Roman Church or also Legats à Laterè Nuncio's of the Apostolick See or others who have or may have any preheminence or power from all and every one of whom we take away all power and Authority to Judge and Interpret after any other sort And wee declare Nul and Voyd all that shall be enterprised against what hath been here above reported The Rule of our Chancery Apostolick de jure quaesito non tollendo and that of Boniface the Eighth of Happy Memory our Predecessor de una dicta and that of the General Councel de duabus dictis and all other Constitutions and Ordinances Apostolick Special or General made in general Councels Provincials or Synods or any other thing whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding Given at Rome from St. Mary Major under the Seal of the Fisher the 10th of Decemb. 1668. in the 2d year of our Papacy Signed J. G. Slusius The Judges to whom this Brief was directed having approv'd the Deeds contain'd in the Request gave Sentence which follows Christi Nomine Invocato Having seen the Brief of his Holiness which hath committed to us the Judgment of the Impediment publicae honestatis upon the Dispensation which it makes mention of and the Articles of Justification and the proofs which hath been given thereto as well as all the Instructions Certificates which have been joyntly made thereupon it appears That the most Serene Lord Don Alphonso the Sixth King of Portugal and Algarves being married to Maria Frances Isabella de Savoy the said Princess press'd in Conscience to pursue in Justice the Nullity of the said Marriage which she had contracted in Fact with the said most Serene King because of the perpetual Inabibility which was in his Person to consummate the said Marriage and that indeed he had not consummated it during the Sixteen Months that they had lived together as Man and Wife Which Cause was pleaded before the Vicar-General of the Archbishoprick of Lisbon and other Judges nominated by the Chapter of the said Archbishoprick before whom it in right lay in the vacancy of the said Sea It appears that the Cause was prosecuted even to a definitive Sentence by which the said Marriage contracted between the said King and the said Princess was declared Null because of the aforesaid perpetual Inability of the said Lord and King Don Alphonso to consummate the said Marriage with the said most Serene Princess Maria Frances Isabella de Savoy It appears that this Sentence was publish'd and judiciously signified to the said Lord the King Don Alphonso who declared in Terms reported by the Register of those Acts That he was willing it should be executed and that he did not at all desire to appeal which Declaration hath been signed by the King himself It appears that the three Estates of the Realms of Portugal and the Algarves who were at that time assembled at Lisbon did propose to the most Serene Prince Don Pedro Regent of the Realm and did supplicate him to Espouse the most Serene Princess Maria Frances Isabella de Savoy to give repose to the State and to secure the Royal Succession and that also they did make the same Proposition and the same Prayer to the said most Serene Princess It appears that for the Impediment publicae Honestatis the most Serene Prince Don Pedro not be-being able to Contract this Marriage with the said Princess they had recourse to the most eminent Cardinal de Vendosme Legat à Latere to his Holiness and of the Holy Apostolique Sea with the most Christian King of France to the end that he might dispense with that Impediment publicae Honestatis It appears that this Brief of Dispence was directed to the Vicar-General or to the Official of the Archbishoprick of Lisbon and that it was presented to the Bishop of Targa who at that time officiated the Functions of the said Archbishoprick who conformable to the Power therein given him and with all the accustomed Formalities did dispense with the said Impediment publicae Honestatis of the said Prince of the said Princess It appears that by vertue of this Dispensation and with the Trust and Confidence thereof the Lord Prince Don Pedro was married according to the Rule of the Holy Council of Trent to the said most Serene Princess Mary Frances Isabel of Savoy and that they did Consummate the Marriage of which there already is born one Daughter It appears that the said Prince and the said Princess being married in good earnest and in the face of the Church and living together in a Conjugal Life for the greater security of their Conscience to the end to deliver it from scruple and the State from trouble they had recourse to his Holiness that he might approve confirm and ratifie the said Marriage and take from them all Scruples that might arise which Grace his Holiness afforded them by the Brief above reported recommending this Affair to Judges who are therein named to the end that they finding just the Request of the said Prince and Princess they might after they had made full inquest and all necessary Informations to discover the Truth of the Facts upon which it was founded dispence with the said Impediment publicae Honestatis of the said Prince and Princess and of all other Impediments that might happen cancelling abrogating and declaring null the Tye and Bond of the former Marriage Contracted between the most Serene Lord the King Don Alphonso and the said most Serene Princess Dona Maria Frances Isabella de Savoy The whole being seen and considered and chiefly in consideration of the Brief hereunto annexed by the Apostolick Authority to us committed we do hold our selves bound faithfully at the Request of the said Prince and Princess to justifie them So that conformable to the said Brief we do dispence with the said Prince and most Serene Princess to the end that they may continue and abide in the said Marriage which they have well and lawfully Contracted without having regard to the said Impediment publicae Honestatis which resulted from the first annulled Marriage And we Declare for Legitimate and born in lawful Marriage the Infanta which through the Will of our Lord God has been born of this second Marriage and for Legitimate and born in lawful Marriage all other Children which shall hereafter be born without any lett or trouble from any Ordinances and Apostolick Constitutions to the contrary From Lisbon 18 Feb. 1669. Diego de Sousa Antonie de Mendosa Martin Alphonso de Mello Lewis de Sousa Emanuel de Magalhans de Meneses The Prince having rendred Thanks to his Holiness for his Benignity and Paternal Love which he had witness'd both to him and the Kingdom some time after he received this Brief To our dearly beloved Son in Jesus Christ the Prince Don Pedro Brother to the King of Portugal and Algarves Clement the IX OUR dearly beloved Son in Jesus Christ Health and Apostolick Benediction c. We having diligently travell'd in your
nature gave to the Queen an excessive trouble The Count D' Odemira was sensibly touched knowing that they ordinarily impute the faults of Princes to their Governours as it happened to Don John Alphonso D' Albuquerque who was charged with the cruel Actions of Don Pedro King of Castile The Count resolved then to withdraw the King at what price soever he did it from this shameful conversation Having one day found in the Court of Lion the King environ'd by Conti and all that Gang he chased them away he forbad entrance to Conti with menaces to chastise him if ever he durst return thither again The King more troubled than Conti at this Prohibition and Menace retired himself into his Appartment with excessive trouble Some of those who were about him had no sooner known that he was discontented with his Governour and that he had an Affection for Conti but they let him understand that to subject his own Inclinations to the Sentiments of another was to consent to the ruine of his Authority This had such power on the mind of the King that after this he rejected whatever advice they would give him he grew obstinate even to rage that he would learn no Lesson nor eat nor drink till they had brought back Conti to him so that they were obliged to bring him to him In the Court of Lyon they oftentimes for his diversion had Dog-fighting which Combats were at first private but at last they became publick These Mastiffs were kept in the great Court of the Palace where being all sorts of Dogs and unty'd they very often fell upon those they found in their way The diversion of Bough-fighting was brought also from the Court of the Chappel to the same place and at last became so common in the Suburbs that what was formerly the sport only of little children became in a short space to be a bloody Combat In all these Diversions those wherein the most Blood was shed pleased the Kingmost These Disorders being come to that excess his Governour thought that it was best for him to find out diversions conformable to his humour but that they might not be so publick so that if any thing should happen that might be any blemish it might be the less taken notice of They resolved then to teach him the use of Weapons and they gave him for his Master therein Diego Gomes de Figueredo but they found it impossible to make him follow any Method for he would not learn to do any thing skilfully as he should do but was all for downright blows This exercise handsom and innocent enough became however very deadly and criminal through the ill use that he made of it That they might cause an emulation in the King they permitted to enter the Palace certain young men who under pretext of making a flourish in his presence brought with them all sorts of Weapons every one having a design to let him see his force and skill But in these exercises there happened almost every day one or other ill accident especially when they darted certain Knives purposely made which many times slipping from their hands wounded some or other in the throng of Spectators John â—e Conti was in all these Exercises and though his skill was not very great he was still recompensed by the King so that he became his Favourite insomuch that whatever violences he committed in the Palace were suffered unpunished This Example was the cause that those Crimes from which they had abstained before for fear of Justice were now committed with Assurance so that the King hereby drew upon himself the ill-will of all the People not only by his own Actions but also by those of others They had lodged the Infante Don Pedro in the Queens Apartment that his Union with the King might thereby become the more strong and easy to be compassed and therefore they had given to them both one Tutor that they might likewise learn together But this did no good to the King and was a notable prejudice to the Infante for when they should have followed their Books the King would disturb them and often interrupt his Tutor in reciting his shameful Divertisements The King and the Infante had oftentimes differences between them which being grounded but on slight matters quickly ceased However the malice of his Favourites fomented these petty misunderstandings in such sort that the King put himself to oppose the Infante on every occasion It was at this time that the Favour of Conti with the King who was now sixteen began to spread abroad certain Courtiers perswading themselves that he had perfectly established himself in the Heart of the Prince for that he had wholly destroy'd his Governour they grew so shameless as to make him the object of their respects After which he had the boldness to vaunt himself to be descended from a Branch of Vintimiglia an Illustrious Family in the Realm of Sicily and this was maintained by the testimony of some Flatterers For the most part the persons that came near the King were debauch'd in their speeches