""I 
 
 (LIBRARY | 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 ' SAN DIEGO \
 
 COLI GN Y; 
 
 THE EARLIER LIFE OF THE GREAT HUGUENOT.
 
 *
 
 COLIGNY; 
 
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 felhr Jife 0f t{r* feat 
 
 EUGENE BERSIER, D.D, 
 
 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 ANNIE HARWOOD HOLMDEN. 
 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 
 
 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 MDCCCLXXXIV. 
 
 [All rights reserved.'}
 
 Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Limited, London and Aylesbury.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFACE , . xiii 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Pedigree of the Coligny family. Birth of Gaspard, the future 
 Admiral. Louise de Montmorency, his mother. Important 
 part taken by women in the sixteenth century. The 
 Constable Anne de Montmorency. Education of Coligny. 
 Incidents of his youth. The Court of Francis I. Moral 
 condition of France i 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Coligny 's first essay of arms. Campaigns of 1542, 1543. 
 Cerisolles. Peace of Crepy. Siege of Boulogne. Part taken 
 by Coligny in the attack on the Isle of Wight. Death of 
 Francis I. Accession of Henry II. Growing favour of the 
 Constable. Francis of Lorraine and the Cardinal of Lorraine. 
 Promotion of Coligny and his brother Andelot. 
 Marriage of Coligny with Charlotte de Laval . . . 18 30
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Coligny before Boulogne. M. de Chatillon's military regulations. 
 Taking of Boulogne. Coligny goes to London to sign the 
 treaty of peace. The Prince of Conde marries Eleonore de 
 Roye, Conde's niece. Conde is made Governor of Paris . 
 and of the Ile-de-France 31 37 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Campaign of 1552. Alliance of Henry II. with the Protestants 
 of Germany. Brilliant campaign of Les-Trois-Eveches. 
 Maurice of Saxony goes over to the French. Treaty of 
 Passau. Offensive attitude of the Emperor, who besieges 
 Metz. Determined resistance of Guise. Coligny's part 
 in the army of observation. Coligny made Admiral of 
 France. Duties of the office 3846 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Services rendered by Coligny as Admiral of France. His views 
 on the Colonies. Expeditions to America under his direction. 
 Failure of Villegagnon's colony in the Brazils . t 47 55 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Fresh attempt at invasion of France by Charles V. Philibert 
 Emmanuel, General of the Imperialists. Campaigns of 1553 
 and 1554. Battle of Renty. Decisive intervention of 
 Coligny. Coligny receives from the King a company of 
 one hundred men-at-arms. He is made Governor of 
 Picardy. Abdication of Charles V. Preparation of the 
 Peace of Vaucelles. Coligny goes to Brussels, where he sees 
 Charles V. and Philip II 5671
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Secret league between Paul IV. and the King of France. 
 Cardinal Carafa. His mission in France, and alliance with 
 the Guises to break off the Peace of Vaucelles. Resistance 
 of Coligny. Guise starts for Italy. Coligny tenders his 
 resignation of the government of Picardy. The King 
 refuses it 72 83 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Breaking off of the Peace of Vaucelles. Hostilities are declared. 
 Advance of Philibert Emmanuel. Coligny shuts himself up 
 in St. Quentin. Commencement of the siege . . . 84 93 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Constable advances to succour Coligny. Battle of 
 St. Quentin. Rout of the French Army. Fresh efforts of 
 the besiegers. Desperate resistance of Coligny. The town 
 is surprised. Coligny made prisoner. Sack of St. Quentin 94 107 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Captivity of Coligny. Guise's campaign in Italy. Illusory 
 promises of Carafa. Disastrous end of the French expe- 
 dition. Guise is recalled. He surprises Calais. Peace 
 with the English. Marriage of the Dauphin Francis with 
 Mary Stuart. . . . . . . . . 108121 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Coligny in captivity. Change in his religious views. Genesis 
 of his new faith. His correspondence with Calvin. 
 Attitude of Charlotte de Laval. Influence of Calvin on the 
 French Reformation. What that Reformation was at its 
 outset 122 136
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Intrigues of the Guises against Odet and Andelot. Momentary 
 defection of Andelot. Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis. 
 Coligny is restored to liberty. Remarks on the treaty . 137-^148 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Situation of the French Protestants at the time of Coligny's 
 release from captivity. First synod of the Reformed 
 Churches of France held in Paris. Embassy of the Duke 
 of Alva. Projects of the King against the Protestants. The 
 Mercuriale. Death of the King ..... 149 155 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Accession of Francis II. The Bourbons are set aside, as is also 
 the Constable. Close alliance between the Guises and 
 Philip II. Intervention of Coligny on behalf of the reformed 
 religion in Paris. Assemblies of La Vendome and La 
 Ferte 156170 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Coligny takes part for the first time in the Reformed worship. 
 His opinion about the Holy Communion. Terrible per- 
 secution of the Reformed Church of Paris. Trial and torture 
 of the Councillor Anne du Bourg. Coligny resigns the 
 government of Picardy 171 179 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Conspiracy of Amboise. Coligny is kept in the dark about the 
 scheme. Catherine summons him to come to her. Edict 
 of March 8th. Cruel repression of the Huguenots instigated 
 by the Guises. Death of Castelnau .... 180 190
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mission of Colignyinto Normandy. L'Hospital is made Chancel- 
 lor. Edict of Romorantin. The Assembly of Fontainebleau. 
 Convocation of the States-General at Orleans. Attempt 
 of the Protestants to get possession of Lyons . . . 191 203 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Guises at Orleans. Arrest and trial of Conde. He is 
 sentenced to be beheaded. Sudden illness and death of 
 Francis II 204212 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Accession of Charles IX. Catherine de Medicis seizes the reins 
 of power. Her character and policy. She tries to shake 
 off the yoke of the Guises. Meeting of the States- 
 General. Speech of L'Hospital and the orators of the 
 Third Estate, the Nobility, and Clergy. False step taken 
 by the Protestants at the Synod of Poitiers. The Court 
 goes to Fontainebleau 213 225 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Coligny in his home life. Chatillon-sur-Loing. The life of 
 a great Huguenot seigneur. The Admiral's zeal for 
 education. The reform of study in the sixteenth century. 
 Relations of Coligny with Ren^e of Ferrara. The 
 Admiral practises religious liberty at Chatillon . . 226 236 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Tolerance of Catherine de Medicis towards the great Protestant 
 lords. Adhesion of Cardinal Odet de Chatillon to the 
 Reformed faith. Rupture between the Constable and his 
 nephew. The Triumvirate. The Edict of July. Bold 
 stand taken by the delegates of the States-General at 
 St. Germain ........ 237 248
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preliminaries of the Colloquy of Poissy. The Protestant lords 
 at St. Germain. Arrival of Jeanne d'Albret. Attitude of 
 Catherine. Her letter to the Pope. The Cardinal of 
 Tournon. The Cardinal of Lorraine. Jacques Lainez. 
 The Protestant ministers. Theodore Beza . . . 249 267 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Opening of the Colloquy. Speech of L'Hospital. Prayer and 
 speech of Theodore Beza. Meeting of September i6th. 
 Speech of Cardinal Lorraine. Meeting of September 24th. 
 Peter Martyr and Lainez. Various forms of compromise 
 proposed. Breaking up of the Colloquy. Effect produced 
 in France by the Colloquy. Secret negotiations of some 
 Catholic lords with Philip II. Arrival of the German 
 divines in Paris. Their opinion of the Admiral . . 268 289 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Progress of Protestantism in Paris. Public assemblies at Popin- 
 court and in the close of the ' ' Patriarche. " Popular 
 risings against the Protestants. The Constable sacks the 
 Protestant place of worship at Popincourt. L'Hospital 
 and Coligny draw up the Edict of January 1562. Religious 
 liberty in the sixteenth century. Remarks on the Edict 
 Defection of Antoine of Navarre ..... 290 302 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Attitude of the Guises immediately after the Edict of January. 
 Their correspondence with Christopher Duke of Wiirtem- 
 berg. Conference of Saverne. Massacre of Vassy. 
 Demands of the Huguenots. Antoine of Navarre and 
 Theodore Beza at Monceaux 303 320
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Conde in Paris. Advice sent by Elizabeth of England to Catherine 
 de Medicis. Guise arrives in Paris, notwithstanding 
 Catherine's commands to the contrary. Equivocal conduct 
 of Catherine. Violation of the Edict of January in Paris. 
 Conde leaves Paris and calls the Protestants together at 
 Meaux. Attitude of the Admiral in the month of March 
 1562. The famous dialogue between Coligny and Char- 
 lotte de Laval, as given by d'Aubigne. Could the Pro- 
 testants have avoided the War of Religion ? Motives which 
 decided Coligny to throw himself into it ... 321 344 
 
 APPENDIX 34535 1
 
 TRANSLATOR'S. NOTE. 
 
 I BEG to acknowledge the kind help of the Rev. T. G. 
 Rooke, of Rawdon College, in the revision of the English 
 sheets for the press. 
 
 ANNIE HARWOOD HOLMDEN. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, 
 July, 1884.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 r I "'HIS book might bear as its fitting epigraph 
 * the saying of Agrippa d'Aubigne, " The world 
 judges of all by success." Coligny did not succeed. 
 For a long time his name was proscribed, and even 
 now it has received but scant and tardy justice. His 
 mortal remains found their first resting-place at 
 Montfaucon ; thence they were removed to Mont- 
 auban and to Chatillon, where for greater security the 
 leaden coffin was built up in a recess in the wall. 
 Thence, in 1786, they were again removed to 
 Maupertuis, and finally, on September 29th, 1851, 
 they were laid in their present resting-place, among 
 the ruins of the old Castle of Chatillon, on the very 
 spot where Coligny was born. His name and fame 
 have suffered like vicissitudes. History has been 
 slow to give him his rightful place. Yet a brief 
 survey of his life shows that he is one to whom the 
 world owes much. 
 
 Coligny was a born soldier. This was the natural
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 vocation of the head of the house of Chatillon, and 
 his own bias was altogether in this direction. While 
 still young he rose to a very high position. He 
 owed this rapid rise to his noble birth, to the patron- 
 age of his uncle, the Constable de Montmorency, and 
 above all to his own abilities as a soldier, and to the 
 patient perseverance with which he applied himself 
 to the organisation of the French infantry and the 
 discipline of the army. Nothing but the substantial 
 value of his services could have counter-balanced the 
 disfavour which he often drew upon himself by his 
 bluntness of manner, for no man had ever less of 
 the making of a courtier. 
 
 His first military success was the taking of Bou- 
 logne. After this he distinguished himself in the 
 brilliant campaigns which threw some lustre over the 
 early part of the reign of Henry II. He was made 
 governor of Paris, and, some time after, of Picardy. 
 Then the king raised him to the high rank of 
 Admiral of France. Coligny did not mean that 
 this dignity should be merely an empty name. He 
 dreamed of founding beyond the seas a new France, 
 which might become at the same time a place of 
 refuge for the exiles from the old world. The 
 colonists whom he sent there tried to carry out his 
 idea. For several years there were rivers in Florida 
 called the Garonne, the Loire, and the Seine, and 
 upon their banks rose towns endeared by familiar
 
 PREFACE. XV 
 
 names, and hallowed by the sound of psalms. 
 When France abandoned these colonies, the ill-fated 
 emigrants fell victims to the fierce hatred of the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 Coligny had been commissioned by Henry II. to 
 negotiate the peace of Vaucelles. When through 
 the ambition of the Guises and of Cardinal Carafa, 
 their accomplice, this peace was abruptly broken off 
 and the king was plunged into a foolish enterprise, 
 which was to issue in disaster, Coligny threw him- 
 self into St. Quentin, sacrificing his own reputation 
 to his sense of duty, and by his heroic resistance 
 saved Paris, and enabled France to reorganise her 
 army. Himself made prisoner by the Spaniards at 
 St. Quentin, the only recompense he received for 
 his self-sacrifice was the displeasure of his sovereign. 
 
 Meanwhile the Reformation was making steady 
 progress in France, in spite of the severest measures 
 of repression and was beginning to gather adherents 
 not only, as at first, among the poor and lowly, but 
 from the higher classes of society. Coligny himself 
 had long been favourable to it. He joined its ranks 
 at the very time when persecution was at its height. 
 He embraced the cause with enthusiasm, and served 
 it with the devotion of a man ready to sacrifice 
 honours and wealth for conscience' sake. Finding in 
 his new belief a fountain of the highest moral inspi- 
 ration, Coligny presented the noble example of a
 
 XVI PREFACE. 
 
 pure and beautiful home life, in which austerity of 
 principle was blended with the utmost tenderness of 
 heart an example rare indeed in that dissolute age. 
 The Reformation took him away from the quiet of 
 domestic life to make him the illustrious leader of a 
 formidable party, with which the Court was to mea- 
 sure strength. This party had neither the resources 
 nor the numbers which command success. In order 
 to supply this deficiency it accepted the aid of 
 foreigners, thus falling into the fatal error of that 
 day, which subordinated every other consideration 
 to the triumph of one religious party. Coligny was 
 very reluctant to accept this alliance, and did all 
 that he could to shake it off. If the intrepidity of 
 the Huguenots had sufficed to secure victory, the 
 conflict would have been of short duration, but they 
 had to fight against the prestige of the king's name, 
 against the compact mass of Swiss battalions, which 
 decided the day at Dreux and Moncontour ; and 
 against the opposition of Old France, which was 
 still ardently Catholic. 
 
 Often defeated on the field of battle, Coligny was 
 never more formidable than just after such defeats. 
 It was by his steady persistence that he at length 
 obtained for his followers the religious liberty which 
 he might well think was thenceforth assured. He 
 was weary of civil war, to which he had an unutter- 
 able aversion. In order to efface the memory of it,
 
 ' PREFACE. XVI I 
 
 and to guard against its recurrence, his one thought 
 was to oppose a united France to the enormous 
 power of the House of Austria, relying in this pro- 
 ject on the enfranchised Low Countries. The idea 
 was a grand one, to be taken up one day by 
 Henry IV. Charles IX. appeared to lend himself to 
 it, and made Coligny his chosen adviser. There was 
 a moment when " the Admiral," as he was called, 
 seemed the arbiter of the destinies of France. His 
 name appears in all the diplomatic despatches of 
 that day, denounced by the one party, extolled by 
 the other, respected by all who were not blinded by 
 fanaticism. While he was forming these glorious 
 projects, the hatred to his party, which had long 
 been growing, culminated in the atrocious tragedy 
 of the 24th of August, of which he was the first 
 victim. With him disappeared the ideal of the new 
 policy on which his mind had been set, and France, 
 wallowing in blood, sank rapidly into anarchy and 
 into the ignominy which marked the reigns of the 
 last of the Valois. 
 
 From this time the memory of Coligny has been 
 at the mercy of contending historians. 
 
 At the close of the sixteenth century his name 
 was the signal for an outburst of enthusiasm or of 
 hatred. In the eyes of the Protestants he was a 
 martyr invested with an undying halo by the tragedy 
 of St. Bartholomew. The League, which was the 
 
 b
 
 XV111 PREFACE. 
 
 organ of the Guises, called down curses on his 
 memory. The few men who could rise above the 
 spirit of their times, such men as De Thou, who 
 tried to be impartial from a sincere love for justice ; 
 and Brantome, who was often impartial out of mere 
 moral indifference, show how deep was the impres- 
 sion produced upon them by the severe greatness of 
 Coligny. In the political reaction of the reign of 
 Henry IV., Coligny's vindication is solemnly pro- 
 claimed. In the seventeenth century his memory 
 becomes gradually obscured. A veil is drawn over 
 the religious controversies of the past. The ever- 
 growing worship of the monarchy and of Catholic 
 unity, throws into the shade the figures of the great 
 leaders of sedition in bygone days. Coligny is 
 remembered only as the stern sectary, the formid- 
 able leader of the party that sought to dismember 
 France. The surprise of Richelieu would have been 
 great if anyone had hinted to him that the vast 
 political projects which he supposed to originate 
 with Henry IV., had been first conceived by the 
 Huguenot Admiral. The official history of that time 
 has long passed its verdict upon Coligny. It forgot 
 all the service rendered by him to the country, and 
 pretended to ignore his patriotism ; and if it did not 
 directly charge him with complicity in the assassina- 
 tion of Francis of Lorraine, it found in his supposed 
 conspiracy against royalty an extenuation of the
 
 PREFACE. XIX 
 
 bloody massacre of St. Bartholomew. The best illus- 
 tration of this type of writing is to be found in 
 Varillas, historiographer of the Court under Louis 
 XIII. It would be hard to imagine anything more 
 dry, unintelligent, and false than his estimate of the 
 character and conduct of Coligny. 1 It is pleasant to 
 turn from such unfair estimates to the judgment of 
 Bossuet, who, struck with the greatness of Coligny, 
 narrates his death with genuine emotion, and pays 
 a tribute to his patriotism by saying that "all the 
 attempts made to decry the Admiral had only 
 rendered his memory more illustrious." 2 
 
 But we must come to St. Simon, whose clear intel- 
 lect was so free in many respects from the prejudices 
 of his age, to get a really equitable and high-minded 
 judgment upon the Admiral. I quote from a page of 
 his writings recently given to the public: "Henry IV.," 
 says St. Simon, "had as his master the wisest and 
 most honest man of his age, the greatest captain, 
 and the most skilful in turning to account even 
 adverse circumstances and in rallying his party after 
 
 1 Vie de Francois II., Vie de Henri III., Histoire des 
 revolutions en matiere de religion. In the writings of the 
 Jesuit Father Daniel, historiographer under Louis XIV., we 
 find a much finer historic sense, which sometimes asserts itself 
 above the prejudices of his cloth and his age. 
 
 2 This passage occurs in L? Abrege d 1 histoire de France, 
 Book XVII., in a resume of lectures given by Bossuet to the 
 Dauphin. The manuscript of this work, published for the first 
 time in 1747, was revised by Bossuet himself, as we are assured 
 by the edition in 1821.
 
 XX PREFACE. 
 
 its falls and heaviest reverses ; the man most able to 
 hold his followers together and to guard against all 
 that might arise to divide them ; finally, the most 
 disinterested and prudent of men, the man most 
 beloved and esteemed by the party of which he was 
 always the soul and strength, the man who knew 
 best how to secure the co-operation of foreigners 
 and to command the respect of opponents, the man 
 most generally esteemed and admired for his virtues. 
 Such was Admiral Coligny (so little favoured of 
 fortune, yet so worthy of fortune and of a better 
 cause !), who was the instructor of Henry IV. in 
 his early years both in arms and politics. Happy 
 prince to have been trained under the most prudent 
 captain, the wisest and worthiest man of his time!" 1 
 St. Simon alone was capable in his day of writing 
 words like these. In the eighteenth century the name 
 of Coligny is often brought up as a protest against 
 fanaticism. The author of the Henriade tells the 
 story of his death in verses not to be forgotten. As 
 an historian, he takes an exalted view of him whom 
 he has called "the greatest of Frenchmen." Montes- 
 quieu passes his famous verdict : " Admiral Coligny 
 was assassinated while he had at heart nothing but 
 the good of the State." President Henault, in his 
 drama of Francois //., puts into the mouth of the 
 
 1 Parallels des trois premiers rois Bourbons, published by 
 M. Faugere.
 
 PREFACE. XXI 
 
 Admiral language not unworthy of him. Abbe Raynal, 
 who from his own labours in the Indies was in a 
 position to appreciate the work done by Coligny in 
 founding French colonies, does not hesitate to de- 
 scribe him as " one of the most far-sighted, resolute, 
 and active of all the illustrious sons of France.'' 
 Following him, Abbe Anquetil, in his Histoire de 
 France, and at the beginning of this century 
 Lacretelle in his interesting work Les Guerres de 
 Religion, and Sismondi in his Histoire des Franqais, 
 all unite in presenting the religious struggles of 
 France in a broader and truer light. But the mass 
 of the public knew Coligny only by a few incidents 
 of his life and by his tragic death. It has been 
 reserved for our day to take up what may be de- 
 scribed as the historical vindication of the Admiral. 
 
 An enormous mass of documents relating to the 
 sixteenth century has been brought to light in the 
 last fifty years, and we are thus enabled to judge of 
 Coligny with full knowledge of the facts. These re- 
 velations greatly enhance the importance of the part 
 played by him. They bring out the great services 
 he rendered to France before the wars of religion, 
 and fully sustain the judgment of St. Simon, proving 
 that Coligny was the true initiator of the new policy, 
 all the glory of which had been hitherto ascribed 
 to Henry IV. The character of Coligny as a private 
 individual, illuminated by all these convergent lights,
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 and by the discovery of many details hitherto un- 
 known, only stands out in stronger relief against a 
 dark background. In the writings of modern his- 
 torians, such as Guizot, Mignet, and Henri Martin, 
 Coligny becomes a more and more prominent 
 personage ; l but Michelet has been the first to 
 describe him with that divination of the heart, and 
 that marvellous intuition, which give him an insight 
 into the very soul of rrien and things. He says : 
 " No one will accuse me of being a hero-worshipper 
 in my books, but Coligny is the hero of duty, of 
 conscience. Try him by whatever test I will, he 
 stands firm, nay, he grows ever grander, nobler. 
 Unlike so many mock heroes, this man, who was 
 never the hero of success, challenges scrutiny and 
 puts it to the blush." Michelet abundantly vindi- 
 cates this high estimate of Coligny by the proofs 
 he gives of the breadth of his views, the vigour 
 and tenacity of his military genius, the integrity of 
 
 1 In simple justice we must add here the names of such 
 German historians as Soldau, Ranke, Polenz, who have treated 
 the history of France in the sixteenth century with so much 
 ability and exactness of information. Among the publications 
 which have done most to throw light upon this great past, we 
 must mention La France Protestante, by MM. Haag; and 
 the valuable collection in the Bulletin de la Societe d histoire 
 du Protestantisms fran$ais, edited first by Charles Reade, 
 and of which M. Jules Bonnet, the first editor of the Lettres 
 fran$aises de Calvin, has been for many years the inde- 
 fatigable director, always on the watch for anything bearing 
 on the history of the French Reformation.
 
 PREFACE. XX111 
 
 his life in an age of singular corruption, his upright- 
 ness contrasted with the perfidy around him, his 
 readiness ever to obey the call of duty. 
 
 We can but wonder that such a life has not sooner 
 found a historian. In the sixteenth century, three 
 years after the death of Coligny, a biography of the 
 Admiral appeared in Latin, which is usually attri- 
 buted to Francis Hotman. At the close of this 
 preface we give at some length in a note, our reasons 
 for not endorsing this opinion. We look upon this 
 Vita Colinii, nevertheless, as a very important source 
 of information for the biography of the Admiral. A 
 century later Sandras de Courtils published a Vie 
 de Caspar d de Coligny (Cologne 1686; 2nd edit. 
 1691). This Sandras de Courtils, formerly a cap- 
 tain in the regiment of Champagne, went to Holland 
 in 1683, and there published some political pamph- 
 lets, memoirs, historical romances, and biographies 
 of various statesmen. On his return to France he 
 was imprisoned for nine years in the Bastille as a 
 seditious writer, and died in 1712. We do not 
 know whether he was a Protestant, but at any rate 
 he so describes himself in his Vie de Coligny. He 
 is a sort of literary adventurer, whose fertile imagi- 
 nation adds to the real facts which he narrates, 
 conversations and details of his own invention. His 
 biography of Coligny, while it is very favourable to 
 his hero, is an ill-digested book, and contains many
 
 XXIV PREFACE. 
 
 grave errors and fictitious statements. The military 
 aspect of his subject is better treated than the rest. 
 It must be observed that Courtils was born at Mon- 
 targis, that is to say, near the birthplace of Coligny. 
 In his preface he says : " I have in my hands many 
 papers, which give me an assured knowledge of facts. 
 My access to such information will be at once under- 
 stood when I say that I belong to a family which 
 was always closely associated with that of the 
 Admiral, and to whom he himself often communicated 
 his most secret thoughts." While it is impossible 
 for us to verify this assertion of a writer who proves 
 himself otherwise worthy of little confidence, it would 
 seem unfair to dismiss it summarily as incredible. 
 In the history of the Admiral's youth Courtils men- 
 tions many incidents which may probably have been 
 borrowed from family traditions, and which bear the 
 impress of truth. We have refrained, however, from 
 embodying them in the substance of our narrative ; 
 they will be found in notes in the appendix. 
 
 It is strange that the Protestant refugees have 
 made no attempt to exalt the memory of Coligny. 
 Bayle's vast repertory, which goes over so wide a 
 range, and critically discusses so many doubtful 
 points, contains not one page about the great 
 Huguenot. 
 
 Among the writings of our own day we may 
 mention the notice of Coligny by M. M. Haag in
 
 PREFACE. XXV 
 
 La France Protestante j 1 M. Jules Tessier's remark- 
 able historical sketch L'Amiral Coligny, which, how- 
 ever, touches only on certain portions of his life ; 2 
 and, most important of all, the noble monograph of 
 Count Jules Delaborde. 3 M. Delaborde follows the 
 life of the Admiral day by day, searching carefully 
 all the documents relating to it, whether to be found 
 in the histories or in the diplomatic correspondence 
 of the time (the English Calendar of State Papers, 
 reports and letters of Italian or Spanish Ambassa- 
 dors, letters of representatives of the Reformed 
 Churches in France and abroad, etc.) M. Delaborde 
 has done more than this. He has collected, with 
 admirable patience, both from the national library 
 and archives, from the archives of the Swiss 
 cantons, of Turin, and the British Museum, all the 
 letters of Coligny that could be found. He has 
 inserted in his book many of these never before 
 published, and has given copious extracts from others. 
 This is a truly noble work, breathing throughout a 
 spirit of filial reverence for the memory of the great 
 Huguenot, and deserving to be carefully studied by 
 all who wish to understand his inner life. 4 
 
 1 This paper has been enlarged and completed by M. H. 
 Bordier, in the second edition of this valuable work, now in 
 course of preparation. 
 
 2 L'Amiral Coligny, etude historique, by Jules Tessier. 
 Paris, Sandoz and Fischbacher, 1872. 
 
 3 Gaspard de Coligny, Amiral de France. (Paris, Fisch- 
 bacher, 1879 1882, 3 vols. 8vo.) 
 
 4 While referring to these biographies of Coligny we must
 
 XXVI PREFACE. 
 
 The many quotations we make in this work from 
 M. Delaborde's book show how largely we have 
 availed ourselves of it. In publishing the present 
 sketch of the earlier part of the Admiral's life, we 
 make no attempt to improve on that which has been 
 already done with so much conscientiousness and 
 learning. Our object has been to present Coligny to 
 our readers in the great moments of his life before 
 the wars of religion, endeavouring to describe the 
 environment in which he moves, and the principal 
 personages with whom he comes in contact. Fully 
 appreciating the detailed and conscientious study 
 which M. Delaborde has given us of the thoughts 
 and deeds of the Admiral, our aim has been to draw 
 this central figure in broader outline, and faintly to 
 fill in the more distant horizon of the picture. We 
 
 not omit to mention the eloquent tribute paid to him by M. de 
 Felice in his Histoire des Protestants de France ; and by M. 
 Puaux in his Histoire de la Reformation fran^aise. As a 
 popular publication we may mention La Vie de Coligny, by 
 Pastor A. Meylan. We note also that M. Dargand in his 
 Histoire de la liberte religieuse en France et de ses fonda- 
 teurs (Paris 1859), brings into great prominence the life and 
 character of the Admiral. If Protestant writers are sometimes 
 open to the charge of too great partiality to their hero, it ap- 
 pears to us that the Duke d'Aumale, in his admirable Histoire 
 des princes de Conde, has yielded to an unjust prejudice 
 when, for example, he attributes the rupture of the Peace of 
 Vaucelles to the ambition of Coligny, or speaks of him as 
 jealous of Conde. We the more regret these blemishes 
 because the general tone of the book is one of such lofty 
 patriotism. In speaking of the Admiral, can we for a moment 
 forget the noble drama in which M. de Remusat has made 
 him live before us ?
 
 PREFACE. XXV11 
 
 do not claim the merit of having brought to light 
 any passage of the history before unpublished, but 
 we do think we have been able to derive some fresh 
 views of the subject, both from the careful study of 
 sources already explored, 1 and from the analysis of 
 documents recently published, the bearing of which 
 upon our subject had not before been shown. To 
 give only one instance. We have been able to throw 
 light on several important points, by the help of the 
 valuable collection of Catherine de Medicis' letters 
 up to the year 1563, recently published by M. de la 
 Ferriere. To these he has added numerous extracts 
 from the correspondence of the Ambassador Chan- 
 tonnay with the Duchess of Parma. The Latin 
 
 1 We cannot attempt to give here a complete enumeration 
 of these sources, but we may indicate some. Besides the 
 letters of Coligny, we have of his own writing only his Discours 
 sur le siege de St. Quentin (1622), his Lois et ordonnances 
 militaires fiour Pinfanterie, and his Testament ologra-phe, 
 published in the bulletin of the Societe d 1 histoire du Protes- 
 tantisme fran^ais. He had written some memoirs which, 
 as is well known, were destroyed after his death. Abstracts 
 of several of his speeches are given by historians of the time 
 The contemporary writers who give us the fullest details 
 relating to him are La Planche, La Place, Castelnau, Bran- 
 t6me, d'Aubigne, Davila, De Thou, the two Tavannes, and 
 Theodore Beza, of whom we have at length a correct edition, 
 thanks to two of the learned editors of Calvin's works. Then 
 comes the correspondence of the Reformers (published in M. 
 Herminjard's great work), the letters of Jeanne d'Albret, 
 Antoine of Navarre, Catherine de Medicis, Hubert Lanquet, 
 to mention only the principal. Then the extracts from the 
 archives of the House of Orange, published by Groen van 
 Prinsterer, the letters and reports of the English ambassadors 
 (Calendar of State Papers analysed in the Bulletin de la 
 . societe d 1 histoire de Protestantisme francais}, the letters and
 
 XXV111 PREFACE. 
 
 correspondence of Calvin, now published in its 
 integrity in the admirable edition of his works by 
 Reuss, Baum, and Cunitz, has also been of great 
 service to us. The present volume goes as far as 
 the commencement of the religious wars. Those 
 who scarcely know Coligny, except as the leader of 
 the Protestants in arms, will perhaps be astonished 
 at the importance of the part he took before assum- 
 ing the military command. Until now he has been 
 supposed to have been nothing more than the lieu- 
 tenant of his uncle the Constable, up to the time of 
 his espousing the Protestant religion. People spoke 
 of "the Constable and the Chatillons" as though 
 Coligny were a mere satellite revolving in the Mont- 
 reports of the envoys of Florence and Venice, of which we 
 have the substance. We are only acquainted through Ranke 
 and Soldau with the papers of the German ambassadors. 
 In relation to Spain, there are the Granvelle State papers, and 
 the correspondence of Chantonnay and his successors, but 
 there is still much to be found out in the archives of Simancas. 
 Baumgarten's last book, Zur Bartholomeus nacht, shows 
 how much light might be derived from this source. Will the 
 archives of the Vatican ever be freely opened ? The extracts 
 from these, published by Theiner, relating to France in the 
 sixteenth century, are very meagre, and make one suspect 
 how much is still concealed. The papal policy is still in 
 many of its aspects mere matter of legend. The curious work 
 in which M. G. Durny has just dissipated this illusion on one 
 point, by bringing to light the true Carafa, enables us to trace 
 with certainty the causes of the rupture of the Peace of Vau- 
 celles. As we do not in the present volume go beyond the 
 year 1562, we say nothing here of the sources to be consulted 
 for the later history, that of the religious wars, of the political 
 part played by the Admiral in the last two years of his life, 
 and of St. Bartholomew. The name of these documents is 
 truly legion.
 
 PREFACE. XXIX 
 
 morency orbit. No one knew how pronounced had 
 been the originality of the nephew from his very 
 youth. Our readers, as they trace the part taken by 
 Coligny at the time of the rupture of the Peace of 
 Vaucelles, will perceive that even then he dared to 
 hold his own opinion in the face of all opposition, 
 and to counsel a course of policy which would have 
 saved France the terrible disaster of St. Quentin. 
 They will see also that in 1559, when under the 
 influence of Granvelle the Guises turned round so 
 rapidly in favour of Philip II., Coligny stood firm, 
 and foresaw how the country would be engulfed in 
 this vortex to its ruin. 
 
 In order to appreciate the man fully he must 
 be known in his inner life, in the ardour of his 
 religious faith, which was so intense even before he 
 became a Protestant. We must understand the 
 strength he found in his new convictions, and the 
 holy enthusiasm with which they fired him. The 
 Admiral was a Huguenot. When a modern writer 
 exclaims, " What grand citizens Coligny, Du Plessis- 
 Mornay, La Noue, even d'Aubigne" would have been 
 if they had not been sectaries ! " l when others, 
 taking the standpoint of free thought, reproach the 
 Protestant leaders with not having reasoned and 
 acted like men of the eighteenth century, we can 
 
 1 M. de Meaux, Lettres religieuses en France au XVI. 
 sieale, p. 1 14.
 
 XXX PREFACE. 
 
 but deplore the prejudices which preclude any just 
 appreciation of men in whom religious faith was the 
 ruling inspiration and the source of all manly virtues. 
 We know well that the sympathy which gives 
 the intuition of character is apt to degenerate 
 into party spirit, and that it easily transforms its 
 heroes into saints. In the study of the sixteenth 
 century, when there was an incessant conflict of 
 beliefs, the temptation is great to hoist our banner 
 and to fire without scruple upon the enemy's flag. 
 Our readers will see how earnestly we have striven 
 not to yield to this temptation. They will, we hope, 
 be convinced that we have at least sought to be just, 
 and in , being so, it seems to us we do most honour 
 to Coligny. 
 
 N.B. We have made it a strict rule not to assert 
 anything without giving our authorities. All our 
 quotations are verbatim. But we have not thought 
 it necessary to reproduce the spelling of the sixteenth 
 century, which varies so curiously in different authors, 
 and sometimes even in the same author. The exact 
 reproduction of orthography is absolutely necessary 
 when a collection of documents is being republished ; 
 but we have high authority for holding that this is 
 not required in a history written for the general 
 public. If we had reproduced, for example, the 
 exact orthography of Henry II., of Catherine de
 
 PREFACE, XXXI 
 
 Medicis, and Jeanne d'Albret, with all its eccentri- 
 cities, we should have imposed on our readers an 
 arduous task of deciphering hieroglyphics. A glance 
 at the original texts will convince them of this. 
 Some historians take a middle course, and while 
 adopting modern orthography as a general rule in 
 their quotations, leave a few words of the original 
 text here and there, to give an archaic turn to the 
 passages they reproduce. This mixed method may 
 have its merits, but we have preferred not to adopt it.
 
 NOTE. 
 
 AUTHORSHIP OF THE "VITA COLIN I I." 
 
 Gasparis Colinii Castellonii magni quondam Francice 
 amir allii vita, 1575 (without any name of place). 
 
 We have before us two different editions of this work, and 
 in both I observe a curious mistake. Coligny was born, we 
 are told, on February i6th, 1517, and when he died, August 
 24th, 1572, he was fifty-three years, six months, and eight days 
 old. The age is correct, but the date of his birth is obviously 
 wrong. Coligny was born in 1519, as we shall show. In 1576 
 appeared an English translation of this work under the title, 
 " The Lyfe of the most godly, valiant, and noble capteine and 
 maintener of the trew Christian religion in Fraunce, Jasper 
 Colignie Shatilion, sometyme Great Admiral of France," 
 translated out of Latin by Arthur Golding (imprinted at 
 London by Vautrollier, 1576). 
 
 The French translation of the Vita did not appear till the 
 seventeenth century, 1643, 1646, 1665, etc. The translator has 
 attempted to correct the error of the Latin text relating to the 
 age of the Admiral, but as he retains the incorrect date for 
 his birth, 1517 instead of 1519, he falls into the fresh error of 
 making him 55^ at the time of his death, a mistake which has 
 since been constantly repeated. In 1783 a learned German 
 named Dassdorf published at Dresden an edition of this 
 French translation, with interesting notes. In all these 
 editions the life of the Admiral is accompanied by his dis- 
 course on the Siege of St. Quentin, which has since been 
 printed in several collections of memoirs upon the history of 
 France. 
 
 The discourse and the life are even united in the edition 
 of 1665, and following editions, under the erroneous title of 
 Memoires de Pamiral Coligny, and several historians (M. de 
 Felice among others) being unacquainted with the Latin text 
 of the Vita, have quoted these memoirs as an original work
 
 NOTE, XXX111 
 
 of the sixteenth century, the authorship of which has been 
 commonly attributed to Cornaton, the Admiral's servant. 
 
 Who is the author of the Vita Colinii ? The sixteenth 
 century gives no exact answer. In the seventeenth century, 
 La Monnoye attributes it to Francis Hotman ; de Tourny, 
 (ffistoire des grand officiers de la couronne] to John 
 Hotman, Sieur de Villiers, the son of Francis. Niceron 
 assigns the authorship to Jean de Serres, because the name 
 of Jean de Serres had been written by Pierre du Puy in his 
 copy of the Vita. Le Long adopts the same theory, as also 
 does Dassdorf. 
 
 The learned editors of La France Protestante, M. M. Haag 
 and Henri Bordier, in the new edition of the Coligny collection, 
 pronounce in favour of Francis Hotman, as also does Count 
 Delaborde. 
 
 Great as is our respect for these high authorities, we venture 
 to differ from them on this point. Let us first show on what 
 grounds their opinion is founded : 
 
 ist. It is certain that on January I5th, 1573, Jacqueline 
 d'Entremont, widow of the Admiral, wrote to Francis Hotman 
 a letter in which the following expression occurs: "Do not 
 think it strange if I have tried to move you to use your pen to 
 hand down to posterity as many testimonies to the virtue 
 of my husband and lord as our enemies will bear to have 
 depicted in him." 
 
 2nd. It is equally certain that Francis Hotman complains 
 in a letter to Cappel that the magistrates at Geneva have 
 forbidden him to publish in that city any writings about 
 Coligny. 1 
 
 3rd. The author of the Vita, in quoting in Latin the last 
 touching letter of Coligny to his wife, dated August i8th, says 
 he has the original in his hands, which naturally points to 
 Francis Hotman. 
 
 4th. It is certain that the author of the Vita Colinii came 
 into close contact with the Admiral, for he says, in describing 
 his life at Chatillon-sur-Loing, "We add briefly that which 
 we have seen and heard tell." This again would apply 
 exactly to Francis Hotman. 
 
 5th. Lastly, if it is considered that Francis Hotman, 
 especially after the publication of Franco-Gallia (1573), was 
 regarded as a sort of revolutionary and republican, and that 
 his very name became obnoxious to many Protestants, we can 
 understand why the Vita, if written by him, should have 
 appeared without the author's name. 
 
 See France Protestante, Art. Hotman.
 
 XXXIV NOTE. 
 
 These are the arguments in favour of the authorship of 
 Francis Hotman. Let us now weigh what seem to us the 
 graver reasons against it. 
 
 Francis Hotman published in 1573, under the name of 
 Ernestius Varamundus, a work bearing the title, De furoribus 
 Gallicis, horrendd et indignd amirallii Castillionei, nobi- 
 lium atque illustrium virorum ccede sceleratd ac inauditd 
 piorum strage passim editd per complures Gallics civitates, 
 etc., vera et simplex narratio. This is a very valuable his- 
 torical document, of which Crespin, De Thou, and other 
 writers, have made much use, and which is for the most part 
 tiustworthy in its statements, though it was written under 
 feelings of burning indignation. A comparison of this work 
 with the Vita Colinii makes it difficult, if not impossible, to 
 believe that they are by the same author. 
 
 We do not lay much stress on the orthography of names, 
 which often differs, in the one Castellonius, in the other 
 Castillioneus ; Cossiniusand Cossenius; Thelinius and Thellig- 
 nius ; Benuesius (Besme) and Behemius, etc. In the six- 
 teenth century points like these were not much regarded, nor 
 would we insist too much on the fact that twice over the author 
 of the Vita mentions the Historia furialis carnificince, (i.e., 
 De Furoribtis gallicis], as one would quote an unknown author. 
 We go deeper : 
 
 ist. The style of De Furoribus is precisely that of Francis 
 Hotman, a man of the sixteenth century, who, according to 
 Calvin, wrote Latin with great ease and eloquence. From the 
 first words of the masterly opening, " Optandum esset recen- 
 tium furorum memoriam," etc., we recognise the man. These 
 are his grand periods. This is his powerful and graphic style. 
 We feel throughout that this is a great writer, with remarkable 
 breadth of view and power of delineation. With a few bold 
 strokes he brings before us all the details of circumstance and 
 character, as in the gloomy dialogue between Henry of Guise 
 and Besme : " Absolvisti-ne Benuisi ? At ille : Absolvi, inquit." 
 
 In the Vita there is nothing like this. A quiet continuous 
 narrative style, not an eloquent word, no generalisations, 
 nothing which suggests an actor in the great crisis. The 
 author's one idea seems to be to exhibit Coligny in his edifying 
 life as a faithful subject of the king. The language is simple, 
 without fervour ; there is not a phrase which recalls, however 
 remotely, the verve and brilliancy of Hotman. 
 
 2nd. Here and there we meet with assertions which are 
 incomprehensible on the part of a man initiated as Hotman 
 was into the life of the great Admiral. We are told, for 
 instance, that when Coligny was brought into the Protestant 
 faith, " in a few months the whole aspect of his home at
 
 NOTE. XXXV 
 
 Chatillon was changed, and his two brothers, Odet and 
 Andelot, were, by his example, stimulated to great ardour in 
 the study of religion." Now Hotman was the intimate friend 
 of Andelot. Could he fail to know that Andelot embraced the 
 evangelical faith before Gaspard, that his conversion to Pro- 
 testantism lost him his office and drew upon him the public 
 reprobation of the king, and that it was at his instigation that 
 Coligny, then a prisoner at Ghent, turned his attention to the 
 new doctrines ? 
 
 3rd. If we compare the account given in De Furor ibus and in 
 the Vita of the attempt of August 22nd, and of the death of 
 the Admiral, we find, not indeed any contradiction between the 
 two narratives, but the order is different. The one mentions 
 words spoken which the other omits. The same sayings of 
 the Admiral are variously expressed, and one cannot help asking 
 how the author of the Vita could pass over traits which else- 
 where he had brought out so forcibly. 
 
 Dassdorf, who was familiar with Hotman's style and writings, 
 had already arrived at the opinion that he could not be the 
 author of the Vita. Who, then, is the writer ? Pierre du Puy, 
 as we have already said, attributed the work to Jean de Serres, 
 and Dassdorf, noticing a somewhat striking resemblance of 
 style between the Vita and Jean de Serres' historical writings, 
 concluded without further inquiry that he was the author of 
 the biography. We cannot acquiesce in a conclusion based 
 on such insufficient premises. There is, undoubtedly, a certain 
 analogy between the spirit of the writer of the Life and that 
 of Jean de Serres, who was distinguished by his moderation, 
 but this is not enough to sustain Dassdorf 's statement. 1 
 
 We believe that Francis Hotman, yielding to the impulse of 
 his own heart, wrote his terrible work, De Furoribus, in 1573, 
 and that as Jacqueline d'Entremont entreated him at the same 
 time to perpetuate the memory of her husband, he yielded to 
 this request by devoting some of the most eloquent pages of 
 his work to Coligny' s death. We believe that this was the 
 writing which the Geneva magistrates would not allow to 
 appear. It is inconceivable that they could have raised any 
 objection to the publication of the Vita Colinii, which con- 
 tains not a single aggressive passage, and is so moderate in 
 tone throughout. 
 
 1 M. Ch. Dardier, who has written a very able paper on 
 Jean de Serres, seems to have reached the same conclusion as 
 ourselves, for he makes no mention of the Vita Colinii among 
 the writings of the Protestant historiographer. (See his articles 
 in the Revue Historique, 1883.)
 
 XXXVI NOTE. 
 
 The author of the Vita is still unknown to us. In dtibio, 
 abstine. We shall describe him then without naming him. 
 He was a gentle spirit, a friend to peace, who seems not to 
 have known Coligny intimately in the early part of his career. 
 He often quotes the testimony of eye-witnesses. The only 
 passage in which we find any description ex visu is in the 
 appendix, in which the domestic life of Coligny is depicted. 
 It is possible that this fragment may be by Francis Hotman. 
 The Vita is nevertheless a document of great value, if only 
 from the tone of perfect veracity which characterises it 
 throughout.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Pedigree of the Coligny family. Birth of Gaspard, the future Admiral. 
 His mother, Louise de Montmorency. Important part taken 
 by women in the sixteenth century. The Constable Anne de 
 Montmorency. Education of Coligny. Incidents of his youth. 
 The Court of Francis I. Moral condition of France. 
 
 family of the Coligny came originally from 
 J. La Bresse, and their old feudal manor stood at 
 the foot of the Jura, commanding the approach to 
 the small town which still bears their name. 
 
 This little town is situated on the slope of a wooded 
 hill, from the top of which, turning to the west, the eye 
 takes in the great plain of Maconnais. 1 The castle 
 stood just on the borders of La Bresse and Burgundy. 
 
 The Coligny belonged to one of the oldest families 
 of the French noblesse. Villehardouin mentions, in 
 the crusade of 1202, one Hugo de Colenii, who dis- 
 tinguished himself by his valour. It has been 
 asserted, and it was the belief of the admiral himself, 
 that his house had once been independent and 
 sovereign. 2 This independence was not absolute, 
 
 See La France Protestante, 2nd edition, Art. Chatillon, 
 for the interesting description of this spot given by M. Henri 
 Bordier. 
 '- This claim is mentioned in the Vita Colinii.
 
 2 COLIGNY. 
 
 however, and it is certain that, about the middle of 
 the fifteenth century, William de Coligny was fighting 
 under the banner of Savoy. After his marriage, in 
 1437, with Catherine de Saligny, he acquired, as a 
 marriage portion, the seigneurie of Chatillon-sur- 
 Loing, to the north of the Loire, in Gatinais, and 
 this seigneurie descended to his eldest son John. 
 John took up his abode at Chatillon. The services 
 which he rendered to Louis XL, in the war with the 
 "League of the Public Weal," brought his family 
 into notice. 1 
 
 He had two sons ; Jacques, the elder, died in 
 fighting before Ravenna (1512); Gaspard, the 
 second son, was made Marshal de Chatillon in 1516. 
 Two years previously he had married Louise de 
 Montmorency, sister of the famous Constable Anne, 
 who was to exercise for half a century such an 
 important influence over the destinies of France. 
 Louise was sister to the Seigneur de Mailly. 
 
 The Marshal de Chatillon was one of the generals 
 of Francis I. Brantome says that he had " a strong 
 head and a strong arm." But we know of no 
 brilliant exploit performed by him. On the con- 
 trary, it was through yielding to his counsels of 
 extreme prudence that Francis I., during the war 
 of 1521, after having crossed the Scheldt in the face 
 of Charles V. and the Count of Nassau (October 22nd) 
 refused to enter on a decisive engagement, as urged 
 
 1 The whole subject of the genealogy of the Coligny family 
 has been thoroughly treated by Jean du Bouchet in his Prcuves 
 de I' histoire de rillustre maison de Coligny (Paris, 1662). 
 See also M. Edmond Chevrier's interesting paper, La maison 
 de Coligny au moyen age (Bourg-en Bresse). M. Dclaborde
 
 FAMILY HISTORY OF THE COLIGNY. 3 
 
 by the Constable de Bourbon, and thus lost, says 
 Martin du Bellay, " the good fortune which God had 
 sent him, and which was never to return." During 
 this war the Spaniards had taken possession of a 
 large part of Chatillon's estates in Franche-Comte ; 
 he received from the king, in compensation, the 
 principality of Orange. 1 He had just been summoned 
 to defend the frontier near Bayonne, when he died, 
 after nine days' illness, of malignant fever at Dax, 
 August 4th, 1522. 
 
 Louise de Montmorency was thus left a widow, 
 and though still young, she had seven children to 
 educate, three by her first marriage and four by the 
 second. We shall only mention here those whose 
 names figure in history. The first of these was 
 Madeleine de Mailly, afterwards Countess de Roye, 
 whose daughters became the wives of the Prince de 
 Conde and the Count of La Rochefoucauld. 2 Then 
 followed Odet, Gaspard, and Francis de Coligny. 3 
 Odet, who became a Cardinal, was born July i8th, 
 
 and M. Bordier go fully into the subject. M. Bordier justly 
 conjectures that the Admiral lays so much stress upon the 
 sovereignty of his house because of his favourite scheme of 
 making his little principality a place of refuge where the 
 adherents of the Protestant faith might enjoy freedom of 
 worship. 
 
 1 Thus the father of Coligny, by a strange concurrence of 
 circumstances, bore the titlq of Prince of Orange, which was 
 to be rendered so illustrious by his future son-in-law, William 
 the Silent. 
 
 2 Of the other children of the Sieur de Mailly, one, John, 
 died at the age of twenty-two fighting in the siege of Naples ; 
 the other, Louise, became a nun. 
 
 3 An elder son of the Marshal, named Pierre, born in 1516, 
 was page to Francis I., and died in 1534 at eighteen years of 
 age.
 
 4 COLIGNY. 
 
 1517 ; Gaspard, the future Admiral, February i6th, 
 1519; and Francis, who afterwards took the title of 
 Andelot, April iSth, 1521. 
 
 Louise de Montmorency was equal to her task. 
 She moulded the character of her sons. To her 
 they owed the strict uprightness, the generous ardour, 
 the moral courage which were such striking traits in 
 her character. Gaspard de Coligny especially was 
 the true son of his mother. 
 
 Here we Tnust pause to make one general obser- 
 vation. At no period of modern history was the 
 influence of woman so marked as in the sixteenth 
 century. We are not referring to her hidden influence, 
 which has always been great, but to the brilliant 
 and active part taken by her in outward life. This 
 may explain to some extent the spasmodic character 
 of the policy pursued, which was often determined 
 rather by feeling and passion than by calm states- 
 manship. In the two rival camps which then divided 
 Western Europe, we shall find, if we look closely, that 
 behind the principal, actors, the strings were moved 
 by women. We see the astute and sagacious Margaret 
 of Austria, aunt of Charles V., instilling into him 
 her own crafty taciturnity ; Mary Tudor, " Bloody 
 Mary," whose ardent fanaticism failed to melt the 
 cold and arid heart of Philip II.; Louise de Savoie, 
 whose haughty caprice dictated much of the treachery 
 of the Constable Bourbon ; Diane de Poitiers, who made 
 the fortune of the Guises, and held in passive obedience 
 his ponderous majesty Henry II. ; Mary Stuart, 
 whom we see through an illusive halo of romance, 
 and who would have received sterner justice from 
 posterity but for the pity inspired by her cruel fate ;
 
 WOMEN OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 5 
 
 and lastly, Catherine de Medicis, about whom we are 
 ready to ask if she even knew what remorse meant, 
 and who seems never to have loved any human being 
 but her worthless son Henry III., who bore so strong 
 a resemblance to herself. In contrast with these, 
 and in the opposite religious camp, is Elizabeth of 
 England, sceptical at heart, proud, and often cruel, 
 but in whom no access of passion ever stifled the 
 dictates of sound policy, and whose strong intellect 
 justified the saying that the greatest man in England 
 at that time was a woman. Before her came Lady 
 Jane Grey, that lovely flower so prematurely cut 
 down ; and in France the elder Marguerite de Valois, 
 with her bright intelligent face, her mind eager for 
 all knowledge, and her heart as open to all human 
 tendernesses as it was closed to all bigotry ; Jeanne 
 d'Albret, her daughter, " who had nothing feminine 
 about her but her sex " ; the woman of penetrating 
 intellect and firm will, in a word, a true queen, whose 
 political programme, except in the matter of religious 
 toleration, was almost that of 1789. Of upright 
 conscience, of true and brave soul, Jeanne d'Albret 
 could see with her frank eyes through the intrigues 
 of the Florentine, but she failed to conceive the 
 atrocious perfidy with which Catherine was preparing 
 the crimson nuptials of St. Bartholomew. Henry IV. 
 was wont to speak of her as " my good mother, to 
 whom I owe everything," which was indeed a tribute 
 as true as it was graceful, only that the moral levity 
 of the Gascon detracted somewhat from his greatness 
 as a hero. Side by side with these figures famed in 
 story stand Madame de Roye, Coligny's noble sister; 
 Charlotte de Laval, his brave companion, and the
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 lovely Princess de Conde, as intrepid under the 
 enemy's fire as she was tender and dignified in her 
 domestic afflictions, and of whom Anne de Rohan 
 worthily sang : 
 
 " That she deemed it higher grace, 
 Though she came of noble race, 
 To be called a child of God 
 Than a princess of the blood." 
 
 Louise de Montmorency deserves a foremost place 
 in this galaxy of good women. Her high birth, the 
 charm of her person, the honourable position already 
 filled by her as maid of honour to Anne de Bretagne, 
 all fitted her for a life at court. But she preferred 
 to shut herself up at Chatillon, and to devote herself 
 entirely to the education of her sons. In 1530, 
 however, she came to pass some time in Paris with 
 the new Queen Eleanor, who wished to have her 
 about her person. She dreaded the atmosphere of 
 frivolous gallantry which prevailed in the court of 
 the Chevalier King. The Chancellor de 1'Hospital 
 has celebrated, in one of his Latin poems, 1 the purity 
 of her character and her virtues as a mother. 
 
 Louise de Montmorency had an evident leaning 
 to the new doctrines then being propagated by the 
 Reformation. This predilection was shown in the 
 choice which she made in 1528 of a tutor for her 
 sons. She selected Nicolas Berauld, a distinguished 
 classical scholar, about fifty-five years of age, and an 
 intimate friend of Erasmus and Louis de Berquin, 
 one of the first martyrs of the Reformation. Louise 
 de Montmorency was tenderly beloved by Marguerite, 
 
 1 Liber I., Epist. viii.
 
 LOUISE DE MONTMORENCY. 
 
 sister of Francis I., who was the avowed protectress 
 of the Lutherans of Meaux. The oldest biography 
 of Coligny says that Louise de Montmorency gave 
 her dying testimony to the true and pure religion 
 she had embraced. She had perpetually on her lips 
 the words, " His mercy is from generation to genera- 
 tion upon them that fear Him," and on her death-bed 
 she exhorted her son Odet, " who was already a 
 cardinal, and expressly forbade him to bring any 
 priest to her, saying that God of His singular mercy 
 had taught her how to fear and serve Him in all 
 piety, and how to lay down this tabernacle of the 
 body and to enter the heavenly country." 1 
 
 We can well understand how Father Maimbourg 
 came to say of her in his Histoire du Calvinisme : 
 " It was Louise de Montmorency who instilled into 
 her sons the spirit which made them fall so easily 
 victims to heresy." But it would be erroneous to 
 conclude that she associated herself directly with the 
 Reformed Communion. It was not till several years 
 after her death, that her daughter Madeleine de Mailly 
 broke openly with Catholicism, thus setting her three 
 brothers an example which they all afterwards fol- 
 lowed, as we shall see, but each in his turn obeying 
 the dictates of his own conscience. 
 
 If Coligny's mother had the most powerful in- 
 fluence on the formation of his character, it was to 
 his uncle, the Constable de Montmorency, that he at 
 first owed his rapid advancement. 
 
 Anne, first Duke de Montmorency, 2 came of that 
 
 1 Vita Colinii, 1575, p. 8. 
 
 2 He derived his name from the Queen Anne de Bretagne, 
 whose godson he was.
 
 8 COLIGNY. 
 
 ancient family which Henry IV. once called the first 
 house in Europe after that of Bourbon. 
 
 Born in 1492, he was educated with Francis I., 
 then simple Count d'Angouleme. In I 5 i 5 he fought 
 at Marignan, in 1521 at Mezieres, under Bayard, 
 then at Milan under Lautrec. In 1522 he was 
 made Marshal of France. Irreproachable in valour, 
 he yet lacked the qualities of a great captain. Hence 
 he was always ready to temporise, playing in relation 
 to the Spaniards the part of Fabius Cunctator. This 
 caution served him well in 1536 at the time of the 
 invasion of Provence by Charles V. Remembering 
 Pavia, the Constable refused to encounter the enemy 
 face to face. He desolated the country through 
 which the Spaniards were to pass, burning up all 
 the villages and the harvests which might have 
 yielded sustenance to the foe. By this barbaric 
 energy he forced Charles V. to retreat. The king 
 rewarded this service in 1538 by making him Con- 
 stable. In this position he exercised the function of 
 prime minister. All questions were submitted to 
 him, and his influence was immense. The Sultan 
 himself bought his favour by lavish presents. His 
 natural conceit was fostered by his position, and 
 soon became insufferable. He delighted in humbling 
 all the nobility, and gained the reputation of being 
 the greatest "snubber" in France. If anyone ventured 
 to contradict him he spared no abusive epithets ; his 
 adversaries were fools, asses, calves. 1 As general or 
 statesman he showed not a spark of genius, but he 
 had a strong will, and a power of continuous appli- 
 
 1 Brantdme.
 
 THE CONSTABLE ANNE DE MONTMORENCY. 9 
 
 cation, which under an impulsive king like Francis I. 
 was often of service in the conduct of affairs. Ra- 
 pacious and greedy of gain, he could not bear any 
 squandering. He set himself to protect and enrich 
 all his family, though demanding of them at the 
 same time an activity like his own in the service of 
 the king. He was the type of those great dignitaries 
 the race of whom was to become extinct with 
 Richelieu. Disgraced in 1540 for having too openly 
 embraced the party of the Dauphin, 1 he turned his 
 exile at Ecouen to account by building there a 
 splendid mansion. Restored to office under Henry II., 
 he exercised a disastrous influence, lost the battle 
 of St. Quentin, concluded the unfortunate Peace of 
 Cateau-Cambresis, and placed himself with Guise and 
 Saint Andre at the head of the famous triumvirate. 
 As the " first gentleman and Christian baron of 
 France," he was naturally hostile to the Reformation, 
 which he regarded as merely a revolt. This led to 
 an open rupture with his nephew, and it was in 
 fighting against Coligny at St. Denis that he re- 
 ceived his death wounds. His piety was of a very 
 original type. "He would never fail," says Brantome, 
 tf to perform his prayers and devotions, but of a morn- 
 ing said duly his Paternosters, whatsoever might be 
 his occasions, whether to stay in doors or to ride 
 forth among his men-at-arms, insomuch that it grew 
 to a saying among them to beware of the Constable's 
 Paternosters, for though there were great stir and 
 confusion he would be still muttering his prayers 
 
 1 In the latter years of Francis I. an open contest broke out 
 between the Duchess d'Etampes, the king's favourite, and 
 Diane de Poitiers, the Dauphin's mistress.
 
 !O COLIGNY. 
 
 and telling his beads, and ever and anon broke off 
 with a 'Lay me such an one by the heels ; ' ' String me 
 such another to this tree ; ' ' To the halberds or the 
 arquebuses on the spot with a third ; ' or, ' Put me 
 those knaves to the sword that have thought to hold 
 their peddling hamlet against the king's grace ; ' or, 
 'Burn me down this village, set a torch to everything 
 for a mile about ' ; and so ran on with such like 
 commands as need was for discipline or warfare, but 
 without ceasing or stinting a jot of his Paternosters 
 until he had made an end, holding it a grievous 
 misdoing to put them off to another season, so tencfer 
 a conscience as he was of." 
 
 This nai've description brings the man vividly 
 before us, and we see how the rough soldier was 
 blended in him with the very Christian gentleman. 
 The pitiless cruelty with which he treated the in- 
 habitants of Bordeaux, who in 1548 had refused to 
 pay the salt tax, reminds us of one of those Com- 
 missioners to whom the Convention entrusted the 
 pacification of the provinces. 
 
 Anne de Montmorency was, as we have said, 
 much attached to his own people, and the natural 
 patron of all nearly connected with him. His 
 nephews early reaped the benefit of his good will. 
 In 1533, the Pope, in honour of the marriage 
 of his niece, Catherine de Media's, with the future 
 Dauphin, promised to create four cardinals in France. 
 Francis I. offered a cardinal's hat to Montmorency 
 for one of his family. Montmorency designated his 
 nephew Odet, then scarcely sixteen years of age ! 
 He was invested with the purple on November 7th, 
 1533. This was what is called an anticipated voca-
 
 COLIGNY >S EARLY TRAINING. II 
 
 tion. The same year he was made Archbishop of 
 Toulouse, and prior of a great many abbeys. Two 
 years later he was called to the bishopric of Beauvais, 
 one of the oldest ecclesiastical peerages in the king- 
 dom.. In this way the benefices of the Church were 
 often dispensed at that time. At the same period, 
 Calvin, while scarcely more than a child, was, in 
 defiance of all canonical rules, endued with a benefice 
 at Noyon, just as a century later Angelique Arnauld 
 became abbess of Port Royal at twelve years old. 
 These very abuses often stimulated the spirit of 
 reform in those whom they were intended to benefit. 
 
 When Odet entered on his career as a churchman, 
 he left to his brother Gaspard the ordering of the 
 house at Chatillon. He also gave up to him and his 
 brother Andelot all the patrimonial estate. 
 
 Coligny was a born soldier. In order to prepare 
 himself for this career, he accustomed himself to 
 severe bodily exercise, and finding himself prone to 
 too much sleep, he formed the habit of waking him- 
 self up every hour through the night till he felt he 
 was master of his own body. His tutor was, as 
 we have said, Nicolas Berauld ; his governor, Sieur 
 Guillaume de Prunelay. 1 When Coligny was in 
 Paris he studied with Tagliacarne and William du 
 Maine, tutors of the royal children, and often exer- 
 
 1 Sandras de Courtils, who derived many details from the 
 family traditions of the Chatillons, says that Berauld was 
 very slow of speech, that Prunelay had usually a tooth-pick 
 in his mouth, and that Coligny imitated them in both these 
 respects. The latter detail is confirmed by a proverb long 
 current in the south. If the Protestants said that it was well 
 to beware of the paternosters of the Constable, the Catholics 
 replied that they had to beware of the Admiral's tooth-pick.
 
 1 2 COLIGNY. 
 
 cised himself in company with the Dauphin in all 
 knightly arts. 
 
 We have a letter in Latin written by him at the 
 age of fifteen, and addressed to Berauld from Paris. 1 
 He gives him news of the Conclave of Cardinals and 
 of the Court. He writes : " In the midst of the 
 doubt and anxiety which prevail on all hands, the 
 king does not lose heart, far from it. Just as though 
 he had a good hope to cheer him on, he devotes 
 himself daily to the chase, stalks the deer or slays the 
 wild boars caught in the nets." He goes on to say, 
 " I sometimes join in the same exercise, but for the 
 most part my time is given to the reading of Cicero 
 and the study of the tables of Ptolemy, under Du 
 Maine, who, adopting a different method from 
 Tagliacarne, teaches cosmography at. the same time, 
 especially in the portion relating to the longitude 
 and latitude of places, with the addition of meridians 
 and parallels." Even at such an early age Coligny 
 thus gives indication of his faculty of observation and 
 devotion to study. 
 
 This in no way prevented his joining eagerly in 
 the sports of youths of his age. His brother Andelot 
 was his constant companion, and thus there grew up 
 between them that close affection which united them 
 through life. 2 
 
 The proverb is still remembered. Brantdme quotes it in 
 another form, as already current in his day : " God save us 
 from the smooth tongue and douce ways of the Prince de 
 Cond6, and from the wit and tooth-pick of the Admiral."- 
 Brantome, Lalanne Edition (vol. iv., p. 339). 
 
 1 Herminjard, Correspondance des reformateurs, vol. iii., 
 p. 219. 
 
 2 See in Appendix A. a curious incident of Coligny's youth,
 
 LIFE IN THE FRENCH COURT. 13 
 
 Among those with whom he was most intimately 
 associated in his youth was Francis of Lorraine, who 
 was born one day later than Coligny, and who was 
 to. become his most implacable enemy. Brantdme 
 says : " They were both in their youth such great 
 companions, friends, and allies, that as I have heard 
 from several eye-witnesses, they would dress for the 
 most part in the same habits, be on the same side 
 in jousts and tournaments, racing for the ring, 
 masquerades, and other court pastimes, both of them 
 madcaps, outstripping all others in their extravagant 
 follies, and always doing some mischief in their 
 fooling, so rough were they and unlucky in their 
 sports." 
 
 These exuberant spirits, this effervescence of 
 youthful vitality, Coligny learned to keep in check 
 and to transmute into manly energy. Had his 
 will been tess firm, he might easily have drifted 
 into evil in that frivolous court, where favourites 
 reigned and where virtue so often made shipwreck. 
 It is a marvel that he stood erect, training himself 
 with stern self-discipline for the hard life of a soldier, 
 cherishing purity of life and that blameless integrity 
 which made him such a power in his generation. 
 Even as a young man he won the respect which 
 followed him to the end of his life. 
 
 It was a dangerous age to live in. For thirty years 
 France had been drinking deeply into the intoxicat- 
 ing life of Italy. The noblesse, who left their feudal 
 manors for brilliant expeditions beyond the Alps, there 
 
 quoted by Sandras de Courtils, and which we only give with 
 the reservation made in our Preface with regard to this author's 
 statements.
 
 14 COLIGNY. 
 
 caught the manners of the Renaissance, and breathed 
 the atmosphere of a restored paganism. In Rome 
 they met with cardinals who ridiculed the literary 
 poverty of the Gospels and the barbarous style of 
 St. Paul, priests who read Aretino and Boccaccio, and 
 popes who had Machiavelli's Mandragora in the 
 Vatican put on the stage. From Rome they car- 
 ried away visions of the miracles of art, and on 
 their return to France were eager to raze to the 
 ground their gloomy Gothic dwellings, to replace 
 them by light and fairy architecture like that of 
 Chenonceaux and Chambord. They became en- 
 thusiasts about music and painting. Francis I. spent 
 enormous sums on singers for his chapel. There 
 was a rage for brilliant costumes, magnificent fetes 
 and processions, robes of silk, brocade, and velvet. 
 It was a violent reaction against the utilitarian and 
 prosaic age of Louis XL, who hated all pomp and 
 circumstance, and went himself through the provinces 
 in his fur cap and close-fitting suit of grey cloth. 
 Italian scepticism, however, had not yet laid hold of 
 the souls of Frenchmen. Machiavelli, whose Prince 
 was only printed in 1531, did not exert any real 
 influence till the middle of the century, when Cathe- 
 rine de Medicis had gathered her Italian favourites 
 around her. The France of I 530 had still its chival- 
 rous impulses. In contrast to the sinister and coldly 
 criminal type of Caesar Borgia, France. could point 
 to the noble Bayard. Her danger lay rather in the 
 direction of the voluptuous. Not indeed in the gross 
 and rollicking licentiousness of the old Trouvere 
 tales, which was the nai've apology of a gay life in 
 opposition to the monastic austerity of the middle
 
 LUXURY AND IMMORALITY OF THE COURT. I 5 
 
 ages. It was rather an access of refined corruption, 
 of unwholesome curiosity, which troubled and un- 
 settled the heart of France. The court set the 
 example. Noble souls like Marguerite, the king's 
 sister, strove in vain to stem the tide, or to turn it 
 in a spiritual and mystical direction by skilfully 
 inweaving moral lessons in tales of the imagination, 
 trying to rekindle the faithful passion of the old 
 romances of chivalry and the love songs of the 
 Trouveres. All these slight and graceful barriers 
 were swept away by the rush of gross sensual pas- 
 sion. Francis I., as Michelet observes, shows in his 
 portraits the traces of this downward tendency of the 
 age. At first he is the gallant and noble cavalier ; 
 then, little by little, the face assumes a heavy and 
 repellent ugliness ; the bloated cheek, the lustreless 
 eye bespeak a soul swallowed up of the flesh. And 
 the like degeneration goes on from sire to son, till 
 the men of that age furnish the gallery of models 
 which Brantome describes with the callous facility 
 of the mere chronicler, indifferent alike to virtue 
 or infamy. 
 
 The reaction, however, was already going on, and 
 in many minds it took the form of an unconscious 
 but powerful moral protest before it touched on 
 doctrine or religion. Coligny, his brother Andelot, 
 their mother and sisters, and many others whom we 
 could name, had as yet but a vague knowledge of 
 the doctrines of the Reformation. In the year 1540 
 scarcely more than one or two men of the higher 
 classes could be found who had embraced the Pro- 
 testant faith, and yet men's consciences were being 
 aroused. There came a moment when this moral
 
 1 6 COLIGNY. 
 
 Renaissance seemed about to germinate and expand 
 under the influence of a genial atmosphere. There 
 seemed to be promise of a future for the Reforma- 
 tion in France. All historians have spoken of that 
 unique moment when Francis I., inspired by his 
 sister, resolutely opposed the Sorbonne, and defended, 
 in opposition to it, the claims of Greek and Hebrew, 
 " those heretical tongues " in which great lords and 
 ladies chanted the psalms in the groves of Pre-aux- 
 Clercs. But it was but the hush before the storm. 
 What might not France have become if, following 
 the impulse of her better genius, she had wrought 
 out her own religious renovation ? To what great 
 destinies might she not have attained ? The only 
 response to this question is the sombre reality of 
 that pitiless persecution, which from the first torture 
 of the Lutherans of Meaux to the Saturnalia of the 
 League, checked the impetus of free thought, and 
 forced upon the minds of men by fire and sword the 
 unity so dear to the Latin races. Under its influ- 
 ence France well nigh became a second Spain ; the 
 reformed themselves, finding all their generous and 
 expansive impulses repressed, assumed that stern 
 and rigid puritanical attitude with which they are 
 so often reproached. How could it be otherwise ? 
 How could their soul blossom and fling its perfumes 
 abroad, when it was nipped by the biting winds of 
 persecution ? 
 
 Coligny grew to manhood just when this era of 
 repression was at its height. Returning from the 
 fetes at Chambord or Fontainebleau, or leaving the 
 royal receptions at the Louvre, it was but too com- 
 mon to see on the Place de Greve or in the Rue
 
 PERSECUTION OF THE HERETICS. 17 
 
 Maubert, scaffolds erected, on which men and women 
 of the lower classes were the victims. They were 
 criminals of a strange sort ; of grave and yet joyful 
 mien. They were heard singing with rapture unknown 
 poetry, which all took up in chorus, and the crowd 
 listened. It was an appeal to the God of righteous- 
 ness ; it was the sublime confidence of the heart 
 that waits for Him ; it was the accent of eternal 
 hope. The flame leapt up. The martyrs, putting 
 aside the crucifix held by the priest before their 
 eyes, gazed up into heaven. One by one the voices 
 sank into silence. The crowd dispersed, and more 
 than one who had joined in the cry, " Death to the 
 Lutherans ! death to the heretics ! " went away 
 quiet and thoughtful. The air seemed full of omens.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Coligny's first essay of arras. Campaigns of 1542 and 1543. Cerisolles. 
 Peace of Crepy. Siege of Boulogne. Part taken by Coligny in 
 the attack on the Isle of Wight. Death of Francis I. Accession 
 of Henry II. Growing favour of the Constable. Francis of Lor- 
 raine and the Cardinal of Lorraine. Promotion of Coligny and 
 his brother Andelot. Marriage of Coligny with Charlotte de 
 Laval. 
 
 /""^OLIGNY began his career in arms in 1542, 
 ^^ just after the disgrace of his uncle the Con- 
 stable. Failing this powerful protection, he had to 
 make his own way. As he said, the life of the 
 Court had little attraction for him, and he " usually 
 walked abroad where blows were to be exchanged." 1 
 The campaign of Luxembourg, i 542, is one of the 
 numerous episodes in the interminable duel between 
 Charles V. and Francis I. The latter, on this occa- 
 sion, took the initiative with great vigour. Attacking 
 the Spaniards in the north and south, he entrusted 
 the army of the north to his son, the Duke of 
 Orleans, but the command really belonged to Claude 
 de Lorraine, Duke of Guise, a skilful general and 
 the true founder of the glory of his house. It was 
 under his orders that Coligny and Andelot fought. 
 
 1 Brant6me, Lalanne edit., vol. iv., p. 316.
 
 CAMPAIGNS OF 1542, 1543. 19 
 
 In a few weeks Damvillers, Yvoi, Arlon and Luxem- 
 bourg were taken by the French, assisted by the 
 Duke of Guelders. 1 
 
 At the taking of Montmedy shortly afterwards, 
 Coligny received a wound in the head from a ball. 
 He scarcely allowed it time to heal before he took 
 arms again. The results of this campaign were 
 unhappily lost almost as soon as gained, through 
 the folly of the Duke of Orleans, who abandoned his 
 own army, preferring to rejoin the army of the south, 
 where he hoped to win " a greater battle." 
 
 The next year (1543) it was again Francis I. 
 who took the initiative in the attack, notwithstanding 
 the powerful support which Henry VIII. of Eng- 
 land was lending to the Imperialists. Charles V. 
 had retaken Luxembourg ; the principal field of 
 action was Flanders, and Coligny distinguished him- 
 self at the siege of Binche, where he was grievously 
 wounded, and in the defence of Landrecy. The 
 issue of the campaign remained doubtful. 
 
 In 1544 the contest with the Spaniards was 
 carried on vigorously in Italy, whither the king had 
 sent the young Duke d'Enghien. The old generals 
 of the king, still smarting from the defeats of Pavia 
 and La Bicoque, were inclined to temporise. The 
 Spaniards jeered openly at their caution. Enghien 
 sent Blaise de Montluc to the king to obtain from 
 him " leave to give battle." The Gascon, who was 
 as eloquent a messenger as he was a brave soldier, 
 acquitted himself so well of his task, that the king 
 
 1 At the taking of Arlon an incident is recorded which, if 
 true, shows how great was Coligny 's moral courage. See 
 Appendix B.
 
 2O COLIGNY. 
 
 allowed himself to be persuaded. So soon as it was 
 known there was to be a battle, more than a hundred 
 young gentlemen of the first houses in France 
 hastened to join Enghien. They offered sums of 
 money to retain the mercenaries, who always threat- 
 ened to leave on the eve of a battle. Coligny and 
 his brother hastened with the rest to the field of 
 action, and were attached to the staff of the general- 
 in-chief. 
 
