decamp till he brought the Besieged to Reason in so much that on the Assumption-day they were reduced to a Capitulation They gave up two hundred Hostages their Walls were pull'd down their Moats and Grafts fill'd up and three hundred Houses with Turrets demolish'd These were Inns belonging to Gentlemen who had the like at Toulouze and other great Cities in those Provinces Going thence the King went into Provence and all the Towns surrender'd to him within four Leagues of Toulouze The Season growing bad and he somewhat tender of Constitution he takes his way back towards France leaving the Conduct of his Forces and the Government of those Countries in the hands of Imbert de Beau-jeu Year of our Lord 1226 Upon his return one of the Grandees of the Kingdom whom History has not dar'd to name caused some Poyson to be given him whereof he died at the Castle of Montpencier in Auvergne upon a Sunday being the Octave of All-Saints He had Year of our Lord 1226 lived Thirty nine years and had Reigned three and about four Months He is buried at St. Denis by his Father The Clergy because of his Piety and his Chastity reported that his Sickness proceeded from his too great Continence for his Wife did not go with him and that he chose rather to dye then make use of an unlawful Remedy they presented him for Cure As he foresaw things in a posture that threatned great troubles after his death he took the Oaths and Seals of Twelve Lords that were about him that they should cause his eldest Son to be Crowned and if he failed they should put the Second in his stead By his Wife Blanche de Castille he had nine Sons and two Daughters there were but five Sons alive Lewis Robert Alphonso Charles and John According to his Will and Testament Lewis Reigned Robert had the County of Artois and propagated the branch of that name Alphonso had that of Poitou and Charles that of Anjou From him sprung the first Branch of Anjou John dyed at the age of 14 years Of the two Daughters only Isabella was left who having been promised to divers Princes and grown to be an old Maid took on the Holy vail and shut her self up the year 1260. in the Monastery of Longchamp between Paris and St. Cloud which the King her Brother founded for her Saint Lewis King XLIII Aged Eleven years six Months POPES HONORIUS III. Five Months GREG. IX Elect in April 1227. S. Fourteen years Five Months CELESTINE IV. Elect in Sept. 1241. S. Eighteen days Vacancy of Twenty Months INNOCENT IV. Elect in June 1243. S. Eleven years Five Months and a half ALEXANDER IV. Elect in Decemb. 1254. S. Six years Five Months URBAN IV. Son of a Cobler of Troyes Elected about the end of August 1261. S. Three years Thirty four days CLEMENT IV. Elected in Feb. 1265. S. Three years and about Ten Months Vacancy of Thirty five Months from Dec. in the year 1268. the Cardinals not agreeing amongst themselves in the Conclave about the Election THis is the Third Minority in the Capetine Race and the First wherein a Year of our Lord 1226. in Novembre Woman had the Regency Blanche de Castille a stranger but courageous and able undertook it and carried it being assisted by the Counsels of Romain the Cardinal Legat who had great power with her and grounded upon the Certificates of some Lords who attested that her Husband being on his Death-bed had ordered that he would have his eldest Son with the Kingdom and all his other Brothers be left to her Guardianship and Government Immediately before the Lords had time to contrive any obstacles to her Regency Year of our Lord 1226 she drew all the Forces she possibly could together and with them went and caused her eldest Son Lewis to be Crowned in the City of Rheims The Episcopal See being vacant the Bishop of Soissons who is the Suffragant performed the Ceremony It was on the First day of December The Lords of the Kingdom had been invited thither by Letters but the greatest part refused to come amongst others Peter Duke of Bretagne Henry Earl of Bar his Brother-in-law Hugh de Luzignan Earl de la Marche Thibauld Earl of Champagne Hugh de Chastillon Count de St. Pol and divers others They were framing a League amongst them demanding that the Regent who was a Stranger should give security for her good Administration that whatever had been taken from the Lords during the two last Reigns should be restored to them and such as were prisoners should be released especially Ferrand Earl of Flanders Year of our Lord 1226 After her departure from Rheims notwithstanding the severity of the Winter she marched towards Bretagne where lay the strength of the League The Confederates being not yet ready avoided what mischief they could by a Retreat but she followed so close at their heels that the Earl of Champagne fell off from the party then the others entred into a Treaty and promised to appear in full Parliament which was to be held at Chinon and which at their request was removed to Tours then to Vendosme Year of our Lord 1227 In that Parliament which was held in the Month of March a Peace was patched up between the Regent and the Lords but the same year they being assembled at Corbeil plotted to surprize the King as he was coming from Chastres to Paris their design had infallibly succeeded if the Queen Regent had not been informed and cast her self with the King into Montlehery The Citizens of Paris having taken up Arms went thither to guard him and brought him back with joyful acclamations to their City The Earl of Champagne was the man that had given this private intelligence to the Queen This young Prince had a pretence of Love or Gallantry for her rather out of some Court-like vanity then for the power of her charms she being a Woman of above Forty years of age she knew how to make her own advantage of his folly and wished him to continue amongst those discontented People that he might betray all their intrigues to her Year of our Lord 1227 The King of England would needs concern himself in this quarrel and promised them his assistance and the Earl of Toulouze taking his opportunity during these Brouilleries and Stirs had got possession again of all his Places The Queen Regent fearing this Flame might be blown too high renew'd a Treaty with the Princes of this League whom by that means she kept from farther proceeding all this year and in the mean while she confirm'd the Alliance with the Emperour Frederick made a Truce with the English for a Twelve-month and came to an agreement with the Duke of Bretagne who gave his Daughter to be Married to a Son of hers named John Thus the Earl of Toulouze was left alone Imert de Beau-jeu having received a notable re-inforcement bethought himself instead of taking the Castles one by one it would do
troublesome Master diverted him from all these laudable Exercises and Employments before he had persevered in them one Year and made him plunge anew in the delights of Fopperies and Women Year of our Lord 1492 The Marriage being made with the Dutchess of Bretagne they were to consider of sending back Marguerite of Austria Maximilian cruelly affended at this double Affront cried out Treachery and accused Charles of having forfaken his own Wife to ravish the Wife of his Father in Law Henry King of England jealous of the growth of the French Manarchy and perceiving too late the Fault he had committed in suffering Bretagne to be lost leagned himself with him and both agreed to joyn their Forces that they might fall upon Picardy Year of our Lord 1492 The English failed not to land at Calais at the Time prefixt and laid siege to Boulogne but finding his endeavors signified little that Maximilian came not to joyn his Forces as was promised and withal heard the Rumors of a dangerous Faction in England he found it safest to retire again and took an hundred and fifty thousand Crowns for the Charges of his Army and for some Monies he had lent to Francis II. Duke of Bretagne Father of the new Queen Maximilian in the mean time not having sufficient Forces made use of Craft he Surprized the Cities of Arras and Saint Omers by intelligence and by Night entred into Amiens from whence he was vigorously repulsed His Anger being a little evaporated he consented they should get a Truce of the King for a Twelve-month in the Name of his Son Philip but he would neither be comprised nor named in it The Kingdom of Granada after a War of eight Years successively was