went in Person to the Parliament to cause the Edict to be inroll'd he was not able to hold from saying to some about him with a sigh I much fear that in going about to destroy the Preachments we shall hazard the Mass which afterwards he repeated more than once upon several occasions And truly as he had foretold immediately upon the publication of the Edict the War was kindled throughout all France For when the King of Navarre had notice that the King had verified the Edict which was in reality a solemn declaration of War against him he united himself more firmly than ever with the Prince of Condè and the whole Huguenot Party in an Assembly which was held for that purpose at Bergerac And these two Princes going from Guyenne into Languedoc to the Marshal Duke of Montmorancy who was Governour of that Province gave him so well to understand that it was not onely his particular interest to oppose the Guises who lov'd him not but also for the service of the King whose Authority was struck at and for the preservation of the Monarchy whose foundations the Leaguers were undermining by open breach of the Salique Law that they brought him over into their Confederacy with the whole party of the Politiques who had ever acknowledg'd him their Head Thus instead of the Catholiques being united against the Huguenots as they had always been during the preceding Reigns under Henry the Third and his Successour they were divided into two parties whereof one was the Leaguers and the other the Politiques who by another name were call'd the Royalists And at that time it was manifestly visible that the War had no reference to Religion as those of the League pretended but was a War purely of State Interest since the Duke of Montmorancy Head of those Catholiques who were united with the Huguenots to maintain the Authority of the King and the Royal Family as was declar'd in their Manifest of the Tenth of August shew'd himself on all occasions a most zealous Defender of Religion therein following the example of the Great Constable his Father 'T is certain that he protected it so well in his Government that the King of Navarre cou'd scarcely bring the Huguenots to confide in him because he always oppos'd the progress of their designs in that Province He also extended his Zeal into the County of Avignon and hinder'd Heresie there from taking root For which Pope Gregory the thirteenth thought fit to make him great acknowledgments in many Letters It was not therefore with any design of ruining Religion that the King of Navarre as Head of the Huguenots being united with one part of the Catholiques made that War but for preservation of the King and State which the League endeavour'd to oppress as the King himself understood it to be not long time after declaring that he had not a better servant than the Marshal of Montmorancy And such indeed did he always continue so firm to the interest of that Prince and of his Successour the King of Navarre that the latter of them honour'd him as a Father by which name he first call'd him and afterwards being King of France made him Constable in recompence of his great deserts and service to the State And from that time forward that he might treat him with the same kindness which Henry the Second used to Anne de Montmorancy the Father of this Duke he never call'd him by any other name than that of Partner Thus by the joyning of those Forces which so great a Man brought over with him to the King of Navarre that generous Prince was in a condition to defend himself at least against the Party of the League who were not onely countenanc'd by the authority of the King whom they had as it were dragg'd into that War but also drew great advantages from those Spiritual thunderbolts which the Pope darted the same year against the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde Those of the League had more than once already employed their utmost interest with Pope Gregory the Thirteenth to obtain of him that he wou'd approve the Treaty of their Association a thing they passionately desir'd And being on the point of declaring themselves more openly than they had yet done and to take Arms after the death of the Duke of Alanson they renew'd their solicitations to his Holiness more earnestly than ever to obtain from him that Declaration thereby to authorize their attempts and insinuate themselves the more into the hearts of those people who were obedient to the Holy See To this effect they dispatch'd once more to Rome Father Claude Matthew who according to his custome fail'd not to apply himself to the Cardinal of Pellevè the most stiff Partisan which the League ever had and the Eternal Solicitour of their Cause in the Court of Rome This Cardinal was descended of an ancient and illustrious house in Normandy as 't is deliver'd to us by the Sieur de Brantome from whence are issued the Marquesses de Beury and the Counts de Flers Which ought to mortifie those hot Writers who in hatred to the League have traduc'd him as a man of mean Parentage who from a Scullion of a College came to be a Servitour or Sizer to the Cardinal of Lorrain 'T is true indeed that because there was not much to be had out of a Patrimony which was to be divided in shares amongst eight Brothers he put himself into the service of that Cardinal who made him Steward of his House But it is not to be inferr'd from thence as some have maliciously done that he was of low Extraction neither is it to be denied that he had many good qualities which being supported by the credit of the House of Guise to which he was entirely devoted gain'd him the esteem of Henry the Second who made him Master of Requests and bestow'd on him the Bishoprick of Amiens from whence sometime after he was translated to the Archbishoprick of Sens by the favour of Lewis Cardinal of Guise who also procur'd the Hat for him So many benefits receiv'd from that powerfull family bound him so firmly and with so blind a passion to the interest of the Guises that he us'd his utmost endeavours in favour of the League against Henry the Fourth even after the conversion of that Prince till seeing at Paris where he then resided the entry of that victorious King to the incredible joy of all the Parisians he di'd of anguish and despight Now this Cardinal and Father Matthew well hop'd that his Holiness seeing the League become so powerfull that it was in a condition of making War wou'd declare for it at that time On this expectation they renewed with great warmth the Solicitations which they had often before made to him and continued to ply him till his death which happen'd the same year without their obtaining from him any part of their pretensions He had for Successour that famous Cordelier Felix
wanting in respect The Parliament which is always vigorous in opposing such Attempts fail'd not to make their most humble Remonstrations to the King worthy of the Wisedom and Constancy which that August Body makes appear on all occasions relating to the defence of the rights of the Crown and the privileges of the Realm The King of Navarre added his own to these wherein he represents to the King that His Majesty was more concern'd than he not to suffer this insolent and unmaintainable attempt of Sixtus And as he thought himself oblig'd by some extraordinary and high manner of proceeding to revenge the affront which was put upon him in that Bull wherein he was treated so unworthily He both had the courage and found the means of fixing even upon the Gates of the Vatican his solemn Protestation against it In which after having first appeal'd as of an abuse to the Court of Peers and to a general Council as superiour to a Pope he protests the Nullity of all Sixtus's procedure And farther adds That as the Princes and Kings his Predecessours have well known how to repress Popes when they forgot themselves and pass'd beyond the bounds of their Vocation by confounding Temporals with Spirituals so he Hopes that God will inable him to revenge upon Sixtus the injury which is done in his Person to the whole House of France imploring for this purpose the succour and assistance of all the Kings and Princes and Republiques of Christendom who as well as himself are assaulted in that Bull. Though Pope Sixtus following the bent of his own temper which was naturally violent and inflexible revok'd not his Bull for this nevertheless as he had a Soul that was truly great he cou'd not but acknowledge that this action was extremely generous nor cou'd he hinder himself from telling the French Ambassadour that he wish'd the King his Master had as much courage and resolution against his real Enemies as the Navarrois had made appear against those who hated his Heresie but not his Person But that wish of his was very fruitless for that poor spirited Prince was in such awe of the League that whatsoever Remonstrances were made him and though the example of the late King his Brother was propos'd to him who had acted with much more vigour on the like occasion on behalf of the Queen of Navarre whom they endeavour'd to have depos'd at Rome that he durst never permit any opposition to that Bull. Insomuch that he contented himself barely with not allowing it to be judicially publish'd in France without so much as once demanding of the Pope that he wou'd revoke it as Charles the Ninth had done who by a manly protestation constrain'd Pope Pius the Fourth to recall that Bull which he had made against Queen Iane d' Albret This was the effect of that fear so unworthy of a King which Henry the Third had of the League which takeing advantage of his weakness became more arrogant and more audacious to oblige him as in effect it did in spight of his repugnance to infringe that Peace which he had given to France and to make War against the King of Navarre who had at all times most punctually obey'd him even when he forbad him to take Arms and to March in defence of him against the League All he cou'd obtain of that party was by gaining a little time to keep matters from coming to extremity the dangerous consequence of which he well foresaw And to this purpose Messire Philip de Lenoncour who was afterwards Cardinal and the President Brulart with some Doctours of the â—orbonne were sent by him to the King of Navarre to persuade him to return into the Communion of the Catholique Church and to suspend the Exerciâ—e of Calvinism at least for the space of six Months during which some expedient might be found to accommodate all things amicably A better choice cou'd not possibly be made for the treating an Affair of that importance than was the person of that famous Nicholas de Brulart Marquis of Sillery whose approv'd fidelity in the Service of our Kings and whose Wisedom and ripe experience in the management of affairs were at length recompens'd by Henry the fourth by conferring on him the highest Honours of the Robe in which Office he gloriously ended his days under the Reign of the late King 'T is the distinguishing character of that illustrious House to have the advantage of being able to reckon amongst the great men who are descended from it two Chamberlains of Kings one Master of the Engines and Machines one Commandant of the Cavalry kill'd at the Battail of Agincourt in fighting for his Country one Procureur General and three Presidents of the Parlament of Paris two Premier Presidents of the Parlament of Bourgogne and above all a Chancellour of France to consummate the Honour of their House and one of the most splendid titles of Nobility which the Sword or long Robe can bestow 'T was then this excellent Person who was joyn'd in Commission with the Sieur of Lenoncour for this important Negotiation Because it was hop'd from his address and the mildness of his behaviour which was insinuating and persuasive that he above all others wou'd be able to win the King of Navarre to a compliance with his Majesties desire that he might not be constrain'd against his own inclinations to bring a War upon him But as that happy hour was not yet come And that it was an ill expedient to procure the Conversion of a Man and especially of a Great Prince who has wherewithall to defend himself when he is attacqu'd to bring Faith to him with threatning like a Chalenge and to shew him the Arms which are in a readiness to constrain him he onely answer'd that he had always been dispos'd as he then was to receive the instructions which shou'd be given him according to the Decisions of a free General Council and not with a Dagger at his Throat which was the Argument they us'd to him after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew There was therefore a necessity at last of coming to a War according to the wishes of the League which believ'd it was able to overwhelm at one push both that Prince and his whole party before he cou'd be recruited with Foreign Forces But it was extremely deceiv'd in that expectation For of the two Armies which the King was oblig'd according to the treaty of Nemours to give to the Command of two Lorrain Princes the one to the Duke of Guise in opposition to the Germans if they shou'd attempt an entrance into France to which they had been solicited by the Huguenots the other to the Duke of Mayenne for his expedition into Guyenne against the King of Navarre whose defeat and ruine the Leaguers concluded to be inevitable the last of the two after a Campaign of ten Months without performance of any thing but onely the taking in some few places of small importance which afterwards were
