Presented to the
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1980
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59848
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CONTENTS OF VOL. II
BOOK II
MARIE DE MEDICIS AS REGENT
CHAPTER I
1610
22
M.2.
Self-possession of Marie de Medicis The Dues de Guise and
d'Epernon Assemble the Nobility Precautions for the Se-
curity of the Metropolis The First Audience of the Widowed
Queen Impolicy of Sully The Due d'Epernon Announces to
the Parliament the Authorised Regency of Marie By Whom
it is Ratified Precarious Position of the Queen-mother The
First Night of Widowhood Injudicious Apathy of Marie de
Medicis on the Subject of Her Husband's Murder Her In-
cautious Display of Favour Towards the Due d'Epernon The
Duke is Suspected of Having Been an Accessory to the As-
sassination of Henri IV. He Demands the Punishment of the
Authors of the Rumour A Lawyer and a Courtier Fearless
Reply of the President de Harlay to the Rebuke of the Regent
Suspicions Against Philip of Spain Louis XIII. Holds His
First Bed^ of Justice The Queen Requests the Support of th
Padjfcment -Return of the Court to the Louvre The Dgc de
jits ti>e $ueen Effect of His Reception The Pj
? !
-
vi Contents
Dowager of Conde Urges the Return of Her Son to Court M.
de Soissons is Invited by Marie de Medicis to the Capital His
Disappointment His Arrogance A Courtly Falsehood Re-
ception of M. de Soissons at the Gates of Paris His Numerous
Retinue The Recompense of Obedience Congratulatory
Deputations Trial of the Regicide Ravaillac His Execution
Arrival of the Due de Bouillon in Paris His Quarrel with
the Due de Sully They are Reconciled The Court Attend a
Funeral Service at Notre-Dame Presumption of the Due
d'Epernon Marie de Medicis Devotes Herself to State Af-
fairsJealousy of the Princes of the Blood and Great Nobles
Marie Endeavours to Conciliate Them The Spanish Min-
ister Endeavours to Prevent the Return of the Prince de Conde
Without Success The Regent Forms a Council Preten-
sions of the Nobles The Due d'Epernon Takes Possession of
Apartments in the Louvre He Leagues with the Comte de
Soissons Against the Prince de Conde Speculations of the
Ministers Their Policy Boyhood of Louis XIII. A Deli-
cate Position A Royal Rebuke Court Favour The Vision-
ary Government Discontent of the Citizens of Paris Un-
popularity of the Regent The Ex-Queen's Entertainment
Imprudence of Marie de Medicis Confirmation of the Edict
of Nantes Return of the Prince de Conde The Regent is
Alarmed by His Popularity Double-dealing of the Due
d'Epernon The Prince de Conde Declares His Intention to
Uphold the Interests of the Regent His Reception at the
Louvre He Rejoins His Wife The Court of the Hotel de
Conde A Cabal Marie is Advised to Arrest the Prince de
Conde She Refuses The Secret Council Indignation of
Sully Mischievous Advice of the Due de Bouillon Munifi-
cence of the Regent to M. de Conde The Royal Treasury
Venality of the French Princes The English Ambassador
Royal Pledges Philip of Spain Proposes a Double Alliance
with France The Regent Welcomes the Offer Policy of
Philip The Secret Pledge Madame de Verneuil Urges Her
Claim to the Hand of the Due de Guise The Important Docu-
ment A Ducal Dilemma The Regent Discountenances the
Claim of the Marquise Madame de Verneuil is Induced by
Jeannin to Withdraw Her Pretensions Her Subsequent Ob-
scurity
Contents vii
CHAPTER II
1610
A Temporary Calm Louis XIII. Marie de Medicis Purchases
the Marquisate of "Ancre for Concini Rapid Rise of His
Fortunes His Profusion He Intrigues to Create Dissension
Among the Prince's of the Blood His Personal Endowments
The Due de Bouillon Endeavours to Induce M. de Conde to
Revolt He fails He Disposes of His Office at Court to the
Marquis d'Ancre Marie de Medicis Continues the Public Edi-
fices Commenced and Projected by Henri IV. Zeal of the Due
de Mayenne Cupidity of the Court M. de Conde and His
Advisers The Prince and the Minister Forebodings of Sully
He Determines to Resign Office His Unpopularity The
Regent Refuses to Accept His Resignation The War in
Germany The Regent Resolves to Despatch an Army to
Cleves The Due de Bouillon Demands the Command of the
Troops Is Refused by the Council Retires in Disgust to
Sedan The Command is Conferred on the Marechal de la
Chatre A Bootless Campaign The French Troops Return
Home New Dissensions at Court The Due d'Epernon Be-
comes the Declared Enemy of the Protestants Apprehensions
of the Reformed Party Quarrel of Sully and Villeroy The
Regent Endeavours to Effect a Reconciliation with the Prince
de Conti Princely Wages M. de Conti Returns to Court
The Princes of the Blood Attend the Parliament The Marquis
d'Ancre is Admitted to the State Council Sully and Bouillon
Retire from the Capital Sully Resolves to Withdraw from the
Government, but is Again Induced to Retain Office The King
and Pere Cotton The Court Leave Paris for Rheims Corona-
tion of Louis XIII. His Public Entry Into the Capital The
Prince de Conde and the Comte de Soissons are Reconciled
Quarrel Between the Marquis d'Ancre and the Due de Belle-
garde Cabal Against Sully The Huguenots Petition for a
General Assembly Reluctance of the Regent to Concede
Their Demand She Finds Herself Compelled to Comply M.
de Villeroy Garrisons Lyons Sully Retires from the Ministry
Demands of the Princes Sully's last Official Act His
Parting Interview with Louis XIII. The Minister and the
Mountebanks - - *53
viii Contents
CHAPTER III
1611
A Cold Correspondence Increasing Influence of the Marquis
d'Ancre Animosity Between the Due d'Epernon and Concini
Disunion of the Princes de Guise and de Lorraine Re-
newed Dissensions Between M. de Bellegarde and the Marquis
d'Ancre They are Reconciled by the Comte de Soissons
Marriage of the Due de Guise Jealousy of M. de Soissons
Quarrel Between the Prince de Conti and the Comte de Sois-
sons Mission of the Due de Guise A New Rupture Inter-
vention of the Due de Mayenne Alarm of the Regent Sully
Leaves Paris Madame de Sully Retirement of M. de Thou
Unpopularity of the Due d'Epernon Marie de Medicis
Endeavours to Reconcile the Princes The Royal Closet The
Protestants Prepare for the General Assembly The Prince de
Conde Retires to Guienne The Due d'Epernon is Charged to
Watch His Movements Arrogance of Concini Concini Seeks
to Marry His Daughter to a Son of the Comte de Soissons
Indignation of the Prince Cunning of Concini Bouillon Re-
turns to Court He Offers His Services to the Regent at the
General Assembly He Proceeds to Saumur He Desires to
be Appointed President of the Assembly He is Rejected in
Favour of M. du Plessis-Mornay He Attributes His Defeat
to Sully He Resolves to Conciliate the ex-Minister of Finance
Meeting of the Assembly The Court Determines to Dis-
solve the Meeting Prudence of Du Plessis-Mornay Death of
M. de Crequy The Marquis d'Ancre Succeeds to the Govern-
ment of Amiens His Insolent Disregard of the Royal Pre-
rogative Indignation of the Ministers The Regent Resents
His Impertinence She Refuses to Receive Madame d'Ancre
Intrigues of the Princesse de Conti The Favourites Forgiven
Marie de Medicis Issues Several Salutary Edicts Court
Festivities The Duchesse de Lorraine Arrives at Fontaine-
bleau Death of the Due de Mayenne Death of the Queen of
Spain The Duchesse de Lorraine Claims the Hand of Louis
XIII. for Her Daughter Death of the Due d'Orleans De-
parture of the Duchesse de Lorraine Rival Claims M. de
Breves Appointed Preceptor to the Due d'Anjou The Comte
de Soissons Applies for the Duchy of Alen<;on Rebuke of the
Contents ix
Regent A Hunting-party. A New Cabal Recall of the
Marechal de Lesdiguieres Marie de Medicis Purchases the
H6tel de Luxembourg 91
CHAPTER IV
1612
The Princes of the Blood Retire from the Court Increased In-
fluence of the Dues de Guise and d'Epernon Jealousy of
Concini The Ministers Desire the Recall of the Princes The
Lent Ballets The Government of Quilleboeuf is Offered to
the Comte de Soissons The Princes are Invited to Return to
the Capital Arrival of the Princes M. de Soissons Abandons
Concini An Attempt is Made to Create Dissension Between
M. de Soissons and the Prince de Conde They Again With-
draw from Paris The Regent Resolves to Announce Publicly
the Approaching Marriage of the King Disaffection of the
Princes Frankness of the Due de Guise The Due d'Epernon
is Recalled The Due de Bouillon is Despatched to England
The Council Discuss the Alliance with Spain The Princes
Return to the Capital Undignified Deportment of the Prince
de Conde Insolence of M. de Soissons Indignation of the
Regent The Young Due de Mayenne is Appointed Ambassa-
dor Extraordinary to Spain An Unpleasant Truth Arrogance
of the Spanish King Concession of the Regent Death of the
Duke of Mantua The Chancellor Announces the King's Mar-
riage An Ambassador and a Quasi-Queen Disappointment
of the Princes They Again Withdraw Caution of the Due
de Montmorency to the Regent She Disregards the Warning
Love of Marie de Medicis for Magnificence and Display
Courtly Entertainments The Circle of Madame The Mar-
quise d'Ancre A Carousal Splendid Festivities Arrival of
the Spanish Envoys The Chevalier de Guise Alarm of Con-
cini The Queen and Her Foster-Sister Concini Resolves to
Espouse the Party of the Princes The Due de Bouillon En-
deavours to Injure the Due de Rohan in the Estimation of
James I. Reply of the English Monarch Bouillon Returns to
Paris The Marechal de Lesdiguieres Retires from the Court
The Due de Vendome Solicits the Royal Permission to
Preside Over the States of Brittany Is Refused by the
Regent Challenges His Substitute And is Exiled to Anet
x Contents
Concini Augments the Disaffection of the Princes The Duke
of Savoy Joins the Cabal Lesdiguieres Prepares to March a
Body of Troops Against the Capital Concini Deters the
Regent from Giving the Government of Quilleboeuf to the
Comte de Soissons Indignation of the Due de Guise He
Reveals the Treachery of Concini to the Princes All the
Great Nobles Join the Faction of M. de Conde with the Ex-
ception of the Due d'Epernon The Due de Bellegarde is Ac-
cused of Sorcery Quarrel Between the Comte de Soissons and
the Marechal de Fervaques Marie de Medicis Resolves to
Persecute the Protestants Bouillon Endeavours to Effect the
Disgrace of the Due de Rohan The Regent Refuses to Listen
to His Justification He Takes Possession of St. Jean-d'Angely
Anger of the Queen Conflicting Manifestoes M. de Rohan
Prepares to Resist the Royal Troops The Ministers Advise a
Negotiation, Which Proves Successful Departure of the Due
de Mayenne for Madrid Arrival of the Duque de Pastrano
His Brilliant Reception in France His Magnificent Retinue
His First Audience of Louis XIII. The Cardinals-
Puerility of the Princes Reception of the Spanish Ambassador
by Madame The Year of Magnificence Splendour of the
Court of Spain Signature of the Marriage Articles Honours
Shown to M. de Mayenne at Madrid The Spanish Princess
and Her Duenna The Duke of Savoy Demands the Hand of
Madame Christine for His Son Marie Desires to Unite Her
to the Prince of Wales Death of Prince Henry of England
Death of the Comte de Soissons The Prince de Conti Claims
the Government of Dauphiny The Comte d'Auvergne is
Released from the Bastille, and Resigns His Government of
Auvergne to M. de Conti The Prince de Conde Organises a
New Faction The Regent Espouses His Views Alarm of
the Guises Recall of the Due de Bellegarde He Refuses
to Appear at Court The Baron de Luz is Restored to Favour
The Guises Prepare to Revenge His Defection from Their
Cause 131
CHAPTER V
1613
State of France at the Commencement of 1613 Characteristics of
the Baron de Luz His Imprudence He is Challenged by the
Contents xi
Chevalier de Guise, and Killed The Regent Summons a
Council The Nobles Assemble at the Hotel de Guise The
Duke is Forbidden to Enter the Louvre, and Ordered to Dis-
perse His Friends M. de la Rochefoucauld Refuses to Leave
the Hotel de Guise He is Exiled from the Court Moderation
of the Due de Guise Inflexibility of Marie de Medicis Her
Anger Against the Chancellor She Holds a Secret Council
The Prince de Conde is Directed to Demand the Seals from M.
de Sillery, and to Command Him to Retire from the Capital
Marie Determines to Arrest the Due d'Epernon Her Designs
are Thwarted by Concini The Marquis d'Ancre Introduces the
Son of M. de Luz to the Regent Marie Promises Him Her Pro-
tection Bassompierre Endeavours to Effect the Recall of the
Due de Guise, and Succeeds His Reception by the Regent
Arrogance of the Duchesse de Guise The Prince de Cond6
Forms an Alliance with M. de Guise Influence of the Prince
He Demands the Captaincy of the Chateau Trompette
Overzealous Friends Alarm of the Queen She Resolves to
Conciliate the Guises The Marquis d'Ancre and His Wife
Incur the Displeasure of the Queen Marie Purchases the
Loyalty of the Due de Guise Dignified Bearing of the Due
d'Epernon A Reconciliation " Put not Your Faith in
Princes" Exultation of the Ministers A Private Audience
Eavesdroppers Mortification of the Prince de Conde
Concini Endeavours to Conciliate the Queen He is Repulsed
The Young Baron de Luz Challenges the Chevalier de
Guise Wounds His Adversary, and is Killed Royal Solici-
tude Death of the Chevalier de Guise Banquet at the Hotel
de Conde Affront to Bassompierre Concini Retires to Amiens
The Due de Venddme Joins the Faction of the Prince de
Conde A New Intrigue Suspicions of the Regent Midnight
Visitors The Prince de Conde and the Due de Vend6me Leave
the Court The Regent Refuses to Sanction the Departure of
M. de Guise The Queen and Her Favourite The Ministers
Pledge Themselves to Serve Concini Peril of Bassompierre
He Determines to Leave France Is Dissuaded from His
Purpose by the Regent Troubles in Mantua Negotiation with
the Duke of Savoy James I. Offers the Hand of Prince Charles
of England to the Princesse Christine Satisfaction of Marie de
Medicis The Pope Takes Alarm The Regent and the Papal
xii Contents
Nuncio Death of the Marshal de Fervaques Concini is
Made Marechal de France Ladies of Honour The Queen
and Her Foster-sister The Princesse de Conti A Well-timed
Visit The New Marechal A Sensation at Court - - -177
CHAPTER VI
1614
New Anxieties Disaffection of the Princes They Demand a
Reformation in the Government Cunning of the Due de
Bouillon Imprisonment of M. de Vendome He Escapes
The Regent Suspects the Sincerity of Bouillon Conspiracy of
the Dues de Vendome and de Retz The Due de Nevers Seizes
Mezieres Recall of M. d'Epernon Marie de Medicis Re-
solves to Resign the Regency, but is Dissuaded by Her
Council Treasonable Reports Precarious Position of the
Queen Levy of Troops Manifesto of the Prince de Conde
Reply of the Regent Death of the Connetable-Duc de Mont-
morency Bassompierre is Appointed Colonel-General of the
Swiss Guards The March Against M. de Conde Marie En-
deavours to Temporise The Price of Loyalty The Prince de
Conde Leaves Paris Christening of the Due d'Anjou and the
Princesse Henriette Marie A Temporary Calm The Dues de
Venddme and de Retz Excite the Burgundians to Revolt The
Protestants Refuse to Join Their Faction They are Compelled
to Lay Down Their Arms The Prince de Conde Marches
upon Poitiers The Church " Military "The Prelate and the
Populace A Governor Superseded The Prince is Compelled
to Withdraw to Chatellerault He Burns Down the Episcopal
Palace The Court Proceed to Poitou Their Reception The
Due de Vendome Makes His Submission The States Assemble
at Nantes Enormities Perpetrated by the Troops of M. de
Vendome Folly of That Prince Death of the Prince de
Conti A Bachelor-Benedict A Nom de Guerre Majority of
Louis XIII. The Bed of Justice The Assembly of the
States-General is Deferred The King Solicits His Mother to
Retain Her Authority in the Government Meeting of the
States The Early Years of Louis XIII. Charles Albert de
Luynes His Antecedents His Ambition His Favour with
the Young King He is Made Governor of Amboise - - 221
Contents xiii
CHAPTER VII
1615-16
Close of the States-General The Bishop of Lucon Declaration
of the Royal Marriages Ballet of Madame State of the
Court Cabal of Concini Death of Marguerite de Valois
Conde Seeks to Gain the Parliament Distrust of Marie de
Medicis Conde Leaves Paris He Refuses to Accompany the
King to Guienne Perilous Position of the Court Party The
Marechal de Bois-Dauphin is Appointed Commander-in-Chief
The Court Proceed to Guienne Illness of the Queen and
Madame Elisabeth The Court at Tours Enforced Inertness
of M. de Bois-Dauphin Condd is Declared Guilty of tise-
majest'e He Takes up Arms Murmurs of the Royal Generals
The Comte de St. Pol Makes His Submission The Court
Reach Bordeaux The Royal Marriages Sufferings of the
Troops Disaffection of the Nobility Irritation of the
Protestants Pasquinades Negotiation with the Princes
The Due de Guise Assumes the Command of the Royal
Army Singular Escape of Marie de Medicis Disgrace of the
Due d'Epernon He Retires to His Government The Queen
and the Astrologer 258
CHAPTER VIII
1616
Conference of Loudun Venality of the Princes Mutual Conces-
sions Indisposition of M. de Conde He Signs the Treaty
Concini is Insulted by a Citizen of Paris The Court Return to
the Capital Schism in the Cabal The Seals are Transferred
to M. du Vair Disgrace of the Ministers Triumph of Concini
Mangot is Appointed Secretary of State, and Barbin Minister
of Finance The Young Sovereigns Court Costumes Anne
of Austria and Marie de Medicis Puerility of Louis XIII.
The Mar6chal de Bouillon and the Due de Mayenne Return
to Court They Seek to Ruin Concini The Prince de Cond6
Effects a Reconciliation with the Queen-mother James I.
Sends an Embassy to Paris to Negotiate a Marriage Between
the Prince of Wales and the Princesse Christine Gorgeous
Reception at the Louvre Court Festivities Concini Returns
xiv Contents
to Paris He is Abandoned by the Prince de Cond6 He is
Compelled to Retire His Forebodings He Endeavours to
Induce Leonora to Leave France She Refuses Increasing
Influence of De Luynes Death of Mademoiselle d'Ancre
Despair of Concini Ambitious Projects of the Prince de Conde
Devotion of Sully His Advice is Disregarded Popularity
of Conde Marie de Medicis Resolves to Arrest Him He
Disbelieves the Rumour The Other Princes Withdraw from
the Capital The King is Induced to Sanction the Arrest
Dissimulation of Louis XIII. Arrest of Conde Fearless Re-
ply of M. du Vair The Prince is Conveyed to the Bastille
A Batch of Marshals Noble Disinterestedness of Bassom-
pierre The Dowager Princess of Conde Endeavours to Excite
the Populace to Rescue Her Son The Mob Pillage the Hotel
of the Marechal d'Ancre The Queen-mother Negotiates with
the Guises The Council of War The Seals are Transferred
from Du Vair to Mangot Richelieu is Appointed Secretary of
State Concini Returns to Court The Marechale d'Ancre Be-
comes Partially Insane Popular Execration of the Italian
Favourites Subtle Policy of Richelieu Threatening Attitude
Assumed by the Princes 283
CHAPTER IX
1617
The Royal Forces March Against the Insurgent Princes Indig-
nities Offered to the Young Sovereign Louis XIII. and His
Favourite Arrogance of the Marechal d'Ancre Indignation
of the King Confiscation of the Property of the Rebel Princes
Household of Louis XIII. Cabal of De Luynes Infatua-
tion of the Marechal d'Ancre An Evil Counsellor Marie de
Medicis Resolves to Withdraw from the Government, but is
Dissuaded from Her Purpose Popular Discontent Precau-
tions of Concini Alarm of Louis XIII. The Due de Nevers
is Declared Guilty of Itse-majest'e Firmness of the Queen-
mother Insolence of Concini and Richelieu Conde is Re-
fused Permission to Justify Himself Success of the Royal Forces
Louis XIII. Consents to the Arrest of the Marechal d'Ancre
Bassompierre Warns Marie de Medicis of Her Danger She
Disregards the Warning Concini and Leonora Prepare to
Contents xv
Leave France Old Grievances Renewed A Diplomatic Janus
Blindness of Marie and Her Ministers A New Conspirator
How to be Made a Marshal Incaution of De Luynes
Treachery of Richelieu A Narrow Escape A Morning Mass
Singular Position of the Court Assassination of Concini
Public Rejoicings Imprisonment of the Queen-mother
Barbin is Sent to the Bastille The Seals are Restored to Du
Vair A Royal Reception Anguish of Marie de Medicis
She Demands to See the King, and is Refused Her Isolation
A Queen and Her Favourite A Mother and Her Son
Arrest of Madame d'Ancre The Crown Jewels Political
Pillage The Marechale in the Bastille - - - . - 331
CHAPTER X
1617
The Comte de la Pena Anne of Austria and the Orphan Popular
Atrocities The Wages of Crime Submission of the Due de
Mayenne Suspension of Hostilities The Great Nobles Re-
turn to the Capital Louis Refuses to be Reconciled with His
Mother Insolence of De Vitry Generosity of the Due de
Rohan Marie de Medicis Resolves to Retire from the Court
Richelieu Offers to Share Her Exile He Becomes the Secret
Emissary of De Luynes Gratitude of the Deluded Queen
A Parting Interview Marie de Medicis Proceeds to Blois
Destitution of the Marechale d'Ancre Her Despair Royal
Recreations A Fatal Parallel Madame de Conde Requests
Permission to Share the Captivity of Her Husband Trial of
Madame d'Ancre Her Execution Cupidity of De Luynes
Justice of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Death of the President
de Thou Marriage of De Luynes with Mademoiselle de Mont-
bazon De Luynes is Created Duke and Peer Death of M.
de Villeroy Recall of the Old Ministers Policy of De Luynes
His Suspiciousness His Ambition De Luynes Lodges His
Brothers in the Louvre The Sign of " The Three Kings "
Louis Resolves to Reestablish the Roman Catholic Religion in
Beam, and to Annex That Principality to the Crown of France
Meeting of the Notables at Rouen The French March to
the Support of the Duke of Savoy 376
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
TO
THE SECOND VOLUME
PAGE
Duchesse de Sully . . 6
Marechal de Brissac . .16
Cardinal Bentivoglio . 26
M. de Souvre . . .30
Stefano Galigai . . 31
M. de Thou ... 36
M. Arnaud . . .40
Pere Cotton . . .40
Henri II. Due de Longue-
ville . . . .44
Duque de Feria . . 47
Marechal de la Chatre . 68
Due d'Elbceuf ... 77
M. de Chateauvieux . . 93
Marquis de Chateauneuf . 93
Marquis de Rambouillet . 117
Cardinal de Gonzaga . 121
M. de Breves . . .124
M. de Brosse . . .129
Comte de Buquoy . .150
Don Rodrigo Calderon . 150
Chevalier de Guise . .150
Due de Luxembourg-Piney 166
Cardinal de Gondy . .167
Cosmo, Grand Duke of
Tuscany . . .171
Due de la Rochefoucauld . 182
Due de Retz . . . 224
Bishop of Saintes
M. de Verdun .
M. de Servin .
Comte de Brienne
PAGE
. 241
243
243
245
Baron du Pont-Saint-Pierre 246
M. Miron .... 246
M. Le Fevre . . .248
M. de Rivault . . .248
Comte de Laval . . 248
Cardinal de Richelieu . 258
M. Le Jay ... 267
Comte de Saint-Pol . . 270
Duque d'Usseda . .271
M. Man got . . .291
M. de Puisieux . .291
M. Barbin . . . 291
Madame de Motteville . 291
Marquis de Themines . 307
M. de Saint-Geran . -314
M. Deageant . . .336
Marechal de Schomberg . 340
Marechal d'Ornano . .361
Marquis de Bressieux . 366
M. de Rouvray . . 370
Comte de Fiesque . 377
Jean Goujon . . . 387
Mile, de Montbazon . . 402
BOOK II
MARIE DE MEDICIS AS REGENT
THE LIFE
OF
MARIE DE MEDICIS
CHAPTER I
1610
Self-possession of Marie de Medicis The Dues de Guise and d'Eper-
non Assemble the Nobility Precautions for the Security of the
Metropolis The First Audience of the Widowed Queen Impolicy
of Sully The Due d'Epernon Announces to the Parliament the
Authorised Regency of Marie By Whom it is Ratified Precarious
Position of the Queen-mother The First Night of Widowhood
Injudicious Apathy of Marie de Medicis on the Subject of Her
Husband's Murder Her Incautious Display of Favour Towards
the Due d'Epernon The Duke is Suspected of Having Been an
Accessory to the Assassination of Henri IV. He Demands the
Punishment of the Authors of the Rumour A Lawyer and a Cour-
tier Fearless Reply of the President de Harlay to the Rebuke of
the Regent Suspicions Against Philip of Spain Louis XIII.
Holds His First Bed of Justice The Queen Requests the Support
of the Parliament Return of the Court to the Louvre The Due
de Sully Visits the Queen Effect of His Reception The Princess-
Dowager of Cond6 Urges the Return of Her Son to Court M. de
Soissons is Invited by Marie de Medicis to the Capital His Disap-
pointment His Arrogance A Courtly Falsehood Reception of
M. de Soissons at the Gates of Paris His Numerous Retinue The
4 The Life of
Recompense of Obedience Congratulatory Deputations Trial of
the Regicide Ravaillac His Execution Arrival of the Due de
Bouillon in Paris His Quarrel with the Due de Sully They are
Reconciled The Court Attend a Funeral Service at Notre-Dame
Presumption of the Due d'Epernon Marie de Medicis Devotes
Herself to State Affairs Jealousy of the Princes of the Blood and
Great Nobles Marie Endeavours to Conciliate Them The Span-
ish Minister Endeavours to Prevent the Return of the Prince de
Conde Without Success The Regent Forms a Council Preten-
sions of the Nobles The Due d'Epernon Takes Possession of
Apartments in the Louvre He Leagues with the Comte de Sois-
sons Against the Prince de Conde Speculations of the Ministers
Their Policy Boyhood of Louis XIII. A Delicate Position A
Royal Rebuke Court Favour The Visionary Government Dis-
content of the Citizens of Paris Unpopularity of the Regent The
Ex-Queen's Entertainment Imprudence of Marie de Medicis
Confirmation of the Edict of Nantes Return of the Prince de
Conde The Regent is Alarmed by His Popularity Double-dealing
of the Due d'Epernon The Prince de Conde Declares His Inten-
tion to Uphold the Interests of the Regent His Reception at the
Louvre He Rejoins His Wife The Court of the Hotel de Conde
A Cabal Marie is Advised to Arrest the Prince de Conde She
Refuses The Secret Council Indignation of Sully Mischievous
Advice of the Due de Bouillon Munificence of the Regent to M.
de Conde The Royal Treasury Venality of the French Princes
The English Ambassador Royal Pledges Philip of Spain Pro-
poses a Double Alliance with France The Regent Welcomes the
Offer Policy of PhilipThe Secret Pledge Madame de Verneuil
Urges Her Claim to the Hand of the Due de Guise The Important
Document A Ducal Dilemma The Regent Discountenances the
Claim of the Marquise Madame de Verneuil is Induced by Jean,
nin to Withdraw Her Pretensions Her Subsequent Obscurity.
THE news of the King's decease had no sooner
been communicated to Marie de Medicis than,
profiting by the advice of the Chancellor, she made a
violent attempt at composure ; and although still with
streaming eyes and ill-suppressed sobs, she gave her
assent to the suggestions of her councillors. The Dues
Marie De Medicis 5
de Guise and d'Epernon were instructed to mount upon
the instant, and to assemble as many of the nobles as
were within reach, whom they were to accompany
through the streets of the city, declaring upon their
way that the King was not dead, although grievously
wounded ; the city gates were ordered to be closed,
the keys delivered to the lieutenant of police, and strict
commands issued to prevent all gatherings of the popu-
lace in the thoroughfares ; while the guards who were
distributed through the faubourgs were hastily concen-
trated in the environs of the Parliament, in order,
should such a measure become necessary, to enforce
the recognition of the Queen as Regent of the kingdom.
These arrangements made, MM. de Guise, d'Eper-
non, de Villeroy, and de Lavardin demanded an audi-
ence of the august widow, at which, kneeling before
her, they kissed her hand, and assured her of their un-
alterable devotion. Their example was imitated by all
the great nobles of the Court, with the sole exception
of the Due de Sully, who was encountered by Bassom-
pierre in the Rue St. Antoine, accompanied by about
forty mounted followers, and evidently in a state of in-
tense agitation. " Gentlemen," he exclaimed, as the
two parties met, " if the loyalty which you each vowed
to the monarch whom we have just been unhappy
enough to lose is as deeply impressed upon your hearts
as it should be upon those of all faithful Frenchmen,
swear at this precise moment to preserve the same
fidelity towards the King his son and successor, and
that you will employ your blood and your life to
avenge him."
" Sir," haughtily replied Bassompierre, who had
6 The Life of
probably more deeply mourned the death of his royal
master and friend than any other individual of the
Court, and who was consequently revolted by the im-
perious tone of this address, " it is we who have been
enjoined to enforce this oath upon others, and we do
not need any exhortations to do our duty."
Sully regarded the speaker gloomily for an instant,
and then, as though overcome by some sudden appre-
hension, he coldly saluted the group of nobles, and re-
traced his steps to the Bastille, where he forthwith
closed the gates; having previously, on his way
thither, caused his attendants to carry off all the bread
which they could collect either in the shops or markets.
He, moreover, no sooner thus found himself in safety
than he despatched a courier to his son-in-law, the Due
de Rohan, who was with the army in Champagne at
the head of six thousand Switzers, desiring him to
march straight upon Paris ; an indiscretion which he
was subsequently destined to expiate, from the heavy
suspicion which it necessarily entailed upon him.
Vainly did MM. de Praslin and de Crequy, who were
sent to summon him to the presence of the young
King, endeavour to induce him to lose no time in
presenting himself at the Louvre ; the only concession
which he could be prevailed upon to make, was to de-
sire the Duchess, his wife,* to hasten to the palace, and
* Madame de Sully, the second wife of the Duke, was Rachel de
Gochefilet, the daughter of Jacques, Seigneur de Vaucelas, and of
Marie d'Arbalete. She was first married to Francois Hurault, Sieur
de Chateau pers et du Marais, who died in 1590. She survived the
Due de Sully, and died in 1659, at the age of ninety-three years. The
arrogance of this lady was so notorious that it became the subject of
one of those biting epigrams for which Henri IV. had rendered him-
self famous ; for it is on record that upon an occasion when he was a
Marie De Medicis 7
to offer to the Regent and her son his sincere condo-
lence upon their irreparable misfortune. *
The Due d'Epernon, after having stationed the
guards at the palace, was instructed by the Queen to
proceed at once to the Parliament, which was then as-
sembled, and to inform its member that her Majesty
had in her possession a decree signed and sealed by the
late King, conferring upon herself the regency of the
kingdom during the minority of her son ; entreating
them at once to ratify the appointment in order to en-
sure the public tranquillity. She also privately
despatched a messenger to the President de Harlay,
whom she knew to be attached to her interests, and to
be at once able and zealous, to instruct him to assemble
the Court without delay, and to use all his influence to
enforce her rights. De Harlay, who on receipt of her
message was confined to his bed by gout, immediately
caused himself to be dressed, and proceeded in a chair
to the Augustine monastery ; where he had scarcely
arrived when the Due d'Epernon entered the hall, and
declared the will of the late King, and the confidence
felt by the Queen that the Parliament would, without
repugnance, recognise her right to the dignity thus
conferred upon her.f This they immediately did ; and
guest at the table of the finance minister, he drank her health, ac-
companied by the following impromptu :
" Je bois & toi, Sully ;
Mais j'ai failli ;
Je devois dire a vous, adorable Duchesse,
Pour boire a vos appas
Faut mettre chapeau bas."
Dictionnaire des Hommes Illustres.
* Bassompierre, Mem. p. 72.
f Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils, vol. i. p. 55.
8 The Life of
owing to the absence of the Prince de Conde and the
Comte de Soissons, both of whom aspired to the high
office about to be filled by Marie de Medicis, without
the slightest opposition or disturbance.
This happy intelligence was conveyed to the Queen
by M. d'Epernon, who returned to the palace accom-
panied by one of the members of the Parliament, when
the latter, after having been presented to his royal
mistress, on whose right hand sat the young King be-
wildered by what was passing about him, bent his
knee before their Majesties, and tendered to Marie a
scroll, which having been returned by her to the
accredited envoy of the supreme court, was read
aloud as follows :
"THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, having represented to
the Parliament in full assembly that the king having
just expired by the act of a most cruel, most inhuman,
and most detestable regicide committed upon his sa-
cred person, it became necessary to provide for the
safety of the reigning monarch and of his kingdom,
required that an order should be promptly issued con-
cerning his safety and that of the state, which could
only be ruled and governed by the Queen during the
minority of the said Lord her son ; and that it should
please the said Court to proclaim her Regent, in order
that it might, through her, administer the affairs of
the realm ;
be subject bavtncj been fculg considered, the said
Court declared, and still declares, the said Queen, the
King's mother, Regent of France, to be entrusted
with the administration of all matters of state during
Marie De Medicis 9
the minority of the said Lord her son, with all power
and authority.
" Done in Parliament, this I4th of May, 1610.
(Signed) " Du TILLET." *
During the course of the day guards had been sent
to the residence of the several foreign ambassadors, in
order to protect them from the violence of the popu-
lace, and especially to that of the Spanish minister,
who was peculiarly obnoxious to the Parisians. The
governors of provinces and fortresses who chanced to
be at that moment sojourning in the capital were
ordered to repair without delay to their several com-
mands, to maintain tranquillity within their separate
jurisdictions ; and, save the audible lamentations which
throughout the night broke the silence of the mourning
city, all was calm and quiet, except in the immediate
neighbourhood of the Augustine monastery, where the
Attorney-General had authorised the workmen to pre-
pare the great hall for the reception of the young King,
and where the necessary preparations for his presence
on the following day were continued until dawn.f
The parliamentary envoy having quitted the palace,
and the crowd of nobles, by whom its spacious halls
and galleries had been filled, having retired, Marie was
at length left at liberty to indulge her grief, rendered
only the more poignant from the constraint to which
she had been so long subjected. Her first impulse was
to command that the bed of the young sovereign should
* Extracted from the Parliamentary Registers in the Memoirs of
Phelipeaux de Pontchartrain, Secretary of the Orders of Marie de
Medicis.
f L'Etoile, vol. iv. p. 49. '
io The Life of
be removed to her own chamber, and this done, she
abandoned herself to all the bitterness of her sorrow.
She had, indeed, legitimate cause for tears. With
a son still almost a child, ambitious nobles jealous of
her power, and a great nation looking towards herself
for support and consolation, she might well shrink as
she contemplated the arduous task which had so sud-
denly devolved upon her. Moreover, death is the
moral crucible which cleanses from all dross the mem-
ories of those who are submitted to its unerring test ;
and in such an hour she could not but forget the faults
of the husband in dwelling upon the greatness of the
monarch. Who, then, shall venture to follow her
through the reveries of that fatal night ? Who shall
dare, unrebuked, to assert that the ambition of the
woman quenched the affection of the wife? or that
Marie, in the excess of her self-gratulation, forgot the
price at which her delegated greatness had been pur-
chased? That some have been found bold enough to
do this says little for their innate knowledge of human
nature. The presence of death and the stillness of
night are fearful chasteners of worldly pride, and with
these the daughter of the Medici was called upon to
contend. Her position demanded mercy at the hands
of her historians, and should not have sought it in vain.
From one reproach it is, however, impossible to ex-
onerate her, and that one was the repugnance which
she evinced to encourage any investigation into the
real influence under which Ravaillac had committed
the murder of the King. In vain did she receive com-
munications involving individuals who were openly
named ; she discouraged every* report ; and although
Marie De Medicis 1 1
among these the Due d'Epernon made a conspicuous
figure, she treated the accusation with indifference,
and continued to display towards him an amount of
confidence and favour to which he had never pre-
viously attained.
Indignant at this extraordinary supineness, the
President de Harlay only increased his own efforts to
unravel so painful a mystery; and refusing all cre-
dence to the assertion of the regicide that he had been
self-prompted an assertion to which he had perse-
veringly adhered amid torture, and even unto death,
with a firmness truly marvellous under the circum-
stances the zealous magistrate carefully examined
every document that was laid before him, and interro-
gated their authors with a pertinacity which created
great alarm among the accused parties, of whom none
were so prominent as Madame de Verneuil and the
Due d'Epernon.
The latter, indeed, considered it expedient to wait
upon the commissioners appointed by the Parliament
to investigate these reports, in order to urge the con-
demnation of their authors ; these being, as he asserted,
not only guilty of defaming innocent persons, but also
of exciting a dangerous feeling among the people, at all
times too anxious to seek the disgrace and ruin of their
superiors. He found, however, little sympathy among
those whom he sought to conciliate ; and on addressing
himself to the President, whom he entreated to inform
him of the details of the accusation made against himself,
that magistrate, without any effort to disguise his feeling
of repulsion towards the applicant, coldly replied, " I
am, Sir, not your prosecutor, but your judge."
12 The Life of
" I ask this of you as my friend," was the retort of
the Duke.
" I have no friend," said the uncompromising minis-
ter. " I shall do you justice, and with that you must
content yourself."
So uncourteous a reception excited the indignation
of M. d'Epernon, who forthwith hastened to the
Louvre to complain to the Regent of the insult to
which he had been subjected; and Marie had no
sooner been apprised of the affair than, with a want of
caution highly detrimental to her own reputation, she de-
spatched a nobleman of her household to M. de Harlay,
to inform him that she had just learnt with extreme
regret that he had failed in respect to the Duke, and
that she must request that in future he would exhibit
more deference towards a person of his quality and merit.
This somewhat abrupt injunction, addressed to the first
magistrate of the kingdom, and under circumstances so
peculiar, only tended, however, to arouse M. de Harlay
to an assumption of the dignity attached to his office,
and he replied with haughty severity to the individual
who had been charged with the royal message :
" During fifty years I have been a judge, and for the
last thirty I have had the honour to be the head of the
sovereign Court of Peers of this kingdom ; and I never
before have seen either duke, lord, or peer, or any
other man whatever might be his quality, accused of
the crime of lese-majest'e, as M. d'Epernon now is, who
came into the presence of his judges booted and
spurred, and wearing his sword at his side. Do not
fail to tell the Queen this." *
* Mtm. pour VHist. de France , vol. ii. p. 359.
Marie De Medicis 13
So marked an exhibition of the opinion entertained
by the Parliament on the subject of the complicity of
the Duke in the crime then under investigation, did not
fail to produce a powerful effect upon all to whom it
became known, but it nevertheless failed to shake the
confidence of Marie de Medicis in the innocence of a
courtier who had, in the short space of a few days, by
his energy and devotion, rendered himself essential to
her ; while thus much must be admitted in extenuation
of her conduct, reprehensible as it appeared, that every
rumour relative to the death of her royal consort im-
mediately reached her, and that two of these especially
appeared more credible than the guilt of a noble, who
could, apparently, reap no benefit from the commission
of so foul and dangerous a crime. In the first place,
the Spanish Cabinet had been long labouring to under-
mine the power of France, in which they had failed
through the energy and wisdom of the late King,
whose opposition to the alliance which they had pro-
posed between the Dauphin and their own Infanta
had, moreover, wounded their pride, and disappointed
their projects ; and there were not wanting many who
accused the agents of Philip of having instigated the
assassination ; while another rumour, less generally dis-
seminated, ascribed the act of Ravaillac to the impulse
of personal revenge, elicited by the circumstance that
Henry had first dishonoured and subsequently aban-
doned a sister to whom he was devotedly attached.
That M. d'Epernon was politic enough to impress
upon the mind of the Queen the extreme probability
of either or both of these facts, there can be little
doubt, as it would appear from the testimony of several
14 The Life of
witnesses that the intention of the murderer was known
for some time before the act was committed; and
nothing could be more rational than the belief that if
the agents of Spain were indeed seeking to secure a
trusty tool for the execution of so dark a deed, they
would rather entrust it to one who could by the same
means satiate his own thirst for private revenge, than
to a mere bravo who perilled life and salvation simply
from the greed of gain.
Day by day, moreover, the ministers were over-
whelmed by accusations which pointed at different
individuals. Those who had opposed the return of
the Jesuits to France openly declared that they were
the actual assassins ; while even in the provinces several
persons were arrested who had predicted before its oc-
currence the death of the King, and the means by
which it was to be accomplished ; and finally the affair
became so involved that, with the exception of the
woman De Comans to whom allusion has been elsewhere
made, and who was condemned to imprisonment for life,
all the suspected persons were finally acquitted.*
At eight o'clock on the morning succeeding the as-
sassination of the King all the members of the different
Chambers assembled in their scarlet robes and capes,
the presidents wearing their cloaks and mortar-shaped
caps ; and half an hour afterwards the Chancellor, ac-
companied by several masters of the Court of Requests,
and dressed from head to foot in black velvet, took his
place below the First President in the great hall of the
Augustine monastery, where the young King was to
hold his Bed of Justice, the ordinary place of meeting be-
* Mercure Franfais, 1611, p. 17.
Marie De Medicis 15
ing still encumbered with the costly preparations which
had been made for the state-reception of the Queen.
This ceremonial was essential to the legal tenure of the
regency by his mother, which required the ratification
of the sovereign ; and his assent in the presence of his
princes, dukes, peers, and officers of the Crown, to her
assumption of entire and complete control over his own
education, and the administration of the government
during his minority, as well as his approval of the decree
delivered on the previous day by the Parliament.*
Then arrived in rapid succession the Due de Ma-
yenne, the Connetable de Montmorency, the cardinals,
prelates, and other great dignitaries ; who were finally
succeeded by the King himself, habited in a suit of
violet velvet, and surrounded and followed by a numer-
ous retinue of princes, dukes, nobles, and high officers
of the Court. Louis himself was mounted on a white
palfrey, but all the members of his suite, whatever
their rank, were on foot. The Queen came next in
her coach, attended by the Princesses of the Blood and
the other great ladies of her household ; not as she had
anticipated only two days previously, blazing with
jewels and clad in royal robes, but covered with an
ample mourning drapery of black crape.
The necessary ceremonies having been observed, the
King at length took his place upon the Bed of Justice,
having the Queen upon his right hand ; while below
their Majesties were seated the Prince de Conti, the
Comte d'Enghien, who represented his father, M. de
Soissons, the Due de Guise, the Due de Montmorency,
the Due d'Epernon, the Due de Sully, all peers of
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils % vol. i. p. 56.
1 6 The Life of
France, and the Marechaux de Brissac,* de Lavardin,
and de Bois-Dauphin ; f while the other dignitaries of
the State and Church were arranged upon either hand
of the young monarch, and the body of the hall was
occupied by the members of the several Courts.
When all had taken their places, and silence was
restored, the Queen, rising from her seat, and throwing
back her veil, proceeded to address the assembly, but
for a time her voice was inaudible, and choked with
sobs. At length, however, she mastered her emotion,
and with a gesture full of mournful dignity, she besought
all present to continue to her son and to herself the
same loyalty and devotion which they had exhibited
towards the monarch of whom the state had been so
cruelly bereft; assuring them that it should be her
study to induce the King to be guided by their coun-
sels in all things, and imploring of them to afford him
such advice as should on all occasions be compatible
with his own dignity and the welfare of the country
over which he was called upon to rule.
Short as was this harangue, it was not without con-
siderable difficulty that she accomplished its utterance.
More than once, suffocated by her grief, she was com-
pelled to pause until she could regain her voice ; and
when at its close she drew her veil once more over her
* Charles de Cosse, Comte de Brissac, Governor of Paris, in the
year 1594 delivered up that city to Henri IV., by whom he was on
that occasion raised to the dignity of Marshal of France. In 1626
Louis XIII. erected his estate into a duchy-peerage, and in the fol-
lowing year he died Due de Brissac.
f Urbain de Laval, Marquis de Bois-Dauphin, was one of the four
Marshals of France created by the Due de Mayenne whose rank was
subsequently confirmed by Henri IV. He was one of the original
chiefs of the League.
Marie De Medicis 17
head, and prepared to leave the hall, the assembly rose
simultaneously, and implored of her to honour the
meeting by her presence until it should be dissolved.
Exhausted and wretched, Marie strove to utter her
thanks, and to retire ; but the opposition offered to this
resolution was so great and so unanimous that she was
at length prevailed upon to resume her seat ; and she had
no sooner done so than Louis, raising for a moment the
cap from his head, in his turn addressed the Court.
The reply of the Chancellor was pregnant with
wisdom and loyalty ; in it he assured the King of the
fidelity and devotion of all ranks of his subjects, and
confirmed the Queen in her regency ; after which the
Attorney-General having spoken at great length to
the same effect, the royal and august personages rose
and returned to the Louvre in the same order as they
had observed on their arrival, followed throughout the
whole distance by the acclamations of the citizens, and
reiterated cries of " Vive le Roi ! " *
An hour or two subsequently Marie de Medicis
accorded an audience to the Due de Sully, who had,
with considerable difficulty, been induced by M. de
Guise to present himself at the palace, to offer his
condolences to the young sovereign and his august
mother ; | and he was accordingly introduced into the
private apartment of the Queen, where he found her
surrounded by the ladies of her household, and ab-
sorbed in grief. As he was announced she burst into a
passion of tears, and for a time was unable to welcome
him ; but having at length succeeded in controlling her
* Matthieu, Hist, des Dernier s Troubles, 1610, pp. 446-453.
| Bassompierre, Mem. p. 72.
1 8 The Life of
emotion, she desired that the King should be brought
to her; and he had no sooner appeared than she
pointed out to him the Due de Sully, when the young
monarch threw himself into his arms, and loaded him
with the most affectionate caresses.
" You do well, my son," sobbed Marie, as she re-
marked the emotion of the boy ; " you must love M.
de Sully, who was one of the best and most faithful
servants of the King your father, and who will, I trust,
continue to serve you with the same zeal." *
The interview was a lengthy one, and the urbanity
of the Queen produced so powerful an effect upon the
mind of the finance minister that he ceased to apprehend
any diminution of his influence, and accordingly sent to
countermand the return of the Due de Rohan, who had
already advanced a day's march towards the capital.f
Meanwhile the Dowager-Princesse de Conde had
hastened to inform her son of the assassination of the
King, and to urge his instant return to the capital ; a
summons to which he replied by forwarding letters of
condolence both to the King and the Regent, contain-
ing the most earnest assurances of his loyalty and de-
votion alike to their personal interests and to those of
the nation ; and declaring that he only awaited their
commands to return to Court, in order to serve them
in any manner which they might see fit to suggest.
The Comte de Soissons, who had left Paris only a
few days before the coronation of the Queen, for the
reason elsewhere stated, and who had retired to his
estate near Chartres, was invited by a messenger
despatched by Marie to return without delay to the
* Sully, Mini. vol. viii. p. 30. f Bassompierre, Mhn. p. 72.
Marie De Medicis 19
capital, where the interests of the state required his
presence. This command he prepared to obey with
alacrity; but his zeal was greatly damped when, on
arriving at St. Cloud, he ascertained that the Queen
had been already recognised by the Parliament as
Regent of the kingdom, and that her dignity had been
publicly confirmed by the young sovereign. On first
receiving this intelligence his rage was without bounds ;
he even questioned the legality of an arrangement of
this description made without his sanction, he being,
during the absence of the Prince de Conde, the first
subject in France after the Queen herself; and then,
moderating the violence of his expressions, he com-
plahied that by the precipitation of the Parliament, he
had been deprived of the privilege of signifying his
assent to the nomination, as he had previously pledged
himself to do. He next questioned the right of the
Parliament to interfere in so important a measure;
declaring that their fiat was null and void, as the
Chambers had no authority to organise a government,
and still less to appoint a regency, which could only
be effectively done by a royal testament, a declaration
made before death, or by an assembly of the States-
General. He, moreover, insisted that the case was
without precedent ; that the power of the Parliament
was restricted to the administration of justice ; and
that while it was desirable that the mothers of princes,
heirs to the throne, should be entrusted with the care
of their education, the government of the country
belonged by right to the Princes of the Blood, to the
exclusion of all other claimants.*
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fits, vol. i. pp. 57-59.
2O The Life of
Every effort was made to calm his anger ; and it is
probable that the representations of his personal friends
convinced him of the impolicy of further opposition ;
although he so long delayed his arrival in the capital
that he could only explain his tardiness by declaring
that the sudden intelligence of the King's murder had
so seriously affected his health that he was unable to
obey the summons of the Queen until the i6th of
May, when he was met at the gate of the city by the
Due d'Epernon, at the head of a large body of the
nobility.
The pomp in which he reached Paris, however,
sufficed to prove that he was totally unprepared for the
existing posture of affairs, and that he had taken every
precaution to enforce his claims, should he find the
public mind disposed to admit them. His retinue con-
sisted of three hundred horse, and he travelled with all
the pretensions of royalty. A few words, nevertheless,
sufficed to dispel the illusion under which he laboured,
and once convinced that the supreme authority of the
Queen had been both recognised and ratified, he had
no other alternative save to offer his submission ; which
he did, moreover, with so good a grace that Marie be-
stowed upon him, in token of welcome, the govern-
ment of Normandy, which had hitherto been held by
the Dauphin ; while a short time subsequently, when
he manifested fresh symptoms of discontent, the Due
de Bouillon was instructed to inquire by what means
he could be conciliated ; upon which he demanded a
pension of fifty thousand livres, the reversion of the
government of Dauphiny for his son, who had not at
that time attained his fifth year, and the sum of two
Marie De Medicis 21
hundred thousand crowns with which to pay a debt to
the Duke of Savoy, contracted on the duchy of Mon-
calieri belonging to his wife. These exorbitant claims
were at once admitted, and M. de Soissons forthwith
declared himself the firm ally of the Queen.*
All the cities and provinces of the kingdom ha-
stened to despatch deputations to the capital, to present
their assurances of respectful homage to the young
sovereign, and to recognise the regency of his mother ;
and these were shortly afterwards succeeded by the
plenipotentiaries and envoys of the different European
states, whose condolences and congratulations were
graciously acknowledged by Marie and her ministers
in the name of the new monarch.
On the 1 8th of the month the regicide Ravaillac was
put upon his trial, during which he exhibited a stoical
indifference that filled his judges with astonishment.
Far from seeking to evade the penalty of his crime,
he admitted it with a calmness and composure per-
fectly unshaken ; and on the 2/th his sentence was pro-
nounced and executed with such barbarity that we shall
avoid the detail.
On the following day the Due de Bouillon arrived
in Paris, and proceeded directly to the palace to kiss
the hand of the Queen-Regent and take the oath of
fidelity to the King, by both of whom he was warmly
welcomed ; Marie being anxious to rally about her all
the high nobility, especially such as had formerly
exhibited symptoms of discontent. M. de Bouillon
had not, however, been long in the capital when a
quarrel arose between himself and the Due de Sully,
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils, vol. i. pp. 83, 84.
22 The Life of
whom he accused of arrogance and presumption, re-
minding him that he had not always been in the
exalted position which he then occupied, while as
regarded himself, he was born to higher fortunes than
he had yet attained. The anger of both parties was so
much excited during the interview, that great appre-
hensions were entertained of the result of so serious a
misunderstanding ; nor was it until the Due de Guise
had exerted all his influence with both parties that a
partial reconciliation took place, which was subse-
quently completed through the good sense of the two
nobles themselves, who in their cooler moments re-
flected upon the injury which must accrue alike to the
national interests and to those of the reformed re-
ligion, of which they both were adherents, should they
permit their private feelings to interfere with their
public duties.
On the second day after the interment of the King
the Regent proceeded in state to Notre-Dame, in order
to assist at a solemn service which she had caused to
be celebrated for the repose of his soul. The cortege
consisted of seven coaches, containing herself, the
Princesses of the Blood, the Duchesses, and other great
ladies of her household, under a strong escort of guards
and harquebusiers, commanded by M. de la Chataign-
eraie. All the principal nobility, with the exception
of the Comte de Soissons, attended by their several
retainers, were already mounted when she descended
to the court of the palace, and were awaiting her with-
out the gates, when considerable excitement was
created by the Due d'Epernon, who, detaching him-
self from his followers, rode to the side of her carriage.
Marie De Medicis 23
As no Prince of the Blood had ever assumed this
privilege, not even the Guises, lofty as were their pre-
tensions, a general murmur arose among the assembled
nobles ; but M. d'Epernon, regardless of this demon-
stration of displeasure, and aware that he had already
obtained considerable influence over the mind of the
Queen, retained his position, to the extreme indigna-
tion of the other Princes.*
The Regent and her retinue first proceeded to the
Archbishop's palace, whence the procession was formed
to the cathedral. At its head walked the Princes of
the Blood then present at the Court, and the principal
nobles, with the exception of the Prince de Conti and
the Comte de Soissons, who supported the Queen,
whom they upheld by each placing a hand beneath
her arms. The Dowager Princess of Conde, the
Princesse de Conti, and the Comtesse de Soissons bore
her mourning train, which was seven French ells in
length; and after them came Madame and the ex-
Queen Marguerite, both habited in the deepest black ;
who were in their turn followed by all the great ladies
of the Court and household.f At the conclusion of
the service, the Regent returned to the Louvre ; and
in the afternoon, attended as she had been on the pre-
vious occasion, she proceeded to perform her devotions
in the church of St. Victor, amid the respectful saluta-
tions of the assembled populace.
The grief of the citizens still continued unabated,
but it was apparent that a struggle for preeminence
had already commenced among the higher class. The
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. p. 155.
f Mercure Franfais, 1610, vol. i. p. 492.
24 The Life of
Regent, whose affliction was as brief as it had been
violent, seemed suddenly endowed with a new nature.
Her ambition grew with her responsibility, and instead
of participating in political questions as she had previ-
ously done with undisguised reluctance, she entered
eagerly into public affairs, and sought earnestly to es-
tablish her authority; an attempt in which she was
seconded by the principal ministers of state, who at
once felt that by supporting her power they were con-
solidating their own.
M. de Conde, the first Prince of the Blood, was still
in Italy ; his brother the Prince de Conti, being totally
deaf and partially dumb, was incapable of government ;
the Comte de Soissons was at variance with both ; and
the Due de Nevers was commanding the army in
Champagne, until he should be superseded by the ar-
rival of the King in person, according to the arrange-
ment made by that unhappy monarch before the
departure of the troops from France ; while the Prince
de Joinville, who, it may be remembered, had been
banished from the Court for his intrigue with Madame
de Verneuil, and who had been travelling in England
and Germany, and afterwards retired to Lorraine until
his brother the Due de Guise should be enabled to pro-
cure his recall, was also absent. To each and all of
these Princes Marie, who at once felt the necessity of
their immediate presence in order to give dignity and
stability to her position, hastened to forward messen-
gers to request their instant return ; a summons which
was promptly obeyed by the Due de Nevers and all
the principal officers under his command, as well as by
M. de Joinville, who also received a pressing letter
Marie De Medicis 25
from the Due de Guise, enjoining him to profit without
delay by so admirable an opportunity of regaining his
forfeited favour. But whatever were the haste with
which all endeavoured to reach the Court, it still re-
quired time for them to do so ; * and meanwhile the
other great nobles were anxious to shake off the con-
trol to which they had been subjected during the
previous reign. Individual hatred came to the assist-
ance of personal ambition, and those whose talent
enabled them to acquire influence at Court began to
exercise it no less zealously in the ruin of others than
in their own aggrandisement.f
The Prince de Conde had no sooner forwarded to
the Queen the letter to which allusion has been already
made, than he received a pressing invitation to return
to France, for which purpose he prepared to leave
Milan ; a step so obnoxious to Spain that the Conde
de Fuentes spared no pains in dissuading him from its
adoption. He represented in earnest terms the excep-
tional position of the Prince, whose rank as the first
subject of the realm justified him in aspiring to a
throne filled by a mere boy, who could be considered
only as a puppet in the hands of an ambitious woman ;
following up his arguments by an offer of efficient aid
from his own monarch to enable M. de Conde to en-
force his pretensions ; and while he was thus endeav-
ouring to shake the loyalty of his guest, the Spanish
Ambassador at the Court of Rome was engaged with
equal zeal in seeking to impress the necessity of the
same policy upon Paul V. Both were, however, des-
* Matthieu, Hist, des Demurs Troubles, book iii. p. 454.
f Mem. de Henri, Due de Rohan, 6dit. Petitot.
26 The Life of
tined to fail in their efforts, the Sovereign-Pontiff de-
clining to interfere in so extreme a case, and the Prince
resolutely refusing to adopt the course thus treacher-
ously suggested.
At Brussels the persecution was renewed by the
Spanish minister, seconded by the Papal Nuncio, Car-
dinal Bentivoglio,* whose zeal for the interests of Spain
caused him to overlook the wishes of the Pope. All,
however, proved unavailing ; and the Prince, after a
brief sojourn in the Belgian capital, finally departed for
Paris ; whither his wife had previously repaired, accom-
panied by her stepsister the Comtesse d'Auvergne,
and where she had been warmly and honourably wel-
comed by the Queen.f
Meanwhile, it having been considered advisable that
the King should make a declaration on the Edicts of
Pacification, it became previously necessary to form a
council, under whose advice the Queen-Regent might
proceed to act. When preparing to quit France,
Henri IV. had drawn up a list of fifteen persons whom
he had selected for this purpose, and had decided that
every question should be determined by a majority of
votes, the Queen herself commanding only one vote ;
the death of the King had, however, unfortunately
tended to render the execution of his purpose impossi-
*The Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio, born in 1579, was descended
from an illustrious Bolognese family, who had formerly been the
sovereigns of that state, and had produced alike great warriors, re-
nowned poets, and celebrated prelates. He was himself a distin-
guished diplomatist and an able writer. Literature is indebted to his
pen for the History of the Civil Wars of Flanders, sundry Memoirs,
and a Narrative of Flanders. He died in 1644.
| Mem. de la Regence de Marie de Medicis, pp. 5-14. D'Estrees,
Mem., edition Michaud, pp. 375, 376.
Marie De Medicis 27
ble, all the Princes and great officers of the Crown as-
serting their right to admission, and resolutely main-
taining their claim.
The Comte de Soissons urged his privilege of birth,
and haughtily declined to advance any other plea;
while the Connetable de Montmorency loudly declared
that no council could legally be formed from which he
was excluded ; and the Cardinal de Joyeuse maintained
the same argument. As regarded the Guises, who
affected at this juncture a perfect equality with the
house of Bourbon, their eagerness to hold office de-
feated its own object, the Due de Mayenne and the
Due de Guise equally declaring their right to assist in
the government of the kingdom ; while it was consid-
ered as incompatible with the interests of the Crown
that two members of the same family should be ad-
mitted into so important an assembly. The Due de
Nevers, who disputed precedency with the Guises, also
came forward as a candidate ; while the Dues de
Bouillon and d'Epernon, who were at open feud, and
each ambitious of power, heightened the difficulty by
arrogantly asserting their personal claims. To receive
both was impossible, as from their known enmity noth-
ing but opposition could be anticipated ; and thus, upon
the threshold of her reign, Marie de Medicis found
herself trammelled by the very individuals from whom
she had hoped for assistance and support.
To select between the two last-mentioned nobles was
difficult as well as dangerous ; the position of M.
d'Epernon as colonel-general of the infantry, and his
immense possessions, rendering him a formidable ad-
versary ; while the Due de Bouillon was still more
28 The Life of
powerful from his occupation of Sedan, his intelligence
with foreign states, and his influence over his co-
religionists. Moreover, Marie was no longer in a
position to oppose the pretensions of the Due d'Eper-
non, even had she felt it expedient to do so ; the un-
limited confidence which she had reposed in him since
the death of her royal consort having invested him
with a factitious importance, by which he was enabled
to secure a strong party in his favour upon every ques-
tion in which he was personally interested. She had
assigned to his use a suite of apartments in the Louvre,
declaring that his continual presence and advice were
essential to her ; and, in addition to this signal favour,
she communicated to him the contents of all the des-
patches which she received, and followed his advice
upon all matters of state as implicitly as though she
considered it to be unanswerable.
His credit at Court was also greatly increased by the
Comte de Soissons, who, having ascertained the extent
of his favour with the Regent, spared no pains to se-
cure his friendship before the arrival of the Prince de
Conde, believing that the support of one who was all-
powerful for the moment might be of essential service
in counteracting the ambitious views of so formidable
a rival ; and, moreover, advantageous in assisting him
to accomplish the marriage of his son Louis de Bour-
bon with Mademoiselle de Montpensier, an alliance
which was the great object of his ambition.*
Thus the Due d'Epernon was not only powerful in
himself, but found his pretensions recognised and sanc-
tioned by a Prince of the Blood, an advantage of
* Hist, de la Vie du Due d'Epernon, pp. 248, 249.
Marie De Medicis 29
which he was not slow to appreciate the value ; and he
consequently listened to the expostulations which were
addressed to him by those who dreaded the effects of
his interference in state affairs with a quiet indiffer-
ence that satisfied them of their utter inutility.
But while the Queen was bewildered by these con-
flicting claims, her ministers, who were anxious to
retain the power in their own hands, were not dis-
pleased to see the number of candidates for place daily
increase. They were aware that on the arrival of the
Prince de Conde he must necessarily take his seat in
the council, while it would be equally impossible to
exclude the Comte de Soissons, the Due de Mont-
morency, or the Cardinal de Joyeuse ; and they felt
that nothing could more effectually limit the power of
these great dignitaries than the admission of so large a
number as must tend to diminish their influence over
the Queen, and to create a confusion in the manage-
ment of public affairs which would necessarily render
her more dependent upon their own wisdom and ex-
perience. Under this persuasion they consequently
impressed upon her the absolute necessity of satisfying
every claimant ; and a council was accordingly formed
which was more noisy than efficient ; and where, al-
though each was free to deliver his opinion, the min-
isters were careful, in their secret audiences of the
Queen, during which they exposed their own views
and sentiments, to carry out their preconceived
measures.*
The struggle which the late King had foretold be-
* Mem. de la Regence, pp. 6-8. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 7, 8. D'Es-
trees, Mem. p. 376.
30 The Life of
tween the Regent and her son had, meanwhile, already
commenced. The character of Louis XIII. was, from
his earliest boyhood, at once saturnine and obstinate ;
and thus, aware of the importance which the Queen
attached to the exercises of religion, he commenced
his predetermined opposition to her will by refusing to
observe them. Remonstrances and arguments were
alike unavailing ; the boy-King declined to listen to
either; and Marie ultimately commanded that he
should undergo the chastisement of the rod. The
order was given, but no one volunteered obedience ;
the vengeance of the man might hereafter compensate
for the mortification of the child; and the son of
Marie de Medicis, stolid and gloomy though he was,
had already imbibed a full sense of the respect due to
his sovereign rank.
" How now, M. de Souvre ! " * exclaimed the Queen ;
" is the frown of a wayward boy more dangerous than
the displeasure of a mother ? I insist that the King
shall undergo the chastisement which he has so richly
merited."
Thus urged, the unwilling governor was compelled
not only to lay his hands upon the sacred person of
royalty, but also to prepare to execute the peremptory
command of his irritated mistress; and the young
Louis no sooner perceived the impossibility of escape
than he coldly submitted to the infliction, merely say-
ing, " I suppose it must be so, M. de Souvre, since it is
the will of the Queen ; but be careful not to strike too
hard."
An hour or two afterwards, when he paid his usual
* M. de Souvre was the governor of Louis XIII.
Marie De Medicis 31
visit to the Regent, her Majesty rose on his entrance,
according to the established etiquette, and made him a
profound curtsey. " I should prefer, Madame," said
the young Prince, " fewer curtseys and fewer flog-
gings." *
At the commencement of June intelligence reached
the Court of the death of the Archbishop of Rouen,
the natural brother of the late King, and it was no
sooner authenticated than the Regent hastened to be-
stow his abbey of St. Florent upon M. de Souvre, and
that of Marmoutier, one of the most wealthy and
beautiful in France, upon the brother of her favourite
Leonora,t an unhappy being who was not only de-
formed in person, but so wholly deficient in intellect
that every effort even to teach him to read had proved
ineffectual. So abject was he, indeed, that Concini
had been careful never to allow him to come into con-
tact with Henri IV. lest he should be banished from
the Court ; and this ill-advised donation consequently
excited great disapprobation, and elicited fresh mur-
murs against the Italian followers of the Queen.
These were, moreover, augmented by another cir-
cumstance which immediately supervened. A report
was spread of the decease of M. de Boe'ce, the Gov-
ernor of Bourg-en-Bresse, a brave and faithful soldier,
who had rendered good service to his country ; and
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. pp. 97, 98.
f Stefano GaligaT, known from his extreme ugliness as " the baboon
of the Court." When he went to take possession of his abbey the
monks refused to receive him as their abbot, alleging that they had
been accustomed to be governed by princes, and not by carpenters like
himself, who had been seen to handle the plane and the saw. Stefano
Galigai withdrew into Italy after the execution of his relatives.
32 The Life of
the Queen, urged by her favourite, was imprudent
enough, without awaiting proper confirmation of the
rumour, to confer the government upon Concini, whose
arrogance, fostered as it was by the indulgence of his
royal mistress, was already becoming intolerable to the
native nobility. This fact was, however, no sooner
made known to M. de Boe'ce, who had not, as it subse-
quently appeared, even laboured under indisposition,
than he addressed a letter of respectful expostulation
to the Regent, in which he expressed his concern at
the necessity of interfering with the pleasure of her
Majesty in the rapid disposal of his government, and
assured her that he was still able and anxious to dis-
charge the duties of the trust confided to him by the
late King ; informing her, moreover, that he had in his
possession a grant from her royal husband, bestowing
the survivorship of his appointment upon his son, of
which he solicited the confirmation by herself, feeling
convinced that she could never be served by a more
zealous or able subject.*
Concini was accordingly divested of his government
as abruptly as he had acquired it ; reluctantly resign-
ing the coveted dignity amid the laughter and epigrams
of the whole Court.
In addition to these extraordinary instances of im-
prudence, Marie de Medicis had also compromised
herself with the people by the reluctance which she
evinced to investigate the circumstances connected
with the murder of her husband. Ravaillac had
suffered, as we have shown, and that too in the most
frightful manner, the consequences of his crime;
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. pp. 143, 144.
Marie De Medicis 33
persisting to the last in his assertion that he had
acted independently and had no accomplices ; but his
testimony, although signed in blood and torture, had
failed to convince the nation which had been so sud-
denly and cruelly bereft of its monarch ; and among
all classes sullen rumours were rife which involved
some of the highest and proudest in the land.*
Among these the Due d'Epernon, as already stated,
stood out so prominently that he had been compelled
to justify himself, while the favour which he had so
suddenly acquired turned the public attention towards
the Queen herself.
Suspicions of her complicity, however ill-founded,
had, indeed, existed even previously to this period, for
Rambure, when speaking of the visit of Sully to the
Louvre on the day after the assassination, a visit in
which he professes to have accompanied him, says
without any attempt at disguise, " The Queen received
us with great affability, and even mingled her tears
and sobs with ours, although we were both aware of
the satisfaction that she felt in being thus delivered
from the King, of whose death she was not considered
to be wholly guiltless, and of becoming her own abso-
lute mistress. . . . She then addressed several
other observations to the Duke, during which time he
wept bitterly, while she occasionally shed a few tears
of a very different description." f
These assertions, vague as they are, and utterly base-
less as they must be considered by all unprejudiced
minds, nevertheless suffice to prove that the ringer of
* Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 5.
f Rambure, unpublished Mem. vol. vi. pp. 44, 45.
34 The Life of
blame had already been pointed towards the unfortu-
nate Marie ; an unhappy circumstance which doubled
the difficulties of her position, and should have tended
to arouse her caution ; but the haughty and impetuous
nature of the Tuscan Princess could not bend to any
compromise, and thus she recklessly augmented the
amount of dislike which was growing up against her.
On the 8th of July the ex-Queen Marguerite gave
a magnificent entertainment to the Court at her beauti-
ful estate of Issy ; on her return from whence to the
capital, the Regent mounted a Spanish jennet, and,
surrounded by her guards, galloped at full speed to
the faubourg, where she dismounted and entered her
coach, still environed by armed men. As she had
her foot upon the step of the carriage, a poor woman
who stood among the crowd exclaimed with an earnest-
ness which elicited general attention, " Would to God,
Madame, that as much care had been taken of our
poor King ; we should not then be where we are ! "
The Queen paused for a moment, and turned pale ;
but immediately recovering her self-possession, she
took her seat, and bowed affably to her people. The
greeting on their part was, however, cold and reluctant.
They were still weeping over the bier of their mur-
dered sovereign, and they could not brook the apparent
levity with which his widow had already entered into
the idle gaieties of the Court.*
" Only five months after Henry's assassination," says
Rambure, " such of the nobles as were devoted to his
memory expressed among themselves their indignation
at the bearing of the Queen ; who, although com-
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. p. 157.
Marie De Medicis 35
pelled at intervals to assume some semblance of grief,
was more frequently to be seen with a smiling counte-
nance, and constantly followed the hunt on horseback,
attended by a suite of four or five hundred princes
and nobles." *
In order to avert all discontent among the people,
the ministers had induced the Regent not only to
diminish the duty upon salt, a boon for which they
were always grateful, but also to delay the enforce-
ment of several obnoxious commissions, and to revoke
no less than fifty-four edicts which had been issued for
the imposition of new taxes ; while presents in money
were made to the most influential of the Protestant
party, and the Edict of Nantes was confirmed.
Such was the state of the French Court on the re-
turn of the Prince de Conde, whose arrival had been
anxiously anticipated by his personal friends and ad-
herents, and strongly urged by the Regent herself; but
when she ascertained that a large body of nobles had
gone as far as Senlis to receive him, and that among
these were all the Princes of Lorraine, the Marechal de
Bouillon, and the Due de Sully, she became apprehen-
sive that a cabal was about to be formed against her
authority ; a suspicion which was augmented by the
regal state in which he entered the capital, attended
and followed by more than fifteen hundred individuals
of rank.
Her fears were, moreover, eagerly fostered by the
Comte de Soissons, the Due d'Epernon, and the Car-
dinal de Joyeuse, who, desirous of retaining the influ-
ence which they had already acquired, neglected no
* Rambure, MS. Mem. vol. vi. p. 79.
36 The Life of
method of arousing her jealousy against the first Prince
of the Blood. In pursuance of this purpose M. d'Eper-
non, to whom the safety of the city had been confided
during the first alarm created by the murder of the
King, no sooner learnt the approach of the Prince than
he doubled the guards at the different gates, and even
proposed to form garrisons in the avenues leading to
them; a circumstance which was immediately made
known to M. de Conde, who expressed great indigna-
tion at such an imputation upon his loyalty. This af-
front was, however, remedied by the able courtier, who,
being anxious to conciliate both parties, had no sooner
convinced the Queen of his zeal for her interests than
he proceeded, accompanied by a hundred mounted fol-
lowers, to welcome the Prince before he could reach
the city.
M. de Conde dined at Le Bourget, where he ex-
pressed his acknowledgments to the several nobles by
whom he was surrounded, and declared his intention
of upholding by every means in his power the dignity
and authority of the Regent. At the close of the re-
past he once more ordered his horses, and retraced his
steps as far as St. Denis, where he caused a mass to be
said for the soul of the deceased King, and aspersed
the royal coffin ; after which he proceeded direct to
Paris, receiving upon his way perpetual warnings not
to trust himself within the gates of the capital. He,
however, destroyed these anonymous communications
one after the other, and was rewarded by a note hastily
written by the President de Thou,* in' which he was
* Jacques Auguste de Thou was the representative of an ancient
family of Champagne, celebrated alike in the magistracy and the
Marie De Medicis 37
entreated to disregard the efforts which were made to
dissuade him from entering Paris, where the Queen
was prepared to receive him with all possible honour
and welcome.
Thus assured, M. de Conde, mounted upon a pied
charger, which had been presented to him by the
Archduke, and habited in the deepest mourning, con-
tinued his journey, having his brother-in-law the Prince
of Orange on his right hand and the Comte de Beau-
mont on his left, with whom he occasionally conversed ;
but it was remarked that as he drew near the capital
he became absent and ill at ease ; and his discomposure
was destined to be increased by the circumstance that
on his arrival at the Louvre the gates were closed upon
the greater number of his followers, and only a slender
retinue permitted to enter with him. On ascending
Church. One of his ancestors, Nicolas de Thou, clerk of the parlia-
mentary council, and Bishop of Chartres, performed the coronation
service of Henry IV. in 1594, and died in 1598. Christophe de Thou,
the brother of Nicolas, was first president of the Parliament of Paris,
chancellor to the Dues d'Anjou and d'Alencon, and a faithful servant
of Henri II., Charles IX., and Henri III., whom he served with un-
tiring zeal during the intestine troubles of the kingdom. He died in
1582. His son, the subject of the present note, embraced the legal
profession, and became, from parliamentary councillor, president
d ntortier. In 1586, after the day of the Barricades, he left Paris, and
entered the service of Henri III., who confided to him several mis-
sions in England and Italy. On the accession of Henri IV., De Thou
eagerly embraced his interests, and by this sovereign he was also em-
ployed in negotiations of importance. At the death of Amyot he was
appointed grand master of the King's library. During the regency
of Marie de Medicis he became director-general of finance, and was
deputed, in conjunction with Cardinal Duperron, to reform the Uni-
versity of Paris, and to aid in the construction of the Royal College.
Posterity is indebted to De Thou for a History of his time, in one
hundred and thirty-eight books, embracing sixty years, from 1545 to
1607. His style is terse, elevated, and elegant, and the work is full
of elaborate and most minute detail. De Thou died in 1617.
38 The Life of
the great staircase, in order to pay his respects to the
King, he was informed that his Majesty was in the
Queen's apartment, towards which he immediately pro-
ceeded. His reception was gracious and affectionate,
and he had no sooner knelt and kissed hands than the
Regent assured him of the joy that she felt at his re-
turn, and the confidence with which she looked for-
ward to his advice and assistance. On quitting the
royal presence, after a prolonged interview, the Prince
warmly expressed his gratification at the welcome which
had been accorded to him, declaring that he should for-
ever hold himself indebted to the Queen for an amount
of affability which he could not have anticipated.
From the palace M. de Conde proceeded to his resi-
dence at the Hotel de Lyon, accompanied by the Due
de Guise, and followed by the same suite with which
he had entered the capital ; and thence he hastened to
the residence of the Comtesse d'Auvergne to greet the
Princess. Their meeting was warm and affectionate ;
both were anxious to forget the past, and to profit by
the future ; while the sincerity of the reconciliation on
the part of Madame de Conde was fully proved by her
subsequent devotion to his interests and happiness.
Their interview was a long and affecting one, and the
Prince spent the remainder of the day in her society,
returning, however, in the evening to the Louvre to be
present at the coucher of the King, whom he assisted
to undress ; after which he waited upon the Queen,
with whom he remained until a late hour.*
During the ensuing week Conde was entirely occu-
pied in receiving the visits of the nobility, who
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. pp. 164-169.
Marie De Medicis 39
unanimously hastened to pay their respects, and to
solicit his protection. He held, in fact, a species of
court, upon which the favourites of the Regent did
not fail to comment with an emphatic bitterness that
once more awakened the suspicions of Marie; who,
aware of the popularity of the Prince, was easily per-
suaded to believe that these demonstrations were preg-
nant with danger to the interests of her son ; and,
aware of the instability of her own position, the
prejudices which were entertained against her person,
and the ambition of the great nobles, she listened with
avidity to the suggestions of MM. de Soissons, d'Eper-
non, and de Joyeuse, that she should effect the arrest
of Conde before he had time to organise a faction in
his favour. In addition to the public homage of which
he was the object, they pointed out to her that frequent
councils were held, which were attended by all the
chiefs of his party, both at the Hotel de Mayenne and
at the Arsenal, where the treasure amassed by the late
King still remained under the guardianship, and at the
discretion of, the Due de Sully. They reminded her
also of the manner in which the Prince had quitted the
capital, and the vehemence with which he had ex-
pressed his indignation at the treatment he had re-
ceived, not only to his personal friends, but also at the
foreign courts which he had visited during his absence ;
and they besought her to take proper precautions be-
fore it became too late.*
These arguments were also warmly advocated by
Concini and his wife, the Papal Nuncio, the Spanish
Ambassador, the Chancellor Sillery, Villeroy, Jeannin,
* Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 9, 10.
40 The Life of
Arnaud, * and the celebrated Pere Cotton,f who had
fully possessed himself of the confidence of the Queen,
and who was admitted to all her private councils.^
* Antoine Arnaud was the elder son of Antoine Arnaud, captain of
the light horse, and subsequently attorney and advocate-general of
Catherine de Medicis. The younger Arnaud embraced the legal pro-
fession, and became an advocate of the Parliament of Paris, where he
distinguished himself by his probity and eloquence. Henri IV. re-
warded his merit by the brevet of councillor of state, and Marie de
Medicis appointed him advocate-general. When offered the dignity
of secretary of state, he resolutely refused to accept it, representing to
the Regent that he could more effectually serve her as advocate-gen-
eral to the King than in the secretaryship. His able and erudite
speech in the celebrated Jesuit cause tried at Paris in 1594, in the
presence of Henri IV. and the Duke of Savoy, and his work entitled
The Plain and True Discourse against the Recall of the Order to
France, are well known. At the conclusion of the trial named above
the University offered him a handsome present; which, however, he
declined, declaring that he required no recompense, and had given his
services gratuitously ; whereupon that learned body passed a solemn
act pledging itself to eternal gratitude alike towards him and his pos-
terity ; an obligation which it would, however, appear to have forgotten
in 1656, in the case of his son. His great talents and high character
procured for him an alliance with the first president, who bestowed
upon him the hand of his daughter Catherine, by whom he became the
father of twenty children. Although adverse to the League, Arnaud
was a member of the Romish Church.
f Pierre Cotton, subsequently so famous as the confessor of Henri
IV., was born at Neronde, in the department of the Loire, in 1564,
and was received into the Order of the Jesuits in 1585 at Arona, in the
Milanese, whence he was sent to Milan to study philosophy. Thence
he was removed to Rome, where he remained twelve months engaged
in the same pursuit ; and finally he proceeded to Lyons, where he com-
pleted his education, and began to preach. During a sojourn at
Grenoble he was presented to the Due de Lesdiguieres, in whom he
inspired so much confidence that it was to his good offices that he was
indebted for his selection as confessor to the King. The Duke having
represented him as a sound and eloquent preacher, he was instructed
to proceed to Paris, where his sermons having realised the report of his
patron, Henri IV. at once adopted him as his director. After the death
of that monarch, he was for some time the confessor of Louis XIII.
In 1617 he abandoned the Court, and travelled through the southern
provinces as a missionary-apostle. He was the author of several con-
troversial and religious works, and died in 1626.
\ Sully, Mem. vol. viii. pp. 36, 37.
Marie De Medicis 41
Fortunately, however, Marie hesitated to hazard so
extreme a step ; and day after day went by without
any hostile manifestation on the part of the Prince,
who openly declared himself resolved to support her
authority. As her alarm on this subject diminished,
the private friends of the Queen turned their attention
to other matters of political interest ; and according to
the testimony of Sully, zealously employed themselves
in contravening all the wishes, and disappointing all
the views, of Henri IV. " There can be no difficulty,"
he says with a bitterness which shows how deeply he
felt his own exclusion, " in deciding upon the subject
of their deliberations. The union of the crowns of
France and Spain, the abolition of ancient alliances
with foreign powers, the abolition of all the edicts of
pacification, the destruction of the Protestants, the ex-
clusion of those of the reformed religion from places
of trust, the disgrace of all who will not submit to the
yoke of the new favourites, the dissipation of the
treasures amassed by the late King, in order to secure
the services of the greedy and the ambitious, and to
load with wealth and power such as are destined to
rise to the highest dignities in the realm that is to
say, a thousand projects as pernicious to the King and
to the state as they were advantageous to our most
mortal enemies, such were the great objects of the
deliberations of these new counsellors." *
Be this as it may, it is certain that as regarded the
Prince de Conde, the Queen was better served by acci-
dent than she would have been by the dangerous
advice of her friends. The wise precaution which she
* Sully, Mem. vol. viii. p. 37.
42 The Life of
had taken of arming the citizens of Paris, and of placing
them under the command of individuals chosen by
herself, and who had taken an oath of fidelity to her
service in the Hotel de Ville, secured the loyalty of the
populace ; while the jealousy of the Guises, who, even
while professing the most ardent attachment to M. de
Conde, were gradually becoming cooler in his cause
and quarrelling among themselves, gave no encourage-
ment to an attempt at revolt on his part, even should
he have been inclined to hazard it.
The Due de Bouillon alone laboured incessantly to
undermine the power of the Regent ; and he at length
suggested to the Prince that in order to counterbalance
the authority of the Court, and to maintain his own
rightful dignity, he would do well to return to his
original religion, and to place himself at the head of
the Protestants, who would form a very important and
powerful party. M. de Conde, however, declined to
follow this advice, protesting that he had no desire to
involve the kingdom in intestine commotion, and was
content to await the progress of events.* It is probable
that he was the more readily induced to exert this
forbearance from the extreme generosity of the Queen,
who, remembering the abruptness with which he had
been deprived, on the occasion of his marriage, of the
many lucrative appointments bestowed upon him,
hastened to present him with a pension of two hun-
dred thousand livres ; to which she added the Hotel de
Conti in the Faubourg St. Germain, which she pur-
chased for that purpose at a similar sum, the county
of Clermont, and other munificent donations. f
* Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 10. f Sully, Mini. vol. viii. p. 81 note.