entirely conquer'd by the taking of her Capital City Boabdila the last of their Kings having sustained a Siege of eight Months surrendred it to Ferdinand and Isabella the second Year of our Lord 1492 Day of January of this Year 1492. Thus ended the Dominion of the Moors in Spain where it had lasted neer eight hundred Years but not their Nation nor their Mahometan impiety which the Severities of their Inquisition and their repeated Proscriptions could not wholly extirpate but with much difficulty Now as if every thing had contributed to Fill and Crown the House of Spain with Honor and Riches that they might transfer it to the House of Austria it hapned almost at the same time when they finisht this War thae Christopher Colombus discover'd the new World or that Hemisphear opposite to ours That great Sea-Captain a Year of our Lord 1492. And 1493. Genoese by Nation having found by a Relation in Manuscript of a certain Marriner and by Arguments drawn from the disposition of the World and roundness of the Globe composed of the Sea and Land that there were habitable Countries in those Parts opposite to these which we inhabit after he had in vain apply'd himself to divers Princes obtained with much ado three Vessels of Ferdinand and Isabella to go and seek out that which he did imagine might be found He loosed from Cadix in the Month of August of the Year 1492. And sailed so far that he discovered the Islands of Florida from whence he returned into Spain in the following March bringing back with him convincing Marks and Tokens of his discovery and the infinite Riches of those Countries The Spaniards were pleased to name them the West-Indies An hundred Years before this two Venetian Captains named Zeni had found out the Northern Estotiland Year of our Lord 1493 Two Months after his return into Spain Pope Alexander VI. who was by birth an Arrogonian gave to Ferdinand and Isabella and to all their Successors Kings of Castille all the Lands discover'd and to be discover'd beyond a Line that was to be drawn from the Arctick to be Antarctick Pole distant from the Azores about a hundred Leagues towards the West and by South upon condition he should send some honest and learned Men thither to instruct those People in the Christian Religion Saint Bennet's Order had the Honor of the first Mission One named Dom N. Bueil a Catalon was sent thither with twelve Priests and sowed the first Seeds of Faith there Year of our Lord 1492 That nothing might be wanting to the Happiness of Spain the young King Charles VIII did of his own good Will surrender the Counties of Rousillon and Cerdagne to Ferdinand without requiring the three hundred thousand Crowns for which Sum they were engaged but only a Promise that he should be a friend to France The World was amazed and scandalized at this suddain and unexpected Generosity Common Fame laid the blame of it upon a Cordelier Frier by Name Oliver Maillard a famous Preacher in those days and Confessor to the young King It was reported that being suborned by Ferdinand who sent him Barrels of Silver in stead of Wine and having associated himself with John Mauleon another Monk of the same Order to help carry on this Intrigue this last being Confessor to the Dutchess of Bourbon they publickly affirmed that King Lewis XI being on his Death-Bed had given Order for the restitution of these Counties and that his Soul would have no rest till it were performed That with this Theme and by these Suggestions the two honest Fathers some add a third Man Saint Francis de Paulo cast so much terrour into the Soul of that Lady and of Lewis d'Amboise Bishop of Alby who had been Tutor to the King that they perswaded and engaged him to make this fine Restitution Year of our Lord 1493 The German Princes and the Swisse becoming Mediators concerning the differences between France and the House of Austria a Conference was agreed upon to be held at Senlis where the Deputies from the Emperor Frederic from Maximilian his Son and the Arch Duke Philip his Grandson concluded with the King's Deputies to put an end to all Disputes That the King should send Year of our Lord 1493 Marguerit back to the Arch Duke her Brother that together with her he should render up the Counties of Artois and Burgundy but that he should retain the Castles belonging to the four Cities in Artois till four Years were expired and that then Philip being in majority should come and swear and ratify the Peace Ever since the Year 1492. there had been some discourse set on foot of the Rights and Title the King had to the Kingdom of Naples and Arguments used to enflame that young Prince with the Love and Desire of so fair a Conquest Year of our Lord 1492. 1493. And 1494. The Earl of Salerno and those Gentlemen that were banished from Naples having taken Sanctuary in France made the first propositions Afterwards Ludovic Sforza was the principal Agent and brought the King to a determinate resolution for this Enterprize which cost Italy it's liberty and a vast deal of Money Blood and Trouble to France The whole thrid of this design which he spun
of Allemans or Almans because this Prince being Duke of the Almans had ever both in his Train and in all Offices more of those People then of any other Country The Italians even in those days called then Tudesâ—hi as they do still Death ravisht from the King his two ablest Councellors which were Suger Abbot of St. Denis the Fifteenth of January and Rodolph Earl of Vermandois the last Prince of the second Royal Branch of that name He having no Children and his Sister being Married to Philip Son of Thierry Earl of Flanders the King who cherished this Philip left him the possession of Vermandois the Subject of a Quarrel in the Reign following Year of our Lord 1152 Whether it were jealousie or scruple of Conscience the King eagerly pursued the Separation from his Wife and obtain'd it by Sentence of the Prelats of his Kingdom whom he had called together at Baugency Immediately proceeding with integrity he withdrew his Garrisons from Aquitain to leave her that Country in freedom and gave her liberty to go whether she pleased keeping the two little Daughters he had by her with him This Woman burning with Love and Ambition Married some Months after Henry Duke of Normandy and Presumptive King of England a Prince both young hot and Red-Haired very able to satisfie her Desires As soon as Alienor was Divorced Lewis sent to demand Constance-Elizabeth Year of our Lord 1152 Daughter of Alfonso King of Castile by Hugh Archbishop of Sens who performed the Ceremony of that Marriage at Orleans and there Crowned the new Queen the Archbishop of Reims protesting in vain that this Right belonged to him only Lewis not able to endure his Vassal should go equal with him nor Henry who had so many great Lordships suffer a Soveraign above him it was imposible they should continue good Friends This last being assigned to appear in Parliament refused to come Lewis to punish him besieged and took the City of Vernon but Henry submitting out of some apprehension he yet had of King Stephen the Lords reconciled him with Lewis who restored the place to him Year of our Lord 1152 King Stephen the Usurper of the English Crown being dead Henry gets into possession of that Kingdom according to the former agreement betwixt them It was not permitted the Kings of France says Yves de Chartres to Wed any Bastards Now there went a report that Constance was such wherefore King Lewis two years after his Marriage would satisfie himself herein and under the pretence of going on Pilgrimage to St. Jago in Galicia took her Fathers Court in his way the most magnificent Prince of those times who received and entertained him Year of our Lord 1154 most Royally at Burgos and took away that suspicion he had conceived Year of our Lord 1154 Divers do in this year 1154. reckon the Death of Roger I. King of Sicily one of the most Warlike and Potent Princes of this Age. He raised the reputation and fame of the Normans to its highest pitch in so much as after him it did ever decline He had a Son named William and a Daughter called Constance the Son Reigned but with so much Injustice Avarice and Tyranny that he deserved the surname of Wicked or Bad. He prided himself most in filling his Coffers and draining his Subjects to the very last Penny Constance being an old Maid Married the