§ 5. The reign of Henry III., March 1574–July 1589.
The death of Charles IX. gave Henry a pretext for hastily leaving Poland, where he had already become unpopular. He did not, however, appear to be in any hurry to reach his new kingdom.Henry III. leaves Poland and reaches France. Sept. 1574. Warned by his mother to avoid North Germany, since ‘the German princes had too many causes of quarrel with France,’ he passed through Austria and Italy. At Venice, he wasted two months in luxury and debauch, and is said to have been corrupted by the licence of that town. On his arrival in France (September, 1574), he seemed for a moment inclined to adopt a conciliatory policy. But his mother, now that her favourite son was King, hoped that if he were victorious over the Huguenots her influence would be paramount, and expected everything from the hero of Jarnac and Moncontour. The King therefore announced that he would recognise liberty of conscience, but would not tolerate religious practices which deviated from Catholicism, and that he would speak of peace when his castles and his cities had been restored.
Thus the war dragged on, though without any decisive events, and soon Henry III. began to crave for peace that he might indulge in his pleasures. The definite alliance of the Politiques with the Huguenots of the south, which took place in December, enabled the rebels to hold their own. In September, 1575, Alençon, and in the following February, Navarre, effected their escape. Meanwhile Duke Casimir, son of the Elector Palatine, who dreamt of heading an aggressive Calvinistic party in Europe, had invaded France, ravaged Burgundy and the Bourbonnois, and, in March, joined Alençon at Sozé. Finally, by the exertions of Francis of Montmorenci, the Marshal, who had been released by the King, Peace of Monsieur. May, 1576. the Peace of Monsieur (May, 1576) gave to the Huguenots better terms than they had hitherto obtained. They were allowed to worship where they liked, except within two leagues of Paris, and within the domains of any lord who might withhold his sanction. Cases in which Protestants were concerned were to be tried by ‘Chambres mi-parties’ in each ‘Parlement,’—that is, by courts composed of an equal number of judges of the two religions. The Estates were to be convened at Blois; and eight cities were to be held by the Huguenots in pledge of the fulfilment of the treaty. The Duke of Alençon, or Anjou, as he had now become in consequence of the accession of Henry of Anjou to the throne, was to receive the duchies of Berry, Touraine, and Anjou, with reservation of the rights of suzerainty to the crown. To Henry of Navarre was given the governorship of Guienne, and to Henry of Condé that of Picardy, with Péronne as his residence. The last concession was an important one, for Picardy hitherto had been very Catholic in its sympathies, and had divided the Huguenots from their Protestant allies in the Netherlands. The Peace of Monsieur was received with violent indignation by the Catholics of France, and led to an agitation which was directed almost as much against the crown as against the Huguenots.
The idea of forming associations of ‘Better Catholics’ was no new one. Shortly after the Edict of Amboise, in 1563, we find mention of several, such as the Fraternity of the Holy Ghost in Burgundy, and the Christian and Royal League of Champagne. With the massacre of St. Bartholomew these associations had fallen into neglect; they were now to be revived on a much more important scale.The Catholic Leagues. The first of these new leagues was that of Péronne, organised by Humières, the old governor who refused to surrender the fortress to Condé (1576). The example was speedily followed elsewhere, and formed the counterpart to Huguenot federation in the south (cf. p. 419). The organisation of these leagues was a military one. Their objects were declared to be: the defence of the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church; the preservation of Henry III. in the obedience of his subjects, and after him ‘of all the posterity of the House of Valois’; the execution of the resolutions which should be presented by the Estates which were about to meet; and the restoration of the ancient liberties as they existed in the time of Clovis, the first Christian King.The Guises adopt democratic views. In this declaration we are reminded of a new departure in the policy of the Guises. Hitherto they had attempted to secure their power as the first ministers of the crown, and supported the principles of despotic rule. But Henry III. threatened to shake himself free from their influence, and was already leaning upon his favourites ‘the Mignons.’ Accordingly, Henry of Guise, who, by the death of his uncle, the cardinal, in 1574, was the undoubted leader of his house, assumed a position of antagonism to the crown, and even began to dream of some day winning the throne itself. The unpopularity which Henry III. incurred by the Peace of Monsieur and by his foppish follies, caused the Duke to lean on popular support, while many of the Catholic nobles had joined the Politiques. Thus the party of the Guises, without completely breaking with the upper classes, began to seek its fulcrum in a lower stratum.
The change is represented not only in the articles of these Catholic Leagues but also in the Catholic pamphlets of the day, which began to borrow the popular doctrines of the Franco-Gallia and other Huguenot writings. Denying the application of the Salic Law to France, they asserted that the title of the House of Lorraine was superior to that of the Bourbon, and even to that of the House of Valois itself, since it could trace its descent through the female line from Charles the Great himself. In the face of these new developments, Henry III. followed for some time an oscillating policy.Henry III. tries to make use of the States-General. At first he forbade all Associations. Subsequently he abandoned that idea, and tried to utilise them for the purpose of influencing the elections to the States-General which were to meet at Blois according to the Treaty, in the hope, by the aid of the Catholic majority thus obtained, of putting down both the Guises and the Huguenots. In this he was only partially successful. The Huguenots, indeed, despairing of success owing to the terrorism and intrigues of the League, declined even to send deputies from those districts and towns which were in their power, and the Catholics finding themselves in a majority, demanded that there should be only one religion in France. Yet so great was the dislike to a continuance of the war that they refused the necessary supplies, and brought forward constitutional demands which made Henry III. only too glad to be quit of them (March 1577).