Marie De Medicis 43
Nor was M. de Conde the only recipient of her
uncalculating generosity, as may be gathered from the
following document from the pen of Richelieu :
" The good management of the savings fund of the
late King left us, when he was taken away, five millions
in the Bastille ; and in the hands of the treasurer of
the fund from seven to eight millions more, with
which he had intended to pay the army that he had
raised in order to extend the limits of his glory, which
would admit no others than those of the universe
itself. The uncertainty in which we were left by that
fatal event rendering it necessary that we should secure
the safety of the state by the counterpoise of a certain
body of troops, we found ourselves constrained to em-
ploy a portion of the finances in maintaining during a
few months a large military force which had already
been raised ; so that this outlay, the funeral of the
King, and the coronation of the Queen, of which the
expenses were not paid, reduced these savings veiy
considerably. After the death of that great Prince,
who was the actual ruler of the state, it was impossible
to prevent a certain disorder, which even went so far
as to induce several individuals, who measured their
deserts by their ambition, shamefully to seek, and per-
tinaciously to persist in demanding, benefits which
they could never have hoped to secure during his life-
time. They profit by the difficulties of the period,
offer to serve the state, declare how they have it in
their power to injure the national interests, and, in
short, make it clearly understood that they will only
do their duty upon the most advantageous terms ;
and so conduct themselves that even those who had
44 The Life of
assisted the King in amassing his treasure advise the
Queen to yield to the exigencies of the time, to open
her hands, and to give largely to every one.
" In accordance with these counsels she increases
the pensions and establishments of the Princes, the
nobles, and the old servants of the Crown ; she grants
new ones ; she augments the garrisons of her fortresses,
as much to satisfy those who hold them as for the
safety of the country, and maintains a greater number
of troops than formerly ; the increase of these pensions
amounting on an average to three millions annually.
The expense of the light horse and infantry is at
present (1617) three millions three hundred thousand
livres; while in 1610 it amounted only to fifteen
hundred thousand francs. She makes numerous
presents, and this under advice, without increasing her
receipts, as well as reducing them annually two mil-
lions five hundred thousand livres by the diminution
of the duty on salt ; and so augments her expenses
that, upon mature consideration, we shall rather be
applauded for being in the state we still are after so
many necessary outlays, than blamed for having in-
curred them. M. le Prince (Conde) received during
six years three millions six hundred and sixty thousand
livres ; the Prince and Princesse de Conti above one
million four hundred thousand ; the Due de Guise
nearly one million seven hundred thousand; M. de
Nevers one million six hundred thousand; M. de
Longueville * one million two hundred thousand ;
* Henri II., Due de Longueville, was still a mere youth, having
been born in 1595. Appointed plenipotentiary at the Congress of
Miinster in 1648, as well as Governor of Normandy, he threw himself
into the party of the Fronde, on the pretext of mortification at being
Marie De Medicis 45
MM. de Mayenne, father and son, two millions and
several thousands ; M. de Vendome near six hundred
thousand ; M. d'Epernon and his children near seven
hundred thousand ; and M. de Bouillon near a million.
" All the Marshals of France, of which the number
was increased one half, received four times as much as
formerly, their pensions being augmented twenty-four
thousand livres, which, in six years, allowing to each
one hundred and forty-four thousand livres, and calcu-
lating them at eight in number, as they have always
been, make, one with the other, one million one
hundred and fifty-two thousand livres.
" Six other dukes, or officers of the Crown, received
the same allowance, augmenting the outlay in six
years by eighty-six thousand four hundred livres.
Hence it is easy to see how the treasury of France
was exhausted, since eleven or twelve articles in favour
of the great nobles of the state carry off nearly seven-
teen millions, without including all that was paid to
them in the shape of salaries and appointments, the
deniers du talion * for their companies of men-at-arms
grants for the maintenance of the garrisons of their
fortresses, and finally, without calculating the troubles
occasioned by several among them ; troubles which,
having compelled us on three several occasions to take
up arms, have cost us, upon a strict computation, more
than twenty millions of additional outlay." |
refused the government of Havre, but in reality in compliance with
the entreaties of his wife. As the result of this concession he, in 1650,
shared the imprisonment of the Princes de Conde and de Conti ; but
having recovered his liberty during the following year, he renounced
all partisanship, and died peaceably in 1663.
* Fines paid for the commutation of offences.
\ Instruction de M. de Shomberg, Comte de Monteuil, conseillier
46 The Life of
We have copied this document at full length, and in
this place, in order, in so far as we are enabled so to
do, to exonerate Marie de Medicis from the charge of
reckless extravagance unsparingly brought against her
by the Due de Sully. Richelieu himself, at the period
at which this report was furnished to the ministers,
was little disposed to extenuate the errors of the
Regent; and cannot, consequently, be supposed to
have volunteered any palliative circumstances. More-
over, it is worthy of notice that the enormous sums
registered above were not lavished upon the personal
favourites of the Queen, but were literally the price
paid by the nation to purchase the loyalty of its Prin-
ces and nobles; a frightful state of things, which
exhibits more forcibly than any argument the utter
powerlessness of Marie to restrain the excessive expen-
diture by which the kingdom was so soon reduced to
the brink of bankruptcy.
The Regent having renewed all the alliances of
France with the several European powers, they at this
period accredited extraordinary ambassadors to the
French capital, to offer the condolences and congratu-
lations of their respective sovereigns to the young King
and his mother. Among these the most interesting to
the personal feelings of Marie was Lord Wharton;
who, in addition to the merely verbal compliments
common on such occasions, presented to Louis XIII.,
in the name of his royal master, James I., the Order
of the Garter, accompanied by his affectionate assur-
du Roi en son conseil d'etat, lieutenant-general de sa Majest es pays
de Limosin, haute et basse Marche, pour son voyage d'Allemagne
1617. Pieces Justificatives ; signed by Richelieu.
Marie De Medicis 47
ances that he had not forgotten the promise exchanged
between himself and the late monarch, that whichever
of the two survived would be as a father to the chil-
dren of the other ; a pledge which he declared himself
to be both ready and anxious to ratify. Nor was this
the first proof of sympathy which the English monarch
had evinced towards Marie and her son, the Court of
London having immediately put on mourning on
learning of the death of Henri IV., and a suspension of
all public amusements having taken place throughout
the capital. Gratified by so signal a demonstration of
respect and regard, the Regent accordingly no sooner
ascertained that the British envoy was approaching
Paris than she despatched a party of four hundred
mounted nobles to meet him outside the gates, and
herself took her station at a window in order to see
him pass ; a condescension which was considered to be
a signal honour at that period.
The most important of these missions, politically
considered, was, however, that of the Duque de Feria,*
who arrived in France with a brilliant suite, charged
with the most specious and high-sounding professions
and promises of Philip of Spain, who pledged himself
to support the Regency under all circumstances, and
to place at the disposal of the Queen whatever assist-
ance she might require against both external and in-
ternal enemies. These magnificent assurances were
coldly received by most of his hearers, who distrusted
alike the Spanish monarch and his envoy ; and who
had not yet forgotten that only a few months had
* Lorenzo Balthazar de Figueroa y Cordova, Duque de Feria, who
in 1618 was appointed Governor of the Milanese.
48 The Life of
elapsed, since Philip had himself endeavoured, not
merely to dispossess Marie of her authority, but also
to incite M. de Conde to dispute the throne itself with
her young son. Upon the Queen and her immediate
friends they, however, produced a contrary effect ; her
leaning towards the Court of Spain inducing her to
welcome every symptom of a desire on the part of
that Cabinet to maintain a good understanding with
her own Government. Her reception of the Duque
de Feria was consequently so gracious that he imme-
diately proceeded to renew the negotiation already
mooted for the double alliance between the two nations,
which must, should it ever be effected, render their in-
terests, at least for a time, inseparable. No proposition
could be more acceptable to Marie de Medicis, who,
harassed and dispirited, gladly welcomed any prospect
of support by which she might hope to keep her turbu-
lent nobility in check; while Philip on his side was
anxious to effect so desirable an alliance, as it would
enable him, irrespectively of its contingent advantages,
to gain time, and thus secure the means of settling the
affairs of Germany, which were embroiled by the mis-
understanding between the Emperor and his brothers.
The Spanish Cabinet was, moreover, desirous of
widening the breach between the Catholics and Prot-
estants of France, an attempt in which it was zealously
seconded by the Pope, who was readily persuaded that
no measure could be so desirable for the accomplish-
ment of such a purpose as a union between the two
crowns. Thus the objections which had appeared in-
superable to Henri IV. lost all their weight in the
mutual anxiety of Marie and Philip to secure the ad-
Marie De Medicis 49
vantages which each sought to gain ; and, as the youth
of Louis XIII. forbade the immediate celebration of
the marriage, a private pledge was exchanged between
the ministers of France and the Spanish envoy, that
the Regent should not interfere with the measures of
the House of Austria in Germany, while Spain should
refuse all support to the malcontents in her own king-
dom ; and this mutual understanding once established,
the double alliance was concluded.*
In the midst of the important interests by which the
mind of Marie de Medicis was at this period occupied,
a fresh demand upon her attention was made by
Madame de Verneuil, who on the 1 5th of September
laid before the Comte de Soissons, the Cardinal de
Joyeuse, and the Due d'Epernon, the written engage-
ment which she had received from the Due de Guise,
and urged its enforcement. Her claim was warmly
espoused by M. de Soissons, who at once declared the
document to be valid and unanswerable ; while it was
admitted by all by whom it was examined to be strictly
legal in form, and to authorise her in demanding its
ratification. Unlike that which she had previously ex-
torted from Henri IV., the promise which the Marquise
now produced was not only signed by M. de Guise
himself, but also by two notaries, a priest, and several
witnesses. Unfortunately, however, whether by acci-
dent, or intention on the part of the Duke, both the
notaries by whom it had been attested were aged men,
one of whom had subsequently died ; while the other
had become so imbecile that when interrogated upon
* Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 17. Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils,
vol. xi. pp. 106, 107. D'Estrees, Metn. p. 379.
50 The Life of
the subject, he first doubted, and subsequently denied,
all knowledge of the transaction ; but as these con-
tingencies did not affect the signature of M. de Guise
himself, his position was sufficiently embarrassing ; and
the rather that, his passion for the Marquise having
been long extinguished, he had become the acknowl-
edged suitor of the Dowager Duchess of Montpensier.
There can be little doubt that had Henri IV. still
lived Madame de Verneuil would have been enabled to
enforce her claim, as that monarch would not have
suffered so admirable an opportunity of mortifying the
Guises to have escaped him ; and thus individual im-
prudence would have afforded him a triumph which
the fortune of arms had hitherto denied, and the most
jealous watchfulness failed to secure ; but his death had
changed the position of all the parties interested in the
affair, and Marie de Medicis looked upon it with very
different feelings. Her old and still existing hatred of
the Marquise was renewed by an exhibition of arro-
gance which recalled to memory some of the most bit-
ter moments of her existence; and her pride as a
sovereign was revolted at the prospect of seeing the
woman by whom her peace had been destroyed ele-
vated to the rank of a Princess of the Blood, and
placed beside the very steps of her throne.
She was, moreover, anxious to limit the power of
the Comte de Soissons, and to prevent the proposed
marriage of his son Louis de Bourbon with the heiress
of Montpensier, which would have opened up a still
wider field for his ambition. She accordingly espoused
the cause of the Due de Guise, who, having no other
alternative by which to rid himself of the Marquise,
Marie De Medicis 51
did not scruple to deny the authenticity of the signa-
ture ascribed to him ; and he had no sooner resolutely
done this, than the Regent placed the affair in the
hands of the President Jeannin, who with his usual
ability at length succeeded in inducing Madame de
Verneuil to withdraw her claims. Aware that he could
hope nothing either from her generosity or her dread
of ridicule, the astute lawyer represented to her the in-
equality of the contest in which she was about to en-
gage without any ulterior support ; whereas the Due
de Guise was not only powerful in himself, but would
necessarily be supported by all the members of his
family, as well as protected by the Queen.
The Marquise for a time affected to believe that the
legality of the document in her possession must enable
her to triumph even over these obstacles, formidable as
they were ; but Jeannin reminded her of the death of
one of her witnesses, the denial of another, and the
solemn declaration of the Duke that his own signature
was feigned ; assuring her that these circumstances
must prove more than sufficient to prevent the recog-
nition of the deed in any court of law. When he
found that this argument had produced the desired im-
pression, he next proceeded to expatiate upon the
benefit which she could not fail to derive from the
gratitude of the Guises, should she voluntarily with-
draw her claim without subjecting the Duke to the an-
noyance of a public lawsuit ; during which, moreover,
her former liaison with his brother, the Prince de Join-
ville, could not fail to be made matter of comment and
curiosity. He urged upon her the desirability of
avoiding a publicity which must tend to dishonour both
52 The Life of
herself and her children ; and, finally, he pointed out
the propriety and policy of seizing so favourable an
opportunity to secure the good-will of the Regent, who
would as a natural consequence be gratified by such a
concession, and be thus induced to bury the past in
oblivion.
Madame de Verneuil wept and argued in vain.
Jeannin was indeed too subtle an antagonist to afford
her one inch of vantage-ground ; and he so thoroughly
undermined the reasonings which she advanced, that,
wearied and discouraged, she at length consented to
forego her claim.
Deprived of the position which she had formerly
held at the Court, she never reappeared there, but
spent the remainder of her life either on her estate at
Verneuil, or in her hotel at Paris, in such complete re-
tirement that nothing more is known of her save the
period of her death, which took place on the 9th of
February, 1633, when she had reached her fifty-fourth
year.*
* Dreux du Radier, vol. vi. pp. 105-107.
CHAPTER II
1610
A Temporary Calm Louis XIII. Marie de Medicis Purchases the
Marquisate of Ancre for Concini Rapid Rise of His Fortunes
His Profusion He Intrigues to Create Dissension Among the
Princes of the Blood His Personal Endowments The Due de
Bouillon Endeavours to Induce M. de Conde to Revolt He fails
He Disposes of His Office at Court to the Marquis d'Ancre Marie
de Medicis Continues the Public Edifices Commenced and Projected
by Henri IV. Zeal of the Due de Mayenne Cupidity of the Court
M. de Conde and His Advisers The Prince and the Minister
Forebodings of Sully He Determines to Resign Office His Un-
popularity The Regent Refuses to Accept His Resignation The
War in Germany The Regent Resolves to Despatch an Army to
Cleves The Due de Bouillon Demands the Command of the Troops
Is Refused by the Council Retires in Disgust to Sedan The
Command is Conferred on the Marechal de la Chatre A Bootless
Campaign The French Troops Return Home New Dissensions at
Court The Due d'Epernon Becomes the Declared Enemy of the
Protestants Apprehensions of the Reformed Party Quarrel of
Sully and Villeroy The Regent Endeavours to Effect a Reconcili-
ation with the Prince de Conti Princely Wages M. de Conti Re-
turns to Court The Princes of the Blood Attend the Parliament
The Marquis d'Ancre is Admitted to the State Council Sully and
Bouillon Retire from the Capital Sully Resolves to Withdraw from
the Government, but is Again Induced to Retain Office The King
and Pere Cotton The Court Leave Paris for Rheims Coronation
of Louis XIII. His Public Entry Into the Capital The Prince de
Conde and the Comte de Soissons are Reconciled Quarrel Between
the Marquis d'Ancre and the Due de Bellegarde Cabal Against
Sully The Huguenots Petition for a General Assembly Reluc-
tance of the Regent to Concede Their Demand She Finds Herself
53
54 The Life of
Compelled to Comply M. de Villeroy Garrisons Lyons Sully Re-
tires from the Ministry Demands of the Princes Sully 's last Offi-
cial Act His Parting Interview with Louis XIII The Minister
and the Mountebanks.
FOR a short time Marie began to hope that the
conciliatory measures she had adopted would
ensure the tranquillity of the country over which she
had been called to govern. All the cities and prov-
inces had sworn fidelity to the King, and obedience to
herself; all the governors of fortresses had followed
their example ; and the great nobles, whose plans were
not yet matured, and whose cupidity was for the mo-
ment satisfied, testified no inclination to disturb, or to
trammel the measures of the Government. The relief
afforded to the middle and lower classes by the
diminution of some of the national imposts, and the
abolition of others, began to produce its effect upon
the popular mind ; and the young King was received
whenever he appeared in public with warm and en-
thusiastic greetings. All the members of the House
of Guise, traditionally the most dangerous enemies of
the Crown, affected a respectful deference towards the
Regent, and an earnest desire to uphold her authority ;
while the Due d'Epernon, who had, in her first hour
of trial, at once declared himself her devoted adherent,
appeared to exist only to fulfil her wishes. The min-
isters deferred to her opinions with a respect which
caused their occasional opposition to be rather matter
of argument than mortification ; and, finally, Concini
and his wife seemed to have forgotten their own inter-
ests in those of their royal mistress.*
* Richelieu, La Mire et le Fils, vol. i. p. 91.
Marie De Medicis 55
Meanwhile, the bearing of the young sovereign,
ably prompted by the wisdom of M. de Souvre, was
admirable. Gifted with an intellect beyond his years,
and with an agreeable person, he soon engaged the
affections of the people ; who, eager to love the son
of Henri IV., and to anticipate under his rule the same
glory and greatness which had characterised the reign
of his father, drew the happiest auguries from his
slightest actions ; while the modesty of his demeanour
towards the princes and nobles equally tended to estab-
lish a feeling of interest and sympathy towards his
person which promised a favourable result. When he
received the homage of his Court on his accession he
said sadly : " Gentlemen, these honours have devolved
upon me too soon ; I am not yet old enough to gov-
ern ; be faithful, and obey the commands of the Queen
my mother." *
Unfortunately, the ambition of Concini was more
powerful than his devotion to his benefactress ; and his
influence continued unabated. Moreover, his vanity
was mortified, as he could not conceal from himself
that he was indebted for his position at Court, indefi-
nite as it was, to the affection of the Regent for his
wife; and he consequently urged Leonora to induce
the Queen to purchase for him the town of Ancre in
Picardy, whose possession would invest him with the
title of marquis, and assure to him the consideration
due to that rank. Madame de Concini accordingly
proffered her request, which was conceded without
difficulty ; for Marie was at that moment, to adopt the
expression of Richelieu, keeping her hands open ; and
* Mercure Fran fats, 1610, p. 505.
56 The Life of
this purchase formed a comparatively unimportant item
in her lavish grants. Encouraged by so facile a suc-
cess, the Italian adventurer was, however, by no means
disposed to permit even this coveted dignity to satisfy
his ambition, and through the same agency he ere long
became Governor of Peronne. Roye, and Montdidier,
which he purchased from M. de Crequy for the sum of
forty thousand crowns. The Queen had been induced
to furnish an order upon the royal treasury for this
amount, which was presented without any misgiving
by the exulting favourite ; but M. de Villeroy, who
considered himself to have been slighted on some oc-
casion by her Majesty, refused to countersign the
document, an opposition which so enraged Concini
that he hastened to pour out his complaints to Marie ;
who, overcome by the wrath of the husband and the
tears of the wife, summoned the Due de Sully, of
whom she inquired if it were not possible to procure
the requisite amount by having recourse to the money
lodged at the Arsenal. Sully replied in the negative,
declaring that the sums therein deposited were not
available for such a purpose, and reminding her that
seven millions of livres had already been withdrawn
since the death of the King.* It was, consequently,
necessary to raise the desired purchase-money by other
means, which having been at length effected, Concini
found himself not only placed by his court-appoint-
ment on a par with the peers of the realm, but also
enabled, by the munificence of the Regent, and the
revenues of his new government, to rival them in
magnificence.
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. pp. 191, 192.
Marie De Medicis 57
Then it was that his talent for intrigue boldly devel-
oped itself. In vain did his wife warn him of the
danger of further forcing his fortunes, and thus draw-
ing down upon himself the hatred and envy of the
native nobility; in vain did she represent that by
indulging his passion for power and display he must
eventually create enemies who were certain to prove
fatal to his prosperity ; Concini, as weak and vain as
he was greedy and ambitious, disregarded her advice,
and strenuously turned his attention to fomenting a
misunderstanding among the most influential of the
nobles, in order to prevent a coalition which threatened
to diminish his own importance. He was well aware
of his unpopularity with the Princes of the Blood, who
could not without indignation see themselves com-
pelled to treat with him almost upon equal terms, pro-
tected as he was by the favour of the Queen ; and he
consequently lived in perpetual apprehension of their
forming a cabal to effect his ruin. Skilfully, therefore,
with a smiling countenance, but an anxious heart, he
availed himself of every opportunity to foment the
jealousies and hatreds which policy had for a brief
while laid to rest. To each and all he appeared
zealous in their several interests, but to each and all he
was alike a traitor.
Nature had been lavish to Concini ; his person was
well-formed and graceful, while his countenance beamed
with intelligence, and gave promise of far greater
intellect than he in reality possessed. It was this
handsomeness which had inspired Leonora Galigai
with a passion that was destined to be her destruction,
for no doubt can be entertained that had she never
58 The Life of
become his wife her career might have been one of
happiness and honour ; but while Concini, absorbed in
his wild schemes of self-aggrandisement, trampled
upon every consideration of honour and honesty in
order to attain his object, Leonora, conscious of her
own want of personal attractions, and loving her hus-
band with a devotion made up of gratitude and admi-
ration, suffered herself to be overruled by his vanity
and arrogance, and sacrificed her reason and her judg-
ment to her affection.
The Marechal de Bouillon having failed in his at-
tempt to induce M. de Conde to revolt against the
authority of the Regent, by one of those sudden
transitions of feeling which formed so strange a feature
in his character, next sought to reconcile that Prince
and the Due de Guise, who were already at feud upon
the prerogatives > of their rank ; and he began to an-
ticipate a successful issue to his enterprise, when the
ministers, being apprehensive that a good understand-
ing among the Princes of the Blood would tend to
weaken their own influence over the Regent, gave him
to understand that should M. de Conde and the Due
de Guise become firm friends, his personal importance
in the country would be greatly lessened, if not entirely
overthrown. This argument was all-sufficient with the
ambitious and intriguing Bouillon, who forthwith
began to slacken in his exertions to restore peace.
But these had already proceeded so far as to render
his position extremely embarrassing ; and between his
apprehension of sacrificing his own interest on the one
hand, and of incurring suspicion upon the other, he
was somewhat at a loss how to proceed, when the
Marie De Medicis 59
adroit interference of Concini, who deprecated the
coalition of the Princes as much as the ministers them-
selves, furnished fresh fuel to the expiring flame, and
widened the chasm between them more hopelessly
than ever ; and that, moreover, with such dexterity,
that M. de Bouillon never suspected what friendly hand
had come to his aid ; although the Italian favourite
did not fail to propitiate the haughty Duke by every
means in his power, and so thoroughly succeeded in
flattering his vanity, and encouraging his ambitious
aspirations, that, anxious to secure the interest and
assistance of so influential a person as the husband of
the Queen's foster-sister and confidential friend, M. de
Bouillon was induced to sell to him his office of First
Lord of the Bedchamber; a circumstance which at
once secured a permanent footing at Court to Concini,
and opened before him a long vista of prosperity.*
One of the first decisions arrived at by the Regent
was the completion of all the public edifices com-
menced by the late King, and the erection of such as
he had resolved upon, but had not lived to commence ;
an admirable act of policy by which she at once
evinced her respect for the memory of her husband,
and procured employment for hundreds of workmen,
who must otherwise have been severe sufferers from
want of occupation. Those which were originated
under her auspices were the castle of Vincennes and
the Royal College, the latter of which she caused to be
built strictly according to the design executed by Henry
himself; and the first stone was laid on the 28th of
August by the young King, assisted by his whole
* Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 10, II. D'Estrees, Mem. p. 379.
60 The Life of
Court. It bore the arms of France and Medicis, and
beneath them was inscribed in deeply-chiselled char-
acters : " In the first year of the reign of Louis XIII.,
King of France and Navarre, aged nine years, and of
the regency of the Queen Marie de Medicis his mother,
1610." Four medals, bearing the same inscription,
two of gold and two of silver gilt, having been placed
at the corners of the stone, which was then lowered,
the Due de Sully presented the silver trowel, while two
of the attendant nobles alternately offered the hammer
and the silver trough containing the mortar.
During the following month the Queen herself per-
formed the same ceremony at Vincennes, respecting
the fortress, and the magnificent tower built by Charles
VII., but erecting beneath its shadow a commodious
residence on the space which had heretofore been
cumbered with a mass of unsightly buildings, totally
unsuitable for the reception of a Court.*
The Due de Mayenne, although suffering from se-
vere indisposition, had hastened to offer his services to
the Regent ; who, recognising his ability, and grateful
for the zeal which he evinced in her interests, ex-
pressed all the gratification that she felt at his prompt
and earnest offers of aid ; which he moreover followed
up with such untiring perseverance that he caused him-
self to be conveyed every day to the Louvre in his
chair, in order to discuss with her Majesty the various
measures necessary to the peace and welfare of the
state. Above all he exhorted her to restrain her mu-
nificence, by which not only the Treasury fund, but
also the revenues of the country could not fail ere long
* Mercure Franfais, 1610, pp. 510, 511.
Marie De Medicis 61
to be dangerously affected; representing to her the
indecency of those who, profiting by the calamity with
which France had so suddenly been stricken, were en-
deavouring to build up their own fortunes upon the
misfortune of the nation, and who were aspiring to
honours suited only to such as by their high birth and
princely rank were imperatively called upon to uphold
the dignity of the Crown.
This argument was warmly seconded by Sully, Ville-
roy, and Jeannin ; but Marie had already suffered so
deeply from the arrogance and presumption of the no-
bles that she was anxious to purchase their support,
and her own consequent tranquillity, however exorbi-
tant might be the demands of those about her ; and,
accordingly, scarcely a day passed in which fresh claim-
ants did not present themselves, while the original re-
cipients remained still unsatisfied.*
It was not long ere the parties most interested in
these donations became aware of the attempt made to
limit the liberality of the Queen, and they did not af-
fect to disguise their indignation at what they desig-
nated as an interference with their just claims. It ap-
peared to have grown into an admitted opinion that all
who had not revolted against her authority should be
recompensed for their forbearance, as though it had
been some signal service rendered to the state ; and
immediate deliberations were held as to the best meas-
ures to be adopted in order to silence the prudent
counsels to which she could not finally fail to yield.
As regarded the Due de Mayenne, he was beyond the
reach of the cabal ; while Jeannin and Villeroy could
* Matthieu, Hist, des Verniers Troubles, book iii. p. 455.
62 The Life of
oppose nothing save words ; with Sully, however, the
case was widely different; he was not only finance
minister, but also keeper of the royal treasury, and his
fearless and sturdy nature was so well understood and
appreciated, that none who knew him doubted for an
instant that should the Regent persevere in her gen-
erosity in opposition to his advice, he would not hesi-
tate to adopt the most extreme measures to limit her
power in the disposal of the public funds.
Sully, meanwhile, like a generous adversary, had not
only endeavoured to restrain the liberality of the
Queen, but had even ventured to expostulate with many
of the applicants upon the ruinous extravagance of
their demands ; a proceeding which was resented by
several of the great nobles, and by none more deeply
than the Prince de Conde, who was upheld in his pre-
tensions by his adherents, all of whom alleged that as
the royal treasury was daily suffering diminution, and
must soon become entirely exhausted, he had a right
to claim, as first Prince of the Blood, the largest por-
tion of its contents after their Majesties. They also
reminded him of the offices and honours of which he
had been despoiled by the late King, when he would
not consent to retain them as the price of his disgrace ;
and, finally, they bade him not to lose sight of the fact
that liberal as the Queen-Regent might have appeared
on his return to France, he did not yet possess the
revenues necessary to maintain his dignity as the first
subject in the realm. M. de Conde was haughty and
ambitious, and he consequently lent a willing ear to
these representations ; nor was it long ere he became
equally convinced that his power was balanced by that
Marie De Medicis 63
of Sully ; that a Bourbon was measured with a Bethune ;
a Prince of the Blood with a parvenu minister ; and
that such must continue to be the case so long as he
permitted money to be poised against influence.
The effect of these insidious counsels soon made
itself apparent in the altered manner of the Prince
towards the man whom he had thus been taught to
consider as the enemy of his greatness ; for although
he endeavoured to conceal his growing dislike, his
nature was too frank, and moreover too impetuous, to
second his policy ; and Sully, on his side, was far too
quick-sighted to be easily duped on so important a
matter. The resolution of the Duke was therefore
instantly formed ; eager as he had been for office under
the late King, he had, at the death of that monarch,
ceased to feel or to exhibit the same energy. He
already saw many of the favourite projects of Henry
negatived ; much of his advice disregarded ; and as he
looked into the future he taught himself to believe that
he contemplated only a long vista of national decline
and personal disappointment. While he had preserved
the confidence and affection of his sovereign, he had
held popularity lightly, too lightly it may be, for he
was conscious of his strength, and scorned to seek for
support where he believed that he ought only to afford
it ; but the knife of Ravaillac had changed the whole
tenor of his existence : he saw that he was regarded
with suspicion and distrust by those who envied the
greatness which he had achieved ; that however the
Queen might veil her real feelings in the garb of
esteem and kindness, she shrank from the uncom-
promising frankness of his disapproval, and the reso-
64 The Life of
lute straightforwardness of his remonstrances ; that his
desire to economise the resources of the country
rendered him obnoxious to the greedy courtiers ; and
that his past favour tended to inspire jealousy and mis-
giving in those with whom he was now called upon to
act. He was, moreover, no longer young ; his children
were honourably established; and, whatever it may
have accorded with the policy of his enemies to
assume, there can be no doubt that M. de Sully was
perfectly sincere in the desire which he at this period
expressed to retire from the cares and responsibilities
of office to the comfort and tranquillity of private life.
That such a resolution was most unpalatable to the
Duchess is equally certain ; but Sully nevertheless per-
sisted in his intention, and even announced his proposed
resignation to the Regent, entreating at the same time
that she would not oppose the measure.
The moment was one of extreme difficulty for Marie.
On all sides she was pursued by complaints of the finance
minister, whose want of deference wounded the pride
of the Princes, while the ministers reproached him with
an undue assertion of authority, and the nobles mur-
mured at his interference in matters unconnected with
his official character. The Marquis d'Ancre and his
wife were, moreover, among the most bitter of his
enemies, and at this precise period their influence was
all-sufficient with the Queen, who had so accustomed
herself to be guided by their advice, and led by their
prejudices, that they had obtained a predominance
over her mind which invested them with a factitious
power against which few ventured to contend. She
endeavoured, nevertheless, to temporise, for she was
Marie De Medicis 65
aware of the absolute necessity of securing the services
of Sully until he could be satisfactorily replaced ; and
although there were not wanting many about her who
would readily have undertaken to supersede him in his
ministry, Marie herself doubted that, wherever her
selection of a successor might be made, its duties
would be as efficiently fulfilled. She was, moreover,
at that particular time earnestly occupied with the
preparations necessary for the coronation of her son,
and the retirement of Sully could not fail to involve
her in embarrassment and difficulty ; she consequently
sought to conciliate the veteran minister, expressed
her resentment at the annoyances of which he com-
plained, declared her perfect satisfaction with every-
thing that he had done since the recognition of her
regency, and finally entreated him to take time and to
reflect calmly upon the subject before he pressed her to
accede to his request.
Sully complied with her wishes, but he did so with-
out the slightest feeling of exultation. He was con-
vinced that his favour was undermined and his removal
from office already determined, and he accordingly
experienced no sensation of self-gratulation at the
expressed reluctance of the Queen to deprive herself
of the oldest and ablest servant of her late consort.
He was, perhaps, proud of being so acknowledged, but
he was also aware that what he had been to the
murdered King he could never hope to become to the
Regent, who had already suffered herself to be gov-
erned by greedy sycophants and ambitious favourites.
The most important subject which occupied the
Council at the commencement of the Regency was the
66 The Life of
question of the expediency or non-expediency of pur-
suing the design of the late King relative to the duchies
of Juliers and Cleves. During the time which had
elapsed since the levy of the French troops the several
pretenders to the succession had not been idle, and
hostile measures had already been adopted. The
Catholic Princes of Germany were opposed to the
claims of the Protestant party, the Dutch and the
Spaniards siding with the former and the English with
the latter ; several towns had already been taken by
each faction, and the virulence displayed on both sides
threatened the infraction of the truce with Flanders,
if not a universal war throughout Christendom.
Nevertheless, the general voice was against any inter-
ference on the part of France, the ministers being
anxious to avoid an outlay which under the then
circumstances of the kingdom they deemed alike use-
less and impolitic, while the nobles, fearing to lose the
advantages which each promised himself by confining
the attention of the Queen to the internal economy of
the state, came to the same decision. Sillery alone
combated this resolution, declaring that as the pro-
tection of the Princes who had appealed to him for
aid had been one of the last projects of the late King,
his will should be held sacred and his intentions fully
carried out.
To this declaration, which produced an evident
effect upon the Regent, Sully replied by asserting that
in order to have done this effectually, and with the
dignity worthy of a great nation, the French troops
should long ago have taken the field ; whereas they
had been suffered to remain so long inactive that their
Marie De Medicis 67
interference was no longer required, and could only be
regarded by all parties as superfluous, the Prince of
Orange having so skilfully invested the city of Juliers
that it would be impossible for the enemy to make any
effectual resistance ; while Austria remained perfectly
inactive, evidently considering the struggle at an end.*
The argument of the Chancellor had, however, decided
the Queen, who exclaimed vehemently : " Say no
more ; I will never abandon the allies of the French
Crown ; and you have now, gentlemen, only to decide
upon what general it will be expedient to confer the
command of the campaign." t
The Due de Bouillon, on ascertaining the decision
of the Regent, immediately advanced his claim. He
had already become weary of the Court, and he was,
moreover, anxious to obtain some employment which
might form an honourable pretext for his departure
before the approaching coronation of the King, at
which he could not assist owing to his religious prin-
ciples. This difference of faith, however, determined
the Council to decline his services, his ambition and
spirit of intrigue being so notorious as to render it in-
expedient to entrust him with a command of so much
importance, and one which must, moreover, bring him
into constant contact with his co-religionists ; a refusal
by which he was so much mortified that he made im-
mediate preparations for retiring to Sedan. { The
choice of the Council ultimately fell upon the Mare-
* Sully, Mhn. vol. viii. pp. 81-84.
\Mercure Fran fats, 1610, p. 505.
j Mezeray, vol. xi. p. n. L'Etoile, on the contrary (vol. iv. p.
132), asserts that the command was offered to Bouillon, but that he
wisely declined it.
68 The Life of
chal de la Chatre,* who was appointed chief and lieu-
tenant-general of the King's army, consisting of twelve
thousand infantry and two thousand horse.
The brave old soldier was not, however, fated on
this occasion to add to his well-earned laurels, the
words of Sully having been verified to the letter.
Juliers was invested in the beginning of August, and
on the 1 8th of the same month, when the French
troops arrived before the city, the Prince of Orange
had already made himself master of the fortress ; and
although the Imperial general gallantly persisted in
his defence, he found himself at its close compelled to
capitulate, being no longer able to resist the cannonade
of the enemy, who had effected an irreparable breach
in one of the walls, by which they poured an unceas-
ing fire into the streets of the town.
The capitulation was signed on the 1st of Septem-
ber, and executed on the morrow, after which M. de la
Chatre and his forces returned to France, and the dif-
ferent Princes who had been engaged in the campaign
retired to their several states.f
Meanwhile the Court of Paris was rapidly becoming
a scene of anarchy and confusion. The Prince de
Conti and the Comte de Soissons were alike candidates
for the government of Normandy, which the Regent,
* Claude de la Chatre was originally one of the pages of the Due de
Montmorency, who continued to protect him throughout his whole
career. He distinguished himself in several battles and sieges, and
having embraced the party of the League possessed himself of Berry,
which he subsequently surrendered to Henri IV. At the period of
his death, which occurred on the i8th of December, 1614, at the ad-
vanced age of seventy-eight years, he was Marshal of France, Knight
of the King's Orders, and Governor of Berry and Orleans.
f Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 13.
Marie De Medicis 69
from its importance and the physical disqualifications
of the Prince, conferred, despite the solicitations of
Madame de Conti, upon M. de Soissons ; and she had
no sooner come to this decision than the two Princes
were at open feud, supported by their several partisans,
and the streets of the capital were the theatre of con-
stant violence and uproar. The Due d'Epernon, who
was the open ally of the Count, on his side supported
M. de Soissons in order to counterbalance the influence
of the Prince de Conti and the Guises ; an unfortunate
circumstance for Marie, who had so unguardedly be-
trayed her gratitude for his prompt and zealous services
at the first moment of her affliction, that the vain and
ambitious Duke had profited by the circumstance to
influence her opinions and measures so seriously as to
draw down the most malicious suspicions of their
mutual position, suspicions to which the antecedents
of M. d'Epernon unhappily lent only too much prob-
ability.*
In addition to this open and threatening misunder-
standing between two of the first Princes of the Blood,
a new danger was created by the imprudence of the
same noble, who, presuming upon his newly-acquired
importance, uttered the most violent and menacing ex-
pressions against the Protestants, declaring that they
had been tolerated too long, and that it would soon
become necessary to reduce them to a proper sense of
their insignificance ; an opinion which he had no sooner
uttered than the Marquis d'Ancre in his turn assured
the Regent that if she desired to secure a happy and
prosperous reign to her son, she had no alternative but
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. p. 146.
yo The Life of
to forbid the exercise of the reformed religion, to
whose adherents the late King had owed his death.*
Conscious of the cabal which was organising against
them, and having been apprised that M. d'Epernon had
doubled the number of his guards, the Dues de Bouil-
lon, de Guise, and de Sully adopted similar precautions,
and even kept horses ready saddled in their stables in
order to escape upon the instant should they be threat-
ened with violence. The minor nobility followed the
example of their superiors, and soon every hotel in-
habited by men of rank resembled a fortress, while the
streets resounded with the clashing of arms and the
trampling of horses, to the perpetual terror of the
citizens.
Coupled with these purely personal feuds others
were generated of an official nature, no less subversive
of public tranquillity. M. de Villeroy had purchased
the government of Lyons from the Due de Vendome,
for his son the Comte d'Alincourt, having at the same
time disposed of the appointment of Lieutenant of the
King previously held by the Count, and this arrange-
ment was no sooner concluded than he resolved to
solicit from the Queen a force of three hundred Swiss
Guards to garrison the city ; a demand in which he
succeeded in interesting Concini, and to which he con-
sequently anticipated no opposition on her part. He
was correct in his conclusion, but the sole consent of
the Regent did not suffice upon so important a ques-
tion, which it was necessary to submit to the consid-
eration of the Council, where it was accordingly
mooted. Sully, although previously solicited by the
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. p. 147.
Marie De Medicis 71
Queen to support the proposal, resolutely refused to
do so, alleging that he would never consent to see the
King subjected to an outlay of twelve hundred thou-
sand livres in order to enable M. d'Alincourt to pocket
one hundred thousand, and that Lyons, by the treaty
concluded with the Duke of Savoy, had ceased to be
a frontier town, and consequently required no garrison.
This reply, which made considerable impression upon
Marie, she repeated to M. de Villeroy, who retorted,
loud enough to be heard by a friend of Sully, that he
was aware the Spaniards and Savoyards were no longer
to be feared, and that it was consequently not against
them that he was anxious to secure the city of Lyons,
but that the real enemies whom she had to fear were
the Huguenots, who were at that moment better sit-
uated, more prepared, and probably also more inclined
to oppose her authority than they had ever before
been. This intemperate and ill-judged speech was
instantly reported to Sully, who, rising indignantly
from his seat, approached the Queen and audibly in-
formed her that he considered it his duty to remark
that, as in order to render her favourable to the demand
of his son, M. de Villeroy had not scrupled to malign
the Protestants, but had designated them as more
dangerous enemies to herself and to the state than
those who were labouring to further the interests of
Spain, he only entreated her to afford to his denial the
same weight as that which she attached to the asser-
tion of the State Secretary, and by placing both upon
the same footing exclude them equally from the Coun-
cil, to which neither could any longer advance a claim
for admittance. To this bold and public accusation M.
72 The Life of
de Villeroy attempted no reply, but thenceforward the
two ministers no longer maintained even a semblance
of amity.*
Hitherto M. de Conde had taken no part in the dis-
sensions which were going on about him, but on the
night of the loth of July he in his turn received a
warning to be upon his guard, and in consequence he
caused a strong patrol to keep watch on all sides of
his palace. Not an hour passed in which the gallop of
a party of horsemen was not heard clattering over the
rough and ill-paved streets. At midnight the Marquis
d'Ancre waited upon the Prince to convey to him an
invitation from the Regent to take up his abode in the
Louvre should he not consider himself safe in his own
house, but M. de Conde coldly declined to avail him-
self of the offer, alleging that the manner in which her
Majesty had replied on the previous day, when he had
informed her of his having been assured of her inten-
tion to cause his arrest, had given him no encourage-
ment to become her guest ; an answer which by no
means tended to relieve the increasing apprehensions
of the Queen, who felt the necessity of appeasing at
any sacrifice the discontent of the Princes. She ac-
cordingly desired the presence of M. de Conde at the
Louvre, a summons which he reluctantly obeyed ; and
it was long before the urbanity of her welcome assured
him of the sincerity with which she entreated him to
endeavour in her name to conciliate the Prince de
Conti, who, on the refusal of the coveted government,
had quitted Paris in disgust, and to induce his return
to the^ourt.
* Sully, M'em. vol. viii. pp. 121-124.
Marie De Medicis 73
It was not the fashion of that period even for Prin-
ces of the Blood to make concessions whence they
derived no personal benefit, and it was accordingly
without any compunction that M. de Conde declared
the terms upon which he would undertake the pro-
posed mission. He was to receive as recompense for
his condescension the sum of fifty thousand crowns,
with the first government which should become
vacant, and was authorised to promise two hundred
thousand crowns to the Due de Guise for the payment
of his debts, as well as several lesser sums to others of
the Princes, on condition that they should return to
their allegiance and forego their personal animosities.
These preliminary arrangements concluded, M. de
Conde hastened to represent to his uncle the necessity
of his immediate return to Paris before the departure
of the King for Rheims, whither he was about to pro-
ceed for his coronation ; and the Prince de Conti
having with considerable difficulty been induced to
comply with his request, the princely relatives entered
the capital with so numerous a retinue of nobles and
gentlemen that it excited general remark.
On the following day the two Princes, similarly
attended, and accompanied by the Due de Guise and
M. de Joinville, proceeded to the Parliament, where
they took their accustomed seats ; but neither M. de
Soissons nor the Due d'Epernon were present, the first
pretexting indisposition and the second declining to
adduce any reason for his absence.*
On the 2/th the Marquis d'Ancre was admittgdy/ito
the Council of State, and took the customary^^ks
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. pp. 183, 184.
A *% i
$ b $
ft
74 The Life of
the Louvre ; but he received few congratulations on
this new honour, the arrogance in which he indulged
tending to disgust the higher nobles, and to alarm
those who had reason to deprecate his daily-increasing
influence.
Both M. de Bouillon and the Due de Sully, pro-
fessing the reformed religion, were ineligible to offici-
ate at the coronation of the sovereign, and they
accordingly received the royal permission to absent
themselves, by which both hastened to profit, but from
very different motives. Sully, who was well aware
that he must either voluntarily resign his governmental
dignities or submit to see them wrenched from him,
proceeded to his estate at Montrond with the firm in-
tention of never returning to the capital; a resolve
which he was, however, subsequently induced to forego
by the entreaty of the Queen that he would continue
to afford to her son the same good service as he had
done to the late King his father, coupled with assur-
ances of her firm confidence in his zeal and fidelity ;
while Bouillon prepared to resume his attempts to
reconcile the Princes, by which means he hoped to
overthrow the Regency and to secure to himself a
prominent position in the government of the king-
dom. This effort was, however, destined to fail, too
many interests adverse to any such coalition being
involved in the question to enable him to carry out
his project; and he accordingly departed for Sedan,
where he forthwith began to excite the Huguenots to
discontent, representing that they would never have a
more favourable opportunity for enforcing their rights
than at a moment when the nation was shaken to its
Marie De Medicis 75
centre by the assassination of the King, and during
the minority of his successor. This argument pro-
duced, as he had anticipated, a powerful effect upon
the minds of his co-religionists, to whom he also ex-
patiated on the repugnance with which the Regent
conferred place or power upon a Protestant, whatever
might be his personal merit. In conclusion he urged
them to demand a general assembly, a proposition to
which they readily acceded, and with the greater
willingness that the time allowed to them for this
purpose by the edict of 1597 would expire at the
close of the year.*
Thus the weight of government pressed heavily
upon Marie both from within and without ; and mean-
while the young King began to betray symptoms of
that suspicious and saturnine temper by which he was
afterwards so unhappily distinguished. On one occa-
sion when all the efforts of Pere Cotton, his confessor,
had failed to overcome his gloom and reserve, the
priest inquired in a tone of interest the nature of the
annoyance by which he was thus oppressed. " I shall
not tell you," was the resolute reply ; " for you will
immediately write to Spain to inform them."
The confessor, whose intimate connection with the
ministers of Philip had rendered him obnoxious to the
French people, was startled by this unexpected answer,
and immediately complained to the Queen of the af-
front that had been offered to him ; upon which Marie
summoned the offender, and insisted upon his imme-
diately informing her who had dared to suggest such
an idea, when with considerable reluctance the boy-
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils, vol. i. p. 109.
76 The Life of
King stated that his nurse had warned him to be cau-
tious because the reverend father was in correspondence
with that country.
" Since she permits herself to play the politician,"
said the Queen, " she shall be dismissed."
" Be it so," retorted the young Prince ; " but,"
turning towards the Jesuit, " I shall remember that it
was his work, and I shall not always be a child."
A short time subsequently, while playing with a
favourite fawn, he hid himself among the shrubs in the
gardens of the Tuileries, and remained so long in his
concealment that his attendants became alarmed and
were compelled to inform the Queen that although
they had sought the King everywhere, to entreat him
to return, they could not ascertain where he had gone.
Marie in great alarm caused all around her to join in
the search, while she remained at one of the windows
in a state of agonising anxiety. At length the retreat
of the fugitive was found, and M. de Souvre threatened
him with the rod.
" As you please," he said sullenly ; " but if, in
order to satisfy the Queen, you lay a hand upon me
to-day, I will keep up appearances with you, but I
will never forget it." *
Only a few days subsequently (2d of October)
Louis XIII., attended by his Court, proceeded to
Rheims for his coronation, the royal ornaments used
upon such occasions having been removed from St.
Denis to that city. The Cardinal de Joyeuse per-
formed the ceremony, the archiepiscopal chair being
vacant at the time ; and the Princes de Conde and de
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. pp. 192, 193.
Marie De Medicis 77
Conti, the Comte de Soissons, the Dues de Nevers,
d'Elbceuf,* and d'Epernon represented the ancient
Dukes of Burgundy, Normandy, and Aquitaine, and
the Counts of Toulouse, Flanders, and Champagne.
On the morrow the young sovereign was invested
with the Order of the Holy Ghost, which he immedi-
ately afterwards conferred upon the Prince de Conde,
and on Tuesday the iQth he stood sponsor for the
child of the Baron de Tour ; after which he proceeded
to St. Marcou, where he touched a number of persons
suffering under the loathsome disease which it was the
superstition of the age to believe could be removed by
contact with the royal hand.
On the 3Oth of the month the Court returned to
Paris, and was met at the Port St. Antoine by the civic
authorities, at the head of two hundred mounted citi-
zens, amid a cannonade from the Bastille, and cease-
less flourishes of trumpets and hautboys. The Regent
had, however, preceded her son to the city, and stood
in a balcony at the house of Zamet to see him pass,
where he no sooner perceived her than he withdrew
his plumed cap, which he did not resume until having
halted beneath the window he had saluted her with a
profound bow. He then proceeded by torchlight to
* Charles de Lorraine, Due d'Elbceuf, was the grandson of Rene,
Marquis d'Elbceuf, the seventh son of Claude, Due de Guise. He
married Catherine Henriette, the daughter of Henri IV. and la belle
Gabrielle, and was involved in the intrigues of the Court during the
ministries both of Richelieu and Mazarin. His posterity terminated
in his grandson, Emmanuel-Maurice, who died in 1763, after having
served the Emperor in Naples. During his sojourn in Italy the Due
Emmanuel built a superb palace at Portici ; and it is worthy of re-
mark that it was while searching for ancient marbles to decorate that
edifice that the ruins of Herculaneum were discovered. The subject
of the note died in 1657.
78 The Life of
the Louvre, accompanied throughout his progress by
the same acclamations of loyalty and enthusiasm as
had greeted the ears of his dead father only a few
months previously.
It had been a great relief to Marie de Medicis that
before the departure of the Court for Rheims a
reconciliation had been effected between the Prince de
Conde and the Comte de Soissons ; but her tranquillity
was not destined to last, the attendants of the Cardinal
de Joyeuse and those of the Marquis d'Ancre having
had a violent altercation during the journey on the
subject of the accommodation provided for their re-
spective employers ; and this quarrel was no sooner
appeased than the new-made Marquis originated
another with the Due de Bellegarde, alleging that as
First Lord of the Bedchamber he had a right to take
precedence of the Duke, who was Grand Equerry of
France. M. de Bellegarde, irritated by this presump-
tion, complained loudly of the affront, and was sup-
ported in his indignation by the Due d'Epernon and
by the Comte de Soissons, who was becoming weary
of the Italian adventurer.
Even the Queen herself could neither support nor
justify such undue pretensions ; and M. d'Ancre, re-
luctantly convinced that he had on this occasion
swooped at too high a quarry, swallowed his mortifica-
tion as best he might, and endeavoured to redeem his
error ; an attempt in which he was seconded by the
Queen, in obedience to whose wishes M. le Grand
somewhat contemptuously consented to forego any
further demonstration of his resentment; while the
Due d'Epernon agreed, with even more facility, to fol-
Marie De Medicis 79
low his example. The Comte de Soissons was not,
however, so easily to be appeased ; and he accordingly,
with the ever-wakeful policy for which he was prover-
bial, made his reconciliation with the mortified Marquis
conditional upon his promise of assistance in his two
darling projects of obtaining the hand of the heiress
of Montpensier for his son the Comte d'Enghien, and
of accomplishing the ruin of the Due de Sully.
At this crisis the finance minister could ill afford to
see a new antagonist enter the lists against him, sur-
rounded as he already was by enemies eager for his
overthrow. The Prince de Conde had neither forgot-
ten nor forgiven his advice to Henri IV. to order his
arrest when he fled to Flanders to protect the honour
of his wife ; the Due de Bouillon was jealous of his in-
terest with the Huguenot party ; while the Chancellor,
Villeroy, and Jeannin were leagued against him, in or-
der to support their own authority. To Concini, more-
over, his very name was odious, and consequently the
new adversary who had thus been evoked against him
was the most dangerous of all, inasmuch as he was the
most subtle and vindictive, and also because he pos-
sessed the ear of the Queen, who had so long accus-
tomed herself to support him against what he saw fit
to entitle the oppression of the French nobles, that she
had ceased to question the validity of his accusations.
The religion of Sully also tended to indispose the
Queen towards him. Herself a firm adherent of the
Church of Rome, she looked with an eye of suspicion
upon a minister whose faith differed from her own ;
and this circumstance operated powerfully in adding
weight to the accusations of his enemies. The Prince
8o The Life of
de Conde alone for a time refused to sanction the
efforts which were made to ensure his political ruin,
but he was in his turn eventually enlisted in the cause
by the prospect which was held out to him of sharing
in the profits resulting from the confiscation of the
minister's public property ; his retirement from office
necessarily involving his resignation of all the lucrative
appointments which he held under the Government.*
It was at this precise moment that the Huguenots
petitioned the Regent for the general assembly, as ad-
vised by the Due de Bouillon ; a circumstance which
could not have failed to prove fatal to the interests of
Sully had he still desired to retain office, as the com-
ments of the anti-Protestant party by which she was
surrounded, seconded by her own personal feelings,
tended to exasperate Marie against all who professed
the reformed faith. She consequently received the
appeal with considerable asperity, declaring that it was
impossible to calculate the demands which would be
made upon the indulgence of the Crown, although
there was no doubt that they would prove both unjust
and extravagant ; but being unable to refuse to con-
* It may not be uninteresting to our readers to learn the honours
and offices to which Sully had attained at the death of Henri IV.
Here follows his titles : Maximilien de Bethune, Knight, Due de
Henrichemont and Boisbelle ; Marquis de Rosny ; Comte de Dourdan ;
Sire d'Orval, Montrond, and St. Amand ; Baron d'Espineuil, Bruyeres,
le Chatel, Villebon, la Chapelle, Novion, Bagny, and Boutin; King's
Counsel in all the royal councils ; Captain- Lieutenant of two hundred
ordnance men-at-arms ; Grand Master and Captain-General of the
Artillery ; Grand Overseer of the highways of France ; Superintendent
of Finance, and of the royal fortifications and buildings : Governor
and Lieutenant-General of his Majesty in Poitou, Chateleraudois, and
Loudunois ; Governor of Mantes and Gergeau ; and Captain of the
Bastille.
Marie De Medicis 81
firm the provisions of the edict, she finally instructed
the ministers to suggest delay as the best means of de-
livering herself for a time from the consequences of
compliance.
In this attempt she, however, failed ; the Due de
Bouillon being well aware that should the prescribed
period be suffered to elapse without some pledge upon
the part of the Government, the demand would be
evaded by a declaration that the allotted time was past ;
and accordingly the Protestants persisted in their claim
with so much pertinacity that the Regent found her-
self compelled to authorise their meeting at Saumur
in the course of the ensuing year.
Under these circumstances it is scarcely matter of
surprise that despite the opposition of the finance min-
ister, M. de Villeroy succeeded in effecting the estab-
lishment of a garrison at Lyons ; and the misunder-
standing was shortly afterwards renewed between the
two functionaries by a demand on the part of the State
Secretary that the maintenance of the troops should
be defrayed from the general receipts of the city. The
Orientals have a proverb which says, " it is the last fig
that breaks the camel's back," and thus it was with
Sully. Exasperated by this new invasion of his au-
thority, he lost his temper ; and after declaring that
the citizens of Lyons were at that moment as com-
petent to protect themselves as they had ever been,
and that it was consequently unreasonable to inflict so
useless an outlay upon the King, he accused the
Chancellor, who had favoured the pretensions of Ville-
roy, of leaguing with him to ruin the Crown ; a de-
nunciation which, as it equally affected all the other
82 The Life of
ministers who had espoused the same cause, sealed his
own overthrow.*
Satisfied of a fact so self-evident, Sully resolved no
longer to breast the torrent of jealousy and hatred
against which he found himself called upon to contend,
but without further delay to resign at once the cares
and dignities of office ; a design which was vehemently
opposed not only by his own family, but also by his
co-religionists, the whole of whom, save only such of
their leaders as had private reasons for seeking his dis-
missal, were keenly sensible of the loss which their
cause must necessarily sustain from the want of his
support. The Duke, however, firmly withstood all
their expostulations ; wearied and disgusted by the in-
efficiency of his endeavours to protect the interests
of the sovereign against the encroachments of extor-
tionate nobles, and the machinations of interested min-
isters, he felt no inclination to afford a new triumph to
his enemies by awaiting a formal dismissal; and he
accordingly took the necessary measures for disposing
of his superintendence of the finances, and his govern-
ment of the Bastille (the most coveted because the most
profitable of his public offices), in order that he might
be permitted in his retirement to retain the other dig-
nities which he had purchased by a long life of labour
and loyalty.!
While this important affair was in progress, the
Duke paid a visit to M. de Rambure, during which he
said with evident uneasiness : " The Bishop of Fen-
ouillet was with me yesterday, and assured me that in
* Richelieu, Hist.de la Mere et du Fils t vol. i. pp. 109-113.
f Sully, Afem, vol. viii. pp. 125-129.
Marie De Medicis 83
the morning a secret council had been held at the
residence of the Papal Nuncio, at which were present
the Chancellor, the Marquis d'Ancre, Villeroy, the
Bishop of Beziers, and the Due d'Epernon ; and that
after a great deal of unseemly discourse, in which the
memory of the late King was treated with disrespect
and derision, it was decided that everything should be
changed, that new alliances should be formed, new
friendships encouraged, and new opinions promulgated.
It was, moreover, arranged that a letter should be forth-
with sent to the Pope, informing him that it was the
intention of France to be guided in all things by his
advice, while every guarantee should be given to the
Duke of Savoy until the conclusion of a proposed
alliance with Spain ; and finally, that all persons ad-
verse to this line of policy should be compelled to
resign their places, especially those who professed the
Protestant faith. Thus then, my good De Rambure,"
he added bitterly, " if I am wise I shall quietly dispose
of my places under Government, making as much
money of them as I can, purchase a fine estate, and
retain the surplus, in order to meet such exigencies as
may arise ; for I foresee that all the faithful servants
of the late King who may refuse to defer to the authority
of the Marquis d'Ancre, will have enough upon their
hands. As for me," he pursued vehemently, " I would
rather die than degrade myself by the slightest con-
cession to this wretched, low-born Italian, who is the
greatest rascal of all those concerned in the murder of
the King." " Which," adds Rambure for himself, " he
truly is." *
* Rambure, MS. Mtmoires, vol. vi. pp. 78, 79.
84 The Life of
Every circumstance, moreover, conspired to
strengthen the Due de Sully in. his resolution. He
had, as we have shown, returned to the capital at the
express invitation of the Regent; but he had no
sooner arrived there than he discovered how little his
tenure of office was really desired. As, however, both
his public and private interests required his presence in
Paris for a time, he considered it expedient to suppress
his indignation, and to hasten his arrangements, in
order to be at liberty to withdraw whenever he should
be prepared to do so; and he had accordingly no
sooner recovered from the fatigue of his journey than
he proceeded to pay his respects to the King and his
august mother.
On reaching the Louvre he was informed that Louis
was at the Tuileries, where he would spend the morn-
ing, and that the Regent dined at the Hotel de Zamet ;
upon which the Duke determined to proceed thither,
where he found her attended by the Due de Villeroy,
Bassompierre, M. and Madame d'Ancre, and the prin-
cipal members of her household. As Sully was an-
nounced Marie uttered a gracious welcome, and
ungloving her hand, presented it to him to kiss ; which
he had no sooner done than she assured him of her
continued regard and requested that he would talk no
more of retiring from the service of the King, whose
youth and helplessness rendered the good offices of
those who had enjoyed the confidence of his royal
father doubly necessary to himself; and finally, despite
all that had previously occurred, the Duke took his
leave almost shaken in his belief that Marie had been
induced to sanction his dismissal.
Marie De Medicis 85
This illusion was, moreover, encouraged by the con-
duct of the courtidrs, who had no sooner ascertained
the nature of his reception by the Queen, than they
flocked to the Arsenal to compliment him upon his
return to Court ; and Zamet took an opportunity of
impressing upon him that he was indebted for the un-
disguised favour of Marie to the influence of the
Marquis d'Ancre ; who subsequently visited him in his
turn, but so visibly with the intention of inducing him
to uphold the extravagant pretensions which he was
about to advance, that Sully did not disguise his dis-
gust, and they separated mutually dissatisfied.
On the morrow the Duke proceeded, according to
appointment, to the Louvre, where he was imme-
diately admitted to the private closet of Marie ; but he
had scarcely crossed the threshold ere he became aware
that his contention with Concini had induced a cold-
ness on the part of the Regent, which she strove in
vain to conceal. She, however, made no allusion to
their interview, confining her complaints to the ex-
tortionate importunities of the great nobles, which she
declared her resolution to resist ; and, by referring them
to the Council, cause them to be subjected to so rigor-
ous an examination as must tend to their diminution.
She then placed in the hands of the finance minister a
list of the demands which had been made upon her,
entreating him to assist her in opposing claims that
would end, if satisfied, by ruining the interests alike of
the King and of the nation ; and she concluded by
pledging her royal word that she would uphold the
Duke in his opposition, as resolutely as ever he had
been supported in his former measures by the deceased
86 The Life of
monarch. More and more bewildered by this apparent
inconsistency, Sully respectfully took possession of
the document, declaring his perfect willingness to serve
both her Majesty and the state by every means in his
power; and he then awaited her pleasure upon other
matters of more public importance ; but on all else
Marie was silent, and the disappointed minister at
length withdrew to examine the paper which had been
delivered to him, and of which we will transcribe the
principal contents as singularly illustrative of the venal
state of the Court at that period.
The Prince de Conde demanded the captaincy of the
fortress of Chateau-Trpmpette, the government of
Blaye, and the principality of Orange as far as the
bank of the Rhone ; the Comte de Soissons solicited
the captaincy of the old palace of Rouen, and the
fortress of Caen, with the tax upon cloth, flax, and
hemp, which he had previously endeavoured, as else-
where stated, to obtain from Henri IV. ; the Due de
Lorraine requested payment in full of the whole sum
specified in his treaty, although he had previously con-
sented to accept two-thirds of the amount; the Due
de Guise demanded the royal assent to his marriage
with Madame de Montpensier, the revocation of all the
patent taxes in Provence and the port of Marseilles,
and the liquidation of his debts ; the Due de Mayenne,
who had warned the Regent to resist the extravagant
pretensions of the Princes, also came forward with a
demand for large sums independently of those insured
to him by his treaty ; the Due d'Aiguillon * sought to
* Henri de Lorraine, Due d'Aiguillon, peer of France, elder son of
the Due de Mayenne.
Marie De Medicis 87
obtain a donation of thirty thousand crowns, the gov-
ernments of Bresse and the city of Bourg, together
with the embassy to Spain, and enormous emoluments ;
the Prince de Joinville, so lately an exile from the
Court, requested the government of Auvergne, or fail-
ing this, that of the first province which should become
vacant ; the Due de Nevers asked for the entire pro-
ceeds of the tax upon salt produced in the Rethelois,
with the governments of Mezieres and Sainte-Mene-
hould ; the Due d'Epernon demanded the command of
a corps of infantry, to be constantly kept in an efficient
state, the survivorship of his governments for his son,
and that fortifications should be formed at Angouleme
and Saintes, with three or four other equally important
concessions ; the Due de Bouillon sought the liquida-
tion of some alleged debts, the proceeds of the excise,
and salt duties, and all other imposts levied in the vis-
county of Turenne, the arrears of pay due to his gar-
risons, the liquidation of all pensions which had been
discontinued during his exile, with the royal assent to
a general assembly of the Protestants ; the Chancellor
followed with a demand of all the fees appertaining to
the lesser seals, that the salary of his office should be
doubled, and that he should have letters of nobility in
Normandy. All the officers of the Crown sought an
increase of twenty-four thousand livres to their several
pensions ; members of the Council, augmented emolu-
ments ; governors of provinces, the revenues of these
provinces which had hitherto reverted to the Crown ;
municipal companies, exemptions and privileges pre-
viously unthought of; and finally, Concini, who had
arrived in the French capital only a few years previ-
88 The Life of
ously comparatively destitute, set forth his require-
ments to be these the baton of Marshal of France, the
governments of Bourg, Dieppe, and Pont-de-1'Arche,
the proceeds of the salt duties of Languedoc, and those
of the reduction accorded at Moissets and Feydant.
Such, and much more of the same description, were
the contents of the documents upon which the wrath
of Sully scarcely permitted him to dwell with patience.
It was a chaos whence he dreaded even to attempt to
draw the elements of order, feeling as he did that every
concession made to one of the parties must necessarily
evoke the jealousy and indignation of another, while
it was utterly impossible, and would, moreover, be
dangerously impolitic in any case, to satisfy the pre-
tensions of all. The enormous sums produced by the
imposts, whose transfer from the Crown to individuals
was thus unblushingly demanded, would have rendered
the Princes to whom they might be granted more
wealthy than many of the petty sovereigns of Europe ;
while the governments and provinces sought to be ob-
tained by others must inevitably make them independ-
ent of the King, and thus place the subjects who
should have been the support of the throne in direct
rivalry with their sovereign. The finance minister was
aghast ; and the more earnestly he considered the sub-
ject, the more he became convinced that there was no
alternative save to negative all these egregious claims
en masse ; a conviction which satisfied him that by
fearlessly adopting this course, his tenure of office
would, had he still desired to contend with the cabal
which had already been formed against him, become
utterly impossible.
Marie De Medicis 89
Nevertheless Sully did not shrink from what he con-
sidered an imperative duty ; and accordingly he re-
solved no longer to trust the lip-deep assurances by
which he had been beguiled since his return to Court,
but immediately to declare his resignation of office,
and to follow it up by the most resolute and determined
opposition.*
He had no sooner, therefore, irrevocably arrived at
this decision, than he addressed a letter to the Regent,
in which he requested her permission to retire from the
Government; and, satisfied that his suit must prove
successful, he calmly awaited her reply. Meanwhile,
resolved that no reproach should be cast upon him
after his departure, he demanded an audience of the
King, in order to explain to him the exact state of the
royal treasury, and the manner in which its contents
had been diminished since the demise of his royal
father ; but as a private interview with a mere child
would not have satisfactorily sufficed to accomplish
this object, Sully produced his papers before all the
members of the royal household ; and while engaged
in the necessary explanation, he remarked that the
antiquated fashion of his costume, which he had not
changed for years, had excited the hilarity of the
younger courtiers. He suddenly paused, and after
glancing coldly round the giddy circle, looked fixedly
at the young monarch, and said with a dignity which
chased in an instant every inclination to mirth in the
bystanders : " Sire, I am too old to change my habits
with every passing wind. When the late King, your
father of glorious memory, did me the honour of con-
* Sully, Mem. vol. viii. pp. 109-118.
90 The Life of
ferring with me upon state affairs, he was in the habit
of previously clearing the apartment of all buffoons
and mountebanks." *
To the Princes of the Blood, the ministers of state,
and the nobles of the Court, Sully that day added to
the list of his enemies the boy-courtiers of the royal
circle.
Thus in heart-burning and uncertainty closed the
year which had commenced with the assassination of
the King. An arrogant and unruly aristocracy, a
divided and jealous ministry, and a harassed and dis-
contented population were its bitter fruits.
* Bonnechose, vol. i. p. 450.
CHAPTER III
1611
A Cold Correspondence Increasing Influence of the Marquis d'Ancre
Animosity Between the Due d'Epernon and Concini Disunion
of the Princes de Guise and de Lorraine Renewed Dissensions
Between M. de Bellegarde and the Marquis d'Ancre They are
Reconciled by the Comte de Soissons Marriage of the Due de
Guise Jealousy of M. de Soissons Quarrel Between the Prince de
Conti and the Comte de Soissons Mission of the Due de Guise A
New Rupture Intervention of the Due de Mayenne Alarm of the
Regent Sully Leaves Paris Madame de Sully Retirement of M.
de Thou Unpopularity of the Due d'Epernon Marie de Medicis
Endeavours to Reconcile the Princes The Royal Closet The Prot-
estants Prepare for the General Assembly The Prince de Conde
Retires to Guienne The Due d'Epernon is Charged to Watch His
Movements Arrogance of Concini Concini Seeks to Marry His
Daughter to a Son of the Comte de Soissons Indignation of the
Prince Cunning of Concini Bouillon Returns to Court He
Offers His Services to the Regent at the General Assembly He
Proceeds to Saumur He Desires to be Appointed President of the
Assembly He is Rejected in Favour of M. du Plessis-Mornay
He Attributes His Defeat to Sully He Resolves to Conciliate the
ex-Minister of Finance Meeting of the Assembly The Court De-
termines to Dissolve the Meeting Prudence of Du Plessis-Mornay
Death of M. de Crequy The Marquis d'Ancre Succeeds to the
Government of Amiens His Insolent Disregard of the Royal Pre-
rogative Indignation of the Ministers The Regent Resents His
Impertinence She Refuses to Receive Madame d'Ancre Intrigues
of the Princesse de Conti The Favourites Forgiven Marie de
Medicis Issues Several Salutary Edicts Court Festivities The
Duchesse de Lorraine Arrives at Fontainebleau Death of the Due
9*
92 The Life of
de Mayenne Death of the Queen of Spain The Duchesse de
Lorraine Claims the Hand of Louis XIII. for Her Daughter
Death of the Due d'Orleans Departure of the Duchesse de Lor-
raine Rival Claims M. de Breves Appointed Preceptor to the Due
d'Anjou The Comte de Soissons Applies for the Duchy of Alencon
Rebuke of the Regent A Hunting-party. A New Cabal Re-
call of the Marechal de Lesdiguieres Marie de Medicis Purchases
the Hdtel de Luxembourg.
THE first political event worthy of record which
occurred in France at the commencement of
the year 1611 was the retirement of the Due de Sully;
who, on the 24th of January, received the reply of the
Regent to the letter in which he had solicited her per-
mission to withdraw from the Government. It con-
tained a faintly-expressed regret at the resolution he
had taken ; " but that," as he himself says, " was merely
for form's sake ; " * and the accuracy of his judgment
is evidenced by the fact that only two days after he
had again written to declare that his determination was
unalterable, the Due de Bouillon delivered to him the
official warrants by which he was discharged from his
duties of Superintendent of Finance, and Captain of
the Bastille. These were worded in the most flattering
terms ; and he was guaranteed against all inquiry or
annoyance upon either subject from the day in which
he resigned his tenure of office. A third warrant was,
moreover, added, by which, in consideration of his past
services, the Queen bestowed upon him the sum of
three hundred thousand livres ; and a few days subse-
quently he received letters from the King and the
Regent authorising him to transfer the command of
* Sully, Mem. vol. viii. p. 129.
Marie De Medicis 93
the Bastille to M. de Chateauvieux ; * which he had no
sooner done than he turned all his attention to the
final arrangement of his public accounts, in order that
he might, with as little delay as possible, be enabled
to quit the capital.f
The transfer of the Bastille was shortly afterwards
followed by that of the ministry of finance, which was
placed under the joint direction of M. de Chateauneuf J;
and the Presidents de Thou and de Jeannin ; the latter
of whom was, however, invested with the rank of
Comptroller-General, which gave him the entire man-
agement of the public funds, to the exclusion of his
colleagues, who were in consequence only eligible to
assist in the official distribution of the public monies.
The charge of Grand Master of the Artillery, which
was resigned with the command of the Bastille by
Sully, the Regent retained in her own hands.
From that time the Marquis d'Ancre became pre-
eminent at Court ; and not only the ministers, but even
the Princes of the Blood themselves, looked with dis-
trust upon his power over the Queen. Between the
Italian favourite and the Due d'Epernon especially, a
feeling of hatred had grown up, which, although as
* Joachim, Sire de Chateauvieux, had been captain of the body-
guard to Henri IV.
f Sully, Mtm. vol. viii. pp. 133, 134.
} Charles de 1'Aubespine, Marquis de Chateauneuf-sur-Cher, was
born on the 22d of February, 1580. He was abbot and sub-dean of
Preaux, and was successively ambassador to Switzerland, Holland,
Brussels, England and Venice. On the I4th of November, 1630, he
was appointed Keeper of the Seals of France ; was deprived of his
office on the 25th of February, 1633, and recalled on the 2d of March,
1650. He, however, voluntarily resigned the appointment on the 3<i
of April, 1651, and retired from the Court. He died at Leuville on
the I yth of September, 1653.
D'H6ricourt, Hist, de France, vol. i. p. 524.
94 The Life of
yet veiled by the policy for which each was so distin-
guished, only awaited a fitting opportunity to reveal
itself on both sides ; and the struggle for power was
not the less resolute because it was carried on amid
smiles and courtesies. Meanwhile, also, the Princes
de Guise and de Lorraine evinced symptoms of dis-
union, which threatened the most serious consequences ;
and amid all this chaos of conflicting interests and pas-
sions the royal authority was treated with contempt,
and Marie began to tremble for the stability of her
regency.*
Early in the month Concini entered upon his duties
as First Lord of the Bedchamber, and had a serious
misunderstanding with the Due de Bellegarde, who re-
fused to allow him to take possession of the apart-
ments in the Louvre set aside for the person holding
that rank during the year in which he was on duty, on
the pretext that the Marquise his wife being already
lodged in the palace, he had no right to claim any
further accommodation. Concini insisted on the priv-
ilege of his office, upon which M. le Grand, to whom
he had become hateful from his arrogance and preten-
sion, retorted in a manner which excited his temper ;
and high and bitter words were exchanged that threat-
ened the most serious results, when the Italian, suddenly
recollecting that he was exasperating by his violence
an enemy too powerful for him to contend against
without support, declared that he would pursue the
quarrel no further in person, but would place his
honour in the hands of the Comte de Soissons, and
abide by his decision. Against such a determination
* M6zeray, vol. xi. pp. 16, 17.
Marie De Medicis 95
M. de Bellegarde had, of course, nothing to urge ; and
the Italian forthwith requested the Marquis de Cceuv-
res, in whom M. de Soissons had great confidence, to
represent the affair to that Prince, and to assure him
that he would be entirely governed by his advice.
The Due d'Epernon, delighted to find that Concini
had made a new enemy, strenuously exerted himself to
induce M. le Grand to maintain his ground, a counsel
which the latter was well disposed to follow ; but the
Comte de Soissons, who was anxious to secure the
influence of the Italian Marquis that he might the more
readily effect the marriage of his son, eagerly em-
braced so favourable an opportunity of purchasing his
good offices ; and consequently represented in strin-
gent terms to his opponent the utter impracticability of
refusing to concede to M. d'Ancre the same considera-
tion and indulgence which had been enjoyed by his
predecessors in office, together with the danger that
he personally incurred by so gratuitously offending an
individual protected by the Regent. Whatever addi-
tional arguments he may have advanced it is impossible
to decide ; suffice it that the Duke yielded, the quarrel
was terminated, and Concini established in the coveted
apartments ; at which his gratification was so un-
measured that he pledged himself to M. de Soissons to
induce the ministers to consent to the union of the
Comte d'Enghien with the heiress of Montpensier, as
well as to exert himself in preventing the marriage of
the Due de Guise and the Duchess her mother.*
On the 5th of January the marriage of the Due de
Guise and the Duchesse de Montpensier was, however,
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mire et du Fits, vol. i. pp. 121, 127.
96 The Life of
celebrated by the Cardinal de Joyeuse at the early
hour of four in the morning, in the chapel attached to
the hotel of the lady ; an arrangement which was in
all probability caused by the opposition made to this
alliance by the Comte de Soissons, who, still anticipa-
ting a union between his son and the daughter of the
Duchess, was apprehensive that Madame de Montpen-
sier might be induced to enrich the family of which
she thus became a member with no inconsiderable
portion of the wealth which must otherwise form part
of the property of the young heiress.
Only three days subsequently, while the Court were
still occupied with the festivities which took place on
the occasion, the Prince de Conti and his brother M.
de Soissons, who was on his way to the Louvre, un-
fortunately met in a narrow street leading to the Cross
of Trahoir, when it had become so dark that it was
impossible to distinguish the appointments or liveries
of either equipage ; and the carriages were no sooner
entangled than the coachman of the Comte, ignorant
of the rank of his opponent, compelled the servants of
the Prince to make way, an insult which he resented
with a bitterness that induced him to refuse the
apology subsequently proffered by his brother.*
Alarmed by this new feud, the Queen requested the
Due de Guise to see the Prince de Conti, and to be-
seech him to effect a reconciliation with his turbulent
brother, a mission which the young Duke cheerfully
undertook; but it unfortunately happened that in
order to reach the Abbey of St. Germain, where M. de
Conti was then residing, it was necessary for him to
* D'Estrees, Mini. p. 384, edit. Petitot, suite de Bassompierre.
Marie De Medicis 97
pass beside the Hotel de Soissons, which he accordingly
did, followed by a retinue of thirty horsemen. This
circumstance was construed into a premeditated insult
by the Count, who immediately assembled his friends,
and informed them that he had been braved in his own
house by the Due de Guise ; whose adherents had no
sooner ascertained that there was an assemblage hostile
to his interests forming at the Hotel de Soissons, than
they in their turn flocked in such numbers to afford
him their support that in a short time more than a
thousand nobles were collected under his roof.
When this fact was communicated to M. de Soissons
he sent to request that the Prince de Conde would
accompany him to the Louvre, to demand from the
Regent that she should afford them satisfaction for
the insolence of the Due de Guise ; who, when sum-
moned to explain his motives for inflicting an affront
upon the Count, simply and calmly replied that he
had never sought to insult M. de Soissons ; but had,
in obedience to the command of her Majesty, been
compelled to pass an angle of his hotel, which he had
moreover done without a demonstration of any descrip-
tion, and accompanied only by the escort suitable to
his rank. That his sincere anxiety had been to second
the wishes of her Majesty ; and that so far from seek-
ing to envenom an unfortunate misunderstanding which
could only tend to involve the Court in new disorder,
he had from the first moment resolved not to offer an
opinion upon the merits of the feud ; a determination
to which he still meant to adhere.
This manly declaration in no degree softened the
ire of the Count ; who, enchanted at having discovered
98 The Life of
an opportunity of annoying and harassing M. de Guise
during the first week of his marriage, retorted in a
manner which impelled the Queen to request that each
would retire to his hotel ; and to express at the same
time her earnest hope that a little calm reflection would
induce the disputants to become reconciled.
The quarrel was nevertheless sustained throughout
the whole of that and the following day ; and so great
was the commotion which it excited in the capital that
the Regent, apprehending its result, considered it
necessary to order that chains should be in readiness
to be stretched across the streets, and that the citizens
should be prepared to take up arms at a moment's
notice. On the morrow new efforts were made to
pacify the irritated parties, but all having alike failed,
a detachment of the royal guard was stationed near
the person of each of the Princes in order to ensure
his safety.*
Meanwhile the Queen requested of M. de Guise, by
a confidential messenger, that he would wait upon the
Comte de Soissons, and apologise for having inad-
vertently given him offence ; a proposition to which
he readily consented ; feeling that such was in reality
the case, and that the rank of the Count as a Prince of
the Blood demanded this concession. Previously,
however, to putting his design into execution, he in-
formed the Due de Mayenne of the promise which he
had made to comply with the desire of the Regent,
when he was instantly and vehemently dissuaded from
his purpose ; M. de Mayenne representing that being
himself the party aggrieved by the groundless accusa-
* Bassompierre, Mem. p. 75.
Marie De Medicis 99
tion brought against him, he could not, without im-
pairing the dignity due to his position, personally
declare his regret for an act which he had never com-
mitted. He then counselled the Duke to place the
affair in his hands, alleging with a sophistry which it
is difficult to reconcile with reason that an apology
made for him, instead of by him, would at once answer
every purpose, and spare his own pride.
M. de Guise, who throughout the whole transaction
would appear to have been impatient to rid himself of
all trouble and annoyance, and consequently careless
by what means it was terminated, readily accepted the
offer ; and the Due de Mayenne accordingly repaired
to the palace, where he informed the Queen that he
was authorised by his nephew to offer his excuses for
the displeasure which he had unconsciously given to
his Highness the Comte de Soissons ; to which he
begged to add the assurance that the House of Guise,
individually and collectively, were desirous to live upon
terms of friendship and courtesy with the Count, if he
would accept their advances in the same spirit.*
Delighted by the prospect of restored peace, Marie
made no comment upon the fact that the Due de Guise
had failed to fulfil the promise which he had made of
offering his own apology to the Prince. She was
terrified by the anarchy that had grown up about her,
and by the facility with which those who should have
been the most earnest supporters of the dignity and
safety of the crown found means to involve the Court
in confusion and cabals ; a fact which moreover tended
to place her more completely in the power of Concini
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mere et du Fils, vol. i. pp. 224, 225.
ioo The Life of
and his wife than would probably ever have been the
case under other circumstances.
On the 1 4th of January in the present year the
Regent, through the active agency of Concini, gave
her solemn consent to the marriage of the Comte
d'Enghien with Mademoiselle de Montpensier, despite
the opposition of the Cardinal de Joyeuse, the Due
d'Epernon, and a number of the Court nobles, who
were alarmed at the prospect of so close an alliance
between M. de Soissons and the Due de Guise.
The next event of interest was the final departure
of M. de Sully from the capital, who, previously to
quitting Paris, returned to the Regent the warrant for
three hundred thousand livres with which she had, as
she declared, sought to repay his past services. The
letter by which the deed was accompanied was, al-
though perfectly respectful, haughty, cold, and reso-
lute : nor did the Duke make an effort to disguise from
her that the onerous duties which he had performed
to the late monarch, to the nation, and to herself, could
not be repaid by an order upon the royal treasury ;
while his retirement was voluntary, and not intended
to be contingent on any such arrangement. The Court
gossips made merry over an altercation which they
declared to have taken place between the Duke and
Duchess on the occasion of this transaction ; Madame
de Sully, whose vanity was wounded by the loss of
dignity and influence consequent on the retirement of
her husband, considering this additional pecuniary
sacrifice alike idle and uncalled-for, and reproaching
him with undue haughtiness in thus refusing the last
favour which the Regent had desired to confer upon
Marie De Medicis 101
him ; and the ex-minister retorting by reminding her
that she, at least, had no cause for complaint, since
from the obscure condition of the daughter of a petty
lawyer he had elevated her to the rank of a Duchess,
and made her the companion of Princes.*
When the dismissal of Sully had been decided, it
will be remembered that De Thou was one of those
appointed to succeed him in his office as a director
of finance. The appointment was not, however, ac-
cepted ;M.de Harlay, fatigued and disgusted by the
intrigues which daily grew up about him, being anxious
to resign his office of First President of the Parliament,
which had previously been held by Christophe de
Thou, to a son so worthy of inheriting his honours.
The younger De Thou was, moreover, his brother-in-
law, and he anticipated no difficulty in transferring his
charge to that minister. Even to the last he was, how-
ever, fated to disappointment ; for not only was this
nomination opposed by the Pope, but Villeroy, who
desired to see the place bestowed upon one of his own
adherents, had sufficient influence with the Regent to
induce her to confer it upon M. de Verdun, over whom
he possessed an unlimited control.f
This affront so deeply wounded M. de Thou that he
resigned the office which he had previously held, and
even refused to obey the summons of the Regent, con-
veyed to him through the Marquis d'Ancre ; alleging
that she had treated him with so much disrespect, and
had subjected him to mortification so severe, that he
must decline an interview. In vain did Concini im-
press upon him that the Queen was willing to allow
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. p. 206. f D'Estrees, Mem. p. 385.
IO2 The Life of
him to name his own successor, and to indemnify him-
self as he considered just ; he would listen to no con-
ditions. To every argument he coldly replied : " She
has treated me ill, and I will not go."
" You are a philosopher," said the Italian sarcas-
tically.
" I had need be one," was the calm retort ; " when I
consider how I have been used."
Concini reported the ill-success of his mission, but
Marie, unfortunately blinded by those about her to her
real interests, was indifferent to the just resentment of
an able and faithful servant. "Non lofarb mai^ was
her only remark ; and one of the most efficient and
zealous of her ministers was carelessly cast off.*
Meanwhile the jealous dissensions of the nobles con-
tinued to increase, and constant quarrels took place
between the Cardinal de Joyeuse, the Comte de
Soissons, and the Due d'Epernon. The latter was, at
this period, detested by all other aspirants to royal
favour ; his rapid success at Court had made him inso-
lent ; and he advanced such preposterous claims, and
arrogated to himself such an indefeasible right to the
gratitude and indulgence of the Regent, that the
Princes of the Blood took the alarm, and the Prince de
Conde and the Comte de Soissons resolved to effect his
disgrace. Concini, as we have already shown, had long
nourished the most bitter resentment against one whom
he considered as a formidable rival in the good graces
of the Queen, and he was consequently induced with-
out difficulty to join in the conspiracy ; his vanity
suffering bitterly from the contempt with which he was
* L'Etoile, vol. iv. pp. 210, 211.