and it was no wonder to hear him speak dishonest words even before the Ladies Some of his Councellors offended thereat advis'd the Queen that he might be removed into the new Apartment called the Fort where those Persons who Corrupted his Manners should not have so much liberty to come To this end the Queen ordered he should be served there by Don John de Silva Marquess de Govea grand Master of the House Garcia de Mello grand Chamberlain the Count de Padro Master of the Horse Don John de Almeida Master of the Wardrobe and by Lewis de Mello Captain of his Guards The Count de Padro being gone to Command the Army in his absence the Charge of first Gentleman of his Chamber and that of Master of the Horse were given to Don Diego de Lima Vicount de Villanova de Cerveira they gave also the Charge of Chief Gentleman of the Chamber to Lewis de Vasconcelos and Sousa Count de Castlemelhor All these Officers were to serve Weekly and to lie in the Palace and to the end that some of them might always be about the King those before mentioned were to be Relieved in the Day-time by Don Vasco Mascarenhas Count of Obidos Nuno de Mendosa Count de Valdereis Lewis de Silva Tello Count de Aveiras and Francisco de Sonsa Coutinho Councellor of State All these Lords having Keys to enter in at all times when they pleased The Queen ordered this Project to be kept secret and that they should keep open the Door which gave way for a Communication between her Apartment and that of the King 's But he soon frustrated all these Designs The Count de Odemira his Governour having told him That the quarter through which he should go out was made up He answered him briskly that he would then go thorow the Hall of the Almane Guards The Count having told him that there was a great
breath nothing but Blood and Slaughter These Braves the King named the one Fixos the other Porradas words invented in favour of this new Militia With these People he ran thorow the Streets and entered those scandalous Places where they did a thousand Violences to Women There was never a Night that they went out thus but on the Morning were recounted a hundred Tragick Stories In fine he was feared every where as a Wild Beast Although he saw these Prostitute Women at their Houses yet they did not forbear to bring them into the Palace to him He vaunted himself to have to do with them in such Excess that as it was above all likelihood so no Body believed any thing of it One Day being put in mind that he was to meet with a certain fair Gossip in the Church of our Lady de Rocher about one a Clock he went into his Litter with John de Conti and Francis de Sequeira the Groom of his Wardrobe to see for her there but missing of her she being gone to the Church of our Saviour he Commanded them to carry him thither passing through the narrow Street of St. Peter de Alfama they met the Coach of Martin Correa de Sa Vicout de Asseca The King being in great hast the Conductors of his Litter cried out to the Vicounts People to get out of the way with such Injurious words that they not being able to take it drew the others doing the like and the Combat grew so hot that the Vicount was forced to leave his Coach to help his People also Francis de Sequeira did the like from that of the Kings to help the others The King might with one word have made all this Disorder have ceased but however he would not but on the contrary being himself come forth of his Litter with John Conti he set a Pistol to the Throat of the Vicount who was already Wounded and had certainly kill'd him if the Pistol had taken fire So soon as the Vicount knew the King he kiss'd his Sword and falling upon his knees demanded Pardon but neither this Submission nor the Innocency of this Gentleman could hinder the King from giving him many outragious Speeches All the People were surprised to see the King was come abroad with so small a Company and that he would have kill'd one of his Subjects without any Cause and a Gentleman brought up with him in the Palace at Noon-day and in a publick place so that they perceived he took Pleasure to intermingle with these Quarrels and to Foment them which made every Body to fear the Danger to be general and every one to begin to be afraid for himself As the King increased in Age the more he was corrupted and the disorder came to that pass that by his example the more vertuous began to grow loose they began to quit virtue to embrace vice by example and emulation The Queen was obliged to have recourse to the Protection of Heaven having no other Remedy she was capable of for these misfortunes with which the Realm was threatned However she would try one human way more perswading her self if she could bring the King to the publick Audiences which she gave twice a week to the Subjects to the Councel and to Business he might be brought to be capable of governing the Realm but all was in vain for he was not able to apply himself to it for his pleasures They had perswaded him that he was not truly a King who parted with the Government to another and so long as the Queen hindred his Liberalities to those he loved the people believed that it was she who reigned and not he that he was now of age enough to govern the State himself for King Dennis had done it at the age of sixteen years and the Kings Alphonso at fifteen and Sebastian at fourteen and that it was insupportable they should refuse the King a thing that he had power to take himself By such discourses they filled the mind of the King with troublesom suspitions against the Queen The King was no sooner out of the Apartment they had given him but he let them know by what he did the kindness he had for Conti for he was not contented to have given him a Command a House in the Country and a right of Peerage but he also made him Gentleman of his House Knight of Christ and Groom of the Wardrobe Honours that were never granted but to persons that were illustrious by Birth and Merit He added at the same time to all these Favours an Apartment in the Palace that he might have communication with himself and the Arch-deaconry de Sobredello for John de Conti his Brother After this the Courtiers ran in heaps to render homage to Conti as a new Favourite and every one began to seek his Protection and to commend their most important Affairs to him The Queen her self was obliged to have recourse to his Credit in some Businesses which she was not able to effect of her self which was the only way to maintain him in that height to which Fortune had exalted him for this way he was able to manage the mind of that person who gave him most jealousy As the King was every day sensible of those infirmities which his sicknesses had caused the Physicians were of opinion that he should go again to the Baths of Obidus But he instead of bathing himself there did nothing but divert himself causing so much trouble and damage to all the Country about and committing himself such cruel actions that the people were fain to shut themselves up in their houses or else to fly and leave them that they might shun meeting him so much horror had they for him In the mean time the Queen falling sick and the Favorites and the King by some discourses having caused a suspition that he would take the Government they were afraid that this sickness would serve for a pretext to that design but instead of that he applyed himself to combat a Lion against a Bull but the Lion being so obstinate as not to be forced out of his Cage he made them bring so much wood and fire that they choak'd him with the smoak In the beginning of the Year 1661 the Count of Odemira his Governour dyed who was very much bewailed by all the people for the King after his death abandoned himself to all manner of evil Inclinations more than before although he was not Master of the Kings Spirit yet his Merit and his Address made those to stand in aw of him who had the most power over him They had about this time begun to treat of the Marriage of the most serene Infanta Catherine with his Majesty Charles the Second King of England not long before established in the Throne of his Ancestors Francisco de Mello de Torres Embassadour Extraordinary in England was charged with this Negotiation which the Spaniards endeavoured to hinder what they could
Dispatches to have given him notice of what had passed But that Door according to custome being fast he went by the Clock-House which was upon the Tarrass where having found the Duke he highly condemned his Enterprise telling him he had lost all respect to the King whose Palace ought to be a sacred and inviolable Sanctuary and went so far as to give the Duke very outragious words But seeing they had seized on both Passages he returned the same way he came and went to try if he could get in through the Queens Apartment but he found that also fast so that with all the diligence he had it was impossible for him to speak with the King An Ax being brought the Duke told Conti that if they were compelled to break open the Kings Doors there was no hopes of Life for him but if he would open them they would do him no hurt at this Threat he rendred himself and as he came out of the Chamber with a grave Countenance the Grand Provost arrested him who also presently after took Baltasar Rodrigue de Matos Groom of the Wardrobe who exercised the Charge of Lievtenant of the Guard for his Father in Law Diego Botelho de Sande and led them both through the Tarass to the place where they build Ships and there they made them enter a Shallop to be carried aboard a Ship that was ready to set sail for Brasil John de Matos and Francisco Bernardo Taveira were also arrested the first had been a Groom in the Kings Stable the second a Clerk to the Covent of Hermites of St. Augustin both of them having gotten into the favour of the King the one as a brave and skilful Runner at the Bulls the other for serving him in his secret pleasures John de Conti was also arrested Of these five Prisoners who according to the order they had given should have been carried to Brazile only Antony de Conti John de Conti and John de Mattos went for Baltasar Rodrigue de Matos was brought again to Shore because they found he was not so guilty and as for Francisco Bernardo Taviera he flung himself from his Prison upon the Rocks where he was taken up so very much bruised that it was impossible to Embarque him The Queen who waited with great Impatience the news of this Execution which she had no sooner heard but sent word to the Councellors of State to the Tribunals to the Councel of the City and the Chamber of the Four and Twenty to the Grandees and Gentry who were before Assembled that they should come into the Chamber where the King and she were to understand what follows which Speech was made to them by the Secretary of State The Obedience the Queen our Princess owed to the Orders of the deceased King the kindness she had for the King her Son and the desire she had to be a Comfort to her Subjects in acknowledging those great Services which she had received from them were the Motives that obliged her maugre the great need she had of Repose to take upon her the Government If she hath not acquitted her self to the content of all it is not that she hath spar'd her self nor that she has shun'd any Cares or Troubles This Princess extremely touch'd with the Disorders which trouble this Monarchy and with the Complaints of the People did believe it was most fitting to call together to this Place in this absence of the States General all those Tribunals which represent them to the end she might declare to the King in their presence the Remedy which she hath endeavoured to bring to them and to receive from them what Counsel she shall need therein if what she hath done