ancient Protector and Head of the Catholick party that those things resolved upon without his consent should by any means whatsoever be disturbed and the honour of disturbing them redound apparently upon himself he peremptorily opposed all the Queens arguments shewing that they should at the same time lose their credit and reputation when they suffered themselves to be so easily deluded by a woman who did all with a design to throw her self into the arms of the contrary party if fondly giving credit to her words they should so easily be perswaded to depart from the Court that it would too much prejudice the justice of their cause if it should appear by their own confession that the end of their coming was not for the publick good or preservation of the Royal Authority but through private passions and particular interests and that through an inward guilt they had not pursued those intentions which they purposed to effect That they ought not by the artificial perswasions of the Queen to be diverted from a deliberation so maturely weighed and unanimously resolved upon nor to satisfie her will suffer those things to be laid aside which were dictated by Reason prescribed by Justice and commanded by Religion the preservation and respect of which had chiefly brought them thither But howsoever it was no longer seasonable to defer or spend time in discourses The Prince of Conde with an armed power was already at hand the Hugonots had already joyned their forces who without doubt would carry the King along with them if they did not first take order for his security And therefore this being a business not to be determined by perswasions it was necessary to use force and carrying away the King leave the Queen to take that party which pleased her best For having with them the person of the lawful King and the first Prince of the Blood to whom the Government naturally belonged they needed little to regard what she should do with her self And it was true that the Prince of Conde joyned with the Lords of Chastillon and the rest of his adherents already drew near to the Court Wherefore the Constable and the King of Navarre being confirmed by these reasons and seeing it was necessary to break off all treaties and delays gave the Queen personally to understand that she must instantly resolve for they had determined whatever hapned to carry the King and his Brothers with them to Paris leâ—t they should fall into the hands of the Hugonots who as they had advertisement were not far off that it was not fit for them to leave their lawful Prince a prey to Hereticks who desired nothing more than to have him a prisoner that they might under his name subvert the foundations of the Kingdom That there was now no time to be lost nor means to put it off that they would dispose of the King as their allegiance and the common good required For what concerned her self that they would not determine any thing but as it was their duty leave her free to do what she pleased Though this intimation were peremptory and sudden yet the Queen was not at all surprised therewith having long foreseen it and designed what in such a case would be fittest to do Wherefore being necessitated to declare her self though it were against her will and she foresaw War would quickly ensue thereupon she would not by any means separate her self from the Catholick party not only because reason and justice so advised but because she likewise conceived that both her own safety and her Sons depended upon their strength So that with her wonted vivacity of courage presently resolving she returned answer to the King of Navarre and the Constable That she was no less a Catholick nor less sollicitous of the general good of that Religion than any other whatsoever that for this time she would rather believe the counsel of others than her own judgment and since all agreed that it was best to go she was ready to satisfie them And so without any other reply she presently put her self in a readiness to depart notwithstandig at the same time she dispatched Letters to the Prince of Conde lamenting that she could not discharge the promise she had made to put both the Kings Person and her own into their hands for the Catholicks coming first had carried them by force to Paris but that they should not lose their courage neglect their care for the preservation of the Crown nor suffer their enemies to arrogate to themselves the absolute power in the Government So being mounted on horseback with the King and her other Sons and compassed about with the Catholick Lords who omitted no observance or demonstrations of honour that might appease her they went that night to Melun the next day to the Bois de Vincennes and with the same speed the morning after to Paris It is most certain that the young King was seen that day by many to weep being perswaded that the Catholick Lords restrained him of his liberty and that the Queen-Mother being discontented that her wonted arts prevailed not and foreseeing the mischiefs of the future War seemed perplexed in mind and spake not a word to any body of which the Duke of Guise making little account was heard to say publickly That the good is always good whether it proceed from love or force But the Prince of Conde having received this news upon the way and finding that he was either prevented by the Catholicks or deluded by the Queen he presently stopt his horse and stood still a good while doubtful what resolution to take all those future troubles that were like to ensue representing themselves before him with a face of terrour But the Admiral who was somewhat behind overtaking him they conferred a little together and after a deep sigh the Prince said We are gone so far forward that we must either drink or be drowned and without any further dispute taking another way he went with great speed towards Orleans which he had formerly designed to possess himself of Orleans is one of the principal Cities of the Kingdom some thirty leagues distant from Paris of a large compass abundance in provision commodious for buildings and very populous which being in the Province of Beausse stands as it were the Navel of the Kingdom upon the River of Loire anciently called Ligeris a great Navigable River which passing thorow many Provinces at length runs into the British Sea This City by reason of the Navigation the fertility of the Soil the eminency of it and the mutual commerce it had with many other places seemed to the Prince very convenient for a standing quarter and to oppose against Paris by making it the principal seat for their Faction For which reasons having many months before cast his thoughts upon it he had taken pains to hold secret intelligence with some of the Citizens which were of Calvins Religion and by their means to raise a
very divers Some thought it most expedient first of all to make an attempt upon Orleans and to cut off at one blow the head of the Hugonot Faction For the chief of that party being suppressed who were in the Town and the Magazine destroyed all the rest would be overcome with ease and facility But the King of Navarre and the Queen more intent to cast out the English than any thing else thought that Rouen once taken and the aids of England cut off from the Hugonots Orleans would be more easily reduced which for the present they thought very difficult and a work of much time by which the English would have the commodity to confirm their possession and perhaps make themselves Masters of all the Province of Normandy where the Duke of Aumale had so inconsiderable a force that he was not able to make head against them This opinion at last through the Queens inclination prevailed and it was resolved without any delay to go upon that design The situation and commodities of Rouen are admirable For the River Seine upon which it stands rising out of the Mountains in Burgundy and distending it self through the plains of the Isle of France after it joyns with the Matrona commonly called Marne and by the confluence of many other little streams is made deep and Navigable passeth through the midst of the City of Paris and then running with an impetuous torrent quite through Normandy falls with an exceeding wide channel into the Ocean which ebbing and flowing and continually filling and feeding the River with salt water affords spacious room for Vessels of any burthen to ride On the right hand of the mouth where the River at last falls into the Sea over against England stands Havre de Grace a secure large Port which with modern Fortifications being reduced into the form of a Town by King Francis the First serves for a defence against the incursions of the English But in the mid-way between Havre de Grace and Paris near to the place whither the salt waters flow mingled with the fresh about twenty two leagues from the Sea stands the City of Rouen upon the River grown noble rich abundant and populous by the commerce of all Northern Nations From one side of the fortress of Havre de Grace upon the right hand a tongue of land advancing many miles into the Sea makes as it were a spacious Peninsula which the common people call the Country of Caux and in the extreamest point and promontory thereof is Diepe placed directly opposite to the mouth of the Thames a most famous River in England These places which lie so fitly to damage France and to be supplyed by their Fleets the English had made themselves Masters of For though at Diepe and at Rouen French Governours were chosen by the Council of the Confederates yet the Garisons kept there by Queen Elizabeth being very strong they could so curb them that all the rest was absolutely at their dispose The Resolution being taken to besiege Rouen the King and the Queen marching together with the Army in fourteen days arrived at Darnetel at which place less than two leagues distant from the City the whole Camp lodged the 25 day of September The chief Commanders of the Army considering that the body of the City is defended on the one side by the River beyond which there is nothing but the Fauxburg S. Sever and on the other side by S. Catherines Mount upon the top of which is placed an ancient Monastery reduced into the form of a Modern Fortress they thought it best to make themselves Masters of the Mount it appearing very difficult to make any attempt or assault upon the Town it self if they did not first gain the Fort without which flanked and commanded the entrances on all parts Upon this deliberation Sebastien de Luxemburg Signeur de Martigues made Colonel General of the Foot in the place of Randan advanced the night of the 27 of September and sate down under St. Catherines Mount in the great High-way that goes towards Paris which being hollow almost like a Trench covered them in great part from the shot of the Fort. The Count of Montgomery who commanded in the Town in chief with 2000 English and 1200 French Foot four Troops of Horse and more than 100 Gentlemen of quality besides the Citizens having foreseen that the enemy must of necessity first take the out-works besides the old fortifications on the top of the Mount had raised half way up the Hill a Half-moon of earth which having the Fort behind and fronting upon the campaigne might not only hinder the ascent but also flank the walls of the Town and force the Catholick Army to spend much time and lose many men in the taking of it Nor was the effect contrary to what he intended For though Monsieur de Martigues leaving the direct way and ascending in a crooked line advanced by help of the spade between the Fort and the Half-moon to gain the top of the Hill yet the work proceeded with much difficulty and great slaughter of the Souldiers who the more the Foot advanced with their gabions and trenches were so much the more exposed to the Cannon planted upon the Fort to the annoyance of the Musquet shot to the fury of the fireworks and other inventions with which they within very resolutely defended themselves To these main difficulties was added the quality of the weather which being in the beginning of Autumn as it always falls out in those parts was very rainy so as the waters continually falling from the top of the Hill into that low place where the Army lay it was no small inconvenience unto them Likewise the great Sallies the Hugonots made night and day were not of little moment For though they were valiantly sustained so that the success thereof was not very doubtful yet they kept the whole Army in motion and in work Nor were their Horse less diligent than the Foot in their Trenches insomuch as many times the Siege was interrupted and hindered Considering these so great impediments it would have proved a tedious painful business if the negligence or arrogance of the defendants had not rendered it very short and easie For Iean de Hemery Signeur de Villers who afterwards married a Sister of Henry Davila's that wrote this History being upon the guard in the Trenches with his Regiment observed that about noon there was very little stirring in the Fort and that they appeared not in such numbers upon the Ravelins as at other times of the day Wherefore having sent for a Norman Souldier called Captain Lewis who two days before was taken prisoner in a Sally they made out of the Fort he asked him as by way of discourse What was the reason that at certain hours so few of the Hugonots were to be seen upon the Rampart The Souldier not concealing the truth without looking farther what the consequence thereof would be told him that
years by the Kings of England her Predecessors and at last recovered by the Duke of Guise in the Reign of Henry the Second But because the Hugonots were not Masters of that place she demanded that in the mean time they should consign to her Havre de Grace a Fortress and Port of less consequence upon the coast of Normandy and that they should receive her Garrisons into Diepe and Rouen These conditions seemed to many intolerable and not to be consented unto through any necessity whatsoever knowing the infamy and publick hate they should undergo if they made themselves instruments to dismember the Kingdom of such important places and bring into them the most cruel implacable enemies of the French Nation But the Ministers who in all deliberations were of great Authority and in a manner reverenced as Oracles alledged that no consideration was to be had of worldly things where there was question of the heavenly Doctrine and propagation of GOD's Word Wherefore all other things were to be contemned so as Religion might be protected and Liberty of Conscience established The Prince of Conde and the Admiral being desirous to continue their Commands and necessitated by their own private affairs to pursue the enterprise were of the same opinion so that their Authority overcoming all opposition after many consultations it was at last concluded to satisfie Queen Elizabeth and by all means to accept the conditions proposed To which effect they presently dispatched Monsieur de Briquemaut and the new Vidame of Chartres with Letters of credit from the Prince and the Confederates to confirm the agreement in England Andelot and the Prince of Portian with such a sum oâ— money as they could get together went to sollicit the levies of the Germans the Count de la Roch-foucaut went to Angoulesme the Count de Montgomery retired into Normandy Monsieur de Soâ—bize to Lyons the Prince the Admiral Genlis and Bouchavenes stayed to defend Orleans and the places adjacent But many of the Commissioners for the confederacy which was treated with England not being able to endure such dishonourable conditions began to forsake them amongst which Monsieur de Pienne went over to the Kings Army and the Sieur de Morvilliers chosen by the Prince to be Governour of Rouen that he might not be forced to admit an English Garrison into a Town of such consequence leaving that charge retired into Picardy to his own house Whilst by these means the Hugonots endeavoured to provide themselves with Forces the Catholicks designed to make an attempt upon Orleans as the chief sourse and seat of all the War But in regard it was exceedingly well provided for Defence and furnished with Munition of all kinds they knew it was an enterprise of great difficulty Wherefore first to cut off from it the hopes of succours they resolved to take in the places round about that so they might afterwards with more facility straighten it with a siege or being deprived of succours assault it by force For which purpose they raised their Camp the 11 of Iuly and the Duke of Guise leading the Van and the King of Navarre the Battalia whilst every one of both sides expected to see them setled before Orleans they leaving that Town on the left hand and passing sixteen leagues farther on a suddain assailed Blois which though it were full of people beautified with one of the noblest Castles for a Kings house in the whole Kingdom and situated upon the same side of the River of Loire yet it was not so fortified that it could hope to make any long resistance against the Kings Army Wherefore after the Souldiers which were in guard saw the Cannon planted being terrified with the danger they passed the River upon the Bridge and throwing away their Arms sought to save themselves by flight which though the Duke of Guise knew who with the Van-guard was nearest to the wall yet being more intent to take the Town than to pursue those that ran away whilst the Citizens dispatched their Deputies to capitulate he sent a party of foot to make an assault who finding the breach forsaken that was made by a few Cannon shot took the place without resistance which by the fury of the Souldiers their Commanders not forbidding them was miserably sackt From Blois the Army marched towards Tours a much more noble populous and ancient City wherein the name of the Hugonots first took vigour and force but the people who for a few days at the bginning of the Siege made shew that they would stand resolutely upon their defence when they perceived the Trenches were made and the Artillery planted of their own accord cast out the Commanders and rendered the place saving their goods and persons which conditions were intirely observed In the mean while the Mareshal de St. Andre with the Rear of the Army went another way to besiege Poictiers a City likewise famous for antiquity great and spacious where the â—atholicks thought they should find a strong resistance But it fell out to be a work of much less difficulty than they imagined For the Mareshal having battered it two days together with his Artillery and made an assault upon the Town rather to try the resolution of the Defendants than with any hope to gain it the Captain of the Castle who till then had shew'd himself more violent than any other of the Hugonot party suddenly changing his mind began to play from within with his Cannon upon those who stood ready to receive the Assault by which unexpected accident the Defendants losing their courage not knowing in such a tumult what way to take for their safety as men astonished left the entry of the breach free to the Assailants who not finding any resistance entered furiously into the Town which by the example of Blois was in the heat of the fight sackt and many of the peole put to the sword The Catholicks having thus in a few days taken those Towns which from Poictiou and Touraine backed and succoured Orleans and stopt the passage for supplies from Guyenne Gasâ—oigne and other places beyond the River it remained that turning backwards and passing to the other side they should take in Bourges so to cut off those aids that might come from Auvergne Lyonoise and other Provinces joyning to Daulphine Bourges anciently called Avaricum is one of the greatest and most populous Cities in France a residence for Students of all sorts but especially famous for the Civil Law This Town being within twenty leagues of Orleans and by reason of the Traffick of Wooll as also through the great concourse of Scholars much replenished with strangers was at the beginning possest by the Hugonots and afterwards as an important passage for the Commerce of those Provinces that being nearest depended upon it diligently guarded and fortified so that now foreseeing a Siege Monsieur d' Yvoy Brother to Genlis was entered thereinto with two Thousand French foot and four Troops of horse
some few days at the last arrived at the Army lodging with much incommodity at the adjacent Villages At the coming of the Kings Army Piviers Estampes and all the other places thereabouts were already rendred after the taking of which the Duke of Guise having gotten all his men together drew towards the Town the fifth day of February and encamped between the Faux-bourg d'Olivette and the Town of S. Aubin a convenient Quarter and being placed upon the River of Loire abounding with provisions There were in Orleans besides Andelot who commanded all the rest Monsieur de St. Cyr Governour of the City the Sieurs d' Avaret Duras and Bouchavenes fourteen Companies of Foot partly Germans and partly Gascons and five Troops of French Horse consisting for the most part of old experienced Souldiers and besides these the Citizens refusing neither labour nor danger for the defence of their Town being divided into four Squadrons with wonderful readiness hazarding themselves upon all services Orleans is divided though not equally by the River of Loire for on one side stands the whole body of the City and on the other lies only a great Faux-bourg vulgarly called the Portereau The Portereau is joined to the City with a fair Bridge at the entrance whereof towards the Faux-bourg are two Forts called the Towrelles which hinder and shut the entry of the Bridge at the other end whereof is the Gate of the City strengthened with good Walls but without any Rampart defended with a high square Tower built after the ancient fashion of a great thickness The Walls of the City were in themselves of little strength but the Defendants had repaired and made them more defensible Amongst other things they fortified also the Portereau raising two great Bastions before it which might entertain and keep off the Enemy for a time from the Town the one being right against the place where the Catholicks encamped was guarded by four Companies of the Gascons and the other which was farther off was kept by two Companies of the Germans The Duke of Guise upon very good reasons thought it best to begin the Siege on that side First that his men being conveniently lodged might the better support the incommodities of Winter then because esteeming it an easie matter to take the works of the Portereau he designed to make use of the commodity of the River to assail and batter the Walls of the City with a great number of Barks covered with Gabions and full of other Warlike Instruments which would in wonderful manner facilitate the assault Besides on that side those within had neither Rampart of Earth within the Wall nor any allarum place capable to receive a body of men Wherefore the next morning the whole Army advanced in very good order within sight of the Town Monsieur de Sippierre leading on the first Divisions of the Catholicks with six hundred Horse and two Regiments of Foot with which force he easily beat back again into the Faux-bourg those who to shew their courage sallied out to skirmish Whereupon his men being heartned with such good success at the beginning he caused a furious assault to be given to the Bulwark guarded by the Gascoigns at which the Duke of Guise coming in and making shew to draw all the forces of his Army to that place at the same time sent Sansac's Regiment to surprize by Scalado the other held by the Germans who being amazed with the suddenness thereof made so little resistance that the Bulwark being taken the Catholicks entered the Faux-bourg before any body perceived there was an attempt made upon that part By which means the assailants having already made themselves strong within the Rampart and all the Army that stood in order marching to them the Defendants were constrained to abandon the Suburbs of the Portereau but not without great terrour and confusion in which Duras being slain with many other persons of remark they were so closely pursued by the Catholicks who came up to them on all sides that if Andelot himself fighting valiantly with a great Squadron of Gentlemen had not withstood them they had in that fury entred the Towrells But he standing at the entry of the Bridge all covered with Arms and bravely assisted they were with much difficulty at length repulsed and the Ports of the Towers and the City being shut that bloody conflict ended with the day The Faux-bourg being secured the Army approached to the Towrells which proving very hard to be taken by reason of the strength of the place the Duke of Guise notwithstanding with Gabions Trenches and Engines of War so far advanced the work that he found they could not long maintain that Poste though from the Cannon planted in certain Islands in the middle of the River those upon the banks received much molestation and damage In the mean while the Admiral with his Reiters and some few French Horse having left all their carriage and baggage at Orleans passing the Loire at Georgeau marcht with such expedition that the Mareshal of Brissac who endeavoured to lie in their way could by no means stop them in any place or hinder them from passing into Normandy which Province the Reiters slaughtering firing pillaging and destroying all things both sacred and prophane over-ran without resistance there being no forces in that Country which were able to hinder their incursions So passing through all places like a horrible and fearful tempest they came at last to the coasts of the Ocean at S. Sauveur de Dive There the Germans not knowing in what part of the World they were and seeing the Sea grow furious and inraged with the tempestuousness of the weather and no news at all appearing of the succours so often promised from England began fiercely to mutiny demanding with clamour and threats the arrears of their pay and calling upon the Admiral to observe his promise who coming out of his Lodging and shewing them with his finger the swelling of the Sea and the impetuous contrary winds excused with the perverseness of the weather and the season the delay of their expected supplies But the Germans not to be appeased with any thing he could hardly obtain of them the patience of a few days though to satisfie their greediness he gave them free license to plunder all as well friends and adherents as adversaries and enemies Wherefore destroying with barbarous cruelty all the tract of that Country which with wonderful fertility and richness of the inhabitants extends it self along the Ocean he stayed so long expecting about the Sea-coasts that at length the storm ceasing they descryed from Havre de Grace the English Ships which brought with them both the 150000 Ducats and the two Regiments of Foot besides fourteen pieces of Cannon with all manner of munition proportionable The English under the conduct of the Count of Montgomery and Monsieur de Colombiere being received with incredible joy and the Reiters satisfied for their arrears the Admiral
besides the nobleness of his Blood the merits of his Father his own Vertue and the protection of the Cardinal his Uncle was chiefly the implacable hatred the King bare the Admiral for after the death of the Prince of Conde in the Battel of Bassac he had entertained confident hopes that the Hugonot party being deprived of the Authority of so great a Prince and having lost their principal Head upon whose valour and reputation chiefly depended the conduct of so weighty a business would dissolve and dissipate or at least incline to the yoak of his obedience but he found on the contrary the Authority of the Blood Royal by the sagacity of the Admiral revived in the persons of the two young Princes and the union of the Hugonot Faction founded on their proper strength and valour to occasion more mischiefs and to bring the state of affairs into greater dangers than ever formerly they had been in the revolution of so many years and therefore having with a publick and heavy sentence divulged in many languages made him to be declared Rebel by the Parliament of Paris he also caused his effigies to be dragged through the streets and to be hung up in places where they used to execute publick malefactors and so ordered the matter that his houses were razed to the ground and his goods sold by the Officers of his Courts after all which continuing a resolution to persecute him to death he began to exalt and favour the House of Lorain and particularly the Duke of Guise who desirous to revenge the death of his Father professed a publick and irreconcileable hatred to the Admiral The Kings Cabinet Council coming now to debate of those courses that were to be taken in ordering the War at first their opinions disagreed for the Mareshal de Cosse by his severe proceedings against the Hugonots in Picardy having purged himself of the suspicions conceived against him and regained his former credit and estimation of wisdom thought it best to try rather by time than force to overcome the Enemy who being without money without means to victual their Army without retreat without any considerable supply from abroad and full of want disorder discord and desperation would quickly be vanquished by their own necessities and dissolve to nothing of themselves On the other side the Count de Tavanes represented that the Hugonot Army was lessened wearied out and put into confusion by the long and fruitless siege of Poictiers and therefore very easie to be overcome and that it was necessary to fight presently and not to stay till the Prince of Orange who was gone disguised into Germany had time to make new levies or that the Count Montgomery who had gotten the better in Bearn should come with the Forces of Gascony to join with the Admiral for so the War would be again renewed which could not by any means be more certainly extinguished than by fighting and by eager pursuing of the Enemy now they were diminished both in number and courage The resolution would have been hard to agree upon but the Duke of Anjou cutting off all dispute of different opinions concluded that it was expedient to fight with the Army of the Princes now that tired and wasted with their late losses and sufferances they were not likely to have force and vigour enough to resist the Catholick Army which fresh in full strength and well recruited had an ardent desire to see the Enemy in the field With this intention he departed from Tours in the company of the Dukes of Guise and Montpensier and so gathering together thirty Ensigns of Foot and 2000 Horse of the Nobility and Gentry that held their lands of the Crown who about that time came to the Army he advanced with his whole body towards Faye la Vineuse where the Hugonots were encamped with a design to meet them and as soon as possibly he could force them to give him Battel But matters were not so resolved among the Hugonots for though the Gentry who for the space of a whole year had lived from their own houses spending all they had thinking they had done much more than either the nature or custom of the French is wont to bear desired earnestly to meet the Enemy or to be dismissed the Camp and that every hour were heard the groans of those that wished for an end of those miseries or of their lives though Count Volrade with his Germans weary of suffering and lying in the field and deprived of their fancied hopes of rich booty in a mutinous way demanded their pay and to be led on to encounter the Enemy yet the Princes the Admiral and the most experienced Commanders of the Army knowing the valour of the Kings Souldiers and the weariness and disunion of their own inwardly disapproved the advice of coming to a final trial and desired to govern their affairs with the same prudence which they had observed in the Catholicks who when they found themselves inferiour in strength had always avoided the hazard of a Battel though now being assured of the advantage they very much desired it Therefore as when the Duke of Anjou shunned the encounter they had used all possible means to provoke him to it so now that he came resolved to do the like they endeavoured to prolong the event of things and to proceed with more slow and more secure advice but they dared not to make show of this intention for fear of filling the Army with tumults and discontents being certain the Gentry would presently forsake them and the Germans undoubtedly mutiny as soon as they should know there was no hopes of putting it to a Battel Wherefore letting themselves be led by necessity and by the inclination of the Army as a man doth for the most part that rides a fiery ill-managed horse they seemed to consent to the opinion and desire of the Souldiers and made show of readiness and resolution to give battel but the Admiral who thought he could compass any thing by his arts and subtilties deluding their expectation and declining all occasions absolutely determined in himself with all possible care to avoid the doubtful issue of a battel To this end as soon as he heard the motion of the Catholicks towards him the Princes being made privy to his counsels he marched with his whole Army from Faye which is in the Confines of Poictou and Anjou to pass the Rivers that are near to gain the other side called Basse Poictou bordering upon Guienna where by reason of its strong situation and the many Cities that were there of his Faction he thought it more easie to delay the Battel or else to fight with so much advantage that the Victory might not at all be doubtful and to the end the Gentry and the Germans might more willingly follow him he caused a report to be spread through the whole Army that the Count de Montgomery grown strong and victorious in Bearn was upon his way to
besieged on every side In the mean time the Squadrons of Cavalry under Malicorn and Meleray being come up those that sallied out were within a little while beaten in again though with loss on both sides there being slain above sixty of the Catholicks and about eighty of the Hugonots The Catholick Army being divided lodged it self into two several quarters shutting up the ways both by Sea and Land for it was their chief design to keep the Count from any means of saving himself and as soon as it was quartered they presently began their trenches and to plant their Cannon believing the Town was able to hold out but a very few days But the Count knowing his weakness and making it his chief aim to save himself having the night following often given them their alarms in several places to try and amuse the Catholick Camp at last he with a few of his Souldiers forced a Corps de Guard of the Sieur de Luce his Regiment which kept a passage toward the Land and knowing the Country very well by the help of the night saved himself undiscovered in certain low moorish grounds which use to be overflow'd by the Tide and then passing an arm of the Sea in certain small Fisher-boats which he found by chance went to Danfront having left his Son and Son-in-law at St. Lo but with an assured hope of relieving them within a few days His flight was not known unto the Catholicks for the darkness of the night the small number of his company and his means of getting away had concealed his escape till grown strong in Horse by the help of many Gentlemen of his party he began to run about the Country cutting off passages and making shew that he would relieve the besieged whereby being at last assured that he was slipt out of the net and insulted furiously over the neighbouring Country they called a Council of War wherein the opinions being various the Sieurs de Fervaques Ruberpre and many others counselled the prosecution of the siege of St. Lo a business which they esteemed but of a few days to take away that secure retreat from the Enemy and cut off all hopes of saving themselves by Sea but Villers and St. Colombe were of opinion that leaving St. Lo still besieged to divide the Forces of the Enemy they should with the same celerity they came thither follow the Count de Mongomery thinking that to suppress him would quite extinguish the War This resolution being approved by Matignon having left Fervaques and Maliâ—orne to block up St. Lo he himself with Villers and St. Colombe taking with them two Regiments of Foot six hundred Horse and only four small pieces of Cannon marched so speedily to Danfront that they prevented the Enemies intelligence who though the Walls of the City were very weak yet trusting to the River Mante that runneth about one side of it and to the Fort which seated upon the top of a Hill guards it on the other side were resolved constantly to defend the place The night following the Cannon were planted and in the morning there being hardly forty yards of the wall beaten down Villers despising the hindrance of the River passed over at the head of the Infantry up to the brest in water and assaulted it so boldly that the Souldiers being terrified fled without resistance into the Castle and the Town remaining in the power of the Catholicks was by the fury of the Souldiers almost utterly ruined and destroyed Much greater was the difficulty of assaulting the Castle seated upon an intire Rock where the Sap could do little good and so high above the plain that they were forced with infinite difficulty to raise Cavaliers for the planting of their Ordnance which while the Catholicks put in execution with the same speed and courage the Hugonots still molested them with sharp bloody sallies which at last ceased for one Cavalier being finished they began furiously to batter the Curtin After the battering followed a fierce assault in which though the Catholicks lost St. Colombe with a great many Voluntiers and about two hundred of their most valiant men the Hugonots received so much loss by the death of a great many Gentlemen and the greatest part of their Souldiers that they were able to hold out no longer for which cause lest the assault which was preparing with more Forces than at first should be renewed the next day they yielded themselves the same night to the discretion of the Conquerours and Monsieur de Matignon entring the Castle caused the Souldiers to be pillaged and let them all go keeping only some few Gentlemen prisoners and the Count de Montgomery who with a very strong guard was brought to Court where by the sentence of the Parliament of Paris he was publickly executed as a Rebel in the place appointed for Malefactors The King and Queen not only rejoycing that they had freed themselves of so fierce an Enemy who held perpetual correspondence with foreign Princes but also that they had revenged the death of Henry the Second slain by him though accidentally as we have said in a Tournament from the occasion of whose death proceeded afterwards all those following calamities Danfront being taken Monsieur de Matignon returned to St. Lo which he began to besiege mâ—re streightly and the seventh day Villers storming it with the chief of all the Infantry remained Master of the wall though with the loss of much blood and of a Tower which placed in the flank defended the Avenue that led toward the gate The assault being renewed in the morning by break of day the victorious Army entred the Town where the Son-in-law of Montgomery being slain and Monsieur de Colombiere a Souldier of great valour and noble birth Monsieur Lorges Son to the Count was taken who being condemned to the same punishment which his Father â—ad suffered corrupted his guards and saved himself by flight Carentanâ— and Valognes yielded without staying to be besieged that 〈◊〉 being thus extinguished which with so much danger had been kindled in the most suspected parts of the Kingdom But at that time the Kings life was drawn almost unto the last period for having begun some months before to spit blood being afterwards oppressed with a slow but a continued internal Feaver he had in the end utterly lost all strength whereby knowing himself to be already near his death he caused all the Lords and Officers of the Crown which were then at Court to be called unto him and having told them the danger of his sickness and nearness of his death he declared his Brother Henry King of Poland to be his Successor in the Kingdom and until his coming the Queen his Mother to be Regent strictly commanding the Duke of Alancon the King of Navarre and all others under pain of Rebellion to obey and serve her faithfully until the arrival of the lawful King After that the Secretaries of State and Renato de Birago who
of Arms. Nor was the King of Navarre himself much averse from active thoughts knowing by experience that peace and idleness did ruine by little and little and insensibly diminish the strength of his party for many weary of innovations returned sincerely unto the Catholick Church many seeing the Hugonots depressed and excluded from Offices and Honours did feign to return to it and all of them old business growing out of date and the authority of Command languishing did equally withdraw themselves from the cares and interests of the Faction and he himself being reduced to a very low ebb of Fortune not onely foresaw his future ruine but for the present had not wherewithall to maintain the honour of a King nor of first Prince of the Blood To which necessities the instigations of the Prince of Conde being added who was of a more fierce unquiet nature unable to digest the affront of being excluded from the Government of Piâ—ardy and the assent or rather desire of many young men that ordered matters of Government concurring in the same they concluded at last that it was better to try the fortune of Arms than to perish securely in the idleness of Peace and they resolved to prepare themselves and seek some occasion to begin the War so much the rather because the Kings manner of life being already thought to proceed from dissoluteness of Customs and weakness of spirit it incited all to carry themselves without respect according to their proper interests and inclinations Wherefore the King of Navarre calling to him the Deputies of Languedoc and Dauphine which were come to the Congregation after a long discourse wherein he exhorted them on their parts to lend what assistance they were able unto the Common Cause he gave them pieces of a broken French Crown of Gold to carry to Monsieur de Chastillon Son to the Admiral de Coligny who was already gotten into Languedoc and to Monsieur des Diguieres who was in Dauphine with direction that they should give credit in the matter and order of War to those that should bring them the remaining pieces of the Crown esteeming that a very secret Token and not so easily to be counterfeited with which determination each retiring into his own Province they began secretly to make themselves ready to take up Arms. But the King of Navarre seeking to put a gloss upon the business with some specious reasonable colour the time drawing on that the Cautionary Towns were to be restored though the King demanded them but coldly rather out of compliance with the Catholick party then a desire to have them yet He made a mighty noise about it and often calling Assemblies of the Hugonots which they call Synods endeavoured to shew them that the time of restoring those places was not yet come nor the execution of the Edict fully accomplished since the free exercise of their Religion was neither permitted in Champagne Normandy Bourgogne nor the Isle of France whereupon the Ministers growing hot who were very much pleased with that pretence their minds began to incline to War for the beginning whereof the King of Navarre was resolved to undertake some notable enterprize the fame whereof might quicken the slowness of all the rest of his party wherefore he thought of beginning with an attempt upon Cahors which Town having been promised by the King to the Lady Margaret his Wife in Dowry was never assigned unto her it being kept by the Governour in the Kings Name by that he obtained a reasonable pretence so necessary in Civil Wars to feed the minds of the People and to palliate the interests of the parties and a great benefit resulted to him by the addition of a rich City and neighbouring Territory which was both very great and wonderful commodious for his present affairs The Prince of Conde also who could not blot the business of Picardy out of his memory purposed to go unknown into that Province and by the help of some adherents to make himself Master of a place or two by which he might get footing in that Country and enlarge his State and Fortune beyond the narrow limits of Xaintonge thinking he might fairly cover his own ends by making shew that he would live under the Kings obedience and revenge himself of his enemies by whose practises he had been excluded from the Government The Prince of Conde as of a more hasty impatient nature began first and being come unknown to Poictiers he passed from thence with very great danger through the other Cities and Provinces of France into the heart of Picardy where after the space of a few moneths having with art and the intelligence of his Friends drawn together from several parts the number of 300 men he entred la Fere a strong place and of great consequence whence driving away the Governour and the small Garrison that was in it he became Master of it the 29 th day of November and having presently writ unto the King that he kept that Fortress in his Name as being by him elected Governour of the Province from which he had been excluded by the malice of his enemies he began notwithstanding to make preparations to defend himself as well as he could not doubting but the King would use all his force to chase him out of so convenient an harbour But in the beginning of the year following 1580 the King of Navarre after he had sent the remaining pieces of the broken Crown to the Lord of Chastillon and Monsieur des Diguieres in token that they should begin the War began to settle himself in his intended enterprise of Cahors which was to surprise that City upon a sudden and bring it into his own power The City of Cahors is seated upon the River Lot which environing it on three sides leaves onely one passage free called la Port aux Barres and the other three sides are entred by three fair Bridges that cross the River By one of these called the New-bridge the King of Navarre was resolved to attack the City secretly in the night not having Forces to assault or besiege it by day And because the first entry of the Bridge was hindred by a Gate that was kept locked after which without any Draw-bridge at the other end stood the Gate of the City defended by two Ravelines one on either hand He purposed at each Gate to fasten a Petard an Engine till then little esteemed for the newness of it but since by often tryals grown famous for sudden enterprises in War and the obstacles being broken to come presently to handy-blowes with the defenders For this purpose besides the company who to fasten the Petard were necessarily to go before he divided his Soldiers into four Squadrons the first led by the Baron de Salignac the second by the Sieur de St. Martin Captain of his Guards the third wherein were the Gentry and he himself in person by Antoyne Sieur de Rochelaure and the fourth by the
other might if he could in some measure withhold the Catholick King from the open favour which he was seen to lend unto the Union to which Mendozza did manifestly perform the Office of an Ambassador Having thus provided in the best manner he could for matters without the Kingdom he began to take care of those within it and having called all the Presidents and Counsellors of the Parliaments of Paris Rouen and Dijon who were fled from the popular fury he determined that the Parliament of Paris should reside in the City of Tours that of Rouen in the City of Caen in the same Province of Normandy and that of Dijon at Chalons a City also of the same Dutchy of Bourgongne and then by a most severe Edict declared them all Rebels who being chosen to the dignity of the Parliaments should continue to reside in those Cities and places which had withdrawn themselves from his obedience and forbad all men to have any recourse to them to seek for justice declaring all sentences to be void which they should pronounce under the name and title of Parliament The same Declaration he made against the Duke of Mayenne against the Duke and Chevalier d' Aumale and others who having caused Cities to revolt took Arms against him intimating to them that if within the term of fifteen days they returned not to their due obedience desisted not from disturbing and molesting the Kingdom and laid not down their Arms they should be judged guilty of Rebellion and should be so declared with the Confiscation of their Estates After these Writings followed Actions and having appointed Governours in all Provinces he gave Commission to make Levies to draw Souldiers together and that the War should be begun in every place The Count de Soissons was made Governour in Bretagne the Duke of Montpensier in Normandy the Mareschal de Martignon Lieutenant to the King of Navarre in Guienne the Mareschal of Momorancy in Languedoc Monsieur de la Valette Lieutenant to the Duke of Espernon in Provence Alfonso Corso in Dauphine the Count de Tavannes Lieutenant in Bourgongne the Duke of Longeville Governour of Picardy the Mareschal d' Aumont of Champagne and Monsieur de Tinteville his Lieutenant Filibert Sieur de la Guiche of Lyonois Monsieur de Montigny of Berry Monsieur de Sourdis in Beausse the Sieur de Entraques in the Dutchy of Orleans and with himself he kept the Mareschal d' Aumont to command the Army and gave order that the Duke d' Espernon and the King of Navarre should come unto him the agreement with whom after some delay was accepted and published the 28 of April But after the Peace was concluded and before the publication of it the Cardinal-Legat not thinking it decent for him to stay longer near the Kings person and on the other side not being willing by his presence and residence to authorise the League in the taking up of Arms resolved after many doubts to go towards Moulins and thence out of the Kingdom assoon as he should have received orders from Rome where he knew himself to be wonderful ill thought of by the Pope and his name blasted by those who favouring the affairs of the League endeavoured to make his counsels be excluded And yet the King after he had tried all means to make him stay in his quarters and excused his agreement with the King of Navarre by the urgency of necessity and after he had promised that howsoever he would presevere in the Catholick Religion which received rather help than any hurt at all from the Accommodation with the Hugonots at last he prayed the Legat that he would once again try the Duke of Mayenne by meeting personally with him and endeavour to bring him to an agreement since that neither by means of the Duke of Lorain to whom he had written nor by means of Madam de Nemours with whom he had caused the Queen to treat about it had he been able to make him vouchsafe to lend an ear to any Treaty of Peace And that all the World might see his desire to remove the necessity of agreeing with the Hugonots and to take away the credit from the Arms of the League he gave the Cardinal a Paper subscribed with his hand which contained those things he was contented to grant to the Lords of the Vnion He offered the Duke of Lorain the Cities of Metz Thoul and Verdun under the title of Government and promised to use his endeavours to get the Heir of Bouillon in Marriage for the Count de Vaudemont by which means he might gain the possession of Iamets and Sedan places so considerable and so much desired by those Lords He was contented to leave the Duke of Mayenne the Government of Bourgongne To confer all the Governments of Cities and Fortresses in that Province upon such as he should name To permit that it should pass in the same manner to his eldest son To give him an Hundred thousand crowns ready money To satisfie those debts he was run into upon the present occasion and a pension of Forty thousand Crowns per annum To the Duke of Guise the Government of Champagne St. Disier and Rocroy for the security of his person Twenty thousand Crowns of annual pension and Thirty thousand of Ecclesiastical revenues for one of his Brothers whom he would endeavor to get advanced to the Dignity of Cardinal To the Duke of Nevers the Government of Lyons and Ten thousand Crowns a year To the Duke of Aumale St Esprit de Rue for his security and likewise Ten thousand Crowns in pension To the Knight his Brother the Generalship of the Infantry and Twenty thousand franks a year To the Duke of Elbeuf the Government of Poictiers and Ten thousand Crowns pension He referred himself to the Pope for the Declaration of the Edicts and Agreements made in time past and was contented that as a friendly Mediator he should compose all differences leaving it to his own liberty if he pleased to join the Venetian Senate with him or the Great Duke of Thuscany being contented if he took the Venetian Senate that the Duke of Ferrara Uncle to the Lords of Guise should be added for the League And if he chose the Great Duke that they on the other side should take the Duke of Lorain the Head of their Family But neither did this Writing produce any effect For the Duke of Mayenne having had an Interview with the Legate at Chasteau-dune refused to give ear to Peace excusing himself that he could not accept of any Condition without assembling the States of the League and all the Princes of his Family to have their consent unto the business and added that he could no more have commerce nor security with him that had violated his Faith This he said because he thought himself much superior to the King in strength and because the Catholick King and the Duke of Savoy promised him assistance of Men and Money and at
Rome the affairs inclined already to favour him But the news of the Truce with the King of Navarre and then of the Legats departure being come to Paris it is impossible to believe the hatred that sprung up from it against the King and all those that followed him and the exorbitant demonstrations of it which were made even to the prohibiting by publick Decrees that in the Canon of Mass they should pray any longer for him as the custom is to do for all the Kings of France and as the Catholick Church doth often very piously especially in the Solemnity of Good-Friday for Hereticks Pagans and Idolaters And it is impossible to relate the innumerable company of Libels Writings and Declarations printed and divulged against him which were neither limited by any reason nor bridled by any modesty But the noise of Arms which were clattering in every place did quickly drown that of the Libels and Sermons The first encounter of War was in the Province of Normandy The Duke of Montpensier Governour for the King was gone to the City of Caen whither the Counsellors and Presidents were fled from Rouen and Pierre Seguier and where by virtue of the Kings Edict they had placed the seat of the Parliament At the Dukes coming all those Lords and Gentlemen ran thither who followed the Kings party and by his order the Sieurs de Lorges de Colombieres de St. Denis and the Baron de Ally had raised four Regiments of Foot so that he had under his Colours Three thousand Foot and Eight hundred Horse With this Army which increased daily the Duke resolved to besiege Falaise a considerable place and defended with a Fortress or great Tower called the Dongeon being assured that that Town once taken Argentan Vire and the other places about Caen would presently yield themselves whereby that City which was very populous by reason of the new concourse of Clients and of the number that were come thither for refuge might have the greater means of subsistence But the second day after their departure from Caen there had like to have hapned a tumult among his own men which if it had faln out would have diverted the whole enterprise Iehan de Hemery Sieur de Villiers commanded the Army in the Office of Camp-Master-General he who in the first Wars had by assaulting Danfront taken the Count de Montgomery who afterward by order from King Charles was executed at Paris The Vanguard was led by the Count de Torigny Son to the Mareschal de Matignon The Sieur de Baqueville commanded the Light-horse and the Rear was led by the Count de Montgomery Son to the aforenamed so that between him and the Camp-Master-General there was very little correspondence fomented on the one side by the Catholick party and on the other by the Hugonots It happened that marching thorow the Enemies Country it was necessary to quarter close that the Country people who were up in Arms might not have opportunity to do mischief to those they should find stragling whereupon Villiers was constrained to appoint straighter quarters to the Count de Montgomery than the Hugonots little accustomed to the discipline of War and used to the liberty of plundering which they commonly called la picoree thought fitting wherefore having torn the billet which was brought him by his Quarter-Master the Count enlarged himself above three miles from the Army and would needs lodge in certain Villages where he had full conveniency to feed his Horse which being told to Villiers he sent to command him to return to his quarters the discipline of War so requiring as also the order given by the Duke of Montpensier to which the Count having answered arrogantly enough Villiers commanded his Quarter-Master to be laid hold of made him presently to be hanged up for having had the boldness to assign other quarters than those appointed by the Camp-Master-General and having given the Duke notice of the business he caused the Count de Torigny with the Van-guard to draw into order to force the Count to return to his appointed quarter and there would have happened some great mischief Villiers being resolved whatsoever came on it that he would be obeyed and the Hugonots on the other side being obstinate to defend their action if the Duke himself getting on horse-back had not by his presence quieted the business having with resolute words commanded the Count de Montgomery to obey who the next day after under colour of going into the Confines of the Country of Constantine where his Estate lay to defend certain Castles of his own from the incursions of the Duke de Mercoeur left the Army and the charge of leading the Rear-guard was given to the Sieur de Hallot and the Sieur de Grevecoeur his Brother After the tumult was appeased they proceeded with order and military discipline the Duke not suffering any injury to be done to the Country people nor any thing to be taken away from them except victual for it was necessary his soldiers not being paid to take free quarter upon them The siege was laid to Falaise and they began to batter it with a Culverin and two Canons with assurance they should take it if it were not quickly relieved but the Count de Brissac who not having been able to get into Angiers his Government had been sent by the Duke of Mayenne to command in that Province being accompanied with some Gentlemen and other his dependants to the number of 300 Horse went to assist the Gautiers that he might be able in time to relieve that place The Gautiers were Country people who at first had taken Arms against all soldiers that passed thorough their Territories to preveâ—â— the losses and outrages which they might suffer by them and after having received an impression that the King was cause of all those miseries and that to the calamities of War he added the burthen of impositions they had taken part with the League and having broken the ways made up passages with bars and pales and fortified their Towns and Villages were up in Arms to the number of Sixteen thousand and called themselves Gautiers because they had first begun their insurrections in a Town called la Chappelle Gautier to which afterwards Vimotier Bernay and many other lesser Towns had united themselves They had chosen three Commanders the Barons de Maillot and d' Eschaufourd and the Sieur de Longchamp Governor of Lisieux they had appointed Captain Vaumartell their Sergeant-Major-General and exercised themselves with order and military discipline in the profession of Arms The Count of Brissac obtained that Four thousand of these men so arm'd and disciplin'd should go with him to relieve Falaise and thinking the number sufficient to accomplish his design with those Horse he had with him besides an hundred Harquebusiers on horse-back under Capâ—â—in Valage and two Field-pieces he marches that way believing that the Duke of Montpensier lest he should have those Forces behind him
