Authority devolved upon the high Nobility during the time of minority or infirmity of their Kings when they were of long continuance and if the Nobility condescended that the late King Ferdinand should retain the Government for life yet it followed not that they had given him leave to dispose of it after his death The Duke of Infantado answered that he had at least as much ground to complain of the Cardinal as any other Grandee of Castille and that his Ancestors having left him considerable Estates of that nature which was pretended to be Lands of the Crown by consequence he had occasion to be apprehensive that they would begin at him in retrieving them that others might think it the less strange when they were dispossessed next that no favour had been shown to the most considerable Lord of Spain But that notwithstanding he was not of the opinion that any thing should be attempted in prejudice of the last Will of the late King nor contrary to the orders of the Catholick King Reigning though it was known that they were only provisional in what concerned Ximenes That that Cardinal had more experience and more ready money than they and that there was no doubt to be made but that he would root them out altogether if they gave him occasion to put the people on his side by letting them know that the Lords of Castille struck at the memory of the late King who had chosen him for Regent and at the Authority of the new King who had confirmed the Regency unto him That it was then absolutely necessary to find out another expedient than that of violence for degrading of him and that when such an one were found the Duke of Infantado should willingly declare himself for the common cause against the Favourite That was not an expedient to be fallen upon at first In the Chronicle of the Mâ—ndosa's and the Lords of Castille after many days thinking of it found none other that could relish with the Duke of Infantado but a Petition to the new King Charles which all of them signed beseeching him to give them another Regent than Ximenes It was an easie matter to foresee that it would not be granted and that his Majesty would wave giving an answer to it untill his arrival in Spain whither he promised to go day after day The Cardinal was so sure of it that he did not give himself the trouble of writing about it neither to the King nor Chievres Nay his foresight went a little further and as he was exceeding watchful to make the best of occurrences that were capable to encrease his Power so the Conspiracy of the Nobles offered him two means for that which he did not let slip The first was to lay before Chievres in a long Letter the absolute necessity of his Catholick Majestie 's sending him anâ— unlimited power if it was expected that he should in a signal manner reduce so many malecontents to reason And secondly to put himself in a posture not only not to be surprised but also to stifle the Sedition so soon as it should begin to break out Seeing it had been chiefly by the valour of the Castillian Nobility that the Mores were driven out of Spain they â—ad for a long time enjoyed the priviledge of carrying Arms both for themselves and Attendants which Townsâ—eople and Peasants had not but when â—hey were employed by Gentlemen If â—hat custom had continued the Cardinal â—ad one time or other been opprest because he could not be able in all places â—hrough which he was to go to have Armed men enough in readiness to resist â—he frequent attempts of the Nobility upâ—n his person Whereas if he put Arms into the hands of the Plebeians he would â—repare for himself in all places a vast â—umber of Guards who would think themselves exceedingly obliged to him â—or that favour and would not be wanâ—ing to him in time of need He took â—he occasion from the descent that the â—amous Corsair Barbarossa had then made 〈◊〉 the Kingdom of Granada from whence he had carried away several â—housand Spaniards and thereupon he â—ublished an Edict in name of Queen â—ean and King Charles hearing that since â—he Nobility whose Lands were upon the Coasts of Spain and the Garrisons which â—he Catholick Kings were wont to mainâ—ain there were not sufficient to hinder â—he spoils of the Infidels it was necessaâ—y to remedy such surprises for the future by opposing so many men capable of resisting the Turkish Pirats that they should not dare to set foot on Shore in a Country which they should find so well guarded That their Catholick Majesties had not thought it fit to Arm the Peasants because that would take them off from labouring the Land nor all the Inhabitants of Towns neither by reason that Commerce might thereby be interrupted but that they had only chosen the honest Burghers who having much to lose would take the greater care to keep it That those who would list themselves in that Militia should be exempted from the harder offices of the State That they should afterwards have priviledges granted to them proportionable to the Services which they rendered That care should be taken to set Officers over them to instruct them and that