for the good of the State be not sufficient assuring them that she has no other intention then to follow their Counsels All the People complain that Justice which is a thing that Kings ought to love more than their Eyes is not Administred As the Queen does not alone Administer it but there are Judges who take Cognisance of Affairs Civil and Criminal she hath resolved to Examine all the Tribunals to the end if any one among them hath given Cause of Complaint to the People they might receive the Chastisement their Fault merits and the People the Satisfaction they ought to have It is a very great Regret to the Queen our Soveraign that there is heard murmuring among the People who complain that the King our Lord although he be of Age to take into his own Hand the Government of the State of which the Queen so vehemently desires to Discharge her self doth not apply himself however to any Affairs necessary thereto but on the contrary lets himself be carried away by his Courage in which Exercises of Violence he hath Exposed his Life so many times to evident Dangers hazarding to leave the Kingdom without a Successor instead of giving himself wholly to other Exercises which should draw upon him the Blessings of Heaven the Love of his Subjects and the Esteem of Strangers And since we are all here present the Queen would have us that we Conjure the King to think of himself and of us which is the true way to render a King as commendable by his Merits as he was before by his Birth He owes this Consolation to his Subjects who are assuredly the best Subjects that ever King had since without thinking of the loss of their Children which are for the most part Dead in the War nor of their Goods which are almost all consumed they yet expose continually all that remains with their Lives to conserve the name of Faithful Subjects to his Majesty Sir By the the acknowledgment which your Majesty owes to God who hath made you so Great by that which you owe to the comfort of so good a Mother and to the services of your good Subjects who cast themselves at your feet with Hearts full of Grief to see your Soul subjected to so many Passions and burning with desire to see it delivered from that Tyranny they do Conjure you to quit the way you are in and deliver us by your Royal Bounty from those extreme Fears into which the Love that we have for your Person doth continually cast us Your Majesty Sir might better employ your Courage your Generosity and your other Virtues in imitating as it is with great Passion desired the Example of that Great King the Author of our Liberty whose Remembrance will be eternally engraven in our Hearts May then your Majesty suffer us to make you these Remonstrances which we hope may be no ways offensive although they may not be altogether conformable to your Thoughts since there may be occasions in which it is to be unfaithful to Princes to have Complacency for them Besides our Nation as you know is naturally an Enemy to Flattery although we have already Sworn Sir we Sware again and we shall Sware a Thousand times humbly prostrate at the Feet of your Majesty
the Infante accompanied with the Favourite and his Brother found the Queen upon the point of rendring her last Breath The King asked her Benediction but the Infante was not able to say any thing having both his Heart and his Voice seized and all he could do was to burst into tears Isabel de Castro uncovered the Queens Hand which the King and the Infante kissed and the Favourite having told the King it was enough he went out saying Adieu Adieu and an hour after the Queen expired On the Munday was her Funeral the King and the Infante casting the holy Water upon her Corps which they accompanied to her Litter in which they carried her to a Covent of Barefoot White-Friars to be there Deposited till that of Religious Women of the same Order of which she was the Foundress was finished where she had a mind to be Buried As this Princess had been in her Life-time so she will be after her Death a perfect Model for all Princesses She was no sooner Dutchess of Bragansa but her Address and her Resolution put the Crown upon the Head of her Husband who had such Confidence in her that he Communicated the most Important 〈◊〉 of the State to her which had such great Success that the greatest Politians admired her Conduct When she was Regent she yet better manifested the Geniâ—â— she had to Manage the State for as she was assisted by no Body and that the Burthen of the Kingdom lay upon her she expressed an Indefatigable strength both of Body and Mind and conserved by her Prudence what she had Conquered by her Coâ—â—age So soon as she was undeceived of the Vanity of the things of this World she had a mind to Discharge her self of the Care of those Affairs If she did not do it it was because of the difficulty which she found in the executing of her Design besides some made it to her a scruple of Conscience Moreover as she had always a great deal of Moderation in her Prosperity so she supported all those Disgraces which Heaven sent her with much Constancy They remarked as a thing rare in either Sex when they have the soveraign Authority in their Hands that she had so little Resentment for the Persecutions they had made her suffer she seemed to take a pleasure in them so much she feared to oppose Religion But the Infante had not so much Moderation for he would not Pardon the Favourites whom he accused to be the Authors of them which irritated them in such sort that they confounded all things with the King They again raised up the ancient Reports which they had before spread abroad That he had no affection for the King and that he aspired to the Crown They enquired into his Discourses into his Exercises and into the Persons that came to him to endeavour to gain some pretext to censure his Conduct The King witnessed his hatred against those who Complemented him and an affection for them who Estranged themselves from him and forbid at the same time very many from coming into his Palace and testified to many others that their Affairs were not Expedited because they went thither What did they not do to take off Don Rodrigue de Meneses first President of the Parliament from the Infante How often did they try to enforce on him Impressions against him How often by offers enough to have shaken any Man but he did they attempt it All the Presidents of the other Tribunals were continued in their Charges but he â—â—ly was refused that Grace They would then have sent him in Quality of Viceâ—â—y to the East Indies but he found too many Charms in the Person of the Infante to go to exercise that Charge which was given to John Nunes de Acuntia who was also ty'd to the Prince Don Rodrigue de Meneses Simon de Vasconcellos and Sousa and Christopher de Abnada were all the Gentlemen that remained to him But as he had not enough to appear at the Entry of the Queen he went and demanded of the King permission to augment their Number to which he yielded and told him by Henry Anriquez de Miranda that he gave him power to name them himself The Infante presently named Lewis de Silveira Count de Sarsedas Don Vasco Labo Baron de Alvito Michael Carlos de Tavora General of the Artillery in the Province Tras os Montes and Lawrence de Lencastre but going to the Palace to thank the King he found he had changed his mind In the mean time he heard the Queen had left France and he thought to serve himself with the occasion of the good News to ask of the King these Gentlemen which he had chosen by his permission but the King would not yield to it Upon this the Infante having said That he he was astonished to see his Majesty would not approve of the Choice which he had made by his Permission The King replied That his Ancient Officers had abandoned him because they were not able to endure his ill Humour So the Infante finding himself Obliged to let the King see that they did not Retire for any Cause but for their own particular Affairs He would have shewn the King a Billet left by Antony de Miranda Anriquez when he retired but he would not see it It is one of the Injustices of those who are in Authority over others that they would not have the Truth made manifest to them when it is not for their Advantage for fear their Falsity should not continue with them But it was supposed that the King did this because he was constant to his Favourites who would have the Infante to have taken again his Ancient Gentlemen who had quitted him because they were their Creatures nor would they yield to let him have the other because they were suspected At this time the Infante came very feldom to Councel the Favourite however fail'd not to give him an account of the Affairs of the Realm but not in truth to ask his Advice but only to tell him what had been resolved on in Council But he had oftentimes that from common Report which they come to communicate to him from the King as a Secret The King and the Infante lived together after this manner when they had advice that that Navy which brought the Queen appeared at the Cape Rogue in the Morning the 2d of Aug. 1666. The Admiral on which she was aboard cast Anchor a little above Betlehem and in the Evening she came to Land in the presence of all the People who were ravish'd with her Beauty and her good Grace The King was the only Person who was not in hast to see her and in lieu of going to receive her from on Board he stay'd to do his ordinary Exercises The Marquess de Ruvigny General of the Naval Forces which had conveyed the Queen went to salute the Infante whom he found accompanied with none but Don Rodrigue de Meneses for Simon de
leave off his pursuit The day following the Marquess return'd with an Order in Writing from the King which contain'd the same thing with the former only he had added that he hoped by this second satisfaction things would be accommodated and that the Infante would find he most passionately desired it But this Billet did not yet satisfy the Infante because it let him understand that they would bury his Complaint in silence which obliged him to answer the next day by another Billet which the same Marquess rendered to the King the substance of which was That as nothing was more evident than that those Arms wherewith he had filled the Palace were not introduced but upon some secret design of the Count 's he was content however to believe this was done by order of his Majesty since he would have it so that however he could not pardon the Count for having called all his Friends to secure the Person of his Majesty he had forgot him although he well knew he was every way more interessed than they were in his conservation That to see the Count prostrate at his Feet was not a satisfaction proportionate to his Complaint since at other times the Count caused to be made most exact search and had exiled thereupon very Illustrious Persons upon the only suspition that they had conspired against his favour It was not just that for the offence had been done against him there should not be the same Inquisitions and the same Punishments and that an Infante against whose life they had conspir'd should be worse treated than the Count who had only had a simple thought that they would have opposed his favour That to give liberty to those that would inform of the Count's Crime they ought to interdict him from the Functions of his Charges and remove him from Court with all the security possible for his Person and Family against whom he had no design but only to secure himself Besides that he was not able to go to the Palace to cast himself at the Feet of his Majesty as he had desired to see that the tye of Blood which he had in the quality of his Brother had less power over his Spirit than the Amity which