincennes for change of air, and to visit his
proteges the Geronomite monks. During his sojourn
at the castle his majesty condescended to partake of
the repasts served to the monks in their refectory, and
at the conclusion of the meal he frequently read a
homily, or addressed them on some edifying subject ;
for the. king was an apt speaker, and ofttimes sea
soned his discourses with pungent sarcasm.
Henry returned to Paris to meet the chambers, in
order to present twenty-seven financial mandates for
the levy of supplies for the war. After having accom
plished this distasteful task, Henry repaired to Olinville,
leaving the factious senate to exhaust itself in vain pro
tests and recriminations with the clergy on these per
petually recurring extortions. A monarch of spirit and
judgment would have seized the opportunity of these
dissensions to build up again his authority, and have
1 Archives de Turin, quoted by SI. Michelet : La Ligue.

1587.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 29
compelled the malcontents to acknowledge some law
and court of supreme appeal ; the king, however, pre
ferred the luxury of his palace, and the ignoble post of
arbiter of the squabbles of his favourites.
The campaign, during these transactions, had opened
with vigour and promise. Seven powerful armies took
the field. The due de Guise commanded the army of
Champagne ; the due de Mayenne and Matignon that
sent into Guyenne ; the due d'Aumale held Picardy ; the
due de Joyeuse the midland provinces and Auvergne;
the due d'Epernon was created governor of Provence,
and had the command of that district conferred upon
him. For the maintenance of this vast military force
during the year 1586 and 1587, Paris furnished 200,000
crowns — a sum which, by some mismanagement,
dwindled away in the space of eight days. The clergy
contributed 500,000 crowns, and the king the sum of
40,000 crowns from his privy purse. There were be
sides the moneys raised by the sale of state offices, that
contributed by voluntary subscription and the donations
of the opulent chieftains of the League.
To oppose this force, the king of Navarre and Conde
led to the field an army consisting of choice soldiers —
veterans long in the service of the Protestant confedera
tion ; while the due de Montmorency, Chatillon, and
Lesdiguieres garrisoned the whole of Languedoc. An
immense host of German mercenaries hovered on the
frontiers, whose junction would enable the Protestants
to meet almost on equal terms the armies arrayed
for their destruction by the Christian king. The name
of " reiter" created throughout France a feeling of
shuddering terror ; the ferocious violence, barbarism,
and rapacity of these troops were woes under which the
realm had too frequently suffered.
Notwithstanding these formidable demonstrations,
the year passed without any military enterprise of con-

30 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1585 —
sequence; the due de Guise alone turned his arms against
the principality of Sedan and captured some small forts.
During these his enterprises on the territory of the due
de Bouillon, the deputies sent by the German princes
entered Paris. Henry was at Plombieres taking a
course of mineral waters, when notice of the arrival of
the princes was transmitted to him. He reluctantly
returned to St. Germain to grant them audience ; as his
majesty indignantly contemplated their proposed in
terference with the internal condition of his realm. He
therefore greeted the deputies with cold haughtiness,
after having uncourteously detained them so long in
Paris that the two chief ambassadors, the comtes de
Montbelliard and Isembourg, returned to Germany,
believing their dignity to be compromised. The
harangue was made to the king by Helmstad, the
envoy of duke Casimir. The orator sharply reproached
the king for his repeated and faithless violation of his
royal word ; he exhorted him to restore peace to his
realm by banishing the factious from his councils, and
by calling the king of Navarre to his aid, offering, in
the name of the princes of Protestant Germany, to in
terdict the levy of troops for the invasion of his realm,
provided that they were suffered to mediate between the
belligerents. Henry made a most acrid reply, telling
the princes " that he was king, and could govern France
without their interference or suggestions." He then
terminated the audience, and retired, well satisfied at
the spirit and vigour with which he had repelled, as his
majesty termed it, " a second servitude." During the
night, however, passages in the speech addressed to him
by Helmstad occurred to the king; which put his
majesty into such a furious rage that he sprang from
his bed, and taking a slip of paper he wrote, " that
whoever had dared to say that by revoking his Edict of
Pacification given at Poitiers he had violated his word

1587.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 31
and honour, was a fool, a liar, and a slanderer ;" then
rousing the chamberlain-in-waiting, he desired him
forthwith to proceed to the abode of the ambassadors
aud read them that message. The envoys were residing
close at hand at Poissy ; they immediately rose from
their beds to receive the royal communication. The
effect of such a message may be divined : a silence of
some moments ensued, for the ambassadors scarcely
knew how to reply. They at length contented them
selves by demanding that a copy of the message might
be left. This request was refused by the royal emis
sary, who said " that he had been instructed to read the
message, but not to deposit the writing." The follow
ing morning the deputies quitted Paris without deem
ing it requisite to take leave of the king, or previously
to communicate with his ministers.1
This ignominious repulse of their well-meant inten
tions exasperated the German princes, and the greatest
alacrity henceforth was displayed to embody troops for
the service of the king of Navarre ; so that in a few
months a prodigious army of reiters had gathered on
the frontiers, waiting only for the signal to swarm over
the fair eastern provinces of France.
The king's next enterprise was to make an attempt
to prevail on the due de Guise and the chieftains
of the League to disarm, offering them amnesty, ho
nours, and guarantees of his faith and of his zeal for
religion. The precise points of the accommodation
proposed by the king are not on record; nevertheless
the royal concessions must have been ample, as the
chieftains repaired to Orcamp, an abbey appertaining to
the cardinal de Guise, to consider his majesty's proposi
tions. After a brief discussion they were rejected by
the due de Guise, who insisted on the execution, pure et
1 De Thou, liv. lxxxi. L'Estoile : Journal de Henri III. Dupleix.
Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III.

32 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^5^5~
simple, of the treaty of Nemours.1 At the same time
that Henry forwarded these proposals to the duke, he
intimated to the queen-mother that he was informed
her presence in the capital occasioned much cabal and
disaffection, and he therefore prayed her majesty to
take her departure for Chenonceau, and there to re
pose until it was considered expedient for her to repair
into Guyenne to meet the king of Navarre.2 Catherine,
though aware that her departure had been decreed by
Epernon, nevertheless complied without remonstrance.
The Leaguers, as her majesty anticipated, however, im
mediately raised a clamour that Catherine's orthodoxy
was the cause of her loss of influence with the king her
son ; and this ill-advised step exercised an adverse effect
on the conferences of Orcamp. Catherine had greatly
obliged the princes of Lorraine ; and the downfall of her
power they deemed the herald of the ascendency of
Epernon, and consequently of the Huguenot faction.
Some three weeks after thus offending his mother,
the king wrote to request her to repair to confer with
the king of Navarre, and make a last effort to win him
to renounce Calvinism. A long and most wearisome
negotiation ensued between the agents of the queen and
the king of Navarre relative to the place of interview,
and the precautions to be used to secure the safety of
both parties. The king of Navarre desired that Cathe
rine should confide in his honour and cross the Loire ;
the queen insisted that Henri might trust her word,
and repair to Champigny. Henri refused the latter
proposal unless the army under Mayenne was recalled ;
the queen then protested that she would not stir a step
from Chenonceau until her son-in-law agreed to a truce
1 " Resolutions de ceux du Parti de la Ligue assembles a Orcamp."—
MSS. du Chanc61ier Seguier, Bibl. Imp. vol. 1495. De Thou : Journal
de Henri III.
2 " Le roi ne consulte plus sa mere."— Archives de Turin— Michelet.

1587.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 33
pending the conference.1 In this recriminatory style
the negotiation continued until the middle of December,
1586, when a compromise was effected, and the queen
advanced to Poitiers, while the king of Navarre repaired
to Jarnac. Catherine was attended by the dues de
Montpensier and Nevers, by the marechal de Biron, and
MM. de Rambouillet and de Lansac. The only lady
of honour in her suite was Catherine de Bourbon, abbess
of Soissons,2 aunt of the king of Navarre. The amaze
ment, and perhaps disappointment of the cavaliers of
the court of Navarre was intense. Hitherto the queen-
mother had come amongst them attended by a troop
of beautiful maidens, whose allurements had often
proved more powerful to persuade than the fluent so
phistry of their mistress. Now Catherine presented
herself, attended by a grave abbess considerably past
the prime of life, whose prayers had been asked for the
better enlightenment of her reprobate nephew. The
queen proceeded from Poitiers to the castle of St. Bris,
a league from Cognac, to meet the king of Navarre.
The latter came, attended by Turenne and Caumont de
la Force, and by his chancellor du Ferier. The first
two interviews passed absolutely in recriminations,
the queen reproaching her son-in-law for his stubborn
ness, his conjugal infidelities, and his apostasy. Henri
took Catherine's objurgations patiently, and replied
aptly to the charge of contumacy. Before the third
interview the king of Navarre wisely sent Turenne
to the queen, in the hope that her majesty feeling less
excitement while conversing with the viscount, might
enter upon the propositions for the discussion of which
they had met. Catherine, accordingly, commissioned
Turenne to impart to his master that she was there to
1 Lettre de M. de Pibrac au Cardinal d'Este touchant les Negotiations
de la Reyne Mere. 'MS. Bibl. Imp. Dupuy, p. 500.
2 Daughter of Charles due de Vend6me and Franjoise d'Alencon.
VOL. III. D

34 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^5^5—
say, "that the king saw no other means of restoring
peace to the realm and satisfying MM. de Guise, except
by the king of Navarre changing his religion, which
consequently the king peremptorily commanded him to
do." When the viscount brought this message Henri
was setting out for St. Bris. His first impulse was to
return to Pau, but eventually he repaired to the inter
view. He found the queen anxiously awaiting the
result of her communication. Henri commenced by
positively declining to change his faith, and in an ad
dress of some length represented to her majesty the
impracticability of the step she proposed. " But, mon
fils, think of the ruin and disquietudes you are seeking
to impose upon yourself!" "Madame, I strive to
endure them patiently and virtuously," rejoined Henri.
"And for what?" asked the due de Nevers; "your
majesty has not power to levy a tax even in La
Bochelle !" Catherine then dexterously proposed that
a truce of one year should be concluded between the
belligerents, during which period the exercise of the
reformed ritual was to be totally prohibited on condi
tion that the States-general were convoked finally to
legislate on the controversy. This proposition Henri
sturdily rejected. He said that a general council, and
not the States, must legislate in affairs of religion.
Besides, during the present condition of the realm, and
the ascendency of MM. de Lorraine, the States would
not be permitted the free exercise of their functions.
After some further parley the royal negotiators sepa
rated in high displeasure ; Catherine, however, agreeing
to send a message to the king to ask for conditions
more in accord with the sentiments of her son-in-law
and his party.1 The queen then retired to Fontenay,
1 Lettre de M. de Pibrac a M. d'Este touchant les Negotiations de
la Reyne Mere. Bibl. Imp. MS. Dupuy, p. 500. Henry's admonition
to his brother-in-law the king of Navarre somewhat resembled that of

1587.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 35
and from thence to Niort, with the understanding that
she was to have a final interview with the king of
Navarre after the return of Rambouillet. The latter,
however, brought so ambiguous an answer from the
king as to leave the plenipotentiaries exactly where they
were. The king of Navarre, therefore, excused himself
from visiting the queen, who had been summoned back
to Paris by her son, and deputed Turenne in his stead.
A long and irritable interview ensued ; the queen be
came much excited, and several times vehemently
exclaimed, " there should be but one faith in the realm,
and that the king her son would find abundant re
sources to make the king of Navarre repent his con
tumacy." " As for the matter of one religion, madame,
we have no objection to urge, provided that it be our
own," retorted Turenne. The due de Nevers, who as
siduously attended the queen, then asked, " whether
the king of Navarre was so bound by his alliance with
the German princes, that he could no longer treat with
the king ?" The viscount replied, " that the foreign
army was entirely at the disposal of the king of Na
varre, who, if the king gave the invitation, would bring
these soldiers to the rescue of his majesty !" After
this interview the conferences were suddenly suspended,
as Catherine hastily returned to Paris, in consequence
of some dangerous cabals being there discovered con
nected with the return of the due de Mayenne. Henry
seems to have had no hesitation in summoning again
his mother, after having before coolly requested her to
depart. The king never appears to have contemplated
the possibility that any of the individuals whom he
the duchesse de la Force to her daughters-in-law, who were determmed
Calvinists, when during the reign of Louis XIV. they were exhorted to
recant, " Mais, mesdames, je ne congois paB les fagons que vous faites
pour moi, je crois tout ce que je veux !"
D 2

36 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [L585~
treated so unceremoniously could harbour resentment,
or retaliate his injurious usage.
The due de Mayenne had returned from the south
in a mood not calculated to improve the aspect of the
king's affairs in the city of Paris. He had achieved
no military success in Guyenne; and his period of com
mand had been embittered by the steady opposition of
his colleague the marechal de Matignon. The duke's
last exploit before resigning his command had been to
carry off mademoiselle de Caumont,1 a great heiress,
whom he desired to marry to his son the comte de
Sommerive. As the young lady was a Protestant, a
subject of the king of Navarre, and, moreover, affianced
to the prince de Carency, this abduction excited the
greatest clamour. The duke alleged, in excuse, that
she had been, when a child, betrothed to his son with
the assent of her mother, who was the widow of the
marechal de St. Andre — a lady, however, whose subse
quent marriages and eccentric conduct had brought
her into much disrepute. Anne de Caumont proved
herself to be a worthy representative of her valiant
race ; and refused the suit of the comte de Sommerive
with such determination, appealing to the king for
rescue from the custody of the duchesse de Mayenne,
that eventually the duke was compelled to restore her
to her kindred. The young prince de Carency subse
quently falling in a duel against the son of the mare
chal de Biron wliile maintaining his claim to the hand
of his wealthy fiancee, Anne showed such constancy to
his memory as immediately to transfer herself and" her
possessions to his brother and heir,2 whom she married,
1 Anne de Caumont de la Force, posthumous daughter of Geoffrey de
Caumont and Marguerite de Lustrac, widow of the marechal de St.
Andre', marquise de Lustrac ; born in 1574.
2 Henri de Pereuse d'Escars, prince de Carency : the marriage took
place 1587. The prince de Carency dying in 1590, his wealthy widow

1587.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 37
to guard against further misadventure, at the expiration
of her period of mourning.
The presence of Mayenne in the capital was the
signal for renewed agitation. The council des Seize
immediately waited upon the duke in the hotel de St.
Denis at ten o'clock at night, to impart the condition
of the city and to promise him devotion. The leaders
of the Seize, meantime, too precipitate in their mea
sures, had prematurely roused the animosity of the
people against their rulers. It was all that the most'
influential members of the League could do to prevent
the populace from breaking out into open sedition.
Schemes had been concocted and approved for the
seizure of the principal state edifices of the capital, all
of which Cruce communicated to the due de Mayenne.
The Louvre was to be taken by the help of barricades
in the adjacent streets, formed of barrels filled with
earth and bound together by chains. The person of
the king was to be seized and his guards murdered, as
well as the chancellor Cheverny, the first president,
the attorney-general le Guesle, and other obnoxious
persons of minor note. Possession was to be gained
of the arsenal by means of an artizan employed therein,
who had agreed to open the gates to an armed mob.
It was industriously circulated that the due de Guise
had pledged his word that in three years heresy should
be extirpated from the realm ; but to enable the duke
to execute his designs it was necessary for the people
to restrain the evident desire of the king to favour the
Huguenots. One Ameline, a zealous Leaguer, was
accredited by the Paris League to confer with the
provincial confederations. This man was presented
with 3,000 crowns and with two horses to fulfil his
mission, and set out on his journey during the con-
espoused Frangois d'Orleans, comte de St. Paul, son of the due de
Longueville.

3S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE. ['585—
ferences at St. Bris. A plot was likewise concocted
to seize the town of Boulogne, as, in case the military
successes of the king of Navarre might render it de
sirable to call in the aid of the duke of Parma, a
Spanish reinforcement might be landed at that port.
Measures were actually taken to execute this scheme,
by means of traitorous intelligences in Boulogne, with
such skill and foresight that doubtless the town would
have fallen into the hands of the due d'Aumale, no
minally the royal general commanding in Picardy,
had not Nicholas Poulain betrayed the plot to Che
verny. "I reflected well," says Poulain, "on the
nature of these most damnable enterprises, and decided
, that they were concocted, not for the public good, but
to deprive the king of his crown by means of the
populace of Paris, and to give it to those of Lorraine ;
and that religion was merely a pretence and a blind
to cover such treasonable plots !" The government
being forewarned quietly frustrated the design, the
reality of which was rendered palpable by the sudden
and unexpected advance of Aumale to within three
leagues of Boulogne. The panic occasioned by this
revelation had caused the king to summon back his
mother, as the tacit connivance of the due de Mayenne
in the plot could not be disputed. Nevertheless, the
king did not feel strong enough to arrest or to com
mand the duke's absence from the capital ; he therefore
designed " to negotiate."
The king, however, dealt the League a blow in re
turn by confiscating the temporalities of the cardinal
de Pellve,1 whose intrigues at Rome had long been a
1 Bishop of Amiens, archbishop of Sens in 15i53, cardinal in 1570,
and archbishop of Rheims in 1589 ; one of the most fiery of the Leaguers
and upholders of the canons of Trent. The cardinal died in Paris at the
h6tel de Sens, in 15D1, of grief and rage at the capitulation of Paris to
Henri IV.

1587.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 39
source of tribulation to the government ; but whom his
majesty dared not recall.
The Christmas of 1586 passed gloomily at St. Ger
main, where the king had retired. The position of
affairs dispirited his favourites, while Henry beheld
little hope of a return to the peaceful luxury of the
earlier years of his reign. Foreign nations began
now to scoff at the power of France; distracted by
civil war, it was felt that the energy of the nation
must be concentrated on home affairs if it were hoped
ever to revive the ancient glory of the realm of St.
Louis. This mortifying fact was daily brought under
the king's notice by the despatches of his foreign resi
dents. The queeu of England boldly put Mary Stuart,
dowager of France, on her trial for participation in the
regicidal plots of the English Leaguers, and signed the
sentence which condemned the widow of Francis II.
to perish by the axe of the executioner. Henry sent
the able and virtuous Pomponne de Bellievre to remon
strate with Elizabeth, and to beseech her to spare the
life of a queen his near kinswoman. His majesty pro
posed to become responsible for the future actions of
his sister-in-law ; while the due de Guise offered to
send one of his sons as a hostage for Mary's abstinence
from hostile demonstrations against Elizabeth. " For
how much will all these fine professions and guarantees
serve when I shall have been assassinated ?" gloomily
asked Elizabeth. " My ministers see in them no
surety for the safety of my person ! I have deter
mined, therefore, to do all that is requisite to preserve
my life. Your master, nevertheless, may be assured
of my moderation and equity in this affair, as in all
others in which his majesty may be concerned!"1
Mary, therefore, was led to execution,2 and the news
1 De Thou, liv. lxxxvi. 3 February 8th, 1587.

40 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l585—
of her death reached the king on the first day of
March, 1587. Henry passionately bewailed her un
timely end ; and so far from having encouraged Eliza
beth to proceed to this extremity, as it has been al
leged, numberless secret despatches are extant (some in
cypher) in which he instructs his ambassadors at the
court of London to exert all the influence of France
in Mary's behalf, short of breaking with the English
queen. Elizabeth, however, was aware of this reserva
tion : she knew also that fear of her alliance with the
king of Navarre and the French Calvinists was a
barrier opposed against the liberation of the unhappy
queen of Scots, more to be relied upon than the strong
walls of Mary's prison fortress. To solace his grief
Henry commanded a solemn requiem for the deceased
queen in the cathedral of Notre Dame. The king was
present at the service, accompanied by the two queens
and the court. The due de Guise arrived in Paris for
the ceremony, but remained only twenty-four hours;
the duchesse de Montpensier and other members of
the house of Lorraine mustered in force, making
parade of the most extravagant grief. The archbishop
of Bourges preached the funeral oration, and did not
lose the opportunity of pronouncing a panegyric on
the house of Lorraine, all the members of which, he
said, like the illustrious martyr deceased, were ready
to lay down their lives for the holy Roman faith. He
alluded to the due de Guise and his brother Mayenne, ,--
whom he termed " deux foudres de guerre." This
discourse greatly displeased the king, who summoned
the preacher, and after reprimanding him for his
audacity in thus alluding to princes under ban of the
royal displeasure, he ordered the passages in question
to be suppressed before the publication of the oration.
The disaffection of the duchesse de Montpensier
seemed to receive fresh impetus from this event. Her

1587.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 41
malice and intrigue redoubled; and her denunciations
against the king, whom she accusecLof complicity in the
death of her cousin-german Mary Stuart, at length in
curred the censure of the due de Guise. A few weeks
previously to the reception of the intelligence of the
decease of the queen of Scots, though after Mary's
sentence of decapitation had been recorded, the duchess
and her allies of the League formed a daring project to
seize the king on his return to the Louvre from his
annual visit to the Foire de St. Germain, which was to
be followed by an assault on the Louvre, the Bastille,
an^ the arsenal, as previously concerted. This project
was imparted to the due de Mayenne, who gave it his
unqualified aid and approval. The temporary regency
of Catherine the conspirators afterwards determined to
proclaim, pending the settlement of the question rela
tive to the succession. This plot was carefully con
cealed from the due de Guise, who was known to be
of opinion that a popular rising was at this period pre
mature ; besides, the duke still clung to the belief that
Henry would of himself eventually make the concessions
desired, when he beheld his realm inextricably involved
in a war from which no other issue was apparent. The
duchesse de Montpensier, in pursuance of her design,
purchased a house in the Rue St. Antoine, in which
the king's intended captors were to lie in ambuscade.
His majesty after his capture was to be conducted into
a little turret chamber, near the belfry tower of the
adjacent church of St. Antoine, where for a few hours
he was to be vigilantly guarded pending the decision of
the Seize relative to his destination. This plot was
privately revealed by Poulain, who denounced it, as
before, to Cheverny. The king at first insisted upon
the arrest of madame de Montpensier, of Mayenne, and
of all concerned. The queen-mother, however, pro
cured the rejection of this vigorous measure by observ-

42 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l585—
ing that no testimony would be forthcoming, excepting
that of the informer P6ulaiu, to sanction the detention
of such illustrious personages. Henry, therefore, de
termined to do nothing, but simply to abstain from
visiting the Foire de St. Germain ; though, under pre
text of securing the tranquillity of Paris during that
popular revel, he caused the bridges of St. Cloud to be
occupied, and commanded the advance of troops to St.
Denis. The king also changed the commandants in
all the edifices whose seizure had been menaced. The
Louvre was garrisoned, and the drawbridge raised. To
test the truth of Poulain's statement, Henry next per
suaded the due d'Epernon to repair in his stead to the
Foire de St. Germain and ascertain the temper of the
people. Epernon complied, to his cost; he was re
ceived with execrations by the people, and finally had
great difficulty in extricating himself from the throng.
Affairs continued in this condition for several days,
during which the due de Mayenne kept his chamber,
perceiving by the unwonted precautions displayed that
the plot had transpired ; and being greatly in dread
lest the king, having so fair an opportunity for retalia
tion, should seize it by ordering his arrest and that of
his aide-de-camp Bassompierre. He first determined
to withdraw privately from Paris ; but being dissuaded
from such a step by his sister, -the duke had recourse
to queen Catherine. He therefore privately waited
upon her majesty, and assuring her that he had had
no share in the recent plot .against the royal person,
which he affected to treat as apocryphal, he asked
Catherine to obtain for him permission to retire to his
government. The treachery of Poulain never seems to
have been suspected by his colleagues ; the nerve and
address of the former are almost without parallel.
Poulain regularly took his seat at the council-table of
the League, and there listened, surrounded by a gang

1,587.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 43
of desperate men — each of whom would have buried
his dagger in the betrayer's body on the most remote
suspicion of treachery — to creep away in the dead of
the night to the hotel of Cheverny, and impart to the
ear of that minister the resolutions agreed upon. The
secret was faithfully kept both by the chancellor and
his royal master. Unfortunately, however, Henry only
partially believed, and never applied his power to crush
these formidable cabals. His mother, according to her
custom, advised negotiation, caution, and a forbearance
which might eventually bring back many to their alle
giance. Henry, therefore, had the weakness to grant
Mayenne the desired permission to leave Paris ; only,
when the duke came to take leave, the king said, "Ah!
M. de Mayenne, is it true that you seriously intend
to abandon your beloved League and your faithful
Leaguers of Paris?" De Thou states that when the
duke had proceeded to some little distance from the
capital, he turned round, thanking God for his escape
from so perilous a predicament ; and with knitted brow
surveyed the capital, uttering a tremendous oath never
more to expose his life to such risks from the vengeance
of a tyrant, or the fury of a ferocious populace. When
the due de Guise was informed of this contemplated
enterprise, he gave vent to a transport of passion, and
despatched his agent Maineville with a message to the
chief members of the council des Seize, importing
" that he marvelled how they presumed to doubt his
word after he had promised to avail himself of their aid
at the suitable moment; therefore, for the future they
might manage their own affairs as they liked ; as for
himself, he would have nothing more to do with their
concerns." The duke also addressed very sharp reproofs
to his sister madame de Montpensier, and sarcastically
asked her how she had proposed to proceed having once
got the king into the turret-chamber of St. Antoine ?

44 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^5^5~
The due de Mayenne, feeling that he had compromised
himself by giving his sanction to so crude and ill-con
certed an enterprise, withdrew to his government of
Burgundy without visiting the camp of his brother.
The chieftains of Paris made many humble apolo
gies to the due de Guise, acknowledged their folly,
which they prayed him to overlook, and in testimony
of their contrition, they presented his envoy Maineville
with a massive gold chain, and sent the duke a contri
bution of 300 gold crowns for the prosecution of the
war. The imbecility of the king naturally gave courage to
his opponents. A dangerous plot came to light, and
the king was persuaded to dissemble and connive at the
escape of its authors. The consequence was, that by
some Henry was represented as utterly enervated by
his excesses, and so conscience-smitten at his past indif
ference for the maintenance of religion as to be reduced
to the last stage of mental and physical debility. By
others the sovereign was declared to be so daunted by
the genius, the fortune^ and the ambition of his sub
jects of Lorraine that, feeling convinced of their even
tual triumph, his present leniency was prompted by the
hope of making better conditions after his compulsory
abdication. Henry, however, was content to crouch
as long as humility might stave off the necessity for
vigorous energy and self-denial, and while the me
diations of queen Catherine offered a prospect of
delusive tranquillity; but urged beyond that point, no
promptings of religion, humanity, or justice sufficed to
restrain the fierce vindictiveness with which he rose at
last to dash from his path every opposing obstacle.
The king, at this period, smiled and congratulated the
due de Guise on the efficient condition of his army.
Whenever a member of the Seize entered the Louvre,
the significant irony and oppressive condescensions of

1587-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 45
the king kept their recipient in a constant fever of
anxiety lest, on leaving the presence, a company of the
royal guard might not be without ready to convey him
to the torture vaults of the Conciergerie. Henry's
empressements at this period infuriated the duchesse de
Montpensier. Between Catherine and her royal son,
however, the greatest discord continued to reign. The
individual whom the queen most loved throughout her
life had been her son Henry; on him her proudest
maternal aspirings had been riveted, and he had for
years rewarded her affection by devoted homage. On
his accession Catherine had hailed her own supremacy ;
and this expectation had for many years been realized,
until the ambition of the " dukes," and the consequent
torpor of the king, snatched from the hand of the
queen-mother not only her traditional influence, but
caused her to witness the usurpation of the entire
functions of the crown. Catherine's spirit rose to
avenge and arrest these assumptions, and to win back
her power. Having vainly tried to rouse the king
from his apathy, she threw herself into the opposing
faction with all the energy inspired by fidelity to her
religion, her resentments, her hate of Henri de Navarre,
and her proud partiality for her eldest grandson, the
son of the due de Lorraine and her daughter Claude.
After the departure of the due de Mayenne, the
court assumed the most lugubrious mourning for the
comtesse de Bouchage, the consort of the brother of
the due de Joyeuse. The countess, who was the sister
of the due d'Epernon,1 was a lady of eminent piety, and
whose brief life was spent in works of charity and self-
denial. Madame de Bouchage was only twenty years
old, but appalled at the impiety of the court she had
1 Catherine de la Valette. She married Henri de Joyeuse, comte de
Bouchage, in 1581. Madame de Bouchage left one daughter, Henriette
Catherine, eventually the heiress of the potent house of Joyeuse.

46 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^85 —
taken refuge in a life of virtual seclusion. She nursed
the sick in the hospitals of Paris ; and often rose from
her bed to visit the dying sufferers whose pains her
charity and benevolence had assuaged. Henry bore
madame de Bouchage the most intense veneration, and
sometimes knelt to kiss the hem of her robe. Often
after she had affectionately admonished him to reform
his life, the king was known to weep convulsively and
retire to his oratory, where he remained in seclusion
for hours. The countess was buried in the church of
the Franciscans ; her loss was so mourned by her hus
band, who imitated her life of piety and contemplation,
that during the following month' he entered a Capuchin
monastery, where he eventually took monastic vows.
Nevertheless the count, on succeeding to the dignity of
his elder brother the due de Joyeuse, made some further
figure in the world.
Henry allotted a period of eleven days for the out
ward mourning of her whom he termed " the greatest
saint in his dominions," when the aspect of the court
was changed for the magnificent nuptial festivities at
tending the marriage of the brother of madame de
Bouchage, the due d'Epernon, with Marguerite de Foix,
heiress of the house of Candale. The feud between
Epernon and the princes of Lorraine had caused the
relinquishment of the design he once entertained of
espousing the youngest sister of queen Louise ; while
the prevalent report that the king contemplated the
alliance of his favourite with the sister of the kin"- of
Navarre was deemed a rumour so dangerous in the
present temper of the Parisian populace, that Henry
resolved to give it most effectual contradiction by uniting
the duke to another lady. Marguerite de Foix was
1 On the following 4th of September, 1587, the count took the name
of le Pere Ange.

1587. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 47
the grand-daughter of the constable de Montmorency,1
and therefore allied to the most potent houses in the
realm. She had been brought up by her aunt Diane
de France, duchesse de Montmorency, who loved her as
a daughter, and highly disapproved of her alliance with
Epernon ; for the hand of the young countess had been
sought by several foreign princes whose suit the king
summarily rejected. Marguerite herself seems not to
have been averse to her marriage with the due d'Eper
non ; at any rate she afterwards made him a devoted
and affectionate wife, and exulted in the prowess and
spirit of her husband. The marriage was celebrated
with little pomp in the chapel of Vincennes, on Sunday,
August 23rd, 1587. The bridal pair on the following
Sunday offered a magnificent ball to the king and the
two queens, Catherine and Louise, in the hotel de
Montmorency — a palace, part of the rich possessions of
the bride. The king danced with the young duchess,
and treated her with royal honours. His majesty was
attired in a dress beset with strings of jewels, and was
frizzed, perfumed, and beruffed in the most approved
fashion of his court. At his girdle, however, the king
wore a scourge, his chaplet of death-heads, and a rosary
having a multitude of little effigies of saints in gold
hanging therefrom. The superstition of Louis XI.
was more respectable than that of Henry IIL, when
the former on any emergency pulled off his hat and
gravely prostrated himself before the leaden images of
Notre Dame with which it was adorned. The royal
gift to the bride was a pearl necklace of the value of
100,000 crowns.
The galas as well as the fasts of the court were,
1 The countess was the daughter of Henri de Foix, count of Can dale
Captal de Buch, and of Marie de Montmorency, eldest daughter of the
constable Anne.

48 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [158^ —
however, suspended by the intelligence of the descent
of the army of Germans on the frontiers of Champagne.
Onwards they came, spreading desolation, famine, and
pestilence. Neither age nor sex was respected by these
fierce marauders ; by sword and by fire they opened for
themselves a highway, and swarmed down on the fertile
country adjacent to the river Loire. The famous march
of the due de Deux Pont from the Rhine into Guyenne,
in 1568, was the exploit attempted by the baron de
Dhona, the lieutenant-in-chief of the palatine Casimir.
The army consisted of 16,000 Swiss troops, 5,000 reiters,
and a body of 6,000 cavalry. The due de Bouillon,
moreover, brought into the field 2,000 troops and a
squadron of light cavalry 1,800 strong. In the south
the king of Navarre made a review of his troops — a
small but gallant army, well equipped, and burning
with zeal for their master's cause, and for the reformed
faith, proscribed and banished, with its upholders, from
the land. The prince de Conde and his younger
brother the comte de Soissons, the due de la Tremouille
(now after the marriage of his sister to Conde1 a renegade
from the League),' Turenne, and a crowd of chieftains,
brought gallant reinforcements, and joined their ban
ners to the noble standard of Bourbon-Albret. The
greatest activity and enthusiasm everywhere prevailed ;
mothers exhorted their sons to conquer for the faith or
to die on the battle-field ; young girls sold their trinkets,
and some even gave their hair, to buy equipments of
war for their lovers and brothers. The Bearnnois ladies
brought their jewels to the treasury; the chieftains mort
gaged their lands ; all united in the desperate struggle
1 Charlotte Catherine de la Tremouille, daughter of Louis due de
la Tremouille and of Jeanne de Montmorency, espoused the prince of
Conde at Taillebourg March 16, 1586. Her brother Claude, due de la
Tremouille, married Elizabeth de Nassau, daughter of the prince of
Orange, and was the father of the countess of Derby.

I5^7-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 49
for liberty and their faith. Henri wept tears of joy as
he witnessed the enthusiastic loyalty of his brave Bearn
nois. The plan of campaign contemplated by the king
of Navarre was first to throw reinforcements into his
strongholds of Gascony, and in those places contiguous
to the Spanish frontier : then at the head of his army
to follow the course of the river Dordogne and effect a
junction with the German troops in Burgundy, and offer
battle to the generals of the League.
The king was thrown into the greatest agitation of
mind when he learned the advance of the German
mercenaries. The uproar and panic in the capital in
creased his majesty's solicitudes. One of the preachers
of Paris ascended the pulpit in the church of St.
Severin, and delivered an address filled with menace
and treason. The leaders of the Seize, concluding that
the king would issue orders for the arrest of this eccle
siastic, awaited the decree to excite a popular commo
tion. Henry, by the advice of his mother, refrained
from this measure; nevertheless, a report was spread
that the king intended to have the preacher seized and
drowned during the night in the Seine. A tumultuous
assemblage, therefore, gathered round the house of one
Hatte, a demagogue, where Cruce and other Leaguers
awaited any overt act taken by the government to
punish the orator. Henry, the following morning, as
sembled his council. The chancellor and the due
d'Epernon advised the king to vindicate his authority,
to arrest the rioters, and to cause an inquiiy to be
made into the turbulent demonstrations of the pre
ceding night. Villequier, however, demeaned himself
with insolent arrogance, and protested that the people
of Paris were loyal, and never really meant any enter
prise hostile to the royal authority. Cheverny in
sisted ; having during the night received a warning from
VOL, III. E

50 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1585 —
Poulain to hold himself on his guard ; whereupon Ville
quier, who had partially pledged himself to the Lorraine
faction, exclaimed sneeringly, "Well, the panics of M.
le chancelier will not hinder me from draining my three
cups as usual to-night !" In the evening the streets
were again blocked by tumultuous bands, which, on the
appearance of a detachment of archers, sent to disperse
the mob and arrest its leaders, flew to arms and com
menced a fight. The people tore up the pavement and
hurled the stones through the windows of houses apper
taining to persons obnoxious to the League. Boucher,
one of the turbulent cures, meantime ran to the Palais
and caused the tocsin to be rung. At this ominous
sound crowds of people swarmed from the obscure
streets and alleys of the capital and joined the fray.
The mob shouted seditious speeches under the very
windows of the Louvre, and clamoured for the heads of
Henri de Navarre and Epernon. The tumult was fast
ripening into an insurrection, when the king, daunted
by the representations of his mother, actually consented
to recall his troops ; whereupon the people dispersed in
triumph. After this exhibition of weakness, the royal
authority fell into such contempt that the leaders of
the Seize often took upon themselves to annul or alter
the royal mandates issued to promote the tranquillity
of the capital. As the king's progress through the
streets of Paris was attended with peril, the due
d'Epernon organized at this period the famous band
des Quar ante-cinq, for the security of the royal person.
The men were distinguished for their tall stature and
great strength ; they were Gascon gentlemen, of no
political bias, though most inclined to revere the mili
tary prowess of the king of Navarre, with whose valiant
deeds they were familiar. The troop was commanded
by M. de Lognac, a bold, needy, and unscrupulous ad
venturer.

1587-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 51
The due de Guise, on the advance of the Germans,
marched to Bar-sur-Aube to watch and, if possible, in
tercept their progress ; while the due de Lorraine, at
the head of 5000 troops, encamped on the confines of
his duchy, waiting for the permission of the king to
enter France. The due de Joyeuse, meantime, asked
aud obtained the command of the division sent against
the king of Navarre, to pursue his army and to prevent
his return into Guyenne, after relieving the garrisons
of Beam, and consequently to hinder his junction with
the mercenary army. The favour of Joyeuse had fallen,
and he now possessed little influence with his royal
master. The retreat of his brother M. de Bouchage
had greatly affected the duke, and he vainly tried to in
duce the former to leave the monastery and mingle
again with the world. The taunts of the due d'Epernon
cut him to the quick, while the king often jested on
the insignificant services which he had as yet rendered.
The duke, therefore, resolved to signalize himself by
some eminent deed, or to die in the attempt. At the:
commencement of the autumn Joyeuse took the field,
and traversing the Anjoumois he entered Perigord. In
his army were the due de Mercoeur and many noble
cavaliers, who sought under his auspices to distinguish
themselves by a glorious campaign. The duke, there
fore, determined to arrest the passage of the king of
Navarre across the river Drogue, and drew up his army
in battle array on the plain half a league from Coutras.
The king of Navarre readily accepted the combat.
He made an eloquent harangue, encouraging his troops
from an eminence in the midst of his camp. Henri
stood surrounded by a martial throng, men whose
names recalled the triumphs inaugurated by the genius
and courage of Coligny and of Jeanne d'Albret. The
due de Joyeuse, on the contrary, had no experience in
arms ; his officers were young and hot headed, impatient
e 2

52 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^585 —
of control, and unable to stand the shock of the steady
and well-disciplined battalions of their opponents. On
the termination of Henri's address, the troops to a
man prostrated themselves and engaged in supplication
to the God of battles to give them victory. Their
movements were narrowly watched by Joyeuse. " Look !"
exclaimed he eagerly to his aide-de-camp M. de Lavar
din, " look ! the Huguenot traitors are already beaten ;
they prostrate themselves ! — they tremble !" "Do not
be deceived, monseigneur; I know these said Huguenots;
they are pleased now to appear down in the mouth and
sanctified, but when we come to the charge we shall
find them devils, and of lion courage !"
Between seven and eight o'clock on the following
morning the armies formed into battle array. A sus
pense of an hour's duration ensued, during which the
Huguenot soldiers again engaged in prayer. The king
of Navarre disposed his men with consummate skill. —
He gave the command of the left wing to the comte de
Soissons, and that of the right to Conde ; the king
himself led the centre, and Turenne the cavalry, form
ing a corps-de-reserve. The due de Joyeuse com
menced the conflict by opening with his artillery on
Conde's division. Lavardin and Montigny next ad
vanced at the head of a troop of horse 800 strong.
This force was opposed by Turenne ; but such was the
impetuosity of its charge, that the Huguenot light
cavalry gave way on all sides, while Turenne was un
horsed and slightly wounded. During this preparatory
skirmish, the main body of the Huguenot army remained
firm, and ready for the attack. Joyeuse perceiving the
retreat of the enemy's cavalry, and imagining that the
victory was already won, suddenly gave the signal for
a general onslaught, and himself led the attack. The
shock was severe, the soldiers on both sides performing
gallant deeds of prowess. The king of Navarre and

1587. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 53
Conde led with irresistible courage and vigour. The
combat lasted only three-quarters of an hour, at the
expiration of which brief period the royal army was
broken and dispersed, and the battle-field strewn with
the bodies of its most gallant chieftains.1 The due de
Joyeuse valiantly distinguished himself, and was three
times unhorsed. Towards the conclusion of the con
flict, after his infantry was dispersed, and flying on all
sides, the marquis de St. Luc rode up to the duke and
asked what were his designs in this emergency. Joyeuse
replied in a voice broken and tremulous, " De mourir
apres cecy, et ne vivre plus, M. de St. Luc !" Though
bleeding and exhausted from his wounds, Joyeuse made
a last attempt to rally his army; he was, however,
again unhorsed, and taken prisoner by two Huguenot
troopers, who shot him in cold blood, notwithstanding
that the duke offered them a ransom of 300,000 crowns
to spare his life. The marquis de St. Luc yielded
himself a prisoner to Conde, after having first defeated
the latter in single combat, during which he dealt him
so severe a blow in the side that the prince never re
covered the injury. The brother of Joyeuse was killed,
and also the comtes de Suze and d'Aubigeoux, and
numbers of other illustrious personages. " This victoiy,"
says a contemporary, " was the most complete and ex
traordinary that had ever been gained ; for at nine
o'clock in the morning the armies had scarcely struck
a blow, while at ten o'clock not a single man of the
army of M. de Joyeuse held arms in hand, they all
being in flight or prostrate on the battle-field. The
cavalry was first routed, then the infantry was defeated,
and broken by the regiment called that of the king of
Navarre." The royal army lost 2,000 men, including
400 officers and nobles, and all its baggage, artillery,
1 Relation de la Bataille de Coutras, Octobre, 1587. Archives
Curieuses, 1st serie. De Thou. Dupleix. Mathieu. Davila.

54 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l585 —
and standards. The loss of the Huguenots was com
puted at 30 men killed and 100 wounded ; they likewise
captured 3,000 prisoners, and valiantly pursued their
foes for three hours after the termination of the
combat. The king of Navarre, thus master of the field, com
manded a muster of the victorious army, and returned
thanks to God for this signal and speedy triumph. He
then commanded the interment of the slain and the
transport of the wounded into the adjacent towns and
hamlets, directing that the greatest care should be
bestowed to insure their recovery. He next burned
the camp of the due de Joyeuse, and commanded that
the prisoners of war should be paraded before the army.
The king publicly enjoined the greatest moderation on
their captors. To some valiant officers Henri generously
restored their liberty by himself engaging to pay their
ransom. The king then entered the town of Coutras
to take repose after his victory.
The bodies of the due de Joyeuse and his brother,
meantime, had been transported to Coutras and de
posited on a table in the lower hall of the house where
the king of Navarre was to dine. Henri, when in
formed of this circumstance, entered the hall ; he shed
tears while viewing the body of Joyeuse, and put back
with his own hand the long locks of fair hair, all dabbled
in blood, which streamed over the face of the deceased.
He then caused the bodies to be reverently covered and
gave them in charge to Turenne, who was nearly related
to the due de Joyeuse, commanding him to cause them
to be embalmed and transported to Paris, or wherever
the king might command.
Thus terminated the battle of Coutras, a signal
triumph of the Huguenot arms. Had this victory
been followed by the march of the army to join its
German allies, the League probably, defeated on the

1587-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 55
battle-field and broken by dissensions, must have
fallen ; while the power of " le Bearnnois" — as Cathe
rine called her son-in-law — thus confirmed and his
rights acknowledged, the princes of Lorraine would
have found no other resource than submission to the
dynasty they had intrigued to supplant.
The charms of the comtesse de Guiche, however,
indemnified Guise for the loss of the fight at Coutras.
The king of Navarre forsook his valiant army and
folded the banner of Albret, to lay at the feet of the
fair Corisandre the ensigns and spoils of the van
quished.

56 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, \_l5%7-

CHAPTER III.
1587—1588.
Departure of Henry III. for the camp at Gien — Campaign of 1587 —
Return of the king to Paris — His reception — Dissensions between
the due d'Epernon and the archbishop of Lyons and M. de Villeroy —
Death of the prince de Conde — Arrest of his widow — Articles of
Nancy are rejected by the king — Cabals of the house of Lorraine —
Henry forbids the advance of the due de Guise to Paris — Mission of
Bellievre — Guise disregards the royal mandate — Entry into Paris — In
terview with queen Catherine — Exasperation of the king — Guise is
conducted to the Louvre by the queen- mother — Henry resolves upon
the assassination of the duke — Interview between the king and the
due de Guise — He is suffered to leave the Louvre owing to the inter
position of queen Catherine — His second interview with the king in
the garden of the Tuileries — Henry commands domiciliary visits to
be made in the disaffected quarters of the capital — Agitation in
Paris.
The repeated insults which the king had received from
the Parisian populace, and the mutinous deportment
of the authorities, rendered it imperative that Henry
should now either notably assert his power by bringing
the rebels to punishment, or manifest his displeasure
by withdrawing from the capital. The secretary of
state Villeroy and the due d'Epernon proposed that
the king should first retire to St. Germain, and then
proceed to place himself at the head of his army — a
measure which they averred would awe the spirit of
insubordination rife in the capital. To the surprise
of the council Henry accepted this proposition ; and

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 57
moreover, to the great discomfiture of the Seize, he
commenced the most vigorous preparations for the
campaign. The invasion of the German army seems
to have awakened a martial glow in the bosom of the
king ; it was against the combined forces of Coligny
and the marquis of Baden that Henry at the battle of
Moncontour had gained that military repute which at
this period alone redeemed his reputation from utter
obloquy. The prestige of his early victories Henry
now burned to renew. Accordingly, about three days
before the fight at Coutras, the king quitted his capital
and repaired to the camp at Gien. His army consisted
of 8,000 cavalry and a body of 18,000 infantry, balf
being French levies and the rest German. During the
royal absence the regency was intrusted to Catherine
to the contentment of the citizens of Paris, with whom
the queen-mother was still popular.
The due de Guise, meantime, continued to follow
and harass the Germans. The due de Bouillon held
the rank of lieutenant for the king of Navarre in the
confederated army, pending the arrival of the prince
de Conty, brother of Conde. Chatillon led the French
infantry : Dohna commanded in chief as lieutenant of
prince Casimir.1 Lorraine was ravaged by these mer
cenaries ; their advance was attended with rapine and
insubordination. The army, composed of soldiers of
diverse races, refused obedience to its officers, not
one of whom was of rank sufficiently elevated to claim
command over the whole. The Swiss troops contended
with the German landsknechts, and the French soldiers
in the battalions of Bouillon and Chatillon hated both.
For more than a week these fierce bands hovered in
the neighbourhood of Bassigny; dread and suspense
hung over all ; churches were desecrated, tombs rifled,
1 Davila, liv. viii. De Thou, liv. Ixxxvii. Dupleix : Hist, de
France.

58 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [*5%7—
and villages fired, and the monasteries mulcted or
utterly despoiled. The generals in command followed
the bidding of their savage mercenaries, and discipline
was set at defiance. The vineyards of Champagne and
Beausse, however, slew hundreds of these marauders;
while the pillage of the contents of the adjacent wine
vaults afforded the foraging parties from Guise's army
numerous victories over the enemy. After an ineffec
tual attempt to seize the town of La Charite, the Ger
man soldiery poured into the valley of the Seine and
encamped between Chatillon and Montargis. The due
de Guise followed, reinforced by detachments brought
by the dues de Mayenne and d'Elbceuf, who each took
command in his army, and encamped at Courtenay, so
as to place his army between Paris and the invaders.
It was the duke's policy to preserve the capital from
violence and rapine ; he desired that Paris and its
League should shine as the model and emulation of
all the provincial associations. The disposition of its
citizens was well known to him; factious, self-loving,
insolent, and inconstant, the duke apprehended lest,
on the first stroke of calamity or peril, the Parisians
might altogether repudiate their League and shelter
themselves under the legitimate protection of the
throne. The murmurs, meantime, in the confederated camp
daily augmented ; though wine was abundant, pro
visions were scarce. The soldiers, likewise, reproached
Dhona and their chieftains for having, as they averred,
deluded them into the realm under the pretext that
the king of France tacitly approved of their juncture
with the king of Navarre, while his majesty instead
had taken the field to oppose their advance.1 They
1 De Thou, liv. lxxxvii. Mem. de Jacques Pape, Seigneur de St.
Auban. Dupleix. Cheverny. Davila: MSS. Bibl. Imp.— Number-

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 59
also justly complained that the king of Navarre had
failed in his promise to place himself at the head of
their legions as soon as they should have penetrated
to the Loire. The glorious intelligence of the vic
tory of Coutras even increased the disaffection ; for
with it came the news that Henri, having partially
disbanded his army, had retreated into Beam, instead
of marching to .give them the rendezvous. This grave
oversight, which the capacity and energy of the king
of Navarre could never retrieve, occasioned the san
guinary campaigns of seven subsequent years ; the con
sequent dictatorship of the due de Guise, and the over
throw of the dynasty of Valois. After the battle of
Coutras not a single impediment lay in the way to
prevent the junction of the Huguenot army with its
German confederates; — that union effected, one of the
largest armies ever assembled on the soil of France,
led by ardent and able generals, would have been en
rolled under the banner of Bourbon. Money was
plentiful from the liberal contributions of the Pro
testant powers ; an English fleet lay in the harbour
of La Rochelle laden with ammunition of war ; while
Montmorency in the south, master of fertile Languedoc
and Dauphiny, offered plentiful supplies to the Hugue
not camp. A spirit of misgiving, and probably of dis
trust, must for the moment have oppressed the valiant
heart of the king of Navarre, when, regardless of these
advantages and the interests of the Protestant cause,
he took leave of his victorious army to kneel at the
footstool of his fair Corisandre ; and to indite to Henry
III. that humble letter of condolence for the decease
of Joyeuse, and of excuse for the triumph of his arms
at Coutras.
less manuscripts on this campaign, all confirmatory of the narrations of
the historians quoted.

60 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^87 —
A conflict ensued at Vimory between the confederates
and the due de Guise, which, as it terminated in the
partial defeat of the former, still more disheartened
the allies. The quarters of the baron de Dhona on
the 28th day of October were in the little town of
Vimory, while his army encamped in its vicinity. In
the dead of the night the dues de Guise and de
Mayenne surprised the enemy, and a hand-to-hand
fight ensued in the long straggling street of Vimory.
Mayenne and the baron de Dhona personally engaged
in single combat ; and the conflict ended in the evacua
tion of the place by the allies with the loss of 200
men, the baggage of the army, and the symbols of its
commander. Dhona, on his side, captured the guidon
of the due de Mayenne and the standards of the royal
army ; also a number of prisoners.1 The allies then
marched upon Chateau Landon, which was assaulted,
pillaged, and burned; their army then proceeded to
Malesherbes, where it encamped.2
The king, meanwhile, guarded the passages of the
Loire. His head-quarters were at Gien. His majesty
was accompanied by the dues de Nevers and Epernon,
and by other nobles of the court. His equipage was
sumptuous ; and the luxury of the camp greatly di
minished the regrets which Henry might feel at leaving
his palaces and embarking in the vicissitudes of war.
The due de Nevers was Henry's chief counsellor, and
by his directions the fords and the banks of the river
from La Charite to Orle'ans were fortified, and strong
entrenchments thrown up at the points most liable to
be assailed. Henry had scarcely joined his army when
news reached him of the battle of Coutras and the
decease of Joyeuse. The king's grief was at first vehe-
1 De Thou. D'Aubigne : Hist. Universelle
3 Ibid.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 61
ment ; but his concern became greatly modified when
Epernon observed to his royal master that Joyeuse, had
he survived, would certainly have become a stanch sup
porter of the League, as his relations with Guise were
of the most devoted nature ; while the nobles who fell
in the fight had almost without exception declared
themselves adherents of the same cause — so that his
majesty, therefore, had fewer partisans of the duke to
contend against. The king, nevertheless, refused to
admit the envoy of the king of Navarre, or to receive
his letter; while he gave orders that the body of the
due de Joyeuse should be deposited with great pomp in
one of the churches of the capital, until his funeral
obsequies could be suitably solemnized. The king also
wrote to Lavardin, late aide-de-camp to the deceased
duke. His letter is full of condolence, and of regrets
for the loss of Joyeuse and of the day at Coutras. The
king desires that the fragment of the duke's army should
join M. de Malicorne, who commanded a division in
Guyenne, or the force under the due d'Aumale in
Picardy.1 As Guise had predicted, the news of this
defeat depressed the zeal of the Paris Leaguers. Ca
therine wept, and publicly exclaimed that for twenty-
five years the realm had not experienced so woful a
calamity. She therefore addressed letters to the due
de Nevers, imploring him to shield her son the king
from a like misfortune ; and stated her opinion that his
majesty ought not personally to be allowed to engage
in battle. Her majesty entered into an argument to
prove that though Henry might not be actually engaged
in the fight, yet it would still be said, in case of a suc
cessful result, " the king has gained a battle ; and hence,
mon cousin, the king will have the credit so necessary
1 Henri III. a M. de Lavardin : Bibl. Imp. MS.— Portef. Lancelot
cotte, Louis XII. et Henri III., fol. 373.

62 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587 —
to him without the personal risk." Catherine then
dilates. on the loyal and peaceful demeanour of the
Parisians ; and the assertion which she makes is not to
be contradicted, that when under her sway their ani
mosities were lulled, while the queen's dexterity of dic
tion and manner allayed much factious opposition.1 In
Paris Catherine was always popular ; her affability, mag
nificence, and especially her independence of private
partialities, endeared her to the people. One of Ca
therine's maxims, however, was always to adjust her
policy so that it might ebb and flow with the tide of
public opinion ; and few possessed characters supple
enough to analyze and acquire a similar element of
popularity. After the conflict of Vimory the due de Guise re
treated to Montereau, and the due de Mayenne retired
into his government of Burgundy. This march roused
the king's suspicion that Guise intended to garrison
Paris and leave the burden of the war on his
shoulders. Accordingly his majesty despatched Joachim
seigneur de Dinteville to inquire the cause of the duke's
retreat from the province of Beausse, where his presence
was so necessary ; also, the reason wherefore the due
de Mayenne withdrew, and the due d'Aumale declined
to join the royal army ? Guise received the royal
messenger with profound deference, and while con
descending to explain that he retreated to afford his
troops rest and refreshment before following the con
federated army into the open plains of Beausse, where
a pitched battle would be imminent, he nevertheless per
sisted in his march to Etampes.2 Whether this retreat
was a preconcerted plan or not, it were difficult to de
cide ; it is certain, however, that envoys from the League
1 MS. Bibl. Imp. Beth. No. 1. La Reyne Mere a M. le Due de
Nevers. 2 Davila, lib. viii.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 63
des Seize secretly waited upon the duke during his
sojourn at Etampes to propose to him to seize the per
son of the king ; while they were ready to arrest the
members of Henry's council of state in the capital, and
the presidents of the parliament of Paris, precisely in
the way which was afterwards adopted. Louchard, the
principal envoy, then informed the duke that the brother
of the due d'Aumale was then in the capital, and waited
but his assent to declare himself the leader of the en
terprise. The due de Guise was too prudent openly to
lend his sanction to such premature projects, especially
when their conduct was to be committed to the discre
tion of so young a man as the chevalier d'Aumale, and
to a cabal of turbulent citizens. Although the due
d'Aumale was openly a zealous supporter of the League,
the due de Guise distrusted him ; his consort was that
fascinating Marie d'Elbceuf whose sprightly charms had
all but won the crown of France, and it was known that
she greatly disapproved of her husband's opposition to
his sovereign. The duchesse d'Aumale, moreover, was
suspected upon several occasions of having furnished to
the king those intelligences which had enabled him to
defeat the designs of the League. The due de Guise,
therefore, replied, " that the time was not yet come for
so overt a proceeding as that suggested by the Seize ;
he therefore desired to postpone the execution of their
proposed design, but thanked them for so notable an
evidence of their good- will." x Such was the encouraging
answer made by Guise to this treasonable proposition: the
intoxication of power must then indeed have bewildered
that mind once so chivalrous. The duke, however, de
luded himself with the subterfuge that all these rebel
lious plottings were not personally directed against the
sovereign, except in so far as they might serve to compel
1 Maimbourg : Hist, de la Ligue. Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire.
Davila, lib. viii.

64 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587 —
the king to proscribe heresy, and to recognise an ortho
dox successor. This achieved, the king's loyal sub
jects would afterwards unite in a hearty support of his
throne. The retreat of the king of Navarre into Beam pro
duced another outbreak of mutiny in the camp of the
confederates, despite the presence of the prince of Conty,
who had now joined their army. The Swiss levies,
exasperated at receiving no pay ; and pricked in their
consciences at the hostile attitude they had assumed
against the sovereign of France, in whose armies their
forefathers had gloriously fought, took the resolution of
sending deputies to Henry to explain the causes which
had induced their entrance into his kingdom. This
step once resolved upon, the disorganization and con
sequent disbandment of the confederate army became
merely an event of time. The Swiss deputies found
king Henry at Bonneval; he received them sternly,
and declared that he was about to send an ambassador
to the Cantons to complain of their illegal enrolment,
and to demand that exemplary chastisement might be
inflicted on every man concerned in this invasion of his
realm. The deputies were then dismissed and conducted
into the presence of the due de Nevers, who addressed
them in a long harangue, half menace, half persuasion.
The duke then once more led them before the king.
On one of the deputies observing that, in obeying the
summons of the king of Navarre, they had been induced
to believe that they were at the same time serving his
majesty's cause against the usurpations of certain of his
subjects, Henry stopped the speaker by wrathfully ob
serving, " Well ! you now see me alive, and know that
I am commanding in my army to oppose yours ; you
will therefore be inexcusable if you remain longer
amongst those whom I esteem my enemies. You have
nothing for it, therefore, but to decamp from my realm,

1,588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 65
according as M. de Nevers has proposed; else, be as
sured, I will avenge myself on every one of you, and
through the government even of your own Cantons."1
The Swiss, therefore, withdrew from the army of the
confederates, and, in reply to the clamorous reproaches
of Dhona and the allied chieftains, promised only not to
depart from the realm until they had previously com
municated with the king of Navarre. The efficiency
of the army was, nevertheless, destroyed ; divisions
ensued between the officers, while their troops gave
themselves over to the wildest excesses of rapine and
violence. The due de Guise attentively watched the
progress of this anarchy, and organized a second expe
dition like that at Vimory, in which he obtained a
signal victory over the enemy. On the 24th of Novem
ber Dhona established himself at Auneau, a small town
in the district of Beausse. The castle, however, re
sisted the attempts of the confederates for its capture ;
while the governor sent to advertise M. de Guise that
the garrison would sally out and support him if he
deemed it advisable to assail the place. The duke ac
cepted the suggestion, and at midnight the gate of the
town was opened to admit a detachment of French
infantry, while Guise advanced and enveloped the town
with a body of 3,000 cavalry. A desperate conflict
ensued, in which the enemy was driven out of Auneau
with great slaughter and the loss of the treasure and
baggage. Dhona fought his way inch by inch to the
gate of the town, and escaped being cut down by extra
ordinary good fortune. The fugitives, as they passed
the royal camp at Gien, were pursued by the due
d'Epernon, who slaughtered many; while such was the
panic, that a battalion of landsknechts 1,200 strong laid
1 Deputation des Suisses au Roi — De Thou, liv. lxxxvii. Journal
de Henri III. Pasquier, liv. xi.
VOL. III. F

66 henry; hi. king of france, [1587 —
down arms and surrendered to a party of twenty-
five of the royal arquebusiers.1 The rout of the Ger
mans was complete ; they lost 2,000 men, their treasure,
all that remained of their baggage, their horses and
mules of burden, and nine standards. Dhona, neverthe
less, being afterwards joined by the Swiss troops, who
deemed their honour compromised by this sudden
defeat, boldly drew up his army in battle array ; but as
no further molestation was offered, the allies, being dis
trustful of the fidelity of the Swiss, retreated to Chateau
Landon in the greatest confusion and disarray. The
due de Guise, meantime, sent la Chatre to the camp
of Gien to notify his victory of Auneau to the king,
and to lay at his majesty's feet the captured standards
of the enemy. Henry gave a cold reception to the
envoy, and omitted to present him with the customary
gratuity. The king could not fail to perceive how
greatly these triumphs over the confederated army
would augment the popularity of the due de Guise at
the expense of the royal prestige. Nevertheless, Henry,
from some unexplained cause, never himself attempted
to attack the enemy, though his army trebled in num
bers that of the due de Guise. His mania for nego
tiation, imbibed from the queen-mother, and his hatred
of action, caused Henry to neglect this opportunity of
rendering himself the equal of the due de Guise iu
mihtary renown.
Guise, meantime, arrived at the camp of .Gien to
pay his respects to his royal master. On his route the
duke took the opportunity of attacking the outposts
of the Germans, and dispersed several of their detach
ments. His supercilious scrutiny of the royal army, and
his popularity amongst the men, still further increased
the king's umbrage. Henry's displeasure reached the
1 Pasquier. Vie du Due d'Epernon— Giraud.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 67
climax of indignation when he heard of the exultant
reception which the intelligence of the conflict at
Auneau obtained in Paris. The pulpits resounded
with eulogiums on the gallant achievements at Vimory
and Auneau ; nor did several of the preachers scruple
to proclaim that while " Saul had killed his thousands,
David had slain his tens of thousands." Multitudes
nightly assembled beneath the windows of the hotel of
madame de Montpensier singing hymns in praise of
her brother ; and exalting his renown above that of the
most famous heroes of antiquity.
The king, therefore, resolved to arrest the exploits
of his rival by himself concluding a prompt accommo
dation with the chieftains of the Swiss and German
levies. To Epernon he intrusted this negotiation, as
the due de Nevers had fallen from his horse and frac
tured his thighbone below the suture of a severe wound
which he received atr-Moncontour. A long and dan
gerous illness ensued, as the duke's old wound opened
afresh ; he was, therefore, compelled to take leave of
the king and retire to his castle in the Rhetellois— an
illness which might so far be termed fortunate as it
prevented him from sharing in the frightful tragedies
of the ensuing year.
The king, therefore, of his own accord and will, de
spatched the sieur de Caumont to offer a free passage-
home to the German and Swiss levies — a pardon for
any subject of France who had joined in their invasion,
provided that such individuals conformed to the ortho
dox faith'; or to those who adhered to the reformed
tenets, a license to quit the realm in safety, after first
disposing of their lands and offices. The sole condition
imposed by the king was, that the army should relin
quish into the hands of his majesty's commissioner
their standards ; or that the chieftains should promise,
upon oath, never more to bear arms against the king
r 2

6S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587—
of France or the emperor Rodolph.1 This last stipula
tion was added because the emperor had caused his
displeasure to be notified to prince Casimir and other
of the Protestant chieftains of Germany, for having
permitted levies for the invasion of France to be made
within their respective dominions, and recommended
their recall. To give greater effect to these proposi
tions, the due d'Epernon pursued the unfortunate con
federates with a detachment of cavalry, and followed
them into the Pays de Morvent, a district between the
rivers Dheune and Saone, cutting off stragglers and
harassing their rear. This country was barren, and
famine soon prevailed in their camp ; the roads, more
over, were so impassable that frequently their cavalry
was compelled to ride in file. Under these circum
stances the confederates, after a brief parley, accepted
the stipulations sent them by the king, but preferred to
surrender their standards to giving their word to refrain
from making future war on the empire, or on the
realm of France. The treaty was concluded at Lency
in the Maconnais. The comte de Chatillon, however,
refused to be comprehended in the accommodation ; the
due de Bouillon retired to Geneva ; while the prince de
Conty succeeded in fighting his way through the county
of Maine, and eventually joined the king of Navarre.
The baron de Dhona and the other confederated chief
tains, Germans and Swiss, visited the due d'Epernon at
Marcigny le Nonnain to take leave. The duke enter
tained them at a magnificent banquet, the carousing
after which lasted several days.2 The army then set
forth again to meet with fresh perils, though declared
the " faithful and well-beloved of king Henry." The
due de Guise and the marquis de Pont pursued it
' De Thou, liv. lxxxvii. Davila. Pasquier. Dupleix. Aubigne"
2 Mezeray: Grande Histoire, Vie de Henri III. Bouchet: GeneaWie
de Coligni — La Retraite de M. de Chatillon.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 69
through Franche Comte, putting all to the sword ; the
soldiers of the League committing dreadful atrocities to
avenge, as they declared, the sack of the duchy of Lor
raine and the county of Beausse. The stipulation con
cluded by the king was regarded by Guise as null and
void; and soon his emissaries caused it to be bruited
that Epernon had negotiated the convention with the
confederates, whose extermination had been so happily
begun by Guise, on purpose that they might at a future
day enter France in support of Henri of Navarre. The
king, meantime, manifested the most apathetic indif
ference respecting the victories of Vimory and Auneau,
and the sentiments of the due de Guise ; he gave him
no thanks, nor proffered him reward. The duke, there
fore, in high dudgeon, retired to Nancy, where he had
convoked a second family conclave. From all the
Catholic princes of Europe, Guise, however, received the
most flattering ovations. Philip II. wrote him an
autograph letter, in which he lauded the duke's zeal,
orthodoxy, and prowess. The duke of Parma sent a
suit of armour exquisitely inlaid, having the words
"II n'appartient qu'a Henri de Lorraine de se dire
Chef de Guerre," engraven on the helmet — a eulogium
the more exalted from the high military repute of the
donor.1 Sixtus V. presented the due de Guise with a
consecrated sword. Catherine de Medici caused the
duke's already brimming cup of elation to overflow
hy the refinement of her adulation on the " high deeds
with which Christendom resounded."
Flattered by so many tributes to his valour and con
duct, the due de Guise not unnaturally wished to ob
tain some avowal and testimony of his royal master's
1 Journal de Henri III. There was also a report which greatly dis
quieted the king, that the due de Guise had paid a visit in disguise to
Rome, where he had remained three days, discovering himself to no one
but to the cardinal de Pellve".

70 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587—
approbation, the more especially as Henry had given
commands that a medal should be struck with his own
effigy, in honour " of the defeat of the reiters." The
decease of the due de Joyeuse left two posts of high
preferment vacant — the office of lord high admiral and
that of governor of Normandy. The governments of
Angouleme, Saintonge, and the Pays d'Aunis were,
moreover, vacant by the decease at Coutras of the only
son of the marechal de Bellegarde, one of Henry's
early favourites. The duke, however, asked nothing
for himself, but sent to pray his majesty to confer the
post of admiral on the comte de Brissac, who through
out the campaign against the reiters had acted as his
aide-de-camp. He also asked for governments for three
persons, his partisans. Henry at first seemed inclined
to grant the duke's prayer, and even entered into va
rious details and stipulations with Brissac. Suddenly,
however, without consulting Catherine or any member
of his council, the king bestowed at one time all these
posts on the due d'Epernon, who thus, besides his
palace appointments, beheld himself high admiral,
colonel-general of infantry, governor of Provence, Nor
mandy, Saintonge, Pays d'Aunis, and Angouleme ! It
is difficult to imagine an infatuation so dense as that
which seems at the most critical periods of his reign to
have deluded the unhappy prince. The due d'Epernon,
nevertheless, showed as little prudence in submitting to
be thus invested with the highest offices in the realm,
the varied duties of which he could not discharge even
had his services or his hereditary rank given him the
semblance of a claim to a monopoly so flagrant.
Henry, meanwhile, relieved from the monotony of a
camp life, advanced with his army to within a few
leagues of Paris, where he arrived December 23rd, 1587.
The most magnificent entry into his capital, from

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 71
whence he had so ignominiously departed, awaited
Henry by the intervention of queen Catherine, who
frequently speculated advantageously on her son's foible
for pompous display. The two queens and the duchesse
d'Epernon proceeded as far as Lagny to meet his ma
jesty, whose health had greatly improved under the
discipline of a camp life. At the gates of the capital
Henry was received by the parliament, the municipality,
and the foreign ambassadors. His reception was enthu
siastic, and once more the royal ears drank in the wel
come sounds of applause from the mutinous citizens of
Paris. " On lui a crie, Noel ! jamais roi ne fut plus
cheri!" ironically wrote Pasquier.1 Henry proceeded
to the Louvre, where his first care was to order the due
solemnization of the obsequies of the due de Joyeuse.
This ceremony took place in the church of the Augus
tinians with the utmost splendour, and with the appa-
reil appertaining to a prince of royal blood. Madame
de Joyeuse caused daily services to be performed in the
church of the Franciscan monastery during the re
mainder of the month, at which she assisted in state,
clad in mourning robes, and attended by the princess
Christine of Lorraine, grand-daughter of queen Cathe
rine, and by the duchesses de Montpensier and Ne
mours.2 The cardinal de Bourbon manifested the most
vehement grief; he wept over the bier of Joyeuse, and
loudly expressed the desire " that his miserable nephew
Henri de Navarre reposed beneath the pall, rather than
that most gallant champion of orthodoxy Joyeuse !"
When the words of the witless old prelate were re
peated to the king, Henry shrugged his shoulders
1 Lettres de Pasquier, tome ii.
2 L'Ordre que fut tenu au Service Quarantin que fait Madame de
Joyeuse en l'Eglise et Monastere des Cordeliers de Paris. MSS. Bibl.
Imp.— Dupuy, 324, fol. 207.

72 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [158J—
and exclaimed, " A speech worthy of that poor drivelling
simpleton I"1 During the invasion of the German
reiters, the cardinal de Bourbon, forgotten for the
moment as a political personage, had returned to the
tranquil round of his ecclesiastical duties, diversified by
the friendly interchange of visits with the queen-
mother, to whom he was sincerely attached. The
cardinal used to acknowledge that one of his highest
recreations was to discourse of past events and person
ages with Catherine. The reminiscences of these two
colleagues and actors in the most momentous events
of the sixteenth century must have indeed possessed
surpassing interest.
Henry kept the festival of Christmas with great so
lemnity. On New Year's day he held a chapter of
knights of St. Esprit, which was followed by a sump
tuous banquet and revel. The popularity of the king
proved of very brief duration, the immediate cause of
fresh agitation being threefold — first, the partial retire
ment of queen Catherine de Medici from the councils
of her son ; secondly, the threat which the king was
heard on more than one occasion to utter relative to
the castigation which he had still in reserve for his lieges
of Paris ; and thirdly, the arrogant conduct of Epernon,
and his quarrel with the two most influential members
of the council, Villeroy and the archbishop of Lyons.
Ever since the partial revolt of the governor of Lyons,
Mandelot, the most unsparing warfare existed between
Epernon and Villeroy, whose conduct on that occasion,
in preferring the interests of his son to the prosperity of
his sovereign, Epernon pronounced scandalous and trea
sonable. Thus having a grievance fraught with mutual
vituperation, it required little additional excitement to
bring matters to a condition of open warfare between
1 Journal de Henri III.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 73
the astute secretary and the favourite. During one of
the last councils which Henry held at St. Aignan before
his return to the Louvre, Villeroy advised the king to
devote a surplus sum of money arising from the sale of
some of the dower lands of the late queen of Scots,
situated in Poitou, to enable the provost of Paris to
raise a military band for the better defence of the
capital. Epernon violently opposed the measure,
doubtless believing that the king could apply his money
more advantageously than by giving it into the hands
of personages whose liaison with the princes of" Lorraine
was notorious. Villeroy persisted ; when Epernon rose
in a furious rage and accused the secretary of embezzling
and perverting the royal finances, and even so far forgot
himself as to call Villeroy "a scoundrel who deserved
to be driven from office by the spurs of his majesty's
guards." Villeroy was leaning on the back of the
chair in which Henry sat. The king hastily rose, and,
confronting his. secretary, commanded him not to reply ;
he then gave the same command to Epernon, and broke
up the council.' The outrageous and unfounded words
of Epernon rankled in the mind of Villeroy, who could
obtain no redress ; and after Henry's safe return to
Paris, he gave himself entirely over to the faction of
the Guisards, who made the downfall of the favourite
one of the clauses of their charter. A similar act of
inexcusable folly alienated the archbishop of Lyons — a
scene which occurred during Henry's Christmas festi
vities after his return from the camp. Espinac, who
was a busy and eloquent churchman, of acute ability
but depraved life, was one day discoursing in the court
circle upon the claims of the king of Navarre to the
succession. The archbishop ended by declaring that
the Bearnnois was unworthy in every respect to aspire
1 Mem. de Villeroy. Journal de Henri III.