Emperor Henry VI. in the year 1186. Year of our Lord 1155 Gefroy Earl of Gien on the Loire knowing himself too weak to oppose William Earl of Nevers who made a rude War upon him allied himself with Stephen de Champagne Count of Sancerre and gave his Daughter to him and for Dowry his Earldom to the Exclusion of his Son Herve The Son thus disinherited by his Father without any fault committed implored the Kings Justice who goes in Person and besieges Gien takes it upon Composition and settles him there Year of our Lord 1159 When Henry was possess'd of England Gefroy his Brother demands Anjou Touraine and Maine according to their Fathers Will but far from giving these he takes Loudun Chinon and Mirebeau from him so that he had been left without any thing had it not been his good Fortune to be chosen by the Nantois for their Earl who having forsaken Hoel stood in need of a Prince to defend them against the Assaults of Conan Year of our Lord 1158 The Enmities between King Lewis and Henry being ready to break forth the Lords found out a way to prevent it yet a while by the Alliance of Henry's eldest Son of the same name with Margaret Daughter of Lewis by his second Wife though both of them were Children and had scarce left off their Bibs The Girl was put into the Father-in-Law's hands and Lewis promis'd to bestow in Dowre with her Gisors and other places in the Normand Vexin which in the interim were trusted to the keeping of the Grand Master of the Knights-Templars to be deliver'd up to Henry when the Marriage should be Consummate The Emperor Frederick composed the Difference between Bertold of Zeringhen and Renauld about the Earldom of Burgundy in such a manner that he dismembred or cut off from it the little Country of Nuctland which is beyond Mount-Jou and the Cities of Geneva Lausanna and Sion to give them to Bertold leaving the remainder to Renauld whose Daughter and Heiress named Beatrix he Married After which keeping open Court with great Pomp at Besancon he received Hommage of all the Lords and Prelats belonging to the Earldom of Burgundy and the Kingdom of Arles who notwithstanding regarded not his Soveraignty but only to obtain a better Title to their Usurpations Those that were common Friends to both endeavour'd to procure an Enterview between him and the King of France and agreed upon the time and place but the King stung with Jealousie at the Grandeur of that young Prince or having some suspicion he would design upon his Person would go attended with a great number Year of our Lord 1159 of Soldiers which caused Frederick to withdraw very much dissatisfied Gefroy Earl of Nantes being dead without Children Conan Earl of Renes or of Little Bretagne seized on the City of Nantes King Henry Brother of Gefroy pretending it belonged to him by Succession undertakes to recover it by force of Arms. Year of our Lord 1160 Conan being hardly press'd buys his Peace by giving him his Daughter and Heiress named Constance for his Third Son by name Gefroy the same as his Uncle deceased After the Death of Pope Adrian the greater number of the Cardinals elected the Cardinal Rowland a Siennois who was named Alexander III. But the Roman People and two Cardinals only gave their Votes for Cardinal Octavian a Roman who took the name of Victor The Right of either side was dubious for on the one hand the Decrees of some Popes had referr'd the Election to the Cardinals only and on the other the Roman
also troubled England the Kings William and Henry maintaining it was a Right and Prerogative of their Crown and in all times possessed by their Ancestors For which cause Anselme Arch-Bishop of Canterbury had lost his See but at last that difference was composed An. 1107. upon condition the King should for ever relinquish the Investitures in the Church and that reciprocally the Bishops should render him Hommage This was to speak properly nothing but the changing of terms for he that doth Hommage is a Vassal and receives and holds of him to whom he renders it And indeed the Popes could have wished that the Bishops had not done it to Lay-Princes and they had expresly forbid it to those in France but the resolution King Lewis the Gross and his Successors shew'd in this point obliged them to relaxe They durst not at the same time contend both with this great Kingdom and Germany they must leave some place of shelter in time of need and besides they did not so much trouble their Heads to lessen France with whom they had no contests for Dominion as to pull down the Emperours who being very powerful in Italy had still an aim of restoring their Imperial Throne in the City of Rome Besides France was better united and by consequence more difficult to be subdued then the Empire where the Subjects as well those of Germany as those of Italy and the Kingdom of Arles being divided amongst themselves and having all different Interests have at length ruin'd that vast body by their Jealousies and Rebellions It was for this reason the Popes made it their business so much to lessen that power and it is certain that all other Princes of Europe growing jealous of it as the most formidable then in being joyned willingly with the Popes to suppress it The defence of the Holy See and the Authority of the Church admitting a specious pretence to side with them This reflection is not useless Now to return to our Narrative Henry V. sunk under all this weight as his Father had done before In the beginning his Presence made things prosper in Italy but when after various success he was driven thence his burden was left to the mercy of Calistus who confined him to a perpetual imprisonment Then he himself tir'd with the daily Admonitions and Remonstrances from all parts and not able to wade through the many Conspiracies and Rebellions which hourly threatned to or'ewhelm him yielded the Cause at last He utterly renounced the Investitures and promised to leave the liberty of Elections to the Ecclesiasticks This was in Anno 1122. The scandal and persecutions which these Schismes caused in Christendom gave occasion in my opinion for that false prediction which was spread abroad in those days That the world was near its end and the Kingdom of Antichrist was then begun St. Norbert and some other persons of an irreâ—ragable Sanctity preach'd it as a most certain Truth which was but little doubted and begot so much terror that Pope Paschal who fled into France to avoid persecution staid some time in his journey at Florence to see what the event of this dreadful report would come to Soon after the agreement Henry V. being dead without Children the Empire was given to Lotbarius Duke of Saxony and after him to Conrade Those two Princes left the Popes in quiet and made no breach of Peace with them So that there was no more fear of Schisme on that side The Church having rested in tranquillity for eight years began to be disturb'd again by another most dangerous division for after the death of Honorius II. which hapned in the year 1134. two contrary Factions or Interests in the Sacred Colledge elected each a Pope on the same day One the Cardinal Gregory who took the name of Innocent the II. The other the Cardinal Peter Leonis who called himself Anaclet This last had been a Monk at Clugny a scurvy commendation for him to the Order of the Cisteaux which was then become the most predominant in France His Right if examined in due form appeared the best but his ambitious and haughty proceeding spoil'd his Title the great Gifts ☞ he made of things belonging to the Church to make himself Master of Rome gave just cause to believe there was somewhat of Simonie in his promotion and that he deserved not the Popedom since he bought it Many good people were of opinion so says John of Salisbury that in the like contests they ought to have owned neither of those concurrents but have elected a Pope anew who had not privately made any interest for the Popedom which is of such a nature as well as all other Benefices that whoever bribes for it renders himself unworthy of it And indeed King Lewis VII wavered for some time betwixt both parties and assembled the Council of Estampes to resolve him which of the two was the Legitimate The perswasions of Henry II. King of England had already a little inclined him towards Innocent the Council of Estampes fully determin'd it that Council having been satisfied