1 T"' ""T "PUIM Q 1 "^ ' '\Lji t^E^K^HiS 'KYiKlttmlWII r^' i' r 1 k A ^ ^ . 1 m B 1 g 1 ^Wm 1 |V 1 ■ : \ r - ; ; e r i [ I^S^IV^IS .J ^g^ ^If ^^VH^ leg.'s^ssa' - i p - I , I 1 MARY F .S.HERVEY. : ; i 1 I L : 5 ; : THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LIBRARY HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" THE PICTURE AND THE MEN THE "AMBASSADORS." nHiffiWe&oousi I I THE "AMBASSADORS." FROM THE PICTURE BY HOLBEIN IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON. HOLBEIN'S "Ambassadors" THE PICTURE AND THE MEN %■ m AN HISTORICAL STUDY BY MARY F. S. HERVEY Tes esprits courageux ne furent pas contans Sans doctement conjoindre avec la peinture L'Art de math^matique et de I'architecture." RONSARD IVITII NINETEEN ILLUSTRATIONS AND TWO FACSIMILES LONDON GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET COVENT GARDEN 1900 m fh'7 CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. THE 4. PAUL GETTY f^USEUM LIBRARY ■:;■>;. .OTjuS PREFACE T may appear a large demand upon the patience of the reader to devote an entire volume to subjects connected with one picture. So varied and fas- cinating, however, is the field of study opened up by Holbein's ''Ambassadors," that what was originally in- tended to occupy but a few pages has developed to the present dimensions. The value of a work of art, as such, must necessarily depend on purely aesthetic considerations. But it oftens happens that other and hardly less attractive points of view converge with the artistic aspect. The unique position occupied by the "Ambassadors" as an example of French cultivation in the early half of the sixteenth century is a case in point. Probably no other painting illustrates in the same measure the private life and pursuits of an educated Frenchman of the period, as well as certain remarkable points relating to public events. The documents which at last re-established the identity of Holbein's sitters will be found printed in extenso in Part I. of this volume, two of them for the first time ; while all the facts bearing upon the history of the picture have been gathered together into a continuous narrative. A large part of the in- PREFACE formation given throughout the following pages is based upon hitherto unpublished manuscripts, and a variety of new circum- stances has been brought to light respecting both the picture and the personages portrayed. Where letters or quotations are inserted in the original French, the old orthography has been strictly preserved, with the sole exception that the letter u, when it stands for a consonant, has been replaced by the more familiar v. In all cases where the old French seemed likely to present any difficulty to the modern reader, translations have been appended. The fact that Holbein copied the floor of opus Alexandri- num depicted in the " Ambassadors," from the grand old mosaic pavement of Abbot Ware in Westminster Abbey, may come as a surprise to the reader, and will, it is hoped, be as great a pleasure to him to learn as it was to the writer to discover. The short notice in the Appendix respecting George Gyze or Gisze, showing the position held by him in the corporation of German merchants in London, now made clear for the first time, may also, it is believed, offer a point of interest to those acquainted with the fine portrait of him, by Holbein, in the Gallery at Berlin. It remains for the writer to express her gratitude to all those who have assisted the researches of which the following pages are the result. Special thanks are due to Lady Radnor, for information kindly communicated respecting the history of the picture while at Longford Castle ; to Mrs. Graham Harrison, for translations from the Latin letters of Pierre Bunel ; to M. Dorlodot des Essarts, Marquis de Selve, for permission to reproduce the portrait of the Bishop of Lavaur preserved at Villiers, and for the use of a valuable unpublished Papal rescript which has formed part of the family archives since the sixteenth vi PREFACE century ; to Lord Francis Hervey, for the translation of Alciati's Latin verses to accompany the emblem '' Foedera Italorum"; to the Astronomer Royal, for an opinion respecting the celestial globe painted by Holbein ; to the late Mr. C. H. Coote, of the British Museum; to Mr. W. H. Rylands, G.A.D.C. ; to M. Massif, Keeper of the Public Library at Toulouse ; M. Au- guste Vidal, Archivist at Albi (Tarn) ; the Ahh6 Caz^s, Superior of the Seminary at Lavaur ; M. Lefevre-Pontalis, editor of the " Correspondance Politique d'Odet de Selve," in the series of State Papers published by the French Foreign Office; M. Tausserat-Radel, editor of the " Correspondance de Guil- laume Pellicier, Ev^que de Montpellier," in the same series ; M. Dardenne, Trdsorier-Gdndral of the Department of Aude ; Dr. Charles Fournel, author of the history of the Hospice Beaujon at Paris ; M. F. Abrand, Regisseur at Polisy ; to Mr. Morelli, for permission to use the photographs taken by him from the picture of the " Ambassadors " ; to Messrs. Henry Stevens, Son and Stiles, for leave to reproduce the gores of the globe copied by Holbein ; and to many others who have cordially done what lay in their power to promote the objects of this study. The writer is also indebted to the keepers of various depart- mental and municipal collections of archives in France ; to several Paris notaries who have kindly examined for her the ancient legal documents in their possession ; and to M. Ldon Pajot, for researches conducted amongst the MSS. preserved at Paris. Vll : :.:."|lTw^ CONTENTS Introduction PAGE I PART I THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE Chapter I. The History of the "Ambassadors" from 1533 to 1654 . . 5 Chapter II. The History of the "Ambassadors" from 1654 to the pre- sent day. Chronology of the Picture 18 PART II JEAN DE DINTEVILLE Chapter I. The Early Life of Jean de Dinteville 35 Chapter II. The First Mission to England of the Bailly of Troyes (i 531), and the Calais Interview of 1532 50 Chapter III. The Bailly of Troyes, French Ambassador in England (1533) ^^ Chapter IV. Coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn and Termination of the Bailly's Long Embassy to England 83 Chapter V. Short Missions of the Bailly of Troyes to England in 1535, 1536, and 1537 99 Chapter VI. Disgrace and Return to Favour of the Dinteville family . in Chapter VII. The Building of Polisy and the Last Years of Jean de Dinteville. His Supposed Portrait at Windsor 125 ix /? CONTENTS PART III GEORGE DE SELVE PAGE Chapter I. The Early Years of George de Selve and his First Diplomatic Employment 143 Chapter II. The Bishop of Lavaur Ambassador at Venice and at Rome 156 Chapter III. Repose at Lavaur, and Embassy to Charles V 169 Chapter IV. The Closing Days of the Bishop of Lavaur. His Portrait at Villiers 184 PART IV THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE Chapter I. General Description of the Picture — The Death's-Head — The Dagger— The Order of St. Michael— The Celestial Globe— The Terrestrial Globe 197 Chapter II. The Lutheran Hymn-Book — The Book of Arithmetic — The Geometrical Instruments — The Mosaic Pavement — The Lute — The Seven Liberal Arts — The Silver Crucifix — Occult Science — Conclusion 219 Appendix A. Georg Gyze or Gisze 239 Appendix B. " Presbyter Joannes " (Prester John) 241 Index 243 I. 2. 3. 10. 11. 12. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGB The "Ambassadors," from the picture by Holbein in the National Gallery, London {full-page) Frontispiece Reduced Facsimile of document purchased from M. Saffroy {full-page) 12 Reduced Facsimile of document preserved amongst the Godefroy Papers, Bibl. de l'Institut, Paris {full-page) . 18 The ChAteau of Polisy, from an original drawing of the early seventeenth century, published by M. Lucien COUTANT IN THE ALMANACH DE BaR-SUR-SEINE {full-page) 35 Portrait of Francois II. de Dinteville, Bishop of Auxerre, from the Martyrdom of Ste. Eugenie, by Felix Chretien, IN THE Church at Varzy {full-page) 56 Unnamed Drawing by Holbein in the Windsor Collection, SUPPOSED TO represent JEAN DE DiNTEVILLE {full-page) . IIO Arms of Jean de Dinteville, as still seen at Polisy {in the text) 128 Arms of the Bishop of Auxerre, from the tesselated pavement at Polisy {in the text) 130 Dormer Window of the Maison de l'AOmonier at Polisy, showing the emblem of Fortune {in the text) 131 Mark of the printer Gryphe of Lyons, showing the emblem of Fortune {in the text) 132 The Cathedral of Lavaur at the present day {full-page). 143 Jean de Selve, Premier President of the Parliament of Paris, from Bullart, " Acad£mie des Sciences et des Arts" {full-page) 154 xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGB 13. George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, from a posthumous PAINTING AT THE CHATEAU OF ViLLIERS, SEINE-ET-OISE {full-page) 170 14. a. The " Arms of Death," from Holbein's Dance of Death. b. The Death's-head brooch in Dinteville's cap {full-page) 197 15. a. Dinteville's Dagger-sheath, from the picture of the " Ambassadors." b. Design for a Dagger-sheath after Holbein, at the Museum of Basle {full-page) 206 1 6. Celestial Globe, from the picture of the "Ambassadors," reduced scale {full-page) 210 17. Terrestrial Globe, from the picture of the " Ambassadors," reduced scale {full-page) 214 18. Gores of the Nuremberg Globe copied by Holbein, reduced scale {full-page) ibid. 19. Hymn-book, FROM the picture of the "Ambassadors" {full- page) 218 20. a. Book of Arithmetic, from the picture of the "Ambas- sadors." b. Page of Apian's "Merchant's Arithmetic," copied by Holbein {full-page) 224 21. a. Design of the Mosaic Pavement in Westminster Abbey, WITH details of PATTERNS {in the text) 226 b. Design of the Mosaic Pavement in Holbein's picture, WITH details of PATTERNS {in the text) ibid. xu HOLBEIN'S '' AMBASSADORS " INTRODUCTION EW pictures have attracted more attention than Holbein's double-portrait of two Ambassadors, since its migration in 1890 from Longford Castle to the National Gallery. The great qualities which distinguish it as a work of art are too well known to need recapitulation here. In conception, scale, and elaboration, in all the elements characteristic of Holbein's genius, the picture stands in the foremost rank of that painter's achievement. Moreover, up to 1890, Holbein was unrepresented in the National Gallery, though much of his best work was executed in England, and for English patrons. Besides its great and permanent merits, another cause contributed to draw notice to this work when it first appeared as national property : the identity of the two individuals represented had become lost. Good fortune has since restored to us their forgotten names. It is now possible to affirm, with complete certainty, that in the personage to the left ^ is beheld the image of Jean de Dinteville, Seigneur of Polisy and Bailly of Troyes : in the robed figure to the right, that of George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur. How, step by step, the history of Holbein's master- piece has been recovered it will be one of the objects of the following pages to show. But the unusual character of the picture, the curiosity it has aroused, ^ The terms right and left signify, throughout this study, the spectator's right and left. I B HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" the complex and fascinating setting in which the two friends are placed, seem to call for something more than a mere chronicle of its story. It is impossible to repress the question, what manner of men were these ? or to resist the desire to know how far the actual circumstances of their lives explain the choice of the many striking objects with which they are seen surrounded. As a matter of fact, a closer acquaintance with the mental atmosphere they breathed, and with the relations in which they stood to contemporary thought and events, throws a flood of light on many points which, at first sight, appear obscure. In the history of their life and times is to be found the solution of any enigmas suggested by their entourage. Returning to the picture with the insight derived from the study of their circumstances, it becomes clear that the composition is no less logical in thought than symmetrical in design. The varied features pre- sented by it, many of which deserve close inspection on their own merits, assume new meaning and interest, whether taken separately or viewed in certain combinations. Some glimpse is thus obtained, though it may be but an imperfect one, of the intentions with which, more than three centuries and a half ago, artist and owner built up the intricate harmonies of their monumental work. The subject thus falls naturally into four divisions. The first part will be devoted to the history of the picture ; the second and third, to the lives of the men it represents ; the fourth, to some analysis of its contents. w^m^s^wm^.'O^^ PART I THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE ijamaftmiiicB«S ! THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE CHAPTER I The History of the "Ambassadors" from 1533 to 1654 |HEN, in 1890, the picture of "The Ambassadors" was purchased for the national collection,^ nothing was known of its story prior to the last hundred years. The record began with the fact that it had been owned in the latter part of the eighteenth century by Jean-Batiste- Pierre Le Brun, a dealer and collector at Paris.'* In 1792 Le Brun published the first volume of his " Galerie des Peintres Flamands, Hollandais et Allemands," in which there appeared a very bad engraving of "The Ambassadors," thus inscribed : " Tir^ du Cabinet de M. Le Brun d'apres I'original peint sur bois, hauteur 96 pouces, largeur 54." ' The engraving was accompanied by a biographical notice of Holbein which, after recording various points connected with his paintings, continues : " Celui dont on voit I'estampe offre les portraits de MM. de Selve et d'Avaux ; I'un fut Ambassadeur a Venise, I'autre le fut dans le nord : ils sont accompagn^s ^ The picture was acquired, with two others, from the late Earl of Radnor, for ;^55,ooo ; of which ^^2 5,000 was contributed by the State, and ;^3o,ooo by Messrs. Nath. Rothschild and Sons, Sir Edward Guinness, Bart, (now Lord Iveagh), and Mr. Charles Cotes. (See Catalogue of the National Gallery, under " Holbein.") * The husband of Mme. Vigee Le Brun, the painter. ^ These measurements are incorrect. See note 4, page 9. 5 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" des attributs des arts qu'ils cultivaient. J'ai depuis vendu ce tableau pour I'Angleterre, ou il est maintenant ; les figures sont de grandeur naturelle."* It will be remarked that Le Brun offers no information as to where he had acquired his precious possession. In England it came into the hands of the dealer Buchanan, who sold it to Jacob, second Earl of Radnor, in 1808, or the following year.^ It remained at Long- ford Castle until purchased for the National Gallery. During the Longford episode, guesses seemed to have rained as to the identity of the personages. Some critics favoured the French theory derived from Le Brun. Others drew into the service a variety of notabilities, ranging from Charles V., Emperor of Germany, down- wards. The year 1826 seems to have been especially rich in surmise of this type. At last someone proposed Sir Thomas Wyat for the courtly personage to the left ; and this name appears to have clung a little longer than was the case with some previous suggestions. At any rate, it was accepted without much reflection by the leading authorities on Holbein, Mr. Wornum^ and Dr. Woltmann,* and so came to pass as current coin. Dr. Woltmann further suggested the name of Leland for the second figure. But a paper by Mr. Gough Nichols, published in the " Archaeo- logia " for 1873,^ easily disposed of these identifications. For one ^ Le Brun, " Galerie des PeintresFlamands, Hollandais et Allemands." Paris, 1792, vol. i., page 7. ^ The following entries occur in the Account Books of Longford Castle : 1808, Feb. 18, Buchanan, Picture Dealer, on account ;^ioo. 1809, June 24, Buchanan and his assignee Halden, ;^i,ooo. As on a print of the picture at the British Museum a note is inscribed, " sold by Buchanan for 1,000 guineas," there can be no doubt that the entries in question refer to " The Ambassadors." These and other facts relating to the Longford period in the story of the picture have been kindly communicated to the writer by Lady Radnor. ^ " Some account of the Life and Works of Hans Holbein," by Ralph Nicholson Wornum, London, 1867, chap, xiv., page 275. * "Holbein und seine Zeit," by Dr. Alfred Woltmann, second German edition, vol. i., page 372, vol. ii., page 141. ' " Archseologia," vol. xliv., part ii., pp. 450-455. (" Remarks on some pictures of Quintin Matsys and Holbein in the Collection of the Earl of Radnor at Longford Castle," by John Gough Nichols, Esq., F.S. A.) In spite of errors of fact and speculation, Mr. Gough 6 THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE thinpf, the "Ambassadors" bore no resemblance whatever to authentic portraits of the individuals they were now supposed to represent, those portraits, in Wyat's case, being also by Holbein/ Mr. Gough Nichols had no fresh theory to offer in the place of that which he demolished. Returning for a moment to the French title of Le Brun's engraving, he proceeded to dismiss the claim to consideration of Selve and Avaux as summarily as that of Sir Thomas Wyat and Leland.^ Holbein's sitters were left nameless. In 1890 there seemed to remain only the traditional title of " Two Ambassadors " (shorn of the faulty, but highly important corollary, " MM. De Selve et D'Avaux "), and such clues as the internal evidence of the picture might afford, to throw any light on the enigma. It will be necessary now to dwell for a moment on this internal evidence, in order to show how completely it bears out the documentary testimony which at last came to light. The only certain clues were, shortly, the following : i. The signa- ture (low down in the left-hand corner) : Joannes Holbein pingebat, 1533. 2. The French Order of St. Michael worn by the personage to the left. 3. The words, aet. svae 29, inscribed on the dagger-sheath of the same gentleman. 4. A similar inscription, aetatis sve (sic) 25, on the leaves of the closed book which supports the elbow of the right- hand personage. The best authorities united in the belief that Holbein spent the year 1533 in England. The Order of St. Michael of France worn by the individual to the left, pointed to the probability, but not certainty, of his being a Frenchman ; scarcely any foreigners, except royal and a few other notable personages, being at that time admitted to the Order. The task, therefore, so far as the left-hand figure was concerned, was Nichols' treatment of the subject was by far the most scientific it had met with up to that time. ^ Amongst the Windsor drawings by Holbein there are two portraits of Wyat. Several oil paintings also exist of this personage. * Curiously enough, Mr. Gough Nichols actually cites the name of George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, but rejects it, having examined it only with regard to the left-hand figure, which obviously is not that of a Bishop ! So near did he come to the truth. 7 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" to find a man who, having been in England in the year indicated, was at once an ambassador, a Knight of the Royal Order of France, and of the desired age. Further, it was likely that he would be a Frenchman. Among the many candidates of varied nationality, the dates and circumstances of whose lives, so far as they could be ascertained, were investigated by the writer, one only, proposed, with happy insight, by Mr. Sidney Colvin/ appeared to fit these conditions in every respect. Jean de Dinteville, Seigneur of Polisy, Bailly of Troyes, and Knight of St. Michael, was French Ambassador at the court of Henry Vni. almost throughout the year 1533. He was born in September, 1504, and was therefore in his twenty-ninth year when he came to England in February, 1533. Moreover " Polisy," the name of Dinte- ville's seigneurie in Burgundy, was found to be marked on the terrestrial globe represented in the picture close to the principal personage. The word was, however, slightly damaged, which detracted from the cer- tainty of the reading till further proof arose to confirm it. That proof was still lacking ; while the presence of many rival theories, some of them highly ingenious, and each claiming to have some special feature in its favour, left the solution still doubtful. The identity of the second personage remained meanwhile as obscure as ever. Many names were proposed,^ but none seemed to offer the substantial promise of success which lent cogency to the Dinteville theory. The claim of M. de Selve, whose name, as well as the title of " The Two Ambassadors," proved in the end to be survivals of the true tradition, was curiously overlooked from the time when that of his supposed companion, M. D'Avaux, was found to be a myth. The two names had in reality nothing in common. The very fact ' "Times," September, 1890. "Art Journal," January, 189 1. ' It seems unnecessary to record here the many interesting suggestions put forward for the identification of Holbein's sitters. An exception should perhaps be made with regard to Mr. Sidney Colvin's proposal of Nicholas Bourbon, the poet, for the second figure; because, in consequence of an article from his pen in the "Art Journal" for January, 1891, the idea was repeated in more permanent form, though merely as a surmise, by Mr. Lionel Cust, in the " Dictionary of National Biography" (art. " Holbein"). It is sufficient to say here that Mr. Colvin immediately withdrew his suggestion when the real identity of the second individual was made known. ("Times," Dec. 10, 1895.) 8 THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE that they were not contemporary proved the arbitrary nature of their connection. While the title of Avaux did not exist till more than a hundred years after the picture was painted/ five out of the six sons of Jean de Selve, the famous Premier President of the parliament of Paris, were ambassadors during the sixteenth century and were born within a range of time that covered the desired date. Two of them were envoys at Venice, in exact accordance with the French tradition.^ The diffi- culty was to know which brother to select, and to find the precise in- formation which would bring him into relation with Dinteville and Holbein in England. Much confusion prevails in the popular sources of information which deal with this family of diplomatists. This com- plicated the task of fixing their exact ages, necessarily the first step towards success. Where, however, so little evidence was forthcoming on which to base any kind of theory, the author thought it advisable not to reject an old and plausible tradition unless proved to be incorrect. The rights of the Selve family now received a fresh impulse from another quarter. In 1894 the patient research of Mr. Dickes^ succeeded in tracing the story of the picture one step behind the ownership of Le Brun to the sale of the property of M. Nicolas Beaujon, a well- known French millionaire, who died in the winter of 1 786. In the cata- logue of that sale, which occurred in April and May, 1787, the following curious notice may be read : "16 bis. Un autre tableau de quatre pieds et demi ou environ de hauteur sur pres de huit pieds de large;* il represente deux ambassadeurs, MM. de ^ The seigneurie of Avaux in Champagne was raised to the rank of a Comte in 1638, in favour of Jean Jacques de Mesmes, who had married the heiress of that estate. ^ See note relating to the sons of Jean de Selve, part iii. ' "Times," May 15, 1894. Mr. Dickes had a different theory of his own which his interesting find materially assisted to overthrow. ^ The catalogue of the National Gallery (1898) gives the dimensions as follows : " In oil, often vertical panels, 6 ft. 10 in. high, by 6 ft. 10^ in. wide." It is curious that while the catalogue of the Beaujon sale makes the picture much wider than high, Le Brun's description, about five years later in date, exactly reverses those proportions. Le Brun's measurements are obviously the less incorrect of the two, as the engraving in the " Galerie des Peintres Flamands," etc., shows that the picture, if represented in proportions that at all corresponded with the original, was, in his time, much higher than broad ; but both 9 c Hi HOLBEIN'S AMBASSADORS" Selve et d'Avaux, Tun Ambassadeur a Venise, et I'autre dans les pays du Nord, avec le costume des nations chez lesquelles ils etoient envoyes ; et les attributs des arts qu'ils aimoient. On voit aussi une tete de mort en perspective, a prendre de Tangle gauche du tableau/ et qui a I'agrement de ressembler en face a un grand poisson. Le tableau est du meme Holbein, mais la date de I'annee n'y est pas.^ II est du regne de Frangois I. ou de Henri H. Ces deux tableaux sont a consid^rer."^ It now became clear whence Le Brun had drawn his information. He had merely repeated the already existing tradition. Notwithstand- ing the errors woven by a lively imagination into the substantial facts of the Beaujon catalogue, the importance of the fresh link in the chain of evidence was obvious. The new clue added force to the presumption, already strong, that the French tradition had a real foundation in fact ; but that by some unexplained means the name of Avaux had in course of time been substituted for that of Dinteville. Such was the state of things when, in 1895, ^ fortunate discovery came to confirm the probabilities thus evolved, and to raise them to the certainty of fact. In the "Revue de Champagne et de Brie" for 1888, there was published a short notice of a picture formerly preserved at Polisy, con- taining the portraits oi Jean de Dinteville and George de Selve I * descriptions must have been very inaccurate. Excessive carelessness on the part of the French writers is probably the main explanation of the discrepancies. ^ The spectator's right. ^ The signature and date have been recorded as existent or non-existent at various times in the history of the picture, according to the condition of the painting and of the light at the moment of examination. In the excellent circumstances it now enjoys, both one and the other are plainly visible. ^ Paris, BibHotheque Nationale, Cabinet des Estampes, CoteV*, 184; and a second copy in the same library, Imprimes, V, 8201, 18. Catalogue de tableaux . . . apres le deces de M. Beaujon . . . redige par P. Remy et C. F. JuUiot, fils. Pp. 7 et 8, Ecole des Pays-Bas, Jean Holbein. In the margin of the first copy named is a note in ink : " Prix de vente 602L. A ete vendu avec le No. precedent et pour la meme somme." The preceding number (16) is under the same heading "Jean Holbein." But as it is said to represent "La Cour de Fran9ois II.," who began to reign in 1559, while Holbein died in 1543, it is scarcely necessary to observe that, if rightly described, it can have had nothing to do with this painter. The sale began on April 25, 1787 ; the "Ambassadors" and its companion picture were disposed of on May 5. ^ "Revue de Champagne et de Brie," vol. xxiv., page 318. M. Lefevre-Pontalis 10 THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE Here then, at last, was the long-delayed solution : doubly satis- factory inasmuch as it exactly corroborated the results of so much previous research. The paragraph in the " Revue de Champagne " was based on a catalogue published in March, 1888, by M. Saffroy, an antiquarian bookseller of Pr6-Saint-Gervais, in which a seventeenth-century parch- ment, describing this picture, was offered for sale. The notice in the "Revue" first came under the present writer's observation in 1895. The document there mentioned, which M. Saffroy happily still possessed after the lapse of seven years, was at once obtained, and furnished exactly the information which had so long been sought in vain. The following is its complete text : " [Remarques sur le suject d'un tableau excellent des Srs. d'Inteville Polizy, et de George de Selve Evesque de Lavour, contenant leurs emplois, et terns de leur deceds.]^ " En ce tableau est represent^ au naturel Messire lean de DIntevile chevalier Sieur de Polizy pres de Bar-sur-seyne Bailly de Troyes, qui fut Ambassadeur en Angleterre pour le Roy Francois premier ez ann^es 1532 & 1533^ & de puis Gouverneur de Monsieur charles de France second Filz diceluy Roy, le quel Charles mourut a forest monstier en I'an 1545, & le diet Sr. de DIntevile en Ian 1555. Sepulture en leglise du diet Polizy. Est aussi represente audict tableau Messire George de Selve Evesque de Lavaur personage de grandes lettres & fort vertueux, & qui fut Ambassadeur pres de LEmpereur Charles ciriquiesme, ledict Evesque Filz de Messire lean de Selve premier president au parlement de Paris, iceluy Sr. Evesque deced^ en Ian 1541 ayant des la susdicte annee 1532 ou 1533* passe en Angleterre par permission du Roy pour visiter le susdict Sieur de DIntevile son intime amy & de toute sa famile, & eux deux ayantz rencontrezen Angleterre un excellent peinctre holandois I'employerent pour faire iceluy tableau qui a est^ soigneusement conserve au mesme lieu de Polizy iusques en Ian 1653."' alludes to the same notice in his preface to the " Correspondance politique d'Odet de Selve," edited by him for the French Foreign Office. ' The paragraph in brackets is in another writing. See facsimile, facing page 12. ^ Up to Easter (April 13), 1533, the year was still 1532 by the old reckoning. ^ " [Remarks on the subject of an excellent picture of the Sieur d'Intevile Polizy, and George de Selve, Bishop of Lavour, showing the offices they held, and the time of their decease.] *' In this picture is represented, life-size, Messire Jean de Dintevile chevalier Sieur de II HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" The manuscript consists of an oblong piece of parchment which may have been cut at some time from an inventory. From the fact, however, that while containing the story of the picture up to the time when it left Polisy, it does not state where it was then taken to, it seems possible that it was attached to the painting as a label in the early days of its next sojourn. If fastened to the frame, it would be obviously superfluous to describe where the picture was actually hanging. The date of the document is in accordance with this supposition. On sub- mission to the authorities at the British Museum, its authenticity was pronounced to be indisputable. The body of the manuscript, it was further stated, was written just after the middle of the seventeenth century, while the heading was added at a slightly later date. Whether originally a label or not, it appears early to have become separated from the picture and its proprietors, and to have fallen into careful hands, who then added the docket.^ In 1888 the existence at the present day of the picture thus minutely placed on record was of course unknown. The writer in the " Revue de Champagne et de Brie " merely called attention to the notice in M. Saffroy's catalogue as to an archseological curiosity con- nected with a name once famous in his province. It is hardly necessary to point out that the dates and circum- Polizy, near Bar-sur-Seyne, Bailly of Troyes, who was Ambassador in England for King Francis I. in the years 1532 [O. S.] and 1533 and since Governour of Monsieur Charles de France, second son (sic) of the said King ; the same Charles died at Forest Monstier in the year 1545, and the said Sr. de Dintevile in the year 1555. Interred in the Church of the said Polizy. There is also represented in the said picture, Messire George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, a personage of great learning and virtue, who was Ambassador with the Emperor Charles V. ; the said Bishop was the son of Messire Jean de Selve, Premier President of the Parliament of Paris ; the said Bishop died in 1541, having in the above- mentioned year 1532, or 1533, gone to England by permission of the King, to visit the said Sieur de Dintevile, his intimate friend, and also of all his family; and they two having met in England an excellent Dutch painter, employed him to make this picture, which was carefully preserved at the said place, Polizy, up to the year 1653." This document is now the property of the Trustees of the National Gallery. ^ Possibly the writing of the docket might be identified by a person conversant with the handwritings of the French antiquaries of the seventeenth century, who did such good service by the preservation of ancient manuscripts. 12 REDUCED FACSIMILE OF DOCUMENT PURCHASED FROM M. SAFFROY. J^l^ffi^ ^ ^ 5^ ^. ^ Sir S i^ sn. p ^ T /fW/ ;( ■^^ J .. .^ ^ fa.rf/ ci^tA- nutifffK pv^^'is^ ^r V^ts^ a\- >Vn^'/ 'tt-'r i i$i^A/f/i^k rr>^y /' ,-A'- \ ■I \ 'V -^...^^.Mul^iJk^tci^ I JiiW* i^la? ...... ibi.r;^<^.i..^'-..'!i£j>lu>lf'^'fllMh,aiAiai)iA^ IPHHIP THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE chanoine de St. Pierre de Troyes [touchant un tableau faict en Angleterre de George de Selve, ev. de Lavaur qui y estoit alle visiter le bailly de Troies, sr. de Polizi, Jean d'Inteville, lors Amb. pour le Roy].^ " II y en a deux de Monsr. I'evesque de Lavaur, George de Selve, fils de Mr. le premier president de Selve, lequel Sr. Evesque avoit este invite par Mr. de Polizy, bailly de Troyes, ambassadeur en Angleterre es annees 1532 et 1533^ de le visiter en Angleterre, com me il feit, apres en avoir pris cong6 du Roy. Et estans en Angleterre ils feirent faire I'excellent tableau par un peintre holandois, Holben,^ lequel tableau a est6 conserve en la maison de Polizy, distant seulement d'une lieue de Bar-sur-Seine, cent quarante ans* et plus, comme appartenant au seigneur du lieu, Sr. de Sessac, jusques en I'annde i653,qu'il I'a faict transporter a Paris, en sa maison proche la parroisse de St. Sulpice, ledict tableau repr^sen- tant ledit Sr. de Polizy, Jean de d'Inteville et ledit Sr. Evesque de Lavaur qui fut depuis ambassadeur pres de I'Empereur Charles Quint et mourut ledit evesque en I'an 1541. On tient ledit tableau la plus belle piece de peinture qui soit en France, au jugement des meilleurs peintres. M. le Mareschal du Plessis-Praslain a nagueres acheptd la terre de PoHsy, trois cens mille livres dudit Sr. de Sessac. " On a autrefois entendu de Mr. de Vic,° garde des sceaux, qui c'estoit la plus belle piece de peinture qui fut en France. " Mr. George de Selve, et messieurs ses fr^res, ont dignement servy la France en plusieurs ambassades et legations." " Three points in this document deserve special notice. Firstly, the name of the painter, " Holben," is given. said picture is considered the finest piece of painting in France in the opinion of the best painters. M. le Mardchal du Plessis-Praslain bought the estate of Polisy for three hundred thousand livres from the said Sr. de Sessac. M. de Vic, garde des sceaux, formerly said that it was the most beautiful piece of painting in France. M. George de Selve, and his brothers, worthily served France in various embassies and legations. ^ The portion between brackets is in another hand. See facsimile, on opposite page. ^ It will be remembered that these dates are reckoned in the old style, ie., the year beginning at Easter. Jean de Dinteville was in England on this occasion from February to November, 1533. The commencement of his sojourn would therefore belong to 1532, by the old reckoning. ^ The name " Holben " is inserted between the lines, but is in the same hand and of the same date as the writing which surrounds it. See facsimile, on opposite page. " Obviously a slip of the pen for " cent vingt ans." ' " Meri de Vic, sieur d'Ermenonville, president au parlement de Toulouse, conseiller d'Etat, garde des sceaux (24 Dec, 162 1), mort le 2 sept. 1622." (Lalanne, " Diet. Hist, de la France.") * Paris, Bibl. de I'lnstitut, Collection Godefroy, Portefeuille 216, f 34. 19 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Secondly, it is stated that, on its removal from Polisy, the picture was taken to M. de Cessac's house in Paris. Thirdly, it is asserted that no less than three letters concerning it had been sent by Camusat to the brothers Godefroy. With regard to the third point, it has been already stated that so far no trace of two out of the three letters in question has been found. But if the rather ambiguous phrase, " il y en a deux de Monsr. I'evesque de Lavaur," may be interpreted " relating to the Bishop of Lavaur," there is, in the Godefroy collection, a paper which may well correspond to the third. It is a copy, dated 1654, of a memorandum drawn up by Camusat, on the family and descendants of the Premier President de Selve. At the risk of some amount of repetition, the passage in which the ** Ambassadors " figure shall here be inserted. Referring to George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, we read : ^" . . . Ledit Sr. Evesque . . . fust visiter en Angleterre en 1532, un sien intime amy, Mr. de Polizy, Jean de d'Inteville, bailly de Troyes lequel estoit lors ambassadeur pres du Roy Henry 8 ; et lors aussy lesd" evesque et bailly de Troyes firent faire en Angleterre I'excellent tableau qui est a present a Paris, au logis de M. de Sessac, auquel iceux bailly et evesque sont representez au naturel ; ledit tableau fait de la main d'un Hollandois ; la piece est estim^e la plus riche et mieux travaill6e qui soit en France." ^ Thus we possess no less than three documents, all written shortly after the middle of the seventeenth century; all giving in the most explicit terms the history of the picture up to that date ; and each corroborating the other in every particular. The house in Paris to which Holbein's masterpiece was conveyed ' " . . . The said Bishop . . . went to visit in England in 1532 [O. S.] an intimate friend of his, Mr. de Polizy, Jean de d'Inteville, bailly of Troyes, who was then ambassador with Henry VIII. ; and then also the said Bishop and Bailly of Troyes had made in England the excellent picture which is now at Paris, in the dwelling of M. de Sessac, in which the said Bailly and Bishop are represented life-size ; the said picture is by the hand of a Dutchman ; the piece is esteemed the richest and best wrought that is to be found in France." ^ Paris, Bibl. de ITnstitut, Fonds Godefroy, p. 520, ff. 282 and 283. Memoire de M, Camusat, chanoine de Troyes touchant les enfans et descendans de Mr. le premr. president de Selves, etc. Dated 1654. 20 THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE in 1653 can be identified with precision. On the last day of February, 1654, the deed was there signed by w^hich the Marechal Du Plessis- PrasHn (subsequently Due de Choiseul) became the owner of Polisy. After enumerating the titles of M. de Cessac in the usual way, the document describes him as " estant de present en cette ville de Paris loge faubourg Saint Germain des Prez, grande rue du Four " ; and terminates with the words : " Fait et passe a Paris en la maison ou demeurent lesdits Seigneur et Dame de Cessac . . . " ^ Another deed, four years later in date, amplifies these details. In June, 1658, three years before her death, Madame de Cessac, nie Marie de Choiseul, made her will. She is therein stated to be living '• a St. Germain des Prez, Rue du Four, en I'un des corps de logis, et derriere de la maison, du Chappeaufort, parroisse St. Sulpice."^ The Rue du Four, it is scarcely necessary to add, still exists. The house of Chapeaufort was well known until quite recent times, and is described in histories of old Paris. ^ No further notice occurs of Holbein's "Ambassadors" until the Beaujon sale of 1787. Perhaps this is not surprising when it is considered that the vast majority of papers preserved in the archives of France are of legal nature ; while not one of the documents containing a direct mention of the picture, which have hitherto guided us, have any connection with the law. They are exclusively derived from the learned antiquaries of the seventeenth century, bent on preserving to future generations the records of their day. But after the death of Camusat, which took place, at an advanced age, in 1655, none of his type remained, con- versant with the history of the picture, to chronicle its further fate. The difficulty of tracing the " Ambassadors " in the eighteenth century is enhanced by the fact that, in the earlier stages of its existence, that work never seems to have formed part of any well-known collection. ^ Archives of Polisy, kindly communicated by M. Abrand, the proprietor's agent. ^ Paris, Arch. Nat., Y 25, fol. 325. ' Berty et Tisserand, " Topographie Historique du vieux Paris " (Region du Bourg St. Germain), pp. 155, 157, 159. (Paris, 1876.) 21 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" It was, and apparently remained, an isolated family picture of startling excellence, celebrated enough at various periods of its career, but tending to relapse into oblivion when its proprietors for the time being were engrossed in the pursuits of their own generation, or devoid of cul- tivated interests. Moreover, many changes had come over French taste since the days when M6ry de Vic had called the " Ambassadors " the most beautiful piece of painting in France. Holbein's sober and restrained art was out of date.^ Who shall say through how many decades the picture may now have hung unheeded on the walls of some forgotten mansion ! The darkness which envelopes the story of Holbein's great work from 1654 to 1787 is thus partially accounted for. A chance light will doubtless, some day, reveal its forgotten track. Yet, even now, it is worth while to dwell for a moment on the circumstantial evidence at our command. Firstly, then, it must be borne in mind that the picture reappears in 1 787, under the partially changed name of " Portraits de Deux Am- bassadeurs, MM. de Selve et d' AvauxT The alteration seems to denote either that it was for a time owned by some member of the family of Mesmes, Contes d'Avaux, or was in some manner connected with them. Let us see, therefore, if any cir- cumstance can be found to bring that family into relation with the heirs of the Marquis de Cessac. More than one such link does, in fact, exist. It has been noted that when first removed from Polisy in 1653, the picture was taken to M. de Cessac's residence in Paris, in the Rue du Four; and that in 1658, when his first wife, Marie de Choiseul, made her will, he was still living in the same house. After her death, how- ever, he seems never again to have had a permanent home in Paris. At ^ In 1779 Carlos de la Traverse wrote from St. Ildefonse (Spain) to M. d'Angeviller, proposing to him to buy some cartoons for tapestry designed by Holbein. But the offer was declined on the ground that Holbein was *' un peintre sec et demi-gothique." (" Nou- velles Archives de I'Art fran§ais," lY S^rie, t. i., 7th of the collection, pp. 258-262.) The cartoons in question represented scenes from the Passion. 22 THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE the time of his second marriage, to Anne Louise de Broglie, which took place in 1669, he was indeed in Paris, but at a different address, if not at a mere lodging ; ^ and the marriage contract specially designates the Chateau of Milhars in Languedoc as the " ordinary habitation " of the bridegroom.^ Milhars had been magnificently rebuilt by his father, Charles de Cazillac ; and hither the Marquis de Cessac now brought his young bride.^ It was, perhaps, a rash experiment from the point of view of domestic felicity. He was now over seventy years of age, while she was about four-and-twenty. At the end of two years, unable to accustom herself to the seclusion of the country, after the gay life of the capital, she left the poor old man in dudgeon, and returned with her mother to Paris. M. de Cessac made her an allowance, and henceforth they lived separated. His daughter, Madame de Blaigny, now came to live at Milhars, and remained, though apparently without much cordiality on either side, with her father until his death, which took place in 1679. What meanwhile became of the picture, when the Marquis de Cessac left Paris to take up his abode in the country ? The houses he owned in the capital seem to have been bought and sold as mere speculations, having no element of permanence. It is impossible to imagine the great family picture wandering from pillar to ^ In 1 66 1 M. de Cessac signed a deed in the house "on pend pour enseigne le Croissant," Rue de Bourbon (Toulouse, Arch, de la Hte. Garonne). In 1669, the date of his marriage with Anne Louise de Broglie, he was in the Rue des Boucheries, Faubourg St. Germain. The marriage contract reveals that he possessed at this time, in all, three houses in Paris ; the other two being situated in the Rue des " Viels " Augustins. He had therefore parted with the " logis " in the Rue du Four. The contract confers on him the power to sell, or exchange, in like manner, the three houses now in question. Subsequent legal deeds show a series of further changes. " Archives du Var, B 197 (quoted by M. Dardenne). ^ Milhars is situated in the Department of Tarn, on a rocky height commanding the junction of the small river Cerou with the Aveyron. For all the facts relating to the history of the Chateau, and for many of those which concern its occupants, the writer is indebted to M. Henri Dardenne, of Carcassonne, Tresorier-General of the Department of Aude. This gentleman, who is the author of an interesting (unpublished) history of Milhars and its successive owners, based on original documents, most kindly placed his manuscript at the writer's disposal. 23 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" post in this succession of changes. Some more stable home must surely have been found for it. Neither does it appear likely that M. de Cessac sold the one picture he had been at pains to preserve, when he parted with Polisy, its home of generations.^ The natural inference is that he took the " Ambassadors " with him to one of his residences in the south. The three principal estates were Cazillac and Cessac in Quercy, and Milhars in Languedoc. The Barony of Cazillac was sold as early as 1689 by the grand- daughter of the Marquis de Cessac ; and, after that date, falls out of the competition. Nevertheless, this place has a point of interest for the present investigation. In 1665 the Marquis de Cessac bestowed it upon his cousin, Roger de Guenegaud, with the condition that he should in future bear the name and arms of Cazillac. The estate was, how- ever, too tightly entailed on the immediate heirs of M. de Cessac for the donation to take effect ; and the result was merely to add one more to the crowd of litigants who put in claims to the various property on M. de Cessac's demise. Had the intention succeeded, this would have ^ Camusat himself possessed portraits of Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, and Gaucher, Seigneur de Vanlay, brothers of Jean the Ambassador, as well as that of their cousin, Joachim de Dinteville, head of the elder branch of the family, whose residence was at Dinteville in Champagne. The two first-named portraits Camusat left by will (Paris, Bibl. de ITnstitut, Coll. Godefroy, vol. 308, f. 116), to D'Hozier, author of the " Nobiliaire de Champagne " ; that of Joachim de Dinteville, to the Abbe Bonhomme, a well-known collector of the time at Troyes. (See Bonnaffe, " Les Collectionneurs de I'ancienne France "). The indifference displayed by the Marquis de Cessac to Dinteville records, in allowing Camusat to acquire these portraits (either at the time of the sale of Polisy, or earlier), brings into strong relief the value placed upon "The Ambassadors," which seems to have been the only picture retained. This is the more striking, as M. de Cessac possessed, it appears, a " Cabinet " of portraits of some interest, derived from the neighbourhood of his family estates, Cessac and Cazillac. Two of these were reproduced for Du Chesne's " Hist, des Cardinaux Francois " (Paris, 1660, pages 426 and 521). The two Cardinals in question belonged respectively to the dioceses of Cahors and Limoges ; proving sufficiently that the Marquis de Cessac who owned their portraits was Frangois de Cazillac, and not, as M. Bonaffe statesj(" Diet, des Amateurs frangais "), Louis de Castelnau, the notorious card-player, whose property lay in quite a different part of the country. (See also note^ page 15.) 24 THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE been an exceedingly likely quarter in which to seek the Holbein ; even as it is, the question arises whether M. de Cessac may not have given the picture to the man whom he had wished to establish as the future head of the Cazillac family. But here again research has been unpro- ductive of further result.^ Cessac ultimately passed into the hands of another cousin of the Marquis de Cessac, Fran9ois de la Roche, Marquis de Fontenilles, and owing to this circumstance enters into the lists with Milhars. Notwithstanding the fact that the most minute search has failed to reveal any mention of the picture in the exclusively legal documents connected with the latter Chateau,^ it does not appear unlikely that Milhars was indeed the new home to which the picture was transported. It must be borne in mind, however, that we here enter the region of guess-work, and that the discovery of one little fact is apt to overthrow many pages of specious reasoning. The following indications are therefore given merely for what they are worth. On the death of the Marquis de Cessac a lawsuit respecting the inheritance took place, In which the principal parties concerned were his widow, Annie Louise de Broglle, and his daughter, Charlotte de Blalgny. It is of some importance to our object to note that in the end the widow accepted a sum of money In lieu of all other claims ; and that the entire property of the Marquis de Cessac was settled on his ' The deed recording the attempted donation was drawn up at Milhars, ist September, 1665. Roger de Gudnegaud was the son of Henri Du Plessis Guenegaud, Marquis de Plancy, the well-known Secretary of State and Garde des Sceaux. This gentleman had married Isabelle (or Elizabeth) de Choiseul, daughter of Charles de Choiseul, Marquis de Praslin, and of Claude de Cazillac, aunt of M. de Cessac. As such, Roger de Guenegaud descended, through his mother, in as direct a line from the Dinteville heiress as the Marquis de Cessac himself. The latter lived on terms of intimate friendship with these relations. Mme. de Sevignd records having met M. de Cessac at Fresnes, the country place of Du Plessis Guenegaud. (Letter to the Marquis de Pomponne, ist August, 1667.) * M. Aug. Vidal of Albi (Tarn) kindly made researches for the writer on this point, both in the Archives at Toulouse and at the Chateau of St, Gery, now owned by Madame O'Byrn, a descendant of the family of Rey de St. Gdry, who purchased Milhars from the Lamoignon family in 1765. This lady, who has at St. Gery a large quantity of legal papers brought from Milhars, was good enough to place them at M. Vidal's disposition, but unfortunately without result. 25 E HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" granddaughter, Marie-Renee Le Genevois, the only child of Madame de Blaigny. This took place in i68i.^ Unfortunately Charlotte de Blaigny now quarrelled with her daughter, who remained with her father in Champagne, while her mother continued to reside at Milhars. A designing relation, Fran9ois de la Roche, Comte and Marquis de Fontenilles, took advantage of this state of things to induce Madame de Blaigny to disinherit her daughter and make a will in favour of himself and of his heirs. FranQois de la Roche-Fontenilles was the grandson of that Jean- Jacques de la Roche-Fontenilles who had married Claude de Cazillac, the only sister of the Marquis de Cessac.^ But for the existence of Marie-Renee, he would have been the nearest heir to the property. He now took up his abode at Milhars and drew his meshes closer and closer round the unhappy old lady who ruled there. No sooner was the will signed than he began to dismantle the Chateau before the very eyes of his aged cousin. Furniture and valuables were hastily removed to his house at Toulouse. Fortunately Charlotte de Blaigny did not long survive to reap the bitter results of her mistake. She died at Milhars in October, 1683, a month after the making of the momentous will. The day after the funeral Fontenilles, in the double capacity he assumed of heir to the property and executor of the will, made a formal declaration to the effect that " tous les meubles de la dite h^redite sont au pouvoir et en la jouissance dudit Sr. Conte de Fontenilles, partie desquels ont et6 apportes du vivant de ladite dame [Charlotte de Blaigny] audit Toulouse ; et pretend ledit Seigneur Conte y en faire apporter davantage."^ Holbein's picture — if indeed the Chiteau in Languedoc had become its home — now perhaps found its way with the rest of the valuables to ' Paris, Bibl. Nat., MSS. fran9ais, 28,998, f. 17a, De la Roche-Fontenilles. At the end are the words : " Copie pour Monsieur Voisin," and the date 1685. ^ See ante, page 15. * Dardenne MS., p. 164, quoted from the Minutes Gaugiron, p. 51. These are one of M. Dardenne's most important sources. M. Gaugiron was a notary of Milhars, with whom many of the legal documents of this period were deposited. 26 THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE Toulouse. In any case, Milhars remained for some years in the hands of M. de Fontenilles. Under the settlement of 1681, Madame de Blaigny, although certain rights may have been reserved to her, had no power whatever to disinherit her daughter and settle the property elsewhere. Imme- diately upon her mother's death, Marie-Ren6e, now Madame Voisin, therefore instituted legal proceedings for the recovery of her inheritance. The lawsuits dragged on, almost interminably, year after year. In 1686 M. and Mme. Voisin were indeed reinstated at Milhars, but only at the price of a ruinous pension to be paid annually to M. de Fontenilles. On the death of the latter, in 1693, his son and namesake, who now claimed the property, renewed his attacks time after time with implacable hostility. In 1697 Mme. Voisin was definitely con- firmed in the possession of Milhars and of the other estates in Languedoc ; but Cessac and all the remaining property in Quercy (Cazillac, we have seen, had been previously sold), had to be ceded to Fran9ois de Fontenilles. Notwithstanding these sacrifices the claims for arrears of pension were still pending in 1700. Bearing in mind that the picture reappears in 1787 under the partially corrupt title of " Portraits de MM. de Selve et cCAvaux,'' it is somewhat startling to find that in the same year, 1683, in which M. de Fontenilles, the elder, seized Milhars, his son and successor, named above, became the husband of Marie-Th^rese de Mesmes,^ daughter, niece, and sister of a succession of Contes d'Avaux. Her father, Jean-Jacques de Mesmes, Conte d'Avaux, was a President a mortier of the Parliament of Paris. Her uncle, Jean- Antoine de Mesmes, Conte d'Avaux, was one of a series of famous ambassadors of the name, and, dying unmarried in 1709, made Madame de Fontenilles his heiress. Her brother, another Jean-Antoine de Mesmes, Conte d'Avaux, was the well-known Premier President of the Parliament of Paris, who died in 1723. ^ St. Simon (" Mdmoires "), who has nothing but sarcasm for the family of Mesmes in general, is full of admiration for the goodness, amiability, and unaffected piety of Mme. de Fontenilles. This lady seems to have been in every way a contrast to her husband, 21 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" The connection of Fran9ois de Fontenilles with the family of Mesmes seems to reveal a not improbable path by which the picture may have descended to modern times. Either the seizure of Milhars or the acquisition of Cessac, perhaps placed it in the possession of La Roche Fontenilles. If it remained in his hands, how easily might it have passed in later years for part of the property bequeathed to Mme. de Fontenilles by her uncle, Jean-Antoine, Conte d'Avaux, and the name of the supposed donor have crept into the title ! Mme. Voisin, now known as the Marquise de Milhars, had, how- ever, other links with the Mesmes family, which forbid a too exclusive faith in one hypothesis. The niece of her husband, Fran9ois Voisin, a daughter of Denis Feydeau de Brou, was the wife of the future Premier President de Mesmes. Here, then, are two distinct threads connecting the Contes d'Avaux with the only two persons, M. de Fontenilles and Mme. Voisin, who seem likely to have owned the picture at this period.^ All that can be said, in the absence of direct testimony, is that we appear to breathe the atmosphere through which the " Ambassadors " passed. It would be rash to build too definitely on any particular theory ; for other paths, which the picture may have taken, lie close at hand. Several of the great legal families of France, who were mixed up with the Cazillac or their descendants — the Mesmes, Voisin, Brou, Lamoignon — were connected by intermarriages ; while the Broglie (the family of the second Marquise de Cessac) were thus related both to the Lamoignon and Voisin. If we may for a moment suppose, however, that after the settle- ment of the disputes between Marie-Renee Voisin and Francois de Fontenilles, the picture returned, with other abstracted property — perhaps also with an altered name^ — to Milhars, another curious cir- cumstance comes to light, which seems a possible guide to its history. ^ It will be seen later on, however, that the Voisin inheritance was bequeathed else- where, so that on Mme. Voisin's side the connection could only have affected the fate of the picture by supposing that it was given to, or purchased by, the Premier President, before her death. ' Marie-Ren^e, who, owing to her quarrel with her mother and residence in Cham- 28 THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE Frangois Voisin, Marquis de Milhars, died in 1706; and Marie- Renee, left a childless widow, had to bethink herself of an heir. Her own nearest relation was the hated La Roche Fontenilles, who was, of course, out of the question. Her deceased husband's next of kin were the children of his niece, the wife of the Premier President. But this lady had died in 1705, leaving only two daughters ; moreover, the terms of friendship which existed between them and La Roche Fontenilles must have been sufficient reason to look elsewhere. One degree further removed in relationship, the eyes of Mme. Voisin fell upon the heir of a distinguished family, Chretien de Lamoignon, whose mother had been Jeanne Voisin, first cousin to the Marquis de Milhars. In 1716 Marie- Renee made the will which con- stituted M. de Lamoignon her universal heir. In 1721 she died and he came into possession. We may pass briefly over the first two generations of the Lamoignon family after they succeeded to Milhars. The new pro- prietors never resided at the Chateau in Languedoc. They owned considerable estates in the centre of France at Basville and Lamoignon, whence they derived their titles. But their real sphere lay at Paris, where from generation to generation they played conspicuous parts in the political events of their day. In course of time they probably removed whatever Milhars contained of value to one of their other homes. The special point of interest in connection with this family is that Chretien-Francois (H.) de Lamoignon,^ Marquis de Basville, who in 1765 sold Milhars to the family of Rey de St. Gery, was the intimate and life-long friend of Nicolas Beaujon, at the sale of whose property, in 1787, the picture once more comes to the surface. pagne, probably knew nothing of the story of the picture, would certainly have been none the wiser if this were the case. ^ Perhaps no member of the Lamoignon race is better known to history than this one. Born in 1735, Chretien-Francois de Lamoignon, Marquis de Basville et de Milhars, became a President a mortier of the Parliament of Paris in 1758. Mixed up in the political storms which preceded the outbreak of the Revolution, he shared the exile of his party in 1772 ; was recalled ; appointed Garde des Sceaux in 1787 ; resigned the follow- ing year, and died at Basville in 1789. 