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ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE
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http://www.arGhive.org/details/regencyofmariedeOOIord
:)
MAklK iJi. ^,,-
Kroni a laintmg by Peter i^aul Rubens, in tlie Ldinre
l
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THE REGENCY
i^'^^;
<4
OF
(Mr
MARIE DE MEDICIS
7H
A Study of French History from i6io to i6i6
By
ARTHUR POWER LORD, Ph. D.
With Five Portraits
LONDON ^^
GEORGE BELL AND SONS^.
NEW YORK: HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1904
COPYRltoT, )
BY
ARTHUR POWER LORD
Published September 1Q03.
THE MBRSHON COMPANY PRESS
RAHWAY, N. J.
PREFACE
The withdrawal of the Due de Sully from
affairs some months after the death of Henry
IV. has always seemed to me a subject inviting
more attention and research than has been given
it in these days. It was a momentous step for
him to take, and fraught with the most far-
reaching results for France.
I have considered his position for a long time,
and have tried, by the aid of all the side-lights
possible, chiefly the works of the late Professor
Berthold Zeller, under whose eye I laboured, to
bring before my readers what the real situation
was ; why and how the all-powerful Sully became
gradually stripped of his power until he was
compelled to resign early in the year 1611.
I have tried to point out the consummate skill
for intrigue which Marie de Medicis possessed,
and how she turned to account quarrels which
seemed of no significance. I have tried to deal
succinctly with such characters as the Prince de
IV
Preface
Conde, the Due de Bouillon, the Marechal
d'Ancre, the Comte de Soissons, and the minis-
ter de Villeroy. It has been my object to place
them as nearly as possible in the relations which
they seem to have occupied towards the Regent.
I have tried to show how the struggle between
the Queen and Conde resulted in the shifting of
the power into the hands of a ministry appointed
by the Florentine Concino Concini. Finally, I
have attempted to give a clear account of the
death of the Marechal d'Ancre.
If my task has been successful, and if this
book has any degree of merit, it is, in a large
measure, owing to the advice and counsel of such
scholars as Professor Berthold Zeller of the Uni-
versity of Paris, and Professors George B.
Adams, Oliver H. Richardson, and William Lyon
Phelps of Yale, to each and all of whom I wish
to return thanks. Arthur Power Lord.
New Haven,
June 23, 1903.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
May to October, 1610 — Preparations for war
against Spain — Secrecy of the King's plans—
r His reasons for appointing a Regent — The cab-
^ met— The Due de Sully— Murder of Henry IV.
— Its consequences — Rise of the Catholic party
— Antagonism between it and Sully — The secret
council — Plan for Sully's removal — Ari'val
of the Prince de Conde— Plot of the Feudal
^ party against the Regency — The Queen's Span-
"ish policy — Agreement for the double mar-
riage— Disavowal of the Feudal party by Philip
III. — Arrival of the Due de Feria,
CHAPTER II
October, 1610, to March, 1611 — The coronation
— Disposition of Conde towards the Regency —
Understanding between the Bourbon Princes
— Favour of the House of Guise — The Queen's
need of their support — Isolation of Sully —
Quarrel between Bellegarde and Concini — Agree-
ment between Soissons and the ministers — Quarrel
between the Bourbons and the Guises — Sully's
V
vi Contents
jiiistaK.^ in f;:dmg againsi the Princes — Prob-
ability that his dismissal was the pivot upon
which the settlement of the dispute turned —
Bribes offered to Coude — Sully's impressions —
His resolution to make a supreme test — His
quarrel with Villeroy — His dismissal — Success of
the Queen's schemes—Satisfaction at Madrid, . 16
CHAPTER 111
March, 1611, to November, 1612 — Henry IV.'s treat-
ment of the Huguenots — Their distrust of the
P^egent — Demand for an assembly — Strained re-
lations between the partis — Sullys influence —
Sdbeme of the ministers to divide the Huguenots
— Influence of the Due de Bouillon — Election of
Duplessis-Momay — Assembly of Saumur — Act of
Union — Championship of Sully's cause — Demands
of the Protestants — The Queen's policy — The
dissolution of the Assembly — Disillusionment of
the Due de BouUlon — His influence on Conde
— Story of La Descomans — Coolness between
the Queen and the Guises — P»ise of Concini's in-
fluence— The proposal of marriage between his
family and that of Soissons — Influence of the cab-
