Iean Louis de la Vallette Duke of Espernon Pair and Collond Generall of Fraince Gouuernour and Lieutenant Generall for the King in Guienne the Towne and Citadell of Mets and the Country of Messin etc. THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF THE Duke of ESPERNON THE GREAT FAVOURITE OF FRANCE ENGLISHED BY CHARLES COTTON Esq In Three Parts containing Twelve Books Wherein the History of FRANCE is continued from the Year 1598. where D'AVILA leaves off down to our own Times 1642. Orationi Carmini est parva gratia nisi Eloquentia est Summa Historia quoquo modo scripta delectat Plin. LONDON Printed by E. Cotes and A. Clark for Henry Brome at the Gun in Ludgate-street at the West End of St. Pauls MDCLXX To the most Reverend Father in God GILBERT Lord Archbishop of Canterbury HIS GRACE Primate of All England and Metropolitan one of His Majesties Most Honourable PRIVY COUNCIL c. May it please your Grace THAT the Vertues of Great Persons are sometimes dangerous to themselves is too manifest in the Liberty I have taken to prefer the following History to your Graces Patronage your own Affability and Bounty having procur'd you that Inconvenience and Encourag'd me to a Dedication I should not otherwise and at a greater distance of Favour have presum'd to impose upon your Protection a Truth I have not only thought fit to put your Grace in mind of the better to excuse my Presumption but have moreover been prompted thereunto by an honest Vanity I have the World should take notice that how private soever my Life has been I have not altogether convers'd with Obscurity but that I have had the Honour to be sometime known unto and to have been Favour'd by one of the greatest Prelates and the best Men upon Earth Thus my Lord by my own ill govern'd though otherwise not very Criminal Ambition I am put upon a necessity of seeming to accuse that Vertue I have so just reason to magnifie and from whence I have deriv'd so many advantages to colour a boldness that would otherwise admit of no Excuse Neither will this I fear serve me against the Censures of the Time by whom I expect notwithstanding to be accus'd of another sort of Vanity that something of mine may be worthy your Graces Acceptation which if I should absolutely deny the Dedication it self would then convince me of a premeditated injury to your Name I cannot therefore avoid confessing I think this History so fine a thing in it self that if I be not the worst Translator that ever Writ and there is no Triumph due to the best it may very well endure the light and pass amongst good natur'd men with other things that every day sally from the Press which is my true opinion of it and nothing more A more Illustrious Image of Vertue and Honour than is here represented in the Person of the Duke of Espernon in my little Reading I have no where met with a more exemplary Piety a braver Courage a more shining and unblemish'd Loyalty more inviolate Friendships nor a nobler Constancy in all the shocks of Fortune so that I have sometimes thought had there not been a little mixture of Humane Frailty amongst so many excellent Qualities as he was Master of to a very great perfection the Story would have look'd like an Idea of an Hero only and rather a Character of what a Brave man should be than what any man ever truly was There are indeed some Passages in his History that are not altogether to be justified though none that may not methinks be slipt over amongst so many better Pages of his Life like a Counterfeit Piece in a great Summe of Current Gold If my Lord I have been so successful as to make a tolerable Copy of this brave Original and that my endeavour be graciously accepted I have my end I have learn'd that the Best men are not always the hardest to please and ever the aptest to forgive which being granted I shall appear in a good measure justified in the great freedom I have taken to recommend my Book to your Graces perusal and it has so much the better Title to your Acceptance as it is the Fruit of the most innocent part of my time and offer'd with a Heart as grateful for the many Favours I have receiv'd from your Graces Bounty and as full of Honour and Reverence for your Person and Dignity as any Man who in a better and more studied stile may take the boldness to subscribe himself My Lord Your Graces Most Humble and most Obedient Servant Charles Cotton Beresford this 30 th of October 1669. The Preface HAving about three Years since and in the Vacancy of a Country Life taken this Volume in hand before I had gone through the three first Books I was call'd away first by Employment and after dismiss'd from that taken off by so long and so uncomfortable a Sickness that I found my self utterly unfit for any undertaking of this or any other kind and consequently had almost given over all thoughts of proceeding in a work which at some melancholy times I believ'd I might not live to finish Being since restor'd to a better state of Health and coming to review my Papers either the dislike of what I had already done the shame of having been so long in doing it the indisposition my Disease left still hanging upon me the bulk of what I had undertaken the little leisure I conceiv'd I might have wherewith to perform it or all together had almost perswaded me to hold on the same resolution and for ever to let it alone till recollecting my self I remembred I had a greater Obligation upon me which nevertheless I do not think fit to publish in this place to go through with what I had already begun than was to be dissolv'd by any truant Humour or private Aversion of my own I therefore reassum'd my former purpose and some months since took the Book again in good earnest in hand which when I have said any ingenious person may reasonably wonder how a man in good earnest and that has so little to do in the world as I have could be all this tedious time about such a piece of Work as this To which if what I have already said will not serve for an excuse I shall answer that although by my incapacity my ill fortune or both I stand excus'd from publick Employment I have notwithstanding so much private concern of my own to divert me and so few moments to bestow upon my self that I wonder 't is done so soon An Apology I might howâ—ver have spar'd since my haste will I fear be too legible in every Line And now that I have told my Reader why I have proceeded so slowly in the work I conceive it time as men in Prefaces usually do to give some account of the motives that induc'd me to undertake it at all which though they will arise to no better reasons than what
