footemen and they goe thether at fiftéene sixtéene or seuentéene yeres of age In tyme past being a little elder they were made archers in the bandes of Ordinaunce and then did all those companies consist of Gentrie onely and the Capteynes had a care to kéepe them in good order As also many went into the bands of footment of Piedmont who had most excellent orders Contrariwise now that discipline is reuersed euen among the footemenl it is perillous for the instruction of youth For hauing for the most part none but vnthriftes to their maisters euill examples doe in tyme drawe them into disorder and in liew of fashioning them bring them quite out of fashion And to what purpose is it to learne to discharge a Péece to knows what warding sentinâ—ll or skirmish doe meane and to shewe the braue countenaunce of a So 〈…〉 ier if in counterchaunge herof they habandon themselues to Sundrie â—iâ—es among which blaspheming of God quarelling with friends playing away all euen to the shert filthie lust after Harlots and for the fulfilling of all disorder an vnbridled libertie to â—eate robbe and deuoure the people without compassion doe beare the greatest sway These abuses doe the most part of our footmen commit except it bee peraduenture some olde regiment and auncient garrison that liue in better discipline The best remedies therefore for parents in this necessarie euill is not to sende their children alone neither to suffer to enroule them selues in the first companie that they list to choose but to hearken whether any of their neighbours will likewise send theirs and so to ioyne thrée or fower of them together as it were sworne companions with prohibition the one not to leaue the other For being so together shame will restrayne them from euill and withall they shall still succour one another in their necessities if besides their fathers be acquainted with any honorable Capteyne they should direct them to him with earnest request to haue a care to rep 〈…〉 ue them when they doe amisse Some there are likâ—wise that take vpon them to trauayle into forreine countries vpon a certeyne conceiued opinion that others drugges are better then those of their owne land Others also doe allowe thereof in respect of the learning of common languages seruing to communication with straungers Such as trauaile into Germanie where the customes and behauiours doe farre differ from ours at their returne are found to be dull and rude so that for the refyning of them againe their parents must send them into other places wherof ariseth double labour double tyme and double charges And it doth oftentymes come to passe that some hauing bene brought vp in the grosse maners of Germanie and then returning to finde the vnbridled libertie of France doe so vnconsideratly flye vpon it that they stray out of the right course And as for the voyadges into Italie there be more that vndertake them especially to bee instructed in many honest exercises which doe there abound But among those Roses they méete with many Thornes because that a thousand baytes of lust being as it were sowne in the goodliest townes youth which is desirous of noueltie and fierie in affection cannot be kept from going to taste yea euen to glut it selfe with these sweete poysons and so by continuance doe become most indurate therein Thus is the habitation of Italie to those that applye themselues to goodnesse more profitable and to those that applye themselues to lewdnesse hurtfull and worse then that of Germanie But what counsell is to be giuen or remedie to be prouided against these inconueniences The fittest is to sende the younger sorte whose maners are not yet formed into Germanie where simplicitie doth take most place and let the others that are alreadie any whit grounded in godlinesse or loue of honestie goe into Italie notwithstanding the prouerbe That neuer good horse nor bad man amended by going to Rome This likewise must Parents yet note that they keepe them not there aboue two yéeres so to be the more assured that forreine wickednesse take not so déepe roote but that it may easely be plucked vp againe Now doth it rest that I speake of studie in famous Uniuersities whether many Gentlemen doe send their Children to bee instructed in learning which also they the rather doe because the life that they there leade is somewhat better ordered then in the aforename 〈…〉 places where much vanitie is learned as well as ciuilitie They perswade themselues and not without reason that the liberall Sciences are a great ornament to Nobilitie and maketh it more worthie to administer all publique functions which is the cause that they seeke to haue them at the first watered with so good liquour Howbeit this notwithstanding among many that there spend their youth fewe doe reape any great profite which procéedeth of that that the fathers doe take them away so soone euen at the tyme that they begin with iudgement and discourse to attaine to the depth and consideration of the excellencie of Sciences And in my opinion the chiefe cause that leadeth Parents so to doe is for that they see that Ecclesiasticall promotions are not giuen to the learned but to those that can best court the Cardinals and Bishops or the Kings fauourites and the offices of Iustice in liewe of being conferred to the best deseruer are sould to him that hath most money This considered and likewise perceiuing that the greatest honors are gotten with the sword they will haue their children betymes to accustome themselues to Armes And peraduenture they are not herein altogether inexcusable One thing more there is that bringeth them out of taste with keeping them long to studie That is that when they come to consider the countenances and simple and vnpolished fashions of Schollers in respect of the ciuilities courtesies and dexterities of those young Gentlemen that haue made but two iourneys to the Court they thinke that their children shall neuer come tyme enough who also for their partes neede no great force to fetch them from the Colledge because the inclination to libertie together with so many fayre bragges whereat they leuell a farre of which also the world presenteth to their viewe maketh theÌ„ but too desirous to get foorth I will not speake of the delayes made in Colledges in the teaching of children for it is wel inough knowen that there is no good thing but hath some bad mixed withall Herein cannot the parents better prouide than with themselues wel to aduise of what profession they will haue their children to be to the end to accomodate their studies to the same vocation as beeing assured that hee that is vowed to the warre néede not to procéede so farre in studie of the sciences as those that thereby séeke to growe and inrich themselues They must also haue a care that they put their children to learned tutors and well conditioned least in lieu of knowledge they should reape ignorance and
maner of aranging the horse in hay or file is now to small vse also that it were necessarie they should take the vse of Squadrons pag. 184 16 Of the vse of Camarades which among the Spanish footmen are of great accompt pag. 190 17 Of the rewards ordinarily bestowed vpon the Spanish souldiers when they haue done any notable peece of seruice which they tearme their Aduantages pag. 194 Foure militarie Paradoxes 1 That a squadron of Reistres should beate a squadron of Speares pag. 198 2 That 2500. Corcelets and 1500 Harquebuziers may more easely retire three French leagues in a plaine field then 2000. Speares pag. 203 3 That it is expedient for a Captaine to haue susteyned an ouerthrow pag. 210 4 That daily experience haue taught such meanes to fortifie Houlds as are most profitable in respect of the small charge thereof and no lesse defensible then such stately ones as the Ingeniors haue aforetime inuented pag. 215 19 That the continuation of the wicked proceedings of the warres of these daies doe make a iust cause to seeme vniust pag. 220 20 That a King of France is of himselfe mightie enough though he neither couet nor seeke other greatnesse then his owne realme doth afford him pag. 226 21 That alliances of Christian Princes with Mahumetistes the capitall enemies of the name of Christ haue euermore bene vnfortunate also that we ought not to enter any firme confederacie with them pag. 234 22 That the Christian Princes well vnited are able in foure yeeres to expulse the Turkes out of Europe pag. 245 23 Of the Philosophers stone pag. 291 24 Against those that thinke that godlinesse depriueth man of all pleasures pag. 312 25 That euery man according to his capacitie and vocation may vse contemplation pag. 334. Obseruations of diuers things happened in the three first troubles of France together with the true reporte of the most parte of the same The first Troubles That the Protestants but for the late accident at Vassie had bene preuented in the beginning of the first ciuill warre pag. 346 Whether the Lord Prince of Conde in the first troubles committed so great an ouersight as many haue giuen out in that he seased not vpon the Court or Paris pag. 350 Of three things which I noted that happened afore the armies tooke the field The one pleasant the other artificiall and the third lamentable pag. 352 Of the Prince of Condees promise somwhat rashly made to the Queene Mother that hee would depart the Realme of France and why it was not performed pag. 357 By what occasion the warre did first breake foorth betweene the two armies pag. 362 Of the good discipline which for the space of two moneths only was obserued among the Prince of Condees troopes both of hotsemen and footmen Also of the originall of Picoree or Prowlinge pag. 361 Of the reasons that moued the Prince of Condees armie to breake vp after the taking of Boisgency also how hee conuerted that necessitie into profite and of the purposes of the King of Nauarre pag. 366. That but for the forraine ayde that the Lord of Andelot brought in the Protestants affayres had bene but in bad case and many mens mindes shrewdly daunted as well through the taking of Bourges and Roan as for the ouerthrow of the Lord of Duras pag. 372 Of the Prince of Condees purposes when he sawe his forraine succour approach and how he came before Paris from whence after he had there soiorned eleuen daies and done nothing he departed toward Normandie pag. 375 Of sixe notable occurrences in the battaile of Dreux pag. 379 Of the siege by the Lord of Guize layd to Orleance also of the Lord Admirals iourney into Normandie pag. 384 The second Troubles Of the causes of the taking of armes in the second troubles also how the purposes wherevpon the Protestants had built themselues proued vayne pag. 388 That the P. of Condees attempt of three things set a proud face vpon the beginning of his enterprise wherat the Catholiks were at the first astonied pa 394 Of the most notable occurrēces happened at the departure frō S. Denis p. 396 Of the voyages of both the armies toward Lorrain but to seueral intēts p. 400 Of the returne of the two armies toward Orleance Paris also of the course that the Prince of Conde tooke in victualling marching and lodging of his men pag. 403 Of the new forces out of sundrie Prouinces that met at Orleance which inuited the Prince of Conde to vndertake the voyage to Chartres pag. 406 The second peace concluded at Lon-iumeau pag. 409 The third Troubles Of the Protestants diligent retreat in the last troubles also of the Lord of Martigues braue resolution when he came to Saumure pag. 411 That the respite which his Maiestie gaue to the Prince of Conde without sending any armie against him was a meanes for him to preuaile of a great Prouince without the support wherof he could not haue cōtinued the warre p. 415 Of the first progresse of both the armies when being in their prime they sought with like desire to fight pag 418 That both the armies endeuouring to ouercome each other could not so much as come to battaile also that the sharpnesse of the wether parted them almost destroying as well the one as the other in fiue daies pag. 425 Of the death of the Prince of Conde at Bassac pag. 430 Of the notable passage of the D. of Bipont from the borders of Rhine euen into Aquitaine pag. 434. The siege of Poicters pag. 438 Of the battaile of Montcontour pag. 442 That the siege of S. Iohn d'Angely was the springing againe of the Protestants pag. 446 That the towne of Rochel stood the Protestants in this warre in no lesse stead then Orleance had done in the former pag. 447 That in 9. moneths the Princes armie marched almost 300. leagues compassing in maner the whole realme of France also what successe they had in this voyadge pag. 449. The causes of the third peace The comparison therof with the former also whether the same were necessary pag. 454. FINIS THE POLITICK AND MILITARIE DISCOVRSES of the Lord De la Nouë The first Discourse That the realme of France doth by little and little runne into decay and is neere to a great ouerthrow vnlesse God of his goodnesse vphold it Also that as yet there be some remedies to raise it vp againe in case they may bee with speede accepted THE mindes of euery man ought to be firmely and stedfastly resolued that God is the author of all politick gouernements which he hath established to the ende that through good order all humaine societie may bee preserued and mainteyned in pietie and iustice also that it is he that vpholdeth them in their beautie force and dignitie vntill that vpon mans contempt of his lawes and corruption of their maners he powre foorth his wrath vpon them whereof doe ensue the subuertions and alterations of Monarchies and Commonwelths Those men