by the discourses of St. Bernard who with much zeal and vehemence set forth the Right and Merits of that Pope After so solemn a decision most of the Princes in Europe declared for him there was only Roger Duke of Apulia and William Duke of Aquitain that supported Anaclet The First that he might have a Pope convenient for him and more easie to be managed then his predecessors the Second having been perswaded by Gerard Bishop of Angoulesme that his Election was Canonical It was thrown in Gerards Teeth that at first he had been of the contrary party but his spleen because he was not continued in his Legation of Aquitain by Innocent drove him to side with Anaclet who indeed confirmed it to him It was one of the handsomest and indeed most profitable employments the Court of Rome could bestow for besides the three Aquitains both Touraine and Bretagne were comprehended in it I divide Bretagne from Touraine because the former had its Arch-Bishop apart this was the Bishop of Dole who since the insurrection of Neomene took upon him to be the Metropolitan The often reiterated complaints of the Metropolitan of Tours and the sollicitations of the Kings of France in the Court of Rome could not obtain a Judgment in this matter for a long while but Philip Augustus tyr'd with their long delays prosecuted it with so much resolution and talked so high that Innocent III. determin'd it by a definitive Sentence in An. 1198. which restored Dol and the other Bishopricks of Bretagne to the Metropolis of Tours We find in the Life of St. Bernard how he withdrew Duke William from espousing the party of Anaclet so that there was none for him but Roger Duke of Apulia on whom Anaclet conferr'd the Title of King of Sicilia upon condition to pay an acknowledgment of Six hundred Crowns yearly to the See of Rome The Kingdom of Sicilia comprehended the
Daughter and Heiress of the Earl of Toulouze and also gave him the Counties of Poitou and Auvergne and all that had been conquer'd in Languedoc upon the Albigensis Year of our Lord 1241 These years the Tartars made cruel irruptions amongst others one in Hungary under the Command of Bath who was one of their Generals and one in Russia Poland and Silesia whither they were conducted by another of their Generals who was named Pera. These Barbarians were Scythians Originaries between the Caspian Sea and Mount Imaus Some make them descended from the Ten Tribes of the Hebrews who were transferr'd by the King of Assyria into those Countreys and derive their Name from the Hebrew Word which signifies Forsaken Others derive it from the River Tatar which ran thorough their Countrey and say it was given to the whole Nation of the Mogles composed of seven principal People of which they made one They were Tributaries and as we say Slaves to a Christian Nestorian Prince whose Kingdom was in the Indies he was called Prestor-John But Cingis or Tzingis-Cham set that Nation free about the end of the last age ruined the States of Prester-John and founded a very great Kingdom out of it from whence divers Colonies went forth and setled in other Countreys even in some parts of Europe The Earl of Toulouze sought out all means underhand to repair the shameful Treaty he had made with the King and therefore he consulted and contrived with James King of Arragon who was come to Montpellier and with the Earl of Provence though he were the Kings Father-in-law to Dissolve his Marriage with Sanchia Year of our Lord 1241 the Arragonians Aunt upon pretence of parentage that he might Marry the Daughter of the Earl of Provence and that his Daughter Jane whom he had perforce given to the Earl of Poitou might not be his Heiress An example that proves to any that might doubt that amongst Great ones Honour Parentage Alliance and ☞ Conscience does easily give way and stoop to their Interest and Humour Hugh Count de la Marche to his misfortune had Married Isabella the Widow of King John who had formerly ravished her from him This Womans pride would not suffer him to do Homage to Alphonso the new Earl of Poitou the King undertook to compel him and on a suddain took several of his Towns and demolish'd them amongst others Fontenay where his Brother Alphonso was wounded with an Arrow The King of Englands assistance in behalf of his Mother was too slow he and his Brother Richard landed in the River of Burdeaux The Earl de la Marche had assured them that all Poitou would rise and joyn with them upon their arrival but as his promise failed their courage failed too the King falls upon them at the Bridge of Taillebourg fighting desperately in person making them retreat as far as Xaintes and from thence to Blaye The Earl and his proud Dame being forced to forget she had been a Queen found no safety but at the Kings Feet They experimented his Goodness was as great as his Courage and although she had suborn'd Rascals to Murther him who had been discover'd and punished he pardon'd both her and her Husband keeping only two or three of their Places in his hands till he was better assured of their Obedience Year of our Lord 1243 Italy was horribly shatter'd by the Factions of the Guelphs and Gibelins The First held for the Pope the others for the Emperour Year of our Lord 1243 The jealousie betwixt the Franciscans and the Dominicans which had its Birth almost with their Orders encreased likewise proportionably with their growth Insomuch that the Pope who stood in need of them and the King St. Lewis who cherished them found it no little trouble to distribute their favours equally and hold the ballance so even that they should have no cause to take advantage of each other But both of them took much over all other Religions Orders whom they despised as more imperfect and not only set a value upon themselves for their Divinity wherein sometimes they were so meerly notional and over-subtil as it approached very near to error but likewise took upon them the functions of ordinary Pastors drawing the grists of Alms pious Legacies and Burials of rich people to their own Mills concerning themselves in the directing of Consciences and the administration of the Sacraments to the prejudice of the Hierarchy who from that time hath ever been contending with them to maintain her authority Year of our Lord 1244 The Holy See having been vacant near twenty Months Innocent IV. was elected He was thought to be a friend to Frederick but whether that Emperour had not used him well or what else it were he followed the steps of his Predecessors and began to quarrel with him upon the same score of differences The feud grew so hot that Frederic being the stronger in Italy Innocent went thence that he might with more safety let fly his Thunder against him and came into France where being arrived in December this year 1244. he called a Council at Lyons for the year following In the year 1228. the Emperour Frederic being constrained by the threats of Pope Gregory was gone into the Holy-Land where by his Reputation rather then his Sword he had so contrived it that the Sultan had given him up the City of Jerusalem but dismantled with part of the Holy-Land The Pope not satisfied with that agreement had afterwards procured other Adventurers to go who broke the Truce aforesaid to the great damage of the Christians who being mightily weakned it hapned Ann. 1244. that the Chorasmins a People drove out of Persia by the Year of our Lord 1244 Tartars others say of Arabia fell upon the Holy-Land laid it all waste ruined all the Holy places of Jerusalem and drowned them in the Blood of Christians This news was brought to St. Lewis whilst he was fallen sick at Pontoise towards the end of December All those that were about him despairing of his Life he made a vow to God if he restored him to health that he would go in person to make war against those Infidels and in truth being recover'd he took the Cross from the hands of the Legat but could not so soon accomplish his pious design Year of our Lord 1245 The Council of Lyons was open'd the Monday after St. John Baptists Feast in the Abbey de St. Just and from thence transferr'd to the Cathedral Church of St. Johns The Emperour Baldwin the Earl Raimond de Toulouze and Berenguier de Provence were present there these two solliciting for the dispensation that Raimond might Marry with Beatrix the youngest Daughter of Berenguier but the Kings of France and of England and Richard Earl of Cornwal who had Married the other three Sisters hindred the Grant of it Year of our Lord 1245 The Emperour Frederic having quitted his Affairs of Italy to come there and having in the mean time sent his