 The encounter with the Spaniards took place at 
 Cerisolles, on the morning of Easter Monday, April 
 1 4th. Enghien, with his cavalry, carried all before 
 him ; but he thought for a time that the rest of his 
 army was defeated, and in his despair was about to 
 commit suicide, when some one rode up with the 
 news that the Gascons and the Swiss on their side 
 had cut to pieces their Spanish and Italian foes. 
 The Imperial loss was enormous. France had gained 
 no such brilliant victory since Marignan. Unhappily, 
 as so often happened, Francis I. did not know how 
 to turn his success to account. Enghien was soon 
 recalled. The Imperialists recovered from their 
 consternation, and their general offered to sign a 
 truce, which closed the campaign. In the mean- 
 time Coligny and his brother had done important 
 service in the taking of Carignan. Seeing their 
 soldiers faltering, Coligny seized the standard, flung 
 it into the counterscarp, and compelled his men to 
 follow him to recover it. The affair was so brilliant 
 that the king, offended as he was with the 
 Constable, did not hesitate to publicly thank the 
 Chatillons. 
 
 It was Francis I.'s imprudence which nullified the
 
 PEACE OF CREPY. 21 
 
 advantages of this victory. He had as opponents 
 the Emperor of Germany and the King of England. 
 These were attacking him in the north, and it was 
 to oppose them that he recalled his troops from 
 Italy. Charles V. had secured for the first time the 
 support of the whole Germanic Confederation against 
 France, so great was the indignation felt at the 
 alliance of Francis with the Turks. Henry VIII. 
 landed with 30,000 English troops, who were joined 
 by 25,000 Netherlanders. He laid siege to Bou 
 logne. At the same time Charles entered Champagne 
 with 50,000 men. The little town of St. Dizier 
 made a heroic resistance, and thus retarded the 
 advance of the Germans for forty days. It surren- 
 dered August 1 7th, 1544. Charles V. advanced as 
 far as Chateau-Thierry. The Parisians were panic- 
 struck, but Francis I., though much reduced by ill- 
 ness, was roused to some of his old energy by this 
 crisis, and offered such a resistance that Charles 
 thought it best to treat with him. Peace was con- 
 cluded September i8th at Crepy-en-Laonnais, in 
 spite of the protest of the Dauphin, who had hoped 
 to win laurels in the campaign. Coligny took part 
 in this expedition as Colonel, and distinguished 
 himself by the rigid discipline he enforced in his 
 regiment. 
 
 Henry VIII., however, continued the siege of 
 Boulogne, which fell into his hands by an unexpected 
 capitulation at the end of the year. Francis now 
 determined to turn all his efforts against the English. 
 During the winter of 1545 the taxation was in- 
 creased by one quarter ; fresh troops were levied ; 
 the Mediterranean fleet was called home, and the
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 strongest trading vessels of Bordeaux, La Rochelle, 
 Bretagne, Normandy, and Picardy were added to it. 
 The fleet was intrusted to Admiral d'Annebaut. He 
 was to land in England, and there to be joined by 
 the Scotch. 
 
 The French fleet sailed for the Isle of Wight, 
 and tried in vain to provoke the English to fight. 
 Coligny commanded one galley. He sailed up to 
 the enemy and opened fire, but Peter Strozzi, who 
 was to have supported him, held back, and compro- 
 mised the attack by his pusillanimity. Coligny 
 reproached him bitterly, saying he would rather 
 have died than have acted thus. 1 This is the first 
 and only occasion on which Coligny commanded at 
 sea, and we see how bravely he did his part. Anne- 
 baut abandoned the project of landing, and returned 
 to France about the middle of August. Thus ended 
 this expedition, the only result of which was to show 
 that if France could muster a fleet, she did not yet 
 know how to use it to advantage. 
 
 It was then decided to re-take Boulogne. The 
 Marshal du Biez commanded the besieging army ; 
 but he set to work badly, and wasted time in build- 
 ing a fort at Outreau, which was at too great a 
 distance from the sea for the firing from the fort to 
 prevent the re-victualling of the town by the Eng- 
 lish. An Italian engineer, named Melloni, wasted 
 enormous sums of money on this construction, and 
 the siege made no progress. 
 
 Coligny took part in the siege, and had frequent 
 
 1 The account of this is given at length in Delaborde, vol. i., 
 App. XIV. M. Delaborde is the first who has mentioned this 
 fact.
 
 SIEGE OF BOULOGNE. 23 
 
 skirmishes with the enemy. In one of these en- 
 counters Francis of Lorraine received a thrust from 
 a lance, which entered his head a little below the 
 right eye. He was healed by the skill of Ambroise 
 Pare, who was just rising into repute. 
 
 Henry VIII. grew weary of this long campaign, 
 and made proposals to Francis, which he received 
 eagerly. On the /th of June, 1546, a treaty was 
 concluded, by which France was to recover Boulogne 
 at the end of eight years, on consideration of a 
 payment in gold of 2,000,000 crowns. It was 
 understood that neither side was to commence any 
 new fortifications in the County of Boulonais ; but 
 this stipulation was practically nullified by the per- 
 mission granted to each to " continue and complete 
 any intrenchments or fortifications already begun." 
 
 Coligny was twenty-seven years of age when this 
 peace was concluded. In the correspondence of 
 Catherine de Medicis we find a letter 1 which intimates 
 that at this period he made, or at least planned, a 
 journey into Italy. She writes to Cosmo, Duke of 
 Florence, September 28th, 1546 : " My cousin, the 
 brothers Chatillon and Dandelot, gentlemen in wait- 
 ing of my lord the king, and others of their company, 
 have undertaken to journey to you, for the great 
 desire they have to see our city of Florence and the 
 antiquities of it. I pray you, my cousin, receive 
 them well for my sake, and I will pray the Creator 
 to grant you all you desire." No historian, as far as 
 
 1 Lettres de Catherine de Medicis, published by M. le 
 Comte Hector de la Ferriere. We shall often refer to this 
 valuable collection, which contains 1,000 letters, many of 
 them here published for the first time.
 
 24 COLIGNY. 
 
 we know, makes any allusion to this journey, and it 
 is impossible to tell whether the project was carried 
 out or not. 
 
 Francis I. died at the age of fifty-three, after a 
 painful illness. His latter years were embittered 
 by the loss of his favourite son, and by the fearful 
 tragedy of Cabrieres and Merindol, where 3,000 
 peasants were butchered on a charge of heresy. 
 The Duke d'Enghien, the brilliant victor at Cerisolles, 
 had died before the very eyes of the king, from an 
 accident, the cause of which was never explained. 
 The king had loved to pit him against the Guises, 
 whose ambition already began to make him uneasy. 
 He knew that his son Henry was rejoicing at the 
 prospect of his death, and was already distributing 
 in anticipation the principal offices of state among 
 his own favourites. 1 On January 28th, 1547, he 
 heard of the death of his old rival, Henry VIIL, and 
 it seemed to him a presage of his own. On the 
 3 1st of March he died at Rambouillet, unmourned 
 and unpitied even in his death agony. " He is 
 going ! he is going ! the old gallant ! " said Francis 
 of Lorraine ; and the king's son, Henry, could 
 scarcely conceal his joy at his father's funeral. Thus 
 sadly ended a reign which had begun with such 
 brilliant promise. Through sheer lack of moral 
 force, Francis I. had shown himself incapable of 
 fulfilling the splendid destiny which seemed to await 
 him. Yet the sorrow and shame which his children 
 brought upon France have made posterity lenient to 
 his memory. Even the Huguenots, to whom he 
 
 1 Memoires de Vieillcville.
 
 ACCESSION OF HENRY II. 2$ 
 
 showed no pity, could not forget the services 
 rendered by him to science and letters, and Beza 
 has given him a place in his Icones, as one who 
 " chased away the darkness of barbarism and opened 
 the gates of the new temple of light." 
 
 One of the first acts of Henry II. was to reinstate 
 the Constable Anne de Montmorency ; but at the 
 same time he gathered around him the Guises, who 
 had always adroitly courted the favour of the new 
 king's all-powerful mistress, Diane de Poitiers. The 
 king was consecrated on the 26th of July, 1547, by 
 Charles of Lorraine, who received a cardinal's hat for 
 the service. 1 Writing on this occasion to Diane de 
 Poitiers, the astute cardinal says : " I cannot refrain 
 from thanking you again for the special favour you 
 have shown me, feeling myself so singularly con- 
 tented therewith, and being desirous to serve you 
 more and more, having a good hope of tJms reaping 
 a harvest not less for you than for myself, since it is 
 impossible henceforth that my interest should be 
 other than yours also." 2 
 
 Some time after, Charles of Lorraine repaired to 
 Rome. It is curious to note the daring ambition of 
 this young prelate, then only twenty-three years of 
 age. He does not shrink from suggesting to Pope 
 Paul III. the scheme which, ten years later, was to 
 cost so dear to France. He proposed to form a 
 league between the papacy and France against Spain. 
 He tried to stir up the old pontiff by reminding him 
 
 1 He was called Cardinal of Guise until the death of his 
 Uncle John, Cardinal of Lorraine. 
 
 2 Bulletin de la Societe d 1 his to ire des protestantisme 
 fran$ais, vol. ix., p. 216.
 
 26 
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 of the great popes of other times who had resisted 
 the emperors. Forgetting that he was a Catholic 
 and a priest, he boldly counselled an appeal to the 
 Turks. Finally, writing from Rome to the king, he 
 intimates that the kingdom of Naples might be con- 
 quered, and lets slip this phrase, which betrays the 
 secret thought of the Guises : " They tell me that if 
 you will not undertake this enterprise, and will say 
 so to me or to one of my brothers, they will raise 
 men and money for me, and will put me in the said 
 kingdom to hand it over to one of my brothers." 1 
 
 The ambition of Charles of Lorraine did not stop 
 even here. He asked the king to use his influence 
 to secure the tiara for his Uncle John after the 
 death of Paul III. He utilised the same journey to 
 negotiate the marriage of his brother with Anne 
 of Este, daughter of the Duke of Ferrara. 
 
 Ambitious souls find each other out by mutual 
 affinity. In Rome, Ignatius Loyola met Charles of 
 Lorraine. He saw at once what an auxiliary he 
 could find in this unscrupulous cardinal, only eager 
 for prey. Without any hesitation he asked him to 
 become the patron of his order in France, a request 
 which was granted " with a truly cordial affection." 2 
 
 Francis of Lorraine, on his part, was only too ready 
 to follow suit. This cadet of the house of Lorraine 
 cherished boundless hopes. Possessed of high mili- 
 tary genius, he was to render eminent services to 
 France. L'Aubespine, in his history of Henry II., 
 
 1 Bouille, Histoire des dues de Guise, vol. i., p. 179. It was 
 not then Cardinal Carafa who first suggested this conquest to 
 the Guises in 1547. The project was their own. 
 
 - Ibid., vol. i., p. 178.
 
 FRANCIS OF LORRAINE. 
 
 says that it was the ambition of his brother which 
 was his ruin. The verdict is partially true ; for 
 Francis had generous thoughts and magnanimous 
 impulses, such as the Cardinal of Lorraine never 
 knew, but both were equally ambitious. Francis 
 aspired from the very first to hold a sovereign 
 position in France. His slightest acts betray this. 
 On the day after the famous duel at Jarnac, 
 he caused a magnificent tomb to be erected 
 at Vivonne. The inscription runs that " it was 
 erected by a great French prince" The nobility pro- 
 tested, but the king let it pass, and the title was 
 assumed. Just so with the name of Anjou, which 
 gave him eventual rights over Naples. He contrived 
 to slip it into his marriage contract in spite of the 
 objections of the lawyers. His brother in Rome 
 assumed in the same way the title of Cardinal of 
 Anjou. 1 
 
 In Dauphine, of which he was governor, he often 
 signed his edicts simply "Francis," as though he were 
 a king ; he sometimes used seals of geld, which the 
 king alone was entitled to do ; he wore his sword 
 
 1 M. de Bouille, in his Histoire des dues de Guise, says 
 that Francis I., by his imprudence, did much to foster this 
 ambition. In the letters patent, by which in 1544 he raised 
 the marquisate of Claude de Lorraine, father of the two 
 Guises, into a dukedom with a peerage attached to it, he 
 allowed a clause to be inserted to the effect that "our said 
 cousin, the Duke of Guise, is of the hoztse of Lorraine, and 
 is descended by marriage and by alliance from the house of 
 Anjou, and from our predecessors the Kings of France." 
 These letters patent were not registered till May 8th, 1553, 
 consequently under Henry II., who raised no objection. The 
 fact stated by M. Bouille is substantially correct, but there is 
 a mistake in the dates. The dukedom of Guise was created 
 in 1527.
 
 2 COLIGNY. 
 
 in parliament, and took precedence of the princes of 
 the blood. 1 To this, whether from want of percep- 
 tion or, more likely, from weakness of character, 
 Henry II. raised no objection. 
 
 It was easy to foresee what would come of the 
 alliance of these two young ambitious souls, who 
 never knew what a scruple meant. 2 
 
 Francis of Lorraine, in order to strengthen the 
 bond with Diane de Poitiers, desired that his brother 
 Claude should marry one of the daughters of the 
 Duchess de Valentinois. He made the mistake of 
 consulting Coligny on this point, who replied that he 
 esteemed a little good repute more than much riches, 
 an answer very galling to both brothers. 3 Words 
 like these are not soon forgotten, and though Bran- 
 tome says that the difference to which this incident 
 gave rise between Guise and Coligny lasted but a 
 short time, and they were again friends as before, 
 there may well be some doubt about the sincerity of 
 the reconciliation. 
 
 Coligny and his brother Andelot soon felt the 
 effects of the Constable's protection. They were 
 both named gentlemen-in-ordinary of the king's 
 bedchamber. Andelot was sent to Charles V. to 
 
 1 This precedence of the princes of the blood was only 
 definitely fixed by an edict of Henry III. passed at Blois in 
 
 We may quote one incident which shows to the life the 
 ambition of the Cardinal. Francis of Lorraine had just had a 
 daughter. The Cardinal in congratulating" him adds : " This 
 daughter, please God, shall make a good match ; and if we 
 play our -parts well we shall have our choice, and shall have 
 time to thirzk it well over." Memoir es-journaux du due de 
 Guise, published by A. Champollion. 
 3 Vita Colinii, 1575.
 
 COLIGNY CAPTAIN-GENERAL OF INFANTRY. 29 
 
 thank him for his message of congratulation to 
 Henry II. on his accession. 
 
 On April 29th, 1547, Coligny was made "colonel 
 and captain-general of all the French infantry." 
 The extreme importance of the infantry at this 
 period shows how great was the trust reposed in 
 this young captain of twenty-eight Coligny soon 
 had occasion to show that he was equal to his new 
 functions. 
 
 This elevation of fortune in no way changed his 
 serious habit of life. 1 He was at this time just 
 contemplating marriage. 
 
 His mother, Louise de Montmorency, died on the 
 1 2th of June in the same year (i547). 2 The Con- 
 stable had brought up, in his household at Chantilly, 
 Charlotte, daughter of Guy, Count de Laval. Her 
 father had been married three times ; his first wife 
 was daughter to the King of Aragon ; the second, 
 sister of the Constable ; the third, the mother of 
 Charlotte, was Antoinette de Daillon. The young 
 
 ' See in Appendix C. very curious details as to the life then 
 led by him in court and camp. 
 
 3 The following words, taken from an epistle addressed by 
 Michel de 1' Hospital to Odet, show in what esteem Louise 
 de Montmorency was universally held : " How happy was thy 
 mother ! She could look without fear all around her, and into 
 the recesses of her conscience. Her life, both before and after 
 her marriage, was above suspicion. She married a man who, 
 having often to lead the armies of France, won many victories 
 over her enemies. Louise de Montmorency gave birth to 
 children worthy of her beauty, nourished them at her own 
 breast, and saw them grow up to man's estate. Having thus 
 fulfilled her duties as a mother, she watched with fond pride 
 her children and grandchildren, who surpassed even her 
 fondest hopes. In a good old age, in full possession of her 
 faculties, and strong in hope of a better life, she passed to 
 heaven." Poesies, by Michel de 1'Hospital.
 
 30 COL1GNY. 
 
 child, who was soon left an orphan, was educated at 
 Chantilly from the year 1540, and Coligny had long 
 had the opportunity of knowing her. Their marriage 
 was celebrated at Fontainebleau, on the i6th 
 October, 1547. Shortly after Andelot married 
 Claude de Rieux, cousin of Charlotte de Laval, a 
 union which drew still closer the bonds between the 
 two brothers.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Coligny before Boulogne. Military regulations of M. de Chatillon. 
 Taking of Boulogne. Coligny goes to London to sign the treaty of 
 peace. The Prince de Conde marries Eleonore de Roye, Coligny s 
 niece. Coligny is appointed Governor of Paris and of the Ile-de- 
 France. 
 
 COLIGNY was soon recalled to his post before 
 Boulogne. We have already said how am- 
 biguous was the treaty concluded with the English. 
 It was agreed that the two armies confronting each 
 other might go on completing the existing fortifica- 
 tions, but that no new ones were to be begun. This 
 was a contradiction in terms. The English had not 
 failed to set to work, and had built what was really 
 a new fort close to the harbour, in spite of Coligny's 
 remonstrances. The king grew impatient. After 
 visiting the French camp in person, he sent written 
 orders to Coligny, under date May iQth, 1548, to 
 construct the forts needed to prevent the re-victualling 
 of the town. Coligny at once took steps to put 
 these orders into effect He called together 6,000 
 sappers and miners, and with great sagacity decided 
 to throw up a huge earthwork upon a tongue of 
 land facing the very entrance of the harbour. Two 
 months later the fort was finished and supplied with 
 artillery. It was called Fort Chatillon.
 
 32 COLIC NY. 
 
 While superintending these works Coligny was 
 also actively engaged in disciplining his troops. He 
 wrote out and enforced in his corps the famous 
 military regulations which three years later were 
 adopted throughout the kingdom. These formed a 
 new military code which was intended to protect the 
 peaceful inhabitants from the license of the soldiery. 
 " It was Coligny," says Brantome, " who introduced 
 decency and order into the whole French infantry 
 by his wise regulations. They were the best and 
 most politic ever made in France. And I believe 
 that since they have been passed the lives of millions 
 of persons have been saved, as well as their honour 
 and goods ; for before these regulations there was 
 nothing but pillage, robbery, plunder, ransoming, 
 murders, quarrels, and ravishing among the bands, 
 so that they rather resembled companies of Arabs 
 and brigands than noble soldiers." 1 
 
 A brief glance at these regulations will suffice to 
 show what were the evils Coligny was trying to 
 remedy. 
 
 It was necessary, for example, to ensure stated 
 and fixed terms of service, to guard against deser- 
 tion, and to enforce instant obedience. The 
 punishment annexed to disobedience was severe, 
 but sometimes moral only, not corporal, as for in- 
 stance : 
 
 " If a soldier, without just cause given, shall say 
 anything against the honour of another, the said 
 calumny and dishonour shall return upon himself, 
 and shall be proclaimed before all the companies." 
 
 1 M. de Chastillon in Les couronnels francais.
 
 MILITARY CODE. 33 
 
 And again : 
 
 " If a soldier, without due cause, shall give the 
 lie to another, he shall be made to stand in the 
 public square, and with ensigns unfurled and un- 
 covered head, shall ask pardon of his colonel, and of 
 the man to whom he gave the lie." 
 
 Rape and pillage were forbidden under pain of 
 death. This and the following article show the 
 stern morality of Coligny : 
 
 " The soldier who blasphemes the name of God 
 shall be put in the stocks in some public place 
 for three separate days, for three hours at a time, 
 and at the end of the same shall, with uncovered 
 head, ask pardon of God." In this enforcement of 
 a severe morality we catch the spirit of the future 
 Huguenot. 
 
 Brantome tells how Coligny applied these regula- 
 tions, and how he succeeded in controlling the 
 lawlessness of his troops. 
 
 Such a task required unflinching severity, but 
 severity alone would not have sufficed. " His 
 soldiers," says Brantome, " were neither his subjects 
 nor his vassals, neither his hirelings nor his mer- 
 cenaries j and yet when they were in his presence 
 the slightest word of reproof was rarely needed, and 
 in his absence his signet alone was enough to enforce 
 obedience. So completely had he acquired the 
 habit of ruling them, that it seemed as if he was 
 born to command and they to obey. If any of his 
 soldiers or other subordinates gravely offended he 
 never spared to punish. Yet he was beloved and 
 honoured by men of all ranks, and when any of 
 his soldiers had a private interview with him 
 
 3
 
 34 COLIGNY. 
 
 they were as pleased as if they had had audience of 
 the king." 1 
 
 The siege of Boulogne still dragged on wearily. 
 On September 6th, 1549, the king appointed 
 Coligny his lieutenant-general in the Boulonais. 
 Coligny having now the command of all the resources 
 he needed, was able to press the siege more closely, 
 and to shut the harbour against all hostile vessels. 
 At the end of September the English began to speak 
 of surrender. The negotiations went on for some 
 months. At length, on the I Qth February, 1550, 
 the French and English plenipotentiaries assembled 
 at Fort d'Outreau. 2 It was agreed that Boulogne 
 should be given up on condition of the payment by 
 France of a sum of 400,000 crowns. Andelot 
 carried the draft of the treaty to the king, and it 
 received his sanction on March I9th. Henry II. 
 sent Coligny, du Mortier, and Bochetel to England, 
 " to convey his ratification, and to receive that of the 
 king and his solemn oath and covenant." 
 
 On the 25th April the French entered Boulogne. 
 Henry made his own formal entry on May I5th. 
 The English had often learnt to their cost how 
 impetuous a people were the French ; this time they 
 had encountered a tenacity of resistance like their own. 
 
 While Henry II. was taking possession of Bou- 
 logne, his ambassadors repaired to London, where 
 they met with the best reception. Three English 
 
 1 Hommes ilhistres et grands cafiitaines fran^ais, M. de 
 Chastillon. 
 
 2 A letter from Paget to the Earl of Warwick shows with 
 what haughtiness Rochefort treated the English envoys. 
 Fronde's History, vol. v.
 
 TAKING OF BOULOGNE. 35 
 
 ships came to meet them at the mouth of the 
 Thames. The day after their arrival they were 
 received by Edward VI., who invited them to dine 
 with him. The young king was only twelve years 
 of age, but he already showed a very lively wit, 
 and unusual thoughtfulness, and charmed all who 
 approached him by his gracious manner. His coun- 
 sellors were carrying forward zealously the work of 
 religious reformation begun by Henry VIII., and 
 the French plenipotentiaries were present at the new 
 Anglican service performed in the vulgar tongue, 
 at the close of which the king publicly swore to 
 observe the treaty of peace. Coligny seems to have 
 been much attracted by the fair, pure face of this 
 prince, scarcely more than a child, who, occupying 
 the throne of England between the coarse and 
 violent king, his father, and his sister, " Bloody 
 Mary," stands out like a heavenly vision against the 
 dark background of one of the most troubled epochs 
 of history. 
 
 The taking of Boulogne brought Coligny into 
 great prominence. His uncle, the Constable, thought 
 he had a right to ask the government cf Piedmont 
 for him from the king, but the more powerful 
 influence of Diane de Poitiers prevailed, and Brissac 
 was made governor. This proved to be a fortunate 
 choice. 
 
 Coligny, however, was rising more and more into 
 favour. This is evident from the terms in which the 
 king speaks of him in a circular dated March 2Oth, 
 1551, which extended to the whole army the 
 military regulations introduced by Coligny. 
 
 Three months later, Coligny's niece, Eleonore de
 
 36 COLIGNY. 
 
 Roye, contracted a brilliant alliance with one of the 
 first princes of the blood, Louis de Bourbon, Prince 
 de Conde, and younger brother of Antoine de Bour- 
 bon, then governor of Picardy, and subsequently 
 King of Navarre. But this alliance met with the 
 strongest opposition from the Guises, and Diane de 
 Poitiers their patroness. Thus the antagonism be- 
 tween the houses of Lorraine and Chatillon became 
 gradually more pronounced. 1 
 
 On the Qth of September in this year, Coligny 
 was made governor of Paris and of the lle-de- France, 
 in place of his uncle De Rochefort. In the royal 
 letters investing him with this office, reference was 
 made to the great services rendered by him. 
 
 It was an important appointment, and Coligny's 
 investiture with his new functions was celebrated 
 with all due solemnity on Tuesday, February pth, 
 1522, in the Hotel de Ville, in Paris, in presence of 
 the dean of the merchants' guild, the sheriffs and 
 leading citizens, and the civic guards. 
 
 After a long panegyric on the Constable de 
 Montmorency, the dean of the merchants' guild said 
 that Coligny had shown " himself a diligent imitator 
 of his uncle in his generosity and noble enterprises." 
 He referred to his successful campaign in the 
 Boulonais, and bade him welcome to Paris. 
 
 1 Though they were the first princes of the blood, the Bour- 
 bons did not hold a position corresponding to their rank. 
 Since the revolt of the famous Constable Charles, their family 
 had always been looked on suspiciously by royalty. Louis de 
 Bourbon was poor at the time of his marriage, and held no 
 office. All that is known of his youth is given by the Duke 
 d'Aumale in his Histoire des firinces de Conde.
 
 COLIGNY MADE GOVERNOR OF PARIS. 37 
 
 Coligny replied : 
 
 " Gentlemen, I thank you for the honour you have 
 done me. As to this office to which it has pleased 
 the king to appoint me, I take it to be due not at 
 all to my own merits or efforts, but solely to his 
 liberality and goodness. I am assured that you 
 have had heretofore as governors, persons of great 
 virtue and experience, to whom I must in all reason- 
 ableness yield in all things save one, of which I pray 
 you rest assured, namely, in my good will to exert 
 myself with all the understanding God has given me 
 (though it be but little) for the good and advantage 
 of this city. And where my own judgment does 
 not suffice, I would borrow of men whom I know to 
 be of greater experience, wisdom, and competence, 
 promising you, gentlemen, that no effort of mine 
 shall be wanting to promote the good of this city, 
 both in general and in particular." 1 
 
 After this exchange of courtesies, the sheriffs 
 made the customary presents to the governor 
 basins, cups, and ewers of silver, " all silver gilt, 
 gilded and engraved, weighing altogether forty-four 
 marks and some ounces, with which present the said 
 governor was highly pleased, and thanked the said 
 city." 2 
 
 1 See all the details of this ceremony in Delaborde and in 
 Appendix XXVI. 
 
 2 Godefroy, Le ceremonial francais, vol. i., p. 1009.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Campaign of 1552. Alliance of Henry II. with the Protestants of 
 Germany. Brilliant campaign of Les Trois-Eveches. Maurice of 
 Saxony goes over to the French. Treaty of Passau. The Emperor 
 besieges Metz. Determined resistance of Guise. Part taken by 
 Coligny in the army of observation. He is made Admiral of 
 France. Duties of his new office. 
 
 /'"^OLIGNY'S residence in the capital was not to 
 *<-s be of long duration. His presence soon be- 
 came necessary with the army. Before following 
 him further we must glance at the new phase of 
 the conflict between France and the Empire. 
 
 In the year 1550 Charles V. had reached the 
 zenith of his power. He had crushed the Protestants 
 of Germany, and quelled the revolt in the Nether- 
 lands. He had gained the support of Julius III., 
 one of the most worthless of all the bad popes of 
 that age. In order to secure the possession of Italy, 
 he endeavoured to prevent the French, who occu- 
 pied Piedmont, from advancing further into the 
 peninsula. He already held Milan, Genoa, and 
 Piacenza, and coveted Parma. Ottavio Farnese, 
 Duke of Parma, placed himself under the pro- 
 tection of France, and this was the spark which 
 kindled the conflagration (July, 1551). In one
 
 RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES, 39 
 
 of the skirmishes in this first campaign, Andelot, 
 whom Henry II. had sent to fight under Brissac, fell 
 into an ambuscade, and the news of his captivity, 
 which threatened to be long and cruel, reached Coligny 
 at the very moment when he was raised by the king 
 to the governorship of Paris. 
 
 War had begun in Italy, but it did not spread far. 
 The real battle-field was to be elsewhere. Ever 
 since his accession Henry II. had been eager to 
 commence hostilities with Charles V. Defective as 
 he was as a ruler, he had devoted much attention to 
 military affairs. He had surrounded himself with 
 able generals Brissac, Francis of Lorraine, Coligny. 
 He cherished a deadly hatred to the emperor on 
 account of the harsh captivity in which Charles had 
 kept him and his brother in Madrid. The idea that 
 in fighting the emperor he would also be resisting 
 the pope presented no obstacle to him. He re- 
 newed the former alliance with the Germans and the 
 Turks, and, as if to quiet his conscience as a Catholic, 
 he redoubled his cruelty to the Protestants. 
 
 On October 5th, 1551, a secret treaty was signed 
 between the king and the chiefs of the Lutheran 
 states of Germany. The signatories engaged to 
 resist " the practices used by Charles of Spain to 
 reduce Germany to a state of abject, insupportable, 
 and perpetual servitude, such as he had already 
 introduced into Spain and other countries." 
 
 Henry promised 240,000 crowns in gold for the 
 first three months of the war, and 60,000 crowns a 
 month afterwards, so long as the campaign lasted. 
 The German princes on their side recommended that 
 " the king should make himself master of certain
 
 40 COLIGNY. 
 
 imperial cities in which the German tongue was not 
 spoken, such as Cambray, Toul, Metz, and Verdun." 
 
 When it was known, on January I5th, 1552, that 
 the king had declared war on Charles V., there was 
 an outburst of enthusiasm throughout France. Gentle- 
 men of good position entered the army as simple 
 privates, the youth of the cities ran away to enlist, 
 and even artisans forsook their work for the camp. 
 The army, swelled by German mercenaries, crossed 
 the Meuse. Toul and Metz opened their gates to 
 the French ; but Henry presented himself in vain 
 before Strasbourg, which received his advanced guard 
 with a volley of cannon. He proceeded as far as 
 Wissemburg ; then feeling that he should have to 
 encounter too strong an opposition, he decided to 
 retrace his steps, taking possession of Verdun on his 
 way. Such was the brilliant campaign of Les Trots 
 Evecke's, in which Coligny took an active part, " not 
 sparing himself/' says Brantome, "any more than his 
 lowest subaltern." 
 
 Meanwhile Charles V. was undergoing the most 
 humiliating affront which had yet touched his pride. 
 Knowing nothing of the treaty concluded between 
 the Protestant princes of Germany and the French 
 king, he was at Innspruck watching the deliberations 
 of the Council of Trent when the storm broke. At 
 the very time when Henry II. declared war on him, 
 Maurice of Saxony deserted him. Maurice had been 
 his protegt, and had been in high favour ever since, 
 four years before, he had betrayed the Protestant 
 party and joined the Duke of Alva in exterminating 
 his co-religionists at Miihlberg. But, far-sighted as 
 he was ambitious, Maurice observed the growing
 
 MAURICE OF SAXONY. 41 
 
 hatred of the Spaniards in Germany, and suddenly 
 facing round again, he threw off the mask, revealed 
 the alliance concluded with the French, and issued a 
 manifesto in which his name appeared joined to that 
 of Henry, surmounted by a cap between two daggers. 
 " Some say that this device was found on some old 
 coins, and had been adopted by the murderers of 
 Caius Caesar." 1 " Thus," says Henri Martin, " it was 
 a king who, under some strange impulse of the 
 genius of the Renaissance, unearthed that terrible 
 bonnet rouge of liberty, before which the old monarchy 
 of France was one day to fall." 
 
 The soldiers flocked around Maurice. He swept 
 through Germany like a torrent ; entered Augsburg 
 on April 1st, terrified the Fathers of the Council of 
 Trent, who fled like a cloud of birds at his approach, 
 and advanced upon Innspruck. Charles, who was 
 suffering from a sharp attack of gout, aggravated by 
 the treachery of Maurice, had to flee over the mountain 
 in the middle of a night of drenching rain, and 
 thought himself fortunate to have escaped a shameful 
 captivity. 
 
 It was a terrible humiliation for the monarch who 
 had just reconstructed the empire of Charlemagne, 
 and who a few months before had seen all Western 
 Europe at his feet. Charles saw the urgent necessity 
 of appeasing Germany, and by the treaty of Passau 
 (1552) he guaranteed to the Lutheran princes the 
 free exercise of their religion. He was eager to re- 
 instate himself in the eyes of Europe, and the surest 
 way of attaining this end was to march at the head 
 
 1 Sleidan.
 
 42 COLIGNY, 
 
 of Germany and to recover from the French the 
 three imperial cities which had just been taken from 
 him. He had no difficulty in mustering a formidable 
 army, and at the end of September he advanced 
 upon Metz. 
 
 Francis of Lorraine was awaiting him there, and 
 had been fortifying the place ever since August. He 
 held his ground with the greatest courage and deter- 
 mination. It was no easy matter to resist a besieging 
 army of 60,000 men, with 114 pieces of artillery 
 and some of the best infantry in Europe. 
 
 The emperor had declared that he would not 
 raise the siege of Metz if he had to use up three 
 armies one after the other. Guise showed himself 
 equal to his task. He was, moreover, admirably 
 seconded by Peter Strozzi, of Florence, the first 
 military engineer of his time. They did not hesitate 
 to destroy all the public buildings that stood in the 
 way of the defence. They sent away all the inhabi- 
 tants who could not fight. The first lords of 
 France, following the example set by Guise him- 
 self, worked like sappers, and carried the hod as an 
 example to the rest. 
 
 Coligny had sent a part of his infantry to join 
 Guise in Metz. He himself remained outside the 
 town, under the orders of the Constable, who was in 
 charge of an army of observation. In the letters 
 which he addressed to Guise from his camp, we still 
 trace the old affection which past misunderstandings 
 had failed to destroy. Writing on October 1 5th, 
 Coligny says : 
 
 " I would it were my fortune to be near you when 
 the Emperor comes to besiege you, for though
 
 SIEGE OF METZ. 43 
 
 you have many good men, I flatter myself that my 
 men" (referring to his infantry, whom he had sent 
 into Metz) " would do none the worse for having me 
 among them, and by the same occasion I could let 
 you know by experience the desire I have always 
 had to find myself in a position to do you service. 
 Since this cannot be now, it shall be at some future 
 time." 1 
 
 The army of observation under the command of 
 the Constable had to watch the Margrave Albert of 
 Brandenburg, one of the German princes, who the 
 previous year had signed an alliance with the King 
 of France, and who had not joined the emperor. 
 The Margrave, at the head of a large body of 
 lanzknechts, was occupying Pont-a-Mousson. It was 
 suspected that he would lend the support of his 
 troops to whichever side bid highest for them. 
 Henry II. thought he had got him out of the way 
 by offering him 100,000 crowns if he would fall 
 back upon Belgium, doing all the harm he could to 
 the emperor on the road. The Margrave accepted 
 these conditions, and began his retreat, closely 
 followed by the Duke d'Aumale. But all at once, 
 throwing off the mask, he declared for the emperor, 
 threw himself (October 28th) on d'Aumale's corps, 
 made the duke prisoner, and then went to join the 
 besieging forces before Metz. At the same time 
 one of Charles V.'s lieutenants, Antoine de Croy, 
 advanced into Picardy with 15,000 Belgians, and 
 surprised Hesdin. 
 
 The king lost not a moment. Having received 
 
 1 Delaborde, vol. i., p. in.
 
 44 COLIGNY. 
 
 from Guise the assurance that Metz would hold out 
 against Charles, who had been besieging it since 
 October 1 8th, he left one army corps in Lorraine 
 and resolved to cover Picardy. With this view he 
 sent for Coligny, and in consideration of the good 
 and continual services which he had rendered, and 
 was daily rendering, to the king, he bestowed on 
 him the honourable title of Admiral of France, 1 and 
 at the same time made him his lieutenant, to conduct 
 his army from Lorraine into Picardy. 2 Coligny 
 immediately joined Antoine de Bourbon, Duke de 
 Vend6me, then governor of Picardy, and marched 
 upon Hesdin, which surrendered (December iQth) 
 after two days' siege. This rapid success not only 
 saved Picardy, but decided Charles V. to raise the 
 siege of Metz. The emperor was really afraid that 
 he might be attacked in his entrenchments by the 
 forces of the Constable. His furious assaults upon 
 Metz had been unavailing. In vain had he can- 
 nonaded the old city ; the crumbling ramparts were 
 built up again every night by the besieged, whose 
 sorties became more and more frequent. The icy 
 temperature of the beginning of December, followed 
 by a heavy fall of snow, had cruelly tried his army, 
 whose camping-ground was reduced to a mere swamp. 
 Typhus was raging ; it was reckoned that a third of 
 the soldiers had died. Charles V. himself was 
 paralysed with gout. In despair he gave the order 
 to raise the siege, January ist, 1553. "I see," he 
 exclaimed bitterly, " that fortune is of the feminine 
 
 1 His predecessor, Annebaut, had just died of fever at La 
 Fere, in Picardy, which he was defending against the enemy. 
 Rabut in, Guerres de Belgique.
 
 COLIGNY MADE ADMIRAL. 45 
 
 sex, and likes a young king better than an old 
 emperor." He fell back upon Belgium. 
 
 The year 1553 opened under happy auspices for 
 Coligny. The brilliant success of the campaigns in 
 Lorraine and Picardy had filled France with joy, 
 and Henry II. celebrated the beginning of his reign 
 by a succession of fetes, which recalled the palmy 
 days of Francis I. 
 
 On the 1 2th of January Coligny, who, as we have 
 said, had just been made Admiral in place of Anne- 
 baut, was to take the oaths of his new office in a 
 solemn session of parliament. 6tienne Pasquier has 
 handed down to us an account of this assembly, at 
 which he was present. Christophe de Thou spoke 
 first as advocate of the Admiral, and praised Coligny's 
 ancestors. Then Pierre Seguier, first advocate to 
 the king, made an attempt at wit, after the style of 
 the Renaissance school. " He began by playing upon 
 the name Admiral 'Admiramur cce[um, admiramur 
 terrain, admiramur maremj and from this proceeding 
 to the estate of admiral, introduced by a thousand 
 fine reasons which he enumerated, he concluded not 
 to hinder the verification of the letters, the adminis- 
 tration of the oath, and the reception of the Sire of 
 Chatillon into this estate." After which, M. Gille 
 Lemaitre, the first president, " bade him, on the 
 authority of the court, to come up and take his 
 place among the highest seats, not, however, as 
 Admiral, since his predecessors had never occupied 
 such a position, but as Governor of Paris and of the 
 Ile-de-France." 1 
 
 1 Est. Pasquier, Recherches de la France, vol. ii., ch. xv.
 
 46 COLIGNY, 
 
 In accepting these functions, Coligny did not give 
 up those of colonel-general of the French infantry, 
 but he retained them, says Brantome, "with a view to 
 handing them over to his brother Andelot, who was 
 still a prisoner in Milan. 2 
 
 ' The French fleet, which played so important a part in the 
 fourteenth century, and which almost disappeared in the 
 fifteenth, only came into notice again under Francis I. We 
 have spoken already of the abortive attempt made by that 
 monarch to organise a descent upon England, under the com- 
 mand of Admiral Annebaut. On this occasion he had got 
 together 150 large ships, 60 small vessels, and 25 galleys ; 
 but it was all an illusive show. France, in the sixteenth century, 
 could only man small fleets. It was under Richelieu that she 
 became again a great maritime power. In the curious sketch 
 of the state of France under Francis II., given by the Venetian 
 Michele Loriano, we feel in what slight estimation the French 
 fleet was held. As to the office of Admiral (the word, accord- 
 ing to Littre, comes from the Arabic amir, commander), it 
 was in existence in the time of St. Louis. It became one of 
 the highest offices in the kingdom, and in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, when the fleet was at such a low ebb, it was often given 
 to men who had never commanded a vessel. Under Francis I. 
 Chabot and Annebaut played a part of some importance. 
 Francis I. defined^the duties of an Admiral. He was to have 
 absolute jurisdiction over all the seaboard of France (the 
 maritime provinces retaining their vice-admirals) ; he was to 
 command the fleets and the marines, and to appoint the 
 officers. After the disgrace of Chabot, however, this right of 
 appointing the officers went back to the crown. The Admiral 
 had, moreover, the first claim on all prizes taken at sea. 
 In Vieilleville's Memoires of the year 1553, I find a very 
 curious conversation of the Marshal with Saint Andre. The 
 king had offered the title of Admiral to Saint Andre before 
 offering it to Coligny. Saint Andr6 consulted Vielleville on 
 the subject, and he in his reply shows with amusing na'ivete 
 the opinion then entertained of the future of the French navy. 
 "In truth," he said, "the sea does not suit us Frenchmen. 
 Itf we were in Spain, Portugal, or England, you should by all 
 means accept the post of Admiral, for there it is the highest 
 of all, inasmuch as their great strength is their navy. But 
 being a Frenchman, I pray you, sir, change not your lance, 
 your war-horse, and your gilt spurs for the sail, the wheel, or 
 the mast."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Services rendered by Coligny in the capacity of Admiral of France. 
 His views on colonization. Expeditions to America organised 
 by him. Failure of Villegagnon's colony in the Brazils. 
 
 T T ENCEFORTH Coligny will appear in our 
 1- A pages under the title of Admiral, by which 
 he is best known to the public. Is it true, as has 
 been often said, that the title was a purely honorary 
 one, and that there was nothing in the services 
 rendered by him to justify it ? In order to answer 
 this question, we must slightly anticipate some events 
 which transpired later in the life of Coligny. Though 
 somewhat out of order, this seems to us the best 
 place for giving an outline of the first colonial expe- 
 dition which he attempted to organise. 
 
 It is certain that Coligny never exercised any 
 great naval command* The only action in which he 
 was directly engaged was the attack on the Isle of 
 Wight, under his predecessor, Admiral Annebaut. 
 He was then twenty-five years of age, and, as we 
 have already said, commanded a galley. It was 
 also due to his energy that on August I ith, 1555, 
 the sailors of Dieppe won a brilliant victory over 
 twenty-four Flemish vessels ; l and fifteen years later, 
 
 1 The Spanish Government had seized and confiscated all 
 the French ships in the ports of the Low Countries. Henry II.
 
 48 COLIGNY. 
 
 during his last sojourn in Rochelle, the attention he 
 gave to maritime affairs there made that port after- 
 wards the Carthage of the Huguenots. 
 
 It was in another branch of service that Coligny 
 vindicated his right to the title of Admiral. He was 
 the first French statesman who thought seriously of 
 founding colonies, and if success did not crown the 
 enterprise, it was through no fault of his, for he 
 threw himself into it with all his characteristic 
 tenacity of purpose. 1 
 
 Beside his desire to extend the influence of France, 
 two other motives impelled him to this attempt at 
 colonisation : first, his wish to spread the faith of 
 Christ far and wide ; and second, to provide a place 
 of refuge for those who were persecuted for the 
 reformed religion. Long before he himself threw in 
 his lot with the Huguenots, Coligny, as Beza tells 
 
 was greatly embarrassed how to find a fleet which should 
 avenge this injury. Coligny formed the idea of appealing to 
 the patriotism of the shipowners of Dieppe. In a short time 
 they had equipped nineteen vessels, at / the head of which 
 Coligny placed Louis de Bare, Sieur d'Epineville. Though 
 with so small a fleet, he boldly attacked twenty-four Flemish 
 vessels, August nth, 1555, and completely scattered them. 
 (See the full account of this engagement in Les Batailles 
 navales de France, Troude, vol. i., p. 73.) 
 
 1 We are not forgetting the earlier attempts unhappily with- 
 out result made by some of our seamen to get a footing in the 
 new world. Captain Denis, of Honfleur, touched at the Brazils 
 in 1504 ; Captain Parmentier, of Dieppe, at Madagascar and 
 Sumatra in 1529. In 1506 the same Denis discovered New- 
 foundland. In 1524 the Florentine Verrazano, in the service 
 of Francis I., discovered the coasts of Florida. In 1534 the 
 Breton Jacques Cartier, of St. Malo, discovered Canada. The 
 whole of North America was called New France ; but the only 
 colony, properly so-called, which can be mentioned is that which 
 Francis I. founded in Canada in 1540, under Roberval, which 
 came to a miserable end.
 
 SCHEME OF COLONISATION. 49 
 
 us, " favoured their cause as far as possible." His 
 first relations with Geneva arose in the following 
 manner. 
 
 Nicolas Durand, Sieur de Villegagnon, a dis- 
 tinguished seaman, who had taken part in the 
 expedition sent by Charles V. into Africa, and to 
 whom the king had confided the charge of conveying 
 Mary Stuart from Scotland to France, was made 
 Vice-Admiral of Brittany by Henry II. He was of 
 a hasty and irritable temperament, and encountering 
 opposition to his orders at Brest, he resolved to quit 
 Europe and to go and found a colony in America. 
 Villegagnon opened his project to Coligny, and 
 " told him that his intention was to find some place 
 in America which he could fortify as a place of 
 retreat for those of the Protestant religion who were 
 willing to repair to it, so that the country might 
 be gradually peopled, the Church of God extended, 
 and the inhabitants brought to a knowledge of the 
 truth." l 
 
 This, then, was the first of those emigrations for 
 the sake of religious liberty, which a century later 
 were to people great districts of North America with 
 English fugitives, and to scatter French. Huguenots 
 all over the world. 
 
 Was Villegagnon sincere in the outset of his 
 enterprise ? We see no reason to doubt it. He had 
 joined the Protestant party, but he was, as Beza 
 
 1 Theodore Beza, Hist. Eccl., 1883, vol. i., p. 185. As this 
 is our first reference to this history, we cannot forbear express- 
 ing our high obligations to MM. Baum and Cunitz, who 
 have prepared this edition of the work which bears Beza's 
 name.
 
 5O COLIGNY. 
 
 says, a " creature of impulse," whose disappointed 
 ambition soured his whole nature. Coligny entered 
 into his project with eagerness. He spoke of it to 
 the king, " urging him," says Beza, " not for the sake 
 of the kingdom of God, but for the sake of the 
 advantage which might accrue to his own kingdom, 
 as it had done to Spain, from such colonisation." 
 Henry took no interest whatever in a Protestant 
 emigration, being always very bitter against his 
 heretical subjects ; but the renown of the Spanish 
 colonies tempted him, and he gave Villegagnon the 
 command of two vessels. 
 
 They sailed from Havre in the middle of the 
 summer of 1553. On the I5th of November fol- 
 lowing, they cast anchor in the bay of Rio Janeiro. 
 Villegagnon took possession of a small island, to 
 which he gave the name of Coligny. He began to 
 erect a fort, and wrote to the Admiral to ask him to 
 send him some more colonists and two Protestant 
 ministers. 
 
 Coligny forwarded this request to the Consistory 
 of Geneva, through one of his old neighbours in the 
 Gatinais, a Huguenot seigneur, the Sieur du Pont, 
 who lived in the territory of the Republic. Jean de 
 Le"ry l says : " The Church of Geneva returned thanks 
 to God for the extension of the kingdom of Jesus 
 Christ in such distant countries, in so strange a land, 
 and among a people who were wholly ignorant of 
 the true God." It was decided that the emigrants 
 should be placed under the conduct of the Sieur du 
 
 1 Jean de Lery was one of the emigrants who joined Ville- 
 gagnon, and who has left a very interesting account of his 
 voyage to Brazil, from which we quote.
 
 FIRST COLONISTS UNDER VILLEGAGNON. 5 1 
 
 Pont. Two ministers of religion, Richier and Chartier, 
 were sent with them, and some skilled workmen. 
 Villegagnon's letter warned the colonists of the diffi- 
 culties and dangers of the voyage. He told them 
 " they must be content to eat, instead of bread, a 
 kind of flour made from a root, and as to wine they 
 must look for no new wine, for none grew there." 
 "All those, therefore," says Jean de Lery, "who 
 loved the theory better than the practice of these 
 things, and did not care to change worlds or to 
 encounter the dangers of the sea and the heat of the 
 torrid zone, or to see the antarctic pole, refused to 
 enter the lists and would not enrol themselves or 
 embark on such a voyage." Fourteen emigrants 
 started from Geneva. They passed through Chatillon- 
 sur-Loing, where they found Admiral Coligny in his 
 house, which was one of the most beautiful in France. 
 He not only encouraged them to pursue their enter- 
 prise, but also promised to assist them in the matter 
 of a vessel. " Setting before us many reasons for 
 going, he gave us hope that God would grant us to 
 see' the fruit of our labours." 
 
 When they sailed from Honfleur, November 28th, 
 i 5 5 6, the emigrants numbered 290. Among them 
 were six boys whom they took, that they might 
 learn the language of the barbarians. They em- 
 barked in three vessels. 
 
 On the 9th of March, 1557, they arrived at the 
 Island of Coligny. Villegagnon received them with 
 open arms. "My children," he said, "for I mean to 
 be a father to you ; as Jesus Christ, when He was 
 in this world, did nothing for Himself, but all that 
 He did was done for us, so having a hope that God
 
 52 COLIGNY. 
 
 will preserve my life till you shall have established 
 yourselves in this country and are able to do without 
 me, all that I seek to do here is for you and for 
 those who shall come after for the same end that 
 you have come. For I purpose to make here a 
 retreat for the poor of the faith who are persecuted 
 in France, in Spain, and elsewhere beyond the sea, 
 so that without fear, either of king, emperor, or any 
 other potentates, they may serve God according to 
 His will." 
 
 Nothing could be more edifying at first than the 
 attitude of Villegagnon. He would pour forth sighs 
 and prayers to God that He would ." give His bless- 
 ing to this Island of Coligny, and to the whole 
 country of Antarctic France. He would discourse 
 excellently of religion and of the Christian reforma- 
 tion. But the impression of him soon changed. It 
 was seen that he had the spirit of a despot. Not 
 only did he exact from the colonists herculean tasks 
 of manual labour, but he attempted to force upon 
 them his theological views. On two points he was 
 at variance with the Huguenots the episcopate and 
 the Lord's Supper. In these respects he adhered 
 more closely than they did to the Catholic tradition. 
 Any opposition exasperated him. To these disciples 
 of Calvin he declared that Calvin was " a wicked 
 heretic who had erred from the faith." 
 
 His companions, indignant at this change of 
 attitude, supposed that they had been duped ; that 
 Villegagnon had sold himself to the Cardinal of 
 Lorraine, and had only assumed a Protestant mask. 
 But if he really wished only to injure the Huguenots, 
 why need he have made so great a venture, and
 
 BREAKING UP OF THE COLONY. 53 
 
 risked his own life at the very outset ? There is a 
 simpler explanation. Villegagnon was one of those 
 tyrannical and impulsive persons whom contradiction 
 exasperates, and passion easily misleads. He died 
 insane, and his conduct from the arrival of the 
 Genevese colonists betrays already some degree of 
 mental aberration. This unsoundness of mind soon 
 led him to commit an act of atrocious perfidy. 
 Some of the colonists, especially the strong Calvinists 
 of the party, could not endure the yoke laid upon 
 them, and declared their intention of returning to 
 France. Villegagnon encouraged them to do so. 
 But among the papers which he entrusted to the 
 captain of the ship which took them back, " there 
 was," says Jean de Lery, " an indictment which he 
 had framed against us without our knowledge, and 
 an express charge to the first judge to whom it 
 should be handed over in France, that in virtue of 
 the same he should detain us and have us burnt 
 as heretics, which, said Villegagnon, we were." 
 Happily the fugitives on their arrival fell into the 
 hands of good and humane magistrates, who gave 
 them a kind reception, and supplied them with 
 money to continue their journey. " Thus," says the 
 simple chronicler, " does God take the crafty in their 
 own net ; for by the means of these good men He 
 not only delivered us from the danger into which 
 Villegagnon had brought us, but furthermore the 
 treason which he had plotted being discovered, the 
 whole turned to our comfort and to his confusion." 
 
 Unhappily five of the colonists, who had started 
 to return to France, being terrified at the bad state 
 of their vessel, decided to get into a boat and
 
 .54 COLIGNY. 
 
 go back to the Island of Coligny. Villegagnon had 
 them arrested, and brought against them a charge of 
 heresy. After a mere form of trial he chose out 
 three of them, Du Bordel, Vermeil, and Bourdon, 
 and had them strangled and thrown into the sea. 
 
 It is easy to see that acts like these were of a 
 nature to ruin the colony. Soon after, Villegagnon 
 conceived the unfortunate idea of leaving the island 
 and going with some of his companions in search of 
 more fertile lands on the shores of Brazil. This 
 would have been certain death. The Portuguese 
 would have soon exterminated them. Villegagnon 
 returned to France, turned against the reformers, and 
 published violent controversial articles against Calvin 
 and Coligny. But, suspected by the Catholics, and 
 despised by the Protestants, he ultimately lost his 
 reason, and died in 15/1. 
 
 Jean de Lery asserts that if Villegagnon had 
 accomplished his mission and stood firm at his post, 
 "there would have been more than 10,000 French- 
 men, who beside the good use which they by this time 
 would have made of our island and fort against the 
 Portuguese (who would never have been able to take 
 it, as they have done since our return), would have 
 been now holding for the king a large district of 
 land in Brazil, which might then still have been 
 called Antarctic France." 
 
 We shall see presently that this failure, disastrous 
 as it was, did not put an end to the Admiral's 
 schemes of colonisation. He returned to the project 
 in 1560, and again in 1564, at the close of the first 
 war of religion. None of these attempts were suc- 
 cessful The French government never really looked
 
 DISASTROUS FAILURES OF LATER COLONISTS. 55 
 
 on them with favour. It seems even that their 
 collapse was hastened by treachery. Nevertheless 
 truth compels us to say that in Florida, even more 
 than in Brazil, " the misfortune was that those who 
 could not be quelled by fire or water, fell victims to 
 their own folly." 1 The colonists were themselves 
 mainly responsible for the failure of their projects. 
 
 1 Rene de Laudonniere, Hist, notable de la Florida, p. 53. 
 Laudonniere was commander of the expedition of 1564.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Fresh attempt of Charles V. to invade France. Philibert Emmanuel 
 General of the Imperialists. Campaigns of 1553, 1554. Battle 
 of Renty. Decisive intervention of Coligny. Coligny receives 
 from the King a company of a hundred men-at-arms. He is 
 made Governor of Picardy. Abdication of Charles V. Prepara- 
 tion of the Peace of Vaucelles. Coligny goes to Brussels, where 
 he sees Charles V. and Philip II. 
 
 WHILE the ill-fated expedition to the Brazils 
 was going on, events of importance were 
 transpiring in Europe, to which we must now revert. 
 Let us go back to the year 1553, the year in which 
 Coligny was made Admiral. 
 
 Charles V. had but one idea at this time to 
 avenge the humiliation to which he had been sub- 
 jected before Metz. He had just appointed to the 
 command of his troops Philibert Emmanuel, Duke 
 of Savoy, one of his bravest captains. Poor as a 
 Savoyard, and dispossessed of his estates by France, 
 Philibert Emmanuel had his fortune to make, and 
 he was soon to be successful enough to marry the 
 sister of that King of France against whom he was 
 taking up arms. The soubriquets of the Iron Head 
 and the Prince of the Hundred Eyes, given him by 
 his soldiers, indicate his characteristic firmness and 
 vigilance, of which France was to have bitter expe-
 
 CAMPAIGNS OF 15534. 57 
 
 rience. In a single month the Spanish army took 
 Therouanne and Hesdin, two of the most important 
 fortresses in the north. In the taking of Therou- 
 anne Francis de Montmorency, son of the Constable, 
 was made prisoner ; and at Hesdin, the same fate 
 befell Robert de la Marck, Duke de Bouillon, Marshal 
 of France. These startling tidings fell like a thun- 
 derbolt upon the effeminate courtiers of Henry II., who 
 thought of Charles V. as already dead with chagrin 
 at having been forced to abandon Lorraine. Henry 
 himself went north with a small army, in which 
 Coligny commanded the infantry. He succeeded in 
 arresting the progress of the Spaniards without 
 gaining any decisive advantage over them. Winter 
 came on, and the resumption of hostilities was de- 
 ferred till the spring of 1554. 
 
 In the month of June the King of France advanced 
 as far as Namur. Dinant surrendered after a furious 
 assault, in which Coligny was wounded. On August 
 8th the French took up a position before Renty. 
 The Spaniards charged them, and at first had the 
 advantage. They were skilfully massed in a wood, 
 called the Bois-Guillaume, which completely foiled 
 the charges of Guise's brilliant cavalry. Coligny 
 saw that here was the nucleus of the action, and 
 marching at the head of his infantry, he dislodged 
 the enemy, who were then pursued and scattered by 
 the cavalry. 1 Brantome says : " The Admiral ad- 
 vanced with from a thousand to twelve hundred men, 
 some armed with arquebuses and others cuirassiers, 
 
 1 M. Delaborde has with justice given prominence to the 
 Admiral's share in this affair, the credit of which has been 
 too largely assigned to Guise and Tavannes.
 
 58 COLIGNY. 
 
 himself marching at their head, halbert in hand, and 
 fell with such fury upon the enemy, that in a twink- 
 ling he had broken the Spanish arquebusiers and 
 driven them from their position in the wood, though 
 their numbers were twice as great as his. This was 
 no small service." 
 
 On the evening of this battle, and in the presence 
 of the king, a sharp altercation took place between 
 Guise and the Admiral. Guise was describing the 
 combat. At one point Coligny felt constrained to 
 contradict him ; whereupon Guise exclaimed angrily : 
 " Mort Dieu ! do you cast a slur on my honour ?" 
 Coligny replied : " I do no such thing." " Nor could 
 you," said Guise. The king commanded them to 
 make peace ; but this quarrel brought to light the 
 mutual aversion which had long been growing 
 secretly, and their contemporaries, De Thou, La 
 Place, and Brantdme, date from this time the breach 
 which was for ever to divide the two great captains. 
 
 The battle of Renty was the most important 
 engagement of this year. The two armies remained 
 face to face till they went into winter quarters. The 
 king, in token of his satisfaction, gave Coligny a 
 company of a hundred men-at-arms, which Coligny 
 made one of the best corps in the army. 1 
 
 The year 1555 found the Imperialists and the 
 French face to face on the northern frontiers of the 
 
 1 The companies of orderlies, or men-at-arms, were fifteen 
 in number, and each one included a hundred lances garnies. 
 A lance garnie consisted of six men, viz., the man-at-arms, 
 a page or valet, three archers, and a cutler, or man armed 
 with a knife. "Coligny," says Sandraz (book ii., p. 142), 
 "was careful to fill his company with gentlemen of proved 
 military service, so that it put to shame all others. This
 
 COLIGNY MADE GOVERNOR OF PICARDY. 59 
 
 kingdom. Antoine de Bourbon, Duke de Venddme, 
 husband of Jeanne d'Albret, was, as we have said, 
 Governor of Picardy. The death of his father-in- 
 law, Henry of Navarre, compelled him to remove to 
 the states of his wife, and he resigned his office. 
 
 The King of France, without hesitation, gave the 
 post of governor to Coligny. This favour was the 
 result of a secret engagement between the king and 
 the Constable. Montmorency had asked the governor- 
 ship of the Isle of France for his son, Francis de 
 Montmorency. Francis was still a prisoner ir 
 the hands of the Spaniards ; but it was an under- 
 stood thing that on his return from captivity Coligny 
 should give up the governorship to him. 
 
 In his new position Coligny at once displayed his 
 extraordinary activity. But he had a difficult task. 
 The state of the public finances scarcely enabled 
 him to provide adequately for the fortification of a 
 province which he regarded as the true bulwark of 
 France, for he was wont to say that the smallest 
 village of Flanders or Artois was more important in 
 his eyes than a province in Italy. Heavy as were 
 his duties in Picardy, Coligny contrived to go to 
 the east of France at the end of the year, to hold 
 out a helping hand to the Duke de Nevers, who was 
 revictualling Marienbourg and Rocroy, which were 
 threatened by the enemy. " The Duke de Nevers," 
 says Brantome, " did the king good service in the 
 
 was not done, however, without expense, and beside the 
 king's pay, he gave to every such soldier one hundred crowns 
 yearly from his own purse. The Uuke of Guise, who watched 
 all Coligny did, seeing that by this he had made so fine a 
 company, offered even a higher price, and the rivalry between 
 them was the cause that never were seen such splendid troops."
 
 60 COLIGNY. 
 
 victualling of Marienbourg, aided by the Admiral, 
 who had come to join him in Champagne. Their 
 united forces succeeded in victualling the place, but 
 with all the trouble in the world, through the worst 
 rains and frosts that winter ever brought (for it was 
 the beginning of November), and in the teeth of the 
 Prince of Orange, who was sent by the emperor and 
 Queen Mary with a good army to oppose them. 
 Yet the duke and the Admiral ( brought their task to 
 an excellent conclusion, to the great admiration of 
 the king and of every one, for they had to fight 
 against heaven, which is a great impossibility." 1 
 
 Charles V., however, had just come to a great 
 decision. In a solemn assembly convoked in Brussels 
 on the 25th of October of this year (1555) he had 
 announced his intention of soon abdicating, and of 
 handing over to his son, Philip II., the sovereignty 
 of the Low Countries. 2 At the same time he showed 
 a desire to conclude a treaty with the King of 
 France, and as a preliminary he offered an exchange 
 of prisoners. 3 Henry II. looked favourably on these 
 
 1 Brantdme, M. de Nevers, Francois de Cleves. 
 
 2 The news of this abdication took every one by surprise. 
 Henry II., writing to Coligny and Nevers, November 5th, to 
 congratulate them on having saved Marienbourg, adds : " The 
 emperor is much disturbed in mind, so that he has little or no 
 resolution left, and, in truth, his acts show there is more amiss 
 with him than he says." Paul IV. came to the same con- 
 clusion, and in the Consistory in the following December 
 declared that it was notorious that the emperor was impos 
 mentis. (Letter from Cardinal du Bellay, in Lettres et 
 memoires d'etat, vol. ii., p. 623.) The pope and the king 
 were soon to learn to their cost that Charles V., in his pre- 
 tended retreat, was the secret and watchful instigator of the 
 Spanish policy. It might well be thought, however, that he 
 was weary of war. 
 
 Charles V. was not influenced simply by a desire for peace
 
 NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. 6 1 
 
 proposals, and charged Coligny to carry on the 
 negotiations. The Sieur de 1'Aubespine was asso- 
 ciated with him in this trust. 1 
 
 They were to meet the envoys of the emperor, 
 the Count Lalaing and Councillor Simon Renard, at 
 Vaucelles, on December I3th. 
 
 Two questions were to be decided by them the 
 exchange of prisoners and the conclusion of a truce. 
 The French looked upon these two points as inse- 
 parable ; the envoys of the emperor wished to treat 
 on them apart. Among the prisoners there were 
 men of the highest rank : on the French side were 
 Andelot, Coligny's brother ; Francis de Montmorency, 
 his cousin ; Robert de la Marck, Duke de Bouillon 
 and Marshal of France. On the Imperial side were 
 Count Mansfeld and the Duke d'Arschot. 
 
 The envoys of Charles V. and of Philip II. de- 
 manded as a condition of the release of the Duke 
 de Bouillon, that his principality, then occupied by 
 France, should be restored to the empire. The duke 
 on this occasion showed a rare disinterestedness. 
 " He implored Henry II. not to consent to surrender 
 Bouillon, urging him to hold that and all the duke's 
 other possessions as his own, and declared that he 
 would rather remain a prisoner another ten years or 
 
 He had learned that just at this time (October 14th, 1555) the 
 Guises were negotiating in Italy a secret alliance with the 
 pope, an alliance the terrible consequences of which France 
 was to experience two years later. 
 
 1 As soon as the Guises knew that this task had been en- 
 trusted to the Admiral, they worked upon the king, through 
 Diane de Poitiers, to get d'Estrees appointed in his stead, 
 but in this intrigue they were not successful. See a Letter 
 from Francis of Guise to the Cardinal of Lorraine, quoted 
 by Delaborde, vol. i., p. 155.
 
 62 COLIGNY. 
 
 all his life, and endure whatever ill-treatment they 
 might choose to inflict on him, than he would con- 
 sent that any one of the said places should be given 
 up to the prejudice of the king's service and of his 
 kingdom." 
 
 It was not till February 5th, 1556, that the 
 plenipotentiaries were prepared to sign the Peace of 
 Vaucelles. The question of the prisoners remained 
 in abeyance, owing to the delays which Philip II. 
 (who now appeared for the first time on the scene) 
 introduced into the negotiations. Throughout the 
 discussions Coligny showed the utmost firmness. 
 This the king acknowledged in writing to him on 
 January 25th. "My cousin," he writes, "having seen 
 the despatch of your last day of negotiations, I 
 would say to you, apart from the memorial I send 
 you containing my final intentions, that I could not 
 be more satisfied and well-content with any servant 
 than I am with you, who have so well and skilfully 
 conducted this negotiation, that never was service 
 done more to my pleasing," etc. Anne de Mont- 
 morency confirmed this testimony in writing to his 
 nephew, under date February 6th : " You have done 
 so well that the result is far better than we thought 
 or could have dared to hope. ... I assure you 
 the king is as satisfied and pleased as he can be, 
 knowing that you have so well carried out his mind 
 in all things, both small and great, so that nothing 
 has been forgotten." 1 The treaty which was concluded 
 
 1 We may note here one point of detail which shows the 
 Admiral's greatness of soul. One of Guise's first concerns 
 at the time of the signing of the treaty was to get rid of the 
 German auxiliaries who were quartered in his town of Guise
 
 PEACE OF VAUCELLES. 63 
 
 on February 5th arranged a truce of five years be- 
 tween " their imperial majesties, the emperor, his 
 son, the King of England, and the very Christian 
 King of France." During these five years all things 
 were to remain as they were, and each power pledged 
 itself not to undertake any enterprise which could 
 damage the other powers, and not to give any suc- 
 cour to their enemies. As to the prisoners it was 
 agreed, in a general way, that they should be set at 
 liberty on both sides, on payment of a ransom, to 
 be fixed after a declaration made by each one in 
 writing, of the value of his yearly rentals, estates, 
 etc. In the case of the Duke de Bouillon, Francis 
 de Montmorency, and the Duke d'Arschot, it was 
 stipulated that their ransoms should be fixed within 
 a term of three months. It now remained for 
 the sovereigns to ratify the treaty. Coligny and 
 1'Aubespine were designated to go to Brussels to 
 receive the oath of Charles V. and Philip II. Lalaing 
 undertook the same mission to the King of France. 1 
 
 and on his lands. He wrote to Coligny on the subject. 
 Coligny replied, under date of February i2th, 1556, that he 
 had already himself provided for that, having sent the said 
 Germans to another garrison, " out of the desire J 'had 'to relieve 
 your town and spare your wood." And he added : "And you 
 may be sure, that in all other matters in which I see that I 
 can secure your advantage, profit, and commodity, I shall not 
 wait for your commands, but shall act with all promptness, 
 out of the desire I have to do you service." It would be diffi- 
 cult to conceive a more generous return for the hostility which 
 Guise had just manifested to Coligny. 
 
 1 The negotiations relating to the Peace of Vaucelles are 
 given at length in M. Delaborde's book (vol. i., ch. vii.). The 
 curious narrative from which we give extracts is obviously- 
 written by an eye-witness. It is found in Ribier's excellent 
 collection, Lettres et memoires d'etat, etc., sous les regnes de 
 Francois /., Henri II., and Francois II. (Prris, 1666).
 
 64 COLIGNY. 
 
 In March, Coligny left for Brussels, with an escort 
 of nearly a thousand persons, including men of high 
 rank and captains of various places in Picardy. But 
 at Cambray the Count de Bossut, grand equerry to 
 the emperor, informed the Admiral that Charles V. 
 had already convoked an assembly at Brussels of all 
 the orders of the Low Countries, and that it would be 
 impossible for him conveniently to receive so large a 
 suite. Coligny therefore sent back nearly all the 
 captains who had accompanied him. On March 25th 
 the Admiral arrived in Brussels. The next day it 
 was curious to note the contrast between the light- 
 hearted gaiety of the Frenchmen and the Castilian 
 solemnity which reigned in the court of Charles V. 
 " These French gentlemen who accompanied the 
 Admiral being assembled in the great courtyard of 
 the house, while he was despatching some business, 
 were of so lively a disposition (for the French mind 
 is, like the course of the heavens, in perpetual motion) 
 that they could not be quiet, but began most of 
 them to play at ' leap-frog,' which, when it was 
 noised abroad, many Flemish gentlemen and others 
 of quality also came, and found it such good sport 
 that they did the same ; but ours carried off the 
 palm, for it belongs to Frenchmen alone to do things 
 with a grace." 
 
 Philip II. awaited the Admiral in the castle. He 
 had had the incredible indelicacy to have the great 
 hall hung with tapestry representing the defeat of 
 Francis I. at Pavia. Even this rudeness could hardly 
 astonish those who remembered the petty affronts to 
 which the emperor had subjected his royal prisoner 
 during his long captivity in Madrid ; but on an
 
 INTERVIEW BETWEEN COLIGNY AND CHARLES V. 65 
 
 occasion like the present, it seemed almost like a 
 studied insult. 
 
 Brusquet, Henry II. 's fool, who had come in the 
 Admiral's suite, took it upon himself to avenge the 
 affront. 
 
 The next morning, after mass, just as Philip II. 
 was about to swear on the Gospel to observe the 
 treaty, Brusquet began to cry in a loud voice, " Lar- 
 gess, largess ! " and opening a bag of crowns, threw 
 it into the midst of the assembly. 
 
 The avarice of Charles V. had passed into a 
 proverb. He was not one of those who, on the 
 occasion of any public rejoicing, threw money among 
 the people. Every one asked in whose name Brus- 
 quet was acting. There was one moment of dumb 
 surprise. Philip II. looked at the Admiral. The 
 Admiral did not know what to say, and presently 
 perceived that the fool meant to give the Spaniards 
 a lesson of generosity in their own palace. But 
 "those present, in number about two thousand, 
 thinking that it was the Prince's liberality, rushed 
 eagerly forward to snatch up the crowns, the archers 
 of the guard being among the foremost, and even 
 pointing their halberds in the struggle. The rest of 
 the crowd was thrown into such confusion that ladies 
 had their hair dishevelled and their purse strings cut, 
 and men and women were tumbled together in so 
 strange a medley, that the Prince had to lay hold of 
 the altar to keep himself from falling down with 
 laughing, and so had the Dowager Queens of France 
 and Hungary, Madame de Lorraine, and others." 
 
 A comic scene indeed, and a truly French 
 method of retaliation, which relaxed into momentary 
 
 5
 
 66 COLIGNY. 
 
 laughter even the haughty and sullen face of 
 Charles V.'s sinister son ! 
 
 On the following Sunday, being Palm Sunday, 
 the Admiral went to pay a visit to the emperor, who 
 was then residing in the Park of Brussels, in his 
 small house, where, while already assuming the guise 
 of the hermit life he was about to lead at Yuste, he 
 nevertheless continued to direct all the affairs of state, 
 having for his sole counsellor the Bishop of Arras. 
 
 Charles V. was dressed with the extreme simplicity 
 which he had always affected. Gout obliged him to 
 remain seated on a reclining chair. The room where 
 he was, was hung with black cloth, and all the 
 furniture was draped in black. 
 
 " Sire," said the Admiral, " the greatest wish of 
 the most Christian king, my sovereign liege, has 
 always been that it might please God to bless his 
 reign with perfect peace and friendship with all 
 the Christian princes, his neighbours. The germ of 
 this blessing has been laid in a peace concluded with 
 you on the 5th day of February last, which, if God 
 please, shall bring forth a lasting peace between you, 
 your kingdoms, estates, and subjects. It has pleased 
 my lord the king to send me to you to witness the 
 customary oath, which you shall be pleased to take 
 for the observance of the said treaty, as you will see 
 by the letters which he has written, and which it is 
 my honour to present to you on his behalf." 
 
 The reply of Charles V. was courteous and noble. 
 He held out his hand to receive the letter from the 
 king. But when he tried to unseal it, his fingers 
 stiffened by the gout, could hardly manage it. 
 Granvelle stepped forward to help him. But the
 
 INTERVIEW BETWEEN COLIGNY AND CHARLES V. &7 
 
 t 
 
 emperor, with the good grace which he knew so well 
 how to show at times, said, " How now, Monsieur 
 d'Arras, would you rob me of this duty which I owe 
 to the king, my good brother ? Heaven forfend that 
 any one should do it but myself." Then turning to 
 Coligny, " What say you of me, M. 1'Amiral ? Am 
 I not a brave cavalier to dare to break a lance, who 1 
 can but barely open a letter ? " 
 
 After reading the message of the king, the emperor 
 entered into friendly talk with Coligny. He prided 
 himself on being descended, through Marie de Bour- 
 gogne, from the House of France. " I hold it much 
 honour," he said, " to have sprung on the maternal 
 side from the stem which adorns and sustains the 
 most famous crown in the world." He asked news 
 of Henry II., whom he had seen formerly in Spain, 
 when France had sent him thither as a hostage in 
 the place of his father. " It seems," he went on to 
 say, " but two or three days since he was in Spain, 
 a little prince without a hair in his beard." He 
 then asked if Henry was beginning to get gray. 
 Coligny said, " Sire, in truth the king has two 
 or three white hairs already, but so have many 
 younger than himself." " Oh! do not trouble about 
 it," replied the emperor. " That is less than nothing. 
 I ask after his condition, and I must tell you of my 
 own. When I was about the same age, and came 
 from Tunis to Naples, M. 1'Amiral, you know the 
 loveliness of the town, the beauty and the grace of 
 the ladies in it ; I am but a man, and would 
 deserve their favours like the rest, the day after 
 my arrival, in the morning, I called my barber to 
 shave, curl, and perfume me. I am given a mirror.
 
 68 COLIGNY, 
 
 I see myself in the same state as the king, my 
 brother. Astonished, I ask, 'What is that?' Says 
 the barber, ' Two or three white hairs.' There were 
 more than a dozen. ' Take them away,' I said to the 
 barber ; ' do not leave one.' Now, would you guess 
 what happened ?" Addressing himself to the French 
 gentlemen : " A little while afterwards, looking at 
 myself again in the mirror, I found that for one 
 white hair I had taken out three more had come ; 
 and if I had had all these pulled out, in less than no 
 time I should have been as white as a swan." 
 