74 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [t58/ —
to so exalted a dignity. The due d'Epernon rudely
contradicted the assertion : " And pray inform me,
monseigneur," said he, " if such is the case, how a pre
late who is accused, like yourself, of incest, one who has
also been convicted of simony, of debauchery, and ex
cessive prodigality, can dare to retain the purple?"
Espinac retorted in terms if possible of more gross
vituperation ; but the king, as usual, laughed, and with
his accustomed inconsequence declined to interfere.1
But Epernon soon found to his cost that he had pro
voked the" attack of a swarm of hornets in assailing the
witty and irascible prelate. Libels, pasquinades, and
caricatures hemmed in the duke wherever he turned.
Words acrid as wormwood fell from the pen of the pre
late in his pitiless dissection of the faults and foibles of
the duke. The worst, however, was that the king came
in for a share of these aspersions ; and of such malig
nity were they, that, says a writer, " the Furies must
have inspired the pen and lighted the inditer with their
lurid torch." Henry and his minion were again likened
to Gaveston and Edward II. king of England, and
parallels innumerable were collected, all tending- to the
overwhelming discredit of the parties satirized. The
fiery and indomitable spirit of the archbishop of Lyons
greatly delighted madame de Montpensier, and an inti
mate alliance was forthwith cemented between this tur
bulent pair.
The news of the decease of the prince of Conde, com
bined with the suspicious circumstances connected with
his death, served for a few days to divert public atten
tion from the broils of the Louvre, wliich Espinac pro
nounced the " most disreputable abode in Paris." On
Thursday, the 3rd of March, 1588, at St. Jean, the
1 De Thou, liv. xc. " Jusqu'k ce moment Espinac n' avoit para prendre
aucun part decisif. II se declara alors pour la Ligue. On croit qu'il
engagea le due de Guise a preeipiter 1' execution de ses projets."

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 75
prince was suddenly seized with colic and convulsions,
about an hour and a half after supper. The most
violent agony followed, the unfortunate prince crying
aloud for relief and even death to ease him from his
torments. He continued in the same condition until
Saturday, when insensibility supervened, and during the
afternoon he expired.1 The symptoms were those of
poison of the most virulent description, a suspicion ren
dered a matter of certainty by the post mortem exami
nation of the body. A fugitive page named Belcastel
was implicated ; also Brillaud, a favourite equerry in
the service of Conde, who was arrested on the charge of
having furnished horses on the evening of the prince's
demise for the evasion of Belcastel and of two servants
supposed also to be concerned in the crime. Brillaud
being put to the torture, his revelations were followed
by the arrest of the princess de Conde, Charlotte de la
Tremouille, whose marriage with the prince had only
been solemnized during the spring of 1586. The motive
which, it was alleged, had induced the wife of Conde
to perpetrate this foul assassination was, that being
guilty of a criminal intrigue with the king of Navarre,
the princess, finding herself three months advanced in
pregnancy, poisoned her husband to avoid the disgrace
and penalty of exposure. The page Belcastel was de
clared by others to have been the object of the aban
doned inclinations of the princess.2 In this century
crimes were so commonly perpetrated by the highest
personages, that even the atrocious accusation levelled
against madame de Conde occupies a subordinate rank
in the ghastly catalogue ; nevertheless, antecedent cir-
1 All the details of this death and subsequent prosecution are to be
found, MSS. de Be'thune Bibl. Imp., vol. clxxxvi.
2 MS. de Brienne, Bibl. Imp., tome clxxxvi. Archives Curieuses,
ler seYie. Hist, du Mare'chal de Matignon, liv. ii. Me"rn. de la Ligue,
tome ii. p. 304.

76 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587 —
cumstances attest strongly in favour of the innocence of
the princess. The union of Conde with mademoiselle
de la Tremouille had been on both sides what is com
monly termed a "love match." The marriage was
strongly opposed by the duchesse de la Tremouille,
whose liberal politics were not conciliated by the fact
that it was a prince of the blood who made suit for the
hand of her daughter. For long, therefore, mademoi
selle de la Tremouille was interdicted by her mother aiid
brother from holding communication with Conde, and
was detained in a kind of captivity in her brother's
strong fort of Taillebourg. On the breaking out of the
war after the treaty of Nemours, mademoiselle de la
Tremouille sent Conde secret intelligence which re
sulted in the capture of her brother's stronghold of
Taillebourg ; and this triumph, combined with the
honour of becoming brother-in-law to a prince of the
blood, induced the due de la Tremouille on reflection
to abandon the interests of the League, and unite with
the king of Navarre in resisting the edict of Nemours,
which had been dictated alone by the princes of Guise.
The marriage between Conde and mademoiselle de la
Tremouille was solemnized on the return of Conde from
England in 1586; and from that time the princess had
resided at St. Jean d'Angely, still apparently retain
ing all her enthusiasm and affection for her gallant
husband.1 These facts, however, did not alter the decision of
the judges appointed to investigate the crime. They
condemned the page Belcastel and Brillaud to be torn
in pieces by horses, and their remains consumed by
fire ; and the princess de Conde to be put to the torture
preparatory to the infliction of the capital punishment
of decapitation. The princess pleaded her pregnancy,
1 De Thou : Hist, de son Temps.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 77
and appealed to the parliament of Paris and to the
council of state. Her first plea being admitted, the
sentence was suspended, and she was incarcerated in a
small chamber of the citadel of St. Jean d'Angely, ac
cess to her presence being granted only to two ladies,
mesdames de Brisembourg and Ste. Mesme, who were
likewise appointed to be present, and to attest the ac
couchement of the princess. Madame de Conde entered
her prison chamber on the eleventh day of July, and on
the first day of the month of September following she
gave birth to a prince. The birth of this son saved
the life of the princess; the judges of the criminal.
court of St. Jean d'Angely respected the mother of
Conde. Still the princess did not regain her liberty,
though her little daughter Eleanore was restored to her,
and she was permitted to associate with the ladies of
her household as usual. For seven dreary years the
princess remained at St. Jean ; her ignominious and,
to all appearance, unjust sentence suspended over her
head. When Henri IV. had established his right to
the throne of France, the princess de Conde petitioned
for the abrogation of her sentence ; the depositions
were examined by commissioners appointed by the par
liament of Paris, who pronounced them untenable, and
annulled the sentence, and commanded all the docu
ments connected with the cause to be burned.1
The premature decease of the valiant and conscien
tious Conde produced immense sensation throughout
France. The king of Navarre wept, and exclaimed,
" that he had lost his right arm." The due de Guise
sincerely mourned the catastrophe, or at least appeared
to do so, he having been intimately associated with the
prince during the earlier years of his life. Moreover,
the death of Conde by poison suggested stirring and
1 Archives Curieuses, ler serie; edited by Messrs. Danjou and
Cimber.

78 HENRY III. KTNG OF FRANCE, [1587 —
not very pleasant reflections for the chief of the League,
a subject, and not of the blood royal. As for the king,
he was too much occupied with the cabals of the
capital and the task of satisfying his favourites, to have
leisure to think even of his personal pleasures. The
state of public feeling seemed daily growing more hos
tile; nothing that his majesty did, in the opinion of
his subjects of Paris, proceeded from righteous and
legitimate motives ; while every public act of merit,
grace, or valour was due to the Guises. It was a
fixed idea with the Parisian people that Henry, with
Epernon, intrigued, bribed, and caballed to sup
port the claims of the king of Navarre; and that in
league with the latter his majesty meditated some ter
rible retaliation on his orthodox capital.
Meanwhile, whilst Henry vacillated — one day a saint,
the next a despot or a voluptuary, the second scene of the
great drama of the League was being enacted at Nancy,
the capital of the duchy of Lorraine. The members of
the conclave there convened by Guise were the dues de
Lorraine, Mayenne, Aumale, Elbceuf, Mercoeur, and the
marquis de Pont. Fresh resolutions were embodied,
the most audacious ever presented by subjects to sove
reign. The great war of extermination upon which
they had entered languished ; the defeat of Coutras, the
hostile attitude of Montmorency, and the overthrow of
the army of Germans, had brought the campaign, as it
were, to a conclusion. The king,, glad of a reprieve,
spent his time in paltry and querulous negotiations with
individuals, and seemed well inclined to allow the
treaty 'of Nemours to remain a mere form. Accord
ingly, the following articles and demands were drawn
up for presentation to the king, and signed by the
princes of Lorraine during the month of January, 1588 :
— " That king Henry should be challenged to give open
countenance to the holy and orthodox League- that

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 79
his majesty should be required to remove from all
charges and offices the enemies of the commonwealth
and the supporters of heresy, the which personages will
be named at a convenient opportunity. That he shall
accept the holy canons of Trent, and cause such to be
generally recognised throughout the realm. That
Chambers of Inquisition be established in every large
and populous town throughout France, and that the
ecclesiastics selected as judges in those courts shall be
foreigners. That the clergy may be authorized to re
deem all church lands alienated or confiscated, on paying
the value to the present occupiers. His majesty, more
over, was required to cede a certain number of towns
to the League, and grant permission for the construc
tion therein of citadels. That a decree shall be pro
mulgated commanding the sale by auction of lands and
tenements appertaining to heretics ; moreover, that all
persons suspected from the year 1560 of favouring
heresy, though they might not have gone the length of
apostatizing, shall contribute a third of their revenues
for the support of the war. That the king's orthodox
subjects shall be mulcted only to the limit of a tenth
of their revenue until the happy proscription of heresy.
Finally, that his majesty shall maintain an army on,
the frontiers of Lorraine to repulse any future invasion
of reiters." 1
These infamous articles the due de Guise sent to the
king, so low had reverence for the royal authority
fallen. Henry, thereupon, commenced a cavilling cor
respondence with the due de Guise, which lasted for
several months, on the names of the personages whom
the latter thought fit to designate " as enemies of the
commonwealth and the faith !" and, as' if to repel the
injurious doubt that perchance Epernon might be classed
1 Les Articles . dresses par la Ligue de Nanci en 1588, et rejettes
par le Roi Henri IIL— Bibl. Imp. MSS.de Gaignieres, 788.

80 HENRV" III. KING OF FRANCE, [1^87—
in that category, his majesty despatched the duke to
take the oaths of high-admiral before the chambers.
Epernon was presented by an eloquent advocate of the
name of Marion, who, in his harangue, lauded the duke,
whom he termed a bulwark of the faith, sent as the
antidote to repair the evils perpetrated by the late
amiral de Coligny. Marion concluded his oration by
a piece of fulsome adulation to the king, whom he
termed " le saint des saints."
On quitting Nancy the due de Guise proceeded to
Soissons to support his cousin the due d'Aumale in
Picardy in case the king should return a negative to
the request made by Aumale that his majesty would be
pleased to institute him as lieutenant over that pro
vince, the government of which he had held only as
the locum tenens of the prince of Conde. Henry re
turned an ungracious refusal, and actually gave the
government to Epernon, making the fourth command
which he had bestowed on his favourite within the
space of three months. The clamour, however, became
so great at this nomination that the due d'Epernon in
a few days prudently resigned the office, which Henry
then bestowed, as he had promised, on the due de
Nevers. As the illness of the latter precluded him
from service, the due d'Aumale continued temporarily
in supreme command over the province — a convenient
mode of adjusting the difficulty, but one infinitely sub
versive of the royal power of veto.
In Paris the fury of the Leaguers, after the publica
tion of the articles of Nancy, demonstrated itself in all
manner of plots and tumults. A second conspiracy
was organized to seize the person of the king and com
pel him to sign the above articles during the revels of
the carnival, whic.h was again betrayed by Nicholas
Poulain, who outwardly demonstrated the fiercest
hatred for the court. This zeal secured his life in his

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 81
perilous calling of informer; for the Seize, in their
blind animosity, cared not to scrutinize too closely the
motives of such demonstration. The cause, meantime,
had received a great accession of strength by the arrival
of eight able and prudent officers from the camp of the
due de Guise, in deference to the earnest request of
Cruce and other leaders of the Seize ; who lived in con
stant apprehension that the long-suffering of the king
might at length be exhausted, and that he would avenge
their repeated and malignant cabals. Had Henry been
left to the guidance of Epernon, all the members of the
Seize would soon have been lodged in the dungeons of
the Chatelet ; but it suited the tone of the king's mind
to believe those counsellors who persisted in asserting
that their intrigues were exaggerated, and that the
peril was not so great as represented. Villequier, more
over, threw discredit on the reality of the plots said to
he in agitation by the League ; while Catherine main
tained that no danger existed, and that, provided her
son enforced the clauses of the treaty of Nemours, the
due de Guise was his humble and devoted servant.
" You have only, monsieur, the testimony of this Pou
lain, who may have purposes of his own to serve by the
invention of these terrible conspiracies; had not you
pledged your royal word, it would be well to denounce
him to those whom he maligns." So hard was it for
Catherine to believe that the due de Guise harboured
designs hostile to her offspring. Iu the month of
April, the League numbered 20,000 men in Paris alone ;
the chieftains, therefore, believed it time to act, and to
secure themselves from the vengeance of their outraged
sovereign. A conspiracy was again concocted to seize
the Louvre on the 21st day of April, 1588, to massacre
the royal guards and the due d'Epernon, to proclaim
the regency of the queen-mother, and to invite the due
de Guise immediately to the capital, under the title of
vol. 111. G

83 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [i587—
lieutenant-governor of the realm. No sooner had the
mind of Poulain grasped all the details of the plot than
he hastened to the palace, and under the pretext of
soliciting the king, relative to a petition which with
great wiliness he had presented the day hefore at
Henry's public audience, he requested to be admitted
into the royal presence. He was not then suffered to
see the king ; but M. d'O and Pierre Paul Tosinghi, a
new counsellor introduced by Epernon, in whom Henry
reposed much confidence, were empowered to receive
Poulain's communication.1 The Louvre, therefore, was
placed in a state of defence ; and during the following
day Henry caused large quantities of arms, cuirasses,
and gunpowder to be publicly transported from the
arsenal to the palace ; while the gates of the town were
secured, and messengers held in readiness to communi
cate with the Swiss guards encamped in the vicinity of
the capital. His majesty, moreover, departed early on
the morning of the 21st from the Louvre for St. Ger
main. Previously, he admitted Poulain to an interview
in the presence of Epernon, d'O, Tosinghi, and the
comte de Guiche. His majesty subjected Poulain to a
'severe cross-examination, but failed to induce him to
falter in a single assertion.2 The king, before his de
parture, sent to the duchesse de Montpensier an order
to quit the capital, as he was well informed of her
treasonable and factious proceedings. The duchess
ridiculed the mandate, and insolently returned for an
swer that, far from being his majesty's opponent, as he
erroneously imagined, she was exerting her best ability
to obtain for him the third crown which appeared in
the royal device.3 The due de Guise, meantime, atten-
1 Proces Verbal du nomme Nicholas Poulain, Lieutenant de la
Prevaste- de ITsle de France. Davila : Journal de Henri III.
3 Ibid.
3 Henry's device was three crowns— two of which were represented as

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 83
tive to the events in the capital, advanced to Gonisse,
and announced his resolve to enter the capital and
justify himself in the opinion of his king and sovereign,
particularly relative to the alleged enterprise of the
21st of April ; and to aid his majesty in putting down
the treasonable plots said to be concocted for the
seizure of the royal person. At the same time madame
de Montpensier went to Catherine, and requested her
assent to the arrival of the duke. The queen declined
to give this permission ; for the condition of affairs, and
the menaces of her son, began seriously to rouse her
apprehension. There is no doubt, however, that the
good wishes and tacit approval of Catherine were given
to the due de Guise. Her majesty hated Epernon and
abhorred the king of Navarre ; she deprecated the mis-
government of her son the king, and the lavish prodi
galities which impoverished the realm, and would gladly
have seen the existing government annihilated. In her
old age Catherine was growing devout, and real zeal for
religion mingled with her grievances and her designs
to secure the throne for her grandson. The agitation,
therefore, that was likely to obviate these evils could
not be displeasing to her majesty. There was, how
ever, a wide difference in the result contemplated by
Catherine and by the due de Guise : the queen meant
a coercion which would place the government more ab
solutely at her disposal, to be followed by the nomina
tion of an orthodox successor to the throne ; Guise in
tended a skilful and daring appropriation, in due time,
of the diadem.
The rumour of the duke's intended visit to the
capital renewed Henry's panics. He returned to Paris,
after taking a tender farewell of the due d'Epernon,
being on earth, the third was suspended from an azure cloud — to signify
that his majesty already held two crowns, those of France and Poland ;
while the third, the heavenly crown, was still in reserve for him.
G2

84 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587—
who was proceeding to his government of Normandy,
and despatched M. de Bellievre to Soissons for the
express purpose of requesting the duke to abstain from
visiting the court. He desired his envoy to say to
Guise that his majesty had never doubted his loyalty,
and discredited the reports current to his disadvantage.1
Bellievre was also to inform the duke that M. d'Eper
non had departed to take possession of his new govern
ment of Normandy. Catherine, however, had a word
to say to the envoy before he departed. Though
she had refused directly to grant the request of the
duchesse de Montpensier, she yet made it so apparent
to Bellievre that she desired the presence of Guise in
Paris, during the absence of Epernon, that the former
departed on his mission with the intention of neutral
izing, by his significant manner and gestures, the words
which the command of his sovereign compeUed him to '
pronounce. The due de Guise replied, "that his ma
jesty's message was an implied reproof which deeply
wounded his honour ; nevertheless, he would obey
provided the king promised that no harm or damage
should happen to the loyal citizens of Paris, whose
lives had been endangered by the aspersions of the
king's counsellors and by their zeal for their faith."2
Bellievre promised to do all in his power to obtain
such guarantees, and took leave of the duke, enga°-in<*
to write or to return to Soissons within the space of
three days. During the conference a messenger ar
rived from the Seize, bringing alarming reports of the
hostile disposition evinced by the king, who, it was
reported, intended to seize the ten principal leaders of
the League, including the president de Neuilly, Cruce,
1 Chronologie Novennaire, tome i. Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III.
liv. viii. Amplifications des Particukrites qui se passerent a Paris
.lorsque M. de Guise s'en empara, et que le Roi en sortit. Mem. de la
Ligue, p. 318 ; edit, de I'Abbe' Goujat. Davila, lib. ix. et seq.

1.588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 85
and the cure Boucher, and hang them summarily from
the battlements of the Louvre. The duke was therefore
emphatically admonished and implored to appear in
Paris, when such enterprises must be relinquished.
From his sister, madame de Montpensier, the duke
likewise received urgent solicitations ; and probably
the secret assurance of Catherine's support, did he
venture on the bold deed of disregarding the com
mands of his sovereign and repairing to Paris. It
has been a subject of much controversy, whether the
due de Guise on deciding upon this latter step, con
templated or had actually taken measures to bring-
about, at this particular period, the revolution which
ensued ; or whether he was not himself surprised at
the vastness of the consequences resulting therefrom.
The probabilities are, that Guise went to Paris animated
by the design of seizing supreme authority with the aid
of the queen-mother, intending to enforce the articles
of Nancy, and to compel the king to proclaim him
lieutenant-general of the realm, with the powers pos
sessed by his father during the reign of Francis II.
Confident in his popularity and oblivious of the temper
of his sovereign — who was capable of avenging himself,
either by the most remorseless treachery, or by an act
of abject humiliation, such as might awaken a senti
ment of compassion and perhaps of returning loyalty —
the duke committed the error of repairing to Paris, un
accompanied by a cortege sufficiently imposing to in
sure his own safety if menaced, or powerful enough
to restrain the imprudent enthusiasm of his adherents.
Nevertheless, though Guise was, as it were, betrayed
into his eventual triumph, he knew how to profit by
it : summoning to his aid his natural endowments of
decision and daring sagacity, and possessing those im
portant adjuncts to popular success — a handsome per
son, courtly grace of manner, and fluent eloquence, he

86 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l587 —
firmly grasped the position which, despite his denials,
had been the aim of his career since the year 1586.
Bellievre, meantime, had reported the conditions of the
duke's obedience to his majesty, who promptly acceded.
Important financial negotiations relative to the pay of
the Swiss troops1 being then pending, the king desired
Bellievre to despatch a courier to the duke, instead of
himself repairing again to Soissons. The packet was
intrusted to a courier, who, upon demanding twenty-
five crowns to defray the costs of his journey, met with
a flat refusal from the clerk of the treasury, acting, it
is believed, on a suggestion from the queen-mother.
The courier, therefore, sent the despatch by the or
dinary post, which in those days was not renowned
for celerity. A second communication was also thus
forwarded to its destination. The king, moreover, to
obviate any possible mistake, despatched the comte de
Guiche and Benoise, his private secretary, to interdict
again the duke's approach.
The mode in which Bellievre's despatch was trans
mitted signified little, except that it enabled the duke
positively to assert that he had never received the
mandate ; for at midnight on the very day the envoy
returned to Paris Guise precipitately quitted Soissons
for Mortrives, at which place he arrived at eight
o'clock in the morning of Monday, May 9th. He
then entered St. Denis, where he dined and baited
the horses belonging to the escort of eight persons
which attended him. The duke then fearlessly tra
versed the camp of the Swiss troops, and entered Paris2
1 The Swiss were encamped at St. Denis, and threatened to mutiny
if the arrears of their pay were not forthcoming.
* " Le due, " says Mathieu, "qui avait l'ame atteite d'une cuisanto
fievre, ne trouve l'appetit ni plaisir qu'en propre gout. II veut voire le
Louvre ou mourir par les chemins : il monte a cheval avec huit gentils-
hommes sur les neuf heures du soir, laisse le cardinal son frere et le

I588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 87
by the Porte St. Martin at midday. He rode enveloped
in a huge cloak, hiding his face in its folds until he
reached the Rue St. Denis, when he cast the mantle
from him and boldly showed himself. His destination
was the palace of queen Catherine, the hotel de Soissons.
The queen, on this eventful Monday, was reposing on
a couch, upon which she now spent the greater part of
the day, on account of her increasing infirmities. She
was attended by the duchesse de Montpensier, now
publicly called by the king madame la Boiteuse, and
by the duchesse d'Usez, whose wit greatly enlivened
her majesty's solitude. At the window of the saloon,
which looked into the street, stood Catherine's favourite
dwarf Majosky, who was entertaining his mistress by
jests and gibes at the expense of the people passing.
Suddenly Majosky called1 out that M. de Guise was
alighting from his horse at the portal of the palace.
Catherine reprimanded the dwarf for lying, and
threatened to send for the governor of the jesters
to administer a sound whipping. Majosky, neverthe
less, nothing daunted, again screamed out that M. de
Guise was now entering the hotel, a fact which the
confusion and vivas without confirmed.1 Catherine
rose from the couch, pale and terrified. Presently
the duke entered, and bowing obsequiously kissed her
majesty's hand. For a second the words faltered on
the lips of Catherine. At length she faintly bade the
duke welcome; "though, monseigneur, the pleasure
would have been tenfold more vivid at any other
period than this ; also, had you obeyed the command
of your sovereign !" " The queen," says de Thou, "re
ceived the duke with perfect amity." A conference
prince de JoinviUe son fils h, Soissons, et prie l'archeveque de Lyons de
le suivre le lendemain matin." — Liv. viii.
1 Histoire de la Journe'e des Barricades— MS, Recueil de Moisy Bibl
Imp.

88 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587 —
then ensued ; the queen first despatching Luigi Davila,
her gentleman usher, to summon the comte de Guiche,
whom she desired to charge with the errand of im
parting to the king the arrival of the duke, and to
invite his majesty to repair to the hotel de Soissons.
The news reached the Louvre before the arrival of
Catherine's messenger ; the streets of Paris swarmed
already with multitudes of eager inquirers, and shouts
of " Vive Guise !" " Vive le Pilier de l'Eglise !"
reached the cabinet in which Henry was at the time
holding council with Villequier, d'Ornano,1 and Che
verny. The king was at first greatly overpowered, and
leaning on the table, covered his face with his hands;
it was a terrible defiance and contempt, the very security
which had induced the due de Guise to venture un
attended into the capital of the monarch whom he had
so repeatedly braved. " M. de Guise, you perceive, has
ventured to defy my commands. If you were in my
position, what course should you adopt ?" at length
asked his majesty. " Sire !" rejoined the comte
d'Ornano, " do you esteem the duke your friend or your
foe ?" Henry replied by an expressive gesture. " If
your majesty will issue the command, I will bring you
the head of the due de Guise, or secure his person."
" Merci ! mon ami !" said Henry ; " I trust to provide
other means." Henry then rose, his eyes sparkling, and
his face suffused with fury. At this moment the comte
de Guiche, Bellievre, and the abbe d'Elbene entered
the apartment, the latter being the bosom friend of the
due d'Epernon. The comte de Guiche delivered the
message with which he had been charged by the queen.
The king uttered a passionate negative to the proposal
that he should repair to the hotel de Soissons, and de
manded how the count presumed to mention such a
1 Alphonse d'Ornano, son of Sampietro Omano, a famous Corsican
adventurer. Ornano died in 1610, at the age of sixty-two years.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 89
proposition. Guiche replied that her majesty the
queen-mother only waited his royal commands; and
wished to know whether she should therefore bring the
duke to the Louvre.1 Henry paused irresolute; the
abbe d'Elbene and Ornano, detecting the fierce impulse
which actuated the king's mind, approached, and boldly
advised his majesty to receive the duke in that very
cabinet, and cause him to be assassinated on the spot,
as the just retribution for his rebellion and disobe
dience. " Sire !" exclaimed the abbe d'Elbene, " Per-*
cutiam pastorem et dispergentur oves !" The counsel
seemed pleasing to the king, who thereupon fell into a
fit of musing. A few minutes thus elapsed, when
Henry approached the window of the apartment which
opened on the gardens of the Louvre, and throwing it
back, he leaned out and said, addressing Villequier and
the comte de Guiche, " Go, return to the queen my
mother, and say that, as her majesty .will condescend to
take the trouble of conducting hither M. de Guise, that
I pray her to repair with him to the chamber of the
queen my wife." The count was further instructed to
desire the queen to defer the duke's arrival at the
Louvre as long as possible. Henry next despatched
1 Another relation is as follows : — " Un domestique de Villeroy
soudain lui dit a 1'oreille, ' M. de Guise est arrive" : je l'ai vu descendre
chez la reyne mere. Villeroy se leve, et va au Louvre ; trouve le roy
dans son cabinet, qui n'en scavoit rien, et n' avoit lors aupres de lui que
le sieur du Halde, l'un de ses premiers valets-de-chambre. Et voyant
arriver le sieur de Villeroy a heure indue, comme tout estonne" lui
demande, ' Qu'y a't il, M. de Villeroy ? Sortez, du Halde !' ' Sire,' dit
Villeroy, ' M. de Guise est arrive" ; j'ai eru qu'il estoit important au
service de votre majeste" de Ten advertir.' 'II est arrive1?' dit le roy,
' comment le savez vous V ' Un gentilhomme de mes amis me l'a dit, et
l'avoir vu mettre pied a terre chez la reyne votre mere.' ' II est venu !'
dit encore le roy ; puis contre sa coutume jura, disant. ' Par la mort
Dieu ! il en mourra ! Oil est loge" le colonel Alphonse ? (Ornano).' ' En
la Rue St. Honore",' dit le sieur de Villeroy. ' Envoyez le querir,' dit
le roy, ' et qu'on lui dit qu'il s'en vienne soudain parler a moi !' " — Re
lation de la Mort de MM. de Guise.

90 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^1587 —
d'Elbene to summon to his presence Lognac, captain of
the formidable Quarante-cinq, with five of his men.
When they entered the presence, his majesty abruptly
asked them, " whether they would obey implicitly what
ever command he might give them ?" They replied,
" Yea, sire, to the letter, and without scruple !" Henry
then desired Lognac to post himself in a closet in the
apartment used as a place for private audiences, next to
the bed-ehamber of queen Louise. The king then
ordered his body-guard to draw up in the hall of the
Louvre as on occasions of ceremony, while Crillon
ranged the Swiss guards, consisting of 200 picked
soldiers, in lines extending from the portal of the
palace to the gate of the drawbridge.1 During these
preparations, which the king made without reference to
the counsellors present, Henry never once mentioned
the name of the duke. At length Bellievre and Ville
quier humbly represented, "that it was not reasonable
to suppose that M. de Guise, if actuated by hostile in
tentions, would have intruded into Paris ; and that
doubtless the result of his visit would be agreeable to
his majesty, and beneficial to his affairs. Finally, they
besought the king to moderate his indignation ; for the
death of Guise would excite a commotion most dan
gerous, as the. forces of the League in Paris were now
too formidable to be thus provoked." On hearing such
language from his minister Villequier, who had lately
bragged of the loyal condition of the capital, and main
tained that no real disaffection existed, an angry retort
burst from the royal lips ; and with withering sarcasm
of tone the king again commanded Villequier to proceed
to the palace of the queen-mother and bid M. de Guise
welcome in his name, and announce that he waited to
1 Mathieu, liv. viii. Da.vila, liv.. ix. Amplifications des Particu-
larites que se passe rent a Paris. Mai, 1588. Archives Curieuses,' ler
serie. MSS. Bibl. Imp. — Dupuy, 661, 662.

I588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 91
receive his homage. Henry then opened the door of
his cabinet, and said to the usher-in-waiting, " Descend
and note who arrives with M. de Guise. He must
enter the queen's chamber alone, as her majesty finds
herself indisposed, and has not left her bed." It was to
ensure the isolation of the duke that Henry had com
manded his reception in the chamber of his sick wife ;
for queen Louise was then recovering from a slight
attack of a malady which ultimately terminated in
dropsy. The vivid nature of Henry's fury when roused
may be appreciated, when he could thus plan the re
morseless assassination of a prince, the near kinsman of
his consort, at the very foot of her bed.
Queen Catherine and the due de Guise at length set
forth for the Louvre. The queen was borne in an open
sedan, followed by a second conveying the princess
Christine of Lorraine and madame d'Usez. The duke
walked by the side of her majesty's chair, erect, bare
headed, with a smile on his lips, as with princely
courtesy of manner he acknowledged the plaudits of the
citizens. The streets were crowded with people, who,
with joy almost delirious in its manifestations, hailed
the presence of the great duke as a deliverer from un
defined perils. They cried, " Vive Guise !" and
pressed around the duke, some saluting him, some kiss
ing the hem of his robe, some touching him with their
rosaries, all blessing his advent. Young girls, as he passed
along, scattered flowers on his path; the fairest and most
noble ladies waved their handkerchiefs, and wished him
God speed. In the Rue St. Honore a young girl, Louise
de l'Hopital de Vitry,1 stood prominently forward,
and, taking off her mask as the cortege approached,
waved it, exclaiming, " Gracious prince, as thou art now
here we can have nothing to dread." The features of
1 D'Aubigne" : Hist. Universelle. Satyre Menippe"e, tome ii. p. 86.

92 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587 —
tLe duke expressed the emotion he felt at this recep
tion ; he waved his hat, and a vivid colour rose to his
face. The sedan of the queen meantime moved slowly
along, the hand of the duke resting on its door. Ca
therine sat looking grave, but making no demonstra
tion whatever ; it was, however, observed, that she
was attentively noticing events. Perhaps the delusion
was then dissipated, that this great and overwhelm
ing popularity had been intrigued for and won by
Guise, to be alone exercised for the elevation of the
young son of the deceased duchesse de Lorraine to the
throne of his maternal ancestors. As the cortege ap
proached the Louvre, the clamour became more over
powering ; the duke then pausing a moment exclaimed,
" Messieurs ! messieurs ! c'est assez, c'est trop ! Criez,
Vive le roy I"1
An aspect of ominous gloom and silence surrounded
the Louvre. The queen was visibly disturbed, and
when she perceived the Swiss guards drawn up within
the inner court, she expressed a wish to enter the
palace by a private door opening into the racket-court.
This, however, the duke prevented by handing her ma
jesty from her chair, and leading her through the lines
of soldiers, whom he saluted as he passed. The sight
of the stern and resolute countenance of Crillon, the
officer in command, seems suddenly to have aroused
the due de Guise to a sense of his imprudence, and of
the extreme peril of his position after he had passed
the drawbridge of the Louvre. He turned pale, and
1 Amplification des Particularity. Davila, lib. ix. When Sixtus
V. heard of the arrival of the duke in Paris, he exclaimed — " 0 le
temeraire! 0 I'imprudent, d'aller ainsi se mettre entre les mains
d'un prince qu'il a si vivement outrage !" On learning, however, that
the king had received the duke, the contemptuous observation of his
holiness was, "O, le lache prince ! O, le pauvre prince ! d'avoir ainsi
laisse e~chapper 1' occasion de se de"faire d'un homme qui semble ne" pour
Ie perdre !"

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 93
for an instant paused, but quickly shaking off the feel
ing he continued his progress. Catherine, however,
surveyed, with foreboding, the evident preparations for
their reception, and the body-guard under arms. Her
majesty was conducted to the bed-chamber of queen
Louise, according to Henry's command, followed by
the princess Christine and the duchesse d'Usez, and
accompanied by the due de Guise. Queen Louise was
in bed, attended by one lady, who, on the entrance of
the queen-mother, withdrew. Catherine took a seat by
the couch of her daughter-in-law, whose face was pallid,
and her manner nervous. Presently the young queen
began to address Catherine in low and rapid tones.
The due de Guise, after making obeisance to the queen,
retire I into the embrasure of a window of the apart
ment, and commenced a conversation with the princess
Christine. The king, meantime, was in the adjoining apartment
with Villequier, the comte de la Guiche, and Bellievre,
who had followed his majesty, still hoping to induce
him to relent. Lognac and his five Gascons had duly
taken their position where the king directed. Henry
angrily repulsed the remonstrances and prayers of his
ministers, though, nevertheless, they seemed to make
impression, and declared that Guise should not live to
brave him again, but that he would cause him to be
shot and his head severed from his body, s,nd placed on
a pike in front of the Louvre before the expiration of
another hour. Henry then gave Lognac the signal,
upon hearing which he was to rush into the queen's
chamber, and do just execution on the rebel. He then
took a key from his girdle, and opening a private door
close to the tester of the queen's bed, he entered the
apartment.1 1 Mathieu : Vie de Henri III. Vie de Louise de Lorraine— Dreux
de Radier et Brantome. Davila, liv. ix.

94 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587 —
On the click of the key in the lock, the due de Guise
advanced ; he then bowed profoundly before his majesty,
almost touching the floor with his knee. " What
brings you here ? I ordered you not to come !" said
Henry, in angry tones. " Sire, I come to confide in
your majesty's equity and justice ; I pray your majesty
to have confidence in my loyal fidelity. I am here to
offer my humble services to aid your majesty in sup
pressing the cabals and tumults of this capital !" The
king replied, that M. de Guise spoke falsely, and that
he was well aware he was the cause and author of
all the troubles and commotions ; that he guided at
will all the princes of Lorraine, and especially the
dues de Lorraine and de Mayenne, whom he led about
by the muzzle like bulls; and that he was now re
solved to prove to them that he was their king, and
insisted upon their obedience ! The duke undauntedly
replied that, " he was his majesty's faithful subject ; and
it would be seen that he carried a sharp blade to avenge
himself on his calumniators ! He should not have
presented himself, had he been plainly told that his
majesty commanded him to stay away."1 Henry now
had worked himself up into a frenzy of exasperation ;
he, therefore, called Bellievre from the adjacent cham
ber, and asked him, " whether he had not commanded
him to forbid the presence of M. de Guise in the
capital ?" Bellievre was about to reply, but the king sud
denly stopped him with the manner of one who, having
made up his mind to some course of action, needed not
confirmation on the point, but, again addressing the
duke, he asked him, " whether he had duly received
and read the last amiable letters sent him by madame
de Montpensier ?" These letters had been intercepted
1 MS. Bibl. Imp. Baluze, i Lettres sur les Barricades. Amplifi
cations des Particularite"s qui se passerent a Paris. Hist, de la Journe'e
des Barricades. Mem. de la Ligue, tome xi.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 95
by the royal agents ; and afterwards, according to the
timid policy then in the ascendant, had been sealed up
again and forwarded to their destination. Catherine,
at this point, rose and approached the king ; versed in
interpreting her son's looks, and divining that some
great catastrophe must have been determined, to explain
the energy of the king's language and manner, she
deemed it time to interpose. The king, therefore, very
reluctantly followed the queen-mother to the embrasure
of a window, when the queen entreated her son to re
frain from any rash demonstration, and told him of the
scene she had witnessed in the streets of the capital,
and that any precipitate vengeance would ruin the royal
cause. The duchesse d'Usez approached at a sign
from the queen, and likewise confirmed the statement
relative to the popular excitement.1 The due de
Guise, whilst this conversation was going on, stood
by the bed of queen Louise and began to converse.
Suddenly, however — whether upon a hint given by the
queen (which is probable), that some terrible manifesta
tion of royal wrath awaited him — the duke approached
the king, and craved permission to retire, as the hour
of his majesty's public repast was drawing near, and as
he was himself fatigued with his journey. Henry hesi
tated, but Catherine promptly gave the permission
sought. The king then stopped the duke, and at
tempted to pass his mother, but Catherine steadily laid
her hand on her son's arm, and continued to address him
until the due de Guise had accomplished his retreat.
She then expatiated in general terms on the folly and
treachery of a design to slay an enemy who had entered
the palace unarmed, and who had all Paris for his
garde-du-corps ; and finally, Catherine's arguments, as
usual, prevailed, and she obtained her son's promise
1 Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III. Davila, liv. is.

96 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587—
that he would sanction no act of violence, but, on the
contrary, grant a second audience to the duke, during
the following day, in her garden at the Tuileries.
The due de Guise retired to his hotel, escorted hy
several thousand persons of condition and by a mob of
rabble. At the hotel de Guise, Rue de Chaulne, he
was received by madame de Montpensier. His stormy
interview with the king had made great impression on
the mind of the duke ; he perceived that Henry's irri
tation was excessive, and divined what, but for the pre
sence and intervention of the queen-mother, might have
been his fate. Sooner or later all whom the king
hated had fallen beneath the ban of his wrath —
Lignerolles, Coligny, Bussy d'Amboise, and his sister
the queen of Navarre, besides numbers of persons of
less note. Forewarned, the due de Guise adopted the
measures which he believed alone compatible with his
safety. Before nightfall, therefore, he had accepted
the offers of service made by above 400 cavaliers; he
granted audience to the council of the League, and
gave orders that guards should be kept in every ward
of the city, ready to repel a surprise; while, during
the night, a large quantity of muskets and arms of
various kinds were introduced into his hotel. At the
Louvre similar preparations were in progress ; strong
pickets were posted in the adjacent streets ; the Swiss
remained under arms throughout the night. The same
precautionary measures were adopted at Catherine's
palace, whither her majesty returned at dusk, escorted
by a detachment of Swiss. All was distrust, confusion,
and anarchy. The sanguinary counsels of the two
Italian adventurers,1 whom he had recently patronised
infuriated the king ; while the temporizing and vacil
lating policy recommended by Villequier and Cheverny
1 Ornano and Elbene.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 97
harassed the mind of the unfortunate prince, until at
intervals he wept in the very helplessness of his anguish
and distrust. At midnight, the spy Nicholas Poulain
was introduced by Henry's command. Anxious to
learn the effect of the duke's arrival, the king put the
question ; Poulain replied, that the presence of M. de
Guise had revived the spirits of the faction. " But,"
said the king, "M. de Guise denies all knowledge or
share in these conspiracies, and holds them to be
fables !" " Sire !" replied Poulain, " this very night
the Seize meet at the house of La Chapelle. It will
be easy for your majesty to seize the members during
their session. I for my part desire nothing better
than to remain here a hostage for the truth of my
words." 1
The following morning the due de Guise repaired
very early to the Louvre, followed by a suite of 400
gentlemen, armed with pistols under their cloaks. He
proceeded first to visit queen Louise, and then waited
until the king left his chamber to attend mass in the
chapel de Bourbon. On returning to the palace, he
found that the queen-mother had arrived. She greeted
the duke cordially, and courteously observed that " she
hailed his presence, as she doubted not that he would
aid the king in restoring tranquillity to his province of
Picardy, and to the capital."2 "Madame," replied the
duke, sternly, " I have no influence in Picardy ; besides,
the affairs of that province are not those which require
the most prompt alleviation ; it is as if a man, covered
with ulcers, bestowed all his solicitude on healing a tinv
blister on his finger. M. de Lyons will render good
account of Picardy." The duke then asked the king
whether he would permit the archbishop of Lyons and
1 Proces Verbal de Nicholas Poulain.
2 Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades. MS. Recueil Historique.
F. de Thoisy, tome iii. in fol. Bibl. Imp.
VOL. III. H

98 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587 —
th.e cardinal de Bourbon, whom he had left at Soissons,
to enter Paris ? " Certes, mon cousin," answered
Henry, carelessly, " he who loves the master tolerates
his dogs !"'
During the day the guards at the Louvre were in
creased, and a proclamation issued, commanding all
mendicants, venders of street wares, and itinerant players
to decamp from the capital. Simultaneously the great
gates of the hotel de Guise were barred, and ingress
into the mansion only permitted by the wicket. Dur
ing the afternoon the due de Guise repaired to the
Tuileries to confer with the king. He was there re
ceived by the queen-mother, who lavished her most
winning and pleasant sophistries to smooth the way for
the approaching conference. Henry arrived, attended
by M. d'O, "that renegade and infidel," as the duke
termed him. His majesty appeared splendidly arrayed,
but his countenance was gloomy and careworn. The
trio then commenced a promenade on the terrace, the
queen-mother walking in the midst. The conference
was opened by Henry, who again questioned the duke
severely on his disobedience of his command in coming
to the capital. The duke denied upon oath that he
had received command to abstain ; nor had he even
seen a despatch on the subject from Bellievre. Guise
next commenced a long and elaborate address, in which
he vindicated his taking up of arms, the treaty of
Nemours, and the articles of Nancy. He demanded
the reception of these articles, the recognition of the
council of Trent, the abolition of the concordat of
Francis I., the exile of Epernon and the favourites, and
the reformation of the government on principles just,
economical, and orthodox. Finally, he pronounced a
most flattering eulogium on the genius and the tried
1 MS. Histoire de la Journee des Barricades. Recueil de Thoisy.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 99
abilities of the queen-mother. Henry replied to some
of these propositions ; others he prudently left without
comment. He said that he was willing to arm for the
extirpation of the Huguenots, and that no prince hated
and persecuted sectaries more than himself; yet the
plots and machinations of the League were highly
offensive to him, and subversive of the royal dignity —
nor would he longer submit to be coerced. As for the
due d'Epernon, he had proved himself valiant, able, and
prudent; he was the son of a Catholic father, and
sprang from a house which had always deserved well
from the sovereign. His majesty declared that he was
not inclined to deviate from the practice of his prede
cessors, who honoured whom they would, regardless of
dictation. Neither had he ever received pernicious
counsels from Epernon. As for the house of Lorraine,
his majesty said that he had ever favoured it ; but that
all offices and dignities could not be bestowed upon one
family. That, as for the treaty of Nemours, he was
minded to maintain it ; but that the people must con
sequently be burdened with taxes to support large
standing armies. Those who cried out most seditiously
against the existing imposts were the individuals who,
against his own will and experience, had forced him
into this war ; therefore, that he was brought to bear
the blame of a fault that was not his ; and not only
had his government been defamed, but his person con
spired against. He was, however, aware that the
citizens of Paris had little share in the said outrages;
therefore he had come to the resolve, immediately to
purge the city from all strangers and foreigners ; but
that before he had recourse to force, he intended to
appeal to the loyalty and patriotism of his good people
of Paris.1 The king then informed the duke that an
1 Davila, liv. ix. MS. Relation de la Journe'e des Barricades. His-
H 2

100 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [158/ —
edict, directing all strangers, foreigners, and visitors then
resident in Paris to leave the capital within twenty-four
hours, would be promulgated ; and that domiciliary visits
from district to district would take place on the morrow,
to insure the literal and punctual execution of the
mandate. The prevot des marchands and the sheriffs
of Paris having, meantime, arrived at the Tuileries, in
obedience to a summons they had received, the king,
in the presence of the due de Guise, commanded them
diligently on the morrow to search houses, and to dis
miss all new comers who had settled in the capital,
unless they should satisfactorily account for their resi
dence ; and that no distinction of persons was to be
made.1 The provost La Perreuse commended the re
solve, and promised to serve his majesty faithfully. The
due de Guise also declared that the king had done well,
and likewise promised to aid in the exact execution of
the edict. Henry and the duke, therefore, took leave
of each other on apparently amicable terms. His
majesty returned to the Louvre to sign his edict; he
then appointed Villequier and M. d'O to superintend
its execution, and to witness the departure of " the
agitators of his capital."
The strangers and agitators of the capital, however,
were precisely those persons who had resolved not to
depart ; they were the dependents of the chieftains in
league, and for the time being the leaders, orators, and
rulers of the Parisian democracy. Moreover, this tur
bulent throng interposed as a shield to defend the bur
gesses from the wrath of their offended sovereign, and
the flippant but dangerous menaces of the favourites.
Accordingly, during the night of Tuesday, May 11th,
the clubs within the various wards of the city were in
toire tres veritable de ce qui est advenu a Paris, par St. Yon, Echevin
de Paris et Ligueur. 1 Ibid,

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 101
active communication, and emissaries passed to and
from the hotel de Guise. A determined resistance
was organized against the domiciliary visits announced
by the king. The pen of madame de Montpensier was
put into requisition, and before dawn placards were
distributed through the city stating that his majesty
intended to hang or decapitate all the popular leaders
and cures of the capital ; that their arrest was to be
effected during the following day ; and that the heads
men were already waiting for the victims in the Hotel
de Ville. The person of the due de Guise was declared
to be in the greatest peril ; and the approaching triumph
of Calvinism and of the king of Navarre predicted.
At the Louvre, also, anxious debates were holden
throughout the night. The arrest of Guise, the mili
tary occupation of Paris, and the temporary suspension
of the charter of the municipality, were the important
topics of conference. If the king had acted as boldly
and to the purpose as he opined, all might still have
been well. At this period the capital lay at the feet
of the king, and a few severe and vigorous measures
would have subjugated the factious. The due de
Guise alone in Paris, unsupported by the princes his
kinsmen, and as yet comparatively unprotected by the
city levies, was at the mercy of his offended sovereign.
In the arsenal Henry had twenty field-pieces ; in the
Hotel de Ville were two hundred small cannons and
falconets. Six thousand Swiss troops lay encamped in
the vicinity of St. Denis, and the royal gardes de corps,
under the brave Crillon, were well disciplined and loyal.
Moreover, the due de Guise evidently showed indica
tions of desiring a reconciliation with the king. Cathe
rine de Medici, indignant and alarmed by the im
pending rebellion, began to show less solicitude for
the prospective rights of her grandson; and to act
with that dexterous ability, for which she was renowned,

102 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1587—
in support of the crown of her son. Madame de Mont
pensier perceived the change which had dawned on the
mind of her royal mistress, and warned her brother
that, unless he hastened any measures he might con
template, he would find himself opposed by the ability
and influence of the queen-mother — a power far more
dreaded than that of the king.
All these advantages were defeated by the pusil
lanimity of Henry and his ministers. They undertook
great enterprises ; but failing in the courage and con
stancy requisite to insure success, thereby revealed
their own weakness, and suggested to their foes those
daring exploits which ended in the defeat, shame, and
disaster of all concerned.

I5S8.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 103

CHAPTER IV.
1588.
Seditious demonstrations are made against the execution of the royal
edict — Resolution taken to garrison Paris and enforce obedience —
Entry of the Swiss troops and the French gardes de corps under
Crillon and the marechal de Biron — La Journ ee des Barricades —
Negotiations of queen Catherine with the due de Guise — Flight of
the king from Paris — Catherine assumes the conduct of affairs in the
capital — Deportment and measures of the due de Guise — Attitude
of the queen — She maintains her authority — Exultation of the
duchesse de Montpensier — Madame de Guise and the cardinal de
Bourbon arrive in Paris.
The day had scarcely dawned, on the morning of
Wednesday, May 12th, when the Prevot des Marchands
and his staff, the sheriffs, MM. de Villequier and d'O,
set out on their domiciliary investigations. As they pro
ceeded along the streets, the people pelted them with
stones ; while the obstacles and obstinate resistance
which they met with, on entering suspected houses,
soon convinced his majesty's envoys that their mission
was a fruitless one unsupported by a military escort.
After making some statistical inquiries and jotting
down a few notes, Villequier and his colleague re
turned to the Louvre and reported to the king the
failure of his experiment, adding "that the people
declared their resolve to do nothing to aid in the ex
pulsion of their defenders." Henry, though the hour
was early, had heard mass and was receiving the morn-

104 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
ing salutations of the court in the queen's audience
chamber. His chagrin and displeasure were palpably
evinced; moreover, when the due de Guise appeared
Henry turned away his head and refused to accept his
greeting. The duke took this rebuff with admirable
patience, seated himself on a coffer, and addressed
his discourse to Bellievre. When the king left to hold
a privy council, to remedy, if possible, the ominous con
dition of affairs, he passed without inviting Guise to
attend him. The duke, therefore, haughtily withdrew
to his hotel, scorning to obtrude his advice or to assert
the privilege of his peerage.1
The session in the privy council chamber was tem
pestuous : it was, nevertheless, deemed expedient by
all his majesty's advisers to vindicate the royal autho
rity, though the mode to be adopted was angrily de
bated. At length it was agreed, as a first step, to
garrison Paris; and after having taken military pos
session of the principal avenues of the city, to enforce
the edict for the exodus of the factious bands of adven
turers swarming in the capital. The king, therefore,
commanded the marechal de Biron to proceed to the
camp of the Swiss, and lead certain divisions into Paris
by daybreak the following morning. M.d'O, at the same
time, received orders to introduce the French regiments
of the royal guard, also encamped outside the city.2 The
men forming the usual garrison of the Louvre were to
be mustered ; also the archers and gentlemen-at-arms,
and forbidden to quit the precincts of the palace. These
precautions were well and skilfully taken, only the de
cision came too late. Had like vigorous measures been
adopted before the late ignominious departure of the
king for his camp at Gien, the royal power would pro-
1 Histoire de la Journe'e des Barricades. MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de
Thoisy, tome iii. in fol.
3 Davila, liv. ix. De Thou, liv. xc. Dupleix.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 105
bably have been restored. After the council broke up,
mandates were sent to the captains and colonels of the
city wards to collect their bands and to occupy certain
positions indicated. To explain this unusual muster
M. d'O was sent by the king to confer with the provost
and sheriffs, and to enforce, if necessary, his majesty's
command. Some objection being raised as to the im
prudence of this measure, which, it was stated, would
inflame the populace, M. d'O arrogantly clenched the
argument by observing, " Par la mort Dieu, messieurs !
I am not here to listen to your objections. I have his
majesty's command ; and this time he will make him
self be obeyed I"1 The muster, therefore, was called
during the afternoon : the companies, however, were
not posted in their proper localities ; for instance, the
men of St. Honore were stationed on the Petit Pont,
and those appertaining to the latter district on the
Place de Greve. D'O stationed eleven bands in the
cemetery Des Innocents. He afterwards harangued
the men, and declared that the king reserved them for
special service, which would be unfolded on the arrival
of M. de Beauvais Naugis, the officer appointed to
command them. The telling out and distribution of
these guards created great commotion in the city : the
partisans of Guise artfully inflamed the excitement by
distributing seditious placards calling upon the people
to rise and defend themselves. Throughout the night
the streets of Paris swarmed with excited and threaten
ing groups, eagerly discussing the struggle which every
individual felt to be imminent. The Rue de Chaume,
Quartier Ste. Avoye, in which stood the hotel de Guise,
was thronged ; crowds gathered before the wide gloomy
facade of the palace of the popular hero, speculating
on the duke's probable intentions and conduct at this
1 Histoire tres veritable de ce qui est advenu & Paris Mai, 158S, par
St. Yon, Echevin de Paris-

106 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
crisis. All, however, was silent ; the duke made no
response to the plaudits ;* the gates were strongly
barred ; the windows defended by plates of iron ; aud,
excepting that occasionally an individual glided through
the narrow wicket, no sign of sympathy with those
without was discernible.
At four o'clock in the morning the roll of drums
and the shrill sound of the fifes and clarions of the
Swiss troops were heard. The soldiers entered at the
Porte St. Honore, led by the marechal de Biron on
horseback. Three French companies followed, led by
Crillon.2 The troops marched in battle array, with
colours flying and matches lighted ; their numbers al
together amounted to between 2000 and 3000 men.
Biron distributed his men in the following manner :
900 Swiss he posted in the cemetery Des Innocents,
which commanded the Rue St. Honore; M. d'O oc
cupied the Pont au Change ; du Gast the Pont St.
Michel; the guard of the gate of the Louvre towards
the Rue St. Thomas was committed to M. de I'Archant
and to a company of French corps des gardes exclu
sively. Companies were placed on the Place de Greve
so as to command the Hotel de Ville; also, on the
Marche Neuf and the Place du Chatelet. The Places
Maubert and St. Antoine, however, by a grave over
sight were left unoccupied. These districts lay the
nearest to the hotel de Guise; they swarmed with
disaffected persons, and were of the utmost impor
tance for the command of the city. The marechal de
Biron and M. de Dinteville, occupied the Marche Neuf.
Had the king's troops seized the streets in the neigh-
1 " Je dormois quand tout commenga," said the due de Guise in his
letter to king Henry. An author states that the duke- appeared at a
window clad in a white satin robe- de- chambre, and innocently asked
" Eh ! que fait on done ?" on hearing the noise of the tumult.
2 Davila, liv. ix.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 107
bourhood of the Bastille and the hotel de Guise, also
the Rues St. Denis and St. Martin- — in these days the
main avenues of the city — the menaced insurrection
might easily have been suppressed. The Swiss soldiers
and the captains of their companies received strict orders
to assail none, but to maintain themselves on the de
fensive ;* if attacked, even then they were not to fire on
the people without direct orders from Biron, or from the
Louvre through one of his majesty's aides-de-camp.
The people, meanwhile, gathered, surveying the ex
traordinary preparations for the garrison of their city
with feelings of mingled astonishment and rage. The
shops were closed ; in many districts the tocsin was
rung, and hundreds of armed citizens emerged from
their houses at the sound of that well-known signal of
sedition. Biron caused it to be proclaimed to the vast
concourse of people which gathered on the Marche Neuf
to survey the battalions of Swiss, that the sole object
of his majesty was to cause his capital to be evacuated
by all strangers and seditious persons ; and that the
king granted his subjects of Paris permission to take up
arms, provided that they remained within their houses,
and used them only for the defence of themselves and
their families. The members and chieftains of the
Seize, however, were industriously inflaming the popu
lace;2 Brissac, Bois-Dauphin, Chamois, La Chapelle,
and other zealous partisans of Guise and the League,
headed tumultuous bands of rabble, and, demonstrating

1 The soldiers were expressly forbidden to take provision without
payment, to pilfer, or to fire on the people. Davila.
a Cruce hired two young lads to rouse the inhabitants of the Quartier
St. Jacques from their beds by frantic cries : "Aux armes ! le fils de
Coligny est au Faubourg St. Germain avec ses Huguenots!" "Le
peuple s'echappe,'' says the historian Mathieu; "l'artisan quitte ses
outils, le marchand ses trafics, l'universite" les livres, les avocats leurs
cornettes, les presidents mettent la main aux hallebardes ; on n'entend que
cris epouvantables, que plaintes etrangeres, que regrets, et depits !"

108 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
a better knowledge of street tactics than the royal
generals, they took possession of the Rues St. Martin and
St. Denis, thus securing a communication with the fac
tious on both banks of the river.
Catherine, during these preliminaries, quitted at day
break the hotel de Soissons, and repaired to the Louvre
for the safety of her royal person, and the better coun
selling of the king her son. As Catherine stepped into
her chair, she despatched her gentleman-usher, Luigi
Davila, to the hotel de Guise, with a message inquiring
after the health of the duke, and explaining the cause
of the military occupation of the capital. Davila made
his way through the streets in the grey light of early
dawn, and arrived safely at the hotel de Guise. After
some discussion he was admitted through the wicket.
In the court, wliich was the largest attached to any
private hotel in Paris, he beheld two rows of gentlemen
armed, and in the midst stood the due de Guise. Around
lay piles of arms of all descriptions ; the shutters of the
lower apartments were barricaded and defended by bags
of sand, or by casks lashed together. The retainers of
the duke were also under arms. The due de Guise
advanced to receive the royal message, and taking Davila
by the hand he condescendingly led him apart into the
garden at the back of the palace. The queen's envoy
then perceived (as it was intended he should do), that the
lower apartments of the palace were filled with armed
men. Guise listened with great respect to Catherine's
message, and returned a deferential reply. Davila was
then reconducted through the wicket to make the best
of his way to the Louvre, a progress of no small peril.1
Shouts of arm ! arm ! and the clangour of the tocsin
ringing in every parish, now resounded throughout the
streets. Stones, offal, and mud, were showered on the
1 Davila, liv. ix.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 109
soldiers, who, obedient to their orders, stood rigidly to
arms, making no retaliation. Seditious placards were
borne about the city, with every other symbol of ap
proaching insurrection. Davila was admitted to the
royal closet on his arrival at the Louvre, in which he
found the king, queen Catherine, Cheverny, Ornano,
Bellievre, and others. He minutely related what he
had seen, the aspect of the hotel de Guise, and the
words of the duke ; also the menacing attitude of the
people. By the advice of the queen, Henry despatched
his secretary Benoise to Crillon, commanding him to ad
vance with the troops under his command, and take
possession of the Rues St. Martin, St. Denis, St. Antoine,
and the Place Maubert. The order came too late.
The students of the university under Bois Dauphin,1
the watermen from the Quai de Greve, and a troop of
rabble, opposed the advance of Crillon and the French
guards thus tardily sent to occupy the Place Maubert,
which lay between the city and the university. A
parley ensued, for the royal orders continued to pro
hibit a charge on the insurgents. Meantime fresh
bodies of people rushed into the Place by the Rue du
Pavee, and after a brief interval, Crillon beheld the rise,
as if by magic, of the first barricade which ushered in
that mode of street warfare, whieh since has become
the especial favourite of the Parisian populace. The
Place Maubert was nearly surrounded by collegiate
edifices; other barricades were there rapidly built up
with barrels filled with earth, logs, and flag-stones, which
the people tore up from the cloisters and courts of
various adjacent colleges. Chains were also stretched
across the streets opening from the square, while the
great bell of the parish church of St. Martin gave forth
its sullen toll. Crillon then attempted to retreat, but
1 Urban de Laval de Bois Dauphin, who was created a marshal of
France by the due de Mayenne in 1593.

110 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
found himself intercepted in the rear by Brissac with a
great body of insurgents gathered from the Faubourg St.
Germain. Again barricades were built up along the streets
at the distance of thirty paces ; women brought the fur
niture of their houses, and aided in the construction of
these defences. Crillon, therefore, presently found him
self unable to advance or to retreat ; his communication
with Biron and d'O was ignominiously cut off, and his
soldiers exposed to the mocking gibes of the triumphant
populace.1 Along the Rue St. Denis barricades were reared ; the
people of St. Eustache and Montmartre gathered, led
by M. St. Paul, an officer devoted to the princes of Lor
raine, and taking possession of the streets in the neigh
bourhood of the cemetery Des Innocents, completely
blockaded the Swiss troops posted there by Biron. The
city resounded with cries of " Alarme ! alarme, les
Huguenots !" Cruce and other leaders of the Seize
went from barricade to barricade, exhorting the citizens
to lose their lives in defence of their liberty and their
faith. Chains were stretched across the Rue Notre
Dame ; and strong barricades constructed at the mouth
of all the streets communicating with the positions
seized by the royal troops. M. d'O, nevertheless, suc
ceeded in occupying the Hotel de Ville and the Place de
Greve. He also despatched an aide-de-camp to the
palace, to represent to the king the dangers to which
his troops were exposed, hemmed in by furious mobs,
and requested permission to attack the insurgents. The
answer returned was a decided negative, accompanied by
an order, however, to hold firmly the sites captured.2
1 Hist, tres veritable de ce qui est advenu en la Ville de Paris Mai,
1588. Archives Curieuses, ler serie.
2 Davila, liv. ix. De Thou, liv. ix. Particularity de ce qui se pas-
serent a Paris Mai, 1588. Journal de Henri III. Hist, de la Journe'e
des Barricades. MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de Thoisy.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. Ill
By nine o'clock, therefore, the streets were completely
fortified, each barricade being defended by men armed
with muskets, swords, clubs, and determined to shed
their blood to the last drop in ridding Paris of " her
invaders." Henry, meanwhile, remained in his private cabinet
at the Louvre, apparently little disturbed by the turmoil
raging without. Between seven and eight in the morn
ing the president Tambonneau, colonel of the city bands,
arrived at the palace, and being admitted to the presence
of the king, entreated his majesty to command his
troops to evacuate Paris. Henry sternly refused, and
dismissed the president. The due de Guise soon after
wards despatched his secretary to the hotel of the chan
cellor, to demand whether the king's military demon
stration was directed against his person. Cheverny
answered by an emphatic, Non ! and exhorted the duke
to refrain from showing himself in the city. The
treacherous and unstable character of the king was so
dreaded by the duke, who remembered his narrow
escape from assassination on the previous Monday, that
he prevailed upon the archbishop of Lyons, who had
arrived in Paris on the preceding evening, to repair into
the royal presence, under pretence of paying his respects,
and report his majesty's language and demeanour. The
step which Henry had taken iu calling in the Swiss and
the regiments of his gardes de corps was so unexpected,
that had the enterprise been conducted with vigour and
ability, Paris must have been disarmed. The due de
Guise momentarily expected arrest; and during a few
hours subsequent to the appearance of the troops, the
leaders of the Seize, disconcerted and doubtful of the
support which an attempt at a general rising might re
ceive from their fellow-citizens, hesitated as to the mea
sures most expedient to pursue. The king now appeared
to be in earnest, and Catherine de Medici was no longer

112 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, ['588.
to be implicitly trusted. The inaction of the soldiers,
the want of strategic skill displayed in the occupation
of the city, and the confusion which ensued from the
arrival of orders and counter-orders from the Louvre,
soon reassured the malcontents. " Ah ! these soldiers
are puppets — mummies encased in iron ; they will do
no harm. They dare not charge us !" exclaimed Cruce,
contemptuously, as with his own hands he helped to
build the first barricade which defended the embouchure
of the Rue St. Aubry.
The archbishop of Lyons called on his road to the
Louvre at Catherine's hotel, to secure, if possible, her
majesty's co-operation in the remonstrances he was
preparing to offer. The queen, however, had departed
at daybreak for the Louvre. The archbishop proceeded
thither, and was admitted to an audience by their majes
ties between the hours of nine and ten in the morning.
In the name of the due de Guise, Espinac implored the
king to command his troops to quit the capital : " Sire,
it is, in the present temper of the populace, as playing
at dice for your crown !" " Monseigneur, I will be
obeyed ; and to-day I will show that I, the king, am
master and lord over these said rebel Parisians !" re
torted Henry, angrily. The archbishop then hastily
retired from the presence : the tone and manner of the
king admitted no further expostulation. So menacing,
indeed, did the prelate deem the attitude of the king,
that when he had passed the wicket of the Louvre, he
hurried to the adjacent house of a friend, and there
borrowing a mule he rode at great speed to the hotel
de Guise ; and after recounting the scene at the palace,
ended by assuring the duke, " that he was minded to
live, or rather, as it seemed to him, to die, his true
friend and partisan." A more august ambassage next
waited on the king. The parliament of Paris deputed
the presidents Brisson and Seguier to admonish his

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 113
majesty that in consequence of the unusual introduction
of troops into Paris all business was suspended, the
shops closed, and the thoroughfares blockaded ; the
high court, therefore, humbly prayed his majesty to
advise on the evil. Henry returned a courteous an
swer, and replied by despatching instructions to M. de
Villequier to perambulate the principal streets of the
capital, with his staff, to proclaim the pacific intents of
the government towards the citizens, and to command the
resumption of business. Villequier made the attempt
enjoined on him, but was soon compelled to return to
the Hotel de Ville, not being permitted to pass the
barricades in the adjacent streets. Henry also con
descended to inform the presidents that the reason of
his demonstration was, " that having been ill obeyed by
the citizens in the orders which he had issued for the
departure of all strangers from the capital, he had
resolved to enforce his edict."1
The king next despatched M. de Bellievre to the
due de Guise to reassure him that no hostile intent
was harboured against his person, and to suggest that
the duke should quit Paris immediately upon receiving
satisfactory pledges for his own safety, and for that of
his immediate adherents. Guise received this com
munication in the presence of the archbishop of Lyons
and of the bishop of Nevers, who had just arrived at
the hotel, escorted by a body of retainers. He de
manded leisure to deliberate and to confer with his
partisans. He said that he was aware that it was the
king's desire and intent to commit him a prisoner to
the Bastille, and to inflict the punishment of death on
some of his most zealous adherents ; but that if his
majesty still persisted in the resolve, such blood would
he spilled as would afterwards appal the king's mind
1 Histoire de la Journe'e des Barricades. MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de Thoisy.
VOL. III. I

114 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
to reflect thereon ; that, as for himself, he was deter
mined not to approach the Bastille except by his own
free-will.1 Already Guise descried his approaching
triumph, and duly appreciated the weak and timorous
spirit of the king. Bellievre was compelled to return
to the Louvre with this reply ; the duke, however,
positively pledged his word not to leave the street in
which his hotel was situated, unless at the express
command of the king. Henry appeared highly indig
nant at this response, and again took counsel whether
the arrest of the duke might not yet be effected, so
utter was his disbelief that the citizens of Paris would
dare to assail his troops. Between the hours of eleven
and twelve, certain spies, who had been sent out by
Catherine, returned with the alarming intelligence that
the Rue St. Honore was impassable, and that his
majesty's troops were everywhere completely enveloped
and hemmed in by barricades. A great shout and
acclamations of " Vive Guise .'" close to the Louvre
alarmed the king, and sending to investigate the cause,
Henry was informed that a barricade had been built
close to his chapel de Bourbon, under the very win
dows of his palace. "These said barricades," says a
contemporary,2 " were solid, strong, and impassable.
It has been calculated that if the citizens had left the
doors of their abodes open, 100,000 men could not
have taken the city, defended and barricaded as it then
was. The barricades were constructed of heavy beams
and barrels filled with sand and paving-stones." The
Spanish ambassador declared that the strength of the
defences was amazing ; and that the city of Paris had
1 "Le due a dit que quant a l'envoyer a la Bastille, il n'y entreroit
jamais que de sa propre volonte." — MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de Thoisy.
3 MS. Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades. F. de Thoisy. Davila :
" A jour enseigna aux Parisiens le vray moyen de se fortifier chacun en
son quartier." — Ibid.

I588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 115
concentrated for the occasion the spirit and energy of two
hundred towns. About twelve o'clock the due de Guise
quitted his hotel for the first time during that event
ful day, and paraded the street in which it was situated
with the archbishop of Lyons. The street was filled
with people, who greeted Guise with shouts of ap
plause : " Some," says de Thou, " regarding their hero
with fear, others with lively admiration, and a few
with indignation." From time to time messengers
arrived and presented despatches to the duke from
the leaders of the insurgents; Guise read the missives
on the spot, and returned verbal replies. The pusil
lanimity of the government roused the daring energy
of the duke. From this period his indecision ceased ;
and being about, as he believed, soon to hold the king
a captive in his Louvre, he was resolved to avail him
self of the opportunity and obtain in a few hours the
concessions comprehended in the articles of Nemours
and Nancy, without further effusion of blood or the
risk of a third campaign. "At twelve o'clock on
this most disastrous day," writes de Thou, " I walked
through the streets in the neighbourhood of the Louvre
and the hotel de Guise. The Louvre I found deserted;
a sombre desolation reigned around the palace. With
grief in my heart I proceeded to the hotel de Guise.
The duke was promenading with his friends. I de
tected in the eye and in the erect demeanour of the
duke confidence, satisfaction, aud security. He evi
dently now was no longer solicitous concerning his
own safety, but rather, as I judged, was concerting the
way to shield his reputation and to give a good colour
to the conspiracy by eventually delivering the troops
of the king from the fury and insults of the populace."
Meanwhile, some powder and arms sent from the
arsenal for the Swiss regiments stationed in the Cime-
tiere des Innocents were intercepted; also the rations
1 2

116 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
of bread and wine for the soldiers. The barricade de
fending the entrance of the Rue St. Honore had been
reared within twenty yards of the gate of the cemetery.
Thither the food destined for the Swiss was carried
and devoured before the longing eyes of the men, who
had tasted no meal since their nocturnal march from
St. Denis. Some friend of one Cossin, a captaiu of
the Swiss guard, shouted from the barricade an inquiry
as to how he felt himself. Cossin replied that the
prevot des marchands had deceived the king when he
told his majesty that 30,000 of the citizens would rise
to defend the royal cause; for he now understood that
thirty of the people were for the king and the thousand
for M. de Guise ! J
Brissac, after a conference with the due de Guise,
proceeded with a small party of insurgents and seized
the fort of the Petit Chatelet, overpowering and turn
ing out the royal garrison. A furious assault was also
made on the detachments of the French gardes de
corps posted on the Pont St. Michel. Missiles were
showered from the adjacent houses, and the people
rushed from the barricades and attacked the soldiers,
uttering savage cries of " a bas Chastillon et les Hugue
nots ! Vive Guise !" The soldiers, assailed on all sides,
offered no resistance, aud suffered themselves to be dis
armed, when they were commanded not to stir for their
lives. On the Marche Neuf a similar skirmish took place,
in which about thirty-nine Swiss soldiers were killed.
The troops were driven from the place by a furious dis
charge of musketry, and by showers of stones, which
rained upon them on every side. The Swiss laid down
their arms, and took refuge, some in the abattoirs of
the Marche, others in private houses. The majority,
driven from the square, approached the barricade upon
1 MS. Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades.

T588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 117
the Pont Notre Dame, through which the soldiers were
to be allowed to pass, when an insurgent, a tailor by
trade, was accidentally shot dead. A cry being raised
that the Swiss had committed the deed, the barricade
was closed, and a volley of musketry discharged upon
the soldiers, who fled back to the Marche Neuf, from
which they had just been expelled. The unfortunate
Swiss then fell on their knees and implored mercy,
which was granted.1 The Swiss in the Cimetiere des
Innocents likewise surrendered their arms and sub
mitted to the people. " In short," says a contemporary,2
" they had no alternative to save their lives, being so
enclosed and hemmed in by barricades that it was then
impossible for any of the king's troops to extricate
themselves, unless, like mice, they could have burrowed
underground." The panic in the Louvre became great, as messenger
after messenger brought intelligence of the spread of
the insurrection. Many great ladies of the court fled
to the palace for protection, others sought safety with
madame de Montpensier — a refuge deemed even more
secure. When Catherine was informed of the attack
on the king's troops, she rose and earnestly entreated
her son to show himself on horseback to the people, and
command their dispersion on their allegiance. Henry
peremptorily declined, not, however, from personal
cowardice — for when roused from his apathy the heroic
spirit of his grandfather Francis I. occasionally showed
itself — but because he deemed such appeal, if unsuc
cessful, as likely to subvert even the remnant of autho
rity left to him. The king, therefore, sent the mare-
1 "C'etoit horreur de voir les Suisses jetter les armes bas, tomber
les uns sur les autres, fuir de tous c6te"s, navre"z de coups de pierres que
les femmes jettoient des fen^stres ; et levant les mains au ciel crioient,
' France, France, Chretiens nous ! ' " — Particularites de ce qui est
advenu a Paris Mai, 1588.
2 Ibid. Hist, des Barricades. MS.

