The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria Part 12

This same year Margaret's eldest niece, Eleanor, was married to Emmanuel, King of Portugal, who had previously married first Isabel and then Maria, both daughters of Ferdinand and Isabella. Her elderly husband did not long survive his third marriage, but died in 1523, and was succeeded by John III., who, in the following year, married Eleanor's youngest sister, Katharine.

Since the summer Maximilian's health had gradually been declining. In July he presided for the last time at the Diet of Augsburg, and earnestly pressed for the fulfilment of his two dearest wishes--the fitting out of a crusade against the Turks, and the elector's promise to secure the succession to the imperial crown for his grandson, Charles. To this latter request there existed the obstacle, that as he himself had never been crowned by the Pope, he was only regarded by the Roman See as King of the Romans, and therefore Charles could not be invested with that dignity. Maximilian, however, spared no means to gain his ends, and bribed heavily wherever he thought it advisable.

Charles appears to have objected to the exorbitant price that was put upon the imperial crown, knowing well that he would one day have to raise the promised sums from his resources in Spain, but his grandfather and Margaret, with their councillors, overruled his objections, and strongly advised him not to bargain for fear of the French king profiting by his stinginess. In an enigmatical letter Margaret thus expresses herself:--'The Lord King, my nephew, has written to us that the horse on which he wishes to come and see us is very dear. We know well that it is dear; but as matters stand, if he does not wish to have it, there is a buyer ready to take it, and, since he has broken it in, it seems a pity that he should give it up, whatever it costs him.'[60] Whilst Maximilian was engaged in taking measures to obtain his desires, the elector's attention was fully occupied by formidable religious troubles. The monk, Martin Luther, had arisen and vehemently declaimed against certain practices of the Church of Rome, and a spirit of revolt and restlessness was in the air. Maximilian does not appear to have been greatly interested in the commencement of the Reformation. Although in his letters to Margaret he often satirically complained of 'les beaux pratikes de la sainte mere de l'eglise,' still he was far from upholding any schism in the Church, and urged on by the solicitations of the monks, he wrote to Leo X. asking him to determine the religious disputes by his decision, and summoned Luther to appear with a safe conduct before the Diet of Augsburg to answer for his attack on the system of Indulgences. Luther arrived too late for the a.s.sembly, and the emperor never saw him, but at the subsequent interview that took place before the Cardinal Legate the monk was told he must either recant his heresies or depart. He refused to recant, and departed to Wittenberg, there to write and publish an account of his interview, which was read far and wide, and helped to further the spirit of schism and revolt.

[60] Gachard, _Rapport sur les Archives de l'Ancienne Chambre des comptes de Flandre a Lille_.

After a summer spent at Innsbruck, where he was attacked by an intermittent fever, the emperor travelled to Wels, in Upper Austria, hoping that the pure country air would restore his health. But the fever continued, aggravated, it is said, by too violent exercise, and an imprudent indulgence in melons. Soon dysentery supervened, and on the 12th of January 1519 he pa.s.sed away in the sixtieth year of his age.

As long as he had been able to do so, Maximilian bravely attended to public business, but racked with fever at night, and unable to sleep, he tried to soothe his weariness by having the history of the House of Austria and legends of the saints related to his house read aloud to him. Feeling that his end was near, he asked for a Carthusian monk from Brisgau. When the monk entered his room the emperor sat up and received him with every sign of joy, and turning to the officers standing round his bed he said: 'This is the man who will show me the way to heaven.' With an untroubled mind, and every semblance of piety, he received the last sacraments, and gave minute directions as to his burial, which he wished to be as simple as possible. To show the emptiness of human greatness he ordered that after death his teeth should be drawn, his body polled and shaved (_rase et epile_), and exposed for a whole day, then enclosed in a sack of quicklime and placed in a coffin which he had carried about with him since 1515, and buried in the church of the castle of Nieustad under the altar dedicated to Saint George, in such a position that his head should be under the feet of the celebrant. His heart he wished to be buried at Bruges, near his first wife, Mary of Burgundy, 'sa reelle epouse.'