necessarie for the helping of our poore France which through the banishment therof is almost rent in péeces that me think all good men should bend their whole vowes and endeuours to the calling of it back againe And when we shall haue shewed how other estates are thereby encreased and redressed men will be farre the more affectionate to put it in execution Plato the Philosopher sayth that the greatest mischiefe that can befall any citie is sedition which is no other but discord Whereof it followeth that concord being the contrary must needes be a great benefite to them that enioye it Likewise it is vnpossible to thriue by their commodities before this foundation be layed yea we see that the greater plentie of power wealth and habilitie that is in a state if this good temperature be away is but matter of greater ruyne Some wise men in old tyme knowing this did vse to send to such of their friends as had the gouernment of commonwelths a sheafe of Arrowes bound together to the ende to admonish them that as these so small péeces of brittle ware being knit together made a strong bodie not easely shaken so if the mindes of their people consented well together were vnited in themselues y t which of it self were but weake would become mightie strong The experience here of hath bene seene in the Grecians who so long as they agréed among themselues did withstand the power of the Kings of Persia which was incōparable for sometymes they brought in nauies of 1000. sayle an other tyme by land 600000. men who all were ouercome by small armies of such men as loued like brethren and which accōpted y e bondage of their fellow countrimē as their own so good concurrence was there betweene thē so long as this continued they mainteyned themselues in credite felicitie Plutarke reporteth that before the tyme of Aratus all the townes of the Achaians were of small accōpt each trafiking doing their affaires apart and taking no care but for themselues but after he had ioyned them together and vnited sundrie other small Townes vnto them by perfect concord they grew into a great and mightie body in Peloponessus and oftentimes did resist such tyrants as sought to vsurpe their libertie wherby they became terrible to their neighbours But if anie man imagine that examples taken of Monarchies would better fit our estate to the end to content him I will also aleadge some such The first of the kingdome of the Lacedemonians wherein Licurgus established most excellent discipline which among all other things commended prowesse concord whereof also a long time they continued so good obseruers that their Citie séemed to be but one sole family so steadfast and good was their vnion By that did they increase and purchase such fame that all Greece did oftentimes submit it selfe to their conduct and iudgement Many other might likewise be herevnto added as wel Romanes as other Nations whereof such as vse the reading of histories cannot be to séeke and therefore it were but a superfluous repetition here to heape them vp againe Onelie it shall suffice to remember that such Monarchiall estates haue from time to time increased as much by concord as by anie other vertue that euer they put in practise And although the Romanes in the daies of their first kings did sometimes disagrée with their next neighbors yet doe we sée that afterward they grew into most firme accord as with the Sabins for of the two Nations they became but one people but farre better ordered and a greate deale more mightie than they were before From this antiquitie let vs descend euen to our daies and vnto that which is euident in our owne eies to the end thereby to be the better persuaded consider the state of the Suitzers for that may be vnto vs a cléere spectacle wherein we shall perceiue the praise of concord and fruites thereof The histories do testifie that the thrée little cantons Schuitz Vri Vnderualde whose habitations are onely in villages were the first authors of that their vnion whereinto the rest are since incorporated Which euer since hath so well continued that at this daie their bodie séemeth as it were inuincible I must also commend the concord of Germanie which notwithstanding their controuersies in religion and strife for dignities hath neuer altered and in déede it now flourisheth as much as euer it did What excuse then maye wee alleadge wee Frenchmen as a sufficient discharge for that we haue so long fought one with another considering how other nations can vpholde themselues in conford and amitie Trulie it is time we should take instructions for remedie of our calamities by the felicitie of others to the end to make vs seeke meanes to returne into that which now hath forsaken vs. The waie is alreadie found if wee woulde put it in practise That is to grow into concord among our selues for so shall we rise againe and increase I knowe some will saie that it is but a discourse to affirme that France grew great by concord for their increase procéeded of the Frenchmens valiancie Whereto I aunswere that I will not denie but that force together with iustice and good order were causes of the increase yet must they néedes confesse that if these mightie pillers had not had for their base and foundation mutuall concord betwéene the king the nobilitie and the commons it must néedes haue yéelded vnder the waight of so great a burthen Our first auncestors did sufficientlie shew forth the profite that therein they reaped in that they knew howe to vse that vertue For they were many diuerse nations inhabiting the bankes of lesser Germanie who not hauing felt the Romanes bondage neither willing in anie case to trie it did assemble and gather themselues together and named themselues Francons Then they planted themselues along the Rhine from whence they stepped into Gaul which they subdued Thus hath a certaine learned man written in a treatise of the originall of the Frenchmen which opinion I thinke to bee more likely than that which the other writers report Heereby it appeareth that concorde hath beene one of the chiefe causes that of many Nations we were made but one and if wee will farther marke the increasing thereof wee shall finde that same occasion hath likewise stoode them in greate steade This doe I speake in generall because the perticular effectes which haue from time to time ensued woulde bée ouer painefull to rehearse and maye likewise bee troublesome Onelie I will by the waie report the blessed concord that was among the French nation in the time of king Lewes the twelfth Frances the great and Henrie the welbeloued which continued aboue sixty yeres not so much to refresh the remembrance of diuerse yet liuing who haue séene the most part of that time as for the instruction of such as haue beene onely beholders of the last disorders
place will I attribute to superfluity in aparrell that exceedeth euery where whereof proceedeth generall pouertie which to redresse seemeth but small difficultie and yet it cannot bee touched but two millions of men will crye out and exclaime What meanes is there then to prouide for it Euen to laugh at all those lamentations complaints and rages For from a foole if you take his bable he will storme and yet is it requisite to do it least he hurt others But which is yet worse these excesses that we speake of doe hurt those especially that commit them though at the first they be as pleasant as in the ende they be pinched when their liuing is morgadged out He that would perticulerly touch all these kindes of folly as the inuenters of auriculer confession haue deuided mortall and veniall sinnes into an infinite number of rootes and braunches should neede a whole volume It hath in all ages bene a hard matter to cut off the things that men haue esteemed to bee their principall delights yea some histories doe reporte that euen the Romaines were much troubled therewith Yet is there great difference betwéene vs and them For they excéeded when they had aboundance of all things but wee doe it now that we haue almost nothing Neither doe I feare that we shall enter into sedition for this poynt They that keepe the Custome house at Lions will say that vnlesse euery man may haue libertie of apparell the King shall lose aboue three hundred thousand crownes of yeerely rent But if we turne ouer the leafe wee shall finde that there is yeerely transported out of the Realme aboue fower millions of Francks which is caried into Italie for such warres and doe cause the King and his subiects to spende aboue twelue millions in superfluous apparell that might well bee spared In the tyme of Phillip the Conqueror vnder whom France florished and was aloft Veluet was out of vse with them neither had they any store of Silkes at the least fewe men did weare them Neuerthelesse the great men were neuer better obeyed each one in his degrée then in those daies So long as nothing but ritch garments doe procure reuerence and loue there is but small sted fastnesse therein and therefore there must be stronger bonds to bring vs to our dueties Yet doe I not meane that we should order our garments after the simplicitie of olde tyme for now doe many things abound that were then very rare The third parte of the Nobilitie at the least could wish there were some good order taken herein so should they bee better furnished with money and lesse endebted And I beleeue they could be content rather to spend that which they doe consume in such superfluities in the Kings seruice in the field where their expenses should be better employed theÌ„ to empouerish themselues in these follies and in liew of so many gay hosen and cloakes brodered with gold and siluer to buy good horses armour furniture therewith to bee worthely furnished in these honorable necessities So should wee finde aboue 1200 gentlemen able without pay to accoÌ„panie him which are yet good relickes of our decayed France and might worke as great miracles as euer did S. Mathurin of l' Archant And as these doe cure fooles as y t report goeth so would the others heale certeyne dolts y t think vs Frenchmen to be euen in the Hospitall Who theÌ„ would make any stirre for these things Peraduenture the women who are wonderfully affected to these goodly ornaments and would bee very forie they should be cut off Indeede they should bee allowed much more then men as well to content their curiositie as also because they loue to haue somewhat that may giue a glosse to their beautie Howveit Aristotle saith that women are the one moitie of the Commonwelth and therefore ought to bee brideled by good lawes but they will not beléeue him but say that he is an hereticke There be many other superfluities which I will not speake of as hauing touched them els where Only I haue chosen this kind which is as hurtfull as common which also I haue layed open to the ende to shewe that sith it may bee amended so may others likewise that make vs worse and more needie Which if any man desire me to name I must report these excessiue expences wasted in sumptuous Feastes vppon small occasion Maskes Playes superfluous retenues stately builoings precious moueables with many other pomps and pleasures which all do stand in great néede of reformation because that many doe passe their dueties and habilities neither should a man lye that should say that they are readier to spend 1000 crownes in such vanities theÌ„ to giue half a one to a poore soule that dyeth for hunger or tenne to a friend that standeth in great neede The cause whereof is ouermuch selfe loue and want of charitie toward others Now will I speake of matters which seeme necessarie to be touched if we minde to reforme the estate notwithstanding it be daungerous stirring of theÌ„ There be that thinke that if in this our pouertie those mén be not visited that haue so vnreasonably enritched themselues by our confusions the King shall bee defrauded of a woonderfull coÌ„moditie that would arise of the restitutions that diuers should be forced to make which also being applyed to good vses would stop great gaps This proposition is plausible grounded vpon equitie but y e execution therof is very difficult coÌ„sidering the great nuÌ„ber of those whose consciences are larger then a Friers â—léeue some in receiuing too much others in seruing their owne 〈…〉 es and others in catching and snatching And vndoubtedly if wée should driue them to giue accompt of their administration past it would bréede some iarre Yet if there were but a fewe exchetors in this number who now should deale faithfully in their offices if they could remember what shipwracke they had once almost fallen into was should bee sure enough from any warre there about But to close with those that weare Swordes that can both commaund and strike and that haue authoritie friendes and intelligences vndoubtedly it would breede great alterations Was it not one of the causes that moued Caesar to take armes because they would haue visited him and his partakers about the wealth that he had gathered in Gaule When the Gracchies propounded and purposed to put in execution the law Agraria which cut off the possessions of the ritch what bloodie sedition did ensue For although a thing be lawfull yet is it not expedient to put it alwaies in vse because that neither the indisposition of the affayres can beare it neither the tyme require it Some will say that it is a gentle way to redemand that thing by lawe that hath bene vsurped against lawe True But if we doe well marke the consequences wee shall finde them so daungerous that it were a great ouersight for the gathering vp of a fewe small profites
when the men of arms were instituted maintained ordinarilie vsed y t others were quite reiected reseruing vnto them only their auncient name with a verie weake effect Howbeit I will not blame the institution of the men of armes which haue brought forth so good effects still may bring forth more nay rather I wil alow it but likewise I wish to see a good order among all that deale w t armes The difference between thē consisteth not in y e men for y t same nobilitie y t in time past serued after one manner doth now serue after another The diuersitie resteth in the warfare which is changed The better to vnderstand these changes to know the dueties of seruice we must take things farther of climbe euē to their original Those that haue written of the affaires of France especiallie the L. of Haillan do aduow that our fees were instituted vnder the first line of our kings By which fees he meaneth a certain quantity of land which they gaue to some more to some lesse to such gentlemen famous warriors as had serued thē in the wars to holde the same vpon their faith homage to come serue them a certaine time of the yere at their own charge To the end also that these noble innobled persons should be the better able to maintaine thēselues they licensed thē to let and demise their lands to the pesants for rent and yerely pension Moreouer they granted thē both high meane and lawe iustice ouer their men and vassalles the appeales whereof were reserued to their soueraigne iurisdiction Thus had the high Iusticer his lawe and inferiour Iustices vnd er him whom he tearmed his men of warre for they were bounde to wait vpon him as vpon the Lord of their fee and the others he tearmed peasants These landes thus giuen vpon condition aforesayd such a fee was to set out one man of armes such a one an archer such a one a third and such a one a fourth who were bound to meet at a place appointed so oft as by the dukes or earles who were but simplie gouernors of the prouinces townes or their bailiefes or stewards y t succeeded thē they should be commanded These assēblies were called Ban or Heriban which after some signifieth crie or outcrie This order seemeth to haue bene confirmed in the time of Charlemayn vnder whose posteritie the fees Lordships which vnder our former kings were but benefits giuen for tearme of life were through fauour continued from the Father to the sonne and so grew to be patrimoniall and hereditarie Heereby it appeareth what goodly priuiledges haue bene graunted to the nobilitie but withall we are to consider that the bonds are verie strict For they must alwayes come armed in defence of the Realme and be readie to repulse the assaultes and violences of straungers abroad These were the auncient strength of France where with our kings for the space of seuen hundred yeeres did many notable deedes vntill the yere 1454. wherein the men of armes were instituted But who so is desirous more perticularly to see theyr auncient order let them read Frossart who describeth the difference between the Barons Bannerets and high Iusticers as also of those that might beare banners which were square Ensignes and of those that might carrie but penons Likewise the armes of knights and manner of fight as well ioyntly as seuered with the rewards and martiall punishments neither doe I doubt but hauing seene all this he will iudge our auncestors