Marie De Medicis 103
ostentatiously treated by the Duke, who was, as the
Italian asserted, a mere gentleman of fortune like him-
self, until raised to his present rank by the favour of
Henri III., a favour as ill-gained as it was unbecom-
ingly exhibited. M. d'Epernon, with an absence of
tact as astonishing as it was lamentable in a man whose
ambition was unbounded, and who had no party to
support his pretensions against the Princes of the
Blood, lent himself meanwhile by his puerile and head-
strong folly to their enmity, by affecting to brave it ;
and after a sharp altercation with M. de Soissons, who
did not conceal his intention of insulting him whenever
and wherever they might meet, the infatuated Duke,
on the pretext that he considered his personal safety
endangered by the menaces of the Prince, paraded the
streets of Paris with a retinue of seven or eight hun-
dred mounted followers; and occasionally proceeded
on foot to the Louvre, with his guards ranged in order
of battle, and in such force that the van had frequently
reached the gates of the palace before the rear had
quitted those of the Hotel d'Epernon, a distance of
two thousand paces.*
This external affectation of almost regal state did
not, however, prevent him from experiencing the most
bitter mortification at his exclusion from all public
affairs. He still considered that as he had been the
first to swear fealty, and to place his services at the
command of the Regent, he had a right to retain the
supremacy which he had then assumed ; and this arro-
gant pretension enabled him for a time to support the
daily affronts to which he was subjected ; but it soon
* Le Vassor, Hist, de Louis XIII., vol. i. pp. 57, 58.
IO4 The Life of
became apparent that his position must ere long prove
untenable.
The Cardinal de Joyeuse, whose favour depended
upon that of the Due d'Epernon, having perceived that
his credit with the Regent was on the decline, deter-
mined to proceed to Rome. He accordingly took
leave of the King and his mother, and left France ;
while M. d'Epernon endeavoured to effect a reconcilia-
tion with the Comte de Soissons, an attempt which
was repulsed with resolute coldness on the part of the
Prince, who was daily attaching himself more and
more to the interests of Concini.
Early in the spring the Court left Paris for Fontaine-
bleau, accompanied by all the Princes of the Blood ;
and during their sojourn in that palace Marie de
Medicis constantly caused M. de Soissons and the
Dues de Guise and d'Epernon to form her party at
prime, trusting that constant companionship, and the
equal favour which she was cautious to show to all,
might tend to a general reconciliation.*
These efforts on the part of the Regent, however,
were of little avail ; individual jealousies and individual
interests absorbed all the great nobles of the Court ;
and every concession to which they were induced was
purchased at a price, and even then ungraciously
yielded. Marie de Medicis at times lost alike courage
and temper under the difficulties by which she was be-
set ; and on one occasion, when she had retired to her
closet, after having occupied herself for a time with
the transaction of public business, she gave way to a
train of thought so agitating and so painful that she
* Bassompierre, Mem. p. 77.
Marie De Medicis 105
suddenly rose and summoned the ladies of her suite to
her presence. Mesdames de Conti, du Fargis, and de
Fervaques hastened to obey her commands ; and as
the tapestry fell behind them, the Queen-mother
silently, but with an imperious gesture, motioned them
to be seated. A deep spot of crimson burned on the
cheek of Marie, and there was a harsh glitter in her
eye which betrayed the coming storm ; nor was it long
ere it burst forth.
" I have asked your presence, Mesdames," she said,
fixing a stern look upon the Princesse de Conti, " when
you were each, in all probability, more pleasantly en-
gaged than in sharing the disquiet and ennui of your
harassed mistress ; but, per Dio ! the present position
of affairs leaves me no alternative, my own thoughts
having become thanks to those who should lend their
assistance in bearing the grievous burthen which has
been thrust upon me but sorry companions. The
Princes are still conspiring against my authority, and
questioning my acts, as though I were responsible to
each and all of them for the measures which I consider
it expedient to adopt. According to the creed of these
gentlemen, the Regent of France should be but a mere
puppet, of which they, at their good pleasure, may
pull the strings. Scarcely have I recalled them to
Court, scarcely have I restored them to favour, than
they organise new cabals, excite the nobles to discon-
tent, and breed discord, alike in the Parliament and
among the people. What more can they require at
my hands than what I have already bestowed ? The
national treasury is well-nigh exhausted in meeting
their demands. Look back an instant : M. de Conde
106 The Life of
has, within the last two years, received more than nine
hundred thousand crowns the Comte de Soissons six
hundred thousand and MM. de Longueville, d'Eper-
non, and de Vendome, two millions among them!
Nor is this all : in contenting them I have been com-
pelled to lavish enormous sums upon others, who
would have considered themselves aggrieved had they
not also shared in my munificence. But let these
proud spirits who, despite their noble blood and their
princely quality, do not disdain to barter their loyalty
for gold let them beware lest they urge me beyond
my patience. Your brothers and brothers-in-law,
Madame la Princesse, will do well to be warned in
time. They are playing a hazardous game. If they
believe that by exhausting the royal treasury they will
succeed in rendering themselves masters of the king-
dom, they are deceived ; the Queen-mother watches
alike over the life and the crown of her son. Once
more I say, let them be warned in time ; not a plot,
not a cabal shall escape my knowledge ; and should
they disregard the caution which I now condescend to
give them through yourself, they will learn too late
what it is to incur the vengeance of Marie de
Medicis."
The silence of a moment succeeded to this outbreak
of impassioned eloquence ; for Madame de Conti, fear-
ful of augmenting the anger of her royal mistress,
ventured no reply ; and after a brief struggle with her-
self the Queen-mother smoothed her ruffled brow, and
forcing a smile to her still quivering lips, she resumed
in an altered tone : " Enough of this, however ; tell
me now somewhat of your ballet of last night,
Marie De Medicis 107
Princesse : you have as yet made no mention of its
success."
" I awaited the commands of your Majesty ere I in-
truded the subject," replied Madame de Conti coldly ;
" its success was all that I could desire."
" Did the Due de Guise honour your festival with his
presence ? He seldom, as I am aware, encourages our
Court frivolities."
" MM. de Conde and de Guise were both among my
guests, Madame ; and I could have ill brooked the ab-
sence of either."
" Ay, ever together, in feast and feud," murmured
Marie bitterly to herself. " And Bassompierre ? " she
pursued aloud " the gallant courtier who has as many
mistresses as I have halberdiers in my bodyguard, and
who creates an atmosphere of gladness about him, be
he where he may ; was he as gay and gorgeous as his
wont ? "
" Your Majesty is probably not aware," replied
Madame de Conti with increased formality, " that M.
de Bassompierre has quarrelled with one of my rela-
tives ; a circumstance which deprived me of the honour
of his presence."
" And the Marquis d'Ancre ? " demanded the Queen-
mother abruptly ; " did he at least partake of your
splendid hospitality ? "
The cheek of the Princess blanched, and her voice
slightly trembled as she said hurriedly : " M. d'Ancre
was on duty, Madame, about the person of your Maj-
esty, and I did not presume to ask for his absence from
the palace."
" Veramente, principessa" exclaimed Marie de
io8 The Life of
Medicis with sudden vehemence, ' you excel yourself
to-day ! But have a care ! My faithful servants were
no meet guests, as it would seem, at a festival in honour
of the house of Guise. Truly your energetic kinsmen
are goodly diplomatists. Not content with conspiring
in the Louvre under the very roof which shelters
their sovereign they conspire also in their own pal-
aces, by the glare of tapers as busily as in the shade.
Even to the measure of soft music they can adapt
their treasonable practices ; and amid the murmurs of
flattery can breathe the whispers of disaffection as
glibly as when closeted together secure from all in-
trusion. So be it then ; exclude from your glittering
salons all those who are the known adherents of the
sovereign and his mother ; they will be careful for the
future to repay the courtesy in kind. I have as great
a dread of spies as yourself, Madame de Conti, and
henceforward I will profit by the lesson which you have
taught me."
" I can assure your Majesty " faltered the lady
of honour.
" Nay, Princesse," interposed the Queen-mother bit-
terly, " do not wrong yourself. Have at least the
courage necessary for the personage which you have
seen fit to enact, and believe me that you will need it
when you venture to cope with a Medicis. Florence
can also boast of her diplomatists, and they may chance
to prove even more subtle than those of our good city
of Paris. There is a stern and a profitable lesson in
the past should you read it aright."
So saying Marie de Medicis rose from her seat, and
with a stately step walked to a window overlooking
Marie De Medicis 109
the river, where she remained for a considerable time
apparently absorbed by the busy scene beneath her ;
but at length she turned slowly towards the three ladies,
who had also risen, and said calmly : " His Majesty is
about to visit me. Mesdames du Fargis and de Fer-
vaques will assist me to receive him. I excuse Madame
de Conti ; after the manifold exertions of the past night
she must need repose."
The Princess made the three low curtsies customary
on such occasions, and disappeared behind the tapes-
tried hangings which were held back by the usher on
duty ; while the Queen-mother threw herself once more
upon her seat, and burying her face in her hand, again
fell into a deep and bitter reverie.
Meanwhile the Protestants were preparing for the
General Assembly, and the Marechal de Bouillon pro-
ceeded to Sedan, in order to assist at their delibera-
tions. He had no sooner done this than the Prince de
Conde requested permission to go and take possession
of his government of Guienne, a project which at that
particular moment created universal suspicion, and ex-
cited the alarm of Marie, who was apprehensive that
he was about to solicit the support of the reformed
party. Under this impression she exerted all her in-
genuity to invent pretexts for delaying his purpose
without awakening his distrust; but they ultimately
proved unavailing, and she found herself compelled to
allow him to depart.
At this particular juncture the Due d'Epernon, irri-
tated by the persevering avoidance of M. de Soissons,
and the covert sarcasms of Concini, resolved in his turn
to absent himself, and to proceed to his estate at
no The Life of
Angouleme, flattering himself that the Regent would
be but too happy to recall him when she discovered
how great a blank his departure must cause at Court.
It is moreover probable that he anticipated the same
gratifying impediments which had delayed the journey
of the Prince de Conde ; and consequently his disap-
pointment was extreme as he perceived the pleasure
which Marie could not conceal when he mentioned his
wish to retire for a brief interval from the capital.
The wound thus inflicted upon his vanity was, how-
ever, soon healed, when, with a renewal of all her
former confidence and condescension, she confessed to
him that no proposition could have been more agree-
able to her at that moment, from her anxiety to secure
the services of a friend upon whom she could rely to
keep a zealous watch over the movements of the Prince
de Conde, whose departure had awakened her fears.
She then explained the suspicions she had formed, and
gave M. d'Epernon full and ample instructions for his
future guidance, accompanying them with assurances
of her firm reliance upon his attachment and fidelity ;
thus enabling the crestfallen courtier, who must other-
wise have withdrawn in partial disgrace, to leave the
palace with every mark of favour and distinction.*
The precaution thus taken with regard to M. de
Conde proved, however, supererogatory, the Prince
having no further object in view in absenting himself
from the capital than the gratification of that love of
personal splendour and amusement in which he had
always indulged whenever an opportunity presented
itself; and thus while the Due d'Epernon was watching
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mire et du Fits, vol. i. p. 136.
Marie De Medicis 1 1 1
all his movements with eager and anxious suspicion,
M. de Conde was simply enacting the quasi-sovereign
at Bordeaux and the adjacent cities where he was
received with great ceremony, harangued by the mu-
nicipal bodies, and surrounded by a petty court com-
posed of all the nobles of the province.*
Concini had watched the departure of the exulting
Due d'Epernon with a delight as great as his owp ; the
only rival who threatened to counterbalance his in-
fluence was now removed from the immediate sphere
in which he could prove obnoxious to his fortunes, and
he soon felt the effect of his absence in the increased
dependence of the Regent upon himself and his wife.
Nor was the result less obvious to all the members of
the Court, who, as their several interests prompted,
were either overjoyed or dismayed at the unconcealed
supremacy of the vainglorious Marquis, whose bearing
became more arrogant than ever, and who appeared at
each moment ready to dispute precedency even with
the Princes of the Blood themselves. All bowed be-
fore him. He was the only certain channel of favour
and preferment ; and whenever, as frequently occurred,
some act of presumption more glaring than usual
aroused against him the ire of the great nobles, the
tears and entreaties of his wife always sufficed to induce
the Regent to make new sacrifices for the purpose of
ensuring his impunity.
This imprudence on the part of Marie, although
originating, as it obviously did, in an inclination to
maintain that peace at Court of which she had now
learned by bitter experience to appreciate all the value,
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 58.
H2 The Life of
increased the evil which it was intended to obviate, the
Italian only seeing in her indulgence a new motive for
continuing his moral aggressions; and thus the evil
increased slowly but surely, and the hatred engendered
by the preposterous pretensions of the Marquis ac-
quired new force, even when all around him appeared
to admit his supremacy, and to bend before his will.
One of the most striking proofs of the power to
which he had at this period attained is afforded by the
fact that a nobleman known as a firm adherent of M.
de Soissons, while conversing with the Marquis de
Cceuvres on the subject of the increasing feud between
the Princes of the Blood, suggested that he could per-
ceive no more certain method for the Count to main-
tain himself in favour at Court than that he should
effect the marriage of one of his daughters with the
son of the Italian favourite. This project startled the
Marquis, who never for an instant suspected that the
proposition could have originated with M. de Soissons
himself; and whose proud ancestral blood boiled
within him at the idea of so close an alliance between
one of the first subjects of France and an adventurer
of obscure birth, whose very claim to respectability
was even yet disputed. He was, however, fated to feel
even greater surprise when, a short time subsequently,
as both parties were conversing with the Marquis in
the Queen's gallery at Fontainebleau, he heard a third
person openly, and without the slightest hesitation,
enter upon the subject with Concini himself; who, with
evident gratification but affected humility, immediately
replied that such an alliance was an honour to which
he could not pretend, but that were it ever to be
Marie De Medicis 113
seriously proposed to him, he could only reply in the
words of Cardinal Farnese to an individual who sug-
gested to him an arrangement which at once flattered
his self-love and appeared impossible of completion,
" Tu triaduliy ma tu mi piaci" The subject was not
pursued, but it was one not readily to be forgotten by
those who were aware that it had been mooted ; and
there can be little doubt that the self-esteem of the
Marquis d'Ancre gained fresh force, even from a pass-
ing allusion to the possibility of such an event.
Encouraged, as it would appear, by the brilliant
prospect thus opened up for his son, Concini soon
began to think no aggrandisement beyond the reach
of his ambition ; and readily overlooking both personal
hatred and political good-faith in the pursuance of his
darling passion, it was not long ere he argued that
since a Prince of the Blood had seen fit to solicit an
alliance with himself, he might readily infer that a
noble of inferior rank could not but esteem it as an
honour ; and accordingly he commenced a negotiation
with the Due d'Epernon, between whose second son,
the Marquis de la Valette, and his own daughter he
desired to effect a marriage. This proposal was, how-
ever, resented as an insult by the Duke, who was not
sparing in his comments upon the insolence of the
Italian adventurer ; and so unmeasured were his ex-
pressions that his ruin must have been ensured from
that moment, had not a circumstance shortly after-
wards occurred which rendered his services necessary
to the Regent.
Before the end of April the Due de Bouillon re-
turned from Sedan, and manifested an earnest in-
114 The Life of
clination to devote himself, in so far as his honour and
religious principles would permit him to do so, to the
interests of the Regent during the approaching
assembly at Saumur; adding, moreover, that should
the Queen deem his absence from the meeting de-
sirable, he would remain at Court until it had ter-
minated. So unexpected a concession highly gratified
Marie, who, with many acknowledgments for his
devotion to her cause, referred him to M. de Villeroy,
by whom, his proposal having been demurely con-
sidered, it was declined ; the minister being aware that
the influence of M. de Bouillon would be alone able to
counteract that of Sully, who, having left the Court
disappointed and dissatisfied, would not fail to profit
by so favourable an opportunity of asserting his power
over his co-religionists. He, moreover, while thanking
the Prince for a proof of loyalty so welcome to the
Government, and so important to the sovereign, hinted
that should he succeed in weakening the power of
Sully, and in inducing the Assembly to consent to
such terms as could prudently be conceded, he would
confer upon him the government of Poitou, of which
it had been decided to deprive the ex-finance-minister.*
This new impulse added fresh energy to the sudden
loyalty of M. de Bouillon, who at once proceeded to
Saumur in order to secure his election as President of
the Assembly, a distinction which he declared to be
due to his long services. The Protestant deputies
were, however, by no means inclined to admit his
claim, and more than suspicious of his intentions ; and
they consequently, despite his undisguised annoyance,
* Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 22.
Marie De Medicis 115
selected for that dignity M. du Plessis-Mornay, the
governor of the city ; a circumstance which did not
fail to increase the hatred felt by the Marechal towards
Sully, to whom he immediately attributed the mortifi-
cation. Soon made conscious, by the coldness with
which his invectives and threats were received by the
principal Huguenot nobles, that he was only injuring
by his unseemly violence the cause he sought to serve,
M. de Bouillon nevertheless resolved to restrain him-
self, and to endeavour to effect a good understanding
with Sully, whose personal importance on this occasion
was powerfully increased by the influence of his son-
in-law the Due de Rohan. The Assembly met for the
first time in May, and continued their sittings until
September, at which period their demands and griev-
ances were despatched to the Court, the dismissal of
Sully being indicated as one of the latter.
This fact alarmed the Council, who moreover could
not contemplate without great apprehension the union
and perfect understanding which had, throughout the
whole proceedings, characterised the Protestant lead-
ers, who had taken their usual oath to uphold each
other and the faith which they professed; and who
were, as the ministers well knew, able to redeem their
pledge so effectively should they see fit to exert their
power, that any demonstration on their part could not
fail to convulse the nation from one extremity to the
other. After considerable deliberation it was agreed
that the only method by which the impending evil
could be averted was to dissolve the Assembly before
it could proceed from words to acts ; and accordingly
a pretext for this breach of faith was at once found in
n6 The Life of
the declaration that the King had permitted the assem-
bling of the reformed party to enable them to select
six individuals, from among whom he might himself
nominate two as general deputies ; while at the same
time the documents forwarded to the Court were re-
turned, with an emphatic refusal to make any reply to
their contents until such time as the required nomina-
tion had been made. All opposition, save what must
have assumed a decidedly hostile character, was of
course impossible on the part of the Protestants, whose
indignation, loud as it naturally became for a time, was
finally silenced, even if not extinguished, by the calm
and dignified eloquence of the Comte du Plessis-Mor-
nay, who reminded the Assembly that their first duty
as Christians was obedience to the ruling powers.
" Let us separate," said this prudent and right-
minded man, as exclamations of anger and violence
resounded on all sides. " Let each, on leaving this
spot, leave also all animosity behind him. We should
only heighten the evil by spreading it through the
provinces. Each has failed, yet each has done well.
Let us now endeavour to obtain by respectful silence
and Christian patience what has been refused to our
remonstrances and requests." *
A short time subsequently, the death of M. de
Crequy, governor of the town and citadel of Amiens,
having taken place, a great number of the nobles were
ambitious to succeed to the vacant dignity, among
whom was the Marquis d'Ancre, whose insatiable am-
bition grasped at every opportunity of acquiring hon-
our and advancement. Having confided his wish
* Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 22, 23. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 72-79.
Marie De Medicis 117
upon this subject to M. de Soissons, he was encouraged
in his pretensions by that Prince ; and having obtained
the royal permission to absent himself for a time from
the Court, he hastened to Picardy, attended by a hun-
dred horsemen, in order to negotiate the affair with the
entire sanction of the Queen ; where, although opposed
by the ministers who were anxious to curb his daily
increasing power, he ultimately succeeded in his at-
tempt.
Nevertheless the objections raised by the Council,
not only to his acquirement of the government, but
also to the marriage of his son with the daughter of
M. de Soissons, which had been communicated to them
by the Marquis de Rambouillet,* embittered his tem-
per, and determined him to discover some means of
revenging what he considered as an undue interference
with his personal affairs. The extraordinary impru-
dence of which he was soon afterwards guilty rendered
him, however, for a time unable to indulge his vindic-
tiveness, and even threatened to involve him in the
disgrace which he was so anxious to see visited upon
his adversaries. In the first place, intoxicated by his
newly acquired dignities, he affected the utmost attach-
ment for M. de Soissons, who had exerted all his in-
fluence in his behalf ; and remarked that the proposi-
tion lately made to him by the Prince for an alliance
between their families was no longer so unequal as it
* Nicolas d'Angennes, Marquis de Rambouillet, and Vidame du
Mans, was captain of the bodyguard to Charles IX., and subsequently,
under Henri III., Knight of all the royal Orders, and ambassador to
Germany and Rome. M. de Thou asserts that to high birth M. de
Rambouillet united superior merit ; and that, combined with an un-
usual taste for literature, he possessed an extraordinary knowledge of
public business.
n8 The Life of
had then appeared, although he was still aware that it
would be a great honour conferred upon himself ; but
that as the Due de Longueville was about to marry
another daughter of the Prince, and that their govern-
ments were contiguous, the union of his own son with
the sister of the bride might prove a mutual advantage,
and of considerable service to M. de Soissons himself.
This unseemly boast he followed up by a still more
flagrant proof of presumption; for, being anxious to
assert his entire authority over the citadel of Amiens,
he entered into a financial treaty with M. de Rouillac
the lieutenant, and M. de Fleury the ensign of the
fortress, and replaced "them by adherents of his own,
without the sanction of the Regent ; after which he
borrowed, on his own responsibility, twelve thousand
livres from the receiver-general of the province for the
payment of his garrison.
Such an unprecedented disregard of the royal pre-
rogative had never before occurred in France ; and it
no sooner became known to the ministers than they
hastened to represent it in its most heinous aspect to
the Queen, impressing upon her in no measured terms
the danger of such a precedent, which could not fail
to bring contempt upon her authority, and to introduce
disorder into the finances of the nation ; and entreat-
ing her to remember that should she sanction an alli-
ance between the imprudent favourite and a Prince of
the Blood, she could no longer hope to restrain his ex-
travagances. Marie de Medicis was jealous of her
dignity, and moreover fully conscious of the fault
which had been committed by Concini, and her anger
was consequently unbounded. In the first burst of her
Marie De Medicis 119
indignation she refused to see Madame d' Ancre, whom
she accused of having incited her husband to these
demonstrations of disrespect towards herself ; and her
wrath was skilfully increased by the Princesse de
Conti, who looked upon the favour of the low-born
Leonora with impatience and disgust, and could not
desire a more ready means of ensuring her discredit
than that of following up the arguments of the min-
isters, of dwelling upon the little respect which had
been shown to the person and privileges of her royal
mistress, and of expatiating on the ruinous effect of
so pernicious an example upon the discontented no-
bility.
The effect of these frequent and confidential conver-
sations may be imagined ; the mind of the Queen be-
came more and more excited against her former
favourites, while she clung with the tenacity of help-
lessness to Madame de Conti, through whose medium
the Princes began to hope that they should at length
triumph over the detested Italian. But the sun of
Concini was not destined to set so soon ; and although
he had fierce enemies, he still possessed zealous friends ;
the more zealous, perhaps, because they had accurately
read the character of the Tuscan Princess, and were
well aware that she had so long leant upon others that
she had at last become incapable of perfect self-reli-
ance. Through the medium of those friends, but un-
doubtedly still more from the daily and hourly ennui
experienced by Marie herself while thus deprived of
the society of her foster-sister, the pardon of Concini
was finally obtained. He was declared to have erred
through ignorance; and a perfect reconciliation took
I2O The Life of
place which overthrew all the half-fledged projects of
the disappointed courtiers.
Two circumstances alone tended to mitigate the
satisfaction of the Marquis d'Ancre. The representa-
tions of the ministers had succeeded in so thoroughly
awakening the apprehensions of the Regent, that she
had, at their first interview, strictly forbidden him
thenceforward to attempt the accomplishment of his
anticipated alliance with the House of Bourbon ; while
he had found himself compelled to apologise to the
Comte de Soissons for the excesses in which he had in-
dulged in Picardy, and which had drawn down upon the
Prince the resentment, not only of the Queen herself,
but of the whole Council, by whom he was accused of
having upheld the pretensions of the Italian in order
to aggrandise his own daughter.
In the month of July Marie de Medicis bestowed
great happiness upon the whole nation by remitting
the arrears of taxes which had remained unpaid from
the year 1597, until that of 1603; while she also, at
the same period, decreed the abolition of the gaming
academies to which allusion was made in the prece-
ding volume ; and, finally, ascertaining that the edict
against duelling issued by the late King had been
evaded by certain sophistical observances, she published
a declaration setting forth that all hostile meetings,
however arranged, would not only entail the penalties
already denounced against them, but henceforward be
regarded as acts of assassination. This wholesome and
well-timed declaration was verified by the Parliament
on the nth of July, and great hopes were entertained
that so stringent a measure would effectually terminate
Marie De Medicis 121
an abuse which, during the reign of the late King,
had deprived France of several thousand of her best
chivalry.*
Throughout the autumn, notwithstanding the grav-
ity of the affairs then pending, the Court at Fontaine*
bleau was one ceaseless scene of dissipation. High
play still formed a prominent feature in the amuse-
ments of the palace, and the extent to which it was
carried may be estimated by the fact that Concini, be-
fore his return to the capital, had lost at cards and dice
the enormous sum of twenty-six thousand pistoles ; f
and while the branle and the gaming-table occupied
the night, the day was devoted to hunting, a diversion
in which the Queen constantly participated, accom-
panied by the Princesses and ladies of the Court, and
attended by a suite of between four and five hundred
of the principal nobles. The arrival of the Duchesse
de Lorraine and the Cardinal de Gonzaga J gave a new
impetus to the gaiety of the royal circle, while their
sumptuous reception at the palace induced new outlay
and new rivalry among the courtiers.
It was in the midst of this splendid dissipation that
the Regent received tidings of the death of the Due
de Mayenne, a loss which, from the good understand-
ing recently established between herself and that
Prince, was of serious importance to her authority;
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mere et du Fils t vol. i. pp. 152, 153.
f L'Etoile, vol. iv. p. 223.
| Louis, Cardinal de Gonzaga, was the last member of the Novel-
lare branch of the illustrious Italian house of Gonzaga, Dukes of
Mantua, and was canonised in 1621 under the title of St. Louis de
Gonzaga.
Bassompierre, Mem. p. 78.
122 The Life of
while the event produced a still more painful impres-
sion from the fact that his wife, Henrietta of Savoy,
had died of grief a few days subsequently, and that
they had been carried to the grave together.
The next news which reached the Court was that of
the demise of Marguerite of Austria, Queen of Spain ;
an event which, from the recent treaty concluded be-
tween the two countries, had become doubly interest-
ing to France. This Princess, who was the daughter of
Charles, Archduke of Gratz, Duke of Styria and Ca-
rinthia, and of Marie of Bavaria, had become the wife
of Philip III. in November, 1599; and had left four
sons, viz. Philip, Charles, Ferdinand, and Alfonso;
and two daughters, Anne and Marguerite, the former
of whom was promised to Louis XIII.
Other and more personal interests sufficed, never-
theless, to dry the* tears of the Queen-mother, as at
this period the Duchesse de Lorraine explained the
purport of her visit ; which, it is asserted, was to in-
duce her royal niece to redeem the pledge given by
her deceased husband that the Dauphin should espouse
the Princesse de Lorraine, who would bring as her
dowry to the young King the duchies of Lorraine and
Bar. Marie was, however, too deeply compromised
with Spain as well as with the Pope and the Grand
Duke of Tuscany, both of whom were earnest to
effect the completion of that alliance, to follow up a
policy which could not but have proved much more
beneficial to the French nation ; while the Conde de
Fuentes, who immediately suspected the purpose of
Madame de Lorraine, loudly and arrogantly asserted
that the French King could not have two wives ;
Marie De Medicis 123
that his marriage with the Infanta was concluded;
and that his sovereign was not to be cheated with
impunity. *
Oppressed by this double weight of regret and anx-
iety, Marie and her Court returned to the Louvre ; but
her grief was still fated to be fearfully increased, for
she had scarcely established herself in the palace when
her maternal terrors were suddenly awakened by in-
telligence of the dangerous illness of her second son,
the Due d' Orleans, upon which she hastened to St.
Germain. The fiat had, however, gone forth, and two
days subsequently the little Prince, upon whose preco-
cious intellect and sweetness of disposition so many
hopes had been built up, was a corpse in his mother's
arms ; and within a few hours Madame de Lorraine
and her brother had taken leave of their illustrious rel-
ative, while the Court of the Louvre, so lately giddy
with gaiety, was once more draped in sables.f
Devotedly attached to her children, the Queen was
for a time inconsolable ; her greatness was embittered
by private suffering, and her authority was endangered
by intestine broils ; she looked around her, and scarcely
knew upon whom to depend, or upon what to lean.
The constant exactions of the Princes convinced her
of the utter hopelessness of satisfying their venality,
and securing their allegiance, save by sacrifices which
gradually tended to diminish her own power, and to
compromise the interests of the Crown, while the peo-
ple murmured at the burthens inflicted upon them in
order to gratify the greed of the nobility.
* Siri, M&nt. Rec. vol. ii. pp. 577-586.
f Bassompierre, Mni. p. 78.
124 The Life of
To increase her anxiety, the death of her second
son was destined to add to the number of malcontents
by whom the Queen was surrounded, all the principal
officers of his household advancing their claim to be
transferred to that of the infant Due d'Anjou, who, on
the demise of the Due d'Orleans, assumed the title of
Monsieur, as only brother of the King. It was, how-
ever, impossible to place all these candidates about the
person of the young Prince, and it was ultimately de-
cided that M. de Breves,* a relative of M. de Villeroy,
to whom the appointment had already been promised
by Henri IV., should be selected as the preceptor of
'Monsieur, to the exclusion of M. de Bethune, who had
held the same post about the Due d'Orleans, and who
consequently demanded to be transferred to the service
of his brother. But the relative of Sully was little
likely to prove a successful candidate ; he had owed
his previous appointment to the influence of the
powerful kinsman whose counsel swayed the actions
of a great monarch ; that monarch was now in his
grave, and that kinsman in honourable exile ; and his
claim was no longer admitted. The Marquis de
Cceuvres, who had been master of the wardrobe to the
deceased Prince, was fated to be equally disappointed.
The ministers had not forgotten that he had been an
* Frangois Savary, Seigneur de Breves, had served as ambassador
both at Constantinople and Rome, and was a man of great erudition.
Well versed in history, an able diplomatist, and possessed of con-
siderable antiquarian lore, he had travelled in Greece, Asia Minor,
and the Holy Land. His pupil, at the period of his appointment,
being still a mere infant, he did not enter upon his official functions
until 1615, when the young Prince was placed under his care, on the
departure of the Court for Bordeaux to celebrate the marriage of
Louis XIII. with Anne of Austria.
Marie De Medicis 125
active agent in the proposed alliance between the
Comte de Soissons and Concini, and they did not fail
to impress upon the Queen the extreme danger of
placing an individual of so resolute and enterprising a
character about the person of the heir presumptive.
As he could obtain no decided reply to his application,
M. de Coeuvres solicited the assistance of the Marquis
d'Ancre, who met his request with civil professions of
regard, but declined to oppose the will of the min-
isters ; an exhibition of ingratitude which so enraged
the applicant that he forthwith declined all further in-
terference in the affairs or claim upon the friendship
of the fickle Italian, and attached himself exclusively
to the interests of M. de Soissons. *
This Prince was also destined, at this particular
period, to augment the difficulties of the Regent.
The duchy of Alencon had been mortgaged by the
French Crown to the Duke of Wiirtemberg ; and
hopes had, some months previously, been held out to
the Prince that, should he ever be in a position to re-
deem the debt, he might avail himself of the oppor-
tunity, and become its possessor. This time had now
come ; the Princess his wife had recovered from the
Duke of Savoy a large amount for her estates in Pied-
mont, which he resolved to devote to the acquisition
of the coveted duchy, and he accordingly applied for
the sanction of the King, without whose consent the
transfer could not be legally executed.
It is probable that, having already received a partial
consent to his wishes, M. de Soissons was far from ap-
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mire et du Fils t vol. i. pp. 163, 164. D'Es-
trees, Mhn. p. 392.
126 The Life of
prehending any serious impediment to their realisation ;
but the jealousy of Marie had been aroused, and she
did not fail to perceive that such a concession must be
dangerous to the interests of the younger Children of
France. The Prince had therefore no sooner made his
request than she assumed an attitude of offended
dignity and cold rebuke; and while he awaited her
reply with a smile of anticipatory success, she said
drily, " Do you wish, Monsieur, to acquire a duchy
which has constantly been set apart as the appanage
of one of the sons of the sovereign ? I begin to per-
ceive that your designs are somewhat lofty."
Thus repulsed, M. de Soissons withdrew, but with a
demeanour which convinced the Regent that she had
made a new enemy, whom she must consequently pre-
pare herself to resist ; a conclusion at which she no
sooner arrived than she summoned the Prince de
Conde and the Due d'Epernon to her assistance. *
This measure was not, however, destined to prove
entirely successful. The Marquis de Cceuvres, who at
once felt that M. de Soissons was in no position to
maintain single-handed any effectual opposition to the
host of adversaries about to be marshalled against
him, lost not a moment in seeking to convince him
that he had but one prospect of avoiding the disgrace
by which he was threatened. The impetuous Count
poured forth all his wrath in invectives, and declared
his readiness to endure any mortification rather than not
enforce what he persisted in designating as his legiti-
mate claims as a Prince of the Blood, but his zealous
adviser was not to be thus silenced.
* Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 88, 89.
Marie De Medicis 127
" Remember, Sir," was the rejoinder of the Marquis,
" that you are now embroiled with both the Regent
and her ministers ; that the momentary truce between
yourself and Concini is merely lip-deep, and may be
broken by a breath ; that you are the open and de-
clared enemy of the Guises and the Due d'Epernon ;
and that each and all of these are interested in your
ruin. I do not attempt to deny that your quality as a
Prince of the Blood must, as a natural consequence,
avail you much ; and it is this very conviction that
encourages me to persist in counselling you to place no
reliance upon minor friendships, but at once to ally
yourself closely with your nephew the Prince de
Conde, and thus strengthen the very rights upon
which you presume. During a minority the Princes
of the Blood have an influence in France, which once
earnestly and truthfully united and exerted, must
eventually prove irresistible."
After some further difficulty M. de Soissons suffered
himself to be convinced by the arguments of the Mar-
quis, and it was ultimately resolved that overtures
should be made to this effect on the part of the Count
through the medium of M. de Beaumont, the son of
the President de Harlay, who was at that period ex-
pected in the capital, and who was in the confidence
of the Prince de Conde. Beaumont had accordingly
no sooner arrived than the Marquis de Cceuvres made
him acquainted with the desire of the Count, and it
was finally agreed that, upon the pretext of a hunt,
the two Princes should meet at the residence of the
former. As, however, it was immediately ascertained
that the Regent had expressed some suspicions of this
128 The Life of
interview, and declared the reconciliation which had
taken place to be too sudden not to involve some
occult purpose, M. de Soissons deemed it expedient
to silence her fears by inviting Concini to join the
party.
The invitation was accepted ; the hunt took place,
and was succeeded by high play, after which the dif-
ferent personages apparently separated for the night ;
but within half an hour the two royal kinsmen and
their confidential friends were closeted together, and
before dawn an alliance offensive and defensive was
concluded between the Princes, who each pledged him-
self to receive no favour or benefit from the Govern-
ment to the exclusion or loss of the other ; and that,
moreover, in the event of the disgrace or disgust of
either, the other should withdraw from the Court at
the same time, whither neither was to be at liberty to
return alone ; and this compact, which, as will imme-
diately be seen, could not fail to prove dangerous to
the interests of Marie, was religiously observed until
the death of M. de Soissons.*
The credit of the ministers was greatly increased by
this new cabal, as the Regent instantly perceived the
necessity of opposing their authority to the probable
pretensions of the Princes, neither of whom attempted
to disguise their discontent at the insignificant position
to which they had been reduced at Court. To Jean-
nin, in particular, the Queen expressed in unmeasured
terms the confidence which she placed in his zeal and
loyalty ; she called him her friend, her arm, and her
* Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 89, 90. Richelieu, Hist, de la Mere et du
Fils, vol. i. pp. 157, 158.
Marie De Medicis 129
head, and assured him that she would be guided en-
tirely by his counsels.
Anxious to respond to these flattering demonstra-
tions, and to justify the trust reposed in them, the min-
isters resolved, in order still further to protect the
Crown against any aggression on the part of the
Princes, to recall to Court the Marechal de Lesdi-
guieres,who was easily induced to resign his command
of the army in Champagne by the prospect which they
held out to him, of verifying and confirming the ducal
patent which he had obtained from Henri IV. They,
however, subsequently failed to keep this promise, and
the disappointment so irritated the Marechal that he
resolved to revenge himself by joining the party of
the Princes, and otherwise harassing the Council ; a
determination which was unfortunately too easily
realised at a period of such internal convulsion.*
The last event worthy of record which took place in
the present year was the purchase towards the close of
September of the Hotel de Luxembourg by the Queen-
Regent, for the sum of thirty thousand crowns, in
order to erect upon its site the celebrated Palais d'Or-
leans, now once more known by its original name of
the Luxembourg. The construction of this splendid
edifice was entrusted to Jacques de Brosse,f who im-
mediately commenced removing the ruins of the dilap-
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fits, vol. i. pp. 1 60, 161.
D'Estrees, Atfm. p. 393.
f Jacques de Brosse was the most renowned architect of his day,
and left behind him more than one work calculated to justify his celeb-
rity. In addition to the Luxembourg Palace, which was built en-
tirely according to his designs, he erected the magnificent portico of
St. Gervais, the aqueduct of Arcueil, and the famous Protestant church
of Charenton (destroyed in 1685).
130
The Life of
idated hotel which encumbered the space destined for
the new elevation ; and four years subsequently the
first stone was laid of the regal pile which transmitted
his own name to posterity, linked with those of Marie
de Medicis and Peter Paul Rubens.*
* Curiositts de Paris t dit. Sangrain, Paris, 1742, vol. ii. p. 37.
CHAPTER IV
1612
The Princes of the Blood Retire from the Court Increased Influence
of the Dues de Guise and d'Epernon Jealousy of Concini The
Ministers Desire the Recall of the Princes The Lent Ballets The
Government of Quilleboeuf is Offered to the Comte de Soissons
The Princes are Invited to Return to the Capital Arrival of the
Princes M. de Soissons Abandons Concini An Attempt is Made
to Create Dissension Between M. de Soissons and the Prince de
Conde They Again Withdraw from Paris The Regent Resolves
to Announce Publicly the Approaching Marriage of the King
Disaffection of the Princes Frankness of the Due de Guise
The Due d'Epernon is Recalled The Due de Bouillon is De-
spatched to England The Council Discuss the Alliance with
Spain The Princes Return to the Capital Undignified Deport-
ment of the Prince de Conde Insolence of M. de Soissons Indig-
nation of the Regent The Young Due de Mayenne is Appointed
Ambassador Extraordinary to Spain An Unpleasant Truth Arro-
gance of the Spanish King Concession of the Regent Death of
the Duke of Mantua The Chancellor Announces the King's Mar-
riage An Ambassador and a Quasi-Queen Disappointment of
the Princes They Again Withdraw Caution of the Due de
Montmorency to the Regent She Disregards the Warning Love
of Marie de Medicis for Magnificence and Display Courtly Enter-
tainments The Circle of Madame The Marquise d'Ancre A
Carousal Splendid Festivities Arrival of the Spanish Envoys
The Chevalier de Guise Alarm of Concini The Queen and Her
Foster-Sister Concini Resolves to Espouse the Party of the Princes
The Due de Bouillon Endeavours to Injure the Due de Rohan in
the Estimation of James I. Reply of the English Monarch Bouil-
lon Returns to Paris The Marechal de Lesdiguieres Retires from
132 The Life of
the Court The Due de Vendome Solicits the Royal Permission to
Preside Over the States of Brittany Is Refused by the Regent-
Challenges His Substitute And is Exiled to Anet Concini Aug-
ments the Disaffection of the Princes The Duke of Savoy Joins
the Cabal Lesdiguieres Prepares to March a Body of Troops
Against the Capital Concini Deters the Regent from Giving the
Government of Quilleboeuf to the Comte de Soissons Indignation
of the Due de Guise He Reveals the Treachery of Concini to the
Princes All the Great Nobles Join the Faction of M. de Conde
with the Exception of the Due d'Epernon The Due de Bellegarde
is Accused of Sorcery Quarrel Between the Comte de Soissons
and the Marechal de Fervaques Marie de Medicis Resolves to
Persecute the Protestants Bouillon Endeavours to Effect the Dis-
grace of the Due de Rohan The Regent Refuses to Listen to His
Justification He Takes Possession of St. Jean-d'Angely Anger
of the Queen Conflicting Manifestoes M. de Rohan Prepares to
Resist the Royal Troops The Ministers Advise a Negotiation,
Which Proves Successful Departure of the Due de Mayenne for
Madrid Arrival of the Duque de Pastrano His Brilliant Recep-
tion in France His Magnificent Retinue His First Audience of
Louis XIII. The Cardinals Puerility of the Princes Reception
of the Spanish Ambassador by Madame The Year of Magnificence
Splendour of the Court of Spain Signature of the Marriage
Articles Honours Shown to M. de Mayenne at Madrid The
Spanish Princess and Her Duenna The Duke of Savoy Demands
the Hand of Madame Christine for His Son Marie Desires to
Unite Her to the Prince of Wales Death of Prince Henry of
England Death of the Comte de Soissons The Prince de Conti
Claims the Government of Dauphiny The Comte d'Auvergne is
Released from the Bastille, and Resigns His Government of
Auvergne to M. de Conti The Prince de Conde Organises a New
Faction The Regent Espouses His Views Alarm of the Guises
Recall of the Due de Bellegarde He Refuses to Appear at
Court The Baron de Luz is Restored to Favour The Guises Pre-
pare to Revenge His Defection from Their Cause.
THE Prince de Conde and the Comte de Soissons
having withdrawn from the capital, MM. de
Guise and d'Epernon found themselves once more the
Marie De Medicis 133
principal personages of the Court, but their triumph
was nevertheless greatly moderated by the jealousy
of Concini, who began to apprehend that their
ceaseless efforts to gratify the wishes of the Queen,
and to flatter her love of splendour and dissipation,
might ultimately tend to weaken his own influence;
while the ministers, on their side, aware that the
negotiations then pending with Spain for the mar-
riage of the King could not be readily concluded
without their aid and concurrence, however they
might deprecate their return from other causes, also
felt the necessity of securing their cooperation, for
which purpose it was essential that such measures
should be adopted as might render this concession ac-
ceptable to the royal malcontents.*
While this subject was under consideration, and
Lent rapidly approaching, the Queen, who, being still
in slight mourning, could not, according to the es-
tablished etiquette, hold any assemblies in her own
apartments, but who was unwilling to forego the
customary amusements of the Carnival, desired the
Due de Guise, the Prince de Joinville, and M. de
Bassompierre to perform a ballet every Sunday, which
they accordingly did, " dividing," says the latter, " the
expense between us."
The first of these allegorical dances was executed
in the apartments of the Princesse de Conti, where
a supper was prepared for her Majesty with an
exclusiveness uncommon at the time, and which
created considerable disappointment in the Court
circle. None but the Princes then resident in the
* D'Estrees, Mem. p. 394.
134 The Life of
capital, namely MM. de Guise, de Nevers, and de
Reims, with a few chosen courtiers, were permitted
to attend, while the number of ladies was equally
limited.
The second took place in the apartments of the
Duchesse de Vendome, upon which occasion the
banquet was offered to the Queen by Madame de
Mercoeur ; the third at the Hotel de Guise, where the
Regent was entertained in the private salon of the
Duchess ; and the fourth and last in the suite of
rooms appropriated to Madame de Guercheville in the
Louvre.*
" I took the liberty," says Rambure, with his usual
quaintness, " of representing to the Regent that the
people would murmur on witnessing balls at Court
while she was still in mourning, but she only laughed
at me, and bade me dismiss such an idea from my
thoughts ; at which I was not at all pleased, from the
respect that I entertained for the memory of his late
Majesty." f
These gaieties did not, however, serve to divert the
thoughts of the ministers from their desire to recall
the absent Princes of the Blood; and it was finally
arranged that as M. de Soissons had been the original
cause of their absence, owing to his indignation at the
ill-success of his attempt to purchase the duchy of
Alencon, it would be expedient to hold out to him a
prospect of obtaining the government of Quilleboeuf.
It was accordingly decided that the Marquis d'Ancre,
on the part of their Majesties, and M. de Villeroy on
* Bassompierre, Mem. p. 78.
f Rambure, MS. Mem. vol. vi. p. 8l.
Marie De Medicis 135
that of the ministers, should proceed to Nogent,
where the Princes were then residing, and invite them
to return to Court, with a full assurance from all
parties that they would there occupy the station be-
fitting their exalted rank, and be received with the
dignities and honours which were due to them as
Princes of the Blood.
The mission of the two envoys proved successful ;
and on their arrival at Fontainebleau the uncle and
nephew were welcomed with a warmth and magnifi-
cence which alike flattered their self-love and tended
to inspire them with confidence. Nevertheless, M. de
Soissons had no sooner discovered that the Marquis
d'Ancre, who, when he had himself retired from the
Court, had lost the favour of the Queen, was now the
firm ally of the ministers, through whose good offices
he had regained his former position, than he exhibited
towards the Italian a haughtiness and avoidance which
ere long terminated in an open rupture.
Fearful of incurring through the means of the
Count the additional enmity of M. de Conde, Concini
endeavoured to win over the Marquis de Cceuvres,
and to effect through his interposition a reconciliation
with the indignant Prince. To this solicitation M. de
Coeuvres replied that in order to establish a good un-
derstanding between two persons whom he had al-
ready so strenuously sought to serve, he was willing
and ready to forget his private wrongs ; but when it
was suggested to him that he should exert his in-
fluence to renew the proposed marriage without ref-
erence to the Queen-Regent, he declined to make any
effort to induce M. de Soissons to adopt so onerous a
136 The Life of
course, alleging that he had already suffered sufficiently
by his interference in a matter which had been pro-
ductive of great annoyance and injury to the Prince,
and that he would not again lend his assistance to the
project until the Marquis d'Ancre and his wife
pledged themselves to reconcile M. de Soissons with
the ministers, to restore him to the favour of the
Regent, and to obtain her sanction to the proposed
alliance.
The firmness of this refusal staggered Concini, who,
only recently reinstated in 'the good graces of the
Queen, was for once apprehensive of the failure of his
influence. He consequently confined his reply to a
simple acknowledgment of the courtesy with which
his proposal had been met by the Marquis, and then
endeavoured personally to regain the confidence of the
Prince by assurances of the sincere inclination of the
Queen to meet his wishes upon every point within her
power. As a natural consequence M. de Soissons
listened willingly to these flattering declarations,
uttered as they were by an individual well known to
be in the entire confidence of his royal mistress ; but
they soon became blended with the regrets of the
Marquis that his listener should have formed so close
an alliance with his nephew as to have drawn down
upon him the suspicion of the Court ; and plausibly as
these regrets were expressed, M. de Soissons was soon
enabled to discover that the wily Italian had been in-
structed to detach him from Conde.
A similar endeavour was made with the Prince de
Conde, but both were ineffectual. The two royal
kinsmen had become fully aware that mutual support
Marie De Medicis 137
was their only safeguard against the party opposed to
them ; and they had no sooner detected the symptoms
of coldness which supervened upon the ill-success of
their advisers, than they resolved once more to leave
the Court ; and accordingly having taken leave of their
Majesties, and resisted the pressing solicitations poured
forth on all sides, they again retired ; the Prince to St.
Valery, and the Count to Dreux.
This renewed opposition to her wishes roused the
spirit of the Regent. She saw, as she asserted, that
there no longer remained a hope of restraining the
haughtiness, or of satisfying the pretensions, of the
great vassals of the Crown ; and she accordingly de-
clared that in order to maintain her authority, and to
secure the throne of her son, she would not allow the
absence of the two Princes of the Blood to delay the
publication of the King's marriage. Immediate meas-
ures were consequently taken for concluding the nec-
essary arrangements ; and this was done with the less
hesitation that the Marechal de Lesdiguieres (who for
some time after his arrival at Court had continued to
anticipate that the pledge given to him by the min-
isters would shortly be redeemed) had induced both
the one and the other to state that they would offer no
opposition to the alliance which had been determined. *
But this concession, which they were destined sub-
sequently to deplore, was all that could be extorted
from the Princes, who considered themselves aggrieved
by the fact that so important a negotiation should have
been carried on without their participation, when spe-
cial couriers had been despatched to acquaint both the
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mere et du Fits, vol. i. pp. 175-177.
138 The Life of
Cardinal de Joyeuse and the Due d'Epernon with the
pending treaty. The Comte de Soissons, moreover,
complained loudly and bitterly of the undue power of
the ministers, and especially inveighed against the
Chancellor Sillery, whom he unhesitatingly accused of
extortion and avarice, of publicly making a trade of
justice to the dishonour of the nation, and of ruining
those who were compelled to solicit his protection.
On this point alone he was in accord with Concini ;
and it was to this mutual hatred of the ministers that
their partial good understanding must be attributed.
The reasons which induced the Marechal de Lesdi-
guieres to approve the alliance we have already stated :
the ducal crown which he was so anxious to secure
must have been irretrievably lost by any opposition
on his part to the proposed alliance, and this vision
was forever before his eyes. The approbation of the
Connetable de Montmorency, who had originally de-
clared his objection to so close a union between the
two countries, was purchased by a promise that the
hand of one of the Princesses of Mantua, niece to the
Regent, should be conferred upon his son ; and the
brilliant promise of the one marriage caused him to
overlook the probable perils of the other; while the
Due de Bouillon, although he occasionally declared in
the Council that he seriously apprehended the result
of so intimate a connection with Spain, never remon-
strated with any energy against the measure, and was
believed by those who knew him best to have already
made his conditions with Philip. On the departure of
the two Princes, Marie urged the Due de Guise to
afford her his support, together with that of his house,
Marie De Medicis 139
which he did with a frankness worthy of record, con-
cluding, however, with these emphatic words : " I have
but one favour to request of you, Madame ; and that
is, that after this important service your Majesty will
not abandon us, as you have already once done, to the
resentment of the Princes of the Blood." *
The Due d'Epernon, who had left the Court, as else-
where stated, if not in actual disgrace, at least morti-
fied and disappointed, was now recalled ; and as his
failing was well known, he was received on his arrival
at Fontainebleau with such extraordinary distinction
that all his past grievances were at once forgotten.
Sillery, Villeroy, and Concini overwhelmed him with
respect and adulation, and his adherence to the party
of the Regent was consequently purchased before the
question had been mooted in his presence.
Meanwhile the English Ambassador declaimed
loudly against the contemplated alliance, which he de-
clared to be unequivocally antagonistic to the interests
of his sovereign ; and his undisguised indignation so
alarmed the Council that it was immediately resolved
to despatch the Due de Bouillon on an extraordinary
embassy to the Court of London in order to appease
the displeasure of James. The minister of the United
Provinces was equally violent in his opposition, and
exerted all his energies to prevent the conclusion of a
treaty which he regarded as fatal to the interests of the
republic that he represented, but his expostulations
were disregarded. An envoy was sent to the Hague
with assurances of amity to Prince Maurice and the
States -General ; and finally, the Marechal de Schom-
*Siri, Mem. Rec. vol. ii. pp. 607-612.
140 The Life of
berg was instructed to visit the several Protestant
Princes of Germany in order to dispel any distrust
which they might feel at the probable results of an
alliance so threatening to their interests. *
These important measures concluded, the double
marriage was proposed to the Council, where the
Prince de Conde and the Comte de Soissons, who had
recently returned to the capital, occupied their ap-
pointed seats; and at the commencement of the
proceedings, when the question of the projected
alliance had been submitted to the Assembly, M.
de Conde demanded that each should deliver his
opinion according to his rank. The Chancellor then
opened the subject by a warm panegyric on the
prudent administration of the Queen-Regent, dwell-
ing at great length upon the extraordinary benefit
which must accrue to the French nation from the
contemplated alliance with Spain; and he was fol-
lowed by the Due de Guise, who, with more brevity
but equal force, maintained the same argument. No
deliberation," concluded the Duke, " can be required
upon so advantageous a proposal. We have only to
thank God that her Majesty has so happily accom-
plished the noble purpose with which heaven had
inspired her." As he resumed his seat the Connetable
de Montmorency and the Dues de Nevers and d'Eper-
non warmly applauded his words ; after which the
Marechaux de Bouillon and de Lesdiguieres declared
their approval of the alliance, simply expressing a
hope that proper precautions would be taken to pre-
vent the treaty with Spain from proving prejudicial to
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 127.
Marie De Medicis 141
the interests of France in her more ancient alliances
with other foreign powers ; and finally it became the
turn of M. de Conde to declare his sentiments. The
young Prince had, however, been so astonished by
the fearless address of the Due de Guise that he had
entirely lost his self-possession, and merely said with
great coldness : " Since the affair is decided, it was
unnecessary to ask our advice."
The surprise was universal, as the general impres-
sion throughout the Council had been that the two
Princes had determined to attend the meeting in order
to oppose the projected marriages; a supposition
which the words immediately afterwards addressed to
M. de Conde by his uncle served to confirm. " You
see, sir," said the Count, turning towards him with an
impatient gesture, " that we are treated here like
valets."
The Regent, irritated by this remark, which was
uttered so audibly as to be generally overheard, was
about to make some bitter rejoinder, when Sillery,
perceiving her intention, again possessed himself of
the ear of the Assembly ; and it was ultimately con-
cluded that the double marriage should be proclaimed
on the 25th of March, and that the young Due de
Mayenne * should proceed to Spain as Ambassador-
Extraordinary to demand the hand of the Infanta.
At the close of the Council the general topic of dis-
course was the extraordinary part played by the two
Princes. It is well known that they were both
strongly opposed to the measure which had just been
* Henri de Lorraine, Due d'Aiguillon, who had succeeded to the
title of his late father.
142 The Life of
carried, and their conduct was severally judged ac-
cording to the particular feeling of those by whom it
was discussed ; some asserting that it was from a fear
of the consequences of resistance, and others declaring
that they indulged a hope of profiting largely by so
unexpected a neutrality. The Due de Montmorency
was meanwhile furious at the contempt incurred by
the unmanly bearing of his son-in-law, M. de Conde.
" Sir," he said, as the Prince shortly afterwards ap-
proached him, " you neither know how to resist with
courage, nor to yield with prudence." *
An unforeseen difficulty, however, now presented
itself. The Spanish Cabinet no longer entertained the
same apprehensions of the power of France that it had
felt during the preceding year. The supremacy which
it had so reluctantly recognised had ceased to exist,
and the arrogance of Philip grew with this conviction ;
thus, where he had only a few months previously con-
descended to solicit, he now prepared to impose con-
ditions, and the renewed negotiations were haughtily
met by fresh proposals. Upon the pretext that the
Princesses of France brought with them no right of
succession to the crown, he declared his disinclination
to give the hand of the elder Infanta to the young
King, upon which Marie de Medicis replied that she
was willing to accept his younger daughter as the bride
of Louis XIII., provided that he, in his turn, were pre-
pared to receive the Princesse Christine instead of
Madame, as by this arrangement she should be
enabled to fulfil the pledge given by the late
King to the Duke of Savoy, that the eldest
* Siri, Mem. Rec. vol. ii. pp. 618-620.
Marie De Medicis 143
Daughter of France should be united to the Prince
of Piedmont.
This explicit declaration at once silenced Philip,
who was by no means desirous that Charles Emmanuel,
whom he was anxious to crush, should by so close a
connexion with France secure an ally through whose
support he could not fail to protect himself against all
aggression ; and he accordingly signified with some-
what less arrogance than before that he was ready to
ratify the original treaty, provided that Anne of
Austria were permitted to renounce, both for herself
and her children, all claim to the sovereignty of Spain.
This point having been conceded, immediate prepa-
rations were made for the proclamation of the royal
marriages ; but the ceremony was unavoidably delayed
by the death of the Duke of Mantua, the brother-in-
law of the Regent, and did not take place until the
5th of the following month,* on which day it was
solemnly announced by the Chancellor, in the presence
of the Prince de Conti, the peers and officers of the
Crown, and the Spanish Ambassador, who gave his
assent to the duplicate alliance in the name of the
King his master, and from that period treated the little
Princess with all the honours due to a Queen of Spain ;
never addressing her save on his bended knee, and
observing many still more exaggerated ceremonies
which excited at once surprise and amusement at the
French Court.
It will have been remarked that neither M. de
Conde nor the Comte de Soissons were present at
the formal announcement, both having once more
* Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 30, 31.
144 The Life of
withdrawn from the capital with the determination of
continuing absent until the majority of the King, in
order to avoid signing the marriage contract.
" The Queen," said M. de Soissons, when one of his
friends would have dissuaded him from so extreme a
course, " is quite able to conclude without our assist-
ance the negotiation into which she has entered. God
grant that we at least may be spared all participation
in the slight offered to the memory of the late King,
by refusing to falsify the pledge which he gave to the
Duke of Savoy, whose house has so long been the firm
ally of France."
Pity it is that this generous burst of high-minded-
ness and loyalty will not bear analysis. Both the
Princes had discovered that the professions to which
they had so complacently listened, and which had in-
duced their recent return to Court, had merely been
intended to lure them thither at a period when their
presence was more than ever essential to the interests
of the Regency ; and while M. de Conde found his
position in the Government as undefined and un-
satisfactory as ever, and that his vanity had been
flattered at the expense of his interests, the Count on
his side saw the possession of Quilleboeuf more remote
than ever, and openly declared that they had both been
duped.
This undisguised admission at once revealed the
selfishness of the views with which the malcontent
Princes had lent themselves to the wishes of Marie and
her ministers ; and assuredly no worse policy could
have been adopted than that by which they were
again induced to exile themselves from their proper
Marie De Medicis 145
sphere of action. Too many interests were, however,
served by their absence for either counsellor or courtier
to point out to the Queen the extreme danger of
driving them to extremities, save in the instance of the
Connetable, who, more and more chagrined by the
pitiful and even precarious position occupied by his
son-in-law, remonstrated earnestly with the Regent
upon the peril of the course which she had been in-
duced to pursue.
" Remember, Madame," he said, " that the civil
wars and wretchedness of which this nation has been
the prey during the last few reigns all owed their
origin to the fatal advice given to Catherine de
Medicis to disregard the legitimate claims of the
Princes of the Blood ; and those -who would induce
your Majesty to follow her example are more bent
upon the furtherance of their own fortunes, and the
increase of their own power, than anxious for the
welfare of the state. Should your Majesty, therefore,
suffer yourself to be influenced by their counsels,
I foresee nothing in the future but anarchy and con-
fusion."
Unfortunately, however, the close alliance of the
veteran Duke with one of those very Princes whose
cause he thus warmly advocated, and his enmity to-
wards the Guises, deprived his remonstrances of the
force which they might otherwise have possessed, and
Marie de Medicis consequently disregarded the warn-
ing until after-events caused her to feel and acknowl-
edge its value. Supported by the House of Guise and
the Due d'Epernon, assured of the good faith of the
Connetable and the Marechaux de Bouillon and de
146 The Life of
Lesdiguieres, as well as deeply incensed by the bear-
ing of the two Princes in the Council ; and, moreover,
urged by her more immediate favourites to assert her
dignity, and to display towards the malcontents a cold-
ness and indifference as marked as that which they
exhibited towards herself, she dismissed the subject
from her thoughts as one of slight importance, and
turned all her attention to the brilliant festivities by
which the declaration of the royal marriages was to be
celebrated.*
The besetting sin of Marie de Medicis was a love of
magnificence and display, and one of her greatest
errors a wilful disregard of the financial exigencies
which her profuse liberality had induced. Thus the
splendour of the preparations which were exciting the
wonder and curiosity of all Paris engrossed her so
wholly that she had little time for dwelling on con-
tingent evils. The departure of the Princes had, more-
over, relieved her from the annoyance of encountering
discontented countenances and repellent frowns ; and
as she saw herself surrounded only by beaming looks
and complacent smiles, her spirits rose, and she began
to believe that her long-indulged vision of undisputed
supremacy was about to be realised.
It was a pleasant dream, and one in which the self-
deceived Regent was eagerly encouraged by those
around her. The halls and galleries of the Louvre
were crowded with animated and obsequious courtiers,
and the apartments of Marie herself thronged by the
greatest and proudest in the land ; all of whom ap-
peared, upon so joyous an occasion, to have laid aside
* Siri, M2m. Rec. vol. ii. pp. 640-642.
Marie De Medicis 147
their personal animosities and to live only to obey her
behests. Madame had also formed her separate
Court, in the midst of which she received, with the
grace of a girl and the premature dignity of a Queen,
the elaborate homage of her future subjects ; and
meanwhile the young Louis, delighted by a partial
emancipation from ceremony and etiquette for which
he was indebted to the unusual movement about him,
pursued his favourite sport of bird-hunting in the gar-
dens of the Tuileries, and attached more importance
to the feats of a well-trained sparrow-hawk than to the
probable qualities of the bride provided for him by
the policy of his royal mother.
And amid all this splendid excitement, gliding from
one glittering group to another with a quiet self-pos-
session and a calm composure strangely at variance
with the scene around her, moved a lady whose re-
markable appearance must have challenged attention,
even had her singular career not already tended to
make her an object of universal curiosity and specula-
tion. Short of stature and slender of form, with a
step as light and noiseless as that of an aerial being ;
her exquisitely-moulded although diminutive figure
draped in a robe of black velvet, made after a fashion
of which the severe propriety contrasted forcibly with
the somewhat too liberal exposure of the period ; with
a countenance pale almost to sallowness ; delicately
chiselled features ; and large eyes, encircled by a dark
ring, only a few shades less black than the long lashes
by which they were occasionally concealed ; a mass of
rich and glossy hair, tightly banded upon her forehead,
and gathered together in a heavy knot, supported by
148 The Life of
long bodkins tipped with jewels, low in her neck be-
hind; and above all, with that peculiar expression
spread over her whole person which is occasionally to
be remarked in individuals of that exceptional or-
ganisation which appears to be the lot of such as are
predestined to misery.
Not a Princess of the Blood, not a Duchess of the
realm, but had a smile and a courteous and eager word
to bestow upon this apparently insignificant personage,
at whose signal even the door of the Queen's private
closet, closed against other intruders, opened upon the
instant, as though she alone of all that brilliant galaxy
of rank and wealth were to know no impediment, and
to be subjected to no delay.
We have been somewhat prolix in our description
of this extraordinary woman, but we shall be pardoned
when we explain that we here give the portrait of
Leonora Galigai, Marquise d'Ancre, the friend, con-
fidante, and foster-sister of Marie de Medicis.
It is, however, time to return to the festivities to
which allusion has already been made. Among these
the most remarkable was a splendid carousal which
took place in the Place Royale, and which is elabo-
rately described by Bassompierre. The French Kings
had originally held their tourneys, tilts, and passages-
at-arms in the Rue St. Antoine, opposite the palace of
the Tournelles ; but the unfortunate death of Henri
II., who was killed there by the lance of the Due de
Montgomery, caused the spot to be abandoned, and
they were subsequently transferred to the Place Royale,
which had been built in the ancient park of the same
palace.
Marie De Medicis 149
The lists on the present occasion were two hundred
and forty feet in length, and were surrounded by bar-
riers and platforms arranged in tiers, and reaching to
the first stories of the houses. Facing the lists was
erected the magnificent pavilion destined for their
Majesties, which was richly draped with blue and gold,
and surmounted by the great national standard, upon
which the eagles of Austria and the arms of the
Medici were proudly quartered with the fleurs-de-lis of
France.
By command of the Queen the lists were held by
the Dues de Guise and de Nevers and the Marquis de
Bassompierre, an honour which cost each of the indi-
viduals thus favoured the enormous sum of fifty thou-
sand crowns ; a fact which is easily understood when
it is considered that their retinue consisted of five hun-
dred persons and two hundred horses, the whole of
whom, men and animals, were clad and caparisoned in
scarlet velvet and cloth of silver. The number of
spectators, exclusive of the Court and the armed
guards, was estimated at ten thousand ; and from nine
in the morning until six in the evening the lists were
constantly occupied. Salvos of artillery, fireworks,
and allegorical processions succeeded ; and the popu-
lace, delighted by " the glorious three days " of revel
and relaxation thus provided for them, forgot for the
time to murmur at an outlay which threatened them
with increased exactions.
At the termination of this carousal, which was fol-
lowed by balls, banquets, and tiltings at the ring, the
Court removed to Fontainebleau ; where their Majes-
ties shortly afterwards received the Marquis de Spinola,
The Life of
the Comte de Buquoy,* and Don Rodrigo Calderon,|
who were entertained with great magnificence, and
lodged in the house of Bassompierre. J At this period,
indeed, everything sufficed as a pretext for splendour
and display ; as Marie de Medicis especially delighted
to exhibit the brilliancy of her Court to the subjects of
the nation with which she was about to become so in-
timately allied. In this endeavour she was ably sec-
onded by the Guises and the Due d'Epernon, who,
since the departure of the two Princes, had shared her
intimacy with the Marquis d'Ancre and his wife;
while a new candidate for her favour had moreover
presented himself in the person of the young and
handsome Chevalier de Guise, the brother of the
Duke, who at this time first appeared at Court, where
he had the honour of waiting upon her Majesty at
* Charles de Longueval, Comte de Buquoy, was so eminently dis-
tinguished for his military talents that Philip III. of Spain and the
Emperor Ferdinand II. confided to him the command of their joint
armies in 1619. He completely defeated the forces of the malcon-
tents in Bohemia; and then marched upon Hungary, which had just
elected Bethlem-Gabor as its sovereign. In 1621 he overcame the
troops of the Magyar monarch, which were entirely routed; but was
killed the same year in a skirmish with a small party of the enemy.
. f Don Rodrigo Calderon was a statesman rendered famous by his
extraordinary elevation and his equally remarkable reverses. Born at
Antwerp, the son of a Spanish trooper and a Flemish woman of low
extraction, his talents ultimately raised him to the rank of confidant
and favourite of the Duque de Lerma, prime minister of Philip III.,
through whose influence he subsequently became Conde d'Oliva,
Marques de Siete-Iglesias, and secretary of state. In 1618 the dis-
grace of his patron involved his own ruin. Accused of having poi-
soned the Queen Marguerite, he was (in 1619) committed to a dun-
geon, and two years afterwards was sacrificed by the Conde-Duque
d'Olivares to the public hatred against the Duque de Lerma. He
perished upon the scaffold in 1621.
J Bassompierre, Affm. pp. 78, 79.
Francois Paris de Lorraine, Chevalier de Guise.
Marie De Medicis 151
table whenever she was the guest of the Duchess his
mother, or the Princesse de Conti his sister. His
youth, high spirit, inexhaustible gaiety, and extraor-
dinary personal beauty rendered him peculiarly agree-
able to Marie, who displayed towards him a conde-
scending kindness which was soon construed by the
Court gossips into a warmer feeling.
Concini immediately took the alarm, and hastened
to confide his apprehensions to the ministers, whom he
knew to be as anxious as himself to undermine the in-
fluence of the Due d'Epernon and the formidable
family to which he had allied his interests. In ridding
themselves, by neglect and disrespect, of the Princes
of the Blood, the discomfited confederates had antici-
pated undivided sway over the mind and measures of
the Regent ; and their mortification was consequently
intense when they discovered that she had unreservedly
flung herself into the party of their enemies.
The annoyance of the ministers was, however, based
rather on public grounds than on personal feeling ;
but the case was far different with the Marquis, who
had been reluctantly compelled to acknowledge to
himself that he was indebted for his extraordinary for-
tune entirely to the influence of his wife, and that he
was individually of small importance in the eyes of her
royal mistress. This conviction had soured his temper ;
and instead of responding to the ardent affection of
Leonora, he had recently revenged his outraged vanity
upon the woman to whom he owed all the distinction
he had acquired. The high spirit of the Marquise re-
volted at this ingratitude, and scenes of violence had
consequently occurred between them which tended to
152 The Life of
increase the schism, and to render his position still
more precarious. The tears of Leonora were uni-
versally all-powerful with the Queen, who did not hes-
itate to express her indignation at the unbecoming
deportment of the aggrandised parvenu ; upon which,
unaccustomed to rebuke, he threatened to withdraw
entirely from the Court and to reside at Amiens, a
design which he, however, abandoned when he discov-
ered that it met with no opposition.
The Due de Guise and the other members of his
family, rejoicing in these domestic discords, which
they trusted would ultimately tend to the disgrace of
the arrogant Italian whose undue elevation had in-
spired them with jealousy and disgust, warmly espoused
the cause of Leonora, and exerted all their power to
irritate the mind of the Queen against the offending
Marquis. Nor was it long ere the ministers adopted
the same line of policy ; and finally, Concini found
himself so harassed and contemned that he resolved to
attach himself to the party of the Princes, and to aid
them in their attempt to overturn the Government.*
The Marechal de Bouillon had, as already stated,
been despatched to England, in order to render James
I. favourable to the alliance with Spain ; and at the
same time with strict instructions to induce him, should
it be possible, to declare his displeasure at the recent
conduct of the Protestants at Saumur, and especially
at that of the Due de Rohan. This was a mission
which Bouillon joyfully undertook, his personal hatred
and jealousy of the young Duke warmly seconding the
instructions of the ministers. Rohan had, however,
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 139.
Marie De Medicis 153
been warned in time of the intention of his enemies ;
and being in constant correspondence with Prince
Henry, he hastened to entreat his interest with his
royal father to avert the impending danger.
Unaware of this fact, the Marechal commenced his
harangue by assuring the English monarch of the
respect and attachment felt for his person by his own
sovereign and his august mother, and their decided
resolution that the alliance with Spain should in no
way interfere with the good understanding which they
were anxious to maintain with the Protestant Princes.
To this assurance James listened complacently ; and
encouraged by his evident satisfaction, the envoy pro-
ceeded to inform him that he was moreover authorised
to state that the Pope had no intention of exercising
any severity against the reformed party in France, but
would confine himself to attempting their conversion
by means of the pulpit eloquence and good example
of the Roman priesthood. The satisfaction of James
increased as he listened, and when he had warmly ex-
pressed his gratification at the intelligence, Bouillon
ventured to insinuate that the Regent had been deeply
wounded by the fact of his having entered into the
Protestant League of Germany ; and besought him, in
her name, to be favourable to his Catholic subjects.
At this point of the discourse James cautiously re-
plied that the League involved no question of religion,
but was purely a measure adopted for the reciprocal
security of the confederated states ; and that, as re-
garded the English Catholics, he would willingly
permit the peaceable exercise of their faith in his
dominions, so soon as they should have given pledges
154 The Life of
of their fidelity and obedience. Still undismayed,
Bouillon then exposed what was to himself personally
the most important feature of his mission, and urged
his Britannic Majesty to express his disapproval of the
proceedings of the Assembly at Saumur, and especially
of the attitude assumed by the Due de Rohan. Here,
however, he was fated to discover that James had not
for a moment been the dupe of his sophistical elo-
quence, ably as it had been exerted. A cloud gathered
upon the brow of the English monarch, and as the
Mare dial paused for a reply, he was startled by the
coldness and decision with which it was delivered.
" If the Queen your mistress," said James with
marked emphasis, " sees fit to infringe the edicts ac-
corded to the Protestants of her kingdom, I shall not
consider that the alliance into which I have entered
with France ought to prevent me from assisting and
protecting them. When my neighbours are endan-
gered from a cause in which I am personally involved,
I am naturally called upon to avert an evil that may
extend to myself. Believe me, moreover, Marshal,
when I say that you will be wise to effect a reconcili-
ation with the Due de Rohan ; and I shall cause him
to understand that such is my wish."
The ill-success of his mission was a bitter mortifica-
tion to M. de Bouillon, who, dispirited and crestfallen,
returned to Paris to report his failure. He, however,
met with no sympathy, the ministers declaring that he
had failed through his neglect of their instructions, and
of the express orders of the Regent ; while the
Marechal complained on his side that he had been se-
lected for this delicate embassy from the express inten-
Marie De Medicis 155
tion, on the part of those who inveighed against him,
of accomplishing his disgrace.
M. de Lesdiguieres also, at this period, discovered
that he had been the dupe of his own ambition, and
the tool of that of others. The ducal brevet of which
he had considered himself secure was refused to him
upon the plea that MM. de Brissac and de Fervaques
were both senior marshals to himself, and that such a
favour could not be conferred upon him without ex-
citing their indignation. Vainly did he urge the
promise made to him by Henry IV. ; neither the
Regent nor her ministers would yield ; when, irritated
by the part which he had been made to play while his
cooperation was necessary to the accomplishment of
their measures, and the after-affront to which he was
thus subjected, he retired from the Court in disgust,
and transferred his services to the Princes of the Blood.
As we have already stated, Concini had, although
less* openly, followed the same course; but, in the first
instance, he had skilfully effected a reconciliation with
his wife, and induced her to assist him in his endeavour
to weaken the extraordinary influence which the Due
d'Epernon and the Guises were rapidly acquiring over
the Regent, who willingly forgot, amid the constant
amusement and adulation with which they surrounded
her, the cares and anxieties of government. The Due
de Vendome had also attached himself to the Court
party, and this domestic league had consequently be-
come more formidable than ever in the eyes of those
who saw their interests compromised by its continu-
ance.
Marie could not, however, conceal from herself the
156 The Life of
absolute necessity of conciliating the disaffected
Princes before the arrival of the ambassador of Philip,
who was shortly expected to claim the hand of Ma-
dame for the Prince of Spain ; and she accordingly de-
termined to pave the way towards a reconciliation by
thwarting the ambition of the great nobles who were
obnoxious to the Princes. The first opportunity that
presented itself of adopting this somewhat ungenerous
policy was afforded by the Due de Vendome, who de-
manded the royal sanction to preside over the States
of Brittany, of which province he was governor ; but
his intention having been discovered by the Comte de
Soissons and M. de Conde, they lost no time in warn-
ing their friends at Court against such a concession,
and in reminding them that he had allied himself with
the enemies of his royal father and the House of Bour-
bon ; and that his influence might prove fatal to the
tranquillity of the nation should he be permitted to ex-
ert it in a distant province, where his personal con-
sideration and the enormous wealth of his wife must
conduce to render him all-powerful. These arguments
were impressed upon the Regent alike by the ministers
and by the Marquis d'Ancre, who no sooner saw him-
self once more in favour than he exerted all his influence
to undermine the power of the rival faction ; and as her
private views warmly seconded their representations,
Marie instantly resolved to refuse the coveted favour.
When, therefore the Due de Vendome proffered his
request, the Queen met it with a cold denial, and in-
structed M. de Brissac to proceed at once to Brittany
as his substitute ; an affront which so stung the Duke
that he immediately challenged De Brissac ; but be-
Marie De Medicis 157
fore the meeting could take place it was betrayed to
the Queen, who, irritated by this disregard of her
authority, would not be induced to wait until a recon-
ciliation could be effected between them, but issued a
peremptory order that M. de Vendome should leave
the Court on the instant, and retire to his estate of
Anet, and that the Marechal de Brissac should forth-
with proceed to Brittany. In vain did the fiery young
Prince explain and expostulate ; Marie was inexorable ;
and although the Dues de Guise and d'Epernon inter-
ceded in his behalf, they were equally unsuccessful ;
nor did they discontinue their entreaties until the
Queen bade them rather look to the stability of their
own favour than hasten its termination by upholding
the cause of those who rebelled against her pleasure.
This incident afforded unmitigated satisfaction to the
absent Princes ; but to the Comte de Soissons it was never-
theless only the herald of more important concessions
on the part of the Regent. In his temporary retire-
ment he had dwelt at leisure on his imaginary wrongs ;
his hatred of the ministers had increased ; and, above
all, he had vowed the ruin of the Chancellor. In his
nephew the Prince de Conde he found a willing listener
and an earnest coadjutor ; but from a very different im-
pulse. M. de Soissons panted for power, and loathed
every impediment to the gratification of his ambition
while the young Prince, less firm of purpose, and
more greedy of pleasure and ostentation, was wearied
by the obscurity of his existence, and the tedium of
his self-imposed exile.
Concini, with admirable tact, played upon the weak-
nesses of both Princes, and augmented their discon-
158 The Life of
tent ; while he was at the same time careful to exoner-
ate the Regent from all blame. Conscious that with-
out her support he could not sustain for an hour the
factitious power to which he had attained, he laboured
incessantly to throw the whole odium of the disunion
upon the ministers, who were fully as obnoxious to
himself as to the Princes.
" They it is," he continually repeated, " who are the
true cause of your estrangement. The Queen is, as I
know, well disposed towards all the Princes of the
Blood; but Sillery, Villeroy, and Jeannin are con-
stantly representing to her the danger of allowing you
to become too powerful. Your real enemies are the
ministers who are fearful of affording you the oppor-
tunity of overbalancing their influence."
This assurance was too flattering to the selMove of
the Princes to be repulsed ; they forgot that Concini
himself had been as eager as those whom he now in-
culpated to destroy their importance, and to limit their
power ; they saw the great nobles, whose ambition was
disappointed, or whose vanity was wounded, success-
ively espouse their cause, and they were easily in-
duced to believe that the time was not far distant when
they should triumph over their opponents, and be re-
paid for all their mortifications. This was precisely
the frame of mind into which Concini had endeav-
oured to bring them ; and so ably did he avail himself
of his advantage that at length, when on one occasion
he found himself in company with the Prince de
Conde, the Comte de Soissons, and the Marechaux de
Bouillon and de Lesdiguieres, he induced them to
unite with him in attempting the ruin of the ministers.
Marie De Medicis 159
He was, moreover, powerfully abetted in his in-
trigue by the Duke of Savoy ; who, outraged at the
insult which had been offered to him by the Regent
in bestowing the hand of Madame Elisabeth, which
had been solemnly promised to the Prince of Pied-
mont, upon the Infant of Spain ; and who, moreover,
hoped to profit by the internal dissensions of France,
and to recover through the medium of the disaffected
Princes the provinces which Henri IV. had compelled
him to relinquish in exchange for the marquisate of
Saluzzo, omitted no opportunity of endeavouring to
foment a civil war; from which, while he had nothing
to apprehend, he had the prospect of reaping great
personal advantage.
Thus supported, Concini, who was aware of the
intimate relations subsisting between Charles Em-
manuel and the Comte de Soissons, did not hesitate
to urge the Princes to a resolute resistance ; nor was
this seed of rebellion scattered upon sterile soil. M.
de Soissons pledged himself that on his return from
Normandy, where he was about to sojourn for a short
time, he would publicly insult the Chancellor ; while
M. de Lesdiguieres, who was still furious at the disap-
pointment to which he had been subjected, and who
was about to return to Dauphiny, volunteered, should
the Princes decide upon enforcing their claims, to
march ten thousand infantry and fifteen hundred horse
to the gates of Paris.
Nor did the vindictive Italian confine his efforts to
thus tampering with the disaffected Princes ; he was
equally indefatigable with the Regent, who, even had
she been disinclined to regard his own representations,
160 The Life of
never neglected those of her beloved Leonora; and
who was, moreover, the better disposed to yield to his
arguments because she saw her foster-sister once more
happy, and believed that the affection of the Marquis
had been restored to his wife through her own influence.
Success rendered Concini bold. He was aware
that he had secured a strong hold upon the confidence
and regard of the malcontents ; but when he found
the Queen inclined to make concessions in their
favour which threatened to invest them with a power
as dangerous to his own interests as that now wielded
by the ministers, he did not hesitate to dissuade her
from her purpose. Anxious to conciliate the Comte
de Soissons, Marie declared her determination to
effect this desirable result by bestowing upon him the
government of Quillebceuf, the refusal of which had
been the original cause of his estrangement ; a resolve
from which she was, however, diverted by the repre-
sentations of the Italian that such a concession, thus
tardily and reluctantly made, must be fatal to her
dignity, and would only lead to fresh demands on the
part of the Prince, whose insatiable ambition was no
secret; while, fearful lest his own representations
should fail to change her purpose, he employed his
confidential friend and ally the Baron de Luz to en-
treat of the Due de Guise to second his endeavour.
In this attempt, however, the Marquis failed through
an excess of subtlety, as the Duke, outraged by this
double treason, not only refused to lend himself to so
dishonourable an act of treachery, but immediately in-
formed M. de Soissons of the deceit which was
practised towards him ; and feeling deeply aggrieved
Marie De Medicis 161
moreover by the affront that had been offered to Cesar
de Vendome, he declared himself prepared to espouse
the cause of the Princes against the machinations of
the Marquis d'Ancre. His example was followed by
the whole of his family, as well as by the Cardinal de
Joyeuse and the Due de Bellegarde ; and thus the un-
fortunate Regent was suddenly deprived of all her
friends with the sole exception of the Due d'Epernon,
who, either from an excess of pride which would not
permit him to humble himself so far as to induce him
to pay his court to the Princes from whom he had
received so many and such bitter mortifications, or
from the state of indisposition under which he was at
that period labouring, refused to take any share in the
intrigues of the Court.
Concini became alarmed; he had so long been
the spoilt child of fortune that every reverse overthrew
his self-possession; and in the first paroxysm of his
terror he considered himself lost. Chance and his
own ready cunning still, however, stood his friends.
The Grand Equerry (Bellegarde) was, with the insane
superstition of the time, accused of having suborned
witnesses to prove that the Marquis had endeavoured
by means of a magic mirror to inspire some of the
highest ladies of the Court with a passion for his per-
son; and as Concini demanded reparation for this
injury, an investigation was instituted, to effect which
it was necessary that summonses should be issued to
the witnesses. Sillery, to whom the Italian was
peculiarly obnoxious, and who was the friend of the
Due de Bellegarde, made some difficulty when called
upon to affix the official seal to these documents;
1 62 The Life of
upon which Concini hastened to complain to the
Regent that the Chancellor was endeavouring to sacri-
fice him to his enemies ; and Marie, indignant no less
at the apparent injustice shown to her favourite than
at the delay evinced in obeying her commands, made
no attempt to disguise her displeasure.
On the other hand, the Comte de Soissons, who
still hoped to obtain from the courtesy, or to wring
from the fears, of the Regent the promised govern-
ment of Quilleboeuf, made a voyage into Normandy,
which so alarmed the Marechal de Fervaques, who
held the city, and who apprehended that the Prince
was about to possess himself of it by force, that he
privately reinforced the garrison ; a fact which M. de
Soissons no sooner ascertained than he bitterly up-
braided the Marechal, and a quarrel ensued between
them that produced new difficulties.