 The rest of the interview was spent in the same 
 iree-and-easy talk. The emperor, recognising Brusquet 
 in the Admiral's suite, asked him if he remembered 
 a certain battle in which Marshal Strozzi, to whom 
 Brusquet then belonged, fled before him. " Yes, sire, 
 I remember it well," replied the fool. "It was when 
 you bought those fine rubies and carbuncles which 
 you have on your fingers." All eyes were turned to 
 Charles's fingers, which were swollen and inflamed 
 with the gout ; and even the emperor's attendants 
 could not refrain from bursting out laughing. " I 
 see now," said Charles V., "that one must not judge 
 people by appearances ; thou playest the fool, but I 
 swear thou art no fool." 
 
 On March 29th, the emperor was to take the 
 oath to observe the treaty of Vaucelles. Coligny 
 then had another opportunity of seeing Charles V., 
 and it was, no doubt, in this interview that a con- 
 versation took place which Brantome reports, in 
 which Charles gave his opinion of the military leaders 
 of the day. He " placed himself first as a matter of 
 course, then the Constable, then the Duke of Alva."
 
 INTER V IE W BE TWEEN COLIGN Y AND CHARL ES V. 69' 
 
 This high estimate of the military capacity of the 
 Constable may seem strange on the lips of so good 
 a judge. Perhaps Charles V. only intended by it to 
 pay the Admiral a compliment, or perhaps he was 
 thinking of the obstinate and successful resistance 
 Montmorency had made to him in Provence. 
 
 Nothing more than these commonplaces passed 
 between the emperor and Coligny. 
 
 It was a singular coincidence which thus brought 
 face to face the old monarch who had so long swayed 
 the destinies of Catholic Europe and the young 
 captain who, a few years later, was to be the leader 
 of the Protestant party. Not a word was exchanged 
 between them on the great controversy which was 
 dividing Europe into two hostile camps. 
 
 Coligny had no idea as yet of the great part he 
 was to play in history, and Charles, whose sagacity 
 has been somewhat overrated, never suspected that 
 the future of the world would be decided in that 
 religious struggle, the first champion of which, the 
 little Augustine monk, had stood before him thirty 
 years previously at the Diet of Worms, and had been 
 regarded by him as beneath contempt. 
 
 Coligny did not hold his mission fulfilled till he 
 had settled the question of the prisoners of war, 
 among whom was his brother Andelot. He broached 
 this subject with Granvelle, Philip II.'s sinister coun- 
 sellor, whose perfidious and cruel policy was to crush 
 the heart out of the unhappy Netherlands. Granvelle 
 met him, says the Admiral, with "preposterous inter- 
 pretations," which reopened questions that had been 
 held to be already settled. 
 
 At the end of April Coligny returned to France.
 
 7 COLIGNY. 
 
 After a short stay in Picardy, he went to Chambord, 
 where Henry II. was then residing. The king, in 
 recognition of the great services he had rendered to 
 France, went the month following to spend a few 
 days at Chatillon-sur-Loing. This visit probably 
 marks the zenith of Coligny's fortunes. He took 
 an important part in the deliberations relative 
 to the release of the prisoners. Philip II. had sent 
 Councillor Renard to the French Court as his repre- 
 sentative in the matter, and an understanding was at 
 last come to with him. 
 
 At the beginning of July Andelot returned from 
 Italy, where he had undergone a long and severe 
 captivity, sometimes even close confinement, without 
 the privilege of corresponding with his friends. 
 
 The day after his return, Coligny handed over to 
 him his office of Colonel General of the French 
 infantry. 1 It was at first feared that the captivity 
 of Francis de Montmorency would be still prolonged ; 
 for the Duke d'Arschot, the imperial prisoner whose 
 position corresponded most closely with his, had 
 effected his escape from the Fort de Vincennes. 
 Montmorency, however, also succeeded in obtaining 
 his freedom on payment of a heavy ransom, and 
 on August 1 7th he entered on his office as Gover- 
 nor of Paris and of the Isle de France, which 
 Coligny had only held that he might transfer it 
 
 1 M. Delaborde gives a touching' incident which shows how 
 deeply the brothers were attached to each other. On July 
 1 2th Coligny wrote a letter about affairs in Picardy, but he 
 did not sign it as governor, that his brother might add his 
 signature of Colonel General (vol. i., p. 228). This office had 
 been promised to Andelot by the king when Coligny was made 
 Admiral.
 
 RELEASE OF THE PRISONERS. 71 
 
 to him. The unfortunate La Marck, Duke de 
 Bouillon, also recovered his liberty, but he died a 
 few days after, and rumour accused the Spaniards of 
 having poisoned him.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Secret League between Paul IV. and the King of France. Cardinal 
 Carafa. His mission in France and alliance with the Guises to 
 break off the Peace of Vaucelles. Resistance of Coligny. 
 Guise starts for Italy. Coligny tenders his resignation of the 
 Government of Picardy. The King refuses it. 
 
 IN concluding the Peace of Vaucelles, Coligny 
 thought he had done an important service to 
 his country. He deemed that France needed time 
 to recover strength. Anne de Montmorency was 
 of the same opinion, and on this occasion his long 
 experience of affairs of state guided him wisely. 
 Renard wrote to Philip under date of June 24th, 
 1556 : "The Constable, who is old, far-sighted, and 
 intimately acquainted with the affairs of the King of 
 France, who knows just how far he can safely go, 
 and understands the humour of his lords and their 
 dangerous cliques, is anxious to maintain the peace 
 and to build up the reputation of his house as the 
 author of it. The Guises, on the other hand, are 
 equally eager to recommence hostilities." l 
 
 Unhappily an alliance, fatal in its results to 
 France, was being formed between two ambitious 
 houses those of Guise and Carafa. 
 
 1 Granvelle's State Papers, vol. iv., p. 605.
 
 THE HOUSES OF GUISE AND CARAFA. 73 
 
 Francis, Duke of Guise, whose defence of Metz 
 had covered him with glory, was the idol of one 
 party of the French noblesse. His brother, the 
 Cardinal of Lorraine, one of the restless and design- 
 ing spirits of the age, had his own no less ambitious 
 dreams of the future. Had not parvenus like the 
 Sforza, the Medici, the Farnese, quite recently 
 divided up the States of Italy among themselves and 
 taken rank among the reigning families of Europe ? 
 Might not the younger branch of the Lorraines also 
 hope to find its place in the firmament of princes ? 
 We have said that as early as 1547 the Cardinal of 
 Lorraine had dreamed of conquering the kingdom of 
 Naples for one of his brothers. The Guises were 
 descended from the house of Anjou, the former 
 possessors of that kingdom. 1 The house of Lorraine 
 went back to Charlemagne, and the Guises would 
 presently try to make this a pretext for laying claim 
 to the throne of France. Just now it was Naples 
 that attracted them. But Naples belonged to Spain, 
 and in order to secure this shining toy they were 
 ready to declare themselves the implacable adver- 
 saries of that Philip II. whom, three years after, 
 they were to astonish by their servile devotion. 
 
 The Carafa were a family of the kingdom of 
 Naples, who had an hereditary hatred of the Spaniards. 
 Pietro Carafa had just been raised to the papacy, 
 
 1 Louis (son of Jean le Bon, King of France, who died in 
 1364) was Duke of Anjou. He had married Marie de Chatillon, 
 Countess of Guise. From this marriage sprang Louis II., 
 King of Sicily, who held the dukedom of Guise, as did his son 
 Rene. Renl of Lorraine, grandson of Rene of Anjou, died 
 in 1508, leaving his son Claude, father of Francis of Lorraine, 
 as his heir.
 
 74 COLIGN\. 
 
 May 25th, 1555, under the name of Paul IV. 
 Already advanced in age, an ascetic in his habits, 
 and founder of the Theatine order of monks, he was 
 the implacable enemy of Charles V. Irascible, pas- 
 sionate, incapable of forgiving an injury, he gave 
 himself up to the guidance of one of his nephews, 
 Carlo Carafa. 
 
 This Carlo Carafa is one of the most prominent 
 personages of the sixteenth century. 1 A man of no 
 character, who led in his youth the life of a condot- 
 tiere and a pugilist, he entered the Church when his 
 uncle became Pope, and was made a cardinal by 
 him June /th, 1555. From that time he had but 
 one thought to raise his family to sovereign power 
 in Italy ; and for this end he sold himself first to 
 France and then to Spain. Cool-headed, in spite of 
 the ebullitions of passion characteristic of his race, of 
 keen intellect, skilled in all seductive arts, elated by 
 success but never cast down by reverses, he was to 
 be for years the evil genius of his uncle, and in the 
 end to be solemnly condemned by him. After the 
 death of his uncle, Carafa managed to reinstate 
 himself, was foremost in the nomination of the new 
 Pope, and, after making everyone his dupe, died at 
 last in the Castle of St. Angelo, strangled by the 
 very pontiff who owed everything to him. 
 
 1 This strange character has just been described very vividly 
 by M. Georges Duruy in a most interesting volume, Le Car- 
 dinal Carlo Carafa, a study of the pontificate of Paul IV. 
 (Paris, Hacl'ette). By the aid of documents, many of them 
 unpublished 1 and by a patient analysis of the various texts, 
 M. Duruy has brought the character of Carlo Carafa out in 
 its true light, and has dispelled the legendary prestige with 
 which ecclesiastical panegyrists had invested Paul IV.
 
 CARLO CAR A FA. 7$ 
 
 Carlo Carafa was so subtle a diplomatist, that he 
 would have been capable of carrying through the 
 most difficult enterprises if he had had any high 
 inspiration. As it is, he figures on the page of 
 history only as a consummate actor, who for more 
 than a year decoyed France to her bitter shame and 
 loss. It is one of Coligny's merits that, from the 
 very first, he clearly saw the true character of this 
 man, and augured the evil he would work. 
 
 Paul IV. had only been four months Pope when, 
 under the influence of his nephew, he turned to 
 France and entered into a secret league with her to 
 deliver Italy from the Spaniards. 
 
 One question arises here which has always been 
 a great embarrassment to historians. How could 
 Henry II. lend himself to such negotiations at the 
 very time when he was preparing to conclude the 
 peace of Vaucelles ? Must we believe, as has been, 
 said, that this treaty was only a feint on his part 
 to conceal his real designs ? We cannot admit this. 
 The care with which the treaty was prepared, the 
 stress laid upon it by the king, and his explicit 
 approval of Coligny's negotiation of it, show that he 
 was desirous of peace. But it must not be forgotten 
 that there were two rival influences in Henry's Court 
 that of the Constable, which was favourable to the 
 peace ; and that of the Guises, especially of the 
 Cardinal of Lorraine, who was from the first the 
 tool of Carafa. Diane de Poitiers was anxious for 
 anything that could favour the fortune of the Guises 
 Carafa, while paying court to the mistress, was 
 mindful also of the legitimate queen, and Catherine 
 de Medicis had felt her pride as an Italian flattered
 
 76 COLIGNY. 
 
 by the prospect of freeing her country from the 
 heavy yoke of Spain. 
 
 The negotiations were conducted with such rapidity 
 by Cardinal Carafa that on October I3th, 1555, 
 a full treaty of alliance between France and the 
 papacy was drawn up in Rome, and ratified by the 
 King of France. Every possible provision was 
 included in this treaty : the military contingents and 
 the contributions in money to be supplied by the 
 contracting parties, the alliance of some Italian 
 princes and the neutrality of others, the territory of 
 Milan and Naples, which the King of France was 
 to claim ; and lastly, the principality which he was 
 to offer to Carafa and his brothers. 1 Evidently the 
 Cardinal had not forgotten his own family ; indeed, 
 such was the avidity of these parvenus, that they 
 formed a project of marriage between Marie, daughter 
 of Count Montorio, and the Duke d'Alenc.on, the 
 last of Henry II.'s sons. 2 
 
 Carafa thought he had gained the day. He was 
 already expecting the French army to arrive in 
 Italy, but Henry II. oscillated between two policies. 
 At the very time when he was approving the secret 
 treaty (which he seems, however, not to have com- 
 municated to all the members of his privy council), 
 he was pressing Coligny to carry on the negotiations 
 at Vaucelles. This treaty was signed, as we have 
 said, on February 5th. When, ten days later, the 
 
 1 The Cardinal had two brothers ; the elder, Montorio, to 
 whom Paul IV. had just given the duchy of Pagliano, taken 
 by him from the Colonna family, whom he thus made his mortal 
 enemies ; and the second, the Marquis of Montebello. 
 
 2 See the document quoted by M. Duruy (Appendix, p. 354, 
 No. 15).
 
 CARAFA SENT AS LEGA TE TO FRANCE. 77 
 
 news of it reached Rome, Carafa was confounded, 
 and the pope flew into one of his terrible fits of 
 rage in which he showed what he really was. 1 
 
 The Cardinal soon recovered, however, from his 
 consternation. He knew that he had allies in the 
 Court of France, and he asked the pope to send him 
 to Paris. As it would have been too great a scandal 
 for a pope to appear to be inciting to war, the 
 ostensible mission of the legate was to strengthen 
 the peace between France and Spain ; but while he 
 was thus to use fair and pacific speech, he had secret 
 instructions from Paul IV. to look after all the neces- 
 sary military preparations. 2 
 
 The journey of Carafa through France was a 
 triumphal progress. At Fontainebleau and in Paris 
 the great lords, no less than the common people, 
 threw themselves at his feet. The king asked him 
 as a favour to be the godfather of one of his children, 
 and knelt before him to receive the sword blessed 
 by the pope, which Paul IV. had sent him. Every- 
 where splendid fetes were given in his honour, while 
 
 1 Such facts as this must be borne in mind if we wish to 
 know what Paul IV. really was, divested of the halo of legen- 
 dary tradition, in which he appears as a pattern of monkish 
 austerity. Read, for example, the account of the reception 
 which he gave, after hearing of the peace of Vaucelles, to 
 MM. de Selve and De Lansac, the king's envoys. After 
 describing the peace as an invention of the devil, and saying 
 that whoever advised it was a servant of the devil and a minister 
 of iniquity, he threatened the ambassadors, if they went through 
 with it, that he would make their heads fly off their shoulders ; 
 and, growing more excited, he said that he would strike off 
 hundreds of heads like theirs, and repeated it several times, 
 choking with rage. (Lettres et Memoires d'etat servant a 
 V histoire de Henri II., vol. ii., p. 665.) 
 
 2 In M. Duruy's work. p. 160 and following pages, there is 
 abundant evidence of this duplicity of Paul IV.
 
 78 COLIGNY. 
 
 he, wholly bent on the object of his journey, lost no 
 time in gaining the ear of the king and his coun- 
 cillors, and persuading them to break off the peace. 
 So completely were they carried away by him, that 
 all yielded, not excepting the Constable, who felt that 
 his influence would be endangered if he made much 
 show of resistance. Montmorency's weakness in this 
 way was well known, though he tried to conceal it 
 by an affectation of bluster. The lion's skin, in which 
 he enwrapped himself, did not always hide the old 
 fox. As an excuse for his defection, he alleged the 
 enormous sum which Spain demanded for the ransom 
 of his eldest son, who was still a prisoner. Coligny, 
 and with him a little group of patriotic lords, alone 
 expressed their detestation of the comedy he was 
 playing. An old member of the parliament, and a 
 true Frenchman, foienne Pasquier, has recorded, with 
 caustic humour, the impression made upon him by 
 the position of affairs. 1 He writes: "Captain Carafa, 
 the pope's nephew, has been made Cardinal by him, 
 and suddenly sent over here to bring to us, not the 
 keys of St. Peter, that he might open to us the gate 
 of heaven, but the sword of St. Paul. You think may- 
 hap that I am jesting. But he has in truth brought 
 the king a gift of a very fine sword, and therewith a 
 challenge to recover the State of Naples, which is 
 the toy of the popes, and the playground of foreign 
 princes. . . . Gentlemen of the house of Guise hold 
 out the hand to this new legation, having, as they 
 deem, some part in the quarrel." With prophetic 
 good sense Pasquier adds : " In brief, it bodes us no 
 
 1 Etienne Pasquier, (Euvres, vol. ii., p. 73.
 
 INTRIGUES OF CARAFA AND THE GUISES. 79 
 
 good that he who, as head of the Church, should be 
 the first father of peace, should be the first author 
 and promoter of war among Christian princes." 
 
 Carafa obtained from the king an explicit assur- 
 ance that the peace should soon be broken. He 
 asked that the army to be sent into Italy should be 
 entrusted to the Duke of Guise ; he promised the 
 assistance of the Dukes of Ferrara and Parma, and 
 guaranteed a very large levy of soldiers by the pope. 
 On the eve of his departure, intoxicated with his 
 success, and in one of those accessions of pride and 
 folly which reveal his true character, he assembled 
 all the foreign ambassadors, and in their presence 
 heaped all manner of insults on Charles V. and 
 Philip II., saying that the hour of vengeance was at 
 hand. This was so great a scandal, and so enormous 
 a blunder, that he is supposed to have done it in a 
 state of intoxication. Of what avail was all the 
 studied dissimulation he had practised, and the 
 pacific language which he had at all times used in 
 public, when at the last moment he thus betrayed 
 his secret to Spain ? 
 
 Coligny had watched with a deeply wounded 
 spirit this new turn of affairs. He had just labori- 
 ously concluded the treaty of Vaucelles. All this 
 work done with so much patient effort was now to 
 be thrown away. And why ? No one could allege 
 that it was in the interest of France. The Guises 
 alone were to profit by it. And was the country to 
 be imperilled in an enterprise which might end in 
 disastrous failure, just to secure to them a coveted 
 appanage ? How could such an enterprise be 
 entered on ? Only in defiance of the plighted faith
 
 SO COLIGNY. 
 
 of the nation and the solemn oath of the king, "so 
 that by this counsel of the Guises the peace, which a 
 few months before had been solemnly entered into, 
 would be violated, to the great dishonour of the 
 French nation, and to the regret of the Admiral, who 
 could not cease from foretelling disastrous issues 
 from such perfidy, since God is always and every- 
 where the Avenger of perjury." 1 
 
 At the end of June, as we have said, the rupture 
 of the peace had been determined. The king, how- 
 ever, thought himself bound to keep it a secret, so 
 that he might choose his own time for attacking the 
 Spaniards without any previous declaration of war. 
 It was the pope who gave the signal for hostilities to 
 commence. At the end of July he accused Charles V. 
 and Philip II. of having given their support to the 
 Colonna in Rome, who were then in revolt against 
 the holy see. Under this pretext he arrested the 
 Spanish ambassador in Rome, and threatened to 
 excommunicate Spain itself. Seeing this, the Duke 
 of Alva, who was then governing Naples, advanced 
 with an army into the Roman territory, and took 
 several towns, but did not dare to pursue his advan- 
 tages, probably remembering the odium cast upon 
 Charles V. in the Catholic world, when in 1527 his 
 soldiers had laid siege to Rome. The pope, in 
 alarm, implored Henry II. to keep his promises, and 
 towards the close of the year the Duke of Guise 
 crossed the Alps. We shall see presently what was 
 the issue of this campaign. We must notice that in 
 sending Guise into Italy, Henry II. had not yet de- 
 
 1 Vita Colinii, 1575, p. 13.
 
 COLIGNY FALLS INTO DISGRACE WITH THE KING. 8 1 
 
 clared war on Philip II. The Treaty of Vaucelles 
 was not yet broken. 
 
 The energy with which Coligny had urged the 
 maintenance of peace, and the firm stand taken by 
 him against the general infatuation about this de- 
 plorable enterprise, had irritated the king. Coligny 
 saw this, and feeling himself no longer the man for 
 the position, he wished to resign the government of 
 Picardy. The king begged him not to do so. 
 Coligny obeyed ; but in writing to his uncle the 
 Constable, August 26th, 1556, he let it be clearly 
 seen that for himself the era of royal favour was 
 over : " You know, Monseigneur," said he, " that the 
 recompense which God gives and that which man 
 gives are wholly different ; for God recompenses us 
 after death, and the world during our lifetime. And 
 those whom God loves best are often most tried in 
 this world ; but those whom princes love are signalled 
 out by favours and benefits, else men think nothing 
 of it. / tell you this because, on my late journey to 
 Paris, I had no gracious word, nor any otJier mark of 
 favour, by which I or any one else might think that 
 tJie king was well pleased with me" He spoke, 
 moreover, of masters who want to be served " accord- 
 ing to their way of thinking, not according to ours" 
 
 Evidently Coligny felt that the hour of his dis- 
 grace had come, yet his only fault had been that 
 he had dared to give preference to the interests of 
 the country over the king's favour. As to the 
 Constable, though he was, in truth, as opposed as 
 Coligny to the war, he had decided, like an old 
 courtier as he was, to fall in with the prevailing 
 opinion, thinking, no doubt, that the approaching 
 
 6
 
 82 COLIGNY. 
 
 departure of Guise for Italy would leave him master 
 of the situation at home. 1 
 
 1 At this time (October 1556) we must note an incident in 
 the life of Coligny which shows that while he had courage to 
 oppose the king when the welfare of the country demanded it, 
 he was equally ready to resist his uncle, the Constable, when a 
 question of morality was involved. Francis de Montmorency, 
 the Constable's eldest son, and consequently first cousin to the 
 Admiral, and to whom he was much attached, had fallen in 
 love with Mademoiselle de Piennes, maid of honour to the 
 queen, a woman "whose nobility, virtue, and beauty made her 
 well worthy of his love." He had promised her marriage, and 
 had made Coligny his confidant. The old Constable, who 
 knew nothing of this, had himself formed a project to marry 
 his son to Diane, widow of the Duke de Castro, and illegitimate 
 daughter of Henry II. His pride as a courtier was much 
 flattered when the king gave his consent to this union. The 
 Constable never doubted that his son would be of the same 
 mind as himself. Driven to despair by this proposal, Francis 
 de Montmorency at once implored Coligny to interfere on his 
 behalf, to tell the king the real state of affairs, and entreat 
 him not to be angry at his refusal. Coligny undertook this deli- 
 cate task. The Constable had prepared a great feast, to which 
 the king had consented to come. "As his majesty entered the 
 house with his retinue of gentlemen, the Constable said to him 
 that he would God had granted him so much grace that he 
 might be able to show to the world the obligation he was 
 under to his gracious majesty for the honour of his permission 
 to marry his son to the king's bastard daughter. Coligny, on 
 a previous occasion when there was some talk of marrying a 
 daughter of Diane de Poitiers to d'Aumale, had expressed him- 
 self on this point with uncourtly frankness. He did not think, 
 like his uncle, that such alliances brought much honour, or gave 
 much occasion for speaking of the grace of God. The king 
 having been told by Coligny the state of affairs with Francis de 
 Montmorency, took the Constable apart just before sitting down 
 to table and told him how matters stood, saying that he would 
 not cross the love which his, the Constable's, son bore to 
 Mademoiselle de Piennes, to whom he was betrothed. The 
 Constable was so annoyed at this that he was quite melancholy 
 throughout the whole supper. 
 
 "The next morning he was full of the idea of getting this 
 marriage broken off, saying that he would have recourse to 
 the pope if necessary. Francis resisted, and appealed, as a
 
 MARRIAGE OP FRANCIS DE MONTMORENCY. 83 
 
 man of honour, to his love and his plighted troth. The Con- 
 stable would hear nothing. He flew into a rage, and in spite 
 of Coligny's entreaties, he loudly asserted his paternal authority. 
 He even proceeded to violent measures, obtained from the pope 
 the sequestration of the property of Mademoiselle de Piennes, 
 alleged (which was false) that he had received from the pope 
 a letter annulling the promise of marriage, forced his son to 
 break off his engagement, and finally succeeded in getting him 
 married to the Duchess de Castro. Such was the domestic 
 tyranny of the man whom Henry II. was wont familiarly to 
 call his compeer, and to whom he could refuse nothing." (See 
 Le Laboureur, De Thou, Brantdme, and La Place on this 
 incident. See also a letter from Renard to Philip II., quoted 
 by M. Delaborde, vol. i., p. 237.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Rupture of the Peace of Vaucelles. Hostilities are declared. Advance 
 of Philibert Emmanuel Coligny shuts himself up in St. Quentin 
 Commencement of the siege. 
 
 f^OLIGNY had gone into Picardy, whither Ande- 
 V^/ lot had followed him. He watched anxiously 
 the attitude of the Imperialists, and made every 
 effort to strengthen the places on the frontier. As 
 soon as Francis of Guise had arrived in Italy, taking 
 with him the flower of the French army, Henry 
 judged that the moment had come to throw off the 
 mask, and he commanded Coligny to cross the 
 frontier without any declaration of war, and to seize 
 one of the enemy's strongholds. To violate in this 
 way a solemn treaty was an act of base perfidy, and 
 we know how repugnant it was to Coligny. Never- 
 theless his sense of duty as a subject and a soldier 
 prevailed. He resolved to surprise Douay. In this 
 city there lived an Italian, formerly a banker at 
 Lucca, a ruined and miserable man, who had built 
 himself a sort of hermitage at the gates of Douay. 
 Clothed in sackcloth like a hermit, he went from 
 door to door begging his bread, but in reality he 
 was ready to sell himself to any bidder. He knew 
 perfectly all the approaches to the city, and came to
 
 DECLARATION OF WAR. 85 
 
 the French camp to offer his services as a spy. 
 Guided by him, the French army approached Douay 
 in the night of Epiphany, January 6th, 1557, the 
 hour when the Feast of the Kings was being cele- 
 brated in every house. But an old woman, whose 
 window looked over the ramparts, saw the French 
 advancing through the dark, and shrieking out "To 
 arms, to arms ! " she gave the alarm to the garrison. 1 
 The Admiral retired and threw himself upon Lens in 
 Artois, which he captured and burned. The king's 
 will was done ; and it was upon the most honourable 
 of his captains that the shame fell of carrying out 
 this ill-advised and perfidious scheme. For a moment 
 the king repented and tried to draw back, but it was 
 too late. The Imperialists in their turn had crossed 
 the frontier at many points, and committed depreda- 
 tions in Picardy and Champagne. On the 3ist of 
 January, Henry II. declared war against Philip ; 
 several months passed, however, before any decisive 
 action took place. 
 
 Coligny lost no time, but troops were wanting. 
 The attention of the king was fixed upon Italy, and 
 thither he sent his best forces. No reinforcements 
 reached the Admiral. 
 
 Very different was the attitude of the enemy. 
 Philip II. kept up a constant correspondence with 
 his father. He even urged him, on the declaration of 
 war, to quit his retreat at Yuste, thinking that the 
 mere rumour of such an event would strike conster- 
 nation into the enemy. Charles V. would not leave 
 his solitude, but he displayed the utmost activity in 
 
 1 La Popeliniere, Hist., vol. i., book 4.
 
 86 COL1GNY. 
 
 his son's service, raising troops for him, and extort- 
 ing fresh imposts and large loans of money from 
 Spain. 1 Philip's general-in-chief was Philibert Em- 
 manuel, of Savoy, of whom we have already spoken. 
 Beside his Spanish infantry, the best in Europe, he 
 was enrolling Germans, and had at his disposal the 
 vast resources of the Low Countries, and the excel- 
 lent cavalry of the Netherlands, led by chiefs young 
 and eager to distinguish themselves, such as Horn, 
 Egmont, and William, Prince of Orange. Not con- 
 tent with this, Philip went over to England to 
 persuade his wife, Queen Mary, to join the alliance 
 against France. The English had no real reason 
 for taking part in this contest. But Mary was de- 
 voted body and soul to her husband, whose cold and 
 selfish heart never knew a throb of affection for her. 
 The fanaticism of Philip was akin to her own ; he 
 was the " preux chevalier" of her dreams. She 
 therefore obtained from parliament a declaration of 
 war against Henry II., June 7th, 1557, an d sent a 
 herald-at-arms to notify him of the fact. Henry 
 received him at Rheims, and told him that he only 
 treated him with courtesy because he was sent by a 
 lady. He complained bitterly of the perfidy of 
 England, as if he had any room to reproach others, 
 when he himself had just violated his treaty engage- 
 ments. Hostilities being thus declared, the queen 
 sent an army of 8,000 men from England. Among 
 them were the Earl of Pembroke, Lord Clinton, the 
 three sons of the Earl of Northumberland, and many 
 other scions of the English nobility. The Duke of 
 
 1 On this point see Mignet, Charles .Quint ; son abdica- 
 tion, etc., p. 269.
 
 ST. QUENTIN. 
 
 Savoy had thus under his command more than 
 50,000 infantry and 12,000 horse. 
 
 The French army numbered only 23,000 in all, 
 and of these one-third were German mercenaries. 
 It had very few gendarmes, for the king had sent all 
 the best of his forces into Italy to serve under Guise. 
 Pending the arrival of the Constable, the king had 
 placed at the head of the army the Duke de Nevers, 
 governor of Champagne, a good general, but not a 
 match for his powerful adversary. Nevers led his 
 army to Pierrepont, but there he learned that the 
 enemy had suddenly marched upon St. Quentin, and 
 was likely to take it. Should he succeed, the road 
 to Paris would lie open before him. Coligny saw 
 the danger, and at once undertook the perilous 
 mission of throwing himself into St. Quentin. He 
 knew that if he could detain the enemy some weeks 
 before its walls, France would have time to recall 
 her armies, and to save the capital ; but he was 
 equally sure that this result would only be obtained 
 if he thus threw himself into the breach. In fact, 
 St. Quentin had no garrison. Its citizens had 
 always refused to receive one, on the ground of their 
 municipal franchise. Its fortifications only consisted 
 of an old wall without bastions, which could be 
 commanded by the artillery of the besiegers, and 
 which in many places was crumbling to ruins. A 
 prolonged defence was impossible ; the place must 
 be taken. The Admiral knew this perfectly well, so 
 that his throwing himself into it was an act of noble 
 self-sacrifice. 
 
 On August 2nd, at daybreak, Coligny left Pierre- 
 pont with only a few companies. When he reached
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 Ham he commanded his captains to send back their 
 orderlies, since they were about to shut themselves 
 up in a place where provisions would have to be 
 eked out. 
 
 Taking with him therefore only 450 men, the 
 next night he entered the city, which covered so 
 large an area that, according to the testimony of one 
 of the enemy's officers, it would have required at 
 least 8,000 soldiers to form an efficient garrison. 1 
 The governor was a Captain de Breuil, a Breton, but 
 he had only been in office ten days, and had himself 
 but a small number of men. There was first what 
 was called the Dauphin's company, consisting of a 
 hundred soldiers, then forty gunners from among the 
 citizens, and as many archers. The town possessed 
 only fifteen cannon and twenty-one wall-pieces. 
 
 The Spaniards had invested it from August 2nd, 
 and had even made one unsuccessful attack upon 
 the Faubourg d'Isle, which was repulsed by the city 
 militia, into whom the mayor, Gibercourt, had suc- 
 ceeded in instilling some of the courage by which 
 he distinguished himself to the end. 
 
 St. Quentin is situated on the right bank of the 
 Somme, to the north-west of the river. There was 
 one bridge communicating with the Faubourg d'Isle 
 on the left bank, which was only protected by a low 
 wall. On the south-west the city was surrounded 
 by great marshes, which rendered any attack im- 
 possible ; the enemies had invested it on the north, 
 east, and south. On the east the -wall extended in 
 
 1 Ch. Gomart, Recit du Siege de St. Quentin, ar un 
 officier espagnol, p. 411.
 
 SIEGE OF ST. QUENTIN. 89 
 
 a straight line, forming a succession of curtains with- 
 out bastions, and flanked with simple round towers 
 projecting for two-thirds of their thickness. The 
 absence of bastions enabled the enemy to come right 
 up to the foot of the curtains. Saint Remy, an 
 engineer, who was with the Admiral, and who had 
 gone through several famous sieges, declared frankly 
 that " he had never been in so bad a place." 
 
 Such was the town into which Coligny threw him- 
 self, and where he was to sustain a siege famous in 
 history. We shall try and follow him through it by the 
 aid of his own journal. This journal is a sober, plain 
 narrative of about fifty pages, given in true military 
 style. It does not contain one word written merely 
 for effect ; not one self-complacent reflection. It 
 breathes throughout the spirit of a true patriot and 
 hero. 1 
 
 As soon as he entered the town, Coligny re- 
 paired to the Faubourg d'Isle, and decided to 
 defend it as long as was at all possible, so as to 
 preserve on the left bank a position from which he 
 
 1 Coligny's Discours sur le Siege de St. Quentin has often 
 been reproduced. In order to form a true idea of the whole 
 situation, Coligny's narrative ought to be supplemented by the 
 records of the siege taken from the town archives and repro- 
 duced by Gomart, Extraits originaux d'un Manuscrit de 
 Quentin de la Fons (St. Quentin, 1856), and Siege de St. Quentin 
 etbataille de St. Laurent (St. Quentin, 1859). The differences, 
 which are only slight, between these manuscripts and the 
 Admiral's narrative, refer chiefly to the part taken by the 
 inhabitants. Coligny, writing as a soldier, does not attach 
 much value to the services rendered by the city militia. The 
 Memoires quoted by M. Gomart, on the other hand, lay great 
 stress on the courage of the inhabitants. We would draw 
 attention to an extremely curious document published also by 
 M. Gomart, Recit du Siege de St. Quentin, par un officier 
 espagnol. A remarkable work of unknown authorship.
 
 9O COL1GNY. 
 
 could hold out a hand to the French army. The 
 boulevard which formed its boundary was com- 
 manded by houses situated just outside, and these 
 were already occupied by the Spaniards. On 
 August 3rd the besieged made a sortie to dis- 
 lodge them, but they only succeeded in setting fire 
 to some houses. 
 
 The same day the Admiral assembled the principal 
 inhabitants at the Hotel de Ville, and ordered them 
 to get together all the tools, hods, and baskets which 
 could be used in repairing the ramparts ; told them 
 to form all the inhabitants, men and women, into 
 companies ; and, last, to make an inventory of all 
 the arms and provisions to be found in the town. 
 He also took measures to secure the safety of the 
 flour mills, and to prevent any waste of the muni- 
 tions of war. 
 
 This done, he summoned the captains, and divided 
 the quarters of the town among them. " One thing 
 I implored of them all, namely, that every man who 
 knew or thought of anything that it might be well 
 to do, should tell me of it, and I promised always to 
 receive such suggestions in good part. And as there 
 might be men in the companies who had had much 
 experience in other sieges, I desired they should be 
 told that they would do me a pleasure in telling me 
 of anything they thought might be of service." l 
 
 He then ordered that all the trees near the ramparts 
 should be cut down. He mounted the clock tower 
 of the great church and studied the position of the 
 enemy's patrols, and the likeliest place for getting 
 
 1 Recit du Siege de St. Quentin, 1665, p. 192.
 
 SIEGE OF ST. QUENTIN. 91 
 
 supplies brought into the town. While he was doing 
 this, Jarnac, Teligny, and Luzarches made a sortie 
 from the side of Remicourt as a sort of diversion on 
 the east. On August 4th there was another sortie, 
 which the Admiral had to entrust to Teligny, for he 
 says, " I had so great a pain in the head that I was 
 forced to throw myself on a bed in M. de Jarnac's 
 house." 1 
 
 But the reconnaissance was not successful. Teligny, 
 seeing his men being put to the rout, rushed out to 
 join them, "all unarmed and badly mounted as he 
 was." He was at once surrounded by the enemy 
 and left for dead upon the spot. Hearing this, the 
 Admiral vowed that he would have him " dead or 
 alive." They went out to look for him, and brought 
 him in, but he died immediately. For some days after 
 this there were no great engagements. A Scotchman, 
 whose name we do not know, had invented some 
 fusees full of pounded sulphur and gunpowder, which 
 were to explode with tJie shock ; by this means they 
 were able to set fire to the houses which the Spaniards 
 had occupied ; and from which they were able to fire 
 upon the ramparts. The Admiral meanwhile had 
 been busily employed in making enquiries on the 
 subject of provisions. The inhabitants had declared 
 there were only provisions for three weeks in the 
 place ; Coligny found enough for three months. 2 
 
 1 Although Coligny looked strong, he often suffered from 
 severe indisposition and from attacks of fever, in which his 
 life was in danger. 
 
 2 This is what Coligny says ; but, as Gomart points out, this 
 calculation supposed that they would get rid of all useless 
 inhabitants, a cruel necessity to which Coligny was twice 
 reduced.
 
 9 2 COLIGNY. 
 
 He felt, however, the absolute necessity of rein- 
 forcements, and succeeded in sending a message to 
 this effect to the Constable. On August 6th the 
 Constable sent his brother Andelot to him with 
 4,000 men. Andelot approached by the Gate de 
 Pontoilles on the west, which the enemy had not yet 
 invested, having reserved that position for the 12,000 
 English sent by Queen Mary, who were expected 
 from day to day. But the Spaniards got wind of 
 the arrival of Andelot, and he had only time to beat 
 a retreat, and on August 8th to make in return a 
 valiant offensive attack, which enabled him to escape. 
 The same day the English arrived with a large train 
 of artillery, and the town was closely blockaded at 
 all points. 
 
 In the night of August Sth-pth the Spanish 
 batteries were placed in a commanding position 
 opposite the Faubourg d'Isle. The Admiral then 
 decided to evacuate it, which he did, after first 
 setting it on fire. At daybreak, just as the batteries 
 were about to open fire all along their line, a dense 
 cloud of smoke rose, hiding the retreat of the French, 
 who, crossing the Somme, fell back upon the town. 
 A serious accident happened, to add to the difficulties 
 of their retreat. A powder magazine, situated in a 
 tower which flanked the Porte d'Isle, exploded. 
 The explosion killed forty soldiers, and made a 
 breach by which twenty-five men could have entered 
 abreast. Happily the thick smoke from the burning 
 faubourg prevented the Spaniards perceiving it ; 
 and the French, whose energy seemed inexhaustible, 
 soon built up the breach. 
 
 The Admiral next called together all the inhabi-
 
 SIEGE OF ST. QUENT1N. 93 
 
 tants who knew anything of the art of war, and who 
 could be trusted to bear arms. He thus got together 
 " 220 men, fairly armed and equipped." Many of the 
 countrymen, who had taken refuge in the town, 
 refused to work on the ramparts. Coligny made a 
 proclamation that any who refused to work should 
 for the first offence be whipped through the streets, 
 and for the second should be hanged ; that all those 
 who preferred to leave the town might do so that 
 evening by the Porte de Ham, which would be 
 opened to them for that purpose. Seven or eight 
 hundred left accordingly. 
 
 " At this time," says the Admiral, " one of the 
 things on which I thought the most, as it was of 
 such pressing necessity, was by what means I could 
 get succour." After well examining the approaches 
 to the place, he observed a marsh, which he told his 
 men to sound, and over which he endeavoured to 
 make a passable way, and by this way he urged the 
 Constable to try and send him reinforcements. 
 
 The situation was, in truth, becoming very grave. 
 Coligny had scarcely any artillery. He had found 
 in the town only fifteen cannon and twenty wall- 
 arquebuses. It was impossible therefore to reach the 
 enemy at any distance. On the other hand, with 
 the small number of men at his command, it would 
 be folly for him to attempt to make sorties. He 
 was therefore reduced to defending the ramparts, but 
 the enemy's artillery kept up so hot a fire upon 
 them, that the workmen refused to repair them, and 
 had to be kept at their work by dint of blows.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Constable advances to succour Colighy. Battle of St. Quentin. 
 Rout of the French army. Fresh efforts of the besiegers. 
 Desperate resistance of Coligny. The town is surprised. 
 Coligny is made prisoner. Sack of St. Quentin. 
 
 ON the 1 8th of August, the Feast of St. Law- 
 rence, the Constable left La Fere to advance 
 upon St. Quentin. He had under his command 
 12,000 Germans, fairly good soldiers, and fifteen 
 companies of French infantry, in all 16,000 foot- 
 soldiers and 5,000 cavalry. His plan was to 
 approach St. Quentin from the south-east, by the 
 Faubourg d'Isle, and to cannonade this faubourg, 
 which had just been taken by the Spaniards. While 
 the enemy was thus engaged, he proposed to get 
 some flat boats which he had brought on wagons 
 from La Fere, set afloat on the water on the marshes 
 to the south of the town, below, the faubourg, and 
 by these he hoped to get 2,000 men within the walls 
 to reinforce the garrison. 
 
 Resolutely executed, this plan might have been 
 successful. But Montmorency was not the man to 
 carry out a rapid and effective coup de main. He 
 did not reach the Somme till nearly nine o'clock,
 
 SIEGE OF ST. QUENTIN. 95 
 
 and his army was encumbered with a crowd of 
 menials and wagons, who impeded the march. They 
 surprised the Spaniards, however, who under the fire 
 of the artillery fell back upon the Faubourg d'Isle. 
 Marshal St. Andre", who was entrusted with the 
 feigned attack on the left, did his part with such 
 effect that the balls reached the camp of the Duke 
 of Savoy, who fell back on the north of the town. 
 The time was come to launch the boats, but the 
 operation was a slow one. It was found very diffi- 
 cult to get them to float, and the Spaniards from 
 the faubourg kept up a sharp fire on all who 
 attempted to cross the marsh. Only 400 men 
 succeeded in reaching the town ; happily Andelot 
 was among them. 
 
 The Constable had made one fatal mistake. A 
 little way above St. Quentin there was a road which 
 crossed the Somme by a narrow bridge. This the 
 French ought to have occupied at all costs. The 
 Duke of Savoy saw their mistake, and leading his 
 army to the east of the town, he took possession of 
 this road, by which his troops quickly gained the left 
 bank and advanced upon the Constable's right, 
 setting fire to the stubble fields as they went along, 
 so that the smoke might cover their movements. 
 It was not till two in the afternoon that the Duke 
 de Nevers, whom the Constable had sent out to 
 reconnoitre, became aware that their army was thus 
 being turned. He at once saw that they would be 
 forced to give battle to an army twice as large as 
 their own, and containing some of the best soldiers 
 in Europe. The young Count Rochefoucauld, who 
 was in the advanced guard on the right, seeing their
 
 9" COLIGNY. 
 
 danger, 1 sent messenger after messenger to the old 
 Constable. But he was obstinate, insisting that 
 there was nothing to fear, and that he would give 
 the Spaniards a taste of his metal. Conde attempted 
 to make head against the enemy. He begged Nevers, 
 who was commanding the cavalry, to charge with 
 him, before the Spaniards had crossed in too great 
 numbers. It was too late. The Flemish and 
 Netherlandish cavalry, led by the impetuous Count 
 Egmont, came down the road like a torrent, carrying 
 all before it Conde and Nevers were quickly out- 
 flanked, and separated from the centre. Enghien, 
 Conde's eldest brother, exclaimed that he would not 
 be wounded fleeing from the enemy ; he turned and 
 sought a glorious death in the midst of the foe. 
 The Constable, when it was too late, tried to beat a 
 retreat, but he lacked the genius of command, and 
 his undoubted valour could not make up for this 
 deficiency. Thus he had never thought of occupy- 
 ing the Mill of Tout Vent on his right, where fifty 
 arquebusiers could have detained the enemy a long 
 time. His French infantry kept a steady front 
 throughout. They advanced in good order along 
 
 1 The Duke d'Aumale, in his Histoire des princes de 
 Conde, attributes to Coligny these wise warnings sent to the 
 Constable. But we find from the Memoires of Mergey, who 
 was an eye-witness of all that occurred, that it was La Roche- 
 foucauld who warned the Constable of his danger, entreating 
 him in vain to stop the enemy at the bridge, and meanwhile 
 to send his infantry into the woods, where the enemy's cavalry 
 would not be able to follow them. " I was with La Roche- 
 foucauld all the time," says Mergey, "and heard all that 
 passed between him and the Constable, who either forgot or 
 failed to send his arquebusiers to stop the enemy's cavalry, 
 and thus caused us to be put to the rout."
 
 DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH ARMY. 97 
 
 the road to Grand-Essigny to reach the woods of 
 Jussy, where the cavalry would not be able to attack 
 them. As they retired they presented a forest of 
 spears, against which the Flemish cavalry and the 
 German gunners dashed in vain. Philibert Emmanuel 
 saw that he could only break their lines with his 
 artillery. He therefore brought up his cannon, which 
 opened great breaches in the compact mass, and 
 through these the enemy rushed in like a torrent. 
 The German auxiliaries turned their horses' heads ; 
 some companies of English light-horse in the service 
 of France went over to the enemy. In vain the 
 infantry tried to re-form. The greater part of it was 
 mown down where it stood. 
 
 In a few minutes the victory of the allies was 
 complete. Half the French army was destroyed ; 
 the other half taken prisoners or in flight. The 
 Duke de Nevers alone succeeded in cutting his way 
 through at the sword point, and when he reached 
 Laon he had only 6,000 soldiers left. Among the 
 prisoners were the Constable, the Dukes de Mont- 
 pensier and de Longueville, Marshal St. Andre, and 
 many great French nobles. Philip's army, it was 
 said, did not lose more than fifty men. When the 
 king arrived in the camp the next day, all the 
 French standards were placed in his hands. 
 
 It was the most brilliant victory which Spain had 
 won since Pavia. 
 
 Philip II. showed himself for the first time on a 
 battle-field. He was never seen there again. It 
 was not that he had a horror of blood. Few 
 men shed more blood than he. But his cowardly 
 nature recoiled from the dangers of war. He 
 
 7
 
 98 COLIGNY. 
 
 ascribed to St. Lawrence the honour of this vic- 
 tory, and in memory of the day he afterwards built 
 the vast and dreary palace of the Escurial in the 
 form of a gridiron, to suggest the mode of the 
 martyr's death. 
 
 It was thought that the Spaniards would march 
 upon Paris. This was the advice of their best 
 generals. The capital was wholly undefended, and 
 panic reigned. Charles V. was so confident that 
 they would take this course that he could not conceal 
 his anger when he heard that his son was remaining 
 before St. Quentin. Philip was not willing to run 
 any risks. Moreover, the Duke de Nevers, who had 
 assembled the relics of his army, put on a bold face, 
 sent to treat for an exchange of prisoners, and 
 seemed to suggest by his attitude that France was 
 still in a condition to fight. 
 
 Coligny did not learn at once the whole extent of 
 the defeat sustained by the Constable. He had seen 
 him retreat after the four hundred men had entered 
 the city by means of the boats. " Still," he said, 
 " although all the forces that were to have come 
 into the town had not arrived, being prevented by 
 the enemy, it may be imagined what pleasure I felt 
 in seeing those who had entered, and most chiefly 
 my brother Andelot, who came to me like a second 
 self on whom I knew I could rely." 
 
 The next day the Spaniards let the besieged know 
 of their victory, and hoisted, in view of the ramparts, 
 the banners taken from the French. The inhabitants 
 were struck with consternation, and most of the 
 garrison were utterly disheartened. The workmen 
 hid themselves in cellars and garrets to escape being
 
 PROLONGATION OF THE SIEGE OF ST. QUENTIN. 99 
 
 sent again to the ramparts. 1 The leaders had to 
 redouble their energy. Happily Andelot was there. 
 " I can truly say," writes the Admiral, " that but for 
 him I should have sunk under the burden, for I 
 could not satisfy alone all the demands made upon 
 me ; but from the time he entered the town he took 
 the heaviest share." 
 
 This is no exaggerated praise. From the moment 
 of Andelot's arrival he showed what spirit he was 
 of. Having swum across the stream, he scarcely 
 took time to dry his clothes before he was out 
 inspecting the ramparts. 
 
 We have said that the wall was most endangered 
 on the east. Since the Spaniards had occupied the 
 Faubourg d'Isle, they had set up batteries which, 
 reaching across the Somme, took this wall obliquely, 
 and swept it so completely that no cannon could be 
 mounted there. Andelot immediately had boats 
 placed on the top of the ramparts, and these he 
 filled with earth, so that they formed a parapet, 
 behind which the French artillerymen and gunners 
 could find shelter. 
 
 Every day gained was one more chance of salva- 
 tion for France. This Coligny thoroughly realised, 
 therefore he went on multiplying the means of 
 resistance, though he was under no illusion as to 
 
 1 This failure of the inhabitants to do their part is not 
 admitted in the MS. of the town. According to these, it was 
 the situation of the ramparts which were raked by the enemy's 
 fire, which prevented the besieged from remaining on them. 
 M. Gomart shares this view. It is difficult to believe, however, 
 that Coligny would have charged the inhabitants unjustly. 
 He does not hesitate to admit, moreover, that it was not their 
 fault, but the fault of the regular soldiers of the Dauphin's 
 company, that the breach was finally abandoned to the enemy.
 
 IOO COLIGNY. 
 
 what the final issue must be. St. Re"my, a very 
 skilful engineer, constructed counter mines to meet 
 the covered ways by which the Spaniards approached 
 to the very foot of the curtains. The great thing 
 lacking for the defence was arquebusiers. Nevers, 
 who had been told of this by the Admiral, promised 
 to send in three hundred. These stole by night up 
 to the marshes on the Somme, and tried to cross in 
 flat boats ; but the alarm was given, and only one 
 hundred and twenty effected an entrance. This was 
 on the 22nd of August. The evening before, the 
 Spaniards, who at length had command of fifty siege 
 pieces brought from Cambray, had opened a terrible 
 and ceaseless fire upon the east wall. On the north 
 and west the Flemish batteries and the English 
 cannon were in play. The masonry of the walls 
 was so bad that it could not stand the balls, and. 
 gave way in all directions. 
 
 On August 24th the besieged were obliged, from 
 scarcity of food, to send out of the town six hundred 
 useless mouths. It was a cruel necessity, for the 
 unhappy fugitives had to fear all kinds of violence on 
 the part of the besiegers, who were rendered furious 
 by the unexpected resistance. 
 
 The consternation of the inhabitants redoubled. 
 Coligny went about at night, mixing with the people 
 and receiving any suggestions. 
 
 Seeing the general despondency, he assembled all 
 his captains, and told them that " he was fully deter- 
 mined to hold the place, and that if any should 
 hear him say one word that seemed like giving in, 
 he implored them to throw him as a poltroon from 
 the top of the walls into the foss ; and if any made
 
 HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. QUENTIN. IOI 
 
 any such proposal to him, he should treat them in 
 like manner." 
 
 On the 24th of August, Philip ordered the English 
 archers to shoot eight arrows into the town. Around 
 each arrow was a piece of paper, by which his Majesty 
 promised the inhabitants, if they would surrender, 
 that he would spare their lives and allow them to 
 go wherever they liked, without being despoiled of 
 their possessions. He warned them that the Admiral 
 was deceiving them by false promises, and that if, 
 as was certain, the town was taken by assault, they 
 would all be put to the sword. These arrows were 
 given to the Admiral, who, having read the papers, 
 replied by the same means. The papers which he 
 sent into the Spanish camp contained only these 
 words, "Regem habemus ! " This reply was sublime 
 in its heroic simplicity. It truly expressed his loyalty 
 to his country, which he identified with loyalty to 
 his king. He himself never mentions this incident 
 of the siege. It has been handed down to us by a 
 Spanish officer. 
 
 On the 2/th of August the situation had become 
 very serious. The enemy's artillery had made 
 eleven breaches in the walls, but Coligny remained 
 immovable. " You see," he said to his men, " how 
 the enemy are strengthening their batteries, and it 
 is likely they may make a great onslaught to-day. 
 I pray you, let every man prepare himself to give 
 them a good reception this first time, and then God 
 shall show us what we are to do next." 
 
 But his admonitions were vain. Coligny could 
 
 1 Ch. Gomart, Recit du si&ge de St. Quentin, ar un 
 officier espagnol, p. 394.
 
 102 COLIGNY. 
 
 not infuse into the souls of all the defenders of St. 
 Quentin his own heroic spirit. The fatal instant 
 was at hand. 
 
 That very day, as had been foreseen, a general 
 assault was made. The Admiral had divided the 
 eight hundred men at his command in such a way 
 that they could defend the eleven breaches already 
 made by the enemy's artillery. 
 
 At two in the afternoon, when the fire of their 
 batteries had swept the ramparts as far as possible, 
 the Spaniards advanced. Coligny was fighting 
 valiantly in his breach, when, turning round, he saw 
 the soldiers of the Dauphin's company fleeing into 
 the town, and the enemy already almost up to the 
 tower which had been in so cowardly a way aban- 
 doned to them. Panic had seized these young and 
 undisciplined troops. Furious at such cowardice, 
 Coligny threw himself into the midst of the fugitives, 
 and tried to lead them back to the ramparts. But 
 it was too late. In an instant he saw himself sur- 
 rounded by the enemy, and deserted by his followers, 
 with the exception of a young page named d'Aven- 
 tigny, and two of his servants. A Spaniard, named 
 Francisque Diaz, attacked him, and exchanged a 
 few sword thrusts with him. But one of the servants 
 having told him it was the Admiral, he changed his 
 attitude, struck aside the weapon of an arquebusier, 
 who was about to fire upon Coligny, and summoned 
 him to surrender himself as his prisoner. He then 
 brought him to the Spanish camp, passing out through 
 the very breach which the Admiral had defended, and 
 by which, as he proudly said, no foe had entered. 
 
 As he left the town, Coligny could see in the
 
 TAKING OF ST. QUENTIN COLIGNY PRISONER. IO3 
 
 distance Andelot's company still fighting. It was 
 the last struggle to hold this bulwark of France. 
 St. Quentin was in the hands of the enemy ! 
 
 Francisque Diaz brought the Admiral to the Duke 
 of Savoy, who, after surveying him from head to 
 foot, committed him to the charge of Cazeres, one 
 of his staff officers. 
 
 The next day the Duke invited Coligny to dine 
 with the Count de la Rochefoucauld, but it was only 
 to insult him. The character of Philibert Emmanuel 
 was not worthy of his genius as a soldier. His 
 hatred to France was intense, and his avarice pro- 
 verbial. When despoiled of his duchy he had taken 
 as his motto, Spoliatis arma supersunt, and he made 
 the profession of arms a means of enriching himself. 
 Following the practice of many generals of his time, 
 he made a traffic of his prisoners, demanding enor- 
 mous sums for their release. All his campaigns 
 were pecuniary speculations, and it is said that by 
 his victory over St. Quentin he made more than five 
 hundred thousand crowns. 1 A general of a nobler 
 spirit than he might well have felt indignant with 
 the French for the manner in which they had broken 
 the peace, and might have thrown the responsibility 
 on Coligny. But Philibert Emmanuel avowed the 
 most open scepticism in relation to these engage- 
 ments, which, according to him, were only held 
 binding by the weak. 2 He ought then, at least, to 
 have done justice as a soldier to the valour Coligny 
 
 1 This is said by a historian who is favourable to him, 
 Guichenon, Histoire de Savoie (vol. ii., p. 245). 
 
 See Motley's Foundation of the Dutch Republic for the 
 character of the Duke of Savoy.
 
 104 COLIGNY. 
 
 had just displayed. But he chose to humiliate him, 
 making him sit at the bottom of the table, and " not 
 addressing to him a single word, nor, indeed, appear- 
 ing even to see him." l 
 
 Andelot determined not to be again taken by 
 the Spaniards, remembering his harsh captivity in 
 Italy. He therefore risked crossing the marshes, 
 and, though he had to wade breast-deep, he reached 
 the French camp in safety. 
 
 The Admiral's first anxiety was naturally to clear 
 himself in the king's eyes in regard to his defeat. 
 He knew that he was no longer in favour with 
 Henry II., and that his enemies would not fail to 
 try and damage him in the king's estimation on 
 account of his ill-success. " I deeply regret," he 
 wrote to the king on August 28th, "not to have 
 been able to carry out my good will and large obli- 
 gation to do you service, but my comfort is that 
 your majesty is so reasonable, that you will be satis- 
 fied when you learn that to the last I did all that 
 became a gentleman and a man of honour." He 
 related how the town had been surprised through 
 the desertion by the Dauphin's company of the post 
 they should have defended. " It is reasonable," he 
 added, "that those who had the charge of that breach 
 should be heard and should state their reasons. For 
 myself, from what I saw and know, I am of opinion 
 that if they had been as resolute to defend it as 
 were those who kept the other breaches, I should be 
 still in St. Quentin to do your majesty service. 
 My heart is very sore to think that we were stormed 
 
 1 Memoir es de Jean de Mergey.
 
 COLIGNY IN CAPTIVITY. IO5 
 
 at one of the strongest points, and almost without 
 resistance, while at the other breaches the enemy 
 was partly repulsed, so that our men there were taken 
 in the rear." 
 
 These are the natural regrets of a brave soldier, 
 but even supposing that this attack of the 27th of 
 August had been repulsed, it is certain that the 
 place could not have held out long under the cease- 
 less fire of the enemy's artillery, and with no hope of 
 receiving further succour from France, Coligny had 
 done all that it was possible to do. 
 
 M. Delaborde says : " With a mere handful of 
 men Coligny detained the great army of Spain for 
 seventeen 1 days before the walls of a dismantled 
 town, and thus saved Paris, and gave the French 
 army time to rally from its discomfiture and re- 
 organise itself. Only a man of his indomitable 
 energy could have accomplished such a prodigy, 
 and history has but done justice to the Admiral in 
 recording that by his heroic resistance at St. Quentin 
 he saved France. But Henry II. was incapable of 
 appreciating such faithful service, and he vouchsafed 
 no reply to Coligny's letter." 
 
 The nameless Spanish officer who has left so 
 interesting a record of the siege of St. Quentin, 
 mentions one touching incident of this time of 
 captivity : " One of the Spanish soldiers placed near 
 the Admiral said to him one day, ' Why is your 
 grace so silent ? ' (he never spoke). ' The affairs of 
 France are going well, and we have yet to take the 
 king.' The Admiral replied : ' Before thirty days 
 
 1 It was really twenty-five days, from August 2nd 27th.
 
 IO6 COLIGNY. 
 
 the king will come hither with a powerful army, and 
 thou shalt see what will happen.' ' ' Within thirty 
 days,' replied the soldier, ' we shall have taken La 
 Fere, Guise, Le Catelet, and Peronne.' ' Thou sayest 
 not, "And God please," even in this time of misfor- 
 tune,' said the Admiral bitterly." l 
 
 St. Quentin was given up to pillage and carnage 
 for two whole days. All the inhabitants who could 
 not pay a ransom were put to death. As the town 
 was rich, the booty was large, and many soldiers 
 boasted of having had as much as 1 2,000 ducats for 
 their share. Philip II. gave orders that the lives of 
 the women should be spared, and the cathedral was 
 thrown open to them as a place of refuge. But 
 before bringing them thither, the soldiers took away 
 all their clothing that was of any value, and struck 
 them with their swords, wounding and bruising them 
 to make them confess where they had hidden their 
 money and jewellery. Some women took refuge in 
 the camp, where they claimed the protection of the 
 Bishop of Arras, who accompanied the king. On 
 the evening of the 28th the town was set on fire 
 from end to end. Then Philip, who had left the 
 wretched inhabitants exposed to all manner of out- 
 rage, piously busied himself in saving the body of 
 St. Quentin and other relics contained in the churches. 
 
 On August 2pth the king proclaimed that before he 
 made his solemn entry into the town it must be com- 
 pletely evacuated. The 3,500 women who remained 
 were led away to a distance on French territory. It 
 was pitiful to see the long and mournful procession ; 
 
 1 Recit du siege de St. Quentin, ar un officier esfiagnol, 
 Gomart, p. 410.
 
 BURNING OF ST. QUENTIN. 
 
 many of the women had horrible wounds ; some, 
 more than eighty years of age, had their white hair 
 saturated with blood ; others were carrying their 
 little children, and uttering cries of anguish as they 
 pass'ed in the streets the dead bodies of fathers, 
 husbands, and sons. 
 
 On the 3Oth of August the king made his entry 
 into the ill-fated town, which a month before pre- 
 sented the spectacle of a busy and prosperous place. 
 Corpses were heaped among the smouldering ruins, 
 filling the air with pestilential odours. " I walked 
 through the place looking around me," says the 
 Spanish officer whom we have already quoted, " and 
 it seemed like a second destruction of Jerusalem. 
 What was strangest of all was that not a single 
 citizen was to be found, not one person who was or 
 dared to own that he was French. ' How vain and 
 transitory are the things of this world ! ' I said to 
 myself ; ' six days ago what wealth was in this 
 town, and now not one stone is left upon another.' " l 
 
 1 Quentin de la Fons, in his Histoire fiarticuliere de la 
 ville de St. Quentin, says that the ramparts long remained 
 overthrown, so that in winter the wolves sometimes came into 
 the city, and at the time when he writes that is, ninety years 
 after the siege St. Quentin had not recovered its former 
 prosperity.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Captivity of Coligny. Campaign of Guise in Italy. Illusory promises 
 of Carafa. Disastrous end to the French expedition. Guise is 
 recalled. He surprises Calais. Peace with the English. 
 Marriage of the Dauphin Francis with Mary Stuart. 
 
 TDHILIP II. seemed at last to have decided to 
 -A- march upon Paris. But he was not a man 
 of rapid action, and the habit of temporising, which 
 characterised all his policy, lost him, on this occasion, 
 the result of his immense success. He knew that 
 France was arming in all directions ; that Paris, 
 recovered from her stupor, was organising a de- 
 termined resistance, thanks, it must be owned, to the 
 initiative given by Catherine de Medicis. This is 
 the fairest page in her life. The king was at Com- 
 piegne ; she was left alone in Paris. Panic had 
 seized all minds. 
 
 Of her own instance Catherine repaired to the 
 Parliament, and there making an urgent appeal to 
 the patriotism of its members, she spoke, says the 
 Venetian ambassador, with so much feeling and 
 eloquence, that a subsidy was voted by acclamation, 
 and the leading men of the city offered three hundred 
 thousand livres. She thanked them in words so full 
 of feeling that all present were moved to tears. 1 
 
 1 Hector de la Ferriere, Lettres de Catherine de Medicis, 
 Introduction, p. 52.
 
 PHILIP ABANDONS THE INVASION OF FRANCE. 
 
 Philip II. knew that the Duke of Guise, who had 
 been recalled from Italy, was about to land at 
 Marseilles. Philip's own army was composed in 
 great parts of mercenaries, who, gorged with booty, 
 were threatening to desert. The English and the 
 Spaniards hated each other. Philip heard from 
 Queen Mary that Scotland was attacking England, 
 and that she must recall her troops. His vast army 
 seemed melting from his grasp. He contented 
 himself with occupying some towns in Picardy, and 
 did not go further. Early in October he returned 
 to Brussels, and from there gave the order to dis- 
 band the troops. This abandonment of an invasion 
 which had loomed so threateningly over France 
 shows how much there was that was factitious in 
 the seemingly imposing array of Philip II.'s forces. 
 
 But all this time what had become of Coligny ? 
 
 On the 3 ist of August, 1557, two companies of 
 arquebusiers conducted the Admiral to Lille, and 
 thence to Sluys, a little military port near the mouth 
 of the Scheldt, on the borders of Zeeland, where 
 there was a gloomy castle, in which he was con- 
 fined. 1 The Duke of Savoy had consented to his 
 retaining about him those of his domestics whom 
 he absolutely needed, on condition that they should 
 hold no communication with the outer world. All 
 letters received or sent by Coligny were to be sub- 
 mitted to Philibert Emmanuel. The Admiral was 
 to be made to undergo the irritating surveillance 
 which Philip II. loved to exercise over his state 
 
 1 The Constable, who had been wounded and made prisoner 
 in the battle of August roth, had been taken to the Castle of 
 Ghent.
 
 1 10 COLIGNY. 
 
 prisoners, and of which we find traces in every line 
 of his voluminous correspondence. He was more 
 adapted truly to the profession of a detective than 
 of a monarch. 1 
 
 Hardly had he reached his place of imprisonment 
 when the Admiral, who was always subject to attacks 
 of fever, fell dangerously ill. The strain upon mind 
 and body which he had endured was enough to 
 undermine a more robust constitution. For forty 
 days his life hung in the balance. 
 
 As soon as he recovered his strength, he set 
 himself to the task of writing his Memoir of the 
 Siege of St. Quentin, from which we have so 
 largely quoted. He wrote it in self-vindication. 
 He knew that the king had condemned him without 
 a hearing, and he learnt, by the news which reached 
 him from France, that the fortunes of the Guises, 
 who had become his avowed enemies, had rapidly 
 advanced during the disasters which had befallen 
 the kingdom. We must here give a brief outline 
 of the part which Francis of Lorraine was now 
 called to play. 
 
 We have mentioned that he went to Italy at the 
 close of the year 1556. We need to know some- 
 thing of the state of that country at the time, in 
 order to judge how much truth there was in the 
 brilliant promises with which Carafa had dazzled 
 him. 
 
 Naples and Milan belonged to Spain. The Duke 
 of Alva was occupying Naples with an army, small, 
 
 1 In proof of this, note the refinement of cruelty with which 
 Philip afterwards treated the illustrious Lanoue, in his five 
 years' captivity.
 
 GUISE'S CAMPAIGN IN ITALY. HI 
 
 no doubt, but comprising several corps of the for- 
 midable Spanish troops, which were then deemed 
 invincible. The Duke of Parma, Ottavio Farnese, 
 was a feudatory of Spain ; so was the Duke of 
 Genoa. Venice, in spite of all Carafa's efforts, stood 
 firm in a prudent neutrality. Florence sought only 
 her own interests, and Philip II. held sway there 
 through his ambassador. In view of all these hostile 
 or neutral states, what had Carafa to offer to France? 
 The alliance of the pope, that of Hercules of Este, 
 Duke of Ferrara, the husband of Rene*e of France, 
 and father-in-law to Guise. Beyond this he had 
 promises of risings in Sienna and Naples, but this 
 was all. The pontifical army counted for nothing. 
 It had been beaten every time it had met the 
 Spaniards in open fight ; and if the Duke of Alva 
 had not yet entered Rome, it was solely from 
 religious scruples. Many of the Roman nobles, 
 moreover, and among them one of the first rank, 
 Marco Antonio Colonna, were serving under the 
 banner of Spain. The papal treasury was empty, 
 and Carafa had been obliged to raise a loan in 
 France at the exorbitant rate of twenty-two per 
 cent, interest. This was the true position of things. 
 The Cardinal of Lorraine, if he had not been 
 blinded by his ambition, might have seen it, for 
 he had come to Italy to try to move the Senate 
 of Venice, and had met only with a courteous 
 refusal. Francis of Lorraine, who had so lightly 
 lent himself to the comedy which Carafa had just 
 been playing in France, might have suspected that 
 the crafty Italian might one day practise the same 
 arts upon himself. In truth, on the very eve of
 
 H2 COLIGNY. 
 
 Lorraine's arrival in Italy, the cardinal was privately 
 intriguing with the Duke of Alva, and offering him 
 peace on condition of the cession of Sienna to the 
 Carafas. 1 So much was this ally worth, who talked 
 of delivering Italy from the Spanish yoke ! 
 
 Guise knew nothing of all this, and perhaps ex- 
 pected an easy campaign. He brought with him 
 12,000 foot-soldiers and a brilliant company of 
 cavalry. As Savoy belonged to France, he easily 
 crossed the Alps. It would have been well for 
 France if he had come into collision there with the 
 Duke of Savoy, Philibert Emmanuel, who at that 
 very time was preparing on her northern frontiers 
 the crushing victory of St. Quentin. 
 
 At Reggio Lorraine met his father-in-law, the Duke 
 of Ferrara. Brissac, governor of Piedmont, advised 
 him to take Milan. He would then have a compact 
 basis of operations in Piedmont, Milan, and Ferrara. 
 But this plan did not suit Carafa, who wanted his 
 principality ; nor Lorraine, who coveted Naples. They 
 went further south. From this time the disillusion 
 began. Hercules of Este kept back his army, not 
 wishing, naturally, to leave his frontiers unguarded. 
 
 Paul IV. had scarcely any soldiers to give to 
 Guise, but he solemnly excommunicated Charles V. 
 and Philip II., and on Good Friday, when the 
 Church prays for infidels, Jews, and heretics, he 
 refused to pray for the Emperor. Lorraine would 
 rather have been supported by the carnal weapons 
 that had been promised him. 
 
 In order to effect an entrance into Naples, Guise 
 
 1 This fact is distinctly stated by Pietro Norres. See G. 
 Uuruy (p. 202).
 
 SIEGE OF CIVITELLA. 113 
 
 attacked the little town of Civitella on April 24th. 
 The place was bravely defended. The besieged hac* 
 only two cannon to oppose to the French artillery, 
 but they were bravely served, and every assault was 
 repulsed. Weeks passed, and Guise was still de- 
 tained before this citadel, which set him at defiance. 
 In vain he looked for the promised rising of the 
 population in his favour. One day, seeing the 
 pitiful state of the troops brought to him by Monte- 
 bello, Carafa's brother, he accused him to his face of 
 pocketing the pay of the soldiers, and of not having 
 his full complement of effective troops. He even 
 went further, and hinted that Carafa might be play- 
 ing him false. In order to calm him, Carafa was 
 obliged to send his two sons as hostages to Paris. 
 On May I5th, Guise was compelled to raise the 
 siege of Civitella, which had detained him twenty- 
 two days. He gave up the attempt to enter the 
 kingdom of Naples, and assumed a defensive position, 
 feeling that with so small a number of troops he 
 could not venture to take the field. The Duke of 
 Alva, who was naturally of a prudent disposition, 
 observed him closely. While the two armies thus 
 remained confronted, Paul IV. brought over 3,000 
 Swiss, and sent them to Paliano, the patrimony of 
 one of his nephews, in order to protect it at any 
 rate against the Spaniards. With a view to encou- 
 rage these Swiss to fight, he gave them the name 
 of angels sent from heaven ; but on the 2 7th of 
 July the so-called angels were cut to pieces to the 
 last man by the terrible Colonna. Paul IV., in great 
 alarm, summoned Guise to fall back upon Rome. 
 Guise obeyed, but unwillingly. He seemed to have
 
 1 14 COL1GNY. 
 
 become indifferent about this campaign, and had just 
 sent off several detachments to Ferrara to protect 
 his father-in-law. The Spaniards took possession of 
 the town of Segni before his very eyes. 1 
 
 On the 23rd August the terrible news of the 
 disaster at St. Quentin reached Rome. It produced 
 indescribable consternation. Paul IV. was about to 
 find himself left alone, face to face with a victorious 
 enemy. But Cardinal Carafa, who knew that the 
 Duke of Alva would never be induced to undertake 
 another sack of Rome, such as had brought such 
 execration upon the Bourbon name, at once entered 
 into secret negotiations with him. France being 
 defeated, he had nothing more to expect from that 
 quarter, and without hesitation he was about to sell 
 himself to Spain. On September I4th he signed a 
 convention, which satisfied the Duke of Alva, but in 
 order to spare Paul IV.'s pride he concealed from 
 him some of the stipulations to which he had been 
 obliged to submit. 2 
 
 Henry II. immediately wrote to Guise to return 
 to France. He told him the whole extent of the 
 disaster of St. Quentin, adding : " Keep a good 
 heart, and fear nothing." 3 The Valois were always 
 ready with brave words after disasters brought about 
 by their own blundering. We may well suppose 
 that Guise was only too glad of such a way of escape 
 
 1 Segni was taken on August I5th. It will give an idea of 
 the atrocities of these wars when we say that the entire popu- 
 lation was exterminated with every refinement of cruelty. 
 
 2 It was this deception which, coming subsequently to the 
 knowledge of the old pontiff, opened his eyes, and led him to 
 abandon and denounce his nephew. 
 
 8 Ribier, vol. ii., p. 700.
 
 FLIGHT OF THE FRENCH ARMY FROM ITAL Y. 1 15 
 
 from his false position. His last interview with 
 Paul IV. is historical. " Begone, then," said the old 
 pontiff, " you have done little enough for the service 
 of your king, still less for the Church, and nothing 
 at all to your own honour." 1 
 
 The remains of the brilliant army which Carafa 
 had summoned into Italy six months before, were 
 seen trailing back along its northern frontier. The 
 soldiers were in such pitiful plight that the Duke of 
 Guise offered to pledge the whole of his possessions 
 to the Duke of Ferrara for a loan of 1 00,000 crowns, 
 " the soldiers being forced to go about in their shirts 
 and barefoot, begging their bread from town to 
 town." 2 
 
 Such was the miserable end of the enterprise into 
 which Paul IV., counselled by an intriguing cardinal, 
 had plunged France the country was invaded, one 
 army destroyed at St. Quentin, and another fleeing 
 out of Italy. 
 
 But France knew nothing of what was passing 
 beyond the Alps. Altogether stupefied by the 
 disaster of St. Quentin, it was clamouring for an 
 army and a leader, and when it learned that Francis 
 of Lorraine had landed at Marseilles, it welcomed 
 him with acclamation. Was he not the saviour of 
 Metz ? Was he not the one man who could repair 
 the disaster which had befallen the unhappy defender 
 of St. Quentin ? 
 
 With the levity natural to Frenchmen, they made 
 
 1 Fra Paolo Sarpi, History of the Council of Trent, book v., 
 
 P- 4 I 5- 
 
 * Letter from Guise to the Duke of Ferrara, Rome, Septem- 
 ber 4th, 1557, Ribier, vol. ii. , p. 703.
 
 Il6 COLIGNY. 
 
 a superficial comparison of the two sieges, without 
 taking at all into account the difference of the cir- 
 cumstances. At Metz, Guise occupied one of the 
 strongest places in the kingdom, with excellent 
 troops. He had no doubt a formidable foe to con- 
 tend with, but the besieging forces were decimated 
 by such a terrible winter, that one of those who were 
 in the city at the time said with truth : " I was at 
 the siege of Metz, and I shall always testify that 
 M. de Guise did right good service there, but it must 
 be confessed the severity of the winter did the best 
 service of all to France." 1 At St. Quentin, Coligny, 
 with a handful of men, defended a dismantled town 
 against 60,000 assailants, with everything in their 
 favour. In the first of the two sieges the relieving 
 army, by its able diversions, made Charles V. so ill 
 at ease that he abandoned his enterprise. In the 
 second siege the relieving army was crushed as soon 
 as it came in sight. What matter ? Francis of 
 Guise was hailed as the great conqueror of the 
 Spaniards, and much as Henry secretly dreaded the 
 house of Lorraine, he was obliged, by the pressure of 
 public opinion, to make Francis his lieutenant- 
 general, with almost unlimited powers, and to entrust 
 the finances and administration to his brother the 
 cardinal (October 5th). 
 
