22

Intrigues.-The Fifth War

[1574

the Marshals of France, Montmorency, Damville, and Cossé, were of this way of thinking. The alliance was looked on with suspicion by some of the stricter Huguenots, like Duplessis-Mornay, who "did not see what religion had to do with the Duke of Alençon's discontent"; but La Noue approved, and joined in inviting the Duke to put himself at the head of the combination. The two younger of the Montmorency brothers, Méru and Thoré, are said to have about this time become Protestants; and Thoré, who with Navarre, Condé, and the Vicomte de Turenne, a young Gascon noble, was in the camp before Rochelle, added his persuasions to those of La Noue.

At the conclusion of peace the Princes returned to Paris, where the preparations for Anjou's departure to his new kingdom were being made. In October the Court started. Charles, whose health was beginning to fail, did not go beyond Vitry, where a long stay was made-Henry, who was not ignorant of his younger brother's ambitions and had no desire to be out of the way when the French Crown should become vacant, delaying his journey until the King grew angry, and threatened to deport him forcibly. Hereupon Catharine and Henry started, taking with them Alençon, and leaving Navarre with the King. On the frontier of the Palatinate they were met by the Elector's youngest son, Christopher, and Count Lewis of Nassau. Catharine's mind was again turning in the direction of intervention, this time less ostentatious, in the Netherlands. She also wished to guard against the danger of another invasion of France by reiters, such as John Casimir would be only too ready to conduct. Carefully as Alençon was watched by his mother, he managed at parting to exchange a word or two with Lewis, when promises of mutual assistance passed. The Queen-Mother rejoined the King at Rheims, and on the road thence to Paris, Navarre and Alençon received a secret message from Lewis, urging them to escape and join him. The Queen of Navarre, getting wind of the plan, informed her mother; and the two Princes were more closely watched than ever. Charles, who had intended to summon a meeting of the Estates to Compiègne, abandoned his intention, and went to Saint-Germain.

Intrigues of every kind went on during the first weeks of 1574. Guise and Montmorency had met as friends; but Catharine contrived to set them at odds again by devising, perhaps in concert with the Cardinal of Lorraine, a story that Montmorency, one of the least rancorous of men, had directed a member of his household to assassinate Guise; upon which Montmorency retired to Chantilly. Alençon wanted the office of lieutenant-general, vacated by Anjou; which the King refused to give him. Meanwhile Thoré and Turenne, with the assent of La Noue, had been arranging for a general rising, to take place on Shrove-Tuesday, February 23. As part of the scheme, Alençon and Navarre were to be got away from the Court. Thus began the Fifth War.

The first part of the plan was punctually executed. Throwing out

1574]

Plot of Vincennes

23

his forces fanwise from Rochelle, La Noue seized Fontenay, Lusignan, Melle, Saint-Jean-d'Angely, and Rochefort. The south rose at the same time. If the Princes could be got away all would go well. The Count Palatine Christopher, with a strong force of Germans, was waiting near Sédan, while Guitry with several companies of Huguenots lay near Mantes, which was garrisoned by Montmorency's own company under de Buy, brother to Duplessis-Mornay. Guitry's over-haste spoilt the scheme. Instead of waiting till March 10, the day fixed by La Noue for the attempt, he showed himself in the neighbourhood of Saint-Germain as early as February 20, and persuaded Alençon to escape on the 28th. Mantes was to be secured as a place of temporary refuge for the fugitives. On the appointed day, Guitry appeared before Mantes with so small a force that Buy did not deem it prudent to admit him. Alençon did not start; Navarre, Condé, Thoré, and Turenne, who were waiting outside. the castle, had nothing to do but to return. Meanwhile the QueenMother was in possession of the whole scheme, which had been revealed to Margaret by Alençon's favourite, La Molle, a worthless profligate, who was more than suspected of being her lover, and at her instance reported by him to her mother. Being questioned, Alençon admitted the whole and was pardoned. Henry himself did not deny the plot, but justified his own action. Thoré made his escape, and joined Condé in Germany. About March 8 Charles went to Vincennes. He still seems to have relied on conciliation.