Forces belonging to the Navarrois continued their Incursions in Normandy Year of our Lord 1365 it was believed they might be drawn from thence by a Diversion towards Navarre A League was therefore made with the King of Arragon his Capital Enemy who immediately fell with an Army into that Kingdom The Navarrois had the more apprehension because he knew that France was necessarily obliged to joyn with that Prince the King of England having made a League with Peter King of Castille an Eternal Enemy to the Arragonians Wherefore Captal de Buch and the rest of his Friends applied themselves with so much zeal that they made his peace with the King By this Treaty he renounced all his rights to Champagne and to Burgundy upon condition he should have the Lordship of Montpellier in Languedoc which was given him The Habits of Men of Quality and honest People dwelling in Cities was a long Gown and a Hood almost of the same fashion as the Monks sometimes they threw these back upon their Shoulders and made use of a Cap or Bonnet for their Heads Now luxury and folly had shortned their long Robe so much that their Thighs and the whole motions of their Bodies from their Reins was plainly Year of our Lord 1365 seen They had likewise brought in use a certain sort of Shoes the Toes whereof were turned up with a long neck they named them Poulenes and at their Heels a kind of Spurs The King by his Edicts banished these ridiculous Modes after the example of his Holiness who but a while before had by his Bulls condemned the dissoluteness of Apparel both in the one and the other Sex France could not rid her self of those droves of Robbers that knawed her to the Year of our Lord 1365 very bones The English tolerated them that they might have their help upon occasion and there were not Forces enough besides to suppress them Gueselin found out a way to carry them all off into Spain upon this occasion Alphonso XI King of Castille had had by his lawful Wife a Son named Peter who succeeded him and by a Mistress five Natural Sons the eldest of whom was called Henry and was Earl of Tristemare This Peter was rightly surnamed the Cruel and the Wicked for he shewed himself more a friend to the Alcoran then to the Gospel having alliance and amity with the Moorish Kings He overturned all the Laws and committed all the Injustice and Cruelties that Tyrants can commit He lived in publick Adultery with Mary de Padilla and had in Anno 1361. caused his Wife Blanch to be poyson'd who was Daughter to Peter Duke of Bourbon and Sister to the Queen of France a Princess as vertuous as fair after she had endured all the outrages imaginable for ten years together He put the Lady to death that had been his Fathers Mistress and shed the blood of the greatest in his Kingdom almost every day nor did he spare his own Brothers having Murthered Frederic one of the five who was Grand Master of St. James and often attempted against the lives of the other four Henry being thereâ—ore prompted by a just Resentment for the death of his Brother and his Mother and besides authoriz'd by the Law of Nature which allowed him to defend his life rose up against him with the greatest part of the Nation Leagued himself with the Arragonian and made War upon him for some time Year of our Lord 1365 His Cause in the beginning had not so much success as justice he was overmatch'd and worsted by the Tyrant and took shelter in France The King gave him protection the more willingly because it offer'd a fair occasion to employ his Soldiery It was thought fit for the better countenance of it to let John de Bourbon Count de la Marche Cousin German to the late Queen Blanch have the chief Command in appearance but for their true Conductor Bertrand du Gueselin who was delivered out of the hands of Chandois the Pope the King and Don Henry having paid down his Ransom Year of our Lord 1366 With these Forces and great numbers of the Nobility Volunteers even out of those Countries under the obedience of the English the Count de la Marche and Gueselin carried Henry back into Spain The Pope fearing this Army might approach near Avignon sent them Two hundred thousand Livers with Indulgences The King of Arragon gave them passage and the Dutchy of Borgiae to Gueselin and before they entred upon Castille they regained all those places Peter had taken from him and put them honestly again into his hands Upon the arrival and sight of Henry all the Nobles of Castille excepting one single Knight abandoned the Tyrant They all cry'd out Long live King Henry and open'd their Gates to him in a word he was Crowned at Burgos about the end of March. That done he liberally rewarded with Estates in Lands all such as had follow'd him and thinking himself secure upon the Tyrants flight he discharged the most part of his Forces who would have lain too heavy on his new Subjects reserving only Fifteen hundred Lances with Gueselin and Bernard Bastard of the Count de Foix. Year of our Lord 1366 The Tyrant made his escape first towards Portugal but the King of that Country having refused to allow him any retreat there he got into Galicia and from thence by Sea to Bayonne to implore the assistance of the Prince of Wales The jealousie that Prince had for the fame of du Gueselin made him give an ear to his supplications he promised to restore him and to act Personnally in the Employment To this end he retains the Gascon Lords and the same Companies that had served du Gueselin who were disbanded by Henry but the Arragonian keeping the passages shut and well guarded they could not get to him but with a great deal of difficulty Year of our Lord 1367 There was no other way but by Navarre King Charles the Bad having made a League with either Party found himself perplexed In the end he leans towards the Tyrant and gives him passage and three hundred Lances Whilst he was wavering betwixt both Parties and endeavoured to delude them both he was made Prisoner by Oliver de Mauny who held the Castle of Borgia upon that Frontier It was imagin'd he had contriv'd it so himself to keep his Faith with Henry but Oliver treated him as a real Prisoner and got a good Ransom from him When Henry knew that his Enemies had taken the City of Navarrette he came to meet them and instead of stopping their passage and hindring their having Provisions brought to them which he might easily have done being above three times more numerous then they he gave them Battle This was the Fourth of April between Nagera and Navarrette but he lost it through the Cowardize of his Brother Teilo who betook himself to flight upon the first Charge Gueselin was made Prisoner with the Mareschal d'Endreghen and some
was almost the only Man who was capable of revenging him for all these Affronts to this end the second day of October he puts the Sword of High Year of our Lord 1370 Constable into his hands which Moreau de Fiennes too much broken with age and toil could bear no longer but gave him few Soldiers that he might only observe the Enemy and not fight them Du Guesclin who had another aim encreased the numbers at his own expence having sold all his Jewels and rich Household Furniture he had gotten in Spain to buy up more Soldiers After he had followed and annoyed the Enemy for some time he had an opportunity to be t up one of their Quarters near the Pont Valain in the Country of Mayne By this means having broke the ice he put them to a rout then defeated them piece after piece till even Knolles himself had much ado to escape Year of our Lord 1371 From thence he turned up into Berry and drove out the English who fled into Poitou cleared Touraine and Anjou and did the like in Limosin and in Rovergne Year of our Lord 1371 He also rendred a most important piece of Service to France having brought the King of Navarre to an Enterview with King Charles In the present posture of Affairs that Prince might have done a great deal of mischief by introducing the English into Constentin where he held Cherbourgh with some other places and into the County of Evreux which was all his own But he being as irresolute as malicious he neither knew how to keep his Faith