118 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
chals d'Aumont and de Biron to expostulate with the
leaders at the most strongly defended barricades. The
marshals departed on their mission, but failed to obtain
a hearing, and were saluted with a volley of stones and
musketry.1 On their return to the Louvre the king
received their relation with mingled rage and appre
hension. When Biron informed Catherine of the dis
arming of the troops, and of their perilous siege between
barricades manned by the most resolute defenders of
the League, the tears flowed down her cheeks. The
young queen Louise, terrified by the fierce denuncia
tions which issued from the lips of her royal husband
against all of the blood and lineage of Lorraine, was
carried in a swoon to her chamber. The cavaliers,
whom in the days of his power and luxury Henry
had pampered and preferred to the veteran statesmen
of his father's reign, increased the panic by their
bluster and officious interference. The king moved
amongst the affrighted groups with a countenance pale
and defiant as he listened to the shouts and tumult
which approached nearer and nearer to the Louvre.
Sometimes Henry issued a mandate for the defence of
the palace, at others he incoherently commanded that
couriers should be despatched to summon back "his
gallant son" the due d'Epernon. Catherine at length,
after a period of meditation, said resolutely, " M. de
Biron, proceed to the due de Guise, and command him, in
the king's name, to suppress the tumult and deliver his
majesty's troops." Bitter as was the humiliation, there
was no other resource ; the interposition and good-will
of Guise were now absolutely requisite to preserve the
1 "A quoy ledit de Biron, d'Aumont, et d'O, repondirent n' avoir
charge d' entendre leurs remonstrances ; ausquels aussi tot fut dit par
toute la compagnie qu'ils eusaent a se retirer s'ils ne voulaient se voir
tailler en pieces ; ce qu'ils firent soudain, voyant tous les harquebusiers
les coucher en joue."— Hist, tres veritable de ce qui est advenu a Paris
Mai, 1588.

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 119
abode of the sovereign of France from assault; and to
save the lives of the most obnoxious of his courtiers.
It was about three o'clock in the afternoon when Biron
departed on his errand. He obtained a safe passage
through the streets and admittance at the hotel de Guise,
when he announced that he was bound on a special errand
from the king to monseigneur de Guise. The marshal
was received by the duke with grave courtesy. In reply
to the command sent him by the king, the duke coldly
said, " that he could not restrain the people, who were
infuriated by misgovernment and the follies of the
sovereign." " Monsieur, what is it that I hear ?" ex
claimed Biron. " You perceive, monsieur," retorted
the duke, " that I have no share in this insurrection ;
I have never stirred from my abode, though much
solicited to do so. This is the result of the delibera
tions of the fine council of the king. It is that rascal
d'O, who has led his majesty into such error. I am
persuaded that you must disapprove of such proceed
ings. M. d'O is not of our calibre. He dares to say
that I consort with the porters and pickpockets of the
capital ! Let all, however, be assured that whenever I
catch this said d'O; I will cause him to be flogged by
those said porters and pickpockets from the Porte St.
Antoine to that of St. Jacques."1 Some further dis
course was exchanged, the duke for long pretending to
decline taking part in the insurrection. He had, how
ever, waited in triumph for this proud moment when,
as the deliverer of his sovereign, the defender of the
people, and the protector of the Swiss and French sol
diers, still crouching in abject terror amid the barri
cades, he might be hailed as lord paramount by all, the
captain and lawgiver whose patriotism had saved the
crown, secured the orthodox faith, and confirmed the
1 MS. Hist, des Barricades. F. de Thoisy, Bibl. Imp.

1.20 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
liberties of the people. Guise at length feigned to
yield to the expostulations of the marechal de Biron.
His preparations for his progress were ostentatiously
simple. He- threw a cloak over his white satin pour
point, and took a small truncheon, in shape like a mar
shal's bdton, in his hand. The duke was followed by
two pages ; one carried his sword, the other his shield.
Four gentlemen on horseback attended the duke, with
out other arms than a drawn sword, which they carried
on their shoulders.1 The due de Guise and Biron pro
ceeded first to the Place de Greve. The poor Swiss
were there on their knees disarmed, and exposed to the
greatest peril from the savage assaults of the populace.
The appearance of the duke was hailed with delirious
joy. Paris resounded with acclamations, the barriers
fell before him, and his colours and device floated over
many a barricade. The women from the windows and
balconies cheered him as he passed. " Messieurs,
arretez ! vous me ruinez; criez, Vive le roy !" exclaimed
the duke, with affected moderation, when before the
Hotel de Ville. A passage wras opened for the progress
of the duke, who rode into the centre of the Place, and
addressing the people, prayed them to let the Swiss
depart, as God had been so merciful to them as to de
fend their lives, families, liberty, and religion. The
words were received with acclamations and loud cheers ;
the soldiers were permitted to rise, and march in file
through the barricade in the direction of the Porte St.
Martin, by which they were ordered on the instant to
quit the capital. So gracious and princely was the
aspect and demeanour of the due de Guise that the
soldiers joined in the cheers with which he was greeted.
The duke then proceeded to rescue the other portions
of the besieged garrison. As he passed the Pont Notre
' F. de Thoisy. Bibl. Imp. Davila. De Thou. Dupleix. Mem.
de la Ligue.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 121
Dame, he admiringly surveyed the huge barricades which
blocked up the entrance to the Marche Neuf, and the
order and soldierly deportment of their defenders.
" Mes amis, you have evinced marvellous skill and
valour !" exclaimed the duke to some of the insurgents,
as he passed the barrier. " Monseigneur, before your
arrival we were feeble as flies, but your presence has
inspired us all with the courage of lions to defend our
faith and our liberties."1 The Swiss troops in the
Marche Neuf were in a piteous plight ; many were lying
prostrate with bleeding wounds, some reciting their
prayers, others loudly imploring mercy. Stones were
continually being hurled from the windows of the
houses amidst this fainting and famished band. When
Guise rode forward, accompanied by Biron and Bel
lievre, a clamour arose — " Bon due de Guise, ah !
sauvez nous ! bonne France !" The duke turned
towards Biron and said, with a sigh, " He who is the
cause of this misery ought to allay it." " True, mon
seigneur, evil be on the head of him who counselled it.
I obeyed the king in conducting these hither." The
duke then commanded that liberty might be given to
the troops to depart; and also that M. de Dinteville,
their commander, who had found shelter in a house,
should receive no further molestation. The duke and
his companions next repaired to the Pont St. Michel to
release Crillon and his companies of household guards.
He directed St. Paul to conduct these troops safely to
the Louvre, and to restore their arms. St. Paul there
upon preceded the troops and the bands of Swiss guards
which had been rescued on the Marche Neuf, brandish
ing a cane. One of the Swiss soldiers addressed St.
Paul as " monseigneur." "What !" exclaimed he, with
a laugh, " you who, when M. de Guise arrived at the
1 MS. Bibl. Imp. Hist, des Barricades. F. de Thoisy. Recueil His
torique. MS. Dupuy, 661, 662, Bibl. Imp.

122 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
Louvre, refused to salute him, and since, when he has
presented himself, refrain from showing him respect,
now call me ' monseigneur ' who am only his poor and
humble servant !"
Paris was now in the hands of the due de Guise and
the Seize. The king's troops had evacuated the city,
beaten and pursued from the Porte St. Martin to their
camp. The Louvre was defended merely by the ordi
nary guard, and by the wounded and broken-spirited
detachments of Swiss, led thither by the colonel St.
Paul. The council of the Seize now put itself in
open communication with the hotel de Guise, the bar
ricades were reinforced and strengthened, cannon were
placed before the Hotel de Ville and at the gates of the
town, and the hostile factions prepared to take ample
advantage of their victory.
Queen Catherine, meantime, confident in her powers
of negotiation, and relying on her influence over the
duke, resolved to proceed to the hotel de Guise, and
there hold conference. Soon after the departure of the
marechal de Biron, therefore, she sent Luigi Davila to
demand passage from the leaders of the sedition through
the streets of Paris to the Rue de Chaumes. Bois
Dauphin and Cruce gave audience to her majesty's
envoy ; they abruptly refused to allow passage to the
queen's coach, but consented to permit her sedan to
pass the barricades. This insolent reply greatly irri
tated Catherine; nevertheless she resolved to attempt
the journey, feeling little apprehension for her personal
safety. About five o'clock in the afternoon, therefore,
her majesty set out, attended by the secretary of state
Pinart, and by two other gentlemen of her household.
The queen sat erect in her sedan with a calm and fear
less countenance, from time to time boldly rising to
survey the barriers and the aspect of the streets. Her
progress was tedious. When her majesty arrived at a

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 1 23
barricade, she waited whilst passage was made for her
sedan. During this interval she put pertinent questions
with the greatest coolness to individuals of the mob of
insurgents around. The queen's sedan was detained
until the opening thus made was again blockaded. Two
hours were consumed in this progress ; at length the
queen arrived safely before the hotel de Guise.1
The duke had just returned from his progress through
the streets of Paris, when a still greater triumph awaited
him in the arrival of the mother of his sovereign as a
suppliant before the portal of his palace. Having been
previously informed by his emissaries of Catherine's
progress, the duke waited at the entrance of the man-,
sion to hand her majesty from her sedan. The duke,
though his demeanour was more than usually humble
and deferential, commenced, as soon as he saw the
queen, to make bitter expostulation on the folly of the
counsels which had resulted in so notable an insurrec
tion. " Madame, the citizens of Paris have never be
fore been coerced by a garrison. The people will not
submit to it ; they believe that his majesty intends to
take the lives of many of his Catholic subjects, and
my own especially. Madame, the wit of man combined
cannot remedy that which has unhappily this day been
perpetrated. I have, nevertheless, done all in my
power to allay the tumult and to reassure the citizens !"
The queen replied, "that his .majesty wished nothing
but to purge Paris from strange and turbulent factions ;
that the king had caused his guards to enter Paris,
himself intending to make search. That the people
had taken arms rashly, urged by these said turbulent
demagogues; but she trusted, when the truth was
known, that every one would depart to his home peace
fully." This conversation took place in the court of
1 Davila, liv. ix. Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades. MS. Bibl.
Imp. F. de Thoisy.

124 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [T588-
the hotel, openly, and so as to be heard by all present.
The queen then signified to the duke her desire to con
verse privately with him ; they, therefore, retired toge
ther and entered a cabinet. The queen then angrily
reproached the due de Guise for the events which had
happened. The duke replied, " that he had no share
in promoting the insurrection, which had happened
suddenly on the ill-advised resolution adopted by his
majesty of taking military possession of the city ; and
that, far from having provided for his own safety, as he
should have done could he have foreseen the emergency,
his hotel had been totally destitute of arms and de
fences. That his friend M. de Grand Rue had even
lent him a cuirass." Catherine retaliated by reproach
ing the duke with his inopportune presence in Paris
against the command of the king. Guise again denied
that M. de Bellievre had forbidden his approach in the
name of the king ; nor did he even scruple to recall to
her majesty the fact, of which she now appeared to be
oblivious, of certain significant hints, given in her name
by Bellievre, of the advantage which might possibly
arise from his presence in the capital during the absence
of Epernon. Catherine then tried to waive further dis
cussion, by commanding the duke to cause the instant
submission of the revolted city, adding, " that his ma
jesty and herself would hold him responsible for all
future disturbances." Guise coldly replied, "that he
knew the king's designs, and that it was his majesty's
resolve to destroy certain eminent personages of his
realm, and himself among the number ; that he hated
all who had presumed to oppose his favourites, and
question the claims of Henri le Bearnnois ; therefore,
it was necessary that he should look well to his own
safety. He would not, therefore, permit the people to
lay down arms, unless the king accepted the articles of
Nancy, and gave good and trusty guarantees." He

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 125
then proceeded to demand that " the king should declare
him lieutenant-general of the realm, the letters-patent
to be modelled on those granted by Francis II. to his
father Francois second, due de Guise ; that the States-
general should be convoked to settle the question of the
succession, his majesty, as the queen knew, not having
any chance of posterity. That the soi-disant king of
Navarre should be immediately proclaimed incapable of
inheriting royal honours; that the taxes should be
lessened ; that Epernon, and his brother M. de la Va
lette, the marechals de Retz and Biron, M. d'O, and
' the adventurer ' Ornano, be banished from court, with
the loss of their offices and honours; that the king
should dismiss his guard of les Gtuarante-cinq, and
forbid members to return to court ; that Crillon should
be deprived of his office of commandant of the king's
household guards ; that Villequier should be deposed
from his office of governor of Paris, and that post be
stowed upon the comte de Brissac. That the war
against the heretics should be diligently prosecuted."
The duke further demanded the government of Picardy
for the due d'Aumale ; that of Lyons for the due de
Nemours ; and that of Normandy for the due d'Elbceuf.
Six towns were to be yielded to the lords of the League.
The post of admiral was to be given to the due de
Mayenne; and the baton, vacant by the proposed de
mission of Biron, to be bestowed upon M. de la Chastre,
the duke's most confidential adherent.1
Catherine listened with intense indignation to these
demands; anger sparkled in her eyes as she sharply
demanded, " What will the people of France think, or
the princes of Europe believe, if the king should concede
such preposterous and shameful articles? Is it your
intent, monseigneur, to take the crown from the heald
1 Davila. De Thou. Dupleix : Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades.
MS. Bibl. Imp.

126 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
of the king my son !" " Madame, I ask no office nor
promotion for myself. The medicine may be bitter,
but it will be a salutary one in the end." Catherine
in vain reasoned with the duke, and condescended to
remonstrate, and even threatened. Guise firmly de
clined to make concession whatever, adding, " that since
the king had at last revealed his hostile intentions aud
his hate towards himself, he was resolved either to lose
his life or to secure the dominance of the orthodox
faith, and the safety and dignities of the house of
Lorraine.1 Catherine was compelled to return with this response.
It was quite dark when her majesty re-entered her sedan.
She took leave of the duke, promising to return and
renew the conference early on the morrow, after Guise
had peremptorily decbned to present himself at the
Louvre. During the night diligent watch was kept by the city
militia in all districts not defended by barricades. At
muster hour the prevot des marchands gave the watch
word, as usual, in the name of the king. The city bands,
however, refused to accept it, and sent a deputation to
ask it from the due de Guise. During the night the
duke passed several times on horseback through the
streets, while his emissaries diligently inflamed the re
sentment of the people against their sovereign, bestow
ing the most extravagant eulogiums on their master.
No one slept ; all waited for and dreaded the probable
events of the morrow. From the period of the visit of
the queen to the hotel de Guise the duke threw off dis
simulation, and openly assumed the conduct of the
insurrection. The duchesse de Montpensier and the
chevalier d'Aumale were the only members of the
family of Lorraine then present in the capital. The
1 Ibid. Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 127
activity of the duchess was unparalleled ; she harangued
and entertained the captains of the League in her hotel;
wrote their proclamations, and concocted their libels.
Her beauty and the fierce energy of her gestures and
words inspired the adherents of Lorraine ; while her
daring personal courage permitted none but cravens to
shrink from perils so boldly incurred by herself.
Within the Louvre, on the contrary, all was despon
dency and terror. The king, with his mother, Villeroy,
Cheverny, Villequier, d'O, Rambouillet, Pinart, d'Or
nano, and the abbe d'Elbene, held council throughout
the night. In the ante-room the gentlemen in waiting
kept watch, with drawn swords and pistols, to defend
their master, in case the Louvre was suddenly assaulted.
The drawbridge of the palace was raised, and sentinels
were posted by Crillon so as to descry the smallest
tumult or gathering in the streets adjacent to the palace.
The courtyard was filled with troops, all under arms,
and without in the tennis-court and the Cour de Bour
bon, the Swiss regiment of the guards, rescued during
the afternoon by the due de Guise from the fury of the
populace, was stationed. It was doubted, however,
whether these troops would engage in actual combat
against their benefactor, as they now termed the due
de Guise. The apartment of the young queen was like
wise carefully guarded. Louise passed the night weep
ing with her ladies, and praying for the prompt disper
sion of the enemies of her lord the king. The princess
Christine of Lorraine remained with queen Louise ; the
former displayed no symptoms of fear, and was suspected
of praying rather for the success of her cousin of Guise,
which she had been told was greatly to benefit her
brother, than in deprecation of the wrath of Heaven in
behalf of her uncle king Henry — le faineant — which
ignominious epithet had been often heard on the lips of

12S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^88.
the spirited young princess. The proposals made by
Guise to queen Catherine were hotly debated. The
king steadily vowed that he never would assent to con
ditions so infamous ; that if the due de Guise had in
deed usurped the royal power, it was not for him to
make terms and share that wliich was his own. The
chancellor Cheverny, M. de Arilleroy, and de Villequier,
— all more or less secret partisans of the League — ex
horted their royal master to accept the articles proposed
by Guise, which they said would tranquillize not only
Paris, but the realm of France, and secure a Roman
Catholic successor to the crown of Charlemagne. It
was observed that the eyes of the king were fixed with
malignant steadiness for some moments on these per
fidious advisers; his majesty, however, made no obser
vation, except to reiterate his determination to yield to
none of these demands. Henry was supported in his
resolve by M. d'O, the abbe d'Elbene, Rambouillet, and
the comte d'Ornano. The queen suspended her decision
until she had again visited the hotel de Guise, as her
majesty said " she had good hope that M. de Guise,
on reflection, would modify his conditions." D'O then
tendered the resignation of his office as chamberlain and
colonel of the guard, which Henry ordered him to re
tain. The comte d'Ornano then implored his majesty
to bestow upon him the post of commandant of the
Bastille, promising to maintain that important fortress
at any risk or cost. Henry had the weakness to refuse his
sanction to a measure which, he erroneously said, was
likely to increase the irritation of his lieges of Paris.
The pangs of hunger were added to the weariness of
suspense which the trembling inmates of the Louvre
had to endure during this eventful night of the 13th of
May. So great had been the panic during the day, that
no stock of provisions had been amassed in the palace
for the consumption of the household ; and during the

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 129
night any attempt to pass the barricades, which com
pletely cut off the Louvre from the city of Paris, would
have been death to any bold enough to make the ex
periment. At dawn the tumults re-commenced ; alarming re
ports were spread over the capital that the king intended
to send again for his troops, and especially for artillery,
and for a regiment remarkable for its steady discipline,
called the regiment de Picardie. It was likewise re
ported that one Rapin had been sent by the king to
confer on this matter with the first president de Harlay.
Brissac, therefore, repaired to the abode of the presi
dent to investigate the truth of the rumour, and to
attempt to win over to their cause so influential a per
sonage as the first magistrate in the realm. " Monsieur,"
said Brissac, flippantly, " the king says that you are good
for nothing neither on sea nor on land ; I am therefore
sent here to ask whether you might not be worth some
thing to us on the pavee ?" No persuasion, however,
could induce de Harlay to enter into relations with the
Seize ; the king, he said, he would alone obey, and
that, at whatever cost, to the very letter. Brissac under
a feigned anxiety for his safety, but in reality to keep
the president under surveillance, offered to build a bar
ricade before his house, and to place a guard at the back
of his residence. De Harlay drily refused to accept any
protection from the due de Guise.1 Thus baffled, Brissac
departed, being summoned hastily to quell a tumultuous
rising of the students of the university, who threatened
to march upon the Louvre and seize the person of the
king, incited thereto by one Peginard, a fanatic doctor
in theology. These students armed themselves with
poniards and swords, and decorated their caps with a
white cross. The Seize, meanwhile, pursued their de-
1 Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire. De Thou, liv. xc.
VOL. III. K

130 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
liberations in the Hotel de Ville, having ejected Henry's
faithful prevot des marchands and his municipal
staff. Amongst those individuals most surprised at the
result of the Journee des Barricades was the due de
Guise himself. True though it was that the duke had
contributed to bring about the events of that memorable
day by bis intrigues, his disaffection, and his bribery,
yet he neither foresaw nor had precisely organized
the rising. So greatly was he astonished and terrified
by the magnitude of his peril, that from dawn until
eleven o'clock in the morning, had the king's ministers
possessed either courage or enterprise, his arrest might
easily have been achieved. The cardinal error com
mitted by the government was the attempt to seize
Paris before they had secured the person of the duke.
The citizens fought and rallied round their hero, whose
life the League proclaimed to be menaced. Guise
then imprudently suffered the enthusiasm of the peo
ple, his own ambition, and the violent exhortations of
madame de Montpensier, to overpower his judgment.
He greedily accepted the position of mediator, rescued
the royal troops, assumed the power of dictator, angered
the queen, and committed himself irretrievably by the
arrogance of his demands to Catherine, and by his
treasonable asseverations, that the acceptance of those
terms alone should disarm the citizens or rescue the
crown from violence. On the morning of May 14th,
1588, the duke arose, the arbiter of his sovereign's des
tiny, and apparently possessing every facility to grasp
the sceptre falling from the faltering hand of the king ;
yet from this period the real difficulties of the duke
commenced. No precautionary measures had been
taken to consummate the victoiy so daringly won;
there was no organized scheme, and therefore no de
fined object for the insurgents to attain. Every one

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 131
adopted his own crude notions concerning the general
welfare — confusion and insubordination were the in
evitable results. The dues de Mayenne and d'Aumale,
the most able princes of the house of Lorraine, were
absent — the one in Burgundy, the other in Picardy ;
with the exception, therefore, of Brissac, the duke
stood alone in Paris, unsupported by his powerful
kindred. His adherents — those who had provoked
the contest and won for the duke his perilous emi
nence — were for the most part individuals of dissolute
life and no family influence — impoverished, and there
fore reckless ; or they were gloomy fanatics — men of
less than average ability, the business of whose exis
tence seemed to consist in predicting calamity and in
gloating over every indication of the royal incapacity.
The duke had no disciplined troops to restore order in
the city or to repress excesses. Dazzled with the alti
tude which he had now attained, he forgot that, if the
sovereign escaped from his present dictation, the half
of his power vanished. The city' was barricaded to
prevent the advance of the troops ; but it never seems
to have entered into the mind of the due de Guise and
his sapient council of the Seize, until too late, that it
was possible for the king to withdraw and join his
army, although access to the Louvre was denied to the
soldiers. Early during the morning of Friday, May 14th, the
royal family sent an envoy to the Hotel de Ville to
demand that the barricades might be removed to en
able them to attend mass in La Sainte Chapelle. An
answer was returned that a way should be opened for
their majesties to proceed on foot, if such was their
desire. Henry thereupon indignantly declined to quit
the Louvre; but Catherine and her daughter-in-law,
queen Louise, proceeded in sedans to the Palais. " The
queen-mother," says a chronicler, " assumed a smiling
k2

132 HENRY III KING OF FRANCE, [jj88.
deportment, and appeared by no means scared like the
young queen at the lawless condition of the capital."
On the return of the queen a second council was
holden : advices had been conveyed to the king of the
meditated assault on the Louvre by the students of
the university ; also, that it had been proposed at the
Hotel de Ville to send out a body of insurgents to cut
off retreat from the Louvre by the open country which
then extended behind the new Palais des Tuileries.
The appearance of M. d'Amville with a squadron of
sixty horse at the Porte St. Honore, whose advance
had been some time previously commanded by the
king, had renewed the tumult in the city. The in
habitants of the district flew to their barricades and
sounded the tocsin, so that after a brief parley d'Am
ville was compelled to retire.1
Henry, therefore, whose long-suffering was now
quite exhausted, resolved no longer to delay the exe
cution of a resolve, which he had privately formed from
the commencement of the insurrection, and announced
to the council his intention to quit the capital whilst
it remained in his power so to do. The majority of
the ministers approved this measure; but Catherine
vehemently opposed it — or, probably, feigned so to do
— and insisted, as she had ever done, that Guise, when
convinced of his majesty's sincerity in the matter of
religion, was not to be dreaded. " Yesterday, when I
visited monseigneur de Guise," said the queen, "he
meditated not the hostile designs which you now at
tribute to him, but appeared, on the contrary, desirous
to conciliate. I will proceed again and visit him, with
the assurance that, at my request, he will suppress
this tumult." The king, nevertheless, persisted in his
1 Particularites qui se passerent a Paris Mai, 1588. Archives
Curieuses. Hist, de la Joumee des Barricades. MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de
Thoisy. Mathieu.

3588-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 133
resolve to quit Paris, " a city which had subjected him
to cruel contumely." This resolution has been branded
as cowardly and unworthy of the majesty of the throne.
Henry, it is averred, ought never to have abandoned
his capital, or have consented to an ignominious flight
before the treasonable enterprises of one of his subjects.
Nevertheless, the unfortunate monarch seems to have
chosen the lesser of the evils impending over him : had
the king remained in the capital, the morrow would
have found him a prisoner in the hands of the due de
Guise, and compelled, at the clamorous demand of an
infuriated mob, to ratify every article the former chose
to present. The oversight was great, on the part of
the rebels, to have left the gate unguarded, which com
municated with the gardens of the Tuileries — a palace
then partly without the walls of the city; but that
very night it had been determined by the Seize to
blockade every avenue leading from the Louvre. It
was time for Henry to withdraw from a position of
peril and degradation ; and, judging by the language
used by the due de Guise in the circular lette1" which
he wrote during this day and sent off by hundreds to
his adherents in the provinces, the king's resolve came
not a moment too soon. " Admonish our friends,"
says the duke in this document, " to come hither with
the greatest speed, bringing horses, arms, and baggage.
I have defeated the Swiss, cut to pieces the greater
part of the king's guard, and I now hold the Louvre
so closely besieged that you may be certain I will render
good account of all whom it may contain. This, our
victory, is so complete that its renown will endure for
ever !" :
It is difficult to assign a motive for Catherine's
opposition to the departure of her son ; if, indeed, her
1 Me"m. de la Ligue, tome ii. p. 313.

131 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [J588-
objections, as is most probable, were not feigned on
purpose to facilitate his escape by casting some uncer
tainty as to the eventual proceedings of his majesty,
who, it was notorious, had hitherto, on occasions of
peril, acted entirely on his mother's counsel. The king
gave his mother, in the presence of the council, un
limited authority to treat with the duke, and to arrive
at some agreement, if possible, during their pending
interview'. Catherine boldly engaged to bring back
the duke to the Louvre, and departed on her mission
between midday and one o'clock, promising to give the
king timely information if she found that Guise re
mained inflexible, or did she detect that any great
enterprise was meditated against his person. Their
majesties also conferred during a brief interval apart.
The progress of the queen to the hotel de Guise
was tedious as before. Catherine demeaned herself
with the same affability, and was greeted with respect.
As she was passing through one of the barricades a
man approached, and stooping under pretext of raising
her majesty's sedan, whispered hurriedly that the life
of the king was in danger ; for that it had been con
certed to send out immediately 15,000 men to invest
the Louvre behind, while the palace was attacked from
the city. Catherine, however, composedly continued
her progress, aud arrived in safety at the hotel de
Guise. The humiliating incidents of her passage thither
had not disposed the mind of the queen to great amenity
of manner ; therefore, as soon as she found herself in
the presence of Guise, Catherine imperiously com
manded the duke to cause at once the removal of the
barricades, and to repair in person to confer with his
majesty in council at the Louvre. " Madame," re
sponded the duke, coldly, " I have before told you that
I have no share in the insurrection of the people, nor
have I since promoted the popular turbulence, except

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 135
in measure as it is necessary for my own safety. My
friends are of opinion that I should not at present re
pair to the Louvre, and expose my life to the mercy of
my enemies." Catherine assured the duke that he had
nothing to fear, and that Henry was well disposed
towards him. The duke, however, continued obdurate,
and demanded the royal signature to, and the proclama
tion of, the articles which he had proposed, before he
would use his influence to restore tranquillity, or repair
to an audience of his majesty. " The queen-mother,"
says an eye-witness of the events which he relates,
"did all in her power to persuade and tore-assure. M.
de Guise, however, would neither listen nor believe ;
the queen, therefore, sent word to the king of the
failure of her negotiation by the secretary Pinart, who
had accompanied her." Catherine despatched Pinart,
after a brief private interview, under pretext of bring
ing back unlimited powers from the king, to enable
her, as she stated, to conclude the convention demanded
by the duke.1 She then sat down and coolly com
menced a discussion upon each clause of the articles
drawn at Nancy. The scene which ensued was a rare
and notable piece of diplomatic acting ; the manner of
the queen — insinuating and empressee — bland from ex
cess of exquisite complacency that she was outwitting
her adversary ; the duke, bending with humble words
before her majesty, and yet unable altogether to con
ceal the arrogance of conscious power, that he alone
authoritatively wielded the popular impulse, and that,
when he gave the signal, the king would become a pri
soner in his own capital. Daringly the duke appealed
to Catherine to give her co-operation in aiding present
events, which, he said, formed part of that great scheme
which they had both advocated, for excluding le
1 Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades. MS. Amplifications des Par-
ticularite"s qui se passerent a Paris. Mem. de la Ligue. Davila, liv. ix.

136 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [J588.
Bearnnois, and giving the crown to her grandson Henri
de Lorraine. He likewise reproached the queen for
her lukewarm adherence to the treaty signed at Ne
mours, despite the reiteration of her good-will and
sympathy while at Chalons. Catherine listened ; raised
frivolous points, and discussed them at length, and with
such address and apparent candour and good humour,
that Guise, despite his long initiation in the study of
the queen's wilesome moods, was completely deceived.
As soon as Catherine quitted the Louvre, Henry
abruptly entered the apartment of his consort, and took
hasty farewell of her, leaving the queen drowned in
tears.. The resolution which he had come to seemed to
inspire the king with renewed energy. About one
o'clock he arrayed himself in the costume which he
usually wore when taking recreation in the gardens of
the Tuileries. Close at hand were the royal mews,
which it had been the habit of the king frequently to
visit. Henry, therefore, presently boldly quitted the
Louvre, and went on foot to an adjacent gate called
La Porte Neuve, of which he exclusively possessed a key,
whereby he entered the precincts of the Tuileries. His
majesty brandished a light cane in his hand, and was
followed by a troop of dogs ; his manner was insouciant,
and he leisurely surveyed the aspect of the streets be
fore him on emerging from the Louvre. Henry then
entered Catherine's hotel, and waited the result of her
negotiation, as, in case of a sudden assault on the
Louvre, he was there in safety, with a favourable chance
of escape, did the worst happen.1 The king was accom
panied by D'O, Bellievre, the abbe d'Elbene, Ram
bouillet, and others of the courtiers. He talked and
jested with apparent unconcern to Bellievre, and com
pared his present predicament and probable evasion
1 Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades— MS. Journal de Henri III.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 137
with his celebrated flight from Cracow, which the
former had so ably concerted and aided. The king
had scarcely been half an hour at the Tuileries before
a messenger arrived, bringing a confidential communi
cation from one of the royal adherents, a tradesman
in the city, warning the king of the proposed blockade
of the Louvre, and admonishing his majesty to take
timely precautions. The envoy had traversed Paris, at
the risk of his life, on this errand, aided by the inter
vention of a captain belonging to one of the city bands,
also a concealed foe of the League. This intelligence
greatly affected Henry; he, however, resolved to wait
for some intimation from Catherine, before taking the
decisive measure of leaving the capital. Crillon, mean
while, withdrew the royal guard and the Swiss compa
nies, and safely marched them out of Paris by the
private gate of the Tuileries. This was one great step
achieved for the security of the royal person. Mean
while, alarming rumours pervaded Paris that some great
enterprise was meditated against the Louvre. Many
nobles hastily quitted their mansions and repaired to
the king, whom they followed to the Tuileries ; amongst
these came the dues de Montpensier and de Longueville,
the chancellor de Cheverny, the comte de Guiche, the
comte de St. Paul, the marechals de Biron and d'Au
mont, whose blood was fiercely thirsted for by the
Parisian populace. The secretaries of state, Brulard
and Villeroy, also presented themselves. The reports
brought by these noble personages were not re-assuring :
they told of tumultuous assemblages, and of the sedi
tious deportment of the students of the university, who
had congregated in arms in the Cloitre de St. Severin,
where their fury was lashed and kindled in a tenfold
degree by the incendiary orations of the cure Lincestre.
It was also reported that the hotel de Guise was be
sieged by a yelling mob, which demanded that the queen-

138 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l588-
mother should appear on the balcony, and swear to
observe the proposals made by Guise for the pacifica
tion of the city. Indeed, the sound of tumultuous
turmoil and the clangour of the tocsins of the parishes
of St. Andre, St. Severin, and St. Pierre des Assis,
reached the ears of the group of anxious listeners in the
Tuileries. The emissaries of madame de Montpensier
also had caused it to be bruited abroad that the king
had commanded eight pieces of cannon to be taken
from the arsenal, to clear the streets in the vicinity of
the Louvre. Henry sat overwhelmed and dejected in
the halls of the Tuileries, the first monarch of his
royal race who quailed beneath that roof — destined
afterwards to ring with outrages so atrocious to the
descendants of St. Louis — listening with sinking of heart
to the cries and distant wrestlings of a Parisian mob.
Henry's suspense was presently relieved by the
entrance of Pinart, the secretary of state, who had ac
companied the queen in her progress, and whom Cathe
rine sent from the hotel de Guise. Pinart had met
with considerable obstacles on his way to the Tuileries,
and had seen indications threatening enough to induce
him to urge the king to a prompt departure, before it
became publicly known that the queen rejected the con
ditions proposed by the duke. He, therefore, briefly
communicated Catherine's message, which the king re
ceived apart. Henry required no stimulant to urge
him to a prompt and undignified flight. He made
rapid preparations for immediate departure, though in
consternation as intense as if he had never contem
plated such necessity. The tears of the unfortunate
king freely flowed. Whilst his coach was preparing,
Henry rested with folded arms on a low wall abutting
his stables, whither in his despair and haste to depart
he had hurried, and wept the ingratitude of the Pari
sians, protesting that he had cherished them and their

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 139
city more even than his own wife.1 When his horses
were harnessed Henry entered his coach, attended by
the dues de Montpensier and Longueville, and rapidly
driving out of the courtyard of the palace, he took the
road towards Chartres. As the king passed the Tour
de Nesle, his suite was fired on by the arquebusiers on
guard, and one ball struck his majesty's carriage. As
soon as the king's coach drove forth, it was literally
sauve qui peut with the motley throng whom he left
behind in the gardens of the Tuileries. The report of
Henry's probable departure had prevailed in the capital
before the arrival of Pinart, though it was disbelieved
by the majority of persons. The rumour had been
spread by two servants appertaining to M. de Biron,
who, meeting their master hurrying towards the Louvre,
reported everywhere that the king had abandoned his
capital. The more ardent of the royalists, however,
and many members of the high courts, came flocking
to the Louvre and to the Tuileries to ascertain the
truth of the report. Many of these persons, when they
heard of Henry's flight, fearing that the city would be
plundered, prepared to follow his majesty without even
returning to their homes ; believing that before many
hours elapsed La Porte Neuve would be as securely
guarded as the other gates of Paris, at which exit was
no longer permitted, except by a pass signed by one of
the Seize. Horses and conveyances were, therefore,
bought or hired at fabulous prices by the terrified cour
tiers. The road between Paris and Rambouillet exhi
bited the same grotesque scenes which rendered for ever
memorable the flight back to the capital from St. Ger
main during the conspiracy of Les Jours Gras in the
reign of Charles IX. The magnificent and pompous
Cheverny, that minister after Catherine's own heart,
1 MS. Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades. F. de Thoisy, Bibl. Imp.
Davila. Hist, de la Maison de Guise.

140 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, \_15^-
was forced to bestride a wretched hack worth the sum
of ten fi'ancs, which seems to have bolted every way
excepting along the route taken by the royal equipage.
Bellievre, more fortunate apparently, saddled with his
own hands a fiery Andalusian charger appertaining to
the royal stud, and recently presented to Henry by his
brother-in-law, Philip II. of Spain, but which several
times threw its rider, who excelled not in equestrian
exercises. The secretary Brulart quitted Paris with
only two testons in his pocket. The learned and
eloquent advocate Espesses procured a mule, upon
which to follow the king, but failed to secure a
saddle and bridle. The latter he remedied by a con
trivance of his own ; while madame de Freluc, state
housekeeper to the queen at the hotel des Tuileries,
meantime obligingly manufactured something resem
bling a pair of spurs from the branches of a tree grow
ing at hand.1 " It was a spectacle most deplorable,"
says de Thou, " to see this prince, who a few days pre
viously had been master of one of the greatest and
most populous cities in the world, the inhabitants of
which he had enriched by his constant residence
amongst them and his immense profusions, obliged to
flee therefrom to save his life, followed by his servants,
dispersed and flying, some on foot, others on miserable
baggage-horses, many without mantles or boots."
Henry spoke not a word until he reached the hamlet
of Chaillot. He then rose in the carriage, and fiercely
surveying Paris, he uttered, it is said, a malediction
upon the turbulent and ungrateful city, vowing with a
terrible oath never more to enter it, except over its
1 De Thou, liv. xc. Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades — MS. Nou
velles de Paris, recit veritable comment le due de Guise est nouvelle-
ment arrive" a Paris, et le roy s'est retire" a Chartres, en 4tc, 1588. —
Allemand.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 141
prostrate walls, and in the guise of a conqueror.1 The
king, after this ebullition of wrath, again relapsed into
despondency, from which he was roused by the sight of
his superb chancellor, who came ambling up to the
coach on his ill-conditioned steed to condole with his
majesty. Henry fell back in the carriage in a convul
sion of laughter, and from that time his spirits re
vived. The king halted first at a place called Trapes,
where he drank wine, for him an unusual indulgence.
He then proceeded to Rambouillet, where he passed
the night, the guest of his faithful subject, Nicholas
d'Angennes.2 Guards were posted round the castle,
and every precaution taken for the safety of the royal
person, in case, as it was apprehended, the people of
Paris might pursue the king. The palace of St. Ger
main had at first been Henry's intended destination ;
but its contiguity to Paris induced the king, by the
advice of Cheverny, to prefer the town of Chartres, of
which the chancellor was governor, and its bishop a
prelate of the house of de Thou — a family whose
attachment to the royal cause was notorious. The
king and his counsellors spent the night in drawing up
circular letters addressed to the governors of the pro
vinces, prelates, and dignitaries of the realm. His
majesty explained the violent proceedings and causes
which had induced him to leave the capital, and de
meaned himself by entering into a general justification
of his conduct. This unfortunate prince, always badly
counselled, or else singularly obdurate and tenacious of
advice, himself rendered indelible the outrage which
had befallen him by the craven-hearted tone of these
letters, in which he actually exhorted his subjects " to
1 Mathieu: Hist. liv. viii. "Je quitte," exclaimed the king, "ces
nouveaux rois de Paris !"
2 De Thou. Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire.

142 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
pray God to bring about a prompt reconciliation be
tween himself, the due de Guise, and the Parisians."
" The king," says Mathieu, " dictated and signed
letters, not worded with the heart of a prince nor of a
great captain, but in the style of a trembling fugitive—
a man who dared not defend himself by hand or by
heel — who, deeming himself unworthy to command,
condescended to beseech and propitiate his subjects."
By daybreak, the following morning, Henry con
tinued his journey to Chartres. He was greeted with
enthusiasm by the people. The bishop Nicholas de
Thou, went out to meet his majesty at the head of his
clergy, to conduct him to the episcopal abode. Loud
cries of " Vive le roi !" greeted Henry — an acclama
tion which at any rate possessed the zest of novelty.
His regiment of guards arrived at a later hour on the
same day ; also the Swiss regiments, which were en
camped in the adjacent villages. A numerous court
speedily gathered round the king; for most of the nobility
either repaired to Chartres or withdrew to their country
residences the better to promote the designs of the
League — a course adopted by all the great nobles
alienated by Henry's unjust partialities and caprice.
Amongst the persons who escaped and joined Henry at
Chartres was Nicholas Poulain, whose revelations, had
they been attended to betimes, might have reversed the
respective positions of king Henry and the due de Guise.
The duke once arrested or driven forth from Paris, the
crown might then legally have resumed the princelv fiefs
munificently bestowed on the house of Lorraine by
Henry's predecessors, and which had enabled its mem
bers to raise the banner of revolt against the sove
reign. Queen Catherine, during the flight of the king, re
mained closeted with the due de Guise, and with extra
ordinary dexterity maintained the conference ever

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 143
bringing forward some new and subtle point. The
hour was approaching that of six in the evening, when
without ceremonial whatever the sieur de Maineville
rushed into the apartment where the two were con
ferring, and, approaching the duke, whispered a few
hurried words in his ear. The duke precipitately rose,
and exclaimed in a menacing voice, " Madame ! you
have betrayed me ! Whilst your majesty has been
dallying with me here, the king has quitted Paris. I
am lost ; his majesty will be more my enemy than
ever !" It was a moment of extreme peril for the
queen — alone in the palace of Guise, which was filled
with his armed retainers, while without resounded the
clamour of a bloodthirsty mob. The intrepid spirit of
the queen deserted her not in this emergency. With
out change of countenance Catherine calmly rose and
replied, " that she did not believe the report, as the
king had never communicated to her such intent ; never
theless some sudden intelligence might have occasioned
his majesty's determination ; she would therefore return
immediately to the Louvre." The duke hesitated for
a few seconds, then, evidently deeming it more prudent
to obey the queen's wish, he escorted her to her sedan.1
Not a single guarantee of safety^not a man, as an ad
ditional escort, did Catherine demand from Guise before
trusting herself in the midst of the excited and angry
multitudes. The queen stepped smilingly into her
sedan, and, attended as before, by her four gentlemen-
in-waiting, courageously passed the barricades, still
wearing the same affable and courteous demeanour. In
many of the streets the people cheered her majesty ; in
other localities rough questions and admonitions were
addressed to the queen, all of which Catherine took in
good part, and replied to in suitable terms. At length
1 Hist, de la Journe'e des Barricades — MS. Davila. Vie de Cathe
rine de Medici. Brant&me. De Coste : Dames Illustres.

144 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [J588.
the queen entered the Louvre : most desolate was its
aspect. The guards were withdrawn, the courtiers dis
persed, and the ladies of the young queen were bemoan
ing in their mistress's apartment the catastrophe which
had befallen the brilliant court. Catherine's presence
banished the depression everywhere prevailing ; her
knowledge and wonderful resources never shone more
conspicuously than in an emergency, when affairs de
pended for their adjustment upon her personal energy,
She began by declaring her intent to take up her abode,
pending the return of king Henry, at the Louvre ; she
commanded a guard, and posted sentinels to perform
the usual duties around the palace ; she visited and com
forted queen Louise ; and finally, the queen sent to re
quest the presence of the duchesses de Montpensier and
de Nemours at the palace. Unhesitatingly her man
dates were obeyed ; old associations were vivid, and the
court and the people feared Catherine's sway rather than
that of her son. The queen, moreover, privately de
spatched a gentleman with a mandate to Crillon and
Damville, colonels of the French and Swiss guards, ad
monishing them to follow the king diligently, and to
march night and day, if necessary, until they had re
joined his majesty. The Swiss made some demur
about following the king to oppose the due de Guise,
but finally their objections were overruled.
The departure of the king, meanwhile, placed the
due de Guise in the most onerous and embarrassing
position. His barricades were now unavailing ; and the
choice lay distinctly before him, either to fortify him
self in Paris, the chief and leader of an absolute rebel
lion ; or spontaneously to make those concessions for the
pacification of the capital and the submission of its tur
bulent populace which he had before refused to the
urgent entreaties of queen Catherine. " The two
Henrys," to quote from one of the pamphlets of the

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 145
day, " showed themselves on this memorable day to be
confirmed simpletons, the one for not having during the
first day of the barricades, and when, until eleven
o'clock, it was in his power, executed the design of his
heart against the due de Guise ; and the latter, on the
morrow, for having allowed the prey he had so cleverly
entrapped to escape from his net."1 As it was, the
duke stood guilty, in the eyes of foreigners and of all
loyal Frenchmen, of a most treasonable and scandalous
enterprise, in having contributed to compel his sovereign
to abandon his capital ; the odium was great, but the
duke felt his responsibility to be still more oppressive.
By this daring act the king was a fugitive ; the royal
troops had been ejected ; the city was barricaded ; busi
ness and trade of every kind suspended, and the courts
of justice remained closed. Neither could the duke
positively rely on the municipality of the capital, for
two of the sheriffs and other civic dignitaries had fol
lowed the king to Chartres. Catherine, moreover, was
in the Louvre, a popular princess, as well as an able one,
and the duke as yet knew not how far his proceedings
might have roused the jealousy of the queen and ren
dered her hostile. Scarcely had Catherine departed
from the h6tel de Guise, wheu the comte de Brissac
arrived to confer with the duke. It was hastily re
solved to dismiss and disarm the students of the uni
versity who were still enrolled — a menacing band in the
suite of Brissac — to silence the tocsins, and to clear and
close the churches, which were for the most part filled
with rabble listening to and applauding the denunciations
of the factious cures. The due de Guise then mounted
on horseback, and attended by his cousin the chevalier
d'Aumale, the archbishop of Lyons, and the bishop of
Meaux, he proceeded to the Palais de Justice. As he
1 Journal de Henri III. L'Etoile.
VOL. III. L

146 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
passed along he commanded the people to remove the
barricades from all the adjacent streets, that the district
might no longer be blockaded and traffic impeded. The
duke was promptly obeyed ; at his desire the people set
to work with so hearty a good-will on the demolition
of their street defences, that when he quitted the Palais
the way was comparatively cleared. The chevalier
d'Aumale was next despatched to visit each of the
bridges of the capital, bearing a similar mandate to the
insurgent officer in command. The will of the duke
here also again proved to be paramount.1
The due de Guise, with the prelates his companions,
proceeded next to visit the first president of the par
liament of Paris, de Harlay. The latter received the
duke with stern reserve of manner; and when Guise
commented on the hasty flight of the king, an event
greatly to be deplored, and added that it was his inten
tion to request the people to remove their barricades,
so that MM. de la Cour could meet to carry on their
deliberations, de Harlay replied, " When the majesty
of the sovereign has been thus violated, we, his magis
trates, have no further right to exercise our functions :
nevertheless, he lauded the tardy resolve of monseigneur
de Guise." The duke then requested the president to
cancel the summons which he had issued requiring the
Chambers to meet on the following day, Saturday, May
15th. " I grieve that his majesty has been so badly
counselled as to depart from his capital in a rage:
nevertheless, as this has been done, we must care for
the preservation of our lives and reputations ; therefore,
I pray you, monsieur, to prorogue the Chambers for to
morrow." De Harlay refused, saying that the notices
had been delivered at the houses of the presidents and
other influential members, and that it was his resolve
1 De Thou, liv. xc. Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire. Hist, de la
Journee des Barricades. MS.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 147
to discharge the duties of his office subject alone to the
king. Guise remained silent for nearly ten minutes ;
then fixing his eyes steadily on the intrepid magistrate,
who thus had the courage to resist his mandate, he
said, " At least, then, monsieur, promise that the
events of the last two days shall not be discussed."
De Harlay complied conditionally, if her majesty ap
proved, and was not pleased to order otherwise. This
conversation took place in the long walk in the garden
of the Palais.1 Guise then took his leave, and departed
by a postern which opened close upon the Pont Neuf.
The duke then visited in rotation the presidents of the
criminal courts. He deplored the unfortunate events
of the preceding days, the obstinacy of the king and
the rancour of his enemies, which, he said, had been
the cause of all. Having, then, as he supposed, wound
up again the wheels of the state, the duke despatched
an officer with a message to the president de Harlay,
absolutely prohibiting in very distinct terms the meet
ing of the Chambers during the following morning, and
again commanded him to issue notices rescinding his
former summons. De Harlay, though surprised at
this fresh notification after his interview with the
duke, undauntedly sent back word, " that he should
do his duty, aud that the chambers would meet, as
they recognized only the royal authority and had no
affair with the due de Guise." The duke was with
the queen at the Louvre when this message was re
ported to him ; his anger was unrestrained. Catherine,
to pacify the duke, then promised to interpose ; and,
accordingly, she sent a messenger to de Harlay at two
o'clock in the morning requesting that the Chambers
should not be assembled on that day. De Harlay
rose from his bed and returned a respectful reply to
1 Cayet. Mathieu. Dupleix.
L 2

14S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
her majesty, promising obedience to her mandate.
After some further parley with the queen, Guise re
turned to his hotel, traversing the streets on foot, ad
dressing the people with affable language, and cheering
them in their task of clearing away the barricades.
" M. de Guise," says de Thou, " went himself and
posted the guards, conversing familiarly with the in
surgents, who were all of the lowest dregs of the popu
lace, and whose vulgar slang offended his ears. He
embraced some, smiled on others, and listened to all,
without, however, losing his dignity of manner, but
always keeping the serene and stately demeanour be
coming to his quality."1
So well was the duke obeyed that the following
morning there was scarcely a barricade to be seen.
The council of the Seize then established itself per
manently in the Hotel de Ville, and daringly com
menced the reforms so long clamoured for, without re
ference to the Louvre. During the day the com
mandant of the Bastille, Laurent Tetu, was summoned
to deliver that fortress into the hands of Guise and
the Seize. Tetu made a cowardly expostulation; and
when he was informed that the people had gone to
fetch artillery from the arsenal to batter the fortress,
he resigned his charge to Bussy le Clerc, whom the
duke nominated as governor in his stead.2 A quantity
of provisions was found stored within the Bastille, also
wine. The cannon of the fortress, amounting to six
teen pieces, were loaded and turned upon the city : no
thing, in fact, could have been more supine than the
conduct of Henry and his ministers. They had a
plentiful supply of provisions, an arsenal stored with
arms and ammunition, 4,000 troops within Paris, three
additional regiments encamped beyond St. Denis—
1 De Thou, liv. xc. 2 Hist, des Barricades. MS.

I588- ] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 149
soldiers, all of them, inured to warfare — and yet Henry
had suffered himself to be overpowered and disarmed
by a mob of demagogues, whose rising had not been
one regularly organized. His dread of the hostility
of Philip II. ever haunted king Henry ; and the most
remote or vague apprehension of Spanish intervention
seems to have deprived him of every particle of dignity
and presence of mind.
Le Clerc no sooner entered upon the functions of
governor of the Bastille, than he carried the keys of
the fortress and also those of the Porte St. Antoine to
the due de Guise. The latter returned the keys of the
Bastille to le Clerc, but refused to receive the keys of
the Porte St. Antoine. A scene of entreaty, on the
part of the new commandant and his colleagues, and
of mock resistance, on that of Guise, ensued ; the duke
protesting that his honour prevented him from usurping
one of the royal prerogatives. Finally, the controversy
was adjusted by the keys of the city gate being de
hvered into the safe keeping of Maineville and Brissac.
An order of arrest was next issued against Claude la
Perreuse, his majesty's able and zealous prevot des
marchands, who was committed "pour sa propre
securite," on the sole authority of the duke and the
council des Seize to the Bastille.1 Rapin, prevot de
I'Hotel de Ville, was also dismissed, and deemed him
self in such danger from the animosity of his fellow -
citizens, that he sought refuge in the house of the
president de Harlay, and took the opportunity of quit
ting Paris in the suite of the marquis de Villequier,
when the latter proceeded to visit the king at Chartres.
1 "On sache certainment que M. le pre"vdst savoit tout ce qu'on
devoit executer, meme qu'il ne bougeoit d'avec M. d'O, auteur de ce con
seil, et auquel M. d'Epernon, allant en Normandie, avoit donne" toute
creanee envers le roy, le priant se fier et reposer sur luy, le substituant
en son lieu." — Histoire de la Journe'e des Barricades.

150 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l588.
Further arrests of suspected persons were achieved;1
domiciliary visits were made in the houses of parties
believed to be hostile to the League. The duke issued
commands that the private cabinet of king Henry,
situated in one of the towers of the Bastille, and which
contained the most important of his majesty's papers,
should be held inviolate, and a sentry placed before the
door. The treasure coffers in the Hotel de Ville were
also sealed with the seal of Lorraine and holden intact.
The rich financier Zamet asked permission during the
day to convey his most valuable effects to the hotel de
Guise; a favour which the duke granted, and likewise
extended his offer of protection to the person of Zamet,
whom he invited to become his guest.
The most noble protest, however, which was made
against the usurpations of the due de Guise came from
the English ambassador, the earl of Stafford. Early
during the morning of Saturday, May 15th, it was
mentioned at the council des Seize that the English
ambassador was suspected of harbouring the enemies
of the League, and of having made a great collection
of arms and ammunition of war in his hotel upon the
Quai des Bernardins. The rumour was referred to the
due de Guise, who thereupon commanded Brissac to
repair to the abode of the ambassador and ask an in
terview. He was directed to compliment the earl in
the name of the due de Guise, and to assure him of
the protection of the latter, and also to offer that a
guard should be mounted before the gates of his hotel
for the better protection of his person. The earl re
plied, " that had he been a private individual he should
have thanked M. de Guise for his courteous attention ;
but that being the ambassador of her Britannic majesty
1 The duke, nevertheless, resented any unauthorized arrests ; two of
his soldiers having so transgressed, the duke, in the vehemence of his
indignation, drew his sword and severely wounded both.

I588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 151
and accredited to the king, it was not in his power to
accept any other protection than that of the king."
Brissac replied by observing, " that the due de Guise
had come to Paris without evil designs, that he had
only acted on the defensive, for a great conspiracy
had been organized against him and the city of Paris :
that the Hotel de Ville was filled with gibbets, upon
which the king had resolved to hang many of the most
notable citizens, and that M. de Guise urgently prayed
the earl to inform qtieen Elizabeth of these circum
stances." The earl responded, " that he should be
happy to believe M. de Brissac ; but he begged to
be permitted to observe that the events of the capital
would be most indignantly denounced by all the princes
of Christendom ; for it was the manifest duty of sub
jects to remain obedient to their sovereign. If so
many gibbets had been prepared, it might be advisable
for M. de Guise to exhibit them, to justify, in however
slight a degree, the odious and detestable acts com
mitted. That M. de Guise might rely on a faithful
record of his proceedings being transmitted to queen
Elizabeth ; but as to rendering himself the interpreter
or apologist of the designs of the League, he must
utterly decline such an office." Brissac, finding that
the ambassador was not to be intimidated, said " that
a guard was necessary to defend the ambassador from
the fury of the people, who were bent on avenging the
cruel murder of their former queen, Mary Stuart."
" Softly, monsieur, the word ' cruel' cannot be applied
to a solemn and judicial decree, legitimately pronounced
and executed. As for the rest, I do not believe that
the people bear me ill-will." " Have you arms in
this hotel, or have you not ?" angrily demanded Brissac.
" If you were to demand this question of me in the
private capacity of having been the intimate friend of
your late valiant uncle, M. de Cosse, I probably might

152 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [lj88.
reply. But being what I am, you will obtain no an
swer," replied the earl. " Your hotel will be attacked
and plundered, then, monseigneur ; the people believe
that you have arms !" The ambassador replied that
he should defend himself to the last, and the people at
their own risk and peril would violate his abode and
the solemn privileges of an ambassador. Brissac then
said, " Monseigneur, I pray you urgently, tell me, as
your friend, whether you have arms in this your
hotel ?" " As you demand the question of me in a
private capacity, I reply that, had I been a private
individual, I should have provided arms; but, being
an ambassador, I have taken to myself no arms other
than those of right and public law." With this reply
the count departed, and repaired to report his conference
with lord Stafford to the due de Guise.1 Notwithstanding
the stubborn demeanour of the English ambassador, it
was felt that his person and property must be defended
from outrage ; the duke, therefore, mounted a strong
guard on the Quai des Bernardins and the adjacent
Place Maubert, and himself addressed letters to queen
Elizabeth explanatory of his recent proceedings, and
protesting that he still remained the obedient servant
of Henry III.
In the Palais, meanwhile, a few members of the
parliament met, comprehending those whose abodes
were too distant to have rendered possible the recep
tion of the counter order prohibiting the assemblage of
the Chambers. The president de Harlay, however, was
not seated in his tribune, and upon inquiry it was as
certained that he was still in the Sainte Chapelle, where
he had gone to perform his morning orisons. Some
of the members repaired thither, and persuaded the
president to accompany them back to the Salle de St.
1 Particularity qui se passerent a Paris Mai, 1588. Lettres de
Pasquier.

I588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 153
Louis. Amongst the members present were, the pre
sident du Guesle, the attorney-general, the president
de Thou, and others. After some conference it was
suggested that a deputation ought, during that very day,
to wait upon the king to express the extreme regret of
the parliament at the events of la Journee des Barri
cades, and to assure his majesty of its loyal adherence.
The president de Thou was commissioned to proceed
privately to the Louvre, and consult queen Catherine
as to the expediency of the step. Catherine highly
approved the decision ; she informed de Thou that she
was about herself to despatch Pinart to visit the king,
and would advertise his majesty of the loyal intentions
of his parliament. The same evening the envoys set
out ; the deputation consisted, of the president du
Guesle, his son the attorney-general, and of four in
fluential members named Courtin, Brissard, Gillot, and
Bonnin.1 The day following being Sunday, the most treason
able demonstrations were made in the churches of the
capital. The preachers of Paris regaled their hearers
with harangues highly seditious and inflammatory. At
St. Severin, Jean Prevot expatiated on the glory and
the patriotism of the due de Guise, whom he compared
to Ceesar. If the duke could hitherto boast of having
experienced the fortune of Csesar, he certainly had not
been endowed with the genius of Caesar. Boucher, at
St. Benoit, delivered an address of almost rabid bitter
ness against the reigning house. Its crimes, dissen
sions, tyranny, and pusillanimity, were gloated over
with a fierce fanaticism which inspired awe. He com
pared the triumph of the due de Guise over the armed
hosts of Henri de Valois to that of Joshua, before
whom the walls of Jericho fell. At St. Andre, Jean
1 De Thou. Archives du Royaume, H. 1789. Registres de l'H&tel
de Ville.

154 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l588-
Lincestre, one of the most turbulent churchmen in
the capital, moved his auditory to tears and to alternate
laughter by the vehemence of his rhetoric, and his
coarse allusions to the private scandals of the court.
Catherine repaired to hear mass in La Sainte Chapelle,
accompanied by queen Louise. The due de Guise met
her majesty at the Palais, and attended her back to
the Louvre ; the queen, however, was highly indignant
at the seizure of the Bastille and the arrest of La Per
reuse, the prevot des marchands, and demonstrated
her displeasure so undisguisedly after her return to the
Louvre, that Guise deemed it best to offer some con
ciliatory concession : he, therefore, consented to the
liberation of M. la Perreuse. " Madame," said he, "if
it be your will, I will go this instant and fetch him ;
but, believe me, he is safer there where he is than at his
own house." Catherine angrily persisted in her de
mand ; the duke, therefore, sent directions accordingly
to the Seize, and the ex-provost's liberation was effected
during the following day. The queen likewise sharply
reproached the duke for the seditious harangues which
he suffered in the churches ; she also desired that
every vestige of a barricade might disappear from all
parts of the city by the following morning. The queen
was obeyed ; the magnitude of his triumph had bewil
dered the duke ; he dared not assume the power, irre
sponsibility, and freedom of a great revolutionary
leader. He wished to test the security of his path,
and to carry the queen with him as a skilful coadjutress.
Up to a certain point the address and acts of Guise
had prevailed ; he became a successful agitator and a
popular hero : arrived at this elevated summit, his ob
ject being undefined even to himself, his policy was
a failure. Supreme power insensibly glided from his
grasp — for he dared not concentrate it in his own
person. After years of intrigue Guise remained in

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 155
doubt as to the degree in which his designs were sup
ported and sympathized in by the great mass of the
people ; instead of tenaciousness of purpose, he there
fore demonstrated uncertainty.
All the strongholds and the public edifices of Paris
were now in the hands of the Seize, yet they deemed
themselves insecure while the king's faithful servants
remained in possession of the principal forts in the
vicinity of the capital. On Monday, therefore, the
governor of the castle of Vincennes was summoned to
surrender. He quitted the fortress to parley with the
commissioners of the Seize, and was treacherously de
tained. The castle, bereft of its governor, eventually
capitulated.1 Vincennes, during the barricades, had
been the abode of the widowed duchesse de Montmo
rency. Two days after the departure of the king, the
due de Guise wrote to madame de Montmorency, re
questing her to receive there the duchesse de Guise,
whose state of pregnancy rendered it unsafe for her to
remain amid the tumult of Paris. Madame de Mont
morency, who felt most lively indignation at the occur
rences in Paris, replied by at once vacating the royal
apartments within the fortress, and retired to Chantilly
a few hours before the arrival of the envoys of the
League. On the afternoon of Monday, May 17th, the duchesse
de Guise entered Paris, accompanied by the cardinals
de Bourbon and de Vendome. The prince de JoinviUe,
with a great suite, went out to meet and escort his
mother to the h6tel de Guise, where she was received
by her husband, by the cardinal de Guise, and by
madame de Montpensier. The duchess remained only
a few days in Paris, and retired to Vincennes. The
old cardinal de Bourbon, however, still the dupe of the
1 Hist, des Barricades. MS.

156 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE. []588.
due de Guise, and infatuated as ever with the hope of
eventually reigning, took up his abode in the hotel de
Guise.1 The transports of the duchesse de Montpensier at
the altitude to which her aspiring kinsmen had risen,
were fervid and uncontrollable. So indignant was she
at the departure of her step-son the due de Montpen
sier with the king, that she forthwith quitted his hotel,
which she had continued to occupy after the demise of
her husband, and fixed her residence in the hotel de
Montmorency. Queen Catherine one day rebuked the
arrogance of the duchess, and remonstrated with her on
the impropriety and danger of showing elation so visible.
" What will you have, madame ?" replied the duchess;
" I cannot contain my joy, and feel like a brave soldier
whose heart expands with triumph while contemplating
the glorious fruition of his own deeds !"2
1 MS. Hist, de la Journee des Barricades. F. de Thoisy.
3 Journal de Henri III. L'Etoile,

BOOK VI.

CHAPTER I.
1588.
Manifesto issued by Henry III. — Letters of the due de Guise — As
sembly in the H6tel de Ville — Election of a new municipality and
other officers of state — Progress of the revolt — Deportment of king
Henry — His political attitude — He grants audience to the deputies
from the parhament of Paris — Procession of Penitents — The new
municipality of Paris is presented to the king by queen Catherine—
The due d'Epernon — His apparent disgrace, and departure for An
gouleme — Negotiations of queen Catherine and M. de Villeroy with
the due de Guise — Edict of Union — Henry receives the due de Guise
— Details of the sojourn of the duke at Chartres — Papal manifesto
in favour of the League — Enterprise against the life of Epernon —
Henry arrives at Blois — He summarily dismisses his ministers, and
appoints a fresh cabinet — The court at Blois — Princesses of Lorraine
— Opening of the States-Generaliof 1588.
On the 17th day of May letters- missive, addressed to
the provincial courts of the realm, appeared simultane
ously from king Henry and the due de Guise. Henry's
address had been concocted at Rambouillet during the
panic and excitement of his flight from Paris ; and after
wards, it was not thought expedient to make alterations
in the style of this document. Henry, as it has been
related, therein professed his pacific intentions, and
justified his conduct. The manifesto issued by Guise
was drawn in bolder and more dictatorial language.
The duke repudiated, like his royal master, all hostile
intents ; he declared his innocence of having promoted
the insurrection which had compelled the king to quit
Paris ; he announced that he had possessed himself of

160 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [J588.
the arsenal, the Bastille, the Chatelet, and other strong
holds of the capita], " to restore them again to a pacific
and well-counselled monarch, such as he hoped to render
his majesty through the intercession of the pope and
other Christian potentates ; but that, if evil prevailed,
he trusted to be able to defend religion and the ortho
dox community from the persecution which the allies
and confederates of heresy about the person of the
sovereign were preparing" — a strong declaration this,
and little in accord with the duke's humble protesta
tions of submission. The rest of the document is
written in the plausible though dogmatic style of one
who is conscious that he needs justification, though
appreciating his power ; and it concluded by audaciously
proclaiming that, had it so pleased the duke, he could
easily have arrested the king twenty-four hours before
his majesty's flight. These mauifestoes provoked nu
merous replies, nearly all of which were hostile in tone
to the royal cause, even when adverse to the designs
of the League.1
The cardinal de Bourbon, meantime, as first prince
of the blood, convened, conjointly with the due de
Guise, a public assembly in the Hotel de Ville for the
election of a new prevot des marchands in the room
of La Perreuse, and of echevins to replace the civic
functionaries who had fled to Chartres after the king.
This meeting was held on Thursday, the 19th of May;
the adherents of the League mustered in force, and the
due de Guise was present. The elections were made
by ballot, without reference to the pleasure of the king,
which in past times had always been ascertained before
the nomination of municipal officers. The sieur de
Marchemont was elected in the room of La Perreuse,
but on his steadily declining the office, that most
1 Mem. de la Ligue, tome ii. De Thou, tome xc. Mathieu, liv.
viii. Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire.

I588-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 161
furious of Leaguers, la Chapelle Marteau, master of
Requests,1 was appointed — a man who, having been
ruined by the reckless extravagances of his parents,
desired to involve every other person and thing in
a similar perdition. The new sheriffs were Roland,
Compans, a member of the Seize, Cotteblanche, and
des Pres.2 The king's attorney-general in the muni
cipal courts was dismissed, and one Brigart elected in
his stead. The duke also proceeded to displace Seguier,
chief justice of the criminal courts and of the Chatelet,
and to nomihate la Bruyere, one of the most factious
of demagogues, to the vacant office. The new sheriffs
were no sooner installed than they dismissed the
colonels, captains, and aldermen of the wards, and
nominated instead their own partisans. The officers of
the minor municipal courts were likewise displaced,
until every office was in the hands of the Seize. Loyal
attachment or fidelity to the person of the sovereign
became the badge for instant dismissal. The duke even
attempted to remodel the royal household — an enter
prise, however, so sternly resisted by Catherine that
Guise dared not proceed in this project. Notice of the
new elections was given to her majesty by the duke
and the cardinal de Bourbon. Catherine's anger was in
tense, and she flatly refused to permit the new prevot la
Chapelle and the sheriffs to present themselves, as was
customary, before the privy council to take the oaths
of allegiance and fidelity. The duke, however, firmly
persisted on the necessity of this concession, adding
that the people had rightly displaced those unfaithful
servants who had badly counselled the king. After
much debate, the queen again reiterated a positive re-
1 Michel Marteau, sieur de la Chapelle, familiarly termed la Chapelle
Marteau. 2 Extraits des Registres de l'Hdtel de Ville. Archives du Royaume,
lettre H.
VOL. III. M

162 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
fusal to countenance so gross an invasion of the royal
authority as to dismiss his majesty's officers, and she
haughtily commanded the duke to leave her presence.
The deference shown by the duke for the queen-mother
was boundless ; it is true that he feared the queen, but
also he reposed unlimited confidence in Catherine's
friendly feeling. Guise, therefore, proposed a com
promise — to wit, that the queen should authorize the
new provost and other officers to discharge the duties
of their functions while application was being made to
procure the sanction of the king — to which expedient
Catherine agreed.
The League, meanwhile, demanded and received the
submission of the commandants of the forts in the
neighbourhood of Paris, and also the oath of the chief
authorities of the adjacent towns, villages, and hamlets.
The pretext assigned for this act of usurpation was,
that the king harboured a design to starve the Parisians,
he having, while at Trapes and other places between
Paris and Chartres, forbidden the transport of provi
sions to the capital. Saint Cloud, Charenton, Poissy
Corbeil, Lagny, Meulan, and Pontoise were thus seized.
The towns of Amiens and La Charite sent deputies to
the due de Guise with assurances of good-will; an
example imitated by Chateau Thierry, and even by a sec
tion of the inhabitants of the town of Chartres, Henry's
temporary abode.
The deputies sent by the parliament of Paris, on
their arrival at Chartres, were immediately admitted to
audience by the king. His majesty replied to their
condolences by a speech of some length. He accepted
their protestations, and declared that he knew how to
distinguish between his faithful subjects and the fac
tious; he authorized the parliament to continue its
sessions, and to deliberate upon the means of restoring
tranquillity to the capital. He declared that upon a

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 163
suitable expression of contrition he was prepared to par
don the people of Paris, but threatened that, if this their
acknowledgment of penitence were delayed, he would
make them feel the offence which they had committed,
so that the memory of their castigation should endure
for ever. The king recapitulated the incidents of the
Jour des Barricades ; he dilated on his legitimate and
royal title, and concluded his discourse with these
words, " Return, therefore, messieurs, to your duty and
offices with good heart ; fear nothing, for I your king
am on your side. Above all, proclaim abroad all that
I have said to you !" After dinner Henry again sent
for the envoys, and conversed for some time on the
condition of affairs, and promised to send an ambassa
dor to the parliament who should fully advertise them
of his final intentions.1 The manner of the king was
languid and slightly sarcastic ; he frequently alluded to
" mon cousin de Guise," but with that lisping irony of
tone which to those conversant with the character of
the monarch was indicative of vehement resentment.
From the commencement of his sojourn at Chartres, one
of those rapid changes often to be observed in the
mental constitution of Henry IIL, had passed over the
king. His usual indolent and frivolous pleasures lost
their zest. He was reserved with bis ministers, and
cold towards his favourites. His nights were spent in
meditation, and when he arose a feverish irritability re
placed Henry's usual good-natured condescension of
manner. Far from vouchsafing his approval or mani
festing his gratitude towards the queen-mother for her
courageous daring in his behalf, and her subsequent
skilful management of the due de Guise, the facts
seemed to haunt the mind of the king as confirmatory
of the suspicion which he had long entertained of her
1 Les Propos que le Roy a tenu a Chartres aux Deputez de sa Cour
de Parlement- -8 vo. De Thou.
M 2

164 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
collusion, with the " hero of the barricades." Towards
his ministers, Cheverny, Bellievre, and Villeroy, the
ungraciousness of his majesty's manner was observed by
many. It was with a smile on the lip and a menace
in the eye that he listened to their exhortations that he
should intrust the negotiations with Guise to the sole
management of Catherine and Villeroy. In short, Henry
had taken the resolve never to forgive or to forget the out
rage which he had received from the due de Guise ; he
was preparing to dissimulate, and to suffer any humilia
tion to restore an aspect of outward amity to their re
lations, as tending to hasten the vengeance which he
thirsted for. The degradation which had befallen him
compelled the king to reflect ; and the dastardly con
cessions which from time to time had been wrung from
him, filled him with anger and remorse, and inflamed a
bitter hate against those under whose counsels he had
acted. The arguments used by the queen-mother, by
Bellievre, Villequier, and Cheverny, in their earnest
intercession " that he would not attempt the life of
Guise," after the bold disregard shown by the latter to
the mandate of his sovereign not to enter Paris, were
remembered to their disadvantage at this period. The
king, however, resolved to employ the men who had
aided in bringing affairs to their present lamentable
condition to re-adjust them. When Henry fell into
one of these moods, which de Thou calls " sa bile noire,"
he became terrible as his brother Charles IX. Ordi
narily the fit had passed away swiftly, for the slothful,
laughter-loving monarch soon found that the role of a
despot was irksome. The lords of the League, how
ever, by abridging the royal recreations, and diminish
ing his majesty's pecuniary resources, had provided the
sharp antidote so long needed ; so that when they
hoped to find an easy and indifferent monarch, alike
oblivious of insult and amenable to control, they found

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 165
to their consternation a master wily as well as vindic
tive. The mean opinion which the magnates of the League
entertained relative to the mental capacity of their
sovereign, is demonstrated by the procession which left
the capital on the afternoon of the 17th of May, osten
sibly to entreat the forgiveness of king Henry for the
late contumacious rebellion. It seems as if every in
dividual or thing patronized by Henry was eventually
destined to combine for his overthrow. The order of
Penitents of Notre Dame, established by Henry, and
fostered by him with such singular persistency, had
been suddenly patronized by the League, and numbers
of the partisans of the Seize had enrolled themselves
under its banner. It was a religious confederation — one,
moreover, well organized, and might, therefore, become
a political engine of no despicable power. The return
of Henry to Paris was ardently desired by the League ;
and to promote this object, by acting on the fears of
the king, it was resolved to rouse a hostile demonstra
tion within the city of Chartres. The passion of the
king for processions was remembered, and made sub
servient to this design. It was determined that the
Penitents should proceed to Chartres to ask the pardon
of the king for the late enterprise ; so that, under this
pretext, an opportunity might be afforded to communi
cate with the disaffected. To obviate the risk of a
refusal on the part of his majesty to admit to his pre
sence members who, if they could chant misereres vyith
unction, had also shown that they knew how to fight
desperately behind a barricade, the new provost Chapelle
Marteau and the president de Neuilly proceeded to the
Capuchin monastery and prevailed upon de Bouchage,
brother and heir of the late due de Joyeuse, to lead
the procession. Le Pere Ange, as the duke was called
in his monastic retreat, readily consented, remembering

166 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
his master's pleasure in such spectacles, without re
flecting that his company was probably requested
merely as a passport to obtain admission into the town
of Chartres for these soi-disant Penitents — an oversight
for which he was afterwards bitterly reproached by the
king. The procession was grotesque and blasphemous;
it was intended to represent the scene along the Via
Dolorosa which terminated at Calvary. The moral to
-be conveyed was, " that as Christ pardoned the enemies
who had scourged and ill-treated him, so the king was
bound to forgive the Parisians the outrage to which he
had been subjected." " First walked a man with a
long beard, dirty and uncombed, blowing occasional
blasts on a cracked trumpet. Then came three other
men of ferocious aspect, having each a copper basin on
his head instead of a Roman helmet, and wearing
over his sackcloth a rusty suit of armour. These
persons dragged after them le Pere Ange, bound hand
and foot, and clad in a white vestment in shape like
an alb. On his head was a wig, and upon this a crown
of thorns was placed ; while drops of blood stood on his
cheeks, represented by paint. He carried a large cross,
under the weight of which he frequently feigned to
stumble and fall. Behind le Pere Ange walked four
men also wearing armour, holding the ropes with which
he was bound, and who at intervals lashed furiously
with a scourge upon the cords. On each side of the
father walked two young Capuchin monks, personating,
one the Virgin Mary, the other St. Mary Magdalene.
Their arms were crossed on their breasts, their tear
ful eyes were raised to heaven, and they prostrated
themselves each time that le Pere Ange fell to the
ground."1 Afterwards came a long procession of Peni-
1 Aubigne" — Hist. Universelle, tome iii. liv. i. Me'moires de la
Ligue. Maimbourg, tome ii.

