Books: The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555 59
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John Lothrop Motley >> The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555 59
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The expulsion of the women had been accomplished by the express command
of Philip, who moreover had made no effort to stay the work of carnage,
pillage, and conflagration. The pious King had not forgotten, however,
his duty to the saints. As soon as the fire had broken out, he had sent
to the cathedral, whence he had caused the body of Saint Quentin to be
removed and placed in the royal tent. Here an altar, was arranged, upon
one side of which was placed the coffin of that holy personage, and upon
the other the head of the "glorious Saint Gregory" (whoever that glorious
individual may have been in life), together with many other relics
brought from the church. Within the sacred enclosure many masses were
said daily, while all this devil's work was going on without. The saint
who had been buried for centuries was comfortably housed and guarded by
the monarch, while dogs were gnawing the carcases of the freshly-slain
men of Saint Quentin, and troopers were driving into perpetual exile its
desolate and mutilated women.
The most distinguished captives upon this occasion were, of course,
Coligny and his brother. Andelot was, however, fortunate enough to make
his escape that night under the edge of the tent in which he was
confined. The Admiral was taken to Antwerp. Here he lay for many weeks
sick with a fever. Upon his recovery, having no better pastime, he fell
to reading the Scriptures. The result was his conversion to Calvinism;
and the world shudders yet at the fate in which that conversion involved
him.
Saint Quentin being thus reduced, Philip was not more disposed to push
his fortune. The time was now wasted in the siege of several
comparatively unimportant places, so that the fruits of Egmont's valor
were not yet allowed to ripen. Early in September Le Catelet was taken.
On the 12th of the same month the citadel of Ham yielded, after receiving
two thousand shots from Philip's artillery, while Nojon, Chanly, and some
other places of less importance, were burned to the ground. After all
this smoke and fire upon the frontier, productive of but slender
consequences, Philip disbanded his army, and retired to Brussels.
He reached that city on the 12th October. The English returned to their
own country. The campaign of 1557 was closed without a material result,
and the victory of Saint Quentin remained for a season barren.
In the mean time the French were not idle. The army of the Constable had
been destroyed but the Duke de Guise, who had come post-haste from Italy
after hearing the news of Saint Quentin, was very willing to organize
another. He was burning with impatience both to retrieve his own
reputation, which had suffered some little damage by his recent Italian
campaign, and to profit by the captivity of his fallen rival the
Constable. During the time occupied by the languid and dilatory
proceedings of Philip in the autumn, the Duke had accordingly recruited
in France and Germany a considerable army. In January (1558) he was
ready to take the field. It had been determined in the French cabinet,
however, not to attempt to win back the places which they had lost in
Picardy, but to carry the war into the territory of the ally. It was
fated that England should bear all the losses, and Philip appropriate all
the gain and glory, which resulted from their united exertions. It was
the war of the Queen's husband, with which the Queen's people had no
concern, but in which the last trophies of the Black Prince were to be
forfeited. On the first January, 1558, the Duc de Guise appeared before
Calais. The Marshal Strozzi had previously made an expedition, in
disguise, to examine the place. The result of his examination was that
the garrison was weak, and that it relied too much upon the citadel.
After a tremendous cannonade, which lasted a week, and was heard in
Antwerp, the city was taken by assault. Thus the key to the great Norman
portal of France, the time-honored key which England had worn at her
girdle since the eventful day of Crecy, was at last taken from her.
Calais had been originally won after a siege which had lasted a
twelvemonth, had been held two hundred and ten years, and was now lost in
seven days. Seven days more, and ten thousand discharges from thirty-
five great guns sufficed for the reduction of Guines. Thus the last
vestige of English dominion, the last substantial pretext of the English
sovereign to wear the title and the lilies of France, was lost forever.
King Henry visited Calais, which after two centuries of estrangement had
now become a French town again, appointed Paul de Thermes governor of the
place, and then returned to Paris to celebrate soon afterwards the
marriage of the Dauphin with the niece of the Guises, Mary, Queen of
Scots.
These events, together with the brief winter campaign of the Duke, which
had raised for an instant the drooping head of France, were destined
before long to give a new face to affairs, while it secured the
ascendancy of the Catholic party in the kingdom. Disastrous eclipse had
come over the house of Montmorency and Coligny, while the star of Guise,
brilliant with the conquest of Calais, now culminated to the zenith.