 Francis of Lorraine had energy enough to acquit 
 himself worthily of his new trust. On arriving at 
 Compiegne, followed by the soldiers he had brought 
 back from Italy, he found there a regular army, 
 which the Duke de Nevers had re-formed from the 
 
 1 Le Vidame de Chartres in La Place. Comment, quoted 
 by M. Delaborde.
 
 SIEGE OF CALAIS. 1 17 
 
 relics of the army of St. Quentin. He occupied the 
 attention of the enemy by manoeuvres along the 
 Meuse ; then suddenly, at the end of December, he 
 led his troops by forced marches into Flanders, and 
 presented himself before Calais. 
 
 The idea of attacking Calais had not originated 
 with him. It was a plan which Coligny had care- 
 fully prepared, and about which he had given direc- 
 tions to his lieutenant Senarpont. More than two 
 years before, the Admiral had spoken to the king 
 about it, and had even confided to him that he had 
 so studied the approaches to the place that he would 
 be able to take it by surprise. Henry II. remem- 
 bered this interview. Hence Brantome is right 
 when he says that Coligny was " the originator of 
 this enterprise." The king despatched Feuquieres 
 to Chatillon-sur-Loing with an order to demand of 
 the Countess de Chatillon the Admiral's papers 
 relating to this subject. They were found. The 
 Admiral advised the attack to be made in winter, 
 because at that season the English, trusting to the 
 waters, which ebb and flow more strongly than in 
 summer, did not send over any large number of men, 
 and the garrison was very weak. These calculations 
 were perfectly correct. Queen Mary never dreamed 
 that Calais could be threatened just after the crush- 
 ing defeat of St. Quentin. For two hundred and 
 ten years it had belonged to England, and it was 
 supposed to be so strong that one of its gates bore 
 this inscription : 
 
 " When iron and lead float like cork on the sea, 
 Then may Calais perchance besieged be." ' 
 
 M. de Bouille, Hist, des dues de Guz'se, vol. i., p. 723.
 
 Il8 CO L1G NY. 
 
 Guise pushed the attack with great vigour. He was 
 well provided with artillery, and had entrusted his 
 left wing to Andelot. On the 3rd January, 1558, 
 the French attacked simultaneously the two forts of 
 Nieullai and Risbank, which guarded the town. 
 The well-directed fire of the besiegers speedily dis- 
 mantled them, and the French took possession of the 
 two the same evening. For the next three days 
 they opened a steady fire on the town itself and its 
 castle. On the 4th of January Andelot was entrusted 
 with the difficult task of crossing by the shore 
 between the sea and the town, at low tide, with one 
 thousand five hundred arquebusiers, and of making, 
 under the enemy's fire, a channel into which the water 
 might be diverted from the moat which the French 
 must cross to make the assault. This all but impos- 
 sible work upon marshy and shifting ground was 
 only accomplished by means of hurdles covered with 
 pitch which Senarpont had prepared, and upon 
 which the soldiers walked, so as not to sink into the 
 marsh. When the moat was emptied at break of 
 day, January 6th, Guise advanced with his troops, 
 crossed an arm of the sea where the water came up 
 to their waists, entered by the breach and occupied 
 the town. Lord Wentworth, who was commanding 
 the citadel, obtained an honourable capitulation, and 
 on the Qth Calais was evacuated by the English. 1 
 
 1 M. de Bouill, in his book on the Dukes of Guise, which 
 is generally so remarkable and so exact, supposes very 
 gratuitously that it was out of spite against Francis of Lorraine 
 that the honour of having planned the taking of Calais is 
 attributed to Coligny. On the contrary, this fact is well 
 established, and Brantdme speaks of it as a thing generally 
 known. At the same time he in no way depreciates the skill
 
 TAKING OF CALAIS AND GU1NES. 
 
 Guise did not sully his victory by any cruelty, and 
 the conduct of the French presented a striking con- 
 trast to the hideous scenes which had disgraced the 
 taking of St. Quentin. The garrison and the 
 inhabitants were given their lives, and were allowed 
 to retire into England or Flanders, but they were to 
 abandon their arms and possessions to the conquerors. 
 
 Fifty English officers alone were retained as prisoners 
 with Lord VVentworth. A few days later the fortress 
 of Guines also surrendered, and the English ceased 
 to possess anything in France. Following so rapidly 
 on the catastrophe in which Paris itself was threat- 
 ened, the effect of this victory was immense. Francis 
 of Lorraine was regarded by all as the saviour of his 
 country. " The people forgot that while the lucky 
 adventurer had been just before compromising France 
 in the heart of Italy, a man of honour had saved it 
 by accepting with full knowledge of the issue a 
 hopeless task." l 
 
 Another event was shortly to enhance still more 
 the glory of the Guises, placing them, as it were, on 
 the very steps of the throne. Their eldest sister, 
 Mary of Lorraine, had married James V. of Scotland 
 
 and energy with which Guise executed the plan. The charge 
 of malice might indeed be thrown back on the Guises, for it 
 is certain (i) that Coligny alone had prepared the attack on 
 Calais, which Guise could not have originated, and which he 
 only executed according to the Admiral's plans, and with the 
 valuable aid of Coligny's lieutenant, Senarpont; (2) It was 
 Andelot who, by his valour, played the principal part in the 
 attack ; (3) Some months later, the Guises, forgetting all 
 this, acted as spies on the Admiral's correspondence, denounced 
 Andelot to the king, and deprived him of his post of colonel 
 of the French infantry. These are the simple facts of the 
 case. Cuique suum. 
 ' Henri Martin.
 
 120 COL1GNY. 
 
 in 1538. Left a widow in 1542, and declared 
 regent of the kingdom in the name of her daughter 
 Mary Stuart, she had sent this daughter in 1548 to 
 the Court of France. Mary Stuart had been warmly 
 welcomed by Henry II., and had received a brilliant 
 education. She was devoted to the fine arts, par- 
 ticularly to music. All contemporaries, even the 
 grave chancellor 1'Hopital, tell us that at fifteen 
 years of age her beauty exercised an irresistible 
 charm. " Our little Scotch queenie has but to 
 smile," said Catherine de Medicis, " and she turns 
 the heads of all Frenchmen." It is easy to under- 
 stand then what a spell she exercised over the 
 Dauphin Francis, to whom she was betrothed. The 
 Guises were impatient to conclude this marriage, 
 and they succeeded in getting it fixed for the spring 
 of this year, in spite of the feeble health and extreme 
 youth of the prince, who was only fourteen and a- 
 half. The Scotch parliament conferred on the 
 dauphin the title of King of Scotland. The Guises, 
 who had their niece completely under their sway, 
 made Mary sign a secret deed making a gift of her 
 kingdom to the crown of France, and this they 
 induced her to do some days before the public act of 
 her marriage (April 27th, 1558), in which she and 
 her husband solemnly swore to maintain the liberties 
 and independence of Scotland. It was by this act 
 of perfidy and treason against her own people that 
 this fascinating child, acting under the influence of 
 her uncles, began that tragic story in thinking of 
 which one is at a loss whether most to pity or to 
 blame her. 
 
 The Guises were now at the zenith of their fortune.
 
 ARROGANCE OF THE GUISES. 121 
 
 The Constable and Coligny, both prisoners, could 
 give them no umbrage. Andelot had, indeed, just 
 rendered Francis of Lorraine the most signal service 
 by his valiant conduct at the siege of Calais, but the 
 suspicious spirit of the Lorraines was in no way 
 disarmed by such obligation. At the very time of 
 his attacking Calais, Francis of Lorraine had made 
 use of his position as lieutenant-general to act as 
 a spy on all the correspondence between the captive 
 Admiral and his family, 1 and we shall presently see 
 by what cunning devices his brother, the Cardinal, 
 endeavoured to damage Coligny with the king. 
 
 1 On this point see a characteristic letter from Guise to M 
 de Humieres, published for the first time by M. Delaborde.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Coligny in captivity. Religious turning-point in his life. Genesis of 
 his new faith. His correspondence with Calvin. Position taken 
 by Charlotte de Laval. Influence of Calvin on the French Refor- 
 mation. What that Reformation was at its outset. 
 
 TO return to Coligny. The blow which had 
 fallen on him was heavy enough to crush the 
 bravest and to embitter the most generous spirit. 
 He had been defeated ; he was being subjected to 
 a rigorous imprisonment ; he felt himself misunder- 
 stood and dishonoured by the king whom he had 
 so heroically served, and he had at the same time 
 to see his rival triumphantly carrying out plans 
 which he had devised with long, patient thought. 
 His cup of bitterness was full to the brim. 
 
 But no complaint escaped him. He seemed dead 
 to earthly ambitions and regrets ; his mind was 
 absorbed with new and higher thoughts ; and from 
 this time of retirement and meditation he was to 
 come forth one of the noblest champions of " the 
 religion." His Memoir of the Siege of St. Quentin 
 concludes with these words, " All the consolation I 
 have is that which it seems to me all Christians 
 should possess, namely, that such mysteries do not 
 take place without the permission and will of God,
 
 COLIGNY EMBRACES THE REFORMED FAITH. 123 
 
 which is always right, holy, and reasonable, and 
 which does nothing without just occasion. And 
 albeit I know not the cause, I am not concerned to 
 inquire ; but rather desire to humble myself before 
 God in submission to His will." 
 
 These words, dated December 28th, 1557, show 
 what was the direction taken by Coligny's thoughts, 
 and this stern sense of the Divine sovereignty reveals 
 how largely he had come under the influence of the 
 reformed doctrine. Whence had he derived this 
 faith ? On this point the testimony is unanimous. 1 
 It was his brother Andelot who, by his conversation, 
 had led Coligny into the new light. Brantdme says, 
 "M. Dandelot, after being taken at Parma, was wedded 
 to the Castle of Milan as his prison." . . . "I have 
 heard even some Spanish soldiers, old pensioners 
 in Milan, say that, during his imprisonment, having 
 no other exercise, he set himself to reading, and had 
 all sorts of books brought to him without any 
 molestation from the warders, for the Inquisition 
 was not so strict then as it has been since ; and that 
 he thus became instructed in the new religion, of 
 which he had already gathered some idea, having 
 been in Germany in the war of the Protestants." 
 
 Andelot, then, was the first of the three brothers 
 Chatillon to embrace openly the Reformed religion. 
 He was too much attached to his brothers not to 
 
 1 We must except the author of the Vita Colinii, who affirms 
 that the Admiral was the first to embrace the Gospel, and that 
 the Cardinal Odet and Andelot " were by his example greatly 
 stirred to the study of the religion ' ' ( Vita Gasparis Colinii, 
 1575, p. 28). We have said in our preface that such a mistake 
 could hardly have been made by Hotman, who was an intimate 
 friend of Andelot's.
 
 124 COLIC NY. 
 
 make them sharers in his convictions. We have 
 seen, moreover, that the education they had received 
 from their mother was calculated to prepare them 
 to accept the new teaching. 
 
 Coligny did not disguise his sympathy with the 
 Protestants, and Beza says that, for several years 
 before this, he had on every occasion tried to protect 
 those of that religion. But it is probable that his 
 life as a soldier, and the many offices he held, had 
 left him no leisure to study the Reformed doctrines. 
 His long imprisonment, first in the fortress of Sluys, 
 and from March 1558 in the castle at Ghent, gave 
 him time to go thoroughly into these questions. 
 Andelot sent him a copy of the Bible, and a book 
 the title of which we do not know, but which was 
 probably some exposition of the new doctrines. 
 Coligny felt himself gradually more and more per- 
 suaded of their truth ; but it was not till two years 
 later that, after grave and mature reflection, he 
 determined to attach himself to the new Church. 
 From the year 1558, however, he had belonged to 
 it in heart. His wife, Charlotte de Laval, though 
 separated from him, arrived at the same conclusion, 
 and from this time Calvin kept up a correspondence 
 with them both. 
 
 The Reformer had, no doubt, long known that 
 Coligny was in sympathy with the Protestant cause. 
 The Church of Geneva remembered how kindly he 
 had received the emigrants who had left that city 
 to go to Brazil. But now, for the first time, the 
 Admiral entered into direct communication with 
 Calvin. 
 
 Calvin was intensely interested in the fortunes of
 
 CALVIN IN GENEVA. * 125 
 
 the Reformation in France. Geneva, that citadel of 
 Protestantism where for thirty years Calvin carried 
 on his great work, was the near neighbour of France 
 and Savoy, which shut it in so closely that sometimes 
 they well-nigh stifled it. In return it was often 
 (as a contemporary has said) "a thorn in the flesh" 
 to its two powerful neighbours. That it maintained 
 its independence is little short of a miracle. For 
 half a century the idea of destroying it was never 
 absent from Catholic diplomacy. Many times the old 
 Spanish troops, passing through Franche Comte on their 
 way to the Low Countries, came within a few leagues 
 of its territory. Philibert Emmanuel, the conqueror 
 of France, was for twenty years its neighbour, and 
 hovered hungrily over it like a bird of prey. Happily 
 the Swiss were there with their formidable infantry, 
 the only infantry in the world at that time which 
 could cope with that of Spain ; and the Bernese 
 bear kept the Savoyard at bay. Geneva had even 
 a better safeguard than this in the indomitable 
 courage of her citizens and the unfaltering ardour 
 of their religious faith. 
 
 The Genevese were not a people easy to mould and 
 guide. Calvin often told them so plainly. Driven 
 away by them once, he had constantly to contend with 
 their captious and turbulent humours. In the midst 
 of fightings within the city, and fears of the foreigner 
 without, the Reformer carried on his work. " I do 
 not believe," says Theodore Beza, " that the like was 
 ever seen." 1 He goes on to describe the ordinary 
 labours of Calvin. One sermon every day beside 
 
 1 See for these various quotations, La Vie de Calvin, by 
 Theodore Beza.
 
 126 COLIGNY. 
 
 two on Sunday, preached in the great cathedral 
 before immense congregations, composed not only 
 of the Genevese, but of refugees from all countries; 
 his writings and lectures on theology, based on a 
 deep study of Scripture and the fathers ; his train- 
 ing of the young ministers whom he prepared for 
 martyrdom. And all this accomplished with broken 
 health, an emaciated body ; asthma, which well-nigh 
 stifled him at times ; a face pale and wan, but lighted 
 up with a look of calm serenity which bespoke the 
 steadfastness of the soul within. " I know not," says 
 Beza, " if any man of our time has had more to 
 hear, to reply to, and to write, beside matters of 
 greater importance. The quantity and quality of 
 his writings alone suffices to astonish all who see 
 them, and still more those who read them." . . . "We 
 would urge him to take more care of himself; but 
 his usual reply was that what he was doing was as 
 nothing, and that he would that God should find 
 him watching and working as he was able till his 
 latest breath." 
 
 This testimony of Theodore Beza is confirmed by 
 the mass of correspondence only recently published. 1 
 It gives us some idea of the extent of Calvin's ministry, 
 which thus embraced, by means of daily letters, the 
 whole of Protestant Europe, treating of questions of 
 doctrine and discipline, confirming the churches, 
 carrying consolation to the persecuted for the faith. 
 Etienne Pasquier says, " We sometimes had our 
 prisons crowded with confessors, whom he ceased 
 
 1 See the edition of Calvini Opera by MM. Reuss, Bauer, 
 and Cunitz.
 
 CALVIN. 127 
 
 not to exhort, console, and strengthen by letters* 
 never failing to find messengers, to whom the doors 
 were opened in spite of the vigilance of the gaolers." 1 
 To all who to-day read these letters of Calvin, he 
 will seem greater than they had thought. One can 
 but admire a soul so consumed with zeal for the 
 cause of God and with love to all who did it service. 
 In all those thousands of missives which were carried 
 by intrepid messengers all over France, there is not 
 a line to conceal. Calvin never intermeddled in any 
 intrigues or plots. Such as he appeared in public, 
 we find him in his most private life. In writing to 
 Coligny and the great lords of his party, his great 
 concern is the salvation of their souls ; not a word of 
 flattery, of concession to their claims as men of rank, 
 not a hint of worldly policy or interest. To kings 
 themselves his honesty is inflexible, and sometimes 
 amounts to rudeness. He never sacrifices duty to 
 expediency, and yet this man of iron has accents of 
 softest pity for the humble and the weak. A poor 
 artisan or weaver will get words from him that will 
 strengthen him in the very hour of death. From 
 end to end of this correspondence there is the same 
 sublime monotone Sursum corda. Bossuet com- 
 plains of the melancholy of Calvin's style. The 
 Bishop of Meaux ought rather to have respected this 
 sadness, for it was the shadow cast upon his soul by 
 the tortures and atrocious executions of which he 
 was for thirty years the witness. 
 
 I am not writing Calvin's apology. He had his 
 blemishes ; he made grave mistakes ; his logic was 
 
 5 Recherches sur la France, Book VII.
 
 128 COLIC NY. 
 
 pitiless ; he himself was often hard. He did not 
 understand the meaning of religious liberty. I know 
 that for the death of Servetus the age was more to 
 be blamed than himself ; that Servetus would have 
 been burned at Grenoble no less than at Geneva. 
 But even this does not excuse the fierce intolerance 
 and vindictiveness with which Calvin pursued his 
 unhappy victim, exclaiming, " Vivum exire non 
 patiar " (" I will not suffer him to go hence alive "). 1 
 Calvin himself on his death-bed reproached himself, 
 not for the death of Servetus (for to the last he 
 thought that heretics ought to be punished by law), 
 but for his own impatience and passionate anger. On 
 this count we cannot hold him guiltless. But history 
 ought, nevertheless, to judge him by the whole tenor 
 of his life ; and that life is a grand one, for it reveals 
 on every page an unswerving loyalty of faith and 
 uprightness of conscience. It is not one of the least 
 glories of Calvin that he was the Counsellor of 
 Jeanne d'Albret, of Andelot, and of Coligny. 
 
 The first letter addressed by Calvin to the Admiral 
 bears date September 4th, 1558 : 
 
 " Monseigneur," he writes, " I hope that after 
 reading this present, inasmuch as it will bear you 
 witness of the care I have for your salvation, you 
 will not take it amiss that I have written to you. 
 I shall make no long apology, being well persuaded 
 that the reverence you bear my Master will make you 
 regard favourably that which you will see to have 
 proceeded from Him, and to be set before you in 
 
 1 This is what Calvin wrote on hearing that Servetus was 
 coming from Grenoble to Geneva.
 
 LETTER FROM CALVIN TO COLIGNY. 1 29 
 
 His name. Neither shall I use much exhortation to 
 confirm your patience, inasmuch as I believe and 
 have been told that our God has so strengthened 
 you by the power of His Spirit, that I have rather 
 occasion to glorify God for the patience He has 
 wrought in you than to incite you to more. 1 And, 
 in truth, it is here above all that true greatness of 
 soul ought to show itself, in surmounting all our 
 passions, not only that we may be victorious, but 
 that we may offer a true sacrifice of obedience to 
 God, and quietly submit ourselves. Now, seeing He 
 has given you such constancy, we need not to exhort 
 you to it. Only I pray you to think yet again that 
 God, in sending you this affliction, has willed to 
 draw you aside a while, that you might be the better 
 listened to of Him? For you know, sire, how hard it 
 is amidst the honours and riches and favours of the 
 world, to lend an ear to Him ; so is one driven hither 
 and thither and ready to faint, so to speak, except 
 He use such means to draw to Himself those who 
 are His. Not that dignities and temporal possessions 
 and estates are incompatible with the fear of God, 
 provided that as God raises men, He gives them 
 opportunity to draw closer to Him and to be the 
 more incited to honour and serve Him. But I trow 
 you have had experience that those who hold the 
 highest places in the world, are so occupied with it, 
 
 1 From this we infer that Coligny's conversion was already 
 an accomplished and recognised fact. 
 
 2 So runs the text of this letter as published by M. Jules 
 Bonnet, and MM. Baum, Cunitz, and Reuss. It seems to 
 us, however, that there must be a slip of the pen, and that the 
 phrase should read, ' ' that He may be the better heard of 
 you." 
 
 9
 
 1 30 COLIGNY. 
 
 and held captive as it were in its thralls, that they 
 scarcely give themselves time for the chief work of 
 all, which is to worship God, to dedicate oneself 
 wholly to Him, and to aspire after the heavenly life. 
 Wherefore, sire, I pray you, inasmuch as God has 
 given you this opportunity of profiting in His school, 
 as though He would speak privately to your ear, be 
 attentive to taste better than ever the sweetness and 
 preciousness of His doctrine, and give heed to the 
 diligent reading of His Word, to be instructed thereby, 
 and to become rooted and grounded in the faith, so 
 that you may be made strong for the rest of your 
 life to do battle with all temptations." 
 
 The letter concluded with an exhortation to 
 Coligny not to let himself be drawn away by the 
 corruption of the age, but to persevere in the grace 
 of God. 
 
 The same day Calvin encouraged Charlotte de 
 Laval with the like exhortations, pointing out to 
 her the uses of adversity. " In truth," he said, "when 
 we are sailing before the wind, as they say, we are 
 apt to miss the track in our light-hearted ease." He 
 urged her to serve God in spite of the murmurings 
 and hatred of the world. " It is most reasonable," 
 he continued, " that we should dedicate ourselves to 
 Him who has bought us at such a price, and according 
 to the love He has bestowed upon us, should esteem 
 His favour more than all the smiles of the world." 
 He prayed God, in conclusion, to fill her with an 
 invincible constancy. 
 
 Let us pause a moment at this turning-point in 
 the life of the Admiral. History is nothing if it 
 does not help us to discern, beneath the surface of
 
 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE. 
 
 events, the inward motives which influence men. 
 Let us endeavour to realise to ourselves what is the 
 new belief which is henceforth to be the inspiration 
 of the life of Coligny. 
 
 The great movement of religious emancipation, 
 which Luther had commenced in Germany, had gone 
 on in France also, but on a more restricted scale, and 
 without that outward show which strikes the imagi- 
 nation and sways the masses. As early as 1512, 
 when the name of Luther was still unknown, Lefevre 
 d'Etaples taught a doctrine in Paris which anticipated 
 in a less incisive and impressive form the teaching 
 of the Augustine monk. The first disciples of 
 Lefevre, particularly Guillaume Farel, were to become 
 afterwards the ardent promoters of a popular Refor- 
 mation. In 1535 this Reformation found in Calvin 
 the genius who formed the new belief into a system, 
 and gave to the Church a simple and strong organi- 
 sation. With all its errors, narrownesses, and defi- 
 ciencies, this was a colossal work, which was to live 
 on from generation to generation. From that time 
 the Church grew up under the cutting blast of per- 
 secution, and though the first French reformers were 
 called Lutherans, the Reformation in France had 
 from the first its own proper life and original 
 character. 
 
 Those who look upon it as simply a political 
 insurrection, or those who explain it away as a mere 
 enfranchisement of the reason wakened into new 
 energy under the powerful influence of the Renais- 
 sance, fail altogether to comprehend it. To be 
 known aright it must be studied in its authentic 
 monuments, whether in the confession of faith of
 
 132 COLIGNY. 
 
 its early martyrs, or better still in the unrestrained 
 outpouring of their souls. It will then be recognised 
 as above all the advent of a new religious life, born 
 of a new conception of the relations of men to God. 
 
 What does the Reformation affirm as its very 
 basis ? Two things. First, it overthrows the hier- 
 archy and all sacerdotalism, and re-establishes the 
 direct relation of the believer with God, through the 
 medium of the Scriptures, in which alone it recog- 
 nises a true revelation of Him. Secondly, while the 
 Church makes salvation the chief end to be attained 
 by the meritorious works and expiatory offerings of 
 the believer, who is thus supposed to supplement the 
 work of redemption, the Reformation declares that 
 salvation is a free gift, and thus gives to the Christian 
 life a new starting-point, whence all true holiness 
 springs. The divine sovereignty exercised in the 
 Church and in the individual soul, through the word 
 of revelation and the grace of the Spirit, is the 
 central dogma of the Reformation. This is the 
 belief which became henceforward the inspiration of 
 Coligny's life, and apart from this his character will 
 always remain an insoluble riddle. 
 
 We must say here, in passing, one word on a 
 religious problem which lies at the root of all the 
 great struggles of the sixteenth century, a problem 
 strangely evaded or ignored by most of our historians. 
 I refer to the doctrine of the enslaved will, which 
 played a most important part, and in the name of 
 which the greatest religious emancipation known in 
 history was accomplished. To solve this problem 
 by saying that the doctrine is contradicted by the 
 life ; that logic asserts one thing and human nature
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF FREEWILL. 133 
 
 another, is simply to explain a mystery by a paradox, 
 and to abandon the attempt to discover the chain of 
 cause and effect, or the motives which influence 
 mankind. To compare the Calvinistic doctrine of 
 predestination with Mussulman fatalism, when their 
 consequences are so diametrically opposed, implies an 
 entire want of appreciation of the deep spiritual 
 experiences of the men of that age. 
 
 It is certain that at its commencement the Refor- 
 mation denied the doctrine of free-will, and that 
 on this point Coligny was in full accord with his 
 co-religionists. It is no less certain that no men 
 ever realised more fully than the Huguenots of that 
 day the reality of moral responsibility, or fought 
 more valiantly for liberty. How can we explain 
 this contradiction ? 
 
 Let us observe first that the word liberty has a 
 very extended and variable signification. In current 
 language we speak of a man as free who can do 
 what he will. He is free, then, who chooses a life 
 of sensual pleasure and moral degradation, and if he 
 gives himself up to it wholly, so that conscience is 
 silenced, he seems to enjoy complete liberty. But 
 put before him another aim some high ideal of 
 justice, duty, obedience, sacrifice, and at once he 
 becomes conscious of hindrance and moral impotence. 
 He begins to doubt whether he is free after all. 
 The higher the ideal he sets before himself, the 
 stronger this sense of bondage becomes. The good 
 that he would, he cannot do. Suppose the ideal 
 before him to be absolute perfection, he feels that he 
 cannot attain to it. In vain you tell him his will is 
 free ; he only answers with the bitter sigh of failure.
 
 1 34 COL1GNY. 
 
 We may then lay it down as a principle that the 
 higher the moral ideal set before a man, the less can 
 he reckon upon its attainment by the mere exercise 
 of free will. Hence authentic Christianity, not toned 
 down by philosophy, speaks with the utmost plain- 
 ness of the moral bondage of mankind, for the very 
 reason that it never presents to man anything lower 
 than the absolute ideal of perfection. From St. 
 Paul to Augustine, from Augustine to the Reformers, 
 from the Reformers to Pascal and Arnauld, there is 
 an unbroken chain of Christians, who speak in the 
 same terms of the natural state of man as a slavery 
 from which grace alone can release him. 
 
 Does this imply any denial of moral freedom in 
 its very essence ? Is there not rather in this stern 
 denunciation of man's slavery an implied tribute to 
 the grandeur of his true destiny ? Liberty, in the 
 Christian sense, means the possibility open to man 
 to fulfil the whole law of his being, and this law 
 enjoins moral likeness to God. Whether this ideal 
 be thought to be chimerical or not, it is at least a 
 grand and lofty one. 
 
 This freedom, moreover, is to be recovered. It is 
 not a boon which man has lost for ever. God 
 restores it to His elect. Here we touch on the stern 
 and hard side of the Calvinistic theology. Undoubt- 
 edly the idea of predestination underlay the Christian 
 doctrine from the beginning, and we know in what 
 terms St. Paul expressed it. But the error of 
 Calvinism is that it makes this the central doctrine 
 of the Christian system, and carries it out with a 
 pitiless logic, which sadly restricts the Divine mercy, 
 and is derogatory to the very character of God.
 
 CONNECTION OF FAITH AND MORALITY. 135 
 
 Here, however, we must make one reservation. 
 There is an essential difference between a new con- 
 viction taking hold of the human soul for the first 
 time as a living reality, and the same belief reduced 
 to an intellectual formula or abstract dogma. To the 
 Protestant, deeply conscious of his moral misery and 
 enslavement by nature, predestination meant prima- 
 rily the grace of God taking possession of his soul. 
 It was the joyous affirmation of Divine sovereignty 
 ruling over him as its empire, and restoring his filial 
 liberty and the faculty of obedience prompted by 
 love. Hence this belief became a fountain of new 
 morality. Man has found his God again, or rather 
 has been conquered afresh by God. He no longer 
 thinks of salvation as an end to be attained by 
 means of penitence and expiations. Salvation is to 
 him a realised fact. He knows himself saved, 
 reconciled to God, and this strong conviction rightly 
 becomes the mainspring of his whole conduct in life. 
 He ceases from monastic asceticism, and from offer- 
 ing expiations of his own for the sins of the flesh ; 
 he casts off the leading-strings of the casuistry which 
 would hold his soul in bondage. Conscience, set 
 free, finds its law in the will of God. Obedience 
 is then the consecration of the nature to God, with 
 all its legitimate joys, and foremost among them 
 all, the holy ties of family. In that strange 
 century in which exalted mysticism was often 
 found allied with the moral degradation of the 
 paganism of the Renaissance, this beautiful plant 
 of the Reformation grew up, producing as its 
 flowers the Protestant family home, and men and 
 women of so grand and true a type that they
 
 1 36 COLIGNY. 
 
 make the name Huguenot for ever fragrant in the 
 field of history. 
 
 Nor must we fail to notice one other significant 
 fact In the very face of the Reformation arose 
 Jesuitism. Both belong to the same era. The 
 Reformation proclaims man's moral enslavement, and 
 the necessity of grace to set him free. Jesuitism, 
 on the contrary, declares that man's freedom of will 
 is scarcely at all impaired. But the one emanci- 
 pates men and nations ; the other brings both into 
 bondage. The one gives birth to the grandest 
 characters in French history ; the other would have 
 made France a second Spain, but for the powerful 
 reaction of the Gallican spirit and of the national 
 loyalty to truth. We leave this problem to be 
 solved by all candid and thoughtful minds. The 
 more they reflect on it, the more will they be con- 
 vinced of the formative influence exerted upon 
 nations by those religious convictions, which super- 
 ficial students of history too often ignore.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Intrigues of the Guises against Odet and Andelot. Momentary defection 
 of Andelot. Treaty of Cateau-Cambre'sis. Coligny is set free. 
 Remarks on the treaty. 
 
 WE have endeavoured to explain the nature of 
 the change which was wrought in the soul 
 of the prisoner in the Castle of Ghent But it was, 
 as we have said, only by slow degrees that Coligny 
 yielded to his new convictions. It was not till the 
 year following his leaving the prison that he took 
 his place decidedly in the ranks of the Reformers. 
 
 His brother Andelot had taken the same step 
 before him, and many suspected Odet, the Cardinal, 
 of sharing like opinions. During the captivity of 
 the Admiral in Belgium two events happened which 
 should be mentioned here. 
 
 Francis of Guise and his brother, the Cardinal of 
 Lorraine, had both initiated themselves into high 
 favour with the king, the one by his brilliant military 
 services, the other by his diplomacy. The marriage 
 of their niece to the Dauphin Francis raised their 
 fortunes to the zenith : and the captivity of the 
 Constable and of Coligny left them without a 
 rival in their influence over the king. Yet they 
 knew that Henry II. had no love for them, and
 
 I3 8 COLIGNY. 
 
 that Anne de Montmorency was still the counsellor 
 of his choice. 1 
 
 The two brothers saw clearly, therefore, that the 
 surest way for them to secure their authority and to 
 win general favour was boldly to take the lead of 
 the Catholic party, and to make the king suspicious 
 of the Chatillons, rumours of whose heresy were 
 already afloat. The Cardinal of Lorraine devised a 
 very astute plan. He asked the pope to issue a 
 brief establishing the Inquisition in France as it 
 already existed in Spain. Paul IV. was a fanatic, 
 and always ready to act in this direction. On April 
 25th, 1 5 57, he published a pontifical brief, appointing 
 three Grand Inquisitors in France : the Cardinals of 
 Lorraine, Bourbon, and Chatillon. The Parliament 
 of Paris was weak enough to approve this brief, 
 January I5th, 1558, though the Inquisition was 
 odious to the French. Theodore Beza, speaking on 
 this subject, says 2 : "The Cardinal of Lorraine thus 
 laid a crafty snare for the Cardinal of Chatillon, for 
 he knew well that one against two would be utterly 
 powerless, and he hoped in this way to entangle him, 
 so that if he ventured to show any favour towards 
 those of ' the religion,' it might be a pretext for 
 bringing suspicion and discredit not on himself only, 
 but on his brothers also." Odet at once perceived 
 the snare laid for him. If he accepted the offered 
 post he would be compelled to be a party to the 
 cruel repression of the reformed religion ; if he 
 refused, he would in some sort denounce himself 
 
 1 La Place says that even during the Constable's absence 
 and captivity the king still consulted him about everything. 
 
 2 Histoire ecclesiastique des eglises reformees.
 
 INTRIGUES OF THE GUISES. 139 
 
 before the eyes of Catholic France. At this time his 
 new convictions were not sufficiently formed for him 
 to take a decided step. It was not till three years 
 later that he openly embraced " the religion." But he 
 contrived to elude the perilous distinction which the 
 pope had sought to thrust upon him ; and the project 
 of establishing the Inquisition in France was soon set 
 aside by the pressure of popular disfavour. 
 
 Not being able to succeed in their schemes against 
 the eldest Chatillon, the Lorraines next tried to 
 denounce Andelot. " Francis of Guise," says De 
 Thou, " was anxious to get Coligny's brother deprived 
 of his office as Colonel and Captain-General of the 
 French infantry, one of the most important posts in 
 the kingdom." 
 
 His boundless ambition made him forget all that 
 he owed to the brave soldier to whom, more than to 
 anyone else, the taking of Calais was due. It was 
 not difficult to find occasion for denouncing Andelot. 
 His was a singularly frank and upright nature. He 
 had made no secret of the Protestant beliefs which 
 he had brought back with him from his captivity in 
 Italy. The Cardinal of Lorraine was the very man 
 to conduct an intrigue like this. In May 1558 he 
 had the opportunity of meeting Granvelle, Bishop 
 of Arras, formerly councillor of Charles V., now the 
 guiding spirit of Philip II. Granvelle was lamenting 
 to the Cardinal the war which had separated two 
 great kings who had to contend with a common 
 enemy, equally formidable to both, namely, heresy. 
 " This common foe," he said, " had allies in the very 
 court of France," and on being asked to say to whom 
 he referred, he strongly denounced Andelot. The
 
 14 COLTGNY. 
 
 Cardinal of Lorraine did not fail to report this inter- 
 view to Henry II. Now it happened that at this 
 very time Andelot was residing on his estates in 
 Brittany, and with his sanction the reformed doctrines 
 were being boldly preached there by two ministers, 
 Carmel and Loiseleur, with great success. The king 
 was much irritated by this news, and at once sum- 
 moned Andelot, on his return from Brittany, to come 
 to him at Monceaux, the country house of the queen- 
 mother. As soon as Andelot appeared, the king 
 reminded him of all the benefits he had heaped upon 
 him, and told him that on this account the very last 
 thing he expected was that he should revolt from 
 the religion of his prince. Then growing warmer, 
 he reproached him not only with favouring the 
 preachers of the new doctrine, but with having taken 
 part in the Lutheran assemblies at Pre-aux-Clercs, 
 with having forsaken mass, at which he had not been 
 seen during the whole affair of Calais ; and finally, 
 with having sent Genevan books to the Admiral in 
 his prison. 
 
 To this Andelot replied with calm dignity, ac- 
 knowledging all that he owed to the king, and saying 
 that in return he had spared nothing for the king's 
 service. " Your Majesty will scarcely deem it 
 strange," he went on, " if after doing my duty in your 
 service, I study to seek my own salvation." Then, 
 taking up the heads of the accusation brought 
 against him, he boldly confessed that he had caused 
 to be preached a doctrine holy and good, taken from 
 the Old and New Testaments, and which had been 
 approved by holy councils and by the early Church. 
 He had not taken part in the assemblies at Pre"-aux-
 
 INTERVIEW OF ANDELOT WITH HENRY II. 14! 
 
 Clercs, but he highly approved of them. As to 
 mass, he said, " If your Majesty had sought to 
 learn the truth, you would feel as I do, that you 
 could not sufficiently praise and magnify the goodness 
 of God, who has so taken from my eyes the veil of 
 ignorance, that by His grace I purpose never more to 
 go to mass." As to the last charge, he owned he 
 had sent his brother a book full of consolation. In 
 conclusion he said, " I pray you therefore, sire, 
 leave my conscience alone, and let me serve you 
 with my body and worldly goods, which are wholly 
 yours." 
 
 Theodore Beza, who gives us the account of this 
 interview, says : " The king thought this a very 
 strange proposal." It was the first time he had met 
 a Protestant who dared to speak out boldly to him. 
 This wretched heresy, the followers of which he was 
 hanging or burning in all the streets of Paris, dared 
 then to lift up its head in his very presence, and the 
 man who represented it was one of the chief lords of 
 the kingdom. The scandal was great for a king who 
 could never understand what the rights of conscience 
 meant, and in whose eyes it was the first duty of the 
 subject to follow the religion of his prince. The 
 Cardinal of Lorraine was present at the interview. He 
 did not let slip the opportunity, and pressed Andelot 
 to the utmost, telling him that he was in a very bad 
 way, till at last Andelot said impatiently : " I am 
 very certain of my doctrine, and you know better than 
 you say, M. le Cardinal. I appeal to your conscience 
 to witness if you have not heretofore favoured this 
 holy doctrine." (Andelot was evidently alluding to 
 the part of peacemaker between the two sides, which
 
 142 COLIGNY. 
 
 the Cardinal had often affected to play. 1 ) " But," 
 he added, " worldly honours and ambition have turned 
 you aside, so that you are even become a persecutor 
 of the members of Christ." 
 
 This was too much for the king. Pointing to the 
 collar which Andelot was wearing, he said : " I did 
 not give you that order to be used thus." And on 
 Andelot's replying that he had not accepted the 
 order at the price of his conscience, the king, in a 
 fury, seized a dish which was standing before him, 
 and dashing it to the ground, wounded the Dauphin 
 who was sitting beside him. Then he bade the 
 archers arrest Andelot and have him imprisoned at 
 Melun. When the pope heard this, he complained 
 that the king had been too lenient, and in a conver- 
 sation with the French charge d'affaires in Rome, he 
 expressed bitter indignation that Andelot had not 
 been burned at the stake on the spot. 
 
 The Guises had gained their end. The office of 
 Colonel and Captain-General of the French infantry, 
 which had for a long while been in the hands of the 
 Chatillons, was taken from them and given to Blaise 
 de Montluc, the sworn enemy of the Protestants. 
 
 Andelot meanwhile remained unmoved, and in his 
 imprisonment received letters from Calvin. He wrote 
 to the king a full exposition of his beliefs, declaring 
 himself ready to serve his majesty in everything 
 which did not touch his conscience. " But the Cardinal 
 of Lorraine sent to him in prison a doctor of divinity, 
 named Ruze, the king's confessor, a man well 
 
 1 Brantfime says : " He was often heard to discuss the Con- 
 fession of Augsburg half approvingly, and even to preach it, 
 more to please some of the Germans than anything else."
 
 MOMENTARY DEFECTION OF ANDELOT. 143 
 
 skilled in the arts of flattery, and in the casuistries of 
 the Sorbonne." So says Beza. The efforts of this 
 personage, who proved himself well worthy of his 
 name, were at first abortive ; Andelot stood firm. 
 He even wrote to the members of the church of 
 Paris, under date of July ist, 1558, a letter full of 
 courage. 1 The eyes of all the Protestants in the 
 kingdom were turned to his prison. But Ruze* went 
 on conversing with him day after day, and at length 
 succeeded in persuading him that he might at least 
 be present at the sacrifice of the mass, and so satisfy 
 the king s requirements. Andelot's conscience could 
 not accept this compromise without a dull protest, but 
 the urgent entreaties of his wife overcame him. When 
 it was known that he was about to yield, a cry of grief 
 and shame rang through, all the Protestant ranks. 
 The specious distinctions drawn by the casuistry of 
 the Sorbonne were hateful to the upright Huguenot 
 soul. To attend mass at such a crisis was virtually 
 to desert the good cause. Macard, the pastor of 
 the church in Paris, sent Andelot an earnest re- 
 monstrance. He reminded him that the eyes of a 
 whole nation were upon him, and exhorted him to 
 finish faithfully his course, which was but for a 
 moment compared with eternity. But the exhor- 
 tation failed. Andelot, as Theodore Beza says, 
 consented that mass should be said in his presence, 
 and without making any otJier verbal abjuration, he 
 received his release from prison. " But," adds the 
 historian, " he afterwards acknowledged this to have 
 
 1 See Le bulletin de la societe d'hist. du -protest, fran- 
 cais, vol. iii., p. 245.
 
 144 CO LIG NY. 
 
 been an act of great weakness, which to the day of 
 his death he condemned, and sought to atone for by 
 all the means in his power. Nevertheless his de- 
 fection caused a great scandal at the time." The 
 pastor of the church in Paris reproached him, with 
 stern fidelity, for his weakness, and nothing short 
 of the unshaken devotion which Andelot thence- 
 forward displayed to the cause of " the religion " 
 could have effaced the memory of the fault which 
 he himself never forgave. 
 
 The Admiral meanwhile still remained a prisoner 
 in Ghent. But the time was approaching when 
 peace was to be concluded between France and 
 Spain. The successes of Francis of Lorraine, at 
 Calais and at Thionville (June 23rd, 1558), had 
 been balanced by the defeat which, on the 1 3th of 
 July, Count Egmont had inflicted on the army of 
 General de Termes at Gravelines. 
 
 Philip II. was anxious to put an end to hostilities, 
 and his great idea at this time was to crush heresy 
 by a union of the Catholic powers. The Constable, 
 on the other hand, who still retained a great influence 
 over Henry II., had grown utterly impatient of his 
 captivity, feeling that every day^t v/as prolonged the 
 Guises were gaining ground. The Guises were 
 anxious at first that the war which did so much for 
 their private interests should be continued. Francis 
 of Lorraine made desperate efforts to incline the king 
 to this course. Henry II. wrote to Montmorency ; 
 " Francis of Lorraine is constantly trying to persuade 
 me that I am better prepared to go to war now than 
 I ever was, and that I could not possibly lose so 
 much in carrying on the war as I shall by making
 
 THE CONSTABLE RECOVERS HIS LIBERT?. 145 
 
 peace." ] But the Guises saw that the mind of the 
 king was towards peace. Moreover, the Cardinal of 
 .Lorraine had come to an understanding with Gran- 
 velle, and as he wished to assure the greatness of his 
 house by placing himself at the head of the Catholic 
 party, the co-operation of Philip had become a 
 necessity to him. While the negotiations with Spain 
 were in progress, therefore (September 1558), he 
 contrived to take part in them. On October i/th 
 a suspension of arms was concluded at Cercamp. 
 This had to be several times renewed. The death 
 of Queen Mary of England somewhat interrupted 
 the negotiations, but they were soon resumed. As 
 a pledge of his good will, Philip II., on consider- 
 ation of a ransom, granted the Constable his liberty. 
 He left the Low Countries December I4th, and 
 went directly to St. Germain, where he received the 
 heartiest welcome from the king. He took ad- 
 vantage of this friendly reception to present to the 
 king his nephew Andelot, whom Henry recognised 
 gracefully, as though nothing had happened. Diane 
 de Poitiers, who began to be made seriously uneasy 
 by the ambition of the Guises, now turned to Mont- 
 morency. During this time Coligny was treating 
 with Philibert Emmanuel touching his ransom, which 
 the Duke of Savoy had fixed at the enormous sum 
 of fifty thousand gold crowns. Charlotte de. Laval 
 was obliged, in order to raise this sum, to appeal to 
 the devotion of Coligny's vassals. At length, in the 
 
 1 See in Delaborde (vol. i., p. 345) the curious letter which 
 shows how completely Henry II. felt himself to be in the power 
 of the Guises. 
 
 10
 
 COLIC NY 
 
 beginning of February 1559, Coligny was able to 
 set out for France. His captivity had lasted a year 
 and five months. 
 
 On the 24th of April, in this year, the famous 
 treaty of Cateau-Cambresis was concluded between 
 the belligerent powers. Mary Tudor, wife of Philip II., 
 had died with these words on her lips : " Open my 
 heart, and you will find Calais written on it." The 
 Protestant Queen Elizabeth was her successor. The 
 alliance between Spain and England was thus prac- 
 tically broken. Philip II. was weary of the war, 
 as we have seen. 1 On the other hand, the king, 
 the Constable, and the Guises were equally eager 
 (each for private reasons) that peace should be 
 concluded. No one on this occasion was thinking 
 really of the honour of France. If Coligny had 
 had any part in the negotiations, we may be sure 
 they would have taken another direction, and 
 that at Cateau-Cambresis, as at Vaucelles, Coligny 
 would have staunchly guarded the interests of the 
 country. 
 
 As it was, the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis was a 
 very hard one for France. She was to keep Calais, 
 but to soothe the sensitiveness of England she 
 engaged to restore it in eight years. This was 
 a clause in which no one really believed. The 
 Empire left to France the Trois-Eveches. Henry 
 
 1 On February i2th Philip wrote to his minister Granvelle : 
 "I have already spent one million two hundred thousand 
 ducats which I have drawn from Spain, and I want another 
 million between now and March. . . . Spain can do no more 
 for me. I seem to be in such a case that I shall be ruined if 
 I do not make peace. Let there be no rupture at any price " 
 (H. Martin, Hist, de France, vol. viii., p. 476).
 
 PEACE OF CATEAU-CAMBRESIS. 1 47 
 
 and Philip swore perpetual amity, and pledged them- 
 selves to hasten the calling of a general Council 
 to bring about the unity of the whole Christian 
 Church. Philip was to marry Elizabeth of France, 
 the king's eldest daughter, then aged thirteen 
 years. 
 
 Philibert Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy, enriched by 
 the ransoms of so many French officers, became 
 brother-in-law to Henry II., by his marriage with 
 the king's sister Marguerite, and recovered almost 
 all his estates Savoy, La Bresse, Bugey, and more 
 than half Piedmont, This was leaving the enemies 
 of France at the very gates of Lyons. 
 
 Henry abandoned, moreover, all his allies in Italy 
 who had compromised themselves in his cause. He 
 gave back to Philip, Thionville, Yvoi, Domvilliers, 
 Marienbourg, and Montmedy. The best French 
 generals, Moulin and Brissac, protested vigorously. 
 Francis of Guise opposed his brother, the Cardinal 
 of Lorraine, and said to the king : " Sire, you will 
 give back in one day that which could not be taken 
 from you by thirty years of reverses." 
 
 Nothing was said of secret stipulations, but the 
 sequel proved that one of the points on which 
 Granvelle and Charles of Lorraine had most strongly 
 insisted, was the union of the whole forces of both 
 kingdoms, for the extermination of the Huguenots. 1 
 
 1 " As soon as ever the peace was concluded, the Cardinal 
 of Lorraine, who had been one of the principal actors in it, 
 declared, in full parliament, that it had been the will of the 
 king to make peace at any price and on any terms whatsoever, 
 in order that he might have more leisure to attend to -the 
 extermination of the heresy of Calvin " (Pasquier, Book IV., 
 Letter 3, quoted by M. Delaborde).
 
 H8 COLIGNY. 
 
 Such was, for France, the humiliating close of the 
 sanguinary duel, which had been going on for more 
 than forty years between the house of Austria and 
 the Valois.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Situation of the French Protestants when Coligny was released from 
 captivity. First synod of the Reformed churches of France held in 
 Paris. Embassy of the Duke of Alva. Projects of the king against 
 the Protestants. The Mercuriale. Death of the king. 
 
 THE year 1559, which witnessed Coligny's resto- 
 ration to his country, opened under sinister 
 auspices for the cause of the religion that lay already 
 very near his heart. He was on the eve of openly 
 espousing the reformed faith, but for the present he 
 was still holding himself in reserve. In order to be 
 more free, he offered to resign his office as Governor 
 of Picardy, but the king would not consent. When 
 the English envoys came to assist at the adminis- 
 tration of the oath to Henry II. for the ratification 
 of the peace, Coligny accompanied them to the door 
 of the cathedral, but would not go in to mass. This 
 was a very marked step. 
 
 In the spring of this year the Protestants of Paris 
 were cruelly entrapped. They had been repeatedly 
 surprised in their assemblies, and visited summarily 
 with barbarous punishments. "Death to the heretics!" 
 is the monotonous refrain of all the edicts of this 
 age. Death was the penalty for speaking against 
 the mass ; death for taking part in Protestant
 
 I S COLIGNY. 
 
 gatherings ; death for distributing the works of the 
 Genevan press. For brief intervals the parliament 
 would relax the persecution, but on the violent 
 denunciation of some preacher the penalties were 
 again enforced ; and yet the number of the Protestants 
 increased day by day. 1 
 
 It was on May 25th of this year (1559) that 
 the delegates of the Protestant churches met in 
 a narrow street of the Faubourg St. Germain, to 
 deliberate on the possibility of holding their first 
 national synod. 2 It was an act of heroism to meet 
 at all, for the life of all present was at the mercy of 
 any spy, and to be burnt alive at the stake was the 
 penalty annexed by law to this offence. We can 
 but be struck with the calmness of their delibera- 
 tions under these circumstances, and the wisdom of 
 their decisions. The president was a young pastor, 
 Francois Morel, aged twenty-two. In four days 
 they traced the grand lines of their confession of 
 
 1 The government was sometimes alarmed at the effect 
 produced by the public executions, and began to strangle the 
 prisoners secretly in their cells, as Philip II. was about to do 
 in Spain. Our readers should note among many other trials 
 of the period that of Gaspard de Heu, Seigneur du Buy, for- 
 merly sheriff of Metz ; a friend to France, but a Protestant. 
 He was denounced by the Cardinal of Lorraine. He professed 
 himself willing to die with Christ, but not with the holy Church. 
 He was strangled in the Castle of Vincennes while repeating 
 the Apostles' Creed; and the document adds, "This done, 
 we caused the said executioner of justice to retire secretly, 
 and forbade him and his valet to tell or reveal anything of the 
 said execution" (Bulletin de la Societed* hist, du prot.fran- 
 caz's, vol. Ixxv., p. 164). Gaspard de Heu was brother-in-law 
 to the famous La Renaudie, who, as we shall see, did not 
 forget what had happened. 
 
 2 Only ten churches were represented beside the Church of 
 Paris, so dangerous were the times.
 
 EMBASSY OF THE DUKE OF AL VA. 1 5 I 
 
 faith ; the same confession which already, for more 
 than twenty-five years, their martyrs had repeated 
 before their judges, and which they held with a unity 
 of faith which no cross-questioning could baffle. In 
 the same conference the bases of ecclesiastical disci- 
 pline were settled. The laity that is, all Christian 
 people were guaranteed their rights in the Church. 
 But side by side with the great principles which 
 have formed the strength of Protestantism from its 
 very beginning, we trace the mistakes of the age, 
 especially in relation to religious liberty. The sword 
 of the magistrate was still held to be a lawful weapon 
 in defence of the truth. 
 
 Immediately after this assembly of the proscribed 
 religionists, Paris hailed the arrival of a deputation 
 sent by Philip II., and headed by the Duke of Alva, 
 who came in the name of the King of Spain to 
 marry Elizabeth of France, daughter of Henry II. 
 The princes of the house of Lorraine went to meet 
 him, and. there were splendid festivities in honour of 
 the occasion. Among the envoys of the Spanish 
 monarch was a young lord, whose valour had been 
 remarked at St. Quentin, William of Nassau, Prince 
 of Orange. He himself afterwards narrated an inci- 
 dent which happened at this time, which made a 
 profound impression on his life. Going one day 
 with Henry II. to the chase, the king taking him 
 for a good Catholic (as indeed he was at this timej, 
 began to unfold to him " the real designs of the 
 King of Spain and the Duke of Alva." These designs 
 aimed at nothing less than the complete extermina- 
 tion of all those suspected of the religion in France 
 and throughout all Christendom. " I confess," adds
 
 152 COLIC NY. 
 
 the prince, " that I was greatly moved with pity and 
 compassion towards so many good people all devoted 
 to slaughter, and generally towards this whole country, 
 to which I owed so much, and into which they are 
 seeking to introduce an Inquisition worse and more 
 cruel than that of Spain. . . . Seeing, I say, these 
 things, I confess that from this time I set myself in 
 good earnest to help to hunt out these vermin of 
 Spaniards from this country." 1 
 
 It was then at the same time, and under the 
 influence of the same feelings excited by the san- 
 guinary projects of Philip and the Guises, that William 
 of Orange and Coligny, without as yet knowing each 
 other, both formed the determination to join the 
 Protestant party. 
 
 Henry II., who was always weak-minded, fell 
 more and more under the influence of the Cardinal 
 of Lorraine. He was angry with parliament for its 
 occasional indulgence towards the Calvinists. There 
 were in the parliament three distinct parties, diverging 
 more and more from each other. There were, first, 
 the Catholic fanatics, like the first president, Gilles 
 Lemaistre, who regarded heresy as a crime worthy 
 of death. Then there was a moderate or political 
 party, as it began to be called, which believed in the 
 possible co-existence of two religions in the kingdom ; 
 lastly, there were the Protestants, some of whom 
 had declared themselves, like the famous Anne du 
 Bourg. 
 
 One of the parliamentary chambers that of La 
 Tournelle had commuted a sentence of death passed 
 
 1 Apology of William IX., Prince of Orange, in La Pize 
 ( Tableau de V histoire des princes d' Orange, p. 485).
 
 THE " MERCURIALE." 153 
 
 upon three of the reformed faith, into banishment. 
 As this chamber comprised eminent judges, such as 
 Seguier and Harlay, the king's attorney resolved 
 to convoke the Mercuriale, or Assembly of Remon- 
 strance, for the last Wednesday in April. In this 
 way the king's advisers would be obliged to give their 
 opinion on the question of "the religion." Some had 
 the courage to speak of reform and of the necessity 
 of calling a general council. Hereupon arose violent 
 protestations from Lemaistre, President Minard, and 
 others. After the meeting broke up, Lemaistre and 
 Minard went further ; they went to the king and 
 besought him to interfere. The Cardinal of Lorraine, 
 who had planned all this campaign, joined his 
 entreaties to theirs. " Yes, sire," he said, " come to 
 the parliament, -if only to show the King of Spain 
 that you are firm in the faith." He even ventured 
 to advise the king to take advantage of the presence 
 of the Duke of Alva, and of the great lords who had 
 assembled to witness the marriage of his daughter, 
 to make an example by executing half-a-dozen 
 Lutheran councillors. 1 
 
 On the I 5th of June, Henry II., yielding to these 
 detestable counsels, repaired to the Augustins, where 
 the parliament was sitting, the Palais de Justice 
 being occupied at the time by the workmen who 
 were preparing it for the marriage celebrations. He 
 commanded his attorney-general to pronounce the 
 Mercuriale against the renegade councillors. The 
 first president, Lemaistre, then spoke of the piety of 
 
 1 This fact is attested by Marshal de Vielleville (Memozres, 
 Book VII.), who in vain endeavoured to dissuade Henry from 
 going to the parliament.
 
 1 54 COLIC NY. 
 
 Philip Augustus, who had had six hundred Albigenses 
 burned in one day. But these threats did not intimi- 
 date some of the offenders, who gave proof that day 
 of their heroic courage. These brave men were 
 Claude Viol, Dufaur, and foremost of all, Anne du 
 Bourg, who calmly defended the Lutherans, paying 
 no heed to the storm of anger aroused by his words. 
 He pointed to the vices and crimes which went 
 unpunished day by day, and showed that the Protes- 
 tants had been no law-breakers nor disturbers of the 
 peace ; that what they demanded was the reformation 
 of the Church according to the law of God, and he 
 concluded, "It is no small thing to condemn those 
 who in the very midst of the flames call upon the 
 name of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 The king, made furious, ordered Anne de Mont- 
 morency, the Constable, to arrest Anne du Bourg 
 and four of his brave colleagues on the spot. The 
 Constable entrusted the work to Montgomery, who 
 afterwards became so prominent a leader of the 
 Huguenots. 
 
 These councillors were thrown into prison. Four 
 days later the king sent letters patent from Ecouen, 
 commanding the judges to deal with them after the 
 utmost rigour of the laws against heretics. On the 
 24th of June, at the instigation of the pope, Paul IV., 
 he made a proposal, through Montmorency, to the 
 Duke of Alva, to come to an understanding with 
 Philip II. for the destruction of Geneva, "that sink 
 of corruption." 1 
 
 On June 29th, in a tournament given on the occa- 
 
 1 Letter from the Duke of Alva to Philip II., published by 
 M. Mignet in the Journal des Savans, 1837, p. 171.
 
 DEATH OF HENRY II. 155 
 
 sion of the marriage, he was wounded by Mont- 
 gomery's lance, which pierced through his visor 
 right into the brain. D'Aubigne says that as he 
 was being carried to the Hotel des Tournelles, he 
 expressed his regret for having persecuted so many 
 good people. 1 
 
 On the 1 8th of July he died. Coligny was one 
 of the lords who watched over his mortal remains. 
 " And finally there happened unwittingly a very 
 remarkable thing, namely, that in -decorating his bed 
 of state, after the fashion of deceased kings, they 
 hung over it a rich tapestry containing the history 
 of the conversion of St. Paul, with these words in- 
 scribed in large letters : ' Saul, Saul, why persecutest 
 thou me ? ' The which was seen and remarked by 
 so many that the Constable, who had charge of the 
 body, on being told of it, caused it to be removed, 
 and another piece of tapestry to be placed in its 
 stead." 2 
 
 1 Histoire universelle, vol. i., book iii. 
 
 2 Theodore Beza, Histoire eccles. , edition 1883, p. 226.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Accession of Francis II. The Bourbons and the Constable set aside. 
 Close alliance of the Guises with Philip II. Intervention of Coligny 
 on behalf of the Reformed religion in Paris. Assemblies of La 
 Vendome and La Ferte. 
 
 HT^HE unexpected death of Henry II. left the reins 
 of government in the hands of a youth of 
 sixteen, Francis II. He was entirely under the 
 dominion of the Guises, who ruled over him through 
 his young queen, their niece, the fascinating Mary 
 Stuart. But while this alliance had brought them 
 very near the throne, it could not cancel the claims of 
 the true princes of the blood, that is to say, of the 
 Bourbons. It was at once evident that there would 
 be a sharp struggle for power between them and the 
 Lorraines. 
 
 Ever since the revolt of the famous Constable 
 Charles, the Bourbons had been suspected by the 
 Valois. Henry II., following in the steps of Francis I., 
 had systematically excluded them from all high offices. 
 They were at this time represented by three princes : 
 Antoine, who five years before had been raised to 
 the throne of Navarre by his marriage with Jeanne 
 d'Albret ; and his two brothers, Charles, the Cardinal, 
 who was so ardent a Catholic that he subordinated
 
 FRANCIS II. AND THE GUISES. 1 57 
 
 everything else to his religion, and who, after serving 
 the Guises, died as king of the League ; and Louis, 
 Prince of Cond6, at this time in all the fervour of 
 youth, and already famous for his heroism at Metz, 
 Renty, St. Quentin, Calais, and Thionville. It began 
 to be rumoured that Antoine and Louis had joined 
 " the religion." The report was true, but the issue 
 was cruelly to belie the high hopes which the French 
 Calvinists based upon it. Antoine was so unstable 
 and pliant that he was incapable of any stedfast 
 course of action. He became a convert to Protes- 
 tantism before his brave partner in life; but while 
 Jeanne d'Albret served the cause with her whole 
 soul, her lord betrayed it shamefully. Conde had 
 stronger convictions, a chivalrous character, and 
 heroic aspirations. But his natural levity often let 
 him be carried away by any access of passion, and 
 made him fail of his true destiny. 
 
 As soon as the Guises came into power with 
 Francis II., the Constable Montmorency ought to 
 have allied himself with the Bourbon princes. But 
 there were old causes of estrangement between them. 
 Languedoc, which formerly belonged to Navarre, had 
 been taken away by Henry II., who had given the 
 government of it to Montmorency ; and quite 
 recently the Constable, who was the chief negotiator 
 of the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, had made no sti- 
 pulation for the restoration to France of the portion of 
 Navarre still held by Spain. Moreover, if the princes, 
 whether from policy or from conviction, or through 
 the influence of their wives, were inclining to " the 
 religion," the Constable, then almost a septuagenarian, 
 was still a strong Catholic, and was animated by so
 
 158 COLIGNY 
 
 blind a hatred of the innovators that he became in 
 the end the ally of the house of Lorraine. 
 
 On the death of Henry II., however, the Constable 
 found himself in no enviable position. He whom 
 the late king was wont to call his compeer, saw the 
 two brothers Lorraine at once mount guard over 
 Francis II., " suffering no one to come near his person, 
 still less to speak to him, unless in the presence of 
 one of them ; and they kept so close a watch that they 
 never let him out of their sight." l The old Constable, 
 however, so long accustomed to changes at court, 
 bore himself so discreetly, that he contrived to gain 
 honour from that which was planned for his dis- 
 honour. A week after the king's death, " having 
 dined early, he made an appointment with his sons 
 and his nephews the Chatillons, and unexpectedly 
 presented himself at the Louvre so as to meet Francis 
 as he was coming away from his dinner. The Guises 
 had read Francis his lesson. The Constable wishing 
 to obtain from the king a word confirming him in his 
 dignities, spoke of his past fidelity and of the ser- 
 vices rendered by his nephews, hoping that the king 
 would be pleased to retain them in their offices. " As 
 for himself . . ." Here Francis " stopped him short, 
 saying that he granted his request ; and principally 
 with regard to the Admiral de Chatillon, of whom he 
 hoped to make use. That as to the Constable him- 
 self, he confirmed him in his estates, and desired that 
 he should enjoy his pensions during his life." But 
 
 1 La Planche. The reader should refer to the whole scene 
 which follows as described by La Planche. There could not be 
 a racier account of this court comedy. St. Simon gives us 
 nothing better than this.
 
 DISMISSAL OF THE CONSTABLE. 1 59 
 
 just as the Constable was beginning to breathe again, 
 the king added that desiring to give him rest in his 
 old age, he had decided to divide the principal offices 
 of state between his two uncles, the Guises ; " that he 
 had given to one the charge of the finances and of 
 affairs of state, and to the other the command in the 
 war department ;" so that if the Constable desired 
 rest he could take it ; but that he would be always 
 welcome when he liked to take his place in the 
 Council. The affront was hard to bear, but Mont- 
 morency immediately changed his front, declaring that 
 he had come for the very purpose of being released 
 from the offices he held, and then added : " As to 
 your Majesty's good pleasure to retain me in your 
 council, I pray you to have me excused, since for two 
 reasons it cannot be. In the first place I could not 
 be placed under those whom I have always com- 
 manded ; and second, being full of years and almost 
 in my dotage (so they say), my counsel could be of 
 little or no avail." 
 
 After thus solacing his wounded pride, Mont- 
 morency went to Catherine, from whom he might 
 hope for a more favourable reception, especially 
 as in the past he had often maintained her cause. 
 He was fond of reminding her that he had brought 
 about her marriage, and had saved her from being 
 repudiated on the ground of sterility. Catherine had 
 been falsely told by the Guises, that immediately 
 after the death of Henry, the Constable had written 
 to the King of Navarre summoning him, and this had 
 irritated her. She was angry with him too for having 
 been the intimate friend and compeer of the late king. 
 In order to justify her coldness, La Planche says she
 
 160 COLIGNY. 
 
 referred to some trifling things that the Constable 
 had said about her in conversation ; at length she 
 assumed so distant a manner that the Constable 
 decided to retire to his estates and wait for better 
 days. 
 
 The Guises thus remained masters of the young 
 king, and Theodore Beza was not exaggerating when, 
 writing to Bullinger, September I2th, 1559, he said: 
 " The Guises have so parcelled out the power between 
 them, that they have left the king nothing more than 
 the name." 
 
 It began to be remarked, moreover, that the 
 partisans of the Lorraines insisted upon the fact 
 that they were descended from Charlemagne by 
 their wives, and that consequently they had an 
 eventual claim on the throne. 
 
 And now we note a change in the attitude of the 
 Guises, the importance of which historians have 
 sometimes failed to observe. It cannot be denied 
 that hitherto they had all, and especially the Duke, 
 been strong patriots, and resolutely opposed to Spain. 
 But in 1559 this attitude suddenly changed, and 
 their great aim seemed to be to secure the favour of 
 Philip II. To those who look below the surface 
 this is easily explained by the close alliance between 
 the Cardinal of Lorraine and Granvelle. It was 
 Granvelle who directed the attention of the Guises 
 to the necessity of exterminating heresy, and who 
 urged them to put themselves boldly at the head 
 of the Catholic party, and to lean henceforth on 
 Spain. In no other way can we understand how 
 it was that as soon as ever the Guises came into 
 power, they tendered to Philip II. the homage of
 
 PHILIP II. l6l 
 
 veritable vassals. The Cardinal writes to Philip in 
 the month of August, that he " is prepared to serve 
 him with no less affection than the King of France;" 
 and the Duke expresses himself in equally servile 
 terms. 1 Philip II. accepts the honour conferred on 
 him, and writes to Francis II. "that he bears him 
 such affection, that he declares himself tutor and 
 protector of him and of his kingdom ; as also of his 
 affairs, which he holds in no less consideration than 
 his own." As we read these words we see how 
 completely, under the influence of Granvelle and of 
 the Cardinal, everything had changed since the days 
 of Metz and of St. Quentin. 
 
 The year 1559 marks then a decided change in 
 the attitude of France. Hitherto her policy had 
 been anti-Spanish ; henceforth it will be anti-Pro- 
 testant Charles V. was her enemy ; Philip II. 
 becomes her adviser. From the time that Granvelle 
 and the Cardinal of Lorraine met and understood 
 each other, an alliance was entered into between 
 them, and Coligny truly says upon his deathbed 
 that nothing is done in the counsels of France of 
 which the King of Spain is not at once apprised. 
 
 In the depths of the Escurial the sinister son of 
 Charles V. is silently weaving the web in which he 
 hopes to entangle all Europe. That which his father 
 failed to do by force of arms, he will effect by diplo- 
 macy. Historians have sometimes spoken of Philip's 
 political genius. Where do we see it ? He misread 
 his age, and led Spain on a downward path from 
 
 1 See the text of these two letters in Delaborde (vol. i., 
 P- 387)- 
 
 1 1
 
 1 62 COLIGNY. 
 
 which she has never been able to retrace her steps. 
 Hating the light of day, eschewing public discussion 
 as he shunned the battle-field, Philip wrought his 
 works of darkness in the gloomy solitude of his 
 palace-prison. Here rigid etiquette barred the access 
 to any new ideas. No free and honest words could 
 vibrate in that heavy air. But every day, and almost 
 every hour, couriers arrived, bringing the reports of 
 the emissaries whom he had scattered all over Europe. 
 Never was espionage practised on so vast a scale. 
 Philip trusted no one. In conference with his council, 
 he weighed every word. He had the timidity of 
 pride which feared to compromise itself by betraying 
 the hesitation and indecision of his mind. He never 
 directly contradicted anyone, but would seem to 
 approve what was said, and the next morning the ill- 
 fated speaker would learn that the king had doomed 
 him to death. 
 
 With every one of his emissaries was a secret 
 agent, whose duty it was to keep watch over the 
 emissary. Indefatigable and slow, the king would 
 collate and compare all the letters of his messengers. 
 He himself dictated the answers, couched in language 
 full of reticence and double entendre. He never 
 pledged himself to anything without reserving a way 
 of escape, concealing a snare under a promise, betray- 
 ing his friends themselves, and he was forced, in order 
 to thread his way through this labyrinth, to note in 
 the margin of the minute of such and such a letter, 
 that the thing it affirms is false, thus registering his 
 lies and perfidies with a cynical candour more frightful 
 than the fiercest access of rage and hatred. Indeed 
 Philip was never in a passion. In the portrait of him
 
 GRANVELLE AND PERREN07 DE CHANTONNAY. 163 
 
 by Titian, the cold dry glance of his eye only too 
 clearly reveals his soul. Sallow and cold, this Spaniard 
 is as phlegmatic as a Dutchman. He has inherited 
 from his father an inflexible belief in his rights as 
 sovereign, which make him supreme even over the 
 pope himself. He has the haughty pride of his 
 race, and the hard fanaticism which nothing softens. 
 Without remorse he gives the order for assassination ; 
 without a quiver of emotion he delivers to the torture 
 the man whom but a day before he called his friend. 
 In all his voluminous correspondence this man; who 
 caused so much suffering and instigated to such fearful 
 tortures, utters no single word of pity or regret. 
 
 Granvelle was throughout his chosen counsellor, 
 and Granvelle, in order to keep himself the better 
 informed of all that was going on in France, had 
 sent his own brother, Perrenot de Chantonnay, as 
 ambassador to Paris. These two brothers were 
 worthy of each other, and the ill they wrought to 
 France cannot be measured. Born on the frontier, 
 using French as their native tongue, possessing all 
 the subtlety of the Franche-Comtois, and concealing 
 it under an affectation of brusqueness, they served 
 the purposes of Philip better than any true Spaniards 
 could have done. Spaniards, by their pride and 
 Castilian obstinacy, were prone to show a blind per- 
 sistency in any cause they took up. But these semi- 
 Frenchmen knew how to accommodate themselves to 
 circumstances, and to supplement force by finesse. 
 Chantonnay, as soon as ever he was settled in Paris, 
 began to work on the noblesse, and to create a 
 Spanish party, thus secretly inaugurating that system 
 of corruption which thirty years later led all the
 
 1 64 COLIGNY. 
 
 chiefs of the League to sell themselves to Philip, and 
 to offer to him the very crown of France. 
 
 The new attitude of the Guises could not fail to 
 arouse national resentment. Antoine de Navarre 
 arrived at Vendome, and summoned thither his 
 brother, the Prince of Conde", the Chatillons, the 
 Count de la Rochefoucauld, the Vidame of Chartres, 
 Antoine de Croy (afterwards Conde's nephew), and 
 other lords attached to Montmorency's party. The 
 meeting was a very excited one. Conde" and the 
 Vidame urged an instant appeal to arms, to deliver 
 the king from the tyranny of the Lorraines. Coligny 
 feared anything that might look like a revolt. He 
 recommended that they should try the effect of grave 
 remonstrances and representations addressed to the 
 king and the queen-mother. Antoine de Navarre was 
 commissioned, as a prince of the blood, to demand 
 for himself and his brother a share in the direction of 
 affairs, and a position worthy of their rank. This wise 
 project was unhappily rendered abortive by the incapa- 
 city and cowardice of the husband of Jeanne d'Albret. 
 
 Coligny and his nephew Conde decided at the 
 same time to interpose, for the first time, on behalf of 
 the Protestants. 
 
 The Church of Paris, which was suffering cruelly 
 from persecution, had decided to appeal to the 
 Admiral and to his eldest sister, Madame de Roye, 
 mother-in-law to Conde. On their advice, the Church 
 addressed a letter direct to Catherine. In this letter 
 it was urged that " during the life of the late king, 
 Henry II., and for a long time, they had hoped much 
 from her gentleness and benignity, insomuch that 
 beside the prayers ordinarily offered for the king's
 
 THE PROTESTANTS APPEAL TO CATHERINE. 165 
 
 welfare, they prayed God continually that it might 
 please Him so to strengthen her in spirit that she 
 might be a second Esther ;" that now they addressed 
 themselves to her and prayed her " not to permit 
 this new reign to be sullied with the innocent blood, 
 which had so cried aloud to God that His anger was 
 manifestly kindled ; and that it could only be ap- 
 peased by giving respite to those who were suffering 
 wrongfully, and by hearing them in their own 
 defence." Catherine was pleased that the Protestants 
 had addressed themselves to her, for she felt that this 
 was a party which she might, as La Planche says, 
 gain to her side in any pressing extremity. 
 
 At the same time (August 26th) she received a 
 letter from a gentleman, named Villemadon; formerly 
 attached to the service of Queen Marguerite of 
 Navarre, and this letter made some impression upon 
 her. 1 He reminded her how once, when she was 
 forsaken by the late king, she had turned to God, 
 reading His Word, and singing with great delight 
 the Psalms translated into French verse, and how 
 she had chosen as her own, Psalm cxli. (although it 
 was not Marot's translation), 2 which ran thus : 
 
 " Vers 1'Eternel des oppresses le pere, 
 Je m'en irai, lui montrant 1'impropere 3 
 Que Ton me fait, et lui ferai priere 
 A haute voix, qu'il ne jette en arriere 
 Mes piteux cris, car en lui seul j'espere." 
 
 1 This is given in the collection of documents published in 
 the seventeenth century under the title, Memoires de Conde. 
 
 * We must note these words in passing. Marot was the 
 fashionable poet. To quote or sing Marot would not imply 
 anything ; but to sing a psalm which was not translated by 
 Marot was a much more serious thing, and a sign of inclining 
 towards heresy. 
 
 3 Improper e affront, annoyance ; English improper.
 
 1 66 COLIGNY. 
 
 " Your Majesty," said Villemadon, "must remember 
 how God heard your cry and gave you children." 
 Since then everything was changed. The Cardinal 
 of Lorraine had corrupted the court, and now France 
 was given over to the enemies of God. The only 
 succour possible must be looked for from the princes 
 of the blood, and he entreated her Majesty " to bring 
 up her children in the way of the good king Josiah." 
 
 This mention of the princes of the blood made 
 Catherine think. She wondered whether the letter 
 had been written at their instigation. She resolved 
 then to use artifice, "and promised the Prince of 
 Conde, his mother-in-law, and the Admiral, that she 
 would put a stop to the persecution on condition 
 that the Protestants did not hold meetings, and that 
 they all lived quietly and without creating scandal." 
 
