on the Island who were all slain by the Islanders and Natives This Year also the Reformation of Religion was much agitated tho not effected in Scotland Scotland begins to entertain the Reformation Alexander Somervill Archbishop of S. Andrews with the assistance of the rest of the Churchmen condemned one Walter Mills an old Priest to be burnt for Heresie and banished one Paul Mefan hoping thereby to restore their lost Authority and curb the People but it had a quite contrary effect the patient and chearful Martyrdom of Mills incensing the People to that height that they spoke very freely or as my Author has it Licentiously and Seditiously of the Church-men and a Solemn Procession being made on the first day of September in memory of S. Eugenius or S. Gile's at Edenburgh of which he was Patron whose Image was then carried about with great Pomp the People tore it out of the Hands of those that bore it and threw it into the common Drought having first broke off the Head Hands and Feet of this Wooden Saint the Monks and the rest of his Friends fleeing and leaving him to shift for himself The Clergy seeing their Authority thus sinking assembled in a Synod the ninth of November to try if the seting a good Face and pretending great Considence would retrieve their sinking Cause But they of the Reformed Party on the contrary of all Degrees exhorted one another to persevere in the Truth and not to suffer themselves to be oppressed by a small and weak number of Men For if say they these Men proceed by Legal Courses we shall be too hard for them if they make use of Force we are a Match for them They drew up an Address also to the Queen Regent which they sent unto her by one James Sandelands an Honourable Baron and of great account in it desiring That the Publick Prayers and Administration of the Sacraments might be in the Vulgar Tongue and that the Ministers might be elected by the People The Regent tho' a zealous Catholick yet fearing a Tumult commanded the Priests to say the Prayers in the Scotch Language The same Demands were made by the Nobility of the Synod then assembled at Edinburgh Who replyed That they must abide by the Orders of the Canon-Law and the Decrees of the Council of Trent The Nobility perceiving them thus averse to a Reformation sent one John Aresken of Dundee a learned Man to appease them who with great respect besought them At least to grant the People the use of the publick Prayers in their Mother Tongue The Clergy would nevertheless abate nothing of their former Severity and the Queen regent by their Persuasion soon recalled what had been extorted from her But the Death of Queen Mary of England and the Succession of Queen Elizabeth which happened this Month soon turned the Scales and gave her Cause to repent her too great obstinacy The Learned Spotiswood observes That this Mills was the last Martyr that dyed in Scotland for Religion That Patrick Lermoth Bailiff of the Regality absolutely refused to pass Sentence of Death as a Judge upon him after the Bishop had delivered him up to the Secular Power that in the whole City of S. Andrews a Cord was not to be had for Money so that they were forced to take one of the Cords of the Archbishop's Pavilion to tie him to the Stake It had been good Prudence to have desisted when they saw the whole Body of the People thus bent against them but they were hurried on to their Ruine by a blind Rage The People of Scotland were no less incensed on the other Side and resolved openly to profess the Reformed Religion binding themselves by Promise and Subscription to an Oath That if any should be called in question for matters of Religion at any time hereafter they would take Arms and joyn in defence of their Religion and Brethren against the Tyranny and Persecution of the Bishops The principal Men who joyned in this Bond were Archibald Earl of Argile Alexander Earl of Glencarne James Earl of Morton Archibald Lord of Lorne Sir James Sandelands of Calder John Erskin of Dun and William Maitland of Lethington To this Bond vast numbers throughout the Kingdom subscribed so that they found their numbers were at least equal to those that opposed them A CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION BOOK II. The CONTENTS The Deaths and Characters of Frederick I and Christian II Kings of Denmark Frederick II conquereth Dietmarsh The Affairs of Italy New Bishopricks erected in the Low-Countries King Philip desirous of a Peace with France that he might be at leisure to extirpate Heresie That Design discovered to the Prince of Orange The Diet of Germany Conditions proposed in it by the Protestants for a Council The Emperor confirms the Peace of Passaw The French Ambassadors come to the Dyet The Life and Death of David George a famous Impostor The Treaty of Cambray produces a Peace at last The Peace occasioneth a Persecution in France The King goes to the Parliament of Paris to awe it into a Compliance Yet some retain their Freedom at the Price of their Lives The King's Answer A French Synod held by the Protestant Ministers The Protestant Princes of Germany write to the King of France in the behalf of the Persecuted A Commission issued to Try the suspected Members of Parliament Du Bourg first Tried The sad condition of France during the Persecution Henry II slain The various Characters of that Prince Francis II succeeds him a Lad of Sixteen Years of age The Persecution goes on Slanders against the Protestants Du Bourg Condemn'd Minart a Persecutor Assassinated Du Bourg Executed His Character The rest of the Members of Parliament restored King Philip prepares for Spain He takes Ship at Flushing Arrives in Spain Raiseth a great Persecution there The Death of Pope Paul IV. The Deaths of several other Princes Pius IV Elected Scotch Affairs The English Affairs relating to Scotland and France The Scotch Complaints against the French. The War against the French in Scotland The Death and Character of Mary Queen Regent of Scotland The French Expelled thence A Conspiracy in France The King of Navar Conde Coligni suspected to be in it An Assembly of the Princes of France A Decree passed for an Assembly of the three Estates The Protestants of France encrease Francis II dies A General Council desired and obtain'd by the Duke of Florence Gustavus King of Sweden dies The Estates of France open'd The Persecution of Piedmont which occasioneth a War. THE First day of January Frederick I King of Denmark who was Elected by the Dyat of that Kingdom in the Year 1523 instead of Christian II year 1559 deposed by his Subjects for his Cruelty died at Koldingen a Town in the Dukedom of Sleswick when he had lived Fifty six Years The Death of Frederick I King of Denmark Three Months and Twenty Days and reigned Thirty four Years He was
to Saumur the Seventeenth of March was the day now appointed for this great Design and Renaudie who knew nothing of the Discovery marched boldly up to Ambois and though great part of his Foot were cut in pieces in the Woods as they came up in small Parties or taken Prisoners by the Horse who were sent out for that purpose many of which were presently hang'd on the Battlements of the Castle in their Boots and Spurs yet Renaudie their Chief Commander escaped and was not taken then The Duke of Guise obtained a Commission to constitute himself the King's Lieutenant General in France the Eighteenth of March and Oliver the Chancellor obtained before he would pass it a Pardon for all who should lay down their Arms within twenty four hours and return home with only two or three Companions giving them liberty to present what Petitions they pleased in a peaceable way to the King. The Nineteenth of March Renaudie met Pardaillan who was sent with a Party of Horse to take up such as he found in Arms. Pardaillan would have fired a Pistol against Renaudie but it missing Renaudie run him through Renaudie slain but was slain in the same moment by Pardaillan's Servant himself His Body was brought to Ambois and hang'd on a Gibbet with this Inscription The Leader of the Rebels Two of his Servants were taken at the same time and some Papers in a private Character which proved to be a Petition on the besalf of the Protestants designed to be presented to the King in an Assembly of the States Begging a Remission of the Severity of the Laws against them and Protesting the utmost Duty and Obedience to him Many of those who were taken were examin'd against the King of Navar and the Prince of Conde Who said They knew nothing of Navar The King of Navar Conde Coligni and Andelot suspected but heard that Conde should have been their Captain Whence the Duke of Guise concluded That Coligni and Andelot were certainly in it though Queen Catherine was of a contrary Opinion but however Conde who was then in the Castle with the King was commanded not to depart without leave which he wisely dissembled Some few were Tried for this Conspiracy but many more were Hang'd up by Night and many Merchants were Slain as they travelled about their business for their Mony but under Pretence they were in the Conspiracy so that there was nothing but Slaughter and Murthers to be seen About the same time Oliver the Chancellor dies Oliver the Chancellor of France died not so much of Old-age or Sickness as Discontent at the Cruelcy and Iniquity of the Times his Death was foretold by some of the Conspirators who reproached him for his unworthy Complyances And when the Cardinal of Lorain visited him in his last Sickness he express'd his Resentments against him and died weeping and sighing for what he had done Michel de l'Hospital a great and a good Man succeeded him by the procurement of Queen Catherine Though this Conspiracy was principally design'd against the Guises yet they desired the World should believe these Men had first made a Defection from God by Heresie and then had conspired against the King Queen Catherine and the King's Brothers The Thirty first of March the King wrote to all the Governors of the several Provinces to take great care that the Reliques of this Conspiracy did not imbroil their Provinces after which there was the like Account sent to the Elector Palatine and the rest of the Protestant Princes of Germany The Princes of Germany thereupon among other things desired the King to consider whether he had not yielded more than was fit to some about him meaning the Guises who out of an inbred Malice and Cruelty exercised great Cruelties on Men that were never convicted of any Crime There they beseech his Majesty that he would put a stop to the Sufferings of these Innocents and seeing they imbrace the same Religion with us we cannot but desire an end may be put to those cruel and hasty Executions This Germany has found say they to be the only Remedy and France has no other left to restore its Peace than by granting a Peace to the Minds and Consciences of Men. Coligni the Admiral leaving the Court Coligni sent into Normandy by the Queen Queen Catherine ordered him to go into Normandy and to enquire diligently into the Causes of the late Conspiracy He laid the blame of it on the boundless Ambition of the Guises and advised the Queen to observe inviolably the late Edict for Liberty of Conscience and to put a stop to the Persecution of the Innocent as she valued the safety of the King and the quiet of the Kingdom Some of the Captives who had escaped out of the Prisons at Blois wrote Letters to the Cardinal of Lorain telling him they knew the Escape of the Conspirators was very afflictive to his Eminence That therefore they were gone to seek them and hoped in a short time to return better attended This rallery was a great Mortification to that fearful Minister who feared new Commotions and persuaded the King to put out a General Pardon for all Roman Catholicks The Clergy labour to bring the Inquisition into France In May the King put out another Edict which was call'd the Edict of Romoraulin by which he took the Cognizance of Heresie from the Civil Magistrates and gave it solely to the Bishops which about five years before had been so vigorously opposed by the Parliament of Paris De l' Hospital the Chancellor is said to have consented to it only to prevent the violent Guises from introducing the Spanish Inquisition which they had recommended to Henry II and were now promoting with all their might in France From henceforward the Cardinal of Lorain became more placable to those of the Religion and to stop the Mouths of those who desired an Assembly of the three Estates persuaded Queen Catherine to call an Assembly of the Princes at Fountain-bleau to consult of the Publick Affairs About this time Conde left the Court Conde leaves the Court. and by a Letter gave his Brother the King of Navar an Account of the Ill-will the Guises bore towards him and that a Debate had been held in the King's Cabinet-Council for the taking him into Custody That therefore he had been forced to betake himself to him into Bearne This Letter was soon after discovered to the Guises who had entertained Spies in the Family of Conde who presently wrote a Letter to Conde full of sugared Expressions of Kindness and Affection which Conde presently sent to his Brother who very much approved his Resolution but advised him to return to Court and clear his Innocence which Conde did not think safe Perrenot the Brother of Cardinal Granvell in an Audience he had of Queen Catherine told her there was no way to restore the Peace of France but by Banishing the Guises some time from Court
Petition was seconded by the Duchess of Savoy who was a merciful Princess a and had great Power over the Affections of the Duke It being ever her judgment that this People were not to be so severely used who had not changed their Religion a few days agon but had been in Possession of it from their Ancestors so many Ages Upon this they were to be received to mercy but the Soldiery fell upon them when they suspected nothing and Plundered them three days together The General seemed to be much concerned at this breach of Faith yet after this they were fined eight thousand Crowns which they were forced to borrow on great Usury and they were also commanded to bring all their Arms into the Castles the Duke had Garrisoned in their Country And at last they were commanded to eject all their Pastors which was granted with the tears of their People that they might avoid the fury of the Soldiers The General pretended not to be satisfied that their Pastors were in good truth gone and when they suffered them to search their Houses the Soldiers Plundered them again and then burnt their Town There was one Town called Angrogne in a Valley of the same name the General pretended to shew them more favour and agreed that they should have one Pastor left them but they forced him also to flee into the Mountains afterwards and Plundered his House and all his Neighbours and then injoyned the Sindicks who are their chief Magistrates to find up and bring in the Pastor threatning that otherwise they would burn and destroy the whole Territory and when they had so done then they withdrew In the mean time their Messengers were gone with the Petition mentioned above to the Duke to Vercelli where they attended forty days before they could get Audience and then they were forced to promise they would admit the Mass and when the Prince had upon these terms forgiven their taking Arms against him they were commanded to ask Pardon too of the Popes Nuncio which at last they did During their absence the Inhabitants of Angrogne had suffered no Sermons but in private that they might not exasperate the Prince or make the Affairs of their Deputies more difficult But they resolved when these were returned they would exercise their Religion openly and not give any thing to the maintaining of the Soldiers whether their Request were granted or denied In the beginning of January the Deputies returned year 1561 and when their Principals understood what had been done they wrote to the rest of the Valleys to give them an account of it and desired a publick Gonsultation or Diet. At which it was resolved that they should all joyn in a League to defend their Religion which they believed was agreeable to the Word of God professing