It was at this period that the memorable interview between the two
ecclesiastics, the Bishop of Arras and the Cardinal de Lorraine, took
place at Peronne. From this central point commenced the weaving of that
wide-spread scheme, in which the fate of millions was to be involved.
The Duchess Christina de Lorraine, cousin of Philip, had accompanied him
to Saint Quentin. Permission had been obtained by the Duc de Guise and
his brother, the Cardinal, to visit her at Peronne. The Duchess was
accompanied by the Bishop of Arras, and the consequence was a full and
secret negotiation between the two priests. It may be supposed that
Philip's short-lived military ardor had already exhausted itself. He had
mistaken his vocation, and already recognized the false position in which
he was placed. He was contending against the monarch in whom he might
find the surest ally against the arch enemy of both kingdoms, and of the
world. The French monarch held heresy in horror, while, for himself,
Philip had already decided upon his life's mission.
The crafty Bishop was more than a match for the vain and ambitious
Cardinal. That prelate was assured that Philip considered the captivity
of Coligny and Montmorency a special dispensation of Providence, while
the tutelar genius of France, notwithstanding the reverses sustained by
that kingdom, was still preserved. The Cardinal and his brother, it was
suggested, now held in their hands the destiny of the kingdom, and of
Europe. The interests of both nations, of religion, and of humanity,
made it imperative upon them to put an end to this unnatural war, in
order that the two monarchs might unite hand and heart for the
extirpation of heresy. That hydra-headed monster had already extended
its coils through France, while its pestilential breath was now wafted
into Flanders from the German as well as the French border. Philip
placed full reliance upon the wisdom and discretion of the Cardinal. It
was necessary that these negotiations should for the present remain a
profound secret; but in the mean time a peace ought to be concluded with
as little delay as possible; a result which, it was affirmed, was as
heartily desired by Philip as it could be by Henry. The Bishop was soon
aware of the impression which his artful suggestions had produced. The
Cardinal, inspired by the flattery thus freely administered, as well as
by the promptings of his own ambition, lent a willing ear to the Bishop's
plans. Thus was laid the foundation of a vast scheme, which time was to
complete. A crusade with the whole strength of the French and Spanish
crowns, was resolved upon against their own subjects. The Bishop's task
was accomplished. The Cardinal returned to France, determined to effect
a peace with Spain. He was convinced that the glory of his house was to
be infinitely enhanced, and its power impregnably established, by a
cordial co-operation with Philip in his dark schemes against religion and
humanity. The negotiations were kept, however, profoundly secret. A new
campaign and fresh humiliations were to precede the acceptance by France
of the peace which was thus proffered.
Hostile operations were renewed soon after the interview at Peronne.
The Duke of Guise, who had procured five thousand cavalry and fourteen
thousand infantry in Germany, now, at the desire of the King, undertook
an enterprise against Thionville, a city of importance and great strength
in Luxemburg, upon the river Moselle. It was defended by Peter de
Quarebbe, a gentleman of Louvain, with a garrison of eighteen hundred
men. On the 5th June, thirty-five pieces of artillery commenced the
work; the mining and countermining-continuing seventeen days; on the
22nd the assault was made, and the garrison capitulated immediately
afterwards. It was a siege conducted in a regular and business-like way,
but the details possess no interest. It was, however, signalized by the
death of one of the eminent adventurers of the age, Marshal Strozzi.
This brave, but always unlucky soldier was slain by a musket ball while
assisting the Duke of Guise--whose arm was, at that instant, resting upon
his shoulder--to point a gun at the fortress.
After the fall of Thionville, the Due de Guise, for a short time,
contemplated the siege of the city of Luxemburg, but contented himself
with the reduction of the unimportant places of Vireton and Arlon. Here
he loitered seventeen days, making no exertions to follow up the success
which had attended him at the opening of the campaign. The good fortune
of the French was now neutralized by the same languor which had marked
the movements of Philip after the victory of Saint Quentin. The time,
which might have been usefully employed in following up his success, was
now wasted by the Duke in trivial business, or in absolute torpor. This
may have been the result of a treacherous understanding with Spain, and
the first fruits of the interview at Peronne. Whatever the cause,
however, the immediate consequences were disaster to the French nation,
and humiliation to the crown.