29 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" If the PoHsy Holbein, notwithstanding stormy interludes, did actually descend from heir to heir of the house of Dinteville through this obscure period of one hundred and thirty-three years, Chretien de Lamoignon de Basville is precisely the person in whose hands we should now expect to find it. His intimacy with Beaujon gives curious point to these specula- tions. The French millionaire appointed " Monseigneur Chretien- Fran9ois de Lamoignon," and his heirs, administrators in perpetuity of the famous Hospice (now Hospital) which he founded, and which still bears hisname.^ He further begged M. de Lamoignon to be executor of his will, as a last proof of the friendship " dont il m'a toujours honore;" and bequeathed to him a fine service of Sevres china.^ Beaujon died on the 20th December, 1786. At the end of January, 1787, M. de Lamoignon, acting in his capacity of executor, caused an inventory to be drawn up of all the deceased gentleman's property con- tained in his two palaces, the Hotel d'Evreux^ and the so-called " Chartreuse," where he died. This inventory, which gives minute and interesting particulars of all the pictures constituting the galleries of those two residences, was drawn up by the notary Maigret, now represented by Maitre Houel, in whose custody this document at present rests. At the writer's request this gentleman kindly examined the inventory in question ; but, strange to say, without success. No trace oi Holbein's " Ambassadors " is there to be found, although nothing 1 Chretien-Francois died, however, and his son fled, at the outbreak of the Revolu- tion, so the arrangement came to an untimely end. * Nicolas Beaujon, a native of Bordeaux, had raised himself, not always by the most creditable means, from a humble origin to a position of great wealth and influence. He was Banker to the Court, and Treasurer to the Order of .St. Louis. Although society smiled at the eccentricities of ih.^ parvenu, the magnificence of his house and collecticns made it impossible to overlook their owner. His charities, moreover, were immenie. For these and the facts given in the text respecting Beaujon, the writer is indebted to Dr. Charles Fournel, whose little work, " L'Hopital Beaujon depuis son origine jusqi'a nos jours " (Paris, E. Deuter, 1884), gives the only correct information to be had respect- ing the millionaire, being founded throughout on original documents. The popular con- pendiums of biography bristle, as usual, with errors ; not excepting Jal, who, however, gives one authentic document. ' Now the Elys^e, the residence of the President of the Republic. 30 THE HISTORY OF THE PICTURE is more certain than that the picture was sold three months later at the Beaujon sale, and included in the catalogue of the millionaire's property- drawn up for that occasion. The inference would seem to be that either " The Ambassadors " dwelt in some third residence belonging to M. Beaujon, the contents of which were not included in the inventory in question, or that, still owned by the executor, M. de Lamoignon, who was in chronic need of money, the picture was thrown by him into the sale and disposed of at the same time as the Beaujon collection. How it now passed into the hands of Le Brun, thence to an English dealer who sold it to Lord Radnor, and finally to the National Gallery, the reader already knows. A table of chronology is appended which sums up the salient points of the foregoing narrative. CHRONOLOGY. 1533. Jean de Dinteville, French Ambassador in England, and George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, are painted in London by Holbein. Subsequently the picture is taken to Polisy, Dinteville's home in Burgundy. 1562. Claude de Dinteville, niece of Jean the Ambassador and heiress of Polisy, marries Fran9ois de Cazillac, Baron de Cessac. 1653. Francois H. de Cazillac, Vicomte, then Marquis de Cessac, grandson of the foregoing, moves the picture to Paris. Having sold Polisy, M, de Cessac spends most of the remainder of his life at Milhars in Languedoc. 1679. Death at Milhars of the Marquis de Cessac. 1 68 1. Marie-Ren^e Le Genevois de Blaigny, granddaughter of the Marquis de Cessac, is declared sole heiress of all his possessions. 1683. Charlotte, Marquise de Blaigny, only daughter of the Marquis de Cessac, attempts to disinherit her daughter, Marie-Renee, in favour of her cousin, Francois de la Roche-Fontenilles, and of his son, Francois H. de la Roche-Fontenilles. Marriage of the latter gentleman to Marie Thdrese de Mesmes, daughter, niece, and sister of a succession of Contes dAvaux. Marriage of Marie-Ren^e Le Genevois de Blaigny with Frangois Voisin, Marquis de Bougueval, subsequently known as Marquis de Milhars. Death of Charlotte de Blaigny. [A long series of lawsuits now ensues between Frangois de Fontenilles, HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" who denudes Milhars, and Marie-Renee Voisin, the rightful heiress. Mme. Voisin at last obtains possession.] 1 72 1. Death of Marie- Ren6e, who, being childless, leaves Milhars to her husband's cousin, Chretien de Lamoignon, Marquis de Basville. 1765. Chr^tien-Frangois II.de Lamoignon, grandson of the heir of Marie-Renee, sells Milhars to the family of Rey de St. G6ry. 1786. Death of M. Nicolas Beaujon, Banker to the French Court, whose will appoints his intimate friend, Chretien-Francois de Lamoignon, Marquis de Basville, to be his executor. 1787. Sale of M. Beaujon's pictures, in the catalogue of which Holbein's " Ambassadors " reappears after a silence of a hundred and thirty-three years. The picture now becomes the property of J. B. P. Le Brun. 1792. Publication of the first volume of Le Brun's"Galeriedes Peintres Flamands, Hollandais, et Allemands," in which there is an engraving of the " Ambassadors." Le Brun had previously sold the picture to a dealer in England. 1808 or 1809. Holbein's picture is bought by Jacob, second Earl of Radnor, and taken to Longford Castle. 1890. The picture of the "Ambassadors" finds a permanent home in the National Gallery. 32 ^^^^^^ifr^i-^fc* PART II JEAN DE DINTEVILLE THE CHATEAU OF POLISY, FROM AN ORIGINAL DRAWING OF THE EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, PUBLISHED BY M. LUCIEN COUTANT IN THE ALMANACK DE BAR-SUR-SEINE. To face p. 35. JEAN DE DINTEVILLE CHAPTER I The Early Life of Jean de Dinteville N attempting to follow the career of Jean de Dinteville, and to read aright the picture by Holbein, which is, to so large an extent, the intimate expression of his mind, it is necessary to step back, in imagination, into the sixteenth century, and to see things, so far as possible, as an observer of that day would have beheld them. Passing events present themselves to contemporaries in proportions widely differing from those under which they appear to the student of a later day. Circumstances which, as they arose, assumed mountainous dimensions, have dwindled to mole- hills with the lapse of time. Other events, which had small beginnings, have subsequently acquired an importance undreamed of by lookers-on, in the story of the world's progress. Again, a third category exhibits less divergence between the verdict of contemporary opinion and that of posterity. In such cases, it is a less arduous task to move into the place of the thinkers and actors of the past, and to mark with their eyes, uninfluenced by the knowledge of later developments, the scene that unfolded itself to their view. Only by noting the facts of history in their relation to Dinteville's character and career, rather than to their intrinsic importance,^ will it ^ The letters and chronicles of the time are rich in local colouring, and are preferable for the present object to the stately histories written in a subsequent age. The immense stores of manuscripts preserved in the public libraries of France, especially in the Biblio- th^que Nationale at Paris, fortunately facilitate the task to a great extent. Among printed 35 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" be possible to obtain a distinct understanding of the man and of his work. Often, indeed, the two points of view will be found to converge. Jean de Dinteville was born on the 21st of September, 1504. He was the third son of Gaucher de Dinteville, Seigneur of Polisy, and of Anne Du Plessis. The race of Dinteville was of ancient descent and allied to the best blood in France. It had originally been known as de Jaucourt, but early in the fourteenth century an ancestor, Pierre de Jaucourt, adopted the name of Dinteville, which was that of his seigneurie in Champagne, by which the family was henceforth called. The elder line remained and flourished at Dinteville. The younger branch, founded by Jean de Dinteville, second son of Pierre, settled at Polisy shortly before 132 1. A glance at an old map of France, divided into provinces, shows that, at a certain point, the waving boundary between Champagne and Burgundy takes a sharp curve upwards, and, doubling back, makes the deepest of many indentures in the contour of the northern province. This narrow strip of land, surrounded on three sides by the territory of Champagne, formed, approximately, the ancient Comte of Bar-sur-Seine. Attached to Champagne, and consequently to France, in 1225 (long before the Dinteville family settled at Polisy), it passed to Burgundy early in the fifteenth century, returning to France with that Duchy in 1477. On this often-debated ground, just at the spot where the small river Laigne throws its waters into the Seine, stands the Chateau of Polisy — the chief home of that branch of the house of Dinteville with which we are here concerned. The marriage of the first Dinteville, Seigneur of Polisy, with the heiress of Deschenetz^ (or Echenay, as it is now called) in Champagne, brought to the family another considerable fief, which, a century later, became the theatre of an exciting drama. A second Jean de Dinteville, sources none are more valuable than the various series of State Papers, published both in England and France, the " Meslanges Historiques " of Camusat, and — for a contemporary French view of the events of the time — the Memoirs of the Du Bellay brothers. ^ Literally, " Des Chenets," and often so written in early records. But the name soon lost its original meaning and was corrupted into one word. 36 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE who held the office of Bailly of Troyes, now reigned there. On a dark night, when peace spread all around, the house of Deschenetz was treacherously attacked by one Fortespice, a vassal of the Comte de Vaudemont, who was the head of that powerful house which later succeeded to the Dukedom of Lorraine. The Comte de Vaudemont was Dinteville's kinsman and supposed friend. Taken completely by surprise, the master of Deschenetz could offer no resistance. The house was sacked, while he himself was made a prisoner, and forced to buy his release by a large sum of money. Years later he challenged Fortespice to a duel in the /osse at Chablis, when both combatants fell mortally wounded. His son and successor, Claude de Dinteville, entered the service of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Claude attained a dis- tinguished position as Surintendant de Finance to the Duke, and perished, fighting at his master's side, at the battle of Nancy, in 1477. His body was brought back to Polisy for interment. With the cession of the Duchy of Burgundy to France, which now took place, happier days dawned for the Dinteville family. All ques- tions of divided allegiance ceased. The numerous sons of Claude de Dinteville entered French service, several of them rising high in their respective vocations. One of them, Jacques de Dinteville, was Grand Veneur of France under Louis XH., and was also employed as Deputy Governor of Paris during the absence of the Duke of Vendome/ Another son, Francois, became Bishop of Auxerre ; Pierre was Seneschal of Rhodes, and fell while defending the island against the Turks in the memorable siege of 1522; and Gaucher, the father of Holbein's " Ambassador," was Bailly of Troyes, and was attached to the French Court, almost throughout his life, in many honourable capacities. He accompanied Charles VHL to Italy, and was appointed Governor of Sienna during the French occupation of that city.^ On his return to France, Gaucher de Dinteville settled at the ^ Paris, Arch. Nat, X^" 861 1, dated Amboise, 4th Dec, 1516. * Ph. de Comines, " Memoires " (ed. by Mile. Dupont for the Soc. de I'Hist. de France), vol. ii., p. 436. 37 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Chateau of Thennelieres, near Troyes, and in 1496 married Anne Du Plessis, daughter of Jean, Seigneur of Ouschamps and La Perrine. Their eldest son, Frangois, who ultimately succeeded his uncle as Bishop of Auxerre, was born in 1498 ; and from this date onwards the births of numerous children are recorded as having occurred at Thennelieres or at Troyes. A few years later the family migrated to Polisy. Gaucher's tenure of the office of Bailly of Troyes coincides with an important period of French law. The Bailly was the Crown officer in whose name justice was administered throughout a certain district. Each Bailliage, or bailiwick, had its separate Custom, a system naturally resulting in much inequality and confusion. To remedy this state of things, Louis XIL took the first step towards the unification of the legal code, by ordering the publication of the Customs throughout the kingdom.^ The fulfilment of this edict was a work of time, to be accomplished only after years of labour. The Custom of Troyes was published in 1 509, during the term of office of Gaucher de Dinteville, and under the immediate presidency of his brother the Bishop of Auxerre. The latter, like many of his ecclesiastical contemporaries, was equally versed in civil and canon law. How large a share Gaucher himself had in this important under- taking is uncertain. The duties of the Bailly became in course of time almost nominal, and devolved upon his deputy, a professional lawyer ; but this period had hardly yet arrived. In 1505, however, Gaucher was sent by the king to Switzerland, where his duties detained him on and off for several years.^ Nothing is known of the childhood of Jean, the future ambassador, passed, it may be surmised, on the breezy plains of Thennelieres, or amidst the wooded slopes which surround the Chiteau of Polisy. His ^ Michelet, " Hist, de France au XVP"^ siecle " (ed. 1855), " Renaissance," pp. 190, 191- * A royal order of 151 1 permits Gaucher de Dinteville to recover certain moneys due to him from the heirs of Jean, Due de Nemours, which he had previously been unable to claim owing to absence from home. In this deed he is called " Seigneur de Pollisy et bailli de Troyes." 38 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE two elder brothers, Fran9ois and Louis, the latter of whom became a Knight of St. John, began their education at the College of Troyes, which at this time enjoyed a high reputation ; and it is likely enough that in due course Jean followed in the same steps. Scholars were entered there from the early age of eight years. Again following his eldest brother, he may have pursued his later studies at the University of Paris, where the degree of Bachelor of Arts could be obtained at fifteen or sixteen years of age. It may be useful to recall that the instruction imparted there, as at most of the older universities of Europe, was based in the first instance on the study of the Seven Liberal Arts. These were divided into two courses : the first, comprising Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric, was called the Trivium ; the second, which embraced Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astronomy, the Quadrivium. Dinteville's education, wherever acquired, was doubtless laid on these familiar lines. Destined to succeed to his father's honours, and in due course to become the head of his house, he was early brought into contact with the French Court. Indeed, the whole family seems to have found exceptional favour there. A manuscript is still preserved ^ which gives the names of those who were members of the royal household, and in this list the Dinteville family figures extensively. Jean de Dinteville first appears in attendance on the royal children between 152 1 and 1524, when he holds the appointment of Echanson. His life from this time centred at the Court, where his father was now Premier Maitre d' Hotel to the Dauphin Frangois. There were many links to connect Gaucher de Dinteville and his sons with the royal family of France. Besides the intrinsic merits and past services of the father, they possessed powerful friends. Anne de Montmorency, the great minister, was their cousin, and did much to shape the subsequent career of Gaucher's sons. In early days, the inti- mate friendship of Madame de Montreuil, a sister of the Grand-Mattre Boisy and of Admiral Bonnivet, played a large part in their advancement. It is pleasant to lift for a moment the veil that conceals so much ' Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds fr. 7853. * 39 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS " of the private life of that remote period, and to contemplate a friendship which continued unbroken through two generations. The Seigneurie of Montreuil was a dependency of Deschenetz, a possession of the Dinteville family which ranked second in importance only to Polisy, and which they, no doubt, often visited. It was, perhaps, partly through the accident of being neighbours in the country that the kindly feeling entertained for them by the Chatelaine of that estate ripened into the closest intimacy. Madame de Montreuil was governess to the royal children ; and it was through her mediation that Gaucher received his early appointment in connection with them. It was again due to her influence that when the little Prince Charles, Duke of Angouleme, the youngest of the three sons of Francis I., outgrew her tender care, he was placed under the immediate charge of Jean de Dinteville, whom " she loved and trusted as her own son." ^ Public events meanwhile were gradually ripening towards the great catastrophe which was to colour French policy for many years to come. In February, 1525, the news of the defeat of the French forces before Pavia, where Francis I. was taken prisoner, and the flower of the French nobility fell, sent a thrill of horror through France. The king was carried to Madrid, only to be released in the following year on the humiliating terms of sending his two eldest sons to replace him in captivity, pending the payment of a large ransom. From the time of the affront placed upon the national pride by this crushing misfortune, the main endeavour of French statecraft through a long series of years was to convert the enemies of Charles V. into the allies of France, and by a succession of skilful diplomatic combinations, open or secret, to form coalitions sufficiently powerful to resist the overwhelming might of the Empire. Already, during the king's captivity, the regent, Louise of Savoy, had courted the friendship of Henry VIII., implor- ing him not to make war upon an imprisoned king. At about the same period, the first French emissary had been despatched to the Court of Solyman, forming the beginning of that series of negotiations * Paris, Bibl. Nat., Cab. des Titres, Pieces Orig., vol. 1004, No. 65, Dossier Dinteville. 40 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE between the Most Christian King and the Turk which, avowed many years later, was to startle Europe.^ Sigismund, King of Poland, and John Zapolski, Waiwode of Transylvania, who was endeavouring to wrest the crown of Hungary from Ferdinand, the Emperor's brother, were other objects of French solicitude ; to whom, for convenience sake, may here be added the Protestant Princes of Germany, led by the Elector of Saxony, with whom an alliance was formed a few years later. But the most conspicuous engagement entered into by France, in the early days succeeding the Spanish captivity, was the League signed at Cognac in May, 1526, by which Francis I., Clement VII., the Signory of Venice, and Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, bound them- selves in a common alliance against the Emperor Charles V. How deep was the impression made by these events on young Dinteville, whose attendance on the royal children kept him in the vortex of French politics, may be actually seen in some details of Holbein's picture, to which reference will be made later on. Nor was it surprising that this should be so. The League of Cognac was the definite public act by which Francis I. made plain his intention to repudiate that part of the Treaty of Madrid which involved the cession of the Duchy of Burgundy. Had the latter compact been observed in its integrity, Polisy would have become a fief of the Empire. The race of Dinteville had been French long ere they were Burgundian. At the close of the fifteenth century they had resumed with passionate loyalty their complete allegiance to the Crown of France. What wonder, then, if Jean de Dinteville gave himself heart and soul to the anti- Imperial policy expressed by the League of Cognac, which appeared to guarantee the continuance of his French nationality ? In February, 1527, he was appointed Captain and Governor of Bar-sur-Seine, on the resignation, probably caused by advancing years, of his father.^ As in the document which records these changes Jean is already described as Bailly of Troyes, Gaucher must previously have ' Charribre, " N^gociations de la France dans le Levant " (Doc. ined. sur I'hist. de France), vol. i., part ii., chap, i., "Premieres Relations de la France avec la Porte." * Paris, Bibl. Nat, Fond fr. 5502, f. 50, "*" 41 G HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" resigned that office also, for the succession to which he had insttuteid his son by royal letters as early as 1520/ Later in the same year Gaucher de Dinteville visited Tro}es to request the contributions of its inhabitants to the ransom of Framis I..^ The young Bailly was meanwhile kept almost entirely at Court, accompanying the royal family from Paris to Blois, and from Bbis to Amboise, or the various other places to which duty or pleasure deter- mined its movements. The next glimpse obtained of him finds him in these surroundings. In October, 1527, Marguerite d'Angouleme, the sister of Francis I., and her husband, the King of Navarre,^ made a short stay at Blois on their journey to the south of France. Some point appears to have then been under discussion relating to the little Duke of Angouleme (the ony one of the king's sons at that time in France, his brothers being prisoners at Madrid), and to the young princesses, his sisters. Marguerite writes to Anne de Montmorency from Gabarre, a small town in the Landes: "... En passant dernierement a Blays,* Madame de Montereul et M. le Bailly de Troyes, en me parlant du fait de Monsieur et de Mesdames, me prierent d'escrire a madite dame,* ce que j'ai differe jusques a ce que fussiez de retour."^ Montmorency was absent at the moment on his way to England. Henry VHI. and Francis I. were becoming more and more deeply engaged in a common policy against Charles V. Earlier in the same year, Wolsey had been brilliantly received in France. Now the Grand- Maitre was sent with Jean Du Bellay and the Chancellor of Alen9on, at the head of a splendid train of gentlemen, to convey the Royal Order of St. Michael to the King of England. This was the expedition from which Marguerite awaited Montmorency's return, before writing to the king's mother.' ^ Paris, Arch. Nat., X''^ 1523 (Reg. du Conseil, f. 33). * Boutiot, "Hist, de Troyes," p. 285. ^ Marguerite, the widowed Duchesse d'Alengon, was married to the King of Navarre in January, 1527. * Blois. ° Louise of Savoy, the king's mother. " Genin, Lettres de Marguerite de Valois, vol. i., Lettre 56, p. 224. Margueri:e "a men nepveu, M. le Grant-Maistre, de Gabarre, le 17 Octobre, 1527." ' It was not the first, nor perhaps the second visit, which Anne de Montmorency htd 42 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE It would be interesting to know what was the subject upon which Madame de Montreuil and the Bailly of Troyes sought to obtain the good offices of Louise of Savoy with regard to the children. That the question was not unimportant may be inferred from their anxiety to obtain such influential assistance, and from the hesitation of the Queen of Navarre to accede to their request without previously consulting Montmorency. Her desire to conciliate the minister shows the power he had already acquired in the internal relations of the French Court. Was the question connected with religion ? History offers no reply ; but the suggestion awakens some interesting considerations. In or about 1526, Francis I. had confided the education of the little Duke of Angouleme, perhaps by Dinteville's advice, to Lefevre d'Etaples,^ a celebrated professor of mathematics and philosophy. ' This learned man was one of the earliest and greatest of the French Re- formers. He was the author of the first complete translation of the Bible into French ; it is still in use in the Protestant churches of France. A correspondent of Bude^ and Erasmus,^ his name carries us into the paid to our shores. In 15 19 he had been one of eight hostages, four nobles and four commoners, sent to England in connection with the cession of Tournay to France. He bore at that time the title of La Rochepot, which has caused Du Bellay to confound him with his younger brother, subsequently known by that name (see Decrue de Stoutz, " Anne de Montmorency," part i., p. 13, note i). One of his fellow-hostages in 15 19 was Charles de Solier, Comte de Morette, later more than once French ambassador in England, and the subject of the magnificent portrait by Holbein now in the Dresden Gallery. Another was Antoine des Prez, Seigneur de Montpesat, who also returned subsequently as ambassador (see "Memoires Du Bellay," ed. Petitot, vol. i., p. 282). Hall is wrong in saying that there were only four hostages altogether, but identifies Montmorency correctly (see Ellis's " Original Letters," 3rd series, vol. i., letter Ixxviii., where the passage from Hall's Chronicle is quoted). ^ Lefevre had previously been the instructor of Renee of France, whose sympathies with the Reformers were well known. (Fontana, " Renata di Francia," vol. i., p. 275, where the further authority is cited : Franz Bliimmer, " Renata von Ferrara," p. 24.) Jacques Lefbvre was born at Etaples about 1455, and died at Nerac in 1537. * Guillaume Bude was born at Paris in 1467. He was secretary to Charles VHL ; was sent by Louis XH. on various missions to the Holy See ; was appointed Master of the King's Library under Francis I., and persuaded that sovereign to found the College Royal. His learning and his proficiency in Greek brought him high reputation ; he was also the author of many works and translations on a variety of subjects. Bude died in 1540. ' Desiderius Erasmus was born at Rotterdam in 1467. Famous alike for profound 43 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" centre of that sphere of intellectual activity with which Dinteville was constantly brought into contact both at home and at Court. In 1527 Francis I. ordered Lefevre, in conjunction with Gerard Roussel/ to translate into Latin the Homilies of Chrysostom on the Acts of the Apostles,'^ The following year we find Lefevre teaching the Psalms to the little Duke of Angouleme.^ But by September, 1528, both he and Roussel had left the Court to follow Marguerite of Navarre to the south of France, where Lefevre was established in deep retirement at Nerac* The links which connected the Bailly of Troyes with such men as Lefevre and Roussel were primarily, no doubt, on the side of learning rather than of religion ; for the Dinteville family were staunch Catholics. But they appear, at any rate at this early date, to have belonged to the liberal Catholic group, and to have been averse to the extremes of the rigidly orthodox party. Their cordial relations with the Queen of Navarre, the Du Bellay, and other advocates of tolerance, point to this conclusion, no less than their love of learning and their intimacy with the eminent humanists patronized by the French Court. The bigotry of Montmorency, on the other hand, was well known. If, therefore, they desired to replace the services of Lefevre by those of another teacher of liberal leanings, they did well to apply to the Queen of Navarre and her mother, rather than direct to the minister. On this point, however, we have no further light. Persecuted by the Sorbonne and the extreme ecclesiastical zealots, the French Reformers were, at this time, upheld by an enlightened learning and biting wit, no one, perhaps, exercised greater influence than he in preparing the way for the Reformation. Like many of the humanists of his time, especially those of France, he was not, however, prepared to go to the extreme length of secession from Rome, and was therefore blamed by the Lutherans, rather unjustly perhaps, for weakness and half-heartedness. His relations with England, especially with Warham and More, and his portraits by Holbein, are too well known to need more than a passing mention here. It was owing to his introduction that Holbein first came to England, and was received into the house of Sir Thomas More. Erasmus died at Basle in 1536. ^ Roussel, another divine of Lutheran leanings, became confessor to the Queen of Navarre, and subsequently Bishop of Oloron. ^ Erasmus to Lefevre, 24 March, 1527. Quoted by Ch. Schmidt, " Gerard Roussel." * Ch. Schmidt, ibid., p. 74. * Erasmus to Germain Brie, 21 September, 1528, quoted by Schmidt, "Gerard Roussel." 44 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE section of the Roman Catholic party, who desired to see the discipHne of the Church amended without pushing matters to a spHt with Rome. It still seemed possible to combine these objects, which the efforts of the humanists, and the general hatred entertained towards the monks, had rendered popular in high places. Louise of Savoy herself was, in early days, not opposed to the aims of the innovators. Marguerite of Navarre was, and remained, their ardent supporter, though without forsaking the communion of Rome.^ The lines of demarcation were not yet as tightly drawn as they were destined to be hereafter. Renee of France,^ who, married in 1527 to Ercole d'Este, became the mother of Tasso's Leonora, was all her life the unflinching protectress of the advocates of a purified religion. At no time, perhaps, were the prospects of the Reformation brighter at the Court of France than in the years now under consideration. Francis L, cynical and indifferent himself, though not incapable of superstitious fear, alternately protected and persecuted the French Lutherans according to the influences which prevailed with him at the moment. But in her goodly band of learned men, supported by the liberal group in the Roman Catholic Church, France possessed a happy omen for the future. The same revival of letters which had paved the way for the Reformation in Germany, had penetrated deeply into France. The humanists formed a compact group, almost independent of nationality, corresponding in Latin, and pursuing the same objects in each country. The union between the leading European nations in these respects was very close. In France the ranks of the law, more especially, were crowded with votaries of the new learning. Besides the study of classical literature, they bestowed eager attention upon mathematics, natural science and astronomy, which still included astrology, obtain- ing the newest instruments from Southern Germany, where they were principally made. Celebrated teachers were placed at the great pro- vincial universities, specially famous for their schools of civil law, the ^ This princess had been brought up by Madame de Chatillon, a lady of high accom- plishments, later secretly re-married, it was said, to the Bishop Jean du Bellay. 2 Daughter of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne. 45 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" teaching of which was forbidden at the University of Paris. The lectures were ardently attended. Foreigners as well as Frenchmen gathered in large numbers round any well-known luminary. The lecturers themselves were not infrequently members of another nation. Thus Andrea Alciati, the famous Italian lawyer, taught successively at Avignon and at Bourges ; while large numbers of Germans, such as Melchior Wolmar, Johann Sturm, subsequently rector of Strasburg Uni- versity, Sleidan, the historian of the Reformation, Andr6 Melanchthon, a relation of his more famous namesake, helped to promote the cause of liberal instruction, and, in many cases, also of the doctrines of Luther. As the Reformation advanced in Germany, its influence permeated the ranks of the French humanists, hand-in-hand with the purely secular learning they had hitherto cultivated. Those who professed the new doctrines were known as " Lutheriens." The day of Calvin, who was to impress the final and definite stamp on French Protestantism, was yet to come. The orthodox professors of the University of Paris viewed with distrust all this intellectual stir. They regarded the revival of classical learning, especially the study of Greek, which enabled people to examine the New Testament for themselves, as conducive to heresy. To free the path of knowledge from their bigoted restrictions, Guillaume Bude persuaded Francis I. to found a college for the special purpose of instruction in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, the "Three Languages" as they were then called ; to which mathematics and other chairs were subsequently added. The scheme did not at once come to full ma- turity ; but a variety of first-rate professors were engaged, who gave free lectures in their several branches, and assembled round them a large group of students of international character. Such was the nucleus of the famous College Royal. The Bailly of Troyes was well acquainted with Bude, both at Court and in Champagne. The lifelong services of this eminent savant to a succession of French kings brought him into constant communication with the members of the royal households. As secretary to Charles VI n. and librarian to Francis L he must have been well known to 46 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE Gaucher de Dinteville. In the second capacity, his influence may have been almost incalculable on Gaucher's son. Bude, had, moreover, many connections at Troyes. He was related to the Raguier family, one of whom married a sister of the Bailly. The Raguiers were of German origin, and later, including Charlotte de Dinteville, embraced the reformed religion.^ Troyes at this time inclosed within its walls several remarkable men, whose fame extended beyond these limits. Among these was Pierre Pithou, a celebrated advocate, and the father of yet more eminent sons. Pithou's friendship with Lefevre d'Etaples added another link to the chain. All these names, Bude, Raguier, and Pithou, became Protestant in the next generation. For the present things had not gone so far. In the highest class of society there was, at this early stage, little thought of secession. On the contrary, the liberal-orthodox French- men were prepared to strain every nerve to avert a schism. They occupied a middle position between the ultra-clerical party and the Reformers. Their whole energies were directed towards the re-estab- lishment of ecclesiastical unity. At the head of this little band of select intelligence stood the Du Bellay family. Guillaume Du Bellay, Seigneur de Langey, the eldest of the brothers, and Jean, successively Bishop of Bayonneand of Paris, and ultimately Cardinal, were equally conspicuous for their talents in peace and war, in religion and in diplomacy.^ No ambassadors were more frequently employed in the negotiations with England which marked the years of closest friendship between Henry VIII. and Francis I. Guillaume Du Bellay also made repeated visits to Germany in the interests of religious unity, an aim which, in a letter to his friend ^ Boutiot, " Hist, de la ville de Troyes," p. 432. (Paris, 1874.) * Guillaume Du Bellay, Seigneur de Langey, was born at Glatigny, near Montmirail, in 1491, and died 1543. He was Viceroy of Piedmont from 1537, and displayed high capacity in whatever work he undertook. He was part-author of the well-known memoirs, completed by his brother Martin Du Bellay. — Jean Du Bellay, Cardinal, was born 1492, and died at Rome in 1560. As statesman, churchman, ambassador, and author, his career was one of the most distinguished of the reign of Francis I. 47 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" and correspondent, Melanchthon, he terms " the most glorious on which mortals can be engaged."^ Jean Du Bellay had the same objects at heart. He too writes to Melanchthon, signing himself, "Yours from my very heart, Bellaius."* A statesman of conspicuous ability, and a leader of much that was best in French thought and aspiration at this time, he opened his doors freely and dispassionately to all whom learning, merit, or need of any kind, commended to his notice. Even Rabelais found a shelter beneath his hospitable roof; many of the lesser humanists he drew from obscurity to an assured position ; he himself was an author of some pretension. In politics the liberal Catholics were, as might be expected, the keenest adversaries of Spain. They supported the divorce of Henry Vni., and all the diplomatic combinations directed against Charles V. It is a striking fact that nearly all the French ambassadors sent to England during the years we now have to consider, belonged, in greater or lesser degree, to this group. Some of them, at a later period, when things had developed further, embraced the Protestant religion. The extreme clerical party, on the other hand, which included Montmorency, upheld the Imperial alliance. But in the years which immediately succeeded Pavia, the susceptibilities of the nation were too deeply wounded to admit of any real cordiality between France and Spain. The policy of France necessarily took another direction in con- sequence. This coolness towards Spain gave the liberals their oppor- tunity. The Grand Mattre, realizing the position with his usual cold sagacity, held the strings of both parties firmly in his hands. He stood, indeed, on terms of friendship with such men as the Du Bellay, who, while protecting liberty of opinion and condemning the delinquencies of the clergy, were doing their utmost to prevent a rupture with Rome. The Papacy itself courted those whose aim was to draw back the Reformers into the fold of the Church. Starting from very different grounds, they were obviously playing the Pope's game. ^ Coxe, "Life of Melanchthon," p. 371. ' Ibid. 48 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE But for the out-and out Lutherans, whose object was complete severance from Rome, Montmorency had no weapon but persecution. His hatred of the " heretics" only intensified when time made clear the impossibility of any compromise. As the years wore by, the shadows of the coming conflict crept onwards, ultimately forcing the party of mediation to make their choice between strict orthodoxy and secession. Slowly but surely the brilliant promise of an earlier date faded away. But that time had not yet come. 49 II CHAPTER II The First Mission to England of the Bailly of Troves {1531) AND THE Calais Interview of 1532 OUR years had passed since the release of Francis I., when, in 1530, his two eldest sons were at last set free from their Spanish prison. This happy event was due in great measure to pecuniary assistance rendered by Henry VIII. towards the completion of the French king's ransom. It was followed almost immediately by the marriage of Francis with Eleanor, Queen- Dowager of Portugal and sister of the Emperor, which took place in fulfilment of one of the clauses of the treaty of Madrid. The following year, 1531, was a memorable one for the Dinteville brothers. It began with the death of their father, which took place in March, at the age of seventy-two. In accordance with the curious custom of the time, his body was buried at Polisy, his entrails at St. Jean-en-Greve at Paris, and his heart at Thennelieres, where so much of his early married life had been passed. A now solitary agricultural village, surrounded by blue plains which melt into the sky in uninterrupted expansion, Thennelieres has little left to testify to the brilliant life of which it was once the scene. Of the Chateau formerly inhabited by Gaucher and Anne de Dinteville not one stone remains upon another, though the fosses still define the site on which it stood. But in the little thick-walled twelfth-century Church, the steeple and red roof of which rise at the end of the straggling village street, a few interesting relics of bygone days may yet be seen. 50 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE Let into the pavement before the altar of the north transept — both transepts are of the sixteenth century — is a square black and white tablet, in the centre of which is a " bonne- foi " ^ of flesh-coloured marble. Above this are two intertwined hearts of deeper hue, bearing respect- ively the initials " G " and " A." The tablet is inscribed, " Galtero de Dinteville, Anna du Plesseys, chara conjonx, 1531." A leaden box beneath this plaque is said yet to contain the shrivelled heart of Gaucher de Dinteville. On the opposite side of the church is a stained glass window, in which is represented a bishop, accompanied by his patron saint, St. Francis. This ecclesiastic is no other than Fran9ois I. de Dinteville, Bishop of Auxerre (the same who took part in the publication of the Custom of Troyes), whose portrait was here erected in 1524 by his nephew and namesake, the brother of Jean the " Ambassador." The window has been badly restored, and the portrait is consequently inferior now to that of another window of similar subject in the Church of Montmorency.* The tombs at Polisy have perished with the chapel that contained them. But a quaint epitaph, in rhymed doggerel, which was placed to the memory of Gaucher de Dinteville, survives in a copy preserved at the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris. EPITAPHE DE FEU MONSIEUR DE POLISY. L'Appuy des bons. Gauche de Dinteville Apres avoir en la guerre civile De France acquis le nom de jeune et sage Apres avoir au renomme passage Que Charles feit a Naples et a Rome Gaigne le bruit de hardi gentilhome ^ That is, two hands clasped in each other. ^ A third souvenir of the Dinteville, and record of their artistic tastes, in the Churrh of Thennelieres, is the beautiful but ruined white marble figure of Louise de Coligny, wife of Gaucher the younger, who inherited Thennelieres from his father. It is apparently of Italian workmanship, and was formerly recumbent. It now leans disconsolate in an upright position against the wall of the church, despoiled of its black marble base. See, for an account of the Church of Thennelieres, and illustrations of its curiosities, M, Charles Fichot, in the " Statistique Monumentale de I'Aube." 51 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Apres avoir a Senes ville antique Est6 le chef de la grand republique Apres avoir de Troyes en Champagne Est6 bailly, et veu de sa compagne Naistre des fils, dont il veit en sa vie Rhodes/ Espagne/ et la France^ servie Apres avoir chez le Roy eu loz tel D'estre ordinaire et bon maistre d'hostel Et le premier chez Monsr. le Dauphin Se voyant la approcher de sa fin Et sachant bien qu'heureux on ne peult estre Sans despouiller cette robbe terrestre, Volut donner a ces yeulx anciens Ce dernier bien d'estre fermez des siens Desquelz I'amour et pitie I'ont cy mis Pleins d'ans, d'honneurs, de richesse et d'amis,* ^ Louis de Dinteville, Knight of Rhodes. * Guillaume, fourth son of Gaucher, was brought up in the household of Henry, Count of Nassau, who was attached to the Court of Charles V. The Count of Nassau was related to the Dinteville family, and at his death left to Guillaume a house in Paris. On this side the family had both Spanish and German connections. ^ Francois (II. ), Bishop of Auxerre ; Jean, Bailly of Troyes ; and Gaucher the younger, who was employed in the public service to carry despatches, etc. All the brothers further held Court appointments. * The following is a literal prose translation of the epitaph : " The support of the good, Gauche de Dinteville After having in the civil wars Of France acquired the name of sage though young ; After having in the renowned expedition Made by Charles to Naples and Rome, Won the name of a brave gentleman ; After having, in the ancient city of Sienna, Filled the post of head of the Republic ; After having been Bailly of Troyes In Champagne, and seen born to him Sons, by whom, in his life-time, Rhodes, Spain and France were served ; After having in the King's house had the lot Of a good Maitre d'hostel in Ordinary, And of First Maitre d'hostel to M. le Dauphin : Seeing his end at last approaching. And knowing that happy none can be 52 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE Immediately after the death of Gaucher de Dinteville, on the 26th March, 1531, his eldest son Fran9ois, who had succeeded his uncle as Bishop of Auxerre, did homage in his own name, as well as on behalf of his mother, Anne du Plessis, and of his younger brothers and sisters, Jean, Guillaume, Gaucher, Charlotte, and Frangoise, for the seigneurie of Lesches in Brie, which had formed part of the dowry of Anne du Plessis. All now inherited it jointly excepting Louis, the second brother, who was a Knight Hospitaller.^ In his twenty-seventh year, Jean de Dinteville now found himself at the head of his house. His position at Court seemed to promise a brilliant future, which was further insured by the friendship of his cousin, Montmorency, the Admiral De Brion, the Du Bellay brothers, and other leaders of French politics. It is probable that at about this time he also succeeded to the Collar of St. Michael rendered vacant by the death of his father, who had been a Knight of the Order.'* Nor were royal favours limited to Jean alone. The same edict that confirms his appointment as Governor to Charles, Duke of Angouleme, places his brother Guillaume, now Seigneur Deschenetz, in a like capacity about the person of the Dauphin, in succession to his father ; and Gaucher, the youngest brother. Seigneur of Vanlay and Until he has put off this terrestrial robe, He desired to give to his agbd eyes That last happiness, of being closed by his own family ; The love and pity of whom have laid him here, Full of years, honours, riches, and friends." ^ Paris, Arch. Nat., P. 164^, cote 1494. ^ Gaucher de Dinteville attended the coronation of Francis I, as a Knight of St. Michael. (Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds fr. 32865, Chevahers de I'Ordre de St. Michel depuis 1515 jusqu'en 1560. This list is, however, incomplete, being an early attempt to recon- struct the roll of the Knights after the destruction of the original at the time of the French Revolution. The MS. expressly states, with regard to Jean, that the only documentary evidence at the disposal of the compiler was an act of 1588, in which Jean is termed Chevalier de I'Ordre du Roi, and the manuscript list of the Knights drawn up by D'Hozier, in 1660, which gives him the same quality. D'Hozier, a famous genealogist, and author of the " Nobiliaire de Champagne," had every opportunity for obtaining correct informa- tion, and had, of course, access to the roll which was subsequently destroyed. Although the exact date of Jean's admission to the Order is unknown, the fact of his having been a Knight of St. Michael is therefore incontestable.) 53 HOLBEIN'S AMBASSADORS" Thennelieres, In a similar position towards Henry, Duke of Orleans. Thus each of the three sons of Francis I. was entrusted to the special care of a member of the Dinteville family. But all was not unchequered prosperity. In the July following the death of Gaucher the elder, another heavy blow fell upon the brothers. Louis de Dinteville, the Knight of St. John, died at Malta, at the age of twenty-eight ; not without having already given promise of distinction similar to that attained by his brothers. He had been early made a Knight Commander and Seneschal of Rhodes, probably in the place of his uncle, Pierre de Dinteville. After the conquest of Rhodes in 1522, the homeless Knights at length, after many vicissitudes, found a permanent refuge at Malta, granted to them by Charles V. The Grand Master of the Order, Philippe deVilliersl' Isle- Adam, who signs himself " uncle " to Montmorency, and was, like him, a cousin of the Dinteville family, made a journey to Spain during the captivity of Francis I., in order to confer with him and with the Emperor on the future of the Order. Whether Louis de Dinteville accompanied L'Isle-Adam on this occasion is not known ; but it is certain that in the winter of 1529 to 1530, he was sent as Ambassador of the Order to the Emperor Charles V., and conducted the negotiations which terminated in the cession of Malta, afterwards reporting in person to Montmorency, and probably to the French king, the successful termination of his mission.^ The Order of St. John of Jerusalem was divided into seven " lan- guages," as the branches in various countries were technically called. The English language was suppressed soon after the Reformation, but it will be seen that the only record preserved in England of Jean de Dinteville's first visit to this country sprang from the connection of his family with this illustrious Order. The death of the Knight of St. John was not the only misfortune which now befell the family. The high favour in which they stood had, no doubt, awakened jealousies ; and there were enemies ready to take advantage of any opportunity that might occur, to undermine their ^ Charriere, " Ndgociations de la France dans le Levant," vol. i., p. 146, Villiers L'Isle-Adam to Montmorency. 54 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE credit. Such an occasion shortly presented itself, and, unfortunately, in a shape which seems to have afforded some justification for the violent attacks made on the offender. The eldest brother, Francois, now Bishop of Auxerre,was accused of having inflicted a punishment of undue severity on a peasant belonging to his Abbey of Montierender, who had been guilty of poaching birds of prey suited to the favourite pastime of hawking. The Parliament of Paris, the first legal tribunal of the king- dom, was delighted to assert its authority in the teeth of the Crown, which had curtailed many of its ancient privileges, by attacking a man who owed his promotion to Court favour. The bishop was ordered to appear before it and to stand his trial, and things were beginning to look ugly when the powerful influence of Montmorency, combined with that of " Madame," the king's mother, to whom the bishop was chaplain, intervened on his behalf. The culprit was hurried away to the house of the Grand- Maitre at Chantilly, and there kept in security until the storm blew over.^ It was settled by his protectors that he should be sent as ambassador to the Holy See in order to remove him for a time from the pursuit of his adversaries. The king, who had at first been very angry with his prot^g^^ shortly afterwards issued a royal proclama- tion intended to give a milder complexion to the whole affair, and to serve as a preliminary to letting the proceedings drop.^ In the July following the bishop was despatched to Rome. It is tempting to dwell for a moment on the personality of this prelate, perhaps the best known to history of all his family. Six years older than the Bailly of Troyes, the Bishop of Auxerre exerted a potent influence on the intellectual development of the younger brother. Nothing is more striking in the meagre records that have come down to us, than the constant proof they afford of the affection and community of tastes which united these two brothers. " Besides the liberal arts," says the biographer of the bishop, " he was a connoisseur in mechanics, loving above all things painting, and having always some painters in his Decrue de Stoutz, "Anne de Montmorency," part i., p. 172. Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, 702, fol. 131. 55 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" house."^ Involuntarily Holbein's presentment of the Bailly of Troyes rises before the imagination, so exactly do these words describe it. But while the career of Jean de Dinteville is unclouded by any hint of blame, that of the Bishop of Auxerre is of a chequered character, in which light and shadow are almost equally distributed. Hot- tempered, and failing often in tact and discretion, his mental parts were yet coupled, to judge by the warm friendships he inspired, with consider- able personal charm. Deeply attached to learning, keenly sensitive to the beautiful, he was a typical churchman of the Renaissance, as much layman as ecclesiastic. His love of sport, especially his passion for falconry, then at the height of fashion, are as oddly contrasted to his exaggerated asceticism and frugal diet, as the mermaids of his coat-of- arms to his pastoral staff. '^ Having learnt grammar at the College of Troyes, Frangois de Dinteville proceeded to the University of Paris. Here he was a member of the College of Navarre, which, as the only one at that time providing lectures in divinity outside the walls of the Sorbonne, was popular with theologians of moderate views. Thence, probably with the object of studying civil law, the future bishop was sent to Poitiers ; and, finally, to complete his training in both branches of jurisprudence, to the University of Padua. No doubt this residence in Italy, at the crowning moment of the Renaissance, gave a definite stamp to his tastes in more ways than one. On his return to France he was made Almoner to Louise of Savoy. Shortly after he was appointed Bishop of Riez, and sufiragan to his uncle; upon whose death, in 1530, he was promoted to the see of Auxerre. He appeared well fitted, therefore, for the arduous duties he was now called upon to undertake as French ambassador to the Vatican, at the difficult moment of the divorce suit of Henry VIII. The same year, 1531, witnessed the first mission of the Bailly of Troyes to England. The friendship between Henry VIII. and Francis I. was now growing apace. Besides the resident ambassadors ^ Lebeuf, " Memoires concernant I'Eglise d' Auxerre," pp. 138-199, quoted by Sandret, " Revue Hist, et Nobiliaire," xiii., 220. ^ See illustration, Part II., chap. vii. 56 PORTRAIT OF FRANCOIS II. DE DINTEVILLE, BISHOP OF AUXERRE, FROM THE MARTYRDOM OF STE. EUGENIE, BY FELIX CHRETIEN, IN THE CHURCH AT VARZY. To face p. 56. JEAN DE DINTEVILLE at either Court, the coming and going of special envoys entrusted with messages it was not deemed prudent to commit to writing, had assumed great activity. Henry VIII. still clung to the hope of forcing Clement VII., through pressure from France, to annul his marriage with the Emperor's aunt, Katherine of Aragon. The Pope, since the sack of Rome in 1527 more than ever the Emperor's tool, caught at every straw to postpone a decision which must of necessity alienate from him one half of Europe or the other. Francis I., anxious for his own purposes to keep Henry at variance with the Emperor, saw in the divorce the most obvious means of doing so. He accordingly threw the whole weight of his influence on the side of the King of England. Dinteville's first visit to England, or the first of which we know, seems to have been a rapid errand of confidential nature. But, short as it was, it is likely that it formed the key to his future advancement, for the only English sentence relating to it which has been preserved has a decided flavour of success. It has been seen that an intimate connection existed between the Dinteville family and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Sir William Weston was at this time Prior of the English language. Dinteville, either now or later, was on friendly terms with a young Weston who had been at the University of Paris ; but, in any case, seems to have been well known to the English knights of the Order when, in the late autumn of 1531, he arrived in London. On the 1 2th December Sir John Mablisteyn writes to Sir Giles Russell, " Mr. Tyntervile departed on the 3rd, having had good expedition with the king and his council."^ Meanwhile the Bishop of Auxerre, at Rome, was busily engaged in urging the cause of the divorce. Gilles de la Pommeraye, who was sent as resident ambassador to England within three weeks of the ter- mination of the Bailly's brief mission, supported it no less eagerly in London.^ De la Pommeraye was on terms of intimacy with the Bishop of Auxerre ; and the two friends agreed to communicate to each other, ^ Letters and Papers, For. and Dom., Henry VIII., vol. v., 1531-32, No. 579. ^ Gilles de la Pommeraye was a right-hand man of Montmorency. He had previously been French ambassador at the court of the Archduchess Margaret at Brussels. 57 I HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" if necessary in cipher, whatever of importance might occur in their respective spheres of duty.