but durst not declare themselves now by his being so near and by the danger of the rest being become bold and fearless began to perswade the people through the several quarters and to put them into such despair of the present affairs that the Duke of Mayenne was no less troubled with the inconstancy of the Parisians than with the potent Forces of the King yet shewing courage answerable to the greatness and urgency of the necessity he dispatched young Meneville to the Duke of Lorain to whom Iamets having been besieged by him a whole year was at last surrendred desiring him to come personally to his relief and had given order that Four thousand Germans leavied by his Commission should make haste to join with him that they might advance together to raise the siege of Paris But these Succours were too late too far off and too uncertain for the Germans were yet in their own Country the Duke of Lorain was not well resolved what he should do the reputation of the League was suddenly fallen in every Province and the people the first violence of their passion being over and they full of infinite fear thought every where of returning to the Kings obedience who having taken St. Cloud had himself begirt the Fauxbourg of St. Honore and all that side of the Lovre to the River and the King of Navarre on the other side besieged from the Fauxbourg of St. Marceau to that of St. Germain The Duke of Mayenne was quartered in the Fauxbourg of St. Germain and defended both St. Marceau and St. Victoire having caused his posts to be shut up every where with trenches the Sieur de la Castre with the Germans and a Regiment of Walloons guarded the Fauxbourg of St. Honore Montmartre and St. Dennis which was likewise enclosed and fortified with trenches In the City the Dutchesses of Nemours Montpensier and Guise with the Preachers though much fallen in courage and reputation were busie in animating the people who appeared manifestly sad and dejected Monsieur de Rhosne executing the Office of Camp-Master-General ran up and down to every place and the Priests and Fryars had taken up Arms putting themselves generally upon Military duty The City of Paris being in so great a straight and in so much terrour a thing very well known to the King by the frequency of those which ran every hour from the City to his Camp upon the last day of Iuly would needs personally view the Enemies posts and by the advice of the Mareschal d' Aumont and Monsieur de la Noue who were with him resolved to refresh his Army the next day and upon the second of August to assault their Works on every side being not only confident of a happy issue but as it were certain that the Germans would mutiny and that many in the City would take up Arms on his side some out of their old constant inclinations and some by their present services to cancel their former faults and insurrections In his return toward St. Cloud stopping his horse upon a Hill from whence he saw all the City distinctly he broke forth into this saying Paris Thou art the Head of the Kingdom but a Head too great and too capricious it is necessary by letting Blood to cure thee again and free the whole Kingdom from thy madness And I hope that within a few days here shall be neither Walls nor Houses but only the very footsteps of Paris And there was no man who did not already make that Prognostick And the Duke of Mayenne being resolved not to out-live his ruine had determined to get on horse-back with the Sieurs de Rhosne and de la Chastre and to die honourably by fighting in that space that lies between the modern Walls of the Town and the Suburbs which they saw they could not defend But as in the revolutions of this War strange marvellous accidents have still hapned so an unexpected and unthought-of chance provided against the exigency of that danger which neither the prudence nor valour of the Commanders were able to prevent There was in Paris one Iaques Clement a Fryar of the Order of St. Dominick which commonly are called Iacobins born of mean parentage in a Village called Sorbone in the Territory of the City of Sens a Young-man about Two and twenty years of age and always thought by his Fellow-Fryars and many others that knew him to be a half-witted Fellow and rather a subject of sport than to be feared or that any serious matter of consequence was to be hoped for from him I remember that having been often to visit Fryar Stephano Lusignano a Cyprian Bishop of Limisso and Brother of the same Order when the Court was at Paris I have seen him and heard the other Fryars make sport with him This Fellow either led by his own fancy or stirred up by the Sermons which he heard daily made against Henry of Valois called the Tyrant and Persecutor of the Faith took a resolution to hazard his life in attempting some means to kill him Nor did he keep this bold thought of his secret but cried out among his Fellow-Fryars That it was necessary to take Arms and cut off the Tyrant Which words heard by them with their wonted laughter he was in derision called Captain Clement by them all Many provoked him by telling the Kings proceedings and how he was coming against the City of Paris To whom while the Army was far off he would answer That it was not yet time and that he would not take so much pains But when the King began to draw near he passing from jests to a serious determination told one of his Fathers that he had a bold inspiration to go and kill Henry of Valois and desired him to counsel him if he should execute it The Father having imparted this business to the Prior who was one of the chief Counsellors of the League they both answered That he should take good heed it were no temptation of the Devil that he should fast and pray begging of God to enlighten his mind what he should do Within a few dayes he came again to the Prior and the other Father telling them He had done as they advised him and that he found in himself more spirit than ever to undertake the enterprise The Fathers as many said having conferred about the business with Madam de Montpensier or as they of the League will have it of their own proper motion exhorted him to the attempt affirming to him That if he lived he should be made a Cardinal and if he died for freeing the City and killing the Persecutor of the Faith he should without doubt be canonized for a Saint The Frier ardently excited by these Exhortations laboured to get a Letter of Credit from the Count de Brienne who having been taken at St. Ouyn was still prisoner in the City assuring him That he was to speak with the King about a business of
the name of Religion did sway and govern the Lords of the League how under that pretence they sought to rob the lawful Successor of the Crown to bring it into the power of stranger Princes or to divide it into many parts and so Canton the Kingdom which as in it self it was unjust by all Laws both divine and Humane so would it prove exceeding prejudicial to Religion it self and to the See of Rome which would come to lose that Crown that had ever held the protection of the Church and bring it into the hands of many weak impotent Princes and Tyrants or else unite it with the too great power of the Spaniards to the general ruine That it was much more just much more easie and much more profitable for the benefit of Christendom to invite and perswade the King to his Conversion which he not only shewed himself inclined to with those means that were sutable and convenient for his honor and which befitted a King of France but to which he was also brought by the necessity of his affairs finding daily how little he could promise himself from the Hugonots toward the attaining of the Crown since that in all his most weighty occurrences he had for the most part been attended and followed by the Forces of the Catholick Lords who would fall off from him at last if he should not resolve to return into the Church which considerations accompanied with all theiâ— circumstances set forth and amplified by the Dukes eloquence made a deep impression in the Pope to which another motive of the Ambassadors being added that his Holiness should not think the Catholicks that followed the King to be few and weak but the best soundest and most considerable part of France and that with the League there concurred very few of the Gentry but a rabble of mean disorderly common people and that not onely men of better quality but also in a manner all the chiefest Prelates of the Kingdom followed the Kings party upon caution of the promise he had made to turn Catholick and forsake the rites of Calvinism stirred up in the Popes consideration besides the fear of losing the Kingdom of France and increasing the greatness of the Spaniard this other weighty respect also not to exasperate so much Catholick Nobility united together which it was most difficult to overcome by force but to seek by milde remedies and gentle wayes to win the King and procure the union of the Kingdom by the means of peace and the Ambassador having affirmed unto him that the Cardinal of Bourbon Lenon-court and Gondy together with the Archbishop of Bourges and other Prelates had offered the same considerations to the Legat praying and exhorting him to stand neutral till matters being come to the knowledge of his Holiness he might have been able to have given him such Commissions as he should have thought most convenient The Pope began to suspect no less than others that Cardinal Gaetano was too much enclined to favour the designs of the Spaniards and therefore did no longer give that belief which was requisite unto his Letters and withheld his hand from furnishing them with more money wherefore the Legat being encompassed with many difficulties either to take off that suspicion that lay upon him of his depending too much upon the King of Spain or seeking to recover that name of Neutral and dis-interessed which perchance he might more wisely have maintained from the beginning or endeavouring to hinder the siege of Paris as he affirmed and told the Spanish Ministers invited the Mareschal de Byron to a meeting with him at Noysy a Castle of Cardinal Condy's a dayes journey from Paris to find out some remedy to put an end to the present miseries which not displeasing the King for whom it was by all means good to shew an affection to the Apostolick See and that he was not backward to do what lay in him to put an end to the War the interview was agreed upon and performed within a very few dayes There met on the Kings side the Mareschal de Byron the Baron de Giury Secretary Revol the Sieur Liancourt and de la Verriere And on the other the Cardinal Legat the Sieur de Villeroy the Marquiss of Belin and other Lords of the League Their reception was very honorable on both sides but the event fruitless For the Legat trying either to perswade the Catholicks to forsake the King or without any sure foundation of peace to delay the siege of Paris which was already set in a way and on the other side the Mareschal labouring to get the Cardinal Legat to come to the King and exhort him to turn to the Catholick Religion with security to bring all his Subjects unto their obedience who had alienated themselves for respect of Religion intentions so diverse could not agree and the wisdom of both parts did not suffer the one to make it self superior to the other so they parted again without fruit or conclusion the Legat having neither obtained the name of Neutral nor the revolt of the Catholicks from the King nor the diverting of the siege which perhaps was his principal aim in the procuring of that meeting Yet neither was all treating utterly broken off by this parting for the Sieur de Villeroy either with a hope of concluding a good Accommodation or for the same end of delaying the Kings coming did with the Duke of Mayennes consent introduce a Treaty of this business with the Sieur de Plessis Mornay a great Confident and ancient servant of the Kings but being a Hugonot very unproper for the present business But the King not losing time for all the Treaty of Peace and knowing that by how much more the Enemy was straitned so much more advantageous would be the conditions of Agreement was wholly intent upon taking in those places near the City and upon making himself master of all those Passes by which provisions were brought thither in shutting up the Passages of the Rivers and cutting off the ways into the Country by this means to obtain that by the necessity of hunger which was in a manner impossible for him to imagine could be done by force of Arms. To which end marching with his Army from Mante upon the Twenty ninth of March he possest himself without difficulty of Cheureuse Montl'hery Lagny and Corbeil all places proper to block up the City and upon the fifth of April sate down before Melun Melun is a little Town but well fortified seven Leagues distant from Paris through which run two Currents of the River Seine and therefore is divided into three parts by the Stream and onely joyned together by Bridges Monsieur de Forone was in it with sixty Horse and Five hundred Foot but little provision of things necessary for their defence and by terror of the Victory not of too resolute a courage Yet made they a shew as if they would stand out and the rather because Five
who went armed up to the Works and engaged themselves in all things with admirable constancy failed not in any duty that was necessary for their defence Double Chains were drawn cross the Rivers where it enters and where it goes out of the City the Walls and Brest-works were repaired in those places where they seemed to be decayed Platforms were made in convenient places and parapets made upon some new places of the Wall the Artillery was disposed of orderly to the most dangerous Posts and the readiness of the Citizens appeared wonderful in every business But this troubled not those that bore the sway in the Government for every one was certain that the King would never attempt to take the City by force defended in so great a number of Citizens rather by the bodies of men than by the strength of their Bulwarks but that he would strive to tame it by Famine which seemed to be very easie by reason there were so many people accustomed to live in plenty and abundance who now were in so great necessity that being deprived of all other sustenance they were forced at an extraordinary rate to feed only upon bread and there was no doubt but if relief were delayed and that the King should straighten the siege closer the City would be reduced to the last intolerable calamities of want which they foreseeing most earnestly sollicited the Duke of Mayenne to draw forces together for their relief and the Cardinal-Legat dispatched his Nephew Pietro Gaetano into Flanders to exhort the Duke of Parma according to the Catholick Kings order with all haste to send speedy supplies and the Commendatory Morreo Pay-master and Commissary of the King of Spain's Forces in France was gone thither for the same purpose To these provisions abroad were added also others within for the Governours in chief being intent to remedy the necessity of the people as much as they could did with very great care cause that Corn that was found in the City to be divided the price whereof being infinitely beyond the ordinary rate and the common people not having means to help themselves Cardinal Gondy Bishop of Paris not out of any inclination he had to favour the League but out of pity to see the poor wretches perish who had not money to 〈◊〉 themselves all Trading being quite left off in the City gave way that all the Silver and Plate that had been offered to the several Churches should be taken out and turned into money to feed the poor with an Obligation to restore them as soon as the present necessity was over The Cardinal-Legat intent upon the same distributed among the poor fifty thousand Crowns extorted from the Pope with much ado and causing his own Plate to be melted and coined did with a great deal of praise give it among those that stood in need The Ambassador Mendozza promised sixscore Crowns a day in bread and the Dutchesses and the richest Lords helped to the uttermost of their abilities selling their houshold-stuff jewels and ornaments for the so miserable necessity of the common people But these provisions began already to be very scarce in respect of the infinite number of mouths and the continual wasting of Corn for the King advancing by the taking in of the Neighbouring Towns did straighten the siege every day more and more nor was there any kind of Victual at all brought into the City by the Rivers for Lagny St. Mâ—ur and the Bridge of Charenton the care of which places was committed to the Baron de Guiry shut up the passage of the River Marne Montereau where there was a strong Garison under the command of Monsieur de Chanliot shut up the passage of the River Yonne the Garisons of Moret Melun Bray and Corbeil stopt up the Seine from above and from below the Mareschal d' Aumont quartered at the Bridge of St. Cloud a league from the City and Poissy and Conflans well Garison'd did wholly interrupt the passage up the River as Beaumont strongly guarded hindred all Boats from moving upon the River Oyse So that the Rivers which are commonly called the Nurces of the People of Paris being shut up there remained only that little which could be gotten thither secretly by Land to cut off which the King having passed the Seine and being come into the Plains near the City spread his Army from the Porte St. Anthoine which looks toward the East to the Porte Mont Martre which stands towards the West and making use of the advantage of ground caused two Pieces of Cannon to be planted upon the Hill of Mont faulcon and two others at Mont Martre enclosing them with Trenches and guarding the place with a strong Guard and the next day which was the ninth of May he caused his Horse to make incursions even to the very Gates of the Fauxbourgs St. Martin and St. Denis which stand between the two aforesaid Gates and to burn and destroy the Wind-mills every where yet could they not get into the Fauxbourgs because they were fortified with trenches banks and barrels full of earth which day while they were smartly skirmishing with the Sieur de Vitry's Horse which sallied out of the Porte St. Martin with some Companies of Foot-Souldiers and Citizens the Sieur de la Noüe in whose conduct and courage every one trusted very much was according to his wonted misfortune wounded with a Musket-shot The King had made choice to quarter his Army on that side for two principal reasons one because the Bois de Vincennes seated on the East-side near the River and the Town of St. Denis on the West-side holding still for the League he might not only send out parties of Horse and cut off the ways conveniently so that there might be no passage from those places to the City but he also besieged them in such manner that he hoped to take them within a little time the other reason was that relief being expected out of Champagne and Picardy he was quartered just upon the great high-way which leads from those Provinces to the City of Paris so that he was ready to turn his Army thither where he should see the Enemy appear Thus the Army being spred from the banks of the River Marne to the lower part of the Seine the whole field was obstructed with continual parties and there were every hour great skirmishes with those of the City who being streightned with want strove to catch either Corn Roots or other Victual even to the very dead Horses that lay there which they could very seldom effect and at the very same time St. Denis and the Bois de Vincennes a very strong Castle were closely besieged and the Count Montleurier having passed the Seine had laid siege to Dammartin a Town belonging to the Lords of Montmorancy seven leagues distant from the City into which there was gotten a great deal of provision so that the Parisians being shut up on all sides began already to
be disposed to their due ends and that the difficulties might be removed which hindered the interests of their House from being brought to perfection These things were contrived at that time by the Duke and negotiated with great diligence in all places by men of prudence and experience But the King whilst opportunity and the weakness of his Enemies invited him not to lose time without advantage firm in his design to streighten still the City of Paris in the fall of which he thought the principal strength of his adversaries must fall too resolved to lay siege to Chartres from the Territories whereof Paris is wont to receive the greatest part of its ordinary provisions and because the City being great populous and very well fortified represented at first view the difficulty of the enterprise he determined to prevent those Supplies which for the well-furnishing of a place of so great importance might be sent by the Parisians and the Duke of Mayenne who with those Forces he had left lay still at Soissons to be ready to turn which way soever need should require Wherefore having sent the Mareschal de Byron toward Diepe to receive and conduct the Ammunition and other necessaries come out of England he taking a contrary way went with the Duke of Nevers once more to besiege Provins a place of small moment and for the defence whereof they of the League were resolved not to run any hazard but after that the Mareschal de Byron having received the provisions which were at Diepe began to return back the King gave him order that making as if he would assault the City of Dreux he should on the sudden clap aside before Chartres and surround it in such manner that the relief which should be dispatched thither might have no opportunity of entrance Byron having passed the Seine at Vernon with his men and his Artillery pointing sometime this way and sometimes that way did at once give his Souldiers conveniency to refresh themselves and hold the Enemy in doubt to what place he would bend at last making shew sometimes that he also would go to join with the rest of the Army at Provins sometimes as if he would put himself in order to besiege Dreux now he placed himself upon the great high Road to Paris and then at last having marched twelve leagues without resting he came upon the sixteenth of February under the Walls of Chartres The City of Chartres is seated in an uneven place varied with fertil rising hills so that the East-side stands upon the top of an hill and the West spreads it self in the bottom of the Plain thorow the midst whereof runs the River Eure which assoon as it comes to the Walls of the City on the South-side divides it self into three branches one of which entring into the Town drives a great many Mills the second passing under the Walls falls into the Moat and runs along thorow it and the third taking a compass about a hundred paces from the Wall invirons the circuit of the Suburbs till being all come to the limits of the City turning towards the North they meet again and run together toward Normandy The East-side which stands upon the hills by reason of the difficulty of bringing Cannon thither and because it looked toward those places from whence there was no expectation of any relief was not besieged by the Army but the other side which distends it self along the Plain and looks towards Paris was all blocked up at the same instant for the Sieur de Vivans with his Harquebusiers on Horseback quartered on the North-side in the Bourg des Espars Monsieur de Sourdis with the French Infantry lay over against the Porte de Dreux and the Mareschal de Byron with the remainder of the Cavalry and the Swisses encamped himself on the South-side over against the Gate and Bastion of St. Michel The Governour of the City was Monsieur de la Bourdaisiere a careful diligent Cavalier The Foot of the Garison was commanded by Captain Pesseray a very famous Souldier but the rest of the provisions were not correspondent to the valour of the Commander for there were but few Foot in the Town and much fewer Horse and the supplies that were lately come into it were so weak that they had made but a small addition for the Sieur de la Croix who departing from Orleans was suddenly come with sixty Cuirasâ—iers and two hundred Harquebusiers on horseback to enter into the City inconsiderately fell for haste into the Army which was drawing near the Walls and being routed and put to flight hardly got in with eighty of his men on the other side Monsieur de Grammont who was upon his march to go into Normandy returned speedily that way but brought not with him above forty Gentlemen and an hundred Souldiers and Monsieur de Vitry who doubting the Enemy would go to Dreux had shut himself up in that Town had not had means nor time to get thither so that the number of the Garison was much inferiour to what need required To this defect was added the want of Ammunition for though when at first the Governour visited those stores there were found three hundred Barrels of Powder yet the cozenage of the Officers had so diminished it at a time when it was exceeding dear in all places that the first day of the siege to la Bourdaisiere's great grief of heart there were not left above eighty and there likewise appeared a great want of those other things that are necessary for defence These important wants were in part supplied by the forwardness of the Citizens who with a free courage exposed themselves to all services and the same did a great many Country-people who were got into the City and laboured with the spade to make up the Works For the first days the Mareschal thought it sufficient to shut up the Avenües to the City to exclude all relief till the King should come to the Camp with the rest of the Army and therefore he advanced at the first dash to quarter in the Suburbs The Governour endeavoured to deprive him of that convenience very necessary in respect of the season and set fire on the houses to burn them down but the remedy was so late by reason of the Enemies sudden coming that they had means to quench the fire before it could destroy many of the buildings and so the Assailants had free possession of the Suburbs in which after that the Mareschal de Byron was commodiously quartered the King arrived upon the nineteenth day yet did they not presently begin to raise Batteries as well because the Commanders were not well agreed among themselves on which side they should assault it as also because the want of Ammunition was perchance no less in the Army than that of the Defendents within the Town the provisions that came from England being far short of the Kings demands and of the promises made to the Viscount de Turenne
Lyons and coming not many dayes after to Paris conferred about it first with the Curate of St. Aâ—dre and then with his father Vadare Rector of the Jesuits who as he affirmed persuaded him to do the deed wherefore he departed resolved to attempt the execution of it and being come to St. Denis lingered after the King to find an opportâ—nity to effect his design But being come with the King to Meluâ— Brancaleon also came thither by whom being known and pointed out he was put in prison by the Archers of the Grand Prevost and being examined and brought face to face with Brancaleon he confessed that he was once minded to have Killed the King and that he had conferred about it with the Dominican Fryer at Lyons but that afterward having heard of his conversion he was resolved not to do it and that he was going towards Orleans in which City he was born being determined to put himself into a Monastery of Capuchins but these things he spoke with so much insolency and contempt as plainly shewed him to be guilty having also a great two-edged knife about him which gave proof of his intention to commit the fact whereupon having been many times examined and tortured he was by the appointed Judges condemned to die which sentence being told him with persausions to a sincere confession of his crime he confessed the whole business and related all the particulars distinctly thence being brought to the place of execution and having ratified all he had said before he suffered the usual punishments as a reward for his audacious rashness In the mean time the term of the Cessation was almost expired and the Duke of Mayenne intent to gain the most time he could possibly had again dispatch'd the Sieur de Villeroy the King to get it prolonged but he not having been able to obtain any thing â—e after him dispatched the Count de Beliâ— who was persuaded he should compass it but the King was utterly averse from that intention knowing certainly that they desired to gain time not to expect the resolutions from Rome but indeed the supplies and preparations from Spain and therefore he was determined to lose no more time but since his adherents had held many practices through the whole Kingdom he made haste to let the War break out that he might see whether those Mines that were prepared would take effect Wherefore though the Duke of Mayenne besides others used also Sebastian Zâ—mâ—rti who of a Merchant of Piedmont was become a man of great business in Court and though the President de Thou and the Count de Schomâ—ergâ— met with him at Paris yet was it not possible by any conditions how large soever to persuade the King to prolong the Cessation no not for a few dayes But no sooner was the term of the Cessation expired when the effects of the Kings conversion and of the practices his Ministers had opportunely set on foot began to shew themselves for Monsieur de Vitry Governor of Meauâ— who being deep in arrears had in the time of the Truce been with the Conde de 〈◊〉 to get them paid and having not onely failed of that which he thought it most reasonable to demand but also waited many dayes before he could be admitted to tell his business a thing absolutely intolerable to the French impatiency he came back full of spite and discontent often repeating those words which are almost grown a Proverbe Point d' argent point de Vitry wherefore taking occasion from his inability to pay the Soldiers himself he called the people of the Town to a Parly and told them he had constantly followed the party of the League as long as the business was matter of Religion but now the King was turned Catholick he would not deny him due obedience nor follow them who for ambition and interest would prosecute the War and therefore delivered up the keys of the Town into their hands and leaving them at liberty to dispose of themselves went straight to put himself on that side which he manifestly saw was in the right and putting on a white Scarfe and making all his Soldiers wear the same colour was going to march out of the Town but the people excited by those few words and the example of their Governor cryed out unanimously For the King for the King and presently chose four Deputies to go and deliver the Town into his power This place was exceeding opportune as well by reason of its nearness to Paris as because it shut up the passage of the River Marne but the example of it to all the other Towns of the League was of much greater consequence for being the first that submitted it self to the King's obedience it was likely to open a way to a novelty of such importance that the sum of affairs consisted in it wherefore the King deliberating as his custom was in his Council what course was to be held and what conditions should be granted to it was in a little suspence because the opinions of his Counsellors were different among themselves some of a more fiery nature who could not so easily forget the past insolencies of the Common people and the inveterate enmity of the factions with the adherents of the Hugonots for yet some of them came to Council would have had them that returned unto their obedience bridled with severe conditions and that they should redeem their former faults and offences by sharp repentance being desirous to wreak their long setled hatred and proudly to triumph upon the enemies which they already accounted conquered But the more wise and moderate men considered that these return'd unto their obedience neither through the necessity of a Siege nor for fear of force but out of the instinct of their own will and that it was therefore fit the example should be such as might invite and allure other places of greater importance to follow it that this beginning was to serve for a rule to other Compositions and Agreements wherefore since the King used all possible endeavours to win the People to acknowledge him it would have been a cross Counsel now to reject and fright them with sharpness and severity that it was necessary to help this first motion to bring forth a happy obedience to accommodate ones self to the imperfections of the subjects and with the baite of good usage to promote those wavering thoughts they called to mind how pernicious the pardon granted to the Flemmings by the Duke of Alva had been by reason of his strictness exceptions ambiguities and want of sincerity in the conditions whence it came to pass that that strictness and doubtfulness of pardon alienated more Cities and more People from the Catholick King than so many punishments so much blood and so many violences had done before therefore they exhorted the King to grow wary at his Neighbours cost and not to run into those errors which they heard the Spaniards reproached with every day
sufficient to possess so large and ample a Plain which contains the space of many miles but it appeared in this occasion as it hath done in many others that Forts and Redoubts if they be not joyned with a convenient number of resolute men do not hinder the entry of those who take a resolution to pass with the hazard of some Cannon shot and yet the Count de Fuentes having caused Four thousand Pioniers to come out of the adjacent Provinces and having Seventy two pieces of Artillery of several sizes and wonderful preparations of all Instruments of War and Ammunition full of hope and courage began to incompass the City on all sides but on that especially where it might be relieved by the French Between Porte Neufue and the Porte de St. Sepulchre over against that part of the City that stood towards the South he caused a Fort to be raised after the manner of a Platform which being able to contain One thousand Foot was by the name of the Bourg close by it called the Fort of Guiargni and caused another not very much less to be cast up over against the place where the River enters into the City on the West side which they called the Fort de Premy from the name likewise of the adjacent Bourg and between these two there were seventeen Redoubts like so many Sentinels in each of which there were Twenty five men and the two Forts with all the space between them were guarded by the Prince of Chimay with the Forces that were newly come out of the neighbouring Provinces Besides these Posts between the Porte de Quentimpre and the Porte des Selles winding towards the North there was raised another great Fort which they called St. Oloy where the Count de Bie commanded with a Regiment of Germans from the Porte des Selles as far as the Cittadel over against the Bastion de Robert a place that extends from the North unto the East they resolved to plant the Battery therefore in that space they intended to cast up Trenches and the command thereof was given to Agostino Messia The Count de Fuentes with the Cavalry of the Army and two Tertia's of Walloons was quartered in two little Villages behind the Fortifications and Ambrosio Landriano Lieutenant-General of the Light horse with Four hundred Horse and Six hundred Foot placed himself upon that way that leads to Peronne keeping continually many Ambuscadoes in divers Woody places to assault and hinder the passage of those that should hazard the attempt of entring the Town Things being disposed in this order they began to break ground the Engineer Pacciotto and Colonel la Berlotte overseeing the Works the one for his skill in Fortification the other for experience in War men of exceeding high estimation But the work proved difficult beyond all belief for in the lower places where the River Sckeld passes and overflows they could not dig above a span for water and the higher places were so gravelly and stony that they could not approach without great toil and much time and yet the Soldiers accustomed to labor full of courage by reason of their past victories and aspiring to sack so rich a City wrought with incredible patience Either Monsieur du Rosne or the Count himself continually overseeing the Works and with words promises and gifts hastening the perfecting of them so that upon the first of September two very large Trenches were brought to the edge of the Moat between the Bastion de Robert and a Raveline in the midst of the Courtine It is evident that if the besieged had with Sallies and Counterbatteries molested their Works they must needs have approached with extream difficulty and perchance without fruit at last but it was well known that Monsieur de Balagny either had lost his courage or had not much experience for during the space of ten dayes that the Works of the Spaniards lasted the Defendants continually lay idle without molesting them in any kind and the young Duke of Rhetelois who by reason of the tenderness of his years referred himself to the discipline of others though he said and laboured very much could not or had not credit to move the rest to do any thing in so much that even the very day the Trenches were opened there would have been nothing done if he himself levelling a Culverin had not given fire luckily against the Enemy for it shot into the very mouth of their Trench by which example his Gentlemen excited more than many others shot many pieces of Cannon and did some harm to the besiegers But the day following Monsieur de Vic came in opportunely a man of great credit and long experience who having happily avoided all the Ambushes laid by Landriano got near the City upon the second of September in the morning with all his men on Horseback and because the guards of the Infantry were but thin and few he passed between Fort and Fort without receiving any harm by the Artillery that plaid on all sides and got without any loss near the Walls of the City not far distant from the edge of the Moat but when he believed he had escaped all dangers he saw himself unexpectedly charged in the Rere by a Body of Italian Horse which led by Carlo Visconte was advanced full gallop towards him so that to avoid that imminent danger since already all the rest of the Cavalry were at his back he presently caused all his men to alight and leave their Horses a prey unto the enemy who while they were greedily busied in catching them afforded them so much time that he with most part of his men got into the Moat whither though the Spaniards advanced couragiously yet they could neither hurt him nor hinder him after a long skirmish and an infinite number of Cannon shot from coming safe into the Town His presence seemed to put heart and spirit into the Defendants for the same night the Soldiers striving who should work fastest two Platforms were raised behind the Courtine that was plaid upon by the Enemy and a Cavalier at the Gorge of the Bastion de Robert in which places many pieces of Artillery were planted and they made a furious Counter-battery with so much violence and so much harm to the besiegers that having lamed their Artillery and dismounted them broken the Carriages and beaten the Gabions all in pieces the Spaniards were three dayes without being able to do any thing of importance against the Town At the same time he caused two Mines to be made which being prosperously brought under the principal Battery blew it up into the Air and buried five pieces overturning and disordering all the rest Nor did he cease in the mean time opportunely to make some Sallies though the great number of places which were necessarily to be kept guarded would not allow them to be frequent or numerous Against so gallant a defence Colonel la Berlotte who had the principal charge of the
that passage the Commanders and Officers advanced compleatly armed and after them above an hundred Souldiers before any aid came from the City and yet the people coming up on all sides they would at last have defeated the Assailants among whom Dugnano was killed with a great wound on the head if the Bars of the Portcullis being broken and all impediments taken away the Cadet had not come in seasonably with the Walloons and Captain Bostock with the Irish by which the people who ran stragling thither without order or without Commander being beaten back and put to flight and above eighty of the Citizens killed there was no body that made resistance any longer for the Count de S. Paul who was in the Town without any Garison at the first notice of the business got out of the Forte de Beauvais and sav'd himself by flight Fernando Dezza entred presently after the first and last of all Portocarrero with the main Body keeping the Souldiers from running about to plunder as well for fear of the people a very great number in respect of them as because he doubted the Kings Forces that were not far off might strive to recover the Town in the first heat But the people too bold before the urgency of the danger and too fearful in the act dejected in so sudden an accident laid down their Arms and the Kings Cavalry advancing to the very Wall having met the Marquiss de Montnegro and seen that they could not effect any thing returned without further attempt into their own Quarters The news of this loss struck the King so deeply that despising his own health and breaking off the course of Physick he had begun he posted speedily into Picardy accompanied with none but those that were then about him being confirmed more than ever in his old conceit That where he was not himself in person businesses went on either carelesly or unfortunately and passing with great hazard in those places where the Enemy roved about victoriously he came to Corbie where the Mareschal de Byron was being resolved or rather excited by despair to begin the War again happen what would and to encounter any danger whatsoever to attempt some enterprize though without hope to effect it For he thought nothing more contrary to his success than ease and nothing more beneficial than action But this accident struck the adjacent Provinces no less than him and particularly the City of Paris between which and Amiens there not being above eight and twenty Leagues of open way not hindred by any strong place there entred a great terrour into the people fearing lest the Spaniards now victorious should advance to spoil the Country and interrupt the concourse of victual while the King had no Army wherewith he could withstand their progress and the fresh sufferings which were lately passed did by the yet bitter memory of them make dangers seem more grievous and more near than was fitting the whole people therefore was in an uproar the Country frighted the Nobility stirred up and many murmured against the King as one who accustomed only to conquer in Civil Wars yielded in all places to the discipline policy valour and diligence of Foreigners and others going yet farther spoke against his manner of life as if having given himself a prey to the love of Madam Gabriele he had retired to pass his time idly with her while the Enemy sollicitous and vigilant insulted furiously against the principal Cities of the Kingdom and that which these men said was not without probable appearance for the King having made great show of the love he bore this Lady even to the having caused the Baptism of a Daughter born of her to be celebrated with Royal pomp in the face of the Assembly at Rouen was afterwards retired in her company to the solitariness of St. Germains St. Maure and the other places of pleasure near the City in so much that those who knew not the necessity he had to take Physick attributed all to the desire of ease and to the appetite of womanish delights Nor was the King himself ignorant of the popular rumours whereupon exceedingly vexed he ceased not with words and letters to clear himself attributing the loss of Amiens to the obstinacy of the Citizens who never would receive a Garison to which he would not constrain them because that City being newly come unto his devotion he was unwilling the people should believe that he fought to violate the Priviledges of their Corporation and fail of his Promises He shewed likewise that not the pleasure of the Court but his need of Physick which would admit no delay had constrained him to enter into a course though the season were yet extreamly cold to the end that after the space of a few days he might be able with perfect strength to undergo the burthen of the War himself in person And to that which was said of his being only skilled in Civil Wars He objected the two several times he had met the Duke of Parma and what he had done the year before against the Constable of Castile's Army in which enterprizes contrary to what his Detractors said of him He had shewn as much circumspection and discipline as the custom of the French Nobility and the quality of times and occasions would allow To these words joining actions sutable though he had not above Four thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse he determined to draw near Amiens to begin the siege for he was resolved to â—et his utmost endeavours to recover that City considering that it was best to begin betimes to straighten it by what means soever he could to the end that those within might not have conveniency to provide themselves of things necessary to feed that abundance of people that dwelt continually in the Town Wherefore being departed from Corbie and past over to the far side of the River Somme he caused his men to encamp in the midst between Amiens and Dourlans to the end he might interrupt the commerce and mutual assistance of those two places and having left charge with Mareschal de Byron to advance the siege according as new supplies of men came up daily to the Camp He giving no rest unto himself went up and down to convenient places drawing Horse and Foot out of the Garisons to increase his Army the most he could and at last returned to Paris to hasten such provisions as were necessary and to raise a sum of money sufficient to go through with the siege which at that time was the utmost scope of all his thoughts The City of Amiens stands upon the River Somme which being divided into many streams runs through the midst of the Town and encompasses and washes the Wall in many places On the one sidâ— it hath the great Castle of Pequigny and Corbie on the other the Castle four Leagues and the Town seven Leagues distant from it The City is invironed with thick and well-contrived
resolved to encamp just under the City and fortifying his quarters to shut up all the Avenues of the Town on the far side of the River at the same time His Army amounted to the number of Twelve thousand fighting men but he with his diligence courage and vigilancy made it appear much greater gallant in fight careful in action unwearied in labour rigorous in exacting that from others which he himself did in his own person Which qualities being naturally his were now redoubled by a Spur which he received from the Kings words who could not contain himself from saying openly That where he was not himself in person things went on either with little fortune or much negligence wherefore the Mareschal who attributed a great part of the past Victories to his own fortune and personal courage seeing now that glory called in question which he accounted to be certainly his as a man of infinite pride and insupportable haughtiness was wholly kindled with an incredible indignation and strove with his utmost spirits to do something that might plainly shew the effects of his Valour without the Kings assistance or command wherefore though the fierceness and number of the Defendents were such that a great Body of an Army was necessary to straighten and besiege them yet was he resolved to attempt it with those forces he had The first thing that was begun was a Bridge over the Somme in a Village called Longpre about a League above the Town and it was fortified with a Half-Moon on each side the River as well that they might have free passage both above and below the City as to hinder the Enemies from passing the River in that place where the streams divide themselves and relieving the City on that side that was not besieged Besides this Fortification a Trench was drawn which beginning within a quarter of a League of the Town near the Bank of the River came in the form of a Half-moon encompassing all the Plain and ended at the other Bank of the River about the same distance below the City and this Trench was divided into seven parts by seven Royal Forts which furnished with small Artillery scoured and flanked the Trench utterly shutting up all the passage of the field Such another Trench though of much greater circuit and as many Forts closed up the outward part toward Dourlans and the other wayes that led into the Territory of Cambray and into Flanders and on that side the Trenches were much deeper and the Works much higher to defend them on the back from the attempts of the Spanish Armies The whole Army was imployed about this work and a very great number of Pioneers who being drawn together from the Country round about by Birons imperious severity wrought day and night at an exceeding cheap rate The courage of the Defendents was no less fierce and resolute who being careful not to pass by any opportunity of interrupting the Works sallied every hour sometimes on hors-back sometimes on foot and making the whole Camp stand to their Arms did by very long skirmishes keep the Works at a stay and do mischief sometimes in one place sometimes in another The skirmish was very sharp and bloody which hapned upon the twenty fourth of May which day the Marquiss and Portocarrero sallied out several ways each with Three hundred Horse and as many Foot and while Portocarrero gave a hot alarm on the lower side the Marquiss taking towards Longpre and passing by the side of the Trench not yet finished put them that guarded it in a very great confusion and would have destroyed the Half-moon and nailed three pieces of Cannon that were in it if the Sieur de Montigny had not hasted thither with the Light-horse with which while he skirmished courageously the Mareschal de Biron thought to posssess the Pass between his Trench and the River and so cut off the enemies retreat but being advanced at a good round pace that way with many Troops of Horse he found that Diego Durando Francesco del Arco and Captain Falme an Irish-man had taken that Pass to keep the retreat free and open for their own men so that the fight began there again more furiously than before for the Infantry making use of the hollow places and bushes which in that place were very many did much harm to the French Cavalry and the Marquiss having faced about charged the Mareschals Troop in the flank and in the reer in such manner that being catcht as it were in the midst it was in very great danger of being defeated if the rest of the Cavalry led by the Commendatory de Chattes had not run speedily to disingage it at whose arrival the Spanish Foot giving back on the one side and the Mareschal retiring on the other each marched off free it being already almost Sun-set and there remained many as well French as Spaniards dead upon the place The King came to the Army upon the seventh of Iune to the Mareschal de Biron's great displeasure who desired to finish his line of circumvallation before his arrival so that seeing Madam Gabriele was come with him to the Camp he cryed out publickly that she was the prosperity and good fortune the King brought along with him nor would he so easily have been quieted if the King visiting the Trenches had not highly commended his diligence and industry and given order that he should command the Forces and all military matters as he did before his coming The King invironed with many Princes took up his Post in the ruines of the Abby among which there were yet some Arches standing entire nor would he stir from thence though the Spaniards ceased not to make many Cannon shot that way The Constable the Duke of Mayenne the Duke of Espernon and the Prince of Iainville quartered in the Forts and the Mareschal de Biron got into an Hermitage within musket-shot of the Counterscarp intending to begin his approaches on that side as soon as the Works of his Camp were brought to perfection in which they made huts of boards to shelter themselves from the Rain and other ill-weathers since the King in the Council of War had determined to approach by sapping though it were the longest way that he might not endanger the lives of his Soldiers in assaults the War having swallowed up so great a number of them that it was necessary to proceed very sparingly the whole Kingdom being extreamly exhausted of men and the Nobility more than moderately diminished The pay of the Army many of the old Officers being removed passed through the hands of Monsieur d' Inquerville Superintendent of the Finances with the assiduous unwearied assistance of Secretary Villeroy who having in great part laid other businesses aside applyed himself particularly to that as well to the end the fraud of the Commanders might not by deceits increase the scarcity of Money which was exceeding great as that the decrease or increase of the Army might
not only by descent being of the same Blood which that people were used for many Ages past to obey but in vertue also being singularly valiant and most deeply wise in the Government of affairs consenting that to his posterity should descend the same power and the same name until a legitimate descendent of his failing the right should return to the people of chusing a new Lord. But because Authority without limitation commonly converts it self into destructive licentiousness at the same time that they elected their King they would establish certain Laws which were to remain perpetual and immutable in all times and in which should be comprehended in brief the general consent as well in the succession of the Kings as in every other part of the future Government These Laws proposed by their Priests which were anciently denominated Salii and decreed of in the fields which from the river Sala take the same name were called Saliqâ—e Laws and after the establishment of the Kingdom original and fundamental Constitutions After this principal foundation all other things resolved on that were necessary for the present Government and advantageous to the design in hand having passed the Rhine under the conduct of their first King Pharamond they betook themselves to the conquest of the Gallia's about the year of our Salvation Four hundred and nineteen leaving the Dominion of Franconia to the old Prince Marcomir The Gallia's were as yet possessed by the Roman Emperours but much declined from their first strength and greatness partly through Civil dissentions partly through the incursions of divers barbarous Nations by whose fury they had been long time much wasted and spoiled which was the cause that the Franks Army found much less difficulty in their conquest than the Romans did formerly Nevertheless they were not subdued without great resistance and much time spent For the Roman Legions appointed to guard that Province being joined for their own defence with the Gauls themselves held the first King Pharamond at a bay till his end drawing near he left the care of the whole enterprize and of the people to his son Clodian This man of a fierce courage in the first flower of his age having many times fought with the inhabitants of the Country and having overcome and driven out the Roman forces began to master that part of Gallia which lying nearest to the Rhine is by common consent of Writers called Belgica To him succeeded Meroue whether brother or son to Clodian is not certain but out of doubt nearest to him and of the same race conformable to the Salique Law He with happy success advancing into Gallia-Celtica propagated the Empire of the Franks as far as to the City of Paris And now thinking he had gotten enough to mainâ—ain his people and to form a compleat moderate Empire stayed the course of his Conquests and having conceived thoughts of peace joined both Nations under the same name and with moderate Laws and a peaceful kind of rule founded and established in the Gallia's the Kingdom of the French This was the first original and foundation-stone of that Monarchy in which as the descent of their Kings hath ever constantly remained in the same Progeny so in all Ages the first rules of Government have been most religiously observed neither power of Command nor authority of Laws losing any thing through time of their first observation and ancient splendor Those Laws ordained in the beginning by the universal consent of all the people exclude the Female Sex from the Royal Succession and admit only to the inheritance of the Crown the nearest Males by which means the Empire of that Nation by a continued and uninterrupted Succession always remaineth in the same Blood From the disposition of this Law the Princes of the Blood derive their name and priviledges for being all capable through default of the next heir in their order to succeed to the Crown they have in that consideration great interest in the State and the priviledges of their families preserved with great reverence from the people no time nor distance of degrees prejudicing the conservation of that order which Nature prescribes them to the Succession of the Kingdom For which cause though in the course of time divers families through sundry accidents have changed their names as some have taken the sirname of Valois others of Bourbon others of Orleans others of Angolesme others of Vendosme others of Alanson and others of Montpensier yet for all that they have not lost the trace of their Royal Consanguinity nor the right of succeeding to the Crown but the pre-eminencies of their Blood and the same priviledges are ever from time to time preserved to all And because it is evident how much they are all concerned in the custody and preservation of so great an inheritance of which they are all successively capable it hath therefore ever been a custom that the next of Blood should be Guardian to the Pupils and Governour of the Kingdom during the minority or absence of the lawful King Reason willing that the Government should not be committed to strangers or those altogether Aliens who might endeavour to destroy and dismember the Union of so noble a Body but to such who born of the same stock ought in reason to attend the preservation of the Crown as their own birth-right Nor is this Prerogative a custom only but the States-General of the Kingdom which Assembly hath the power of the whole Nation having often confirmed it with their consent and ordered it to be so it is since become as a decreed Law and a firm established Constitution The Royal House then enjoys two Pre-eminencies the one in matter of Inheritanee the other of Administration that when any King dies without male-children this when the absence or minority of the Prince requires some other person for the Government and management of the State These two Priviledges that are always inherent in those of the Royal Line have been a cause that the Princes of the Blood have ever held a great authority with the people and had a great part in the Government of the Kingdom For they themselves have ever been very vigilant in the administration of the Empire which they esteemed reasonably enough as their own and the people conceiving the Government might at some time or other fall into their hands have ever had them in great veneration and so much the rather because it hath often been found by experience that the eldest Line failing the Crown hath been devolved upon the younger family So the Regal Authority having an orderly succession in the race of Meroâ—es afterwards in the family of Carolins and lastly in that of the Capetts after many Ages Lewis the Ninth of that name possessed the Kingdom He who for innocency of life and integrity of manners was after his death deservedly written in the Kalendar of Saints Of him were born two sons Philip the
his possessions in those pâ—rts for other Cities and Lordships in the Kingdom of France dismembred his Government of Guienne which he enjoyed as first Prince of the Blood and separated from it all Langâ—â—edâ—â— a large and populous Province together with the City of Tholouse and assigned the Government of them to the Constable he notwithstanding dissembling so great an affront without any shew of being at all ill satisfied constantly persevered in his design But Lewis of Conde his brother full of high thoughts and of an unquiet spirit not awed by such pretences finding the narrowness of his fortune could not maintain the greatness of his birth spitefully vexed at his present condition could not conceal the malice and envy he bare to the House of Guise which in a manner devoured all the chief employments of the Kingdom Besides his own interest the disgraces laid upon the Constable made not a little impression in him for having married his Neece Elianor de Roye and made a firm League of friendship with him and his son Momorancy he esteemed the suppression of that Family an increase and accomplishment of his own misfortunes These unquiet thoughts were still nourished in him by the Admiral of Chastillon and his brother Mounsieur d' Andelot The first of an ambitious nature but withal cautious and subtil let pass no opportunity by stirring up troubles to raise himself to an eminent degree of power The other of a fiery disposition rash by nature and perpetually involved in factions endeavoured by his example and perswasions more to exasperate the Princes fury which already had kindled such a fire in his brest that burning with hate and made as it were desperate his mind was wholly set upon innovation Such was the state of things such the emulations and enmities amongst the great ones disposed upon every little occasion to break out into open dissention when upon a sudden supervened the death of Henry the Second in the month of Iuly 1559. This Prince had in the War proved the variousness of fortune and desiring at the last to ease his Kingdom of those great expences and troubles he was perswaded joining with the Neighbour Princes to establish a general Peace to confirm which with the most lasting bonds that might be at the same time he married his eldest daughter Elizabeth to Philip the Second King of Spain and Margaret his only sister to Philibert Emanuel Duke of Savoy But whilst these Marriages were celebrating with all Royal magnificence and an universal joy in the City of Paris Behold the last day of Iune in a publick solemn Tournament running with headed Launces against Gabriel Count of Montgomery Captain of his Guard by accident the Vizor of his Helmet flew open and the staff of his adversaries Launce hitting him in the right eye he was presently carried away to the Hostel des Tournelles where his wound being mortal the tenth of Iuly he passed out of this life much lamented of all men Henry the Second being deceased there succeeded to the Crown Francis Dolphin of France his eldest Son being about sixteen years of age a Youth of a languishing spirit unhealthful and of a tender constitution under whose Government all things ran on in such a precipitate way to the foreseen end that hidden discords brake out into open enmities and soon after came to the resolution of Arms. The Kings youth or rather his natural incapacity required though not a direct Regent for the Kings of France are at fourteen years of age out of minority yet a prudent assiduous Governour till his natural weakness were overcome by maturity of years The ancient Customs of the Kingdom call'd to that charge the Princes of the Blood amongst which for nearness and reputation it belonged to the Prince of Conde and the King of Navarre On the other side the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorain nearly allied to the King in relation of the Queen his Wife pretended to have this Dignity conferred upon them as due to their merits and great services done to the Crown and which most imported because they in effect enjoyed it during the life-time of the deceased King Amongst these Katherine of Medicis the Kings Mother for nearness of Blood and according to many examples in former times pleaded the right to be in her and her hopes were so increased through the dissention among the Princes that she doubted not easily to compass what she desired The fear that one faction had of another facilitated her design insomuch that the Guises knowing they had not the Qualification of Blood that was required to obtain the Government of the State and foreseeing how much the authority of a Mother was like to prevail with the unexperienced youth of a Son resolved to join and unite themselves with her dividing into two parts that power which they doubted they could not wholly obtain for themselves And in like manner the Queen a woman of a manlike spirit and subtil wit knowing the Princes of the Blood are ever naturally against the Government and greatness of the Queens foreseeing also that as an Italian and a stranger she should need the support of some potent Faction to establish her self willingly condescended to make a League with the Guises who she saw would content themselves with a share only of the Government which the Princes of Bourbon pretended to belong wholly to them A great obstacle to this Union was the mutual interest of the Guises and the Dutchess Diana whom the deceased King loved extreamly even to his last but the business requiring it delays not being to be used in such great designs The Queen on the one side who in her Husbands life-time had with most commendable patience indured a Rival was inclined with the same moderation to forget all injuries past And the Guises on the other part wholly fixing their thoughts upon the present occasion easily consented she should be abased and removed from the Court provided she were not absolutely deprived of her estate which after her was come to their third Brother the Duke of Aâ—male Wherefore their common interest accommodating their present Union and all matters concerning Diana setled to the Queens liking they began unanimously to lay the basis of their intended greatness The King of Navarre was absent little satisfied with the King and the Court because in the Capitulation with Spain no regard was had of his interest for the recovery of his Kingdom The Constable was employed in the Obsequies of the King which were on purpose committed to his care for that solemnity continuing with the same pomp three and thirty days together it is not lawful for him that hath the charge of it to depart from the place where the dead body lies and the Ceremonies are kept which was in the Hostel des Tournelles very far distant from the Louvre whither as the manner is the new King was brought to reside So that all those obstacles