It had been the plan of the French cabinet that Marshal de Thermes, who,
upon the capture of Calais, had been appointed governor of the city,
should take advantage of his position as soon as possible. Having
assembled an army of some eight thousand foot and fifteen hundred horse,
partly Gascons and partly Germans, he was accordingly directed to ravage
the neighboring country, particularly the county of Saint Pol. In the
mean time, the Due de Guise, having reduced the cities on the southern
frontier, was to move in a northerly direction, make a junction with the
Marshal, and thus extend a barrier along the whole frontier of the
Netherlands.
De Therlries set forth from Calais, in the beginning of June, with his
newly-organized army. Passing by Gravelines and Bourbourg, he arrived
before Dunkerk on the 2d of July. The city, which was without a
garrison, opened negotiations, during the pendency of which it was taken
by assault and pillaged. The town of Saint Winochsberg shared the same
fate. De Thermes, who was a martyr to the gout, was obliged at this
point temporarily to resign the command to d'Estonteville, a ferocious
soldier, who led the predatory army as far as Niewport, burning, killing,
ravishing, plundering, as they went. Meantime Philip, who was at
Brussels, had directed the Duke of Savoy to oppose the Due de Guise with
an army which had been hastily collected and organized at Maubeuge, in
the province of Namur. He now desired, if possible, to attack and cut
off the forces of De Thermes before he should extend the hand to Guise,
or make good his retreat to Calais.
Flushed with victory over defenceless peasants, laden with the spoils of
sacked and burning towns, the army of De Thermes was already on its
homeward march. It was the moment for a sudden and daring blow. Whose
arm should deal it? What general in Philip's army possessed the
requisite promptness, and felicitous audacity; who, but the most
brilliant of cavalry officers, the bold and rapid hero of St. Quentin?
Egmont, in obedience to the King's command, threw himself at once into
the field. He hastily collected all the available forces in the
neighborhood. These, with drafts from the Duke of Savoy's army, and with
detachments under Marshal Bigonicourt from the garrisons of Saint Omer,
Bethune, Aire, and Bourbourg, soon amounted to ten thousand foot and two
thousand horse. His numbers were still further swollen by large bands of
peasantry, both men and women, maddened by their recent injuries, and
thirsting for vengeance. With these troops the energetic chieftain took
up his position directly in the path of the French army. Determined to
destroy De Thermes with all his force, or to sacrifice himself, he posted
his army at Gravelines, a small town lying near the sea-shore, and about
midway between Calais and Dunkerk. The French general was putting the
finishing touch to his expedition by completing the conflagration at
Dunkerk, and was moving homeward, when he became aware of the lion in his
path. Although suffering from severe sickness, he mounted his horse and
personally conducted his army to Gravelines. Here he found his progress
completely arrested. On that night, which was the 12th July, he held a
council of officers. It was determined to refuse the combat offered,
and, if possible, to escape at low tide along the sands toward Calais.
The next morning he crossed the river Aa, below Gravelines. Egmont, who
was not the man, on that occasion at least, to build a golden bridge for
a flying enemy, crossed the same stream just above the town, and drew up
his whole force in battle array. De Thermes could no longer avoid the
conflict thus resolutely forced upon him. Courage was now his only.
counsellor. Being not materially outnumbered by his adversaries, he had,
at least, an even chance of cutting his way through all obstacles, and of
saving his army and his treasure. The sea was on his right hand, the Aa
behind him, the enemy in front. He piled his baggage and wagons so as to
form a barricade upon his left, and placed his artillery, consisting of
four culverines and three falconeta, in front. Behind these he drew up
his cavalry, supported at each side by the Gascons, and placed his French
and German infantry in the rear.
Egmont, on the other hand, divided his cavalry into five squadrons.