In the war which had broken out in the meantime, the King was somewhat more successful. The Duke of Anjou (Alençon), who had now deserted the Huguenots,Sixth Civil War, 1577. took command of the royal army; the aristocratic prejudices and the religious indifference of the Politiques could ill agree with the earnestness of the republican and Calvinistic burghers; and Damville, who by the death of his brother had now become Duke of Montmorenci and Marshal of France, soon abandoned the alliance and made his peace with the court (May, 1577). Under these circumstances the Huguenots lost ground. In May fell La Charité on the Loire; in August, Brouage, a place next in importance to La Rochelle; and it was only the want of union among the Catholics themselves, and the utter weariness of the country, which enabled the Huguenots to gain such favourable terms as they did by the Treaty of Bergerac (September 17, 1577). Their right of worship was indeed restricted to the domains of nobles,Treaty of Bergerac. Sept. 17, 1577. to all cities where worship was held at the date of the peace, and elsewhere to one city or its suburbs in each sénéchaussée—Paris itself being specially excluded. The ‘Chambres mi-parties’ were also confined to the four southern ‘Parlements’ where the Huguenots were strongest. But they still had eight cities intrusted to them in pledge for six years, and Condé received St. Jean d’Angély instead of Péronne. The King was probably sincere in desiring to maintain the Peace of Bergerac, for he was anxious if possible to escape from the thraldom of the Guises, and the violations of the treaty which occurred were due to the insubordination of the governors of provinces, to the popular fanaticism, and to the stubborn ill-will of the Law Courts.
In 1580, indeed, ‘The Lovers’ War’ broke out. This was caused, however, rather by quarrels between the King and Henry of Navarre concerning the dower of Margaret,Seventh Civil War, April 1580, to Peace of Fleix, Nov. 1580. and it is noticeable that the great Protestant leader, de la Noue, disapproved of it, and that neither La Rochelle nor the southern towns took part in it. It was ended by the Peace of Fleix, in Perigord (26th November, 1580), which confirmed the Treaty of Bergerac, and closed the Seventh Civil War.
The Peace of Fleix was followed by five years of feverish peace, which served only to illustrate the utter disorganisation of the country and the demoralisation of all classes.Disorganisation of France. Although there were not wanting earnest, if fanatical, adherents of the two creeds, these formed an ever lessening minority; and for the most part, as a competent observer tells us, ‘Men were combating not for the faith, nor for Christ, but for command.’ Of the greater nobles, the Guises were attempting to overawe the crown, if not to seize it for themselves; the rest, like Henry de Montmorenci the Marshal, and the Duke of Mercœur, strove to make themselves independent in the provinces of which they were governors. The smaller nobility played the same game on a less magnificent scale, and in some cases had degenerated into brigands; while many, both great and small, spent their leisure in duels and assassinations, often caused by some shameful intrigue. Even the women resorted to the dagger to free themselves from an inconvenient lover, or to avenge some act of infidelity. While the upper classes were thus disturbing the country with their ambitions and their vices, the lower classes were bemoaning their social grievances, and threatening social war. At the head of this seething mass of iniquity, and of political, social, and moral anarchy, stood a vacillating, effeminate King, and an intriguing Queen-mother.
Henry III. had in earlier life shown some character. He was far more able than his brothers, the unfortunate Charles IX., or the Duke of Anjou (Alençon); and had distinguished himself in the battles of Jarnac and Moncontour. His natural gifts, however, had been choked in a life of licence and of luxury, and ever since his accession he had gone from bad to worse. He dressed himself more like a woman than a man; he surrounded himself with favourites, and with lap-dogs; he relieved the monotony of his debaucheries by ridiculous acts of penance and superstition which deceived no one. No doubt, the idea of raising new men to power to balance the ambitions of the older nobility was not altogether a foolish one, and some of the favourites, like Épernon, Joyeuse, and the Marshal de Biron, were men of capacity. But others, like Villequier and D’O, would have disgraced any court; while all were influenced by sordid and unworthy motives. By the King’s side stood the Queen-mother, still intriguing for power though life was fast ebbing, and descending to the arts of a procuress to win her opponents. Clearly there was no hope for France until the last of this degenerate race of the Valois had disappeared. The only chance for a continuance of internal peace, such as it was, lay in a vigorous foreign policy, which might have monopolised the attention of the turbulent spirits, and put the King at the head of a united people.
For this, the offer of the sovereignty of the Netherlands
to the Duke of Anjou, in September, 1580, furnished an
opportunity which Catherine,
Sovereignty
of Netherlands
accepted
by Anjou.
Sept. 1580–Feb.
1582. angry at the recent
occupation of Portugal by Philip (cf. p. 298),
eagerly embraced. Even the King himself approved;
while Elizabeth received with favour
the advances of Anjou for her hand in marriage.
The sovereignty was finally conferred on the Duke in February,
1582. In the June of that year, Catherine sent an expedition
to the Azores in support of Antonio,Expedition
to the Azores.
June 1582. the Pretender
of Portugal. William of Orange might
well hope that France was about to return to
the policy of Coligny, and, in alliance with the Protestant
Queen of England, and the Netherlands, finally to join
issue with the representative of the Catholic reaction. His
hope was not, however, to be realised. Henry III. was not
prepared for so bold a course, and was half-jealous of his
brother. Elizabeth had been only scheming to prevent the
Netherlands from being incorporated into France, and, if
possible, to embroil France with Philip, and, for all her love-making,
had no intention of really marrying Anjou.The French
Fury.
Jan. 16, 1583.
Anjou leaves
Netherlands,
June 1583,
and dies.
Assassination
of
William of
Orange.
July 10, 1584. The
expedition to the Azores, as well as another which
was despatched in June, 1583, was destroyed by a
Spanish fleet under the Marquis de Santa Cruz.
Anjou, ill satisfied with the restricted authority
granted to him, rashly attempted to establish himself
in a more independent position by seizing
Bruges and Antwerp (January 16). The attempt
failed, and in June, 1583, Anjou retired from the
Netherlands to die in the following June. One
month after (July, 1584), William the Silent fell a victim to the
pistol of Balthazar Gérard.
The deaths of Anjou and of William the Silent both led to most momentous consequences. The first made the Protestant, Henry of Navarre, the heir-presumptive, and rendered a renewal of civil war almost inevitable; the second was followed by the offer of the sovereignty of the Netherlands to Henry III.Sovereignty of Netherlands offered to Henry III. Oct. 1584. It seemed by no means impossible that Henry III. would reconcile himself with his heretic heir, and accept the offer made him. At once the apprehensions of the French Catholics, of the Guises, and of Philip were aroused, and the outcome was the Catholic League. Following the model of the Catholic Associations of 1576, the League was formed in Paris.The Catholic League. The city was divided into five districts: the president of each of these, assisted by an elective Council of Eleven, formed the famous Sixteen. This Council deliberated on the measures to be adopted, and its decisions were communicated to the faithful through the agency of professional and trade associations. The example of Paris was rapidly followed in the provincial towns; and France was threatened with the tyranny of a central club with its affiliated societies, whose authority was maintained partly by terrorism, partly by the fanaticism excited through the preaching of friars and Jesuits.