as it let in all the miseries and calamities which with such prodigious examples have for a long time afflicted and distracted that Kingdom so it brought to a miserable end both the Author himself that made the Proposition and all those who led by their own affections and interests consented to it But since the beginning and progress of Calvins Doctrine is fallen into mention under the colour of which so many great and several Factions have been engaged in the Civil Wars of France both for the better clearing the business in hand as also not to be forced often to look back to those beginnings which are so requisite to the understanding of matters of fact it is necessary to make some short relation of it After Martin Luther in Germany opened the way to let in Schism into Religion and new opinions into our Faith Iohn Calvin born at Noyon in Picardy a man of a great but unquiet wit marvellously eloquent and generally learned departing from the Faith generally held and observed so many Ages by our Predecessors proposed in his Books which he published in print and in his Sermons which he preached in divers places in France One hundred twenty eight Axioms so he called them disagreeing from the Roman Catholick Faith The French Wits curious by nature and desirous of Novelties began at first rather for pastime than through choice to read his Writings and frequent his Sermons But as in all businesses of the world it uses often to fall out that things beginning in jest end in earnest these Opinions sowed in Gods Church so crept up that they were greedily embraced and obstinately believed by a great number of people and persons of all qualities in so much as Calvin at the first thought a man of little worth and of a seditious unquiet spirit in a short time came to be reverenced of many and believed for a new miraculous Interpreter of Scripture and as it were a certain infallible Teacher of the true Faith The foundation of this Doctrine was in the City of Geneva situate upon the Lake anciently called Lacus Lemanus upon the Confines of Savoy which having rejected the Government of the Duke and Bishop to whom formerly it paid obedience under the name of Terra Franca and under pretence of living in Liberty of Conscience reduced it self into the form of a Commonwealth or Commonalty From thence Books coming out daily in print and men furnished with wit and eloquence insinuating themselves into the Neighbour-Princes who secretly sowed the seeds of this new Doctrine in progress of time all the Cities and Provinces of the Kingdom of France were filled with it though so covertly that there appeared openly only some few marks and conjectures of it The Original of this dissention began about the time of Francis the First who though sometimes he made severe resolutions against them notwithstanding being continually busied in foreign Wars either remitted it or was not aware how at that time the Principles of that Faith then rather despised and hated than any way feared or taken notice of began by little and little to spread in the world But Henry the Second a religious Observer of the Catholick Faith knowing withal that from distraction of Religion in mens minds would infallibly follow as a necessary consequence distractions in the State used his uttermost endeavours to extirpate the roots of those seeds in their first growth And therefore with inexorable severity resolved that all who were found convict of this imputation should suffer death without mercy And although many of the Councellors in every Parliament either favouring the same Opinions or abhorring the continual effusion of blood made use of all their skill to preserve as many as they could from the severity of this execution notwithstanding the Kings vigilance and constancy was such chiefly by the incitements of the Cardinal of Lorain that he had reduced things to such a point as he would in the end though with the effusion of much blood have expelled all the peccant humours out of the bowels of the Kingdom if the accidents which followed had not interrupted the course of his resolution But thereupon the death of Henry happening unexpectedly which the Calvinists used to preach of as miraculous and magnifie to their advantage In the beginning of Francis the Second his Reign this severity being of necessity somewhat remitted the disease by intermission of the purge grew stronger and as the remedies were gentler and less operative so inwardly it increased and spread it self the more For the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorain who governed in chief continued the same resolutions of severity but it continued not in the Court of Parliament nor were the other Magistrates so obedient to the Regal Authority but over-awed by the number and quality of those that had embraced that Doctrine which they called Reformed and already weary of such cruelty towards their Country-men and kindred silently slackned the rigour and were less diligent in enquiring after them Besides there were many amongst the Counsellors who according to the inclination of the present Government and through desire of change were well pleased to have things so brought into confusion that every one might live with Liberty of Conscience For Theodor Beza Calvins disciple a man of great eloquence and excellent learning having by his Sermons seduced a great number of men and women and many of the chief Nobility and greatest persons of the Kingdom being revolted to that Religion their Assemblies and Sermons were then no more celebrated in Stables and Cellars as in the Reign of Henry the Second but in the Halls and Chambers of the best Gentry and most eminent Nobility These people were formerly called Hugonots because the first Conventicles they had in the City of Tours where that belief first took strength and encreased were in certain Cellars under ground near Hugo's gate from whence they were by the vulgar sort called Hugonots as in Flanders because they went in the habits of Mendicants they were called Geux Others count other ridiculous and fabulous inventions of this name but howsoever it were these Hugonots had not yet any Head nor authority of any Prince to protect them For though the Admiral and other Lords inclined to their opinions they durst not as yet declare themselves but were bridled with the fear of punishment and therefore kept their Assemblies exceeding privately Now the Princes of Bourbon finding France in this state and so agreeing with their interests they greedily embraced the Admirals propositions and unanimously consented to his opinion to make use of this pretext and the opportunity of these conjunctures to perfect their designs and to this end deputed Andelot and the Vidame of Chartres to negotiate their business Andelot was brother to the Admiral a man of great fierceness and much experience in war but being of a precipitate nature and turbulent spirit still mingling and interesting
diligence they at Court made their provisions where continuing still their wonted dissimulation they studied all manner of pretences and colours to draw near to the Kings person or else remove out of the suspected Provinces all such who being united with the Princes of the Blood had received Commissions to trouble or molest them For this cause the Duke of Estampes being sent for under pretence that he should be imployed as Governour of the Kingdom of Scotland was entertained with artificial delays and Senarpont being declared Lieutenant to the Mareshal of Brissac coming to receive new Instructions in order to his Government was by the same arts hindred from raising any commotion in Picardy and so all the rest with sundry delays and excuses were in like manner entertained and suspended But the remedies were not sufficient for the wound already festered The Hugonots having taken courage from the first Councils of the Insurrection at Ambois and the open profession of the Admiral began to raise commotions in all parts of the Kingdom and laying aside all obedience and respect not only made open resistance against the Magistrates but in many places had directly taken Arms endeavouring to raise the Countries and get strong places into their hands whither they might retire with safety which was grown to such a pass that from all parts came complaints against them to the Court and news of their deportments But one thing more important and more grievous than all the rest made them hasten their former resolutions For the Prince of Conde moved by his old inclinations and urged by the sting of Conscience not being able to quiet his mind or moderate his thoughts resolved to make himself Master of a strong place in some part of the Kingdom which might serve him afterwards for a retreat or standing quarter if he were forced to make preparations for the War Amongst many others in which he kept secret intelligence none pleased him so well as Lions being a populous rich City placed upon two Navigable Rivers not far from Geneva the principal seat of the Hugonots and placed so near upon the Confines that he might easily receive speedy succours from the Protestant Princes of Germany and the united Cantons of Switzers and from whence upon any accident or necessity he might soon retire into some free open place out of the Kingdom Wherefore using the assistance of two Brothers the Maligni's his old servants he found a means to treat with divers principal men of the City which by reason of the Traffick is always inhabited by many strangers of all Nations and through the neighbourhood of Geneva was then though covertly replenished with people averse to the Catholick Religion and inclined to Calvins Doctrine These when they thought they had got a party strong enough in the City to make insurrection endeavoured to bring in privately Souldiers unarmed and others of their faction with which being afterwards furnished with arms they might on a sudden possess themselves of the Bridges and Town-house and at length reduce the Town wholly into their power The Mareschal of S. Andre was then Governour of Lions who being sent for upon the present occasions to Court left there in his place with the same authority his Nephew the Abbot of Achon He by means of Catholick Merchants jealous to preserve their own estates and enemies to those Counsels that might disturb the peace of the City having perfectly discovered the practices of the Hugonots and the time that they determined to rise the night before the fifth of September appointed Pro with the chief Deputy of the Citizens with three hundred Fire-locks to place a guard upon the Bridges over the Rhone and the Soane and besiege that part of the City which is placed between the two Rivers where he knew the Conspirators were to assemble The Maligni's perceiving the Catholicks design not willing to stay to be besieged and assaulted where they could not defend themselves holpen by the darkness of the night prevented the Governours men and hasting with great courage possessed themselves of the Bridge over the Soane where they lay watching with great silence in hope that the Catholicks terrified with a sudden encounter would be easily disordered whereby the passage would be free for them to the other part of the Bridge and to make themselves Masters of the great place and of the chiefest strong parts in the Town But it fell out otherwise For the Catholicks enduring the first shock without being troubled or disordered and afterwards continual fresh supplies of men being sent by the Governour the Conspirators could no longer resist The rest of their complices seeing the beginning so difficult durst neither stir not appear any longer Wherefore the Maligni's having fought all night and being wearied out as the day began to break perceiving the Gate behind them was open which the Governour on purpose to facilitate their flight had commanded not to be shut lest by an obstinate perseverance all might be indangered they fled away and many of their faction with them and others hid themselves by which means the City was freed from those great commotions Then the Governour calling in those Troops that lay about the Town and having made diligent search for the Conspirators to terrifie the Hugonots with the severity of their punishment condemned many of them to be hanged and preserving the rest alive sent them presently to Court who served afterwards to confirm the depositions of the prisoners against the discontented Princes The news of this attempt being come to Court the King resolving to use no longer delays nor give more time for new experiments departed from Fountain-bleau with those thousand Lances that used to attend him and two old Regiments of Foot that were newly come out of Piedmont and Scotland and taking the way of Orleans sollicited the Deputies of the Provinces to appear The whole French Nation is distinguished into three orders which they call States The first consists of Ecclesiasticks the second of the Nobility and the third of the common people These being divided into thirty Precincts or Jurisdictions which they call Baillages or Seneschausees when a general Assembly of the Kingdom is to be held go all to their chief City and dividing themselves into three several Chambers every one chuses a Deputy who in the name of that Body is to assist at the general Assembly wherein are proposed and discussed all matters concerning the several Orders or Government of the State In this manner three Deputies are sent by every Baillage one for the Ecclesiasticks one for the Nobility and one for the People which by a more honourable term are called the third Estate Being all met together in presence of the King the Princes of the Blood and Officers of the Crown they form the Body of the States-General and represent the Authority Name and Power of the whole Nation When the King is capable to govern and present they have power to
not so much for the importance of the thing or the injury received which at the first was otherwise determined in the Kings Council as because they manifestly saw that the King of Navarre's intention which drew along with it the Queens consent was wholly to suppress and tread under foot their greatness But knowing they were thought to be men of passion and ambition and seeing themselves not able in a private dispute to deal with the Princes of the Blood who had then in their hands all the Kings force and authority they dissembled the affront done unto them and made shew only of being moved and offended at the tacite toleration that was permitted to the Calvinists covering in this manner with a pious pretence under the Vail of Religion the interests of private passion So by degrees the discords of great men were confounded with the dissentions of Religion and the Factions were no more called the discontented Princes and the Guisarts but more truly and by more significant names one the Catholick and the other the Hugonot party Factions which under the colour of piety administred pernicious matter to all the following mischiefs and distractions The Queen Regent and the Constable held the Kings party as it were in the middle of a balance and the Constable though he hated Calvinism and lived conformable to the Roman Church nevertheless both in respect of his Nephews and to preserve the publick peace was contented that they should proceed warily in matters of Religion until such time as the King being come to age should be able to govern himself But to confirm in the mean while the Kings Authority and Empire although in minority it was thought expedient by those that governed that he should be acknowledged with the usual Ceremonies belonging to the Kings of France Wherefore they resolved to carry him to Rheims and in that place where the holy Oyl is kept with great veneration which served at the Coronation of the first Christian King Clonis to cause him to be anointed or as they commonly call it Sacré and from thence to conduct him to the City of Paris there to reside as the Kings for the most part are accustomed in the principal City of the Kingdom At the Ceremonies of the Coronation there arose a new strife for precedency between the Princes of the Blood and the Duke of Guise For these pretended to the first place as they were first in dignity before any whosoever and the Duke of Guise as first Peer of France pretended in waiting at the Ceremony to precede every man and though the Kings Council determined in favour of the Duke of Guise because at the Crowning of the King the presence and assistance of the Peers which are twelve six Ecclesiasticks and six Secular is requisite and the Princes of the Blood having not any thing to do their attendance is not necessary notwithstanding they being apt to take fire at every little spark this was enough very much to incense and exasperate them In the mean while the Admiral and the Prince of Conde had used all possible endeavour to draw the Constable to the protection of their party but though Francis Mareschal of Momorancy his eldest son who was streightly united with them used great industry to perswade his Father yet nothing could move his constancy being resolved not to make himself in his old age head of a Faction or an Author of new dissentions in Religion Wherefore the Admiral always an Inventer of subtile counsels thought with himself that he would make him concur with them by some other way At Pointoise a Town seven leagues from Paris the Assembly was held of certain Deputies of the Provinces to consult of a means to pay the debts of the Crown which by reason of the past Wars amounted to a very important sum and although the Mareshal of Momorancy presided in this Assembly yet the Admiral had some of his nearest Familiars that were of it by whose means he had the commodity to cause any thing to be proposed there that he pleased Wherefore the Brothers of Coligni and the Prince of Conde resolved by means of their Confidents to propose in the Assembly That all those who had received any Donations from the Kings Francis the First or Henry the Second should be obliged to restore them into the publick Treasury making account that in this manner without imposing new Taxes they might pay the greatest part of the debts which within and without the Kingdom occasioned both to the publick and particulars so great trouble They made this Proposition because the partakers of the late Kings bounty were the Guises the Dutchess Diana the Mareschal S. Andre and the Constable And for those they desired to see the effect of it to their utter ruine but for the Constable it was designed to put him only in fear and necessitate him to unite himself with the Faction of the Princes to avoid the danger of losing his estate which was the fruits of so many years sweat and labour and such was the animosity of the Factions that even his Nephews made themselves the Ministers to bring these streights and cares upon their Uncle But as Counsels too subtile and forced use often to produce contrary and unthought-of ends so this attempt had an effect much different from that which the contrivers thereof designed for in this restitution of Goods the Constable and Guises having an equal interest Diana who was joyned in affinity with both of them having already regained a confidence with them began as concerned in the same business to treat of it with the Constable and as she was a woman of great wit well instructed in what she was to do ill-affected towards the Queen and greatly terrified with the restitution which was spoken of she used her skill to pass from this to other discourses tending to a reconcilement with the Catholick Faction and the Princes of Lorain and from a consult how to hinder the proposed restitution coming to inviegh against the Admiral and the Prince of Conde who was suspected to be the Author of it at last they fell to a deploration of the present state in which under the rule of a Pupil King and a stranger woman things were governed with such pestiferous and destructive Counsels that to promote ambition and private passions the publick peace and tranquility were destroyed with introducing shamelesly into the Kingdom those heresies which being condemned by the Catholick Church were so carefully punished with sword and fire by the just severity of the late Kings Nor made she an end with this condoleance but wen◠on with the same efficacy that the whole Kingdom was extreamly amazed and very much troubled that one of the house of Momorancy which first received the Christian Religion who in the course of his past life had with great praise of Piety and Justice executed the chiefest Authority of the Kingdom should now as if he were charmed by
great party of the youth who were of unquiet spirits factious and inclined to a desire of Novelties So that the disposition of the Inhabitants answering the instigation of the complices already a great part of the people were willing to take Arms. And that things might be done in due order the Prince had the day before sent Monsieur de Andelotte to the City who entring thereinto secretly at the same time that the Prince seised upon the Court should endeavour likewise to make himself Master of the Town But though it so fell out that the Prince could not arrive at Court Andelotte not knowing what had happened armed three hundred of his followers and at the day appointed suddenly seised on S. Iohn's Gate Upon which accident Monsieur de Monterau Governour of the City getting together some few men of Monsieur de Sipierres company who by chance were then thereabouts very hotly assaulted the Conspirators with no little hope that they should be able to drive them away and recover the entrance of the Gate where they had not had time enough to fortifie themselves so that joyning in a bloody fight after a conflict of many hours Andelotte at length began to yield to the multitude of the Catholicks who ran thither armed from all the parts of the Town and had surely received an affront if he had not been opportunely assisted by an unexpected succour For the Prince of Conde not finding the Court at Fountain-bleau and therefore desisting from his voyage returned much sooner than he thought and marching with great diligence approached near to Orleans at the same time that the fight began and knowing it to be very violent by the continual shot and incessant ringing of Bells which might be heard many miles off he presently gallopped with all his Cavalry towards the City to succour his Confederates who were already in great danger of being defeated They were more than three thousand horse and ran headlong with such fury that the peasants though astonished with the unusual spectacle of civil arms in the midst of their fright and wonder could not forbear to laugh seeing here a horse fall there a man tumbled over and nevertheless without regarding any accident run furiously one over another as fast as their horses could go upon a design which no body knew but themselves But this haste so ridiculous to the Spectators had very good success to the Princes intentions For coming with such a powerful succour and in so fit an opportunity of time the Governour being driven away and those that resisted suppressed at last the Town which was of exceeding consequence was reduced into his power and by the Authority of the Commanders preserved from pillage But the Churches escaped not the fury of the Hugonot-Souldiers who with bruitish examples of barbarous savageness laid them all waste and desolate Thus the Prince having taken Orleans and made it the seat of his Faction he began to think upon War And first having appointed a Council of the principal Lords and Commanders he advised with them of the means to draw as many Towns and Provinces to his Party as was possible and to get together such a sum of money as might defray the expences which at the beginning of a War are ever very great The Catholick party were intent upon the same ends who being come to Paris with the young King and the Queen held frequent consultations how best to order the affairs for their own advantage in which Councils the Duke of Guise openly declared that he thought it most expedient to proceed to a War with the Hugonots so to extinguish the fire before it burst out into a consuming flame and to take away the roots of that growing evil On the contrary the Chancellor de l' Hospital secretly set on by the Queen proposing many difficulties and raising doubts and impediments upon every thing perswaded an agreement by which both parties absenting themselves from the Court the power of the Government should be left free and quiet to the Queen and the King of Navarre But being sharply reproved by the Constable and after the news of the revolt of Orleans injuriously treated under pretence of being a Gown-man he was excluded from the Council that was now called the Council of War by which means also a principal instrument was taken from the Queen who having no power left in that Council for there were newly admitted to it Claud Marquess de â—oisy Honore Marquess Villars Louis de Lansac Monsieur de Cars the Bishop of Auxerre the Sieurs de Maugiron and la Brosse who all absolutely depended upon the Constable and the Guises every thing on that side likewise tended to the raising of Arms. At the first as it ever falleth out their pens were more active than their swords For the Prince of Conde and his adherents willing to justifie in writing the cause of their taking Arms published certain Manifests and Letters in print directed to the King the Court of Parliament in Paris the Protestant Princes of Germany and to other Christian Princes in which very largely but no less artificially dilating themselves they concluded that they had taken Armâ— to set the King at liberty and the Queen his Mother who by the Tyrannical power of the Catholick Lords were kept prisoners and to cause obedience to be rendred in all parts of the Kingdom to his Majesties Edicts which by the violence of certain men that arrogate to themselves a greater Authority in the Government than of right belonged to them were impiously despised and trodden under foot and therefore that they were ready presently to lay down their Arms if the Duke of Guise the Constable and the Mareshal de St. Andre retiring themselves from the Court would leave the King and the Queen in a free place in their own power and that liberty of Religion might be equally tolerated and maintained in all parts of the Kingdom The Parliament at Paris answered their Manifest and the Letters shewing that the pretence was vain by which they sought to justifie their taking of Arms which they had immediately raised against the Kings Person and his Royal Authority for so far was the King or the Queen his Mother from being deprived of liberty or retained in prison by the Constable and the Guises that on the contrary they were in the capital City of the Kingdom where the chief Parliament resided and in which commanded as Governour Charles Cardinal of Bourbon Brother to the Prince of Conde and one of the Princes of the Blood That the King of Navarre Brother also to the same Prince of Conde held the chief place in the Government and the Queen-Mother the charge of the Regency both chosen by the Council according to the ancient custom and confirmed by the consent of the States-General of the Kingdom that every day they assembled the Council composed of eminent persons to consult of fit remedies for the present evils
was requisite to proceed with great dexterity for they are fires that flame out with too much violence Wherefore it was necessary to slacken them by degrees and secretly to suffocate them before by breaking out they filled all places with desolation and ruine and by so fresh an example as the late War demonstrated unto them how near the Kingdom of France was to be dismembred and ruined not only by the English but also by the Germans In which regard she thought it most requisite as much as was possible to avoid the necessity of a War The opinions were thus divers by reason of the diversity of circumstances the variety of customs difference of interests and above all the different quality of the natures of men rendred the matter diverse and administred different counsels notwithstanding they disagreed not in the end For both parties aimed at the destruction of the Hugonots and the establishment of obedience Wherefore at last they made this conclusion That the one King should aid the other either covertly or openly as was thought most conducing to the execution of so weighty and so difficult an enterprise but that both of them should be free to work by such means and counsels as appeared to them most proper and seasonable praying to God that severity and clemency ways so different might nevertheless succeed to the same end The enterview of Bayon being ended in this manner and Queen Elizabeth departed to return into Spain the King following his Voyage went towards the Territories of the Queen of Navarre whom not being able to perswade to return to the Rites of the Catholick Church yet he required that in all places where Mass had been forbidden it should be restored and that the Priests should be re-established in their possessions He obtained of her further that she with her children should follow the Court which seemed no hard condition not that she was affectionate to the Kings Person or approved the manner of the present Government but there being at that time a matrimonial process depending before his Majesty between the Duke of Nemours and Frances de Rhoan her Neece whom being of the same Religion she exceedingly loved it seemed necessary for her to be present at the discussion of a business in which she was so much concerned Being therefore resolved to follow the Court the King the more to invite her to stay there made great shew of kindness both to her children and her self but his having seen with his own eyes through all the Provinces of Aquitan the Churches destroyed the Altars profaned Images thrown down Monasteries burnt and destroyed and even the bones of the dead raked out of their graves and thrown up and down the fields made him inwardly conceive such an hate against her and against all the Hugonots that he ceased not afterwards to persecute them most severely until the rage which was kindled in his breast against them were fully satisfied But the general visitation of the Provinces being ended and desiring to remedy the disorders which they had discovered in divers parts by the complaints of the people he caused an Assembly of the most eminent persons of the eight Parliaments of the Kingdom to be summoned for the year following to meet at Moulins in the Province of Bourbonois there to give such orders as should seem most proportionable to the present affairs His Majesty designed in so noble a presence of his chief Subjects to reconcile the Houses of Guise and Chastillon which were so bitterly incensed against each other their private enmity drawing along with it by consequence the division of the people and dissention in the Kingdom He thought by this occasion to get the Prince of Conde and the Admiral to come to Court to work by some fit means to separate them from the commerce and protection of the Hugonots to take them off by a present certainty from future machinations to make every one taste the benefits of peace with the advantage of publick and private repose and by this way to deprive that party of their Authority and Conduct that they might be able afterwards more easily to restrain and suppress them But all these attempts were in vain For the Admiral who had laid down his arms unwillingly and Andelot who only to free himself from the Siege at Orleans consented to a peace were more intent than ever to contrive new matters and neither trusted the Kings demonstrations nor the Queens dissembling nor believed they could ever be sincerely reconciled with the Guises And the Prince of Conde always voluble and of vast thoughts satiated with the delights and pleasures of the Court despising the marriage with the Widow of St. Andre as unequal to him in birth had taken to Wife Mary Sister to the Duke de Longeville and was more than ever united with the Lords of Chastillon So that what the Queen built up with her Art the disposition of the Prince and the subtilty of the Chastillons threw down There was no less disorder threatned from the dissention that arose in the Constables Family which being kindled before brake forth now with greater violence For Francis Mareshal of Momorancy his eldest Son drawn by nearness of kindred and a certain ill-understood ambition which inclined him though with a mind and understanding much inferiour to imitate the Admiral more than ever openly declared himself for the Lords of Chastillon professing for their sakes a passionate enmity to the Guises And on the contrary Henry d'Anville in respect of his Wife who was Neece to Madam Valentine allied to the Duke of Aumale and puft up by being newly created Mareshal in the place of Brissac lately deceased through emulation also of his Brother clearly depended upon the Catholick party and the friendship of the Princes of Lorain By reason of which discord they not only divided the followers of their Family but also held the judgment and counsel of their Father in great suspence seeing they manifestly prepared the one to side with the Hugonot party and the other to foment the resolutions of the Catholicks by their private contentions augmenting the publick distractions It hapned at the same time the more to incite the animosity of the parties that the Cardinal of Lorain returning from Rome and offering to enter Paris with a certain guard of armed men as he had power to do by a Brevet so they call it from the King sealed by the High Chancellor and subscribed by the Queen the Mareshal of Momorancy after the death of Brissac made Governour of that City first injuriously forbad his entry and afterwards in a tumultuous manner put him out of the Town pretending he knew not that the Cardinal had a Licence from the King and the Council In which tumult the Admiral who was near seeking an occasion of new stirs and burning with a desire to appear the Arbitrator and as it were the Oracle of France ran thither accompanied with a great train and appearing
of the War the other parts of the Kingdom were not a quiet but through the frequent continual Insurrections of the Hugonots all places were full of tumults and blood for they having at the beginning of these commotions gotten many Towns in all parts into their hands the Provinces were so divided that through the animosity of both Factions a dangerous War was kindled in every the most remote hidden corner in France In Languedoc Monsieur de Acher ruled all the Country the Vicount de Ioyense who commanded there for the King not having force sufficient to suppress the multitudes of the Hugonots or to oppose the industry and boldness of their Leader In Provence Mouvans and Mont-brun men that by their violent proceedings got themselves an esteem with more than ordinary success crossed the Catholick party under the Command of the Count de Summerive In Gascony there wanted not store of troubles that Province being all in Arms but Monsieur de Monluc an old experienced Captain had in so many incounters abated the fury of the Hugonots that the Incendiaries thought it best for them to quit the Country and many of them though with much difficulty fled to their main Army In Daulphine des Gourdes the Kings Lieutenant and the Sieurs de Monsalez and Terride who were in their march towards Paris many times fought with Hugonots forces and beat them and at last forced Monsieur de Ponsenac to leave those parts by which means the ways to Lions were open but he being afterwards joined with the Vicounts de Montclair de Paulin and Bourniquet valiantly incountred the forces of Auvergne and Daulphine and though the fight were long obstinate and bloody the Kings Party in the end got the advantage with so much the greater detriment to the Enemy by reason that Ponsenac who by his violence more than any thing else gave life to the War was at last in the retreat together with many others killed At the same time Lodovico Gonzaga Duke of Nevers who brought four Troops of Horse out of Piedmont that were raised in Italy by the Pope together with six companies of Italian Foot two French Regiments and four thousand Swisses that were newly entertained to join with the Duke of Anjou's Army arrived opportunely in Burgundy to suppress the remainder of the Hugonots in those parts for having divers times encountred and defeated them he at length laid siege to Mascone which being taken the Rebels had no place of retreat left whither they could retire for safety From Burgundy the Duke went to join with the Duke of Anjou but not many days after as he returned with a few Horse to visit his own Country he was set upon by the Enemy and though with his wonted Valour he put them to flight yet he received such a grievous wound in one of his Knees that he continued lame ever after But the Kings Party received a greater and more considerable blow in Xantonge for through the negligence or connivence of Monsieur de Iarnac the Governour and through the diligence of Tracares the principal Deputy called by them the Scabin of Rochel that City revolted to the Hugonots which standing upon the Ocean over against England strong of situation being every way incompassed with marsh grounds or the Sea rich with traffick numerous in people abundant in provisions and commodious to receive succours from other parts hath ever since been the Sanctuary and main prop of all those who adhered to that Faction In the mean while both Armies continued their march through Champagne keeping the direct way that leads to Paris The Hugonots kept close together and durst not attempt the taking of any Towns by the way for fear of giving the Catholicks an opportunity to fight with them at an advantage The Kings lodging in strong secure quarters had no other design but to hinder the Enemy from effecting any important enterprise with which circumspection they both kept on their march till they were arrived at the end of February the Hugonot forces in Beausse and the Kings not far from Paris But the Prince of Conde having raised the siege at Orleans for at the news of his approach la Valette and Martinengo not having forces to resist him retired of themselves was brought into great difficulties through the Counsels of the Duke of Anjou who he saw was resolved to avoid all occasions of fighting and to draw out the War in length by which kind of proceedings knowing his Army would be soon destroyed by reason he had neither money nor provisions to sustain or keep his own men together that were all Voluntiers nor wherewithal to satisfie the importunity of the Germans who were ever craving he was in a mighty perplexity and every day held a Council of War to advise what was best to be done in so great a streight At length to try whether the Catholicks might be forced to that which otherwise they would not do willingly he resolved to besiege Chartres for extent and numerousness of people one of the principal Cities in France and so near Paris that with the Country about it furnished a great part of the provisions that went thither believing that the Duke of Anjou for his own credit and the reputation of the Kings Army would never suffer that place to be taken for want of relief and not to give them longer time to reinforce the Garison or fortifie it having in two days with his Horse marched twenty leagues which are forty English miles the second day of March sat down before it There went to command in the Town Monsieur de Lignieres a Cavalier of much esteem and with him entred fifteen Companies of old Foot and about two hundred Horse with which forces at the beginning of the siege he exceedingly annoyed the Enemy and by frequent skirmishes kept them off a while but was at length forced to keep in to maintain the Walls for the Hugonots having taken all the passages and placed guards upon the advenues with four pieces of Cannon so furiously battered that part of the Wall which joins to Dreux-Gate that the sixth day they had made an assault if the Defendants had not with great labour and diligence raised a Rampart within with Casemats and other works which hindered them from entring upon the breach But the siege of Chartres changed the face of things and put the Catholicks to a great streight for to relieve the Town with all their Army was contrary to their former resolution and to let that City be taken was besides so considerable a loss a very great prejudice to their reputation and that which then happened to Chartres would afterwards be the condition of many other great Towns by succouring of which they should hazard the uncertain issue of a Battel and if they succoured them not they would be lost before their eyes wherefore after many attempts had been made but in vain to put men and munition into the Town
whom they thought privy to their designs Only the Prince of Conde and Monsieur de Tore escaped fleeing first to those places which belonged to the Prince in Picardy and from thence without delay unto the Hans Towns of Germany which adhered to the Protestant party The Duke of Alancon and the King of Navarre either trusâ—ed to their nearness of Blood or to shift off the fault of this conspiracy from themselves and lay it as the custom is upon the weakest confessed freely that they had been sollicited to depart from Court and become Heads of the Hugonots and Male-contents and that sometimes they had lent an ear to those motions rather to discover the intents of those Seducers than out of any desire to adhere unto them and that they waited an opportunity to discover the whole plot unto the King as soon as they were fully informed of it and that in the mean time the Duke had given some hint of it though but obscurely to his Mother which might serve to prove the sincerity of their intentions upon the ground of these confessions which contained many particulars the accomplices of meaner quality being kept close and strictly examined la Mole about whom were found certain Images of the King in Wax encompassed with inchantments charms and other fooleries the Count de Coconas convicted of many crimes and divers others were condemned to die the Mareshals of Momorancy and Cosse to the great satisfaction of the Parisians were put into the Bastile and for the Princes it sufficed only by a Declaration to manifest unto the World that it was never their intention to alienate themselves from the Kings obedience nor to offend his Person in any manner whatsoever much less to make themselves Heads and Protectors of the factious and seditious party of the Kingdom but that it had been falsly and cunningly divulged by men of turbulent malicious Spirits to stir up and seduce the people under that pretence a thing utterly disallowed and detested by them who desired that such rebellious and seditious persons might be brought to condign punishment that by their sufferings the fuel might be taken from that fire with which they had endeavoured to inflame the Kingdom After which Declaration they were nevertheless not restored unto their former condition but on the one side were used as Kinsmen and on the other with diligent guards were kept as Prisoners Those that make a sinister interpretation of all the actions of Princes say That the Duke of Alancon had no other end but to make himself King after the death of his Brother which he saw drew near and that the counsels of the Mareshals and his other adherents aimed at that very mark but that the Queen-Mother who loved the King of Poland much better and under his Reign promised her self the absolute Government made the business seem different from the truth and caused the King to imprison the Princes and the Mareshals to secure the Kingdom to the true Successour which was the King of Poland whose Reign was abhorred by all those that were Enemies to the House of Guise 〈◊〉 had any dependance upon the Hugonots These matters whatsoever they were or from what cause soever derived happened in the beginning of the Year 1574. a Year destined to renew the old wounds of France for toward the latter end of March and all the month of April following the Hugonots already up in Arms by reason of the late designs and suspecting themselves to be discovered the fomenters of that Conspiracy breaking again the bridle of all respect attempted every where to surprise Forts Castles and Cities and as if the business at St. Germains had succeeded just according to their own desires they ran hastily without stop to the taking up of Arms in all Provinces and that with so much the greater boldness and security because they were freed from the general fear they were wont to have of the valour and celerity of the King of Poland whom they had to their exceeding loss found to be so resolute and powerful an Enemy The first commotion was begun by Monsieur de la Noue who staying in Poictou gathered Forces suddenly and possessed himself of Lusignan Fontenay and Mesle and with the help of the Rochellers raised and disordered the whole Country shewing manifestly by that action that neither his desire of peace nor his promise made to the King had caused him to leave Rochel when it was besieged but trouble for the affront he had received from the Ministers and fear lest the Citizens should confer the chief Command upon the Count Montgomery The signal of War being as it were given by this Insurrection it was followed by many others in Daulphine Province Gascogne and Languedoc every private Captain and every Gentleman among the Hugonots endeavouring with his own Forces to seise upon some strong place from whence robbing and pillaging all the Country cutting off passages laying taxes upon the people and plundering the rich houses they in a few days brought the whole Kingdom of France into great confusion But a more dangerous fire was kindled on the Sea-coasts of Normandy for the Count Montgomery after he was hindred by the Kings Fleet from relieving Rochel being returned into England and recruited landed in the Country which they call le Pays de Constantine belonging to the Province of Normandy but bordering upon Bretagne where being welcomed by the Hugonots and the discontented party of that place in a few days he made himself Master of Danfront Carentane St. Lo and Valognes and seditious people running to him from all parts as to a Head of great Authority it was beginning to be doubted that Queen Elizabeth invited by this opportunity though she made shew not at all to favour or assist the Count had resolved once again to set foot in that Province just over against her Kingdom which in times past had long been in possession of the Kings of England her Predecessors At the so freqâ—ent news of these tumults and insurrections the King who by nature was very cholerick brake forth into such terrible rage and fury that his sickness became daily more violent and dangerous wherefore neither having strength of body nor ability of mind to undergo so weighty a business often changing and varying his resolutions by that uncertainty gave them that were up in Arms far greater opportunity to increase their Forces which as soon as he perceived his disease which could find no remedy still continuing he resolved to refer the whole business to the counsel and authority of his Mother ever giving order and directions to take sharp severe courses which could hardly be done because the condition of the present affairs would not permit that Armies and Governments should be trusted in the hands of any but persons of great maturity and long experience who by reason of their age and gravity were averse from bloody violent resolutions wherefore the Queen being brought into great
of great importance as well for that it lies upon the Coast of the Ocean Sea as because it abounds with such store of Salt-pits which yield a great and constant revenue he made the Sieur de Montaut Governour and put into it a strong Garison of his dependents furnishing it with ammunition and fortifying it with exceeding diligence nor content with that but vigorously prosecuting that enterprise by the means of his dependents in a few weeks he reduced into his own power Royan Pons Talemont and Marans with many other considerable places in Xaintonge But the King of Navarre who with more deliberate considerations had raised his thoughts to higher designs making use of the ready boldness of the Prince of Conde in those matters where force and violence were needful with infinite moderation to which as well by choice as nature he was much inclined under title of being Governour of the Province reduced the principal Cities to himself shewing both in words and actions a great deal of gentleness to the Catholicks a great deal of reverence to the Kings person singular desire to help the advancement of every one and very much trouble for the losses and outrages which by occasion of the War he was necessitated to bring upon that Country by which arts having gained all the people of Perigort and the Towns of Loudun Agen Ganache and many lesser places he possessed all that Country except Bourdeaux where the Parliament residing the Citizens had ever refused to admit him yet ceased he not after many repulses sometimes to allure them with kind messages sometimes to assure them with large promises shewing himself to be utterly averse from the animosity of the Factions and the cruelties used by others in Civil Wars since he of his own accord had setled the use of the Catholick Religion again in those places that were of his own Patrimony from whence his Mother had taken it away and with much modesty respect and favourable Declarations treated with the Church-men concerning the interests of Religion which artifice or nature or rather as it often happens artifice derived from nature won the hearts of all the people and took off that hatred which as Enemies to the Commonwealth they were wont to bear to others who had held the chief command of that Faction which he desiring to join and unite into one body as he saw the Heads of the Catholicks endeavoured to do on their side having obtained leave of the Citizens to enter Rochel the command whereof he knew to be very necessary for him he was so skilful in managing the affections of the people that having tamed and assured the minds of the Citizens which were full of suspitions and unapt to give credit to any body by their counsel and with the consent of all the Cities which followed their party the Deputies whereof he had assembled in that place he in the end made himself be declared Head and Protector of that party and the Prince of Conde his Lieutenant General shewing himself every where so full of sincerity and moderation that he thereby gained not only their inclination and good will but also a very free and absolute authority over them which among so many jealousies and so many pretenders perchance he could not have obtained by other arts for neither the Prince of Conde not the Mareshal d' Anville nor perhaps Monsieur de la Noue nor Monsieur de Rohan would so easily have yielded to him if they had not been forced besides the splendour of his Royal name to give place to his popularity and his arts of Governing Now having obtained the power of that Faction chiefly by the favour of the Rochellers and knowing that Monsieur de Fervaques as a subtil man and not trusty was suspected of all but especially the Citizens of Rochel who desired for their security that Messieurs de Rohan de Mouy de la Noue Langoiran and other old Abettors of that party might have the first place in their Councils and in their Civil and Military Offices or else perswaded by d' Aubigny who affirmed he had discovered that Fervaques at the very last point had revealed his intended departure to the King and that they were not stayed because the King having a wonderful ill opinion of him gave no credit to his words he cunningly gave him occasion to go his way as hath been already related and making up his Council of men that were famous for integrity and honest intentions did not only take away the jealousie of the Rochellers and of all the neighbouring Provinces who feared he would change his Power into a tyrannical Government but won the hearts of many Catholicks who so they might enjoy the liberty of living in the Religion of their forefathers were also disposed to serve and follow him He interposed his authority that the Rochellers might give way to the exercise of the Catholick Religion in their City and before he departed procured leave for Mass to be said in a little Church many being present at it which things accompanied with his modest temperate speeches as they gained him a great deal of affection from those of his own party so did they lessen and extinguish that hatred which the Guises by imputations of revolt and apostacy endeavoured to fasten upon him among all degrees of people in the Kingdom But the King in so great a combustion of all things and in so miserable a condition of his Crown which was openly assailed by the Politicks and Hugonots and secretly conspired against by the Catholicks of the League having conceived great hopes of finding a way to compass his designs by means of the General Assembly of the States was intent upon calling them together in the City of Blois where he with his Mother and the Duke of Alancon his Brother arrived the tenth day of November and having by his Letters given notice to the Deputies of the several Provinces to meet together without delay the business was followed with so much diligence that the sixth day of December gave a solemn beginning to the Assembly The Kings intention was prosecuting his own designs by means of the States to settle a firm general Peace which being established by the common consent of the whole Nation no man should have cause to find fault withal but lasting in a firm continuance might quite abolish the interests of the several parties cause the present animosities to be forgotten and give him time and opportunity to execute his own resolutions of abasing and weakening the strength and credit of both the Factions He hoped that a moderate Agreement would readily be laid hold on by all the three Estates For the Clergy were always fain to contribute very largely as to a War wherein they were more interessed than any others the Nobility wearied with the toils of War and exhausted with the vast expences of it and the Commons who besides the continual and intolerable taxes and
parts and in seising upon many places convenient for the defence and maintenance of party which succeeding according to his desires he had possessed himself of Bazas Perigâ—eux and St. Macaire in Guienne Chivray in Poictou Quimperley in Bretagne and with a more Warlike than numerous Army laid siege to Marmande a great Town seated upon the bank of the Garonne near to Bourdeaux and therefore very commodious to strengthen that place which was the only principal City of that Province that made resistance In the mean time the States Commissioners being come unto him he gave them audience at Agen in the beginning of the year 1577. with demonstrations of great honour and respect There the Bishop of Vienne having eloquently declared the resolution of the States to suffer no other but the Catholick Religion in the Kingdom of France exhorted him effectually in the name of all the Orders to come unto the Assembly to re-unite himself in concord with the King his Brother-in-law to return into the bosom of the Church and by so noble and so necessary a resolution to comfort all the Orders of the Kingdom by whom as first Prince of the Blood he was greatly esteemed and honoured and afterward inlarging himself he represented the several commodities of Peace and the miserable desolations of War The King of Navarre with succinct but solid words replyed punctually That if the happiness of Peace and miseries of War were so great and many as he alledged the States ought therefore sincerely to establish that Peace which was before concluded and not by new deliberations and by revoking Edicts already made to kindle again the sparks of War which were almost extinguished That it was an easie matter to discourse of the rooting out of a Religion by the Sword but experience had always shewed it was impossible to effect it and therefore it was to be esteemed a more discreet advice to allow a spiritual Peace thereby to obtain a temporal one than by disquieting mens Consciences to fancy the conservation of an outward Peace That for his part he was born and brought up in the Religion he professed and he believed still that it was the right and true Faith but yet when by sound reasons urged to him by men of understanding and not by force and violence he should find himself to be in an errour he would readily repent his fault and changing his Religion endeavour the conversion of all others to the belief of that Faith which should be acknowledged the true one Therefore he prayed the States not to force his Conscience but to be satisfied with that his good will and intention and if that answer were not sufficient to content them he would expect new and more particular demands for the better answering whereof he would presently assemble a full Congregation of his party at Montauban but in the mean time while he saw all things prepared to make War against him he was constrained to stand armed upon his own defence to prevent that ruine which he plainly saw contrived by his Enemies The Prince of Conde's answer was very different for having received the Commissioners privately he would neither open their Letters nor acknowledge them for Deputies of the States General alledging that that Assembly could not be called the States General which wanted the Deputies of so many Cities Towns and Provinces and which treated of violating mens Consciences by force of shedding the Blood-Royal of France and suppressing the Liberties of the Crown to comply with the desires of strangers who were so hot upon the prosecution of their own intolerable pernitious interests of ambition and private ends that it was a Conventicle of a few men suborned and corrupted by the disturbers of the publick Peace and therefore he would neither open their Letters nor treat with their Commissioners The Mareschal d' Anville gave an answer not much unlike but something more moderate the Deputies having found him at Montpellier For having represented to them that his heart was real as any mans to the Catholick Religion wherein he had been born and would continue as long as he lived he told them that it would be both vain and impossible to prohibit the exercise of the Reformed Religion granted by so many Edicts and confirmed by so many Conclusions of Peace and that by blowing up the flames of War the destruction and ruine of all parts of the Kingdom would be continued but that it ought to be consulted of in common in a lawful Assembly of the States General of France and not in a particular Congregation as that of Blois where only the Deputies of one party were met together and therefore he did protest against the validity of whatsoever should be there decreed or resolved The Commissioners returned to Bloys with these answers in the beginning of February and the Duke of Guise being come thither to give a colour to the business on his part the inclination of the States appeared manifestly ready to disanul the late Edict of Pacification and resolve upon a War with the Hugonots Wherefore the King not willing to draw the hatred of all the Catholick party upon himself nor give them cause to suspect the sincerity of his Conscience making the Pope and all Christendom believe he held intelligence with the Hugonots which jealousie would have endangered the Catholick League to take Arms of themselves without his Authority and disorder the whole state of things Besides being advised by the Bishop of Lymoges and Monsieur de Morvillier two of his principal Councellors he determined since he could not by open resistance hinder the designs and progress of the Catholick League which already had taken too deep a root to make himself Head and Protector of it and draw that Authority to himself which he saw they endeavoured to settle upon the Head of the League both within and without the Kingdom hoping that he being once made Moderator of that Union in time convenient means would not be wanting to dissolve it as a thing directly opposite to his intentions Wherefore shewing a great desire to extirpate the Hugonot Faction and making all believe that he was highly offended with the Princes answers he caused the Catholick League framed by the Lords of the House of Lorain to be read published and sworn in the open Assembly where they themselves were present establishing it as an Irrevocable and Fundamental Law of the Kingdom Then he declared himself principal Head and Protector of it with loud specious protestations that he would spend his last breath to reduce all his people to an unity in Religion and an entire obedience to the Roman Church Thus did he labour to avoid that blow which he saw he could not break by making resistance But the King having for many days shewed a wonderful desire to suppress the Hugonots purposed with one mortal blow to try the constancy of the Deputies for having sent his Brother the Duke of Alancon and