^ It is clear that, apart from questions of expediency, some members of the Hberal party in France frankly ranged themselves with the King of England on this thorny subject. They saw that the interminable delays of the Pope were dictated only by self-interest, unworthy of the high office he was called upon to exercise. For that office they had a profound respect; for the personality of Clement VII., to judge by scattered utterances in the correspondence of the time, their feeling bordered on contempt. Henry VIII. had, it was considered, a right to an answer, whatever the tenour of that answer might be. From this point of view, and as showing the charm the king could exercise when such was his good pleasure, a letter written at about this time by La Pommeraye to the Bishop of Auxerre has its curious side. * . . . " Vous avez raison," he says, " de me porter envie d'estre avec un si gentil Prince, car je pense que apres le Roy nostre maistre ne s'en trouva pass6 a deux cens ans, un de meilleur esprit, de meilleure grace ny plus magnanime que cestuy cy : et, a vous parler franchement, le dit Roy nostre maistre est oblig^ a luy du bon vouloir qu'il luy porte, dequoy je me sens grandement, car je suis traict^ icy, non pas comme Ambassadeur, mais comme Prince du pays, loge en la maison'' dudict Sieur Roy, et quand je le veois veoir, toujours mangeant a sa table ; et pource, ne vous esmerveillez si je vous conforte et prie de porter sa querelle. . . . " Mr. ce Prince a grand envie de chastier les Prestres de ce pays et ne leur ' Camusat, " Mesl. Hist.," Letter of La Pommeraye to the Bishop of Auxerre, March lo, 1532. ' . . . " You are right to envy me being with so amiable a prince, for I think that after the king our master, there has been none for two hundred years past of greater intelligence or grace, or more magnanimous than this one. And to speak frankly to you, the said king our master is under an obligation to him for the good will he shows him, by which I profit greatly, for I am treated here, not as an ambassador, but as a prince of the country ; lodged in the house of this said king, and, when I go to see him, always eating at his table. So you must not wonder if I beg and exhort you to uphold his quarrel. " This prince has a great wish to chastise the priests of this country and not to allow them to enjoy such great privileges as has been their habit ; which is caused by the wrong that is being done him at Rome, which is so great that it could not be surpassed. It is a strange thing that the Emperor should have so much power over the Pope as to prevent him doing right and justice there where he knows them to be." ' Bridewell Palace. 58 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE laisser jouir de si grans privilleges qu'ils ont accoustum6, dont est cause le tort qu'on lui faict a Rome, qui est si grand que plus ne peust : c'est chose estrange que I'Empereur ait tant de pouvoir avec le Pape, qu'il soit par ce empesch6 de rendre raison et justice la ou il la cognoist."^ The private letters of the ambassadors and other public characters to each other form an interesting commentary on the political events of the time. The Bishop of Auxerre, who, in spite of detractors, stood in high repute for learning, love of art, and distinguished office, had many- such correspondents. Among these, to mention only a few conspicuous names, were Lazare de Baif, a classical scholar of some celebrity, who was now French ambassador at Venice ; the Marquis de Saluce, who, after enjoying high favour, later became a traitor to the French Crown ; and Philippe Villlers de L' Isle- Adam, Grand Master of Rhodes. Of lesser correspondence, none throws more light on the fortunes of the DIntevIlle brothers at this period than that of Balavoyne, or Belle Avolne, the Bishop of Auxerre's steward In France, who collected his revenues, and sent him news of his family, during his absence at Rome.^ These letters and those of Berthereau, the secretary of Montmo- rency, enable us to follow with some precision the movements of the Ballly of Troyes and his brothers during the year 1532. In the summer Francis I. made a tour In Brittany, prior to the annexation of that province to the Crown of France, taking with him the Dauphin Francois. The latter selected from among his gentlemen, to be his special attendant on this occasion, Gulllaume, Seigneur Deschenetz. Jeande DInteville and his brother Vanlay meanwhile remained with their respective charges, the Dukes of Angouleme and of Orleans, at the Court of Queen Eleanor. The plan was to spend Easter at Tours, and later to ^ Camusat, " Mesl. Hist.," part ii., p. 78b, La Pommeraye to the Bishop of Auxerre, 20 March, 1532. The avowed object of La Pommeraye's mission was to support the king's desire that his cause should be heard in England and not at Rome. (Letters and Papers, Henry VHL, vol. v., 1531-32, No. 614, Chapuys to Charles V.) ' Balavoyne was the maternal uncle of Theodore de Beze, the historian of the French Reformation, whose uncle, on the paternal side. Monsieur de Beze the elder, an orthodox Catholic, died beneath the protecting roof of the bishop's house in Paris, during the absence of the latter in Rome. Paris, Bibl. de I'lnstitut, Coll. Godefroy, p. 254, Nos. 33, 24- 59 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" go to meet the king and dauphin at Nantes on their return from Brittany.^ The whole scheme was afterwards postponed for a few weeks, and came off with some modifications. In May the Bailly had a sHght attack of fever, an enemy that often troubled him, and consequently obtained leave to go home for awhile.* He was keenly interested just now in a new tower and some pictures he was adding to Polisy, where his mother and unmarried sister resided with him. A little later he was staying at Plessis, the home, it will be remembered, of his mother's family, when Fontaines, the page of the deceased Commander of Rhodes, Louis de Dinteville, was struck down with the plague. Happily, he recovered; but the Bailly and Vanlay, to avoid all risk of infection for the young princes, retired for a time to La Bourdaiziere, the house of another connection of the family. Almost at the same moment, however, an illness which attacked the little Duke of Angouleme, but seems to have been only of passing severity, obliged Jean to leave his retreat and return to Court sooner than he had intended. Shortly after this, Balavoyne received from the Bailly casts of the features of the Dauphin and the Duke of Orleans, with the order to forward them to the Bishop of Auxerre. From these models their portraits were to be executed at Rome.^ Thus the summer glided into autumn, which was to be dis- tinguished by an event of unusual interest. The meeting which took place at Calais between Henry VHL and Francis L in October, 1532, probably marks the culminating point of the friendship between the two kings. Though devoid of the exces- sive luxury which distinguished the interview of 1520, known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold, it was conducted with much pomp and magnificence. On the 21st October, Henry, from his town of Calais, and Francis, from the French territory of Boulogne, rode out to meet each other. Each king was followed by a splendid retinue. The 1 Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll, Dupuy, vol. 726, ff. 90, 91. Letter from Berthereau to the Bishop of Auxerre. * Ibid., vol. 728, f. 51. ' Paris, Bibl. de I'lnstitut, Coll. Godefroy, Letter of Balavoyne to the Bishop of Auxerre, Nantes, 25 August, 1532. 60 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE festivities lasted for ten days, in the course of which the King of England was received by Francis at Boulogne, and returned the hos- pitality by entertaining the French King at Calais. Much is recorded of the gorgeous robes, flashing with rubies and diamonds, worn by the two sovereigns ; of music, dancing, and feasting, of bull and bear bait- ing, games and wrestling, the latter, curiously enough, undertaken, on the French side, chiefly by priests. Valuable presents were given and received on either side. But the most welcome feature to the King of France of all these courtesies must have been the gift of 300,000 crowns made by Henry VIII. to the young princes. This sum represented the residue of the loan advanced by him for their father's ransom, which he thus gracefully abandoned. Small wonder that Francis hastened to exhibit his gratitude by conferring on the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, " comme aux deux estans plus pres de la personne dudit roy d'Angleterre," the royal order of St. Michael.^ Henry responded by bestowing the Garter on Montmorency and Brion. But the main object of the meeting at Calais lay deeper than in the desire to exchange mutual civilities. Ostensibly for the purpose of concerting measures for the defence of Christendom against Solyman, and actually resulting in a treaty to that effect, it was planned, in the first place, to discuss a common line of policy directed against Charles V., in favour of the divorce and of certain objects that the French King had at heart. No doubt the " damned machinations and enterprises of the Turk"^ — with whom, be it noted, Francis I. stood on the most friendly terms at the very moment when these words were penned — served as an admirable cloak for these designs. No doubt also the Most Christian King was anxious to present to Clement VI I. an appear- ance of devotion equal to that of his Imperial rival. The real purpose ^ Du Bellay, " Memoires," ed. Petitot, vol. ii., p. 133. These were certainly the only English subjects admitted to the French Order at this period. The reason given by Du Bellay for the selection of the two dukes sufficiently proves the high esteem in which the distinction was held. ^ Camusat, "Meslanges Historiques," p. no. Traicte touchant la contribution que le Roy et le Roy d'Angleterre doyvent faire pour la deffension du Turc. See also p. 109, Double des traictes, etc. 61 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" of the interview is, however, sufficiently clearly shown by the fact that no ambassadors were allowed to be present excepting such as were subjects of the two kings. Chapuys, the Imperial envoy in England, displayed much chagrin at this decree. The treaty was, in fact, so much waste paper, except for the purpose of making dupes ; to which account Francis promptly turned it in his next dealings with the Pope. The Bishop of Auxerre had received instructions to come from Rome, in order to be present at the Calais meeting, and to report on the negotiations he had been conducting at the Holy See. Letters addressed to him, however, at Rome, immediately after the interview, show that for some reason this plan fell through. His place was taken, at the interview, by the Cardinals Tournon and Grammont, who were shortly to succeed him at the Papal Court, and who received detailed instructions from both kings as to the part to be played by them with regard to the King of England's suit. But if the Bishop of Auxerre was absent, it can hardly be doubted that all his brothers took part in the festivities, in attendance upon their respective charges, the three French princes. Henry VHI. had ex- pressed a special wish to see at Calais the children whom his liberality had helped to release from their Spanish prison. The Duke of Angouleme accompanied his two elder brothers to the royal interview, and on first meeting the King of England, after the Dauphin and the Duke of Orleans had expressed their gratitude to the king, the little boy addressed him in another form, " so sweetly and sagely, according to report, that he spoke like an angel ; so that the English king again embraced him alone, kissing him several times." ^ Indeed, Henry treated all three with marked kindness. More than once in the annals of the proceedings he is mentioned as playing at tennis with the young princes, and it has been seen that it was to them he cancelled the debt due to him from the King of France. Early in November Henry VHI., accompanied by Anne Boleyn, ^ Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv., 1527-33, No. 832. Venier to the Signory, Oct. 31, 1532. 62 Zuan Antonio JEAN DE DINTEVILLE who, not yet queen, had shared the Calais fetes as Marchioness of Pembroke, set sail for England. A new ambassador, Montpesat, returned with him, La Pommeraye's mission being on the verge of conclusion. The fresh selection was probably made in consequence of Montpesat's previous acquaintance with the country, and possibly, to some extent, with the language.^ At the outset he appeared hardly so successful as his predecessor. The reason of this, in the present temper of the king, was not far to seek. " Mons. de Montpesat, the French ambassador," writes the indefatigable gossip, Chapuys, to his Imperial master, " has continually followed the king, and been in Court until yesterday. . . . The queen ^ has been informed that the more La Pommeraye solicits the divorce, the more he (Montpesat) dislikes it. This is beginning to be perceived, for he has not obtained the favour of lodging in this town in the king's house, which the other ambassador did."^ It is, perhaps, rash to infer a recovery of royal favour from the gifts showered on the ambassador at his departure, which were probably a mere formality. In any case, his mission was of brief duration, and on its expiration Jean de Dinteville was appointed to take his place. " The Bailly," writes Balavoyne from Paris, on the 2nd December, 1532, to the Bishop of Auxerre at Rome, "has obtained leave of absence until Christmas, or if possible until Twelfth Night, by which time he must return to Court, and then immediately depart for England. Meanwhile he is going to visit Mademoiselle,^ and to set his affairs in order." ' Just at the same time arrangements were being made for the return of the Bishop of Auxerre. His enemies were again showing signs of ^ See note 7, p. 42. Morette, another of the hostages, had already been over on a short mission in the spring of 1528. ' Katherine of Aragon. ^ Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. v., 1531-32, No. 1579, Chapuy to Charles V., Nov. 26, 1532. The "king's house " in question was the palace of Bridewell. * Perhaps his unmarried sister at Polisy, or possibly his mother. Married women were sometimes termed Mademoiselle, though in this case the appellation would not have been strictly correct, the rank of Gaucher de Dinteville entitling his widow to the name of Madame. * Paris, Bibl. de I'lnstitut, Coll. Godefroy, portfolio 225, ff. 23, 24. 6-. HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" restlessness, and Jean was eager that he should come back to confront them and to end their intrigues. The brothers therefore hailed the termination of the bishop's embassy with joy. On the 26th January, 1533, the Bailly writes to convey to his brother the express permission of Montmorency for his departure from Rome. After telling him of the instructions given to the Cardinals, Dinteville continues : ^ " En oultre m'a encharg^ ledit Sgr. grand maistre express6ment vous escrire que incontinent parties pourrez vous en venir. Je croy bien qu'il sera honneste dire a Dieu. Mais quelques remonstrances, pour service du Roy, ny aultres choses, qu'ilz leur dient, venez vous en, et vous serez le bien venue et receu, je vous en assure, non pas de moy, car ne me trouveres, pour ce que demain m'en pars ; et espere, au plaisir de Dieu, trouveres, a vostre arriv6e, voz evoca- tions depeschees.'"^ La Pommeraye meanwhile had written to inquire how the Cardinals were behaving to his friend. ' " Soyez asseur^," so runs his letter, "aumoings c'est ma fantaisie, qu'ils ne sont pas voz amys ; mais la sagesse d'un homme aussi est de se tenir ferme en ses grans heurts. Je vous advertis bien qu'a I'endroit du maistre quant je suis party de la Cour vous estiez en aussi bonne grace comme eux. Suyvez ce que vous avez commanc^ et ne variez poinct pour aucune chose qu'ils vous puissent dire ; et, moyennant ce que vous direz soit veritable, ne vous souciez du demeu- rant, car le patron est pour vous et trois des plus vaillans Champions." * ^ "Besides this, the Grand Maitre expressly charged me to write to you that the moment they have left you can come away. I am sure it will be quite right to say good-bye. But whatever remonstrances, on the score of the king's service or other things, are made, come away ; and you will be welcomed and well received, I assure you ; not by me, for you will not find me, as I leave to-morrow ; and I hope, please God, that on your arrival, you will find your appeals despatched." * Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, 726, f. 107. The Bailly of Troyes to the Bishop of Auxerre, 26 Jan., 1533. ^ " Be assured, at least such is my fancy, that they are not your friends ; but, also, the wisdom of a man is to sit firm in his great encounters, I can tell you that you were in as good grace with the master, when I left Court, as they. Continue as you have begun, and vary nothing, no matter what they may say ; and, so long as you speak the truth, care nothing for the rest, for the patron is on your side and three of the most valiant champions." * Camusat, " Mesl. Hist.," part ii., p. 115b. Gilles de la Pommeraye to the Bishop of Auxerre at Rome. From La Morlaix, near Rennes (in Brittany). 4 Dec, 1532. 64 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE The frank and manly tone of this letter is a refreshing contrast to the diplomatic subtleties of much of the official correspondence of the time. The " master " and " patron " was of course Francis I. The "three champions" may probably be correctly interpreted as Mont- morency, Brion and the Bishop of Paris. La Pommeraye's feeling with regard to the Cardinals was no doubt correct. Though a devout son of his Church, and a strong opponent of the Lutherans, the Bishop of Auxerre belonged to the liberal, anti- Spanish party in France. Cardinal Tournon, on the other hand, was one of the most violent of the extreme Catholic section. As such the two men, agreed in dogma, were opposed in politics — a position likely enough to engender personal animosity. yjr 65 K CHAPTER III The Bailly of Troyes French Ambassador in England (1533) N the 3rd of February, 1533, the Bailly had reached Boulogne on his way to England. From Calais to Dover was then, as now, the more frequented passage ; but Boulogne being French territory, it sometimes happened that Frenchmen selected that route in preference to the English one by Calais. On arriving at Dover the ordinary traveller proceeded on horseback by Canterbury and Rochester to Gravesend, whence the journey was generally continued by water to London. Occasionally, however, as with Chaucer's pilgrims in the opposite direction, the entire journey from Canterbury to London was accom- plished by road. This was especially the case if an official reception was intended, when a cavalcade of notabilities would be sent out from London to meet the arriving stranger and escort him to the city. On important occasions the welcoming cortige went the whole way to Dover, Such was the case in 1527, on the arrival of the great embassy conducted by Montmorency, Jean Du Bellay, and the Chancellor of Alen9on.^ But even when lesser magnates were expected, much cere- mony was observed in their reception, if demanded by their office. Lodovico Falier, the incoming Venetian ambassador in 1528, "was ^ Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv. (i 527-1 533), No. 188. Marco Antonio Venier to the Doge and Signory of Venice, London, 20 October, 1527. 66 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE met first of all at a distance of eight miles from the city by the ambassador Venier^ and all the Venetians ; then, a little in advance, by a knight privy councillor, with a good number of horsemen ; and thirdly by another privy councillor, an LL.D. ; who all, one by one, paid the usual compliments in Latin in the name of the King and Cardinal, on receiving him, and he performed the like office by them in reply." He next met "the ambassadors from France, Milan, and Ferrara, and then the Grand Prior of St. John's^ with a numerous retinue, he being a very great personage, the chief in London. They all accompanied him with very great honour to his lodging in the centre of the city, near that of the French ambassador,^ a very worthy person."* If such was the reception bestowed upon the ambassador of Venice, it may be safely assumed that nothing less elaborate was prepared for Dinteville at a moment when Henry VHL was specially anxious to show civility to France. It will be remembered, too, that the Bailly was already on friendly terms with the Weston family and with the Knights of St. John, which would add point to any part they might have to play in his official welcome. Winding through the narrow streets and between the closely-con- structed, gabled houses of the city of London, the cavalcade would presently reach the quarter where the high steeple of old St. Paul's rose high above the surrounding buildings. But Dinteville's journey was not yet ended. Like his friend. La Pommeraye, he had been given apartments in the royal palace of Bridewell.^ Passing through Ludgate and over the Fleet Bridge, the procession would now deflect southwards towards the Thames, and, descending by the western bank of the Fleet, in a line approximately represented by the modern Bridge Street, would draw rein before the castellated fagade of Bridewell. ^ Whom Falier came to succeed as resident ambassador. 2 Sir William Weston. ^ Jean Du Bellay, at this time Bishop of Bayonne, was in 1528 resident French ambassador in London. * Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv. (1527-33), No. 380, ' Letters and Papers, For. and Dom., Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533), Nos. 768 and 1227, De Dinteville to Cromwell. 67 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" The palace stood a little back from the river, on the western angle formed by the junction of the Fleet with the Thames. The correspond- ing angle eastwards was occupied by the great monastery of the Black Friars. The city wall, which inclosed the latter, here curved abruptly to the north within the line of the Fleet, leaving that small stream and the royal house of Bridewell without its precincts. Bridewell Palace was of long and irregular shape. The southern extremity, flanked by two corner towers, formed the main front towards the Thames ; and was pierced by an entrance door abutting on the quay which separated the house from the river. The buildings ran back some distance along the western shore of the Fleet, and were divided into various groups by courts and gardens. The latter were of consider- able dimensions, filling the opening on the east front overlooking the Fleet, and, on the other side, covering the whole space between the palace and the next street westwards running down to the Thames. The grounds had recently been greatly enlarged by a piece of land acquired from the Knights Hospitallers, containing no less than fifteen gardens, which were "thrown down and inclosed in the king's great messuage or manor, called Bridewell." ^ ^ Letters and Papers, Henry VIII. , vol. v., 1531-1532, No. 627, Grant 18. Bridewell Palace has fared badly compared with some other houses of the same date, for not only has every trace of it disappeared, but few records or prints exist to give an idea of its appearance in Tudor times. The early period at which it ceased to be a royal residence probably accounts for this deficiency. Edward VI. converted it to benevolent purposes as a kind of workhouse for vagrants ; and this use, gradually approaching the functions of a house of correction, was continued in the new buildings erected after the Great Fire almost to the present day. Nearly all the engravings of Bridewell refer to its later history. There are, however, one or two exceptions, on a small scale^ and on these the above description is founded. Perhaps the most accurate idea of the palace in Tudor times is to be obtained from the "View of London and Southwark in 1543," by Anthony Vanden Wyngrerde (Oxford, Bodleian Library ; a facsimile in pen-and-ink by N. Whittock may be seen at the Guildhall, London). As certain details of this view agree with a later drawing of about 1660, it is likely that it is more correct than the intermediate version by Ralph Aggas, which shows variations not to be found either in the earlier or later engraving mentioned (" Civitas Londinum," a map of London, Westminster and Southwark, surveyed by Ralph Aggas about the year 1560, Guildhall Library). The view of 1660 may be seen in "Bridewell Palace as it appeared about the year 1660" (Published for the Proprietors by W. Herbert, Penlington Place, Lambeth, 181 7). The same work gives a vignette 68 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE The original foundation was of very remote origin. The palace was built partly on the remains of an ancient castle, which in early days had formed the western bulwark of the city of London. Though occupied from time to time by various English sovereigns, from King John downwards, it had fallen much out of repair when Henry VIII. took it in hand and rebuilt it for the reception of Charles V. in 1522. After all, however, the Emperor occupied apartments in the adjacent monastery of the Black Friars. His suite only were lodged in the new palace, a covered bridge being thrown across the Fleet, and an aperture pierced in the city wall to give free access to the Emperor's quarters. Henry VIII. frequently resided at Bridewell, which is associated with several interesting historical events. Hither, in 1528, Cardinal Campeggio, ill with gout and fever, was carried through pouring rain, when deputed to hear the divorce case, Wolsey riding at his side. The palace on this occasion was " superbly decorated and filled with princes, prelates and noblemen." ' The following year, 1529, Henry VIII. and Katherine of Aragonwere again at Bridewell, when the same interminable question was being argued in the great hall of the Black Friars. After the fall of Wolsey and sequestration of his property, the king preferred York Place,^ the confiscated residence of the see of York, which was now incorporated with the Palace of Westminster. He could therefore well afford to place Bridewell at the disposal of any foreign ambassador to whom he desired to show peculiar favour. It is amusing to find amongst Dinteville's first proceedings on his arrival in England, the importation of "thirty tuns of Gascon wine," the claret of to-day, which was conveyed to London by a ship called the " Edmund," of Lynn.'^ professing to represent Bridewell in the year 1540. As this view differs equally from that given by Wyngrerde (1543) and that of 1660, it should probably be received with caution. ^ State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv. (1527-1533), No. 374, Gerardo Molza to the Marchioness of Mantua. So great was the throng that, in leaving, some of the Italians actually lost their shoes. * Subsequently known as Whitehall. ' Letters and Papers, For. and Dom., Henry VIIL, vol. vi. (1533), No. 1595, Grant 10, February 16, 24 Henry VIH. 69 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Whether going westwards to visit the king at Westminster or eastwards to see him at Greenwich, the river was the high-road by which the Bailly of Troyes would reach his destination. The Thames was the main artery of the traffic of London. Its busy wharves, laden with merchandise, each with a flight of wooden steps descending to the water, the varied craft which plied upon its surface, the many signs which announced the great commercial centre, excited much interest in the minds of foreigners. "London," writes one of them,^ "... is the residence of the ambassadors and merchants ; it is a very notable city situated on the Thames, a magnificent river navigable for vessels of any burden, sixty miles from the sea, and with a very strong tide. This river is convenient for trade, embellishing the city, and rendering it cheerful, and over it is a very large stone bridge.^ London contains many houses on either side of the river and two large churches of extreme beauty, in one of which the present king's father is buried.^ In various parts of the city there are many palaces of divers citizens and merchants, but the larger ones and the most superb are on the river, the owners being the chief personages of the kingdom. Besides the two belonging to the king,"* and one to the queen, the three dukes,^ the two marquises,^ and several bishops, have mansions there, each of them worth 1 2,000 crowns, with very delightful gardens. " The population of London is immense and comprises many arti- ^ Mario Savorgnano, State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv. (15 27-1 533), No. 682, quoted from the Sanuto Diaries, 25 August, 1531. The whole letter is of great interest, as is also No. 694 in the same volume (Report of England made to the Senate by Ludovico Falier, 10 November, 1531). The Venetians write with enthusiastic admiration of the country and capital. ^ Old London Bridge ; the only bridge London at that time possessed. It was massively constructed on a large number of boat-shaped piers, and covered with houses and shops. There was also a beautiful Gothic Chapel upon it. ^ St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. The latter part of the sentence alludes of course to Henry VIL's Chapel. * Westminster (in which York Place was now included) and Bridewell. " Howard, Duke of Norfolk ; Brandon, Duke of Suffolk ; Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond. (State Papers, Venetian, vol. iv., No. 682.) * Grey, Marquis of Dorset ; Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter. {Ibid.) 70 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE ficers. The houses ^ are in very great number, but ugly, and half the materials of wood, nor are the streets wide. In short, I am of opinion, all things considered, that it is a very rich, populous, and mercantile city, but not beautiful. ..." When an ambassador was invited to court, the king's bargeman was entrusted with the task of providing a boat, with eight or ten oars, at the king's expense. The guest was thus rapidly conveyed " from Green- wich to York Place, Bridewell, and Westminster," or whatever might be the point of destination on the Thames. The charges made on these occasions are still on record. One entry notes that ''John Johnson, master of the king's barge, for conveying the French ambassador from London to Greenwich and back in a boat of ten oars," paid "each rower Sd., and the master i6d., with iid. for the hire of the boat.'" The king had been eagerly expecting the arrival of the new am- bassador, being anxious to hear the report of Cardinals Tournon and Grammont from Italy, before replying to a recently received Papal despatch. Montpesat, who was awaiting the Bailly before departing him- self, was even urged to send a special messenger to hurry his successor.^ Parliament was, in 1533, opened by the king on the 4th February. A state attendance followed at the House of Lords, to which several of the foreign representatives were bidden. A day or two later, the Papal Nuncio and the French ambassador were invited by the king to be present at a sitting of the Commons. This time Montpesat, who left a few days later, was accompanied by Dinteville, who had just arrived. On leaving the Commons, the two Frenchmen, the Papal Nuncio, and the Duke of Norfolk, with others of the Council, were "sumptuously banqueted " at the house of Sir William Fitzwilliam, Treasurer of the Household. After dinner the Nuncio had hoped to have audience of the king ; but he was put off till the next day, in order that Henry might first hear what the Bailly of Troyes had to communicate.^ ^ Apparently of the lesser citizens, apart from the palaces previously described. ^ Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. iv. (1531-1532), pp. 310 and 316, March and November, 1529. The ambassador was one of Dinteville's predecessors. " Ibid., vol. vi. (1533), No. iii, Montpesat to Montmorency. * Ibid., vol. vi. (1533), No. 160, Chapuys to Charles V., London, 15 February, 1533. 71 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" No doubt the report given by the latter was satisfactory to the king. Early in January the two French Cardinals had joined the meeting at Bologna between Pope and Emperor. Dinteville had been instructed to inform Henry VHI. that their presence had produced an excellent effect. As a consequence of their persuasions, Clement had consented to come to an interview with Francis, planned by the two kings when at Calais. It was hoped that by this means some good conclusion might be arrived at in the affair of the King of England. For the present, however, his Holiness desired that the project might be kept secret. The prospect of an alliance between his niece and a son of the King of France had doubtless contributed to elicit these dulcet accents from the Pope. A further factor probably lay in his desire to draw both kings into an Italian league then forming, with the co-operation of the Emperor, against the Turk. To this, however, Francis declined his assent.^ Henry accordingly excused himself, in like manner, in the interview which now took place with the Nuncio.^ Venice, it may be added, at this moment allied with France and England, gave a similar reply. Yet, at the very moment when the Pope appeared to be in so affable a mood he had but recently issued a brief threatening the King of England with excommunication in case he should persist in putting away his first wife and entering into a new contract.^ Meanwhile, in January, 1533, Henry had secretly wedded Anne Boleyn. The King of France, on his side, full of the project of marrying his second son, Henry, Duke of Orleans, to the Pope's niece, Catherine de' Medici, was absorbed in the achievement of his own ends. That marriage, and indeed the proposed interview itself, so Henry VIII. had understood, were to be held out as a reward to Clement only if he acted as the two kings wished in the matter of the divorce. The alliance of a Medici with a son of the King of France was considered a sufficiently tempting bait. But Francis saw in the bribe a means of drawing the Pope away ^ Camusat, *' Mesl. Hist.," p. 4. Memoire et Instruction a Monsieur le Bailly de Troyes, etc., 27 January, 1533. ^ Letters and Papers, vol. vi. (1533), No. 160, Chapuys to Charles V., 15 Feb- ruary, 1533. ' Ibid., vol. V. (1532), No. 1545, Clement VII. to Henry VIII., 15 November, 1532. 72 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE from the Emperor, and quietly pursued his plans without too much care for the real or supposed condition. To Clement, apart from the brilliancy of such a marriage for his niece, it offered a way of escape from all his difficulties, supposing he could slip out of the hampering condition relating to the King of England's divorce, and thus avoid displeasure to the Emperor. Could he unite on his side both Francis and Charles, he would be released from the painful position he had so long occupied of a puppet tossed to and fro between the alternate threats and caresses of the two great continental powers. The danger of a schism in France would be averted. The friendship between England and France would be much modified, if not altogether broken. To accomplish all this, however, it would be necessary to offer a substantial inducement to the King of France, who was closely bound to the English king. Clement therefore entered into a secret agreement, as part of the marriage contract, by which Francis was to acquire, by cession or conquest, certain portions of Italian territory, including the Duchy of Milan — that Fata Morgana for whose possession so much French blood and treasure had already been expended in vain.^ It will thus be seen that each party concerned was playing a double game, excepting the King of England. Whatever view be taken of his conduct, he at least made no attempt to shuffle the cards beneath the table. Meanwhile, glad to avail himself of the apparently softened mood of the Pope to minimize the effect of the brief on his own subjects, Henry lavished attentions on the Nuncio in England, in order that all the world might see how amicable were his relations with the Papacy. Such was the anomalous position of things when the Bailly of Troyes began his residence in England. The history of the period has been sifted and re-sifted by the most capable hands. It is not intended to dwell on it here at greater length than is indispensable to the good understanding of the public career of Dinteville, and of the task com- mitted to his charge. ^ Decrue de Stoutz, "Anne de Montmorency," part i., pp. 207, 213, where a list of authorities will be found. * 7Z -^ HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" In the intervals of official business the French ambassador no doubt found plenty of time to cultivate his private tastes. It would be interesting to know how and where he first became acquainted with the works of Hans Holbein, and was fired by the desire to sit to that painter. The channels are numerous through which this may have taken place. Several of Holbein's early patrons, such as Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Sir Henry Guildford, Comptroller of the Household, had indeed passed away since Dinteville's first visit to England in 1531. But Sir Thomas More, the first and most con- spicuous protector of the artist, yet remained. Nicolas Kratzer, too, the king's astronomer, had been painted by him in 1528. In a small society, such as that of the Court of Henry VHI., it would have been difficult for anyone interested in art to overlook a painter of the merit of Hans Holbein. The Duke of Norfolk, and many others who ulti- mately sat to him, such as Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, Sir William Fitzwilliam, and Dr. Buttes, the king's physician, were acquaint- ances of Dinteville's, and, though their portraits belong to a later date, any one of them may have been instrumental in bringing ambassador and painter together. Norfolk, especially, was on friendly terms with the Bailly. The Duke corresponded with Montmorency, the French statesman who found most favour in England at this period, and doubtless for this reason extended special kindness to the cousin and proUg^. of his French friend. Again, the Duke of Norfolk was intimately acquainted with Sir Thomas More, and a welcome guest at his house. More was now living in retirement at Chelsea, but it does not seem unlikely that by the Duke's introduction, or otherwise, Dinteville may have known him.^ His house had long been the home ^ It is quite possible that Dinteville was acquainted with More before the embassy of 1533. La Pommeraye, writing from England to the Bishop of Auxerre in the summer of the previous year, says, " Mr. Morres, que vous congnoissez, qui estoit Chancelier de ce Roy s'est desfaict, ou Ton I'a desfaict, ne sgay lequel, de sa Chancellerie, & est demeure personne privde. . . ." (Mr. Morres [note by Camusat : Th. Morus], whom you know, who was Chancellor to this king, has resigned or has been deprived of his Chancellorship, I do not know which, and has retired into private life.) Camusat, " Meslanges Historiques," p. 93, Gilles de la Pommeraye, from London, to the Bishop of Auxerre at Rome, June 2ist, 1532. 74 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE of that type of learning with which the ambassador was familiar through the French humanists. The fame of its hospitality extended far beyond the boundaries of England. As Roman Catholics, desiring liberal reforms of discipline but not of dogma, the two men would also have much in common. If the Bailly of Troyes saw at the house in Chelsea, not only the noble single portrait of More, but the great family group which formed a corner-stone of Holbein's fame, he may well have been struck with the genius that could produce such works. Nicolas Kratzer, again, may have been the medium of the intro- duction. The keen interest in mechanics and geometry displayed by the Dinteville family, their eagerness about every new instrument, would have been certain to draw the ambassador to the society of this interesting individual.^ Since Holbein's return from Basle in 1532 his principal patrons had been the German merchants of the Steelyard. The privileges granted by English kings, from very early times, to the Hanseatic merchants of London, had raised their ancient community to great wealth and influence. The large scale of their commercial operations, and the facilities they enjoyed for obtaining foreign news, lent additional im- portance to their position. They had the right to appoint their own alderman.^ Tradition tells a good deal of the garden in Cosins Lane where men of all classes met for business or recreation, discussing their affairs over the delicacies imported by the merchants and the Rhenish wine the latter were here licensed to sell. Sir Thomas More was said to be the author of one of the couplets inscribed over the central door of their guildhall. Kratzer, no doubt, was often here ; Holbein, as we have seen, painted many of the members. But apart from the social tra- dition, the Steelyard had another aspect which has hardly been suffi- ciently thrown into relief by writers on the subject. In the time of Henry VIII., when the knowledge of German was very rare amongst ^ Some of the instruments seen in the picture of the " Ambassadors " are identical with those introduced into the portrait of Kratzer, and may have been lent by him (see Part IV., chap. ii.). ^ In 1533 George Gyze, or Gisze, the subject of Holbein's fine portrait now at Berlin,, was the Alderman's Deputy (see Appendix A.). 75 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" the English, the Hanseatic merchants were frequently called upon to take part in diplomatic negotiations as interpreters. Sometimes they were required to accompany an English envoy to the continent, some- times to translate documents despatched to London. Insensibly they were thus drawn into the political sphere, in subordinate positions no doubt, but in a manner which accounts for the constant mention of their community in the historical papers of the time, and for a large measure of the consideration in which they were held. At a moment when it was the common policy of England and France to cultivate the friend- ship of the German Protestant princes, in opposition to the Emperor — princes who were fully as ignorant of foreign tongues as the English themselves — the services of the German merchants were naturally in special request. It is quite possible that here also there existed points of contact between Dinteville and the Steelyard.^ But surmise grows wearisome even when based on evident proba- bilities. By whatever means the event was brought about, it is certain that the spring of 1533 found Dinteville and his " intime amy," the Bishop of Lavaur, sitting to Holbein for the picture of the " Am- bassadors." George de Selve came over on a visit to the Bailly by the express permission of the King of France. For some reason his stay in England was to be concealed from Montmorency.^ It is therefore less than surprising that no notice of it occurs in any English records. 1 On one occasion the king sent instructions to Cromwell to despatch Barnes imme- diately in post, to Germany, with Deryk (or Diryk). (Foxe, "Life of Melanchthon," p. 385.) Holbein, as is well known, painted two Dericks in 1533 : Derick Born, whose portrait is now at Windsor, Derick Tybis at Vienna. The latter certainly, the former probably, was a German merchant of London. As the king's servants were frequently spoken of by their Christian names only (Holbein as "Haunce," Kratzer as " Nicolas"), either of these Dericks may have been the one sent on the diplomatic mission. Augustus de Augustinus, a foreign agent in English pay, writing to Cromwell from Ratisbon, incloses a copy of an Imperial decree, presumaby written in German, with the comment, " Any of the Steelyard merchants will interpret it to you." (Letters and Papers, vol. v., 1532, No. 1027.) In 1538 Kratzer forwarded to Cromwell, from Lucca, a letter consisting chiefly of foreign political news, through the agency of Hans Holbein. It is well known that Kratzer never acquired the English tongue. Had Holbein more success ? (Ellis's " Original Letters," 3rd series, vol. i., p. 230.) * See the letter of the Bailly of Troyes to his brother, the Bishop of Auxerre, p. 79. 76 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE To keep all knowledge of the event from Montmorency would demand a good deal of circumspection. The coming and going of messengers between the Grand Maitre and the French ambassador in England was incessant. The leading Englishmen also, such as the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, stood in frequent relations with the French side of the Channel. At some time between February and Easter George de Selve arrived in England ; ^ at some time before the end of May he departed again.^ Whether any political object lay behind his visit to this country does not appear. There is no evidence that it was inspired by other motive than that of private friendship. That much time and thought was bestowed on the composition and details of the great picture for which the two ambassadors ^ were now sitting is certain. Regarded in connection with the public and private career of both Frenchmen, its parts work out with the precision of a Chinese puzzle. As it is proposed to devote a special division to the details of the picture,* it is unnecessary to dwell upon them in the present chapter, but it is interesting to observe that they must have been to a large extent suggested by Dinteville himself. The Bishop of Lavaur, who was but a bird of passage, left England before the picture could have been much more than begun. Presumably his portrait was completed, as was frequently Holbein's practice, from a drawing taken from life. But the Bailly, who wearied of his protracted stay in this country, and whose delicate health suffered from the climate, found no doubt in the progress of this picture a constant source of entertainment and interest. Many an hour which might otherwise have passed tediously, must have been devoted to thinking out with the painter its ^ See the extract from Camusat's memoir on the children and descendants of the Premier President de Selve, p. 20. Camusat there states that the Bishop of Lavaur came over to England on a visit to Dinteville in 1532 ; which year ended, according to the old French reckoning, on Easter eve, 1533. ^ See p. 79, Dinteville's letter to the Bishop of Auxerre, 23 May, 1533. ^ Selve had almost certainly been already employed in this capacity by the King of France. See Part III. * Part IV. of this study. HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" elaborate details. In no other way can the absolute harmony of Its complex arrangements with the known life and tastes of the principal sitter be explained. Early in May the French ambassador had a rather sharp attack of tertian fever. We hear of the Duke of Norfolk dining with him, and bringing the king's physician, Dr. Buttes, to advise upon his case.^ Apparently the treatment prescribed was successful, for he soon shook off this particular illness. Political events meanwhile were slowly progressing. The spring went by in negotiations relating to the settlement of the Scotch quarrel, to the proposed General Council, and, above all, to the coming interview between Francis I. and the Pope, where it was settled that the Duke of Norfolk should represent Henry VIII. The most important event which took place in England was the appointment of Cranmer to the see of Canterbury, and the king's resolve that the English archbishop should now pass sentence on his case. The Bailly of Troyes implored Henry to keep this intention a secret until the Pope should have arrived at Nice. But this the king declined to do. He intended to have his new queen crowned with all the pomp of state at Whitsuntide, and wished the sentence made public at once.^ The same courier who bore the despatch containing this information to the King of France, conveyed a letter from Dinteville to his brother, the Bishop of Auxerre. This document is so curious, both in its public and private aspect, that it shall here be given verbatim. It seems that there was a question at this time of sending the Bishop of Auxerre on a second embassy to Rome, which explains the political commission the Bailly requests him to undertake. The case stood thus : Dinteville foresaw that the Pope would be very angry, and probably launch his thunderbolts at once against the King of England, on hearing that he had deliberately defied the Papal authority by causing sentence to be pronounced in England. If it could be said, however, ^ Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533), No. 465, Chapuys to Charles V., 10 May, 1533. ^ Camusat, " Mesl. Hist.," p. 128, Bishop of Troyes to Francis I., 23 May, 1533. 78 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE that the marriage with Anne Boleyn had taken place by Clement's own advice, secretly tendered some time previously to the French ambassador at Rome, the sting of the Papal anathema would naturally be removed, and an understanding might yet be arrived at between England and Rome. Hence the ambassador's solicitude upon this point. For private reasons, however, he was much opposed to his brother's return to Rome, if it could be avoided. The rest of the letter is interesting from the allusion to Selve's visit, and from the light it throws on the Bailly's private pursuits. " Monsieur, ^ " J'ai receu vostre lettre escripte de Sommevoyre, par laquelle me semble que me mandez que autrefoys avez dit aux ambassadeurs de ce Roy, estans par de la, que aviez entendu aux propos de nostre Sainct Pere, que pour I'afifaire de ce dit Roy seroit meilleur le manage fait que a faire. Si ainsi estoit, seroit une chose qui grandement luy pourroit servir. Je vous prie me mander, si d'adventure le pape ne se vouloit gouverner de ce coste de de9a autrement que a point, si je pourroye bien advertir cedit Roy de ce dont m'en avez mand^, et si pareillement quand les choses viendront bien avant, vous luy vouldriez ramentevoir les propos qu'il vous en a tenu, en lui disant que des lors les communiquastez aux ambassadeurs de ce dit sieur Roy, voyant les affaires du Roy et les siennes n'estre que ung, S'il vous plaist sur cela me manderez vostre advis, lequel ferez bien de consulter ung petit avec nos amys, et par adventure, avec Monseigneur le Grant Maistre et Monsieur de Paris, car la chose est ass6s de consequence. " Au reste, nous vous mercyons bien fort, Monsr. de la Tournelle,' mon ^ " I have received your letter written from Sommevoyre, by which I understand you to tell me that some time ago you said to the ambassadors of this king [i.e., the King of England] when in Italy, that you had heard the Pope say that, regarding the affair of this said king, the marriage would be better made than to make. If this was so, it is a thing which would be of great service to him [i.e., to the King of England]. Pray let me know whether, in case the Pope does not desire to take another course than the one mentioned respecting the affairs of this country, I might inform this said king of what you told me ; and similarly, if things should become very threatening, whether you would remind the Pope of the expressions he then used to you, telling him that you at once communicated them to the ambassadors of this said king, seeing the affairs of the king [of France] and his, to be but one. If you please, send me your opinion on this matter, which you will do well to discuss a little with our friends, and perhaps with Monseigneur the Grand-Maitre and the Bishop of Paris [Jean du Bellay], for the thing is of considerable importance. " For the rest, we thank you very much, M. de la Tournelle, my cousin and I, for ^ The family to which this gentleman belonged was a distinguished one, but it does not appear which individual this was. 79 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" cousin et moy, des branches de vostre if, que nous soubhaittez, vous advisant que ceans sommes bien fourniz d'arcs de buttes et de maulvais archiers, et moy, pour le pire. "Je vous prie m'envoyer le portraict du compas auvale duquel m'avez escript ; car je suis bien empesch6 a comprendre la fagon de laquelle il est fait. " Je commence bien a me fascher en ce pays ycy, en attendant la fin des six moys, lesquelz escheurent le vingt deuxiesme juillet. Monsr. le grant maistre m'a promis que n'y demoureray que les dits six moys. Je prie a Dieu qu'il me tienne promesse. J 'ay eu la fiebvre tierce et y a long temps qu'en suis guery. S'il vous plaist, divisez ung petit avec monsr. de Paris pour mon retour. Je vous advise bien que je suis le plus melancolicque fasch^ et fascheux ambassadeur que vistez oncques. " Monsr. de Lavor m'a fait cest honneur que de me venir veoir, qui ne m'a este petit plaisir. II n' est point de hesoing que Mr. le grant maistre en entende rien} " J'ai eu des lettres d'Escoce de Monsr. de Beauvois.^ J'espere la trefve estre conclutte bien tost, et pour ung an, antre ces deux princes.' " Monsr. de Northfolrc partira d'icy a deux ou trois jours pour s'en aller trouver le Roy. Je vous prie luy faire congnoissance, car par dega son maistre vous tient en bon estime et ancor le m'a il dit depuis huict jours. " Quant aux autours, de quoi me mandez, me semble, ne sera que despence the branches of your yew-tree which you offer to us, but over here we are well furnished with arquebuses and with bad archers,, of whom I am the worst. " Pray send me a drawing of the oval compass of which you wrote ; I cannot at all understand the fashion in which it is made. " I am growing very weary in this country, while awaiting the end of the six months, which will expire on the 22nd July. The Grand-Maitre promised me that I should only remain here for the said six months. I pray God he may keep his word. I have had tertian fever, but recovered from it long ago. Please consult a little with M. de Paris about my return. I assure you very earnestly that I am the most melancholy, weary and wearisome ambassador that ever was seen. " M. de Lavor did me the honour to come to see me, which was no small pleasure to me. There is no need for the Grand-Maitre to hear anything about it. " I have had letters from Scotland from M. de Beauvois. I hope the truce will soon be concluded, for one year, between these two princes. "The Duke of Norfolk will leave here in two or three days to go and join the king [of France]. Pray make his acquaintance, for here his master holds you in good esteem ; he told me so within a week. " As for the vultures [a species of hawk is here meant], I think it would only be an * The italics are the present writer's. * French ambassador in Scotland. ' The Kings of England and Scotland. 80 mm JEAN DE DINTEVILLE de les envoyer, car ce Roy n'ayme point la vollerie, et si en y a tout plain en ce Royaulme. " Je ne puis entendre que si allez a Rome que ce soit pour peu de temps. Et si vous m'en croyez, essayiez de tout vostre povoir faire que ung autre ayt la commission. Je vous prie, entendez bien a voz evocations.^ Je ne puis trouver bon que les laissez derriere. " II me tarde de savoir de vos nouvelles et que direz de la tour et des tableaux. " Monsieur, je me recommande humblement a vostre bonne grace ; prie a Dieu qui vous doint bonne vie et longue. A Londres, ce XX 1 1 P. may. " II me fault faire une grosse depense pour se couronnement. J'en ay escript a monseigneur le grand maistre, luy suplient me faire donner quelque argent par le Roy, pour y frayer. J'en scaurois voulontiers des nouvelles. J'en ai escript aussy a Monsr. de Paris qui vous en pourra dire quelque chose et me y peult beaucoup ayder. " Vostre humble serviteur "Le Bailly."* Dinteville's wish with regard to his brother was fulfilled. The bishop was not sent back as ambassador to Rome. What answer he made as to the Papal remark inquired about, does not transpire. But it is curious that Chapuys himself speaks of a report circulated some time previously, to the effect that the Pope had given a "tacit consent" to expense to send them, for this king does not like falconry, and this country is full of such birds. " I cannot believe that if you go to Rome, it will only be for a short time. If you will believe me, do your utmost to get the commission given to somebody else. Pray attend well to your legal appeals. I cannot think it well that you should leave them behind. " I am longing to have news of you and to know what you say to the tower and to the pictures. Sir, etc. From London this 23rd May. " I shall have to go to great expense for this coronation. I have written on the subject to the Grand-Maitre, begging him to ask the king to give me some money to meet it with. I should be very glad to hear something of it. I also wrote to M. de Paris, who may mention it to you, and who can help me a great deal about it. " Your humble servant, "The Bailly." ^ " Evocation " was a legal term which signified the removal of a cause from the jurisdiction of a lower tribunal to that of a higher one. - Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll. Dupuy, vol. 726, f 46. From the Bailly of Troyes to his brother, the Bishop of Auxerre, 23rd May, 1533. HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Henry's marriage with Anne Boleyn ; and that, from the time of Dr. Bonner's return from Rome, who was supposed to have been the bearer of this message, the Nuncio, Campeggio, had appeared indifferent to the cause of Queen Katherine.^ The Bailly's request for extra money to defray the expenses in which he was involved by the coronation, was acceded to. A French Treasury grant records a gift of 500 golden crowns made to Jean de Dinteville, to repay him for the extraordinary expenses incurred by him when ambassador with the King of England at the time of the coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn.^ ^ Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. vi. (1533), No. 465, Chapuys to Charles V., May 10, 1533. Bonner returned from Rome in January, 1533. See also Froude, *' Divorce of Catherine of Aragon," chap. xii. ^ Paris, Arch. Nat., J. 962, No. 527. Pagny, 21 Dec, 1533. 82 ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^M ^ ^m m^^^ ^^H ^^H ^m H ^m ^^H ^^3 ^ ^ CHAPTER IV Coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn, and Termination of the Bailly's long Embassy to England HAT auspicious day was now rapidly approaching. The very date, May 23, which saw the despatch of Dinteville's letter, just quoted, was also that on which Cranmer pro- nounced the sentence that declared Henry VlH.'s mar- riage with Queen Katherine to be null and void. Less than a week later, the coronation festivities were inaugurated. The pomp and pageantry of Anne Boleyn's coronation have been so often described that it would be superfluous to dwell on them here, were it not for one specially interesting circumstance. There can be little doubt that the unsigned account of the proceedings printed by Camusat in his " Meslanges Historiques"^ is the actual report drawn up by Dinteville himself for Anne de Montmorency. One little sentence gives us the clue to the whole. The Grand Maitre had written to the Bailly of Troyes asking for details of the ceremonies.