The Project Gutenberg eBook of Queens of Old Spain, by Martin Hume

118. An interesting letter from Ferdinand’s secretary, Conchillos, who was at Burgos, to Almazan, who accompanied Ferdinand in Italy (Royal Academy of History, Salazar A 12, reproduced by Sr. Rodriguez Villa), dated 23rd December, gives a vivid picture of the confusion and scandal caused by this sudden caprice of the Queen. He says that though they had all done their best to prevent any one speaking to her but her father’s partisans, the Marquis of Villena, his opponent, is the person she welcomes most. ‘With this last caprice of the Queen there is no one, big or little, who any longer denies that she is out of her mind, except Juan Lopez, who says that she is as sane as her mother was, and lends her money for all this nonsense.’

119. Jimenez also raised a force of one thousand picked soldiers under an Italian commander to enable him to keep the upper hand.

120. Puebla to Ferdinand, Spanish Calendar, vol. i. 409.

121. Peter Martyr, Epistolæ.

122. Villena was against Ferdinand, though Joan liked him. She probably meant that it was he who had inspired the protest.

123. The Castilian jealousy of Aragonese government, which was really at the bottom of the adherence of the nobility to Philip, was not by any means dead; and, but for the firmness of Jimenez and the diplomacy of Ferdinand, it is quite probable that a league of nobles would have seized Joan at this time and have governed in her name. Most of the greater Castilian nobles appear to have made mutual protests against the assumption of rule in Castile by Ferdinand; and in the archives of the Duke of Frias there is one dated 19th June 1507, just before Ferdinand landed at Valencia, and signed by the Marquis Pacheco, solemnly repudiating Ferdinand as King, swearing to be loyal to Joan, and attributing anything that he may subsequently do to the contrary effect, to intimidation and force. As these protests were kept secret the nobles made themselves safe either way.

124. The Marquis of Villena had just been brought to his side, and somewhat later Juan Manuel was bribed to give up his fortresses, though he himself retired to Flanders, for he would never trust Ferdinand. The only great noble who continued to hold out was the Duke of Najera.

125. Copied by Rodriguez Villa.

126. It is in the immediate neighbourhood of Burgos, and one of the coldest places in Spain.

127. And at a later period, when that danger was at an end, the fear of scandal being caused in a court so slavishly Catholic by Joan’s violent hatred of the religious services.

128. This strangely privileged corps has always had the duty to guard the sovereigns of Castile personally inside their apartments. The men are all drawn by right from the inhabitants of the town of Espinosa only.

129. Calendar, Spanish State Papers, Supplement to vol. i. All the documents quoted in narrating this period of Joan’s life are from the same source, and from the collection of the Royal Academy of History (Rodriguez Villa).

130. By a long series of intrigues Chièvres had forced the hands of Jimenez to have Charles and Joan proclaimed joint sovereigns even before the arrival of the former. The Pope and the Emperor had been persuaded to address Charles as Catholic King upon Ferdinand’s death; but in the face of the discontent of the Castilian nobles it was necessary for Charles at last to make all manner of promises as to his future residence in Spain, respect for Spanish traditions, and avoidance of using Spanish money for foreign purposes, as well as that to which reference is made in the text with regard to Joan, before he could be fully acknowledged. He broke most of his pledges at once, and so precipitated the great rising of the Comuneros. See ‘Vie de Chièvres’ by Varilla.

131. Denia told the rebels that he had appealed to the Queen for a certificate of his dismissal, but what he really asked for was her written order to stay. In reply, she told him to go about his business and talk to her no more. He was, however, successful in getting a letter from the young Infanta to the revolutionary Junta praying them not to send the marchioness away, but it had no effect. The Infanta got into sad disgrace with her brother for her alleged kindness and sympathy with the rebels, but she spiritedly defended herself, and appealed to this letter of hers in favour of the Denias as proof that she did what she could in very difficult and dangerous circumstances. (Letters from Simancas copied by Señor Rodriguez Villa.)

132. It was one of the principal allegations of the government, that, although Joan never signed anything for the rebels, her verbal orders were at once taken down in notarial form and acted upon as royal decrees.

133. One of her demands was that all her women should be sent away, as they were. Her hatred of her own sex was remarkable.