and advancement 236 237 Pignerol in Savoy taken by Cardinal Richelieu 472 Fimentel an Italian Gamester comes to the French Court 235 Piviers open its Gates to the King 114 Plessis Baussonniere sent by the Duke of Espernon to Mareschal Byron 220 221 Plessis Baussonniere comes to the Queen Mother to Blois 343 344 His Death 489 Pompeo Targone an Italian Engineer 393 Pont de Cé assaulted and the Pass gain'd 372 Pontoise surrendred 116 Princes of the Blood discontented 272 Prince of Condé returns to Court and appears dissatisfied with the Duke of Espernon 269 He is confin'd 269 Prince of Condé offers some propositions to the Duke of Espernon 610 Which are rejected by the Duke 612 Prince of Condé made Lieutenant General in Guienne and some other adjoyning Provinces 452 Prince of Condé arrives in Guienne 590 Privas taken by Assault 462 Q. QVeen Anne of Austria arrives at Bordeaux 296 Queen Elizabeth of England sends a Complement to the Duke of Espernon by Mareschal Byron 219 Queen Mother sent to Treat an Accommodation with the Lords of the League 47 Which is concluded at Nemours 49 Queen Mother sent to Treat with the King of Navarre 54 55 Queen Mother Mary de Medici attempts to recover her Liberty 316 She addresses her self to the Duke of Bouillon 317 She escapes from Blois 349 sequ She is receiv'd by the Duke of Espernon 350 She arrives at Loches 351 Her Letter to the Duke of Espernon 352 Her Letter to the King 353 Queen Mother prepares for War and is deserted by all the Nobility excepting the Duke of Espernon 354 She departs from Angoulesme to go to court 366 Queen Mother begins a second War 370 but with ill success 372 Whereupon an Accommodation ensues 373 Queen Mother professes an open hatred to Cardinal Richelieu 471 She retires into Flanders 484 R. RAmefort deserts the Duke of Espernon 176 Ramée a common Souldier receives a strange shot before Royan of which he as strangely recovers 402 Rèbellion breaks out in several Provinces of France 577 Quieted by the Duke de la Valette 580 Reiters enter into France 54 They Article and retire 64 Three Remarkable Stories 616 617 Reply of the Duke of Espernon to the King 240 Retreat of Houdan made by Monsieur de la Valette father to the Duke of Espernon 3 Retreat made by the Cardinal de la Valette 554 Revol made Secretary of State 106 Revolt of Montauban 431 Rhosne a Gentleman of Champagne 192 Richelieu Brother to the Cardinal slain by the Marquis de Themines 362 Rochefort surpriz'd by the Rochellers 301 Rochelle surrendred to the King 457 Rohan Duke takes Armes 462 Royan describ'd 398 399 The Suburbs taken 400 And the Town by assault 402 Rucellay a Florentine 317 He arrives at Sedan 321 Rucellay Treats with the Duke of Espernon about the Queen Mothers Escape from Blois 328 Rucellay deserts the Queen Mother 361 His Gratitude and good Offices to the Duke of Espernon 377 Rupture betwixt the Duke of Espernon and Villeroy Secretary of State 42 Which grows wider 52 53 Rupture betwixt the Duke of Espernon and the Duke de Luines 309 S. SAlly at Aix 152 Two others 157 St. Affrick besieg'd by the Prince of Condé 454 But with ill success 455 St. Affrick taken and dismantled by the Duke of Espernon 486 St. Blancart created Admiral of France 139 St. Germains surrendred to the Duke of Espernon 126 St. Jean'd Angeli surrendred and preserved from being sack'd by the Duke of Espernon 388 St. Jean de Luz taken by the Spaniard 565 St. Luc's Disgrace with the reasons of it 19 20 St. Tropes taken by the Duke of Espernon 150 Retaken by Mesples 179 Savoy practices the Mareschal Byron 286 La Sauvitat taken by Assault 580 Sedition of Guienne 535 Siege of Perigueux rais'd by the Duke of Espernon 107 Sentence of Excommunication against the Duke of Espernon 515 Separation betwixt the Duke de Candalle and the Dutchess his Wife 278 Sieurs de Vaous Brothers desert the Duke of Espernon 176 Skirmish betwixt the Dukes of Espernon and Guise 179 Sobole Deputy Governour of Metz 230 His ingratitude 231 He is depos'd from his Government 232 Society of the Iesuites reestablish'd in Metz 233 Socoa taken by the Spaniard 565 Soubize invades the Country of Medoc 434 He is defeated 435 Spain and Savoy invade the Duke of Mantua 460 Spanish Forces invade Picardy 561 And Guienne 562 Spanish Army defeated by the Duke de la Valette 582 Speech of the Duke of Espernon to the King 78 Speech of the Duke of Espernon in the Council 30 Speech of the Duke of Espernon to his Officers 153 Another 173 Speech of the Duke of Espernon to the Queen upon the Death of Henry the Fourth of France 254 Speech of the Duke of Espernon to the Parliament of Paris 209 T. De Thou involv'd in the Ruine of Cinq-Mars Grand Escuyer of France 635 Tilting at Bordeaux 440 Toiras sent by the Duke de Luines to the Duke of Espernon 369 Truce betwixt Spain and the United Provinces concluded 248 V. VAlette Duke forces le Pas de Suze 461 He is in disgrace 597 Flies into England 598 He is in his Absence sentenc'd to Death 602 Varennes 621 Verneque slain in the Levant 280 Verthamont Intendant de la Justice in Guienne 473 Villandry slain at Aglimant 280 Villebois taken by the Duke of Espernon 127 Villemur reliev'd by the Duke of Espernon 143 Vincentio Ludovici sent from the Queen Mother to the Duke of Espernon 322 W. WAR with England 447 Whereupon follows a Commotion of the Hugonot Party in France 451 War with Savoy 471 Worthy Act of a mean Fellow 551 THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The First Book IOHN Lewis de Nogaret and de la Valette Duke of Espernon whose History I attempt to write though he were in the Progress of a long Life for the most part the Favourite of Fortune stood notwithstanding no less oblig'd to Nature for the advantages he came into the world withal by his Noble Extraction He was descended from an Illustrious Family in the Higher Gascony and so ancient that it has continued above five hundred years from Male to Male without intermission a truth I could without much difficulty prove out of the Records and Evidences in my Custody did not his Genealogy already drawn by a more skilful hand render that pains unnecessary in this place I shall therefore only undertake a Narrative of the â—rincipal Actions of his Life without troubling my Reader or my self with a superfluous Catalogue of his Ancestors The matter of which I intend to treat is of it self so ample as might find work enough for a better Pen and although birth be acknowledg'd by all to be the foundation upon which all superstructures of Fortune do ordinarily erect themselves I should not nevertheless make any mention of this Dukes had not the merit and vertue of Iohn de Valette his