inet—Its antagonism to Concini— Alliance be-
tween Conde and Soissons at Fontainebleau —
Publication of the Spanish marriages — Anger of
the Princes— Negotiations — Plot of the Feudal
party against the ministers — Quarrel between
the Queen and the Guises — The Moisset case
— Anger of the Guises, 34
Contents vii
CHAPTER IV
November, 1612, to November, 1613— Death of the
Comte de Soissons — Murder of the Baron de
Luz— Reasons for this act — Anger of the Queen
— Preponderant influence of Conde — His exac-
tions— Revulsion of the Regent's sentiments-
Rehabilitation of the Guises — Reinstatement of
the ministers — Surprise of Cond6— He leaves the
court- The Villeroy-Concini marriage — Coldness
between Villeroy and Sillery— Villeroy's disposi-
tion in regard to the marriage — His influence
against Concini— The Maignat case — Its settle-
ment— Disillusionment of Villeroy— The signature
of the marriage contract — Surprise of the Feudal
party — Resolution to try force 53
CHAPTER V
November, 1613, to October, 1614 — Reckless be-
haviour of the Queen — Death of de Fervaques —
Appointment of Concini to his office — The Marshal
d'Ancre- Anger of Conde— Further extra var
gance of Marie de Medicis — The revolt — Negotia-
tions— Seizure of Mezieres — Conde's manifesto
— Struggle between Villeroy and Sillery — The
Due de Rohan — Negotiations— Death of Mont-
morency— Influence on the Due de Bouillon —
Treaty of St. M6nehould — Condi's attempt on
Poictiers — His Failure — Louis XIII.'s expedition
vm
Cc. "tents
67
CHAPTER VI
Odebefv 1C14^ to Fdmaiy, 1C1>— Dtp'c-^asie
yitbarj far flie Qneen <yfer Ooode — PrwIaniArion
of the Estates General— Tbe Kmgf^ fliajcratj—
ne Fkinee de Ooiid6— Openii^ cefOMMiies <rf the
A ■wiililj Tf (ilmiTij nf flif Wohles for flu Third
Eatate— La Panktte— 42oaivd Imtwcen flw privi-
leged ordos of tbe lower hooae— Oond^ new
i6fe— Tbe GaOiean party— Its qnazrd with tbe
Cktgf—lxdiaeDee cf Cogde agunsfc tbe I^oUes—
Settkneat of the diapute— Imlts totbe Padia-
■mt— Ibe finawial sjsteoi— Qnacrd belweai
fbe depaiia and ibe eonitr— Tbe Qoeea appesa
toyidd— Appuiiitment of cooiiiiBHkwieta — Coii>-
edy of andfting tbe aecuuuto— Deaire of tbe
mmnttrm to fimab tbe .AasexnUy — Qideis fnaa
Oe King— Effieet oftbe Estates vtpaa tbe deputies
— Cfaoii^ Scenes,
CHAPTER VH
MavdL, 1615, to Jncie, 1616— Populazity of Cood6—
Ee^stabttafaxDeot of "la Panlette"*— Tbe Qneen
and tbe PMtiament— Its aDianee with Conde—
^^fr.
Contents ix
Def.'laratioa of its position — Con(16 leaves for St.
Maur— Quarnj] b<;lwr;f;ii the Qij<;t;n ,'ind the Galli-
eatui— Approaching reaiiHution of tije King's mar-
riitge — Villeroy's change of attitude — Ultirnatuin
to the Prince, arjd his n;ply — Arrest of le Jay
and departure of the court for liordeaux — Rup-
ture between the Marquis d'Anere and the Chan-
cellor— Agreement between the Assenibly of
N/HJ««and Cond<S— Arrival of the King at Bor-
deaux—The marriages— l*ea<;e negotiation*—
C'ond6 aspires to the liegency— His demands — In-
tfirviewH l>etw<}<jn the Queen and Vilieroy —Signa-
ture of the Treaty of Loud un -Fall of the
old njinifiters, 105
CHAPTER VJIl
June to Septerafxir, 1616- Delay of the Prince in re-
turning to Paris — The Queen's desire U) have
him come back — Ricijelieu's mission — Condi's
d<ici«ion— Ills interview with iSuily— His arrival
— Arrogance of Coneini -Barbin and th<; Prince
—Plot against the Marshal d'Anere — Arrival of
the English Ambassa^lor — C'ond<;'s power— Desire
of the Princes to kill Ooncini — Cond<S advices him
to leave Paris — B(;izure of P<;ronne — Anger of
the Queen — Influence of Richelieu — Interview
Ixjtweeu the Pc<;gent and fiiilly — Resolution to
arrest Cond*;— The coup d'<l'tat, .... 12B
CHAPTER IX
Septfjmber, 1010, to April, 1017— The Feudal party
leave the Court— Negotiations — Revolt of Nevers
Contents
— Eesignation of Du Vair— Appointment of Kiche-
lieu— Energetic measures of the Cabinet — Albert
de Luynes— His influence on the King — Arrogance
of Concini — His imprudence — His presentiment
of death— His recklessness— Luynes' duplicity —
Concini's ambition to become Constable — He raises
troops— His letter to the King— Louis' anger —
He is persuaded that a plot exists against his life
— His resolve to kill Concini — The plot — The
murder — The end of the Regency, . . .141
ILLUSTRATIONS
Marie de Medecis, . . . Frontispiece
Maximilien de Bethune, Due de Sully, , . 34
Louis de Bourbon, Comte de Soissons, . . 54
Hector d'Orleans, Due de Longueville, . . 80
Concino Concini, Marechal d'Ancre, . . 142
,-■ r.-f/-
THE REGENCY
OF
MARIE DE MEDICIS
CHAPTER I