Viscount de Gourdon wherein were 1200 good Firelocks The Petard being fastned to the first Gate of the Bridge by Captain Iehan Robert wrought its effect according to expectation and those few Soldiers that were in the Ravelines were cut in pieces without much difficulty nor did the second Petard any less having broken open the Gate of the City so that they might easily have entered if there had been no further opposition but they of the Town wakned with the noise of the first Petard and the Sieur de Vesins who was Governor being run to the danger just as he was not utterly without Arms but almost without Cloaths they stoutly opposed the entry of the Enemy fresh men still running armed from all parts of the City to make resistance There was a very hot service between the first squadrons not onely fighting at a distance continually with shot but the boldest of them coming up with short weapons and by little and little the second and third squadrons being every where mingled with the first the encounter became very fierce and bloody wherein the Governor of the Town who though unarmed was of necessity to be in the thickesâ— of the Fight was killed on that side and on the King of Navarr's the Sieur de St. Martin The business continued for two long hours in equal ballance but the Baron de Salignac first and then the Sieur de Roche-Laure being dangerously wounded and carried out of the hurly-burly the courage of the rest began to sink in such manner that the assailants gave ground apace who though at the first they had entred as far as the Market-place yet being now driven back almost to the very Gate would certainly have been quite repulsed and beaten out of the City for the Viscount de Gordon with his Firelocks that were in the Rere advanced but very slowly if the King of Navarre much troubled for the loss of his Captains highly incensed at the affront his men were like to receive and despairing of his own affaires if his first enterprise failed of a happy success coming up to the head of his soldiers in the very face of the Enemy had not renewed the assault by fighting gallantly and undauntedly with his own hand For the Lords Gentlemen and Soldiers hasting bravely after him and striving to go beyond each other in following the steps of their Leader who doing incredible exploits did fiercely quell the ardor of the defendants advanced so far that about break of day they had again recovered the chief Market-place of the City the Townsmen having shut up and fortified themselves as well as the shortness of the time would permit in the publick Schools from whence though they gave fire on every side to the great slaughter of the assailants who fought without defence in the open streets yet the King of Navarre never moved from the head of his men though they that were next to him were often killed by his side In this manner they fought all the day and all the night following except onely that now and then they took a little rest which both sides were invited to by the darkness of the night The next day about Sun-rising news was brought to the King of Navarrâ— that Supplies were coming to the City from the Neighbouring Towns wherefore he sent the Sieur de Chouppes to fight with them without La Porte aux Barres and couragiously redoubled the assault to drive the defenders from their places of advantage but he found so stout and valiant resistance that though the supplies were defeated that came to assist the Town and that they thereby received no relief yet could not he in all that day and the night following force them to yield till three Pieces of Cannon which they found in the City Magazin being fitted and brought forth they shattered and broke down all the Barricadoes made up by the defendants whence followed a bloody execution and a wonderful slaughter of the People Thus after three dayes continual fighting the City of Cahors was at last taken and violently sacked having not onely yielded very rich spoil and booty to the Soldiers but wreaked the hatred which many of the Hugonots bore to the very name of a Catholick In this enterprise the fearless courage of the King of Navarre was much admired by every one who having in his other actions given proofs of a great and lively spirit in this to the terror of his enemies and admiration of his friends he shewed himself as gallant and as daring a Soldier as the effects of his following exploits did compleatly witness him to be At the very same time Les Diguieres in Dauphine not being able to move the Nobility which scorned to come under his Command who though a Gentleman by birth was yet neither favoured with the splendor of an antient Pedigree nor Riches had stirred up the Country People to take Armes against some of the chief of them by whom they complained they had been very much oppressed but the War proceeding with very small success because Monsieur de Maugiron Lieutenant of that Province and Monsieur de Mandelot Governor of Lyons often routed and defeated his peasants he having attempted many enterprises without effect at last retired and fortified himself in la Muze But in Languedoc whether it were that the Lord of Chastillons authority was not yet very powerful with that People or that men being weary of civil broils stood in awe of Monsieur d' Anville who shewed himself very ready to suppress any Insurrection there was not any stir or taking of Armes as the King of Navarre expected the Mareschal labouring very diligently to take away all occasions of discontent by a full observation of the King's Edicts The King being informed of these new eruptions in so many several places whilst he thought himself secure and free from all troubles and dangers of War resolved to shew his face once more to those that made Insurrection to reduce them to obedience and to the sincere obedience of the Peace to which end he raised three several Armies with infinite diligence One for Picardy to recover la Fere another for Guienne against the King of Navarre and the third to settle the Commotions in Dauphine From which sudden resolution and the readiness of levying and ordering those Forces wise men drew more confident assurance that his quiet stilness was onely voluntary and that under a shew of ease and carelesness he nourished more deep important thoughts in his mind To these Armies the King appointed Commanders suitable to the occasion and his secret intentions For desiring that la Fere should presently be recovered because it is so near the heart of the Kingdom and the City of Paris and easie to be relieved by the nearness of the States of Flanders he sent thither Iaques Mareschal de Matignon whom he was alwayes wont to make use of where there was need of doing something to the purpose on the other
our intentions and to acknowledge the ease and quiet which may thereby redound to them as well in publick as domestâ—cal affairs and so doing to lay hand to this good work which cannot but prosper with the grace of God to whom we remit all things or at least if their opinions and resolutions cannot so soon be united their Councels being composed of many we admonish them to open their eyes and look to their own affairs and in the mean time not to let themselves be tempted by any body nor seduced by them who out of some sinister interpretation of our intentions would possess themselves of their aforesaid Cities and putting Garrisons of Soldiers into them would reduce them to the same servitude which those other places feel that are already in their hands We further declare unto all That we will not use any act of hostility save against those that shall oppose us with Arms and by other unfitting means favour our Adversaries who seek to ruine the Church and subvert the State And we assure every one That our just and holy Armies shall not injure nor oppress any body either in passing through or staying in any place but shall live in good discipline and not take any thing but what they pay for We will also receive unto our selves all those good men which have zeal to the honor of God and of the Holy Church and of the good and reputation of the French most Christian Religion with protestation notwithstanding never to lay down our Armes till the aforesaid things be fully performed and rather all willingly to die in that cause with a desire to be heaped up together in one Sepulchre consecrated to the last Frenchmen who died fighting for the service of God and of their Country Finally since all our help must come from God we pray all true Catholicks to put themselves with us in a good condition to reconcile themselves to his Divine Majesty by a thorough reformation of their lives to appease his wrath and to call upon him with purity of Conscience as well in publick Prayers and holy Processions as private and particular devotions to the end that all our actions may tend to the honor and glory of him who is the Lord of Hosts from whom we expect all our force and our mok certain support To these words the Heads of the League adding deeds no less â—ffectual began to make themselves Masters of many Cities and Fortresses some by secret practices some by open force of Armes for being drawn with an Army that already mustered 12000 fighting men to Verdun a City upon the Confines of the Duke of Lorain though the Governor behaving himself gallantly laboured to defend it yet one Guittald a man of great authority with the Citizens being secretly got into the Town made them the next day after the siege was laid to take Armes to possess themselves of the Gates and to bring in the Army of the Confederates which uprore the Governor courageously opposed but having very small Forces was easily overcome for the Duke of Guise himself being entred the City drove him out with all those that followed him and having put Guittald in his place the City remained absolutely at the devotion of the League The City of Thoul followed the example of Verdun for rising in Arms and driving out the Kings Officers it gave it self up voluntarily into the hands of the League The same would perchance have happened at Metz a Fortress and City of great consequence if the Duke of Espernon who had the Government of it foreseeing the danger had not in time put in Gentlemen and Soldiers from several places by which relief the Garrison being confirm d which of it self was wont to be very strong as a place of importance upon the Frontiers the Duke of Guise thought not fit to make any attempt either not having sufficient Forces to besiege it or doubting he should spend so much time about it as would prejudice his main design At the same time happened a Commotion in the City of Marseilles the chief Port of Provence and a place infinitely desired by those of the League that they might more easily and by a shorter cut receive supplies from Spain They had drawn to their party Louis Daries Consul of the City and Claude Boniface called Chabanes one of the City Captains whereof the first being a man of a tyrannical nature desired to attain to the absolute Government the other aspiring to the inheritance of his Brother who was one of the Kings Treasurers a rich but a very covetous man had wickedly conspired to kill him and therefore desired that tumult and insurrection of the people that he might the more conveniently execute his design These having gained a rabble of followers made up of all sorts and qualities of people went by night to the Treasurers house and calling him to the door under pretence of delivering him certain Letters slew him treacherously and after ran armed through the whole Town exhorting the People to Liberty and the defence of Religion which they proclaimed to be in very great danger by the machinations of forreign Hugonots The common People being up they took and led to prison some that were reported Hugonots others they slew and many hid themselves in private houses the greatest part of the Citizens being as it were astonished by reason of that sudden taking up of Armes and of the Consuls and Captains authority who with the same fury made themselves Masters of the Forts that command the Haven They presently dispatched an Express to give notice of this to Lodovico Gonzago Duke of Nevers who thinking that the revolt of the City was to be effected by other means and without those wicked practices which were caused by private interests under pretence of going to Rome stayed by the way at Avignon with hope that the design of Marseilles succeeding he should by the League be made Governor of Provence and they also sent for Monsieur de Vins and the Count de Saux that they as being nearest might come to assist them But they delaying to come the day following when the first fury of the people began to cool and that the wickedness of Chabanes against his own brother was come to light the multitude of those that were up in Armes began by little and little to fall asunder and one of the gravest Citizens for age and of most authority and esteem named Bouquier having called the people to a parley exhorted every one to take Armes against those seditious men and to endeavour the punishment of the murther committed by Chabanes at which the greater and stronger part of the Citizens being moved who as in a City of great Traffick jealous of their own wealth were very suspicious took Armes generally and began to fall upon those that had raised the Tumult They sent also in great haste to call the Grand Prior of France Bastard Brother to the King and
manner of proceeding with him was kindled with so great indignation that contrary to his wonted câ—stom and first design he answered the Ambassadors of himself with so much sharpness and resentment that instantly they were wonderfully dashed and the next day after without other audience with small honor and as little satisfaction they were dismissed The discourse of the Ambassadors in substance contained a long complaint That the King to satisfie the unjust desire and perverse ambition of the Pope and of certain Princes and Communalties of his Kingdom had broken his word with those of the Reformed Religion and taken away that Liberty of Conscience which he had formerly granted and established by so many Decrees That therefore the Princes of Germany who were interessed and united in the same Religion intreated him to put an end to the War and disturbance of Armes granting both Temporal and Spiritual peace to all his Subjects whereby he might escape the just wrath of God due to such as break their word and might also give them occasion to preserve their ancient friendship with the Crown notwithstanding which they were streightly obliged to provide for the safety of those who without fault of theirs being in distress did implore the aid of those Princes that agreed with them in the confession of the same Faith On the other side the King's Answer contained That having been called and chosen by God to the just profession of his Crown he had also authority not depending upon any body to establish Laws publish Decrees grant Licenses and make fitting Provisions according to the qualities of times and the need of his Subjects and therefore might also revoke change alter and retract them at his pleasure as he was best directed by his Divine Majesty wherefore he did give the lie to whosoever went about to tax him to be a breaker of his word if for the interest of his Subjects and good of his Kingdom he had revoked a liberty granted conditionally and but for a time and that as he had formerly done so he would raign freely for the future marvelling that any should presume to interpose and meddle in the Government of his People and in the Authority of his Person That this was his last resolution neither was it needful for them to stay any longer to hear any other particulars from him The Ambassadors urging to have that Answer given them in writing he angerly refused to do it and giving order that they should be conducted to lodge at Poissy went the next day after being the ninth of September to the City of Paris There notwithstanding the resolute answer given to the Protestant Princes already divulged every where and the progress of the War against the Hugonots already kindled in so many places the mindes of the common people were more then ever enflamed against his person and proceedings which were publickly inveighed against in Pulpits and particularly slandered in private meetings for it being already spread abroad by the Preachers and Heads of the League and rooted in the minds of the Parisians that the King favoured the King of Navarre and the Hugonot party and sought by under-hand means at the sute of his Minions to bring him to the succession of the Crown and to establish them in the free profession of their Faith the hatred conceived upon this occasion was afterwards increased by the frequency of Taxes and Impositions and the continued exalting of the Duke d' Espernon and the other Favourites who not only were highly suspected but extremely hated by the greatest part of the Citizens Wherefore besides the suggestions of the Duke of Guise who kept the Sieur de Meneville perpetually in the City for that purpose the chief of the people being in favour of the League kindled of themselves to conspire both against the Actions and Person of the King had framed a Counsel of such as were most interessed consisting of sixteen persons because the chief Wards or as they call them the Quarters of the City were so many which was to rule and moderate the progress of that business and the mindes of the common people La Chapelle Martel Iehan le Clerc Sieur de Bussy President Nully and Charles Hotman were from the beginning as Heads and Presidents of this Councel and all Trades were brought into it by means of certain men chosen by them one of each profession who being admitted to this Councel made their relations and received their orders concerning whatsoever was resolved by the Sixteen as well for the defence of the City as the service of the League and to oppose themselves against the designs of the King and his Favourites The meetings of this Councel was at first in the Colledge of Fortet commonly called the Cradle of the League afterward they assembled themselves in the Covent of the Dominicans or Jacobines and at last for fear of being suspected and discovered they met not any more together in any certain determinate place but sometimes in one private house sometimes in another with wonderful secrecy But nevertheless all these things were known unto the King by the relation of Nicholas Poulain who as we have said before moved either by hope of reward or by the sting of conscience made the King acquainted with every particular by means of Monsieur d' O and the High-Chancellor for as a chief instrument in the Union of the Parisians he knew the most hidden counsels that were plotted in that Congregation But they of the League not yet finding that their practises were discovered and being fomented and swelled with promises by the Duke of Guise and Don Bernardino Mendozza the Spanish Lieger at Paris their boldness passed so far that besides having possessed the whole scope of the City listed secretly those men that were fit to bear Armes and made great provisions to arm them they had also begun to communicate with other principal Cities of the Kingdom to raise and unite them in the same Conspiracy which being by inveterate use and custome grown to an unbounded liberty they began already to think not onely of seising upon strong Towns and Fortresses but went so far as to dare conspire against the Kings own Person that they might be able afterwards to order the affairs of the Kingdom at their pleasure and as the League should think fit It happened that this counsel of the League being held one day in the Jesuites Colledge a Proposition was made by the Confederates in the name of the Spanish Ambassador to surprise the Town of Boulogne a Fortress in Picardy seated upon the Shore of the Ocean Sea then under the Government of the Duke of Espennon and in his name kept by the Sieur de Bernay with the Authority of Governor The Proposers alledged that the Catholick King being about to set forth a mighty Fleet to go for England was content that using his Forces in favour of that League they should land in France
for those respects which made him proceed warily and dissemble all things to attain to the end of his designs wherefore if he had before feigned himself sick that he might have more conveniency to ripen his determination now he was necessitated to do the same for fear of being taken and put to death by the King if he should go to the Louvre But when after the space of many days it was known that the King made no greater preparations being satisfied with having secured himself the Duke of Mayenne recovering courage resolved to leave the City and retire to his Government of Bourgongne whereupon going to the Louvre he made as if it had been necessary for him to go into the Country by reason of his want of health and asked the King leave who for all his dissimulation could not forbear to say How now Duke will you forsake your League whereat the Duke feigning not to understand him and saying That he knew not what his Majesty meant departed without further delay the King rejoycing no less to see him go and leave the Parisians without a Head and without any setled resolution then he to be out of that danger and to have escaped the Kings Forces without hazard of his life or reputation The Duke of Guise took it very ill that the Parisians had revealed their designs to his Brother as well because knowing himself to have a freer courage and a more subtil sprightly wit he desired in all things to be the man that should give the first motion and beginning and that should order the course of all enterprises as because he knew the nature and actions of the Duke of Mayenne were not altogether conformable to the aims of his intents but the Parisians excused themselves that they suspected their counsels were already discovered whereupon their fear lest the King should prevent them had caused the determination of imparting it to the Duke of Mayenne that they might execute the business without delay having also believed that the having recourse to one Brother more than to another was of no great importance since one was present and the other far off and imployed in other affairs Wherefore the Duke of Guise not to be idle in the midst of so many businesses and not to let his reputation grow stale and decay had upon slight occasions begun a War voluntarily with the Duke of Bouillon who possessing Sedan and Iamets very strong and important Towns with other less places upon the Confines of Lorain and Champagne did by them keep open the passage for the German Army which came in favour of the Hugonots to enter France wherefore the Duke of Guise who desired to shut up that way by trying to drive the Duke of Bouillon from thence having made a great complaint that the Garisons placed in those Towns which were under Sedan where great store of Hugonots were gathered together did much harm to the villages joining upon Champagne he assaulted suddenly and took Donzi a place in that territory very commodious to block up the principal City as he presently would have done if another enterprise had not diverted him The Governour of Aussone a very principal Town in the Dutchy of Bourgongne denied to yield it up to the Duke of Mayenne to whom it had been particularly assigned being encouraged by his so far distance and his having been imployed so long with the Army in Guienne and the Grand Esquier Lieutenant of that Province a man meerly depending upon the King though he made shew of desiring to force that place did yet cunningly defer to do so nor could he find the way to bring him to his due obedience Wherefore the Duke of Guise who would endure no such affronts in the Provinces held and governed by his Family and particularly in Bourgongne closely united with Champagne and standing upon the Confines of the Kingdom and jealous of his Brothers reputation and of his own laying aside the enterprise of Sedan came suddenly into Bourgongne with all the Forces of the League and without other leave from the King unexpectedly besieged Aussone which having a sufficient Garison the Defendents shewed themselves so courageous that in their first sally they defeated Colonel St. Paul's Regiment of Foot killing six Captains and three hundred Souldiers and in the following assaults which were fiercely given unto the wall bâ—at back the Assailants oftentimes with much loss but being streightned by the continual battery of three and twenty Cannon the greatest part borrowed from the Duke of Lorain and distressed with Mines Escalodoes and redoubled assaults and expecting no relief from any place because some few Foot and Horse raised in Mombelliard which State borders upon Bourgongne and in Geneva by Monsieur de Clervant were defeated by Monsieur de Rhosne Camp-Master to the Duke of Guise they capitulated in the end to yield themselves and having leave from the Duke to go to Sedan and Iamets upon the eighteenth of August they delivered up the place to the Duke of Guise who having made the Baron de Senesay Governour returned presently to the Government of Champagne and from thence went to Soissons where in a Diet of the principal Heads of the League it was resolved that the War with the Duke of Bouillon should be continued wherefore as he was resolute in his determinations and most quick in the execution having in a few days put his Army in order he attaqued Racroy a place fortified after the modern way and constantly defended by the Sieur de Monmore But in that multiplicity of assaults and variety of attempts wherein the art of the Duke of Guise was admirable and his valour no less the having no hope of relief constrained the Defendents to yield at last amongst which one called Persevalle and two other Captains corrupted with money and promises by the Duke feigned to retire to Sedan and Iamets giving him assurance they would deliver up a Gate of each of those Cities when it should be their turn to have the guard of them upon which hopes though with forces inferiour to what was requisite for the besieging a place of so great moment he quartered at Moucon a Town near Sedan and resolved under colour of streightning it to expect the performance of those promises But while the Duke of Guise does these things in Champagne the Queen-Mother the place of interview with the King of Navarre being appointed was come to Cognac attended by Ludovico Gonzaga Duke of Nevers who having left the League had put himself wholly under her protection by the Mareschal de Retz the Sieurs d' Abin and de Rambouillet by the Abbot Guadagni Secretary Pinart Monsieur de Lansac and divers other personages who for quality and wisdom were of great esteem On the other side the King of Navarre was come to Iarnac with the Viscount de Turenne the Sieur de la Force and Monguidon the Baron de Salignac and many other Lords of his party
new Prohibition about the middle of August the Army was ready to begin to march And to the end that businesses might prosper under the conduct of the Duke of Bouillon and the Baron d' Onaw the Count de la Marck was appointed to lead the Van the command of the German Cavalry was given to the Baron de Bouck an expert Souldier of that Nation that of the Swisse Infantry to Claude Anthony Sieur de Clervant to Mouy the command of the French Foot the Sieur de Guitry a French man and Lodovick Romf a German being Marshals of the Field Against all these preparations the Duke of Lorain who in all the other Wars had ever stood Neuter and now had declared himself in favour of the League and of the Lords of his Family being first at the Frontiers was in a very great fear finding he had not sufficient force to make resistance and with Letters and Messages sollicited the Duke of Guise and all his Friends and Confederates that since they had drawn him into so much danger they would also be ready and speedy to help him out He had raised two thousand Reiters out of the Territories of the Catholick Princes of Germany under the command of the Baron of Swartzembourgh eight hundred other Horse some Albanians some Italians and four thousand Foot of his own State to which Forces the Prince of Parma Governour of the Low-Countries in performance of the League with the Catholick King had added eight hundred Bourguignon Horse under the Command of the Marquess de Havray and two thousand Foot all Walloons under the command of the Marquess de Varambone But it being necessary to put a Garison in Nancy the chief City of Lorain and many other lesser Towns he had neither Force enough left to hinder the passage of the Germans nor to defend his Country from their Incursions and therefore the Duke of Guise the very Soul and Life of his Party and upon whom the Foundation of all the Affairs of the League was setled drew Friends and Forces together from all parts to assist and defend the Duke of Lorain Nor did the King of France make less preparations than the rest but being resolved to shew his face and make himself Arbitratour of Affairs he drew all his Forces together for besides eight thousand Swisse Foot raised under the publick colour of the Catholick Cantons he also levied fourteen thousand French Foot summoned all the Souldiery called all the Nobility to attend him having determined to command his Army himself in person wherein he received no other hinderance but the unquietness of the Parisians for the Preachers and the Council of Sixteen ceased not to stir up the people and to make frequent tumults in the City insomuch as the Authority of the King and his Magistrates was despised and trodden under Foot with very great danger of an open change desired and procured by them Nor durst the King in that present condition punish the authors of those tumults for fear of causing an absolute revolt and in a conjuncture of so great danger deprive himself of that City which had ever been the Basis and Foundation of his Party this encouraged them with more boldness to multiply their designs which would have produced the event aimed at by the Heads of the League if first the imminent fear of the German Army and then the Kings Oath taken against the Hugonots and the promise wherewith he took Arms for the common defence had not restrained and withheld the people who out of fear and some certain respects of duty were not very forward to embrace seditious counsels But the King having with great dexterity and patience often quieted those uproars raised without occasions full of ill-will towards the Heads of Sedition though cunningly dissembling it having left the Queen-Mother as Regent in Paris and Monsieur de Villequier as Governour departed from the City about the end of Iuly and went to Meaux ten leagues from thence about which place he had caused Quarters to be taken up for his Army Thither the Duke of Guise came unto him Meaux being a Town under his command and they met together with shews of exceeding kindness and respect but thoughts very different from the outward appearance The division of both Horse and Foot was made in the Duke of Guise's presence the King having appointed twenty Cornets of Horse and four Regiments of Foot for the Duke reserving all the rest for the Army which he was to lead himself but almost all the Horse were withheld afterward with several excuses and the Duke of Guise had only those Foot left him which were brought by his dependents for in their meetings and discourses suspicions being rather increased than former hearts-burning taken away the King was so much the more firmly setled in his intention to beware no less of the Duke of Guise than of the foreign Army and to leave him weak that he might be the more easily cut off since that whether his Forces were many or few he could do no less than draw near the Enemy and fall upon him either in the State of the Duke of Lorain or in the Confines of his own Government After two days the Duke of Guise departed and making his Rendezvous at St. Florentine a place near Troye with seven hundred Cuirassiers of Gentlemen that were his dependents six hundred Light-horse part Albanians part Italians and part sent by the Sieur de Balony Governour of Cambray and with two thousand French Foot led by the Sieurs de Ioannes de Clusseau de Gies and de St. Paul his old Colonels he marched streight toward Lorain All the Lords of that Family were met together at Nancy where the Duke commonly resides and there fell to consult which way they should oppose the German Army The opinions were different or rather oppositely contrary for the French Lords among which the Duke of Guise was the chief would have made the seat of the War in the State of the Duke of Lorain a streight narrow Country and by reason of the abundance of Rivers fit for some great enterprise keeping the Germans busied in a place where they could not hope to join with the King of Navarre and where being near their own Country they would easily disband and run home upon every small occasion or disorder that might arise nor did the greatness of the foreign Army at all dismay the Duke of Guise a man of a resolute undaunted courage but despising the number of raw untrained men newly raised in haste he thought himself able to accomplish any thing with his old tried Souldiers But the Duke of Lorain was of a contrary opinion who with the Marquess du Pont his eldest Son the Count de Saulme his principal Minister the Count de Chaligny one of the King of France his Brothers in law and with the Sieurs de Ossonville and Bassompierre thought not fit to submit his Country to all the dangers
Heads of the League to be presented to the King wherein after many preambles and many reasons very cunningly laid together they demanded in substance That he would unite himself truly with them and would sincerely make himself Head of the League to the destruction and rooting out of the Hugonots That he would put those persons from the Court from his Councils and from their Offices who should be named by the Catholick Princes as suspected and ill-affected to Religion That he would make the Council of Trent be received and observed through the whole Kingdom only excepting those things which did prejudice the priviledge of the Gallique Church That he would grant some certain places which should be thought fit unto the Confederate Princes for their security wherein they might keep Garisons and make necessary Fortificatiâ—â—s at the expences of the Crown That he would maintain an Army about th◠〈◊〉 of Lorain under the command of one of the Confederate Princes to hinder 〈…〉 of Foreigners That he would cause all the Estates of the Hugonots to 〈◊〉 and sold wherewith the expences of the late Wars might be satisfied and the Confederates might be assisted toward the maintenance of future matters The Writing contained these prinâ—ipal things and many others of less consequence which being presented to the King in the beginning of February was received by him with his wonted dissimulation and the answer deferred with his wonted delays nor did the Duke of Guise press much to know his resolution for the end of the demand was only to make the King contemptible and render him odious to the people suspected to favour the Hugonots and furnish the League with an occasion and pretence to take up Arms and presecute their begun-designs while the prosperity of their fortune lasted But these artifices were needless to make the Kings person odious and contemptible The burdens which the War the maintaining of so many Armies and his own profane manner of spending daily increased had lost the hearts of the people The noise and splendour of the Duke of Guise's Victories had obscured the majesty of his Name his obstinate favour to his Minions had alienated the minds of his most ancient most devoted Servants and the People of Paris swayed by the ambition of the Council of Sixteen could no longer endure Government The City was full of infamous Pamphlets politick Discourses Satyrical Verses and fabulous Sories which for the most part abusing the Name of the Duke d' Espernon redounded to the scorn and disgrace of the Royal Majesty On the other side all the Streets and every corner of Paris resounded the praises of the Duke of Guise celebrated in Verse and Prose by a thousand Writers with the Title of the new David the second Moses the Deliverer of the Catholick People the Prop and Pillar of the Holy Church and the Preachers in their wonted manner but with greater licence openly inveighing against the present affairs filled the ears of the people with wonders or rather miracles so they called them of this new Gideon come into the World for the desired safety of the Kingdom Which things spread from the City of Paris as from the heart diffused themselves thorow all the Provinces as into the members which were possessed with the same impressions as well to the Kings disadvantage as in favour of the League This Commotion was fully perfected by the Kings own determination who either blinded with the affection he bore the Duke d' Espernon or because he would not advance other men whom they had no great cause to trust declared him Admiral of the Kingdom and Governour of Normandy places that were vacant by the Duke of Ioyeuse his death which absolutely pierced thorow the heart of the Duke of Guise seeing that he continued in his wonted customs and that one man alone being exalted to the highest degree of greatness himself his Brother and the rest of his Family how great soever their merits were could never obtain nor compass any thing so that forgetting the determinations resolved on at Nancy and that wary moderation which the Duke of Lorain had advised he began without more delay to think of reducing the authority of the Government into his own power making the Parisians his principal instruments who no less displeased and incensed than himself did earnestly sollicite him to that resolution Wherefore having received particular information of the state of things from the Council of Sixteen whereby they assured him that they had twenty thousand armed men in the City at their devotion ready to be put upon any enterprise That they were divided into sixteen Squadrons to every one of which they had appointed a Commander and that the rest of the people would without question follow the stream of the chief men by reason they were ill affected to the person of the King and the Duke d' Espernon and on the other side most zealous in the cause of Religion he considering that confusion easily ariseth among the multitude and that the division into sixteen several quarters was too many to meet altogether suddenly in one body when need should require writ to the Council that they should lessen that number and reduce it into but five quarters to which they should appoint a place where they should meet at the sign that should be given them and that they should dispose things in such a manner as might breed neither disorder nor confusion and as well to assure himself absolutely that that business should proceed according to his own will as because he had no confidence in the small experience of those Heads appointed and chosen by the Parisians he sent them five Commanders who were to order the five quarters and to rule and moderate the turbulence of popular Arms. These were the Count of Brissac the Sieur de Bois-Dauphin the Sieur de Chamois the Sieur d' Esclavoles and Colonel St. Paul to whom the Sieur de Meneville was added who from the first had been the Mediator and chief Instrument in that business These entered openly into Paris under colour of private affairs and being lodged in those quarters of the City that were appointed them frequented the Court and followed divers businesses leaving the care to Meneville of bringing the matter to its conclusion and to give the greater assistance to it the Duke of Guise gave order to the Duke of Aumale who had Forces in Picardy to make himself be obeyed by many Governours of places who fomented by the Duke of Espernon refused to acknowledge him That he should keep five hundred good Horse in a readiness to be there in due time to put life in the design of the Parisians who knowing that such order was given desired Iehan Conty one of the Eshevins or as we call them in England Sheriffs of the City that he would let them have the Keys of the Port St. Martin which he kept as the custom is to the end that when
occasion should serve they might bring in that supply which was to come out of Picardy but he refusing they dealt with Pierre Brigard Eshevin of the next quarter who promised them the Keys of Port St. Dennis by which their assistance might be brought in as well as by that of St. Martin And because they doubted that Conty who had denied to consent unto it might reveal the business to the King they found an invention to make him be complained of for an Heretick and many other misdemeanours putting him by that means in discredit to the end that his relation might not be believed Things being contrived in this manner the means of executing them remained to be resolved on The Commanders sent by the Duke and the major part of those â—hosen by the Council of Sixteen thought that to assault the Louvre where the King lay encompassed with his Guards and the Nobility that attended him would be a dangerous enterprise of too loud a violence and no ways likely to succeed and they foresaw besides that the fact would seem very scandalous to the rest of the Kingdom that also if it failed but never so little or that the effecting of it should be a work of time many disorders would arise and the King might have opportunity to make himself Superiour wherefore they resolved unanimously to make use of the occasion which the time of Lent would afford them to take his person then when with the Duke of Espernon he should be in procession as he was wont in the habit of a Penitent among the whipping Friars neither accompanied by his Guards nor the ordinary retinue of the Court and as soon as he should be seized upon under colour of a popular Sedition caused by the indignation of the common people exasperated by the heavy punishments that lay upon them aad Enemies to the Authority of the Minions that he should be shut up in a Monastery with strong Guards after which the Duke of Aumale's five hundred Horse and his other Forces should presently come in to take absolute possession of the principal places and keep them guarded till the Duke of Guise should arrive who calling the States General and shewing either the Kings incapacity or his evil intentions and evil Government might cause the affairs of the Kingdom to be disposed at the arbitrement and to satisfaction of the League But Nicholas Poulain who was privy to all this Conspiracy did by means of the High Chancellor quickly make the resolution that had been taken known to the King who though he did not absolutely give credit to the discovery by reason of the weight and importance of the thing grounded upon no other assurance than the bare affirmation of Poulain a man of no very good repute and suspected by that means to seek for profit and reward yet thinking fit to look to himself he feigned himself not well and upon that excuse forbore to go to any spiritual exercises with the Fraternity of the Penitents And that he might be the better assured of the truth he caused Poulain to be brought one night secretly into his closet and in the presence of the High Chancellour Monsieur d' O and the Abbot del Bene examined him particularly concerning all things he had revealed seeming not to believe him and to doubt that he was set on and suborned to say so by those of the Hugonot party Poulain with a secure confidence and distinct narration confirmed all that he had discovered added all the particulars and smallest circumstances named all the accomplices related from the beginning the whole Conspiracy and at last with a free courage and setled countenance offered to be put in prison and kept there till he had justified all that he had said and in conclusion added That the Council of Sixteen was to be held the next day in the house of Monsieur de la Bruyiere one of the Conspirators and that if the King would send whom he pleased along with him with a sufficient Guard he would put them all into his hands so that none of them should be able to hide themselves or deny the Conspiracy The King dismissed him with gracious words and very great promises and went presently to the Duke of Espernon's lodgings where they conferred together the space of half an hour and being come from thence about midnight went to the Queen-Mothers Chamber which was in the Palace and having wakened her told her distinctly all that had been revealed unto him and began to consult whether he should do well to follow Poulain's advice and send the next day to take the Conspirators The thing in appearance was easie and secure but in effect full of great difficulty and danger for it was not to be doubted but upon very little stir all the quarters of the City would be up in Arms according to the order already taken and under the Commanders already appointed who would never suffer their Heads to be laid hold on and carried away prisoners by so small a number as a Company of the Guards which was all they were able to send about that business nor could they doubt of this effect since they had often proved that when any one of the Heads of the City had been taken by the Officers of the Court either upon civil or criminal occasions the common people had ever run violently and seditiously armed to deliver him and if the people being raised upon the apparent colour that their Heads and Protectors were like to be seized upon should suddenly assault the Louvre the King and Court unarmed unprovided undefended except by the ordinary Guards they would hardly be able to make resistance against so great a Force led by so expert resolute Commanders and who being come to that pass would readily embrace so specious an occasion of making it appear that they stirred not to offend others but only in their own defence They considered that the people of Paris were so powerful that they could not be curbed but by mighty Forces and to undertake what they could not compass would be nothing else but to overthrow the business and come off with loss and dishonour They foresaw that the Conspirators would presently be relieved by the Dukes of Guise and Aumale who were hard by in Arms whereas the King had no Body of men ready to assist him in a case of so great danger They knew that they were not to trust in the Hugonot party as well because they had always feared the King and esteemed him a bitter Enemy to their Religion as because the defeat of the Germans had so terrified them that they all thought rather of leaving the Kingdom to save their lives by flight than of following the conduct of the Princes to save themselves by the Sword and so much the more by reason that the Prince of Conde's death which happened about this time at St. Iehan d' Angely by poison given him as was reported by his
complain since they themselves had been the Incendiaries of the War and above all the Parisians that War could not be made without money and money could not be raised without oppressing the people by which means he was brought to bear the blame of a fault that was not his for those that cried out against Impositions were the very same who seditiously had forced him to make a War that the City of Paris to which he had done more good than ten of his Predecessors together which had ever been his Favourite wherein he had made his constant habitation which caused the riches and plenty of the Citizens had now declared it self his Enemy and having derided and defamed his Name had also gone on to conspire against his Person that he knew very well that those Plots were contrived by strangers and that the good people who were originally of the City consented not unto them and that therefore he had resolved to turn all strangers out of the City to take away the fuel from that pestilent fire which begun to spread that he would not make use of foreign Arms to purge the City whilst he should be faithfully served by the Citizens themselves that he required his assistance in that business and that he would give him that proof of the fidelity and sincerity he professed for when he should once be assured of the obedience of his Subjects he had nothing more to desire of him and when once the strangers were driven out and the City setled without tumult in the condition it ought to be he would cast away all former suspicions and willingly consent to the moderation of future businesses After he had ended his discourse he called the Prevost des Merchands and the Eschevins of the City who were present and commanded them to search all houses diligently the day after with such other persons as he should appoint for that purpose and that they should turn out all strangers who had setled themselves there without urgent necessity That they should make no distinction of persons for he was certified there were fifteen thousand who were set on to raise scandals and come to stir up new commotions to the danger of the lives and goods of the Citizens With this Commission the Deputies departed promising to serve him faithfully and after many such discourses the Duke of Guise departed also having promised the same For he had lull'd the King with his arts and that his presence had so terrified him that he should no longer need much Force Whereupon he said to some of his familiar Friends that he hoped without noise or difficulty to obtain an Assembly of the States General wherein he doubted not but matters should go on according to his wish and design The King appointed Monsieur de Villequier and Monsieur d' O to make search for the strangers which the same Guards and jealousies continuing was begun the next morning but with obstinate backwardness and most apparent dissimulation of the Parisians who knew that those that were lodged in the City were all the Duke of Guise's dependents and sent by him nor were they willing that by expelling them their own Forces should be dissolved Whereby the Kings Deputies perceived that they laboured but in vain and that the intention of disarming and weakning the Duke of Guise could not succeed by that means nor produce any effect and therefore they let the King know so much who angry and exasperated resolved at last to tame the people by force and endeavour to suppress the Conspirators without longer delay To that end he presently dispatched the Mareschal de Byron to bring the Swisses into Paris and Monsieur d' O to fetch the Companies of his Guards which were lodged out of the City in the near adjacent places and gave order that neither the Gentlemen Archers nor Souldiers of the Guards should stir any more out of the Court but that all should keep close about his Person This was not unknown to the Duke of Guise who to set the strength of the People against the Kings Forces caused a report to be presently spread about the City that the King had resolved to put to death Sixscore of the principal Catholicks and to put Garisons in the chief places to suppress the Citizens and that therefore it was necessary for them to prepare for their defence A counterfeit List was framed of the Sixscore names the Copies whereof were dispersed abroad the Duke of Guise being set down first of all and President Nully President Maistre the Sieurs de Bussy and la Chapelle Hautman the Receiver and after them all the Curates Preachers Deputies and Eschevins and finally all such as were beloved of the people the fear of whose danger might stir them up to take Arms causing this forgery to be divulged with so much vehemence of words and actions and with so much feigned terrour by cunning active persons who were acquainted with the peoples humours that they began to talk of rising that very night the Commanders being ordered and chosen in every quarter and the Dukes Gentlemen appointed to rule and moderate the rashness of the armed people But things were not yet fully ripe and the night of the eleventh day was spent in these practices on every side till in the morning upon Thursday the twelfth of May they heard the Swisses Fifes and Drums which beating their march entered at the Porte St. Honore the Mareschal de Byron on horseback leading them and then the French Companies followed under their several Captains with all their matches lighted The King being also got on horseback went out to receive them welcoming the Souldiers at the entry of the gate and commanded with a loud voice repeating it many times that they should all forbear to commit the least insolence or do the least injury to the Citizens upon pain of death without mercy And having given order to Monsieur d' O and the Mareschal de Byron to possess and guard all the chief places of the Town went back to the Louvre where the Souldiers of the Guards were armed and in a readiness upon all occasions The Mareschal de Byron perhaps not acquainted with the Kings design thought it expedient first to possess those places which were nearest the Louvre for the security and defence of the Court and therefore first of all he possessed himself of St. Innocents Church-yard being at the end of the Rue St. Honore and there he placed nine hundred Swisses setting the rest to the number of one thousand six hundred about the Boucherie the Marche-neuf the Chasteleâ— and Townhouse Monsieur d' O took the Pont au Change and the Pont St. Michel placing Monsieur du Gast upon the one and Monsieur Marivant upon the other the Companies of Beauvais Nangy and Monsieur de l' Archant being left to guard the Gate of the Louvre toward the Rue St. Thomas But the business was very ill ordered in that
urged by the Secretary to the Messenger of the Conspiratours who being a while after admitted into the King's Closet and known by him had Commission to be referred to such Orders as he should receive from the Secretary who though he would not give him any thing in writing yet he commanded that they should endeavour without fail to get the Duke of Espernon alive into their hands or drive him from the City affirming that it was his Majesties effectual desire and that by so doing they might very much oblige him The Conspiratours much quickned both by the relation of Villeroy different enough from the King's coldness and by the addition which as the custom is the Messenger made both of words and actions to shew themselves able executors of their promise talked not onely of taking the Duke alive but of killing him if they could not get him otherwise and having conferred of the business with the Sieurs de Mere de la Messeliere the Viscount of Aubeterre and some other Gentlemen of the Country upon the tenth day of August being the Feast of St. Laurence they ran suddenly to the Castle and having taken possession of the Gate the Guards not having the least suspition they went on to the Duke's most private lodgings and there fell upon his servants that were in the ante-chamber while he in the Room within was talking with the Sieur de Marivant and the Abbot del Bene. Here the resistance of a few stopt the violence of many for Raphaello Gieronimi a Florentine defended the entry of the door a great while with the death of three of the Conspiratours till he lost his life being shot with a Pistol when he was dead Sorlin the Duke's Chirurgion opposing the Enemies most stoutly though he were grievously wounded and with a loud voice calling up the Family which was in the lower Room to joyn in the defence stayed the fury of the assailants while the Duke and they that were with him having shut the door of the Chamber and made it up with Trunks and Chests which they found there had time to defend their lives against so sudden a violence In the mean time while these fought at the Chamber-door the Duke's Gentlemen among which Lancillotty di Nores a Cyprian first of all having heard the noise and taken Armes recovered the Gate of the Castle where the Sieurs d' Ambleville and l' Artigues staying to defend it the rest ran armed upon the staires and having found the Conspiratours who strove as much as possibly they could to get into the Chamber cut them all in pieces except one of the Consuls of the City whom they laid hands on and took alive The Duke having put on his Armes came forth of the Chamber and with his servants stood undauntedly upon his defence and being come into the Court where the clamour encreased he with his own hand slew the Consul's brother who was got thither having scaled the Castle-walls with some others that had armed themselves to relieve their Friends There they took five more of the chief Citizens prisoners who were got in by the same means and in that manner the furious assault of the Conspirators was repulsed In the mean time at the ringing of the Toquesaint all the People in the City were raised the chief whereof ran to seise upon the Duke's Lady who not suspecting any thing was gone to Mass in the great Church The Conspirators received new supplies every minute by the Gentry who knowing the business came in to them wherefore being increased in strength and courage they presently set things in order to assault the Castle But the Duke and they that were with him defended it valiantly and by threatning to kill the prisoners that were in their hands who were persons of note and principal men among the Citizens they kept the people in awe till the Sieur de Tagens came up with his Gens d' Armes who being quartered hard by made haste presently at the noise which was heard a great way off in the Fields at his arrival the people were affrighted and the Heads of the Conspiracy being dismayed at last by means of the Bishop of the City and of the Abbot del Bene they agreed that the Prisoners should be set at liberty the Dutchess likewise restored the Gentlemen that were of the Conspiracy put out of the City and the Duke as before acknowledged Governour for the King who shewing much courage in defending himself and much moderation after the Agreement did quickly extinguish that fire which had like suddenly to have consumed him The news of this business put Secretary Villeroy absolutely out of the King's favour who would not believe if the Messenger from the Citizens of Angoulesm had been answered as doubtfully and coldly in that matter as he intended that ever they would have dared to go so far as to attempt even against the Duke's life he having expresly forbidden them to do any such thing but thought for certain that Secretary Villeroy laying hold of that occasion had made use of it to wreak the open enmity and bitter hatred which he bore the Duke of â—spernon wherefore fretting within himself believing that he was surrounded on every side by Ministers that were sway'd with passion and interests and condemning their too much wisdom whereby they searched even into the marrow of his thoughts he remembred the example of his Grand-father who in the later times of his Reign had put away from him all those old Ministers of State which were become suspected for their too much wisdom and had imployed men of great integrity but such as were not of too high an understanding from whom he had received betterand more fruitful service then from those that were grown old in the prudence and experience of affairs With thisthought as soon as he was gone from Chartres to continue his journey towards Blois where he had determined to accomplish the end of his designs he dismissed from Court the Sieurs de Pinart and Brulart his old Secretaries of State and sent Benois his trusty Cabinet-Secretary to tell the High-Chancellor Chiverny Monsieur Bellieure and the Sieur de Villeroy who were gone to their houses to order their affairs and return that the King satisfied with the pains they had already taken commanded them to return no more to Court which order was received and executed by Bellieure with great moderation the High Chancellor laboured in vain to justifie himself and to get leave to return and the Sieur de Villeroy though he obeyed shewed nevertheless a great sense of grief thinking that his long toilâ— and services happily performed were unjustly despised and too ungratefully requited In the place of the High-Chancellor the King as the custome is chose Francois de Monthelon his Advocate in the Parliament of Paris to be Garde des Seaux a man of great integrity and honest intentions but not much accustomed to matters of Government wherein
Duke of Mayenne to consent to peace goes out of the Kingdom The war is begun furiously in every place The Duke of Montpensier defeats the Gautiers in Normandy The Kings of France and Navarre meet in the City of Tours The Duke of Mayenne takes the Duke of Vendosm and the Count de Brienne prisoner he assaults the Kings Infantry in the Fauxbourgs of Tours and takes and possesseth himself of many Posts The King of Navarre comes up with his Army and the Duke going away takes many places in his march toward Normandy The Duke of Aumale besieges Senlis fights with the Duke of Longueville and Sieur de la Noue and loses the day The Duke of Mayenne to recover this loss marches towards Paris The King with his Army follows the same way takes Gergeau Piviers Chartres Estampes Montereau Poissy and other places he joyns with the Duke of Montpensier The Swisses and Germans raised for his assistance arrive He takes the adjacent Towns and layes siege to Paris where the Duke of Mayenne and the People having but small hopes to defend themselves resolve to stand it out to the utmost Frier Jaques Clement a Dominican goes out of the City is brought into the King's Chamber and stabs him into the belly with a knife the King dying declares the King of Navarre his lawful successor and perswades him to turn Catholick The Army and particularly the Nobility waver in their resolutions at last they resolve to acknowledge the King of Navarre provided Religion might be secured He makes them a promise in writing to imbrace the Roman-Catholique-Faith He rises from Paris by reason of the wasting of his Army makes shew as if he would besiege Rouen and goes to Diepe The Duke of Mayenne much encreased in strength follows him they fight at Pollet at Arques and under the Walls of Diepe Supplies come to the King from many parts The Duke of Mayenne marches off and goes into Picardy the King enlarges himself towards the Isle of France He takes and sacks the suburbs of Paris goes directly to Tours and by the way seizeth upon many places He enters into that City is received with great pomp sits in the Parliament excuses to the Nobility his delay of changing his Religion Marches into lower Normandy and reduceth all that Province into his power AFter the bloody Tragedy which ended the year 1588 followed a dreadful terrible alteration of the Scene for the news of the death of the Lords of Guise being come the same day to Orleans the next to Paris and from hand to hand into all parts of the Kingdom it is not possible to believe how much it troubled and disturbed the mindes not onely of the common people inclined by nature and custom to embrace all emergent occasions of change but of all degrees and all qualities of persons and which seemed very strange of many also who in times past had been esteemed prudent moderate men This so great perturbation of mens minds produced in their first fury rash precipitate effects for the City of Orleans which for a long time before had held the party of the League and moreover had been wont in all the course of the Civil Wars to be first up in Armes having heard of the Duke of Guise's death and the imprisonment of all the rest by them who fleeing hastily from Blois were gotten thither at the first stage and particularly by the Sieur de Rossieuz one of the Counsellors of the League without any determinate resolution and without staying for a Head to order them they took Arms openly the very same night and having driven away or suppressed the King's Magistrates who endeavoured to hinder the Insurrection they went all confusedly to assault the Fortress in which Monsieur d' Entraques his Lieutenant was for the King with a very few Soldiers and as in a sudden accident in want of all those things which are necessary to make good a place The Citizens of Chartres did the same though in the late Commotions it had been of the King's party and having taken Arms thrust out all that favoured the King's name or that would have opposed the Insurrection and began to govern it self without the consent of the Magistrates But the news being come to Paris upon Christmas-eve at the shutting in of the day brought first by a Post dispatched from Don Bernardino Mendozza and afterward by Captain Hippolito Zanzala of Ferrara one of the Captains entertained by the Duke of Guise the Shops were hastily shut up and the multitude in their wonted tumult ran some to the Hostel de Guise where were the Dutchesses of Guise and Montpensier the Dukes Wife and Sister and some to the City Gates to look for more certain news and more distinct particulars of the business which when they had learned by the arrival of those who having fled from Blois came all running without stay to Paris the people sometimes with howlings sometimes with lamentations sometimes with exceeding fierce cries wavered in their resolutions there not being yet any one ready to govern the violence and direct the determinations of the confused giddy multitude For the Dutchess of Guise with a Womanish softness was all in tears and the Dutchess of Montpensier a Lady of a haughty mind and full of bold manly spirits who had torn the Kings name and credit more with her Tongue than her Brothers had done with their Swords and all their practices being from her birth lame of one foot and subject to frequent infirmities was then lying in her bed and had already been indisposed for many dayes Wherefore the Council of the League being come together in the midst of the tumultuous people resolved to send for Charles of Lorain Duke of Aumale who fleeing from the States at Blois out of a certain presaging fear had staid in Paris and that very day was retired to his devotions to the Covent of Carthusians hard by the City at whose arrival though late at night all the multitude ran to his house but onely spent the time in bewailings and lamentations The next day the whole City being in grief they dispatched Divine Service quickly without their wonted Musick and Singing and from the Churches being come to the Town-house the same Council met again there at which were present the most noted Citizens and also many of the Magistrates some drawn by an anxious curiosity some driven by the fear of being torn in pieces by the fury of the multitude and some came with a desire to find remedy against the unbridled rashness of the common people But it was all in vain For in stead of Counsels there being nothing heard but bitter Invectives and Injurious Threats against the King's name they resolved in the first place that till a further determination the Duke of Aumale should be declared Governor of the City and that under his obedience they should from new advertisements expect new occasion of taking another resolution Yet he not