Unfortunately Marie de Medicis was at this moment
surrounded by evil and interested advisers, by whom
she was induced to embroil herself, not only with the
Princes of the Blood and great nobles, but also with
the Parliament, and eventually with the Protestants.
The misunderstanding which had arisen between the
Due de Rohan and the Marechal de Bouillon unhappily
produced a disunion among the Huguenot party which
laid them open to the machinations of their enemies ;
and Marie, whose zeal for the Romish communion al-
ways made her eager to harass and oppress the Prot-
estants, was readily persuaded to undertake the annul-
lation of the edicts by which their allegiance had
hitherto been secured. Bouillon had never forgiven
the Due de Rohan for the energetic part which he had
Marie De Medicis 163
played at the Assembly of Saumur ; and secure of his
influence over the mind of the Regent, who felt grate-
ful for the offer of his services upon that occasion, and
the efforts which he had made to carry out her wishes,
he resolved to undermine the interests of the young
Duke, and to attempt to deprive him of his govern-
ment of St. Jean-d'Angely which had been bestowed
upon him by Henri IV.
Apprised of his intention, M. de Rohan hastened to
Court in order to justify himself, but the mind of Marie
had been poisoned against him, and she treated his
remonstrances with chilling indifference. Aware that
the mayor of the town had been bought by his ene-
mies, and that should that official be continued in his
authority he must himself inevitably lose his govern-
ment, and thereby forfeit all his influence, the Duke
no sooner saw the period of the municipal election ap-
proach than, pretexting the dangerous illness of his
brother, he took his leave of the Court and hastened
back to St. Jean-d'Angely in order to compel the re-
tirement of the obnoxious functionary. As he had an-
ticipated, on the day of the canvas a letter was received
from the ministers, ordaining the reelection of the
mayor without modification or explanation of any
kind ; an affront which so exasperated M. de Rohan
that he at once resisted its enforcement; declaring that
the Regent had been misinformed with regard to the
state of the town, which, according to the terms of the
letter, was inferred to be divided into parties ; and that,
as he would undertake to convince her Majesty of the
error under which she laboured, they had only to pro-
ceed at once to a new election. AJ*
I
1 64 The Life of
Bouillon had been prepared for this opposition ; and
found it easy to induce Marie, whose jealousy of power
always rendered her on such occasions as the present
a mere tool in the hands of her soi-disant friends, to
forward a second and more stringent order for the con-
tinuance in office of the existing mayor. The Duke,
however, persisted in disregarding the mandate ; and
after having despatched his secretary to the Louvre to
explain the reasons of his resistance, he proceeded to
authorise the nomination of three persons, all eligible
for the office, in order that the Regent might make her
own selection ; and, while awaiting her reply, the keys
of the city were confided to the senior sheriff; and he
found himself complete master of the place. *
Nothing could exceed the indignation of Marie de
Medicis on learning this contempt of her authority.
The messengers of M. de Rohan were forthwith com-
mitted to the Bastille ; orders were issued to the
Duchess his mother, to his wife, and to his sisters, not
to leave the capital ; and preparations were even made
to besiege the Duke in St. Jean-d'Angely as a rebel.
Manifestoes to the Protestants were next put forth by
both parties; that of the Queen-mother protesting
that the aggressive measures which she was about to
adopt involved no question of faith, but were destined
to be directed simply against M. de Rohan as an indi-
vidual ; and that consequently they would in no degree
affect the edicts of pacification, which would be rigidly
observed ; and calling upon all faithful subjects of the
King, whatever might be their religious persuasion, to
* Mem. du Due de Rohan^ book i. Vie de Du Plessis-Mornay,
book iii.
Marie De Medicis 165
aid and abet the effort by which she trusted to subdue
the nascent rebellion threatened by so gross a disre-
gard of the constituted authorities of the realm. The
Duke, on his side, threw himself upon the justice and
generosity of his co-religionists, reminding them that
it was through zeal for their common faith that he had
incurred the resentment of the Court ; and having so
done, he hastened to place the city in such a state of
defence as should enable him to resist the attack of
the royal troops.
The resolute position thus assumed by ML de Rohan
alarmed the ministers; who apprehensive that the
neighbouring provinces, already disaffected by the
negative result of the Assembly of Saumur, would
support the cause of so bold a recusant, and thus re-
new the civil war by which the nation had formerly
been convulsed, became anxious to temporise. Nego-
tiations were accordingly commenced between the ad-
verse factions ; and it was ultimately agreed that the
keys of the city should be restored to the mayor from
whom they had been taken, and some subaltern offi-
cers displaced by the Duke reinstated in their functions,
and that so soon as this arrangement had been completed
a new election should take place, by which M. de Rohan
was to be at liberty to substitute others more agreea-
ble to himself. This absurd ceremony was accordingly
performed ; the royal authority was supposed to have
enforced its recognition ; and the Duke, by a merely
visionary concession, preserved his government.*
*Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 142-152. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 36-38.
D'Estrees, Mini. pp. 294-298. Matthieu, Hist, des Deiniers Troubles,
book lii. pp. 473, 474.
i66 The Life of
Meanwhile the young Due de Mayenne had taken
leave of the Court, and departed with a brilliant suite
for Madrid, to demand the hand of the Infanta for the
King of France ; and on the same day the Duque de
Pastrano left the Spanish capital on his way to Paris
to solicit that of Madame Elisabeth for the Prince of
Spain.
The ducal envoy reached the French capital early in
the month of July, accompanied by his brothers Don
Francisco and Don Diego de Silva and a number of
Spanish grandees, having been received with extraor-
dinary honours in every town which he had traversed
after passing the frontier. The Dues de Luxembourg *
and de Nevers met him beyond the gate of the city,
accompanied by five hundred nobles on horseback,
sumptuously attired in velvet and cloth of gold and
silver, with their horses splendidly caparisoned. The
retinue of the Iberian grandee was not, however, as
the French courtiers had fondly flattered themselves
that it would have been, eclipsed by the lavish magnifi-
cence of their own appearance, his personal costume
being of the most splendid description, his horses and
equipages costly and gorgeous, and his numerous
train of attendants habited in a livery of extreme
richness.
On the 1 6th of the month the Spanish Duke had
* Henri, Due de Luxembourg-Piney, was a descendant of the cele-
brated Comte de Saint-Pol, and the last male representative of his
family. He died in 1616, leaving one daughter, Marguerite Catherine
de Luxembourg, who married the Comte Charles Henri de Clermont-
Tonnerre, and became the mother of Madeleine, wife of Francois de
Montmorency, commonly known in history as the Marechal de Lux-
embourg.
Marie De Medicis 167
his first audience of the young King, at which were
assembled the Princes of the Blood, all the high no-
bility of France, and the Cardinals de Sourdis and de
Gondy. * The two latter dignitaries endeavoured to
excuse themselves, on the pretext that their rank as
Princes of the Church would not permit them to seat
themselves below the Princes of the Blood ; but this
pretension on their part was considered so monstrous,
even by the Regent herself, that, anxious as she was to
secure their attendance in order to render the cere-
mony more imposing to the Spanish envoy, she did
not venture to support them in their arrogant assump-
tion of equality with the first subjects of the Crown ;
and she accordingly informed ihem in reply that upon
the present occasion there would be no regard paid to
precedence, but that each individual who was entitled
to attend the audience would be at liberty to seat him-
self as he saw fit.
Thus assured, the two prelates, attired in their rich
robes of violet-coloured velvet, entered the hall ; and
were about to take their places near the royal dais,
when the Princes of the Blood, led by M. de Conde,
hastily passed them, and ranged themselves in a line on
the right hand of the King. The Cardinals then pro-
ceeded to adopt a similar position beside the Queen-
Regent, but they were immediately displaced by the
Dowager Princess of Conde, her daughter-in-law, and
Madame de Conti ; and upon finding themselves thus
excluded from the immediate neighbourhood of the
* Pierre de Gondy, Bishop of Langres, and subsequently first Arch-
bishop of Paris, who was created a Cardinal by Sixtus V. in 1587.
He died in the French capital in 1616, in his eighty-fourth year.
1 68 The Life of
sovereign, they withdrew in great displeasure, no effort
being made to detain them.
Nor was this the only altercation which took place
before the commencement of the ceremony ; and the
one which we are about to relate is so characteristic
of the manners of that age among the great, that it
must not be omitted. The Due de Nevers had taken
his place upon the bench appropriated to the Princes
of the Blood, immediately below M. de Soissons, who,
being engaged in conversation with his brother, the
Prince de Conti, did not remark the intrusion. M. de
Conde, however, who was seated above his two uncles,
at once discovered the enormity of which the Duke
had been guilty, and he forthwith commenced pushing
the Prince de Conti so violently that he excited his at-
tention ; and his purpose was no sooner understood
than his example was imitated with an energy which
was instantly communicated to the Comte de Soissons,
who in his turn so pressed upon M. de Nevers that he
became extremely irritated, and demanded why he was
subjected to such ungracious treatment.
" Because this is not a place for you," haughtily re-
torted the Prince de Conde.
The Due de Nevers made a bitter rejoinder, and
high words ensued, which were at length terminated by
the Prince, who said significantly : " We can explain
ourselves better elsewhere, M. le Due ; follow me."
The conversation had, however, been overheard by
the Marechal de Bouillon, who hastened to inform the
King that the two Princes had retired for a hostile
purpose ; upon which Louis ordered them to be in-
stantly recalled, and after having rebuked M. de Nevers
Marie De Medicis 169
for assuming a place to which he was not entitled, in-
sisted upon their immediate reconciliation.*
The Duque de Pastrano was then introduced by M,
de Guise and his two brothers ; and after the usual
ceremony of welcome on the one side and obeisance
on the other, he presented to the King and his royal
mother the letters with which he had been entrusted
by his sovereign. Thence he proceeded to the apart-
ments of Madame Elisabeth, where he delivered the
missives of the Prince of Spain ; after which he was
conducted to the presence of the other Children of
France ; and finally, having paid his respects to every
member of the royal family, he was attended by a
brilliant retinue of nobles to the residence which had
been appropriated to his use during his sojourn in the
capital.
So unparalleled was the splendour displayed upon
this occasion, that the year 1612 was long known in
Europe as " the year of magnificence," the festivities
having been alike gorgeous throughout France, Spain,
and Naples ; and considerable mortification was expe-
rienced in the former kingdom when it was ascertained,
on the return of the Due de Mayenne, that the display
made in Paris, extraordinary as it was, could not equal
that exhibited at Lerma and Madrid. In the former
city the favourite of Philip had received the French
envoy in his own palace, and had lodged him in an
apartment hung with tapestry of silk and gold, inter-
mingled with emeralds and rubies. In Madrid it is
true that the mourning still worn for the late Queen
somewhat modified the brilliancy of the spectacle ; but
* Siri, Mem. Rec. vol. ii. pp. 697-700.
170 The Life of
as every effort had been made to counteract the effect
of this drawback, it became rather a singular feature
than an actual blot upon the gorgeousness of the
spectacle presented by the Spanish capital. *
On the 25th of August the marriage articles were
signed between Madame Elisabeth and the Prince of
Spain, the dowry of the girl-bride being five hundred
thousand golden crowns; after which the Duque de
Pastrano, laden with magnificent presents, and satiated
with pleasure and festivity, took his leave of the French
Court, and left Paris on his return to Madrid.
The contract between Louis XIII. and the Infanta
was meanwhile completed on the 22d of the month in
the Spanish capital ; and at the close of the ceremony
the Due de Mayenne was conducted to an audience-
chamber in which Philip was seated with the betrothed
Prince and Princess on his right and left, awaiting his
arrival. After having profoundly saluted the King in
perfect silence, the Duke approached the Infanta, to
whom he addressed himself as to the Queen of France.
His compliment was courteously received ; and before
the termination of this private audience, when on taking
leave he would have bent his knee and kissed the hand
of the sovereign and his son, each in succession saluted
him upon the cheek ; an honour as great as it was un-
expected, particularly in a Court where the observances
of strict etiquette were more rigidly enforced than
elsewhere in Europe.
The festivities consequent upon the double betrothal
occupied several days, and they no sooner came to a
close than the French envoy demanded a parting au-
* Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 153, 154. Mercure Franfais, 1612.
Marie De Medicis 171
dience of his future sovereign, at which he entreated
of her to entrust him with some letter or message for
the King his master.
" Tell him," said the Princess eagerly, " that I am
very impatient to see him."
" Oh, Madame ! " exclaimed the Condesa d' Alta-
mira, her gouvernante, " what will his Majesty of
France think of your Royal Highness when my Lord
Duke informs him that you are in such haste to be-
come a wife ? "
" You have always taught me to tell the truth," was
the ready retort ; and charged with this sincere and
singular communication, M. de Mayenne returned to
Fontainebleau.
The Duke of Savoy had no sooner ascertained
that the hand of Madame Elisabeth was definitely
pledged to the Spanish Prince than he declared to the
Queen-Regent his readiness to receive that of the
Princesse Christine for his own son ; and for awhile
Marie had affected to favour the alliance ; but her
great ambition was to see each of her daughters upon
a throne, and she had accordingly entered into a nego-
tiation with the English monarch for effecting a mar-
riage between the younger Princess and Henry, Prince
of Wales, who was about to be betrothed to the Prin-
cess of Savoy. She was the more encouraged to
hope for the success of this proposal as James had
already been a candidate for the hand of her elder
daughter ; nor was she deterred by the knowledge
that the Grand Duke of Tuscany * had offered one
*Cosmo II., Grand Duke of Tuscany, succeeded his father Ferdi-
nand in 1609. He was a Prince of liberal and peaceful sentiments,
172 The Life of
of his sisters, with an enormous dowry, to the British
Prince.*
So eager, indeed, was Marie de Medicis to effect this
alliance for the Princesse Christine, that the English
Ambassador did not hesitate to declare to his Govern-
ment that from the manner in which the affair had
been urged upon him by M. de Villeroy, he felt a con-
viction that his royal master might conclude the treaty
of marriage whenever he considered it expedient to do
so, and might moreover make whatever conditions he
thought proper.
While the negotiations were still pending, however,
the lamentable death of the high-spirited and promis-
ing young Prince terminated at once the struggle for
his hand ; and Marie de Medicis, to her undisguised
regret, found herself unable to realise one of her most
cherished hopes.
On the ist of November the Comte de Soissons,
who was suddenly attacked by scarlet fever while still
engaged in projects of ambition and revenge, also
breathed his last; an event which was destined to
effect a complete change in the aspect of the Court.
By his decease the governments of Dauphiny and
Normandy, as well as the appointment of Grand Master
of the King's Household, became vacant; and four-
and-twenty hours had not elapsed before as many
claimants presented themselves, eager to secure these
coveted honours. The Prince had, however, left an
and greatly endeared himself to his subjects. He married Marie
Madeleine, Archduchess of Austria, sister of the Queen of Spain and
the Duchess of Savoy ; and died in 1621, leaving his duchy to his
elder son, Ferdinand II.
* Siri, Aftm. Rec. vol ii. pp. 647-654.
Marie De Medicis 173
infant son, to whom the Queen- Regent immediately
transferred both the government of Dauphiny and the
place at Court recently held by his father. As re-
garded Normandy, she resolved to retain it in her own
hands, and to appoint a lieutenant-governor to whom
she could confide the command of the province ; but
she had no sooner declared her intention than she was
met by the expostulations of M. de Conti, who re-
minded her that having formerly ceded the govern-
ment of Dauphiny to the Comte de Soissons at her
request, he considered himself entitled to succeed to
that which had now become available by his death.
Determined to retain her possession of the province,
and yet fearful of exciting once more the resentment
of the Princes of the Blood, the Regent was compelled
to propose a compromise, which, after some hesitation,
was accepted by M. de Conti. It will be remembered
that the Comte d'Auvergne, Charles de Valois, re-
cently become Due d'Angouleme, had been commit-
ted to the Bastille by Henri IV. for conspiring with
his father and sister against the person of the King and
the tranquillity of the realm ; nor is it probable that
Marie de Medicis would have felt the slightest inclina-
tion to show any indulgence to the stepbrother of
Madame de Verneuil, had it not on the present oc-
casion been a matter of policy to do so. The Marquis
de Coeuvres was accordingly instructed to visit him in
his prison, and to offer him his liberty provided he
would resign to the Prince de Conti his government of
Auvergne ; and although the Duke at first evinced
extreme reluctance to comply with this condition, he
was ultimately induced to yield to the solicitations of
174 The Life of
the royal envoy, who convinced him that the freedom
for which he yearned so eagerly could be purchased at
no other price.*
The body of the Comte de Soissons was conveyed
to the Chartreuse at Gaillon, and there deposited in the
tomb of his ancestors ; f and before the close of the
month the Queen-Regent assisted, at the Hotel de
Soissons in Paris, at the baptism of his son, which was
celebrated in the presence of all the most distinguished
personages of the Court. J
At this period a new cabal was organised which ef-
fectually neutralised all attempt at opposition. The
chief of this formidable faction was the Prince de
Conde ; and it was moreover composed of the Dues de
Nevers, de Mayenne, and de Longueville, the Marechal
de Bouillon, and the Marquis d'Ancre. . By this com-
bination of rank, influence, and favour, the Guises, the
Due d'Epernon, and their adherents saw themselves
thrown into the background, and threatened with utter
annihilation as a political party. The Connetable de
Montmorency, who believed the power of the Guises
to be firmly established, and who had consequently
allied himself to their interests, was absent in Langue-
doc, of which province he was governor ; while the
Grand Equerry, M. de Bellegarde, who was also their
friend, was sojourning in Burgundy ; and thus they
found themselves exposed, almost without support, to
the evil offices of the rival faction. The Queen openly
espoused the cause of M. de Conde and his party,
* Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 39, 40. Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 160.
D'Estrees, Mtm. p. 398.
f Matthieu, Hist, des Derniers Troubles^ book iii. p. 474.
\ Bassompierre, Mm. p. 80.
Marie De Medicis 175
while the ministers soon saw themselves utterly de-
prived of both influence and credit; and at length,
seriously alarmed by the posture of affairs, the Due de
Guise wrote to entreat M. de Bellegarde to return with
all speed to Paris, in order to assist him in his en-
deavour to overthrow the rapidly-growing power of
their mutual adversaries. M. le Grand was preparing
to comply with this request, when an order to the
same effect reached him from the Regent, which
tended to hasten his departure ; but on arriving at
Sens he was met by one of his friends, who warned
him not to trust himself in the capital, as he had only
been recalled in order that he might either be bribed
or frightened into the resignation of his government,
of which the Marquis d'Ancre had undertaken to effect
the transfer to the Due de Mayenne.
In consequence of this intimation M. le Grand,
instead of appearing at Court in compliance with the
royal mandate, returned in all haste to Languedoc, and
the Due de Guise found himself deprived of his antic-
ipated assistance.* Bellegarde himself, who attributed
this attempt to deprive him of his government to the
Baron de Luz who through the influence of Bas-
sompierre had been reinstated in the favour of the
Queen, and had consequently abandoned the faction of
the Guises, of whose projects and designs he was
cognizant, in order to espouse the interests and to
serve the ambition of the Marquis d'Ancre vowed
vengeance against the recreant baron, and complained
bitterly to his friends of the insult to which he had
been subjected through this unworthy agency.
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 161. Bassompierre, Mem. p. 80.
7 6
The Life of
The Guises, already apprehensive of the conse-
quences which might accrue to themselves from the
defection of M. de Luz, were only too ready to
sympathise with the indignant Duke, and unfortunately
for all parties they did not confine their sympathy to
mere words. Ever prompt and reckless, they at once
resolved to revenge themselves upon their common
enemy ; nor was it long ere they carried their fatal
determination into effect.
CHAPTER V
1613
State of France at the Commencement of 1613 Characteristics of the
Baron de Luz His Imprudence He is Challenged by the
Chevalier de Guise, and Killed The Regent Summons a Council
The Nobles Assemble at the Hotel de Guise The Duke is For-
bidden to Enter the Louvre, and Ordered to Disperse His Friends
M. de la Rochefoucauld Refuses to Leave the H6tel de Guise He
is Exiled from the Court Moderation of the Due de Guise In-
flexibility of Marie de Medicis Her Anger Against the Chancellor
She Holds a Secret Council The Prince de Conde is Directed to
Demand the Seals from M. de Sillery, and to Command Him to Re-
tire from the Capital Marie Determines to Arrest the Due d'Eper-
non Her Designs are Thwarted by Concini The Marquis d'Ancre
Introduces the Son of M. de Luz to the Regent Marie Promises Him
Her Protection Bassompierre Endeavours to Effect the Recall of the
Due de Guise, and Succeeds His Reception by the Regent Arro-
gance of the Duchesse de Guise The Prince de Conde Forms an Alli-
ance with M. de Guise Influence of the Prince He Demands the
Captaincy of the Chateau Trompette Overzealous Friends Alarm
of the Queen She Resolves to Conciliate the Guises The Marquis
d'Ancre and His Wife Incur the Displeasure of the Queen Marie
Purchases the Loyalty of the Due de Guise Dignified Bearing of
the Due d'Epernon A Reconciliation " Put not Your Faith in
Princes " Exultation of the Ministers A Private Audience
Eavesdroppers Mortification of the Prince de Conde Concini
Endeavours to Conciliate the Queen He is Repulsed The Young
Baron de Luz Challenges the Chevalier de Guise Wounds His
Adversary, and is Killed Royal Solicitude Death of the
Chevalier de Guise Banquet at the H6tel de Conde Affront to
Bassompierre Concini Retires to Amiens The Due de Vendome
177
178 The Life of
Joins the Faction of the Prince de Cond A New Intrigue
Suspicions of the Regent Midnight Visitors The Prince de Conde
and the Due de Venddme Leave the Court The Regent Refuses
to Sanction the Departure of M. de Guise The Queen and Her
Favourite The Ministers Pledge Themselves to Serve Concini
Peril of Bassompierre He Determines to Leave France Is Dis-
suaded from His Purpose by the Regent Troubles in Mantua
Negotiation with the Duke of Savoy James I. Offers the Hand of
Prince Charles of England to the Princesse Christine Satisfaction
of Marie de Medicis The Pope Takes Alarm The Regent and
the Papal Nuncio Death of the Marechal de Fervaques Concini
is Made Marechal de France Ladies of Honour The Queen and
Her Foster-sister The Princesse de Conti A Well-timed Visit
The New Marechal A Sensation at Court.
THE state of France at the commencement of the
year 1613 was precarious in the extreme. As
yet no intestine war had broken out, but there existed
a sullen undercurrent of discontent and disaffection
which threatened, like the sound of distant thunder,
to herald an approaching storm. The Court was, as
we have shown, the focus of anarchy and confusion ;
the power and resources of the great nobles had
steadily increased since the death of Henri IV., and
had they only been united among themselves, the
authority of Marie de Medicis must have been set at
nought, and the throne of the boy-King have
tottered to its base. The provinces were, in many
instances, in open opposition to the Government;
the ministers indignant at the disrespect shown alike
to their persons and to their functions ; the Parlia-
ment jealous of the encroachments on its privileges ;
the citizens outraged by the lavish magnificence, and
indignant at the insolent assumption of the nobility ;
and the people irritated and impoverished by the con-
Marie De Medicis 179
stant exactions to which they were subjected in order
to supply the exigencies of the state.
Such was the condition of a kingdom dependent for
its prosperity upon the rule of a favourite-ridden
woman, and a helpless child.
We have already stated the anxiety of the Guises to
revenge themselves upon M. de Luz; and we have
now to relate the tragedy which supervened upon this
resolution^ It appears to be the common fate of all
favourites to accelerate their own ruin by personal im-
prudence ; nor was M. de Luz destined to prove an
exception. His life had been a varied one ; but the
spirit of intrigue and enterprise with which he was
endowed had enabled him to bid defiance to adverse
fortune, and to struggle successfully against every
reverse. Patient under disappointment because strong
in his confidence of future compensation, he was
less cautious in his more prosperous moments; and
in one of these he was unhappy enough to afford a
pretext for the violence of the enemies who had vowed
his ruin.
Disregarding the presence of the Chevalier de
Guise, or perhaps unconscious of his propinquity, De
Luz, shortly after the return of the Due de Bellegarde
to Languedoc, was relating to a group of nobles, who
were lounging away the time in the great gallery of
the Louvre while awaiting the appearance of the King,
the circumstances which preceded the assassination of
the Due de Guise at Blois ; boasting that he was pres-
ent with the Marechal de Brissac when Henri III. de-
cided upon the murder, and had even prevented the
former from intimating his danger to the intended
180 The Life of
victim. The Chevalier, who was young, impetuous,
and, like all the members of his house, utterly careless
of the consequences of his actions, would have felt
himself justified in demanding satisfaction of M. de
Luz simply for the insult offered to his brothers and
himself by his abrupt and unscrupulous abandonment
of their interests, and the affront given to their friend
and ally the Due de Bellegarde ; but when to these
real or imagined injuries was superadded the fact that
he had publicly boasted of the share which he had
gratuitously and wantonly taken in the murder of his
father, no wonder that the fiery young man, disregard-
ing alike the royal edicts against duelling and the
dictates of humanity, at once resolved to silence the
vauntings of the quasi-assassin, or to perish in the
attempt.
At the moment in which he volunteered the fatal
communication De Luz was protected by the roof that
covered him. It was certain death to any individual,
whatever might be his rank, who drew a hostile
weapon within the precincts of the royal palace ; and
De Guise was aware that by such an act of impru-
dence he might forfeit all hope of vengeance. He
affected, consequently, not to have overheard the im-
prudent admission of the baron, and controlled the
impulse which would have led him to fell him as he
stood ; but his thirst of vengeance only became the
more unquenchable by delay, and he watched the
movements of his destined victim with an assiduity
which soon enabled him to slake it.
On the 5th of January, at midday, his carriage en-
countered that of M. de Luz in the Rue St. Honore,
Marie De Medicis 181
when he immediately summoned him to alight and
defend himself; and at the second pass stretched him
lifeless at his feet.*
The Regent, who since she had pardoned M. de
Luz had found him a most zealous and efficient ad-
herent, was angered beyond measure, not only at the
wilful disregard of the royal authority exhibited by the
Chevalier, but also at the loss of an active and useful
agent ; and the intelligence had no sooner reached her
than, rising from her dinner, which she had just com-
menced when the news was brought, she burst into
tears, and retired to her closet. When she had be-
come somewhat more calm she assembled the Coun-
cil, by which she was advised to refer the matter to
the parliament ; but while the subject was under de-
liberation tidings reached the Louvre that a numerous
body of nobles had assembled at the hotel of the Due
de Guise, who was himself about to set forth for the
palace attended by a strong party of his friends.
Alarmed at the prospect of such a demonstration,
which bore the semblance of an enforcement of im-
punity rather than of a deprecation of justice, the
Queen was entreated by those around her to despatch
M. de Chateau vieux to the residence of the Due de
Guise, to forbid his approach to the royal presence
until formally summoned to appear ; and to command
in her name that all the persons who had assembled
under his roof should immediately retire.
The Regent followed this advice, and on his return
to the palace M. de Chateauvieux reported that he
* Siri, Mtm. Rec. vol. iii. pp. 23, 24. D'Estres, Mint. pp. 398,
399. Bassompierre, Mint. p. 80. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 40, 41.
1 82 The Life of
had rigidly performed his duty ; that the Duke had
abandoned his intention of demanding an audience of
her Majesty; and that although many of those by
whom he was surrounded had originally refused to
obey her commands, they had ultimately been induced
to do so by the persuasions of M. de Guise himself,
who represented the propriety of their compliance
with her will ; with the sole exception of M. de la
Rochefoucauld * who had declined to quit the hotel.
The Queen immediately issued an order for his exile
from the Court, which was communicated to him upon
the instant ; nor was her indignation towards the Due
de Guise appeased, even upon learning that he had
evinced the greatest respect for her authority, and the
most perfect submission to her will; or that when,
after his encounter with M. de Luz, the Chevalier had
presented himself at his hotel and claimed his protec-
tion, he had refused to receive him, or in any way to
countenance the crime of which he had been guilty.
The displeasure of the Regent was, moreover,
greatly excited by the Chancellor, who had evinced no
disposition to proceed against M. de Guise ; and she
accordingly declared her determination to deprive him
of the seals, and to bestow them upon some individual
who would perform his duty more efficiently. For
this purpose she secretly summoned the Prince de
Conde, the Due de Bouillon, and the Marquis d'Ancre
to the Louvre, the whole of whom approved her in-
tention ; and it was arranged that M. de Conde should
* Francois, Comte (and subsequently Due) de la Rochefoucauld,
Master of the Wardrobe to Louis XIII., was descended from one of
the most ancient and noble families of France. He died in 1650.
Marie De Medicis 183
demand the seals, and at the same time command the
Chancellor in the name of their Majesties to retire to
one of his estates. It was, moreover, resolved that
Marie should name a day when she would dine at the
hotel of Zamet, and that on her way she should enter
the Bastille and cause the arrest of the Due d'Epernon,
who had only a week previously returned to Court,
after a serious illness. The accomplishment of these
hasty measures was, however, frustrated by the am-
bition of the Marquis d' Ancre, who was desirous of re-
placing the Chancellor by some creature of his own f
while his wife was equally anxious that the vacant dig-
nity should be conferred upon a person who was
obnoxious to the Due de Bouillon ; and as it was
necessary that in order to effect their purpose they
should each propose the same individual, so much
time was lost that Marie had leisure to reconsider her
intention, and to abandon it.*
The Marquis d'Ancre had, however, aggravated her
displeasure against M. de Guise by introducing to her
presence the son of the murdered man, who threw him-
self at her feet, weeping bitterly, and demanding justice.
The woman-heart of Marie de Medicis was deeply
moved ; and while her anger increased against the
Guises, her sympathy for the sufferer before her
melted her to tears. Bidding him take comfort, she
promised all he asked ; and before he withdrew con-
ferred upon him the offices and pensions of his father,
assuring him that he might thenceforward rely upon
her protection.
* Richelieu, Hist, de la M&rc et du Fils, vol. i. pp. 204-206.
D'Estrees, Mini. p. 399.
1 84 The Life of
At the close of a few days Bassompierre, who was
First Gentleman of the Chamber to the Regent, and
greatly in her confidence; and who was anxious to
reinstate the Due de Guise in her favour, on account
of his attachment to the Princesse de Conti,* ventured
to impress upon his royal mistress, not only the inex-
pediency of utterly estranging from her interests so
powerful a family, but also the policy of recognising
with indulgence and pardon the ready obedience and
loyalty of the Duke, who had not scrupled to sacrifice
the safety of a brother to whom he was tenderly at-
tached to his sense of duty towards herself. Marie
suffered him to proceed for some time in silence ; but
at length his zeal was rewarded by her consent to re-
ceive M. de Guise, and to listen to his offered justifica-
tion, provided he came to the Louvre at nightfall, and
alone.
After expressing his deep sense of this concession
Bassompierre hastened to communicate his success to
the Duke, who lost no time in presenting himself be-
fore his offended mistress ; and so ably did he plead
his cause, replacing his accustomed haughtiness and
impetuosity by a demeanour at once respectful and
submissive, that Marie de Medicis, whose attachment
to his house had long been notorious, declared herself
satisfied, and assured him that thenceforward she
should hold him exonerated from any participation in
the crime of his brother. Upon one point, however,
* This lady, who had commenced her career at Court by the most
bitter enmity towards Bassompierre, was not long ere she became one
of his firmest friends ; and it was even asserted that, after the death of
the Prince her husband, she privately bestowed her hand upon the
fascinating Gentleman of the Bedchamber.
Marie De Medicis 185
the Regent remained firm ; and although the Duke
earnestly implored the recall of M. de la Rochefou-
cauld, he was met by so decided a refusal that he was
compelled to abandon all immediate hope of success.
He had, nevertheless, save in this respect, every reason
to congratulate himself upon his reception; and the
affair would probably have elicited no further conse-
quences, had not the Duchess his mother, whose pride
of birth, and natural arrogance, led her to believe her-
self inferior to no crowned head in Europe, and who
ill-brooked the authority of one whom she was accus-
tomed to consider as a mere petty Princess, indebted
to circumstances for her temporary position of com-
mand, resolved to demand an interview upon the same
subject ; which having been accorded by the Regent,
renewed with greater violence than ever the anger of
Marie, who, justly irritated at finding herself defied
and braved by one of her own subjects, dismissed the
imprudent Duchess with so much harshness that the
position of the offending parties became more onerous
than before, and the interference of Bassompierre was
rendered worse than useless.
Disconcerted by this unexpected disappointment,
M. de Guise, aware that no influence less than that
possessed by the Marquis d'Ancre could any longer
avail him, compelled himself to overcome his pride
sufficiently to entreat the good offices of the astute
Italian ; who, eager to seize so favourable an oppor-
tunity of strengthening the faction of the Princes of
the Blood, referred him to M. de Conde as the only
individual likely to accomplish his reconciliation with
the indignant Queen, and the rather as the Due
1 86 The Life of
d'Epernon declared himself ready to second the ap-
peal.*
This advice was eagerly adopted by M. de Guise ;
who found little difficulty in effecting his object, the
Princes having no sooner discovered that he had lost
the favour of the Queen than they became anxious to
attach him to their own interests ; and so rapidly did
this new alliance ripen that, with his usual impetuous
recklessness, the young Duke ere long requested Bas-
sompierre never again to mention the recall of M. de
la Rochefoucauld to the Regent, as he should shortly
accomplish it through the medium of the Prince de
Conde ; adding that thenceforward their mutual under-
standing would be so perfect that on the next occasion
of the Queen's displeasure against himself, she would
find no rod with which to chastise him.f
The influence of M. de Conde at this precise period
was indeed so great as almost to justify the confidence
of his new ally ; but it was destined to be rapidly un-
dermined by his own imprudence. He had long
coveted the command of the Chateau Trompette, of
which, although it was situated in the principal city of
his government, he was not in possession ; and believ-
ing that the Regent would not venture, under existing
circumstances, to refuse to him what he had taught
himself to consider as a right, he induced the Dues de
Mayenne and d'Epernon and the Marquis d'Ancre to
make the demand in his name. His friends zealously
obeyed his bidding, and urged the Queen to this, as
they declared, unimportant concession ; reminding her
* M6zeray, vol. xi. pp. 40-42. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 172, 173.
f Bassompierre, Mlm. p. 81.
Marie De Medicis 187
that as M. de Conde had devoted himself to her cause,
he merited every favour which she could bestow upon
him without danger to the state.
Marie de Medicis was not, however, prepared to re-
gard this new demand upon her indulgence in so un-
important a light. She apprehended, and not without
reason, that the Princes were endeavouring to sap the
foundations of her authority, by possessing themselves
of the fortresses of the Crown; and it was conse-
quently with a heightened colour that, having heard
the arguments addressed to her, she briefly replied that
she would give the subject her consideration. The
three nobles, anxious for the success of their mission,
were not, however, to be so easily discouraged ; and
they consequently proceeded to impress upon her 4
Majesty the impolicy of a delay which could not fail
to wound the susceptibility of the Prince; but the
patience of Marie was not proof against this pertinac-
ity, and again declaring that she should take time to
consider the subject, she rose from her seat and with-
drew to her private closet, still closely followed by the
applicants, her eyes flashing with anger as she discov-
ered that they were even yet resolved to persecute her
with their entreaties. Soon, however, she recovered
her self-possession ; and turning with a smile towards
her obnoxious guests, she said as playfully as though
no cause of annoyance were coupled with their pres-
ence : " I have just learnt a new gallantry of which
Bassompierre has been the hero ; he did not know
that it would reach my ears, nor will he be well pleased
to find that I have heard of it."
" I trust that your Majesty will inform him of the
1 88 The Life of
discovery," said the Due de Nevers, instantly adding :
" Approach, M. de Bassompierre ; the Queen has
something to confide to you."
" No, no," replied Marie, in the same tone of banter
which she had so suddenly assumed, " I shall not tell
him one word of the matter."
At once surprised and alarmed, the Marquis imme-
diately approached the Regent, and entreated her to let
him hear the intelligence which she had to communi-
cate ; and he had no sooner done so than Marie, whose
subterfuge had succeeded, moved to a distant window,
and motioned to him to follow her. When she had
reached the recess, she still continued to stand with
her back towards the two Dukes ; and as Bassompierre
gained her side, she said in a hasty whisper : " I
know nothing of your intrigues ; but tell me, has M.
de Guise ceased to urge you to effect the return of La
Rochefoucauld ? "
" Only three days ago, Madame, he bade me desist
from importuning your Majesty upon the subject, as
the Prince de Conde had promised him that it should be
shortly accomplished through his own means ; adding,
moreover, that he could scarcely be blamed for adopt-
ing the interests of the Princes, since your own crea-
ture, M. d'Ancre, had done the same."
As Bassompierre spoke warm tears gushed from the
eyes of the Queen. " Yes," she exclaimed bitterly ;
" the very men who induced me to oppose the Princes
and to offend the ministers are now endeavouring to
profit by my unsupported position, to undermine my
authority, and to ruin my credit with the people.
You heard how insolently they demanded a royal for-
Marie De Medicis 189
tress for their leader ; and I am well aware that should
I grant their request it would only expose me to the
necessity of making new concessions."
" Do not distress yourself, Madame," replied the
skilful courtier, eager to avail himself of so favourable
an opportunity of serving his friends ; " you can al-
ways command the means of recalling them to their
allegiance ; and, did I dare to proffer a counsel to your
Majesty, I would suggest that you should employ
them."
"We will talk no more at present," said Marie;
" return here when I have risen from table, and by that
time I shall have had leisure to reflect upon your ad-
vice."
She then advanced once more to the centre of the
apartment, and commenced a trivial conversation which
she maintained until the departure of the two Dukes,
thus effectually preventing all recurrence to the obnox-
ious subject ; but she was not destined to escape so
readily as she had hoped from this new persecution.
Concini and his wife had alike pledged themselves to
M. de Conde that they would support his pretensions
with all their influence, and their vanity was conse-
quently enlisted in the cause as much as their interests.
The Queen-Mother, therefore, no sooner found her-
self alone with Leonora than the subject was renewed ;
and that with so much pertinacious resolution that the
dignity of the Regent took alarm, and she expressed
herself with considerable bitterness to the presumptu-
ous favourite. At this crisis Concini entered the apart-
ment ; and with as little caution as his wife had pre-
viously exhibited, persisted in urging upon his harassed
i go The Life of
mistress the same unpalatable advice; until, utterly
wearied, and deeply indignant at an interference which
exceeded all the bounds of courtesy and respect, Marie
commanded them both to quit her presence, and gave
instant orders that they should not again be admitted
until she had signified her pleasure to that effect.
As the officers of the household were about to mar-
shal the Regent to the midday meal, Bassompierre
encountered the Due de Guise, of whom he immedi-
ately inquired if he had abandoned the cause of the
unfortunate La Rochefoucauld, who would inevitably
die of ennui, should he be long exiled from the gaie-
ties of the Court.
" No, no," vehemently replied the Duke, " he shall
return to share them ; nor will I be under an obliga-
tion to the Queen for his reappearance. I have served
her with zeal, and have been repaid by coldness and
neglect. I have therefore made new interests, and
now recognise no leader but M. de Conde, no coad-
jutors but his cabal ; nor will I abandon them although
I adopted their policy with reluctance; a determina-
tion, Monsieur," he added pointedly, " which you at
least will not condemn, as you are a member of the
same party."
" Your Lordship is partially in error," said Bassom-
pierre gaily. " I am, it is true, the very humble serv-
ant of all such individuals as are favoured by the
Prince, but I do not recognise them as a political body.
I am a devoted adherent of their Majesties, and I
know no other masters. Pardon me, moreover, if I
venture to say that you have yourself, M. le Due, been
very ill-advised. You were formerly the leader of
Marie De Medicis 191
your own faction, since it would appear that we are to
talk of factions; you were dependent upon no one>
and responsible only to yourself for your actions and
opinions; and now you have allied your fortunes to
those of persons by whom you will be subjected to a
thousand indignities and annoyances when they no
longer require your support. How, then, do you im-
agine that you will be able to brook such treatment,
when you suffer yourself to be angered and alienated
by a cold word from the Regent? You should re-
member that your brother killed M. de Luz almost
under her eyes, and in defiance of a stringent edict ;
and that you could scarcely anticipate the immediate
recall of one of the officers of the King's household
who had peremptorily refused to obey the royal com-
mand by which he was enjoined to leave your hotel."
" Well, well," exclaimed the Duke impatiently, " the
Queen will one day discover her error in having ven-
tured to offer me a slight in order to gratify those by
whom she suffers herself to be governed. She will ere
long seek my friendship, but I shall either refuse to
listen or compel her to purchase it at a high price."
The Regent had no sooner returned to her closet
than, in obedience to her orders, Bassompierre again
presented himself ; and as soon as she had dismissed
her attendants she at once entered upon the subject
that occupied her thoughts. " Bestein," she said, ad-
dressing the Marquis by the name which she usually
applied to him during their confidential interviews,
" this wretched affair has totally unnerved me. I was
unable to swallow any food, and unless my mind is
relieved at once I shall go mad. You must reconcile
192 The Life of
me to the Due de Guise at any price. Offer him a
hundred thousand crowns for himself, the commission
of Lieutenant-General of Provence for his brother, and
the reversion of the Abbey of St. Germain for the
Princesse de Conti. In one word, promise him what
you please, and I will consent, provided you annihilate
this cabal and detach him from the interests of the
Princes."
" Madame," replied Bassompierre with a gay smile,
" you have filled my hands so amply that I am sure of
making a successful bargain. But have I no similar
commission with regard to M. d'Epernon ? "
" Ah, would that I could hope so much," said Marie
gloomily ; " but I have wounded his vanity, and he
never forgives."
" Seldom, perhaps, Madame," was the ready rejoinder
of the shrewd courtier, " his enemies, but readily his
rulers."
" Endeavour then," exclaimed the Queen eagerly,
" to effect this also, Bestein ; remind him of all that I
have already done, both for himself and his children,
and assure him that I have never lost the inclination
to serve him. If any one can accomplish so desirable
an object, you are the person."
Bassompierre lost no time in opening the important
negotiation with which he was entrusted ; and the
wiliness with which he first enlisted the ambition and
cupidity of the females of the family presents a curious
picture of the manners of the time. His success
could not long remain doubtful at a period when the
allegiance of the highest nobles of the land was bought
and sold like the most common merchandise ; and ac-
Marie De Medicis 193
cordingly, although, as he informs us, the Due de
Guise for a time indulged in his ordinary extravagance
of speech, he gradually yielded, and as a natural con-
sequence received the price of his venal concession !
On this occasion, however, M. d'Epernon, whose
birth was far inferior to that of his friend, displayed a
higher sense of what was due to himself and to his
rank. " In matters of this importance," he said
proudly, as Bassompierre urged him once more to
espouse the interests of the Regent, and hinted at the
benefit likely to accrue to himself from his compliance
with her wishes, " I never condescend to bargain.
Decisions of real weight should be formed frankly and
disinterestedly. I have no wish to capitulate with my
sovereign. Offer me no bribe, for I should consider it
only as an insult. Any service which I can render to
the Queen has been already amply recompensed, and I
should be unworthy alike of the name I bear and of
the offices I hold did I place my loyalty at a price. I
have only one favour to request of her Majesty before
I again devote myself to her interests, and that is that
she will henceforward exhibit more firmness, and
attach a greater value to those who have served her
with fidelity and zeal. This conceded, I am ready to
attend her pleasure whenever she may see fit to sum-
mon me to her presence."
The exultation of Marie de Medicis at the happy
termination of his mission rendered her profuse in her
expressions of gratitude to Bassompierre, which she
terminated by the assurance that he should be ap-
pointed First Lord of the Bedchamber to the young
King, even should she, as she declared, be compelled
194 The Life of
to purchase the post from her own private funds ; and
these preliminaries arranged, on the following morn-
ing, at nine o'clock, the two Dukes proceeded to pay
their respects to her Majesty, by whom they were
most graciously received, and who commanded that a
seat should be placed for M. d'Epernon, whose re-
covery from a severe illness was, as we have already
stated, only recent. The interview was a long one,
and no allusion was made on either side to the late
defection of the distinguished guests, who, on rising to
retire, were invited by the Queen to attend her to the
theatre that evening ; and they had no sooner ex-
pressed their acknowledgments than she gave orders
to the captain of her guard to have benches prepared
for both the Due d'Epernon and M. Zamet, by whom
he was to be accompanied.
This extraordinary favour excited universal com-
ment when the assembled courtiers perceived that it
was not even extended to the Due de Mayenne, who
was also present at the performance ' r and Concini, in
particular, was so struck by the sudden change of affairs
that he exclaimed energetically to Bassompierre, beside
whom he stood : " Per Dio ! Monsieur, I can but
laugh over the mutations of this strange world ; the
Queen has found a seat for Zamet, and there is none
for the Due de Mayenne. Place your faith in princes
after this ! "
Great was the exultation of the courtiers when the
disgrace of Concini became known ; but that of the
ministers, as they learnt its cause, was even more pro-
found. One web of the complicated mesh which had
been woven about the spirit of the Queen had at
Marie De Medicis 195
length given way, while her refusal to accede to the
request of the Prince de Conde convinced them that
he was no longer likely to prove so formidable an
enemy to themselves as he had recently been. Acting
upon this impression they hastened to solicit a private
audience of the Regent, declaring that they had mat-
ters of great importance to treat with her, which they
would only communicate to herself ; and their satis-
faction was complete when an answer was returned
appointing an hour for their appearance at the Louvre,
and naming as the place of their reception the private
closet of the Queen.
" Messieurs," said Marie graciously, as they paused
upon the threshold of the apartment to make the
accustomed obeisance, " your request shall be strictly
complied with." And then turning to the captain
of her guard she added : " M. de Senneterre, you
will suffer no one to enter here, be he whom he
may."
Delighted by the manner of their reception, the
ministers at once entered upon the subject which had
induced them to solicit the interview, and respectfully
represented to the Regent the alarm which they had
felt at the dangerous demand advanced by the Prince
de Conde, and the exertions which they had ascertained
were to be made by the Marquis d'Ancre to induce
her Majesty's compliance ; assuring her that the sur-
render of a royal fortress of such importance as the
Chateau Trompette to the control of the first Prince
of the Blood could not fail to prove prejudicial to
the interests of the King and the tranquillity of the
nation.
196 The Life of
" I am fully aware of the importance of such a
concession, Messieurs/' replied Marie with dignity;
" and my resolution is already formed. I have not
yet forgotten that my late lord your sovereign more
than once assured me that had he, while at war with
Henri III., gained possession of the Chateau Trom-
pette, he could have made himself Due de Guienne.
A fact like this is well calculated to rivet itself upon
the memory."
At this moment the usher scratched upon the
door, and entered to announce that the Marquis
d'Ancre desired admission to the presence of the
Queen; but the ministers had scarcely had time to
exchange one glance of alarm and annoyance before
Marie, with considerable vehemence, repeated her
former order, and the mortified Marquis was compelled
to retire.
Cautiously as the audience had been accorded,
the Italian had not failed to ascertain through his
spies the presence of the ministers in the palace ; and
aware of his own danger should they regain their
legitimate influence over the mind of the Queen, he
unhesitatingly resolved to brave her interdict in order
to counteract the effect of their representations. He
had, however, as we have shown, signally failed ; and
with the most gloomy forebodings of impending evil
he returned to the apartments of his wife to report the
ill-success of his attempt.
Nor was Concini the only visitor who sought admis-
sion to the Queen during her conference with the
ministers. M. de Conde, who was stiir unaware of the
moral revolution which had been effected, had, as was
Marie De Medicis 197
his custom, proceeded to the Louvre in order to con-
sult with her on state affairs ; and had been panic-
struck when denied admission to her presence, and in-
formed that she was then closeted with his mortal
enemies. In his consternation he sought a solution of
the mystery from Bassompierre, who, after expressing
his utter ignorance of its meaning, cunningly in-
sinuated that it was, in all probability, an intrigue of
the Marechal de Bouillon, who had effected a recon-
ciliation with the Regent and her ministers at his ex-
pense ; a suggestion which appeared so probable to the
Prince that he immediately hurried to the apartments
of Concini to discuss with him the necessary measures
for averting this new danger.
Madame d'Ancre, who was well aware of the ex-
tent of her own power over the spirit of her foster-
sister, would not permit herself to regard her present
disgrace as more than a passing shadow, and urged her
less confident husband to persevere in his attempt to
regain the good graces of Marie, assuring him that
the Queen would ere long be as anxious for a recon-
ciliation as himself. Somewhat encouraged by this
declaration, Concini, whose vanity was only rivalled
by his ambition, and who, despite daily experience,
believed his own society to be as indispensable to the
Regent as that of his wife, took measures to ascertain
the precise moment at which the ministerial audience
terminated, when, profiting by the opportunity, he
threw himself upon his knees before the justly-offended
Queen, and entreated her forgiveness of his involuntary
offence. Marie was, however, in no mood for trifling,
and she sternly bade him leave her ; a command which
198 The Life of
he obeyed only to wreak upon his wife the conse-
quences of his own mortification.*
The son of the Baron de Luz finding that, despite
her promise, the Regent had taken no measures to
avenge the death of his father, but that, on the con-
trary, she had stopped the proceedings which pre-
viously to her reconciliation with the Due de Guise had
been commenced against his brother, determined to
demand satisfaction in his own person; and he ac-
cordingly despatched a challenge to the Chevalier,
which was immediately accepted by the hot-headed
young noble. Seconds were appointed, and in com-
pliance with the barbarous custom of the time the four
combatants fought on horseback at the Porte St.
Antoine. At the first pass Francois de Guise was
wounded, but at the third his sword pierced the body
of his antagonist, who fell from his saddle and expired
a few minutes afterwards. Notwithstanding this
tragical result, however, the murderer alike of the fa-
ther and the son boldly returned to Paris, where he was
visited and congratulated by numbers of the nobles,
who, instead of shrinking from all contact with a man
who had desolated the hearth and home of a sorrow-
ing and now childless widow, were loud in their
encomiums on his bravery and skill. Nor was this the
most revolting feature of the case ; for it is on record
that Marie de Medicis herself, in her eagerness to re-
tain the alliance of his family, no sooner learnt that
the Chevalier had received a wound in the encounter
* Bassompierre, Mem. pp. 81-87. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 174-178.
Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils, vol. i. pp. 207-209. Mezeray,
vol. xi. pp. 42, 43.
Marie De Medicis 199
than she despatched an officer of her household to
convey to him her regret and to inquire into the ex-
tent of his hurt, overlooking, with extraordinary in-
consistency, or still more reprehensible recklessness, the
fact that only a few weeks previously she had in-
structed the Parliament to put him upon his trial for
the murder of his first victim.
The unslumbering eye of Heaven, however, and the
unerring fiat of divine justice, proved less oblivious of
this monstrous crime. In the course of the following
year, while at the fortress of Baux near Aries, Fran-
cois de Guise was in the act of firing off a cannon,
which burst and wounded him in so frightful a man-
ner that he expired two hours subsequently in extreme
torture, thus partially expiating by a death of agony a
youth of misrule and bloodshed. *
The murder of the younger De Luz had no sooner
reached the ears of M. de Luynes than he resolved to
avail himself of the circumstance to awaken the ambi-
tion of Louis, and to induce him to fling off the shackles
of maternal authority. Eager as he had long been
for an opportunity of effecting this object, his attempts
had hitherto been negatived by the ceaseless energy
with which Marie de Medicis had smothered in their
germ all attempts at sedition, thus rendering herself
essential to the well-being and security of the king-
dom ; and he accordingly felt all the importance of
the present crisis.
Under this impression, after listening attentively to
the narrative of his informant, he hastened to the
apartment of the King, who was still engaged in the
* Mercure Fran(ais, 1614.
2OO The Life of
cares of his morning toilet; and no contrast could
have been more striking than the simple costume of
the young sovereign and the elaborate dress of his
favourite. The pourpoint of Louis was of deep crim-
son velvet, slashed with satin of the same colour, and
totally without ornament, a simplicity which marked
his own observance of the sumptuary edict that he
had lately issued ; whereas De Luynes, with an arro-
gant disregard of the royal proclamation, was attired
in a vest of pale blue, richly embroidered with gold
and relieved by a short mantle of amaranth, clasped
by a rich jewel similar to that which attached the
snowy plume to his black velvet cap.
As the cap was doffed, however, and the long
feather swept the tapestried floor, Louis forgot to chide
this ostentatious defiance of his will, and with a smile
motioned his splendid courtier to a seat.
" You come like a bridegroom from the wedding
feast, Albert," he said cheerfully; "and you surely
bring me a message of good import, or your garb be-
lies you. Has De Brantes announced the speedy ar-
rival of my sparrow-hawks ? "
" Of one only, Sire ; the smaller of the two died
under his training."
" Ah ! " exclaimed the King, with great petulance ;
" it is always so. Whatever is destined to give me
pleasure fails when I am the most eager to possess it."
" And yet," interposed De Luynes gaily, " never, in
so far as I can judge, did fortune show herself more
favourable to your Majesty."
" What mean you ? " asked Louis, roused for an in-
stant from his usual apathy.
Marie De Medicis 201
" Oh ! it is a long tale, and a strange one," said the
favourite. " You may remember, Sire, the quarrel
that arose between the old Baron de Luz and the
Chevalier de Guise, and which grew out of the cabal
against Concini. You cannot have forgotten, more-
over, that the Baron was killed. Well, his son An-
toine de Luz, impatient for a vengeance which was
too tardy according to the principle of his filial chiv-
alry, took, as it seems, the affair into his own hands,
and flattered himself that where his father had failed
he should come forth victorious. Poor boy ! he has
paid dearly for his mistake. His sword has proved
duller than his hopes. He has encountered the Chev-
alier in his turn, and in his turn has bit the dust.
Francois de Guise pierced him through and through
one day last week near the Porte St. Antoine."
" Holy Virgin ! " exclaimed Louis in an agitated
voice ; " do you mean that he is dead? "
" Dead, like his father," was the unmoved reply.
" And her Majesty the Queen-Regent was no sooner
informed of the fact than she commanded M. de Bas-
sompierre to arrest the Chevalier."
" I will not permit it ! " cried the young King ve-
hemently. " I love Francois de Guise ; he is one of my
firmest friends ; he shall not be imprisoned."
" Calm yourself, Sire," said De Luynes with a signif-
icant smile ; " Madame la Regente was soon appeased,
and so little does she resent the crime of M. de Guise
that she has this morning condescended to cause in-
quiries to be made after his health."
" Right, right," murmured Louis ; " and yet it is a
bad precedent, and a dangerous example to the lesser
2O2 The Life of
nobles. I hate this spilling of blood. The Princes
are too bold. Upon what will they next venture ? "
" Nay, it requires no sphynx to solve that problem,
my gracious master," said the favourite, toying with
his plumed cap ; " they will endeavour to effect the
exile of Concini and his dark-browed wife : your good
subjects have no love for foreigners, and believe that
you, their sovereign, would find no want of faithful
and devoted servitors among themselves. Then Jean-
nin, Sire, and Sillery are obnoxious to them ; and they
trust, with your good help, to be ere long freed from all
these incubi."
" Luynes," said Louis in a tone of weariness, " I
hate to hear you talk upon such subjects. I have
more than enough of them from others. Is De Guise
recovering from his wound? for he must also have
suffered in the fray, or the Queen-Mother would not
have sought tidings of him."
" Fear not for him, Sire," said the favourite ; " he
will be quite able to keep the saddle when M. de
Conde heads an army to snatch the crown of our fair
France from your own brow."
" Stay, sir ! " exclaimed the young King with sud-
den dignity. " Have you also forgotten that I am the
son of Henry IV. ? " "
" May your Majesty never forget it more than I do,"
said De Luynes, with an audacity before which the eye
of Louis sank ; " but believe me that the fact will avail
you little until you have purged the nation of the foreign
fungus which is corroding the root of your authority."
" Albert," murmured the weak young monarch, " in
the name of Heaven, what would you ask ? "
Marie De Medicis 203
To see you in reality the King of France, Sire."
" And for this purpose "
" You must appease the Princes. They are weary
of the despotic rule of the Queen-mother and of the
influence of these Florentines."
" I dare not urge the Queen to banish them."
" Nor should you, Sire. It is for subjects to solicit,
and for sovereigns to command. There is, moreover,
a safer cure than exile for such an evil."
" Nay, now, De Luynes, you jest," said Louis,
striving to force a sickly smile ; " you surely would
not counsel "
" Your Majesty mistakes me," interposed the fa-
vourite ; " I would dare anything to secure your safety.
Justice holds her sword as firmly as her balance, and
wields the one freely as she weighs the other."
" Enough, enough," gasped out Louis ; " we will
talk of this again but blood, blood, always blood I
It is sickening. You will attend me to Fontaine-
bleau, Albert ; I must have some sport to-day, and
endeavour to forget for a time all your moody argu-
ments."
De Luynes bowed low as he glanced significantly
towards Roger, the favourite valet of the King, who
replied to the meaning look by an almost impercep-
tible shrug of the shoulders as he adjusted the mantle
of his royal master.
" Go, Monsieur le Grand Fauconnier," pursued the
King, " and see that all is prepared. I will follow on
the instant."
Ten minutes subsequently the Court of the Louvre
was thronged with courtiers, equipages, and led horses ;
204 The Life of
and within a quarter of an hour the voice of the usher
was heard at the foot of the great staircase announcing
" The King." Then Louis himself appeared, and
taking his place in the coach which was awaiting him,
he motioned De Luynes to his side, gave the signal of
departure, and left the palace at a rapid pace. The
royal suite mounted in haste ; and ere long nobles,
pages, and equerries had disappeared, and all was once
more silent beneath the deep shadows of the regal pile.
It is evident that, crafty as Bassompierre had shown
himself when conversing with M. de Conde on the
subject of the extraordinary changes which had taken
place at Court, he was nevertheless suspected by the
Prince of having contributed to effect them, as a short
time subsequently a banquet was given at the Hotel
de Conde, to which every nobleman in office was
invited save the handsome and popular Gentleman of
the Bedchamber, who was generally one of the most
coveted guests at entertainments of that description ;
but the exclusion, marked as it was, failed to cause any
mortification to Bassompierre, who had no sooner
communicated the circumstance to the Regent than
she commanded his attendance in her private salon,
where he passed the afternoon at cards with herself
and her ladies.
Concini, finding that the Queen did not relax in her
coldness towards himself and his wife, withdrew in
great displeasure to Amiens ; and at the same period
Marie discovered that, despite his promise to the con-
trary, the Due de Vendome had joined the faction of
Conde, and that they were conjointly endeavouring to
win back M. de Guise. Alarmed by this new cabal,
Marie De Medicis 205
and made aware that the latter had betrayed symptoms
of irresolution which augured ill for his adhesion to
her cause, she lost no time in reminding him of the
pledges which he had given, and in entreating him not
to abandon her interests. The Duke, flattered by the
importance that the Queen-mother attached to his
allegiance, readily promised all she wished ; and she
had reason to congratulate herself upon her prompti-
tude, as only a few days subsequently M. de Vendome
and Concini arrived at Fontainebleau, where the Court
had recently established its residence, when the former
hastened to take leave of their Majesties previously to
his departure for Brittany, where he was about to
preside over the Assembly of the States, and the latter
on the pretext of bearing him company ; but in reality
to induce Zamet, who possessed considerable authority
in the palace, to assign rooms to them in that portion
of the building occupied by the Due de Guise.
Such an arrangement could not, however, be effected
without reaching the ears of the Regent, whose sus-
picions of their motive were immediately excited ;
and she desired Bassompierre not to lose sight of M.
de Guise until he had retired to rest, and to prevent
his holding any communication with the Due de
Vendome. Resolved, moreover, to ascertain the cor-
rectness of those suspicions, she directed M. de Sen-
neterre to watch throughout the night upon the stair-
case of the Due de Guise ; a vigilance which was
rewarded by his discovery of the two nobles, who,
shortly after Bassompierre had withdrawn, paid a visit
to the Duke which lasted upwards of two hours. The
astonishment of the Regent was consequently by no
206 The Life of
means great when M. de Guise in his turn waited upon
her Majesty to take leave, upon the pretext that he
had been chosen by Madame d'Elboeuf, conjointly
with the Due de Mayenne, as her arbitrator in a rec-
onciliation which was about to be attempted between
herself and Madame de la Tremouille, who had on her
side selected the Prince de Conde and the Marechal de
Bouillon. Marie, however, refused to consent to his
departure, and informed him that she would despatch
Bassompierre as his substitute ; an arrangement with
which he was compelled to comply, but which greatly
embarrassed his friends.
Meanwhile the anger of the Queen against Concini
had been seriously increased by this new instance of
ingratitude ; and even the pleadings of his wife, who
had been restored to favour, failed to appease her dis-
pleasure. In imparting her commands to Bassom-
pierre, Marie had inveighed bitterly against the atti-
tude assumed by a man who owed everything to her
indulgence ; and as her listener endeavoured to excuse
him, she said vehemently :
" Urge nothing in his behalf. He has thought
proper to judge for himself, and to join a cabal which
he knows to be opposed to my authority. Tell him
from me that if he does not return here by Thursday
evening, I will teach him in future to obey me ; and
that had it not been from consideration for his wife, I
should already have provided him with a lodging
which he would have found it difficult to quit. Leo-
nora is indignant at his conduct ; while he continues
to act more disgracefully from day to day. Inform
him that he will do well not to neglect my orders."
Marie De Medicis 207
The arrogant Italian was, however, by no means in-
clined to obedience ; nor was it without considerable
difficulty that Bassompierre succeeded in impressing
upon him the extent of the danger to which he ex-
posed himself by the line of conduct he had so reck-
lessly adopted, and in ultimately effecting his recon-
ciliation with his justly offended mistress.*
This was no sooner accomplished than the ministers,
who thenceforward despaired of ever permanently
counterbalancing the influence of Concini and his wife,
determined, if possible, to unite their interests to his ;
and for this purpose the President Jeannin, who had
maintained a better understanding with the Marquis
than any of his colleagues, proposed to the Queen that
an effort should be made to reconcile the Chancellor
and Villeroy with her favourite, a suggestion which
she eagerly adopted, being anxious to strengthen her
own party by weakening that of the Princes. She
had been apprised that the Marechal de Bouillon, who
was indignant that he could not attain to the degree of
power which he had anticipated under a regency, was
perseveringly employed in endeavouring to detach the
Due de Guise from her interests, and to fortify the
cabal of the Prince de Conde, in order to render his
own allegiance indispensable to the Crown ; and she
consequently welcomed any method of circumventing
a conspiracy which was becoming formidable. It was
therefore determined that a marriage should be pro-
posed between the daughter of Concini and the Mar-
quis de Villeroy, the grandson of the Secretary of
State; and this overture was accompanied by the
* Bassompierre, Mtm. pp. 88, 89.
208 The Life of
most lavish promises on the part of the ministers
that they would serve him by every means in their
power, and exert all their energies to advance his
fortunes.
This negotiation, which was undertaken without the
knowledge of Bassompierre, had nearly proved fatal to
his prospects ; as both parties, dreading his influence
with the Regent, determined to undermine him in her
regard ; and for this purpose they so wilfully misrepre-
sented his actions, and contrived to invest them with
so suspicious an appearance, that Marie, who had be-
gun to misdoubt every one about her, treated him
with a harshness which his proud spirit could not
brook; and he accordingly made preparations for
quitting the Court of France, with the intention of
entering the service of some foreign Prince.
His design was no sooner ascertained, however, than
his friends, particularly the Due de Guise and the
Princesse de Conti, hastened to represent to the Queen
the impolicy of forfeiting the friendship and assistance
of one who had so faithfully espoused her cause ; and
their representations prevailed. Bassompierre was
permitted to justify himself, and Marie frankly ad-
mitted her conviction that she had been misled by his
enemies.
In addition to these intestine intrigues, the Regent was
occupied with the troubles generated by the disputed
succession of the duchy of Mantua, regarding which
she was reluctant to come to any resolution without
securing the advice of the Princes and great nobles ;
upon which she was, moreover, the more anxious to
insist, as it would afford an opportunity of summon-
Marie De Medicis 209
ing to the capital not only M. de Conde himself, but
all the other leaders of the adverse faction ; who had,
as we have shown, withdrawn from the Court, and
were exasperated by the reconciliation of the Regent
with the Dues de Guise and d'Epernon, and the recall
of the ministers. The Council accordingly met ; and
as the Cardinal-Duke of Mantua was a near relative of
the Queen, it was decided that France should support
him in his pretensions against the Duke of Savoy.
An army was consequently organised, which was to
march on Monferrat from three several points : one
division under the Marechal de Lesdiguieres, a second
under the Due de Guise, and the third under the
Grand Equerry M. de Bellegarde. The troops were
not, however, destined on this occasion to cross the
frontier, the friends of the Duke of Savoy having soon
succeeded in convincing Marie de Medicis of the
danger of investing three great nobles with the com-
mand of an armed force of such importance during the
minority of the sovereign ; while Ubaldini, the Papal
Nuncio, jealous of the presence of the French sol-
diery in Italy, and apprehensive that Lesdiguieres
would be accompanied by a large number of Hugue-
nots, was equally strenuous in dissuading her from her
purpose ; assuring her that the King of Spain had re-
solved to oppose the Duke of Savoy, and to compel
him to restore to the House of Mantua the territories
which had been wrested from it in Monferrat. The
Duke of Savoy himself, moreover, alarmed at the
demonstration about to be made by France, and con-
scious that he was unable to compete with such an ad-
versary, resolved to open a negotiation ; upon which
2io The Life of
the Marquis de Cceuvres was despatched to Italy to
arrange the terms of the treaty.*
While the whole of the other European Princes
were occupied with the succession in Mantua, James
of England was engrossed by his anxiety to divert the
minds of his subjects from the grief which was uni-
versally felt at the untimely death of his eldest son ;
and so little did he himself feel the bereavement that
he entered with apparent enjoyment into every kind
of entertainment which presented itself. The unfor-
tunate Prince had expired on the 6th of November ;
and as his demise threatened to prevent that close
alliance with France which he had so eagerly antici-
pated, James caused its announcement to the Regent
to be accompanied by an offer of the hand of his
other son, Charles, who had thus become Prince of
Wales, to the Princesse Christine ; a proposal which
reached the French Court only three days subsequently
to the decease of Henry, and which consequently
created considerable surprise.! Marie de Medicis,
however, felt no inclination to quarrel with this inde-
cent haste, as she trusted that by giving her daughter
to the son of a Protestant sovereign, she should con-
ciliate the Huguenots, whom she had greatly alienated
by concluding the double alliance with Spain ; but the
Sovereign-Pontiff was no sooner apprised of the offer
of James, and of the gracious reception afforded to it
by the Regent, than he expressed his extreme dis-
pleasure, and refused to listen to any arguments, de-
claring that no question of state policy should sanction
*Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 191, 192.
f Lingard, Hist, of England, vol. ix. p. 271.
Marie De Medicis 211
a contract the observance of which must prove detri-
mental to the interests of the Church. Ubaldini, the
Papal Nuncio at the French Court, seconded these
remonstrances with more zeal than judgment; and at
length proceeded so far as to reproach the Queen with
the ill return which she was about to make to God for
the blessings He had vouchsafed to her. The haughty
spirit of Marie de Medicis could brook no more ; and
her reply is worthy of record. " Monseigneur," she
said with dignity, " I do nothing more upon this occa-
sion than several Princes of Italy have done before
me, and that too under the very eyes of the Pope.
The Grand Duchess of Tuscany, with all her devotion,
did not refuse her consent when she was formerly
asked to give the hand of her daughter to the Prince
of Wales." *
Thus the proposal was accepted, and the heir to the
British throne was thenceforward considered as the
future husband of the young Princess.
At this period the death of M. de Fervaques left a
marshal's baton disposable, which, to the extreme dis-
gust of the nobility, was bestowed by the Regent upon
Concini, who had never throughout his life been pres-
ent at the firing of a hostile shot. The ill-judged
manner in which this dignity was conferred is so char-
acteristic that it merits mention. Her temporary es-
trangement from Madame d'Ancre had been a source
of great discomfort as well as sorrow to the Queen ;
and her ladies, hoping still further to disgust her with
the favourite, had unwittingly compelled her to feel
her dependence upon the disgraced mistress of the
*Siri, Mtm. Rec. vol. iii. pp. 50-52.
212 The Life of
robes. To every petty requirement she was answered
that it was not within their province, and that reference
must be made to the Marquise.
" I desire to have the entrance to my closet dra-
peried by a screen of crimson velvet edged with gold,"
said the Regent on one occasion to Madame de
Guercheville ; " be good enough to have it done im-
mediately.' 1
" Your Majesty has probably overlooked the fact that
such orders must be issued by the Marquise d'Ancre,"
was the formal reply of the stately lady of honour.
" Madame du Fargis," resumed the Queen, a short
time afterwards, " I have mislaid a letter a petition
bearing the name of the Comtesse de Touraine; I
wish it to be found and answered."
" Madame," responded the beautiful Countess meekly,
11 the Marquise d'Ancre has charge of all the petitions
addressed to your Majesty."
Marie de Medicis turned away in silence. She had
striven to believe that she could dispense with the
services of Leonora ; but every day, and almost every
hour, she became more convinced of her utter help-
lessness without her. Madame d'Ancre had been the
playmate of her infancy, the friend of her girlhood ;
she was the confidante of her most hidden thoughts,
her counsellor in difficulty, and her consoler in her
moments of trial. The ill-advised bearing of those
about her sufficed to remind her of these facts, and
her resolution was forthwith formed. Concini might
still be made to feel and to suffer for his fault, but she
could not dispense with the society and support of
Leonora.
Marie De Medicis 213
The Queen retired to her private closet, and the
mistress of the robes was summoned to her presence
by a page. As she entered, Marie was startled by the
change which had taken place in her appearance ; her
eyes were swollen with weeping, and her cheek was
even more sallow than its wont. Whatever might be
her faults, there can be no doubt that Leonora was
deeply and tenderly attached to her royal foster-sister ;
and that the disgrace into which she had fallen had
consequently affected her to an intense degree. She
was no longer the proud and imperious favourite who
through the Regent sought to govern France, but a
weak and sorrowing woman, mourning over the ruin
of all her hopes.
The apartment to which the Queen-mother had so
unexpectedly summoned her foster-sister was, as we
have said, her private closet, in which she passed sev-
eral hours each day while residing at the Louvre. The
walls were covered to the height of ten feet from the
floor by magnificent hangings of crimson damask,
surmounted by a dome of pale blue silk, upon which
were elaborately embroidered the arms of the Medici.
From the centre of this dome hung a silver lamp,
chiselled by the hand of Benvenuto Cellini, and sus-
pended by a chain of the same metal ; a table of
carved oak stood in the centre of the room, upon
which were placed a pair of globes, sundry astronom-
ical instruments, an illuminated missal, and a flask of
Hungary water ; while a low divan, heaped with
cushions of black velvet sprinkled with fleurs-de-lis in
gold, occupied two entire sides of the apartment, and
completed its furniture.
214 The Life of
" Approach, Leonora," said the Queen. " Here,
place yourself on this cushion at my feet, and wipe
the tears from your eyes. Even if we part, we may
do so without bitterness."
" Ha, Madame ! " exclaimed the Florentine, " should
such a feeling indeed exist it can be only in the bosom
of your Majesty, for no true subject can do otherwise
than love and venerate her sovereign."
" Would that it were so," said Marie ; " but that is a
delusion under which I have long ceased to labour ;
for too often where I have sought to excite affection I
have only engendered hatred."
" I know not if your Majesty would address that re-
proach to me," said Madame d'Ancre, raising her
drooping head with the sudden energy of honest
pride ; " but should it really be so, I can summon the
past to vindicate my good faith. I can call upon the
Queen-Regent of France herself to do me justice ; I
can invoke the two years of that regency, so full of
trial, of struggle, and of calamity, during which I have
at times perilled my head to ensure alike the tranquil-
lity and the triumph of my august mistress ; I can
quote the several cabals which I have helped to crush ;
and, above all, I can prove the fidelity and submission
with which I have constantly obeyed the behests of
my sovereign lady. All this is, however, worse than
idle ; the servant only sins the more in every attempt
at self-justification. Monarchs are accustomed from
their cradles to punish upon suspicion, however strong
may be the evidences of the past. Gratitude, as the
term is understood between man and man, never
drapes itself in purple; perfect confidence cannot
Marie De Medicis 215
steady its foot upon the steps of a throne, for the royal
canopy is a heaven of impunity for those whom it
overshadows. Yet think not, Madame," she con-
tinued, in a more subdued voice, as she clasped her
thin fingers together so forcibly that they became ashy
white beneath the pressure " think not, I beseech
you, that I say this of myself. I have no such pre-
sumption. I have not forgotten what I was, in feeling
what I am. I yet remember, deeply, thankfully, that
I was poor, obscure, and insignificant, and that it was
your royal hand which raised me to rank and honour ;
and thus it is with the most fervent gratitude that I
now thank you for your past bounties ; and with the
utmost humility that I prepare to take my leave of
you forever."
Marie did not reply ; the outburst of outraged feel-
ing in which the Marquise had indulged was so unex-
pected and so bold that she remained speechless, and
the tears which had risen to her eyes on the entrance
of her foster-sister congealed upon their lids. Leonora
awaited for an instant some token of relenting in her
royal mistress, but as the threatening silence continued,
she became alarmed, and casting herself upon her
knees, she gasped out falteringly, " I am at your
feet, Madame ; I kneel before you, wretched and re-
pentant ; I am here to bid you farewell a life-long
farewell. Pardon, and forget me."
The heart of Marie was moved ; and as her favour-
ite knelt before her she pressed her to her bosom, and
bade her be of good cheer, for that all was forgiven.
Leonora, unprepared for such an admission, wept
abundantly ; and it was long ere she could recover her
216 The Life of
composure, while the Queen on her side was scarcely
less distressed.
" I cannot part from you, mia cara, mia dolce" pur-
sued Marie passionately ; " you are my good angel,
the friend and sister of my happy years for we were
happy then, Leonora mia, before a crown and a court
came between us. You have said truly that you have
been my guardian spirit, and we do not part with our
best security in the hour of peril. No, Leonora, no ;
I will listen no more to the evil accusations of those
who would fain separate us. You shall not quit the
Louvre."
Madame d'Ancre pressed her hand forcibly upon
her heart as if to control its tumultuous throbbings ;
and then, fixing her large dark eyes earnestly upon
those of her royal mistress, she said in a low deep ac-
cent of earnest emotion, " And thus you love me still
you, the proud daughter of the Medici, the wife and
the mother of kings you love me still, and I have not
lived in vain ! Did you hear those words, Countess ? '
she asked, suddenly springing to her feet, and address-
ing Madame du Fargis, who was standing in the re-
cess of one of the tall windows, with the tears falling
fast over her fair cheeks ; " the Regent will not suffer
me to leave France the Regent will not allow me to
wither away my life an alien from her presence. Now
I am once more calm and strong calm in the security
of my happiness, strong in the consciousness of my
honesty. Let them accuse me now, I defy their mal-
ice, for my royal mistress believes in me, and loves
me."
" Compose yourself, Leonora," said the Queen-
Marie De Medicis 217
mother affectionately ; " your feeble frame is unequal
to these bursts of passion. Come hither, child, and
pillow your aching head upon my knees, as you were
wont to do long, long ago, when we sang together the
beloved songs of our fair Florence, or indulged in day-
dreams which were never destined to be realised. Let
Madame de Conti beware in her turn : higher heads
than hers have been brought low ; and from this day
I will teach a bitter lesson to her and to her kinsmen.
I have borne much, but I am still a Medicis ; I can be
as firm as Catherine, although I shall endeavour to act
with greater justice, and to be in all things worthy of
the name I bear."
" Ha, Madame ! " exclaimed the favourite, " you
have already proved that however others may en-
deavour to forget that you are the widow of
Henry the Great the fact is ever present to yourself."
And as she spoke, Leonora buried her face in the
lap of her royal foster-sister, while her long black
hair, which had become unfastened by the energy
of her movements, fell to the floor and covered her
like a pall.
Little did either the Queen or the Marquise at that
moment anticipate how soon a deeper and a denser
pall would replace those luxuriant and gleaming
tresses! Happy was it for both that no prophetic
glance into the future darkened the joy of that bright
hour of reconciliation !
Meanwhile the Princesse de Conti, who dreaded the
effect of this same reconciliation upon herself and her
family, privately despatched a messenger to the Prince
de Conde to inform him that Madame d'Ancre was at
218 The Life of
that very time closeted with the Regent, and that he
must forthwith devise some method of terminating so
dangerous a conference. M. de Conde was for a mo-
ment aghast ; and on reflection could adopt no better
expedient than that of prevailing upon M. de Breves,
the governor of the Due d' Orleans, to suggest to the
young Prince that he should proceed to the apartments
of his royal mother, in order to pay his respects to her
Majesty. Monsieur obeyed; and Leonora was still
seated on a cushion at the feet of her foster-sister, with
her pale face pillowed upon her knees, when Madame
de Conti threw open the door of the royal closet, and
announced the Prince.
" Let Monseigneur await my pleasure without/'
exclaimed Marie angrily. " I understand the motive
of this breach of etiquette, and shall reward it as it
deserves. Leonora cara" she added, as the drapery
again closed over the portal, " dry your tears ; I owe
you some recompense for all that you have suffered,
and I will not be tardy in my requital."
At this instant some one scratched upon the door of
the royal closet.
" Again ! " cried the Queen indignantly. " See who
waits, Madame du Fargis."
The Countess proceeded to draw aside the tapestry.
" Madame," she said, as she retired a pace or two with
a profound curtsey, " his Majesty the King."
" Ha ! " exclaimed the Regent, starting from her
seat, and advancing towards the young sovereign,
whom she tenderly embraced, " your visit could not
have been more welcome or better-timed, my son.
The death of M. de Fervaques has created a vacancy
Marie De Medicis 219
which must be at once filled, and I have a marshal's
commission for you to sign."
The wife of Concini gazed eagerly into the face of
her royal mistress. Marie smiled. " Go, Madame/'
she said affectionately, " and bid the Marquis d'Ancre
hasten here upon the instant to kiss the gracious hand
from which he is about to receive a marshal's baton^
Leonora knelt before the startled King, who suffered
her in silence to perform the same ceremony; and
then radiant with happiness she pressed the jewelled
fingers of the Queen to her quivering lips. " And
hark you, Leonora," pursued Ma*rie, " cause Concini to
be announced by his new title when he seeks admission
here. This will at once put an end to a host of
rivalries which are now unavailing."
Madame d'Ancre hastily withdrew; but as she
passed through the apartments of the Queen she re-
marked that the antechamber was already thronged
with a crowd of courtiers, who had been attracted
thither by curiosity ; while they, in their turn, did not
fail to detect in the flushed cheek and flashing eye of
the Marquise the indications of some new triumph.
Little, however, were they prepared for its extent ; and
when Concini, some minutes afterwards, appeared, with
a sarcastic smile upon his lips, and glanced a look of
defiance around him, even while he bowed right and
left alike to his friends and to his enemies, every pulse
quickened with anxiety. The suspense was but
momentary. The Italian was preceded by one of the
royal pages, who, as the captain of the guard flung
back the door of the cabinet in which Louis XIII.
was still closeted with his mother, announced in a voice
220
The Life of
so audible that it was heard throughout the apartment,
" Monseigneur le Marechal d'Ancre."
" Concini a Marshal of France ! " exclaimed sim-
ultaneously the Dues de Guise, d'Epernon, and de
Bellegarde, who were standing together; and then
there was a dead silence as the draperied door closed
upon the exulting favourite.
CHAPTER VI
1614
New Anxieties Disaffection of the Princes They Demand a Refor.
mation in the Government Cunning of the Due de Bouillon Im-
prisonment of M. de Venddme He Escapes The Regent Suspects
the Sincerity of Bouillon Conspiracy of the Dues de Vendome and
de Retz The Due de Nevers Seizes Mezieres Recall of M.
d'Epernon Marie de Medicis Resolves to Resign the Regency,
but is Dissuaded by Her Council Treasonable Reports Pre-
carious Position of the Queen Levy of Troops Manifesto of the
Prince de Conde Reply of the Regent Death of the Connetable-
Duc de Montmorency Bassompierre is Appointed Colonel-General
of the Swiss Guards The March Against M. de Conde Marie
Endeavours to Temporise The Price of Loyalty The Prince de
Conde Leaves Paris Christening of the Due d'Anjou and the
Princesse Henriette Marie A Temporary Calm The Dues de
Venddme and de Retz Excite the Burgundians to Revolt The
Protestants Refuse to Join Their Faction They are Compelled to
Lay Down Their Arms The Prince de Conde Marches upon
Poitiers The Church " Military "The Prelate and the Populace
A Governor Superseded The Prince is Compelled to Withdraw
to Chatellerault He Burns Down the Episcopal Palace The
Court Proceed to Poitou Their Reception The Due de Vendome
Makes His Submission The States Assemble at Nantes Enormi-
ties Perpetrated by the Troops of M. de Vendome Folly of That
Prince Death of the Prince de Conti A Bachelor-Benedict A
Nom de Guerre Majority of Louis XIII. The Bed of Justice
The Assembly of the States-General is Deferred The King So-
licits His Mother to Retain Her Authority in the Government
Meeting of the States The Early Years of Louis XIII. Charles
Albert de Luynes His Antecedents His Ambition His Favour
with the Young King He is Made Governor of Amboise.
222 The Life of
THE commencement of the year 1614 was produc-
tive of new anxieties to the Queen-Regent.
The Marechal de Bouillon, whose restless ambition
was ever prompting him to some new enterprise, had
warily, but not the less surely, possessed himself of the
confidence of the Princes and the other disaffected
nobles, and had succeeded in aggravating their feelings
against the Court party to such an extent that he ex-
perienced little difficulty in inducing them to abandon
the capital and to retire to their several governments.
M. de Conde had never forgiven the refusal of Marie
to bestow upon him the command of the citadel of
Chateau Trompette, or the recall of the ministers ;
and he also deeply resented the desertion of the
Marechal d'Ancre from his interests, as well as the
wealth and honours to which he had attained ; while
the Dues de Nevers, de Mayenne, de Vendome, de
Longueville, and de Piney-Luxembourg, together
with a host of others, considered themselves aggrieved
by their exclusion from power, and were consequently
ready to espouse his cause. Thus Bouillon found it
easy to induce them to retire simultaneously from the
Court ; and it was agreed that they should assemble in
Champagne, and collectively demand a reform in the
Government.