in the mean time to obey their Prince according to the Commandments of God and that they would for the future make no Agreement or Peace but by a common Consent in which the freedom of their Religion should be saved Upon this they grew more Confident refused the Conditions offered by the Duke of Savoy and the promises made by their Deputies And the next day they entered into the Church of Bobbi in Arms and broke down all the Images and Altars and after a Sermon marching to Villar where they intended to do the like they met the Soldiers who had heard what was done going to Plunder Bobbi stopped them and with their Slings so pelted them that they were glad to shift for their lives and left these Reformers to do the same thing at Villar The Captain of Turin attempting to stop this Rage was beaten and the Dukes Officers were glad to seek to their Pastors for a Pasport After this they beat the Captain of Turin in a second Fight By this time the whole Army drew into the Field and the Inhabitants of these Valleys not being able to resist them they burnt all their Towns and Houses and destroyed all the People they took In these Broils Monteil one of the Duke of Savoy's Chief Officers was slain by a Lad of eighteen years of age and Truchet another of them by a Dwarf The Duke of Savoy had sent seven thousand Soldiers to destroy this handful of Men and yet such was their Rage and Desperation and the Advantage of their Country that they beat his Soldiers wheresoever they met them And in all these Fights their Enemies observed that they had slain only fourteen of the Inhabitants and thence concluded that God fought for them So the Savoyards began to treat of a Peace which at last was concluded to the Advantage of these poor despicable People The Duke remitting the eight thousand Crowns they were to pay by the former Treaty and suffering them to enjoy the Liberty of their Religion So that he got nothing by this War but loss and shame the ruin of his People on both sides and the desolating of his Country A CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION BOOK III. The CONTENTS A Persecution in the Low-Countries The French Affairs Queen Catharine favoureth the Protestants but ordereth Montmorency to oppose them She suspects the designs of the Nobility The differences of Religion occasion Tumults in France Various Edicts made The Cardinal of Lorrain procures the Conference of Poissi Mary Queen of the Scots leaves France The three Estates of France Assemble at Pont-Oyse The Conference of Poissi The Rudeness of Laines General of the Jesuits This Conference disliked abroad The Council of Trent recalled Opposed by Vergerius The Popes Legates sent to Princes to invite them to the Council A Diet of the Protestant Princes at Naumburg The Queen of England rejects the Council The Ruin of the Caraffa's The King of Navarre drawn over to the Romish Party by the Arts of the King of Spain Scotch Affairs The Protestant Religion setled there by a Parliament Queen Mary Arrives there Her beginning favourable to the Protestants Great kindness at first in shew between her and Queen Elizabeth The French Affairs The Edict of January 1562. Injunctions published by the Queen concerning Images The King of Navarre pretends to promote the Reformation The Edict of January opposed by the Guises The Massacre of Vassi The Duke of Guise entereth Paris All things in France tend to Civil War. The Queen joyns with the Roman Catholick Party out of fear Orleans surprized by the Prince of Conde The Massacre of Senlis Roan taken by the Protestants Several Treaties for a Peace The Siege of Roan The King of Navarre shot His Death and Character The Prince of Conde leaves Orleans Besieges Corbeil The two Armies come in view He marches towards Normandy The Battel of Dreux in which Montmorency is taken St. Andre slain and the Prince of Conde taken Coligni and the Duke of Guise become Generals The Pope fondly rejoyces at this Battel The Siege of Orleans The Duke of Guise Assassinated His Death and Character The Queen desires and at last makes a
himself and his Servants The Duke of Guise uses ill Arts to secure his Servants who began the Tumult sent for the chief of the Protestants who were taken and severely chid them for having by this unlawful Meeting given occasion to this Tumult and blamed the Queen of Scots Bailiff for to her the Place belonged for suffering such Conventicles to be hold there And caused several Depositions to be made that the Tumult was begun by the Protestants though it was in truth begun by his own Servants Fame encreased the Fact and made it appear worse in all the Circumstances than in truth it was and every one judged of it as he stood affected the Protestants blaming it and the Catholicks defending it as necessary to put a stop to the Insolence of a few ill Men to prevent worse But Wise men saw it would not stop here but that Seditious Men would take the same Methods throughout the Kingdom The Prince of Conde complains of it to the King. The Duke of Guise went to Reims and from thence to Nantueil the King being then at Monceaux in the Diocess of Meax whither Conde came and made a great Complaint of the Massacre of Vassy aggravating it above the Truth adding That it was a thing of ill Example and ought to be severely Punished The Queen on the other side was very much troubled and wrote to the King of Navar to take care of this Affair who was then at Paris and advised the Duke of Guise not to go to Paris till he had been with the King to which he made no other Answer than That he was so taken up with entertaining his Friends that he was not at leisure to wait upon the King. And his next care was to excuse it to the Duke of Wirtemburg to whom he sent a Letter to that purpose laying the fault on the Insolence of the Rabble which trusting in their number had begun to fling Stones at his Servants The King of Navar went to Monceaux in the mean time where he met with severe Complaints against this Tumult and stifly averr'd that the Protestants had been the beginners of the fray excusing the Duke of Guise and entertaining those that complain'd of it with very great roughness Beza who was there replied That if it were so the Duke of Guise ought to have complained to the King and not to have permitted his Servants to have become their own Judges and turning to the King of Navar he said He was sent by the Church to complain of this wrong which has ever been readier to suffer than to act Injuries and that yet he ought to remember that Anvil had broke many Hammers in the mean time the Duke of Guise went to Paris The Duke of Guise entereth Paris without taking any notice of the King where he was entertain'd with greater Ceremony and Respect and had a greater Attendance than became a Subject the Queen began to fear the King of Navar Guise and Montmorancy would under the Pretence of Religion set up a Triumvirate which would bring her and the King under their Power so that she had no other remedy but to put her self and her Son under the Protection of the Prince of Conde and by her Letter to desire him to stand by them The Queen upon this puts her self and the King into the Protection of the Prince of Conde But then she did this very privately and by her Emissaries that she might not alienate the hearts of the People and of a great part of the Nobility from her by seeming to promote the new Religion and by the Envy of that be excluded from having any share in the Government In the mean time that she might consult her own safety she went with the King of Navar to Melun whither M. de Marle and Claude Martel one of the * Aeâ—iliâ— Officers of Paris who was in great esteem amongst the People came to her and represented the great Danger Paris was exposed to by the Forces of the Prince of Conde and said it was necessary She and the King should come thither forthwith and he having many armed Men about him he desired the Citizens might have their Arms restored to them which had been taken away by Montmorancy which last she rather delayed than denied because she saw they would have them whether she would or no. From thence she went to Fontain-bleau to gain time to consider what was to be done and was in suspence whether she should go for Orleans whither Conde was going or trust to the Regal Authority and go to Paris Navar went in the mean time from Mâ—an to Paris and Lodged with Montmorancy where there was a Council held every day without the Prince of Conde And the Government of the City was taken from young Montmorancy by the Advice of his Father and given to the Cardinal of Bourbon Every thing now tended to an open rupture All things in France tend to a Civil War. and rumours were spread abroad that the Catholicks in all Parts of the Nation were ill used by the Protestants which Reports were true or false set on foot by the Cardinal of Lorrain The Populace was exasperated and having regain'd their Arms were the more enraged for the having had them taken away and therefore could no longer be kept in order The Prince of Conde seeing his Danger that he might not seem to expose his own Party to the sury of their Enemies 〈◊〉 proposed to the Cardinal that he would leave the City if Guise and the othâ—â—â—onfederates would do so too at the same time that it might not be endanger 〈◊〉 an intestine Sedition which was accepted and the Duke of Guise went to â—â—â—tainbleau with a great Retinue to the King and Queen and the Prince of Conde went to Meaux and la Ferte Aucoulph upon the Marne As soon as they were thus gone M. de Marle took into the City MD men for its Security which Montmorancy the younger had refused to do whilest the City was under his Care The Duke of Guise when he went to Fontain-bleau carried with him many Armed men that he might fright the Queen from her Cabals with the Prince of Conde and so draw her by a secret Fear to joyn with him The Queen out of Fear joyns with the Catholick Lords commonly call'd the Triumvirate and the Stratagem took She had before carefully enquired into the Numbers and Riches of the Protestants that she might know what she and the King might expect from them but she could not be assured of any thing only that there were 2150 Assemblies in the Nation the Delegates of which proffered her and the King their Services in case of Necessity but when she desired a more particular and exact account they suspected she had some ill design against them and declined giving her an exact account of their Secrets reflecting on her inconstancy which they much suspected In the mean time
apparent danger whilst the Soldiers were dispersed and eager upon the Prey that the Army might make a Sally out of Paris and cut them in pieces with little or no resistance Having therefore taken La Ferte Aucoulph upon the Marre Dourdan and Mont-Leheri he sate down before Corbeil Corbeil besieged by the Prince of Conde which was under the Government of Monsieur Pavan with the Regiment of Picardy and some Companies of that of Champagne The taking of which place and cutting off the Provisions would have very much incommoded the City of Paris The 17th of November the Prince of Condé summoned the place and being denied it a small Skirmish ensued and the next day S. Andre entered it with Succours from Paris About the same time the News of the death of the King of Navar was brought into the Protestant Camp and the Queen's Emissaries began to give out Speeches that the Prince of Conde should succeed in his Post And the Queen her self sent to invite him to a Conference which was rejected The 22th there was another Conference desired which served for a pretence to withdraw the Army from Corbeil which by this time was too well mann'd for the Prince to deal with whereupon he marched towards Paris The two Armies come in view of each other the Catholick Army being then come up and in sight so that the two Armies pelted each other with their Cannon Two days after the Prince came to Juvicy and the next to Saussaye there the motion for a Conference was again renewed and the Queen was to come as far as Port Angel for that purpose But the Prince either not being well or fearing some Treachery excused himself and sent Coligni to treat with Montmorancy his Uncle Montmorancy on the other side to dissipate the Prince's Jealousie crossed the Seyne and came to him From thence the Prince marched on towards Paris and three days after Coligni who led the Vangard attack'd the Suburbs of St. Victor which caused a grievous Consternation in Paris so that if there had been then no Garison in the City the Inhabitants would have opened their Gates and fled for their Lives and Jacques Gillis President of the Parliament at Paris a violent Persecutor of the Protestants died for fear they were come to take Revenge on him for the Blood he had shed and he was succeeded by Christopher de Thou a person of great moderation and integrity and a lover of his Country but addicted to none of the Factions that embroiled France who was promoted by the Queen The Prince's Army consisted then in 8000 Foot 5000 Horse and 7 Cannons The 2d of December the Queen attended by the Cardinal of Bourbon the Prince of Roche sur Yon Montmorancy and his Son and the Seigneur de Gonnor met the Prince Coligni Genly Gramont and Esternay at a Conference A Treaty with the Queen and the Terms proposed by the Prince of Conde The Prince demanded that the Protestants might freely meet wherever they desired it and not elsewhere That then the English and other Strangers should depart the Nation and the Cities should be restored into their former State. That no person should be called to account for any thing done during the War. That there should be a free General Council held if it might be had within six Months and if not then a National Council of France The Queen as to the first excepted Paris Lyons the Cities on the Fronteers all those that had Parliaments and all that had no Meetings since the Edict of January the Churches to be restored and no Exercises in them but what was according to the ancient form and Conde desired they might meet in the Suburbs of the Fronteer Cities The Conference was continued four days and then ended without any Agreement the Protestants by that time being resolved to try the Fortune of a Battel The 10th of December the Prince withdrew the Army from Paris The Prince marcheth towards Normandy to meet the English Succours and retreated to Paloyseau the next day he marched to Limoux and the third to Valenza a place of Pleasure the fourth to St. Arnoul the Inhabitants of which out of fear shut their Gates whereupon it was taken and plundered and the Priest severely treated and here the Army stayed two days The King's Army for so now it was called marched to Estamps and finding it Garison'd by the Princes Forces they left it and marched to Chartres which was a stronger place and had a greater Garison The Prince of Conde was enraged to be thus deluded by a Sham-Treaty and had some Thoughts to have return'd to Paris which was wisely prevented by Coligni who advised him to march towards Normandy and joyn with the English at Havre de Grace who had a good Body of Foot which they wanted most of all and where they expected Money from England which tho' it was very difficult yet the Germans beginning to be mutinous for their Pay it was resolved upon The 15th of December he marched to * Ablium Ably and the next day to Gallardon which refusing him entrance was taken and the Inhabitants ill used from hence he went to Mintenon where he crossed the Seyne and went to Aulnay Here the King's Army overtook them and pass'd the Eure before him unperceived The King's Army overtake the Prince there was in it 16000 Foot and 2000 Horse which lay encamped between the Villages of L'Espine and Blainville and the Horse being fewer than those with the Prince was divided into four Squadrons and placed between the Foot which were covered by these two Villages on both sides and on the right hand with Wagons too but the Duke of Guise was with a Party of Horse on the left Wing The Battel of Dreux Andelot had that day a fit of his Tertian Ague yet he took his Horse and went to view the King's Army and finding it very dangerous to attack them in that Post advised they should turn toward Treon but Montmorancy ordered the Cannon to play just as they were going to march that way which caused some disorder in the first Troops of Conde's Army Whereupon he fell in upon the Swiss whereas he ought to have charged the opposite Horse and by this means besides he exposed his own Foot naked to the Van-Guard of the Enemy which passed by untouched however the Swiss were broken into and dispersed and the German Horse made a great Slaughter of them Danville eldest Son to Montmorancy came thereupon with three Troops to their Relief in which Action Gabriel Montmorancy his Brother was slain Rochefoucault fell upon the next Squadron of Swiss but was repulsed by their Pikes with loss At the same time Coligni fell upon Montmorancy who was in the Rere ☞ Montmorancy taken Prisoner and broke it all in pieces Montmorancy had his Horse slain under him and as he mounted another was wounded in the Face and taken by one R. Sewart