 She went further, and taking aside her friend, 
 Mademoiselle de Montpensier, whom she knew to 
 belong to the reformed party, she pretended that 
 she was compelled, to her great regret, to yield to 
 the pressure of the Guises, complained of the con- 
 tempt in which she was held, and promised that in 
 time she would show " all favour to the poor per- 
 secuted ones." 
 
 Yet the weeks rolled by, and there was no sign 
 that the queen-mother meant to keep her promises. 
 Persecution raged with unabated severity, and it was 
 even rumoured that Anne du Bourg was soon to 
 be led to the stake. Preparations were in pro- 
 gress for the consecration of the young king, and 
 this might possibly be made the occasion for 
 measures of clemency. The Church addressed 
 another letter to the queen-mother. She was
 
 THE PROTESTANTS THREATEN. l6/ 
 
 reminded that in accordance with her desire that 
 they should give no room for scandal, they had met 
 in such small numbers as scarcely to be noticed, lest 
 they should give occasion to their enemies to direct 
 a fresh attack upon them ; but they saw no result 
 from the queen's promises. The letter was couched 
 in sufficiently bold terms. It was announced that 
 if Du Bourg was executed, "there would be great 
 danger that men, pressed by too much violence, might 
 be like the waters of a reservoir, breaking down its 
 banks and rushing over the neighbouring lands, carry- 
 ing ruin and desolation with them." Not that they 
 themselves would ever have counselled revolt, but 
 there were many who did not recognise the discipline 
 of their Church, who yet could no longer endure 
 the abuses to which they were subject, and that 
 " they had thought it well to warn her Majesty, lest 
 if any mischief came she should think it proceeded 
 from them." 
 
 This kind of threatening greatly irritated Catherine. 
 She spoke of the letter as " very sharp and hard," 
 and added : " They threaten me thinking to make 
 me afraid, but they will find they are not yet 
 where they think they are." Softening, however, 
 she said " she understood nothing of this doctrine," 
 and that if some weeks before she had been " moved 
 to wish them well, it was rather from pity and the 
 compassion natural to woman, than from being 
 instructed or informed if their doctrine were true or 
 false. For when she thought of these poor people 
 being thus cruelly murdered, burned, and tortured, 
 not for larceny, robbery, or brigandage, but simply 
 for holding their opinions, and being ready to go to
 
 1 68 COLIGNY. 
 
 death for them as joyfully as to a wedding, she was 
 inclined to believe that there must be something 
 here passing natural reason." 
 
 The Protestants believing Catherine to be sincere 
 in what she said, were encouraged to make another 
 appeal to her, and this time the Admiral undertook 
 to be -their spokesman. Since Catherine had been 
 left a widow, he, seeing her often in great distress, 
 had, among other counsels, admonished her to betake 
 herself to prayer, and to read the Word of God, 
 where she would find sure consolation, without 
 troubling herself about the doctrines of monks and 
 doctors of the Romish Church, who, by their sophis- 
 tries, plunged souls into despair instead of comforting 
 them. He had told her that in order to receive 
 this consolation she should communicate with some 
 minister of the Reformed Church, and that if she 
 thought well he would send her one from the Church 
 of Paris, who would content her well, and that her 
 Majesty would then have a better opinion of the 
 Protestants than before. The queen-mother feigned 
 to approve of this proposal, and begged him to do 
 as he said, assuring him that she would suffer no 
 harm to happen to any one whom Coligny sent. 
 Indeed, from the demeanour of the queen it would 
 seem that she had a singular desire for this interview. 1 
 
 Madame de Roye, who was at Villiers-Cotterets, 
 where the Court was at this time, sent a messenger 
 on horseback to carry this great news to the Church 
 in Paris. 
 
 1 Opera Calvinii, vol. xvii., p. 632. M. Athanase Coquerel 
 (fils) has given the translation in his Histoire de Veglise 
 reformee de Paris.
 
 CHANDIEUSENT TO MEET THE QUEEN-MOTHER. 
 
 We know from a Latin letter which Francois 
 Morel, one of the pastors of that Church, addressed 
 to Calvin (September I ith), that the Consistory was at 
 once convoked to deliberate on this important ques- 
 tion. Madame de Roye begged that they would send 
 Laroche-Chandieu, one of their most able ministers, 
 to the queen. " Let her have talk and conversation 
 with our Chandieu," she said, "and it is to be hoped 
 she will change her opinion and become favourable 
 to us." The pros and cons were debated for a long 
 time. Dare they trust the queen ? Would it not 
 be denouncing Chandieu, and exposing him to cer- 
 tain death ? On the other hand Madame de Roye 
 entreated that they would not let slip such an oppor- 
 tunity. Finally Chandieu settled the question himself, 
 declaring that he was ready to depart. They prayed 
 God to keep and direct him. His departure left his 
 friends in terrible anxiety. 
 
 It was the very time of the king's consecration. 
 The queen-mother had just gone to Rheims, and 
 had left word that Chandieu would find her in a 
 certain village in the environs, and that she would 
 see him without any one's suspecting anything. He 
 went to the place appointed, remained a whole day, 
 and received no message. On her return to Paris, 
 Catherine refused to see him. From this time the 
 Protestants knew that they had nothing to hope for 
 from her. 
 
 They could place no more dependence on Antoine 
 de Navarre. He had come to the court to fulfil the 
 mission with which he had been entrusted by the 
 Assembly at Vendome. But hardly had he arrived 
 when he let himself be overruled by Catherine's
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 honeyed speech, and even submitted to the affronts 
 which the Guises heaped upon him, without seeming 
 to feel his dignity wounded. No one was sent to 
 meet him. When he arrived at St. Germain he 
 found his baggage in the courtyard. No apartment 
 had been prepared for him, and he had to accept 
 the hospitality of Marshal St. Andr6, which was 
 offered with a very bad grace. He was treated like 
 a play-king. And finally, in order to get rid of him, 
 he was entrusted with the mission of conducting 
 Elizabeth, the young wife of Philip II., to the frontier 
 of Spain. 
 
 This moral abdication of Antoine, which Calvin 
 in his correspondence characterises as shameful 
 treason, 1 made Condi the real leader of the party 
 of resistance. Hence, after his brother's departure, 
 Conde summoned to the Castle of La Ferte most 
 of the lords who had already taken part in the 
 Assembly at Vendome. There was the same 
 division of opinion, and it was concluded that for 
 the present a recourse to arms was not feasible. 
 Coligny then retired to Chatillon, where he was 
 joined by his brother Odet. 
 
 1 " Quum ejus ignavia nihil fuerit turpius, accessit tandem et 
 proditio." {Calvin to Peter Martyr Vermigli, Oct. 4th, 1559.)
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Coligny takes part for the first time in the Reformed service. His views 
 on the Lord's Supper. Terrible persecution of the Reformed 
 Church in Paris. Trial and torture of the Councillor Anne du 
 Bourg. Coligny resigns the government of Picardy. 
 
 THE close of the year 1559, at which we have 
 now arrived, may be considered as the time 
 when Coligny made his first public avowal of ad- 
 herence to the reformed religion. His earliest bio- 
 grapher says that his courageous wife, Charlotte de 
 Laval, took the initiative in this great decision. He 
 says, "The Admiral, being so often and affectionately 
 pressed by her on the subject, resolved to speak to 
 her once earnestly about it, which he did at great 
 length, showing her how for many years he had 
 never heard or seen, whether in Germany or France, 
 of any who had made an open profession of " the 
 religion " without being overwhelmed with calamities 
 and woes. That, by the edicts of the kings Francis I. 
 and Henry II., which were rigidly observed by the 
 Parliament, those who were convicted of " the re- 
 ligion " were burned alive by slow fires in the public 
 streets, and their goods confiscated to the king. 
 Nevertheless, if she was prepared for her part with 
 so much confidence to accept the conditions common
 
 I 7 2 COLIGNY. 
 
 to all who embraced " the religion," he would not 
 be lacking in his duty. Her reply was that these 
 conditions were no other than the Church of God 
 had been subject to in all ages, and she doubted not 
 they would so remain to the end of the world. Where- 
 fore having pledged their faith one to the other, the 
 Admiral began little by little to attempt by pious 
 conversation to bring his household and friends to 
 the knowledge of God, etc. 1 
 
 One question of doctrine had somewhat stumbled 
 Coligny on the threshold of the Reformed commu- 
 nion. He had abandoned the dogma of transub- 
 stantiation, on which for a long time he had held 
 discussions with the most learned pastors of the 
 Churches of France (says the same writer). But he 
 inclined to believe with Luther in " the presence of 
 the body of Christ," that is to say, " His flesh, bones, 
 and blood, were in a manner mingled with the bread 
 and wine." One day, being present at a preaching 
 held secretly in a place called Vatteville, and at 
 which the Lord's Supper was to be observed, " he 
 asked the company of the faithful not to be offended 
 at his infirmity ; but to pray God for him, and 
 requested the minister to speak with a little more 
 clearness on the mystery of the Lord's Supper." 
 The minister then set forth the Calvinist doctrine, 
 according to which there are in the Lord's Supper 
 two elements, the one terrestrial, the other spiritual. 
 In the terrestrial element no change takes place. 
 The bread and the wine remain as they were. But 
 
 1 Vita Gasparis Colinii, 1575, p. 221 seq. We generally 
 quote from the translation made in the i7th century, which re- 
 produces very accurately the simplicity of the Latin text.
 
 CO LIG NY OPENLY EMBRACES THE RELIGION. 1/3 
 
 the faithful believer partakes of the spiritual body of 
 Jesus Christ, "crucified, risen, and glorified." The 
 minister added : " St. Augustine has well said that 
 to eat of the bread which perisheth not, but endureth 
 unto everlasting life, is to believe in Christ. Where- 
 fore," said he, " preparest thou thy teeth and thy 
 stomach ? believe and thou shalt have eaten. Prepare 
 not the throat but the heart." The Admiral, instructed 
 by these words, first of all rendered thanks to God 
 and to the whole Church, and from this time was 
 fully minded to partake of this sacred and holy 
 mystery on the first occasion. This being divulged 
 throughout France, it is impossible to say what joy 
 and consolation the churches received therefrom. 
 
 In order to appreciate the heroism of the decision 
 so simply arrived at by the Admiral and his wife, 
 we must call to mind the persecution which at this 
 time was raging with new fury through the whole of 
 France. 
 
 In spite of the fine promises made by Catherine 
 to Madame de Roye, the government was putting 
 the edicts into force with remorseless severity. It 
 was needful indeed for the authorities to look twice 
 before striking a blow at Protestants of high rank, 
 because they were anxious to make out that heresy 
 gathered its disciples only among the common 
 people, the working classes. 
 
 This was no doubt true at the beginning. No- 
 thing could be more erroneous than to attribute to 
 the French noblesse the first rapid advance of the 
 Reformation in France. For one or two nobles 
 mentioned in Crespin's martyrology, we find thou- 
 sands of the common people. But as a very Catholic
 
 174 COLIGNY. 
 
 historian, Florimond de Remond, has remarked, 
 those who joined the Reformation were " mainly 
 painters, clockmakers, picture dealers, jewellers, book- 
 binders, printers and others, who in their trade have 
 some nobleness of spirit." 1 
 
 In 1549 special chambers had been created in the 
 parliaments for crimes of heresy, " for its speedier 
 despatch." In 1551 Chateaubriant's edict had 
 referred these crimes to the secular tribunals as well 
 as to the ecclesiastical judges ; absolved by the one, 
 they could be condemned by the other. The sen- 
 tences were to be executed without appeal. The 
 law offered the most shameless baits to greed ; those 
 who denounced heretics were to have a third of the 
 possessions of their victims. If the accused were 
 exiled, their property was sequestrated to the king. 
 Diane de Poitiers owed a large part of her immense 
 fortune to these confiscations. The Cardinal of 
 Lorraine had organised a vast system of espionage, 
 for the purpose of discovering the secret assemblies 
 of the Reformed. Wretches were found to pretend 
 that shameful deeds were done in them. The igno- 
 rant populace was only too ready to believe it. There 
 was no crime which was not laid to the charge of 
 the heretics. In times of public danger they were 
 made the victims. It was so after the defeat of St. 
 Quentin. 
 
 The Protestants were easily recognised by certain 
 outward signs, the simplicity of their dress, their 
 hats without plumes, their doublets of sombre colours. 
 It was observed, too, that they never swore. " Surely 
 
 1 Florimond de Remond, Hist, de /' ' heresie de ce sieclc, 
 vol. vii., p. 931.
 
 PROTESTANT SA TIRE. 
 
 or verily was their ordinary oath." 1 But the name 
 of the Lord was ever on their lips. Their austerity 
 gave offence, and was set down as hyppcrisy ; so 
 was their contempt of the Churcti's commandments. 
 Men jeered at their grave demeanour, mimicked 
 their tones and biblical expressions. The Reformed 
 retaliated by ridiculing the monks and their crass 
 ignorance, the luxury of the prelates and their irre- 
 gular lives, the Latin of the Church, the worship of 
 saints and relics. This was indeed a well-worn 
 theme from the middle ages ; but that which only 
 excited a laugh in the pages of Rabelais, became a 
 crime on the lips of the Reformed. Their pamphlets 
 circulated everywhere, and were greedily read by 
 their adversaries themselves, to whom it was a bonne 
 bonche to find some great lord or bishop touched up 
 with a vein of irresistible satire. These writings 
 often rose to a rude kind of eloquence, as for ex- 
 ample in Ufcpttrt an tigre de France, aimed at the 
 Cardinal of Lorraine. Hotman, in writing it, had 
 drawn his inspiration from the first of Cicero's 
 Catilines. The Cardinal moved heaven and earth 
 to discover the author, seized the work, and caused 
 the printer, and a poor bookseller who happened to 
 have a copy, to be strangled. 
 
 Anecdotes circulated even more freely than pam- 
 phlets, and introduced a note of gaiety into this 
 concert of violent controversies. Thus at the begin- 
 ning of Lent it was said that the Sorbonne sent two 
 messengers to the Admiral's niece, the Princess of 
 Conde, who was in Paris, to know if she really did 
 
 1 Florimond de Remond, p. 865.
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 not keep the fast. They were to admonish her on 
 the subject, and well note her replies. The mes- 
 sengers were two corpulent doctors. " In the hall 
 which they entered," says La Planche, "there happened 
 to be a gentleman named Sechelles, from Picardy, 
 who liked them just about as much as one likes a 
 thorn in the flesh, for the ill they had done him. 
 They however, not knowing who he was, explained 
 their errand." Se'chelles, at once turning to the 
 princess, said, " Madame, the doctors of the Sorbonne 
 have been afraid you might be short of meat this 
 Lent, and here are two fine fat calves they have 
 sent you." Whereupon " these venerable doctors" 
 took to their heels, to the great diversion of all 
 present. We can imagine how the Court would 
 relish such practical jokes as this. 
 
 But the scenes enacted were far more often tragic. 
 In constant danger of betrayal, no one was sure of 
 the morrow. There were endless devices, says De 
 Thou, for ensnaring the Reformed. Statues of the 
 Virgin and the saints were placed behind gratings 
 at the corners of the streets, and candles or wax 
 tapers were lighted before them. Crowds congre- 
 gated at these wayside shrines, and sang hymns. 
 There was a plate into which the passers-by were 
 expected to drop their offerings. If any one refused 
 to pay or to uncover his head, or tried to slip away, 
 he was denounced as a heretic and arrested. 
 
 Death was the almost certain doom of the heretic, 
 and the prison which preceded it was a living death. 
 The accused was thrown into the damp dungeons of 
 the Chatelet. He was kept in close confinement in 
 a cell without light. The ground of the cell was
 
 THE HUGUENOT MARTYRS. 1 77 
 
 often sloping, so that the unhappy man could neither 
 stand upright nor lie down, but was obliged to hold 
 on by his heels, to save himself from rolling into the 
 mud at the bottom. This was called " La chausse 
 a r/iypocras" There was also the common prison 
 into which were thrown promiscuously nobles and, 
 peasants, men, women, young girls, and the very 
 outcasts of society, all huddled together in a state of 
 filth and wretchedness too horrible to picture. 
 
 From this place they were led to trial ; that is to 
 say, to the torture-chamber. Spies were shut up 
 with the prisoners to listen to their conversation, 
 and try to discover where they held their meetings. 
 These counterfeited the language of the faithful, 
 heaving groans and sighs, and lamenting over their 
 woes. 
 
 In the public trials the accused often seemed to 
 change places with the judges. They would quote 
 Scripture with singular aptness, appealing to the 
 words of Christ and His Apostles, and arguing better 
 than many theologians. Here and there one would 
 denounce the evils of the Court ; as, for instance, 
 the tailor whom Diane de Poitiers attempted to 
 cross- question, and who accused her of infecting the 
 kingdom with her poison. The king was so indig- 
 nant that he meant to witness the man's trial by 
 torture ; but the sufferer fixed upon him a gaze so 
 steadfast, sad, and penetrating, that the king was 
 terrified, and declared he would see no more such 
 scenes. As they were dragged to the stake, the 
 condemned would exhort the crowd, or sing their 
 psalms, the sad or stirring melodies of which moved 
 the hearts of all present. So great was the effect 
 
 12
 
 1 78 COLIC NY. 
 
 produced, that often the executioners were obliged 
 to cut out the tongues of those who were to be 
 burnt. Even then they spoke by look and gesture, 
 their faces sometimes shining with so bright a joy, 
 that the people said with Catherine, " They go to 
 death as to a wedding." 
 
 Such a spectacle was to be presented in the 
 sufferings of Anne du Bourg. There had been some 
 talk of executing him secretly ; but his name was 
 too well known, and they dared not do it. 
 
 Kept a prisoner in the Bastille from the month 
 of April, Anne du Bourg had ample opportunity to 
 save his life by equivocation. But instead of this, 
 he gave a full exposition of his faith, and his con- 
 fession is one of the most interesting monuments of 
 the age. 1 It is given with all the calmness of strong 
 conviction, combined with an exactness of theological 
 knowledge which is surprising in a magistrate. 
 
 This trial moved not Paris alone, but all Protestant 
 nations. The Elector Palatine resolved to interfere, 
 and to ask for Du Bourg, that he might place him 
 in a chair in the University of Heidelberg. The 
 Cardinal of Lorraine felt that he must hasten on 
 matters. On December 2ist, the Parliament con- 
 demned Du Bourg " as an obstinate heretic, to 
 be gibbeted in the Place de Greve, and then cast 
 into the pile of blazing faggots beneath, to be 
 burnt and consumed to ashes." The great magis- 
 trate, after hearing his sentence, prayed God to 
 lorgive his erring judges, and rejoiced for himself 
 that " the day he had so long desired had come." 
 
 1 It is to be found entire in Crespin, and in the article ?n 
 La France firotestante on Anne du Bourg.
 
 DEA TH OF ANNE DU BOURG. 1 79 
 
 Then turning to the councillors, he addressed them 
 in a loud voice, exhorting them to think of their 
 responsibility before God, and to turn to the Lord. 
 He bore himself in the same manner two days later 
 before an immense crowd, who could only be kept 
 back by a large display of the military. As he 
 mounted the scaffold he repeated several times, "My 
 God, forsake me not, lest I forsake Thee !" He 
 addressed the people from the top of the scaffold. 
 The impression produced by his death was immense. 
 One of those who witnessed it, the future historian, 
 Florimond de Remond, then only a student, says, 
 "We burst into tears in our college when we returned 
 from witnessing this execution, and pleaded Du 
 Bourg's cause after his decease, cursing the judges 
 who had wickedly condemned him." His preaching 
 on the scaffold and at the stake did more harm than 
 a hundred ministers could have done. 
 
 Nevertheless the persecution went on with unabated 
 fury. 
 
 At the beginning of January 1560, Coligny came 
 to Blois, where the Court was sitting. He had deter- 
 mined to give in his resignation of the government of 
 Picardy, and to concentrate all his efforts on his duty 
 as Admiral. 1 He had hoped to be able to hand over 
 the government to the Prince of Conde, as was only 
 natural, since Antoine of Navarre, brother to the Prince, 
 had held it for a long time before Coligny. But 
 by the advice of the Guises, this important post was 
 entrusted to Brissac. Coligny retired to Chatillon. 
 
 1 " This act of the Admiral's created much astonishment, 
 inasmuch as it was the habit of the other courtiers to be 
 always asking for post upon post." La Planche.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Conspiracy of Amboise. Coligny is kept in the dark about it. 
 Catherine sends for Coligny to come to her. Edict of March 8th. 
 Cruel Repression instigated by the Guises. Death of Castelnau. 
 
 WE come now to the famous conspiracy of 
 Amboise, which was rather a patriotic than 
 a religious demonstration, and the great object of 
 which was to deliver the young king from the 
 tutelage of the Guises. It has never been known 
 who were its real originators. Conde certainly 
 took an active part in it, and it was no doubt he 
 who was designated by the name of the " chef muet " 
 or dumb leader, whose orders all the conspirators 
 obeyed. We have seen that in the conferences of 
 Vendome and La Ferte, Conde" had declared himself 
 very decidedly in favour of an immediate recourse 
 to arms. But in this case he kept in the back- 
 ground, acting only through his lieutenants, so that 
 he was able afterwards to disavow all knowledge of 
 the affair. The conspirators were not all Calvinists, 
 and d'Aubigne says that Michel de 1'Hospital took 
 part in the enterprise. 1 It seems to have been at 
 
 ! D'Aubigne does not say this without reason, for with this 
 fact was associated a very dramatic episode of his youth. 
 Having retired to Talcy shortly after the massacre of St.
 
 CONSPIRACY OF AM BOISE. 1 8 1 
 
 this time that the name Huguenots began to be used 
 to designate the party, at once political and religious, 
 which entered upon the contest with the Lorraines. 2 
 The apparent leader of the conspiracy was Gode- 
 froy de Barry, seigneur of La Renaudie. The 
 conspirators met at Nantes on February 1st, 1560. 
 La Planche says they took advantage of the fact 
 that the parliament was sitting at the time in 
 Brittany, and had bags full of papers carried by their 
 
 Bartholomew, and having in his possession the original docu- 
 ments of the conspiracy of Amboise, among which was found 
 one paper bearing the signature of V Hospital, he was 
 tempted to hand them over to the Sieur de Talcy, whose 
 daughter he loved. Talcy burned the documents, lest they 
 should burn him. (Me moires, edit. Lalanne, p. 24.) What 
 could these documents be ? Probably a legal opinion de- 
 fending the royal authority against the Guises. It would be 
 impossible to suppose 1' Hospital guilty of a positive act of 
 rebellion. 
 
 3 The name Huguenots appears for the first time officially 
 in a royal edict April 5th, 1561. It was after the conspiracy 
 of Amboise that it began to be used commonly in France. 
 Etienne Pasquier says that, eight or nine years before, he had 
 heard it used in Touraine. M. Soldan says that this name, 
 even under its French form Huguenots, was used in Geneva 
 before 1530, and was the equivalent of the German Eidge- 
 nossen, confederates. (Bulletin de la Soc. d' hist, du prof, 
 francais, 1860, p. 12 and following.) 
 
 The origin of the name has been discussed in numberless 
 dissertations (see Le Bulletin, 1858, p. 287 ; 1859, pp. 13, 
 122, 266, 378; 1860, p. 12; 1862, p. 328; 1876, p. 388). 
 Menage, in his Diet, hist., article "Huguenots," mentions the 
 various etymologies given to it. Setting aside those which 
 are decidedly fanciful, we may mention the following : 
 
 i st. The Protestants assembled at Tours by the gate of 
 King Hugo (La Place, followed by Popeliniere and Davila). 
 
 2nd. The people of Tours believed in an evil spirit which 
 appeared in the night, and was called King Huguet or Hugo. 
 They gave this name to the Protestants who met at night. 
 (Regnier, La Planche, Beza, De Thou.) 
 
 3rd. In Touraine small pieces of money, not worth a farthing, 
 were called huguenots ; the name was derived from Hugh
 
 1 82 COLIGNY, 
 
 valets, as though they had suits to plead. It was 
 decided that on the loth of March following, each 
 leader should march his troops rapidly upon Blois, 
 where the Court was sitting ; that they should seize 
 the Guises, and proclaim the independence of the 
 king, placing the administration of the kingdom in 
 Conde's hands. 
 
 The Guises heard through Granvelle, Philip II.'s 
 minister, that something was on foot. In Paris, a 
 lawyer named Des Avenelles, with whom La Renan- 
 
 Capet. It came to be used as a term of contempt. " So 
 and so is not worth a huguenot " (Castelnau). 
 
 4th. The Guises, basing their claims on a direct descent 
 from Charlemagne, the opposite party maintained the rights of 
 the Capetians, and were thus called Huguenots, as the party 
 of Hugh Capet. This explanation has against it the objection 
 that the name Huguenots was from the first in France a term 
 of reproach (the use of it is forbidden in the above-mentioned 
 edict of 1561), and it is hardly to be supposed that the Guise 
 party, who were at the time of the conspiracy of Amboise the 
 protectors of Francis II., would have used as a term of 
 reproach for the Protestants a name which implied their 
 loyalty to the king. It is easy, on the other hand, to see why 
 the Protestants should have been glad to assign such an 
 origin to the name. We may mention here a singular fact 
 which has not, as far as we know, been alluded to elsewhere. 
 When, after the failure of the conspiracy of Amboise, Maligny 
 tried to take possession of Lyon, the watchword of the Pro- 
 testant conspirators was " Christ and Capet." The choice of 
 the name (Hugh Capet) was evidently made with a view to 
 mark their attachment to the reigning dynasty. 
 
 5th. Lastly at Geneva, those who opposed the Duke of 
 Savoy and sought the alliance of Berne and Fribourg were 
 called Eidgenossen, Eidgnots, hiiguenots (the h originally 
 mute). The word came afterwards to designate the Protestants 
 in opposition to the partisans of Savoy, who were called Mame- 
 luks. When we think of the close relations that existed 
 between Geneva and the Protestants of France, it will not seem 
 in any way strange that the name should have passed into 
 France, and been used in the valley of the Loire, where the 
 Churches were very numerous. At the time of the conspiracy
 
 CONSPIRACY OF AMBOISE. 183 
 
 die lodged, turned coward and betrayed the plot. 
 The king was hastily removed from Blois and taken 
 to Amboise, where there was a strong castle that 
 could not be surprised, and as it was learned that 
 movements were commencing in many parts of the 
 kingdom, Catherine at once endeavoured to divide 
 the enemy by proposing a measure of pacification. 
 She sent the Chatillons to Amboise, being well 
 assured that they were no parties to the conspiracy. 1 
 
 of Amboise, the Guise party took it up eagerly as the synonym 
 of the conspirators ; it is used in this way in a pamphlet 
 issued by them in 1562. As early as 1560 the Guises accused 
 the conspirators of Amboise of seeking to overthrow the king, 
 and to form themselves into independent confederate states like 
 the Swiss cantons (see La Planche, passim). This explanation, 
 adopted by Mignet, is supported by M. Soldan on very strong 
 evidence. On the other side it may be urged that if the name 
 originated in Geneva, Theodore Beza would not have been 
 ignorant of its etymology, and would have adopted it himself. 
 But it has yet to be ascertained whether the page of the Hist, 
 eccles., relating to the word Huguenot is by Beza himself, or 
 whether it is one of the many documents collected in his name. 
 
 For our own part, we believe that the name Huguenots was 
 at first an opprobrious epithet to designate those who had 
 become confederates after the Swiss fashion ; that the French 
 Protestants early gave it an etymological derivation from 
 Hugh Capet, in order to denote their attachment to the 
 king. La Planche, in a passage that has been too much 
 overlooked (p. 95, Coll. i., edit. Mennechet), says that the 
 conspirators of Amboise, in the remonstrance published by 
 them in 1560, gave to the word Huguenots its etymological 
 derivation from Hugh Capet. 
 
 We leave the reader to decide for himself, simply observing 
 that in reference to these popular appellations the true is not 
 always that which seems true on the surface. The name 
 Huguenot lost its opprobrious character in the seventeenth 
 century. Balzac uses it as an entirely honourable epithet. 
 
 1 This fact has been denied, but it is well established. 
 Coligny disapproved of the conspiracy. Brantdme says : 
 " The Admiral knew nothing of the said conspiracy of 
 Amboise, as I have been told by some of the oldest members 
 of 'the religion,' and by La Vigne, valet to La Renaudie,
 
 1 84 COLIGNY. 
 
 La Planche says : " The said lady had such confi- 
 dence in the virtues of the Chatillons, and bore such 
 an affection to the Admiral, as having been always 
 the faithful servant of the king, that she thought 
 herself safe with such a wise knight, and hoped 
 through his prudence to appease all." The Guises, 
 who distrusted the Chatillons, felt reassured when 
 they had them in their hands. 
 
 When, in accordance with the queen's summons, 
 Coligny arrived on February 23rd, they spoke to 
 him of the necessity they were under to have 
 recourse to his good offices as Admiral, in order to 
 keep open the communications between France and 
 Scotland, and to be ready, if need were, to withstand 
 England. Catherine, for her part, preferred to go 
 direct to the question that was pressing ; she told 
 the Admiral of the anxiety she was in, and implored 
 him " not to desert the king, her son." 
 
 Having thus an opportunity of speaking, Coligny 
 did not hesitate. He remonstrated gravely with the 
 queen-mother (says La Planche), 1 and told her plainly 
 
 who was in the whole secret. The conspirators knew well 
 what opinion Coligny had expressed at Venddme and at La 
 Ferte. Coligny was in agreement with Calvin, who wrote at 
 this time to the faithful in France on this subject as follows : 
 " Remember what weapons are given us from above. All our 
 help is to come from Him who has granted us this privilege 
 and honour to hold ourselves in His keeping, and thus to pos- 
 sess our souls in patience ; for it is not lawful for us to gain 
 anything by force." He was very severe on the conspirators. 
 " Quod stulte agitaverunt, pueriliter deindc agressi sunt." 
 
 1 It is from this usually accurate historian that we take 
 most of the details relating to the conspiracy of Amboise. M. 
 Meune says with justice that La Planche, though he often 
 judges of things and persons from his own Protestant point of 
 view, is impartial in the statement of facts. " He never sacri- 
 fices truth to his religious preferences."
 
 COLIGNY REMONSTRATES WITH THE QUEEN. 185 
 
 of the dissatisfaction felt by all the king's subjects, 
 not only with the religious position, but with the 
 state of political affairs generally. " He represented 
 that the king was governed by people who were 
 hated worse than the plague ; and he asked for an 
 edict, which, pending the holding of a Council, 
 should assure to the Reformed the free exercise of 
 their religion." 
 
 Such a demand was sure to exasperate the 
 Lorraines, but to refuse it summarily would have 
 been fraught with danger. The Admiral had said : 
 " I know no other means to avert a great rising of 
 the people." Catherine manoeuvred, as she always 
 did. An edict was hastily drawn up, the object of 
 which evidently was to disarm the Protestants with- 
 out making any important concessions to them. 1 
 The past was to be forgotten. Persons guilty of 
 heresy (excepting the ministers) were not to be 
 brought to trial, provided they promised henceforth 
 to live as good Catholics. The text of the edict, 
 published March 8th, contained moreover many 
 curious declarations. 
 
 The king said that at his accession he had found 
 great disturbances in his realm on account of religion, 
 and certain preachers come from Geneva, for the 
 most part mechanics and people of no education 2 
 
 1 Hence it was called by some of the Councillors " un 
 attrape-Minault" (La Planche). 
 
 2 In this way in court circles they explained away the great 
 movement of the Reformation. Observe this allusion to the 
 low origin of the first propagators of "the religion." The 
 charge of ignorance brought against them was absurd ; but 
 it is certain, as we have said, that at first the movement 
 spread chiefly among the working classes.
 
 1 86 COLIGNY. 
 
 were accused of causing these disturbances. He 
 admitted that the sect had developed to such an 
 extent that if " it were punished according to the 
 letter of the law and of our ordinances, there would 
 be a marvellous shedding of blood of men, women, 
 maids, and youths in the flower of their age, which 
 we should view with singular regret and displeasure, 
 and which would be against our nature and ill-suited 
 to our times." The king therefore gave a general 
 pardon, remission, and cancelling of the past. "Never- 
 theless," he added, " we do not include in this remis- 
 sion the preachers nor (and this clause opened the 
 door to any arbitrary exceptions) those who 
 have conspired against the king, his brothers, and 
 principal ministers" These last words, which clearly 
 pointed to the Guises, gave them the opportunity 
 of avenging themselves. 
 
 Coligny, and his brother the Cardinal, had signed 
 the edict with all the members of the Council, 1 the 
 Guises also endorsing it. But De Thou says that in 
 presenting it to parliament for registration, they used 
 an unworthy subterfuge, and inserted a secret article, 
 which was to serve as the rule of its interpretation. 2 
 
 As soon as the edict was published, the Guises, 
 assembling forces from all parts for the service of 
 the king, had the country thoroughly searched, and 
 succeeded in surprising the various companies of 
 conspirators before they had had time to reach the 
 
 1 One is surprised to find Coligny 's name to an edict which 
 urges the Reformed to abjure or conceal their faith. The 
 very rapidity with which it was published inclines one to think 
 he was surprised into it. 
 
 2 Hist, univers., vol. ii., p. 764. The Guises lost not a 
 moment. The registration took place on March nth.
 
 MASSACRE OF THE HUGUENOTS. I 87 
 
 appointed place of meeting. All who were arrested 
 were either put to death on the spot, or carried to 
 Amboise to be tried. 1 In vain they declared that 
 they meant no evil to the king ; it availed them 
 nothing. Several of them tried to get petitions 
 placed in the king's hands, setting forth their attach- 
 ment to his person. The Guises kept from Francis II. 
 all knowledge of such facts. Their whole tactics 
 consisted in saying that the conspirators sought to 
 overthrow royalty, and to organise an independent 
 community like the Swiss. The young king said to 
 them : " But what have I done to my people that 
 they are thus turned against me ? I will hear their 
 grievances, and will give them satisfaction. I know 
 not ; but I hear that it is only you they are offended 
 with. I would that for a time you were away from 
 here, that I might see whether it is against you or 
 me they have a grudge." 
 
 Alas ! his pleadings were vain. The conspiracy 
 was put down with a pitiless hand. The Guises, 
 taking advantage of the exceptions named in the 
 edict, entered the houses, and proceeded to summary 
 trials and executions. For several months France 
 groaned under a reign of terror and blood. At 
 Amboise alone 1,200 Huguenots were put to death 
 on the charge of conspiracy. The ordinary modes 
 of execution proved too slow, and the prisoners were 
 tied hand and foot and cast by scores into the Loire. 
 
 These fearful scenes remained impressed on the 
 
 1 La Planche mentions a curious fact here. Villegagnon, 
 the old leader of the Protestant colonists in Brazil, who had 
 abandoned his party and sworn deadly hatred to it, wished to 
 bring up a fleet on the Loire to fight against the conspirators, 
 but this " fanciful naval war " was treated as a jest.
 
 1 88 COLIGNY. 
 
 memory of the people who lived by the river. In 
 1793 the Commissioners of the Convention copied 
 them at Nantes, at the suggestion of Carrier. The 
 chiefs of the conspirators were executed after dinner 
 as a sort of a pastime for the Court. Catherine and 
 the lovely young queen, Mary Stuart, attended by 
 their gentlemen in waiting and maids of honour, 
 were present at these spectacles, and the Cardinal of 
 Lorraine kept count of the sufferers " with evident 
 enjoyment." The young king, who had been made 
 to say a few weeks before that a massacre of the 
 Protestants would be contrary to his nature, was 
 educated with his young brothers in this school. 
 
 La Renaudie was one of the first to fall. He was 
 attacked on March iSth in the forest of Chateau- 
 renault, and was killed with a shot from an arque- 
 buse. His body was hung up on the bridge at 
 Amboise with this inscription : " La Renaudie dit 
 Laforest, chef des rebelles" His death put an end 
 to the enterprise. 
 
 Of all the victims the most illustrious was the 
 Baron de Castelnau, whose exploits in Flanders had 
 rendered him famous. He had advanced with his 
 company into the neighbourhood of Amboise, when 
 the Duke de Nemours, who was in close alliance 
 with the Guises, came up and summoned him to lay 
 down his arms, "vowing on the faith of a- prince that 
 he would do him and his companions no harm, but 
 that they should all be set at liberty." Hardly had 
 Castelnau and his followers done as he demanded, 
 than he arrested them as guilty of high treason. 
 There was nothing before them but certain death, 
 preceded by torture, then the necessary accompani-
 
 DEATH OF CASTELNAU. 1 89 
 
 ment of every criminal trial. But the old soldier 
 kept his judges upon thorns. He questioned the 
 Chancellor Olivier, and reminded him of the evange- 
 lical exhortations which he had long before heard 
 from his lips. " Do you not remember," he said, 
 " that formerly you counselled me to frequent the 
 holy assemblies in Paris, and to visit the Reformed 
 Churches of Geneva and Germany ? " Then, con- 
 tinuing his speech, he reminded Olivier of the 
 executions of Cabrieres and Merindol, in which he 
 had acted as judge, and pointing to his white hairs 
 reminded him of the judgment seat of God, before 
 which he must soon appear. He addressed himself 
 in similar terms to the Cardinal of Lorraine, who 
 also at the first had spoken so much of reforming the 
 Church. These words, which were repeated, moved 
 the whole Court. Coligny and Andelot interceded 
 in vain for their old companion in arms. 
 
 " The king and the queen-mother being pressed 
 and importuned by them to save his life, as much 
 for his great virtues as for the many services done by 
 his forefathers and by himself to the crown of France, 
 the queen, in order not to irritate the great lords and 
 princes to whom he belonged, did all that she could, 
 even (as she said) going so for as to seek out these 
 new kings in their apartments and ply them with en- 
 treaties. But they remained immovable and stern in 
 their anger, and the Cardinal used these words to their 
 Majesties : 'By the blood of God he shall die, and no 
 one shall prevent it.' In short, the more he was warned 
 of the danger that might result, the more furious did 
 he become. Under this pressure, Olivier signed the 
 sentence of death. Hardly was it executed when
 
 190 COLIGNY. 
 
 the Chancellor (so says La Planche) ' fell ill of an 
 extreme melancholy, in which he groaned without 
 ceasing, murmuring miserably against God.' The 
 Cardinal of Lorraine came to see him. The Chan- 
 cellor sent him away crying : ' Cardinal, Cardinal, 
 you will get us all damned.' A moment afterwards 
 he expired." ] 
 
 This was the last episode of the conspiracy of 
 Amboise. For a long time the heads of the chief 
 conspirators remained upon poles before the gates of 
 the castle. Agrippa d'Aubigne, as a child, saw them 
 in passing through Amboise with his father, and 
 heard his father exclaim : " The executioners have 
 cut off the head of France ! " The Huguenot 
 added : " My child, thou must not spare thine own 
 head when I have given mine to avenge these 
 honourable leaders. If thou spare thyself, my curse 
 will be upon thee." These words fell into no for- 
 getful soul. The child was one day to become the 
 avenging historian of the last of the Valois. 
 
 1 La Planche (edit. Mennechet, p. 103).
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Coligny's mission in Normandy. L'Hospital is made Chancellor. 
 Edict of Romarantin. Assembly at Fontainebleau. Convocation 
 of the States at Orleans. Attempt of the Protestants to take 
 possession of Lyons. 
 
 , Coligny, and his brothers could not be 
 unmoved spectators of the executions at Am- 
 boise. Conde, as we have said, was the chef muet of 
 the conspiracy. The Guises had wished to have 
 him arrested. Conde took a bold stand, spoke in 
 the king's Council, defied his enemies to find proof 
 of their accusations, and after this daring but scarcely 
 honest challenge, abruptly left the Court and took 
 refuge in Beam with Antoine de Bourbon. 
 
 Andelot went to Brittany. Coligny was commis- 
 sioned by the queen-mother to pacify Normandy. 
 "Catherine prayed him very affectionately to enquire 
 into the true cause of the disaffection in that pro- 
 vince, and to send her a full and true report." La 
 Planche adds that she promised to keep secret any 
 information that Coligny might give. 
 
 The Admiral obeyed. He found in Normandy 
 a number of reformed Churches, with, it was said, 
 fifty thousand members. He wrote therefore to the 
 queen, urging her to put a stop to all the persecu- 
 tions from which they were suffering. Then venturing
 
 1 92 COLIGNY. 
 
 to speak his mind yet further, he referred openly 
 to the Guises, showing that " they were the real 
 cause and source of all the discontent and trouble 
 in the kingdom, through their violence and abuse 
 of the governing power." He did not hesitate to 
 recommend the convocation of the States General. 
 Catherine, of course, communicated all this to the 
 Guises, who were highly exasperated. They felt, 
 nevertheless, that it was needful to temporise, and the 
 Court recommended the various Parliaments to re- 
 lease prisoners who were detained solely on a charge 
 of religion. 
 
 The Reformation was indeed making such rapid 
 progress in the provinces, that it could not be ignored. 
 That which Coligny reported of Normandy was no 
 less true of Nismes, Montpellier, Aiguesmortes, and 
 many other cities. The Protestants there were nume- 
 rous enough to take possession of the churches for 
 the celebration of their worship. Poitou, Saintonge, 
 Guyenne, Languedoc, Provence, had all received the 
 new faith. In Dauphine itself, where Francis of 
 Lorraine was governor, the reformed worship had 
 just been set up. Guise ordered his lieutenant, 
 Mongiron, to hang the preachers and give up to 
 pillage the towns which had opened their churches 
 to " the religion." But so soon as this was attempted, 
 reprisals began, and two Huguenot chiefs, Mouvans 
 and Montbrun, placed themselves at the head of 
 large companies, and marched through the south. 1 
 The Government was called to be on its guard if it 
 did not wish to see the country in a blaze. 
 
 1 Andelot, in a letter to the Constable, strongly deprecates 
 this taking up arms. Delaborde, vol. i., p. 489.
 
 MICHEL DE L HOSPITAL. 193, 
 
 Olivier, the chancellor, had died March 3Oth, 1 560. 
 His place must be filled. At this crisis a man 
 appeared on the scene who was to play an important 
 part in history. Michel de 1'Hospital, born in 
 Auvergne in 1504, was at this time fifty-six years 
 of age. His family had been looked upon with 
 some suspicion at Court, b.ecause of its attach- 
 ment to the famous Constable de Bourbon ; but 
 Michel had early distinguished himself, had been 
 entrusted with various missions, and in 1547 had 
 accompanied the French cardinals to the Council of 
 Trent. Henry II. afterwards made him President 
 of the Chamber of Finance, where he vindicated a 
 character for spotless integrity of administration. 
 The Cardinal of Lorraine took him under his pro- 
 tection, hoping to make him a creature of his own, 
 and it was largely through his influence that 1'Hos- 
 pital was appointed Chancellor. The queen-mother, 
 however, acting with her wonted duplicity, told him 
 secretly " that he owed the dignity entirely to her, 
 and not to the Guises.'' 1 So says De Thou. L'Hos- 
 pital was not going to be the creature of any one. 
 The love of country was the ruling passion of his 
 soul, and he always strove to be just in an age when 
 almost all were listening only to party cries. Such 
 a character was sure to find in Coligny a kindred 
 soul. 
 
 M. Delaborde justly remarks that 1'Hospital was 
 as prudent as he was high principled, as a politician. 
 He knew how tangled a skein he had to unwind. 
 " We must needs accommodate ourselves," he said, 
 " to the manners of the time in which we live. . . . 
 We must sometimes take a few steps backward to 
 
 13
 
 194 COLIGNY. 
 
 get a better leap forward. . . . We must now and 
 again take in the sails a little." La Planche says 
 he always had on his lips the words, " Patience, 
 patience, all will go well ! " He used this method 
 to please Catherine ; but if she acquiesced in it as 
 the one way of getting out of her difficulty, 
 THospital had a far different end in view from hers. 
 Under this seeming bonhommie, this cheerful opti- 
 mism, he had a strong will that would not bend to 
 any iniquitous coercion. 
 
 L'Hospital's first act was directed against the 
 Inquisition which the Pope was trying to establish 
 in France. The papal court had made the same 
 attempt, it will be remembered, under Henry II. 
 Henry had yielded, and the Parliament, forgetting 
 its great national traditions, had followed his lead. 
 In 1557 the Cardinals of Lorraine, Bourbon, and 
 Chatillon had been designated as the French inquisi- 
 tors ; but through the opposition of Chatillon the 
 scheme had remained a dead letter. L' Hospital 
 proposed to do away with it altogether by the edict 
 of Romorantin, May 1560. 
 
 In presenting this edict, 1'Hospital used words 
 which must have sounded strangely daring at the 
 time, and which seem to breathe the spirit of a 
 coming age of freedom. The maladies of the soul 
 are not to be cured like those of the body. When 
 a man holding wrong opinions utters a formula 
 of recantation, his heart may re.main unchanged. 
 Opinions are only to be changed by prayer to God, 
 by reason and argument. Such principles as these 
 would have led to religious liberty as their natural 
 consequence, and to the removal of all coercion in
 
 EDICT OF ROMORANTIN. 1 95 
 
 matters of faith. But what says the edict ? Some- 
 thing entirely different. It assigns to prelates alone 
 the cognisance of all crimes of heresy, and enjoins 
 them at the same time to reside in their dioceses. 
 It prohibits parliaments, bailiffs, seneschals, and 
 other judges from initiating any action in questions 
 of religion. They are only to execute the sentences 
 of the ecclesiastical judges, who will hand over the 
 offenders to the magistrate. How could such enact- 
 ments as these have been regarded as an advance 
 in the direction of religious liberty ? We cannot 
 understand it except by remembering that the rights 
 thus given to the secular French bishops were taken 
 away from the Inquisition, and thus the scheme for 
 establishing an Inquisition on the Spanish model 
 was frustrated. 1 But religious liberty had really 
 advanced not one step. 
 
 Reformed Churches rose up nevertheless in all 
 directions. The slight modification effected by the 
 edict of Romorantin sufficed to encourage the 
 Calvinists to celebrate their worship in their own 
 dwellings. The Admiral himself, on his tour through 
 Normandy, openly took part in their assemblies. 2 
 
 1 One word of the Spanish ambassador Chantonnay is memo- 
 rable. He considers the edict of Romorantin as very favour- 
 able to the reformed, for the following reason, " That from 
 fear of the hatred in which the clergy are held, the ecclesiastics 
 would not dare to be severe" {Letter to the Duchess of Parma, 
 April, 1540). It is evident also that in the dioceses presided 
 over by Moulin, Marillac, and other moderate bishops, the 
 Protestants would at length enjoy a little liberty. 
 
 2 " The faithful had the consolation, on July 26th, 1560, of 
 seeing the Admiral de Chatillon at Dieppe, and of worship- 
 ping God in the house where they went to pay their respects 
 to this pious lord, who for the three days that he stayed in
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 The queen-mother felt that she must confer with her 
 advisers over this new situation, and at the suggestion 
 of the Chancellor and the Admiral, she decided to 
 convene at Fontainebleau in the month of August 
 an assembly of the greatest lords of France. " The 
 King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde" were 
 warned by their friends and dependents not to go 
 on any account, if they did not wish to risk their 
 lives." 1 
 
 On August 2 ist the assembly met in the presence 
 of the king, Catherine, Mary Stuart, and all the 
 princes of the royal family. That day, after a few 
 words spoken by the king and the queen-mother, 
 the Chancellor explained the object of their meeting. 
 
 At the second sitting " the king expressed his 
 will that those of his Council should first give 
 their opinion," and asked the Bishop of Valence to 
 speak first. At this moment the Admiral advanced 
 to the king, and " after reverently bowing twice " he 
 began to say that having visited Normandy, he had 
 seen that the disturbances arose entirely from the 
 persecution of the adherents of " the religion." He 
 added "that he was the bearer of a petition from the 
 reformed, and that although the petition was not 
 signed, there were more than fifty thousand in 
 Normandy who would sign it." That which they 
 asked was that they might have churches and places 
 set apart for public worship and the administration 
 of the sacraments. When Coligny had finished 
 
 the town had Divine service celebrated regularly with open 
 doors." Manuscript quoted by M. Vitet in his Histoire de 
 Dieppe, vol. i., p. 109. 
 ' Castelnau, Memoires, Book II., ch. viii.
 
 ASSEMBL Y OF FONTAINEBLEA U. 1 97 
 
 speaking, he handed his petition to the king, who 
 caused it to be read at once by the secretary, 
 1'Aubespine. It was an apology in which the 
 reformed repudiated all idea of rebellion, declared 
 that their faith was in accordance with Holy Scrip- 
 ture and with the Apostles' Creed, and concluded by 
 asking that they might be permitted to have churches 
 of their own. They urged that Jews were allowed 
 in some countries to have their synagogues, and 
 they protested their devotion to the king. 
 
 The language, moderate as it was, was so new 
 that " the whole company," says La Planche, " was 
 full of admiration, marvelling at the boldness of the 
 Admiral, considering the danger to which he thus 
 exposed himself." 3 
 
 The Chancellor next spoke. He made a grave 
 and eloquent remonstrance, and in pointing out the 
 causes of the present evil evidently offended the 
 Guises, who at once offered to render an account of 
 their offices, Francis of the army, and the Cardinal of 
 the finances. 
 
 Two days after, Montluc, Bishop of Valence, 
 spoke. He was at heart favourable to "the religion." 
 He did not fear to speak in praise of the zeal, learn- 
 
 1 Chantonnay, in a letter to the Duchess of Parma, August 
 1560, says that when the king asked Coligny from whom he 
 received his petition, he replied several times over that he did 
 not know, and that the king with an angry look bade him go to 
 his place. The Venetian ambassador says nearly the same 
 thing (Armand Baschet, Diplomatic venitienne, p. 506). This 
 is in direct contradiction to La Planche, La Place, and 
 Castelnau. The truth is Coligny would not name the peti- 
 tioners, in order not to expose them to danger, but simply said 
 in general terms that fifty thousand persons at least would sign 
 it if necessary.
 
 19 COLIGNY. 
 
 ing, and integrity of the preachers whom the edict 
 of Amboise had represented a short time before as 
 ignorant rustics and misleaders of the people, un- 
 worthy of pardon. " Sire," said the bishop, " the 
 doctrine which seems ridiculous to your subjects has 
 been disseminated not for two or three days, but for 
 thirty years ; it has been taught by three or four 
 hundred ministers, diligent and lettered men, men of 
 a great modesty, gravity, and appearance of holiness, 
 who profess to detest all vices, and principally 
 avarice, and who do not shrink from losing their 
 life in defence of their doctrine. They have ever 
 on their lips the name of Jesus, which is a word so 
 sweet, that it opens the deafest ears, and finds its 
 way readily into the hardest hearts." Then the 
 bishop showed in what state the Reformation had 
 found France, what was the carelessness, covetous- 
 ness, and worldliness of the clergy and of the bishops 
 themselves. He advised as a remedy the use of the 
 Holy Scriptures, and a return to Gospel preaching, 
 and asked that an oecumenical, or at least a national 
 council might be convened. As to the punishments 
 to be inflicted on heretics, the bishop wished that 
 severity should be shown only to those who had 
 taken up arms. " But," he added, " there are others, 
 Sire, who have received this doctrine, and hold it in 
 such fear of God and bear your Majesty such rever- 
 ence, that they would not in any wise offend you ; 
 and by their life and their death they show plainly 
 that they are moved only by holy zeal and by an 
 ardent desire to seek the one way of salvation, and 
 who, believing they have found it will not depart 
 from it, and heed not the loss of goods, nor death,
 
 SPEECH OF THE BISHOP OF VALENCE. 199 
 
 nor any tortures that can be inflicted upon them. 
 And must I confess that when I think of those 
 who die with such constancy, my hair stands erect, 
 and I am constrained to deplore our miserable 
 estate who are not touched by any zeal for God or 
 for religion. These men, Sire, meseems should 
 be distinguished and separated from others who 
 abuse the name and doctrine they profess ; these 
 ought not to be counted and punished as seditious 
 persons." After delivering this magnificent eulogium 
 of the reformed, Montluc asked, in concluding, 
 that the State should confine itself to forbidding 
 their assemblies and sending them into exile, so that 
 tJiey might not have the opportunity of leading the good 
 astray^ 
 
 Marillac, Archbishop of Vienne, then spoke, en- 
 forcing the necessity of a National Council and of a 
 convocation of the States General ; but he said not 
 one word in favour of granting any liberty whatever 
 to " the religion." 
 
 The Admiral followed. La Planche says that 
 " the whole assembly was struck with admiration of 
 his noble and forcible words." He urged the neces- 
 sity of convoking the States General of the kingdom 
 according to the ancient constitutions. He com- 
 plained that the king was surrounded with a new 
 and numerous guard, as if he were afraid of his 
 .people. He asked for a free and holy Council, 
 
 1 The speeches delivered at Fontainebleau are reproduced 
 more or less at length in La Planche, in La Place's Commen- 
 taires, in Castelnau's Memotres, and in Conde's Memoires, 
 as well as in the Recueil de pieces originates sur les etats 
 generaux (Paris, 1789).
 
 200 COLIGNY. 
 
 whether general or national, and meanwhile he 
 claimed for those who belonged to " the religion " 
 the free confession of their faith. 
 
 "But the Duke of Guise," says Castelnau, "feeling 
 piqued by the Admiral's remarks touching the new 
 guard placed around the king, said it had only been 
 established since the conspiracy of Amboise, which 
 was aimed at the person of his Majesty, and that it 
 was his duty to see that the king should no more be 
 subject to the annoyance of having a petition pre- 
 sented to him with arms. And as to what the 
 Admiral had said about finding fifty thousand Pro- 
 testants to sign a petition, the king could find a 
 million of his religion to support the contrary." 
 
 The Cardinal of Lorraine strenuously opposed the 
 Protestant petition, saying that if the king gave 
 them churches he would be approving their heresy, 
 " which he could not do without being eternally 
 damned." 1 Then with a sudden reversion, which 
 sounded very strange on his lips, he declared he was 
 of opinion that they should not act with severity 
 towards the poor misguided ones, that they should 
 allow them to go to their preachings and sing their 
 psalms, and that it was for the bishops and other 
 learned personages to rebuke and instruct them 
 according to the Gospel. 2 
 
 1 La Planche. 
 
 2 It has often been asked what position was taken at Fon- 
 tainebleau by Odet, Cardinal of Chatillon. On this point I 
 find only one indication. Chantonnay, in a letter to the 
 Duchess of Parma (September, 1560), says that the nuncio 
 had just complained to Catherine of the attitude taken by the 
 Cardinal of Chatillon at Fontainebleau, and that Catherine 
 had excused him.
 
 CONVOCATION OF THE STATES GENERAL. 2OI 
 
 All the members of the assembly had spoken in 
 favour of a convocation of the States General. On 
 August 26th the king decided that a meeting should 
 be convoked for the i8th of December following, at 
 Meaux, and that on the 1 8th of January an assembly 
 of the clergy should be held to discuss the question 
 of a Council. 
 
 Such was the conclusion of the assembly at Fon- 
 tainebleau. Upon the actual question of the liberty 
 of the Protestants nothing had been decided, but it 
 was a great thing to have had the cause of " the 
 religion " defended in such an assembly by an 
 Admiral of France, and to have ascertained that 
 the Cardinal of Lorraine himself had been brought, 
 from political considerations no doubt, to recommend 
 milder measures. 
 
 After such discussions it was difficult to proscribe 
 the manifestation of new belief which had found 
 apologists among the very bishops themselves. How 
 could they forbid religious discussions elsewhere when 
 these had just been carried on so publicly and on 
 so large a scale in the highest circles ? For the 
 policy of repression to be successful, every mouth 
 must be stopped, and all free utterance forbidden, as 
 it was in Spain under Philip II. France, happily, 
 was not ready so submit to such humiliation. " Gens 
 loquax" said Caesar, speaking of the Gauls. This 
 irrepressible instinct, free speech, has often been the 
 salvation of the French people, and in the sixteenth 
 century the very promoters of religious repression 
 were unable to resist it. 
 
 Some weeks later, on October 4th, the Admiral 
 was entrusted by the king with the command of
 
 202 COLIGNY. 
 
 Havre and Honfleur, an evidence that his courageous 
 and frank behaviour had not brought him into dis- 
 grace. These signs of the time were all marked by 
 the public, and it was felt that the cause of the 
 reformation was gaining ground. 
 
 While the assembly was sitting at Fontainebleau, 
 Antoine de Bourbon and his brother Conde 1 were 
 carrying on correspondence with the principal Pro- 
 testant lords in the south, with a view to deliver 
 France from the yoke of the Guises. The soul of 
 this conspiracy was Edme de Ferrieres, Sieur de 
 Maligny. 1 He visited the leading Huguenots in 
 Dauphine" and Provence. He arranged with them 
 that they should send soldiers disguised as workmen, 
 in small companies, to Lyons, and that on September 
 5th they would take possession of the city. In order 
 to mark their loyalty to the dynasty, the conspirators 
 took as their watchword, " Christ et Capet" 2 About 
 two thousand Protestants were in this way assembled 
 in Lyons. But at the last moment, Antoine de 
 Navarre, always irresolute, sent Maligny orders to 
 abandon the project. Maligny left Lyons in despair, 
 and the conspirators dispersed. A gentleman of 
 Beam, named La Sagne, in the service of Conde, 
 had just been arrested. On him were found letters 
 compromising even the Constable de Montmorency 
 
 1 Or Maligny the younger, who must not be confounded, as 
 he often is, with his elder brother, Jean de Ferrieres, who in 
 this same year became Vidame of Chartres, after the death of 
 Francois de Vend6me (December 22nd), and who was to play 
 an important part in the affairs of the Protestant party. Edme 
 de Ferrieres, after his failure at Lyons, fled to Geneva, where 
 he died from an accident on the lake. 
 
 ' l Jean Le Frere, La vraie et entiere histoire des troubles 
 (1578, p. 180).
 
 THE BOURBONS GO TO ORLEANS. 203 
 
 himself. 1 La Sagne and some of his companions 
 were put to the torture, and confessed everything. 
 
 The Guises kept the affair quiet, however, and 
 urged upon Francis II. that he should summon the 
 princes to Orleans, where it had been decided to hold 
 the States General. The king, with this view, sent 
 to them the Cardinal of Bourbon, their brother. In 
 vain the Chatillons, who suspected danger, warned 
 them not to go. Eleonore de Roye, princess of 
 Conde, and Jeanne d'Albret joined their entreaties to 
 those of the Chatillons. All in vain. On October 
 3 ist, the two princes, who thought that by placing 
 themselves in the king's power they would impose 
 upon him, made their entry into Orleans. 2 
 
 1 There was even an angry interview between Catherine and 
 the Constable on the subject. He reproached the queen with 
 wishing to rule the realm, "having had hitherto so little ex- 
 perience, and keeping around her and her son ministers who 
 were incapable, and detested by all.'' {Letter from Chantonnay 
 to the Duchess of Parma). 
 
 2 We find in La Planche the brave letter which Eleonore de 
 Roye addressed to her husband, which shows what a heroic 
 soul hers was. She implored him very humbly not to be of so 
 cowardly a heart as to throw himself into their nets, whatever 
 fine promises the king might make, saying that if she was a 
 man and in his place, she would rather die sword in hand fox 
 so just a cause than mount a scaffold and give her neck to 
 the executioner without having deserved it.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Guises at Orleans. Arrest and trial of Conde. He is sentenced to 
 be beheaded. Sudden illness and death of Francis II. 
 
 WE cannot suppose that in convoking the 
 States General, which had not met formally 
 for three-quarters of a century (1484), the Guises had 
 any intention of really ascertaining the will of the 
 country. 1 Everything goes to prove, on the contrary, 
 that in their false hands this convocation was to be 
 made a means of arresting the princes, crushing the 
 Calvinist party, and reaffirming their own authority. 
 The plan which they had formed, and which we are 
 about to describe, is not referred to only by Protes- 
 tant historians, such as Beza, La Place, La Planche, 
 and Jean de Serres, whose evidence might be regarded 
 as doubtful ; but by Castelnau, by the Catholic 
 Tavannes, the impartial De Thou, Maimbourg, and 
 Pasquier. This plan consisted first of all in preventing 
 the meeting of a national council. Pius IV., alarmed 
 at what was going on in Germany, England, and 
 Switzerland, had just pledged himself to re-open 
 
 1 Before the decision of the Assembly of Fontainebleau, the 
 Guises had inspired Francis with a dread of any such convo- 
 cation. " They gave the king to understand that anyone who 
 urged a convocation of the States was his mortal enemy, and 
 guilty of high treason." La Planche.
 
 THE "RAT-TRAP" FOR THE HUGUENOTS 2O5 
 
 shortly the Council of Trent, which had been sus- 
 pended practically since I55 2 - 
 
 It was decided, moreover, that at the opening of 
 the States General, each deputy should be required 
 to subscribe a distinct confession of the Catholic 
 faith ; if he refused to do this, he should be arrested 
 on the spot, deprived of his rank, and sentenced to 
 be burned as a heretic. It was resolved that the 
 same confession of faith should be subscribed by 
 all who held office in France. This amounted 
 to organising a general proscription throughout the 
 country, and the first victims would have been the 
 princes of the blood, the Chatillons, and all their 
 adherents. At the same time the French, combining 
 with the Savoyards, were to invade Geneva and the 
 Vaudois valleys of Piedmont, those two hot-beds of 
 heresy, and Spain was to occupy Beam. 
 
 Monstrous as this plan may seem, it must be 
 remembered that many preachers were constantly 
 recalling the glorious example of the extermination 
 of the Albigeois of Languedoc, and the expulsion of 
 the Moors from Spain. And Philip II., carrying out 
 the same ideas, was about to place the Low Countries 
 under an interdict. Why not repeat the exploits of 
 the Middle Ages ? The Cardinal of Lorraine thought 
 so well of his enterprise, that he laughingly called it 
 " tJte rat-trap for tJie Huguenots" * 
 
 1 In reference to this plan, M. Henri Martin has truly said: 
 " The massacre of St. Bartholomew, that is to say, the exter- 
 mination of the heretics by open force or secret artifice, was 
 always in the heart of the leaders of the persecuting Catholic 
 party" {Histoire de France, vol. ix., p. 54). The cause of 
 the failure of the enterprise at this time was the secret but deep 
 distrust entertained by Philip II. of the Guises. Fanatic as
 
 206 COLIGNY. 
 
 We may guess then what were the motives which 
 prompted the Guises to bring the Bourbons to 
 Orleans. When the princes arrived there on October 
 3 ist, they felt at once how much reason there had 
 been for the gloomy forebodings of their friends. The 
 city, part of whose population was Protestant, was 
 undergoing a reign of terror. It was filled with troops, 
 and cannon were pointed on the principal thorough- 
 fares. 
 
 As soon as the King of Navarre and Conde* entered 
 within its walls, they saw themselves surrounded by 
 men with menacing gestures, who openly insulted 
 them. They were taken to the house occupied by 
 Francis II. But they were not allowed to go in by 
 the chief entrance. The Guises and the courtiers 
 received them with disdainful coldness. The young 
 king took them to his mother's apartment. There 
 he immediately began to question Conde, reproaching 
 him with the various plots in which he had been 
 engaged. Conde" had unquestionably been a party 
 to the conspiracy of Amboise, and to the recent rising 
 in the south, of which the taking of Lyons was to 
 have been the first act. But the object he had in 
 view involved no hostility to the king himself ; hence 
 
 he was, Philip dreaded above all things the growing- power 
 of the Guises. As the husband of Queen Mary he had de- 
 fended England against Scotland and Mary Stuart. He so 
 much feared the latter that he did more than anyone else to 
 save the life of the Protestant Elizabeth. For a long time he 
 defended her, even when she had restored the reformed worship 
 in England. M. Forneron, speaking on this subject, says : 
 " Having to choose between heresy and France at the very 
 time when he had just made peace with France to extirpate 
 heresy, he preferred heresy." (Histoire de Philippe II., vol. i., 
 p. 122.)
 
 IMPRISONMENT OF CONDE. 2O/ 
 
 he was able to repudiate emphatically the charges 
 made against him by Francis II. The king replied 
 that he should clear himself presently, for the moment 
 he must be imprisoned. He was taken to a house 
 which was soon turned into a very Bastille. The life 
 of his brother, the King of Navarre, was seriously 
 menaced. 1 At the same time Madame de Roye, 
 Conde's stepmother and sister to the Admiral, and 
 Grollot, Bailiff of Orleans, who was suspected of 
 Protestantism, were arrested. La Planche says 
 Coligny had been warned from various quarters of 
 the snare that was being laid for the reformed at 
 Orleans. " But none of these things could persuade 
 him not to undertake the journey to Orleans without 
 delay, after reading the king's letters. He went pur- 
 posing to make a full confession of his faith, and 
 committing the result to God." 
 
 On leaving his home he would not hide from his 
 wife the danger into which he was going, out of 
 which there seemed no human probability of his 
 escaping with his life. He bade her, nevertheless, 
 
 1 Very high authorities La Planche, De Thou, and Reza 
 state that the Guises had obtained a promise from the king to 
 summon Antoine of Navarre into his cabinet, and there to 
 have him assassinated, himself striking the first blow. At the 
 last moment the king's heart seems to have failed him. M. de 
 Bouille, in his history of the Guises, declares this to be impos- 
 sible, adducing the hesitating language of De Thou, who after 
 narrating the fact says : "I dare not pledge myself whether 
 what I have just narrated is true or false." But further on De 
 Thou affirms, without a shadow of doubt, that on the first 
 report of the king's illness the Guises again took up the 
 project of killing Antoine of Navarre, and that 1'Hospital 
 resisted it in a powerful speech, which De Thou reports. De 
 Thou could hardly fail, moreover, to be well-informed of all 
 these facts by his father, who was summoned to Orleans to 
 act as Conde's judge.
 
 208 COLIGNY. 
 
 trust in God that He would have pity on His poor 
 Church and on His kingdom, and he exhorted her, 
 with her family, to continue stedfast in the truth of 
 the Gospel which they had been taught, since God 
 had shown them that this was the true and safe 
 heavenly pasture. He bade them also esteem it the 
 greatest honour to suffer for His holy name. He 
 charged his wife straitly not to swerve from her 
 course, even if she heard of his imprisonment or 
 death, but to have the child (whom she was daily 
 expecting) baptised in the Reformed Church, and 
 by the true ministers of the Word of God. . . . Such 
 was his departure from his home. 
 
 When he arrived at Orleans the queen-mother 
 received him with her usual good grace. Then 
 she warned him that the Cardinal of Lorraine 
 was about to lay a snare for him ; that he intended 
 to ask him to answer for his faith in the pre- 
 sence of the king. She implored him then to 
 think well what he would reply, and not lightly to 
 put himself in danger. The Admiral answered that 
 he desired nothing so much as to confess his faith, 
 and that he hoped God would grant him to do it in 
 such a manner that the king should be satisfied. 
 The queen repeated this to the cardinal, who was in 
 high spirits, thinking that he had found a sure way 
 to destroy Coligny. He went at once "to the king, 
 and said to him in jest, before the queen his mother, 
 that he had this day gained one of the best servants 
 in the world, who was ready to return to the bosom 
 of the holy Roman Church." Then, explaining him- 
 self, he asked the king's permission to question the 
 Admiral before him, and in the presence of five or
 
 TRIAL OF THE PRINCE OF CONDE. 
 
 six doctors of the Sorbonne. The Admiral, informed 
 of this, replied that he had no fear of these doctors, 
 nor of their arguments ; but that he refused to speak 
 before them, knowing that it was their wont to con- 
 demn those of his religion, without convicting them 
 of heresy ; but that " if it pleased the king to hear 
 two of them alone, one on each side, he would soon 
 judge which of them was a heretic." In the mean- 
 while the king fell ill, and " the negotiation was 
 interrupted." 
 
 The trial of the Prince of Conde was hurried on 
 with the utmost rapidity. He was tried by a com- 
 mission, presided over by Christophe de Thou, father 
 to the historian. Sentence was passed by the 
 commission, contrary to all the traditions of the old 
 monarchy, which required that a prince of the blood 
 should be condemned only by the court of parlia- 
 ment. The prince was kept in the strictest confine- 
 ment. He was not even allowed to see his brave 
 wife, Eleonore de Roye, who had come to Orleans 
 to assist him. She tried to intercede in his favour, 
 but was repulsed. " She went to all those whom 
 she believed to be friends, but no more heed was 
 paid to her than to the humblest damsel in the land. 
 Even the King of Navarre dared not speak to her, 
 so much was he in fear for his own life. In short, 
 there was not a single courtier or citizen who had 
 the courage to notice her, whether in public or 
 private, so closely was she watched." 1 Such was 
 the cowardice produced by the reign of terror in 
 Orleans. 2 
 
 1 La Planche. 
 
 * It is pleasant to note the indignant protest against 
 
 14
 
 210 COLIGNY. 
 
 The charge against Conde was twofold : he was a 
 heretic and a leader of sedition. His heresy he made 
 no attempt to disavow, for when a priest was sent to 
 him in the prison, he replied " that he had not come 
 to Orleans to hear mass, which he had long since 
 given up." His judges were forced to admit that 
 there was no evidence of Conde's guilt as a leader of 
 sedition ; but his heresy was described as " high 
 treason against God," and the commission sentenced 
 him to death. The execution was fixed for Decem- 
 ber loth, the day of the opening of the States 
 General, and it was decreed that Conde" should be 
 beheaded in front of the king's palace. Only three 
 members of the commission had the courage to 
 refuse to sign this iniquitous sentence : the Count de 
 Sancerre, Dumortier, and the Chancellor 1'Hospital, 
 who asked for a reprieve. " Eleonore de Roye suc- 
 ceeded in gaining an entrance to the king's apart- 
 ment ; she threw herself at his feet to beg for mercy. 
 The Cardinal of Lorraine, fearing the king might be 
 moved to pity, and eager to show his animosity, 
 drove the princess rudely from the room, calling her 
 importunate and troublesome, and saying that if she 
 was done justice by she would find herself in a 
 dungeon too." 1 
 
 Just at this crisis occurred one of the strangest 
 turns of the wheel of fortune recorded in history. 
 
 The rumour got abroad that Francis II. was 
 attacked by an abscess in the ear. The king, still 
 
 Condi's incarceration addressed at this time to Francis of 
 Lorraine by Renee of France, his mother-in-law, and daughter 
 of Louis XII. 
 1 La Planche.
 
 ILLNESS OF FRANCIS II. 211 
 
 almost a child, was scrofulous to a degree, and in a 
 few days he was in such a state that the doctors 
 gave up all hope. The Guises were beside them- 
 selves, for the death of the king would be the ruin 
 of all their plans. The Duke sent for the doctors, 
 and told them that if they let the king die in the 
 flower of his age, the heretics should pay dearly for 
 it ; he threatened them with oaths, that they should 
 be all hanged. The sick boy vowed that if it pleased 
 God and all the saints to restore him to health, he 
 would give himself no rest till he had " purged the 
 kingdom of these wicked heretics, and asked that 
 God would strike him dead if he spared wife or 
 mother, brothers, sisters, or friends, if the taint of 
 heresy was upon them." 1 
 
 The Protestants, in return, met to intercede for 
 the child-king. They asked God to " give to the 
 king not only health, but good and wise counsel, 
 through which they might possess their souls in 
 patience." Catherine saw that all was about to be 
 changed, and that she must be ready to grasp the 
 reins. The Guises altered their attitude towards 
 her ; their haughty and domineering bearing became 
 mild and obsequious. The Cardinal of Lorraine had 
 but one thought at this crisis to place himself under 
 the protection of Spain. He sent for Chantonnay, 
 and after enlarging on the sad fate of Mary Stuart, 
 and on the misfortunes of his own house, he declared 
 that Catherine was ready to make use of all the 
 strength of the kingdom to maintain her autho- 
 rity, and that she asked the help of the King of 
 Spain to guard against the dangers that threatened 
 
 1 La Planche.
 
 212 COLIC NY. 
 
 religion, if she was not recognised as governing the 
 kingdom. 1 Catherine had given him no authority 
 to speak in this way. The Guises made one final 
 effort to get rid of Conde", and to make an end 
 of the King of Navarre at the same time. But 
 the Chancellor 1'Hospital saw their design, and 
 strongly advised the queen-mother to rely upon the 
 Bourbons. She agreed, but concealed the game she 
 was playing till the arrival of the Constable, whom 
 she summoned in all haste. He alone, as head of 
 the army, could hold his ground against the Guises. 
 He arrived at Orleans December 5th, 1560. 
 Francis II. had just expired, forsaken by his uncles, 
 who thought only of their own safety, and did not 
 even attend his funeral. " Gentlemen," said Coligny 
 to the courtiers standing around," the king is dead ; 
 let us learn a lesson how to live." 2 A new future 
 seemed opening. 
 
 1 Letter from Chantonnay to the Duchess of Parma (Dec. 
 1560), See La Ferriere, Introd., p. Ixxxv. 
 
 2 MS. Colbert, fol. 448, quoted by M. Puaux (Hist, de la 
 reformation fran$aise, Book VIII., ch. xxix.). We borrow a 
 curious anecdote from the same source. "The Admiral, having 
 gone to his house after the death of the king, fell into a pro- 
 found reverie. He was seated in an armchair, his toothpick 
 in his hand, and his feet to the fire. A gentleman named 
 Fontaine was sitting silently beside him, fearing to disturb 
 his meditations ; but seeing that the toes of his boots were 
 almost burnt off, he said, ' Monseigneur, you carry your dream- 
 ing too far; your boots are all burning.' 'Ah! Fontaine,' 
 replied the Admiral, ' less than a week ago you and I would 
 have been glad to get off each with the loss of a leg, and 
 now we are let off with the loss of a pair of boots ; it is a 
 good bargain.' "
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Accession of Charles IX. Catherine de Medicis takes the power into 
 her own hands. Her character and policy. She tries to shake off 
 the yoke of the Guises. Meeting of the States General. Speeches 
 of 1' Hospital and the orators of the third estate, the nobles and 
 clergy. False step taken by the Protestants at the Synod of 
 Poitiers. The Court goes to Fontainebleau. 
 