May to October, 1610 — Preparations for war against
Spain — Secrecy of the King's plans— gisreasons^for^
appointing a Regentr^The cabinet — The Due de Sully
— Murder of Henry IV. — Its consequences — Rise of
the Catholic party — Antagonism between it and SuUy
— The secret council — Plan for Sully's removal —
Arrival of the Prince de Conde — Plot of the Feudal
party against the Regency — The Queen's Spanish pol-
icy— Agreement for the double marriage — Disavowal
of the Feudal party by Philip III. — Arrival of the Duo
de Feria.
France had rested since 1595. The Paris of
the League had become the city of Henry IV.
Art and commerce prospered, and there seemed
to be no cloud in the serene political atmosphere.
Suddenly,in the spring of 1610, soldiers began
2 Regency of Marie de Medicis
to pour into the town in ever-increasing num-
bers. Tents began to whiten the green hills;
the clink of the armourers* hammers became in-
cessant ; the forges glowed by day and by night,
the lights helping to throw into relief strange
figures of men, bearded and bronzed, who
brought helmets and breastplates to the anvils.
Long lines of creaking vans crawled slowly
through the streets escorted by troops of horse-
men, toiling slowly along towards the south.
The Parisians stared open-mouthed. Gradually
the army marched away, but when the last
squadron had disappeared the burghers turned
to each other. " What does it all mean ?
Whither are the soldiers going, and for how
long? Who is to be attacked .f* " they asked, but
no one could give an exact answer to these
queries, for Henry IV. had confided in only one
person, his favourite minister, the Due de
Sully.
What eager looks followed the figure of the
great Huguenot as he moved between the palace
and the arsenal ! What questions were put to
him by the courtiers who strove to pierce his
Henry Chooses a Regent 3
reserve ! But he was impenetrable, and his ver}''
reticence seemed to give a new impulse to the
wild rumours of which the town was full.
The excitement was intensified when the King
announced his intention of appointing the Queen
Marie de Medicis Regent, and of crowning her
at St. Denis before his departure. This pre-
caution made one thing unmistakable; France
was about to begin a struggle to the death with
some great power.
From the modem standpoint the wisdom of
the King's choice is open to discussion, but
Henry could not hesitate; the Dauphin was a
baby of six; disaffection reigned among the
Princes of the Blood. One had fled from Paris
and lived in exile; another was so infirm in his
speech and so deaf that he passed for an imbe-
cile. The third, Louis de Bourbon, Comte de
Soissons, had retired to his estates in a rage be-
cause his wife was forbidden to wear the lilies of
France on her cloak at the Queen's coronation.
The King was obhged to place the sceptre in a
hand sufficiently strong to hold it, and he hoped
that his wife would overcome her Italian sloth-
4 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
fulness, calm her temper, and apply herself to
mastering the science of government.
He surrounded her with his ablest ministers.
Villeroy, and his colleague, Brulart de Sillery,
men broken to diplomacy by the experience of
two reigns ; the president, Pierre Jeannin, one of
the ablest councillors of the robe, whose parlia-
mentary career fitted him exceptionally well for
the position he was to hold, and the Due de Sully
composed the cabinet. Undoubtedly the latter
was the man upon whom the King relied most.
He was Henry's other self. His great mind had
raised France from the state of anaemia resulting
from the religious wars to an enviable position
in riches and power. He had devised the sys-
tem of finance which had enabled the monarch
to interfere in continental politics ; he had gained
such an influence over the King that often his
single word was a bulwark against his master's
extravagance, and Henry could not see how it
■was possible for affairs to go wrong in his ab-
sence, so long as his counterpart remained in
Paris. Yet no one knew how close the monarch
stood to the brink of the grave, nor how soon
The Murder
those plans which he had formed for the good
of his kingdom would be annihilated by the
rapacity of his subjects. On the 10th of May,
1610, the blow fell. Towards the middle of the
afternoon the King called his coach with the in-
tention of driving to the arsenal ; on the way
the carriage halted in the me de la Ferronnerie,
and a fanatic, who had been watching Henry for
days, seized the opportunity to spring upon the
wheel and stab him to the heart.