Although Henry of Guise did not altogether approve of the democratic principles adopted by the Catholic League, his interests demanded that he should put himself at the head of it. But this was not the only important change in the policy of the Guises. The reputation of the family had been originally made in defending France against Spain, and Francis, Duke of Guise, had always been anti-Spanish in his views; while Philip, on his side, was most unwilling to see Mary, Queen of Scots, their kinswoman, triumphant in England, and had even sent secret help to the Scottish rebels. Of late, however, the more imperative necessity of preventing the French from assisting the Dutch, or from incorporating any part of the Netherlands into France, had caused Philip to alter his views. Negotiations had accordingly been entered into with Henry of Guise as early as the end of the year 1581, and Philip pretended to favour the family designs in favour of Mary Stuart, now a captive in the hands of Elizabeth. The death of Anjou, and the danger of reconciliation between Henry III. and the heretic Henry of Navarre, still further aroused the apprehensions of Philip.Treaty of Joinville. Jan. 1585. He therefore approved of the organisation of the League, and in January, 1585, concluded the Treaty of Joinville with Guise. The allies bound themselves to eradicate heresy, and to proclaim the Cardinal of Bourbon, the Catholic uncle of Henry of Navarre, King in the event of the decease of Henry III.; the viscounty of Béarn and French Navarre was to be ceded to Philip, as a price of his assistance. In March, 1585, the Leaguers issued a manifesto, in which they declared their intention to restore the dignity and unity of the crown, to secure the nobility in their ancient privileges, to drive unworthy favourites from the court, to relieve the country from new taxes, and to prevent future troubles by settling the succession on a Catholic king, and by providing for regular sessions of the States-General.
Meanwhile, to enforce their views they had seized the three bishoprics, Metz, Toul, and Verdun, most of the towns of Picardy, all Champagne, and the larger part of Burgundy, Normandy, and Brittany; while in June they presented an ultimatum to the King insisting on the withdrawal of the late Edict of Toleration. The formidable movement which was thus inaugurated was the outcome of the union of three forces:—
1. The determination of the Catholic party to oppose the claims of a heretic heir.
2. The jealousy of the Guises for the King’s ‘Mignons.’
3. The European policy of Philip II., who not only dreaded the French alliance with the Netherlands, but also feared that it might lead to a definite alliance with the Protestant Queen of England, and thus shatter his hopes of re-establishing his authority and that of the Catholic Church.
It remained to be seen what line of conduct Henry III. would
adopt in the face of this formidable conspiracy. Sixtus V.,
who had just succeeded Pope Gregory XIII. (August 26, 1585),
did not altogether approve of the League. ‘I fear me,’ he
said, ‘that matters will be pressed so far that the King,
Catholic though he be, will be constrained to appeal to the
heretics for aid to rid himself of the tyranny of the Catholics,’
and this for a moment did not appear impossible. Henry III.
went so far as to acknowledge Henry of Navarre as his lawful
successor, and laughed at the claims of the Cardinal as those
‘of an old fool.’ He forbade all Leagues and Associations, and
even made an unsuccessful attempt to seize the Duke of
Guise at Metz. But a continuation of such a bold policy
was scarcely to be looked for from such a King. Elizabeth,
although she could scold Henry for submitting to rebels within
his kingdom, would not depart from her position of dubious
neutrality; Henry of Navarre, although professing his willingness
‘to be instructed,’ refused to declare himself a Catholic;
while Catherine, who was hoping to secure the succession for
her daughter Claude and her husband the Duke of Lorraine,
warned the King of the danger of opposing so powerful a
coalition.Henry III.
submits to
the League.
July 5, 1585.
Sixtus excommunicates
Henry of
Navarre.
Sept. 9, 1585. Henry, to his ruin, listened to his
mother’s advice, and allowed her to yield, in his
name, to the demands of the Leaguers at the
Conference of Nemours (July 5, 1585). The
Edicts of Toleration were revoked, and they of
the Huguenot faith who would not conform were
to leave the country. Sixtus, now partly relieved
from his apprehensions, issued a Bull of Excommunication
against Henry of Navarre.
The capitulation of Henry III. to the League brought Henry of Navarre prominently to the front. He had already shown his military abilities during the Lovers’ War, and, in 1581, he had been appointed ‘Protector of the Churches.’ He now became the representative of all those whose bigotry or whose interest did not destroy their patriotism.Altered position of the Huguenots and Catholics. It is interesting to note how completely the position of the two parties was reversed. The charges of opposing the legitimate successor, of holding republican doctrines, and of alliance with the foreigner, once brought against the Huguenots, could now be laid at the door of the Catholics; while the Huguenots could claim to be fighting for the principle of legitimacy and of national independence. Navarre was, accordingly, supported by the Politiques and by the Constable Henry of Montmorenci, who was, however, chiefly influenced by personal jealousy of the Guises. Even the ‘Parlement’ of Paris remonstrated against the intolerance of the Edict, and against the Papal Bull. Although opposed as before to the concession of the right of worship to the Protestants, its members were in favour of liberty of conscience, and resented, as they had always done, the papal claim to interfere in the internal affairs of France. Thus the party of the Huguenots was by no means a contemptible one. The centre of their position lay in the territories belonging to Henry of Navarre, or under his control. These, spreading from the Spanish frontier to the Dordogne, and from the Bay of Biscay to Languedoc, comprised Lower Navarre and Béarn, which Henry held in his own right, and seven fiefs which he held of the King of France. He was also Governor of Guienne, and he was not without adherents in Normandy and Brittany, while Languedoc was held by the Constable. And yet the position of the Huguenots was discouraging enough. If their party was not confined to those of their religious profession, this only added to the divisions which had always weakened them. The Catholics held by far the greater part of France; in the Netherlands, Alexander of Parma had secured Antwerp (August, 1585), and threatened to carry all before him, and were his task in the Netherlands finished, how should they resist the united forces of the League and of Philip II.? What wonder if many apostatised or fled, and that the beard of Henry of Navarre turned white with anxiety. Already Philip dreamed of overthrowing Elizabeth of England, of placing Mary Queen of Scots on the English throne, and of subjugating France under his lieutenant, the Duke of Guise. Fortunately, however, the King of Spain as usual procrastinated, and preferred to work his end by diplomacy and by bribes, rather than by arms. The Guises were not in complete accord with him, and Henry III. himself daily grew more impatient of the yoke. To these causes, and to the personal ability of the King of Navarre, the salvation of France must be attributed.