Accordingly the Prince de Conde took his leave of
their Majesties on the 6th of January, and retired for
a time to Chateauroux, whence he afterwards pro-
ceeded to Mezieres. This example was shortly fol-
lowed by the other chiefs of his faction. The Due de
Nevers retired at once to Champagne, the Due de
Mayenne to the Isle of France, and M. de Longueville
Marie De Medicis 223
to Picardy. In February the Due de Vendome pre-
pared in his turn to join his friends ; but as their pur-
pose had by this time become apparent to the Regent,
she caused him to be confined in an apartment of the
Louvre ; whence, however, he succeeded a short time
afterwards in escaping by a door that had long been
unused, and which being covered by the tapestried
hanging of the chamber had been at length forgotten.
The Marechal de Bouillon, however, upon whom
the cabal mainly relied, as his sovereignty of Sedan
gave them the assurance of a secure retreat should
they be menaced with reprisals, made no haste to
imitate his dupes. He had been far too crafty to com-
promise himself beyond redemption with a party
which might ultimately fail ; and he had consequently
calculated with great care the probable chances of
furthering his own fortunes. After the departure of
the Princes he formed his decision ; and his first act
was to wait upon the ministers, and to reveal to them
the intentions of M. de Conde and his adherents ; a
communication which excited more annoyance than
surprise in those to whom it was addressed. He then
proceeded to the Louvre, where he repeated to the
Regent what he had previously declared to her minis-
ters ; and although he tempered his information with
assurances of the respect and attachment of the self-
exiled Princes towards her person, Marie considered
the mere fact of such a coalition so dangerous, that
even when Bouillon volunteered to exert all his influ-
ence to induce them to abandon their design, and to
return to the capital, although she accepted his offer,
and permitted him to follow them ostensibly for that
224 The Life of
purpose, she was far from feeling reassured ; and she
soon had reason to discover that her fears were only
too well-grounded ; as the Duke, after an elaborate
leave-taking at the palace, publicly declared that he
was about to proceed to Sedan in order to avoid arrest.
This fact, coupled with the escape of M. de Ven-
dome, who lost no time in reaching Brittany, where he
was joined by the Due de Retz * with an armed force,
and took the town of Lamballe, sufficed to convince
Marie that no faith must be placed in the professions
of Bouillon ; and she accordingly forwarded orders to
all the governors of the royal fortresses to forbid the
entrance of the Due de Vendome within their walls,
and commanded the Parliament to issue an edict for
the suppression of levies of troops throughout Prov-
ence. This done, she next despatched the Due de
Ventadour to Chateauroux with letters of recall to M.
de Conde ; but before his arrival the Prince had left
that city for Mezieres ; and as the letters, which were
forwarded to him, remained unanswered, the royal
envoy was compelled to return to the capital without
accomplishing his mission.
The next intelligence which reached the capital was
the seizure of the citadel of Mezieres by the Due de
Nevers ; and as matters daily assumed a more serious
aspect, the Queen resolved to recall M. d'Epernon
* Emmanuel de Gondy, Due de Retz, and General of the Galleys,
was the grandson of the celebrated Marechal Gilles de Laval, Baron
de Retz, who, under Charles VII., greatly contributed to the expulsion
of the English from France, but who subsequently suffered strangula-
tion by a decree of the ecclesiastical tribunal of Nantes for his fright-
ful debaucheries. He was the father of the well-known Cardinal de
Retz, the enemy of Mazarin, and one of the heroes of the Fronde.
Marie De Medicis 225
from Metz, whither he had withdrawn a few months
previously, and to conciliate him by reviving in the
person of his son M. de Candale the nominal office of
First Lord of the Bedchamber, which he had himself
held under Henri III. ; while, at the same time, she
held out to the Due de Guise the prospect of com-
manding the armies of the King, should it be found
expedient to march against the Prince de Conde.
These precautions were, however, far from sufficient
to tranquillise the mind of Marie de Medicis, who be-
gan to apprehend a renewal of the intestine calamities
which had overwhelmed the nation during the prece-
ding reigns ; and satisfied that despite all her efforts at
conciliation she was personally obnoxious to the
Princes, she expressed her determination to resign the
regency. Nor did either Concini or his wife, although
their own fortunes were involved in her retirement,
venture to dissuade her from her purpose, the threats
of the disaffected nobles against themselves having
convinced them that they had little mercy to expect
at their hands should they still further urge the Queen
to aggressive measures. From this hasty resolution
Marie was, however, with some difficulty, dissuaded by
her Council, who represented to her the dangerous posi-
tion in which she could not fail to place the young
King ; who, utterly unaccustomed to public business,
must prove incompetent to maintain his interests at so
perilous a crisis as that which now excited her own
fears.
The Regent readily admitted the validity of this
argument ; but in support of her purpose she informed
them that she had just been apprised of a rumour
226 The Life of
which had spread in Brittany since the Due de Ven-
dome had retired from the Court, by which she was
accused of having attempted to poison the King in
order to lengthen her own period of power ; and with
pardonable indignation she declared that she possessed
no other means of refuting so horrible a calumny than
that which she had adopted, and that she consequently
owed this justice to herself. As she was, however, still
entreated to sacrifice her own feelings to the safety of
the sovereign and the welfare of the kingdom, she at
length yielded ; but that she made the concession with
reluctance was sufficiently evident.
" As regards the horrible crime imputed to me,
Messieurs," she said, " I can only swear that I would
rather suffer death than continue to live on under such
an accusation. I am well aware, moreover, that this
is not the only calumny which has been circulated
against my person and reputation ; nor is it the first
time that the Marechal d'Ancre has been designated
as the instigator of my unpopular measures; every
new cabal inventing some fallacy to undermine my
authority and to throw discredit upon my government.
Since, however, you give it as your opinion that I
shall better serve the King by retaining the regency
until he shall be of fitting age to act upon his own re-
sponsibility, I will continue to exercise the power
delegated to me by my late lord and husband ; and to
maintain that good understanding with my son which
has ever hitherto existed between us."
The question was then discussed of whether it were
more desirable to levy such troops as still remained
faithful to the Crown, and at once endeavour to reduce
Marie De Medicis 227
the faction of the Princes by force, or to attempt a
reconciliation by pacific means. The Cardinal de
Joyeuse, Villeroy, and Jeannin were urgent that the
former measure should be adopted ; assigning as their
reason that after the tergiversation and deceit of which
the cabal had been convicted, they would profit by
any delay on the part of the Government to strengthen
their army, and to effect other means of defence, thus
augmenting the difficulty of their suppression; the
Chancellor was, however, of a different opinion, and
counselled the Queen to avert, so long as it might be
possible to do so, the horrors of a civil war. He rep-
resented to her the fact that all the principal nobles,
with scarcely one exception, had leagued themselves
with M. de Conde, while she had on her side only the
Dues de Guise and d'Epernon, who were, moreover, at
variance ; each coveting the dignity of Connetable,
and scarcely seeking to disguise his jealousy of the
other ; and finally, he pointed out to her the dangerous
attitude assumed by the Huguenots, who would not
fail to take advantage of any civil dissension to ad-
vance their pretensions, which could only be done suc-
cessfully during the minority of the sovereign.
Between these conflicting opinions Marie at length
resolved to steer a middle -course ; and she conse-
quently declared her intention of attempting by nego-
tiation to reconcile the Princes, while at the same time
she made a levy of six thousand Swiss troops.* She,
moreover, by the advice of her Council, addressed a
circular-letter to all the Parliaments of the kingdom,
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils, vol. i. pp. 247-254.
Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 53-55. . $* "
228 The Life of
governors of provinces and fortresses, and mayors of
towns, exhorting them to remain faithful to the Crown,
and not to suffer themselves to be seduced by the
Prince de Conde and his partisans ; and terminating
by the declaration that her Majesty had determined to
convoke the States, in order to consult upon the
measures necessary for ensuring the welfare and pros-
perity of the nation.
Meanwhile M. de Conde had assembled the leaders
of his party at Mezieres, whence he forwarded a
species of manifesto to the Queen-Regent, in which
he complained in the name of his faction of " the
waste of the public money; of the unworthiness of
the individuals in power ; of the undue authority as-
sumed by the ministers ; of the want of respect dis-
played towards the Princes of the Blood, the peers,
and the officers of the Crown ; of the obstacles en-
dured by the Parliaments in the exercise of their juris-
diction ; of the ruin of the great nobles ; the excessive
charges of the law courts ; the oppression suffered by
the people ; the neglect exhibited in assembling the
States-General; and the precipitation shown in con-
cluding the marriage of the sovereign before he had
attained his majority." Other objections followed, and
then succeeded the conditions upon which the cabal
declared themselves willing to return to their allegiance.
The States -General were to be convened within three
months ; the royal marriages were to be deferred until
the close of the Assembly; and the then-existing
household of his Majesty was to be replaced by indi-
viduals of acknowledged probity.
The Prince at the same time wrote to the two
Marie De Medicis 229
Parliaments, to the Prince de Conti, to the dukes and
peers, and to the great officers of the Crown, soliciting
their assistance in the work of reform which he was
about to undertake. Neither of the Parliaments, how-
ever, replied to his letter ; and that addressed to Paris
was placed unopened in the hands of the Regent, who
forthwith forwarded it to the Chancellor.
The answer of Marie de Medicis to the manifesto
addressed to herself was calm and dignified. She de-
clared her willingness to assemble the States-General ;
but accompanied this concession by expressing her re-
gret that the Prince should not, during the last four
years, have personally made the representation, and
assisted her in averting the evils of which he now com-
plained, instead of absenting himself from the Court
on the pretext of disapproving the proposed alliance
with Spain, to which he had previously affixed his con-
sent and signature. To each of his other objections
he received an equally categorical reply ; and the docu-
ment terminated by an expression of her conviction
that his offer to effect a reform in the state by pacific
means rather than have recourse to force was desirable
indeed, but little to be anticipated, since the formation
of a cabal like that of which he had constituted him-
self the leader, and which was opposed to the legitimate
authority of the sovereign, could only terminate in
intestine broils, and compel the King to adopt the
most violent measures in order to suppress it.
Precisely at this period intelligence reached the
Court of the death of the veteran Connetable de
Montmorency, one of the most gallant soldiers of his
day, whose judgment and strong sense had long been
230 The Life of
proverbial, although he was utterly without education,
and could scarcely sign his own name.
While the negotiation with Conde was still pending,
a new anxiety added to the embarrassment of the
Regent. The Swiss levies were about to be raised ;
but suspicions of the loyalty of the Due de Rohan,
who was colonel-general of this force, rendered her
unwilling to confide so important a body of troops to
his control ; and she ultimately resolved to offer him a
sum of money, and to induce him to resign his ap-
pointment. M. de Rohan readily acceded to the
proposal, his position at that moment rendering him
indifferent to its possession; and the Queen next
sought to find an individual whose popularity \%ith the
Switzers, and devotion to her own interests, might
render him an eligible successor to the displaced Duke.
After considerable reflection she selected Bassompierre ;
but the suggestion was at once negatived by M. de
Villeroy, who reminded her Majesty that the office was
one which had never been filled by any person under
the rank of a prince. So brilliant a prospect, how-
ever, gave the favoured courtier courage to plead his
cause so successfully with his royal mistress, that she
was at length induced to consent that, if he were en-
abled to persuade the Swiss themselves to solicit his
appointment, the difficulty should be overcome. For-
tunately for the aspirant the officer to whom the levies
were entrusted was his personal friend, and so zealously
did he advocate his cause that the Thirteen Cantons
united in consenting to receive him as their leader;
and Bassompierre, although only a petty noble of
Lorraine, found himself invested with a command
Marie De Medicis 231
which was coveted by all the proudest subjects of
France.
Two days subsequently the Court were informed
that the Prince de Conde and the Due de Nevers had
taken Mezieres and Sainte-Menehould, upon which the
newly-raised troops received orders to join M. de
Praslin, who, with the remainder of the army, was
concentrating his forces at Vitry. Their arrival so
alarmed the insurgent party that they resolved to
evacuate the latter city, and demanded that even should
the troops remain in their vicinity, Bassompierre him-
self, who, from the share that he had taken in the affair
throughout, was peculiarly obnoxious to them, should
be recalled. The Due de Ventadour and the President
Jeannin, through whom M. de Conde and his party
carried on their negotiation with the King, accordingly
wrote to the young commander to apprise him that
the Regent required his services in the capital, for rea-
sons which she would explain on his arrival ; and,
greatly to his mortification, Bassompierre found him-
self compelled to retrace his steps.*
Once more Marie de Medicis resolved to afford to
the adverse faction the opportunity of terminating
their ill-advised struggle without bloodshed ; and she
accordingly despatched a trustworthy messenger to M.
de Conde, volunteering to send deputies who should
be authorised to effect a reconciliation. The offer was
accepted, the malcontents having become paralysed by
the unexpected energy of their opponents ; and after
sundry meetings between the agents of the Govern-
ment and the chiefs of the cabal, in which each made
* Bassompierre, Mem. pp. 94, 95.
232 The Life of
particular conditions for himself which were veiled by
three demands of a more public nature, a treaty of
peace was drawn up and signed by both parties, and
amity was once more restored. Situated as they were,
the Princes had been careful not to insist on more than
they were aware would be readily conceded ; and thus
they asked only that the States-General should be con-
voked with as little delay as possible, that the double
alliance with Spain should be delayed until the termina-
tion of the King's minority, and that the royal troops
should be immediately disarmed.
To this last requisition the reply of the commis-
sioners of the Crown was positive ; the rebel faction
were in the first place to lay down their own arms
after which they pledged themselves that their ex-
ample should be followed by the troops of the
sovereign ; and to this arrangement M. de Conde, after
some hesitation, agreed.
Thus far all had progressed favourably ; but the sub-
sequent exactions of the disaffected party caused con-
siderable anxiety in the Council of the Regent. The
exorbitant pretensions of its leaders alarmed the
ministers, but the crisis was sufficiently critical to in-
duce them ultimately to satisfy the demands of their
dearly-purchased allies. The Prince de Conde was
invested with the government of Amboise, and re-
ceived four hundred and fifty thousand livres in ready
money. The Due de Mayenne three hundred thou-
sand, and the survivorship of the government of Paris ;
and all the other chiefs of the cabal the sums or gov-
ernments that they had seen fit to exact ; after which
they ceased to insist upon the public grievances, and
Marie De Medicis 233
the Dues de Longueville and de Mayenne returned to
Court ; an example which was followed by the Prince
de Conde as soon as he had taken possession of his
new government. The coldness with which he was
received, however, and the little desire evinced to pay
him that deference which he was ever anxious to
exact, soon disgusted him with the capital, and
he once more withdrew, little less disaffected than
before.
On the 5th of June the Due d'Anjou and the
younger Princess were baptised at the Louvre with
great ceremony, by the Cardinal de Bonzy, the al-
moner of the Queen. The sponsors of the Prince,
who received the names of Gaston Jean Baptiste, were
the ex-Queen Marguerite and the Cardinal de Joy euse;
while those given to his sister, who was held at the
font by Madame and the Cardinal de la Rochefou-
cauld, were Henriette Marie ; this being the Princess
who subsequently became the wife of the unhappy
Charles I. of England.
The completion of the treaty with the Princes had
restored the nation to apparent tranquillity, and the
government of the Regent bore a semblance of stabil-
ity to which it had not previously attained, when new
troubles broke out through the restlessness and jeal-
ousy of Cesar de Vendome ; who, having merely been
reinstated in his government and other dignities, con-
sidered himself to have been ill-treated by the Prince
de Conde, to whose care he had confided his interests,
and who consequently resolved to enforce more ample
justice for himself. With a view of effecting his pur-
pose, he induced the Due de Retz, who was equally
234 The Life of
dissatisfied, to follow his example, and Brittany soon
became ripe for revolt. As, however, Vendome did
not fail to perceive that without extending his faction
he could not hope to make head successfully against
the Court, he next endeavoured to engage M. de Ro-
han and the Protestants in his interest, believing the
Duke to be much more powerful with the reformed
party than he really was ; and Rohan so far yielded as
to attempt a convocation of the General Assembly in
Gascony; but the prudence of Du Plessis-Mornay,
who represented to the Huguenots the impolicy of
embroiling themselves with the Government in order
to gratify the ambition of an individual, decided them
to refuse all participation in a political movement of
that nature.
Repulsed but not discouraged, Vendome still per-
severed, and as his intrigues tended to unsettle the
minds of the people, and to harass the Regent, she
resolved to despatch the Marquis de Cceuvres, then
recently returned from his embassy in Italy, to ex-
postulate with him, and endeavour to recall him to
reason. This mission was peculiarly distasteful to the
Marquis, who, being nearly connected with M. de
Vendome through his mother (Gabrielle d'Estrees),
was fearful, should he fail to effect his purpose, that he
must offend one or the other party ; but as the com-
mands of the Queen-mother were stringent, he was
compelled to obey. His task proved an arduous one,
the two Dukes warmly asserting their right to share
in the benefits which M. de Conde had secured for
himself and his immediate friends, and declaring their
intention to obtain by force what they had been
Marie De Medicis 235
denied by the ingratitude of the Crown : nor was it
until the envoy had been a second time instructed to
assure them that should they persist in their disloyalty
the King was prepared to march an army against
them, that they were at length induced to sign a treaty
which had been drawn up for that purpose, and to lay
down their arms.
This desirable result had scarcely been accomplished
when the Prince de Conde, disappointed by his gov-
ernment of Amboise (which he soon discovered to be
of much less importance than he had imagined when
he insisted upon its possession), resolved to make him-
self master of the city of Poitiers, where he had
secured many and active allies, among whom the most
considerable was the Due de Roannois, the governor ;
while in addition to this advantage he had also
received from the Marquis de Bonnivet a promise that
he would furnish a body of troops to assist him in his
enterprise. The city was about to elect a mayor, and
the friends of Conde had exerted themselves to the
utmost to cause the choice of the citizens to fall upon
an individual of their own party, but their design was
penetrated by the Bishop,* who hastened to apprise
the Regent of the cabal which had once more been
commenced against her authority.
The communication of the prelate renewed all the
apprehensions of Marie, who, after expressing her
acknowledgments for his zeal, commanded him to
adopt every means in his power to contravene the
endeavours of the Prince and his adherents ; and so
ably did he fulfil her directions that he succeeded in
* Henri de Chateignier de la Rocheposay.
236 The Life of
winning over to the royal cause the greater number of
the inhabitants ; which he had no sooner accomplished
than he caused the guards to be doubled, and thus
rendered himself more powerful in the city than M. de
Roannois himself. This fact soon became apparent to
Conde,but he still trusted to the support of his friends,
and accordingly presented himself at the gates with a
small retinue, believing that the citizens would obey
their governor, and refuse to oppose his entrance.
The Bishop had, however, by the promptitude of his
measures, effectually defeated the hopes of the Prince.
He had loudly proclaimed in the streets that there was
a conspiracy on foot for delivering up the city to the
enemies of the King ; and this announcement had at
once sufficed to arouse all the energy of the inhabit-
ants. In a short time the gates were closed, chains
were stretched across the thoroughfares, and numerous
barricades were erected. The prelate, gratified by
these fearless evidences of his influence, became to the
full as excited as his adherents, and arming himself
with a pike, he placed himself at the head of the
people, urging them to resist to the utmost the dis-
honour by which they were threatened; while the
Governor, who was then inhabiting a suburban resi-
dence, no sooner became apprised of the belligerent
demonstrations of the Bishop, and the effects which
they had produced, than he galloped to the gates with
the intention of opposing his authority to that of his
clerical antagonist. At his command the gates were
opened, and directing the immediate demolition of the
barricades, he proceeded to the episcopal palace ; not,
however, without being subjected to the abuse of the
Marie De Medicis 237
irritated populace. The Bishop, whose policy was not
inferior to his courage, offered him an asylum until
the fury of the crowd should be appeased ; and M. de
Roannois, alarmed by the rough reception he had
already encountered, at once accepted the offer, and
thus became the prisoner of the prelate; who, pro-
ducing the letter of the Regent, issued the orders
necessary to ensure the safety of the city. Nor was
this all ; for with a sword by his side, the Bishop per-
sonally posted the sentinels at nightfall, and distributed
money from his own private purse to the non-military
combatants who had formed themselves into a
militia.
Enraged by his disappointment, M. de Conde, after
vainly attempting to obtain a hearing from the excited
citizens, found himself compelled to retire with his
companions, having on his way burnt down the country
palace of the bishops of Poitiers ; and he had no
sooner reached that city than he wrote to the Regent
to complain of the insult to which he had been sub-
jected by the inhabitants of Poitiers, and to demand
justice. The sympathies of the Court were, however,
with the adverse party ; but Marie de Medicis was so
well aware of the consequences to be apprehended
from Conde 's irritation that she resolved to proceed to
Poitou and Brittany in person, on the pretext of the
weak health of the King, by whom she was to be ac-
companied. She accordingly caused a rumor to be
spread that Louis had displayed symptoms of disease
which rendered it probable that he could not long sur-
vive ; and having done this, the troops were warned to
hold themselves in readiness to leave the capital with
238 The Life of
his Majesty. Meanwhile the Due de Mayenne was
despatched to M. de Conde to assure him on the part
of the Regent that every respect should be paid to his
representations, and at the same time letters of aboli-
tion were sent to all his adherents ; although he was
requested to retire from Poitou during the sojourn of
their Majesties. To this demand Conde at first de-
murred ; but finding that he could not succeed in se-
curing the assistance of the reformed party, he at
length consented to withdraw ; and not venturing to re-
turn to Amboise, he took up his temporary residence
at Chateauroux in Berry.
The retreat of the Prince was a great triumph for
the warlike Bishop, who lost no time in proceeding to
Tours (where the Court had already arrived), at the
head of two hundred of his supporters, to entreat of
their Majesties to proceed at once to Poitiers, in order
to restore public confidence. His reception by the
Regent was gracious in the extreme, nor did the young
sovereign fail to express to the exulting prelate his own
sense of obligation. At Poitiers the Court was met
by the most enthusiastic acclamations : their Majesties
honoured the election of the new mayor with their
presence ; and the lieutenant-generalship of the prov-
ince was bestowed upon the Comte de la Rochefou-
cauld, an adherent of the Due de Guise.
From Poitiers the Court proceeded to Angers, on
its way to Brittany ; where, however, the Due de Ven-
dome did not wait its arrival to make his submission.
The inertness of the Government upon previous oc-
casions not having prepared him for the energy now
exhibited by the sovereign, his alarm was correspond-
Marie De Medicis 239
ingly increased ; and he hastened to meet their Maj-
esties accompanied by all the nobility of the province.
On approaching the King he laid his sword at his feet ;
and, as he knelt beside it, entreated his forgiveness of
his past errors, and expressed his determination thence-
forward to give him no further subject of complaint ;
upon which Louis commanded him to rise, and granted
him a free pardon, which was ratified by the Regent.
Letters patent were despatched by which he was rein-
stated in his government, and made irresponsible for
all the excesses committed by his troops ; and once
more the son of Gabrielle d'Estrees was restored to
the favour, if not to the confidence, of his sovereigns.
The assembly of the States then took place at
Nantes, presided over by the Due de Rohan ; and dur-
ing its meetings the King was apprised by its mem-
bers of the enormities of which the followers of Ven-
dome had been guilty throughout the province, and
respectfully solicited to exclude from the letters of
abolition the authors of the frightful crimes of which
the people had been made the victims. Among those
of which they complained were the ransom of wives by
their husbands, of daughters and young children by
their parents, and of fields of grain by their owners.
They, moreover, demanded justice for still greater enor-
mities ; and revealed to the ^Council the appalling
fact that wealthy individuals had been subjected to tor-
ture, and in many instances even put to death, in order
to obtain possession of their money ; while others had
been compelled to pay a heavy sum to save their
dwellings and their property from the brand of the in-
cendiary.
240 The Life of
These frightful revelations excited the horror and
indignation of Marie and her Council ; and, in reply
to their requisition, the complainants were assured
that, although the King and his Government had pre-
ferred to pardon the injuries which they had person-
ally sustained from the faction of M. de Vendome,
rather than visit them with the vengeance that they
had legally merited, neither the sovereign nor those
who held office under him could permit crimes like
those detailed in their remonstrance to be exercised
with impunity upon the people, and those crimes would
consequently be punished with the most extreme rigour.
The first independent act of the Due de Vendome
had thus greatly injured him in the estimation of the
young monarch and his mother ; nor did his afterlife
tend to give them cause to alter the opinion which
they then formed either as regarded his stability or his
capacity. Even the marriage which his father, Henri
IV., had with so much difficulty contracted for him
with the heiress of the House of Mercceur,* failed to
*In 1598 Henri IV. had marched against the Due de Mercceur,
who still held part of Brittany ; and as the Duke found himself, imme-
diately on the appearance of the King, deserted by the nobility of the
duchy, he gave himself up for lost. Opposition was of course useless ;
and he was about to surrender to the royal troops upon the best terms
which he could obtain, when he saved himself by a lucky expedient.
He was aware of the violent passion still felt by Henry for Gabrielle
d'Estrees, and in order to escape the penalty of his rebellion he of-
fered the hand of his only daughter, with the duchies of Estampes,
Penthievre, and Mercceur as her dowry, to the King's natural son
Cesar de Vendome ; a proposal which was at once accepted, as the
monarch was aware that it would gratify the ambition of his mistress.
Subsequently, however, after the death of her father, the family of
Mademoiselle de Mercceur had objected to the alliance, and it had re-
quired all the authority of Henry to compel its accomplishment.
Davila, Hist, of Modern Europe, London, 1794, book xv. vol. iii.
p. 49.
Marie De Medicis 241
produce the result that had been anticipated, as he
squandered her wealth, without increasing his own po-
litical importance.*
On her triumphant return to the capital Marie de
Medicis was apprised of the death of the Prince de
Conti, which had taken place on the 1 3th of August ;
but the void was little felt, the infirmities under which
he laboured, and the weakness of his intellect, having,
despite his exalted rank, rendered him a mere cipher
at the Court. By the nation his loss was totally unfelt ;
while this indifference was shared by his wife, whose
violent passion for Bassompierre had long been no-
torious, and who shortly afterwards privately gave him
her hand. Mademoiselle d'Entragues, the sister of
the Marquise de Verneuil, to whom he had previously
been betrothed, and who had made him the father of
a son, ( had in vain endeavoured in the law courts to
compel him to fulfil his contract, and persisted in bear-
ing his name ; a fact which was so well known as to
induce many persons to believe that she was in reality
his wife. On one occasion, when he was in attendance
upon the Queen, the royal carriage was detained for
a moment by the crowd near that of Mademoiselle
d'Entragues, whom Marie immediately recognised.
" See," she said with a malicious smile, as she pointed
towards the lady with her fan, " there is Madame de
Bassompierre."
" That is merely a nom de guerre, Madame," was the
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mere et du Fils, vol. i. pp. 260-277.
Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 55-67. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 253-261.
Brienne, Mem. vol. i. pp. 296, 297, edition Petitot.
f Louis de Bassompierre, who subsequently became Bishop of
Saintes.
242 The Life of
ready reply, uttered in a tone sufficiently loud to reach
the ears of the person named, who angrily exclaimed :
" You are a fool, Bassompierre ! "
" If I be not," was the quiet rejoinder of the ungal-
lant Lothario, " it has at least, Madame, not been your
fault." *
Thus, after his union with the Princesse de Conti,
Bassompierre, although claimed as a husband by two
celebrated women, the one of a family notorious for
the profligacy of its members, and the other a daugh-
ter of the proud house of Guise and, moreover, the
widow of a Prince of the Blood, still continued to
assume the privileges of a bachelor ; resolutely dis-
owning the one, while the other did not dare publicly
to declare her marriage.t
A fortnight after the return of the Court to Paris it
was followed by the Prince de Conde, who had been
summoned to attend the sovereign to Parliament on
the termination of his minority, which ended when he
entered his thirteenth year. On the 1st of October,
the day preceding that on which the ceremony of his
recognition as actual monarch of France was to take
place, Louis XIII. issued a declaration confirmatory of
the edict of pacification previously published, and re-
newing his prohibition against duelling and blasphemy.
On the following morning the King ascended his Bed
of Justice ; and both the procession and the meeting
were conducted with the greatest pomp. He was
attended by the Queen-mother, Monsieur, and the
Princes de Conde and de Soissons, the Dues de Guise,
* Petitot, Avertissement sur M. de Bassompierre.
f- Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 263.
Marie De Medicis 243
d'Elbceuf, d'Epernon, de Ventadour, and de Mont-
bazon, and upwards of eight hundred mounted nobles,
all attired in the most sumptuous manner. On his
arrival at the palace the King was received by two
presidents and four councillors, by whom he was con-
ducted to the great hall; and after all the persons
present had taken their places, his Majesty briefly
declared the purpose for which he had convened the
meeting. Marie de Medicis then in her turn addressed
the Assembly, declaring that she had resigned the
administration of public affairs into the hands of the
sovereign, who had some days previously attained his
majority ; and when she had ceased speaking Louis
expressed his acknowledgments for the valuable services
which she had rendered to the kingdom, his resolution
still to be guided by her advice, and entreated her not
to withhold from him her important assistance in the
Government. The Chancellor, the First President,*
and the Advocate-General f each delivered a harangue ;
after which the Chancellor pronounced the decree
which declared the majority of the sovereign ; and the
declaration that he had forwarded to the Council on
the previous day was duly registered. This act termi-
nated the ceremony, and Louis XIII. returned to the
* Nicolas de Verdun, First President of the Parliament of Paris, a
devoted adherent of M. de Villeroy.
f- Louis Servin, Councillor of State, Advocate-General of the Parlia-
ment of Paris, and one of the most able magistrates of his time, served
with zeal and fidelity under Henri III., and Henri IV., and Louis
XIII. He died suddenly, at the feet of the latter monarch, on the
iQth of March, 1626, while remonstrating with him in the name of the
Parliament, where he was holding his Bed of Justice, against certain
financial edicts. He was the author of several legal writings, ora-
tions, and sundry other works.
244 The Life of
Louvre accompanied and attended as he had reached
the Parliament, amid the acclamations of the populace.
The assembly of the States-General at Sens had
been fixed for the loth of September, and would con-
sequently have been held before the King had attained
his majority, had not this arrangement been traversed
by the Regent, who apprehended that they would
seize so favourable an opportunity of thwarting all her
views ; and would not only demand the dismissal of
the ministers and the Marechal d'Ancre, but also,
which was still more important, dissuade the sovereign,
whose minority would terminate during their sitting,
from permitting her to retain any share in the Gov-
ernment. The Prince de Conde and his partisans,
whose interests undoubtedly demanded such a result,
had, however, themselves been instrumental in the
delay so earnestly desired by Marie ; the hostile dem-
onstrations of Vendome in Brittany, and the ill-judged
movements of Conde himself in Poitou, having fur-
nished her with a plausible pretext for deferring the
opening of the States until the King could preside
over them in person ; when the public declaration
made before the Parliament by the young sovereign of
his intention still to be guided by the counsels of his
mother at once freed her from all her apprehensions ;
and she accordingly lost no time in transferring the
Assembly from Sens to Paris, and proroguing it till
the loth of October.
Nevertheless much was to be feared should the
clergy, the nobility, and the people act unanimously ;
and in order to prevent such a coalition, neither Marie
de Medicis nor her ministers spared any exertion. As
Marie De Medicis 245
much depended upon the presidents whom they might
select, the first care of the Queen-mother was to en-
sure the election of persons favourable to her own in-
terests ; but as great caution was necessary with regard
to the agent to whom she could entrust so delicate a
mission as that of causing such individuals to be
chosen, she hesitated for a time before she came to a
decision. Ultimately, however, she fixed upon the
young Comte de Brienne ; * and so thoroughly did he
justify her preference, that he eventually succeeded,
without any appearance of undue interposition, in se-
curing the election of three presidents, all of whom
were favourable to the Court party .f
This important point gained, the Government re-
covered its confidence; and its next care was to
awaken the jealousy of each order against its coadju-
tors, and thus to paralyse the influence of the Assem-
bly. In this attempt it was perfectly successful ; and
* Henri Auguste de Lomenie, Comte de Brienne, was the son of
Antoine de Lomenie and of Anne d'Aubourg, and was born in 1594.
In 1609 he attracted the attention of Henri IV., who occasionally ad-
mitted him to his councils, in order to familiarise him with public
affairs ; and Marie de Medicis continued, after the death of that mon-
arch, to honour him with her regard. In 1617 he became Master of
the Ceremonies and Provost of the King's Orders. In 1621 he fol-
lowed Louis XIII. to Languedoc, where he distinguished himself at
the siege of Clerac ; and in the following campaign he served under
the Prince de Conde with equal credit. After struggling successfully
throughout the long and stormy administration of Richelieu, he in-
curred the displeasure of Louis XIII. a short time after the death of
that minister, and disposed of his office as secretary of State; but
during the regency of Anne of Austria he was recalled ; and until
Louis XIV. undertook to govern the nation in his own person, he re-
tained great influence in the Council. Age was, however, creeping
upon him ; and a short time subsequent to the marriage of that mon-
arch, having attained his sixty-seventh year, he retired from the Gov-
ernment. He died in 1666.
| Petitot, Notice stir U Comte de Brienne, p. 278.
246 The Life of
the general welfare of the country was overlooked in
the anxiety of the several parties to carry out their
own individual views. The clergy demanded the pub-
lication of the decrees of the Council of Trent, and
their unrestricted admission throughout the Kingdom ;
the nobility asked that the privilege of the paulette
should be abolished ; * and the tiers-'etat f solicited
either the suppression or diminution of the pensions
by which the public treasury was involved in debt.
The speaker elected by the clergy was the Arch-
bishop of Lyons ; the nobility chose as their spokes-
man the Baron du Pont Saint-Pierre, J while the tiers-
'etat was presided over by M. Miron. The two first-
named orators addressed the King standing and bare-
headed ; but this privilege was considered too great for
a body which could boast of neither hereditary nor
ecclesiastical nobility; and the able diplomatist and
rhetorician who upon that occasion pleaded before his
sovereign the rights and immunities of the class which
he had been called upon to represent, was compelled
to address that sovereign upon his knees. Miron had,
* This privilege rendered the financial and judicial offices hereditary,
on the payment of an annual tax of one-tenth of the sum at which
they had been originally purchased ; and the nobility were jealous of
this hereditary tenure of the most lucrative civil appointments under
the Crown, all of which were thus, as a natural consequence, en-
grossed by the tiers-'etat. The paulette owed its name to Charles
Paulet, who was the inventor of this extraordinary source of revenue.
\ Tiers-Mat, or middle state, was the name given to that portion of
the French people who belonged neither to the aristocracy nor to the
Church.
J Pierre de Roncherolles, Baron du Pont Saint-Pierre.
Robert Miron, Provost of the Merchants, an able politician, whose
Seal and talents were recompensed by the confidence and favour of
Louis XIII., by whom he was, in 1625, entrusted with the embassy to
Switzerland.
Marie De Medicis 247
previous to the meeting of the States, excited the in-
dignation of the more patrician orders by declaring
that he regarded the three bodies of which it was com-
posed as one family, of which the nobility and clergy
represented the elder, and the tiers- etat the junior
branches ; while the Queen herself, even while she felt
the importance of his support, did not hesitate to treat
the deputies of his order with the greatest arrogance
and discourtesy, although they distinguished them-
selves by a loyalty and devotion to the interests of the
Crown which met with no response from the haughtier
members of the Assembly. Ably, indeed, through
the agency of Miron, did they persist in defending the
royal prerogative, and demand that a principle should
be established forbidding the deposition of their sov-
ereigns on accusations of heresy ; expressing their de-
sire that the Crown should be recognised by law as
completely independent of spiritual power; and al-
though the clergy, through Cardinal Duperron, form-
ally and strenuously opposed these propositions, so
little was Miron affected by the adverse circumstances
under which he appeared, that he replied with a logic
and energy which compelled the States to defer their
decision until the following year.*
Louis XIII., at this period, was in so delicate a state
of health as to require constant care and attention,
while his sullen and self-centred disposition demanded
no less watchfulness. His first preceptor was M.
Vauquelin des Ivetaux, a man of great talent, and
quite equal to the task of forming the mind and intel-
* Bonnechose, vol. i. pp. 451, 452. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 73-78.
Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 298-302.
248 The Life of
lect of a Prince, but of dissolute principles and
sensual habits.* He, however, did not long remain
about the person of the boy-King, having been re-
placed a year after the death of Henri IV. by Nicolas
Le Fevre, f who was distinguished alike for his learn-
ing and his piety. Unfortunately for the young Louis,
this excellent man only lived a year after his appoint-
ment, and was, in his turn, replaced by M. de Rivault,J
a celebrated mathematician, who had been educated
with Guy, Comte de Laval. Thus, however com-
petent these several individuals might have been to
conduct his education, it will be at once evident that
the perpetual changes of method and purpose to which
he was subjected greatly tended to impede the progress
of the illustrious pupil ; and it consequently ceases to
be matter of surprise that at his majority he had by
no means attained to the degree of knowledge com-
mon to his age. Louis XIII. knew little Latin ; cared
nothing for literature ; but although either irritable or
inert when compelled to study, could develop great
energy when he was engaged in gunnery, horseman-
ship, or falconry. The latter pursuit was his principal
amusement. His purity of heart and propriety of
language were extreme, and deserve the greater men-
* Marville, Melanges d'Histoireet de Litterature.
\ Nicolas Le Fevre was born at Paris, in 1544, and devoted himself
to literature. Henri IV. entrusted to him the education of the Prince
de Conde ; and he subsequently became, under Marie de Medicis, the
preceptor of Louis XIII. He died in 1612.
J David de Ri vault, Sieur de Flurance, was born at Laval in 1571,
and died at Tours in 1616. He was the author of several works,
which elicited the admiration of Malherbe and other distinguished
writers.
Guy, Comte de Laval, was the brother of the Due de la
Tremouille.
Marie De Medicis 249
tion from the contrast which they afforded to the
morals and manners by which he was surrounded. He
would neither permit an oath nor an obscene expres-
sion to be uttered in his presence, and never failed to
rebuke any violation of his pleasure in this respect.
He was passionately attached to dogs, and conversed
with them, according to a contemporaneous historian,
in a peculiar language ; * but as regarded his kingly
duties he was utterly incompetent. With good inten-
tions, a love of justice, and a deep sense of religion,
he was vacillating and indolent ; and cared little either
to assert his privileges, or to take upon himself the
cares and fatigues of government while he could
transfer them to others, and thus secure time to
abandon himself to more congenial pursuits.
In this circumstance were comprised all the errors
of his reign ; as even while deeply imbued with a sense
of his dignity as the sovereign of a great nation, he
exhibited the feeling only in acts of petty and obstinate
opposition which tended to no result, and were pro-
ductive only of a want of attachment to his person,
and of respect for his opinions, which increased the
arrogance of the great nobles, and fostered the ambi-
tion of his ministers.
It is now time that we should introduce an individual
whose subsequent importance in the kingdom, humble
as were his antecedents, was one source of the bitter
trials to which the unfortunate Marie de Medicis was
subjected during a long period of her life. The
Comte de Lude had in his service a page, who was
subsequently transferred to that of the young King ;
* Bernard, Hist, de Louts XIII., book i.
250 The Life of
and it is the history of this apparently insignificant
person which we are now called upon to detail to the
reader. Albert de Luynes, his father, was the son of
Guillaume Segur, a canon of the cathedral of Mar-
seilles, and of the housekeeper of the said ecclesiastic ;
and derived the name of Luynes from a small tene-
ment upon the bank of that river, between Aix and
Marseilles, which was the property of the canon, who
preferred that his son should adopt the appellation of
his farm rather than his own. There was, however, an
elder brother, on whom the little property belonging
to the priest was exclusively bestowed, and Luynes ac-
cordingly discovered that he must become the architect
of his own fortunes. With all the fearless confidence
of youth he made his way, as he best could, to the
capital, where he enlisted as an archer of the body-
guard, displayed great aptitude and courage, and
finally obtained the governorship of Pont-St.-Esprit.
While thus prospering in the world he married, be-
came the father of seven children, of whom three
were sons ; and died without suspecting that his name
would be handed down to posterity through the
medium of one of these almost portionless boys,
whose sole inheritance was a small dairy-farm of the
annual value of twelve hundred livres.
Charles de Luynes, the elder of this numerous
family, became, as already stated, the page of the
Comte de Lude ; and, as his brothers were totally with-
out resources, he induced his patron to receive them
gratuitously into his suite, in order that he might be
enabled to share with them the four hundred crowns a
year which, together with his slender patrimony,
Marie De Medicis 251
formed his own income. This favour had no sooner
been conceded than the three young men discarded
the modest names of Charles, Honore, and Leon d' Al-
bert, by which they had previously been known, and
assumed those of Luynes, Cadenet, and Brantes, from
the field, the vineyard, and a small sandy island beside
them, which composed their joint estate.* " Posses-
sions," as Bassompierre facetiously observes, " over
which a hare leapt every day." On the miserable
pittance of the elder brother the three young ad-
venturers, nevertheless, contrived with considerable
difficulty to exist, although it was notorious that they
had but one cloak, at that period an indispensable
article of costume, among them; a circumstance by
which two were compelled to avoid observation while
the third fulfilled his duties ; and so little, moreover,
were their services valued by M. de Lude that he was
in the habit of declaring that they were fit for nothing
but " to catch green jays," a reproach which they
owed to their skill in training sparrow-hawks to catch
small birds ; and to which he was far from supposing
when he gave it utterance that they would ultimately
be indebted for a prosperity almost fabulous.
Such, however, was fated to be the case. Charles
de Luynes had not been long at Court before he as-
certained the passion of the young King for falconry,
and having carefully trained two of his miniature
hawks, he caused them to be offered in his name to
his royal master. Louis was delighted with their
docility and skill, and desired that the donor should be
presented to him ; when he found that the page was
* Sismondi, Hist, des franfais, vol. xxii. p. 296.
252 The Life of
deeply versed in all the mysteries of that sport to
which he was himself so much attached ; and thence-
forward he constantly commanded his attendance
whenever he pursued his favourite pastime in the gar-
dens of the Tuileries.
At this period M. de Luynes had already attained
his thirtieth year ; and, with admirable self-govern-
ment, he had so thoroughly controlled himself as to
disguise the salient features of his character. No one
consequently suspected either his latent ambition, or
the violent passions which he had craft enough to con-
ceal ; and thus the very individuals who were the ob-
jects of his hatred regarded him merely as a shallow
and superficial young man, whose whole soul was in
the puerile sports to which he had addicted himself.
It was not, however, solely to take small birds that
De Luynes aspired when he thus found himself the
chosen companion of the Dauphin; he had other
talents which he exerted so zealously that he ere long
made himself indispensable. Gifted with a magnifi-
cent person, insinuating manners, and that ready tact
by which an indolent nature is unconsciously roused to
excitement, he soon obtained an extraordinary influ-
ence over his royal playmate by the power which he
possessed of overcoming his habitual apathy, and
causing him to enter with zest and enjoyment into the
pleasures of his age. Henri IV., who perceived with
gratification the beneficial effect produced upon the
saturnine nature of his son, and who was, moreover,
touched by the fraternal devotion of the page, trans-
ferred him to the household of the Dauphin, and aug-
mented his income to twelve hundred crowns ; and
Marie De Medicis 253
thenceforward he became at once the companion,
counsellor, and friend of the young Louis ; and at the
desire of the Prince he was created Master of the
Aviary.
Time passed on. The Dauphin succeeded to the
throne of his murdered father ; the Regency tottered
under the machinations of the great nobles; faction
grew out of faction ; cabals and conspiracies kept the
nation in one perpetual state of anxiety and unrest ;
but the influence of De Luynes continued undimin-
ished ; and neither Marie de Medicis nor her ministers
apprehended any danger from an association that was
fated to produce the most serious consequences ; while
the Princes were equally disinclined to disturb the
amusements in which the young monarch was so en-
tirely absorbed as to pay little attention to the im-
portant events which succeeded each other around
him.
As he grew older Louis became still more attached
to his favourite. His discontented spirit made him
irritable under every disappointment, and vindictive
towards those by whom his wishes were opposed : he
detested alike explanation and remonstrance, and from
De Luynes he never encountered either the one or the
other. Under the remonstrances of his mother he be-
came sullen ; to the arrogant assumption of the Princes
and the Marechal d'Ancre he opposed an apathetic
silence which caused them to believe that it was unfelt ;
and it was only to De Luynes that he poured forth all his
indignation, that he complained with bitterness of the
iron rule of Marie, the insolence of his nobles, and the
ostentatious profusion of the Italian : contrasting the
254 The Life of
first with his own helplessness, the second with the
insignificance to which he was condemned, and the
last with the almost penury to which he was compelled
to submit.
No Prince had ever a more attentive or a more inter-
ested auditor. The enemies of the young Louis were
also those of his favourite ; for, as before remarked,
the grandson of the reverend canon of Marseilles was
alike vain and ambitious, and consequently inimical to
all who occupied the high places to which he himself
aspired. Moreover, the powerlessness and poverty of
the young monarch necessarily involved those of his
follower ; and thus both by inclination and by interest
De Luynes was bound to share the antipathies of his
master.
Like all favourites, moreover, he soon made a host
of personal adversaries ; while, as these were far from
suspecting the height to which he was ultimately des-
tined to attain, they took little pains to dissemble their
dislike and contempt of the new minion ; and thus,
ere long, De Luynes had amassed a weighty load
of hatred in his heart. To him it appeared that
all the great dignitaries of the kingdom, although
born to the rank they held, were engrossing honours
which, possessed as he was of the favour of the
sovereign, should have been conferred upon himself;
but the especial antipathy of the arrogant adventurer
was directed against the Queen, the Marechal d'Ancre,
and the President Jeannin. To account for his bitter
feeling towards Marie de Medicis, it is only necessary
to state that, blinded by his ambition, he had dared to
display for the haughty Princess a passion which was
Marie De Medicis 255
coldly and disdainfully repulsed; and that he had
vowed to revenge the overthrow of his hopes. *
His hatred of Concini is as easily explained ; it be-
ing merely the jealousy of a rival favourite. The
Italian was to the mother of the King precisely what
De Luynes was to the King himself; and as Marie
possessed more power than her son, so also was her
follower more richly recompensed. Still, however,
the game was an unequal one, of which the chances were
all in his own favour ; for the Marechal was playing
away the present, while his adversary was staking upon
the future. The President Jeannin was also, as we
have stated, especially distasteful to De Luynes, as he
made no secret of his dissatisfaction at the frivolous
existence of the young sovereign, and his desire that
he should exchange the boyish diversions to which he
was addicted for pursuits more worthy of his high
station ; while at the same time he exhibited towards
the favourite an undisguised disdain which excited all
the worst passions of its object.
Thus, insignificant as he appeared to those who
were basking in favour, and who esteemed themselves
too highly to waste one thought upon the obsequious
dependent of a youthful and wayward sovereign, who
suffered himself to be guided by those about him as
though reckless of the result of their conflicting am-
bitions, it will be readily understood that De Luynes
was laying up a store of antipathies which required
only time and opportunity to develop themselves, and
to bear the most bitter fruits; and already did the
* Bernard, book iv. Additions aux Mtmoires de Castelnau, book
iv. pp. 455-457. Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils % vol. i. p. 284.
256 The Life of
active favourite begin to enjoy a foretaste of the com-
ing harvest. Ever earnest for right, Louis XIII.
never exhibited any personal energy to secure it, and
consequently could effect nothing of himself; readily
prejudiced, alike by his own caprices and by the rep-
resentations of others, his very anxiety to act as be-
came a monarch rendered him vulnerable to the
intrigues of those whose interests tended to mislead
his judgment ; and as De Luynes, while sharing in his
superstitious acts of overstrained devotion, or amusing
his idleness by the futilities of falconry and other even
less dignified sports, did not fail occasionally and
cautiously to allude to more serious subjects, the boy-
King listened eagerly to the recitals and opinions of his
chosen friend, and finished by adopting all his views.
This fact soon became so obvious to Concini, that
the wily Italian, who dreaded lest the day might not
be far distant when the son of Marie de Medicis
would shake off the yoke of her quasi-regency and
assert his own prerogative, resolved to secure the good
offices of De Luynes, and for this purpose he induced
M. de Conde to restore to the King the government
of Amboise ; representing to the Prince the slight im-
portance of such a possession to a person of his rank,
and the conviction which its voluntary surrender must
impress upon the ministers of his desire to strengthen
the royal cause. Let it not be supposed, however,
that, at the period of which we write, such a surrender
could for a moment be effected gratuitously ; and thus,
when the first Prince of the Blood was at length in-
duced to yield to the representations of his insidious
adviser, the terms of the bargain were fully understood
Marie De Medicis 257
on both sides ; but even when he had succeeded in
obtaining the consent of M. de Conde himself to the
arrangement, Concini had still to overcome the
scruples of the Queen-mother, to whom he hastened
to suggest that the vacant government should be
bestowed upon Charles de Luynes.
As he had anticipated, Marie de Medicis was
startled by so extraordinary a proposition. De
Luynes was a mere hanger-on of the Court ; the com-
panion of the boyish pleasures of her son ; and with-
out one claim to honour or advancement. But these
very arguments strengthened the position of the
Marechal. The poverty of the King's favourite
secured, as he averred, his fidelity to those who might
lay the foundations of his fortune ; and if, as the astute
Italian moreover cleverly remarked, De Luynes were
in truth merely the playmate of the monarch, he
possessed at least the merit of engrossing his thoughts,
and of thus rendering him less desirous to control or
to criticise the measures of others. Marie yielded to
this argument ; she had begun to love power for its
own sake ; and she could not disguise from herself
that her future tenure of authority must depend solely
upon the will of the young sovereign. In order, there-
fore, to secure to herself the good offices of one so
influential with his royal master as De Luynes, she
consented to follow the advice of Concini, who
forthwith, in her name, remunerated M. de Conde for
his secession by upwards of a hundred thousand
crowns, and the grandson of Guillaume Segur became
governor of the city and fortress of Amboise.*
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils t vol. i. pp. 284, 285.
CHAPTER VII
1615-16
Close of the States-General The Bishop of Lucon Declaration of
the Royal Marriages Ballet of Madame State of the Court
Cabal of Concini Death of Marguerite de Valois Conde Seeks to
Gain the Parliament Distrust of Marie de Medicis Conde Leaves
Paris He Refuses to Accompany the King to Guienne Perilous
Position of the Court Party The Marechal de Bois-Dauphin is Ap-
pointed Commander-in-Chief The Court Proceed to Guienne
Illness of the Queen and Madame Elisabeth The Court at Tours
Enforced Inertness of M. de Bois-Dauphin Cond6 is Declared
Guilty of Itse-majest'e He Takes up Arms Murmurs of the Royal
Generals The Comte de St. Pol Makes His Submission The
Court Reach Bordeaux The Royal Marriages Sufferings of the
Troops Disaffection of the Nobility Irritation of the Protestants
Pasquinades Negotiation with the Princes The Due de Guise
Assumes the Command of the Royal Army Singular Escape of
Marie de Medicis Disgrace of the Due d'Epernon He Retires to
His Government The Queen and the Astrologer.
THE assembly of the States-General occupied the
commencement of the year 1615 ; and was
closed on the 22d of February, by their Majesties in
person, with extreme pomp. When the King and his
august mother had taken their seats, and the heralds
had proclaimed silence, Armand Jean du Plessis,
Bishop of Lucon,* presented to the sovereign the
* Armand Jean du Plessis, afterwards the celebrated Cardinal de
Richelieu, was the third son of Francois du Plessis, Seigneur de
258
Marie De Medicis 259
requisition of the clergy ; and after a long harangue, in
which he detailed their several demands, he entered
into an animated eulogium of the administration of
the Queen, exhorting his Majesty to continue to her the
power of which she had so ably availed herself during
his minority. He spoke fluently, but in a broken and
uncertain voice, and with an apparent apathy, which,
according to contemporaneous authors, gave no indi-
cation of the extraordinary talents that he subse-
quently displayed.
The States-General had no sooner closed than Marie
de Medicis resolved to terminate the double alliance
which had been concluded with Spain, and in honour
of this event she determined that Madame, the prom-
ised bride of Philip, should appear in a ballet, which
by the sumptuousness of its decorations, the beauty of
its machinery, and the magnificence of its entire ar-
rangements, should eclipse every entertainment of the
kind hitherto exhibited at the French Court.
" It is necessary," she said, " that my daughter
should give a public festival before her departure for
Spain, and that the Parisians should remember a
Princess who is about to be lost to France."
That the worthy citizens were on their part most
anxious so to do, is evident from the testimony of
Richelieu, Knight of the Orders of the King, and Grand Provost of
France. He was born in Paris, on the 5th of September, 1585 ; and
having been educated with great care, became an accomplished
scholar. At the age of twenty-two years he was received as a mem-
ber of the Sorbonne ; and having obtained a dispensation from Paul
V. for the bishopric of Lucon, was consecrated at Rome by the Car-
dinal de Givry, in 1607. On his return to France he was introduced
to the notice of Marie de Medicis by the Marquise de Guercheville
and the Marechal d'Ancre.
260 The Life of
Bassompierre, who states that the Court officials, being
unprepared for so great a crowd as that which pre-
sented itself upon the occasion, had not taken proper
precautions, and it was subsequently found necessary
to postpone the amusement for some days, and to
arrange that no one should enter the Salle de Bourbon
without a ticket ; which the Due d'Epernon and him-
self were entrusted to receive.*
This entertainment was followed by another of a
similar description at the Hotel de Conde ; but al-
though they affected to be equally engrossed by the
festivities in which they shared, neither the Queen nor
the Prince were so indifferent to their personal inter-
ests as they endeavoured to appear. Marie de
Medicis was striving to discover some means of frus-
trating the cabals which were perpetually thwarting
her designs, and threatening her authority, while M.
de Conde was as eager as ever to undermine her
power. The Marechal d'Ancre was intriguing to
effect the disgrace of the ministers, particularly that of
Villeroy, whose alliance he no longer coveted ; and
the great nobles were busied in searching for some
pretext sufficiently plausible to cause the ruin of the
domineering favourite who presumed to treat them
rather as inferiors than as equals. Thus the gilded
surface of the Court concealed a mass of hatred, jeal-
ousy, and unrest, which threatened every instant to
reveal itself, and to dispel an illusion as false as it was
flattering : and while the foreign guests of the young
monarch danced and feasted, and the native nobility
struggled to surpass them in magnificence and frivolity,
* Bassompierre, Mtm. p. 96.
Marie De Medicis 261
the more thoughtful spectators of the glittering scene
trembled at its instability, and every instant anticipated
an outbreak.
The attempt of Concini proved successful, and the
deportment of Marie towards M. de Villeroy became
so chilling that he withdrew from the Court, without
seeking to ascertain the cause of his disgrace.
On the 2/th of March the ex-Queen Marguerite
breathed her last, but for some time previously she
had appeared so seldom at Court that her death did
not tend to disturb the gaieties of the royal circle, who
had almost ceased to remember her existence. She
had outlived even the reputation of her vices.
When the Prince de Conde and his faction de-
manded a meeting of the States they were far from
anticipating its results ; the unanimous loyalty of the
deputies having greatly subserved the interests of the
Queen, and thus weakened their own position. Aware
too late of the error which they had committed, they
were consequently compelled to seek elsewhere for
support, and it was at length decided that they should
excite the disaffection of the Parliament, by repre-
senting that all the services which its members had
rendered to Marie on her assumption of the regency
had been repaid by ingratitude and neglect ; and that
they no longer commanded that authority in the Gov-
ernment to which they were justly entitled. Coupled
with these insidious arguments were profuse offers of
assistance to enable them to enforce their rights, and
the object of the faction was at once gained ; the am-
bition and the vanity of the Parliament being alike
engaged in a question which involved their own
262 The Life of
influence and importance. Strong in the support of
the Princes, they, however, overacted the part assigned
to them, and proceeded so arrogantly to remonstrate
with the sovereign upon what they termed the abuses
of the Government, that the King issued a decree in
Council, by which he abrogated both their own decree
and their remonstrances, declaring that they had ex-
ceeded the power accorded to them by the law ; and
commanding that those documents should be can-
celled, torn from the registers, and delivered to his
Majesty on the receipt of the royal decree. The
Parliament, however, expostulated, and although they
were again commanded to deliver up the obnoxious
records, they failed to obey ; and thus, by their de-
termination, overruled the will of the sovereign.
During this struggle for power the Prince de Conde
had absented himself from Paris, in order to avert any
suspicion of connivance ; but previous experience had
rendered the Queen distrustful of his movements, and
she was consequently prepared to counteract his sub-
sequent intrigues. The Council had, accordingly, no
sooner annulled the decree of the Parliament, than
she sent to forbid him, in the name of the King, from
assisting in their deliberations ; upon which the Prince
availed himself of so specious a pretext for abandoning
the Court, alleging that he no longer considered it safe
to remain in the capital.*
In accordance with this declaration he left Paris by
the Porte St. Antoine, followed by the acclamations of
the populace, who, weary of the rule of the Queen,
and exasperated by the arrogance of her favourites,
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fits, vol. i. p. 334.
Marie De Medicis 263
regarded M. de Conde as a victim, and thus rendered
his retreat a new subject of anxiety to the Court
party. Nor was their annoyance decreased when they
ascertained that throughout his journey to Creil,
where he possessed an estate on the banks of the
Oise, he was met by numerous bodies of armed citi-
zens from Senlis, Mantes, Beaumont, and other towns,
and was accompanied by the Due de Longueville and
the nobles attached to his cause. Within a league of
Creil the harquebusiers were drawn up to receive him,
with drums beating and colours flying, and thus es-
corted he finally entered the city.
On learning these circumstances Marie de Medicis
became apprehensive that he might avail himself of so
favourable an opportunity to raise an army, and enter
into open rebellion against the crown ; and in order
to avert this contingency, she lost no time in despatch-
ing a messenger who was instructed to invite him to
return to Paris, and to accompany the Court in their
approaching journey to Guienne. M. de Conde was,
however, aware of the advantage which he had gained,
and resolutely refused to retrace his steps until the
King reformed the Council, replied to the remon-
strances of the Parliament, and redressed the alleged
wrongs of himself and his friends ; demanding in his
own name the presidency of the Council, and the
ministry of finance which had been promised to him ;
while the Marechal de Bouillon, in his turn, asked as
the price of his obedience the office of Connetable de
France vacant by the death of the Due de Montmo-
rency. *
* Continuation of Mezeray. Hist, de France.
264 The Life of
These demands not being conceded, the Prince de
Conde refused to accompany the King to Guienne, an
example which was followed by many of the high no-
bility ; and the faction became ere long so formidable
that a civil war appeared inevitable.
Nevertheless, the Marechal d'Ancre and his adher-
ents affected to treat the warlike demonstrations of the
adverse party with contempt, and assured Marie de
Medicis that all the efforts of the Prince must prove
abortive while the King possessed a strong army and
able generals to oppose the forces of the malcontents ;
and, in support of his assertion, the Dues de Guise and
d'Epernon alike offered their services to her Majesty.
In the former, however, Marie dared not confide ; his
near relative, the Due de Mayenne, being the ally of
Conde, while De Guise himself was the avowed enemy
of Concini. Of M. d'Epernon's sincerity she felt
more assured ; but she was aware that she could not
bestow upon him the command of the royal army
without exciting the jealousy of Guise, and thus open-
ing up a new source of difficulty. Desirous of pro-
ceeding to Guienne without further delay, the Queen
consequently urged her advisers to suggest some other
individual to whom so serious a responsibility might
be entrusted ; and after considerable deliberation the
Due d'Epernon, the Chancellor, and his son the Chev-
alier de Sillery proposed to the Marechal d'Ancre that
he should become a candidate for the command, offer-
ing at the same time to exert all their influence with
the Queen to ensure his success. *
Blinded by vanity, Concini, who was a soldier only
* Vie du Due d 1 Epernon, book iii.
Marie De Medicis 265
in name, did not fail to listen with greedy ears to this
unexpected proposition ; and while his seeming friends
were speculating upon his ruin, and calculating that
during his absence they should have time to impress
upon Marie de Medicis that, by the sacrifice of her
favourite, she might reconcile the disaffected Princes,
Concini himself foresaw that the increase of influence
which so important a command could not fail to se-
cure to him must tend to diminish that of the Due
d'Epernon, whose overthrow had been for some time
his greatest wish. Moreover, by quartering his troops
in the neighbourhood of M. de Conde, an opportunity
would present itself of effecting his reconciliation with
that Prince, which he ardently desired ; and this end
accomplished, he flattered himself with the hope that
his vision of becoming first minister of France could
not fail to be realised.
Unfortunately, however, for the ambitious Italian, it
was not long ere D'Epernon and Sillery recognised the
error into which they had been led by their eagerness
to injure him. They suddenly remembered that Con-
cini had already once joined the faction of the Princes,
and they were aware that the Due de Bouillon had
made more than one subsequent effort to induce him to
abandon the royal cause; and they were no sooner
convinced of the fault which they had committed, than
they hastened to represent to the Queen that the ap-
pointment of the Marechal d'Ancre to the command
of the King's armies had caused great dissatisfaction
throughout the capital ; the citizens affirming that the
troops of a sovereign of France ought not to be led
against the enemy by a man who was ignorant of the
266 The Life of
art of war, and who was, moreover, a foreigner, de-
tested by the people to an extent which rendered it
probable that, should Concini be invested with the
command, they would open the gates of Paris to M.
de Conde, in the event of his marching upon the city.
Marie de Medicis yielded to these reasons, and simply
replied by reminding Sillery that if she had committed
an error in accepting the proposal of the Mare dial
d'Ancre, she had done so at his own instigation ; but
that as he considered it desirable to appoint some other
individual to the command, she would offer no oppo-
sition. Concini was accordingly superseded, and the
veteran Marechal de Bois-Dauphin was selected as his
successor, with the title of lieutenant-general. * In-
dignant at the disappointment to which he had been
subjected, Concini left Paris, and proceeded to his
government at Amiens, vowing vengeance against the
Due d'Epernon and Sillery.
The impatience of the Queen to conclude the double
alliance with Spain was so great that she disregarded
the advice of Jeannin and Villeroy ; who, in conjunc-
tion with Concini and his wife, had endeavoured to in-
duce her to delay her departure for Guienne, and to
proceed either to Laon or St. Quentin, in order to
secure the Isle of France and Picardy, and to prevent
the Prince de Conde and his adherents from concentra-
ting their forces in the vicinity of the capital ; while,
on the contrary, she was urged by the Chancellor and his
brother, the Commandeur de Sillery, who was her first-
equerry and gentleman-usher, to carry out her original
* Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 439, 440. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 98, 99.
D'Estrees, Mem. p. 408.
Marie De Medicis 267
design. The i/th of August had been already fixed
for the commencement of the royal journey; and
Marie eagerly availed herself of their advice to persist
in her purpose ; contenting herself with giving orders
to the Marechal de Bois-Dauphin to cover Paris, to
impede the approach of the dissaffected forces, and, at
all risks, to avoid coming to an engagement. She
then withdrew from the Bastille eight hundred thou-
sand crowns for the purpose of defraying the expenses
of the Court during its progress.
Despite the absence of the Princes, the royal retinue
was magnificent and numerous. The troops by whom
the august travellers were attended consisted of a thou-
sand horsemen, and the royal bodyguard amounted
to three thousand men, who were placed under
the command of the Due de Guise, who was also to
accompany Madame Elisabeth to the frontier of the
kingdom, and to receive the Infanta, whom he was to
conduct to the capital of Guienne, where their
Majesties were to await her. The King left Paris soon
after dawn ; the Queen followed some hours subse-
quently, having previously caused the arrest of M. Le
Jay,* in order to intimidate the Parliament; and
finally, in the course of the afternoon, Madame took
leave of the municipal authorities, and departed in her
turn. The Marquise d'Ancre having in vain en-
deavoured to dissuade her royal foster-sister from this
journey, became so thoroughly dispirited by the dis-
* Nicolas Le Jay, Baron de Tilly, etc., Keeper of the Seals, and
First President of the Parliament of Paris. He rendered important
service both to Henri IV., and Louis XIII., and acquired great
celebrity as a learned scholar and an upright minister. He died in
1640.
268 The Life of
appointment of her husband, and the evident decline
of her own influence, that she resolved to excuse her-
self from accompanying the Court, and to remain in
the capital ; a project from which she was, however,
dissuaded by MM. de Villeroy and Jeannin, who repre-
sented to her the impolicy of incurring the displeasure
of her Majesty, and thus insuring her own ruin. She
was consequently induced to join the royal suite, but
she did so with a heavy heart, and without one hope
of resuming her original empire over the mind of
Marie.
The Court reached Orleans on the 2Oth of August,
and Tours on the 3<Dth, whence their Majesties pro-
ceeded to Poitiers, at which city they arrived on the
9th of September; but the anxieties of Marie de
Medicis were not yet to terminate. Madame was at-
tacked a day or two subsequently with smallpox,
while the Queen herself was confined to her bed by a
severe illness, which compelled the constant attendance
of Madame d'Ancre in her sick-room, where, by her
affectionate assiduity, she soon succeeded in recovering
the good graces of her royal mistress. She had
secured to her interests a Jewish physician, in whose
astrological talent Marie de Medicis placed the most
implicit confidence ; and eager to revenge her husband
upon Sillery, who, as she was well aware, had been the
cause of his losing the coveted command, she in-
structed this man, whom the Queen had hastened to
consult, to persuade the credulous invalid that she had
been bewitched by the Chevalier de Sillery. Strange
as it may appear, Leonora was perfectly successful ;
and believing herself to have been the victim of the
Marie De Medicis 269
Chancellor and his party, Marie entered earnestly into
the views of her favourite, consenting to withdraw her
confidence from Sillery, and to follow thenceforward
the counsels of Villeroy and Jeannin.*
The delay consequent upon the recovery of the
Queen and her daughter enabled the Prince de Conde
to strengthen his party, and to advance towards Paris,
with an army of five thousand infantry and two thou-
sand horse. His troops were, however, badly armed,
and might at once have been beaten or dispersed by
the Mare dial de Bois-Dauphin, had that general
marched against them ; but, fettered by the stringent
orders which he had received not to give battle to the
enemy, he remained inactive ; and the Due de Bouillon
profited by his inertness to seize Chateau Thierry,
whence he marched to Mere-sur-Seine.
Meanwhile M. de Conde ascertained that the King
had issued on the loth of September a proclamation
of lese-majeste against himself and his adherents ; to
which he replied by another, wherein he affirmed that
he had taken up arms for the sole purpose of prevent-
ing a foreign invasion. He then crossed the Seine,
with the intention of possessing himself of the town
of Sens ; a project in which he, however, failed, Bois-
Dauphin and his adjutant-general, the Marquis de
Praslin, having already garrisoned the place. f
The two armies were at this period in such close
juxtaposition that an engagement appeared inevitable ;
but whether it were that Bois-Dauphin was deficient in
ability, or that he had resolved, whatever might be the
* Richelieu, Mem. book vi. pp. 268-272.
f Matthieu, Hist, des Dernier s Troubles, p. 550.
270 The Life of
result of his inaction, to obey implicitly the instruc-
tions of the Queen, he vacated Sens after a few slight
skirmishes. Be the real cause of his supineness what
it might, it excited the indignation of Bassompierre,
Praslin, the Marquis de Cceuvres, and the other leaders
of the royal army, who did not scruple to accuse him
of incapacity; declaring, moreover, that he had
harassed the troops far more than if he had led them
into action.*
On the arrival of the Court at Angouleme the
Queen was agreeably surprised by the appearance of
the Comte de Saint- Pol,f who, she had been led to be-
lieve, had joined the faction of Conde with his nephew
the Due de Longueville ; and her exultation was in-
creased when, with assurances of his fidelity to the
Crown, he placed under her orders the two fortresses
of Fronsac and Caumont. J
Profiting by the retreat of the Marechal de Bois-
Dauphin, the Due de Bouillon had made all haste to
pass the Loire, and to reach the confines of Touraine
and Poitou ; nor would it have been possible for their
Majesties to have reached Bordeaux in safety, had it
not been for the secession of the Comte de Saint-Pol
from the faction of the Princes, together with the im-
possibility of marching the rebel troops upon Poitou
in so short a space of time. Thanks to this combina-
tion of circumstances, however, the Court arrived
* Fontenay-Mareuil, Mem. pp. 290-298.
| Henri, Due de la Ferte de Senectere, Comte de Saint-Pol et de
Chateauneuf, Vicomte de Lestrange et de Cheylard, Baron de Bou-
logne et de Privas, Seigneur de Saint-Marsal, de Ligny, de Dangu,
de Precy, etc.
J Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 348.
Marie De Medicis 271
without accident in the capital of Guienne on the 7th
of October; where the King and his august mother
were received with great magnificence, and enthusiastic-
ally welcomed by all classes of the citizens, whom the
Marechal de Roquelaure, lieutenant-general for the
King in Guienne, and Mayor of Bordeaux, had adroitly
gained, by his representations of the honour conferred
upon them by the sovereign in selecting their city as
the scene of his own marriage and that of his sister,
the future Queen of Spain.*
It had been arranged that the royal marriages should
be celebrated on the same day (the i8th of October),
at Bordeaux and Burgos; and accordingly the Due
de Guise, as proxy for the Prince of Spain, espoused
Madame Elisabeth, with whom, accompanied by the
Duchesse de Nevers and the ladies of her household,
he immediately departed for the frontier, after a pain-
ful leave-taking between the young Princess and her
family; while the Duque d'Ussedat performed the
same ceremony for Louis XIII., with the Infanta Anna
Maria of Austria. The exchange of the two Princesses
took place on the Qth of November, in the middle of
the Bidassoa, with a host of petty and futile observ-
ances which excite mirth rather than admiration ; but
at the same time with a magnificence surpassing all
that had ever previously been exhibited on such an
occasion ; the two Courts of France and Spain vying
with each other in splendour and profusion. De
Luynes, to whom such a mission appeared peculiarly
adapted, presented to the Infanta the letters of wel-
* Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 101, 102. Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 464.
| The Duque d'Usseda was the son of the Duque de Lerma.
272 The Life of
come with which he had been entrusted by Louis
XIII. and his mother, and which were received by the
Princess with an undisguised delight that the favourite
did not fail to report to his royal master.
The guard with which the Due de Guise had con-
ducted Madame Elisabeth to the frontier consisted of
fifteen hundred horse, four thousand infantry, and four
pieces of ordnance ; and it was with the same troops
that he escorted the newly made Queen of France to
Bordeaux, who, previously to her departure from
Burgos, had signed a formal renunciation, written en-
tirely by her own hand, of all her claims to the Span-
ish succession.* On her arrival at Bordeaux on the
2 1st of November, the young Queen was received
with all the splendour of which the circumstances were
susceptible, and the marriage ceremony was immedi-
ately repeated by the Bishop of Saintes ; after which,
on the I /th of December, the Court, under the escort
of a strong body of troops, left the capital of Guienne
for Tours, which latter city they did not, however,
reach for five weeks, owing to the long halts that they
were compelled to make in the several towns through
which they passed, where every species of entertain-
ment had been prepared for the reception of the
august travellers. Meanwhile the army suffered fear-
fully from exposure to the cold, from sickness, and
from want of provisions and forage ; numbers of the
men died, and the progress of the royal party conse-
quently resembled a disastrous retreat rather than a
triumphant procession.
In addition to this misfortune the Queen-mother
*Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 351.
Marie De Medicis 273
had other and still more serious motives for anxiety.
Although her personal ambition had been gratified by
the accomplishment of that close alliance with Spain
which she had so long and so earnestly desired, she
could not conceal from herself that as regarded the
nation over which she had been called to govern, the
irretrievable step thus taken was one of extreme im-
policy. On every side she was surrounded by diffi-
culties. The first Prince of the Blood, and nearly the
whole of the high nobility, were not only disaffected,
but actually in arms against the Crown. The Protes-
tants, to whom she had repeatedly promised that she
would observe the Edict of Nantes, incensed by her
breach of faith, had revolted against her authority ;
her troops had failed to offer any effective resistance ;
and meanwhile foreign soldiers had traversed Cham-
pagne, and advanced into Berry to join Conde, with-
out any impediment from the royal army. The in-
telligence that she received from Paris was equally
alarming ; scarcely a day passed in which pamphlets
and pasquinades of the grossest description were not
published and circulated among the population, assign-
ing the most foul and degrading motives for her
journey to Guienne under the protection of the Dues
d'Epernon and de Guise ; while her anxiety for the
Spanish alliance was represented as arising from her
desire to conciliate those who were accused of being
the assassins of her husband.
Angered as she was by these insults, Marie de
Medicis still pined to return to the capital. She was
wearied alike by the exacting and arrogant temper of
M. d'Epernon, and by the monotony of the provincial
274 The Life of
cities, where she saw herself surrounded only by alder-
men and citizens with whom she had no feeling or
habit in common ; and as the several individuals of her
circle were equally ill at ease in so novel a position,
far from allaying her impatience, they aggravated the
ennui which she did not attempt to disguise, until she
eventually brought herself to attach all the blame of
her own disappointment and mortification upon those
who had advised her to leave the capital; and to
evince the greatest eagerness to follow the counsels of
their adversaries.*
The Court left Bordeaux at the close of the year
1615 ; and in the month of January following pro-
ceeded to take up its abode at Tours, there to await the
close of a negotiation into which the Queen-mother
had entered with the Princes ; while at the same time
her agents secretly exerted all their efforts to induce
the allies of M. de Conde to abandon his cause. The
command of the troops was taken from the Marechal
de Bois-Dauphin and conferred upon the Due de
Guise, with the title of lieutenant-general of the King's
army ; and an immediate attempt was made to gain
over the Due de Mayenne and the Marechal de
Bouillon, as being the most influential of the revolted
nobles. James I. offered to Marie de Medicis his serv-
ices as a mediator on the occasion ; they were grate-
fully accepted, and the English Ambassador was forth-
with despatched to the Prince de Conde at St. Jean-
d'Angely, with instructions to avert, by every argument
in his power, the horrors of a civil war. Convinced
that no better opportunity could possibly occur for
* Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 352-354.
Marie De Medicis 275
securing to himself and his party the advantageous
conditions which he coveted, Conde received the royal
envoy with great courtesy, declaring that he had acted
throughout the whole affair solely in the interests of
his country, and that he was ready to write respect-
fully to his Britannic Majesty, to offer to him the same
assurance.
His proposal was accepted ; the letter was forthwith
prepared ; and the Baron de Thianges was entrusted
with its delivery into the hands of the English mon-
arch. A reply was returned by the same messenger ;
and finally a conference was decided on, which was to
take place at Loudun on the loth of February.*
While preparations were making for this important
event, the Queen-mother, on the 29th of January,
summoned the nobles of her Court to her apartment,
in order to discuss the necessary measures to be
adopted for securing the allegiance of the disaffected
Princes ; and on this occasion she nearly lost her life
by a singular accident. The young Comte de Sois-
sons, the Dues de Guise and d'Epernon, Bassompierre,
Jeannin, and many others who held office about the
Court or in the Government were scarcely assembled
when the flooring of the room gave way, and twenty-
eight persons were precipitated into the hall beneath.
The armchair of Marie herself had fortunately been
placed above a beam which held firm, and to which
the President Jeannin resolutely clung, thus breaking
his fall ; but MM. de Soissons, d'Epernon, de Bassom-
pierre, de Villeroy, and several others were less fortu-
* Mercure Franfais, 1615. De Rohan, Mem. book i. Mezeray,
vol. xi. pp. 105, 1 06.
276 The Life of
nate, and all were more or less gravely injured. With
great presence of mind the Queen retained her seat ;
and with the help of the Due de Guise ultimately con-
trived to reach her bed, over which she passed, and
thus escaped into an adjoining apartment ; and mean-
while the unfortunate victims of the accident were
conveyed to their respective residences, where her
Majesty caused them to be immediately visited by one
of the officers of her household, who was commissioned
to inquire into their condition, and to express her
regret at the event.
There was one exception, however, to this royal act
of sympathy and consideration, and that one was the
Due d'Epernon ; who, although the greatest sufferer
on the occasion, was entirely overlooked ; a marked
and threatening want of courtesy on the part of the
Queen-mother, which convinced the arrogant courtier
that his period of favour was past, and that his ene-
mies had triumphed. This conviction at once de-
termined him to retire voluntarily from the Court
before he should be compelled to do so by an order
which he felt satisfied would not be long delayed ;
and he was accordingly no sooner sufficiently recov-
ered to leave his bed than he waited upon their
Majesties to take leave, alleging that his shattered
health having received so violent a shock, he felt it
necessary to withdraw for a time from all participation
in public affairs, and to endeavour by perfect repose
to overcome the effects of his accident.
His reasons were graciously accepted both by the
King and Queen, who assured him of their deep sorrow
at his sufferings, and expressed the most flattering
Marie De Medicis 277
wishes for his recovery ; but the Queen-mother ut-
tered no word either of regret or sympathy. With
the most chilling indifference she returned his parting
salutation ; and M. d'Epernon quitted her apartment
with a demeanour almost as haughty as her own.*
Marie de Medicis, who possessed the most implicit
confidence in the so-called science of astrology, and
who was always anxious to penetrate the mystery of
the future, having been informed on her return to
Paris that a certain Giorgio Luminelli, a native of
Ragusa who was celebrated as a soothsayer, had re-
cently arrived in the capital, and taken up his abode in
the Place Royale, immediately expressed a wish to
consult him ; for which purpose she despatched a mes-
senger to his residence, by whom he was invited to
wait upon a person of high rank who, attracted by his
renown, was desirous of testing his skill. To this
somewhat imperious summons Luminelli, however,
simply replied by declaring that he never quitted his
own apartments for any one, whatever might be the
station of the person who required his services ; but
that those who sought his aid were at liberty to visit
him whenever they saw fit to do so. This answer
only increased the eagerness of the Queen-mother ;
nevertheless, previously to seeking him in person, she
requested M. de Crequy, the Due de la Force, Bas-
sompierre, and Rambure to go to his house in disguise,
in order to ascertain whether he were indeed worthy
of the reputation by which he had been preceded.
While they were making the necessary arrange-
* Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 498, 499. Vie dii Due d'Epernon, book
vii. Mercure Franfais, 1616. Bassompierre, Mint. p. no.
278 The Life of
merits, and deciding to exchange dresses with their
confidential valets in the hope of being enabled to
mystify the necromancer, to whom they were entirely
unknown, the Marechal d'Ancre arrived to pay his
respects to his royal mistress ; and, upon being made
acquainted with the project, he determined to join the
party in the character of a Venetian noble, of whom
there were at that moment several residing in Paris.
On the completion of their preparations the merry
masquers set forth, and soon reached the abode of
Luminelli ; where, on their arrival, they found a serv-
ant stationed at the door, as if awaiting the advent of
expected guests, who no sooner saw them pause beside
him than, addressing Concini and the disguised serv-
ing-men, he politely requested them to follow him ;
coupling the invitation with an assurance that his
master had desired him to watch for the arrival of five
great nobles who were about to consult his art. La-
vallee, the lackey of M. de Bassompierre, assuming an
air of importance, expressed both for himself and his
companions their sense of this attention ; and then,
somewhat startled by the coincidence, for as such they
simply considered it, the whole party followed their
guide upstairs.
On reaching the apartment of the astrologer the
four disguised courtiers remained respectfully upon the
threshold, while their unliveried representatives ad-
vanced to the middle of the room ; and courteously
saluting their host, informed him that they had been
induced by his great renown to solicit a display of his
skill, and to claim from him a knowledge of their
future fortunes. Lavallee was once more their spokes-
Marie De Medicis 279
man ; and the eyes of Luminelli remained fixed upon
him until the conclusion of his address, when he
turned away abruptly, without vouchsafing any reply,
and drew back a curtain behind which was placed a
large globe of polished steel. He looked earnestly
upon this for a few moments ; and then rising, he put
on a cap of dark velvet which lay beside him, took
Lavallee by the hand, and approaching Bassompierre
placed his valet a few paces behind him, saying as he
did so :
" Monseigneur, why should you thus have assumed
a disguise ? You are already a great noble, but your
fortunes have not yet reached their acme. You will
one day be Marechal de France, and the dignity will
be conferred upon you on the other side of the
Rhone. Beauty has great influence over you ; but
with those whom you seek to please your purse has
even more charms than your person. You will ere
long have immense success at the gaming-table, far
beyond any which you have yet achieved. You have
been engaged in a lawsuit against an unmarried
woman.* You hold one of the highest offices in the
kingdom/)- You are not by birth a Frenchman, but
a German. One of the greatest ladies in the world
will cause you considerable misfortune, J through the
medium of a red animal. You will, however, finally
* Mademoiselle d'Entragues, who had endeavoured to compel
Bassompierre to fulfil the promise of marriage which he had made
to her.
f The colonel- generalship of the Swiss Guards.
j The Princesse de Conti, whom he privately married.
The Cardinal de Richelieu, who was exasperated at his marriage,
and through whose agency Bassompierre incurred his subsequent dis-
grace and long imprisonment in the Bastille.
280 The Life of
triumph over your troubles, although the trial will be a
long and a severe one."
Luminelli then consulted his magic globe a second
time ; led the lackey of M. de Crequy to the rear of
his master ; made a profound salutation to the latter ;
and addressing him in his turn, detailed, as he had
previously done in the case of Bassompierre, all the
leading events of his past and future life. He next
went through the same ceremony with the Due de la
Force and M. de Rambure ; and ultimately he turned
towards the Marechal d'Ancre, exclaiming :
" You, Sir, are no Venetian, although you have
sought to appear such ; but it would be well for you
if you were so. As it is, if you will follow my advice,
you will leave Paris to-morrow for Venice ; for should
you long delay your departure, it will be too late to
effect it. When you arrived in France you were alike
poor and obscure, although you are now rich both in
gold and honours. Leave the country, nevertheless,
or these advantages will avail you nothing. With
few exceptions, you are detested by all classes ; and
you will find your native air of Florence more whole-
some than that of the country which you have
adopted. You possess governments, and wield the
baton of a Marechal de France, but your tenure of
these dignities is unstable ; and you will do well to
save yourself while you have yet the opportunity.
You place your reliance on the favour of a crowned
head, but that very favour shadows forth your
ruin."
As Concini stood motionless before him, the as-
trologer took him by the hand, and leading him
Marie De Medicis 281
towards the globe, by a slight touch caused it to re-
volve. As he gazed upon the polished surface of the
mysterious instrument, the colour of the Italian came
and went so rapidly that his companions believed him
to be attacked by sudden indisposition ; and deposit-
ing a heavy purse of gold upon the table, they urged
him to withdraw. Before they could effect their ob-
ject, however, Luminelli thrust the purse from him,
having previously withdrawn from it a single pistole
which he flung to his attendant. He then cast himself
back upon his chair; the heavy curtain again fell
before the globe ; and he appeared totally unconscious
of the continued presence of his visitors, whose depar-
ture was retarded for a few seconds by the utter in-
capacity of Concini to leave the room. With a power-
ful effort the Italian, however, suddenly suppressed his
emotion, although he still trembled so violently that
he was compelled to lean upon Bassompierre for sup-
port; nor did the attack, as had been anticipated,
yield to the influence of the external air, for the Mare-
chal continued throughout the entire space of two
hours wholly unable to control its violence ; while not
all the eager questioning of his companions could in-
duce him to reveal the cause of his frightful agitation ;
a fact by which they were firmly persuaded that the
astrologer had revealed to him an intimate acquaint-
ance with past events which justified his warning, or
had foreshadowed a future well calculated to arouse
alarm.* Be this as it might, it appears at least certain
that the five nobles were each and all deeply impressed
by the scene through which they had just passed, by
* Rambure, MS. Mem. vol. vi. pp. 380-386.