Much may be seen in this act of regicide. It
was not merely a murder committed by a private
individual, it was not an act of revenge or per-
sonal malice, but the expression of a feeling
which lay like a weight upon the hearts of the
common people. The King's policy was ahead
of his time, and he had made no calculation for
the fanaticism of the men who but yesterday
marched under the banners of the League. The
treaty of Brussol shows us that Henry's object
was to attack Spain,* but In 1610 his intentions
were almost unknown, and the populace was pro-
* See Du Mont., Corps Univeriel Diplomatique du Droit
de$ Gena, I. p. 85.
6 Regency of Marie de M6dicis
foundly agitated. Rumours were rife that war
was to be declared upon the Pope, and Ravaillac
confessed that he had been Impelled to kill the
King owing to this very idea.* His act marks
the end of a period as distinctly as if the stroke
of the knife had been a point of punctua-
tion which closed a chapter in France's history,
and its consequences reached farther than the
keenest mind could foresee.
The Queen was to be a ruler, not a puppet,
and henceforth her personal equation became the
prime factor of the situation. France ceased
to be a united power. The rule of the strong
man gave way to the weak administration of a
woman whose support lay In a party. Two fac-
tions, based upon religious prejudices, imme-
diately sprang into activity. Sully and the
Regent became antagonists Instead of allies.
Two men of action, the Due d'Epernon and
the Due de Guise, whose father Henry III.
murdered at Blols, seized the opportunity to be-
come the Queen's advisers. They posted guards
* Mercure Frangois ou suite de I'liistoire de la Paix, I. pp.
442-443.
Sully's Mistake
about Paris, harangued the Parliament, and
took all the measures necessary for establishing
the Regency.* Sully in his arsenal heard the
rumour of what was going on, but at the time
when he should have been all firmness and de-
cision he was torn with doubts and fears; when
he finally mounted his horse to go to the Louvre
the golden opportunity had gone. In the rue
St. Antoine he met Bassompierre, who was post-
ing the guard ; checking his tears as best he
could, he begged the Count to swear fealty to
Louis XIIL, out of his love for the child's father,
if not for the lad's own sake. " Sir," answered
Bassompierre coldly, " we are administering
that oath to others and will do our duty without
being urged." f
" We are administering that oath to others."
* A little less than three hours after the King's death Par-
liament made the Queen Regent by a solemn decree, but
the act had no precedent, so the next day Louis XIII. held
a Lit de Justice to confirm the title which the court had
given his mother. The Lit de Justice was the most solemn
function which a monarch could perform. The King sit-
ting in the midst of his Parliament, surrounded by all the
dignitaries of France, registered his will as a law.
\ Bassompierre, Journal de ma vie, T. I. p. 277, ed.
Chanterac. Paris, 1870.
8 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
The words fell with an ominous sound on the
Huguenot's ear, for they meant that the power
had passed into other hands. The person whose
presence had united all Frenchmen, and had ob-
literated party distinctions, was gone, and men
had once more become Catholics and Protestants,
Guisards and Bourbons. Turning his horse he
retreated to the Bastille, which he proceeded to
provision for a siege. All the bread in the quar-
ter was seized and a courier went galloping oflP
to the Due de Rohan with an order to bring his
regiment of Swiss mercenaries to the capital.*
If Sully expected the Catholic party to at-
tack him by force he had mistaken the character
of the Regent. Marie de Medicis preferred in-
trigue to strength, and the Duke might have
spared himself several nights of anxiety as he
watched from the battlements of his fortress.
The assault was to be delivered In the cabinet,
not in the field. What could have been more
logical than for the Catholics to rid themselves
of Sully, the one discordant element in their
midst ? They left him his seat at the council for
* Bassompierre, pp. 277-278.
Catholic Influence
a time, but gradually affairs were discussed more
and more in a third or inner council from which
the Comptroller of the Currency was excluded.*
This the historian L'Estoile calls " le conseil
du petit escritoire," and comprised the Papal
Nuncio, the Spanish Ambassador, the Due
d'Epernon, Villero}', the Chevalier Sillery and
his brother the Chancellor, the President Jean-
nin, Arnault and Dole, members of the financial
administration, Duret the Queen's physician, the
confessor Cotton, and last, but most important,
Concino Concini, and his wife Leonora Galigai.