Henry III. hoped, in the war which now broke out, to humble
the Huguenots, and yet curb the ambition of the Guises.Eighth Civil
War. War
of the three
Henries.
—— 1585–April
30, 1589. He
accordingly gave to the Duke of Joyeuse, his
favourite, the command of the army which was to
advance against the Huguenots, while he himself
opposed the German ‘reiters’ whom Casimir,
brother of the Elector Palatine, had sent to the
assistance of the Protestants. Unfortunately for the King,
Joyeuse was defeated and slain by Henry of Navarre at Courtras
on the Isle (October 20, 1587), and although the
‘reiters’ were forced to retire,Battle of
Courtras.
Oct. 20, 1587. the Guises succeeded
in gaining the credit of their retreat. ‘Saul,’ cried
the fanatics of Paris, ‘has slain his thousands, but David his
ten thousands.’ Philip was anxious at this moment to prevent
any interference with his schemes for the Armada.
His envoy, Mendoza, therefore urged the Duke of Guise
to make further demands on the King; and on his hesitating
to comply with these, the Duke entered Paris in
defiance of the royal command (May 12). The attempt of
the King to reassert his authority by ordering the Municipal
Guard and the Swiss to secure the important points of the
city was answered by the ‘barricades’;The Barricades.
Aug. 12, 1588. and
Henry III., finding himself no longer master of his
capital, retired to Chartres, never again to enter
Paris. Forced for the moment to submit to the League, the
feeble monarch next tried to outbid the Guises with the
deputies of the States-General, which assembled at Blois on
September 16, 1588.Assassination
of Henry
of Guise.
Dec. 23, 1588. But so extreme were the
views adopted by the League at this moment that
this proved impossible. Accordingly, the King
turned to the last expedient of the coward, and
ordered the assassination of Henry of Guise in his royal palace
of Blois (December 23, 1588). The Cardinal of Guise the
brother of the Duke, was executed the next day, and the Cardinal
of Bourbon was held a prisoner. ‘Now at last I am King,’
said Henry. The illusion was soon to be dispelled, for the
assassination of the Duke led to the open revolt of the
League. Supported by the decision of the Sorbonne, it
declared that the crown was elective; and when the ‘Parlement’
resisted, its more obstinate members were imprisoned.
The Duke of Mayenne, the eldest surviving brother of the
murdered Duke, was made Lieutenant-General of the realm,
and ruled Paris with a Council of forty, formed of deputies
from the affiliated societies of the League. The example of
Paris was followed elsewhere, and the League secured most
of the important towns of the centre and south of France.
Meantime, the failure of the royal army in Guienne destroyed
the last chance of maintaining an independent attitude, and
the King at last did what he should have done four years
before, and threw himself into the arms of Henry of
Navarre.Ten years
Truce.
April 30, 1589. A truce for a year was made between the
two Henries (April 30, 1589). The King promised
to leave the Huguenots undisturbed, and Navarre engaged
to oppose the Duke of Mayenne. The armies of the two
Kings shortly after advanced on Paris, which seemed doomed,
when the dagger of the Dominican,Death of
Catherine,
Jan. 5;
Assassination
of
Henry III.
July 31, 1589. Jacques Clement,
an emissary of the League, avenged the
assassination of the Duke of Guise (July 31).
The death of the last Valois King had been
preceded only a few months by that of Catherine
de’ Medici, his mother. She died (January 5,
1589), with the reproaches of the Cardinal of Bourbon ringing
in her ears: ‘If you had not deceived us and brought us here
(to Blois) with fine words, the two brothers (the Guises) would
not be dead, and I should be a free man.’
§ 6. Henry IV. and the League, July 1589—May 1598.
By the assassination of Henry III., Henry of Navarre became the legitimate King of France. The question was, whether he would make good his claim. Had he now been willing to declare himself a Roman Catholic, he would have at once won over the more conservative of the people, for the League was daily becoming more anarchical; the Cardinal of Bourbon, who was by it acknowledged as King Charles X., was but a puppet of Spain; and the Spanish alliance was ever growing more unpopular. But conversion would have probably lost him the support of the Huguenots, while it would not have gained the more fanatical members of the League. Accordingly, Henry refused. He offered to recognise Catholicism; to grant to the Huguenots no privileges beyond those they had hitherto gained; and to submit ‘to the instruction’ of a National or General Council. In thus acting he was guided by policy, not by conviction; and the interpretation he would put on his favourite phrase ‘receiving instruction’ would depend on his success in the field.