Ij88.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 167
tents, including Neuilly and the most fanatical leaders
of the Seize, consisting of several hundred members.
An order having been previously sent by Henry to
admit the Penitents on their arrival at the gates of
Chartres, the procession entered the cathedral at vesper
hour, amid the hootings and derisive jeers of a mob of
people congregated to witness so grotesque a spectacle.1
The king was in the church, attended by some of the
principal personages of his suite, when le Pere Ange
and his coadjutors poured into the edifice. Beating their
breasts and crying misericorde ! the majority fell pros
trate one over the other before the altar. Some of the
spectators laughed, others wept ; more, despite the sanc
tity of the place, joined iu ribald outcry with the friars.
Henry gazed with displeasure at the blasphemous
travestie ; he desired that the discordant blasts of the
trumpet and the frantic shrieks of the Penitents might
cease. " I commiserate from the bottom of my heart,"
said his majesty, " the credulity of M. de Bouchage,
who being misled by his monks and deceived by the
factious, should have lent himself to such an exhibition,
which every one must brand as ludicrous." In his
altered mood Henry was now sensible of the odium and
indecency of the spectacle, which, however, did not ex
ceed in folly that first memorable exhibition of Penitents
in which his majesty had condescended to parade the
length and breadth of Paris with his head thrust in a
sack ! The due de Montpensier openly ridiculed the
exhibition f the marechal de Biron scoffed at it ; while
Crillon offered the services of the guard to give the
Penitents each a round dozen of stripes, seeing how in
efficiently this portion of the performance was enacted.
1 The procession arrived at Chartres on Tuesday, March 1 7.
2 " Tout iroit encore bien n' etoit que la musique est un peu aigre et
que l'on fait semblant de fouetter," said the duke.

163 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, ['588.
Henry addressed a few cold words to Pere Ange, and
quitted the cathedral, declining further conference with
the Penitents. The president de Neuilly, however,
was afterwards admitted to the royal presence to pre
sent an address from the Cour des Aides. The presi
dent hypocritically condoled with his majesty, and
offered the comforting assurance of his own fidelity.
The king, however, knowing that Neuilly was the most
intolerant of Leaguers, and having been admonished of
the private purport of his visit to Chartres, interrupted
his address by saying abruptly, " Hold ! poor fool
that you are ; do you not suppose that, if I bore ill-
will against you and your faction, I could long ago
have executed my enterprise? No, I have loved the
Parisians ; therefore go back to your comrades, mon
sieur, and try to behave yourself as a good subject
and citizen in degree as I have proved myself to be
your clement sovereign !" ' The marechal de Biron,
meantime, received advices through one of his friends,
a canon of the cathedral, of the secret treachery of
Neuilly, who, with others of the Penitents, was present
at a midnight assembly of the factious. Biron instantly
informed the king, and asked permission to surprise the
assemblage and arrest the members, including Neuilly,
whom he proposed to hang on the spot. The king de
clined to follow this advice, stating his intent in a few
days to depart from Chartres for the town of Mantes ;
a step which afterwards greatly offended the loyal inha
bitants of the former place.
The king, meantime, despatched Claude Dorron on a
mission to the parliament of Paris, according to his
promise. His majesty's ambassador made an harangue
of great eloquence and learning : in the name of the
king he announced that the States-general were to be
1 Journal de Henri III.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 169
convoked about the end of the year; and that it was
the royal resolve to take measures to provide a Roman
Catholic successor for the throne of France, selected
from among the princes of the blood royal of France.
His majesty promised to grant an amnesty for the past,
provided that the Parisians laid down arms and sub
mitted to the royal authority; it was also intimated
that his majesty, desiring to content his subjects on all
matters, had seen fit to annul twenty-six financial
edicts especially deemed burdensome by the people. The
placable manifestations made by the king greatly dis
composed the projects of the due de Guise, who was at
Chateau Thierry, whither he had repaired to receive
the submission of the garrison, when the royal envoy
entered Paris. In the face of such pacific declarations
it was difficult to compel the people of France to be
lieve that the king ever harboured the tyrannical inten
tions attributed to him, and which had been alleged in
excuse for the rising of the capital. Already the royal
adherents in the city of Paris ventured to denounce
the barricades, and appealed to the benevolence of his
majesty's attitude as a full refutation of the atrocious
calumnies propagated by the League ; a slight reaction,
therefore, was visible for the royal cause. The king
had promised his subjects an orthodox successor and
fiscal relief, and many indications warned the duke that
the French people were not prepared to fight in sup
port of his contemplated regal usurpation, apart from
the defence of their religion and liberties. Upon the
old cardinal de Bourbon the effect of the king's decla
ration acted promptly; he demanded only that the
sceptre of St. Louis should not be desecrated by the
grasp of a heretic ; his majesty, therefore, having pro
mised this, the cardinal retired from the hotel de Guise
to his abbey of St. Germain, and placed himself in
active correspondence with queen Catherine. Though

170 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [*588.
the duke continued to be supported by the approval and
counsels of the Spanish ambassador, he derived no ma
teria] support from Spain. The great Armada was on
the point of emerging from the port of Lisbon ; and the
energy, the wealth, and the statecraft of Philip II.
were concentrated on that expedition. Guise, as the
puppet of Spain, had opened a pathway for the mighty
fleet. Elizabeth of England, having been deprived, by
his rebellion, of the alliance of France and Flanders, and
of the valiant aid of Henri de Navarre, was esteemed
to be already vanquished ; while the English islands
were regarded as the future head-quarters of the In
quisition. The due de Guise, on his return to Paris, feeling
the necessity of making some concessions, proceeded to
the Hotel de Ville, and insisted that the new municipal
officers and the provost la Chapelle should, without
delay, repair to Chartres, and personally ask the king
to sanction their election. An address was voted, in
which the demands of the League were renewed, and
especially the exile of Epernon and his kindred. The
king was requested to pardon the late tumults, and to
confirm the municipal elections. The same day the
due de Guise addressed a letter to king Henry defend
ing his past conduct, but filled with professions of
loyalty. This epistle he despatched to Chartres by the
captain St. Paul, the officer of the League who had
led back the royal guard to the Louvre on the day of
the barricades. St. Paul also announced the approaching
arrival of the municipality, and requested his majesty
to postpone his departure from Chartres, in order to grant
them audience. Henry received and perused the letter
of the duke, and dismissed the envoy without an an
swer during the same day. Amongst other speeches
which his majesty made to St. Paul was this ominous

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 171
one : — " That the due de Guise when fighting for the
faith had always been fortunate ; but that if he dared
to assail the sacred person of his king and sovereign,
he might be assured that God would withdraw his
benediction, and that he would miserably perish."
After despatching his envoy to Chartres, the due de
Guise repaired to the Louvre and earnestly besought
the queen to present the new municipality to her son.
Catherine after some demur consented ; she desired to
make personal investigation of the temper and designs
of the king ; also to examine into the truth of the
report that the due d'Epernon was about to rejoin the
king at the head of 500 men. The following day,
therefore, the queen set out for Chartres, being pre
ceded by the prevot des marchands la Chapelle, the
recently appointed officers, aud by deputies from the
due de Guise and the lords of the League then in
Paris. Henry bestowed a cool greeting on his mother,
and in lieu of the long private conference which Cathe
rine had designed, he demonstrated great haste to grant
audience to the deputation that all the personages might
return before nightfall to Paris. Henry received the
envoys sitting in a chair of state beneath a canopy
erected in the hall of the episcopal palace. Catherine
stood at the right of the king ; at his majesty's left
were M. d'O and many of the obnoxious chamberlains,
who stood calmly by to hear themselves presently
designated by most uncomplimentary epithets. On
approaching the dais, the members of the deputation
prostrated themselves before the king, and supplicated
him to pardon them if, " in their desolation and lament
able mourning, they should utter facts or advices un
palatable to his royal ear." This exordium over, the
members rose, when one of them advanced and read
the harangue agreed upon, which was authenticated by

172 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
the autographs of the cardinal de Bourbon, the due de
Guise, Chapelle Marteau, and the sheriffs of Paris.1
Henry returned precisely the same reply as he had
commissioned Dorron to make to the parliament of
Paris. Respecting the due d'Epernon, his majesty
said that " that grievance was rather of a stale and
private nature ; nevertheless, he should always prefer
the welfare of the commonwealth to every private con
sideration." Catherine then asked the king, in the
presence of the provost and others, to return to Paris.
The courtesy of Henry's tone then changed, and he
replied by an abrupt and positive " Non, madame !"
The king and his mother then retired, and a conference
of some length ensued, at which Villeroy was pre
sent. The articles of the convention to be concluded
with Guise and his party were the subject of debate.
Henry demonstrated a serenity and indifference the
most astonishing, and discussed the treasonable demands
presented by the duke with the utmost sang froid. The
conference ended by nothing being resolved, the king
engaging to send Villeroy to Paris after his arrival at
Mantes, whither he intended to proceed the following
day. Catherine, therefore, took leave of her son, and
returned to Paris highly dissatisfied with her interview.
The career of the due d'Epernon in Normandy,
meanwhile, had been beset with difficulties. Some of
the most important cities of the province refused to
acknowledge his authority; which was also fiercely
assailed by M. de Villars, governor of Havre, who
declined to admit the new governor into that port
without an order countersigned by the due de Guise.
Epernon, whose high and valiant spirit chafed at these
obstacles, was taking active measures for the reduction
of the rebels when the news of the barricades and of
1 Registres de l'Hdtel de Ville. Archives du Royaume, H.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 173
the flight of the king to Chartres reached him. The
importance of the victory obtained by the League, in
relation to his own personal fortunes, arrested the
military designs of the duke, and he hurriedly prepared
to rejoin his royal master. From the abbe d'Elbene
he had received a faithful record of the events of the
capital. The duke indignantly protested against the
tame surrender of the Swiss and the royal guards,
which he averred was the work of queen Catherine,
who desired neither that her son nor the due de Guise
should establish paramount authority. In the desperate
emergency in which the king was placed, the duke per
ceived that the royal power must temporarily cease to
shield him from the hatred of his enemies. Foremost
amongst these was Villeroy, the able, aspiring, and acute
secretary of state — Catherine's protege, and, as it was
believed, the secret partisan of the due de Guise. The
queen-mother herself, whose power he had defied in
the days of his prosperity, vehemently demanded his
dismissal. The designs and motives of the king, how
ever, afforded the duke a theme for still more puzzling
speculation. From M. d'O and the abbe d'Elbene he
heard of his majesty's careless and perfectly cool de
meanour, of his clement declarations and gracious re
ception of the authors of the recent insurrection. He
heard of the levy of no troops, nor of the despatch of
missives rallying round the royal standard the valiant
and loyal of the realm to avenge the foul insult in
flicted by the princes of Lorraine. Epernon received,
on the contrary, advices from Paris filled with gloomy
forebodings, and recounting the sailing forth of the
Invincible Armada, everywhere to annihilate heresy
and its upholders ; and of the amicable negotiations of
the queen-mother with the due de Guise and his sister
madame de Montpensier. That his fall was impending
Epernon felt no doubt ; but he too well knew the dis-

174 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
position of the king to believe that such coercion would
not be avenged. His conduct at this crisis, therefore,
exhibited address so skilful as to demonstrate that he
was not far surpassed by his master as an adept in dis
simulation. On the 22nd day of May the due d'Epernon arrived
at Chartres. The intelligence of his approach had created
a great panic and renewed the cabals of the courtiers.
The dues de Montpensier and Longueville and the
marechal d'Aumont waited upon his majesty and an
nounced their resolve to leave the court if Epernon
remained, seeing that jealousy of the favourite's power
had combined to produce the present deplorable con
dition of affairs; while, as the duke's dismissal was
one of the clauses most insisted upon in the articles
demanded by the League, it was clear if he remained
no compact could be concluded. Henry replied, to
the amazement of all, " that the presence of the due
d'Epernon could not be more disagreeable to any one
than to himself." He then publicly instructed the
abbe d'Elbene to notify this to Epernon, and to ex
press his desire that the duke should withdraw after
having previously resigned the government of Nor
mandy. The abbe d'Elbene was the confidential friend
of Epernon, and after the departure of the latter had
been the depositary of many of the king's most secret
intentions. M. de Bellievre was subsequently officially
commissioned to convey the same notification. The
duke, however, appeared not in the least disconcerted
at the command, but had continued his journey, travel
ling leisurely to Chartres. The king apparently gave
him a very indifferent reception, and seemed delighted
to avenge upon Epernon personally the odium which
had resulted from their previous intimacy. If this
alienation was not feigned — as there is every appear
ance to suppose that it was — Epernon and his royal

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 175
master bore their separation with surprising equanimity.
The duke, who formerly was of temper most haughty
and intractable, laid down on the instant his command
in Normandy without remonstrance, while the king a
few hours afterwards bestowed the dignity on the due
de Montpensier. Neither did Epernon resent his al
most total exclusion from the royal cabinet and the
privy council. The king, moreover, was further in
duced to issue a mandate commanding the duke to
relinquish his government of Angouleme and to restore
the fortresses of Loches, Saintes, and Boulogne, of
which he was commandant, " his majesty being resolved
from henceforth to annihilate the jealousies which had
so long convulsed the realm." Epernon, however, sud
denly quitted Chartres, and being joined by his brave
young duchess, who with difficulty made her escape in
disguise from Paris, he journeyed with speed to An
gouleme, and, throwing himself into the castle, prepared
to defend it by the help of the king of Navarre against
his enemies, refusing to relinquish more of his offices.
It was afterwards ascertained that the abbe d'Elbene,
who accompanied the duke in his flight, spent the
greater part of the preceding night in secret conference
with the king in his bed-chamber. Henry foreseeing
that an accommodation with Guise must be purchased
by the sacrifice of Epernon, and also finding that
Catherine and his ministers were unanimous in their
demand for the duke's exile, probably resolved not to
afford his enemies the additional satisfaction of prescrib
ing this concession; while the due d'Epernon, in concert
with his royal master, promoted the deception which
was to deliver them both from the toils of faction.
The defiance of the due d'Epernon, and his refusal
to relinquish the government of Angouleme, appeared to
inspire the king with furious indignation. Villeroy
wrote to command the citizens of Angouleme to eject

176 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [)j88.
the duke, while M. de Tagens, commander of the roval
forces in the district, received a mandate to intercept
and arrest him. Epernon, nevertlieless, made such
speed that he had seized the fortress of Angouleme
and established his authority before the decree arrived ¦
while subsequently the duke conducted himself with
such dexterity and courage as greatly to enhance his
repute. The king, meanwhile, departed on the eleventh dav
of June for Rouen, for the intrigues of the League in
Chartres began to occasion him intense apprehension.
He was here joined by the comte de Soissons, who
offered his majesty his humble services, and made many
excuses for having fought against Joyeuse at Coutras.
The king of Navarre after that signal triumph had, as
it has been related, partially disbanded his army and
retired to Pau with the comte de Soissons. Le Bearn
nois had not taken the rout of the German legions to
heart, especially when a design came to light by which
it appeared that the baron de Dhona had been empow
ered to seize and convey him forcibly into Germany as
a hostage for the payment of the vast sums due to the
reiters from the Huguenots of the realm. The king
of Navarre was making a military progress through
Poitiers and Saintonge when the news of la Journee
des Barricades reached him. The princes immediately
retired to La Rochelle ; while Henri sanctioned the
departure of the comte de Soissons to join the king,
offering to follow himself with his valiant army, should
his presence be deemed acceptable.
Queen Catherine, during this interval, was absorbed
in negotiation. The king, after his arrival at Rouen,
sent the comte de Schomberg on a secret mission to
Paris, to investigate and report on the designs of the
chieftains of the League. Soon afterwards he accredited
his first physician Miron to aid the queen in preparing

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 177
an accommodation. These envoys reported that no
pacification could ever be truly achieved unless the
ambition of the due de Guise was primarily satiated ;
at the same time they forwarded intelligence that the
town of Meaux had joined the League, while the
cardinal de Guise had rendered himself master of the
city of Troyes. The king, therefore, sent for Villeroy,
and confided to him the important task, conjointly with
Miron, of drawing up a treaty with the League which
was to embody the articles of Nemours and Nancy,
and satisfy the ambitious aspirations of the duke and
his partisans. Catherine was to exercise a paramount
authority over the negotiators, who were to be guided
by her directions. Villeroy has been accused of play
ing into the hands of the due de Guise, and of misusing
the powers confided to him, for the gratification of his
private resentments. In his Memoirs, however, Villeroy
indignantly repudiates the charge, and takes great
credit to himself for having granted to the due de
Guise the powers of lieutenant-general only, when the
secret instructions of the king authorized him to offer
him the dignity of constable of France. The letters-
patent elevating Guise to the office of lieutenant-
general were, nevertheless, drawn by the pen of Villeroy,
and presented by him for the royal signature, and the
amplification of the privileges even of a constable con
ceded in that document is remarkable.
The League openly claimed Villeroy as one of its
most able and crafty members. In the celebrated
" Instruction " addressed by the archbishop of Lyons at
this period to the due de Guise, and subsequently made
public, he is alluded to with commendation, and as one
of the men by whose aid the duke might climb to the
altitude of power. This document, emanating from the
pen of Espinac, is drawn with able plausibility, though
its tenor recommends some of the boldest invasions on
VOL. III. N

17S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
the roval prerogative that have ever proceeded from the
most enterprising of rebels. The dicta of the turbulent
prelate were received with reverence by his party, and
acted upon as the test and standard of the League.
Henry pleasantly declared that the archbishop was
"the brain of the League, and the quintessence of
faction." Even the due de Guise condescended to pay
a pretended reverence to a document he termed " the
Catechism of the League," which embodied ideas that
he had acted upon, but as yet never openly avowed.
The prelate addresses himself to Guise ; he tells him
that there are three things indispensably requisite for
his future ascendency — the favour of the king, for the
which he must condescend to conclude a convention; a
great state office, such as that of constable; and the
devotion of the courtiers, and especially of the secre
taries of state, who, either by menaces or by bribes,
must be won, so that no affair, great or small, shall be
despatched unknown to the duke. He then proceeds
to hint that the good-will of the secretary intrusted
with the drawing-up of the letters-patent conferring the
office to be demanded, must be carefully secured, " for
understand, that the adjustment of the words conveying
the said power will signify greatly. If M. de Villeroy
is not charged with this office, it is of great importance
that he should be cognizant of and accessory to the
document." " As for the queen -mother," writes
Espinac, " you must have perceived that sooner or
later her majesty compasses all that she intends, and
that those individuals who have attempted to promote
discord and variance between the king and herself have
always found themselves ruined. The queen is evi
dently now minded to will what her son wills, and to
hold his interests dearest. Nevertheless her majesty
has resolved to suffer no rival, nor to permit that another
shall exercise greater authority than herself." Espinac,

J588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 179
therefore, advises the duke to conciliate Catherine in
every way ; he cites the example of queen Plectrude,
mother of Childeric, in her relations with Charles Martel,
Maire du palais, and shows that, notwithstanding the
subordination of the latter to the will of that queen, he
rose to the rank of duke of France, and established his
posterity on the throne; an example well worthy of
imitation. «The prelate next enters into an argument
on the means likely to seduce the fidelity of ministers,
and render them devoted to the duke.1
The treaty, or edict of Union, of July, 1588, as it
was termed, was at length concluded by Catherine,
Villeroy, and Miron, for the king ; and by Guise, the
cardinal de Bourbon, and the lords of the Confederation
on behalf of the League. The duchesse de Montpensier
was employed by the queen as ambassadress between
the Louvre and the hotel de Guise. Its negotiation
was facilitated by the withdrawal from court of the due
d'Epernon ; and having tacitly exacted this concession,
the due de Guise magnanimously refrained for the
present from molesting the smaller fry,of favourites,
who still thronged the avenues of the royal bedchamber
and cabinet. The 'articles were precisely similar to
those presented by the duke to queen Catherine on the
afternoon of la Journe'e des Barricades. The king pledged
his royal word to convoke immediately the States-
general, to legislate on the great question of the royal
succession. The due de Guise received the office of
lieutenant-general of the armies of France, with power
of absolute command wherever the king was not pre
sent ; and his post of grand-master of the household was
confirmed afresh. Henry gave his royal promise to
make interest with pope Sixtus V. to bestow the papal
legation of Avignon on the cardinal de Guise, and to
1 Instruction a M. de Guise par l'Archeveque de Lyons apres la
Paix de Juillet, 1588. Me'moires de Villeroy — Pieces Justificatives.
N 2

ISO HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [lj88.
solicit a cardinal's hat for the archbishop of Lyons.
The due de Nemours was to be gratified with the dig
nity of governor of the Lyonnois ; the due d'Aumale
with that of Picardy. Monsieur de la Chastre was
created a marshal; and M. de Maineville, the agent
who had been employed by the due de Guise to infiame
the insurrectionary ardour of the people of Paris, was
made a councillor of state ! All the persons gratified
by dignities or pecuniary rewards by the Seize, or on
the personal authority of the due de Guise, were to re
sign their offices and gratuities in order to receive them
again on the following day by warrant of the king.1
When the patents registering these shameful conces
sions were laid before his majesty by Villeroy, Henry's
tears, it is said, plentifully bedewed these records of his
degradation. If the royal tears fell from a sense of
bitter compunction for his past follies and misconduct,
a responsive feeling of commiseration may be evoked;
but the humiliation of his kingly dignity was the
just and inevitable castigation of Henry's incorrigible
perversity, and for the misery wliich his vices had in
flicted on the nation. The edict was signed by the
king at Rouen, and registered by the parliament of
Paris on the 21st day of July, 1588. Catherine wrote
to her son expressly to insist on the necessity of such
concessions, and stating her conviction of the loyal
sincerity of the due de Guise. The Spanish ambas
sador Mendoza lauded the edict as one necessary and
good. All the nobles of the realm tacitly accepted the
convention, or made no effort to support the king in its
rejection, excepting Montmorency and the malcontent
nobles of the south, the due d'Epernon, and the due de
Nevers — a Gonzaga, who hoping one day that his
posterity might reign over Mantua, ever believed him-
1 Mem. de M. de Villeroy. Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III. Maim-
bourg : Mem. de la Ligue. Dupleix. Cayet.

I588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 181
self bound to resist encroachments on the royal prero
gatives. Another element of terror also powerfully affected
Henry's imagination, and contributed to procure the
ratification of the edict. Along the French coast, off
Boulogne, Philip's formidable Armada glided in majestic
gloom, bearing a terrible commission to depose heretic
princes ; and laden with chains, racks, and inquisitors
for the castigation of those who opposed the supremacy
or the faith of the Holy Roman See. It was insinuated
to the king that a word from Guise might temporarily
divert the destination of this fleet from the shores of
England, to aid in confirming an orthodox faith and a
faithful dynasty in the realm rendered illustrious by the
piety and holiness of St. Louis.
Henry, therefore, intent on his own secret projects,
and believing that the meeting of the States would rend
from Guise a portion of his usurped power, resigned
himself to au act the immediate effect of which was to
restore outward obedience to the royal behests, and thus
to place within his power the castigation he intended to
inflict on his opponents. The idle luxury and repose
of life which his majesty led while at Rouen, moreover,
had mitigated the vehemence of Henry's resentment.
The king passed the greater part of the day on the
Seine reposing in his famous gondola, which had been
suffered to proceed from Paris up the river to Rouen.
The ennui and indifference manifested by Henry grieved
his faithful adherents, to none of whom did he now
impart his secret resolves and meditations.
The king quitted Rouen on the 23rd of July, having
previously caused a Te Deum to be chanted in the
cathedral for the restoration of peace. It was, how
ever, observed that his majesty paid little attention to
the service, and conversed nearly the whole time be
hind a curtain with M. d'O. Henry then proceeded to

182 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [lj88.
Mantes, where he was met by the queens Catherine and
Louise, with whom he made a sojourn of two days.
Catherine then returned to Paris, having obtained per
mission for the due de Guise and other members of his
family to present themselves at Chartres during the
ensuing week in her cortege.
On the 26th day of July the king reluctantly re
turned to Chartres, there to give the last confirmation
to the Edict of Union by receiving the due de Guise.
At the gate of the city called Des Epars, M. Jean de
Gauville, chief magistrate of the town, met his majesty
with a deputation, about five o'clock in the evening.
The coachman inadvertently stopped the royal carriage
close upon a piece of ground marshy and partially
covered with water. Gauville, therefore, who was
arrayed in his magisterial robes of black satin, ad
vanced, and, contraiy to the etiquette usually observed,
began to address his majesty standing. Henry since
his reverses had been peculiarly susceptible of slights ;
observing this omission of the customary homage, he
angrily interrupted the harangue by calling, " On your
knees, sir ! on your knees, I say !" Gauville, there
fore, was compelled to kneel iu the mire and compli
ment the king on his most auspicious arrival.1 As he
passed through the town the king was received with
salutes of artillery, and under triumphal arches. Turn
ing to Gauville, the duties of whose office required him
to remain in the vicinity of the royal carriage, Henry
said, sarcastically, " This will do ; you will now be
better prepared to do honour to mon cousin de
Guise when he enters your town !" The king pro
ceeded to the cathedral, where he was received and pre
sented with holy water by the dean, M. Daubermont.
A few days subsequently Catherine, accompanied by the
1 Extrait de I'Histoire MS. de la Ville de Chartres, faite par Souchet,
Chanoine de cette Ville— Bibl. de la Ville de Chartres.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 183
cardinal de Bourbon, the due de Guise, the cardinal de
Guise, the duchesse de Nemours dowager of Guise, the
prince de JoinviUe, and the archbishop of Lyons, ar
rived at Chartres. The cardinal de Bourbon was
attended by fifty archers of his guard, wearing splendid
uniforms of crimson velvet and gold. The due de Guise
was followed by a troop of eighty horsemen armed to
the teeth. The queen was escorted by a regiment of
the royal guard. Henry received these august per
sonages in the hall of the episcopal palace, arrayed in
his robes, and sitting under a canopy of state. To the
queen he gave most cordial greeting. These saluta
tions over, Catherine, taking the due de Guise by the
hand, led him to the steps of the dais, and presented
him to her son as his good and loyal subject. Henry
saluted the duke with grave majesty of demeanour —
without frankness, and yet affably. The duke bent the
knee and kissed the royal hand. Henry then received
the other members of the house of Lorraine present, to
all of whom he addressed some brief observation. The
king's manner was easy and his speech fluent, while it
was observed that the due de Guise suffered under con
siderable constraint. His reception by the people had,
nevertheless, been enthusiastic ; from the confines of the
town of Chartres to the episcopal palace the acclama
tions of " Vive Guise !" were unceasing. The duke's
abode was in the Cloitre St. Martin, in the house of a
widow named Olive, whither he repaired after his first
brief audience with his sovereign, whom he left about
to retire to hold conclave with Catherine and Villeroy,
the latter of whom Henry overwhelmed with favours.
The presence of Guise in Chartres proved the signal for
a general rally of the League. The members secretly
met and despatched one of their number to offer the
duke a guard, and to assure him that on the slightest
peril menacing his life or his liberty they were ready to

.81 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, ['588.
ake up arms in his defence. Guise thanked the mem-
>ers for their zeal, but said " that he relied on the faith
ind word of the king ; besides, as it was his duty as
ieutenant-general of the realm to preserve the public
>eace, he requested them very affectionately not to make
lostile demonstration whatever."1 These proceedings
vere forthwith reported to Biron by his friend the canon,
md came to the royal ears, and, as may be supposed,
lid not propitiate the king.
The same evening a private prohibition was issued
hrough the due de Montpensier, forbidding any of thi
lousehold to visit the due de Guise at his lodgings, or
o pay a similar compliment to any of the recently
irrived persons his kinsmen or adherents. Catherine
n vain tried to prevent the issue of the order ; the king
istened with an air of dogged resolve to her remon
strances, and declined to make any reply. It required
ill what the court had long termed " I'agriable dis
simulation du due de Guise" to enable the duke to
:ontinue his obsequious deportment amid so many
mnoyances. The following day, August 2nd, the king gave a
)anquet to Guise, during which their reconciliation out-
vardly seemed complete. The duke demeaned himself
vith deference, while Henry took dangerous delight in
dming his jests and bons mots at his guest, who appa-
¦ently received them all in good part. " Whom shall we
iledge, mon cousin ?" asked the king during the repast,
aking from the table a cup brimful of red wine. " It is
br your majesty to decide," replied the duke. " Well, to
»ur good friends the Huguenots." "'Tis well spoken,
ire," hastily responded Guise. "But," resumed the king,
: I was going to add also to the health of our fine and
rorthy barricaders of Paris ! Let us not forget them,
1 De Thou. Hist, du Chanoine Souchet. Journal de l'Etoile.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 185
I pray you !" The duke smiled, but his countenance
plainly showed the displeasure he felt at these taunts.
During the night the house in which M. d'O lodged,
and which was adjacent to the abode of la veuve Olive,
took fire and burned fiercely. Instantly throughout
Chartres the rumour spread that this was a device on
the part of the king, in order that during the con
fusion he might kill the due de Guise. The city, there
fore, was soon in commotion. Bands of armed men
suddenly issued from the lowest suburbs and repaired
to the Cloitre St. Martin ready to defend their hero.
Others placed themselves so as to intercept the progress
of the gentlemen of the household to the palace, and
amongst those so arrested was M. d'O. The tumult,
however, was soon pacified, but as no one in the panic
had aided to extinguish the conflagration, the dodging
of M. d'O was burned to the ground, and a young girl,
the daughter of the hostess, perished in the flames.1
The sudden arrival of the Spanish ambassador Men
doza renewed during the few subsequent days the
political ferment in Chartres. The ambassador pre
sented himself, as he said, to announce to king Henry
that the Spanish fleet had defeated the English in the
Channel, and had achieved a safe landing on the coast
of England ! So elated was Philip's representative at
this intelligence that before quitting Paris he drew up
a pretended recital of the event — the rumour of which
only had reached him, though he chose to assert it as
a fact — and deposited the manuscript in the hands of
his majesty's printer, commanding him to print and
distribute copies to whoever chose to ask for them. On
entering the town of Chartres Mendoza proceeded
straight to the cathedral, which is dedicated to the
Holy Virgin. Prostrating himself before the porch,
1 Relation du Chanoine Souchet — Bibl. de Chartres.

36 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
ver which was a statue of Alary, he audibly returned
hanks for the great victory achieved by the Spanish
rms. He then repaired to the episcopal palace, and
ntering the hall, where he found many of the courtiers
ssembled awaiting the presence of the king, he ex-
laimed, Victoria ! Victoria ! vice el rey Catolico ! and
iroceeded to recount the success of the great Armada.
Vhilst Mendoza was thus occupied Henry entered the
iresence-chamber, attended by the due de Guise, Ville-
oy, and others. The ambassador hastened to impart
lis glorious tidings, to which his majesty listened at-
entively. The king then glanced round the circle, and
ibserved with dry sarcasm that the ambassador must
>e labouring under some unhappy delusion, as he had
hat morning received a despatch from M. de Gourdan,
governor of Calais, in which that officer, so far from
ecording the victory of the Spanish fleet, had forwarded
ntelligence of a naval combat in which the English
irmament had disabled twelve Spanish frigates, and
.illed 5,000 men. Moreover, the immediate object of
VI. de Gourdan's despatch was to give information that
1 large vessel, used as a galley-ship by the Spaniards,
lad grounded on the coast of France.1 Mendoza re-
reated abashed at this refutation of his boastful narra-
ion, while the king continued to discourse on the sub-
ect in the bantering tone which had now become
ilmost habitual. The ambassador, having recovered
lis presence of mind, then stepped into the circle, and
lemanded that orders should be issued to deliver up to
iim the stranded ship and her crew, which, he said,
:onsisted of refractory seamen, Moorish renegades,
Turks, and prisoners of war. Henry replied that he
vould advise with his council. The matter was after-
vards hotly debated ; the due de Guise and the ad-
1 Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire.

.1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 187
herents of the League pressed the king to accede to the
demand made by Mendoza ; but the due de Nevers and
Biron so strongly represented to his majesty the cruelty
of riveting again the chains of those unhappy captives
that Henry, following also his own inclinations, pe
remptorily refused to allow one of them to be molested.
All the letters-patent aud other documents connected
with the Edict of Union having been signed and sealed,
the assembly at Chartres began to disperse. Already
the emissaries of the due de Guise were busily em
ployed canvassing for the approaching election for the
States-general convened to meet at Blois during the
ensuing month of October. That the misrepresenta
tions of the League might not affect the legitimacy of
the elections, the king despatched the president Auguste
de Thou, with other notable and learned persons, to
make a progress throughout the provinces, in order to
explain the origin and issue of the recent troubles, and
to admonish the people to make true and dispassionate
choice of deputies. Catherine, at the solicitation of the
due de Guise and of the provost la Chapelle, before her
departure from Chartres, again made request to the
king to return aud take up his abode in the Louvre
until the assemblage of the States. Her majesty de
clared that the Parisians would never believe in the
clemency of the king, or in the reality of the Edict of
Union, until such an act of oblivion and reconciliation
should be vouchsafed. " Madame," replied the king,
" I will not ; you demand in vain." "Ah, mon fils,"
remonstrated Catherine, " what will be thought of my
influence ? what respect will, for the future, be paid to
me, if you thus refuse my solicitation ? Is it possible
that you have banished that humane and forgiving
spirit which I have ever seen so prompt to pardon in
juries?" "It is quite true, madame; it is gone. But
what can you expect ? That rascal Epernon, as every-

[SS HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, ['588.
iody says, has corrupted my mind and spoiled mv
;emper."' When Henry took this tone the queen knew
'roni experience that he was impracticable : and fortu-
late it was that Henry steadily resisted his mother's
ilandishments ; for the due de Nevers2 asserts that, had
lis majesty returned to the capital, a conspiracy existed,
mknown to the queen, to seize and confine him in the
Capuchin monastery with his former friend Joyeuse,
lpon an annual pension of 200,000 crowns. When
he royal resolve not to return to Paris became known,
nany towns deputed envoys to invite bis majesty to
lold his court within their precincts, and amongst
ithers were the towns of Tours, Blois, Amboise, and
Lyons. The king courteously thanked his loyal
mbjects, but announced his intention to remain at
Chartres until the 21st of September, when he should
iroceed to Blois to hold his States.
During this interval the due de Guise, anxious to
mpress foreign nations and the people of the realm
vith a conviction of his loyalty and disinterestedness,
itudiously refrained from entering Paris, but remained
n constant attendance upon the king, returning to
Chartres after every expedition which he made for party
rarposes in the provinces. Henry now frequently
mtertained the duke in familiar converse, likewise the
irehbishop of Lyons. He also lauded the services of
he comte de Brissac, and commended the zeal of Bas-
iompierre in having so promptly raised levies for the
League in the German States. Madame de Montpensier
:ven shared in Henry's courtesies; and his majesty
:ommanded that the duchess should be included
imongst the numerous guests to be invited to Blois
luring the meeting of the States. The duke seems to
1 Journal de Henri III. Edited by Pierre de l'Etoile, from MSS. in
he Bibl. Imp., written by a Bourgeois de Paris. Dupuis, fol. 219.
3 Mem. du Due de Nevers.

I588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 189
have been completely deceived as to the real temper of
the king, and believed that, with his usual weak insou
ciance, Henry was content to forget the past, and to
inaugurate a new era of power for the house of Lorraine.
The haughty independence of the duke's actions in the
discharge of his functions of lieutenant-general and
grand master of the court accordingly increased in a
proportionate degree as his awe and dread of his master's
retaliation vanished. The king coldly passed by and
seemed blind to these various assumptions ; and soon,
therefore, the majority of courtiers rendered homage
as obsequious as the duke could desire. With many
the duke's generosity imposed ; others inclined before
his mien de grand prince; those who wanted place or
pension naturally looked to the victor of the barricades
as the assured channel through which the benefits
they desired must flow. The prestige of the duke alone
wanted the seal of papal commendation to render it
above challenge. This sanction did not tarry. Sixtus
V., who had so severely reproved the duke de Nevers,
and who formerly had written such fierce rebukes to
the Gallican prelates for their insubordination to their
anointed sovereign, opened the pontifical arms to the
successful champion of orthodoxy — a prince who ere
long might, as Christian king of France, term himself
eldest son of the church. The pope, therefore, ad
dressed letters to the duke, in which he exhorted him
to perfect the glorious extirpation of the Huguenots ;
and likened the family of Lorraine to the holy house of
the Maccabees, which of old delivered the children of
Israel from their persecutors. The duke caused the
pontifical letters to be printed and dispersed over Paris.
Henry, though secretly irritated at this insolent
bravade, made no demonstration of displeasure.
Neither did the king openly resent an audacious
enterprise, which occurred at this period, to assassinate

90 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
be due d'Epernon at Angouleme, under the pretext of
infilling the mandate which the king had sent, counter-
igned by Villeroy, the duke's mortal enemy, interdict-
ag the people from receiving Epernon as their gover-
lor. Of all Henry's favourites Epernon was the only
me dreaded by the Guisards. The duke was bold,
ble, and stanch in his attachment to the king. He
ras, moreover, a link between Henry III. and the
:ing of Navarre, within whose territory of Albret
ilpernon's duchy was situated. Moreover, the duchesse
.'Epernon was the subject born of Henri de Navarre,
s well as his near relative; and her vast estates, as
teiress of Foix Candale, were within his immediate
urisdiction in Beam. Many of the early days of the
[uke, when a poor cadet of la Valette, had been spent
t the court of Jeanne d'Albret as the companion of
ler son Henri. The duke's regard for le Bearnnois,
herefore, had ever been strong, and to the utmost of
is power Epernon maintained the interests of the king
f Navarre throughout the stormy interval when the
ventual succession of the latter to the crown of France
eemed more than doubtful.
On the arrival of the due d'Epernon at Angouleme
fter bis flight from Chartres, the king of Navarre sent
0 offer his old companion his support to maintain him-
elf against his foes. The negotiation continued, and
?as drawing to a satisfactory termination, when the
ife of Epernon was endangered by one of the most
lerfidious of conspiracies. The Leaguers had jealously
matched the correspondence between the king of Na-
arre and Epernon; for they disbelieved that Henry
II. loathed the society and principles of his former
ivourite as he averred. To remove the duke, who
hus might become the medium of communication be-
ween the two Henrys, and perhaps the negotiator of a
reater league to overthrow the usurped power of the

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 191
third Henry, became the subject of their serious anxiety.
No plan appeared to the subtle plotters better than to
ground their conspiracy on the order signed by Henry,
and forwarded by Villeroy ; for the deductions resulting
therefrom could easily be so perverted as to lodge the
odium of the contemplated assassination on the unfor
tunate king. Thus, even if their blow missed, it was
probable that indignation at the treachery of his royal
master would produce a permanent alienation between
the king and Epernon. Villeroy seems to have lent
himself as the agent of the conspiracy ; for he received
deputies from the intended assassins, and forwarded the
requisite instructions to the mayor of Angouleme and
the officer, commandant of the royal troops in the town.
On the 10th of August, St. Lawrence's Day, as the
due d'Epernon had just quitted the bath, and was pre
paring to proceed to mass, a party of conspirators boldly
entered the castle armed with pistols and cutlasses,
and proceeded to the duke's cabinet, with the intent
of accomplishing his assassination. The abbe d'Elbene
and the sieur de Marivaux were conversing with the
duke; in the ante-chamber of the apartment were
several persons, including two of his secretaries and
Sorlin surgeon to the king. The report of a pistol
accidentally discharged by the mayor of Angouleme,
who headed the assassins, all being partisans of the
League, fortunately drew attention to the murderous
intent of these ruffians. The duke was apprised of his
danger by his chaplain, who rushed into the ante
chamber and conjured Epernon to escape. Instantly
the brave band rallied round the duke, and succeeded
in barricading the doors of an inner chamber, which
served the duke as a dressing closet. The assassins
passed through the apartments crying, " Tue ! Tue !
rendez vous, monsieur 1" and at length entered the ad
jacent garde-robe. A conflict here ensued, during

19.2 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
which Sorlin made his escape down to the kitchens,
and, faute de mieux, marshalled the cooks with their
spits to defend their master's life. The day being the
Feast of St. Lawrence, the garrison and the majority of
the household had gone to attend mass in the cathe
dral, no one in the castle having the most remote sus
picion of a soulevement. The tocsin, meanwhile, sounded
in the town, and the inhabitants flew to arms, and
rushed towards the castle to join in its assault. The
courtyard was seized, and a petard applied to the mas
sive door of the castle to blow it open, that assistance
might be afforded to the mayor and his colleagues
within. Epernon, who had been surprised at so un
timely a momeut, hastily dressed, then seizing his
sword he presently sallied out upon his assailants, fol
lowed by d'Elbene and Marivaux. The fierce aspect
of the duke so terrified the cowardly band, already
daunted by the resistance it had encountered, that all
its members took to their heels, aud wildly fleeing for
their lives, sought refuge in a small turret chamber at
the end of one of the corridors, in which they barri
caded themselves. Epernon followed, and w as preparing
to force the door, when a servant maid rushed past
pursued by one of the insurgents with a naked sword,
who called out to her master that Souchet, the brother
of the captive mayor, and a band were making their
way into the castle through a hole in the wall. The
duke upon this repaired to the spot indicated, leaving a
sufficient guard before the turret portal, and arrived
just in time to arrest two persons who had forced their
way through the aperture, and to block it effectually.
The persons thus arrested were then shot. The people,
nevertheless, closely invested the castle, blocking up
every avenue, so that the besieged could procure neither
pronsion nor water. Besides the gentlemen of his
suite, the duke had only eight soldiers and food sum-

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 193
cient for twelve hours. The most furious assaults were
made to batter down the wall, and to gain entrance
into the castle. A continuous fire of arquebuses was
aimed at the windows; flaming brands were thrown
through into the chambers, while the duke was peremp
torily ordered to surrender on the king's warrant, and
to produce the persons of his prisoners of the turret ;
one of whom, at the risk of his life, had let himself
down into the fosse, by tearing his vestments into strips,
which he plaited together.
Meanwhile the duchesse d'Epernon, when the riot
commenced, was hearing mass in the Dominican church.
At the sound of the tocsin and the tumultuous yells of
the populace, the congregation took flight. The duchess,
attended by two equerries, also tried to make her way
back to the citadel ; she was seized, however, by the
rioters, who, when her equerries drew their swords to
defend their young mistress, barbarously shot them be
fore her eyes. The duchess fainted at the sight, and
was carried to a chamber over the Hotel de Ville, and
there strictly guarded. Mere, one of the leaders of the
insurgents, presently entered the apartment, and roughly
seizing the arm of the duchess threatened to stab her
to the heart unless she promised to persuade her hus
band to surrender the castle. The heroic spirit of
Catherine de Foix rallied to spurn the threat, and she
declared " that the prospect of death did not appal her,
for that she held the fame and honour of her gallant
husband dearer than ten thousand lives !" Mere, un
moved by the youth and beauty of the duchess, then
fiercely assured her that in case the people were com
pelled to attack the fortress with artillery, she should
be placed in front of one of their gabions. The duchess
replied, " that if they led her before the fortress, with
her last breath she would implore and exhort her hus-
VOL. III. o

194 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
band not to surrender to such canaille ; nevertheless she
hoped to survive, to make the sieur de Mere one day
remember the insolence of his speech to a princess of
her quality !"
The following day madame d'Epernon was honour
ably conducted back to her husband, as the news of the
approach of the king of Navarre from the neighbouring
town of St. Lazare, to rescue the due d'Epernon, filled
the city with panic ; it was rumoured also that Tagens,
commandant of the king's forces in the province, was
hastening to the succour of the duke. In fact, the
comte de la Rochefoucauld, at the head of a detach
ment of Huguenots, appeared before Angouleme at
nightfall, prepared to attack the insurgents on the
following morning. The leaders of the expedition,
therefore, seeing themselves thus abandoned, requested
;he bishop of Angouleme to mediate between them
selves and the duke; meantime the duchess was con-
lucted to the citadel. As all the doors had been walled
ip, or otherwise barricaded, a ladder was brought, up
vhich the duchess gallantly ascended, and made her
:ntry into the castle through one of its windows. The
lurviving prisoners of the turret chamber were set at
iberty, and the people gradually retired ; thus leaving
Spernon victorious over his enemies after a siege of
hirty hours, during which the garrison had fasted.
Vhen hostilities terminated there remained, moreover,
lot another round of ammunition to distribute.1
The king quitted Chartres at the time he had named
without manifesting displeasure or any feeling whatever
t this enterprise against the duke; indeed, Villeroy,
avoured by the queen-mother and flattered by the due
e Guise, began to indulge in halcyon expectations of
he dignities which were to repay the services he was
1 Conspiration de ceux d'Angouleme contre d'Espernon. Archives
urieuses, tome xii. Davila.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 195
preparing to render at Blois. Henry took a cordial
leave of his ministers, Cheverny, Bellievre, and the
secretaries of state Villeroy, Pinart, and Brulart, and
gave them conge until the first day of October. Es
corted by the due de Guise and a suite of twenty gen
tlemen, Henry quitted Chartres, and after spending
two nights on the road arrived at Blois. No sooner
had the king entered the castle than he proceeded to
execute a design which created the greatest conster
nation and alarm. Without taking counsel of the
queen-mother or of the due de Guise, Henry, the
morning following his arrival, dismissed his ministers
en masse, and signed, sealed, and despatched the lettres
de cachet, which deprived them of their offices and
exiled them from court, before he imparted his deter
mination to any, excepting to his private secretary
Benoise, who drew up and countersigned the mandates.
The most unmitigable resentment actuated the mind of
the king against these personages ; he regarded them
as venal, sold to obey the bidding of the queen-mother,
and devoted to the will of Guise. To their counsels
and feeble administration he attributed the late catas
trophes. Moreover, Henry, being resolved to free him
self by any means from his humiliating tutelage to the
prmces of Lorraine, had determined to raise to power
men who should owe their offices to his favour, and
who would obey, and neither suggest concessions nor
scrutinize his motives. He desired ministers who
would zealously serve the royal cause during the ap
proaching parliament, and whose interest it was so to
act; and not men — parties to the cabals in the state,
and who each acknowledged an authority, residing in
the person of queen Catherine or the due de Guise,
superior to that of their royal master. The king could
not pardon Bellievre for the manner in which he had
obeyed his mandate to arrest the advance of the due
o 2

96 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
e Guise ; and he jealously w atched the liaison between
be former and Villeroy : the latter the king abominated.
?he restless, intriguing secretary was accused by his
overeign of treason to the royal cause ; nor was it
urprising that such was his majesty's impression, for
[uring his journey to Blois Henry had perused the
'Instructions" promulgated by the archbishop of Lyons,
n which Villeroy was plainly indicated as the stepping-
tone which should raise Guise to the summit of power.
?he devotion of Villeroy to the queen-mother, likewise,
cas highly offensive to Henry. The two under-secre-
aries, Brulart and Pinart, were also dependents of
Catherine and reported every incident, and in many
:ases solicited her majesty's consent before despatching
nandates. In Henry's frame of mind, and meditating
he emancipation which he did, such espionage would
lave been intolerable and utterly subversive of his
lesigns. Benoise in person carried the missives, which also
forbade their return to court, to the deposed ministers.
He first repaired to M. de Villeroy. The rage and
consternation of the latter were excessive : he bitterly
observed, " that it would have been more agreeable to
him to have walked from office by the door, rather
than to be thus unceremoniously ejected by the win
dow !" Benoise then proceeded to the castle of Grig-
non, the abode of Bellievre. This veteran diplomatist
bore his reverse with great equanimity : after reading
the mandate, he replied " that his majesty's commands
should be obeyed, for that having spent a long life in
exhorting others to submission, it would be indeed
strange if he failed himself in setting the example of
dutiful submission." Cheverny was met by Benoise
on his road to Blois, his mansion being only six miles
distant from the castle. The announcement fell like
a thunder-clap on the chancellor, who deemed his office

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 197
secured to him for life. His dismissal, he was aware,
proceeded not from Catherine, his indulgent patroness,
nor from the due de Guise, who paid Cheverny homage
in his double capacity, as a man wealthy and of illus
trious rank, and an easy and convenient minister. The
court with its pageantries was the scene in which the
chancellor revelled, and to be banished therefrom
seemed the most cruel of exiles. The king's mandate
directed the ex-chancellor to give the great seal into
the hands of Benoise. Cheverny, however, being unable
to believe in the reality of his dismissal, determined to
proceed to Blois and at least receive the fiat from the
lips of the queen-mother, who had on that morning
accomplished her last journey from Paris to Blois. He
therefore requested the secretary to enter his coach,
and together they proceeded to the castle. Cheverny
modestly descended in the court-yard, and sent to ask
admittance to the presence of the queen. He was in
stantly ushered into her majesty's cabinet, where he
found Catherine suffering from a severe attack of gout
and in bitter affliction at the resolves of her son. After
a conference of two hours, the queen with great diffi
culty proceeded to seek the king to request him to
admit Cheverny to audience. Henry steadily refused,
and commanded that the ex-chancellor should leave
the castle. Cheverny, therefore, retired in high dis
pleasure to his castle of Eclimont, in the vicinity of
Chartres, after resigning the great seal into the hands
of the queen, who summoned Benoise to carry it to the
king.1 The secretaries Pinart and Brulart being per
sons comparatively insignificant, their lettres de cachet
were transmitted by an ordinary cabinet messenger.
King Henry having thus avenged himself on his
late ministers, commenced to nominate others who
1 Mem. de Cheverny. De Thou. Davila.

L(JS HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
should aid him in the perilous task of compassing the
overthrow of the more dangerous interloper Guise, who
lad presumed to exalt himself as co-regent in the realm.
The suddenness and vigour of the king's measures dis
concerted the duke, and at first he ventured not to in-
;erfere ; indeed, for a brief interval he believed that the
ring, to assure his future repose, had resolved to fill all
the offices in the state with men professing the orthodox
code of politics. The duke, therefore, presented him
self before his majesty and demanded the seals for the
irchbishop of Lyons. Heury smiled sarcastically, but
gave no reply. During the afternoon, however, he
despatched a courier to Paris to summon Montholon,
the attorney-general of the parliament of Paris, whom
he had resolved to invest with the high dignity of chan
cellor — or, rather, with that of keeper of the great seal;
for by the fundamental laws of the realm the chancellor
of France could never be superseded except upon at
tainder. The choice made by his majesty was singular:
he had no personal knowledge of Montholon, who pos
sessed a high repute for virtue, though he had never
mingled in politics, nor had he taken a prominent part
in public affairs. Montholon was the son of the chan
cellor of Francis I., whom that monarch had also called
unexpectedly to power on the attainder of the chan
cellor Poyet. When the new chancellor arrived, in
Dbedience to the royal summons, Henry received him
ittended by M. de Bellegarde and by the captain of
the formidable Quarante-cinq, Lognac. Pasquier1
states that on entering the royal cabinet Montholon
;urued, and asked the usher in waiting which of the
;hree cavaliers before him was the king ! Despite his
,vant of courtly savoir, Montholon took the oaths
luring the same afternoon, and received the great seal
1 Pasquier, liv. xiii.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 199
from the king's hands. The pale and studious coun
tenance of Montholon, his simple and retiring manners,
and austere speech, formed a great contrast to the de
meanour of his opulent and magnificent predecessor.
As a magistrate the new chancellor yielded in legal
knowledge to none, and the rectitude and integrity of
his decisions were universally respected ; but he was
incompetent to fulfil the varied duties of the high office
of chancellor, and stood isolated and friendless in the
midst of a court which, in virtue of his dignity, he
ought to have ruled. In the room of Villeroy, Henry
appointed Martin Ruze de Beaulieu, in whose loyalty
he had the fullest confidence, and who had served the
king during his residence in Poland. The colleague
of Beaulieu was Louis sieur de Revol. The king also
wrote to propose office to Arnault d'Ossat, afterwards
the famous cardinal of that name, but then a humble
priest resident in Rome, and only known to the king
by repute. D'Ossat, however, declined the honour,
apprehending the perilous position of affairs, which, he
alleged, required to be adjusted by men of age and
large experience. Having thus vindicated his authority
and installed his new ministers, had Henry possessed
either fortitude or resolution all might still have pro
spered, .and the tragedies which ensued have been
averted by the unqualified submission of the malcon
tents, including the due de Guise himself. But the
energy of the king and his assertion of his sovereign
dignity lasted only for a brief period : like a hurricane,
his wrath had ever raged, annihilating with irresistible
fury, to be succeeded, however, by apathy as profound.
The king's resentments gnawed and inflamed him to
action: his vengeance satiated, he relapsed, exhausted
by the effort, into listless torpor, until fresh insult again
stung him into retaliation. Meantime, in Henry's un
steady grasp France was perishing; devoured by her

200 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
internecine feuds and anarchy, the once glorious realm
was falling from her rank amid the nations of Europe.
Bv the beginning of the month of October numerous
noble personages had arrived at Blois to be present at
the opening of the States-general, and to partake in the
approaching marriage festivities of the princess Chris
tine of Lorraine with the grand duke of Tuscany. It
was the last gathering of the court of France under a
monarch of the house of Valois.
The court assembled ; never had it been outwardly
more brilliant even during the palmy days of Francis I.
The princesses of the house of Guise mustered in an
overwhelming majority. There was the consort of the
due de Guise, Catherine de Cleves, who beheld with
wonder and amazement the state and power of her hus
band, " le nonpair du monde," as she called him, her
self only eclipsed by the duchesse de Montpensier, who
was acknowledged universally as the queen of the
League. Madame de Montpensier wandered through
the splendid saloons of the chateau in flippant mood,
recklessly aiming her censures, and stinging by her
satire. The duchess treated the king with unparal
leled insolence and contempt, and never spoke of his
majesty without appending the prefix of frere Henri, or
le Moine Henri. The duchess d'Aumale was the third
princess of Lorraine present at Blois, but unlike her
relatives, Marie d'Elbceuf mourned and seemed to have
lost that brilliant vivacity once so captivating to the
king. The mother of the Guises, the duchesse de Ne
mours, was also present to partake in their triumph. The
duchesses de Retz and d'Usez — to the latter of whom
the king and Epernon had given the title of madame
la Bossue, on account of a slight deformity of the
shoulder — mesdemoiselles de Guise and de Mayenne

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 201
were likewise present. Then there was madame de
Noirmoutier,1 lovely and frail as ever, whom the due
de Guise still served with devotion. There was also
madame Duprat, the beautiful wife of Nantouillet, the ex-
provost of Paris, whose domestic unhappiness had long
afforded a choice subject of scandal for the court. Pale,
subdued, and timid, queen Louise moved amongst these
brilliant dames, repulsed by the levity of some, and
awed by the assumptions of others. Catherine appeared
splendidly appareled, broken in health, but moving with
her accustomed majesty and inimitable tact ; seldom
wounding, dexterously gliding over prejudices, and
greeted alike by royalist and leaguer with respectful
deference. The duchesse de Nevers had promised to
pay her devoirs to the queen, but upon one pretext or
another she continued to delay her arrival, having never
pardoned the outrage to which she had been subjected
by the king. From this brilliant throng Marguerite
de Valois, once the star and cynosure of the courtiers,
was absent — forgotten almost as if the triumphs of her
beauty, her intrigues, and her hostility to her brother
the king, had never afforded subject for public com
ment. Her disgraceful flight from Agen to Carlat, aud
her subsequent capture by the marquis de Canillac,
governor of Auvergne, had ceased to excite speculation.
In the strong fort of Usson, therefore. Marguerite now
sojourned, unmolested either by her brother or her
husband. " Le beau ivoire de son bras" had, however, speedily
enabled Marguerite to make a captive of her captor, the
marquis de Canillac; and soon within the rock-bound for
tress of Usson in Auvergne, the abode for centuries of
stern warriors, revelries were holden which surpassed even
1 Madame de Sauve, who had espoused for her second husband the
marquis de Noirmoutier, brother of the due de la Tremouille.

203 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [lj88.
the orgies of l'hotel du Couture Ste. Catherine.1 The
widowed duchesse de Joyeuse, Marguerite de Lorraine,
sister of the queen, also joined the august assemblage.
Her tearful depression and disinclination to share in the
festivities of the court, rendered the duchess a congenial
companion to her sister the queen, and together these
royal ladies prayed, wept, and took counsel on the
ominous aspect of affairs. The due aud duchesse de
Mercoeur had been also invited to join the court; but
the queen and her sister sent the duke a private admo
nition to refrain from sharing in the deliberations of
the States, at least until the royal intentions should be
more amply declared. To this timely notification from
his sisters the duke owed his life ; for Henry was now
especially incensed at his presumption in attempting to
establish the pretended claims of his consort Marie,
heiress of Penthievre, to the duchy of Bretagne.
Amongst the noblemen inmates of the castle or town
of Blois, were the comte de Soissons, the dues de Guise,
d'Aumale, Montpensier, and Nevers; the grand prior
of France, illegitimate son of Charles IX.; the cardi
nals de Bourbon, Vend6me, and Guise; the prince de
JoinviUe ; the due de Nemours ; the marechals de Retz
and Aumont ; Biron, and the newly-created lord keeper
Francois de Montholon. There was also Amiot, bishop
of Auxerre, the elegant classic, and learned translator
of Plutarch, ex-tutor of the sons of Catherine de Medici.
The old antagonism between the queen-mother and
Amiot still rankled. Catherine hated and dreaded
every man of genius who owed not his rise to her
patronage. Amiot had been the protege and friend of
Marguerite d'Angouleme, queen of Navarre, and of her
daughter Jeanne d'Albret. The liberal tendencies of
Amiot, and a certain unbending rigidity of character,
1 Brantdme : Vie de Marguerite de Valois. Bazin : Notice sur
Marguerite de France. Sully.

J588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 203
greatly displeased the queen ; added to which the pre
late had unfortunately an irritability of temper, engen
dered by arduous study, which at times effectually kept
both his friends and enemies at bay. Charles IX.,
however, ever demonstrated great regard for Amiot ;
and when the office of high almoner of France became
vacant, he bestowed that dignity on his preceptor,
an appointment certain to be followed by episcopal
honours. The indignation of Catherine was extreme.
She peremptorily summoned the new dignitary to her
cabinet — that apartment within which so many mo
mentous events were transacted, and that had so often
rung to the stern menace of its owner. After some
ironical compliments, the queen exclaimed, " Ah ! M.
Amiot, you dare then persist in offering defiance to my
will ! I have routed the Guises, the Chatillons, the
constable, the chancellor, the king of Navarre, and
Conde, and now I have you to deal with, little insig
nificant upstart ! If you do not decamp hence within
twenty-four hours, and resign your appointments, your
life shall pay for your disobedience !" Amiot cowered
under the terrible wrath of the queen, and promised the
most unqualified submission. Accordingly on leaving
her majesty's presence, he made preparation to quit
Paris secretly, in order to retire to the monastery from
whence the queen of Navarre had rescued him. After
the lapse of a few days the king remarked the absence
of his almoner, and soon divined the secret cause of his
retreat. The rage of Charles IX. was not to be trifled
with, and so fiercely did it foam forth that Catherine
found herself compelled to recall the almoner. Accord
ingly a mandate from the queen no less peremptory than
the first called Amiot forth from his retreat, to assume
episcopal honours as bishop of Auxerre with the dignity
of high almoner. From thenceforth the relations between
Amiot and Catherine had been the reverse of cordial,

04 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
ind consequently he never possessed the favour of
Henry III. Disgusted at the foibles and manners of
;he court, the acute mind of the bishop of Auxerre had
:agerly adopted the code of the League, which repre
sented, as he averred, the cause of order, liberty, and
jrogress. Nearly all these personages were lodged within the
precincts of the royal castle. The cardinals de Bourbon
ind de Guise took up their abode in the hotel d'Alluye,
n the town of Blois ; the former that he might escape
the espionage of the queen-mother ; the latter, who fore
saw the certainty of his electiou as president of the
States, that he might be unfettered in the discharge of
;hat office.
The deputies began to arrive at Blois about the last
iveck in September, 1588. For the ceremony of the
apeuing session, and for a place of general assembly
for the three orders, the great hall of the castle was
prepared. The hall of the Dominican convent in Blois
was chosen for the separate deliberations of the clergy;
the Palais de Justice was assigned to the nobles ; while
the tiers etat met in the Hotel de Ville. As usual, a
vexatious dispute relative to precedence inaugurated
the deliberations, aud which was not finally settled
before the 16th day of the ensuing month of October,
to which period the opening of the assembly had been
postponed. From Paris the provost Chapelle Marteau,
the sheriffs Roland and Compans, besides a troop of
malcontent preachers and others, arrived, and present
ing themselves before his majesty, met with a gracious
reception. Henry, meanwhile, assumed a sedate and
austere demeanour, and performed his religious devo
tions with scrupulous regularity. By his majesty's
command a solemn fast of three days was proclaimed
before the ceremony of the opening of the States, and
each member received an injunction to partake of the

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 205
holy communion. The king, with his courtiers and no
bles, communicated in the church of St. Sauveur; while
the deputies received the wafer from the cardinal de
Bourbon in the church of the Dominicans. His majesty's
proclamation was outwardly observed : nevertheless,
the most scandalous cabals and compacts were formed,
and projects of reform were discussed by the principal
chieftains of the League without the slightest reference
to the will and good pleasure of the sovereign. The
cardinal de Bourbon privately conferred with the clergy,
whom Henry tried to propitiate by acknowledging and
openly greeting his venerable kinsman as first prince
of the blood. The princes of Lorraine caballed to force
forward the measures which should settle the question
of the succession and exclude le Bearnnois, and in other
matters give preponderance to the due de -Guise in the
great national council, so that the king might apparently
owe every concession to his salutary mediation. The
friends of the king, on their side, canvassed the mem
bers and invited them to rally round the sacred person
of the sovereign. The provost of Paris and his myr
midons intrigued to obtain the exact and literal per
formance of the Edict of Union, the abolition of the
existing system of taxation, the deposition of the king,
and the elevation of the Lorraine princes. The king's
inexperienced ministers, with Montholon at their head,
did nothing but prepare elaborate addresses, and initiate
themselves for the conspicuous part they were to per
form in the approaching pageants. The king himself,
meanwhile, steadily maintained that the adherents of
the League formed a very small minority of the States,
and were not in any way to be apprehended.
The hall of the palace of Blois on the 16th day of
October, 1588, presented a gorgeous spectacle. The
members of the States assembled under such ominous
circumstances, met at an early hour. There were pre-

206 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [lj88.
sent 134 ecclesiastical members, 180 nobles, and 192
ieputies chosen from the tiers etat. The clergy wore
their sacerdotal robes, and the peers their mantles. At
ane end of the hall rose a magnificent dais, upon which
stood a throne and footstool gorgeously decorated ; on
sach side, one step lower, was a chair of state for the
tpieens Catherine and Louise. On the right of the
platform was a bench, covered with cloth of gold, for
the cardmal de Vendome, the comte de Soissons, aud
the due de Montpensier : behind these royal personages
i similar bench was placed for the occupation of the
lues de Nemours, de Nevers, and de Retz. On the
[eft of the throne places were provided for the cardinals
le Guise, de Lenoncourt, and de Gondy. The due de
auise, as lord high steward, occupied a chair in front
)f the throne, sitting with his back to the king and
"acing the deputies. A little to the rigfit of the duke
sat the lord keeper Montholon. At the foot of the
*oyal dais, which gradually sloped to the centre of the
iall, stood a square table, at which sat the secretaries
c-f state Beaulieu and Revol. A staircase led from an
jpper apartment in the castle down to the platform of
state, and by this his majesty was to present himself
;o the assembly. When all was prepared the due de
juise rose, and attended by the 200 gentlemen of the
chamber armed with their battle-axes, quitted the as
sembly to escort thither the king. The deputies of the
;hree orders rose and stood bareheaded as his majesty
tppeared. Henry was attended by a superb cortege of
irinces and nobles. He bowed graciously to the as-
lembly aud saluted gallantly the ladies of the court,
vho occupied a gallery opposite to the throne. The
sountenance of the king, however, was grave and
tnxious as he looked round on the faces of the men
vhose mission it was to decide and solve difficulties of
uch vital moment to his dynasty. Queen Catherine

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 207
entered next, attended by a great suite of ladies ; she
bowed to the king as she passed the throne, and took
her seat in the chair of state to the right. The reigning
queen followed, accompanied by the duchesse de Joyeuse.
Louise looked pale and sad ; the hostile attitude of her
kinsmen of Lorraine greatly embittered her position,
for she sympathized not in their dangerous ambition.
The king then rose and addressed the assemblage in a
speech of great eloquence and plausibility. To have
judged by the fluent majesty of his words and the
nobleness of the sentiments he enunciated, Henry
might have been the most valiant and best of princes.
He commenced by vindicating his policy, conduct, and
sovereign dignity. He avowed his resolve to die for
the defence of the holy Roman orthodox faith, and
declared in a figure of speech that he claimed no mau
soleum more superb and honourable than one reared
on the ruins of heresy. He deplored the prevalence of
blasphemy, simony, and malversations. He gave his
royal pledge to abolish the practice of granting dona
tions of survivorships to offices of state. The king
then launched forth an eloquent eulogium on the vir
tues and talents of the queen-mother, to whom, he
said, he was indebted for his life, his throne, and what
ever knowledge he possessed ; and that it was owing to
her majesty's advice that he had convoked the States.
" Some of the greatest princes of my realm," said his
majesty, " have entered into unlawful leagues and
associations ; but in the exercise of my accustomed
clemency I desire to obliterate the memory of the
past; and for this reason, and to relieve the natural
fear which assails many of my loving subjects, that
after my demise they may fall under the dominion of
a heretic prince, I have caused this august assembly to
be convoked to remedy this evil, and to restore order,
justice, and submission to the laws throughout my

208 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
kingdom." Henry then again solemnly accepted the
Edict of Union ; and, for its better confirmation, his
majesty invited the members to present themselves on
the following Tuesday, when all might again swear
solemnly to observe the edict, and to witness its rccos-
nition and acceptance by himself as a fundamental law
of the monarchy.1 Henry pronounced this oration
with great animation of manner and distinctness of
speech. The lord keeper then rose and delivered an
harangue, in which he entered into the details of the
various topics touched upon by his majesty. The
archbishop of Bourges replied on behalf of the clergy,
the baron de Senecy for the nobility, and Chapelle
Marteau for the tiers etat. Their harangues were com
plimentary, assuring the king of their loyalty and de
votion to his crown, and of their allegiance to the faith.
Thus the first session of the States passed smoothly
enough. The royal protestations, however, and the
eagerness with which the king had lauded an edict
known to be odious to him, were interpreted by the
deputies into an admission of weakness, and as a de
precation of their menaced hostility. The paragraph
in -the royal harangue beginning with the words, " some
of the greatest princes of my realm," was deeply offen
sive to the due de Guise and the chiefs of the League.
It insinuated that they had been guilty of treason,
which his majesty, in the plenitude of his benevolence,
was pleased to overlook. It was the design of the
duke that his enterprises, both present and to come,
should be esteemed by his countrymen and by foreign
potentates as patriotic, and the result of his great zeal
for the welfare and repute of his sovereign. Henry's
allusions, therefore, were calculated to dissipate this
opinion, and to expose the princes of the League to the
1 De Thou. Pasquier, liv. xiii. Cayet. Mathieu : Hist, de
Henri in.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 209
censure of Europe as traitors and rebels. As soon,
therefore, as the session terminated, the due de Guise
repaired to the apartment of the cardinal de Bourbon,
who had been prevented by indisposition from being
present at the ceremonial, and related to him the
mischievous tenor of the royal speech. They were
presently joined by the archbishop of Lyons, and
together the three departed for the abode of the
cardinal de Guise. An anxious conference ensued, in
which it was resolved that the passage in question
should be erased from the royal speech before it was
printed and dispersed over the realm. The difficulty
of this undertaking was acknowledged not to be slight,
considering the present humour of the king. The
provost la Chapelle accompanied by several brawling
preachers of Paris, next presented himself to confer
on the same subject with the cardinal de Guise. They
entered, exasperated to the last degree by the royal
harangue, which they declared branded the clergy and
municipahty of Paris with the foul epithet of " traitors."
It was, therefore, resolved that the due de Guise should
return to the castle, and commence proceedings by
asking immediate audience of the queen-mother.
" Monsieur, if you had believed me, who never do
things by halves, we should not now be placed in this
said serious predicament," exclaimed the cardinal de
Guise to his brother. The queen, however, declined
to interfere, and recommended the duke to offer a re
spectful remonstrance and a request to his majesty to
modify his expressions through the lord-keeper Mon
tholon. This counsel was rejected ; and the following
morning the archbishop of Lyons was deputed to wait
upon the king, and insist on the emendations required.
The due de Guise and the members of the Seize present
in Blois had, moreover, the temerity to issue a prohi
bition to his majesty's printer, forbidding him. to di>-
VOL. III. p

210 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
pose of any copies of the royal harangue. The arch
bishop entered the royal cabinet with the address in
his hand. He then boldly demanded the erasure of
certain passages which, he said, reflected grossly on the
loyalty of his majesty's faithful servants ; who, though
they might be content to become in the presence of
their colleagues the object of his majesty's sarcasm,
yet they could not consent to allow such comments on
their conduct to go forth throughout the realm. The
king kept his eyes steadily fixed on the fire, and made
no reply. The archbishop then recommenced his ob
jurgations. The king then referred the princes to his
ministers, adding, " that he had spoken as it became
him to do ; and that, if anything more was said on the
subject, he should believe that treasonable violence was
intended." The audacious prelate replied " that the
king might think as he chose, but if the erasures de
manded were not conceded by his majesty, the majority
of deputies would quit Blois, including the princes of
Guise and himself." Henry then waved his hand
in token of dismissal, and the archbishop retired in
furious indignation to report the contumacy of the king
to his colleagues. Nothing further was51' transacted
during the day ; an ominous gloom overshadowed all ;
the contest had commenced in good earnest between
the sovereign and the States, which Henry had hoped
to lull into submission.
The following day, Tuesday, October 18th, the king
again met the States, clad in his royal robes. The
Edict of Union was then read aloud, and solemnly
subscribed and sworn to by the king, his nobles, and
prelates, aud by the deputies of the people. Henry
made an address declaratory of his resolve to maintain
the edict, and commanded* the assembly to repeat the
oath after the archbishop of Bourges — the prelates
folding their hands on their breasts, and the deputies

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 211
raising their right hand towards heaven. This his
majesty's behest was obeyed. The archbishop then
addressed a pacific exhortation to the members ; after
which they proceeded in procession, headed by the
king, to assist at a solemn Te Deum chanted in the
church of St. Sauveur, which edifice was situated in
the courtyard of the castle. Henry was afterwards
escorted back to his own apartments by the deputies,
who regaled him with loud shouts of Vive le roi.1
The king took this opportunity to assure the turbulent
provost Chapelle Marteau that he had forgotten the
occurrences in Paris ; and that, provided the Parisians
remained faithful, he never intended to recall or avenge
the enterprise of la Journee des Barricades. The
same day Henry conferred the command of his army
of Poitou on the due de Nevers; and directed the
secretary of state Beaulieu to draw up a special patent
dispensing the duke from relinquishing his office to the
due de Guise, or being in any way in military subjec
tion to the latter in his capacity of lieutenant-general
of the armies of France. The king thus thought to
secure, at least, the loyal and disinterested services of
one general, and of one of the great divisions of his
army ; the design was politic, and eventually proved of
vast importance to the royal cause. This act, however,
was bitterly resented by the due de Guise, who loudly
protested against so manifest an infringement of the
privileges of his office; but his discontent failed to
move the resolve of the king. The natural cunning
of Henry's disposition was sharpened by his perilous
position. Fear effectually roused him from his sloth,
and rendered him watchful, acute, and in a degree
laborious. Meantime the due de Guise continued his clamorous
1 Journal de Henri III, par l'Etoile. Cayet : Chronologie Noven-
naire.
p 2

212 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1.5S8.
agitation for the suppression of certain passages in the
royal speech. At length Catherine proceeded cautiously
to confer with her son on the subject, and made earnest
representation, beseeching him to condescend to the de
mand of the prmces of Lorraine. Henry's fury was ex
cessive, when he heard of the prohibition they had issued
to the printer to suspend the publication of the harangue.
For long his majesty resisted, but after a period given
to meditation Henry suddenly declared himself willing
to sanction the erasures demanded. This unexpected
mutation of will was viewed with the greatest suspicion
by many; by others, including the due de Guise, it was
deemed but as the ordinary concession of a will essen
tially weak and unstable. The king, therefore, sum
moned the due de Guise, his brother the cardinal, and
the archbishop of Lyons, and in their presence he took
a pen and drew it through the obnoxious passage without
observation whatever. During the audience a fog,
which had partially subsisted throughout the day, be
came so dense that a light was requisite. By the
flickering rays of a single, wax taper, hastily brought
by the page in waiting, Henry signed the retractation,
and dismissed his unwelcome guests, after having him
self significantly handed the document to the due de
Guise.1 1 Pieces et Extraits servant a I'Histoire depuis 1'an 1550, jusrju'en
1594, en fol. Bibl. St. Magloire, iv. — Bibl. Imp. MS.