Three of light horse were placed in advance for the first assault--the
centre commanded by himself, the two wings by Count Pontenals and Henrico
Henriquez. The black hussars of Lazarus Schwendi and the Flemish
gendarmes came next. Behind these was the infantry, divided into three
nations, Spanish, German, and Flemish, and respectively commanded by
Carvajal, Monchausen, and Bignicourt. Egmont, having characteristically
selected the post of danger in the very front of battle for himself,
could no longer restrain his impatience. "The foe is ours already," he
shouted; "follow me, all who love their fatherland:" With that he set
spurs to his horse, and having his own regiment well in hand, dashed upon
the enemy. The Gascons received the charge with coolness, and under
cover of a murderous fire from the artillery in front, which mowed down
the foremost ranks of their assailants-sustained the whole weight of the
first onset without flinching. Egmont's horse was shot under him at the
commencement of the action. Mounting another, he again cheered his
cavalry to the attack. The Gascons still maintained an unwavering front,
and fought with characteristic ferocity. The courage of despair inflamed
the French, the hope of a brilliant and conclusive victory excited the
Spaniards and Flemings. It was a wild, hand to hand conflict--general
and soldier, cavalier and pikeman, lancer and musketeer, mingled together
in one dark, confused, and struggling mass, foot to foot, breast to
breast, horse to horse-a fierce, tumultuous battle on the sands, worthy
the fitful pencil of the national painter, Wouvermans. For a long time
it was doubtful on which side victory was to incline, but at last ten
English vessels unexpectedly appeared in the offing, and ranging up soon
afterwards as close to the share as was possible, opened their fire upon
the still unbroken lines of the French. The ships were too distant, the
danger of injuring friend as well as foe too imminent, to allow of their
exerting any important influence upon the result. The spirit of the
enemy was broken, however, by this attack upon their seaward side, which
they had thought impregnable. At the same time, too, a detachment of
German cavalry which had been directed by Egmont to make their way under
the downs to the southward, now succeeded in turning their left flank.
Egmont, profiting by their confusion, charged them again with redoubled
vigor. The fate of the day was decided. The French cavalry wavered,
broke their ranks, and in their flight carried dismay throughout the
whole army. The rout was total; horse and foot; French, Gascon, and
German fled from the field together. Fifteen hundred fell in the action,
as many more were driven into the sea, while great numbers were torn to
pieces by the exasperated peasants, who now eagerly washed out their
recent injuries in the blood of the dispersed, wandering, and wounded
soldiers. The army of De Thermes was totally destroyed, and with it, the
last hope of France for an honorable and equal negotiation. She was now
at Philip's feet, so that this brilliant cavalry action, although it has
been surpassed in importance by many others, in respect to the numbers of
the combatants and the principles involved in the contest, was still, in
regard to the extent both of its immediate and its permanent results, one
of the most decisive and striking which have ever been fought. The
French army engaged was annihilated. Marshal de Thermes, with a wound in
the head, Senarpont, Annibault, Villefon, Morvilliers, Chanlis, and many
others of high rank were prisoners. The French monarch had not much
heart to set about the organization of another army; a task which he was
now compelled to undertake. He was soon obliged to make the best terms
which he could, and to consent to a treaty which was one of the most
ruinous in the archives of France.
The Marshal de Thermes was severely censured for having remained so long
at Dunkerk and in its neighborhood. He was condemned still more loudly
for not having at least effected his escape beyond Gravelines, during the
night which preceded the contest. With regard to the last charge,
however, it may well be doubted whether any nocturnal attempt would have
been likely to escape the vigilance of Egmont. With regard to his delay
at Dunkerk, it was asserted that he had been instructed to await in that
place the junction with the Due de Guise, which had been previously
arranged. But for the criminal and, then, inexplicable languor which
characterized that commander's movements, after the capture of
Thionville, the honor of France might still have been saved.
Whatever might have been the faults of De Thermes or of Guise, there
could be little doubt as to the merit of Egmont. Thus within eleven
months of the battle of Saint Quentin, had the Dutch hero gained another
victory so decisive as to settle the fate of the war, and to elevate his
sovereign to a position from which he might dictate the terms of a
triumphant peace. The opening scenes of Philip's reign were rendered as
brilliant as the proudest days of the Emperor's career, while the
provinces were enraptured with the prospect of early peace. To whom,
then, was the sacred debt of national and royal gratitude due but to
Lamoral of Egmont? His countrymen gladly recognized the claim. He
became the idol of the army; the familiar hero of ballad and story; the
mirror of chivalry, and the god of popular worship. Throughout the
Netherlands he was hailed as the right hand of the fatherland, the
saviour of Flanders from devastation and outrage, the protector of the
nation, the pillar of the throne.