Having thus made all arrangements, he took leave of those present, raising his hand and giving them his blessing. 'Why do you weep,' he asked, 'because you see in me a mortal? Such tears suit women better than men.' And thus calmly and fearlessly Maximilian faced death, reverently responding to the monk's prayers until his voice failed; but when he could no longer utter, still showed by signs that he followed the holy office, until sinking into unconsciousness, with a smile upon his face, he pa.s.sed away before the dawn.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN I AND HIS FAMILY FROM THE PAINTING BY BERNHARD STRIGEL IN THE IMPERIAL MUSEUM, VIENNA]

Maximilian was twice married; first, to Mary of Burgundy, through whom he became possessed of the vast domains of that house; and secondly, to Bianca Sforza, daughter of the Duke of Milan, by whom he had no children. Of a kindly and chivalrous nature and endowed with many good qualities, Maximilian was popular amongst his subjects, but obtained little esteem from his contemporaries, owing to a radical inconstancy and indecision of temper, and an extravagance which involved him in perpetual pecuniary embarra.s.sments. Margaret was not present at her father's death, but no one felt his loss more keenly than she did, for he had ever shown himself an affectionate and devoted parent, and though so often parted, their intercourse had been, as their correspondence proves, of the closest and most intimate kind. Her grief found vent in a long poem or lament, in which she enumerates her many sorrows:

'.... O mort trop oultrageuse!

Tu a estain la fleur chevaleureuse Et as vaincu celluy qui fust vainqueur, Maximilien, ce tres-n.o.ble Empereur, Qui en bonte a nul ne se compere.

C'estoy Cesar, mon seul seigneur et pere, Mais tu l'as mis en trop piteux estat, Sepulture au chasteau Nieustat....'[61]

[61] 'Complainte de Marguerite sur la mort de Maximilien son pere' (_Alb.u.ms de Marguerite d'Autriche_, p. 101).

Amongst the condolences which she received there is an interesting joint-letter in Latin from Anne of Hungary (who was betrothed to Ferdinand of Austria), and from Ferdinand's sister Mary (affianced to Louis of Hungary). The letter is written from Innsbruck on the 22nd of January and signed by both princesses.

Maximilian did much to improve his country, and greatly encouraged art and learning. He especially favoured the universities of Vienna and Ingoldstadt, and caused at least two works to be written under his own personal direction--_Theuerdank_ in verse, and _Weiss Kunig_ in prose--in both of which he figures as the hero. He also rendered an important service to Germany by abolis.h.i.+ng the famous secret tribunal of Westphalia.

Charles was on his way to Barcelona when he received the news of his grandfather's death. Deputing Adrian of Utrecht to hold the Cortes of Valencia, he hurried from Barcelona to Corunna on the Galician coast, intending to set sail for his new kingdom. His appointment of Adrian as sole regent was the crowning insult to Spanish feelings; the Cardinal had little experience and less ability; above all he was of low birth and a foreigner, and the king had promised to bestow no office on 'those who were not natives of the kingdom.' Besides, a Cortes had been summoned to meet at Santiago in Galicia, outside Castile, and the Castilians felt deeply injured. Discontent was rife on all sides, and many wild rumours were afloat. It availed little that Charles in his broken Spanish promised to return in three years.

The deputies were not mollified, and demurred to granting the desired subsidy, which was only reluctantly voted. Charles excused his hurried departure from Spain on the plea of his obligation to attend to his new dominions, but this excuse did not pacify his discontented subjects, who foresaw the misery of his prolonged absence, with a hated foreigner as regent.

Maximilian's death revived Francis I.'s hopes of gaining the much-coveted imperial crown, for he was not long in recognising the equivocal and expectant att.i.tude of the electors who had formally promised their votes to the dead emperor. He now entered the lists as Charles's rival, and tried to gain over the electors by every means in his power.