HIS COURT AND TIMES. 21;

CHAPTER II.
1588.
Seizure of the marquisate of Saluzzo by the duke of Savoy— Political con
sequences — Intrigues of the due de Guise — His treasonable enter
prises — Proposal of the States to declare the ting of Navarre deposed
from his rank of heir-presumptive of France — Henry declines to sanc
tion the edict — Factious deportment of the members — Their cabals,
and submission to the authority of the due de Guise — Catherine re
ceives repeated warnings respecting the designs of Guise — She sends
for the due de Mayenne — His quarrel with the due de Guise — Assas
sination of madame Duprat — Marriage festivities of Christine de
Lorraine and the grand duke Ferdinand of Tuscany — Emeute
amongst the pages iu waiting — Departure from Blois of the duchesses
de Guise and de Montpensier — The assembly decrees the reduction of
the existing taxation — Distress and opposition of the king— His in-
teryiews with the archbishop of Lyons, and with M. Bernard, orator
of the Tiers Etat — Henry is compelled to sanction the edict — He is
present at a Te Deum sung in the church of St. Sauveur — The king
resolves the arrest or assassination of the due de Guise — His coun
sellors — The death of Guise is determined — Interviews of the duke with
Heniy III. — The duchesse d' Aumale— She warns Henry of his danger
— Measures of the king — Death of the due de Guise — Circumstances
connected with that event — Arrest of the cardinal de Bourbon, and
of the princes and princesses of Lorraine, inmates of the castle of
Blois — Arrest of Chapelle Marteau, and of various deputies of the
States — Interview between the king and his mother Catherine de
Medici — Council of state — -Assassination of the cardinal de Guise is
resolved — Death of the cardinal — Subsequent measures adopted by
Henry III.
The day following that upon which king Henry had
suffered his oration from the throne to be revised and
modelled at the dictation of the princes of Lorraine,
the news arrived of the seizure of the marquisate of

214 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
Saluzzo by the duke of Savoy. This territory, the
last that remained to France of her conquests beyond
the Alps, had during the last ten years been a source
of contention and the subject of endless negotiations.
The duke of Savoy had recently married Dona Catalina,
youngest daughter of Philip II. This alliance con
tracted, the duke, forgetful of the benefits which his
ancestors had received from the crown of France, per
fidiously adopted the policy of Spain, and espoused the
party of the League. Accordingly after the barricades
the duke caused overtures to be made to Guise, pro
mising to co-operate in his designs, provided that on
the contemplated accession of the house of Lorraine to
supreme power, the territories of Provence, Dauphiny,
and Saluzzo should be ceded to Savoy. The duke de
chned the proposal, adding " that the vintage must
ripen before grapes could be gathered." The duke
upon this rebuff ungenerously commanded his ambas
sador, the sieur des Alines, to reveal the designs of the
princes of Guise to king Henry ; and also earnestly to
pray his majesty to cede to him the marquisate of
Saluzzo, or to confer its government on the due de
Nemours or the marquis de St. Sorlin, the brother of
the latter, as the only method of arresting the foul con
tagion of heresy from spreading over the frontiers of
Provence into Italy. This proposal was highly dis
pleasing to Heniy, who returned one of his sarcastic
refusals. Having succeeded no better in this second
negotiation, the duke prepared to take forcible posses
sion of the marquisate, protesting at the same time the
purity of his intentions and his willingness to cede the
government to a prince of the orthodox house of Ne
mours. Through the intervention of the due de Nemours,
half brother of Guise, a second negotiation with the
League was entered into by the duke of Savoy, when

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 215
his projects were neither positively agreed to nor yet
censured by the due de Guise, who wished, before
closing with the alliance, to test the disposition of the
States. Meantime the duke of Savoy despatched the
marquis de St. Sorlin1 to take possession of the mar
quisate ; a campaign which was easily achieved, military
discipline being lax in the strongholds of Saluzzo as it
was everywhere else throughout the realm. Tlie news
reached Blois on the second day of November. This
usurpation greatly incensed the king, who rightly attri
buted it to the intrigues of the duke, especially as the
invading army marched under the banner of his half
brother St. Sorlin. His majesty, therefore, sent a
message to the States, desiring them to vote men and
money for the recovery of the territory usurped. A
hope animated the king that this foreign campaign
might divert the fury of faction from his realm ; the
delusion lasted, however, but a brief instant. The in
telhgence of the seizure of Saluzzo roused malignant
animosity ; angry and seditious debates ensued, inflamed
by the suggestions of Guise, who dreaded nothing more
than a foreign campaign. The deputies accused the
king of collusion with the duke of Savoy, in order to put
an end to the war waging against the king of Navarre,
which his majesty had unwillingly undertaken. They
insisted that no fresh war should be entered into until
heresy had been extirpated from the realm. The king

1 Anne d'Este, duchesse de Guise and de Nemours, had two sons,
the due de Nemours and the marquis de St. Sorlin, by her second alli
ance. The due de Nemours, her husband, died in 1585. Henry,
marquis de St. Sorlin, became due de Nemours on the demise of his
elder brother, in 1595. He married Anne de Lorraine, only daughter
and heiress of the due d'Aumale. Claude Amedee, due de Nemours,
1651, married Elizabeth de Venddme, by whom he had two daughters,
coheiresses, Maria queen of Portugal consort of Alphonso "VI. and of
Peter II. kings of Portugal, and Jeanne, who married Charles Emma
nuel, duke of Savoy.

216 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
in vain remonstrated, and represented the infamy of
allowing so flagrant a usurpation to remain unpu
nished. The more Henry entreated, the greater was the
obduracy shown by the clergy and the members of the
Tiers Etat, who were all devoted to the princes of the
League. The nobles, meantime, inspirited by the plead
ings and eloquent orations of d'Angennes, sieur de Main
tenon, at length boldly avowed their resolve to support
the king in his quarrel against Savoy with their estates
and their swords. They petitioned the king to declare
war against the duke of Savoy, despite the opposition
of the commons, and promised to support that step, as
they were in honour bound, as the special privilege of
their order. The town of Blois resounded with angry
elamour, " Shall the king for the recovery of a petty
Italian territory, which he has consented to lose, delude
us so that the great objects of the Union may be frus
trated, and the Bearnnois be able finally to domineer
over us?" asked the partisans of the League. A divi
sion disastrous to the cause of the Union seemed about
to occur in the States ; yet the ministers of the king
gazed around in helpless vacuity. Unfitted by their pre
vious avocation for the eminence of their present posi
tion, they retreated, deafened by the clamour, and dis
concerted by the sharp ordeal which awaited them when
in the presence of the representatives of the people.
They prevaricated when they ought to have firmly
maintained the royal prerogative. At this juncture
the due de Guise presented himself to enact again his
favourite role of mediator, and to arbitrate for the set
tlement of the difficulties which he himself had pro
voked — all which tended to exalt and render conspi
cuous the power he possessed. Accordingly he caused
a message to be conveyed to the king to the effect,
" That this turmoil would never have happened had his
majesty deigned, in the first instance, to consult him.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 217
That he witnessed with grief his majesty's alienation ;
and that although he had reason to be aggrieved that
the king had not condescended to ask his services, never
theless he would work for the accomplishment of the
royal desire relative to the declaration of war against
Savoy." The duke, accordingly, privately sent the
cardinal de Guise to admonish the clergy that it would
be prudent no longer to oppose the will of the king in
the affair of Saluzzo, but he prayed them to unite out
wardly with the nobles in assuring his majesty of their
loyal co-operation : he added, that their assent would be
a mere form, for he had resolved that the war against
le Bearnnois and his heretics should precede every
other campaign ; but that it was necessary to make
the concession, otherwise many of the chief nobles
would forsake the cause of the League. The same
message was conveyed to Chapelle Marteau, and com
municated to the Tiers Etat. At the same time the
duke secretly imparted his message to the ambassadors
of Spain and Savoj', and requested them to assure tlieir
respective cabinets that no foreign war would in reality
be entered upon. The effect of the duke's communi
cation to the States acted with instantaneous effect;
the war against the duke of Savoy was presently
unanimously voted, and a deputation, headed by the
archbishop of Bourges, obtained an audience of his
majesty to communicate the resolution.1 This tardy
concession had the effect of still more exasperating
the king, who was well aware of the proceedings of
Guise. The seizure of Saluzzo, Henry regarded as the
first overt attempt on the part of the duke to despoil
him of his crown. He beheld also with indignation
the influence possessed by the duke over the national
assembly ; and the last lingering hope which, through
1 De Thou, liv. xciii.

21S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
all his humiliations, had animated the mind of the king-,
that by the aid of the States he might wrest from his pre
sumptuous subject the power he had usurped, vanished.
The king was daily advertised of the secret councils
holden in the hotel Alluye, where the chiefs of the
League and the partisans of the Seize met to discuss,
propose, and decide on the measures to be brought he-
fore the assembly. The treasonable nature of the inti
mations made by the duke to the ambassadors of foreign
powers was communicated to the king by the English
ambassador, at the express command of queen Elizabeth.
In his very presence Heniy heard his audacious com
petitor addressed by the title of " Notre Grand !" as
the duke moved loftily amongst the crowd of courtiers,
feeling more truly a king than the royal master whom
he oppressed and insulted. Several intercepted letters,
written by members of the States, gave the duke the
same lofty appellation.
On the 4th day of November the deputies of the
clergy framed a resolution in which they declared the
king of Navarre " excommunicate, accursed, and inca
pable of succeeding to the crown of France." The
king was desired to confiscate his duchies, marquisates,
and lordships ; to dismiss him from the government of
Guyenne, and to banish him from the realm. It was
further resolved that the king should be petitioned to
proclaim this the degradation of Henri de Bourbon, soi-
disant king of Navarre, in the full assembly of the
States with solemn formalities, and to be pleased to
notify the same to the ambassadors of foreign powers
resident at the court of France.1 The resolution was
sent the same day for the assent of the nobles and
Tiers Ftat, who ratified it by majorities without dis
cussion. The States then elected twelve members from
1 Recueil des Piece3 Originates conceraant la Tenue des Etata-
Gcneraux, 158S, tome iv. p 170.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 219
each order to carry the resolution to the king, and to
ask for the formal assent and ratification of the sove
reign. The archbishop d'Embrun was appointed chief
of the deputation — a prelate devoted to the house of
Lorraine, bigoted and turbulent.1 Henry listened
patiently to the harangue pronounced by the prelate,
and replied by observing that the act of the States was
invalid and illegal, inasmuch as the assembly had not
previously fulfilled the indispensable formality of sum
moning the king of Navarre to return into the bosom
of the church; and that he could not, therefore, now
give the assent demanded from him. The archbishop
rephed, " Sire, the prince is a withered and accursed
branch, excommunicate, and not in any fashion to be
recognised by your faithful subjects." Henry, never
theless, persisted in his refusal, and commanded the
archbishop to return to the assembly and report his
reply. The assembly thereupon, after taking counsel
with Guise, met the following day, when the royal
objection was overruled by an immense majority. The
archbishop then returned to inform the king " that the
States had deliberated, but that the members declined
to act upon his majesty's suggestion, whom they
urgently prayed to ratify their decree." Henry dis
simulated his dissatisfaction, and again observed that
in a judicial act of such great importance every for
mality ought to be observed. " If your consciences
are so tender that you fear to communicate with an
outcast from the fold of the church, seek absolution and
dispensation from monseigneur le legat here in our court.
Nevertheless, do not think that I wish the said Henri de
Bourbon to be cited hither, that means may be contrived
to render him capable of aspiring to my crown. If God
continues to withhold from me the blessing of off-
1 " L'archeveque d'Embrun (Guillaume Avanson) homme livriS
bassement au due de Guise," says M. de Thou.

220 HENRY III. KING OF FRANC!., [1588.
spring of my own, I will take good heed that no prince
having even the taint of apostasy shall succeed me !''
" Sire," responded the archbishop, "the States do not
deem it expedient to address summons whatever to this
said Henri de Bourbon Vendome." " Wc will then
take early counsel on the petition of the States-gene
ral," abruptly replied Henry.1 The deputation of mem
bers then retired, highly discontented with the reply of
the king. Henry, however, who perceived that the
degradation of the king of Navarre would speedily
place the due de Guise in the position of hcir-prc-
sumptive, resolutely refused to sanction the decree of
the assembly, and addressed some sharp taunts to CI uisc
on the subject. The cabals which from thenceforth
raged within the palace and the town of Blois discon
certed even the quecii-niothcr, inured as Catherine had
been throughout a long life to the violent demonstra
tions of faction. Sorrowful were the queen's remi
niscences; wliile her future loomed dreary and menacing.
She beheld at length the designs of the due de Guise
revealed in their true aim and proportions; and she
awoke from the delusion that one of the chief designs
of the holy League was to wrest from the heretic king
of Navarre his lawful heritage of the crown to bestow
it upon her grandson. Her health was failing, her
political influence gone with the king her son, her
\>o\\ er over the due de Guise diminishing as he found
himself nearer to the attainment of his ambitious aspi
rations. The insolent and disrespectful deportment of
the princesses of Guise was also a source of serious dis
quietude to Catherine. It was true that in her pre
sence their demeanour seldom transgressed the rules of
courtly etiquette ; but the language of the duchesse de
Montpensier, as reported to the queen, was treasonable
1 Journal de Bernard aux Etats de Blois, 1588. Precis Verbal du
Tiers Etat.

I.588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 221
and disaffected ; while her treatment of queen Louise
had deeply wounded the dignity and the feelings of the
latter. Madame de Montpensier carried a pair of golden
scissors pendent from a chatelaine at her girdle, which
she often displayed before the court, observing, " that
she carried those scissors to give the king the tonsure
when he had abdicated ; as he was unworthy to wear
the crown, and would speedily be made to cede it to
a prince able and valiant, capable of defending the
realm from the poison of heresy. As for the king, he
was ruining everything by his dissimulation and vil
lanous cowardice !"
The position of the due de Guise, meanwhile, was
precarious almost as that of his royal master. His suc
cess and apparent triumph had greatly alienated the
princes of his house. The due d'Aumale from his
government of Picardy frequently warned the queen of
the dangerous designs of his cousin on the crown ; and
the duchess had in vain implored the king to grant her
a secret audience. But the memory of the past had
now little influence over the king. He had ceased to
view madame d'Aumale as the sprightly and fascinating
beauty at whose feet he would once willingly have laid
his crown ; and Henry now regarding her as a princess
the consort of one of his most rebellious subjects,
steadily refused to grant her prayer. The due de May
enne also wrote to the queen-mother deprecating the
treasonable designs of his brother ; and declaring that
though a partisan of the holy League he remained his
majesty's faithful subject, and would become the mortal
enemy of any man who presumed to lay his hand on
the crown. Queen Catherine during the month of
November sent for the due de Mayenne, hoping pro
bably that his counsels and disapprobation might check
the enterprises of his brother. The duke obeyed her
majesty's summons. A quarrel, however, immediately

222 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
arose between the brothers relative to madame de Noir
moutier, both having unfortunately mistaken the hour
of their appointment and met in the apartment of that
lady. Hot words ensued, swords were drawn, and a
hostile meeting arranged. The brothers met at dawn
on the open plot of ground at the end of the great
avenue of the castle. The due de Mayenne, however,
then refused to combat, not presuming, as he said, to
assail the life of his elder brother and chief. An
outward reconciliation ensued; but the due de
Mayenne immediately departed, still more alienated
from his brother, and disposed to oppose his projects.
Catherine herself solemnly warned the due de Cuiseto
beware of exasperating the king, whose present mood
she acknowledged herself unable to fathom ; and she
advised him to retire to Joinvillc. The princess
Christine of Lorraine also sent for the duke her kins
man, and emphatically adjured him to desist from trea
sonable cabals,1 and to put an end to the private con
ferences at the hotel of the cardinal de Guise. She,
moreover, expressed her conviction that, unless the duke
made such concessions and reconciled himself to his
royal master, a catastrophe fatal to his life or liberty
must ensue. " Madame" replied the duke, sharply,
"on n'oserait!" The States, meanwhile, at the sug
gestion of the due de Guise, passed a resolution and
carried it to the king for confirmation, to the effect
that the measures agreed upon in the full assembly of
the States should be sanctioned Avithout delay by his
majesty, and be at once acted upon as part of the law
of the land. The custom was, that after a measure had
1 Le due n'oubliait rien pour fortifier son parti ; il prenoit la defense
de ceux qui lui e"toient attaches, gagnoit les autres par les caresses, se
rendoit affable a chaque particulier, promettoit des emplois, des dignites,
des charges, des gouvernements aux plus interesses, comme s'il eut Hi
deja le maltre; mettoit enfin tout en usage pour s'attirer l'amitie" de
tout le monde " — Vie de Jacques Auguste de Thou, tome i.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 223
been proposed, and sanctioned by the States-general, it
was submitted for revision to the council of state, so
that by this formality its promulgation could be indefi
nitely postponed. After the dissolution of the States
of Blois in 1577, the Code Henri thus went through
the ordeal of a tedious probation, and had been at last
published only to appease the clamour of the people for
reform. The due de Guise foresaw that the clause of
attainder against the king of Navarre would remain a
dead letter, even if the royal sanction were eventually
extorted, if this privilege of revision still remained to
the king. Henry, descrying the duke's intent, posi
tively declined to sanction any innovations on the ordi
nary method of issuing edicts.
During these enterprises the duke remained his
majesty's guest, and daily presented himself to serve
the king at bis evening repast in his capacity of grand
master. His equipage was magnificent, and the pages
and gentlemen of M. de Guise fairly rivalled in num
ber those of the king. His demeanour was conde
scending and affable : he made splendid gifts to the
ladies of the court, especially to madame de Noir
moutier, and sought by every means to propitiate the
favour of the queen-mother.
The grand festival of the court at this period was
esteemed to be the approaching marriage of the prin
cess Christine with Ferdinand, grand duke of Tuscany
— its heroine another princess of Lorraine, as Henry
bitterly observed. The most splendid preparations
were made for this ceremony — the last courtly revel
of the Valois. Never was wedding, however, celebrated
under more gloomy auspices, whether as regarded the
circumstances under whicli it was contracted or the
bridegroom chosen. The old castle of Louis XII.
echoed the turmoil of contention; the stealthy step
of the assassin glided through its noble corridors ; the

!24 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
rail of faction resounded where in days of yore all had
>een peace and loyal veneration. The court of Louis
Nil. and of Francis I., so brilliant and chivalrous, was
•xtinct ; but a dark and dreary abyss separated as yet
he men of the old dynasty from the new one about to
ie inaugurated over France.
Neither was the history of Christine's royal bride
groom encouraging. Ferdinand, grand duke of Tnv
:anv, a priest and cardinal, had just received dispen-
ation from his vows, with permission to many from
he Holy Sec. He had been appointed to succeed to
he ducal throne by his brother Francis, duke of Tus-
:anv, who died suddenly, October 9th, 1.1S7, without
eaving legitimate male heirs. Francis had first espoused
kniine, archduchess of Austria ;' and, secondly, the rclc-
irated Bianca Capello, the adopted daughter of the
Venetian Senate, whom, nevertheless, he had enter-
ained as his mistress during the life of his imperial
¦onsort. The duchess Blanche died five hours after
ler consort, assailed by mysterious symptoms and
:onvulsions ; and the universal supposition was that
loth the duke and his consort expired from poison
idministered, if not directly by the cardinal Ferdinand,
it least with his connivance. No sooner, therefore,
md Ferdinand ascended the Tuscan throne than lie
lespatched Nicholas Tornabuoni, bishop of Santo Sepul-
:hro, on an ambassage to Rome, to solicit dispensation
rom his ecclesiastical vows. At the same time he ad-
Iresscd his kinswoman queen Catherine, praving that
he hand of her granddaughter Christine might be given
iim. Both these missions were attended with a for-
unate result; and the grand duke, therefore, had r.c-
:redited Horace Rucellai to Blois to deliver letters pro-
juratory into the hands of queen Catherine; also, a
Daughter of the emperor Ferdinand I., and of A une heiress of
lur^ry.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 225
private missive praying her majesty to select whom
she would as a proxy to espouse the princess in his
name. Catherine, therefore, fixed upon the youthful
prince Charles d'Angouleme, grand prior of France,1
to represent the duke of Tuscany in the approaching
ceremonial, which, in homage to the Medici, was to be
solemnized with the utmost splendour.
On the eve of the nuptials of the young princess,
however, a terrible crime spread dismay throughout
the royal castle, and shed a deeper gloom over its in
mates. Madame Duprat,2 the wife of the provost
Dnprat, sieur de Nantouillet — whose alliance the king,
when due d'Anjou, had tried to procure for mademoi
selle de Chateauueuf — was a pretty, frivolous woman,
of luxurious habits, and whose profuse expenditure had
made itself felt even on the well-filled coffers of the
wealthy financier. The extravagance of his wife had
first disturbed the domestic felicity of the provost. Her
husband's remonstrances madame Duprat retaliated by
a levity of demeanour highly reprehensible. Her beauty
and simpering manner brought to her feet a crowd of
admirers ; she was well received by the queen at the
Louvre, and had contrived to ingratiate herself with
the queen-mother, who gave her the appointment of
lady of the bedchamber. Soon the provost's obdurate
wife became one of the most influential ladies of the
capital, while her aggrieved husband, who was con
siderably her senior, retired to his castle of Nantouillet
apparently resigned to his fate and her neglect. Nan
touillet, however, had two nephews — men ferocious and
outlawed for their numerous crimes. One of these
1 Son .of Charles INi. and Marie Touehet, born April 23, 1573, in the
castle of Le Fayet, in Dauphiny. He espoused Charlotte de Montmo
rency, comtesse d'Alais, eldest daughter of the constable Henri and An
toinette de la Marck.
2 Anne de Barban9on, daughter of Francois seigneur de Cany.
VOL. III. Q

226 HENRY III. KING OF FRAN CI , [1588.
nephews, the baron dc A iteaux, stabbed the marquis
du Guast at the bidding of Marguerite de Valois. The
second had committed a notable theft on the coffers of
his uncle the provost. To propitiate the latter these
relatives feigned to espouse his quarrel against his wife,
and undertook to avenge Nantouillet for her infidelity.
It has never been ascertained whether the provost was
cognizant of their bloody purpose. A few days before
the ceremony of the marriage of Christine de Lorraine,
madame Duprat, between the hours of five and six
in the afternoon, was attiring herself for the queen's
evening reception, attended by two women, who were
combing her hair before the fire in her apartment,
when the door was suddenly forced open, and three
assassins rushed upon the unfortunate lady and stabbed
her in the throat. With a cry of agony madame
Duprat fell, and immediately expired in the arms of
her women. The palace guard was called out and
the most rigorous search instituted; but no traces
could be discovered of the assassins, who had entered
the palace unseen, and escaped thence undetected. The
provost Duprat, when apprized of the catastrophe, ex
hibited the greatest grief, and vehemently denied all
knowledge of or participation in the crime. No sub
sequent investigations elucidated the mystery; though
the general belief implicated Nantouillet as the chief
instigator of this foul assassination.
The marriage of mademoiselle de Lorraine quickly
followed this tragical event. The ceremony was per
formed on Sunday, the 28th day of November, in the
chapel of the palace at vesper hour. The king gave
away the bride ; and the ceremony was graced by the
presence of the two queens, the due de Guise, and by
that of all the noble and illustrious personages assem
bled at Blois. Henry celebrated the event bv a grand
banquet in the evening, after which there was a comedy

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 227
and ballet. The castle was illuminated, also all the
principal edifices of Blois, and salutes of cannon were
fired at intervals. The following day Henry gave a
second sumptuous banquet to the foreign ambassadors
resident in France. During the evening a serious
emeute occurred amongst the pages and gentlemen in
waiting on the royal guests. The pages, to the num
ber of several hundreds, had assembled, as was the
custom, in the court of the castle and on the grand
staircase which conducted to the state apartments. As
a diversion they presently divided into bands, part de
claring themselves Royalists, and the others Guisards.
The pastime went smoothly enough for a time; at
length their ardour becoming inflamed, they began to
dispute in good earnest. From words they came to
blows, and a sanguinary fight ensued, the uproar of
which reached the town. The gates of the castle were
closed, and a messenger despatched to ask instructions
from his majesty. The due de Guise was with the
queen-mother when Catherine received information of
the fray. According to some relations of the event,
the duke smiled and continued his discourse, and re
fused to interfere when requested to do so by her
majesty, lest it should be reported that he had at
tempted the king's life. Madame de Montpensier,
meantime, entered the cabinet and entreated her
brother with her usual vivacity of expression to escape
for his life; for the tumult, she said, had evidently
been concerted to compass his destruction. The duke,
however, refused to leave the presence of the queen,
though he fixed his eyes searchingly on her majesty's
countenance. Another account states that, on hearing
of the tumult, the duke fled to his chamber and bar
ricaded the door with coffers, being resolved to sell
his life dearly. Meantime madame de Montpensier
despatched a secret emissary to notify their supposed
q2

22S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
danger to the cardinal de Guise. The town, however,
was already in commotion, and troops of people be
sieged the gates of the chateau, eager to rescue their
champion. Others armed themselves to defend the
king, whose life they supposed, on the contrary, to be
assailed. During this interval, however, Crillon, cap
tain of the guards, having vainly waited for directions,
took upon himself to quell the tumult with his regi
ment, which good office he speedily performed. The
gates of the castle were then thrown open, and the
people entered to survey the prostrate and, in many
instances, lifeless bodies of the combatants, who had
fought with desperate fury.1 It was ascertained that
the pages of the cardinal de Bourbon had commenced
the fray by attacking the pages of the due de Guise.
" Truly the pages of M. de Bourbon show more wit
than their master," exclaimed the king, when informed
of this circumstance; "they know how to defend the
house which shelters them, while M. le cardinal aids
to pull it about his ears !"
After the conclusion of the nuptial festivities of the
grand-duchess Christine, the duchesse de Guise quitted
Blois and proceeded to Paris for her accouchement.
She was accompanied by madame de Montpensier,
whose violent conduct had greatly offended queen
Catherine. Many of the great nobles also, foreseeing
the disasters at hand, took leave of their sovereign, and
retiring to their respective castles, waited the event.
The most intense resentment agitated Henrv, and pro
jects of vengeance occupied his mind to the exclusion
almost of any other affairs. The last drop, however,
whicli caused the already brimming cup of wrath to
overflow had yet to gather. Thus far no definite con
cession had been obtained from the king likely to pro-
1 Cayet. De Thou, liv. xciii. Davila.

1,588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 229
mote the designs harboured by Guise. Henry had,
however, guaranteed by every sacred solemnity the
Edict of Union — to obtain the promulgation of which
had been the ostensible cause of the rising previous
to the treaty of Nemours, and of the subsequent revolt
of Paris. So far the League had prevailed. The king,
however, showed a manifest unwillingness to proceed
against the king of Navarre. He had rejected the
proposal made to render at once valid as law any reso
lution passed by a majority of the three orders. He
had also privately, yet firmly, expressed his royal wish
that the much-mooted question of the reception of the
canons of Trent should not be discussed, as it was his
intention to retain intact the Concordat of Francis I.
It was evident, therefore, that Henry still felt himself
a king. Despite the bitter humiliation which he had
endured, he dared still to assert his authority, and
was far as ever from becoming the puppet of the
prince who had brought shame on his royal dignity.
Deeper degradation and embarrassment, therefore, the
due de Guise and his followers perceived would be re
quisite before Frere Henri would resign himself meekly
to the tutelage of his oppressors — before he could be
induced to acknowledge the favour and protection of
Guise to be his palladium. The tenor of the Edict of
Union bound the king to continue the war against the
heretics; but in order to fulfil this condition money
was needful to support the vast cost of three armies in
the field. The due de Guise, therefore, resolved to
attack the king through the medium of finance — to raise
a clamour for the war, and yet, at the same time, to
withhold the funds requisite for its prosecution ; and
even more, under pretext of the king's past prodigali
ties, to diminish the rate of the taxes levied by his
predecessors. By this ungenerous device the duke
hoped to bring his sovereign to his feet. Voluntarily

230 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
the duke perceived that Henry would never sanction
or confer upon him that pre-eminent position at court,
which the archbishop of Lyons, in his "Instructions,"
had pointed out as the only path leading to the throne.
The enthusiasm of the people, his power over the na
tional assembly, and the apparent listless inaction of
the king had lately roused dangerous and ambitious
aspirings in the breast of Guise. What if the king,
wearied of the harassing contest, and panting to return
to his sloth, his luxury, and his pleasures, should be
driven to a voluntary abdication ! The old cardinal,
whom the duke termed to his intimates vn veritable
boutefeu, Mould offer but a feeble obstacle to his designs.
Moreover, the duke was becoming weary of the rdle of
a popular hero ; he shrunk from the coarse familiarity
of his plebeian partisans, and shuddered when com
pelled to grasp the dingy hands extended to him in
token of fellowship and good-will.
Accordingly, on the 2nd day of December, the States
decreed that as the people ought to be relieved from
the excessive taxations of the late years, the sum of
2,066,000 crowns should be immediately deducted from
the existing imposts. The measure was proposed in
each of the three chambers by notorious partisans of
the princes. During the discussion, which lasted two
days, Henry in vain tried to divert the storm. The
proposal threw the king into alternate paroxysms of
fury and despair. His private domain was mortgaged,
his debts were immense, war was clamoured for, and
instead of granting fresh subsidies, it was proposed to
diminish the existing taxation ! The unhappy monarch
descried the snare in wliich it was sought to envelope
him. As usual, he first cowered beneath the blow, to
rise, however, when driven to extremity, and take
savage vengeance on the traitors who thus sought to
betray him. On the 3rd day of December, 1588, the

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 231
king sent for Bernard, orator of the tiers etat, the
archbishop of Lyons, and the president de Neuilly. He
then addressed to them a pathetic remonstrance most
unworthy of his royal dignity. His majesty said " that
it was his intention to reform his household, so that if
the States-general deemed two capons to be a too pro
digal supply for his table, he would be content with one.
That he experienced great regret for his past prodigali
ties; but that to propose to reduce the taxes to the
* standard of the imposts of the year 1576 would be the
ruin of his kingdom and dynasty. That tfie expense
of the war against the heretics which he had engaged
to make must be considered ;, for without funds no
military enterprises could be undertaken. That he
would risk his life in the prosecution of this holy war.
" May God so requite me if I fail ! The money, when
voted, may remain in the hands of certain able bur
gesses whom we will name. In this I know well that
I am acting contrary to the advice of my council, who
tell me that my realm will become democratic like that
of the duke of Venice. But, nevertheless, I will do it."
Henry continued his piteous wail in these words : " I
have no intention, messieurs, to give profusely as here
tofore. Assure the States of this. I have not now a ¦
single sou; and it is a scandal and a shame for my
ministers to tolerate such a state of things. I swear
on my salvation that since the month of May last I
have not given 4,000 francs." The archbishop of Lyons
made his majesty a few soothing speeches ; the president
de Neuilly, who had always tears at his command,
blubbered like a child ; while the able and sententious
Bernard mentally took note of the interview to tran
scribe it entire in his admirable journal of the " States
of Blois."1 Notwithstanding Henry's deprecation, the
1 Journal de Bernard aux Etats de Blois, tome v. p. 120 — Recueil
du Sieur Barrois — Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III. '

232 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [ljSS.
measure passed with scarcely a dissentient voice, so
entire was the sway of the princes of Guise over the
assembly, and hostile the feeling towards the kin? and
his ministers. Every expostulation made by the chan
cellor Montholon was derided; and, strong in their
unanimity, the States deputed the archbishop of
Bourges to carry the bill to his majesty and demand
his assent to the measure. Henry positively refused
his sanction, unmoved by the specious address of the
prelate, who, however, could not refrain from com
miserating the position of his royal master. Three
times during the same day, nevertheless, did the arch
bishop return to wait upon the king, by command of the
assembly, to insist on the measure. At length, weary
and browbeaten, the king, by the advice of his mother,
affixed his signature to the document so pertinaciously
demanded. The following day a Tc Drum was chanted
in the church of St. Sauveur, whicli the king was soli
cited to attend. Severely now were Henry's crimes and
errors visited upon him ; the complete degradation of
the royal majesty would not have been deemed perfect
had the king been spared the fierce and seditious ha
rangue prepared for the occasion by one Brisson, a pre
bend of the cathedral of Senlis. To the face of the
king this demagogue poured forth the most foul in
sults ; he assailed the personages employed about the
person of his sovereign ; " Those wretched harpies !
those thieves ! those accursed counsellors, let them
be banished with contumely!" The preacher next
descended to coarse jests, and to indecent allusions
respecting various high personages of the realm
absent from Blois. A laugh, imperfectly suppressed,
convulsed the assemblage. Henry sat beneath his
canopy of state, his head bowed in his hands ; at the
conclusion he rose, and with that majesty of demeanour
which under the most trying circumstances never for-

I588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 233
sook him, he quitted the church, followed by the depu
ties, who attended him to the castle, uttering mocking,
though vehement shouts of Vive le roy.1
From thenceforth the fate of Guise was decided ; a
vindictive craving for the blood of that most audacious
of traitors racked the mind of the king. It had been
forgotten that the weak, prodigal, faithless, and effemi
nate king, I'fiomme-femme, as his subjects, the deputies
of Blois, loved to term their sovereign, was also the
prince who had planned the massacre of the Protestants,
the murder of Coligny, and who, throughout his reign,
had been the perfidious slayer of the reputations of all
who had ventured to thwart his designs. The security
and boldness manifested by the due de Guise cannot be
explained, aware as was the duke of his recent narrow
escape from assassination in the chamber of queen
Louise. He disregarded the countless intimations which
reached him from all quarters, and the urgent prayer
of his consort and sister, that he would retire betimes
from Blois, leaving there the cardinal de Guise. " The
liberty of M. de Damville saved the life of his brother,
the marechal de Montmorency," significantly observed
madame de Montpensier. Confident in the success of
his intrigues, the duke precipitated himself beneath the
dagger of the assassin ; intoxicated by his power, and
relying on the cowardice and indolence of his sovereign,
the conduct of the duke presents a singular mixture of
courage, audacity, and imprudence. A great revolu
tionary leader would have projected able measures for
the safety of himself and his adherents ; a mere dema
gogue would not have ventured on the perilous enter
prises concerted by Guise ; but the duke, neither a great
nor yet an insignificant agitator, and being but partially
supported by his own order, fell the instant that his
sovereign gave the signal for his overthrow.
1 Journal de Bernard. De Thou, liv. xciii.

234 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, ['588.
During the afternoon of the 5th of December, the
archbishop of Lyons again presented himself iu the
royal closet with an insolent message from Chapelle
Marteau and the tiers etat, to the effect that, as his
majesty appeared so greatly in need of supplies for his
private treasuiy, the provost was ready to propose to
the chambers a vote of 120,000 crowns. "The tiers
etat," says Bernard, "rejoiced at seeing the king come
to the ' wallet and the bowl,' decided to oblige him by
the offer of 120,000 crowns." Espinac was also com
missioned to admonish the king to dismiss his fa
vourites, M. d'O, the two brothers de Rambouillet, his
chief physician Mirou, Ornano, the marechal d'Aumont,
and M. de Lognac, captain of the Quarante-cinq, and
other persons of minor note. He also intimated that
the States were about to petition his majesty to dismiss
the Quarante-cinq, as guards obnoxious to the people
and of no public utility, as his majesty still retained
his regiments oi gardes du corps.
The royal answer to these intimations is not on
record, if it be not indeed contained in the first act
performed by the king after the departure of the arch
bishop. Henry then summoned the obnoxious per
sonages mentioned above, and mockingly commanded
them all instantly to proceed to the apartment of the
due de Guise, and ask his pardon if they had been un
fortunate enough to offend him ; and afterwards to
solicit his permission to retain their offices in the house
hold. The due de Guise actually had the presumption
to believe that his sovereign was in earnest in autho
rizing this humble ambassage, and gravely gave his
absolution, with the assurance, " that if the conduct of
the officers in question agreed with their protestations,
that they should experience no further molestation."
Meantime the duchesse d'Aumale continued perse-
veringly to demand audience from the king, and em-

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 235
ployed Ornano as a mediator. Henry, blindly persisting
in his resentment, declared that whatever the duchess
had to communicate might be transmitted through the
queen-mother, or by the lips of Ornano. An extraor
dinary scene was then witnessed in the saloon of queen
Louise. The duchess d'Aumale one morning entered
attired in mourning robes, and throwing herself on her
knees in the middle of the chamber, soon appeared to
be absorbed in prayer. Several ladies, after contem
plating the spectacle in mute surprise, approached
madame d'Aumale, and inquired why she made choice
of such a locality to recite her orisons ? The duchess
raised her tearful eyes, and replied, " Mesdames, I
have great and momentous things to confide to
the king, and I am praying for the succour of
Heaven, so that the heart of his majesty may be
softened to admit me to his presence !" The same
day the duchess saw the king privately in the oratory
of queen Louise. She informed his majesty " that the
designs of the due de Guise had become pernicious, and
that the king, if he wished to preserve his crown, must
take precautionary measures. That the States to a
man would support the duke, and that they designed
to proclaim him constable of France; but she prayed
his majesty to believe that the due d'Aumale, and the
other princes of his house, would aid the king in any
measures for the defence and safety of his crown and
person."1 During the same afternoon the king had a
severe personal altercation with the due de Guise re
specting the town of Orleans, a place in those days
esteemed only second in importance to Paris. The
king wished to create M. d'Entragues governor of
Orleans. This appointment had been made in conse
quence of a private understanding between Entragues
1 De Thou, liv. cxiii.

236 HENRY III. KING 01' FRANCE, [1588.
and the king, the former of whom, in consideration of
receiring this office, vacant by the dismissal of the
chancellor Cheverny, pledged himself to adhere to the
interests of the king, to forsake utterly his old col
leagues of the Union, and to renounce his friendship
for the due de Guise. AYb.cn the royal intent was
communicated to the due de Guise, he maintained that
Orleans, being one oi" the places which his majesty had
engaged to cede to the League by the recent Edict of
Union, the appointment to the important office of
governor was vested solely in himself and his colleagues.
The king warmly denied ever having relinquished so
important a city, and asserted that the duke had mis
taken the town of Dourlens for that of Orleans, the
former of wliich he acknowledged to have given to the
League. The duke still asserting to the contrary, the
king in great wrath sent a gentleman to summon the
queen-mother, who had negotiated the treatv, that her
testimony might confute that of the duke. Catherine
was carried in a chair to the royal cabinet, but when
the question was put by the king, she answered eva
sively, "that her memory failed her; but that she was
of advice that the ex-secretaries of state Villeroy and
Pinart should be summoned, who might previously
consult their minutes of the various conferences." The
king, nevertheless, still persisting in his determination
to confer the appointment on Entragues, the duke
forgot himself so far as to rise in a rage, saying, " that
of a truth the king had ceded the town of Orleans, arid
that he knew well how to preserve it !" At vespers
the king, who had always his eye on the duke, ob
served that, instead of joining in the service, the latter
was attentively perusing a small pamphlet. " Mon
cousin, you are always so very devout," said the king,
sarcastically, on quitting the chapel. " Excuse me,
sire," responded the duke, "I have been reading a

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 237
pamphlet composed by a Huguenot on the condition of
France. Believe me, he is a pleasant babbler. I
counsel you to read it yourself, sire !" The king coldly
declined. The book was a virulent libel on the person
and government of the king ; but Henry understood,
and parried what the courtiers termed "I'agreable malice
de M. de Guise."1 "The king at this time," says the
royal physician Miron, in his relation of these events,
"pretended to be greatly absorbed by his devotional
exercises, especially as he perceived that M. de Guise
was lulled into security thereby. He therefore, about
this time, commanded that a number of small cells
should be constructed over his apartment, for the ac
commodation of certain Capuchin friars, much in his
majesty's confidence; and for some days he seemed so
indifferent and absorbed, that outwardly his majesty
appeared to have lost even animation and feeling."
Advices, meanwhile, came from the due d'Epernon,
admonishing his royal master to be on his guard, as it
was reported that a notable conspiracy had been con
cocted in Blois against his life and person. The same
warning was again forwarded by the due de Mayenne.
At the same time the marechal d'Aumont, whose wife
was the aunt of the duchesse d'Elbceuf, revealed to the
king the overtures which had been lately made to him
by the due de Guise, who, as the price of the marshal's
co-operation, had offered to procure for him the govern
ment of Normandy by compelling the due de Mont
pensier to resign that lucrative post. In test of the
sincerity of his proposal, the marshal stated that the
duke had bared his arm to perforate a vein, that he
might sign the engagement with his blood. " The due
de Guise, sire, skilful as was his sophistry, did not, as
you perceive, succeed in seducing me from my alle-
1 Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire. De Thou, liv. xciii.

23S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
giance ; nevertheless such offers are likely to dazzle
and mislead our young nobles. Afready, sire, is every
effort thus made by the duke and his partisans, who
employ flattery, promises, and menaces to accomplish
their purpose."1
What " this purpose" absolutely was, it is difficult to
decide, amidst the immense mass of documents, manu-
script and printed, relating to this stormy period. Most
of these records vary in their statements relative to the
projects then agitating the mind of Guise, though thev
all unanimously agree in ascribing to him treasonable
and even regicidal designs. The duke had not found it
so easy as he expected to compass the attainder of the
king of Navarre, despite the papal excommunication, and
the zealous support of the orders of the clergy and the
tiers etat. The destruction of the Spanish Armada had
crippled the resources of Philip II. , 'and infused new
life and fresh vigour into the counsels of the king of
Navarre. In La Rochelle, by the provident care and
friendship of queen Elizabeth, arms, provisions, and
money were amassing for the support of the Protestant
cause. The heroes of Coutras had gathered round their
valiant chieftain. Montmorency, the first Christian
baron of France, uniting his banner to that of Bourbon,
reigned over the fair south with despotic sway. The
Angoumois was holden by Epernon ; Dauphiny by
Lesdiguieres ; the Lyonnais by the due de Nemours,
whose fidelity Guise mistrusted. A triumph over
this formidable opposition must be the reward of several
successful military campaigns ; for until the king of Na
varre was disarmed and his territory confiscated, any fiat
of the States against him virtually remained in abeyance.
But, meantime, while Guise was securing his future suc
cession to the throne, the king might escape from vassal-
1 De Thou, who gives at length the address of the mare'chal
d'Aumont.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES, 239
age. Taking these adverse circumstances into considera
tion, the due de Guise perceived that at the present
time, if ever, his designs upon the throne must be ma
tured. If the king could be terrified or cajoled into
making voluntary abdication, the duke might now
assume the sceptre with the assent of the national
assembly, and consolidate his power during the lifetime
of king Henry. A perilous interregnum would thus
be avoided. The States-general appeared willing to
abet his usurpation ; Paris troubled, and perhaps fearful,
stretched forth her arms to the hero of the barricades ;
the queen-mother Catherine enfeebled, and already
stricken by the hand of death, could oppose but an
ineffectual opposition. Already it had been secretly
agreed in the councils of l'hotel d'Alluye, that the
assembly should declare its session indissoluble, if the
shghtest disposition were perceived on the part of the
king to dissolve or even to prorogue the States.
In the cabinet of king Henry also ominous debates
pended, their issue being decisive of the death or arrest
of the traitor whose hand was lifted to grasp the diadem.
That vengeance, from the Day of the Barricades, had
Henry steadily pursued ; he thirsted for the perdition
of him who had humiliated his dignity and despoiled
life of that which, to the king, was sweetest. It does
not appear that Henry fully opened his schemes to the
queen-mother. Nevertheless, Catherine knew that
some great blow was meditated; neither was she so
taken by surprise at the subsequent catastrophe as has
been generally believed. " Monsieur, mon fils, you
must hasten your measures ; you will ruin all by delay ;
but I pray you, take good heed to establish such good
order that you are not again deceived as you were at
the barricades of Paris," was the mysterious counsel
which Catherine gave to her son at a conference be
tween them at this period. Neither did Henry confide

240 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
in his ministers ; he was aware of their incompetence,
and had expressly chosen them that no controlling
voice but his own might be heard in the cabinet.
About the 19th day of December Henry summoned
the marechal d'Aumont, Nicholas d'Angennes sieur de
Rambouillet, and Antoine de Brechanteau sieur de
Beauvais-Nangis to a nocturnal conference. lie then
ably laid before these noblemen the position of affairs,
avowed that he had resolved to execute summary ven
geance on Guise or to effect his arrest, and requested
that they would each one give him their counsel on the
matter. The king recapitulated the humiliating insults
which he had received since the opening of the States ;
and he declared that the deputies, as a first step, were
about to confer upon Guise the dignity of Captain General
of France. "I shudder with horror and amaze," exclaimed
his majesty, '" when I also represent to myself what must
be the condition of France, when aliens presume to dis
pute for this the first crown in the world with its legiti
mate heir !" The noblemen listened with respectful
commiseration, and demanded a day to consider the
important question proposed. Henry assented, and
desired them to meet at the same place and hour on
the morrow, his majesty adding, "that he should greatly
prefer, if possible, to proceed against the duke by the
ordinary channels of justice." The following day the
marshal and his colleagues repaired to the royal cabinet,
accompanied by Louis de Rambouillet sieur tie Main
tenon, whom his majesty had instructed d'Aumont to
initiate. The marshal spoke first, and advised the king
to arrest the due de Guise and all the princes of his
house, and bring them to trial before the parliament of
Paris. " It is impossible ! no judge would be bold
enough to condemn them ! The people of Paris would
rise and rescue them !" exclaimed the king. The royal
assertion was not to be gainsaid ; for to such a lament-

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 241
able condition had Henry's past misrule and profligacy
reduced him. His army was under the command of
princes of the house of Lorraine ; the judges of his
criminal courts had been nominated by them; the
capital, with its municipality, was at their devotion ;
the Bastille, Vincennes, and other important forts, were
in the hands of their partisans ; the States-general, that
august court of appeal and arbitration between the
sovereign and his people, had forgotten its functions,
and a mob of turbulent democrats presided in an
assembly which was adorned only a few years pre
viously by the eloquence of a Montluc, and guided by
the virtuous moderation of de l'Hopital. It was too
true the king had no redress but one against the trea
son of his powerful competitor, and that one resource
Henry shrunk from proposing. The armies of the king
of Navarre and Montmorency, reinforced perhaps by the
stalwart soldiers of the English queen, could alone have
restored the royal supremacy, and have enabled the king
legally to bring to condign punishment those who had
conspired against his person and dignity. His ancient
detestation of the Huguenots, his fear of Spanish ven
geance and invasion, and the shades of the massacred
of St. Bartholomew's Day, stood between the king and
M3 reconciliation with Henri de Navarre. The two
brothers de Rambouillet and the sieur de Beauvais-
Nangis, however, presently broke the spell by coun
selling their royal master to rid himself summarily of
so factious a subject, whose treason was manifest in the
eyes of all men. Henry needed but a word to confirm
him in the decision he had previously formed — to take
the life of the duke. It was, therefore, decided that
the fiat should be executed at the first convenient oppor
tunity, and the persons of the cardinal de Bourbon, the
prince de JoinviUe, the cardinal de Guise, the due de
VOL. III. K

242 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, ['588.
Nemours, the due d'Elbceuf, and the archbishop of
Lyons secured.1
The difficulty, however, lay in devising the oppor.
tunity. The duke never approached the royal apart
ment unattended by a great suite of gentlemen. The
king's closet was entered through a large apartment
in which Henry dined in public, and which was also
occasionally used as a council chamber. "When this
saloon was empty the noblemen visiting the king were
suffered there to leave their attendants; but on the
clays when a council sat, those having the privilege of
entr&e were obliged to dismiss their suite at the foot
of the staircase leading to the hall of council from the
courtyard of the castle. The duke had boasted of the
impossibility of any successful attempt being made on
his person when accompanied by his gentlemen; it
was, therefore, resolved that the design should be exe
cuted during the session of a council, to which the due
de Guise was to be summoned by the king, when he
would be thus compelled to dispense with the atten
dance of his suite. The duke, who had long excused
himself from being present at the councils of his sove
reign, was not aware, it is said, of the arrangement
relative to the saloon.
On Wednesday, the 22nd, the due de Guise after
vespers accompanied the king in his evening pro
menade on the terrace of the castle. Henry, probably
with the intent of eliciting for the last time the
1 De Thou, liv. xciii. Davila. Mathieu. Two writers, Davila and
Papon, Hist, de Provence, assert that Heniy proposed to Louis de
Berton de Crillon to assassinate the due de Guise. The brave de Crillon
declined with indignation cette office d<: bounxau, and warmly rebuked
his sovereign for the proposal. The account further states that Henry
rephed, " C'est assez ; je vous connois, et vous pardonne un refus que
je ne dohs qu'a votre serupuleuse delicatesse !" Crillon offered to chal
lenge the duke, and kill him in legal comljat. The story, however, is
little probable.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 243
true designs of Guise, commenced to discourse on
various political subjects. His majesty expressed his
grave displeasure that, notwithstanding his prohibition,
the matter of the recognition of the council of Trent
had been mooted in the national assembly. He also
desired the duke to effect the withdrawal of a proposi
tion about to be introduced before the assembly by the
cardinal de Guise, to deprive the marechal de Matignon
of his command in Guyenne. The king also spoke at
length on the informality and injustice of the decree
rendered against the king of Navarre. The duke cut
the king short on all these matters, and refused to
reply. He then said that he availed himself of this
opportunity to speak to his majesty in private ; for, per
ceiving that affairs were daily growing more desperate,
and the king's alienation more visible, despite his pro
mises and engagements, he had taken the resolution to
resign his office of lieutenant-general, and to supplicate
his majesty to permit him to retire to JoinviUe. " No,
no !" ironically exclaimed the king. " Think, I beseech
you, monseigneur, twice before you do this. A night
will inspire you with greater wisdom." " Sire," replied
Guise, " I have resolved, and do resign my offices, with
the exception of those of grand-master and governor
of Champagne, the which I pray your majesty to con
firm afterwards to my son." " He only made this
resignation," said the king, angrily, on re-entering his
apartment, "because the States have resolved, despite
my will and sanction, to proclaim him constable. I
am aware of his devices !" The king then refused to
accept the duke's offered resignation, and put an end
to the conference by returning to the palace, confirmed
more than ever in his sanguinary resolves.
On the return of the due de Guise to his apartments,
he found on his table several anonymous billets con
taining emphatic warnings.' One enclosed the Avords,
k 2

244 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [>j8S.
"Be on your guard; a dangerous attempt is about to
be made on your life." The duke took a pencil, wrote
the words " On n'oserait" beneath the lines, and con
temptuously tossed the note under the table.1 Never
theless, he rose the following morniug depressed and
uneasy, and quitted the palace early to hold conference
with the Seize in the apartments of the cardinal de
Guise. There the duke met MM. de Lyons and de
Guise, Chapelle Marteau, Maineville, and the presi
dent de Neuilly. He related his interview with the
king, the royal anger, and the subsequent warnings he
bad received; and for the first time the duke seemed
inclined to adopt the prudent counsel so often given
him and retire to Orleans. II is colleagues, however,
now vehemently dissuaded him. "Monsieur, monsieur,
qui quitte la partie la perd" said the archbishop of
Lyons. " We are strongest — let us disarm the tyrant!"
exclaimed Chapelle Marteau. The president shed
copious tears, and tried to console and encourage his
companions. " The king is a fool, a tyrant, and mad;
and we treat him as if we feared him !" shouted M. de
Maiuevillc. It was resolved, therefore, that for the
present the duke should remain at Blois.
At dinner the duke found another slip of paper con
cealed under his plate. " Ce ne se roi I jamais fait si je
voulois m' arrester a tous ces avis. II. n'oserait !" again
repeated he. About nine o'clock in the evening Guise
repaired to the apartment of madame de Noirmoutier.2
Before his departure, Jenne, bis surgeon, saw no less
than five epistles delivered to the duke, all containing
advices to hold himself prepared for a sudden enter-
1 Cayet: Chronologic Noveunaire. Etienne Pasquier, liv. vi., lettre
13. Journal de Henri III., annee 15S8.
- Madame de Sauve took for her second husband Francois, marquis
de Noirmoutier, a cadet of the princely house of la 'iic-niouihV. She
died in Paris in the year 1617, .'^ed sixty-six.

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 245
prise against his person on the part of the king. His
good genius in the shape of these mysterious notifica
tions even pursued the duke to the apartment of his
mistress. He thrust them, however, under the pillow
of the couch, exclaiming " Dormons !" and refused to
take any precautionary measures.
The king, whom no man throughout his dominions
could match in dissimulation, passed the day with his
accustomed tranquil indifference. During the morning
his majesty issued a programme for the devout cele
bration of Christmas week. He also announced that
it was his intention to proceed on the afternoon of the
following day to Notre Dame des Noyers, a small house
in the park of Blois, and there celebrate in retirement the
approaching festival. In the afternoon Henry presided
at his council, and despatched a number of mandates in
order, as he said, that his devotional exercises during
the ensuing week might not be interrupted. There were
two important affairs pending before the council ; one
was the case of la Motte Serrant, a notable brigand
and murderer in the province of Anjou, who waylaid
Huguenot travellers, and either killed them or carried
them to his castle, where they were detained in cap
tivity until they paid a large ransom. The process of
this criminal had been commenced in the courts of
Angers, when la Motte petitioned that letters of evo
cation might be granted him, transferring his case
from the Angevine courts to the council of state — a
prayer supported by the due de Guise. The second
cause was a petition from the town of Langres against
the oppression of the bishop. The people of Langres,
who were devoted royalists, fearing that their town
might fall into the hands of the League, demolished
a fortified wall of communication between the episcopal
palace and the fortifications of the town, suspecting
that the bishop intended to betray the place to the due

246 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [lj88.
de Guise. The bishop immediately addressed a petition
to the privy council, praying that the townspeople might
be condemned to rebuild this wall at their cost, the
demolition of which he furiously resented. This de
mand had been also laid before the council by the due
de Guise in person. Henry, therefore, announced that
it was his will to expedite both these mandates before
his departure. He therefore commanded the clerk of
the council, M. dc Marie, to, send summonses to the
due de Guise, the cardinal his brother, and the arch
bishop of Lyons, to repair to the council chamber by
seven o'clock the following morning, as he intended to
leave the castle before the hour of eight. At nine
o'clock in the evening — the hour at which Guise re
paired to the apartment of madame dc Noirmoutier —
the king sent for Larchant, captain of the Scotch
guards, and without explaining his design, commanded
that by seven in the morniug the men of the regiment
should be drawn up iu the courtyard of the castle, in
order to petition the due de Guise as he passed to the
council that the arrears of their pay might be granted.
After the duke should have passed into the castle, Lar
chant received a command to guard the door, and upon
no pretext to allow any person to enter or to depart.
The king also directed that a guard of twenty men
should be posted at the entrance opening into the
Galerie des Cerfs, which communicated with the
wing of the castle forming the royal residence. His
majesty then casually observed that he wished to per
form an act of royal favour towards the poor soldiers
of his guard at this holy season, and knew no one at
whose intercession he would more willingly grant such
than that of son cousin de Guise. In the hearing of
Larchant the king sent directions to M. de Liancourt,
his equerry, to have his coach readv at the portal
opening from the Galerie des Cerfs at eiulit o'clock

I588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 247
precisely. In the apartment, in attendance on the
king, were the marechal d'Aumont, the two brothers
de Rambouillet, M. d'O, Ornano, Lognac, captain of
the Quarante-cinq, and M. de Bellegarde. These
gentlemen received his majesty's commands to present
themselves in his cabinet at six o'clock the following
inorning, and to bring with them the two secretaries
of state Beaulieu and Revol. Lognac and his band
of Gascons were directed to attend at five o'clock, in
order, as his majesty said in the presence of several of
the body, to escort him to Notre Dame des Noyers.
Henry then significantly dismissed these personages
without uttering a word relative to the tragedy which
his preparations were to inaugurate, though all were
in the secret; but his majesty admonished them, on
taking leave for the night, " to be good men and true."
The king then retired to his private cabinet with M.
de Bellegarde, chief gentleman of the chamber, and
who upon this night alone disrobed his majesty. The
king remained until midnight in conversation with
Bellegarde, who then lighted him to the door of the
queen's apartment. " Good night, my son," said his
majesty ; " desire du Halde to awake me at four o'clock,
and be ready yourself at that hour I"1
The apartments of the queen-mother were beneath
those of her son ; for Catherine's infirmity from gout
and corpulence was now so great that she was com
pelled to occupy a chamber on the ground floor of the
castle. On this eventful night her majesty retired
early, being greatly indisposed from the painful swelling
of her feet and from impeded respiration. It is agreed
by all narrators of these events that Catherine was not
1 Relation de la Mort de Messieurs les Due et Cardinal de Guise, par
le Sieur Miron, Me'decin du Henri III., 1588. Discours de ce que est
arrive" a Blois jusques au Mort du Due et du Cardmal de Guise. Satyre
Menipee roimprime' parmi les Pieces Justificatives, 1726.

MS HENRY III. KING OF FRANCT., |_'j8S.
aware of the precise nature of the enterprise which her
son had resolved to execute ; neither did she know the
place iu which it was to be consummated. One of
Henry's especial injunctions to bis confederates was
above all to tread softly, lest the unusual noise might
arouse the queen his mother, who would then interpose
to save the life of the duke.
Obedient to the order he had received, du Halde,
first valet-de-chambre, rose at four o'clock, and pro
ceeded to knock at the door of tlieir majesties' apart
ment. Madame dc Piolant, a waiting-woman to queen
Louise, answered by inquiring who the intruder was at
that untimely hour ? " It is du Halde. Tell the king
that it is four o'clock." " His majesty sleeps, and the
queen also ; I cannot disturb them," answered madame
tic Piolant. " Rouse the king, or I will knock so loud
that it shall awake their majesties on the instant," was
the peremptory reply. " Piolant," exclaimed the king,
in a feeble voice, from the inner chamber, " what is
it?" "Sire, it is M. du Halde, who says that it is
four o'clock." " Ah ! hand me my slippers, my dress
ing-gown, and my taper."1 So saying, the king rose,
and refusing to reply to the questions addressed to him
by the queen, entered his cabinet, where Bellegarde
waited : first, however, his majesty desiring du Halde
to follow, conducted him to one of the little chambers
over his apartment, destined, as it was said, for the
reception of Capuchin monks, and, bidding him enter,
locked the door. Du Halde afterwards declared he had
never felt so troubled in his life, not knowing what this
treatment presaged.
It was nearly five o'clock before the king was attired.
The gentlemen of Lognac's band began then to arrive
by a back staircase, as they had been commanded, all
1 Relation de la Mort de Messieurs le Due et Cardinal de Guise-
par le Sieur Miron.

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 249
in ignorance of the deed required of them. As they
entered singly the king appeared, and desiring each
man to follow him, conducted him with stealthy step
to a large cell adjacent to that in which du Halde was
confined, and carefully locked the door. Thus Henry
speedily had the greater part of his band of trusty
Gascons under lock and key ; and so safely stowed
as to insure their silence, and to excite no suspicion at
the number of persons assembled at so early an hour
in his chamber. By the time that this was accom
plished the lords, whom the king had on the previous
evening invited, were assembled. Henry, therefore,
entered his cabinet, which was lighted by wax tapers.
The faces of all were pale, and wore an anxious and
constrained expression ; the king alone seemed easy,
and even cheerful, though his movements indicated
restlessness and a certain degree of agitation, which he
resolutely tried to repress. Without the rain poured in
¦torrents ; and it was about as cold and dismal a morn
ing as ever dawned during the month of December.
Henry then made a short harangue to the nobles pre
sent, in which he recapitulated the treasonable enter
prises of Guise, and his consequent resolve to take his
life during that very morning. " This said duke has
driven me to extremity by his enterprises on my crow7n
and on my life, and it has come to this strait that
either I must die or he. Will you not unanimously
aid your king to defend his life and realm?" All the
nobles present unanimously declared that the king had
spoken well, and offered him their lives and their
swords.1 The king then proceeded to the chamber in
which he had locked up the gentlemen of his body
guard. To them also he made a moving oration, de
scribing all that he had suffered from the due de Guise,
and especially dwelling on the fact that their disband-
1 De Thou, liv. xciii.

250 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
ment and dispersion had been proposed to the States
by the duke. " This day, mes braves," said his majesty,
" is destined to be the last of my life or of that of the
said due de Guise ; it is for you to decide whether he
shall perish or your king and master become his victim.
I am, as you have long perceived, a prisoner in my own
castle; a hardy stroke can alone deliver me from my
shameful fetters, and it is from your valour aloue that
I can escape my enemies. Will you not then promise
to serve me, and to avenge my wrongs by depriving
this said traitor of life ?" A shout of assent responded
to the appeal.1 The king, placing his finger on his lip
to enjoin silence, for fear, as he observed, of awaking
the queen-mother, then said, " Well ! wliich of you
have poniards?" Eight of these weapons only being
produced, the king said that poniards and pistols should
be supphed to those who had come unarmed. Henry
then led his Gascons forth from the chamber, and him
self assigned to each his task in the approaching tragedy.
Twelve of his assassins he posted in the outer cabinet
looking on the courtyard of the castle, which he in
tended to be the scene of the murder, and in which
stood the king's bed. Lognac here took the command
armed with a rapier, and ranged bis men close to the
velvet portiere by which the cabinet was entered from
the ante-chamber, opening into the hall where the
council sat. Eight Gascon gentlemen were led by the
king and stationed in this ante-chamber, and the rest
he placed at intervals along la Galerie des Cerfs, which
communicated with the royal closet, and at the end of
which there was a door opening into the courtyard.
Henry then returned to his private cabinet, and eagerly
waited for the news of the arrival of each privy councillor
1 " Cap de Dion, sire! ion lou vous rendis mort!" replied they, in
Gascon dialect. 2 T.ihuou de Miron.

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 251
as the hour of assembly approached. The most terrible
agitation then seized the king ; his face became pallid,
and he walked rapidly about the room, every now and
then raising the tapestry screen which divided the
chamber from the one without, exhorting the men to
remember the power and valour of M. de Guise, and
"to take heed not to allow themselves to be wounded."
" J' en serois marry .'" said the king, whose language had
become almost drivelling in his terror and suspense.
Lognac, however, sat with folded arms opposite to the
door on a coffer, stern and composed; while his twelve
Gascons showed on their side no sign of being likely
to subject themselves to the casualty which the king
affected to apprehend.
Meanwhile, the cardinal de Guise and the archbishop
of Lyons received the royal summons, and immediately
rose and repaired to the council-chamber at the hour
specified. They found there assembled the marechals
d'Aumont and de Retz, M. d'O, the cardinal de Gondi,
M. de Rambouillet, and the cardinal de Vendome.
The due de Guise quitted the chamber of madame de
Noirmoutier at three o'clock in the morning, and re
tired to bed in his own apartments. It afterwards ap
peared that he had come to the decision of quitting
Blois the same day, and so announced his resolve to
madame de Noirmoutier. On entering his chamber
the duke was surprised to find there his uncle the due
d'Elbceuf, who had crept furtively in the dark from his
apartment to warn his nephew of the sinister rumours
current. Again the duke, being fatally confident, de
rided, the supposition that the king dared to attempt
aught against his life, " which," he said, " would involve
his realm in rebellion and perdition from north to
south." The duke then slept with a slumber so pro
found that his gentlemen refused to arouse him until
nearly eight o'clock, despite the royal missive, which

252 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCF, ['.588.
had been duly received. Guise, when informed that
the king desired his presence, rose in haste, and array
ing himself in a doublet of gray satin, and throwing
his cloak over his arm, he sallied from his apartment.
The sight of Larchant and the guard, drawn up in the
great com-t in weather so inclement, seemed for a mo
ment to arouse the duke's suspicion. " Why are you
here, my friends?" asked he; " it has never been the
custom to mount a guard on days when the council
meets." " Monseigneur," replied Larchant, boldly,
" wc are here to petition that you will cause the arrears
of our pay to be distributed. We are reduced to such
extremity that we must crc long sell our horses." The
duke gravely promised his interposition, and suspecting
nothing, passed into the castle. Every outlet and
avenue was then seized, according to Henry's command.
A brief inspiration of prudence induced the duke to
turn from the narrow passage and staircase to the right
leading to the council-chamber, and cuter the ante-room
of Catherine's apartments. There he found the lords
of Lanssac and de l'Aubespine, but on being informed
that the queen was sleeping, the duke, after leaving his
commendations for her majesty, proceeded on his way.
The passage and staircase were then immediately occu
pied — Rouvre and Espinette, lieutenants of the guard, and
Hamilton, ensign of the Scotch archers, taking their stand
with drawn swords at the door of the council-chamber.
Vi hen the due de Guise entered the chamber, the
lords present were dispersed about conversing ; there
being no sign of the formalities usual on such occasions.
The archbishop of Lyons, whose suspicion was strongly
roused, approached the duke, and asked, " Where the
king was going on such an inclement day ?" " He is
going into retreat, as usual," replied Guise, indif
ferently.1 Presently it was observed that the duke
1 Information des Massacres commis a Blois. Histoire des Cardinaux—

X588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 253
turned pale, a qualm came over him, and he complained
of cold and sickness. At his desire a fire was kindled ;
he then felt in his pocket for a handkerchief, as the eye
injured by the arquebuse shot at Chateau Thierry be
gan to give him pain. The duke finding that he had
forgotten his handkerchief, requested Hotman, clerk of
the treasury, to go to the door and see if any of his
people waited without. The king's valet-de-chambre St.
Prix, apprized by d'Aumont of the duke's request,
promptly presented a handkerchief from the royal
wardrobe. The uneasy sensation and sickness of which
the duke complained still continuing, he opened his
bonbonniere, but finding it empty, asked the sieur de
Morfontaine to request St. Prix to send him some
dried sweetmeats, such as Damascus raisins or con
serve of roses. The latter sent a paper full of prunes
de Brignoles, one of which the duke ate, and the
rest he put in his silver bonbonniere. His nose.
then began to bleed profusely, and he rose and ap
proached the fire ; but the duke spoke jestingly of his
indisposition, which he attributed to the inclemency of
the weather, and because in his haste he had quitted
his chamber without breaking his fast.
The alarm, meantime, had been given to the servants
and adherents of the duke in the castle ; and but for the
wily precautions taken by Henry the enterprise must
have failed. Hotman had communicated the duke's com
mand to an usher named Gueroult, who in his turn then
advertised the duke's private secretary Pericard of his
master's request for a handkerchief. Pericard promptly
obtained one, and was proceeding to the council-cham
ber, when he was stopped by armed sentinels. Appre
hending therefore that his master was in peril of his
Aubery,- tome v. Information faite par MM. Michon et Courtin.
Deposition de Messire Pierre Espinac, Archeveque et Comte de Lyons,
Primat des Gaules — signe" par ce Prelat,

254 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
life, Pericard rushed across the quadrangle, aud enter
ing the chamber of the duchesse de Nemours, called
out that her son's life was in jeopardy, and entreated
her to rise and proceed to the apartment of the queen-
mother. Scarcely had the words left his lips when
twelve Swiss soldiers and an officer came up, and unce
remoniously turning the active secretary into the court,
placed the duchess in arrest in her apartment. Pericard
then went himself to the chamber of the queen-mother;
he found that no person might have access to her ma
jesty, and that the outer room was filled with officers
and guards.1
The king, meanwhile, sent a command that prayers
might be offered up by his chaplain in ordinary, Dour-
gain, for the success of his design in an oratory close
to bis chamber. All being now prepared for the act
which he had resolved, Henry commanded Revol to
summon the due de Guise. " Rcvol, go and ask M. de
Guise to come and speak to me in the old cabinet of
audience !" The secretary obeyed, but came back to
inform the king that the sieur de Nambrc, one of the
Quarante-cinq, refused him permission to pass through
into the ante-chamber. " Revol ! mon Dieu qu'avez
vous ! how pale you look ! Rub your cheeks, Revol;
rub your cheeks ; you will spoil everything !" exclaimed
the king. Henry then lifted the tapestry portal, and
desired M. de Nambre to allow the secretary to pass.
The nobles in the council chamber sat round the table
listening, while Petremol, superintendent of finance,
read aloud from a paper. Revol approached the duke,
and said in a low voice, that the king asked for him.
The duke rose, and taking his handkerchief and comfit-
case in one hand, and holding his cloak in the other,
1 Relation et Deposition de Jean "Ptricr.rd, Conseiller et .Secretaire do
Finance, et Secretaire de feu M. de Guise. Hist, des Cardinaux. I'e
Thou. Relation de Miron.