The victor gained many friends by his victory, and one enemy. The
bitterness of that foe was likely, in the future, to outweigh all the
plaudits of his friends. The Duke of Alva had strongly advised against
giving battle to De Thermes. He depreciated the triumph after it had
been gained, by reflections upon the consequences which would have
flowed, had a defeat been suffered instead. He even held this language
to Egmont himself after his return to Brussels. The conqueror, flushed
with his glory, was not inclined to digest the criticism, nor what he
considered the venomous detraction of the Duke. More vain and arrogant
than ever, he treated his powerful Spanish rival with insolence, and
answered his observations with angry sarcasms, even in the presence of
the King. Alva was not likely to forget the altercation, nor to forgive
the triumph.
There passed, naturally, much bitter censure and retort on both sides
at court, between the friends and adherents of Egmont and those who
sustained the party of his adversary. The battle of Gravelines was
fought over daily, amid increasing violence and recrimination, between
Spaniard and Fleming, and the old international hatred flamed more
fiercely than ever. Alva continued to censure the foolhardiness which
had risked so valuable an army on a single blow. Egmont's friends
replied that it was easy for foreigners, who had nothing at risk in the
country, to look on while the fields of the Netherlands were laid waste,
and the homes and hearths of an industrious population made desolate, by
a brutal and rapacious soldiery. They who dwelt in the Provinces would
be ever grateful to their preserver for the result. They had no eyes for
the picture which the Spanish party painted of an imaginary triumph of De
Thermos and its effects. However the envious might cavil, now that the
blow had been struck, the popular heart remained warm as ever, and
refused to throw down the idol which had so recently been set up.
1558-1559 [CHAPTER III.]
Secret negotiations for peace--Two fresh armies assembled, but
inactive--Negotiations at Cercamp--Death of Mary Tudor--Treaty of
Cateau Cambresis--Death of Henry II.--Policy of Catharine de Medici
--Revelations by Henry II. to the Prince of Orange--Funeral of
Charles V. in Brussels--Universal joy in the Netherlands at the
restoration of peace--Organization of the government by Philip, and
preparations for his departure--Appointment of Margaret of Parma as
Regent of the Netherlands--Three councils--The consulta--The
stadholders of the different provinces--Dissatisfaction caused by
the foreign troops--Assembly of the Estates at Ghent to receive the
parting instructions and farewell of the King--Speech of the Bishop
of Arras--Request for three millions--Fierce denunciation of heresy
on the part of Philip--Strenuous enforcement of the edicts
commanded--Reply by the States of Arthois--Unexpected conditions--
Rage of the King--Similar conduct on the part of the other
provinces--Remonstrance in the name of States--General against the
foreign soldiery--Formal reply on the part of the crown--Departure
of the King from the Netherlands--Autos--da--fe in Spain.
The battle of Gravelines had decided the question. The intrigues of the
two Cardinals at Peronne having been sustained by Egmont's victory, all
parties were ready for a peace. King Henry was weary of the losing game
which he had so long been playing, Philip was anxious to relieve himself
from his false position, and to concentrate his whole mind and the
strength of his kingdom upon his great enemy the Netherland heresy, while
the Duke of Savoy felt that the time had at last arrived when an adroit
diplomacy might stand him in stead, and place him in the enjoyment of
those rights which the sword had taken from him, and which his own sword
had done so much towards winning back. The sovereigns were inclined to
peace, and as there had never been a national principle or instinct or
interest involved in the dispute, it was very certain that peace would be
popular every where, upon whatever terms it might be concluded.
Montmorency and the Prince of Orange were respectively empowered to open
secret negotiations. The Constable entered upon the task with alacrity,
because he felt that every day of his captivity was alike prejudicial to
his own welfare and the interests of his country.--The Guises, who had
quarrelled with the Duchess de Valentinois (Diane de Poitiers), were not
yet powerful enough to resist the influence of the mistress; while,
rather to baffle them than from any loftier reasons, that interest was
exerted in behalf of immediate peace. The Cardinal de Lorraine had by no
means forgotten the eloquent arguments used by the Bishop of Arras; but
his brother, the Due de Guise, may be supposed to have desired some
little opportunity of redeeming the credit of the kingdom, and to have
delayed the negotiations until his valor could secure a less inglorious
termination to the war.
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