to haue beene braue fellowes The Lord of Haillan like wise in his discourses of France dooth shew how fees came to be alienated which were not amisse to bee knowen The first cause proceeded of our parents deuotion For they being by the Cleargie dayly perswaded that they that gaue most to the beautifying and enriching of the Church had the highest places in paradise such of them as were able founded Abbies Priories and Chappels al wel prouided for of good rents therby thinking sufficiently to discharge themselues Then followed the imaginations of Purgatorie where they were tolde that for a mortall sinne they must burne seuen yeres in a most violent fire howbeit y t they might be deliuered therefro through abundance of messes and praiers Wherevpon he that had but one hundred shillings of rent gaue twentie for singing and praying as well for his owne soule as for his kinsfolkes and parents deceased Thus came aboue the sixt part of the fees of France into the hands of the Clergie The second cause was the vioages vndertakē for the conquest of the holy land whereat whosoeuer bare anie valiant minde would not faile to be the rather for y t our kings thēselues went in person And because that some lasted three or foure yeres the nobles solde part of their fees so to get money to maintaine themselues withal Besides all this they also made their wills wherein they bequeathed in case they died a good portion thereof to be praied for so as many dying in those dangerous and long iourneies a greate number of the fees were still alienated to the Church The third cause hath growen of the continual warres with the Englishmen where through many Gentlemen haue bene forced to sell their fees to the vnnoble who had permission of the kings to buy the same for with out such license they could not before haue anie proprietie therein All which alienations set together haue pulled the third part of fées out of the bodie of the nobilitie whereby they are fallen as it were into dead hands that is into their hands who cannot in person discharge the auncient duties belonging to the same Likewise since that time the Lawiers Receiuers some Merchants haue so wel husbanded for themselues that they also haue laide holde vppon a good part of the sayd fees so as we may truly saie that the nobilitie doe not now possesse aboue the one halfe Which notwithstanding our kings in the meane time haue still had the vse of their Arrierbans wherin were but few Gentlemen who all almost ranne into place where paye honours and martiall rewards were shared out so as there remaine none but men of smal experience neither were they imploied but in the defence of those prouinces that lay farthest out of the danger of warre Moreouer many of all sorts of people both great and smal haue purchased exemptions frō the charges wherto their fées are bound which haue bred as great weakning both in men and money Our kings Frances the first and Henrie the second seeing all these inconueniences which they sought to redresse made notable decrees for the reducing of the said Arrierbans into some order which for lacke of well obseruing haue not much profited Thus much in briefe of the succession of these matters Some man may now tell me y t I labour in vaine in giuing counsaile to redresse that thing which the experience of many yeres
regiments For if the Colonell bee a man of small experience he maketh but bad choyse of Capteynes and they of Souldiers Then as well the one as the other guyding them selues rather after their owne phancies then after any good militarie order it is not to bee meruailed though such bad beginnings haue worse ends The like may also happen to this warfare for if the Colonell louing the Court will not remaine with his companies and the Capteynes do for the most part keepe home likewise that as well the one as the other to the ende to furnish themselues doe make their prouision of halfe their Souldiers pay all will bee corrupted In a matter of such importance we ought to be very diligent and the more that abuses doe multiplie the more seuerely are they to be looked vnto The fower regiments afore mentioned would I wish to bee put in garrison in the frontiers of Picardy Champagne and others of protection there to serue as well for the custodie of some places of importance as Metz and Calais as also to bee Schooles where young Gentlemen growne from Pages and other youth might goe to learne the arte of warre but the chiefe ende indeede is to haue alwaies a storehonse of old souldiers readie prouided for euery neede For so soone as warre were proclaymed and the King shall haue cōmaunded to encrease the companies to their full number amounting to two hundred a peece we should within some sixe or seuen weekes be able to bring forth into the fielde two thousand Corcelets sixe thousand Harquebuts which ioyned with a parte of the men of armes would beare a good brunt vntill the comming of the rest of our power Now if euer it is necessary to reforme our footmen sith the ciuill warres haue so corrupted them y t either they cannot or will not almost obey onely breeding terror where they march and scath where they continue In these daies when a yong man commeth newly into a regiment of Footmen I presume that he learneth some feates of warre also to be the more couragious but it is to bee feared least in the same Schoole he get as great imperfections which darken all the good that he had learned as I haue shewed els where Where cōtrariwise these fower regiments would be as it were great springs from whence would flowe none but fayre and cleere water which shedding it selfe all ouer the Realme would clarifie those that are troubled For discipline being established and obserued such as followe the same shewing themselues euery where gentle to their equalles obedient to their superiours courteous to the commōs and stout against the proud especially against their enemies should cause all men much more to admire them therefore then for their bigge lookes besides the fame of so braue an institution being spred abroad all noble harts will detest the accustomed corruptions and withall desire to submit themselues to the same Had I not heretofore seene the like effects proceede of the like cause I would not speake so boldly as I doe I remember that in the beginning of King Henry the seconds raigne when certeyne Capteynes and Souldiers that had lyen two yéeres in garrison in the townes of Piedmont returned into France they were greatly esteemed because they shewed them selues so ciuill and courteous nothing iniurious and speaking so orderly of the exercise of armes which caused many young men to runne thether in hope of the like instructions Yea my selfe haue seene the Earle of Charny one of the most vertuous and honestest Lords of this land weare the Corcelet and goe to warde as duely as one of the meanest Souldiers euen in the tyme of peace Now may some good husband obiect that this multiplicitie of Capteynes and Companies will much augment expences which though they be ordinarie doe neuerthelesse growe grieuous in the ende also that it were better to mainteyne but tenne compleat To whom I will aunswer that my entent is not to forme one full regiment for alwaies as affayres growe on it shall bee but one regiment but I looke to lay the foundation of many which being good all that shall be built thereon will take the like goodnesse that is to say Valour As also it would followe thereof that we should haue thrise so many men which is one of the drifts that I tend vnto For as hath bene aforesayd these fower bodies should maintaine eight thousand Souldiers all which being incorporated therein might be tearmed olde They should moreouer be shops out of the which we might fetch Capteynes for our footmen for in three or fower yeeres exercise euen in the tyme of peace a man of any capacitie might grow worthie to commaund through often conference of the 〈◊〉 of warre and practising the offices of those that deale therein 〈◊〉 also by continuall viewe of some image thereof before his eyes As for the charge I confesse it would amount vnto about fower thousand crownes at the most by moneth But withall we should mainteyne a hundred or sixe score men of commaundement whereof many might in tyme doe such seruice as could not bée recompenced What braue Colonels haue the Infantery bred within these fiue and twentie yeeres of whom I will name but a fewe as Charry Gohas Causseins Sarlabous Pilles Mounans and the valiant Montbrun It is to bee thought that this good order will raise vs vp more such Wee shall doe our maister no hurt in giuing him counsaile to spend a handful of money to reape againe so good interest for it The Colonels of these regiments being well and without fauour chosen must also wee subiect to dwell fower or fiue moneths of the yeere among them neither may the Capteynes haue leaue to bee absent aboue three or fower moneths at the most For when the officers be away discipline is neglected and obedience lost Likewise were it requisite the assignations of payment were certaine to the ende the Souldier bee not corrupted in being driuen to seeke his liuing abroade Thus would 15000. crownes by moneth suffice which is such a somme as our Kings sometyme doe giue to some one man in one day Likewise where our Souldiers will now a daies weare no Corcelets the same might by this meanes be brought againe into vse and estimation which is more easie to bee done then men weene for but then the Capteynes must begin who haue reiected the vse of the Pike for they must bee enioyned to take it againe together with the Millan Corcelet If they will they may also haue the Sword and Target of proofe against assaults and skirmishes In the Companies one quarter should bee Corcelets and that should neuer faile and the rest Harquebuts And notwithstanding this were not a fit proportion which requireth to consist of as many of the one as of the other yet must we come as neere it as wee may Also the better to bring our Souldiers into tast with the sayd Corcelets they should haue those that
will receiue not onely their instructions but also reprehensions This is in briefe the benefite that they reape of their Camarades Now let vs see how wee may so practise the like custome that we may gaine any profite therein wherof others do finde so much Concerning the first sorte I iudge our Captaines cannot so well fit themselues therein as the Spanyards in respect that they must then breake an other custome which hath taken so deepe roote that it would hardly be extinguished And that is that they haue vsed to haue their tables furnished according to their abilities sometimes for one and sometime for an other of their Souldiers who would thinke themselues contemned if with that and such other like familiarities they should not be enterteyned For the French Souldiers are perswaded that their Captaine must not debarre theÌ„ either his table or good countenance sith they spend their bloods for his sake and he who for sparing sheweth himself slack herein is accompted a Chicheface or niggard for wel for to discharge himself herein he must not spare expences So as if our Captaines should finde three or foure Camarades aboue their other charges they were not able to performe it without stealing from the Souldier vnreasonably which would redound to their shame The Spanish Souldier do not goe so freely to his Captaines table except vpon great necessitie or that he be inuited as hauing discretion enough to consider that they haue other charge sufficient as in deede they haue For such there are among them as haue in their families aboue twentie mouthes and thirteene or foureteene horses But their best comfort is that their King as they say will neuer leaue them poore Thus we may see things fit for one which in diuers respects that make the difference will not serue an other But concerning the second I am not of the same minde for I thinke it requisite that our Souldiers should put it in practise yea that they should bee earnestly perswaded thereto as well for the respects afore mentioned as also to accustome them to grow more tollerable each to other Besides that in some one of our companies we shall finde that ordinarily the third part of our souldiers shall in the first weeke haue eaten vp their whole moneths pay where if they were thus assotiate together they would learne one of an other to line and withall each enstruct his companion to shuune braules wherewith our Regiments are so sore infected that in some one day you shall haue three or foure whereas contrariwise the Spanyards doe detest it among themselues I haue heard some of the Captaines of that braue Tertio wherein Peter de Passe doth commaund affirme that in eighteene moneths they haue not had one whereof neuerthelesse they were not exempt through any want of stomack for they haue as much as any men but they are endued with modestie and doe knowe that their swords ought to bee employed in fighting against their enemies and not in murdering one another This Discourse is vnperfect The 17. Discourse Of the rewards ordinarily bestowed vppon the Spanish souldiers when they haue done any notable peece of seruice which they tearme their Aduantages I Am not of the opinion of those men who peraduenture flattering their Princes do vphold that y e rewards which they vse to giue to their souldiers doe proceede of their meere liberalitie and that thereto they are no way bound And their reason is for that he hath his pay for his good seruice so as whatsoeuer he getteth more proceedeth of fauour Truely they peize the ballance â—o much to the one side which I would faine bring to stand equall and that may easely bee done by putting as much waite to the merite of the inferiour as to the goodwill of the superiour But if we consider the martiall lawes and customes we shall find that in such actions there is more of duetie then of grace And I hould that rule good which willeth that as the pay goeth before the seruice so the reward must followe the merite Truely if any men in the world doe labour and encurre great hazards in seruice the souldiers do it They must not therefore be defrauded of the rewards which euen the meanest doe hope for and the greatest cannot be denied of For their valour shewed hath a certaine attractiue power which wresteth praise and garlands out of the mouthes and hands euen of the ignorant of the couetouse and of the vnthankfull Now these Aduantages whereof I purpose to speake do consist in coyne and are small recoÌ„pences which the Catholicke King or his Lieutenants generall doe distribute to those that haue done any valiant exployt The least are two crownes and the greatest eight Also this is moreouer to bee noted that if a souldier once rewarded doth againe any extraordinarie seruice he is againe recompenced And my selfe doe remember that I haue seene sundrie that at sundrie times had so gotten some twentie some fiue and twentie crownes Aduantage besides their ordinarie pay which in my opinion is both a good helpe to the maintenance of a Souldier and a honest token of his valour Yet some doe set downe these rewardes vnder the title of profite and not of honor But if they marked the cause which purchased them as well as the qualitie of the thing purchased they should perceiue them to bee as honorable as profitable Commonly the General doth assigne them because that being in place he better knoweth those y t are worthie then the King who is farre of Likewise when any hath giuen his ordinance he may goe where he will so he serue among y e bands of footmen which are deuided into diuers parts of his Empire still he shall haue his pay for such debts are woonderfully priuiledged I could neuer learne when this custome began but I gesse the Emperour Charles was the author therof for he being personally in many armies exployts thought them necessarie for the maintenance and encrease of his souldiers valour by the fruites which both haue and doe yet appeare wee may iudge them to haue bene grounded vpon good reason Wherin is verified the saying of one that sayd that where much honor was sowne great vertue springeth vp For the souldier that seeth his assured reward as it were before his eyes neuer feareth if occasion serue to hazard himselfe to all perilles thereby to shewe his courage and desire of fame whereof it also followeth that he is the better affected to forme his life well I haue heard that honorable olde man Peter de Pas report that to his Tertio or regiment which coÌ„sisteth of 23. Spanish Ensignes there were giuen monthly aboue 1200. crownes in Aduantages which well testifieth that the same was replenished with valiant men It may be some seuere Censor will herevpon exclaime and say Is it not an excessiue prodigalitie to giue away 14000. crownes by yere extraordinarily vnto one regiment Might not 250 good