all that was demanded of them at present was to perform exercise every Sunday The Nobility at first perceived the intention of Ximenes and with all their might opposed it The Towns where they had got greater credit than he would not suffer the Commissaries appointed for the Musters to put the Edict in execution and the others received them with open Arms for besides that they were acceptable to the Burghers for the novelty of the Order which they brought them they rendred them masters of the State and opened to them the fair way which was that of Arms of raising themselves above the condition wherein they were born and of meriting the most important charges in the Monarchy which in progress of time would have so debased the Nobility that scarcely would there have been any more talk of them Thus Castille was divided into two Factions and as there are Mountains that cut it almost into two equal parts so the other side of the Hills was almost wholly for the Nobility and this side for Ximenes The Cardinals party was not the least seeing he had the bravest and most expert Soldiers of his Country-men for him and the only circumspection he was to use was to hinder his Enemies from possessing the Court of Bruxelles with bad impressions of his design In prospect of that he wrote to Chievres praying him to represent to the Catholick King in full Council that there was no other expedient than what he had put in practice for preserving his two Monarchies entire for him and without a farthing charge until his arrival in Spain That it was no new thing in Castille to Arm the People and that the Kings his Predecessors had done it as often
which he had reserved to himself as a supply to his bounty and magnificence The End of the Fourth Book BOOK V. Containing the most memorable Affairs that happened in the Monarchy of Spain during the rest of the Year One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventeen and the Years One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighteen and One Thousand Five Hundred and Nineteen THE Spaniards who for want of money had not obtained the Charges and Benefices which they had gone to Bruxelles to solicite for and those of the same Nation who had straitned themselves by purchasing them for ready money returned for most part both alike dissatisfied They conspired in like manner to revenge themselves of the repulse they had sustained and of the draining of their Purses by publishing that that which Jugurtha a King of Numidia said heretofore of the City of Rome in particular That it was to be sold was exactly true of the Monarchies of Castille and Arragon in general and that it was the good fortune of Rome that it found no buyers whereas to the ill luck of Spain it s own Inhabitants consumed their Revenues and impoverished themselves to purchase it That Benefices were no more granted to Piety and Learning In the first Manifesto of the Spaniards against the Flemings nor any favour depending on the Catholick King Charles of Austria given as a reward of Virtue and Merit That in the most eminent Functions of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy none for the future were to be seen but Simoniacal and Impious persons nor in the chief Magistracies but unworthy men and that the Flemings received too great profit from these counterband Goods that it should be hoped they would refrain from that infamous Traffick for the time to come That the Chancellor * John Savage of the Low-Countries alone had in the space of four months already got by it Five Hundred Thousand Crowns and that if the rest of the Courtiers of Flanders made their advantage accordingly Spain could not disagree about it but that they would be reduced to slavery That there was no other way to avoid that inconvenience but to oblige the Catholick King to make no more use of Flemings for Counsellors of State and Favourites and not to dispose of the Graces of Castille but by the advice of the Council of Spain These discourses at first whispered only in the Ear and afterwards spread in publick Assemblies and even in Sermons made so great impression upon the Cities of Leon Burgos and Vailladolid that they resolved to send Deputies to the Catholick King for the universal and absolute removing of Flemish Ministers and for the distribution of Grants by the advice of the Council of Madrid It was to no purpose for Cardinal Ximenes to represent to them that they offered too much for the first Essay by attempting to bind the hands of their Sovereign in such a manner as had never as yet been practised in Spain That if he had not the liberty to chuse those of his Council nor to do kindnesses to whom he pleased he would be more unhappy than the meanest of his Subjects who fully enjoyed both these priviledges and that it was not always necessary for remedying of publick no more than of natural evils to cut off even to the root So great was the obstinacy of the People that the Cardinal not being able to bend it imitated the skill of Pilots who yielding in part to the violence of the Winds make use