Beauvais was also taken but died soon after of his Wounds And Anglure de Givry and the Duke de Aumale were beaten down and trod to Death by the Horse The Regiment of Bretagne was also dispersed so that there was only one Squadron of Swiss entire which repelled the Germans and there were some French Horse which make a Front but at length they were charged in the Rere by de Mouy but then he also was charged by Biron with three Troops in the Flank and soon after taken his Horse being slain The Van-Guard in which the Duke of Guise stood was all this while entire he was in the Army as a private Gentleman and had no Command because he would not fight under Montmorancy At his Advice St. Andre fell then upon the Prince of Conde when all his Forces were weary and dispersed and first broke the Prince's Foot which were very much slaughtered by the Spaniards that followed the Gascongners and Germans who first broke in upon them After this Guise Damville St. Andre by the advice of the Duke of Guise turn the Fortune of the day and gains the Victory on the King's side The Prince of Conde taken Prisoner St. Andre slain by Coligm and St. Andre all united with the rest of the King's Horse fell upon the Prince's Horse which being disordered by three Field-pieces fired upon them was soon broken Andelot doing all that was possible to rally the Germans but it proving impossible he rode to Teron and at last escaped Conde and Coligni got together 200 Horse but could not persuade the Germans to return to the Charge they pretending their Pistols were lost They also disordered and discouraged the French Horse so that the Prince of Conde was forced to flee he had received a wound in the Hand and his Horse was shot in the Thigh and fell and Danville coming up as he was remounting he was taken Prisoner Soon after this Montmorancy was in vain endeavoured to be recovered In the interim Coligni rallying 300 Armed Horse and 1000 Germans charged St. Andre and the Duke of Guise with greater Fury than they had shewed in the first In this Rencounter St. Andre was slain by one Baubigny whom he had injured after he was taken and carried off He was a Person of great Natural Parts but very lewd and wicked tho' a Man of Courage under Henry the Second he had been in good Esteem and was now employed on the account of his Abilities 'till the Divine Vengeance overtook him for his Crimes and cut him off by the Hand of one he least feared of all the World which may give great Men a good hint The Duke of Guise force Coligni to Reâ—â—â—â— not to do Injuries on presumption of their Power but to revere Fortune The King's Army was again declining when the Duke of Guise came up with a Party of Foot and charging Coligni in the Flank he retreated because not supported with equal Numbers but with a soft pace and carrying off two Pieces of Cannon The Duke of Guise followed him a while but Night coming on he was forced to give over the Pursuit Coligni went to Neufville and Guise returned to the Camp. The fight lasted four hours It was observed there was no Forlorn Hope tho' the Armies faced each other an hour before the Fight began That both the Generals were taken and the Victory changed several times between them and was at last doubtful to whom it belonged Coligni would have sought the next day Coligni would have persuaded the Germans to fight the next day which had certainly ruined the King's Army if they would have done it but they would not The Duke of Nevers was mortally wounded by a Servant of his own by accident There was about 8000 slain of which 3000 were Protestants 1500 Germans were taken by the Duke of Guise and sent home without Arms. Montmorancy was hurried to Orleans and Conde was kindly treated by the Duke of Guise who was now become General in the King's Army That Night they two lay together in one Bed as well as supped at one Table to both their great Commendations The next day the Duke of Guise sent an account of what had happen'd to the Queen to Paris who by this time was sufficiently afraid of his prevailing Fortune tho' she had no great Good-will for the Prince of Conde but then she rarely dissembled her Thoughts and ordered publick Thanks to be given to God for the Victory and sent the Duke of Guise a Commission to be General of the King's Forces The day after the Fight Coligni General of the Protestants Coligni drew up the remainder of the Protestant Army in Battel array and marching towards the Enemy that he might obscure the Fame of the overthrow and recollect such as had escaped He lodged that Night at Gailard and the next at Aunea a Castle in Beause where he was by common Consent made General during the absence of the Prince of Conde From thence he marched to Puiset and so to Patey where he stayed two days and then designed to surprise some Forces he heard were sent to Blois he followed them as far as Freteval in Vendosme and arrived at Baugy with a design to repair the Bridge and disperse his Forces into Winter Quarters in Sologne and Berry whither he heard the Duke of Guise intended to send his that they might be the nearer to besiege Orleans in the beginning of the Year Tho' there are some Particulars relating to the Year 1562 which I shall hereafter return to yet I think it the best way to carry on the Thread of the French Affairs to the end of the War here and then return back to the other The Duke of Guise in the beginning of January year 1563 thought fit to solicit Frederick Rolshouse a Subject of the Landtgrave of Hesse who said He was sent by his Master an old Friend and Allie of the Crown of France to deliver the King from the Restraint he was put under by the Enemies of his Government and to assist the faithful Defenders of the French Interest Thereupon the 22th of January the Queen went to Bloise where she published a Declaration in the King's Name and her own to assure the Landtgrave That all those Reports which had been spread abroad of the Restraint of her and her Son were false and set on foot by the Protestants only as a colour of their Sedition that they might arm and raise Forces in Germany and therefore she hoped that when he and the rest of the German Princes should understand the truth of this they would not aid or abet the Rebels of France against their lawful Prince contrary to the Oaths given by their Ancestors This Declaration was signed for the greater confirmation by Alexander the King 's youngest Brother Henry Prince of Navar Charles Cardinal of Bourbon Lewis de Bourbon Duke de Monpensier and Charles de Bourbon Prince de Roche-sur-Yon Soon after the
before was so much hated began by degrees to grow up and get Strength with the tacit Consent of its greatest Enemies Thus ended the Assembly of the Princes and Notable Men of France About this time Ferrieres Maligni one of the Conspirators of Amboise escaping out of Prison had a Design to surprize Lyons and had formed so great a Party in the Town as might have done it but remitting the execution of his Project to a more convenient time by order of the King of Navarr the thing was discovered and many of his Partizans taken but yet such was the constancy of the Party that though many were tortured yet nothing could be found out to prove the King of Navarr or Prince of Conde concerned in this Attempt Yet were they invited to Court by the King to purge themselves of the Suspicion upon a Promise they should receive no Injury But this they wisely refused as not Reasonable This and several other such alarms procured an Edict That no Prince or other person of what condition soever should provide Money Soldiers Arms or Horses and if any Person did otherwise it should be taken for High-Treason The Cardinal of Bourbon was also imployed to bring the Princes of his Family to Court by passing his Faith to them That nothing should be done against them The three Estates in the interim meeting at Meaux were from thence adjourned to Orleans and the Marshal de Thermes was sent to Poictiers with two hundred Horse to watch the Motions of the King of Navar if he came to the Assembly The Protestants in France having obtained a little respite from the Pressures of the Persecution by the late Edicts The Protestants of France increase wonderfully during the Peace In some places they grow insolent encreased and there were great Assemblies of them in all Parts of the Kingdom especially in Dauphine At Valence which was an University much celebrated for the Study of the Law the fear of the Laws being now removed there succeeded in its stead a lawless Boldness and Petulance so that some of the Young Students forcibly seized the Franciscan's Church for the holding their Assemblies At Montelimard they had also their Publick Sermons and at Romans And which was yet more insufferable they met armed and were very injurious and rude to the Roman Catholick Which as to Valence was soon after revenged with equal Cruelty and perfidy by one Maugiron who was sent for that purpose by the Duke of Guise At Romans about sixty were taken and committed to Prison And at Montelimard the King's Faith was by Maugiron pawned and forfeited again and the Town taken and plundered The number of the Protestants encreased very greatly also in Bretagne and Normandy and they had their Publick Sermons in many Cities in those Provinces which were managed with greater Modesty than those in Dauphine Though the Guises had given many Testimonies of their small regard to their Faith The King of Navarâ— and Prince of Conde promise to come to the Assembly of the States The Archbishop of Vienne dies yet the King of Navarr and Prince of Conde had now passed their Promise to the Cardinal of Bourbon That they would present themselves in the next Convention of the States and that Cardinal had given the King Assurance of it being then at Paris and the King of Navarr was already on the Road. The Archbishop of Vienne falling sick about this time by a Letter signified to the Dutchess of Monpensier his great Confident That he certainly knew That if the King of Navarr and the Prince of Conde came to Court they would be committed to Prison and that Bourbon would not be able to make good his Promise to them who was only imployed to deceive his Brothers That Montmorancy was laid at too and one la Sague a Villain had been examined against him and had confessed a Treaty with the Queen of England That so soon as the War in Scotland was ended the Soldiers would be imployed in France Soon after this venerable Prelate died of Grief and Vexation He was a learned and an honest Man not infected with the Leprosie of Flattery year 1560 and therefore not very grateful to the Court And being extremely desirous of a Reformation was suspected to be a Lutheran The eighteenth of October the King entred Orleans The States meet at Orleans attended by a terrible Guard of Soldiers which made that City more like a Garrison than the seat of an Assembly of the States Navarr arrived the thirtieth of the same Month with a small Retinue and unarmed and quickly found how little the Guises did regard their Faith or Promise by the little Respect was shewn to him and his Brother at his Entry and in their first appearance before the King Navarr and Conde secured And Conde was presently committed to Prison declaiming against the breach of Faith made by the King and the Guises and the Credulity of his Brother the Cardinal of Bourbon which had betrayed the whole Family into their Enemies Hands The King of Navarr seemed to have more Liberty but was under the restraint of a Guard deprived of the Attendance of his own Servants and watched by Men who had order to observe his Looks and Motions and his Secretary and all his Letters were seized The thirteenth of November the Prince of Conde was examined by the Chancellor and others in Prison Who told them It belonged not to them to try or examine the Princes of the Blood but to the Parliament of Paris and the Peers of France and the whole Body of the States Bourdin the Attorney General at last told him That if he declined the Judgment of these Delegates he should be taken for convict and Sentence accordingly pronounced against him as guilty of High Treason and the Witness should be examined elsewhere Perceiving by this the head-longhast of the Guises his Lady delivered a Petition to the King for learned Council which was granted him But his Servants were taken from him and he was denied a Conference with his Brother of Navarr and the Cardinal though he desired some of the Kings Ministers might be present These Hardships created him much Compassion in the Minds of Men and they thought he was hardly used which made his Enemies yet more hated They on the other hand despised the Thoughts of Men and bent all their Thoughts how they might destroy the King of Navarr for they thought they were secure of Conde Among other ways they intended to have assassinated him in the King's Chamber of which an account was given him by some of Guise his Creatures Upon which he resolved to draw his Sword and dye fighting if he were thus attacked and desired an old Friend to take care to preserve his Bloody Cloaths and shew them to his Son. When he had thus done he went unsent for into the King's Chamber and taking the King by the Hand so by his Looks prevailed upon him that