Leonora was the Regent's foster-sister, and
had come from Florence with her. Concino had
also made his appearance in the train of the new
Queen. This handsome and unscrupulous Flor-
entine paid court to Leonora, who, small and de-
formed, was flattered and finally won by Concini.
Owing to the influence which his wife possessed,
his advancement was rapid. The Concinis had
often been the witnesses of the furious quarrels
which the late King had had with his wife about
* Rohan Memoirea, ed. Michaud et Poujoulat, 2me serie,
V. p. 493.
lo Regency of Marie de M^dicis
his mistresses. When Henry wished to make
peace he approached Leonora, and she, whose
one desire in life was money, would often pre-
cipitate these scenes, hoping that the negotia-
tions for reconcihation might bring her rich re-
wards.
The King saw their influence upon his wife,
and hated the couple intensely. He threatened
to send the Queen and her confidants back to
Florence, and no one knows what the result
might have been had not Ravaillac settled it.
After the catastrophe Concino's fortune in-
creased by leaps and bounds. Leonora held the
Queen's attention at all times, and there seemed
to be no limit to Marie de Medicis' liberality.
The only logical aim of the inner council was
to commit the Queen to a policy so ultra-Cath-
olic that Sully should be forced to retire from
the court. Their first move was to stop recruit-
ing for the army, which lay at the foot of the
Alps waiting the signal to burst into Italy.
Then the Papal Nuncio filed a protest against
sending help to the Protestant Princes who were
besieging Juliers, but it was a little too soon
Condi's Opportunity ii
after Henry's death to knock the foundations
out from under his pohtical structure, and the
attempt failed.* Neither the Queen nor Yille-
roy, who had assumed all authority in the coun-
cil, was ready to break absolutely with the tra-
ditions of the last reign, for the Prince de Conde
had not yet returned to court.
This Prince, who had gone into voluntary ex-
ile in order to remove his wife from the atten-
tions of Henry IV., was a factor in the situa-
tion which could not be overlooked. If he came
back well disposed towards the Regency, all
might be well. If, on the other hand, he should
return with the idea of opposing the govern-
ment he might either become the chief of the
Huguenots or assume the leadership of the
Princes, who, already dissatisfied, were only kept
in subjection by immense sacrifices. t Villeroy
preferred that Conde should return and find
nothing irrevocably decided, that Sully should
* Mercure Francis, T. I. p. 523.
f Conti and Soissons had applied for the government of
Normandy. Their request was refused, though the prov-
ince -was finally given to Soissons ; he also received im-
mense sums of money.
vr
12 Regency of Marie de Medicis
still appear to be in office, and that he— Villeroy
— should have a chance to win the Prince by
bribes and fair words.
Conde arrived in Paris on the 16th of July.
He was well received, but the Queen's kind-
ness seems to have inspired him with con-
tempt. He judged that the Regent needed his
friendship, and was willing to buy it rather than
have him for an enemy. He accepted the gifts
which were showered upon him, and became the
chief of her opponents.
A league was formed which comprised most
of the great nobles of the Kingdom. This party
resolved not to endure the Regency, and in-
tended to insist upon summoning the Estates
General ; they hoped to gain the people and the
clergy by putting forward the reduction of
taxes, and the immunities of the Church. In the
interest of this coalition Conde interviewed the
Comte de Bucquoy at Saint Maur, one of his
country seats, asking him to sound Spinola and
ascertain what he might expect in case of a
rupture.*
* Bucquoy, July 37, 1610, Archives of Brussels, cited by
The Double Marriage 13
It is reasonable to infer that the King of
Spain warned the French cabinet about the pro-
posed rebellion, for the policy of the govern-
ment, which had as yet assumed no definite
shape, suddenly became entirely Spanish. The
Regent listened to the propositions which heid
been made to her husband by Matteo Botti, the
Florentine Ambassador, concerning a double
marriage between the heirs of France and Spain.
Henry had spumed the proposal, but the Queen
had no antipathy against the house from which
she was descended on her mother's side, and she
rejoiced because the glorious task of assuring
the peace of Europe by a marriage between the
two crowns had fallen to her.* The Convention
of Brussol, which the dead King had made with
the Due de Savoie, was absolutely disregarded.
France offered Charles Emmanuel an empty
mediation, proposing at the same time, with
Ranke, Franzosiche GescMchte : French trans, by J. J.
Porchat, III. pp. 5-6. Don Inigo de Cardenas to the
Council of State, August 10, 1610, cited by F. T. Perrens in
Les Manages Espagnols sous Henri IV. et la Regence de
Marie de Medicis, p. 306.