terms and mutual reproaches without coming to any amicable conclusion The Prince of Condè according to his lofty and severe humour spoke always more sharply than the other two rejecting all methods of reconciliation and saying with an air extremely fierce that there was no belief to be given to those who had so basely falsified their Faith in violating the Edicts of the King to satisfie the Seditious and the Rebels The King of Navarre of a temper much more sweet and complaisant though with a becoming noble boldness he gave the Queen to understand that he had no great reason to commend her proceedings in reference to himself yet he never forgot the respect which was due to her Character And upon occasion of her remonstrating to him that the peace of France depended on his conversion since the onely fear of falling under the dominion of an Huguenot Prince had made and arm'd the League which had no quarrel to His person but onely to his Heresie his answer was no more than this That Religion was onely a pretence â—hich the Authours of the League had taken up to cover their ambition which manifestly design'd the total ruine of the Royal family and as to his conversion he was always dispos'd to it on condition he might be instructed in the truth by a free Council which he had oftentimes demanded and in the definitive judgment of which both he and his party would wholly acquiesce He consented even to a Truce of twelve days during which the King 's good pleasure shou'd be consulted by proposing to him that condition though it was known beforehand that he wou'd never consent to it And in the mean time the Vicount of Turenne coming to wait on the Queen at Fontenay whither she was retir'd the Conference was resum'd for the last time For after they had amplifi'd their Forces on either side and both had set forth the advantages of their own party which cou'd not be done without some sharpness and even menaces the Queen losing patience and taking up that air of haughtiness and Majesty which she had often assum'd at the like Conferences in the Reigns precedent and at the beginning of this said in an imperious tone that there was no more room left for deliberation and that the King who wou'd be absolutely Master in his Realm had fix'd his positive resolution to have but one Religion in France 'T is well Madam repli'd the Vicount with a disdainfull kind of smile we joyn issue with you in the same resolution Let there be but one Religion provided it be ours if otherwise we must hack it out on both sides On which without staying for a reply he made a low bow and immediately withdrew Thus the Conference was ended to the extreme displeasure of the King who to gain covert from that Tempest of the Germans which he foresaw to be powring upon France had passionately desir'd a Peace which he cou'd neither obtain from the King of Navarre nor even from the League in whose quarrel he was engag'd to make War against that King For the Leaguers whose number was prodigiously incrâ—as'd especially in Paris grown jealous of those frequent Treaties with the king of Navarre let loose their tongues more brutally than ever against the King as if he had held a secret correspondence with the Huguenots and play'd booty with the League by a counterfeit shew of ruining its Enâ—mies There are those who have gone so far as to report that at this very time they had laid a terrible Plot against the King in which they engag'd the Duke of Mayenne who had made himself their Head in the absence of his Brother and that the Conspirators had resolv'd to put all the Guards of his Majesty to the Sword to seize his Royal Person and afterwards either to confine him to a Monastery or to imprison him in a Tower to cut the throats of the Chancellour the first President and all the Principal Officers to put others in their places and to create a new Council consisting wholly of their own party to possess themselves of the Bastille the Arsenal the Chastelets the Palace and the Temple to give entrance to the Spanish Armada which was then prepar'd against England by Boulogne and a hundred other partâ—cularities of that Conspiracy which the President de Thou thought fit to insert in his History upon the credit of one Nicholas Poulain Lieutenant in the Provostship of the Isle of France who having been of the Council of the League reveal'd as he relates himself the whole secret to the Chancellor de Chiverny Monsieur Villeroy chief Secretary of State and also to the King But besides that no credit ought in reason to be given to a man of double dealing who has betray'd both sides and who to set himself right with that party he had forsaken may affirm a thousand things which he cannot prove which is a crime that hath often brought the informer to the Gallows there is nothing of all this matter to be seen in those Papers which were written at that time either for or against the League especially in those of the Huguenots who wou'd be sure to omit nothing that cou'd possibly make against their Enemies or for themselves neither in the Memoires of the Chancellour de Chiverny nor of Monsieur de Villeroy who in all probability wou'd not have forgotten a thing of that importance if they had had it from the mouth of the Informer or indeed if they had believ'd it true And certainly there are many things so very improbable in that verbal process of Nicholas Poulain which I have most exactly read and even so many notorious falsities and those so opposite to the nature and genius of the Duke of Mayenne that it is a prodigious thing in Monsieur de Thou that he wou'd take the pains to transcribe it almost word for word in a History so elegant and serious as that of his This in reason shou'd give a caution to such as undertake the writing of a History not to trust all sorts of Writers and not ambitiously to swell their Works with all they find written in certain Unauthentique Memoires without giving themselves the leisure to examine their merit and their quality That which is certain in that affair is that the Leaguers of Paris interpreting maliciously and in the worst sense those Negotiations and Conferences which were made with the King of Navarre were not wanting to make the people understand that the King held intelligence with him and protected the Huguenots It was also in order to destroy that belief and false opinion which ran of him to his disadvantage among the people that the King renew'd with more apparent fervour and solemnity those extraordinary devotions which he practiss'd from time to time and above all his Processions of Penitents which far from serving his design render'd him yet more despicably odious As evil by the abuse of the best and most holy things
Arques 748 c. at the attacquing the Suburbs of Paris 752. at the Battel of Ivry 775. at the Siege of Roan 845. he is kill'd before Espernay 862. counsels the King to put Fryer Ange and his Penitents in Prison Pag. 369 367 The Baron of Biron at the Battel of Ivry 775. at the Battel of Fontan Francoise 946 947 The Sieur de Bois-Dauphin enters into the League 105 John Boucher Curate of St. Benets a grand Leaguer and his Character 95. his Chamber is call'd the Cradle of the League 99. causes the Alarm-Bell to be rung in his Parish Church at the Sergeants and Archers that would seize the Seditious 304. preaches against the King 431 432. retires into Flanders with the Spaniards after the reducing of Paris 943 The Duke of Bouillon la Mark General of the German Army 231 233 Charles Cardinal de Bouâ—bon put by the Duke of Guise as a Ghost at the Head of the League 92. his weakness and ridiculous pretension 93 102 114. his Manifesto or that of the League under his name 114. the King declares him to be the nearest of Blood and gives him the Prerogatives of the Presumptive Heir of the Crown 382. He presides over the Clergy at the Estates of Blois 388. is seiz'd Prisoner 403. is declar'd King by the Council of the Union 739. and proclaim'd by the Name of Charles X. 764 765. his death in Prison Pag. 821 Charles de Bourbon Count de Soissons joins with the King of Navarre at Monforeau 198. his Valour at the Battel of Coutras 221 222. at the attacquing the Suburbs of Paris 753 Henry de Bourbon Prince de Conde brings an Army of Germans into France 10. is excommunicated by Pope Sixtus Quintus 132. drives the Duke of Mercoeur from Poitou 146. the History of his unhappy Expedition upon Anger 's 145 146. espouses Charlotte Catharine de la Trimoille 147. quits the Siege of Brouage where he leaves his Infantry and marches with his Cavalry to relieve Anger 's where his Army is scatter'd and how 150. his firmness at the Conference of St. Brix 162 163. his Valour at the Battel of Coutras 207 c. his Death and Elogy 329 330 c. Henry XI de Bourbon Prince de Conde a grand Enemy to the Heresie of the Calvinists notwithstanding that he was born of a Calvinistical Father and Mother 148. his Elogy ib. c. Lovis de Bourbon Duke of Monpensier manages the Conference at St. Brix 162. joins with the Troops of the King's Army at Gien 260. his Valour at the Combat of Arques 748. at the Battel of Ivry 774. Andrew Brancas de Villars maintains the Siege of Roan with great honour 845. puts all the Camp in disorder 850 851. is made Admiral of the League Pag. 872 Anthony de Brichanteau Beauvais Nangis enters into the League and why 106 107 c. re-enters into the King's favour who gives him the Signet of Admiral of France 393 394 The President Brisson head of the Parliament of the League 450. secretly protests before Notari of the violence that he suffers ib. the Sixteen cause him to be hang'd 837 Peter Brulart sent to the King of Navarre to convert him 140 141 c. his Elogy and that of his House ib. his Banishment from Court 384 William Duke of Brunswick at the Battel of Ivry where he is slain 789 Bussy le Clerc a furious Leaguer 98. takes Arms to hinder de Prevost Curate of St. Severnes from being apprehended who had preach'd seditiously against the King 303 304. is made Governour of the Bastille after the Barricades 365. leads the Parliament to the Bastille how and under what pretext 444 445. is constrain'd to surrender the Bastille to the Duke of Mayenne 838. saves himself in Flanders where he dies miserable 839 840 C. CArdinal Cajetan sent Legat into France by Sixtus Quintus 758. hinders an Accommodation being made with the King though he should be converted 766. runs the risque of being kill'd at the Shew of the Ecclesiastics and Monks during the Siege of Paris Pag. 808 Queen Catharine de Medicis engages the King in the War against the Hugonots 7. concludes a Peace at the Court of the Religion 11 12 13. she hinders the King from opposing the League at first 60. she maintains it under-hand 80. she would exclude the King of Navarre from the Succession that the Prince of Lorrain her Grandson might reign 85. she holds a Correspondence with the Duke of Guise and hinders the King from arming himself against him 117. her Conference with the King of Navarre at St. Brix's 161. she carries the Duke of Guise to the Louvre and mollifies the King's anger 344. counsels the King to go out of Paris 362. she suffers her self to be amus'd by the Duke of Guise who enters very dextrously into her Interests 371 372. her surprize at the death of the Guises 403. her Death 437. 438. her Elogy and Portrait 438 439 c. Claude de la Chastre Bailiff of Beny 105. Mareschal of the Camp in the Duke â—f Guise's Army against the Râ—yters 246 250 266. marches the first to Montargis to surprize the Reyters at Vimory 266 267 268. his advance to Dourdan to surround them in Aunâ—au 279. what part he had in the defeat of the Reyters at Auneau 268. he preserves Berry and Orleans for the League 493. is made Mareschal of the League 872. he makes his Peace and re-enters into Obedience Pag. Pag. 936 The Count de Chastillon Son of the Admiral brings assistance to the Army of the Reyters 233 258. his brave reâ—reat in the middle of an infinite number of Enemies 298. repulses the Troops of the Duke of Mayenne before Tours 482. defeats the Troops of Sieur de Saveuse 491. his Valour at the Combat of Arques 742 748. he misses taking Paris by storm 812. he 's the principal cause of the happy success at the Siege at Chartres 817 818. his Death and Elogy ib. 819 Clement VIII Pope would not receive the Catholick Deputies of the Royal Party 861. nor the Duke of Nevers that went to render him Obâ—diâ—nce 933. after having a long time refus'd to give the King Absolution he gives it at last 934 The Combat and Retrâ—at at Pont St. Vincent 246 c. The Combat at Vimoroy 267 c. The Combat at Auneau where the Reyters were defeated Pag. 277 c. Combat at Fontain Francoise 947 The Conference of the Duke of Espernon with the King of Navarre about his Conversion 87 c. Conference at d'Espernay and de Meaux 121 The Conference of Sieur Lennoncour and President Brulart with the King of Navarre for his Conversion 140 141 c. The Conference at St. Brix between the Queen-mother and the King of Navarre the Prince of Conde and the Vicount de Turenne 161 162 c. The Conference at Nancy between the Princes of the House of Lorrain 184 c. The Conference of Henry III. with Cardinal
Morosini Legate touching the Murther of the Guisâ—s 413 414 c. The Conference of Cardinal Morosini with the Duke of Mayenne 474 c. The Conference of the two Kings at Tours 478 The Conference of the Lorrain Princes at Rhemes 829 The Conference of du Plessis Mornay and of Sieur de Ville-Roy for the Peace 858 859 c. The Conference at Suresne 879 880 c. Charles de Cosse Count de Brissac 105. â—uted the Government of the Castle of Anger 's 153 189. he joins with the Troops of the Duke of Guise 259. he 's refus'd the Admiralâ—y that the Duke of Guise ask'd for him and was given to the Duke of Espernon 312. his Elogy ibid. causes the Barricades to be made 352. his scoffing raillâ—ry upon this Subject 355. he leads the King's Soldiers disarm'd to the New market ib. is President of the Nobles at the Estates of Blois 388. is there arrested Prisoner and presently deliver'd 403. is made Governour of Paris by M. de Mayenne 939. he receives the King into Paris who makes him Marshal of France Pag. 942 Coutras its situation and the Battel fought there 202 203 c. D. FRancis de Daillon Count du Lude wounded at the Battel of Ivry 790 Guy de Daillon Count du Lude and Governour of Poitou his Elogy 791 The Advocate David and his Mâ—moirs 63 The Baron of Dona General of the Reyters 230. his birth and qualities 231 c. his negligâ—nce repair'd in part by his courage and valâ—ur at the combat of Vimory 272. suffers himself to be surpriz'd in Auneau where the Reyters are defeated 280 281. saves himself in the defeat 293. his return into Germany in a very pitiful condition 300 E. THE Fifth Edict of the Pacification extremely advantageous to the Huguenots call'd the Edict of May 14. 