his Heart failed him and he either repented or durst not proceed in this Design Queen Catharine was already weary of the Insolence of the Guises and desirous to save the House of Bourbon as a Curb upon them to this purpose she gave order to the Chancellor to put what Rubs he could in their way The Guises in the mean time hastned the Tryal of Conde as much as was possible esteeming all Delays dangerous to them The sixteenth of November the King being abroad to hunt Francis II dies was taken extream ill which caused Montmorency to make the more haste to Court. The twenty sixth of that Month the Kings Disease grew very great and hopeless This turned the Rage and Fury of the Guises into Fear and Consternation when they considered what they should lose in the Death of that Prince Thereupon they began to work upon Queen Catharine by other Methods to flatter and crouch to her and to represent the King of Navarr and Prince of Conde as exasperated to that height by their late Sufferings that without doubt they would seek her Ruine but they for their Parts would stand by her and serve her with great Fidelity They desired therefore Navarr might be committed as well as his Brother had been before the King dyed The Chancellor prevented this by shewing in a grave Oration That it would certainly involve France in a Civil War. The fifth of December the King dyed having lived seventeen years and ten Months and reigned one Year five Months and twenty Days His Youth and the shortness of his Reign makes it uncertain whether he ought to be ranged with the Good or Bad Princes and the more because not he but the Guises governed This Accident changed the state of things and saved the Life of Conde Charles IX succeeds or rather the House of Bourbon Charles IX his Brother succeeded him and Navarr of a Prisoner became the second Person in that Kingdom Queen Catharine having adjusted all things with him before the late King died She sent Letters also to Montmorency who was not yet arrived at Orleans to hasten his coming to the new King because she was desirous to use his Counsel and Advice When he came to Orleans he asked the Centinels By whose Orders they were placed there and for what End and commanded them to be gone or he would hang them The Guards presently disappeared and then it was visible that the Guises and not the King needed them Though Conde was freed the same moment the King died The Prince of Conde fre'd yet he would not go out of his Prison till he knew his Accusers and Prosecutors to which the Guises replyed It was by the late King's Order and would explain the Mystery no further About twelve Days after he went to the Castle of Hane in Picardy and there attended the Orders of the new King. Francis the Second was buried with small State and less Expence to the great hatred of the Guises who in the mean time were very busie to revive the Differences between Queen Catharine and the King of Navarr who wisely prevented their Design by offering the first Place to the Queen and reserving the second to himself as President of the Kingdom This passed into a Decree the twenty first of December The Protestant Religion The Protestant Religion breaks out in the Netherlands which had got such footing in France that it seemed not possible to root it out without the Ruine of that Kingdom began this Year to shew it self more openly in Flanders and the Netherlands the Nobility espousing it in great numbers together with the rest of the States Nor could Margaret their Governess under King Philip obtain the continuance of the Taxes for the maintenance of the Spanish Forces Nor would they of Zealand acquiesce tho the Pay was sent from other Places till these Troops were sent into Spain Nor would they grant any Supplies to be disposed of by the Governess but reserved that to themselves that the Soldiers in the Frontier Towns might be certainly and regularly paid This was vigorously opposed by the new Bishops instituted by Paul IV as tending to the remitting the Reins of the Ecclesiastical Government as well as the Civil Bartholomeo Caranza The Archbishop of Toledo suspected to be a Lutheran Archbishop of Toledo in Spain was also suspected to incline to the Protestant Religion and on that account was imprisoned by the Inquisition and his Revenues were brought into the King's Treasure By an Appeal to Rome he saved his Life but was never able to recover his See again but died many Years after at Rome in a Private State. Thuanus saith He knew him and that his Learning Integrity and the Holiness of his Conversation was such as made him worthy of that Dignity The great Progress of the Protestant Religion in all Places A General Council desired by many and opposed by the Pope made all Good Men saith Thuanus desire that the General Council which had been intermitted might be reassumed and carried on but Pope Pius IV had the same Fears of it his Predecessors had lest his own Power should be abated And therefore though he judged this the only means to root out Heresies and very necessary yet he delayed it and unless he were compelled by Force or some present Danger it was apparent he would never admit it But having resolved on the other side right or wrong by Force or Fraud to accomplish his own Desires and hoping to reap great Advantages from the Ruine of the Caraffa's though he had been much assisted by them in the obtaining of the Papacy he applied himself to this with great Application and Industry But prosecutes the Caraffa's to ruine and under the Mask of Friendship And having laid his Plot he committed Charles Caraffa the Cardinal and his Kinsman the Cardinal of Naples to the Castle of S. Angelo But Anthony Marquess de Monte Bello being then not at Rome though cited also escaped the Danger and fled for his Life Though daily Accounts came to Rome of the Tumults and Disorders of France the Pope took no notice of them Though the Duke of Florence who was great with him for he pretended to be descended of that Family did very much urge his Holiness to consider the State of Affairs in France and Scotland And told him It was Uncharitable to see so many thousands of Souls Lost and Impolitick to necessitate Princes by the despair of a General Council to betake themselves to National Synods This was much inforced by the Noise the Speech of the Chancellor of France had made in the late Assembly which was then very hot in Italy He had among other things assured the French Clergy That if the Pope would not hold a General there should very speedily be a National Council assembled in France and had exhorted all the Bishops to prepare themselves for it To this the Pope answered with great anxiety seeking
of Lithuania This Archbishoprick was founded in the year 1215 by the procurement of the Knights of the Teutonick Order the City being then and a long time after the Seat of the Master of it who divided the Sovereignty and Administration of Justice with the Archbishop After this short Digression which the Reader is desired to Pardon I shall now return to the prosecution of the French Affairs The new Friendship between Montmorency and the Guises was a very frightful thing to the Queen Regent The Queen suspects the designs of the Nobility who sought all the way she could possible to divide their Affections for the preserving her own Authority and therefore she was very Anxiously inquisitive to find whether this new Kindness between two such Ancient Enemies tended The Prince of Conde in the mean time was declared Innocent by the Parliament of Paris the Thirteenth of June and his Discharge Recorded The Differences in Religion not only disquieted the Court The Differences of Religion occasion Tumults but the Provinces also the two Parties reproaching each other with the Names of Papist and Huguenot There were frequent Tumults raised also by the Roman Catholicks to shew that Coligni was out when he said The Protestant Religion might be divulged throughout all the Provinces without any Disturbance And at Amiens and Pont-Oise things came to a Sedition the Catholick Artificers beginning the Quarrel and falling upon some of the Houses of some of the Protestants and they slew one Hadrian Fourre a Priest because he was reported to savour the Reformation and afterwards burnt his Body publickly for which only two were hanged An Edict to restrain them This necessitated the Council to forbid all Reviling Expressions and all Tumults on the Accounts of Religion And by it all that had been banished for Religion in the Reign of Francis II. were invited to return and promised they should enjoy their Goods and Estates if they would live like good Catholicks for the future or otherwise might sell them and retire elsewhere which was after opposed by the Parliament at Paris but yet many returned on that account and many that were in Prison were discharged so that the Protestant Party appeared numerous The Cardinal of Lorrain was Alarm'd at this and represented to the King and Queen That the whole Kingdom was fill'd with Conventicles That the meaner sort ran to the Sermons out of curiosity and were easily corrupted That the Ancient Ceremonies were little frequented or regarded and that they were already derided and scorn'd by many That great numbers every day forsook the Church and went over to the Protestants The Edict of July So he would needs have had a new Edict forthwith published to prevent these Inconveniences This being Debated in the Council in the Month of July there was another Edict published That all should live peaceably and without any fury each to other or reproaching one the other That there be no Listing or Inrolling Men on either side That the Preachers should use no Seditious or Turbulent Expressions upon pain of Death and the Presidents of the Provinces should determine of these Affairs and execute the Edict That no Sermons should be frequented by Men Armed or Unarmed in publick or in private nor any Sacraments Administred but according to the Rites of the Church of Rome And That if any Man was Convicted of Herefie and delivered to the Secular Power he should only be Banished and this was to stand till a General or a National Council should determine otherwise This was called the Edict of July The Cardinal of Lorrain had so good an opinion of his own Abilities The Carelinal of Lorrain procures the Conference of Poissy that he was fondly perswaded he could confute all the Doctrines of the Protestants out of the Fathers and thereby acquire a great Reputation to himself if he could procure a Conference with their Pastors It was therefore resolved that there should be a Meeting for that purpose at Poissy near St. Germain the Tenth of August and that Pasports should be granted to their Ministers which were to come thither on that account All of both sides being invited thither at the same time The Queen Regent was very much for this Disputation but the greatest part of the Roman Catholicks were against it as thinking it a dangerous thing to suffer the Doctrine which had hitherto been received to be brought under debate and the Religion of their Ancestors to be disputed In the Interim Mary Queen of the Scots left France Mary Queen of Scotland leaves France and return'd into Scotland the Cardinal of Lorrain attending her as far as Calais There was also a Theatrical Reconciliation between the Prince of Conde and the Duke of Guise by the Order of the King the later protesting That he had no hand in the Imprisonment of the Prince and the Prince telling Guise That the Adviser and Procurer of his Commitment was a Wicked Man and a Villain To which Guise Answered That he believed so too but was not concern'd in it After which by the King's Command they embraced each other as Kinsmen and Friends and promised a firm and sincere Friendship each to other and there was great Rejoycing in the Court. The Assembly of the States was Prorogued last year till May of this and then was on the account of the great Affairs prorogued to August and Appointed to be opened at Pont-Oyse In this Assembly The Three Estates of France Assembled at Pont-Oyse the Agreement between the Queen Regent and the King of Navar was Confirm'd by the three Estates which was very difficultly obtain'd by the later This Assembly was opened at St. Germain where James Bretagne d'Autum who spoke for the Commons declaiming sharply against the Ignorance of the Priests and the Corrupt Manners and Depraved Discipline of the Clergy so that they were unfit to Lead or Instruct the People but rather disgusted and displeased them doing all things for Hire and nothing as their Duty enslaving themselves to Pleasures and wallowing in Luxury and Idleness To this he assigned the Calamities which at present oppress'd France He therefore moved the King to take away all their Jurisdiction that he should employ their over-great Riches to Pious Uses and call a National Council which was the only present and certain Cure of those Evils That free Pasports should be given to all that would come to it and that the King or some of the Princes of the Blood should preside in it whilst Business of Religion was debated That the late Decree against Conventicles should be no prejudice to those of the Reformed Religion who rejected the Ceremonies of the Church of Rome nor any Prescription as to length of time which could not make what in it self was false true and the Business of Religion was to be quietly and friendly debated according to the Word of God and not with the Sword and Reproaches He that spoke for the
it ought and would prove destructive to the Kingdome of France and having brought over Navar to their Party tho' they foresaw they should meet with great and almost insuperable Difficulties yet they thought they should at last gain their Ends. The Duke of Guise went therefore to his Country House and his Brother Charles the Cardinal soon after followed him thither So they both went to Zaberen a Town belonging to the Bishop of Strasburg where Christopher Duke of Wirtemberg met him on pretence he came to visit a Lady that was his Kinswoman bringing with him John Brent and James Andrea two eager defenders of the Augustane Confession against the Zuinglians whose Doctrine was generally followed by the Protestants in France here they conferred together three days The Cardinal of Lorrain pretended to have a great affection for the Duke of Wirtemberg and the rest of the German Princes he said also That since the Conference of Poissi he had a good opinion of the Augustane Confession and that he had often persuaded the Protestants to subscribe it and they had ever refused it because they did not so much desire the Reformation of Religion and of the Church Discipline as the spreading lewd and monstrous Opinions which tended to the filling France and Germany with new Tumults That the King of Denmark wisely foresaw this who congratulating by his Ambassador the attempt to reform the Church expressed at the same time his fear that they should embrace the Zuinglian and Geneva Confession instead of the Augustane and thereupon carefully advised the King of Navar to consider this That the Duke of Wirtemberg and the other Princes of Germany ought to fear the same thing if they desired the Peace of Germany or that of the Church For that as Germany and France were near each other so their Interests were so interwoven that the Good or Evil would be common to them That as they were derived from one of the Illustrious Families of Germany and enjoyed one of the principal Stations in France so they had left that Kingdom to confer with him the Duke of Wirtemburg and to settle by mutual Consent what might be useful and salutary to both these States and that they might conjointly oppose the Endeavours of the Zuinglians and their Doctrine They pretended they did not do this with intention to hinder the Reformation of Religion and the Worship of God For that they desired above all things but that they sought to prevent that Tempest which these Sectaries were raising both in France and Germany And therefore they desired the Duke to interpose his Authority with the Princes of Germany and to induce them to have a good Opinion of their Designs The Duke of Wirtemburg having consulted with Brent and Andrea his two Divines who were very desirous the Helvetian Confession should not be entertained in France commended the Cardinals affections towards himself and the Empire and said he approved of his Counsel for the hindering the Reception of that Confession in France which without doubt would cause great Commotions But then he said this was upon condition that the Reformation should be carried on in France in the mean time and that no Severities or Proscriptions should be employed against those who had made defection from the See of Rome The Cardinal was thought to have said this to the intent to dispose the German Protestant Princes to send Supplies against the French Protestants when it should come to a War or at least to make them less apt to succour the Prince of Condé and the Protestants Thus that Conference ended The Duke of Guise The Duke of Guise called to Court by the King of Navar The Massacre of Vassy happen'd accidentally in that â—ourny and the Cardinal returned to Joinville in Champaigne where soon after he received a Letter from the King of Navar that he should come to Court as fast as was possible whither he forthwith went. In the Borders of Champaigne there is a Town called Vassy which has high Walls and is the Capital of a Prefecture The Protestants had a Meeting-place in this Town able to contain twelve Hundred persons in which at times they preached and administred Sacraments after their way because they had as yet no setled Minister but procured one from Troyes The Bishop of which place was a favourer of them But now there was one Leonard Morel come from Geneva to settle there which was ill taken by Claude de Sainctes the Governour of the Town and by the Prior Curate and Neighbours who had frequently complained of it to Jerome de Burgos Bishop of Chaalon sur Marne in Champaigne under whom the place was The year before the Bishop came thither and had a disorderly Dispute with the Minister about imposition of Hands managed by one of his Divines which he brought with him before the People Governour and Bishop which had no good effect Antonia de Bourbon the Mother of the Guises a zealous Roman Catholick was also much offended with the nearness of this place and desired very much to be rid of it and she reproached her Son for his over-great patience in a thing wherein the Glory of God her own Honour and the Religion of his Ancestors was concerned Hereupon the first of March he went to Vassy with Lewis the Cardinal his Brother Du Brossay and his Son and a great Retinue designing rather to suppress and dissipate this Conventicle by his Presence than to offer Violence to any private person As he went he heard a Bell ring at an unusual time and asking the reason of it was told It was to call the Protestants to their Meeting Hereupon his Foot-men began to make a Noise as if there had been a Military Enterprize but the Duke went on and entred Vassy where there were 60 Horse ready to receive him and he was to dine that day at Sclaron The Curate and Prior were very earnest with him to go by the Conventicle but whilst he delayed them and seemed unwilling to do it the meaner part of his Attendants ran thither and began to call the Protestants who were there assembled Dogs and Rebels to God and the King. The Protestants also return'd their reproaches upon them and so at last they fell from words to flinging stones after which those that were on Horseback lighted and broke into the place where the Meeting was which was a Granary and was for some time defended by those within but they at last prevailing drew their Swords and began to stab and wound the Protestants A great Cry arising Guise was forced to go thither to put a stop to the Massacre but he by Accident receiving a small Wound this so inraged his Retinue that he could not restrain them in this Tumult about 60 persons were kill'd and 200 wounded amongst which last was Morell who was sent Prisoner to Disier Though this Tumult happened against his will and contrary to his expectation yet the Duke of Guise to excuse