134. The Admiral of Castile and other nobles at the time endeavoured to prevail upon Joan to take the direction of affairs under their guidance; but she refused just as obstinately to give her signature to them as she had to the rebels. Denia writes to the Emperor that the Admiral is very anxious to cure the Queen; but in no case will it be allowed without the Emperor’s permission. ‘Besides, it would be another resurrection of Lazarus.’ The bitterest complaints of Denia and his methods were sent by the great nobles to Charles, whilst Denia could say no good word for them.

135. Mr. Bergenroth translated ‘hacerle premia,’ ‘applying torture,’ and it may be so translated. I prefer, however, the wider interpretation; though, no doubt, Denia meant to recommend physical coercion.

136. The Emperor ordered her to be taken to Toro in 1527, but Denia was afraid of forcing her to go.

137. Denia’s account of the interview with Borgia (confirmed by the latter) is extremely curious. The priestly Duke said, as she would do nothing else, she might recite the ‘General Confession,’ and he would absolve her. ‘Can you absolve?’ she asked. ‘Yes!’ he replied, ‘with the exception of certain cases.’ ‘Then,’ said the Queen, ‘you recite the General Confession.’ This Borgia did, and asked her whether she said the same. ‘Yes,’ she replied; and ‘she then permitted him to absolve her.’ It will be seen that there was not much submission in this. Only a day or so afterwards she appears to have flown into a terrible passion because some new hangings and gold ornaments had been placed on the corridor altar; and she refused to eat until they had been removed, and the altar left plain as before.

138. For particulars of this portrait, hitherto unknown, see ‘Calendars of Spanish State Papers,’ vol. viii., edited by Martin Hume.

139. Ambassades de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 99.

140. Antonio de Guaras to the Duke of Alburquerque. ‘Antonio de Guaras,’ by Dr. R. Garnett. For particulars of this personage, Antonio de Guaras, see ‘Españoles é Ingleses,’ por Martin Hume. Madrid y Londres, 1903.

141. Correspondance de Cardinal de Granvelle.

142. These were all councillors in the interest and pay of the Emperor, and were pledged in any case to favour the match.

143. Record Office. Record Commission Transcripts, Brussels, vol. i.

144. Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary. Camden Society.

145. Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary. Camden Society.

146. On the 21st January 1554 the Emperor wrote to Philip sending him the treaty for ratification, and asked him to send powers for the formal betrothal, since the English insist that when, by the blessing of God, the marriage takes place you shall take an oath to respect the laws and privileges of England: ‘but the Queen confidently assures us that secretly everything shall be done to our liking, and we believe this.’ MSS. Simancas. Estado, 808.

147. ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent’ in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ by Martin Hume.

148. Renard to the Emperor, 27th March 1554. Record Commission Transcripts, also printed by Tytler.

149. Full details of Philip’s voyage and arrival in England will be found in ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent’ in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ by Martin Hume.

150. Renard to the Emperor, 9th June 1554, Brussels Transcripts, Record Office.

151. ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent,’ in ‘The Year After the Armada,’ by Martin Hume. Philip himself brought 600 Andalusian jennets to improve the English breed of horses.

152. Though the palace is a crumbling ruin, the door in the garden wall remains.

153. This, I am aware, is contrary to the statements of most English historians, and especially of Mr. Froude. The evidence in favour of my view of the King’s attitude is stated in my essay called ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent,’ in ‘The Year After the Armada’ and other historical essays. Mr. Froude and his predecessors depended too implicitly upon the entirely untrustworthy and biassed accounts sent by Noailles to France, and the similarly inimical Venetian agent’s version.

154. ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent.’

155. Ruy Gomez wrote from Richmond, 24th August 1554, to Eraso. ‘The King entertains the Queen excellently, and knows very well how to pass over what is not good in her for the sensibility of the flesh. He keeps her so contented that truly the other day, when they were alone together, she almost made love to him, and he answered in the same fashion. As for these gentlemen (i.e., the English councillors), his behaviour towards them is such that they themselves confess that they have never yet had a King in England who so soon won the hearts of all men.’ MSS. Simancas Estado, 808. In November 1554 Gonzalo Perez wrote to Vasquez: ‘The English are now so civil you would hardly believe it. The kindness and gifts they have received, and are receiving every day, from the King would soften the very stones. The Queen is a saint, and I feel sure that God will help us for her sake.’—MSS. Simancas Estado, 808.

156. Ambassades de Noailles, vol. iii. Leyden, 1763.

157. It had been announced and was generally believed that Mary was dead, and the citizens were overjoyed to see her in an open litter with Philip and Pole riding by her side.