282
The Life of
whatever agency it might have been effected; and
that the report which they made on their return to
Marie de Medicis effectually indisposed her from
seeking any further knowledge of Giorgio Luminelli.
CHAPTER VIII
1616
Conference of Loudun Venality of the Princes Mutual Concessions
Indisposition of M. de Conde He Signs the Treaty Concini is
Insulted by a Citizen of Paris The Court Return to the Capital
Schism in the Cabal The Seals are Transferred to M. du Vair-
Disgrace of the Ministers Triumph of Concini Mangot is Ap-
pointed Secretary of State, and Barbin Minister of Finance The
Young Sovereigns Court Costumes Anne of Austria and Marie
de Medicis Puerility of Louis XIII. The Marechal de Bouillon
and the Due de Mayenne Return to Court They Seek to Ruin
Concini The Prince de Conde Effects a Reconciliation with the
Queen-mother James I. Sends an Embassy to Paris to Negotiate a
Marriage Between the Prince of Wales and the Princesse Christine
Gorgeous Reception at the Louvre Court Festivities Concini
Returns to Paris He is Abandoned by the Prince de Conde He
is Compelled to Retire His Forebodings He Endeavours to In-
duce Leonora to Leave France She Refuses Increasing Influence
of De Luynes Death of Mademoiselle d'Ancre Despair of
Concini Ambitious Projects of the Prince de Cond6 Devotion of
Sully His Advice is Disregarded Popularity of Cond6 Marie
de Medicis Resolves to Arrest Him He Disbelieves the Rumour
The Other Princes Withdraw from the Capital The King is In-
duced to Sanction the Arrest Dissimulation of Louis XIII. Ar-
rest of Conde Fearless Reply of M. du Vair The Prince is Con-
veyed to the Bastille A Batch of Marshals Noble Disinterested-
ness of Bassompierre The Dowager Princess of Cond6 Endeav-
ours to Excite the Populace to Rescue Her Son The Mob Pillage
the H6tel of the Marechal d'Ancre The Queen-mother Negotiates
with the Guises The Council of War The Seals are Transferred
283
284 The Life of
from Du Vair to Mangot Richelieu is Appointed Secretary of State
Concini Returns to Court The Marechale d'Ancre Becomes Par-
tially Insane Popular Execration of the Italian Favourites Subtle
Policy of Richelieu Threatening Attitude Assumed by the Princes.
THE famous Conference of Loudun assembled on
the 1 3th of February, 1616; but as the Prince
de Conde presented no less than thirty-one articles for
consideration, many of which required careful exami-
nation, it was mutually agreed that the truce should
be prolonged until the decision of his Majesty might
be formed. The position of the Court was, moreover,
rendered more difficult from the fact that several great
nobles, who had not hitherto openly espoused the
faction of the rebels, hastened to swell their ranks, not
with the intention of caballing against the Govern-
ment, but simply of being included in the concessions
to which it was evident that the Council would be
compelled in order to accomplish a peace. Among
others the Due de Vendome, who had so recently
solicited his pardon, and declared his intention of ad-
hering to the royal cause, was conspicuous in the ranks
of the enemy ; together with the young Due de Can-
dale, the son of D'Epernon, who had embraced the
reformed faith, the Due de Piney-Luxembourg, and
the Dowager Countess of Soissons, who withdrew
from the Court at Tours, and joined her son at Loudun.
This example, contemptible as it was, proved conta-
gious, and was followed by two of the greatest Prin-
cesses of the Blood, the Dowager Princesses of Conde
and Longueville,* to the extreme annoyance of the
* Conference of Loudun at the close of the Mem. of Philippeau de
Pontchartrain, vol. vii. p. 315.
Marie De Medicis 285
Queen-mother, who was aware of the extent of their
influence, and quite alive to its probable consequences.
Meanwhile both armies were suffering so severely
from extreme cold and scarcity of provisions, that
more than ten thousand men fell victims to exposure
and famine ; and the bodyguard of the King became
at length so much weakened that he found himself
compelled to summon the Swiss under Bassompierre
for the protection of his person.
The demands with which Conde and his partisans
opened the Conference were such as required little de-
liberation ; but as the proceedings advanced they be-
came more and more onerous ; until, finally, as the
Council had foreseen, they all resolved themselves into
questions of individual interest. The Due de Longue-
ville claimed full authority over all the fortresses in his
government of Picardy which were held by the Mare-
chal d'Ancre, and refused to accede to any terms with
the Crown until they were given up ; while the other
Princes and nobles asked either gratuities for them-
selves, or vengeance upon their enemies ; and all agreed
in claiming the payment of their troops by the royal
treasury before they would consent to lay down their
arms.*
Finally, on the 5th of May, the Conference was
closed; several of the articles presented by M. de
Conde having been conceded, others deferred, and the
remainder conditionally agreed to. In the meantime,
however, the Prince had been taken seriously ill, and
the fear that he might not survive so threatening an
attack determined the leaders of his faction to accept
* Richelieu, Mem. vol. vii. p. 287. Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 450.
286 The Life of
whatever terms the Court should decide to offer.
While the disease was at its height, the Princes and
royal commissioners assembled about his bed, where
the English Ambassador also presented himself; but,
although he had taken so active a part in the recon-
ciliation about to be effected between the Crown and
the rebel nobles, M. de Villeroy vehemently refused to
permit him to remain, declaring that upon such an
occasion it was impossible to allow a foreigner to inter-
fere between a sovereign and his subjects. This dis-
pute was followed by a second, the deputies of La
Rochelle having demanded a continuance of their as-
sembly; a demand which was opposed with such
warmth and violence that M. de Conde, unable to sup-
port the disturbance, weakened as he was by the fever
which preyed upon him, commanded instant silence ;
and desiring that a pen might be brought to him, to-
gether with the edict of pacification which had been
drawn up, he forthwith affixed his signature to the
document, declaring that those who loved him would
do the same, while such as refused to follow his exam-
ple should be compelled to do so. He then pro-
nounced a short prayer, in which he thanked God for
the cessation of hostilities, after which he desired to
be left alone ; and on the morrow preparations were
commenced for disbanding the rebel troops.*
This apparent precipitation did not, however, in-
volve any sacrifice either on the part of the Prince
himself or on that of his principal adherents, since
*Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 509. Richelieu, Mem. book vii. p. 288.
Pontchartrain, Conference de Loudttn, p. 406. Rohan, Mem. p. 134.
D'Estrees, Mem. p. 411.
Marie De Medicis 287
Richelieu has recorded that the peace for which M. de
Conde so piously uttered his thanksgiving cost Louis
XIII. upwards of six millions of livres ; * every indi-
vidual of mark having cause to feel satisfied with the
result of the Conference save the Protestants, who, as
a body, derived no benefit whatever from the treaty .f
Concini, who had remained in Paris during the ab-
sence of the Court, had meanwhile been subjected to
a mortification which, to his haughty spirit, far ex-
ceeded a more important evil. The citizens who had
continued to keep watch and ward, despite the cessa-
tion of hostilities that had taken place, persevered in
requiring that all who entered or quitted the capital
should be provided with passports ; a formality with
which the arrogant Italian considered it unnecessary to
comply ; and, accordingly, when on one occasion he
was about to proceed to his house in the faubourg at-
tended by some of the gentlemen of his suite, he had
no sooner reached the Porte de Bussy, where a shoe-
maker named Picard was on guard, than this man
compelled his carriage to stop, and demanded his pass-
port. Enraged by such a mark of disrespect, the
Marechal imperiously ordered his coachman to pro-
ceed, but this was rendered impossible by the threat-
ening attitude of the well-armed guardian of the gate.
" Rascal ! " shouted Concini, showing himself at the
door of the carriage ; " do you know who I am ? "
" Right well, Sir," was the unmoved reply ; " and
nevertheless you shall not stir a step beyond the walls
without a passport."
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fits, vol. ii. p. 14.
f Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 361.
288 The Life of
The Italian was pale with indignation, but he dared
not resent the insult, as a crowd was rapidly collecting
from whom he was aware that he could expect no
mercy; and he accordingly restrained himself suffi-
ciently to despatch a messenger for an order of egress,
which promptly arrived. His southern blood, how-
ever, beat and burnt in his veins, and he awaited only
an opportunity of revenge. A few days subsequently,
unable any longer to control his rage, he desired his
equerry to proceed to the residence of Picard with two
valets, and to repay his insolence by a sound cudgel-
ling ; an order which was so implicitly obeyed that the
unfortunate shoemaker narrowly escaped with his life ;
while a mob, attracted by the uproar, seized the two
serving-men who, confiding in the power of their
master, treated their menaces with contempt and
hanged them before the door of the house in which
they had committed the outrage. The equerry, who
had also fallen into the hands of the populace, was put
upon his trial, and it was only by means of a heavy
bribe that the discomfited Marechal, alarmed by what
had taken place, was enabled to induce Picard to
withdraw his accusation against him. *
At the close of the Conference of Loudun the
Court returned to Paris, where the reception of their
Majesties was enthusiastic, while that of Marie de
Medicis was cold and constrained, although it was well
known that M. de Conde had all but obtained the
presidency of the Council, and that the Queen-mother
had made other concessions which she had previously
repelled with considerable haughtiness at Tours ; such
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 514.
Marie De Medicis 289
as granting to the Due de Longueville the exclusive
authority in Picardy, which deprived the Marechal
d'Ancre of his cherished fortresses ; while on the other
hand, despite the advantages which they had reaped
from the weakness of the Government, the discon-
tented nobles had separated in no better spirit. The
Dues du Rohan and de Sully loudly complained that
they had been deceived by the Prince ; M. de Longue-
ville, who had vainly sought to obtain the government
of Normandy, and who was afraid to return to Picardy
until convinced that he had nothing to fear from the
resentment of the Marechal d'Ancre, considered him-
self aggrieved; and such, in short, was the general
jealousy and distrust exhibited by the lately coalesced
nobles that, with the exception of the Due de Ma-
yenne and the Marechal de Bouillon, who found them-
selves involved in one common interest that of des-
troying the influence of the Dues d'Epernon and de
Bellegarde the whole of the late cabal appeared by
mutual consent to have become inimical to each
other.*
On the arrival of the Court in Paris the seals were
taken from the Chancellor, and delivered into the
keeping of Guillaume du Vair, who was at that period
in his sixtieth year, on the pretext that so important a
charge must be oppressive to M. de Sillery at his ad-
vanced age ; a subterfuge which could not have failed
to excite the discontent of the people had they not
distrusted his cupidity as much as Marie was wearied
of his services.- Certain it is, however, that his dis-
missal occasioned no regret, and was speedily forgot-
* D'Estrees, Mlm. p. 411.
290 The Life of
ten. * Villeroy and Jeannin were the immediate
agents of his dismissal from office, as they ascribed to
him their own previous discredit at Court, and had
long been secretly labouring to repay him in kind ; but
their triumph was destined to be short-lived. Concini
had effected the disgrace of his old and hated rival the
Due d'Epernon ; and that feat accomplished, he next
resolved to rid himself of the two veteran ministers
who were the most formidable stumbling-blocks upon
his path of ambition. Aware of the distrustful nature
of the Queen-mother, whose experience had made her
suspicious of all by whom she was surrounded, he at once
decided upon his plan of action ; and it was not long
ere he induced her to believe that they had acted in
the interests of the Prince de Conde, rather than her
own, during the Conference of Loudun; while such
plausible proofs did he adduce of this assertion, that
once more Marie de Medicis consented to exclude
them from the Council.
This was the moment for which the Italian favourite
had so long sighed. From the death of Henri IV. he
had exerted all his energies to overthrow the Princes
of the Blood, and to replace the old ministers by crea-
tures of his own ; but so hopeless did the attempt ap-
pear that more than once he had despaired of ultimate
success. Now, however, he found himself pre-
eminent ; the Queen-mother, harassed and worn-out
by the cabals which were incessantly warring against
her authority, and threatening her tenure of power,
threw herself with eagerness into the hands of the ad-
venturer who owed all to her favour, and implicitly
* Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 363.
Marie De Medicis 291
followed his advice, in the hope that she might thus
escape the machinations of her enemies. Mangot,*
whose devotion to the Marechal d'Ancre was noto-
rious, was appointed Secretary of State, in which dig-
nity he replaced M. de Puisieux ; f while the adminis-
tration of finance was conferred upon M. Barbin,J al-
though Jeannin nominally retained office.
While these changes were convulsing the Cabinet,
irritating the great nobles, and exciting the apprehen-
sions of all those who desired the welfare of the nation,
the young sovereigns, whom they more immediately
concerned, were either ignorant or careless of their
consequences. The girl-Queen, surrounded by her
Spanish attendants, spent her time in the enjoyment
of the pleasures congenial to her age. According to
Madame de Motteville,|| she was strikingly handsome,
* Claude Mangot, President of the Parliament of Bordeaux, and
Assistant-Secretary of State.
f Pierre Brulart, Seigneur de Puisieux, son of Nicolas Brulart,
Seigneur de Sillery et de Puisieux en Champagne, Chancellor of
France, was Secretary of State. In 1622 he took Montpellier, and
died in 1640.
J M. Barbin was Comptroller of the Household of the Queen-
mother. " A man of little consequence," says Philippeau de Pont-
chartrain ; " but upright, and well versed in business."
Rohan, M'em. book i. Mem. de la R'egence de Marie de Medicis.
|| Francoise Bertaut, Dame de Motteville, was the daughter of
Pierre Bertaut, Gentleman in ordinary of the Bedchamber, and of
Louise Bessin de Mathonville, of the Spanish family of Saldafia. At
the age of fifteen she married Nicolas Langlois, Seigneur de Motteville,
a man already advanced in years, but with whom she lived happy until
1641, when she was left a widow with a very slender jointure. Two
years subsequently, at the age of twenty-two, ^he entered the household
of Anne of Austria, rather as a personal friend than as an official at-
tendant ; a post which she retained for many years with honour, her
sweetness of disposition and total absence of ambition causing her to
be respected by all parties. She was present at the death of her royal
mistress, who, by a bequest of ten thousand crowns, enabled her to
quit the Court, and to devote her whole attention to the revision of her
292 The Life of
but rather Austrian than Spanish in her style of
beauty, with an abundance of fair hair which she wore
in ringlets about her face. On her arrival in France
she retained the national costume ; and discarding the
tapestried chests common at the period, made use of a
pile of cushions as her seat. The Marquise de Morny
(quoted by Madame de Motteville) described her on
the occasion of her own presentation as reclining upon
this Moorish sofa in the midst of her attendants,
habited in a dress of green satin embroidered with
gold and silver, with large hanging sleeves looped to-
gether at intervals by diamond buttons ; a close ruff,
and a small cap of green velvet with a black heron-
feather.*
At once regal and elegant as such a costume must
have been, it is deplorable to contrast it with those
which she adopted in after-years, when the most
monstrous caprices were permitted at her Court ; and
when it was by no means uncommon to see women of
the highest rank, about to ride on horseback, present
themselves in the royal circle in dresses reaching only
to the knee, with their legs encased in tight pantaloons
of velvet, or even in complete haut-de-chausses ; while
the habitual attire of the sex was equally bizarre and
exaggerated. There were the vasquines or rollers
which encircled the waist and extended the folds of
the petticoats, thus giving additional smallness to the
well-known Memoirs. Intimately acquainted with Mesdames de la
Fayette and de Sevigne, she for some time maintained a constant in-
tercourse with both ; but on the termination of her self-imposed task
she retired to the convent of Ste. Marie de Chaillot, where she died on
the 2Qth of December, 1689.
* Motteville, Mem., edition Petitot, vol. i. pp. 336, 337.
Marie De Medicis 293
waist; the brassards-a-chevrons or metallic braces for
expanding the sleeves ; and the affiquet of pearls or
diamonds coquettishly attached to the left breast, and
entitled the assassin. Added to those absurdities
there were, moreover, bows of ribbon, each of which
had its appropriate name and position ; the galant was
placed on the summit of the head ; the mignon on the
heart ; the favori under and near the assassin ; and
the badin on the handle of the fan. Short curls upon
the temples were designated cavaliers ; ringlets were
garcons ; while a hundred other inanities of the same
description compelled the great ladies of the period to
adopt a slang which was perfectly unintelligible to all
save the initiated ; and when we add to these details
the well-authenticated fact that the royal apartments
were fumigated with powdered tobacco (then a recent
and costly importation into France), in lieu of the per-
fumes which had previously been in use for the same
purpose, it will scarcely be denied that caprice rather
than taste dictated the habits of the Court under
Louis XIII.
To revert, however, to the earlier years of Anne of
Austria it would appear that the troubles of the royal
bride did not await her womanhood. Like Marie de
Medicis, she clung to all which appeared to link her to
her distant home, and caused her to forget for a time
that it was hers no longer ; and under this impulse it
was by no means surprising that she attached herself
with girlish affection to the individuals by whom she
had been followed in her splendid exile ; but even as
her predecessor had been compelled to forego the
society of her native attendants, so was Anne of
294 The Life of
Austria in her turn deprived of the solace of their
presence. With the exception of Dona Estefania, her
first waiting-woman, to whom she was tenderly at-
tached, and who had been about her person from her
infancy, all were dismissed by Marie de Medicis, who,
anxious to retain her authority over the wife of her
son, dreaded the influence of Anne's Spanish followers.
Nor was this her only disappointment. We have
already shown with what eagerness she looked forward
to her first meeting with her intended bridegroom,
whose grave but manly beauty so fully realised all her
hopes that, as she ingeniously confessed, she could
have loved him tenderly had he possessed a heart to
bestow upon her in return. But she soon discovered
that such was not the case ; and that Louis XIII. saw
in her nothing more interesting than a Princess who
was worthy by her rank and quality to share with him
the throne of France.
This was a sad discovery for a lovely girl of fifteen
years of age, who had anticipated nothing less than
devotion on the part of a young husband by whom
she had been so eagerly met on her arrival ; nor did
she fail to contrast his coldness with the ill-disguised
admiration of many of his great nobles, and to weep
over the wreck of her fondest and fairest visions. But,
young and high-spirited, she struggled against the
isolation of soul to which she was condemned ; and
probably resented with more bitterness the coercion to
which she was subjected by the iron rule of her royal
mother-in-law than even the coldness of the husband to
whom she had been prepared to give up her whole heart.*
* Motteville, Mem. vol. i. p. 337.
Marie De Medicis 295
Louis, on his side, although the sovereign of a great
nation, was also exposed to privations ; merely phys-
ical, it is true, but still sufficiently irritating to increase
his natural moroseness and discontent. While the
Marechal d'Ancre displayed at Court a profusion and
splendour which amounted to insolence, the young
King was frequently without the means of indulging
the mere caprices common to his age ; but although
he murmured, and even at times appeared to resent
the neglect with which he was treated, he easily con-
soled himself amid the puerile sports in which he
frittered away his existence ; and attended by De
Luynes and his brothers, found constant occupation in
waging war against small birds, and in training their
captors. In such pursuits he was moreover encour-
aged by the Queen-mother and her favourites ; who,
anxious to retain their power, did not make any effort
to awaken him to a sense of what he owed to himself
and to the kingdom over which he had been called
upon to rule. The only occasions upon which he ap-
peared to feel the slightest pleasure in the society of
his beautiful young wife was when he engaged her to
share in his rides and hawking-parties, in order to
excite her admiration of his skill, an admiration of
which Anne was lavish, as she trusted by flattering his
vanity to awaken his affection ; while she moreover
enjoyed, with all the zest of girlhood, so agreeable an
escape from the etiquette and formalities of a Court life.
The treaty of Loudun was no sooner concluded
than the revolted nobles separated, each dissatisfied
with the other, and all murmuring at the insufficiency
of the recompense by which their several concessions
296 The Life of
had been met. The Prince de Conde, on his conva-
lescence, withdrew to Berry, which government had
been given to him in exchange for that of Guienne ;
Sully retired to Poitou, and the Due de Rohan re-
turned to La Rochelle ; while of all the lately disaf-
fected leaders the Marechal de Bouillon and the Due
de Mayenne alone proceeded to Court, in order to
claim the immunities promised in requital of their
secession from the interests of the Prince de Conde.
The King and the two Queens were residing at the
Louvre on their arrival, where they had every reason
to be satisfied with their reception ; and the Marechal
d'Ancre, who, terrified by the undisguised hostility of
the Parisians, had not ventured to accompany his
royal mistress, no sooner ascertained the return of the
two nobles to the capital than he hastened to make
them the most brilliant offers in the event of their
consenting to espouse his interests. Neither the
Marechal nor the Duke were, however, disposed to
second his views, and only profited by his advances to
swell the ranks of his enemies. This was a task of
comparatively slight difficulty, as all classes in the
kingdom considered themselves aggrieved by his un-
paralleled prosperity ; and thus, ere long, the Due de
Guise was prevailed upon to join the new cabal, into
which it was only further deemed necessary to enlist
M. de Conde. Bouillon, who possessed great influ-
ence over the Prince, exerted himself strenuously to
prevent his return to Court, in order to increase his
own consequence in the estimation of the Queen-
mother ; but his efforts proved ineffectual, as M. de
Conde believed it to be more compatible with his own
Marie De Medicis 297
interests to effect a reconciliation with the Crown ;
and, acting upon this impression, he pledged himself
to support Concini, on condition that he should be
appointed chief of the Council of Finance, and take a
share in the government. His proposal was accepted,
and to the great annoyance of M. de Bouillon, the
Prince once more appeared at Court. His reception
by the citizens was, however, so enthusiastic that
Marie de Medicis became alarmed, until she was
assured by Richelieu, then the open and zealous ally
of the Marechal d'Ancre, that the King had nothing
to fear from a popularity which would only tend to
render M. de Conde a more efficient ally ; an assur-
ance which afforded so much gratification to the
Queen-mother, that she repaid it by appointing the
Bishop of Lucon Almoner to the young Queen, and
shortly afterwards Councillor of State.*
Ten days subsequently to the return of M. de Conde
to Paris a new embassy arrived from James I., to renew
the negotiation of marriage between the Prince of
Wales and Madame Christine de France, upon which
occasion the Court of Louis XIII. displayed all its
magnificence, without, however, eclipsing that of the
English nobles to whom the embassy had been en-
trusted. The hotel of the late Queen Marguerite was
prepared for their reception, where they were visited
by all the great nobles and foreign ministers ; and
finally, on the following Sunday, they were received in
state at the Louvre. Lord Hay (afterwards Earl of
Carlisle) was the accredited ambassador ; while Mr.
Rich (subsequently Lord Holland), Goring, and other
* M6zeray, vol. xi. pp. in, 1 12. Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 365.
298 The Life of
individuals of mark contributed to increase the splen-
dour and importance of his mission.
Nothing could be more sumptuous than the spec-
tacle which was presented by the Louvre upon this
occasion. The halls and galleries were alike thronged
by all that was noble and beautiful at the Court of
France. Princes of the Blood, nobles, marshals, and
prelates were mingled with the great ladies of the
household in their state dresses, rustling in silks, vel-
vets, and cloth of gold and silver, and glittering with
diamonds. Amid this galaxy of magnificence the
Queen-mother shone conspicuous. Still remarkable
for her stately beauty and dignified deportment, she
had left no means untried to enhance their effect, and
she had been eminently successful. She was attired in
a long robe of amaranth velvet, of which the wide and
open sleeves were slashed with white satin, and looped
together by large pearls, save at the wrists and elbows,
where they were fastened by immense brilliants. Her
ruff of rich Alencon lace rose half a foot in height at
the back of her neck, whence it decreased in breadth
until it reached her bosom, which was considerably ex-
posed, according to the fashion of the period. A
coronet of diamonds surmounted her elaborately curled
hair, which was drawn back, so as to exhibit in its full
dimensions her broad and lofty brow; and the most
costly jewels were scattered over her whole attire,
which gave back their many-coloured lights at every
movement of her person.
The Prince de Joinville, the Dues de Guise and
d'Elbceuf, the Marquises de Rosny and de Crequy, and
M. de Bassompierre, accompanied by a numerous train
Marie De Medicis 299
of nobles, escorted the English envoys to the palace ;
while more than fifty thousand persons crowded the
streets through which the glittering train was com-
pelled to pass.
During the following week Paris was the scene of
perpetual gaiety and splendour. All the Princes and
great nobles vied with each other in the magnificence
of the balls, banquets, and other entertainments which
were given in honour of their distinguished guests.*
Presents of considerable value were exchanged; and
the British Ambassador had every reason to an-
ticipate the favourable termination of his mission ; but
subsequent circumstances compelled him to abstain
from seeking a definite reply. |
The arrival of M. de Conde in Paris, and the pledge
given by that Prince to support him with his influence,
determined Concini once more to hazard his own return
to the capital under the escort of Bassompierre ; but he
found the popular irritation still so great against him,
that when he visited the Prince he was accompanied by
a suite of a hundred horse. His reception by his new
ally was, moreover, less cordial than he had hoped ;
for Conde had already begun to regret his promise, and
to feel apprehensive that by upholding the interests of
the Italian favourite he should lose his own popularity.
He also believed that the amount of power which he
had at length succeeded in securing must render him
independent of such a coalition ; and he resolved to
seize the earliest opportunity of impressing upon Con-
cini the unpalatable fact.
* Matthieu, Hist, des Derniers Troubles t book iii. p. 577.
f Bassompierre, Mini. pp. 113, 114.
300 The Life of
This opportunity soon presented itself. On the I4th
of August the Prince gave a banquet to the English
envoy, which was attended by all the principal nobility
of the Court, but from which the Marechal d'Ancre
had been excluded. While the guests were still at
table, however, Concini, on the pretext of paying his
respects to Lord Hay, entered the banqueting-hall, at-
tended by thirty of those gentlemen of his household
whom he arrogantly called his conios di mille franchi*
He had no sooner seated himself than Mayenne,
Bouillon, and others of the cabal which had been
formed against him proposed that so favourable an op-
portunity should not be lost of taking his life, and
thus ridding the country of the incubus by which it
had so long been oppressed in the person of an inso-
lent foreigner ; but the project was no sooner com-
municated to M. de Conde than he imperatively for-
bade all violence beneath his own roof. Meanwhile
Concini, although he did not fail to perceive by what
was taking place about him that he had placed him-
self in jeopardy by thus braving his enemies, never-
theless maintained the most perfect self-possession,
and was suffered to depart in safety. On the follow-
ing morning, however, he received a communication
from the Prince, who, after assuring him that he had
experienced great difficulty in restraining the Princes
and nobles into whose presence he had forced him-
self on the preceding day from executing summary
* The Marechal d'Ancre had formed a large establishment by en-
gaging in his service a number of impoverished French nobles, whose
necessities had induced them to accept a thousand livres a year, and to
submit to the insults which were heaped upon them by their low-born
patron.
Marie De Medicis 301
justice upon him in order to avenge their several
wrongs ; and that they had, moreover, threatened to
abandon his own cause should he persist in according
his protection to an individual whom they were re-
solved to pursue even to the death, concluded by de-
claring that it would thenceforward be impossible for
him to maintain the pledge which he had given, and
advising him to lose no time in retiring to Nor-
mandy, of which province he was lieutenant-general.*
Although exasperated by the bad faith of M. de
Conde, Concini was nevertheless compelled to follow
this interested suggestion ; but, before he left the field
open to his enemies, he resolved to strike a parting
blow; and he had accordingly no sooner dismissed
the messenger of the Prince than he proceeded to the
Louvre, where, while taking leave of the Queen-
mother, he eagerly impressed upon her that she was
alike deceived by Conde and trifled with by Bouillon,
and that all the members of their faction were agreed
to divest her of her authority ; an attempt of which
the result could only be averted by the seizure of their
persons. f
It is probable, however, that, even despite the
avowed abandonment of the Prince de Conde, Con-
cini might have hesitated to quit his post had not the
affair of Picard convinced him that his prosperity had
reached its climax. Even the Queen-mother, indig-
nant as she expressed herself at the insult to which he
had been subjected, betrayed no inclination to resent
* Bassompierre, M6m. p. 114. D'Estrees, Mini. p. 413. Riche-
lieu, Hist, de la Mtrc et du Fits, vol. ii. p. 57.
f Rohan, Mem. p. 141.
3O2 The Life of
it; and so entire was his conviction that his over-
throw was at hand, that there can be no doubt but
that thenceforward he began seriously to meditate a
return to his own country.*
Nearly at the moment in which the Marechal
d'Ancre was thus unexpectedly compelled to leave
Paris, his untiring enemy the Due de Longueville
made himself master of the three towns of Peronne,
Roye, and Montdidier in Picardy, which, by the
Treaty of Loudun, had been secured to Concini.
Publicly the Princes blamed this violation of the
treaty, and exhorted the Duke to relinquish his con-
quests ; but being in reality delighted that places of
this importance, and, moreover, so immediately in the
neighbourhood of the capital, should be in the posses-
sion of one of their own allies, they privately sent
him both men and money to enable him to retain
them. |
Meanwhile Marie de Medicis made no effort to
compel the restitution of the captured towns ; the
insult to which Concini had been subjected by Picard
remained unavenged, and the Italian could no longer
conceal from himself that he had outlived his fortunes.
It is scarcely doubtful, moreover, that, with the
superstition common to the period, the prediction of
Luminelli had pressed heavily upon his mind ; as
from that period he became anxious to abandon the
French Court, and to retire with his enormous wealth
to his native city. It was in vain, however, that he
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 514.
f Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 371, 372. D'Estr6es, Mhn. p. 412. Bas-
sompierre, M'em. p. 114. MSzeray, vol. xi. pp. 113, 114.
Marie De Medicis 303
sought to inspire Leonora with the same desire ; in
vain that he represented the prudence of taking the
initiative while there was yet time; the foster-sister
of Marie de Medicis peremptorily refused to leave
Paris, alleging that it would be cowardly to abandon
her royal mistress at a period when she was threat-
ened alike by the ambition of the Prince de Conde
and the enmity of De Luynes, whose power over the
mind of the young sovereign was rapidly making
itself felt.
At this precise moment a new and grave misfortune
tended to augment the eagerness of the Marechal
d'Ancre to carry out his project. His daughter,
through whose medium he had looked to form an
alliance with some powerful family, and thus to fortify
his own position, was taken dangerously ill, and in a
few days breathed her last. His anguish was ungov-
ernable ; and while his wife wept in silence beside the
body of her dead child, he, on the contrary, aban-
doned himself to the most vehement exclamations,
strangely mingling his expressions of fear for his
future fate with regret for the loss which he had thus
sustained.
" Signore," he replied vehemently to Bassompierre,
who vainly attempted to console him, " I am lost ; Sig-
nore, I am ruined ; Signore, I am miserable. I regret
my daughter, and shall do so while I live ; but I could
support this affliction did I not see before me the
utter ruin of myself, my wife, my son, and my whole
house, in the obstinacy of Leonora. Were you not
aware of my whole history I should perhaps be less
frank, but you know that when I arrived in France,
304 The Life of
far from owning a single sou, my debts amounted to
eight hundred crowns ; now we possess more than a
million in money, with landed property and houses in
France, three hundred thousand crowns at Florence,
and a similar sum in Rome. I do not speak of the
fortune accumulated by my wife ; but surely we may
be satisfied to exist for the remainder of our lives
upon the proceeds of our past favour. Had you not
been well informed as to my previous life I might seek
to disguise it from you, but you cannot have forgotten
that you saw me at Florence steeped in debauchery,
frequently in prison, more than once in exile, gener-
ally without resources, and continually lost in disorder
and excess. Here, on the contrary, I have acquired
alike honour, wealth, and favour, and I would fain
disappoint my enemies by leaving the country without
disgrace; but the Marechale is impracticable; and
were it not that I should be guilty of ingratitude in
separating my fortunes from those of a woman to
whom I owe all that I possess, I would forthwith leave
the country and secure my own safety and that of my
son." *
The allusion made by Concini to the growing am-
bition of the Prince de Conde was unfortunately not
destitute of foundation ; and suspicions were rapidly
gaining ground that he meditated nothing less than a
transfer of the crown of France to his own brow, on
the pretext that the marriage of Henri IV. with the
Tuscan Princess was invalid, his former wife being
still alive, and his hand, moreover, solemnly pledged
to the Marquise de Verneuil. On more than one
* Bassompierre, Mem. pp. 121, 122.
Marie De Medicis 305
occasion, when he had feasted his friends, their glasses
had been emptied amid cries of Barre a bas ; a toast
which was interpreted as intended to signify the sup-
pression of the bar-sinister which the shield of Conde
bore between its three fleurs-de-lis. * Neither Sully,
who had recently returned to Court, nor the Due de
Guise could be induced to join in so criminal a fac-
tion ; and the former had no sooner been informed
of the dangerous position of the King than, dissatis-
fied as he was with the treatment which he had per-
sonally received, he demanded an audience of the
young sovereign and his mother, in order to warn
them of their peril. In vain, however, did Marie,
touched by this proof of loyal devotedness, urge him
to suggest a remedy.
" I am no longer in office, Madame," he replied
proudly ; " and you have your chosen counsellors
about you. I have done my duty, and leave it to
others to do theirs."
He then made his parting obeisance, and had al-
ready reached the door of the apartment, leaving the
Queen-mother in a state of agitation and alarm which
she made no effort to disguise, when, suddenly pausing
upon the threshold, he once more turned towards her,
saying impressively :
" Sire, and you, Madame, I beg your Majesties to
reflect upon what I have said ; my conscience is now
at rest. Would to God that you were in the midst of
twelve hundred horse ; I can see no other alternative."
And without awaiting any reply, he then withdrew.f
* Richelieu, M'em. book vii. p. 333. Fontenay-Mareuil, pp. 338-358.
f Richelieu, Mem. book vii. p. 326.
306 The Life of
The advice of the veteran minister appeared, how-
ever, to the friends of the Queen-mother too danger-
ous to be followed. France had so recently been de-
livered from the horrors of a civil war that it was
deemed inexpedient to provoke its renewal by any
hostile demonstration on the part of the Crown;
while, moreover, the popularity of Conde was so no-
torious that no doubt could be entertained of his suc-
cess should the ultima ratio regum be adopted. His
influence was alike powerful with all classes ; the peo-
ple were unanimous in his cause; the Princes and
great nobles were his zealous adherents ; and since
his entrance into the Council as its president, not con-
tent with dividing his authority with the Queen-
mother, he had gradually absorbed it in his own per-
son. His hotel was crowded by those who formerly
thronged the apartments of the Louvre ; all who had
demands to make, or remonstrances to offer, addressed
themselves to him only ; and thus he had become too
dangerous an enemy to be lightly opposed. *
Under these circumstances it appeared impossible
to proceed openly against him, while it was equally
essential to deliver the Crown from so formidable an
adversary ; his arrest offered the only opportunity of
effecting so desirable a result, but even to accomplish
this with safety was by no means easy. In his own
house he was surrounded by friends and adherents
who would have rendered such an attempt useless ;
and after mature deliberation it was accordingly agreed
that he must be made prisoner in the Louvre.
Under a specious pretext the Swiss Guards were
* Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 374.
Marie De Medicis 307
detained in the great court of the palace ; the Mar-
quis de Themines * undertook to demand the sword
of the Prince, and to secure his person, volunteering
at the same time to procure the assistance of his two
sons, and seven or eight nobles upon whose fidelity he
could rely; arms were introduced into one of the
apartments of the Queen-mother in a large chest,
which was understood to contain costly stuffs from
Italy ; and a number of the youngest and most dis-
tinguished noblemen of the Court, to whom Marie ap-
pealed for support, took a solemn oath of obedience
to her behests, without inquiring into the nature of the
service to which they were thus pledged.
All being in readiness, Bassompierre was awakened
at three o'clock in the morning of the 1st of Septem-
ber by a gentleman of the Queen-mother's household,
and instructed to proceed immediately to the Louvre
in disguise. On his arrival he found Marie only half-
dressed, seated between Mangot and Barbin, and evi-
dently in a state of extraordinary agitation and ex-
citement. As he entered the apartment she said
hurriedly :
" You are welcome, Bassompierre. You do not
know why I have summoned you so early; I will
shortly explain my reason."
Then, rising from her seat, she paced to and fro
across the floor for nearly half an hour, no one ven-
turing to break in upon her reverie. Suddenly, how-
ever, she paused, and beckoning to her companions to
follow her, she entered her private closet; and the
* Ponce de Lauziere, Marquis de Themines, Senechal de Quercy,
and subsequently Marechal de France.
308 The Life of
hangings no sooner fell behind the party than, turning
once more towards him, she continued with bitter
vehemence :
" I am about to arrest the Prince, together with the
Dues de Vendome, de Mayenne, and de Bouillon.
Let the Swiss Guards be on the spot by eleven o'clock
as I proceed to the Tuileries, for should I be compelled
by the people to leave Paris, I wish them to accom-
pany me to Nantes. I have secured my jewels and
forty thousand golden crowns, and I shall take my
children with me, if which I pray God may not be
the case, and as I do not anticipate I find myself
under the necessity of leaving the capital ; for I am
resolved to submit to every sort of peril and incon-
venience rather than lose my own authority or endan-
ger that of the King." *
The final arrangements were then discussed, and
Marie de Medicis was left to her own thoughts until
the hour of eight, when M. de Themines was an-
nounced.
" Ha ! you are come at length," she exclaimed
joyfully ; " I was awaiting you with impatience. The
Council is about to open, and it is time that we were all
prepared. Can you depend on those by whom you
are accompanied ? "
" They are my sons, Madame."
" Bravely answered ! " said Marie forcing a smile, as
she extended her hand, which the Marquis raised to
his lips. " Go then, and remember that the fate of
France and of her monarch are in your keeping."
Although surrounded by devoted friends, the Queen-
* Bassompierre, Mem. p. 117.
Marie De Medicis 309
mother was agitated by a thousand conflicting emo-
tions. She was well aware that her own future ex-
istence as a Queen hung upon the success or failure of
her enterprise, as should the slightest indiscretion on
the part of any of her agents arouse the suspicions of
the Prince and induce him to leave the capital, he had
every prospect of obtaining the crown. Moreover,
MM. de Crequy and de Bassompierre, who were in
command of the French and Swiss Guards, and who
had received orders to draw up their men in order of
battle at the great gate of the Louvre immediately
that the Prince should have entered, and to arrest him
did he attempt to leave the palace, became alarmed at
the responsibility thus thrust upon them, and declined
to comply with these instructions until they had received
a warranty to that effect under the great seal ; but this
demand having been conceded, they hesitated no
longer.* All the precautions which had been taken
nevertheless failed in some degree in their effect, as
the Due de Mayenne and the Marechal de Bouillon
were apprised by their emissaries of the unusual move-
ments of the Court, and at once adopted measures of
safety. Bouillon feigned an indisposition, and refused
to leave his hotel, where, after a long interview with
the Duke, it was resolved that Conde should be
warned not to trust himself in the power of the
Queen-mother. The Prince, however, who had been
lulled into false security by the specious representa-
tions of Barbin, treated their caution with contempt,
being unable to believe that Marie would venture to
attempt any violence towards himself.
* Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 375, 376.
3io The Life of
"If there be indeed any hostile intention on the
part of the Crown," he said disdainfully, " it probably
regards M. de Bouillon, whose restless spirit excites
the alarm of the Queen-mother. Let him look to
himself, if he see fit to do so. Should he be committed
to the Bastille my interests will not suffer."
Angered by his presumption, the two friends made
no further protest, but contented themselves with re-
doubling their own precautions. Bouillon retired to
Charenton with a strong escort, while the Due de
Mayenne remained quietly in his hotel, having made
the necessary preparations for instant flight should
such a step become essential to his safety.*
Meanwhile at the Louvre nothing remained to be
done but to communicate to the young King the
project which was about to be realised, and to induce
him to sanction it by his countenance; an attempt
which offered little difficulty, the jealousy of Louis
having been excited by the assumed authority of the
Prince, and his dissimulating nature being gratified by
this first participation in a state intrigue.
At ten o'clock a great clamour upon the quay near
the gate of the palace attracted the attention of the
Queen-mother, who commanded silence, and in an-
other moment distinct cries of " Long live the Prince ! "
" Long live M. de Conde ! " were heard in the apartment.
Marie de Medicis rose from her seat and approached
an open window, followed by the Marechale d'Ancre.
" The Prince is about to open the Council," said
Leonora with a bitter smile.
* Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 541, 542. Mint, de la Regence de Marie de
Medicis.
Marie De Medicis 311
" Rather say the King of France," replied Marie
with a flushed cheek, as she saw Conde graciously re-
ceiving the petitions which were tendered to him on
all sides. " But his royalty shall be like that of the
bean ; * it shall not last long." |
When he alighted at the palace Conde proceeded to
the hall of the Council, which was on the ground
floor ; and at the termination of the sitting ascended,
as was his custom, to the apartments of the Queen-
mother, where Louis, who had entered eagerly into
the part that had been assigned to him, and who had
just distributed with his own hands the arms which
had been prepared for the followers of M. de The mines,
met him in the gallery, entered into a cheerful con-
versation, and, finally, invited him to join a hawking-
party which was to take place within an hour. Conde,
however, whose thoughts were otherwise engaged, de-
clined to participate in the offered pastime, and the
young King, having accomplished all that had been
required of him, accepted his excuses, and returned to
the apartment of his mother. At the same moment
Themines and his two sons issued from a small pass-
age, and, approaching the Prince, announced that they
had received an order to arrest him.
"Arrest me!" exclaimed Conde in astonishment.
" It is impossible ! "
" Such are my instructions," said the Marquis, as
he extended his hand to receive the forfeited sword,
* On Twelfth-Night in France a bean is introduced into the cake,
and the person selecting the slice in which it has been concealed is
elected King for the evening.
f Bassompierre, Mem. p. 117.
312 The Life of
while his two sons placed themselves on each side of
the prisoner.
" You are aware that I am the first Prince of the
Blood."
" I know, Monseigneur, the respect which is your
due," was the reply, " but I must obey the King."
" I must see their Majesties," persisted the Prince.
" It is impossible. Come, sir, suffer me to conduct
you to the apartment to which I have been directed to
escort you."
" How ! " vehemently exclaimed Conde, looking
round upon the nobles who were collected in the hall
of which he had just reached the entrance, " is there
no one here who has sufficient courage to spare me
this outrage ? You, Monsieur," he continued, address-
ing himself to Du Vair, " you at least I know to be a
man of probity. Did you counsel this violation of all
the solemn promises which have been made to me ? "
" I was not consulted upon the subject, Monsei-
gneur," replied the Keeper of the Seals ; " nor shall it
be my fault if so grievous an error be not speedily re-
deemed. The more brief the folly the better the
result."
This imprudent retort was destined to seal the dis-
grace of the upright minister without serving the
Prince, who, seeing that he had nothing to anticipate
from any demonstration on the part of the assembled
nobles, haughtily desired his captor to conduct him to
his allotted prison.* " And when you have done so,"
* Rohan, Mlm. p. 141. Fontenay-Mareuil, p. 350. D'Estres, p.
414. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 542, 543. Brienne, Mem. vol. i. pp. 315,
316.
Marie De Medicis 313
he added in a firm voice, as he swept the apartment
with an eye as bright and as steady as though he had
not stood there unarmed and a captive, " you may tell
the Queen-mother that she has anticipated me only
by three days, for had she waited beyond that time,
the King would no longer have had a crown upon his
head." *
The Prince was then conducted by a back staircase
to an upper chamber strongly barred, where he re-
mained guarded by M. de Themines until he was con-
veyed to the Bastille.
The exultation of Marie de Medicis was at its
height. She embraced her son as fervently as though
by the imprudence of which she had just been guilty
she had ensured the security of his throne, and re-
ceived the congratulations of the courtiers with undis-
guised delight. " See, Sire," she exclaimed, as with
one hand resting upon the shoulder of the young
King she advanced to the centre of the great hall,
" here is our brave M. de Themines, to whom we are
so greatly indebted. Can you not offer him a royal
recompense ? He is not yet a Marshal of France."
" I salute you, M. le Marechal," said Louis with
regal gravity. " In an hour I will sign your
brevet."
M. de Themines bowed low, and kissed the hand of
the King.
" And I," smiled Marie de Medicis, " present you
with a hundred thousand crowns. Your elder son the
Marquis de Themines is henceforth captain of my
* Manuscript Memoirs of the Cardinal de Richelieu in the archives
of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
314 The Life of
bodyguard, and your younger the Baron de Lauziere
equerry of Monsieur."
Again the captor of M. de Conde bent low and ut-
tered his acknowledgments.
Low murmurs were heard among the nobles.
" Advance, M. de Montigny," continued Marie,
turning graciously towards an individual who had only
just reached the capital, having on his way provided
the Due de Vendome with a relay of horses in order
to facilitate his escape. " Sire, the Comte de Mon-
tigny was a faithful and devoted follower of your
father. You owe him also some mark of favour."
" M. de Montigny shall be a marshal," said Louis
XIIL, delighted with his new and unchecked exhibi-
tion of power.
" It would appear that to ask a baton is to have one
on this occasion," said M. de Saint-Geran * in a low
voice to the Marquis de Crequy ; " let us therefore
put in our claim."
" With all my heart," replied the Marquis gaily.
" The ladies do not refuse us their smiles, nor the
Queen-mother the festivities in her honour by which
we impoverish our estates ; why, therefore, should the
King deprive us of our share of the easily-won dis-
tinctions of the day ? "
So saying, the two courtiers moved a pace nearer
to Marie de Medicis, who did not fail to observe and
to comprehend the action.
* M. de Saint-Geran was an ensign of the gendarmes of the King's
bodyguard, and one of the nobles who were known by the soubriquet
of The Seventeen, among whom were the Marquis de Crequy and Bas-
sompierre. He was a devoted ally of the Due de Sully.
Marie De Medicis 315
" Happy is the monarch who sees himself surrounded
by loyal subjects and by faithful friends," pursued the
exulting Princess ; " your Majesty has not yet com-
pleted the good work so royally commenced ? "
" M. de Crequy has already a baton" said Louis,
somewhat bewildered by the new part he was called
upon to enact on so large a scale.
" But you have forgotten, Sire, that he is neither
duke nor peer."
" I salute you, M. le Due et Pair," said the young
King.
The Marquis acknowledged his new honours, and
made way for his companion.
" Our list of marshals is full, M. de Saint-Geran,"
said Louis coldly.
The disappointed courtier bowed, and was about to
retire, when Marie de Medicis met his eye, and its ex-
pression was far from satisfactory.
" MM. de Praslin and de Saint-Geran have both,
nevertheless, merited high distinction, Sire," she said
anxiously. " Your pledge for the future will suffice,
however, as they are both young enough to wait."
" Be it so, Madame," rejoined her son, who was be-
coming weary of the rapacity of his loyal subjects and
faithful friends. " Gentlemen, your services shall not
be forgotten on the next vacancy."
And thus, as Bassompierre has recorded, did M. de
Saint-Geran " extort the promise " of a baton.
" And you M. de Bassompierre," exclaimed the
Queen-mother, as in advancing up the hall their
Majesties found themselves beside him, " unlike the
others, you have put in no claim."
316 The Life of
" Madame," was the dignified reply, " it is not at
such a moment as this, when we have merely done our
duty, that we should seek for reward ; but I trust that
when by some important service I may deserve to be
remembered, the King will grant me both wealth and
honours without any claim upon my own part."
Louis hesitated for a moment, and then, with a
slight bow, passed on ; and he had no sooner entered
his private closet, still accompanied by his mother, than
a herald announced in a loud voice that a great public
council would be held on the following day at the
meeting of the Parliament.
It might well be imagined that when she retired
Marie de Medicis left grateful hearts behind her, but
such was not the case ; lavish as she had proved upon
this occasion, she was far from having satisfied those
who had assisted in the arrest of the Prince, and who
did not fail openly to express their discontent. *
During this time the Dowager- Princess of Conde had
been apprised of the arrest of her son ; and, maddened
by the intelligence, she had immediately rushed out of
her house on foot, and hurried to the Pont Neuf, cry-
ing as she went, " To arms ! To arms ! "
" It is Madame de Nemours ! " shouted the crowd
which gathered about her. " Long live Madame de
Nemours ! "
" Long live Madame de Nemours ! " echoed a voice,
which was immediately recognised as that of the shoe-
maker Picard, who had, since his insult to the Mare-
chal d'Ancre, been the idol of the mob. " Concini
* Bassompierre, Mlm. p. 118. Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 378,379.
Richelieu, Mhn. book vii. p. 335.
Marie De Medicis 317
has assassinated the first Prince of the Blood in the
Louvre ! "
Even this announcement, however, failed in the
effect which had been anticipated by the Princess,
whose object was to accomplish the rescue of her son ;
for while the respectable citizens hastened to close
their shops and to place their families in safety, the
lower orders rushed towards the hotel of the Marechal
d'Ancre in the Faubourg St. Germain. The doors
were driven in, furniture and valuables to the amount
of two hundred thousand crowns were destroyed, and
lighted torches were applied to the costly hangings of
the apartments, which soon caused the carved and
gilded woodwork to ignite ; while a portion of the
mob at the same time attacked the house of Corbinelli
his secretary ; and soon the two residences presented
only a mass of bare and blackened walls. M. de Lian-
court, the Governor of Paris, opposed his authority in
vain; he was hooted, driven back, and finally com-
pelled to retire. Couriers were despatched to the
Louvre to inform the Queen-mother of the popular
tumult, but no orders were issued in consequence ; the
counsellors of Marie de Medicis deeming it desirable
that the populace should be permitted to expend their
violence upon the property of Concini, rather than
turn their attention to the rescue of the Prince, until
the public excitement had abated.
The arrest of M. de Conde had alarmed all the lead-
ers of the late faction, who hastened to secure their
own safety. Bouillon, as we have stated, had already
reached Charenton ; and the Due de Vendome had
fled in his turn on learning that all egress from the
3i8 The Life of
Louvre was forbidden, and that the outlets of the
palace were strongly guarded. M. de Mayenne, who
had hitherto remained in the capital, awaiting the
progress of events, followed his example attended by a
strong party of his friends. The Due de Guise and
the Prince de Joinville, alarmed lest they should be in-
volved in the ruin of Conde through the machinations
of Concini, with whom they were at open feud,
hastened to Soissons, in order to join M. de Mayenne,
whither they were shortly followed by the young
Count and his mother; and, finally, the Due de
Nevers, who had indulged in a vain dream of render-
ing himself master of the Turkish empire through the
medium of the Greeks, by declaring himself to be a
descendant of the Paleologi, suddenly halted on his
way to Germany, and declared himself determined to
join the new faction of the Princes.*
These defections created a great void at the Louvre,
but the Queen-mother disdained to express her morti-
fication ; and, on the contrary, affected the most entire
confidence in the nobles who still maintained their
adherence to the Crown.
She was well aware that Conde had lost much of his
popularity by abandoning the interests of the people
at the Treaty of Loudun, and that the Protestants
similarly resented the selfishness with which he had
sacrificed their cause to his ambition ; while she had,
moreover, ascertained that the flight of the Due de
Guise and his brother had been simply induced by
misrepresentation, and that through the medium of the
females of their family they might readily be recalled.
* Richelieu, Mini* book vii. p. 335.
Marie De Medicis 319
These circumstances gave her courage ; and when, on
the morning of the 2d of September, she came to the
council of war, which was held in the Augustine
Monastery and presided over by the Marechal de
Brissac, accompanied by her two sons, she remarked
with undisguised gratification that more than two
thousand nobles were already assembled. When the
King, the Queen-mother, Monsieur, the great digni-
taries, and the ministers had taken their seats, the
doors were thrown open to all who chose to enter ;
and in a few moments the vast hall was densely
crowded. Silence was then proclaimed ; M. de Brissac
declared that the session was open, and the President
Jeannin forthwith commenced reading, in the name of
the King, the celebrated declaration explaining the
arrest of the Prince de Conde ; proclaiming him a
traitor, and, finally, promising a free pardon to all who
had aided and abetted him in his disloyal practices, on
condition of their appearing within fifteen days to
solicit the mercy of his Majesty, in default of which
concession they would be involved in the same accusa-
tion of lese-majeste.*
More than once, during the delivery of this dis-
course, many of the nobles who were attached to the
faction of the Princes gave utterance to a suppressed
murmur; but it was not until its close that they
openly and vociferously expressed their dissatisfaction.
Then, indeed the hall became a scene of confusion
and uproar which baffles all description; voice was
heard above voice ; the clang of weapons as they were
* Unpublished Mem, of Richelieu in the archives of the Foreign
Office.
320 The Life of
struck against the stone floor sounded ominously ; and
the terrified young King, after glancing anxiously to-
wards De Luynes, who returned his look by another
quite as helpless, fastened his gaze upon his mother as
if from her alone he could hope for protection. Nor
was his mute appeal made in vain, for although an ex-
pression of anxiety could be traced upon the noble
features of Marie de Medicis, they betrayed no feeling
of alarm. She was pale but calm, and her eyes
glanced over the assembly as steadily as though she
herself played no part in the drama which was enact-
ing before her. For a few moments she remained
motionless, as if absorbed in this momentous scrutiny ;
but ultimately she turned and uttered a few words in a
low voice to Bassompierre, who was standing immedi-
ately behind her; and she had no sooner done so
than, accompanied by M. de Saint-Geran, the captain
of the King's Guard, he left the hall. In an instant
afterwards both officers reappeared, followed by a
company of halberdiers, who silently took up their
position in the rear of the sovereign and his mother ;
and the Queen no sooner saw the gleam of their
lances than she caused it to be intimated to the
President Jeannin that she desired to address the
meeting.
When her purpose was communicated to the as-
sembly silence was by degrees restored ; and then the
clear, full voice of Marie de Medicis was heard to the
furthest recesses of the vast apartment.
" Nobles and gentlemen," she said with a gesture of
quiet dignity, " as Regent of France I have also a
right to speak on an occasion of this importance ; for
Marie De Medicis 321
since the death of Henry the Great, my lord and hus-
band, it is I who have constantly borne the burthen
of the Crown. You know, one and all, how many
obstacles I have had to oppose, how many intrigues
to frustrate, how many dangers to overcome. An
intestine war throughout the kingdom; disaffection
alike in Paris and in the provinces ; and amid all these
struggles for the national welfare, I had to combat a
still more gnawing anxiety. I had to watch over the
safety of the King my son, and that of the other
Children of France ; and never, gentlemen, for one hour,
did my dignity as a Queen cause me to forget my tender-
ness as a mother. I might have been sustained in this
daily struggle I might have found strong arms and
devoted hearts to share in my toils, and in my en-
deavours but that these have too often failed me, I
need scarcely say. Thus, then, if any among you
complain of the past, they accuse me, for the King my
son having delegated his authority to myself can have
incurred no blame, nor do I wish to transfer it to
another. Every enterprise which I have undertaken
has had the glory and prosperity of France as its sole
aim and object. If I have at times been mistaken in
my estimate of the measures calculated to ensure so
desirable a result, I have at least never persisted in my
error; I have surrounded myself with able and con-
scientious counsellors ; MM. de Villeroy and de Jeannin
were chosen by the most ancient and noble families in
the kingdom the Cardinal de la Valette and the
Bishop of Lucon-Richelieu are my advisers the
estimable Miron, Provost of Paris, in conjunction with
Barbin represent the tiers-etat while as regards the
322 The Life of
people, I have ever been careful to mete out justice to
them with an equal hand."
Marie paused for an instant, and she had no sooner
done so than loud shouts echoed through the cloistral
arches, as the crowd vociferously and almost unani-
mously responded, " You have you have. Long live
the Queen ! "
" Nor did I limit the sacred duties of my mission
here," pursued the Regent ; " I had work to do without
as well as within the kingdom ; and it has not been
neglected. I undertook and accomplished a successful
negotiation for the marriage of the King my son with
the Infanta of Spain ; our ancient rival England has
become our ally ; Germany has learnt to fear us ; and
the Princes of Italy have bowed their heads before our
triumphant banners. Have I not then, gentlemen,
consulted in all things the honour of France, and
increased her power ? Have I not compelled respect
where I have failed to secure amity ? Can you point
to one act of my authority by which the interests of
the nation have been compromised, or her character
tarnished in the eyes of foreign states? I boldly
await your answer. Thus much for our external
relations, and now I appeal to your justice ; I ask you
with equal confidence if, when within the kingdom
faction after faction was detected and suppressed, I
yielded to any sentiment of undue vengeance ? Has
not every outbreak of unprovoked disaffection rather
tended to exhibit the forbearance of the King my son
and my own ? Need I recall the concessions which
we have made to those who had sought to injure us ?
Need I ask you to remember that we have bestowed
Marie De Medicis 323
upon them governments, titles, riches, high offices
of state, and every honour which it was in our power
to confer? What more then could you require or
demand, gentlemen? And yet, when the King my
son has pardoned where he might have punished, you
have responded by seditious shouts, by wilful dis-
respect, and even by attempts against his royal per-
son ! It was time for him to exert his prerogative,
gentlemen, you have compelled him to assert his
power, and yet you murmur ! Now, with God's help,
we may hope for internal peace. France must have
lost her place among the European nations had she
been longer permitted to prey upon her own vitals.
One individual alone could have condemned her to
this self-slaughter, and we have delivered her from the
peril by committing that individual to the Bastille."
As the Queen-mother uttered these words her voice
was drowned in the universal burst of fury and vio-
lence which assailed her on all sides ; nobles, citizens,
and people alike yelled forth their discontent, but the
unquenchable spirit of Marie de Medicis did not fail
her even at this terrible moment. Rising with the
emergency, she seemed rather to ride upon the storm
than to quail beneath it ; her eyes flashed fire, a red
spot burned upon her cheek, and scorn and indignation
might be read upon every feature of her expressive
countenance. When the tumult was at its height she
rose haughtily from her seat, and striking her clenched
hand violently upon the table before her, she exclaimed
in a tone of menace : " How now, Counts and Barons !
Is it then a perpetual revolt upon which you have de-
termined ? When pardon and peace are frankly offered
324 The Life of
to you, and when both should be as welcome to all
good Frenchmen as a calm after a tempest, you reject
it ? Do you hold words less acceptable than blows ?
Do you prefer the sword to the hand of friendship ?
Be it even as you will then. If friendship does not
content you we will try the sword, for clemency ex-
erted beyond a certain limit degenerates into weak-
ness. You shall have no reason to deem your rulers
either feeble or cowardly. You have here and now
defied me, and I accept the defiance. Do you desire
to know how I respond ? It is thus. In the name of
the King my son and in my own, in the name of my
offended dignity and in the name of France, I, in my
turn, declare the most stringent and unsparing war
against rebellion, be it the work of whom it may.
Neither high blood or ancient title shall suffice to
screen a traitor ; war, war to the death, shall be hence-
forward my battle-cry against the malcontents who are
striving to decimate the nation ; and do not delude
yourselves with the belief that I shall be single-handed
in the struggle, for I will call the people to my aid,
and the people will maintain the cause of their sover-
eigns. We will try our strength at last, and the strife
will be a memorable one ; our sons shall relate it with
awe and terror to their descendants, and it will be a
tale of shame which will cleave to your names for cen-
turies to come. Ah, gentlemen, the rule of a woman
has rendered you over-bold ; and you have forgotten
that there have been women who have wielded a
sceptre of iron. Look to England is there no
sterner lesson to be learnt there ? Or think you that
Marie de Medicis fears to emulate Elisabeth ? You
Marie De Medicis 325
have mistaken both yourselves and me. My forbear-
ance has not hitherto grown out of fear ; but the lion
sometimes disdains to struggle with the tiger, not be-
cause he misdoubts his own strength, but because he
cares not to lavish it idly. I also feel my strength,
and when the fitting moment comes, it shall be put
forth. To your war-cry I will answer with my war-
cry ; to your leaders I will oppose my leaders ; and
when you shout Conde and Mayenne ! I will answer
triumphantly Louis de France and Gaston d' Orleans !
Draw the sword of rebellion if it be too restless to re-
main in the scabbard; you will not find me shrink
from the flash of steel ; and should you take the field
I will be there to meet you. Rally your chiefs ; the
array can have no terrors for me, prepared as I am to
confront you with some of the best and the bravest in
all France. Deny this if you can, you who seek to
undermine the throne, and to sacrifice the nation to
your own ambitious egotism, and I will confound you
with the names of Guise, Montmorency, Brissac, Sully,
Bassompierre, Lesdiguieres, Marillac, and Ornano ;
these, and many more of the great captains of the age,
will peal out my war-cry, and rally round the threat-
ened throne of their legitimate sovereign. My son
will be in the midst of them ; and mark me well, gen-
tlemen, the struggle shall no sooner have commenced
than every pampered adventurer who has poisoned the
ear of the monarch, and steeled his heart against his
mother, shall be crushed under her heel ; and should
he dare to raise his head, I will assign to him as his
armour-bearer the executioner of Paris."
Never before had the Regent evinced such an
326 The Life of
amount of energy ; never before had she so laid bare
the secret workings of her soul. The adherents of the
Princes trembled as they discovered with how formi-
dable an enemy they should be called thenceforward to
contend ; while the majority of the nobles who were
faithful to the royal cause, and above all those whose
names she had so proudly quoted, uttered loud accla-
mations of delight and triumph.
Bewildered by the daring of his mother, Louis once
more sought for support from his favourite, but De
Luynes was in no position to afford it. The allusion
to himself with which Marie de Medicis had concluded
her harangue was too palpable to be mistaken, and he
felt that should she maintain her purpose he was lost.
Even Richelieu, as if crushed beneath the impassioned
eloquence of the Regent, sat with drooping head and
downcast eyes; and meanwhile Marie herself, after
having glanced defiantly over the assembly, calmly re-
sumed her seat, and desired that the business of the
meeting might proceed.
Before the sitting closed it was determined that the
army should be placed upon the war footing, and that
a levy of six thousand Swiss should immediately be
made ; and this arrangement completed, the Queen-
mother proceeded to attempt by every means in her
power a reconciliation with the Guises.
For this purpose she despatched four nobles in whom
she could confide to Soissons, to negotiate with the
Princes, nor was it long ere they ascertained that indi.
vidual jealousy had tended to create considerable dis-
union among them ; and that each appeared ready,
should any plausible pretext present itself, to abandon
Marie De Medicis 327
the others. Under these circumstances it was not dif-
ficult to convince the Due de Guise and his brother
that no hostile design had ever been entertained against
them, and to induce them to admit their regret at the
hasty step which they had taken, together with their
anxiety to redeem it. The Due de Longueville was
equally ready to effect his reconciliation with the Court ;
and having arranged with the royal envoys the terms
upon which they consented to return, they were sever-
ally declared innocent of all connivance with the re-
bellious Princes. The Due de Nevers, however, re-
fused to listen to any compromise with the Crown ;
and, in defiance of the royal command, continued his
endeavours to possess himself of the fortresses of
Champagne, which were not comprised in his govern-
ment*
The persevering disaffection of M. de Nevers occa-
sioned the disgrace of Du Vair, who betrayed an indis-
position to proceed against him which so irritated
Marie de Medics that she induced the King to deprive
him of the seals, and to bestow them upon Mangot,
making Richelieu Secretary of State in his place ; that
wily prelate having already, by his great talent and
ready expedients, rendered himself almost indispens-
able to his royal patroness.
The arrest of the Prince de Conde had restored the
self-confidence of Concini, who shortly afterwards re-
turned to court and resumed his position with an
arrogance and pretension more undisguised than ever.
The Marechale, however, had never recovered from
the successive shocks to which she had been subjected
* Richelieu, Mini, book vii. p. 359.
328 The Life of
by the death of her child and the destruction of her
house ; but had fallen into a state of discouragement
and melancholy which threatened her reason.* For
days she shut herself up in her apartments, refusing to
receive the most intimate of her friends, and complain-
ing that she was bewitched by those who looked at
her.| Her domestic misery was, moreover, embittered
by the public hatred, of which, in conjunction with her
husband, she had become more than ever the object.
It would appear that the injury already inflicted upon
the Italian favourites had stimulated rather than satiated
the detestation of the people for both of them. Every
grievance under which the lower orders groaned was
attributed to the influence of Concini and his wife ;
they were accused of inciting the Queen-mother to the
acts of profusion by which the nation was impover-
ished ; while every disappointment, misfortune, or act
of oppression was traced to the same cause. Many
affected to believe that Marie was the victim of sorcery,
and that such was the real source of the influence
of Leonora ; and thus the heart-broken mother and
unhappy wife, whose morbid imagination had caused
her to consider her trials as the result of magical arts,
was herself accused of having employed them against
her royal benef actress. J
The nomination of Richelieu as Secretary of State
had been effected through the influence of Concini,
who in vain endeavoured to persuade him to resign
the bishopric of Lucon, as incompatible with his new
* Unpublished Mtm. of Richelieu.
| Richelieu, M2m. book vii. p. 368. Fontenay-Mareuil, p. 361.
J Fontenay-Mareuil, book iii. p. 369.
Marie De Medicis 329
duties. The astute prelate had more extended views
than those of his patron ; nor was it long ere he suc-
ceeded in arousing the jealousy of the Marechal, and
in convincing him, when too late, that he had, while
endeavouring to further his own fortunes, only raised
up a more dangerous and potent enemy than any to
whom he had hitherto been opposed. Richelieu had
no sooner joined the ministry than he made advances
to the ancient allies of Henri IV., whom he regarded as
the true friends of France ; and for the purpose of con-
ciliating those whose support he deemed most essential
to the welfare of the kingdom, he hastened to despatch
ambassadors to the Courts of England, Holland, and
Germany, who were instructed to explain to the
several monarchs to whom they were accredited the
reasons which had induced Louis XIII. to arrest the
Prince de Conde, and to assure them that the measures
adopted by the French Court were not induced, as had
been falsely represented, by any desire to conciliate
either Rome or Spain. To this assurance he subjoined
a rapid synopsis of the means employed by the Queen-
mother to ensure the peace of the kingdom, and the
efforts made by the Prince to disturb it ; and, finally,
he recapitulated the numerous alliances which had taken
place between the royal families of France and Spain
during several centuries as an explanation of the close
friendship which existed between the two countries.*
Meanwhile considerable difficulty was experienced
in the equipment of the army which had been raised.
The royal treasury was exhausted, and in several prov-
inces the revolted nobles had possessed themselves of
* Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 387, 388.
330
The Life of
the public monies ; financial edicts were issued which
created fresh murmurs among the citizens ; the Princes
assumed an attitude of stern and steady defiance ; and
the year 1616 closed amid apprehension, disaffection,
and mistrust.
CHAPTER IX
1617
The Royal Forces March Against the Insurgent Princes Indignities
Offered to the Young Sovereign Louis XIII. and His Favourite
Arrogance of the Marechal d'Ancre Indignation of the King
Confiscation of the Property of the Rebel Princes Household of
Louis XIII. Cabal of De Luynes Infatuation of the Marechal
d'Ancre An Evil Counsellor Marie de Medicis Resolves to With-
draw from the Government, but is Dissuaded from Her Purpose
Popular Discontent Precautions of Concini Alarm of Louis
XIII. The Due de Nevers is Declared Guilty of Use-majestt
Firmness of the Queen-Mother Insolence of Concini and Riche-
lieu Conde is Refused Permission to Justify Himself Success of the
Royal Forces Louis XIII. Consents to the Arrest of the Marechal
d'Ancre Bassompierre Warns Marie de Medicis of Her Danger
She Disregards the Warning Concini and Leonora Prepare to
Leave France Old Grievances Renewed A Diplomatic Janus
Blindness of Marie and Her Ministers A New Conspirator How
to be Made a Marshal Incaution of De Luynes Treachery of
Richelieu A Narrow Escape A Morning Mass Singular Posi-
tion of the Court Assassination of Concini Public Rejoicings
Imprisonment of the Queen-Mother Barbin is Sent to the
Bastille The Seals are Restored to Du Vair A Royal Reception
Anguish of Marie de Medicis She Demands to See the King, and
is Refused Her Isolation A Queen and Her Favourite A Mother
and Her Son Arrest of Madame d'Ancre The Crown Jewels
Political Pillage The Marechale in the Bastille.
IN the month of January the Comte d'Auvergne,
who had recently been liberated from the Bastille,
was despatched at the head of fourteen thousand men
332 The Life of
against the insurgent Princes ; and his departure was
made a pretext for depriving the young King of the
gentlemen of his household and of his bodyguard, an
insult which he deeply although silently resented. He
had been attacked in the November of the preceding
year by an indisposition which for a time had
threatened the most serious consequences, and from
whose latent effects he had not yet recovered. As
time wore on, morever, he was becoming more and
more weary of the insignificance to which he was re-
duced by the delegated authority of his mother ; and
had easily suffered himself to be persuaded by De
Luynes that her repeated offers to resign it had merely
been designed to make him feel the necessity of her
assistance. As we have already shown, Louis XIII.
derived little pleasure from the society of his young
and lovely wife ; he made no friends ; and thus he was
flung entirely into the power of his wily favourite,
who, aware that the King could hate, although he
could not love, was unremitting in his endeavours to
excite him against Marie de Medicis and her favourite.
The infatuated Concini seconded his efforts but too
well ; for, unable to bear his fortunes meekly, he paraded
his riches and his power with an insolence which
tended to justify the aversion of his enemies. On one
occasion, shortly after the dismemberment of his little
Court, the monarch of France having refused to join a
hunting-party organised by the Queen- mother, found
himself entirely deserted save by De Luynes and a
single valet; and overcome by mortification and
melancholy, he leant his head upon his hand and wept
bitterly. For some time not a sound was heard in the
Marie De Medicis 333
Louvre save the soughing of the wind through the tall
trees of the palace-garden, and the measured tread of
the sentinels, when suddenly a tumult arose in the
great court ; the trampling of horses, the voices of
men, and the clashing of weapons were blent together ;
and dashing away his tears, Louis desired his favourite
to ascertain the cause of the disturbance.
" It is the Marechal d'Ancre, Sire, who has just
alighted," said De Luynes as he approached the
window.
In a few minutes the Italian was announced, and
entered the royal apartment followed by a train of
forty gentlemen all magnificently attired. At this
spectacle Louis started from his seat ; and with a
bitter smile inquired of the arrogant Marquis his
motive for thus parading before his sovereign a state
which could only be intended as a satire upon his own
privations.
To this question the vainglorious adventurer replied
in a tone of affected sympathy and patronage which
festered in the heart of the young King ; assuring him
that his followers were at his own cost, and not at that
of the state; and concluding his explanation by an
offer of pecuniary aid, and a company of his regiment
of Bussy-Zamet, which he had just brought from Nor-
mandy. Justly incensed by such an insult, Louis
commanded him instantly to quit his presence ; and
he had no sooner withdrawn, followed by his glittering
retinue, than the young monarch sank back upon his
seat, and uttered the most bitter complaints of the
affront to which he had been subjected. *
* Richelieu, Unpublished MSS.
334 The Life of
" And to this, Sire/' said De Luynes, as he stood
beside his royal master " to this insult, which is but
the precursor of many others, you have been subjected
by the Queen-mother."
"I will revenge myself!" exclaimed Louis with a
sudden assumption of dignity.
" And how ? " demanded the favourite emphatically.
" You are called a King, but where are your great
nobles? where are the officers of your household?
where are your barons ? So many princes, so many
powers. France has no longer a King."
" And my people ? " shouted the excited youth.
" You have no people. You are a mere puppet in
the hands of an ambitious woman and an unprincipled
adventurer."
" A puppet ! " echoed Louis haughtily. " Do I not
wear the crown of France ? "
" So did Charles IX.," was the unmoved reply ; " yet
he died to make way for Henri III. Concini and his
wife, Sire, come from the same country as Catherine
de Medicis. Isabeau de Baviere was a mother, yet she
preferred her lover to her son." *
" Enough, enough, Sir," said Louis, clutching the
hilt of his sword ; " I will hear no more, lest it should
make me mad ! "
De Luynes bowed in silence ; he knew that the
poisonous seed was sown, and he was content to wait
until it should germinate.
The pecuniary difficulties of the kingdom exercised
no influence over the festivities of the Court; balls,
banquets, and comedies took place in rapid succession ;
* Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 134.
Marie De Medicis 335
and the young Queen danced in a ballet which was
the admiration of all the spectators ; an example which
was followed by the nobles of the royal household. *
Still, however, it was necessary to recruit the national
treasury; and, accordingly, on the loth of March a
declaration was published by which the King con-
fiscated all the property of the disaffected Princes, and
made it forfeit to the Crown ; while at the same time
three separate bodies of troops attacked the rebels with
complete success, and the royal arms were everywhere
triumphant, when intelligence was forwarded to their
leaders from the capital which induced an immediate
cessation of hostilities, f
We have seen the effect of the insolence of Concini,
and the insidious inferences of De Luynes, upon the
mind of the young King, who had only six months
previously been taught a lesson of dissimulation on
the occasion of the arrest of Conde ; and consequently
it can scarcely be subject of surprise that, wounded to
the heart's core, he was easily persuaded to exert in his
own cause the subtlety which he had evinced at the
bidding of another. He was now between fifteen and
sixteen years of age, and was deeply imbued by the
idea that he possessed an unlimited control alike over
the properties, the liberty, the honour, and the lives of
his subjects ; but he was still utterly incapable of ful-
filling his duties as a sovereign. His conceptions of
right and wrong were confused and unstable ; and he
willingly listened to the advice of those whose counsels
flattered his selfishness and his resentment. De Luynes
* Bassompierre, Mem. p. 123.
f Bassompierre, Mint. p. 126. D'Estrees, Ment. p. 418.
336 The Life of
had skilfully availed himself of this weakness ; and as
he was all-powerful with his suspicious and saturnine
master, who saw in every one by whom he was ap-
proached either an enemy to be opposed, or a spy to
be deceived, he was careful to introduce to him none
save individuals whose insignificance rendered them in-
capable of interfering with his own interests, and who
might be dismissed without comment or danger when-
ever he should deem their absence desirable. Against
this arrangement neither the Queen-mother nor her
ministers entered any protest. Louis truly was, as his
favourite had so insolently asserted, a mere puppet in
their hands ; and the consequence of this undignified
neglect was fatal to the intellectual progress of the
young sovereign. On the pretext of requiring assist-
ance in training the royal falcons, De Luynes had
presented to Louis two young nobles, MM. du Tron-
con and de Marcillac, men of good birth, but who had
become dishonoured by their own vices ; the former
being accused of having betrayed his master, and the
latter his sisters in order to enrich himself; * facts of
which the favourite was, however, careful that the
King should remain ignorant.
In addition to these disreputable adventurers, De
Luynes also introduced to the intimacy of his royal
patron Deageant, f the principal clerk of Barbin,
whom he had won over by promises of aggrandise-
ment should he succeed in effecting the disgrace of
* Richelieu, M'em. book viii. p. 411.
f Deageant was a man of considerable talent, but crafty and am-
bitious; his whole career was one of deceit and truckling. After
numerous vicissitudes he was committed to the Bastille, where he be-
guiled the weariness of captivity by composing his Memoirs.
Marie De Medicis 337
Concini, which, as a natural consequence, must also
involve that of his master ; and, finally, a private sol-
dier, and one of the gardeners of the palace. All these
persons were instructed to excite the suspicions of the
King against his mother and her ministers, a task in
which it was by no means difficult to succeed ; partic-
ularly when the treacherous Deageant had placed in
his hands a number of forged letters, wherein Barbin,
at the pretended instigation of Concini, was supposed
to entertain a design against his life, in order not only
to prolong the authority of the Queen-mother, but
also to ensure the crown to her second and favourite
son, Gaston d'Orleans.*
Skilfully as De Luynes conducted this affair, and
despite the natural dissimulation of Louis XIII., the re-
iterated assertions and cautions of his familiar associ-
ates did not fail to produce an involuntary effect upon
his manner and deportment which aroused the sus-
picions of the Italian ; who, with an infatuation almost
incredible, instead of endeavouring to conciliate the
young King, and to render himself less obnoxious to
the people, resolved to make all bow before him, and
to break the stubborn spirits that he failed to bend.
In this desperate and insane policy he was, moreover,
seconded by the counsels of Barbin, whose impetuous
temper and anxiety to secure his own safety alike
urged him to support any measure which promised to
maintain the government in the hands of Marie de
Medicis and her favourite, in whose ruin he could not
fail to be involved. So intemperately, indeed, did he
*S5smondi, vol. xxii. pp. 391, 392. Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 583-
Richelieu, Unpublished MSS.
338 The Life of
pursue his purpose, that even Marie herself became
alarmed ; her most faithful adherents were absent with
the army, while she had daily evidence of the activity
of her enemies ; and more than once at this period she
declared her determination to withdraw from all par-
ticipation in state affairs, and to resign her delegated
authority, in order that her son might rule as he saw
fit. From this purpose she was, however, constantly
dissuaded by Barbin. " Madame," he said on one
occasion when the Queen-mother appeared more than
ever resolved to follow out her determination, " if you
once abandon the administration of government you
will cut the throats of your children. Should you
cease to rule they will be utterly lost." *
No wonder that her tenderness as a mother, joined
to her ambition as a Queen, induced Marie de Medicis
to yield to the representations of one of her most
trusted counsellors, even while the cloud was deepening
around her. As the great nobles murmured at the in-
solence and tyranny of the audacious Italian, their
murmurs were echoed by the curses of the people ;
and in every murmur and in every curse the name of
the Queen-mother was coupled with that of Concini
and his wife. Even the Marechal himself at length
betrayed tokens of alarm ; he never ventured to trav-
erse the streets of Paris without a numerous retinue,
and even so attended he cowered beneath the mena-
cing looks and gestures which he encountered on all
sides. Again and again he urged Leonora to leave
France ; but he urged in vain ; and finally he resolved
to take measures for securing a safe retreat in his
* Siri, Mint. Rec. vol. iv. pp. 29-31. Mercure Fran fats, 1617.
Marie De Medicis 339
government of Normandy, should he be compelled to
escape from the capital. As a preliminary and im-
portant step towards the accomplishment of this pur-
pose, he caused the fortifications of Quilleboeuf to be
put into a state of perfect repair, and endeavoured to
purchase the governments of several other places upon
the Loire and the Seine ; which, had he been enabled
to carry out his object, could not have failed to render
him independent of the royal authority. He also
lavished large sums on every side, in order to secure
partisans ; and so excited the apprehensions of the citi-
zens that bitter complaints were made, and threats
uttered against himself, his royal mistress, and the new
ministiy.
All these, many of which had been fomented by
themselves, were faithfully reported by De Luynes and
his agents to the young King, to whom they pointed
out the probability of a general insurrection.
" What is to be done ? " exclaimed Louis on one
occasion ; " the Marechal d'Ancre has, as it would
seem, undertaken the ruin of my kingdom, and yet I
dare not expostulate with my mother, for I cannot en-
counter her rage."
This puerile avowal decided the measures of the
confederates ; and ere long they succeeded in convin-
cing the King that it would be quite possible to ac-
complish the overthrow of Concini without exposing
himself to the anger which he dreaded.
On the 1 7th of January a royal declaration was con-
firmed by the Parliament against the Due de Nevers,
who, although not yet in open revolt, was condemned
as guilty of rebellion and lese-majeste; and this pre-
340 The Life of
mature act of severity caused general discontent
throughout the capital. In vain did his sister the
Dowager Duchess of Longueville and Bentivoglio the
Papal Nuncio endeavour to effect his reconciliation
with the Court. At the instigation of Richelieu, Con-
cini, and Barbin, Marie de Medicis imperiously refused
to revoke the sentence.
" The period of forbearance is gone by," she said
coldly in reply to the persevering representations of
the prelate. " Indulgence has proved ineffectual
hitherto ; and it has consequently become imperative
upon the King to adopt more rigorous measures.
These gentlemen are enacting the petty sovereigns in
their respective governments, but I shall take steps to
repress their insolence. Things have now been pushed
to extremity ; and we must either crush these rebel-
lious and restless spirits, or permit the royal authority
to be wrested from the sovereign."
Still, aware of the fatal consequences which must re-
sult from the uncompromising condemnation of one of
the first Princes in the land, Bentivoglio would not be
discouraged ; and on retiring from the presence of the
Queen-mother he reiterated his expostulations to Con-
cini and Richelieu. With them, however, the zealous
Nuncio achieved no better success.
" His Majesty," said the Italian Marshal haughtily,
" will ere long possess an army of eighty thousand in-
fantry and four thousand horse ; the Comte de Schom-
berg * has received an order to import experienced
* Henri de Schomberg was the representative of an ancient family
of Meissen established in France. He succeeded his father, Gaspard
de Schomberg, in the government of La Marche, and in 1617 served
in Piedmont. He was also one of the generals of Louis XIII. , in 1621
Marie De Medicis 341
troops from Germany ; and I have determined to raise
five thousand men at my own cost ; being resolved to
teach the French people how all the faithful servants
of the Crown should feel it their duty to act on such
an emergency."*
The new Secretary of State followed in the track of
his patron, and with equal explicitness : " The King,
Monseigneur/' he replied to the appeal of the Nuncio,
" is resolved to be the ruler of his own nation ; and his
Majesty trusts, moreover, that should the Due de
Nevers and the other Princes openly take up arms,
the Pope will excommunicate them as rebels to their
sovereign." f
In addition to the discontent created among the
people by this ill-judged pertinacity on the part of
Marie and her Government, a new cause of disaffection
was elicited by the harshness with which the Queen-
mother refused to comply with the demand made by
and 1622, and in 1625 was created Marshal of France. He distin-
guished himself by defeating the English in the battle of the Isle de
Rhe in 1627, and in forcing the defile of Susa in 1629. In the fol-
lowing year he took Pignerol. He was then despatched to Langue-
doc against the rebels, and in 1632 gained the battle of Castelnaudary,
at which the Due de Montmorency was made prisoner. For this vic-
tory he was invested with the government of Languedoc. He died in
l6 33-
* In his History of the Parliament of Paris, Voltaire, whose party-
spirit was ever too ready to betray his judgment, and to obscure his
genius, has not hesitated, in allusion to the arrogant boast of the Ital-
ian adventurer, to express himself thus : " This Concini, at this very
time, performed an action which merited a statue. Enriched by the
liberality of Marie de Medicis, he raised at his own expense an army
of between five and six thousand men against the rebels; he supported
France as though she had been his native country." It is impossible
to dwell upon the career of Concini, and not be startled by so extraor-
dinary an encomium.
\ Mercure Franfais, 1617. Siri, Mem, Rec. vol. iv. pp. 27-35.