he had for a simple Subject who was his Minister When this Billet was sent the City of Lisbon was in a great trouble and alarm to see the Regiments embattell'd in the Grand place of the Palace the Guards redoubled the Rounds re-enforc'd and the rest of the Troops in such an estate that it seem'd a War was already begun The Infante in the mean time not knowing whether all these preparations were made to affright the people or make an assault upon him under the pretext of hindering him from executing his pretended Resolution was in his own Palace with as much tranquility as if there had been nothing exrraordinary in that of the King 's trusting to his own Innocency and the Affection of the people But fearing nevertheless that his Complaint should be ill interpreted by any he resolved to communicate it to all the Tribunals to the Court of the City and that of the Four and Twenty writing to them upon this subject and sending them a Copy of his Letter and Billet which he had sent to the King At the same time he sent to the Councellors of State to the Grandees and Gentlemen of the Realm that they should repair to him after all which he so well instructed them in the Causes of his Complaints that even the Partisans of the Count said they would themselves be the Executioners of the Counts Chastisement should he happen to forget that respect which he owed to his Highness The justice of the Infante's Complaints by this means became so publick that there was not one who did not blame the Favourite in not being willing to justifie himself and the King for hindring any from informing against him At last the King answer'd the Infante's Billet with another and sent it him by the Marquess de Marialva the Marquess de Sande and Ruy de Monra Tilles the substance of which Answer was That he desired to know the person by whom he was informed of the Counts intention to kill him to the end that the Count might be punish'd if they were able to prove he had fail'd in his duty if not that the Informer might Desiring also that he would have the Infante understand it was necessary for the conservation of the State and People that they two should live together in good correspondence To which the Infante answered That it had pleas'd his Majesty to order him to name the person from whom he had understood the design of the Count against him but that he was not able to do that or to go about to make it clear until he should be interdicted of his Charges and removed from the Court so long as it should be judged fit because whilst he should exercise them be at Court it was impossible they should be able freely to do any thing against him This Billet having been read the King assembled the Councellors of State the Great Chancellor the Councellors of Parliament two Ministers of each of of the other Tribunals The Judges of the Crown the Procurator of the Crown and that of the Finances to the end that he might examine with them all the proposition of the Infante but the night before they assembled they made most powerful solicitations for the Count and he himself entertained the Judges before they entred into the Council at which the Ministers were offended insomuch that they would not deliberate before him of his business but only in the presence of the King where this Proposition was read My Lord the Infante having wrot to his Majesty a Letter in which he complain'd that he had not been advertised of the redoublement of the Guards which they had made in the Palace and that the Count de Castlemelhor had conspired against his Life although ineffectually whereupon he had demanded of his Majesty that he would remove the Count from his person and service His Majesty had declared to my Lord the Infante upon his first Complaint that it was by his Order they had armed the Palace And as to the second that he was ready to cause the Count to be chastised as he deserved for so detestable a Crime a greater than which none could imagine but nevertheless it was first necessary to have proofs against the accused and for that end he should name the person from whom he had received that advice The Lord the Infante did rest satisfied with what his Majesty had said in reference to his first Complaint but that did not hinder him from maintaining what he had urged before in reference to the other that it was absolutely necessary the Count should be interdicted his Charge because of the power it gives him and that he ought to be removed from Court so long as it should be judged fit to the
end that all the people might have liberty to examine that affair His Majesty desired that they would tell him upon his Complaint if he may with Justice exile the Count and suspend him from his Charge and not rather consider a more honest part of satisfaction which may be more convenient for my Lord the Infante from a subject of that consequence On the other side if there be any likelihood in the accusation against the Count examining his services his fidelity his zeal and the injury that this may do to his Honour and to the Honour of his Family to the end that no man might say his Majesty hath neglected that Justice and Prudence with which he ought to act in such affairs Besides they should consider if the publick affairs have received any damage as well as the Authority of the King and also of what consequence this Novelty might be to Strangers and especially to the Enemies of the Crown And in fine if this be not enough to take away the fear that the presence of the Count might give to the Witnesses that this affair be examined in the presence of his Majtsty who hop'd from the zeal of his Ministers who ought to consider on this business that they would do it with such care as they owed to his Service to the publick Repose to the administration of his Justice and to his Glory The great regard that this Proposition shew'd for the Count in exaggerating the particular inconveniences of his Banishment without speaking of those which attended the Refusal of that satisfaction demanded by the Infante let them see plain enough that this Proposition was devised by the Counts Friends But that which was stranger was that the King who should have at least been indifferent in this affair appear'd too much interested for the Count against his Brother In an affair which concerns the Life of a Prince one ought to proceed against the accused upon his Complaint only especially when he is a Prince of known integrity and they ought to banish a Minister how considerable soever he should be when without it they cannot be able to manifest the Truth As it hath been always used in every Realm So in our time for much less cause some Ecclesiasticks in Portugal were ordered to retire themselves into certain places before that any thing could be verified against them not regarding any thing that might exempt them from exile Besides it was not the intention of the Infante to have the Favourite exiled but only absent for some days They then gave their opinions upon this Proposition some of the Ministers said that the Infante was not a Soveraign Prince and that therefore by consequence his Affirmation was not sufficient Proof That the Retreat and the Suspension which he demanded was not only a shameful Chastisement to the Count and his Kindred but unjust since his Crime was not yet proved That it ought not to be suffer'd it should be said in the World that the Chief Minister of the Realm should conspire against the person of the Infante and by that give our Enemies and Stranger-Nations abroad cause to think there is a division among the Portugals That the King ought himself in person to enquire into this affair and according to that Inquest proceed against the Count. Others judg'd it could never fall into their imaginaâ—â—â—â— that there should be any Portugal capable of a Crime so hainous as that was of which the Count was questioned That the Complaint of the Infante was assuredly made on a distrust ill grounded which might be remedied by admitting him to the Government and to Council But Martin Alfonso de Mello Deputy of the Inquisition Pedro Fernandes Monteiro Councellor of Parliament and John de Roxas d'Asevedo were of opinion the Favourite ought to be removed by reason that so long as he should have the Authority of a Favourite no one could have the free liberty of acting against him If he should be found guilty of the Crime of which he was accused he ought to be chastised and if he should be innocent be forthwith sent for and re-established into his Charges with reparation But the King leaned to the other opinion under colour that it had the greatest number of Voices The Conclusion was drawn in writing that it might be signed by the Ministers but some of them refused it this not being such an affair wherein all the Judges ought to sign the Conclusion so that there ought to be another Assembly in which every one should separately give his opinion in writing Those who did this were Pantaleon Rodrigues Pacheco nominated to the Bishoprick of Elvas Francisco de Miranda Anriquez Councellor Ecclesiastick of the Grand Chamber Pedro Fernandes Monteiro Martin Alphonso Mello Matheus Melinho Procurator of the Crown and John Roxas d'Asevedo who were followed by Duarte Vas d' Osorio Councellor of the Finances Domingo Autunes Portugal and Joseph de Sousa de Castelbrancha all three Councellors of the Inquests The King sent this Conclusion to the Infante by the same Councellors of State with order to tell him That to conform himself thereunto he ought not to banish the Count from his person At the same time he made the Gentlemen about the Infante be sent for with all the Nobles and Chiefs of the Religious Orders to whom he said that the Ministers of State and the highest of them had given him Councel not to remove the Count as the Infante demanded of him and that this affair was not the Counts but his own and in order to this which had been determined in Council he expresly forbid some Gentlemen's going to the Palace of the Infante without his leave and to others in covert words fearing left they should say he would not permit the Noblemen to frequent his House By which he left them in doubt what to do if they went to the Infante's Palace he had wherewitnall to accuse them if they went not he would deny he had forbid them Some of them desired of the King to know the cause of this prohibition but he not having been instructed for such a question made no direct answer only saying he would have them near his person The Gentlemen of the Infante and some others who were present answer'd they knew very well that the business in which they acted was truly the affair of his Majesty in being that of the Infante's and that the zeal which they both had for the publick made no difference in their interests but the King said that was not the reason which made that affair to be his own Upon these differences the King had sent for the Judg and Recorder of the People and although they had already wrot in favour of the Favourite he again commanded them to use their interests with menaces in case they contradicted his Order After which he sent Couriers into all the Provinces advertising the Governours that the business of the Infante was not so much for