* In describing the distance traversed on foot by Anne Boleyn on the morning of her corona- tion, the writer states that the road might contain in length "autant de fois que lejardin de Chantilly'' It is hardly necessary to point out that Chantilly was the famous chateau of Anne de Montmorency. The interest of possessing the Bailly's own narrative of that won- ' Camusat found it amongst the Polisy papers. See " Meslanges Historiques," part ii., p. 211. "^ Decrue de Stoutz, " Anne de Montmorency," part i., p. 205. * 83 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS " derful scene, in which he himself played a conspicuous part, may perhaps be a sufficient excuse for glancing once again at its well- known details : ^ " La Royne d'Angleterre," says the writer, "partit de Grenevich le Jeudy^ environ les 4 heures apres midy, et vint par eaue dans une barque raze, en fagon de brigantin, laquelle estoit paincte de ses couleurs par dehors, avec plusieurs bannieres sur le haut de ladicte Barque ; et estoient ses Dames et Damoiselles avec elle. Outre il y avoit cent ou six vingts autres semblables Barques qui I'accompagnoient toutes a la flote ensemble, et fort garnies de banieres et estendars. lis avoient dress6 ausdites Barques de petits masts subtils et bien haults, ou estoient attachez des cordages en grande quantity comme a gros Navire, lesquels cordages estoient tous garnis de petites baneroles de tafetas, et a mon advis d'or clinquant, car cela reluysoit fort contre le Soleil ; et y avoit force tambourins, trompetes, flustes, et hauxbois ; et vindrent depuis Grenevich en moins de demie heure jusques a la tour de Londres, ou toute I'artillerie mena grand bruict. II fit tres beau veoir ceste arriv^e, car outres les barques, je croy qu'il y avoit plus de deux cents petits bots qui tous venoient a la queue et estoit toute la riviere couverte de basteaux. " Le Vendredy la Royne ne bougea de son logis. " Le Samedy environ cinq heures apres midy, ladicte Dame vestue de ses ^ " The Queen of England left Greenwich on Thursday at about four o'clock in the afternoon, and came by water in a flat barque, like a brigantine, which was painted in her colours outside, and had several flags flying from it ; her ladies and maids of honour being with her. There were besides a hundred or a hundred and twenty other similar barques, which accompanied her, and were much decorated with banners and standards. They had erected on the said barques small masts, slender and very high, to which were attached a great quantity of ropes, as on a large ship, these ropes being all dressed with little flags of taffetas, and, in my opinion, of gold metal, for they shone strongly in the sun. There were also many tambourines, trumpets, flutes, and hautbois. All came in less than half-an-hour from Greenwich to the Tower, where the artillery was very loud. It was very beautiful to see this arrival, for besides the barques, there were, I think, more than two hundred small craft following behind ; the whole surface of the river was covered with boats, " On Friday the Queen did not leave her apartments. " On Saturday at about five o'clock in the afternoon, the said Lady, attired in her ^ May 29 Anne Boleyn was fetched in state by the Mayor and Corporation of London, and brought to the Tower, whence she returned to Westminster on Saturday for her coronation on Whit Sunday, June i. (Letters and Papers, Henry VIIL, vol. vi. (i533)> No. 601. 84 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE habits royaux qui sont a la mode de ceux de France, ou peu s'en faut, monta en une litiere couverte dedans et dehors de Satin blanc ; laquelle estoit descouverte, et, dessus elle, Ton portoit un poisle de drap d'or ; et apres venoient douze dames sur haquen^es, lesquelles estoient toutes vestues de drap d'or, et pareillement leurs dites haquen^es garnies de mesme. Apres venoient douze Damoiselles sur haquen^es toutes accoustr6es de velour cramoisi. Apres venoit un Cheriot couvert de drap d'or avec son equipage de mesme. Audit Cheriot estoient seulement Madame de Norfort,^ et la mere de la Royne.^ Apres, trois Cheriots dorez ou estoient force Damoiselles ; et derriere vingt ou trente autres sur haquenees vestues de velouz noir. A I'entour de la Litiere de la Royne estoit Mr. de Suffoc,^ qui pour ce jour la estoit Connestable [et le] frere de Mr. de Norfol Millor Grillam * lequel servoit en la place de sondit frere de grand Mareschal et de grand Chambellan de ceRoiaume qui est office hereditaire. Devant eux marchoient deux hommes lesquels avoient deux grands bonnets fourrez d'hermines, quasi de la sorte du premier Huissier de Paris, lesquels Ton nommoit les Escuyers. " Apres estoit I'Ambassadeur de France accompagne de I'Archevesque de Canterbery.*^ " Apres estoit celuy de Venise accompagne du Chancelier.^ royal robes, which are in the fashion of those of France, or nearly so, mounted a litter, covered within and without with white satin. The litter was open, and above her was carried a canopy of cloth of gold. Behind came twelve ladies on hackneys, who were all dressed in cloth of gold, and their hackneys draped in the same. Then came twelve young ladies on hackneys, all arrayed in crimson velvet. There followed a chariot covered with cloth of gold, with trappings to match. In this chariot were only the Duchess of Norfolk and the Queen's mother. Then came three gilt chariots, where sat various young ladies ; and, behind these, twenty or thirty others on hackneys draped with black velvet. " Around the litter of the Queen were the Duke of Suffolk, who for that day was High Constable, and the brother of the Duke of Norfolk, Lord William, who was serving in the place of his said brother as Earl Marshal and Lord Chamberlain, which offices are hereditary in this kingdom. Before them went two men, called equerries, who had great bonnets lined with ermine, almost similar to those of the Premier Huissier of Paris. " After these came the Ambassador of France, accompanied by the Archbishop of Canterbury. "Afterwards, the Ambassador of Venice, with the Lord Chancellor. ^ The stepmother of the Duke. ^ The Countess of Wiltshire. ^ Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. * Lord William Howard, brother to the Duke of Norfolk, who, it will be remembered, was now absent in France. ' Dinteville and Cranmer, * Carlo Capello and Sir Thomas Audley. 85 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" " Apres, plusieurs Evesques ; et puis le reste des grands Seigneurs de ce Royaume, et Gentilzhommes, qui pouvoient estre environ de deux a trois cents. " Et devant tous, marchoient las Marchants de France vestus de velouz violet avec une manche des couleurs de la Royne, leurs chevaux encaparassonez de tafetas violet avec quelques croix blanches. " Par les carrefours il y avoit eschafaux ou jouoient quelques misteres, et fontaines jettans vin et par les rues estoient tout les marchants arrangez sans bouger d'une place." In such procession the queen arrived at Westminster, v^rhere, after partaking of some wine, she retired to her apartments. " Le Dimanche, au matin," continues the report, " accompagn^e de tous lesdits Seigneurs et Gentilhommes, [ladite Dame] alia a pied depuis son logis jusques a I'Eglise ; le chemin par ou elle marchoit estoit tout couvert de drap, et pouvoit contenir ledit chemin en longueur autant de fois que le Jardin de Chantilly. Tous les Evesques et Abbez allerent querir ladite Dame accoustrez de leurs Mitres et ornements Pontificaux, et la conduirent jusques a I'Eglise, et apres avoir oiiy une petite Messe, elle monta sur un eschafaut que Ton lui dressa au devant du grand Autel, lequel eschafaut estoit tout couvert de drap rouge ; et a I'entour du lieu ou elle estoit assize, qui estoit d'avantage esleve de deux m.arches, estoit couvert de tapis veluz. Et la fut le lieu ou se tint ladicte Dame durant le service apres avoir est6 couronn6e par I'Archevesque de Canturbery lequel luy bailla la Couronne et la sacra tout contre le grand Autel, puis par- acheva I'office et la Messe de ladicte Coronation. " After these, several bishops, and then the rest of the great lords and gentlemen of this kingdom, to the number, perhaps, of two or three hundred. " And, before all, went the merchants of France, clad in violet velvet, having each one sleeve in the colours of the Queen ; their horses caparisoned in violet taffetas powdered with white crosses. " At the cross-ways there were scaffoldings, where Mysteries were being played, and fountains running wine ; the streets were all lined with the tradespeople, who were kept stationary " On Sunday morning, accompanied by all the said lords and gentlemen, the Lady went on foot from her apartments to the church ; the road by which she walked was all covered with cloth, and might be of about the same length as the garden of Chantilly. All the bishops and abbots went to fetch the said Lady, accoutred in their mitres and pontifical ornaments, and conducted her to the church ; and after having heard a low mass, she mounted on a dais that had been arranged for her in front of the high altar, which dais was all covered with red cloth ; and round the spot where she sat, which was further raised by two steps, was laid a velvet carpet. And in this place the Lady remained after having been crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who placed the crown on her head and anointed her at the high altar, and then completed the office and mass of the said coronation. 86 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE " Et estoit pour ce jour-la Mr. de Suffoc grand Maistre, tousjours pres de ladicte Dame, avec une grande verge blanche en la main : aussi y estoient aupres ledict Milord Grillam et le grand Chambellan. Derriere ladicte Dame estoient force Dames, Duchesses et Comtesses vestues d'escarlatte, avec manteaux fourrez d'hermines, qui sont manteaux de Duchesses et Comtesses ; ^ et leurs chapeaux sur la teste. Pareillement les Ducz et Comtes avec beaucoup d'autres Chevaliers estoient vestus de robes d'escarlate fourrees d'hermines, de la fagon quasi des premiers Presidents de Paris, avec leurs chaperons. " Ladicte Coronation faicte, ladicte Dame fut conduitte comme ou venir, excepte des Evesques, en une grande salle* qui estoit appareillee pour disner." j There followed a long state dinner, served with great magnificence. The queen's table was on a raised dais. Cranmer alone, to whom she owed her final victory, is mentioned as having a seat at her table, though even he was placed " bien loing d'elle." The greatest of the realm waited upon her in their furred robes. " La salle est fort grande et fut sans presse, car il y avoit fort bon ordre, Au dessoubz dudit parquet il y avoit quatre grandes tables qui contenoient la longeur de ladicte salle,^ ou du hault costd estoient ceux de ce Royaume qui ont la charge des ports,* et au dessoubz d'eux a la mesme table force Gentilshommes : "The Duke of Suffolk, High Constable for that day, remained always near the said Lady, with a great white staff in his hand ; close by were also the said Lord William and the Lord Chamberlain. Behind the said Lady were various ladies ; duchesses and count- esses dressed in scarlet, with cloaks lined with ermine, which are the robes of duchesses and countesses, and their hats on their heads. Similarly the dukes and earls, with many other knights, were dressed in robes of scarlet lined with ermine, almost of the fashion of those of the Premiers Presidents at Paris, with their hoods. "When the coronation was over the Lady was conducted back as on arrival, with the exception of the bishops, and taken to a great hall where dinner was prepared. . . . " The hall is very large and was not crowded, for very good order was kept. Beneath the queen's dais there were four great tables which filled the whole length of the hall. At the upper end were those of this kingdom who have charge of the Ports, and beneath them, at the same table, various gentlemen : at the corresponding table, at the top and ^ Peeress's robes corresponding to those still worn by peers. ^ Westminster Hall. ® The hall seems, in fact, to have been arranged much like a College hall at the present day, with the high table across the top and the long tables below placed at right angles to it. * The Barons of the Cinque Ports. HOLBEIN'S ''AMBASSADORS" a I'autre, aupres et du coste, les Archevesques, Evesques, le Chancelier, et plusieurs Comtes Chevaliers.^ Aux deux autres tables de I'autres coste de la salle, a celle du hault bout estoit le Maire de Londres accompagne de Messieurs les Esche- vins : et a I'autre table estoient les Dames, Duchesses, Comtesses, et autres Dames et Damoyselles. " Mr. de Suffolc estoit gorgiaisement accoustre avec force pierreries et perles, sur un coursier encaparagonne de velours cramoysi ; lequel a cheval se pourme- noit par toute la salle et a I'entour des tables. Aussi pareillement faisoit le Millord Grillam, et prenoit garde au service et a I'ordre. Et estoient tousjours nue teste comme scavez que est la coustume de ce pays. Le Roy se mist en un lieu qu'il avoit faict faire fort a propos, par ou il pouvoit veoir toute la ceremonie, et sans estre veu ; ou il fit aller avec luy I'Ambassadeur de France et celuy de Venise. " A la porte de la salle y avoit conduicts jettents vin, et en prenoit qui vouloit. Semblablement y avoit cuisines a bailler viandes a tous venantz pour ce jour-la, et y eut une merveilleuse mangerye : trompettes et hault-boys sonnoient a chacun service, et heraulz cryoient largesse." The next day a grand tournament of eight against eight, con- ducted on the one side by Lord William Howard, on the other by Sir Nicolas Carev^, Master of the Horse, terminated the festivities.^ side, were the Archbishops and Bishops, the Lord Chancellor, and several Earl-Knights. At the two other tables on the other side of the hall, at the upper one were the Mayor of London accompanied by the Aldermen ; and, at the other table, the ladies, Duchesses, Countesses, and other ladies and young ladies. " The Duke of Suffolk was gorgeously accoutred, with many stones and pearls, on a courser caparisoned in crimson velvet : he rode about on his horse, round the hall and amongst the tables. Lord William did the same, looking after the service and keeping order. Both remained always bare-headed, which you know is the custom of this country. The king was in a place that he had had made for the occasion, whence he could see all the ceremony without being seen ; where he took with him the Ambassadors of France and of Venice. " At the door of the hall there were conduits spouting wine, anyone who pleased might take some. Similarly there were kitchens to provide food for anyone who came that day ; it was a marvel how much was eaten. Trumpets and hautbois sounded for every service, and heralds cried largesse." ^ Knights of the Garter ? ■^ Camusat, " Meslanges Historiques," part ii., p. 17. Narration de I'Entree et couron- nement de la Royne d'Angleterre Anne de Boulan a Londres, le 2 (it should be, le i) juin, 1533- 88 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE Such was the brilliant opening of Anne Boleyn's short-lived triumph. But all was not so smooth as it appeared on the surface. On the 7th J une, the king requested Dinteville to write to Du Bellay, as the ambassador did also to Francis I. and to the Grand Mattre, to inform them of some intelligence he had received from Rome which had given him great annoyance. He had heard that it had been declared in open Consistory, on the part of the King of France, that the latter sovereign intended to resist the Lutherans in every way possible. Francis did, in fact, persecute them in his own kingdom, while making alliances, for political purposes, with their leaders in Germany. Henry declared to Dinteville that such a declaration in Consistory was sufficient to overthrow all the good intelligence they had established with Germany. In his opinion it was most ill-advised. He had but a short time before warned Francis to communicate to their common allies, the German princes, the project of the Papal interview, in order that its purport might not be mistaken. Dinteville wrote that he had never seen the king so angry.^ Henry was in fact beginning to doubt the sincerity of the King ot France. The Bailly assured him that, excepting the Medici marriage, of which Henry had been told long ago, Francis had no motive in wishing to see the Pope beyond the arrangement of the King of England's great affair. Dinteville suspected, however, as he says in his interesting letter to the Bishop of Paris, that other causes had contributed to the king's wrath. Henry had heard that further censures of the Church were in preparation for him. The common people of England were much attached to Katherine of Aragon ; and Dinteville, like many foreigners, thought it likely they might break into open rebellion if encouraged by a Papal sentence of excommunication against the king. In his opinion, one of the wisest features of Henry's rule was the cordiality he kept up with the leading personages of the realm. Thus, if things should come to extremes, the people would have none to lead them. The health of the ambassador had been troubling him again, and ^ Letters and Papers, Henry VIIL, vol. vi. (1533), No. 707. Francis wrote back a pacifying answer denying all knowledge of the rumours referred to. 89 N .•t".*? rSa HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" he ends his letter to Jean Du Bellay by a piteous appeal to the bishop to assist his departure from England. " Je vous promets sur ma foy," he writes, "que si je y demores encore gueres, j'ai grand peur de y laisser la peau et les os. Jamais je ne y ai eu que huit jours de sante. Le 2 2 du mois qui vient^ mes six mois seront achevez, je voudrois bien qu'il pleust au Roy et a Monseigneur le grand Maistre penser et pour- veoir un autre de ma place. "^ On the last day of June he writes to announce to the King of France the death of the ex-queen Mary, sister of Henry VIH., widow of Louis XH., and wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. An event now took place which made a profound sensation at the Court of France, and threatened once more to disturb the peace of Europe. It forms but an incident, perhaps, in the long roll of history. But it echoed in the ears of contemporaries with a sinister roar, and the bitter indignation it aroused in France was not soon or lightly appeased. As a minor consequence, it probably had considerable influence on the composition of certain portions of Dinteville's picture ; and for this reason shall here be related in some detail.^ Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, had been one of the chief parties to the League of Cognac. That combination, it will be remembered, was directed against Charles V., and was called into existence by the French king in the first heat of his resentment, on his return from captivity. Some years later Sforza sent his Chancellor to propose to the King of France that a resident French agent should be secretly established at Milan. This step, so the Duke believed, would much conduce to the furtherance of their common interests. It was also suggested that the appointment should be bestowed on a certain Italian gentleman, named Merveilles,* who for twenty-five years had been in the service of France, and was at present an equerry in the household ^ The 22nd July. Dinteville's embassy was reckoned from the 22nd January. ^ Camusat, " Mesl. Hist.," part ii., p. 130^, Mr. de Polizy, Bailly of Troyes, to M. Du Bellay, Bishop of Paris, 7 June, 1533. ' See description of the Lute, Part IV. * His name was really Maraviglia, but had become gallicized by long residence in France. 90 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE of Francis I . The advantage of this selection, if the matter was to be kept secret, was obvious. Merveilles, being of Milanese extraction, would not, it was thought, be an object of suspicion to the Emperor. To make security sure, however, the French emissary was to be provided with a double set of papers, in one of which the king was to recommend him to the good graces of the Duke, as though Merveilles were merely staying at Milan for the settlement of his private affairs. These papers could be shown to Charles V., should any difficulty arise. The marriage of Sforza with the Emperor's niece, Christina,^ daughter of the King of Denmark, was just being negotiated. He was therefore doubly anxious to give Charles no cause of offence. The Duke had probably imagined he could play off the rival sove- reigns against each other. He hoped thus to strengthen the foundations of his tottering throne, on which, as he well knew, the jealous eyes of both potentates were always fixed. But he had over- calculated his strength. The Emperor got wind of the true position of Merveilles, and neither papers nor explanations sufficed to appease his wrath. Sforza was frightened, and learned too late that he could not serve two masters. Forced into a tardy choice, he sent a cynical message to the Emperor to the effect that the course of a few days would show whether his affections were fixed on France. He kept his word. Early in July the French Court was startled by the intelligence that Merveilles, on some trumped-up charge, had been thrown into prison and foully murdered at dead of night, by order of the Duke of Milan. The King of France was furious. Did he consider, when raving over the treachery of Sforza, that, just as he had given Merveilles a double set of papers, with one of which it was intended to hoodwink the Emperor, so he had committed to the two Cardinals negotiating the Medici marriage a double set of instructions, one of which had for its object to wrest Milan from the hands of his ally, the Duke ? For, as early as 1531, Francis had proposed to Clement VH., through Cardinal Grammont and the Duke of Albany, the reconquest of the ^ The subject, at a later period, when a young widow, of Holbein's beautiful portrait, now the property of the Duke of Norfolk. 91 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Duchy of Milan, as part of the secret stipulations of the marriage con- tract.^ These proposals had recently been repeated and accentuated, of course with the utmost secrecy, by Cardinals Grammont and Tournon at Bologna.'^ The suspicions of Charles V. had been aroused by the evident eagerness of Francis for what appeared so great a misalliance. Was Sforza made aware of the Emperor's fears ? Did he reward treachery with treachery? At any rate, the blow fell, and great was the fall of it. Dinteville, at his post in London, must have shared the general quiver of indignation. Apart from the brutality of the crime, the insult to France in the person of her envoy, the danger of the precedent if the sacred position of ambassador could thus be lightly violated, the regret for the well-known and respected individual, were keenly felt. The King of France, by way of protest, sent despatches to all the Courts of Europe, including that of Charles V., to inform them of the outrage. The Emperor drily turned the tables on Francis by replying that he had seen the king's letters which proved that Merveilles was only a private gentleman, and no ambassador. In due course he bestowed on Sforza, as arranged, the hand of his niece. Thus ended in fierce hatred and discord, so far as the coveted Duchy of Milan was concerned, all that the League of Cognac, the Holy League as it had once been called, had in years gone by promised of peace and harmony. The League had indeed gone through vicissi- tudes enough since its formation in 1526. The Italian alliances were unstable as water, and waxed and waned with every moon. But the main trend of French policy, to keep the upper hand in Italy, and the Emperor at bay, by heading a powerful coalition of the Italian states, had remained unchanged. The compact just made between Pope and Emperor at Bologna, into which some other Italian states had been drawn, was a blow directed at French policy. But this the King of France hoped to parry by the Medici marriage. The murder of ^ Ranke, "Zeitalter der Reformation," vol. iii., p. 313. Decrue de Stoutz, "Anne de Montmorency," part i., p. 207. * Decrue, etc., p. 213, where a list of authorities is given. 92 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE Merveilles, by which the Duke of Milan definitely embraced the Imperial side, was a far more serious matter. " Je vous declare," writes the King of France to the Bailly of Troyes, on the i6th July, " que je suis delibere de m'en ressentir jusques au bout, et de sorte que la memoire en demourera perpetuelle."^ Notwithstanding the entreaties of the Bailly of Troyes to be re- leased from his post, his presence in England was still deemed too necessary to admit of his being replaced. The interview of the King of France with the Pope was post- poned from one month to another ; the Duke of Norfolk was waiting about in France, losing his time; Henry VIII. was growing morose and distrustful. The French king, however, had no desire merely to exchange one set of allies for another. Though determined not to sacrifice his own objects with the Pope, he was ready, short of that, to do all in his power to conciliate Henry and retain his friendship. English sympathy had too often been useful to France to be lightly thrown overboard. Norfolk and his companions were therefore treated with the utmost honour. Francis proposed that they should remain at Lyons till the deferred interview could take place, and appointed to accompany them the Bishop of Paris, Vaulx, La Hargerie, and other gentlemen of standing. In the midst of all this, urged by the Imperial party amongst the Cardinals, and unable, for his public credit, to pass over in utter silence the king's defiance of his authority, the Pope pronounced the expected sentence of excommunication against Henry VIII. The step was taken with a faint heart, no doubt : Clement had played a double game, and was caught in his own trap. Just now, when forced to make the unwelcome move, he was especially anxious to give satisfaction to the King of France, whom he knew the step must displease. The Pope therefore hastened to soften the effect of the sentence, so far as possible, by promising that the censures should not come into force before the ^ Camusat, " Meslanges Historiques," part ii., p. 135. Francis I. to the Bailly de Troyes, i6 July, 1533. See also the following letter from the same to the same, 12 August, 1533, 93 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" approaching interview. On that occasion, it was hoped, some means of compromise might yet be devised. The King of England was pro- foundly irritated. The Dukes of Norfolk and Richmond, Lord Roch- ford, and other members of the party that had been sent to attend the interview, were immediately withdrawn. Had it been possible, Henry would have annulled the projected meeting of Francis and Clement altogether. The King of France once more filled the breach with soft words. He persuaded his English ally to substitute other ambassadors for those who had been recalled, urging that, for the advantage of the King of England's cause, it was most desirable he should be repre- resented. The Bishop of Winchester and Sir Francis Brian were appointed to attend the meeting. So well, indeed, did the French king succeed in pacifying the Duke of Norfolk, that, when the latter returned to England at the end of August, Dinteville was able to assure Francis that he had never seen the King of England in a mood of greater confidence and friendship.^ Henry's good humour was not destined to be of long duration, but for the moment the sun shone again. Domestic affairs just now claimed an unusual amount of his attention. On the 7th of September the future Queen Elizabeth was born at the palace of Greenwich. Much correspondence passed on this occasion between Dinteville and the King of France, who had promised to act as godfather had the child been a boy. Henry's disappointment on this score was keen ; doubly so because the position of the infant princess at once entered into competition with that of Princess Mary, the daughter of Katherine of Aragon. A question was thus raised which the birth of a son would have immediately disposed of. At about the same time the French king sent a letter to convey to Dinteville the long-coveted permission to return to his own country. " Monsieur le Bailly," ^ writes Francis, " congnoissant tres-bien le ^ Camusat, "Meslanges Historiques," p. 139. The Bailly of Troyes to Francis I., 3 September, 1533. '^ *' M. le Bailly, knowing well how long you have been over there, and that it is very reasonable you should go to your home to put your affairs in order, I have been willing to 94 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE long temps qu'il y a que vous estes pardela, et qu'il est tres-raisonable que vous faciez un tour chez vous, pour pourveoir et donner ordre a vos affaires, je vous ay bien voulu accorder vostre conge pour vous en venir quant bon vous semblera ; et envoye en vostre lieu le Sieur de Castillon, gentilhomme de ma Chambre, porteur de ceste."^ As a matter of fact, however, the new ambassador, Castillon, did not arrive in England, and the letter was probably not delivered, until the second week in November. The period of the Papal interview was at last approaching; and it was, no doubt, thought desirable that Dinteville should remain at his post till that event had taken place. The blandishments with which Clement and Francis had endeavoured to pacify Henry would then be put to the severe test of fact. It would be seen how much the king might hope to reap of the promises which had been so freely sown. And Francis perhaps felt that the result was likely to put a very severe strain on the already weakened friendship between him and his "good brother." Dinteville, who was in favour with Henry VIH. — several of his letters at about this time are dated from Greenwich, where he was the king's guest — was, no doubt, considered more likely to bring things to a good issue than a stranger coming fresh to so delicate a task. Early in October he was able to inform the King of France that a truce had been concluded for one year between the Kings of England and Scotland. This was chiefly due to the efforts of the Bailly of Troyes, on the one hand, and of Beauvais on the other ; and certainly reflected some credit on their diplomacy. Before the middle of the month the Pope had at length arrived at Marseilles. He was received with all due ceremony by the King of France. Mutual efforts were made, by Francis on behalf of Henry VHL, by Clement on that of Charles V., to pave the way for a further understanding ; but in each case without success. The Pope briefly grant you leave to depart whenever it may please you ; and am sending to take your place the Sieur de Castillon, a gentleman of my chamber, who is the bearer of this." ' Camusat, "Mesl. Hist.," part ii., page 9. Francis I. to the Bailly of Troyes, 6 Sept., 1533. 95 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" excused himself as to the King of England's affair, by saying he had left the papers concerning it at Rome, and that it was therefore idle to discuss it further for the present.^ The main object of the meeting was in fact the marriage between Henry, Duke of Orleans, and Catherine of Medicis. On neither side was there any intention of wrecking the policy of which that union was the expression by insistence on the demands of importunate friends. The contract was drawn up on the 27th October. It contained an agreement that the Duchy of Milan should be reconquered by the French king at the end of eighteen months. Urbino was to be reduced at the joint expense of the contracting parties. Two hundred thousand crowns were to constitute the dowry, and the Pope was to cede to the French Parma and Piacenza.^ It seems wonderful that it should have been worth while to go these lengths for such a bubble. Francis, whose practical astuteness was always outbalanced by his fervid imagination where Italy was con- cerned, no doubt saw himself already master of the Peninsula. The Pope had completely outwitted him. The King of England entered an indignant protest against the proceedings at Marseilles. He told Dinteville to write and say that, whereas it had been agreed that the settlement of his affairs should take precedence of the Medici marriage, France had sacrificed him com- pletely to the alliance with the Pope. The Bailly of Troyes felt that the relations between the two kings had now reached a pitch not far removed from breaking-point. On the repetition of Henry's reproaches he therefore replied with some spirit that he had rather be the poorest gentleman in France than convey such expressions to the king his master ; that he had not come to England to transmit words that would diminish friendship, and that he implored the king to carry such obser- vations no further. These representations seem to have produced some effect, for Henry thereupon turned to Castillon, who had just ^ Camusat, " Mesl. Hist.," part ii., page 142. The Bailly of Troyes to the King of France, Greenwich, 2 Nov., 1533. ■* Decrue de Stoutz, " Anne de Montmorency," part i., page 2 1 3. 96 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE arrived, and had that day been presented at Court, remarking curtly that he was aware it was necessary each should endure the other. Dinteville's memorandum of this scene adds the characteristic post- script:^ " Nota, que sou vent le Roy apres ses coleres m'a bien diet qu'il m'estimoit tel que je ne dirois ny escriprois chose qui diminuast amitie entre eux, et souvent m'ont prie ceux de son Conseil de mesme."^ The term of his residence in England at length drew to a close. Two last letters he wrote early in November, respectively addressed to the king and Grand- Mattre, begging to know what reply was deemed most suitable to Henry's complaints and reproaches. In the absence of exact instructions, he could only continue to administer such soothing words as his ready wit might devise, which in the face of accomplished facts naturally lost much of their force. On the I ith November, 1 533, the grant is recorded which permitted " Mons. de Dintevilla, bailly de Troes, ambassador to the French king," to "pass beyond sea, with his servants, baggage, etc., and to convey out of the realm horses, mules and mulettes, to the number of twenty-six." ^ A week later, on the 1 8th November, Dinteville set his face towards France.* Although the nature of the times was such that he left the alliance between England and France cooler than he found it, his official career as an ambassador was accounted a success. The fault did not lie at his door. Given the difficult and exacting temper of the king with whom he had to deal, and the slippery insincerity of his own master, it was creditable to have prevented an open rupture between the two sovereigns. Personally he was liked by Henry VHI., and the tact and skill with which he met the king's surly moods caused him to be employed in England more than once subsequently on short diplomatic errands. His courage stood him in as good stead as his courtesy.^ "Je priay ^ " Nota, that often the king after his tempers has said to me that he esteems me such that I should neither say nor write anything to diminish friendship between them, and that his Council have begged me to the same effect." ^ Camusat, "Mesl. Hist.," part ii., pp. 19-21. ' Letters and Papers, Henry VHL, No. 1481, Grant 10. * Ibid., No. 1435, Castillon to the Bishop of Paris, London, 17 November, 1533. ' " I begged the Duke of Norfolk and others who seemed to be among the principal 97 o HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" audit Sieur de Norsfort et a aucuns qui me semblent estre des principaux du Conseil de cedit Sieur Roy," he writes in his last letter to Mont- morency from England, " qu'ils donnassent a entendre au Roy leur maistre . . . que Ton pent bien tant presser et fascher son amy que Ton s'en fait importun." Before leaving, he intends to declare these things to the king himself, ** car je doubte que Messieurs de son conseil ausquels j'en ay parle ne luy en osent dire si hardiment tel ad vis comme je feray . . . " ^ The gist of it all was that a political alliance can only last so long as the contracting parties are bound together by common interests. The friendship flickered on intermittently for some time. But the aims of England and France had now taken widely divergent paths. It is not here possible to do more than touch upon the mass of letters written and received by the Bailly of Troyes during his stay in England. Besides the regular official correspondence with the King of France, the Grand-Maitre, and the Bishop of Paris, much of which is printed in the collection of Camusat, he received friendly letters from the Queen of Navarre ; from the young Duke of Angouleme (his special charge) ; from Philippe de Chabot, High Admiral of France ; Beauvais, French ambassador in Scotland ; Claude Dodieu, Sieur de Vely, who occupied a similar position at the court of the Emperor ; ^ Oudart du Biez, Governour of Boulogne, who forwarded his posts for him ; Breton, secretary to Francis I., and doubtless many others whose names have not been preserved.^ members of the Council of this said king, to give the king their master to understand . . . that one may so press and worry a friend as to become importunate." "... for I doubt if the gentlemen of his Council to whom I spoke will dare to say such things to him as boldly as I shall say them." ^ Camusat, " Mesl. Hist.," part ii., p. 143. The Bailly of Troyes to the Grand-Maitre, 7th November, 1533. * Claude Dodieu, Sieur de Vely, was repeatedly employed as French ambassador to Charles V., and also to the Holy See. He was made Bishop of Rennes in 1541, and died in 1558. ' Some of the most interesting of these letters are only known to have existed by entries in catalogues, having been amongst the objects of the thefts from French libraries perpetrated in the first half of the present century. See " Dictionnaire des Pieces auto- graphes voices," etc., by MM. Lalanne et Bordier, Paris, 1851. 98 B./tJ^ff^i^g^W /jB^^iiiiii 45- * Ribier, " Lett, et Mem. d'Estat," vol. i., p. 449. Grignan to the Conn^table, 29 April, 1539. HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" of ignominy heaped upon him by the king. If, as seems probable, he was innocent of the capital charge, he was indeed an injured man. Not content with the severe measures already taken against the brothers, Francis I. now procured their banishment from the dominions of the Emperor, and from Venice, Mantua, and Ferrara. The fugitives took refuge at Rome. Here again the king's arm overtook them, and the Pope was angrily called upon to exile them in like manner. The Bishop of Auxerre had sought to interest several of the Cardinals on behalf of himself and his brothers, in order to obtain permission to remain on Papal territory. But Paul III. dared not, if he would, give displeasure to the King of France. The next notice, a few months later, shows that Deschenetz and Vanlay had been at Bologna, but had left it again ; while the Bishop of Auxerre was reported to be at Naples.^ And here the curtain falls on the movements of the exiles. Hunted from place to place, in danger of their lives had they risked showing themselves in any of the forbidden states, the only hope of these once prosperous men lay in silence and concealment. Where did they next seek shelter ? There is no word to tell. Three years pass away. Once more the curtain rises ; and, if the opening scene is not without shadows, it shows at least a promise of brighter days. The facts to be related have the additional interest of resting on Jean de Dinteville's own narrative.^ In the summer of 1542, France being again at war with Spain, Charles, Duke of Orleans, undertook the conquest of the Duchy of Luxemburg. On his way thither he halted for about a fortnight at Joinville and at Montier-sur-Saulx. The Bailly of Troyes was in attendance upon the duke, who was a faithful friend to him. The king was also of the party ; and Dinteville seized the opportunity to en- deavour, through the mediation of Admiral de Brion, to obtain the resti- tution to his brother Frangois of the see of Auxerre and of the abbeys * Ribier, " Lett, et Mdm. d'Estat," vol. i., p. 479. Grignan to the Conndtable, Rome, 21 Oct., 1539. ' Paris, Bibl. Nat., MSS. fr. 20440, pp. 81-84. Deposition of the Bailly of Troyes in favour of his brother, the Bishop of Auxerre. 116 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE of Montier-la-Celle and Montier-Aramey. The revenue of these bene- fices had been seized three years before, when the bishop had been forced to fly. Pierre de Mareuil, who had become the unworthy suc- cessor of George de Selve in the bishopric of Lavaur/ had, thanks to the influence of Madame d'Etampes, managed to get charge of the see of Auxerre during the bishop's exile. He had appropriated or sold for his own benefit the costly furniture belonging to Francois de Dinteville ; he had instituted his own creatures into various offices ; he had taken possession of the rich abbeys held by the banished prelate. It was in vain that the Bailly of Troyes represented these facts. The ascendency of Madame d'Etampes over the king's mind was too great to admit of any counter influence. Mareuil had secured that lady's suffrage by presenting to her all or parts of a " chapelle d'or et argent dore, garnie de pierreries," belonging to Fran9ois de Dinteville, which Mareuil had removed from the Cathedral of Auxerre. Portions of this splendid " chapelle " had been seen by Madame Du Bellay and other friends of the Dinteville brothers in the possession of Madame d'Etampes. They comprised " ung reliquaire d'or garny de pierres precieuses ; ung aultre d'argent dor6 garny de semblables pierres ; ung aultre reliquaire d'argent emaille de bleu, auquel y a une longue et grande pierre appelee lapis lazulli entaillee des misteres de la passion."" Reinstatement would of course mean restitution of stolen goods. Here, then, was motive enough for the lady's antagonism, apart from all other causes. Dinteville saw that the situation was too strong for him, and re- solved to compromise. Such a man as the new Bishop of Lavaur could only be dealt with by a bribe. The Bailly of Dijon, Monsieur de Villiers les Potz, who was acting on behalf of Dinteville and Madame de Brion, advised him to sacrifice one of his brother's abbeys. The Bishop of Auxerre, who had returned to France by the king's per- mission, was at two leagues distance, " n'ousant s'approcher de la ^ Selve died in April, 1541. ^ Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, 702, ff. 138-9. (A gold reliquary set with precious stones ; another of silver-gilt set with similar stones ; another reliquary of silver enamelled in blue, with a long and large stone called lapis lazuli, engraved with the mysteries of the Passion.) 117 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" court." He was consulted on the point, but wished, before replying, to discuss the matter with the Admiral. A quick decision was, however, Imperative. Mareuil, seeing his position imperilled, was again stirring up Madame d'Etampes. So well had he succeeded, that she had almost gone off then and there to speak to the king. Fortunately her purpose was frustrated by good friends of the Dinteville family near at hand. Mademoiselle de Theligny,^ the daughter of their old acquaintance Madame de Montreuil, was in the castle. A hurried note reached Dinteville, " Depeschez-vous d'appointer et contenter cest homme, car il a mis ceste femme en collere contre Monsieur d'Aucerre." The rest of the story is so curious that it shall be told in Dinteville's own words : '*"... Le lendemain, ladicte Damoyselle de ThelHgny et Madame de Brou sa seur, s'en vindrent disner avec moi au logis de feu ^ monseigneur d'Orleans. Lesquelles toutes deux me dirent qu'il failloit s'accorder avecques ledict sieur de Lavaur, et que madame d'Estampes s'estoit fort courrouc6 lorsque ledict sieur de Lavaur vint parler a elle en la chambre ou elle jouoit, et disoit que nous n'estions pas encores ou nous cuydions. . . . Quoy voyant, je congneuz bien qu'il estoit force de passer par la.* Et le lendemain ou le jour mesme (ne scay lequel) je m'en allay trouver ledict sieur de Lavaur en son logis, en une petite chambre basse, ou se trouva ledict sieur bailly de Dijon . . . et quelques aultres . . . ; et diz telz motz ou semblables audict Monsieur de Lavaur : ' " On the following day the said Damoyselle de Thelligny and Madame de Brou, her sister, came to dine with me at the apartment of the late Duke of Orleans. Which ladies both told me it would be necessary to come to an agreement with the said Bishop of Lavaur, and that Madame d'Estampes had become very angry when the said M. de Lavaur had come to speak to her in the room where she was playing at cards, and had said that we were not yet where we imagined. , . . Seeing which I recognized that we should be obliged to take that course. And the next or the same day (I do not remember which) I went to find the said Bishop of Lavaur in his apartment, in a little low room, where was the Bailly of Dijon . . . and a few others . . . ; and I said these, or similar, words to the Bishop of Lavaur : ^ Married women were called " Mademoiselle ; " only those whose husbands were knights had the right to the title of " Madame." Decrue de Stoutz, " La Cour de France au seizieme sibcle," p. 74. ' Charles, Duke of Orleans, died in 1545, and this document, though referring to 1542, was drawn up at a later date. * I.e.., to resign one of the abbeys. 118 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE " * Monsieur, mes amys m'ont faict entendre que ma dame d'Estampes a tenu depuis deux jours quelques maulvays propos de Monsieur d'Aucerre et de mes freres. Par quoy plus tost que de retourner et rentrer en la malle grace du Roy, nous aymerions mieulx perdre et quitter tous noz biens. Vous scavez que par le passe nous sommes este amis. Vous tenez propoz de vouloir avoir I'evesche d'Aucerre ; je vous supplie et advise de vous contenter d'aultre chose.' " II insista d'avoir I'abbaye de Monstieraramey. Lors le priay de laisser ladicte abbaye de Monstieraramey. A quoy il fit instance, la voullant plus tost que celle de Monstier la Celle. Toutes foys, je lui remonstray que la dicte Abbaye de Monstieraramey estoit prochaine de Polisy et que celle de Monstier la Celle estoit a six ou sept cens livres pres, la valleur de celle de Monstieraramey, qui n'estoit pas grand somme. A la fin, ledict sieur de Lavaur s'i accorda. Puis me fist grande instance d'avoir la maison d'Aucerre a Paris ; ce que de tout je ne Ten vouluz accorder, bien que quand il seroit nostre amy, non pas ceste la seullement, mais que toutes les aultres estoient k son commendement. . . ." Gallantly spoken to this clerical cormorant ! His greed for fat benefices was even now not appeased. There follows a whole string of minor demands, met by Dinteville with considerable skill, yielding here and declining there, according to the degree of importance of the point in question. At last an agreement was arrived at. ^ " . . . et fut conclud que Ton coucheroit par escript. Ce qu'il fut faict le lendemain en ma chambre, au logis de feu mon diet seigneur d'Orleans ; absent " 'Sir, my friends have told me that Madame d'Estampes has in the last two days spoken ill words of Monsieur d'Aucerre and of my brothers. For which reason, sooner than to fall again into the king's disfavour, we would rather lose all we possess. You know that in past times we were friends. You speak of wishing to have the bishopric of Aucerre ; I beg and warn you to content yourself with something else instead.' " He insisted that he wished to have the Abbey of Monstier-aramey. I then begged him to give up the said Abbey of Monstier-aramey. He continued to insist, desiring it rather than that of Monstier-la-Celle. Nevertheless I showed him that the said Abbey of Monstier-aramey was close to Polisy, and that that of Monstier-la-Celle was of the same value, within six or seven hundred livres, which was not a great sum. In the end, the said Bishop of Lavaur agreed to this. " He then made a great fuss about having the house of the see of Auxerre at Paris, which I would not at all agree to, although, if he became our friend, not only that one, but all others would be at his service. ..." ^ " . . . And it was agreed this should be put in writing. Which was done on the following day in my room, at the apartment of the said late Duke of Orleans ; in the 119 HOLBEIN'S AMBASSADORS" mon diet seigneur d'Aucerre qui ne s'i voulut trouver.^ . . . Et certiffie pour verite que la resignation de la dicte abbaye de Monstier la Celle qui fut faicte lors audict sieur de Lavaur, et les quittances des meubles et fruitz de I'evesche d'Aucerre, fut par la peur et crainte que Madame d'Estampes ne remist mon diet sieur d'Aueerre et nous tous, ses freres, en la malle graee du Roy, par le moyen et eredit que lediet sieur de Lavaur avoit aveeques ma diete dame d'Estampes ; et qu'il ne fallust eneor s'enfuyr et absenter de ee royaulme, eomme on avoit faict ; et affin que ladiete dame d'Estampes et lediet sieur de Lavaur n'empeschassent plus que mon diet frere s'en peust revenir et remettre en ses maisons et benefiees." ^ But not satisfied with the results so far obtained, the Bailly of Troyes went to see the Dauphin at Fontalnebleau on the subject of his brother's wrongs. In a curious record of the actual conversation which passed there, Dinteville elicits from the future king, in a series of cleverly posed questions, a complete exculpation of the Bishop. Henri acknow- ledges that " la retraicte et absence de ce royaume de I'eveque d'Aucerre " was for no crime of his own, either towards Francis L or anyone else, but only for the disfavour which had fallen on his brothers. He en- courages Dinteville to defend him in every possible way. Moreover, in an interview which the Bishop himself had with the Dauphin, whether simultaneously with the Bailly, or on another occasion, does not appear, Henri promises him that justice shall be done to him, even should it be necessary to call in the arm of the law.^ It is perhaps not surprising to find the Dauphin graciously disposed, absence of the said Bishop of Auxerre, who declined to be present. . . . And I truthfully certify that the resignation of the said Abbey of Monstier-la-Celle, which was then made to the said Bishop of Lavaur, and the receipts given for the furniture and revenues of the bishopric of Auxerre, proceeded from the fear and dread lest Madame d'Estampes should replace the said Bishop of Auxerre, and all of us, his brothers, in the bad graces of the king ; and lest it should again be necessary to fly and remain out of the kingdom, as had been done before ; and in order that the said Madame d'Estampes and the said Bishop of Lavaur might no longer prevent my brother from returning and re-possessing himself of his houses and benefices." ^ The Bishop protested against this enforced resignation. See Camusat, "Promp- tuarium sacrarum antiquitatem Tricassinse diocesis," p. 25. '^ Paris, Bibl. Nat., Pieces Orig., vol. 1004, Dossier Dinteville, ff. 84, 85. ^ Paris, Bibl. Nat,, Fends Dupuy, 702, f. 134. 120 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE in whose favour the imaginary conspiracy was supposed to have taken place. But a greater triumph effected by the Bailly was his success in bringing about a meeting between the bishop and Francis I. himself. On the return of the king from Burgundy, as he passed through Bar- sur-Seine and Joinville, Fran9ois de Dinteville was granted an audience. In the course of this interview the king restored to him all his benefices and reinstated him in all his possessions.^ It shows the weakness of Francis that, notwithstanding this concession, the Bishop of Auxerre was unable to get the decree completely executed during the king's life- time. Madame d'Etampes, backed by Mareuil, succeeded in putting a spoke in the wheel with regard to a portion of the behest, although the bishop was able to resume possession of his see. It may here be stated, once for all, that on the accession of Henri II. in 1547, the Bishop of Auxerre instituted proceedings against Mareuil, and recovered everything of which he had been defrauded. The Dinteville family now returned to the highest favour, and henceforth their path was an unclouded one. The latter years of the Bailly of Troyes were indeed saddened in another form . Always delicate, he was overtaken by complete paralysis, which obliged him to abandon his public career and to dwell in seclusion at Polisy. At what date this misfortune occurred is not known with precision. But it seems possible from the allusions to his health con- tained in a letter from Charles, Duke of Orleans, written in August, 1542, that the first symptoms of it may have appeared at about this time. This young prince, the most brilliant and fascinating of the sons of Francis I., was now twenty years of age. His genuine concern for the well-being of his former governour and lifelong friend, and his spirited description of the military operations on which he was engaged, give interest to his words. ^ Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, 702, f. 134. Camusat, " Promptuarium," etc., pp. 26-28, June, 1542. 121 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" ' " Bailly," he writes, " aiant ici veu vostre basque,^ je n'ay voullu permettre s'en retourner, sans vous escripre, par luy, de mes nouvelles, qui sont graces a Dieu tres bonnes et telles que les desirez ; et seront encore meilleures, quant j'entendray que vous aurez entierement recouvre vostre sant6 ; a quoy je vous prie entendre bien soigneusement ; et en recompense, je vous diray, bailly, que je faiz faire ce qu'il est possible pour la prinse d'lvoy, que je feray demain commancer k battre d'un autre cost^ ; et tant par cela que par tous autres moiens, j'espere I'emporter, moiennant I'aide de celluy qui donne les victoires. Au reste j'ay eu des nouvelles de Longueval qui n'est que a deux ou trois journ^es d'icy avec sa trouppe, autant belle et deslib^r^e que Ton scauroit veoir, ainsi qu'il m'a mandd. Je le feray temporiser au lieu ou il est avecques sa dite trouppe, attendant le retour d'lversay que j'ay envoie devers le Roy pour me rapporter ce qui luy plaira me commander que je face de ladite trouppe et aussi de celle qui est icy avecques moy. Cependant n'aiant autre chose pour le present, feray fin de me recommander a vous et de priere a Nostre Seigneur, Bailly, qu'il vous doient aussi bonne sant6 que je la vous desire. Escripte au camp d'lvoy ce XIIIJ^ jour d'aoust. " Votre bon maestre " Charles. " A Monr. le bailly de Troyes, I'ung de mes chambellans." ' ^ " Bailly, having seen your basque here, I would not allow him to return without send- ing you some news of me through him ; which are, thank God, very good, and such as you desire them to be ; but they will be still better when I hear that you have quite recovered your health, which I beg you to take great care of ; and, in return, I will tell you, bailly, that I am doing all that is possible to reduce Ivoy, which I shall attack to-morrow from another side ; and by these and all other means, I hope to take the place, with the aid of Him who is the giver of victory. For the rest, I have had news from Longueval, who is only at two or three days' march from here, with his troop, which I am told is as fine and resolute a one as one could wish to see. I shall make him hang about the place where he is with his said troop, pending the return of Iversay, whom I have sent to the king to bring me back orders as to what it will please him that I should do with the said troop, and also with that which is with me here. Meanwhile, having nothing more to say at present, I will end, recommending myself to you, and praying Our Lord, Bailly, that He may give you as good health as I wish to you. Written from the camp before Ivoy this 14th day of August, [1542]. " Your good master, " Charles. "To M. the Bailly of Troyes, one of my chamberlains." * The deceased Louis de Dinteville, Seneschal of Rhodes, also had a Basque servant. This may have been the same one, or perhaps it was a fashion of the moment to have a Basque attendant. * Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll. Dupuy, vol. 726, f 117. 122 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE The Duke of Orleans was successful in his military undertaking. Ivoy, a small town in the Ardennes, was reduced, and the conquest of the Duchy of Luxemburg completed. But, restless as quicksilver to be off in another direction as soon as his object was achieved, he dis- banded his troops too soon, and the Imperialists reconquered the country in the space of a few days. This rash and impulsive temperament led the young Duke, a few years later, to an untimely end. The Court was at Forestmontier in Picardy. The plague was about, and Charles insisted on entering a house where a man had just died of it. Persuaded that the dreaded enemy could not assail a scion of the royal house of France, he rushed into the room whence the body had just been removed, and, from sheer bravado, struck the bed with his sword. The infected feathers flew up in all directions. The result may be imagined. The unfortu- nate prince sickened, and after a brief illness paid the extreme penalty of his rash act. This took place in 1545.^ The memoirs of the time contain many anecdotes of this young prince, whose wild impetuosity was balanced by many lovable traits. When a little boy five years of age, we hear of him gravely receiving the English ambassador at Court, repeating with graceful courtesy his " Soyez le tres bien venu, Monsieur I'ambassadeur ! " when that digni- tary, preoccupied with his business, was disposed to overlook the greeting of a small boy whom he had failed to recognize.^ A few years later, when Montmorency was ill, the little Duke sent to him his own physician and apothecary. Such little acts of kindness endeared him to many hearts. His courage, indeed, was of the maddest description, and often overstepped the line which divides fearlessness from folly. As he grew up and learned to wield the sword, he indulged in fighting adventures which were more than mere boyish pranks. But a certain chevaleresque grace surrounded all he did — in marked contrast to the cold taciturnity which distinguished the character of the Dauphin Henri. ^ Brantome, " Hommes Illustres Frangais," Discours xlvi., Eloge du Due d'Orldans. Decrue de Stoutz, " La Cour de France," etc., pp. 31, 32. " Decrue de Stoutz, ibid.