having power to do or determine any thing without the Council of Sixteen and because every one cried out tumultuously that the City ought to be kept from the machinations and violences of the Hugonots and Politicks who upon occasion of the slaughter of Blois might plot against the general peace and safety the Duke having taken the name and authority of Governor put the people in Arms and under their Commanders distributed them to the keeping of the principal places taking care that the goods and houses of the Citizens might not be pillaged by the Seditious Rabble The same evening and the next day the Preachers thundered from their Pulpits the praises of the Duke of Guise's Martyrdom and detestations of that slaughter most cruelly committed by the King in such manner that not onely the mindes of the baser people but also of the most noted Citizens were won by their perswasions and kindled with an infinite desire to take revenge Which boldness both in the Preachers and People was doubled when they heard the news of the Cardinals death also which brought them to the highest pitch of rage and madness so that upon the Eight and twentieth of December being Innocents day the Council of Sixteen caused a Writing to be presented to the Colledge of Divines called the Sorbonne in the name of the Provost and Eschevins of the City wherein relating how much the Lords of Guise deserved of the Catholick Church and their being murdered by the King as Protectors of the faith they demanded whether he might not lawfully be said to have forfeited his Crown and whether it were not lawful for his Subjects notwithstanding their Oath of Allegiance to withdraw their obedience from him as an Hypocrite Prince an open favourer of Heresie and a persecutor of the holy Church who had bloodied his hands in the sacred Order and eminent Person of a Cardinal The Colledge of Sorbonne being assembled there was no great debate about the matter For though Iehan Fabray Dean of the Colledge a man of profound Learning followed by Robert Vauvarrin and Dennis Sorbin two of the Senior Doctors argued that though it were true that the business had passed as the Writing related which was doubtful yet neither for all that could the King be said to have forfeited the Kingdom nor was it lawful for his People to withdraw their obedience from him so great nevertheless was the ardour of the younger men excited by the Preachings of Guilliaume Roze Bishop of Senlis of the Curats of St. Paul and St. Eustache of Iehan Vincestre Iohn Hamilton Father Iaques Commolet a Jesuit Father Bernard a Fuillant and of Father Francois de Feu-ardant a Franciscan that they unanimously concurred to determine both the points and with concurring votes declared That the King had forfeited his right to the Crown and that his subjects not onely might but ought to cast off their obedience and that providing for the Government they justly had power to make confederacies to impose Subsidies raise Soldiers dispose of the Revenues of the Crown and to do all other things which were opportune or convenient for the defence of Religion and their own security They added with the same universal consent that the Decree of this Declaration should be sent to the Pope that he might confirm it and make it so authentick that the validity of it might not at all be called in question for the time to come after which Declaration the people as it were loosened from the bonds of obedience and having broken the rein of Modesty ran violently to the breaking down of the King's Armes and Statues wheresoever they found them and began furiously to seek out all those which could be accounted dependents of his party by them called Narvarrists and Politicks which insolent tumultuous search forced many quiet men and such as were averse from those turbulent wayes to leave their houses to save their lives many others were fain to compound with money and some notwithstanding the Duke of Aumale took great pains to prevent it lost their lives unfortunately in the business while which things were done with infinite disorder all the streets were full of Arms noises and confusions and the meanest people raging against the marks of Royalty committed scandalous and intolerable insolencies all Churches eccho'd with voices of the Preachers who aggravated the Parricide committed by Henry of Valois no longer called King of France but the Heretick Tyrant and persecutor of the holy Church and all places were full of Libels both in Verse and Prose which contained and amplified the same things several wayes But the Council of Sixteen desiring to reduce the City totally into their power and seeing the Parliament divided part being inclined to follow the popular commotions part disposed to persevere in their obedience to the King determined that the Presidents and Counsellors which held the King's party should as enemies to the publick good and adherents to the Tyrant be not onely removed from their Offices but also shut up close prisoners in the Bastille foreseeing well that if they continued at liberty and had power to manage their affairs it would infinitely cross their designs and with very great danger interrupt the union and concord of the other Citizens Wherefore having resolved among themselves what was to be done and brought all the Heads of the people to their opinion upon the Sixteenth of Ianuary they with a great number of armed men beset the Palace-Hall where according to the custom the Counsellors of Parliament were met together and having made good all the passages and set guards at every door they called forth Achille de Harlay first President of the Parliament and all the rest by name whom they had determined to lay hold on who being come readily forth to know what they would have with them already presaging very well what would come to pass the Sieur de Bussy deputed to execute that business gave them order to follow him which command grounded rather upon force than reason being by them obeyed without resistance they were led thorough the cries and injurious usage of the people to the Bastille onely Pierre Segiver and Iaques Auguste de Thou by the help of fortune secretly saved themselves who depending upon the King's party had laboured stoutly to keep the Parliament from medling in the Insurrection The favourers of the League being encouraged and the opposers of it terrified by this vehement resolution the remaining Presidents and Counsellors chose Barnabe Brisson first President and Head of the Parliament a man of deep learning and singular eloquence but of a violent various inclination and therefore very subject to alter his opinions easily and afterward the Parliament being solemnly assembled to the number of 160 they with a publick Declaration assented to the deposing of the King and to the freeing of the City and substituted new men in the places of those whom they had put out and imprisoned Nor
did the business end there but to give form to their proceedings the Parliament being assembled again upon the Thirtieth day of Ianuary they made an ample Decree to unite and combine themselves for the defence of the Catholick Religion the safety of Paris and those other Cities that should enter into that League to oppose the power of those who having violated the publick Faith had in the Congregation of the States taken away the lives of the Catholick Princes and defenders of the holy Church to take just revenge for their murther and do justice to those that were injured and finally to defend the Liberty and Dignity of the States of France against all persons whatsoever without exception which Decree was subscribed and sworn to by the Presidents and Counsellors of the Parliament by the Duke of Aumale Governour the Prevost des Marchands the Eschevins of the City and afterwards by a great number as well of the Gentry and Clergy as of the common people and this confederacy with the wonted name and title of the League was also called the Holy-Vnion After this Decree Madam de Guise the late Duke's Wife came to the Parliament where having in her wonted form made her complaint and demanded Justice for the Murther committed upon her Husband and the Cardinal her Brother-in-law reckoning up all the services which the House of Guise had done to the Catholick Religion and to the Crown and exaggerating the cruelty of that slaughter under the Publick Faith and in the presence of the States-General of the Kingdom The Parliament all the several Chambers being solemnly assembled decreed that Justice should be done her and chose two Counsellors who with the publick solemnities should form the Process forbidding all other to meddle about taking any information in that business which they added because they knew that there was diligent inquiry made by the King's order concerning those things which had been done by the Princes of Lorain in their life-time At the Insurrection of the Parliament and City of Paris as at a Beacon or signal of War the greatest Cities and most warlike people of France took arms likewise and rose with a very great and universal commotion for as the news of the death of the Princes of Lorain and of the resolutions of the Parisians was divulged from hand to hand so like a dangerous fire spreading all abroad did this popular tumult successively dilate it self in such manner that not onely Orleans and Chartres which had taken Armes from the beginning but Meaux Crespy the Castle of Pierre-font Corbeil Melun St Denis Pontoyse Senlis Creil Clairmont and all the Towns about the Isle of France joyned themselves to the Union of the Parisians with the same inclination revolted the City of Rouen with the greater part of the Parliament of Normandy Louviers Mante Vernon Lisieux Ponteau-de-Mer Havre de Grace Honfleur Eureux Foâ—geres Falaise Argentan Montivilliers Dreux and except Caen and the Country of Constantine all the Cities and strong places of that rich spacious Province Picardy followed the same example where Amiens Cambray Abbeville Soissons Laon and many other places sided with the Vnion Champagne a Province governed by the Duke of Guise did the like for Rheims Troye Vitry Chasteau-Thierry and all the other Towns except Chalon took part with the League without any demur Nor were mens minds any quieter or the people more moderate in Bourgongne for Dijon with the Parliament of that Province Mascon Lux and many other Towns betook themselves to the same party The like did the Parliament of Aix the head of Provence which was follow'd by Marseilles Carcasonne and Narbonne as also by the City of Bourges where the Law is chiefly studied Mans a principal Town in the Confines of Anjou and many other lesser Villages In Gascogne the Parliament and City of Tholouse took Arms violently to which many other places joyned themselves In Auvergne the Count de Randan with Clairmont Montferrant St Porcin Isoire and other Towns and Fortresses followed likewise the party of the Vnion In Bretagne the Duke de Mercoeur Governor thereof forgetting that he was Brother-in-Law to the King and by him enriched exalted and put into that Government being drawn not onely by the interests of his Family but his own private pretensions which by his Wife he had unto that Province took part with the League Nantes a City of great consequence revolting with him as also Vannes Quimberlay and in a manner all that Province full of Nobility and riches In Guienne the tumult was exceeding high at Bourdeaux a very great City where the Governor of the Province resides and which is the seat of the Parliament But the Mareschal de Matignon who held that Government in the King's name with his wonted courage and prompt resolution made so brave an opposition that having driven out the seditious and got the upper hand with little blood he retained it happily at the King's devotion Yet Agen Perigueux and many other Towns of that Province went over to the League The City of Lyons was the last that rose by reason of Colonel Alfonso Corso his resistance and the opposition of the Swisse and Italian Merchants But the great abundance of common people got the best at last so that they generally resolved to turn to the party of the Vnion and to call the Duke of Nemours who had escaped from prison at Blois and had had that Government conferred upon him by the King to gratifie the Duke of Guise a while before his death The example of the Cities and common people was followed by no small number of the Nobility in the several Provinces drawing with them not only the Train of their Tenants and Peasants but also many Castles and strong Holds in which both for their security and decency the Gentry use to inhabit in all parts of France So that the party of the League was not onely grown very great by the conjunction of the principal Cities but was also strengthned by the abetting of the Nobility in whom for the most part the Forces of that Crown consist By the commotion of this Universal Insurrection as it were miraculously foreseen and foretold by the Queen-Mother upon her Death-bed all the Provinces of the Kingdom were divided and dismembred in such fort that not onely Cities were against Cities and Castles against Castles but also Lords Gentlemen and meaner persons against one another became enemies in such a furious hostile manner that treading down the Laws breaking the bond of common charity and driving away the Magistrates from all places they of themselves without expecting order from their superiors began a most fatal cruel Civil War with fire slaughter blood and rapine For neither the Commotions of the Cities nor the inclinations of this or that particular man being yet know every one mingling his private interests and revenges in the publick combustions did after their own wills fortifie places that were
of Cardinal and contrary to all laws Divine and Humane to put a Cardinal to death and imprison closely two most principal Prelates at the same time highly threatning the Cardinal-Legat who being present had not withheld the King from so heinous an offence The Marquiss de Pisani and Girolamo Gondi who was then arrived with modest and obsequious but yet constant and grave discourses laid open all the King's reasons the crime of high-Treason which the Cardinal of Guise had incurred and whereof the Cardinal of Bourbon and Arch-bishop of Lyons were likewise guilty their forces and power whereby the King was so far disabled to punish them with the wonted forms in a judiciary way that they a few months before had unworthily driven him out of his own Palace and made him fly unknown from the City of Paris to save his life the state of affairs brought to such extremities by the conspiracies managed by the Brothers of Lorain in the States that unless the King as a Ward would be brought into subjection or deprived of his Crown he was necessitated to cause them to be punished though without form of judgment yet not without most apparent reason their crimes being most heinous and manifest which he as King and Head of Justice had power to judge and punish in any manner whatsoever That if nothing else the very contempt they had shown of Religion in making use of so many solemn Oaths and Sacraments of the holy Church as means to deceive him had made them unworthy of the protection of his Holiness who might easily inform and certifie himself by many proofs that it was not to protect and defend the Catholick Faith which no man could hold in greater veneration than the King but for their own ambition and to usurp the Kingdom from the lawful Heirs they had so often with the loss of so many mens lives disturbed and distracted the whole Kingdom Finally they added that the King was an obedient Son of the Church desirous to satisfie the Pope in all things possible and that therefore he had sent Girolamo Gondi to intreat and beseech his Holiness to grant him his blessing in token that he was appeased and pacified The Pope neither perswaded nor appeased replyed that Girolamo Gondi had been dispatched about another business and that he knew it very well that the King was so far from submitting to his obedience and suing for absolution that persevering yet in his sin he still kept prisoners the two chief Prelates in all France who were immediately under the Apostolick See and that if the Cardinal of Guise and the rest had offended so much as the Ambassadors reported the King might have demanded Justice from him to whom it belonged to judge them and that he should have known very well how to administer it And because the Ambassadors answered that they were Ambassadors and publick persons and therefore ought to be believed in whatsoever they represented touching the King's desire and the Blessing which they demanded in his name The Pope replyed that they were Ambassadors to treat of matters that concerned the affairs of the Kingdom of France but that Contrition and Confession in Foro Conscientiae were to go before absolution and that therefore it was needful to send an especial Embassie and a person expresly for that purpose that in token of his Repentance he ought first to set at liberty the Prelates that were in Prison that the King and the Ambassadors sought to deceive him but they should be assured they had not to do with a young Novice but one who even with the shedding of his blood was ready to uphold the dignity of the Holy-Chair and having with sharp words and sharper looks dismissed them he caused the Consistory to be called the next morning in which with a vehement Oration and full of resentment he accused the King in presence of the Cardinals reprehended those who excused and defended him and threatned severely to punish Cardinal Moresini who forgetting the person he represented had without any sense of the affront suffered the Liberty and Dignity of the Holy-Church to be trampled under foot then electing a certain number of Cardinals who were to consult about those matters that appertained to the Kingdom of France the chief whereof were the Cardinals Serbeloni Fachineâ—to Lancellotto Castagna and Sancta Severina he set the business in a high reputation and filled the whole World with exceeding great expectation In the mean time the affairs of the League gathered strength and took form in France for the Duke of Mayenne being departed secretly from Lyons the same night that he heard the news of his Brother's death doubting as it was true that the King had taken order and would send to lay hold on him came much perplexed and uncertain of his condition into the Province of Bourgongne which was governed by him and retired to Mascon from whence he began practices with the other Towns of that Province and particularly with the City and Castle of Dijon commanded by the Baron de Lux Nephew to the Arch-bishop of Lyons and having found the City Parliament and Governour of the Castle ready to receive him and to run his fortune recovering courage he went thither from whence he presently sent unto the Pope the Commendatory Francois Diu Knight of Ierusalem a man vers'd in the Court of Rome and one of the chief ancient abettors of the League to the end that he might complain about the death of his Brothers before the Holy-Chair and beseech the Pope that he would take into his protection the relicks of the Catholick party extreamly trodden down and afflicted While the Duke stayed there not well resolved in his thoughts Letters came from Madam de Montpensier his Sister which gave him notice of the revolt of the Parisians and of all the adjacent Towns and exhorted him to take heart and putting himself into the place of his Brothers to become head of the Vnion with assured hopes not onely to revenge their death but happily to prosecute the contrived and begun design of the League This exhortation and these letters added to the news of the revolt of Orleans and Chartres confirmed the Duke's courage in such manner that the Kings letters written very kindly to him which came to his hands a while after had not power enough to make him yield to peace which at first perhaps he would have greedily embrac'd The King writ that he had been constrained by necessity to forget his own nature to free himself of those conspiracies which the Duke and Cardinal his Brothers had plotted against him and in a manner brought to a conclusion that nevertheless he had not been so severe as any other would have been satisfying himself with taking away the principal Heads and leaving all the rest alive who he hoped might acknowledge and amend their former errors that he had not been moved by any hatred or passion for he had alwayes loved
Exchequer residing there was made the Metropolis of his Party There he made shew to the Catholicks That in the Congregation of the States he would be instructed in the Roman Religion by learned pious men whom he had sent for from all parts and with words and demonstrations professed that he would submit himself to what should be determined in the Assembly Although the Hugonots affirm that he told them otherwise in secret which was not much to be wondered at in the doubtfulness of his present condition These things being dispatched all necessary and fundamental to the establishing of his Kingdom not to stay for the whole Army of the League which was to follow him within 〈◊〉 few days he marched towards Compeigne taking with him the King 's dead body and having by the way taken Meulan Gisort and Clermont arrived there upon the Four and twentieth of August And there having laid the Body in the great Church with very little pomp and such as the necessity of the times would permit he went towards Normandy with all possible speed At his entering into that Province as it were for a prosperous beginning of good fortune Captain Rolet came to him a man no less valiant than discreet who held Pont de l' Arche a most important place three Leagues above Rouen and as it were the Key of the River Seine and taking the Oath of Allegiance delivered up the Fortress into his hands Being come into the Province the King in three days march came to Darnetal a Town less then two leagues distant from Rouen and there having incamped his Army he resolved to make as if he meant to besiege that City in which the Duke of Aumale and Count de Brissac were not that he thought he had either strength or preparations sufficient to take it but to shew a resolute mind and a good courage and to amuse the enemy till he had disposed what he had intended to do wherefore the Army being encamped and the Mills which were without the Works being burnt whilst there pass frequent skirmishes with the Garrison the King having left the care of the Army to the D. of Montpensier and the Mareschal de Biron went speedily with Three hundred Horse as far as Diepe which City governed by the Commendatory de Chattes had acknowledged him When the King had carefully considered the City of Diepe the Haven of it very capacious upon the shore of the Ocean and the Country that lay near about it he resolved to remove thither with all his Forces and there to sustain the first violence of the Army of the League being perswaded to this resolution because the Town is seated upon the Sea right over against England with a sufficient Harbour to receive any Fleet how numerous soever by which means he might have supplies of Men Money Cannon and Ammunition from Queen Elizabeth And in case he should be so straitned by the Enemies as to see himself not able to resist he might go away for England to return afterwards and land at Rochelle or in what other place he should think fit He was the more confirmed in this determination by the strength of the City and the Castle of it by the largeness of the Suburbs fit to quarter his men by the strong situation of the passages about it which was such as every place might be defended span by span so that they could not without a long time and much fighting be reduced within the circuit of the Castle For all these reasons he presently dispatched Philip Sieur du Fresne unto the Queen of England to whom he had formerly been sent by the late King and was returned about that very time to let Her know his necessities and to desire Her assistance of Men and Money And having made this most important Expedition with most exquisite diligence he joined his Horse to the Garison of Diepe and took Eu and Neuf-Chastel but weak Towns yet not far off that he might take away all near impediments and having purged the Country very carefully on all sides he returned to the Army at Darnetal to bring it with a commodious march to quarter at Diepe He marched from Darnetal the second of September with One thousand and four hundred Horse two Regiments of Swisses which amounted to the number of Three thousand and Three thousand French Muskettiers to so small a number were his Forces reduced since the Kings death There were with him the Duke of Montpensier who led the Van the Count d' Auvergne Grand Prior anger for the Kings death and desire of revenge having made him forget all former disgusts Armand Mareschal de Byron who had the chief authority in the Government his Son Charles Baron de Byron Charles of Montmorancy Seigneur de Meru or as they called him Lord d' Anville who commanded the Swisses Monsieur de Chastillon General of the French Infantry Monsieur de Reux Field-Marshal Monsieur de Baqueville who commanded the Light-horse the Sieurs de Rembures de Larchant de Mignoville de Guitry du Hallot and de la Force the other Lords and Gentlemen according to the first resolution being gone into several parts of the Kingdom With these Commanders and with this Army the King being come near Diepe gave order that the Commendatory de Chattes should continue in the City and in his wonted Command of the Cittadel with the ordinary Garison of Two hundred Souldiers and two Companies of French Infantry extraordinary which made in all the number of Five hundred Foot and he with the whole Army resolved to keep possession of the Field The City of Diepe as hath been said before is situated upon the shore of the Ocean Sea just over against England and hath a Port on the right side which extending it self like a Half-moon is able to contain a great many Vessels with great security and on the left hand stands the Cittadel which being of a four square form and seated something high doth with four great Towers scowr the Field on one side and on the other masters and commands the Town The seat of this City is strong and advantageous For on the side toward the Sea it is fortified with Flankers Ravelines and Platforms besides the so powerful defence of the water and on the side toward the Land the Country is so rough that Armies cannot be brought thither without much difficulty nor Cannon without much more and the manner of the way round about affords an infinite number of convenient obstacles for defence For it lies between two steep uneven woody Hills which from the bank of the Sea shoot out many miles into the Country and between these two lies a narrow Valley thorow which runs the River Bethune which dividing the City from a great Bourg called Pollet falls into the Haven and thence consequently straight into the Sea By this River the Sea-waters entring when it is high tide do spread themselves for many miles over
the Sieur de la Noue they hastened their march in such manner that upon the Six and twentieth day they quartered within six leagues of the Duke of Mayenne's Army Wherefore the Duke that he might not be encompassed and because he was out of hope of doing any good at Diepe raised his Camp upon the Eight and twentieth day in the morning and drew toward Picardy to meet the Forces which by order from the Catholick King were coming out of Flanders with the Sieur de la Motte to his assistance The next day the Duke of Longueville and Mareschal d' Aumont joined with the King who having left the Mareschal de Byron at Diepe went forth with six hundred Horse and two thousand Foot to meet them and following the Army of the League the same way took Eu and the Castle of Gamaches before he passed the River Somme opportunely making use of the occasion while the Duke whose Army diminished continually by the running away of his men being intent upon his way marched still close and in order and went further from them so that without receiving the least harm the King came to Amiens the chief City of Picardy where he was entertained with very great pomp being met without the Gates by all the Citizens who presented unto him a Canopy of State to be carried over him as the custom is to do unto the King but he refused it giving great testimony of his prudence and moderation by an act of so great modesty Whilst he stays at Amiens to put the Army again in order and settle the affairs of that City four thousand English and a thousand Scots sent by Queen Elizabeth arrived at Diepe Wherefore the King to whom prosperous fortune began on all sides to shew her face being returned with his whole Army received them to the great contentment of every one for they had not only brought an exceeding quantity of victuals but also a certain sum of money which without delay or shewing the least sign of covetousness was presently all distributed to his Souldiers by which readiness though the sum was not great every body was equally pleased and satisfied The English having rested themselves and those that born the toils in the service at Diepe being refreshed after their sufferings in the best manner that possibly might be the King desirous not to lose time now that the Duke of Mayenne and his Army were far off resolved to assault the Suburbs of Paris not so much out of any grounded hope that by the benefit of some unexpected accident he should be able to take the City in the terrour and tumult of the people which by him and all his Commanders was thought impossible as by the pillage of those Suburbs full of the riches of many years to supply the evident necessity of his Army in which the Gentry no less than the private Souldiers were reduced to very great scarcity of money and not only the furniture of their horses but even their arms and wearing clothes spoiled and broken with ill weather and perpetual service With this design he departed from Diepe upon the Nineteenth of October having in his Army Twenty thousand Foot Three thousand Horse and Fourteen great Pieces and with convenient marches took the direct way to Paris The Grand Prior and the Baron de Guiry who succeeded in the place of Baqueville scoured the way before them with the Light-horse The Count de Soissons and the Mareschal d' Aumont led the Vanguard In the Battel was the King with the Mareschal de Byron and Monsieur de la Noue the Duke of Longueville led the Reer With this order as soon as the Army was come to Pont de l' Arche the Duke of Montpensier having passed the Seine with Three hundred Horse went towards Normandy to go to Caen and look to the affairs of that Province where the Forces of the League were very powerful Upon the last of October the King quartered with his Army a league from the Fauxbourgs of Paris where the tumult of the people and the trouble of the Dutchesses was very great seeing the Duke of Mayenne far off and the King come unexpectedly to assault the City at a time when they were perswaded he had enough to do to defend himself and that he was so weak he must needs be either presently suppressed or beaten out of the Kingdom for the Duke of Mayenne crying up the greatness of his Forces to the people when he went to the assault of Diepe had written to Paris that within few days he would either bring the King up prisoner or force him to flee shamefully into England Now businesses proving so contrary the City unprovided of Souldiers and seeing they could not hope for any relief was full of fear and trouble especially there being no Head of Authority who might keep the people in order and provide what should be needful For though Don Bernardino Mendozza the Spanish Ambassador laboured with all his power to comfort them with grave Speeches and with his presence in every place yet there was no man in whom the Parisians could much confide either for experience in arms or for alliance to that Family But at night Monsieur de Rhosne arrived opportunely who being at Estampes which Town he had taken a few days before marched fourteen leagues without any stay and came into the City though with but a few Horse in the beginning of the night At his arrival the Council of the League recovering courage resolved That the Suburbs should be defended to which end the people taking arms and all both great and little and even the very Fryars running armed they were in the best order that might be distributed in those Works which had been cast up three months before at the time when it was besieged by Henry the Third The King before peep of day upon the first of November being All Saints day divided his Foot into three Tertiaes one of which was led by the Mareschal de Byron the Baron his Son and the Sieur de Guitry to assault the Fauxbourg of St. Victoire and St. Marceau the second led by the Mareschal d' Aumont Monsieur d' Anville and Colonel de Rieux against the Fauxbourg of St. Iaques and St. Michael and the third commanded by the Sieurs de Chastillion and de la Noue assaulted the Fauxbourg of St. Germain The Cavalry being likewise distinguished into three Divisions one led by the King another by Count Soissons and the third by the Duke of Longueville stood all ready in the Field each Body as a reserve to its Squadron of Foot in case of any unexpected accident which might happen The assault began when it was broad day light and lasted very fierce for the space of an hour but the Works being beaten down in many places and there being no equality between the inexpertness of the people and the valour of the Kings Souldiers the Defendents were at
for the King had many a skirmish with the Count de Cars and the Sieur de Vins who commanded for the League and on both sides many Towns were taken and many bloody encounters happened between them In Dauphiné Colonel Alfonso Corso being joined with the Lesdiguieres blocked up Grenoble and Valence the only Towns in that Province that held for the League And thus with various successes but still with the loss of much blood was the War prosecuted by both Parties In the mean time the King was come with his Army to Chasteau-Dun where the Swisse Commanders arrived being returned from their Cantons whither they had been sent by the Souldiers of their Nation who were in the Camp to give notice of the death of Henry the Third and to receive directions from the Republick what they should do for the future They brought answer that the Cantons would persevere in the same friendship and confederacy with King Henry the Fourth as they had done with his Predecessor and that therefore they should continue to serve and follow him Which resolution of the Swisses was much furthered not only by the wisdom of the Sieur de Silleroy who was there Ambassador but also by the presence of Iaques Auguste de Thou who returning out of Italy whither he had been sent by the late King to the Grand Duke of Thuscany had negotiated and perswaded that determination The King and his whole Army was much pleased at it as well because they had found the greatest strength of the Infantry lay in the Regiments of the Swisses who were there present and had always fought very valiantly as because they had hope to encrease their number by a new Levy which should be granted under the publick Ensigns of their Cantons At his departure from Chasteau-Dun the King went to besiege Vendosme a City of his Patrimony and which was thought very convenient because it was near the River Loyre The Suburbs were taken in the first on-set and the King in person having viewed the walls and the quality of the place resolved to batter that side of the Castle which opposite to the Town stands but not very high over a spacious Plain There were two pieces planted the next day to take away that defence with intention to plant a Royal Battery against the Curtine assoon as two Towers were beaten down which served to flank it on each hand but a great part of the Tower on the left hand being fallen after not many shot some of the Foot fell on to make the assault but they found the place without resistance abandoned by the Defendents wherefore having made themselves Masters of the Tower they began with their Muskets to play from that higher place upon the inside of the wall where those of the Town were retired to make head and the number of the Foot continually increasing with hopes of very good success the Baron de Byron newly made Field-Marshal by the King ran thither and had scarce brought down the Foot to assault the Defendents at the wall when they full of infinite fear forsook it and the whole circuit of the Castle at the same time seeking to save themselves by flight in the City but being prevented by the Souldiers who followed them fiercely the City was also taken with the sâ—me fury in less than three hours wherein except Churches Monasteries and other sacred places every thing was given up to the violence of the Souldiers who took there great stone of spoil and rich booty The Governour who had often dealt perfidiously with the King and had always falsified his Faith by double-dealing was condemned to death as also Father Robert a Cordelier who had there publickly praised the Kings murtherer and with his Sermons stirred up the common people After the taking of Vendosme Lavardin and Montaut Castles of that Jurisdiction yielded themselves and the King finding no more resistance in any place came at last to Tours upon the one and twentieth of November He entered into the City the same night by Torch-light being met at the Gates by the Cardinals of Vendosme and Lenoncour and all the Presidents and Counsellors of the Parliament and was surrounded with a great abundance of people because all the Neighbouring Towns were run thither to see his entry The necessity of affairs perswaded not to spend time unprofitably and the Kings nature that was quick and ready agreed with the present necessity wherefore the next morning coming without more delay to the Parliament he sate in the Royal Throne and was acknowledged King of France with publick Ceremonies and very great applause Then hearing the murmurs and complaints of the Catholicks of his Army and the earnestness of the Lords and Barons who followed him that he would observe the promise he had made them to change his Religion having caused the Nobility to be publickly called together who came greedily to hearken unto him he told them in a few words That to his great discontent he saw how the danger and heat of War had hindred the appointed Assembly which should have been at that present time That they themselves had seen how he laying aside all other enterprises had in consideration of them come to Tours hoping he might some way give them all perfect satisfaction That the nature of affairs and not the will of men opposed it and that therefore considering how much advantage their common Enemy received by his being at so great a distance and by the delay of making a sharp and diligent War against them he entreated them to allow that to necessity which depended not upon his will and that they would be contented the Convocation of the Deputies might be deferred till the fifteenth of the next March in which time he hoped the fury of the Rebels and seditious persons being quelled he might with more quietness of mind and less damage to the common affairs think of a happy establishment of life and future Government That as a pledge and security of his Faith they should accept his Person which was always in their hands That he would sincerely observe in deed more than at that present he promised them in words To which the Catholick Lords and Gentlemen assenting more out of necessity than of will a Declaration was made that the time of the Assembly should be prorogued till the fifteenth of March next ensuing The King hoped that the War continuing and mens minds being daily more enflamed between both Factions the Catholicks would still be more confirmed to follow him and that he might with excuses which appeared necessary and with divers promises and artifices gain convenient time to turn to the Catholick Religion and that perchance they would be content he should continue in his own and therefore he politickly avoided their intreaties and excused himself for not satisfying their desires as well lest he should seem to sway his Conscience to a compliance with the times as lest he should lose the
Forces to return and raise the siege which he was certain if they had but patience to suffer a little inconveniency would in the end prove vain and fruitless That in his stead he would leave his brother the D. of Nemours a youth of wonderful high courage and his Cousin the Chevalier d' Aumale to command the Soldiers and have care of the Military part of their defence and for other things the Cardinal-Legat and the Ministers of the Catholick King being there and seconded by the ardent zeal of the Council of Sixteen he could not doubt but all things would be managed with that prudence which need required That to shew how little he feared the City could fall into the Enemies hands and for a pledge of the speedy relief which he meant to make ready for them he would leave his Mother Wife Sister and Children in the City to bear part in that fortune which the Citizens should run That finally there being nothing else requisite but to perswade the people and resist the greediness of the belly he could not doubt of a happy issue with the exaltation of the League and total subversion of his enemies All of them commended his advice and the Heads of the people promised to keep united and constant in defending the place to the last man beseeching him onely to use all the speed he could possibly to prevent the extremities of the peoples sufferings who for Religion and in hope of his promises disposed themselves boldly to meet all those many weighty dangers which they saw hang over their heads The next day the Duke departed towards Picardy to meet with the D. of Parma General for the Catholick King in the Low-Countries knowing that to be the principal point and that if the Spaniards lent not their assistance in a considerable manner to him it would be a very difficult business to get a sufficient Army to raise the siege and relieve Paris and in the City they began with infinite diligence to repair the Walls to scowre the Moats to cast up Works to dispose their Artillery to arm the People and principally to provide whatsoever they possibly could against the imminent necessity of hunger In the mean time Manâ—e and Vernon had yielded themselves to the King since the Victory in which places he was constrained to stay longer than he intended for the extremity of ill weather and continual abundance of Rain had not onely overflowed the fields and made the wayes exceeding deep but had made it impossible to lie in the Field or march with Cannon and Baggage for men and horses could hardly save themselves and be secure within the shelter of houses In which time notice came to the King of another encounter which had happened in the Province of Auvergne near the Wall of Issoire where the Sieurs de Florat and Chaseron who were for him had routed and slain the Count of Randan who commanded for the League and with the death of about Two hundred of the Enemy had made themselves masters of the place Nor was it long before other news came from the Country of Mayne where Guy de Lansac who commanded the party of the League and the Sieur d' Hertre Governor of Alancon Head of the King's Forces charging one another had not altered the wonted event of things but Lansac Three hundred of his men being slain and the rest dispersed was fain to save himself by flight leaving the King's Forces master of the field in those parts These several disasters the news whereof came to Paris one upon the neck of another did much perplex the thoughts of those that governed but above all of the Cardinal-Legat upon whose shoulders lay the weight of all present affairs every one thinking that he as one that represented the Pope's person should in a cause wherein Religion was the principal object give supplies both of Men and Money for the relief of that adversity which the League was in at that time and the Duke of Mayenne complained publickly concerning it and wrote freely to the Pope that his backwardness to help so necessary a Cause was the principal occasion of all those evils The Spanish Ministers made the same lamentations being of opinion that the Legat was the cause the Catholick King was not satisfied in his demands and that while he neglecting his own businesses succoured the danger of Religion with Men and Money the Pope keeping his Purse close and nourishing ambiguous thoughts in his mind did neither send those necessary supplies which he had often promised nor consent to the satisfaction of the Catholick King who if his just demands had been yielded to would have employed his utmost Forces for the common benefit Nor were the Parisians backwarder in complaints than the rest who groaning under their present necessities and the extraordinary scarcity of provisions did importunately beg to be assisted by the Legat and relieved by the Pope since they did all and suffered all for the Catholick Faith and for the service of the Holy Church so that the Legat being surrounded by these troubles was in wonderful great anxiety of mind which was augmented to the extremity when he understood that by the Duke of Luxembourg's arrival and negotiation the Pope was almost utterly withdrawn from the designs of the League and moreover that he seemed ill satisfied at his being gone on to Paris and that he had not rather stayed in some neutral place as a disinteressed Mediatour between both parties and as a labourer for such a Peace as might be effected without danger or damage to the Catholick Religion The Duke of Luxembourg was gone to Rome with the name of Ambassador from the Catholicks that followed the King but indeed to see if he could reconcile the King himself to the Pope and to the Church and to take away those opinions which being spread abroad by those of the League were generally believed of him that he was an obdurate Heretick a persecutor of the Catholiks obstinate and disobedient to the Apostolick See and a perverse enemy to the Church Wherefore having first made a little stay at Venice to determine with that Senate what manner of proceeding was to be held all things being resolved on with most prudent advice he continued on his way boldly to Rome where having in his first audience by the dexterousness of his carriage introduced the Cause of the Catholicks into his discourse he excused them for following the King attributing it to be an advantage to the Catholick Religion not to abandon the lawful King in the hands of the Hugonots but to hold him on with protestations of service and win him by modest seasonable instances to return into the bosome of the Church which would absolutely have been despaired of if being forsaken by them he had been necessitated to have cast himself as a prey to Hereticks he began afterwards to let the Pope know those interests which under a cloke of Piety and under
the Eve of S t Iames the Apostle the whole Army being disposed in several places under their Commanders as the Clock struck three all the Fauxbourgs were assaulted at one time clapping a great number of Scaling-Ladders against the Works The Baron de Byron assaulted the Fauxbourg St. Martin the Sieur de Fervaques that of St. Denis Monsieur de St. Luc fell on that of Mont-Martre the Mareschal de Biron at St. Honore the Mareschal d' Aumont at St. Germain Monsieur de Lavardin near the Portes de Bussy and Nesle Monsieur de Chastillon assaulted St. Michael and St. Iaques the Prince of Conty and Duke de la Tremouille did the like at St Marceau and St. Victoire in such manner that being attacqued and stormed all at the same time the Defendents strove but in vain with their Cannon and Musket-shot from the Walls of the City for all the Suburbs were taken by the Army and the City and People thereby much more incommodated and streightned The Town of St. Denis was taken before this upon the seventh of Iuly in which siege the defendents having felt the same calamities capitulated at last to yield if within three dayes they received not relief from Paris or some other place which not being come to pass by reason of the weakness of the Parisians and the places near adjacent and because the King had obstructed all the Avenues sitting on Horseback himself Forty hours together they in the end gave up the Town marching out with their Arms and Baggage And the same did they who held the Castle of Dammartin on the lower part of the River So the whole Army being now set to streighten the City which had before been divided to besiege those two places the evil proved now without remedy there coming no certain news from any part that the Forces were upon their march to relieve them Wherefore though formerly they had refused to answer many of the Kings Letters in which promising them their lives and security for their consciences he exhorted them to desist from so great stubbornness and yielding up themselves to acknowledge and obey him for their Natural King yet now some Messages having passed between the Legat and the Marquiss of Pisani who had been Ambassador at Rome they were content at last to yield to some treaty of Peace but more with an intention to satisfie the people or to slacken the siege in some measure than with a thought of concluding any thing Wherefore due security being given and received the Legat and Cardinal of Gondy went tothe Hostel of Girolamo Gondy in the Fauxbourg St Germain whither a while after camethe Marquess of Pisani with others from the Camp but after a long discourse nothing was concluded for the Legat insisted to have the whole business remitted to the Pope's arbitrement and that there might be a Cessation of Arms till the Decision came from Rome and the Marquiss demanded to have the Parisians submit themselves unto the King's obedience who would afterwards give the Pope due satisfaction in point of Religion which things being so distant and so general could produce no conclusion at all of agreement The Legates return into the City without effect deluded the Peoples expectation and every one being afflicted at it increased the consideration of their present misery and of the certainty that they should lose their lives within a few dayes so that the cries and groans of the people not only filled all the streets but did also multiply the number of those who being overcome by the sharpness of their sufferings called out for Bread or Peace cries most frequent in the City especially in the night This beginning of insurrection was increased by the Sieur d' Andelot brother to Chastillon and some other Gentlemen of the King's party who being taken by the besieged in the skirmishes which were most frequent every day under the Walls and having liberty given them to go abroad upon their parole divulged among their friends and acquaintance the King's Clemency his readiness to pardon the liberty and security wherewith the Catholicks lived under his protection the respect he shewed toward the Catholick Religion his great strength which increased more and more every day wherewith he was resolved to meet their Succors and fight with them having assured hopes to beat them and to find the same facility he had done in the Battel of Yvry wherein the Forces of the League though intire and united were utterly dissipated by which instigations many already despairing of relief and drawn by their necessity inclined to try the so much commended clemency and faith of the Conqueror Whereupon there was like to be a very great insurrection of the People to force the Princes to a resolution of yielding and to make themselves masters of some gate and let in the King's Army which if it should have come to pass the Forces of the Soldiers and Citizens were so weakened by famine that it was thought they would have been able to make little resistance against the fury of the Enemy Wherefore the Parliament and Council being joyntly assembled in the Hall of St Lewis they resolved to appoint two Deputies that should go to treat with the King and if he permitted should pass on to the Duke of Mayenne and to take care not to yield up the City but if it were possible to include the particular agreement of the City in the union of the general Peace For this imployment they chose Cardinal Gondy and the Arch-bishop of Lyons being assured that neither of them would treat any thing that should be prejudicial to Religion and yet the Duke of Nemours rose up almost angry from the Council attesting he would maintain what he had sworn in the beginning of the siege and that he had resolved rather to die than yield the City into any other hands than his Brother's who had trusted him with it Nor did the Cardinal-Legat seem altogether ther pleased but said he permitted that Counsel by necessity but that he approved not of it and that having done and suffeâ—â—d so much they ought to have patience for a few days and expect the coming and issue of the relief which was ready to appear every hour But yet the Deputies went forth with safe conduct to the Abbey of St Anthoine des Champes half a mile without that Gate which is so called where they found the King with a great many Princes and Lords and among the rest the High-Chancellor Chiverny who having lived retired from the time that King Henry the Third dismissed him from the Court had a few dayes before been recalled by the King to execute his wonted Office in keeping the Seals The Deputies told the King that the Councel and Inhabitants of Paris moved to compassionate the miseries of the people of France which were the consequences of an obstinate Civil War had given them commission to come and treat with him and from
wherein he declared the same things with very gentle words and proffers of all possible security and satisfaction He added also private kind Letters to the Duke of Nemours the Dutchess his Mother and to Madam de Guise exhorting each of them to Peace and assuring them all That they should receive more from his favour than they knew how to desire With this Answer the Deputies returned But the Duke of Nemours being averse from Peace by the counsel of the Legat and the Ambassador Mendozza would not give way that the Writing should be read unto the people but that the Deputies should tell them only that the King would have no other Agreement but that the City should put it self into his power without the assent of and without including the Duke of Mayenne and the other Lords of the League which being contrary to the sense of the major part especially of those of the Council for the City would by no means separate themselves from the Duke of Mayenne but run the same fortune with him to the uttermost the thought of Peace being laid aside they returned to the care of their defence In the mean time the Duke of Parma notwithstanding that he had made his opinion fully known in Spain had received a new absolute order from the Catholick King to march personally with the whole Army into France to relieve the Confederates and to raise the siege of Paris the Council believing that enterprise so honourable so important and full of so lively hopes that it was without doubt to be preferred before the interests of the affairs of Flanders which they thought to be reduced into such a condition that they could receive but little or no damage by the absence of the Duke and his Army for a few months and therefore approving that part of the Duke of Parma's opinion which was to nourish and prolong the War to obtain that from the weakness and the weariness of the French which at first seemed impossible to be effected they had nevertheless determined that Paris should be powerfully relieved purposely not to suffer the League to be so soon subdued and the King to remain Conquerour to whom that City being once taken all other things would become easie and quickly be dispatched Besides that that Monarchy even from the weakness of its beginnings having been accustomed ever to unite its own ends with the so favourable and plausible pretence of Religion it could not now in this important occasion disunite those interests so nearly joined without taking off that glorious reputation which they so much boasted of that they never had other Enemies but the Enemies of the Church it self Therefore they had caused a determinate order to be given the Duke that having strengthned those Garisons of Flanders as much as he could which were frontiers towards the Confederate States he should not defer to relieve the City of Paris with all his force which being once delivered and freed from the siege he should not care to proceed or do any thing further But the Duke assoon as he had received this last so absolute order was in much trouble which way to execute it For on the one side he could not leave the Cities of Flanders so well Garison'd but that some great loss was to be feared which in Spain where he saw the opinion in this business was very different from truth would be imputed to his carelesness and not to the necessity of things and the Orders he had received and on the other side he could not march into France without the strength of the Army being to make a War wherein there was little to be trusted to from his Friends and much to be feared from a brave valiant unwearied Enemy bred up in War and guarded with almost an invincible Body of French Nobility and so much the more because it was necessary to go and find him at home in the midst of all his Forces Moreover the straightness of time troubled him very much because he knew Paris was already reduced to the extreamest necessity of hunger and yet first to furnish Flanders with what was requisite and then to go into France with that order and thosâ— provisions which were fit for the greatness of the enterprise it was necessary to spend some time so that it was infinitely to be doubted the Parisians could not be able to hold out so long But as a Prince of high courage who to maturity of resolution joined celerity of execution judging this as indeed it was the most weighty and difficult enterprise that had ever fallen within his conduct he proposed to himself to overcome all difficulties and to effect it with that glory which he had gained in his other actions and therefore having disposed the order of all things in his mind he betook himself to the effecting of them with so much diligence that he hoped to be able to relieve Paris by the midst of August wherefore desiring neither to deceive nor be deceived as he had told the Duke of Mayenne before so he writ a Letter to the besieged about the end of Iuly wherein giving them an account of his expedition he assured them that he would be in France by the midst of the next month and exhorted them to overcome all difficulties and arm themselves with patience to expect that time within which he hoped certainly he should be able to free them from all trouble This Letter came to Paris upon the first of August and being read by the Magistrates and communicated to the people filled every one with wonderful great despair the time seeming so long to them that they believed they should never be able to hold it out with life wherefore the Souldiers began by stealth to forsake their Colours and fly away by night and the poor of the City being destitute of sustenance sought to get out of the siege and escape some whither else the Governours in chief not forbidding them who from the beginning had given leave to all to depart freely But the King as he willingly suffered the run-away Souldiers to pass so had he given strict orders that the Towns-men should be driven back and forced to return into the City knowing that the besieged sought to unburthen themselves which order being punctually executed by the Guards was the cause that very few of them could escape by stealth Among the greatest difficulties that the Governours had was the restraining of the Germans who having lived in all kind of liberty and without regard destroyed fair houses and gardens to sell the wood and get money now that every thing was consumed had given themselves over to all manner of villany so that they might but get any nourishment by it and many have reported that they secretly killed all the children they could get into their hands to feed upon their flesh and notwithstanding all this they began to mutiny and desire to disband though both the Duke