't is revok'd Pag. 61 The Edict of Blois against the Huguenots ib. The Edict of Poictiers favourable to the Huguenots 74 The Edict of July against the Huguenots 121 The Edict of Reunion against the Huguenots in favour of the League 378 Philip Count d'Egmont at the Battel of Ivry where he is slain 789 John d'Escovedo Secretary to Don John d'Austria assassinated by Order of Philip the Second and why 21 The Duke d'Espernon the King's Favourite confers with the King of Navarre about his Conversion and what happens thereupon 87 88 the hatred which was bore him was the cause that many brave persons entred into the League 105. he treats with the Reyters 160 161 275. is made Admiral of France and Governor of Normandy 313. his Character and Portrait 314. a great Enemy to the Duke of Guise 315. his Banishment from Court 377. he abandons Henry IV. 735 Francis d'Espinay de Saint Luc. 105 211. defeats the Rear-guard of St. Mesme 151. his brave Action at the Battel of Coutras Pag. 224 Peter d'Espinal Archbishop of Lyons counsels the Duke of Guise not to quit the Estates 396 c. is arrested Prisoner at Blois with the Cardinal de Guise 403. is ransom'd for money and made Chancellor of the League 794. is chief of the Deputation for the League at the Conference at Suresne 879. the sum of his Answer to the Harangues of the Archbishop of Bourges 884 c. The Estates of France have but deliberative voices 36 61 The first Estates of Blois where the King declares himself Head of the League 61 c. The second Estates of Blois 385 c. They act openly against the King's Authority 388 c. They declare the King of Navarre incapable to succeed to the Crown 289 c. The Estates of the League at Paris 865 F. AN horrible Famine in Paris during the Siege 800 801 James Faye d'Espesses Advocate General maintains strongly the Rights of the King and the Liberties of the Gallicane Church against the Leaguers at the Estates of Blois 390 The President Ferrier Chancellor to the King of Navarre is made Huguenot towards the end of his days Pag. 87 88 The Form of the League 32 Form of the League of Sixteen 100 101 Form which was made to be sign'd by the Huguenots that re-enter'd into the Church 154 Four Gentlemen of the House of Fourbin are cause of the reducing of Provence 936 G. GEnebrard makes a Sermon against the Salique Law at the Procession of the Estates of the League 867 868 c. The Cardinal of Gondy Bishop of Paris incloses himself during the Siege with his Flock for their relief 803. he endeavours to make the People return to their Duty 836 Ludovic de Gonzague Duke de Nevers renounces the League and why 111 112. he goes Ambassador to Rome to yield Obedience and to dâ—sire Absolution of the King 932 c. Gregory XIII would never approve of the League 112 113. his death 130 Gregory XIV declares for the League against the King whom he excommunicates with all his Adherents 825 826 827. sends an Army into France ib. his Bull is condemn'd and has no effect ib. Philibert de la Guiche Grand Master of the Ordnance at the Battel of Ivry Pag. 782 Guincestre Curate of St. Gervais a grand Leaguer 98. lifts up his hand at his Auditors in the midst of his Sermon and even at the first President and assures them the death of the Guises would be revenged 429 c. he accuses King Henry III. of Sorcery in the midst of his Sermon 452 H. AChilles de Harlay first President of the Parliament of Paris runs the â—isque of his life in opposing the Leaguers 248. They constrain'd him in the midst of a Sermon to lift up his hand with others 429. is carried Prisoner to the Bastille 446. his Elogy 447 James de Harlay Sieur de Chanvallon Governour of Sâ—ns for the League repulses the King's Army at two Assaults and keeps the place 795. his spiritual Raillery upon the four Marshals of the League 873 Nicholas de Harlay Barâ—n of Sancy levies an Army of Swisses and Germans for the King at his own proper charges 502 c. and joins them to the King's Army 504 The Sieur Denis de Here Counsellor of Parliament carried to the Bastille by the Leaguers 448. his Elogy ib. Henry III. King of France and Poland 5 10. his Pourtrait Pag. ib. The Change made in his Conduct and Manners when he was King of France ib. He engages presently in the War against the Huguenots contrary to the counsel of the Emperor the Venetians and his best Servants 6 7 8 He declares himself Head of the League 73 He is not the Institutor but the Restorer of the Order of the Holy Ghost 75 78 Solicits in vain the King of Navarre to re-enter into the Catholick Church 87 88 is calumniated by the Leaguers 89 90 His weak Resolutions 86 116 123 139. His Declaration against the Leaguers too weak 119 Makes a Peace very advantageous to the Leaguers 123 124 Makes War against the King of Navarre with great repugnancy 143 144 Raises the Duke of
Innocent IX Pope declares himself for the League 861 Duke Anne de Joyeuse the King's Favourite 192 193 His prodigious rise ib. His Elogy ib. He commands the Army against the King of Navarre 194 His Exploits in Poitou 195 c. His faults and presumption at the Battel of Coutras Pag. 202 203 His death ib. Henry de Joyeuse Count de Bouchage becomes Capucin under the name of Fryer Auge and why 368 369 His most extraordinary Procession from Paris to Chartres to ask mercy of the King ib. His going out and re-entring the Capucins 960 c. Francis de Joyeuse Cardinal Protector of France generously maintains the King's Rights 418 His effectual Remonstrance to Pope Sixtus upon his proceedings after the death of the Guises ib. Ivry its situation and the Battel was fought there 770 771 c. L. FRrancis de la Noue at the relief of Senlis 484 Ranges the Army and gains the Battel 485 c. His Valour at the Combat of Arques 748 Wounded and beaten back at the attaquing the Suburbs of St. Martin 353 c. M. de Launoy a grand Leaguer 75 Philip de Lenoncour Cardinal 140 The Sieur de I'Esdiguieres takes Montelimar and Ambrun where the Huguenots plunder the great Church 145 The League and Leaguers its true Original Pag. 2 3 Wherein it is like to that of Calvinism 3 The success it had quite contrary to the end it was propos'd for ib. The first that conceiv'd the design was the Cardinal de Lorrain at the Council of Trent 15 16 The occasion that gave it birth in France 22 23 c. It s Project in Form to which all the Leaguers are made subscribe 32 33 The Refutation of the Articles of the said Form 33 c. It would usurp the Authority Royal in the first Estates at Blois 60 61 c. It s horrible Calumnies against Henry III. 89 166 234 262 234 303 304 The League of Sixteen at Paris its original and progress 93 c. It s twelve Founders 94 c. The Treaty of the League with the Spaniard 102 It hinders the Low-Countries from being united to the Crown 108 In taking Arms at so mischievous a time hinders the ruine of Huguenotism which was going to be destroy'd during the Peace ib. It sends new Memoirs and a new Form of Oath to the Provinces at the coming of the Reyters 234 The Insolence of the Leaguers after the defeat of the Reyters 302 They take Arms and fall upon the Archers who would seize de Prevost Curate of St. Severin that had preach'd seditiously against the King Pag. 203 204 They take the Alarm seeing the King dispos'd to punish them and implore the help of the Duke of Guise 332 c. Their Transports and Acclamations at the Duke's coming 337 They oppose the going forth of Strangers whom the King would have put out of Paris 348 They make Barricades 352 They act openly against the King's Authority at the Estates 389 Their furious deportmenâ—s at Paris after the death of the Guises 427 428 c. They degrade King Henry III. and act â—all sorts of Outrages against him 436 They accuse him of Enchantments and Magic Charms 452 The Cities that entred into the League 461 At Tolous they massacre the first President and Advocate General 462 Their Deputies press the Pope to publish the Excommunication against the King 495 496 They become stronger than ever after the death of Henry III. 737 738 Their Power during the Siege of Paris 800 They offer the Crown of France to the King of Spain 833 834 They cause President Brisson to be hang'd 837 Four of the most Seditious are hang'd at the Louvre 839 They make it appear at the Estates at Paris that they desire nothing less than the King's Conversion Pag. 890 891 Henry d'Orleans Duke de Longueville at the Relief of Senlis 486 Gives Battel to the Leaguers and gains it 487 c. Commands one part of the King's Army 736 And at the Attaque of the Suburbs of Paris 752 753 Charles Duke of Lorrain would not have the passage of the Reyters through his Country oppos'd and why 239 240 c. Would not enter France after the Reyters ib. Obtains Peace of the King 946 Charles Cardinal of Lorrain was the first that form'd the design of a general League of the Catholics 15 16 His Portrait ib. Charles de Lorrain Duke of Mayenne makes Wars with the King of Navarre in Guyenne with little success 143 144 Ioins himself with his Brother the Duke of Guise against the Army of the Reyters 258 259 His brave Action at the Combat of Vimory 270 c. He retires to Lyon in Bourgogn after the death of his two Brothers 426 c. His Encomium and Portrait 453 c. He refuses the great Offers the King made him and goes to the Wars ib. His happy beginnings Pag. 455 His Entry into Paris 457 Weakens the Council of Sixteen by augmenting it 458 459 Causes himself to be declar'd Lieutenant General of the Estate and Crown of France 460 Acts as a Sovereign and makes new Laws 460 461 Marches against the King defeats the Count de Brienne's Troops and takes him Prisoner 480 481 c. He attaques and takes the Suburbs of Tours and returns without doing any thing else ib. His generous Resolution when he saw himself besieged by the Royal Army 507 508 Makes the Cardinal of Bourbon be declar'd King by the Council of the Union 739 He attaques the King at Arques and is repuls'd and beaten 742 743 c. He follows the counsel of M. de Ville-Roy and opposes the designs of the Spaniards 759 760 c. Causes to be proclaim'd Charles X. 764 765. Marches to the Relief of Dreux 769 Loses the Battel of Ivry 787 Breaks with the Spaniards and why 833 c. Divides himself from the Princes of his House 834 c. Is jealous of the young Duke of Guise 835 Causes Four of the principal of the Sixteen to be hang'd up at the Louvre and abates their Faction Pag. 839 Carries the Duke of Parma to the Relief of Roan 846 He assembles the Estates at Paris 862 863 c. His Declaration wherein he invites all the Catholic Lords of the Royal Paâ—ty to meet at the Estates for the good of the Religion and the State 865 866 His Speech and Design in the Estates 875 c. He creates one Admiral and four Marshals of France 873 Causes the Conference of Surene to be accepted by the Estates 878 Takes Noyen 879 Dextrously hinders the Election of a King at the Estates 895 896 Will not hold the King's Absolution good 931 Retires from Paris to Soisons 940 What he did at the Battel of Fontain Francoise 947 948 c. Obtains from the King a Treaty and a favourable Edict 954 955 c. Is very well received by the King at Monceaux 957 Henry de Lorrain Duke of Guise destin'd by his Uncle the Cardinal of Lorrain
those who are either the Authours or Accomplices of the Crime THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOKS The first Book THe General model of the League its Origine its design and the Success it had quite contrary to the end which was propos'd by it In what it resembled the League of Calvinism The condition in which France was at the return of Henry the third from Poland The ill Counsell which he follow'd at the beginning of his Reign in renuing the War The Commendation and Character of that Prince The surprising change which was found in his Carriage and in his Manners The conjunction of the Politicks or Malecontents with the Huguenots Their powâ—rfull Army Commanded by the Duke of Alanson The Peace which was made â—y the interposition of the Queen Mother â—hich produc'd the Edict of May very favourable to the Huguenots This Edict is the occasion of the Birth of the League The League was first devis'd by the Cardinal of Lorrain at the Council of Trent He leaves the design behind him to his Nephew the Duke of Guise The Conference and secret Treaty betwixt that Duke and Don John of Austria By what means Philip the Second discover'd it and made use of it to engage the Duke to take up Arms. The Commendation of the Duke of Guise and his Character How that Duke made use of the Lord of Humieres to begin the League The Project of Humieres his Articles and his Progress The Lord Lewis de la Trimouille declares himself Head of it in Poitou The first Estates of Blois wherein the King to weaken that party declares himself Head of it by advice of the Sieur de Morvillier The Commendation and Character of that Great man What kind of man the Advocate David was His extravagant memoires The Iustification of Pope Gregory the 13th against the slander of the Huguenots who wou'd make him the Authour of it The Edict of May revok'd in the Estates The War against the Huguenots suddenly follow'd by a Peace and by the Edict of Poitiers in their favour which enrages the Leaguers The Restauration of the Order of the Holy Ghost by Henry the third to make himself a new Militia against the League The Duke of Alanson in Flanders where he is declar'd Duke of Brabant This occasions Philip the second to Press the Duke of Guise to declare himself He does it a little after the Death of the Duke of Alanson The Conferences of the Duke of Espernon with the King of Navarre furnishes him with an occasion He makes use of the old Cardinal of Bourbon and sets him up for a Stale The great weakness of that Cardinal The History of the beginning the Progress the Arts and the Designs of the League of the 16 of Paris The Treaty of the Duke of Guise with the Deputies of the King of Spain He begins the War by surprising many Towns The general hatred to the Favourites and especially to the Duke of Espernon causes many great Lords to enter into his Party That first War of the League hinders the Re-union of the Low Countries to the Crown and also the Ruin of the Huguenots Marseilles and Bourdeaux secur'd from the Attempts of the League The generous Declaration of the King of Navarre against the Leaguers and the too mild Declaration of the King The Conference and Treaty of Nemours and the Edict of July in favour of the Leaguers against the Huguenots The Vnion of the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde with the Marshal of Damville The death of Gregory the 13th and Creation of Sixtus Quintus The thundring Bull of that Pope against the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde Discourses and Writings against that Bull. Protestation of the King of Navarre posted up at Rome The War in Poitou with the small success of the Duke of Mayenne The Marshalls Matignon and Biron break his measures under-hand The History of the unfortunate expedition of the Prince of Conde at Angiers The Dissolution of his Army The Ordinances of the King against the Huguenots The form which they were made to sign at their Conversion The Embassy of the Protestant Princes of Germany who demand of the King the Revocation of his Edicts The firm and generous Answer of the King the Conference of St. Brix the Impostures of the Leaguers the beginning of the Brotherhood of Penitentiaries The King establishes one in Paris wherein he enrolls himself The Insolence of the Preachers of the League The scandalous Emblem which was made against the King The Impudence of Dr. Poncet and his Punishment The King uses his endeavours to no purpose for a Peace and at last resolves upon a War The Contents of the Second Book THe Duke of Guise complains to the King of the Infringments which he pretends were made to the Treaty of Nemours The Answer to those Complaints which were found unreasonable The Design of the King in the War which he is forc'd to make The Fortune and Rise of the Duke of Joyeuse his good and ill qualities He commands the Royal Army against the King of Navarre His Exploits in Poitou with those of the King of Navarre the Battel of Courtras The Difference of the two Armies how they were drawn up The first shock advantageous to the Duke the general Defeat of his Army the complete Victory of the King of Navarre his Heroick Valour in the Battel and his admirable Clemency after the Victory He knows not how to use it or will not and for what reason The Review of the Army of the Reyters in the Plain of Strasbourgh The Birth and the Quality of the Baron of Dona. The Duke of Guise undertakes with small Forces to ruin that great Army The Spoils which it committed in Lorrain The Reasons why the Duke of Lorrain wou'd not have the passage of that Army oppos'd The Description of the admirable Retreat of the Duke of Guise at Pont St. Vincent The Entry of the Reyters into France The Duke of Guise perpetually harrasses them The Army Royal at Gien The King goes to command it in Person and vigorously opposes the passage of the Reyters Their consternation finding quite the contrary of what the French Huguenots had promis'd them to appease them They are led into La Beauce The Duke of Guise follows them The description of the Attacque and Fight of Vimory where he surprises and defeats a Party of Reyters A gallant Action of the Duke of Mayenne The Retreat at Mont Argis The Sedition in the Foreign Army after that Victory The Arrival of the Prince of Conty Lieutenant General to the King of Navarre restores them to Ioy and Obedience The Duke of Guise having reserv'd to himself but 5000 men fears not to follow the Reyters as far as Auneau The Situation of that Borough The Baron of Dona Quarters there with the Reyters The Duke of Guise disposes himself to attacque them there He gains the Captain of the Castle to have entrance by it into the Borough