Not feeling strong enough to attack Paris itself, Henry determined to hold Picardy, Champagne, and Normandy, whence the capital drew her supplies.9th and last Civil War. 1589–1595. The Duke of Longueville was therefore sent to Picardy, the Marshal d’Aumont to Champagne, while Henry himself dropped back on Normandy, and occupied Dieppe, the most important of the Norman ports, and valuable on account of its proximity to England. The attempt of the Duke of Mayenne to dislodge him was foiled at the battle of Arques (September 21). In the following March, 1590, the still more brilliant victory of Ivry, near Dreux,Battle of Arques, 5 Sept. 1589; and of Ivry, March 1590. conclusively proved the superiority of Henry over his antagonist. Henry perhaps ‘committed the bravest folly’ that ever was in staking the fate of a kingdom on a single battle, in which he had far inferior forces; but at least his intrepidity won for him the admiration of his countrymen. Possibly if he had pressed on at once, Paris might have been taken; but Henry had not the faculty of making the best of a victory, and preferred to continue his more cautious policy of starving the city into submission. He occupied Corbeil, Lagny, and Creil, which commanded the upper Seine, the Marne, and the Oise, and by the end of August, Paris was reduced to fearful straits. ‘Nothing was cheap except sermons.’Siege of Paris. As at Sancerre, dogs, cats, rats, and mice were eagerly devoured; some, it is said, even ate the flesh of children; and the people were loudly clamouring for peace or bread, when the approach of Alexander of Parma, from the Netherlands, baulked Henry of his prey, and forced him to retire (September 10). In the year 1592, Parma again entered France, and saved Rouen from Henry’s clutches.Death of Alexander of Parma. Dec. 1592. In December, however, the death of the great commander freed the King from immediate apprehension, and left the League without any leader who could match him in the field. Nevertheless, the war seemed likely to be indefinitely protracted. The party of the League indeed threatened to break up. Mayenne was impatient of Spanish influence, and was becoming daily more disgusted with the extravagance of the League in Paris. In the preceding November, the Sixteen had even dared to execute Brisson, the president of the ‘Parlement,’ and two other judges who opposed them, and had established a reign of terror. Accordingly, Mayenne had marched into the city, seized and condemned four of the Sixteen to death, and reasserted his authority. Hated, however, as he was by the fanatics, he was in no position to carry on the war with vigour unless with Spanish help, which he wished to do without.
Henry, too, was gaining popularity. Although his sensuality, his lack of real conviction, his cynical indifference, prevent our making altogether a hero of the King of Navarre,Position of Henry of Navarre. his superabundant energy, his splendid courage, his frankness, affability, and genuine humanity, coupled with his caustic wit, had already endeared him to his countrymen. And yet he was not powerful enough to win his country by the sword; the Catholics would not consent to see a heretic on the throne of France; his Declaration of Mantes. July, 1591.attempt to settle the religious difficulty by the Declaration of Mantes (July, 1591), which acknowledged the Catholic religion as that of the State, while he himself remained a Protestant, pleased neither party. Too many, like the Marshal Biron and D’O, who had control of the finances, were interested in perpetuating the war, lest a return of peace might deprive them of employment, or of the hope of carving out a fortune for themselves.
Meanwhile, France was going to ruin. Trade was at a standstill. Even the more patriotic of the nobles—whether Catholic or Protestant—despairing of peace, were aiming at their own independence, and the enemies of France were taking advantage of her weakness; Philip II. hoped to place his nominee on the throne, and to secure Brittany; the Duke of Savoy was attempting to encroach on her south-east frontier; and even Elizabeth of England was demanding Calais, or some other return for help, niggardly and intermittent though it was. The earnest desire, therefore, of all the moderate Catholics in France who were not sold to Philip, that Henry would ‘go to Mass,’ cannot excite surprise.The States-General. Jan. 26, 1593. In the spring of 1593, the meeting of the States-General, summoned to settle the question of the succession, brought matters to a crisis. The Cardinal of Bourbon had died in 1590; and, according to the Catholic view, the throne had been vacant for three years. Philip II., therefore, instructed his representative the Duke of Feria, to propose that the crown should be conferred on the Infanta (who through her mother represented the House of Valois in the female line). If, however, the Salic Law could not be violated, he was to suggest that the Archduke Ernest, the Governor of the Netherlands, and brother of the Emperor Rudolf, should be chosen King, or, failing him, the young Duke of Guise, who should take the Infanta as his Queen. In all probability, had the Duke of Feria at once proposed the Duke of Guise as King, he would have been accepted; but fortunately for Henry IV. he first suggested the Infanta, and thereby aroused the indignation of the ‘Parlement’ and of all those who cared for the fundamental laws of the country, and were not wholly sold to Spain. Convinced that delay was perilous,Henry IV. ‘receives instruction.’ July 23, 1593. Henry now accepted the offers of a deputation of the Estates-General sent to hold conference with him at Suresnes, and promised to ‘receive instruction’ within two months, while at the same time he strengthened his position by occupying Dreux. On July 23, Henry IV. recognised the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church as the true one, and promised obedience. On the following February 27, he was anointed in the Cathedral of Chartres, since Rheims, where this ceremony should have been performed, was still in the hands of the League.
In dealing with the justification of Henry’s ‘conversion’ it must always be remembered that, although by no means a disbeliever, he had no strong convictions as to the relative merits of Catholicism and Calvinism, and was a man on whom religious scruples sat somewhat lightly. To him, therefore, the question would necessarily be one to be decided on the grounds of political expediency. But some may be disposed to think that, even if Henry had been convinced of the superiority of the Huguenot faith, it would still have been his duty to guide his policy by the same considerations. Any one in his position, it has been said, would have been justified in accepting Catholicism as the State religion if he had good grounds for believing: first, that there was no other way of giving peace to his country; and secondly, that he could, while officially recognising Catholicism, secure complete and lasting toleration for the Huguenots. Of the first, it was not difficult to convince himself. He had attempted to win France by arms and had failed. We must remember also that the Huguenots, after all, represented but a small minority of the nation, and that a large number of the Catholics preferred the Duke of Guise with his Spanish wife to a heretic King. Nor is it easy to believe that, if Henry had been willing to efface himself, any settlement which the Huguenots would have accepted could have been arrived at. On the second point, opinions will probably always differ. The danger was that in accepting Catholicism, he would revive the idea as to the intimate connection between Church and State in France which led men to look on heresy as treason. We know that the Edict of Nantes did not last; but whether the Revocation was inevitable, and, if so, whether Henry ought to have foreseen it, may well be questioned.