of them for conveying them to the Ports they are bound for He wrote to Chievres that a Convocation of Estates must be allowed the Spaniards But that it behoved also to be in such a manner as that the Catholick King might receive no disadvantage thereby That it should be put off until his Majesties arrival in Spain which would not be before Autumn One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventeen That his Catholick Majesty in all appearance would be ready to part about the middle of Summer and that upon that design a Fleet should be sent to expect him upon the Coast of Flanders That the pleasantness of the Season would infallibly shorten his Voyage and that on all hazards the Harvest Season was the most secure provided it were in the beginning of it That the Spaniards would be so charmed with the presence of their new King that they would have no more thoughts of limiting his power nor any thing else and that the Assembly of the Estates would be wholly taken up in reciprocal civilities of the Deputies to his Majesty and of his Majesty to the Deputies The Convocation was in effect proclaimed to be held in the end of September the same Year and the Spanish Fleet parted from the Coast of Galicia in July But the Grandees of Castille who did not foresee that the power of Ximenes would last no longer than till the comâ—ng of his Majesty resolved to rid themselves of that Cardinal beforehand and â—e of all others The Duke of Infantado who till â—hen had appeared most â—oderate put himself at â—he head of the rest We have mentionâ—d that Ximenes had disobliged the Duke â—f Infantado by refusing his Niece to â—is Nephew and it is to be subjoyned 〈◊〉 this place that a Law-suit having â—appened betwixt the Duke and the Count of Castro the Cardinal who â—ould not let slip the occasion of exerciâ—ng his Authority in so rare a juncture â—ould have the deciding of it The â—uke who took him for his Enemy â—rote to Flanders to the Catholick King â—aying him that he would suspend the â—…ecision of the cause until his Majesty â—ere present in Council where the matâ—r should be examined The King wilâ—…gly granted it But the Cardinal haâ—ng complained thereof as a contraâ—…ntion of the power which had been given him and Chievres being of the opinion that he should be permitted to act the case was decided and the Duke cast He did not presently resent it but sometime after he took the occasion when the Cardinal sent a Promoter from the Town of Alcala where he was to Guadalà jâ—a about some formalities of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Bernardin de Mendoza the Dukes Brother was Archdeacon of the place and the Duke took a pretext that the Promoter had invaded the Jurisdiction of his Brother He caused him to be cudgelled and threatned him with worse if he came again The Promoter complained to Ximenes who the more willingly promised him the Justice which he demanded for that the Duke in causing him to be abused had committed two crimes one in opposing the execution of Ecclesiastical Justice for which he had incurred the Censures and another in using uncivilly an Officer of the Regent of Spain in the execution of the Orders which he had received and in becoming thereby guilty of Treason The Duke exasperated that Ximenes haâ— threatned him with a double punishment sent his Chaplain to tell him what thâ— most envenomed Satyrs reviled him with It was a harder part to
sharp-sighted as to see at so great distance the mark he aimed at But it is a thing almost impossible long to conceal the manner how great Princes are Educated when it is not in all things conform to the Custom practised in their Age. The most Christian King Louis the Twelfth had an Affair to be concerted with the Archduke which required to be managed by so much the more skilful hands that the Emperour and Catholick King were concerned in it Hangist of Geulis one of the most noted and understanding Gentlemen of Picardy was chosen to negotiate it for two reasons one because his Person was acceptable to the Flemings and the other that being Chievres his Kinsman he might the more easily accord with him but Geulis was extremely surprised when he found himself obliged to treat hand to hand with Charles who was then but fourteen years old compleat He was glad of it nevertheless at first as hoping to make a better bargain of it but when he found that the Archduke at the Age and in the State he saw him in was already the ablest Prince of his time in the Art of Governing he began to suspect the evils that that might occasion to France and seeing it would not have been civil to have declared his thoughts as to that openly to Chievres he only told him that he did did not conceive why he put the Archduke upon so great an application to Affairs of State since it neither agreed with his tender age his quality constitution nor the profound Peace which the Low Countries enjoyed that the temper of that Prince was all fire and that his prodigious activity was a sufficient proof of it that nothing was so contrary to People of that