^ P- 23. 12^ HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" It is easy to guess the sorrow that the death of the Duke of Orleans must have occasioned the Bailly of Troyes, to whom, through good report and evil, he had been a constant friend. The Dinteville brothers recorded their grief by the erection of a trophy to his memory at Polisy. This monument is described as having been decorated with the arms of all the persons from whom the Dinteville family had received kindness.^ ' Paris, Bibl. Nat., Pieces Orig., vol. 1004, Dossier Dinteville, f. 87a. yf 124 CHAPTER VII The Building of Polisy and the last years of Jean de DiNTEviLLE. His supposed Portrait at Windsor jT was during these years of leisure necessitated by ill- health, that the Bailly of Troyes rebuilt the Chateau of Polisy from the ground. The construction of the new house brings us to an interesting episode in his career, namely, his relations with the Italian artists employed by the King of France. The great architectural movement which marked the era of Francis I. could hardly have been lost on so keen an observer as Jean de Dinteville. One by one many of the palaces of the French Renais- sance had risen before his eyes. His boyhood had witnessed the com- pletion of Blois and Chenonceau ; later years had seen the growth of Chambord, Azay-le-Rideau, Fontainebleau, the curiously-named Chateau of Madrid, near Paris, and other important constructions. Ecouen, too, the magnificent abode of his cousin, the Connetable, was now rising from the ground. On all sides the spirit of the age was expressing itself in dwellings of surpassing beauty and luxury. Great men and small men built, each according to his means. Those who could not afford palaces contented themselves with houses of smaller dimensions indeed, but pervaded by the same sense of harmonious proportion, emphasized by graceful ornament. From about the year 1530, when II Rosso settled in France, a number of distinguished Italians were engaged in the royal service, especially at Madrid and Fontainebleau. The well-known predilec- 125 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" tions of the king for Italian work set the stamp of fashion on the em- ployment of these artists, and for many years the Italians occupied on the royal buildings were largely in request beyond the precincts of the Court. On the death of II Rosso, in 1541, the Bolognese, Francesco Primaticcio, succeeded him as head of the works at Fontainebleau. He had already been employed by the king, after a first visit to France, to collect statues and other works of art for him in Italy. Enjoying a high reputation in his own country as the pupil of Bagnacavallo and Giulio Romano, the latter of whom he had assisted in the decorations of the Palazzo del Te at Mantua, Primaticcio soon rose to the first place among his fellow-countrymen in France. He was ultimately appointed director of all the royal works, including painting, architec- ture, and sculpture, and continued to fill this post until his death, which occurred in 1570. Associated with Primaticcio in the decorations of Fontainebleau was his assistant, NIccolo da Modena, called Niccolo dell' Abate. Both these men undertook many private commissions in addition to their work at Court. They were employed, for instance, by Mont- morency to decorate his house in Paris.^ Another Italian, Girolamo della Robbia, brought to France the famous secret of his family for the manufacture of glazed tiles. He executed extensive works at the Chateau of Madrid, and probably also at Ecouen.^ With all these individuals Dinteville must have come into frequent contact before his retirement from Court.' With another of the Italian artists in France, Domenico del Barbier, or, as he is commonly ' Primaticcio designed for the house of the Connetable allegorical figures of the cardinal virtues, which were executed in fresco by Niccolo dell' Abate. The house was situated in the Rue Sainte-Avoie, now Rue du Temple. It was subsequently the Hotel de Mesmes. See Felibien, " Entretiens sur les Vies et les ouvrages des plus excellents peintres," tome i., p. 523, and Decrue de Stoutz, "Anne de Montmorency," part i., p. 419. ^ Mrs. Mark Pattison, " The Renaissance in France," vol. ii., p. 269. ' He may indeed have been acquainted with greater than they. In 1540 Benvenuto Cellini was in the service of the French Court, and twenty-one years earlier, when the future Bailly was yet a boy, Lionardo da Vinci died at the Chateau Cloux, near Amboise . 126 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE called, Domenico Fiorentino, he stood in more immediate relations ; for this man had early married and settled at Troyes, where he now occupied the leading position as architect, painter, engraver, and sculptor. For some time Domenico divided his attention between that city and Fontainebleau, where he worked successively under II Rosso and Primaticcio. To illustrate the reputation he ultimately enjoyed, it suffices to add that many years later he was employed to execute the pedestal and vase of the famous group of the Three Graces by Ger- main Pilon, which formed part of Primaticcio's design for the tomb of Henri II. Situated between Burgundy and the Netherlands, the city of Troyes had early been subject to Flemish influences. These had doubtless had their effect in forming the taste of the family at Polisy. Their own Burgundian antecedents must not be forgotten. Gradually the per- meating sway of the French Renaissance recast local traditions in a new mould; and when the Italian artists imported by Francis I. gave a further impetus to contemporary design, Troyes was found well prepared to receive it. How far the presence of Domenico Fiorentino contributed to produce this result, it is impossible to determine. But it is certain that a large number of the French assistants employed at Fontainebleau were natives of the city in Champagne.^ Such being the state of things artistic in France, it is interesting to note that at the very time when Dinteville began to build his new house, Primaticcio and Domenico Fiorentino were his guests at Polisy. The foundation-stone of the new Chateau was laid in 1544. On the massive central pillar of the great cellar of the castle, the inscription, in Gothic letters, may still be read : Lan tie grace ^21)^1131313131 3lef)an De i:)intet)iUe tjaillp De Ctoieg apre0 atioir acljetjer la t)a0!se court felt comencer* ^ The writer is indebted for nearly all the facts relating to the artists of Troyes, and to the Italians employed by Dinteville, to the very interesting paper by M. Albert Babeau (Secretary of the Soc. Acad, de I'Aube), entitled, " Domenique Florentin, Sculpteur du seizieme si^cle." It was published in " Reunion des Societes savantes des Departements a la Sorbonne, du 4 au 7 Avril 1877. Section des Beaux-Arts." Paris, Plon, Nourrit et Cie. 1890, part i., page 108. 127 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Just at this time the King of France bestowed on Primaticcio the Abbey of St. Martin-es-Aires, at Troyes. The artist had, however, no thought of going in person to take possession of his benefice. He consequently issued a " procuration " dated from PoHsy, and there witnessed by Domenico Fiorentino and Hubert Julyot (one of a well- known family of sculptors at Troyes), on the 1 5th December, 1 544.^ The new house was something more of a stronghold in the old style than the majority of dwellings now in fashion. The proximity of the Imperial frontier rendered it in fact necessary that the place should be capable of defence. War had again broken out between Francis I. and Charles V., and at the very moment when Dinteville set to work, the town of St. Dizier, not very far away, had been besieged and taken by the Imperial forces. At some period in the history of Polisy the waters of the small river Laigne, which flow into the Seine almost beneath the windows of the Ch§,teau, had been diverted from their course to form a complete moat round its walls.^ A variety of towers contributed to the pro- tection no less than to the picturesque- ness of the place, while a substantial keep and drawbridge fortified the main entrance. Possibly some portion of these defences were a heritage from older times which the Bailly repaired and added to ; completing them with the slender and graceful towers seen in the illustration.^ But the new dwelling which now arose within this circle of walls was entirely his own work, if certain details, due to his brother Fran9ois, be excepted. Severely simple in aspect where the ex- ^ Archives de I'Aube, registre G. 66, fol. vi'''', xii, v°. Quoted by M. Babeau, loc. cit., who gives the detailed heading of the Latin act. ^ This has since been filled in on one side. An old map, preserved at Polisy, shows the original plan, which is partly indicated also in the illustration, page 35. ' Page 35. See also his letter to the Bishop of Auxerre, May 23, 1533, page 81. 128 ARMS OF JEAN DE DINTEVILLE AS STILL SEEN AT POLISY. JEAN DE DINTEVILLE ternal wall formed one link of the chain of defence, it was probably on the inner fa9ade, overlooking the court, that the Bailly lavished those decorative effects for which the presence of Primaticcio and his fellow- labourers appears to vouch. What was the extent of their co-operation there are no means of judging, since that fa9ade has been utterly swept away. The coat-of-arms which once adorned it, and a stone pediment which perhaps surmounted the principal entrance, are now built into a wall in the stable yard. The shield, bearing the arms of the Bailly of of Troyes, still shows traces of colour. On a scroll beneath it are in- scribed the words : "Jo. de Dinteville condebat." These objects were removed to their present position in this century, when the Chateau was completely modernized. Nearly all traces of former splendour, to say nothing of archaeological interest, were at the same time blotted out. Much may have been previously destroyed by time and sieges ; for Polisy seems to have borne a full share of the country's misfortunes. The towers and machicolations which we know to have existed, the delicate Renaissance ornament which we surmise, have alike perished. The featureless modernity which has replaced them offers hardly a suggestion of the edifice once raised by the Bailly of Troyes. The main walls towards the river are, however, still those of his construction,^ as well as several details of the interior. The immense thickness of those walls is shown in the deep bay-windows which look eastwards over the Laigne. A long series of apartments on the ground floor is surmounted by a corresponding suite above, from which a pleasant view is obtained over the green undulations of the surrounding country. One of these rooms on the upper floor contains the chief remaining glory of Polisy, the famous carrelage, or tessellated pavement, placed there in 1545 by the Bishop of Auxerre, who owned a share of the estate. This beautiful piece of Italian work, justly famed as one of the ^ They are seen in the long gabled front overlooking the river, in the illustration, P- 35- 129 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" finest pavements in France, was probably executed under the super- vision of Girolamo della Robbia, whether designed by him or by Primaticcio. The symmetrical pattern in variously coloured tiles, shows a series of allegorical figures of the cardinal and theological virtues, inclosed in octagonal medallions, grouped round a central cross. These figures are connected by arabesque patterns, interwoven with smaller medallions containing emblems of war and of the chase. But the most interesting of the series, because it bears directly on the history of the Dinteville, who commem- orated in the symbolism of this floor the Bishop's return to favour, are the two medallions above and below the central cross. The first of these contains the figure of Fortune in her most smiling mood. On the white frame which surrounds the god- dess may be read the motto of the house of Dinteville: r tu;)^^*) axoAouSof eVt» T*jf apfxr]?, Fortune the Companion of Merit. The second more important medallion displays the arms of the Bishop of Auxerre, round which the Dinteville motto again appears, this time in its more familiar Latin garb, Virtuti Fortuna Comes, accompanied by the date 1545. The bishop seems indeed to have appropriated the family motto just now to his special use ; for these were not his only allusions to Fortune. In the garden of Polisy, just beyond the spot formerly bounded by the moat, a curiously-designed building catches the eye. This house, in close proximity to the church, still goes by the name of the "Maison de I'Aumonier."^ ' Was this an allusion to the Bishop of Auxerre's appointment as almoner to the king and other royal personages.? The repetition of the date 1545, and the symbol of Fortune about to be explained, make it clear that the house was built by him. 1^0 ARMS OF THE BISHOP OF AUXERRE FROM THE TESSELLATED PAVEMENT AT POLISY. JEAN DE DINTEVILLE The upper floor is finished by a dormer window, flanked by two thick columns. These are connected midway by a horizontal mullion, which divides the window in such a way as to form the letter H. The large columns are surmounted by two smaller ones, finishing in blunt points, to resemble miniature towers. The apex of the gable between these mock turrets is crowned by a third small column of similar design ; and this last and most conspicuous turret springs from a pair of Hermes' wings divided by a sphere. In the centre of the upper pane of stained glass is the date 1545. What is the significance of this elaborate pile of symbolism? The printer's device of a little book published at Lyons in 1542 by Sebastien Gryphe, or Gry- phius, gives us the solution of at least a portion of it. The sixteenth century re- ^ peated its favourite symbols over r^ ^i:^ r=^ r=s and over Alciati had agam. dormer window of the maison de made famous that form of em- l'aumonier at polisy, showing the emblem blem in which words and picture °^ fortune. combine to form a single device. But in so doing he had merely given classical shape to a general taste. The better-known symbols were so familiar that they were readily understood without the explanatory text. Such was that adopted by the Bishop of Auxerre in the window of the Maison de I'Aumonier. The sphere with the wings of Hermes is an emblem appropriated by Fortune. Sometimes a youth, sometimes a maiden, with winged feet lightly poised on an ever-rolling globe, or wheel,' the figure of the ^ In the carrelage of Polisy the goddess is seen with both globe and wheel, as well as with the horn of plenty, but without the wings. The attributes varied in different versions. The sphere with the Hermes' wings is sometimes interpreted as the rising sun, equally a symbol of Fortune. 131 HOLBEIN'S " AMBASSADORS " deity was well known and popular in the sixteenth century. Derived from the antique, it had quickly leaped into favour on the revival of learning. There were many variations of the familiar allegory. Machiavelli had devoted a sonnet to it ; Alciati had placed it among his emblems ; it had been painted and carved, and all were acquainted with the symbols that gave it pictorial expression. When, therefore, the winged globe was abstracted from the whole subject and used as a separate emblem it was readily interpreted. But to guard against all possibility of misunderstanding, the printer Gryphius has added to the symbol the motto, Virtute Duce, Comite Fortuna, The meaning is identical with that of the Dinteville motto and conclusively proves the point. ^ This explanation exhausts, how- ever, but a small portion of the symbolism of the window, and the rest is less easy to unravel. What is the meaning of the letter H ? The more obvious interpreta- tion is that it stands for " Henri." The Dauphin was the special protector of the Dinteville brothers, and to him, probably, the return of the smiles of Fortune was in large measure due. But this explanation omits the three columns which are too curiously original to be mere accidents of design. Some such symbols occur in various works dealing with the occult sciences. They suggest a relationship with Hermeticism, and an alternate interpretation of the letter H. The Hermes' wings would gain additional point from this explanation, which seems likely to be the true one. 1 " Christophori Longolii Lucubrationes. Lugduni, apud Seb. Gryphium, 1542-" The winged globe is here surmounted by the Gryphon, etc., which formed the rest of the bookseller's device ; but these attributes do not concern us here. The *' Orations of Lon- goHus " are bound up with the " Epistles of P. BuneUi," published in 1551 at Paris, by Ch. Etienne. The volume is rare. 132 SEB. MARK OF THE PRINTER GRVPHE OF LYONS, SHOWING THE EMBLEM OF FORTUNE JEAN DE DINTEVILLE Beyond the Maison de rAumonier is the Basse-Cour, which we know from Dinteville's inscription in the castle cellar to have been completed before the new dwelling was begun. Entering one of the unpromising-looking doors which give access to the stable, the visitor is surprised by a beautiful vaulted undercroft of considerable dimensions. It is now used for lumber. Most likely it once supported upper apart- ments, perhaps occupied by the Dinteville family during the building of the house. If so, those rooms have entirely disappeared, and have given place to lofts of the commonest modern type. The Basse-Cour, it may be added, was once of far greater extent than it is at present. On a slope by the road-side, about half a mile from the Chateau, is a high and slender cross of sixteenth-century workmanship. The origin of this interesting monument is veiled in darkness, but an old engraving shows more than one cross dotting the landscape around Polisy. It is known that Jean de Dinteville built a chapel to serve as a sepulchre for himself and his family, and that he placed in it the epitaphs of those who had gone before him.^ He was himself laid to rest in it when his time came. But no similar monument was in turn erected to preserve his memory. Not even the site of the chapel, which has wholly disappeared, can now be identified with precision. Possibly it is repre- sented in the illustration of Polisy by the building to the left pierced by three windows. About the year 1547, a young relation, Jean de Mergey, came to Polisy to be brought up, or " nourished " as the phrase was, in the house of the Bailly of Troyes. Fortunately Mergey has left a short memoir of his life,^ which gives us a passing glimpse of Polisy during the four or five years of his stay there. Catherine de Mergey, nde Dinteville, the mother of this boy, was cousin and governess to the daughters of Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz ; and these relations, as well as Fran9ois, Bishop of Auxerre, seem to have spent much of their time at Polisy. ^ Camusat, "Mesl. Hist.," part ii., p. 212. * Ibid., at the end of the volume. The memoir has also been reprinted in some of the French collections of famous memoirs. HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Madame de Polisy, widow of Gaucher the elder, lived there until her death, which took place in 1545; and the sisters of the Bailly found a home there whenever they required one. The picture drawn by Mergey is a pleasant one, and shall be given in his own words. He had begun his education early, having been placed at the College of Troyes at the age of eight years. Thence his mother transferred him to the Abbey of Montierender ; but, says Mergey, ^ ". . . ne voulant estre Moyne, elle me mist avec Mr. de Polizy, Bailli de Troyes, chef de la maison de Dinteville, personnage accomply et orn6 de toutes vertus et sciences autant que homme de son temps et quality ; aiant este Gouverneur de Monsieur d'Orleans et Ambassadeur pour le Roy en Angleterre. Mais estant devenu Paralitique et impotent de tous ses membres, et ne pouvant plus a cette occasion demeurer a la Cour, et s'estant retire chez soy, se mist pour son plaisir et exercice a bastir cette belle maison de Polizy. Lequel me prist en telle amitie, qu'il prenoit bien la peine luy mesme de m'instruire en toutes les sciences des- quelles mon jeune age pouvoit estre capable ; et aiant demeure avec luy jusques en I'aage de quatorze ou quinze ans, et me voulant mieux former par la frequenta- tion du monde et exercice des armes, me donna a Mr. Deschenetz son frere, Chevalier de TOrdre du Roy,'' et Capitaine de cinquante hommes d'Armes, avec lequel je fis plusieurs voyages ..." ^ ... "as I did not wish to become a monk, she placed me with M. de Polizy, Bailly of Troyes, head of the house of Dinteville, a personage as accomplished and as adorned with all virtues and sciences as any man of his time and quality ; having been governour to M. d'Orleans and ambassador for the king in England. But having become paralytic, and helpless in all his limbs, and being unable for this reason to continue at Court, and having therefore retired to his own home, he began for his pleasure and enter- tainment to build this beautiful house of Polizy. Which personage showed me such friendship that he would take the trouble himself to instruct me in all the sciences of which my youth was capable ; and^ when I had remained with him up to the age of fourteen or fifteen years, wishing to form me better by the frequenting of society and the exercise of arms, he gave me to M. Deschenetz, his brother, Chevalier of the King's Order, and captain of fifty men-at-arms, with whom I made several journeys. ..." At a later date Mergey fought for "la religion" {i.e., the reformed religion), under La Rochefoucauld ; but wishing to have, as he says, " another string to his bow," he did not forget to cultivate " Mr. de Sesac " (a follower of the Guise), who had meanwhile become the husband of Claude de Dinteville, the eldest daughter of Deschenetz and heiress of Polisy. This was the lady with whom, in later years, Camusat was acquainted, and through whom he learnt the story of Holbein's masterpiece (see Part I., p. 14). It will be perceived, therefore, how close was the connection between Jean de Dinteville, uncle to this lady, and the documents derived from Camusat which relate the history of the picture. '"■ It is probable that at the time of disgrace Jean de Dinteville either resigned or was JEAN DE DINTEVILLE A letter of 1552 (it is dated February, 1551, old style) shows us the master of Polisy for the last time. It is written by his uncle, Du Plessis Savonnieres, the father of Vanlay's bitter enemy. The cordiality of tone speaks well for both writer and recipient. ^ "Monsr. mon nepveu," so it runs, "j'ay receu deux lettres de vous, I'une datt6e du IIIJ^jour d'Octobre, et I'autre du XXII P. jour de Janvier derniers passes. Vous m'escripvez qu'avez receu lettres de ma soeur de Lyencourt * et qu'il vous semble qu'elle est bien contente de I'affaire de Monstier la Scelle ; elle en a bien raison ; elle est bien tenue et obligee a prier Dieu pour monseigneur d'Auxerre, et nous tous, du grand bien qu'il luy plaist faire a Banjamyn/ Ma niepce de Lyencourt qui est avec Madame la connestable ' m'a escript que mondit seigneur d'Auxerre et monsr. des Chenetz estoient a Fontainebleau. Et depuys Nicolas de la Croix m'a escript que mondit seigneur d'Auxerre debvoit arriver a Paris. J'avois piega entendu la prinse que les gens de I'empereur avoient deprived of the Order of St. Michael, and that Henri II., on his accession, made his special protege among the Dinteville brothers, Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, a knight of the order in the place of Jean, whose health no longer allowed him to leave home. Article XV. of the statutes of the order provides that any knight can be deprived for treason, or for the accusation of treason. It further lays down that if a knight be grievously wronged by his sovereign, and cannot obtain justice after having requested it, and allowed due time to elapse, that knight may return the collar and quit the order without forfeiting his honour. ^ " My nephew, I have received two letters from you, one dated the 4th October, the other the 23rd January last. You write to me that you have received letters from my sister De Lyencourt and that it appears to you that she is much pleased with the affair of Monstier la Scelle ; she may well be so ; she is indeed bound and obliged to pray God to bless Monseigneur d'Auxerre, as we all are, for the great benefit he has been pleased to confer on Benjamin. My niece De Lyencourt, who is with Madame la Connestable, wrote me word that the said Monseigneur d'Auxerre and Monsr. Des Chenetz were at Fon- tainebleau. And since then Nicolas de la Croix has written to me that the said Mon- seigneur d'Auxerre was about to arrive at Paris. I had heard of the capture of Aspre- ^ Guillaume Du Plessis, Seigneur de Liancourt, was a younger brother of Dinteville's correspondent, Charles Du Plessis, Seigneur de Savonnieres, d'Ouschamps, and de la Perrine. Both were brothers of Dinteville's mother. Guillaume, Seigneur de Liancourt, died in 1550. The lady mentioned in the text was his widow. ^ The Bishop of Auxerre had presented the Abbey of Montier-la-Celle to his first cousin, Benjamin, son of Guillaume, Seigneur de Liancourt. ^ De Montmorency. HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" faicte d'Aspremont. Ledict Nicolas de la Croix m'escript que le bled a vallu h Paris cent dix sept solz tournois le septier, et I'avoyne quarente huit, qui est bien cher. ... II me deplaist de la malladie de ma dame de la Mothe ' et de sa fiUe, mademoiselle de Esmon ; mais puys qu'elles sont en amandant j'espere que ce ne sera rien. Ceulx qui viennent de la court dient qu'il est grand bruict que le Roy ' doibt aller en Allemaigne ; que le due Maurice de Sax et autres princes dudict Allemaigne, en grand nombre, sont en armes centre I'empereur et qu'ilz doibvent tenir le party du Roy et estre en son service ; que la Royne sera regente en France et qu'elle sera a Reyms ; que monsr. I'admiral doibt de- mourer avecques elle ; que monsr. le Cardinal de Tournon doibt estre lieutenant du Roy a Lyon ; que le Grand Seigneur faict grands preparatifz pour faire la guerre la presente ann6e, tant par terre que par mer. Je fais mon compte que entendez mieulx toutes ses nouvelles la que Ton ne faict par dega, car en pouvez estre advis^ par Messrs. d'Auxerre et des Chenetz qui sont a la court. J'estime que au commancement de ce mois de mars pourray partir de ce pais pour aller a Lyon, passant toutesfois par Grenoble. Quant je seray a Lyon, vous feray scavoir de mes nouvelles et vous envoieray des graynnes pour vostre nouveau jardin. " Monsieur mon nepveu, je me recommande humblement a vostre bonne o-race et prie Dieu vous donner en sant6 tres bonne et longue vie — De Mont- pellier, ce XXJeme. jour de fevrier, 1551. " Vostre oncle et amy " DUPLESSYS." " Monsr. mon nepveu, Monsr. de PolHsy, bailly de Troyes." ' mont by the forces of the Emperor. The same Nicolas de la Croix writes to me that wheat has been sold at Paris for a hundred and seventeen so/z tournois the septier^ and oats for forty-eight, which is very dear. ... I am sorry to hear of the illness of Madame de la Mothe and her daughter, but as they are mending, I hope it will be nothing. Those who come from Court say that there is a great rumour that the king is to go to Germany; that Duke Maurice of Saxony and other German princes are in arms against the Emperor, and that they will take the side of the king and enter his service ; that the queen will be Regent in France, and will be at Rheims ; that Monsr. I'Admiral will remain with her ; that Cardinal Tournon will be the king's lieutenant at Lyons ; that the Grand Seigneur [the Turk] is making great preparations for war in the present year, both by land and sea. I expect you hear all these news better where you are than we do here, for you can receive information from Messrs. d'Auxerre and des Chenetz, who are at Court. I think that by the beginning of the month of March I shall be able to leave this country to go to Tilly. 1 Dinteville's sister, Charlotte, had married Louis Raguier, Seigneur de la Motte de ^ Henri II. Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. fr. 20465, f. 299a. 136 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE Thus the last years of Dinteville's Hfe gHded away. Notwithstanding his ill-health, he survived all his brothers except Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, whom he made his heir. Not one of the family attained the age of sixty. Gaucher, Seigneur of Vanlay, died in 1550, and was buried at Thennelieres, where he had resided. The Bishop of Auxerre departed from the stage of this world in September, 1554. His death took place at the Chateau of R^gennes, his favourite place of abode. It is said that he decorated this house, and others belonging to the see, with paintings executed by his own hand ; art and mechanics being his most cherished recreations.^ All the brothers had recovered their former prestige before the end came, and were honoured servants of the king. The Bailly, obliged by the paralysis which had overtaken him to pass Lyons, taking Grenoble on the way. When I am at Lyons, you shall have news of me, and I will send you some seeds for your new garden. " My nephew, etc., "From Montpellier, 20th February, 1551 (N.S. 1552). " Your uncle and friend, " DUPLESSYS." " To my nephew, M. de PoUisy, Bailly of Troyes." ^ Le Beuf, " M^moires concernant I'histoire ecclesiastique, etc., d'Auxerre," page 588. The Bishop had a favourite painter, named Felix Chretien, whom he had raised from the position of simple chorister to that of canon of the cathedral, on account of his delicacy of hand in penmanship and painting. Chretien possessed considerable talent, and was the painter of a large triptych representing the " Martyrdom of Ste. Eugdnie," which still hangs in the church of Varzy, in the diocese of Auxerre (Dept. of Nievres), though now in a terribly dilapidated state. The portrait of the Bishop is introduced amongst a group in the central panel of this picture. (See illustration, p. 56.) Chretien reproduced the features of the Bishop a second time, in a smaller work, which is in every way inferior to the picture at Varzy. This is the "Stoning of St. Stephen," which now hangs in the north ambulatory of the Cathedral of Auxerre. The Emperor Louis Napoleon offered a large sum, without success, for the " Martyrdom of Ste. Eugenie," which he wished to purchase for the Empress. Being unable to obtain the picture, he had a copy made of it. Varzy is a place which travellers should by no means pass by. The church is of very beautiful thirteenth-century Gothic, and resembles a small cathedral. The ancient inn was formerly a religious house, and with its tower and court is strikingly picturesque. The same family has now owned it for upwards of two hundred years. HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" his days In retirement at Pollsy, found solace in the occupations he could cultivate at home : his building, his garden, his home circle, the education of his little cousin in the sciences that had been dear to him in his most prosperous days. In these tranquil surroundings we take leave of him. Of the last scene, beyond the barest record, we know nothing. How keenly he felt the death of the Bishop of Auxerre may perhaps be in- ferred from the silent fact that he survived his brother but a few months. Jean de Dinteville died at Pollsy, in 1555, in the fifty-first year of his age. Probably the event took place before the summer, as early in the same year Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, was appointed Bailly of Troyes. Thus ends the story of a typical Frenchman of the reign of Francis I. The varied incidents of his career, public and private, are vivid with the local colour of his date and nationality. The very contrasts are those of the age. Life marched with such a swing that there is hardly a pause between the heights of success and the depths of Ignominy. No time for discussion as to deserved or undeserved : the king's will is everything. Another turn of the wheel, and the branded fugitive is recalled to favour. The past Is wiped out ; and Life resumes her dancing gait as though no voice of the night had croaked of banishment and disgrace. The Intellectual aspect is marked by the same extremes. Old and new, mediaeval and modern, were wrestling for supremacy. While, on the one hand, the revival of letters, the progress of science, the dis- coveries of the great navigators, had opened fresh horizons to the understanding, the paths of mystery that led back to the middle ages were still freely trodden. Astrology, alchemy, and kindred pursuits yet maintained their hold on minds permeated by the new learning. There was no proportion, no power of differentiation. All subjects were pursued with equal eagerness. All were illuminated by the same glow of the imagination, which flung Its halo over past and present alike. It is this transforming quality which fuses into unity the strangely heterogeneous elements of the time, and gilds its mistakes no less than its successes. 138 JEAN DE DINTEVILLE In the joyous vitality of the age, the love of magnificence, the social bravura, the spirit of adventure, the same influence of the imaginative faculties is apparent. But it is in the passion for art that the distinctive note is sounded. Soldier and scholar, statesman and priest, all came beneath that sway, which was enhanced and intensified by influences derived through a thousand channels from Italy. It is to be regretted that so little is known of the private friend- ships of the Bailly of Troyes. Some indications of the cordial feelings of which he was the object are indeed to be found, here and there, in the letters that have been noticed. But the most striking instance of the esteem in which he was held has been handed down to posterity by the genius of Hans Holbein. For the very fact of Dinteville's friendship with the learned and saintly Bishop of Lavaur is a sufficient testimony to his own worth. No second portrait is known for certain to exist of Jean de Dinteville. There is, however, an unnamed drawing by Holbein in the Windsor collection, the features of which show such considerable resemblance to those of the Bailly of Troyes that it has been thought to represent him at a later date. A reproduction of this drawing is here inserted ^ that the reader may make the comparison for himself. The chief difficulty in accepting this theory seems, at first sight, to lie in the marked difference of age between the two presentments.^ Dinteville was, as we know, in the twenty-ninth year of his age when painted by Holbein in 1533. His last visit to England took place in 1537, when he was in his thirty-third year. But there appears to be ^ See illustration, page no. * Unless it may be assumed that the drawing in question was executed by Holbein on one of his later journeys abroad, which would give some additional latitude of time. On his way to " High Burgundy," for instance, in the summer of 1538, he would almost pass the gates of Polisy, if the direct route across France were selected. (High Burgundy, or Franche-Comte, was Imperial territory, and lay due east of French Burgundy, in which Polisy was situated.) If the Bailly of Troyes sat to Holbein for this drawing at about the time suggested, the days of adversity which shortly fell upon the Dinteville family would explain the fact that, so far as is known, no painting was ever made from it. 139 HOLBEIN'S 'AMBASSADORS" more than four years' interval between these two portraits, if they be held to represent the same man. Yet, in spite of this objection, the mould of the rather peculiar type of countenance is so similar in both cases, that this drawing does, in all probability, represent Jean de Dinteville as a somewhat older man. No one who, when visiting Dresden, has compared the original drawing of Morette by Holbein, with his splendid portrait of that envoy,^ can have failed to observe the happy knack by which, in the finished painting, the artist has slightly rejuvenated and refined the features of his sitter, without losing either likeness or character. Did we possess the original drawing of Dinteville, made for the picture of the " Ambassadors," it might, in all likelihood, show less discrepancy with the Windsor drawing than is exhibited by the painting itself, where the same tendency to emphasize the more favourable aspect of the sitter has probably come into play. Both these drawings — of Morette and of the supposed later Dinteville — once formed part of the Arundel collection, and were en- graved at that time, in the shape of two small rounds, by Wenzel Hollar. One of these is inscribed " Mr. Morett " ; the other is unnamed. But the fact of their having been engraved as pendants suggests the idea that the individuals portrayed were connected by tradition as members of the same nation and profession, thus further confirming the belief that the unnamed portrait represents the Bailly of Troyes.^ ' Both hang in one room at the Dresden Gallery. '' The late Sir Frederick Burton was of this opinion, which is also held by Mr. Sidney Colvin (see his letter to the "Times," September, 1890). 140 PART III GEORGE DE SELVE GEORGE DE SELVE CHAPTER I The Early Years of George de Selve, and his First Diplomatic Employment [HE career of the Bishop of Lavaur, the ambassador derobe tongue, forms an interesting contrast to that of the komme dUp^e, or de robe courte, whose acquaintance has been made in Dinteville. In many respects each completes the other. Together they form a typical picture of the diplomacy of the day, in which churchmen and laymen played an almost equal part. The political missions of George de Selve, taken alone, would give, however, a very inadequate idea of the man. In the case of the Bailly of Troyes the secular note is naturally dominant. With the Bishop of Lavaur outward events seem dwarfed by the depth and fervour of the inner life. His spiritual vocation was all in all to him. The ser- vices he rendered to diplomacy rather hinder than assist a just estimate of his character and attainments. They constitute, indeed, the chief outward landmarks of his existence. But in so far as they emphasize the mundane rather than the religious aspect of his life they disturb its true proportions. George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, was the third son of Jean de Selve, Premier President of the Parliament of Paris, and of Cecille de Buxi. He was born in the winter or early spring of 1508-9, probably about January or February.^ ^ The authentic sources for the date of Selve's birth are given Part I,, p. 13. None i HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" The family of Selve was said to be of Milanese extraction,^ and had settled in France near Limoges. The first of its members to rise to eminence was Jean, the father of the future bishop. Hardly a name in French history is more celebrated in the early decades of the sixteenth century than that of this great lawyer and statesman ; none stands higher for probity, political sagacity, and faithful service rendered to the Crown. The young George must have had a varied childhood if the family accompanied Jean de Selve to his several spheres of duty. Having successively presided over the Parliaments of Rouen and of Bordeaux, Jean was sent to Italy, after the battle of Marignan, as Vice-Governour of the Duchy of Milan. The earliest associations of which George could have had much recollection thus centred in Italy. The sojourn in the south terminated in 1521, when the Imperial troops drove the French from the Milanese. Jean de Selve now returned to France and received the appointment of Premier President of the Parliament of Paris. Henceforth the influences which moulded the youth of the future bishop were, so far as is known, derived from his native country. The boy was now about twelve years old. The early age at which he subsequently obtained distinction favours the belief that he must have displayed extraordinary precocity in his studies. He himself tells us, as will presently be seen, that he received instruction in Greek and Latin from the famous scholar, Pierre Danes ; indeed, if we may judge from a letter written at a later period by Bunel,^ Danes appears to have superintended the whole training of the young student. He could not have been in better hands, nor would it be easy to imagine two spirits more likely to be congenial than those of master and pupil. The re- lationship developed into a lifelong friendship. Whether George de Selve subsequently attended the University of Paris is unknown. It appears improbable that he came under the in- fluence of the Sorbonne. He was reared no doubt in a strict school of of the popular compendiums of biography, etc., so far as the writer is acquainted with them, are to be trusted. 1 Bayle denies this, and says the name in its original form is De Salva, and is of Limousin origin (Dictionary, ed. 1739, Art. Selve). ^ "Petri Bunelli Epistolae," Paris, 1551. Letter to Danes (1541), p. 95. 144 GEORGE DE SELVE Roman Catholic theology ; for in later years he always showed himself an orthodox son of his Church. But the extreme type among the theo- logians of Paris, whose headquarters were at the Sorbonne, had at this time a holy horror of those classical languages in which Selve learned to excel under the guidance of Danes. The latter, indeed, was among the first professors appointed a few years later to the famous College Royal, founded to impart the very knowledge which the doctors of the Sorbonne would have withheld. At the University of Paris only one of the two great branches of law essential to a public career was at this time taught. Instruction in civil law was forbidden, and had to bp obtained elsewhere. Orleans, Poitiers, Bourges, possessed great schools for the secular arm. The universities of the provinces equalled that of Paris in efficiency, if not in size. Many young Frenchmen also went abroad to complete their studies, especially to Italy. It is highly probable that Selve was counted among their number, although there exists no positive evidence to that effect. It is certain that he owed some part of his education to the liberality of Francis I. While still a youth, he translated eight of Plutarch's " Lives " into French by order of the king ; and in the prologue which he affixed to this work and addressed to his royal patron, he speaks of the obligations under which he is placed to the king, " esleve ou je suis, et moy et les miens, par vos bienfaitz . . ." ^ The king's kindness seems, by these words, to have extended also to the brothers of George de Selve. The family of the Premier President was numerous, consisting of five sons,^ and no less than eight daughters. Jean de Selve can hardly have been a rich man, and the assistance afforded by Francis I. was doubtless welcome. " Educated where I am, both I and those belonging to me, by your benefac- tions ^ Of these all, excepting one, sooner or later served the king as ambassadors. They are usually given in the following order: i, Lazare, Gentilhomme de la Chambre du Roi, ambassador in Switzerland; 2, Jean- Paul, Bishop of St. Flour, ambassador (at a late date) at Rome ; 3, George, Bishop of Lavaur, the subject of this memoir ; 4, Odet, President du Grand Conseil, ambassador in England, at Venice, and at Rome, where he died ; 5, Jean, Abbe de Saint Vigor; 6, Francois, ambassador at Constantinople. 145 U HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" The translation from Plutarch's ** Lives " at once brought the name of George de Selve into prominence. He states indeed in his preface, with laudable modesty, that he could not have completed his work •' without the aid of Maistre Pierre Danes." Nevertheless, the achieve- ment was considered a remarkable one for so young a scholar; and later writers mention Selve as the worthy precursor of Amyot.^ The year 1525 saw the long negotiations between France and Spain which succeeded the defeat of Pavia, and led up to the release of Francis I. The Archbishop of Embrun, better known at a later date as Cardinal Tournon, Philippe de Chabot, Admiral de Brion, and Jean de Selve, Premier President of the Parliament of Paris, were the three principal emissaries deputed by the Regent, Louise of Savoy, to represent France at the conferences held at Toledo. Montmorency joined them occasionally from Madrid, where he was in attendance on the captive king; while Gabriel de Grammont, Bishop of Tarbes, another future cardinal, was later on added to the list of negotiators. Their efforts were crowned in January, 1526, by the signature of the Treaty of Madrid. The settlement was humiliating enough for the King of France, but it was due to the skill of the ambassadors that even such measure of success was obtained. At least, it restored him to his subjects, and enabled him, in the following March, to cross the Bidassoa on his way back to France. The capacity displayed on this occasion by Jean de Selve, and the profound knowledge of constitutional law which lent force to his diplomatic skill, made a deep impression on the French Court. It was desired that the recognition of his great services should assume some practical form. Francis therefore determined to reward the father, who had already attained every honour that could be bestowed, in the person of his son. In the month of May following the king's release, the Papal licence was penned with which we are already acquainted. At the end of October in the same year (1526), the see ^ Jacques Amyot, author of a famous translation of Plutarch's "Lives," was born 15 13, and died 1593. He was tutor to the sons of Henri H., was sent on a mission to the Council of Trent, and was Bishop of Auxerre from 1 5 7 1 until his death. 146 GEORGE DE SELVE of Lavaur fell vacant by the death of Bishop Pierre de Buxi/ and George de Selve, now in his eighteenth year, was nominated by the king to succeed him.^ For the present Selve could only undertake the administration of the diocese and enjoy its revenues and title. The Church forbade the consecration of a bishop before the completion of his twenty-fifth year. The appointment of the new prelate was not however allowed to pass unchallenged. In 1616 the Concordat had been signed between Francis I. and Leo X., by which, in return for the payment of annates, the Pope conceded to the King of France the right to nominate to vacant benefices. The Galilean Church, which had previously enjoyed the privilege of electing its own dignitaries, protested vehemently against this innovation. Francis I., whose rule tended more and more towards absolute despotism, clung with tenacity to his usurped authority in clerical matters. But the local bodies from whom the ancient rights had been wrested equally illegally by king and pope, often set up a rival claimant, and disputed every inch of the way to the royal nominees. They had the more excuse for so doing, because, from the time the Concordat was arranged, the king overlooked all canonical rules as to age or fitness in the persons proposed,^ filling the vacant benefices merely according to his personal convenience and pleasure. It was due to good fortune rather than to any appropriate principle of selection, when the royal choice fell upon so eminently suitable a candidate as George de Selve. It seems by no means clear, however, in what way the relations of the king with the Gallican Church concerned the Legate of Avignon, Cardinal Clermont, or why this ^ Probably a relation of Selve's mother. ' All the confusion in popular sources as to the date of Selve's birth appears to have arisen from one misstatement or misprint, to the effect that he was promoted to the episcopate in 1524. Coupled with the unquestioned fact that he was made a bishop when in his eighteenth year, it was therefore loosely inferred that he must have been born in 1506. The facts given above show that the circumstances of his appointment to Lavaur were such as to preclude all possibility of its having taken place before 1526; even were the Papal licence (page 13) not proof positive as to his age. ■^ The Cardinal of Lorraine, of the house of Guise, was made Archbishop of Rheims in 1534, at nine years old. * 147 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" prelate should now have intervened and endeavoured to quash the new appointment. The metropolitan see of Avignon, which was subject to papal authority, was governed by a Legate, who appointed to bishoprics within its area. But as Lavaur was not included in its juris- diction, the interference of the Cardinal-Legate on this occasion seems difficult to account for. Possibly he had been promised the right to nominate to this particular vacancy. The fact, however, remains that Clermont laid claim to the see of Lavaur, and, to judge by the excite- ment his action aroused at the French Court, with some show of right on his side. In a series of letters still extant,^ the various members of the French royal family urged the Legate to withdraw his claim. Francis L begged him in a letter dated from St. Germain, on the ist April, " pour Tamour de moy et de ma priere, vous desister de la poursuite dudict evesch^, vous demettant au proffict du filz dudict premier president de tout le droit que pouvez avoir et pretendre audict eveschd." ' The king's mother, Louise of Savoy, whose right hand Jean de Selve had been during the period of her regency, writes with even more insistence : " Mon cousin, vous avez par cy devant entendu le d^sir que le Roy et moy avons que le filz de Mons^ le premier president soict pourveu de I'evesch^ de Lavaur, et pour ce que ledit seig^ et moy n'avons encore eu responce de vous qui en ce satisface a nostre intencion, j'ay est6 meue, mon cousin, de rechief vous en rescrire, vous prient tres affectueusement, et autant que je sauroys jamais pour nulle autre chose, faire que vous veulhez a la requeste dudit sg^ et miene vous desister de la poursuite et aussi de metre au proffit et en faveur du filz dudit ^ The originals of these letters are at the Chateau of Villiers near La Fert^ Alais, and belong to the Marquis de Selve, to whose courtesy the writer is indebted for their use here. Copies are to be found in the Bibl. Nat. at Paris (Carres d'Hozier, vol. 579). They bear no date of year in either series, but only of day and month. Those addressed to the Cardinal-Legate must, however, have been written in the spring following Salve's appoint- ment, I.e., in 1527. Two series of letters are mixed up both in the originals and the copies, as at least one letter from the Queen of Navarre was not written till after the death of the President de Selve, which occurred in 1529. ' "... for love of me, and at my request, to abandon your claim to the said bishopric, resigning in favour of the son of the Premier President every right you may have or claim to the said bishopric." 148 GEORGE DE SELVE premier president de tout le droict que vous pouves pretendre audit benefice ; estant asseurd que le dit s^ et moy aurons memoire de ce plaisir en melheure chose, de sorte que vous en serez content, vous advisent au demourant et pour conclusion que ledit s"". et moy porterons tout outre le filz dudit premier president en cest affaire jusques en faire le nostre propre ; pour ce je vous prie encores ung bon cop, mon cousin, que vous veulhez bien y pencer et en cest endroict obtemperer a la tres affectionn^e requeste dudit sg^ et de moy. Et adieu, mon cousin, lequeilh je prie vous avoir en sa saincte garde. Escript a St. Germain en Laye le premier jour d'avril." A postscript follows In her own writing : " Je vous prie, mon cousin, que vous complezes au Roy et a moy du contenu cy dessus et vous vous en trouverez bien. " Vostre bonne cousine, " LOYSE." " A mon cousin le Cardinal de Clermont, legat d Avignon." ^ Montmorency, too, is pressed into the service by the royal family. His intervention had special point, because M. de Clermont, brother of the legate, was his deputy in the government of Languedoc, which the king had bestowed upon him in the previous year. Writing to the Cardinal on behalf of George de Selve, on the 3rd April, Montmorency ^ " My cousin, you have already heard of the king's desire, and mine, that the son of Mons^ the Premier President should be provided with the bishopric of Lavaur; and as the king and I have not yet received a reply from you which satisfies our intention, I have been moved, my cousin, to write to you again about it, begging you very affectionately and as much as I know how to beg for anything, that you would desist, at the request of the said lord and of me, from your claim, and also would dispose to the profit and in favour of the son of the said Premier President of all right that you may pretend to the said benefice ; assuring you that the said lord and I will recollect this favour in a thing of greater consequence, in such a way that you will be satisfied. For the rest, and in conclusion, you must know that the said lord and I will support the son of the said Premier President right through this affair, making it our own ; for which reason I earnestly beg you again, my cousin, to be so good as to think over it, and to yield in this matter to the very affectionate request made by the said lord and by me. And thus fare well, my cousin, etc. . . . Written at St. Germain en Laye, ist April. (Postscript.) I pray you my cousin to oblige the king and me in the matter above treated of, and you will find it to your advantage. " Your good cousin, " LovsE." "To my cousin, Cardinal Clermont, Legate of Avignon." * 149 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" says that the king and his mother " ont la chose si tres a cueur que ne le vous pouroys assez escripre."^ Remonstrance from such high quarters could not remain unheeded. The Cardinal withdrew his claim. Indeed, he had the wit not merely to accede to the wishes of the Court, but to do so with grace. On the 22nd June he writes to George de Selve in reply, it would seem, to an expression of gratitude on the part of the latter : " Mons^ de Lavaur, mon amy, j'ay receue la lettre que m'avez escripte, et n'est besoing user de remerciement en mon endroit car je suis trop et de tout temps amy de vostre pere, et luy vouldrois faire et a toute la rasse plaisir. Vous adviserez de vostre coust6 si en autre chose me voulez emploier et ne me trouverez jamais autre que bon frere plus par effect que de paroile ; et ainsi vous prie le croyre ; qui sera la fin de la presente apres avoir pn6 le Createur vous tenir en sa saincte garde. D' Avignon ce XX I J* de jung. " Vostre meilleur frere et amy "F. Cardl de Clermont." " A Mons' de Lavaur." ' So the matter was settled, and the promotion of 1526 confirmed. But the cumbersome technicalities were so long in adjusting them- selves, that nearly ten more months elapsed before George de Selve was able to take the oath of fidelity for the temporalities of the see of Lavaur.^ The year 1529 saw the earliest employment of the Bishop of ^ ". . . have the thing so greatly at heart that I cannot sufficiently write it to you." ' " Monsr. de Lavaur, my friend, I have received the letter that you wrote to me, and there is no need that you should thank me, for I am too much and too old a friend of your father's, and should wish to please him and all his race. You, on your side, will consider whether there is anything else I can do for you, and you will never fail to find me a good brother, yet more in deeds than in words, and this I beg you to believe. Which shall be the conclusion of this present, etc. From Avignon this 22nd June. " Your best brother and friend, "F. Card"-, de Clermont." "To Mons"". de Lavaur." ' St. Germain, 3rd May, 1528. Paris, Arch. Nat., P556% cote 710. Bibl. de rinstitut, Coll. Godefroy, Memoire de M. de Camusat sur les enfants et descendants du Premier President de Selve. GEORGE DE SELVE Lavaur in a diplomatic capacity. The first edition of the " Gallia Christiana " ^ states that George de Selve was sent as ambassador in this year to both Charles V. and the republic of Venice ; while a manuscript biographical notice of the bishop, preserved at the Biblio- theque Nationale at Paris, confirms this information as regards the embassy to the Emperor."^ The mission to Venice appears also to derive confirmation from the wording of the Treasury grant of I533-' The embassy of George de Selve to the Court of Charles V. in 1529 is of special interest to the student of Holbein's "Ambassadors." It makes it seem highly probable that the young Bishop attended the Diet of Spires as one of the representatives of France — a mission which assorts well with the presence of the Lutheran hymn- book placed near to him in Holbein's picture. At the very outset of his career he is thus seen occupied with those ideas of religious reunion which absorbed so large a share of his attention throughout his life. His youth is indeed a striking circumstance in connection with so important an occasion. But such were the Bishop's precocity of mind and gravity of temperament that he seems usually to have produced the impression of a man considerably older than was actually the case.* Amongst the works of George de Selve, which were collected and published after his death, are two orations, or ** Remonstrances," * "Gallia Christiana," 1656, vol. iii., p. 1142. The notice there given respecting the missions of 1529 is omitted in the edition of 17 15 (hitherto quoted in this work), where the article on George de Selve was rewritten and enlarged. This circumstance might appear to throw doubt on the accuracy of the information conveyed in the earlier edition. But as it receives confirmation from several other independent sources, it is probable that the facts of the previous edition are correct; but that the early diplomatic labours of the Bishop were thrown into shade by the more important work of his riper years dwelt upon in the later edition. ^ Paris, Bibl. Nat., Cab. d'Hozier, vol. 304, f, 28. ^ See note at the end of this chapter. * Most observers will agree that the appearance of the Bishop of Lavaur in Holbein's portrait bears out this remark. HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" as he terms them, addressed to the Germans, with the object of re- calling them to the obedience of the Church. Both these discourses were drawn up to be delivered at public Diets held in Germany for the promotion of religious unity. The second, as will presently be seen, was indited in response to a special invitation from Charles V. in the year 1540. The first in date, erroneously placed last in order by the editor of the collected "CEuvres," is obviously the work of a very young man. A glance at its contents appears to confirm the surmise that it was composed for delivery before the Diet held at Spires in 1529- After so many and exalted personages, says the youthful orator, who have here come forward in the hope of appeasing the dissensions of the Church, it would be great presumption on the part of anyone to attempt to intervene of his own accord. But it would be equally cowardly to hold back if called upon to take part in the deliberations. Therefore, finding himself summoned, at an hour when no such thing had entered his thoughts, by his king, whom it is the will of God that he should obey, to come hither and try to assist in the pacification of these great divisions ; seeing also that his vocation is of those to whom are entrusted the salvation of souls ; having, furthermore, long felt within himself exceeding pain at the calamity of the times and an extreme desire to see it remedied, even were it with the loss of all his possessions in this world, or even of something more besides ; seeing all these things, he felt that, notwithstanding he is forbidden by ignorance and insufficiency, it was his duty to accept the office imposed upon him. He begs that nothing very high or speculative may be expected of him. Besides that his mind is incapable of such flights, as one who is a simple beginner in the profession of letters, the truth of things has not been so hidden that it is necessary to go beyond the judgment of the simplest.