34 2 The Life of
the two Princesses of Conde, that the Prince should
either be released from the Bastille, or put upon his
trial, in order that he might prove his innocence of the
crime of which he was accused. Compliance with this
request would have placed Marie and her ministers in
a position of such difficulty and danger that it was,
moreover, refused with an abruptness which not only
betrayed their alarm, but which also tended still
further to aggravate the irritation of his friends ; and
thus at a moment when the interests of the young
King required that none but conciliatory measures
should be adopted, the. reckless ambition of a few
individuals threatened to shake the very foundations
of his throne, and to reduce the nation to a state of
anarchy and convulsion.
The time was ripe for the project of De Luynes.
The royal forces were everywhere victorious against
the insurgent nobles ; and Concini openly attributed to
his own counsels a success which promised to make
him all-powerful at Court.
" You see, Sire," said the favourite, " that this arro-
gant Italian, not content with insulting your royal
person, also claims the merit due to your brave army,
and to your faithful generals. Will you continue to
suffer this presumption to degrade you in the eyes of
your people, and to undermine your authority over
your barons ? Take the reins of government into your
own hands, and prove that you are a worthy descend-
ant of St. Louis. Reform the Government, and you
will soon restore tranquillity to France ; but do not
any longer submit to see a base-born foreigner openly
play the sovereign at your very Court."
Marie De Medicis 343
" Show me the means of doing this," was the sullen
reply ; " I am as anxious as yourself to escape my
present state of slavery. Devise some sure method of
ridding me of the thrall to which I have been so long
condemned, and I will second your designs as earnestly
as you can decide them."
" You have but to assert yourself, Sire, and to exert
your authority."
" Were I to do so," retorted Louis, " I should only
incur the hatred and ill-offices of my mother, for I
should forthwith visit my vengeance upon her favour-
ite ; but we have had brawls enough in France, and I
am weary of all these conflicting murmurs. Induce the
Marechal and his wife to quit the country ; let them
carry away all their wealth, and even bribe them by
new gifts should it be necessary. Impoverished as she
is, France will still be able to find a few thousand
crowns with which to purchase their departure."
Although this extraordinary leniency by no means
fulfilled the wishes of De Luynes, he dared not venture
further at the moment ; and he accordingly induced
the Bishop of Carcassonne to propose to the Queen-
mother that she should herself suggest the return of
Concini and Leonora to Italy. A year or two
previously Marie de Medicis would have repelled such
a proposition with anger and impatience, but she had
begun to feel that her own authority had been invaded
by the Marechal ; and she consented to act upon the
advice of the prelate.
Heart-stricken by misfortune, the Marechale listened
without one expostulation to the order of her royal
foster-sister ; her ambition had long been crushed, and
344 The Life of
she pined for rest. Aware, moreover, that by obeying
the wishes of the Queen-mother she should also fulfil
those of her husband, she promised immediate com-
pliance with the will of Marie, and forthwith com-
menced the necessary preparations.
This unqualified acquiescence in the pleasure of the
Queen did not, however, satisfy the views of De
Luynes, who could not brook that the immense wealth
of the Marechal d'Ancre should pass into other hands
than his own ; and he consequently laboured to impress
upon the King that the apparent obedience of Concini
was a mere subterfuge, as he publicly boasted that
France contained not a single individual who would
dare to attempt anything to his prejudice.
" Convince him to the contrary, Sire," said one of
his confidential friends to the young monarch. " De-
clare to the Queen-mother your determination to be
governed no longer in your own kingdom, although
you are still willing to be guided by her advice ; and
then command the instant departure of her dissimula-
ting favourites. Do this, and you will not fail to be
obeyed."
u Be not misled, Sire," said De Luynes in his turn,
when this officious but well-meaning counsellor had
withdrawn ; " your Majesty will not be obeyed so readily
as many would lead you to anticipate. Concini is too
rapacious willingly to leave the country while there
remains one jewel to be filched from your royal
crown ; and he is too ambitious to abandon without a
struggle the factitious power which he has been per-
mitted to exert." *
* Deageant, M'em. pp. 38-44.
Marie De Medicis 345
" What is to be done then, if the Italian refuses to
quit France? I am in no position to compel his
obedience, nor am I inclined to issuej an order which I
cannot enforce."
" Sire," said De Luynes approaching the monarch,
the querulousness of whose manner warned him that
unless he caused him to fear for his personal safety
Louis would rather retire from the struggle than brave
the anger of his mother, of whom he even now stood
as much in awe as he had done during his childhood,
" I see that the moment is at length come in which I
must peril my own security in order to ensure that of
your Majesty. You have no longer an alternative if
you desire to escape the machinations of the Marechal
d'Ancre. I have sure information that an attempt is
about to be made to seize your person, and to take
you out of the country."
" You rave, De Luynes ! " exclaimed Louis, whose
cheeks blanched at this unexpected announcement.
" Would that I did, Sire," was the reply ; " but
should you not adopt immediate measures for circum-
venting the traitor whom I have denounced to you at
the hazard of my own life, you will find that I have
only too much foundation for the assertion that I have
made."
" In that case," vehemently retorted the young
King, grasping the hilt of his sword, " it is indeed
time that France should recognise her legitimate ruler,
and that her monarch won his golden spurs. I will
leave Paris, and place myself at the head of my army."
" Concini will then remain in undisputed possession
of the capital," remarked De Luynes coldly.
346 The Life of
"What is my alternative, Albert?" demanded
Louis, utterly discouraged. " Name it, and I will no
sooner have become in fact as well as name the
sovereign of France than you shall receive the baton
of a marshal."
" Commit M. d'Ancre to the Bastille, Sire. It is
difficult to conspire within the gates of that fortress."
" Where shall I find an individual hardy enough to
undertake such an enterprise ? "
" I will present him to your Majesty within an hour,
Sire."
" So be it, M. le Marechal," said Louis as he turned
away. " My mother had the courage to provide a
lodging for the first Prince of the Blood in the same
prison, and I do not see why I should shrink from
compelling him to share his dungeon with the husband
of Leonora Galiga'i."
While this plot was forming in the closet of the
young King, Marie de Medicis was warned on her
side that should she not adopt the most stringent
measures to counteract the intrigues of De Luynes,
she would soon lose all her authority over the mind
of her son, who had latterly betrayed increased im-
patience of her control; and who was evidently de-
sirous to emancipate himself from the thraldom to
which he had hitherto so patiently submitted. Bas-
sompierre among others, with his usual frankness,
replied to his royal mistress, when she urged him to
declare his sentiments upon the subject : " You have
been well advised, Madame; you do not sufficiently
consider your own interests ; and one of these days
the King will be taken from beneath your wing. His
Marie De Medicis 347
adherents have commenced by exciting him against
your friends, and ere long they will excite him against
yourself. Your authority is only precarious, and must
cease whenever such may be the will of the sovereign.
He will be easily persuaded to annul it, for we know
how eagerly youth pants for power; and should his
Majesty see fit one day to remove to St. Germain,
and to command his principal officers, both French-
men and foreigners, no longer to recognise your rule,
what will be your position? Even I myself, whose
devotion to your Majesty is above suspicion, should
be compelled to take my leave, humbly entreating
your permission to obey the orders of the King.
Judge therefore, Madame, if such must inevitably be
the case with those who are deeply attached to your
royal person, what may be the bearing of the rest.
You would find yourself with your hands empty after
a long regency."
Marie, however, refused to be convinced. She had
become so habituated to the passive obedience of her
son that she could not bring herself to believe that he
would ever venture to resist her will ; and thus she re-
jected the wholesome advice of those who really de-
sired her own welfare and that of the country ; and
increased the exasperation of Louis and his followers
by lavishing upon Concini and his wife the most costly
presents, in order to reconcile them to their enforced
separation from herself.*
The profuse liberality of the Queen-mother to her
favourites sealed their death-warrant, as every increase
*Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 614-617. Deageant, Mem. pp. 43-56.
Bassompierre, Mem. pp. 123, 124.
348 The Life of
of their already almost fabulous wealth only strength-
ened the determination of De Luynes to build up his
own fortunes upon the ruin of those of his detested
enemy; but after the first burst of resolution which
we have recorded, Louis had once more relapsed into
vacillation and inertness. He still wept, but he no
longer threatened ; and it became necessary yet fur-
ther to excite his indignation and hatred of Concini,
in order to induce him to follow up the design which
he had so eagerly formed against his liberty.
Means were not wanting. The young King was re-
minded by those about him of the niggardly spirit in
which the Italian had supplied his wants during his
boyhood, after having obtained the sanction of the
Regent to regulate the expenses of his little Court.
How often he had been compelled to ask as a favour
that which was his own by right, while Concini was
himself daily risking thousands of pistoles at the
gaming-table, all of which had been drawn from the
royal treasury ! How insolently the Marechal had,
upon an occasion when he was engaged at billiards
with his Majesty, requested the royal permission to
resume his plumed cap, and had replaced it on his
head before that permission was expressed; with a
hundred other trifling but mortifying incidents which
made the blood of Louis boil in his veins, and placed
him wholly in the power of his insidious associates.*
In order to hasten the resolution of the King De
Luynes next resolved to impress upon his mind that
his former warning was about to be realised, and that
* Siri, Mini. Rec. vol. iv. pp. 26, 27. Relation de la mort du
Marechal d'Ancre, at the end of the Histoire des Favoris.
Marie De Medicis 349
ere long he would find himself a prisoner in his own
capital ; while, with a view to render this declaration
plausible, he took means to have it reported to Marie
de Medicis that Louis was about to escape from Paris,
to cast off her authority, and to form a coalition with
the insurgent Princes. In consequence of this infor-
mation the counsellors of the Queen-mother induced
her to double the guard at the Louvre, and to prevent
the King from passing the city gates, either for the
purpose of hunting, or of visiting, as he was frequently
in the habit of doing, the suburban palaces. This was
a crowning triumph for the cunning favourite, who
thus saw his royal master reduced to seek all his recre-
ation in the gardens of the Tuileries ; and he soon be-
came convinced that his project had succeeded. For
a few days Louis was too indignant to make any com-
ment upon the treatment to which he was subjected,
and he even affected to derive amusement from con-
structing miniature fortresses, bird-hunting, and other
similar pursuits ; but it was not long ere he became
disgusted with these compulsory pastimes, and wan-
dered moodily through the avenues of the gardens, com-
muning with his own thoughts, and nursing the bitter
feelings which were rapidly sapping his better impulses.
When he had thus convinced himself that the King's
powers of endurance had reached their extreme limit,
De Luynes and his confederates on one occasion
entered his chamber in the evening, but instead of sug-
gesting to the young monarch, according to their
usual habit, some method of whiling away the time
until he retired to rest, they approached him with a
melancholy and almost frightened deportment which
350 The Life of
at once aroused alike his curiosity and his apprehen-
sion. " What is the meaning of your manner, gentle-
men ? " asked Louis. " What has occurred ? "
His attendants glanced at each other, as if trusting
that some one of their number would be bold enough
to take the responsibility of a reply upon himself; but
no one spoke.
" I have asked a question, and I demand an answer,"
said Louis with a threatening frown. " Do the very
members of my household those who call themselves
my friends forget that, spite of all my trials, and all
my privations, I am still the King of France ? "
" Sire," murmured the one upon whom his eye had
rested as he spoke, " it is because we are devoted
heart and soul to your Majesty that you see us in this
mortal anxiety. In losing you we should lose every-
thing ; but since it is your command that we should
tell you all, it is our duty to obey. The citizens of
Paris are in a state of consternation. All your loyal
subjects fear for your life. Tears and sobs are to be
heard on every side. You are in the hands of Italians
of the countrymen and countrywomen of Catherine
de Medicis ; and everything is to be apprehended from
people who know so well how to work out their ends
by poison."
" Is it come to this ? " gasped the young King as he
sank back upon his chair. " Am I to die mocked as I
have lived ? A sovereign without a will, a king with-
out a throne, a monarch without a crown ? The tool
of needy adventurers and intriguing women ? the vic-
tim of treachery and murder ? " and the credulous boy
leant his head upon his hands, and wept.
Marie De Medicis 351
Before the chamber of Louis was closed that night
upon his confidential friends it was decided that the
weapon of the assassin and the axe of the executioner
should rid him of Concini and his wife ; and that his
mother should be banished from the Court.
When the King awoke on the following morning De
Luynes was already at his bedside, in order to coun-
teract by his specious arguments and gloomy prognos-
tics any less violent and criminal decision at which his
royal master might have arrived during the solitude
and silence of the night ; and ably did the tempter
perform his task. An increase of devotion and re-
spect was skilfully blended with an apparent anxiety
and alarm, which flattered the self-esteem and vanity
of Louis, at the same time that they renewed all the
terrors of the previous evening. His feeble remon-
strances were overruled; his filial misgivings were
stifled ; and the favourite at length quitted his presence
satisfied that he would not seek to retract his orders.
The advice of De Luynes was not needed when he
implored his Majesty to observe the greatest circum-
spection until the important design was carried out,
for, naturally timid and suspicious, Louis was already
an adept in dissimulation ; and the idea instantly oc-
curred to him that should Concini or Leonora once
have cause to apprehend that he meditated their de-
struction, his own life would pay the forfeit. De
Luynes, however, strange as it may appear, was less
discreet, and admitted so many persons to his confi-
dence that rumours of their peril reached the ears of
the Queen-mother and her favourites ; but, unhappily
for themselves, they despised both the King and his
352 The Life of
minion too much to attach any importance to the idea
of danger from such a quarter. Satisfied that Louis
still pursued his boyish sports, which as a measure of
precaution he had resumed apparently with greater en-
thusiasm than ever, and that he could not leave the
capital without the express permission of Marie de
Medicis herself, they considered themselves safe ; and
thus lulled into a fatal security, took no measures to
avert the impending catastrophe.*
The mind is a species of moral daguerreotype ; sur-
round it with images of order, virtue, and beauty, en-
lighten it by the sun of truth, and every object will
trace itself unerringly upon the surface, remaining en-
graven there forever ; but, on the other hand, if the
accessories be evil, it will in like manner become in-
vested with the attributes amid which it exists, and the
luminous spark will be darkened by the pernicious
atoms that have been suffered to collect about it.
Louis XIII. of France was at this moment an illus-
tration of the principle. His boyhood and his youth
had alike been familiar only with intrigue, deception,
jealousy, and falsehood. His habits were at once
saturnine and selfish ; his temper gloomy and distrust-
ful, and his feelings cold and self-centred. His youth
had already shadowed forth his manhood.
De Luynes was aware that he should experience
little difficulty in finding the man he sought, when he
assured his royal master that he knew one bold enough
to attempt the life of Concini ; his selection was indeed
already made, and he had no misgiving of a refusal.
The Baron de Vitry, captain of the bodyguard then on
* Deageant, Mem. pp. 56, 57.
Marie De Medicis 353
duty at the Louvre, and who was peculiarly obnoxious
to the Italian favourite, returned his hate so openly
that he refused to salute him as he entered and quitted
the palace, and publicly declared that no command,
come from whence it might, should ever compel him
to do so. * De Luynes no sooner felt that a man of
this determination might be useful than he sought his
friendship ; and now that the conspiracy had become
ripe, he sent to invite him to an interview, during
which he assured him that the King had great con-
fidence not only in his affection for his person, but also
in his inclination to serve him when the opportunity
should present itself; that he believed him capable of
great deeds, and that he would confide his life to him.
De Vitry was a soldier of fortune, dependent upon
his sword, and the little sentiment that he possessed
was at once awakened by so unexpected a communica-
tion. As a natural consequence, therefore, he pro-
tested his readiness to risk life and limb at the pleasure
of his Majesty ; and declared that, whatever might be
the nature of the service required of him, he would
execute it without hesitation or remonstrance.
On receiving this pledge, De Luynes, after exacting
an oath of secrecy and obedience, beckoned to his
companion to follow him ; and throwing open the door
of the royal closet, which was never closed against
him, he introduced De Vitry without further preamble
into the presence of the King.
" M. de Vitry," said Louis, when the favourite had
explained the errand of the captain of the royal guard, *'
" I thank you for your zeal, and I have faith in its sin^
* Richelieu, Mem. book viii. p. 416. ,
&
354 The Life of
cerity. The Marechal d'Ancre has conspired against
my life. He must sleep to-morrow night in the
Bastille."
" He shall be there, Sire, should the fortress still
possess a bolt to draw upon him, if it be your royal
will that I accomplish his arrest."
" M. de Vitry, you will have earned a marshal's
baton"
' Sire ! " exclaimed the soldier, dropping on his knee
before the King, " I will obey you to the death."
" I must never again be insulted by his presence,"
said Louis, fixing his eyes, which flashed for an instant
with a threatening light, full upon the upturned coun-
tenance of De Vitry. " Rise, Sir," he added as he
turned suddenly away, " I have perfect confidence in
your fidelity."
" But should he resist, Sire ? " asked the new con-
spirator, anxious not to exceed his orders.
" Kill him ! " replied De Luynes in a hoarse whisper.
" Do you not yet understand how you are to earn your
baton ? "
The two friends exchanged glances; and after a
profound bow, De Vitry withdrew from the royal
closet.
The indiscretion of De Luynes had been so great
that a rumour of the perilous position of Concini did
not fail to reach the ears of Richelieu. We have
already stated that on his arrival at Court the Bishop
of Lucon had been warmly patronised by the Italian
favourite, who openly declared that he had found a
man capable of giving a lesson a tutti barboni, *
* Brienne, Mem. vol. i. p. 300 note.
Marie De Medicis 355
thereby alluding to the ancient ministers of Henri
IV ; * and that it was moreover through his agency
that Marie de Medicis had appointed the wily prelate
Secretary of State; but Richelieu was too subtle a
diplomatist to allow a feeling of gratitude to interfere
with his advancement ; and he consequently no sooner
ascertained beyond all possibility of mistake that his
two patrons, the Queen-mother and her favourite, were
about to succumb to the insidious attack of De
Luynes, than, anxious to retain office, he hastened to
depatch his brother-in-law, M. de Pontcourlay, to the
latter, with instructions to offer his services, and to
assure him that he had only consented to accept the
charge which he then held in order that he might
through this medium be enabled to devote himself to
the interests of the King.
Anxious to strengthen his party, De Luynes received
the advances of Richelieu with great courtesy, although
he was far from desiring the cooperation of so danger-
ous an ally ; and a day or two subsequently the
treacherous prelate was introduced into the private
closet of Louis ; where, in addition to his previous pro-
fessions, he went so far as to pledge himself to the
young monarch that he would give him timely intima-
tion of the most hidden designs of the Queen-mother
and the Marechal d'Ancre.
It was at length decided that Concini should die on
Sunday the 23d of April ; but as the day approached
Louis became terrified at his own audacity, and it re-
quired all the influence of De Luynes and his brothers
to prevent his retracting the fatal order which he had
* Deageant, Mhn. p. 48. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 625, 626.
356 The Life of
given. He was too young coldly to contemplate
treachery and murder, and withal so helpless in the
event of failure, that his conscience and his timidity
alike urged him to revoke the sentence of the unsus-
pecting victim ; nor was he ultimately induced to per-
severe, until reminded by his insidious advisers that
too many persons were now aware of his intentions
for them to remain secret, should their execution be
long delayed.
On this occasion, however, although every prepara-
tion had been made, Concini was saved by a mere
accident. He chanced to be delayed as he was about
to leave his house, and did not in consequence reach
the Louvre until the King had quitted the palace in
order to attend mass at the chapel of the Petit Bour-
bon. Instead, therefore, of proceeding in the first
place to the apartments of his Majesty, as had been
anticipated, the Marechal no sooner ascertained that
Louis was already gone than he hastened to pay his
respects to the Queen-mother, for which purpose he
took a different direction. This unexpected impedi-
ment greatly embarrassed the conspirators, who, secure
of success, had displayed an extraordinary want of
caution. In addition to his brother M. du Hallier,
Vitry had assembled a great number of his friends in
the court of the palace, who, although they all wore
their cloaks, had nevertheless allowed it to be per-
ceived that they carried pistols in their belts, contrary
to the edict forbidding the use of such weapons within
the limits of the royal residence. In compliance with
the commands of Louis himself, moreover, the body-
guard were under arms ; and the unwonted movement
Marie De Medicis 357
in the immediate vicinity of his apartments was so
evident, and withal so threatening in its aspect, that a
rumour soon spread through the palace that some
serious enterprise was in contemplation.
And meanwhile the young monarch was on his
knees before the altar of his God, praying, or seeming
to pray ; asking that his trespasses might be forgiven
as he forgave those who trespassed against him ;
although he anticipated that before his return to his
desecrated palace-home the deed of blood would be
accomplished. Suddenly, however, his devotions were
interrupted by the entrance of De Vitry into the
chapel, who, approaching De Luynes, whispered to
him the tidings of his disappointment. In another
second the lips of the favourite touched the ear of his
royal master, to whom he hurriedly murmured
" Sire, the man you wot of is now in the apartment
of the Queen-mother. What do you decide ? All is
in readiness."
" Touch him not in her presence as you value your
lives," was the agitated reply ; we shall find him at
the Louvre on our return."
A brief interval of suspense succeeded. The prelate
who had officiated then uttered the final blessing ; and
as the carriage which contained the King and his
favourite entered the palace by one gate, that of Con-
cini quitted it by another. Inexperienced as he was,
however, Louis at once perceived that he was no
longer in a position to recede ; and hasty orders were
issued to Vitry and his friends to accomplish their
fatal project on the following day, while the King at
the same time secretly commanded that the light horse
358 The Life of
of his bodyguard, and the members of his household,
should be in attendance at an early hour in the morn-
ing, as well as a coach and six, at the entrance of the
grand gallery. The pretext for this arrangement was
a hunting-party ; but its actual intention was to ensure
and protect the King's flight should his purpose pre-
maturely transpire or prove abortive. And meanwhile
Marie de Medicis slept, wholly unsuspicious of the
change which was about to be effected in her fortunes !
There is something singularly appalling in all the
circumstances which formed the prelude to this con-
templated tragedy. Hitherto the Queen-mother had
created dangers for herself had started at shadows
and distrusted even those who sought to serve her ;
while her son, silent, saturnine, and inert, had patiently
submitted to the indignities and insults which had
been heaped upon him, as though he were either un-
conscious or reckless of their extent ; and the Italian
adventurer had braved his enemies, and appeared to
defy fate itself. Now, however, when the blow was
about to be struck, when the ball and the blade were
alike ready to do their deadly office, all the principal
personages in the bloody drama had suddenly assumed
new characters. Marie slept; the boy-King had be-
come the head of a conspiracy; and the Marechal
d'Ancre, enriched and ennobled beyond the wildest
dreams of his ambition, was preparing to quit the
country of his adoption, and to seek rest and peace in
his own land. Another month, perhaps another week,
and he would have left France, probably forever.
History presents few such anomalies ; and it appears
scarcely credible that so ill-organised a plot, hatched,
Marie De Medicis 359
moreover, under the very eyes of those who were to
become its victims, and revealed to upwards of a score
of persons, many of whom were incited to join it from
merely venal motives, should ever have attained its
accomplishment. The fiat had, however, gone forth ;
and the unfortunate Concini, whose tragical fate com-
pels sympathy despite all his faults, entered the court
of the Louvre at ten o'clock in the morning of the
24th of April, 1617, there to meet his death.
An hour or two after dawn one of the gentlemen of
the royal bedchamber announced that the King having
been indisposed throughout the night, the great gates
of the Louvre were to remain closed, and the public
excluded, in order that his Majesty might not be dis-
turbed. This order did not, however, affect the Mare-
chal d'Ancre, as he was no sooner seen to approach,
followed by a numerous retinue of gentlemen, and
attended by several of his friends, than the bolts were
withdrawn, and he was permitted to pass the barrier,
which was instantly closed again, to the exclusion of
the greater number of his suite. A man who had
been stationed over the gate then waved his hat three
times above his head, upon which De Vitry, who had
until that moment been seated in one of the windows
of the guard-room calmly conversing with the officers
on duty, immediately rose, and drawing his cloak
closely about him, hurried down the staircase, at the
foot of which he was joined as if accidentally by Du
Hallier and others of the conspirators, who, apparently
engaged in conversation, slowly approached their in-
tended victim. Among the persons who surrounded
Concini there chanced to be several who were ac-
360 The Life of
quainted with De Vitry, and greatly to his annoyance
he was compelled to allow the Marechal to pass on
while he returned their greetings ; in a few moments,
however, he again found himself at liberty, when he
discovered that amid the crowd he had lost sight of
the Italian.
" Where is he ? " he inquired hurriedly of one of his
confederates.
" Yonder," was the reply ; " he has stopped at the
foot of the bridge to read a letter."
De Vitry sprang towards his prey ; and as Concini,
absorbed in his occupation, still read on, he felt the
grasp of a strong hand upon his arm, and on looking
up he saw the Captain of the Guard standing at his
side. Before he had time to inquire the meaning of
this affront, De Vitry had already uttered the ominous
words, " I arrest you in the King's name."
" Arrest me ! " exclaimed the Marechal, with aston-
ishment, as he clutched the hilt of his sword.
" Yes, you," replied De Vitry haughtily ; and while
he spoke he made a signal, which was instantly re-
sponded to by the simultaneous report of three pistol-
shots. As the sounds ceased Concini dropped upon
his knees, and fell against the parapet of the bridge.
Several weapons were then thrust into his body ; and
finally De Vitry, with wanton and revolting cruelty, gave
him so violent a kick that he extended his body at full
length upon the pavement, where it was immediately
pilfered of every article of value ; among other things,
diamonds of great price and notes of hand to a large
amount were abstracted from the pockets of his vest.*
* Brienne, Mtm. vol. i. p. 329.
Marie De Medicis 361
A few of his followers endeavoured to interpose ;
but in a second or two all was over, and they were
warned by the bystanders instantly to sheathe their
swords, and to beware of opposing the orders of the
King. They had scarcely had time to obey this bid-
ding when Louis presented himself at the window of a
closet adjoining the guard-room, to which, from its
height, he was obliged to be lifted by M. d'Ornano ; *
there, by the advice of those about him, the young
King appeared with a smile upon his face ; and as the
members of the cabal raised a cry of " Vive le Roi ! "
he shouted to his Captain of the Guard, " I thank you,
Vitry ; now I am really a King." Then showing him-
self, sword in hand, successively at each window of the
guard-room, he cried out to the soldiers who were
posted beneath, " To arms, comrades, to arms ! "
Meanwhile De Vitry, by the direction of De Luynes,
proceeded to the hall occupied by the body-guard of
the Queen-mother, and demanded their weapons, which
they refused to deliver up without an express order to
* Alphonse d'Ornano, colonel-general of the Corsican troops in the
French service, and himself a native of Corsica, was the son of San
Pietro di Bastelica, a man of low birth, who attained to the rank of
colonel of the Corsican infantry in France, and who married (in 1548)
Vanina d'Ornano, the daughter and heiress of one of the most wealthy
nobles in Corsica. The avowed enemy of the Genoese, by whom him-
self and his family were proscribed and banished from their native
island, San Pietro strangled his wife with his own hands on discover-
ing that she had attempted to escape from Marseilles in order to obtain
a revocation of the edict issued by the Genoese in 1563. Alphonse,
the son of San Pietro, to whom his very name had become odious,
adopted that of his mother, under which he rendered important serv-
ices to Henri IV. during the wars of the League, and by whom he
was first appointed lieutenant of the King in Dauphiny, and subse-
quently Marshal of France (1595). He died in 1620, at the age of
seventy-two. He was a man of probity, but had inherited the violent
character of his father.
362 The Life of
that effect from their own officers ; upon which the latter
were commanded in the name of the King to withdraw
their men, and to remain in the antechamber of their
mistress. The royal guards then took possession of all
the approaches to the Louvre ; and horsemen were des-
patched with instructions to traverse the streets of the
capital, and to apprise the citizens of the death of Con-
cini. A dense crowd soon collected in the court of
the Louvre, and cries of " Vive le Roi ! " resounded on
all sides.
A murder had been committed, and the ovation was
one which would only have befitted a victory. Louis
XIII. had proclaimed himself a King, and the hand
with which he grasped his sceptre was steeped in blood.
Louis " the Just " we append to his baptismal appel-
lation that which was gravely conferred upon him on
this occasion by both clergy and laity stood an un-
disguised assassin and a moral matricide before the
people who were about to be subjected to his rule.*
Within an hour not only was the Queen-mother a
prisoner in her own apartments, but the seals were re-
stored to M. du Vair, and Barbin was in the Bastille in
the most rigorous confinement.^ These precautionary
measures taken, Louis proceeded to the grand gallery
leaning upon the arm of De Luynes ; and on perceiv-
ing M. de Brienne, who with many other nobles had
hastened to present his respects and congratulations (!)
to the young monarch, he was so little able to control
* Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 625-632. Brienne, M&m. vol. i. p. 327.
Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 393-395. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 134-136.
Matthieu, Hist, des Derniers Troubles, book iii. p. 603.
f Richelieu, Unpublished MSS. The words underlined in the text
are in the Cardinal's autograph on the margin of the manuscript.
Marie De Medicis 363
his delight that, without awaiting the salutation of the
Count, he exclaimed triumphantly, " I am now a King,
and no one can take precedence of me." *
Shortly afterwards the King encountered the Bishop
of Lucon-Richelieu, whose confident deportment be-
tokened his conviction of a gracious reception, as he
prepared to pay his court in his turn ; but the compli-
ments of the prelate were abruptly broken in upon by
an imperative command to quit the palace, and the an-
nouncement of his discontinuance in office. No won-
der that Richelieu murmured under his breath at this
unlooked-for severity ; for he had in truth that very
morning striven to merit the royal smile striven
against conscience, however, and all the holiest and
most sacred feelings of humanity. One of the friends
of Concini, alarmed by the ominous proceedings at the
Louvre, and instinctively persuaded that the life of the
Italian was threatened, had hurriedly dispatched a let-
ter to Richelieu, in which he stated his reasons for the
apprehensions he expressed ; and urged the prelate, in
memory of the many services for which he was in-
debted to the intended victim, to interpose his influ-
ence in his behalf, and to endeavour to avert the blow.
The Bishop, who had not yet left his bed, glanced over
the missive, thrust it beneath his pillow, desired the
messenger to withdraw, and remained quietly in his
chamber until he was apprised by the tumult without
that all was over. Then, and not till then, he hastened
to the Louvre ; where we have already stated the na-
ture of his reception.
As the throng of nobles increased, and crowded about
* Brienne, M&m. vol. i. p. 327.
364 The Life of
the King so as considerably to inconvenience him, he
was lifted upon a billiard-table, from which extraordi-
nary eminence he received their compliments and con-
gratulations upon the murder to which he had been
accessory only an hour before ; and which the First
President of the Parliament of Paris (whose extreme
haste to pay his court to his new master was such that,
being unable immediately to procure a carriage, he
proceeded to the Louvre on foot) designated his happy
deliverance.* Nothing, in short, but plumed hats
sweeping the marble floor, flexile forms bending to the
earth, and lips wreathed in smiles, was to be seen in the
kingly hall in which Henri IV. had loved to discuss
grave topics with his sturdy minister, the Due de Sully,
and which Marie de Medicis, in her day of pride and
power, had enriched with the glorious productions of
her immortal protege, Rubens the painter-prince, as she
was wont to call him. None cared to remember at
that moment that Henry the Great was in his grave,
and that his royal widow had been sacrificed to the
insatiable ambition and the quenchless hate of a low-
born minion.
But it is now time that we should return to the
Queen-mother.
Alarmed by the report of firearms within the bound-
ary of the palace, Marie de Medicis, who had not yet
completed her toilet, desired Caterina Selvaggio to
throw open one of the windows, and to demand the
cause of so singular and unpardonable an infraction of
the law. She was obeyed ; and the Italian waiting-
woman no sooner perceived De Vitry advancing below
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 637. Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 396.
Marie De Medicis 365
the apartments of her royal mistress than she inquired
of him what had occurred.
" The Marechal d'Ancre has been shot," was his
abrupt reply.
" Shot ! " echoed Caterina ; " and by whom ? "
" By myself," said De Vitry composedly ; " and by
the command of the King."
" Madame ! " exclaimed the terrified attendant, as
she rushed to the side of the Queen-mother, " M. le
Marechal has been killed by order of his Majesty."
Marie de Medicis started from her seat ; her cheeks
were blanched, her lips quivered, and she wrung her
hands convulsively, as she grasped out, " I have reigned
seven years. I must now think only of a crown in
heaven."
Her attendants, stupefied with terror, rapidly
gathered round her ; and ere long she learnt that her
guards had been disarmed, and replaced by those of
the King. She listened vaguely to each successive re-
port, and paced the room with rapid but uncertain
steps. At length she exclaimed vehemently, " I do
not regret that my son should have taken the life of
Concini, if he believed it necessary to the safety of his
kingdom ; but his distrust of myself in concealing such
a project from my knowledge is more than I can bear."
When the first violence of her emotion had subsided
she sank into a seat, and with clasped hands and
drooping head appeared to be absorbed in deep and
bitter thoughts ; for at intervals the blood mounted to
her brow and burned there for a time, after which she
again became pale as ashes, and as motionless as a
corpse. She was still in this attitude when one of her
366 The Life of
confidential servants imprudently approached her, and
inquired how the melancholy event was to be com-
municated to the Marechale d'Ancre ? " Perhaps," he
incautiously suggested, " your Majesty will condescend
to acquaint her with it yourself."
Marie de Medicis suddenly raised her hand, swept
back her dishevelled hair from her face, and fixing her
flashing eyes upon the officious gentleman, passionately
replied, " I have other things to attend to at this mo-
ment. If no one can tell the Marechale that her hus-
band has been killed, let them sing it to her. Let me
never again hear the name of those people. I told them
long ago that they would do right to return to Italy.
Yes," she continued, more particularly addressing the
Dowager Duchess of Guise, the Princesse de Conti, and
the other ladies who were standing near her, " they have
at last accomplished my ruin. I foresaw it ; I warned
them, but they would not be convinced. I told
Concini that he had no time to lose, but with his habit-
ual self-sufficiency he declared repeatedly that the
King became more courteous to him every day. I
was not deceived, however; I charged him not to
trust to appearances, for that Louis never said all he
thought ; he disregarded my words, and he has now
involved me in his own destruction." *
After this outburst of temper no one ventured to in-
trude even a remark upon the Queen-mother, who
once more fell into a deep reverie, from which she,
however, ultimately aroused herself to demand M. de
Bressieux.t The equerry immediately approached.
*Lumieres pour rHistoire de France. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 634, 635.
f The Marquis de Bressieux was first equerry to Marie de Medicis.
Marie De Medicis 367
" Go, sir," she said, " to his Majesty, and request
that he will grant me an interview."
Her command was obeyed, and in a few moments
De Bressieux found himself in the presence of the
King, to whom he delivered his message.
" I am occupied at present," was the cold reply ;
" and the visit of the Queen must be delayed until a
better opportunity. Tell her, however, from me that I
shall always honour her, and that I feel towards her all
the sentiments of a good son ; but God willed that I
should be born a King, and I am resolved henceforth
to govern for myself. It is desirable that the Queen
should have no other guards but mine. Let her know
that such is my will."
Marie de Medicis listened incredulously when, on
his return to her apartment, the equerry announced
the failure of his mission. She would not comprehend
that the stripling who had until that day shrunk
before her frown could thus suddenly have acquired
the necessary courage to brave her authority; and
once more M. de Bressieux was instructed to urge her
request upon the King. As he reached the royal
anteroom her envoy encountered De Luynes, who
dreaded nothing so much as a meeting between the
mother and son, which could scarcely fail to prove
fatal to himself; and he accordingly reported the re-
turn of the applicant in a manner which induced Louis
to exclaim impatiently, " If he is here by desire of the
Queen his mistress, tell him that there is nothing to
apprehend, as I shall treat her well." *
Still Marie de Medicis would not be discouraged.
*Siri, Mtm. Rec. vol. iv. pp. 61, 62.
368 The Life of
She felt that in order to avert the ruin which im-
pended over her she must put every instant to its use ;
and accordingly M. de Bressieux was a third time des-
patched to solicit in still more urgent terms that she
might be permitted to see his Majesty, were it only for
a few moments. But, unfortunately for the agonised
Queen, the triumphant favourite was as fully aware as
herself of the value of time at so critical a juncture ;
and he had accordingly profited so well by the oppor-
tunities which he was enabled to command, that on
this last occasion the Marquis was rudely ordered to
abstain from all further intrusion upon his Majesty
unless he wished to repent his pertinacity within the
walls of a prison.
Convinced at last that there was no hope through
her own agency of effecting her object, the Queen-
mother next endeavoured to secure its accomplishment
through the medium of her daughter-in-law, the two
Princesses, and the Due d'Anjou ; but when she sum-
moned them to her apartment, she was informed that
each and all had been forbidden to hold any inter-
course with herself until the pleasure of the King
should be made known.
The despair of the unhappy Marie was at its height ;
and as she paced her apartment, and approached a
window looking upon the gardens, she discovered that
a bridge which she had caused to be constructed for
the purpose of reaching them without being compelled
to traverse the galleries of the palace, was already in
process of demolition ; while she was also made aware
that every other avenue leading to her apartments was
strictly guarded, and thus she saw herself a prisoner in
Marie De Medicis 369
her own palace and entirely at the mercy of her son's
advisers. Even yet she struggled against so cruel a
conviction ; and, eager to test its truth, sent to desire
the presence of one of her confidential friends. Her
messenger was not, however, permitted to accomplish
his errand, but returned with the heart-sickening in-
telligence that thenceforward her Majesty would not
be permitted to hold any communication, save with
the members of her own immediate household, without
the express sanction of the King. *
While the Queen-mother was still writhing under
this new indignity, the unfortunate Leonora, who had
been apprised of the murder of her husband, rushed
into the apartment, and flinging herself at the feet of
her royal foster-sister, implored her protection for her-
self and her young son ; but sudden adversity had
steeled the heart of Marie de Medicis, and sternly up-
braiding her former favourite as the cause of her own
overthrow, she refused to afford her any aid, and com-
manded her instantly to retire. The wretched woman
obeyed without comment or remonstrance ; and hav-
ing regained her own apartment, which was immedi-
ately contiguous to that of the Queen, she hastened to
conceal the Crown jewels which were in her keeping
between the mattresses of her bed, with the exception
of the rings, which were of great value, and which she
habitually wore. This task accomplished, she threw
herself upon her miserable couch to await in trembling
and in tears the next act of the frightful tragedy in
which she was called upon to play so conspicuous a
* Rambure, MS. Mem. vol. vii. p. 66. Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 138.
Bassompierre, Mini. p. 126.
370 The Life of
part. Her suspense was not of long duration, as only
a few minutes had elapsed when a tumult was heard
without, amid which cries of " Vive le Roi ! " " Vive
M. de Luynes ! " and " Death to the Italian ! " were
distinctly audible.
Leonora bounded from her recumbent position like
a lioness at bay. Her parted lips were bloodless, her
breath came quick and hard, and her heart heaved by
its violent pulsations the rich velvet of the robe in
which she was attired.
" My child ! " she at length gasped out, as her at-
tendants gathered about her "save my child! He
at least is guiltless."
The appeal was not made in vain. M. du Rouv-
ray * took her little son, the Comte de la Pena, by the
hand, raised him in his arms that his lips might once
more touch those of his mother, and then, without
uttering a syllable, led him from the apartment. In
another instant the Norman noble was once more at
her side. " The child is in sure hands," he said hur-
riedly ; " and now, Madame, to provide for your own
safety. Follow me you have no time to spare."
It was, however, already too late ; for as Du Rouv-
ray ceased speaking, De Vitry, still reeking with the
blood of Concini, stood upon the threshold of the
chamber, attended by a troop of halberdiers.
" You are my prisoner, Madame," he exclaimed
harshly : " prepare to accompany me to the Bastille."
* Louis, Sieur du Rouvray, was a Norman noble, and a descendant
of the celebrated Louis du Rouvray, who was one of the hundred and
eighty devoted men who in 1421 shut themselves up in the Mont
Saint-Michel, in order to defend it against the English.
Marie De Medicis 371
" I am ready, Sir," replied the Marechale, with the
composure of utter despair. " All is as it should be.
The murderer of the husband is well fitted to be the
gaoler of the wife."
The rings belonging to the Crown were then re-
moved from the fingers of the Marquise ; and upon her
refusal to reveal where the remainder of the jewels
were secreted, her apartments were strictly searched ;
and not only were the royal ornaments carried off by
De Vitry and his companions, but also every other
article of value which fell into their hands. While this
unmanly outrage was going on around her, the Mare-
chale d' Ancre passively permitted her women to fasten
her mantle, and to adjust her mask and hood: her
thoughts were evidently elsewhere. Within a few
yards of where she was then seated, and within hearing
of the tumult occasioned by the reckless insolence of
the men-at-arms by whom she was surrounded, her
foster-sister, the playmate of her girlhood, the friend of
her youth, and the protectress of her latter years
whose tears she had so often wiped away, whose sor-
rows she had so often soothed, and whose hopes and
fears she had equally shared throughout so long a
period remained cold and unmoved by her misery.
It was a bitter pang: and drops of anguish, wrung
from the deepest recesses of a bursting heart, fell large
and heavy upon the cheek of the new-made widow
and the abandoned favourite, and moistened her
clasped hands. None, however, heeded her agony ;
each of her attendants, whatever might have been the
previous attachment of all to her person, was absorbed
by her own terrors ; while the strangers who had in-
372 The Life of
vaded her privacy were eager, under the specious pre-
text of performing their duty to the King, to avail
themselves to the uttermost of so favourable an oppor-
tunity of furthering their individual interests.
At length all was over : every cabinet and chest had
been ransacked to its deepest recesses ; every article of
use or ornament had been displaced in search of
plunder ; and the wretched Leonora was warned that
it was time to depart. She rose silent and rigid ; and
as De Vitry preceded her from the room, his guards
closed up behind her. A carriage was in waiting at the
foot of the staircase by which she descended ; the twilight
was rapidly deepening into night, and her melancholy
path was lighted at intervals by the torches of the numer-
ous attendants who were hurrying through the corridors
in the service of their several employers. The long dark
shadows of the Louvre lay heavy on the dull pavement
of the court, save where they were broken at intervals
by the resinous flambeaux which glared and flickered
against the walls of the building. All looked wild, and
sad, and strange ; and not one kindly accent fell upon
the ear of the unhappy captive as she was hurried on-
ward. A few harsh words were uttered in a tone of
authority : she was lifted into the conveyance which
had been prepared for her : the cavalcade slowly
traversed the enclosure ; and then as the iron gates of
the palace were passed, the horses were lashed into a
gallop ; and in less than an hour the lifelong compan-
ion of Marie de Medicis, husbandless, childless, and
friendless, was an occupant of the gloomy prison-
chamber which had recently been vacated by the
Prince de Conde.
Marie De Medicis 373
The noise created by the entrance of the new pris-
oner, the clashing of arms, the grating of the heavy
portcullis, as it groaned and strained in its ascent, the
dull fall of the drawbridge, the voices of men, and the
rattling of wheels, awakened the Prince ; who, with the
natural weariness of a captive, had already retired to
rest. Summoning an attendant he demanded to know
the cause of the disturbance.
" It is M. de Vitry, Monseigneur," was the reply ;
" who has just transferred the Marechale d'Ancre to
the safe-keeping of the governor."
" Good ! " said the Prince, as he once more settled
himself to sleep ; " I have now one enemy the less." *
This rapid succession of misfortunes produced an ex-
traordinary effect upon the sensitive organisation of
Leonora Galigai'. As we have already hinted, she had
for a considerable period suffered under mental hallu-
cination ; and the disease had latterly fastened so tena-
ciously upon her system that she had even shunned
the presence of the Queen, believing that every eye
which rested on her produced some baneful result;
while her very attendants were dismissed from her
presence when they had terminated their duties, and
she thus remained hour after hour in solitude, brood-
ing over the sickly fancies of her disordered brain.
The sight of her husband's murderer had, however, in-
stantly and forever restored the healthful tone of her
mind. She did not weep, for she had already ex-
hausted all her tears ; she asked no mercy, for she was
aware that, whatever might be her fate, she was alike
prejudged and pre-condemned ; but she resigned her-
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fits, vol. i. p. 219.
374 The Life of
self passively into the hands of her persecutors, with a
Spartan firmness which she maintained to the last hour
of her existence.
Who shall venture to follow her to her prison-cell,
and to trace the tide of back-flowing thought which
rolled like a receding wave from the present to the
past ? Now, indeed, she left little behind her to re-
gret From the husband to whom she had once been
devoted with a love which blinded her to all his errors
and to all his egotism, she had, during the last two
years, been almost utterly estranged; her first-born
and idolised daughter was in her grave ; the royal
friend and almost relative, to whom she had clung
from her youth up, had refused even a tear to her suf-
ferings, or a shelter to her peril ; her hoarded wealth
was in the hands of her enemies ; and of all that she
once boasted there remained only her son. And what
might be his fate ?
But memory held wider stores than these ; and who
can doubt that throughout that first long night of cap-
tivity they were probed to their very depths ! What
palace-pageants what closet-conspiracies what strug-
gles for preeminence and power what heart-burn-
ings at defeat, and exultation at success must have
swept hurricane-like across her awakened soul, to be
forgotten in their turn as she recalled the childish
sports of her early and hopeful years, under the sunny
sky and among the orange-groves of her native Flor-
ence, where, with her royal playmate, she chased the
hours along as though they were made only for the
happy !
Did she sleep the weary and outworn sleep of the
Marie De Medicis
375
wretched while those sweet and soothing visions were
still busy at her heart ? And if so, breathes there
one who would have roused her, whatever may have
been her faults, from such a slumber ?
CHAPTER X
1617
The Comte de la P6na Anne of Austria and the Orphan Popular
Atrocities The Wages of Crime Submission of the Due de
Mayenne Suspension of Hostilities The Great Nobles Return to
the Capital Louis Refuses to be Reconciled with His Mother
Insolence of De Vitry Generosity of the Due de Rohan Marie
de Medicis Resolves to Retire from the Court Richelieu Offers to
Share Her Exile He Becomes the Secret Emissary of De Luynes
Gratitude of the Deluded Queen A Parting Interview Marie
de Medicis Proceeds to Blois Destitution of the Marechale d'Ancre
Her Despair Royal Recreations A Fatal Parallel Madame de
Conde Requests Permission to Share the Captivity of Her Hus-
band Trial of Madame d'Ancre Her Execution Cupidity of De
Luynes Justice of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Death of the
President de Thou Marriage of De Luynes with Mademoiselle de
Montbazon De Luynes is Created Duke and Peer Death of M.
de Villeroy Recall of the Old Ministers Policy of De Luynes
His Suspiciousness His Ambition De Luynes Lodges His Brothers
in the Louvre The Sign of " The Three Kings " Louis Resolves
to Reestablish the Roman Catholic Religion in Beam, and to
Annex That Principality to the Crown of France Meeting of the
Notables at Rouen The French March to the Support of the Duke
of Savoy.
ON the return of De Vitry from the Bastille he
found the hotel of the Marechal d'Ancre en-
tirely pillaged, not even excepting the chamber of the
little Comte de la Pena, whose escape having been
prevented, he was also placed under arrest, and left
376
Marie De Medicis 377
until the following morning without clothes, food, or
bed. On the morrow, however, the Comte de
Fiesque,* touched by the extreme beauty and desolate
condition of the child, and probably anxious to secure
one friend to him in his necessity, became answerable
for his safe-keeping ; and, wrapping him in the cloak
of one of his lackeys, he carried him to the Louvre,
and introduced him to the young Queen, informing
her Majesty that no one at Court could dance a branle
in such perfection. Anne of Austria was enchanted
with the beauty of the boy, who had just attained his
twelfth year, and whose intellect was as remarkable as
his person ; but giddy, thoughtless, and ever eager for
amusement, the girl-Queen, overlooking the fatal cir-
cumstances in which he was placed, immediately com-
manded that he should exhibit his talent; and the
poor fatherless child, whose whole career had been
blighted only a few short hours before, was compelled
to this unseemly display ; after which he was regaled
with sweetmeats, and returned to the custody of his
gaolers, by whom he was shortly afterwards imprisoned
in the castle of Nantes. f
While this incredible scene was being enacted in an
apartment of the palace, another of a far more terrible
nature was to be witnessed in the streets of Paris ; but
before we describe this, we must explain all that had
passed since the murder of the Marechal d'Ancre.
As we have already stated, the body was pillaged
where it lay ; and then, as no further booty could be
anticipated, it was carried into a small closet attached
* The Comte de Fiesque was the equerry of Anne of Austria,
f Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 643, 644. Pontchartrain, Mhn. p. 223.
378 The Life of
to the common guard-room, where it remained until
nightfall, when a coarse sheet, for which fifty sous
were given, was folded about it, and it was buried
without any religious ceremony under the organ of the
church of St. Germain 1'Auxerrois near the Louvre.
A priest who attempted to chant a funeral-hymn as it
was laid in the earth was compelled to desist, in order
that the place of burial might not be known ; and the
flags which had been raised were so carefully replaced
that it was only by secret information that the spot
could possibly have been discovered. This informa-
tion was however given ; and early in the morning the
pavement was torn up, and a rope fastened round the
neck of the corpse, which was then dragged through
the streets by the infuriated mob ; and the desecrated
remains of the recently powerful favourite were hung
by the feet to a gibbet, dismembered in the most
brutal manner, and finally burned.*
At the close of this tragedy the Baron de Vitry re-
ceived the wages of his brutality, and found himself
before sunset a Marshal of France : while Du Hallier
his brother became his successor as Captain of the
Royal Guard ; and Persan, the husband of his sister,
who had also assisted in the massacre of Concini, was
recompensed by the lieutenancy of the Bastille, and
entrusted with the safe-keeping of the Prince de Conde.
On the same day it was publicly proclaimed in the
streets of Paris that all the relatives and adherents of
the Marechale d'Ancre were forthwith to leave the
* Sisraondi, vol. xxii. pp. 396, 397. Richelieu, Mem. book viii. pp.
420-428. Rohan, M'em. p. 144. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 647-649.
Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 139. Richelieu, Hist de la Mere et du Fils vol. i.
pp. 200-202.
Marie De Medicis 379
capital, and that the Sieur de Vitry had acted through-
out the late execution by the express command of the
King ; the ministers who had recently held office under
the Queen-mother were dismissed, and those whom
she had displaced were restored to power ; De Luynes
was formally invested with the confiscated property of
Concini ; and a new Government was organised which
had for its leading object the subversion of all pre-
viously concerted measures.*
The death of Concini no sooner became known in
the provinces than the Due de Mayenne resigned
Soissons and all the other towns and fortresses through-
out his government into the hands of the King. Both
parties suspended hostilities ; and the royal troops and
those of the insurgents drank and feasted together in
a general rejoicing. This example was followed by
the army in Champagne ; and on every side the rebel
Princes declared their readiness to offer their submis-
sion to the King. The moment was a perilous one for
De Luynes, but to Louis it afforded only triumph and
exultation ; and ere long the self-exiled nobles reap-
peared in the capital, where they were graciously re-
ceived. On the 1 2th of May a declaration was regis-
tered by the Parliament in which their past offences
were pardoned, and they were assured that thencefor-
ward they would be held as good and loyal subjects to
the Crown ; while no single exception was made save
in the person of the Prince de Conde, who was still re-
tained a prisoner in the Bastille, and who appeared to
be totally forgotten by his former adherents.
Rendered confident by this increase of strength,
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils, vol. i. pp. 202-204.
380 The Life of
Louis remained inflexible to the tears and prayers of
his mother, and readily suffered himself to be per-
suaded by those about him that she had, in conjunc-
tion with Concini, determined to take his life by
poison in order to place the Due d'Anjou upon the
throne. In vain did the estimable Marquise de
Guercheville throw herself at his feet, and offer the
most solemn assurances of the innocence of her un-
happy mistress ; she was listened to with impatience,
and dismissed with an abruptness which left no room
for hope.* Meanwhile the captivity of Marie de Medi-
cis became each day more irksome, through the unre-
strained insolence of De Vitry, who caused her apart-
ments to be searched by the officers under his com-
mand, her chests to be emptied, and even her bed to
be displaced. The Queen devoured her mortification,
and bore the insult in silence; but Madame de
Guercheville could not restrain her indignation, and in-
sisted upon learning the reason for such an outrage.
" I am ordered to ascertain, Madame," was the reply
of the individual to whom she addressed herself, "if
there be not a cask of powder in these apartments
destined to destroy the King who sleeps above."
" Let them obey their orders," said Marie coldly ;
" their employers are capable of even more than this." f
As she learnt each successive arrival at Court, the
unfortunate Princess trusted from day to day that her
position would be ameliorated through the influence
of some of her former friends ; but until the Due de
Rohan reached the capital none of the great nobles
* Siri, Mem. Rec. vol. iv. p. 63.
f Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 643.
Marie De Medicis 381
appeared to remember her existence. Well might the
Duke exclaim when he learnt how utterly friendless
she had become in her adversity, " There are few gen-
erous and bold enough to cleave to the misfortunes of
those whom they honoured in their prosperity." * He
was himself, however, one of those noble exceptions ;
and although he excited the undisguised displeasure of
De Luynes, he persisted in demanding the royal sanc-
tion to pay his respects to the Queen-mother ; an ex-
ample which was subsequently followed by Bassom-
pierre, who, being unable to obtain the permission
which he sought, availed himself of the medium of the
Queen's tailor to offer his assurances of devotion and
fidelity to her person, through the Duchesse de Guise
and the Princesse de Conti. f
Weary of her utter isolation in a palace of which she
had so lately been the undisputed mistress, and where
she had received the homage of all by whom she was
approached ; heart-sick and disgusted with the ingrat-
itude of those whose fortunes had been her own work ;
and pining for that rest which she could never hope
to find amid the persecutions to which she was daily
subjected, Marie de Medicis at length resolved to retire
to Moulins in the province of Bourbon, which was one
of her dower-cities ; and she accordingly sent to re-
quest the consent of the King to her departure.
This was precisely what De Luynes had hoped ; and
his exultation was consequently great. Her exile by
the command of her son might have excited a mur-
mur, and he had therefore forborne from advising such
* Rohan, Mint, book i.
f Bassompierre, Mem. p. 126. Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 653.
382 The Life of
a step ; but when it could be publicly asserted that the
Queen-mother was about to leave the Court for a few
months by her own express desire, not even those who
still remained faithful to her cause would be enabled to
resent her absence. Her demand under such circum-
stances could not fail to prove successful ; and it was
conceded by Louis himself with the greater alacrity
that her presence as a prisoner in the Louvre was irk-
some and painful to a youth whose conscience was not
yet totally seared ; and who professed, even while ex-
posing her from hour to hour to the insults of his hire-
lings, to feel towards her " all the sentiments of a good
son."
The contemplated retirement of Marie de Medicis
from the capital soon became publicly known, and at
once decided the measures of Richelieu. He himself
informs us that immediately after his cold reception by
the King he despatched his valet to assure the Queen-
mother of his sympathy in her sorrows, and of his
anxiety to serve her ; * nor could he fail to believe
that such an assurance at such a moment had produced
the desired effect, unconscious as the unfortunate
Marie must necessarily have been of the circumstances
which had induced him to feel for her reverses when
all the other members of the Court were intent only
upon winning the good graces of the monarch and his
favourite. The time was now come, as he at once
saw, to profit by so signal a proof of policy and fore-
thought ; and Richelieu was prepared to use it with the
craft and cleverness which were destined to shape out
his future fortunes. To his active and ambitious spirit
* Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fils, vol. i. p. 200.
Marie De Medicis 383
a residence in the capital in the character of a deposed
minister was impossible ; while he equally deprecated
the idea of burying himself in his diocese among the
marshes of Lower Poitou. He resolved, therefore, to
share the exile of the Queen-mother, and by this dis-
play of devotion to gain her confidence ; while, at the
same time, he communicated his intention to De
Luynes in a manner which ensured its sanction. Few
words were needed. Ere the conference was at an end
the favourite was aware that no safer person could be
admitted to the privacy of Marie de Medicis ; while
Richelieu had, on his side, been careful to avoid any
acknowledgment of the real motive by which he was
influenced.*
" You incur no risk by acceding to his request,
Sire," said De Luynes in a subsequent interview with
the King ; " M. de Lucon will understand how to calm
the mind of the Queen-mother, and to advise her as we
could wish. He may be the means, of establishing a
good understanding between you ; and even should he
fail to do this, it will be easy to compel him to reside
in his diocese, or to banish him to a distant province,
should your Majesty not be satisfied with his conduct."
" It must not be expected," gravely observed Riche-
lieu in his turn, while negotiating the arrangement,
" that I should act as a Court spy when I am admitted
to the confidence of the Queen ; nor that I should re-
port all which may take place ; but to this I will pledge
myself that I will immediately retire to Lucon should
she refuse to be guided by my advice, or adopt any
resolutions inimical to the interests of the King."
* Deageant, Mini. pp. 65, 66.
384 The Life of
It would have been unreasonable to require more,
and with a thrill of pleasure to which she had been long
a stranger, the beguiled Queen learnt that the Bishop
of Lucon-Richelieu had received the royal permission
to devote himself to her fallen fortunes. This was, in-
deed, more than she had ever ventured to hope, for
she was capable of appreciating to the utmost the
talents of the individual who thus, as she fondly be-
lieved, sacrificed his own interests to her necessities ;
and she consequently lost no time in making him the
medium of her communications with the King. Be-
fore her departure she was anxious to secure such
terms as might tend, in some degree, to diminish the
bitterness of her exile; and she accordingly availed
herself of the services of her new adherent to convey
her wishes to Louis. These were that she might be
permitted to reside for some days at Blois, until the
castle of Moulins, which had been uninhabited for a
considerable time, could be prepared for her reception ;
that she might be informed of the number and identity
of those who would be allowed to follow her in her
retreat; that she might retain unlimited authority in
the place of her residence ; that she should be imme-
diately informed whether it were the pleasure of the
King that she should be left in possession of the whole
of her revenues, or restricted in her income, in order
that she might be prepared to regulate the expenses
of her household accordingly; and, finally, that her
son would accord her an interview before her de-
parture.
In reply to these demands, Louis, after having con-
ferred with his favourite, replied that, had circumstances
Marie De Medicis 385
permitted such a measure, he should not, during the
last few days, have deprived himself of the happiness
of her society, of which he had deeply felt the priva-
tion ; but that since it was her wish to retire from the
Court, she was at perfect liberty to reside at Moulins,
or in any other city which she thought proper to
select, and to include in her suite all the individuals
whom she might be desirous of retaining about her
person: that she was fully authorised to exert the
most absolute authority, not only in the city, but
throughout the province in which it was situated ; and
that so far from seeking to diminish her resources, al-
though they greatly exceeded those of any previous
Queen-Dowager of France,* he would willingly aug-
ment them should she deem it necessary, even to his
own inconvenience ; while as regarded her desire for a
parting interview, he could not, on his side, suffer her
to leave the capital without assuring her in his own
person of his anxiety for her happiness.f
Despite these professions, however, it was agreed on
both sides that each party should previously arrange,
and submit to the other, the substance of all that was
to pass between them ; and in consequence of this ex-
traordinary arrangement Richelieu was desired by the
Queen-mother to compose her address to the King,
which having been submitted to the Council and ap-
proved, the reply of Louis was in like manner pre-
pared by the ministers. A flight of stairs alone
* The dower of the widowed Queens of France was twelve hundred
thousand annual livres.
\ Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 140, 141. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 655, 656.
Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 403.
386 The Life of
separated the mother and the son : the footsteps of the
stripling monarch could be heard in the apartment of
Marie as he passed from one room to the other ; and
were not the subject too sad for ridicule, it would be
difficult to suppress a smile at these puerile and undig-
nified formalities. No political negotiation was ever
conducted, however, with more circumspection and
mutual distrust; every detail of the interview was
regulated beforehand ; the two principal actors pledged
themselves to say no more than was set down for
them ; and each committed to memoiy the harangue
which was to be pronounced. The Princesses were to
pay their parting respects to the Queen-mother so
soon as she should have assumed her travelling-dress,
but the nobles and officers of the Court were only to
be permitted to salute her after she had taken leave of
the King; a privilege from which, at her express
request, De Vitry and his brother were, however,
excluded.
On the 4th of May, the day fixed for her departure
from the capital, Marie caused her ladies to dress her
with extraordinary care, but at the same time with ex-
treme simplicity ; the slighted mother and the humbled
Queen yet entertained a hope that the sight of her
mourning attire and subdued deportment might pro-
duce their effect upon her son ; and as, at the ap-
pointed hour, she left her chamber, and with words
of gratitude and affection joined her attendants, there
was a faint smile upon her lips, and a tremulous light
in her dark eyes which betrayed her secret trust. The
members of her household were assembled in one of
those noble halls which were enriched by the grand
Marie De Medicis 387
creations of Jean Goujon,* and the magnificent tapes-
tried hangings that were subsequently destroyed during
the Revolution ; they were grouped together near the
door by which she entered, and, despite every effort
which she made to overcome her emotion, Marie de
Medicis could not suppress a sigh as she marked how
small a space they occupied in that vast apartment
which had so lately been thronged with princes and
nobles, all professedly devoted to her cause. Sud-
denly, as she was exchanging a few words with the
Marquise de Guercheville, the royal body-guards ap-
peared upon the threshold ; and a page, advancing one
step into the hall, announced " The King ! "
At the same instant Louis XIII. appeared, with the
Due d'Anjou on his right hand, leaning upon his
favourite, preceded by Cadenet and Brantes, and fol-
lowed by the Prince de Joinville and Bassompierre.
As he entered the Queen-mother rose and curtsied
profoundly, while the ladies and gentlemen of her
household imitated her example, as they retired a pace
or two behind her. Hitherto the Queen-mother had
exhibited the most perfect composure, but she no
sooner found herself once more in the presence of her
son than she burst into a passionate flood of tears,
which she attempted to conceal as she approached him
by spreading her fan before her face. Louis moved
* Jean Goujon, a celebrated architect and sculptor, who was sur-
named the Correggio of sculpture from the grace and beauty of his
productions. The finest of his statues was the Hunting Diana, which
long formed one of the treasures of Malmaison. The Fountain of the
Innocents, the bas-reliefs of the Hotel de Carnavalet, and those of the
Louvre were alike the monuments of his genius. He was occupied
in completing the latter when he was killed by the ball of a carbine
during the massacre of St. Bartholomew.
388 The Life of
forward in his turn, still clinging to De Luynes, but no
trace of emotion was visible in his countenance, which
was cold, and almost careless in its expression.
" Sir," said the unhappy Queen so soon as she had
recovered her composure, " the tender care with which
I watched over your youth, the efforts which I made
for the preservation of your kingdom, the dangers
which I braved, and which I might have avoided had
I been induced to hazard the safety of your crown, will
justify me before God, and prove that I have never had
any other view than that of securing your welfare. I
have repeatedly entreated that you would be pleased
to take the reins of government into your own hands,
and relieve me from so heavy a responsibility, but you
considered my services to be necessary, and com-
manded their continuance. I have obeyed you, both
because I was bound to respect your will, and because
I felt that it would have been cowardly to abandon
you when you were threatened with danger.* If I
have failed to meet your wishes, or have contravened
them, I can only entreat of you to pardon me ; and to
believe that had you explained your pleasure it should
have been fulfilled. I rejoice that you are now about
to govern your kingdom in your own person ; and I
pray God to grant you every prosperity. I thank you
for the concessions which you have made ; and I trust
that you will henceforward act towards me like a good
son and a good sovereign ; while I, on my side, pledge
myself that I shall ever continue to be your very
humble and very obedient mother and servant."
" Madame," replied Louis in a cold and constrained
* Richelieu, Unpublished MSS.
Marie De Medicis 389
tone, while the Queen was still struggling to suppress
her tears, " I am convinced that you have always acted
with the greatest zeal and affection. I am perfectly
satisfied, and beg to thank you. You have expressed
a wish to retire to Blois, and I have consented to that
wish. Had you remained near me you should still
have retained that share in the government which you
have so long held; and you are still at liberty to
do so, whenever you may desire it. Rest assured
that I shall never fail to love, honour, and obey
you as my mother upon every occasion ; and that I
shall continue throughout my life to be your very
humble son."
This notable oration had been delivered by the
young King with all the monotonous intonations of a
studied recital, and was terminated by a sigh of relief
as he saw himself near the conclusion of the comedy.
It had been arranged that so soon as he ceased speak-
ing the Queen should stoop forward to embrace him ;
but in the excess of her agitation the outraged mother
disregarded the instructions which she had previously
received, and in an accent of heart-broken anguish she
exclaimed : " I am about to leave you, Sir ; do not
deny my last prayer. Release my faithful Barbin, and
suffer him to share my exile."
Louis, unprepared for this request, was uncertain
how he should reply, and glanced uneasily from De
Luynes to Richelieu.
" Do not refuse me this, Sir," urged Marie once
more ; " it is the only boon I ask perhaps," she
added after a moment's pause, " the last I shall ever
ask of you."
39 The Life of
Still Louis remained silent, with his cold stern eyes
riveted upon her agitated countenance.
The unfortunate Queen could not mistake the
meaning of that fixed and passionless look : her lip
quivered for an instant, and then she bent her stately
head and slightly touched the forehead of her son.
Louis replied to the embrace by a profound and silent
bow, and turned away hurriedly, as if weary of the
scene in which he had played so undignified a part.
As he moved aside, De Luynes approached the Queen-
mother ; and having bent his knee, and kissed the hem
of her robe, he uttered a few words in so low a voice
that they were inaudible to those who stood behind
her. In reply she was overheard to say that she had
solicited his Majesty to allow Barbin to follow her to
Blois, and to continue his duties as superintendent of
her household; and that she should consider herself
greatly indebted to the kindness of the favourite if he
would exert his influence to that effect. De Luynes
was about once more to speak, when the voice of the
King was heard loudly calling for him ; and putting
forward as an excuse the impossibility of compelling
his Majesty to wait, he once more bowed to the
ground, and made his retreat.
When she saw him disappear in the crowd Marie de
Medicis gave free vent to the emotion which she had
so long partially controlled; and as the other great
nobles of the Court successively bent before her, she
remained with her face buried in her handkerchief,
sobbing audibly, and apparently unconscious of their
homage. Ten minutes afterwards she descended the
great staircase, and took her seat in the coach which
Marie De Medicis 391
was to convey her to Blois, accompanied by the Prin-
cesses and all the principal ladies of the Court, who
were to attend her to the city gates. An immense
crowd had collected on the quay of the Louvre to see
her pass; but, contrary to the apprehensions of her
friends, not a word of insult or reproach was uttered.
There was something so appalling even to the most
reckless in her sudden fall ; something so sad in this
gorgeous procession which seemed rather to mock
than to honour her misfortunes ; so sharp and bitter a
lesson in the spectacle of a Princess lately all-powerful
thus driven from her palace-home to immure herself in a
fortress, and this too in broad daylight, under the eyes
of her subjects, and in the streets of the capital, that she
excited the involuntary sympathy even of her enemies.
This sympathy was, however, unfelt by her son;
who no sooner became aware that she was about to
enter her carriage than he hurried to the balcony of
the Queen's apartment, whence he attentively watched
the departure of the cortege, manifesting the most
lively interest in the preliminary arrangements ; and as
the last equipage disappeared, he returned to the room
saying gaily : " Now then, gentlemen, we will start for
Vincennes."
Some minutes afterwards, the palace resounded
with the voices of ushers, pages, and men-at-arms ; a
dozen carriages rolled into the Court ; the King paid a
farewell visit to his dogs, his birds, and his wife ; and
then, desiring that the Queen and her ladies should
follow him on the morrow, he left orders that the
Louvre should be minutely searched throughout, in
order to ascertain beyond all possibility of doubt that
392 The Life of
no gunpowder had been concealed within the edifice
for the purpose of effecting his destruction; after
which he sprang into his coach, with an undisguised
cheerfulness which left no doubt that his affected
respect and attachment for his mother were by no
means incompatible with a hearty sense of relief at his
emancipation from her control. *
The Marechale d'Ancre had been committed to the
Bastille on the 29th of April, lightly dressed, despoiled
of all her ornaments, and without the most trifling
pecuniary resource; so thoroughly destitute, indeed,
of the common necessaries of life that she was indebted
to Madame Persan, the wife of the lieutenant of the
fortress, for a couple of changes of body-linen. Even
the Prince de Conde, who was professedly her enemy,
was deeply moved when he ascertained her pitiable
condition. " It was not to Leonora that political
crimes should be attributed," he said, with an indig-
nation which did honour to his heart ; " but to the in-
satiable ambition of her husband."
Her only attendants were an Italian maid and her
apothecary, whose constant care was required from the
precarious state both of her bodily and mental health ;
but she nevertheless maintained a self-command and
composure which astonished all by whom she was ap-
proached. She uttered no complaint; exhibited no
resentment; and in reply to the condolences of her
gaolers, simply replied : " I must have patience ; my
enemies are powerful, the Queen-mother is absent, and
*Sisraondi, vol. xxii. pp. 398-404. Bassompierre, Mhn. pp. 126,
127. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 653-659. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 137-142.
Brienne, M$m. yol. i. pp. 327-329.
Marie De Medicis 393
no doubt I shall be compelled to leave France. I will
retire with my son to Florence; we have still the
means of subsistence, and I must endeavour to forget
the past."
Some days subsequently her women succeeded in
conveying to her a few changes of apparel and two
hundred crowns in money ; but when, on the I ith of
May, she was transferred to the prison of the Con-
ciergerie, these effects were in their turn stolen from
her, and she once more found herself totally penniless.
In addition to this misfortune she was apprised that
she could no longer be permitted to retain her attend-
ants, as the regulations of a felon prison did not admit
of such an indulgence ; and on hearing this, she said
with a cry of agony : " I am lost ! "
The Court remained a fortnight at Vincennes, after
which the King returned to the Louvre. There,
instead of endeavouring, according to the sage advice
of his ministers, to render the absence of his mother
unfelt by the adoption of measures calculated to prove
that he was equal to the responsibility which he had
been so eager to assume, he soon returned to the
puerile amusements he had latterly affected to despise ;
and spent the day in colouring prints, beating a drum,
blowing a bugle, or making jets d'eau with quills. *
On one occasion when Bassompierre was compliment-
ing him upon the facility with which he acquired
everything that he desired to learn, he replied with
great complacency : " I must begin again with my
hunting-horn, which I blow very well ; and I will
practise for a whole day."
* Rohan, Mem. book i. Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 659.
394 The Life of
" Be careful, Sire," was the reply of the courtier ; " I
would not advise your Majesty to indulge too much in
such a diversion, as it is injurious to the chest ; and I
have even heard it asserted that the late King Charles
IX. burst a blood-vessel on the lungs from his abuse
of that instrument; an accident which terminated his
life."
" You are wrong, Sir," said Louis with one of his
cold saturnine looks ; " it was his quarrel with Cath-
erine de Medicis which caused his death. If he had
not followed the bad advice of the Marechal de Retz,
and resided with her subsequently at Monceaux, he
would not have died so young."
Bassompierre was silenced; and thenceforward re-
solved never again to mention the name of the Queen-
mother in the presence of his royal master. *
Meanwhile it was universally anticipated that as all
the other Princes had been restored to favour, M. de
Conde would be liberated ; but such a measure by no
means accorded with the views of De Luynes, who,
aware of the influence of the noble prisoner, felt him-
self too weak to cope openly with the first Prince of
the Blood ; and, consequently, the only benefit which
Conde derived from the death of the Marechald'Ancre
was a mitigation of the extreme vigilance with which
he had hitherto been guarded. The conduct of the
Princess his wife was at this juncture above all praise.
She had, from the first period of his imprisonment,
been persevering in her efforts to accomplish his libera-
tion ; and having failed to do this, had solicited the
permission of the King to share his captivity ; but, by
* Bassompierre, Mim. p. 128.
Marie De Medicis 395
the advice of his favourite, Louis had hitherto reso-
lutely refused to accede to such an arrangement ;
although he might justly have been struck by the
heroism of a sacrifice which in her case was heightened
tenfold by the fact that, despite the jealousy which he
had constantly exhibited, M. de Conde had made no
secret of his utter indifference to his wife, and would
never forgive her relations with Henri IV. After the
departure of the Queen-mother, however, De Luynes
judged it expedient to accept the offer of the Princess ;
and she was accordingly informed that she might
proceed to the Louvre, where the King would grant
her an audience. She had no sooner received this
permission than she hastened, accompanied by the
Duchesse d'Angouleme her sister, to throw herself at
the feet of the young sovereign ; where, bathed in
tears, she sobbed out her acknowledgment of the in-
dulgence extended to her, and implored him to extend
his clemency to the Prince her husband. " But should
you unhappily consider it expedient to detain him in
the Bastille, Sire," she concluded with deep emotion,
" I entreat of your Majesty to allow me to share his
prison."
" Madame," replied Louis, " it was already my in-
tention so to do. I am sincerely attached to M. de
Conde, and to all his house ; and every attention shall
be paid to him until my government is perfectly estab-
lished. I greatly regret that at the present moment
I am prevented by circumstances from restoring him
to liberty ; but assure him from me that I will cause
his liberation at the earliest opportunity."
Again and again did the delighted Princess utter
396 The Life of
her thanks ; and after having been graciously dismissed
by the King, she lost not a moment in proceeding,
armed with the. royal authority, to the Bastille, where,
having constituted herself a prisoner, she hastened to
impart her hopeful tidings to the Prince.
Despite the assurances which she had received, how-
ever, from the lips of Louis himself, four more weary
months were passed by M. and Madame de Conde in
the fortress, in that daily and hourly fever of expectation
which is more agonising than utter despair ; and even at
the close of that dreary time, instead of the liberty for
which the husband and wife alike panted, an order
arrived at the Bastille for the transfer of the deluded
and unhappy couple to the Castle of Vincennes, which
was communicated to them as a signal mark of the
royal clemency ; and in that citadel they were detained
until the autumn of 1619.* The result of Madame de
Conde 's admirable self-abnegation was, however, a
source of triumph for her woman-heart, as the Prince
was not proof against so unequivocal a demonstration
of attachment, and thenceforward evinced towards her
a tenderness which amply repaid her sacrifice.
Shortly after the transfer of Madame d'Ancre to the
Conciergerie she was put upon her trial; but as her
mental hallucination, together with her estrangement
from her husband, rendered it probable that sufficient
proof of political delinquency could not be adduced
against her to justify an extreme sentence, and as her
escape from the scaffold must necessarily tend to
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 666. Relation de la mort du Mar'echal
d'Ancre. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 142, 143. Dreux du Radier, vol. vi.
pp. 123, 124. Brienne, M$m. vol. i. p. 333.
Marie De Medicis 397
*.
render his tenure of the confiscated property of Concini
(of which he had already obtained the reversion) diffi-
cult, if not impossible, De Luynes did not hestitate to
tamper with her judges, and to induce them, alike by
bribes and threats, to accomplish her death. For this
purpose a second charge was coupled with that of lese-
majeste, which was brought conjointly against herself
and her murdered husband. She was accused of
sorcery as well as of conspiring against the state ; of
casting alike nativities to compass the destruction of
the King, and cannon for the service of the disaffected
Princes ; together with a host of other crimes, none of
which could be proved against her. So palpable, in-
deed, was the motive of her persecutors, that it excited
the popular indignation ; and the masses, who had so
recently execrated the name of the unfortunate woman,
began, ere the conclusion of her trial, to look upon
her only as the victim of De Luynes. " You will
see," said some of the citizens, as they learnt with
what dignified calmness and logical precision she
refuted the several charges brought against her, " that
here the case of the Due de Biron will be reversed
like her he was the victim of policy, but he died like a
woman, while she will meet her fate like a man."
And they were correct in their conclusion. What-
ever might have been her faults while she continued
the favourite of fortune, Leonora Galigai was grand
in her adversity ; and one of her judges was so much
overpowered by his conviction of her innocence, that
on recollecting the pledge which he had given to De
Luynes to decide upon her guilt, he fainted and was
carried from the Court. When accused of treason
398 The Life of
against the state, the prisoner replied by reminding her
accusers of her total estrangement from her husband
during the last two years, throughout which period he
had been all-powerful with the Queen-mother, and her
own consequent loss of influence ; and when ques-
tioned as to the nature of the sorcery by which she
had so long governed her royal mistress, she an-
swered that it was simply the magic exercised by a
strong mind over a weak one.* To the other charges
she responded with equal composure and conclusive-
ness ; and many among them were of so puerile a
character that, despite the fearful position in which
she was placed, she could not suppress a smile of
mingled pity and amusement.
She was foredoomed, however ; and on the 8th of
July the sentence was pronounced. It was in truth a
frightful one ! Both the husband and the wife were de-
clared guilty of Use majest'e divine and human ; and
she herself was condemned to lose her head, and to be
afterwards burned ; their house was to be levelled with
the ground ; their property, not only in France, but
also all that they possessed at Rome and Florence,
was to be confiscated to the Crown ; and their son de-
prived of his rank, and rendered incapable of holding
any office in the kingdom.!
When this sentence was declared the wretched
woman, who had never anticipated a more severe fate
* Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 407, 408. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 667-672.
Richelieu, Hist, de la Mtre et du Fits, vol. i. pp. 223-230.
f This incapacity to hold office under the French Government was,
moreover, on this occasion, declared thenceforward to extend to all
individuals who were natives of other countries ; and an attempt was
made thirty years subsequently to render it applicable to Cardinal
Mazarin.
Marie De Medicis 399
than exile, exclaimed in a piteous voice : " Oime
poveretta ! " but shortly recovering herself, she re-
sumed the same calm courage which she had pre-
viously evinced.
Perhaps the most merciful portion of her sentence
was that which condemned her to suffer on the same
day ; and for this she was undoubtedly indebted to the
impatience of De Luynes, who did not feel himself
secure of the succession until she should have ceased
to breathe. The revelations which she had made of
the extent of her wealth during the preliminary exam-
inations in the prison had sealed her fate, as they so
far exceeded all his anticipations that they silenced
every throb of compunction and negatived every other
feeling ; and they thus at least spared her a night of
agony during which she might have brooded over the
miserable prospects of her idolised son.
It is painful to reflect upon the position which the
Marquise had filled, and to see her thus shaken and
withered both in mind and body ; abandoned by the
protectress to whom she had clung so long and so con-
fidingly ; widowed by violence ; separated from her
only surviving child ; and compelled to drain her cup
of bitterness to the very dregs. Not a pang was,
however, voluntarily spared to her. She might, in
consideration of her rank as the wife of a Marshal of
France, and out of respect for the Queen-mother, of
whom she had not only been the foster-sister but also
the familiar friend, have been conveyed to the place of
execution in a covered carriage, and thus have been in
some degree screened from the public gaze ; but no
such delicacy was observed. The criminal's cart, with
4oo The Life of
its ghastly faggot for a seat, was her ordained con-
veyance ; but her step did not falter as she stepped
into the vehicle which had been previously tenanted
by the vilest and most degraded culprits. Never had
there been seen so dense a crowd in the Place de Greve ;
and as she glanced hurriedly around, unaware of the
popular reaction of feeling, she cowered for an instant
panic-struck, and murmured helplessly : " Oh, what a
multitude to gaze upon a miserable woman ! "
Not a word, not a gesture of vengeance or of hate,
escaped, however, from the populace. Her deport-
ment had been so dignified, her courage so great, her
piety so perfect, that those who were once her bitterest
enemies looked on her through their tears. Her char-
ities had been unremitting and extensive ; and those
whom she had aided in their necessities had thronged,
through a morbid and mingled feeling of gratitude and
awe, to see her die.*
Her head fell her body was burned and her ashes
were scattered to the wind.
De Luynes had, as we have stated, constituted him-
self her heir ; but it was not without difficulty that he
succeeded in appropriating the principal portion of the
coveted wealth of his victims. Du Vair, with a firm-
ness for which the favourite was not prepared, refused
for a considerable time to countersign the letters of
consignment which had been granted by the King to
that effect ; declaring that as the property of Concini
and his family had been confiscated to the Crown, it
could not be otherwise disposed of. This difficulty
was, however, surmounted after the fashion of the
* Bernard, book iii.
Marie De Medicis 401
period, and the signature of the scrupulous minister
was purchased by the rich bishopric of Lisieux ; after
which De Luynes himself negatived the destruction of
the magnificent hotel of the Marechal, to which he
transferred his own establishment, and then proceeded
to enforce his claims upon the funded property in
Rome. This pretension was, however, opposed by
the Pope, who declared that all monies confiscated
within the Roman states must necessarily revert to
himself; and Louis XIIL, after having in vain en-
deavoured to induce the Sovereign-Pontiff to rescind
this declaration, found himself ultimately compelled to
make a donation of the five hundred thousand francs
claimed by his favourite to the cathedral of St. Peter's.
The Grand Duke of Tuscany, in his turn, refused to
recognise the right of De Luynes to the funds which
had been entrusted to him by the Marechal d'Ancre,
but from a higher and a holier motive ; as the young
Comte de la Pena was no sooner set at liberty, with an
injunction immediately to leave France, than he re-
ceived him with all the sympathy due to his unmerited
misfortunes, and put him in possession of this rem-
nant of his inheritance. Thenceforward the son of
Concini remained in Italy until the year 1631, when he
fell a victim to the plague.*
Before we quit the Court to follow exclusively the
fortunes of Marie de Medicis, it is necessary that we
should record three circumstances of social interest
which occurred during the year 1617. The first in
order is the death of the President de Thou, one of the
most able and upright ministers, and, perhaps, the
* Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 410, 411. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 674, 675.
402 The Life of
most conscientious historian that France had ever
known. He expired on the 7th of May. The next, in
point of chronology, is the marriage of De Luynes,
who having obtained the most absolute power, not
only over the King personally, but also over all state
affairs being anxious to strengthen his position yet
more by a great alliance, after having for a time con-
templated an union with the daughter of the Due de
Vendome, ultimately entered into a negotiation for the
hand of Mademoiselle de Montbazon.* This negotia-
tion proved successful ; and through her means he be-
came closely connected with the most ancient and
powerful families in the kingdom. The marriage took
place on the 1 3th of September, and the bride was ad-
mitted to the honours of the tabouret ; f while in order
to render him more acceptable to the haughty houses
into which the favour of his sovereign had thus afforded
him ingress, the exulting favourite was elevated to a
duchy-peerage, and took his seat in the Parliament.
The last circumstance to which allusion has been made
is the death of M. de Villeroy, who terminated his life
at the ripe age of seventy-four years on the 3<Dth of
December. As we have already stated, he was pos-
sessed of little education, had no taste for either litera-
ture or art, but was singularly upright and shrewd in
the management of public business ; while he was,
* Marie de Rohan-Montbazon was the daughter of Hercule de Ro-
han, Due de Montbazon, and of his first wife, Madeleine de Lenon-
court. After the death of the Connetable de Luynes she married
Claude de Lorraine, Due de Chevreuse, and became celebrated
towards the close of the reign of Louis XIII., and during the minority
of his successor, for her wit, her beauty, her profligacy, and her polit-
ical intrigues. She died at a very advanced age in the year 1679.
| Brienne, Mini. vol. i. p. 333.