The King of Navarre was thus at last acknowledged King of France. By his ‘conversion’ he won to his side all Catholics except the most fanatical of the Leaguers, and those who, like the Dukes of Mayenne and of Mercœur, were intent on their personal interests. While, therefore, Henry restrained as far as possible all hostile operations, he steadily pursued a policy which he had long adopted of buying over those whose opposition was still to be dreaded. The governors of provinces were confirmed in their governorships, or offered pensions; the smaller nobility were tempted by subordinate offices and money; the cities were promised exemption from extraordinary taxation and freedom from Huguenot worship within their walls. The wisdom, and indeed the necessity, of this course have been disputed, and certainly the evil results of it—the independence of the nobility, the venality of the government, the serious straining of the finances—long outlived the King himself. Yet at least it must be confessed that the policy succeeded. On March 17, Rouen surrendered, and Henry secured all Normandy. Four days later Brissac, just appointed Governor of Paris by the Duke of Mayenne, accepted the offers of Henry, brought over the Parisian magistrates,Henry secures Rouen, March 17; and enters Paris, March 21, 1594. and opened the gates. The Duke himself had already left, the Spanish troops were forced to evacuate the city with some sixty of the more prominent Leaguers, and Henry was at last master of his capital. ‘That which is Cæsar’s has been given unto Cæsar,’ said one to the King. ‘Given?’ said he, looking at Brissac; ‘No, sold, and for a goodly price.’
Henry, anxious to secure his eastern frontier which was
always threatened from the Netherlands, next laid siege to
Laon, which surrendered on the 2nd of August, 1594. A
fortnight later Amiens, and other towns of Picardy, followed
its example. The spring of the year 1595 was marked by a
far more important event. Henry succeeded in conciliating
the Duke of Lorraine and the young Duke of
Guise.Dukes of
Lorraine and
Guise come
to terms. The former restored the cities of Toul
and Verdun; the latter surrendered his governorship
of Champagne in exchange for that of
Provence, where he shortly proved his loyalty by driving out
Épernon, one of Henry III.’s ‘Mignons,’ who, after joining
Henry IV., had played him false. The only important nobles
who still held out were the Dukes of Mayenne and of Mercœur,
both members of the House of Guise, and the Duke of Nemours.
The two first were loth to abandon the ambitions of their family,
and hoped, by the aid of Spain, to turn their governorships
of Burgundy and of Brittany into hereditary principalities.
The Duke of Nemours, with the support of Savoy,
threatened the country round Lyons. Henry, therefore, after
some futile negotiations with Spain, in which the idea of
Henry’s marrying the Infanta was entertained, determined to
declare open war against Spain. An open war, he held, was
far preferable to a continuation of unavowed
hostilities;Jesuits
expelled.
Dec. 1594.
War declared
against Spain.
Jan. 17, 1595. the national enthusiasm against the
foreigner might be aroused; all those who continued
to resist would incur the charge of
treachery to their country; while the English
and the Dutch promised their assistance. The war was preceded
by the expulsion of the Jesuits. Introduced into France
by Henry II. they had made many enemies; the ‘Parlement’
objected to their extravagant assertions of papal supremacy,
and to their attacks on the prerogatives of the crown; the
Bishops resented their claim to be free from episcopal
authority; the older orders grudged them their popularity, the
University their educational success. Although it does not
appear that the Jesuits had taken any prominent part in the
organisation of the League, and though they were, as a matter
of fact, at this time out of favour in Spain, where they opposed
the tyranny of the Inquisition, they were nevertheless denounced
as the tools of Philip. An attempted assassination of Henry IV.
by one of their pupils, though not apparently instigated by them,
brought matters to a crisis. They were convicted by the ‘Parlement’
of attempting to subvert the laws of Church and State,
of instigating to rebellion and assassination, and were expelled
the kingdom (December 29, 1594).
War was declared against Spain on January 17, 1595. The young Marshal Biron, who had been intrusted with the governorship of Burgundy,The Duke of Mayenne driven from Burgundy. succeeded in driving Mayenne from that province. The King, on marching to support him against the attack of a Spanish force under Don Fernan de Velasco, the Constable of Castile, was nearly surprised at Fontaine-Française. He, however, saved himself by his intrepidity; and the Spanish general retreated, much to the disgust of Mayenne. Henry now entered Franche-Comté; but the Swiss who were guarantors of the neutrality of the country, remonstrated, and the King, unwilling to incur their hostility, retreated. His presence was indeed needed elsewhere. The Duke of Longueville, after a successful campaign in Artois, had died in April; and Turenne, the Duke of Bouillon, had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Spaniards under Fuentes,Fuentes takes Doullens, July 1595; and besieges Cambray. in an attempt to raise the siege of Doullens (July 24, 1595). Doullens fell, and Fuentes laid siege to Cambray, which had been in French hands since the expedition of the Duke of Anjou in 1581 (cf. p. 361). The King, too late to save Cambray, which capitulated in October, besieged La Fère, a fortress on the Oise, which the League had surrendered to the Spaniards, and the siege dragged on through the winter. The success of Henry in the field had not been brilliant. He was more successful in diplomacy. In September, 1595, Clement VIII. at last consented to grant him absolution, and in the following January, the Duke of Mayenne finally made his peace.The Duke of Mayenne submits. Jan. 1596. The terms he received were too high. His debts, which were enormous, were paid; he was made Governor of the Isle de France, and received three fortresses as places of security. Épernon, who soon followed the example of Mayenne, was equally well rewarded. Truly Henry was teaching his people that rebellion, if prolonged, was the way to royal favour.
There now remained no other important noble in arms except the Duke of Mercœur; and the winning of Marseilles by the young Duke of Guise, which also took place in January, caused Henry to declare ‘that God had indeed pity for France.’ Yet the outlook was not very promising. The financial straits were severe: Elizabeth would not, and the Dutch could not, render any efficient help; while the Huguenots were becoming very troublesome. They were scandalised at the desire of Henry IV. to get a divorce from his faithless and hated wife, Margaret of Valois, that he might marry his mistress, Gabrielle d’Estrées; they were outraged by the delay of the King in dealing with their grievances, while the rebellious Leaguers were receiving all that they could desire, and they even talked of enforcing their claims by arms.