of water will be as long and the inner trench being almost equall with the heigth of the rampier that is beaten downe may be kept as long or longer prouided alwaies that it be made 60. or 80. foote from the Courtine Now I take this at the worst for there bee such weake assailants of Houlds as shall labour two moneths about the winning of a Raueline There are that thinke it an easie matter to keepe them from passing the ditch but for my parte I thinke it harde for they will enter either by night or day Thus when a frontier towne shal haue stopped a mightie armie so long as I haue sayd it shall haue quit it selfe well for there bee fewe townes inpregnable and the Prince that may haue lost it shall haue this comfort That as the fencing of it had cost him little so his enemie shall haue spent much time many men and money enough in the winning of it Some Ingeniour may say that water vndermindeth the foundations of a Rampier and that from tenne yeeres to tenne yeeres they runne out which they do not if they be walled within It is so indeede where the water is a running water but the repairing cost little as also doe the props that beare vp nothing but earth Howbeit I say that a man may fortifie a whole small towne with earth with the charges of one enclosure to a Bastion made of bricke or stone with the countermynes thereof This maner do I here alow for an other respect which is that Potentates Commonwelths are better able to prouide for the inward fortifications which must accompanie the outward do consist in al kinds of necessarie prouision that want in many townes though not in whole yet in parte And as many are lost through this default as for lack of Bastions They may likewise spare great sommes which are spent in these great workes and with the same maintaine a sufficient armie through want whereof the strongest places are taken as hath bene seene in Flanders Many thinges more may bee obiected to beate downe this our Bulwarke which is much more profitable to the weake then beautifull to the mightie Monarkes In the meane time such as shall followe this construction shall not finde themselues the worse thereby as the future experience peraduenture will teach better then the passed The ninetenth Discourse That the continuation of the wicked proceedings of the warres of these daies doe make a iust cause to seeme vniust PHilippe Comines in his remembrances reporteth that the Duke of Guyenne the brother of King Lewes the 11. ioyning with Duke Charles of Burgundy in the warre for the Commonwealth when he considered the number of the wounded and slayne at the battaile of Montleherie with the spoyles that the Souldiers made all ouer the Countrie was merueilously daunted thereat and tolde Duke Charles that it had bene better neuer to haue begunne that warre that bred such mischiefe and ruine who aunswered him that those things were not to bee meruailed at sith such were the naturall fruites thereof But being afterward alone among his familiers he scorned that yong Prince which brought pitie and compassion vnto the Theaters of Mars where rigour and vengeaunce doe holde their soueraigne Empyre In these daies wee heare some make almost the like aunswers to many that curse our ciuill stormes for they tell them It is the warre and so doe weene that that word being heard should make them to shrinke vp the shoulder after the Italian maner and prouide to suffer worse matter But in my opinion such reasons are to bee suspected as procéeding from those that hauing no other delight or sustenance but in other mens spoyles would make men to accompt warre to be a necessary euill to the end they should not be slacke in giuing to them that foode which they do desire Truely these men are not altogether to be beleeued least wee confound crueltie and iniustice with equitie and humanitie and so of an extraordinarie accident make an ordinary custume Neither must we print in our phantasies the imaginations of many others who wish to sée a warre exempt from the things that of long time haue bene proper thereto and are as it were essentials namely rapine disorder and crueltie for in these daies wherein wee liue vertue being tyed vp and vice let loose wee cannot atteyne to this perfection What shall we then say hereof For sooth that to the ende well to measure the matters whereof we now speake wee must take the olde rules not of Iron which cannot bend but of leade which are somewhat plyable and frame them to the crooked and difformed stones whereof our ciuill warres are composed that is to say to our confusions and then finding what is somewhat â—ollerable as also what is to bee reiected to patch vp againe so well as wee may this house of bondage wherein so many persons within these fiue and twentie yeeres haue bene tormented or els quite to rase it to the foundation by an assured peace which were the better way I meane not here curiously to examine or way the right or wrong of those that are in armes because I will not offend any Only I am content generally to say that such on either side as loue godlinesse or vertue doe for the satisfying of themselues either inwardly or outwardly vnderproppe their actions with iustice Neither should any warres bee vndertaken without that good faundation least otherwise wee bee found guiltie before God who will not that men vse such vyolent remedies but vpon great necessitie neither guide them after their owne disordinate affections Now in these controuersies and publique quarelles as well ciuill as others furiously raised through mans mallice it often falleth out that all the right lighteth on one side and all the wrong on the other Sometimes that both parties are led by like mallice and sometime that he which in deede hath the right doth seeme to haue the wrong and so to the contrary As also that sometimes in some one of the poynts thereof a man may be in the right and in all the rest in the wrong of all which differences I meane not here to entreate Only I would aduertise the readers to note them in reading the histories wherein the diuersities of so many martiall purposes are liuely set out But for my self I wil procéed in discoursing vpon my first proposition of the euill behauiours which are to bée seene in our sayd ciuill warres together with their consequences I thinke they cannot bee better compared then to an ouer flowing brooke which with the vyolent force thereof not only destroyeth the whole â—roppe of a plaine but also carieth downe the trees buildings and bridges where it goeth so as neither arte nor diligence are able to preuent it Whosoeuer would walke through France and Flanders might see euen vpon insensible things the footsteps of our daily furies which are not neuerthelesse the greatest domages for those
that wast our good and valiant men and corrupt perticuler maners politique orders are much worse Truely we haue great cause to wonder at our negligence which on euery side is such that no man laboureth so much as to qualifie these so terrible furies which greatly offend all those that are beholders of our miserable tragedies Yea many of those that be vpon the theaters hereof and are endued with some integritie are no lesse offended thereat Thucidides saith that in seditions men may see the image all mischiefes but in our warres men may say that euen the mischiefes themselues doe come in poste to the ende to fester them with eternall reproach Yea euen the extraordinarie ones which were hidden and durst not haue appeared fiftie yeeres ago do now come to bragge among vs. No yeere escapeth free without some note of treason treacherie murder poysoning or barbarous vyolence yea sometime the terrible monster Massacre striketh through and with the mightie blow of her talents smiteth those that thinke not vpon her Oh what straunge things are these A Spanish Gentleman reported vnto me that when the Forte of Frezin Ferry was wonne from the French there was a Wallon Souldier being found there taken prisoner and when the chiefe Captaine commaunded to put al to the sword the said souldiers owne brother seruing in the Spanish Campeâ— stepped foorth and shewing a cruell countenance sayd This wretched traytor to his King must dye of no other hand but mine owne Neither was his wrath appeased vntil he had diuers times thrust him through notwithstanding he pitifully kneeled to him Had the dead mans offence bene fower times as great yet should he haue abhorred to foyle his hands in his brothers blood We reade in the ciuil warres of Silla that a Romaine souldier hauing in â—ight slaine his enemie stripping him found him to be his owne brother who was on the contrary partie which when he perceiued he was attached with such sorowe and so spited his vnfortunate ignorance that himselfe ranne vpon his owne sword and so fell vpon the others bodie And although that was a very corrupt world yet many commended that furious pietie of the poore Paynim But the deede that here I haue rehearsed of this Christian of our daies which is so farre vnlike to the other and ought to be buried in obliuion had not peraduenture any fewer allowers thereof If this déede were true it deserueth to bée yoked with an other as bad or rather worse of a notable murderer of Paris who as some haue written began his rage with two of his owne niepâ—es of twelue yeeres of age whom he slewe while they embraced his knees and cryed him mercie I am ashamed to speake of these parricides which neuerthelesse these men were not ashamed to commit But being entred this carrier I will performe my race and reueale yet one mischiefe which is but too well knowne for I haue touched others in other my discourses It is the villanous sacking of poore countrie people yea euen friends and partakers for notwithstanding their continuall labour as well for their owne sustenance as to satisfie those whome iustly wee may tearme warlike Harpies yet do they not spare to eate theÌ„ vp sometime all at once sometime by little and little with vnspeakeable boldnesse and contempt neither can they be restrayned therefro by any consideration that they serueth y e same partie or that their deuotion is tyed therto Uyolence wrought against the enemie breedeth no wonder neither néedeth any excuse although there should bee a little measure obserued but these are inexcusable as meanes to destroy them selues and to bring common hatred vpon their superiours which out of the fieldes is sowen in townes and cities The sayd superiours should remember that into this great troope the poore the widowe and the Orphan whom God houldeth so deare are in corporate who in their sorowes haue no other recourse but to sobs and sighes which ascend into his presence where they are most fauourably receiued And it is a bad signe when such as should blesse doe curse and euen plucke downe Gods wrath and cast it vpon those that in outward apparance doe seeme to defend them but in deede doe deuoure and eate them vp These are in part the exercices of our ciuill warres which daily do empayre which also are the occasioÌ„ that many times the wisest who do imagine that they haue the best cause in seeing so many miserable maners of proceedings which teach to commit all mischiefe without remorce doe growe into such doubts as doe in maner shake the foundations of the firmenesse that they had leyed If then they doe sometimes totter or reele thinke what the simple shall doe that vse to allowe or disalowe of the causes of warres according as they be well or euill ordered If wee speake of words wee heare nothing but Gods honor the Kings seruice Catholick religion the Gospell our Countrie All which goodly titles doe binde the ministers of armes to endeuour that their workes may concurre with their words But when afterward wee see the most part take a contrary course and as the prouerbe of the Tennis court importeth play at bandy and scraping yea that rather vpon the friend theÌ„ vpon the enemie that is to say glut their vengeance ambition couetousnesse and auarice vpon whatsoeuer the warre doth make to stoope to them wee must not thinke that they will bee mumme that suffer all these things If such a peasant as he that dwelt vpon the bancks of Danow who was said to haue come in the time of M. Aurelius to the Romane Senate to complaine should now rise among vs I imagine his speech should tend to this purpose Oh ye Christians that doe so cruelly deuoure each other like fierce and angrie beasts among whom pitie seemeth to be dead how long shall your rage continue Why do ye graunt no truce or release to the rest of your miserable liues to the end at the least to creepe into your graues in some quiet What violent causes are those that stirre you vp If Gods glorie then consider that he taketh no pleasure in sacrifices of mans blood but detesteth them and loueth mercie and truth If your Princes seruice you must thinke ye doe them small seruice in slaying one an other for so doe you deminish and plucke away the chiefe senowes of his Realme If religion moueth you it seemeth ye knowe not the nature thereof for sith it is all charitie the same should induce you to meekenesse If your Countrie behold your fieldes are almost all desert your villages burnt your cities sacked your ritches in straungers hands and your glorie vtterly lost Seeke then no more excuses to lengthen your calamities rather cut them off then alleadge such necessities as doe impose other necessities This were easie to bee done if ye would practise this soueraigne rule of estate which excelleth the most excellent Giue to Caesar that belongeth to