158. Badoero to the Doge. Venetian State Papers. 15th December 1558.

159. Michaeli, the Venetian Envoy (‘Calendar of Venetian State Papers’), mentions one extraordinary journey of a courier at this time from Paris to London in twenty-five hours.

160. It is related by the Flemish envoy Courteville that on his way through Canterbury he entered the Cathedral with his spurs on, against the rule; and on being charged with this by a student, he paid the fine by emptying his purse of gold in the student’s cap.

161. Feria to the King. MSS., ‘Simancas Estado,’ 811.

162. This English fleet was mainly instrumental in gaining for the Flemings a great victory over the French under Termes in July 1558.

163. MSS., ‘Simancas Estado,’ 811.

164. MSS., ‘Simancas Estado,’ 811.

165. This account of Mary’s last hours is from the Life of Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria, by her confessor and secretary, Father Clifford.

166. A curious account of the splendid festival, which celebrated at the same time the signature of the peace with England and Isabel’s baptism, is given by the Spanish ambassador. (Spanish Calendar, vol. viii., edited by Martin Hume.)

167. The Bishop of Limoges, writing to Cardinal Lorraine soon after the betrothal (8th August 1559), says: ‘Never was a prince so delighted with any creature as he (i.e., Philip) is with the Catholic Queen, his wife. It is impossible to put his joy in a letter.’—L. Paris, ‘Negociations sous François II.‘

168. Miss Freer’s ‘Elizabeth de Valois,’ quoted from Godefroi.

169. ‘Documentos Ineditos,’ vol. iii. Philip to Francis II. from Valladolid.

170. Bibliothèque Nationale, ‘Fonds François,’ No. 7237, where there is a considerable collection of the poems of both mother and daughter unprinted. Miss Frere quotes some of Catharine’s lines to Isabel, but not the above.

171. ‘Documentos Ineditos,’ vol. iii.

172. The account of Isabel’s voyage and reception is drawn mainly from the narratives of eyewitnesses in the correspondence published by M. L. Paris in ‘Negociations sous François II.‘

173. ‘Négociations sous François II.,’ p. 173.

174. Even more comforted, we are told, were the poor maids of honour, whose own beds and baggage had gone astray.

175. Brantome, ‘Dames Illustres.’

176. Brantome says he had this story from one of Isabel’s ladies in waiting who was present.

177. i.e. Anne of Bourbon Montpensier.

178. ‘Negociations sous Francois II.,’ p. 706.

179. Brantome, ‘Dames Illustres.’

180. ‘Negociations sous François II.‘

181. i.e. Margaret of Valois, La Reine Margot, who afterwards married Henry IV., the Bearnais on the evil day of St. Bartholomew, and was subsequently put aside by him.

182. Particulars of these intrigues will be found in ‘The Love Affairs of Mary Queen of Scots’ by Martin Hume.

183. She afterwards married Philip himself as his fourth wife.

184. Négociations sous François II.

186. Letter from the French ambassador in Spain to Catharine de’ Medici, quoted in ‘Vie d’Elisabeth de Valois,’ par le Marquis du Prat.

187. Speaking of this illness Brantôme says quaintly, ‘Elle tomba malade en telle extrémité qu’elle fut abandonnée des medecins. Sur quoy il y eut un certain petit medecin Italien qui pourtant n’avoit grande vogue à la cour, qui se presentant au roy, dit que, si on le vouloit laisser faire, il la gueriroit, ce que le roy permit: aussi estoit elle morte. Il entreprend et luy donne une medecine, qu’apres l’avoir prise on luy vit tout a coup monter miraculeusement la couleur au visage et reprendre son parler et puis après sa convalescence. Et cependant toute la cour et tout le peuple d’Espagne rompaient les chemins de processions, d’allées et venues qu’ils fasoient aux eglises et aux hospitaux pour sa Santé, les uns en chemise les autres nuds pieds, nues testes, offrans offrandes, prieres, oraisons et intercessions à Dieu par jeusnes, macerations de corps et autres telles sainctes et bonnes dévotions pour sa Santé.’

Brantôme arrived in Spain soon after her recovery, and vividly describes the joy and gratitude of the people at her convalescence. He saw her, he says, go out in her carriage for the first time after her recovery to give thanks to the Virgin of Guadalupe, and asserts that she looked more lovely than ever as she sat at the door of the carriage for the people to see her. She was dressed in white satin covered with silver trimming, her face being uncovered. ‘Mais je crois que jamais rien ne fut veu si beau que cette reine, comme je pris l’hardiesse de luy dire.’ (Dames Illustres.)