 IX., who succeeded his brother, was 
 only ten and a half years old. His accession 
 was greeted with universal gladness. The Venetian 
 ambassador, Michieli, writing of him, says, " He is a 
 charming youth, of quick intelligence, and remark- 
 able vivacity. He is ardent, generous, and kindly. 
 His countenance is pleasing, his eyes are very fine. 
 He is graceful in all his movements and in his 
 deportment, but he is of a weak constitution. He 
 eats and drinks very little, and is apt to over-fatigue 
 himself with horse exercise and the game of tennis, 
 of which he is passionately fond. After any exertion 
 he has to rest a long time. He is not fond of study, 
 but pursues it to please his mother. Much is hoped 
 and expected from him, if God but gives him time." l 
 The Protestants formed the same impression. Many 
 
 1 Relations des ambassadeurs venitiens, ist Series, vol. i., 
 p. 14.
 
 214 COL1GN}. 
 
 hoped that, like the young King of England, he 
 would take up the cause of the Reformation. 
 
 The army had yielded to the influence of the old 
 Constable, who, on entering Orleans, had unhesi- 
 tatingly assumed the military command. The regency 
 might have been claimed by Antoine of Navarre, 
 as the first prince of the blood ; but he lacked the 
 courage to enforce his rights. Catherine made her- 
 self regent without assuming the title. She wrote 
 to her daughter, the Queen of Spain, " I am con- 
 strained to have the King of Navarre by me, for so 
 run the laws of the kingdom ; but let the king, your 
 husband, not be troubled about this ; the King of 
 Navarre is all obedience to me, and has no authority 
 but such as I give him." 1 Catherine kept the whole 
 control in her own hands. She received the despatches, 
 gave audience to ambassadors, and used the seal 
 royal, the sign of authority. The Privy Council took 
 the management of the finances, which had before 
 been exercised by the Cardinal of Lorraine. Francis 
 of Lorraine still retained the title of Grand Master 
 of France. Conde was set aside on the plea that 
 his honour demanded that he should be formally 
 reinstated. He was told to retire into one of his 
 estates in Picardy a sort of " graceful captivity." 
 He acquiesced. 
 
 Catherine now at length possessed the power she 
 had so long coveted. Under Henry II. she had felt 
 herself set aside by an all-powerful mistress ; under 
 Francis II. her part had been entirely passive, but 
 she had been all the time studying that art of 
 
 1 La Ferriere, Lettres de Catherine de Medicis, p. 869.
 
 POSITION OF THE QUEEN-MOTHER. 215 
 
 dissimulation which was one of the distinctive traits 
 of her family. 
 
 The task she had set herself was full of danger. 
 She wielded the power of the State in the name of 
 a child whose favour all parties were eager to gain, 
 that his authority might be used in their behalf. 
 She found herself at the head of a nation rent 
 asunder by religious passions more violent than any 
 other. Two foreign powers, England and Spain, were 
 bringing a heavy pressure to bear upon France 
 through their ambassadors, while awaiting an early 
 opportunity to send their soldiers to take part in 
 the internal struggles of the country. At the head 
 of these two great parties who were contending with 
 each other for the direction of affairs, Catherine 
 found leaders who, by birth, military genius and 
 ascendancy over the masses, were almost like so 
 many sovereigns. She herself had but a very slight 
 prestige to set against their influence. A foreigner, 
 descended from a family of parvenus, for a long time 
 despised by the king her husband, held recently in 
 humiliating tutelage by the Guises, her sole reliance 
 in this crisis was on the chivalry of the noblesse in 
 both parties (and this might fail her), and on the 
 German and Swiss auxiliaries, whom she found very 
 costly allies, at a time when the States General were 
 beginning to assert their rights and to refuse the 
 subsidies. 
 
 When we think of the enormous difficulties 
 which beset her, we can more readily understand 
 the comparative indulgence with which Henry IV. 
 always judged her. Himself of lax morality, Henry 
 of Beam could but admire the adroitness by which she
 
 '216 
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 had so long maintained her power. He who never 
 triumphed himself, except by sheer force of genius, 
 always rendered homage to this faculty of astuteness. 
 
 History will be less indulgent. It recalls the 
 unparalleled degradation into which Catherine 
 dragged France ; the systematised perfidy of its 
 rulers, the awful tragedy of 1572, the deterioration 
 of national character, the low morals of Henry III., 
 the saturnalia of the League, the shameful bargains 
 with the Spaniard ; and it cannot forget the weight 
 of responsibility resting upon Catherine for the fatal 
 dcnoument in which the country well-nigh suc- 
 cumbed. 
 
 Undoubtedly Catherine had not the genius of 
 Henry IV. or of Elizabeth, but failing that her influ- 
 ence might yet have been great for good. No one 
 but a fatalist will deny that had there been a firm 
 will at the head of affairs the whole issue might have 
 been different. In 1560 France still retained intact 
 her faith in monarchy and her devotion to the 
 sovereign. When we recall the strange history of the 
 vicissitudes of the English parliament at this time, 
 and the violent crises which had sapped the 
 strength of that nation till Elizabeth restored it to 
 its true place of power and influence, it can hardly 
 be said that the France of that day was in a worse 
 position, or less capable of righting itself under firm 
 and wise guidance. A nation which had then among 
 its sons such men as 1'Hospital, Coligny, and so 
 many other noble characters, must have been capable 
 of high destinies. But Catherine had no conception 
 of such possibilities. 
 
 Was she incapable of firmness ? We have seen
 
 CATHERINE'S TRUE CHARACTER. 
 
 how, after the defeat of St. Quentin, she showed 
 herself for a moment equal to her task, and for the 
 time rallied, as one may say, the whole nation around 
 her. But it was only a passing greatness. 
 
 From the day she was left a widow she began to 
 manoeuvre. To retain power was all her aim, and 
 cunning was all her policy. 
 
 Throughout her vast correspondence we find no 
 trace of any elevation or breadth of view. Love for 
 her children is the one fine feeling of which she is 
 capable. Sometimes she resents the pressure brought 
 to bear upon her by the Guises and by Spain. 
 Some of her despatches are proud and haughty in 
 tone, but it is a fire of straw which soon burns out. 
 She made use of all parties in turn, and deceived 
 them all. In that tragic quarter of a century when 
 such rivers of French blood flowed, she had no tear 
 for any one of the victims. The terse, cold style of 
 her letters makes one feel that this woman must 
 have looked on many horrors. How different is the 
 language of the true French women of that day, 
 such women as Jeanne d'Albret, Charlotte de Laval, 
 Renee of Ferrara. Indignation, sorrow, pity, is the 
 burden of their letters. Catherine de Medicis has 
 not even the excuse of fanaticism. She would go 
 indifferently to mass or to Protestant preaching just 
 as her interest led her. She influenced men by 
 appealing to their lowest instincts to their self- 
 interest and avarice. Brantome tells us how light 
 was the character of those noble ladies who formed 
 her suite, her " escadron volant," and how both 
 gallantry and espionage were called into service 
 to betray to the queen-mother the secrets of the court.
 
 2l8 COLIGNY. 
 
 In this heavy and voluptuous atmosphere a subtle 
 poison steals into the soul. Conscience becomes 
 stupefied. Crime itself ceases to shock. French 
 frankness is discountenanced, and gives place to the 
 shrewd perfidy of the Italians with whom the court 
 is peopled. Natures which might have been generous 
 and great, become low and ferocious through that 
 fatal instinct which so often links together sensual 
 pleasure and cruelty, the zest for refined debauchery 
 and the thirst for blood. 
 
 Charles IX. becomes, under the tutelage of his 
 mother, the sinister murderer of August 24th. Her 
 favourite son is the future Henry III., the king of 
 minions. Thus she grows old, and death comes at 
 last to carry her away into oblivion and contempt. 
 
 But at the stage at which we have now arrived 
 her character was not yet known. The Protestants 
 still believed in her. They loved to remember that 
 in the time of her disgrace she was wont to sing 
 psalms ; that she had cordially received Madame de 
 Roye, the Admiral's mother-in-law, and had often 
 told the Admiral that she depended chiefly upon 
 him. It was easy to believe, moreover, that she 
 had lent herself unwillingly to the enterprises of the 
 Guises against the Bourbons, and that she would 
 gladly have shaken off their yoke. On this last 
 point there was no mistake. What she really thought 
 at this time appears in a letter written by her some 
 months later to her daughter, the Queen of Spain. 1 
 " I want to tell you, for it is the truth, that all this 
 trouble has grown out of the hatred which this whole 
 
 1 April ist, 1561.
 
 CATHERINE'S OPINION OF THE GUISES. 219 
 
 kingdom bears to the Cardinal of Lorraine and the 
 Duke of Guise. It was thought that I should hand 
 over to them the government of this kingdom. I 
 have assured them to the contrary, nor am I under 
 any obligation to do so. For you know hozv they treated 
 me in the time of the king your brotJier, and even 
 now, when they have no one to look to but me, you 
 know how they are working against me in the matter 
 of your sister's marriage. 1 Hence I have resolved 
 to protect them, so that they shall come to no 
 harm ; but for the rest, to look after your brother's 
 interests and my own, and not to let them mix up 
 their quarrels with mine. For I know well enough, 
 that if they could, they would have made themselves 
 regents, and would have left me out, as tJiey always 
 do wlien tliere is any greatness or advantage to be 
 gained, for tJiis is the one thing they have at heart" 2 ' 
 
 These closing words are significant. Never did 
 Catherine pass so severe a judgment even upon 
 Coligny or Conde himself. The sequel shows how 
 ready she was, when she thought her own interests 
 involved, to fall back upon men of whom she enter- 
 tained such an opinion. 
 
 The Spanish envoy, Don Juan Manrique of Lara, 
 in the very first complimentary visit which he paid 
 to the new king, recommended the queen, in the 
 name of Philip II., to be very sedulous in the matter 
 of religion, and, above all, not to have about her 
 
 1 This refers to Marguerite de Valois, whom Catherine wished 
 to marry to Don Carlos, while the Guises were anxious to get 
 him to marry their niece, Mary Stuart, as soon as she was left 
 a widow. 
 
 2 Lettres de Catherine deMedicis, published by La Ferriere, 
 P- 59 2 -
 
 22O COLIGNY. 
 
 those who were not steadfast in the Catholic faith. 
 This hint was clearly aimed at the Admiral and the 
 Cardinal of Chatillon. Catherine was hurt by it, 
 and replied to her daughter, the Queen of Spain, 
 in a letter which contained these significant words, 
 " Philip can say to those who advise him to interfere 
 in the choice of councillors for Charles IX., that as 
 he knows no more how the affairs of this kingdom 
 ought to be governed than I do how to conduct the 
 affairs of Spain, he has no intention of meddling in 
 the matter." l 
 
 But at the same time she recommends Coligny to 
 " put on a good face " to the Guises, who such a 
 short time before were plotting the death of Conde, 
 of the Admiral, and of all the Huguenot leaders. 
 Coligny's reply was frank and fearless. He said 
 that, " As to putting on a good face to those who 
 had compassed his death, attainted his honour, and 
 sought the confiscation of his goods, and the ruin of 
 his whole house, he could not do it without being 
 double-faced, which was contrary to his profession of 
 religion, and unworthy of any good man. He was 
 willing indeed to leave God to avenge the wrong, 
 which He would do in His own time, since justice 
 was not to be found among men." 2 
 
 On December I3th, 1560, the Assembly of the 
 States General met at Orleans. In spite of the 
 enormous pressure which the Guises had put upon 
 the country, the majority were far from favourable 
 to them. The clergy numbered one hundred and 
 
 1 These words are reported in a letter from Chantonnay to 
 the Duchess of Parma, December 1560. 
 
 2 La Planche.
 
 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATES GENERAL. 221 
 
 eighteen, many of whom were inclined to " the: 
 religion." The nobility were about the same number ; 
 the third estate had two hundred and twenty-five 
 representatives. In the two latter orders the 
 nobility and the third estate there was a majority 
 hostile to the Lorraines, and even several Protestants. 
 The " malcontents" joined with the Huguenots to 
 demand a general re-election, on the plea that force 
 had been used ; but two-thirds of the Assembly 
 decided that there was no adequate ground for such 
 a course, and the deliberations began. 
 
 Michel de 1'Hospital opened with a speech, which 
 has become historical. In simple familiar language, 
 contrasting strongly with the inflated eloquence 
 common to the day, he made the voice of the 
 country itself to be heard, and unfolded with great 
 boldness principles of liberty then new and strange. 
 
 " We must not," he said, " listen to those who 
 say that it is unworthy the dignity of a king to 
 convoke the States ; for what is more truly kingly 
 than for a king to do justice to his people ? And 
 how can he do this more easily than by giving 
 permission to all to set forth their grievances with 
 full liberty, publicly and in a place where imposture 
 and deception are impossible? " Then the Chancellor 
 spoke with indignation of those who kept the truth 
 from coming to the king's ears. He insisted on the 
 necessity of a thorough reformation of the clergy, 
 reminded the nobles of their duty, and set forth the 
 too much overlooked province of the third estate. 
 
 When he came to speak of religion, he used 
 words never to be forgotten. Doubtless the ideal 
 he had in view was a return to religious unity ; but
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 he would effect that result only by moral suasion. 
 " The knife," he said, " is of little avail against 
 spiritual error, except to make soul and body perish 
 together. . . . We ought by all means to try to 
 bring back those who are in error, and not be like 
 those who, seeing a man or loaded beast fallen into 
 the ditch, instead of lifting it out, give it a kick. . . . 
 Gentleness will do more than harshness. Let us 
 lay aside those inventions of the devil, the watch- 
 words of party faction and sedition, the names 
 Lutheran, Huguenot, Papist, and let us keep to the 
 name of Christian." 
 
 Eighteen days later, January ist, 1561, the delibe- 
 rations began. Jean 1'Ange, the counsel for the par- 
 liament of Bordeaux, spoke first for the third estate. 
 His speech was almost entirely directed against the 
 clergy. He pointed out with much vigour what he 
 called their three principal vices ignorance, avarice, 
 and luxury. " Ignorance," he said, " has cast its 
 roots so deep that preaching, which is one of the . 
 essential functions of the episcopate, is entirely 
 neglected." 
 
 The speech of Jacques de Silly, Count de 
 Rochefort, breathed the same spirit. After some 
 biting allusions to the affronts and threats offered 
 to the princes of the blood by the Guises, he 
 pointed to the example of kings who had resisted 
 the encroachments of the clergy ; he demanded 
 a reformation of the Church, and concluded by 
 claiming for the Protestants liberty of public 
 worship. 
 
 It was now the turn of the spokesman of the 
 clergy, Dr. Jean Quintin. He stoutly defended the
 
 SPEECH OF DR. QUINTIN. 22$ 
 
 old doctrine of the repression of heresy by the sword. 
 He quoted the example of all Christian sovereigns 
 in the past, from Constantine and Charlemagne to 
 St. Louis. Alas ! he might have adduced the 
 example set by Calvin himself at this very time at 
 Geneva. " No one," he said, " can deny that heresy 
 is an evil and a capital crime, and that the heretic is 
 a capital offender. St. Paul himself has said so, 
 ergo, the heretic is punishable capitally, and subject 
 to the sword of the magistrate." 1 Quintin asked 
 that every one who presented a petition on behalf of 
 the heretics should be himself declared a heretic. 
 This was openly pointed at Coligny ; and all eyes, 
 as Theodore Beza tells us, were turned on the 
 Admiral. The Admiral thus directly attacked, 
 complained next day to the king of the wrong that had 
 been done him. Quintin was sent for by Catherine, 
 and compelled to excuse himself. He did so in 
 pitiful fashion, declaring that he had only read the 
 memorial that had been entrusted to him, and in a 
 subsequent speech he protested that he had not 
 intended any reference to the Admiral. 2 
 
 The public discussion then was not unfavourable 
 
 1 These are almost the exact terms of the famous pamphlet 
 which sixteen years before Theodore Beza had written against 
 Castalio, who protested against the death of Servetus : "'De 
 haereticis a civili magistratu puniendis." 
 
 2 The attitude taken by Coligny at Orleans won for him the 
 congratulations of Calvin, who wrote to him February i8th, 
 1561: " Monseigneur, we have indeed cause to praise God 
 for the singular virtue He has given you to serve the glory and 
 advancement of His Son. It were to be wished that there 
 were many more to aid you. But though others are slow to 
 acquit themselves of their duty, yet you are bound to fulfil the 
 commandment of our Lord, which is that each one of us ought 
 to follow Him at once, without looking to see what others do.
 
 224 COLIGNY. 
 
 5 
 
 to the Protestants. The States General suspended 
 their sittings on January 3ist. The king convoked 
 them for the following May at Pontoise ; but 
 in order to avoid the inconvenience of too large 
 assemblies, it was decided that each of the thirteen 
 great provinces of the kingdom should send only 
 two deputies. This was a grave mistake ; for as 
 the number of clerical delegates was not lessened, 
 these were sure of having a majority on all questions. 
 Some days after the suspension of the States 
 General, the Protestants held a synod at Poitiers. 
 Here they were guilty of a great error. The ministers 
 unhappily conceived the idea of touching on politics 
 instead of keeping to the affairs of their Churches, 
 and they drew up a memorial demanding the exclu- 
 sion of women from the government of the State, 
 and the appointment of a lawful regency. This was 
 a direct attack on Catherine de Medicis, and she 
 keenly resented it. We do not know how far 
 Antoine of Navarre was concerned in framing this 
 resolution in his own favour. Assuredly the Protes- 
 tant cause would not have gained much in having' 
 such a protector, as the sequel clearly showed. But 
 the Synod of Poitiers had gone beyond its competence 
 in meddling with politics, and thus creating a pre- 
 
 . . . Let each one for himself go where he is called, even if 
 there be none to follow ; and yet I hope that the greatness of 
 soul which God has caused to shine forth in you, will stir up 
 the indifferent to tread in your steps. But even if all the 
 world should remain blind and thankless, and it should seem 
 as though all your trouble were lost, be content, Monseigneur, 
 with the approval of God and His angels. And let it suffice 
 you that you cannot fail of your heavenly crown, having thus 
 bravely fought for the glory of Christ, in which is our salva- 
 tion." Quoted as in Delaborde, vol. i., p. 499.
 
 COL1GNY RETIRES TO CHATILLON. 22$ 
 
 cedent which the Catholics would be only too ready 
 to turn to account presently at the expense of the 
 liberty of the Protestants. 
 
 The Court, on leaving Orleans, went to Fontaine- 
 bleau. The Admiral retired to Chatillon-sur-Loing, 
 where, at the end of February, he had his son Odet 
 solemnly baptized according to the Genevan rite. 
 This fact produced an immense sensation. It was 
 the first public act of Protestant worship performed 
 in Coligny's house.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Coligny in his home life. Chatillon-sur-Loing. The life of a great 
 Huguenot seigneur. The Admiral's zeal for education. Refor- 
 mation of studies in the sixteenth century. Coligny's relations 
 with Renee of Ferrara. The Admiral practises religious liberty at 
 Chatillon. 
 
 LET us now follow the Admiral to Chatillon-sur- 
 Loing, and see, by the help of authentic 
 documents, what was the home life of a great 
 Huguenot seigneur in the sixteenth century. 1 
 
 Coligny's castle, of which some interesting ruins 
 are still standing, and of which the painter Girodet 
 has preserved a sketch, taken a few days before it 
 was destroyed, was, in its vast proportions, a truly 
 royal residence. 2 Francis I. and Henry II. often 
 
 1 Here we cite, in addition to the works of MM. Delaborde 
 and Tessier, a curious pamphlet by M. Becquerel, Member of 
 the Academy of Sciences, who living himself at Chatillon, has 
 collected many interesting details under the title : " Souvenirs 
 historiques sur 1'Admiral de Coligny, sa famille et sa seig- 
 neurie de Chatillon-sur-Loing." We have seen in M. Becquerel' s 
 house some relics of the fittings of the old castle, which was 
 destroyed at the beginning of this century, and some panels 
 inlaid with cameos, which belong to the age of Coligny. M. 
 Jules Bonnet, in his Bulletin d* histoire du protestantisme 
 
 fran$ais, May 1882, has described the Admiral's life at 
 Chatillon. 
 
 2 Girodet-Trioson, the celebrated painter of the deluge, was 
 born at Montargis in 1767. In his youth he had seen the 
 castles of Montargis and Chatillon-sur-Loing still standing;
 
 CHAT1LLON-SUR-LOING. 
 
 stayed there. From the top of its enormous tower, 
 which is still standing, there is a view of the mono- 
 tonous plain of the Gatinais, through which the 
 Loing winds ; to the west are seen the houses of 
 Montargis, where Renee of Ferrara, daughter of 
 Louis XII., and mother-in-law of Francis of Lorraine, 
 openly celebrated the reformed worship. The 
 Admiral, on his return from his long captivity, had 
 rebuilt and enlarged the castle. The new part was 
 in the style of the sixteenth century. Less elegant 
 than Chambord or Fontainebleau, it still formed a 
 
 he even made a drawing of Chatillon, of which we have a copy 
 the work of the Count de Castries. It represents the castle 
 as it was at the close of the last century. It is a very imposing 
 pile of buildings, and justifies the enthusiastic descriptions 
 given by travellers in the days of its prime. When the revolu- 
 tionary administration offered it for sale, some inhabitants of 
 Chatillon tried to purchase it ; but the sum they could offer 
 was too small. It fell into the hands of vandals, who 
 demolished it and scattered all these relics of a heroic past. 
 Girodet was highly indignant at this, and denounced these 
 modern Vandals in a poem (he was a poet now and then). 
 The following verses occur in it ; they are very weak in style, 
 but pathetic in their spirit : 
 
 " Et toi, pour la vertu decore par les arts 
 Elegant Chatillon, palais des fils de Mars, 
 Asile de 1'honneur oii souvent la victoire 
 Allait loin de la cour dissimuler sa gloire ; 
 Par le fer abattus, par le feu devores, 
 J'ai vu tomber tes murs et tes lambris dores, 
 Ces vieux chenes, orgueil de ton pare frais et sombre, 
 Qui peut-etre avaient vu Coligny sous leur ombre, 
 Ou sont ils ? Demandez a ces vils acheteurs 
 Du palais des heros, sordides brocanteurs. 
 O peintre, si tu viens pour en chercher la place, 
 La ronce et le chardon t'en dessinent la trace, 
 Une tour, comme un roc sur les Alpes assis, 
 Montre encore ses flancs nus que la foudre a noircis ; 
 Colonne du malheur, par le crime laissee, 
 Et qu' attriste le deuil de sa splendeur passee." 
 
 Oeuvres gosthumes de Girodet-Trioson, vol i., p. 83;.
 
 228 COLIGNY. 
 
 fine and imposing structure, very different in appear- 
 ance from the gloomy old feudal manors. M. Bonnet 
 says : " Coligny, like a true son of the Renaissance, 
 called in the most famous artists to decorate the 
 castle. One wing on the south side contained a 
 gallery in which the principal military achievements 
 of the family were represented by the brush of 
 Primaticcio and his pupils. Jean Goujon lent the aid 
 of his chisel to produce those marvellous basreliefs 
 and breathing caryatides, of which he alone knew 
 the secret. Several rooms were decorated with 
 fresco paintings from the designs of Giulio Romano. 
 The peristyle of the castle was made to harmonise 
 with the splendours of the enlarged building. Three 
 terraces, one above another, communicated with the 
 great gardens." These terraces are still to be seen, 
 as well as the walls of the conservatories, which were 
 monumental. A covered well is also in existence, 
 the sculptures on which are a good specimen of the 
 style of the period, and the only relics of it remain- 
 ing. In a panel in the wall of the Admiral's old 
 bedroom, at the foot of the tower, a slab of marble 
 marks the place where lie the remains of Coligny, 
 enclosed in an iron box. 1 
 
 At the time of which we are now speaking, the 
 Admiral was forty-two years of age, of medium 
 height, well proportioned, and capable of enduring 
 great fatigue, though subject to frequent attacks of 
 fever which often endangered his life. His demea- 
 nour was grave and almost chilling. His forehead 
 was high, his eyes blue, and beaming with intelli- 
 
 1 We have referred already to the sad Odyssey of these 
 remains.
 
 PERSONAL TRAITS OF COLIGNY. 229 
 
 gence. Without the expression of studied grace, 
 which made Francis of Lorraine so fascinating to 
 many, there was a nobleness about his face the 
 true expression of the noble soul within. 1 In speech, 
 he was slow and grave, but in the presence of danger 
 the whole man was transformed ; he had then the 
 lofty bearing, the commanding look, the stirring tone 
 of the military leader who can revive the broken 
 courage of his men and turn defeat into victory. 
 Kind and gentle to the young and the weak, capable 
 of traits of humanity surprizing in such an age of 
 violence, he never relaxed in matters of discipline. 
 Usually calm and self-possessed, he flashed out in 
 burning ire against all hypocrisy. Holding with an 
 intensity of belief his own convictions, he had an 
 over-mastering sense of justice, an ideal of virtue 
 higher than that of his age, which appeared in all his 
 words and actions, and raised him completely above 
 all vulgar interests and low ambitions. This was 
 the trait which struck all who came in contact with 
 him. Even his enemies admit the greatness of his 
 character. 
 
 Charlotte de Laval was the life of his home, and 
 how brave a soul she bore we shall soon see. Three 
 
 1 Such is Coligny's appearance in a portrait preserved in 
 the museum at Valenciennes, which must belong- to this 
 period. Such is he also in the well-known engraving of the 
 three brothers by Duval. Subsequently in the tragic life of 
 the civil wars which filled him with mortal sadness, and in which 
 he had to witness so many scenes of carnage, and was perpe- 
 tually threatened with treason, his face assumed a look of 
 habitual melancholy, his brow grew furrowed, and his lips 
 contracted. The terrible wound he received at Moncontour 
 left a deep scar. So he appears in his later portraits. When 
 he was killed they called him an old man. He was fifty- three !
 
 230 COLIGNY. 
 
 sons and two daughters 1 formed " the whole of his 
 little household," as the Admiral wrote to Rene"e of 
 Ferrara. The great house resounded with merry 
 life ; for the Admiral was a tender father, and loved 
 to see his children around him leading " a happy 
 life and playing together merrily. 2 
 
 Family worship was conducted every day in the 
 castle by Pastor Merlin, Coligny's almoner ; but the 
 Admiral often took part in it himself. 3 The Scrip- 
 tures were read, and the psalms sung in the metrical 
 version of Clement Marot, valet de chambre to the 
 late king. Sometimes the letters addressed by Calvin 
 or Beza to the believers in France were also read. 
 The author of the Vita Colinii has drawn for us the 
 picture of this family worship. 4 He says : " As 
 
 1 His eldest son Henry died at the age of fifteen months. 
 Gaspard, born September 28th, 1554, died at Orleans in 1568; 
 Francis was born April 28th, 1557 ; Odet, December 24th, 
 1560. Charlotte gave the Admiral in 1564 another son, 
 Charles, who proved unworthy of the name he bore. Their 
 daughter Louise was born in 1555, and her younger sister 
 Renee in 1561. 
 
 2 These words are taken from a letter which Henri de Conde 
 wrote some years later to Coligny : "I amuse my cousin 
 Louise and my little cousin every evening ; we have fine 
 times as you like us to, and play together merrily to try and 
 pass away the sad hours." (Extract from /' ' Histoire des 
 Princes de Conde, by the Duke d'Aumale, vol. ii., p. 415.) 
 
 3 Calvin had this year sent Merlin to the Admiral, and 
 wrote to the latter : " I do not doubt that you have found him 
 all that you wished, and have proved from experience that he 
 tries faithfully to do his duty. . . . Yet I pray you, Monseigneur, 
 not to grow weary in the pursuit of so good and holy and 
 worthy a work, that had we fifty lives they might all be 
 well spent in it. ... True it is that in order to strengthen 
 ourselves to serve God constantly we must look above the 
 world, even as the Apostle exhorts us to cast our anchor in 
 heaven." Letter, May, 1561. 
 
 4 Page 134. Translation, 1643.
 
 FAMIL Y WORSHIP A T CffATILLON". 23 1 
 
 soon as the Admiral rose, which was very early in 
 the morning, he, putting on his dressing-gown and 
 kneeling with all the rest who were present, would 
 offer prayer in the form used by the French churches, 
 after which, while waiting for the hour for the sermon, 
 which was given every other day with the singing of 
 psalms, he would give audience to the messengers 
 often sent to him by the churches, and would employ 
 his time in public affairs, which he resumed after 
 the preaching, and continued till dinner. Dinner 
 being ready, his domestic servants, except those who 
 were occupied in preparing the meal, were assembled 
 in the hall, where the table was set, before which 
 stood the Admiral with his wife by his side, and if 
 there had been no preaching they chanted a psalm, 
 and then pronounced the usual benediction. This 
 custom, a number not only of Frenchmen,, but of 
 German captains and colonels, whom he often asked 
 to dine with him, can bear witness that he never, for 
 a single day, failed to observe, not only at home 
 and in times of leisure, but also in the army. The 
 cloth being removed he rose, and standing with his 
 wife and all present, he either returned thanks 
 himself or got the minister to do so. The same 
 was done at supper, and seeing that all his house- 
 hold were tired at evening prayer, which was late 
 and uncertain on account of many engagements, 
 he gave orders that all should gather together as 
 soon as supper was over, and that after the singing 
 of the psalm, prayer should be offered. It would 
 be hard to say how many of the French nobility 
 began to establish this religious rule in their own 
 families, following the example of the Admiral, who
 
 232 COLIC NY. 
 
 exhorted them often to the true practice of piety, 
 saying that it was not enough for the father of a 
 family to live holily and religiously if he did not, 
 by his example, train up his household by the same 
 rule. Now it is certain that the Admiral's piety and 
 holiness were so much admired, even by many 
 Catholics, that but for the fear and horror of tortures 
 and massacres, the greater part of France would have 
 been " converted to the reformed religion and dis- 
 cipline." The same writer also mentions a touching 
 incident which shows how this usually energetic and 
 determined man conducted himself towards the 
 humblest individuals. He says, " When the time of 
 the Lord's Supper drew near the Admiral called all his 
 household together, showing them how they would 
 not only have to give account to God of their lives, 
 but also of their carriage to each other, and he 
 would try to make up any differences there might be 
 among them. And if some one seemed to him not 
 sufficiently prepared to understand and revere the 
 holy mystery aright, he took pains to teach him 
 more fully, and if he found any obstinate he would 
 plainly tell them that he would rather live alone 
 than keep unruly followers." 
 
 Coligny had chosen for his children a tutor named 
 Le Gresle, who remained attached to them all his 
 life, and whom Coligny mentions with singular affec- 
 tion in his will. The Duchess of Ferrara, who was 
 one of the most highly educated women of her time, 
 took a great interest in their training, and wished to 
 hear of their progress. Francis, one of the children, 
 addressed the following letter to her : " Madame, the 
 letter with which you have been pleased to honour us
 
 ED UCA TION A T CHA TILL OM 233 
 
 is a sure pledge of the remembrance which you are 
 pleased to cherish of us, although we have no means 
 as yet of doing you the service which we owe you. 
 But for the affection which you are pleased to show 
 us, and the good which you wish us, I hope it may 
 be enough for the present if we give all diligence to 
 know God, and love and honour Him by the advance- 
 ment we make in learning- and the sciences, as of your 
 singular goodness you are pleased to exhort us; and 
 we hope to pay such good heed to your words that 
 you shall see afterwards that your exhortation has not 
 been in vain by the help of God, whom we pray to 
 give you, Madame, all happiness and long life for 
 the advancement of the kingdom of His Son." 
 
 Coligny was much occupied with this subject of 
 education. His first biographer says : "The Admiral 
 esteemed the institution of colleges and schools for 
 children as a singular benefit from God, and he 
 would speak of them as nurseries for the Church, an 
 apprenticeship in piety. He held that the ignorance 
 of letters had brought thick darkness not only upon the 
 commonwealth, but also on the Church ; and that out 
 of this ignorance the tyranny of the pope had arisen 
 and grown up. Therefore he built at great cost a 
 college at Chatillon in a pleasant and healthy situa- 
 tion, where he kept at his own expense very learned 
 professors of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and many 
 scholars, both children and young people. 1 
 
 This programme of education, which gave special 
 prominence to the study of the classic tongues, was 
 new. The middle ages had made the schoolmen 
 their great study, that is, they had devoted them- 
 
 1 Vila Colintf (i$f$, p, 136),
 
 234 COLIGNY. 
 
 selves to logic, dialectics, and barren argumen- 
 tation. 
 
 For this thankless task Latin sufficed, and even 
 this became more and more dry and barbarous, 
 bristling with scholastic terms, well suited to the art 
 of disputation, which was then the ultimatum of all 
 learning. The sixteenth century was not yet ripe 
 for the natural sciences. The Renaissance turned 
 attention chiefly to the study of the classics, whose 
 beauty fascinated it. The Reformation cultivated 
 the dead languages with equal ardour, in order to 
 arrive at a knowledge of the sacred text in the 
 original ; hence the importance attached to Greek 
 and Hebrew. For the vaunted art of discussion was 
 now substituted the interpretation of the text, and 
 this stimulated the inventive faculties. One who is 
 a good judge has said : " Through the study of 
 grammars, the Renaissance introduced a general, 
 living, human education adapted to all, which is the 
 same for all, and from which no one is exempt. 
 Henceforward this will be the education of all that 
 part of the nation which is capable of receiving 
 education the sons of merchants and farmers, as 
 well as of the nobles, the laity, and the clergy." 
 
 These observations show that in establishing what 
 \ve should now call a classical foundation at Chatillon- 
 sur-Loing, in what was after all only a small and 
 unimportant town, Coligny was acting under the 
 same influences which had been at work in Paris, 
 Strasburg, Geneva, and Nismes, producing the re- 
 forms introduced by Lefevre d'Etaples, Jean Sturm, 
 
 1 M. Gaston Boissier, La reforme des Etudes au 
 Siecle ; Revue des Deux Mondes (December ist, 1882.)
 
 RENEE, DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 235 
 
 Malhurin Cordier, and Claude Baduel. 3 "We cannot 
 but observe," says M. Gaston Boissier, " that the 
 reformation of study in the sixteenth century was 
 primarily due to the Protestants." 2 
 
 We have mentioned the interest which Renee, 
 daughter of Louis XII., took in the education of 
 Coligny's children. The Duchess of Ferrara had 
 early favoured the Renaissance movement, and her 
 stay in Italy could not but develop her taste for letters. 
 Left a widow in 1559, and from that time taking up 
 her abode in France, she became a devoted adherent 
 of " the religion." Only a year before (July 5th, 
 1560), Calvin had reproached her for not taking a 
 decided stand. Now the Consistory of Geneva had 
 just sent her, at her own request, a minister, Frangois 
 Morel, Sieur de Collanges, who had presided over 
 the Synod of Paris. Her resolution was the more 
 courageous since her brother-in-law, Francis of Lor- 
 raine, was the most prominent leader of the Catholic 
 party. It is easy to understand how her relations 
 with the Chatillons became of the closest. Renee of 
 Ferrara and Charlotte de Laval were kindred souls. 3 
 Some letters exchanged between them, which have 
 come down to us, show that they were both alike 
 devoted to works of charity. 4 
 
 1 This question is treated at length in the interesting work 
 of M. Gaufres on Claude Baduel (Paris, 1881). 
 
 - Re forme des etudes au XVI' Am * Siecle. It must not be 
 forgotten, however, that the nobles were making efforts in the 
 same direction in the republic of Venice, founding free schools 
 taught by persons belonging to the first families in the State. 
 
 3 M. Jules Bonnet, in the article already quoted, gives 
 several touching extracts from Rente's account book, which 
 show her care for the poor. 
 
 4 POTTO continentise ipsius summum hoc documentum fuit,
 
 236 COLfGNY. 
 
 The Admiral loved to use hospitality. Singularly 
 temperate and frugal in his own habits, he was so 
 generous that he did not add one acre to his patri- 
 monial estate. He wished that his house should be 
 freely open to those who resorted to him from all 
 parts of France. 
 
 At Chatillon the rights of the Catholics were 
 treated with all respect ; this is a point we must not 
 fail to notice. The Admiral, who was supreme as 
 seigneur of the place, was an advocate of liberty of 
 conscience. " Although he was no lover of masses, 
 it could truly be said that there was no place in 
 France where the priests lived in greater liberty 
 than at Chatillon." He added, however, with his 
 wonted candour, not free from a touch of malicious 
 pleasantry, says M. Tessier, " that he did not act thus 
 for his own pleasure, but to obey the king's edicts." 
 
 Such, as we look at it from this distance of time, 
 seems the life of the Admiral, in its simple greatness, 
 brightened by the joys of family ties and softened 
 by his own gentle nature. It was but at rare in- 
 tervals that he could enjoy his home at Chatillon. 
 We must follow him again now into the conflict 
 which becomes ever deeper and more deadly. 
 
 quod cum maximis honoribus affectus, privatis commodis 
 servire et magnas opes aliorum aulicorum exemplo parare 
 potuisset, tamen ne unum quidem agri jugerum, nullam villam 
 ad paternam haereditatem adjunxit " ( Vita, p. 137).
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Tolerance of Catherine de M edicts towards the great Protestant lords. 
 Adhesion of Cardinal Odet de Chatillon to the reformed faith. 
 Rupture of the Constable with his nephews. The Triumvirate. 
 The edict of July. Bold stand taken by the delegates of the States 
 General at St. Germain. 
 
 THE attitude of Catherine de Medicis towards 
 " the religion " became more and more con- 
 ciliatory. She had wished to reinstate the Prince of 
 Conde, and the Parliament of Paris, notwithstanding 
 its attachment to the Guises, had been constrained 
 to confirm this act in a formal Council held June 
 1 8th, 1561. The Bourbons had become apparently 
 the real advissrs of the queen-mother. 
 
 On February 26th the English Ambassador wrote 
 to his government : " Those who have the greatest 
 influence in the Court here are the Admiral and the 
 Cardinal de Chatillon, and but for them nothing good 
 ii'onld be done" The Admiral influences the queen- 
 mother, the Cardinal the King of Navarre. 1 
 
 Catherine, during a stay which she made at 
 Fontainebleau at this time, tolerated the meetings 
 of the reformed, and the prayers, followed by preach- 
 
 1 Calendar of Foreign State Pagers, 1561.
 
 238 COLIGNY. 
 
 ing, which were performed daily in the apartments 
 of the leading Protestants invited to the Court. 1 
 
 The Court thus offered the singular spectacle 
 of a perpetual violation of the laws of the land. 
 Some bishops, like Moulin and Marillac, 2 shut their 
 eyes to these proceedings ; others remonstrated 
 loudly, and the pope's legate endorsed their com- 
 plaints. The Jesuit Maimbourg writes on this 
 subject : " It seems to me that taking the most 
 favourable view of it, it may be safely said that if 
 all that the queen-mother did at this time was only 
 a feint, she was very wrong to feign so well that 
 many believed she had gone over to the new sect ; 
 for not only did she allow the ministers to preach in 
 the princes' apartments, where crowds gathered to 
 hear them, while a poor Jacobin, who was preaching 
 the Lent sermons in Fontainebleau, was deserted ; 
 but she even was present herself with all the Court 
 ladies at the sermons of the Bishop of Valence, who 
 preached openly, in one of the halls in the castle, 
 the new heretical doctrines of Luther and Calvin. 
 So sudden and complete was the change that had 
 come over the scene that it seemed the whole Court 
 had become Calvinist. Though it was Lent, meat 
 was publicly sold and served on all tables. No 
 one spoke of going to hear mass, and the young 
 
 1 It must be noted, however, that at this very time, on 
 economical pretexts, the king's council put down the Scotch 
 guard, notwithstanding the strenuous remonstrance of Coligny. 
 De Thou gives the real reason for this step. " Almost all the 
 Scotchmen of the guard, beginning with their leader, Hamilton, 
 Earl of Arran, were Protestants." 
 
 2 Marillac died this year. He was a noble man, and well 
 deserves the eulogium pronounced on him by De Thou.
 
 MEASURES OF TOLERATION. 239 
 
 king, who was taken to save appearances, went 
 almost alone. The authority of the pope, the wor- 
 ship of saints and images, indulgences, and the 
 ceremonies of the Church, were all lightly spoken 
 of as mere superstitions." l 
 
 On the other hand, Coligny seized every oppor- 
 tunity to plead for liberty of conscience. On April 
 1 9th, 1561, Michel de 1'Hospital issued a decree 
 prohibiting the officers of the king from entering the 
 houses of Protestants "under pretext of former edicts 
 forbidding illicit assemblies." The Protestants who 
 had been condemned on this ground were to be 
 restored to liberty, " provided, however, that they 
 lived henceforth as Catholics and without creating 
 any scandal." The contradiction was palpable, and 
 could but become manifest in practice. The parlia- 
 ment of Paris refused to register this edict, saying, 
 with truth, that its tendency was to increase the 
 number of the Protestants. 
 
 L' Hospital braved this opposition. The royal 
 letters giving force to the edict were sent by him 
 to the governors and tribunes of the provinces. In 
 some parts of France they produced great excite- 
 ment. The idea that the king should command that 
 the persons of the Protestants should be respected, 
 and no molestation should be offered to their houses 
 in which they held their religious assemblies, was so 
 novel, so contrary to all previous edicts, that they would 
 not receive it. From the Catholic pulpits indignant 
 protestations were heard. One sermon delivered by 
 a monk of Provins, which has come down to us, 
 
 1 Histoire du calvinisme, pp. 192 and following.
 
 240 COLIGNV. 
 
 expresses with much nalveti the feelings with which 
 the clergy received the edict. 1 
 
 " And now, gentlemen of Provins, what ought I, 
 what ought the other preachers of France to do ? 
 Ought we to obey this edict ? What will you say to 
 us ? What shall we preach ? "The Gospel," says the 
 Huguenot. To say that the error of Calvin, of 
 Martin Luther, of Beza, of Malot, of Peter Martyr, 
 and other preachers, with their false accursed doctrine 
 which was condemned by the Church a thousand 
 years ago, and since then by the Holy Councils, to 
 say that this is damnable heresy, is not this to 
 preach the Gospel ? To say that the Huguenots of 
 France are wicked apostates, who have forsaken the 
 true Catholic Church to follow heresy, is not this to 
 preach the Gospel ? To warn men against their 
 doctrine, against hearing them or reading their 
 books ; to tell men that these doctrines tend and 
 aim only to incite to sedition, robbery, and murder, 
 as they have already begun to do in the city of 
 Paris and in numberless other places in the land, is 
 not this to preach the Gospel ? But does anyone 
 say to me, " Brother, what say you ? You are not 
 obeying the king's edict : you are speaking of Calvin 
 and his companions, and you call them, and those 
 who hold their opinions, heretics and huguenots ; 
 you will be brought to trial ; you will be put in 
 prison ; you will be hanged as a traitor." I reply 
 that it is possible it may be so, for Ahab and 
 Jezebel put to death the prophets of God in their 
 day, and granted liberty to the prophets of Baal. 
 
 1 For this discourse see Bulletin de la societe du grotes- 
 tantisme fran:ais (1854).
 
 ODET DE COL1GNY. 24! 
 
 " Now, brother, you are going too far ; you will get 
 yourself hanged." Well, be it so ; there will be one 
 Franciscan monk hanged, and they will have to 
 hang many more, for God by His Holy Spirit will 
 inspire the pillars of His Church to uphold to the 
 end the building which can never be destroyed." 
 
 A few measures of toleration proposed by 1'Hos- 
 pital had been enough to arouse this storm of anger. 
 The names of Ahab and Jezebel, which the Protestants 
 had so often given to their oppressors, were now 
 taken up by Catholic lips. Catherine was Jezebel, 
 since she allowed the Chancellor to attempt the 
 pacification of the contending parties. 
 
 It was at this time that Odet de Coligny, the 
 Admiral's eldest brother, gave in his adhesion 
 publicly to the reformed communion. 
 
 Odet, as we have said, had been made a Cardinal 
 at sixteen years of age, November 7th, 1533. At 
 the same time he had been appointed Archbishop of 
 Toulouse, and commendatory of a large number of 
 abbeys. At seventeen he sat in the Conclave which 
 elected Paul III. The year following he was raised 
 to the bishopric of Beauvais, which was one of the 
 oldest ecclesiastical peerages of France. 1 These 
 rapid promotions, and this strange plurality of 
 benefices, strikingly illustrate the corrupt system of 
 patronage which then prevailed in the Church, and 
 against which the Council of Trent was to raise its 
 protest. Nothing could have seemed more unlikely 
 
 1 Odet was never made a priest. He remained all his life 
 a deacon, and never performed the functions of a bishop but 
 by proxy. In La France protestante (2nd edit.) there is 
 a very complete notice of Odet. 
 
 16
 
 242 COLIGNY. 
 
 than that the Reformation should have found a 
 disciple in a man who had profited so largely by 
 the ecclesiastical abuses of his time ; but in this 
 case the man was better than his fortune, and no 
 accumulation of honours could stifle the voice of his 
 conscience. 
 
 His was a gentle nature, opposed to strife, service- 
 able to all, generous and self-forgetful. " He never 
 wronged any one," says Brantome," nor blinded any 
 one with court-flattery." De Thou praises his can- 
 dour, his spirit of justice, the solidity of his judgment. 
 By natural inclination he was fond of study. He 
 made large use of his ample fortune in assisting the 
 scholars and French writers of his age. Rabelais 
 dedicated the fourth book of Pantagmel to him. 
 Ronsard and 1'Hospital inscribed to him many of 
 their poems. But the stern conflicts in which he 
 was involved proved how strong a soul lay beneath 
 this gentle nature. We have seen how he frustrated 
 by his passive resistance the plan formed by the 
 Cardinal of Lorraine to establish the Inquisition in 
 France. He assisted, without taking any very active 
 part, in the Assembly of Fontainebleau, and in the 
 meeting of the States General at Orleans. The ex- 
 ample of the Admiral at length overcame all his 
 hesitation. 
 
 Early in April 1561, Odet de Chatillon solemnly 
 abjured Catholicism in the Castle of Werlemont, and 
 in the presence of many witnesses belonging to the 
 French nobility. On Easter Monday, April yth, he 
 dispensed the Holy Communion in the chapel of his 
 palace at Beauvais, in both kinds. 1 This act set the 
 
 1 See the interesting details of the event published by
 
 CONVERSION OF ODET. 243 
 
 city in an uproar. The priests organised processions ; 
 the Protestants were attacked in their houses ; many 
 of them were hanged or burned. The Cardinal 
 appealed to Francis de Montmorency, son of the 
 Constable, and governor of the Isle of France, who 
 came at once and severely repressed the tumult. 
 Odet gave up his ecclesiastical dignities, and retained 
 none of his former titles except that of Count of 
 Beauvais, which he held till his death. Men still 
 spoke of him, however, as the Cardinal of Chatillon. 
 
 But while the Protestants were rejoicing in this 
 conversion, an event was impending which was to 
 dash all their hopes. The old Constable was about 
 to be reconciled to the Guises, and to break with his 
 nephews. 
 
 For a long time the Guises had been compassing 
 this result. They knew that the wife of the Constable, 
 Madeleine de Savoie, hated the Protestants, and made 
 no exception in the case of the Chatillons. The 
 Constable had been very indignant when it was said 
 in Paris and repeated at Orleans, that those who 
 held the great offices of state ought to be made to 
 answer for themselves. He took this as a personal 
 affront. De Thou says that Catherine de Medicis 
 was playing a double game in all this ; that in order 
 to weaken the influence of the King of Navarre she 
 encouraged him to favour the Protestants, but that, 
 on the other hand, she disclosed to the Constable the 
 secret motives of her conduct, and made him under- 
 stand them. Anne de Montmorency concluded that 
 
 M. Bonet-Maury in his article "La reforme a Beauvais" 
 (Bull, de la soc. d* hist, du grot, franf . , 1874, pp. 732 and 
 following).
 
 244 CO LIG NY, 
 
 since all this favour shown to the Protestants was 
 only a feint, the safest thing for him was to go over 
 to the other party, and to side with the Guises, who 
 were as much exasperated as he was at the idea of 
 having to give an account of their trusts. 
 
 De Thou says : " From this time Anne de Mont- 
 morency threw off all restraint. He was loud in his 
 complaints that the old religion was being forsaken, 
 that new assemblies, new rites, new ceremonies were 
 being introduced everywhere ; that unknown people 
 were usurping the holy ministry ; that meat was 
 being publicly sold on fast-days, and even in Lent ; 
 that the old worship handed down from our ancestors 
 was being treated with contempt." 
 
 One day when Jean de Montluc, Bishop of Valence, 
 who seemed at this time inclining to the reformed 
 doctrines, was preaching in the palace, the Constable 
 could not control his displeasure. His wife urged 
 him on. " You," she said, " are the head of the most 
 illustrious house in France ; it is your duty to main- 
 tain religion in all its purity." St. Andre added that 
 " it was solely through the private hints of the 
 Admiral that anything had been said about the bad 
 administration of the finances, and that this nephew 
 of the Constable, who was as ungrateful for his kind- 
 ness as he was unworthy of it, had only proposed 
 this article in order to embarrass the uncle who had 
 loaded him with so many benefits." 1 
 
 The Constable's eldest son tried in vain to deter 
 his father, pointing out to him that in seeking new 
 friends he would lose the old, and "that it was safer 
 
 1 De Thou, Book xxvii.
 
 RUPTURE OF THE CONSTABLE WIT. H HIS NEPHEW. 245 
 
 for him to leave the Chatillons to fight it out with 
 the Lorraines, and to be himself only an onlooker or 
 arbiter, without taking either side." 
 
 " Odet, Gaspard, and Francis de Coligny also 
 sought the Constable and protested, taking God to 
 witness, that their estrangement from the Lorraines 
 arose from no private animosity, but from zeal for 
 the good of the State. They begged him to think 
 whether in abandoning the Prince of Conde he would 
 not be betraying the interests of the king and of the 
 kingdom. All their remonstrances were of no avail." 1 
 The Constable openly held out his hand to the 
 Lorraines. Diane de Poitiers, who, in her splendid 
 retreat, had heard with indignation the reproaches of 
 the Huguenots against the favourites who had grown 
 rich at the expense of France, reappeared upon the 
 scene at this crisis, and helped to foster the new 
 alliance. 
 
 It was she who had sought out Marshal St. Andre 
 and suggested to him the idea. St. Andre owed his 
 immense fortune, as did Diane herself, to the ostenta- 
 tious liberality of Henry II., and to the spoliations of 
 the Protestants. He was one of those against whom 
 public indignation was directed. The Catholics 
 themselves thought his exceptional position out of 
 all proportion to the services he had rendered. 
 St. Andre, like the Constable, was angry at the idea 
 that the States General wished to call upon the great 
 dignitaries to render their accounts. Diane de Poitiers 
 found no difficulty in persuading him. Davila says 
 that St. Andre" went to Francis of Lorraine and said 
 
 1 De Thou, bk. xxvii.
 
 246 COLIGNY. 
 
 to him : "You see how the Huguenots, sustained by the 
 rebel princes, are turning our divisions to account for 
 the benefit of those who for fifteen years have frustrated 
 their seditious attempts. They mean to strike a 
 blow at once at our honour and our wealth. They 
 will soon have the pleasure of striking at you and 
 the Constable separately, through your own quarrels. 
 Your own danger, your religion, the last wishes of 
 the king, to whom you were both equally dear, all 
 call to you both to make common cause against the 
 enemies of the faith. Do you not see that it is 
 through the queen's devices you are kept apart ? 
 Will you disconcert all her policy, and rule in spite of 
 her ? Then show yourselves united. March together 
 at the head of all the Catholics, and of all faith- 
 ful subjects. Believe the warnings of a woman who 
 knows the queen well, the Duchess de Valentinois, 
 your friend and ally ; it is she who has sent me to 
 you. She implores you in the name of the king, 
 who loved us all, to see the Constable de Montmorency 
 and to be reconciled to him." 
 
 Thus was concerted the famous Triumvirate which 
 was to exert so powerful an influence over the desti- 
 nies of France. Guise and the Constable formed a 
 close alliance with St. Andre, whom Brantome calls 
 " a very Lucullus in luxury and splendour," for the 
 defence of the Catholic cause. This fatal alliance, 
 entered into under the auspices of the old mistress 
 of Henry II., was solemnly consecrated by a religious 
 act. The three leaders partook of the Communion 
 together on Easter Day at Fontainebleau. 
 
 One of the first results of this alliance was the 
 promulgation of the edict of July 1561, which for~
 
 MEETING OF THE STATES GENERAL. 247 
 
 bade, "under penalty of confiscation of person and 
 goods, all conventicles and public assemblies, with or 
 without arms, together with private assemblies in 
 which there should be preaching or the administration 
 of the sacraments in forms other than those received 
 and observed by the Catholic Church." This extreme 
 measure was only passed in the Council by a majority 
 of three. Coligny resolutely opposed it ; saying that 
 " to attempt thus to constrain the reformed to accept 
 the Roman religion against their conscience was a 
 great absurdity amounting to an impossibility." 
 At the same time, however, it was decided that the 
 bishops should hold a conference, in which they 
 should discuss controversial questions with the re- 
 formed ministers, to whom safe conduct should be 
 granted. The conference was to begin on August 
 1 8th at Poissy ; but the date had afterwards to be 
 postponed, on account of the meeting of the States 
 General, which was convoked first atPontoise.and then 
 at St. Germain, and only opened on August 26th. 
 
 We have already observed that the number of 
 delegates at this session had been considerably 
 reduced, but the spirit which animated them re- 
 mained the same. The orators of the nobility, and 
 of the third estate, spoke with even more vigour 
 than at Orleans. When we read in the speech of 
 Jacques de Bretagne, magistrate of Autun, and 
 deputy of the third estate, the keen and vehement 
 satire in which he described the life of the clergy, 
 we feel to what a pitch of exasperation the bourgeoisie 
 of the provinces had been driven. Brittany demanded 
 in the name of its constituents, the alienation of the 
 property of the clergy. This it estimated at 120
 
 248 COLIGNY. 
 
 million livres : 48 millions at 8 per cent, would 
 produce a revenue of 4 millions, which it held to be 
 sufficient for the maintenance of the priests. The 
 72 millions remaining should be employed either to 
 extinguish the debt or to encourage agriculture and 
 commerce. It will be seen that this is almost 
 precisely the project which the French Revolution 
 was one day to carry out. The spokesman of the 
 nobility took the same ground. He not only 
 demanded the reform of the clergy, enormous reduc- 
 tions in the ecclesiastical revenues, and the convo- 
 cation of a national council, but just after the 
 publication of the edict of July he ignored it 
 altogether, and demanded for the Protestants the 
 right of assembly. The clergy absented them- 
 selves from these sittings, and to mark their op- 
 position resolved to deliberate by themselves at 
 St. Germain. 
 
 L'Hospital, however, was not in the least dis- 
 couraged by their opposition ; and some days later, 
 in the assembly of the clergy, he pleaded with much 
 warmth the cause of liberty of conscience and 
 freedom of worship, which he held to be inseparable. 
 " As to the Protestant assemblies," he said, " they 
 cannot be separated from their religion ; for they 
 believe that the Word of God strictly enjoins them 
 to assemble themselves to hear the preaching of the 
 Gospel and to partake of the sacraments, and this 
 they hold as an article of their faith." 
 
 After setting forth their grievances, the deputies 
 of the States dispersed almost immediately, and all 
 attention was turned to the coming Colloquy of 
 Poissy.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Preliminaries of the Colloquy of Poissy. The Protestant lords at 
 St. Germain. Arrival of Jeanne d'Albret. Attitude of Catherine. 
 Her letter to the Pope. The Cardinal of Tournon. The 
 Cardinal of Lorraine. Jacques Lainez. The Protestant ministers. 
 Theodore Beza. 
 
 THE idea of convoking an assembly of the 
 representatives of the two religious com- 
 munions was not a new one. The thing had been 
 repeatedly done in Germany and Switzerland, and it 
 was often as the result of such conferences that some 
 prince or canton joined the reformed party. The 
 conscience of our age refuses to admit that a change 
 of religion can be enforced by the decision of any 
 prince or any assembly, and to us it seems simply 
 monstrous to appoint as umpires in such a discussion, 
 a woman such as Catherine de Medicis and a child 
 of eleven years like Charles IX. The convocation 
 at Poissy could not be a recognised deliberative 
 assembly, for its members had not been properly 
 delegated, and were not competent, therefore, to 
 come to any valid decision. It was, as its name 
 indicates, simply a colloquy in which the two com- 
 munions were about to engage in a brilliant but 
 inconclusive passage of arms. The Protestants,
 
 25O COLIGNY. 
 
 however, accepted it eagerly ; for it gave them the 
 opportunity they had so often sought to fully declare 
 their faith, and to show that it was in accordance 
 with Scripture and with the doctrines of the great 
 Councils. L'Hospital was desirous of this demon- 
 stration, in order that he might be authorised by it 
 to place the Protestants as Christians under the 
 protection of the law. Certain bishops, such as 
 Montluc, looked on it as a means of bringing pres- 
 sure to bear upon Rome, so that it should be 
 compelled to grant the reforms which seemed to 
 them urgent There were others again, such as the 
 Cardinal of Lorraine, whose secret design was to 
 make a split between the Lutherans and the Cal- 
 vinists or Zuinglians, by bringing into prominence 
 the doctrinal differences between them. This was 
 clearly the only motive which could have induced 
 such strong Catholics as the Cardinal of Tournon to 
 enter the lists in public discussion with avowed 
 heretics. 
 
 In view of the coming colloquy of Poissy, the 
 Court met at St. Germain. Never had so large a 
 number of Protestant lords been seen at court before. 
 Foremost among them were the King and Queen of 
 Navarre. 
 
 Antoine of Navarre 'was still regarded as the 
 nominal head of the Protestants ; but his perpetual 
 vacillation, and the servile part which he had con- 
 sented to play on so many occasions, made him 
 distrusted by the reformed party. 
 
 A few months previous to this, however (February 
 /th, 1561), Antoine had written to the Count 
 Palatine " that he had no other aim than to establish
 
 JEA NNE I? ALB RE T. 2$ 1 
 
 the true religion in France ; " and throughout the 
 whole of the colloquy he assumed the role of 
 protector of the Huguenot party. 
 
 Jeanne d'Albret, his wife, had just joined the 
 Reformed Church. Born January /th, 1528, she 
 was at this time thirty-three years of age. Her 
 father was Henri d'Albret, a man of much energy 
 and vivacity, accustomed to breathe the free air of 
 the Pyrenees, a man of keen discernment, who never 
 allowed himself to be duped by anybody, and of 
 whom Charles V. said, " I have seen but one man 
 in France, and that is the King of Navarre." 1 Jeanne 
 d'Albret inherited her father's quick and impulsive 
 nature, his unfailing good humour, his steadfastness 
 of purpose ; and all these she was to hand down to 
 her son. From her mother, Marguerite de Valois, 
 she received a taste for literary pursuits, an aversion 
 to bigotry, and a large-hearted sympathy with all 
 forms of suffering. But the curious eagerness for 
 novelties, which in Marguerite often assumed the 
 form of a refined subtlety, was tempered in the 
 daughter by a sound and steady judgment. In her 
 early youth she had been much about the court of 
 Francis I., who used to call her " the darling of 
 darlings " (la mignonne des mignonnes). 
 
 For political reasons it was decided to marry her, 
 while she was quite a child, to the Duke of Cleves. 
 She resisted ; they were obliged to carry her by 
 force to the altar. This marriage was cancelled. 
 In later years, it was she herself who fell in love 
 with Antoine de Bourbon. She was captivated by 
 
 1 Palma Cayet (Chron. novenaire, vol. ii., p. 218).
 
 252 COLIGNY. 
 
 his handsome face and chivalrous bearing, and never 
 suspected the nerveless will which dwelt in that 
 manly frame. The opposition offered by his father 
 to the union stimulated his passion. The marriage 
 was celebrated with great pomp at Moulins in 1548. 
 The young couple took part in all the festivities 
 which inaugurated the reign of Henry II. At that 
 time Jeanne was entirely absorbed in worldly pleasure. 
 But trials came. Jeanne lost her first two children 
 by strange accidents, due to the carelessness of those 
 who had charge of them. 1 Her father, angered at 
 this, told her bitterly " that she was not worthy to 
 have children, if she took no better care of them." 2 
 He demanded that if God gave her another child, 
 it should be entrusted to him to bring up. Every one 
 has heard the story of the birth of Henry IV., 
 and how Jeanne, in order to please her' father, sang 
 a Bearnese song amidst the throes of child-birth. 
 Soon after her father died, and she was raised to the 
 throne of Navarre. Her subjects hailed her return 
 with enthusiasm. From this time she took up her 
 abo'de in her kingdom, and only paid visits, more or 
 less prolonged, to the Court of France. 
 
 The Reformation had found its way into her 
 States. Antoine of Navarre was at first favourable 
 to it. He allowed public preaching in the Castle of 
 Nerac, and summoned Beza to come to him. Jeanne 
 had little sympathy with the innovators. She knew 
 that her mother, who had taken them under her 
 protection, had been reproached by them at the 
 
 1 See Appendix D. 
 
 2 Palma Cayet., Chron. novenaire, p. 232.
 
 JEANNE D" ALB RET. 253 
 
 close of her life, for her undecided attitude. Their 
 austerity also was displeasing to her. She confessed 
 afterwards that a whole night at a ball appeared 
 shorter to her than an hour at preaching. But the 
 new duties which pressed upon her, the distress 
 which the weakness of her husband caused her, led 
 her gradually to think seriously. Her queenly pride 
 was deeply wounded by the ridiculous part which 
 her husband consented to play after the death of 
 Henry II. From this time she assumed the sove- 
 reignty herself, and showed that she knew how to 
 govern. She would preside at her own council, visit 
 her estates, establish useful institutions in all parts of 
 her kingdom, open new roads, multiply schools, and 
 give a welcome to those who were fleeing away from 
 France under proscription. When, in 1560, Antoine 
 was arrested in Orleans and threatened with death, 
 she shut herself up with her son in her citadel, and 
 prepared for a valiant resistance. The death of 
 Francis II., saved the life of Antoine ; but to Jeanne 
 this was only the beginning of fresh sorrows. She 
 learned that her weak husband was allowing himself 
 to be made the tool of Catherine, and that he was 
 the laughing-stock of the Catholics, who thought it a 
 good joke to see such a leader at the head of the 
 austere Huguenot party. In these perplexities 
 Jeanne sought her strength in God. She began to 
 study the Scriptures, sent for a minister named Jean 
 de la Tour, and resolved to join the Protestants. 
 This decision was all the more courageous because 
 Jeanne dared by this act the anathema of Rome. If 
 the pope chose to issue a bull, declaring her to be a 
 heretic, and unworthy to reign, her formidable cousin,
 
 254 COLIGNY. 
 
 Philip II., might come and lay his hand on her 
 estates. 
 
 Catherine de Medicis pressed Jeanne to come to 
 Court at the time of the colloquy. Jeanne started 
 from Beam, taking with her the minister La Tour. 
 In several cities which she passed through, particu- 
 larly in Orleans, she did not hesitate to join in the 
 Protestant assemblies. She openly embraced their 
 cause at the very time when Antoine was secretly 
 thinking of breaking off from it. 1 On August 2Qth 
 she arrived at St. Germain, where she met with 
 an enthusiastic welcome from the Protestants. 
 
 She had avoided passing through Paris, where her 
 presence might have excited a tumult. On the day 
 of her arrival there was a great banquet at the 
 Court, with bullfights and fireworks in the evening. 
 Catherine seemed rejoiced to see her. This was 
 taken to be a clear token of reconciliation between 
 the two parties. Everyone, too, was sanguine about 
 the coming colloquy, and Throckmorton, who was 
 usually right in his judgments, expressed the hope 
 that the Duke of Guise and his brother might be led 
 to confess the faith of the Gospel. 
 
 Only a few weeks later the martyr-fires of 
 the reformed were burning week after week in Paris, 
 and even now heresy was by law a punishable crime ; 
 and yet here was a veritable little Protestant Court 
 assembled at St. Germain, under the auspices of the 
 King and Queen of Navarre, and with the tacit 
 
 1 In La France firotestante, even in the second edition, 
 Jeanne d'Albret is represented as leaving Paris in the middle 
 of July, 1561, and taking refuge at Pau where she embraced 
 " the religion " the following Christmas.
 
 THE PROTESTANTS IN FAVOUR AT COURT, 255 
 
 consent of Catherine de Medicis. Louis de Conde 
 and his brave wife, the Countess de Roye, his mother- 
 in-law, the Admiral and Charlotte de Laval, the 
 Cardinal Odet de Chatillon and Renee, Duchess 
 of Ferrara, were conspicuous in the galaxy. 1 -All 
 these royal guests were lodged in the castle or 
 in houses adjoining, and, notwithstanding the July 
 edict, the reformed worship was celebrated daily in 
 their dwellings. 
 
 Chantonnay, the Spanish ambassador, noted all 
 this with ill-disguised anger. Writing to Philip II., 
 he said : " Religion is going on here in its accus- 
 tomed way. Every day there is preaching in the 
 house of some lord and lady of the Court ; when I 
 protest, the answer always is that they know nothing 
 about it, and will enquire, but nothing comes of it, 
 and the thing is just repeated. . . . Matters are 
 going on in such sort that I look for no good to 
 come of it. There has been more preaching of late 
 within the Castle of St. Germain, than there ever 
 was before the July edict, and the preachers are 
 as secure there as those of the Catholic Church." 2 
 
 Catherine de Medicis now affected to incline 
 towards the Reformation. Some time before, on 
 August 4th, she had sent a curious letter to Paul IV., 
 pointing out to him the measures to be taken 
 to save the Church. 3 It is easy to trace in this 
 
 1 Death had just removed one eminent woman, Jacqueline 
 de Longwy, Duchess de Montpensier, and sister-in-law to 
 Conde. She had considerable influence over Catherine, and 
 always used it in the direction of justice and toleration. 
 
 - Quoted by M. Delaborde in Les Protestants au cour de 
 St. Germain, 1874. 
 
 * This letter is given by De Thou, Book xxviii.
 
 2 $6 COLIGNY. 
 
 letter the hand of Montluc, Bishop of Valence, her 
 favourite divine, of whose share in the conference of 
 Fontainebleau we have already spoken. In this letter 
 Catherine referred to the ever-growing number of the 
 Protestants, who had become so powerful that it was 
 no longer any use to think of suppressing them by 
 force of arms. " Yet," she added, " there are among 
 them no anabaptists nor libertines (i.e., freethinkers), 
 nor any adherents of opinions which are regarded as 
 monstrous. All hold the twelve articles of the 
 Creed, as explained by the CEcumenical Councils. 1 
 Thus many of the most zealous Catholics think they 
 should not be cut off from the communion of the 
 Church, although on some points they differ from 
 her in opinion." The queen-mother went on to 
 advise that special instructions should be given, and a 
 pacific conference should be held with a view to 
 bringing back those who had erred. She thought 
 that some concessions might be made to them. 
 " Images might be banished, at least from the place 
 set apart for prayer and the public worship of God. 
 In the administration of baptism, the exorcisms and 
 forms of prayer which did not belong essentially to 
 the institution of the sacrament might be omitted." 
 There might further be a return to communion in 
 both kinds, and to the use of the vulgar tongue in 
 the liturgy. Private masses without communicants 
 might be forbidden. The queen concluded by pro- 
 testing her fidelity to the pope and to holy Church. 
 These suggestions of reform in minor points clearly 
 
 1 As De Thou remarks, the Protestants acknowledged only 
 the first four Councils those of Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, 
 and Chalcedon to be oecumenical.
 
 HERESY AT COURT. 
 
 show that there was in her mind, or in the minds of 
 those who counselled her, an utter misapprehension of 
 the great movement which was stirring in the hearts 
 of more than one-third of Europe, the pulses of a 
 new religious life. It was a fool's errand to try and 
 stop with feeble barriers like these the impetuous 
 course of a great torrent. 
 
 That which proves, however, that the royal 
 family was really influenced by the new ideas is the 
 attitude of two of Catherine's sons, which we learn 
 from the naive account of her daughter Marguerite. 
 
 In the Memoires she says : " I made a struggle 
 to hold fast my religion at the time of the Synod of 
 Poissy, when the whole Court was infected with 
 heresy through the urgent persuasions of many ladies 
 and gentlemen of the Court, and even of my brother 
 of Anjou (since King of France), who, though he was 
 but a child at the time, could not escape the impres- 
 sion of the wretched Huguenotry, and who was 
 constantly imploring me to change my religion, 
 often throwing my book of Hours into the fire, and 
 giving me instead psalms and Huguenot prayers, 
 and making me use them." She adds indeed that 
 her mother did not admit that things had gone so 
 far, and that she obliged d'Anjou " to return to the 
 true, holy, and ancient religion of our fathers, from 
 which she had never departed." But evidently 
 Catherine had allowed her children to fall, to a large 
 extent, under the influence of the reformed teaching ; 
 for the little king Charles IX. himself, in a conversa- 
 tion with Jeanne d'Albret, 1 declared that when he 
 
 1 This conversation is narrated by the English ambassador 
 Throckmorton, Calendar of Foreign State-Papers, 1561, 
 
 17
 
 2$ 8 COLIGNY. 
 
 was king he would not go to mass. Meanwhile, my 
 aunt," he said to Jeanne d'Albret, " I pray you keep 
 all this to yourself, and have a care that nothing 
 come to my mother's ears." The Queen of Navarre, 
 in repeating these words, expressed the hope that 
 Charles IX. might be like Edward VI. of England, 
 .and might do good service, as Edward had done, to 
 the cause of religion. This opinion was shared by 
 Theodore Beza, who, in writing to Calvin, described 
 the young king as a prince " of singular promise." 
 
 It is easy to understand that the leaders of the 
 Catholic party were made profoundly uneasy by this 
 attitude of the Court, and used every influence to 
 counteract it. They saw treason everywhere, and 
 Michel de 1'Hospital was, in their eyes, no better 
 than a Protestant in disguise. Pius IV. sent a 
 legate, the Cardinal of Ferrara, son of the too 
 famous Lucrezia Borgia, to France. The choice was 
 an unfortunate one, for the scandals associated with 
 that name had greatly strengthened the cause of the 
 Reformation. The legate did not dare to make a 
 public entry into Paris ; he even kept as much as 
 possible out of sight. He arrived at St. Germain 
 just in the midst of the colloquy of Poissy. 
 
 The old Cardinal of Tournon was the ostensible 
 leader of the opposition. Obstinate and headstrong, 
 he would lend no ear to the party of moderation 
 represented by Bishop Montluc. But the true head 
 of the party was the famous Cardinal of Lorraine, 
 whose share in the proceedings should be well 
 noted. 
 
 p. 415. It will be found entire in M. Delaborde's book, Les 
 Protestants au cour de St. Germain, p. 12, and following.
 
 THE CARDINAL OF LORRAINE. 259 
 
 We have already had reason to remark on his 
 precocious ambition. On his first journey to Rome, 
 when he was only twenty-three years of age, he 
 was already planning the conquest of Naples for 
 his brother. Subsequently his alliance with the 
 adventurer Carafa and the wretched intrigue in 
 which they combined together, brought upon France 
 all the disasters of 1557. 
 
 We have seen how baleful was his influence at 
 the time of the signature of the peace of Cambresis, 
 when in concert with Granvelle, Bishop of Arras, 
 he advised the extermination of the heretics. After 
 the death of Henry II., he, with his brother Francis, 
 had taken the power into their own hands, had 
 treated the conspirators of Amboise with the greatest 
 cruelty, and urged the execution of Conde. The 
 death of Francis II. had, for a brief period, thrown 
 him into the shade; and during the year 1561 he 
 turned his thoughts to his diocese of Rheims, where 
 he preached with great unction, during Lent, on the 
 necessity of reforming the Church. His zeal was so 
 exemplary that he was accused of leaning towards 
 Lutheranism. 1 
 
 This unscrupulous Lorraine was, indeed, a strange 
 reformer. He owed his. extraordinary fortune 
 to Diane de Poitiers. Brantome tells us that his 
 private life was exceptionally scandalous even for 
 that age of loose morals. He boasted that he could 
 
 ' " Cardinalis Lotharingicus a rigidioribus ponteficiis accu- 
 satur lutheranismi " (Languet, Epist., xliv.) Languet says 
 afterwards on the same subject, "Rhemis ita concionatur 
 ut videatur non multum a nostris dissentire." But he pru- 
 dently adds, " Sed viderint alii quantum huic sit fidendum." 
 t. Ixiii.)
 
 260 COLIGNY. 
 
 triumph by means of gold over the staunchest virtue. 
 Thus the stern old chronicler says of him " that his 
 very soul was besmutched " (tdme barbouiltte}. The 
 Jesuit Maimbourg, who is his apologist, cannot 
 deny that he had all his life " an immoderate pas- 
 sion for the aggrandisement of his house." He says 
 also, " that being of an extremely keen and pene- 
 trating spirit, impetuous and violent by nature, and 
 with a rare gift of eloquence, he was yet the most 
 timid and feeble of men when it came to carrying 
 anything out at a risk to himself." Mezeray men- 
 tions the same characteristic. He speaks of him as 
 " loud and vindictive in word, but crafty, cautious, 
 and fearful in deed." At times he was foremost in 
 advocating pacific measures for France ; at other 
 times no one was so urgent as he for stern and 
 violent repression. The Protestants knew him but 
 too well. They called him the Lorraine tiger, and 
 shrank from him as their most deadly enemy. 
 