Caesar and to God the things that appertaine to God But when I remember my selfe how can you you Souldiers fulfill this who haue forgotten the arte of rendering and can doe nothing but take Who sometimes doo saie well and alwayes liue euill What are your troupes and armies in these dayes but shoppes of all vice which where they passe doe leaue more horrible footsteps than doe the Grashoppers where they liue continuallie Your enimies do hate your crueltie your friends doe feare your sackings and all people doe flie from before you as from the flouds Who wil beleeue that your cause is iust when your behauiours are so vniust And although it were iust doe not you yet hazard it to all rebuke and slaunder To be briefe learne to liue better or thinke not much that no man beleeueth your wordes but cry out against your deeds This truly were a very free speech which neuertheles I think to approch so neere y e truth y t I wil not giue it the lie least they y t haue indured it should come in for witnesses against mee and so returne my lie vpon my selfe Out of this ranke I will exempt the honorable and good mem that professe armes as well noble as others of whome there be yet many abroad Neither must the whole blame of these disorders be layde vpon the small whose wantes doe oftentimes stirre vp their mallice For there be great ones who because they care not for moderating or suppressing them must haue their parts those especiallie are most guiltie that had rather see whole riuers of mischiefe than loose anie part of their reuenges or dominion If anie man aske the souldiours why they make such hauock they will answere that want of paie compelleth them which is a reason to be considered of If they tel the Princes y t these behauiors sauour verie euill and must be taken awaie with golde they wil say that all the Indias will not suffice for so many high payes and other subtill proulings Which cause must be well waied In the meane time vnder these excuses the mischiefes doe on both sides continue and feede vpon the infortunate Prouinces that beare theÌ„ which cannot possiblie be eschued so long as the mightie ones are so obstinately bent to make the wars perpetuall by keeping great armies all Winter and Summer in the fielde whereof it followeth that in the ende most of the men become rauening beastes the country is disinhabited the treasure is wasted the great curse themselues and God is displeased If we should call to minde how in the wars betweene the French and Spanish especially in Piedmont we should often see a Cornet of speares passe through a village where they might see banqueting dauncing the people without anie force come bring them all kinds of refreshing Againe within halfe an houre after another troope enimie to the former to passe in like sort and to receiue all kinds of curtesies Also these 2. troops within a while after to meet and beate each other well fauouredly Then the conquerer to carie into the sayd village the sore wounded as well of the one partie as of the other to be dressed and to lie all in one hostrie the vanquished vpon their faiths and the vanquishers in the custody of the aforenamed vnto their ful â—nre when each ought to returne to theyr Captains Thus should we see that these and such maner of proceeding purchased to both nations great fame among strangers and more amitie than is now to be found among pareuts This I say being reported vnto them they would account for fables because our present customes are cleane repugnant thereto And yet if in any wars ciuill behauiour be to be practised than in these wherein fellow Citizens after they haue ben together by the eares in their natiue soile doe fall agayne into familiaritie and loue one with another which neuer happeneth with strangers for the controuersies ended they neuer lightly haue occasioÌ„ to see one another again yea they ought to behaue themselus herein as kinsmen who among their hatred force doe intermingle equitie and honestie Finally such as do better note pollicie and good order and withall doe shew themselues most curteous doe giue the lookers on to thinke that they haue the better cause who therefore do fauour them with their prayers and themselues likewise by their good actions are the more satisfied and confirmed in their opinions which make them the bolder Contrariwise those who through their dissolutions doe make their warre which of it selfe is terrible vtterly detestable notwithstanding the cause be neuer so iust God will not fayle to punish for prosecuting it by such sinister meanes The 20. Discourse That a king of France is of himselfe mightie enough though he neither couet nor seeke other greatnesse than his owne Realme doth afford him ALL such as professe the reading and diligent examination of histories doe with one voice confesse that most of the calamities miseries fallen vpon diuerse lands and nations haue proceeded of the ambition of Princes and common wealthes who haue raysed such warres as â—red the same To auoide all the doubtes whereof reade but the liues of Philippe of Macedon Alexander Pirhus and Demetrius with the warres of the Romaines against the Catthaginians wherein ye shall finde that nothing is more true And although time by little and little suppresseth the force of the strongest things yet coulde it neuer much extinguish the flames of so vehement a passion which passing from the Father to the sonne heaping the former ages with mischiefe hath reached euen to ours I will forbeare to speake of things happened within these fifty yeres in respect of so many people yet liuing which may haue considered thereof but of foure score yeres ago Phillip Commines Fran. Guicciardine doe yeeld such testimonie that wee may say that the desire of dominion haue caused infinite disorders which haue disfigured the beautie of politike gouernment It cannot be denied but ours haue danced at the feast among others and peraduenture oftner but it hath likewise soone after mourned for it as wel as y e rest as hauing reaped no other commoditie of the greate warres of Charles the eight and Lewes the twelfth which neuerthelesse were not quite deuoide of all grounds of iustice but wast of money and consumption of men Which might admonish all Princes to undertake none but such as be necessarie vtterly to reiect those that containe no necessitie I knowe they haue a wonderfull quick desire to increase which neuertheles they maye moderate by a representation of the mischiefes and difficulties of warres were it not that they find themselues strengthned and vnderpropped with the counsayle of the young together with custome which not onely maintaineth it in force but also dooth greatly increase it For assuredlie the mightier that a Prince is the more is hee pricked forwarde with such stings as leaue him but small rest
vntill that hee hath chaunged other mennes mindes whereby he entangleth himselfe in many cares and wantes which he might well inough forbeare Howbeit those men are happie who in the middest of such disordered broiles false perswasions and wicked customes doe guide themselues by wisdome and discretion for ordinarilie they passe on the waie without stumbling and attaine to such endes as breede their contentation Our good King Henrie the seconde hauing practised and tried the vanitié of couetousnesse and warres was determined to passe ouer the rest of his daies in tranquilitie and content himselfe with that mightinesse that to him remained which was not small but it pleased God to call him And although all things haue since greatly decayed throughout this Realme yet I thinke our king hath cause enough preseruing and accommodating that which yet remaineth to account himselfe mightie happie though he neuer seeke with yron fire and bloud the forced dominion ouer his neighbours By this proposition I bring the ambitious into the listes who saie That the inclosing of our kings heartes within the accustomed bounds is the waie to quaile their courages and to depriue them of all trophees and conquests the goodlie inheritances wherein theyr auncestours meant they should participate likewise That it is vnpossible when they consider the dominions of Charlemagne which as all good histories doo testifie stretched into Italie Germanie France che lowe Countries Spaine euen to the riuer Ebro but they must needs blush for shame thinking how themselues lurke at home do nothing Trulie these be high wordes which in my opinion doe resemble the furious Northerne windes that stirre vp the greate tempests for by theyr often blowing in kings eares they prouoke their mindes whereof doe ensue the torments of warres which drowne so many people If they could weigh the dissimilitude between old and new vertue they would bee more stayed For as sayth Plutarke in his small workes it is as much follie to applie the heroycall deedes of those that are past vnto men present as to put vpon the head feete of children of sixe yeres of age their grandfathers hats and shooes But men ought to propound things conuenient to that age wherein a man liueth so long as they bee iust and honest We Frenchmen should thinke that France is past her greatest grouth and that wee are come to the time of her declination wherein wee shall doe much if wee can but keepe her well which we shoulde endeauour to performe and not to feede vppon her passed glorie and mightinesse because we are destitute of y e power occasion and good happe that lead our auncestours thereto Some there are that thinke that a Prince cannot bee tearmed mightie or great vnlesse hee ioyne newe Prouinces to his estate and make his neighbours to feare and stand in awe of him through his weapons which doe incourage him to enterprise and threaten greate thinges wherein they followe the common iudgement which as sayth Plutarke also doe admire the Thunder and lightning and make small account of the sweete Zephirus for they making no reckning but of whatsoeuer procedeth of force do leaue behinde them any thing proceeding of iustice notwithstanding the one be to be preferred before the other Many Emperours Kings there haue bene who haue indeauoured to purchase fame through their conquests and yet those that had bene content to take paines to bee good and so to make their people and well to rule and gouerne them haue purchased another greatnes if we iudge vprightly no lesse thā the former seeing it alwais profiteth where the other doth ordinerilie hurt Yet doe I not meane that a Prince shoulde tread armour vnder his feete or contemne it for so shoulde hee but giue himselfe to be a praie but that he should vse it onely to keepe himselfe from taking of harme and not to doe hurt to others I will therefore begin to shew forth the greatnesse of our king by the extent of his Realme which in length containeth aboue two hundred French leagues For from Bayone to Mets it is more and from Cales to Narbonne almost as much But from Morles in Britaine to Antibe in Prouence it is at the least 250. which is the longest waie True it is that from Roche◠to Lyons which is a straightning made in the middest of Fraunce is but sixe score leagues But be what it will it is a goodly peece of ground well inhabited As for the fruitfulnesse thereof it is such as all thinges necessarie to mans life doe so abound that onely for Corne Wine Salt and Woad transported into foreine lands there is yeerelie brought in in counterchaunge therof aboue 12. millions of franks This is our Peru These are our mines which neuer drie vp and peraduent ure from the West Indies which are so rich the Spaniards doe not yeerely receiue much greater treasure But the principall that we are to consider is the multitude of people wherwith it is replenished for turne which way ye wil the people do swarme as they did in the Countie of Flanders before the last tempest wasted the inhabitants their wealth stately borowes The peasants are verie simple and obedient the Townesmen painfull industrious and affable also the men that giue themselues to learning both diuine and humaine are most learned The Nobilitie is very valiant and curteous neither is anie estate in Christendome so plentifully stored therewith More might I saie had I not spoken therof at large in other places but this we may affirme that vniuersallie they are giuen to rebellion which is the testimonie that Caesar gaue of the auncient Gaules If anie man should doubt thereof I would present him the deuotion of our Fathers which haue engenderd aboue an hunderd Archbishops and Bishops sea◠about 650. Abbies of the order of Saint Barnard and S. Benet beautified with good kitchins and aboue 2500. Priories For then did the chiefe holynesse consist giuing to the Oleargie Neither were it any lie to saie that at this day they possesse aboue 20. millions of frankes in rent Who then can tearme that land wast where in one of the members is so great fat and plentifull Hold your peace wil some forren sensor say and labour no more to exalt set out that state which hath neither godlines iustace weath concord martial discipline nor order But haue patience a while will I answere vntil I make a reuiew of this great and olde vessell which the stormes and tempest haue cast vpon the sands then hauing shewed vnto your hat the chiefe members there of which haue bene so tossed and seabeaten haue yet some force and power also that it is no harde matter to redresse the whole you wil peraduenture be of another mind and confesse the verie relickes to be great I wil begin with deuotion which as I haue said our fathers as they thought did stedfastly embrace for the manifesting