Marie De Medicis 403
moreover, so thoroughly disinterested, that in the
midst of all the cupidity which at that period disgraced
the Court of France, after having been fifty-one years
in office, he died with the mere addition of two thou-
sand livres per annum to his patrimonial income.*
In order to enlist popular opinion in his favour, De
Luynes had, as we have seen, induced the King to re-
call the old ministers to power ; and the people, still
remembering the wisdom which they had displayed
during their administration, welcomed with joy the re-
appearance of Sillery, Villeroy, and Jeannin in the
Council ; but although the favourite ostensibly recog-
nised their privileges, he was far from intending to
permit their interference with his own interests ; f and
so thoroughly did he enslave the mind of the young
King, that while Louis, like a schoolboy who had
played truant, and who was resolved to enjoy his new-
found liberty to the uttermost, was constantly chang-
ing his place of abode, and visiting in turn St. Ger-
main, Fontainebleau, Villers-Cotterets, and Monceaux,
without one care save the mere amusement of the
hour, De Luynes was multiplying his precautions to
prevent a reconciliation between the mother and the
son ; an event which must, as he believed, whenever it
should occur, prove the ruin of its own fortunes. For
this purpose, so soon as he saw a cloud upon the brow
of the royal stripling, he hastened to devise for him
some new and exciting pursuit, which might tend to
deaden his remorse for the past, and to render him
more conscious of the value of that moral emancipation
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 675. Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 430, 431.
f D'Hericourt, vol. i. p. 529. j
404 The Life of
which he had purchased at so fearful a price ; but ere
long even this subtle policy failed to dissipate the appre-
hensions of the favourite. Like all persons who occupy
a false position of which they fully appreciate the uncer-
tain tenure, he became suspicious of all around him ;
and would not allow any individual, whatever might
be his rank, to approach the King without his knowl-
edge, nor to attempt to converse with him in private.
Thus, therefore, while Louis fondly believed that he
had indeed become a monarch in fact as well as name,
he was in reality more enslaved than ever.
Enriched by the spoils of Concini and his wife, De
Luynes next caused himself to be appointed lieutenant
of the King in Normandy ; and this was no sooner
done than he entered into a negotiation for one of the
principal governments in the kingdom. He appeared
suddenly to have forgotten that one of the most
cogent reasons which he had so lately given for the
necessity of sacrificing the Marechal d'Ancre and his
wife was the enormous wealth of which they had pos-
sessed themselves at the expense of the state. His
ambition as well as his avarice became insatiable ; and
not contented with pushing his own fortunes to a
height never before attained by a mere petty noble, he
procured great advantages for his brothers, and lodged
them in his apartments in the Louvre. But while
Louis remained unconscious or careless of the new
bondage into which he had thus fallen, the courtiers
and the people were alike less blind and less forbear-
ing. With that light-heartedness which has enabled
the French in all ages to find cause for mirth even in
their misfortunes, some wag, less scrupulous than in-
Marie De Medicis 405
ventive, on one occasion, under cover of the darkness,
affixed above the door leading to the rooms occupied
by the brothers a painting which represented the ado-
ration of the Magi, beneath which was printed in bold
letters, " At the sign of the Three Kings " ; a prac-
tical jest which afforded great amusement to the
Court. *
At this period Louis XIII., still a mere youth, and
utterly inexperienced in those great questions of public
policy which determine the prosperity or the peril of a
nation, resolved upon a measure which Henri IV.
himself had not ventured to undertake. The Roman
Catholic religion had been abolished in Beam by
Jeanne d'Albret, his grandmother, and the property of
that church seized in virtue of an Act passed at the
assembly of the States ; and now, on the demand of
his clergy, he determined to issue a decree ordaining
the restitution of all the ecclesiastical property, and the
reestablishment of the Roman faith. This was, of
course, resisted by the Protestants, as well as the an-
nexation of the principality of Beam to the Crown of
France ; but the advisers of the young King con-
sidered the opportunity to be a favourable one for
effecting both measures ; and they easily persuaded
him to persevere in his purpose. The edict was con-
sequently published ; and its effects were destined to
be painfully felt by the reformed party throughout the
remainder of his reign.
The people, on their side, had not forgotten the
promises which they had received of a reform in the
government, and De Luynes still continued to give
* Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 678.
406 The Life of
them hopes of their accomplishment ; but as no meas-
ures to that effect were taken, they, at this period,
demanded a new assembly of the States-General.
They were, however, induced to modify this demand ;
and a meeting of the Notables * was finally conceded,
which was to take place at Rouen on the 24th of No-
vember, in the presence of the sovereign. This as-
sembly was accordingly held, but thanks to the in-
fluence of De Luynes produced none of the results
which had been anticipated, f
A few days before the departure of Marie de
Medicis from Paris the King of Spain declared war
against the Duke of Savoy, who immediately appealed
to France for aid, which was in the first instance re-
fused ; but, on the representations of the Marechal de
Lesdiguieres, it was finally accorded, and troops were
raised which proceeded to Piedmont under the com-
mand of that general. \
Such was the general aspect of the Court and king-
dom of France at the close of the year 1617 ; of which
we have considered it necessary to sketch the principal
features, in order to remind the reader of the exact
position of the country at the period of the Queen-
mother's exile. Henceforward we shall principally
confine ourselves to following her in her banishment.
* By the Notables was understood a body of the most eminent in-
dividuals among the nobles, the clergy, and the law-officers ; and as
these were chosen by the ministers themselves, such an assembly
could excite no apprehension among the Court party.
f Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 144, 145.
J Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 331.
END OF VOL. II.
Index
Ablon, i. 293, note
Adolphus, Gustavus, King of
Sweden, death of, iii. 305
Agen, place of refuge of Marguer-
ite of Valois, captured, i. 29
Albret, Jeanne d', mother of
Henri IV., i. 4
Alengon, Due d', removed to
Amboise, i. 6; attaches him-
self to Protestant cause, 15 ;
leagues himself with the Bour-
bon princes, 17 ; leaves the
Court of Henri III., 18; rec-
onciles himself with Henry,
20; intrigues against him,
25 ; death of, 32
Alexandre, Monsieur, received
into order of Knights of Malta,
1.215-218
Alfeston, executed for plotting
Richelieu's life, iii. 323
Aligre, Etienne, made Keeper of
the Seals, iii. 109, and note
Ancre, Marquis d 1 (see Concini)
Andouins, Diane d' i. 33, note
(see also Guiche)
Anjou, Due d', organises St.
Bartholomew's massacre, i. 1 2 ;
at the siege of Rochelle, 16;
elected King of Poland, 16;
becomes Henri III., which see
Anjou, Gaston, Due d', birth of,
i. 380, note (see d'Orleans
and Gaston)
Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain,
her marriage arranged between
Louis XIII., ii. 141 ; renounces
right to Spanish succession,
143; marriage by proxy, 271;
arrival at Bordeaux, 272; her
appearance, 291 ; cruel behav-
iour to Comte de Pena, 377 ;
her contempt for Queen Marie,
iii. 49 ; contentions as to prece-
dence, 50 ; conduct of, 96 ; ac-
cident to, 97 ; opposes marriage
of Gaston with Mdlle. de Mont-
pensier, 121; imprudence on
Duke of Buckingham's visit,
125, 126; accused by Richelieu
of conspiring against the King's
life, and is confined to her pal-
aces, 143 ; joins the King at
La Rochelle, 157; sides with
Queen Marie and opposes war
against Austria, 168; indigna-
tion at appointment of Comtesse
du Fargis as her lady of honour,
1 86 ; anger at intimacy of King
with Mdlle. de Hautefort, 187;
banished to her private apart-
ments, 216; forbidden to cor-
respond with Spain, 227 ; per-
mitted to retire to Val de Grace,
227 ; her ladies banished by
order of Richelieu, 246
Ange, Soeur, predictions of, i. 186
Angouleme, Diana de France,
Duchesse d', i. 347, note
Angouleme, Due d' (see Au-
vergne)
Archange, le Pere, illegitimate
407
408
Index
son of Marguerite de Valois,
i. 26, note
Argouges, Florent, i. 242, note
Arnaud, Antoine, ii. 40, note
Arnoux, confessor to the King,
iii. 20; deceives Queen Marie
into signing a submission, 23
Arquien, Antoine, Seigneur d',
appointed Lieut.-Governor of
Metz, i. 193, and note
Astrologers, influence of, i. 119-
124
Aubigny, Theodore Agrippa, i.
34, note
Austria, Albert, Archduke of,
i. 409, note; refuses to grant
an asylum to Prince and
Princesse de Conde in Flanders,
but promises them safe passage
through the Low Countries,
i. 409,410; rescinds this re-
striction by order of Philip of
Spain, 412; refuses to aid in
escape of Princesse, 418
Ayetona, Francisco de Moncade,
Marquis d', iii. 330, note ; en-
deavours to prevent reconcilia-
tion of Gaston with Louis XIII.,
347; death of, 394, note
B
Balzac, Marie de, infatuation of
Henri IV. for, i. 258 ; becomes
mistress of Bassompierre, 258,
294; pleads for her father, 291
Bar, Due de, marriage of to
daughter of Duke of Mantua,
i- 340-342
Bar, Duchesse de, death of,i. 218
Barbin, M., comptroller of Queen's
household, ii. 291, note ; treach-
ery of, 326-328 ; imprisoned in
Bastille, 362, and afterwards
for life, iii. 25
Bassompierre, Baron de, i. 51,
note; wounded in tilt with
de Guise, 296 ; ambassador ex-
traordinary to Lorraine, 340;
marriage to Charlotte de Mont-
pensier forbidden by King, 390 ;
effects reconciliation of Concini
with Queen Mane, ii. 207 ; put
in command of Swiss troops,
230; marches against Vitry,
which the insurgent nobles
evacuate, 231 ; recalled to Paris,
231 ; marries widow of Prince
de Conti, 241 ; indignation
at inaction of Bois-Dauphin,
270; arrest of Prince de Conde,
307 ; loyal to Queen Marie,
381 ; offered bdton of Marshal,
which he refuses, iii. 93; but
finally accepts, 102 ; special
ambassador to Queen Henriette,
148-153; accompanies King in
his Italian campaign, 170; mil-
itary successes, 177
Beaumont, Christophe de Harlai,
Comte de, i. 194, note; 362,
note
Bellegarde, Due de, i. ^\ t nole;
envoy to Grand Duke of Flor-
ence to negotiate marriage of
Marie de Medicis with Henri
IV., 80-83; disgrace of, iii.
267
Bellievre, M. de, ambassador in
England, iii. 370
Bellievre, M. de, death of, i. 365
Berthault, Jean de, i, 128, note
Berulle, Pierre de, sent by Louis
XIII. to negotiate with Queen
Marie, iii. 35, and note
Bethune, Comte de, sent to nego-
tiate with Queen Marie, iii. 35
Bethune, Marguerite de, daughter
of Due de Sully, attendant on
Marguerite de Valois, i. 27 ;
marries Due de Rohan, 293
Biron, Charles de Gontault, Due
de, i. 67, note ; conspires against
the King, 149-154; conspiracy
discovered, 155 ; begs forgive-
ness, 156; conspires afresh,
157 ; betrayed by La Fin, 158-
Index
409
161 ; returns to court, refuses
to acknowledge his guilt, 162;
neglects warnings of friends,
165 ; is arrested, 167 ; impris-
oned in Bastille, 168; put on
trial, 170 ; condemned to death,
173 ; is beheaded, 174
Bois- Dauphin, Marquis de, i. 346 ;
note ; Lieutenant-General of
troops, ii. 266; inaction of,
268 ; command taken from him,
271
Bouillon, Henri, Due de, i. 34,
note; intrigues of, i. 35; con-
spires against Henri IV., 149 ;
escapes to Heidelberg, 177 ;
conspires again with de Ver-
neuil, 259-263 ; renews his in-
trigues, 326 ; surrenders Sedan
and pleads for forgiveness, 328 ;
return to Paris on King's
death, ii. 21 ; anger at not
being put in command of army,
67; his discontent stirs up
Huguenots, 74 ; disappointed at
not being elected President of
the Assembly, 114; returns to
court, ambassador to James I.
of England, 139; failure of his
mission, 153; antagonises Due
de Rohan, it. 153-163 ; intrigues
of, 222-225 ; heads an army on
Loire, 270 ; retires on Sedan,
iii. 7 ; sides with Queen Marie,
15 ; death of, 107
Bouillon, Due de (successor of
above), conspiracy of, iii. 401 ;
submission, 404
Bourbon, Antoine de, birth of,
i. 360, note
Bourbon, Charles I., de, Cardinal-
Archbishop of Rouen, i. 120,
note
Bourbon, Eleonore de, marriage
of to Philip of Orange, i. 302,
and note; widow of Philip,
promised in marriage to de
Luynes' brother, iii. 52; her in-
dignant refusal to marry him,
62
Bourbon, Henri de, conspiracy to
place him on the throne of
France, i. 259-263
Bourdaisiere, Mdlle. de La, a
mistress of Henri IV., i. 256
Bouteville, Comte de, beheaded
for duelling, iii. 134
Brantes, Leon Albert, brother to
de Luynes, ii. 25 1 ; created
Due de Piney- Luxembourg and
marries heiress of that house,
iii. 62
Breves, Francois Savary de, pre-
ceptor to Gaston, ii. 124, and
note
Breze, Urbain, Marquis de, iii.
285, note
Brienne, Henri Auguste de Lo-
menie, Comte de, ii. 245, note ;
accompanies Queen Marie to
Blois and aids her escape, iii.
31; sent by her as Envoy to
Louis XIII., 43
Brissac, Charles, Comte de, ii. 16,
note
Brosse, Jacques de, architect of
the Luxembourg, ii. 129, and
note
Buckingham, Charles Villiers,
Duke of, accompanies Prince
Charles to Paris, iii. 1 10 ; mag-
nificence of, 125; attentions to
Queen Anne, 126
Bueil, Jacqueline, Comtesse de
Moret, mistress of Henri IV.,
i. 256; marries Comte de
Chesy, 273, and note; and is
divorced from him, 273 ; or-
dered to marry Prince de Join-
ville, 357 ; who declines, 358 ;
gives birth to Antoine de Bour-
bon, 360 ; marries Rene du
Bee and becomes Marquise de
Vardes, 361
Buquoy, Charles, Comte de, ii.
150, note
410
Index
Cadenet, Honore, brother to de
Luynes, ii. 25 1 ; created Due
de Chaulnes, marries heiress of
Piquigny and made Lieutenant-
General of Picardy, iii. 62
Calderon, Don Rodrigo, ii. 150,
note
Canillac, Marquis de, seizes Car-
lat, i. 31
Carlat, fortress of, where Mar-
guerite of Valois was impris-
oned, i. 30
Carondelet, Abbe, Envoy of Arch-
duchesse Isabella to Louis
XIII., betrays his trust to
Richelieu, iii. 262
Castelnaudary, battle of, ii. 284
Catherine de Medicis, marries her
daughter Marguerite of Valois
to Henry of Navarre, i. 5, II ;
reasons for marriage, 7, 8 ; or-
ganises St. Bartholomew Mas-
sacre, 12; policy of, 14-18;
urges Marguerite to leave her
husband, 25
Caumartin, Louis de Febvre, Mar-
quis de, iii. 1 08, note; appointed
keeper of seals, 109 ; death of,
109
Caussin, Abbe, Confessor to Louis
XIII., pleads for dismissal of
Richelieu, iii. 361 ; is banished,
363
Chalais, Henri de Talleyrand,
Prince de, iii. 132, note; re-
veals to Richelieu a plot to take
his life, 136 ; is executed, 139
Chanteloupe, Abbe, confessor and
secret agent of Queen Marie,
iii. 266, note ; plots to seize La
Comballet, 296 ; plot fails, 297 ;
prevents Queen from being
reconciled to King, 320; ac-
cused of plotting Richelieu's
life, 324
Charles I. of England, as Prince
of Wales, visits Paris, iii. 1 10 ;
not attracted to Princesse Hen-
riette, no ; proceeds to Madrid,
ill; marriage of by proxy to
Henriette, 124; marriage cele-
brated in Westminster Abbey,
144 ; kind reception of Queen
Marie, iii. 370; sends Lord
Jermyn to Louis XIII., 380;
mission fails and he recalls his
ambassadors, 384
Chateauneuf, Charles de PAube-
spine, Marquis de, ii. 93, and
note ; appointed in command of
army of Italy, iii. 212
Chatre, Claude de la, i. 345, note ;
commands army against Philip
of Orange, ii. 68, and note
Chavigny, Leon Bouthillier,
Comte de, iii. 333, note
Chevreuse, Duchesse de (formerly
Duchesse de Luynes), iii. 98 ;
exiled from Court, 142 ; again
exiled, 312
Christine, of France, birth of, i.
321 ; betrothed to Charles I. of
England, ii. 210; marriage ar-
ranged with Prince of Pied-
mont, iii. 6; solemnised, 33
Clement VIII., agrees to divorce
of Queen Marguerite from
Henri IV., i. 44-48; death of
297, and note; 342, note
Cleves, Catherine, wife of Henri
de Guise, i. 6, and note
Cinq-Mars, Henri Coiffier, Mar-
quis de, advanced by Richelieu,
iii. 405, and note; influence
with Louis XIII., 406 ; friend-
ship with de Thou, 410; his
conspiracy, 411-418 ; arrest and
execution, 419
Cceuvres, Marquis de, i. 406,
note ; negotiates treaty between
Concini and the Princes, ii.
135 ; sent to Italy to negotiate
Mantuan treaty, 210 ; and again
to Due de Vendome, 235
Index
411
Coligny, Admiral de, i. 8, ii,
14
Comans, Anne de, predicts death
of Henri IV., i. 426 ; is im-
prisoned for life, ii. 14
Comballet, La, niece of Riche-
lieu, plot to seize her fails, iii.
296-298
Concini, Concino, i. 114, note;
marriage with Leonora Galigai,
II 5> growing influence of,
369 ; governor of Bourg-en-
Bresse, but appointment can-
celled, ii. 32; ambition of, 55 ;
made Marquis d'Ancre, 55 ;
Governor of Peronne, Roye
and Montdidier, 56 ; facility for
intrigues, 57 ; First Lord of the
Bedchamber, 57 ; Councillor of
State, 63; increasing influence
and power, 93; Governor of
Amiens, 1 1 6 ; intrigues with the
Princes and Nobles, 125-136;
overbearing conduct of and
quarrels with his wife, 151;
constant intrigues, 155-160,
174-176 ; withdraws to Amiens,
204 ; rouses Queen Marie's
anger, 206 ; reconciliation ef-
fected and marriage arranged
between his daughter and Mar-
quis de Villeroy, 207 ; made
Marshal, 219; fresh intrigues,
261 ; proposed for command of
troops, 264 ; command revoked,
266 ; retires in anger to Amiens,
266; predictions of Luminelli,
278-81 ; quarrel with Picard,
288; effects disgrace of Eper-
non, 290 ; in danger of assassi-
nation, 300 ; intrigues against
the Princes, 301 ; anxious to re-
turn to Italy, 302 ; death of his
daughter, 303 ; house sacked
and burnt, 317 ; favours Riche-
lieu, 327, 328 ; urges his wife
to leave France with him, 338;
arrested and assassinated, 360 ;
body dishonoured, 378; prop-
erty given to de Luynes, 379
Conde, Henri de Bourbon, Prince
de, i. 13 and note
Conde, Prince de, forced to marry
Charlotte de Montpensier, i.
401 ; resents the King's atten-
tions to his wife, who thereupon
revokes the grants made to
him, 402; sends his wife to
Saint Valery, 403 ; and thence
to Breteuil, 403; and to Low
Countries, 405 ; forbidden by
Archduke to stay in Low Coun-
tries, but allowed safe passage
to Cologne, 410; leaves his wife
at Brussels, 410; Archduke re-
scinds the order, 411; returns
to Brussels, which he leaves for
Milan, 413 ; plot to aid his wife
to escape fails, 415-417 ; sends
condolences to Queen Marie on
death of Henri IV., ii. 18; is
invited to return to court, 25 ;
returns, 33-38 ; munificence of
Queen Marie to him, 42 ; grow-
ing dissatisfaction, 63-65 ;
makes terms with Queen Marie,
73 ; cabals with other nobles
and leaves Paris, 127-132; re-
turns at solicitation of Queen,
135 ; but leaves again, 137 ;
disaffection, 222 ; assembles his
friends, 228 ; issues a manifesto,
229 ; seizes Mezieres and other
places, 231 ; evacuates Vitry
on approach of Royal troops,
231 ; reconciliation effected,
232; fresh intrigues, endeav-
ours to seize Poitiers, 235 ; but
is prevented by the Bishop,
236-240 ; his popularity, 262 ;
refuses to accompany King to
Guienne, 264; marches on Paris,
269; conference of Loudun,
275, 284 ; illness of, 285 ; signs
treaty of pacification, returns
to Paris, his popularity, 297 ;
412
Index
forbids assassination of Concini,
300; his growing ambition,
304 ; is arrested, 311; and im-
prisoned in Bastille, 3x2; his
wife pleads to share his captiv-
ity, 391, ; and is allowed to do
so, 396 ; removed to Vincennes,
396 ; offers to marry his sister
Eleonore to de Luynes' brother
as price of his release, iii. 53;
liberated and all his honours
restored, 60 ; ambition of, 99 ;
Lieutenant-General of Royal
army, loo; leaves for Italy,
104; invited to return, 112;
but declines, 113; Governor of
Burgundy, 267.
Conde, Princesse de (see Char-
lotte de Montpensier) her mar-
riage, i. 401 ; pursued by
Henri IV., removed by her
husband to Flanders, 403-405 ;
welcomed by Philip of Orange
and his wife, 410; allowed to
remain in Brussels, 410; her
plan to escape foiled, 415-417 ;
complains of her detention,
421 ; subsequent loyalty to her
husband, ii. 38 ; shares his im-
prisonment, 395 ; implores the
life of her brother the Due de
Montmorency, iii. 292
Conti, Prince de, marries Demoi-
selle de Guise, i. 300; death,
ii. 241
Conti, Princesse de, banished by
Richelieu to Eu and dies, iii.
247
Cotton, Pierre, confessor to Henri
IV. and Louis XIII., ii. 40,
note
Crequy, Marquis de, created
Duke, ii. 314; placed in charge
of army in Italy, iii. 178
D
Deux Fonts, Jean Henri, Due de,
i. 194, note
Duperron, Jaques Davy, i. 45
Dupin, M., Secretary to Henri
IV., dismissed at request of
Queen Marguerite, i. 23, 24
Duras, Madame de, attendant on
Queen Marguerite, i. 27; ex-
tortions of, 29
Eageant, M. d', ii. 336, note
Edict of Nantes, effects of, i. 33
ElbSne, Alexander Comte d', i.
407
Elbceuf, Charles de Lorraine, Due
d', ii. 77, note ; marriage with
Mdlle. de VendSme, iii. 33;
property confiscated to crown
by Righelieu, 267
Elizabeth, of Austria, widow of
Charles IX. of France, gener-
osity of Queen Marguerite to, i.
32
Elizabeth of England, Queen, i.
8 ; death of, 195
Elizabeth of France, birth of, i.
1 86, and note; betrothed to
Prince of Spain, ii. 170; mar-
ried to him by proxy, 27 1 ;
marriage contemplated with
Prince of Wales, iii. no
Entragues, Comte d', sent by
Henri IV. to Marquise de Ver-
neuil, i. 254; delivers up a
copy of the original promise,
256; attempts to seize Henri
IV., 258; plots to place Henri
de Bourbon on the throne, 259-
263 ; is arrested and imprisoned,
267 ; original promise discov-
ered, 268; sentenced to death,
291 ; King commutes sentence
to imprisonment, 292
Entragues, Catherine Henriette
d', i. 53, note (see Verneuil)
Epernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret
de Valette, Due d', intrigues
against Henri IV., i. 149, and
Index
note ; the revolt of Metz, 191-
194; suspected of complicity
in murder of King, ii. n, 12;
regal state and arrogance of,
102-104; proceeds to his es-
tate, 109; recalled to Paris,
139; increasing influence over
Queen Marie, 155 ; First Lord
of the Bedchamber, 225 ; acci-
dent to, 276 ; disgrace of, 277 ;
hostility to de Luynes, iii. 7 ;
sides with Queen Marie, 15;
heads an army for deliverance
of the Queen, 32; escorts her
to AngoulSme, 33 ; extrava-
gance of his hospitality, 44 ;
escorts Queen Marie to Paris,
50; submits to Louis XIII.
and is pardoned, 83 ; governor
of Guienne, 102 ; pleads for life
of Montmorency, 292
Essarts, Mademoiselle des, a mis-
tress of Henri IV. created
Comtesse de Romorantin (which
see), i. 362
Estrees, Gabrielle d', Duchesse de
Beaufort, i. 33, note; Henri
IV. proposes to make her
Queen, 42 ; death of, 48, 49
Estrees, Juliette Hippolyte d' t
Duchesse de Villars, endeavours
to captivate Henri IV., i. 131
(see Villars)
Fabbroni, Luc, Vicomte de, as-
trologer in suite of Queen
Marie, iii. 341 ; appointed min-
ister to Rome, 354; requested
by the Pope to leave, 356
Fargis, Comtesse du, i. 445 ; ap-
pointed lady of honour to
Queen Anne, iii. 186; is ban-
ished by Richelieu, 246
Feria, Lorenzo, Duque de, ii. 47,
note; ambassador from Philip
of Spain, 48
Ferrieres, Abbey of, i. 27
Fervaques, Comte de, i. 445, note
Fervaques, Guillaume de Hau-
temer, Comte de, i. 346, note ;
death of, ii. 211
Fiesque, Comte de, Equerry to
Queen Anne, ii. 377
Force, Due de la, i. 407, note
Fontenelles, Baron de, i. 177,
note; executed for conspiracy,
i. 178
Frontenac de, M., i. 51, note
Galigai, Leonora Dori, i. 109,
note; intrigues with de Ver-
neuil, ill; mistress of the Robes,
112; secures reception by
Queen Marie of de Verneuil,
1 12 ; in love with Concini, 1 14 ;
bargains with de Verneuil to
obtain King's consent to her
marriage with Concini, 115;
devotion to Queen Marie, 146,
147; Marquise d' Ancre, ii.
55; her appearance, 147, 148;
her quarrels with her husband,
151; her estrangement from
the Queen, 211 ; her reconcili-
ation,2i6; melancholia of, 328 ;
prepares to return to Italy,
343 ; husband assassinated,
360; arrested and imprisoned,
372; fortitude in imprison-
ment, 374; her neglect and
destitution, 392 ; trial of, 396 ;
sentenced, 398 ; beheaded, 400
Galigai, Stefano, Abbot of Mar-
moutier, ii. 31, and note
Gast, du, warns King against
Marguerite, i. 6
Gaston, Due d'Anjou, succeeds
to title of Due d'Orleans on his
brother's death, ii. 124; char-
acter of, 129, 130; marriage
with Mdlle. de Montpensier
forbidden by King and then
sanctioned, 129; his refusal to
marry her, 131; conspires
against Richelieu, 135-137;
Index
marriage with Mdlle. de Mont-
pensier, 141 ; shameful char-
acter of, 155 ; birth of a daugh-
ter, 156; death of his wife,
156; deprived of command of
the army, 158 ; admiration for
Marie de Gonzaga, 160 ; ap-
pointed in command of army
against Austria, 169 ; command
superseded by King, 171; re-
turns to Paris, anger at im-
prisonment of Marie de Gon-
zaga, 172; insists on her re-
lease, 173 ; goes to Lorraine,
182; agrees to return to Court,
184; complains of Richelieu's
arrogance, 200 ; affronts Rich-
elieu, 20 1 ; bought over by
Richelieu, 215; insults Riche-
lieu again, 228; retires to Or-
leans, 230; appeals to Parlia-
ment, 252 ; proposed marriage
to Princesse Marguerite of
Savoy, 260 ; whom he marries,
270 ; hospitably received by
Archduchess Isabella, 275 ;
leaves Brussels to head troops,
281 ; defeat of Castelnaudary,
285 ; signs treaty with Louis
XIII., 288; which he breaks
and returns to Brussels, 300-
303 ; formally announces his
marriage, 312; meets his wife
on her escape, 315; fresh rec-
onciliation with Louis XIII.
but refuses to annul his mar-
riage, 323 ; forbids his wife to
see Queen Marie, 325 ; accepts
terms offered by Louis XIII.,
331 ; public celebration of his
marriage, 344; forms treaty
with Spain, 347 ; fresh recon-
ciliation with Louis XIII., 349;
arrest and death of Puylaurens,
353.3545 neglect of his wife,
360 ; conspires with Cinq-
Mars, 411-418; renews his
submission to the King
on execution of Cinq-Mars,
419
Gaston, Henri (son of Marquise
de Verneuil) afterwards Due
de Verneuil, i. 124, note
Gevres, Louis Potier de, i. 256,
note ; death of, 407, note
Giurey, Anne d'Anglure, Comte
de, i. 300, note
Gondy, Henri, Archbishop of
Paris, iii. 52, note
Gondy, Jerome de, i. 100, note
Gondy, Pierre de, Bishop of Lan-
gres, i. 96, note ; ii. 167, note
Gonzaga, Louis, Cardinal de, ii.
121, note
Gonzaga, Marie de (daughter of
Charles, Duke of Mantua), iii.
160; imprisoned by order of
Queen Marie, but released on
remonstrance of Gaston, 172
Goujon, Jean, architect, ii. 387,
note
Gregory XIII., Pope, i. 8
Guercheville, Marquise de, i. 438,
note
Guiche, Diane, Comtesse de, i.
Guise, Charles de Lorraine, Due
de, i. 183, note ; wounds Bas-
sompierre in tilt, 296; marries
Duchesse de Montpensier, ii.
95 ; Lieut.-General, 274
Guise, Henri de Lorraine, Cardi-
nal-Archbishop of Rheims, i.
362, note; marries Mdlle. des
Essarts, 362 ; sides with Queen
Marie, iii. 15
Guise, Henri de Lorraine, Due
de, i. 5, and note ; gives written
promise to Marquise de Ver-
neuil to marry her, i. 386 ; who
claims its fulfilment, ii. 49 ; but
foregoes it, 52; he kills Baron
de Luz, 180; is pardoned, 184;
kills the son of Baron de Luz,
198; death of, 199
Guise, Louise Marguerite de Lor-
Index
415
raine, Demoiselle de, marries
Prince de Conti, i. 300
H
Harlay, Achilla de, i. 286, note ;
President of Parliament, sup-
ports the Queen as Regent,
8-12; endeavours to investi-
gate reasons for Ravaillac's
act, 12, 13
Hautefort, Mdlle. de, intimacy
with Louis XIII., 187, 216
Henriette Maria, birth of, i. 406,
415, note ; baptism of, ii. 233;
her marriage by proxy to
Charles I. of England, iii. 125 ;
departure for England, 126;
marriage at Westminster, 144 ;
loyalty to her mother, Queen
Marie, 370-384
Henri III., King of France, suc-
ceeds Charles IV., i. 17; an-
ger against Marguerite of
Valois, 18; has her strictly
confined, 19; releases her at
intercession of Due d'Alencon,
19; makes her sign confession
of misdoings, 27 ; has her
seized and imprisoned, 30
Henri IV., marriage to Mar-
guerite of Valois, i. 5, ii;
reasons for marriage, 7, 8, 9 ;
massacre of St. Bartholomew,
13; recantation of Protestant-
ism, 13; leaves Court of Henry
III., 18; extravagance of, 21;
Court at Pau and Nerac, 22;
dismisses his Secretary, Dupin,
24; separates from his wife,
28 ; excommunicated by Sixtus
V., 29 ; King of France, 32 ;
becomes a Roman Catholic
again, 32 ; visits Brittany, 35 ;
consults de Sully as to his re-
marriage, 36-44; proposes to
make Gabrielle d'Estrees his
Queen, 42; opposed by de
Sully, 42-44; grief at Gabri-
elle's death, 50; makes Henri-
ette d'Entragues his mistress,
53-66; betrothed to Marie de
Medicis, 72; signs treaty with
Due de Savoie, 7 1 ; advances
on Lyons, 73; affection
for Henriette d'Entragues,
whom he had created Marquise
de Verneuil, in her illness,
74-76 ; entry into Lyons, 75 ;
marches into Savoy, seizes
Chambery and other fortresses,
77 ; besieges Fort St. Cather-
ine, 78; hears of the landing
of Marie de Medicis 78; de-
spatches de Rambure to greet
her, 91; reaches Lyons, meets
Marie, 94; celebration of the
marriage, 96, 97; leaves his
Queen for de Verneuil, 98 ;
meets the Queen on her arrival
at Nemours, 99; brilliancy of
new Court, 104-106; his reck-
less gambling, 107-110; ap-
points Leonora Mistress of
Robes on condition of de Ver-
neuil being received by Queen,
112; assigns to de Verneuil suite
of rooms in the Louvre, na;
forbids marriage of Leonora
with Concini, 115; birth of
Louis XIII. ; birth of Gaston
Henri, son of de Verneuil, 124 ;
is shown correspondence be-
tween de Verneuil and de Join-
ville, 136; his anger, 137;
affects to believe it a forgery,
140 ; banishes Duchesse de
Villars and Prince de Joinville,
140; caprice for Mdlle. de
Sourdis, 143 ; summons de
Sully to appease anger of
Queen, 143; pardons de
Biron for his conspiracy, 156;
vainly pleads with de Biron to
acknowledge his guilt, 162;
sentences him to death, 173;
416
Index
pardons other members of the
conspiracy, 181 ; birth of
Elizabeth of France, 186;
birth of Gabrielle-Angelique,
190 ; the revolt of Metz, 192 ;
marches on Metz, 193; rees-
tablishes his authority, 194;
illness at Fontainebleau, 197 ;
gives grant of tax on cloth to
de Soissons, 202; revokes it,
203 ; visits de Sully at Rosny,
2ii; forbids de Soissons to
leave Paris, 214; has Alexan-
dre-Monsieur received into or-
der of the Knights of Malta,
215-218; grief at death of
Duchesse de Bar, 219; con-
spiracy of de Verneuil, 263;
arrests de Verneuil and fellow-
conspirators, 267; embellishes
Paris, 282 ; commutes sentences
on de Verneuil conspirators,
291 ; present at marriage of
de Sully's daughter, 293; in-
sists on formal acquittal of de
Verneuil, 299; welcomes Ex-
Queen Marguerite to Paris,
303 ; attempted assassination
by a madman, 310; birth of
Christine de France, 321 ; sets
out to besiege Sedan, 328 ;
Duke de Bouillon submits,
328 ; he returns to Paris, 329 ;
' accident at Neuilly, 335 ; re-
news intimacy with de Ver-
. neuil, 338; public christening
of Dauphin and the Princesses,
341-348; angered at infidelity
of Madame de Moret, 356 ;
orders Prince de Joinville to
warn her, 357 ; birth of An-
toine de Bourbon, 360; birth
of Duke of Orleans, 362 ; an-
noyed at growing influence of
Concini, 373; commissions de
Sully to remonstrate with
Queen, 374 ; his reckless gam-
bling, 379, 385 ; birth of Gas-
ton, Due d'Anjou, 380, note;
embellishes Paris and Fontaine-
bleau, 384; fascinated by
Charlotte de Montpensier, 389 ;
forbids her marriage to Bas-
sompierre, 390; forces her to
marry Prince de Conde, 401;
resents her husband's vigilance,
402; pursues the Comtesse,
403-405 ; birth of Henriette
Maria, 405 ; advises with his
Ministers on receipt of news
of arrival of Princesse de Conde
in Flanders, 407 ; orders re-
turn of the fugitives, 409 ; plots
to aid the Princesse to escape,
415; her evasion frustrated,
418; prepares to go to war in
consequence, 420; desires the
Queen to be crowned, 422 ;
warned against plot against his
life, 425-430; coronation of
Queen Marie, 433-441 ; warned
anew, 446 ; stabbed by Ravail-
lac, 449; body embalmed, 452;
buried, 456, 457
Henry, Prince of Wales, death
of, ii. 210
Holland, Lord, Ambassador to
Court of France, iii. no, 124.
Huguenots, General Assembly
of, ii. 115
Isabella, Archduchess, welcomes
Queen Marie and shows her
hospitality, iii. 260 ; pleads for
her with Louis XIII., 262;
receives Gaston, 275; death
of, 33
Ivetaux, Vauquelin des, precep-
tor to Louis XIII., ii. 247
J
James I., of England, friendship
of, to Queen Marie, ii. 46, 47 .
sends Garter to Louis XIII.'
Index
417
46; betroths Charles, Prince
of Wales, to Princess Christine,
210; offer to mediate between
Queen-Regent and the disaf-
fected nobles accepted, 274;
conference arranged for at
Loudun, 275 ; sends embassy
to Paris to effect marriage of
Charles with Princesse Chris-
tine, 297 ; sends Lord Holland
to Paris to effect marriage of
Charles with Madame Eliza-
beth, iii. 1 10; abandons alliance
with Spain and agrees to mar-
riage of Princesse Henriette
with Prince Charles, 113;
death of, 124
Jars, Chevalier de, executed, iii.
312
Jeannin, Pierre, i. 160, note ; per-
suades de Biron to return to
Fontainebleau, 161 ; induces
de Verneuil to forego her
claims on Due de Guise to
marry her, ii. 51,52; negoti-
ates with insurgent nobles, 231 ;
death of, 107
Jermyn, Lord, Ambassador of
Charles I. to Louis XIII., iii.
380-383
Joinville, Claude de Lorraine,
Prince de, i. 132, note ; deliv-
ers up to Duchesse de Villars
his correspondence with de
Verneuil, 132-134; which is
shown to the King, 136; im-
plores pardon of de Verneuil,
138; banished to Hungary,
140 ; corresponds with Spanish
Court, 182; is pardoned, 183;
but kept in prison for a while,
184; in love for Madame de
Moret, 356; ordered by the
King to marry her, 357 ; re-
fuses and escapes from Paris,
359 ; assumes title of Due de
Joyeuse (which see), iii. 98
Joyeuse, Anne, Due de, favour-
ite of Henry III., i. 26,
note
Joyeuse, Claude, Due de (for-
merly Prince de Joinville,
which see), marries Duchesse
de Luynes, iii. 98
Joyeuse, Francois de, i. 96,
note; sponsor of Gaston, Due
d'Anjou, ii. 233
Juliers, capitulation of, ii. 68
La Fin, Jacques de Lanode, Sieur
de, confidential friend of de
Biron, whom he betrays, i. 158,
and note ; 161 ; is pardoned
by King, 175
La Rochelle, surrender of, iii.
162
Laval, Guy Comte de, i. 293,
note
Lavardin, Marquis de, i. 346,
note
Le Fevre, Nicolas, preceptor to
Louis XIIL,ii. 248
Leo XL, accession of, i. 297 ;
death of, 298, 342, note
Lesdiguieres, Francois de, i. 442,
note ; recalled to Paris, ii. 129 ;
assents to marriage of Louis
XIII. with Anne of Austria,
138; finally refused Dukedom
and sides with the Princes, 155 ;
made Marshal, iii. 87 ; abjures
his faith and made Connetable,
IO2 ; created Duke, 105 ; death
of, 153
Leuville, Marquis de, imprisoned
in Bastille, iii. 312
Leyre, Jean, a Spanish spy, i.
222; desiring to return to
France, reveals treachery of L*
Hote, 224
L'Hote, Nicolas, turns traitor, i.
223 ; arrested, 229 ; escapes
and is drowned, 230
Liancourt, Nicolas du Plessis,
4i8
Index
Comte de, Governor of Paris,
i. 345, note; ii. 317
Lomenie, Antoine de Brienne de,
i. 225, note; discovers plot to
place Henri de Bourbon on the
throne, 262 ; discovers original
promise of Henri IV. to de
Verneuil and the treasonable
correspondence, 269
Lorraine, Charles, Duke of, es-
pouses side of Queen Marie,
iii. 266 ; on menace of Louis
XIII. withdraws his army,
268 ; signs treaty with Riche-
lieu, 272
Lorraine, Charles, Cardinal de, i.
365, note
Lorraine, Louise Marguerite de,
widow of Henri III., i. 56,
note
Loudun, conference of, ii. 275,
284
Louis XIII., birth of, i. 117;
horoscope of, 123; public en-
try into Paris, 125 ; his first
Bed of Justice, ii. 14; gives
official sanction to Regency of
his mother, 15 ; character of,
29, 30 ; presented with order of
Garter, 46; youthful conduct,
55,75,76; crowned at Rheims,
76; returns to Paris, 77; mar-
riage arranged between him
and Infanta of Spain, 141; his
amusements, 147 ; his majority,
243, 244; his disposition, 247,
248 ; married by proxy to Anne
of Austria, 271; married in
person to her, 272; returns to
Paris, 288; occupations of,
295 ; growing dependence on
De Luynes, 332 ; influenced
by him against Concini, 339 ;
orders arrest of Concini and
sanctions his assassination, 354 ;
orders Queen Marie to be de-
tained in her apartments, 362;
formal parting with his mother,
386-390 ; arranges for marriage
of Princesse Christine to Prince
of Piedmont, iii. 6 ; their mar-
riage, 33 ; dismay at Queen
Marie's escape, 33 ; sends Be-
thune and Berulle to negotiate
with the Queen, 35 ; and also
Archbishop of Sens, 36, 41 ;
sends an army under Schom-
berg against the Queen's forces,
36-39; recalls Richelieu, 36,
39 ; and sends him as Envoy
to Queen Marie, 40; treaty
with the Queen signed, 41 ;
refuses to receive de Brienne as
Envoy, 41 ; public reconcilia-
tion with the Queen, 56; lib-
erates Conde and restores him
all his honours, 60 ; makes de
Luynes Governor of Picardy,
6 1 ; creates new Chevaliers of
the Order of the Holy Ghost,
64 ; heads army against Queen
Marie's faction, 73 ; her troops
defeated, 79 ; and new treaty
made with her, 80 ; campaign
against the Protestants, 87;
cruelties against them, 91 ; re-
turns to Paris, 94; admits
Queen Marie to the Council,
95 ; leaves for Orleans for cam-
paign against the Protestants,
100 ; signs Edict of Pacifica-
tion, 105 ; entry into Lyons,
105 ; invites Conde to return,
H2; dismisses Vieuville, 116;
arrests Vieuville, 118; forbids
Gaston to marry Mdlle. de
Montpensier, 122; marriage by
proxy of Henrietta to King
Charles I., 124 ; sanctions mar-
riage of Gaston to Mdlle. de
Montpensier, 129; arrests d'
Ornano, 132; marriage of Gas-
ton to Mdlle. de Montpensier,
142 ; joins the army at La Ro-
Index
419
chelle, 157 ; Buckingham com-
pelled to retreat and to reim-
bark, 158; deprives Duke of
Orleans of command of army
and bestows it on Richelieu,
158; returns to Paris, 160;
surrender of La Rochelle, 162 ;
appoints Gaston in command of
army against Austria, 169;
which he revokes by heading
army himself, 170; declares
Queen Marie Regent of all
France west of the Loire, 173 ;
relief of Casal, 175; makes
Richelieu Prime Minister, 177 ;
jealous of Military success of
Bassompierre, 177 ; returns to
Paris, 178; declares war
against Savoy and makes Rich-
elieu Lieut.-General of the
army, 184; intimacy with
Mdlle. de Hautefort, 187; ar-
rival at Lyons, 193 ; illness of,
196; during which he pledges
himself to dismiss Richelieu,
197 ; returns to Paris, 198; re-
fuses to dismiss Richelieu, 203-
215 ; appoints Marillac in com-
mand of the army, 209 ; tri-
umph of Richelieu, 212; re-
calls Marillac, 212; jeal-
ous of his brother, 216; influ-
ence of Mdlle. de Hautefort,
216; banishes Queen Marie to
Compiegne, 247 ; publishes
manifesto against Gaston and
Queen Marie and proclaims all
their adherents guilty of Use
majestt, 263; creates Richelieu
a Duke, 264 ; marches on Lor-
raine, 267 ; victory of Castel-
naudary, 285 ; signs treaty
with Gaston, 288 ; orders exe-
cution of Montmorency, 294 ;
on proclamation of Gaston's
marriage marches on Lorraine
and takes Nancy, 313, 323 ;
flight of Princesse Marguerite,
313; refuses to send her physi-
cian to Queen Marie, 316;
offers terms of reconciliation to
the Queen which are refused,
320; fresh reconciliation with
Gaston, 349 ; influence of Cinq-
Mars, 406-410 ; conspiracy and
execution of Cinq-Mars, 410-
419; death of Queen Marie,
422 ; and her funeral, 424
Louis XIV., birth of, iii. 386
Lude, Comte de, negotiations of
with Catherine d'Entragues, i.
55-60; is commissioned by
King to acquaint de Verneuil
of his possession of her corre-
spondence with de Joinville,
137. 138
Ludovici, Vincenzio, Secretary to
Concini and later to Rucellal,
iii. 13
Luminelli, Georgio, the astrolo-
ger, ii. 277 ; his predictions to
Concini, 278-281
Luynes, Albert de, endeavours to
set the King against Queen
Marie, ii. 199-203 ; character
of, 250257 ; growing influence
of, 232-336 ; intrigues against
Concini, 337-360 ; has Concini
assassinated, 360; marriage of
with Marie de Montbazon, 402 ;
policy of, 403 ; Lieut.-General
of Normandy, 404 ; intrigues
against Queen Marie, iii. 4-26 ;
hostility against Due de Rohan,
7 ; sends Abbe Arnoux to the
Queen to induce her to submit,
21 ; seventy against his ene-
mies, 24-26 ; dismay at Queen
Marie's escape, 33; recalls
Richelieu, 36, 39 ; created
Duke, 52 ; Conde offers him
hand of his sister for his broth-
er in exchange of his liberty,
53; liberates Conde, 60 ; Gov-
ernor of Picardy, 61 ; honours
to his brothers, 62 ; Archduke
420
Index
Albert, offers the hand of the
heiress of Piquigny for his
brother Cadenet, 62 ; he and
his brothers made Chevaliers of
the Holy Ghost, 64 ; allies him-
self with Richelieu, 76; created
Connetable of France, 86;
heads army against Protes-
tants, 88; his cruelties, 90;
death of, 91
Luynes, Duchesse de (widow of
Charles, Due de Luynes) at-
taches herself to Queen Anne,
iii. 96 ; is exiled, 97 ; marries
Due de Joyeuse and returns to
Court, becomes Duchesse de
Chevreuse, 98, 106 (which see)
Luxembourg- Piney, Henri Due
de, ii. 1 66, note
Luz, Edme de Malain, Baron de,
conspires with de Biron against
Henri IV-, i. 158, and note; is
pardoned, 175 ; killed by de
Guise, ii. 180; his son attacks
de Guise, and is also killed by
him, 198
M
Mademoiselle, La Grande, daugh-
ter of Gaston, Duke of Orleans,
iii. 156
Maisse, Andr6 Hurault de, i. 255,
note
Mangot, Claude, appointed Secre-
tary of State, ii. 291 ; Keeper
of the Seals, 327
Mantua, Charles, Duke of (for-
merly Due de Nevers), iii.
1 60, note
Mantuan succession and treaty,
ii. 209, 210
Marguerite of Lorraine, Princesse,
proposed marriage to Gaston
Due d'Orleans, iii. 266 ; mar-
riage solemnised, 270; ro-
mantic escape, 313; reaches
Brussels, 315; pleads for dis-
missal of Puylaurens, 325 ; ne-
glected by her husband, 360
Marguerite of Valois, marriage
to Henry of Navarre, i. 5, n ;
her character, 6; her piety
and licentiousness, 7 ; her share
in massacre of St. Bartholomew,
13 ; loyalty to husband and
brother, 14 ; betrays conspir-
acy of her brother, 17; perse-
cuted by Henri III., 18, 19;
closely confined by orders of
Henri III., 19; is liberated, 20;
rejoins her husband, 20; her
Court at Nerac, 21 ; its licen-
tiousness, 22; insists on dis-
missal of Dupin, 24 ; leaves her
husband, returns to Paris, 25 ;
intrigues against the King, 25 ;
ordered to leave the Court,
26 ; signs a confession of her
wrong-doings, 27 ; returns to
Nerac, 28 ; retires to Agen, 29 ;
Agen seized, 29; flees from
Agen, 30; seeks refuge at
Carlat, 30; flees from Carlat,
31; is arrested and im-
prisoned at Usson, 31;
escapes from Usson, 31 ;
divorce from her considered by
Henri IV., 36-44; proposed to
her by de Sully, 45-47; she
consents to it, 48, 49 ; petitions
Clement VII. for it, 49 ; who
grants it, 50; visits Paris,
303 ; welcomed by the King
and Queen, 304 ; assassination
of Saint- Julien, 307; Courts
decide in her favour as heir to
certain estates of Queen Cath-
erine, 331 ; which she donates
to the Dauphin, 332 ; libertinism
and piety, 372 ; entertainment
at Issy, ii. 34
Marillac, Louis de, iii. 158, note ;
put in command of army of
Italy, 209; recalled, 212;
executed, 280
Index
421
Marillac, Michel, Superintendent
of Finances, iii 118, and note ;
death of, 280.
Mayenne, Charles de Lorraine,
Due de, i. 179, note ; offers his
services to Queen Marie, ii.
60 ; advises retrenchment, 61 ;
death of, 121
Mayenne, Henri de Lorraine,
Due de, sent to ask the hand of
the Infanta for Louis XIII., ii.
141, and note; sets out for
Madrid, 167 ; cordial reception
at Madrid, 170; joins the
insurgent nobles, 300-379 ; is
pardoned, 379
Mazarin, Jules, iii. 195, note;
made nuncio-extraordinary,
hands letters from Queen Marie
to Richelieu, 354
Medicis, Marie de, parentage of,
suggested as a wife for Henri
IV., i. 39, and note ; 64; con-
tract of marriage signed, 65, 72 ;
formal betrothal, 72 ; arrives at
Marseilles, 78 ; marriage by
proxy and festivities at Flor-
ence, 81-83; appearance and
character, 83 ; reaches Livorno,
83; Malta, 84; Toulon, 84;
Marseilles, 84; Lyons, 92;
meets Henri IV., 94 ; marriage
solemnised, 96, 97 ; deserted
by the King for his mistress,
98; reaches Nemours and
Fontainebleau, 99; entry into
Paris, 100 ; insulted by presen-
tation of Marquise de Verneuil,
101 ; resides in house of Zamet,
103 ; brilliancy of the new
Court at the Louvre, 103-106 ;
refuses to confirm Madame de
Richelieu as Mistress of the
Robes, 1 10 ; insists on Leonora
Galigai being appointed, 1 1 1 ;
receives de Verneuil to obtain
this appointment, 1 12 ; humili-
ated by King's infidelity, 113 ;
consents to marriage of
Leonora with Concini, 115;
birth of Dauphin (Louis XIII.),
118; joins in intrigues against
de Verneuil, 142 ; birth of
Elizabeth de France, 186; wel-
comes ex-Queen Marguerite,
303; birth of Christine de
France, 321 ; accident at
Neuilly, 335 ; jealousy at
King's renewed intimacy with
de Verneuil, 338 ; public
christening of the Dauphin and
the Princesses, 341-348; birth
of Due d'Orleans, 362; anger
at King's libertinism, writes a
letter of remonstrance to him,
which is modified by advice of
de Sully, 374-377 > birth of
Gaston Due d'Anjou, 380;
birth of Henrietta Maria, 405 ;
begs Philip III. of Spain to
cause Archduke to rescind
order to de Conde not to re-
main in Flanders, 410, 411;
her request granted, 412; foils
the attempt of Princesse de
Conde to escape, 415-417 ; is
crowned Queen, 433-441 ;
assassination of Henry IV.,
45 1 ; acknowledged as regent,
ii. 7-9 ; refuses to investigate
reasons for King's murder,
10-14 ; receives de Sully, 18 ;
invites de Soissons to return to
Paris, 18; attempts to conciliate
Princes and nobles by gifts and
grants, 20 ; invites de Conde to
return, 25 ; forms a council,
25-29 ; bestows Abbey of
Marmoutier on Stefano Galigai,
31 ; suspected of complicity in
her husband's death, 33-35 ;
munificence to Conde, 42;
enormous sums given to
nobles to conciliate them, 43-
46; renews all the foreign
alliances, 46 ; opposes claim of
422
Index
de Verneuil to hand of de
Guise, 50-52; completes build-
ings begun by Henri IV., 59 ;
declines to accept resignation
of de Sully, 65 ; advocates con-
tinuance of war against Philip
of Orange, 67 ; capitulation of
Juliers, 68 ; extravagant de-
mands of nobles, 70-73 ; makes
terms with de Conde, 73 ;
Huguenots petition to hold
their assembly, 80 ; accepts
resignation of de Sully, 92;
consents to marriage of Comte
d'Enghien and Mdlle. de
Montpensier, 100 ; dissensions
of the nobles, 102-105 ; tempo-
rary resentment against the
Concini, 1 18, 1 19 ; remits taxes,
120; death of the young Due
d'Orleans, 123; refuses Duchy
d'Alencon to de Soissons, 126;
erects the Luxembourg, 129;
vainly endeavours to conciliate
de Conde and de Soissons to
the marriage of Louis XIII.
with Anne of Austria, 135-137 ;
wins over the other nobles by
large gifts and honours, 138;
sends de Bouillon as ambassa-
dor to James I. of England,
139; and Due de Mayenne to
Madrid to ask for hand of the
Infanta, 141 ; acts against de
Rohan for refusing to recognise
Mayor of St. Jean d'Angely,
164; imprisons his messengers
but finally compromises with
him, 165 ; betroths Princesse
Elizabeth to Prince of Spain,
169 ; contract of marriage be-
tween Louis XIII., and the
Infanta completed, 170; her
anger against Concini, 204 ;
reconciliation with him and
agrees to the marriage of his
daughter with Marquis de
Villeroy, 207 ; treaty with Due
de Savoie, 210; betroths
Princesse Christine to Charles,
Prince of Wales, 210; her dis-
tress at the estrangement be-
tween her and Leonora, 211-
213 ; is reconciled with her,
216; makes Concini a Marshal,
219; perplexities at renewed
disaffection of the Princes,
222; threatens to resign the
regency, 225 ; is dissuaded from
doing so, levies Swiss troops
and issues letter to the parlia-
ments, 228; replies to mani-
festo of de Conde, 229 ; appoints
Bassompierre in command of
Swiss troops, 230 ; effects rec-
onciliation with Prince de
Conde and insurgent nobles,
232; baptism of Gaston and
Henrietta, 233; goes to
Poitiers, 238; triumphant entry
in Paris, 241 ; majority of
Louis XIII., 242; journey
through Guienne, 267 ; is ill at
Poitiers and devotion of
Leonora to her effects a com-
plete reconciliation, 268 ;
reaches Angouleme and re-
joices at accession of Comte
de Saint- Pol, 270 ; reaches
Bordeaux, the double royal
marriage celebrated by proxy,
271 ; accepts offer of
James I. of England to
mediate between her and dis-
affected nobles, 274; confer-
ence at Loudun, 275 ; accident
to, 276, 284 ; treaty of pacifica-
tion signed, 286 ; return of
Court to Paris, 288; fears
popularity of de Conde, 297 ;
her appearance, 298 ; arrests
Conde, 307-312 ; explains rea-
sons of arrest to Council of
War, 319 ; her speech to the
Council, 320-325 ; refuses to
pardon de Nevers, 340 ; sug-
Index
423
gests to Leonora prudence of
returning to Italy, 343 ; Con-
cini assassinated, 360; is im-
prisoned in her apartments,
362 ; emotion on learning of
Concini's assassination, 369,
370; insolence of de Vitry,
380 ; requests permission to re-
tire to Moulins, 381 ; pleasure
at hearing Richelieu is to share
her exile, 384 ; formal parting
with the King, 386-390; goes
to Blois, iii. 4 ; firmness against
de Luynes' threats, 4-26;
deceived by Abbe Arnoux into
making a solemn promise to
submit, 23 ; escapes from Blois,
reaches Loches, 31, 32 and
Angouleme under escort of
d'Epernon, 32; meets envoys
of King but refuses to abandon
d'Epernon, 35 ; signs treaty
with Louis XIII., 41 ; extrava-
gance and display at her Court
at Angouleme, 43-45 ; refuses
to go to Paris without suitable
guarantees, 49 ; contentions
between her and Queen
Anne as to precedence, 50;
leaves for Paris, 5 1 ; public rec-
onciliation with Louis XIII. ,
55 ; visits Angers, 58 ; which
she refuses to leave, 58, 61 ; her
troops defeated, she submits
again to King, 80 ; returns to
Paris and is admitted to the
Council, 95 ; her bounty to Rich-
elieu, 108 ; rejoicings at disgrace
of Sillery and Puisieux, ill;
succeeds in getting Richelieu
made Councillor of State, 112;
his growing influence, negoti-
ates marriage of Princesse
Henrietta with Charles I., 113 ;
conspires against Vieuville,
113-116; illness of, 126;
partiality for her son Gaston,
129 ; pleads with Richelieu not
to resign, 130; joins the King
at La Rochelle, 157; appears
to oppose marriage of Gaston
with Marie de Gonzaga, 161 ;
opposes war against Austria,
167; causes imprisonment of
Marie de Gonzaga, 172 ; ap-
pointed Regent of France west
of the Loire, 173; turns against
Richelieu, 176; secures pledges
from the King that he will dis-
miss Richelieu, 197 ; coldness
to Richelieu, 201 ; dismisses
him and his relatives from her
service, 202 ; attempt to secure
his dismissal by the King fails,
203-215 ; triumph of Richelieu,
212; refuses to acknowledge
his authority, 231 ; banished to
Compiegne, 247 ; appeals to
Parliament, 252 ; escapes from
Compiegne, 256; reaches
Avesnes, 257 ; and Mons,
259 ; received by Archduchess
Isabella, 260 ; consents to
Gaston's marriage with Mar-
guerite of Lorraine, 266; ap-
peals to Philip of Spain, 269 ;
marriage of Gaston with Mar-
guerite of Lorraine, 270 ; defeat
at Castelnaudary, 285 ; deserted
by Gaston, 288 ; plots to seize La
Comballet, niece of Richelieu,
296 ; plot fails, 297 ; welcomes
Princesse Marguerite, 315 ; her
illness, 315-321; her request
for her physician denied, 316;
refuses offers of reconciliation
from the King, 320; but in-
sulted by Gaston and Puylau-
rens is ready to accept them,
324 ; asks permission to return
to France, 329 ; death of Arch-
duchess Isabella, 330 ; all her
advances refused, 330-343 ;
begs mediation of Pope, who
refuses, 354 ; appoints Fab-
broni her minister at Rome,
424
Index
354; writes to Mazarin who
gives her letters to Richelieu,
355 ; Pope requests Fabbroni
to leave, 356 ; makes a treaty
with de Soissons and Spain,
358 ; which is discovered, 360;
leaves Brussels for Holland,
365 ; is welcomed, 366 ; but by
order of Richelieu has to leave,
and sails for England, 367 ; is
well received but Bellievre the
French Ambassador is forbidden
to notice her, 370 ; by stratagem
holds an interview with him
and sends a message to
Richelieu, who refuses her re-
quests, 370-379; obliged by
Parliament to leave England,
388 ; leaves for Holland, 389 ;
sheltered by Rubens, 389, who
takes her last letter to Louis
XIII., 390; City of Antwerp
declines to give her asylum,
393; she leaves for Cologne,
where she stays in house of
Rubens, 395; her sufferings
and misery, 395-425 ; Rubens
is sent by Richelieu to Spain ;
420 ; Richelieu deprives her
of her pensions, 421 ; her death,
422 ; funeral, 424
Merargues, M. de, conspiracy of,
i. 309, and note; executed,
310
Mercceur, Duchesse de, i. 437,
note
Mercceur, Mdlle. de, i. 381, note ;
marriage to Due de Vendome,
382
Metz, revolt of, i. 191
Miron, Robert, Provost of the
Merchants, ii. 246
Monod, Abbe, intrigues with
Caussin on behalf of Queen
Marie, iii. 361 ; is imprisoned,
363
Montbarot, Rene de Marie, i.
176, note
Montbazon, Due de, i. 346
Montbazon, Marie de Rohan
marries de Luynes, ii. 402, and
note
Montespan, Hector de Pardaillan
de, i. 392, note
Montigny, Francois de la Grange
d' Anquien, Seigneur de, i.
170, note; appointed Lieut.-
Governor of Messin, 193, 345,
note ; created Marshal, 314
Montmorency, Charlotte Margue-
rite de, i. 389, note ; marriage
to Bassompierre forbidden by
the King, 390; is married to
Prince de Conde, 401 (see
Princesse de Conde)
Montmorency, Henri I. de, i. 85,
note
Montmorency, Henry II. de,
Marshal of France, iii. 215 ;
espouses side of Queen Marie,
iii. 277, and note; defeated
and made prisoner at Castel-
naudary 285 ; executed, 294
Montpensier, Henri Due de, i.
335, note (see Henri de Bour-
bon) ; death of, 369
Montpensier, Henrietta Cather-
ine, Duchesse de, i. 350; mar-
riage with Due de Guise, ii.
95
Montpensier, Mdlle. de, i. 368,
note ; marriage with Gaston for-
bidden by Louis XIII., iii. 1 22 ;
who afterwards sanctions it,
129; is solemnised 141; birth
of a daughter, and death, 156
Montsigot, Private Secretary to
Gaston, iii. 268
Moret, Antoine de Bourbon,
Comte de, birth of, i, 360
Motteville, Francoise Bertaut,
Dame de, ii. 291, note
N
Nassau, Philip of, marries Eleo-
nore de Bourbon, i. 302
Index
425
Nemours, Anne de Savoie, Duch-
esse de, i. 100, note; intro-
duces Marquise de Verneuil to
Queen Marie, 101 ; endeavours
to arouse the people on the
arrest of Conde, ii. 316
Nemours, Charles Amedee de
Savoie, Due de, i. 86
Nerac, Court of Henri of Na-
varre at, i. 21, 22, 23
Nerestan, Philibert de, i. 264,
note
Neufville, Charles de, i. 164,
note
Nevers, Catherine de Lorraine
Duchesse de, i. 350
Nevers, Charles Due de, i. 325,
note; succeeds Vincent II.
Duke of Mantua, iii. 160, note
Orange, Philip of, welcomes
Prince and Princesse de Conde,
i. 410
Orleans, Due d', birth of, i. 362 ;
death of, ii. 124
Orleans, Gaston Due d', birth of,
i. 380, note; baptism of, ii.
233 (see Anjou and Gaston)
Ornano, Alphonse d', ii. 361,
note; sent to force Queen
Marie into submission, iii. 18;
Governor of Gaston Due d'
Anjou, his influence over him
causes him to refuse to marry
Mdlle. de Montpensier, iii. 131;
arrested and banished, 132;
death of, 142
Ossat, Arnaud d', i. 45, note
Pare, Amboise, surgeon to
Charles IX., i. 15; saved by
King from St. Bartholomew's
massacre, 15, note
Pastrano, Duke of, Envoy from
Philip of Spain, ii. 169
Pau, Court of Henry of Navarre
at, i. 21, 23
Paul V., accession of, i. 298, and
note ; death of, iii. 86.
Pena, Comte de, son of Leonora
and Concini, ii. 376 ; taken by
de Fiesque to Queen Anne
who makes him dance, 377 ;
imprisoned at Nantes, 377 ;
freed and goes to Tuscany,
dies of the plague, 401
Philip III., of Spain, instructs
Archduke of Austria to offer
asylum to Prince and Princesse
de Conde in Flanders, i. 411 ;
consents to marriage of his
daughter Anne to Louis XIII.,
ii. 143; declares war against
Duke of Savoy, 406; death
of, iii. 86
Piedmont, Victor Amedee, Prince
of, marriage with Princesse
Christine arranged for, iii. 6;
marriage solemnised, 33 ; visits
Queen Marie, 44; becomes
Duke of Savoy on death of his
father (see Savoy)
Pimentello, Italian adventurer
and gambler, i. 369, 370
Piney-Luxembourg, Due de (see
Cadenet)
Plessis-Mornay, Phillippe de, i.
281, note ; elected President of
General Assembly, ii. 114
Poitiers, attempt of de Conde to
seize it defeated by the Bishop
of, ii. 235-239
Poland, Kingdom of, the Due d'
Anjou elected to, i. 17
Pont Saint-Pierre, Prince de
Roncherolles, Baron du, ii.
246, note
Praslin, Charles de Choiseul,
Marquis de, i. 165
Protestants, revolt of, iii. 87 ;
massacre of, 101 ; betrayed by
their leaders, 102 ; sign Edict
of Pacification, 105
426
Index
Puisieux-Pierre Brulart, Seigneur
de, ii. 291 ; Secretary of State,
his disgrace and dismissal, iii.
ill
Puylaurens, Antoine de, favourite
of Gaston, iii. 269, and note ;
betrays his master to Richelieu,
322 ; Duchess of Orleans begs
for his dismissal, 325 ; attempt
on his life, 347 ; marriage of
and made Duke, 350, 35 1 ; ar-
rested, 353 ; death of, 354
R
Rambouillet, ii. 117, note
Rambure, M. de, presents address
to Marie de Medicis, i. 91 ;
helps Richelieu to discover
plot of Cinq-Mars, iii. 414-419
Ravaillac, Francois, kills Henri
IV., i. 449, and note ; courage
under torture, ii. 1 1
Renaze, betrays de Biron and is
pardoned by Henri IV., i. 175
Retz, Cardinal de, death of, iii.
104
Retz, Emmanuel de Gondy, Due
de, ii. 224, note
Retz, Jean Francois Paul, de
Gondy, Cardinal of, conspiracy
of, iii. 402
Richelieu, Armand Jean du Pies-
sis, Cardinal de, ii. 258, note ;
appearance as Bishop of Lucon
at the States General of 1615,
ii. 258 ; appointed Almoner to
Queen Anne and Counsellor
of State, 297; Secretary of
State, 327; policy of, 329;
allows Concini to be assassin-
ated, 363; ordered by Louis
XIII. to leave the Court, 363 ;
shares exile of Queen Marie,
383 ; his double dealing, 384 ;
plays the spy on Queen Marie,
iii. 5; banished to Avignon,
17 ; recalled, 36, 39 ; sent as
envoy to Queen Marie, 40;
whose confidence he betrays,
40, 41; double game of, 46;
intrigues of, 65-76 ; again be-
trays Queen Marie, 75 ; allies
himself with de Luynes, 76;
made Cardinal, 107 ; bounty
of Queen Marie to him, 108 ;
made Councillor of State, 112;
and Chief of Council, 126; in-
fluence over the King, 129;
jealous of Gaston's influence,
causes arrest of his favourites,
132; his unbounded power,
134; conspiracy against him,
136; threatens to resign, 137;
concessions made by Louis
XIII. and Queen Marie to
him, 138 ; execution of de Cha-
lais, 139; accuses Queen Anne
of conspiring against King's
life, 143; commander of the
army before La Rochelle, 157 ;
which surrenders to him, 162;
insists on war against Austria,
166-170; sets off for the army,
171; relieves Casal, 175; op-
poses marriage of Gaston with
Marie Gonzaga, 175; ap-
pointed Prime Minister, 177 ;
follows King to Paris, 178;
declares war against Savoy,
184; made Lieut-General of
the army and departs for Italy,
184, 185 ; capture of Pignerol,
193; coldly received by Queen
Marie and Gaston, 201 ; is dis-
missed by Queen Marie, 202 ;
meditates flight, 208; per-
suaded by la Valette to stay,
209; triumph of, 212; bestows
honours and monies on the
nobles, 215; sows dissension
between the King and his wife,
216; overhears conversation
between Bassompierre, de
Guise and the Marillacs, 217-
225 ; forbids Queen Anne to
Index
427
hold any correspondence with
Spain, 227 ; affronted by Gas-
ton endeavours to conciliate
Queen Marie, 23 1 ; banishes
Queen Marie to Compiegne,
247 ; created a Duke, 264 ;
signs treaty with Charles, Duke
of Lorraine, 272; treaty with
Gaston, 288; plot to seize his
niece fails, 296 ; endeavours to
force Queen Marie to retire to
Florence, 307 ; vindictiveness
against her friends, 311; and
against herself, 316-320; cre-
ates dissensions between the
Queen and Gaston, 321-324;
bribes Puylaurens to his side,
322 ; rejects all terms of Queen
Marie, 330-343 ; forbids Prince
of Orange to allow Queen
Marie to remain in Holland,
367; orders French ambassa-
dor in England not to notice
the Queen, 370; and refuses
all her overtures, 371-379;
ambition to be Regent, 381;
advances Cinq-Mars, 405 ;
discovers his plot, has him ar-
rested and executed, 419;
sends Rubens to Spain, 420 ;
deprives Queen Marie of her
pensions, 421 ; the death of
Queen Marie, 422
Richelieu, Henri de, brother to
the Cardinal, killed in a duel,
iii. 41
Richelieu, Madame de, ap-
pointed mistress of the Robes
to Queen Marie, i. 109, and
note; the Queen refuses to
confirm the appointment, no,
in
Riviere, de la, i. 122, note ; casts
the horoscope of Louis XIII.,
123
Rochefort, M. de, secret agent of
Richelieu helps him to discover
plot of Cinq- Mars, iii. 416
Rochefoucauld, Francois Due de,
ii. 182, note
Roger, valet of Louis XIII., ii.
203
Rohan, Henri, Due de, marriage
of to Marguerite, daughter of
de Sully, i. 293, and note ; es-
trangement between him and
Due de Bouillon, ii. 152-163;
refuses to acknowledge mayor
of Saint- Jean d'Angely, 163 ;
his messengers imprisoned, his
mother, wife and sister ordered
to leave Paris, 164; prepares
to defend himself and St. Jean-
d'Angely, 165 ; compromise
effected and he retains govern-
ment of the town, 165 ; pre-
sides over the Assembly at
Nantes, 239; loyalty to Queen
Marie, 381 ; remains true to
his faith, iii. 103
Roissy, Jean Jacques de, Ms-
mes de, iii. 17, and note
Romorantin, Comtesse de, mar-
ries the Archbishop of Rheims,
i. 361 (see also des Essarts)
Rosetti, papal nuncio at Cologne
refuses to visit Queen Marie in
her last illness, iii. 424
Rosny, Marquis de, i. 349, note
Rouvrai, Louis de, ii. 370, note
Rubens, Peter Paul, shelters
Queen Marie, iii. 389; noble
conduct of, 390; takes the
Queen's last letter to Louis
XIII., 390; gives up his house
at Cologne to the Queen, 395
Rucellai, Abbe, sides with Queen
Marie, iii. 8 ; goes to Blois, but
returns to Paris the better to
serve her, 9 ; intrigues against
De Luynes, 9; wins over
Epernon and Bouillon to
Queen's side, 10-15; arranges
for her escape from Blois, 28-
32 ; withdraws from the Queen,
40
428
Index
Sable, Marguerite de Souvre,
Marquise de, iii. 96, note
St. Bartholomew, massacre of, i.
1 3
Saint-Geran, ii. 314 note; Cap-
tain of King's guard, 320
Saint-Germain, Abbe of, endeav-
ours to persuade Queen Marie
to be reconciled to Louis
XIII., iii. 321 ; appointed al-
moner to the Queen, 344
St. Julien, M. de, favourite of
Queen Marguerite, assassin-
ated, i. 303
St. Luc, Francois de, i. 295, note
Saint- Pol, Henri, Comte de, joins
Queen Marie's party, ii. 270,
and note
Saint Prieul, M. de, execution of,
iii. 398
Saint-Simon, Due de,iii. 153, 404,
note
Sault, Guillaume de., i. 296, note
Savoy, Charles Emmanuel, Duke
of, i. 66, note ; assumes Mar-
quisate of Saluzzo, 66; visits
Henri IV., 66-71 ; signs treaty,
71 ; intrigues with de Verneuil,
66-74; evades fulfilment of
treaty, 73, 74 ; declares war,
76 ; asks the hand of Princesse
Christine for his son, ii. 171;
concludes treaty with France,
210; appeals to France for aid
against Spain, 406; death of,
iii. 193
Savoy, Victor Amedee, Duke of,
succeeds his father, iii. 193
Schomberg, Henri, Comte de,
Lieut-General of the royal
army against the forces of
Queen Marie, iii. 36-39; in
command of troops before Isle
de Rhe, 158; and against
Lorraine and Orleans, 284
Seguier, Pierre, Keeper of the
Seals, iii. 312, and note
Sens, Archbishop of, sent by
Louis XIII., to negotiate with
Queen Marie, iii. 36, 41
Servin, Louis de, i. 287, note;
Advocate-General, ii. 243, note
Sillery, Nicolas Brulart, Seigneur
de, i. 47, note; intrigues for
divorce of Queen Marguerite,
47, 48 ; made chancellor, re-
signs office, iii. 1 1 1
Sixtus V., Pope, excommunicates
Henry of Navarre, i. 29
Sobole, Raimond de Comminge,
Sieur de, his harshness pre-
cipitates revolt of Metz, i. 191,
and note
Soissons, Charles de Bourbon-
Conti, Comte de, i. 163, note ;
marriage with King's sister for-
bidden, i. 199; obtains grant
of tax on cloth, 202 ; which is
revoked, 204 ; quarrels with de
Sully, vainly appeals to the
King, 206-209; threatens to
leave Paris, but is forbidden
doing so, 214; leaves Paris
but returns in hopes of
being declared Regent, ii. 19 ;
his anger at Queen Marie being
Regent, 20; conciliated by
gifts, 20, 21; Governor of
Normandy, 69; is refused
Duchy of Alencon, 126; leaves
Paris, 132; returns to Paris on
the promise of governorship of
Quillebceuf, 134; but again
leaves Paris, 137; death of, 172
Soissons, Duke of, death of, iii.
386
Sommerive, Comte de, i. 324, note
Sorbin, Arnaud de, Bishop of
Nevers, i. 217, note
Soubise, Benjamin de Rohan,
Due de, i. 355
Sourdis, Cardinal de, i. 96, note
Sourdis, Mdlle., i. 143, and note
Spain, Prince of, married to
Princess Elizabeth, ii. 27 1 .
Index
429
Spinola, Ambroise, i. 269, note ;
iii. 197, note
States, General of, 1631, ii. 258
Suares, Francois, address to Marie
de Medicis, i. 89, and note
Suffren, Abbe, Confessor to Queen
Marie, iii. 20
Sully, Maximilien de Bethune,
Due de, taken into confidence
of Henri IV., i. 35 ; urges him
to divorce Queen Marguerite,
36-44 ; negotiates a marriage for
the King with Marie de Medicis,
64 ; urges war against Duke of
Savoy, 73; attempts to mediate
between Queen Marie and de
Verneuil, 142; summoned by
the King to appease the Queen,
143; prompt action against de
Biron, 159; refuses to sanction
grant of tax on cloth to de
Soissons, 203; visited by the
King at Rosny, 211 ; urges the
King to exile de Verneuil, 239 ;
arranges for arrest of d'Au-
vergne, 264; commissioned by
the King to negotiate with de
Verneuil, 276-278 ; marriage
of his daughter Marguerite
with de Rohan, 293, and note ;
accompanies King to Sedan,
328; advises Queen Marie to
conciliate the King, 374-377 ;
action on the King's death, re-
treats to the Bastille and sum-
mons an army to Paris, ii. 5, 6;
offers his condolences to Louis
XIII. and Queen Marie, 17;
countermands order for army to
march on Paris, 18 ; endeavours
to curtail extravagant claims of
nobles, 62 ; offers his resignation,
64 ; which is refused, 65 ; op-
poses continuation of war against
Philip of Orange, 66 ; opposes
grant to Villeroy, 7 1 ; retires to
his estates and again tenders
his resignation, 74; list of
honours conferred on him by
Henri IV., 80, note; resigns,
82-92 ; returns to Court, 305 ;
advice to Queen Regent, 305,
306 ; pleads for Protestants, iii.
101 ; surrenders Cadenac, 102
Sully, Rachel, Duchesse de (sec-
ond wife of the Duke) offers
condolences to Queen Marie on
death of Henri IV., ii. 6
Terrail, Louis de Comboursier,
Seigneur du, i. 76, note
Thermes, Baron de, i. 295, note
Thoiras, Jean de Saint-Bonnet,
Seigneur de, iii. 192, note;
made marshal, 215
Thomines, Ponce de Lauziere,
Marquis de, ii. 307, note ; ar-
rests de Conde, 311; created
marshal, 313; kills Henri de
Richelieu in a duel, iii. 41
Thou, Francois Auguste de,
friendship with Cinq-Mars, iii.
410 ; arrest and execution of,
419-
Thou, Jacques Auguste de, ii. 36,
note ; resigns office, 101 ; death
of, 401
Tilly, Nicolas le Jay, Baron de,
Keeper of the Seals, arrested,
ii. 267, and note
Toledo, Don Pedro de, i. 382,
note; ambassador from Philip
III. of Spain, i. 383
Torigny, Mdlle., attendant on
Marguerite of Valois, sentenced
to death, i. 18; escapes, 19
Touchet, Marie, Comtesse d'En-
tragues, i. 270.
Tremblay, Francois Le Clerc du
(Father Joseph) confidential
friend of Richelieu, iii. 47, note
Tremouille, Catherine de la,
Princess Dowager de Conde, i.
437
430
Index
Tremouille, Claude Seigneur de
la, i. 149, note
Tuscany, Cosmo, Grand Duke of,
ii. 171
Tuscany, Grand Duke of, death
of, i. 388
U
Ubaldini, Papal nuncio, ii. 211
Usseda, Duque d', ii. 271, note
Usson, fortress of, wherein Mar-
guerite of Valois was im-
prisoned, 31, and note
V
Vair, du Guillaume disgrace of,
ii. 327 ; seals restored to him,
362; refuses to countersign
transfer of Concini's property to
de Luynes, ii. 40x5; consent
purchased by gift of Bishopric
of Luisieux, 401
Valette, Marquis de la, marriage
of with Mdlle. de Verneuil, iii.
106; persuades Richelieu not
to flee, but to see the King,
209
Valette, Due de la, beheaded, iii.
, 386
Varenne, Guillaume Fouquet de
la, i. 279
Vaudemont, Prince de, i. 347
Vautier, physician to Queen
Marie, arrested and imprisoned
at Senlis, iii. 247 ; release
pleaded for by the Queen in her
illness refused, 316 ; declines to
prescribe for Queen in her ab-
sence, 317
VendSme, Cesar, Due de, i. 128,
note; marries Mdlle. de Mer-
cceur, 382 ; disaffection of, arrest
and escape, ii. 223 ; intrigues
with the Huguenots, 234 ; is
reconciled and signs treaty,
235 ; is pardoned, 239 ; cruel-
ties of his followers, 239 ; ar-
rested by Richelieu, iii. 133;
liberated, 215 ; exiled, 398
Vendome, Mademoiselle de, mar-
ries due d'Elbceuf, iii. 33
Vendome, Prior of, arrested, iii.
133; death of, 142
Ventadour, Anne de Levis, Due
de, i. 86, note ; negotiates with
insurgent nobles, ii. 231
Verdun, Nicolas de, First Presi-
dent of the Parliament of Paris,
ii. 243, note
Vermond, assassinates Saint-
Julien, i. 307 ; is beheaded,
308
Verneuil, Mademoiselle de, mar-
ries Marquis de la Valette, iii.
106
Verneuil, Marquise de, i. 53,
note ; accepts propositions of
Henri IV., 53-60; indignation
of, at proposed marriage of the
King, 66; illness of, 74; ac-
companies the King to Lyons,
75, 76 ; anger of, at landing of
Marie de Medicis, 78; returns
to Paris, 79 ; visited by the
King after his marriage to
Marie de Medicis, 98; is pre-
sented to the Queen, 100-102 ;
bargains with Leonora for her
reception at Court, 112; is
assigned suite of rooms in the
Louvre by the King, 112;
asserts her claim to be made
Queen according to Henry's
written promise, 113; bargains
with Leonora to obtain King's
permission for her marriage to
Concini if she is allowed to
appear in Court ballet, 116;
birth of her son Gaston Henri,
124; her correspondence with
Joinville secured by Duchesse
de Villars, 132 ; braves it out,
138; declares the letters to be a
forgery, 139; is reconciled to
the King, 140; asserts illegality
Index
431
of Queen's marriage and ille-
gitimacy of the Dauphin, 142 ;
birth of Gabrielle-Angelique,
190; obtains for de Soissons
grant of tax on cloth, 202 ;
anger at its revocation, 204 ;
vainly pleads with de Sully,
205 ; intrigues with the nobles
of the league, 232 ; threatens to
leave France, 232; is reconciled
to the King, 238 ; advances her
pretensions for a marriage to
the King, 250 ; the King de-
mands return of his written
promise, 254; agrees to do so
on certain conditions, which
are granted, 255 ; a copy of the
promise is delivered, 256; is
banished from the Court, 256 ;
conspires with Philip III. of
Spain to place her son Henri
on the French throne, 259-263 ;
is arrested, 267 ; original of
written promises discovered,
268; her complicity betrayed
by d'Auvergne, 272; sentenced
to imprisonment, 291 ; King
commutes sentence to banish-
ment to her estate, 292; form-
ally acquitted by order of the
King, 299 ; intimacy with
King renewed, 338; publishes
banns of marriage between her
and Due de Guise, 385 ; sus-
pected of complicity in death of
Henri IV., ii. II ; puts forward
written promise of de Guise to
marry her, 49 ; foregoes it, 52;
her retirement and death, 52
Vic, M. de, Keeper of the
Seals, death of, iii. 107
Vic, Treaty of, iii. 272-274
Vieuville^ Charles de la, iii. 109,
note ; intrigues of, 1 1 1 ; his
rapid rise, followed by his dis-
grace and dismissal, Ii6-ll8;
his arrest and escape, 118
Villeroy, Due de, i. 224 ; his secre-
tary betrays his correspondence
to Spain, 226; death of, ii.
402
Villeroy, Marquis de, marriage of
with daughter of Concini ar-
ranged, ii. 207
Vitry, Louis de 1'Hopital de, i.
165, note; arrests de Biron,
167 ; arrests Concini and kills
him, ii. 360; arrests Leonora,
and conducts her to prison,
372; created marshal, 378; in-
solence to Queen Marie, 380
Voltaire, quoted, ii. 341
Zamet, Queen Marie lives in his
house, i. 103
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The life of Marie de Medi
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