188. L’Aubépine to Catharine. ‘Bibliothèque Nationale,’ printed in an appendix to Du Prat’s ‘Elizabeth de Valois.’

189. Isabel to Catharine. Bibliothèque Nationale, No. 39, printed in the appendix of Du Prat’s ‘Elizabeth de Valois.’

190. Archives Nationales, Paris C. K., 1393, quoted in the Introduction of the Spanish Calendar of Elizabeth, edited by Martin Hume.

191. Bibliothèque Nationale, Colbert, vol. 140. ‘Bref discours de l’arrivée de la Reine d’Espagne à St. Jehan de Luz.’

192. It is usually assumed (and amongst others by Father Florez in ‘Reinas Catolicas’) that the massacre of St. Bartholomew seven years later (1572) in Paris was arranged at this meeting. There is, however, no proof that such was the case. Philip and the Spanish party, it is true, were loud in their praises of this enormity, but much happened between Bayonne and Bartholomew.

193. Isabel herself ascribed the blessing to her prayers to the body of St. Eugène, which she had with great difficulty persuaded the French to surrender to Spain. It was carried with great pomp from St. Denis to Toledo, and Isabel was constant in her adoration of it.

194. French ambassador Fourquevault to Catharine, June 1567. Bibliothèque Nationale, No. 220 (Du Prat).

195. Ibid., No. 8.

196. Fourquevault to Catharine, 3rd October 1568. Du Prat.

197. Fourquevault to Catharine, 3rd October 1568. Du Prat.

198. Father Florez tells of her that on one occasion she was brought to death’s door by her loathing her food; and as all mundane remedies had been tried in vain, the King sent for the blessed friar Orozco. The friar told the Queen he had a remedy recommended by his grandmother which would cure her if she would take it. The Queen consented, and the friar cooked a partridge and bacon before her, reciting verses of the Magnificat at each turn of the spit. When the dish was ready he took it to the Queen and said, ‘Eat, my lady, in the name of God, for the mere smell of this would make a dead man hungry.’ Needless to say, Anna ate and was cured.

199. She was much beloved, especially in Madrid, and died in childbed at the Escorial in 1611.

200. An interminable account of the splendours of the occasion, for which the favourite Duke of Lerma was mainly responsible, will be found in ‘Documentos Ineditos,’ lxi.

201. To show how uncertain were still the relations between the people of the two countries, it may be mentioned that an eyewitness of the ceremonies of the exchange, etc., mentions as a marvellous thing that there was no fighting between Spaniards and Frenchmen.

202. The only portion of this building now standing is the ancient Gothic church where King Alfonso and Queen Victoria Eugénie were recently married. It stands close to the famous picture gallery in the Prado.

203. From an unpublished MS. in the British Museum. Add. 10,236.

204. From MSS. of Diego de Soto, de Aguilar Royal Academy of History, Madrid, G. 32, and another in British Museum, Add. 10,236.

205. Father Florez and other ecclesiastical writers give many instances of her liberality in contributing to pious works, and in Reinas Catolicas there is an account of Isabel’s action at the time (in 1624), that a ‘heretic had outraged the Most Holy Sacrament in this my convent of St. Philip.’ In addition to the services of atonement for the outrage in all the churches, ‘the royal family made such an atonement as never was seen, as befitted an insult to the greatest of the mysteries. The corridors of the palace were adorned with all the valuable and beautiful possessions of the crown, and a separate altar was erected in the name of each royal personage. That of the Queen attracted the attention of all beholders for the taste it exhibited, and the immense value of the jewels that adorned it belonging to her Majesty. The value of these jewels was computed at three million and a half’ (of reals).

206. ‘Voyage d’Espagne.’ Aersens van Sommerdyk, and many other visitors to Spain at the time testify to this. See also ‘Relatione dell’ Ambasciatore di Venetia.’ British Museum MSS., Add. 8,701.

207. Historia del Arte Dramatico en España (translated from the German of A. F. Schack).

208. Howell’s ‘Familiar Letters.’

209. The steps of the Church of St. Philip in the Calle Mayor was so called El Mentidero.

210. Speech (published) by Don Eugenio Hartzenbusch to the Royal Academy of History, Madrid, 1861, where the whole question is discussed.