* Ranke, Franzosiche Gescldcfde, T. III. p. 15.
14 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
monumental assurance, that the Prince Victor
Amadeus, who was to have married EHsabeth of
France, should wed a Florentine princess.* To
remove the last shadow of suspicion from Ma-
drid, the army of Lesdiguieres, which had re-
mained inactive since May, was disbanded.
Philip III. could now afford to declare his
policy with regard to the Feudal party and to
reassure the French Queen ; so, shortly before
Louis XIII.'s coronation, which was fixed for
October, Feria, the Spanish envoy, arrived in
Paris. His very first act was to disavow Conde
and his partisans.
Freed from the fear that the Princes might
receive help from Spain, Marie de Medicis gave
full sway to her policy. The inner council had
already suggested that, if she cared for the good
will of the Pope, she could not maintain a Hu-
guenot in the first office of the Kingdom. f Sully's
removal was decided upon, but this was no easy
task, for in his capacity of chief of the Hugue-
* La Minorite de Louis XIII., Marie de Medicis et Sully.
B. Zeller, pp. 245-256.
f Rohan Memoires, p. 493, ed. Michaud et Poujoulat.
Villeroy's Plan 15
nots, and of captain of the Bastille, he might
have made a great deal of trouble for the gov-
ernment. In order to ruin him it became neces-
sary to isolate him. This was Villeroy's idea,
and the Regent, relying implicitly upon his abil-
ity, gave her consent. The old diplomat had set
himself to solve a difficult problem; his enemy
had made firm friends of the Due de Guise and
the Prince de Conde.* Nothing daunted, to
quote the energetic language of Cardinal de
Richelieu, " he put the irons in the fire to bring
about the removal of the Due de Sully."
* Sully had paid the Duke an advance on his pension
and had settled Conde's claim to the arrears due him since
his flight.
CHAPTER II
October, 1610, to March, 1611 — The coronation — Dis-
position of Cond6 towards the Regency — Understand-
ing between the Bourbon Princes — Favour of the
House of Guise — The Queen's need of their support —
Isolation of Sully — Quarrel between Bellegarde and
Concini — Agreement between Soissons and the min-
isters— Quarrel between the Bourbons and the Guises
— Sully's mistake in siding against the Princes — Prob-
ability that his dismissal was the pivot upon which
the settlement of the dispute turned — Bribes offered
to Cond6 — Sully's impressions — His resolution to
make a supreme test — His quarrel with Villeroy —
His dismissal— Success of the Queen's schemes— Sat-
isfaction at Madrid.
The early days of October found the Regent
and the court at Monceau, whither they had
gone by easy stages from Paris. All the King's
journeys were made to savour as much as pos-
sible of the chase, and he arrived at the old resi-
dence with his falcon on his wrist. A week later,
on October 16, 1610, Louis entered Reims, in
whose venerable cathedral he was to receive the
crown of his ancestors. Nothing of especial
note marked the coronation, except that the jeal-
i6
Guise and Bourbon 17
ousy of the Guises for the Bourbons found an
opportunity of showing itself when the Order of
the Holy Ghost was conferred upon the Prince
de Conde. The Cardinal de Joyeuse, the patri-
arch of his family, was likewise offered this dec-
oration, but he excused himself, saying that in
his quality of Prince of the Church he could not
be second to a layman.*
With this exception all parties appeared to
have laid aside their differences to do honour to
their young monarch. The Prince de Conde
figured in the ceremony as the Due de Bour-
gogne, the Prince de Conti took the part of the
Due de Normandie, and the Comte de Soissons
represented the Due d'Aquitaine. But as soon
as the coronation was over it became evident
that Conde was not likely to submit quietly to
the rule of Marie de Medicis.
Foiled by Philip III.'s categorical refusal to
aid the Feudal party, he turned his attention to
centralising the resistance of the nobles. The
court had given him permission to visit his wife
* Journal de Jean Heroard sur I'enfance et la jeunesse de
Louis XIII., ed. Soulie et Barthelemy, II. 26-32.
1 8 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
at Valery, and under cover of this specious ex-
cuse he went to see the Due de Bouillon.*
A visit to this personage was sufficient to
arouse the viligance of the ministers ; for his
ability in the field rendered him a valuable addi-
tion to the party; his wisdom in council was
recognised even by his foes ; his capacity for in-
trigue was unsurpassed ; while his influence with
the Huguenots was greatly dreaded. Richeheu
calls him " the genius of rebellion," and it is
certain that Henry IV. feared him as much as
any of his great nobles. Holding in his control
one of the frontier cities of France, Bouillon
felt that he might summon aid from outside at
any time ; he had the opportunity of becoming a
great leader, but was too frivolous and too grasp-
ing to care to lead; he preferred advantages,
money, offices, or governments. Wlien there was
nothing to gain by being against the party in
power he was its most humble servant.