and that bear the greatest sway in all Humane Designs The end of the Second Book THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The Third Book WHilst the Dukes Enemies exercis'd his Vertue with these continual troubles they were themselves no less afflicted with their own Ambition The Assembly of the Estates was held at Bloâ—s where all things in outward shew were dispos'd in favour of the Duke of Guise but still as he approach'd nearer to his Object the greater the height and the more difficult the access unto the place to which he aspir'd appear'd unto him That one remaining step he was to climb to reach the height of his desires seeming to rise still further from him as oft as he attempted to gain it So that tir'd out with so many present difficulties and apprehending yet more those which were to come 't is said he was often almost resolv'd to leave off his Designs and to rely upon the King's Word that had so often assur'd him the enjoyment of his present greatness wherein also he doubted not without any great difficulty to maintain himself The Duke of Mayenne either jealous as some have thought of his Brothers Greatness or else of a more moderate temper than the rest of his Family had often advis'd him to this Resolution but the Cardinal their Brother and the Archbishop of Lyons were the Incendiaries that rekindled his dying Ambition and that hurried him on to that precipice into which they themselves at last fell with him They represented to him by what infinite labours and industry they had plac'd him in that height to which he was already arriv'd That if he ever had resolv'd there to limit his desires and to content himself with a competent Fortune he ought never to have undertaken those pains nor to have undergone those dangers he had so gloriously and so fortunately overcome That the merit of his Ancestors had left him greatness enough to satisfie an ordinary Ambition but that if he ever had the thought of rising above them as doubtless he had the way was open to him and that he had already overcome the greatest difficulties That the greater part of France stood for him and that almost all Foreign Princes and States were favourable to him That God himself seem'd to take his part by giving him a negligent and voluptuous Prince whose nature being softned and unnerv'd by ease and sloth had laid him open to his Designs That it was an easie matter in the condition himself then was to make him sure That not suddenly to do it it was to be fear'd the King might recover from his Lethargy and looking into himself might re-assume his former vigour and recover his almost lost Authoriâ—y That the very fear the King then liv'd in ought to be highly suspected to him That no Counsels were so violent and dangerous as those that proceeded from apprehension or extream necessity That he infinitely deceiv'd himself if he thought there could be any safety for him what promises soever the King might make in that height to which he had already rais'd himself That the Fortune of a Subject was never more unstable and unsafe than when it rendred him suspected to his Prince That he must boldly therefore step out of the quality of a Subject if he would be out of the danger of a Sovereign They further remonstrated to him what Opinion all Europe who were joyn'd together in his Favour what all good Frenchmen who were passionate in his cause what all posterity to which he ought to have a greater regard than to the present could have of his courage if the Duke of Guise only should think himself unworthy of that Dignity to which all the world besides so passionately wish'd he might arrive That he ought then boldly to end what he had so generously begun and so gloriously pursu'd and that though death it self should follow which was not in the least to be doubted it were notwithstanding more honourable to perish in so brave a Design than to survive the shame of not daring to perform it The Duke of Guise whose ambitious and unquiet Spirit was apt enough to take fire at such Counsels as these haughty and mutinous Prelates were fit to give was soon perswaded to renew his former practice and as if he had only suspended the prosecution of his Designs to take a little breath that he might fall on with greater violence he presently sent new dispatches to Rome and into Spain still more and more to fortifie himself in the Authority of the one and Strength of the other assuring further to himself at the same time either by promises or threats by himself or by his Adherents almost all the suffrages of the several Deputies of the Assembly which the King to whom all these practices were very well known being enform'd of and then seeing the manifest danger he was in of losing both his Authority and his Crown he determined to prevent the Duke by Counsels as severe and bloody as his own were rash and mutinous and to cut him off before he should have time to effect what he had so politickly and so dangerously design'dâ— A resolution which â—eing soon agreed upon with some of the Nobility his Majesty knew most faithful to him had the execution of it without further delay committed to eight of the five and forty These five and forty were all of them Gentlemen of approved Valour and for whose fidelity they who had recommended them to the King stood themselves engag'd so that of this Company to which the number had given the name his Majesty made his most assured Guard the greatest part of his Domesticks being become suspected to him and as it were wholly entrusted the safety of his Person to their Fidelity and care They attended him where-ever he went they nightly kept Guard in his Anti-Chamber and as nothing is so powerful as benefits to win the hearts and affections of men there was not one of them who besides his Salary of an hundred Crowns of Gold a month which was very much in those times had not over and above either receiv'd or had not very good reason to expect great recompenses from his Royal bounty So that these men being absolutely ty'd to all his Majesties Interests it was no hard matter to induce them to make an attempt upon the Person of the Duke of Guise against whom the King had conceiv'd a violent and implacable Hatred I shall here say nothing of the manner and circumstances of the Death of this Duke nor of that of the Cardinal of Guise his Brother who at the same time came to the same violent end most of our Historians being particular in that Relation but I can bear testimony that the Duke of Espernon did neither then nor ever since approve of that execution and that although he had receiv'd very hard measure from the Duke in his life he notwithstanding had his great