In April, 1596, the new Governor of the Netherlands, the Cardinal Archduke Albert, invaded France and inflicted a serious blow on the prestige of Henry’s army by taking Calais.Archduke Albert takes Calais. April, 1596. The town might have been saved if Elizabeth had not demanded its possession as a price of her assistance, and higgled till it was too late. In the ensuing month, Henry, in a measure, balanced this serious loss by taking La Fère, and by driving the Archduke across the frontier; but he was quite unable to dislodge the Spanish garrisons from Calais or from Doullens. If the war was to be continued with vigour, money at least must be found; and to this object the Baron de Rosny (Sully), who had lately been appointed ‘surintendant’ of the finances, now turned his attention. New offices were created, which were sold to the highest bidder. Loans were extorted from the rich.Sully’s financial reforms. Those who had filled their pockets by frauds on the exchequer were forced to disgorge part of their ill-gotten gains, and some attempt was made to put a stop to such corruption in the future. The tax on salt was raised, and in the autumn an Assembly of Notables granted the King the ‘Pancarte,’ or duty of 5 per cent. on all goods offered for sale.83
Yet what Henry gained with one hand he was, with his usual recklessness, ready to spend with the other. Much of the money thus obtained was being thrown away on expensive festivities in Paris,Porto Carrero seizes Amiens. Mar. 11, 1597. when the news suddenly arrived that Porto Carrero, the Governor of Doullens, had seized the important town of Amiens by a clever coup de main (March 11, 1597). ‘Enough,’ said Henry, ‘of playing the King of France; ‘tis time to be the King of Navarre again.’ Biron was despatched to besiege Amiens forthwith. In June, the King followed himself with an army, in which the presence of Montmorenci, Mayenne, and Épernon showed that the old factions had been well-nigh extinguished. The English and the Dutch also sent reinforcements, in pursuance of a treaty of alliance which they had made in the previous year (August-October, 1596). On September 3, Porto Carrero died. The Archduke Albert, unable to raise supplies even on credit, owing to Philip’s late act of repudiation, could not advance to the relief of the garrison till September 12; then, finding himself in the presence of a superior force, he retreated ‘like a priest,’ and on September 19, 1597,Amiens recovered. Sept. 19, 1597. Amiens was at last recovered. Henry now determined to take advantage of his success to negotiate with Spain. Philip did not refuse his offer. Tortured by disease, knowing that his end was approaching, that Spain could no longer bear the strain of war, and that his feeble son was not likely to succeed where he had failed, he was anxious to leave his country at peace.Philip agrees to a truce. He accordingly agreed to a truce, and to hold a conference at Vervins in the following January for finally settling the terms of peace. The affairs of Brittany Henry was determined to settle without any foreign interference; and this he succeeded in doing without drawing the sword. The Bretons, despairing of successful resistance now that the aid of Spain was withdrawn,The Duc de Mercœur submits. Mar. 20, 1598. deserted the Duke of Mercœur, who was forced to come to terms at Angers (March 20). He surrendered the governorship of Brittany, with the hand of his daughter, to Cæsar, the illegitimate son of the King by Gabrielle d’Estrées, and received a pension in return. Thus at last all resistance had ended, and France was once more united.
The King was now in a position to attend to the grievances of the Huguenots. On entering Paris he had republished the Edict of 1576,The Edict of Nantes. April 15, 1598. with the amendments added thereto by the treaties of Bergerac and Fleix. Since he could no longer be their Protector, nor allow any other to hold that position, he had also authorised the Huguenots to organise themselves into a federative system for defence, and ten provinces had been formed, each with its elected assembly and a General Council of ten nominated by the assemblies. But the Huguenots were not satisfied; they complained that these concessions were not sufficient, and that they were often violated. All members of the League, whether noble or town, who came to terms were allowed to forbid the exercise of the Protestant religion within their jurisdiction, and what security had the Huguenots that one who could so lightly change his own religion would care or dare to protect that of others? They therefore had demanded more formal ratification of the privileges already granted them, an extension of the system of ‘Chambres mi-parties’ to all the ‘Parlements’ of France, and admission to all offices. The King, in spite of the grave discontent which at times threatened to break out in open war, had hitherto refused to satisfy their demands; until the Catholics were completely reconciled such a policy might be dangerous, and certainly would be futile, since Henry was not strong enough to enforce his promises. Now, however, that he was really master of France, he had neither the excuse nor the wish to delay any longer. Negotiations had, indeed, been going on for some time, and finally led to the Edict of Nantes, which was published on April 15, 1598. The clauses of this famous Edict followed closely on the lines of the Treaty of Bergerac of 1577. The Huguenots were permitted to hold divine service in all towns specified by that treaty, or in which it had been held in 1596 and 1597; and besides this, in one town in each bailiwick and in the fiefs of Protestant nobles. In these privileged towns they were also allowed to found colleges and schools, and to print books. Paris, however, as before, with a circuit of five leagues, was especially exempted till 1606, when the King allowed a temple to be built at Charenton, five miles distant. Huguenot ministers were to be exempt from military service, and the King promised to contribute an annual sum for their support; while the Protestants, on their part, were to pay tithes. In the ‘Parlements’ of Paris, Rouen, and Rennes, special ‘Chambres de l’Édit’—one of the judges of which was to be a Protestant—were to be established to try cases in which Huguenots were concerned; while three ‘Chambres mi-parties’ at Castres, Bordeaux, and Gap were to exercise a similar jurisdiction in the south. Finally, the Huguenots were to be allowed to hold synods, to have admission to all colleges and schools; all offices were to be open to them, and they were to suffer in no way for their religion. They were to hold the eight cities they possessed for eight years, but to allow the Catholic worship to continue there. Considering that the Huguenots did not number more than one-twelfth of the population of France, the terms they thus obtained were as favourable as they could expect, and all that was perhaps possible in the existing condition of France.
But the principle on which the Edict was based was radically faulty. It can scarcely be called an Edict of general toleration, for no other religion but that of Calvinism was allowed. Moreover, the concession of the privilege of worship to individual nobles, and to congregations in special towns, tended to accentuate the independence and isolation of the Huguenots, and to perpetuate the centrifugal tendencies, both of feudalism and of federative republicanism, which the wars of religion had intensified, and which were yet to give trouble to France. As long as there was a King on the throne willing and able to enforce the Edict, the compromise continued fairly satisfactory. But after he was gone, the chances that the Edict would be permanent day by day became less. The Huguenots, partly in self-defence, partly in pursuance of political aims which the Edict had fostered, attempted to form those towns which had been granted them into a semi-independent federation; and when, to check this, Richelieu deprived them of these pledges for the fulfilment of the Edict, he left them to fall defenceless before the tyranny and bigotry of Louis XIV.
