238 Philippe Emmanuel, Marquis de Nomeny, son of Nicolas Comte de Vaudemont and Duc de Mercœur, married Marie, daughter and heiress of Sebastian de Luxembourg, Vicomte de Martigues and Duc de Penthièvre. (See page 80.) He succeeded his father as Duc de Mercœur in 1577, and was appointed Governor of Brittany in 1582. During the civil wars after Henry III.’s death, he aspired to make himself independent. With this view he negotiated with Philip II., and introduced Spanish troops into Brittany. He maintained his position till 1598, when he was obliged to surrender to Henry IV. He then entered the service of the Emperor Rodolph, and fought in Hungary against the Turks. He died at Nuremberg on his way home in 1602. His only daughter and heiress was married to Cæsar, Duc de Vendôme, Henry IV.’s son by Gabrielle d’Estrées. In a caricature described by de l’Estoile (ii. 230) representing the chiefs of the League, the motto given to the Duc de Mercœur is ‘Symbolum ingratitudinis.’

239 See Letter XXXVII.

240 For Lansac’s piracies, see De l’Estoile, ii. 361.

241 Charles de Cossé-Brissac, nephew of Maréchal Cossé (p. 8). He acted as Strozzi’s lieutenant (see note p 146). Froude in his account of the French expedition to the Azores calls him ‘the Huguenot de Brissac,’ whereas he was one of the chiefs of the League. For his attempted seizure of Angers, see Mezeray, iii. 769, 770. He was appointed Governor of Paris by Mayenne at the request of the Spanish Ambassadors in 1594. Mezeray, iii. 1101-2.

242 See note 1, p. 260.

243 See Ranke, Civil Wars and Monarchy in France, chap. xxii.

244 The Marquis of Richebourg and the Seigneur de Billy, a distinguished Portuguese officer, were both killed. See Motley, United Netherlands, i. 191-196.

245 See Thuanus, iv. 10.

246 See Froude, chap. lxvii.

247 The grant was made by the deputies of the Clergy assembled at the Abbey of Saint-Germain des Prés, on October 2, and on the 16th, a second Edict against the Huguenots was published ordering them to conform or leave the kingdom within fifteen days.—De l’Estoile, ii. 213.

248 See Thuanus, iv. 50 seq.

249 The Seigneur de Tavannes, appointed Governor by the League. See De l’Estoile, ii. 216.

250 Dated August 28, 1585. Published in Paris towards the end of September.—De l’Estoile, ii. 210. See Motley, United Netherlands, i. 132.

251 Brother of the Prince de Condé. After his uncle’s death he assumed the title of Cardinal de Bourbon, see note, page 7.

252 M. Savary de Lancosme, nephew of M. de Villequier, one of the King’s favourites.

253Paris est divisé comme en trois villes par la riviere de Seine qui passe au milieu.... L’autre partie, qui est à gauche de ladicte riviere, est nommée l’Université.’—Palma Cayet, Histoire de la Ligue, i. 251. The four faubourgs were those of St. Germain, St. Jacques, St. Marceau, and St. Victor.

The famous La Noue on this occasion attempted to enter Paris by wading along the side of the Seine immediately under the Tour de Nesle, so as to land on the Quai des Augustins. Unfortunately, he rashly led the way himself, and keeping too close to the foot of the tower, where the water happened to be deepest, suddenly got out of his depth, and was nearly drowned. The enterprise consequently proved a failure.

254 The Cardinal de Bourbon, Henry IV.’s uncle, the Prince de Joinville, son and successor to Henry, Duke of Guise, and the Duc d’Elbœuf had been arrested by Henry III.’s orders, on December 23, 1588, the day of Guise’s assassination. Others, who had been arrested at the same time, had been executed, had escaped, or had been released, but these three still remained in close custody. The Cardinal was confined at Fontenay, and the two Dukes at Tours.

255 Between this letter and the last intervenes a period of nearly four years. See vol. i. p. 69. From the purchase-deed of the Seigneury of Bousbecque and Parma’s Sauve-garde (see Appendix), we know that Busbecq continued to reside in France as the agent of Elizabeth. This letter was written three months after the assassination of Henry III. After that event Navarre had been obliged to retreat to Normandy pursued by the Duke of Mayenne. The latter, however, after his attack on Henry at Arques had failed, retired to Amiens and left the way open for his enemy to make a dash on Paris.

256 The governor was de Maillé-Brezé, Seigneur de Benehart; and the monk was a cordelier named Robert Chessé or Jessé. Thuanus (v. 32) gives an account of their execution. The monk died like a brave man, the governor like a coward.

257 Philippe de Lenoncourt, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne, and afterwards of Auxerre, Cardinal of San Onofrio. It is a disputed point whether he ever actually became Archbishop of Rheims. See Gallia Christiana, ix. 156.

258 Henry, eldest son and successor of Charles, Duke of Lorraine. He sometimes bears the title of Duke of Bar. He married in 1599 Catherine, Henry IV.’s sister (see note, page 51). After her death he married Margaret de Gonzaga, daughter of the Duke of Mantua. He died in 1624. He had taken part in Mayenne’s autumn campaign against Henry, and was now on his way home from Amiens, where he had been detained some time by illness.