The Queen-Mother lost no time in meeting this new storm. Within a few days three armies were in readiness. One, under the Duke of Montpensier, was to check La Noue in the West; another, under his eldest son, to pacify Dauphiné, always a dangerous quarter from its proximity to Savoy; while the third, under Matignon, was destined for Normandy, where Montgomery, who had landed on March 11, was overrunning the Côtentin. Languedoc was more perplexing. Damville, who governed there with almost viceregal authority, was inclined, like the rest of his House, to the Politique side; it was almost as dangerous to let him alone as to interfere with him. Meanwhile he was left to pacify his province as he best could. The war was most vigorously conducted in Normandy. On May 25, Montgomery, after a heroic defence against vastly superior numbers, was captured in Domfront. He surrendered under a promise of personal safety, but Catharine, vindictive for once in her life, insisted on his execution.

At Vincennes a fresh plot for the escape of the Princes was brewing. Many persons were involved in it, and all kinds of wild designs were imputed to them, though, as a matter of fact, its objects seem to have been much the same as those of the former one. This time the chief

organiser was La Molle, in company with a Count Annibale Coconato, a Piedmontese adventurer of the worst type, who had for some time, it would seem, been acting as a Spanish spy about the French Court. The

24

Death of Charles IX

[1574 execution of the plan was fixed for April 8, the Thursday before Easter. This time Catharine was kept well informed of the conspirators' proceedings throughout; and on the Thursday morning the gates of Vincennes were shut, and the guards doubled. By Friday evening those of the conspirators who were quick enough, among them Turenne, were in flight; the rest hid themselves in Paris, where they were before long unearthed. La Molle and Coconato were brought to trial, tortured, and on April 30 beheaded, in spite of the interest made on behalf of the former by persons of consequence in France and elsewhere, including the Queen of England, on whom he had made a favourable impression when in England on his master's affairs. Alençon and Navarre were also judicially examined. The whining deposition of the former endeavoured to throw the blame as much as possible on others. Henry replied to the questions in a vigorous memorandum, reciting the circumstances of his life, and justifying his action by the treatment that he had undergone. On May 4 Marshals Montmorency and Cossé were sent to the Bastille. Damville remained at large so long as it was not prudent to go to any greater length with his colleague and brother. Attempts had already been made to supersede him by his lieutenant Joyeuse; now, on the day of the Marshals' arrest, Sciarra Martinengo, an Italian soldier of fortune, was sent with all secrecy and dispatch to bring him alive or dead. Martinengo found him at Pézenas, a town devoted to him, and on being admitted to his presence was too much alarmed to do more than present a letter from the King, demanding an explanation of the omission to hand over certain troops to Joyeuse. This Damville was quite ready to give, and the messenger returned, to be followed in a day or two by an envoy from the Marshal, whom the news of his brother's arrest had now reached, demanding fair treatment for him and asserting the loyalty of himself and his family. His letter was received on May 29; on the following day, Whitsunday, Charles died. The Queen-Mother, left in sole charge of the kingdom until Anjou, now become Henry III, could make his way back to France, wisely resolved not to force the pace. The capture of Montgomery, and the consequent cessation of active hostilities in Normandy, had eased the pressure considerably; and, though she would not forgo her vengeance against the slayer of her husband, she had as a rule no wish for severity. When Carentan, the last stronghold in the province, surrendered on June 26, and Guitry, who had been in command there, was brought to Paris, she dismissed him to his own house unpunished. An armistice was ordered for the months of July and August or as much longer as the King should decide. Strozzi and the Abbé Guadagni were sent to treat 'with La Noue, bearing the announcement of the truce, and an offer of 12,000 crowns a month, while it should last, for the payment of the garrison of Rochelle. At the same time she sent by another hand letters calculated to provoke distrust between the citizens and the nobles who

1574]

Damville in Languedoc

25

had cast in their lot with them. The Rochellois were also allowed to send deputies to the meeting which the Protestants of Languedoc and Dauphiné were holding at Millau.

To Damville Catharine was less conciliatory. Immediately after Charles' death she had sent again to him confirming the order for his arrest, of which he appears now to have heard for the first time, and ordering him to give up his government to the Admiral de Villars, and the command of his troops to the Prince Dauphin. For himself, he was advised to go to Savoy, and await the arrival of the King. His answer was to summon the Estates of Languedoc to Montpellier (Toulouse, the capital, being bitterly hostile to him), to extend the truce for his own government to the end of the year, and to receive a deputation from the assembly at Millau, where Condé had just been declared the head of the party. For the next three years or so Damville worked entirely with. the Huguenots, though never like his two younger brothers quitting the Roman Church.