Hosts it was always unsuccesfull in the Battels which it strooke against the lawfull power And at length overwhelm'd with the same Engines which it had rais'd for the destruction of the Government Truly 't is a surprising thing to find both in the design and sequel of the League by a miraculous order of the divine providence revolutions altogether contrary to those which were expected On the one side the majestique House of Bourbon which was design'd for ruine gloriously rais'd to that supreme degree of power in which we now behold it flourishing to the wonder of the World and on the other side that of two eminent Families which endeavour'd their own advancement by its destruction the one is already debas'd to the lowest degree and the other almost reduc'd to nothing So different are the designs of God from those of men and so little is there to be built on the foundations of humane policy and prudence when men have onely passion for their guides under the counterfeit names of Piety and Religion 'T is what I shall make evident by unravelling the secrets and intrigues couch'd under the League by exposing its criminal and ill manag'd undertakings which were almost always unsuccessfull and by shewing in the close the issue it had entirely opposite to its designs by the exaltation of those whom it endeavour'd to oppress But is will be first necessary to consider in what condition France then was when this dangerous Association was first form'd against the supreme Authority of our Kings The â—ury of the Civil Wars which had laid the Kingdom desolate under the reign of Charles the Ninth seem'd to have almost wholly been extinguish'd after the fourth Edict of pacification which was made at the Siege of Rochell and if the State was not altogether in a Calm yet at least it was not toss'd in any violence of Tempest when after the decease of the said King his Brother Henry then King of Poland return'd to France and took possession of a Crown devolv'd on him by the right of Inheritance He was a Prince who being then betwixt the years of 23 and 24 was endu'd with all Qualities and perfections capable of rendring him one of the greatest and most accomplish'd Monarchs in the World For besides that his person was admirably shap'd that he was tall of Stature majestique in his Carriage that the sound of his Voice his Eyes and all the features of his Face were infinitely sweet that he had a solid Judgment a most happy Memory a clear and discerning Understanding that in his behaviour he had all the winning Graces which are requir'd in a Prince to attract the love and respect of Subjects 'T is also certain that no man cou'd possibly be more Liberal more Magnificent more Valiant more Courteous more addicted to Religion or more Eloquent than he was naturally and without Art To sum up all he had wanted nothing to make himself and his Kingdom happy had he followed those wholsome Counsels which were first given him and had he still retain'd the noble ambition of continuing at least what he was formerly under the glorious name of the Duke of Anjou which he had render'd so renown'd by a thousand gallant actions and particularly by the famous Victories of Iarnac and Montcontour The world was fill'd with those high Ideas which it had conceiv'd of his rare merit expecting from him the re-establishment of the Monarchy in its ancient splendour and nothing was capable of weakning that hope but onely the cruel Massacre of St. Bartholomew whereof he had been one of the most principal Authours which had render'd him extremely odious to the Protestants And therefore in his return from Poland the Emperour Maximilian the Second who rul'd the Empire in great tranquillity notwithstanding the diversity of opinions which divided his cares betwixt the Catholiques and the Lutherans the Duke of Venice and the most judicious members of that august Senate which is every where renown'd for prudence and after his return to France the Presidents De Thou and Harlay the two Advocates General Pibraâ— and du Mesnil and generally all those who were most passionate for his greatness and the good of his Estate advis'd him to give peace to his Subjects of the Religion pretendedly Reform'd to heal and cement that gaping wound which had run so much bloud in that fatal day of St. Bartholomew and not to replunge his Kingdom in that gulf of miseries wherein it was almost ready to have perish'd But the Chancellour de Birague the Cardinal of Lorrain and his Nephew the Duke of Guise who at that time had no little part in the esteem and favour of his Master and above all the Queen Mother Catharine de Mediâ—es who entirely govern'd him and who after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew dar'd no longer to trust the Protestants These I say ingag'd him in the War which he immediately made against them and which was unsuccessfull to him So that after he had been shamefully repuls'd from before an inconsiderable Town in Dauphine they took Arms in all places becoming more â—ierce and insolent than ever and made extraordinary progress both in that part in Provence in Languedoc in Guienne and Poitou That which render'd them so powerfull which otherwise they had not been was a party of Malecontents amongst the Catholiques who were call'd the Politiques because without touching on Religion they prâ—tested that they took Arms onely for the publique good for the relief and benefit of the people and to reform those grievances and disorders which were apparent in the State A ground which has always serv'd for a pretence of Rebellion to those men who have rais'd themselves in opposition to their Kings and Masters whom God commands us to obey though they shou'd sometimes even abuse that power which he has given them not to destroy or to demollish as he speaks in his holy Scriptures but to edify that is to say to procure the good and to establish the happiness of their Subjects These Politiques then joyn'd themselves to the Huguenots according to the resolution which they had taken at the Assembly held at Montpellier in the month of November and year of our Lord 1574. Henry de Montmorancy Marshal of Damville and Governour of Languedoc who to maintain himself in that rich Government of which he was design'd to be bereft first form'd this party of the Politiques into which he drew great numbers of the Nobles his partisans and Friends and principally the Seigneurs de Thore and de Meru-Montmorancy his Brothers the Count de Vantadour his Brother in Law and the famous Henry de la Tour d' Auvergn Vicount de Turenne his Nephew who was afterwards Marshal of France Duke of Boüillon Sovereign Prince of Sedan and the great Upholder of the Huguenots But that which made their power so formidable in the last result of things was that Monsieur the Duke of Alanson onely Brother of the King and the
that Roche-Mort being kill'd with a Musquet shot as he was looking through a Casement the Castle had been surrender'd two days since Notwithstanding this Misfortune which the greatest part of his Souldiers wou'd not believe having joyn'd fifteen hundred men whom Clermont d' Amboise a little before the Siege of Broüage was gone to raise for his service in Anjou he took a resolution to attaque the Suburbs But was vigorously repuls'd by the good Troups which the King had sent thither to assist the Citizens who had retrench'd themselves against the Castle which they held besieg'd After which intending to repass the River he found that not onely all the passages were guarded but that also he was ready to be compass'd round by the Troups of the King and of the League who were gathering together from all parts both on this side the Loyre and beyond it to inclose him Insomuch that not being able either to advance or to retreat without being taken or cut in pieces with all his men they were at length forc'd to disband and dividing themselves into small companies of Seven and Eight or Ten and Twelve together every man being willing to save one march'd onely by night through bye passages out of the common Road and through Woods for fear of being met with either by Souldiers or Peasants who kill'd as many of them as they cou'd find and pursued them as they wou'd so many Wolves when they caught them entring into a Sheepfold The Prince himself had much adoe to escape the tenth man and disguis'd into the Lower Normandy from whence he pass'd in a Fisher's Barque betwixt Auranche and St. Malo into the Isle of Guernsey and from thence aboard an English Vessel into England where he was very well receiv'd by Queen Elizabeth who sent him back to Rochelle the Year following with a considerable supply In the mean time St. Mesme who during this unhappy expedition of the Prince continued the Siege of Broüage â—inding himself too weak to resist the Marshal de Matignon who advanc'd by order from the King to force his Retrenchments with an Army of experienc'd Souldiers truss'd up his Baggage and retir'd with what speed he cou'd but in so much fear and disorder that he lost great numbers of his men in his hastyâ— march and particularly in passing the Charante where St. Luc Governour of Broüage who always shew'd himself as brave in War as he was agreeable at Court in Peace having charg'd him in the Reer cut it entirely off Thus the League and the Calvinism lost on that occasion the one the Castle of Anger 's wherein the King plac'd a Governour on whose fidelity he might rely and the other almost all its Forces which after that shock durst no longer keep the Field This furnish'd the King with an opportunity to publish new Ordinances by which he commanded the Goodâ— of Rebels to be seiz'd and particularly of those who had followed the Prince of Conde with promise nevertheless of restoring them when they shou'd return into the Catholique Church and give good security of remaining in it Ordaining farther in execution of the Edict of Iuly that all such shou'd be forc'd to depart the Realm who refus'd to make abjuration of Calvinism into the hands of the Bishops and it was enjoyn'd them to make it according to the Form which was compos'd by William Ruzè Bishop of Anger 's It was thus practis'd because it had been observ'd that the greatest part of the Huguenots had invented a trick neither to lose their Goods nor to leave the Kingdom but thought it was lawfull for them to accommodate themselves to the times and so deceive men by making a false profession of Faith onely for form sake and in external obedience to the Edicts which they express'd by these words Since it has so pleas'd the King with which they never fail'd to preface the Oath of Abjuration when they took it Now this prudent Bishop having observ'd that intolerable abuse which was follow'd by an infinite number of Sacrileges and most horrible profanation of the Sacraments which those false Converts made no scruple to receive betraying by that damnable imposture both the one Religion and the other wou'd admit none into the Communion of the Church who had not first made his profession of Faith according to his form which much resembled that of Pius the Fourth and which from that time forward was and is presented to be sign'd by all those who abjure Heresie 'T is most certain that these Edicts joyn'd with the extreme weakness in which the Huguenot party then was made in a little time many more converts true or false than had been made by the Massacre of St. Bartholomew But also on the other side they occasion'd the Protestants of Germany whom the King of Navarre cou'd never draw to his party against the Leaguers now to incline to his assistance Two years were almost past since that King who desir'd to shelter himself from the Conspiracy which the League had made principally against him with purpose to exclude him from the Crown against the fundamental Law of the Realm had solicited those Princes by the Sieur de Segur Pardaillan and de Clervant to raise an Army for his assistance and elsewhere by the intermission of Geneva he press'd the Protestant Cantons of Swisserland to make a Counter-League with the Germans for the same purpose Queen Elizabeth who besides the interest of her Protestant Religion had a particular esteem and love for that Prince the Duke of Boüillon a declar'd Enemy of the Lorrain Princes and the Count de Montbeliard Frederick de Wirtemburg a most zealous Calvinist used their utmost endeavours with those German Protestants to stir them up all which notwithstanding they were very loath to resolve on a War with the King of France their Allye saying always that they wou'd never engage themselves in it till it was clearly manifest that the War which was made against the Huguenots was not a War of the Government against its Rebels but purely and onely against the Protestant Religion which they intended to extirpate But when they saw before their eyes those Edicts and Ordinances of the King who was absolutely resolv'd not to suâ—â—er any other Religion beside the Catholique in his Kingdom and that otherways they had given them all the security they cou'd desire for the payment of their Army then they took a Resolution of Levying great Forces and of assisting the King of Navarre powerfully after sending a solemn Embassy to the King to demand of him the Revocation of his Edicts and an entire liberty of Conscience for the Protestants The King of Denmark the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburgh the Prince Palatine Iohn Casimir the Dukes of Saxony of Pomerania and of Brunswick the Landgrave of Hesse and Iohn Frederick Administrator of Magdeburg were the Princes who Asâ—ociated themselves with the Towns of Francford Vlmes Nuremberg and Strasburg to send this Embassy