Conde comes up towards Fontain-bleau Conde was coming to Court as the Queen had ordered him and was at Pont Sainct Clou within two Miles of Fontain-bleau which when the Queen heard all things were put into Confusion as if a Siege had been expected the Populace running into disorder and the Magistrates conniving at it Nor was the disorder less in the Court. The Queen fearing not without cause that some mischief would ensue if Conde came up the Confederates being in possession of the King and resolving to carry him and the Queen to Paris The Queen would gladly have stood Neuter but the Confederates told her plainly they knew Conde was come to get the King into his Power The Tyiumvirate seize the King. and they were resolved to carry him to Paris and if she pleased she might follow him and so they carried him to Melun not giving her any time to consider of it The Queen followed and took such Lodgings as they assigned her in the Castle Here she would have made her Escape with the King if the Jealousie of the Confederates had not prevented it They knowing this would give a great Reputation to the Party that could gain it and make the opposite Party look like Rebels Next Morning the Queen fell to flatter the Confederates to get them to go back to Fontainbleau and that she might speak with Conde But the Duke of Guise disappointed all her Projects and carried the King and his Brother to the Castle de Vincennes within two Miles of Paris the King weeping as if he had been carried into Captivity by force The next Morning Montmorancy entred Paris pull'd up the Seats and Pulpit of the Protestant Meeting-House near Port St. Jean in the Suburbs and burnt them publickly the people rejoycing greatly at it And in the Afternoon did the same thing without Port de St. Antoine to another such House but here the Fire took the next Houses which abated the Joy though there was at last too much bestowed on so ridiculous an Enterprize Upon this many good Men were injured by the Rabble in the Streets as being suspected in the Point of Religion yet it came not to Blood. The next day after Montmerancy appears very zealous against the Protestants at Paris the King and the Queen were brought up to the Louvre the Confederates pretending they were not safe elsewhere And here they began to talk of Declaring a War against the Prince of Conde which was opposed by the Chancellor whose Judgment was slighted by Montmorancy because he was a Gown-man But he replied That tho he was no Soldier yet he knew very well when War was fit and when not but the violence of the Confederates at last excluded him from that Consultation The Prince of Conde was coming towards the Court but hearing that the Queen out of levity or fear was joyned with the Triumvirate and was gone to Paris The Prince of Conde betrayed by the Queen into a disadvantageous War. he seeing the Enemy in possession of the King's Person concluded they had got a great Advantage over him and yet that the Die being cast it was too late to go back so he went to Orleans to meet d' Andelott and sent to Coligni the Admiral to come thither to him Innocent Tripier de Monterud was then Governour of Orleans for Charles de Bourbon Prince de la Roche-sur-Yon he in the beginning had been very favourable to the Protestants and had equally imployed them with the Catholicks in the Guard of the City but seeing the Queen was now joyned with the Confederate Catholick Lords he changed his Mind and took in more Forces by stealth that he might thereby over-power the Protestants But Andelott entering the place with a small Attendance quickly got together 300 of the Protestants Orleans surprized by the Prince of Conde and seized St. John's Gate and immediately sent to the Prince of Conde to come up so that though Mon. de Monterud endeavoured to recover this Post yet it was in vain and the Town fell into the Hands of the Prince of Conde and Monterud was forced to obtain the Prince's Leave to be gone The Seventh of April the Prince of Conde sent a Letter to all the Protestant Churches and Nobility in France Conde Justifies the War. to bring to him all the Forces and Moneys they were able to raise for the Rescuing of the King out of Captivity and the delivering him out of the Hands of some great Men who had first violated the Laws or Edicts of France and then seizing the Person of the King by force Abused his Authority to the breaking the Peace of that Kingdom The next day he put out a Manifesto wherein he largely unfolded the Truth that the bottom of their Design was to deprive the Protestants of France of that Liberty which had been granted them by the King's Edict The Catholicks begin the War to deprive the Protestants of the Liberty granted them by the Edict of January which he proved amongst other things by the Massacre of Vassy which he said was design'd for a Signal to the whole Nation to do the like He call'd God to Witness his only Intentions were to restore the King and his Brothers and the Queen and the Council to their Liberty to preserve the Veneration due to the Royal Edicts and especially that solemn Edict of January last and to prevent the Moneys given by the States in the last Assembly for the payment of the Debts of the Crown from being mispent or turned to other uses for as for him and his they would manage this War at their own Charges He desired that whilest the King was in their Power no Credit should be given to any Edict Warrant or Commission though under the great Seal or Signed by the King. As for his Brother the King of Navar he should pay him always the Respect that was due to his Character and Place but he desired the Duke of Guise and his Brothers and Montmorancy should lay down their Arms restore the King and his Council to their liberty and suffer the Edict of January to continue in force till the King were of Age and then he would lay down his Arms and he and his would return to their own homes If they refused these just and equal Conditions and attempted any thing with force against him he said he would not bear it but would rescue the King and his People from their violence and they should answer for all the Calamities and Miseries which should follow The Prince of Conde and the Ministers write to the Princes of Germany He wrote two days after this to the Princes of Germany and ordered the Ministers to do so too that the greater Credit might be given to his to the same purpose And in the Conclusion desired they would not be wanting to the King Queen and Kingdom at a time of so much need nor suffer themselves to be prejudiced by
the false pretences of his Enemies but rather would support and strengthen him in the War which he had engaged in for the Glory of God and the Safety of the King and Kingdom The 11th of April he caused the League which the Protestants had entred into to be printed also which was to last only till the King should be of full Age to undertake the Government of his Kingdom in his own Name and at the same time he caused that entred into by the Triumvirate to be printed which they pretended was Confirm'd by the Authority of the Council of Trent which was about that time opened The same Seventh day of April The King and Queen affirm they were at Liberty in their Declaration the King and Queen put out a Declaration at Paris wherein they affirmed that the report of their Captivity was false and scandalously feigned by the Prince of Conde for a colour to his Seditious Practises And that they came willingly and not by force to Paris that they might consult of the means of settling this Commotion The Third day after another Paper was Published by the Queen Navar Bourbon the Cardinal and Duke of Guise and Mentmorancy by the Advice of Aumale the Chancellor St. Andre Brisac and Montmorancy the Younger for the Confirming the Edict of January the Pardon of all past offences and forbidding the troubling or endangering any Man on the account of Religion And giving liberty to the Protestants to meet and Preach any where except in Paris and the Suburbs thereof At the same time an Envoy was dispatched to the Elector Palatine and the rest of the Princes of Germany to consult them about the Council of Trent About the same time there was a Barbarous Massacre made of the Protestants at Sens by the Procurement of Hemar President of Sens and as it was believed not without the knowledge of the Cardinal of Guise The Massacre of Sens. who was Archbishop of that See who was thereupon said to have had a hand also in that of Vassy There was a report spread in the City that the Protestants had a design to surprize the City and deface the Images whereupon the Rabble rose and drowned in the River and Slew in all 100 People of all Ages and Sexes Plundered and pull'd down their Houses and rooted up their Vines of which Conde made a grievous Complaint to the Queen in a Letter of the 19th of April But there being many Complaints of the like nature brought from other parts of the Nation against the Protestants the thing was neglected And Davila takes no notice of it About the same time many Cities throughout the Kingdom of France were surprized by the Protestants which was in many places not possible to be done without Slaughter and the Profanation of the Churches though their Captains at first carried themselves as moderately as they could The Prince of Conde understanding by a Letter he received from the Elector Palatin The Princes of Germany much divided about the true cause of this French War. That the Princes of Germany were much divided about the Causes of this War and Especially the Catholicks He wrote a Letter to Ferdinand the Emperor the 20th of April to inform him of the Causes of these Tumults asserting the King and Queen were carried away against their wills and that he had been forced to betake himself to Arms to restore them to their former Liberty and therefore he beseeched the Emperour to favour him as an Asserter of the Royal Interest The 15th of April Roan taken very easily by the Protestants Roan was taken by the Protestants almost without any Tumult or Resistance And when Henry Robert de la Mark Duke de Bouillon Governour of Normandy was sent thither by the King of Navar to Command them in the King's Name to lay down their Arms they slighted his Authority and gave Reasons for what they had done alledging amongst others the Attempts upon the Protestants at Amiens and Abbeville which they said were sufficient to terrifie the most Peaceable from laying down their Arms but then they were willing to deliver the Keys of the City to him and to keep it for his use and in his Name He leaving the City thereupon they took St. Catherine's a Monastery without the City and put a Garison into it A Tumult arising the next Night some of the Catholicks were slain and others put into Prison So from the Third of May till the City was re-taken the Exercise of the Romish Religion was totally omitted And after that Pont del ' Arche and Caudebec Soon after they took Pont de l' Arche which being taken by the Roman Catholicks the Protestants took Caudebec beneath Roan and when they might have demolished it they endeavoured to keep it but it was soon after re-taken by the Roman Catholicks and so the City was restrain'd on both sides Upon this 300 Horse and 1500 Foot were sent against them which for some time had the better of the Citizens Diepe The Protestants took Diepe the 21th of April without any Resistance and pull'd down the Images and Altars in the Churches The 21th of June Aumale left Roan and Besieged Diepe In the County of Calais the Protestants were the stronger Caen and Bayeux Caen Bayeux were also taken and Reform'd by the Protestants Man 's was taken by the Protestants the Third of April without Resistance Man 's taken by them and in the mean time Forces were raised by both Parties the Queen in her Heart being pleased to see the Prince of Conde Espouse her Cause and desiring to abate the Pride of the Guises and therefore she was earnest to have a Treaty hoping by this means to have both the Parties at her Devotion The Prince of Conde the first of May had sent her a Letter with some Terms for an Accommodation which were That the Edict of January which had been violated by the Conspirators should be observed 2. The Injuries committed upon the Protestants severely punished by the Magistrates 3. Guise and his Brothers and Montmorancy c. who had raised this War should leave the Court and return to their several Governments till the King was of Age to undertake the Government and determine himself this Controversy And then he would lay down his Arms and retire to his home The Fourth of May it was Answered That the King would observe the Edict of January every where but at Paris That all Slaughters Spoilings and Injuries committed should be inquired into and punished but he would not send Guise Montmorancy and St. Andre from the Court because he was satisfied as to their Loyalty needed their Counsel and ought not to set any Mark of Dishonour on them But then they were willing for the sake of the Publick Peace to retire if those that were in Arms in Orleans and all over the Nation would first go home restore the Places taken by them to their former