 In 1561, at the date at which we have now 
 arrived, Charles of Lorraine was thirty-seven years 
 of age. Of all the French prelates he was the one 
 who had most strongly urged the convocation of the 
 Colloquy. He hoped, by his natural eloquence, to 
 take a prominent part in it. The life he had 
 hitherto led had not at all prepared him for the 
 study of theological questions, but he had an excel- 
 lent power of grasping the telling points of a subject. 
 Later on, he was one of those who gained the best 
 hearing at the Council of Trent. At this time, he 
 relied mainly upon certain skilful tactics of his own 
 for overwhelming the Protestants. The Colloquy 
 must, as he thought, end in splitting up the Protes-
 
 TACTICS OF THE CARDINAL. 26 1 
 
 tants into parties. With a view to this end, the 
 discussion must be adroitly made to turn on some 
 points on which they were not agreed, as for instance 
 on the Holy Communion. The reformed must be 
 led on to state their doctrine, and if possible to 
 exaggerate it in the heat of controversy, so as 
 to shock and offend the German Lutherans. 1 
 Charles of Lorraine, from the position of his diocese, 
 was well acquainted with the German Lutherans. 
 He was a neighbour of theirs, and he used much 
 tact in dealing with them. He kept up. a close 
 correspondence with Duke Christopher of Wiirtem- 
 berg, and took every opportunity of praising the 
 Augsburg Confession. It was at his request that 
 the Lutheran princes of Germany had decided to 
 send their divines to Poissy. They did not arrive 
 till after the colloquy, but we shall see what use the 
 Cardinal of Lorraine tried to make of their doctrine. 2 
 The Court of Rome placed, however, but little 
 confidence in Charles of Lorraine. It was afraid 
 that he might really take up the part of mediator 
 between the Catholics and Lutherans, and that, 
 strong in the influence which such a position would 
 give him, he would use the occasion to vindicate the 
 
 1 This was the snare which Calvin dreaded. Hence he 
 wrote to Coligny, September 1561 : "Above all, I pray you, 
 Monseigneur, have a care that the Confession of Augsburg is 
 not brought forward, for it will be only a torch to kindle a fire 
 of discord." He added this unjust criticism on it, " In fact, 
 it is so poorly constructed, so pliant, and so obscure that it 
 cannot last." 
 
 2 We have mentioned above that when the little Duke of 
 Anjou, the future Henry III., was playing the Protestant and 
 trying to convert his sister Marguerite, it was the name of the 
 Cardinal of Lorraine and the Confession of Augsburg which he 
 had constantly on his lips.
 
 262 COLIGNY. 
 
 privileges of the Gallican Church, and to assert that 
 relative independence which had always been the 
 dream of a part of his clergy and of the French 
 Government. Rome had therefore sent with her legate 
 to France another person upon whom she could 
 place absolute reliance, the Jesuit Jacques Lainez, 
 one of the early companions of Ignatius Loyola, 
 who three years before had succeeded him in the 
 leadership of that famous society. It was Lainez 
 who, from the work begun by the ardent enthusiasm 
 of Loyola, evolved the Jesuitism with which we are 
 familiar in history. Intelligent, prudent, methodical, 
 he gave the order its first practical initiation, and 
 while he allowed it to be a militia entirely devoted 
 to the pope, he laboured to commend it at the same 
 time to the confidence of the bishops. His zeal in 
 maintaining the infallibility of the pope made him 
 at first an object of suspicion to the French clergy ; 
 but the zeal he displayed at Poissy and at Trent 
 against the Protestants speedily disarmed suspicion, 
 and enabled him to secure for his order the liberty he 
 so ardently desired for it in France. The presence of 
 Lainez foiled all the efforts of Charles of Lorraine 
 to give a Gallican turn to the controversy. It was 
 equally fatal to the attempt at conciliation which 
 was to have been made by Montluc, Bishop of 
 Valence, Catherine's favourite prelate, whose con- 
 duct reflected the undecided tactics of the queen- 
 mother. This diplomatic bishop, who had succeeded 
 in his youth in cementing the alliance of France with 
 the Turks, and who by his intrigues was subsequently 
 to secure to the Duke of Anjou the throne of Poland, 
 had warmly defended the cause of the Reformation
 
 COLLOQUY OF POISSY. 263 
 
 in the Assembly of Fontainebleau. Blaise de Montluc, 
 his brother, notwithstanding this, boasts of the aid 
 which the bishop gave in exterminating the Hugue- 
 nots in Guyenne. Catherine counted upon Montluc 
 to give the Colloquy a favourable direction in support 
 of her authority. 
 
 Such were the principal representatives of Catho- 
 licism in the Colloquy of Poissy. To oppose them 
 the Protestants had sent some of their best divines. 
 At one time they thought of summoning Calvin 
 himself. But the Admiral, who had to secure the 
 safe conducts for the Protestant ministers, declared 
 this to be impossible. La Riviere, one of the pastors of 
 the Church of Paris, wrote to Calvin to this effect : 
 " As for you, sir," he said, " as we have never yet 
 seen any chance of having you over here, so we fear 
 it cannot be now without grave dangers, because of 
 the rage which all the enemies of the Gospel have 
 conceived against you, and the disturbances which 
 your very name would stir up in this country, if they 
 knew you were here. In fact, the Admiral is not at 
 all of opinion that you should undertake this journey, 
 and we are well assifred that the queen has no wish 
 to see you here either, and she says frankly that she 
 could give no security for your life here, as for others. 
 As for the other side, the enemies of the Gospel say 
 that they will willingly hear all the others speak, but 
 you they will neither hear nor see. You see, sir, in 
 what esteem you are held by these venerable pre- 
 lates," etc. 1 
 
 1 This curious letter, the original of which is in the Library 
 of Geneva, was published \T\\heBulletindeia societe (Phistoire 
 du firotestantisme fran^ais, vol. xvi., p. 602.
 
 264 COLIGNY. 
 
 The arrival of the ministers at St. Germain must 
 have been a curious spectacle. " They are easily to 
 be known by their faces," writes Chantonnay, ironi- 
 cally, to the Duchess of Parma. " In the midst of 
 courtiers clothed in silk and velvet, their doublets 
 decked with ribands and laces like any woman, in the 
 midst of the great ladies arrayed in damask and gold 
 and silver brocade, and bending under the weight of their 
 long trains, it seemed strange to see these men of grave 
 carriage, sombre dress, and austere countenance." 1 
 
 " They were better received than the pope himself 
 would have been, had he come," writes Claude Hatton, 
 indignantly. 2 Chantonnay says that the Cardinal of 
 Chatillon prepared to lodge twelve of them. The 
 Admiral received into his house Jean Malot, pastor 
 of the Church of Paris. The others were Theodore 
 Beza; Jean Raymond Merlin, the Admiral's Almoner ; 
 Jean de 1'Espine ; Marlorat, who the year following 
 was strangled in Rome ; Francois Morel, sieur de 
 Collonges, who, though still quite young, had presided 
 two years before over the first Synod in Paris ; 
 Francois de St. Paul ; Nicolas Follion ; Jean Boquin ; 
 Nicolas des Gallards, seigneur fle Saules, pastor of 
 the French Church in London, who came at the 
 Admiral's request; Claude de la Boissiere, of Saintes ; 
 Nicolas Thobie, of Orleans ; Jean Viret. From day 
 to day Peter Martyr, the most eminent divine of the 
 Italian reformation, and one of the chief compilers 
 of the Anglican liturgy, was expected. He was 
 then Professor at Zurich, and it was hoped that he 
 might have special influence over his countrywoman, 
 
 1 La Ferriere, Introd., p. c. 
 ' 2 Journal, vol. i., p. 155.
 
 THEODORE BEZA. 26$ 
 
 Catherine de Medicis, who had herself insisted on his 
 coming. 
 
 Of all the reformed doctors, the one on whom 
 all eyes were turned was Theodore Beza, Calvin's 
 alter ego. Beza was then forty-two years of age. "He 
 was well made," writes the Jesuit Maimbourg, "with 
 a pleasing face, of refined and courteous bearing, 
 with all the manners of a man of the world, which 
 made him a favourite with the great, and especially 
 with the ladies, whom he was very careful not to 
 displease. In mind it must be admitted that he was 
 much gifted, lively, easy, versatile, playful and polite." 
 
 In another passage the same author attacks Beza 
 with extreme vehemence, and reproaches him with 
 the irregularities of his life. Beza had had a stormy 
 youth. Designed first for the law, then endowed with 
 ecclesiastical benefices, he only thought at that time 
 of shining as a poet, and of imitating Tibullus. His 
 youthful works were well known, and it was only too 
 easy to find in them causes of scandal. But the 
 Protestants had the right to reply that since he 
 joined them he had thoroughly reformed his life, and 
 that this change was the best proof of the sincerity 
 of his faith. In our day we should bring another 
 charge against him, that of accepting blindly the 
 opinions of his age as to the punishment due to 
 heretics, and of having made himself the apologist 
 of the death of Servetus. 
 
 Beza, who had been living twelve years in Geneva, 
 had already come back to his country once on an 
 important mission to Antoine of Navarre, whom he 
 had helped to win over to the reformed faith. 
 
 Some difficulties arose now about his leaving
 
 266 COL1GNY. 
 
 Geneva. The magistrates of that city were afraid 
 that his life would be endangered. It was not till 
 Antoine wrote for him that he was allowed to come. 
 
 Beza left Geneva on August i/th, and after 
 paying his respects, as he passed Montargis, to the 
 Duchess of Ferrara, whom he was to meet again at 
 the French Court, he proceeded to St. Germain, 
 where he arrived August 23rd. 
 
 In a letter to Calvin 1 he gives an account of the 
 way in which he was received. The King of Navarre, 
 Conde", the Admiral, and the Cardinal of Bourbon, 
 all gave him a hearty welcome. The day after 
 his arrival he preached in the house of the Prince 
 of Conde. In the evening he was invited to 
 visit the King of Navarre. He says : " I was 
 astounded to find there the queen-mother, the king, 
 the prince, Monsieur d'Etampes, the Cardinals of 
 Bourbon and Lorraine, Madame de Crussol, and 
 another lady. I was so surprised that I could not 
 but betray it, but, thank God, this did not prevent 
 my declaring to the queen in a few words the cause 
 of my coming. She replied very graciously. Then 
 the Cardinal (of Lorraine), taking up the discourse, 
 and beginning with fine compliments, went on to 
 say that as I had troubled France, so now I could 
 comfort it." 
 
 Beza, as may be believed, did not let this pass 
 without protesting that he had not troubled France. 
 The subject was changed. He was asked about 
 Calvin, his age, and the state of his health. Then 
 the Cardinal introduced the question of the Holy 
 Communion. He said that for his own part he did 
 
 1 Bibliotheque de Geneve, vol. cxvii.
 
 PRELIMINARIES OF THE COLLOQUY. 267 
 
 not attach much importance to transubstantiation. 
 This was a trap skilfully laid to draw Beza into a 
 public discussion of the subject, and thus to touch 
 on the point of divergence between the Reformed 
 and the Lutherans. Catherine seemed highly satis- 
 fied with this first interview. The Cardinal, on 
 leaving, said to Beza : " I adjure you to confer with 
 me, and you will find me not so black as I am 
 painted." Upon which Madame de Crussol, inter- 
 rupting him abruptly, said : " You are hail-fellow- 
 well-met to-night, but what to-morrow?" And, in 
 truth, the next day the Cardinal went about saying 
 everywhere that he had brought Beza over to his 
 opinion. The Constable, dining with the queen- 
 mother, repeated this. " I was present," said Catha- 
 rine, " and I assure you it was nothing of the sort." 
 
 The week following Beza preached several times. 
 Chantonnay, writing to the Duchess of Parma 
 (September, 1561), says: "He preached yesterday 
 the most abominable sermon that was ever made, 
 and the people flocked in by doors and windows 
 with marvellous eagerness." 
 
 The reformed wished that the colloquy should 
 not be turned into a council, and that the bishops 
 should not be admitted as judges or partisans. In 
 this they were right enough ; but they went too far 
 when they asked that all questions should be decided 
 solely by Scripture, consulted in the original. From 
 the Catholic point of view this was equivalent to 
 begging the question. Catherine promised vaguely 
 to have these conditions observed, but refused to 
 give any engagement in writing.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Opening of the Colloquy. Speech of 1'Hospital. Prayer and speech 
 of Theodore Beza. Meeting of l6th September. Speech of the 
 Cardinal of Lorraine. Meeting of 24th September. Peter Martyr 
 and Lainez. Various forms of compromise proposed. Breaking 
 up of the Colloquy. Effect produced in France by the Colloquy. 
 Secret negotiations between some of the Catholic lords and 
 Philip. Arrival of German divines in Paris ; their opinion of the 
 Admiral. 1 
 
 BEFORE the opening of the Colloquy an assem- 
 bly of the clergy was held at St. Germain for the 
 purpose of voting the king's subsidy. The financial 
 position of the kingdom was very serious. The 
 States General at Orleans, and at St. Germain itself, 
 had spoken strongly of the necessity of demanding 
 from the great lords an account of their trusts. 
 They had even talked of selling the estates of the 
 
 1 For the history of the Colloquy of Poissy see Theodore 
 Beza's full account (Hist, eccl.}, and his letters, and those 
 of Peter Martyr, and the narratives of La Place, De Thou, 
 Castelnau, and Fleury. We shall have occasion to refer also 
 to the journal of Dr. Despence, one of the Catholic divines 
 who took the most prominent part in the colloquy, a thoughtful 
 and moderate man (MSS. 309, 451, Dupuy's Coll. Bibliotheque 
 nationale. The Memoires of Hatton the Cure, written from 
 the ultra-Catholic point ofview, contain some curious details, but 
 he sometimes becomes purely fanciful, as, for instance, when he 
 puts into the mouth of the Cardinal of Tournon, in the first meet- 
 ing, an utterly improbable discourse. Baum, in his Theodore
 
 OPENING OF THE COLLOQUY. 269 
 
 clergy. The clergy at that time possessed two-fifths 
 of the revenue of the kingdom. 1 
 
 The common danger drew together the great 
 dignitaries, Montmorency, St. Andre", the Guises, 
 and the whole episcopate. The Court did not fail to 
 press this argument upon the clergy, in order to 
 induce them to vote the subsidy, which was only 
 reluctantly done at the end of October. This posi- 
 tion of affairs will account in part for the advances 
 made by Catharine to the Protestant party. She 
 hoped in this way to intimidate the clergy. 2 
 
 The Colloquy was opened on September pth, 1561, 
 in the great refectory of the convent of Poissy. The 
 Court repaired to it in solemn procession. The king, 
 surrounded by his mother, his brother Henry, his 
 sister, the King and Queen of Navarre, sat on a 
 throne, behind which stood the nobility. The pre- 
 lates sat on either side. There were among them 
 forty bishops, and the Cardinals of Tournon, Chatillon, 
 Lorraine, Armagnac, and Guise. The ministers and 
 deputies of the Reformed Churches, who had left 
 St. Germain under a guard of a hundred cavaliers, 
 arrived at Poissy a little before eleven o'clock. They 
 were placed in front of a barrier, which separated 
 them from the rest of the Assembly. There they 
 
 Beza (Leipzig, 1851), treats this subject with great ability. 
 We would call attention also to Klipffel's interesting work 
 entitled Le Collogue de Poissy (Paris, Librairie Internationale) ; 
 also to the chapters relating to it in Soldan's Geschichte des 
 Protestantismus in Frankreich, and Ranke's Franzosische 
 Geschichte (vol i. p. 236). 
 
 1 So M. Soriano thinks, Ambass. venit., vol. i., p. 505. 
 
 2 Despence says that on August 4th there was a report that 
 the king's council had in readiness an edict relating to the 
 election of cures by their parishes.
 
 2/O COLIGNY. 
 
 stood like prisoners at the bar ; but their resolute 
 attitude showed plainly enough the position they 
 meant to take. 
 
 The little king read an address which had been 
 prepared for him. " Gentlemen," he said, " I have 
 called you together, from various parts of my king- 
 dom, to know your mind on that which my Chancellor 
 will bring before you ; and I pray you to lay aside 
 all passion, in order that we may gather some fruit 
 which shall be for the good of my subjects, the glory 
 of God, and the quieting of men's consciences, and of 
 the public generally. This I have so much at heart, 
 that I purpose that you shall not move from this 
 spot till you have restored order to my kingdom ; 
 that my subjects may henceforth live in peace and 
 union the one with the other, as I hope that you 
 will do ; and so doing that you will give me occasion 
 to extend to you the same protection as did the kings 
 my predecessors." 
 
 The Chancellor 1'Hospital spoke next. He jus- 
 tified the idea of a national council, saying that in 
 a general council there would be present a number 
 of foreign bishops, who could not judge of questions 
 arising out of the particular position of things in 
 France. He addressed himself to the prelates, and 
 enjoined them to receive the ministers " as a father 
 does his children, and to take pains to inform and 
 instruct them." If they could not succeed in doing 
 this, at least it could not then be said in the future, 
 as had been said in the past, that they had been 
 condemned without a hearing. The prelates were 
 clearly recognised by him as judges in the cause. 
 This principle being laid down, he urged on them
 
 SPEECH OF THEODORE BEZA. 2? I 
 
 moderation, and counselled them " to conform them- 
 selves as far as possible to the Word of God." This 
 language was doubtless very conciliatory, but it took 
 it as an accepted fact that the ministers were in the 
 eyes of the Government nothing better than accused 
 persons standing before their judges, with whom 
 their sentence must rest. Under such conditions 
 the conclusion was foregone. 
 
 The ministers then came forward to the bar, and 
 Theodore Beza spoke as follows : " Sire, since the 
 issue of all enterprises, small or great, depends on 
 the assistance and favour of our God, and most of 
 all when it is a question of His service, and one 
 which passes our capacity to understand, we hope 
 your Majesty will not take it ill, or deem it strange, 
 if we begin by calling thus upon His name." Then 
 kneeling, he repeated the well-known confession of 
 sins which is still used in the commencement of the 
 reformed worship. 1 
 
 The Assembly listened to this prayer with respect. 
 The queen knelt. The Cardinals remained standing, 
 but uncovered. Beza, having risen from his knees, 
 set forth with great dignity of speech the aims the 
 
 1 We give it here in the form in which it was used by Theo- 
 dore Beza, which is substantially the same as that used in the 
 Forme des prieres, introduced by Calvin at Geneva in 1542. 
 (Calvmti Ofiera, vi., 173). "Lord God, Father Eternal and 
 Almighty, we confess and acknowledge unfeignedly before 
 Thy Divine Majesty that we are poor sinners, conceived and 
 born in iniquity and corruption, prone to do evil, unable to 
 do good, and that through our sinful nature we do constantly 
 transgress Thy holy commandments, by doing which we bring 
 upon ourselves, by Thy just judgment, ruin and perdition. 
 Nevertheless, Lord, we are grieved with ourselves for having 
 offended Thee, and we condemn ourselves and our sins with 
 true repentance, desiring that Thy grace may come to the
 
 2/2 COLIGNY. 
 
 reformed had in view. " Do not think," said he, 
 " that we are come to maintain any error, but to 
 discover and amend all that may be found wanting 
 on our part or on yours. Do not deem us so pre- 
 sumptuous that we would seek to destroy that which 
 we know to be eternal the Church of God. Think 
 not that we are seeking how we may make you like 
 to us in our poor and low estate, in which neverthe- 
 less, thank God, we find a singular contentment. 
 Our desire is that the ruins of Jerusalem should be 
 built up ; that this spiritual temple may be restored ; 
 that this house of God, which is built of living stones, 
 may be again made whole ; that these flocks, so long 
 scattered and dispersed by the just vengeance of 
 God, and the heedlessness of men, may be gathered 
 again into the fold of the one great Shepherd. This," 
 he added with thrilling earnestness, "this is our aim; 
 this, gentlemen, is all our desire and intention. If 
 you have deemed otherwise hitherto, we hope you 
 will believe us when, with all patience and gentleness, 
 we shall have set before you that which God has 
 given to us. And might it please our God that, 
 without going further, and instead of arguing one 
 against another, we might all with one voice sing a 
 
 help of our infirmity. Be pleased then to have pity on us, O 
 God and Father most merciful and gracious, in the name of 
 Thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and only Redeemer, and blot- 
 ting out our sins and transgressions, grant to and increase 
 in us day by day the graces of Thy Holy Spirit, so that we, 
 confessing with all our heart our unrighteousness, may be 
 filled with godly sorrow, which worketh true repentance, and 
 mortifyingall sin, may bring forth fruits of righteousness accept- 
 able to Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Beza then 
 implored the blessing of God on the Assembly, and its labours, 
 and on the king, and concluded with the Lord's Prayer.
 
 BEZA EXPOUNDS THE REFORMED FAITH. 2/3 
 
 hymn to the Lord, and hold out the hand of friend- 
 ship to one another, as has sometimes happened 
 even when armies of unbelievers have been ranged 
 in battle array against each other." 1 
 
 It is pleasant to dwell upon noble, peaceable words 
 like these, spoken in such troublous times, and in 
 this singular meeting between the representatives of 
 the two parties, on the eve of a conflict which was 
 to deluge France with blood. Perhaps it was to 
 these words, and to the impression produced by 
 them, that the Cardinal of Lorraine alluded the next 
 day, when he exclaimed, " I would either that he 
 had been dumb, or we had been deaf!" 
 
 After this exordium, Beza began his exposition of 
 the reformed faith. He first set forth the doctrines 
 common to both Churches. Then passing to those 
 on which they differed, he mentioned three : the 
 basis of faith, the Holy Communion, and the govern- 
 ment of the Church. 2 The basis of faith he held to 
 be Holy Scripture, to which all the teaching of the 
 fathers and the decrees of the Councils should be 
 
 1 Were this a literary study, we might call attention here 
 to the beauty of Beza's language. The sixteenth century had 
 undoubtedly greater writers than Beza. Calvin expresses clear 
 and strong thought in language singularly incisive and telling; 
 Montaigne has exquisite grace of style, and a wealth of expres- 
 sion corresponding to the richness of his thought. Rabelais 
 has his powerful vein of humour ; d'Aubigne his grand and 
 picturesque manner. But none of them excels Beza in 
 breadth and force and harmony of diction. In this respect 
 only La BoStie in La servitude volontaire can be compared 
 with him. 
 
 - One cannot help remarking that if Beza, instead of taking 
 up this ground, had dwelt, as Luther did in his first conferences, 
 on the more central question of justification, he would have 
 carried with him at least the secret sympathies of the whole of 
 
 18
 
 2/4 COLIGNY. 
 
 subordinated. When he came to the Holy Com- 
 munion, wishing to indicate that the presence of 
 Christ in the Sacrament could be only a spiritual 
 presence, he expressed his thought in the following 
 manner : " that the body of Jesus Christ is as far 
 removed from the bread and wine as the highest 
 heaven is from the earth." This was to present the 
 Calvinist doctrine in negative and certainly in not 
 happily chosen terms, for the confession of faith of the 
 reformed Churches affirmed " that those who brought 
 to the sacred table of Christ a pure faith, veritably 
 received that which the symbols set forth, and that 
 the body and blood of Jesus Christ were as truly 
 meat and drink to the soul as the bread and wine 
 were to the body." l Since then, according to the 
 Calvinist doctrine, the spiritual communion of the 
 soul with the glorified Christ corresponded to the 
 believing reception of the bread and wine in the Holy 
 Communion, it would have been better not to use 
 an expression which seemed to say exactly the 
 opposite. If Beza had confined himself to affirming 
 that Jesus Christ was not in any degree present in a 
 
 that part of the Church of France which had held fast the 
 tradition of St. Augustine, and out of which the powerful 
 Jansenist movement was soon to spring. Upon the question 
 of the Communion, the divergences among the reformed were 
 already showing themselves. Thus where the Catholic Church 
 ever since the middle ages had seen a material transubstan- 
 tiation of the bread and wine into the body of Christ, Zuinglius 
 saw simply a symbol. Luther believed in a real presence of 
 the body of Christ in the wafer and the wine, but not in a 
 change of substance. Calvin affirmed that here was a mystery 
 of a purely spiritual order, and that in the moment of Com- 
 munion the soul of the believer was united to the glorified 
 Christ. 
 
 1 Confessio Gall., Art. XXXVIII.
 
 BEZA PRESENTS THE REFORMED CONFESSION. 2? 5 
 
 material sense in the sacramental bread and wine, 
 he would not have furnished his opponents with the 
 opportunity they eagerly sought of raising a cry of 
 scandal. " Blasphemavit" was the indignant excla- 
 mation of the old Cardinal of Tournon, and it was 
 echoed by almost all the prelates. 
 
 Beza nevertheless went on with his discourse, and 
 showed that the reformed rejected traditions which 
 they found to be contrary to the spirit and letter of 
 Scripture. When he had finished Beza knelt down 
 and prayed silently. Then rising he came forward 
 and presented to the king the confession of the 
 reformed Churches, saying : " Sire, may it please 
 your Majesty not to have regard to our rude and 
 unpolished speech, but to our hearty affection to 
 youwards. And inasmuch as the points of our 
 doctrine are clearly and fully contained in this con- 
 fession of faith, which we now present to you, and 
 upon which this conference will turn, we humbly 
 beseech your Majesty to do us this favour to receive 
 it at our hands, hoping, by the grace of God, that 
 after having considered it with all sobriety and 
 reverence for His name, we may find we are of one 
 mind. But if, on the contrary, on account of our 
 sins, we receive not this blessing, we doubt not that 
 your Majesty, of his good counsel, will order all 
 without prejudice to one party or the oilier, according 
 to God and reason." 
 
 It is clear from the last words that Beza distinctly 
 repudiated the idea that the reformed were accused 
 persons brought before the bishops as their judges. 
 In his view, the colloquy was a conference between 
 two parties pleading before the king.
 
 2/6 COLIGNY. 
 
 The Cardinal of Tournon could hardly restrain 
 himself to this point. As soon as Beza had finished, 
 " trembling with rage, he as cardinal and president 
 of the Assembly (of the clergy, that is), spoke in the 
 name of the Assembly, addressing himself to the king, 
 and entreating him to give them a day to reply, adding 
 that saving for the respect they had for his Majesty, 
 they should all have risen on hearing the blasphemies 
 and abominable words that had been spoken, and 
 should not have suffered Beza to continue." ] Then 
 he implored the king to forget the words which 
 he had heard, and to return (here he hurriedly 
 corrected himself, seeing the blunder he had made), 
 or rather to remain faithful to the faith of his fathers. 
 The word which had escaped him showed that the 
 clergy were aware of the sentiments which the young 
 king had secretly expressed to Jeanne d'Albret. 
 Catherine seemed wounded, and replied drily that 
 what was true or false, should be determined accord- 
 ing to the pure Word of God, and that the Assembly 
 had no other end in view. 
 
 The bishops, who were very loath to enter into 
 discussion with heretics, decided simply to draw up 
 a confession of faith which the Protestants should be 
 bound to subscribe ; but Michel de 1'Hospital having 
 refused to consent to this, the discussion was 
 resumed at the sitting on September i6th. 
 
 In the interval between the two meetings Peter 
 Martyr arrived, bringing to the aid of the Protestant 
 cause a scientific knowledge of theology more ex- 
 tensive than that of any of his colleagues. In the 
 
 1 La Place, Commentaires, Book VI.
 
 SPEECH OF THE CARDINAL OF LORRAINE. 277 
 
 meeting of September i6th, which was again pre- 
 sided over by the king, the Cardinal of Lorraine 
 opened the discussion. He spoke of the obedience 
 due to kings, an oratorical prelude which cleared 
 the way for him to lay down the principle that in 
 spiritual matters the king was not competent to 
 judge. He drew a graphic picture of the Catholic 
 Church and its unity, and showed that it must be 
 the judge of the meaning of Scripture, and conse- 
 quently of controversial questions. When he came 
 to the Eucharist he carefully avoided speaking of the 
 mass as transubstantiation, and confined himself to 
 insisting on the fact that in this mystery the very 
 body and blood of Christ are given to us in a real 
 manner. This discourse, which lasted an hour and a 
 half, was very moderate in form, and produced a 
 great impression. As they were returning to St. 
 Germain in the evening, Conde and the Admiral 
 urged Beza and Peter Martyr to observe a like 
 moderation. 1 This Peter Martyr did not fail to do 
 in an interview which he had next day with the 
 queen-mother, who wished to know what he thought 
 of the Cardinal's discourse. 2 Peter Martyr took a 
 very fair view of it, pointing out where he agreed 
 with the Cardinal. As Catherine was urgent that 
 he should suggest some plan of conciliation, he re- 
 
 1 Letters of Beza, I7th September, and of Peter Martyr, igih 
 September (Arch, de Berne). 
 
 a Catherine often had interviews with Peter Martyr during 
 the Colloquy. Hubert Languet, whose clearsightedness was 
 well known, expresses this opinion in his correspondence : 
 "What shall I say of her? Truly I know not, but of this I 
 am sure, that whichever way fortune turns she will turn. Her 
 great anxiety is to rule, and she will not sacrifice herself for 
 either papists or reformed. (Arcana seculi, Book II., p. 141).
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 plied, with the subtlety of the theologian, " that they 
 should not touch on the article of the Eucharist, but 
 allow everyone to believe and to preach on this 
 point the doctrine that seemed to him most in har- 
 mony with the word of God. Diversity of belief 
 should not make Christians forget brotherly love, and 
 lead them to brand each other with the opprobrious 
 name of heretics." 
 
 The queen warmly approved this language. Then 
 a moment after she walked to the fire where Antoine 
 of Navarre, the Prince of Conde, and the Admiral 
 were talking with Theodore Beza, and before taking 
 her leave of the two ministers she urged them to 
 labour to bring about an agreement between the 
 reformed and the Catholics. 1 
 
 If we suppose Catherine to have been sincere in 
 this wish, she was prevented from carrying it out by 
 the advice of the papal legate already mentioned, 
 who had just arrived at the Court. He could not 
 prevent the Colloquy, but he suggested the idea that 
 the king should not be present any more, and that 
 only a very limited number of delegates should be 
 admitted. This was to take away from the assembly 
 all the solemnity which had hitherto made it so 
 remarkable. 2 
 
 In fact, at the third sitting, on September 24th, 
 there were present beside the Cardinals only sixteen 
 Catholic doctors and twelve reformed ministers, with 
 the queen, the King of Navarre, and a few lords. 
 
 Beza introduced the question of the Church, and 
 
 1 Letter from Peter Martyr (Arch, de Berne}. 
 
 2 This fact is attested in the"Discours des actes de Poissy" 
 (Memoires de Conde, vol. ii., p. 490).
 
 THE COLLOQUY CONTINUED, 2/9 
 
 pointed out that beside the ordinary there might be 
 an extraordinary vocation, the gift of the Spirit of 
 God not absolutely contingent on the consecration 
 imparted by the laying on of hands. He showed 
 that the Councils had often fallen into error, and 
 that the ultimate appeal must be therefore to Holy 
 Scripture. 
 
 Doctor Despence replied with gravity. He dis- 
 puted the legitimacy of the Protestant ministry, 
 maintained that Scripture by itself was inadequate, 
 and insisted on the importance of tradition. There- 
 upon ensued a prolonged discussion till the Cardinal 
 of Lorraine suggested that they should revert to the 
 question of the Eucharist, and asked the reformed 
 if they were prepared to subscribe the articles of the 
 Augsburg Confession on this subject ; to which 
 Beza made a very apt rejoinder, asking the Cardinal 
 if he himself approved of it. 
 
 The next sitting took place on September 26th. 
 The same questions of the ministry and the Holy 
 Communion were brought up again. Beza, Despence, 
 and Peter Martyr spoke. The discussion was grave 
 and dignified till a new actor appeared on the 
 scene. This was the Jesuit Lainez, of whom we 
 have spoken, and who now for the first time took 
 part in the debates. Lainez, who knew well with 
 what suspicion his order was regarded by the French 
 bishops, wished to curry favour with them by flinging 
 opprobrious epithets at the Protestant doctors. He 
 designated them wolves, foxes, monkeys and assassins. 
 Directly addressing the queen-mother, he told her 
 that it was her duty to expel the reformed from the 
 kingdom. Catherine was annoyed at this language.
 
 280 COLIGNY. 
 
 Theodore Beza replied with much force, and the 
 debate was prolonged till night. It became more 
 and more evident that these public discussions would 
 lead to no conclusion. Catherine abandoned them, 
 and a new plan was tried. 
 
 . It was proposed to draw up a set of articles 
 relating to the Holy Communion. A commission 
 composed of the more moderate representatives of 
 both parties assembled and drew up the following 
 fomulary : " Inasmuch as faith apprehends that which 
 is promised and renders present things absent, and 
 inasmuch as this faith in very truth receives the body 
 and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ by the virtue of the 
 Holy Spirit, we therefore confess the presence of the 
 body and blood of Christ in the Holy Communion, 
 in which He presents and exhibits to us in very 
 truth the substance of His body and blood by the 
 operation of the Holy Spirit, and we therein eat 
 spiritually and by faith of His proper body which 
 was broken for us, that we may be bone of His bone 
 and flesh of His flesh, so that we may be quickened 
 thereby and understand all that is necessary to salva- 
 tion." This confession is radically equivocal. It 
 does not express candidly either the Catholic or the 
 reformed doctrine. The adherents of the reformed 
 faith modified it, and presented finally a new render- 
 ing, 1 which was submitted to a large Catholic Com- 
 
 1 It is as follows : "We confess that Jesus Christ in the Holy 
 Communion presents and exhibits to us in very truth the sub- 
 stance of His body and blood by the operation of His Holy 
 Spirit, and that we receive and eat sacramentally, spiritually, 
 and by faith this proper body, which was broken for us, that 
 we may be bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, so that 
 one may be quickened thereby and understand all that is
 
 CLOSE OF THE COLLOQUY. 28 1 
 
 mission, of which all the doctors of the Sorbonne 
 present at Poissy formed part. 
 
 On the pth of October these doctors read to the 
 General Assembly their report on this formula, which 
 they declared to be " insufficient, captious, and here- 
 tical." They proposed a strictly Catholic confession 
 of faith. The Cardinal of Tournon then declared 
 the discussion to be at an end. The bishops and 
 cardinals rose and repeated the words of the Catholic 
 confession, and the Cardinal of Lorraine pronounced 
 an anathema on all who did not accept it. Thus 
 closed the Colloquy of Poissy. 
 
 As might be expected, each party pretended to 
 have gained the advantage over the other. In reality 
 the discussion had been cut short, unfinished. Only 
 one point, that of the Eucharist, 1 had been treated 
 
 necessary to salvation. And inasmuch as faith based upon 
 the Word of God makes and renders present to us things 
 absent, and that by this faith we do indeed and in truth receive 
 the true and natural body and blood of our Lord by the virtue 
 of the Holy Spirit ; in this respect we confess the presence of 
 the body and blood of this our Lord in the Holy Communion." 
 One is grieved in reading this declaration, to observe the 
 equivocations used in the hope of conciliating men, some of 
 whom believed in transubstantiation and worshipped the host, 
 and others of whom were as fully persuaded that no change 
 was effected in the substance of the bread and wine, and that 
 the presence of Christ in the Eucharist was a purely spiritual 
 fact which faith alone could apprehend. 
 
 1 We have only been able to give a brief sketch of the history 
 of the Colloquy in its general features ; but it is well to remem- 
 ber two things : first, simultaneously with the Colloquy was 
 held a real Synod of the Catholic clergy, in which they dis- 
 cussed twelve articles, on which they agreed that a reform was 
 necessary in order to satisfy public opinion. These articles 
 had no reference to doctrine, but solely to abuses in eccle- 
 siastical order. Secondly, after the Colloquy Catherine de 
 Medicis tried to organise fresh conferences between the Catho- 
 lics and the reformed in presence of the Privy Council. These
 
 282 COLIGNY. 
 
 at any length. The moderate Catholic party, repre- 
 sented by such men as Montluc and Despence, had 
 been defeated by the Cardinal of Tournon, and still 
 more by Lainez, who was to be rewarded by seeing 
 the order of the Jesuits recognised in France. The 
 idea of uniting Catholics and Protestants in one 
 common creed was henceforth abandoned. Two 
 courses only now remained open ; either to proscribe 
 the new Communion by force (this they -had been 
 attempting to do for forty years), or to admit the 
 legal coexistence of two religions. The latter was 
 the policy recommended by 1'Hospital. 
 
 The impression produced by the Colloquy had 
 been rather favourable to the Huguenots. They 
 had gained several distinguished additions to their 
 party. 1 Their books were freely circulated every- 
 
 conferences were prolonged even after the edict of January. 
 The question of images was specially taken up. Several 
 Catholics Salignac, Montluc, Despence, and others voted 
 with the reformed for their suppression. But the majority 
 were vehemently opposed to it. The debate was unhappily 
 embittered by the destruction of statues and sacred ornaments 
 wrought by the Protestants in the provinces, in spite of the 
 stern protests of Calvin, Beza, and Coligny. The conferences 
 produced no result. It was altogether an illusion to suppose 
 that such reforms of mere details could arrest the great Pro- 
 testant movement. 
 
 1 Among others they were joined by La Place, President of 
 the Cour des Aides, who was deservedly known afterwards as 
 the 1'Hospital of the Protestants. He was one of the men so 
 rare in that day who understood the meaningof religious liberty, 
 and always defended the cause of humanity. To him we owe 
 the Commentaires de r etatde la religion et de la refiublique 
 sous les rois Henri II., Francois II., et Charles IX., a 
 work remarkable for its impartiality. La Place fell in the 
 massacre of St. Bartholomew. Beside La Place we may 
 mention among those who attached themselves after the Col- 
 loquy to the cause of the Reformation, Carraccioli, Bishop of 
 Troyes. He was son of the Prince of Melfi, a Marshal of
 
 REFORMED PREA CHING AT COURT. 283 
 
 where. 1 For the first time a queen, Jeanne d'Albret, 
 was seen openly avowing the reformed faith in the 
 very precincts of the Court, and inviting the highest 
 lords to the preaching in her apartments. At the 
 close of these services Protestants and Catholics met 
 and discussed the subjects treated in the sermon. 
 In this familiar intercourse many prejudices were 
 removed. It was discovered that these odious sec- 
 taries were not so black as they had been painted. 2 
 Doctrines which a few months before would have 
 
 France ; but he was a man of no consistency or steadfastness 
 of character. He went back to the Church of Rome, and then 
 oscillated for the rest of his life between the two parties. The 
 Protestants gained a more valuable recruit in the person of 
 Pierre Ramus, the most celebrated philosopher of his time. 
 He wrote to the Cardinal of Lorraine some time after : " It is 
 no thanks to myself, but to you (and it is the greatest of 
 all benefits you have conferred upon me), that I have learnt 
 that precious truth, so well set forth in your discourse at the 
 colloquy of Poissy, that of the fifteen centuries which have 
 passed since the coming of Christ, the first was truly the age 
 of gold, and that in proportion as it has receded, have all 
 other ages become more and more vicious and corrupt. It 
 was then that, having to choose among the various ages of 
 Christianity, I chose the age of gold." Ramus, like La Place, 
 fell a victim at St. Bartholomew. 
 
 1 On this subject we refer the reader to the lamentations of 
 Claude Hatton, cure of Provins, who in his memoir es mentions 
 "the psalms of Marot and of Beza," as well as the "Cate- 
 chisms, the Shields of Faith," etc., and other books full of 
 the doctrine of their so-called religion, printed at Geneva, at 
 Lyons, and in Dauphine, all well bound in black and red calf, 
 some finely gilt, of which they made presents to the princes 
 and princesses of the Court, and even to the king himself, and 
 the rest of the said books were exposed for sale in the Court 
 and in the city of Paris by permission of the king. There 
 passed through the town of Provins four carts full of the said 
 books, which were taken to the Court in large pine-wood cases. 
 (Me moires, vol. i., p. 160, quoted by Klipffel). 
 
 - In the letters addressed to Calvin by Beza we are conscious 
 sometimes of a sort of repressed humour, and something laugh- 
 able slips into the midst of these grave discussions. One day,
 
 284 COLIGNY. 
 
 condemned those who professed them to shameful 
 tortures in the Place Maubert, or the Place de Greve, 
 were now openly avowed in the presence of the king 
 himself. In the end of September, at Argenteuil, 
 close to St. Germain, Beza had given his benediction 
 on a marriage celebrated after the Genevan mode, 
 the marriage of Jean de Rohan, cousin of the King 
 of Navarre, to Diane de Brabanc_on, niece of the 
 Duchess d'Estampes. Jeanne d'Albert, the Admiral 
 and his wife, the Prince and Princess of Conde, and 
 a number of great personages were present. Such 
 a ceremony, celebrated without any protest on the 
 part of the Court, was really a great public event. 
 
 " In fine only the reformed gained anything by 
 the Colloquy." 1 Unfortunately their triumph was 
 soon marred by excesses. In many provincial towns, 
 at Orleans, Blois, Tours, Angers, Lyons, Montpellier, 
 they took possession of the churches, destroying the 
 images and stirring up tumults. 
 
 Philip II. was alarmed at these symptoms. He 
 sent threatening letters. It was said in Paris that 
 certain French Catholics had entered into relations 
 with him, even going so far as to claim his promise 
 of armed intervention against the heretics if occasion 
 arose. The national sentiment was deeply wounded, 
 and Catherine felt obliged to interfere. She was 
 expecting the arrival of Jacques de Monberon, sieur 
 
 for example, when the Admiral was giving a dinner, there was 
 a parrot in the room which kept on crying out, " Life ! life ! 
 the mass is abolished. We may dare to speak of God every- 
 where. Let us speak of God everywhere." (See Jules Bonnet, 
 Lettres de Calvin, vol. ii., p. 426). 
 
 1 La Ferriere, Introd. aux lettres de Catherine de Medicis, 
 p. cviii.
 
 ATTITUDE OF PHILIP II. 285 
 
 d'Aussance, whom she had sent to Philip II. to jus- 
 tify herself for having convoked the Colloquy. The 
 ambassador returned on the I4th of October, and 
 reported that Philip II. said openly that "it would be 
 better worth his while to extinguish the fire in his 
 neighbour's house than to wait for it to reach his 
 own." The queen asked what Philip II. thought of 
 her children. Monberon replied, " The king thinks 
 that the young Charles IX. will do all that his 
 mother commands ; but that, as for M. d'Orleans 
 and Madame Marguerite, it would not be easy to 
 pervert them." Monberon added that Philip II. 
 boasted of knowing all that was done in the French 
 Court better than Catherine herself. 1 
 
 The attitude of Chantonnay, the Spanish ambas- 
 sador, only confirmed Monberon's statement. He 
 said openly that the king his master had offered all 
 his forces to the queen-mother to be used against 
 the heretics, and that if she refused them, he would 
 offer them to the Catholics. 2 
 
 Catherine took no heed, and when Chantonnay 
 came to her levee on October i6th, she spoke to 
 him with such boldness that he concluded she had 
 been consulting with the Admiral, the Cardinal of 
 Chatillon, Bishop Montluc, and the King of Navarre. 
 She said to him, " If any subjects of the king were 
 to call in foreign aid, the king would know how to 
 deal with it, and to punish them in such sort that 
 
 1 Letter from Chantonnay to the Duchess of Parma 
 (October 1561), quoted by La Ferriere. However well informed 
 Philip may have thought himself, he did not know that it was 
 that same little Duke of Orleans who was at this very time a 
 pervert, and trying to pervert Marguerite. 
 
 2 Same letter.
 
 286 COLIGNY. 
 
 they should repent it." The interview grew angry. 
 Chantonnay accused her of favouring the heretics, 
 and giving his impression of the queen in writing to 
 the Duchess of Parma, he said that Catherine had 
 no real confidence in any one but Coligny and those 
 of his party. 
 
 A trifling event tended still more to exasperate 
 Catherine. Nemours, who belonged to the Guise 
 party, offered to take the little Duke of Anjou into 
 Savoy. Thereupon the queen's imagination set to 
 work. She persuaded herself that the Catholic party 
 meant to take her son from her, and she wrote freely 
 to this effect. She dictated to Charles IX., on 
 October 2Tst, a letter addressed to the Bishop of 
 Limoges, French ambassador at Madrid. The lan- 
 guage of Charles IX. was proud, almost threatening. 
 Replying to Philip II., who had declared that French- 
 men belonging to the old religion had asked him to 
 assist them in its maintenance, and if they were 
 compelled to take up arms in the cause, to succour 
 them, and to bring his power and his forces to their 
 aid, Charles IX. wrote thus : " Whereupon, I pray 
 you, thank him very affectionately on my behalf for 
 his good will, etc.; but as to the second point, which 
 touches the rising of my subjects, I cannot but deem 
 it a strange proposal, inasmuch as it is not lawful 
 for any subject to rise against his prince on any 
 occasion whatsoever. I cannot believe that, in a 
 common cause which touches and regards all princes 
 and potentates, those of my subjects who should 
 have so forgotten themselves would find favour, 
 support, and aid against those who should have 
 continued faithful to me." And a little further,
 
 LETTER FROM CHARLES IX. TO PHILIP II. 287 
 
 speaking of the friendship which the King of Spain 
 bears to him, he says : " This friendship makes me 
 hope that, knowing such to be mutinous rebels and 
 enemies to me and my crown, if they address them- 
 selves to him, he will not only reject them as enemies 
 and disturbers of the public peace, but will advertise 
 me of their names and positions, that I may inflict 
 such punishment and chastisement as their malice 
 deserves ; otherwise he will show how little sincerity 
 there is in his words, and often repeated offers of 
 good will, in which, if there is no truth, I pray and 
 conjure him by the friendship he bears me, that as 
 I refrain from intermeddling in his affairs more than 
 he wishes, he will leave me to manage mi-ne, hoping, 
 without let or hindrance from any one, to come out 
 of them so well that there shall be no need to employ 
 him or any other of my neighbours." 1 
 
 \Ye see what was Catherine's state of mind at the 
 close of the colloquy of Poissy. 
 
 A few days after, all the Protestant ministers had 
 left St. Germain, with the exception of Peter Martyr, 
 Theodore Beza, and De Gallars. Coligny had just 
 taken De Gallars into his service as almoner, in the 
 absence of Merlin, who had been recalled to Geneva. 
 At this time arrived the German divines, sent to 
 Paris by the Elector Palatine and the Duke of 
 Wiirtemberg, at the request of the King of Navarre. 
 The Elector belonged to the reformed faith ; the 
 Duke was a pronounced Lutheran. The Duke had 
 recommended his divines, Drs. Beurlin, Bidenbach, 
 
 1 This letter is to be seen in the British Museum, vol 
 19, 272, fol. 23, 24.
 
 288 COLIGNY. 
 
 and Andrese, to make all possible concessions to the 
 Catholics, and to try and use the Augsburg Confes- 
 sion as a platform on which they could meet. It is 
 easy to see that if these divines had arrived in the 
 middle of the Colloquy, their presence would only 
 have helped to make the discussions more bitter and 
 complicated. Beza congratulated himself that they 
 had come too late. 1 The King of Navarre com- 
 plained to them that the Guises feigned adherence 
 to the Confession of Augsburg. At this time he 
 still spoke as if he were a Protestant by conviction. 
 
 The mission of the German divines thus fell to 
 the ground. Before leaving, they visited the princi- 
 pal Protestant lords. " We paid our respects to the 
 Admiral," said one of them (Peter Boquin), " and told 
 him we were about to return to Germany. In lan- 
 guage full of his habitual dignity and kindness, he 
 gave us his best wishes. Then, speaking of the 
 Christian religion, to the service of which he devotes 
 all the energy of his soul, he urged us earnestly to 
 labour to extend its salutary influence, and warned 
 us to avoid above all things a spirit of discord." 2 He 
 said that in everything that depended on him he 
 would not fail to strive for the advancement of the 
 Kingdom of Christ, as a sacred duty nearer to his 
 heart than ever ; that he was assured that on this 
 subject the Elector Palatine shared his sentiments, 
 and he prayed us instantly to repeat to that prince 
 
 1 Letter to Calvin, October 23rd. 
 
 2 It is in these little things that the greatness of Coligny's 
 character comes out. While Beza regarded the Lutheran 
 divines only as Eutychians, and almost as enemies, the 
 Admiral tried to reconcile the two communions, and won 
 golden opinions even from the Lutheran Andrese.
 
 DEPARTURE OF THE GERMAN DIVINES. 289 
 
 this expression of his cordial sympathy. 1 Andreae, 
 writing of this interview, says : " If God is pleased 
 to bring the welfare of the state out of the troubles 
 whigh are now desolating France, it will certainly 
 be by making this man the instrument of His 
 designs." 
 
 1 Klackholm, Briefe Friedrichs des Frommen, vol. i v 
 P- 554-
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Progress of Protestantism in Paris. Public assemblies at Popincourt 
 and the close of the Patriarche. Popular risings against the Pro- 
 testants. The Constable sacks the place of worship at Popincourt. 
 L'Hospital and Coligny prepare the edict of 1562. Religious 
 liberty in the sixteenth century. Estimate of the edict. Defection 
 of Antoine of Navarre. 
 
 FROM the time of the Colloquy the reformed 
 party became more and more powerful. It 
 gained accessions from the great nobility. In spite 
 of the edict of July, which was still valid, in spite 
 of the repeated protests of the legate, the French 
 prelates and the Spanish ambassador, the king was 
 compelled to grant to the Huguenots the right of 
 public worship in the faubourgs of Paris. " He did 
 so," says Languet, 1 " on the condition that the num- 
 ber assembling should not exceed two hundred ; but 
 at the first meeting we were more than ten thousand." 
 The two places chosen for worship were the close 
 of the Patriarche in the faubourg St. Marcel, and the 
 church called Popincourt in the faubourg St. Antoine. 2 
 The Prince of La Roche- sur- Yon, governor of Paris, 
 sent troops to protect the assemblies. The people 
 
 1 In a letter written on the Eve of St. Martin, 1561. 
 
 2 The regulations passed at this time by the Consistory for 
 the "distribution of alms to the poor of the reformed church 
 in the city of Paris have been preserved." Bulletin de la 
 societe du j>fotestantismefran$ ais, vol. i., p. 254.
 
 TUMUL TS IN PARIS. 
 
 marvelled to see the crowds who attended the 
 meetings, among whom were representatives of the 
 oldest families in France. 
 
 But fanaticism could not long brook such a scan- 
 dal. The day after Christmas day, while Pastor 
 Jean Malot was preaching in the Patriarche at three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, the clergy of St. Michel 
 had peals rung out on the bells of all the churches 
 adjoining the close. It was impossible to hear the 
 voice of the preacher. He suspended the service, 
 and had the sixteenth Psalm sung. Meanwhile two 
 Protestants went to beg the cure* of St. Me"dard to 
 stop the clangour of the bells. They were assaulted, 
 and one of them was killed on the spot. The 
 reformed, rendered furious, surrounded the church. 
 The priests barricaded it, and a struggle began, 
 which was only put a stop to by the arrival of the 
 military. Thirty-six Catholics were taken to the 
 Chatelet as instigators of the tumult. But the next 
 day the people avenged themselves by surrounding 
 the close of the Patriarche and sacking it. The 
 parliament decided against the Protestants, and had 
 Gabaston, the captain of the guard, hanged, because, 
 though a Catholic, he had faithfully discharged the 
 duty entrusted to him. Two days later, Anne de 
 Montmorency, at the head of a company of troops, 
 destroyed all the furniture of the church of Popin- 
 court, and by this ridiculous act gained for himself 
 the nickname of BnMe-Bancs. 
 
 It was a crying necessity that a stop should be 
 put to such outrages, and the protection of the law 
 assured to the reformed. Coligny and 1'Hospital 
 set themselves actively to work.
 
 2Q2 COLIGNY. 
 
 We are now coming to a momentous date in the 
 history of France. The edict of January was con- 
 sidered by its promoters to be a very important step. 
 We must pause to enquire more closely in what 
 light the question of religious liberty was regarded 
 by the men of that age. 
 
 Liberty of conscience, with its logical consequence 
 the free manifestation of religious opinion may 
 be demanded on two distinct grounds. 
 
 First, it may be said that the State owes to all 
 creeds which do not infringe public order, equal 
 protection or equal sufferance, because no creed is 
 self-evident, and as such has a right to be enforced. 
 This is the view taken by Locke and his successors, 
 which gradually asserted itself in the eighteenth 
 century, and is accepted, at least in theory, in our 
 day. 
 
 Second, there is a higher point of view which 
 we hold to be the Christian standpoint, namely, 
 that the relation between men's consciences and 
 God is exempt by its very nature from all legislative 
 control, that religious convictions are of no value 
 except as they are free, and that if we must 
 choose between truth enforced by authority and the 
 liberty of error, the latter is the more truly moral, 
 for liberty does at least respect conscience, while he 
 who yields to the truth an enforced adherence, is 
 governed not by truth but by force. 
 
 Now it is evident that neither of these principles 
 was recognised in the sixteenth century. Nothing 
 can be more misleading than to apply to the men of 
 that age our thoughts, and our modern modes of 
 speech. To say that the Reformation was wrought
 
 RELIGIO US LIBERTY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENT. 293 
 
 in the name of religious liberty, or of that which was 
 afterwards called free enquiry, is to enunciate a 
 theory absolutely contrary to fact. 
 
 The claim advanced by the reformers was that 
 they had found the truth of Christianity, and their 
 aim was to substitute this truth everywhere for the 
 errors of Rome. Holding, as they did, that the magi- 
 strate was armed for the defence of the truth, they 
 taught that he could and ought to defend it by 
 force. When the sovereign of a State, or the 
 majority of a Swiss canton, had declared for the 
 Reformation, no alternative was left to the Catholic 
 minority but submission or exile. This view, mon- 
 strous as it seems to us to-day, was then common to 
 all. If the minority resisted, it was pitilessly dealt 
 with. If the Protestant magistrate found himself 
 confronted, not simply with a recalcitrant Catholic, 
 but with a declared heretic, an anti-Trinitarian, for 
 instance, like Servetus, then exile was not deemed 
 sufficient, and he was handed over, without mercy, 
 to the executioner. For denouncing these proceed- 
 ings, Castalio was exiled from Geneva, and placed 
 under the ban of Christendom. 1 
 
 When, therefore, Bishop Montluc, at the assembly 
 of Fontainebleau, after paying an eloquent tribute to 
 the piety of the reformed, concluded by asking that 
 they might be exiled, unless they were willing hence- 
 
 1 It is idle to advance, in opposition to this, the admirable 
 words on liberty of conscience to be found in the writings of 
 Luther, Zuinglius, and the persecuted Anabaptists. The 
 oppressed have always used such language. Tertullian 
 uttered magnificent sentiments to this effect, but who can 
 suppose that Tertullian, who was so severe on the heretics, 
 would have counselled toleration under a Christian emperor ?
 
 294 COLIGNY. 
 
 forward to live as good Catholics, he was only 
 applying the principle which the reformed themselves 
 applied when they were in power. 
 
 Let us suppose that Francis I. or Catherine de 
 Medicis, supported by their parliaments, had, as 
 was at one time thought possible, declared them- 
 selves on the side of the Reformation, can it be 
 believed that they would have inaugurated a system 
 of religious liberty ? They would have done just 
 what Elizabeth and the sovereigns of Germany did, 
 and assuredly Calvin and Beza would have been 
 the last to blame them. Thus, when at Poissy 
 the ministers were discussing the question of crosses 
 and images, they wished the king to put them down 
 altogether. 
 
 Since the Protestants could not be masters in 
 France, what was it they asked ? To be tolerated, 
 protected by the law, and allowed to hold their 
 assemblies. But did they ask it in the name of the 
 high claims of conscience ? Not at all. What they 
 said was this : " You ought to recognise us, for we 
 are Christians. We accept the Apostles' and the 
 Nicene creed ; the law cannot touch us." 
 
 This was the plea advanced by Coligny and 
 1' Hospital, and if this principle had been accepted, 
 the result would have been the legal coexistence of 
 the two religions in the kingdom obviously a very 
 different thing from liberty. But even this was an 
 ideal not understood at that period. This was made 
 very clear by the resistance everywhere offered to 
 the edict of January, a resistance which could have 
 been overcome only by the firm determination of 
 the king. And here again we must not blame
 
 COLIGXY ASKS FOR FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. 2$$ 
 
 Catholic France alone. Let us ask ourselves, in 
 good faith, whether Elizabeth in England, or Calvin 
 at Geneva, or the magistrates of Zurich and Berne, 
 would have allowed the mass and the reformed 
 preaching to go on side by side in their territory ? 
 Much blood would have to be shed before the true 
 principle of religious liberty would become triumphant, 
 and William of Orange in the Low Countries, and 
 the Edict of Nantes in France, gave it its first legal 
 sanction. If we would do justice to the sixteenth 
 century, we must frankly recognise that intolerance 
 was then the error of all parties. While admitting 
 that those who practised it were sincere, the historian 
 is yet free to condemn the perfidies and crimes 
 which the men of that time often added to it, for 
 the prejudices of the age can be no excuse for 
 deeds which conscience must have condemned then 
 as loudly as to-day. 
 
 In drawing up the edict of January, 1'Hospital 
 and Coligny were in advance of their age. Coligny 
 was afterwards to make yet further advances in this 
 direction, and to form a grander ideal of liberty. 
 
 In the end of December, 1561, the Admiral had 
 sent up to the king a petition, from 2,050 churches, 1 
 asking for the right of public worship. In the 
 beginning of January, 1562, an assembly composed 
 of the princes of the blood, the members of the Privy 
 Council, and Councillors chosen from the various 
 parliaments, was convened at St. Germain by order 
 of the king, and under his presidency. 
 
 1 MM. Haag have given as complete a picture as possible of 
 the Protestant Church of that period {La France firotestante, 
 vol i., p. 52). The petition presented by the Protestants is 
 found in Conde's Memoires, vol. ii., p. 575, and following.
 
 296 COLIGNY. 
 
 Michel de 1'Hospital opened it. He referred to 
 all the attempts made hitherto to secure religious 
 peace ; to the edicts of Amboise, Romorantin, Fon- 
 tainebleau, to the meeting of the States General at 
 Orleans, and the Colloquy of Poissy. He said that 
 Protestantism went on spreading, and might, like 
 a mighty tree, crush its enemies in its fall. 
 
 He urged, with much feeling, that the king could 
 not take either side, for that would amount to saying 
 " that he ought to assemble one army to destroy 
 another, a thing repugnant not only to the name of 
 Christians, which we bear, but to our very humanity. 
 And, moreover, who could fight when in the opposite 
 camp he saw his father, his son, and nearest kindred ? 
 The victory, to whichever side it fell, could not but 
 be quite as damaging to the victors as to the van- 
 quished, just as if the different parts of the body were 
 warring against each other." He showed that it had 
 been impossible to execute the edict of July, and 
 that new remedies must be devised. " The king," 
 he said, " does not desire you to enter into a disputa- 
 tion, which opinion is the better, for it is not here a 
 question de constituenda religione, sed de constituenda 
 republica" A man who is excommunicated does not 
 cease to be a citizen. " If a Catholic can live in 
 peace with a member of his family who belongs to 
 the new religion, why should it not be the same with 
 the State ? " This is liberal and generous language 
 which the age could not understand. 
 
 The debate was continued on the following days. 
 The result was impatiently awaited in Rome as well 
 as in Paris. The Sorbonne in alarm sent delegates 
 
 o 
 
 to the king. They declared that if his majesty
 
 EDICT OF JANUARY 1562. 297 
 
 yielded to the innovators, he would lose Paris ; that 
 the recognition of two religions would overthrow the 
 State ; that there would, then, need to be two kings 
 in France, etc. 
 
 On the other hand, many of the Councillors 
 from the various parliaments were in favour of the 
 idea of granting the Protestants the liberty they 
 asked. On the I5th of January the Assembly 
 dispersed, and the next day but one was signed the 
 famous edict of January, which for the first time 
 recognised the right of the Protestants to a legal 
 existence, and to the public celebration of their 
 worship. 
 
 A letter from the legate Hippolyte d'Este to 
 Cardinal Borromeo, dated January i/th, shows the 
 spirit in which this concession was made : " The 
 permission granted to them to hold their services is 
 but temporary, for as soon as the Council of Trent 
 has closed its sittings, it is proposed to drive them 
 out of the kingdom." In the same letter he announces 
 that the King of Navarre had just left the Protestant 
 party, and had spoken openly against the edict in 
 the Privy Council. We shall have more to say 
 presently of this conversion, which produced a con- 
 siderable effect. Let us attempt first to give some, 
 idea of the edict. 
 
 In the first place, it required the Protestants to 
 restore all the churches and all the ecclesiastical 
 revenues of which they had taken possession. They 
 were forbidden to build any place of worship at all. 
 They would be compelled, therefore, to hold their 
 services in the open air, or in private houses. They 
 were not to be allowed to assemble in any town, but
 
 298 COLIGNY. 
 
 only in the environs, under the surveillance of officers 
 appointed by the king, and these were to have the 
 extraordinary power of sending away " any whose life, 
 habits, and condition did not commend itself to them." 
 So much for liberty of worship. 
 
 The ministers were to be bound by oath to preach 
 only doctrine in harmony with the Scriptures and 
 the Nicene Creed, and to abstain from attacking the 
 mass and the Catholic rites and ceremonies. So 
 much for the freedom of the pulpit. 
 
 No assessment or fixed rate of payment for the 
 maintenance of public worship was allowed ; volun- 
 tary contributions alone were authorised. 
 
 No consistory or synod could be held without 
 permission of the officers of the king, and in their 
 presence. 
 
 On the other hand, the edict recommended the 
 Catholic preachers to avoid invectives against the 
 ministers and their followers. 
 
 All these conditions were, moreover, provisional ; 
 it was stipulated that they were passed pending a 
 Council which was to bring all hearts and minds into 
 unity. 
 
 We can see clearly that there were restrictions 
 underlying each seeming concession. Thus the pope's 
 legate was right when he said that the edict had only 
 one end in view : to disarm the Protestants, to take 
 away from them the many churches they occupied, and 
 to prevent their meeting any more in the towns. It 
 would then be decided what next. 1 
 
 1 Letter of the Legate to Cardinal Borromeo, February 6th, 
 1562. The legate states that he has all this from the queen- 
 mother herself. A curious parallel might be traced between 
 the correspondence of the Cardinal of Ferrara with the Pope,
 
 THE PROTESTANTS FALL INTO THE SXARE. 
 
 Many of the Protestants murmured, feeling sure 
 that a snare was being laid for them, and seeing 
 clearly what the end would be. Coligny and 
 1'Hospital tried to calm them. Under the influence 
 of the Admiral, the pastors of Paris wrote a circular 
 to the Churches enjoining submission, saying, that 
 " if the king is persuaded of our obedience, he will 
 be the more inclined to hear us patiently, and to do 
 us justice in all that we propose to his Majesty." 
 This noble confidence appeared touching at the 
 time, and makes us smile now as we read the letters 
 from the legate to the pope, and see the hope 
 expressed in them that the kingdom would soon 
 return to the pope, " like the prodigal son to his 
 father. 1 
 
 The Protestants were entirely obedient, and restored 
 without hesitation the Church buildings and property 
 which they had in possession. But, as the legate 
 announced, the parliaments either refused to register 
 the edict, or did so only with secret stipulations 
 which were direct breaches of faith with the reformed." 
 
 Faithfully carried out, the edict of January might 
 
 and that of Chantonnay with Philip II. Both speak alike of 
 Catherine. But while Chantonnay, as the faithful interpreter 
 of the haughty and despotic policy of his master, is irritated 
 at the slightest concession made to the Protestants, and looks 
 upon the queen-mother as their secret ally, the Cardinal, with 
 his Italian penetration and his keen and subtle genius, sees 
 deeper into things. He knows that Catherine is an Italian 
 like himself; that she is feigning and manoeuvering, and that 
 all will end right. 
 
 1 Letter of February i-jth. 
 
 2 One of the stipulations which was made use of to overcome 
 the resistance of parliament was (unknown to the Protestants) 
 to the effect that the edict was only of a provisional character, 
 that the assemblies were always at the mercy of the governors
 
 300 COLIGNY. 
 
 have secured religious peace. In a few weeks, 
 thanks to the ambiguous interpretations put upon it, 
 it everywhere excited distrust and hatred. Antoine 
 of Navarre, who had great influence, did more than 
 any one to bring about this lamentable result. 
 
 We have seen that at the time of the Colloquy of 
 Poissy he was still looked upon as the head of the 
 Protestant party, and openly protected Theodore 
 Beza. On January 24th, 1562, he repaired to the 
 parliament to enforce the registration of the edict of 
 January. But at this very time he was already 
 negotiating his return to the Catholic Church. For 
 three months Manriquez, who had been joined to 
 Chantonnay as Spanish ambassador extraordinary, was 
 labouring in concert with the pope's legate to effect 
 his conversion. He assured him that Philip II. 
 would be disposed in such a case to restore Navarre 
 to him, or if not that, to give him the island of 
 Sardinia. To entice him he gave a fanciful descrip- 
 tion of the island, praising its fruits, its climate, its 
 ports, its nearness to Tunis, of which Antoine might 
 make himself master. He even went so far as to 
 promise that his marriage with Jeanne d' Albret 
 should be annulled by Rome, and a new alliance 
 contracted for him with Mary Stuart. In a letter to 
 the pope, dated January loth, 1562, the Cardinal of 
 Ferrara assured the pope that the King of Navarre 
 was won over. A week later he announced that in 
 the Privy Council of January I5th Antoine had for 
 the first time declared himself on the side of the 
 
 of the province, and that all the king's officers must be of 
 his religion. Letter from the Cardinal of Ferrara to the 
 Pope, February 28th.
 
 ANTOINE OF NA VA RRE fOINS THE CA THOLICS. 3O I 
 
 . ___ 
 
 Catholic party, and that this conversion, seemingly 
 so sudden, had made even the queen-mother uneasy. 
 The legate, however, while he praised the prince, 
 was under no illusion about his sincerity ; for in a 
 letter to Cardinal Borromeo, dated the beginning of 
 February, he insisted upon the necessity of giving 
 the king some compensation for his return to the 
 Church. " One must not imagine," he says, " that 
 in order to commend oneself to him it is enough to 
 represent to him that the approval of conscience is 
 the highest of all rewards, since it is only too plain 
 that pleasure, interest, or shall we say the agreeable 
 and the useful, are the only two things which satisfy 
 worldly souls." This melancholy reflection upon the 
 necessity of pandering to the evil tendencies of 
 human nature, and of supplementing spiritual argu- 
 ments by reasons of a very material order, shows 
 that the legate was a master of casuistry, but it 
 shows also what opinion he held of his new convert. 1 
 As for Catherine she openly favoured the passion 
 of the King of Navarre for one of her maids of 
 honour, Mademoiselle de Rouet. Jeanne d'Albret, 
 wounded in her wifely dignity and in her deepest 
 convictions, could not bring herself to endure such 
 humiliations any longer. She resolved to quit the 
 Court, and to return to Beam, taking her son with 
 her. From this time Antoine made no secret of his 
 hatred of Coligny and of the other Protestant chiefs, 
 whose upright life and fidelity to their cause seemed 
 a perpetual reproach to him. He carried his malice 
 
 1 We see from the report of the Venetian ambassadors in 
 how slight esteem they held the King of Navarre. See 
 .Michieli and M. Soriano, Rapports, vol. i., p. 429.
 
 302 CO LI G NY. 
 
 so far as to denounce Coligny to the King of Spain, 
 on the ground that he encouraged the depredations 
 which the Spanish marine suffered at the hands of 
 the corsairs. Philip II. eagerly availed himself of 
 this excuse. He wrote to Chantonnay to ask that 
 Coligny should be dismissed from the Court, and 
 Antoine promised to second the request. Catherine 
 was very indignant at that intrusion on her autho- 
 rity. She took up the defence of Coligny, and when 
 he offered to retire to Chatillon, to avoid causing any 
 difficulty, she declared that she " knew him to be so 
 faithful a servant of the king and so affectionate 
 also towards herself, that if necessity called him to 
 Chatillon he must use all diligence to guard her 
 against the intrigues of the Guises." 1 
 
 While these things were passing at Court, every 
 week showed that the edict of January was to remain 
 a dead letter. Scenes of violence and murder were 
 being enacted all over the kingdom. These had 
 been attributed to the exasperation which the Catho- 
 lics felt at seeing the Protestants so favoured at 
 Court; but it must be admitted that Catherine made 
 no serious attempt to put a stop to the riots. The 
 legate clearly spoke the truth when he said that the 
 edict need give the pope no serious uneasiness, and 
 that it would not last. 
 
 1 This is the statement of Theodore Beza, who in a letter 
 to Calvin, dated February 26th, declares that Coligny and 
 Andelot regi et regince gratissimos discessisse. The legate's 
 correspondence on this subject gives a different impression, 
 however, and makes us doubtful of the interest taken by 
 Catherine in the Admiral. It is certain, nevertheless, that 
 Catherine was much offended at the part taken by the Spanish 
 ambassador in the affair, and let him see it very plainly. See 
 Chantonnay's despatch of February 25th.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Attitude of the Guises immediately after the edict of January. Their 
 correspondence with Christopher, Duke of Wiirtemberg. Con- 
 ference of Saverne. Massacre of Vassy. Demands of the Hugue- 
 nots. Antoine of Navarre and Theodore Beza at Monceaux. 
 
 Guises were now about to reappear on the 
 -I- scene, and to show how much they thought 
 of the edict. But it will be well for us to note the 
 singular negotiations by which they prepared the 
 way for the tragedy of Vassy. 
 
 The Cardinal of Lorraine had not succeeded in 
 pitting the reformed and Lutherans against each 
 other at Poissy ; but he nevertheless continued 
 active negotiations with the Lutherans. His brother 
 assisted him, and had been carrying on for several 
 months a regular correspondence with Christopher, 
 Duke of Wurtemberg. 1 
 
 Francis of Lorraine professed much admiration 
 for the Confession of Augsburg, and Christopher 
 replied " that it had been a great joy to him to hear 
 that in matters of faith the Duke of Guise desired 
 nothing more than to have his conscience enlightened." 
 The Duke of Guise, in a letter of the nth of July, 
 
 1 In the Bulletin de la Soc, du Prof., vol. xxiv., very inter- 
 esting extracts are given from this correspondence. See also 
 M. Delaborde's work, vol. ii., p. 17 and following.
 
 304 COL1GNY. 
 
 1561, tries to show that the Lutherans in Germany 
 have nothing in common with the reformed, the 
 latter being nothing better than despisers of the king 
 and of the Church. The letters exchanged become 
 more and more affectionate, and an interview at 
 Saverne is arranged for February I5th, 1562. We 
 know from the Duke of Wiirtemberg himself, who 
 has left us a very naive account of it, what took place 
 at this conference. 1 
 
 On the 1 6th of February the Cardinal preached 
 at Saverne, in the presence of Christopher and of 
 other invited guests. The purport of his discourse 
 was to show that there is no other Mediator or 
 Intercessor but Jesus Christ, and that man is not to 
 trust in his good works. 
 
 The next day, while the Cardinal was conferring 
 with the German divines, whom the Duke had 
 brought in his suite, Francis of Lorraine took Chris- 
 topher apart and gave him his own account of the 
 Colloquy of Poissy, showing that nothing was to be 
 hoped from the Calvinists, who were intractable, but 
 
 1 Most of our historians have ignored these facts, which 
 throw so much light on after events and on the conduct of 
 the Guises. The narrative of Duke Christopher, which no 
 one has impugned, was published in its original form (German 
 and Latin mixed) in Battler's Geschichte von Wiirtemberg 
 unter den Herzogen, 1771, vol. iv., p. 215 and following. 
 Baum refers to it, but it was translated for the first time by 
 Muntz, Bull, de la Soc. d' hist, du firot.fran., vol. iv., p. 184 
 and following. It is noticeable that De Thou, Sandray de 
 Courtils, and Bayle had spoken, in passing, of the snare laid 
 by the Guises for the Duke of Wiirtemberg, and that no 
 credit was given to their statements. M. Felice, in his His- 
 toire des firotestants de France, does not mention the inter- 
 view at Saverne ; but M. Puaux, whose Histoire de la 
 reformation fran$aise is more recent, gives an account of 
 it in his second volume.
 
 THE L ORRAINES AT SA VERNE. 3O 5 
 
 that he desired to know the faith of the Germans. 
 He added, with many words, that he wished to be 
 enlightened, and to have his conscience set at rest ; 
 that he had been brought up in the faith of his 
 ancestors ; that having been a man of war from his 
 youth, he had remained ignorant on matters of 
 religion ; and that assuredly if it could be shown him 
 that hitherto he had been in error, he would will- 
 ingly and heartily embrace the new teachings. 
 
 The Duke of Wiirtemberg expounded his faith. 
 Francis of Lorraine assured him that he held the 
 same. " I worship no God but the true God," he 
 said. " I trust solely in Jesus Christ. I know well 
 that neither the mother of our Lord nor the saints 
 can help me. I know well also that I cannot be 
 saved by my good works, but by the merits of Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 " What you say fills me with joy," exclaimed 
 Christopher. " May God help you to hold fast this 
 confession ! " 
 
 The mass was spoken of. Guise quoted the words 
 of Beza at the Colloquy of Poissy. Christopher 
 justified them by saying that Beza had doubtless 
 meant to combat the " papistical opinion " which 
 makes a god of the host. Guise evaded the point, 
 alleging ignorance in these matters. Christopher 
 then said : " Since we are now talking freely with 
 one another, I cannot refrain from saying to you 
 that you and your brother are strongly suspected 
 in Germany of having helped, after the decease of 
 Henry II., and even during his lifetime, to cause the 
 death of thousands of persons who were cruelly 
 massacred for their faith. As a friend and as a 
 
 20
 
 306 COLIGNY. 
 
 Christian I am bound to warn you beware, beware 
 of shedding innocent blood ! The punishment of God 
 will fall upon you either in this life or in another." 
 
 He answered with deep sighs : " I know well that 
 my brother and I are accused of many things, but 
 people do us wrong. We will both explain it all to 
 you before we leave." 
 