nor break it to his own advantage Though he had made a Truce the preceding year he still deferr'd the concluding of the Peace by his Artifice In fine he suffers himself to be led to it when he had least need and was contented with the City of Mâ—ntpellier which was put into his possession Upon which Consideration he renounced the English Interest at that time when it would have been more advantage not to do it Year of our Lord 1371 In the year 1367. Pope Vrban V. had made a Voyage to Rome in appearance to give some Orders for the Affairs of Italy but indeed out of anger for that the Army going into Spain had oppressed and extorted a great deal from him After he had staid there two years and an half he returned to Avignon where in short time he died the 19th of December The Cardinals placed in the Holy Chair Peter Roger who was Son to William Earl of Beaufort in Valee and Jane Sister of Pope Clement VI. In the Month of May of this same year David King of Scotland Son of Robert Bruce died without Children Thus that Crown passed into the House of the Stewarts by one Robert who was his Sisters Son He ratifi'd the Truce with the English and prolonged it for thirteen years The Maritine Cities of Flanders being all filled with Merchants had no other Interest to mind but Trade Wherefore neither considering that of their Earl nor Year of our Lord 1371 the Kings they made a League with the English thereby to secure their Commerce which appeared more advantageous from that side then from the French Within a while after the new Constable had re-conquer'd Perigord and Limosin from the English the Prince of Wales though he could not stir but in a Litter draws his Men together at Cognac and went to besiege Limoges His Hurons or Miners of which he had great numbers having thrown down a great part of the Wall into the Ditches the Town was taken by Storm He was so enraged against the Inhabitants that he took cruel Vengeance even upon the very Women and Children above four thousand of them dying by the edge of the Sword This was his last exploit in War afterwards he retired very much indisposed into England where yet he languished three years When he was gone the Affairs of the English ran every day into decay the greatest part of the Lords and Commanders in Guyenne whom his Valour and Bounty tied to his Court going over to the French Year of our Lord 1372 He had left the care of his Affairs to the Duke of Lancaster who stay'd no long time in Guyenne but went over into England to be present in a great Council which was held about the concerns on this side the Water At his departure he Married the Daughter of Peter the Cruel and stiled himself King of Castille his Brother the Earl of Cambridge likewise took the youngest Sister to his Bed Year of our Lord 1372 This was to declare a Mortal War against King Henry who besides being engaged to the Crown of France resolved as well for his own security as out of gratitude to Year of our Lord 1372 serve it with all his power He knew the English were sending an Army into Poitou Commanded by the Earl of Pembrooke he put out a Fleet of forty great Ships to Sea well stored with Canon and Fire-Arms who lay in wait for the Earl of Pembrooke at the chops of the Rochel Channel The Fight lasted two days the Eves-eve and the Eve of St. Johns Feast the Rochellâ—rs looking on in cold blood not to be persuaded by their Governor to go out to the aid of the English who in the end were overcome and all either taken or sunk The Victors carried away the Earl of Pembrooke with the rest of the Prisoners into Spain all laden with Chains This was the Custom both of the Spaniards and Germans towards their Enemies the French and English treated theirs with more generosity and civility ☜ This disaster was the utter ruine of the English Party The Constable besieged Year of our Lord 1372 and took all places with ease After he had help'd the Duke of Berry in reducing St. Severe which was believed to be impregnable he came to take possession of the great City of Poitiers that opened her Arms to him The Commanders that kept the Field were all amazed at it but much more astonished upon the defeat of the Captal de Buch who marching to relieve the City of Soubise situate at the mouth of the Charente sound himself surrounded and taken by the Spaniards whose Fleet hover'd about that Coast No Ransom nor Exchange could persuade the King to set him at liberty a second time he was shut up in a Tower belonging to the Temple at Paris where he died four years after Year of our Lord 1372 The Rochellers could never agree with the English humour scarce compatible with any Nation whatsoever they studied how to withdraw themselves from their Government and for this purpose it was that the Spaniards kept so nigh to favour their design The Castle only hindred them the Mayor bethought himself of a Wyle Having given the Captain a Dinner he presented him certain Letters Sealed with King Edwards Signet out of which he read That they were ordered to make a Muster of the Garison in the Castle and the City Militia There
for this was to assure him that they had Infallible Intelligence how to surprize the Dukes Towns and make his Subjects revolt in the very Heart of Flanders Upon the hopes of these great advantages he sent an Usher of the Parliament to Summon him even in the very City of Ghent to give satisfaction to the Count d'Eu from whom he detained some Lands belonging to the County of Pontieu In stead of appearing upon the Summons he levy'd Soldiers at half Pay but having been at this charge three Months seeing no Body moved he thought it was only a huffe and dismissed them The House of Burgundy spared their People so much that they kept up no Militia nor Garrisons in their Towns they thought that by Treating their Subjects well they were Guard good enough However when he had laid down all his Arms he received divers informations that all was ready to overwhelm him John de Chaalons Prince of Orange and some of his Domestick Servants for sook him Baldwin one of his Bastard Brothers he had eight Plotted to poyson him the Breton renounced his alliance and the Constable Seized upon the City of Saint Quentin Then he that had feared nothing began to apprehend every thing He got together with much ado three hundred Horse with which he advanced to cover his other Cities on the Somme But upon sight of him those of Amiens turned their backs and received the Kings Forces Abbeville would have done as much if Desquerdes had not hinderd it He retired therefore to Arras with more hast then he went forth and sent a private messenger to the Constable to pray him not to push things forward to extremity He received for answer that unless Monsieur would declare for him he could not be served in it But that he was ready to embrace his defence if he would give his Daughter in Mrrriage to him A Note from Monsieur conveyed to him in a piece of Wax assured him the same thing and the Breton gave him intelligence that all his Towns even Bruges and Ghent were upon the point of revolting and that the King was resolved to besiege him whithersoever he went But the more they will force him the more he stands out against them Not being followed so closely as he might have been by the King he resumes his Courage gathers up Men takes the Field and having gained Pequiny presents himself before Amiens and Fired his Guns at the Town to invite the Constable to give him Battel But finding the great numbers of men coming which the King got together at Beauvais he retreated back and wrote a very Submissive Letter to him which in gross discovered the Artifices of those that Animated the King against him The King who found he was as little secure as the Duke amongst such double dealing People agreed to a Truce for a year the 12 th Day of May. St. Quintin remained the Constables and was at last the cause of his ruine The Treaty Signed the King went into Touraine Monsieur to his Apennage of Guyenne and the Burgundian to Flanders During this War Edward of York with a Moderate assistance which the Burgundian and secretly furnished him withal for he apprehended to offend the Earl of Warwick had by the favour of the Duke of Clarence his Brother whom he had regained by the intrigues of a Woman re-enters England gained two Battels one against Warwick who was killed on the spot the