Margaret was in despair at the apparent small chance of her nephew's success, and with the advice of her Council prepared to send the Archduke Ferdinand into Germany to look after his brother's interests, and suggested that Charles should waive his claim in favour of Ferdinand, whose candidature would be less likely to be opposed by the Pope and the German princes.

But Charles was as adamant, and indignantly rejected this proposal, a.s.serting that it had been his grandfather's wish that he alone should succeed to the imperial dignities, and for this end the electors had promised him their votes. If Ferdinand was chosen, the empire would be weakened, and the House of Austria divided, to the gratification of his enemies. 'He alone,' he haughtily said, 'ought to be emperor in order to uphold the splendour of his House, and realise the great designs he had conceived for the good of Christianity. Should our person be elected, as is reasonable from what has gone before, we could carry out many good and great plans, and not only preserve and keep the dominions that G.o.d has given us, but greatly increase them, by giving peace, repose, and tranquillity to all Christendom, in exalting and upholding our holy Catholic faith which is our chief foundation....'[62]

[62] M. Theodore Juste, _Charles-Quint et Marguerite d'Autriche_.

Margaret hastened to justify her conduct in a letter to Charles on the 21st of March, in which she said that when the news of Maximilian's illness reached the Netherlands, the Council had judged it wiser to send Ferdinand to Germany to watch over Charles's hereditary domains, but that the archduke would yield to his brother's wishes, 'for,' she added, 'one could not see a better or more debonair prince of his age.'

As matters turned out, Charles's determination was fully justified, for Francis's methods had not proved successful, and had only alienated him from some of his most powerful supporters. The condottiere, Franz von Sickingen, the Duke of Bouillon, and his brother erard de la Marck, Bishop of Liege, offended by Francis's treatment of them, went over to the Court of Brussels and upheld the interest of the Spanish king.

The rivalry which from henceforth existed between the two young monarchs promised ere long to break the friendly relations with which Charles's reign began, but Margaret with her usual diplomacy saw the danger of a rupture with France at such a moment, and strongly advised Charles to keep on good terms with his rival. Acting on this wise advice, when Robert de la Marck left France and joined the Court at Brussels, Charles's amba.s.sadors hastened to a.s.sure the French king that their master had taken no part in Robert's defalcation, and to support their a.s.sertion proposed that Charles should marry Francis's youngest daughter, Princess Charlotte, which offer was very well received.

To get an idea of the activity and political talents Margaret displayed in connection with Charles's election one must read her correspondence with Frederick, Count Palatine, Maximilian de Berghes, Henry of Na.s.sau, her treasurer Marnix, the Cardinals of Sion and Gurce, John de la Saulx, and Gerard de Pleine, and glance through her accounts and receipts, which show what enormous sums were spent in presents, bribes, pensions, and salaries on all those who were likely to contribute to the desired end. The Archbishops of Cologne, Mayence, and Treves, and their councillors received between them nearly five hundred florins in gold. In these curious accounts large sums appeared to have been lavished not only on the princ.i.p.al negotiators, but on their relations, friends, and servants. Thus five hundred florins are given to the Archbishop of Treves' nephew, a hundred to the Cardinal of Mayence's valet-de-chambre, and a present of two thousand florins is promised to Count John, the elector of Cologne's brother, who is supposed to have more influence than the elector himself.[63]

[63] These doc.u.ments are amongst the archives of Lille.