accommodating that affair that he had sent her the Assurance in the form it had pleased her Majesty to ordain him That in respect to what her Majesty had declared to him in her last Billet he hoped she would act after that manner she should judg most fit for the service of the King her Lord the conservation of the State and the repose of his Subjects This Billet was accompanied with that of the Assurance which was addressed to the Queen in these terms So soon as your Majesty was pleased to take notice of this affair you engaged me straitly to execute all that you should be pleased to prescribe and to satisfie you of that which your Majesty demands of me as to the Assurance for the Person and the Honour of the Count I do engage my Faith to your Majesty that I will enterprize nothing neither against the one or the other And to the end the Count may know what the Mediation of your Majesty is able to do I am willing to bury my Complaint in perpetual silence as if it had never been thought on God preserve your Majesty and grant you many happy years In the mean time the Favourite made an attempr to carry the King into Alemtejo where the Army was this proposition pleas'd him at first but when it came to the execution he found the King chang'd he not being able to resolve to his divertisements which ty'd him to Lisbon It was very late at night when the Infante sent to the Queen the Billet with the Assurance for the Count which he no sooner had receiv'd but he retired accompanied with the Cavalry into a Religious Covent in the Province of Arabida seven Leagues from Lisbon After this Retreat it seem'd that all things would be at peace but it it did not happen so because the Favourite did still govern the King which appeared chiefly in that the King did not receive the Infante as he had hoped he would and as he had made him believe for he did not so much as answer one word to all his civilities nor to all his acknowledgments It was agreed they should not speak of that which was pass'd the King did something more he would not so much as speak of any other thing The Infante having demanded of him permission to render his Duty to the Queen he was contented only to make him a sign with his Head As the Infante proposed to himself the going often to the Palace endeavouring to get by his assiduity the favour of the King Those whose interest it was he should not come there at all broke his measures so that the Queen knowing the aversion which the King had for the Infante sent him word that he should not present himself before the King fearing lest there should happen any broil between them After this the Infante was easily perswaded that they had fram'd some dedly design against him especially when he saw that the Souldiers which they had made to come to the Palace were not sent away and that they had posted some Companies of Foot near his Palace The Company of the Patrovils belonging to the King also saying that one morning they should see the Heads of those cut off whom they should arrest over night made him judg they intended to do so to those who were of his Party and ty'd to his Interests There ran also at that time a report that there had hapned a very unlucky Accident to Henry Anriquez de Miranda of which he was very ill Some said he himself had caused this report to be spread however whether this sickness was true or feigned for some days the King went every night to consult with him of all things as with him that had taken the place of the Count this made them believe it was he who did ill offices betwixt the King and the Infante making the King so bitter against him and being told some persons were so transported with choler against him that they were gone to search for him intending his death The King would have had him come to the Palace but he thought it better to retire himself and quit the Court leaving the King in the hands of Antonio de Sousa de Macedo and of Emanuel Autunes These two Favourites finding it fit for their purpose to cause the Infante to come to the Palace made their intentions known to all the Court without letting the King be seen in it To this end they sent to tell him as from the Queen by the Count de St. Croix Grand Master of her House that the Council was to assemble at such a day and the Queen would be very glad if he would be there But as he thought upon the Advice which the Queen had given him this Order which was brought to him in her behalf by the Count was suspected he therefore thought best to write to the Queen a Billet which was carried by the same Count de St. Croix of which this was the substance That on the 22th of the same Month of September she had sent to him by the Count de St. Croix an Order to abstain from coming to the Palace to the end that there might not arrive anything to displease the King which might cause an unhappy difference betwixt the King and him That this Order which was not brought to him but with the Kings consent had most sensibly touch'd him seeing that presently after he had granted him the honour to come and cast himself at his feet he had forbid him to present himself before his Majesty which was to him a most rigorous punishment not having committed any fault that should merit it except the incertitude wherein he was not knowing after what manner he should act to please the King might be called one That things being in these terms he did supplicate her that she would please whilst there was yet time to examine the danger to which he exposed himself if he should not give satisfaction to the King since that the last Order which she had sent him did not disengage him from the former which was general and of which the cause was not yet ceas'd at least that he had no intention to treat him as a Councellor of State which he could not comprehend since that a Councellor of State could not give Councel to a King he having an aversion for him that gives it That he hop'd she would seriously consider the two Orders of their Majesties and that she would not blame his irresolution which arose from the profound respect he had for them and that in the end she would know it was necessary the King should give him liberty of going to the Palace to the end he might be always near their Majesties which was the only thing that he desired to be ever in a condition of serving them as his Duty engaged him Whilst they waited for the Infante's answer they sent to him several times some of the Pages of the Chamber to let
Kingdom as he might have done But on the contrary it was at this time that his modesty more apparently shew'd it self for seeing that the People redoubled their importunity to make him accept of the Scepter he redoubled his resolution to refuse it And indeed if under the Reign of the King Alphonso the Portugals had gained a Battle at Elvas another at Mount Elaros a third at Canal a fourth at Castle Rodrigo all the part that he had in it was under the Fortune of his Generals for the Marquess of Marialva the Count de Villaflor and Pedro Jaques de Magellanes had all that Glory But the Peace which was better than all these Victories since that it rendred to the Realm that Calm it had so long breath'd after was the work of the Prince Don Pedro more than of any of his Ministers In the mean time they went about to make the Marriage void before Francisco de Soto Major Bishop of Targa Coadjutor of the Arch-bishoprick of Lisbon the Doctors Valentine Fejo de Motta Vicar-General of the same Arch-bishoprick Pantaleon Rodrigue Pacheco nominated to the Bishoprick of Elvas in whose place after his decease they subrogated Antanio de Faria de Sylva Canon of the same Metropolitain Sebastian Denis Velho being Register to this Assembly After that upon the Report of the Coadjutor they had examined this Business according to the Laws they took the Voyces of those we have named publickly with those of Emanuel de Saldunha nominated to the Bishoprick of Visen Francisco Baretto nominated to that of the Algarves Pedro de Alaide de Castro Inquisitor of Conimbra Nuno de Acunha d'Eca Canon of the Metropolitan of Lisbon Gonzalo Peixoto de Sylva Canon of the said Cathedral Gaspar Barata de Mendosa Prior of the Church of St. Gracia John de Pasos Magelhans Prior of that of St. Julian and John Seraon Prior of that of St. Thomas all of them Judges named by the Chapter the Affair having been examined before them in private with much care and mature deliberation they pronounc'd this Sentence the 24th of Morch 1668. Upon the Report which hath been made in the presence of the Chapter in which there assisted besides the ordinary Ministers who compose it the Judges named by them to deliberate of the cause c. Having view'd the Acts and the Request of the Queen our Soveraign Mary Frances of Savoy which hath been here received and the Contestation by the Negotiation of the Promotor in default of the party in Form and stile the proofs having been verified the said Princess hath let us know that she was Contracted in Marriage in the Face of the Church with the most SerenePrince Don Alphonso the Sixth King of Portugal on the 27th of June 1668. in the City of Rochel in the Kingdom of France from whence the said Princess being come into this City she hath here lived in the Palace Royal with the King her Spouse for the space of six Months leading with him a Conjugal life but dureing this time it appear'd they two having tryed to Consummate the Marriage they could not effect it although they had used all their Care and diligence requisite thereto and this because of the Inability of the Prince which proceeded from an Infirmity which he had in his Infancy and which is at present altogether incurable Which doth more than sufficiently justifie them by those means approved of by the Canon Law so that the Impediment is held at least to be morally assured after which there is no need of Inspection nor of greater proofs as that of three years or of any other Arbitrary Term. All this having been examined by all the Acts Conformable to the Laws it is Judged That the Marriage between the said most Serene Prince and Princess was Contracted in Fact and not in Law and that it is declared Nul and that the said Prince and Princess may dispose of their persons as to them shall seem good and make a division of their goods according to the form of their Contracts This Sentence having been pronounced the Saturday before Palm-Sunday the Queen sent to declare to the 3 States the Resolution she had taken to return into France demanding at the same time that they would restore to her the dowry she had brought with her The 3 States having understood this News with much trouble and considered that this Princess for the Rare perfections of Mind and Body which Heaven had bestow'd upon her and for other considerations was most worthy of the Prince Don Pedro each of the States made a Memorial which they sent to him representing the Reasons which made them desire this Marriage The Common Councel of the City of Lisbon having done the same thing the Prince answer'd to them all That he was ready to do what should be Judg'd best for the Interest of the Realm After that the ThreeStates had received this Answer they and the Common Councel of the City went to make the same Petition to the Queen that since the Nullity of her Marriage the Portugals did desire she would espouse the Prince and they hop'd the felicity of this second Marriage would repair the misfortune of the first in giving them Successors to the Crown This Princess being touch'd with the violent passion of the People of the Realm and not being able to resist their pressing desires was willing to Content them by renouncing her own Country After this the Prince gave Notice of this Proposition to the Councel of State who not onely approv'd of the Marriage but they besought him that he would instantly accomplish it For this end the Marquess of Nisa and Don Rodrigo de Meneses were named Proctors for the Prince and the Duke of Cadaval and the Marques of Marialva for the Princess who drew up the Articles of Contract between them But when this Marriage was divulged there began to arise a doubt if with Reputation this Contract might be lawfully and effectually made and consummated without a dispensation But as they had chosen a great many Learned persons to resolve this Question Monsieur Verjus arrived from France with the Brief of Dispense which took away all doubt and scruple that they might have about it So that the Marquess de Marialva as Proctor for the Prince and the Duke de Cadaval as Proctor for the Princess were by vertue of the Brief and their Procurations espoused by the Bishop of Targa in the Oratory of the Palace and on the second of April which was the next day after Easter a little after Noon the Prince accompanied with his Grandees and all the Lords and Noblemen of the Court went to the Queen in the Covent of Esperance from whence they went to the Quinte of Alcantara followed by innumerable multitude of People who witnessed their good Will to this Marriage where they received the Nuptial Benediction by the hand of the same Bishop After this those who had been of the Opinion for the Crowning