designs and forwarding the progress of the Duke of Savoy By whose example the City of Marseilles which following the footsteps of the Parliament had with a readiness in the people called the Duke before began now to repent themselves and to mutiny On the other side the King grieved to see Foreign Forces brought into that Province had given order to Les Diguieres that leaving the City of Grenoble in Dauphine besieged as well as he might he should march with the greatest number of men he possibly could to meet Monsieur de la Valette in Provence Whereupon Les Diguieres accustomed from his youth to fight with the difficulties and ambiguities of Fortune having left the posts about Grenoble well guarded to continue the siege already begun many months before went with Four hundred Horse and Two thousand Foot in relief of the Provincials and kept the Duke of Savoy in trouble and disquiet who half forsaken by the Catholicks of the Provence and but slenderly supplied by the Spaniards who were not too well pleased with his proceedings went spinning out the time in petty encounters having dispatched Monsieur de Ligny into Spain to set his affairs in order with the Catholick King and the Sieur de la Croix to the Duke of Mayenne to excuse what was past and to confer about the manner of carrying himself for the time to come His affairs were much more prosperous in the Territories of Geneva where having to do with the Forces of those Citizens which were not very powerful and with Commanders of small fame and experience Don Amadeo had often routed the Enemies in the field beaten up their Quarters taken many â—astles overrun and sacked the Country and finally straightned the City on all sides which with frequent and effectual importunities sollicited for relief sometimes from the King of France sometimes from the Canton of Bearne On the contrary the War in Dauphine went on prosperously for the King for though the Duke of Savoy's Counsellors and Commanders united with those of the League which were in that Province made great resistance yet were they not so strong as Colonel Alfonso Corso and Monsieur Les Diguieres who after he had stopt the precipice of affairs in Provence being returned to the siege of Grenoble streightned that City in such manner that after having suffered many months the besieged about the end of the year agreed to surrender upon condition not to be molested in their Consciences Goods or Liberties that the City should be preserved in the Catholick Religion and in the State it then was and on the other side that they should acknowledge King Henry the Fourth for their lawful Prince by whose appointment they should receive a Garison and a Governour At this time the King freed from the Spanish Army and from the late fear of the Duke of Parma was come in his return to St. Quentin where watching with his wonted diligence for all opportunities he took a resolution suddenly to assault Corby a Town seated upon the River Somme and convenient to bridle the City of Amiens the Head of that Province which held of the party of the League With this design he removed his Camp from the Walls of St. Quentin in the dusk of the evening but in his march finding all the Country up and that the Villages furiously rung their Toquesaints he could not get to the Walls of Corby till within an hour before day There the hope of effecting his intent appeared no less uncertain for they found the whole Town in arms and the defendents with Torches and Fires ready to sustain the assault whereof they had been advertised by the cries and tumult of the Country people And yet Monsieur d' Humiers coming up with the Regiments of St. Denis and Parabiere about break of day caused a Petard to be fastned to the Iron Gate of a Channel that came out of the Town on the lower side which falling suddenly by the violence of the fire the Foot advanced some to the Channel which was frozen some with Scaling-Ladders to the Wall adjoining to give the assault which though it were constantly received by the defendents who ran together boldly to hinder their entry at their Iron Gate and to make good the Walls yet the Sieur de Belle-Fourtiere Governour of the Town being slain in the first encounter and many of the stoutest Souldiers falling after a most bloody fight of three hours the Town remained in the Kings power who after his late misfortunes thought he had concluded the year very prosperously From Corby he marched to Senlis seated just upon the way which leads from Picardy towards Paris and there in the beginning of the year he began to dispose his counsels to set his affairs in order and find means to dissolve and subdue the League But he was no less troubled which way to keep his Catholicks than he was to draw together sufficient Forces to overcome the Enemy for having promised from the Autumn of the year Eighty-nine that in March following he would call an Assembly to the end he might be instructed in the Catholick Faith with that honour that befitted his person and not having been able to perform his promise because the chief actions of the War hapned in that time the battel of Yvry and after that the siege of Paris and the coming of the Spanish Army to his loss now That by their departure and by the diminution of the Enemy he seemed to be in a quiet condition he was called upon by the tacite consent of discreet persons to observe his promise and those that had not so much respect or that were affectionate to Religion murmured publickly and complained as if they were deluded and deceived But more openly the Parliament of Bourdeaux which with much ado had been drawn to the Kings obedience by the Mareschal de Matignon's diligent care and arts of governing now seeing his Conversion was deferred began to resent it and at this time had sent their first President and two Counsellors to beseech his Majesty to take a final resolution the Catholicks not being able to quiet their Consciences unless they saw him reduced to the true Religion held for so many Ages by all the most Christian Kings his glorious Predecessors Which Commission having been fully and effectually performed by the Deputies though the King seemed to take their Petition in good part and answered it favourably yet inwardly being troubled and stung to the quick he saw not what course he might take as a middle way which might give satisfaction to both parties He saw the foundation of his affairs was setled in great part upon the Hugonots for his command was no where more full than in the places under their obedience and the Catholick Provinces divided between themselves were shared between the two Factions so that neither declared absolutely for him He argued within himself from the example of things past how much
where having found the Ice in every place very firm and particularly in the Moat he caused four Ladders to be set up against the Wall with so great silence that they were not discovered by the Guards in that part very thinly set There went up two Captains with four and twenty Souldiers fully armed and having found no obstacle made themselves Masters of the Gate adjoining which being broken open the Chevalier d' Aumale himself entred on foot before them all with his Sword drawn and after him the rest of his men marching up in order to possess themselves of the place The Governour having heard the noise and being informed that the Enemy had already taken the Gate and were gotten upon the Wall grown desperate to see that by the negligence of his Souldiers he should lose all the honour he had gotten in so many years of his life spent fortunately in War getting on horseback with only thirty of his men that followed him and being resolved to die and not to survive his own ruine he caused two Trumpets he had with him to sound furiously to make the Enemy believe the number of those that charged was greater and with his Beaver down rushed boldly upon the Front of the Squadron that was marching in order up the high street toward the Market-place The fury of the horses in the uncertainty of a very dark night the Commanders not having been willing to fire the houses lest they should totally destroy the Town put the foot in disorder in which tumult while the Chevalier d' Aumale turning about and reproving his men endeavoured to make them stand and to set them again in order being wounded with a thrust in the throat fell suddenly dead upon the ground and his men having no longer either strength courage order or resolution flying fell foul upon the other Squadrons and disordering themselves from one to another they got out at the same Gate and without being pursued by any body ran with all their might till they came to Paris there remaining above a hundred of them either slain by the defendents or trampled under foot in the flight The Sieur de Viq having recovered the Town and redeemed his fortune by his own valour gave the King an account of the success and did not only win great commendations but also obtained of him a rich Abby which had been possessed by the Chevalier d' Aumale with the title of the Cross of Ierusalem Those that were curious observed that the Chevalier fell dead before the door of an Inn whose sign was the Espée Royale and they esteemed it a much greater prodigy that being laid upon the Bier in the Church of the Friers of St. Denis his Carcas the night following was all gnawed and mangled by the Moles The example of this mischance did not with-hold the King from attempting though upon a better foundation to surprise the City of Paris in the same manner The first President Brisson who so voluntarily not to say precipitately had made himself the head and Author in the Parliament of adhering to the League perceiving now as his Friends said that the ends of the Great Ones were not so sincere toward the publick good as he at first was perswaded they were or as his ill-willers said corrupted by the great promises which were made him from the King by certain persons who were prisoners in the City or as the general opinion was drawn by the instability of his own nature had secretly begun to favour the Politicks for so they called those that were affected to the King who taking courage from his protection did already make a considerable Body and began to consult which way to make the City revolt and submit it to the obedience of the King The attempts and practices of these men were assisted by the careless nature of the Prevost des Merchands who either did not believe or did not heed the relations that were made to him nor did he use any care or industry to interrupt those new designs the report whereof was very common But that which more favoured the Kings party was the ill satisfaction of the people not only tired with scarcity of Victual and the hard duty they underwent continually in guarding the Walls but also stomaching that the Marquiss de Belin a man of ordinary condition and of an unactive nature should be put upon them for a Governour whereas they were wont to have formerly the first Princes of the Blood and the most eminent Officers of the Crown The Duke of Mayenne was absent the Duke of Nemours far off and discontented and the Chevalier d' Aumale lately dead whose fierceness was wont to keep life in that party All these things concurring invited the King to make some attempt upon that City And what perswaded him much rather was a desire not to keep his Army idle but to employ it in some enterprise which for the greatness thereof might keep it in some action full of expectation Wherefore the Dukes of Nevers and Espernon who were sent for before being now arrived and moreover thinking some practices now ripe which he held with his dependents in the City he meant to help strength with cunning on this manner That Fourscore Commanders and Reformadoes disguised in the habit of Country-fellows with as many horses laden with meal should go to the Porte St. Honoré to be let in after midnight because in respect of the frequent parties that scoured the ways provisions were commonly brought and received by night and that these secretly armed should at their entrance strive to possess themselves of the Gate being assisted by an hundred men armed Cap-a-pe that followed them in which tumult he had privately given order that those of his party should make some commotion within but on the opposite side to the Gate that was assaulted and should endeavour to seize upon St. Iaques or St. Merceau and that at the same time the Army on the side of St. Honoré Montmartre and St. Denis should come up close to scale the Walls with which assaults which were all to happen at one instant he firmly hoped either to enter by force or to be willingly received into the City his adherents not ceasing to use many practices to raise the people in several places These things were resolved on for the twentieth day of Ianuary the night whereof though it had not been rainy must nevertheless needs have been dark the Moon setting towards midnight But the Duke of Espernon's passing by Beaumont and his being joined with the Kings Army and the Duke of Nevers having done the same leaving the siege he had laid to Provins without any apparent reason the Baron de Guiry's having passed the River at Lagny to unite himself with the rest and the seeing the King lie still in a place so near them had put a jealousie into the Princesses who resided in Paris whereupon they did effectually exhort the Marquiss de
received so flourishing from their Ancestors and not to permit the people to remain without their Prelates and Pastors to the danger of errour schism and damnation things which though they were neither seen nor considered at Rome were yet nevertheless too obvious to the eye of whosoever should look upon them with Christian piety Hereupon he caused a very grave Decree to be made declaring That he would inviolably observe his promise and exhorting the Parliaments to take care for the dignity of the Crown and the Prelates to look to the people under their Charge and to preserve the liberty of the Gallique Church The Decree being made with a most free consent because every one was offended at the severeness of the Monitory and at the coming of the Nuncio Landriano he dispatched President de Thou to Tours and President Favre to Chalons in which Parliaments the person of Landriano was with very great liberty spoken and decreed against and there it was determined That the Monitory should be publickly burnt and at the same time most severe Decrees were made against those that should forsake the party and follow the intimation of Landriano depriving the Clergy of their Dignities and Benefices and confiscating the Estates and Goods of whatsoever Lords Gentlemen or others should do so and making them all subject to the pain of High-Treason and Rebellion which added to that disdain the French liberty had conceived at the severeness of the Monitory did so bridle mens mindes that there was not now any one that stirred but on the contrary those that were turned after the new designs attempted by the Cardinal of Bourbon did now alienate their mindes from all other thoughts save the Conservation and maintaining of the King whose Arms they saw in a fair way to Victory the Clergy saying publickly that the Canons did not command them to abandon their Flocks in such distracted dangerous times nor did duty enjoyn them to forsake their Countries their own houses and estates given by the liberality of former Kings as a reward for their labours to go like miserable vagabonds to beg a hundred Crowns in pension from the charity of the Popes Nephews That in the end the King remaining victorious would compose matters with the Pope and then whosoever had been obstinate and rebellious against him would be utterly undone and that they could not in conscience forsake a Prince who implored their â—id and instruction to come to the obedience of the Church Thus alwayes those engines that were framed to oppugn the King did wonderfully succeed to his advantage â—nd poisons wâ—re converted into medicines To these Decrees of the Parliament of Tours and Chalons the Parliament of Paris opposed contrary Decrees receiving the Monitory and admitting the Nuncio's Commissions exhorting and commanding that all should be accepted published and obeyed imposing most severe punishments upon those that should transgress But neither for this did the Prelates or Nobility that followed the King's Party stir one jot from their first proposal and all those discourses and complaints which before were made for the liberty granted to the Hugonots in the exercise of their Religion were now turned against the Pope's severe and as they called it precipitate resolution In the mean time the Lords of the House of Lorain the Nuncio Landriano the Spanish and Savoyard Ambassadors and Cardinal Pelleve Archbishop of Rheims an old protector and favourer of the League were all come into that City to the appointed Meeting and there their common interests were with long discourses exactly treated of wherein though every one did under various colours and pretences palliate the interests of his own designs yet was it very clearly seen they could not all agree in the same end The Spaniards trusted upon their power and the necessity that others had of their assistance the Nuncio upon the Majesty of the Apostolick See and upon the foundation of Religion asserting that the authority of disposing those matters was proper and peculiar to the Pope The Duke of Lorain grounded himself upon fitness and decency as Head of the Family and pretended that the rest ought in reverence to yield to his pretensions the Duke of Savoy aspired to the acquisition of Provence the Duke of Mercoeur to that of Bretagne the Duke of Nemours designed to Canton himself in his Governments and finally the Duke of Mayenne General of the Armies and leader of his party trusted upon the union of the People and the concurrence of the Nobility that bore an affection to his name But things were not yet ripe and every one proceeding with great wariness and secrecy concealed his own thoughts and made shew to be moved onely by the consideration of the general good which being observed by the Duke of Mayenne and being confident that with time opportunity and his prudent managery he should bring the rest to consent to his opinion having onely concluded with their common Forces to oppose the coming of the Kings forraign Supplies all other things were remitted till a more seasonable time the Duke having demonstrated that it was more necessary to employ the present in action and not in consultation the King 's Germans being already upon their March and he himself continuing prosperous in the progress of the War Wherefore the Meeting at Rheims broke up without any other determination and onely the Duke of Mayenne lost a little of that confidence he had conceived of the Pope's adherence having found the Nuncio in all things inseparable from the interests of Spain whereupon designing to make use of the Ecclesiastical Forces onely to hinder the entry of forraigners in other matters he was resolved not to trust to any but his French-men To this end he presently dispatched a Gentleman in all haste to President Ieannin who already was arrived in Spain to give him directions not so much to labour for supplies of Spanish or Italian Forces as to procure Pay for a set number of French Foot and Horse under pretence that the Officers of those two Nations were unwilling to obey his commands and that with French Forces which scorned not to acknowledge him and were acquainted with their own Country he might sooner more easily and with fewer rubs effect their common interests To the same purpose he by redoubled Messengers gave commission to Des Portes to sollicit the Pope for an express order that his Army under the D. of Monte-Marciano should stay in Lorain and there united with that Dukes Forces and the supplies from Flanders should oppose the coming of the Viscount de Turenne alledging that that was the principal means to hinder the King from assistance and very easily to become Conquerors in the War which having already agreed upon with the Nuncio whom he had easily made believe that the Sum of affairs consisted in that he with his own Forces took his way towards Paris and Normandy to withstand the King 's daily progress The D. of
they were weary of Contributions which the greedy nature of the Duke of Mayenne did often multiply beyond what was fit the disbursing of them afterwards not excusing the weight of those burdens with his honour and equity Wherefore some of the chief of the Sixteen that were most affectionate to the party whom they called Zealots began to contrive the way to abase the authority of the Parliament that they might be able more easily to dispose of the affairs of the City and put it either under the Duke of Guise or the immediate protection of King Philip. The Spanish Ministers assented to or rather concurred in this attempt and no less than they the Bishop of Piacenza who since the Popes death was wholly turned to favour Spain and the principal men were the Sieur de Bussy Governour of the Bastille the Sieur de Cromay Counsellor of the Great Council Commissary Louchart Ameline an Advocate Olivier a Treasurer Boucher a Divine Father Commolet a Jesuite and divers others of the same condition After many consultations and debates among them by advice of the Bishop of Piacenza they chose four of the Sixteen who should go to the Duke of Mayenne to carry their complaints and to demand that the Council of State might be replenished with sufficient faithful men and such as the City might confide in That that Council might always reside in Paris That the Treasurers Accounts might be over-looked and especially of one Ribes that kept the Duke of Mayenne's particular Coffers That this might be done by select persons approved of by the Council of the Vnion That the Gabelles might be taken away which were newly imposed by the Governour Belin and the Prevost des Merchands That the City-Garison might be payed and increased for their security and finally That President Brisson against whom they carried a whole heap of complaints and some other principal men of the Parliament might be put out of their Offices and severely and exemplarily punished and rooted out as Traitors and Rebels These four Deputies came to Rheims at the time when the Duke of Mayenne was gone into Lorain and having waited for him many days they at last found him at Retel where having been heard by him they were at first sharply reprehended as men that demanded too much and aspired unto an absolute power but afterward not to exasperate them utterly he used them more favourably in their other audiences shewing them that whilst he was busied with the Enemy he had not leisure to attend those matters that in due time and place he would come personally to Paris to give them all possible satisfaction and that in the interim they should abstain from medling with new designs which put all things in confusion and doing themselves harm did wonderfully advantage the Enemy But these men being returned to Paris not much edified by the Dukes Answer and particularly offended at his first reprehension of them in stead of moderating increased the boldness of the rest exclaiming afresh against the Duke and saying it was necessary to take some resolution for that they found him wholly averse from their intentions wherefore all of them boiling with anger thinking themselves undervalued by the Duke and at last being resolved either to abase or absolutely to change the Parliament that they might govern the City their own way they began to stir up the people perswading them that Religion was betrayed and that the Parliament endeavoured to put the City into the hands of the Navarrois It happened that Brigard one of the first Fomenters of the League at Paris having been accused as if having changed his mind he held intelligence and plotted secretly in favour of the King was by the instigation of the Sixteen violently cast in prison but in the mean time while they proceeded slowly against him with due proofs he found means either by money or his own industry to escape out of the place where he was kept and also to get secretly out of the City and out of the hands of his Enemies which thing seemed very foul to the Council of Sixteen and thinking he had been maliciously let go by the Judges themselves who made his Process being raised to the height of their fury and with this incentive fomented by the Spanish Ministers and by the Garison which depended on them they put the people in Arms upon the fifteenth of November in the morning and without further consideration being led by the Sieur de Bussy and Commissary Louchart having taken and blocked up all the ways that led to the Palace of Justice they took prisoners the first President Brisson Claude l' Archer and Iehan Tardif one Councellor of the Chastelet and the other of the Court who were the same men that had made the Process of Brigard these being brought fast bound to the Chastelet the same day without any lawful form of Process but some precipitate informations taken by the Sieur de Cromay were strangled in prison and the next morning ignominiously hanged up in publick upon the Gallows Then as if they had obtained some signal Victory running up and down the City with the common people armed and furious they set their Guards in many places and threatned to take the same course against many others The Governour desiring to put some stop to these proceedings being also advised to it by the Dutchesses of Nemours and Montpensier began to try whether the strangers of the Garison would obey him but having found them all disposed to favour the Council of Sixteen and their present actions and Alessandro de Monti having freely said that he would not stir against those who sincerely managed the Cause of God and of all good men he thought it a better way to go out unarmed to parly with them and to endeavour to appease the people and in part remedy those mischiefs that were like to follow But neither did this succeed for they valued him but little and the Prevost des Merchands much less desiring ardently to put them both out All the sixteenth day was spent in this tumult and on the seventeenth in the morning their Council being met in the house of a Divine named Pellettier Curate of St. Iaques de la Boucherie they resolved to put themselves freely under the King of Spain's protection and in the mean time to present some Articles to the Council of State for the Government of the City which by all means they would have accepted and put in execution The Articles contained That a Court of Justice should be formed of men of their party which should proceed against Hereticks and Favourers of the Navarrois thinking with the Judgments and Executions of this to destroy and annihilate the Parliament That all Commerce with those of St. Denis should be broken which the Duke of Mayenne had established to facilitate the concourse of victuals That the Imposts upon Wine should be taken away and that the Account of all those
which he should gain by the Imposts and Revenues thereof He absolutely made himself Master of a large Country full of great Towns and a great many Castles abounding in Gentry numerous in people plentiful in victual and so situate that on the one side it was open to the Ocean convenient for the near Supplies of England and on the other it extended it self near the City of Paris cutting off from it the passage of the River Seine which was most important for its present conservation wherefore being intent with his utmost endeavours upon this enterprise he had given charge to the Mareschal de Biron who when he went into Lorain stayed behind with part of the Army in those parts to seek to possess himself of all the places about it and to make the greatest provisions he could of victual ammunition and other things necessary for that siege Biron after the taking of Louviers where he had found wonderful great store of corn which he caused to be carefully kept had assaulted and taken Gournay and then passing further into the Country of Caux had likewise taken Caudebec seated upon the River Seine between Havre de Grace and Rouen and possessed himself of the Castle of Eu which stands upon the great high-way of Picardy after which successes being already absolute Master of the field he set himself diligently to make provisions storing up corn some at Eureux some at Ponteau de Mer and most of all at Pont de l' Arche because it was the nearest place to Rouen At Caen he caused great store of Tents to be made and other clothes for the Soldiers use At Diep he gathered together plenty of Ammunition and of those Iron-instruments that were fit for the intended siege and in all places businesses went on with infinite diligence and order but without any noise or apparent stir And yet there was not any of the contrary party who perceived not that things were setting in order to besiege Rouen and the Duke of Mayenne being confident that that was the King's intention did with no less diligence busie himself in making those provisions that were fit for the defence of it and to give it reputation he had sent his son Henry thither to give such orders as were needful to confirm the people and to give them assurance that they should not remain without relief The Military affairs and the weight of the defence he laid wholly upon the Sieur de Villars a Cavalier not onely of high spirit and courage but absolutely depending upon his name and authority who going first to Havre de Grace a Fortress abundantly furnished by former Kings and leaving the Government of it to the Sieur de Guijon who likewise was a Provencal by birth returned to Rouen with two and thirty pieces of Cannon of several sizes and with every thing necessary to make use of them all which he caused to be carried in great Boats up the River and brought thither Six hundred Horse of that Country and One thousand and two hundred of those Provencal Foot which had long followed the War under his Command in those parts and as a man to whom learning which he was adorned withal suggested generous spirits and the experience of many years supplied with wary prudent Counsels knowing how much good order is wont to produce in Military affairs and desiring therefore that all things might proceed with a due disposal under their proper Heads and that every one might know and execute his own Charge he called all the Heads of the Clergy the principal men of the Parliament the chief of the People and the Officers of the Souldiery and distributed to every one his part of those labours that were to be undergon in their future defence He destined the Sieur de la Londe an old Soldier well known in the City by having lived there many years to the Office of Serjeant Major to the defence of St. Catherines Mount wherein the sum of the business consisted he chose the Chevalier Piccard with his Regiment and two hundred other Musketiers commanded by the Sieur de Iessan The old Palace standing between the Porte de Chaux and the River Seine on the North-side he gave to the Sieur de Banquemare first President of the Parliament with One hundred Swissers and Three hundred French the old Castle with the part adjoyning towards Maistre he assigned to his brother the Chevalier d' Oyse to whom he gave the Regiments of Colonel Boniface and of Commendatory Grillon and the West-side toward the Fauxbourg de St. Severe beyond the River he gave to Captain Giacopo Argenti of Ferrara with his Regiment Carlo Siginolfi a Neapolitan Engineer of great experience commanded the Artillery Captain Basin the Fire-works which were made in very great abundance and at every Gate one of the ancientest Presidents and one of the Counsellors of the Parliament assisted as well for security as reputation The Citizens were divided into Ten Companies under ten Commanders chosen by them whereof eight were to guard eight Bulwarks or great Towers lined with earth which were in the Circuit of the City and the other two had the Main-guard in the great Market-place and in the Palace of Justice were lodged two hundred Swissers and as many French Fire-locks to be ready to help where need should require The Governor also caused some little Barks to be furnished with small Pieces of Artillery and manned with twenty Soldiers to each of them as well on the upper as on the lower part of the Seine which under the command of their Admiral the Sieur d' Anquetil were to run up and down the River to make Prize of such Vessels as should stir and to take Cattel and other provisions along the banks of it to keep the City in more plenty of Victual Two Counsellors of the Parliament and two Deputies of the City were employed in the distributing of bread and the old Sieur de Coursey had the care of delivering out the Ammunition With this order very well contrived and exceeding well executed by the diligence of the Governour and the experience of those to whom it was intrusted things went on so quietly and so happily that during all the time of the siege there neither happened any disorder nor did any body suffer for want of Victual the price of provisions not much differing from the ordinary rate Against these provisions the Mareschal de Biron after he had received Three thousand English Foot that had landed at Boulogne and were led by the Earl of Essex had under his Colours between Nine and ten thousand Foot and One thousand and eight hundred Horse and to give a beginning to the Siege he came and lay within sight of the City at a place called Darnetal upon the Eleventh of November which day the Cavalry of the Camp over-ran all the Plain to the very Walls of the City and of St Catherine Captain Borosey a soldier of great valour with Two
hundred Horse and Colonel Boniface with Five hundred Foot sallyed out at the Porte Cau-choise and charging first the Cavalry and then the Regiment of English skirmished fiercely for many hours though at last being weary on both sides they retired willingly without advantage yet the besieged vaunted of a happy beginning by reason of the death of a Nephew of the Earl of Essex who his courage having drawn him into the most dangerous place of the fight was slain by Borosey with a Pistol-shot in the throat On the other side Captain Perdriel with Two hundred other Horse and Captain Basin with Four hundred Foot sallied at the Porte de Martinville and having skirmished long with the French Light-horse led by Francesco Orsino Sieur de la Chappelle they were forced to retire though they received not much harm because they were defended in their retreat by the Artillery of the nearest Bulwark But the Mareschal as soon as he had entrenched Darnetal to the end his Army might lie secure from the sprightly forwardness which he saw in those of the Town set himself for some dayes following without advancing towards the City to divert the course of the Robec which little Rivulet running through the Field and entering into the Town drove eleven Mills near the Porte St. Hillaire to the great conveniency of those within nor was it very difficult to turn it another way which would have much incommodated the Town and made them suffer exceedingly if Villars foreseeing the diversion of the water had not provided against it before by having caused a great many hand-mills to be made which were continually kept going by the Country-men who to fly the Enemy were in great numbers gotten within the Walls While they wrought to divert the water the Mareschal no less intent upon art than he was upon force of arms held a Treaty with Captain Graveron who was in the City to get into his hands the Porte de Beauvais which he was appointed to guard and this was managed by a kinsman of his who was one of the Mareschals servants and who before the siege had often gone disguised into the City for that purpose But Graveron having revealed the Treaty to the Governour and received Orders to draw the Enemy by night into an Ambush he could not fain so well but that the art was discovered whereupon this treaty vanished with little damage on either side But the next day the Chevalieâ— Piccard sallying out from St. Catherine's to skirmish and the Earl of Essex with the English coming out of the Wood of Turinge they contended with words no less than deeds for Piccard upbraided the English that not having courage enough to revenge the death of the Earl's Nephew they â—ought to advance their designs by treachery they came to ill language and to give the Lye for which as soon as the skirmish was ended there came an English Trumpet from the Earl of Essex to challenge the Governor which the Chevalier Piccard who had spoke the words having answered it came not to a duel for the Earl refused to fight with any other than the Governor and the Governor though he refused him not yet he referr'd the Duel till another time when he should be free of the charge of that present defence to which as a publick cause he was both first and more deeply engaged All the Moneth of November was spent in continual Skirmishes and hourly encounters the Mareschal in the mean time being imployed in fortifying his quarters drawing Artillery and Ammunition and causing provisions to be brought in expecting the Kings coming up to the siege with the rest of the Army who being come into the Camp upon the third of December sent an Herald to summon the City but being very stoutly answered by those within the next day they broke ground to make their approaches to the Wall The King lay at Darnetal with the Mareschal de Biron and the greatest part of the Nobility that followed him having the Swissers flanked with the Regiment of his Guards for the defence of his own quarters The Viscount de Turenne whom in the right of his Wife we will begin to call the Duke of Bouillon was quartered on the right hand with the Cavalry and the German Infantry spreading themselves a great way in the Neighbouring Villages upon the way that leads toward Diepe The French Infantry having lost the Sieur de Chastillon who was wont to command it he being dead a while before of a natural death was led by divers Colonels of renowned fame and lay close by the Germans but on the right hand of the King's Quarters towards the Porte Cau-choise and the Porte de Beauvais The English Foot lay on the left hand of the King and the Swissers entrenched under the Wood of Turinge against the Porte St. Hillaire and the Mount of St. Catherine The Baron de Giury and the Sieur de la Chappelle with the Light-horse spred themselves on the left hand of these upon the way that leads to Pont de l' Arche and thence towards Paris And the Count de Soissons with Captain Raulet beyond the Riveâ— Seine over which there was a passage made by a Bridge upon Boats were quartered right over against the Fauxbourg of St. Severe When the whole Town was thus girt round there being neither the hinderance nor the conveniency of Suburbs for the Governor at the arrival of the Army had caused them to be burnt the King commanded Colonel St. Denis to take up his Post in the Church of St. Andre which was the onely building that because it was built of stone remained yet standing though they had endeavoured to demolish it but he soon perceived that Villars had foreseen the mischief which he might receive from thence and provided a very convenient remedy For two exceeding great Culverins were discovered upon a Cavalier raised within which did so batter that place that the French had scarcely possessed themselves of it when they were forced to quit it This attempt having proved ineffectual the King began to cause two Trenches to be cast up one to approach St Catherines Mount which being drawn from the Wood of Turinge was wrought at by the English and the other to end just against the Porte St Hilaire at which the French Infantry wrought by turns But the Sieur de Villars besides the other works which were thrown up day and night and by a great abundance of Labourers who within a short space had dammed up the Porte de St. Hilaire with Earth having raised a very high Cavalâ—er close by it filled the Moat with Casamats and fortified the Counterscarp with little Ravelines had also before the Forts of St. Catherine where the utmost force of the siege was applied drawn a Brest-work of eighteen or twenty foot thick flanked with two Ravelines onely for the use of Muskettiers having neither Shoulders Orillons nor Retreats and before this
shot in the thigh yet the other Squadrons of the Germans coming up and the English and French Infantry rallying themselves together on all sides they of the Town were beaten back though with much ado and driven to their very gates But the Ammunition being blown up the Artillery taken and all things put into confusion the loss was inestimable and irreparable for a long time There were slain on the Kings side above eight hundred Souldiers in the Trenches and amongst them two French Colonels and fourteen Captains of several Nations and of the Assailants not above fifty The Governour presently dispatched the Sieur de Franqueville thorow the Woods to the Duke of Mayenne to give him notice of what had passed and to let him know that it was not necessary to precipitate any thing to relieve the City for the Enemy was left in such a condition that they would be able to hurt them but little for many days This intelligence being received on the twenty sixth in the evening while the Army was marching their appointed way they made an halt and the Commanders were called to consult The Duke of Parma was of opinion to prosecute the design for that the Infantry being astonished by the misfortune of the day before it would be much more easie to dissipate them and make themselves Masters of their Quarters freeing the City utterly from the siege and effecting that for which they were advanced so far but the Duke of Mayenne considered that the business they intended to do was already done the Mines and Trenches destroyed the Artillery taken and Ammunition blown up that there remained nothing to do save to beat the Infantry out of their Quarters at Dernetal whither they were all reduced which being excellently well fortified was not an enterprise that could be so easily effected without dispute so that it being necessary to spend many hours time about it the King in the interim would be come up most powerful in Horse with whom they must of necessity fight with their Souldiers tired with marching and wearied with the first encounter and that the City not having need that things should be precipitated it was better to proceed with that circumspection wherewith they had governed themselves till they His opinion was followed though many of the Spaniards believed he gave that counsel because the Duke of Parma should not get the glory of having relieved Rouen and so in the same order the Army faced about and returned to the quarters from whence they came There they consulted what was to be done The Duke of Mayenne's opinion in which the other French Lords concurred was that the siege of Rouen could not be raised without coming to a Battel which by reason of the great abundance of Gentry that followed the King at that present he judged very dangerous whereupon his advice was Rouen being in such a condition that there was no danger it should be much straitned in many days no noâ— in many weeks that only seven or eight hundred Foot should be sent into the City for a reinforcement and to make up the number of the dead and that the rest of the Army should bend another way shewing that they were no longer in fear nor care about the siege but that they should busie themselves about other enterprises for the Gentry that followed the King tired with the sufferings and expences of all that Winter seeing there was not like to be any occasion of fighting for a long while and that the Army of the League was far off would with their wonted haste retire to their own houses and that many others would leave the Kings Camp in the same manner which as soon as they should see come to pass they should speedily march back and without losing time advance to Rouen for that the King would certainly be forced to draw off or if he sought the Victory would be secure The Spaniards and Italians fearing lest others should enjoy the fruits and honours of their labours inclined to go forward firmly believing that the King would rise from the siege rather than be catched between the City and their Army and since so much was already done they desired to perfect the enterprise and this opinion was favoured by Prince Raunucâ—io more desirous of glory than any other But the Duke of Parma chose to follow the advice of the French and having sent to Rouen eight hundred Walloons of the Regiment of the Count de Bossu and de la Bourlotte who arriving by night entered without opposition departed with the rest of his Army and having passed the River Somme he marched away as fast as he could and went to besiege St. Esprit de Rüe a wonderful strong place standing toward the Confines When the Army of the League was retired the King though the cause of the resolution of the Confederates was obscure to him determined nevertheless to straiten the siege of Rouen more diligently than he had done before and the Men of War being arrived which the States of Holland sent to his assistance commanded by Philip one of the Counts of Nassaw aboard which were many Pieces of Cannon great store of Ammunition and above three thousand Foot he caused the Cannon and Ammunition to be landed whereof he had exceeding great need by reason of the spoil made in the sally and gave order that the Holland-Ships should not only scowr the River to hinder the coming of Victual and other necessaries that were brought from Havre de-Grace to Rouen but also that they should come up close to the City and battering the old Palace and other places near the River increase the dangers and labours of the besieged He also caused certain Barks to be manned in the upper parts of the River towards Pont de l' Arche which under the command of Monsieur de l' Hospital High Chancellor of Navarre scowred it also on that side and blocked it up so much the more which Barks the first day they set forth meeting with Monsieur d' Anqueâ—il made a very sharp fight the end whereof was that one of the Town-Ships being fired and another sunk though the King 's did also receive much harm yet those of the League retired under the protection of the Walls The Holland-Ships drew near also on the lower side and shot an infinite number of Cannon-shot into the Town which nevertheless did but little hurt but the Governour having caused three Culverines to be planted upon a Cavalier which had formerly been raised by the River side after that one of their Ships was boared thorow and thorow with them and the Main-mast of another shot down they drew off to look to the blocking up of the River and landed Two thousand Foot more to re-inforce the Army The King in the mean time set himself again to cast up Trenches and make Redoubts on all sides and hastening the Works with his own presence the Princes and Lords assisting likewise in
declared that he desired a Catholick King and an Enemy to Heresie should be elected and that he abhorred that one who still persevered in his errours should be admitted to the possession of the Crown and therefore made shew to consent also to the assembling of the States to come in the end to a good and wholsom election yet he dispatched his Nephew the Pronotary Agucchi to the Legat himself giving him secret advice to carry himself very dexterously and very cautiously and not to suffer that in the Assembly of the States Votes should either be forced or corrupted but that mens wills should be free and their voices not interessed That he should not permit the election of a King who was more like to kindle discords than to put an end to the War That he should endeavour no wrong might be done to any one That that course should be taken which by the most easie most secure way and with the least novelty that could be possible might produce Peace and that he should not be over-scrupulous but yield what he handsomly might to time and the nature of affairs and provided Religion were secure he should pass by many other considerations in the order and manner of treating Admonishing him finally That this was a business of so great importance as could never be sufficiently pondered and examined and that therefore he should keep himself from hasty resolutions and from specious counsels and that without other respect he should aim only at the quiet of Souls and at the service of God The Pope believed these Instructions without any further Declaration would be sufficient to the prudence of the Legat to cause moderate proceedings in the States and to make him understand that he should not carry the election for a Foreign King about whose establishment longer and more ruinous Wars would necessarily ensue than ever yet had been but that if with the honour of the Apostolick See and the Security of Religion he could either establish a King of the House of Bourbon or compose the discords with the King of Navarre it would be a much better and more expedient determination But the Legat giving himself wholly over to the will of the Spaniards by whom he hoped to be raised to the dignity of being Pope since the favourable endeavours of the Catholick King being in good earnest added to the merit of his labours he thought himself in a condition to attain it and having by his long residence in France and by conversation with the Parisians already contracted a partiality to the League and an enmity to the King was either so blinded by affection that he could not or so drawn by his own designs that he would not understand the Popes meaning and therefore set himself with all his power to advance the enterprises of the Spaniards But the Duke of Mayenne being by his Secretary des Portes and by the Bishop of Lisieux advertised in part of the Popes moderate Commissions judged that his mind inclined to favour him and that those words of causing a Catholick King to be elected who might be a Defender of the Church and an Enemy to Hereticks but such a one as might be established with the general approbation without commotion or subversion pointed at his person and therefore firmly hoping he should have the Popes favour and by consequence the Legats and that the attempts of the Spaniards were not fomented by them having loosened himself from the Treaty of Peace he turned his mind wholly upon the assembling of the States being intent to do it in such manner that it might succeed to the advantage and secure establishment of his Affairs For this purpose he had with exceeding great diligence laboured that the Deputies who were selected might not be of those that were taken with the gold or promises of the Spanish Ministers but of his dependents and where those could not be had he at least obtained that they should be for the most part men of good understanding affectionate to their Country and the general good thinking that such would hardly condescend to a Foreign King and one that was not of their own Blood The place where this Assembly of the States was to be held remained to be resolved on and the Spaniards who designed at the same time when it should be convened to make the Duke of Parma enter into France and draw near with the Army to back and colour the Catholick Kings pretensions desired principally that it might be the City of Soissons The Duke of Lorain proposed the City of Rheims as nearest to him from which the Spaniards did not much dissent But President Ieannin and the Sieur de Villeroy counselled the Duke of Mayenne to reduce the Assembly into the City of Paris without having regard to the length of the journey the danger of the Deputies or to the incommodiousness and dearth of victual to give content and satisfaction to the inhabitants thereof who were wonderful earnest to have it so and had need after so many calamities to be comforted and kept faithful And moreover to make the Congregation of the States more publick and more famous by the quality of the place and not to put the Cities of Rheims or Soissons in danger for it was considered that the Duke of Parma coming thither accompanied according to his custom with strong Forces might easily force the Assembly to his will and make himself Master of those places which would be hard for him to obtain in Paris as well by reason of the greatness of it and the number of the people as because it was further from the Frontiers and all surrounded and encompassed with the Kings Fortresses full of strong Garisons which upon all occasions might be called to hinder any violence that should be offered to the City or to the States Besides this the City was better inclined than ever it had been in former times for the pernicious power of the Sixteen being weakned the Government remained in the hands of the wonted Magistrates elected with great care by the Duke of Mayenne himself and the Incendiaries not being there they quieted the minds of the people without those insurrections that were wont to disturb all businesses Moreover the Parliament residing in the City might serve as a fit instrument to treat and hinder many things This determination did very much displease the Spanish Ministers and they opposed it at the first shewing the necessity of the Duke of Parma's being there who could not advance so far into the Kingdom and withdraw himself so far from the Frontiers and arguing also that the great number of the Deputies would increase the dearth and necessity of the Parisians But the objection concerning the Duke of Parma was removed by his death and the interests of the Parisians was not put into consideration for they themselves perswaded the Spaniards to desist from interposing any hindrance because the City esteemed it to be for
much as they desire would by force or art do whatsoever they had a minde to And if the Catholicks at this present would well consider the actions that proceed from their advice they might see it clearly enough for the best Cities and Fortresses that are taken are put into their power and into the hands of persons who have at all times shewed themselves favourers of them The Catholicks that reside in them are every day accused and convicted of supposed crimes the sole but concealed cause thereof being onely the opposition which hitherto they have made against their designs which they by a false name call Rebellion The principal Offices fall into their hands and it is already come even unto the Crown The Bulls of our Lord Gregory the Fourteenth and Clement the Eighth full of holy Precepts and fatherly admonitions given to the Catholicks to separate them from Hereticks have not onely been rejected but with all contempt trampled upon by Magistrates who unjustly give themselves the name of Catholicks for if they were such indeed they would never abuse the simplicity of those that are so For to make use of the example of things done in this Kingdom at such a time when the business was about introducing matters that were against the liberty and priviledge of the Gallique-Church is very different from our case the Kingdom never having been reduced to so great an unhappiness since it received the Faith as to endure an Heretick-Prince or to see any of that quality pretend right unto it and if they thought those Bulls had any difficulties in them they being Catholicks ought to have proceeded by Remonstrances and with that respect and modesty which is due unto the Holy See and not with so much contempt and so many blasphemies and impieties as they did but perchance they thereby intended to shew those who know how to be better Catholicks that small reckoning is to be made of the Head of the Holy Church to the end that they may afterward be so much the more easily excluded In evil men proceed by degrees they alwayes begin with that which either is not evil or at least is evil in a lower degree the next day they rise higher and at last arrive at the top of all Thence it is that we know God to be highly incensed against this poor desolate Kingdom and that he will yet punish us for our sins since that so many actions which tend to the ruine of our Religion have not been able to bend them nor the many and often repeated Declarations made by us especially within these few dayes that we will refer our selves in all things to what it should please his Holiness and the holy See to determine concerning the King of Navarr's Conversion if God gave him the grace to leave his errors which Declarations ought certainly to give undoubted testimony of our innocency and sincerity and justifie our Arms as necessary for our own safety Yet they forbear not to publish that the Princes united for the defence of Religion tend onely to the ruine and destruction of the State though their actions and the Propositions made by the common consent of them all especially of the greatest that assist us be the true and most secure means to take away the cause and means from whosoever should aspire to it The Hereticks have nothing else to lay hold of but the Catholick King 's relief which they complain of and look upon with an evil eye and would take us to be better Frenchmen if we would forbear making use of it or to say better more easie to be overcome if we were disarmed To which it shall suffice us to answer them that Religion afflicted and put into exceeding great danger in this Kingdom had need to find out that support that we are bound to publish this obligation and to remember it for ever and that imploring the aid of so great a King an Ally and Confederate of this Crown he hath not required any thing from us and we likewise on our parts have not made any Treaty with any whosoever within or without the Kingdom in diminution of the Greatness and Majesty of the State for the conservation whereof we would precipitate our selves willingly into all kind of dangers so it were not to make an Heâ—etick master of it a wickedness which we abhor as the greatest and most abominable of all others And if the Catholicks who assist them could but lay aside this passion depart from Hereticks and joyn themselves not with us but with the Cause of our Religion and in common seek remedies to preserve it and to provide for the safety of the State we should without doubt find the conservation of both and it would not be in the power of him that had an ill intention thereby to prejudice the State nor to make use of so holy a Cause as of a specious but unjust pretence to gain honor and authority We therefore beseech and conjure them in the name of God and of this very Church wherein we protest we will alwayes live and die to separate themselves from Hereticks and consider that while we are opposit to one another we cannot take any remedy that will not be dangerous and such as will make this whole State suffer very much before it can do any good at all Whereas on the contrary our reconciliation will make every thing easie and will quickly make an end of our miseries And to the end that as well the Princes of the Blood as the Officers of the Crown and others may not at all be kept back or hindered from applying themselves to so good a work out of a doubt that they shall not be respected acknowledged and honoured by us and the other Princes and Lords of this party according to their merit We promise upon our faith and honor provided they separate themselves from the Hereticks that we will do it sincerely assuring them that they shall find the same respect and reverence from us and them that follow us But we beseech them to do it speedily and cut the knots of so many difficulties which cannot be disentangled if they forsake not all things to serve God and his holy Church and if they lay not before their eyes that Religion ought to pass before all other respects and considerations and that prudence is no longer to be so called when it makes us forget our first obligation And to proceed with more mature advice we give them to understand that we have prayed the Princes Peers of France Prelates Lords and Deputies of the Parliaments and of the Cities and Towns of this party that they would be at the City of Paris upon the Seventeenth day of the moneth of Ianuary next to chuse joyntly without passion or regard of the interest of any whosoever the Remedy which we shall judge in Conscience to be most profitable for the conservation of Religion and the State To which place if they shall think
Conversion the censure whereof was not under their power and authority and though they persisted in this opinion yet the Kings Deputies would needs present a Writing to them which contained three points One an offer of the Kings Conversion another that in the mean time while that came to pass the means of securing Religion and concluding Peace might be treated of and the third that while these things were doing a general cessation of Arms might be concluded through the whole Kingdom The Deputies could not refuse to accept this writing which being by them brought to be discussed by the D. of Mayenne and the States the debates were very long and various for as the Royalists endeavoured to discover the intentions of the Confederates so they would not declare what they would do if the K. should publickly return unto the Church But this Proposition made by the Kings party wrought such a jealousie in the Spanish Ambassadors that with their utmost spirits they pressed for a resolution to their desire for the facilitating whereof they were fain to offer that the Catholick King should be content the Infanta should marry one of the Princes of the House of Lorain but this proposition also raised many doubts because there was no certainty the Infanta being once elected and declared that either she or the King her Father would observe that promise to which any private man can hardly be obliged much less a Queen or Princess and again because if that first Husband should dye she might perhaps take another either of the House of Austria or a Spaniard or of some other Nation likewise because she having no children by this marriage the King of Spain would afterwards pretend right to the Crown but much more than all the rest because the Duke of Mayenne saw himself and his posterity excluded from that advantage whereupon not only this business was protracted without coming to any resolution but it was determined in the States that there should be a very moderate answer made to the Writing presented by those of the Kings party in the Conference without untying or breaking off the thread of that Treaty wherefore both parties being met at la Roquette a house in the field without the Porte S. Anthoine the Arch-bishop of Lyons said that as concerning the King's Conversion they wished it might be real and unfained but that not only they could not hope it was so but on the contrary they had great cause to believe it was not without dissimulation for if it had proceeded from sincerity so many delayes and puttings off would not have been sought and if he were touched with any inspiration he would not remain in his Heresie and in the publick exercise of it he would not cherish and keep about him the principal Ministers that taught it nor would he still leave the chief Offices of the Kingdom in their hands and yet because it appertain'd not to them to approve or reprove that Conversion they lest the Judgment thereof unto the Pope who alone had authority to determine it as for the Treaty of Peace and security of Religion they could not treat thereof for the present for many considerations lest they should treat with the King of Navar who was without the Church and lest they should give a beginning to the acknowledgment of him or anticipate the Pope's judgment Then for the point of Cessation they would give answer to that when satisfaction was given to the two first Articles Thus neither assenting nor very much dissenting they held the matter in suspence till the Duke of Mayenne saw whether the business begun with the Spaniards was like to end But the Cardinal-Legat being wonderfully solicitous not only because the Spanish negotiation went on difficultly but much more because he saw mens minds inclined to the Cessation out of the hope they had conceived of the King's conversion and the desire of quiet used his utmost power to hinder it and faining himself not well wrote a Letter to Cardinal Pelleve upon the Thirteenth day of Iune praying him to go to the States and in his name to make them a grave Remonstrance of the danger and damage that depended upon the Conference of Surennâ— and advertise them that not only they could not treat concerning the conversion of the Navarrois but not so much as about Peace a Cessation of Arms or any other business with him as well by reason of the Decrees of the sacred Canons and the Declarations of the Apostolick See as also of the Oath they had taken never to assent to or make an agreement with the Heretick Which things were set forth in the Letter with great vehemence of words protesting in the end that if they should continue to treat of Peace or a Cessation he would depart from the City and from the Kingdom that he might neither assent to so great an evil nor disobey the Commissions he had from the Pope This Letter first read by the Cardinal in the States and afterward published in print to the knowledge of every one did something bridle mens minds who were running on eagerly toward a cessation of Arms. In the mean time the King knowing how much harm the want of reputation and the weakness of their Forces did unto the Spaniards and not being willing to run into the same error resolved to set himself upon some notable enterprise not far off with the noise and fame whereof he might increase his reputation and foment those affairs that were transacting in favour of him wherefore having drawn his whole Army together with great diligence he commanded out all the neighbouring Garrisons and made plentiful provision of Cannon Ammunition Pioneers and other things proper for a secure resolute design upon the seventh of Iune he had laid siege to Dreux a Town but sixteen leagues from Paris which for its situation fortification and the quality of the defendents was accounted very strong The Suburbs of the Town were valiantly taken the first day they within who before thought to defend them being beaten back in all places but when they had lost all hope of making them good they endeavoured to have burnt them down The whole Army being quartered with great celerity they began the next day to throw up four Trenches which were hastened with so much diligence by the Baron de Biron and the Sieur de Montlouet one of the Field-Marshals that upon the thirteenth day all four of them were brought into the Moat nor with less diligence were four Batteries planted one of four pieces of Cannon against the great Bulwark toward the Porte de Chastres another of six against the Porte de Paris the third of three against the curtain toward the great Church and the fourth of five Pieces in the Fâ—uxbâ—urg St Iehan which battered a great Tower that stood on that side The King hastened and encouraged the Works in all places with his presence wherefore scarce was the Orillon