uncertain Fight where he had promis'd to himself a certain Victory he retyr'd without once daring to attempt any thing upon the Duke highly condemning and complaining of Minieux who by his rashness and impatience had ruin'd so hopeful a Design The Duke having thus rid his hands of his Enemies went to put himself into the danger of his Friends at least those who ought to have been so being engag'd in the same Service but I dare not here publish all I know of this business lest I should revive the memory of an Action that was then condemnâ—d by the King himself and that cannot be approved of now I shall only tell you that the Duke having carried his Prisoners into Corbie they were there peremptorily demanded of him and upon his refusal violently taken and detained from him A dispute that was on both sides carried on with such heat as brought the Duke's Person who could not with any thought of patience endure so great an affront into very great danger and the odds against him was so great that nothing could have been expected but certain death had not the Sieur de Humierres the King's Lieutenant in the place and the Sieur de la Boissiere his Brother-in-law interposing hinder'd the violence was preparing against him and mediated an Accommodation which though it could not obliterate the memory of the offense kept matters notwithstanding from proceeding to the last Extreams Neither was this the last danger the Duke escap'd in his return for as he proceeded on his way to Chartres where the Siege still continued he heard the Marquis d' O his old friend was very busie at the Siege of Pierre Fonds which he had undertaken whom the Duke going to visit he was by him entreated to stay there a few days and by his Authority and those Forces he had then with him to help him to bring his Enterprize to an honourable issue which the Duke as franckly consented to and went immediately into the Trenches to take a view of the order of the Siege where presenting himself with his usual bravery to open view of the Enemy and without other Arms than his Corsset only he receiv'd a Harquebuss-shot in his mouth that passing through one of his cheeks shatter'd his right jaw and coming out at his chin flatted upon his Gorget A shot that every one believ'd had certainly dispatch'd him But being carried to his Lodging and his Wound search'd it was found to be nothing dangerous and in a few days he was in a condition to mount on horse-back After all these good and evil adventures the Duke being at last arriv'd at Chartres he went presently to give the King an accompt of his Voyage not forgetting to make his complaint of the injury done him at Corbie withal humbly entreating his Majesty would be pleas'd to do him Justice which the King had in part already done having order'd his prisoners immediately to be restor'd but their Wounds were such that they all dy'd of them soon after they were left at Corbie so that they who had committed the injury not long surviving the Duke's Quarrel was at an end and all thoughts of revenge were soon extinct and for ever buried in oblivion The Siege of Chartres continued yet some time after the Duke's return which la Bourdaisiere Governour there for the League had so bravely defended as often made the King to repent that undertaking having lost before it the Sieur de Chastillon eighteen Camp-Masters and as may well be imagin'd from thence a great number of common Souldiers Neither did those Forces the Duke of Espernon had left with the King scape better than the rest the King willing to husband the lives of his own Servants in whom he yet repos'd a greater trust than in the Duke continually exposing them to the greatest danger Of these Beaujeu Mascaron and Blumet three Colonels were there slain and also many other Officers by whose valour amongst the rest who perhaps had better fortune the place was at last notwithstanding their notable resistance reduc'd to the necessity of a surrender From thence his Majesty pass'd over into Picardy where he besieg'd and took Noyon and secur'd many other considerable Cities of that Province to his obedience when having after all made a little digression into Champagne the year and that Champagne ended together it being necessary to dispose the Army into several Garrisons to refresh them So that the Duke seeing the time of the year for further Service was now past ask'd leave of the King to retire into his own Government to recruit his Troops that they might be in a better condition to serve his Majesty the year to come to which his Majesty willingly consented dismissing the Duke with great testimonies of an entire satisfaction in his service and an absolute oblivion of all past unkindness The end of the Third Book THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The Fourth Book THE Duke solicitous by his Services to dispossess the King of those evil impressions his Majesty had through the ill Offices of some conceiv'd against him to the prejudice of his Loyalty and affection did now resolve to raise far greater Forces than before for the Summer to come Neither had his Majesty on his part conceal'd his most secret Designs from the Duke's knowledge but on the contrary had invited him again into action and had reserv'd an Employment of great trust and Reputation for him in his Army The Duke also was prepar'd to go and expected with great impatience his Majesties Order for his setting out when he receiv'd the sad news of the death of Mounsieur de la Valette his Brother This Lord after he had beaten the Duke of Savoy out of Provence and made him sustain such losses as had forc'd him to retire into his own Dukedom after he had settled Provence and Dauphiné in his Majesties Obedience and almost rooted out all the seeds of the League in those two Provinces after having by Treaties carried on with infinite Conduct and Prudence interested the Republick of Venice the Dukes of Florence and Mantua in his Majesties Quarrel and obtain'd from these Princes security for thirty thousand Crowns a month to transport the War into the Dutchy of Savoy it self of which also he was to have the management by so powerful a diversion to oblige this Ambitious Prince to defend his own Territories instead of invading his Neighbours Being I say upon the point to execute a design so honourable in it self and so important to the Crown he would yet first absolutely cleanse Provence from the contagion of the League that he might leave no Enemy behind to beget new mischiefs when he should not be near to suppress them To this end therefore he drâ—w his Arâ—y into the Field in the beginning of Ianuary and went to besiege Roquebrune that stood for the League A place which though little was nevertheless so