other against young Edward Son of King Henry and the Queen his Mother in which that Prince was slain The Queen became a Prisoner to the Conqueror whom afterwards King Lewis redeemed by a ransom of 6000 Crowns Thus Edward re-establisht himself in his Throne and maintained it till his Death Year of our Lord 1471 Sigismond Duke of Austria having need of Money which that House hath ever been in great scarcity of till the time of the Emperor Charles V. engaged his County of Ferreie for a Notable Sum to the Duke of Burgundy The Duke puts ☜ in a very courteous Governor he was called Hagembach who laying great exactions was the first cause of the Germans hatred towards his Master Year of our Lord 1471 Pope Sixtus the IV. this was Francis de la Rovere Elected in the Room of Paul II. to follow the example of his Predecessors Sollicited the Christian Princes to unite themselves against the Turks For this purpose he sent the Cardinal Bessarion a Greek by Birth and a person of great merit to the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy The Cardinal having seen the Duke first the King was so much offended at it that he made him wait a long time before he would admit him to his presence and giving him Audience he rallied with him and treated him as a Grecian Beard The Truce displeased the Duke who had made it by compulsion neither was it to the good liking of Monsieur nor the Breton nor the Constable thus all four sought to re-unite themselves rogether The marriage of Monsieur was the only tye that could be secure the Burgundian promised it though he had no mind to it and upon this foot they renewed their League The Constables solliciting the other Princes to enter into it the Duke of Bourbon gave notice of his practices to the King who wisely dissembled it contriving to be quit with them by the same method For he every day pared away somewhat of his Brothers Apennage threw one rub one day and another the next Debauched his Friends from him corrupted his Servants and got them to reveal all their Masters secrets By the Treaty of Constans John Court of Armagnac had been restored to his Lands the King had caused them to be again Seized on in the year 1468. And had given them to Monsieur with the Government of Guyenne Monsieur being discontented had caused that Count to return put him into possession of his Estate and by his means and with the assistance of the Counts de Foix and the Lord de Albret he raised Men either that he might not be Surprized or to undertake something Year of our Lord 1471 Whatever his designs were they were blasted by a detestable and cruel remedy He loved a Lady Daughter of the Lord Monsereau and Widdow of Lewis d'Amboise and had for Confessor a certain Benedictine Monk Abbot of St. John d'Angely named John Favre Versois This wicked Monk poyson'd a very fair Peach and gave it to that Lady who at a Collation put it to steep in Wine presented one half of it to the Prince and eat the other her self She being tender died in a short time the Prince more robust sustained for some while the assaults of the Venome but how-ever could not Conquer it and in the end yielded his Life to it Year of our Lord 1471 Such as adjust all the Phenomena's of the Heavens to the accidents here below might have applied to this same a Comet of extraordinary Magnitude which was visible four score days
the prospect he had of what would be squander'd and wasted in Luxury and vain Prodigallity by Francis I. after his death he sighing said Ah! we labour in vain this great Boy will spoil all Two Male Children he had by Anne of Bretagne died in the Arms of their Nurses There were only two Daughters left Claude who was married to Francis I. and Renee who in Anno 1528. was by that King married to Hercules Duke of Ferrara a petty Prince whom he made choice of purposely that he might not be able to contend with him for the Dutchy of Bretagne FRANCIS I CALLED The Great KING AND THE Father of Learning King LVII Aged XX Years and about four Months POPES LEO X. near seven Years under this Reign ADRIAN VI. Elected the 4th of January in the Year 1522. S. 1 Year and above eight Months CLEMENT VII Elected the 29th of November 1525. S. 10 Years and above 10 Months PAUL III. Elected the 13th of October 1534. S. Years and one Month whereof 12 Years and a half under this Reign Year of our Lord 1515. in January THis is the third time in the Capetine Race that the Scepter for want of Male-Children in the direct Line passes in a collateral Line Lewis I. Duke of Orleans had two Sons Charles who was Duke of Orleans after him and John who was Earl of Angoulesme Lewis XII was the Son of Charles and from John came another Charles who was Father of Francis I. who succeeded to Lewis XII He was crowned at Reims the five and twentieth of January and took the Title of Duke of Milan with that of King of France When this Prince appeared on the Throne in the Flower of his Youth with the Meene and Stature of a Hero with wonderful dexterity and address in all the noble Exercises of a Cavalier Brave Liberal Magnificent Civil Debonnaire and well Spoken he attracted the Adoration of the People and the Love of the Nobility and indeed he had been the greatest of Kings if the too high Opinion of himself grounded upon so many fair Qualities had not inclined him to suffer himself to be entangled in the Snares of Women and the Flatteries of Courtiers who corrupted his Mind and made it spend its self most in outward vain Glory and superficial appearances His first Cares were to seek the Alliance and Amity of the Princes his Neighbours The King of England taking yet to Heart the Infidelity of Ferdinand his Father in Law continued the Peace with him on the same Conditions as he had made with his Predecessor and to last during both their Lives The King sent back Queen Mary to him who afterwards married the Duke of Suffolk The Arch-Duke likewise being thereto obliged by the Flemmings who in no wise would have a War with France and besides judging there might be danger to let things stand without any Colligation between France and England sent the Count of Nassaw Ambassador to him who after he had rendred the Homage due for the Counties of Artois and Flanders treated a perpetual confederation between the two Princes Year of our Lord 1515 The Band and Knot that was to tye this fast was the Marriage in future of his Master with Renee the Queens Sister It was stipulated under terrible Oaths and great pains of refusal on either Part for which Francis stak'd down the Faith of several great Lords and twelve of his best Cities for security The Conditions were six hundred thousand Crowns of Gold and the Dutchy of Berry for her and for her Children That she should renounce to the Succession of Father and Mother namely to the Dutchies of Milan and Bretagne and that the King should be engaged to assist the Arch-Duke with Men and Ships to go and take Possession of the Kingdoms of Spain upon the Death of Ferdinand his Grand-Father It would have been very easie also for the King to have confirmed the League made by his Predecessor with the Venetians but Ferdinand refused the continuation of the Truce unless upon the same Conditions as the last which was that he should not meddle with or touch the Dutchy of Milan Which the King not having accepted of the said Ferdinand the Emperor the Swisse and Sforza Duke of Milan made a League which imported That to compel the King to renounce that Dutchy the Swisse should attack France by the way of Burgundy That in order to it they should receive three thousand Ducats Monthly from the other Confederates and that King Ferdinand should fall with a powerful Army into Guyenne or Languedoc The Pope for whom they had left room in this League did not enter till the Month of July when he found that the King who had kept this design conceal'd all the Winter marched in good earnest to pass the Mountains Upon his access to the Crown he supplied the Offices of Constable and Chancellor with two Persons whereof one caused great mischiefs to France in this Reign only and the other was the occasion of such as were felt then and perhaps may last to all the following Ages He gave that of Constable to Charles de Bourbon who afterwards stirred up great Troubles against him and that of Chancellor to Antony Duprat at that Time first President of Paris who to furnish the