 Then abruptly changing the subject, Guise asked 
 the Lutheran prince why the Protestants were so 
 divided, while the greatest unity prevailed among 
 the Catholics. Christopher replied that the unity 
 among the Catholics was primarily hierarchical, while 
 among the Protestants it was a true and living thing, 
 since, however, diverse their forms, they all marched 
 under the same banner and followed the same leader 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 The next day (i/th) the Cardinal again preached 
 like a true Lutheran, insisting on the sole mediator- 
 ship of Jesus Christ. After the sermon the Cardinal 
 and the German divines entered into conversation. 
 One of the Germans named Brenz l asked the Cardinal 
 whether it was right to worship Christ in the host, 
 and to carry it about in procession. The Cardinal 
 answered : " I admit we have gone too far in this." 
 In reference to masses for the dead he made the 
 same admission. He then asked Brenz whether he 
 believed that the Church ought to have a pope, 
 cardinals, and bishops. Brenz rejoined : " Jesus 
 Christ has no vicar ; He is the one Head of the 
 Church. The Scriptures say nothing of cardinals. 
 We grant that there should be bishops, but they 
 
 1 John Brenz, called Brentius in the duke's narrative, was 
 one of the greatest divines of his Church.
 
 CONFERENCE AT SA VERNE. 30? 
 
 ought to be canonically elected." The Cardinal said 
 that they could soon come to an understanding on 
 this point also. Then he reverted to his great idea, 
 that of inducing Christopher to break with the 
 Calvinists. Christopher, however, while he held them 
 to be mistaken on some points, would not consent to 
 do this. The Cardinal returned to the charge, praised 
 the Augsburg Confession, and said if that had been 
 presented at Poissy it would have settled all. 
 
 The Duke of Wtirtemberg then said : " If Beza 
 and his friends were to sign the Confession, would 
 you sign it ? " " Certainly," replied the Cardinal ; 
 " nay more, I take God to witness that I believe and 
 think as I have said, and that by the grace of God 
 I will live and die in this faith. I . have read the 
 Augsburg Confession. I have read what Melanchthon, 
 Brentius, and others have written ; I entirely approve 
 their doctrines, and I shall be ready to meet them 
 on the matter of Church discipline ; but it is necessary 
 I should still dissimulate for a time, that I may gain 
 over many others who are as yet weak in the faith." 
 
 When the conference was finished, the Cardinal 
 repeated his brother's protestations with regard to 
 the sentences passed upon the French heretics. " I 
 swear to you," said he with strange audacity, " I 
 swear to you in the name of God my Creator, and as 
 I hope to be saved, that I am not guilty of the 
 death of any man who has suffered for his religion." 
 The Duke of Guise made the same affirmation with 
 solemn oaths. They both promised " not to perse- 
 cute, either openly or secretly, the adherents of the 
 new doctrine." 
 
 They separated on the iSth of February, pledging
 
 38 COLIGNY. 
 
 themselves on both sides to do all in their power to 
 secure the peace of Christendom. 
 
 Ten days after these solemn protestations (February 
 28th) Francis of Lorraine wrote to Lamothe-Gondiin, 
 his lieutenant in Dauphine : " I think that if any 
 notable assembly should be convened over there at 
 which a number of people were present, it would be 
 well to seize the minister and have him hanged or 
 strangled on the spot, as an abettor of sedition and 
 tumult." And he added : " You will do me a favour 
 by sparing no effort in this matter, for I believe 
 there is no other way of putting an end to it." ] 
 
 The Duke did not fail to practise himself that 
 which he enjoined on his lieutenant. On his return 
 from Saverne, he found at St. Nicolas in Lorraine 
 a poor pinmaker, who had had his child baptized 
 after the Genevan mode, and he had him hanged on 
 the spot. 2 On hearing of his return, more than sixty 
 Protestant farmers fled in terror from the neighbour- 
 hood of Joinville. 
 
 At Vassy, in a part of Champagne, which had 
 been removed from the jurisdiction of the house of 
 Lorraine to form part of the jointure of Mary Stuart, 3 
 a little Protestant community had sprung up, the 
 existence of which was profoundly irritating to the 
 mother of the Lorraine princes, the old Antoinette 
 de Bourbon, who lived at Joinville. She had sent 
 thither the Bishop of Chalons- sur-Marne. He had 
 
 1 Theodore Beza (Hist. eccl.}. See M. Jules Bonnet's articles 
 on the massacre of Vassy (Bulletin, vol. xxi., p. 56). 
 
 2 Crespin (Hist, des martyrs}. The same fact is mentioned 
 in Conde's Memoires. 
 
 3 This was, therefore, on French soil, and within the jurisdic- 
 tion of the edict of January.
 
 VASSY. 309 
 
 had a public discussion with the Protestants, had 
 retired from the encounter much mortified, and had 
 gone to narrate his discomfiture to the Lorraines, 
 who were unsparing in their taunts. The Lorraines 
 had addressed to the privy council of the King of 
 France a request "to the effect that a commission to 
 deal with the delinquents should be given to the 
 Duke of Guise. 1 But the privy council could not 
 see that any crime had been committed. The meet- 
 ings were therefore continued, and the number of 
 the faithful increased continually. At Christmas 
 they had as many as a thousand communicants. 
 
 On the last day of February, 1562, Francis of 
 Lorraine, accompanied by his wife and his two sons, 
 went from Joinville to sleep at Donmartin-le-Franc, 
 where his mother was. On Sunday, March ist, he 
 left, after being present at mass, and went on to 
 Vassy. What for ? The district was peaceful, but 
 the Duke took with him two hundred arquebusiers, 
 who were joined by a company of archers from 
 Montier-en-Der. When he came within about a mile 
 of Vassy he heard a bell sounding, and asked what 
 it was. He was told that it was the bell calling the 
 reformed to service. " March, march ! " exclaimed 
 the Duke, " we must have a look at these people 
 while they are gathered together." On reaching 
 Vassy the Duke ordered his people to march to the 
 preaching, " which was held in a barn, 2 in exactly 
 
 1 These are details of which history should take account, if 
 it would apprehend the true character of the massacre of 
 Vassy. How can it be maintained, in view of such facts, 
 that it was merely the result of an accident ? 
 
 The famous engraving of the massacre shows that by "the 
 barn" was meant a sort of shed, or rather a large covered 
 building with wide windows.
 
 310 CO LIG NY. 
 
 the opposite direction from that which the Duke 
 should have taken to reach Esclaron, where he was 
 to dine." 1 The Duke at the same time advised the 
 Catholics not to be found in the streets. 
 
 In the barn were assembled about twelve hundred 
 Huguenots, some of whom were seated on the window- 
 ledges. Two or three of the Duke's people entered ; 
 they were invited to sit down. They replied, with 
 an oath, " Death to you all !" At the same time 
 the windows were fired at from without. The 
 unhappy Protestants, totally unarmed, would have 
 closed the doors, but the soldiers pressed in, crying, 
 "Kill, kill!" A veritable slaughter began. Those 
 who attempted to escape by the roof were riddled 
 with balls. The massacre lasted for an hour. There 
 were sixty dead and two hundred and fifty wounded, 
 but not one victim on the Catholic side. 2 The 
 Duchess of Guise interfered, to beg that they would 
 spare the women with child. This shows that they 
 took time to choose their victims, and that it was 
 not, as has been said, just a scuffle, in which people 
 were struck at blindly. 
 
 The minister, Leonard Morel, was on his knees in 
 the pulpit. They fired at him. He tried to come 
 down, stumbled over a corpse, fell, and received 
 several sword-thrusts. " Lord," he exclaimed, " I 
 
 ' Crespin. In M. Jules Bonnet's articles, from which we 
 have quoted, we shall find that the assertions of Brant6me, 
 De Thou, La Popeliniere, and Castelnau, in reference to these 
 facts, are disputed. The defence of the Duke of Guise was 
 that a quarrel arose between his men and the Protestants. 
 But by the admission of all, the Protestants were at service at 
 the time, and were singing their psalms. 
 
 2 Crespin, who was evidently an eye-witness, gives the names 
 of those who fell.
 
 MASSACRE OF VASSY. 31 1 
 
 commit my soul into Thy hands." They raised him 
 up, for he could not stand, and carried him to the 
 Duke of Guise. " Minister, come hither," said the 
 Duke. " Art thou the minister ? What makes thee 
 so bold to teach these people sedition ?" "I am no 
 teacher of sedition," replied Morel; "I have preached 
 to them the Gospel of Christ." " Does the Gospel 
 preach sedition then ?" exclaimed the Duke with an 
 oath. " Thou art the cause of the death of all these 
 people ; thou shalt be hanged by and bye." There 
 was no time to set up a gallows, and the minister 
 was thrown into prison. 
 
 The Duke had taken possession of the Bible, and 
 showing it to his brother the Cardinal, said, " Here, 
 brother, see the title of the Huguenots' books." The 
 Cardinal seeing it said, "There is no harm in that, 
 for it is the Bible and Holy Scripture." 1 The Duke, 
 angry that he did not reply as he intended, fell into 
 a greater rage than before, and said, " How now ! 
 Holy Scripture by my troth ! It is fifteen hundred 
 years since Christ suffered His death and passion, 
 and these books have not been printed one year. 
 How call you that the Gospel ? I swear it is all 
 worth nothing." 2 
 
 Davila, the Catholic historian of the wars of " the 
 religion," quotes in reference to this a very charac- 
 teristic fact. Guise, after the massacre, sent for the 
 judge of the place, and reproved him sharply for 
 having let the Huguenots assemble. The judge 
 having appealed to the edict of January, Guise laid 
 
 1 This was the youngest brother, Cardinal Louis de Guise 
 and must not be confounded with Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine 
 Crespin's narrative.
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 his hand upon his sword, and answered angrily, 
 "The edge of this sword will soon cut the tight 
 knot of that edict." 1 
 
 Some days after, Guise wrote both to Antoine of 
 Navarre and the Duke of Wurtemberg, to tell them 
 of what had passed. According to him, the Pro- 
 testants were the aggressors. We are to suppose, 
 then, that these poor people assembled to hear 
 preaching, became the assailants of three hundred 
 men armed to the teeth ! In the tumult a stone 
 was thrown at Guise's face, and his soldiers, 
 furious at seeing his blood flow, fell upon the Pro- 
 testants and killed some of them. Such is the bare 
 assertion which we have to set against the clear and 
 detailed account of eyewitnesses of the massacre. 
 The Duke of Wurtemberg believed not a word of 
 what Guise wrote. Since the interview at Saverne, 
 Christopher had been reflecting, and after inquiring 
 minutely into what happened at Vassy, he wrote at 
 the close of the account he had already drawn up of the 
 conference these significant words, " May God, whose 
 cause it is, be the avenger of deceit and perjury! " : 
 
 Some months later, hoping to appease the prince, 
 Francis of Guise sent his own valet, named Rascalon, 
 to him, with some hunting dogs, for Christopher 
 loved the chase. " But the said Duke of Wurtem- 
 berg, instead of receiving them, had them killed in 
 the presence of the said Rascalon, whom he put in 
 
 1 Book III., 1562. " Now," adds Davila, "as these words, 
 which he spoke in the heat of passion, did not escape those 
 present, they caused many to believe that the Duke of Guise 
 was the author of the wars that followed." 
 
 2 " Deus sit ultor doli et perjurii, cujus namque res agitur."
 
 MASSACRE OF VASSY. 313 
 
 prison for the space of seven or eight days, and kept 
 him on bread and water." On his departure he said 
 to him : " Go tell thy master that if I had him, I 
 would do to him as I have done to his dogs." 1 
 
 We have thus narrated the facts which occurred 
 at Vassy, and which some historians have described 
 as a skirmish and some as a massacre, according to 
 their respective points of view. 
 
 But as all admit that this event gave the signal for 
 the civil wars, we must pause a moment to bring out 
 its true character. . 
 
 That it was nothing more than a chance encounter 
 between the soldiers of Guise and the Protestants of 
 Vassy is a statement which may have been main- 
 tained in good faith in ignorance of the facts which 
 preceded it, but it can no longer be held in the face 
 of those facts. Francis of Lorraine wished to punish 
 severely the Protestants of Vassy. He had asked 
 for a commission from the government to this end ; 
 and it was upon the refusal of such a commission 
 that he resolved to act for himself. For this purpose 
 it was that on March ist, when the country was 
 perfectly peaceful, he left Donmartin, accompanied 
 by several hundred armed men, and turning aside 
 from the main road which he should have followed, 
 he went at the hour of preaching to the barn where 
 the Protestants were assembled. What other object 
 had he in this premeditated 2 act but to deliver a 
 
 1 Extract from a MS. of the sixteenth century, Bulletin de 
 la societe cThist. du firot.fr an fats, vol. xxix., p. 119, quoted 
 by Jules Bonnet. 
 
 2 This premeditation is acknowledged by the last historian 
 of the Guises, M. de Bouille, who is otherwise a great admirer 
 of Duke Francis : " The whole country was set in a blaze as
 
 3 14 COLIGNY. 
 
 district which had till recently belonged to his family, 
 and over which his niece was suzerain, from the 
 presence of those Huguenots whom Antoinette de 
 Bourbon execrated ? Had he any other object ? 
 This is the real question before us. 
 
 In order to answer it we must go back a few 
 months and recall what happened immediately after 
 the Colloquy of Poissy. We must bear in mind the 
 astonishing progress of Protestantism, the services 
 now publicly held, the ever increasing number of 
 noble families joining themselves to "the religion," 
 and the necessity that had been felt to pass the edict 
 of January, that is, to recognise the legal existence 
 of the two religions. 
 
 The Guises saw all this. Their strength, the 
 secret of their power, lay in their remaining at the 
 head of the Catholic party. They knew the indeci- 
 sion and vacillating nature of Catherine. They saw 
 that the only way to arrest the movement which was 
 carrying the country with it, was by some bold 
 stroke to cut, as Francis himself said, the knot of 
 the edict of January. 
 
 What was wanted for this purpose ? With his 
 keen soldier's eye Guise saw this too from the first ; 
 the enemy must be weakened by division. If the 
 Protestants resisted, the possibility of resistance must 
 be taken from them. At this moment there was no 
 forming an army without the aid of Germany, that 
 great market of men of war. What would happen 
 if the Lanzknechts and famous Reiters from beyond 
 
 the result of a conflict more or less fortuitous, which the 
 Guises had but too skilfully prepared and foreseen, and 
 which was hastened by the servants of the prince.
 
 REAL MEANING OF THE DRAMA OF VASSY. 3 1 5 
 
 the Rhine were to come riding over the border under 
 the banner of Conde ? At all costs this alliance 
 must be prevented. The Lutherans must be per- 
 suaded that they had nothing in common with the 
 odious sacramentarians of Geneva, those enemies of 
 king and holy Church. Hence that conference of 
 Saverne, the importance of which historians have 
 failed to recognise. Hence that artful and odious 
 comedy in which the great conqueror of Metz and 
 Calais plays the part of theologian, expresses his 
 admiration of the Augsburg Confession, hints at his 
 approaching conversion to Lutheranism; in a word, 
 acts his part so well that he does not deserve to be 
 believed when he afterwards declares his innocence 
 of that which was done at Vassy. At the same 
 time his brother the Cardinal, the bloodthirsty insti- 
 gator of the tortures at Amboise, swears by the 
 salvation of his soul that he has never put one 
 Huguenot to death. The Lorraines, after duping 
 Duke Christopher, tried also to levy troops in Ger- 
 many, and on March i8th Sturm writes to Calvin 
 that they have raised a complete army. 
 
 And now the moment has come for a bold stroke, 
 by which the queen-mother will be forced to take one 
 side or the other. Since the government is hesitat- 
 ing, since it is making advances to the Huguenots, 
 and there seems a likelihood of peace being con- 
 cluded between them and France, it is necessary at 
 once to create an impassable gulf of separation. 
 When once blood has flowed between the two camps, 
 the separation will be made ; all hesitation will be 
 at an end. The two contending armies will stand 
 confronted, on the one hand old Catholic France,
 
 COLIGNY. 
 
 arrayed under the banner of the Guises, on the other 
 the rebels. 
 
 Let us look at history. In critical moments we 
 shall always find daring leaders casting the die. In 
 1792 France was hesitating between the monarchy 
 and the republic. By the massacres of September 
 Danton compelled it to make its choice. In 1804 
 Bonaparte wished to separate the old regime from 
 the new dynasty he was about to found. He had 
 Enghien shot at Vincennes. 
 
 Thus, in all ages, the ambitious and the violent 
 have understood that in order to divide men past all 
 reconciliation, there is nothing like bloodshed. 
 
 And that such was the thought present to the 
 Guises is evident from the fact that at the very time 
 when Francis was trying to blind the Germans by 
 telling them that the affair at Vassy was a mere 
 skirmish quite undesigned, and for which he was 
 very sorry, he was marching upon Paris. In vain 
 the queen tried to stop him, and commanded him to 
 lay down his arms. He knew that Catholic France 
 understood him, that it would hail as its true leader 
 the man who had unsheathed his sword to hew in 
 pieces the edict of January, and his instinct did not 
 mislead him. He seemed already to hear the accla- 
 mations with which he would be received in Paris, 
 and saw in anticipation the king and the queen- 
 mother compelled to march behind his banner. 
 
 This was the real meaning of the drama of Vassy. 
 
 And so the Protestants understood it. They felt 
 at once that this thunderbolt was but the first burst 
 of the storm which had long been gathering over- 
 head.
 
 REGISTRATION OF THE EDICT OF fANUARY. 317 
 
 While these events were passing at Vassy, the 
 parliament of Paris was resisting the registration of 
 the edict of January, and it was only on March 6th, 
 at the peremptory command of Catherine, that it con- 
 sented to the registration, with the following reserva- 
 tion : " In consideration of the urgent necessity, and 
 in obedience to the will of the king, the whole being 
 only provisional till it can be otherwise ordered, and 
 in no wise expressing approval of the new religion." 
 There can be no doubt that Antoine of Navarre had 
 secretly favoured this resistance. This is proved by 
 the fact that at the same time he sent letter upon 
 letter to the Duke of Guise, praying him to come 
 and join him, " that they might make themselves the 
 stronger party with the king." 1 Catherine de 
 Medicis, alarmed at what was coming, left Paris, 
 carrying the young king with her, and took up her 
 abode in the castle of Monceaux, where she com- 
 manded Antoine to come to her. 
 
 Hardly was she settled there when she heard of 
 the massacre of Vassy. This event threw France 
 into a blaze. While many of the Catholics received 
 the news with frantic delight, the Protestants every- 
 . where cried " Vengeance." They saw at once, as 
 we have said, that the thing could not stop there, 
 that this example would be followed everywhere. 
 Agrippa d'Aubigne has faithfully translated their feel- 
 ings in his own powerful way. He says : " It must be 
 ever remembered that hitherto the reformed had been 
 put to death after some form of trial, however iniqui- 
 tous and cruel it may have been. But when the magi- 
 
 ' Castelnau.
 
 3 1 8 COLIGNY. 
 
 strate, the representative of law, weary of burning 
 heretics, threw the knife into the hands of the people, 
 and casting off the venerable mask of justice, let neigh- 
 bour slay neighbour to the sound of trumpets and 
 drums, who could forbid the unhappy people to meet 
 blow with blow, sword with sword, and to catch from 
 an unrighteous fury the contagion of a righteous 
 anger ?" D'Aubigne speaks truly. Hitherto there 
 had been legal repression ; now under a seeming 
 reign of liberty, violence took the upper hand. 
 Instinctively it was felt that the Court, whether 
 through impotence or secret connivance, would fail 
 to repress this violence. 
 
 The fact proved only too clearly that it was so. 
 The slaughter of Vassy gave the signal for other 
 massacres on a much larger scale, but less widely 
 known, because they were forgotten in the midst 
 of the tumult attending the outbreak of the religious 
 war. In a few weeks the explosion of fanaticism 
 spread over the whole country. At Sens, more 
 than a hundred corpses were thrown into the river. 
 At Amiens, at Epernay, at Chatillon-sur-Loire, at 
 Moulins, at Blois, at Angers, at Tours ; in the south, 
 where the Protestants were unable to defend them- 
 selves, they were exterminated one by one with the 
 utmost refinements of cruelty. Blaise de Montluc, 
 brother of Catherine's favourite bishop, began at 
 Cahors that series of atrocious executions of which 
 in his memoirs he has himself given the black 
 chronicle. Michelet does not exaggerate at all when 
 he says that what might be called the massacre of 
 
 1 Universal History, vol. ii., p. 628.
 
 BEZA AND THE KING OF NAVARRE. 319 
 
 St. Bartholomew in 1562 was worse than the more 
 famous one in 1572 so far as the number of its 
 victims was concerned. Never was the soil of France 
 reddened with so much Protestant blood. 
 
 The queen-mother, nevertheless, made a sem- 
 blance of receiving with graciousness the Protestant 
 deputies who hastened to her to complain of 
 the massacre of Vassy. But Antoine of Navarre, 
 who, as we have seen, had just been negotiating 
 with the Spanish ambassador the conditions of his 
 return to the Catholic party, suddenly cast off his 
 disguise. 
 
 " The King of Navarre," says Beza, " declared 
 himself openly, saying that whosoever should touch 
 with the tip of his finger the Duke of Guise, whom 
 he called his brother, would touch him to the quick. 
 Whereupon Beza, having humbly entreated him to 
 hear him with patience as one whom he had known 
 for long and whom he himself had caused to return 
 to France, to help to secure the peace of the 
 country, pointed out to him that kings were debtors 
 to their poor subjects, and that to ask for justice 
 was to do wrong to no one. And since the said 
 King of Navarre had excused that which had 
 happened at Vassy by saying that the mischief had 
 come from stones being thrown at the said Duke of 
 Guise, who could not thereupon restrain the fury of 
 his people, and that princes were not to endure 
 having stones thrown at them, Beza, after replying 
 that if it were so, the said Duke of Guise would 
 clear himself by representing who they were 
 who had been guilty of such a fault, concluded 
 with these words : ' Sire, it is for the Church of
 
 320 COLIGNY. 
 
 God, in the name of which I speak, to suffer 
 blows, not to give them, but may it please you 
 to remember that it is an anvil that has worn out 
 many a hammer.'" 
 
 1 Hist, eccl., This saying became popular, and was the 
 origin of the famous device, " Tant plus a frapper on s'amuse, 
 Tant plus de marteaux on y use " ; underneath which was an 
 anvil struck by hammers.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Conde in Paris. Advice sent by Elizabeth of England to Catherine de 
 Medicis. Guise comes to Paris in spite of Catherine's prohibition. 
 Doubtful conduct of Catherine. Violation of the Edict of 
 January in Paris. Conde leaves Paris. He calls together the 
 Protestant leaders in Meaux. Attitude of the Admiral in March, 
 1562. The famous dialogue between Coligny and Charlotte de 
 Laval as given by d'Aubigne. Was it possible for the Protestants 
 to avoid the war of religion? Causes which decided Conde to 
 throw himself into it. 
 
 IT might have seemed probable that the defection 
 of Antoine of Navarre would draw away his 
 brother also. But Conde stood firm. As soon as he 
 had recovered from a serious illness, by which he 
 was laid aside at the time of the proclamation of the 
 edict of January, he used all his energy to secure 
 the observance of the edict in Paris itself, where the 
 populace, greatly excited by the report of what had 
 occurred at Vassy, were openly threatening the 
 Huguenots. Elizabeth of England tried to encourage 
 Catherine not to yield to the instigations of the 
 violent party, but to enforce the edict. She wrote to 
 her ambassador in Paris : "Tell the queen-mother that 
 so long as she has no other end in view but the wel- 
 fare of her son and the tranquillity of her realm, she 
 has nothing to fear, provided she does not lend herself 
 
 21
 
 322 COLIC NY. 
 
 to the intrigues and designs of those who, from 
 ambitious motives, are seeking only their own glory 
 and advancement. . . . Greet the Admiral affection- 
 ately in our name, and assure him that the wisdom 
 and constancy which he has displayed hitherto, and 
 his whole behaviour have deserved and have won for 
 him the admiration of the world. Let him not now, 
 therefore, neglect the cause of God, of which his con- 
 science assures him he is so good a witness, but let 
 him use his wisdom in the furtherance of that cause." l 
 
 This language of Queen Elizabeth seems to us to 
 describe with singular exactness the very part Coligny 
 was playing at this moment : truly devoted to the 
 Protestant cause, he was resolved to uphold it only by 
 lawful means. It was by his firmness and modera- 
 tion that he gained such an ascendancy over Catherine. 
 But as Catherine was constantly alleging the pressure 
 put upon her by the Guises and the Catholic party, 
 the Admiral had commissioned a young French noble, 
 Louis de Bar, who had studied in Germany, to see 
 the Elector Palatine and the Duke of Wurtemberg, 
 and to induce them to promise to lend Catherine 
 military assistance if it became necessary. Calvin 
 wrote to the same effect to German Switzerland. 
 At this time, when Germany and Switzerland were 
 the great depots of mercenary troops, each party 
 was anxious to be beforehand in securing their aid. 
 
 Francis of Lorraine, meanwhile, was not losing 
 time. Notwithstanding Catherine's injunctions that 
 he should not come to Paris, he advanced upon 
 the capital a few days after the massacre of Vassy, 
 
 1 Despatch of Queen Elizabeth to Throckmorton, March 
 3ist, 1562.
 
 CATHERINE MANCEUVRES. 3 2 3 
 
 and made a triumphal entry on March i6th. Antoine 
 joined him in Paris, as also did the Constable and 
 St. Andre. This was the triumvirate which carried 
 all before it, and made itself master of France. 
 
 At this moment, when it was more than ever 
 necessary to assume a firm and decided attitude, 
 Catherine had recourse to her usual tactics. She 
 manoeuvred. 
 
 She wrote several times to Conde, from the i6th 
 to 28th of March, imploring his aid. 1 The history 
 of these letters is curious. None of them are 
 explicit. Catherine was too prudent to betray her- 
 self in this matter. The clearest phrases in the 
 letters are such as these : " My cousin, I have spoken 
 to Ivoy (de Genlis) as freely as I would to yourself, 
 relying on his fidelity, and that he would say nothing 
 to anyone but you, and that you would never say any- 
 thing, but would only think how you might save the 
 children, and the motJier, and the kingdom, as one 
 whom it nearly concerns, and who may be assured 
 he will never be forgotten. Burn this imprudent 
 letter" And in another : " My cousin, I see so many 
 things that displease me that if it were not for the 
 affiance I have in God, and tlie assurance I have tliat 
 you will help me in preserving this kingdom and the 
 service of my son, the king, in spite of those who are 
 seeking to ruin all, I should be still more grieved ; 
 but I hope that with your good counsel and aid we 
 shall soon remedy all." 
 
 1 She sent Conde seven letters, or, rather, seven notes (see 
 the discussion on this subject in Conde's Memoires, vol. iii., 
 p. 213 ; four are given in the Lettres de Catherine de Medicis, 
 published by La Ferriere, p: 281 and following.
 
 324 COLIGNY. 
 
 It must be remembered, however, that every one 
 of these letters was intrusted to a messenger who 
 was charged to declare aloud the wishes of the 
 queen, and that these letters were only the pledge of 
 the reality of his mission. But Conde, who knew 
 what value to place on the queen's word, did not 
 destroy the letters, as she bade him. On the con- 
 trary, he made copies of them, and left the original 
 in the hands of Spifame, whom he sent to the 
 emperor to vindicate his taking up arms. When 
 Spifame afterwards handed over the originals to the 
 emperor, Catherine wrote to the Bishop of Rennes, 
 her ambassador at the Court of Ferdinand, and to 
 the Duchess of Lorraine, to explain the meaning of 
 these letters. She had copies of them made with 
 postscripts intended to show their true meaning. 1 
 
 She pretended that her sole object in writing to 
 Cond6 had been to get him to leave Paris, to avoid 
 the danger of a conflict. But this miserable subter- 
 fuge could deceive no one. If this had been her 
 object, why not have said so openly ? Why these 
 secret messengers ? Why the urgent entreaties to 
 Conde not to compromise her ? Why did she tell 
 him to burn the letters ? Whence the desire, she 
 so often expressed afterwards, that she could get 
 hold of the originals again ? 
 
 It is certain that at one time Catherine thought of 
 leaning upon Conde, but that under the pressure of 
 Guise and the King of Navarre, who came upon her 
 unexpectedly at Fontainebleau, she yielded to the 
 
 1 These postscripts are to be found in M. de la Ferriere's 
 collection.
 
 CRITICAL POSITION OF CONDE. 
 
 stronger influence, and tried afterwards to forget that 
 she had ever desired to be independent. 
 
 At the same time that she was secretly addressing 
 herself to Conde, she sought to reassure the Catholic 
 party, and made the Cardinal of Bourbon governor 
 of Paris, in place of Montmorency, eldest son of the 
 Constable, whose sympathy with the Protestants 
 made the Lorraines fear him. The Cardinal in- 
 augurated his entrance into office by forbidding the 
 Protestants to celebrate Holy Communion at Popin- 
 court. Antoine of Navarre who, as Throckmorton 
 said, was all for Spain, went to Paris to enforce this 
 prohibition. This was a flagrant violation of the 
 edict of January. 
 
 Cbnd6's position was most critical. It was vain 
 for him to think of remaining in Paris to defend the 
 rights of the reformed. 1 The few soldiers he had 
 at command would have had no chance against 
 the populace supported by the soldiers of the Duke 
 of Guise. Lanoue's words have often been quoted 
 on this point. " What would they have been against 
 an enemy almost numberless, but as a little fly to 
 
 1 Paris was at this time altogether hostile to the Reforma- 
 tion. " Everyone," says Lanoue, "knows that in Paris is the 
 seat of justice, which gives marvellous authority, and just as 
 the favour of Paris would have greatly strengthened the 
 reformed, so its disfavour brought them great annoyance. 
 All this senate, however, (z'.e., the parliament) and its followers 
 showed themselves, with few exceptions, mortal enemies to " the 
 religion." The clergy, which in this city is very powerful, and 
 held in much veneration, was enraged at seeing the reformed 
 worship, which it detested, openly observed, and was con- 
 stantly plotting against it in secret. The city corporation, 
 also fearing the changes that might arise out of the diversity 
 of religion, sought to banish or to repress the Huguenots. The 
 majority of the University, and almost all the low and small
 
 326 COLIGNY. 
 
 a great elephant ? Why, if only the novices from 
 the nunneries and the chambermaids of the priests 
 had presented themselves suddenly with faggot-sticks 
 in their hands, I trow it would have been enough to 
 make them draw rein." Lanoue thinks that nothing 
 but the presence of the king supporting his edict could 
 have ensured the rights of the Protestants in Paris. 
 
 On March 22nd, Conde left the capital and went 
 to Meaux, where he begged his two uncles, Coligny 
 and Andelot, to join him. 
 
 Guise, St. Andre, and the King of Navarre urged 
 Catherine to come to Paris. She refused, on the 
 plea of the young king's health. Seeing which, the 
 three leaders, feeling there was not a moment to 
 lose in making sure their power, went with a military 
 escort to Fontainebleau. This was on Wednesday 
 the 2 /th of March. Catherine received them very 
 coldly, but she was obliged to yield to the stress put 
 upon her. They urged the necessity of putting the 
 young king in a place of safety, and Catherine and 
 her son allowed themselves to be carried away to 
 Melun. 
 
 The message from Conde found Coligny at Chatillon- 
 
 people, and the partisans and servants of the great Catholic 
 princes and lords, laboured to the same end. ... As to the 
 Court, it was notorious that at the time of the Colloquy of 
 Poissy the evangelical doctrine was freely proclaimed there, 
 which led many, both high and low, to take a liking to it. 
 But just as a fire of straw blazes up into a great flame, and as 
 quickly dies down for lack of proper fuel, so after the novelty 
 of these things had somewhat worn away, their affection 
 cooled, and most of them returned to the old cabal of the 
 Court, which was a much more jovial and profitable life from 
 a worldly point of view. Even some Huguenots drew back for 
 the same reason.
 
 THE PROTESTANTS GATHER AT MEAUX. 
 
 sur-Loing, where he was with his two brothers and 
 several Protestant lords, among them Genlis, Boucard, 
 and Briquemault 
 
 They deliberated what steps to take. Must they 
 arm themselves to resist the Guises ? That was the 
 point. There was no thought for a moment of 
 rebelling against the queen-mother. On the contrary, 
 the letters she had addressed to Conde were asking 
 for his help. One thing was clear, namely, that the 
 edict of January was becoming a dead letter ; that 
 is, that the Government felt itself incapable to enforce 
 it, and that it was necessary to uphold it with a 
 strong hand against the Guises if "the religion" was 
 not to be swept away. No one entertained the idea 
 of a rebellion against the authority of the king. 
 This explains the fact (attested by the veracious 
 Lanoue) that from all sides the Protestants flocked 
 in, without waiting for Conde's summons. He says, 
 " Some have thought that this had been long pre- 
 meditated by them, or that it had been brought 
 about by the diligence of the leaders ; but I can 
 affirm the contrary, having been a witness of it all, 
 and curious to inquire into its causes. 1 It is certain 
 that the greater part of the Protestant nobility, 
 hearing of the execution of Vassy, and urged on 
 partly by good will and partly by fear, thought they 
 would come to Paris, in case the Protestants might 
 chance to need them. And in this way those who 
 were most renowned left the provinces with ten, 
 twenty, or thirty of their friends, carrying arms 
 under their clothes, and lodging in hostelries or in 
 
 Lanoue, then twenty-one years of age, was in Paris when 
 the news came of the massacre of Vassy.
 
 328 COL1GNV. 
 
 the fields, paying well and waiting till they found 
 themselves a large body just when the occasion arose. 
 Many of them have assured me that this was the 
 only reason of their coming together. " 1 
 
 We have then every indication of a spontaneous 
 movement of the Protestant nobility. The nobles 
 felt themselves threatened as soon as the report 
 spread of the massacre of Vassy, and they took up 
 arms, not as insurgents, but in self-defence. 
 
 This appears in a letterwhich the Admiral addressed 
 to Catherine on March 2/th from Meaux, whither 
 he had gone at Condi's summons. The queen- 
 mother had sent him two letters, the originals of 
 which are missing, and Coligny replied as follows : 
 " Madame, I have received the two letters which it 
 has pleased your Majesty to write to me, both bear- 
 ing date the 25th of this month; the first handed 
 to me by a courier sent by the prince, and the second 
 by your valet de chambre. To reply to both. I 
 know not how the King of Navarre heard that I was 
 'levying soldiers, but I answer upon my honour, 
 Madame, that I have had no such thought. I have, 
 indeed, warned some of my neighbours and friends, 
 and prayed them to bear me company in going to 
 join the prince ; and if perchance some armed men 
 are found in my company, it seems to me it should 
 no more be thought strange than that others should 
 go to join the Duke of Guise bearing arms openly, 
 and of this I can speak, having seen them. More- 
 over, I am informed from various quarters that the 
 Duke of Guise is using menacing words against me, 
 
 1 Lanoue, Discours politiques et militaires, p. 547. 
 
 2 Lettres de Catherine de Medicis, by Count de la Ferriere.
 
 LETTER FROM COLIGNY TO CATHERINE. 3 2 9 
 
 as the prince himself has further assured me, having 
 heard it on good authority. Therefore I entreat 
 you very humbly, Madame, not to take it amiss that 
 I stand upon my guard. Your Majesty's second 
 letter makes further mention that you have heard 
 that I had left my house with a great company of 
 men fully armed (arnies d'armes crues}? and that I 
 am thus marching my company, having called out 
 my reserves. As to having a good company, I 
 confess I have, and the best I can get together for 
 my own defence. As to carrying arms openly, I 
 have nothing in my army but pistols and guns, such 
 as are common throughout the kingdom of France. 
 As to having called out my reserves, 2 I have issued 
 no such order, and principally for this reason, that 
 I knew well that there were not so many as to do 
 me much service ; but, Madame, even if I had called 
 them out, I should only have done what others have 
 done. In answer to your question, whether I have 
 made my company take an oath without mention of 
 the king's name, let me inform you of the truth of 
 the matter. It is more than four years since I held 
 a review of my company, on which occasion it is 
 
 1 Arme-d.-cru is an expression used for armed cap-d-pze; 
 but we cannot understand Coligny's use of the expression here. 
 The parallel with bearing arms openly seems to indicate a 
 reference to the defensive armour used, the various parts of 
 the cuirass. 
 
 2 This seems to contradict the statement above, " If some 
 armed men are found in my company." The contradiction is 
 only apparent. Coligny left his house in company with several 
 neighbours and friends, and he admits it ; but he had not 
 called out the regular company, of which he was the head, 
 which would have meant taking up arms. This he only did 
 later, acting in concert with Conde when the Guises had taken 
 possession of the young king.
 
 330 COLIGNY, 
 
 customary to take the oath of allegiance. If you 
 find that I have done anything of the sort since, in 
 any manner whatever, I pray you to look on me as 
 infamous and dishonoured. For the rest, Madame, 
 I entreat you very humbly to believe that there is 
 not a gentleman in France who more desires to see 
 you in repose and contentment than I myself, as I 
 will the more particularly assure your Majesty by 
 Captain Breuil, whom the prince is sending to your 
 Majesty. I humbly pray God, Madame, that He 
 will be pleased to give you health and long life. 
 " Your very humble and obedient servant, 
 
 " CHASTILLON." 
 
 Written from Meaux, March 27th, 1561 (1562, new style). 
 
 We have given this letter as a whole because it 
 is of special importance, and enables us to judge 
 what was Coligny's real feeling on the eve of the 
 Huguenots taking up arms. Conde left Paris March 
 22nd. On the 23rd he summoned Coligny and the 
 Protestant leaders to Meaux. 1 On the 2 5th Catherine 
 sent the Admiral two letters, in the second of which 
 she says she has just heard " that Coligny has left 
 his house with a great company of armed men." 
 This conclusively proves that the Admiral responded 
 at once to the summons of Conde, 2 and, in fact, it 
 is from Meaux that he writes in reply the letter 
 to Catherine given above. His language is perfectly 
 sincere. He never thought of making a levy of 
 
 1 " Being there (at Meaux) the Prince sent at once to the 
 Admiral and Andelot, begging them to come to him with all 
 speed. ' ' Lanoue. 
 
 2 This point must be noted, because it is clearly in contra- 
 diction of d'Aubigne's assertion, which we quote presently.
 
 COLIGNY COMES TO MEAUX. 331 
 
 troops, but he does not mean to be duped. He has 
 seen Guise enter Paris with an army at his back, in 
 spite of the queen's orders to the contrary. He 
 knows what are the designs of the Guises in reference 
 to himself and the Protestant leaders. He comes 
 therefore to confer with Conde, and he is accom- 
 panied for the sake of safety by a certain number of 
 gentlemen. If these are armed, the queen cannot 
 think it strange, for their enemies are armed, and 
 have been so for a long time. For the rest, Coligny 
 and his friends never for a moment thought of 
 rebelling against the authority of the king and his 
 mother. This he affirms unhesitatingly, and it is 
 beyond a shadow of doubt. 
 
 We may observe that Lanoue, who was an eye- 
 witness of the taking up of arms, expresses himself 
 in the very same way. After saying, in the passages 
 we have quoted, that there had been no premeditated 
 rising, he affirms that Coligny and the other Pro- 
 testant nobles came to Meaux " without at any rate 
 carrying arms openly, as those of the league (the 
 partisans of the Guises) had already done." At 
 Meaux they stayed five or six days, both that they 
 might deliberate on the course to be pursued, and that 
 they might celebrate the Holy Communion together 
 on Easter-day. During this time, Guise and the 
 King of Navarre had gone to Fontainebleau, and 
 had forced the king and the queen-mother to follow 
 them. It was then that " the Admiral, who was no 
 novice in affairs of State, foreseeing that the struggle 
 was about to begin, pointed out that either they 
 must make an earnest effort to reinforce themselves 
 at once, or they must prepare for flight, and he
 
 33 2 COLIC NY. 
 
 much feared that even now they had delayed too 
 long." It was only when he saw the Huguenot 
 gentlemen coming up on all sides, that Coligny felt 
 they might hold their ground and offer resistance. 
 
 There can be no doubt that a large part of the 
 Protestant noblesse would feel their hearts beat high 
 with hope and enthusiasm at the prospect of entering 
 upon a campaign against the Guises. They would 
 recall the cruel sufferings inflicted upon their Church 
 for more than thirty years, the bitter memories of 
 Amboise, the long scroll of Huguenot martyrdoms in 
 which were inscribed so many of their family names. 
 The Reformed Church was, moreover, then in its 
 ascending period. For two or three years it had 
 been receiving numerous additions from the ranks of 
 the highest noblesse. It had the avowed sympathy 
 of all who hated the Guises. Elizabeth of England 
 and the Protestant princes of Germany would not 
 withhold from it their support. Catherine de Medicis 
 herself was thought to be secretly their ally. Finally 
 they were arming to defend an edict which had been 
 guaranteed by oath. 
 
 Coligny saw more clearly than the rest. He 
 entered into the conflict with enthusiasm, at the 
 imperative call of duty. 
 
 Agrippa d'Aubigne", in his well-known pages, the 
 finest he ever wrote, has described the conflict which 
 went on in the soul of the great Huguenot. Is the 
 dialogue we are about to quote, genuine ? No one 
 will ever be able to say. 1 If we observe carefully we 
 
 1 We cannot go so far as M. Delaborde, who says that 
 d'Aubigne had the privilege of being the confidant of the 
 noble influence which Charlotte de Laval exercised over her
 
 COLIGNY AND CHARLOTTE DE LAVAL. 333 
 
 shall find that the interview of the Admiral with his 
 wife, published fifty years later, bears a distant 
 analogy to that which they held in 1 5 5 9, at the 
 time when they joined the persecuted Church. 1 Even 
 then it was Charlotte de Laval who urged the 
 Admiral to take the decisive step. It was he who 
 then pointed out to her " at great length " all the 
 obstacles to be surmounted, all the suffering and 
 ignominy to be undergone ; to which she replied 
 simply that she was ready for all. It is but too 
 evident that no one could have reproduced this 
 interview at Chatillon, and that d'Aubigne has put 
 into Coligny's lips prophetic language which could 
 not have been exact at the time. This touching 
 picture is one of those creations of genius in which 
 d'Aubigne often indulges. But with this reservation, 
 the dialogue is unquestionably true in the sense that 
 it does not put into the lips of the Admiral and his 
 wife one word which is not worthy of them, and 
 which does not faithfully represent the strength of 
 their moral heroism. One may say that the words used 
 breathe the very soul of the Reformation in its noblest 
 and most genuine inspiration. 
 
 Let us listen to d'Aubigne : " At the Admiral's 
 house at Chatillon-sur-Loing were assembled his 
 brothers, Odet, the Cardinal and Andelot ; Genlis, 
 Boucart, Briquemault, and others, to urge him to 
 take up arms. This old soldier saw so much danger 
 in crossing the Rubicon, that for two whole days he 
 
 husband at that time. D'Aubigne was then twelve years old ; 
 he was twenty-two at the death of the Admiral in 15/2, and it 
 is very doubtful if Coligny ever confided to him the incidents of 
 that memorable night. 
 1 We have given it above from the Vita Coltnzi.
 
 334 COL1GNY. 
 
 disputed with them, and showed such wise and cogent 
 reasons for restraining their violence, that they were 
 astonished at his fears, and had given up almost all 
 hope of moving him, 1 when that happened which I 
 am about to hand down to posterity, not as a tissue 
 of fable such as poets weave, but as a true history 
 which I received from those who took part in it. 2 
 
 In the night as Coligny lay awake and sadly 
 pondered these things, he heard his wife sobbing by 
 his side, and by degrees led her on to speak thus : 
 
 " It grieves me sore, sire, to disturb your rest by 
 my disquietudes, but when the members of Christ 
 are torn in pieces as they are now, how can we who 
 are part of the same body remain insensible ? You, 
 sire, have not less feeling than I, but more strength 
 to hide it. Will you take it amiss of your faithful 
 wife if with more of frankness than of respect she 
 pours her tears and thoughts into your bosom ? 
 Here are we lapped in luxury, while the bodies of 
 our brethren, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, are 
 cast alive into dungeons or as corpses into the open 
 fields at the mercy of dogs and ravens. This bed is 
 a grave to me while they lie unburied ; these sheets 
 are as my shroud while they have no winding-sheet. 
 Can we lie here sunk in sleep while there is no one 
 
 1 This is in direct contradiction to the much more probable 
 statement of Lanoue, and to the fact that the Admiral re- 
 sponded at once to Conde's appeal. 
 
 2 This oratorical preamble of d'Aubigne's shows that he felt 
 his readers would be likely to ask how, at such a distance of 
 time, he could have reproduced this interview. What seems 
 most likely is that Coligny may have told his guests that his 
 wife had urged him on to resistance, and may have quoted to 
 them some of her words which are too noble to be pure 
 inventions.
 
 COLIGNY AND CHARLOTTE DE LAVAL. 335 
 
 to catch the death-sighs of our brothers ? I have 
 been thinking of the counsels of prudence with 
 which you have closed the mouths of your brethren; 
 will you also take from them all heart, and leave 
 them stripped of courage as well as of arguments ? 
 I fear me that such prudence is of the children of 
 this generation, and that to be so wise towards man 
 is not to be wise towards God, who gave you the 
 skill of a general. Can you in conscience refuse to 
 use this His gift in the service of His children ? 
 You have owned to me that conscience has some- 
 times kept you sleepless thinking of these things. 
 It is God's interpreter. Do you fear that God will 
 hold you guilty for following it P 1 Do your bear the 
 sword of knighthood in order to oppress the afflicted, 
 or to snatch them from the clutches of the tyrants ? 
 You have admitted the justice of the contest ; why 
 then should your heart forsake the cause of right 
 through fear of ill success ? It is God who has taken 
 away the sense of those who have resisted Him 
 under pretext of unwillingness to shed blood. He 
 knows how to save the life of those who would lose 
 it for His sake, and to destroy the life of him who 
 seeks to save it. Sire, I have upon my heart all 
 the blood of our people that has been shed. That 
 blood and your wife cry to heaven against you that 
 you will be the murderer of those whom you do not 
 save from being murdered." 
 
 The Admiral replied : " Since I have failed to 
 convince you by my arguments of this evening 
 
 1 In words like these we feel the true glory and strength of 
 the Reformation in its early days.
 
 336" co LIG NY. 
 
 showing the vanity of popular tumults, the doubtful 
 wisdom of joining a party not yet formed, the 
 difficulty of taking the first step, not against the 
 monarchy, but against the possessors of a state 
 which has cast its roots deep into the soil, 1 which 
 has so many people interested in its maintenance, 
 which is enjoying a new and general peace entered 
 into with neighbouring nations, alas ! for the express 
 purpose of combining to crush us ; 2 since the recent 
 defection 3 of the King of Navarre and of the Con- 
 stable which means so much added strength to the 
 enemies' cause and added weakness to ours. Since 
 so much power on the side of our enemies and so 
 much weakness on our part cannot make you pause, 
 lay your hand on your heart, sound your conscience 
 and see if you are prepared to face general disorders, 
 to bear the reproaches of your own partisans as well 
 as your enemies, to hear of the treason of your friends, 
 to bear exile into foreign lands, shame, nakedness, 
 hunger, not for yourself only, but, which is worse, for 
 your children, to expect your death at the hands 
 of an executioner after that of your husband ? I 
 give you three weeks to consider, and if you are 
 then prepared to brave all that may come I will go 
 
 1 D'Aubigne did not mean to say that it would have been 
 easy to begin to attack the monarchy ; his idea rather is that 
 it was difficult to attack the possessors of a state which had 
 taken such deep root, and he adds the words not against the 
 'monarchy, to show that the Protestants had no quarrel with 
 royalty as such. 
 
 2 We have referred to the secret stipulations of the Peace of 
 Cambresis aimed against the Protestants. 
 
 3 The word defection is truly applicable to Antoine, who had 
 shown himself a faithless turncoat. It is more difficult to see 
 how it applied to the Constable, who had never made any 
 promise to the Protestants.
 
 CONCLUSION. 337 
 
 to meet death with you and your friends." " The 
 time is gone already," l she replied. " Do not 
 bring upon your head the deaths of those three 
 weeks, or I will myself bear witness against you 
 before the judgment-seat of God." 
 
 Pressed by these urgent entreaties of his beloved 
 and faithful wife, Coligny mounted his horse and 
 rode to join the Prince of Conde and the other 
 leaders of the party at Meaux. 
 
 We have come to the end of our book, to that 
 date, April 1562, which marks the beginning of the 
 sanguinary era of the wars of religion. Before we 
 close, one question remains to be considered. 
 
 It has been asked if the conflict might not 
 have been avoided; if the French Protestants would 
 not have acted a nobler part if they had refused to 
 appeal to arms at all, and had suffered themselves 
 to be struck down to the last man. 
 
 For more than thirty years the history of the 
 reformed Church of France had been one long, 
 sublime, sad monotone of martyrdom. At certain 
 times, as under Francis I. and Henry II., the number 
 of executions had reached a terrific height. Yet 
 the Church had gone on growing. In 1562, at the 
 time of the January edict, some of the noblest 
 families in France had joined it Would not the 
 outbreak of war check this steady progress ? Instead 
 of a proscribed religion, which nevertheless carried 
 on its conquests even in the ranks of its persecutors, 
 was it not about to constitute itself a party, that is to 
 
 1 There is something sublime in these words, St e ; Beuve 
 says, " Corneille has nothing grander." 
 
 22
 
 33 8 COLIGNY. 
 
 say a military and political faction ? Parties at war 
 with each other are anxious, above all things, for 
 victory. They are dependent on political alliances, 
 money, and force ; and how can all this be secured 
 without recourse to diplomacy, intrigue, and the 
 methods which in all time have been used to ensure 
 worldly success ? The Church had hitherto been 
 jealous of the equality of her members, and had 
 gathered most of her adherents from the ranks of the 
 common people. But in the event of war the pre- 
 ponderating influence must belong to the military 
 leaders and to the nobility. What would become of 
 the stern Huguenot morality, when the ministers must 
 needs be subordinate to the great seigneurs so free in 
 the use of bribes, so little accustomed to self-control ; 
 when the soldiery must be called in, at a time when 
 soldiering was almost synonymous with pillage and 
 open license ? Truth would be staked upon the 
 success of arms, on the support of the Swiss Lanz- 
 knechts, the German Reiters, the English mercenaries. 
 France would be torn by contending factions, ruin 
 and malediction following the steps even of the 
 victorious, not to speak of the terrible possibility of 
 defeat, the pitiless destruction of those who, having 
 taken up arms, would no longer be looked upon as 
 martyrs to the faith, but as rebels who had well 
 deserved their fate. How much more glorious than 
 this, death at the stake, prayer the only weapon used 
 in self-defence, and the only war-cry that sound of 
 psalms chanted by dying lips, which had so often 
 aroused troubled thoughts in the crowd of onlookers, 
 and awakened the conscience even of the executioners 
 themselves,
 
 CONCLUSION. 339 
 
 So felt many Christian souls in the first genera- 
 tion of the French Huguenots. So always thought 
 Calvin. In his voluminous correspondence with the 
 persecuted, there is not one line inciting to revolt. 
 He always urges submission to the powers ordained 
 of God, without recourse to carnal weapons. Looked 
 at in this aspect, such resignation has in it something 
 sublime. But how strangely the impression changes 
 when we see Calvin, on the same principle, vindi- 
 cating the right of the magistrates of Geneva to 
 repress heresy and to have recourse to the arm of 
 flesh to chastise those who did not believe with 
 him ! Calvin altogether disapproved of the con- 
 spiracy of Amboise, 1 and Coligny was for a long time 
 of the same mind. But the question no longer 
 presented itself in this simple form. The Protestants 
 had shown that they could not be stamped out. 
 The public conscience had recognised their claims, 
 and those claims had been vindicated in a law 
 solemnly proclaimed, which the government had 
 promised to observe. The point now to be decided 
 was whether, as citizens, they would passively submit 
 to the violation of their rights. 
 
 On the other hand, the Guises had just committed 
 an open and flagrant violation of the edict of 
 January, and no one could, for a moment, be blind 
 to their intention to carry on by force of arms the 
 
 1 We have already referred to this. To the proofs given on 
 p. 184, we may add the following passage (Opera, vol. xviii., 
 book iii., 174). Calvinus Sturmio, " Quum me principio con- 
 sulerunt, qui primi ad hoc negotium agitandum aliis fuerunt 
 auctores, libere respond! mihi non placere totam agendi 
 ratwnem, rein vero ipsam viulto minoris probari" (Letter 
 of March 23rd, 1560). Beza took quite another view.
 
 340 COLIGNY. 
 
 course of procedure begun at Vassy. 1 Catherine 
 herself had appealed to Conde, complaining of the 
 oppression of the Guises. She represented the 
 young king as a captive. 2 The Protestants then 
 armed themselves to defend the law. To this 
 enterprise they might legitimately feel themselves 
 called by the king, and Theodore Beza truly ex- 
 pressed their thought when he wrote subsequently : 
 " It would be too daring a calumny to give the 
 name of a rising and rebellion against the king and 
 the peace of the country, to so just and purely 
 defensive a warfare undertaken against the unscrupu- 
 lous violators of every right human and divine, who 
 yet dared to cover their acts by the authority of the 
 king, who was a minor, and who with his mother was 
 a captive in their hands. The parliaments were packed 
 and tampered with by them, all those having been 
 got rid of who might have stood in the way. I say 
 again it was a defensive measure fully justified, since 
 there is no country in the world where all loyal 
 subjects, even to the humblest, may not lawfully take 
 up arms to defend the common right against the 
 aggressions of those who cannot otherwise be re- 
 pressed." 3 
 
 1 On March i8th Sturm wrote to Calvin from Strasburg, 
 that on the initiative given by the Guises, troops were 
 preparing in all parts of Germany: "Supra sexaginta signa 
 peditum conscripta jam habere nunciatur octo et amplius 
 millia equitum conquiri." 
 
 2 " Nos accepto captivi Regis nuncio (neque enim hoc aliud 
 est quam miserrima captivitas quam etiam Rex cum lacrymis 
 testatus est)," etc. Letter from Beza, Calvini Opera, vol. xix., 
 p. 389. 
 
 3 The Memoire of Beza, from which these words are taken, 
 was published in 1594, Bull, de la soc. de r hist, du 
 fran$ais, vol. Ixxi,, p. 28.
 
 CONCLUSION. 34 I 
 
 From these words of Beza we see by what a 
 logical progression even the most loyal subjects, 
 such as Coligny, were led into a policy of resistance. 
 At first, the theory of absolute submission prevailed. 
 At the time of the conspiracy of Amboise, most of 
 the Protestant divines, with the exception of Calvin, 
 gave their approval on the understanding that the 
 rising was not against the king, and that the enter- 
 prise was conducted by a prince of the blood. 1 
 Since then the rights of the Protestants had been 
 recognised by law. The government had sworn to 
 respect them. Conde was supposed to be secretly 
 upheld by the queen. The insurrection ceased to 
 be an insurrection. 2 
 
 In truth, what was the point at issue ? Was it to 
 secure by the sword the triumph of their religion ? 
 Possibly some of the Protestant leaders may have 
 had such a thought. But Coligny desired only one 
 thing to secure the liberty of the reformed worship. 
 We cannot blame him for this. Every people has a 
 right to see that religious liberty is recognised in its 
 laws, and having secured this recognition, to defend 
 it as it would defend any other liberty. 
 
 To establish or to propagate religion by force is 
 contrary not only to the spirit of Christianity, but to 
 
 1 La Planche. 
 
 2 What right has the party of the Guises to accuse the 
 Protestants of rebellion against the king ? They themselves 
 had repeatedly declared that they would not accept a heretic 
 as king. On the i5th of May, 1561, Catherine de Medicis 
 had asked Francis of Lorraine what the triumvirate meant. 
 Going further, she asked whether if she or her son changed 
 their religion, he would at once withdraw his obedience. The 
 Duke replied plainly that he should. Letter from Chantonnay 
 to the Duchess of Parma. June, 1561.
 
 342 COLIGNY. 
 
 
 
 the most elementary dictates of conscience. St. 
 Paul, speaking of the apostolate, said : " The weapons 
 of our warfare are not carnal ; " yet we know 
 how stoutly he vindicated in his own person the 
 rights of a Roman citizen. To defend liberty of 
 conscience is an imperative duty no less for a nation 
 than for an individual. 
 
 History, alas ! gives ample proof that, notwith- 
 standing the beautiful saying of Tertullian, " Sanguis 
 martyrum semen Ecclesice" religious persecution can 
 succeed, and that the more atrocious it is, the more 
 successful. All the Christian Churches have had 
 bitter experience of this. The sword of Mahomet 
 wrested from the Eastern Church Alexandria, Jeru- 
 salem, Antioch, Ephesus, and Constantinople itself. 
 In China and Japan the Catholic Church lost for 
 centuries ground that had been richly watered with 
 the blood of the martyrs. By the same means the 
 Reformation was stamped out in Italy, in Spain, and 
 in Bohemia. 
 
 Doubtless, in a general and higher sense, Tertul- 
 lian's words are true. Unless we are prepared to 
 admit that an ironic fatalism governs all human 
 things, we must believe that no suffering undergone 
 for the sake of truth and righteousness is really lost. 
 The author of the Tragiques compares the ashes of 
 the martyrs to a precious seed which the wind of 
 persecution wafts to other climes, where it is sure to 
 germinate. This is the firm hope of all who believe 
 in eternal righteousness. The facts show that this 
 hope is often realized on earth, and that humanity, 
 as a whole, profits by the devotion and self-sacrifice 
 of its lowliest members. But that which is true of
 
 CONCLUSION. 343 
 
 the whole is not true of each nation, taken separately. 
 A nation may stifle thought within its own borders. 
 It may quench the light, and pass into the night on 
 which no morning breaks again. Woe to the reli- 
 gions which proselytise by the sword ! But woe 
 also to the nations which are not ready to take up 
 the sword in defence of liberty of conscience and the 
 right of the oppressed ! The Huguenots were not 
 willing that France should become a second Spain, 
 and they resolutely rent in pieces the network which 
 was being thrown around them. Charlotte de Laval 
 was not mistaken, and in the thrilling words which 
 fell from her lips we hear the voice of Protestant 
 France herself avowing that on her own head would 
 be the blood of those she had not sought to save 
 from death. 
 
 When Calvin recommended passive submission, it 
 was well for him that the people of Geneva had not 
 strictly adhered to his principle, but had defended 
 themselves against the machinations of Savoy. 
 Neither Scotland, Holland, npr the Protestants of 
 Germany, had reason to repent defending their 
 rights by the sword. The conscience of man must 
 have fallen low indeed when the name of William of 
 Orange ceases to be honoured. For the French 
 Protestants the struggle was a terrible one, and 
 fraught with dangers ; but in sustaining it they 
 deserved well of God and of their country. Doubt- 
 less the cause they defended was often compromised 
 by the ambition of its leaders ; and we must deeply 
 deplore the fact that in the conflict, the Church 
 sometimes became entangled with and well nigh 
 merged in a political party. But let their enemies
 
 344 COL2GNY. 
 
 do them at least the justice to confess that these 
 so-called rebels never dreamed of overturning the 
 government of the country. They became afterwards 
 the defenders of the rights of Henry III. himself, 
 the instigator of the St. Bartholomew massacre, when 
 the chiefs of the league offered the throne of France 
 to Philip II. of Spain. Never was there witnessed a 
 more, touching instance of loyalty than that of 
 Chatillon, the son of the Admiral, when, at the head 
 of his Huguenots, he marched upon Blois under a 
 terrible fire, with a calmness which won shouts of 
 admiration from his enemies themselves, and de- 
 fended against the leaguers the very king who had 
 been the murderer of his father. 
 
 If the one word religious liberty had always been 
 inscribed upon the Huguenot banner, their cause 
 would have been irreproachable. To the honour of 
 Coligny be it said that this was his one aim. He 
 said so when he took up arms, and ten years after 
 he could repeat it in all good conscience, when, 
 wounded by Maurevel, he assured Charles IX. that 
 he had never carried arms but in defence of the 
 edicts. 
 
 FINIS.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. 
 
 (Page 12.) 
 ANECDOTE OF COLIGNY AS A YOUTH. 
 
 COLIGNY and Andelot gave their governor Prunelay plenty to 
 do. One day, in a fencing match, Morin, their master at 
 arms, broke his foil, inflicting so severe a wound on a young 
 gentleman from Poitou that he died. " This gentleman had 
 two brothers, who were no sooner told of this sad accident 
 than, without knowing anything of how it happened, they were 
 eager to revenge themselves upon the master, who was more 
 dead than alive. M. de Chatillon, who had been present at 
 the affair, was anxious to stop them, and to tell them how it all 
 happened. But, not being in a state to listen to reason, they 
 thrust at him, and would have killed him if most of the students 
 at 'the Academy had not ranged themselves on his side. By 
 this means he saved the life of the master, at which the two 
 brothers were so enraged that they resolved to avenge them- 
 selves on him. The elder of the two spoke to M. de Chitillon, 
 telling him that he thought him too much of a gentleman to 
 refuse to give him satisfaction. Nothing was then more 
 common than duelling, so that so far from having a horror of 
 such things, as reason and the service of God would dictate, 
 it was a matter of boasting to have been often engaged in such 
 affairs of honour. M. de Chatillon, falling in like the rest 
 with the custom of the time, promised this gentleman to give 
 him the meeting he desired, and as his brother was to be his 
 second, Coligny sent for Andelot, so that the sides should be 
 two brothers against two brothers. But Parini, their squire, 
 suspected what was going on, and when these two young 
 gentlemen went out and did not return, he warned Prunelay 
 and urged him to see into the matter. Chatillon and Andelot, 
 to escape him, arranged a tennis party, on leaving which they
 
 34^ APPENDIX. 
 
 tried to evade him, for he generally left them when they were 
 at this sort of exercise, and they hoped that he would do so 
 now. But he was on his guard after the warning he had 
 received, and they, seeing that he was watching them, said 
 nothing, but told one of their valets de chambre to go and buy 
 a large basket and bring it in so cunningly that their governor 
 should not notice it. The valet carried out their orders to the 
 letter, and having hidden the basket in a cupboard by the side 
 of their bed, without knowing what they wanted it for, he told 
 them what he had done. They were charmed, and after mak- 
 ing him all sorts of promises, they told him that they wanted 
 him to do them a service for which he should be well rewarded. 
 He was to conceal himself in the hayloft, which was two or 
 three stories above their room, and when the governor was 
 asleep, he was to let himself down with the rope used for 
 drawing up the hay, because they wanted to tie this to the 
 basket, and to get into it one after the other, and he must let 
 them down in the basket by the rope. The valet trembled at 
 this proposition, guessing well, after what had happened, what 
 was their intention. Nevertheless, alarmed by their threats 
 never to do anything for him unless he obeyed, he agreed, and 
 let them down one after the other. The meeting was fixed for 
 the morning, so they betook themselves to an inn, in St. 
 Germain, where they passed the remainder of the night. The 
 night over, they had not much difficulty in awaking, for they 
 had had only a hard mattrass to sleep on ; and going to the 
 Pr6-aux-Clercs, they found there the two gentlemen, who were 
 at their prayers waiting for them. They inspected one another, 
 after the custom of the time, to see that they had no weapons 
 about them, and having found nothing which was not accord- 
 ing to rule, they took their swords. The combat was short, 
 but sharp. Chatillon wounded his man at the first stroke, and 
 having made a pass at his throat, forced him to ask for his 
 life. Andelot was not so fortunate. His assailant, who was 
 one of the best swordsmen in Paris, having made a feint of 
 giving way, watched his opportunity to throw himself upon 
 him, and, in fact, had already seized his sword when Chatillon 
 thrust the point of his sword into his loins and made him cry 
 for mercy like the other." 1 The thing did not end here. 
 The vanquished parties tried to take their revenge in an unfair 
 way. Some time after, having heard that Coligny and his 
 brother were hunting at Juvisy, near the estates of one of their 
 friends, they seized the occasion to watch them and set upon 
 them, under pretext that they had gone beyond the boundaries 
 of their chase. This dastardly trick ended in a real fight, in 
 
 1 Sandras de Courtils, bk. i., p. 15 and following.
 
 APPENDIX. 347 
 
 which the Chatillons again had the advantage. The thing 
 was rumoured at Court. Louise de Montmorency gave infor- 
 mation of what she regarded as an attempt at assassination ; 
 but Coligny generously hushed up the affair, and thus raised 
 still higher the reputation for chivalrous courage which he had 
 already won. 
 
 B. 
 (Page 19.) 
 
 At the siege of Arlon, an incident transpired which, if the 
 account be true, brings out conspicuously Coligny' s stern 
 morality. The town was given up to pillage, and, according 
 to the barbarous custom of the time, the inhabitants became 
 the property of the conquerors. A remarkably beautiful girl 
 was brought to Coligny. Distrusting himself, he offered to 
 have her honourably escorted to some place of safety, or, if 
 she preferred to remain in his house, he offered to leave it at 
 once. He gave himself no rest till he knew that she was on 
 her way to some neighbouring convent ; but the escort he 
 gave her was attacked by a party of soldiers, who violated her. 
 Coligny demanded of the Duke of Orleans the punishment of 
 the offenders. The Prince was surprised at such virtue, which 
 was not common in the army, and attempted some remon- 
 strance ; but as the escort had been dispersed by violence, 
 the infraction of discipline was flagrant ; and two of the 
 offenders were put to death. 1 
 
 C. 
 
 (Page 29.) 
 
 Coligny's elevation of fortune made no change in the serious- 
 ness of his life. The following is an account of the way in 
 which he usually passed his days at this time, taken from 
 Sandras de Courtils, who says he had it direct from the 
 family : 
 
 "The first thing he did on leaving his bed was to throw 
 himself on his knees before a crucifix, and there he remained 
 for a quarter of an hour, not allowing himself to be interrupted 
 for any cause whatever, except when he was in the army. 
 When there he said it was the will of God that what was due 
 to Him should be deferred till necessary duties were done. 
 After prayer he used to dress himself and go into his stable, 
 
 1 Sandras de Courtils, bk. i., p. 29.
 
 348 APPENDIX. 
 
 where he looked at his horses one after another, trusting much 
 more to his own eyes than to the care of his groom. He was 
 so good a horseman that he always rode the horses most 
 difficult to manage, and used to spend an hour and a half 
 each day in this exercise. . . . He then retired to his chamber, 
 where he read regularly for an hour, and to so much purpose 
 that there was never a man better versed in history than he. 
 When the hour was over he went to mass, to which he listened 
 kneeling ; for although he never failed to attend mass with 
 the king, he thought that most went there only to pay their 
 court to royalty, and as people were stumbling over one 
 another, passing and repassing all the time, it seemed to him 
 a poor opportunity for private prayer. After mass he went to 
 the king's Iev6e, and having spent the rest of the morning 
 with him, he went to dinner, where he remained longer than 
 he would have done if he had been quite alone ; but as every- 
 one was welcome at his house, good manners compelled him 
 to yield in some measure to the customs of society. After 
 dinner he read again for an hour, and in order not to be dis- 
 turbed, he had cards given to those who had dined with him. 
 This hour over, he returned to the Louvre, where he generally 
 had a game of tennis with the dauphin. If he did not play 
 tennis he would play mall or billiards ; but he would have 
 nothing to do with games of chance, saying that it would be 
 well if that sort of amusement was forbidden throughout the 
 kingdom, and he did all that he could to discountenance it. 
 But to return to my subject. Coligny spent the rest of the 
 afternoon with the king or the dauphin, and when eight 
 o'clock came, he returned home, where he read for another 
 hour, after which he took some fruit or a biscuit in some wine, 
 for he never made a regular supper. After this he returned 
 again to the king, and stayed till he had retired to rest. He 
 went to bed himself when he came home, but not without 
 having spent another quarter of an hour at the head of his 
 bed, in the presence of his household ; for while he believed 
 that true devotion does not consist in any mere form of worship, 
 he yet felt that masters are bound to set an example to their 
 domestics." 
 
 The same writer tells us of a trait in his character at this 
 time, which is well borne out by the care which Coligny often 
 showed afterwards for the poor, and which is the more notable 
 in a man of war in an age of rude manners, when the great 
 were very indifferent to the sufferings of the common people. 
 He says : "I must relate what happened to Coligny in the 
 Church of the Jacobins, whither he had gone to hear mass on 
 St. Dominic's day. He had put into one of his pockets some 
 money to give to the poor, and a poor man having come up to him
 
 APPENDIX. 349 
 
 while he was deep in his prayers, instead of feeling in the 
 pocket where he had put the small money, he thrust his hand 
 into the other pocket, in which were gold pieces. He took 
 out a handful, without counting, and gave them to the poor 
 man without looking at what he gave. The poor man was 
 much astonished at the largeness of the gift. He must have 
 been a good man, as appears from what he did ; for, waiting 
 at the door of the church till M. de Chatillon came out, he 
 said to him : ' I know not, Sire, if it was your intention to give 
 me so large an alms, but if it was not, I do not wish to take 
 advantage of it.' M. de Chatillon was not so much surprised 
 at his own mistake as he was at the generosity of this poor 
 man, and, looking at him with admiration, he said : ' No, my 
 good man, it was not my intention to give you that which you 
 have in your hand, but since you have had the generosity to 
 wish to return it to me, I shall certainly have the generosity 
 to let you keep it.' Nor was he content with this. He took 
 the man to his house, where he kept him as long as he lived. 
 . . . And indeed this man proved a model of virtue, as was 
 seen even more after his death than during his life, for no 
 sooner were his eyes closed than an old woman, who had been 
 accustomed to come begging every day, began to sob when 
 she was told that God had taken him to Himself. It was 
 thought that she must be his wife, since she took such an 
 interest in him, and they asked her the question. ' No,' she 
 replied, ' he was not my husband, but if he had been he could 
 not have taken more care than he did of me and my family.' 
 She then told how, since he had been in the house, he had 
 brought her every day the meat and wine that were given him 
 for his own food, and it was she who had benefited by 
 Chatillon' s generous alms. The case having been reported to 
 M. de Chatillon, he could not believe it without hearing it 
 himself from the woman's own lips, but when he was convinced 
 of its truth, he could not keep back his tears, saying that he 
 had lost a treasure he had not been worthy to possess. He 
 took pains to enquire about the woman, and finding that she 
 was a poor unfortunate, burdened with children, he took 
 charge of her and her family. 
 
 " He had no greater joy than these deeds of charity, and it 
 was observed that young as he was, he had so much compas- 
 sion for the unfortunate that he would willingly have ruined 
 himself to put them at their ease. He had an especial pity 
 for the poor noblesse, saying that he felt most for them because 
 others could work and these were not accustomed to it. As 
 his kindness of heart was well known, all the poor were look- 
 ing out for him when he went to the Louvre, and not one 
 went away without some gift. . . . There was no ostentation
 
 350 APPENDIX. 
 
 about his charity, and there could be no doubt that he was 
 really touched when any poor person came to him. . . . Once 
 when he went to Chatillon with Andelot, a poor gentleman 
 came to him, who lived four or five leagues from there, and 
 was introduced by some one whom Chatillon knew. Turning 
 to Andelot Coligny said : ' Ah, my brother, what are we to be 
 so well clothed and so much at our ease, while this poor 
 gentleman is destitute of the barest necessaries ? He is of the 
 same rank as ourselves in the kingdom. If we are gentlemen, 
 he is a gentleman also ; and if there is any difference it is 
 that God has been pleased to favour us, while He allows him 
 to remain in poverty.' Nor did he stop short at kind words. 
 Deeds followed closely, and he gave orders not only that the 
 poor gentleman should be clothed, but that his own bailiffs 
 should allow him each year a certain sum towards his main- 
 tenance. His estates were heavily charged with pensions of 
 this sort, and he had such a care for the poor that he engaged 
 a number of women to nurse them in illness, and give them 
 all possible attention. But as it would be of no use to get 
 them nurses, if they could not have proper food, he gave two 
 hundred francs monthly for soup to be made for them on his 
 estate at Chatillon, and he did the same thing on all his other 
 estates, whether large or small. He took care, moreover, 
 not only of their bodies, but of their souls, and it is remarked 
 that before he embraced the reformed religion, he used to 
 keep priests at Chatillon and founded schools for the educa- 
 tion of the young. He did not discontinue this good work 
 when he was brought to the truth. All the difference was 
 that then he employed ministers instead of priests." 
 
 D. 
 
 We have said (p. 252) that Jeanne d'Albret lost her two 
 eldest children by strange accidents. This is the account 
 given in the Chronologic Novenaire of Palma Cayet (Petitot 
 edit., vol. ii., p. 230 and following). 
 
 "These two fine young princes were not to be reared. 
 Unhappily they both died early in the following manner : 
 The Duke de Beaumont was placed in the charge of the wife 
 of the bailiff of Orleans, who was grandmother of the 
 Marshal de Matignon, and lived in the said city of Orleans. 
 This lady was very old and crotchety, and extremely sensitive 
 to cold. She used to keep herself shut up in a room with a 
 great fire, and closely hung with arras. She kept the little 
 prince even warmer still, making him pant and sweat with 
 heat, never suffering a breath of fresh air to enter the room. 
 She persisted in doing this in spite of all that was said to her,
 
 APPENDIX. 35 I 
 
 until at last the little Duke de Beaumont was gradually stifled 
 by the heat and died. To the last the old lady said ; ' Let 
 him alone, it is better to sweat than to shiver ! ' 
 
 "The Count de Marie (Jeanne's second son) came to his 
 end in another way. M. de Venddme and the Princess, his 
 wife (Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne) had gone to visit 
 King Henri d'Albret in Beam. They found him at Mont de 
 Marsan, where they stayed. They had brought with them the 
 Count de Marie in his long clothes, as the king wished to see 
 him, and they presented him to his Majesty, to his great 
 contentment. The little prince was very beautiful, and every 
 one wanted to hold him. One of the gentlemen ushers of the 
 Court began to play with him one day as his nurse held him 
 in her arms by an open French window. The nurse and the 
 gentleman passed him from one to the other several times 
 outside the window, sometimes only pretending to take him, 
 which was the cause of the accident. For the gentleman 
 pretending to take him, and not really doing it, the nurse let 
 him go, and he fell out of the window down on the steps 
 below and bruised one side. The gentleman at once leapt 
 down out of the window, which was on the first floor, and 
 carried him, crying bitterly, to the nurse. She quieted him as 
 well as she could with the breast. The king, M. de Vend6me, 
 and the Princess were out hunting, and no one told them of 
 the accident. I have heard some of the old servants say that 
 if the nurse had told, something might have been done for the 
 child, but as it was, he grew worse, and at last died." 
 
 Printed by Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Limited, London and Aylesbury.