most bigotted Huguenots nor any bitter Enemy to the Catholiques But as he cou'd not believe after what had been done against him that he had reason to rely on these fair promises that he fear'd to fall to the Ground betwixt two Stools nay if once he was perceiv'd to Waver to be soon abandon'd by his party which already lean'd extremely towards the Prince of Condè who was Known to be a much better Protestant than himself and moreover that he thought himself secure of great Succours from the Germans he wou'd not lend an Ear to any of those Proposals and gave a quick dispatch to the King's Envoys with an answer worthy of his ingenuity and of his Courage That his Enemies desir'd nothing less than his Conversion because they took Arms for no other reason than to Exclude him from the Succession of the Crown and to cantonize the Realm amongst themselves under pretence of preserving the Catholique Religion which he wou'd maintain in it much better than themselves That he most humbly besought his Majesty to permit him to decide that Quarrel with the Princes of the League without his Majesty's giving himself the trouble to interpose in it and in three Months time he shou'd have Fifty thousand Men with which he hop'd Almighty God wou'd do him the favour to reduce the Leaguers in a short time to their Duty and to bring those Troublers of the publick Peace and those Rebels to the terms of Obedience which they ow'd their Sovereign This answer put the King into an extreme Agony of Spirit not knowing where to fix his Resolutions nor which of the three Parties he shou'd Espouse For in case he shou'd stand Neuter betwixt the King of Navarre and the League he ran the risque of being at the disposal of the Conquerour if he rang'd himself with the King of Navarre's Party against the League as some time after he was constrain'd to do he fear'd to pass for an Heretique or for a favourer of Heretiques as the League endeavour'd already to make it be believ'd by their Calumnies against him and in the sequel to draw upon himself the power of Spain and all the Thunderbolts of Rome which in that conjuncture he dreaded more than the League and the Spaniard put together Thus as he believ'd not himself to be singly strong enough to force both parties to Obedience that latter fear determin'd him though contrary to his Inclinations against the King of Navarre's Party as judging it to be the juster excepting onely their Religion which that Prince had solemnly protested was no ingredient of the present Quarrel Insomuch that following the advice of the Queen his Mother and some few of his Council who out of their hatred to Heresie were favourable to the League he joyn'd himself with those whom he regarded as his greatest Enemies to make War with his Brother-in-Law whose good intentions he well knew for the publique wellfare A War which drew from both parties both much Bloud and many Tears the various events of which will be the Subject of the following Book THE HISTORY OF THE LEAGUE LIB II. THE King according to his Custome pass'd the Winter of this Memorable Year 1587 partly in Feasts Gaming Ballets and Masquerades and such other divertisements and partly in his Processions his Fraternities his Retirements and his Penances among the Feuillants whom he had founded at the Fauxbourg St. Honore among the Capuchins and especially in his little Cells of the Monastery of Bois de Vincennes wherein he had plac'd the Ieronimites who were come from Spain and wherein afterwards were plac'd the Minimes But to his great grief at the beginning of the Spring he was forc'd to quit the Pleasures and Exercises of that sort of Life with which he was infinitely satisfied and rowze up himself to make War in conjunction with the League against the King of Navarre and the Germans who were coming to joyn their Forces with him To this effect the Duke of Guise who till that time had been making War with the young Duke of Bouillon la Mark without any considerable advantage return'd to the Court which was then at Meaux and after having assur'd the King that there was a great Army of Germans in readiness to take their March towards our Frontiers and demanded Forces which might be capable of stopping them he made great complaints of the Breach which he pretended to be made of some Articles in the Treaty of Nemours Those of the League maintain'd that these complaints were just the others on the contrary made it evident that they were altogether unreasonable He complain'd amongst other things that the Count of Brissac was not restor'd to his Government of the Castle of Anger 's But to that it was answer'd that the King had retaken it from the King of Navarre's Forces by whom Brissac who held it for the League against his Majesty's intentions had suffer'd it to be surpris'd He added that such as were his Dependants and in his interests were not treated so favourably at Court as others as if the King had been oblig'd not onely to forgive but also to bestow particular favours on those who had taken Arms against him and to reward them for having discharg'd their Cannon against his faithfull Servants as Francis de Balsac d' Entragues had done against the Duke of Montpensier whom his Majesty had sent to Orleans In conclusion he took it exceedingly ill that the temporal Estate of Cardinal Pellevè Archbishop of Sens had been seiz'd into the King's hands as if the World were not satisfi'd that this Prelate a Pensioner of Spain and who was a declar'd Enemy to the King was not then at Rome doeing him all manner of ill Offices with the Pope eternally decrying his conduct and blasting him with his sinister interpretations and venemous aspersions Nevertheless the King had the goodness not long time after to grant him Possession of his Revenues and that to gratifie His Holiness who had desir'd it of him by his Nuncio Morosini but at the same time he desir'd the Pope to admonish the Cardinal in private that he shou'd beware of relapsing into so hainous an Offence which if he shou'd he then hop'd his Holiness wou'd hold himself oblig'd to punish him with the same Severity as if the crime were committed against his own person For the present he was content to mollify the Duke of Guise with a parcel of fair words assuring him that he wou'd take such order that he shou'd have reason to be satisfi'd in all things After which having again exhorted him to make Peace with the King of Navarre and finding him still obstinate in the Negative he took at last the resolution to dispose of the Forces he had already on foot and of those he expected from the Catholique Cantons of Swisserland in such manner that he might find a way to make himself Master of all by weakning the King of Navarre and the League and by
House which first produc'd and since that time maintain'd the League But the bottom of that design was this that the Germans had no great desire to be at so great a distance from their own Countrey and the Duke of Bouillon wou'd have been glad under that pretence to provide for the security of Sedan and Iametz to which he knew the Lorrainers cast a longing eye On the contrary the French-men the Envoys of the King of Navarre and the Baron de Dona who follow'd the Orders he had receiv'd from Duke Casimir made it be concluded that they shou'd satisfie themselves in their passage through Lorrain to make what havock they cou'd in that Countrey which had been wholly free from War since that which the Burgundians made who were defeated with their last Duke at the Battel of Nancy and that without stopping their course by investing Towns they shou'd hasten their conjunction with the King of Navarre who expected them On the other side in the Council which was held at Nancy the Duke of Guise propos'd to hinder the passage of the Enemy because that being well inform'd of the division which was amongst them he doubted not with those few Troups which he had then with him which notwithstanding were compos'd of well disciplin'd and experienc'd men that he shou'd find some opportunity of Defeating them in that narrow Dukedom inclos'd on all sides with mountains and Rivers or at least that he shou'd force them back into their own Countrey and this was also adher'd to by all the French who were then present But the Duke of Lorrain who by no means wou'd consent to expose his State to the hazard of a Battel and who after all that cou'd be said had rather his Dukedom shou'd be ruinated than be lost wou'd absolutely have it that without opposing the passage of that Army one part of his Forces shou'd be put into his Towns whither the Countrey-people shou'd retire with all the provision they cou'd carry that the Ovens shou'd every where be broken the Mills pull'd down and the Forage destroy'd and that with the remaining part of his Forces they shou'd coast the Enemies and constrain them by the scarcity of all things and by harrassing them perpetually to depart speedily from Lorrain and pass into France into which he was resolv'd he wou'd not enter And fearing lest the Duke of Guise whose design and boldness he well knew shou'd engage his little Army whether he wou'd or not in some dangerous Battel he determin'd to have the Command of it himself and order'd it to be encamp'd betwixt the New Town and a little Wood which serv'd for a Park to an House of his Highnesse's call'd the Male-Grange watching his opportunity to employ it to his most advantage according to the way which the Enemy shou'd take The Germans then having assembled in the plain of Strasburg almost all their Troups and finding the passages free by the retreat of those who shou'd have guarded them but were now recall'd to Man their Towns pass'd the Mountain near Saverne without other obstacle besides the trouble they had for three days space in opening the ways which were incumbred with bodies of great Trees laid across the passages They were no sooner got over it than the Duke of Guise who lost no occasion of surprising the Reyters towards whom he was advanc'd with the Van-guard order'd the first Camisade to be given them by the famous Colonel De Rone who was afterwards made Marshal of the League and the Baron of Swartzenbourg who in the night attack'd the Quarters of Colonel Bouck who was undoubtedly the most able Officer they had And being such he was not surpris'd for the Guard he kept about his Lodgings was so watchfull that he had timely notice and was got on Horseback when he was attacqu'd but he was so vigorously charg'd that with all his brave resistance he was not able to maintain the place from the Assailants nor hinder them from taking one of his Colours which the Duke of Lorrain sent immediately to the King as by way of Advertisement that the Enemy was already in his Countrey and that therefore it was time to Reinforce Monsieur de Guise with all the Troups which he had promis'd them The next day which was the last of August the Germans entring into Lorrain immediately possess'd themselves of Sarbourg which a Lorrain Gentleman who was in it with two Companies sufficient to defend it at least some little time surrender'd basely on sight onely of their Fore-Runners without staying so much as to be invested The like happen'd not to Blamont which another young Gentleman of the same Countrey maintain'd so bravely though the Enemies Foot with their Cannon was lodg'd in the Fauxbourg that having kill'd of them more than two hundred men in one Attacque he forc'd them to dislodge with shame And from thence they March'd to Luneville before which they receiv'd a greater affront than was the former In effect the Baron d' Ossonville Colonel of the Lorrain Infantry having taken upon him to defend so weak a Place where he had hastily made some slight Fortifications shew'd so much resolution grounded on the promise which the Duke of Guise had given to relieve him that they durst not so much as once Attacque the Town In this manner these Foreigners who acted rather like Robbers or Bandits than Souldiers made it their onely Business to waste the Countrey Plundering Sacking and Massacring the very Women and Children in revenge of the great wants they suffer'd by being depriv'd of the means of their subsistance all Provisions being lock'd up from them in the fortifi'd places in besieging of which they were unwilling to ingage for fear of loosing too much time That which gave the Duke of Lorrain the greatest trouble was the fear he had lest they shou'd ransack his Town of St. Nicholas which at that time wanted nothing but Walls to be the fairest and the richest Bourg in Lorrain excepting onely Nancy as it wou'd be at this day if the Imperialists who boasted that they wou'd restore the late Duke Charles to his Estates had not finish'd its Destruction by their feeble Succours laying waste the Villages and open Towns without Defence and particularly that famous and sacred Bourg which they had never violated as they did when they reduc'd it almost into Ashes if any spark of Religion or Humanity had been remaining in their Hearts I hope my Reader will pardon me for this short Digression and give it to the just resentments which I have against those Barbarians being as I am particularly interess'd in the fortune of that miserable Town which had never been ruin'd by the Croats and Germans if a Duke of Guise had been its Champion as he was on that occasion which I am going to relate For that gallant Prince seeing the concernment of the Duke of Lorrain for it and its Destruction seeming to be unavoidable as lying open on all sides