211. The house now belonging to Count Oñate, just out of the Puerta del Sol.

212. It is certain that Olivares urged Philip most fervently to attend to business in the early years of his reign. See my chapter on Philip IV. in ‘The Cambridge Modern History,’ vol. iv., for a letter on the subject from Philip.

213. On the site of the present Teatro español in the Plaza de Sant Ana.

214. Philip had had a son by another lady high at Court three years before this, in 1626, of whom an account from unpublished sources will be found in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ etc., by Martin Hume.

215. From an unpublished contemporary account in Italian. B. M. Add. 8,703.

216. Ashburton Collection.

217. Soto de Aguilar, one of Philip’s gentlemen of the wardrobe, wrote an interminable account of all the festivities of his time (MS. Royal Academy of History. Copy in the writer’s possession), from which have been derived many details.

218. The garden was that of Monterey, and with the two adjoining gardens, which for this occasion were thrown into one, occupied the whole space from the Calle de Alcala to the Carrera de San Geronimo, called the Salon del Prado.

219. Amongst other trifles offered to the ladies at this feast were some of the small jars (bucaros) made of fine scented white clay, which it was at the time a feminine vice to eat. Madame D’Aulnoy gives a curious account of the evil effects produced by this strange eatable. She also mentions the curious craze in Madrid at the time amongst people of fashion to throw eggshells filled with scent at each other in the theatres, parties, and even whilst promenading in carriages. Philip himself was much addicted to this pastime.

220. This was the garden on the corner of the Carrera de San Geronimo and the Prado, now occupied by the Villahermosa palace and grounds.

221. Philip is represented as wearing such a collar in his portrait by Velazquez at Dulwich College.

222. Although he confesses that when most of the great folks had retired, and daylight lit up the scene of revelry, great numbers of people were found hidden in the shrubberies.

223. On the spot where the Bank of Spain now stands, until a few years ago the site of the palace and grounds of the Marquis of Alcañices.

224. Appendix to Mesonero Romanos’ ‘El Antiguo Madrid.’ An account of this feast, though much less full, is also given in the newsletters of the date published by Sr. Rodriguez Villa in ‘La Corte de España en 1636 y 1637.’

225. The policy and aims of Olivares are fully set forth in ‘Spain, Its Greatness and Decay,’ Cambridge Historical Series, by Martin Hume.

226. Olivares was notoriously offensive to ladies. On one occasion when Isabel gave an opinion on State affairs he told Philip that monks must be kept for praying and women for child-bearing.

227. One hundred and fifty persons in Madrid alone were cast into dungeons for not being liberal enough with their contributions on this occasion.

228. Relatione dell’ Ambasciatore di Venetia (MS. British Museum, Add. 8,701), and also an account attributed (doubtfully) to Quevedo, printed in vol. iii. of the Semanario Erudito.

229. News letter of 11th October in Semanario Erudito, vol. xxxiii.

230. Matias de Novoa, ‘Memorias.’ He was one of Philip’s chamberlains.

231. Life of Sor Maria de Agreda, quoted by Father Florez.

232. Cartas de la Venerable Madre Sor Maria de Agreda, edited by F. Silvela. For two years after Isabel’s death all comedies and theatrical representations were forbidden at the instance of Sor Maria, but in 1648 Philip consented to their resumption.

233. ‘Cartas de la Venerable Madre Sor Maria de Agreda y Felipe IV.’ Edited by Silvela.

234. Marie Anne de Montpensier, the daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orleans (La Grande Demoiselle), was suggested, but rejected at once as impossible, both from the French and Spanish point of view! It would, indeed, have further alienated, rather than have drawn together, the French regency and Spain.

235. ‘Cartas de la Venerable Madre Sor Maria de Agreda y Felipe IV.‘

236. The progress and events from day to day are related by Mascarenhas, Bishop of Leyria, who accompanied the Queen, in ‘Viage de la Serenisima Reina Doña Margarita de Austria.’ Madrid, 1650.

237. It has puzzled many inquirers why the marriages of the kings of Spain should usually have taken place in poverty-stricken little villages like Navalcarnero and Quintanapalla, where no adequate accommodation existed, or could be created. The real reason appears to be that when a royal marriage took place in a town the latter was freed for ever after from paying tribute. The poorer the place, therefore, the smaller the sacrifice of public revenue.