and Sclauons haue bene forced to proceede farther as to submit themselues to the Turkes to the ende to eschue their furious cruelty for want of meanes of defence and of them wee ought to take compassion Some would peraduenture think that this proud nation would be loth to enter amitie with the Christians But the contrarie is most true For albeit they be barbarous yet doe they herein imitate the auncient pollicie of the Romaines who vnder coulour of confederacies set foote in Greece and Gaule which afterwarde they subdued The lyke would these doe if they might but at the least in their haunting among Christians they discouer our affaires diligently considering our forces and meanes which afterward doe the more kindle their desire to enterprise against vs neither doe our men through their conuersation among them reape any other fruit than apprentiship of most wicked customes which doe infect particular persons with corruption and entangle the mindes of those whome they gouerne with tyrannous precepts I will yet alleadge other of the most notable examples of such as haue abused thēselues found inconuenience in reposing too much confidence in Turkish infidelitie One shall bee of the last king of Hungarie named Iohn whome the Hungarians chose after that Lewes was slaine in battaile against the Turkes This king soone after his election did Ferdinand expulse vnder some pretended title to the Realme which forced him to haue recourse to put himselfe into the protection of Sultan Soliman who thereby had a good occasion For he waited only how through the meanes of the Christians to get accesse into those places where he sought to establish his greatnesse Thus hauing for the time restored him into his dignity and beaten Ferdinandes men he kept not his promise long for after the decease of Iohn he dispossessed the Queene his widow his orphane who had craued his helpe against Ferdinand that had besieged them and euer since haue the most part of Hungarie continued in the hands of the Turkes In this their deede the grieuous iniuries offred by y t aforenamed may to some seeme to excuse their submissiō to Soliman howbeit they were not free frō blame in that for their owne particular interest they were the cause on that side to aduance the destruction of the Christians peraduenture 30. yeres sooner thā it would haue happened besides that they ought rather to haue summoned the Christian princes to take order for their controuersies or else to haue growen to composition with Ferdinand But how should these confederaties be other than mishaps to those that put them in practise sith such Princes as haue made them only to the end to reuenge themselues of or resist their enimies haue come to euil ends Of whom Alphons king of Naples is one who fearing the power of Charles the 8. king of France did after the imitation of Pope Alexander the 6. who before had done the like sent his Embassadors to Baiazet to craue helpe As also Lewes Sforza who to the end to molest the Venetians sought to y e Turks of whom he brought a certaine number into Italy but neither of thē attained to their pretences as being preuented by the subiection of themselues and their estates It is no meruayle that shame and destruction doe followe such deliberations and who so liste well to consider the causes thereof shall see that a vehement desire of reuenge stirred vp these Princes to call them in Is it not as much as if a man should go into the woods to hier theeues to murther his kinseman or friend in his owne house for some debate risen betweene them Either to open the windowe to the wolfe and so to bring him into the flock to deuour the sheepe Those that were at the first war in Hungarie when Soliman came in person doe affirme that in that one onelie voyage there were aboue 200000. persons of that onely Realme either slaine or caried awaie captiue which violences together with innumerable other more haue bene such pastimes as these horrible monsters haue within these two hundred yeeres taken to our costs Who is he that reading or hearing of the cruelties villanies torments which the poore Christians indured at the taking of Constantinople but will euen faint for sorrow and pittie In this shipwracke neither the greatnesse nobilitie and affabilitie neither the teares nor lamentations of the olde yong women or children could any whit mitigate their crueltie vntill that hauing glutted theyr desires and reuenges with the bloud riches beautie of the youth of each kinde they graunted some small release to those miserable persons that remayned of that furie who had ben farre more happy to haue bene swallowed vp among the rest I could heere adde sundrie other deeds wherewith to describe the fiercenesse of this nation but it shall not greatly neede because wee are to beleeue theyr proceedings to haue bene almost alwaies alike as if theyr onely drift tended to tread all mankinde vnder their feet Our neighbours alwayes haue and still doe thinke it wonderfull strange how such learned wise men as haue continually florished in France could counsayle our kings to enter league with these yea and so long to perseuere therein considering how infortunate such confederacies haue bene Some auncient persons haue in this sort reported the cause That king Frances the first seeing himselfe stil beset with the Emperour Charles a mightie Prince Henrie king of England and diuerse other enimies who oft brought his state in to daunger was for his owne saferie counsailed to confederate himselfe with Sultan Seliman to the end when they should molest him to oppose agaynst them so mightie an enimie And this treatie was concluded about the yeere 1535. by vertue whereof wee haue often times had succour from the Turkes which haue greatly hindered those that troubled France and without the which it must needes haue indured much more through the ambition of them that ought not to haue brought our Kings into necessitie to employe so terrible armies All these accusations and iustifications haue moued me to peruse some histories to the ende to see what profite or hurt wee haue reaped by their succour I haue noted three or fower armies by Sea brought into Christendome at the pursuite as they say of the French men vnder the conduct of Barberossa and other Admiralles who haue bred great terror The most notable of al their exployts in my opinion was the taking of Boniface in Corse But I haue laboured to learne of diuers auncient Captaines and other skilfull persons both Italians and Spanyards what their nations either thought or sayd of these Turkish tempestes who all reported vnto me that these barbarous people wrought lamētable desolations as hauing burned sacked yea and led into perpetuall bondage a merueilous number of poore Christians for the most part which was worse were forced to renounce Christianitie and to embrace the false doctrine of Mahumet a most lamentable
destruction truely of so many soules fallen into such horrible gulfes of perdition Neither is it almost to bee imagined how grieuously these mischiefes haue moued all countrie people both to speake and write in the reproach of the French nation What then might sayd they the kindred and friends of those that were led into this miserable bondage doe One lost his father and mother an other his wife and children this man his brother that man his cosen It is very likely that their iust sorowe haue wrested from them infinite complaints teares and lamentations which haue peraduenture knocked at heauen gates This confederacie seemeth to haue bene the cause of the deminishing of the glorie of so florishing a Realme as France for euen at the death of King Henry the second it was fallen from a great parte of that greatnesse which fortie yeeres before it did enioye And although other causes might set forward this declination yet doe many thinke this to haue bene none of the least Yea say they if we should compare the commoditie reaped by all this Turkish succour with the onely tainting of the French good name among all nations in Europe we must of force confesse that the reproach doth farre exceede the profite For what is the winning of two or three townes to the reproofe of so many people for actions so vniuersally condemned Yea our selues can yet testifie that at the concluding of the peace betweene the two Kings of France and Spayne Anno 1559. the common speech of Germany Italie and Spayne was that one of the chiefest causes of our misfortunes proceeded of confederating with the Turkes bringing in and fauouring them to the hurt of the Christians To whome I aunswered That they did too sharply taunt those things which in some respects might be borne with neither were so vnlawfull but that vpon necessitie they might bee vsed likewise that the offence was in him that forced others for their safegard to haue recourse to such meanes But they replyed That it is one thing to confederate with a Christian Prince though vniust and ambitious and an other with these barbarous people which are the instrumēts of Gods wrath Also that those which seeke to excuse these errors ought to shew what wisedome there is in backing our selues with the succour of such as blemish the Princes fame and bring him into reproach Moreouer whether it be not mere blindnes to passe the same way wherin we see euery man encurre shipwracke Finally that their opinion was that no wise man endued with any conscience could much gainsay so euidēt a truth but would rather yeeld and grannt not onely to condemne that which was so vnlawfull but also to abstaine from perseuering therein These in brief were the reasons that they propounded which also I could not finde to be much impertinent Neuerthelesse for my better satisfying I thought good to trye the opinions of some Deuines which came to visite me whether Christian integritie were empaired by such confederaties To this question they aunswered that Daniel in his prophetie speaking of the 4. Monarchies which should be in the world and describing them vnder the shape of 4. beastes sheweth that toward the declining of the fourth which was the Romaine there should spring vp a little horne that is to say a kingdome which should be more mightie then the rest also that this horne should haue eyes a mouth That the eyes signified a law craftely inuented the mouth blasphemy against God also that this power should fight against the Saincts and haue great victories This did they affirme to signifie the doctrine of Mahumet houlden first by the Sarazens and then by the Turkes That if we list well to consider the Turkish kingdome wee should finde it to be a terrible tyrannie whose subiects were wonderfully enthralled their warres destitute of all good foundation their politique gouernmēt being wel examined to be but a bare name their Ecclesiastical regiment to be none but in liew thereof wee should see a wicked prophaning of the name and seruice of the true God their household affayres subuerted with Poligamy other disorders which dissolued all humaine societie And as for their trecherie and crueltie the histories together with experience the matters afore alleadged doe yeeld sufficient testimonie to make vs to beleeue that prophetie to belong to them as being therein so figured as they are Now presupposing the premises to be true say they we would weete how a Christian Prince can confederate or make any stedfast league with such barbarous nations as are as it were marked and appoynted to be the scourges to Christians For as we thinke they can hardly be vsed without offence to pietie In olde tyme God expressely forbad the Iewes to enter amitie with the Canaanites or Amorites people whom for their abominable vice he did abhorre Neither were the comparison amisse in setting the Turkes downe for the one and our selues for the other whereof it must of necessitie followe that the same defence ought to stand vs in stead of a lawe to restraine vs least we pollute our selues in their abominations Then did I tell them that I much meruailed how so many Cardinalles Bishoppes and Doctors endued with great learning of whome France had no want could brooke this league or made no meanes to breake it Hereto their aunswer was that many tymes Princes made the gownes to yeeld to the sword and the counsaile of the Clergie to the necessitie of the state And so wee brake off our conference which hauing since well considered hath forced me to say That these barbarous people are the same against whome the Pope ought to turne his excommunications and all Christian Potentates their wrath and weapons rather then against them selues or their Subiects to whome very rashly they impute Heresie when they should haue in much greater abomination all Turkish infidelitie Against those should they drawe their Swordes not to conuert them for the Gospell taketh no roote in mens mindes but by preaching and holinesse of life but to represse their crueltie and tyrannie and these warres would bee as necessarie as our domesticall bee vnnecessarie But there are some who seeing the Turkes prosperitie to continue so long and to encrease rather then deminish are as it were confounded in themselues and cannot thinke their dominion to bée so detestable considering that God powreth not his wrath vpon them but rather his fauour I doubt not but such as want instruction in Gods prouidence are sometimes when they enter into discourse hereof euen shaken but they ought to bee assured that this power can haue no perpetual continuance which hath her bounds as had the Sarazēs that is ended together with their name so that these many yeeres we haue heard no newes thereof These rods doth the Lord entertaine to the ende only to punish and chastise those who bearing the glorious title of Christians doe neuerthelesse through their iniquities
is deuided weakened and poore because the auncient hatred of those that seeke the abasing thereof may yet gather strength and force This mooueth them to feare perpetuall reproach with manifest daunger to the state if they should counsaile their maister to depriue himselfe of such succour the losse whereof may embolden the neighbors to more willingly the assaile him That they are not ignorant but that the confederacie with the Turke beareth apparance of vniustice howbeit for counterpaize thereof that the profite which it yéeldeth is so great that in these daies wherein wee liue which are replenished with suspition surprises it may without infamie be tollerated considering that the Catholique King whatsoeuer regard he hath to conscience and honor maketh no doubt of confederating himselfe with the Persian who is a Mahumetist as well as the other And who can tell wil they say whether the most Christian King when vnder colour of vniuersall benefite he may haue made of his friend his foe if he should bee afterward assailed be assured of the loue of those Princes with whome he hath bene at so great controuersie Without manifest testimonie therefore of a good reunion and assurance to his Realme they would be loath to perswade him to abandon his auncient confederaties Moreouer y t although al Christian Princes should vnite themselues to assaile the Turkes and atchieue great victories against them yet is it likely that all the fruites of their labours both by sea and land shall redound to the profite of the house of Austrich which alreadie is clambred so high that all the neighbours begin to stand in feare thereof and so should their maister reape nothing but labour and cost which poynt is to be considered of These in my opinion are the chiefe reasons that our Kings officers can alieadge which it were requisite to ouerthrowe by better before wee bring them to the league aforesayd I thinke if the Princes afore named would proceede sincerely vnto words adioyning good demonstrations this might be compassed For besides the equitie of the matter the desire of many good men which seeke no more but the exaltation of the name of Christ shall accompanie them But if they labour with subteâ—tie as men doe many times there will no fruite come of it but they shall be requited with subteltie Howbeit I will beléeue that they meane very well which if they doe there resteth no more but to aunswer to that which hath bene propounded and so to decide the difficulties aforesayd whereof I will not speake in that I can say little in respect of that which so many heads as well in Spayne as Italy are able to set downe neither doe I doubt but these Princes would graunt to the most Christian King good assurance to induce him to enter into this confederatie For if there arise any controuersie vpon this saying The assurance is not strong enough or vpon the aunswer we can giue no other the same were an euident token of a bad minde to the common benefite in him whoÌ„ we should see vnwilling to yeeld vnto reason For if it should happen such a King as he of France to bee assotiated it would afterward be an easie matter to make all the other Potentates to enter into the generall vnion yea euen the King of Poleland now raiguing And withall if any one would be slacke when he should see the whole bodie set forward the same should deserue to bee forred thereto Yet were all