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 255
he bowed graciously to the cardinal de Vendome, and
passed into the ante-rooni, the door of which was closed
after him by Nambre. The duke affably saluted the
occupants of the room, and approaching the tapestry
portiere he raised it, to pass into the small apartment
called the old cabinet of audience. In doing so he turned
to survey these persons, whose sullen mien seemed
suddenly to strike him with apprehension. On observ
ing this momentary hesitation, the Gascon Montferry,
thinking that Guise was about to draw his sword, sud
denly rushed forward and struck his poniard into the
duke's breast, exclaiming, " Traitor ! thus shalt thou
die !'' The sieur des Effrenats then seized the duke
round the legs to drag him to the ground, while St.
Malines dealt him another mortal wound from behind
in the throat. Lognac then struck the unfortunate
prince a blow in the groin. So sudden had been the
attack that the duke only feebly uttered, "Ah mes
amis ! 0 quelle trahison ! Misericorde !" before a flow
of blood from the mouth rendered him speechless ; yet
such was his great strength, that though embarrassed
by his cloak and having his limbs fettered by the ruth
less grasp of his assassins, the duke dragged them
across the apartment. Lognac seeing him advance
with outstretched arms, blinded by the blood which
poured down his face from a wound across the forehead,
held forth the scabbard of his sword, over which the
duke stumbled and fell to the ground at the foot of the
king's bed, faintly breathing forth the words, "Mon
Dieu ! mon Dieu ! ayez pitie de moi !"1 All was over
in less than five minutes.

1 Miron : Relation de la Mort des Due et Cardinal de Guise. Dis
oours sur la Mort des Due et Cardinal de Guise. Advis de ceux qui
ont ^tes a Blois, 1588, Svo. Relation et Deposition de Olphan du
Gast, one of the Quarante-cinq, and a participant in the murder. De
Thou. Pasquier. Martyre des deux Freres.

2 5(") HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l588-
Upon it being reported to him that his enemy lay in
his death gasp, Henry slowly raised the tapestry screen
and came forth to gloat over the spectacle. The most
savage exultation gleamed in the king's eyes, as he
viewed the prostrate form of Guise. After silently
surveying the still breathing body for some instants,
the king exclaimed, " Mon Dieu ! qu'il est grand !" and
slowly retreated back to his inner chamber. Revol
then, by command of his royal master, approached to
search the person of the duke, and carry any papers to
his majesty. Around the duke's arm was a gold chain
riveted, having a small key attached ; in his pocket
was a purse containing twelve gold crowns, also a slip
of paper, upon which were written the words, " To enter
tain a war in France it is necessary to expend seven
hundred thousand livres a month." A diamond ring,
in the shape of a heart, was taken from the duke's
finger, and appropriated by d'Entragues. As Revol
was making his search, a spasm convulsed the body of
the expiring prince. " Monseigneur ! I beseech you
ask, while there is yet time, the pardon of the Almighty
and that of the king !" said the secretary, earnestly.
The lips of the duke moved and the words " mes peches "
were audible ; he then heaved a sigh and expired.
In the council-chamber the fate of the duke had been
divined — the noise, the groans, the trampling of feet,
and the confusion which ensued immediately on the
closing of the door after the exit of Guise, afforded too
fatal a testimony. The archbishop of Lyons, brave
and impetuous in all his actions, rushed towards the
door of the ante-chamber, and tried to open it, but in
vain. The cardinal de Guise rose so precipitately as to
overturn his chair, exclaiming " l'on outrage mon frere !"
but directed his flight towards the opposite door leading
from the chamber. " La France est perdue .'" exclaimed
the archbishop in despair, as, on retreating from the

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 257
door he perceived that the room was filled with armed
soldiers, who had already seized the cardinal, and were
approaching to effect his own arrest. The marechal
d'Aumont then drew his sword, and commanded that
every member should resume the place he had before
occupied; which being done, he commenced an harangue,
exhorting the captive princes to patience and submission.
A few minutes passed in this suspense, when the door
leading into the royal apartments was violently flung
open, and Lognac entered, holding his sword, the
blade of which was still red with the blood of Guise.1
The sleeves of Lognac's habit were turned back, his
collar was loose, and his shirt open at the breast. The
king's voice was then heard within saying, in an impe
rious tone, " Open the doors ! — Remove the hangings,
that all may enter !" Lognac then addressed the car
dinal de Vendome, and said that the king required his
presence and that of messieurs of the council. The man
date was obeyed, Lognac remaining standing by the
two prisoners until relieved by Rouvre and a second
detachment of soldiers. The king, when the council
entered, stood in the middle of the room, with a face
inflamed with fury, near to the body of the duke, which
was now partially covered with a Turkey rug. "At
last, I am a king !" exclaimed Henry, sternly, addressing
the cardinal de Vendome ; " the due de Guise is dead.
Those rebels, who made boast of their zeal for religion,
will now no longer dare to arrest my designs for the
pacification of the realm ; nevertheless, know and be
hold, monseigneur, what he may expect who presumes
in future to usurp or infringe upon my authority !"2
The cardinal made no reply. The king then addressing
1 Relation et Deposition de M. Pierre d'Espinac, Archeveque de
Lyons. De Thou, liv. xciii. Pasquier.
2 Ibid. Brant6me: Capitaines Illustres. Hilarion de Coste:
Dames Illustres.
VOL. III. S

','0^

HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.

d'Aumont and M. d'O, gave some directions iu a low
voice respecting the cardinal de Guise and the arch
bishop, who were then conveyed closely guarded from
the council chamber.
The cardinal de Bourbon, meantime, had been
arrested in his bed. Shaking with affright, the old
prelate was hastily arrayed by his attendants, and con
veyed, weeping like a child, into the presence of the kin?.
The sight of the titular king of the League seemed to
kindle afresh the fury of the king. He upbraided the
terrified prelate in the most outrageous and indecent
maimer. " Fool ! knave ! aud puppet ! do you re
cognise that ?" asked his majesty, pointing to the body
of Guise. " But for your age, old imbecile, I would
treat you the same. Even now I am undecided!
What ! you aspired to become the second person in my
kingdom ! Mort de Dieu ! I will make you so little,
that the least in ray realm shall be greater than you !"'
Henry then turned away, and entered the inner cabinet,
commanding that the cardinal de Bourbon should he
conveyed under a guard to his chamber.
The arrest during this interval had been successfully
executed of the dues de Nemours and d'Elbceuf, the
prince de Joinvillc, and the duchesse de Nemours,
mother of the Guise-, and of the duchesse d'Aumale.
Specially fortunate did the duchesse de Montpensier
esteem herself to have taken her departure so oppor
tunely ; for Henry was heard to declare that, if madame
de Montpensier had been in the castle, to a certainty he
would have taken her life, so malignant and abominable
did he deem her treason. Pericard, the secretary of
the due de Guise, was arrested ; but not before he had
managed to return to the apartments of his late master
1 Histoire au vrai du Meurtre et Assassinat du Due de (luise. Paris,
1559. Bibl. Imp. 22 -A, MS. Thevet : Hommes Dlustres. Diction
naire de Bayle, art. ¦' Henri III."

1588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 259
and burn a box of papers. During the afternoon of
the same day Pericard was taken into the presence of
the king, and subjected to a rigorous examination by
the secretaries of state, Beaulieu, and Revol.1 Ber
nardin, chief valet-de-chambre of the deceased duke,
was arrested ; even madame de Noirmoutier was com
pelled to submit to a severe interrogatory before the
' secretary Beaulieu, as she had been the last to hold
familiar converse with the duke. Nothing new, how
ever, was elicited by any of these examinations.
Meantime, the provost-marshal, Duplessis Richelieu,2
had been introduced into the king's closet ; when, having
received the orders of his majesty, which were given
energetically and without a symptom of hesitation, he
proceeded at a quarter to nine o'clock with a guard of
soldiers to the Hotel de Ville, where the commons
assembled. The town of Blois was in commotion ;
the most sinister rumours had already spread from
house to house ; the castle gates were closed ; the
drums of the Swiss beat to arms; and 400 troops
formed in the great quadrangle, besides the men of
the two companies of the French gardes de corps under
Larchant ; and that while rain descended in torrents.
Chapelle Marteau, the president of the tiers etat,
alarmed by these rumours, had repaired to the quarters
of the due de Guise about half-past eight. He was not
suffered, however, to enter the precincts of the castle, but
beheld preparations ominous enough to fill him with ter-
1 " Le dit deposant dtant entre" dans le dit cahinet, trouva le roy et
ceux de son conseil debout prest a, sortir pour aller a la masse." — Depo
sition de Jean Pericard, secretaire du feu Due de Guise.
2 The father of the cardinal de Richelieu. Frangois Duplessis
Richelieu, grand provost, married Susanne de la Porte. He died in
1590, so impoverished by the wars, that his collar of the Order was
pawned to furnish funds for his funeral. Madame de Richelieu, an
admirable mother and heroine, re-established her son's pecuniary affairs,
She had three sons and two daughters. s 2

260 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, []588.
ror. The commons, meanwhile, had met at an early hour
to receive a report from the archbishop of Lyons oil the
debate before the privy council relative to the publica
tion of the edict for the diminution of existing imposts.
Marteau, therefore, on his arrival at the Hotel de Ville,
found most of the members assembled. A great panic,
however, prevailed ; and many of the deputies who had
made themselves peculiarly obnoxious proposed to with
draw whilst still in tlieir power to escape. When their
factious proceedings had fairly roused the fury of their
sovereign, the members then remembered with dread the
wily irascibility of his majesty's temper. La Chapelle
Marteau wisely attempted to check this disposition to
flight, by representing " that if death were to be the
lot of any in the assembly, there could not be a more
glorious place of martyrdom than that in which they
had met." The words had scarcely left the mouth of
the provost, when the folding-doors of the hall were
burst open with a violent shock, and on the threshold
the members beheld the stalwart form of the provost-
marshal Richelieu, and behind him a throng of soldiers
with spears and lighted matches. " Let no one stir !
Messieurs, a foul conspiracy has been concocted against
the life of our sovereign lord the king !" exclaimed
Richelieu, drawing his sword. Upon this many of the
deputies rose in confusion, and Chapelle Marteau de
scended from his tribune. " Tue ! tue ! Mort Dieu !
Tue ! Let no one stir on his life !" again exclaimed
Richelieu. On a sign from the provost-marshal the
soldiers then rushed into the hall, holding their spears
breast high, to the consternation of the deputies, many
of whom received severe wounds, or were otherwise
hurt, in trying to regain their places. Richelieu pre
sently advanced into the centre of the hall, when Mar
teau, from his tribune, prayed that less violence might
be used, as the deputies humbly submitted themselves

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 261
to the will of the king. Upon this the provost-marshal
directed the soldiers to ground their arms, and drawing
a roll from his pocket, he read, addressing la Chapelle
Marteau, " You are first accused as being cognizant of
this conspiracy -to slay and dethrone the king — I say
you, M. le president Marteau. Also you, M. le presi
dent Neuilly, you M. Compans, M. d'Orleans, le
president de Tour, MM. le Roy and Cotteblanche,
stand forth ! All of you, follow me." The soldiers
then surrounded these personages and hurried them
away, without permitting them to take their hats or
cloaks. " When we reached the castle," says Chapelle
Marteau, in his vivid relation of these events,1- " we found
the great gates closed, and were commanded to pass on
to the private wicket. This done, we ascended the great
staircase, at the foot of which we met M. de Dunes,
booted and spurred, who passed us disdainfully without
the slightest token of recognition. When .we entered
the chamber in which the council sat, we came upon
some of the gentlemen of the guard called les Quarante-
cinq, who were standing together near the door, lounging,
laughing, and jesting. We passed through this chamber,
conducted by the grand provost and his archers. Many
noblemen of the privy council were conversing together,
all of them having their faces blanched with terror and
consternation. When we arrived at the door leading
into the king's cabinet, M. de Richelieu commanded
us to halt. Whilst we waited the pleasure of his
majesty, we perceived two large streams of blood which
issued from under the portal of the royal cabinet. M.
de Neuilly, upon this, exclaimed, ' Oh, my God ! my
God ! what disaster is this !' and whilst we gazed, stupe
fied with horror, a valet-de-garderobe came with a vessel
1 Relation et Deposition de Messire Michel Marteau de la Chapelle,
Conseiller en la Chambre des Comptes, PreVdst des Marchands de cette
Ville de Paris.

262 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588.
of water and a brush, and effaced the stains." M. de
Mauvissiere then approached, and asked the deputies
whether they had seen the body of M. de Guise?
" How ! is he dead ?" asked the provost of Paris. " Oh,
what a disastrous and perfidious deed !" Mauvissiere
significantly placed his finger on his lips, and at that
moment Larchant, captain of the Scotch guard, came
from the king, and calling Hamilton, the ensign of his
company, directed him to take charge of the provost
and deputies arrested, and conduct them into a chamber
in one of the towers of the castle. The order was
promptly obeyed, and before the clock struck the hour
of ten, the turbulent provost of Paris and his myrmi
dons of the League found themselves prisoners in a
small turret chamber, twelve feet square, and lighted
by a single loophole strongly grated. The king, mean
time, had caused the comte de Brissac to be arrested
by Larchant ; also, M. de Bois-Dauphin, a notable
leader during the barricades, and the proposer of many
recent measures deemed by his majesty to be peculiarly
obnoxious. Strict search was likewise made to find the
bishop of Coniminges, the canon of Senlis (preacher of
the seditious oration in the church of St. Sauveur), and
the bishops of Rhodes and Boulogne. These ecclesi
astics, however, secured their safety by a precipitate
flight. The king, during these transactions, whicli were ac
complished within the space of two hours, continued to
grant audiences and to despatch the missives indispen
sably requisite after the deed he had perpetrated. First,
he sent a secretary of state to impart the death of the
due de Guise to the legate Morosini, and to request
the nuncio to meet him at mass in the church of St.
Sauveur at midday. Henry then despatched M. dc
Dunes, brother of Entragues, to take possession of the
citadel of Orleans ; while he sent Ornano on the same

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 263
mission to Lyons, with a warrant to arrest the due de
Mayenne. Afterwards the king arrayed himself to
hear mass, intending to visit the queen his mother
before he proceeded to the church. As Henry passed
through the chamber where the body of the duke still
lay, he turned to the crowd of noblemen, who on the
rumour of the catastrophe had thronged to the royal
apartment, and fiercely said, "Voila, messeigneurs, comme
je punirai a I'advenir ceux qui ne m,e seront fideles !"
Catherine was in bed when her son entered. Her
agitation was excessive, and her lips trembled as she
replied to his salutation. The cardinal bishop of Paris,
Gondy, sat by the bedside of the queen, and had been
reading to her majesty from his breviary. " Madame,"
said the king, " I have no longer a compeer ! I have
caused Guise to be slain ! To-day, I reign !" continued
he, in a triumphant tone. " M. mon fils, may God
.grant that your anticipations may be realized ! Lose
no time, I beseech you, in putting your affairs in
order, as you have so acted and so resolved." The
' king replied that he had lost no time. " Right, my
son; I pray God fervently that this your act may
prosper in its results. Again, I say, God grant that
this resolution may not leave you king of nothing 1" l
Henry replied " that he had taken every precaution."
Catherine then seemed disinclined to discourse ; she
was suffering from a paroxysm of pain in the chest,
and spoke slowly and with difficulty. Henry then
kissed the hand of his mother and took leave, after
first requesting the cardinal de Gondy to repair to the
lodging of the legate and accompany the latter to St.
Sauveur. The king showed the most intense anxiety
1 Davila, liv. ix. Kiguccio Galluzzi : Istoria del Granducato di
Toscana, liv. v. De Thou, liv. xciii. Particularites Notables con-
cernants I'Assassinat de MM. de Guise, Paris, 1589. Lettres de

2G4 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [158.S
to meet the legate ; indeed, the apprehended censures
of the Church for the unscrupulous deed he had perpe
trated seemed alone to diminish his exultation. As
Henry proceeded to the church, he assumed an easy
and even jocund deportment to those around; when,
however, his majesty's eye fell upon any of the late
friends and adherents of the deceased duke amid the
throng of courtiers, the menace of his glance grew
ominous. During his progress Henry encountered one
of the supporters of la Motte Serrant, the robber-chief
of Anjou. " The pardon of la Motte is revoked ; his
cause shall be tried by the ordinary courts, who will
pronounce sentence. The king is again supreme !"
said his majesty, drily. The bishop of Langres, who
had appeared at Blois personally to defend his cause,
tried to evade the royal notice; but Henry, perceiving
the prelate, called him forth and said, " Three weeks
ago you obtained an order in council against my faith
ful people of Langres, without deigning to suffer their
defence respecting the wall to be heard. To-day I
annul that process. Depart to your diocese, aud live
in peace with your flock !"
Before the porch of St. Sauveur the legate Morosini
waited, accompanied by Gondy, cardinal-bishop of Paris,
and other prelates, and by the Venetian ambassador.
Henry took the nuncio apart, and conversed with him
for some time in most cordial fashion. Henry assured
the prelate that he was resolved as ever to pursue the
war against the heretics of his realm ; and that the
death of the duke had been resolved for purely secular
causes, principally for his treasonable enterprises upon
the crown and his relations with foreign powers. More
sini, as yet uncertain how to act, assented, and seemed
convinced by the royal sophistry. He, moreover, pro
mised to send a courier to Rome to relate the matter
to his Holiness, and especially to impart the stringent

I588.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 265
causes which had induced his majesty to have recourse
to so desperate a measure. Had the king been satis
fied with the revenge he had taken, all might have
prospered, as far as bis relations with the Holy See
were concerned. But the lenient view taken by the
legate emboldened Henry to enterprise yet farther,
and to brave the ban of the Church by the murder of
one of her chief prelates. The nuncio entreated his
majesty that no harm, other than temporary captivity,
might befall the cardinal de Guise and the archbishop
of Lyons. The king returned an evasive reply : the
legate1 persisted and admonished his majesty to observe
in the case of the prelates all legal formalities for their
arraignment, did he deem them worthy of extreme
penalties. Meantime, during the king's absence, the valets du
garderobe cleansed the royal cabinet from its pollution
of blood. Many of the more humble friends of the
duke took this opportunity to visit and lament over
his remains by dint of bribing the officials. Portail,
surgeon-major to the king, placed his hand on the cold
lips of the corpse, and on the heart, to satisfy himself
that life was indeed extinct. It was ascertained that
the duke had received six mortal wounds — of these two
stabs perforated the lungs, and one beneath the right
eyebrow penetrated to the brain. The king's chaplain,
Etienne Dourguin, also entered the chamber, aud re
cited the psalm De Profundis over the body.2 He then
proceeded charitably to visit the heart-broken mother
of the duke, madame de Nemours, who had not been
suffered to quit her chamber, though apprized of the
1 " Le cardinal Francois Morosini etait un prelat d'une esprit equit
able, et tres bien intentionne" pour le roy, auquel il avoit obligation du
chapeau."— De Thou : Vie.
2 Deposition d'Etienne Dourguin, et de Claude de Bulles, Chaplain
and Almoner to the King— Hist, des Cardinaux. Cayet : Chronologie
Novennaire.

066 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [J588.
assassination of her son. The body of the duke was
then wrapped in a cloth of green serge, and depositc?d
in a large unfurnished chamber near to the chapel of
St. Calais, within the castle, according to the command
given by his majesty.
During the afternoon a council was holden, before
which Brissac and other deputies of the noblesse were
brought. Henry pronounced a plausible discourse, as
suring his auditors of his orthodoxy, and announced
his resolve, notwithstanding the provocations he had
received, not to prorogue the States, but, on the con
trary, to grant all reasonable petitions for the relief of
his people and the better government of his realm.
Brissac then made humble petition to the king, pro
testing his innocence and requesting his liberation,
which Henry was pleased partially to grant ; and also
that of the greater culprit, M. de Bois-Dauphin. The
latter, on receiving his liberty, departed as quickly as
possible from Blois. Brissac, more courageous and
politic, remained at his post, as president of the cham
ber of peers, until the closing of the assembly.
The fate of the cardinal de Guise and the archbishop
of Lyons was then discussed. The council was com
posed of the bitter foes of the princos of Lorraine. The
king himself still thirsted for further vengeance. There
were present in the council those who advised his
majesty to extirpate the rebellious race, root and branch,
now that he had made so successful a commencement.
The crimes of the cardinal were industriously paraded ;
his seizure' of Troyes, his appropriation of the treasure
in the castle of Chateau Thierry, formerly appertaining
to the deceased due d'Alencon, his coarse abuse of the
king, and, above all, a speech beard by many present
which he had been imprudent to make only on the day
preceding — to wit, "that he should not die content
until he had grasped between his feet the head of the

1588.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 267
tyrant, whilst a barber conferred upon him a Capuchin's
crown."1 It was, moreover, represented to his majesty
that while the other princes of Lorraine — the dues de
Mayenne, Aumale, and Elbceuf — had made pacific
overtures to the king, and had even warned him of
his danger, the cardinal had taken every opportunity to
demonstrate hostility ; and if liberated would, doubt
less, persuade his kinsmen to avenge the death of
Guise, and himself become the instigator of countless
leagues and conspiracies. It was a perilous venture to
take the life of a prince of the Church — the cardinal-
dean, moreover, of the Sacred College. For long Henry
hesitated : but his unprincipled favourites urged him to
the deed, exclaiming that else the blood of Guise had
been shed in vain ! Reports were also brought to the
king of the violent deportment of the cardinal after his
arrest on being told of the death of his brother ; and of
the oath he had solemnly sworn to avenge the treache
rous deed. Finally Henry assented to the bloody fiat ;
animosity, fear, and the elation which he felt at his
freedom from the controlling power under which he
had so long chafed — all concurred to inspire this de
cision. The king, however, gave strict order that
execution should not be done on the cardinal until
the decree had been again submitted to him on his
rising the following morning.
The cardinal de Guise and his fellow-prisoner, the
archbishop of Lyons, had been first conducted into a
small chamber situated in the Tour du Chateau Reg-
naud, lighted by three oval panes of glass close to the
ceiling, at the door of which four of the king's Gascon
gentlemen kept guard. About four o'clock in the
afternoon they were removed to a lower chamber,
vaulted, and having a window closed by a grate. Food
was then brought to them for the first time, consisting
1 Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire.

26S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [lj8S.
of eggs and bread, and wine ; and a wood fire was
kindled.1 The prelates then sent to petition Larchant,
captain of the Scotch body-guard, that they might have
their breviaries, also beds, and their night-gear. The
cardinal seemed much depressed, and ate scarcely a
morsel; he sat silently by the fire, and murmured sor
rowful words at intervals, as if communing with himself.
The archbishop of Lyons, still sustained by his bold and
quenchless spirit, presently proposed to say vespers.
About eleven o'clock two coarse mattresses were brought
for the prelates to repose upon ; while several soldiers of
the guard, to the great relief of the prisoners, were
withdrawn from within the chamber. The prelates,
before seeking repose, confessed, and mutually gave
each other absolution. At three o'clock they rose in
the dark and recited prayers, in which act of devotion
they continued until eight o'clock. The door of the
prison then opened, and a valet-de-chambre entered,
carrying a flambeau, followed by Louis du Guast, a
captain of the body-guard. Du Guast approached, and
making a profound obeisance, said, addressing the car
dinal de Guise, " Monseigneur, the king requires your
presence." The cardinal turned pale on the utterance
of these ominous words, but rose with dignity and pre
pared to follow du (iuast. The archbishop of Lyons,
foreseeing the fatal catastrophe about to happen, pressed
the hand of the cardinal, and whispered in his ear,
" Monsieur, commend your soul to God." " My
father, embrace me and give me your benediction,"
exclaimed the cardinal, casting liimself on his knees
before the prelate. The archbishop then, for the first
1 Belation et Deposition de Monseigneur l'Aichevrque do I. veins.
Another account states that the prelates u ere deprived of bed, table, and
chairs, and that no food was given them but raw fish, sent by the express
order of the king. This relation is a manifest error, for the arehbibhop of
Lyons, one of the prisoners, affords a very different testimony. Archive*
Curieuses, tome xii. Hist, des Cardinaux.

Ij88.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 269
time, became deeply affected, with difficulty pronouncing
the formula. The cardinal rose, and was then led away.
As soon as the door closed, du Guast turned to his
captive and roughly said, " Cardinal, il faut mourir !"
In a small gallery adjacent four soldiers waited for their
victim. Du Guast there took leave of the cardinal and
retired, desiring the soldiers to do their duty. The
cardinal calmly prepared himself for death, and asked
for a few moments to commend his soul to God.
Kneeling with his face turned towards a recess in the
wall, the prelate commenced to pray with devotion.
While he was so engaged, one of the soldiers plunged
his sword into the body of the cardinal, who, turning
reproachfully, covered his face with his mantle, and
sank to the ground. Thrusts from daggers and hal
berds then fell swiftly on the prostrate body of the
prelate, which was so mutilated by the savage violence
of his assassins that his friends could scarcely recognise
his remains. The body was suffered to lie for an hour
on the spot where it had fallen ; it was then wrapped
in coarse sacking and deposited by the side of that of
the due de Guise. The order for the death of the
cardinal had been given by the king at daybreak, on
being informed by the bishop of Mans, brother of
Nicholas and Louis de Rambouillet, that the deputies
of the clergy had resolved to petition him in person
during the day for the release of the cardinal de Guise,
who was their president. Henry answered in a rage,
" Let the said cardinal die ; I am weary of his name !"
The gentlemen of the Quarante-cinq, however, declined
to peril their souls by assassinating a cardinal ; ' and
1 The king, it is asserted, applied first to Larchant to undertake the
assassination of the cardinal ; then to his provost Richelieu. Lognac
flatly refused, but introduced du Guast, a necessitous soldier, who pro
mised to see that his majesty's fiat was accomplished. Du Guast, in
his deposition made by order of the parliament of Paris, stated that the

270 HENRY III. KING Ol FRANl ]¦:, [158S.
Lognac even tried to divert the king from so perilous
an enterprise.
TVhile this tragedy was enacting, Henry was attend
ing matins in St. Calais, the private chapel of the
castle. As he quitted the edifice the baron de Luxe,
brother-in-law of the captive archbishop of Lyons, threw
himself at the feet of the king, and besought his majesty
to spare the life of that prelate. Henry commented
severely on the past misconduct of the archbishop,
whom he called "a turbulent churchman, the quint
essence of the League," but said that in his royal cle
mency he had that morning made a solemn vow to shed
no more blood ; " therefore, monsieur, go to your said
brother-in-law, and assure him that at your intercession
I commute the just penalty of death, which he deserves,
into that of perpetual captivity."
Another suppliant waited the presence of the king
in the chamber of the queen-mother, to which Henry
repaired. By the bed of the queen stood Anne d'Este,
duchesse de Nemours, the mother of the Guises. The
duchess was arrayed in mourning robes; her face was
pale, and wore an expression of intense agony. She
had just beard of the slaughter of her second son from
the lips of Catherine, who had implored the king to
permit her thus to mitigate, if possible, the anguish of
the unhappy mother. The queen predicted that terrible
era of subsequent vengeance, as she looked upon the
tearless face of the duchess, and listened to the vows
which unconsciously escaped her lips. The duchess
fiercely upbraided the king for his perfidious cruelty,
and said " that she had always predicted evil to her
sons from the notorious treachery of the king's charac
ter, and that with her consent they had never presented
king said it was his resolve to exterminate the race of Lorraine Guise,
"jusques a l'enfant qui etoit au ventre de la mere."

1588. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 271
themselves at Blois." " Madame," sneeringly replied
Henry, "you ought, on the contrary, to rejoice that
your excellent sons perished both of them like Julius
Csesar, being slain in the midst of the assembled senate."1
The duchess then asked for the bodies of her sons that
she might cause them to be interred. The king
abruptly refused to grant the request; and left the
apartment, giving orders that madame de Nemours
should be reconducted to her chamber and suffered to
communicate with no one.
The same night, whilst the king attended the mid
night mass which ushered in the festival of Christmas-
day, 1588, the bodies of the deceased princes were
lowered by ropes from the windows of the council-
chamber into the court-yard by the provost-marshal
Richelieu and his archers. They were then carried
into a small room beneath the hall of council, and
which opened on to the terrace leading to the castle
pleasaunce. A large fire of pine wood had been
kindled in this chamber to consume the remains of the
illustrious victims. The heads of the duke and his
brother were first struck off and thrown on the blazing-
pile. Some writers state that the bodies were burned
in the wide chimney of the adjacent Salle des Etats,
where the king had opened the session of the States,
and the ashes scattered to the wind.2 The provost Cha
pelle Marteau, however, who was afterwards incarcerated
in the room beneath the council-chamber, states in his
deposition that when he was first conducted there he
could distinctly trace on the floor of the chamber, from
which the blood had not been washed, the outlines of
the stalwart form of the due de Guise. De Thou gives
a different version of the disposal of the bodies. He
1 Advis de ceux qui ont e"te" & Blois. Paris, 1588. 8vo.
2 Cayet. Pasquier. Mathieu. Cheverny. Davila, &c.

272 HENRY III. KINC OF FRANCE, [1588.
simply states that, by the advice of his surgeon, Henry
caused the remains of the duke and his brother to be
buried in quick-lime, so that not a relic of them might
remain to excite the compassion or the veneration of
the multitude. Richelieu afterwards waited on the
duchesse de Nemours, and assured her with many oaths
that the bodies of her sons had been deposited in con
secrated ground in his presence.

1588.]

HIS COURT AND TIMES. 273

CHAPTER IIL
1588—1589.

Tumults in Paris — Announcement of the death of the due de-Guise —
Anguish of madame de Guise — Frantic grief of the duchesse de
Montpensier — She swears to avenge the murder of her brothers —
Hostile measures adopted in the capital — Frenzy of the populace —
Reply of Henry III. to the deputation sent to Blois by the town of
Orleans — Supine indifference manifested by the king — Interview of
Henry's ambassadors with pope Sixtus V. — Demands made by the
pontiff — Illness of queen Catherine — Her last days — Demise of the
queen — Her will and funeral obsequies — Illness of Henry III. —
Arrival of Diane duchesse d'Angouleme — Condition of affairs — Re
volts throughout France — Escape of the due de Nemours — Henry
conducts his prisoners to the castle of Amboise — He dissolves the
States-general — Exploits of the king of Navarre — He offers to ad
vance to the rescue of the king — Progress of the revolt in Paris —
Arrest of the first president of the parliament Achille de Harlay, and
of various members deemed to be hostile to the League — They are
incarcerated in the Bastille — Ferocious violence of the populace —
Madame de Montpensier appears in the public processions — Con
spiracy of M. du Guast — Henry conducts his prisoners back to Blois
— He gives liberty to the duchesse de Nemours — Correspondence of
Henry III. with Epernon — He is counselled to enter into alliance
with the king of Navarre — Madame d'Angouleme undertakes the ne
gotiation — Military measures adopted — Mission of Sancy and Schom
berg to raise levies in Switzerland and Germany — Departure of the
king for Tours — His prisoners —The parliament is translated from
Paris to Tours — Entry into Paris of the due de Mayenne — His re
luctance to accept the office of chief of the League — The council of
Forty — Negotiation of Duplessis Mornay with Henry III. — Treaty
between the two Henrys — Advance of the due de Mayenne and the
VOL. III. T

274 HENRY III. KINlr OF FRANCE, [1588—
army of the League into Beausse — Intervention of the legate Mnro.
sini to promote a reconciliation between Henry III. and the due de
Mayenne.
The assassination of the due de Guise was known in
Paris on the day following its perpetration. While
Richelieu and his archers were lighting the funeral pile
of the unfortunate princes, the mob of Paris had risen
to avenge their death. One Verdereau, a humble
adherent of the house of Lorraine, contrived to slip out
side the gates of Blois before the order was issued pro
hibiting any to pass without an order signed by the
king. In the same manner most of Henry's precau
tions were frustrated : the friends of the princes of Lor
raine showed themselves more ardent and alert than the
subjects of the king. In Lyons the royal design of
seizing the person of the due de Mayenne, and that of
securing the adherence of the important city of Orleans
were likewise circumvented. M. de Rossieux, a gentle
man appertaining to the household of Mayenne, quitted
Blois at the same hour as did M. d'Entragues. The
newly-elected royal governor and the emissary of the
League entered Orleans precisely at the same time.
D'Entragues quietly took possession of the citadel, an
edifice wliich had been recently erected in one of the
principal suburbs without the gates; while Rossieux re
paired to the Hotel de Ville, and boldly addressing the
people, recounted the tragedies at Blois. His eloquence
roused the people to paroxysms of alternate fury aud
despair. The gates of the town were seized by the
municipal authorities, and a courier despatched to notify
the event to the due de Mayenne. A deputation of
eight citizens was forthwith elected to proceed to Blois
to supplicate the king to remove Entragues, whom the
city refused to receive as its governor ; aud to pray that
the captive prince de JoinviUe, now due de Guise, might
be invested with that office. Ifllcnrv had had the

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 275
spirit and policy immediately after the death of Guise
to place himself at the head of his troops and advance
upon Orleans, and from thence have proceeded to Paris,
so great at first was the panic and consternation that
the royal cause would doubtless have gained a perma
nent ascendency. Instead of which politic measure, the
king, idly exulting in his supposed victoiy, and relying
on the pacific intimations aforetime sent to him by the
princes of Lorraine, and on the dread which his late
acts would inspire, amused himself by retaliating the
past arrogance of the deputies, and in writing useless
edicts and letters.
The energy that had carried Henry through the past
episode was fast expiring : his raging vengeance satiated,
fears, regrets, indecision, and weariness followed. The
hand of the king and his minions had effectually indeed
struck the blow — but the great general and statesman,
whose valour and address might alone have enabled
Henry to grasp and triumph over the momentous events
ensuing therefrom, he had not at command. So great
was the confusion at Blois, and so badly concerted were
the after-measures indispensably requisite for the safety of
the realm, that the due de Nevers, general of the army
of Poitou — the only military chieftain whom the king
of his free will had lately nominated — received advices
of the death of the due de Guise and his brother from
M. de la Chatre, hitherto the warm adherent of the
princes of Lorraine ; who fortunately, instead of seeking
to excite the mutinous resentment of the army, assured
Nevers of his loyal co-operation. La Chatre, however,
acted from the persuasion that the king, having resorted
to so desperate and exasperating an expedient, had
taken every subsequent precaution to insure the royal
supremacy. A few days, nevertheless, undeceived him
as to this supposition, and materially altered the tenor
of M. de la Chatre's consequent proceedings.
t 2

276 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
As soon as the news reached Paris, on Christmas Eve,
of the death of the due de Guise, the due d'Aumale and
his brother the chevalier d'Aumale, met the members
of the Seize at the Hotel de Ville; but believing the
report to be fictitious, they despatched an envoy to
Orleans to inquire. " This weak, cowardly prince of
ours would not dare !" said they.
Fresh intelligence confirmatory of the assertion of
Verdereau, but still silent on the death of the cardinal
de Guise, reached the capital, however, before nine in
the evening. The consequent confusion and panic in
the city had never been surpassed. Guards were hastily
posted at the gates, and watch-fires lighted in the prin
cipal squares. The people assembled and listened with
groans and tears to the relation of the catastrophe.
The duchesse de Guise and madame de Montpensier
resided together at the hotel de Montmorency. Thither,
during the night, the people and the principal officers of
the municipality proceeded, joined by the crowds pour
ing from the churches of the capital, in which the mid
night mass had been celebrated. The condition of the
duchesse de Guise was pitiable. Ou the first rumour
of the death of her consort she had fallen into a swoon,
and being in the eighth month of her pregnancy her
state soon became perilous. Nevertheless, the populace
in front of the hotel clamoured and insisted on her
appearance in the balcony. Supported in the arms of
her women, the unhappy duchess appeared for a few
seconds, and was carried back to her apartment insen
sible. The duchesse de Montpensier was indisposed,
being confined to her couch from a swelling of the
ankles, to which she was subject. AA'hen informed of
the assassination of her brother, her ungovernable pas
sion nearly destroyed her life. Her face became for a
few minute- vividly suffused, then she lay motionless
and livid. After an interval her cries of despair, horror,

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 277
and rage resounded through the enceinte of the vast
hotel. She tore her hair, and in words of appalling
purport cursed the tyrant.
The duchess then made a vain effort to rise from her
couch to go through the streets of Paris and denounce
the deed ; but her limbs refused her support, and she
sank back into the arms of her women. The news that
the chief members of the council of Seize awaited in
the hotel for audience at length restored the duchess to
comparative composure, and she desired that they might
be immediately conducted to her couch. The duchess
then vehemently harangued the Seize. She exhorted
them to rise and avenge the cruel perfidy of the king,
to whom she applied epithets the most degrading and
ignominious. Raising her bauds aloft, the duchess
then vowed that henceforth her own life should be de
voted to revenge. She advised the Seize to confer the
chief command on the due d'Aumale, who, she ironi
cally said, might be found at the Carthusian monastery
at his devotions, pending the arrival of that valiant and
wise prince, her brother, M. de Mayenne.
The following day being Christmas Day, the most
incendiary harangues were delivered in the churches
against the king, while the "martyred duke" was eulo
gized, and his loss lamented with frantic expressions of
grief. In some of the churches the congregation rose,
and joined audibly in the laments of the preachers, ex
claiming, " Nous n' avons pas de roy I Maudit soit le
tyran !" During the afternoon the chevalier d'Aumale
quitted Paris with fifty or sixty horse, for the succour
of the people of Orleans. Madame de Montpensier
also addressed letters to her brother M. de Mayenne,
imploring him to repair to the capital, and giving the
duke assurance that the Parisians would greet his pre
sence with acclamations.
The due de Mayenne, however, never acted but after

27S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
mature reflection. He possessed no gifts of eloquence
like his deceased brother, nor had lie that gracious and
affable address and princely bearing which conduced so
greatly to the duke's popularity ; he was, on the con
trary, dry, phlegmatic, and practical. He vehemently
resented the death of his brothers ; but yet, before de
claring himself the mortal foe of his sovereign, May
enne desired to ascertain whether that course would be
most conducive to his interests. He remembered the
secret advices that he sent to the king, in which he
had himself stigmatized the actions of his brother as
treasonable. Moreover, the due de Mayenne had much
to lose by embarking in civil war. His pecuniary
affairs were flourishing, and he owed no man anything.
Too proud and reserved to enact the r6/e of a popular
hero, -Mayenne lavished nothing in useless prodigality.
The father of these princes the great due de Guise, who
perished before Orleans, predicted that of all his sons
Charles due de Mayenne would be the stay and the
oracle of his family. " My elder son Henry," said the
duke, " dazzled by the position which he must inherit
as chief of the Catholics of the realm, will surely fall
through his ambitious aspirations." The due de May
enne, however, felt a chivalrous affection and veneration
for his brother the duke, and sincerely mourned his
untimely fate. It is doubtful, however, whether May
enne would have accepted the office of Chief of the
League, had it not been for the passionate entreaties
and clamour of madame de Montpensier, who aggra
vated the duke's displeasure and suspicion by reminding
him of the notorious fact, that Henry had despatched
Ornano to effect his arrest. It was, moreover, felt by
his warmest partisans, that the brother of Guise might
now alone with honour approach the court at the special
call of his sovereign, to defend the crown, to uphold
the sceptre, and magnanimously to restore peace to the

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 279
realm. The royal confidence, however, was already
pre-eminently bestowed on the dues de Nevers and
Epernon ; Mayenne, therefore, could not present him
self at Blois, still the prison of his mother and his
nearest kindred, as a subordinate. The duke, there
fore, still undecided as to his eventual course, leisurely
advanced to Magon ; and from thence, accompanied by
his duchess,1 he journeyed to Chalons.
On Monday, the 26th of December, an assembly was
convened in the Hotel de Ville, to consider the critical
condition of affairs, and to provide for the defence of
Paris. The due d'Aumale was appointed governor,
pending the hoped for arrival of Mayenne; Drouart
and Cruce were nominated to fill the offices of Chapelle
Marteau, Compans and Cotteblanche, the provost and
sheriffs of Paris, until the happy liberation of the latter
had been effected. It was resolved to arrest the most
noted royalists in Paris ; and to despatch missives to
every city, village, and hamlet in membership with the
League, to notify that the capital city no longer recog
nized the authority of the king. The assembly, like
wise, unanimously voted that the municipal dignitaries
should wait upon the duchesse de Guise to express
their condolence at her bereavement, and to assure her
that Paris adopted her fatherless children ; in pledge of
which, if God should be pleased presently to bestow
upon her a son, that the city would present the prince
at the baptismal font. The deputation waited upon
madame de Guise during the same afternoon; the
duchess received the members in her darkened chamber,
reposing under a canopy draped with black. She
1 Henriette de Savoye Villars, only daughter and heiress of Honorat
de Savoye, marquis de Villars, marshal and admiral of France. Hen
riette was the widow of M. de Montpezat, by whom she had six chil
dren. Her wealth was great, and her mamage with the due de Mayenne
was solemnized August 6, 1576.

280 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
thanked the city for its participation in her woe, and
accepted the proposal.1
A few hours later the news reached Paris of the as
sassination of the cardinal de Guise, and the arrest of
the archbishop of Lyons. The excitement of the people
burst forth with renewed madness. The cures of Paris
anathematized the king; groans and execrations were
heard in the streets of the capital, and several persons
are stated to have expired of grief and rage. The
statues of the king were overthrown and rolled iu the
gutters; his effigy was everywhere effaced, and the
royal arms torn down. The people, mad for vengeance,
rushed to the great Augustinian monastery, and tore
to shreds two magnificent pictures decorating one side
of the chapel, representing the first installation of the
Knights du St. Esprit. One preacher Lincestre, on
the last day of the year, preached a sermon in the
church dedicated to St. Bartholomew, opposite the
Palais, which so excited his hearers that the congrega
tion rose and pulled down the arms and cyphers of the
king which decorated the church ; and having thus
satiated their fury, sat down to listen to the remainder
of the discourse. Lincestre told the people that he
had discovered an anagram in the words, " Henri de
Valois," which he said made " Vilain Hcrode ;" a name
which this seditious demagogue ever after applied to his
sovereign. The president le Maitre and others were on
this day delegated to proceed to Blois, to demand the
liberation of the prisoners. The envoys took the pre
caution to make their wills before they trusted them
selves in the clutches of the " execrable traitor and
perjurer."2 At Blois during these transactions, when the utmost
vigour and resolution should have been displayed, no
1 Journal de Paris. 2 Ibid.

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 281
affair was despatched. Henry's incompetent ministers
trembled before the wrath of the League. The chief
nobles who still adhered to the royal cause, caring no
thing personally for the king, had departed, foreseeing
the events which had come to pass; those that re
mained quarrelled and distracted the weak and irritable
mind of their master by the diversity of the counsels
which they tendered. His captives Henry guarded
with the utmost vigilance, as if he believed that the
pacification of the country depended on their safe
prison. The duchesses de Nemours and d'Aumale
were not suffered to leave their apartments, or to see
the queen-mother, who besought her son to liberate
her old friend madame de Nemours. A commission
had been appointed to interrogate the archbishop
of Lyons, who, however, now relieved from fear of
losing his life, resolutely refused to answer, pleading
his privileges as a churchman. No threat nor persua
sion could induce Espinac to criminate his late friends
and allies, the due de Guise and the cardinal. Henry,
meantime, dismissed the deputation sent to him from
Orleans with harsh words : " I command you to receive
and obey M. d'Entragues as your governor," said
his majesty. "If you do it not willingly, I will
soon compel your obedience." In confirmation of his
threat, Henry despatched the marechal d'Aumont with
the Swiss troops and some companies of the regiment
oi-gardes de corps, to support d'Entragues, who was
already besieged in the citadel.
The deliberations of the States at Blois, meanwhile,
ostensibly continued ; many members who had first
sought safety in flight, returned — but nothing of moment
was discussed. Resolutions were proposed by Henry's
partisans, and received instant confirmation. The
freedom and spirit of the assembly was broken. Abroad
the deputies beheld innumerable risings ; whilst half the

282 HENRY III. KING OF TRANCE, [1588 —
principal towns of the kingdom rejected the royal
authority : legislation, therefore, had become useless.
In this peril Henry still temporized, distracted by
calamities which each successive day rendered more
menacing. Rambouillet, the most able of the men
who now surrounded the king, urged Henry to send for
his army under Nevers, and to march at its head upon
Orleans ; secondly, to enter into a treaty with the Pro
testant Cantons of Switzerland, and to recruit for
troops, to form the nucleus of an army to invest Paris.
The counsels of the marechal de Retz induced the infa
tuated king to discard this wholesome advice. De Retz
represented that his subjects would rise to a man if
the army under Nevers, destined for the destruction of
heresy, was turned against the king's Catholic liegemen ;
and that the enlistment of heretics would cause every
orthodox trooper in the royal service to desert. The
king pretended to ridicule the opposition whicli he
encountered, and spoke rashly upon the ultimate ven
geance he had determined to exact — threats which,
before the fall of Guise, would have been treated with
contemptuous indifference. Henry laughed at the fury
of the Parisian populace, and said, " that he knew those
said demagogues of Paris better than any man in the
realm, and that after a little bravado and lament for
their Roy Guisard, they would fall at his feet, when
he should well know how to make them repent for
their present follies ! As for M. de Mayenne, he will
have some trouble to keep his head above water within
his own government, and will not be such a fool as to em
barrass himself with the Parisians," observed his majesty.'
It was also reported to the king that M. de Mayenne,
on receiving the news of the murder of his brothers,
rode bareheaded, brandishing a naked sword, into the
1 Memoires Secrets d'un Politique, Janvier, 1589. Archives
Curieuses.

I589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 283
principal square of Lyons, and publicly swore to avenge
their death by shedding the blood of their assassin.
Henry declared his disbelief of the fact asserted ; and
wrote to Mayenne, commanding him to repair to Blois,
and vindicating his late measures on the advices sent
to him by the dues de Mayenne and d'Aumale.
Neither was the news from Rome more reassuring.
The legate Morosini, in his despatch to Sixtus V., re
presented the king as having been guilty of the most
heinous perfidy. On the arrival of the intelligence the
pope, however, appeared to take a lenient view of the
proceeding, his Holiness declaring, as he sat down to
dinner, "that MM. de Guise should have taken pre
cautions, and, as they had not had the wit to take care
of their own safety, that nothing could be said ; that
he had several times warned them of their danger, and
that those who knew not how to defend themselves,
when forewarned, were unworthy of commiseration."1
The indignation of the temporal prince at the daring
enterprises of the Guises had momentarily overpowered
the horror and abhorrence with which the traditional
policy of the Holy See required Sixtus to denounce the
treacherous assassination of a member of the Sacred
College. The Spanish ambassador, however, had secret
audience of his Holiness on the evening of Friday,
January 8th, and succeeded in arousing the pontifical
wrath, especially after Sixtus had perused the missive
sent to him by Morosini. The following morning,
therefore, Henry's special envoy, the cardinal de Joyeuse,
on repairing to the Vatican was received with gloomy
formality, and the pope severely censured the " per
fidious treachery" of the king. " The king," said his
1 Lettre du Cardmal de Joyeuse k Henri III., Janvier, 1589. Fran
gois de Joyeuse, cardinal-hishop of Narbonne, special envoy to the Holy
See, brother of the deceased due de Joyeuse. This letter, it is believed,
was revised by the learned Arnaud d'Ossat, afterwards cardinal d'Ossat.

2S4 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
Holiness, "has committed an execrable deed, deserving
the extreme censure of the Church. It was not thus
that personages so august ought to have been brought
to death, after your king had sworn solemnly that no
harm should happen to them. The due de Guise, if
his majesty had complaint against him, ought to have
been arrested and put upon a legal trial ; while his Emi
nence his brother should have been sent to me. No
one will in future trust the king; his affairs will never
prosper. It is an unheard-of crime to have so put a
cardinal to death." Joyeuse then slyly recalled to the
memory of his Holiness the expressions which Sixtus
had used on learning the unauthorized arrival of the
due de Guise in Paris — to wit, that the pope had ob
served, " if Guise had been his subject he would have
had him thrown on the instant from the windows of the
palace." " As for the death of the due de Guise," con
tinued the undaunted envoy, " the king has no account
to render to you; but for the doom of the cardinal his
brother, a prince and member of the Sacred College, and
a prelate owing canonical obedience to your Holiness,
the king humbly requests absolution." " Let the king
write to mc to supplicate absolution for his crimes,
meantime I will consult my cardinals," replied the pope
abruptly. Joyeuse replied, " that the king had applied
for absolution through his regular ambassador, M. dc
Pisani,1 and by himself; and that his majesty wished
that none might be privy to the affair except his Holi
ness." Sixtus, however, gloomily persevered — first, in
demanding the immediate release of the cardinal de
Bourbon and the archbishop of Lyons ; and secondly,
that the king, having committed so heinous a crime,
should make humble confession under his own hand
1 Charles de Vivonne — the correspondence between Henry and M. de
Pisani and the cardinal de Joyeuse is contained in Bibl. Imp. MS.
Dupuy, 29 et seq.

IJ89. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 285
and seal. "As for the rest," said the pope, "the affair
shall in a few days be amply discussed in Consistory."
He then dismissed the cardinal de Joyeuse, and declined
to admit to his presence any envoy from king Henry
until his majesty had made Christian confession of his
errors ; and had released the prelates still in captivity at
Blois. Meanwhile, a more heavy misfortune befel the king
than any that might result from the aggregate outpour
ings of papal wrath. The master-spirit which had so
long guided the counsels of France — the genius, alter
nately used for the glory and for the misfortune of the
realm, and from the influence of which Henry had in
vain sought emancipation, was about to be withdrawn
from earth. Catherine de Medici, at the moment when
her energy, her astuteness, and her unrivalled powers
of conciliation were needed to deliver her son from the
abyss into which his furious passions had plunged him,
lay on the bed of death. From the fatal 24th of De
cember her strength had rapidly given way. Her real
sorrow at the death of the due de Guise, her indigna
tion at the perfidy with which, despite the nature of the
provocation given, the king had violated his word and
her own— without the support of which Henry's asseve
rations would have been treated with derision — and her
consternation at the desperate condition of affairs,
pressed with fatal effect on the already stricken frame
of the queen. Her matured experience at once re
vealed to Catherine the lamentable consequences of the
late catastrophe. She had lived to witness the son,
once loved by herself with absorbing affection, hated
and reviled. Aware of his incapacity, and of his un
toward temper at once fanatical and puerile, she
mourned the approaching overthrow of the royal race
of Valois ; she mourned at beholding the son for whom
she had sacrificed so much laden with opprobrium, and

286 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
dishonoured by his vices. More than this, Catherine
predicted the eventual triumph of her detested son-in-
law, le Bearnnois : while she acknowledged that now
the salvation of her son depended on his prompt recon
ciliation with the son of Jeanne d'Albret, and the con
sequent recognition of Henri de Navarre, heretic as he
was, as Henry's legitimate successor. Another convic
tion embittered the dying hour of the queen. In her
zeal to erase from the royal lineage and succession the
name of Henri de Navarre and to substitute that of
her grandson, Catherine had countenanced and even
upheld the revolutionary and ambitious designs of the
princes of Guise ; for without her secret support they
must have fallen long ago before the hate of the king
and his favourites. This reflection weighed heavilv on
the mind of Catherine.
But amid the prevailing desolation, the panic, and
the woe, the queen was dying. The life that during
its course had presented so unparalleled a combination
of grandeur and adversity, political triumph and re
verses, was about to be extinguished — and it was difficult
for the king and his courtiers to realize the momentous
fact. For many months previously Catherine had been a
severe sufferer from gout, whicli attacked her arms aud
feet, and at times her head. The queen suffered also
from dropsy. The anxiety and fatigue which Catherine
had undergone during the barricades of Paris, and sub
sequently, increased the worst symptoms of her malady.
After her arrival at Blois sadness and melancholy greatly
oppressed her spirit ; she seemed to have lost her zest
for those subtle political combinations in which she had
excelled. The dismissal of Cheverny had also greatly
affected Catherine; while the subsequent tracasseries
between the king and the due de Guise, and the un
bending contumacy of the latter, inspired her with the

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 287
keenest disquietude. Often during the silent hours of
the night she paced her chamber in solitude ; for the
queen refused to tolerate the presence of watchers by
her couch. Strong was the wrestling of that proud
and determined spirit against the approach of death.
As the transactions of the twenty-nine years during
which the queen had wielded almost despotic power
passed in review, tremendous must have been the retro
spect. A profound believer in astrology and portents,
Catherine in silent agony also noted what she believed to
be the signs and omens of her approaching dissolution.
On Christmas Day Catherine was too exhausted to
rise, and mass was celebrated in her apartment by
Gondy, cardinal-bishop of Paris. During the following
week she rose during a portion of every day, and ap
peared at times nearly convalescent. The queen, how
ever, studiously refrained from interfering in politics,
probably feeling herself too weak to contend with the
catastrophes she felt to be impending. She, however,
interceded for the prisoners, and Henry, at his mother's
intercession, liberated the duchesse d'Aumale,1 and
permitted her to return with le Maitre and the depu
ties sent by the Parisians, on the solemn promise made
by the young duchess that she would do all in her
power to induce her husband to quit the League. For
her old friend, the cardinal de Bourbon, Catherine could
obtain no alleviation, excepting a reluctant permission
from the king granting her license to pay the cardinal
a visit in his prison-chamber. On New Year's Day
Catherine was carried thither in a chair. The inter
view between the queen and her aged relative was
deeply affecting. The cardinal, in his transports at
1 " Ce maudit tyran deroy renvoya madame d'Aumale, et lui promit
monts et merveilles, afin qu'eile de"tourna son mari du gouvernement de
cette ville de Paris, ce que le dit seigneur ne voulut pas faire, comme
sage et avise" qu'il e"toit." — Journal de Paris.

2S8 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
seeing the queen, threw himself ou his knees at her
feet, kissing and clasping her hands, while he wept like
a child. Responsive tears were likewise shed by Cathe
rine, aud she in vain strove to utter cheering words.
The mood of the cardinal, however, changed. While
commenting on his precarious position he flew into one
of his accustomed fits of puerile rage, and reproached
the queen for having contributed by her persuasions to
induce them all to trust the protestations of the king
her son. He was even so far carried away by excite
ment as to accuse the queen of having intentionally
decoyed them to Blois. Catherine tried to calm his
vehemence by her denials and expostulations ; but
the aged prelate was too excited to listen. " Hearken,
monseigneur," said the queen, " I am innocent of
having contrived your present position ; and may
God visit me with his eternal damnation if I devised
that whicli you reproach me with, or if I assented
to it ! " " Oh, madame, madame ! " persisted the car
dinal, vehemently, " this is your doing ! this is your
device ! Oh, madame, it is you who have slain us all!"
The excitement of the interview was now more than
the enfeebled frame of Catherine could endure. She
turned pale, and exclaimed, " O God, this is too
much ! take mc away ; I have no strength left ! " Her
attendants then carried Catherine back to her chamber,
and laid her immediately 011 the bed from which she
never again rose. She continued to grow gradually
worse ; until a heavy stupor coming on, her pains were
somewhat alleviated. The king remained constantly
in her chamber, as did also queen Louise and Christine,
grand-duchess of Tuscany. On the following day,
Monday, January 2nd, the queen made her will with
admirable presence of mind, bequeathing legacies to all
her old friends and adherents. She gave her large

I589J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 289
hereditary possessions in Auvergne, first to Diane,1
illegitimate daughter of her deceased husband, to revert
to Charles de Valois, due d'Angouleme, natural son of
Charles IX. and Marie Touchet ; disinheriting her
daughter Marguerite de Valois, whose infamous life
had brought disgrace on the royal house of Valois.
To madame de Montmorency and to Christine, grand
duchess of Tuscany, the queen also left a considerable
sum in jewels.- The king immediately ratified the
will, expressing his perfect approval of the dispositions
which her majesty had made. A long and private con
ference then ensued between Catherine and her son,
during which, some contemporary historians assert that
the queen urgently counselled the policy which Henry
afterwards pursued — his reconciliation with the king
of Navarre, and his union with the latter to put down
the formidable factions of the realm. She prayed the
king to treat his sister Marguerite with lenity, and to
provide adequately for her royal rank. During her
last hours the queen was assisted by Julien cle St.
Germain, abbe de Charlieu, confessor to the king, a
man of great virtue and piety, and a distinguished
theologian. The selection of this ecclesiastic gave a
seeming confirmation to the prediction of one of Cathe
rine's astrologers, who warned her "to beware of St.
Germain," as that name was destined to exercise a fatal
influence over her destiny. Consequently the queen,
1 Diane de France, the legitimated daughter of Henry II. and
Philippe Due, a beautiful Savoyarde. Diane married, 1st, Horatio
Farnese, killed before Hesdin, 1553. 2nd, the marechal de Montmo
rency, in 1557, who died in 1579. Madame de Montmorency assumed
the title of duchesse d'Angouleme after the decease of queen Catherine.
She died in December, 1618, at the age of eighty years. " Elle etoit,"
says de Thou," "une princesse de haute entendement, sage, et
vertueuse." 2 Testament de Catherine de Medici, MS. Bibl. Imp. Dupuy, 137.
VOL. III. U

290 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588—
who was superstitious to excess, had long carefully
avoided the palace of St. Germain, and had even vacated
her apartments in the Louvre, which was situated in
the parish of St. Germain l'Auxerrois. "Why the abbe
de Charlieu was selected to minister to the dying hours
of the queen it is impossible to divine. There were
many prelates then in Blois ; the cardinal-bishop of
Paris had been previously in attendance by the couch
of the queen ; besides, in apartments within the palace,
close at hand, were the cardinal de Bourbon, the arch
bishop of Lyons, and the king's private chaplain the
bishop of Mans. The assertion, therefore, is untenable,
that the spiritual aid of the abbe" de Charlieu was re
sorted to because all the prelates had fled from Blois,
some incensed at, and others being alarmed by the fate
of the cardinal de Guise. During the whole of Wednes
day, January 4th, the queen lay insensible ; but in
the night her sufferings became again intense. From
this period she gradually sank, and died about one
o'clock on Thursday, January 5th, in the arms of the
king her son, apparently without pain, though from
the night of the preceding Tuesday she had lost the
power of speech.1 A surgical examination of the cause
of the decease of queen Catherine was made on the
evening of the day of her demise. The king, who
eagerly followed every morbid impulse, was present at
the autopsy — a circumstance which afforded his enemies
the Leaguers of Paris fresh subject for malicious com
ment.2 The remains of the deceased queen were then arrayed
in royal robes, and deposited beneath a magnificent
1 De Thou, liv. xciv. Brant6me : Vie de Catherine de Medici. De
Coste : Dames Illustres. Mathieu : Hist, du Regne de Henri III.
Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire. Ste Marthe : Hist. Genealogique de
la Boyale Maison de France. Hist, of the House of Medici.
8 Ibid. Pasquier : Lettre 8, liv. xiii. Journal de l'Etoile.

.1389.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. '291
catafalque in the apartment in which she resigned her
life. Brantome states that the robes and mortuary
garments used at the interment of queen Anne de
Bretagne were brought from the sacristy of St. Sauveur
and appropriated for the ceremony, as no aid could be
derived from Paris. Afterwards the body was deposited
in a leaden coffin, and carried with most pompous cere
monial to the church of St. Sauveur, where it was de
posited in an open niche close to the altar until the
condition of the country should permit of its transport
to St. Denis for interment in the superb chapelle de
Valois.1 The king attended the funeral ceremonies
attired in violet robes ; and queen Louise and the ladies
of the court wore mourning cloaks of tan-coloured
velvet. The members of the States attended the solem
nities. Awe and misgiving were imprinted on the
countenances of all as the orator Bertaut expatiated on
the genius and resources of the queen, and deplored
that at this dread crisis France should find herself
bereft of the wisdom and consummate ability of a prin
cess whose reputation had caused her to be appealed
to as the refuge and arbiter of all classes of his
majesty's subjects. The orator apostrophized the queen
in verse : she was, said he,
L'oracle de nos jours,
En qui seule vivoit l'art d'enehanter l'orage
Par les charmes divines d'un esprit doote et sage !
The heralds, after announcing the royal titles of the
august deceased, proclaimed her consort of a king, and
1 Catherine de Medici was bom in Florence April 13, 1519 ; she
'died January 5, 1589, in her seventieth' year. After the accession of
Henri IV. Marguerite de Valois disputed her mother's will, and
claimed all the vast property bequeathed'to Diane de France, and to
•Charles due d'Angouleme. The queen gained her suit, and imme
diately settled the wealth so recovered on the Dauphin, eldest son of
Henri IV. and of Marie de Medici. TJ2

292 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
th.e mother of three kings and two queens. The body
of the queen having been imperfectly embalmed, from
the impossibility of obtaining the requisite materials, was
removed three weeks subsequently from the niche close
to the altar and secretly interred during the night in
one of the side aisles of the church. There the remains
of the " great queen, the mother of kings," rested in
a lowly grave until after the assassination of Henri IV.,
when queen Marie de Medici caused the body of Cathe
rine to be exhumed and transported to St. Denis, and
deposited in the same vault in wliich her husbaud
Henry II. reposed. Her heart Mas enclosed in the
urn which contained that of Henry II. deposited in the
chapelle d'Orleans, of the Celestine Convent, Quartier
St. Paul. This urn is the work of the sculptor Germain
Pilon ; it is adorned by three exquisite figures repre
senting Faith, Hope, and Charity, and is still to be
seen in the halls of the Louvre.
The people of Paris showed no sympathy or regret
at the decease of Catherine dc Medici, who, until
lately, had been the most popular personage in the
realm. It was believed that the queen had connived at,
and even prompted the massacre of the Guises. The
Parisians had formed so contemptuous an opinion of
their sovereign, that they believed it had required the
more vigorous brain and cooler daring of bis mother
to conceive and execute so unscrupulous a deed. The
people threatened if the funeral cortege passed through
Paris, en rattle for St. Denis, to seize the body of the
queen and to throw it into the Seine. All Catherine's
rich effects and the furniture of her sumptuous palaces
in Paris were sold by auction to pay the enormous
debts which she owed to various merchants and traders
of the capital. As the sums thus derived proved in
adequate to liquidate the claims made against the
ceceased queen, a portion of her vast domains in

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 293
Auvergne was eventually sold during the reign of
Henri IV. to acquit these debts, which had been incurred
by the magnificent state which Catherine ever main
tained at all her numerous palaces.1 On Sunday,
January 8th, the preacher Lincestre, referring to the
demise of the queen-mother, said, " This princess has
done much good and much ill ; the latter, I fear, pre
dominates. The difficulty is now to decide whether the
orthodox ought to pray for the soul of a princess who
so often made league with heresy. It is said, however,
that she made an exemplary end, and was not a con
senting party to the death of our good princes. There
fore I say, give her the advantage of at least one pater
and one ave, and much benefit may they do her. Ne
vertheless, follow your own devisings."
Round the neck of the queen, after her decease, was
found her celebrated talisman or medal, of which with
his own hand the king took possession. It was said to
be formed of several metals fused together under astro
logical combinations having relation to the date of the
queen's nativity, mingled with human blood and with
the blood of a hart. The medal was covered with
effigies of hideous demons, and with various magical
symbols and letters. The possession of the talisman
was supposed to confer the power of divination, and to
enable its bearer to rule with arbitrary sway. A few
days after Catherine's death, the charm was broken by
order of the king. The fragments, however, were care
fully preserved, and came eventually into the possession
of the abbe Fauval, who caused the talisman to be re
paired and engraved. A fac-simile of this curious relic2 is
now to be seen amongst the treasures of the Bibliotheque
1 De Thou, liv. xciv. Bibl. Imp. Kesidu St. Germain, tome iii. p.
2 There is also a prayer extant said to have been used daily by
the queen ; and which was likewise found on her body after death, the
¦skin upon which it was written being stained with her blood.

294 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
Imperiale ; but the original, against which for so many
years the ambitious heart of Catherine de Medici
throbbed, has long been destroyed. The mourning
worn by the courtiers at Blois was of the most
elaborate and exaggerated description, and closely re
sembled the " sacks " of the Penitents of Notre Dame.
The king caused the apartments to be draped with
black cloth beset with silver tears ; his own chambers,
however, including the cabinet in which the due de
Guise was assassinated, assumed the most lugubrious
aspect. Heavy draperies of black cloth were drawn
across from the corners of the room, so as to give to
each apartment the appearance of a chapelle ardente.
After the disaster of his mother's death, all Henry's
fortitude and energy forsook him. The reaction came
which his enemies so surely looked for ; and thoroughly
depressed and unnerved, the king took to his bed, where
he remained several days, suffering at intervals from a
malady not of a dangerous character, with which he was
occasionally afflicted. Queen Louise, totally overwhelmed
with the late catastrophe and by the open revolt of her
kindred of Lorraine, also retired to her bedj and from
no feigned necessity, for soon her majesty was declared
to be alarmingly ill. To represent the majesty of France
at Blois, therefore, there remained only the young
grand-duchess of Tuscany, herself in deep affliction for
the death of her grandmother queen Catherine, to whom
she was greatly attached ; and for the assassination of her
kinsmen of Guise ; also because the unsettled condition
of the realm rendered it necessary that her journey to
Florence, to join her newly-espoused lord, should be
postponed. Henry, therefore, sent for his sister Diaue
de France, duchesse de Montmorency and d'Angouleme.
" Ma scaur, have I not done well to rid my realm of
these tyrants ?" asked Henry, when madame d'Angou
leme appeared at his bedside. " You have done too

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 295
much, sire, and not enough !" answered the duchess,
significantly. In Diane de France Henry found a
counsellor prudent, moderate, and able. " This esti
mable princess," says Brantome, " as soon as she heard
of the great necessity of the king her brother, set off
from her chateau of l'Isle Adam in haste, amid mani
fold dangers, and brought him 50,000 crowns, the which
came in a most acceptable time — for which succour
the king bore her such good-will and gratitude, that
had he lived he would have made a most notable de
monstration."1 Tfie king, meanwhile, maintained a secret corre
spondence with the due d'Epernon, but refrained from
recalling him to court in the vain hope of propitiating
his enemies ; and because madame d'Angouleme stated
her belief that the presence of the former favourite
would prevent many of his majesty's faithful nobles
from repairing to Blois. Henry was at length roused
from his apathy by the necessity of receiving the reports
of the States ; and by the intelligence that the due de
Mayenne, without deigning to answer the summons
sent by his sovereign, had at length determined to, pro
ceed to Paris, having repaired with that intention to
Dijon, where madame de Montpensier met him. As his.
majesty deemed the castle of Blois, under these circum
stances, to be unfitted for the safe keeping of his pri
soners, he determined to transport them to the stronger
fortress of Amboise. The dread lest these unfortunate
princes might escape perpetually haunted the king, and
he took the most extraordinary precautions to ensure
their vigilant guard. The old cardinal de Bourbon,
exhausted by the severity of the tribulations which he
had endured, and profoundly afflicted at the death of
the queen-mother, had taken to his bed; the due
1 Vie de Madame Diane de. France, Duchesse de Castro, Montmo
rency, and Angouleme — Dames -Illustres.

296 HENRY III. KINC. OF FRANCE, [1588— ¦
d'Elbceuf, totally overwhelmed by his prison, sank into
such despondency that he would neither eat nor change
his raiment ; the duchesse de Nemours spent her hours
in prayer and fasting for the repose of the souls of her
deceased sons ; the due de Nemours, young and active,
alone consoled himself by devising all manner of plans
for his evasion. These illustrious prisoners were all
superbly lodged in the apartments which they had
originally occupied on their arrival at Blois. The
archbishop of Lyons, with courage undiminished, still
occupied the vaulted chamber, the threshold of which
was stained by the blood of the cardinal de Guise. The
prelate whiled away his leisure in writing fiery appeals
to the justice of the king, and in inditing letters to his
beautiful sister, madame de Luxe, towards whom his ene
mies accused him of manifesting too tender a regard. The
provost Chapelle Marteau, and the echevins Cotteblanche
and Compans, were in the most lamentable plight, they
having been conducted back again into the small apart
ment within the wide hearth of which a portion of the
bodies of the unfortunate duke and his brother had
been consumed.1 After much cogitation Henry re«
solved to remove the governor of Amboise M. de Billy,
an old and faithful servant of the crown, and to substi
tute in his room the Gascon du Guast, who had, under
taken the assassination of the cardinal de Guise. Henry
believed that he could not choose a more vigilant jailer
than du Guast, or one more interested in the safe-keep
ing of the prisoners. His decision was highly com
mended by Lognac captain of the Quarante-cinq, and
by the due d'Epernon. This appointment having re
lieved the royal mind from a great weight of solicitude,
Henry himself resolved to undertake the ignoble office
of transporting the captive princes to Amboise, so fearful
' Relation de Chapelle Marteau, PreV6t des Marchands.

I589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 297
was he of their rescue en route. On the eve of the
13th of January, the day appointed for the removal of
the princes, the due de Nemours escaped from Blois,
and evading pursuit reached Paris in safety. The duke's
flight was accomplished with the utmost skill and sang
froid. He was attended in his prison by his principal
maitre-d'hotel and by a valet ; the latter placed himself
in his master's bed, while the duke, enveloping himself in
the cloak of his valet, boldly followed the maitre d'hotel
from the chamber. The ruse was not discovered until
the following morning, as the guards suffered the two
domestics, as they supposed, of the duke to pass un
challenged, as had been their usual habit. The due de
Nemours fled to Dourdans, a castle which appertained
to his mother, and from thence he proceeded to Paris,
and entered the capital escorted by the due d'Aumale.1
Henry's consternation was excessive at the escape of
M. de Nemours, and this event increased his anxiety to
effect the safe transfer of the rest of his captives to the
fortress of Amboise. By the counsel of his ministers
Henry had resolved on the following day to restore the
duchesse de Nemours to liberty, trusting that her loyalty
to the descendants of Louis XII. might induce her to
exhort her son, the due de Mayenne, to renounce his en
gagements with the League ; while her influence would
perhaps mitigate the furious zeal of madame de Mont
pensier, who ever showed her mother exemplary respect.
The flight of M. de Nemours changed Henry's placable
intent, and he resolved that the duchess should share the
same fate as the remainder of his captives.
At mid-day on the 13th of January the royal barge
was prepared, and the prisoners brought out under a
strong guard. Before madame de Nemours stepped
into the boat she turned, and, raising her arms aloft,
1 Journal de Paris. De Thou.