On receiving the news of his brother's death, Henry made all haste to leave Poland. Evading the Polish nobles by a nocturnal flight he rode hard with a few followers to the Silesian frontier. The route by which he had left France was now barred to him, with Condé and Méru active in western Germany and the Duke of Bouillon at Sédan in full sympathy with the Huguenots. Accordingly he passed through Vienna, Venice, and Ferrara to Turin, whither he summoned Damville to confer with him. Though their meeting was friendly, and the cause of the Protestants was pleaded by the King's aunt, the Duchess of Savoy, no important concessions could be obtained from him. On September 5 he entered his own kingdom at Pont-Beauvoisin, where he was met by Navarre and Alençon. The Queen-Mother had remained at Bourgoin, on the road from Lyons, and on the next day they all entered that city together. The Duke of Savoy had escorted Henry thus far, and before he returned had obtained the retrocession of Pignerol and other fortresses now in French keeping. On September 18 the Duchess died. On All Saints' Day the King, his brother, and Navarre received the Communion together at Lyons, proceeding afterwards to Avignon, where they took part in a procession of Flagellants. The Duchess of Savoy's death was soon followed by those of the Cardinal of Lorraine, and, on the opposite side, of the Duke of Bouillon.

In the west, after the cessation of the armistice, Montpensier captured Fontenay and Lusignan, and pressed Rochelle hard during the winter. But the chief centre of activity was in the south. On November 3 Damville issued a manifesto calling not only for religious toleration, but for a general administrative reform, coupled with the usual demand for the expulsion of foreigners (among whom the Guises were indicated) from office. For the settlement of religion a Council was to be called, while the States General should be convened to deal with the political

26 Return, coronation, and marriage of Henry III [1575

issues. Shortly afterwards a man was arrested at Montpellier, who confessed under torture that he had been sent by Villequier, one of the King's Council, to poison Damville. About the same time he received. from Henry through de Belloy a friendly letter, followed by the invitation to an interview, which he declined on the ground that Condé might think it suspicious. Henry then talked of putting himself at the head of an army, and joining hands with Joyeuse and Uzès to crush Damville; but nothing came of it, and on January 20, 1575, the King left Avignon and proceeded northwards. He was crowned at Rheims on February 13, and the next day married to Louise de Vaudémont, of the House of Lorraine, thus allying himself with the Guises. The marriage was not popular. As a matter of fact, however, the young Queen interfered very little in politics. In spite of Henry's gross profligacy, she was always faithful to him, and led a blameless and obscure existence throughout his reign.

That reign opened unpropitiously. Damville, left with none to oppose him save the Duke of Uzès, himself a Protestant, though a personal enemy of the Marshal, took towns almost as he pleased. The King's disposition seemed to be entirely changed. Instead of the reputed victor of Jarnac and Moncontour, the hardy campaigner, the ruthless accomplice in massacre, men saw an effeminate youth, devoted at best to religious exercises, leaving business mostly to his mother, and languidly submitting to the influence of a gang of worthless young courtiers. Yet, though enervated in mind and body by self-indulgence, he was not devoid of shrewdness. Throughout his reign, though perfectly aware of the aid which, at all events during the first years of it, Elizabeth was giving to his rebels, he maintained the alliance with England. One of his first acts was to take steps for the continuance of the "league" of 1572 with that country; and, in spite of some opposition on the English side due to the offence caused by the Massacre, it was duly ratified on April 30, 1575. At this very time Wilkes was on a mission to the Elector Palatine, with the view of suggesting to him the importance of assisting the Huguenots. If he would find the men, Elizabeth would guarantee 50,000 crowns towards the expenses. From certain expressions in Wilkes' instructions she seems to have hoped that such a show of force would bring the King to terms; in which case there need be no actual breach of her treaty. The Palatine replied that 50,000 crowns would not go far. He asked for 150,000; and undertook not to conclude peace till Calais should be restored to the Queen. She did not provide the whole sum asked for, but in the course of the summer a considerable force of reiters was levied, and entered France later in the year under Thoré and John Casimir.

In March arrived deputies from the various Huguenot centres with proposals for peace. The principal points required were, as usual, the observance of the Edict of January, with the addition-which henceforth