Margaret also drew largely from her own revenues in furthering her nephew's interests, and transferred to him the duchies and lords.h.i.+ps she had inherited from Maximilian. In grateful appreciation Charles presented her with the town and territory of Malines for her life and a sum of two hundred thousand golden florins (the deed being signed on September the 18th, 1520, at Brussels). In a long letter written from Barcelona, on the 22nd of February 1519, he thanks her warmly for all the trouble she has taken with regard to his election, recommending her to spare no means to obtain the desired end. He says:--

'Madame ma bonne tante et tres chiers et feaulx, nous avons recus vos lettres des viii et onze de ce mois, ensemble plusieurs copies de lettres que ont ete escriptes a vous notre tante, d'Allemagne, d'Angleterre et ailleurs, par lesquelles vos lettres avons congneu le grand soing, devoir et diligence que portez en tout nos affaires et singulierement en celuy d'Allemagne, et louons les bonnes depesches que y avez fait vers les princes electeurs et autres, et l'envoy des personnaiges tant en Allemagne, Angleterre et Rome, louant aussy Dieu notre Createur que nos affaires sont en si bon train partout, et que y faites si bonne provision de votre couste, comme faisons ici de la notre, sans y rien epargner, et ne cessons de continuellement en ecripre a Rome, Angleterre, Allemagne et ailleurs par tout ou il est besoing et necessite; car, pour un tel et si gros affaire, ne voulons cette fois riens obmettre. Vous recommandant tousjours perseverer en vos bonnes diligences, selon la confidence que en portons a vous.

'Il nous semble que le seigneur de Zevenberghe et autres nos conseillers, out tres prudement fait et advise d'avoir envoie le marquis Casimirus et comte de Mansfeldt devers le marquis Joachim et de la outre vers le duc Federicq de Saxe. Nous esperons que les deux bonnes lettres que avons nagueres ecript de nostre main au comte Federicq palatin, inclineront luy et son frere a perseverer en la promesse qu'ils nous ont faite. Nous tenons aussy que le comte de Na.s.sau ou de Hoghostraet en pa.s.sant pardevers l'archeveque de Coulongne, feront quelque bien vers luy. Nous desirons que faites pratiquer Franciscus de Seckinghen si fait ne l'avez, pour l'avoir en notre service, et appointer de son traitement avec luy, ainsi que, par plusieurs fois, le vous avons ecript.

'Nous faisons presentement response au seigneur de Zevenberghe sur lesdites lettres, et luy envoions nouveau pouvoir, instruction et lettres de credence, delaissant le nom en blan de celuy qui en aura la charge par l'advis des gens de notre conseil d'Isbroeck, pour envoyer devers les Suisses renouveller et confirmer les alliances que nos maisons d'Austriche et de Bourgogne ont avec eux, et les faire plus estroites et meilleures, s'il est possible.

'Nous escripvons aussy au Cardinal de Gurce, ledit seigneur de Zevenberghe, Villinger et autres nos conseillers, que s'ils sont requis de notre part par la grande lighe de Swane d'a.s.sistance come chief d'icelle lighe, et voyent que ce soit notre bien, proufit, seurete et avancement de nos affaires, qu'ils prendent led. Franciscus de Seckinghen avec six cens chevaux pour un mois ou deux, et les baillent en a.s.sistance de ladite lighe contre le duc de Wirtemberghe, et payent iceux chevaux des deniers que Amerstorff avoit emporte pour lever les IIII{m} pietons que devoient aller a Naples.

'Par les lettres que naguerre nous a ecript le roy d'Angleterre, et ce que nous a dit son amba.s.sadeur etant lez nous, avons entendu la bonne affection qu'il nous porte a l'avancement de notre election, et qu'il a ecript bien affectueus.e.m.e.nt a notre Saint Pere le pape de la vouloir favoriser et donner charge au Cardinal de Syon soy trouver de sa part a la journee de l'election, pour y faire pour nous ce qu'il sera possible, et soubs espoir que avons notredit saint Pere donnera ladite charge audit Cardinal de Syon, et la confidence que prendons qu'il nous servira bien en cest affaire, mandons au Foucker et a Villinger bailler a iceluy cardinal mil florins d'or pour l'ayder a ses depens.

'Et pour mercyer ledit roy d'Angleterre, lui escripvons presentement gratieuses lettres et aussy au cardinal d'Yorck, et pareillement a notre amba.s.sadeur maitre Jean Jonglet, en la sorte que verrez par nos lettres cy rendues ouvertes, lesquelles leur envoyerez closes et diligemment....'[64]

[64] M. le Glay, _Correspondance de l'Empereur Maximilien I. et de Marguerite d'Autriche_.