by that means to pacifie the Kingdom From this general inclination the Great Ones were not averse who though they would not swerve from the Popes Judgment and the Declaration of the Apostolick See thought yet it was not fit to innovate any thing more till they saw the effect of his Conversion and the Popes intention which opinion fomented by the Duke of Mayenne and forced by the necessity of affairs was imbraced even by the Duke of Guise himself who in such a conjuncture thought his election would prove ridiculous to others and ruinous to himself which he himself being accompanied by the Mareschals de la Chastre and St. Paul gave the Spanish Ministers to understand In the mean time half the City of Paris ran to the spectacle of this Conversion even from the day before the Absolution which was the Five and twentieth of Iuly being the Feast of the Apostle St. Iames which day the King cloathed all in white but accompanied with the Princes Lords and the whole Court with the Guards before them in Arms went to the chief Church of St. Denis the Gates whereof they found shut at which the High Chancellor knocking they were presently opened and there appeared the Archbishop of Bourges sitting in his Chair in his Pontifical Habit and invironed with a great number of Prelates He asked the King Who he was and what he would have The King answered That he was Henry King of France and Navarre and that he demanded to be received into the Bosom of the Catholick Church To which the Archbishop replying asked If he desired it from the bottom of his heart and had truly repented him of his former Errours At which words the King protesting upon his knees said He was sorry for his former Errour which he abjured and detested and would live and die a Catholick in the Apostolick Roman Church which he would protect and defend even with the hazard and danger of his very life After which words having with a loud voice repeated the Profession of Faith which was presented to him in writing he was with infinite acclamations of the people and incessant vollies of shot brought into the Church and kneeling down before the high Altar he repeated the prayers that were dictated to him by the Archbishop and thence having been admitted by him to secret Confession he came to set under the Daiz or Cloth of State and with a general gladness and rejoycing was present at the solemn Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Nantes after which thorow a wonderful throng of people and resounding cries of Vive le Roy which ascended to the Skies He returned again to his Palace In this interim affairs having taken such a different impression the States gave answer to the Duke of Feria and the other Spanish Ambassadors who being brought into the Assembly the Duke of Mayenne gravely gave thanks unto the Catholick Kings Majesty as well for the assistance of his past and the promise of his future Supplies as for the honour done unto his Family in offering the Infanta in marriage to his Nephew the Duke of Guise and in the end told them that the Assembly having well considered all things did not think the time seasonable to make any Election but that they prayed his Catholick Majesty to stay for the ripeness of opportunity and in the mean time not to fail them of his wonted protection and promised Supplies After this resolution which dashed all the Spaniards it was determined in the States that they should follow the conclusion of the Truce and though the Legat opposed it strongly and protested oftentimes that he would be gone yet being pacified by the reasons that were represented to him and with the offer of causing the Council of Trent to be received in the States he let himself be perswaded to continue in the City being also uncertain whether his departure would be well taken at Rome So in the Conference at Surenne a general Tâ—uce was established thorow the whole Kingdom for the three next months August September and October and it was published with infinite joy among the people in all places after which the Duke of Mayenne being desirous to dismiss the Assembly honourably first caused a Decree to be made for the receiving the Council of Trent and then assembling the States upon the eighth of August he made them all swear to persevere in the Vnion and not to depart from it and having given order that they should meet again in the same place in the month of October following to deliberate upon the state of affairs with those Instructions they should have from Rome he at last dismissed them all and the Deputies willingly departing returned to their own houses The End of the Thirteenth BOOK THE HISTORY OF THE Civil Wars of France By HENRICO CATERINO DAVILA. The FOURTEENTH BOOK The ARGUMENT THis Book contains the means used by the King to make his Conversion more fruitful the continuation of the Truce for the two other months November and December at the end of which Meaux first of all submits to his obedience The Sieur de la Chastre follows with the City of Bourges and the Admiral Villars with Havre de Grace and Rouen the Count de Brissac Governour of Paris makes a composition and the King being received into the City without tumult drives out the Spanish Ambassadors and Garison the Cardinal-Legat departed also and goes out of the Kingdom Many other Cities follow the Kings fortune and finally the Duke of Nemours is imprisoned and the City of Lyons surrenders it self The Duke of Mayenne renews other conditions with the Spaniard to prosecute the War he comes to parley with Ernest Archduke of Austria Governour of the Low-Countries and at last goes into Picardy with Count Charles of Mansfelt and the Army The King besieges Laon the Duke of Mayenne and the Spaniards attempt to relieve it there follow many encounters at last they retire and the place is yielded The Sieur de Balagny goes over to the Kings obedience with the City of Cambray he is likewise received into Amiens and other Towns in Piccardy The Duke of Montpensier takes Honfleur There happen divers encounters in Bretagne Languedoc Provence and Dauphine The King being returned to Paris is in his own Lodgings wounded in the Mouth by a young Merchant he is taken confesses the fact and is executed forâ—it and the Iesuites are banished out of the Kingdom The King publickly proclaims War against the King of Spain and renews the Negotiation at Rome to obtain Absolâ—tion from the Pope The Mareschal de Byron is declared Governour of Bourgogne He begins the War prosperously in that Province takes Autun Auxerre and at last Dijon and besieges the Castles of it The Sieur de Tremblecourt and d' Ossonville enter to infest the County of Bourgogne which is subject to the Crown of Spain and takes some places there The Constable of Castille Governour of Milan
he might spare the pains of coming The Duke not losing heart though much troubled went forward but not the straight way to Rome and being come to Mantua he sent Possevino back unto the Pope endeavouring by many reasons written to him and the Cardinals his Nephews to obtain permission to execute his Embassy and the Marquiss de Pisani Cardinal Gondi and the Monsieur de Metz Leiger Ambassador for the King at Venice being come unto him they with a common consent wrote and treated many things which were promoted at Rome by the Venetian and Florentine Ambassadors Cardinal Toledo also carrying himself very favourably in the business The Pope making use of the advertisement the Legat had given him to colour his secret intention shewed that Article of Montorio's instructions to the Duke of Sessa Ambassador for the King of Spain and to many Cardinals depending upon that party and feigned to let himself be drawn by that respect and that to that end he would not totally exclude the Duke of Nevers and though both the Duke of Sessa and the Spanish Cardinals stifly opposed it affirming that at the end of the Truce the Catholick King would certainly have such forces in a readiness as should to the general satisfaction of the Confederates be able to establish the proposed election yet the Pope took a middle way which was to admit and hearken to the Duke not as an Ambassador from the King of Francâ— but as a Caâ—holick Prince and as an Italian and therefore he sent back Possevinâ— to him again to Manâ—â—a to let him know that his intention and last determination and to advertise him thaâ— he should come without state and with but a small retinue to the end he might not be held and acknowledged in the degree of an Ambassador but of a privaâ—e person which though the Duke thought very hard and from so difficult a beginning guessed he should compass no prosperous end of his Embassy yet he resolved to go forward as well because he would not digress from the Council of the Venetian Senate and the other Princes who were the Kings Friends as also to make the uttermost royal in a business of so mighty importance But in France there happened at this time besides the ordinary discords a new misfoâ—tune to the League for the City of Lyons unexpectedly â—ook Arms against the Duke of Nemours who was Governor thâ—â—â—of and proceeded so far that they made him pâ—isoner in the Casâ—le of Pierre Ansise The Duke of Nâ—mours a Prince of great courage but of a haughty imperious nature being departed full of pride by reason of his prospeâ—ous defence of Paâ—â— and come unto his Government of Lyons had begun 〈◊〉 noâ—rish a design within himself to reduce it into a free Signiory together with Beaâ—ioloiâ— and Poâ—ests which were three Precincts jointly under his command and to add 〈◊〉 them as many other places and towns as he could and his Brother the Marquiss of St. Soâ—lâ—â— having the Government of Dauphine he designed to unite that Province also unto himself and by that means joining his State to that of the Duke of Savâ—y fâ—om whose House his Family descended to be assisted and fomented by him but because he knew that neither the Nobility nor people would ever consent willingly to separate themselves from the Crown of France and submit themselves unto his tyranny he had by long contrivance been raising all those means which might serve to obtain his intent by force For this purpose he had under several pretences driven many of the chief Citizens out of the City and exposing the Nobility to manifest dangers was glad to see many of them perish who were able to oppose his design nor that sufficing him he had upon several occasions caus'd a great many Forts and Citadels to be built which incompassed the City of Lyons with a Circle having begun at Toissay Belleville and Tisy and then continued at Charlieu St. Bonnet Mombrison Nirieâ— Câ—iâ—drieu Vienne Pipeâ— and lastly to perfect that circumference he treated with the Sieur de St. Iullen that for Fifty thousand Crowns he should let him have Quirieu to raise another Foâ—t there likewise and passing from the Circumference unto the Center he meant to rebuild the ruined Citadel of Lyons and designs and platforms were already drawâ— for that purpose In these strong places he kept Garisons of Horse and Foot that depended upon his pleasure and not having enough to maintain them of his own fed them wiâ—h extorting from the people and with a pernicious licence of plundering and spoiling the Country To these actions were added outward shews not unlike them for he kept about him a great retinue of Strangers undervalued and abused the Nobility of the Country and in his publick writings no longer â—sed the Title of Governour but barely of Duke of Nâ—mours as an absolute Lord. In this inteâ—im the time of holding the States at Paris being come he though invited would neither go not send thither still speaking dishonourably of the authority and actions of the Duke of Mayenne his Broâ—her by the Mothers side and when the Truce was concluded though he declared that he accepted it for as much as concerned the Kings party yet nevertheless would he not dismiss the least part of his Souldiery but rather entertaining and raising new every day kept the Country more oppressed in the time of the Cessation than it was before in the heat of War The principal men and the people of Lyons moved by all these things resolved to complain of it to the Duke of Mayenne who for the safety of the City and the maintaining of his own reputation thought it good to withstand his Brothers ambitious designs and therefore under colour of desiring that the Archbiâ—hop of Lyons should go to Râ—me with Cardinal Ioyeâ—se he caused him to go unto that City giving him Commission to maintain the peoples liberty and to give him â—oâ—ice of every parâ—iculaâ— to the end he might seasonably provide against danger This Remedy hastened the breaking out of the mischief for the Duke of Nemours having no good correspondenâ—e with the Archbishop and seeing the Citizens ran popularly aâ—ter him thought to draâ— some Compâ—nies of Souldiers into the Town either for his own security or to bridle the people who were already half in an uproar But this news being come amongst the Citizens increased by the wonâ—â—d additions of the report they no longer delayed to rise and having taken Arms barricadoed up the City and shut the Duke into a corner of the Town who having in this necessity desired to speak with the Archbishop whom before he had not cared to see the event proved different from his design for the Archbishop making then no account either of his words or complements which he knew proceeded but from necessity continued to exhort the people to defend their own liberty and told them which way they should manage their business so that finally the
This opinion being without doubt the best and most fruitful suited wonderfully with the King's nature inclined to gentleness and clemency and with the necessity of his affairs and the knowing that his enemies though weak and divided were not yet suppressed and utterly ruined induced him to consent unto it and to resolve to open that so large gate that all others might run willingly to pass in at it wherefore having received the Deputies with kind demonstrations he graciously granted the Citizens of Meaux all conditions they knew how to ask among which that the exercise of the Catholick Religion alone should be allowed in their Town he granted them also exemption from many impositions the confirmation of the offices and benefices granted by the Duke of Mayenne and the continuation of the immunities and ancient Priviledges of the Place he confirmed the Govenment upon Monsieur de Vitry and after him upon his eldest Son and gave him a certain sum of money to pay his debts and also paid the Soldiery that followed him and entertained them in his service This blaze of liberality and clemency spread a wonderful lustre through all parts of France so that upon the same thereof many others resolved to follow the example and to try if they could find more quiet in the King's goodness than in the troubles of the War and so much the rather when they saw the King's Edict published upon the fourth of Ianuary 1594. Wherein with a great and specious flourish of words he confirmed the foresaid Conditions which Edict was also received without any kind of delay and approved of in the Parliament About the same time the Sieur d' Estrumel Brother in law to Monsieur de S. Luc and Governor of Peronne Mondidier Roye made agreement for himself and those three principal Towns of Piccardy to put themselves under the King's obedience but to make his revolt more specious he would first make a Truce for many months whereby those aforesaid Towns remained neutral The same did the Sieur d' Aliâ—court and Monsieur de Villeroy with Pontoyse for the King was content they should remain neutral by a particular Truce that he might make use of Villeroy in drawing on the treaty of Peace which was yet kept alive with the Duke of Mayenne But Monsieur de la Chastre one of the principal men of the League declared himself for the King freely and without any pretence in the beginning of February for having in vain demanded supplys of men and money from the Spanish Ministers being incensed at the repulse and weary of the discords which he saw in his party he agreed with the King by means of the Archbishop of Bourges for himself and the Cities of Orleans and Bourges obtained for them the same conditions that had been granted to Meaux and for himself the confirmation of the degree of Marshal of France conferred upon him by the Duke of Mayenne and of the Governments he had in possession which after him were to come to his Son the Baron de la Maison In the same month happened the composition with the City of Lyons for the people of that place having expected that the Duke of Mayenne should either come thither in Person or send a man of great authority to accommodate the business with the D. of Nemours and to remove him from that government by giving him a convenient recompence he not being able to leave Paris in the condition it was in and not having an equivalent recompence to offer for the Government of Guienne which the Duke of Nemours would have accepted was already promised to the Duke of Guise and the Marquiss of Villars who commanded there would not hear of submitting himself to any other body he could neither remedy the popular Commotion nor oppose the force of the Marquiss de S. Sorlin who to recover his Brother molested the whole Country of Lyons with exceeding great plunderings and also straitned the City wherefore after the people had in vain expected many months not knowing what resolution to take they at last called Collonel Alfonso Corso who was near that place with a good number of men and having brought him into the City publickly set up the Royal Standard having thrown and beaten down all the Arms and Monuments of the League every where A while before the City of Aix in Provence being straitly besieged by the Duke of Espernon and seeing they could receive no relief neither from the Duke of Savoy nor from any other part the Count de Carsy being in it who had married a daughter in law of the Duke of Mayenn's and was Commander in Chief of the forces of that Province took a resolution since the King was turn'd Catholick to submit himself to his obedience but upon condition that the Duke of Espernon should not come into the Town to whom both the Citizens and the Count himself professed a particular enmity in which point they were satisfied by means of Monsieur Les-diguieres and of Collonel Alfonso Corso In this so violent a motion of the principal Heads and Cities of the Vnion part whereof had already agreed to obey the King and part talked of agreeing the Cardinal's Legat was in great fear and trouble for he having promised at Rome that there should follow no alteration upon the King's conversion was now in great perplexity for fear the Pope should account him either a light or a negligent man and having persuaded and urged that the King's Embassy might not be received by the Apostolick See he doubted not that all sinister events would be imputed to his evil Counsel and was extremely vexed that so much labour and so great endeavours used by him to bring the affairs of the League to the end he pretended should now prove vain and unprofitable and that all the engins of his contrivance should be overturn'd in a moment wherefore being fallen into a profund consideration he after long consultation resolved to set forth a Writing wherein he informed and assured the people of France that the Pope judging the King of Navar 's conversion to be feign'd and counterfeit had neither approved it nor admitted the Duke of Nevers as his Ambassador but as an Italian Prince and a private person He protested moreover that the Pope would never approve of that conversion nor admit the King into the bosome of the Church upon which ground he exhorted all Catholicks not to swerve from the judgment and union of the Apostolick See nor from the obedience of the Pope With this Writing he thought he might stop the motion of mens minds that inclined to submit themselves to the King and judged that the scruple of Conscience would be stronger to withhold them than the consideration of temporal Laws to spur them on but this Counsel produced a contrary effect for most men were incensed that so great a Prince should be refused to be received to repentance whereas the Church is wont
the Citizens without using any kind of severity He endeavoured to make them understand that he was about to conclude the general peace with the Popes consent and therefore it would be much more honourable much more advantageous to them to be included in the general agreement than to compound by themselves and forsaking him who had alwayes governed them gently refer themselves to the uncertain discretion of a new Governor with which reasons thinking he had setled their minds he left a good Garrison in the Castle and a convenient one in the Town and went with speed to Dijon where he feared some insurrection no less than in other places but being advertised that after his departure there had been new tumults at Beaune he would needs return to provide against them and began to contrive how to fortifie both the Town and Castle which being not to be done according to the design of Carlo Bonaventura an Italian Engineer without pulling down some principal Monasteries and a great many private houses to the very ground the Citizens opposed it shewing the Duke that it was no time to come to so precipitate a determination but he entring by this opposition into a greater jealousie of their inclinations resolved to prosecute the Fortification and brought in a greater strength of Soldiers which were distributed into several parts of the Town to bridle the People and to secure them to his devotion and having given convenient order for these things he departed to oversee the rest of the Province and secure other places believing he had sufficiently provided against that danger but the Citizens exasperated by the pulling down of their houses and by the imprisoning of the chief of them resolved to use their utmost force to deliver the City to the Mareschal de Biron who with Two thousand Switzers Four thousand French Foot and Twelve hundred Horse was come into those quarters in the month of Ianuary wherefore having secretly invited him and setled the agreement that he should present himself at the Gates of the City upon the fifth of February they upon the same day as soon as it was light took Armes and running up and down the streets with white Scarfs began to cry out For the King to which the greater part of the common people answering Iaques Richard one of the Plot ran to that Gate which alone was wont to be kept open and letting down the Portcullises that were on the inside shut out the guard of Soldiers who negligently and carelesly guarded the Raveline then many others running thither arm'd they made themselves Masters of the Gate driving out the soldiers that were upon the guard who having forsaken the Raveline to save themselves in the Fields were by the Country-people no less exasperated than the rest miserably defeated and dispersed At the same time Guilliaume Allesan and Michel Richard two other contrivers of the business ran to the house of the Sieur de Montmoyon Governor of the Town and suddenly made him prisoner having killed Guillermin a Colonel of Foot and some other Captains that were with him and Carlo Bonaventura the designer of the Fortifications who in his own defence had wounded Alesan and many others being almost stoned by the fury of the people could scarce by the diligent care of some be carried alive into the common Gaol The Gate and the Governor being taken the next work was to master the Quarters of the Soldiers who though divided in different places had fortified themselves there from the be-beginning of the tumult in which combustion the City being all in an hurly-burly and even the very Women and Children betaking themselves to Arms they began to fight in many several parts of the Town with various and bloody events In the mean time came the Mareschal de Biron who had delayed longer than the Citizens had appointed and being entered into the Town with his whole Army the Soldiers who were no longer able to make resistance yielded saving their goods and persons and he with very great and unusual severity restraining his soldiers from pillage appeased the whole tumult that night The next day siege was laid to the Castle which being battered with Twelve pieces of Cannon after Three thousand shot and having held out Two and forty dayes surrendred it self into his hands The Baron de Senecey with the City of Ossonne followed the example of Beaune for he having been Ambassador to the Pope and having found there was no hopes either from Rome or Spain of such Supplies as were necessary to uphold the enterprise and having diligently informed the Duke of Mayenne of it and exhorted him in vain to imbrace peace he took a resolution and submitted himself to the Mareschal de Biron upon condition to keep the Government of that place The Citizens of Autun resolved to do the same but because that Town was guarded with a good Garrison nor could the inclinations of all be sounded without evident danger of discovery the Heads of the design determined to call the Mareschal and not to make any stir at all till he was at the Gates one of which being kept by them they had resolved to open to him wherefore be being come secretly into the Suburbs upon the eighth of May at night the Mayor of the Town who had undertaken to bring him in with great silence caused the Gate to be opened into which a Captain entering first of all with Five and twenty Cuirassiers and Fifty firelocks quickly made himself Master of that Post and having sent word that the Pass was secure the Sieur de Sapiere and the Marquiss of Mirebeau entered after whom followed the whole Army which being drawn up in the open space between the Walls and the houses of the Town was divided into four parts which took possession of the streets of the City four several wayes One of these having fallen upon a good number of Soldiers which according to the Military custom were going Patrouilles there began a furious conflict in the dark at the tumult whereof all the Guards being wakened and in Arms as likewise all those Citizens that were not privy to the business they continued with various uncertainty fighting all the night till day being broke every one perceived that the City was possessed by the whole Army whereupon all laying down their Arms and hiding themselves in houses Biron caused a pardon to be published through all the Streets and having plundered the Soldiers of the Garrison and sent them forth of the Town it remained without further harm under the Kings obedience The affairs of Bourgongne being in this condition the Constable of Castile having past the Mountains with â—ight thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse had crossed through Savoy and was come into the Franche Comte where being united with the Duke of Mayenne who with Four hundred Horse and a Thousand French Foot was gone to meet him recovered Iaunevillet which they of the King's party
had quitted and resolved without delay to besiege Vezu in which Town the Sieur de Tremblecourt was with Four hundred Foot and 60 Horse nor was it very hard to take it because his weakness would not suffer him to make any great resistance whereupon the Duke of Mayenne who as a Soldier of greater experience commanded in Military matters having caused a Battery to be planted made an open breach within few hours and the Sieur de Tremblecourt not being obstinate to make a vain defence resolved to retire into the Castle and expect relief from the Mareschal de Biron But he could not receive the assistance that was needful in due time for the Mareschal being at the same time called by the Citizens of Dijon resolved to attend that as the more important occasion so that the Sieur de Tremblecourt not being able in a weak place to resist the Forces of a whole Army was constrained to surrender the Castle But the Citizens of Dijon having declared themselves unseasonably ran a very great hazard of being suppressed for the Viscount de Tavanes who governed that Province as the Duke of Mayenne's Lieutenant being advertised of their intention drew all the neighbouring Garrisons together with infinite celerity and while the chief Citizens stood perplext and irresolute whether or no they should call the Mareschal de Biron for fear of being scacked Tavanes appeared with a considerable force to enter into the City but that being denyed him by the people already up in Arms he turning towards the Castle was willingly received by the Governor of it There after having refreshed and ordered his men he caused an hundred of his stoutest Horsemen to alight and placed them in the front of the Squadron and then incouraging his men to fight gallantly marched down in order the common way to enter the passage towards the Market-place where being encountred by the Townsmen in Arms there began between them a sharp and obstinate fight which lasting stiffly from the morning till it was far of the day some of the Heads of the people taking a resolution in necessity determined to send for the Mareschal de Biron who having already many dayes expected that opportunity hovered up and down about those quarters But not being able to bring the Army with that celerity which so sudden an exigent required the Mareschal having left order that the Cavalry should follow him with all speed entered into Dijon with onely Sixty Gentlemen towards the evening at whose arrival the Citizens recovering courage who not being able to resist were already reduced into a corner of the Town and then the whole Army coming up successively one part after another Tavanes not willing to lose the Castle while he contended obstinately to get the Town resolved to retire thither and leave the possession of the Town unto the Army wherefore making the Rereguard of his Squadron face about he drew off softly and still fighting got safe into the Fortress the day being quite shut in but leaving it to the care of the wonted Governor he retired himself into the Castle of Talan a little distant from the Town The Mareschal was reduced into a great straight his Army not being sufficient to divide it self and besiege both Castles and because he feared the Duke of Mayenne and the Constable of Castile having dispatched at Vezu would come straight to Dijon he solicited the King by redoubled Messengers to advance into Bourgongne whither the greatest weight of arms was already inclined The King had staid at Paris longer than he had at first intended for President Ieannin being come unto him they had great hopes to conclude the lately renewed Treaty of Agreement which afterwards was prolonged many dayes for not onely the King was backward in granting conditions by reason of the prosperity of his affairs in Bourgongne but also the Duke of Mayenne according to the variation of hopes varied also his determinations and without proceeding further would have had a Truce established to expect as he said the Popes resolution and as the Kings said the resolution of King Philip and finally the revolt of those Towns having hapned on the one side and on the other the Constable being come the Treaty dissolved without conclusion and the King having left the Prince of Conti to govern Paris and with him the Count of Schombergh to counsel him was come to Troyâ— upon the thirtieth of May to draw his Army together in that place and to march thence whither need should require Thither the earnest desires of the Mareschal de Biron came unto him who solicited him to march speedily to Dijon wherefore without interposing any delay he with the Troops that were with him having left order that the rest should follow took his way with all haste toward Bourgongne having with him the Count of Auvergne the Duke de la Tremouille the Marquiss de Pisany the Count de Torigny the Chevalier d Oyse the Marquisses of Tresnel and Mirepoix and the Sieurs de Chiverny Liancourt Vitry Montigny d' Interville and de la Curee Being come to Dijon upon the fourth of Iune he presently gave order that both the Castles should be beleagured setting the Count de Torigny to besiege that of the City and the Baron of St. Blancard Brother to the Mareschal de Biron to take in the Castle of Talan but because to shut up the Castle round about was a work of many daâ—es all the Infantry not being yet come up which could not march so fast as he had done the King resolved to advance with the major part of Cavalry towards the Spanish Camp for having intelligence that the Constable had cast two Bridges over the River Saone at Gray to pass all his Army at once and come to raise the siege of the Castles he hoped to foreslow him till such time that all his men were come up and the Trenches brought to perfection The Duke of Mayenne had likewise partly with reason partly with authority partly by entreaty perswaded the Constable to advance to recover the City of Dijon telling him that the Mareschal de Biron's Forces were much inferior to his and that the Castles in which the sum of affairs consisted afforded them a very easie way to drive out the Enemies and though the Constable a Lord of high birth and great riches but small experience in the affairs of War was very unwilling to do it yet his confidence in the Dukes prudence and valor and his not knowing that the King was so near had induced him to yield unto it wherefore having passed the River the day before with his whole Army he had quartered himself in the Villages on this side of the River eight Leagues from Dijon Things being in this condition and neither the Constable nor the Duke of Mayenne knowing of the Kings being come he without losing time upon the seventh of Iune in the morning departed from the City with Twelve hundred Gentlemen and
de St. Paul who being a young man referred himself to the opinion of those that were elder that without making further tryal to recover the day they should get the Battel into security But the Marquiss de Belin detesting that advice fell on with the Rere to relieve the danger of the Admiral and yet being encountred by four Squadrons of Lanciers whom the Count de Fuentes sent out against him he had not strength to resist their fury and being routed and dispersed in a moment the rest saved themselves by flight but he and the Sieur de Longchamp remained the enemies prisoners And this was one of those encounters which gave clear proof that Cuirassiers in the field are very much inferior to the violence of Lances The loss the French received in this Battel was greater in regard of the quality than number of the slain for they were not in all above 600 but most part of them Gentlemen and persons of note whereof the whole Army was composed which made the D. of Bouillons excuse the better in that he had saved the remainder though it was a most constant opinion that if all the Squadrons had charged at once or if he obstinately fighting had called up the Count de St. Paul with the fresh Forces to his assistance he might either have put relief into Dourlans or at least might have retired without receiving so great a loss On the side of the Spaniards there were killed but few and all obscure persons and among the wounded none was reckoned on but Sancho de Luna While the Armies fought thus the besieged in Dourlans were not idle for having heard the noise of the fight hard by they made a gallant sally to assail the Trenches in which finding the Posts well fortified and all the Guards in Arms they were no less valiantly repulsed though in that action they received not much loss The Conde de Fuentes returning victorious to the Leaguer and freed from the fear of being any more infested by the French applyed himself with all his study to hasten the end of the siege which though the defendents answered with very remarkable courage and valor yet was not their conduct and experience correspondent so that it manifestly appeared the Town though with much slaughter would fall into the power of the Spaniards Upon the 28th day the besieged made a great sally in the heat of the noon-day and because they found the Foot ready and prepared for their defence after a long fight they were at last constrained to retire and while they did so very softly and without any sign of flight being assaulted by the Cavalry and charged very furiously on the flank they lost many of their men and were fain to run back full speed to the very Counterscarp The next day the Artillery having battered not onely the Walls of the Town but made a breach also in a corner of the Castle the Count caused the assault to be given and to divide the strength and courage of the defendents he sent Foot to fall on in both places The Spaniards stormed the Castle the Walloons the Town and a while after the Italians entering into both Trenches reinforced the Assault In this occasion the valor of Hernando Telles Portocarrero appeared most remarkable who being the first that got up into the breach of the Castle fought there with so much courage that the Count de Dinan being slain who on that side had the charge of the defence and the Squadron of those within being beaten back and broken the Castle was taken with a wonderful great slaughter from whence the Assailants going down without having found any obstacle or impediment of Trenches or Casamats for the unskilfulness or discord of the defendents had been such that there was no Works cast up they impetuously also possessed themselves of the Town where in revenge of the slaughter of Han the name of which sounded aloud in the mouth of every one all that were in it were without any regard put to the Sword in the violence of the fight so that of so great a number of Gentlemen and Soldiers scarce the Sieur de Haraucourt and the Sieur de Griboâ—al with forty soldiers remained prisoners there being slain upon the place Monsieur de Ronsoy Governor of the Castle the Sieurs de Francourt and Prouilles who had principal commands above Three hundred Gentlemen and above Six hundred Soldiers The Town was sacked in the heat of the action and continued at the disâ—retion of the Soldiers till the evening and then those had quarter given them who were retired to the security of the Churches The Conde de Fuentes having obtained so full a Victory betook himself to repair the ruines of the wall and to throw down the Works without and having given the Government of the place to Portocarrero who had behaved himself so gallantly in the taking of it applyed himself with very great diligence to make preparation to besiege Cambray not being willing unprofiâ—ably to lose that prosperity which the countenance of fortune shewâ—d him In the mean time the Duke of Nevers was arrived at the half-defeated and quite affrighted Army and though he strove to dissemble those errors that had been committed yet talking with the Count de St. Paul and the Duke of Bouillon at Pâ—quigny he could not foâ—bear telling them that in their consultations they had been too courageous and in their reâ—reat too prudent By which words and their old emulation the Duke of Bouillon being disgusted departed from the Army and likewise the Count de St. Paul not very well satisfied retired to Bologne the whole weight and care of the defence remaining upon one man alone The Duke of Nevers having taken the charge of the Army though brought to a very weak estate drew into Amiens upon the second day of August to secure that City which by the near slaughter of Dourlans was struck with very great terror and because the Citizens running popularly to him shewed him in how great fear they were lest Corbie a Town not far from the place where the Enemy was should fall into their hands he promised to go into it the next day himself in person and so having left his son the young Duke of Rhetelois at Amiens he went without delay to Corbie in which Town though weak he began to set himself in order to receive the Spanish Army in case it should march that way but the next day the Conde de Fuentes who was not above seven Leagues from thence having raised his Camp from Dourlans advanced in one dayes maâ—ch near to Peronne wherefore the Duke with all his Forces leaving Corbie went to quarter at Arboniers that he might go the same night into Peronne The Spaniards upon the fifth day passed near the Walls of the Town marching towards S. Quintin wherefore the Duke being sent to by the Viscount d' Auchy who was in it went thither upon the sixth in
the morning which day the Spanish Army made a halt in the same quarters and stayed there four dayes to make provision of victual from all parts and upon the eleventh of August drawing within four miles of Cambray discovered their design of besieging that place freeing all the rest from the suspition they had been in The Mareschal de Balagny who was in Cambray knowing himself weak in the number of his soldiers and much more hated of the inhabitants who could not indure his Dominion and besides that not having any means to pay and maintain the Soldiers solicited the Duke of Nevers by four Messengers dispatched post one after another to assist him with some men and pleasure him also with a sum of money letting him know the little confidence he had in the people and the great terror that was in thâ— Garrison by reason of the noise of the slaughter at Dourlans The Duke of Nevers having called a Council of War was doubtful a great while whether he should go into Cambray himself in person or not for on the one side the jealousie of keeping that City and the Glory of defending it spurred him on and on the other the necessity of endeavouring to recruit the Army and set it again in order disswaded him from it but all the Commanders agreeing that he ought not to engage himself since they hoped that Balagny would supply what was needful in the Command within the Town and that his presence would be most necessary to prepare relief he resolved to send his Son Charles Duke of Rhetelois with Four hundred Horse and four Companies of Firelocks which he mounted all on Horseback that they might march the faster he sent in company with his Son the Sieur de Bussy and Trumulet the first a Colonel of great experience the other Governor of Ville-Franche He gave the command of the Firelocks to the Sieur de Vaudricourt a soldier of long experience and intended that within a while after his Son Monsieur de Vic should attempt to get into the Town with an hundred Horse and Four hundred other Foot to the end that he might supply the charge of the defence in those things which the Mareschal de Balagny could not attend or had not experience in under whose obedience all those Forces were to be In the mean time the Conde de Fuentes having received Five thousand Foot sent from the confining Provinces under the Prince of Chimay and a Regiment of Walloons rais'd and payed by Louis de Barlemont Arch-Bishop of Cambray was drawn before the Town upon the fourteenth day and presently began to shut up those passes by which the relief might enter which he thought would come which diligence not at all retarding the Duke of Rhetelois he put himself upon the adventure of getting into the City and having marched all night appeared by break of day upon the Plain which largely incompasses the Town on every side His appearing by day contrary to wâ—at he had designed was caus'd not onely by an excessive Rain that fell that night but much more because being to pass a certain Water in the Village of Aune over a Wooden-bridge part of it was fallen so that he was fain to make a halt till with Planks and beams the Bridge were hastily made up again wherefore the Spaniards who had had time both to be advertised of it and to get to Horse at the Dukes arrival were drawn up into the Plain expecting him in very good order upon the straight way He made a stop when he perceived the Enemy being not well assured what he should do but the Guide that led him well versed in the Countrey shewed him that between the Enemies Horse and a lower Gate of the City there was a hollow craggy way which could not so easily be past so that turning on that side they might get under the Walls of the Town before they could be overtaken by the enemy who of necessity were to take a great compass not to disorder themselves in the hollow of that way wherefore the Duke placing himself courageously at the head of his men went out of the great Road and declining upon the left hand marched a round trot whither his guide led him hoping to get to the Gate without any obstacle of the Enemy but when he was drawn very near the Town he found a Corps de Garde of Fifty Horse who at the Alarm which sounded aloud through the whole field had set themselves in order to stop the way wherefore being necessitated to fight he shut down his Beaver and having incouraged his soldiers charg'd up with so much fury that in the first encounter he routed and beat back the Enemies Troops without the loss of any one man and having quickly wheeled about he closed up and in his first order continued to march on his way at a good rate but he was not advanced Two hundred paces further when he fell upon another body of an hundred and twenty Horse which being charged with the same fierceness were fain to retire without making any great resistance In the mean time the main body of the Spanish Horse which from the beginning had discovered him moved on with no less celerity towards him but the hinderance of the hollow way and the dirt of the field which by reason of the rain the night before was all wet and slippery retarded their march so much that when the first Troops came to charge the Duke he was already defended by the Artillery of the Town which thundering with exceeding great violence and scouring all the field hindred him from receiving any harm so that entring into the City and being received with marvellous joy by every one he found he had lost only one Page and an inconsiderable part of the Carriages which having not been able to come so fast as the rest fell into â—he hand of the Spaniards The Duke of Rhetelois his getting in necessitated the Count de Fuentes to strengthen the siege more closely that he might hinder any new relief from entring to which likewise he was perswaded by his want of money to pay and maintain the Army since though the Bishop of Cambray and the confining Provinces had obliged themselves to contribute Five hundred thousand Florines yet they denyed to pay them down before he had begun the siege and was got upon the Counterscarpe To this was added his ardent courage carried on by the felicity of former success which excited him to undertake even beyond the number and strength of his Army as it were presaging a prosperous event notwithstanding many difficulties wherefore the City being great in circuit and not having men enough he resolved with Forts and redoubts to shut up all that part which on this side the River Scheld that divides the City in the middle lies towards France judging that with the impediment of Fortifications he might supply that defect all the Soldiers in his Army not being
Citizens with effectual perswasions since that by force they could not be compelled being very many in number fierce in courage well armed and which imported more not only Masters already of all the streets but also of a gate whereby they might let in the Spanish Army at their pleasure but his words did no good at all so that accommodating himself to the necessity of time he exhorted them to treat warily with the Spaniards and to secure their business well lest they should run into the precipice of being sacked as it often uses to happen to those who slacken their defence while they treat of composition This he said and perswaded the people because he desired to prolong the time that in the interim he might withdraw his Souldiers into the Cittadel After him came Madam de Balagny who with a manly spirit made a long discourse unto the people but her presence did rather stir up than appease the tumult insomuch that scarce were the Souldiers gotten into the Cittadel when the people began to open the gate they had got into their power The Deputies at the same time came in with the Capitulations subscribed by the Conde Fuentes which in substance contained That the City should be freed from plunder and should have a general pardon for all things past That the Citizens should enjoy their ancient Priviledges and remain under the obedience of the Archbishop as they were wont to be before which Articles being accepted by the people Gastone Spinola and Count Giovan Giacopo Belgiojoso entered without delay into the City with three hundred Horse and after them Agostino Messia with the Spanish Foot and without any tumult or loss to the Inhabitants possessed themselves of the place The same night entred the Archbishop with the Conde de Fuentes and were received with marvellous joy by the Citizens who were glad after the space of so many years to see themselves free from the vexation of an insolent power and to return to their old manner of Government In the mean time the French were retired into the Cittadel with a resolution to defend it a long time but they presently perceived the impossibility of their design for having opened the Magazines of Corn and other Victual they scarce found wherewithal to subsist two days This unthought-of defect proceeded from Madam de Balagny who no less imprudent than covetous had unknown to her Husband sold all that was in the publick Store so that the Count de Fuentes having sent to summon the Defendents to yield before the Artillery were planted they seeing they could not sustain themselves did to the wonder of every one that knew not the cause and to the amazement of the Count himself accept the proposition of surrendring upon certain Articles that were demanded by them which the Count shewing to bear respect to the youth of the Duke of Rhetelois and to the valour and reputation of Monsieur de Vic but indeed that he might not make the obtaining of the Castle more difficult to himself did very largely grant them The Conditions were That the Cittadel should be consigned into the hands of the Count de Fuentes with all the Artillery and Ammunition of War and that on the other side he should be obliged to cause the Castle of Clery taken by his men a while before to be dismantled within six days that the Duke of Rhetelois the Mareschal de Balagny Monsieur de Vic and all the other Lords Commanders Gentlemen and Souldiers of what Nation soever might march out in rank and file their Cornets and Colours flying Match lighted and Bullet in mouth and that to that end those Colours should be restored unto them that had been left in the City and that they might march on their way with Trumpets sounding and Drums beating that the Arms Horses and Baggage belonging to Souldiers which had been left in the Town should be restored and if any thing were wanting the value of it should be paid at that price which should be agreed upon by Monsieur du Rosne and Colonel Messia on the one part and the Sieurs de Vic and de Buy on the other that likewise Madam de Balagny with all the other women the sick and wounded men Courtiers and servants of any person whatsoever might go forth freely that the prisoners should be freed without ransom that Monsieur de Balagny's debts whether about the money or any other occasion should be remitted neither should he be molested or his baggage seized on for them that all that the said Mareschal his Wife Sons Captains Officers and Servants had done in times past should be forgiven and forgotten neither should any of them be therefore questioned either by the Catholick King or the Citizens of Cambray These Conditions were concluded upon the seventh of October and were executed the ninth which day all went forth in the manner determined marching towards Peronne only Madam de Balagny being desperate no less because she was to leave the Principality than because of her own improvidence by reason whereof they were necessitated to yield the Cittadel out of anguish and affliction of mind fell grievously sick and not only refusing to take medicines but also even all kinds of nourishment died miserably before the time of their marching out was come The Count de Fuentes having so fortunately obtained so many and so signal Victories whereby his Name resounded with infinite fame seeing his men were tired and out of order by their past toils and sufferings and finding himself in exceeding great straits for money to satisfie the arrears of their pay resolved to dissolve his Army and draw it into several quarters so much the rather because the season was near to the usual rains of Autumn and because the King of France was expected in Picardy with a victorious Army wherefore having put five hundred Spanish Foot into the Cittadel of Cambray under the command of Agostino Messia and having left two thousand German Foot to defend the Town he gave the Archbishop liberty to govern the City in the same manner he was wont to do before it came into the power of the Duke of Alancon and having divided his Foot into the Towns of Artois Heynault and Flanders he went to the City of Bruxels at such time when the King of France was come with the greatest speed he could possibly to Compeign being exceedingly afflicted at the sufferings of his party for which not only that whole Province was sad and grieved but even the very City of Paris was full of fear and terrour seeing the Spaniards run on victorious in a Country so near it These were the Progresses of War between the French and the Spaniards upon the confines of Flanders but they were no less prosperous this year for the same party in the Province of Bretaign though they were still managed under the name of the League for the Duke de Mercoeur though there was no very good
gained took part with that side and though by perswasion of the Countess de Saux it first received the Duke of Savoy and then out of jealousie of their own liberty excluded him again within a little while and though the Count de Câ—rsy and the Marquiss de Villars were often call'd for thither for more security yet it had ever preserved its own being and kept free from all forraign subjection True it is that having from the beginning of the War elected Charles Casâ—nt their Consul and he having nominated Louis de Aix his Lieutenant men of subtil natures and of bold fierce dispositions they agreed so well among themselves and had so great authority with the people that continuing in their Magistracy for many years without permitting any successors to be chosen in their places they had made themselves as it were Lords of the City and rul'd it their own way But after the declining of the affairs of the League put every one upon a necessity of thinking of himself these men knowing themselves envied and ill-willed by the major part of the principal Citizens and being in fear by reason of their consciousness of many misdeeds which they had committed to keep themselves in their Government thought of applying themselves to the Spanish party and held Treaties in that Court about putting that City into the hands of the Catholick King which being of so high importance and conveniency to his Kingdoms as its greatness strength richness and situation shewed it to be orders were given to Carlo Doria that going from Genoua into that Port with ten Gallies well arm'd and mann'd under pretence of sayling towards Spain he should favour their power and attempts to the end that being back'd with his Forces they might have the better means dexterously to draw the people to put themselves under the Spanish Signory which Doria performing with infinite diligence things went on in such a â—anner that the Catholick King was not far from obtaining his intent and so much the rather because this attempt was coloured over with many reasons for which they pretended the Dominion of the County of Provence belonged to the Infanta Isabella besides those other rights she had to the Crown of France The King of France being jealous that the leavies of Spain and Italy and the great preparation of a Fleet which the Catholick King made tended to this end and that the stay which the Conde de Fuentes and the Duke of Pastrana who were gone from Flanders made at Geneva was to oversee that business was exceeding much troubled in minde because he could not turn that way and gave Commission to Monsieur d' Ossat to make complaint about it to the Pope letting him know that if he withstood not that design he should be constrained by necessity to call the Turkish Fleet into the Mediterranean Sea for his relief which being effectually performed by d' Ossat the Pope structen and grown pale either through fear or anger made a grave discourse against it and yet the Kings Agent shewing that if Marseilles and the other Towns of Provence should fall into the hands of the Spaniards Avignon also and other Towns of the Pope's would not be without danger he promised to use his indeavours to make that attempt be laid aside But there being added to the Kings complaints the interposition of the Venetian and Florentine Ambassadors jealous that a City and Haven of so great consequence and that overlooks Italy so neerly should fall to the augmentation of the Spanish Monarchy the Pope having often consulted about this business and not finding any provision against it which he thought fit took it to be expedient that the Cardinal of Ioyeuse who was returning into France should pass by Marseilles and in his name use convenient mediation to Casaut and remove him from his design which though it was diligently executed produced but small effect for Casaut a fierce man and one more stout than prudent did not withdraw himself for that from his already established appointment so that the Venetian Senate and the Grand Duke began to think of some more potent remedies to oppose that indeavour nor was the Pope altogether averse from their intention But this stone of scandal was removed either by the King 's wonted fortune or by the courage and diligence of his Ministers He had newly conferred the Government of that Province upon the Duke of Guise and to advance matters towards their proper end had also chosen Monsieur de les Diguieres his Lieutenant who though they agreed not very well together by reason of the difference of their Religion and of the antient diversity of their factions were yet both ill-affected to the Duke of Espernon who contending that that Government was lawfully his used all his indeavours and utmost industry to put himself in the possession of it and to drive out no less those of the King's party than those that yet held for the League wherefore the King desirous that he should by some means be constrained to quit what he already possessed there receiving other Governments in other parts of the Kingdom had appointed the Duke of Guise as his old Emulator and les Diguieres as an honest man but his bitter enemy to secure the affairs of Provence This determination had also other ends and more remote considerations for the Duke being newly come into the friendship and obedience of the King with condition to have that Government to which the House of Loraine had some pretensions by the antient hereditary rights of Anjou the King thought it convenient to assure himself of him by giving him a Lieutenant of such a condition as not onely was faithful by antient experience but also wary and resolute to oppose whatsoever attempt the Duke in so great a discord of mens minds their old enmities not fully laid aside might perchance contrive To these another important respect was added that les Diguieres and Colonel Alfonso Corso residing both in Dauphine disagreed and thwarted one another in the service to the prejudice of common affairs wherefore the King thought to remove the occasion of that discord by sending les Diguieres into Provence and by electing Colonel Alfonso Lieutenant to the Prince of Conty who was newly declared Governor of Dauphine But though the Duke of Guise nourished sincere thoughts and no indirect ends yet being come into the Province either not being well satisfied to have a Lieutenant of so great credit and of another Religion or desiring that the businesses with the Duke of Espernon should pass under the name and by the means of les Diguieres not to put his own authority and name of Governor in doubt he had given charge to his Lieutenant to put the Garrisons out of many Towns which the Duke of Espernon held in them and he himself going to Aix applyed his mind wholly to the recovery of Marseilles as a thing of greater glory and importance without