The Duke showed the Prince that a united
party had more chance of making head against
* Eistoire des Princes de Conde pendant le XVI. et le
XVII. Sificle, Due d'Aumale, III, 11, Paris, 1885.
Conference at Chantilly 19
the Regent than he, single-handed. He advised
him to come to an understanding with the Comte
de Soissons, whom Conde had just beaten in a
law suit. The Prince de Conti was not ap-
proached. He was on bad terms with his brother
owing to a dispute about the government of Nor-
mandy, of which we shall speak later, and his
wife, who belonged to the Guise faction, did all
in her power to animate his resentment.
The conference took place at Chantilly under
the auspices of the Constable de Montmorency,
whose son-in-law, the Comte d'Auvergne, was
languishing in the Bastille for complicity in
Biron's conspiracy, and in spite of Montmo-
rency's efforts the Regent refused to release him.
The old warrior's irritable temper was not im-
proved by this treatment, and he was glad to do
all he oould to unite the Princes against the
Queen.
The coalition of the Bourbons assured the
favour of the Guises. This family comprised the
Duke and his brother the Chevalier, a young
reckless blade whose sword was always ready to
serve his party ; the Cardinal de Joyeuse and the
20 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
old Due de Mayenne, Henry IV.'s quondam foe ;
besides these formidable names the relatives and
friends of the House of Lorraine numbered in
their ranks the Dues d'Epernon, d'Elboeuf , and
de Bellegarde. The traditional dishke of the
Guise for the Bourbon was always sufficient
reason for him to side with the Queen, if his
rivals led the opposition.
But Marie de Medieis needed support in a far
more important matter than to show a bold front
to the Princes. We have already said that Ville-
roy and the Queen had resolved to remove
Sully, and that, in order to ruin him, it was
necessary to deprive him of allies, and to tie
the hands of the Guises by some enormous fa-
vour; as luck would have it, the occasion pre-
sented itself almost as soon as it was desired.
The widow of the Due de Montpensier, whom
Guise wished to marry, was the last link in the
chain by which the Regent intended to hold the
allegiance of the family. The match was a
genuine love affair, but unfortunately the Duke
had had many, and among others he had won
the Marquise de Verneuil, the accredited mistress
Guise-Montpensier Marriage 21
of the late King. To overcome her scruples a
secret marriage contract was resorted to, and the
lady threatened to produce this document and
begin an action. Marie de Medicis was too good
a politician to allow such a chance to pass. She
condescended to plead with her old rival,* who,
influenced by the Queen's arguments, withdrew
her opposition, and the betrothal took place on
the 18th of December, in the Regent's own
apartments at the LouATe.f The marriage was
celebrated on the 5th of January", 1611, and its
immediate effect was to increase the tension be-
tween the rival houses.
The great wealth of the ^Nlontpensiers had
attracted the attention of the Comte de Soissons,
who had demanded the hand of the heiress for his
son, notwithstanding that Henry IV. destined
her for the Due d'Orleans. This pretension was
extremely disagreeable to the Cardinal de Joy-
euse, and to the Due d'Epemon, who preferred
to see their niece married to a Prince of the royal
* Andrea CioU, September 14, 1610, cited by B. Zeller in
La ]SIinorite de Louis XIIL, Marie de Medicis et Sully,
140-142.
t Heroard, IL 42.
22 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
house; they had persistently refused to hsten to
the Count whenever he broached the subject.
When the young lady's mother became Duchess
of Guise her husband assumed the cares of the
family, and proved himself no more tractable
than her relatives of longer standing. But the
eagerness of the Count's suit had not escaped
Marie de Medicis, who, having won the Duke,
must have been overjoyed to find another bait
for her cousin so ready to her hand. She re-
solved to make him side with her against Sully
by allowing him to hope that, at some future
time, his desires for his son might be realised.
The great difficulty lay in approaching Sois-
sons. Neither Villeroy nor any of the Ministers
could fill the office of intermediary, for they all
had taken part in refusing the Count the gov-
ernment of Normandy when he and the Prince
de Conti had put in rival claims for the prov-
ince.