259Mayenne exposa la nécessité d’établir un conseil général de l’union, dont l’autorité seroit reconnue par toute la France. Des désignations pour ce conseil suprême étoient déjà faites par le conseil particulier de la ville. Il en donna le rôle; on y trouvoit trois évêques, de Meaux, de Senlis et d’Agen, six curés de Paris, sept gentilshommes, vingt deux bourgeois de Paris; ce qui, avec lui-même pour président et un secrétaire, formoit quarante membres.’—Sismondi, xx. 472.

260 He was Cardinal Caietano, brother of the Duke of Sermoneta. He arrived in Paris on January 5.

261 The people of Dijon eleven years before had been desirous of having a separate bishopric, but were prevented by the opposition of the Bishop and Chapter of Langres, in which diocese Dijon was situated.—Gallia Christiana, iv. 637.

262 These reports were not unfounded. Sultan Amurath had in fact written to Navarre promising protection against Spain, and offering to send a fleet of 200 sail to Aigues-Mortes.—Collection des Documents Inédits sur l’Histoire de France, Lettres Missives de Henri IV., iii. 364. Part of the letter is quoted by Motley, United Netherlands, iii. 48.

263 The citadel of Rouen was actually betrayed to the Royalists on February 19, but was recovered by Aumale four days afterwards.

264 The siege began on January 9, and was raised in the middle of February. Aubigné, Histoire, vol. iii. bk. iii. ch. iv; Thuanus, v. 41-3.

265 This letter is not dated, but from the mention of the Legate’s arrival and the siege of Meulan, it appears to have been written towards the end of the first half of January 1590. Busbecq was probably then at Mantes, the place from which the next letter was written. Mantes is about twenty-five English miles from Evreux, which corresponds roughly with ten of Busbecq’s miles. See vol. i. page 82, note.

266 Pierre d’Espinac was born in 1540, and became Archbishop of Lyons in 1574. He was Speaker, or Prolocutor, of the States-General held at Blois in 1576. Catherine de Medici, when the Leaguers first took up arms, sent him to negotiate with them (see p. 246.) However, he went over to that party, and was thenceforth one of the strongest partisans of the League. According to his own account, he was forced to take this step by the insults he received from Epernon, the King’s favourite; his enemies, on the other hand, asserted that his motive was the hope of gaining a Cardinal’s hat. After the assassination of Guise, at Blois, in December 1588, the Archbishop was one of those arrested, and he shared the prison of the Cardinal, the brother of the murdered duke. Each expected to meet the same fate, and each confessed to the other, and received absolution at his hands. The Cardinal was put to death the following day without trial, but the Archbishop’s life was spared. On his trial he refused to answer when interrogated by the judges, on the ground that, as Archbishop and Primate, he was subject only to the jurisdiction of the Pope, or of delegates appointed by him. He was then imprisoned at Amboise. On his release he again joined the League, and was Mayenne’s strongest partisan. He died in 1599, refusing to the last to acknowledge Henry IV.—Thuanus, v. 855.

267 Nanteuil-le-Haudoin, 49 kilometres, or about 31 English miles, from Paris. Busbecq’s ‘French miles’ must therefore be leagues. The château had been purchased by Schomberg from the Guises in 1578, and he derived from it his title of Comte de Nanteuil.

268 The appointment of these commissioners, and the seizure of Mayenne’s letters, are mentioned by Busbecq, and, as far as we have been able to discover, by Busbecq alone. These facts are not noticed by Sismondi. As has been already remarked (vol. i. page 64, note), these letters have apparently entirely escaped the notice of historians.

269 Little more than two years intervened between the date of this letter and the writer’s death. See vol. i. pp. 70, 71.

270 See for example vol. i. p. 162, pp. 239-241, and p. 351.

271 See vol. i. p. 94.

272 See vol. i. pp. 94, 167, 407.

273 Ferdinand and Louis had married each other’s sisters. Mary, the wife of the latter, was afterwards Regent of the Netherlands for her brother Charles V. See Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, Part I. chap. i.

274 See vol. i. p. 410.

275 See vol. i. p. 409.

276 See vol. i. p. 166.

277 See vol. i. pp. 78, 79.

278 See vol. i. p. 301.

279 See vol. i. pp. 79, 176.

280 See vol. i. p. 80.

281 See vol. i. p. 236.

282 See vol. i. pp. 111-118.

283 See vol. i. p. 80.

284 See vol. i. p. 81.

285 See vol. i. p. 190.

286 See vol. i. p. 85.

287 See vol. i. pp. 237-239.

288 See p. 282.

289 See vol. i. p. 236.

290 See vol. i. p. 348, note.

291 See vol. i. p. 297.

292 See vol. i. p. 386.

293 This summary of the treaty is taken from a Latin version of the Turkish original made by John Spiegel, Ferdinand’s first interpreter, which is usually printed with Busbecq’s letters.

294 See note 2, p. 73.

295 Nonsuch Park, at Cheam, was a favourite residence of Queen Elizabeth.

296 See pp. 271-2.

297 The original of this patent of Knighthood is preserved in the Imperial Archives at Vienna.

298 The blank supplies the place of a foul epithet.


INDEX TO THE LETTERS.