Prodigal and conquering Humor of a young King with Money suggested to him the Sale of Justice by creating a new Chamber of twenty Counsellors in the Parliament of Paris and so proportionably in all the others to augment the Tailles and lay new Imposts without waiting the Consent or Grant of the Estates as was the ancient Order and Practice of the Kingdom Year of our Lord 1515 All the Apparel for War being ready the King went to the City of Lyons where he staid some time till Trivulcio and the Lord de Morete with the Mountainers whom the Duke of Savoy had sent to them could find a Passage over the Alpes for his Troops which were arrived in Dauphine For the Swisse who had posted themselves at Suza and those Parts hindred their way by Mount Cenis and the Mount of Genevra which begin both in that Place The Popes Army and that belonging to Ferdinand were encamped on the other side of the Po towards Piacenza and Parma and Prespera Columna had come and lodg'd himself with a thousand Horse in Villa Franca which is within seven Leagues of Saluzzes where he thought himself very secure When with incredible difficulty and by meer strength of Arms Trivulcio had made them sling and hoyst the Artillery over the tops of the Mountains and from thence with no less toyl let them down again in the Country of Saluzzes the King's Forces passed the Alpes at Dragonniera Roquepavier and other Passes which are nigh Provence La Palice who was passed one of the first having correspondence Year of our Lord 5115 with some Inhabitants of Villa-Franca used so much Skill and Celerity that he surprized Prospera as he was sitting down
intelligence of a School-master whom the desire of Gain had wrought upon to shew them a certain place where they might scale it It was upon a Shrove-tide Festival when Figuerba and all the Nobility of the Spanish Army were come thither to make a Carousel The City being taken Figueroa cast himself into the Citadel the Mareschal caused it immediately to be batter'd and in a few days forced it to capitulate Year of our Lord 1555 Queen Mary and the Cardinal Pool her Cousin fearing lest the quarrel betwixt the two Kings should embroil the English in a War earnestly desired to procure a Peace between them Their great instances engaged them to send Deputies betwixt Calais and Ardres to treat They Arrived there the one and twentieth of May. For their accommodation several Tents were set up containing a large Hall in the midst of them having four Gates one to the East for the Popes Legates one at the West part for the English Ambassadors one in the South for those of France and one on the North for the Emperors The two Princes according to the Proposals made by the English agreed well enough about the referring all their differences to the judgment of the Council but the King declaring he would not restore the Duke of Savoy till the Emperor surrendred up Navarre to Jane d'Albret and Piacenza to the Farneses the Assembly broke up without concluding any thing Neither the one nor the other were very well prepared for a War so that this Summer past without any great exploits The Imperial Army after several Marches and Skirmishes employ'd themselves in fortifying the Burrough of Corbigny upon the Meuse which they named Philip-Ville Martin Van Rossen Mareschal of Cleves who commanded it dying of the Plague the Prince of Orange succeeded him in that employ Beyond the Alpes after the capitulation of Siena they likewise took the Port-Hercole The French succeeded ill at the Siege of Calvi in Corsica The Mareschal de Brissac took Vulpian and though but little assisted by the Court made head bravely against the Duke d'Alva who succeeded Figueroa This Duke could bring Five and Twenty Thousand Men into the Field notwithstanding he received an affront before Saint Ia being forced to raise his Siege Year of our Lord 1555 The Five and Twentieth day of May Henry d'Albret King of Navarre died at Hagetmar in Bearn The King had a great desire to seize upon the rest of that petty Kingdom and to give Anthony de Bourbon who had Married the Heiress some Lands in exchange but Anthony hast'ned to go and take possession of it and his Wife found means to preserve it notwithstanding the perswasions and treachery of her Officers The King was so fretted at it that he dismembred Languedoc from his Government of Guyenne to bestow it on the constable he refused to give that of Picardy which Anthony surrendred upon his going away to Lewis Prince of Conde his Brother and gratify'd Coligny with it After his departure it hapned that la Jaille being gone to make incursion in Artois with a party of the Arriere-band was upon his return cut in pieces by Hausimont Governor of Bapaume a slight shock which yet so terrified the French that they put their Men in Garrisons About the same time the Diepois having Information that two and twenty great Flemmish Vessels were returning from Spain loaden with rich Goods went and laid in wait for them about Dover and not staying to fire at them went directly aboard Their Vessels were little and low the other large and high built so that they maul'd them with Shot and Granado's from above The Fight lasted six hours hand to hand at length some of them took Fire which burnt half a dozen of either Ships and parted them sooner then otherwise they would have done Jane Queen of Spain Widdow of Philip the Fair and Mother of the Emperor Charles V. died in Spain the Twelth of April Aged 73 years She had been lock'd up as one distracted ever since the death of Philip her Husband however the Estates still reserved the Title of Queen of Spain for her which in all publick instruments was joyned with that of the Emperor her Son This Great Prince finding his Body grown weak and his head crazy not being any longer able to support either the heavy burthen of worldly Affairs nor his own decayed Cottage Resolved in a Council of Women these were his two Sisters to renounce his Soveraignty Having therefore sent for his only Son Philip King of England to come to him to whom the year before upon his Marriage he had already given the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicilia and since that also the investiture of the Dutchy of Milan he assembled the Estates of the Low-Countries at Bruxels the Five and Twentieth of October and there he Created him first Chief of the Order of the Fleece then he resigned up those Provinces to him A Month after in the same City in presence of the Governors and Deputies of his other Estates whom he had called thither for that purpose he yielded up and remitted to him all other his Kingdoms and Seigneories as well in Europe as in the new World He had nothing now left him but the Empire which he held yet a year hoping to oblige his Brother Ferdinand to resigne that up likewise to his Son In the Month of March of this same year Pope Julius III. ended his life Marcel II. who was Elected in his place held it but one and twenty days and they Elected the Cardinal John Peter Caraffa Aged fourscore and one year old He was Son of the Count de Matalone in the Kingdom of Naples and they called him Theatin because he had been Archbishop of Theati and had there instituted the Order of Clerc's Regulars who took their name from that City Many because of the resemblance of the habit have confounded the Jesuits with them His religious life and austere manners which made the World affraid of a severe reformation were immediately changed into a proud and a luxurious huffing vanity He was of a haughty heart and a stubborn Spirit and yet suffer'd himself to be circumvented by his Nephews and led any way as they pleased Amongst the rest he had two Sons of his Brothers these were Charles who had born Arms for the French under the Mareschal Strozzi and Alphonso Count de Montorio greatly desirous to raise themselves the first very proud and rash the second more mild and moderate To this he gave the Government of the Church Lands and to the other a Cardinals Hat The Uncle and the Nephews for divers injuries received hated the Spaniards and by a necessary consequence all those of that party especially the Duke of Florence and the House of the Colonnas who besides all this have ever been averse to the power of the Popes Year of our Lord 1555 Being therefore prompted by this resentment and that spirit so ordinary in many of the Papal