While Henry was thus removing the last traces of opposition in France, the negotiations with Spain had been going on;Peace of Vervins. May 2, 1598. and, on May 2, the Peace of Vervins was signed. Spain evacuated all the conquests she had made in France during the last war with the exception of Cambray; Henry, on his part, restoring the county of Charolais. The Duke of Savoy came to terms at the same time; he surrendered Berre, the only place he held in Provence; while the question as to the Marquisate of Saluces, which he had seized in 1588, was referred to the arbitration of the Pope.84 Neither the Dutch nor the English were included in the Peace. The Dutch refused to enter into any treaty which did not recognise their independence, while Elizabeth was not unwilling to see the war continue between France and Spain. She had even attempted to make capital out of the negotiations, going so far as to suggest to Philip that he should cede Calais in exchange for Brille and Flushing, which she still held. Henry accordingly contented himself with securing the right of his allies to become parties to the treaty within six months.
Conclusion.
The Treaty of Vervins scarcely made any alteration in the political geography of Europe. Its importance lies rather in the changed conditions which accompanied it, and followed it.Condition of Europe at the Peace of Vervins. A few months after the signing of that treaty, Philip II. died (September 12, 1598) in his seventy-second year, at the Escurial—that magnificent though somewhat strange mixture of ‘a palace, a monastery, and a tomb,’ which is the chief architectural monument of his reign. Had Philip been a wiser man, he might have retained the obedience of the Netherlands, and profited by their industry and their colonies. He might have developed the resources and the constitutional liberties of his country, and enriched her by commerce with America. He might have turned her arms against the Turk, made himself master of the Mediterranean, and left Spain consolidated and prosperous.Decline of Spain. Intent, however, on more magnificent schemes, he had failed disastrously. His attempt to lead the Catholic reaction, and to re-establish the unity of the Church on the basis of Spanish supremacy, had ended in disaster. The defeat of the Armada had saved England from both Spain and Rome. The United Provinces had virtually won their religious and political freedom, and Henry IV. had bowed the Spaniard from his doors. Meanwhile Spain, exhausted by the constant drain which the vast attempts involved, and ruined by the disastrous policy pursued at home (cf. ch. vii.), was fast declining. After Philip’s death her royal race degenerated rapidly; and with a shrinking population, paralysed industries, and attenuated resources, she was forced to step aside and leave the struggle for supremacy to others.
And yet the Catholic reaction, of which Philip had been the leading spirit, had not been without its successes. If England,Successes of the Catholic Reaction. the United Netherlands, and the Scandinavian kingdoms had decisively broken away from Rome, Protestantism had been completely crushed out in Spain and in Italy, and in 1587, Catholicism was finally restored in Poland by Sigismund. In France, if the Huguenots had secured toleration, that toleration was not to last; and Catholicism had not only captured the King, but had again been recognised as the religion of the State. In Germany, too, the advance of Protestantism had, since the middle of the century, been arrested. The Jesuits had by this time made their influence felt, not only by their missionary and educational work among the people, but also on the policy of the Princes. In Bavaria, Albert III. (1550–1579) drove out the Protestants, and made his Duchy a stronghold of Catholicism. In 1576, Rudolf II. succeeded his father, Maximilian II., in the most important of the Austrian dominions,85 and was elected Emperor. Maximilian had been half-inclined towards Lutheranism. Rudolf, educated under the influence of his mother, the daughter of Charles V., and subsequently at the Spanish Court, was strongly Catholic. He dismissed the Protestant preachers from Vienna, and supported a Catholic policy in the Empire. The advance of Catholicism was also favoured by the dissensions between the Lutherans and the Calvinists, who were respectively headed by the Electors of Saxony and of the Palatinate. Under these circumstances, quarrels over the controverted clauses of the Peace of Augsburg were inevitable (cf. pp. 248–9). The Catholics questioned the right of the Bishop of Magdeburg to a seat in the Diet, and, in 1581, had driven Gebhard Truchsess from his Electoral See of Cologne, because these two prelates had embraced Protestantism.
Day by day the relations between the adherents of the two creeds became more strained. Already the Thirty Years’ WarDisorganised condition of Germany. was looming in the distance—a war in which Protestantism was indeed to hold her own, but at the price of the destruction of German nationality and unity, almost of German independence, and of the crippling of national prosperity and intellectual growth for more than a century.
France, it is true, had suffered severely from her civil war of thirty-six years. Trade and industry had been ruined, and her finances heavily strained.Condition of France. The venality of her administrative system had been increased. The Estates-General and the ‘Parlements,’ the representatives of constitutional life, had been discredited; the former by the extreme views it had at times adopted, both by their subservience to the League. The power and self-importance of the nobles had been increased during the civil wars, and by the system adopted by Henry IV. of buying off their opposition. The desire for federative republicanism had grown with the growth of Calvinism. All these things had been the results of the religious wars. Yet after all, it was the royal power and prestige which in the end had benefited most from the internal discords.Revival of the Royal authority. It was Henry who had given his country peace at last, and thereby earned the gratitude of his people; he it was who chiefly gained by the discredit into which the organs of constitutional life had fallen, and by the divisions and dissensions of his subjects. The nobles, indeed, were dangerous, but Henry IV. was successful in defeating their intrigues. His able, though self-sufficient and egotistical minister, Sully, reorganised the finances, and did something to check the venality and corruption which existed. The marvellous recuperative powers of the country came to his assistance; and France under the clever, though somewhat cynical, rule of her great King became once more a first-rate Power. Had Henry lived longer, or had he been succeeded by a capable son, the Thirty Years’ War would probably not have occurred, or would have been ended sooner. The House of Hapsburg might have been humbled to the dust, and France might have established a dangerous supremacy in Europe. The assassination of Henry IV. in 1610 prevented this; France, on his death, became the victim of a weak minority, and a troubled regency; and Europe was not threatened with a French supremacy until the reign of Louis XIV.