29S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [j.ySS—
invoked the statue of Louis XII. which decorated the
grand portal of the castle. " Ah ! grand roi ! ex
claimed she, "jamais n'avez vous fait construire cette
maison vostre, pour servoir de forest ny de massacre a
vos petits-enfants J"1 The duchess having entered the
barge, king Henry appeared, and, with a countenance
of sullen dissatisfaction, took his seat beneath a fringed
canopy, and addressed not a word to his prisoners during
their progress on the river. At Amboise he consigned
them to the safe keeping of du Guast, who had pre
viously received commands to subject the captives to a
much more rigorous system of espionage.
Henry remained at Amboise two days, when having,
as he believed, satisfactorily accomplished his designs,
he returned to Blois, where he was anxiously expected
by the deputies of the States-general, who had mean
time prepared a memorial demanding the dissolution of
the assembly, on the ground " that their debates were
useless, and that the presence of the members was
necessary in their various provinces to support his
majesty's dominion." Henry was pleased to comply
with their prayer, because the fact was obvious that the
deputies were departing of their own accord, and that
soon none would remain. Accordingly the ceremony
of the prorogation of the assembly was performed with
great pomp on the 16th day of January. The harangue
for the nobles was pronounced by Brissac, to whom
the king now gave entire liberty. The archbishop of
Bourges was the orator of the clergy, and Bernard offi
ciated for the tiers etat in room of the captive provost,
Marteau. Never were addresses of a more plausible
nature pronounced ; no allusion was made to the
troubled condition of the realm, or to the recent
events. Suggestions for a new system of taxation,
1 Mathieu, liv. vii. — Hist, du Regne de Henri III. Le Martyre des
deux Erdres.

IJJ89.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 299
and for sundry laws, were submitted to the king, and
were as gravely accepted. " Never," says de Thou,1
"had been heard more elaborate and sonorous dis
courses ; never had orators recourse to more subtle
argument, or to a more polished eloquence. Never had
the king assisted with greater outward tranquillity at
any public ceremonial. Callous to the fact that 'the
majority of his subjects had risen in arms against his
authority, the king's demeanour was easy and uncon
cerned as if he had been participating in some national
jubilee." The deputies finally quitted Blois on the
20th of the month, the king taking affectionate fare
well of each member as he left the church of St. Sau
veur, where divine service had been performed, during
which the Edict of Union was again solemnly confirmed
by the oath of all present. The king restored M. de
Bois-Dauphin to liberty, and released the inferior depu
ties arrested by Richelieu. His majesty also granted
the abolition of several grievances complained of; and
voluntarily relieved his subjects from the payment of a
third of the sum due to the current revenue.
Every hour, meanwhile, brought news of fresh dis
asters. The cause of the king momentarily seemed to
become more desperate. The marechal d'Aumont and
d'Entragues were driven out of the citadel of Orleans
by the townsmen, and upon the advance of a body of
the soldiers of the League under Mayenne, they
prudently retreated. D'Aumont had relied on receiv
ing timely succour from the due de Nevers, who had
just achieved, by the capture of La Ganache from the
Protestants, the solitary success which signalized the
royal arms at this disastrous period. The soldiers of
Nevers, however, were all, with the exception of a few
companies, secretly pledged to the League; and con-
1 Liv. xciv. p. 503.

300 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
sequently they broke out into mutinous defiance of
their royalist leaders, and fled, some to Paris, others to
join the army of the due de Mayenne. In Bretagne
the due de Mercoeur, brother of queen Louise, revolted
and carried that important province to the League. The
state jewels of his sister the queen had been left in the
Louvre on the departure of the court for Blois ; these
were seized by the due d'Aumale, and actually sent to
Mercoeur to raise money upon for the prosecution of
the war. Simultaneously news arrived of the defection
of the towns of Dreux, Crespy, Senlis, Clermont, Sainte
Maixence, Amiens, Abbeville, Rouen, le Mans; and of
every place in Normandy excepting Dieppe, Caen, and
Pont de l'Arche. Toulouse revolted, and the mob, in
stigated by the bishop of Comminges, slew the first pre
sident of the parliament, Etienne Durante, under cir
cumstances of atrocious violence. Lyons elected the
due de Nemours for its governor, and renounced its
allegiance to king Henry. In the south Montmorency
and Lesdiguieres captured many places ; while the king
of Navarre took Maran and the then important town
of Niort. Throughout the realm frightful violence
reigned; murders, rapine, treacherous surprises and
horrid profligacy prevailed. No man's life was secure ;
families became divided, some fighting for the king,
others for the League. Church lands were seized,
abbeys rifled, and benefices confiscated for the benefit
of private individuals. Knavery and violence alone
prospered ; those who had nothing to lose were the sole
gainers ; the rich were despoiled, the honest poor man
oppressed. Amongst those most miserable, during this
season of anarchy and woe, was the king. He beheld
himself deserted by all — a few towns on the Loire being
his sole cities of refuge, and even these he held by the
precarious tenure of the fidelity of their several com-

1589. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 301
mandants. The nobles of the realm nominally devoted
to the royal cause held aloof in dismay at the course of
events, which seemed to doom all partisans of the sove
reign to ruin, to. exile, or to death. The Spanish am
bassador, don Bernardin Mendoza, still remained at
Blois, and though Henry was aware of his incessant in
trigues to induce the inhabitants of the town to rise
and invest the castle, yet the king dared not command
his departure. Already many abou^ the person of the
king, and especially Diane de France duchesse d'An
gouleme, timidly pronounced the name of Henri de
Navarre as the prince and warrior who, by being called
at the same time to defend his own eventual rights,
could alone preserve the crown.1 Throughout this crisis
queen Elizabeth proved the stanch friend of Henry III.
The queen sent him an admonition through her am
bassador, lord Stafford, to continue at any cost or dis
couragement " that which he had at first purported to
achieve ; for that she promised, on the word of a queen,
in case he came to a downfal, that she would aid him
to rise again."2 The ambassador strongly advocated
the immediate coalition of the king with Henri de Na
varre. The humiliation of being at length compelled
to seek aid from the strong arm of le Bearnnois; his
fear of the thunders of the Vatican ; and the supplica
tions of the legate Morosini — who promised, if the worst
to be apprehended came to pass, that he would inter
pose authoritatively in the name of the Holy See be-
1 Amongst other noble personages were MM. de Chateau- Vieux,
Schomberg, d'O, Balzac, du Plessis Liancourt, and Larchant, captain
of the body-guard. When the king of Navarre was informed of the
death of the princes of Guise, he said, "J'avois toujours ,prevu et dit
que MM. de Guise n'estoient capables de reinuer 1' enterprise qu'ils
avoient mise en leurs entendements, et en venir a fin, sans le peril de
leurs vies !" — Cayet. 2 Me'moires d'un Politique, Janvier, 1589.

302 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
tween the due de Mayenne and his majesty, aud more
over appease the ire of the supreme pontiff— still
encouraged Henry to temporize.
On the ] 6th day of January, while Henry pompously
closed the States-general of 1588-9, a scene of lawless
violence was enacting in Paris. At the time when his
majesty dismissed the national deputies, the League
presumed to suspend the venerable and time-honoured
parliament of Paris. The coincidence was deemed
strange and ominous. The chambers had assembled
as usual ; the members appearing to condole with one
another on the prevalent anarchy rather than to engage
in legislation. Suddenly the doors of la Chambre
Doree were burst open, and, in strict imitation of the
forms observed at the arrest of Chapelle Marteau and
his fellow-prisoners at Blois, Bussy le Clerc, captain of
the Bastille, strode forward with drawn sword and
commanded the first president de Harlay, and the
presidents de Thou and de Potier, besides several minor
members, to follow him. " Follow me, messieurs ! To
the Hotel de Ville !" De Harlay demanded on whose
authority the summons was sent ? Bussy replied by
desiring the members whom he had named to follow
him without cavil, or he should be compelled to put
forth the powers intrusted to him. The presidents
complied, for resistance would have been vain. They
were, however, followed by fifty or sixty members who
rose to attend the first president, scorning, as they
said, to abandon their leader when in peril. The
august procession passed sadly along the Pont au
Change and the Place de Greve. The streets were
crowded with people, who jeered and mocked as the
members passed. When they arrived before the Hotel
de Ville the president de Harlay approached the portal
to enter — but the doors were barred ; and with a savage
menace Bussy commanded the members to " pass on."

IJ89.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 303
They were conducted straight to the Bastille. Those
deemed malignant enemies of the League, and who
were named in Bussy's roll, were confined in cells ; the
rest of the members who had voluntarily followed were
set at liberty, after receiving an admonition.1 " Never,"
says a contemporary, " had the high court of parlia
ment received such a blow as that of Monday, January
16th." The following day the parliament was sum
moned to meet as usual, and the president Brisson was
nominated by the Seize to fill the office of first presi
dent, in the room of Achille de Harlay, then a prisoner
in the Bastille. Brisson, not daring to resist this man
date, made a secret protest before a notary that he had
accepted the post under compulsion. Of the 180 mem
bers of which the parliament of Paris was then composed,
126 members presently took oath to remain faithful to
the League, to administer justice in the name of the
supreme council, and to avenge the death of the Guises.
All the subordinate officers of the high courts, and ulti
mately the advocates and attorneys, signed the same
oath. The Sorbonne, meantime, issued a decree in
answer to a formal application from the Seize, absolving
the people from their oath of allegiance " to Henry de
Valois, formerly their king," and erasing his name from
the prayers and litanies of the church : they also de
clared it not only legitimate, but the bounden duty of
all good Catholics to take up arms against the king, to
exterminate, to blast, and to destroy.2
The preachers of Paris continued their invectives,
and personally addressed any noted personage amongst
their congregations with the utmost effrontery. On
1 Journal de Paris. De Thou. " Le roy fut ebahit quand il entendit
ces nouvelles. Puis ayant quelque peu rumine" cela, il se tourna vers
M. d'O et luy dit ces mots quasi en le menagant, ' Ce sont vos jeux d'O,
vous voyez maintenant que vous me perdez !'" — Me'moires d'un Politique.
2 The decree is dated January 7, 1589. Registres de l'H6tel de Ville.
De Thou.

304 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588—
New Year's Day, when the parliament of Paris attended
mass, as was customary, in the parish church of St.
Bartholomew, Lincestre, after exhorting his hearers to
revenge the assassination of the princes, had called on
the president de Harlay to swear to contribute all in
his power to this vengeance. " Raise your hand on
high, M. le premier president ! raise it aloft, high,
that the people may see and register your oath ! " De
Harlay was compelled to comply, or the mob in its
frenzy would have slain on the instant his colleagues
and himself. The king was grossly abused by the
clergy in language befitting the vilest localities ; aud
foul charges were made respecting his amours which
scandalized even the most reckless of their crew of ap-
plauders. Day and night processions of penitents per
ambulated the streets ; delicate women, barefooted, and
wrapped only in sheets or in loose robes of canvas
walked in these processions at the frantic summons of
the preachers, not daring to refuse. Madame de Mont
pensier herself set the example of this "great expia
tion," as it was termed. Clad only in a loose robe of
lace, barefooted, with her hair streaming over her
shoulders, Catherine de Lorraine, the daughter and
sister of the Guises, showed herself to the people. Her
beauty and the fierce vehemence of her gestures excited
the bystanders to frenzy. The processions thenceforth
for more than a month Mere ceaseless; people, as if
seized with a sudden delirium, sometimes rose from
their beds in the middle of the night and paraded the
streets with torches, singing dirges and blasphemous
songs. During the day processions of young boys
organized by the clergy perambulated from church to
church carrying torches, which at stated intervals they
extinguished, with frantic cries of "Dies ira;" then dash
ing the brand on the pavement, they trampled out the
flame — emblematic, it was said, of the sudden and

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 305
swift extinction which had befallen king Henry. Abomi
nable excesses attended these midnight processions in
which women took part; soon they were joined by the
most profligate of both sexes ; and scenes of horrible
licence occurred within the very sanctuaries of the
capital. La Dame de Ste. Beuve, a beautiful young
widow of noble birth,1 though the mistress of the che
vaher d'Aumale, rendered herself conspicuous in these
processions by her unblushing profligacy. Yet, next
to madame de Montpensier, the Nemesis of the League,
this woman exercised the greatest degree of influence.
It was at the instigation of madame de Ste. Beuve,
who was called in derision la Sainte Veuve, that the
people entered the church of St. Paul and overthrew
the magnificent mausoleum which the king had there
erected over his three favourites St. Maigrin, Quelus,
and Maugiron. The tomb was rifled, and the ashes of
the minions thrown into the Seine. The chevalier
d'Aumale, at the suggestion of his mistress, also under
took an expedition with Cruce and others to pillage
the wealthy monastic establishment of Minimes, in
the neighbourhood of Vincennes. A great booty was
found in the convent chapel in vessels and candlesticks
of gold, and in sumptuous robes of brocade and lace,
which was carried to Paris. Henry, in the indulgence
of his morbid whimsicalities, had decorated the high
altar of the chapel in a style so as rather to resemble
a bacchanalian board than a table set apart for the
eelebration of solemn mysteries. Gigantic satyrs held
the wax tapers on either side of the altar. A crowned
Bacchus supported the missal ; the gold patens were
engraved with amorous scenes taken from the Iliad of
Homer, and with other mythological subjects little cal-
1 Madame de Ste. Beuve was the daughter of Andre" de Hacqueville,
¦premier- president du grand conseil, and of Anne Hennequin.
VOL. III. X

306 HENRI" III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
culated to promote ascetic devotion.1 These ai'ticles
were carried in triumph and exhibited ; the satyrs were
declared to be the demons to which Heniy sacrificed.
The preacher Lincestre thundered from the pulpit in
St. Bartholomew's against the depravity and diableries
of the execrable tyrant. Engravings of the " discoveries
at the Minimes of Vincennes" were distributed, and
soon were to be found in the hand of every ragged
urchin of the capital.
On Monday, January 30th, a grand requiem was
performed in Notre Dame for the due de Guise and
his brother. The churches of the capital were hung
with black ; and for this day Paris remained prostrate,
fasting and weeping the demise of her hero of the Bar
ricades. The bishop of Rennes, the uncle of la Sainte
Veuve, officiated at the altar ; while the funeral oration
was delivered by a learned doctor of the League, one
Messire Francois Pigenat." All the persons who as
sisted at the ceremony presented themselves attired in
black. Madame de Montpensier and the due d'Aumale
appeared in great state; but the widowed duchesse de
Guise was not present. The following day a procession
of half-clad penitents of both sexes paraded the streets
of Paris; but as the weather was rigorous in the ex
treme a great number of individuals lost their lives
through exposure to the cold, which had the fortunate
effect of diminishing the fervour for these displays.
The supreme council of the Seize, during these
transactions, found the government which it had
usurped to be a charge of almost insuperable difficulty.
1 Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire. The recital of this foray at the
Minimes of Vincennes is given with point in that stinging satire, en
titled " Sorcelleries de Henri de Valois." "Le roy et Epernon font
batir un lieu a l'ecart dans le Marche" a Chevaux, et la ils coiumenccrent
en un jardin a faire leur exorcismes ; mais Henri de Valois eut peur un
jour." — La Vie et Faits Notables de Henri de Valois.
5 Frangois Pigenat, cure" de St. Nicholas des Champs.

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 307
The parliament, of Paris, nevertheless, ratified all that
was demanded from it. The new president Brisson,
though one of the most able men in the realm, was so
intimidated that he proposed, accepted, and confirmed
all things on oath at the dictation of the League. The
most violent dissensions rent the council. As no one
consented to be subordinate, affairs were soon brought
to a stand. The duchesse de Montpensier wished to
rule as a queen during the absence of her brother
Mayenne ; the due d'Aumale, obtuse and self-sufficient,
vehemently asserted his authority, which, however,, no
one seemed to acknowledge and regard. Madame de
Montpensier, the chevalier d'Aumale, and la Sainte
Veuve, were the ruling deities of the Parisian populace.
The turbulent cures, therefore, pending the squabbles
of the chiefs of the League, held during the entire
month of January almost undisputed sway. The
duchess, since her memorable progress through the
streets of Paris en habit de Penitente, had again suffered
severely from the swelling of her ankles. Perceiving,
however, that the disorganized condition of the capital
offered the best chance for the eventual triumph of the
royal cause, she bravely rose from her bed and pro
ceeded, as has been related, to join the due and duchesse
de Mayenne at Dijon, resolved to escort the former into
Paris and proclaim him king.
When king Henry heard of the imprisonment of the
first president Achille de Harlay, he fell into a profound
fit of musing. " My Parisians were fools, but now
they are madmen," at length said his majesty, with a
sigh. Treachery, however, again encompassed the un
fortunate king, and threatened at this time to drive him
to straits still more deplorable. But his necessity
again" roused the spirit of the king ; and once more his
foes, even in Paris itself, trembled before the wrath of
their outraged sovereign.
x 2

308 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
After the death of the due de Guise, the presence
and society of Lognac captain of the Quarante-cinq, had
become hateful to the king. Henry, therefore, accord
ing to his usual custom, took the first opportunity
summarily to disgrace and exile him from court.
Lognac, in revenge, repaired to Amboise, and informed
du Guast that the king intended to sacrifice him to the
manes of the cardinal de Guise, and that already his
majesty had publicly declared that he never commanded
the murder of the said cardinal, which du Guast had
perpetrated from private motives. The fury of the bold
Gascon trooper was so greatly excited at the report,
that he immediately set all the prisoners at liberty
within the castle; and commenced negotiations with the
Seize for their ransom, and for the surrender of the
fortress. The cardinal de Bourbon was forthwith
treated as king by his fellow-prisoners ; while du Guast,
now exposed to the full brunt of the dexterous flat
tery of M. de Lyons, implicitly obeyed the latter in
most things. Henry luckily received timely notice of
the defection of du Guast — it is supposed through one
Gotz, a lieutenant in the ¦ company of the latter, and
his boon companion. The king, therefore, without
hesitation repaired to Amboise, and at first could
scarcely obtain admittance within his own fortress.
Du Guast for long showed himself inexorable to the
command or to the abject entreaties of his sovereign,
who having no means of effecting his arrest or the
recapture of the castle, was compelled to submit to
a humiliating negotiation, in which Gotz acted as me
diator. It was finally agreed that du Guast should
deliver to the king the cardinal de Bourbon, the
duchesse de Nemours, and the dues d'Elbceuf and de
Guise, on receiving the sum of 30,000 crowns. The
archbishop of Lyons, Chapelle Marteau, Neuilly, and the
sheriffs, were, on the contrary, to be left in the hands

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 309
of du Guast, who was empowered by his majesty to de
tain them until a satisfactory ransom was offered for
their liberation.1 This disgraceful compact ratified,
Henry ordered out his barge, and conducted the prisoners
back to Blois, where they were confined in the same
apartments which they had formerly occupied. Before
quitting Amboise, Henry gave madame de Nemours
her freedom, with permission to retire whither she
would, exhorting her to restore tranquillity to the realm
by her good and pacific counsels. This humiliating
expedition inflicted immense injury on the royal cause.
Du Guast, at liberty to treat for the ransom of the
prisoners in his hands, sent his brother to Paris mo
destly offering to release them all on the payment of
300,000 crowns and his nomination to the chief com
mand in the town of Chalons sur Saone.
After the return of the king to Blois, the Spanish
ambassador took leave of the court, and established
himself in his hotel in Paris, where he remained
throughout the subsequent troubles the active agent of
the king of Spain ; whose intrigues were now aimed at
procuring the recognition of his daughter the infanta
Isabel, daughter of Elizabeth de Valois, eldest sister of
Henry IIL, as the future sovereign of France.
By the end of the month of January, 1589, the con
dition of the king could not be more forlorn ; he was
without money, without servants, without friends — ill,
a prey to the darkest depression, alienated from his
wife, and despoiled of the ensigns of that royal pomp
which was the joy and delight of his eyes. From thi.
point, however, the king's situation began to improve.
The violence of the League, the gross tyranny and
cruelty of its officers, the extortion practised every
where, caused the hearts of many to incline again
1 Pasquier. Maimbourg. Hist, de la Ligue. Journal de Paris.

310 HENRY in. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
towards the rule of their legitimate sovereign. Many
nobles arrived at Blois. including the due de Mont
pensier and his son the prince de Dombes, the prince
de Conty, the due de Nevers, monsieur Damville the
heir of Montmorency, and the cardinal de Lenoncourt.
The members of the parliament of Paris who had re
fused to take oath to the League, also presented them
selves, with other official personages. Again the court
of Henry began to assume something of its wonted
brilliancy. The king now showed himself active, ener
getic, and disposed to take vigorous measures to crush
the rebellion. Manifestoes were issued against the dues
de Mayenne and Aumale, and the chevalier d'Aumale,
by whicli — unless they made their submission by the
first day of the ensuing month of March— they were
declared traitors, whom it was lawful for any one to
capture and put to death. The king also issued a
manifesto against the city of Paris, commanding the
citizens to lay down arms on or before the 11th day of
the ensuing month of March, under pain of incurring
the penalties of high treason, with the abrogation of
their charters and municipal privileges. The king also
wrote to the due d'Epernon, cancelling his decree of
banishment, and commanding him to send 800 soldiers
to garrison the town and castle of Blois ; he also con
ferred upon the duke the title of governor of Blois.
The most important decision of all was his majesty's
tardy resolve to send Nicholas Harlay sieur de Sancy,
on a mission to the Protestant princes of Germany and
to the Swiss Cantons, empowered to raise loans of
money, and to recruit men for the service of the state.
Unlimited authority was given to Sancy to conclude
the necessary treaties and conventions,1 without refer
ence to the council of state. Sancy departed on this
1 Lettre de Henri III. au Comte de MontbeUiard, 1589. MS. Bibl.
Imp. Dupuy, 137.

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 311
important ambassage about the beginning of February,
and safely arrived at Geneva on the 14th day of the
same month. It was next determined that the king
should quit the castle of Blois, which being not fortified
was in danger of capture by the Leaguers. The town
of Bourges was first selected for the head-quarters of
the king ; subsequently the ancient city of Tours was
decided upon as being better adapted for the royal
abode. The decision taken to appeal to the great Protestant
powers of Europe for succour in the extremity to which
the royal party was reduced, rendered the reconsidera
tion of the question applicable and timely — whether the
king should not avail himself of the aid of the chief and
captain of the continental Huguenots, Henri king of
Navarre, his own kinsman and vassal? The due de
Nevers obstinately opposed the step ; the legate Moro
sini went into transports of indignation at the bare sur
mise of a calamity so dire. Queen Louise wept and
offered prayers in her oratory to avert so heinous a
sacrilege. The duchesse d'Angouleme, however, wise
as well as patriotic, strongly counselled the king un
hesitatingly to adopt the measure, and offered herself
to negotiate the alliance. The king of Navarre showed
the most marked sympathy for the position of the king,
and proclaimed his willingness to serve his majesty
against their united enemies. Nevertheless he steadily
continued his conquests ; for as long as Nevers and the
army of Poitou menaced his dominions, he was, he said,
bound to defend them. After the capture of Niort, the
king of Navarre, profiting by the disturbed state of the
realm, possessed himself of the towns of Loudun,
Monars, Montreuil, and Chatelleraud. These exploits
achieved, the king of Navarre, though just recovering
from a severe attack of sickness with which he had
been seized at a village called St. Pere, generously ad-

312 HENRY III. KINU OF FRANCE, [1588 —
vanced to the assistance of the royal garrison of Ar
genton in Berry, besieged by a general of the League,
whicli he succoured. Such was the ignominious posi
tion of Henry III. between two victorious armies on his
own territories, himself without a regiment which he
could rely upon, and liable any day to be quietly cap
tured by Navarre and the Huguenots, or by ^Mayenne
and the Holy League. There seemed to be no resource
for the king but to vacate the realm, or to justify the pre
diction made by Sixtus V. at the period of the peace
of Nemours. The fiery old pontiff spoke thus to
the due de Nevers : " If this pardon and reconciliation
are not sincere between the king and MM. de Lorraine,
we shall see the king of France driven to treat the
Catholics as his deadly foes. We shall behold him
recruiting troops from Germany, England, and other
Protestant states, to maintain a preponderance in his
own realm. We shall see him forced into concluding
shameful treaties with the king of Navarre, with Conde;
so that France will be inundated with Lutherans and
Calvinists. You see, monseigneur," said the pope,
furiously, " what all these your fine associations and
leagues will lead to \" Having so clear an insight into
future events, Sixtus certainly did not demean himself
at this juncture with the prudence and moderation
whicli might have been expected. To hasten the affair
of his absolution, the king had sent the bishop of Mans
to Rome, the bearer of the letter under his own hand,
which had been prescribed by the pope. At the same
time the League sent the abbe d'Orbais to oppose the
royal shrift, and to pray his Holiness to launch a sen
tence of excommunication and interdict upon the person
and the abode of the " execrable tyrant." The most
indecent scenes often occurred from the uncontrollable
temper of the pope. The bishop of Mans was also
empowered to demand the abrogation of the decree of

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 313
the Sorbonne which had pronounced Henry deposed
and accursed. At the first audience the bishop pre
sented Henry's letter, and throwing himself on his knees
before the pontifical footstool, he said, "Most holy
father, in the name of the very Christian king, I pray
for absolution, with all the respect and submission which
the, supreme head of the Church has the right to de
mand from the most humble and obedient of his sons.
I supplicate your Holiness to confer upon the said king
your holy benediction, and to re-establish him in your
favour, and in all the privileges and immunities which
the said monarch and his ancestors have so long en
joyed !" J Sixtus smiled grimly at hearing himself
addressed in so humble a strain by the representative
of a once potent monarch ; he extended his hand to the
venerable prelate and bade him sit by his side. The
pope then commenced a series of observations, the gist
of which was that king Henry should send the cardinal
de Bourbon and the archbishop of Lyons to be judged
in Rome, but evaded any direct reply to the supplica
tion addressed to him. The cardinal de Joyeuse, in an
admirable letter written to the king, expatiates on the
indecision shown by the papal court, and recounts the
various modes of penance suggested by members of the
Sacred College as suitable for the king's heinous guilt.
Some of the cardinals proposed that the reception of
the canons of Trent by the Gallican church might be
deemed sufficient penance ; others the introduction of
the Inquisition throughout the realm ; while some pre
lates, deeming a personal castigation more wholesome,
suggested that Henry should leave his palace, clad in
his shirt, carrying a lighted taper, and in such guise
assist at high mass. The king, in his reply to this
letter, observes with proper dignity, " You will inform
1 De Thou, liv. xciv. and xcv.

314 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588—
his Holiness that I am still disposed earnestly to ask
absolution, relying, however, that such a mark of sub
mission rendered to the Holy See will be deemed suffi
cient. You had better make it to be comprehended at
once, that if it be intended to press for ceremonies and
formalities contrary to my honour and dignity, that I
shall at once reject and eschew such I"1 The whole of
the month of February passed in these agitations. The
king at length authorized the duchesse d'Angouleme to
open negotiations with the king of Navarre, and himself
prepared to quit Blois for Tours.
On the 18th of March a brilliant cavalcade issued
from the portals of the venerable castle. On that day
Henry took leave of his niece Christine, grand-duchess
of Tuscany, and, attended by his court, escorted her
half a league on her road to Lyons. The young duchess
bade farewell to her uncle with tears ; but she was de
parting to a splendid destiny — to share the honours of
the Medici, her maternal kindred — and her sorrow soon
became appeased. At Lyons, however, a great danger
menaced her. The hand of Christine de Lorraine had
once been ardently sought by the due de Nemours,
whose suit queen Catherine encouraged until the grander
destiny of consort of Ferdinand de Medici was presented
for the acceptance of the young princess. Catherine
hesitated not a moment ; the charms of Florence and
the traditions of her aspiring kindred ever roused the
queen's enthusiasm. The due de Nemours was conse
quently dismissed, and Christine affianced to the grand
duke. The people of Lyons, therefore, whose governor
the duke was, entered into a conspiracy to arrest the
young princess and deliver her into the power of her
discarded suitor. One of the boldest amongst the plot
ters, however, prudently proposed to send and advertise
1 Lettre du Roi au Cardinal de Joyeuse. Archives Curieuses.

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 315
the due de Nemours of the scheme, and obtain his as
sent. The duke honourably forbade the violence ; and
sent a gentleman of his household to reassure the
princess, who had purposely been informed of the
design when without the district which owned the
royal sway. Christine, thereupon, owing to the inter
position of the duke, passed in all safety and honour
through Lyons, and on to Marseilles, where she found
the grand ducal fleet at anchor, ready to convey her to
Genoa.1 The king quitted Blois a few days subsequently,
leaving in the castle a strong garrison from the army
levied by Epernon, whose influence over his master
was rapidly rising to its wonted ascendency, though
the sovereign and his old favourite had not yet met.
The king's unfortunate prisoners followed in his train
to Montrichard, where Henry halted for a day ; his
majesty then caused the princes to be conveyed to the
fortress of Azay le Rideau, pending his decision as to
their ultimate and separate destinations. In a letter
written by the aged cardinal de Bourbon to the cardinal
de Vendome, it seems that the announcement of their
removal from Blois was only made to the prisoners
late on the preceding evening. The cardinal rose, and
at midnight indited a most sorrowful epistle to Ven
dome. He wrote : " M. de Menon has just presented
himself to announce that we are to hold ourselves in
readiness to depart early to-morrow morning for a
certain castle, the which will be declared to us on our
road. We have heard that it is probably the chateau
of Azay, which I once visited with the queen and Mon
sieur. Should such be the case, I find myself reduced
to the miserable strait of falling into the hands of the
1 Chronologie Novennaire. The duchess Christine became a widow
1608. .She survived, living in great state and honour, until the year
1638.

310 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588—
Huguenots, who hold that neighbourhood, as no river
separates Azay from l'lsle Bouchard.1 This apprehen
sion gives me intense affliction, so that I cannot recover
myself. I implore and conjure you, therefore, by the
friendship and respect which you owe me as your uncle,
to intercede with the king to avert such a calamity. "¦
The residence of the cardinal in the castle of Azay being
very brief, he was soon relieved from his disquietudes.
He was conducted to Chinon, and there straitly guarded
by its governor, M. de Chavigny, a devoted adherent
of the royal cause. The due d'Elbceuf was imprisoned
in Loches — the king delivering him up to the custody
of the due d'Epernon as a hostage in case Mayenne
and the League assailed the castle of Blois, to which
the duke had repaired on its being vacated by the
court. The young due de Guise was confined in the
citadel of Tours, from whence he ultimately succeeded
in making his escape.
The duchesse d'Angouleme, meantime, proceeded to
Chatelleraud, where she had an interview with the king
of Navarre, who was encamped in the neighbourhood
of l'lsle Bouchard. Henri readily accepted her over
tures for his reconciliation with king Henry ; and pro
mised, on the granting of suitable conditions to his
party, to repair to Tours and assume the command of
the royal army. The king of Navarre, moreover, ex
pressed his special acknowledgments for the firmness
with which king Henry had maintained his rights
when actually assailed by the League ; and chivalrously
declared he deemed it an incident to be proud of in his
career, that he should be called upon, with bis band of
heroic followers, to defend the person and the crown
of his sovereign ! The king of Navarre therefore
1 The king of Navarre was encamped at l'lsle Bouchard.
2 Lettre du Cardinal de Bourbon au Cardinal de Vend6me. MS.
Bibl. Imp. Beth. vol. 88G0.

I589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 317
despatched M. Duplessis Mornay, the stanch Hugue
not and able statesman, to Tours to negotiate the terms
of alliance. Duplessis repaired privately to the house
of Gaspard marechal de Schomberg, his friend and
kinsman. On the same night that Henry arrived at
Tours M. de Mornay was secretly conducted by Diane
de France to the cabinet of the king. Then*and there
a truce of one year, commencing from the ensuing third
day of April, was signed ; moreover, a secret article was
agreed upon — to wit, that the king of Navarre should
bring a succour to the royal army of 1,200 horse and
2,000 arquebusiers, and in return Henry agreed to cede
one important town on the Loire. Saumur being
eventually offered, was accepted by the king of Navarre.
This important place was therefore evacuated by the
secretary of state Beaulieu — on whom the king had
conferred the command — and occupied by Duplessis
Mornay and a strong Huguenot garrison.1 The next
act performed by king Henry was to issue a proclama
tion summoning the parliament to meet in his ancient
town of Tours. This edict, translating the parliament
from Paris, is dated April 22nd. In obedience to the
royal summons all the members faithful to their alle
giance appeared in Tours. The learned advocate
Jacques Faye d'Espesses was appointed first president,
after that dignity had been offered to and declined by
Jacques Auguste de Thou, the famous historian. The
post of attorney-general, resigned by Espesses, was
given to Louis Servin, a young man of brilliant ac
quirements, a great orator, and devoted to the royal
cause. The king held his first bed of justice in Tours2
1 Hist, de la Vie de Philippe de Mornay, Seigneur Duplessis Mornay,
p. 129, et suiv.
i The parliament held its assemblies while in Tours in the hall of the
Convent of St. Julien. MS. Bibl. Imp. : EtabUssement du Parlement
en la Ville de Tours. Suppl. fr. 9566.

318 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588—
on the 23rd day of April. His majesty, as usual,
gained great applause by his eloquence : he detailed
the measures taken for the subjugation of his enemies,
but was silent respecting the convention which he had
concluded with the king of Navarre. He bemoaned
the rebellion of his subjects, the contumacy and treason
of the Gallican clergy, the diminished numbers of his
faithful parliament, and the prison of their illustrious
chief de Harlay.
In Paris, meanwhile, affairs were involved in anarchy
still more hopeless. The Seize, busied in preparing an
extended scheme of government, to consist of a council
of forty members, to present to Mayenne on his en
trance into the capital, fought and menaced each other
over their council-board in the Hotel de Ville. Everv
one who had applied himself, in however humble a
capacity, in forwarding the designs of the League, de
manded to have his name placed on the list of the
chosen forty. The cures of the capital, who had
enacted so prominent and seditious a part, on the
other hand, expected that the clerical members should
be exclusively chosen from their body, and the lay
members from lists furnished by themselves. The
duchesse de Montpensier insisted that no name should
be enrolled whose owner was not prepared to elevate
Mayenne to the throne, which she had chosen to pro
claim vacant. A system of terrorism prevailed. All
suspected of favouring royalty were committed to the
Bastille. Those who refrained from sharing in the
processions were subjected to shameful espionage; and
many persons convicted of having eaten meat in the
Lenten season were committed to the diocesan prison.
One family was arrested because a servant-maid deposed
that her mistress had been merry on Shrove Tuesday ;
" for," as the tyrants of the capital averred, " laughter

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 319
and mirth at a period of national mourning was a mis
demeanour and to be punished accordingly."
On the seventh day of February, 1589, the duchesse
de Guise gave birth to a son. The infant came into
the world, it was stated, with hands clasped in suppli
cation and with eyes raised to heaven. The people
adopted the myth, and raged the more fiercely on
receiving so palpable an indication of the sympathy of
Heaven. The baptism of the young prince was cele
brated with extraordinary displays of zeal on Tuesday,
February 8th. Processions, illuminations, meetings —
which the most fanatic attended, with Lincestre and
Prevost at their head, to anathematize the tyrant
assassin — addresses and presents to madame de Guise,
followed in rapid succession. The ceremony was per
formed in the church of St. Jean en Greve : the child
was named Alexandre Paris. It was conveyed to the
church enveloped in a mantle of black crape, and was
carried by M. de Maineville. Roland, being the prin
cipal echevin of Paris, represented the city in the ab
sence of its provost, Chapelle Marteau. The duchesse
d'Aumale was compelled, much against her desire, to
officiate as godmother. The city bands were present;
and the baptismal procession was escorted with military
pomp to the church.1 The excitement attending this
event had scarcely subsided, when the due and duchesse
de Mayenne and madame de Montpensier entered Paris.
All the cities devoted to the League had opened their
gates and greeted the duke with rapturous acclamations,
following the example of Orleans, which place Mayenne
had visited shortly after the retreat of the royal army.
At Chartres, where the royal cause at last had fallen,
Mayenne was saluted with shouts of" Vivent les princes
Lorraine !" Nevertheless, the duke reluctantly em-
1 Journal de Paris.

320 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
barked in the war; his temperament was peaceful, and
even lethargic. He hated turmoil ; he beheld his house
prosperous and wealthy. Mayenne had shown little
sympathy with the political projects of his brother the
due de Guise; but was known to have deprecated his
ambition. The duke, moreover, openly declared that
far from supporting the practices and pursuing the
projects of his deceased brothers, had the king con
tented himself with their arrest, he would have drawn
his sword for the support of the royal authority. The
perfidy of the king, the impossibility of relying on his
word, and the ascendency of Nevers and Epernon, were
vividly portrayed by the duchesse de Montpensier. Her
impassioned pleadings for vengeance, and her frantic de
nunciations, at length wrought upon the mind of Mayenne,
until he believed himself bound to unsheath the avenging-
sword. As for the duchesse de Mayenne, her equable
and matter-of-fact temperament was shaken almost into
stupor before the hurricanes of wrath in which her sister-
in-law indulged. Devoted to the education of her
daughters and to works of pious charity, madame de
Mayenne had no ambition to ascend the altitudes to
which the duchess pointed. There was also only one
previous instance on record when the due de Mayenne
had been betrayed into a crime by vehemence of pas
sion. The son of the chancellor de Birague had the
presumption to solicit from the duke the hand of one
of his daughters, acknowledging, at the same time, that
he held in his possession a written promise of marriage
from the young princess. The duke, without reply,
drew his sword and plunged it through the body of the
unfortunate young cavalier.
The due de Mayenne entered Paris on Sunday, Feb
ruary 12th. He was met outside the city bv the muni
cipality, the members of the supreme council, and by
the principal citizens, who escorted him with extraordi-

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 321
nary pomp to the h6tel de Montmorency, where he was
received by his consort and by madame de Montpen
sier — these princesses having preceded him — and by
the duchesses de Nemours, de Guise, and d'Aumale.
Madame de Montpensier brought back three prisoners
in her train — Louis de Rambouillet sieur de Main
tenon, M. de Poigny, and Cesar de Balsac seigneur de
Gie ; these noblemen, the king's devoted servants, she
caused to be conducted to the Bastille. The due de
Mayenne immediately entered on the arduous task of
organizing a government. His anticipations of the
difficulty and odium of the undertaking were more than
realized. The Seize, though outwardly deferential,
caballed for the confirmation of their past acts and
future projects. Mayenne, who had been called to re
model the government and to create a system to super
sede the old regime, found himself as much the slave
of the factions as the humblest denizen of the capital.
The duke, therefore, to avoid further schisms, deemed
it prudent for the present to accept the nominations
for the council of Forty which the provisional govern
ment had selected. This famous Hst comprehends five
of the cures1 of the capital, the bishops of Meaux,
Senlis, and Agen, the marquis de Canillac (the noble
man who had been so highly favoured by queen Mar
guerite), the sieurs de Maineville, de St. Paul, and others.
The tiers etat was represented, as may be imagined,
by a motley crew, of demagogues, of which Cruce, la
Bruiere, Neuilly, Drouait, and Sesnant, were the most
conspicuous members. This last-mentioned person,
Pierre Sesnant, was also secretary of the council, and
soon set at defiance every other will but his own, even
presuming to treat the due de Mayenne with disrespect-
1 Prevost, curd of St. Severin ; Boucher, cure" of St. Benoit ; Aubiy,
cure" of St. Andrd ; PeUetier, curd of St. Jacques ; Pigenat, cure" of St.
Nicholas. VOL. III. Y

3.22 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588—
ful freedom. When any deliberation was taking a turn
which he deemed adverse, this Sesnant would rise and
exclaim, " Doucement, messieurs, je proteste au nom de
quarante mille hommes !" Mayenne, after installing
this heterogeneous assembly, next took the oaths as
Lieutenant-General de l'etat et couronne de France.
The duke had wisdom enough to perceive how unten
able were the designs of madame de Montpensier on
the crown. Scarcely would the tumultuous assemblage
of the Hotel de Ville render him homage as its own
elected president ; and as for the nobles of the League,
they made it clearly apparent that, while willing to obey
the duke as their peer, their complaisance Mould ex
tend no farther. The oaths were administered to the
duke by the president Brisson on the 7th day of March,
1589. New seals were cut, having on one side the
usual fleurs-de-lis ; on the reverse a vacant throne, with
the words " Le Seel du Royaume de France."
The first act of the new government was to commute
the existing taxation to the amount of one-third. The
king, however, had made this concession on the closing
of the States-general. The people, therefore, clamoured
for further innovation and exemptions. The clergy also
demanded releasefrom their financial engagements — their
guarantee for the payment of the interest on the city
debt — which they had contracted at the States assem
bled at Poissy, 1561. The payment of these rentes de
I'Hotel de Ville had long been a tax peculiarly odious
to the church ; it was therefore proposed and agreed to
relieve the clergy from their responsibilities. This
decree brought ruin to numberless families of the
middle class of citizens, whose chief means of subsis
tence had been derived from the punctual payment of
these dividends. Another notable expedient was then
devised to pacify the clamours of the lower classes of
Paris. A petition was addressed to the council com-

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES, 323
plaining of the high rate of rentals in the capital — a
state of affairs declared to be an intolerable oppression.
The supreme council, therefore, issued an ordonnance
arbitrarily diminishing the rentals of houses and apart
ments throughout the capital to the amount of one-
third, calculated on the rate of rent as existing at the
time when the edict was issued. At the same time
the forty members voted themselves an ample provision
of one hundred crowns a month each for support
while engaged in the duties of legislation. . The Parisian
bourgeoisie thus beheld itself ruined; the clergy, the
populace, and the members of the supreme council alone
held jubilee. The impoverishment of the middle classes,
however, was soon felt by the poor of the capital. The
shops were closed, the manufacturer dismissed his work
men, the small householder could no longer afford the
luxury of servants. The absence of the court, the
breaking-up of the establishments of the nobles, and
the dismissal of their splendid retinues, increased the
prevalent penury. The people began at length to dis
cover that the fanatical ravings of the priests of Paris
would not feed them; and that the parading of the
shrines of their patron saints was toilsome work indeed
when they possessed no roof to shelter them on the
eonclusion of the ceremonials of each day. It was the
utter misery of the populace of the large cities through
out France, and the loyal union of the middle classes
with the nobles, that eventually saved the realm from
dismemberment. The insubordination of the supreme council of Union
and its subserviency to private influences at length
compelled Mayenne to make the attempt of introducing
fifteen fresh members chosen by himself, whose votes
might balance, and in some measure restrain, the law
less independence of their colleagues. After much
cajolery and some intimidation the duke succeeded in
y2

b

324 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588 —
his object, in which he was supported by the dues de
Nemours aud d'Aumale, the chevalier d'Aumale, Henri
de Lorraine comte de Chaligny, Roland, and Desprcz,
Amongst the new members of the council were the ex-
secretary of state Villeroy and his father, the presidents
l'Huillier, Janin, Vctus, le Maitre and others, besides
two dignitaries of the church, the bishop of Rouen and
the abbe de Lenoncourt. The partisans of Guise
trusted that these nominations would subdue the ultra-
democratic tendencies of the existing government, and
gradually pave the way for the assumption by Mayenne
of supreme power. The duke nominated the due
d'Aumale as president of the Supreme Conseil dc
l'Lnion. He then quitted Paris to take command of
the army of the League, assembling in the county of
Beausse, to take the field for the rescue of the captives
of Amboise, and the reduction of the loyal towns on
the Loire. Mayenne proceeded to Chateaudun to
organize, in the first instance, an attack upon the towns
of Tours and Blois, in the confident hope that the
capture of the person of the king must speedily accom
plish the aspiring designs of his party.
The overtures made by king Henry to the king of
Navarre, though not as yet publicly acknowledged, were
known to the legate Morosini, and consequently to the
prelates faithful to the royal cause. This unhallowed
union, as it was termed, created the greatest scandal.
Not one of Henry's ecclesiastical subjects, however, dare
protest openly against it. The rapid revolt of town
after town, and the advance of the due de Mayenne
from Paris, plainly showed that its alternative must be
the captivity of the king and his enforced abdication,
The utter repudiation of all authority, aud the lawless
independence manifested by both the clergy and laitv,
members of the holy League, amazed and irritated the
legate. The Sorbonne, without reference whatever to

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 325
the Holy See, had excommunicated and deposed the
king ; by the same authority the royal name had been
erased from the litanies of the Church, and a different
form of prayer inserted. Scandalous scenes of violence
ensued in the churches, which were used rather as
places for the tumultuous assemblage of the disaffected
than for the purposes of prayer. In the most disturbed
districts, two large pictures, painted in white on black
cloth, were affixed in the churches on each side of the
altar, the one representing the murder of the due de
Guise, the other that of the cardinal ; the inscription at
the foot of the portraits gave to the former the title of
' Prince de Force,' to the latter that of ' Prince de Pa
tience.' The legate, therefore, proposed that through
his mediation an attempt should be made to reconcile
the grievances of Royalist and Leaguer. He affection
ately admonished Henry that such concession was his
bounden duty, after the outrages he had perpetrated
at Blois. " Sire, make one more attempt at concilia
tion before you incur the anathema of our Holy Mother
Church by your blasphemous league with princes ac
cursed, alien, and heretic. Remember your solemn
oath to maintain the Edict of Union, and to pursue and
annihilate heresy !" The remonstrances pf the legate
produced a great effect upon the mind of the king, and
for the first time in his life Henry's conscience upbraided
lum for his meditated violation of a pledge solemnly
given, after having invoked the malediction of Heaven
if he attempted its infringement. Moreover, it was a
bitter humiliation — the appeal to the chivalry of Henri
de Navarre, and the admission that his safety depended
on the gallant devotion of those heroes whom his troops
had combated at Coutras. The king, therefore, gave
eordial assent to Morosini's proposal, and thus again
committed a virtual perfidy against the king of Navarre ;
for an agreement with Mayenne and the League would

326 HENRY III. KINO OF FRANCE, [1588 —
necessarily annihilate his recent convention with the
Huguenots. Henry intrusted the legate with a minute
containing the concessions he was prepared to make; a
copy of which he secretly sent by courier to the due de
Lorraine, with a letter requesting the interest of the
latter with his kindred in procuring the reception of
the conditions offered. The king proposed to set his
prisoners at liberty ; to confirm the princes of the League
in their respective governments ; to give them certain
towns as security for his pacific intents ; and to grant
a general amnesty for the past. " The king," says
Davila, "offered the due de Lorraine the cities of
Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and agreed to get mademoiselle
the duchesse de Bouillon for his son M. de Vaudemont.
He proposed to leave the due de Mayenne in possession)
of the government of Burgundy, and to give him
100,000 crowns of ready money. He tendered the
governments of Champagne, St. Dizier, and Rocroy to
the due de Guise, with a pension of 20,000 crowns ; to
the due de Nevers the government of Lyons, with
10,000 crowns of pension; to the due d'Aumale a town
and the same amount of pension ; to the due d'Elbceuf
the town of Poictiers and 10,000 crowns of pension;
finally, to the chevalier d'Aumale the postof general-
in-chief of infantry, and a pension of 20,000 francs."
In executing the above articles his majesty proposed
that disputed questions should be submitted to the
arbitration of the pope, the dukes of Tuscany, Lorraine,
and Ferrara, and the signory of Venice. Content, as
he might well be, with such amazing and cowardly con
cessions, Morosini took leave of the king, and proceeded
to visit the due de Mayenne at Chateaudun, where the
latter had just arrived. The duke, however, steadily
rejected all compromise short of the abdication of the
king. " I cannot, nor will I, conclude any convention

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 327
apart from the lords of the Confederation. What trust
can we put in the word of a miscreant prince who has just
committed so detestable a crime ! Deposed from his
kingly dignity, what right can Henry put forth now to
sign a treaty ? Even if I accepted these propositions,
his Holiness could never induce me to render him per
sonally the duty and homage of a subject. I will die
a thousand deaths rather than submit !" Astonished
and much disconcerted, Morosini, after repeatedly at
tempting to bend the inflexible resolution of the due
de Mayenne, took his leave, and retired to Lyons, in
obedience to instruction's previously received from Rome,
foreseeing that the proclamation of the alliance between
the kings of France and Navarre was now inevitable.
, The legate sent immediate notice to Henry of the failure
of his negotiation : " Your majesty will now find it re
quisite to take the best counsel you can on your affairs,"
wrote Morosini.1 " I am grieved that I can do nothing
with M. de Mayenne ; I have taken leave of him, and
intend to pursue my road through Orleans to Lyons,
where I wait the commands of his Holiness." It had
been with difficulty that madame de Montpensier suc
ceeded in stirring up the frigid and cautious Mayenne
to avenge the death of his brothers ; but having been
once roused, the duke persisted with characteristic ob
stinacy in accomplishing that design.
About this period the king, being informed of the
seditious enterprises of madame de Montpensier in
Paris, sent a gentleman of his chamber to the duchess
to deliver a mandate commanding her to refrain from
such treasonable proceedings, and retire from Paris;
" otherwise, when he entered the capital he would cause
her to be burned alive !" The duchess undauntedly
replied on the spot, using epithets too vehement to ad-
1 Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire. Davila.

32S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1588—
mit of a literal transcription, and ended by observing,
" The death by fire, monsieur, with which you presume
to menace me, would be the just doom of that perfi
dious monster, once by Divine wrath our king. Be
assured, however, that I will do all in my power to
prevent the return of the said tyrant into this our good
city of Paris!"1 1 Journal de Henri III.

589-J

HIS COURT AND TIMES. 329

CHAPTER IV.
1589.
Proceedings of the court at Tours — The marechal de Retz — Edicts pro
mulgated by the parliament — Interview between Henry III. and the
king of Navarre — Enthusiastic reception of the latter by king Henry
and the royalists at Tours — Enterprise of the due de Mayenne on
the town of Tours — Danger of the king — Assault of the suburb St.
Symphorien — Retreat of the army of the League — Position of affairs
in Paris — Tumults and licence of the mob — The two Henrys place
themselves at the head of an army to assault Paris — Intervening
mihtary operations — Negotiations with Borne — Excommunication of
Henry III. — Reception of the bull iu France — Repulse of the due
d'Aumale from before Senlis by a royalist division under the due
de Longueville — Entry into France of the foreign levies — Jacques
Clement — The duchesse de Montpensier and the chieftains of the
League conspire the assassination of Henry III. — Arrival of the
royal anny at St. Cloud — Siege of Paris — Departure of Clement for
the camp — Assassination of Henry III. — His letter to queen Louise
— Demise of the king — Proclamation of Henri Quatre — The duchesse
de Montpensier — Her transports and the rejoicings in Paris over the
death of the king — Defection of the nobles from the cause of Henri
IV.^Henry raises the siege of Paris — He deposits the body of the
deceased king at Compiegne — Incidents connected with the interment
of the king — Benefactions of Henry III. — Anguish of queen Louise
at the decease of Henry III. — She endeavours to avenge his murder
— Her life of seclusion and beneficence — Demise of queen Louise —
Device and motto of Henry III.
The refusal of the due de Mayenne to enter into nego
tiation with king Henry, and the demand peremptorily
enforced by Sixtus V. that the captive prelates should
be conducted to Rome before he absolved the king from

330 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1589.
the ecclesiastical censures which he had incurred, left
no alternative but the speedy proclamation of the con
vention concluded with the king of Navarre. The
marechal d'Aumont at this season displaycfl energy and
ability of no ordinary kind. He it was who now pre
sided at the council of state, and gave vigour and pur
pose to the fitful resolves of the king. The due de
Nevers, finding that his remonstrances were ineffectual
to prevent the proclamation of the alliance he deprecated,
retired from Tours to his castle in the town of Nevers,
and assumed the neutral attitude of a mediator. The
marechal de Retz, deeming the destruction of the king
inevitable, basely abandoned his benefactor, under pre
text that his health was so impaired that his only
chance of six months longer of life was a sojourn at
the baths of Lucca. Henry reluctantly gave the
marshal permission to depart, scornfully advising him
to take heed lest even then he fell not into the power
of the League. The marshal put on a disguise, and
took extraordinary precautions ; but while traversing
Berri he was arrested by M. de Neuvy, lieutenant of the
due de Nemours. Mayenne was transported with de
light when he heard of the capture of de Retz, and ex
claimed, " There is a good 50,000 crowns of ransom !"
Henry laughed derisively, and forthwith wrote a letter
of condolence to the imprisoned marshal, in which he
maliciously deplored " that he had only so brief a space
of existence left; nevertheless, that reflection ought
to console the marshal for his afflictive detention."1
1 De Betz was compelled to pay 50,000 crowns for his liberty. He
then sailed for Spain, and after an interview with Philip II., he retired
to Lucca. From Lucca M. de Retz entered a monastery in Florence,
when so cowardly were his fears of losing life and fortune in the con
test pending in France, that he counterfeited decrepitude, and even in
sanity, to procure the undisturbed enjoyment of his retreat. For three
years the duke was served by one footman and two peasant women ;
while his accomplished consort managed his vast revenues. On the

1589- J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 331
The marechal d'Aumont, after causing public proclama
tion to be made of the treaty concluded between the
two kings, advised his royal master to send to the king
of Navarre inviting him to an interview at Tours, that
their reconciliation might be complete. He also coun
selled, the king to summon Epernon. This was a step
which the king intensely desired, but had refrained
from on account of the precarious condition of affairs ;
especially as a bitter quarrel existed between d'Aumont
and the duke, and that madame d'Angouleme had
warned him not to attempt the recall of Epernon to
court. In a few days, therefore, the due d'Epernon'
arrived from Blois. Henry received his favourite with
enthusiastic transports. So penetrated was the duke
with the chivalrous forgetfulness of his own grievances
displayed by d'Aumont, that on leaving his royal
master Epernon at once repaired to visit the marshal.
" M. le marechal," said Epernon, " I am here to thank
you, and to offer you my humble services. So noble has
been your generous forgetfulness of our personal quar
rels, that I am proud to acknowledge you as my superior
in rank and virtue." D'Aumont was affected to tears.
" Monseigneur," said he, " I demand no thanks — only
your able services for the king our master. I accept
in such fashion your professions and friendship, and
give you mine in return with all the sincerity and
honour of a Frenchman and a soldier I"1 The same
evening the marechal d'Aumont and the due d'Epernon
appeared arm-in-arm at the royal reception. In the
space of a few days Epernon dominated as ever over the
council and in the royal cabinet. His arrival and ad-
success of the arms of Henri IV. being assured, the duke emerged in
1594 from his monastery, and, miraculously, as he said, recovering the
use of his limbs, entered France at the head of a body of Swiss,
which he had enlisted to serve the cause of the king.
1 De Thou, liv. xcv. Giraud : Vie du Due d'Epernon.

332 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [15S9.
vice greatly confirmed the royal resolve to conclude a
cordial and complete alliance with le Bearnnois and his
Huguenots. Some important edicts were immediately promul
gated. The parliament declared the dues de Mayenne,
Aumale, and Nemours guilty of high treason ; it con
fiscated their lands, proclaimed them deprived of their
dignities, and set a price upon their beads. Henry
also wrote private letters, countersigned, however, by
his ministers, to the duchesses dc Nemours, Guise,
Montpensier, and d'Aumale, commanding them to re
tire from Paris to one of his castles on the Loire, under
pain of incurring capital penalties. Queen Louise also
addressed her kindred, and appealed especially to
madame de Xemours, mother of the princes of Guise.
The king then despatched an ambassador to the em
peror Rodolph II. , praying his imperial majesty to give
all countenance and aid towards the embodiment of the
levies raising by Sancy. The enthusiasm for the royal
cause in Switzerland, after Henry's convention with the
Huguenots, surpassed the expectation of all. Under
the banner of Sancy 10,000 Swiss troops were already
enlisted. The comte de Schomberg had also success
in recruiting for the service of the king in the Pro
testant states of Germany, and soon succeeded in
raising 10,000 reiters, and a formidable body of 10,000
landsknechts, with which he immediately prepared to
enter France. The king of Navarre brought 5,000
infantry, 500 arquebusiers, besides a body of 500 gen
tlemen, the elite of his nobles, all valiant and able
soldiers. The due d'Epernon, whose wealth and re
sources seemed inexhaustible, placed a body of 4,000
troops at the disposal of his sovereign. Moreover, the
grand duke of Tuscany secretly sent the king a loan of
200,000 gold crowns ; the due de Nevers also, in proof
of his good -will and loyal tv, sent his royal master a

1589. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 333
further sum of 30,000 gold crowns.1 An ambassage
was despatched to Madrid to request the neutrality of
Philip IL, and to explain to his Catholic majesty how
hopeless ultimately was the revolt of the League against
the legitimate and orthodox monarch. To his steady
friend queen Elizabeth Henry also sent an envoy, to
pray for the continued co-operation of her fleets on the
coasts of France, and her armies in the Low Countries,
so as to divert in measure the mischievous atten
tion of Philip II. from the affairs of France. Excel
lent nominations of personages were next made by
Henry for the internal administration of the realm.
The comte de Soissons was made governor of Bretagne ;
the due de Montpensier of Normandy ; Matignon over
Guyenne ; Montmorency in Languedoc ; la Valette,
elder brother of the due d'Epernon, over Provence; Or
nano in Dauphiny ; Tavannes in Burgundy ; and the
due de Longueville over Picardy. The marechal
d'Aumont received the government of Champagne;
the comte de Sourdis that of La Beausse ; and d'En
tragues the command over the Orleannois. All these
governors had the difficult and important task intrusted
to them of reconquering the numerous towns in alliance
with the League situated within their respective govern
ments. The appointments were rapturously received by
the king's loyal subjects, as the commencement of a
new and enlightened era of government.
The king of Navarre, meanwhile, lay encamped at
Maille, six miles from the town of Tours. Some
friendly interchange of messages had taken place
between the sovereigns through the good offices of
1 De Thou, liv. xcv. De Thou relates that a fanatical preacher ascended
the pulpit in the cathedral of Nevers, and preached a sermon redolent
of the foulest abuse against the king. The duke sat the sermon out,
and then sent for the monk and compelled him to reascend the pulpit
and contradict each of hi3 previous assertions, showing good cause
wherefore.

334 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1589.
madame d'Angouleme and Chatillon, eldest son of
the late admiral de Coligny — who at this crisis set the
example of reconciliation and the forgetfulness of in
juries by proceeding to Tours to offer his homage to
king Henry. On Sunday, the last day of April, 1589,
Henry, on repairing to hear mass in the abbey of
Marmoustier, sent one of his chamberlains to compli
ment the king of Navarre and to express his desire to
see him at Plessis-les-Tours. The king of Navarre
replied by promising to be, an hour thence, on the
bridge of La Motte, between Maille and Tours. The
majority of Henri's officers strongly dissuaded their
master from trusting himself alone with the king of
France. " Remember la St. Barthelemy, sire ! Re
member that no more acceptable holocaust could be
offered to quench the wrath of Rome and the League,
than your blood and that of your brave Huguenot
nobles ! M. de Chatillon, like his father was, is de
ceived by the court: the persuasions of M. l'amiral
led your august mother and her nobles to the slaughter
in Paris. Take heed, therefore, not to follow a similar
advice from the lips of the son."1 The king of Navarre,
however, was not to be deterred ; he had consulted
Chatillon, Epernon, aud d'Aumont, and, above all,
Duplessis Mornay and Sully. These personages all
inebned to the interview; the first three noblemen
strongly insisted on its necessity. Duplessis and Sully,
the immediate subjects of the king of Navarre, showed
less enthusiasm; though when Henri of himself de
cided to repair to Plessis, Mornay wrote from Tours :
"You have done your duty, sire; a duty, however,
1 Francois de Chatillon born April 28th, 1559. He married Marie
d' Ailly de Picquiny, who bore him four Eons, all killed in an action
fought near to Saintes. Chatillon' s third son left a daughter, married
to Jacques Chabot, marquis de Mirabeau, and one son. Francois de
Chatillon died October 8th, 1591, at the age of 32.

I589-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 335
which it was not legitimate for any of your own sub
jects to prescribe."1 At le Pont de la Motte the
king of Navarre was met by the marechal d'Aumont
and by the dues d'Epernon and Montbazon, sent by
the king to conduct him to Plessis. " M. le marechal,"
said Henri, " I repair to Plessis confiding in your
word and in your honour."2 A suite of nobles and a
company of guards accompanied the king, who, out
of respect for the opinion of the minority of his
council and a due precaution for his own safety,
had determined to leave these soldiers at one of
the gates of the town under the command of captain
Vignoles. The roads were thronged with spectators —
the park of Plessis being completely occupied, even to
the trees, by people eager to witness the meeting and
reconciliation of two great kings under circumstances
so unwonted. The gallant bearing of the king of
Navarre, and the good-humoured merriment expressed
by his countenance, caused him to be loudly cheered
by the concourse. He alone of his troop wore a cloak
or a plume; all, however, were girt with the white
scarf, the badge of their party. Henri was arrayed
in a scarlet cloak, and wore a grey cap surmounted
by his celebrated white panache, which was fastened
by a medal of gold ; his doublet and haut de chausses
were of olive green velvet. King Henry being apprized
of the arrival of the king of Navarre, quitted the
monastery chapel, and proceeded through the tennis-
court towards the chateau amidst an incredible shouting
of " Vivent les rois !" The king of Navarre descended
the flight of steps leading from the terrace of the castle to
the lawn — along which king Henry slowly advanced — and
was there received by the comte d'Auvergne and by MM.
de Sourdis and de Liancour. The archers on guard in
1 Vie de Duplessis Mornay, p. 134.
2 Ibid. Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire. De Thou, liv. xcv.

336 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1589.
vain proclaimed " Place ! place ! void le Roy '." the
multitudes rushed forward and took possession of the
space reserved for the interview — those from the ex
treme limits of the park impelling onwards the more
fortunate spectators. " The crush was so great," writes
a spectator,1 " that their majesties remained for the
space of a quarter of an hour within four yards of each
other without being able to embrace. Their salutations
and greetings were at length achieved with a marvellous
demonstration of gladness. The people were so trans
ported at the sight that they continued their acclama
tions of ' Vive le roy et le roy de Navarre !' without
intermission for the space of half an hour." The
marechal d'Aumont at length, relates de Thou, con
trived to separate the crowd so that their majesties
might meet. The king of Navarre then threw himself
at the feet of the king, saying, " that he looked upon
this day as the happiest of his life, as he was blessed
with the sight of his good master and king, and was
permitted to offer him service !" Henry, much affected,
stooped and raised the king,, embracing him very affec
tionately ; and, taking him under the arm, their majes
ties entered the palace to confer.
It was at this interview that Henry poured forth to
his long-alienated kinsman the history of his wrongs,
and asserted his own personal preference for the king
of Navarre, as manifested by the protection he had
formerly accorded him while resident at the court
of France, and during the subsequent machinations
of the deceased queen Catherine and of the League
to defraud him of his rights as first prince of
the blood and heir-presumptive. " Mem frere," said
1 Divers Evenemens arrives depuis le 28 Avril jusqu'au premier jour
de Mai. Maimbonrg : Hist, de la Ligue. Mathieu : Hist, du Regne
de Henri III. Cayet, de Thou, &c.

I589-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 337*
Henry III.,1 " I have yielded the palm to none of my
predecessors in attachment to my people. I have
hated warfare, and have avoided every occasion likely
to disturb the tranquillity of the realm. The town
which I have most patronized has been the first to
revolt. I have done unheard-of things to promote its
embellishment, tranquillity, and glory. I have filled
the universities of Paris with learned men. I have
respected the Sorbonne, honoured her parliament,
adorned her public edifices, and augmented her com
merce. I have lived in Paris rather as a citizen than
as her king. In return her clergy have degraded my
honour and repute by monstrous calumny ; her preachers
have clamoured and hunted down my good name ; the
Sorbonne has pretended to release all my subjects from
their oath of allegiance. The Parisian people have
revolted, stolen my treasures, suborned my officers,
killed my Swiss, attacked my body-guard, broken my
seals, burned the escutcheons of my arms, defaced my
effigies, and now they have seized my artillery to turn
it against myself. Behold, therefore, mon frere, those
who under detestable pretexts have rebelled against
their anointed prince, and have rendered themselves
amenable to the judgments of man and of God ! It
is against such, mon frere, that I have invoked your
aid; it is to repair my honour which they trample
under foot ; it is to drive forth from France— even as
they have driven me from Paris — these accursed traitors
that I have summoned you ! It is to defend this
noble crown, of which you are the legitimate and lawr-
ful heir if I die childless; it is to save both me and
yourself that I now command you to join your forces
to mine, so that, with the sword which God has placed
1 Mathieu, tome i., liv. viii., p. 781.
VOL. III. Z

338 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [15$9-
in my hand, we may deliver this people and vindicate
our sacred rights ! Mon frere, will you not participate
in this glorious mission ?" Lc Bearnnois had tender
feelings, and was soon affected. Tears rolled down
his manly cheeks while he listened to this appeal from
his sovereign and his king. Drawing that rictorious
sword so terrible in battle, Henri threw it ringing at the
king's feet, and on his knees swore an oath to avenge
his sovereign and never to rest until the king sat
once more supreme in the halls of the Louvre. Further
conference then ensued, and it was not until after the
expiration of two hours that the sovereigns showed
themselves again to the people. As soon as the white
panache was perceived in the distance, again vehement
acclamations burst forth. The kings then mounted on
horseback and proceeded to the bridge dedicated to Ste.
Anne in the Fauxbourg dc la Riche. As they passed
the gate at which the king of Navarre had left his
guard, the king, on perceiving a band of strange sol
diers in battle array, drew back in astonishment.
Henri, whose wit was ever ready, spurred his horse
forwards, and sharply reprimanded his men for pre
suming to maintain such an attitude within the terri
tory of France. The king upon this came forward,
and saying that the men had done their duty, he
prayed that they might be excused for so zealous a
proof of their devotion. The king of Navarre then
took leave of his majesty, and, passing the river, he
took up his lodging for the night in the Fauxbourg
St. Simphorien, the most extensive of the five faux
bourgs which extended round the city of Tours.
Early the following morning the king of Navarre
rose, and without revealing his intention, again crossed
the river and paid a visit to king Henry, attended only
by one page. An earnest consultation ensued, in which
some of the principal features of the forthcoming cam-

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 339
paign, and especially the siege of Paris, were discussed
and resolved. At the hour when the king attended
mass the king of Navarre paid a visit to Francoise
d'Orleans, dowager princess of Conde, and to the prin
cess de Conti, and afterwards repaired to the apartments
of queen Louise and madame d'Angouleme — a lady
whom he highly venerated for her consistency and
wisdom of conduct. During the afternoon another
council was holden ; the king then appeared in public
with the king of Navarre, who accompanied his majesty
to the portal of the abbey of Marmoutier, and while
the king devoutly attended vespers, Henri and the
young cavaliers of the court indulged in a game of
rackets.1 While these important events were passing at Tours,
the due de Mayenne quitted Chateaudun and advanced
to Vendome, which had been treacherously betrayed to
the League by its governor the sieur de Maille. This
capture exposed the court to imminent danger, as the
distance between Tours and Vend6me is little more
than thirty miles, and no town or fort then existed
capable of checking the advance of the enemy.
Mayenne, however, on receiving advices that the due
d'Epernon had left Blois to join the king at Tours,
took the bold resolution of marching suddenly upon
the former place — the chiefs of the League having
taken oath to raze the castle, the scene of the martyr
dom of their heroes. The duke defeated a body of
troops at St. Ouyn, near to Amboise, under the comte
de Brienne, brother-in-law of Epernon, and took the
latter prisoner. After this victory the army of the
League, however, retired to Chateau Regnaud, the duke
having ascertained that the garrison of Blois was
strong and not likely to be taken by surprise; more-
1 Me"m. de la Ligue. Chronologie Novennaire. Mem. de Sully,
D(upleix. Perefixe.
z 2

340 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1589.
over, he likewise found that the due d'Epernon had
unexpectedly returned to resume his command. At
Chateau Regnaud a design of the greatest audacity was
consequently conceived aud attempted by Mayenne.
The League had many adherents in the town of Tours,
who kept the duke fully informed as to the royal pro
ceedings. Through these relations he learned that
the king of Navarre departed on the 3rd of May for
Chinon, for the purpose of assembling his army and
superintending the advance of his artillery. The due
d'Epernon, at the same time, bade farewell to the king
and returned to Blois, also for the purpose of leading
a considerable part of the Gascons under his command
to join the army of Navarre. The king, therefore,
though nominally at the head of a powerful army,
would remain, until these succours arrived, as defence
less and exposed to attack as during the earliest time
of his sojourn in Tours. Mayenne, seeing his oppor
tunity, resolved to attempt an enterprise upon Tours,
and by the seizure of the person of the king, at once to
secure the ultimate triumph of his faction.
The king, however, was attended by a great train of
nobles ; while the fauxbourgs of Tours were guarded
by small detachments of troops. The regiment of the
Swiss guards was quartered in the Fauxbourg St. Pierre •
and in the populous Fauxbourg St. Simphorien, by the
advice of the king of Navarre, Henry had only the day
previously stationed three regiments, respectively com
manded by Rubempre, Jersay, and Mohcassin, trusty
and skilful officers.
During the night of the 7th of May Mayenne dis
lodged from Chateau Regnaud, and by eight o'clock the
following morning his vanguard was in sight of Tours
having performed a march of thirty miles. These
troops, conducted by the chevaher d'Aumale, placed
themselves in ambuscade, hoping to surprise and cap-

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 341
ture the king after his majesty's usual morning visit to
the abbey de Marmoutier, which was situated in the
Fauxbourg St. Simphorien. The morning rose fresh
and brilliant, Henry, therefore, according to his
custom, proceeded to hear matins in the abbey chapel,
and afterwards proposed to continue his promenade on
horseback for a mile or two along the open country.
His majesty was passing the last barrier from the faux
bourg when a countryman, whose avocations had called
him from the town, rushed forwards, and seizing the
reins of the king's horse, exclaimed, " Sire, the cavaliers
of the League ! save yourself!" These words were
scarcely uttered when twenty or thirty men rose from
behind a small copse which skirted the road and ran
with their arquebuses levelled at the king, Henry
made rapid retreat, and the barrier of the fauxbourg
was just closed behind him when the chevalier d'Aumale
and his men came up and shot the officer in command,
one la Fontaine, a captain of light horse. Within an
hour the main army under Mayenne appeared before
Tours. The duke concentrated his attacks on the faux
bourg. A most sanguinary conflict raged until four
o'clock in the afternoon, the result of which was the
capture of the suburb by the League. Chatillon,
Rumbempre, and Jersay distinguished themselves by
notable acts of. valour, as did also Crillon; who received
a severe wound through the body. The disparity in
numbers of the royal troops, however, was too great to
admit of the repulse of Mayenne.1 During the conflict
the king contributed by his presence of mind and
courage to preserve tranquillity in the town. He caused
the gates to be closed and strongly guarded, and forbade
a single officer or soldier to join in the conflict without
his express permission. He caused his regiment of.
1 Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire. De Thou.