France one of his own natural Sisters being Daughter to Henry the Great by the Marquise de Verneüil and half Sister to Monsieur de Metz. This young Princess exceeding fair and as finely bred as any person of her condition in the Kingdom had been the ambition of most of the great men of the Court but the Duke of Espernon was preferr'd before all The Queens had brought her along with them to Lyons and her inclination as well as her duty having ty'd her particularly to the Queen the excellency of her Wit and Nature the most acceptable the sweetest and most accomplish'd of her time having acquir'd her a very good share in this Princess affection she stood doâ—btless at that time possess'd of the highest place in her Majesties favour So many advantageous conditions and so many admirable qualities having rendred this Lady one of the most considerable matches in France his Majesty would yet make her overweight by giving her himself two hundred thousand Crowns in Dowry assigning her the County of Senlis a Member of his Crown Lands to enter upon for payment of part of the summe to which the Marquise de Verneüil her Mother added a hundred thousand more The Ceremony of this Marriage was perform'd in the Marquis de Saint-Câ—aumont's House the Kings Lieutenant in the Government of Lionnois but the Magnificences at the Duke 's own Lodgings where the Feast was honour'd with the presence of the King both the Queens and all the great persons of the Court. From such an illustrious Marriage what could be expected less than what we now see a Son and a Daughter Inheritors of their Mothers Vertue and good Qualities as imitators of the Fathers and Grandfathers Bravery and Wisdom whose youth is in so great esteem with all the Court that if the Courage and Merit of the Son which have already been â—ignaliz'd in many honourable occasions have got him a reputation throughout all France the Daughter who was nothing inferiour in all the qualities becoming her Sex has obtain'd an equal share of opinion with all that knew her but the world was unworthy to possess her long and the Solitude she made choice of amongst the Carmelites has manifested to us that nothing but God alone could be the object of so elevated a mind and so devout a spirit The end of the Second Part. THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF THE Duke of ESPERNON THE GREAT FAVOURITE OF FRANCE ENGLISHED BY CHARLES COTTON Esq The Third Part. Vivos interdum Fortuna saepe invidia fatigat ubi anima Naturae cessit demptis obtrectationibus ipsa se Virtus magis magisque extollit Salust de Rep. ord Orat. 2. LONDON Printed for Henry Brome MDCLXX THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon THE THIRD PART The Ninth Book WE are now entring upon the third and last part of the life of the Duke of Espernon and if in the preceding two you have met with great Actions you will meet no fewer here though perhaps not altogether so shining as the first He had much to do and no little to suffer his Government of a vast extent and fruitful in Novelty would never suffer him to be long at rest and the hatred of the great Minister Cardinal Richelieu gave him now occasion as amply to manifest his constancy as he had before in more favourable occurrences manifested his other Vertues as you shall see in the pursuit of his History Soon after the accomplishment of the Marriage of his Son the Marquis de la Valette their Majesties took their way towasds Paris when the Duke of Espernon having left the new married couple together with his Son the Cardinal de la Valette to attend the Court took his leave of the King to retire into his own Government In which Journey it was necessary for him to pass through Angoumois to take order for the transportation of his Furniture Arms and Equipage in the Castle of Angoulesme which he had there in so great quantity as requir'd no little time nor no few hands to remove them though he found it a greater trouble to part with the Friends and Servants he had in that Countrey it being hardly possible to see in any particular Family upon the saddest occasion so many real tears as were shed by the people in general at this separation From Angoulesme he went to Coignac and from thence to Xaintes which was yet one of the principal Cities of his Government and where he had too dear a concern not to give her a visit before his departure And this was Marguarite de Foix Abbess of Xaintes a Virgin illustrious for her Sanctity and Vertue and in so great a â—epute amongst the Sisters of her Order thaâ— he â—example serves to this day for a Model to all those who aim at perfection in that way of devout living The Duke before he departed from this place would first return an answer to a Letter he had receiv'd a few days before from Marc Antonie de Gourgues first President of the Parliament of Bordeaux The Father of this man had had several very profitable employments under the Mareschal de Matignon in the time of his being the King's Lieutenant General in Guienne which had enrich'd him so as that he had provided very plentifully for his posterity of which this Marc Antonie being his eldest Son he had by the help of the wealth his Father left him advanc'd himself to some publick employments and being a man of notable wit and understanding his parts together with his fortune recommended him so as to be receiv'd into the Family of Seguieres a Daughter of which he married Sister to the Chancellor of France now being who in those days went by the name of Autry and in the end through the interest of his Wives Relations was preferr'd to the Dignity of first President in his Countrey This Gourgues in the time of his being at Court had made great professions of particular honour and service to the Duke of Espernon who also either out of respect to his Allies or to himself had given him reciprocal testimonies of no ordinary affection So that this kindness having pass'd beforehand betwixt them the Duke expected that at his coming into his Government he should meet with a sincere friend at the head of the most illustrious Body of the Province whose mediation in occurrences that might happen would be able to qualifie many little discontents that the jealousie of Authority usually begets in great Commands but at the sight of this first Letter he was of a contrary opinion from which those divisions sprung betwixt him and the Parliament that hardly ended but with the Duke's death though they were begun even before he was receiv'd into his Administration The Letter of which I am speaking after having treated of some Affairs of little importance that respected the general concern of the Province gave the Duke at last plainly to understand That a