they might give Repose and Tranquillity to the Realm and being in doubt if from the first Marriage there might not arise some hinderance to it because of the publique Honesty they had recourse to our Well beloved Son Lewis de Vendosm Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church who at that time was our legat a Latere and of the Holy Apostolick See with our most dear Son in Jesus Christ the most Christian King of France who granted to them a Brief of Dispense which they demanded of him upon that Impediment and it being addressed to the Grand Vicar and to the Official at Lisbon to either of them or both together the said Prince and the said Princess were by Virtue of the said Dispensation Contracted in Good earnest in the Face of the Church in Marriage after the manner that was ordained by the Sacred Councel of Trent and after they Consummated the said Marriage in hope of having soon Successors But because in the same request it hath been remonstrated to us that the said Prince and the said Princess as our most respectful and most devout Children and of the Holy Apostolick See do most ardently desire that we should provide for the security of their Conscience and for the tranquility of the Realm After having maturely considered and Examined all things with some of our Venerable Brothers the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church and with other great prudent Persons and most knowing and Skilful in the Sacred Canons and in Theology and very well vers'd in these Affairs and being also willing as far as God shall enable as to be benignly favourable to the said Prince Don Pedro and the said Princess Maria Isabella we do absolve them and hold them absolved by Virtue of these present Letters from all Excommunications Interdicts Suspensions and all Ecclesiastick Sentences Censures and pains a jure vel ab homine that they may have incurr'd upon any occasion or cause whatsoever and so often as by it they shall have incurred any to the end that by Virtue of these presents only they may obtain what they desire And being desirous to satisfie the Request which hath been humbly presented in their Name upon the Confidence that God hath given us of you and of your Fidelity towards us and the Apostolique See of your Learning Prudence and Integrity And besides for that we have no certain Knowledge of all that which hath been declared to us thereupon we do Ordain and Command you by these presents to make with all possible discretion all together or at least three of you if that some of you cannot be there to assist by any lawful Impediment a diligent research and an exact Information of all that which hath been averr'd thereupon And if by this search and this Information you find the truth of those things which have been represented to us to hold good and particularly that the first Marriage Contracted as hath been said between the King Alphonso and the aforesaid Princess Maria Isabella was never Consummated with which we very strongly charge the Conscience of every one of you that you break asunder and dissolve by and under oùr Apostolique Authority in all that shall be necessary even against the Will of the said King Don Alphonso the tye of the said first Marriage Contracted as aforesaid between the said Princess and the said King Don Alphonso and which hath been declared null and not Consummated notwithstanding that which hath pass d from the beginning and what might have now pass'd for good and notwithstanding if in time yet to come it should appear good and firm and that it is hath been and should be good and valuable And further we do order you to dispence with under the same Authority the said Prince Don Pedro and the said Princess Maria Isabella as to the Impediment of publick Honesty in such sort that they may freely and lawfully continue the aforesaid second Marriage notwithstanding the said Impediment and all that hath been reported thereupon and from any other Impediment that they may have therein of what Nature soever it be that may arise or appear at what time soever notwithstanding also all Apostolick Constitutions of General Councels Provincials and Synods or any other whatsoever We will also that you declare under and by the same Authority that you make grant and devise by vertue of these present Letters that all what hath been abovesaid may profit and serve in all and in every part fully and wholly to the said Prince Don Pedro and to the said Princess even from the day of the second Marriage which hath been Contracted by them as if these present Letters had been granted before the Contract of Marriage and put in execution by you according to their form and tenure Declaring Pronouncing and assuring for Successors lawful those Infants born and to be born of the said Second Marriage as hath been said Contracted in good earnest in the Face of the Church because by the plenitude of our Apostolick Power we give grant you the power by Virtue of these present Letters to do all these things injoyned Moreover we decree farther That neither the aforesaid King Alphonso nor any other persons which ought to be expressed and especially and particularly nominated to have any Interest in the things herein above expressed or to pretend to have any in any manner whatsoever not having consented or having been appealed Cited or heard and that the causes for which these present Letters have been granted were not sufficiently verified and justified or for any other legitimate cause Right or Priviledg either under any Colour or pretence whatsoever or also any Clause of Right shall never at any time blame retract violate our Counsel as surreptitious or attained by fraud nor make Nul neither for any fault of our Intention or by the consent of those who have or ought to have interest therein or for any other default how great or Essential soever it be or that might be in a particular Declaration these our present Letters And that no body may be able to obtain or Commence any thing of Right of Fact or of Grace nor to get nor prevail in Judicio vel extra illud against these Letters had obtained and granted of our own proper motion and with the same plenitude of Apostolick Power Further we will and declare that these present Letters continue for ever firm valid and Efficacious and that they have and obtain their full and entire Effect And lastly that they serve fully and wholly without any Limitation to the aforesaid Prince Don Pedro and to the aforesaid Princess Maria Isabella and to all others either at present or to come to whom they may any ways appertain And also that after this manner only and no otherwise we will that it be judg'd and decreed in this Affair by all the Judges in Ordinary or Delegates be they either Auditors in causes of the Apostolick Courts or Cardinals of the Holy
Affair with all the Favour the Sacred Canons would permit we have received from you a Letter wherein you very much acknowledg this Pontifical Grace This Testimony which we receive from you gives us a very great Satisfaction nevertheless this Favour for which you thank us with as much piety as affection according as the importance of the thing deserves we do demand of you with Justice that as you do chiefly owe it to the Goodness of the Holy See you would acknowledg that it is from her that you have received it which if you testifie as in truth you ought to do it is by having always more and more care and affection for those things which respect the Holy See and the Catholick Religion imitating in that the ancient Devotion of the Princes of Portugal who made it their Glory to obey the same See For if heretofore it hath been necessary in your State to endeavour the re-establishment of the things which concern the Church and Divine Worship and to reduce them to their Primitive Splendor at this present there is more reason through the want of the Pastors and the length of the War to do the same thing But we hope all these Mischiefs will be soon repaired by your Zeal and by your Prudence in joyning your Cares to ours as well in the choice of the Bishops as for all other things As to that of your Embassador of Obedience which you propose to us when he shall arrive we shall willingly receive him and yield him all the Honours that are justly due to him In the mean time our most beloved Son we do give you with the most sincere Affection that we are capable of our Apostolick Benediction From Rome near Saint Peters under the Seal of the Fisher 2 April 1669. the Second Year of our Popedom R. Florentin As they had search'd for a Retreat for the King Alphonso where he might live in some sort at liberty without troubling the Repose of the Realm they made him many Propositions but it was a long time before he would resolve not knowing what place to choose till at last he pitch'd upon the Isle of Tercera which was very easily granted him for that he might there find all Conveniencies and all sort of Divertisements according to his humour He departed then being accompanied with all the Magnificence that was requisite on such an occasion and of which the present Condition of the Realm was capable The Count de Prado with the Royal Navy carried him into that Island where he remains to this day The Dispensation granted by the Cardinal de Vendosm Legat à Latere for Clement the 9th in France For the Marriage of the Prince Don Pedro of Portugal with the Princess Maria Frances Isabella of Savoy LEwis Cardinal-Deacon of St. Mary in Porticu named of Vendosme Legat à Latere of his Holiness Clement by the Providence of God Pope the Ninth of that Name and of the Holy Sea Apostolique with Lewis the most Serene and most Christian King of France and Navar in all his Realms Provinces Seignories Cities and Lands and in all places dependant on him or that are adjacent thereunto and in all other places whither we shall go To our Well-beloved in Jesus Christ the Official or the Vicars Generals of the Church of Lisbon Deputies of its Chapter during the vacancy of the Archiepiscopal Sea and to every one of you in particular Eternal Health in our Lord. Having received a Request which hath been presented to us on the part of the most Serene Prince Don Pedro Infante of Portugal Regent of the Realm and of the most Serene Princess Mary Frances Isabella of Savoy by which they have shewn us that it being necessary for the Publique Good of the Realm of Portugal and the satisfaction of all the People who passionately desire it also that the said most Serene Prince and Princess should marry together and that doubting they may not be able to do it without an Apostolique Dispensation because the said Princess hath been before Contracted in Marriage with the most Serene and Puissant Prince Alphonso King of Portugal Brother to the said most Serene Prince Don Pedro and that it