than a bare conjecture and the impulse of his inborn generosity which his bloudy and lamentable death as things are commonly judg'd by their event has caus'd to pass in the World for an effect of the greatest rashness It ought not here to be expected that I shou'd dwell on an exact and long description of all the circumstances of that tragical action which has been so unfortunate to France and so ill receiv'd in the World Besides that they are recounted in very different manners by the Historians of one and the other Religion according to their different passions and that the greatest part of them are either false or have little in them worth observation the thing was done with so great facility and precipitation and withall in so brutal a manner that it cannot be too hastily pass'd over this then is the plain and succinct relation of it After that the Brave Grillon Mestre de Camp of the Regiment of Guards had generously refus'd to kill the Duke of Guise unless in single Duel and in an honourable way the King had recourse to Lognac the first Gentleman of his Chamber and Captain of the forty five who promis'd him eighteen or twenty of the most resolute amongst them and for whom he durst be answerable They were of the number of those whom the Duke of Guise who had always a distrust of those Gascons as creatures of the Duke of Espernon had formerly demanded that they might be dismiss'd from which request he had afterwards desisted Insomuch that it may be said he foresaw the misfortune that attended him without being able to avoid it For on Friday the twenty third of December being enter'd about eight of the Clock in the Morning into the great Hall where the King had intimated on Thursday night that he intended to hold the Council very early that he might afterwards go to Nostre dame de Clery some came to tell him that His Majesty expected him in the old Closset yet he was not there but in the other which looks into the Garden Upon this he arose from the fire side where finding himself somewhat indispos'd he had been seated and pass'd through a narrow Entry which was on one side the Hall into the Chamber where he found Lognac with seven or eight of the forty five the King himself having caus'd them to enter into that room very secretly before day-break the rest of them were posted in the old Closset and all of them had great Ponyards hid under their Cloaks expecting onely the coming of the Duke of Guise to make sure work with him whether it were in the Chamber or in the Closset in case he shou'd retire thither for his defence There needed not so great a preparation for the killing of a single man who came thither without distrust of any thing that was design'd against him and who holding his Hat in one hand and with the other the lappet of his Cloak which he had wrapt under his left Arm was in no condition of defence In this posture he advanc'd towards the old Closset saluting very civilly as his custome was those Gentlemen who made shew of attending him out of respect as far as the door And as in lifting up the Hangings with the help of one of them he stoop'd to enter he was suddenly seiz'd by the Arms and by the Legs and at the same instant struck into the Body before with five or six Ponyards and from behind into the Nape of the Neck and the Throat which hinder'd him from speaking one single word of all that he is made to say or so much as drawing out his Sword All that he cou'd do was to drag along his Murtherers with the last and strongest effort that he cou'd make strugling and striving till he fell down at the Beds-Feet where some while after with a deep Groan he yielded up his breath The Cardinal of Guise and Arch-Bishop of Lyons who were in the Council Hall rising up at the Noise with intention of running to his aid were made Prisoners by the Marshals D' Aumont and de Retz At the same time the Cardinal of Bourbon was also seiz'd in the Castle together with Anne d' Este Duchess of Nemours and Mother of the Guises and the Prince of Ioinville the Dukes of Elbeuf and Nemours Brissac and Boisdauphin with many other Lords who were Confidents of the Duke and Pericard his Secretary And in the mean time the Grand Prevost of the King's House went with his Archers to the Chamber of the third Estate in the Town-House and there arrested the President Neuilly the Prevost of Merchants the Sheriffs Compan and Cotte-Blanch who were Deputies for Paris and some other notorious Leaguers This being done the King himself brought the News of it to the Queen Mother telling her that now he was a real King since he had cut off the Duke of Guise At which that Princess being much surpris'd and mov'd asking him if he had made provision against future accidents he answer'd her in an angry kind of tone much differing from his accustom'd manner of speaking to her that she might set her heart at rest for he had taken order for what might happen and so went out surlily to go to Mass yet before he went he sent particularly to Cardinal Gondi and to the Cardinal Legat Morosini and inform'd them both of what had pass'd with his reasons to justify his proceedings Davila the Historian reports that before he went to Mass the King met the Legat and walking with him a long time gave him all his reasons for that action which he takes the pains to set down at large as if he had been present at that long Conference and that he had heard without loosing one single word all the King said to the Cardinal together with the Cardinal 's politique reflexions upon it and his reply to the King's discourse For he tells us that the Legat fearing to lesten Henry's affection to the Holy See assur'd him that the Pope as being a common Father wou'd listen favourably to his excuses and withall exhorted him to make War against the Huguenots that he might make demonstrations of his sincerity and that it might be evident he kill'd not the Duke of Guise the great Enemy of the Heretiques out of intention to favour the King of Navarre and that party He adds that the King promis'd him and confirm'd it with an Oath that provided the Pope wou'd joyn with him he wou'd proceed to make War against them with more eagerness than ever and wou'd not sufâ—er any other Religion but the Roman Catholique in his Kingdom That after this solemn Protestation the Legat judg'd it not expedient to proceed any farther in the Conference and that without saying any thing for the present in favour of the Prelates who were Prisoners he continued to treat with him in the same manner he had us'd formerly There are those also who are bold enough to affirm that by
the Castle of Amboise and distributed them into several Prisons But the Duke of Mayenne who over-powr'd him in men was already upon the point of coming out from Paris with a strong Army with a resolution of preventing his designs and assaulting him in Tours And upon that consideration it was that he was forc'd to resolve upon the onely way which remain'd for his Shelter from the last extremities of Violence and for the preservation of his Crown and Person France at that time was in a most deplorable condition divided and as it were broken into three Parties which laid it waste That of the League the most powerfull of any by the Rebellion of so many Towns that of the King of Navarre which had greatly strengthen'd it self dureing the first troubles and that of the King which in a manner was reduc'd to his own Houshold and some very few depending Towns It was impossible for him in this condition to carry on the War which he had undertaken against the Huguenots and at the same time to maintain himself against the Army of the Leaguers It remain'd then that of necessity he must close with one of those Parties that by its assistance he might reduce the other to Obedience or at least that he might save himself from ruine which was inevitable if he stood single and expos'd to the violence of the other two Now the Leaguers wou'd neither admit of Peace nor Truce with him having Sworn in the Oath which was administer'd to them by the Duke of Mayenne that they wou'd prosecute their Vengeance to the extremity for the death of the two Guises 'T is manifest by consequence that he was indispensably oblig'd to unite himself with the King of Navarre and to accept the aid he offer'd him with so much frankness and generosity After the death of the Guises that Prince making his advantage of so favourable an opportunity while all things were in confusion amongst the Catholiques had much advanc'd the affairs of his Party by taking of Niort Saint Maxent Maillezais and some other Towns in Poitou since when upon his quick recovery from a dangerous Sickness whereof he was like to die he had push'd his conquests as far as the Frontiers of Touraine having made himself Master of Loudun Thouars Montreiuil Bellay Mirebeau Lisle Bouchard Chastelleraud Argenton and of Blanc in Berry At which time observing the wretched Estate to which the Kingdom was reduc'd by the three Parties which dismembred it he publish'd a Declaration on the fourth of March address'd to the three Estates of France therein exhorting them to Peace which was the onely remedy for so many distempers as afflicted the miserable Nation Then having clearly prov'd that it was impossible for the King to succeed in a Civil War to be prosecuted as some advis'd him at the same time against the Huguenots and Leaguers he offer'd him his Service and all the Forces of his Party not for bringing the Leaguers and the Revolted Towns to punishment but for reducing them to the terms of desiring Peace which he most humbly petition'd him to grant them and to pardon and pass by the injuries he had receiv'd after they had been subdu'd by the joint Forces of all good French-men both of the one Religion and the other marching under the conduct of his Majesty against Rebels After which he protested in the sight of God and ingag'd his Faith and Honour that forasmuch as that union of his most faithfull Servants as well Catholiques as Protestants was onely intended to restore the Royal Authority and Peace in France he wou'd never permit that the Roman Catholique Faith shou'd receive the least prejudice in consideration of it but that it shou'd always be preserv'd in such Towns as shou'd be taken without making any alteration of Religion in them This Declaration made way for the Treaty which was begun with great secrecy immediately after it in order to the Union of the two Kings There were some in the Council who endeavour'd to oppose that Negotiation as fearing that it wou'd much fortify the Party of the League by contributing to the belief of that report which was already spread by the Leaguers amongst the people that the King had always maintain'd a private Correspondence with the Huguenots besides that the Pope whose Friendship was necessary wou'd be scandalis'd at such an Union The King himself had a great repugnance to it and doubtless wou'd much rather have compounded his differences with the Princes of the League if it had been possible and thereby to have renew'd his Edict of Reunion a thing not unknown to the King of Navarre who easily perceiv'd that the Court wou'd never apply to him but for want of others In effect the King in the beginning of March had written to the Duke of Lorrain and had sent him very advantageous conditions for the Princes of his House with all manner of Security for them in case he cou'd prevail with them to receive the Peace and Treaty which he offer'd But being refus'd on that side those of his Council who were of opinion that the King of Navarre's propositions shou'd be accepted inforc'd so far their strongest Argument which was pure Necessity farther alledging the examples of so many Catholique Kings and Princes who like the great Emperour Theodosius made use of Inâ—idels and Heretiques against their Enemies that the King at last consented to set on foot the Treaty It was concluded at Tours on the third of April by the Sieur du Plessis-Mornay who capitulated on the King of Navarre's behalf on these conditions That the said King during the Truce which was made for one year shou'd serve the King with all his Forces That he shou'd have a passage on the Loyre which at length was declar'd to be the Town of Saumur after some difficulties which were remov'd concerning the trusting it in his hands That he shou'd therein have the free exercise of his Religion and in some other little Towns which were left to him by way of caution for his reimbursment of his charges in the War This Negotiation of Du Plessis cou'd not be transacted with so much Secrecy but that it was vented by the Legat Morosini who thereupon us'd his utmost endeavours in three vigorous Remonstrances to hinder that blow which he believ'd wou'd be fatal to Religion according to the false notions which he had of the King of Navarre And the King having told him that after having tri'd all ways of accommodation with the Duke of Mayenne which that Prince had always haughtily rejected necessity compell'd him to make use of the onely remaining means to defend his Life the Legat earnestly besought him to allow him ten days more that he might have opportunity of treating in person with that Duke whom he hop'd he shou'd be able to prevail with to accept those advantageous terms of Peace which were presented him Though the Treaty was not onely concluded but also sign'd as appears
our King Pope Gregory the 13th commanded his Nuncio himself to thank the Ambassador from him at his passage from Venice on his return to France and to desire him that he wou'd use his Interest with his Brother the Abbot of L' Isle who had succeeded him in many of his Negotiations and in that Embassy as he also did in the Bishoprick of Acq's that he wou'd follow the worthy Examples which he had given him 'T is true that Pope Pius the 5th Predecessor to Gregory thought it very strange at first that a Bishop shou'd be Ambassador for the most Christian King at the Ottoman Port. But besides that the Bishop of Agria a most prudent and vertuous Prelat had exercis'd that Charge during five years for the Emperor Maximilian the 2d without the least fault found with it he very much chang'd his opinion after the Bishop of Acq's by his credit with the Grand Signior had obtain'd from him that an express Prohibition shou'd be made to Piali Bassa General of his Navy of making any descent on the Territories of the Church in consideration of which Benefit his Holiness made him a promise to promote him to the highest Dignities with which a Pope can recompence the greatest Services that are render'd to the Church These were the Employments of that Bishop whose Deserts were not less eminent than those of his elder Brother Anthony de Noailles Head of that illustrious Family which is one of the most ancient and remarkable in Limousin who was Ambassador in England Governour of Bourdeaux and Lieutenant for the King in Guyenne where he serv'd the State and Religion with the same Zeal which appears at this day with so much Success and Glory in his Posterity It was then by the Motives of the same Zeal for Religion that Francis de Noailles after he had reduc'd 100 Hugonot Families which he found in Acq's at his coming to that Bishoprick to the number of 12 was not wanting to make use of so fair an opportunity as he had to work upon the King of Navarre's Inclinations which good advice in God's due time had the desir'd effect For having conferr'd with him at Nerac by the King's Orders twice or thrice with endeavours to procure from him the re-establishment of the Catholick Religion in Bearn when he found that new Difficulties were still started he laid aside that particular Point and coming to the Spring-head whereon all the rest depended he told him in the presence of Segur with all the sincerity of a faithful Minister That his Majesty cou'd not reasonably hope to support himself by that Party which how powerful soever it appear'd wou'd always be too weak to bear him up in spight of the Catholicks who were infinitely more strong to that pitch of heighth to which his Birth and Fortune might one day carry him that whatsoever Wonders his Valour might perform yet they wou'd never be of any advantage to him till he reconcil'd himself sincerely to the Catholick Church and that it was impossible they were his very words that he cou'd ever raise any thing that was durable for the establishment of his Fortune either within the Realm or without it unless he built on this Foundation This was what he said when he took his leave of the King of Navarre And some few days after this writing from Agen to the Sieur de Segur he protested to him That his Master cou'd never arrive to the possession of that Crown to which he might lawfully pretend if he made not his entrance by the Gate of the Catholick Religion and pray'd him therefore that he wou'd think seriously of that Matter for if he follow'd not his Counsel he shou'd one day speak to him in Petrarch 's Verse When Error goes before Repentance comes behind This Discourse startled Segur who had much