Fight also at Dreux there was a General Pardon published to all that should return to their Allegiance to the King. The Pope fondly overjoyed with the Victory at Dreux When the Pope heard of this Victory he was strangely joyed at it conceiving this one Battel would put an end to the Power of the Protestants in France he expecting that effect from Force and Violence which the French hoped for only from a Council But however he thought himself now delivered from a great part of his Cares and made it his business to precipitate the Council tho' he knew the Germans would protest against it whom he did not at all regard and as for the King of France he thought the Joy of the Victory would give him satisfaction enough The Council was as much joyed as any body but especially the Cardinal of Lorraine for his Brother 's good Fortune in this Battel to whom all was ascribed in a Speech made there the 10th of January Coligni entering Berry led his Army to Ceel the second of January a place which the Priests of that Province had chosen to secure the Church Treasures in which now to their great damage they persuaded the Townsmen to defend it being soon taken and all that Plate melted down and the Inhabitants very severely used for their Resistance and several of them hanged the Priests escaping in the Tumult In Beausse the Duke of Guise took Estampes after which he besieged Pluviers with 800 Horse who took the Suburbs the Garison of which sallying out retired to Orleans leaving their Carriages behind them Whilst the Duke of Guise was busie in preparing Necessaries for the Siege of this great City Andelot who had undertaken the Defence of it was as intent in fortifying and storing the City with all things that were necessary There were in it 14 Companies of Germans and 4 of Townsmen and many of the Nobility all well Armed The Queen The Prince of Conde carried to Blois when she had stayed a while at Chartres went with the King to Blois as is said carrying with them the Prince of Conde under a strong Guard from whence she sent him to the Castle of Onzain a strong place in Angoumoise Coligni was in the mean time wholly intent on the appeasing of the Germans fearing they would mutiny for their Pay which he said would be sent in a short time from England so that at last he obliged them to promise they would not desert him The Duke of Guise having quitted Beausse was by this time come to Baugy where there were some Skirmishes of no great consequence between him and the Protestants Some mention was made also of a Peace the Princess of Conde proposing That her Husband and Montmorancy should be set at liberty to that end but there was nothing done in it The Sieur Boucart a Commander under Coligni was coming before Trimoville a Town upon the Loire which was under one Potin commanded it to surrender which being refused he took it by force and put the Inhabitants to the Sword amongst whom were 36 Priests From whence he went to Gien which was preserved out of his hands by three Companies of Spaniards who were sent thither for the approaching Siege of Orleans Coligni in the mean time left Gergeau and went to Orleans to consult with the other Commanders what was best to be done and there it was resolved the Germans should be sent into Normandy to be ready to receive their Pay out of England which their Commanders readily accepted Coligni went with them and Gramont undertook the defence of Orleans Andelot being sick Coligni was all the way plied with Messages from the Queen for a Peace to hinder his Journey The first of February he arrived with 4000 Horse at Trcon and took a view of the place in which the late Battel was fought from thence he went to Eureux He took soon after St. Pere de Melun a rich Monastery and finding great Riches in its Church which had been given by the Sea-men he took its Wealth and which was worse resented destroyed those Images which were most addressed to in Distresses Soon after eight English Ships came to Havre de Grace in which were five English Companies eight Cannon great quantities of Ammunition and Money whereupon he resolved to take the Castle of Caen before he went back to Orleans and the first of March raised a Battery of four Cannon against it and took it in a few days tho' the Duke of Elboeuf was Commander of it who must have been taken too but that Coligni was in hast to relieve Orleans The Duke of Guise began the Siege of Orleans the 7th of February The Siege of Orleans and attack'd the Suburb de Olivet which Andelot had ordered to be deserted but by the negligence of the Germans had like the next day to have proved the loss of the City Guise his Forces getting into it before the Germans and French could withdraw and fire the Houses many of them perished in the Crowd at the passage of the Bridge which led to the City and was then imbarassed with the Goods the Germans had heaped up there But Andelot making a sharp Sally at the Head of a Troop of Gentlemen opened the way and kept off the Enemy it 's said however 800 of the Besieged perished in this Tumult others say not half the number But yet however it was a great loss and much incommoded the City Two days after the other Suburbs were taken The 18th of February the Duke of Guise wrote to the Queen That the Siege was very forward and that in a few days he should send her the joyful News it was taken but the same day towards night as he was riding with some Officers The Duke of Guise wounded by one Poltrot he was shot in the Side by one John Poltrot near his Arm-pit This person was a Gentleman of Engoulesme and brought up as Page in the Family of Francis Boucart Baron d' Aubeterre and having in his Childhood lived in Spain could imitate that Nation to a wonder and was commonly called The Little Spaniard he had long since resolved to be the death of this great Man and had foretold it publickly and was so much the less suspected because he was thought a close dissembling Fellow Being sent by his Master to learn an Account of the Battel of Dreux he found Coligni at the Siege of Ceel who gave him Money to buy a fleet Horse after which he never returned to his Lord and this made Coligni suspected as conscious of the Design From thence he went to the Duke of Guise his Quarters and contracted an Acquaintance with his Servants and this day after a Prayer to God to direct him lying in wait Shot him as he was returning home in the Evening Poltrot fled into the next Wood and they who pursued him could not find him and when he had rode all night and quite tired his Horse
make a Speech for the three Estates 51. He opposeth the Progress of the Reformation 57. Procureth the Conference of Poissy 58. Disputes in it 60. Opposeth a National Council 64. Leaves the Court 65. Adviseth Mary Queen of Scots to leave her Jewels in France 66. Treats with the Protestant Princes of Germany 69. He goes to the Council of Trent 88. Visits the Emperor at Inspruck 90. He is ordered to defend the Peace of Orleans 91. He is gain'd over to the Pope's side 94. He goes to Rome ibid. Returns to Trent 96. M. MAns taken by the Protestants 74. Deserted 76. Mary Queen of England raiseth some Religious Houses 11. She joins with King Philip against France 14. Is advertised by him of the Designs of the French upon Calais 18. Makes an unfortunate attempt by her Fleet on France 21. She dies when there was a Parliament sitting 22. Mary Queen Regent of Scotland summoneth a Parliament 36. Breaks her Faith 37. She leaves Edinburg and goes to Dunbar 38. Reproaches the Lords of the Congregation for holding correspondence with the English 40. She is deposed 41. Her Death and Character 42. Mary Queen of Scotland Married to the Dauphine of France 19. Resolves to return into Scotland 65. Arrives there 66. Endeavoureth to restore Popery 67. Refuseth a Petition against it 99. Mary Queen of Hungary dies 36. Marriage of the Clergy why forbidden and continued so 97. Massacre at Vassy 70. Of Sens 74. Mills Walter the last Martyr in Scotland 24. Melancthon Philip dies 50. Minart Anthony a bloody Persecutor 30 31. He is shot dead in the Streets 34. Popish Misrepresentations of the Protestants in France 16 33 34. Montmorancy Constable of France averse to the Spanish War 14. Taken Prisoner in the Battel of St. Quintin 15. Discharged and laboureth for a Peace 22. Designed for ruin by the Guises 46. Procures the laying aside the use of the Arms of England 39. Entereth Orleans 48. He is set against the Reformation and the King of Navar by the Queen 56. Taken in the Battel of Dreux 80. He refuseth to consent to the Liberty of Conscience 84. He takes Havre de Grace 99. Montmorancy Francis Son of the former gives his Father wise advice 56. N. NAples the Kingdom of annexed to the See of Rome 9. Navar Henry King of suspected to be in the Conspiracy of Bloys 43. And in that of Lions 46. He is sollicited to come to the Assembly of the States by his Brother the Cardinal ib. Comes and is consin'd 47. Discharged and advanced ibid. Becomes terrible to the Pope 49. Favoureth the Reformation 56. Very earnest for a National Council 65. He joins with the Popish party 69. Excuseth the Massacre of Vassy 71. Is shot at Roan and dies 77. His Character ibid. The Queen Cited before the Inquisition after his Death 92. A National Council desired in France 45 64. O. O Liver Chancellor of France imployed against the Members of Parliament who were suspected of Heresie 33. Desious of a Reformation and an hater of Bloody Persecutions 43. Obtains a Pardon for the Conspirators of Boyse ibid. He dies weeping for what he had done 44. Orleans an Assembly of the three Estates of France opened there 47 50. Surprized by the Protestants 73. Besieged 82. Ostia besieged and taken 9. Retaken ibid. Otho Henry Duke of Bavaria dies 36. Orange William of Nassaw Prince of Ambassador for Charles V. 6. Being Ambassador in France he learns a Secret 27. P. PAliano Fortified 9. Restored to King Philip 11. A Parliament in England 22. In Scotland 36. Another that setles a Confession of Faith 42. Another which confirms and settles it 66. One held at Edinburg in which Mary Queen of the Scots passed several Acts in favour of the Reformation 99. The Parliament of Paris awed by Henry II. 31. Claims the Right of declaring the King out of his Minority 99. Paul IV. Pope his Temper 7. His War against King Philip 8. He ruins his Relations 26. He refuseth to acknowledg Ferdinand Emperor of Germany 22. And Queen Elizabeth Queen of England 23. Erects many Bishopricks 27. His death and the rage of the People against him 36. Peace made between King Philip and the Pope 11. Proposed between France and Spain 19. That of Passaw confirmed 28. That of Cambray fatal 30. That of Orleans disproved by Coligni 84. And by the Fathers of Trent 91. Perrenot Bishop of Arras 19. A Persecution in France 16. One designed in the Netherlands 27. One in France 30. In Spain 35. In Piedmont 52. In the Netherlands 55. Philbert Duke of Savoy his Marriage 33. Pius IV. Elected 36. Delays the calling of a Council 48. Is at last perswaded to renew that at Trent 62. Despiseth France 86. Afraid of the French Bishops coming to that Council 88. Is promised a victory over the Council 89. Reproached by the King of France 96. Pretends to be free from the Obligation of all Laws ibid. Philip II. King of Spain engaged in a War against Paul IV. 8. And France 9. Leaves the Netherlands 35. He is much commended by Pope Paul IV. 31. Endeavoureth to raise the power of the Bishops and depress the Pope's in the Council of Trent 90. His Severity much commended there 91. He is sollicited to endeavour the Preservation of the Romish Religion in France 61. Poltrot who Assassinated the Duke of Guise an account of him 82. Princes the Pope hath power to depose them and to dispose of their Dominions 62 92. Denied by the King of France 94. Prioli Lawrence Duke of Venice dies and is succeeded by Jerome his Brother 36. Q. QUintin Jean makes a long Apology for the Clergy in the Assembly of the three Estates at Orleance 51. He dies of Grief for the Reflections made on it ibid. St. Quintin besieged 14. Taken 15. R. REligion ought not to be the occasion of Rebellions 50. A Remonstrance of the Protestant Princes of Germany 12. Riga Reformed 57. Rouen or Roan taken by the Protestants 74. Twice besieged and at last taken by the Roman Catholicks 77. Rome prepared for a Siege 8. And might have been taken S. SArdinia the Isle of proffered to the King of Navar 65. Savoy enclined to a Reformation 97. St. Quintin See Quintin Sanfloriano a Cardinal 10. Sectaries never to be suffered 51. But to be severely treated 91. Segni a strong City in the Papacy taken 10. Seldius Vice-Chancellor Ambassador 6. Siena consigned to the Duke of Florence 10. Sigeth a City in Hungary twice besieged 4. Sleidan John his Death and Character 7. Succession in the Clergy 61. A Synod held by the Protestants of France in the time of a violent persecution 31. T. THermes a Marshal of France defeated 20. Thionville taken 10. A Toleration granted to the Protestants of France 68. Transylvania revolts 4. The Treaty of Cambray 22 30. V. VAlence the Bishop of favours the Reformation 45. Valenza taken 9. Vallidolid 35. Vassey a Town in Champaigne 70. Vergerius Paul a Cardinal writes against the Council of Trent 62. Vienne the Archbishop of for a National Council 45. The Vocation or Call of the Ministry 61. Vinoxberg taken 20. W. WAr in Italy 8. Between France and Spain 14. In Piedmont 53. The Reasons of the Scotch War 40. The beginning of the Civil War of France 72. Wentworth Lord Governour of Calais 17. William Prince of Henebery dies 36. Dr. Wotton Ambassador in France 14. At Cambray 39. Z. ZEaland the Province of oppose the Continuance of the Spanish Forces in the Netherlands 48. ERRATA In the History PAge 27. line 20. for Church read Lurch l. 23. r. Lewis XII p. 31. l. 7. r. Tortosa p. 32. l. 41. r. Ambitious as Lucifer himself That he p. 36. l. 38. concerning r. call'd p. 39. l. 47. r. Brindisi p. 43. l. 29. Ensure r. Ensnare p. 45. Work r. Rock p. 46. § 2. l. 1. resum'd r. repeated p. 80. Sturney r. Sturmius as oft as it occurs p. 94. l. 38. our r. your p. 115. l. 36. Cantreck r. Lautrec p. 119. l. 5. Anbald r. Anhalt p. 134. l. 52. r. Vey p. 143. l. 10. convenient r. inconvenient p. 157. l. 14. r. Nordlinghen p. 170. l. 37. 740. r. 728. p. 184. l. 58. r. Mecklenbourgh p. 189. l. 1. r. out of his c. p. 200. l. 63. danger r. hunger p. 206. l. 21. Campodune r. Kempten p. 209. l. 61. first r. fifth p. 215. l. 21. impression upon r. inroad into p. 230. l. 34. r. Pomerania p. 232. l. 36. r. Aleander p. 242. l. 10. r. John the Vaivod p. 264. l. 52. r. did not only c. p. 269. l. 45. r. Budaeus p. 270. l. 24. r. than that that long c. p. 284. l. 26. Indico r. Ynigo l. 45. r. Rene. p. 287. l. 16. Mark r. Work. p. 288. l. 48. Religion r. Provinces p. 289. Compert r. Rampart p. 292. l. 28. r. Vendosme l 29. Nivern r. Nevers p. 293. Concord r. Counsel p. 294. l. 6. r. first place to be c. p. 317. l. 14. edge r. Egge p. 338. l. 38. Ozias r. Uzziah p. 356. l. 40. r. Mentz p. 361. l. 53. Esdras r. Ezrah p. 363. l. 13. slept r. stept p. 443. l. 8. r. Ebbleben p. 435. r. Nevers p. 439. l. 30. implorable r. implacable p. 441. l. 50. severity r. security p. 447. l. 20. r. Vicenza l. 24. r. Morone l. 27. r. Santacruce p. 468. l. 35. Pecord r. Record r. Rifeberg l 48. r. Rochlitz p. 471. would r. should p. 473. l. 11. r. Fano p. 475. l. 28. r. Casa p. 477. l. 19. Gelou r. Gelenius p. 478. l. 50. Fez r. Tunis p. 481. l. 19. r. Matthias Flaccius Hlyricus and as oft as it occurs p. 518. l. 23. r. Vienna p. 519. l. 34. r. Lewis Hutin p. 531. l. 41. with r. of p. 545. l. 60. would r. should p. 554. l. 38. r. Bayonne p. 580. In the Contents l. 4. Albert r. Maurice p. 594. l. 33. r. Blasseburg p. 618. l. 58. r. Barbara In the Continuation PAg. 8. l. 55. Security r. Severity p. 10. l. 18. r. brought together an Army p. 28. l. 15. drought r. draught p. 25. l. 2. 1233. r. 1523. p. 28. r. 600000 Growns p. 56. l. 62. perished r. persisted l. 59. r. from Zurich p. 60. l. 41. thing r. nothing p. 90. l. 11. Annals r. Annates