342 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [15%9-
Swiss to enter Tours; and placed guards at all the
principal avenues of the streets, with orders not to allow
the egress therefrom of a single inhabitant, whatever
might be his rank, without a permit. By these judi
cious measures no persons were able to hold intelli
gences with the enemy, and no one presumed to stir
from the quarter in which his abode was situated. The
king next despatched messengers to the king of Navarre
and to the due d'Epernon, bidding them advance to his
rescue. He then mounted his horse, and attended by
the marechals d'Aumont and Schomberg, and by the
due de Montbazon, approached the scene of conflict.
The fauxbourg, despite the valiant defence made by
the royal troops, was carried by assault. A scene of
horrible pillage and violence ensued ; the houses were
sacked, and the inhabitants slaughtered without mercy.
Whilst the conquerors gave themselves up during
the night to the vilest excesses, Henry and his nobles,
in safety within the walls of Tours, waited in suspense
for the arrival of the timely succour which was to de
liver them from the assault of the town on the morrow.
About nine in the evening the advance of a body of
troops was descried. For some time it remained
doubtful whether the detachment was not a division of
the besieging army. The heart of every royalist within
the city of Tours beat with suspense and foreboding.
At length, with unutterable joy and thankfulness, the
watchers from the towers beheld the white scarfs of
Henri's Huguenot troopers. " Les echarpes blanches !
les echarpes blanches !" echoed triumphantly from
street to street until it reached the cabinet of the kinsr.
Henry, it is said, fell on his knees and thanked God
for his great deliverance. Fifteen hundred Huguenot
troops of Chatillon's band had silently made their way
from Maille and taken a position ou a small islet of
the Loire, close to the Fauxbourg St. Simphorien.

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 343
Chatillon instantly left the city and placed himself at
their head. Another band of Gascon troopers entered
the Fauxbourg de la Riche ; whilst before dawn several
hundred soldiers sent by Epernon arrived and occupied
the place vacated by the Swiss regiment in the Faux
bourg St. Pierre. Never was monarch more enthusi
astically or more efficiently succoured. The acclama
tions were heard by the outposts of the League ; and the
due de Mayenne was roused from his debauch, which
he was holding in a church, by the intelligence that the
invincible legions of Coutras were at hand. Mayenne
aud the chevalier d'Aumale immediately made a recon
naissance, and then returned to their quarters to hold
council. The sentinels of the League, meantime, hailed
the Huguenots on the islet, and commenced violently
to abuse the king. " Have you forgotten la St. Bar
thelemy ? Retire, Chatillon, retire ! we have no quarrel
with you ; we fight only against the murderers of your
father ! Retire, we say ! " The brave troopers of le
Bearnnois, however, bade their opponents leave them
in peace. " You are traitors, all of you, to fight agamst
your king. Women abuse each other, soldiers fight.
To-morrow we shall see whether your deeds are valiant
as your words !" But the military prestige of the king
of Navarre had alone sufficed to daunt the ardour of
Mayenne's army. It was hastily resolved not to risk
the existence of the chief army of the League in a
combat with the Huguenots, during which the due de
Mayenne might be slain or captured. The signal for
retreat, therefore, was given ; the troops defiled away
as silently as they had approached Tours, the outposts
confronting the Huguenot infantry being last with
drawn. The retreat of Mayenne was ascertained at
six o'clock in the morning of May 9th by the blazing
of the houses of the fauxbourg, which the troops fired
before their departure. When king Henry was in-

344 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1589.
formed at his levee by Chatillon that no obstacle existed
to prevent him from repairing as usual to Marmoutier
to hear matins, great was his amazement. Followed
by his suite, the king first returned thanks publicly for
his great deliverance from peril in the cathedral of
Tours ; and then inspected the suburb the scene of the
late conflict. The fires had been promptly extinguished;
but the desolation around, and the wailing of those
ruined by the catastrophe, and whose abodes had been
pillaged and their daughters outraged, greatly moved
the royal compassion. Heniy distributed money to
the sufferers, and commanded temporary abodes to
be prepared for the houseless. He then returned
to the castle, and ordered M. de Rouvre to maintain
stricter guard over the person and actions of the
young due de Guise, who was there incarcerated, be
lieving that the latter had found means to communi
cate with his uncle the due dc Mayenne. At midday
the king of Navarre arrived ; he presented himself in
the royal cabinet booted, spurred, and covered with
mud. The king had been on horseback from break of
day, and now entered Tours at the head of another
body of troops. Le Bearnnois was chagrined beyond
measure at the disappearance of the foe. " Ventre St.
Oris !" exclaimed he, bluntly, on entering the presence,
" if I had been here, he (Mayenne) should have de
camped in very different plight !" The king cordially
embraced the king of Navarre, and thanked him for his
prompt succour, but steadily refused to permit pursuit
to be made after the retreating army of Mayenne.
" No, no," said his majesty, " our army is not yet
assembled; it would be folly to hazard a double Henri
iu exchange for a beggarly Carolus."1
1 The king alluded to the current coinage : a Henri was a piece of
gold, a Carolus a copper coin of trivial value. Cayet. Mathieu : Regne

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 345
The due de Mayenne retreated to the town of Mons.
After making a sojourn of a few days, he advanced
and laid siege to Alencon. The king's affairs, mean
time, greatly improved ; the check received by the army
of the League caused the adherents of the royal cause
to muster throughout the provinces. Many nobles,
hitherto passive and waiting the turn of events, now
flocked to the standard of the king; other powerful
lords, previously inclined to the League, suddenly de
serted the cause and repaired to Tours. Henry received
all these laggards with the utmost condescension, but
required of them all to demonstrate the same obsequi
ousness towards the king of Navarre, " son compagnon,"
as his majesty now designated the latter. The king of
Navarre was formally declared by the king to be in
vested with supreme command over military affairs ;
and the Huguenot army, by his majesty's command,
encamped at Boisgency, preparatory to an attack upon
Orleans. His majesty then, with his own hand, deli
vered the powers of supreme governor over Bretagne to
the comte de Soissons, brother of the deceased prince
de Conde, and authorized the arrest of the due and
duchesse de Mercoeur — the latter of whom, especially,
had taken a prominent part in the rebellion of that
important duchy. The king, then placing himself at
the head of a detachment, advanced upon Poitiers,
which had recently declared for the League, principally
out of jealousy because Henry had not given that
town the preference over Tours for the residence of
his court and parliament. Had all these expeditions
been successful — that of the king of Navarre on Or
leans, the royal summons to the people of Poitiers,
and the mission of the comte de Soissons in Bre-
de Henri III., tome viii. Davila, tome ii., liv. xc. Journal de l'Etoile.
The name of the due de Mayenne was Charles de Lorraine.

34G HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [J589.
tagne — the League must have received its coup-de-
grace. In Paris the intelligence of the reconciliation of
Henry III. with the king of Navarre, and the union of
the two sovereigns as brothers in arms, was received
with execrations and transports of the wildest rage.
Epithets sufficiently expressive of abhorrence for the
" execrable tyrant Henri Devale" — a new name coined
by some wit amongst the factious — and of their detesta
tion for his perjury after having three times confirmed
by oath the Edict of Union against the heretics, failed
the preachers of Paris. Every ignominious device was
adopted to testify their hate, if indeed any new method
of obloquy could be discovered.' Again the city
swarmed with penitential processions, in one of which,
persuaded by the furious zeal of her daughter, the
duchesse de Nemours condescended to exhibit herself.
The relics of the saints were paraded ; and the trea
sures of the Sainte Chapelle and of St. Denis exposed
in the churches to the adoration of the frenzied
multitudes. To testify their horror of the unholy
alliance between Catholic and heretic, three poor Hu
guenot women were burned in the Place de Greve by
command of the council of Forty. The priests of the
capital, moreover, withheld absolution from persons
who refused previously to make open renunciation of
their allegiance to the king. The nearer the downfall
of their faction approached, the more extravagant be
came the excesses of these ecclesiastics. Paris, however,
harboured its " valiant Judith," who should yet present
the head of Holofernes; the city still bowed at the
1 " Le Mercredi, 5 Juillet, les Cordeliers otl-rent la tete a la figure du
roy, qui etoit peint a genoux priant Dieu aupres de sa femme au dessous
du maitre autel de leur eglise. Les Jacobins barbouillerent tout le
visage d'une pareille figure du roy en leur cloltre." — Journal de l'Etoile.

1589- J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 347
feet of madame de Montpensier, the fierceness of whose
wrath surpassed that of the most rabid of demagogues.
The duchesse de Guise, during these transactions,
attended by the princes and princesses of the house of
Lorraine, proceeded in state to the Chambre Doree, and
presented a petition to the recusant parliament, praying
that processes might be instituted against the slayers of
Henri de Lorraine, due de Guise, her dearly beloved
consort, and of Louis de Lorraine, cardinal archbishop,
her brother-in-law, and their abettors. The parliament
was pleased to grant the petition of the " illustrious
widow," and commissioners were forthwith appointed
to commence proceedings for a criminal suit against
"Henri de Valois, ci-devant Roi de France et de
Pologne."1 Envoys were also accredited to Rome to
protest a third time against absolution being accorded
to the king, in the name of the family of the deceased
princes; each member, including the princesses, send
ing written instructions to that effect, which were to
be laid before his Holiness.
Sixtus V. from this period seems to have been in
oculated with the frenzy of the Parisian democracy.
His fury, when informed of the alliance between the
kings — though he had himself predicted the probability
of such event — nearly cost him his life. The envoys
of Henry III. dared no longer approach the Vatican, for
their very presence appeared to threaten the return of
the fit or convulsion into which his Holiness fell after
reading the despatch sent by cardinal Morosini contain
ing the intelligence. The cardinal de Joyeuse and the
marquis Pisani, therefore, retired from Rome to Venice,
and there awaited the event. The Spanish ambassador
and the envoy of Savoy adjured the pope to withhold
absolution from so flagrant a criminal as Henri de
1 De Thou, liv. xciv.

34S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1589.
Valois; and they maintained that the actions and de
signs of the League were just and laudable. Sixtus,
therefore, assembled a consistory, May 5, and published
a monitory against the king, " commanding, warning,
and admonishing him to liberate the cardinal de Bour
bon and the archbishop of Lyons within ten days after
the reception of the bull, and within thirty days after
wards to forward to the Holy See an authentic document
detailing his act of submission ;" in default of which
the pope declared Henri de Valois, ci-devant king, ex
communicated and accursed, deposed and banished from
communion with the faithful.1 The same sentence was
launched against those who had shared in the sacrile
gious deed, either by act or counsel, unless they ap
peared to give account of their crimes before the tribu
nal of the Holy See within sixty days after the publi
cation of the monitory. The supreme pontiff reserved
to himself alone the power of releasing from these
ecclesiastical censures when once incurred, excepting at
the hour of death, when even then absolution was to be
preceded by a solemn declaration of penitence and sub
mission to the behests of the Church in case of recovery.
No sooner was this bull made public than the grand-
duke of Tuscany, the seigniory of Venice, and the duke
of Mantua, sent envoys to Rome to protest against its
purport — a sentence which they boldly designated as
unjust and arbitrary. They, moreover, declared that in
case the king should hereafter think proper to enter
Italy at the head of au army to obtain that absolution
so arbitrarily witbholden at the instigation of the ene
mies of the Christian king, they should decline to aid
the Holy See either by their arms or by their counsels.
The princes also despatched a secret envoy to king
Henry, who was then before Poitiers, advertising him
of the fulmination issued. The grand-duke Ferdinand
1 De Thou, liv. xcv. Davila. Hist, de la Ligue.

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 349
counselled Henry to reply, by promptly assuring Sixtus
of his obedience and his willingness to appear before
the papal tribunal, wbich he would do all in his power
to contrive at the head of an army within the current
year ; and, moreover, to take possession of Avignon
and the adjacent countship of Venaissin. The duke of
Tuscany also offered the king the loan of 1,200,000 gold
crowns, provided that his majesty would deliver the
town of Marseilles by way of security. In case of the
dismemberment of the realm, the Tuscan government
coveted that wealthy and , populous port, and intended
to procure its annexation to the duchy; while if the
king, as was now most probable, prevailed, the duke
would gain the merit and gratitude of having been one
of his most stanch and loyal allies. The young
duchesse Christine de Lorraine, mindful of the grati
tude which she owed to the king her uncle, unex
pectedly used all the influence which she possessed over
her newly-espoused consort to induce him to help king
Henry to vanquish the League, to the great indignation
of her father and his kindred.
Though the royal arms failed before Poitiers ; and
Orleans still continued obdurate despite the challenge
and remonstrances of the king of Navarre, favourable
advices from other parts of the kingdom cheered the
spirit of the king. Henry, at the head of 600 cavalry,
appeared before Poitiers on the 17th day of May. The
inhabitants refused to open their gates at the royal
summons, though they sent deputies to excuse the act,
and to supplicate the king not to assault their town.
Henry, thereupon, retired to Chatelleraud, where he
was joined by the king of Navarre, who rallied " him
from his depression, and urged bis majesty to advance
to the assault of Paris. Troops daily arrived to join
the royal standard ; and expressions of sympathy and
promised aid reached the king from most of the poten-

350 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCI,, [^89.
tates of Europe. Even the due de Nevers seemed to
relent, and for an interval hesitated whether he should
not join the royal army. Henry, however, had a bitter
and irreconcilable enemy in the duchesse de Nevers,
who counselled her husband to maintain his neutral
attitude, so that he might neither offend his conscience,
nor fight against bis sovereign. The generals of the
League were reduced to great straits for money and for
levies. Several of the Catholic states of Germany pru
dently declined to sanction the crime of overt rebellion
by permitting the officers of the League to recruit within
their dominions ; while the people of the Protestant ter
ritories and the Swiss Cantons enthusiastically espoused
the cause for which Henri dc Navarre fought. Spain
could now do little more for the League than agitate;
the interposition of the queen of England in the Low
Countries, and the presence there of her lieutenant the
earl of Leicester, kept the cabinet of Madrid in a fer
ment of apprehension.
The lauding of the English in Gallicia, under Drake
and Norreys, increased the consternation of the Spanish
court, which, therefore, until after the demise of
Henry IIL, gave little aid to its late allies. From
Rome even, the princes of the League derived no suc
cour. Sixtus absolutely refused to dispense to them
either his spiritual or temporal treasures; and irritably
declined to grant the due de Mayenne a loan of
1,400,000 gold crowns, though the acceptance and re
cognition of the council of Trent throughout the realm
was tendered as the equivalent. The jewels of the
princesses of the League had long been absorbed into
the treasury ; while madame de Nemours sacrificed the
superb diamonds which she inherited from her mother,
Renee de France, which had once appertained to queen
Anne de Bretagne.
Before the king departed from Tours he established

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 351
a permanent council, to which all affairs connected with
the internal administration of the realm were to be re
ferred. The members were, the cardinal de Vendome
the cardinal de Lenoncourt, Montholon keeper of the
seals, and the secretaries Revol and Beaulieu. His
majesty then took leave of the queen, who was escorted
by the two kings to the castle of Chinon, where she was
to reside during the campaign. The queen was accom
panied by the duchesse d'Angouleme, and by several of
her favourite ladies. On the terrace of Chinon, which
commands one of the fairest landscapes of France,
Henry and Louise bade each other farewell — a fare
well they were destined never more to exchange.
This ancient castle of the Plantagenets was a secure
retreat for the queen during the perilous contest about
to ensue. The town of Chinon is seated on the river
Vienne, about ten leagues from Tours, and the castle
was strongly fortified and built on a precipitous rock.
In the highest tower, called La Tour d' Argenton, the
cardinal de Bourbon was incarcerated. After the arrival
of the queen he was often permitted her society, which
proved a great consolation to both parties; for the deepest
melancholy oppressed Louise, which partly might be
ascribed to the depressing malady under which she
suffered. The affliction of the queen was great on
taking leave of her husband ; for the vicissitudes of the
last few months seem to have brought the royal pair
into companionship more intimate than" while they en
joyed the undiminished splendours of their regal state.
Henry then quitted Tours and advanced with the king
of Navarre to Blois. They next captured the towns of
Gergeau, Pluviers, Estampes, and laid siege to Pontoise.
In Normandy the due de Montpensier made important
conquests, and defeated Brissac and a body of 6,000
men, at the village of Pierrefitte, in the vicinity of
Falaise. In the county of La Beausse, Chatillon gained

352 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1589.
a complete victoiy over two noted generals of the League,
the sieurs de Saveuse and de Brosse, who were on their
way to join Mayenne with 200 lances, leaving them
slain on the field of conflict.
A still more eminent success attended the royal arms
during the siege of Pontoise. The town of Senlis had
originallv given in its adherence to the League, when
the remonstrances of M. de Thore, to whom the place
appertained, son of the late constable de Montmorency,
induced the principal inhabitants to return to their
allegiance to king Henry. The due d'Aumale, there
fore, who commanded in Paris during the absence of
Mayenne, piqued by the sarcasms of madame de Mont
pensier, resolved to attempt the reduction of Senlis.
Accordingly Aumale sallied forth from Paris at the
head of 6,000 men, 2,000 of whom consisted of the
trained bands of Paris ; the rest being brought by
Balagny commandant in Cambray for queen Catherine,
and who since the death of that princess had caused
himself to be proclaimed prince of Cambray. With
these troops Aumale laid siege to Senlis, and invested
the town so closely that articles of capitulation had
been agreed upon and a day fixed for the surrender of
M. de Thore. It so happened that the due de Longue
ville and la Noue made rendezvous for their troops at
Compiegne, in order to meet the succours being brought
by Sancy ; afterwards intending to join the main army
commanded by the kings in person. This little army
consisted of 2,000 men, officered by some of the noblest
cavaliers of France. It was, therefore, gallantly pro
posed to relieve Senlis, and send the citizen troops of
the League flying back to Paris. The attack was made
with the greatest vigour and success : the militia bands
of the League, unable to stand the onslaught, gave way
and fled in confusion. The rout was soon complete ;
Mainville and several other leaders fell, while the due

I589J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 353
d'Aumale himself fled, pursued by the valiant royalist
soldiers to St. Denis, where he found refuge, while
Balagny continued his flight to Paris. The victorious
army then continued its march, and, as it defiled past
the gates of Paris, fired a volley upon the rebel city.1
The affright and terror of the Parisians at the
successes of the king caused seditious gatherings in
several of the public squares. Madame de Montpensier
harangued the people ; and assuring them of ultimate
triumph, she despatched messengers, and amongst others
Bernardin, valet-de-chambre of the deceased due de
Guise, to the camp before Alencon, imploring the due
de Mayenne to return to the capital. The comments
of the duchess on the rout before Senlis and the flight
of Aumale were characteristic, and greatly incensed the
latter when these letters fell into his hands. Bernardin
was arrested by a detachment of Huguenot troopers,
and his papers taken from him. " Mon frere," wrote
the duchess to Mayenne, " return ! else it is all up
with us and our cause. What can we hope from a
general who, like M. d'Aumale, has committed so
cowardly and detestable a fault ? Can we expect that
he will be endowed either with skill or bravery to
repair it, or deliver us ?" The king of Navarre first
sent the letters to be perused by the king ; he then
•sealed them up and despatched them by an envoy to
the due d'Aumale, with a humorous billet offering to
1 Cayet : Chronologie Novennaire. De Thou. Davila. Etoile.
Mathieu. A piece was composed on the subject of the retreat of
Aumale, one verse of which ran as follows : —
" Ce vaillant prince d'Aumale
Pour a\ oir bien couru,
Quoiqu'il ait perdu sa malle,
N'a pas la mort encouru 1"
Madame de Montpensier caused this verse to be posted on the walls of
Paris. VOL. III. A A

354 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l.589-
stand as the duke's second in case he felt inclined to
avenge the affront.1 Great, however, as was the dismay
and weakness of the League, which could only muster
3,000 men to garrison Paris, the pope had placed deadly
weapons in the hands of the chieftains — resources which
madame de Montpensier hailed as her sole escape from
the certain doom which awaited her crimes, did the
cause of the king triumph. The papal monitory had
been posted on the doors of the basilica of St. Peter's
of Rome, and on those of the church of St. John Late
ran, on the 24th day of May. The thirty clays of
grace, during which king Henry was directed to exe
cute the required concessions, having elapsed, a formal
bull of excommunication was sent into France, which
was read at the portals of the cathedral of Meaux by
the bishops of Digne and d'Agen ; the same ceremony
being performed in Paris and Chartres. The assassina
tion of the king from that day forwards was not only
declared lawful and expedient by the preachers of Paris,
but acceptable to God. " The death of Henry is the
annihilation of heresy and tyranny !" exclaimed they.
Crowds listened trembling to these denunciations ; the
people feared the crime, but they cowered also be
neath the anticipated wrath of their outraged king
when Paris should lie prostrate. Fanaticism, meantime,
silently lighted her torch. A poniard driven to the
heart of the accursed, the outcast of the monarchs of
Europe, it was averred, would vindicate religion as well
as deliver the people from the sanguinary vengeance of
a tyrant. Assent too often follows that which it is our
interest to believe.
The preachers of Paris announced from their pulpits
that very meritorious in the sight of Heaven would he
be who should execute the behests of Sixtus the Vice-
1 De Thou, bv. xcv.

I589J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 355
gerent of God. Madame de Montpensier thereupon
fell into ecstatic transports, and publicly prayed that
the Almighty would raise such a Joshua for their
deUverance. Amongst the most assiduous frequenters
of the churches was one Jacques Clement, a priest of
the Dominican monastery, Rue St. Jacques,1 and a
native of the village of Sorbonne, close to Sens. This
Clement had once been a soldier ; but being favoured,
as he asserted, by heavenly visions, he obtained his
discharge from the ranks and entered a monastery ia
Sens. There he astonished the provincial brotherhood
by his ascetic piety and pretended revelations. The
prior, believing that a great light had risen in the
order, sent the young monk to study for a season at
the great Dominican monastery of the Rue St. Jacques.
In Paris Jacques Clement discarded that decorum of
conduct which had so edified his superiors ; and though
his prophetic transports augmented, his life was licen
tious, and he became a principal actor in the scenes
which had disgraced the capital. " This Clement,"
says de Thou, "came from the Dominicans of Sens.
He was a young man about twenty-two years old,
ignorant, licentious, indolent, and finding his pastime
amongst the lowest of the populace." The gesticula
tions and cadaverous features of this fanatic attracted
the notice of the duchesse de Montpensier, ever on the
alert to pounce upon agents likely to serve her projects.
She sent for Clement, and for some time admitted him
to frequent audience. The beauty of the duchess, and
her frenzied appeals, roused the passions of the young
monk. This impression the duchess took every means
¦to heighten and to excite. She spoke of the exaltation
of the person who might be chosen as the august in
strument to execute the fiat of the Church and deliver
1 The Dominicans were also called Jacobins from the situation of their
monastery in the Eue St. Jacques, Quartier de St. Benolt.
A A 2

356 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1589.
the people of Paris; she appealed to his visions in proof
that he was destined to accomplish some great achieve
ment, of the exact nature of which she professed to be
ignorant ; while she plunged him into delirious transports
by the excess of her condescensions. Jacques Clement
implicitly believed the professions of the duchess :
neither did he deem his hopes extravagant, inasmuch
as he had been a witness of that famous procession,
in which the great grand-daughter of Louis XII. had
shown herself to the people, and traversed the streets
ef Paris without other raiment than a tunic of lace !
To merit the favour of his sibyl, therefore, the young
monk assiduously dreamed his dreams, denounced the
tyrant Henri de Valois, and advocated his assassination.
Madame de Montpensier and her colleagues in the con
spiracy, meantime, had recourse to Bourgoing, prior of
the Dominicans of Paris, a furious Leaguer, to aid in
kindling the zeal of the infatuated monk. Clement at
length applied to his superiors, and asked them whether
" he might kill the king ?" They replied by falling at
his feet transported at the contemplation, as they de
clared, of the holy and chosen instrument of Divine
vengeance. The brain of Clement appears to have
given way under the terrible excitements to which he
was subjected. Mysterious voices whispered in his
ears at night when alone in his cell, adjuring him to
avenge the oppressed people. He was assured that,
as soon as the decisive blow had been struck, angels
would bear him away from the scene of his crime ; and
that his body, invisible to mortal eyes, would be
miraculously borne back to his convent. Mundane
advantages were not forgotten; madame de Montpen
sier promised him wealth and dignities, and, as de
Thou insinuates, bound herself before his departure on
his sacred mission to obligations which must for ever
consign her name to infamy.

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 357
Having thus chosen and imparted the needful temper
to her weapon, Catherine de Lorraine beheld with com
posure the advance of the great besieging army to in
vest Paris. Pontoise capitulated to the royal arms on
the 25th of July. The kings then marched to Estampes,
and proceeded to Chatillon- sur- Seine, where they were
joined by the due de Longueville and his troops, the
victors of Senlis. From thence the royal army pro
ceeded to Conflans, where Sancy waited at the head
of 12,000 troops, levied in Switzerland and elsewhere
by his incomparable zeal and address. The kings, at
the head of a force exceeding 38,000 men, well furnished
with artillery, and accompanied by the most illustrious
of the nobles of France, who were now fully roused from
the dangerous fallacies of the League, encamped at St.
Cloud on the last day of July. The traitorous city
trembled as, from its ramparts, it beheld the ranks of
soldiery arrayed to overthrow its pride, and to lead its
turbulent citizens bound to the footstool of their sove
reign. Henry took up his abode in a house apper
taining to the cardinal de Gondy, which Catherine de
Medici had presented to the father of the latter, Jerome
Gondy, the financier — a mansion surrounded by delicious
gardens.1 The quarters of the king of Navarre were at
Meudon, and his army extended from thence to the
Pont de Charenton. That of the king occupied the
ground between St. Cloud and Neuilly.
The due de Mayenne had caused strong entrench-
1 The mansion and park of St. Cloud were purchased by Catherine
de Medici in 1577. In the year 1574 they appertained to a bourgeois of
Paris, one Chappellier; so that the story relative to the massacre of St.
Bartholomew's day having been concocted in the room in which Henry
was assassinated is manifestly untrue. Queen Catherine bought the
mansion with the intent of building a, superb palace ; but finding the
premises too small for her purpose, she presented the house and grounds
to Jerome Gondy and his wife. The mansion was inherited by their
third son Gondy, cardinal-bishop of Paris.

358 HENRY III. KING OF FRANIT, [fo
ments to be constructed along the fauxbourgs St. Ger
main, St. Jacques, St. Marcel, St. Honore, and St.
Denis, the defence of which he committed to la Chatre.
The army with which he had hastily marched to Paris
after the capture of Montereau consisted barely, when
united to the garrison of Paris, of 10,000 men. The
due de Nemours was, however, on his way to the capi
tal with an additional 10,000 soldiers ; while the due
de Lorraine had promised a succour of 3,000 troops.
The same day (Sunday, July 31st) that the king
arrived at St. Cloud he received a mysterious intima
tion from a lady resident in Paris, the demoiselle de
Bon Lieu, to hold himself on his guard against treachery
and to admit no strangers to his presence. During the
afternoon the duchesse de Retz came to visit the king.
Henry mentioned the warning he had just received.
" Sire," said the duchess, " you should then take better
guard for your preservation. Remember, I implore you,
that upon your life depends the prosperity, and even
the existence, of your loyal subjects !" " Madame,"
replied Henry, " I trust in God, who will preserve my
life so long as He sees it to be necessary for the welfare
of my people !" The king passed the remainder of the
day in conferences with the king of Navarre and the
comte d'Auvergne, the young son of Charles IX. aud
Marie Touchet, to whom he was much attached.1 In
the evening his majesty took exercise in the gardens
attached to the mansion, attended by Biron and d'En
tragues.2 The assassin, nevertheless, against whom
Henry had been warned, had arrived at St. Cloud and
waited the opportunity to perform his errand.
The approach of the royal army kindled the fanatic
fervour of frere Jacques Clement, and he proclaimed
1 Pasquier, liv. xiv., lettre i.
2 Mem. de Charles de Valois, Due d'Angouleme. Hist, des Derniera
Troubles, liv. v.

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 359
himself ready to go forth and encounter " the tyrant,"
and arrest his diabolical purpose. Clement, therefore,
placed himself in communication with the chiefs of the
League cognizant of his design. The due d'Aumale is
vindicated from entertaining any relations with Clement
— the duke was then in great odium with the League
on account of the flight from Senlis ; while his wife had
been always treated with reserve as a concealed partisan
of the royal cause. On Saturday, July 30th, Clement,
through the influence of madame de Montpensier, ob
tained admittance to the comte de Brienne, who, since
his capture at St. Ouyn, had remained a prisoner in the
Louvre, and to the first president of the parliament of
Paris, Achille de Harlay, still a captive in the Bastille,
To both these faithful servants of the king Clement
asserted that he was in possession of a secret of the last
importance to his majesty, which he wished to impart,
provided that he could obtain credentials to pass the
outposts of the royal army. Nothing can be more sur
prising than that both these personages were caught in
the snare ; and forthwith gave Clement the letters he
asked, without previously reflecting how unlikely it was
that an obscure Dominican should possess influence
enough to penetrate without suspicious patronage from
the powers in the ascendant into the prisons of the
state. Clement then repaired to the hotel of madame
de Montpensier, and from thence proceeded to hold a
midnight interview with the provost Chapelle Marteau,
who a few days previously had regained his liberty, at
the Carthusians. From thence he proceeded to the
monastery of St. Lazare, Fauxbourg St. Antoine, where
the due de Mayenne conferred with him for some time.1
Clement being now well primed for the enterprise, re
turned to his monastery, and spent the night and some
1 De Thou, liv. xcvi.

360 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l589-
hours of the following day in prayer and fasting. At
dawn between 200 and 300 citizens, suspected of favour
ing the cause of the king, were arrested and thrown
into the prisons, at the suit of the duchesse de Mont
pensier, who had promised Jacques Clement that their
lives should answer for his, in case he was arrested after
accomplishing his mission. It is believed that the
duchess further instructed Clement, if put to the tor
ture, to confess that he bad been bribed to murder the
king by the comte de Soissons ; for by this means she
trusted, if her more heinous design failed, to sow dis
union between the princes.1
Clement quitted Paris about one o'clock on Sunday,
July 31st, and took the road towards St. Cloud. On
the way he was overtaken by M. la Guesle, attorney-
general, who, with his brother, was proceeding from his
house at Vanvres to visit the king. Seeing a monk on
the road walking between two soldiers, la Guesle asked
whether the priest was their prisoner. They replied in
the negative ; when Clement, addressing la Guesle,
stated that he was bound for St. Cloud, on a mission
of great moment to bis majesty. The attorney-general
replied that it was impossible that he could see the king,
and desired him to communicate to himself the revela
tion he wished to make. This, however, Clement de
clined, but said that he was proceeding to St. Cloud
under a safe-conduct from MM. dc Brienne and de
Harlay, and with great presence of mind he drew from
his robe the letters. With such credentials la Guesle
began to treat the Dominican with greater considera
tion ; and at length, fearing that he might be induced
to betray this communication, he desired him to mount
on horseback behind his brother, by whom he was
accompanied. On the road Clement was submitted to
1 Journal de L'Estoile. Maimbourg : Mein. de la Li°ne. Cavet.
Dupleix.

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 361
a severe cross-examination by la Guesle, but he never
prevaricated or flinched from his primary assertions.
He admitted, however, that his errand was from some
of the prmcipal royalists of the capital, who had agreed
during the first assault to open one of the gates to the
king's troops. The simplicity and apparent candour of
these answers deceived la Guesle : he conducted the
monk to his house, and promised to obtain him speedy
audience of his majesty. La Guesle, however, took the
precaution of examining the letter stated to have been
given by the first president, with whose writing he was
familiar. The letter was found to be in due form ; but
still desirous of testing the truth, la Guesle asked
Clement how he had procured permission to enter
the Bastille? The latter replied, "Through Portail,
the son of the king's first surgeon, whom he frequently
visited in the Bastille, and who had procured him an in
terview with M. de Harlay."1 Upon this M. la Guesle
repaired to the king's lodging and informed his majesty.
Henry, whom nothing so greatly regaled as the sight of a
monk, readily consented to receive the communication,
and desired la Guesle to bring the ecclesiastic at his levee
on the foUowing morning.3 Meantime Clement re
mained with the retainers of the attorney-general, and
made a hearty supper in their company, cutting his
bread with the knife he had brought to perpetrate the
assassination which he contemplated. He then strolled
out to reconnoitre, and found himself in a court of the
royal mansion called la Demie Lune. There he met
the grand prior comte d'Auvergne, who had quitted
the royal apartment to summon musicians to lull his
1 Lettre d'un des Premiers Officiers de la Cour de Parlement (la
Guesle) sur le sujet de la Mort du Roi. Journal de l'Etoile.
2 "Histoire au "Vray de la Victoire obtenue par Frere Jacques Clement,
lequel tua Henri de Valois, 1 Aoust, 1589."— MS. Bibl. Imp. Suppl.
Francais, 2273.

362 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l589-
majesty to sleep. Clement boldly advanced, and asked
to be conducted into the presence of the sovereign, as
his business was imminent. The comte d'Auvergne,
who was a boy of sixteen, rushed hastily onwards, ex
claiming, " that the monk must be mad, as his majesty
had gone to repose." Thus circumvented Clement re
turned to the lodging provided for him, and retired to
bed and slept soundly.
At seven the following morning la Guesle, followed
by Clement, proceeded to attend the royal levee. Henry,
however, having passed a disturbed night, had not yet
risen. The two, therefore, went into the pleasaunce
until summoned about eight o'clock to the king's
chamber. W7hen in the garden Portail, the king's first
surgeon, accosted the monk, and put many pertinent ques
tions relative to bis son, with whom Clement had pro
fessed to be intimate, all which the latter answered so
satisfactorily as further to convince his hearers that his
mission was genuine. On re-entering the mansion, the
officer on guard committed the negligent oversight of
permitting Clement to pass into the royal cabinet with
out searching his person, as was the universal custom
in these perilous times. La Guesle, after greeting the
gentlemen-in-waiting in the ante-chamber, passed on,
followed by the monk, to the door of the king's private
closet and opened it. He then made a gesture to his
companion to wait at the threshold, as he perceived that
the king, having just risen, was not yet sufficiently
attired to grant audience. La Guesle, however, en
tered, and presented the credentials brought by Clement
to his majesty, who ordered that he might be instantly
introduced. The king was attended by his first gentle
man, M. de Bellegarde, and by du Halde, principal
valet-de-chambre. Clement approached and prostrated
himself at the feet of the king. " Mon frere," said the
king, "you are welcome. What is the news in Paris?"

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 363
" Sire, M. le Premier President is well, and craves per
mission to kiss your hand." Clement then turned to
M. la Guesle and requested permission to speak pri
vately to his majesty. The latter bluntly refused,
desiring him to proceed boldly, as none were present but
the king's faithful servants. Clement still pretended to
hesitate, when Henry, desiring Bellegarde to retire from
his side, gave the same order to la Guesle, and sharply
commanded the monk to impart that which he had to
declare. Clement handed a letter to his majesty, and
while Henry glanced at its contents, he suddenly drew
a long knife from the sleeve of his habit, and plunged it
to the hilt into the abdomen of the king, just below the
girdle. " Ah ! mon Dieu ! ce malheureux m'a blesse !"
exclaimed the king. Snatching the knife from the
wound, Henry struck the assassin twice on the face,
who fled with a loud cry and crouched between the
beds occupied by his majesty and the gentlemen who
slept in the royal chamber.1 The cabinet, meantime,
was soon filled by gentlemen from the adjoining apart
ment. Two of the Quarante-cinq, Montpezat and
Mirepoix, with la Guesle, seized the wretched mis
creant, and, dragging him forth, plunged their swords
through his body, and hurled it from the windows of
the apartment into the court below. The king, mean
time, had fallen into the arms of Bellegarde, who laid
him on his bed, and despatched du Halde for the sur
geons Portail and Lefebre. "Ah, miserable ! que I'avois-
jefait?" moaned the unfortunate monarch. Henry
then addressed la Guesle, who had fallen in an agony
7 Mathieu : Hist, du Eegne de Henri III., liv. viii. p. 772. De
Thou, liv. xcv. MS. Bibl. Imp. Suppl. Francais, 2273. Portrait du
Jacobin— MS. Bibl. Imp. Suppl. Francais, 2273. Lettres d'Etiennei
Pasquier, liv. xiv. Mem. de Cheverny, de Charles de Valois, Due
d'Angouleme, etc. Lettre de la Guesle, Procureur- General. Journal
de l'Etoile. Le Martyre de Jacques Clement, 1589. Paris : Chez Fise-
lier, 1589, en 8vo.

364 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l589-
of despair at the foot of the king's bed, protesting that
he was the most unhappy man living to have intro
duced the foul assassin into his majesty's presence.
Two of the king's gentlemen, Savary and Bonrepas,
after inquiring who had introduced the monk, drew
their swords to slay la Guesle, but were arrested in
their design by Bellegarde on a signal from the
king. The agitation of this scene causing the blood
to flow more profusely from the wound, Bellegarde
desired many of the personages present to retire into
the adjacent chamber. Portail presently arrived,
accompanied by his two assistant-surgeons, Pigre
and Lefebre. The king reclined on his bed, but
complained of no pain, which at first gave hope
that the wound might be trifling.1 Whilst under
the hands of his surgeons, however, the king fainted.
Meantime the young comte d'Auvergne was hastily
summoned; also the due d'Epernon and M. d'O. The
former ran precipitately to the royal apartment, but
unable to command his feelings at the sight he there
beheld, he fell on his knees by the bed and sobbed
aloud. The king had ever treated Henri d'Angouleme
with the affection of a parent, and the sight of his tears
deeply affected his majesty. He laid his hand on the
boy's head, and said, " Mon fils, mon fils ! do not
grieve ! They have tried to kill me, but, by God's mercy,
they have not succeeded. This will be nothing ; I shall
soon be better !" The due d'Epernon then took M.
d'Auvergne by the arm and led him to a distant window,
and entreated him not to agitate the king. He still
remained weeping bitterly at the window when Portail
came up, after having probed and bandaged the wound.
" Monseigneur," said he, confidentially addressing the
young count, " look to yourself. I fear it will not be
1 The bowels protruded from the wound, it appears, from the procd
verbal of the king's death.

1^89-J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 365
possible to save the king." Upon this Epernon and
M. d'O came up and insisted upon hearing what Portail
had communicated to the comte d'Auvergne. The
other surgeons, however, expressed more hope; the
king had rallied from his exhaustion ; he complained of
little pain, and his speech was firm and clear as before
the infliction of the wound. An opinion concurrent
with the declaration of the majority, therefore, was
given to the king, when he steadily asked the question,
"Whether it would not be advisable for him to receive
the last sacraments of the church ?" Henry then
caused mass to be celebrated by his private chaplain,
Louis de Parade, at a temporary altar placed at the
foot of his bed. Afterwards he related to all present
the circumstances preceding his wound, and desired that
la Guesle should not be molested, as he was not in fault.
He then commanded that letters should be despatched,
addressed to the governors of the provinces, that a true
account of his accident might go forth ; also, that the
surgeons judged favourably of the wound. It was about
ten o'clock when the king gave these directions. He
was lying in bed, supported by Bellegarde, while the
young comte d'Auvergne, as his majesty complained of
cold and numbness, chafed his feet. Henry also de
sired that the king of Navarre should be summoned,
and sent for his secretary that he might dictate a letter
to queen Louise, apprizing her majesty of the cata
strophe. Henry's last letter to his consort is as fol
lows : —
HENEY III. KING OF FRANCE TO QUEEN LOUISE
DE LORRAINE.
M'Amye, — My enemies perceiving that all their artifices and
rebellion were fruitless ; and that their only hope of safety lay in
my death, aware of my zeal and fidelity for the holy Roman Apos
tolic Faith, and that it was my custom never to refuse audience to
ecclesiastics, they decided that no more feasible method existed of

366 HENRY III. ICING OF FRANCE, [1589.
executing tlieir accursed design than to hide it under the mo
nastic mantle and cowl — thus outraging all laws human and
divine, and violating the sanctity of the priestly habit.
This morning while I was alone in my cabinet with the sieur de
Bellegarde, my attorney-general brought to me by my command
ment, a young Dominican, who stated that he had letters from the
first president of my parliament, and declared he had a message
to deliver from the said president. After presenting mc with let
ters from the first president, the said monk, pretending that he had
some secret communication to make, I desired the said Bellegarde
and my attorney-general to retire a little. This wicked wretch
then gave me a stab with a knife, thinking to kill me ; but the
Almighty, who is the Guardian of kings, willed not that His
humble servant should perish for the reverence he has shown to
those who declared themselves specially devoted to His service.
God by his mercy so .directed the blow, that the wound is slight ;
and I hope in a few days to recover my accustomed health, in
which trust I am encouraged, first, by my own sensations;
secondly, by the opinion of my surgeons and physicians, who
believe that no danger exists. I have thought it wise to advertize
you of my true condition, that you may not be alarmed by false
and contrary reports.
The above letter was written by Megret the king's
secretary, under his majesty's dictation. The following
postscript, however, was added by Henry with his own
hand : —
M'Amye,— I hope soon to be well. Pray God for me, and do
not leave the place where you now are !
Au Pont de St. Cloud, this first day of August, 1589. Henky.1
This letter, however, and whatever consolation it
might have imparted, was long before it reached the
hand of the queen. In the consequent confusion
which ensued after the decease of the king, it was
given to a messenger, who, intent upon his own for
tunes, detained the missive for a year, and at length
only delivered it up to the queen upon her urgent and
reiterated demand. 1 MS. Bibl. Imp. Be"th. 8966, fol. 66.

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 367
The intelligence of the precarious condition of the
king soon spread throughout the camp, and occasioned
the greatest panic and consternation. A strong guard,
under Duplessis Bichelieu, was placed round the man
sion in which the king lay, and all the principal officers
of the armies repaired to the royal lodging — some re
maining without on the terrace, others being admitted
to visit their wounded sovereign. Henry slept com
posedly during the day for some hours ; on awaking,
however, excruciating pains, attended with fever
and restlessness, came on, and the king vomited a
quantity of blood. For two hours his majesty's suf
ferings were intense ; when somewhat relieved, the king
declared that he knew his hours were numbered, and
eagerly requested the sacraments of the church. Before
the rites were administered, Henry addressed his as
sembled nobles, showing a courage and constancy
deemed admirable by all. He exhorted his subjects to
union, and advised them to acknowledge the king of
Navarre as their legitimate sovereign, and commanded
them to refrain from avenging his death; he prayed
them to forgive his errors of government, assuring them
that he had had always the welfare of the people at
heart. The king of Navarre entering his apartment at
this moment, the king stretched out his hand towards
him. " You see, my brother, how my subjects have
treated me ! beware, therefore, and take good heed for
your own safety." Henry presently continued ; address
ing the king of Navarre, he said, " It is now for you,
my brother, to possess that crown which I have striven
to preserve for you ; justice and the principle of
legitimacy demand that you should succeed me in this
realm. You will experience many calamities, unless
you resolve to change your religion. I exhort you to
do so, as much for the welfare of your soul as for your
temporal interests. May my crown flourish on your

36S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^5^9-
head, and may your reign be prosperous as that of
Charlemagne our puissant ancestor ! I have commanded
all the great officers of the crown to take the oath of
allegiance to you." Emotion kept the king of Navarre
silent ; he took the king's hands and kissed them re
spectfully. Henry in a low voice, being much exhausted,
here commanded the nobles present to approach his
bed. He then requested them to give him the comfort
of witnessing their oath of fidelity and recognition of
the king of Navarre as their sovereign ; being faithful
to the last in the opinion which he had always expressed,
that the king of Navarre was his only legitimate and
rightful successor. All the nobles present then knelt
round the bed of their dying monarch, and vowed fide
lity to the king of Navarre as the lawful inheritor of
the crown. Henry then gave the king of Navarre his
benediction, and prayed him to protect and favour the
young comte d'Auvergne and M. de Bellegarde. He,
moreover, directed the due de la Tremouille to announce
his approaching demise to the division of the army
under his command, and to exhort the men to be
faithful to his successor. The same command his
majesty gave to Sancy, and to the marechal d'Aumont,
the respective commanders of the Swiss and German
levies. " This done," says a chronicler,1 " the king
requested to be left alone. The king of Navarre re
tired weeping, and the princes and nobles ; so that in
the death chamber there only remained the officers of
the wardrobe and his majesty's almoner, chaplain, and
surgeon." Bellegarde and Epernon continued to sup
port their royal master, who presently fell into an un
easy slumber. About two o'clock in the morning of
August 2nd, Henry woke with a start, and eagerly
1 Cayet: Chronologie Novennaire. Mathieu: Hist, du Itfegne de
Henri III. Sommaire recit des Choses Memorables advenues en France
sous le Begne de Henri IV. Mem. de Cheverny. Pasquier.

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 369
asked for his confessor. " The hour is at hand," said,
he, " when God will be pleased to manifest his will.
Pray for me !" The signal was given, and Boulogne
chaplain in chief to the king entered alone from an adja
cent chamber, where, with a train of priests, he waited
the summons. Henry was left for a brief interval
with his confessor. The prayers for the dying were
then recited, and the priests bore the Host to the bed
side of the dying monarch, who feebly raised his hands
in the act of adoration. Before the wafer touched the
king's lips, Boulogne said, " Sire, his Holiness has
issued a monitory against your majesty for the events
which lately occurred at the States of Blois. I exhort
you, therefore, to fulfil the behests of our most
holy father, otherwise I may not pronounce you ab
solved." Henry feebly replied, "that it was his will
and his intention to satisfy his Holiness on every point."
Upon this declaration, which was witnessed by a great
throng of nobles, who had been admitted according to
custom by Epernon to witness the last moments of
their royal master, Boulogne administered the sacred
rites. At four o'clock on the morning of Tuesday,
August 2nd, Henry III. ceased to exist.1 A post
mortem examination was immediately made as to the
cause of death, several of the surgeons asserting their
belief that the knife was poisoned with which the wound
had been inflicted. It was found, however, that the
intestines were perforated; and that the immediate
cause of the king's decease was syncope from internal
bleeding. The royal remains were embalmed as tho-
1 Disoours veritable de l'e"trange et subite Mort de Henri de Valois.
Certificat de plusieurs Seigneurs de Qualite" qui assisterent le Roy depuis
qu'il fut blesse" jusques a sa mort. This document is signed — Epernon,
d'O, Bellegarde, Charles de Valois, grand prior, Balzac, Manon, Du
plessis, Louis de Parades, confessor, Etienne de Boulogne, almoner.
Also MS. Bibl. Imp. Dupuy, 137 : Attestation des Seigneurs pre
sents a la Mort de Henri III., 1589.
VOL. III. B B

370 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l589-
roughly as circumstances permitted, and deposited
immediately in a coffin of lead.
D'Aubigne graphically describes the scene which
ensued after Henry had breathed his last. " Henry IV.,"
says he, " found himself king sooner than he desired.
Instead of acclamations of ' Vive le roy!' he beheld be
fore him the corpse of his predecessor, at the feet of
which knelt two monks of the order of Minimes, hold
ing torches and reciting litanies. Clermont d'Entragues
held the jaw of the deceased, while others wept,
throwing themselves on the ground mumbling vows,
prayers, or protests. Some in this confusion fell on
their knees and asked pardon for offences committed
against the new king. To these a certain duke (Epernon)
replied, ' Hold your tongues ; you chatter like women !'
M. d'O, his brother Manon, Entragues, and Chateau-
vieux exclaimed quite close to the king's ear, ' that they
would rather suffer ten thousand kinds of death than
submit to a heretic prince!' The king, troubled at this
spectacle, soon withdrew, taking with him the marechal
de Biron."1
Thus miserably perished Henry IIL, " a prince,"
says de Thou, "liberal, clement, of majestic presence,
zealous for his religion, and a lover of equity." These
qualities, however, were counterbalanced by a love of
dissipation, by profligacy, indolence, and by an effemi
nacy of deportment which rendered him despicable in
the eyes of his subjects. Never did any prince seem
more worthy to ascend a throne than Henry in the
opinion of his orthodox subjects, and never did a
monarch more thoroughly disappoint such expectations.
The reputation which Henry acquired by the victories
of Jarnac and Montcontour — at which, however, despite
the enlogiums of his flatterers, he acted only a part
1 Histoire, liv. xi. p. 183, edit in fol,

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 371
subordinate to Tavannes and Biron — rendered the con
trast with his subsequent inglorious career more con
spicuous. France imagined her king to be a hero, and
found him imbecile. Henry's prodigality impoverished
the state ; and the misconduct of his band of minions
rendered his court notorious for scandalous brawls and
outrages upon the lives and property of the citizens.
In matters of religion the vacillating conduct of the
king produced lamentable discord. He several times
solemnly took oath to extirpate heresy, and formed con
ventions for the purpose ; but, to the indignation of the
orthodox, his majesty shortly afterwards entered into
voluntary and amicable relation with those whom he
had publicly declared to be under the ban of his royal
displeasure. Whether such conduct resulted, as the
admirers of this prince allege, from a scheme of ven
geance more subtle and certain than that to be derived
hy open warfare, the fact — that few placed faith either
in the word or the profession of the king — nobody felt
it possible to dispute. The savage ferocity of Henry's
temper, when effectually roused, caused his enemies,
from pure dread and distrust, to proceed farther in their
hostile designs than they probably would have done
under a prince moderate, and on whose sincerity they
could have relied. The share which Henry took in the
murder of Coligny and Lignerolles ; and his almost ac
tual perpetration of the assassination of the Guises,
must ever leave an indelible stain on his memory. On
the other hand, Henry III. was generous, affable, and
ordinarily an indulgent master. He was accomplished ;
and in eloquence of speech was surpassed by none in.
the realm. In all exercises which then distinguished a
finished cavalier, he excelled. He passionately loved
music ; and in dancing none of the courtiers could com
pete with their sovereign. He spoke Latin and Italian
fluently, and understood the English language. He was
b b 2

372 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, ij.589.
clever in the composition of devices and mottoes, and in
divining enigmas. In his attire Henry III. exhibited
the utmost magnificence; and in all matters connected
with personal adornment or the embellishment of his
palaces, he showed himseK pre-eminent. His tastes,
however, were puerile, and his designs fantastic. His
religion modelled itself on delusions ; incapable of rea
lizing its sublime promptings, Henry adored the frippery,
the creation of his own ingenuity with which he
surrounded his worship. Nothing conduced to degrade
Henry in the eyes of his subjects more than his extra
ordinary and unkingly escapades with his Penitents;
such exhibitions were greeted by all classes of his sub
jects with scorn and laughter. " The unfortunate
weakness which the king showed for his minions — his
indolent indifference to the murmurs of his people,
which first alienated M. d'Alencon and disgusted the
due de Guise ; and his solitary egotism — were the causes
which chiefly prevented this prince from becoming the
idol of his subjects, the dread of his enemies, and the
ornament and paragon of the monarchs of his time,"
says a contemporary historian1 well versed in the history
of the court of this last sovereign of the house of
Valois. The remains of the deceased king were laid in state
in the chamber in which he died. The ceremony was
brief; the nobles, captains, and minor officers passed in
file before the ealufulque, and sprinkled the coffin with
holy water. The king Henri Quatre performed this sad
office last. The palace was then vacated by all but the
household officers of the late king, and his chaplains
and almoners. The new king took up his abode in the
hotel of M. de Tilly close at band.
The mutilated body of the regicide Jacques Clement,
1 Mathieu : Hist, du Regne de Henri III.

J589J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 373
meanwhile, was drawn on a sledge to the Place in front
of the church of St. Cloud, and, after having been torn
asunder by horses, was burned on the spot, and the
ashes scattered to the wind. A few days afterwards
the prior of the Dominican convent Bourgoing, who
had aided madame de Montpensier in inciting Clement
to commit the crime, was arrested in an attack on a
fauxbourg of Paris by two Huguenot troopers. Henri
IV. sent him to Tours, where the same sentence was
executed on the prior as had been performed on the
dead body of his accomplice.
The death of the king was known in Paris a few
hours after it occurred : the intelligence was hailed with
savage transports. The duchesse de Montpensier de
meaned herself like one possessed : it is recorded that
she wept, screamed, prayed, and laughed in the delirium
of her triumph. The person who first rushed to her
hotel with the news that her dire vengeance had been
satiated was a man from the dregs of the populace.
"Ah, mon ami," exclaimed madame de Montpensier,
throwing her arms round the neck of her informant,
" welcome, welcome ! Is it indeed true ? Are you
very sure of the fact ? That wicked, perfidious tyrant,
can he be dead ? Mon Dieu ! what joy ! whattriumph !
The only drawback to my content is, that he knew not
before he died that it was from my hand the blow
came ! " Turning to her ladies, the duchess said,
" Well, mesdames, what is now your opinion ? My
head seems to me to adhere more firmly on my shoul
ders than it did a few hours ago ! Do you not agree
with me?"1 If madame de Montpensier in reality
uttered words so horrible as the above, which, however,
are recorded by most contemporary historians in their
works whether published or manuscript, who will ven-
1 Chronologie Novennaire. Journal de Henri IIL, etc.

374 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [J589-
ture to deny the possibility that she had recourse to all
the criminal methods attributed to her to inflame the
fanatic zeal of Jacques Clement? In after years
madame de Montpensier vindicated her violence by the
words, " It was my life or the king's life"— meaning
that her decapitation would have surely followed the
surrender of Paris.
The same afternoon madame de Montpensier, accom
panied by her mother the duchesse de Nemours, tra
versed the streets of Paris in an open car drawn by six
horses. The duchess wore a green scarf, and distributed
others on her route. The principal lords and leaders
of the League, after the decease of the due de Guise
and his brother, had always appeared in public girt
with a scarf of black cloth. Whenever the duchess,
during her progress, saw several persons assembled
together, she rose and exclaimed, " Bonnes nouvelles,.
mes amis ! bonnes nouvelles ! Le tyr an est mort ! II
n'y a plus de Henri de Valois en France !" The prin
cesses alighted at the great Franciscan convent where
the deceased king loved to retire, and in the chapel of
which he often held his chapters of the Order of St.
Esprit. The duchesse de Nemours ascended the steps
of the high altar and made an harangue to the people,
who by the command of madame de Montpensier had
been admitted into the chapel. A fresh distribution
was also here made of green scarfs. Afterwards, amidst
enthusiastic cheers, the duchesses returned to the
hotel de Montmorency.1 Paris was, indeed, raging in
an access of that frenzied madness to which, even up
to the present era, it seems her fate to be periodically
subject. " Nothing was heard in Paris," says an
author contemporary with these events/ " but songs
1 Cayet. Davila. Mathieu.
2 Sommaire rfoit des ChoBes Meinorables advenues en France sous le
Regne de Henri IV. jusqu'en 1598, pp. 9, 10, 11.

1589-] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 375
and ribaldry. The due de Mayenne and his followers
assumed green scarfs, and discarded the black scarf
which they had worn since the massacre of Blois.
Banquets, masquerades, and shows were devised, during
which the name of the deceased king was laden with
horrible maledictions. The effigy of the " assassin
martyr" was carved in wood, and painted on canvas,
and sold to decorate the houses of the Leaguers. He
was regarded as canonized, and invoked by many as
a new saint and martyr. His relatives were enriched
by donations and public contributions. The royalists,
on the contrary, detested the name of the assassin ; and
it was discovered that his name, Jacques Clement,
formed the anagram ' c'est I'enfer qui m'a cree ;' and
certes, afterwards it seemed as if all the furies of hell
were let loose to overwhelm our unhappy France." To
one other personage, also, the day of the king's death
was a jubilee ; and few exulted more in the catastrophe
than his sister Marguerite, now queen of France and
Navarre — safe on her impregnable rock of Usson from
the perils of civil conflict.
Suspense and division also reigned throughout the
ranks of the vast army encamped before Paris. The
proud nobles of France, whose ancestors had served
under the banner of the canonized king Saint Louis —
converts many of them also from the League — at length
beheld at their head a Huguenot king. During the
last hours of the late king several, councils had been
holden by the king of Navarre in his quarters at
Meudon, and by some of the principal nobles at St.
Cloud ; but the consternation was too great to permit
of serious discussion. The calamity which had hap
pened had dissolved the bonds which linked together
that army, composed of men of divers nationalities and
interests. The Swiss levies appeared inclined to depart;
the German troops positively announced their resolve

376 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [*589-
to return. The favourites of the late king apprehended
lest they might be deprived of their commands, or dis
graced for their proceedings during the late reign. The
nobles generally shrunk from acknowledging a heretic
prince for their sovereign ; while the Huguenot lords
watched with intense suspicion lest their gallant mon
arch, dazzled by his present altitude, and impressed
with the expediency of conciliating his new subjects,
might renounce his faith and profess the religion of the
majority. On the evening of the decease of the king
the nobles deputed the due de Longueville to wait upon
Henry, and to declare that the title of " Very Christian,
being one of the attributes of the king of France, he
could not assume the title without demonstrating its
reality." During the night of the 3rd of August Henry
held council with some of his most attached servants,
such as Guitry, Beauvais-Nangis, and Segur ; the
orthodox nobles on their side held assembly in the
house of the due de Piney. It was there resolved to
acknowledge Henry's royal title, and to permit his pro
clamation in the camp, on the following conditions :
1. That within six months he would cause himself to
be instructed in the Catholic and apostolic faith. 2.
That during this interval he should bind himself to
nominate no Huguenot to any state office. 3. That he
would permit the nobles to send an ambassage to Rome
to explain to his Holiness the weighty reasons that had
induced them to recognize his sovereignty. Henry
frankly granted these conditions, excepting the second;
but in lieu offered to restore the exercise of the Romish
faith throughout those districts where it had been sup
pressed. At this critical moment Sancy prevailed on
the Swiss captains and their levies to enroll themselves
under the banner of Henri IV. Moved with zeal for
the righteous cause of his sovereign, Sancy harangued
the assembled legions with fervour, and by a timely

1589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 377
pecuniary gift brought them over to a man. This
formidable accession to the Huguenot army — consisting
of 12,000 men, besides the Germans, who presently
also offered their services to the new king — hastened
Henry's recognition. The king solemnly promised to
confirm the privileges of the nobles, to respect their
faith, and to avenge the perfidious slaughter of the de
ceased king. On the 4th day of August an act of re
cognition was signed by all the great nobles in camp,
excepting the due d'Epernon, who declined, under pre
text that the privilege had been given to the marechals
de Biron and d'Aumont, as commanders-in-chief, to
place their signature next to that of the royal princes
— a concession which Epernon stated would, if he
affixed his signature, for ever derogate from the dignity
pre-eminently granted fo him by the late king as a
duke and peer of France.1 Epernon, therefore, re
quested permission to withdraw to his government.
The causes of the duke's cold adherence to the interests
of the prince, whose firm friend he had been on many
occasions during the past reign, can only be surmised.
It was known, however, that Epernon had jealously
resented the partiality lately displayed by Henry III.
towards the king of Navarre, and consequently there
had been grave dissensions between them. The duke,
however, asserted his loyalty; but owned to some
scruples in serving a heretic prince. He added
that he had previously solicited leave of absence
to visit his young consort from the late king, which
bad been granted.2 But the example of Epernon was
1 The duke's patent gave him precedence after the royal princes, the
due de Joyeuse, and all peers not deriving their descent from sovereign
houses. 11 The peerage of Epernon, due de Candale and de la Valette, Captal
de Buch, became soon extinct in the direct line. The duke had one
son, Bernard Nogaret de la Valette, who espoused Gabrielle, daughter
of Henri IV. and the marquise de Verneuil, but died without issue,

37S HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [l589-
infectious, and many of the principal nobles suddenly
found themselves compelled to depart to their govern
ments. The king granted permission to retire to all
those who sought it without remark or remonstrance.
Henry, however, ever bore the due d'Epernon great re
sentment for this untimely defection. The dues de
Montpensier and Longueville, the marechal d'Aumont,
the prince de Conti, the young comte d'Auvergne,
Biron, Montmorenci sieur de Damville faithfully ad
hered to the fortunes of their sovereign.
After the solemn recognition of his kingly rights by
the great majority of the nobles and other illustrious
personages present in the camp of St. Cloud, Henry
IV. resolved reluctantly to raise the siege of Paris and
retreat into Normandy, the greater part of which pro
vince had submitted to the due de Montpensier, who
had acknowledged his authority. The funeral solem
nities of the deceased king had yet to be performed ;
the League held St. Denis; while the hate demonstrated
by the Parisians towards their late sovereign rendered
it impolitic to deposit his body in the church of St.
Cloud. The heart of king Henry, however, was en
closed in a coffer of lead,1 and secretly interred on one
side of the high altar in the church of St. Cloud.
Benoise, the faithful and attached secretary of Henry
IIL, superintended the ceremony. After the pacifica
tion of the troubles of France, Benoise erected a mag
nificent mausoleum or small chapel inlaid with rare
marbles over the spot where he had deposited the coffer,
and for which he composed the following inscrip
tion: —

July, 1661. The title passed to the house of Montespan, which became
extinct in 1727, when the duchy of Epernon reverted to the house of
Noailles by the favour of the king Louis XV.
1 The leaden pipes and the basins of the fountains which adorned the
gardens of St. Cloud were taken to make the royal coffin.

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 379
D. O. M.
iEternaj Memorise Henrici III. Gallise et Polonies Regis.
Adsta, viator, et dole Regum vicem.
Cor Eegis isto conditum est sub marmore,
Qui jura Gallis, Sarmatis jura dedit,
Tectus ciieullo hunc sustulit sicarius,
Abi, viator, et dole Regum vicem
Quod ei optaveris tibi eveniat.
C. Benoise, Scriba Regius, et Magister Rationtim, Domino suo
beneficentissimo, meritiss.
P. A. 1594
When this ceremony was concluded an authentic act
was drawn to be forwarded to Rome, stating that king
Henry before his decease had made submission to the
Holy See, and had therefore been absolved by Etienne
Boulogne, who administered the last sacraments of the
Church. The document was signed by all the Roman
Catholic peers present at the king's decease. It was
noted, -however, that Henry III. left no evidence of
his repentance by commanding the liberation of the
cardinal de Bourbon and the archbishop of Lyons.
The intelligence of the assassination of the king had
been received with transport in Rome. Sixtus V. as
cended the pulpit before the Consistory holden in the
Vatican, September 11th, 1589, and lauded the deed
of the regicide, exalting his act above the exploits of
Judith and Eleazer;1 " for," said his Holiness, the uni
versal Father of Christendom, " such a holy, glorious,
and pious act could only have been inspired and exe
cuted by the admirable and immediate interposition of
Almighty God. God, our Almighty Lord, in thus
saving miraculously the city of Paris, punished also
the iniquities committed by deceased monarchs of
France. To Him, therefore, be ascribed glory and
1 Harangue du Saint Pere Sixte V. prononcee en plein Consistoire
le 2 Septembre, 1589, en Latin et en Francais, en 8vo. Paris, 1589.

3S0 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [^589-
honour, and to the sainted martyr Clement our tribute
of veneration !" Such is a specimen of the blasphemous
oration publicly pronounced by Sixtus V. The funeral
services performed in the papal city by command of his
Holiness were for the repose of the soul of the traitor,
and not for that of his victim.
On the 5 th day of August king Henry decamped
from before Paris, taking with him the body of the
late king, which he had resolved to deposit in the
abbey church of St. Corneille of Compiegne, until more
peaceful times permitted of its transfer to the Chapelle
de Valois in the church of St. Denis. The funeral
cortege was attended by the prince de Conti, the due
de Montpensier, Charles bastard of France, the mare
chal de Biron, and the eldest son of the due de Mont
morenci. On the road to Compiegne king Henry as
saulted and took the towns of Meulan and Clermont,
the body of the deceased king, meantime, being placed
under a pavilion and guarded by a company of the
guards. On the 24th day of August the procession
reached the abbey of St. Corneille. The coffin of the
king was placed under a chapelle ardente erected on
one side of the high altar, with few ceremonies, as its
rest there was deemed temporary.
The body of Henry III. remained at St. Corneille
until after the assassination of his successor Henri
Quatre, who likewise died in the arms of the due
d'Epernon. Marie de Medici, the widow of Henry
IV., caused the coffin of Henry III. to be transported
from St. Corneille, June 16th, 1610, and that of queen
Catherine de Medici from the church of St. Sauveur
de Blois to St. Denis, where one ceremonial finally
consigned the remains of the three princes — Henry IV.,
Henry IIL, and Catherine de Medici — who had played
so conspicuous a part in the events of the sixteenth

J589.J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 381
century, to the tomb.1 The bishop of Seez pronounced
the funeral oration of Henry III.
Henry IIL, the last male representative of the august
line of Valois, died at St. Cloud, August 2nd, 1589,
aged thirty-eight years, after a troublous reign of fifteen
years and two months.
King Henry was a bountiful benefactor to the
monastic establishments of his reign. He founded
superb monasteries at Vincennes and in the Fauxbourg
St. Honore of Paris. He also repaired and magnifi
cently adorned the chapel of Notre Dame de Clery,
and the tomb of St. Martin in the cathedral church
of Tours. During the reign of Henry III. the Pont
Neuf was commenced under the famous architect
Jacques du Cerceau, to the construction of which the
king munificently contributed. Many beautiful archi
tectural works were completed during this reign. The
Sainte Chapelle at Champigny, the magnificent palace
of the dues de Montpensier, was embellished with
numerous works of art, and by a superb window of
painted glass representing the history of St. Louis.
After the intelligence reached queen Louise of the
fatal catastrophe of St. Cloud, she retired from the castle
of Chinon to Chenonceau, the beautiful chateau which
had appertained to the deceased queen Catherine de
Medici, once also the abode of Diane de Poitiers. Louise
mourned the untimely death of Henry IIL, and was
constant in her endeavours to avenge it. From that
period she completely broke off all relations with her
own kindred of Lorraine, and sincerely embraced the
cause of Henry IV. Of the duchesse de Montpensier2
1 Hist, de la Mere et du Fils— Mezeray. St. Marthe . Hist. Gene"a-
logique de la Royale Maison de France. Art. Henri III.
2 Catherine de Lorraine died May 6, 1597, at the age of 45. She
married the due de Montpensier August 28th, 1561. Her dowry
amounted to 300,000 livres. The duchess was buried in the nunnery
of Les Filles Dieu in Paris.

38.0 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [J589-
the queen could never speak without shuddering, deem
ing her, as she said, " the assassin of her deceased lord."
At Chenonceau the queen passed her forlorn widowhood
in the practice of rigid austerities. Mournful notes of
solemn requiems for the departed perpetually echoed
through those apartments once dedicated to the profli
gate revels of the court of Catherine de Medici. The
queen's apartments consisted of two chambers contigu
ous to the chapel, hung with black cloth. The ceilings
and wainscots were painted black, and embossed with
cornucopias and silver tears. There is still extant an
eloquent appeal from the pen of Louise to Henry IV.,
asking for justice on the murderers of her husband,
written in elegant French.1 She was indefatigable in
this her pursuit; and in the year 1593 the queen jour
neyed from Chenonceau to Mantes to ask audience of
the king. Henry received her publicly in the church
of Notre Dame. There, falling at the king's feet, Louise
implored him to avenge the cruel murder of her dear
lord and husband ; and, moreover, to cause the body
of the late king to be removed for interment at St.
Denis. Henry raised the queen, aud promised to
comply with her petition at some future time, when
affairs of state and the fortune of war should have
placed the culprits within reach of " la justice du roi."
The following day Louise returned to Chenonceau, and
spent a melancholy interval of seven years in the
strictest seclusion. As an alleviation to her grief, the
queen invited and provided lodging at Chenonceau for
1 Queen Louise writes in a transport of grief in her first letter ad
dressed to Henry IV., dated September 6th. She says : "Cette plus
que barbare assassinat me fait croire M. mon frere tout aide et support
de vous en la justice que vous en demande la desolee veuve qu'il a laissee,
de cette enorme et execrable mechancete ; ne desirant plus de vie que
pour voir la punition faite de ceux qui me le rende si miserable."— MS.
Bibl. Imp. Edth. 9129, fol. 1. Also for documents relating to Louise
see MSS. Dupuy, 137, 579.

1589.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 383
a number of Capuchin nuns. In her will she left the
sum of 20,000 crowns in trust to her sister-in-law, the
duchesse de Mercosur, to build and endow a convent
for the reception of these ladies at Bourges. For some
unknown reason, however, the duchess, by the advice
of the king, chose to transgress the directions of the
foundress as to the locality of the convent, and caused
a site to be purchased in the Rue St. Honore, Paris.
On the 18th of June, 1606, the Capucines took pos
session of their house, which was the first nunnery of
the order established in France.
In the year 1600 queen Louise, whose health suffered
greatly from the damp atmosphere of Chenonceau, re
moved to the castle' of Moulins, leaving her beloved
chateau to the sole occupation of the Capucines. She
sank, however, and died of dropsy and general decline,
at Moulins, on the 29th day of January, 1601, at the
age of 47.
A poet of the day composed the following lines to
the memory of Louise, in which allusion is made to the
nature of her last malady : —
Celle la dont le nom remplissoit tout le monde
Par sa dernier adien le remplit tout de deuil ;
Son ame emplit le ciel de sa gloire feconde ;
Son corps ne peut emplir de sa cendre un cercueil !
Queen Louise was interred before the high altar in
the chapel of her Capuchin nuns.1 The nuns removed
the body of their foundress in 1688, when they took
possession of more spacious premises in the Rue Neuve
des Petits Champs. In 1806 the Capucine convent was
demolished, with its rich and beautiful chapel ; and the
Rue de la Paix now extends over the entire site, in
cluding the extensive pleasure-grounds attached. The
1 The funeral oration of the queen was preached by le Pere Thomas
d' Avignon, Capuchin ; and a life of Louise was published, entitled "Le
Miroir des Veuves."- The author was Nicholas Gazet, Cordelier.

3S4 HENRY III. KING !' ' A. \ • ")-')¦
jaspar tomb of queen Louise was t.. ,n con', yud <¦¦> .he
Musee des Monuments Francais, and her asl.es \,-< • de
posited in a vault at St. Denis.
It appertains not to this history to detail the
glorious exploits by whicli Henry IV. finally won the
crown of his ancestors. The assassination of Henry III.
was never avenged. The length of time which had
elapsed since the commission of the deed ; the difficul
ties which beset the early years of Henry's government,
and the clemency of his disposition, combined to frus
trate the demands of justice. On the capitulation of
Paris, 1594, the king, on the evening succeeding his
entry, visited the duchesses de Nemours and Mont
pensier, and confirmed his previous promises of immu
nity from the retribution wbich the latter especially
merited. In 1596, the due de Mayenne made his
submission, when in the articles of accommodation it
was specially provided that no inquiries or pursuit of
justice should be made concerning the death of the late
king ; but a pardon under the great seal was granted to
all personages suspected, or proved to have participated
in that crime. The words "princes et princesses" were
inserted in the act of amnesty, on account of the
duchesse de Montpensier. The parliament of Paris
was prohibited by edict from receiving petitions re
specting the assassination of Henry III. There was
only one individual in France sufficiently courageous to
appeal against this amnesty — Diane de France, duchesse
d'Angouleme, wrote with her own hand a protest, to
which she procured the signature of queen Louise, and
in person presented the document to the Chambers.
Henry III. assumed for his device three crowns one
of which appeared to descend from a heaven beset with
stars, with the motto — Manet ultima Cojlo.
THE END.

3 9002 00964 1789

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