was Solemnized in the Face of the Church but that it never had at any time been consummated because of the Inability of the said King for which cause it had been declared Nul by course of Law from which Marriage lest there might arise some Impediment to this because of the publick Honesty they have humbly supplicated us to provide for it according to our Benignity And as we are furnish'd sufficiently with Power to do what is desired by the Letters of the Holy See which we are not obliged to insert here and that we are able by vertue of the Apostolick Legation committed to us to provide for the Necessities of all those who shall address themselves to us from what part soever they shall come or where soever they shall dwell or from what place soever they shall send being willing to give them all the Marks of our Favour and Benignity and particularly to those who are of Royal Blood we do absolve them and hold them both and each of them apart absolved from all Excommunications Suspensions Interdicts and other Sentences Ecclesiastick Censures pains of Law either Divine or Humane which they may have incurred for any Occasion or Cause whatsoever if so be they may have incurr'd them and not having a certain knowledge of that which is above-said being willing nevertheless to satisfie their Supplications by vertue of the Apostolique Authority which we have here we commit to your discretion of which we have in our Lord a particular confidence in this Point And we ordain you by these Presents That without hope of any Present or Salary though it should be given you freely from which we do enjoyn you wholly to abstain you do inform your selves exactly of all that is above affirmed and if by that Information you find that these Requests are founded upon the Truth with which we charge your Consciences provided that they be not forced thereto that you dispence with them by the same Authority for the Impediment of Publique Honesty in such sort that they may be publickly married according to the Form of the Council of Trent Solemnly make it in the Face of the Church and that it may stay be and continue thenceforth Free and Legitimate notwithstanding the said Impediment and all Apostolique Constitutions of Councils General Provincial or Synodical or any other thing whatsoever Declaring and pronouncing those Legitimate Children that shall therein be born And we will and intend if that despising this Admonition you shall have the boldness to take any Salary Present or Recompence for or concernining this matter although the same should be offer'd you that you incur the pains of Excommunication from which you shall not be absolved but by the Pope or by us or by some other who have a
provide for as much as possibly she could since that on the one side she was most strongly perswaded of the Impuissance of the King and that he never could have any Children And on the other side she knew for certain by the Kings own Confession and also by the Count of Castlemelhor who had intrusted her with it that although they did seem as if they would Marry the Prince to content him and the Realm who very earnestly desired it and they did feign to find out ways the most fit thereto the King nevertheless was resolved to hinder it by all ways imaginable being far from permitting it Because as they said and as it was true enough it would be his Ruine and the Power of the Prince would infinitely increase by the consideration of his Marriage and of the Children that should proceed therefrom despairing to see any from the King so that he would get the Love of all the People and have all the Realm at his Devotion to render him Master of all when he had a mind to Revenge himself of the Count without running any Risque 3. For the necessity of her Repose and of her Honour Of her Repose because she had never in all those Sixteen Months found it neither in her Conscience nor in her Mind nor in her Body neither Day nor Night although she had tried by her Patience and by her prudent Dissimulation to do all she could possible to get it and though she saw things to go from bad to worse every day by the ill Government of the Count and by the evil Impressions that he and his Friends had given and continually did give the King against her which would infallibly draw upon her a more rude Oppression than that which she had hitherto undergone And that she should put into danger her Honour for the time to come which was ever infinitely more dear to her than the Crown or her own Life and that she saw it exposed to great Dangers upon great and lawful Grounds of which what ever necessity there is to speak yet honesty and modesty will not permit it here but by this only which cannot be absolutely passed over in silence you may judg One is That the King knowing very well that he was never able to get any Children he notwithstanding testified an extreme passion to have them by the means of that Opinion to establish himself upon the Throne and to make forceless the contrary Opinion which was commonly talked of and known to all the World of his Inability which tormented him more than the Inability it self So that the more sensible he was of his Inability the more eager he was to shew the contrary abandoning himself to all sorts of Women and believing by that means to maintain the Crown upon his Head and to kill with Grief the Prince his Brother whom he hated to the death because he said and knew for certain that his Majesty should never have Children because of his Inability The other is That the Queen was not ignorant of that which was done privately and which the Judges knew since by the declaration of the interested Persons which was That when the King had a mind to sport himself with a certain Maid and not being able to do it by reason of his Inability he made her lye in his Chamber with one of his Favourites in his presence to provoke him thereto though in vain as appeared by the Depositions which were made by those Persons that were present and which they had sworn to upon the Holy Evangelists And what yet gave to the Queen a greater fear was That the King who had no Government over himself but through his own licentiousness and that vain thought of feigning himself able without regard either to his Honour or his Conscience seemed to have some design upon her by the continual Sollicitations which he made her about the end of April 1667 by his most intimate Favourites Henry Anriquez de Miranda and the Count de Castelmelhor with the Marchioness his Mother Lady of Honour to the Queen that she would go pass a night in his Apartment when there was no difficulty for the King to come to hers to lie with her there and which was contrary to the ancient and ordinary Customs of the Palace and without any necessity or the least appearance thereof And because the Queen excused her self divers times and the most sweetly that possibly she could alledging for reasons not that which gave her so much apprehension in her mind for she was willing to sacrifice this new Trouble to the will of the King by an effect of that submission which that Princess always had for him but that the apprehension of modesty it self was capable enough to hinder all Women of Honour and more especially a Queen as she was to make without any necessity so extraordinary a Change which would without doubt make them discourse of her Reputation and also of his Majesty's The King fell into so much passion and with so much Violence that the very same night he would have made her gone out of her Bed to have followed him into his Apartment but after very many menaces and rude words holding a Poniyard in his hand he said that he gave her 24 Hours to consider of it which passed if she did not the night after what he would have her do he swore he would draw her by force or make her be drawn by four of his Grooms This gave the Queen a most sensible Grief Of this she made most just complaints to the Count on the morrow by the mouth of her Confessor that he might pray him to remedy it protesting that she would sooner dy than do that which the King would have her do or any thing else that was unworthy of her This joyned with the fear which was besides very strongly impressed on the mind of the Queen was the cause that since that time she did not believe her self in any security neither should she be so long as she should stay there exposed as she had been and should be more for the time to come to a danger that she had once so much trouble to get out of so happily as she had done and seeing also that she whom her Majesty should most trust on such occasions to wit her Lady of Honour was she whom she had the most reason to distrust because of the Counsel she had given her because she was Mother to the Count the Favourite of the King and who had declared openly that she was very passionatly desirous that the King should have Children by the Queen after what manner soever it might be by that means to establish the Fortune of her Son having said expresly to her Confessor in a Conference they had together about this Matter to endeavour to induce him on the Kings part and her own to make the Queen consent to the change of her Bed and Apartment that it should be but for
five or six nights after which she promised that she would cause the King to return to the Queen after the same manner as before Things being in these terms and the Queen seeing no Remedy for these evils and dangers to which she exposed her self more and more every day believed that she could no ways save her Conscience her Estate her Repose nor her Honour but by declaring this which she had so carefully hid hitherto for the making null her Marriage And this is the Second Point which I have said is to be considered in the Dissolving of this Marriage being the manner in which they proceeded which we shall clearly and faithfully make known by these following Articles I. The Queen that she might withdraw her self out of the fear of those dangers which I have already spoken of and which were inevitable so long as she should continue in the Palace and being willing to make her Declaration with the security of her Liberty and her Life was resolved to leave it and to retire her self into the Covent of St. Claire called Esperance which is the most considerable and the best regulated in Lisbon and indeed she did as secretly retire her self thither as she could the 22 d of November 1667. 