constitution than a too long and serious meditation and seeing they spent incomparably more spirits than others in the exercise of their faculties they proportionably wore out the Organs they made use of and so hastened either their death or from a continual speculation ran into madness that the latter of these inconveniences was the more to be feared that in respect of Charles it was a Family distemper and that if his Mother was troubled with it without application he had reason to foresee that the excess of application might produce in him the most terrible and most ignominious of its effects Chievres gave Geulis an answer which the Spaniards have reason to match with the Apophthegms of Antiquity He replied that he had heretofore reflected upon all that he had said and often considered of it but that after all he was persuaded that it was the chief duty incumbent on him and to which he was most obliged in conscience according to the Commission given him to put Charles as soon as he could in a condition not to stand in need of a Tutor and nevertheless he must need one so long as he lived if he did not accustom him in his younger years to take cognizance of his own Affairs because if they expected till he was more advanced in age he would never apply himself to that so much as was necessary whether that he would find himself at first overcharged with the multitude of Affairs or that he would be discouraged by the pains he must take in determining them being but a novice therein and by the frequent impediments they would bring in the way of his pleasures and recreations However Chievres read in the thought of Guelis what care soever he took to conceal it that he feared the Archduke might become too knowing and laboured as much as he could to divert the prejudice that might redound to the Monarchy of France from the Education of the Prince Nay and at first he succeeded in it pretty fortunately and if after he was dead the affairs which he had well disposed changed countenance he is no more to be blamed for that than for the evils that hapned before he was born and those who out lived him gave him the testimony that if his life had been longer France and Spain had never engaged together in War. Louis the Twelfth had no Son and by consequent Francis Count of Angoulesm first Prince of the Bloud Royal was by the Law of the State next to succeed him This Prince was brought up at Coignac a Town of Angumeis but Louisia of Savoy his Mother was commonly at Court. She had quarrelled with the Queen for some reasons that make nothing for the clearing of this History and there could not be a greater misunderstanding betwixt two Princesses than when Louis was so ill that the Physicians despaired of his recovery His most Christian Majesty a few months before had concluded two Treaties the first with the Emperour Maximilian and the second with Ferdinand the Catholick King both Treaties carried in express terms That the Archduke Charles of Austria should marry Claudia of France eldest Daughter to the most Christian King. France in the present Juncture could not receive a greater prejudice than by that seeing the Marriage agreed upon would one day render it weaker than Spain and by consequent would infallibly expose it to succumb under the first War that might happen betwixt them Bretagne a Province of vast extent and important in situation had for many Ages been dismembred from the Monarchy of France and with extreme difficulty had been reunited to it again The Conduct of Philip Angust was signal in obliging the Dukes of Bretagne Princes of the Bloud and of the Branch of Dieux to perform a regular Homage to France and when the debate for that Fief arose betwixt John of Montfort and Charles of Blois King Charles the Fifth evocated the cause to his Parliament and decided it In a word when there was no Males in the House of Bretagne and that that Dutchy fell to Female France by an irregular Conduct of those who governed it under the Minority of Charles the Eighth was at the point of seeing that Dutchy fall into the House of Austria The French unseasonably declared War against the Bretons pressed them with extraordinary violence in a time when the Laws of War were as yet exactly enough observed attempted to seize the State of their Heiress without marrying of her and thereby constrained them to cast themselves into the Arms of Maximilian of Austria That young Prince by a strange good luck had married the Heiress of Burgundy and by that means deprived the French of their hopes of adding the Low Countries to their Monarchy His Wife lived no longer than was necessary to secure the property of the Low Countries to the House of Austria seeing she died within a few years after their Marriage leaving him only one Son and one Daughter He was therefore in a condition to engage in a second Marriage with the Heiress of Bretagne and again to border upon France by Normandy Maine Anjou Touraine and Poitou as he bordered upon it by Picardy Champagne and Burgundy That second Match the most considerable in Christendom