spurr'd on by these considerations had laid Siege to Bourg and were by the favour of some of the Inhabitants of their Party receiv'd into the Town without any opposition but la Ioviziere a man of approved Valour who commanded in the Castle defended himself so well notwithstanding the ill condition of the place and the vigour of the Assailants who press'd hard upon him that he gave the Duke time to come to his Relief at whose first appearance the Enemy retir'd when the Duke having publickly commended the Governours Valour and the fidelity of some honest Inhabitants who had stuck stoutly to him in this occasion withdrew the Captain into his own Service for the testimony he had given of his Valour leaving Campagno after Colonel of the Regiment of Guards and since Governour of Boulogne with a good Garrison in his room as judging this place of that importance that it ought to have a person of no less Authority to defend it against any attempt from the Garrison of Blaye so near and so dangerous a Neighbour Yet did not the Duke keep it long in his possession for the King not long after commanding him to deliver it up to him he immediately obey'd though he had in a mannâ—r himself made a conquest of it Some say that the Mareschal de Matignon jealous of so considerable a neighbour as the Duke had earnestly importun'd the King to retrive this place out of his hands The Duke having by these successes settled all his Neighbours in peace whilst the rest of the Kingdom was in trouble it was but reasonable that he himself should share in that felicity wherein his Valour and Vigilancy had so fortunately establish'd others and of this he receiv'd the first and most happy fruits by the Blessing God was pleas'd to give his Marriage-Bed for having been already three years Married to Marguerite de Foix Countess of Candale without Issue the great and various agitations wherewith he had been continually exercis'd all that time scarce allowing him the leisure to live in company with his Wife at last this vertuous Lady in March 1591. was at Xaintes brought to Bed of Henry de Foix and de la Valette his eldest Son whom we have since seen Duke of Candale and whose Valour has manifested it self in most parts of Europe where he acquir'd the Reputation of one of the greatest Captains of his time To these Military Vertues he had yet the addition of so many other excellent qualities that it was hard to say which was to be most admir'd his Valour in War his Sweetness in Conversation or his Prudence and Dexterity in the Management and Conduct of the most weighty Affairs The year following 1592. the Duke was enrich'd with another Son Bernard de Foix and de la Valette who was boâ—â— at Angoulâ—sme and who is now the sole Heir of that illustrious Family a Prince whose Vertues would furnish me with sufficient matter for his praise did not his modesty impose my silence The third and last was Lewis Cardinal de la Valette born at Angoulesme the year following one whom the Court esteem'd and acknowledg'd for the greatest and most accomplish'd Courtier that had there been bred for many years He render d himself conspicuous in his profession whilst he continued in it by embellishing and adorning an excellent natural ingenuity with the choicest Flowers of Divine and Humane Learning and doubtless had he apply'd himself wholly to his Book might have gone equal to the most famous Church-men of this latter age but the heat of his Courage having tempted him out of the bounds of his Spiritual Profession he prov'd a better Captain than the chance of War would give him leave long to continue for the Wars of Italy wherein he serv'd the State with unparallel'd Diligence and greater Success than was to be expected from so few Forces as he commanded spurr'd on his untimely Fate as also his elder Brothers who both of them in less than four months space lost their lives in the same Army Whilst the Duke had been employing his Power and Person in these foremention'd exploits there had pass'd much important action about the Person of the King who after the Skirmish of Arques and the Battel of Yâ—ry was grown to such a height of Power and Reputation as had put him into a condition to undertake the Siege of Paris which doubtless he might then have taken if on the one side his Majesty had been less solicitous to preserve the City which would have been utterly destroy'd should his Army have entred by storm or on the other side the Citizens had been less obstinate in their defense but their despair fortifying and hardning them against their necessities which in truth were insupportable they gave the Duke of Mayenne time to fetch the Duke of Parma to their Relief which for some years prorogu'd the entire Victory his Majesty might then but for his Clemency have obtain'd After the raising of this Siege the King's Army being much decay'd by the length and ill success thereof all the Catholicks who had thus long serv'd his Majesty even his most particular Servants took the liberty highly to complain of his slow proceeding towards his intended Conversion as also the several Societies and Companies of the Kingdom generally sent their Deputies humbly to beseech his Majesty to put an end to that good work which would likewise put an end â—o all his own troubles and be the only means to preserve his Kingdom nay even the Court it self grew importunate in the same 〈◊〉 and were already laying the design of a third Party which would have involv'd the King in a new difficulty his Majesty had then no need of but to prevent all inconveniencies to stop mens mouths and to hinder all these Court-practices his Majesty saw it necessary to renew the War with new vigour and by some notable and important action to gain a reputation to his Party He took therefore a resolution to call all the Nobility he could win over to him about his person and that not so much to re-inforce his Army by their presence as to hinder them being at distance and in full liberty to dispose of themselves from joyning either with those Factions already form'd by his Enemies or such as were now even by those who had hitherto follow'd his Fortune forming against him Nevertheless his Majesty knowing very well that the major part of those who had separated themselves from him had done it meerly out of respect to Religion and that they would not easily be induc'd to return unless he first gave them some hopes as to that particular he sent to assure them that he desir'd nothing more ardently than to be instructed in the Catholick Religion to the end that with the satisfaction and safety of his Conscience he might make open profession of it to all the world Upon this assurance of his speedy Conversion which