^ It would seem that this discourse was divided into two parts, of which only the first has been preserved. The teaching contained in ' " CEuvres de Feu Rdvdrend Pere en Dieu, George de Selve, Evesque de la Vaur," Paris, 1559. " Autres Remonstrances faictes par ledict De Selve auxdicts Alemans." GEORGE DE SELVE that portion requires no minute analysis here. But while keeping well within the lines of Roman Catholic doctrine, it is remarkable that Selve already strikes the note which predominates in his later writings, basing all his arguments on the teaching of the New Testament. His references are always made direct to the Scriptures, and, in this instance, to the Epistles of St. Paul — a fact which is not without interest in the practice of a young Roman Catholic prelate at this period of history.^ At the end of the year 1529 George de Selve lost his father. The Premier President was buried in the church of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet at Paris, where a rhymed epitaph was placed to his memory,^ much in the style of that of Gaucher de Dinteville. The death of Jean de Selve caused a real and profound sorrow in the royal circles of France. The reflection of this feeling is still apparent in a letter written in the following April (1530) by the Queen of Navarre to the Archbishop of Bourges. Marguerite recommends to his kindly notice the Bishop of Lavaur, who is the bearer of the letter. She begs him to continue the affection he bore to " feu monsieur le premier president," towards " ses pauvres enffans.' The occupant of the archiepiscopal see at this time was no other than Fran9ois de Tournon, who as Archbishop of Embrun had co-operated with Jean de Selve in the negotiations preceding the Treaty of Madrid. He was now on the eve of promotion to the rank of cardinal. In a second letter, written a week later to Anne de Montmorency who was busy in the south with his duties as Governour of Languedoc, Marguerite performs a like kind office. She had been unwilling, she says, to allow the Bishop of Lavaur to leave for the south without ^ The Diet of Spires of 1529 was, as is well known, one of the most reactionary of the great assemblies held at the epoch of the Reformation. A large majority of those who attended it were partisans of Rome. Consequently, the resolutions passed were all in favour of the old order of things, and actually reversed many decisions advantageous to the Lutherans which had formerly been agreed upon. For a moment, the Reformation received a sharp check. As a result of the proceedings, the minority drew up the famous declaration which first gave rise to the name of " Protestants." ' Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. fr. 842, f. i22'\ 153 X m GEORGE DE SELVE ing on its way back from the interview with Pope Clement VII. Here the Bishop probably received his final instructions before setting out to take up his new task. Here, also, he must have met again his friend, the Bailly of Troyes, who just at this time arrived at Lyons after his long absence in England. It is to be presumed, however, that Selve made no long stay, as his salary was reckoned from the 12th December. 155 CHAPTER II The Bishop of Lavaur Ambassador at Venice and at Rome T some time in the course of the year 1534, having completed the canonical age, George de Selve was conse- crated bishop/ Whether this took place in France before his departure for Italy, whether he visited Rome expressly for the purpose, or received consecration at Venice, there are no means of judging. Our next glimpse of him is as French ambassador in the last-named city. It would be tedious to record in detail the minute variations of Italian politics which it was the duty of the Bishop of Lavaur to note and report to the French Court. During part of the time he spent at Venice, which extended over fully three years, George d'Armagnac, Bishop of Rodez, was associated with him as ambassador. Many of the despatches sent to France are jointly signed by the two prelates. They give a lively idea of the rival endeavours of Francis I. and Charles V. to secure the friendship of the Italian princes, and of the steps taken by the King of France on his part to achieve that desirable end. Every movement of the Italians, more especially of the Pope, was watched as a cat watches a mouse. Every hair's-breadth of supposed deviation on their part to the Imperial side was made the subject of a report. The relations of Venice with the Turk, with whom ^ "Gallia Christiana" (1715), vol. xiii. (1722), p. 344. Ecclesia Vaurensis, No. xxi., Georgius de Selve. 156 GEORGE DE SELVE Francis I. was now on the verge of a definite alliance, is another point of interest. Again, in 1536, when war broke out between France and the Empire, details gleaned from Italian sources of the supposed pro- jects of Charles for the conduct of the campaign form a considerable item in the despatches. It would be more interesting, if it were possible, to follow the private pursuits, the friendships and correspondences of George de Selve during his stay in Italy. The Aldine press, under the guidance of Paolo Manuzio, was in full swing. Learned men, lay and ecclesiastic, of all types and nations crowded the quays of Venice ; and a further element of intellectual life was added by the constant intercourse with the neighbouring university of Padua. Moreover, Venice was the high road to the East ; and, whether bent on the purchase of rare Greek manuscripts, or on some secret mission from the King of France to the Turk, or merely on the active exchange of rich merchandise, all passed by her port. A scholar of high reputation himself, it would have been impossible for Selve to breathe such an atmosphere without in some degree im- bibing its tone. He threw himself keenly into the learned interests by which he was surrounded, displaying special eagerness in the collection of classical manuscripts. Pierre Danes, to whom he was chiefly in- debted for his brilliant acquaintance with the ancient languages, had accompanied him to Venice, where, says Thevet, " il n'y eut antiquite, cabinet ou rarete," which Danes did not visit.^ Here, also, the Bishop attached to himself another savant, Pierre Bunel, who had long sojourned in the City of the Lagoons in the service of Selves prede- cessor, Lazare de Baif.^ ' Thevet, "Histoire des plus illustres Hommes," etc., Paris, 1661, vol. viii., chap, ii., p. 25. ^ Pierre Bunel, called by Bayle (''Diet.," second edition, 1735) "one of the politest Latin writers that lived in the sixteenth century," was born at Toulouse in 1499. He studied with much distinction at the University of Paris, and proceeded thence to Padua. He was three years in the service of Lazare de Baif at Venice (the friend, as we know, of the Bishop of Auxerre) ; afterwards entering that of George de Selve, with whom he remained until the death of that prelate. He then found himself plunged into poverty, HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Other friendships which George de Selve contracted while in Italy are known principally from his letters. Reginald Pole/ Cardinal Bembo," Sadoleto, Bishop of Carpentras,^ were counted amongst the most intimate of these. It might almost be thought, indeed, that Selve had taken the great and gentle Sadoleto for his episcopal model, so many are the points of resemblance between the two churchmen. The first letter we possess written by the bishop himself from the beautiful city on the Adriatic is dated in February, 1534, and is from which he was rescued by the Du Faur family, one of whom sent Bunel to Italy as tutor to his sons. Bunel died of fever, at Turin, in 1546. ^ Reginald Pole, the celebrated Cardinal, was born in 1500, and was the son of Sir Richard Pole and of Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of SaHsbury. He was educated at Charterhouse and Oxford, after which he was sent by King Henry VIII. to study at Padua. He steadily opposed the divorce of the king, and in 1532 had drawn such a hornets' nest about his ears in England that he asked permission to go abroad again to study theology. He now resided for some years at Padua, and either there or at Venice made acquaintance with Selve. Bembo, Longolius, Sadoleto, Contarini, Ludovico Priuli, were among the circle of his friends. The Pope employed him on a committee for reforming the discipline of the Church, but the greater part of his time was spent in endeavouring to raise the European powers against Henry VIII. , with the view to re-establish the Papal authority in England. He was one of the Legates sent to the Council of Trent. On the death of Cranmer in 1557 Pole became Archbishop of Canterbury. He died on the same day as Queen Mary, November 17, 1558. ^ Pietro Bembo, born at Venice in 1470, was one of the most celebrated Italian writers of the sixteenth century. After a varied existence he was appointed secretary to Leo X. in conjunction with Sadoleto. On the death of that Pope he retired to Padua, where his house became a centre of intellectual life. He was made a Cardinal in 1539, and subsequently Bishop of Gubbio and of Bergamo. He died, covered with honours, in 1547- ^ Jacopo Sadoleto, Cardinal, in whom brilliant talents were united with extraordinary charm of disposition, was born at Modena in 1477. He studied at Ferrara at the same time as Bembo, which was the origin of their friendship, and was afterwards secretary to Leo X. Sadoleto never asked a favour for himself. He was appointed Bishop of Carpentras (a Papal see in the south of France, depending from Avignon) in 1517- Although reluctant to leave his diocese, such were his qualities of mind and character that he was frequently summoned to Rome on important commissions, and was made a Cardinal in 1536, without having in any way sought or coveted distinction. His gentleness, goodness, and moderation made him beloved by all ; he even protected heretics, saying, •' Je ne sais comment la nature m'a cree, mais je ne puis hair parce qu'on ne partage pas mon opinion " (Guettee, " Hist, de I'EgUse de France," vol. viii., p. 222). His correspond- ence with Calvin (from whose opinions he of course entirely differed) is well known. Melanchthon sent him every new work he published. After being employed in many high offices, Sadoleto died at Rome in 1547- 158 GEORGE DE SELVE addressed to the Duchesse de Chartres/ George de Selve expresses his dehght at the prospect of shortly seeing that princess at Venice. The tone of this letter and of others indited by him to the same princess during his residence in Italy is one of genuine friendliness, notwith- standing the sympathies which Renee was well known to harbour for the Reformers.^ But at her Court at Ferrara all classes of her country- men were sure of a welcome. Indeed, the partiality she evinced for them was regarded with small favour in the land of her adoption, where her path was often a thorny one. A yet earlier indication of the presence of the Bishop at Venice exists in a letter addressed by Bunel to a younger brother of the new ambassador, Odet de Selve,^ who appears at this time to have been studying at Padua. Bunel had evidently become acquainted with the latter before the arrival of the Bishop of Lavaur, as he alludes in a friendly manner to a day recently spent with Odet at the university. The letter dilates in warm terms on the piety of the Bishop of Lavaur and on the courtesy and frankness of Pole, in which encomium Sadoleto is included. The writer adds a special note of admiration for the principles which, in his opinion, have enabled Pole to place spiritual objects above all mundane philosophy or temporal advantage.^ Some such estimate of the character of the future Cardinal seems to have been formed at this time by many of his friends in Italy, and explains the warm regard entertained for him by so unworldly a man as George de Selve. The intimacy with Pole became indeed one of the salient features of the Bishop of Lavaur's stay in Italy, and there will often be occasion to revert to it. In other letters addressed by Bunel to various correspondents ' Rende of France bore this title until her husband succeeded, as Ercole II., to the dukedom of Ferrara, which happened later in this same year (1534). ^ Selve even tried to obtain for her the release of some of her French proteges who had been imprisoned on the accusation of heresy. (Bart. Fontana, " Renata di Francia," vol. i., p. 344.) ^ See note 2, p. 145. * "Petri Bunelli Epistolse," p. 114. To Odet de Selve, from Venice, 16 January 1534- HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" the striking impression made by Selve himself in his new sphere is vividly reflected. As soon, says the writer, as he, Bunel, had set eyes on him, concerning whose surpassing sanctity, learning, and bene- volence he had heard such great things, and from so many persons, his one thought became to obtain permission to remain near him. Never did he receive holier nor sweeter counsel than from this bishop. Again, when, at a later date, Bunel wearied of Italy and desired to return to France, the single fact that lightened for him the term of waiting was that he dwelt with a patron "whose disposition and conduct, as they are of the most virtuous, so also are they gracious in a surpassing degree ; to whose manner of life there could cling not the very shadow or suspicion of aught unseemly ; in whose every word and deed is nought but gentleness. . . ." He goes on to speak of the bishop's " astounding sagacity in the transacting of business, which doth surpass both his years and the credence of all men, of his great learning in the Greek tongue, of his wonderful eloquence. . . ."^ Such language may contain for modern ears a ring of exaggeration. But it is necessary to quote such passages in order to understand the extraordinary estimate of the character and abilities of George de Selve entertained by all his contemporaries. What were his relations with the world of art ? Was it possible to dwell at Venice when the fame of Titian was at its zenith, when the frescoes jointly executed by him with Giorgione on the Fondaco dei Tedeschi shone out in pristine freshness, undimmed, as yet, by the hand of time and decay, when the beautifying of outward life was a passion with all men, when most of those with whom the bishop lived in daily intercourse, private or official, were enthusiastic patrons of art, — was it possible, under such circumstances, to remain an uninterested spectator ? Indifferent so gifted and sensitive a man was surely not. But the ascetic tendencies implanted in him by nature and deepened by rigorous and persistent training, stood in sharp contrast to the luxurious vitality of Venice. Outside the limits of that religious vocation which absorbed ^ " Petri Bunelli Epistolae," pp. 30 and 45. 160 GEORGE DE SELVE almost his whole soul, his love of literature and profound interest in the classics formed probably his nearest point of contact with the tastes of the fashionable dilettanti. Towards the end of the year 1536 Pole was made a Cardinal, and the Bishop of Lavaur wrote to congratulate his friend on his new honour/ In the following February (1537) Cardinal Pole was ap- pointed Papal Legate to England,^ and started on the abortive ex- pedition intended to raise the English people in rebellion against Henry VI 11.^ Another letter from Selve addressed to him on this occasion shows how firm a root the friendship with Pole had taken in his heart. He has heard, he says, by letters which Danes has received, that Pole is about to make a journey through " our France," and he offers him his house and fortune. He has also written to the Grand- Maitre of France ; not that he thought his letters would have more influence than the name of Legate and the fame of Pole's virtues, but to satisfy his own mind. He incloses the letters to be delivered if Pole thinks fit.^ Of the political objects of Pole's mission he makes no mention. It is plain that the position of the Bishop of Lavaur must by now have assumed considerable importance, if he was able to send letters of recommendation of a Papal Legate to Anne de Montmorency. He was in fact rapidly advancing to the front rank of his profession. His success was due to sheer merit, for he detested the intrigues by which many ecclesiastics sought to obtain promotion. The capacity he had displayed for public affairs had gradually been pointing him out for a more conspicuous post ; and at the very moment of Pole's journey to the north, George de Selve was named French ambassador to the Holy See, in conjunction with Cardinal Macon. The payments for his new office began on the 20th February, 1537.^ ^ Letters and Papers, Henry VIIL, vol. xii., part i.. No. 14, Geo. Selva, Bp. of La Vaur to Cardinal Pole. Venice, 3 Non. Jan. 1536 (Latin). * " Diet. Nat. Biography," Art. Pole. ' See p. 108. * Letters and Papers, Henry VHI., vol. xii.. No. 516, Geo. Selva, etc., to Card. Pole. ^ Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. Clairembault, 1215, f. 75. The payments for the post of ambassador at Venice expire February 19 ; those for Rome begin on the following day. 161 Y HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" The mission to Rome seems at first to have been intended to last only till the summer.^ In point of fact, it extended over a very much longer time. It is probable, however, that in the autumn the Bishop was able to absent himself for some months from his post, as there is a gap in the letters dated from Rome, which extends from August to November.^ No doubt he took advantage of this interval to visit his diocese, as well as to report to the French Court the results of his diplomatic labours. Throughout the period in which Selve was accredited to the Court of Rome, the long-deferred General Council, which was to settle the differences of religion, formed a constant subject of negotiation between the Powers. The Pope had actually fixed a date on which the Council was to assemble; but the war between Francis I. and Charles V. hindered the accomplishment of the plan. For this reason, amongst others, it was the urgent desire of Paul III. to bring about a peace be- tween the rival sovereigns. So keenly did he feel upon this point, that at one moment he actually intended to hurl the thunders of the Church upon whichever of the contending parties might decline to assent to his proposals. The Cardinals were invited to pronounce upon this policy. But it was quickly seen that such a course would destroy the position of neutrality which the Pontiff desired to maintain ; and the idea was therefore abandoned.^ Early in the year 1538 Cardinal Carpi, the most intimate confidant of Paul III., was sent on a special mission to France, for the purpose of inducing the king to consent to make peace with his rival. While heartily concurring in the object proposed, the two French ambassadors at Rome had their doubts as to the trustworthiness of the Papal messenger. They sent a note of warning to Montmorency some weeks before the departure of the Cardinal, to bid him be careful in dealing ^ Paris, Bibl. Nat, MS. Clairembault, 1215, f. 78. ' Ibid., MS. fr. 2968, f. 87 ; Ribier, " Lettres et Memoires d'Estat," vol. i., p. 66. ' Ribier, "Lettres et Mdmoires d'Estat," vol. i., p. 41. Cardinal Mascon and the Bishop of Lavaur to the King of France, Rome, 12th July, 1537. Ibid., p. 76. The same to the Grand-Maitre de Montmorency, Rome, December, 1537. 162 GEORGE DE SELVE with this Legate, who was " the soul of the Pope." Moreover, they suspected Carpi of a secret understanding with the Imperial party, and doubted the sincerity of his professed goodwill towards France. They were careful to add, however, that his overtures should be met with due cordiality, while recollecting caution. It is a curious fact that at this time Paul contemplated, or pre- tended to contemplate, the re-establishment of peace between the rival sovereigns on the basis of the restitution of the Duchy of Milan to France. Whether this was merely a bait held out to catch the French king, and thus inveigle him into the peace so ardently desired by the Pope, it is impossible to say. It is certain that, at a later date, when Francis was still scheming to obtain that much-coveted possession, Paul expressed his conviction that the Emperor would never yield it up. The spring of 1538 passed in inconclusive negotiations. The truce of ten months between France and the Netherlands, agreed upon at Bomy in July of the previous year, had been followed by the shorter suspension of arms in the southern campaign, arranged at the end of November. Both agreements were now drawing to a close. But such was the mutual distrust of the two monarchs, that no permanent peace had been arranged in the interval, as had been intended. The Pope resolved to take the matter in hand himself. Besides the assem- bling of the General Council, his heart was bent on a coalition scheme by which Francis and Charles should jointly oppose the Turk.^ To both objects the establishment of peace was a necessary preliminary. Paul therefore proposed a meeting between the two sovereigns, at which he would himself assist and endeavour to bring them to terms. While the triple interview between the King of France, the Emperor of Germany, and the Pope, was impending, an intrigue had been set on foot at the Court of Rome which went far to justify the distrust felt by the French ambassador and his colleague'' for Cardinal Carpi. The ^ Ribier, " Lettres et Mem. d'Estat," vol. i., p. 128, Card. Mascon and the Bp. of Lavaur to the Conn, de Montmorency, Rome, 14th March, 1538. ' Strictly speaking the Bishop of Lavaur alone was accredited as French ambassador to the Holy See, but throughout this period he and Cardinal Macon acted in concert. 163 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" latter professed to have obtained possession, probably during his mission to France, of a copy of a letter written by Cardinal Macon and the Bishop of Lavaur to Cardinal Tournon,^ in which Carpi's sincerity and the reasons of his journey were made the subjects of unfavourable comment. The letter, so Cardinal Carpi asserted, had come miraculously to his hands. He hastened to lay it before the Pope. Cardinal Tournon, who was at this time in Spain, vehemently denied the authenticity of the document as soon as news of the affair had reached his ears. He severely upbraided Cardinal Carpi, saying the letter was a hoax, and that the Cardinal, if he had not forged it himself, had been rash to show it."^ Be that as it may, the manoeuvre was sufficiently cunningly contrived to produce exactly the effect intended by its designer. In an indignant despatch addressed to Montmorency on the ist May, Cardinal Macon and the Bishop of Lavaur beg to be instantly recalled, in order that they may explain by word of mouth the treatment to which they have been subjected. The Papal Court, accompanied by the two French ambassadors, was at this time at Piacenza, on the way to Nice, where the coming interview was to take place. The French- men, so they related, were here suddenly summoned into the presence of his Holiness. Cardinal Trivulzi, a faithful servant of French interests at the Vatican, was sent for at the same time. Carpi then turned upon the French envoys, in the presence of the Pope's relation. Cardinal Farnese, such a torrent of malevolent accusation that they could only feel their position as the representatives of France at the Holy See henceforth rendered impossible. The Legate had declared that, by their "mechans et deshonnestes offices contre sa Saintet6," they had utterly frustrated the purposes of his mission to France. To justify his reproaches he had read aloud their supposed letter ; declining, however, to let them see it, or to show their double signature, which it must have borne had it been genuine. For all their ^ Letters and Papers, vol. xiii., part i. (1538), No. 972, Card. Tournon to Card. Carpi, Valentia, May 10. " Ibid., same time and place. 164 GEORGE DE SELVE asserted machinations, Cardinal Carpi threw the blame on Trivulzi, on whom he heaped yet more violent invective than on the ambassadors themselves. On the same day Cardinal Carpi himself wrote to the French Court, protesting against the calumnies of the supposed letter and loudly asseverating the honesty of his intentions towards France.^ A very pretty tangle on the eve of a meeting at which it was intended to proclaim general peace. The motive of Cardinal Carpi is tolerably clear. The intrigue was a clever attempt to undermine in the eyes of the Pope the credit of the three principal cardinals attached to the interests of France, Tournon, Macon and Trivulzi. That it took place immediately before the interview with the King and Emperor at Nice was no doubt a matter of subtle calculation. The French ambassadors had, it seems, not been far wrong when they suspected Cardinal Carpi of manoeuvring in the Imperial interest. The Nuncio in France, on his side, informed Montmorency of the events which were going forward at the Papal Court. The Connetable warmly espoused the cause of his countrymen, declaring that an offence offered to the king's ambassadors was an offence offered to the king himself He wrote to the two envoys, telling them what had passed, and directing the Bishop of Lavaur to leave for France immediately in order to report upon the circumstances. Cardinal Macon was enjoined to use the greatest prudence while conducting affairs single- handed. Meanwhile the King of France would remain near Romans and Valence, postponing the meeting with the Pope and Emperor until Selve's report had been first heard. So dangerous did Montmorency consider the position of Cardinal Trivulzi, that he adds an express message to him to beware of poison in his food, or of any other attempt against his person.^ ^ Ribier, "Lett, et Mem. d'Estat," vol. i., pages 147 and 150. Mascon and Lavaur to the Connetable de Montmorency. Carpi to the same. Piacenza, ist May, 1538. " Ibid.^ page 150. The Connetable de Montmorency to Cardinal Mascon and the Bishop of Lavaur, 14th May, 1538. 165 i HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Selve reached Avignon on the 14th May,^ three days after his departure from Savona,' having j^robably taken ship as far as Marseilles to accelerate his journey. In the conditions of those times and the bad state of the coast-roads of the Riviera, it would hardly have been possible to cover the distance by land in so short a period. We are left in ignorance as to the results of the communication he had to make to his sovereign. The proposed meeting duly came off at Nice in the following month.^ But all the efforts of the Pontiff proved unavailing to effect a permanent treaty of peace. The most that could be achieved was a suspension of arms for ten years, known in history as the Truce of Nice.* Francis and Charles did not, in point of fact, see each other at all until the agreement was signed and the Pope had departed. They then arranged an interview at Aigues-Mortes which led to conversations of some apparent cordiality, and seemed to promise greater practical results. The Duchy of Milan was, as usual, the central topic of discussion between the two sovereigns. A marriage had been discussed at Nice, to take place between the Duke of Orleans and the Infanta of Spain. Francis now parted from his rival at Aigues-Mortes persuaded that the fulfilment of this project would at last restore the Milanese territory to the House of Valois, as part of the dowry of the*^Emperor's daughter. The termination of the conference at Nice saw the conclusion of Selve's mission to the Papal Court. Intrigue of the type which marked the final period of his embassy must have been peculiarly noxious to a man of his sternly upright disposition, who, at the best, bestowed his time on secular matters only from a sense of duty towards his sovereign, ^ Letters and Papers, vol. xiii., part i., No. 1004, Montmorency to Castillon, Avignon, 14th May, 1538. ^ " Monseigneur de Lavaur ... est parti ce jourd'huy matin en diligence, pour aller trouver le Roy . . ." — Ribier, "Lett, et Mem. d'Estat," vol. i., page 154. Cardinal Mascon to the Connetable, .Savona, nth May, 1538. ' June, 1538. * Which was broken at the end of four years (1542), when war was again declared between France and the Empire. 166 GEORGE DE SELVE and, as it were, under compulsion. His heart was in his diocese, whither he now joyfully turned his steps.^ Curiously enough he thus left Italy but a few months before the Dinteville brothers fled thither as exiles. What a difference might have been effected by the presence there of so true a friend during their years of banishment ! So few of the private letters of George de Selve have been preserved that little is known of the intercourse between the families during the period we are now considering. The year 1537, however, throws a chance light on the subject, the preservation of which is due to the official nature of the correspondence in which it is found. The Count of La Mirandola, a descendant of the celebrated Giovanni Pico, was a firm friend of France, or, in other words, was probably in receipt of a French pension. His city and castle,^ situated in a fertile plain at about twenty miles from Modena, formed a valuable strategical point in the event of any outbreak of hostilities; and, early in 1537, Guillaume de Dinteville, Seigneur Deschenetz, was despatched to La Mirandola to strengthen and increase the fortifications.^ The Count meanwhile was absent in France, busy with the various arrangements rendered necessary by his alliance with the king. These circumstances form the subject of two letters written by George de Selve from Italy. One, signed in conjunction with the Bishop of Rodez, was despatched to the French Court from Venice just before Selve's promotion to Rome. The second is addressed a few months later to Deschenetz himself, and shows the good offices in which the ambassadors at Rome were engaged on his behalf with the Pope. The writers foretell honour and profit to him from his work at La Miran- ^ The final payment he received as ambassador to the Holy See expired June 30, 1538. ^ The shell of the castle of the Pico family still exists, though in a half-ruinous condition. A theatre has been established in one part of the building, which has lost all traces of former magnificence. The latter can only be guessed at from the great height of some of the apartments. The decision of the municipal authorities some years ago, to pull down the old city walls of La Mirandola, has fatally robbed the little town of poetry and pic- turesqueness, but it contains one or two interesting churches. ^ Paris, Archives des Affaires Etrangeres, Corr. politiques, Rome, vol. iii., f. 401'', La Mirandola. 167 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" dola ; they have complained to the ambassador of the Duke of Ferrara of the animosity displayed by the duke towards Deschenetz ; they have even obtained the permission of the Pope to write direct to the duke himself. In short, it is easy to read between the lines of the ambas- sadorial communication, the personal friendship which inspired its contents.^ ^ Paris, Bibl. Nat., Fonds Dupuy, vol. xliv., f. 27% and Aff. Etrang., Corr. polit., Rome, vol. iii., f. 401. 168 CHAPTER III Repose at Lavaur, and Embassy to Charles V T is uncertain whether the Bishop of Lavaur spent in his diocese the whole of the fifteen months which elapsed between his return from Italy in the summer of 1538 and his next special appointment. A payment made to him subsequently, as a " gift " for services rendered at Venice, Rome, and "elsewhere with the Emperor,"^ seems to indicate that, besides his residence in those cities, some temporary mission to the Imperial Court may have occurred in this interval.^ But it is probable that the greater part of the time was quietly spent in the old Cathedral city. A letter to Pole is dated thence on the ist January, 1539.^ We may take advantage of this interval of repose to make further acquaintance with Selve in the sphere he loved best, and in which alone he felt truly at ease. The contrast must indeed have been complete between the worldly pomp of the Papal Court, honeycombed by restless ambitions and political intrigue, and the rural seclusion of Lavaur. Surrounded by the sunlit vineclad country of southern France, the principal charm of the quiet little provincial town is derived from ^ Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. Clairembault, 1215, f. 78. Compiegne, 9th October, 1538. ^ Perhaps it refers to 1529. There would be nothing surprising in the long postpone- ment, as the ambassadors' salaries were in chronic arrears. * Letters and Papers, Henry VIIL, vol. xiii., part i,, No. 11. Geo. de Selve, Bp. of Lavaur, to Cardinal Pole. 169 Z HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" the beauty of its situation. Perched upon a rocky cHff overlooking the rushing river Agout, it commands a noble expanse of distant plain and hill. The full range of the view is obtained from a broad terrace beyond the apse of the Cathedral of St. Alain, which is finely placed on the brow of the declivity. The structure itself is of brick, a material often used in the churches of the south of France. Architecturally it shows considerable diversity of style. Nearly all the changes and additions were however made before the sixteenth century ; so that the traveller who visits Lavaur to-day sees the cathedral much as it appeared in the lifetime of George de Selve. The episcopal palace formerly stood in a line with the cathedral, and commanded the same fine view. Fancy conjures up a pleasant picture of the ancient residence of the Bishops of Lavaur in the days of its prosperity.^ Casements open to the soft and billowy southern country, silence unbroken by any sound but the lapping of the water far below, or the occasional clang of the cathedral bell, shady gardens where, in the spreading branches of ilex and mulberry-tree, the tiny green canary doubtless then, as now, found a happy home. It was probably in these gentle surroundings that George de Selve indited the greater part of those pastoral letters and addresses through which we are chiefly acquainted with the current of his inner life. In some of them he displays a naive poetry of expression which seems to reflect the atmosphere in which they were composed ; as, for instance, when he speaks of baptism as " la porte par laquelle nous sommes entrez au pare de Jesus Christ ou nous sommes maintenant, portants le nom et la marque de ses brebis." ^ The collected works of the Bishop of Lavaur comprise spiritual discourses suited to almost every occasion, from the great public ^ The episcopal palace was demolished in the present century by the person who had acquired it at the time of the French Revolution, who pulled it to pieces, and sold it stone by stone, lest the edifice should be claimed as ecclesiastical property. The grounds and site are now used as public gardens. Lavaur ceased to be a bishopric towards the end of the eighteenth century. " "The gate by which we have entered into the park of Jesus Christ where we are now, bearing the name and mark of His sheep." — " CEuvres de Feu Reverend Pere en Dieu, George de Selve, Evesque de la Vaur." Paris, 1559. 170 vi3i— . I GEORGE DE SELVg, BISHOP OF LAVAUR. FROM A POSTHUMOUS PAINTING AT THE CHATEAU OF VILUfi^S, SEII^E-ET-OISE. GEORGE DE SELVE questions which were dividing the heart of Europe, down to admonitions addressed to his own household. In a few instances the titles of the various compositions give some clue to the period at which they were written. Such is the case with an exhortation "written on first arriving at his diocese, to a friend of his who had but just returned home to seek repose and leisure."^ It is tempting to believe, nor does it seem in any way improbable, that the "friend" in question may have been Jean de Dinteville, returning to Polisy for a brief spell of " repose and leisure " after a long residence at Court. The warm tone of unconven- tional affection rings curiously through the pastoral admonition. " II me semble en vous escrivant," exclaims the writer, excusing himself for the length of his letter, " que je suis avec vous a deviser, qui m'est si grande consolation que ie n'en puis ou n'en veux trouver le bout." ^ Placed immediately after this epistle is one addressed " to a friend grievously ill," the language of which seems to indicate that it was in- tended for the same individual. The bishop writes in deep anxiety about the health of his friend. Were it not that he is detained by so many necessary causes, he would himself set out immediately to visit the invalid. " Plust a Dieu," he exclaims, "que je peusse estre aupres de vous pour quelques iours ! " Another heading appears to denote, almost conclusively, that the discourse in question was addressed to Anne de Montmorency. The supposition is borne out by the beginning, " Monseigneur," a mode of address which would only have been employed by the bishop towards a superior, and which was almost invariably that used towards the Connetable even by men who were themselves of high position. It is entitled : '* Discours contenant le seul et vrai moyen, par lequel un serviteur favorise et constitue en administration de son Prince, peut conserver sa felicite eternelle et temporelle, & eviter les choses qui lui pourroient I'une ou I'autre faire perdre." ^ ^ " CEuvres de George de Selve," etc. * " It seems to me, when writing to you, that I am with you in conversation, which is so great a consolation to me that I cannot or will not find an ending to it." — Ibid. ' " Discourse containing the only true means by which a servant favoured by his 171 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" The doctrine inculcated in all these compositions is strictly that of the Church to which their author belonged, though there is a marked avoidance of controversial points and of any sort of exaggeration. On the vexed question of justification by faith, for instance, he points out how, if a preacher " parle au jourd'huy de vivre en obedience, ou de faire les oeuvres comme necessaires pour la vie eternelle, une partie du monde crie apres, et diet que c'est un Papiste, et un justiciaire. S'il presche le salut par Jesus- Christ, et la redemption des pechez, une autre partie du monde crie que c'est un Lutherien, et un seminateur de maulvaise doctrine. . . ."^ But the striking feature in all the bishop's writings, and that which still, at the present day, breathes life and warmth into the old-world formulas, is the deep and glowing note of personal piety which rings through every line. Nowhere, perhaps, is this more apparent than in the prayers and contemplations intended for private use. The beauty of thought and fervour of expression here attained entitle these pieces to a high position in the ranks of devotional literature. At about this time there arose a question of sending the Bishop of Lavaur to represent France at a Diet projected by the Emperor, to take place in Germany, for the pacification of religion. On some occa- sion, perhaps the mission of 1529, Charles appears to have been deeply impressed by the personality of Selve. He now made it an object of special request to the King of France that M. de Lavaur should attend this conference, at which the Emperor, on his part, was to be repre- sented by the Bishop of Lunden.'^ Prince and entrusted by him with the administration of affairs, may preserve eternal and temporal felicity, and avoid those things which might cause him to lose either one or the other."—" CEuvres," etc. ^ " . . . speak to-day of living in obedience, or of doing good works as necessary to eternal life, one half of the world cries out that he is a Papist and an advocate of justifi- cation by works. If he preach salvation through Jesus Christ and the redemption of sins, the other half of the world exclaims that he is a Lutheran and a disseminator of false doctrine. . . ." — /did. (Letter addressed to a certain "Frere Francois "who was preaching at Lavaur in the bishop's absence.) ^ Ribier, " Lett, et Pap. d'Estat," vol. i., page 468. Relation of the Bishop-Elect of Avranches on his return from Spain in September, 1539. The Bishop-Elect of Avranches 172 GEORGE DE SELVE The scheme progressed so far that Selve actually drew up part of an oration for delivery at the Diet. This fragment has been preserved to us. It is entitled : " Remonstrances adressentes aux Allemans, faictes et mises par escript par messire George de Selve, evesque de Lavaur, pour les prononcer publiquement en la diette qui se debvera tenir en Allemagne [quand il fust appelle du Roy tres-chrestien a la requisition de I'Empereur pour y aller procurer la reunion d'iceulx Allemans avec I'ordre ecclesiastique]." ^ The contents of this discourse, so far as completed, exemplify once more the weight attached by the bishop to reformation of life and conduct, rather than of doctrine, as the true means of attaining religious reunion. Just as, six years before, in the " Hymns" selected for Holbein's picture, the keeping of the Ten Commandments, aided by the guidance of the Divine Spirit, is indicated as the only path to temporal and eternal bliss, so now the same theme is reiterated with yet greater insistence. He does not, he says, desire subtle arguments, but will use simple words that the very populace can understand. Passions must be moderated, and only the divine honour thought of. Reunion must be sought in improved discipline, not in attacks upon dogma. The Papal supremacy, the body ecclesiastical, the doctrines of the Church must be upheld unimpaired. Every needful reform would certainly have come to pass had the holy examples of past times been followed in humility and sobriety. The sins of Churchmen, their avarice and ambition, have brought things to the present pass. Only by returning to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, and of the doc- trines received and upheld by the common consent of the Universal had been sent on a special mission to the Spanish Court, where Anthoine de Castelnau, Bp. of Tarbes, was now resident French ambassador. ' " Remonstrances addressed to the Germans, composed and put in writing by George de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, to be publicly pronounced at the Diet which will be held in Germany [when he was summoned by the Most Christian King, at the request of the Emperor, to go thither in order to procure the reconciliation of the said Germans with the order ecclesiastical]." — "CEuvres de George de Selve," and Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. fr. 31 14, f. I. The portion of the title placed in brackets was evidently added as a docket in the customary manner by a later hand. ^72> HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Church, can the true remedy be found for the dissensions which rend Christianity. There follows an invitation to the Germans to return to the obedience of the Pope. But it is easy to read between the lines, even were we not told so explicitly in another composition to which there will be occasion to return later on, that, in the eyes of the Bishop of Lavaur, the chief responsibility for the divisions of the Church rested upon the shoulders of the Roman priesthood. The scheme of despatching the Bishop of Lavaur to attend the Diet was abandoned, and the oration was left unfinished. Lazare de Baif, formerly French ambassador at Venice, was sent in his stead to Hagenau, where the conference ultimately took place. Subsequently a more important Diet was held at Ratisbon (1540), without however attaining any definite result. The exact circumstances which led to the change of plan are not quite clear. But from a letter written by Pole to Cardinal Contarini, it would appear that the form of Diet at first proposed was regarded with disfavour in high quarters at Rome. It was considered an infringement of the Papal prerogative that the Emperor, and not the Pope, should have convened it.^ If this objection were hinted to the Bishop of Lavaur, through Pole or by other means, it would certainly have led him, as an obedient son of his Church, to renounce the execution of the plan. Apart, however, from any motive of this kind, he seems to have had no desire for the new honour thrust upon him. He longed to remain in peace at Lavaur, after his absence in Italy, and to devote himself to the duties of his diocese. A letter addressed by Bunel to Castelnau, Bishop of Tarbes, from Lavaur, in the spring of 1539, throws some further light upon the thoughts and plans of his protector. Castelnau, like some other acquaintances of the Bishop of Lavaur, seems to have attributed his ' Letters and Papers, Henry VIIL, vol. xiv., part i, No. 1090. Card. Pole to Card. Contarini, Carpentras, 8 June, 1539. (Pole had found a refuge near Sadoleto, at Carpentras, in the intervals between his diplomatic missions.) GEORGE DE SELVE unwillingness to take advantage of so great an opportunity for worldly distinction to undue influence on the part of Bunel, who greatly favoured a life of retirement. The latter now sent to the Bishop of Tarbes a long and somewhat tart epistle in reply to these animadversions. " My patron " (says Bunel towards the end of this letter), " when, with the approval of all worthy persons, he returned to fill his office at Lavaur, bestowed on the general welfare of mankind a benefit far greater than would be the case if, by command of the king, he were now to set forth to Germany." The bishop must indeed go thither, if the king command it ; just as Castelnau must remain in Spain, if such be the king's pleasure. Yet it is Bunel's desire that the bishop and himself be suffered to dwell in tranquillity at Lavaur ; and that Castelnau, in like manner, be permitted to return to his diocese as soon as may be.^ The sentiments of this letter are those of George de Selve. For the moment his desire was fulfilled. His spell of leisure was however of short duration In the autumn of 1539 the post of resident ambassador at the Imperial Court became vacant by the death of the Bishop of Tarbes. The Emperor had but recently given so striking a proof of the high esteem in which he held the Bishop of Lavaur, that the appointment of the latter to succeed Castelnau was a foregone conclusion. A Treasury grant of the 9th October, 1539, enables us to fix the exact date at which George de Selve entered upon his new duties.^ The talk about the Diet had indeed sunk into a secondary position, so far as Selve was concerned. Charles V., on the invitation of Francis L, and, as it were, to emphasize in the sight of the world the friendship between the two sovereigns, was about to pass from one end of France to the other, ostensibly for the purpose of visiting his rebellious subjects at Ghent. For the moment this journey absorbed general attention. 1 " Petri Bunelli Familiares Aliquot Epistolae," Lutetia, 1 55 1, page 80. To the Bishop of Tarbes, French ambassador with the Emperor. (Latin.) ^ Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. Clairembault, 1215, f. 77. ^75 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" On the 27th November, 1539, the Emperor crossed the Bidassoa. The wording of Selve's appointment specially refers to " the journey which he is about to make to Spain." It is therefore safe to infer that, from the outset, the Bishop was of the Imperial company. The Duke of Orleans met Charles on the Spanish side of the frontier ; Montmorency and the Dauphin joined him near Bayonne ; the King of France awaited him at Loches,^ and escorted him towards the frontier of the Netherlands as far as Saint-Quentin. From Spain to Flanders the journey was a triumphal progress. Towns were decorated, pageants initiated, honours heaped on the Imperial guest. The common people saw in his presence the ending of the wars which had brought so much misery in their train. But the king meant something more than this by the lavish welcome he bestowed upon his rival. It was expected that Charles, as a graceful acknowledgment of his brilliant reception in France, would take that opportunity to rivet the friendship by the cession previously promised of the Duchy of Milan. It had been specially stipulated before he responded to the invitation to pass through France that no advantage should be taken of his presence to discuss political matters. The journey was to be simply one of pleasure. Francis readily agreed. But he secretly hoped that the Emperor would yield spontaneously that which he thus bound himself not to extort. The negotiations for the marriage of the Duke of Orleans with the Infanta, which had preceded the journey through France, gave him some grounds for this expectation. Never were hopes more completely deceived. Charles passed through the country from end to end, receiving a magnificent welcome at Paris on the ist January, 1540, without uttering a single word on the subject so eagerly awaited. The disappointment at the French Court was great. Hope was not yet extinguished, however ; and, in anticipation of the desired utter- ance on the part of the Emperor, the relations between the two Courts continued to be of the most amicable nature. The Bishop of Lavaur proceeded with the Imperial party to the ^ Decrue de Stoutz, "Anne de Montmorency," part i., pp. 376, 377. 176 GEORGE DE SELVE Netherlands. His first letter is dated from Mons, on the 27th January. It was expected that Francis would immediately pay a return visit to his recent guest. As a refinement of courtesy the King of France therefore signified to Charles that henceforth great expenditure in any visits they might mutually make to each other would be superfluous, and proposed that they should for the future come and go informally in each other's dominions. The Emperor, so Selve reported, was ready to acquiesce in this suggestion, but added that after the manner of his reception in France he could not do otherwise, on the occasion of the king's first visit, than follow the example that had been set to him. At Brussels, Hellin, French resident at the court of the Queen- Regent,^ joined the diplomatic labours of the Bishop of Lavaur.^ For a considerable time the despatches sent to France were now signed by both negotiators. Towards the middle of February the Imperial Court moved to Ghent. It was thought that, when the Emperor had settled the affairs of that city, he would have more leisure to devote to the interests of France. The French king and his suite hovered near the borders of Flanders, daily expecting that Montmorency would be sent for in order to bring the negotiations to the desired conclusion. No message came. Both Henry VIII. and Paul 1 11.^ had expressed the conviction that Charles would never cede the Milanese. Francis himself was beginning to lose heart. His projected visit to the Netherlands dropped into the background. Finally Charles moved. Early in March he sent for Bonvalot, his resident ambassador at the French Court, to impart to him further instructions for communication to the King of France.^ He now offered Burgundy and Flanders in substitution for the Duchy of Milan, as his daughter's marriage portion. ' Mary, Queen-dowager of Hungary, regent of Flanders, sister of Charles V. " Ribier, " Lett, et Mem, d'Estat," vol. i., p. 353. Hellin had been appointed to that post on account of his intimate knowledge of the Flemish tongue. ' Ibid.^ vol. i., p. 449. Grignan, ambassador at Rome, to the Connetable, April, 1539- * Decrue de Stoutz, "Anne de Montmorency," part i., p. 383. 177 A A HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" On the 29th March, Selve left Ghent ^ for Aumale, there to receive the king's answer to the proposals made by the Emperor. Francis vehemently protested against the new scheme, laying stress on his rights to the Milanese territory and on the Emperor's former promise to yield it.^ The instructions delivered to the Bishop of Lavaur on his return to Flanders relate to many other points besides that of the cession of Milan. But all knew that in this really lay the crux of the matter, and that upon it hung the success or failure of all the negotiations. Which way these were tending was abundantly evident. " As for France," writes Wyat to Cromwell, soon after the return of the Bishop of Lavaur to Ghent, " things here are as cold as if the past were but dreams." The changes, he continues, introduced by the Emperor into the original proposals for his daughter's dowry have so ** disdained " the French king that he is out of hope of further treating. They remind Wyat of the tale of the Welshman who, being in danger on the sea, vowed a taper as big as the mast ; but when he came on land, paid a little candle to Our Lady, and ** offered her to be hanged " if ever she took him on the sea again ! ^ The witty Englishman had gauged the situation accurately. The negotiations dragged on for some weeks longer, each party in turn making proposals inacceptable to the other. But it soon became evident that nothing was to be gained by further prolonging them. To the Bishop of Lavaur the coolness that ensued between the two sovereigns was a bitter disappointment. Keenly alive to the ills and sufferings that had been wrought by the long wars that had ravaged Europe, he looked to a good understanding between the King of France and the Emperor as the necessary preliminary to those ecclesi- astical reforms which were the dearest object of his life. From the outset of his career his heart had been set on that reconciliation of ^ Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xv. (1540), No. 448. Wyat to Cromwell, Ghent, 2nd April, 1540. ^ Ibid., No. 457. Instructions given to the Bishop of La Vaur, etc. Aumale, 4 April, 1540. ' Ibid., No. 508. Sir Thomas Wyat to Cromwell. Wyat was at this time English ambassador at the Imperial Court. 178 GEORGE DE SELVE religious differences, beneath the (Egis of a regenerated and purified Rome, which for a moment had appeared a not impossible dream. How deeply he had felt the iniquity and corruption of the body ecclesiastical, which he had been called upon to witness during his mission to the Papal Court, we shall shortly see. The prospect of the interview at Nice had then created hope of a permanent peace between the two great continental powers which should afford leisure for the consideration of the affairs of the Church. This hope was, as we know, raised only to be immediately dashed by the inconclusive results of that meeting. Again, the proposal for a marriage between the Duke of Orleans and the Infanta of Spain seemed to promise a happier era. Now this prospect also was rendered abortive by the refusal of the Emperor to surrender Milan. War seemed, to those looking on, to be once more within measurable distance. Filled with the thoughts inspired by all these circumstances, it was during the term of his embassy to the Netherlands that the Bishop of Lavaur indited the ripest and most powerful of all the compositions included in his collected works. For what occasion it was intended, or whether it was ever delivered, is unknown. It is entitled, " Discours du vrai et seul moyen de faire une bonne et perpetuelle paix entre I'Empereur et le Roy tres chrestien : faict par George de Selve, Evesque de la Vaur, estant ambassadeur dudict Roy tres chrestien, vers ledict Empereur." ^ It shows the bishop in the plenitude of his mental powers. He has shaken off the diffidence of early youth, and speaks with the full consciousness of the authority bestowed upon him by his sacred office. Peace and war, he says, have already been several times between these two sovereigns. War has been very fertile of evil, but peace has been sterile of good. He proposes to demonstrate how, by the use of right means, peace can be made good and fruitful for all Christianity. ' " Discourse upon the true and only means by which a good and perpetual peace may be made between the Emperor and the Most Christian King : composed by George de Selve, Bishop of la Vaur, when ambassador of the said King with the said Emperor." (" CEuvres de G. de Selve," etc.) 179 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" The cause of war has been that these princes, instead of first serving God, have preferred their private passions and personal interests. The worst result of this has been that the lives of ecclesiastics have come to such extremity of wickedness as would have been impossible had the wars of these two princes not prevented remedy, or rather, thrust the delinquents yet further into impiety. The leaders of the Church have brought their position and dignity into derision, rather than abandon their vices, their covetousness, their ambition. The result has been that a great part of Germany has fallen away from the Church, and that other countries threaten to follow the same course. Yet all the negligence of which ecclesiastics have been guilty, has been accompanied by a pretence of good words, and of willingness to provide against these evils. How far these professions were sincere, may be judged by the effects. Popes, who condemned and pursued the Lutheran heretics, had in their private surroundings openly mocked Christ and the Christian religion. Others had showed in their lives that He to whom they gave least authority was the Blessed Saviour : of Whom they willingly occupied the place, but Whom they took good care not to resemble. Besides the irreligion of the heads of the Church, which it would be impossible to detest sufficiently, it should be considered what harm is wrought by the nature and quality of all ecclesiastical promotions ; which are such that it may be said that never did the devil invent, nor could he possibly invent, a more active venom with which to poison every part of Christianity. The Cardinals, who should hold the place of Apostles, and be, as it were, the flower of the universal Church, for many years have only owed their promotion to Papal interests or to the protection of a prince. Except a very small number who are deserving, all have reached their position by purchase, or by ambition. Bishoprics are given to them that they never visit ; and from this corrupt multitude the Pope is elected by a majority of votes, generally bought with money, or princes' favour. 