Liberty and yield that Obedience to the King they ought and that the King of Navar should still retain the Command of the Army The Prince of Conde perceiving by this Answer that the Triumvirate were resolved not to leave the Court and that they only pretended the Danger of laying down their Arms before him without taking any Notice of the Hostages he had offered fot their Security in that case suspected there was fraud in the bottom and would not comply neither alledging That the King's Presence was their security whereas he had nothing but the Equity of his Cause to Plead After this the Triumvirate put in a Petition to the King The Triumvirate desire no liberty should be granted to the Protestants Desiring that an Edict might be made 1. That no Religion but the Roman Catholick should be Admitted in the Kingdom 2. That all the King 's Domesticks Captains Governours and Magistrates should be of that Religion and whoever did not publickly profess it should be deprived of all Honour and Publick Employments saving to them their Estates 3. That all Bishops and Clergymen should profess the same or be deprived of their Revenues which should be brought into the Exchequer 4. That all the Churches which were destroyed spoil'd or defaced should be restored and those that were guilty of these Sacriledges punished 5. That all should lay down their Arms upon what pretence soever they had been Listed or by whom soever And they that had no Commission from the King should be treated as Traitors That the King of Navar only should have the Right of Levying Men till these Troubles were ended by a Treaty or a Victory and they to be paid out of the Treasury And on these Terms they were willing not only to leave the Court but the Nation and to go into Exile And till this was done they could not leave the Court. This was Answered at large by another Paper Printed the 20th of May with great sharpness The 26th and 27th of May the King of Navar commanded all the Protestants to depart from Paris The Triumvirate draw out of Paris ordering that no injury should be done to them or their Goods in their retreat or absence on pain of Death And perceiving that nothing could be effected by Treaties the Triumvirate drew their Forces out of Paris consisting in Four thousand Foot and Three thousand Armed Horse about which time the Queen invited the Prince of Conde to a Conference and they met in the beginning of June at Thoury a Village in la Beausse with all the Cautions usual in such Cases But that Treaty proving ineffectual the Prince of Conde drew his Army out too which was then Four thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse The Prince of Conde had more of the Nobility of France in his Army than the other fide either out of Love to the Religion or hatred to the Guises or by the secret Orders of the Queen The Prince of Conde maintain great Order in his Army at first Besides his Army had a severe Discipline and Publick Prayers were said Morning and Evening at the head of each Company There were no Oaths no Quarrels heard of but the Psalms were devoutly Sung in the Camp there was no Dice no Tables no Rapines all was Modesty and the least Faults were severely punished so that the Country Man or Merchant might live or travel by the Army in perfect security and their great desire was that they might be led against Paris The 21th of May the Army marched from Orleans and there was another Treaty for a Peace and another Conference with the Queen A second Treaty between the Queen and Conde who thanked him and all the Great Men that came with him for the good Service they had done her and the King in a time of such great need saying they were worthy of the highest Rewards and Honours and praying them to persevere in it and to Consult the good of the Kingdom She excused what she had done in the mean time for the other Party by saying They were more in number who embraced the Roman Catholick Religion and therefore it was necessary there should be no other Religion suffered in France than that At this Conde replied he could not submit to so hard a Condition For if the Peace of Religion were taken away a War would follow which would be very difficult and lasting This proving ineffectual too the Prince of Conde marched to La Ferte Alez Boigency sack'd Blois and took and sack'd Boigency a Town upon the Loire The Triumvirats Army marched right to Blois which the Protestants had taken not long before and Garison'd but the Place being weak they retreated to Orleans and left it to the Catholicks who Exercised unheard of Cruelties and put most of the Protestants to the Sword or drown'd them in the River though they recovered the Town without one blow striking From thence they marched to Tours Tours which had but a little before been surprized and reformed by the Protestants contrary to the will of the Wiser People who forclaw the ill consequence of it The Country in the mean time was exposed to Rapine under pretence of Extirpating Hereticks the great Men conniving at it or being well pleased And a War was Proclaimed against the Protestants and all Men were commanded to treat them as the Enemies of Mankind on the account of the Sacriledges committed in the Churches because the Church Plate was taken to be Minted for Money to pay the Army and the Images and Altars were generally beaten down where the Protestants prevail'd Whereupon the Peasants left their Work and fell to Rob and Plunder their Neighbours and to exercise unheard of Cruelties and Barbarities they thinking the Protestants were to be treated like Mad Dogs This forced the Gentry in a short time to Arm against them and they treated the Monks and Priests in their own Kind and Hang'd up those Catholick Peasants The Protestants took Anger 's the 5th of April Anger 's taken by the Protestants almost without any opposition and both Parties lived peaceably to the 21th when they pulled down the Images in the Churches which so incensed the Roman Catholicks that the 5th of May they let in Succours in the Night whereupon followed a Fight in which the Protestants were worsted and the Roman Catholicks prevailed The other Party were plunder'd whereupon some Women were ravished and others slain to the Number of about eleven Tours retaken by the Roman Catholicks Tours being retaken all the Protestants were by one means or another made away the President of the City not escaping their Cruelty because he was suspected to be a Protestant tho' he had never declared himself such so that the Governours were forced to erect Gallows to put a stop to the bloody Barbarity which they themselves had raised in the People The Protestants of Mans were much affrighted Mans deserted by the Protestants
the continual labours of the Siege Montgomery and the greatest part of the English and Scotch shipped themselves in a Galley and breaking the Chain which the Besiegers had drawn cross the River they escaped to Haure de Grace There were slain in this Siege about 4000 Men on both sides The 17th of November He dyes the King of Navar died of his Wounds having received the Sacrament according to the Custom of the Church of Rome but blaming his own wavering and unconstant temper in the matters of Religion and saying If he recovered he would embrace the Augustane Confession and live and dye in it He was a person of great Beauty of a generous and liberal Disposition a good Soldier just and fit for business but too much addicted to Pleasures which at last proved fatal to him and drew him into this War. The Queen had entered a Treaty with the Inhabitants of Diep for the recovery of that place before Roan was taken and they were amazed with the Dangers that City was in Diep surrender'd to the King. and the depredations the German and French Horse made upon them that so soon as they heard Roan was taken they sent a Petition to the King who granted them all that they desired but the publick Exercise of their Religion Whereupon part of them went away with the English and the rest retired to Antwerp and other places in the Low-Countries So the Town was delivered up to the young Montmorancy the second of November who obtained leave from the Queen And also Caen. for them to meet privately for the Exercise of their Religion The same Conditions were granted to them of Caen. The next Care was to clear Haure de Grace of the English whither the Earl of Warwick came two days after the surrender of Roan Diep retaken by the Protestants The 20th of December the Protestants surprized Diep again without any considerable opposition the Inhabitants no way consenting to it and excusing it to the Queen as done without their aid knowledge or consent and thereupon great numbers of them went into the Low-Countries fearing they should be treated with the same Cruelty as they of Roan had been when that City was taken for which they were ill used by Montgomery who was the procurer of this Surprize The News of the loss of Roan The Protestants beaten in Guienne was brought to the Prince of Condé when he was in great pain for Andelett sent by him into Germany to bring him some Protestant Forces This ill News came attended with the defeat of Monsieur de Burie in which 2000 were slain in the Field and many more lost in the Retreat the 9th of October The same day this Victory was won at La Ver in Guienne Monsieur de Bazourdan attempted to surprize Montauban in the night which proved ineffectual and he lost 200 of his Men in this design From thence they marched to Tholose which was then also in the hands of the Protestants and reduced to great Extremities but the Inhabitants being supported by the frequent Sermons of their Pastors were encouraged to hold out and on the contrary the Sieur de Terride thought it a great disparagement to be baffled here too and grew stubborn in his Resolves to carry this place because his Forces had miscarried at Montauban and so the Siege was continued till the Pacification in April following In this Siege Sazourdan was slain the 22th of October by a Shot from the Town The Sieur d'Andelott Andelot hardly obtains Succours in Germany who was sent into Germany to obtain Succours met with great Difficulties the Court of France having sent one Envoy after another to break his Measures and render the Protestant Princes averse to War And when the Emperour had called a Diet to meet in November for the choosing Maximilian his Son King of the Romans the Prince of Condé sent one Jaques Spifame heretofore Bishop of Nevers an eloquent and brisk Man who gave in the Confession of Faith published by the French Protestants in the Assembly of the States for the vindicating them from the aspersions of those monstrous Opinions which their Enemies had raised from them He also made three elegant Speeches one to the Emperour one to Maximilian in his Bed-Chamber and one to the three Estates to purge the Prince of Condé of the Suspicion of Rebellion and shew that the War was began by the Order of the Queen and for the delivery of the King out of Restraint The Landtgrave of Hess in the mean time the 10th of October had assembled at Bucarat 3000 Horse and 4000 Foot to which the Prince de Porcean brought in 100 of the French Nobility on Horse-back as far as Strasburg D'Andelott was then afflicted with a Tertian Ague yet he travelled with that Industry that he arrived at Orleans the 6th of November bringing up with him besides 300 Horse and 1500 Foot which had escaped from the Rout at Ver. And very welcom they were the taking of Roan and the defeat of Ver having reduced their Reputation Forces The Prince of Conde takes the Field and Hopes to a very low ebb The Prince of Condé hereupon marching out of Orleans the first of November with the whole Army and a Train of Artillery consisting of 8 Pieces the 11th of November he took Pluviers in the Forrest of Orleans Pluviers taken by the Prince of Conde a populous Town by Surrender and because they had presumed to defend it with 4 Foot Companies he hanged two of the Captains and all the Priests he found in it and disarm'd the Common Soldiers and made them take an Oath that they should not hereafter bear Arms against him In this place he found great quantities of Provisions part of which he sent to Orleans and reserved the rest for the use of his Army The Terror of this prevailed so far upon the Garison of Baugy that they durst not stay for a Summons but retired to Chasteaudun Montmorancy and the Duke of Guise were by this time returned from Roan to Paris and the Mareschal de St. Andre having in vain endeavoured to stop the passage of Monsieur d'Andelott was come back to Sens a City he suspected from whence he went to Estampes but hearing the Prince of Condé was near he left two Companies to defend that place who soon surrendered it and retired towards Paris Here also the Prince found great quantities of Provisions which were of great use to his Army Here the Prince of Condé entered into a Consultation whether they should march away for Paris and take and rifle the Suburbs of that great City But the King Queen and a numerous Army being there they concluded the City could not be taken and consequently that this Ravage would turn to their damage and disgrace and make a Peace difficult if not impossible when so many innocent People had been ruin'd and undone To all this Francis Lanoy added that there was an
next morning he came to Pont Olivet by Orleans which being unknown to him and therefore thought by him to be very distant from the place he fled from he laid him down to sleep and was taken upon suspicion by the Searchers and being known was brought to the Queen to St. Ilario and Examined concerning the Fact and by whose Procurement he did it He said he had been twice solicited to it by Coligni and had at last consented to it upon the perswasion of Beza and another Minister but he said the Prince of Conde Andelot and the Sieur de Soubieze knew nothing of it He advised the Queen to have a care of her self too because the Protestants were ill affected to her since the Battel of Dreux and that Monpensier and Sansac were also designed to be cut off An Account of which Confession being sent to Cologni by a German Prisoner the 12th of March he published a Paper in his own defence in which he call'd God and Man to Witness that he never saw nor knew Poltrot before the last January and he had given him Money and employed him as a Spie in the Duke of Guise his Camp That when he went into Normandy he had given him 100 Crowns to acquaint Andelot with what passed there and that all he had said besides were lies and falsehoods That though he was not much concern'd for the death of the Duke of Guise who was an Enemy to the King and to the Reformation and all that Embraced it yet he ever detested these ways of Proceeding and had never by himself or any other asked any such thing of Poltrot though he had before this discovered and could prove such designs were entred into against Conde Andelot and himself before the Queen and Montmorancy to whom he had produced good Assurances of it Beza also in the same Paper said he never saw Poltrot in all his Life and Rochefocault said the same Coligni sent the same day a Letter to the Queen to intreat her to keep Poltrot that the truth of his innocence might be made out from him before he were Executed The Death and Character of the Duke of Guise The Duke of Guise in the mean time died the 24th of February having purged himself of the Massacre of Vassay and Advised the Queen to make a Peace as soon as was possible He was a Great Man in the Opinion of his Enemies a good Soldier and both fortunate and prudent in his Actions but falling into a divided Factious State he was by his Brother Charles a violent Man misled though he often detested his Advises Though he had no Command in the Battel of Dreux yet he alone procured the Victory this made him the sole General and being terrible to the Protestants it hastened his Ruine but then it had ill Consequences though at first it occasioned a speedy Peace in after times The Children of the Duke growing up in the Civil Wars which followed inherited the popularity of their Father and under the Pretences of Religion and the Sloath of the Kings of France endeavoured first to Revenge their Fathers Death on the Protestants and at last turned their Arms against the Royal Family to the great hazard of its Ruine and their own too Soon after the Duke of Guise was wounded the Queen sent Henry de Cloet The Queen earnestly desires a Peace and the Bishop of Limoges to the Princess of Conde and Andelot to treat of a Peace several times And when he was dead she yet more earnestly desired it fearing Conde and Montmorancy the Heads of the two Parties Or as Davila saith being desirous to drive out the Foreign Forces before they could settle themselves and above all the English out of Havre de Grace Besides she wanted a General to Head the Kings Forces Montmorency being then a Prisoner and none of the rest being equal to the Prince of Conde Coligni or Andelot besides the Royal Revenues were by the War reduced to so low an Ebb that they were forced to borrow of their Neighbours to support the War. In the mean time Francis de Briqueville Baron de