this in vaine and to no purpose vnlesse withall order be taken to appeaâ—e all present warres also to prouide for such as may arise as well betwene Prince and Prince as betwene them and their subiects It seemeth that at this day there is small cause of controuersie betweene them sith the Duke of Anieow is deceased who was at debate with the Catholique King hauing wonne for all his paines the onely towne of Cambray which some may thinke to bee rather an occasion to breede discord betweene the two Kings of Spayne and France which neuerthelesse I cannot beleeue for they will neuer so farre ouershoote themselues as for so small a matter to hazard both their Realmes into charges calamitie and destruction Neither to speake as a Christian should any man wish two so mightie Monarchies to goe together by the eares For so should they bring their confederates to partaking and of a priuate controuersie make a generall warre And no doubt the Turke would thereof take occasion to worke wonderfull practises against vs which for want of withstanding through our domesticall dissentions would breede our great hinderances Some man will adde that the small Potentates will bee glad the great ones should feede each vpon other truely if the great ones should seeke to deuoure them they might haue great reason to wish it but seeing them willing to vndertake to do that which may profite all all ought likewise to wish their good and to helpe them therein The true meanes therefore to take away the feare from some and couetousnesse from other some were ioyntly to employ themselues in these high enterprises As for the warres of Princes against their subiects it were good if it were possible to quench them because they are sufficient to diuert them from all other intents To which purpose I say that subiects are to remember that their soueraigne Princes are as the visible Images of God whom he hath established vpon the earth as his Lieutenants to driue men to liue in Pietie Iustice and honestie and to defend them from oppression In respect whereof they are to yeeld vnto them all honor fidelitie seruice obedience as also the Princes are to beare them like goodwill as a father doth to his childe and neuer to driue them into necessitie least they enter into dispayre Through the maintenaunce of this goodly concord states doe florish whereas contrariwise the breach thereof hasteneth their destruction as hath bene lately tryed to the great hurt of all France and is yet in practise in Flanders to the desolation therof It is a lamentable matter to see those that worship one self Christ thus to pursue each other with fire blood like wild beastes and the whiles to suffer these Mahumetistes to tryumph ouer the liues lands and spoyles of the poore Christians of the East countries For if this alteration of the Low countries were ceased all Christendome should seeme to be at peace But this reconsiliation will not be 〈…〉 y purchased howbeit al lets must be ouercome to the ende to creepe out of these long miseries that make both the assailants and defendants miserable The Catholique Maiestie who as it is sayd is very courteous and thereof daily sheweth great proofes in most but my selfe should diligently looke hereto for all this bloodie tragedie is played at his costs Now is there no question of state but only for religion whereof albeit no man asketh my counsaile neither wil beléeue me yet I will speake a
It was agreed that two dayes after he should meete the Queene a league and a halfe thence so to proue if any thing might be determined which he did There after many speeches the said Prince did in the end make her the offer aforesaid namely to depart the realme so to testifie his zeale to the quiet thereof which she tooke holde of before the word was out of his mouth telling him that that in deed was the true meanes to preuent all mischiefes feared for the which all France should be bound vnto him also that the King comming to his maioritie would bring all into good order wherby euery man should haue cause to be content Nowe although the Prince was a man that would not be easily danted neyther wanted his tongue yet was he at this time astonished as not thinking to haue bene taken so short because it waxed late she tolde him that in the morning she would send to knowe what conditions hee would demand Thus she departed in good hope and the Prince returned to his campe laughing but betweene his teeth with the chiefe of his Gentlemen which had heard all his talke Some scratching their heads where they itched not others shaking them some were pensiue and the younger sort gybed oue at another each one deuising with what occupation he should be forced to get his liuing iu a forein land At night they determined the next morning to call all the Captaines together to haue their aduice in so waightie a matter In the morning they entered into counsayle where the Admirall propounded that in as much as this matter concerned all it was in his opinion good to impart it vnto al which was done and the Colonels and Captaines were sent to demaund the aduice as well of the Gentrie as footemen But they imediatly aunswered thatsith France had bredde them it should also be their scpulture likewise that so long as anie drop of bloud rested in them it shoulde bee imployed in defence of their religion With all they requested the Prince to remember his generall promise that hee would not forsake them This being reported to the Counsaile haâ—ted the conclusion of those that were there to deliberate who considering of the generall disposition of all were the rather confirmed in their opinions which did concurre w t the same neither were there aboue three or foure that vsed anie speech the matter being so euident and I do yet in part rememâ—er the particularities there deducted The Lord Admirall declared vnto the Prince that albeit he supposed that the Queene in accepting of his offer meant no harme as one that desiring to deliuer the state out of miserie means conuenient 〈…〉 ot that he thought those which had weapon on hand did circuÌ„â—ent her to the end to betraie him that he neither ought neither could performe that that was propouÌ„ded himself had promised in respect that beforè he stoode bounde in stronger bandes and besides all this that if he should now absent himselfe he should vtterly loose his credit condemne the cause that he had takeÌ„ in hand which besides the equitie therof being authorised by the Kings edict ought to bee maintayned euen with hazarde of life The Lord of Andelots speech was this My Lord the enimies power lyeth but fiue small leagues hence if it perceiueâ—â— amoÌ„g vs either feare breaking vp or other alterà tioÌ„ whatsoeuer it wil with â—â—â—ord and speare driue vs euen into the Ocean sea If you none shoulde forsake vs it will bee sayde that yee doe it for feare which I knowe neuer harboured in your heart Wee are your poore seruantes and you our maister diuide vs not then sith wee fight for religion and life so many parleyes are but snares layde to intrappe vs as appeareth by the effectes else where The best waie therefore to come to a speedie agreement is that you will vouchsafe to bring vs within halfe a league of those that wish vs to departe the Realme so may wee peraduenture within an houre after growe to some good resolution for wee can neuer bee perfect friendes before wee haue skirmished a little together Then stepped foorth the Lorde of Boucarde one of the brauest Gentlemen in the Realme whose head was fraught both with fire and Lead My Lorde sayde hee hee that either giueth ouer or putteth of the set looseth it which is more true in this matter now in hand than in the tenis court I haue alreadie seene fiftie yeeres in which time I may haue learned alittle discretion I would bee loth to walke vp and downe a foraine lande with a tooth picker in my mouth and in the meane time lett some flattering neighbour bee the maister of my house fatten himselfe with my reâ—â—newes God willing for my parte I will die in my Countrie in defence of our alters and hearthes I beseech you therefore my Lorde and doe wish you not to abandon so many good men that haue chosen you but to excuse your selfe to the Queene and imploie vs with speede while we are willing to bite Little more was there spoken except a generall approbation of all men Then the Lord Prince began to speake and for the iustification of his offer sayd that he made it because they went about couertlie to taxe him with the cause of the warre as also for that if his absence might breede theyr peace he would thinke himselfe happie as not respecting his owne particular affayres lykeâ—â—se that hee did well perceiue seeing the enemies power so neere and theyr resolution that they woulde impute his humilitie to cowardlynesse whereby it should breed no rest but rather destruction to the cause that hee maintayned and that in consideration thereof hee was resolued to followe theyr counsayle and to liue and die with them Thus sayde they all shooke handes in confirmation thereof At the breaking vp of the Counsaile Theodore Beza with others of his companions made vnto him a verie wise and piâ—hre exhortation to comfort him in his resolution alleadging vnto him the inconueniences ensuing the departure from the same and so besought him not to giue ouer the good worke hee had begun which God whose honour it concerned woulde bring to perfection About the same time came the Lorde of Frense Robertet Serrâ—tarie of the commaundementes whome the Queene had sent to knowe vppon what conditions the Lorde Prince woulde departe Whose â—unswere was That it was a matter of waight neyther was hee yet resouled thereof in respect that many murmured thereat but when it was concluded hee woulde eyther sende or bring the Queene worde himselfe But Roberter by some particular speeches perceiued that matters were altered and so returned to the Queene whome hee certefyed that shee must haue more than paper to thrust him out withall who afterwarde went her waie Heereby may Princes and great Lordes learne in matters of importance not to binde themselues by promise before they haue throughly consulted thereof with the
most were slayne rather in fight then in flight But the chiefe cause of the prolonging of it was as I thinke because the Kings armie was strong in footmen and the Prince of Condées in horsemen For the one could not breake the great battailes neither the other driue away the horses If wee doe well consider all battailes that haue bene fought since the Suizers battell which fought againe the next day wée shall finde none comparable to this yea the battell of S. Laurence was ended in halfe an houre The fifth accident was the taking of the two Generalles of the armies a rare matter because that they ordinarily doe neuer fight but in the ende and vpon extremitie and many times a battell is almost wonne before they came to this poynt But these stayed not so long for in the beginning each of them endeuoured to set his men an example not to dallie The Lord Constable was first taken and sore wounded hauing likewise bene wounded in seauen battailes that he had bene in which is testimonie sufficient of his courage and the Lord Prince was likewise taken toward the ende and wounded also Herevpon may growe a question whether a Generall ought to aduenture so farre Whereto it may bee aunswered that this is not to be termed aduenturing when the maine battaile marcheth to the charge and so he departe not out of his place Besides that these hauing good seconds did the lesse feare the daunger of their persons for the one had the Lord of Guize and the other the Admirall who both also were farre enough in the conflict The sixâ— was the maner how both the armies parted which many times happeneth otherwise then there it did Wee lightly see that the end of a battaile is the flight of the partie ouercome which is withall pursued two or three leagues and sometimes farther But here we may say was no pursuite but the Protestants retired an easie pace and in order hauing yet two battailes of Reistres and one of French horsemen in all amounting vnto about 1200. horse But the Lord of Guize who was weake in horse not willing to abandon his footmen was content to haue followed fiue or sixe hundred paces after them Thus as well the one as the other being wearie the night comming on parted them He tooke his lodging in the fielde where the battaile was fought and the Admirall went to a Uillage a long league of whether his footmen with all his cariages were retired Some hould opinion that the battaile was not lost because the losers were not quite disordered but therin they are deceiued For he that getteth the field winneth the Artillerie and taketh the footmens Ensignes hath tokens enowe of the victorie albeit it may bee sayd that it was not at the full as if plaine flight had ensued If anie man should replie that often times they had seene the two armies retire each from other in good order as at Roche-abeille also the fridaie before the battail of Moncontour It is true but then had they not had any maine fight as heere but onely great skirmishes wherein eyther parte kept their aduantage of the ground There are yet liuing many Gentlemen Captaines able to remember what was there done stil to deliuer some obseruations thereupon Finallie I thought good to set downe yet one thing aboue my number as also it happened after the battaile which was the curtesie and honestie that the Lord of Guize beeing the conquerour vsed toward the Lord Prince of Condie his prisoner which most men of each parte did not thinke that hee would haue done for it is well enough knowen how odious in ciuill watres the chiefe of either faction is as also what things are imputed vnto them so as if they fall into their enimies hands after many reproches which they are forced to beare their liues also are in daunger Howbeit here it fell out contrarie for being brought before him hee spake reuerentlie vnto him and with verie modest speeches wherein hee coulde not gather that hee meant to gird or checks him Also so long as he soiourned in the campe he oftentimes did eate with him likewise because vppon this daie of battayle they coulde haue but few beds brought the rather for that the carriages were halfe rifled and scattered be offered him his bed which the sayd Lord Prince would not accept but for the one halfe Thus did these two mightie Princes beeing as it were capital enimies both in one bed the one triumphing the other a prisoner take theyr rests together It may be sayd that the Lorde Marshall of Anuillâ— hauing him in custodie for to him he yeelded himselfe would not suffer him to haue any iniurie offered because his father was also a prisoner I confesse he would haue done what in him had lien but surely if the Lorde of Guize woulde haue hurt him his credite and reputation was then such as no man coulde haue letted him Such braue actions are not in my minde to bee buried in obliuion because that all that professe armes ought to study to imitate them and to abondon all crueltie and vnworthy deme aâ—â—res whereinto in these ciuil warres so many doe fall for that they either cannot or will not bridle their malice To the enimy that resisteth we are to shewe our selues haughty but being ouercome honesty willeth that we shew him curtesy Some man might yet crosse me and say that hee might well ynough shewe him this curtesy considering what hee had before procured at Orleance against the saide Prince To whome I will aunswere that heare I meane to commend the beautifull actions of vertue when by chance I mèete with anie but not to speake of other's which are not to my purposes so that when I see them shine in what man so lower I will honour them Of the 〈…〉 Lord of Guizes laide to Oâ—leance also of the 〈…〉 Admiralls iourney 〈◊〉 Normandie GRem hope had the Duke of Guize now 〈…〉 what a goâ—dly victorie hee had obtained albeit 〈◊〉 cost him deere as hauing taken the Generall of his aduerse partie and did remaine without companion hauing the whole gouernment in himselfe Neither was he slack in publishing it abroade as also he tooke good order to refresh his armie whereto he saide himselfe constrayned In the meane time all his imaginations tendeâ— to the preparing of all sortes of engins and prouision to assayle the towne of Orleance giuing out that the denne whereinto Foxes retyred being once taken they might afterward hunt them all ouer France Neither had the Lord Admirall lesse neede to rest his people who grieuing that they were beaten did many times finde cause of mutenie Wherefore he passed ouer the riuer of Loire as well to refresh them as to furnish them a new at the charges of diuerse the enemies small townes but meanely defended and a good quarter paie where the souldiour had the â—rdle somewhat at will to the end in parte to recouer his losses