The Pope at first warmly upheld Francis I.'s claim and opposed his rival, but he soon saw that the French king had small chance of success, whilst all seemed in favour of Charles. Leo X. did not dissemble that he would have preferred a less powerful emperor than either the King of Castile or the King of France--'but,' as Charles confidently wrote to his envoys in Germany, 'if it should come to choosing either of us two, he has given out that he would be better pleased with us than with the said King of France, and would not refuse us the said dispensation nor any other thing that we should ask.'[65]

[65] This letter was dated from Barcelona, 16th and 20th April 1519.

Although things seemed to be in his favour, still the King of Spain's election was far from a certainty. Henry of Na.s.sau, writing to Margaret, did not conceal the difficulties that had to be overcome.

'The king,' he says, 'is little known in Germany; the French have said much against him, and the Germans, who come from Spain, have hardly said any good.'

Whilst the struggle between the rival kings' agents continued, the kings themselves were no less anxious as to the final issue. Charles was certain that if the imperial crown left the House of Austria the French would lay claim to his hereditary German states as well as to his kingdom of Naples; and besides being forced to renounce for ever the recovery of the duchy of Burgundy, he might even run the risk of being despoiled of the Netherlands.

On the other hand, the possible election of Charles filled Francis with dismay. On the 16th of April 1519 he wrote to his amba.s.sadors in Germany: 'You understand the reason that moves me to acquire the empire and prevent the Catholic king from acquiring it. If he gets it, seeing the greatness of the kingdoms and lords.h.i.+ps he possesses, he might, in time, do me inestimable harm. I should always be uneasy and mistrustful, and it is to be feared that he would take good care to drive me out of Italy.'

But at last the long struggle came to an end, the Pope withdrew his opposition, and Margaret was rewarded by Charles's election at Frankfort as King of the Romans on June 28th, 1519, five months and ten days after Maximilian's death. The news of his election was conveyed in nine days from Frankfort to Barcelona, where Charles was detained by the Catalonian Cortes. His coronation, which gave him the t.i.tle of 'Romanorum Imperator,' did not take place until the following year. The t.i.tle of Emperor, though carrying with it no possessions, gave him the position of 'first of earthly potentates in dignity and rank.'

Louise of Savoy bitterly alludes to her son's successful rival in her diary. 'En Juillet, Charles Ve de ce nom, fils de Philippe, archiduc d'Autriche, fut, apres que l'Empire eut este vacant par l'es.p.a.ce de cinq mois, eleu roy des Romains en la ville de Francfort. Pleut a Dieu qu'il eust plus longuement vacquee, ou bien que pour jamais on l'eust laisse entre les mains de Jhesus-Christ, auquel il appartient et non a d'autres.'[66] Public rejoicings and processions gave expression to the Netherlanders' joy at this great event, and the States enthusiastically voted 200,000 crowns for the expenses of the forthcoming coronation. On the 30th of June Margaret informed the governors of the provinces of Charles's election, and at the same time ordered the towns and villages to give thanks to G.o.d 'by processions, sermons, pious prayers and orisons,' and to have 'fireworks, rejoicings, and other festivities which were suitable and usual in such a case.' In her letter to the Governor of Lille she triumphantly says: 'We have, this hour, received letters from the amba.s.sadors of the king, my lord and nephew, who are now in Germany, in which they inform us that... MM. the electors of the Holy Empire have unanimously, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit... elected my said lord and nephew King of the Romans.... We command you... to inform his good subjects... requesting them to praise and render thanks to G.o.d our Creator, by processions, sermons, devout prayers and orisons.'

[66] _Journal de Louise de Savoye._

Margaret's instructions were well carried out, and the festivities lasted a month until the end of July.