to untye the first he had scarce toucht the string but he was immediately consum'd by the devouring flame Neither did his men escape any better and the violence of the powder was so great that it blew up the floor where the Duke satâ— at dinner with the story above it the roof of the house only remaining firm All those who were above with the Duke were blown up to the roof and thence tumbling headlong to the foundation were many of them crush'd to pieces under the ruines the Duke only by a miracle of Fortune remaining still sitting and upright in the midst of this subversion for his Chair being plac'd upon a great Beam that butted upon the Chimney of the Chamber and the fire not having force enough to blow up that which at both ends was strongly fastned into the Wall the flame only burnt his hair and his beard without any further harm to his person That which hindred the powder from doing greater execution and from blowing up the whole house as in all probability it was like to do was that the Windows being all open the flame found a passage that way and by that lost much of its force within otherwise the house and all within had certainly been tost into the Aire and consum'd in a moment Bigne who from without the Town had seen his mine play believing the effect to be infallibly such as he had propos'd to himself ran in all hast to Aix to carry the news of the Duke of Espernon's certain death to the Duke of Guise to whom withal he declared at large the whole circumstance of his design not without the amazement and horror of all that heard him that any man could be guilty of so barbarous and inhumane a fact As for the Duke of Espernon he was a man so well prepar'd beforehand against all the accidents of fortune that he soon recover'd the astonishment this surprize had put him into and doubting it might be a stratagem of the Enemy in the disorder and confusion that must necessarily attend so sudden a mischief to make himself Master of the place made all the Souldiers he had in the Town immediately to repair to their Arms whilst himself mounted on Horseback and attended by some Gentlemen his friends went to visit the several Posts of the City to see that all was quiet there where having found all things right within and that nothing of suspicion appear'd from without it must of necessity be concluded that the mischief arose and that the Conspiracy must have been made within the Walls of his own Lodgings Diligent search was there therefore presently made and the woman of the house examin'd who ingenuously confess'd the bargain about the Corn betwixt Bigne and the Baker by her means whereupon they desir'd to see the place where the Sacks had been set but there was neither Sacks nor the men who had open'd them to be seen the fire having so consum'd them that scarcely their bones could be found They then sent to Bigne's house who was fled and his house left void his Goods and Family being remov'd to Aix the night before So that no further doubt being to be made of the Author of the Fact the Duke's heart began to be at rest which before was a little unquiet with the suspicion that some of his own people might have had a hand in the Plot. Some who have made reflections upon the Duke's life and the many Accidents by which it had often been brought into extreme danger which were at least as many as any other great mans of his time have sometimes drawn the several hazards he has run into comparison with one another as he himself amongst his private friends so pleasant is the memory of dangers past upon occasion delighted to do though he ever declar'd the conspiracy of Angoulesme to be the greatest peril he had ever been in next to which he plac'd that of Corbie where he confest his fear to have been much greater than in the former though the business never arriv'd at that degree of danger that was manifest in the other accidents of his life As for the precipice of Lyons the Cannon-shot before Aix and the Mine of Brignoles but now mention'd though he acknowledg'd his danger in all those to have been extreme and that in all apperance it was hardly possible he could escape yet the suddenness of them took away the sense and his good fortune opportunely interposing betwixt him and those mortal accidents prevented his apprehension and gave him no time to fear whereas in the other two he had had leisure to see his approaching ruine and death coming upon him in all his ugly shapes especially in the business of Angoulesme which he could not consider as one but a concatenation of many and those mortal dangers that succeeded one another for above forty hours together At this very time and in the height of these untoward occurrences Mounsieur d' Ossat since Cardinal a person equally to be commended for the integrity of his life and the excellency of his learning writ very bitter things to the prejudice of the Duke's Loyalty and Honour which though by the care of some of the Duke's Friends they were supprest in the first impression of his Book yet having since been added in a particular sheet I think my self oblig'd not to suffer the publick to be impos'd upon by so gross calumnies and that it is my duty to interpose the truth in the Duke's defense This Prelate then after having writ favourably enough to the King concerning the Duke in his Letter of the 22. of December 1594. that having given Pope Clement the VIII an account of all things his Majesty had given him in charge concerning Mounsieur de Guise and the Government of Provence his Holiness sighing replyed And what will they do with the Duke of Espernon In another Letter notwithstanding to Secretary Villeroy bearing date the 17. of Ianuary 1596 writes thus Marselles puts me in mind of the Duke of Espernon concerning whom they write from Lyons that after the taking of Cisteron he has sent to the King to make a tender of his submission and obedience but they do not know that at the same time he he sent to Turin to the Duke of Savoy and to Milan to the Constable of Castile of whom he had obtain'd 6000. Crowns that is to say 5000. down with which his Agents buy Horses and Arms at Milan and 55000 more by Bill of Exchange to be return'd at Genoa which is said to be two months advance of 30000. Crowns a month given him by the Crown of Spain for being a good Frenchman as he writes into these parts he will be so long as he has life causing it to be reported that the mony he receives at Milan is mony of his own that he has there in Bank as if even to have a Bank of mony in a Town belonging to the King