He that giueth a notable Captaine respite to bring forth that which his imagination hath conceiued he doth not onelie heale vp his old woundes but also ministreth strength to his languishing members therefore he should rather endeauour still to diuert combet him so to break the course of his purposes The longest aboad y t this half army made in anie place was about the quarters of Agen Montauban where it spent almost al the winter through the good entertainment that it there had it was restored as it were with new mens bodies Heereto ought all such as haue anie militarie offices to haue regard and not to do as the couetous labourers who granting no release to their lands doe make them barren for when for the increase of their owne glorie they doe euen tier their souldiours for lacke of refreshing they doe vtterlie ouerthrowe them Also if the North winde together with the moisture of the Moone doe euen weare the stones how much sooner will the delicate bodie of a man bee worne out with such labours rigorous toyles Wherefore the best rule is infayre weather to emploie themselues well and in foule to take some rest except extreame necessitie constrayneth to the contrarie In this voiage they verie well followed the rule of Hanniball in Italie which was to giue the enemies Countrie to be a praie to their owne men so often as occasion required that they should bee contented for who so list to aduenture wanted no commodities such plentie raigned in those Prouinces The first power that ioyned with the Princes was the Countie of Montgomeries who returned victorious out of Bearne which truly was a braue exploit and is at large set downe in the histories for through his diligence he preuented the power of the L. of â—erid who besieged Nauarrins which alreadie was tired with his long aboâ—de therabout neither is it to be demanded whether he was wel welcommed at his comming About the ende of Winter they marched toward Tholouze where began a kinde of most violent warre in respecte of the fires permitted howbeit onely against the houses of those that belonged to the Court of Parliament The cause heereof was sayd to be for that they had euermore bene most sharpe in burning the Lutherans and Huguenotes as also for the beheading Captain of Rapin a gentlemaÌ„ Protestant who brought them from the king the edice of peace They found this reuenge to be verie hard howbeit it was sayd that it might bee a warning for them to be more moderate afterward as in deed they haue so shewed themselues This companie is one of the most notable in the realme many learned men therein albeit they might haue vsed more clemencie The L. Marshall d. Anuil was then in the sayde towne with a good power was bitten by slanderers who reported that he had intelligence with his coosen the L. Admirall yet throughout all that voiage no man warred so sore vpon the Princes armie as he for he ouerthrew foure or fiue companies of their horse This report was vndoubtedly false and that I well knowe notwithstanding whatsoeuer may since haue fallen out The army went on euen into the County of Roussillon where albeit it belonged to the Spaniard it vsed some some sacking Thence it marched along Languedocke and comming neere to Rhosne Countie Lodowicke went ouer with part of the armie to assaile some holdes But the chiefe intent of these Captaines tended to get some footmen out of Daulphine to the increase of their bodie as also they thought to haue done out of Gascogne Languedock which desire could not be brought to anie good effect for when the souldiers vnderstood that it was to march toward Paris and into the heart of France withall that they considered the miseries which theÌ„selues their companions that had bidden by it had indured the last winter euerie man fled from it as from a deadly downfall desiring rather without coÌ„parison to stay folow the war in their own countries neuerthelesse they gathered together aboue 3000. shot determined to passe any whether which were distributed among the regimeÌ„ts but they were al on horsback Necessity forced theÌ„ so to do in respect of the tediousnesse of their iourney sharpnesse of the winter albeit it sometimes bred pesturing yet came there profit of it in y t as occasion fell out their footmen were alwaies Iustie fresh neither was there much sicknesse among them in respect y t they were euer wel lodged entertained The L. Admirall a man of great experience in such affaires well perceiued albeit there were some treatie of peace that yet it was harde to purchase any good vnlesse they did approch to Paris and therewithall knowing that beyonde the riuer of Loire hee shoulde finde greate fauour and helpe did hasten the voiage but the difficultie of passing the mountains of Sauenes and Viuarets were some stay but more his sicknes that tooke him at S. Steuens in Forest was like to haue caried him awaie which if it had fallen out peraduenture there woulde haue ensued change of counsayle for hauing lost the henge where vpon the whole gate was turned they could hardly haue found such another True it is that Countie Lodouicke was a braue Captaine and well thought of among the French howbeit hee was not yet come to the authoritie experience of the other neither dare I affirme if he had died whether they woulde haue proceeded in theyr carrier or not In the end God sent him health to the great contentation of all men after the which the armie marched so swiftly that it ariued at Rhene le Duc in Burgundie There had lyke to haue ben giuen a terrible sentence for the peace which neuertheles was but good for the setting of it forward The L. of Marshall of Cosse gouernor of the kings armie was expresly charged to keepe the Princes army from comming nere to Paris yea to fight if he see the game fayre wherevpon he coasted it in full deliberation so to doe Finding it placed in a reasonable strong seat he thought with his artillerie which the other wanted to take awaie the aduantages thereof also by skirmishes of shotte to make them forsake certaine passages that they had Onelie one ditch did they at the first abandon where happened great charges recharges of the horsmen wherin either part when their turn came were pursued The Captaines which on the Catholiks part gaue the first onsette where the Lordes of La Vallette Strossie and Chastre who bare themselues wel on the Protestants side those that bare the first brunt were the Lord of Bricquemaud Marshall of the fielde the Countie Montgommerie and Genlis and in this action did the Princes albeit as yet verie young in theyr countenaunces shew theyr desires to fight wherby it was thought that in time they would proue most excellent Captaines In the end the Catholikes seeing how hard it was
such recompences Of the small order obserued by the Frenchmen in respect of rewardes A meane how to establish this disciplines The Reisters actiue with the Pistoll what aduantage they seem to haue of the Speares What aduantage the speare seemeth to haue ouer the pistoll especially head to head Which of the 2. Squadrons should haue the aduantage Answer to the obiection that the Reistres haue diuers times suffered the speares to beate them Ouersights of the Reisters Of the effect of two Squadrons when they come to charge Why moste men do reiect this Paradoxe Proofes hereof may be performed by the notable examples taken out of the stories of our time The first example The second example That such restraites may be made when the arte of warre and in struction of the Soldiers is ioyned with bould resolution Of the ordering of the battailes Answer to the obiection against the former aduice How the battailes should beare themselues either to fight or to retire Aunswer to another obiection founded vpon the impossibilitie Aunswer to two other obiections A meane to proue what assurance is in this paradox also a remedie to the difficultie propounded there against The generall ground of this paradoxe The perticuler ground hereof Example of Captaines that haue benefited by the ouerthrowes that they haue susteyned An other example in Cesar The vse of these examples The first cause of presumption The second cause The third cause The effectes of pride enflamed through our owne bad nature and the discourses of our frendes flatterers Remedies against these effectes In his treatise of profit to be taken of enemies An exhortation to Captaines with a description of the good which the vertuous do reape whiles the viti ous and ignorant doe empaire and confound them selues Where to costly fortifications doe serue To whom those of smale expense are profitable Forteresse which haue so much Against those that like of such expenses How to helpe our selues with the Ingeniors deuises and yet auoide excessiue expenses An aduise vpoÌ„ the meanes to fortifie with smale cost The way how to descend a place that is besieged Against such as thinck water to be hurtfull to rampiers of earth The Duke of Burgundy an Image of such as haue no delight but in troble and coÌ„fusion The meanes which doe seeme necessary to be houldeÌ„ in the consideration of the present estate of the Realme to restablish it The miseries of warres especially ciuill Examples of these miseries of Warre Other miseries of ciuil warres The straÌ„ge offence of the most of those that beare armes in such warres An exhortation to those Frenchmen that are banded one against an other To the Souldiers To whome the aforesaid calamities are to be imputed The state of warres in ould time coÌ„demne those of our dayes The ambition of Princes and common welths cause of great calamities Whar considerations ought to moderate the desires of princes Answer to the obiections of ambitions Counsailers Aunswere to an other obiection touching the mightinesse of Prinses Consideration of the greatnesse of a king of France The extent of the realme The fruictfulnesse The people The contry Aunswere to those that emblason and abase France because of her miseries Of godlinesse Of Iustice Of the tresury Of the Frenchmens concord Of Martiall discipline Of the chiefe martiall Capteyns What meanes the King hath to defende him selfe against any Prince his neyghbour that list to assaile him Of the restoring of order in France What the groundes of publike actioÌ„s ought to be The grouÌ„d of confederaties with Turkes The originall of the Turkes their increase behauiours gouernments as well in respect of the soules as of the bodies What Christian princes were the first that repented their confederaties with the Mahumetistes Ihon Paleoiâ—gue Answer to the obiection of such as vnder coulor of couenants euel kept among some Christian princes doe alowe of conâ—ederaraties of Infidels so as therin men be wise and circumspect What treaty may be made with Turkes also what difference is betweene such treaties and true alliance with the danger of stedfast consederaties with tirants Other latter examples of the danger that is in confederaties and trust to Turkes Other examples How many mishappes haue bene hatched out of the confederaties of Christians wihch the Turkes The originall and occasion of the alliance of the French Kinges with the Turkes What seruice the Turkes haue done to France How â—ore this league hath blemished the glory of the French nation How farre such confederaties doe preiudice christiaÌ„ religion Whether confederaties with the Turkes be lawfull Answer to an obiection grounded vpon the consideration of the Turkes prosperitie Aunswer to those that thinke it no time now for the Frenchmen to breake their league with the Turkes The conclusion of this discourse The excuse occasion of this discourse A brief Description of the Turkish dominion Of their hatred and conspiratie against ChristeÌ„dome why they suffer Christians among them The meanes to suppresse the Turkes insoleÌ„cie also the cause why it is propounded Against those that thinke the Turkish tirannie to be so farre of as it can neuer reach vnto them How terrible the Turkes power is at this day and why To whome it belongeth to suppresse the tirannie of the Turkes What letteth princes from thinking therof also the meane to set this matter in hand Who they are that ought to begin to sette the rest on worke The Pope The Emperor The King of Spayne How other princes may be induced to ioine with the three asorenamed Reasons for the leagne betweene France the Turkes Answer to the reasons and allegations aforesayed That it is requisite to vnite Christian princes before they meddle with the Turkes Of the vnion of princes with their subiectes and the ceasing from all acts of hostilitie and ciuill warres within their lands Of the necessitie of peace in the Low couÌ„tries and how the King of Spaine may and ought to graunt it Vpon what consideration the enterprize against the Turke ought to be of great commendation among all Christian princes Hauing treated of the fouÌ„dations of this warre it is here spoken of the proceeding thereof and first of the generall assembly for the entire resolution of the affaires Of the meanes to continew the warres diuers yeares Of treasure to maintaine this warre Of forces necessitie for the executioÌ„ herof Of Martiall discpline Of other preparatiues requisite to beginne withall Against those that thinke the Turkes easy to be subdued Of the great power and habilitie of the Turkes Of the manner how to assiuill the Turkes in what places and with what power How longe our auncestâ—rs were in their warre also whether it bee harder in these daies then in those What was the cause that our forefathers lost the aduantage they had of them were driuen out of the east The warres of those princes that succeded Godfrey and others against the Turkes Why the time is now conuenient to sett vpon