But Charles was badly needed in Flanders, for the four years' truce with Charles of Gueldres had expired, and the Guelderlanders were again giving trouble. Margaret's hands were full, and she anxiously awaited her nephew's arrival. After having handed over the government to Adrian of Utrecht, he left Barcelona on the 20th of January, and disregarding the murmurs of his Spanish subjects, who were smarting under the insult of a Castilian Cortes being summoned to meet at Santiago, pa.s.sed through Burgos, Valladolid, and Gallicia to the port of Corunna.

He set sail towards the end of May and steered a straight course for England, intending to pay a visit to Henry VIII. and his aunt, Queen Katharine. A negotiation had for some time been secretly carried on between Cardinal Wolsey and the Court of Spain, and this visit was not as sudden as it appeared. In the previous March Charles had sent envoys to England to propose a friendly visit during his intended journey from Spain to Flanders. In a letter written to Charles by his amba.s.sadors from London on the 19th of March 1520 we learn that King Henry sent for them to Greenwich on the previous day, which was a Sunday, and after ma.s.s took them aside, Cardinal Wolsey and Queen Katharine being present, and told them that he was very glad that things had turned out as they had done, and addressing Queen Katharine said, that when the emperor, his brother, and her nephew should arrive, he hoped to see him before meeting his brother of France....

That he had written to the French king to postpone seeing him until later, but had taken care not to give any reason for so doing. He hoped he would receive a favourable reply, for he thought it hardly possible that the King of France had heard of the emperor's intended visit to England, for when he heard of it he would not be pleased, and for this reason things were to be kept as secret as possible. 'The queen then raised her eyes to heaven and praised G.o.d for the hope she had for the fulfilment of her dearest wish, which was to see your Majesty, and humbly thanked her lord the king, making him a very low curtsey, and the said lord king took off his cap and said to her, "We on our side will do all that we can...."'[67]

[67] _Monumenta Hapsburgica._

With every precaution of secrecy a treaty was signed on the 11th of April minutely arranging the reception of Charles by Henry and Katharine, either at Sandwich on his way to the Netherlands, or at a subsequent meeting between Calais and Gravelines.

It was towards the end of May when news was brought to Henry at Canterbury that the emperor's fleet had been sighted off Plymouth, and was sailing up the Channel. Wolsey was sent off at once to greet Charles with a Latin speech and invite him to land. Surrounded by his suite and a goodly retinue, Charles landed at Dover on May 26th, and was conducted to the castle, where, early on the following morning, Henry arrived and warmly welcomed his nephew. Amidst cheering crowds, who wondered at the simplicity of the Spanish king's dress and following, the two monarchs rode together to Canterbury, where Queen Katharine impatiently awaited her sister's son. By her side was her little daughter, Mary Tudor, a fair-haired child of four, with big brown eyes, and near her stood the elder Mary Tudor, the beautiful d.u.c.h.ess of Suffolk, former Queen of France. Charles stayed four days feasting at Canterbury, during which time he cleverly managed to attach Wolsey more closely to his interests by whispering promises of future a.s.sistance when the papal throne should become vacant, and deeply impressing the English king by his mature judgment, deference, and courtesy. It was agreed that the two sovereigns should shortly meet again between Calais and Gravelines, and that Henry should be accompanied by Katharine and Charles by Margaret. And so, with many expressions of goodwill on all sides, Charles set sail from Sandwich for Flanders on the same day that Henry embarked at Dover for Calais on his way to meet Francis between Ardres and Guisnes at the memorable scene of splendour and display known as 'the Field of the Cloth of Gold.'[68]

[68] Martin Hume, _Wives of Henry VIII._, and Theodore Juste, _Charles-Quint et Marguerite d'Autriche_.

On the 1st of June Charles landed at Flus.h.i.+ng at four o'clock in the afternoon, and continued his journey to Bruges, where he was warmly welcomed by Margaret and his brother Ferdinand, surrounded by the chief Flemish n.o.bles, amba.s.sadors from Venice, and deputies from the princ.i.p.al German towns.