power over his Masters Inclinations and it was principally on this account that he gave him the Counsel above-mention'd which consequently caus'd the King of Navarre to consider of the means of reuniting himself to the Catholicks But it happening that in the midst of these Agitations the Leaguers began openly to rebel and afterwards capitulating with Arms in their hands obtain'd an Edict by which the King oblig'd himself to make War with all his Power against the Hugonots Segur whom the King of Navarre had lately sent into Germany to desire assistance writ to him after he had obtain'd it that this was not a time to think of turning Catholick though he himself had formerly advis'd it and that since his Enemies wou'd make him change his Religion by force almost in the same manner as they had us'd him at the Massacre of St. Barthol'mew he ought to stand bent against them and defend his Liberty by Arms that it might not be said he was basely plyant to their will and that he might change freely with safeguard to his Honour at some other time which now he cou'd not without shame as being by constraint He follow'd this Advice which was also seconded by his Counsel He made the War and always appear'd at the Head of the Hugonots with the success which has already been related But being a man of a sprightly and piercing Wit he was not wanting in the mean time to instruct himself and that by a very artificial way Sometimes by proposing difficult Points to his Ministers or to speak more properly his own Doubts and Scruples in matters of Religion to understand on what Foundations their Opinions were built sometimes by conferring with knowing Catholicks and maintaining against them with the strongest Reasons he cou'd urge the Principles which had been infus'd into him by his Ministers on purpose to discover by their Answers which he compar'd with what had been told him on the other side what was real and solid truth betwixt them And he always continued in this manner of Instruction clearing and fathoming the principal Points of the Controversie and causing them to give in writing what they had to argue pro or con which produc'd this effect that the Hugonots never believ'd him to be sound at bottom and settled in their Religion but repos'd much greater confidence in the late Prince of Conde who was in reality a better Protestant than he And truly it appears exceeding credible that when at his coming to the Crown he made a promise to the Catholick Princes and Lords that he wou'd cause himself to be instructed within six months he was already resolv'd on his Conversion there remaining but very few things which he then scrupled and for which he demanded some longer time in order to his fuller satisfaction But as he afterwards acknowledg'd he thought himself oblig'd to defer that good action to some more convenient opportunity because the Hugâ—nots wou'd certainly have cantoniz'd themselves and set up under the protection of some powerful Foreigner whom they wou'd have chosen for their Head which must have occasion'd new Troubles in the Kingdom Besides which the Head
Nuremberg The King was not yet satisfy'd to have wholly extinguish'd that Firebrand of Civil War which the League had lighted up in all the Provinces of France he farther desir'd in order to the security and quiet of his People after so great Troubles to make an end of foreign War which he accomplish'd not long after the Treaty of the Duke of Mercaeur by the Peace of Vervins Since that War which was openly made against the Spaniard during the space of four years had nothing of relation to the League nor the Peace which concluded it I shall forbear any mention of it in this History that I may not exceed the Limits of my Subject I shall only say that after the Spaniard had been oblig'd by vertue of the Articles of Peace to restore all the Places which he had taken from us or that had been basely given up to him during our Troubles we have seen since that time under the glorious Reigns of the Bourbons that imperial House still increasing with the French Monarchy by Peace and War in Greatness in Power and in Wealth even till this present time when Louis the Great by his victorious Arms and by his Laws has rais'd it to the highest pitch of Glory on the Ruines of those who had attempted its destruction by the League A wonderful effect of the divine Providence and Justice and a plain demonstration to all Subjects that they are indispensably oblig'd to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and that with good Reason founded on the express Commands of Jesus Christ the fourth Council of Toledo inspir'd by God's holy Spirit has made a Decree against such kind of Leaguers containing That whoever shall have violated by any League the Oath of Allegiance by which he is bound to maintain the state of his Countrey and of his King or shall have made any Attempt against his sacred Person or endeavour'd to depose him and tyrannically usurp'd the Soveraign Power let him be Anathema before God the Father and his holy Angels before Iesus Christ and his Apostles before the holy Ghost and the Martyrs let him be cut off from the Catholick Church which be has profan'd by his execrable Perjury and let him be excluded from the Company of the Faithful together with all those who have been partakers of his Impiety for 't is most just that they who are Accomplices and guilty of the same Crime shou'd also be involv'd in the same Punishment THE POSTSCRIPT Of the TRANSLATOR THat Government generally consider'd is of divine Authority will admit of no dispute For whoever will seriously consider that no man has naturally a right over his own Life so as to murder himself will find by consequence that he has no right to take away anothers Life and that no pact betwixt man and man or of Corporations and Individuals or of Soveraigns and Subjects can intitle them to this right So that no Offender can lawfully and without sin be punish'd unless that power be deriv'd from God 'T is He who has commission'd Magistrates and authoriz'd them to prevent future Crimes by punishing Offenders and to redress the injur'd by distributive Justice Subjects therefore are accountable to Superiors and the Superior to Him alone For the Soveraign being once invested with lawful Authority the Subject has irrevocably given up his power and the dependance of a Monarch is alone on God A King at his Coronation swears to govern his Subjects by the Laws of the Land and to maintain the several Orders of Men under him in their lawful priviledges and those Orders swear Allegiance and Fidelity to him but with this distinction that the failure of the People is punishable by the King that of the King is only punishable by the King of Kings The People then are not Judges of good or ill administration in their King for 't is inconsistent with the Nature of Soveraignty that they shou'd be so And if at some times they suffer through the irregularities of a bad Prince they enjoy more often the benefits and advantages of a good one as God in his Providence shall dispose either for their blessing or their punishment The advantages and disadvantages of such subjection are suppos'd to have been first consider'd and upon this ballance they have given up their power without a capacity of resumption So that it is in vain for a Common-wealth Party to plead that men for example now in being cannot bind their Posterity or give up their power For if Subjects can swear only for themselves when the Father dyes the subjection ends and the Son who has not sworn can be no Traytor or Offender either to the King or to the Laws And at this rate a long-liv'd Prince may out-live his Soveraignty and be no longer lawfully a King But in the mean time 't is evident that the Son enjoys the benefit of the Laws and Government which is an implicit acknowledgment of subjection 'T is endless to run through all the extravagancies of these men and 't is enough for us that we are settled under a Lawful Government of a Most Gracious Prince that our Monarchy is Hereditary that it is naturally poiz'd by our municipal Laws with equal benefit of Prince and People that he Governs as he has promis'd by explicit Laws and what the Laws are silent in I think I may conclude to be part of his Prerogative for what the King has not granted away is inheâ—ent in him The point of Succession has sufficiently been discuss'd both as to the Right of it and to the interest of the People One main Argument of the other side is how often it has been remov'd from the Right Line As in the case of King Stephen and of Henry the Fourth and his Descendants of the House of Lancaster But 't is easie to answer them that matter of Fact and matter of Right are different Considerations Both those Kings were but Usurpers in effect and the Providence of God restor'd the Posterities of those who were dispossess'd By the same Argument they might as well justifie the Rebellion and Murder of the Late King For there was not only a Prince inhumanly put to death but a Government overturn'd and first an Arbitrary Common-wealth then two Usurpers set up against the Lawful Soveraign but to our happiness the same Providence has miraculously restor'd the Right Heir and to their confusion as miraculously preserv'd him In this present History to go no further we see Henry the Third by a Decree of the Sorbonne divested what in them lay of his Imperial Rights a Parliament of Paris such another as our first long Parliament confirming their Decree a Pope authorising all this by his Excommunication and an Holy League and Covenant prosecuting this Deposition by Arms Yet an untimely death only hindred him from reseating himself in Glory on the Throne after he was in manifest possession of the Victory We see also the same Sorbonists the same Pope Parliament and
King of Navarre detain'd at Court and not very favourably treated having made their escape the first of them who besides his own followers was joyn'd by a considerable part of Damville's Troops put himself at the head of the Protestant Army which was at the same time reinforc'd by the conjunction of great Succours of Reyters and Lansquenets whom the Prince of Conde had brought from Germany under the conduct of Iohn Casimir second Son to Frederick the Elector Palatine So that in the general Muster which was made of them near Moulins in Bourbonnois their Forces were found to consist of thirty five thousand experienc'd Souldiers which power 't is most certain the King was in no condition to resist in that miserable Estate to which he had reduc'd himself by the prodigious change he had made in his conduct and his carriage immediately after his succeeding to the Crown of France He was no longer that Victorious Duke of Anjou who had gain'd in the world so high a reputation by so many gallant actions perform'd by him in commanding the Armies of the King his Brother in quality of his Lieutenant General through the whole Kingdom but as if in assuming the Crown of the first and most ancient Monarchy of Christendom he had despoil'd himself at the same moment by some fatal enchantment of his Royal perfections he plung'd himself into all the delights of a most ignominious idleness with his favourites and Minions who were the Bloud-suckers the Harpyes and the scandal of all France which he seem'd to have abandon'd to their pillage by the immensness of his prodigality After this he render'd himself equally odious and contemptible to his Subjects both of the one Religion and the other by his inconstant and fantastique manner of procedure For he ran sometimes from the extremity of debauchery into a fit of Religion with processions and exercises of Penance which were taken for Hypocrisie and then again from Devotion into Debauchery as the present humour carried him away and busied himself in a thousand mean employments unworthy I say not of a King but of a man of common sense All which Davila the Historian after his manner of drawing every thing into design and Mystery though at the expence of Truth has endeavour'd to pass upon us for so many effects of a subtile and over-refin'd policy In conclusion to discharge himself of the burthen of Royalty which was grown wholly insupportable to him in that lazy effeminate sort of Life he relinquish'd all the cares of Government to the Queen his Mother who to continue him in that humour and by consequence to make her self absolute Mistress of affairs which was always her predominant passion fail'd not to furnish him from time to time with new baits and allurements of voluptuousness and all that was needfull for the shipwrack of vertue and honour in a Court the most dissolute which had ever been beheld in France Since it therefore pleas'd the Queen that War shou'd be made against the Huguenots to infeeble them as much as was possible that they might give no trouble to her management of Business So also when she saw them strengthen'd with so formidable an Army and her Son Alanson at their head she began immediately to apprehend that at length making themselves Masters they might degrade her from that Authority which she was so ambitious to retain by whatsoever means and consequently she resolv'd to make a peace for the same reasons for which she undertook the War And as she was undoubtedly the most subtile Woman of her time and had so great an Ascendant over all her Children that they were not able to withstand her or to defend themselves against her artifices and withall wou'd spare for nothing to compass her designs she manag'd so dexterously the minds of the Princes and cheif Officers of their Army in granting them with ease extraordinary Conditions even such as were beyond their hope that she conjur'd down the Tempest which was about to have been powr'd upon her head and shelter'd her self at the cost of our Religion by the fifth Edict of Pacification which was as advantageous to the Huguenots as they cou'd desire To whom amongst other privileges was allow'd the free exercise of their pretended Religion in all the Cities of the Kingdom and in all other places excepting onely the Court and Paris and the compass of two Leagues about that City This peace was infinitely distastefull to the Catholiques because it serv'd for a pretence and gave a favourable occasion to the birth of a design long time before premeditated and hatch'd by him who was the first Authour of that League whose History I write and who began to lay the Foundations of it precisely at this point of time in that manner as shall immediately be related 'T is certain that the first persons who were thus Associated under pretence of Religion against their Sovereigns were the Protestants Then when the Prince of Conde made himself their conceal'd head at the Conspiracy of Amboise and afterwards overtly declar'd himself in beginning the first troubles by the surprise of Orleans That League which always was maintain'd by force of Arms by places of caution and security which upon constraint were granted to the Huguenots and by the treasonable intelligence they held with Strangers even till the time wherein it was totally extinguish'd by the taking of Rochell and of their other Cities and fortified places under the Reign of the late King of glorious memory oblig'd some Catholiques oftentimes to unite themselves without the participation of the King in certain Provinces as particularly in Languedoc Guyenne and Poitou not onely to deâ—end themselves against the encroachments of the Huguenots but also to attacque them and to exterminate them if they had been able from all those places of which they had possess'd themselves in those Provinces But he who employ'd his thoughts at the utmost stretch in that affair and was the first who invented the project of a General League amongst the Catholiques under another Head than the King was the Cardinal of Lorrain at that time assisting at the Council of Trent That Prince whose name is so well known in History and who had a most prompt and most piercing understanding fiery by nature impetuous and violent endu'd with a rare natural eloquence more learning than cou'd reasonably be expected from a Person of his Quality and which his eloquence made appear to be much greater than it was the boldest of any man alive in Councils Cabals and in Contrivance of daring and vast designs was also the most pusillanimous and weakest man imaginable when it came to the point of Execution and that he saw there was danger in the undertaking But above all it cannot be denied that through the whole series of his Life he had a most immoderate passion for the greatness of his Family Insomuch that when he saw the great Duke of Guise his Brother at the highest