Columbiers was employed by Coligni to take Bayeux before which he came the 12th of February and though at first repulsed yet upon the bringing four Cannon from Caen he took the City the Fourth of March the Garison helping him to plunder it and many of the Inhabitants especially of the Clergy were slain because they were thought to have occasion'd the resistance which was made Soon after St. Lo was deserted and fell into the hands of the Protestants and after it Auranches Vire had expell'd the Protestants and pretended to defend it self but was taken by Storm towards Night which increased the Calamities of the Inhabitants Honfleur was taken by De Mouy the Fourteenth of March. About this time Coligni having made Montgomery Governor of Normandy went from Caen with a gallant Army towards Lisieux where he was excluded by the Garison and from thence to Bernay which presuming to do so too he took the Town and made a great slaughter of the Inhabitants destroying all their Images and Altars and handling their Priests very severely The 7th of March the Prince of Conde and Montmorancy were brought to the Island Boaria near Orleans under strong Guards The Treaty of Peace between the Prince of Conde and Montmorancy and a Treaty of Peace was opened And Montmorancy declaring he would never consent to the Edict of January other Conditions were proposed to the great dissatisfaction of the Protestants Conde upon his promise had leave given him to enter Orleans where he treated with the Protestant Ministers but finding them resolved to stand to the Edict of January the 12th of March he came to an Agreement with the Queen which was subscribed by the King the 19th of the same Month. The Terms of which were The Articles agreed on That 1. All the Nobility should permit what Religion they pleased who had Sovereign Authority in their Jurisdictions That all Noblemen should have the free Exercise of Religion in their Families if they did not live in Corporate Towns. That in every Generalite or Prefecture one City should be assigned for those of the Religion And that wherever they had at this day a Liberty they should still enjoy it All Offences were remitted and the Royal Moneys spent in the War and Conde was acknowledged the Kings faithful and Loyal Kinsman and the Nobility Captains and all others who had assisted him were pronounced to have done all things for the Kings Service and with a good Intention Coligni was kept in Normandy by the Flattering Prosperity of his Arms Coligni not pleased with the Peace and though he was by many Letters from the Prince of Conde pressed to hasten his Journey to Orleans yet he did not arrive there before the 23 of March. The next day he could not dissemble his discontent at the Terms of the Treaty of Peace telling
and Recalling the Princes of the Blood and Montmorancy to their former Stations The Twenty first of August An Assembly of the Princes of France the Assembly of the Princes and Notable Men of France was Opened at Founain-bleau The Chancellor in his Speech among other things complained That the Hearts of the People of France were incensed against the King and his Principal Ministers but the Cause of it was not known and therefore it was so difficult to find out and apply a fitted Remedy For That the greatest part of the Men of this Kingdom being weary of what is present fearful of what is to come divided by different Religions and desirous of Change are willing to imbroil the Kingdom And therefore their principal Business was to find out the cause of this Discase and apply a fitting Remedy to this Sickly Body Coligni the Admiral who was present the next day Coligni delivers a Petition from the Protestants to the King. presented a Petition to the King which had been given him whilst he was in Normandy by a vast number of his Subjects desiring that the Severity of the Laws against them might be mitigated till their Cause had been duly considered and determined That they might have Publick Places assigned them for the Exercise of their Religion lest their Private Meetings should be suspected by the Government And they invoked God to bear Witness That they had never entertained any disloyal Thought against his Majesty nor would do so But on the contrary they offered up to God most devout Prayers for the Preservation and Peace of his Kingdom The Bishop of Valence a Learned Grave and Experienced Person The Bishop of Valence seconds it confirmed this Opinion shewing the great Corruptions in the Church had given Birth and promoted these Divisions in the Minds of Men which were rather exasperated than extirpated by harsh means and bloody Persecutions Then he shewed the great Use of General Councils for the composing the Differences in the Church And adviseth the King to call a National Council And therefore he said He wondred how the Pope could quiet his Conscience one Hour whilst he saw so many thousand Souls perish which God without doubt would require at his Hands But if said he a General Council cannot be had the King ought to follow the Examples of Charles the Great and S. Lewis his Ancestors and call a National Council of France commanding the Teachers of the Sectaries to be present in it and to enter into Conference with the Divines concerning the Points in Controversie c. That the Sectaries were worthy of Blame for their Rebellion and the Roman Catholicks for having been too Bloody and Cruel in the Prosecution of them which had only served to irritate the Minds of Men and make them enquire more greedily into the Opinions of those they saw suffer so patiently That the ancient Fathers imployed no other Arms against the Arians Macedonians and Nestorians but the Word of God and the Princes then did only banish Hereticks The Archbishop of Vienne represented the great Difficulties that hindred the obtaining a General Council For said he there is none of us who doth not know what great pains Charles V took to procure a General Council and what Arts and Stratagems the Poples imployed to defeat that commendable hope this pious Prince had entertained The Disease is of too acute a Nature to attend long Delays which are very uncertain and therefore the best way was to call a National Council which the King had already promised and the urgent Necessities of the Church would not suffer him to delay any longer Having shewn how this had been constantly practised from the Times of Clovis to Charles the Great and so downward to the times of Charles VIII He concluded That the Necessity being Great they ought to delay no longer nor to regard the Oppositions the Pope would make against this Method For the appeasing the Civil Dissentions of France he advised the calling an Assembly of the three Estates The third day Coligni discoursed of the Petition he had presented and being asked why it was not subscribed He said There was above fifty thousand Men in the Nation ready to subscribe it Concluding That there was nothing more calamitous than for a Prince to fear his Subjects And they to be at the same time afraid of him That the House of God the Church was to be forthwith reformed the Army to be dishanded and an Assembly of the three Estates called as soon as might be The Cardinal of Lorrain was so inraged with Coligni's Speech The Cardinal of Lorrain replies to Coligni that he made a sudden reply to it That the whole scope of ill Men was to deprive the King of his military Guards that they might the more easily oppress him That the late Conspiracy was against the King and not against his Ministers as was pretended That as to what concerned Religion he would submit to Learned Men But then he protested That no Councils should be of that Authority with him as to depart in any thing from the Customs of his Ancestors and especially in the most sacred Mystery of the Lord's Supper And as to an Assembly of the States he submitted that intirely to the King. He concluded The Sectaries were a Seditious Proud sort of Men and that the Gospel and Faith of Christ was made an occasion of Tumults and Seditions by them and therefore they were to be severely prosecuted Yet he was for mitigating the Severity of the Laws towards such as met peaceably without Arms who were to be reduced to their Duty by more gentle Methods more than by Force To which purpose he would freely spend his Life That the Bishops and Curates should by their presence redeem the Time they had lost and the Governours of the Provinces be forced to do their Duties But then since there was nothing under Debate but want of Discipline and Corruption of Manners it seemed very unnecessary that either a General or a National Council should be called The free Confession of this Cardinal is the Opinion of the whole Party and though the name of a General Council makes a great noise yet we very well know how they have treated the ancientest and best Councils when they have in any thing crossed their Humors or Interests and from thence may conclude They will never submit to any that shall not be conformable to their Wills. The twenty sixth of August A Decree passed for an Assembly of the three Estates and the suspension of the Laws against Hereticks A design upon Lyons a Decree was past that an Assembly of the three Estates should meet before the tenth of December in the City of Meaux And that if a General Council could not be had a National Council should be assembled And in the mean time all Severities in matters of Religion should be omitted Thus saith Thuanus my Author the Protestant Religion which
the Prince publickly That he wondered how they could be prevailed upon to clap up a Peace upon such disadvantageous Conditions when the Affairs of the Protestants were in so flourishing a state That they ought to have remembred that in the beginning of the War the Triumvirate had consented that the Edict of January should be restored and that now two of them the King of Navar and the Duke of Guise were slain and Montmorancy was their Prisoner and consequently a Security for the Prince of Conde Why should not they have had the same Terms That the restraint of the Profession of the Protestant Religion to one place in a Province was to give up that by a dash of the Pen which their Sword could never have obtained That what was granted to the Nobility could not be denied and they would soon see it was safer to serve God in the Suburbs of great Cities than in their Private Families and that it was uncertain whether their Children would be at all like them But however nothing could rescind an Agreement made by common consent Thus ended the first Civil War of France I have transcribed this whole Account of the first Civil War of France from the great Thuanus abridging it as much as was possible and pursuing the Actions only of the great Armies because if I had taken in all he relates of the various Actions between the two Parties in the several great Cities and Provinces it would have swell'd infinitely beyond the design of this Work or otherwise have been so dark as not to be easily intelligible And if the Reader compare this short Account with that given by Davila he will soon see how little the sincerity of that Historian is to be relied on and how small the Reason is for him to treat the Huguenots as Rebels in all the Course of this War. When the War first began the Protestants acted purely on the defensive but after several local Massacres they began to pull down Images and Altars in Revenge for the blood-shed of the other Party and finding to their cost this did but enrage the Roman Catholicks against them and made them the more cruel they fell next upon the Priests and Monks as the Authors of their Calamities this more incensing the Roman Catholicks And they again using the most horrid barbarities that were ever practised by Men the Protestants rose likewise in their Executions on them so that if this War had continued a few years France must have been depopulated Now though in all this the Roman Catholicks were the first Agressors and forced the Protestants to this severity in their own defence yet their Writers cunningly omitting the Provocation or softing the Actions of their own Party set forth at large the Cruelties of the Hereticks as they call them and many times aggravate them above what is true but Thuanus though a Roman Catholick was too great a Man to be guilty of so false a representation and who ever pleaseth to consult him will find I have been very favourable to the Roman Catholicks in this Abstract and have not sought occasions to make them odious without cause A CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK IV. The CONTENTS The Cardinal of Ferrara leaves France The Causes of the Delay of the Council The Pope's Legates sent to Trent The Prohibition of Books taken into Consideration The French Ambassadors arrive at Trent The French King's Reflections on the Proceedings of the Council The French Clergy arrive there The Pope's Fear of them Maximilian Son of Ferdinand the Emperor chosen King of the Romans The Emperor dislikes the Proceedings of the Council The Spanish Ambassadors received in the Council The Fathers of Trent much Displeased with the Peace made in France The Queen of Navarr cited to Rome and many of the Bishops by the Inquisition The French King's Declaration against these Proceedings The Queen Mother of France complains of the Council The Pope Gains the Cardinal of Lorrain to his Side That Councils have no Authority over Princes The Ambassadors of France Protest against the Council and retire to Venice The Council ended The Censure of the Council The State of Religion in Piedmont A Tumult in Bavaria for the Cup. The Romish Reasons against granting Marriage to the Clergy and the Cup to the Laity The Siege and Surrender of Havre de Grace Charles the IX declared out of his Minority The Scotch Affairs HAVING thus dispatched what concerns the first French War year 1562 I now return to the Affairs of the Rest of Christendom in the Year 1562. And here I will first begin with the History of the Council of Trent Whilst the recalling this Council was agitated with great heat The Cardinal of Ferrara leaves France the Cardinal of Ferrara the Pope's Legate in France after the Revocation of the Edict of January seeing all things there in the state he desired he took his leave of the King and returned into Italy Before he went however he took care to furnish the King with Money to carry on the Siege of Orleans which he took up of the Bankers of Paris He had raised a vast Expectation of this Council in the minds of all those who had yet any Kindness left in their Hearts for the See of Rome and the more because they thought the Edict of January which had caused the War would then fall of Course it being made only by way of Provision till a Council should determine otherwise As the Cardinal was in his Journey Fifty Horsemen came out of Orleans under the Command of one Monsieur Dampier and surprized all his Mules Horses and Treasures and when he sent a Trumpeter to demand them again the Prince of Conde made Answer That this magnificent and warlike Equipage did not befit Pastors and the Successors of St. Peter but rather Commanders and Generals of War who were in Arms for Religion Yet if he pleased to recal the 200000. Crowns which he had furnished the Triumvirate with to carry on the War against him and the Italian Forces out of France he would then restore all he had taken to his Eminence The Council which was appointed to meet at Easter of the former Year was delay'd to the beginning of this The Causes of the Delay of the Council the Pope putting it off because he was as much afraid of the Spanish Bishops as of the French National Council He had been necessitated to grant great Contributions to King Philip to be levied upon his Clergy and he thought the Bishops would on that score come with exasperated Minds to the Council and all his Thoughts were bent on the keeping the Papal Power undiminished rather than on satisfying the just Compaints of the Nations At last being forced by an unresistable necessity he sent Hercules Gonzaga The Pope's Legates sent to Trent Jerom Seripand and Stanislaus Hosio out of his Bosom to be his Legates at Trent And not long after he