1 80 GEORGE DE SELVE The promotion to bishoprics is just as illegal. Popes and princes bestow them with equal levity, simply by favour, on unknown or unfit persons, or on children. Of such stuff are those made who have the care of souls. Only to provide for the man is thought of, not for the diocese. And whereas the Apostles and their successors proceeded to the election of bishops with so great reverence, beseeching the divine assistance : to-day, bishops are made with raillery and light talk, and with far less reflection than would be bestowed if it were a question of placing a new cook in the kitchen. The appointments to benefices are equally bad, if not worse. The Pope gives them to any unknown person, or to a courtier who does not pretend to be a priest and will never see his cure. The poor parishes are desolate and abandoned. A trade is made of benefices, which are treated as speculations, divided, and mortgaged. Bishops who have themselves been so lightly promoted are yet more careless in the making of priests. The bishop being generally absent from the diocese, intrusts his charge to a substitute. Out of a thousand of these there is not one who does the work from devotion, or from a desire to serve ; it is merely undertaken to gain a livelihood by repeating masses. Most of these men cannot even read; especially in France, where the priests, in their vulgarity, ignorance and irrever- ence, surpass those of all other countries. This corruption of eccle- siastics is the greatest wound of Christendom. It has been made much worse by the wars between the two princes, because, instead of taking measures to cure it, their only thought has been to avoid giving offence to the Popes, to whose party passions they pander for their own benefit. And the Popes have availed themselves of the wars to turn everything to their private advantage. From all this the Lutheran heresy, due in great measure to the deformities of Churchmen, has gained force and vigour. . . . These wars have also encouraged the Turk. . . . Then, what sufferings to the poor have they not caused ! — spiritual neglect, bloodshed, famine, and pestilence. The poverty of the small folk is incredible throughout the dominions of these two princes. . . . i8i HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Again, the wars have produced miscarriage of justice. . . . The very princes themselves, seeking each his own profit, have not found it ; on the contrary, each has become impoverished. What then is the remedy for so many and great evils ? The only true and certain remedy is the acknowledgment and confession of sin ; belief in the justice of God ; confidence in His mercy ; and the resolve to lead amended lives. Only by penitence can these two princes hope to avoid divine condemnation. Their actions have been such that their forces are weakened, their honour trodden in the dust, their consciences stained. The only means by which they may hope to avert eternal punishment is by sorrow, repentance, and amend- ment. No peace made between them has ever gone to the root of the matter. To be permanent and effective peace must rest on good and not on evil. A long and eloquent peroration concludes this remarkable com- position, and sets forth in further detail the manner of arriving at the only true peace. This powerful indictment of the vices of the Roman hierarchy shows very clearly to how great an extent Selve anticipated the con- clusions of the Council of Trent with regard to matters of Church dis- cipline. His chosen companions, Pole, Sadoleto, Contarini,^ belonged to the same small group among the ecclesiastics, whose influence, direct or indirect, did so much to bring about the Counter- Reformation. Had the life of the Bishop of Lavaur been prolonged, it appears highly probable that he would have been among the delegates summoned to ^ Gasp. Contarini, born at Venice in 1483, was sent by that republic as ambassador to Charles V. ; and, after the release of Clement VII. from the Castle of Sant' Angelo, which Contarini had helped to bring about, filled a similar post at the Holy See. Paul III. made him a Cardinal in 1535. He was Papal Legate at the Diet of Ratisbon in 1540. Contarini urged upon Charles V. the desirability of restoring peace between the nations, and exhorted the bishops assembled at the Diet to renounce luxury, ambition, and avarice, to succour the poor, to stay in their dioceses, and to be careful to select worthy persons for ecclesiastical promotion ; in all of which we see the counterpart of the opinions held by George de Selve. Contarini died at Bologna in 1542. 182 GEORGE DE SELVE assist in the deliberations at Trent. As it was, his friend and later successor in the see of Lavaur, Pierre Danes, was twice appointed to attend that assembly as one of the representatives of France.^ ^ Although convened in 1542, the first session of the Council of Trent was only opened in December, 1545; the final one, after many breaks, one of which lasted ten years, took place in 1563. A famous bon-mot is recorded of Danes when assisting at the conferences. As one of the French representatives was declaiming against the de- linquencies of the Papal Court, the Bishop of Orvieto exclaimed scornfully, Gallus cantat. Instantly Dan^s replied, Utinam ad Galli cantum Petrus resipiscerat I (Quoted by Sismondi, "Hist, des Frangais," tom, xi., page 380.) ^^i CHAPTER IV The Closing Days of the Bishop of Lavaur. Portrait at Vilijers His N the summer of 1540 the Bishop of Lavaur begged per- mission to resign his public career, for the future to devote himself wholly to the care of his diocese. Meanwhile, following the court from place to place on the Emperor's progress through Holland, the month of August found Selve at the Hague. An urgent letter to Montmorency, who, on the verge of disgrace,^ still had charge of the correspondence with am- bassadors, shows the almost feverish anxiety which possessed the bishop to be released from his post. The "days are years" to him. " Vous supplions, Monseigneur, apres m'avoir tant faict d'autres graces, ne m'oublier point maintenant jusques la que de me laisser ici plus longue- ment."^ ^ The collapse of the friendship with Charles V., and the failure to promote a marriage between the Duke of Orleans and the Infanta of Spain which should bring in its train the restitution of Milan to France, were the signal for the fall of the Connetable. Throughout his career attached to the Spanish alliance, the success of these negotiations would have placed the brightest jewel in his crown of fame. They failed ; and the position of the great minister trembled in the balance. Madame d'Etampes, jealous of his good under- standing with the Dauphin, used her influence against him. Finally, in October, 1540, the Emperor gave the coup-de-grace to French aspirations by bestowing Milan on his son Philip. Henceforth that territory was lost to French ambition. Montmorency, shortly after deprived of all share in the management of public affairs, lived in complete retirement until the accession of the Dauphin (Henri H.), in 1547, restored to him position and importance. '^ *' Imploring you, Monseigneur, after having done me so many other favours, not to 184 GEORGE DE SELVE Yet the man who thus passionately implored release from a post which was the zenith of other men's ambitions, was now only in his thirty-second year. Ten days later he repeats the same request, but with a breath of relief, Montmorency having apparently answered in a manner not un- favourable to his desire. Probably the Connetable had consented to his departure so soon as a suitable substitute could be found ; for Selve mentions several names of persons in his opinion specially fitted to replace him as ambassador with the Emperor.^ But, adds the bishop, with characteristic modesty, the number of those more capable than himself to fill the post is so great, that this point can present no difficulty. He includes in his letter a request to Montmorency to remember his brothers, having regard to the services of their father and to their own ability. " What is asked for them," he adds, with dignified sim- plicity, " is only that they should be put in the way of earning their living by work and by service." The explanation must have read curiously to Montmorency. The habit of the times had accustomed him to receive continual petitions for advantageous posts unaccompanied by any such suggestion of corre- sponding responsibility. The Connetable himself had not been unduly scrupulous in amassing his enormous wealth. It would seem from the letter in question that Montmorency had sent to the Bishop of Lavaur some part of the arrears of his salary, the defections in which, combined with the expense of continual journeys with the Imperial Court, were putting him to serious straits. The irregularity with which these payments were made, and the distress of ambassadors who frequently saw themselves constrained to keep up an honourable appearance on their often slender private means, are chronic features in the diplomatic correspondence of the period. The letters of the Bishop of Lavaur give a lively idea of the un- forget me so far as to leave me here any longer," — " Correspondance de Guillaume Pellicier," edited by M. Tausserat-Radel for the French Foreign OfiEice. George de Selve to the Connetable, The Hague, 7th August, 1540. ^ M. de Saveuse, formerly Bailly of Amiens, and M. de Castillon, late ambassador in England. 185 B B HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" healthiness of the cities of the Low Countries at the time of his mission. While at the Hague he reported that a third part of the Court had fallen ill, some of tertian, some of daily fevers. There had already been several deaths. His own house was full of sick people. Arrived at Antwerp, where he trusted to have found a cleaner atmosphere, he was told that in that city alone there were more than seven thousand cases of illness, and that the whole surrounding country was in a similar state.^ The Emperor meanwhile, who was suffering from gout, had dis- pensed with the company of the ambassadors in his recent journeys. The Court, including the diplomatic circle, only met again at Brussels on the I St September. On the same day the Bishop of Lavaur wrote to Montmorency, overjoyed at the news that he was at last to be re- lieved. M. de Vely had been appointed to succeed him.^ The political facts recorded in the correspondence of the Bishop of Lavaur at this period are not of great moment. A kind of lull had fallen on everything since the fiasco of the negotiations for a closer union with France. Charles V., still lame from his last attack of gout, pale and feeble, hardly showed himself to the Court. Granvella dis- played such reticence in his communications with the French am- bassador that the latter no longer cared to question him.^ The Imperial party were, in fact, as disappointed on their side at the rejection of their proposals by the French king as Francis himself was at the tenour of those offers. To the practical intelligence of Charles V. it was im- possible to understand the objection felt by the King of France to the substitution of Burgundy and Flanders for the Duchy of Milan, a far more valuable concession than the Italian territory would have been. In political sagacity, in cold clear grasp of a situation, the Emperor by a long way surpassed his rival. But, for that very reason, he failed to take into account the imaginative temperament of Francis, so far removed from his own, and the halo with which that king was ^ " Corr. de Pellicier," edited by M, Tausserat-Radel. notable, Antwerp, 25 th August, 1540. George de Selve to the Con- Ibid., I St September, 1540. Ibid.^ Brussels, 8th September, 1540. 186 GEORGE DE SELVE apt to Invest the objects of his desire. Of these, Milan was the very essence, and was therefore clung to with corresponding obstinacy. Moreover, the aims of the two sovereigns in dealing with this subject were diametrically opposed. Charles sought to banish French influence from Italy, and was ready to pay a good price to effect his purpose. Francis wished by the acquisition of Milan to consolidate his position in the peninsula. Mutual disappointment could alone result from such diversity of character and aim. Under these circumstances the breach between the two Courts, though still laboriously veiled by a show of friendship, necessarily widened from month to month. Weakened by the rigorous abstinence which he habitually practised, as well as by the worries of his responsible position, the Bishop of Lavaur now fell a victim to a severe attack of the prevalent tertian fever. In his next letters he begs that, if ready to start, M. de V^ly may be despatched instantly, for he, Selve, is unable to attend to the king's business. As to his recovery, he resigns himself entirely to the Divine Will ; but he fears it will be long and slow. Such has been the case with others who have sickened in the same way. Indeed, the Low Countries disagree with him to such a point that he thinks it impossible he should get well there ; and a large part of those who accompany him are even more ill than himself.^ The fever appears to have increased, for he shortly after " thanks God that he has passed one day without a fresh attack." Neverthe- less M. de Vely's arrival was postponed from week to week, and in- structions were continually sent to the bishop for communication to Granvella, in spite of the fact that he was so feeble as to be unable to leave his bed. The Emperor was to leave Brussels in three weeks' time ; and, as it was important that the business of the last despatches should be transacted before his departure, the sick man writes an urgent appeal to the King of France to despatch M. de Vely without further delay. Under such circumstances it can hardly cause surprise that he should have had relapse after relapse, which further undermined his ^ " Corr. de Pellicier," G. de Selve to the Connetable. Brussels, September, 1540. 187 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" already enfeebled constitution. He now resolved to travel in a litter to France on receipt of permission to depart, sooner than remain a single day longer than necessary in the infected atmosphere. Notwithstanding the severity of his fever he still continued to inform Montmorency of such public events as he could follow from his bed of sickness. The arrival of the Prince and Princess of Orange, the assembling of the Estates of the country in the presence of the Emperor and Queen of Hungary, the speech of the Imperial Chancellor, are amongst the intelligence thus transmitted. At last, to his infinite joy, he received the tidings that M. de Vely had actually started. He gratefully acknowledges this piece of good news in a letter dated the 5th October, the last of the series. On the loth of October M. de Vely arrived at Brussels. The French Court appears to have realized at last that the case was urgent ; for the new envoy performed the journey by post, three days in advance of his suite/ Notwithstanding his arrival, Selve was kept at his post until the middle of the following month. A Treasury grant of the 1 2th November, 1540, still qualifies him "ambassador with the Emperor." A second similar grant, however, dated on the 22nd of the same month, shows that his term of office at last expired on the i8th November.^ Henceforth the bishop was free to return to his beloved flock at Lavaur. Henceforth he could give himself completely to his pastoral duties in the pure and peaceful atmosphere of the little southern diocese, for which he had so often sighed. It is sad to think how short a time was left to him in which to fulfil this, his dearest wish. When he returned to Lavaur his health was broken, his days were numbered. The terrible fever which had prostrated him in the Netherlands still clung to his shattered frame, and refused to be shaken off. His retirement was so complete that not even a passing mention ^ Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xvi. (1540-41), No. 161. Pate to the Privy Council, 14th October, 1540. 2 Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS. Clairembault, 12 15, f. 79. i88 GEORGE DE SELVE of his name occurs in the various series of documents in which, so short a time before, it had blazed in the full glare of publicity. But a letter addressed at a later period by Bunel to Danes supplies the want, and gives some idea of the concluding scenes of the bishop's life.^ " On such days as the fever of the Bishop of la Vaur was not upon him," says Bunel, " I often, since he had thus requested me, used to visit him. Ever did he discourse of things divine, and of good and holy living. At times he would lament that, being hindered by sick- ness, he was unable to take part in everything that occurred in his diocese. . . . On such occasions, when I would humbly beseech him for the present to set aside burdensome matters, and such as might increase his dejection, he would very cheerfully discourse to this effect : that never did he spend his time more happily than when engaged in the discharge of his duty. . , . He said furthermore that, although he was prevented by sickness from taking advantage of his high calling in order to exhort his flock to virtue, yet that even the risk of death could not and ought not to hinder him from the care of those things which pertained to the health of their souls. Wherefore he would fain learn of others such things as he could not himself know ; not indeed that he might be the more severe on any in particular, but that he might make trial of every manner of remedy. By such meditations, which were most sweet, his melancholy, said he, was nowise increased, but rather diminished. . . ."^ Thus, intent to the last upon the welfare of his people, the bishop gently awaited his latter end. A few short months yet remained to him, in which to find solace in the society of his friend ; to bask perhaps, on his less suffering days, in the sunshine of southern France, generous even in winter ; above all, to provide for the spiritual needs ' Bunel writes to justify himself from the accusation (see page 175), that he had in- fluenced the bishop's decision to retire to his diocese, thus cutting short a brilliant worldly career. It was also believed that Bunel had encouraged his patron to lead a life of exaggerated austerity, which had hurried him to a premature death. ^ "Petri Bunelli Epistolae," Paris, 1551. To P. Danes. Tholosse, 14 Calend. Sextil, MDXLI. (Latin).— Bayle's * Dictionary," Art. Bunel. 189 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" of the flock committed to his charge. But the burning spirit of the man who combined with the accompHshments of a scholar the ardour of an apostle, had too early consumed its earthly tabernacle. Slowly but surely his life was ebbing away. The approach of death appears to have been very gradual. On the 1 9th March he made his will ; after which he still lingered for several weeks. Then, when the first flush of spring was spreading in green waves over the southern landscape, George de Selve, twenty-first Bishop of Lavaur, sank to his last rest. Worn out in body, though not in mind, by the travail of things divine, he passed away on the 1 2th April, 1 54 1, in the thirty-third year of his age.^ His remains were laid to rest at Lavaur, in the cathedral which had so often witnessed his ministrations.* The monument raised to his memory perished at the time of the French Revolution. Not even the site of the grave is known at the present day. The curious epitaph, formed upon the letters of his name, together with the answer supposed to proceed from his spirit, once inscribed upon his tomb, have, however, been preserved for us by the editor of his collected works : ^ " G Grandement fortun6 en toutes entreprises : E Excellent en vertu, sa guide familiere : O Ornd de contenance ensemble douce et fiere : R Riche de toutes parts a un Prelat requises : G Gouvernant deuement les ouailles comprises E En tout son Evesche : du peuple la lumiere : S S'esloignant du forfaict : amy de vie entiere : D De touts costez conneu par ses vertuz exquises : E Estim6 et aim6 des hommes vertueux : ^ Many authorities give the date of Selve's death as 1542. The inscription on his portrait at ViUiers, however (see page 193), and Bunel's letters, place beyond dispute the fact that it occurred in 1541, as stated above. Several of Bunel's letters dated in the summer and latter part of this year enlarge upon the grief caused by the bishop's decease. Bayle's " Dictionary " (Art. Bunel), the " Nouvelle Biographic Gen^rale," etc., also give the year correctly. ^ " Gallia Christiana," loc. cit. ^ " CEuvres de feu reverend Pere en Dieu," etc. 190 GEORGE DE SELVE S S'humiliant a tous, mesmes aux vicieux : E Et orne de tout ce qui accomplit un homme : L L'Evesque de la Vaur cy git, qui a iamais V Vivra, pour ses vertuz, en eternelle paix, E Et pour autant, Passant, n'empesche point son somme. V Esprit dudict de Selve, aux Humains. Ce n'est pas moy, c'est vous, qui n'estes point en vie : Ce n'est pas vous, c'est moy, qui suis exempt de mort : Ny moy, ny vous, mais Dieu est le puissant et fort : Et vous, et moy, a lui avons I'ame asservie." ^ The sorrow caused by the early death of the Bishop of Lavaur M^as deep and sincere. Bunel mourned for him as for a father. " There was never a good or wise man intimately acquainted with thy brother," so he writes to Odet de Selve, " who did not desire to resemble him."^ And to Danes he says, " I did fervently love and most deeply revere him, ... I seem moreover to have noted this, that those who ^ The following is a rough literal translation of the epitaph. It makes no pretence to finish or metre, being merely intended to give the meaning. *' G Greatly fortunate in every enterprise : E Excelling in virtue, his familiar guide : O Of countenance at once gentle and proud : R Rich in all qualities required in a Prelate : G Governing duly the flocks in his Bishopric E Enclosed : the light of the people : S Sin's enemy : of blameless life the friend : D Distinguished on all sides for his surpassing merits : E Esteemed and honoured by virtuous men : S Submissive to all, even to the undeserving : E Endued with all that which becomes a man : L Lieth here the Bishop of la Vaur, who by his V Virtue will live for ever, in peace E Eternal. And thus, O Traveller, disturb not his repose. The spirit of Selve to those on earth : It is not I, but you, who do not live : It is not you, but I, who am exempt from death : Nor I, nor you, but God, is the mighty and the strong : And you, and I, are servants of His Will." ' " Petri Bunelli Epistolse," page 94. To Odet de Selve— Tholosae, prid. Calend. Januar., 1541. (Latin.) 191 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" have attained with unusual speed unto maturity seldom live to an advanced age. For what can years contribute unto men beside moderation, prudence, skill and experience in the most important matters ! All these things this man possessed in so high a degree that first the Senate of Venice, then the Roman Pontiff, and finally the Emperor, to all of whom the King sent him to treat of the weightest matters, marvelled at his surpassing virtue, his great experience in human affairs and his administrative skill." ^ There can be no doubt that Bunel did not exaggerate the general opinion formed of George de Selve by his contemporaries. The reputation of his extraordinary gifts has indeed survived to the present day, and is reflected in every notice that has been printed of his life. A distinguished modern historian has paid a high tribute to the brilliant and precocious talents displayed by him on his various embassies, and records the impression everywhere produced by his learning.^ It would appear that Odet de Selve proposed to Bunel to write a biography of the bishop. Bunel did not decline an undertaking which he himself had been the first to desire. But for some reason he was unable to devote himself to the task at the required moment,^ and the work was left undone. It is to be regretted that posterity should thus have been deprived of a contemporary account of so remarkable a man composed by one to whom it would have been a labour of love. Bunel suggested to Odet, however, that his brother's translations from the Greek, and discourses on the Christian religion, should be carefully preserved, and, at some future time, given to the world.* This was done ; the theological portion constituting those collected works which have been so freely quoted in the course of this sketch. The portrait of George de Selve given in the illustration, page 170, ^ "Petri Bunelli Epistolse," page 95. To Peter Danes. Tholosae, 14 Calend. Sextil, 1 54 1. (Latin.) ' Sismondi, " Hist, des Frangais," vol. xi., page 380. ' Poverty is the probable explanation of Bunel's inability to give his time to the writing of his patron's life. See note 2, page 157. * " Petri Bunelli Epistolse," page 94. To Odet de Selve. 192 GEORGE DE SELVE Is taken from an oil painting in the possession of the Marquis de Selve at the Chateau of VilHers, near La Ferte-Alais, Department of Seine- et-Oise, and is reproduced here by the kind permission of the proprietor. This portrait, which is life-size, on canvas, is the only one known to exist of the Bishop of Lavaur besides that of the "Ambassadors," The coat-of-arms of the Selve family and the following inscription are painted on the background : GEORGE DE SELVE EVEQUE DE LAVAUR AMBASSADEUR A VENISE A ROME ET VERS LEMPEREUR CHARLE QUINT MORT JEUNE A SON DIOCESE EN MDXLI. The picture is posthumous. It forms a pendant to the portrait of Jean-Paul de Selve, Bishop of Saint-Flour (brother of George), and was obviously painted at the same time and by the same hand. Jean- Paul de Selve was only made a bishop comparatively late in the sixteenth century, long after his brother's decease, and, as both prelates are represented in episcopal dress, it is evident that the portrait of George de Selve can only have been painted many years after his death. The style of painting, which is highly mannerized, bears out these indications ; if, indeed, it does not point to a yet later date. The portrait of Jean- Paul de Selve has an inscription identical in orthography, and in shape and size of letters, with that on the portrait of George. If these inscriptions are contemporaneous with the paint- ing, as appears to be the case, both portraits must be posthumous, as the wording records the date of death in each case. The demise of the Bishop of Saint-Flour occurred in 1570. But the painter of these portraits, whoever he was, must have had something to go upon in producing them ; probably, in the case of George, some old likeness which he generalized somewhat freely to bring it into line with the fashion of a later day. Family tradition, moreover, would have preserved the memory of the colouring and general appearance of so distinguished a bishop. 193 cc 1 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Here it is that the interest of the comparison with Holbein's portrait comes in. The Villiers presentment of George de Selve shows the same dark eyes and hair, the same fashion of beard, that we are already acquainted with in the " Ambassadors." The emaciated features of the later picture tell, indeed, of the effect that years of asceticism, combined with feeble health, had wrought upon the frame of the bishop. But, when every allowance is made, the resemblance between the two portraits is sufficient, it is thought, to show that they represent the same individual, and to lend interest to the examination of the Villiers picture. 194 PART IV THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE THE " ARMS OF DEATH " FROM HOLBEIN's "dance of death." THE death's-head BROOCH IN DINTEVILLE S CAP. 'J'o face p. 197. THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE CHAPTER I General Description of the Picture — The Death's-Head — The Dagger — The Order of St. Michael — The Celestial Globe — The Terrestrial Globe ENVENUTO CELLINI, in his "Autobiography," re- cords an interesting conversation which took place between Francis I. and himself. The artist was submitting to his patron a drawing for a fountain at Fontainebleau. " The king began by asking me," says Cellini, " what I had meant to represent by the fine fancy I had embodied in this design, saying ... he knew well I was not like those foolish folk who turn out some- thing with a kind of grace, but put no intention into their performances'' Cellini then addressed himself to the task of exposition, " showing the king that certain of his figures embodied those arts and sciences in which his Majesty took pleasure and which he so generously patronized. On the right hand was to be seen Learning, accompanied by emblems which indicated Philosophy, and her attendant branches of knowledge. " The Art of Design, Music, and Generosity followed in due place. ^ The design thus described is but a typical instance of the love of allegory which characterized the period. It would be idle to multiply examples, for their name is legion. Whether in the shape of personi- fied qualities, such as are seen in the Polisy " carrelage " of 1545, or of inanimate emblems of learning, or of those minor forms of symbolism ^ " Benvenuto Cellini, Life," translated by J. A. Symonds, vol. ii., p. 187. 197 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" expressed by the all-popular " devise," they permeate art in every direc- tion. Classical allegories, resuscitated from their grave of centuries, are met half-way by the heraldic symbolism, the badges and devices called into existence by the wars of chivalry. The various forms of the Dance of Death contribute their peculiar quota to the prevailing ten- dency. North and South foster, each in its own kind and degree, the love of expressing things by riddles, the sense of which, half-hidden and half- revealed, was intended to afford some play to the ingenuity of the observer. This was particularly the case with the *' devise " or emblem now at the height of fashion, especially in France. The first edition of Alciati's " Emblems," which attained an almost incredible popularity, was published at Augsburg in 153 1. But as early as 1522 a collection of one hundred emblems was made by him at Milan and privately cir- culated among his friends.^ Beneath the level of finished elegance which had made Alciati's emblems the classics of their domain, every amateur tried his hand upon these toys of the imagination. Every French nobleman, from the sovereign downwards, had his personal devise^ or more often a series of them. Montmorency, for instance, had a variety of emblems of his own. The publishers' mark is among the few forms of this widely-spread taste which have survived to the present day. One such, that of the printer Gryphius of Lyons, has already enabled us to interpret the emblem placed by the Bishop of Auxerre on the Maison de I'Aumonier at Polisy. This tendency, so frequently exhibited in the art and literature of the sixteenth century, found its way naturally enough into Holbein's picture of the two " Ambassadors." ^ H. Green, " Andrea Alciati and his Book of Emblems," London, 1872. Mr. Green believes that the collection of 1522 was never published, years of laborious research having failed to reveal a single copy. That it should have been reputed published shows, how- ever, the wide fame the emblems at once attained. Pierre Bunel speaks of Alciati's emblems in aletter dated from Venice in 1530 ("Petri Bunelli Epistolae," Lutetiae, 1551). This must have referred to the Milan collection, as the first edition brought out at Augs- burg by Steyner was only published in the following year. 198 THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE It Is curious that while the emblems employed in sacred subjects (t'lose, for instance, by which we recognize certain saints) are a matter of common knowledge, the study of the symbols used In secular art has been to a large extent neglected, and is occasionally treated as almost non-existent. Both branches were In reality expressions of the same spirit — a spirit that it Is absolutely essential to take Into account if we are to obtain any real grasp of the vein of thought Illustrated in Holbein's painting. In the preceding chapters the origin of the picture has been traced, as well as a great part of its subsequent history. The lives of the two msn whose outward and visible forms It has preserved for us have been followed In outline ; and something has been seen of the circumstances wilch helped to mould them to the types presented by the painter. It new remains for us to examine in closer detail the work itself, and to ascertain what traces It bears, beyond the mechanical correspondence of dates and seasons, of the soil from which It sprang. The connection wll be found to be even closer and richer than might have been anticl- psted. The picture reveals Itself, in fact, as the exact logical outcome of the circumstances which produced it. The very first thing which strikes the spectator, the contrast be- tAAeen the swordsman on one side and the gownsman on the other. Is in:ensely characteristic of the era and profession of the two ambassadors. Brantome has an amusing passage which well illustrates this point. Himself a dashing swordsman, he inveighs with energy against the preference exhibited by Francis I. for the employment of "gens de ro3e longue " as ambassadors, rather than of those, in Brant6me's opinion, far superior, " de robe courte."^ He notes especially one ocaslon at Rome when, according to his ideas, the swaggering attitude of a swordsman would have better served the cause of the King of Fiance than the tame verbosity which, in his view, constituted the only weapon of the man of the gown. The latter. In this instance, was doubly represented by the Bishop of Macon and Monsieur de Vely, with both of whom acquaintance has been made in the course of these pages. ^ " Robe longue " was worn by lawyers and ecclesiastics ; " robe courte " by laymen. 199 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" " Une chose voudrois-je bien scavoir," he exclaims, " si . . . il y eust eu quelque brave et vaillant chevalier de I'Ordre du Roy, ou un capitaine de gens- darmes, ou autre valeureux gentilhomme de main et de bonne esp6e et bravache, . . . encor si I'Empereur se fust tant advancd en paroles, s'il n'eust pas songe deux ou trois fois, quand il eust veu I'autre parler a luy et respondre bravement, quelquesfois mettant la main sur le pommeau de I'esp^e, quelquesfois au coste pour faire semblant de prendre sa dague, quelquesfois faire une desmarche brave, quelquesfois tenir une posture altiere, maintenant son bonnet enfonce, maintenant hausse avec sa plume,^ ores au cost6, ores au devant, ores en arri^re, maintenant laisser pencher k demy sa cappe^ comme qui voudroit I'entortiller a Ten tour du bras et tirer I'espee. . . . Au lieu que M. de Mascon et M. de Vely, encor qu'il respondit un peu bien pour son estat et profession, ne pouvoit tenir autre con- tenance, sinon quelquefois avec les doigts rabiller son bonnet carr^, racoustrer, et entendre bien, avec ses deux mains serr6es et les pouces ^tendus, sa cornette de taffetas, retrousser sa grande robbe de velours ou de satin sur les costez ; tout cela ne pouvoit donner la moindre terreur du monde, ny a penser rien de peur dans Tame." . . / So far the pen of the vivacious Brantome. Without necessarily endorsing his reasoning, it may be said that his words form a striking comment on the costumes exhibited to us by Holbein, whose work must now be examined in detail. Description of the Picture. — The Bailly of Troyes stands to the ^ Feathers were not yet as universal in 1533 as they became a few years later, when Brantome wrote. ^ The short cape also came into fashion at a rather later period. ^ Brantome, " Hommes lUustres Frangois," Discours xlv. (Frangois I.), Digression contre les ambassadeurs de robe longue. " One thing I should like much to know ; if there had been present some brave and valiant knight of the King's Order, or a captain of gensdarmes, or any other valorous gentleman with a good sword and bravado, whatever the Emperor might have advanced in words, whether he would not have thought twice on seeing the other speak and reply to him bravely ; sometimes putting his hand on the hilt of his sword, sometimes to his side as though to draw his dagger, sometimes making a defiant gesture, sometimes drawing himself up proudly, now with his cap drawn down, now raised up with its feather, now placed on one side, now forward, now backward, now letting his cape hang half-way as one who is about to twist it round his arm, in order to draw his sword. . . . Instead of which M. de Mascon and M. de Vely, although he {sic) replied fairly well for his calling and profession, could show no other front than to smooth his square cap from time to time with his fingers ; to re-dispose his skull-cap of taffetas, to listen well, with his two hands clasped and his thumbs extended, to gather up the sides of his long gown of velvet or satin : all this could not inspire the smallest terror in the world, nor instil any thought of fear into any soul. . . ." 200 THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE left, the Bishop of Lavaur to the right, of a solid wooden table, of two shelves, which occupies the centre of the painting. Dinteville is richly clad in a slashed doublet of rose-coloured satin, a black jacket and surcoat. The latter is lined with ermine, with which the shoulder-puffs, further adorned with gilt tags, are piped. The oval medallion of the French Order of St. Michael is suspended from a gold chain worn round the neck. With the right hand he grasps a gold dagger, the elaborately-chased sheath of which bears the inscription : AET. svAE 29. A large green and gold silk tassel, of surprisingly fine execution, hangs, with the dagger, from his girdle.^ The hilt of a sword, protruding from the surcoat, while its sheathed point may be seen in the shadow near the ground, shows that Dinteville followed the fashion, then almost universal in France, of wearing both dagger and sword.^ His left arm reposes on the upper shelf of the table : the tapering white fingers droop carelessly over its edge. The whole attitude bespeaks easy self-confidence. On his head a small black cap, worn jauntily on one side, is adorned by a diminutive silver skull placed on a fanciful shield. The features of the Bailly of Troyes abound with vivacity and intelligence. The ample dark hair is cut square on the forehead, and worn full on either side of the face ; the silky moustache and beard are ^ It may be pointed out that Dinteville's costume shows many points of similarity with that of Morette, in the portrait by Holbein at Dresden. ^ Besides the allusion already quoted from Brantome, the literature of the time has many allusions to " la dague et I'epee," the ordinary accoutrement at this period of the French gentleman. In 1530, when the children of France were released from captivity on the payment of their father's ransom, it was ordered that the French and Spanish gentle- men who met on the Bidassoa to effect the exchange, were to be armed only with "dagger and sword," i.e., to wear their every-day dress and not full armour, so as to forestall any possibility of treachery on either side. (Du Bellay, " Memoires," ed. Petitot, vol. ii., page 93.) See also for the mention of the same arms, the "Life of Benvenuto Cellini," translated by Symonds, page 169. In pictures the double weapon is frequently seen : in England more especially among those representing persons who favoured Continental fashions. Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, wears dagger, tassel, and sword in the well-known portrait at Hampton Court. Instances could easily be multiplied. Planch^ ("Cyclopaedia of Costume," vol. ii., page 159) states that Rabelais attributes the origin of this fashion to Spain. 201 D D HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" of a rich chestnut-brown. Brilliant dark eyes, surmounted by strongly marked brows, look straight at the spectator. A tinge of mockery hovers in their glance, as well as in the curves of the small, firmly- closed mouth. Notwithstanding vigour of type, and a certain effect of burliness, partly due to the width of costume then in vogue, signs are not wanting of the delicate health from which the Bailly so fre- quently suffered. The excessive transparency of the warm, brown skin, the almost hectic flush on the high cheek-bones, the refined, sharply- cut eyelids and prominent eyes, all of which are rendered with extraordinary skill by the painter, tell of a constitution the reverse of robust. A marked contrast to Jean de Dinteville, the serious and some- what heavy figure of George de Selve next claims our attention. Dressed in a long gown of chocolate-coloured brocade of large design, lined with brown fur, the Bishop of Lavaur leans his right elbow on a closed book, probably intended to represent some portion of the Holy Scriptures.^ On the leaves of this book, which rests on the top shelf of the double table, are the words : aetatis sve (sic) 25. The square Catholic cap crowns a head that is grave beyond its years. Like his companion, Selve has abundant dark hair and beard. But, in his case, their hue is deeper and colder; and the eyes which look out from beneath the thick dark brows are still and lustreless. Indeed, the contrast of vitality between the two figures is so great as to suggest the fact we already know, that the bishop's stay in England was of limited duration, and that his portrait was probably not completed from life. The table which divides the two friends is covered by a Turkish cloth and is littered with musical and mathematical instruments. A celestial globe, placed near Dinteville, a sundial, a decagon, and other geometrical paraphernalia, are scattered on the upper shelf. The lower one is occupied by a terrestrial globe ; a lute with a broken string (the case of which is seen beneath the table) ; an open German hymn- book, in which words and music are plainly legible ; a German book of ^ It was a common practice to represent ecclesiastics leaning on or holding a book ; sometimes inscribed to show it was the Bible or other work connected with religion. 202 THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE arithmetic, kept open by a square ; a pair of compasses, and some flutes. The background of the picture is formed by a curtain of green damask, which half-conceals a small silver Crucifix, hung high up in the left-hand corner. The floor is a very beautiful one of coloured mosaic. But the most striking feature of all this remarkable mis e-en- scene is a large oval object placed slanting-wise in the very centre of the fore- ground. Close examination reveals this to be a skull, or Death's-head, distorted by reflection in a curved mirror.^ The threads of this complex web are woven into each other with astonishing ingenuity. A few of the more interesting objects shall now be described separately, which will pave the way for some account of their significance in combination. The Death's-head may serve as a starting-point ; the conspicuous position assigned to it at once revealing its importance. The Death's-Head. — It has been pointed out by more than one observer, beginning with the late Dr. Wornum,^ that the composition of the "Ambassadors" bears striking resemblance to one of Holbein's illustrations of the " Dance of Death." The design in question is the last of the series, and is entitled "Die Wapen des Thotss" ("The Arms of Death ").^ On either side of a central erection culminating in an hour-glass and in a pair of skeleton arms in the act of projecting a huge stone, stand a man and a woman, symbolical no doubt of human life.^ In the foreground, corresponding exactly to the position occupied by the distorted skull of the " Ambassadors," is a Death's-head, dis- played on a shield which resembles in general character the mount of the silver skull which Dinteville wears in his cap. The repetition of the Death's-head twice over in the picture of the " Ambassadors," the singular resemblance of the composition to the ^ It resumes normal proportions when viewed downwards from the right-hand side of the picture. ^ " Some Account of the Life and Works of Hans Holbein." By Ralph Nicholson Wornum, London, 1867, p. 180. ' See illustration, page 196. * And not, as Dr. Woltmann, with singular absence of imagination, suggests, Holbein and his wife ! ("Holbein und seine Zeit," 2nd German edition, vol. i., p. 278.) 203 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" design just described, the name borne by the latter, " The Arms of Death," solve at least one of the mysteries of the picture. Dinteville had apparently made acquaintance in England with the " Dance of Death " series, and had adopted the skull or Death's-head — " die Wapen des Thotss " — as his personal badge or devise. It can hardly be doubted that this is the true explanation of the repeated symbols of Death that appear in the picture. Moreover, it may be remembered that in one of the early sets of the " Dance of Death," which Dinteville may have seen, the design called " die Wapen des Thotss" bears the alternative inscription: " Gedenck das end" — memento mori.^ The gloomy thought, perhaps, coincided with the ambassador's mood. He was often ill. The vision of Death hovered constantly before his eyes. He declares to his brother that he is " the most melancholy ambassador that ever was seen," ^ and implores the Bishop of Paris to procure his recall lest he leave in this country " his skin and his bones." ^ The murder of Merveilles* at Milan probably accentuated his sinister forebodings and added to them the anticipation of a speedy renewal of war. Under such circumstances the choice of the '* Arms of Death " for his devise seems but a natural outcome of his frame of mind. Holbein's " Dance of Death " was first published at Lyons in 1538. The composition of the series belongs, however, to a much earlier date, and was in fact completed before Holbein left Basle in 1526. The death of the engraver, Hans Lutzelburger, which occurred in the same year, long delayed publication. But Holbein no doubt possessed proofs of the engravings produced up to that period, several sets of which still exist.^ There is therefore no difficulty in supposing that Dinteville saw them when he was in England in 1533. " The device," says a well-known writer on the subject,^ " was ^ Woltmann, "Holbein," vol. i., p. 279. ^ See ante, page 80. ^ Page 90. * Page 91. " At the British Museum, Paris, Berlin, etc. See Woltmann, " Holbein," vol. i., chap, xii., and vol. ii., pp. 174-179. " Mrs. Bury Palliser, " Historic Devices, Badges, and War-cries," page 4. 204 THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE assumed for the purpose of mystification — was, in fact, an ingenious expression of some particular conceit of the wearer containing a hidden meaning." It was not to be " so plain as to be understood by all, nor so obscure as to require a sphinx to interpret." In exact accordance with the conditions thus laid down, the large Death's-head in the picture of the " Ambassadors " is so ingeniously contrived that the real significance is not apparent until the spectator has discovered the proper spot from which to look at it. Then it stands revealed, at once and incontrovertibly. The very shadow reflected in the glass has been painted in with the skull that throws it : thus adding to the mystification by making this shadow appear to fall in a different direction from the others of the picture. The painted reflection is indeed but the shadow of the shadow of Death ; and, as such, not subject to the laws which govern things of solid substance. It is, in fact, an emblem ; not a reality. The Dagger. — Richly chased in arabesque fruits and foliage springing from the head and trunk of a satyr who occupies the centre of the sheath, the gold dagger clasped in Dinteville's right hand is a highly characteristic specimen of Holbein's design. On the sheath, just above the bold and clear inscription : aet. SVAE 29, there is a confused appearance of further minute lettering. Although difficult or impossible to decipher now, it seems likely from their position and shape that these parallel strokes were once legible characters.' Ornament of this form and in this place would be meaningless. Properly speaking, a devise was composed of two parts, emblem and motto ; and here, if anywhere, the verbal half of the devise ^ The credit of having pointed this out belongs to Mr. C. L. Eastlake, late Keeper of the National Gallery. Mr. Eastlake thought he could discern the letters ascu, or asqu, preceded by a doubtful h. The writer confesses to inability to decipher these letters ; but fully appreciates the value of the suggestion that some inscription was intended. An alternative reading to that suggested in the text would be that the lettering represents the name or initials of the goldsmith who wrought the sheath (supposing the design to have been actually executed). It was not unusual for armourers to sign any fine piece of work. In this case the letters might possibly be brought into relation with Hans von Antwerpen, a goldsmith residing in London, who had sat to Holbein in 1532, and is known to have executed some of his designs. 205 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" of the Death's-head would naturally be sought, as it was a common practice to introduce a motto upon some part of a weapon. Further, such a motto would be likely to appear in a small and, probably, much abbreviated form, in accordance with the rule that the motif oi a device should be concealed as deeply as possible. In addition to abbreviation, a barbaric compound of more than one language occasionally figures as the motto of a dagger, intentionally increasing the difficulties of interpretation. In the museum at Basle,^ there is a design after Holbein for the sheath of such a weapon, which, on a space corresponding to that which, on Dinteville's dagger, shows his age, bears the mysterious inscription : morqunot. It has been suggested that this strange conglomeration might be resolved into: mokt^ c^^/iescat NOT ; a hotch-potch of Latin and German which may be translated : " Death stills all ills." Precedents are not wanting in favour of a polyglot reading of this kind. In this instance the meaning, if correct, would gain satirical point by its position on a death-dealing weapon. Something of this kind, perhaps even this very motto in further abbreviated form, may once have been expressed by the miniature strokes on the sheath of Dinteville's dagger. The two German books open before him bring the supposed German ending of the motto within the range of possibility. This reading is, however, purely hypothetical ; though there is a strong inherent probability that the opening letters mor of the Basle design, contain an allusion to Death. It is not necessary, however, to pin our faith to any particular motto. The number of adages that referred to Death was very large. The often-repeated " Disce mori " (Learn to die) was the motto of Sadoleto, Bishop of Carpentras, whose acquaintance has been made as the friend of George de Selve. " La Mort n'y mord pas " was that of the poet Clement Marot. Innumerable other instances might be ^ Dr. Daniel Burckhardt, director of the Museum, has no doubt that this drawing, though not an original, is copied from one by Holbein, of whose style it indeed bears every mark. The writer is indebted to Dr. Burckhardt's kindness for all the facts connected with this design. It is not the original of the dagger in the " Ambassadors," as a glance at the illustration on the opposite page will show ; but it furnishes an interesting point of com- parison with the one in question. 206 DINTEVILLES DAGGER-SHEATH FROM THE PICTURE OF THE "AMBASSADORS." DESIGN FOR A DAGGER-SHEATH AFTER HOLHEIN, AT THE MUSEUM OF BASLE. To face p. 206. THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE quoted. The best known of them all, the familiar " Memento mori," was, as has been seen, inscribed, in one set of engravings, over " The Arms of Death " ; and through this circumstance comes into special consideration here. The Order of St. Michael. — This Order was founded in 1469 by Louis XL, and was composed of thirty-six gentlemen with the sovereign for their perpetual head. It was called the " Ordre du Roi," and was a coveted distinction for nearly a century after being instituted. The Order of St. Michael was, in fact, the French equivalent of the Order of the Garter in England, and of the Fleece in Spain. Through- out the reign of Francis L, and for some time subsequently, it stood alone as the one great order of France.^ The roll of the knights was unfortunately destroyed during the French Revolution. But the names of a good many of those admitted to the order under Francis I. and his predecessors can be gathered from the pages of contemporary literature, and show them invariably to have been persons in high office or of distinguished family. The Grand Collar of the order, from which was suspended the image of the Archangel, was composed of cockle-shells linked together by a complicated system of chain-work.'^ On certain occasions, carefully enumerated in the statutes, the knights were, however, exempted from the obligation of wearing the Collar. These exceptions shall be quoted in the words of the statutes. ^ In 1560, Frangois II., shortly before his death, bestowed the Order of St. Michael simultaneously on eighteen gentlemen, at the instigation of the House of Guise. Down to the death of Henri II., the royal order had always been held in very great esteem, the statutes limiting the number of knights to thirty-six. Continuing the precedent of Frangois II., Charles IX. admitted so many to the order that it became despised and neglected. (See " Memoires de Castelnau," with the additions by Le Laboureur, vol. i., pages 11 and 355.) It was not till 1578 that Henri III, founded the Order of the Holy Ghost in consequence of the deterioration of that of St. Michael. The members nominated to the new order were received knights of St. Michael on the eve of their installation as knights of the Holy Ghost. Hence they were called " Chevaliers des Ordres du Roi." (Lalanne, " Diet. Hist, de la France.") ^ Francis I. slightly altered the original arrangement of the connecting chain to make it simulate the rope of the Cordeliers, in allusion to his patron, St. Francis. 207 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" After laying down the rule respecting the Grand Collar, article iii. continues : ^ "... except^ en armes, ou il suffira seulement porter ledict imaige saint Michel pendant a une chainette d'or ou lacet de soye, qui ainsi faire le vouldra. Et pareillement quand ledict Souverain ou I'un desdicts Chevaliers iront par pays ou seront en leurs maisons a privee, mesmes en chasse, ou en autres lieux ou ils n'auront aucune compagnie ou assembl^e de gens d'estat, ne seront point astrains de porter ledict Grand ColHer, fors seulement ledict imaige de I'Ordre en la fagon que diet est." ^ It will be noted how precisely Holbein's representation of the Order coincides with the rules laid down in this extract for the " Petit Ordre," which Dinteville wears in the picture. This " Petit Ordre," as it was called in opposition to the " Grand Ordre" with the Collar of scallop-shells, was worn daily by the knights. They were forbidden to part with the Order, or to discard its use in one of the two forms, on any pretence whatever, even were it to save their lives. ^ The treatment of the pendant image of the saint came to vary considerably as time went on. When worn with the Collar, it was occasionally a clear-cut figure, without encircling rim, similar to the English " George." But the oval medallion of gold depicted by Holbein was no doubt the usual and more correct form. It is to be ^ "Excepting under arms, when it will suffice to wear only the said image of St. Michael suspended from a small gold chain or silk lace, whoever pleases to do so. And similarly when the said sovereign or one of the said knights shall be travelling, or at their houses in private, or hunting, or in other places where there is no company or considerable assembly, they shall not be obliged to wear the said Grand Collar, but only the said image of the Order, in the manner appointed." ^ "Statuts de I'Grdre de St. Michel," Imprimerie Royale, 1725, article iii. This edition of the statutes was drawn up, as the preface informs us, by collation of all copies then available, whether printed or manuscript. Excepting in one or two trifling verbal details, these statutes are identical, as the writer has proved by comparison, with those contained in the " Livre des Ordonnances des chevaliers de I'ordre du treschrestien roy de france Loys XI'' a I'honneur de sainct Michel," printed at Paris, in 1512, by Guillaume Eustace. The later edition has been quoted in the text only for the sake of the more modern orthography. ' Brantome, " Hommes Illustres frangais," Discours Ixxxii., art. v., M. de Tavannes. —"Statuts de I'Grdre de St. Michel," art. iv. 208 THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE seen in innumerable French portraits of about this date. Several instances may be found in the Louvre. In at least one of these — the portrait of Francis I., attributed to Clouet^ — the medallion, which here has a black enamel rim, is perci a jour in similar fashion to that worn by the Bailly of Troyes. Another good example, because within a short time contemporary with the "Ambassadors,"^ is seen in the portrait of Alfonso L d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, by Battista Dossi, which now hangs in the Gallery at Modena. Here the medallion of the order is wholly wrought in French colours, blue and gold. The border of the oval is of leaf-pattern worked in gold ; while the figures, also in gold, of the Archangel and prostrate dragon are relieved upon a background of bright blue enamel. Instances of these variations might, however, be multiplied in- definitely. Within certain general limits, a good deal of liberty was permitted to the designer. The forms of Archangel and fiend vary in every fresh instance. The one essential point was that the image should tell its story : that being given, individual taste settled the rest. Nothing could be more fallacious than to apply the standards of uniformity derived from an age of machine-work to the free fancy and unfettered pencil of the sixteenth century.