In the third Article the Associates assume to themselves to be Masters of the State while under pretence of reforming it they ridiculously take upon them to abrogate the Laws observ'd by our Ancestours in the second and third race of our Kings and wou'd establish the customes and uâ—ances which were practis'd in the time of Clovis which is just the same thing that certain Enthusiasts sometimes have attempted in the Church who under the specious names of the Reform'd and Primitive Church endeavoured to revive some ancient Canons which now for many ages have not been observ'd and gave themselves the liberty to condemn the practices and customes authoriz'd by the Church of remisness and abuse since it belongs onely to the Church according to the diversity of times and of occasions to make new regulations in its Government and Discipline without touching the capital points that relate to the Essentials of Religion To conclude from the fourth Article to the twelfth there are visible all the marks and the foulest characters of a Rebellion form'd and undertaken against their Prince particularly where there is promis'd an exact obedience in all things to the Head whom they shall elect and that they will employ their lives and fortunes in his service that in all Provinces they will levy Souldiers and raise money for the support of the common cause and that all those who shall declare themselves against the League shall be vigorously prosecuted by the Associates who shall revenge themselves without exception of person which in the true meaning is no other thing than the setting up a second King in France in opposition to the first against whom they engag'd themselves to take Arms in these terrible words without exception of person in case he should go about to hinder so criminal an usurpation of his Royal Authority Such was the Copy of the League in those twelve Articles which were Printed and dispers'd through all Christendom as we are inform'd by an Authour who was contemporary to it and has given it at large in his History of the War under Henry the Fourth But being conceiv'd in certain terms which are too bold and which manifestly shock the Royal Majesty Monsieur d' Humieres a prudent man reduc'd them into a form incomparably less odious in which preserving the Essentials of the League of which he was Head in Picardy he appears notwithstanding to do nothing but by the authority and for the service of the King Now as it is extremely important to understand throughly this Treaty of Peronne from which the League had its beginning which is not to be found in any of our Authours and the Original of which I have as it was sign'd by almost two hundred Gentlemen and after them by the Magistrates and Officers of Peronne I thought I shou'd gratifie my Readers by communicating to them a piece so rare and so Authentique which has luckily fallen into my hands They will be glad to see in it the Genius the reach and the policy of that dextrous Governour and Lieutenant to the King who in declaring himself Head of the League in his Province and procuring it to be sign'd by so great a number of Gentlemen took so much care to make it manifest at least in appearance that he intended always to give to Caesar what belong'd to Caesar and that the Imperial rights should be inviolably preserv'd in that Treaty For they protest in all their Articles and that with all manner of respect in the most formal terms that nothing shall be done but with his good liking and by his Orders though in pursuance of this all things were manag'd to a quite contrary end But it frequently happens that men engage themselves with an honest meaning and are led by motives of true zeal in some aâ—fairs whereof they foresee not the dangerous consequences which produce such pernicious effects as never enter'd into their first imagination Behold then this Treaty in eighteen Articles together with the subscriptions of the Gentlemen and Officers whereof some are written in such awkward Characters and so little legible that I could never have unriddled them without the assistence of a person very skilfull in that difficult art of deciphering all sorts of ancient writing I mean Don Iohn Hericart an ancient man in Holy Orders of the Abbey of St. Nicholas aux Bois in Picardy who having labour'd to place in their due order and to copy out the Titles and Authentique piâ—câ—s of many ancient Monasteries applies himself at present by permission from my Lord Bishop of Laon his superiour to a work so necessary in the Treasury of Chartres and in the famous Library of the Abbey Royal of St. Victor of Paris where he has found wherewithall to exercise the talent of the most knowing on a great number of Titles of more than six hundred years standing and above three thousand Manuscripts of the rarest and most Ancient sort which compose the most pretious part of that excellent and renowned Library 'T is then to this man's industry that I am owing for this piece and to deal sincerely so as not to pass my conjectures on the Reader for solid truths I have left Blanks for two of their names because the letters which compos'd them cou'd never be certainly distinguish'd The Association made betwixt the Princes Lords Gentlemen and others as well of the State Ecclesiastique as of the Noblesse and third Estate Subjects and Inhabitants of the Countrey of Picardy IN the Name of the Holy Trinity and of the Communication of the pretious body of Jesus Christ. We have promis'd and sworn upon the Holy Gospels and upon our Lives Honours and Estates to pursue and keep inviolably the things herein agreed and by us subscribed on pain of being for ever declared forsworn and infamous and held to be men unworthy of all Gentility and Honour First of all it being known that the great practices and Conspiracies made against the honour of God the Holy Catholick Church and against tâ—e Estate and Monarchy of this Realm of France as well by some Subjects of the same as by Foreigners and the long and continual wars and Civil divisions have so much weakened our Kings and reduc'd them to such necessity that it is no longer possible for them of themselves to sustain the expence convenient and expedient for the preservation of our Religion nor hereafter to maintain us under their protection in surety of our persons families and fortunes in which we have heretofore received so much loss and damage We have judged it to be most necessary and seasonable to render in the first place the honour which we owe to God to the manutention of our Catholique Religion and even to shew our selves more affectionate for the preservation of it than such as are strayed from the good Religion are for the advancement of a new and false opinion And to this effect we swear and promise to employ our selves with all our
whereby to render their Memory immortal and to fill the World with the glory of their names But on the otherside it gives an Historian to understand that when he is oblig'd to write a History neither fear nor hope nor threatnings nor rewards nor hatred nor love nor partiality nor prejudice to any person ought to turn him one single step out of the direct road of truth for which he is accountable to his Reader if he intends not to draw upon himself the contempt and indignation of posterity which will never fail to condemn him for an Impostor and a publick poisoner Thus you have the Character of this great Man in whom nothing cou'd be censur'd but that he was somewhat too timorous and that he had not firmness and resolution enough to give generous and bold advice in pressing emergencies so to have cut up by the root those great evils which threatned the Government Therefore when he saw the King who was yet more fearfull than himself amaz'd at the audaciousness of the Associators And likewise was of opinion that if he wou'd have ventur'd it was not in his power to have suppress'd the League knowing also full well that the Queen Mother who was his Master's Oracle and who underhand supported the League would never consent that the ruine of it shou'd be endeavour'd and that on the other side he was very desirous to draw the King out of this present plunge betwixt both he took a trimming kind of way by which he thought he shou'd be able to preserve the Royal Authority without the destruction of the League To this effect not doubting but that in case it were not prevented they wou'd chuse a Head who had power to turn it against the King himself he advis'd him to declare in that Assembly that far from opposing the League of the Cathâ—liques against the Huguenots he was resolv'd to make himself the Head of it which they dar'd not to refuse him and by that means wou'd make himself the disposer of it and provide that nothing shou'd be enterpris'd against him And truly this was no ill expedient to check and give a stop for some time to the execution of those vast designs which were form'd by the Authours of the League But it must also be confess'd that by signing this and causing it to be sign'd by others as he did when he declared himself the Head of it he authoris'd those very Articles which manifestly shock'd his Royal Authority put the League in condition and even gave it a lawfull right according to that Treaty which he approv'd to act against himself in case he shou'd disturb it or finally break with it which was impossible not to happen in some time he infring'd the Peace which he had given his Subjects by the Edict of Pacification granted to the Huguenots and precipitated France into that bottomless gulf of miseries that are inseparable from a Civil War which himself renew'd and which was of small advantage to him I shall not describe the particularities of it because they belong to the History of France and have no relation to the League which on that occasion acted not on its own account against the Authority of the King By whose orders two Armies the one commanded by the Duke d' Alanson the other by the Duke de Mayenne attacqu'd the Huguenots from whom they took La Charite Issoite Broüage and some other places of less importance I shall onely say that the King quickly growing weary of the Cares of War which were not â—uitable to his humour loving as he passionately did his ease and pleasures A new Peace ensued which was granted to the Huguenots at the end of September in the same year by the Edict of Poitiers little different from that of May onely with this reservation that the exercise of Calvinism was restrain'd within the limits of the former pacifications and that it was forbidden in the Marquisate of Salusses and the County of Avignon Farther it was during this interval of Peace which was highly displeasing to the Leaguers that the King to strengthen himself against the League by making himself Creatures who shou'd inviolably be ingag'd to his Service by an Oath more particular and more solemn than that which universally oblig'd his Subjects establish'd and solemnis'd his new Order of the Holy Ghost which is even at this day and after the entire revolution of an Age one of the most illustrious marks of Honour wherewith our Kings are accustom'd to reward the merit and service of the Princes and the most signaliz'd Nobility It has been for a long time believ'd that Henry the Third was the Institutour and Founder of this Order and himself us'd whatever means he cou'd to have this opinion establish'd in the World But at length the truth is broken out which with whatever arts it is suppress'd can never fail either sooner or later to exert it self and to render to a man's person or his memory the blame or praise that he deserves For it has been found out by a way which cannot be suspected of forgery and which leaves no farther doubt concerning this Subject that the beginning of this Order is to be referr'd to another Prince of the Imperial bloud of France I mean Louis d' Anjou styl'd of Tarento King of Ierusalem and Sicily who in the year one thousand three hundred fifty two instituted in the Castle Del Vovo at Naples the Order of the Knights of the Holy Ghost on the precise day of Pentecost by its constitution containing 25 chapters and which in the style of those times thus begins We Lewis by the Grace of God King of Jerusalem and Sicily to the Honour of the Holy Ghost on whose day we were by Grace Crown'd King of our Realms for the exaltation of Chivalry and increase of Honour have ordaind to make a Society of Knights who shall be call'd the Knights of the Holy Ghost of right intention and the said Knights shall be to the Number of three hundred of which we as beginner and founder of that said Order shall be Prince as also ought to be all our Successours King of Jerusalem and Sicily But seeing he died without Children by Queen Iane the first his Wife and that after his death there happen'd strange revolutions in that Kingdom that order so far perish'd with him that the memory of it had not remain'd if the Original of that constitution of King Lewis had not by some accident fallen into the possession of the Republique of Venice who made a present of it to Henry the third at his return from Poland as of a piece that was very rare and which coming from a Prince of the bloud Royal of our Kings deserv'd well to be preserv'd in the Archives of France which was not the intention of King Henry For finding this Order to be excellent and besides that it was exactly calculated for him because being born on Whitsunday he had been Crown'd