2. This Retreat of the Queen and the Declaration which she made the next Morning of the Motives she had thereto both to the Clergy Nobles and People which her Majesty had made to be called together for that purpose instead of surprising them as one might have imagined made them to make all at the same time one Answer believing very much that she had stayed there long enough and that they had long expected such a Resolution and they were not less informed than surprised at what her Majesty had so long suffered and had so long deferred that they approved of all she had done and intreated her that she would declare the Nullity of her Marriage which was so important and so necessary to the Health of the State but they would never approve of that which her Majesty spake of at the same time of returning into France because her Person and her Assistance would now be more necessary to them and more profitable than ever for the Realm and to save it from the dangers which threatned it when she was at Liberty And that all the City of Lisbon would testify the same general Approbation which they had given of her Retreat 3. The Queen the same day of her Retreat sent to the King by the Count de St. Croix Master of her House and a little after by the Bishop of Targa a solemn Declaration of that which she was obliged in her Conscience to say which was of the Nullity of her Marriage and most humbly to intreat his Majesty to permit that Affair so necessary to the Health of their Souls and to that of the Realm to be judged according to the Forms and Canons Ecclesiastique to the end that being free she might return into France with the good will of his Majesty and without losing his Favour To which the King answered by Writing signed with his own Hand and confirmed by Oath upon the Evangelists as may be seen in the Papers of the Process after he had consulted the Doctors and Divines whom he had called together for that purpose that he would Acquiess that by the sole motive of his Will and by the duty of his Conscience he declared by the Advice of the Theologists which were two Dominicans and one Jesuite that he did believe his Marriage with the Queen was Null because she being a Virgin he had never been able to Consummate the Marriage with her It is very true that the King was Arrested before he had made his Answer and Declaration to that of the Queens but it ought to be taken notice of First That he had before done it Verbally some time before his Detention in talking familiarly to one of his Domesticks who Deposed it afterwards Secondly That his Majesty was not yet Arrested when the Queen demanded that Declaration but after he had received that of the Queens he took two or three Days time to consult with the Doctors and Divines about what he should be obliged by his Conscience to answer It happened that the Night following he was Arrested by an Arrest from his own Council Thirdly That this Detention was neither Resolved nor made upon the Queens Retreat nor upon her Declaration no otherwise than if that had never been but for a necessity far different and more urgent than that so that the Declaration the King made some Days after that of the Queens and after he had taken time enough to think thereon and to satisfie his Conscience and to know the Thoughts and Resolutions of those Divines ought not to be reputed Invalid for want of Liberty or that he was Arrested for that Cause Fourthly That these Divines which his Majesty had Assembled did declare after they had heard him that he was obliged in Conscience to Answer as if he were at full Liberty and that there was nothing that should oblige him to conceal the truth as may be seen by their Depopositions Fifthly That since that when they had demanded of the King in divers Meetings if he Approved or Disapproved the Declaration he had made He always roundly affirmed it and with an Oath he Approved and Ratified it both for the discharge of his own Conscience and of the Queens And Lastly When the Judges Deputed by the Chapter to go to his Majesty to signifie the Sentence which they had given and which was pronounced for the Nullity of his Marriage did demand of him if he would Acquiess therein or whether he would Appeal He answered without Hesitation that he would Acquiess acknowledging they acted according to Justice as may be seen by the Acts of the Process 4. After so universal an Approbation given to the Retreat of the Queen the Council of State attending for the Assembly of the States of the Realm which should have been called together a Month before contrary to the mind of the King to remedy the Disorders of the Realm and of his Government seeing they were not able to Assemble so soon as those Affairs required and foreseeing otherwise all Portugal would be lost it they did not apply some speedy Remedy It was secretly resolved that the King should be Locked up in his Apartment with all the Civility that could be and to put the Regency and the Government of the Realm into the hands of the Prince until they should see what the States General would resolve of which was Executed without any Noise at Night on the 22d or 23d and the end of this Detention was to hinder the King from Flying away with the Count to the Fronteirs or elsewhere out of the Realm as they had understood he had Premeditated to do a Month before Or else seeing for the space of several Years the Misgovernment of his Majesty and since
of them to take away from her Majesty and the Prince all those scruples of Conscience that they might have in marrying without demanding it Besides they had considered the time and the difficulty which would be in obtaining it from the Court of Rome although contrary to the Will of his Holiness which might endanger the Repose and Health of the State which could not be able to get out of its forepast miseries but in putting it self in a Condition to give Successors to the Crown which was the only way to do it 3. Notwithstanding all these Resolutions of these Doctors and the politick Instances given them by the most considerable Persons of the Realm to oblige the Queen and the Prince to consent to their will yet they had nevertheless so much Respect so much Reverence and so much Submission to the Authority of the Holy See that they believed their Marriage would neither be fully blest nor approved of by God if first it were not so by him who was in his stead and place upon Earth and in this Consideration they employed all their Care and all their Diligence possible to get with speed a Dispensation 4. It is most certain that as the Queen had not recourse to the Holy See the first time that it might judge of the Nullity of the Marriage for no other reason but that aforesaid doubting the way would not be found so easily open as the Case required So the second time also the way seemed open since the peace made between Portugal and Spain the Prince and she had a passionate Desire and full of sincerity and they would not have failed to have had recourse then for right if it might have been so easily had as the urgent necessity required and the length of the Voyage and the unavoidable Factions of those Persons who would not have failed to have opposed it at Rome as they had tried to do at Lisbon had not made them fear that it would be too great a Delay and that the least ill that attended it would be the putting into danger the Quiet and Safety of the State which depended upon the sudden and speedy Consummation of this Marriage 5. This is the Reason wherefore they had Recourse to Mounsieur the Cardinal de Vendosm Legat a Latere in France believing also besides the nearness of Places and the facility of Access that in addressing themselves to his Eminency they had Recourse to the Pope himself and not being able to go to Drink at the Fountain Head it would suffice that they Drank at a Stream which they saw to proceed immediately from its Source 6. And seeing that the Legat gave them the Dispensation which they required believing he had Power so to do The Queen and the Prince received it as not being able to imagine as they ought not to do that a Cardinal so Illustrious and so Wise in whom the Pope had so much Confidence and whom he Esteemed so much and who was his Legat a Latere did not know how far his Power extended or what he did in granting their Request 7. It followed then that from this Dispensation sought for Received Examined Approved and Registred by the Official of Lisbon to whom it was Directed that the Marriage was Made and was Celebrated in the face of the holy Church with all the Formalities requisite by the Bishop of Targa in presence of the Curate of the Palace where it was done and of Four Gentlemen of the Chamber of the Prince commonly called Chamberlains the Duke de Cadaval's Proctor Espousing for the Queen and the Marquess de Marialva for the Prince 8. All the People also Approved of it by the most extraordinary marks of Contentment that ever were seen and the King Alphonso would shew that which he had in particular by the Complements which he sent to the Prince his Brother And Heaven was not backward to let us plainly see that God did give his Blessing to this Royal Marriage by the happy Pregnancy of the Queen which was perceived within a Month after and is now at this time gone half her Time So that all the People hope his Holiness will not refuse them his and that he will have the goodness to have regard First To the most humble Petitions of these two Great and Religious Princes which they make with other Crowned Heads Secondly To the particular Respect and to the sincerity of the Reverence which they have had and which they still have to the holy See in having Recourse to it Thirdly To the great Submission which the Realm of Portugal hath Witnessed at all times to the Will of the Popes and particularly within this Thirty Years whilst it hath Laboured under very great Calamities and which hath Laboured so much as all the World knows for the Propagation of the Faith without so much as Estranging it self so much as in one Point notwithstanding all the Disgraces it had suffered under the Papacy of his Predecessors with so much Patience Fourthly To the perfect and respectful Confidence which it still at present hath for him who hath so worthily Succeeded and who doth surpass them all in Bounty Justice and Wisdom that he will repair all its past Losses and will to render them intirely happy do them the favour to Establish the Repose and the Spiritual and Temporal Peace of these poor People who have Groaned so many Years which depends absolutely on the Approbation and Benediction which he shall have the goodness to give to this Marriage Fifthly And lastly To the Immortal glory that his Holiness and the holy See shall receive after they have by their Applications and their Paternal Cares so happily extinguished the Fire of a War that Consumed all Europe by the means of the Peace made between the two Crowns who are as it were the two Poles of it It shall yet please them to take away the Subject and the Occasion which may be soon able to Rekindle it and to render it more Hot than ever FINIS Books lately Published The Courtiers Calling shewing the Art of Living at Court according to the Maxims of Policy and Morality By a Person of Honour in 12s price bound 1 s. 6 d. The Art of Making Love or Rules for the Conduct of Ladies and Gallants in their Amours in 12s price bound 1 s. Don Carlos Prince of Spain a Tragedy as it is Acted at the Dukes Theatre Written by Thomas Otway in 4. price 1 s. Newly Publisht this Term Titus and Berenice with a Farce called the Cheats of Scapin As it was Acted at the Dukes Theatre Written by Thomas Otway in 4. price 1 s. All Sold by Richard Tonson under Grays-Inn Gate next Grays-Inn Lane 1640. Aug. 28. 1643. April 26. 1648. 1650. May 15. 1653. Nov. 6. 1656. Nov. 15. 1656. * That is in the time of repose after dinner which they all use in those Countrys 1657. A Palace Royal a League from Lisbon A House of the Duke d' Aâ—eiâ—o's 4 Leagues from Lisbon on this side of the Tagus Stout nâ—erâ—y Companions 1661. This Dona Maria is a natural Daughter of the late King Don John This Discourse was addrest to the Assembly This to the King This to the Assembly To the King These were the Lords of the Realm Houses of Pleasure are called Quintes in Portugal That is one of the Extreamest Quarters of Lisbon Because of the Palsie that had enfeebled one side This Charge answers to that of Master of the Ordnance This Charge answers to that of Superintendant of the Sea Affairs The Queen loved these two Persons This is the manner of writing such Billets These Imploys are Triennial in Portugal A Town on the other side the Tagus over against Lisbon This is one kind of the Carouses Which were Monte Claros Evota A little Village at the mouth of the Guadi and in the uttermost parts of Algarves The younger Sons of the Kings of Portugal are not Princes but by Declaration The true cause which they dared not yet to speak of was the Impuissance of the King That is the publick Prison Lewisa Marie de Gonzague