where after having been sufficiently abus'd hiss'd and hooted at he was by four Souldiers of the Garrison conducted to his Inn who it may be imagin'd were not commanded to use him with overmuch respect But if this first part of his entertainment surpriz'd him he was much more when his Host coming to him at night demanded his Name Surname Country Quality and Age with many other interrogatories as if he had been upon the Selette From all or most of these questions he for some time defended himself till being threatned if he would not answer to be proceeded against as a Spy he was at last constrain'd to do it when as his answers came from him he saw them recorded in a great Book order'd for that purpose amongst other ancient rules establish'd for the defense of the place though he conceiv'd that under the protection of the Royal Name which he had ready to produce he ought to have been dispens'd from that Ceremony He was scarce recover'd from his first astonishment when he saw four of the Duke's Guards at that time call'd les Simons a name very famous at Court entring his Chamber Their first Complements it may be suppos'd were none of the most obliging neither did they long forbear to tell the new come Gallant That they were order'd by the Duke their Master to have an eye upon his actions That the Duke very well knew upon what pretense he came to Metz but that the true cause of his coming was to him much better known which was to do a diâ—â—ervice to the King to observe the weaknesses of the place and to give intelligence thereof to his Majesties enemies That therefore they were not to leave him and that they very well knew how to prevent him from executing his malicious designs That in the mean time it would concern him to have a care how he behav'd himself since no mercy was to be expected if the least thing was discover'd in him contrary to his Majesties Service At this declaration the poor man was put into a most terrible fear he knew the Dukes Authority to be absolute in Metz and that whatever he should determine though it should reach to his life and under what pretense soever it might be would infallibly be executed upon him Whereupon he ask'd his Guards if there were no possibility of safety for him to which they reply'd that doubtless yes provided he attempted nothing against the Crown After which they entertain'd him with stories of how many they had Bastinado'd at Paris and after what manner the Duke us'd to chastise several fool-hardy fellows who had imprudently attempted upon his Honour If he went out of one Chamber into another they were continually at his heels and if â—e went to sleep they lay down by him never ceasing day nor night to afflict him insomuch that after having two days endur'd this usage such a terror seiz'd him at last that he fell down at his Guards feet weeping praying and conjuring them to assure the Duke that he was his most humble Servant that he acknowledg'd his fault begg'd his pardon and did humbly intreat he would give him leave to depart the City At which though his Guards seem'd to comfort and assure him advising him not to fear and protesting that the interest of his Majesties Service only excepted they were there to no other end than to do him Service yet were all their consolations vain so invincible a fear had possess'd him and so wholly was he taken up with the desire to escape from the danger whereinto he saw he had so precipitously engag'd himself The Duke after he had a few days made himself merry with mortifying his Gull let him at last depart who as he had been before at Metz became afterwards the Fable of the Court. Yet did not the Duke spend his time altogether in diversion having serious business enough to take up his thoughts with something of more concern and those were the Affairs of the Queen Mother This Princess after the death of the Mareschal d' Encre having been constrain'd to leave the Court where Luines could not suffer a person of her Authority and offended to the degree she had been to reside had the Castle of Blois appointed by the King for her retreat To which place accordingly the Queen in this change of her Fortune being allow'd to keep very few of her Servants about her departed with a very slender Train The Bishop of Luçon since Cardinal of Richelieu who had been Secretary of State during the favour of the Mareschal d' Encre was one of those who follow'd her in her disgrace as Chanteloube also was another but the Abbot Rucellary and Italian and very affectionate to her Service was as a person altogether unnecessary about her Majesty sent back into one of his Abbies neither did the Bishop of Luçon remain long without another Order of the same kind by which he was first oblig'd to reside in his own Diocess and soon after to retire into Avignon The Queen Mother from the time of her departure from Court had meditated nothing so much as how to recover her lost Authority and to overthrow that of the new Favourites wherein though she had communicated something to Messieurs de Luçon de Rucellay and de Câ—anteloube men of the greatest Fidelity and Conduct about her and though they had taken some pains for her satisfaction yet could they discover no possibility of effecting her Designs Neither were they permitted long to consider of the means the entire confidence the Queen was discover'd to repose in them being suspected at Court having soon procur'd the banishment of the two first as has been said before of which that of Luçon had rendred him utterly uncapable of all manner of correspondence with her But Rucellay a man of great courage vivacity and ambition having for some time conceal'd himself about Blois and having from time to time in disguise taken opportunity to consult with the Queen was after having rejected several propositions at last of opinion that she should address her self to the Duke of Boüillon to try if with the party of those of the Religion who were absolutely at his dispose he might be induc'd to declare himself of her side and to attempt something in her favour The Queen being very well pleas'd with this proposition Rucellay as chearfully undertook to make the first overture of it to the Duke of Boüillon at Sedan I have often heard this Abbot during five or six weeks that I was continually with him in order to the Queen Mothers dispatches which all pass'd through his hands after her escape tell the whole story of this negotiation so that I am able to say something of my own knowledge botâ— as to the qualities of his person and the circumstances of that Treaty which perhaps will not be altogether unpleasant to my Reader Rucellay then was a Gentleman of Florence descended from a Father