^ The Celestial Globe. ^ — It has been a matter of some discussion whether or not this globe is meant to record an astrological observation. To settle the point, a photograph was submitted to the Astronomer Royal, who kindly gave as his opinion that it appeared to represent an ordinary celestial globe, which would also be used for astrological purposes, and ^ No. 126. It is No. 109 in the Catalogue of the Louvre by M. Fr^d^ric Villot (1880). ^ Alfonso I. died in 1534; the portrait cannot therefore have been substantially later in date than the "Ambassadors." He was the father of Ercole d'Este, who in 1527 married Renee of France. ^ There are two interesting sketches by Holbein, for the Order of St. Michael, in the Basle Museum. They show far more freedom and spirit than the St. Michael of the "Ambassadors." Possibly the latter was more or less a copy from the actual medallion worn by Dinteville ; or it was put in by an assistant. ' See illustration, page 210. 209 E E HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" in much the same way. It would therefore be impracticable to tell from the picture whether an astrological, or simply an astronomical observation were intended. Astrology apart, however, the central position awarded to " Galacia," the cock, a very ancient device of France, appears to suggest a secondary meaning of another kind. The furious attitude of the game-bird, apparently directed against the falling and flying vultures, would surely be unnecessary, supposing a mere constellation to be represented. It seems to symbolize the onslaught of France upon her foes, and their ultimate downfall and flight. The celestial globe also stands here for Astronomy as one of the Seven Liberal Arts. It is not known from what original this globe was copied. The Terrestrial Globe.^ — Much interest attaches to this instru- ment both on its own account and for its special relations with Dinteville's life and career. From the point of view of the geographer it is interesting to find that this hand-globe of small dimensions is a facsimile in size and contours of that discovered in 1885 by the late Mr. Henry Stevens of Vermont.^ As such, it affords a second example of a globe of which only Mr. Stevens' copy had hitherto been known to exist. The gores purchased by him — for the globe was not found in finished form — gave rise to a lively dispute among special students of the subject. Mr. Stevens at once identified his find as the lost globe of Johann Schoner of 1523. This view was maintained and further elaborated by the late Mr. C. H. Coote of the British Museum, who, on the death, in 1886, of Mr. Henry Stevens, edited that gentleman's notes on the subject, and added to them a valuable introduction.^ 1 Compare illustrations, page 214. The gores found by Mr. Stevens are reproduced here by kind permission of Messrs. Henry Stevens, Son and Stiles. ■^ See the writer's letter to the "Academy," February 6th, 1892. The Stevens globe is now the property of Mr. Kalbfleisch of New York. * "Johann Schoner. A reproduction of his globe of 1523, long lost ... By Henry Stevens of Vermont . . . Edited by C. H. Coote. London, 1888." Schoner was a dis- tinguished mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. Born in 1477 at Carlstadt, his 210 CELESTIAL GLOBE, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE "AMBASSADORS. (Reduced in scale.) THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE The attribution to Schoner was not, however, allowed to pass unchallenged. Among other competent geographers who disputed the claim, Baron Nordenskiold and, in his wake, Mr. Justin Winsor,^ asserted their conviction that the gores in question were those of a spurious Hartmann globe dating from about 1540. The discovery that it was painted by Holbein in 1533 of course put an end to this theory. The date of the production of this globe is thus narrowed to a possible range of about ten years. The track of the first circumnaviga- tion of the world by the Spaniards, laid down upon it, proves that it cannot have been designed until after the return of that expedition in 1522. The fact of its appearance in Holbein's "Ambassadors" shows that it must have been published before 1533. All authorities agree in the opinion that this globe was made at Nuremberg. Amongst other indications, the name of that city is marked conspicuously in the centre of Europe, and rendered with equal emphasis by Holbein. A curious feature is the line of demarcation fixed by Pope Alexander VI, to divide the Spanish and Portuguese possessions of the new world. This line is explained in the original globe and in its copy by Holbein by the words : " Linea Divisionis Castelloru et Portugallen." Two little ships are to be seen on the Nuremberg gores. They name is chiefly associated with Nuremberg, where, at various intervals, he spent long periods of his life. He corresponded with Copernicus; and Melanchthon contributed prefaces to several of his books. The latter, which are mainly concerned with astronomy i,nd mathematics, and the then kindred subjects of astrology and medicine, also include treatises on the various celestial and terrestrial globes of which he was the author. Four of Schoner's earth-globes, if we include that under consideration, have come down to the present day. A specimen of the earliest, dated 1515, is preserved at Frankfort; of the fecond (1520) in the Germanic Museum at Nuremberg; the gores found by Mr. Stevens ire supposed to represent the third (1523); and the fourth (1534) may be seen in the Grand-Ducal Library at Weimar. Schoner died in 1547. Further information may be bund, if desired, in the interesting book named above. ^ See Mr. Coote's article on Maximilianus Transylvanus, "Athenaeum," July i6th, ;892. 211 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" show the course of Magellan's voyage, the line of which is traced all round the world. These two ships are reproduced by Holbein, one north, one south of the Equator, in about the same positions as those marked on the gores. But the line of circumnavigation is omitted, because Magellan's voyage was not the point to which it was, in this case, intended to draw attention, nor the object for which the globe was depicted. A careful comparison shows that the two globes have about a hundred names in common : identical save for one or two trifling variations of orthography. A more striking divergence is seen in a number of names inserted in Holbein's globe, which are not found upon the original. These additions are all in Europe, and principally in France and Spain. The writer is informed on highly competent authority ^ that no professional map-maker would have crowded this quantity of names on to a hand- globe of small dimensions. All the extra words must have been added by an amateur for some special reason. The truth of this observation is at once made manifest by the fact that " Polisy," the name of Dinteville's Chateau in Burgundy, is amongst the places marked in France. A further curious point makes it doubly clear that the object was to invite the spectator's attention to certain centres in Europe of peculiar interest to the ambassador. The position of the globe in the picture is such, handle downwards, that the names marked upon it, if copied exactly from the model, would naturally appear wrong side up. This is, in fact, the case with the large continent of " Affrica," which had no con- nection with the purposes in view. But, in the continent of Europe, the names are placed by Holbein in reversed position, so as to be easily legible.^ The places added, no doubt on Dinteville's initiative, are nearly ' The late Mr. C. H. Coote, British Museum. ^ In the illustrations, p. 214, to facilitate comparison with the Stevens' globe, Holbein's copy has been placed in the same position as the original gores. To see Holbein's globe as it is placed in the picture and described above, this book must be turned round, so as to present the globe handle downwards. 212 THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE twenty in number. They consist of five provinces ^ and four towns,^ in- cluding Polisy, inserted in France ; four provinces in Spain,^ two cities in Italy ; * Sinus Adriaticus ; and the telling names, Servia, Polonia, and Saxonia. The additions are precisely such as an acquaintance with Dinteville's life and career would lead us to look for. France is naturally the country where he has chiefly increased their number. His native Burgundy ; his home at Polisy ; Paris and Lyons, where he had spent so much of his life at Court ; Bayonne, the seat of many important negotiations during the troubles with Spain ; Brittany, recently incorporated with the French Crown ; Languedoc, of which his cousin and protector Montmorency was the Governor : these are amongst the first names we should expect to find, and do find, inserted. Spain ranks second in the proportion of places added — a fact sufficiently explained by the relations of France with Charles V., which dominated the whole tenour of her diplomacy. Moreover, Spain was familiar ground to Dinteville's brothers, if not to himself. Vanlay had been employed to carry despatches between France and Spain during the negotiations which preceded the Treaty of Madrid. Deschenetz had been brought up in the household of Henry, Count of Nassau, at the Spanish Court.^ Louis de Dinteville had been sent thither as ambassador by the Knights of St. John.^ Here then were links enough to give that country a prominence second only to France in the estima- tion of the Bailly of Troyes. But it was probably the political aspect which he chiefly intended to emphasize. The key to Dinteville's additions to the globe, outside France, is to be found in the course of French diplomacy between 1525 and 1533. Rome, placed by her great position in the forefront of public affairs, seems an addition natural enough to the map of Italy. The recent ^ Pritann (Britannia)., Norma . . ia., Avern., Burgund., Languedoc. ^ Paris, Leon, Baion, Polisy. The rivers Seine and Rhone are also laid down by Holbein, but left unnamed, probably through lack of space. ^ Castil., Aragon., Navar., Grana. * Roma, Genua. " See page 52, note 2. " Page 54. 213 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" mission of the Bishop of Auxerre to the Holy See gave a touch of per- sonal interest to the political importance of the name/ Genoa, the second city added to Italy, was still claimed by the King of France as his right- ful possession and included in his titles. Venice, the great emporium of South German commerce with the East, was already marked on the Nuremberg globe. Closely allied with France, the city of the Lagoons was the port through which all her secret negotiations with the Turk were conducted. Thence the various emissaries despatched by the French King traversed the Adriatic to reach the court of Solyman. It is therefore not surprising to find that Dinteville has included Sinus Adriaticus in his list of additions, and that Servia, whose capital, Belgrade, had been conquered by the ally of France, Solyman H., finds a conspicuous place among the countries of Southern Europe. Con- stantinople was already marked on the model globe. Polonia and Saxonia are the two additions which remain to be considered. These names represent two further powers allied with France : Sigismund, King of Poland, and the Protestant princes of Germany, at whose head stood the Elector of Saxony. Thus we have in Dinteville's additions to the globe a kind of epitome of the foreign relations of F'rance, in the period which immediately preceded the creation of the picture. It will presently be seen that the Lutheran Hymn-book, placed near the Bishop of Lavaur, is equally symbolical of her religious diplomacy. The interpretation thus arrived at is the necessary corollary of the choice of names made by the Bailly for insertion upon the globe. To imagine those additions to be the result of pure chance would be to suppose an effect without a cause. The single fact among them of the word **Polisy" forbids such an idea. If it was worth while to insert them at all, they must have been the result of some principle of selection : a mere globe could have been simply copied from the model. The following is a complete list of the names marked, in the given hemisphere, on either globe. Dinteville's additions have been printed ' Page 55. 214 a ■I TERRESTRIAL GLOBE, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE " AMBASSADORS. (Reduced in scale.) Hi GORES OF THE NUREMBERG GLOBE COPIED BY HOLBEIN. To face p. 214. THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE in italic type, for convenience of comparison. In a few instances, where the surface of the picture has been sHghtly damaged, portions of names have become obliterated ; but in all cases where the words do not form part of Dinteville's additions, the parent globe supplies the defective letters. List of Names on the Stevens Globe. List of Names on Insula Espaliola a . sp Antiglie Insule Antiglie Insul . . Accores Accores Medera Medera Canarie Canarie S. Anthoni S. Anthoni S. Jacobi S. Jacobi Insule Hesperide Insule Hesperidu S. Thome S. Thome Brisilici terra Brisilici R. Islandia Isl Europa Europa Angli Angli Scocia Scocia Ibernia Ibernia Lisibono Portugal Hispania Hispania Castil Aragon Navar Grana Francia Francia Pritann Norma . . ia Avern Burgund Languedoc P . . ris Leon Polisy ' Baion ' The S in Polisy i s partially effaced. 21 5 .1 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" List of Names on the Stevens Globe List of Names on Holbein's Globe {continued) : {continued) : Italia Italia Roma Venetia Venecie Genua Maiorica Maiorica Minorica Minorica Corsica Corsica Sardinia Sardinia Sicilia Sicilia Creta Creta Rodis Rodis Cipr^ Cipra Germania Germania Nureberga Nureberga Saxonia Polonia Servia Costati Costati Prussia Prussia Dacia Dacia Russia Russia Grecia Greci Dalma Dalmacia Cremani Cremania Norbegia Norbegia Scania Scania Svetia Svetia Lappia Lappia Russia (second time) Russia (second time) Deserts magnu Desertii m . . . . Naymano rum reg: N Livonia Livonia Moscovia Moscovia Bulgaria Bulgaria Tartaria Cumanie Tartaria Cumanie Bisermino um terra Bisermino um terra Tartaria Corasine Tartari . . Corasine Tartaria Torqueste Tartaria Tor . . ues . . e Cambera C . . m . . . . 2l6 THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE List of Names on the Stevens Globe {continued) : Persaru reg: Chaldea Nagai Iberia Turchia Armenia Georgia Mosalia Mesopotamia Siria Jerosolima Arabia Sterilis °Mecha Arabia Felix et Leaman Aden Affrica Barbaria Fessa Getulia Senega C. Viride Ginoia C. de palmis Libya Interior Libya desertum Marmarica Egipt^ Alexa Habesch presbyter Joannes ^ Ethiopia Ethiopia sub Egipt^ Seyla Orguene Regnu MelH regnu Nubie regnu Rio de Camareos Rio de Gaban Angra das Aldas List of Names on Holbein's Globe {continued) : PersarS Reg . . Chaldea Nagai Iberia Turchia Armenia Georgia Mosalia Mesopotamia Syria Jerosolima Arabia Sterilis "M L . . man Aden Affrica Barbaria Fessa Getulia Senega C. Viride Ginoia C. di Palmis Libia Interior Libie Desertum Marmarica Egipt^ Alexa Habesch . . esbiter . . . nnes ^ Ethiopia Ethiopia sub Egipt' ...la Orguene Regnu Melli Regnu Nubi . . Regnu Rio de Camareos Rio de G . . . . An I See Appendix B. 217 FF / CHAPTER II The Lutheran Hymn- Book — The Book of Arithmetic — The Geometrical Instruments — The Mosaic Pavement — The Lute — The Seven Liberal Arts — The Silver Crucifix — Occult Science — Conclusion HE Lutheran Hymn- Book. — The introduction of a German Hymn-book on the lower shelf of the table, near George de Selve, tends to confirm the belief that the Bishop of Lavaur had already been sent to Germany in a diplomatic capacity as early as 1529, and had there probably attended the Diet of Spires.^ Certainly, no two hymns could better exemplify his views regarding religious reunion than those selected in the picture. On the left-hand page is seen the " Veni Creator Spiritus " in Luther's German rendering : on the right, Luther's " Shortened Version of the Ten Commandments."^ Both these hymns are to be found in Johann Walther's " Geyst- liche Gesangbiichlein," published at Wittemberg in 1524.^ This, the first Lutheran Hymn-book containing music as well as words which was used in the Reformed Churches of Germany, was the basis of numerous later editions, chiefly published in South Germany. A ^ See ante^ page 151. ^ See illustration, page 218. ' They are there respectively numbered II. and XIX. In both cases the words in the form given are due to Luther : the first hymn being his translation of the ancient "Veni Creator," the second his paraphrase of the Ten Commandments. The latter first received the title given to it by him, "Die zehen Gebot kiirtzer gefasst" ("A shortened Version of the Ten Commandments"), in the Wittemberg "Gesangbuch" of 1529. In Walther's " Gesangbuch " it is simply numbered " XIX." 219 m HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" distinguishing mark of Walther's " Gesangbuch," in which it is fol- lowed by all these South German reproductions, is the preservation of the old word "Glast,"^ instead of the more modern "Glantz," in the hymn " Kom Heiliger Geyst." This feature may be observed in Holbein's copy. A slight difference in the termination of each verse suggests that the example he had before him may have belonged to one of the later editions referred to above. If so, that edition must have followed the original very closely; for the actual number XIX. placed by Walther over the second hymn, " Mensch wiltu leben seliglich," is copied into the picture. Either by inadvertence, or because the first hymn, " Kom Heiliger Geyst," was here intended to figure only as an antiphon,^ the number is however placed by the painter over " Kom Heiliger Geyst," instead of over " Mensch wiltu." The following is the exact text of the two hymns, as given in the Chorale-book of the " Ambassadors " : XIX. KOm Heiliger Geyst Herregott erfiill mit Deiner gnaden gut Deiner gleubge Hertz mut un sin dein brustig lib entzud in ihn. O Herr durch Deines lichtes glast zu dem glaube versamlet hast das volck aller Welt zunge [das sey] dir Herzu lob gesungen gesungen. ^ Brightness, brilliancy. ^ The first strophe of the "Veni Creator" was, in fact, used as an antiphon in the Roman Catholic Church. (Antiphon: "A short piece of plain song introduced before a psalm or canticle, to the tone of which it corresponds, while the words are selected so as specially to illustrate and enforce the evangelical or prophetic meaning of the text." — Grove's "Dictionary of Music and Musicians.") The suggestion that an antiphon was intended in the picture gains some force from the fact that while a faint " D . . ."is seen beneath the second hymn (" Mensch wiltu "), pointing to the commencement of the second verse (" Dein Gott allein und Herr bin ich," representing the First Command- ment), no second verse is indicated in the case of "Kom Heiliger Geyst," which is limited to one strophe. The opening of the " Veni Creator " was actually printed as an antiphon in the "Baseler Plenarium" of the year 15 14, beneath a woodcut, by Hans Scheuffelin, representing the Descent of the Holy Ghost. (Winterfeld, " Dr. Martin Luther's deutsche Geistliche Lieder," Leipzig, 1840.) 220 rftata THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE [On the opposite page :] Mensch wiltu leben seliglich und bei Gott bliben e[wiglich] Soltu halten die zehen gebot die uns gebeut unser Gott unser [Gott] D[ein] . . . ^ Coming now to the setting of the two hymns, it is to be remarked that while Walther preserved the old and familiar melody of " Kom Heiliger Geyst," the music of "Mensch wiltu leben selighch" first appeared in the "Gesangbuch" of 1 524.^ The melody of the former hymn is in the treble part, that of the second in the tenor. As the book copied in Holbein's picture is a tenor part-book, only the counterpoint sung by that voice is found to the hymn " Kom Heiliger Geyst" ; while, to the second hymn, the melody is given, which in this instance resided in the tenor.^ The reader who has followed the career of the Bishop of Lavaur through the earlier pages of this volume will have seen how large a part the hope of religious reunion between the Roman Catholic and Reformed Churches played in his life. To find means to promote that end was the object of his most earnest thought ; to see it accom- plished, the dearest wish of his heart. The healing of the schism, so the bishop held, could only be sought in a better endeavour, under ^ The words between brackets, where the surface of the panel has been injured, are suppliedfrom Winterfeld, "Dr. Martin Luther's deutschegeisthcheLieder" (Leipzig, 1840), where Walther's hymns are reproduced. The only exception is in the last line of the second hymn, where the repetition of the word " Gott " is obviously intended. In Walther's "Gesangbuch," in place of the repetitions seen above, " Halleluia " is twice sung at the end of " Kom Heiliger Geyst," and " Kyrioleis " once at the conclusion of the first verse of " Mensch wiltu." (A stroke over a letter implies a suppressed consonant. Thus, for " gleubge " read "gleubgen"; for "brustig," "brunstig"; for "un," "und," and so on.) For an English rendering of the first hymn the reader is referred to the numerous trans- lations of the " Veni Creator," all of which give the sense generally, not literally. The second hymn is a paraphrase of the Ten Commandments, opening with an admonition to obey the behests they contain. ^ Winterfeld, " Dr. Martin Luther's Geistliche Lieder." ^ See Mr. Barclay Squires' letter to the "Times," November 14, 1891. The informa- tion there given is based upon Dr. Kade's reprint of Walther's " Gesangbuch." 221 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" guidance from above, to live in conformity with the divine teaching. When therefore it is found that the two hymns chosen in Holbein's picture to emphasize this point are "Come, Holy Ghost" and the " Ten Commandments," it is evident that a more telling selection could not have been made. Had a Latin text of the "Veni Creator" and the Command- ments been chosen, in accordance with the use of the Roman Catholic Church, they would have conveyed nothing to the spectator of the Lutheran schism and of efforts towards reunion. But the German version at once emphasizes the desired point. The doctrine expressed by these two hymns belonged, moreover, to all Christian bodies, orthodox or the reverse. They therefore appeared singularly fitted to furnish the common ground so much desired. The " Veni Creator Spiritus" was (and still is) the great hymn of Christendom for all specially solemn occasions. Selve must have heard it on the opening day of the Diet of Spires. Soon he would again listen to its strains, on the occasion of his own consecration as bishop.^ In the Lutheran churches it was sung on all Sundays and Festivals.^ Thus, no hymn had a more universal character. It has been plausibly suggested that some of the German objects introduced into the picture may have been a loan from Nicolas Kratzer, the astronomer. In the present instance, however, this idea does not commend itself as probable. There does not seem any reason to suppose that Kratzer, an orthodox Catholic, who had no professional relationship with theology, was the possessor of a collection of Lutheran hymns. If not the property of the Bishop of Lavaur, the book may easily have belonged to Cranmer. Official ties had brought him into contact with the Bailly of Troyes ; ^ while the connections of the arch- ' It will be recollected that this hymn still forms part of the services of the Church of England for the Ordering of Priests and for the Consecration of Bishops. ^ Spangenberg's " Kirchengesenge," Magdeburg, 1545; quoted by Winterfeld, " Der Evangelische Kirchengesang," p. 306. ^ " Je receuz ces jours passez voz lettres du premier mars. . . . J'ay aussy eu le pacquet de celles que m'escripvoit Mons'" I'Archevesque de Cantorberi auxquelles je faiz response." — Claude Dodieu, Sieur de Vely, French ambassador with the Emperor, to the Bailly of 222 THE DETAILS OF THE PICTURE bishop with the Protestants of South Germany are well known.^ But it is not necessary to push the question further, for the channels were multitudinous, both within and without the Steelyard, through which the Hymn-book might have been obtained. The Book of Arithmetic. — If a satisfactory reason is forthcoming for the representation of the Hymn-book in the German tongue, what can be said to account for the fact that the book of Arithmetic is couched in the same language ? The question brings the reader to one of the collective meanings of the picture. The language of this book, significantly kept open by a square, was probably a matter of indifference, being introduced, so far as can be seen, only to symbolize Arithmetic as one of the Seven Liberal Arts. The interest centred on the numbers, not on the nationality of the book. Any well-known manual of arithmetic, in any language, would have attained this object. Some separate significance, which it has not been possible to fathom, may of course attach to the book beyond the one here specified ; many of the objects of the mise-en-scene being made to do duty two or three times over, first singly, and then in varied combina- tion. It may be noted also that the Bailly of Troyes shared, to the fullest extent, the love of his time and country for setting such riddles deep. The whole picture is conceived in that spirit of the devise which was ** assumed for the purpose of mystification " and contained " a hidden meaning." If the use of the German language, with which both ambassadors were probably familiar, would complicate the problem of interpretation, Dinteville would have been likely to prefer it for that very reason. Troyes. From Paris, 2nd May, 1533. (Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coll. Dupuy, vol. 263, f. 96.) — Throughout the period of Henry VIII.'s divorce and re-marriage with Anne Boleyn Cranmer had probably much to do with the Frenchmen. It will be remembered that in the procession for Anne Boleyn's coronation he and Dinteville rode side by side. (See ante, page 85.) ^ Cranmer's second wife, whom he married in Germany in 1532, the year before he became Archbishop of Canterbury, was the daughter of Osiander, the Reformer. 223 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" The " Merchant's Arithmetic Book " selected to represent one branch of the Seven Liberal Arts, was a widely disseminated manual at the period under consideration, and was therefore eminently representa- tive of the subject of which it treats/ The exact title is : " Eyn Newe unnd wolgegrundte underweysung aller Kauffmannss Rechnung in dreyen biichern . . . durch Petrum Apianu von Leyssnick u. Astro- nomei zu Ingoldstat Ordinariu verfertiget." (A new and well-grounded Instruction in all Merchant's Arithmetic, in three books . . . compiled by Peter Apian of Leisnig, Astronomer in Ordinary at Ingoldstadt.) The colophon reads; " Gedriickt und volendt zu Ingoldstadt durch Georgium Apianum von Leyssnick im Jar nach der Geburt Christi 1527 am 9. tag Augusti." (Printed and completed at Ingoldstadt by George Apian of Leisnig, in the year after the birth of Christ 1527, on the 9th day of August.) ^ The page copied by Holbein is in Book III., Q 8, verso.^ This manual of arithmetic may have been borrowed from one of the merchants of the Steelyard, or possibly from Kratzer. Some of the Geometrical Instruments. — Several of these instru- ments are repetitions of those introduced by Holbein into his portrait of Nicolas Kratzer, painted in 1528.* Such are the compasses, seen on the lower portion of the wooden stand ; and the columnar dial, the astrolabe, and the decagon, placed upon the upper shelf. It has been suggested that the torquetum which occupies a con- spicuous position on the top of the table, represents an instrument ^ See illustration, page 224, for a comparison of the page painted by Holbein with the corresponding page of the original book. * Peter Apian, or Bienewitz (of which name Apian is the Latinized form), born 1495 at Leisnig in Saxony, became Professor of Mathematics (which included astronomy, etc.) at Ingoldstadt in Bavaria, where he died in 1552. It appears probable enough that he may have been a friend and correspondent of Kratzer, who was himself a native of Munich. — George Apian, mentioned in the colophon, was evidently a member of the same family, and a printer. ^ The facts given above are taken from a letter to the "Athenaeum," July 30th, 1892, in which the late Mr. C. H. Coote announced his very interesting discovery of a copy of this book in the British Museum, and the identification of the very page seen in the picture. * Now in the Louvre. 224 BOOK OK ARITHMETIC, FROM THE PICTURE OF THE "AMBASSADORS. (Reduced in scale.) PAGE OF APIAN'S "MERCHANT'S ARITHMETIC" COPIED BY HOLBEIN. (Reduced in scale.) »urtte2tn:/«Ift8i(J48trn44. ^oocfi^, ^ *■ itWe 78, 79. 82, 91, 93, 95-96, 99, 100, note 2, 155. Clermont, Cardinal, Legate of Avignon, 148- 150. Clermont, M. de, 150. Clouet, 209. Cloux, Chateau, 126, note 3. Cobham, 102. Cognac, League of, 41, 90, 92, 228, ibid., note 4- Coligny, Louise de, wife of Gaucher de Dinte- ville the younger, 51, note 2. College Royal (Coll. de France), 46, 145. Cologne, Archbishop of, 233, note 3. Compass, an oval, 80. Compasses, in picture of "Ambassadors," 203, 224, 232, 233. Concordat, The, 147. Contarini, Cardinal, 158, note i, 182, ihid., note I. Conti, Prince de, Governour of Champagne, 16. Copernicus, 210, note 3. Cosins Lane, 75. Council, The General, 78, 106, 162, 163. Cranmer, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, 78, 85-87, 222, ibid., note 3, 223, note i. Croix, Nicolas de la, 135, 136. Cromwell, Thomas, minister of Henry VIII., subsequently Earl of Essex, 74, 76, note i, 102, 106, 107. Crucifix, Silver, in picture of " Ambassadors," 203, 232, 234, 235. Dagger, in picture of "Ambassadors," 7, 201, 205-207, 206, note I. Dagger-sheath, design for, after Holbein, 206, ibid., note i. Dagger and sword, worn together, 200, 201, ibid., note 2, " Dance of Death," Holbein's, 203, 204. Dance of Death, The, 198. Danbs, Pierre, 144, 145, 146, 157, 183, ibid., note I, 189, 191. Dauphin Frangois, The, see Francois. Dauphin Henri, The, see Henri. Death, Agrippa's Mystical, 234-235. " Death, Arms of," 203-204, 207. Death, Device and Emblems of, in picture of "Ambassadors," 203-207, 228, 235. Death, Mottoes concerning, 206. Death's-head Brooch, in picture of "Am- bassadors," 201, 203. Death's-head, Distorted, in picture of "Am- bassadors," 10, 203-205, 203, note I, 206, 225, 235. Derick, see Born and Tybis. Deschenetz (Echenay), seigneurie, 17, note i, 36, 37, 40, ii3-"4- Deschenetz, Seigneur, see Dinteville, Guil- laume de. Device of Death, in picture of "Ambassadors," 204-207, 235. Device or Devise, 197-198, 204-207, 235. Diane de Poitiers, " Grande Senechale," sub- sequently Duchesse de Valentinois, 112. Diet of Hagenau (1540), 172-173, 174. Ratisbon (1541), i74, i75- Spires (1529), 151-153, ibid., note i, 219, 222. Dijon, Baillyof(M. de Villiers les Potz), 117- 118. Dinteville, Charlotte de, wife of Louis Raguier, Seigneur de la Mothe, sister of Jean the "Ambassador," 47, 53, 136, ibid., note i. Dinteville, Claude de, Surintendantde Finance to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, uncle to Jean the "Ambassador," 37. Dinteville, Claude de, wife of Francois I. de Cazillac, Baron de Cessac, niece of Jean 248 INDEX the "Ambassador," 14, 15, 17, 31, 134, note 3. Dinteville, Frangois 1. de, Bishop of Auxerre, uncle of Jean the "Ambassador," 37, 38, 51. 53. 56. Dinteville, Frangois II. de, Bishop of Auxerre, brother of Jean the "Ambassador," 15, 38, 39> 51. 53. 55-60, 62-65, 78, 79-81, III, 113-121, 129-131, 133, 135-138, 214, 233. Dinteville, Frangoise de, sister of Jean the "Ambassador," 53, 63, note 4, 134. Dinteville, Gaucher I. de, father of Jean the "Ambassador," 37-42, 47, 50-53, 53, note 2, 54. Dinteville, Gaucher II. de. Seigneur of Vanlay and Thennelieres, brother of Jean the "Am- bassador," 51, note 2, 52, ibid., note 3, 53, 59, 60, 62, 111-116, 137, 213. Dinteville, Guillaume, Seigneur Deschenetz, brother of Jean the "Ambassador," 14, 52, ibid., note 2, 53, 59, 107-108, 111-114, 116, 133-138, 167-168, 213. Dinteville, Jacques de, Grand Veneur de France, uncle of Jean the "Ambassador," 37- Dinteville, Jean de, Seigneur of Polisy AND Baillv of Troves (subject of Hol- bein's portrait). Birth and lineage, 36 ; posi- tion at French Court, 39, 40, 42, 52, ibid., note 3, 53, 59, 60, 62, 63, 99-101, 111-113, 116-121, 122, 134; Bailly of Troyes and Governour of Bar-sur-Seine, 41 ; Knight of St. Michael, 7-8, 53, ibid., note 2, 134, note 2, 201-208; first embassy to England (1531), 54, 56-57 ; second and longest ditto (1533), 66-98; third ditto (1535), 100-103; fourth ditto (1536), 105-107; fifth and last ditto {1537), 1 08-110; in disgrace with Francis I. 111-113; back at Court, 116-121; para- lyzed, 121 ; builds Polisy, 125-133; death, 138. His portrait by Holbein ("Ambassa- dors"), I, lo-ii, 18-20, 31, 77-78, 200; see also under " Ambassadors.^'' Supposed portrait amongst the Holbein drawings at Windsor, 1 39. Dinteville, Jean de, son of Pierre de Jaucourt, ancestor of Jean the " Ambassador," 36. Dinteville, Jean de, another ancestor, 36-37. Dinteville, Joachim de, Seigneur of Dinteville in Champagne, 14, note i, 24, note i. Dinteville, Louis de, Knight Commander of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, brother of Jean the "Ambassador," 39, 53, 54, 60, 213. Dinteville, Pierre de. Seneschal of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, uncle of Jean the "Ambassador," 37, 54. Dinteville, seigneurie in Champagne, 14, note I, 24, note I, 36. St. Dizier, 128. Dodieu, Claude, Sieur de Vdy, French Am- bassador with Charles V,, 98, ibid., note 2, 186-188, 199-200, 222, note 3. Domenico Fiorentino(Domenicodel Barbier), 126-128. Dossi, Battista, 209. Dover, 66, 109- no. Du Bellay, see Bellay, Du. Du Faur, see Faur, Du. Du Plessis, see Plessis, Du. Duprat, Chancellor, 99. Du Puy, see Puy, Du. Ecouen, Chateau of, 125. Eleanor, sister of Charles V., Queen-Dowager of Portugal, Queen of France, 50, 59. Elizabeth, Princess, daughter of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, 94, 102-103. Emblems, Alciati's Book of, 198, ibid., note i, 228-231, 228, notes 1-4, 231, notes i and 2. Embrun, Archbishop of, j^^Tournon, Frangois de. Epitaph of Gaucher I. de Dinteville, 51. Epitaph of George de Selve, 190. Erasmus, 43, ibid., note 3, 231, note 3. Ercole II. d'Este, see Este. Escars, Susanne d', wife of Charles de Cazillac, Baron de Cessac, 15. Esmon, Mademoiselle de, 136. Este, Alfonso I. d', Duke of Ferrara, 209. 1-9 K K HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Este, Ercolell. d', Duke of Ferrara, 45, 115, note 3, 159, note i, 168. Este, Leonora d', 45. Etampes, Duchesse d' (Anne de Pisseleu), 112-113, 117-121, 184, note I. Evelyn^ John, 15, note 5. Evreux, Hotel d', 30, ibid.^ note 3. Falconry, 55, 56, 80. Falier, Lodovico, Venetian Ambassador in England, 66. Farnese, Alessandro, Cardinal, 164. Faur, Du, 157, note 2. Ferdinand, King of Hungary, 41. Ferrara, 67, 115, 116, 158, note 3, 159. Ferrara, Dukes of, see Este. Ferrara, Duchess of, see Rende. Fisher, John, Bishop of Rochester, 1 00-101, 104. Fitzwilliam, Sir William, Treasurer of the Household to Henry VHI,, 71, 74. Flanders, 109, 176, 177, ibid.^ note i, 178, 186. Fleece, Order of the, 207. Fleet, the river, 67-69. Flutes, Case of, in picture of " Ambassadors," 203, 232. Fontainebleau, 120, 125, 126, 127, 135, 197. Fontaines, page of Louis de Dinteville, 60. Fontenilles, see Roche, De la. Forestmonstier, 11, 123. Fortespice, vassal of the Comte de Vaude- mont, 37. Fortune, emblems of, at Polisy, 130-132. Four, Rue du (at Paris), 21. France, College de, see College Royal. France, Kings of, see Charles, Francis, Henri, Louis, Franche-Comt^, 16, ibid., note 2, 139, note 2. Francis I., King of France, 10, 11, 19, 40-47, 50. 52, 53, note 2, 54-62, 64, 65, 72, 73, 76, 78-81, 89-98, 99-102, 104, 105, 107- iio, III, 112, 114-122, 125-128, 134, 145- 150, 156, 157, 162, 163, 165-167, 172, 173, 175-182, 186, 187, 192, 197, 199, 207, 209, 214. Francis H., King of France, 207, note i. Frangois, The Dauphin, eldest son of Francis I., 39. 40, 42, 5o» 52, 53> 62, 103, 106, 107, 112, ibid.^ note i. Gabarre, 42. Gardiner, Stephen, Bishop of Winchester, 102, 103, 105. Garter, Order of the, 61, 207. Gaucher de Dinteville, see Dinteville. Genevois, Le, see Le Genevois. Genoa, loi, 214. Geometry, 225, 227, 232, 233, 235. Germany, 41, 45-47, 89, 136, 172, 214, 219. St. Gdry, Chateau of, 25, note 2. St. Gdry, Rey de, see Rey. Ghent, 175, 177, 178. Globe, Celestial, in picture of "Ambassadors," 202, 209-210, 232. Globe, Terrestrial, in picture of "Ambassa- dors," 202, 210-218, 228, 232, 235. Godefroy family. The, 14, 18. Godefroy papers (Bibl. de I'Institut), 18, 20. Grammont, Gabriel de. Bishop of Tarbes, Cardinal, 62, 64-65, 71, 72, 91, 92, 146. Grand-Maitre, see Montmorency, Grand-Seigneur (the Turk), see Solyman II. Grand Veneur de France, see Dinteville, Jacques de. Granvella, Cardinal (Nic. Perrenot, minister of Charles V,), 186-188, Greenwich, 70, 71, 84, 94-95. Grenoble, 136, 233, note 3. Grignan, French Ambassador at Rome, 114- Gryphe or Gryphius, printer of Lyons, 131- 132, 198. Gu^n^gaud, Henri Du Plessis, Marquis de Plancy, 25, note i. Gu^n^gaud, Roger de, 24, 25, note i. Guildford, Sir Henry, Comptroller of the Household to Henry VIIL, 74. Guise, Claude de Lorraine, Duke of, 113. Guise, Duke of, 16. Guise, The, 134, note 3. Gyze, Gisze, Gyes, George, 75, note y^see also Appendix A, p. 239. 250 INDEX Hagenau, Diet of ( 1 540), 1 74. Hague, The, 184, 185. Hargerie, Seigneur de La, 93. Hellin, French resident at Brussels, 177, ibid., note 2. Henri, successively Duke of Orleans, Dau- phin, and Henri H., King of France, 10, 42, 54, 59, 60, 61-62, 72, 96, 99, 112, ibid., note 2, 113, 114, 120, 121, 123, 127, 132, 134, note 2, 136, ibid., note 2, 137, 184, note I, 207, note i. Henry VHL, King of England, 8, 20, 40, 42, 47, 48, 50, 56-58, 60-63, 67-74, 76, 78-82, 83, 88, 89-90, 93-98, 100-102, 104- 109. Henry, Count of Nassau, Grand Chamber- lain of Charles V., 52, note 2, 213. Hermes' wings, 131-132, 231, note 2. Hermeticism (Hermetic Art), 132, 233. Hesse, Philip, Landgrave of, 99. Holbein, Hans, the Younger, i, 5-7, ibid., note I, 8, note 2, 9, 10, ibid., note 3, 11, 13, 19, ibid., note 3, 20-22, 26, 31-32, 35, 41, 43, note 3, 56, 74-78, 134, note 3, 139, 140, 198, 199, 202, 203-206, 208, 209, note 3, 211-212, 215-218, 220-221, 224-227, 230, 235-236. " Dance of Death," 203-204. Design for the '* Arms of Death," 203- 204, 207. for the Order of St. Michael, 209, after, for a Dagger-sheath, 206. Drawing at Dresden, of Morette, 140. Windsor, supposed to re- present Dinteville, 139, ibid., note 2, 140. Engravings after, by Hollar, see Hollar. Portraits by : The "Ambassadors," see under that head. Born, Derick, 76, note i. Buttes, Dr., 74. Cromwell, Thomas, 74. Erasmus, 43, note 3. Fitzwilliam, Sir William, 74. note 3. Guildford, Sir Henry, 74. Gyze or Gisze, Georg, 75, note 2, Appendix A (pp. 239-240). Kratzer, Nicolas, 74, 75, note i, 224, ibid., note 4. Milan, Christina, Duchess of, 91 note I. More, Sir Thomas, 75. More family, 75. Morette, Comte de, 42, note 7, 140 20I, note I. Norfolk, Duke of, 74. Steelyard Merchants, 75. Tybis, Derick, 76, note i. War ham, Archbishop of Canterbury 74. Holland, 184. Hollar, Wenzel, 140. Holy Ghost, Order of the, 207, note i. Hospice (now Hopital) Beaujon, 30, ibid note 2. Howard, Lord William, 85,ibid., note 4, 87-88 Hozier, D', 14, 24, note i, 53, note 2. Humanists, the French, 45 etse^. Hungary, Ferdinand, King of, see Ferdinand. Hungary, John Zapolski, King of, see Zapolski Hymn-book, in picture of "Ambassadors," 151, 173, 202, 214, 219-223, 228, 235. Instruments, Geometrical, in picture of "Ambassadors," 202, 224-225, 232, 233, 235- Italian artists employed in France, 125-127 128, 129-130. Iversay, M. d', 122. Ivoy, 122-123. Jaucourt, Pierre de, 36. John, King of England, 69. St. John of Jerusalem, Order of, 39, 53, 54 57, 67, 68, 213. Joinville, 116, 121. Julyot, Hubert, 128. Katherine of Aragon, Queen of England, 5 • 63, ibid., note 2, 69, 83, 89, 94, 104. 251 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Kingston, 102. Kratzer, Nicolas, astronomer to Henry VIII., 74, 75, ibid., note 2, 222, 224, 225. Laigne, river, 36, 128, 129. Lamoignon (place), 29, Lamoignon, Chretien de. Marquis de Basville, 29. Lamoignon, Chretien-Frangois (II.) de. Mar- quis de Basville et de Milhars, President i mortier of the Parliament of Paris, Garde des Sceaux, 29, ibid., note i, 30-31, 32. Langey, see Bellay, Guillaume Du. Languedoc, 14, 16, 17, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31. 150, i53> 213. Lavaur (Lavor, La Vaur), Bishops of, see Buxi, Danes, Selve. Lavaur, Cathedral of, 170. Le Brun, Jean-Batiste-Pierre, 5-6, 10, 31, 32. Lefevre d'Etaples, Jacques, 43, ibid., note i, 44, 47- Le Genevois, Charles, Marquis de Blaigny, 16, 26. Le Genevois, Marie Ren^e, wife of Frangois Voisin, subsequently Marquise de Milhars, 26-29, 31-32. Leland, John, 6-7. Lesches, in Brie, 53. Liancourt, Madame de, 135, ibid., note i. Liancourt, Seigneur de, see Plessis, Du. Limoges, 24, note i, 144. Lionardo da Vinci, 126, note 3. L'Isle-Adam, Philippe de Villiers, Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, 54, 59. Loches, 176. London, 57, 63, 66-71, 75, 76, 92, 102 ; de- scription of (1531), 70; Mayor of (Sir Stephen Pecock), 88 ; Tower of, 84. Longford Castle, 6, ibid., note 2, 32. Longueval, M. de, 122. Lorraine, Claude de, Duke of Guise, 113. Lorraine, Dukedom of, 37. Louise of Savoy, Duchess of Angouleme, mother of Francis I., 40, 42, ibid., note 5, 43, 45, 55, 56, 148-149, 233- 2 Low Countries, The, see Netherlands. Lunden, Bishop of (John Vesalius, Arch- bishop of Linden), 172. Lute, in picture of "Ambassadors," 202, 227- 231, 232, 235. Luther, 46, 219, ibid., note 3. Lutheran Hymn-book in picture of "Am- bassadors," see Hymn-book. Lutherans (Luthdriens), 45, 46, 49, 65, 89 172, 181, 222. Liitzelburger, Hans, 204. Luxemburg, Duchy of, 116. Lyencourt, see Liancourt. Lyons, 93, 99, 105, 107, 108, 131-132, 13. 155, 198, 204, 213. Mablisteyn, Sir John, 57. Macon, Charles de H^mard, Bishop of. Car- dinal, 161-165, 163, note 2, 199-200. Madeleine, daughter of Francis I., subse- quently Queen of Scotland, 99. Madrid, 40, 146. Madrid, Chateau of (near Paris), 125, 126. Madrid, Treaty of, 41, 50, 146, 213. Magellan, 212. Magic, 234, ibid., notes i and 2. Maison de I'Alimonier (Polisy), 130-133, 130, note I, 198, 233. Maison du Chapeaufort (Paris), 20, 21. Malta, 54. Mantua, 116. Manuzio, Paolo, 157. Maraviglia, see Merveilles. Marck, Cardinal La, 109, 234. Mareuil, Pierre de, Bishop of Lavaur, 113, 117-121. Marguerite d'Angouleme, successively Du- chesse d'Alengon and Queen of Navarre, sister of Francis I., 42, ibid., note 3, 43-45, 98, 153-154- Marguerite, Princess, daughter of Francis I., 99. Marignan, Battle of, 144. Marseilles, meeting of Francis I. and Clement VII. at, 72, 78, 89, 93-94, 95-96, 99. Mary, ex-Queen of France, sister of Henry \ INDEX VIIL, wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, 90. Mary, Queen- Dowager of Hungary, Regent of the Netherlands, sister of Charles V., 109, 177, ibid.^ note i. Mary, Princess, daughter of Henry VIIL and Katherine of Aragon, 94, 103. Mass, placards against, 104. Maurice of Saxony, 136. Mechanics, 55, 137, 235. Melanchthon, Andre, 46, Melanchthon, Philip, 46, 48, 158, note 3, 210, note 3. Mergey, Catherine de, 133. Mergey, Jean de, 133-134, i34, note i. Merveilles or Maraviglia, French agent at Milan, 90-93, 90, note 4, 230. Mesmes, Jean-Antoine de, Conte d'Avaux, ambassador, 27, 28, 31. Mesmes, Jean-Antoine de, Conte d'Avaux, Premier President of the Parliament of Paris, 27, 28, ibid., note i, 29, 31. Mesmes, Jean-Jacques de, Conte d'Avaux, President a mortier of the Parliament of Paris, 27, 31. Mesmes, Marie-Thdrese de, wife of FranQois de la Roche, Marquis de Fontenilles, 27, ibid., note i, 28, 31. Metals, transmutation of, 233. St. Michael, Order of (Ordre du Roi), 7-8, 42, 53, ibid., note 2, 61, ibid., note i, 200, 201, 207-209, notes 207-209. Milan, city of, 198, ibid., note i, 228, note i, 230, 231, note 3. Milan, Duchy of, 67, 73, 90-92, 96, loi, 144, 163, 166, 176-179, 184, note I, 186, 187, 228, note 4. Milan, Francesco Sforza, Duke of, 41, 90-93, 228, note 4, 229, 230. Milan, Maximilian, Duke of, 228, note 4, 229. Milhars, Chateau of, 17, 23, ibid., note 3, 24, 25, ibid., note 2, 26-29, 31-32. Milhars, Marquis de, see Voisin, Francois. Milhars, Marquise de, see Le Genevois, Marie Rende. 2 Mirandola, La, 115, 167, ibid., note 2. Mirandola, La, Pico, Count of, 167. Modena, 167, 209. Modena, Niccolo da, 126. Mons, 177. Montecuculli, Count Sebastiano di, 107-108, 112, note I. Montieraramey, abbey of, 11 7-1 19. Montierender, abbey of, 55, 134. Montier-la-Celle, abbey of, 11 7-1 21, 135, ibid., note 2. Montier-sur-Saulx, 116. Montmorency, Anne de, successively Mare- chal, Grand-Maitre, and Conn^table de France, 39, 42, ibid., note 7, 43, 44, 48-49, 53, 54, 55. 59, 61, 64, 65, 77, 79, 80, 83, 97, 98,100, 113, 115, 12^,126, ibid., notei,i46, 150, 153, 154, 161, 162, 164, 165, 171, 176, 177, 184, 185, 186, 188, 198, 213. Montmorency, church of, 51. Montmorency, Madame de (Madame la Conn^table), 135, ibid., note 3. Montpesat, Antoine des Prez, Seigneur de, French ambassador in England, 42, note 7, 63- Montreuil, Madame de, 39-40, 42-43, 118. Montreuil, seigneurie, 40. More, Sir Thomas, 43, note 3, 74, 75, ibid., note I, 76, loo-ioi, 104, Morette, Charles de Solier, Comte de, French hostage, subsequently ambassador, in Eng- land, 42, note 7, 63, note i, 140, 201, note I. Mosaic Pavement, in picture of "Ambassa- dors," 203, 225-227, 233. Westminster Abbey, 225-227. Motte de Tilly, De la, 136, ibid., note i. See also Raguier. Motto of the Dinteville family, 130, 132, 231, note 3. Mottoes concerning Death, 206-207. Mottoes on weapons, 205, 206. Music, 197, 219, 221, 223, 229, 232, 235. Naples, 51, 116. 53 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Nassau, Henry, Count of, 52, note 2, 213. National Gallery, The, i, 5-6, 31-32. Navarre, College of (University of Paris), 56. Navarre, Henri d'Albret, King of, 42, ibid., note 3. Navarre, Marguerite d'Angouleme, Queen of, see Marguerite. N^rac, 44. Netherlands (Low Countries), 109, 127, 163, 176, 177, 179, 185, 186, 187, 188. Niccolo deir Abate, or, da Modena, 126. Nice, meeting of Francis I., Charles V., and Paul III. at, 164, 166, 179. Nice, Truce of, 16 6. Nichols, John Gough, 6, ibid., note 5, 7, ibid., note 2. Norfolk, Duchess of, 85, ibid., note i. Norfolk, Thomas Howard, second Duke of. Lord Treasurer and Earl Marshal, 61, 70, note 5, 71, 74, 77, 78, 81, 85, ibid., note 4, 93» 94, 98, 102. Nuncio, the Papal, in England (Antonio de Pulleo, Baron de Burgo), 71, 73, 82. Nuncio, the Papal, in France, 165. Nuremberg, 210, note 3, 211, 214, 233. Occult Sciences, in picture of "Ambassadors," 232-235. Agrippa's Key to, 234, ibid., note 2. " Opus Alexandrinum," see Mosaic Pavement. Orange, Prince and Princess of, 188. Orders of Knighthood, see Fleece, Garter, Holy Ghost, St. John of Jerusalem, St. Michael. Orleans, Dukes of, see Henri, Charles. Orleans, University of, 145. Ouschamps, Seigneur of, see Plessis, Du. Padua, University of, 56, 115, 157, ibid., note 2, 158, notes I and 2, 159. Paris, 15, 18-21, 22, 23, ibid., note i, 27, 29, ibid., note 1, 31, 37, 42, 43, note 2, 50, 55, 115, 119, 125, 126, ibid., note i, 143, 144, 146, 153, 176, 213. Paris, Bishop of, see Bellay, Jean Du. Paris, Premier President of the Parliament of, see Mesmes, Selve. Paris, President d mortier of the Parliament of, see Lamoignon, Mesmes. Paris, University of, 39, 46, 56, 144, 145, 157, note 2. Parma, 96. St. Paul's, old Cathedral of, 67. Paul HL, Pope, 100, ibid., note 2, loi, 104, 108-109, 116, 156, 162-166, 168, 174. Pavement, Mosaic, see Mosaic Pavement. Pavement, tesselated, at Polisy, 129-130. Pavia, battle of, 40, 48. Pa via. University of, 231, note 3. Perrine, La, see Plessis, Du. Philip of Spain, 184, note i. Piacenza, 96. Piedmont, invaded by the French, 104. Pirkheimer, 233. Pithou, Pierre, advocate of Troyes, 47. Plessis, Anne Du (Madame de Polisy), wife of Gaucher I. de Dinteville, mother of Jean the "Ambassador," 38, 51, 52, 53, 60, 63, ibid., note 4, 114, note 2, 134, 135, note I. Plessis, Benjamin Du, son of Guillaume, Seigneur de Liancourt, 135, ibid., note 2. Plessis, Charles Du, Seigneur of Savonnieres, Ouschamps, and La Perrine, uncle of Dinte- ville the "Ambassador," 135-136, 135, note I. Plessis, Guillaume de. Seigneur of Liancourt, uncle of Dinteville the "Ambassador," 135, note I. Plessis, Jean Du, the elder. Seigneur of Ous- champs and La Perrine, maternal grand- father of Dinteville the " Ambassador," 38. Plessis, Jean Du, the younger (" the young Savonnieres"), 1 14-1 15, 135. Plessis, Le, seigneurie, 60. Plessis-Praslin, Mar^chal Du, subsequently Due de Choiseul, 17, 19, 21. Plutarch's "Lives," 145-146. Poitiers, Diane de, 112. Poitiers, University of, 56, 145. 254 INDEX Poland, Sigismund, King of, 41, 214. Pole, Reginald, Cardinal, 108-109, 158, ibid.^ note I, 159, 161, 169, 174, ibid., note i. Polisy, Chateau and Seigneurie of, 8, 10-12, 14-17, 18-21, 31, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 50, 60, 63, note 4, III, 113, 121, 124, 125, 127-133, ibid., various notes, 134, 135, 138, 139, note 2, 171, 197, 198, 213, ibid., note 2, 214, 216, ibid., note i. Polisy, Madame de, see Plessis, Anne Du. Polisy, M. de, see Dinteville, Jean de. Polonia, 213, 214. Pomponne, Marquis de, 25, note i. Pont, Jean Du, a "busy friar," no. Potz, M. de Villiers les, Bailly of Dijon, 117- 118. "Presbyter Joannes" (Prester John), 217; see also Appendix B, page 241. Primaticcio, Francesco, 126-130. Puy, Du, 14. St. Quentin, 176. Quercy, 17, 24. Rabelais, 48. Radnor, Jacob, second Earl of, 6. Radnor, William, fifth Earl of, 5, note i. Raguier family, 47. Raguier, Louis, Seigneur de la Motte de Tilly, 136, note i. Ratisbon, Diet held at (1541), 174. Reformers, French, 43-49, 104. R^gennes, Chateau of (Diocese of Auxerre), 137- Renaissance, French, 127, 129, 235. Ren^e of France, successively Duchess of Chartres and of Ferrara, daughter of Louis XII., 43, note I, 45, ibid., note 2, 115, ibid., note 3, 159, ibid., notes i and 2, 209, note 2, 233, note 2. Rey de St. G6ry, family of, 25, note 2, 29, 32. Rhodes, Knights of, see St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of. Richmond, Henry, Duke of, 94. Riez, Bishop of (Frangois II. de Dinteville), 56. Robbia, Girolamo della, 126, 129. "Robe courte" and "Robe longue," 143 199-200, 199, note I. Robes of peers and peeresses, 87, ibid., note 1. Roche, Frangois I. de la, Conte and Marquis de Fontenilles, 26, 27, 31. Roche, Frangois II. de la. Marquis de Fontenilles, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31. Roche, Jean-Jaques de. Baron de Fontenilles, 15, 26. Rochepot, La, Anne de Montmorency, Seigneur de, 42, note 7. Rochepot, La, Frangois de Montmorency, Seigneur de, 42, note 7. Rochford, George Boleyn, Viscount, brother of Anne Boleyn, 94. Rodez, Georges d'Armagnac, Bishop of, 156, 167. Romans, 165. Rome, 48, 49, 51, 55, 57, 59, ibid., note 2, 60, 62, 64, 79, 82, 89, 109, 114, 115, 116, 156, 158, note 3, 161, note 5, 162, 163, 169, 179, 199, 213. Rosso, II, 125-126. Roussel, Gerard, 44, ibid., note i. Russell, Sir Giles, commander of Battisford and Dingley, 57. Sadoleto, Jacopo, Bishop of Carpentras, Cardinal, 158, ibid., note 3, 159, 174, note i. St. Alain, Cathedral of (Lavaur), 170. St. Dizier, 128. St. G^ry, Chateau of, 25, note 2. St. G^ry, Rey de, see Rey. St. John of Jerusalem, Order of, 39, 53, 54, 57, 67, 68, 213. St. Michael, Order of (Ordre du Roi), 7-8, 53, ibid., note 2, 61, ibid., note i, 200, 201, 207-209, notes 207-209. St. Quentin, 176. St. Simon, 27, note i. Sainte-Marthe brothers, 13, 14. Saluce (Saluzzo), Marquis de, 59. Saveuse, M. de, Bailly of Amiens, 185, 7iote i. Savona, 166. Savonnieres, see Plessis, Du. 255 HOLBEIN'S "AMBASSADORS" Saxonia, 213, 214. Saxony, Elector of, 41, 214. Schdner, Johann, of Carlstadt, 210, ibid.^ note 3, 211. Science, Occult, in picture of "Ambassadors," 138, 232-235. Scotland (Escoce), 8i^ ibid.^ notes i and 2, 95, 98. Seine, river, 36, 128. Selve, Frangois de, ambassador at Constan- tinople, brother of the Bishop of Lavaur, 145, note 2. Selve, George de, Bishop of Lavaur (subject of Holbein's portrait). Birth and lineage, 143; education, 144-146; Bishop of Lavaur, 13, 147, t'btd., note 2 ; Diet of Spires (1529), 151, ibid., note 2, 219, 222 ; visit to England (1533), 11, 19, 20, 77-80, 154, 202, 235-236; ambassador at Venice (1534- 1537), i54> 156-161 ; atRome(i537-i538), 161-166; interlude at Lavaur, 169-175; addresses and orations, 152, 170-174, 179- 182 ; ambassador with the Emperor (1539- 1540), 175-188; last days at Lavaur, 18 8- 190; death, 190. His portrait by Holbein ("Ambassa- dors"), I, lo-ii, 19, 20, 77-78, 202; see also under '■'■Ambassadors.^^ Posthumous portrait at ViUiers, 192. Selve, Jean de. Premier President of the Parliament of Paris, father of the Bishop of Lavaur, 9, 11, 13, 19, 20, 143-147, 148- 150, 153-154- Selve, Jean de, Abbe of Saint Vigor, brother of the Bishop of Lavaur, 145, note 2. Selve, Jean-Paul de, Bishop of Saint-Flour, ambassador at Rome, brother of the Bishop of Lavaur, 145, note 2, 193. Selve, \ajLas% de, ambassador in Switzerland, eldest brother of the Bishop of Lavaur, 145, note 2. Selve, Odet de. President du Grand Conseil, ambassador in England, at Venice, and at Rome, brother of the Bishop of Lavaur, 145, note 2, 159, 191, 192. "Selve, M. de," 5, 7, 8, 22. Servia, 213-214. Sesac, see Cazillac. Seven Liberal Arts, The, see Arts, the Seven Liberal. S^vigne, Madame de, 25, note i. Sforza, Francesco, Duke of Milan, 41, 90-93, 228, note 4, 229, 230. Sienna (Senes), 37, 52. Sigismund, King of Poland, 41, 214. Sinus Adriaticus, 213, 214. Skull in picture of "Ambassadors, "^(?^ Death's- head. Sleidan, Johann, 46. "Solomon's Seal" (double triangle), 227, 233- Solym.an H., the Grand Turk, 40-41, 61, 72, 73, 136, 156-157, 163, 214. Sorbonne, The, 44, 144, 145. Spain (Espagne), 52, 164, 176, 201, note 2, 213. Spain, Infanta of (Mary of Castile, daughter of Charles v.), 166, 176, 177, 178, 179, 184, note I. Spires, Diet of (1529), 1 51-153, ibid., note i, 219, 222. Square, in picture of "Ambassadors," 203, 232, 233. Steelyard, The, 75, 76, ibid., note i, 224, Appendix A (239-240). Stevens, Mr. Henry, of Vermont, 210, ibid., note 3. Sturm, Johann, rector of Strasburg Univer- sity, 46. Suffolk, Charles Brandon, Duke of, 85, ibid.^ note 3, 87-88, 90. Supremacy, Act of, 100. Switzerland, 38, 145, note 2. Tarbes, Bishop of, see Castelnau. Thames, river, 67, 68, 70, 71. Th61igny, Mademoiselle de, 118. ThenneUeres, 38, 50, 51, note 2, 54. Toledo, 146, Tournelle, M. de la, 79, ibid., note 2. Tournon, Frangois de, successively Arch- bishop of Embrun, of Bourges, etc., Car- 256 "y;J'.3r^^5S3 INDEX dinal, 62, 64-65, 71, 72, 91-92, 136, 146, i53> 164. Tower of London, The, 84, 105. Transylvania, Waiwode of, see Zapolski. Trent, Council of, 182, 183, idid., note i. Trivulzi, Cardinal, 164-165. Troyes, 17, 38, 39, 42, 47, 51, 52, 56, 99- 100, 127, ibid.^ note i, 128, 138. Troyes, The Bailly of, see Dinteville, Jean de. Troyes, Baillies of, belonging to Dinteville family, 37-38, 41, 52, 138. Troyes, College of, 39, 56, 134. " Turk," The, see Solyman. Tybis, Derick, 76, note i. Urbino, 96. Valence, 165. Vanlay, Seigneur de, see Dinteville, Gaucher II. de. Varzy, 137, note i. Vaudemont, Comte de, 37. Vaulx, Seigneur de, 93. Vely, Sieur de, see Dodieu. Venice, 9, 67, 72, 85, 154, 156-161, 167. Venier, Marco Antonio, Venetian ambas- sador in England, 67. Vic, M^ry de. Garde des Sceaux, 19, ibid.^ note 5. ViUiers-les-Potz, M. de, Bailly of Dijon, 117- 118. Villiers-par-Cerny, Chateau of, 13, ibid.^ note 2, 148, note I, 193-194. Voisin, Frangois, Marquis de Bougueval, subsequently Marquis de Milhars, husband of Marie-Renee Le Genevois, 27, 28, 29, 31. Voisin, Marie-Renee, Marquise de Milhars, see Le Genevois. Waiwode, see Zapolski. Wallop, Sir John, English ambassador in France, 105. Walther's " Gesangbuch," 219-223. Ware, Richard, Abbot of Westminster, 225. Warham, William, Archbishop of Canter- bury, 43, note 3, 74. Westminster Abbey, 70, ibid.^ note 3, 86, 225, 227. Mosaic Pavement of, see Mosaic Pave- ment. Westminster Hall, 87, ibid., notes 2 and 3, Palace, 69, 70, 71, 86. Weston, Sir WilUam, Prior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, 57, 67, ibid., note 2. Weston, Young, 57, 105. Whitehall, 69, note 2. Wiltshire, Countess of, mother of Anne Boleyn, 85, ibid., note 2. Winchester, 102. Winchester, Bishop of, see Gardiner, Stephen. Winkfield, Thomas, comptroller of the king's works at Dover, no. Wolmar, Melchior, 46. Wolsey, Cardinal, 42, 67, 69. Woltmann, Dr., 6. Wornum, Ralph Nicholson, 6, Wurtemberg, Duke of, 99. Wyat, Sir Thomas, 6, 7, ibid., note 2, 178, ibid., note 3. York Place (Whitehall), 69, 71. York, see of, 69. Zapolski, John, Waiwode of Transylvania, King of Hungary, 41. CHISWICK PRESS : PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COURT,CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. LL ERRATA p. II, note 3, line 4 from bottom, for "d'Intevile " read "d'Inteville." P. 36, line 7 from top, for "de Jaucourt" read "Jaucourt." P. 47, line 8 from Xo^^for "these" (second time) read "them." P. 57, line 2 from bottom, /<>;- " De la Pommeraye" read " La Pommeraye." P. 72, lines 7 and 9 from bottom, y^r " Henry " read " Henri." P. 76, note 1, for "from Lucca, a letter consisting chiefly of foreign political news," read "various papers." P. 78, note 2, for " Bishop of Troyes " read "Bailly of Troyes." P. 82, line 3 from top, dele " Gampeggio." P. 96, line 4 from top.y^r " Henry " read " Henri." P. 96/ line 5 from to^^, for " of Medicis" read " de' Medici." P. 96, line 10 from bottom, y5?r "France" read "Francis." P. 109, line 14 from top, /or " Margaret" read " Mary." P. 125, line 13 from bottom, /i>r "Chenonceau" read " Chenonceaux." P. 129, line 4 from bottom, y<>r "tessellated" read " tesselated." P. 130, beneath illustration, ibid. P. 145, line 3 from bottom,/^r "five" read "six." P. 174, line 13 from top, /or "(1540)" read "(1541)." P. 199, line 3 from top,/»r "study of symbols" read "symbolism." P. 233, note 3,/