allowing part in that to any body and though many treaties held by the means of men banished out of that City proved vain and fruitless yet at last he gained one Captain Pietro Liberta of Corsica by extraction but born and bred in Marseilles who with some certain Foot guarded one of the Town-gates wherefore some of the Exiles being got unknown into the City and having secretly stirred up the minds of many who hated the tyranny of Casaut and who feared the Dominion of the Spaniard they resolved that upon the eighteenth day of February the Duke of Guise should with a good number of Horse and Foot be about break of day at a neighbouring Village where if certain signes were given him by them of the plot he should draw near to the Porte Royale a Gate so called to be received in with all his Forces whereupon having drawn the men together which he had in that Province except those of les Diguieres to whom he would not impart any thing of his design that he might not share in the honor of it he made shew that he would go and besiege a Town within five Leagues of Marseilles and whilst mens minds were amused on that side he turning his Forces another way the evening before the day appointed advanced with very great silence toward the City in which march though in a very dark and extream rainy night and through dirty uneven wayes he made so much haste that he came in the morning according to appointment to certain houses near unto the Church of St. Iulian to expect there till the countersigns were given him They that were oâ— the plot doubting that the strange ill weather might have stayed the Dukes journey sent some of their soldiers forth of the gates to the end that discovering according to the custom if the coast were clear round about they might come to know whether he were arrived or no These returning back with exceeding great haste and saying they had discovered armed men under St. Iulian's were the cause that Louis d' Aix who was come to the gate a while before after he had given the Consul notice of the discovery went out himself with twenty of his most trusty men to see whether that were true which the Soldiers related As soon as he was out of the gate they of the design shut down all the Portcullices nor was it long before the Consul came who while he was questioning his Soldiers of what they had reported was suddenly set upon by Pietro Liberta and four of his companions and being at first knock'd down with a great blow of a Partesan was presently killed by them with their daggers which being luckily effected and the whole guard willingly following the will of their Captain the Countersignes were given by fire to the Duke of Guise who being advanced to draw near unto the Gate met with Aix the Lieutenant-Governor and without much dispute routed him so that being wounded and in a very ill taking he ran back where having found the gate shut and possessed he was constrained to save himself in the moat and from thence scaling the Wall near unto the Haven got into the utmost parts of the City where calling all his adherents into Arms together with Fabian Casaut Son to the Consul who was already slain he marched up tumultuously with above Five hundred armed men to recover the Gate but in the mean time it had been opened and the Duke of Guise was entered with his Forces and on the other side the exiles calling the Citizens and common people to liberty had rais'd the whole Town wherefoâ—e after that Aix and Casaut had fought for the space of half an hour at the entry of the street that led to the Port-Royal the tumult still increasing every where of those that being in Arms cried out Vive le Roy et Les Fleurs-delis they fearing to be catch'd in the midst retired into the Town-house where being fiercely press'd by the Duke of Guise who among the bullets stones pieces of wood fire-works which flew on every side fought undauntedly at the head of his men they being unable to resist fled secretly from thence and crossing the Haven in a Boat got one of them into St. Maries-Church and the other into the Convent of St. Victoir and their men being left without help were in a very little time all cut in pieces The whole City was already run to the Duke of Guise with white Scarfs whereupon he not losing a minutes time at the same instant assaulted and with small resistance possessed himself of the Forts of S. Iehan and of Cape de More which are upon the Sea and from thence began without delay to play his Artillery upon Doria's Gallies which were gotten near the mouth of the Haven great was the fright and tumult in the Gallies but Doria who had wisely kept himself far from the Forts and in the beginning of the uproar had made all his Soldiers imbark got out happily without receiving any harm and putting out to Sea made away from the City The Duke of Guise victorious every where was busied all that day in taking care that the Town might not be indammaged in the tumult and having lodg'd his men in the most principal posts made himself absolute Master of the City with so much the greater facility because with his courage in fighting and prudence in appeasing the uproar he had exceedingly won the affections of the Marsilians Louis d' Aix and Fabian Casaut yielded the next after having articled that they might go freely to Genona with their Goods and that none of their adherents should be proceeded against with more than banishment the City in this manner remaining free from their usurped Dominion and utterly reduced unto the Kings obedience The gaining of this place was very seasonable and of great consequence being a principal Port of the Mediterranean Sea and a proper landing place for the commerce of many Nations and so much the more seasonable was it at that time when the Spanish power had already got footing in it for if with the benefit of time they had setled themselves there it would have been wondrous difficult by reason of the neerness of the Catholick Kings other States to drive them out again In the mean time while the re-union of the County of Provence is thus prosecuted the besieged in la Fere were reduced to exceeding great want of victual wherefore Nicolo Basti who was destined to carry them relief being come to Doway was considering with himself which way he should manage the business to get some quantity of provisions into the Town and every resolution seeming difficult not only because the King's Cavalry did with very great diligence obstruct all the wayes but because the narrow passages that led to the Town were so much incumbred by the largeness of the Forts that there was no hope of getting past them and yet necessity urging he gave
waters which coming from the Fenny grounds is straightned all into one Channel and crossing through the Town empties it self impetuously into the Sea On the other side of the Haven and in the point of the Dunes which cover it on the North-side there stands a great and exceeding strong Tower called the Risbane which shutting up the mouth of the Haven is well stored with pieces of Cannon and with great ease hinders any kind of Ships from entering into it But on the side of the firm land which in respect of the moorish grounds that largely environ it is very narrow about a league from the City there stands a Bridge over a Water that runs into the Sea which being fortified with Towers doth totally shut up the passage which leads to the Town along a very narrow bank this is called the Fauxbourg de Nieulet Monsieur du Rosne knew that all the hope of obtaining this Fortress was placed in speedily possessing the Bridge of Nieulet and the Risbane for if he took not Nieulet it would be very hard to pass the water and come under the Town and if he possessed not himself of the Risbane so that he might be Master of the mouth of the Haven there would come such supplies into the Town by Sea that there would no longer be any building upon the small number of the Defendants wherefore marching to St. Omer with admirable celerity in regard of the Artillery he had along with him he came upon the ninth of April in the morning by break of day within sight of Nieulet and without giving the Defendants who were not above forty time either to take courage or to receive assistance he made it be assaulted on the one side by the Spanish and on the other by the Walloon Foot still playing with the four small pieces not because they did any great harm but to increase the terror of the Defendants who being so few ill provided taken at unawares and which imported most without any Commander who by his Authority might keep them faithful they basely quitted the defence and retired flying to the Town Nieulet being taken du Rosne left four Companies of Walloons to guard that Post and not losing a minutes time advanced the same instant to assault the Risbane and having planted his Artillery in exceeding great haste began furiously to batter about noon besides which having drawn three of the smaller pieces to the brink of the Haven with them and with the Walloon Muskettiers he hindred more defendants from entring into it so that they of the Suburb that stands on the far side of the Haven having often attempted to get in were alwayes constrained to retire There were but sixty men in the Risbane and those also without any considerable head insomuch that though the place was strong and might have been defended many dayes yet they as soon as they saw the assault was preparing against them utterly losing courage quitted it and being faln upon and routed in the flight scarce thirty of them with the help of some small Boats got safe into the Suburb du Rosne not failing to prosecute so happy a beginning entred into the Risbane set the Artillery again in order and lodged many Foot in it to the end that relief by Sea might more assuredly be hindred and there was very great need of it for the next morning many Ships of the Holland Fleet that was above Boulogne appeared and laboured with all possible industry to get into the Haven but being driven back and bored through by the Artillery of the Risbane they were at last made to tack about and one Ship loaden with Wine being sunk by many Cannon shot in the mouth of the Port the passage was so much the more stopped up against whosoever should try to enter and yet two little Barks of the Hollanders with two Captains and eighty men got in fortunately and landing in the Suburb staid there for the defence of it In the mean time the Cardinal of Austria having had notice of the prosperous progress of his Forces turning all his Army that way marched thither with the same celerity upon Maundy-Thursday being the eleventh of April in the evening and having designed the quarters of the Camp between Casal de Mer the Bridge of Nieulet and the way that leads to Gravelin he encamped in the Church of St. Pierre half a League from the Walls The Town being besieged and their quarters in respect of the situation which was all Moorish grounds and full of Ditches easily fortified du Rosne well informed of the defect of the Wall on that side that stands towards the Suburb resolved to plant a battery in the utmost part of the Haven for though the impediment of passing it seemed in appearance exceeding great yet he had observed that at the ebbing of the Sea the water fell in such manner that the utmost part of the Haven remained dry and the bottom was so firm and gravelly that it afforded very convenient means of marching on to the assault but that he might not leave the besieged without trouble on the other side and to divide their weakness he purposed to make another battery over against the way to Gravelin though the Wall on that side was extreamly well lined with Earth and defended by the Flanks of the two Royal Bastions Both the Batteries were perfected upon the fourteenth day of the month being Easter day and upon Munday in the morning as soon as it was light they began to thunder furiously on both sides nor did the Defendants disheartned by the smallness of the number make any attempt to hinder the enemy and only the first day while the Risbane was battered they sallied to bring in the Goods and Victuals nor from that day forward durst they attempt any other business In this state of Affairs the King having had intelligence of the moving of the Spanish Camp and not being able to discern which way it would bend at last lest the Constable to Command the Army before la Fere and marched with 600 Horse and the Regiment of his Guard to Abbeville and from thence sent forth the Sieur de Monluc with 2000 Foot to Montrueil doubting as some reported that the Spanish Army would fall upon that Town but having upon the 13th day had notice that the Camp was suddenly gone before Calais he sent the same Monluc the Count de St. Paul Governor of the Province and the Marquiss de Belin with great diligence to imbark at St. Vallery and try to get into the Town and though they boldly executed the orders they had received yet being driven back by contrary winds which blew impetuously all those dayes they were constrained to return to the same place without fruit wherefore the King become impatient at the near danger of his Subjects would needs go personally into that Port and the cross weather still continuing he went to Boulogne the next day hoping as the Seamen
make an Agreement between those Crowns to the end that both together or at least the King of Spain for the common interest of the House of Austria might be able to lend his assistance He therefore had given strict Commission to the Legat that as soon as the Kings Absolution was ratified he should presently begin to introduce this business which he accounted not only necessary for the security and repose of Christendom but also highly glorious to the memory of his Papacy Neither was the Cardinal being a man of a mild peaceable nature and full of experience in the affairs of the world less ready to procure the general good and his own particular honour than the Pope was careful to incite him to it so that in the first meetings after the publick audience at St. Maur he deferred not to sound the Kings inclination who no less quick-sighted than others in discovering the wounds of his Kingdom and agreeing with the general opinion of all men that peace was the only remedy to cure them was inclined to imbrace any kind of peace wherein his reputation might not suffer The difficulties which his Ambassadors found in treating the League with England perswaded him the same for he perceived very well that the Queen aimed without regard to get some place in his Kingdom that she might have means to keep him bound and to procure greater matters as occasion should serve and it was not unknown to him that she by reason of the Irish commotions which were then in their height was so much taken up that though she had a desire to it she was not able to spare many forces to his assistance To this was added the condition of the Hollanders who though they endeavoured to have the War continue in France that the Spanish Forces might be diverted and divided yet had they not any ability to lend supplies unto their Neighbours whilst the War was so hot in all places at their own home Neither were the Protestant Princes of Germany whose minds were now bent upon the urgent necessity of the Turkish War either able or willing to trouble themselves about the Kingdom of France which they thought powerful enough of it self to make head against the Arms of Spain Insomuch that the King being able to promise himself little of the Foreign Aids of his â—onfederates was fain to make his whole foundation upon the Forces of his own Kingdom But these were hindred and debilitated by many weighty accidents For the Royal Revenues by the ruines of Civil Wars and the multiplicity of abuses introduced were subverted and little less than brought to nothing and the profit that was wont to rise from Imposts and Gabels in the Merchant Towns of the Mediterranean and Ocean Seas was extreamly diminished by interruption of the commerce with Spain the West Indies and the Catholick Kings other Territories Nor did the trading in English and Dutch-bottoms help much for navigation being interrupted the business was reduced rather to a kind of Piracy than Traffick To this want of money the vital substance of the War were added other perturbations The Duke of Mercoeur yet in Arms and potent in Bretagne who with his forces over-running and disquieting the Country sometimes toward Normandy sometimes towards Poictou and Xaintongâ— kept those Provinces in continual commotion Provence and Dauphine not yet well reduced to obedience and fiercely molested by the Duke of Savoy so that it was necessary to keep two Armies there continually employed and which imported most of all the Hugonots either incensed or grown jealous at the so near conjunction between the King and the Pope were in a manner up in Arms and asking liberty to meet together to take some course about their own affairs shewed designs of new Insurrections Whereupon there was great danger that before the Peace was totally established with the Catholicks it would be necessary to begin a War with the Hugonots These causes moved the King to wish for Peace but the spur of reputation which had ever been very sharp in his mind did make him in appearance desire War Wherefore in the first Treaties with the Legat he told him resolutely that he would not accept of any kind of Peace unless first all the places taken were restored and all the losses of the Crown repaired adding such lively aâ—â—ent speeches as shewed he would not lend an ear to a negotiation of Peace till first by his Arms he had set his reputation up again in War and yet the Legat gathering the Kings secret intention from the state of affairs which were very well known to him being upon the place and judging it by all means necessary to break the Ice first though there appeared no glimpse of hope he dispatched Father Bonaventura Calatagirone General of the Order of St. Francis to the Court of Spain to sound how mens minds corresponded on that side But the diligence the Legat shewed for Peace hindred not the King of France from being intent upon Provisions of Arms and preparations for the year following wherefore having called a Congregation of all the Officers of the Crown principal Magistrates and Treasurers of his Kingdom in the City of Rouen where besides regulating many disorders and abuses he intended to establish and settle his Revenues and to perswade the Heads of the Provinces and the chief of the Clergy and common people to assist him in such manner that he might be able to uphold the weight of the War by himself which he accounted not difficult as well by reason of the urgent necessity well known to them all as of the good condition many rich and fertil Provinces were getting into since Civil Wars had ceased in them if necessary rule and order were added to the benefit of quiet and he thought every one would run willingly to contribute to that expence which was not made as in former times either to satisfie the Kings appetites or to move domestick Arms against those of the same Blood but to maintain a War against strangers and to defend the Crown assaulted and invaded by its ancient Emulators and inveterate Enemies And because from the year before there had been a Truce though an uncertain one and from time to time violated and interrupted with the Duke of Mercoeur to treat in the interim and find some temper of Agreement with him the King at this time deputed the Count of Schombergh and President de Thoâ— who were to go to the Queen Dowager of France to treat in her presence with the Dukes Deputies But this Treaty was not only doubtful but also various and unsetled for the Duke a subtil man of a deep reach and one not easie to be withdrawn from his designs held several practices both in Spain and France promising himself yet that he should dismember the Dutchy of Bretagne from the Crown which had been united no longer than since the times of Lewis the Twelfth and Francis the First to establish
a lively sprightly courage was Governour of Dourlans This man having in the whole course of the War given great proof of no less sagacity than valour stood watchful upon all occasions that offered themselves to atchieve something He having begun to court a very rich Widow who according to the use of the French dwelt in the Country was faln into a desire of getting her for his Wife but having often discovered his intent she still answered him That she being subject to the King of France and he to the King of Spain who made War against one another it was not fit to satisfie him but that she would dispose her self to do it when either he had put Dourlans under the Kings obedience or drawn Amiens in which City she was born under the subjection of the King of Spain These words moved the spirit of Portocarrero who besides his natural desire to serve his Prince spurred on by love and the hope of obtaining so rich a Dowry began to think how he might make himself Master of the City of Amiens and having had some discourse about it with one Dameline a man that was banished out of the Town he heard that the City had refused to receive a Garison of Souldiers and that the Townsmen kept their Guards diligently by night but carelesly by day whereupon he entred into good hopes of getting unexpectedly within the Walls and by his sudden arrival easily to make himself Master of it but having heard afterwards that there were fifteen thousand men in the City well provided with Arms and ready to run together upon the stir of any accident he stood long in suspence and doubtful in himself whether he should attempt the enterprise notwithstanding that so great difficulty He was much more out of hope when he understood that three thousand Swissers sent to the King to convoy great store of Artillery and Ammunition into the City for the provisions of the future War staid to take up quarters in the neighbouring Villages But he took up his design again when he heard that the Count de St. Paul to satisfie the obstinate importunities of the Citizens had made them draw away nay he was excited so much the more out of a desire to get all the preparations that were brought into that City wherefore he gave order to a Serjeant named Francisco del Arco a man whom he had tried in many occurrences to go into the City in disguise and diligently to observe the quality of the Citizens and the manner of their Guards The relation was very favourable to his design for the Citizens imployed themselves by day in following their businesses and those few that remained to guard the Ports being invited to it by the season shut themselves up in a room to enjoy the benefit of the fire and the Gate was for the most part left alone except one Sentinel that stood at the Turn-pike whereupon being confirmed in his design he dispatched the same Serjeant to the Cardinal Archduke to obtain leave and supplies of men that he might set himself upon the enterprise The Archduke consented that he should venture upon a business of so great hopes and gave order to the Garisons of Cambray Calais Bapaulme and Castelet that upon the day appointed they should send aid of men into the quarters of Dourlans to obey and be commanded by Portocarrero He having well fitted all things called the help that was prepared and gave order that upon the Tenth day of March they should be toward the evening at a Village called Orville a League from Dourlans whereupon there met from several parts six hundred Horse led by Girolamo Caraâ—â—a Marquiss of Montenegro and two thousand Foot of divers Nations commanded by old Spanish Italian and Walloon Officers to whom Portocarrero communicating nothing else but that they were to go upon Amiens marched all night the Cadet Panure a Walloon and Inigo d' Ollava a Spaniard who were privy to the whole design leading the first Troops who arriving in the morning before day laid themselves in ambush behind certain Bushes not far from the City and after them the same did Captain Fernando Dizzâ— with an hundred Spanish Foot and Captain Bostoc with as many Irish. Portocarrero who had made an halt with the main Body near the Abbey of Mary Magdalen above half a Mile from the Town after that the Cadet climbing to the Top of a Tree had given him a sign that the Gate was open and that the stir of those that went in and came out was over he sent forth Giovan Battista Dugnano a Milanese and the same Serjeant del Arco to execute what had been agreed of between them They with Twelve in their company disguised like Country-fellows after thâ— fashion of that Country wore certain long Cassocks some of Cloth some of Canvas under which each had a Case of short Pistols and a Dagger Four of them drove a Cart with three Horses fastned to the Draught-Tree in such manner that by pulling out an Iron they might be loosned from the Cart which being laden with thick pieces of Wood covered with Straw was sent before to stop under the Portcullis and hinder it from shutting down Behind the Cart followed other four who upon their Shoulders had Sacks full of Apples and Nuts and after them came the other six stragling and last of all Serjeant Dugnano the Captains Brother with a great Pole It was already Sermon-time for by reason it was Lent there was Preaching in many Churches and the people being gone several ways had left few to guard the Ports when the first entred with the Cart at the Turn-pike and went on under the Gate to do the effect already designed and one of the second company making shew to let his Apples and Nuts fall by chance scattered upon the ground many of those that were upon the Guard ran to catch them up and the rest laughing and mocking took no heed to the Cart which being got under the Portcullis the Horses were presently loosened lest being frighted with that stir they should have dragged it too far and so that impediment remained in the midst of the passage that it could not be shut down The last came unto the Turn-pike and at the very first killed the Sentinel then presently the rest discovering their Weapons fell upon them that were catching up the Apples and fighting fiercely killed some of them and drove the rest into a room where the fire was shutting them up in such manner that the first Companies of Foot had time to come unto the Gate In this interim the Sentinel that was above in the Gate-house having heard the noise speedily cut the Ropes by which the Portcullis hung which being made of several Bars and not all of a piece two of the Bars broke through the bottom of the Cart but the other three were kept up leaving space enough open for two Souldiers to enter abrest Through
Walls flanked with their Bulwarks and Ravelines in some places more in some less according as it is washed more or less by the River and though in all parts it be more excellently fortified yet it is much stronger and built with greater industry on the side beyond the River towards Flanders On this side the King had given order that siege should be laid not only to hinder the commerce of Dourlans but also because he intended to fortifie the quarters of his Army in such manner and to environ the Town so closely with Trenches and Forts that the Cardinal Archduke though he came strong into the field should not have power to relieve it finding it wholly shut up on the right way But the Mareschal de Byron not having strength enough to begin the Trenches had quartered himself with the Vanguard in the Abbey of Mary Magdalen and spread himself with the rest of his Forces upon the rode to Dourlans breaking the ways with the Cavalry and hindring victual or relief from getting into the City On the other side Portocarrero though besieged much sooner than he had at first imagined having sent Serjeant dell ' Arco to Brussells as well to give notice of it as to require new supplies applied himself with his usual diligence to repair the Fortifications and to provide against all other wants and after he saw the French encamp so near he resolved while they were weak to trouble them so with sallies that they should be fain to get further off wherefore upon the thirtieth of March in the morning he gave order that the Marquiss de Montenegro should march forth to fall upon the quarter of the Vanguard which was at the Abbey of Mary Magdalen who having sent fifty Walloon Horse before to assault the first Corps de Garde kept by twenty Souldiers he himself followed so furiously with two hundred other Horse that having beaten the Corps de Garde and taken some prisoners he advanced unexpectedly to the quarter of the French and yet four hundred Horse coming forth to receive the charge they skirmished long without advantage till the Marquiss feigned to give back that he might draw the Enemy into an Ambuscado where Captain Inigo d' Ollava lay among certain bushes with two hundred Spanish Foot But the Sieur de Montigny who commanded the French having pursued them gallantly at the heels as far as the bushes made a stop out of a doubt that some ambush might be laid in so fit a place whereupon the skirmish ending both parts retired without doing any thing of moment The Marquiss sallied again the next day with three hundred Light-horse followed by an hundred Lanciers but the skirmish growing hot on all sides by their mutual Fire-arms neither would the French advance into the hollow places which are near the Walls nor durst the Spaniards draw near the Post of Mary Magdalens Abbey both the Commanders doubting they might be catched in some trap Portocarrero then took another course to free himself from being so nearly molested by the Vanguard of the French and began to batter the Abbey with many Culverines whereof he had found store in the City and continued to play upon it so obstinately that there was no staying in that Post and the Vanguard was fain to retire to a Village further back from whence though they obstructed the ways with no less facility yet they within had more means to provide themselves of Earth Bavins and other things necessary to raise new defences In this interim the Cardinal Archduke had given careful order that before the French Army grew stronger new supplies might be put into the Town wherefore Iuan de Gusman going from the Territory of Cambray with four Companies of Firelocks but all mounted and three hundred Light-horse took his way by night that he might come betimes in the morning to the Gates of the City which having prosperously done as well because the Air was cloudy and dark as because the French advertised of his coming expected him not till night yet he destroying the benefit of Fortune by an unseasonable Vanity as soon as he saw himself near the City caused his Trumpets to sound and a great Volley of Shot to be given in token of joy at which noise the French who were prepared ran so courageously to charge them that the Troops being instantly mingled pel-mel the Artillery of the Town had no longer any means to defend their own men who being constrained to yield to the greater number had retreated still fighting to the covered way and there would have been routed and defeated if Fernando Dezza who defended it with two hundred Spanish Foot giving fire without distinction at them all had not made the French retire In the mean time the Firelocks that came with the relief leaping from their Horses saved themselves almost all in the Moat and the Marquiss of Montenegro sallying with his Horse after the French were separated valiantly beat them back as far as the Abbey The relief got in with the loss of under forty men yet was it great because Kuggiero Taccone was wounded in the left Leg and Fernando Dezza slain with a Musket-shot in the head There entred together with the relief Federico Paâ—â—ioâ—te Brother to Guidobaldo who was killed at the assault of Calais an Engineer of very great fame of whom the Commanders had exceeding great need for the making of works and together with divers sorts of necessary matters there got in also a good sum of money Whilst with frequent bloody skirmishes and with minds wholly intent upon the business they fight thus under the Walls of Amiens the Mareschal de Byron watching all occasions of advantage resolves to give a sudden Scalado to Dourlans and having caused many Ladders to be prepared he gave order that the Sieur de Montigny who commanded the Light-horse should lead the Foot of the Reerguard upon that enterprise and he himself after having been forth in the evening and made diverâ— skirmishes under the Walls of the City to the end the Enemy might not perceive the lessening of his Camp marched with sixty Cuirassiers and his own Life-guard of Horse the same way to give courage to his men It was two hours before day when the Sieur de Flassan on the one side and the Sieur de Fouqueroles on the other both Captains of the Regiment of Piccardy seconded by two hundred Switzers clapt the Scaling-Ladders to the Walls of Dourlans which being found extreamly much too short the attempt proved vain without any other danger and the Assailants returned the next day to lie before Amiens in their old quarters But the Mareschal de Byron exceedingly vexed at this unprosperous success having received four thousand English at last after many delays sent by Queen Elizabeth to the Kings assistance in performance of the League lately made and many other Troops of Horse and Companies of Foot who made great haste from several parts being come up he
Catholicks The Cardinal of Bourbon his pretensions to the Succession of the Crown 1585. Conditions agreed upon between the Deputies of the King of Spâ—in and the Heads of the Catholick League A meeting between the King of Navarre and the Duke d' Espernon sent from Henry the Third The Low-Countries send Ambassadors to the King of France intreating him to take the Protection and Dominion of their States Bâ—rnardino de Mendozza the Spanish Ambassador having received a sharp answer from Henry 3. begins openly to set forward the League * German Horse The King Edict forbidding the raising or gathering of Souldiers together A Declaration published by the Heads of the Catholick League * Contrary to their Majesties hopes Note that this addition and all the other alterations and additions in the following Declarations standing in the margin are according to the French Book intiâ—uled Memories de la Ligue * Projects Verdun the first City taken by the Army of the League The Insurrection at Marseilles The Kings answer to the Declaration published by the Catholick League [* Which would not have come to pass if in the Assembly of the States General held at Blois when the Deputies induced thereunto by his Majesties servent affection to the Catholick Religion had requested him utterly to prohibit the exercise of the pretended reformed Religion in this Kingdome whereupon followed the determination which was there taken and sworn which his Majesty hath since laboured to execute they had at the same time provided a certain stock of Money to prosecute that War unto the end as it was necessary to do and as it was motioned by His Majesty * And they would now have had no pretence of complaint who nevertheless publish c. Mem. de la Lâ—gue [* Whatsoever is published to the contrary Mem. de la Ligue * Evocation is a transferring of causes from one Court to another * And preservers Mem. de la Ligue [* Who onely will triumph and make advantage of the publick miseries and calamities Mâ—m de la Lâ—gue * Desolation Mem. de la Ligue * As well by reason of the good and gracious usage which they have ever received from him as because His said Majesty is c. Mem. dâ— la Ligue * Luigi Davila the Authors elder Brother was favoured by the Queen-Mother and esteemed by the King who made use of him in the managing of affairs and of the War in those times Whilst the Cardinal of Bourbon Head of the League stands wavering to reconcile himself to the King the Duke of Guise makes a specious Proposition of Agreement * These which the Author calls Harquebuziers on horseback differed from our Dragoons in that they did serve both on foot and on horseback and it is conceived by men experienced in War that they were the same with those which they call Argolâ—ttiers The King of Navarre's Declaration There ariseth such a discord between the Duke d' Espernon and Secretary Villeroy as in process of time produced many evil effects The Kings Edict against the Hugonots The Hugonots Answer to the Kings Edict The King calling the Heads of the City of Paris together demands moneys for the War which the Catholicks laboured for against the Hugonots * This particular is not in the French Original of the Kings Speech which is in a Book called Memoires de la Ligue A saying of Hen. the third * The Hugonot Sermons Monsieur Angoulesme Grand Prior France being dead the King confers the Government of Provence upon the Duke of Espernon Gregory XIII dies in 1585. Sixtus Quintâ—â—â— succeedâ—â—â— Sixtus Quintus on the ninth of September 1585. Excommunicates the King oâ— Navarre and the Prince of Conde declaring them incapable of succession The King of Navaâ—râ— makes the Bull of Sixtus â—uintus to be answered and the Answer set up in Rome De Robbe Lâ—â—gue The War is begun again between the Catholicks and Hugonots The Castle of Angiers taken suddenly by the Hugonots The Castle of Angiers is recovered by the Catholicks before it is relieved The enterprise of Angiers being vanished the Hugonot Army encompassed by the Catholicks and reduced to great streights disbands it self and part of them with the Commanders save themselves by flight 1586. Maran besieged by the Catholicks Great Forces are prepared in Germany in favour of the Hugonots Mary Qu. of Scots Cousen to the Guises imprisoned by Elizabeth Qu. of England Hen. the Third despairing of issue resolves to further the King of Navars right to the Crown and to unite himself with him for the destruction of the Guises By reason of the licentious life of Margaret wife to the K. of Navarre the King and Q. Mother resolve to break the Match and to give Christiâ—nnâ— the daughter of the Duke of Lorain who after married Ferdinando de Medici Great Duke of Tuscany An accommodation treated with the Hugonots by the Queen-Mother and much disliked by those of the League The Ambassadorâ— of the Protestant Princes of Gâ—â—mâ—ny â—eing come to â—â—is to treat in favour of the Hugonots having spoken highly to the King are sharply answered and depart unsatisfied from the Court. The Parisians by the suggestions of thâ—â— Heads of the League being set against the King frame a Councel of 16 principal persons by whom they were governed receiving their Orders and resolutions * Or Companies * Le berceau de la Ligne Nicholas Poulain discovers all the Plots of the League unto the King They of the League plot to surprise Boulogne by the Spanish Fleet which is revealed by Pâ—ulain * The Author in many places calls that the Ocean Sea which we call the Brittish Sea * Attendants or guard so called because in old time they went with Bowes and Arrowes 1585. They of the League consult about taking the King as he returned from hunting The Dâ—sign of taking the Bastile Arcenal Paris and tâ—e Louvre and to cut in pieces the Minions and the Kings adherents and to take the King himself prisoner revealed and not effected 1586. * Captain of the ordinary VVatch of Paris * A Court of Justice in Paris as Guildball in London where also many are imprisoned * The Magazine of Arms. * Atturney-General * The Garden of the Louvre * Master of the Horse Aussone a strâ—ng place in the Dutchy of Bourgongne besieged and taken by the Duke of Guise The interview between the Queen-mother and the King of Navarre at S. Bris wherein nothing was concluded 1587. The Solemn Oath of Henry the Third A saying of Henry the III. * Maistres de Camp The King sends an Army against the King of Navarre andgives secret order to Lavardin to oppose but not suppress him The Count de Bouchage Brother to the Duke of Ioyeuse turns Capuchin after the death of his wife whom he dearly loved The Duke of Espernon marries the Countess of Candalâ— a rich Heir the King honours the wedding with great presents The Protestant Princes of Germany
Quintus writes congratulatory Letters to the D. of Guisâ— full of high praises The Pope thought he saw not cleerly into the affairs of the League The Pope chuseth Giovaâ— Francesco Moresini Bishop of Bergamo Legat to the Congregation of the States he being much desired by the King to whom he was Nuncio At the same time he is made Cardinal The Duke of Espernon is conspired against at Angoulesme Secretary Villeroy fomenting the business upon a secret order from the King The King according to the example of his Grand-father dismisseâ—h many old servants for their too much wisdom In the place of the High-Chancellour Chiverny Francois Sieur de Mâ—ntâ—elon is chosen Garde de Seaux * Lord Keeper The Assembly of States-General called at Blois upon the agreement between the King and the League begins with extraordinary preparations The King begins the Assembly with a fine Speech which sâ—ings the Duke of Guise and his adherents Monthelon the Garde des Seaux prosecutes and amplifies the King's Speech * Râ—naud de Beaune * Michel Marâ—eaâ— The King and the States swear in solemn manner to perform the Edict made before or persevâ—ring in the Catholick Religion The common opinion that the Duke of Guise aspired to the authority which the Masters of the Palace were wont to have * Les Maires du Palais Câ—ipâ—ric King of France of an effeminate nature put into a Monastery by Charles Martel and Pâ—pin Masters of the Palace The Proposition of receiving the Council of Trent made in the Assembly of the States-General is rejected with great contradiction The King is râ—quested to declare the King of Navarre incapable of the Crown and all others suspected of heresie after much opposition he consents coldly unto it The King seeing the râ—solution of the States against the King of Nâ—varre procures an abâ—oluâ—ion at Rome for the Prince of Câ—nâ—y and Count Soissons of the House of Bourbâ—â— which much troubles the Duke of Guisâ—â— Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy possesseth himself of the Marquesate of Saluzzo Causes alledged by the Duke of Savoy in excuse for his surprisal of the Marquesate of Saluzzo They send to the Duke of Savoy to demand the restitution of Saluzzo and upon his refusal to denounce War A fray happens among the Lords Pages one of the Duke of Guises is slainâ— the uproar riseth to that height that the whole factioâ—â— are divided under the names of Royalists and Guisaâ—ds the King himself being armed goes to the quarrel The King admits Giâ— Mocenigo Ambassador from Venice though he were not one of the Sauii dâ— Tâ—â—ra Firma * Magistrates so called at Venice because they have the principal adminâ—stration of affairs by land and the care of matters belonging to Peace and War Chrestienne de Lorain which should have been given to the King of Navarre is married to Ferdinandâ— de Medici Grand Duke of Thuscany The King desiring â—o free himself of the Duke of Guâ—se proposeâ— his design to four of his most trusty Confidents who after long consultation resolve to have him killed * Le porche aux Bretons The answer of Grillon Captain of the Guards Lognâ—c promiseth the King that the Duke of Guise should be slâ—in The King's resolution against the Duke of Guise comes to the ear of the Duke of Guise himself A consultation between the Duke of Guise the Cardinal his Brother the Archbishop of Lyons and the Duke d' Elbeuf The order taken by the King for the killing of the Duke of Guise The Captains invention to double the Guards and not be suspected by the Duke of Guise * The French Translation says Grand Mastre de la Garde robbe Pelicart the Dukes Secretary sends him a Note in a Handkerchief to bid him save himself but it comes not to his hands The Duke of Guise swoonin theCouncil-Chamber An ill omen of his approaching death The Duke of Guise is slain as he lifts up the hanging of the Closet-door The Cardinal of Guise and Archbishop of Lyâ—â—s are made prisoners as also all the Lords and other chief adherents of the Duke of Guise * The ordinary Iudge of the Kings houshold his command extends to all places within six leagues of the Court. It was reported that the Duke of Guise had received from Spain the sum of two millions of Crowns The King admitting every one into his presence speaks very resentingly The King says to his Mother Now I am King of France for I have put to death the King of Paris The King discourseth a long while with the Cardinal of Moresini about the Duke of Guises death The King seeing that the Legat shewed no trouble at the imprisonment of the Cardinals commands that Lewis of Lorain Cardinal of Guise be also put to death Du Gast a Captain of the Kings Guard causes the Cardinal of Guise to be slain by four Souldiers The bodies of the two Brothers were burned in quick Lime and their bones buried in an unknown place The Duke of Guise's Virtues and Endowments both in body and mind The Archbishops of Lyons being often examined would never answer alledging that as Primate of all France he had no other Superiour but the Catholick Church The Cardinal of Bourbon the Prince of Iainville now called Duke of Guise the Archbishop of Lyons and the Duke d'Elbeuf are all put into the Castle of Amboyse Charles Duke of Mayâ—nne third Brother to the Guises being advertised of his Brothers death flees from Lyons 1589. Katherine de Medicâ—s Wife to Henry the Second died on Twelfth-Eve in the 70 year of her age thirty whereof she spent in the Regency and in the management of the greatest affairs and troubles of the Kingdom of Franceâ— 1588. 1589. The Insurrection of the Parisians at the news of the Duke of Guise's death Charles of Lorain Duke of Aumale being made Governor of Paris by the City armes the people and orders them regularly under Commanders The Preachers detracting from the King celebrate the Duke of Guise his Martyrdom with exceeding high praises The Colledge of Sorbonne declares Henry the Third to have forfeited his Right to the Crown and his Subjects free from their Oath of Allegiance The King's Arms and Statues are thrown down the Navarrists and Politicks persecuted and slain All the Counsellors of Parliament and Officers who adhered to the King are imprisoned in the Bastille A Decree is made to combine themselves for the defence of Religion and it is called the Holy Vnion The Dutchess of Guise comes to the Parliament and demands justice they determine to do it her and chuse those that should form the Process Places and Cities which rise and unite themselves with the Parisians * Rather in Languedâ—â— A description of the miserable condition that France fell into by the means of the Duke of Guise his death The Names which the Factions gave one another * Bandes Blanckes Sixtus 5. being told of the Cardinal of Guise's death is highly offended and answers
Rome The Duke comes to Venâ—ce where the French Prelaâ—es print a Book of the reasons that moved them to absolve the King Pie re Barriere a Vagabond fellow having conferred with two Fryers resolves to kill the King but being discovered he is takeâ— tortured and put to death * No Money no Vitry Monsieur de Vitry Governor of Meaux goes over to the King's Party and causes the Townsmen to send Deputies to the King to deliver the place into his hands The Duke of Alva by granting a strict ambiguous pardon to the Flemmings alienates more Cities from the Catholick King than his former punishments and rigours had done The Deputies of Meaux are graciously received by the King who grants them many Priviledges and confirms the Government upon Monsieur de Vitry and his Son 1594. The Sieur de Estrumel and Monsieur de la Chastre compound with the King for themselves and their Government The City of Lyons declares for the Kings Pâ—rty The City of Aix in Provence besieg'd by the Duke of Espernon being not relieved submits to the Kings obedience The substance of a Writing set forth by the Cardinal Legat to keep the Catholick League on foot The Duke of Mayenne 〈◊〉 avering iâ— so manâ— adversities â—hinks to make his peâ—ce with the King The Pope being sued to by the Duke of Mayennes Ambassadors for supplies of men and money excuses himself by the War of Hungary against the Turk The King of Spain shows the same coldness in assisting the League to the Sieur de Montpezat The Parisians murmur by reason of their sufferings which they begin again to feel and so much the more because the point of Religion being taken away they every day hear of the Kings good usage of the Catholicks The Count de Belin is removed from the Government of Paris and the Count de Bâ—â—ssaâ— elected in his place The Duke of Mayenne being resolved to lie no longer idle to the lessening of the reputation of his Party goes from Paris The Count de Brissac presently begins to deal with the chief men of the City to perswade them to submit to the Kings obedience Conditions of agreement concluded between the King and the Governour of Paris Particular conditions concluded in the favour of the Count de Brissac The King desires to be crowned some object that it cannot be done but at Reimes where the Sante Ampoule or holy Vial is kept which they say was brought from Heaven by an Angel to anoint King Clouis * The French says Dinan The obligation of France upon the day of their consecration By an artifâ—câ— of the Governour of Paris a Proclamation is made that upon pain of death and confiscation of goods none should assemble but in the Town-house The Count de Brissac having agreed to receive the King into Paris sends forâ—h the â—orces he distrusâ—s feigning that the Duke of Mayenne was sending Supplies and that it was necessary to meet them The manner used by the Governour to bring the King into the City of Paris The manneâ— how the King and his Forces entered into Paris After eight years space for so long it was since King Henry the III. fled from thence the City of Paris returns into obedience and Henry the Fourth enters into it The Count de Brissac cries Vive le Roy and the same cry runs thorow the whole City The people strive who shall mark themselves first with white Ribbands and white Crosses in their Hats and open their Shops the City being quiet within two hours The Cardinal-Legat goes out of the Kingdom Many out of jealousie depart with the Cardinal-Legaâ— and with the â—panish Ambassador The Bastile after five days resistance is surrendâ—ed to the King by the Sieur du Bourg Monsieur de Vâ—llars Governor of Rouen submits himself to the Kings obedience The Duke of Montpensier lays siege to Hâ—nfl ur which was the only place that held for the League in lower Normandy * Tarling is small pieces of Iron for which kind â—f Charge the narrow â—ore of Falconets is not very prâ—per and therefore I rather ghâ—ss they were Perriers which are commonly used for that puâ—pose The Kings Forces going on to the Assault without having well discovered the Moat are killed in it with showers of Musket-Bullets * Or Cuttings off Honfleur is delivered up to the Duke of Montpensier Places that â—ield themselves to the Kings obedience The Duke of Elâ—oeuf is the first of the House of Lorain that makes his peace with the King The Lords of the House of Lorain meet at Bar to treat of their common interests The Duke of Mayenne seeing the Lords of his Family were inclined to peace permits the Duke of Lorain to treat of it in all their names and in the mean time endeavours to reinforce himself that being armed he might obtaiâ— the better Conditions The Archduke Ernest at the news of the loss of Paâ—is resolves to think no longer of the Infanta's elecâ—ion but to seize upon some places in the Provinces confining upon Flandâ—rs to make amends for the past expences The Vice-Seneschal for money put a Spanish Garison into la Fere. The Duke of Aumale for 40000 Crownâ— Pension revolts unto the Spaniard with the places under his Government The Archduke Ernest informs them in Spain of the state of affairs and lets them know his determinations The Archdukes resolutions are approved and imbraced in Spain The Duke of Mayenne seeing the thred of his hopes broken and knowing himself to be constrained to one of two Resolutions wavâ—â—â— in determining and interposes obstacles to gain time The Pope permits Cardinal Gondi who had stayed some time in Florence to come to Rome but with a command not to speak a word about the Affairs of France Count Charles of Mansfelt enters into France with his Army and besieges la Cappelle The Sieur de Mailleraye Governour of la Cappelle surrenders to Count Mansfâ—lt The Parliament of Paris decrees That the King ought to be obeyed as lawful Prince declares them Rebels that disobey and takes away the Duke of Mayenne's Office of Lieutenant General * The Court of Accompts or Exchequer there is one of them in every Parliament The Colledge of Sorbonne declares the Kings Absolution valid and the Doctors thereof come to do him solemn homage at the Louvre The Duke of Mayenne goes to Bruxelles to treat with the Archduke The Spanish Ministers advise to keep the Duke of Mayenne prisoner in Flanders It is resolved at Bruxelles that the Duke of Mayenne shall join with Count Mansfelt to oppose the King together The King besieges Laon in which the Duke of Mayenne's Son was with much of the Dukes wealth Count Mansfelt having received order from the Archduke to relieve Laon with his forces as the Duke of Mayenne should think fit marches within a league of the Kings trenches The Spaniards â—eat the Kings forces out of a Wood where they had fortified themselves The Kings forces
take a great deal of Victual and Ammunition which were brought from Noâ—on to be put into Laon. The Mareschal de Byron having placed himself in ambush falls upon and takes great store of victual which were going from la Fere to the Enemies Camp The Duke of Mayenne makes his retreat by day in the face of the Enemy much superior to him in number with so good order that he receives no losâ— at all The Baron de Guiry slain The mines are sprung Laon is assaulted and valiantly defended * Fougade is a kind of mine of about eight or ten foot square covered with stones pieces of Timber bricks and such things as â—hey do mischief to to the â—ssailanâ—s bâ—ing fiered when they come upon it The number of the defendents being diminished they not longer able to hold out Capitulate and Surrender Col. St. Paul takes upon him the title of Duke of Retelois and while he plots to get also the City of Rheims he is killed by the D. of Guise The Sieur de Presâ—â—ay Governor of Chasteau-Thierry submits himself with that place to the Kings obedience The Citizens of Amiens raise a tumult against the D. of Aumale and put themselves into the Kings hands The Sieur de Balagny who had had the Government of Cambray from Queen Kâ—therine as hetress to the D. of Alancon and after adhering to the League had made himself Master of it makes composition with the King up-very large conditions Cardinal Gondi being returned to Paris commands as superior of the Clergy of that City that they should use again the Prayers that were wâ—nt to be made for the King of France and that they should acknowledge H. the Fourth their lawful King Words of Pope Clemâ—nt the Eighth to the Duke of Sâ—ssa the Spanish Ambassador The Duke of Mayenne goes to Bruxelles where he is treated with complyance The Substance of the agreement concluded between the Duke of Mayenne and the Spaniards at Bruxelles The Duke of Lorain makes a truce with the King * Or County of Bourgongne The King sends the Lorain â—orces that were come to him to make incursions into the County of Bourgongne The Duke of Guise leaves the League and makes his composition with the King The Duke of Guisâ— as heiâ— of the House of Anjou pretends rights unto Provence The Duke of Mercoeur is disgusted at the Spaniards in Bretagne because they would not meddle in matters out of that Province The Mareschal d' Aumont Governor for the King in Bretagne besieges the Fort of Croisil begun by the Spaniard * Sir Iohn Norris The French assault Coisil but are bravely repulsed by the Spaniards * Storm-piles The French renew the assault but are beaten off with great loss The Duke of Mercoeur takes no care to relieve Croisil Don Iuan del Aquila marches to relieve his Country-men but having neither horse nor other preparations sufficient he finds the enterprize very difficult After many assaults the defendents of Croisil are all cut in pieces but with fame of most remarkable valour and very great loss to the assailants Fort Croisil slighted by the French The City and Parliament of Aix not being able to resist the Kings forces under the Duke of Espernon surrender upon condition that the Duke shall have no superiority in that City The Mareschal d' Anville is deputed by the King to compose the differences of the Provencials by removing the Duke of Espernon The Duke of Espernon declares that he will defend the Government of Provence and the Sieur de Les Diguieres goes with good forces into the Province to put him out The Duke of Espernon refers himself to the Constables arbitrement who declares that he should go out of the Governmenâ— The Duke of Savoy besieges Briqueras and the French not being able to pass to relieve it he takes it The Duke of Nemours escapes out of the Castle of Piâ—rre Ancise Iehan Chastel a Merchant of Paris wounds the King in the mouth with a knife whilst he was Saluting the Knights of the Holy Ghost in his lodgings at the Louvre Iehan Chastel being imprisoned and tortured confesseth that he was moved to attempt the killing of the King by the Doctrine he had learned of the Jesuiâ—es whereupon some of them are put in prison Iehan Chastell is condemned to be dragged in pieces by four horses The Jesuites are banished out of the whole Kingdom of France The Divines of Paris make a Decree wherein they declare the Doctrine that teaches to kill Princes to be Heretical 1595. The Mareschal d' Anville imbraces the Kings Conversion The Hugonots threaten to forsake the King and take the Crown from him which they said they had gotten him After many difficulties the Edict in succour of the Hugonots is accepted by the Parliament and proclaimed being the same which King Henry the III. had made Anno 1577. Henry the IV. resolves to proclaim open War against the King of Spain Causes that moved King Henry the IV. to proclaim Wars against Spain Upon the 20th of Ian. 1595. Henry the IV. causes War against Spain to be proclaimed by his Heralds in all the Confines King Philip answerâ— the King of France his Declaration about two months after 1594. The Venetian Ambassadors sent to congratulate the Kings assumption to the Crown are received with great demonstrations of honor The Citizens of Beâ—â—ne in the Dutchy of Bourgâ—ngne calling the Mareschal de Biron submit themselves to the Kings obedience 1595. The Baron de Sâ—nâ—cey goes over to the Kings party with the City of Ossonne The Citizens of Autun put themselves under the Kings obedience The Constablâ— of Castile with 8000 Foot and 2000 Horse goes into the Franche 〈◊〉 and being united with the Duke of Mayenne recovers some places and takes others The Sieur de Tremblecâ—urt not being relieved by the Marâ—schal de Biron surrenders the Castle of Vezu to the Constable of â—astile The King comes to Dijâ—n and gives order that both the Castles be besieged The Constable of Castile perswaded by the Duke of Mayenne advances with his Army to attempt the recovery of Dijon The Baron d'Ossonville sent â—orth to discover the Army of the League is charged and constrained to retire The Mareschal de Biron going to receive the Baron d'Ossonville puts a Troop of the Enemies Cavalry to flâ—ght The Mareschal de Biron being without his head-piece is wounded in the head The King half disarmed succors the Mareschal de Biron The King follows the Forces of the League which retire still skirmishing The Constable of Castile noâ— to hazard the Fraâ—che â—â—mte by a Battel makesa halt having resolved not to fight The Constable retires with his Forces though the Duke of Mayenne labours to the contrary The Duke of Mayenne seeing himself forsaken by the Spaniards and advertised that the Pope inclined to the absolution of the King makes an agreement with him The King goes into the Fraâ—che Comâ—e to molest the Spaniards The French pass
the valley making it so fenny deep and dirty that there is no passing to the City along the Plain but only upon the two Hills and by another way which made by art leads along the foot of the Hill on the left hand and with many turnings and windings comes to the Gate of the Town So that only two ways lead to the City one upon the top the other at the bottom of the Hill on the left hand and the way which is upon the top of the Hill on the right hand leads straight to Pollet which Bourg is divided from the City by the interposition of the Haven and the Current of the small River Bethune The Country from one Hill to the other is all moorish and rotten by the standing of the waters and there is no passage but only by a very narrow way interrupted by many Bridges because the River divides it self into many streams Upon the Hill on the left side which is no less steep and craggy than the other stands the Castle of Arques little more than a league from the Town a place excellently fortified both by Art and Nature which commands a great Bourg of the same name that lies under it just upon the way which at the foot of the mountain leads to Diepe along the bank of the River The right-hand Hill which is much more woody than the other doth not run on equally united in one ridge as that on the left hand doth but about a league from Pollet is parted by a great Valley which extends it self as far as over against Arques and in it upon the right-hand is Martinglise a great commodious Village and on the left an Hospital of St. Lazarus which the French commonly call a Maladery The King having with his Commanders diligently surveyed every one of these places resolved to quarter with all his Army at Arques believing that if the Duke of Mayenne followed him he would not pass along the Hill on the right side which leads only to Pollet thorow the Valley and the Wood but would keep the straight way that goes to the walls of Diepe Wherefore the whole Army working speedily and likewise those few peasants which could be got together he enclosed the Castle and Bourg with a good Trench of about eight foot wide and as much in depth making Works on the inside with all the earth and distinguished it with Redoubts and Ravelines about sixty paces distant from each other and then having placed his Cannon to the best advantage he himself lodged in the Castle with all the French Foot and the Mareschal de Byron in the Bourg with the Regiments of the Swisses shutting up in that manner both the ways which lead towards the Town as well that at the top as the other at the bottom of the Hill The Horse quartered in that space which reaches from the Trenches as far as Diepe lay ready behind the Army to move where need should require there being left room enough in fitting places of the Trench to sally out conveniently fifty Horse in front a sufficient Body for any action they should undertake Many Ships were appointed at Diepe to fetch Victual for the Army from England and the Coasts of Normandy from Caen St. Lo and Carantan places which held for the King which succeeded marvellously well for some winds brought in Barks from England others those that came from Normandy supplying with interchangeable assistance the necessities of the Souldiers who in that convenient season of the year had also many miles of a most fertile Country in their power by the fruits whereof both Horse and Foot were plentifully furnished In the mean time the Duke of Mayenne having received the Marquess du Ponâ— who was come with the Army of Lorain to assist the League and likewise the Duke of Nemours who had brought up the Forces of Lyonoise Monsieur de Balagny Governour of Cambray and finally the German Horse and Foot which had been levyed by his order with the help of Spain that he might preserve his reputation and fulfil the infinite hopes he had to conquer and drive the King out of the Kingdom was moved from Paris upon the first day of September and with six thousand Swisses four thousand German Foot twelve thousand Muskettiers between French and Lorainers and with four thousand and five hundred Horse received Poissy Mante and Vernon which yielded to him and having in two days taken Gournay which would have made resistance marched on diligently towards Rouen whence finding the King departed he took along with him the Duke of Aumale and so increasing his Forces which augmented every hour continued on his Voyage with the same speed towards Diepe but he took a different way from what the King and his Commanders thought he would for leaving that by the hill on the left hand which goes to Diepe by the way of Arques and upon which he knew the Army was prepared to make opposition being excellently quartered in places of advantage he marched on by the hill on the right hand with a design to come to Pollet and making himself Master of it to block up and command the mouth of the Haven that the King being deprived of the use of Shipping and cut off from his passage to the Sea might not only want the assistance he hoped to receive from England but also be reduced to extream necessity of victual thinking he should this way very easily conquer and make an end of the War But the King to whom the Sieur de Baqueville who had the care of discovering the motion of the Enemy had brought word in time that the Duke of Mayenne had taken the way toward the hill on the right hand perceiving his aim and desiring to prevent it left the Mareschal de Byron at Arques with the Swisses besides a thousand Muskettiers and six hundred Horse not only that he might hinder the passage of the Enemy on that side as had been the first intention but also that passing cross the Valley he might advance to the foot of the right hand hill and there draw a line about the Maladerie and then make another great trench toward the bottom to shut up the Duke's passage on that side also by a double impediment to the end that he might not be able to get over to the left hand hill which if he could do he might either assault the Army in their works or else putting himself between might streighten it and separate it from the Town Care being thus taken for matters without the King with the rest of the Cavalry and the remainder of the French Muskettiers went presently thorow the City to Pollet where with continual labour day and night the Lords and Commanders taking no less pains than the common Souldiers and inhabitants of the place he environed the whole Bourg with a deep trench which ending in the form of a sput made a sharp angle in the point whereof a great Mill