There was one person, however, who had
served Soissons well in this instance, and who,
therefore, was likely to influence him; this was
the Italian Concini, newly made Marquis
Soissons' Obligation 23
d'Ancre and chamberlain to His Majesty. When
the Count made his demand for Normandy,
Sully and the cabinet had been unanimous in
their refusal, but Concini, relying on the influ-
ence which his wife possessed over the Queen,
had undertaken to obtain satisfaction for him.*
His success placed Soissons under great obliga-
tion, and when, early in January, a quarrel
broke out between the Italian and the Due de
Bellegarde, the ministers caused the Count to
be chosen for umpire, though numbers of great
men offered their sersuces.
The choice served a double purpose; first it
flattered the Prince that the Queen's favourite
should have selected him at a time when his re-
lations with the Regent were none of the best,
and secondly, it enabled him to acquit himself of
the debt he had owed Concini since the begin-
ning of the Regency. At the same time the
Marquis was able to approach him about the
great affair which Villeroy had in hand, and he
did it all the more eagerly because Concini,
* Andrea Cioli, June 26, 1610, cited by Zeller in La
Minorite de Louis XIIL, Marie de Medicis at Sully, p. 18.
24 Regency of Marie de M6dicis
clever though he was, liad been duped himself
by the minister, who hinted to liim that, if Sully
was dismissed, he might aspire to his offices.
This quarrel, the true meaning of which has
escaped the piercing eye of Ranke, was settled
to the satisfaction of both parties, and the Count
and the Marquis d'Ancre entered into a most
important agreement. Concini was to influence
the ministers to allow IVIlle. de INIontpensier to
marry the Due d'Enghien, provided that Sois-
sons would agree to carry out in concert with
them a 'plan for overthrowing the Due de
Sully *
Fate, which seems to have furnished all the
opportunities for this remarkable intrigue, now
prepared the last act. A terrible broil arose be-
tween the Due de Guise and the House of Bour-
bon, in which Sully took the step leading to his
downfall. One evening, the carriages of the
Bourbon Princes met in the rue St. Honore.
Soissons* equerry, who was walking ahead, called
* Richelieu Memoires, Michaud et Poujoulat, T. VII.
p. 36. D'Eatreea' Memoires, Michaud et Poujoulat, T. VIL
p. 383.
Quarrel of the Bourbons 25
to Conti's coachman to stop, and, little knowing
with whom he had to deal, seized the bridles of
the horses. The difference over the govern-
ment of Normandy was still uppermost in Conti's
mind, and, thinking that his equipage had been
stopped purposely to insult him, he leaned out
of his coach, and vociferated to his brother, who
had hastened on foot to apologise, " a demain
pour point bas ! " This was the ordinary for-
mula of a challenge. Both Princes withdrew in a
white heat, but the trouble was already noised
abroad, and their doors had scarcely closed upon
them when one of the Queen's officers presented
himself to request each to stay at home until the
quarrel was submitted to arbitration.
It was perfectly natural that the Regent
should select an umpire among her own friends,
and her choice fell on the Due de Guise, who was
Conti's brother-in-law, and therefore likely to
have a greater influence on him. The Duke, who
was at his wife's house in the rue de Grenelle,
had some misgivings about executing the Queen's
orders. " You will see," he said to the Duchess
as he mounted his horse, " that great trouble will
26 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
come out of this." His words were prophetic,
for the Comte de Soissons, hearing the noise of
the cavalcade as it passed his house, flew into a
towering passion, and sv.ore that Guise and his
suite had passed on purpose to brave him. The
misunderstanding with the Prince de Conti at
once lost all significance.
The partisans of each house sprang to arms,
and their battle cries began to echo once more
throughout the city. The burghers were called
out; chains were stretched across the narrow
streets, the guard was tripled at the Louvre, and
the Queen assembled the Council. The Prince
de Conde sided with his uncle, while the Guises,
by a strange trick of fortune, had with them,
besides the members of their own family, the
Protestant leaders Rohan, Chatillon, and the Due
de Sully.
The pride of both parties made a solution ex-
tremely difficult. The Princes saw an oppor-
tunity of humbling the rivals who had dared to
consider themselves the equals of the House of
Bourbon, and demanded an apology. The
Guises declared that they had acted under orders
The Queen's Dilemma 27
from the Regent, and, considering that the
Hotel de Soissons was on the Duke's road to the
Palais de Conti, they had no quarrel with the
Princes. An apology was out of the question,
and they threatened to withdraw from the court
if the Queen compelled them to make excuses.
Marie de Medicis was in a difficult situation.
She was obliged to consider the temper of her
friends or else her carefully laid plans would
fail; she knew she could lure Soissons and
Conde, and therefore she decided to give the
House of Lorraine satisfaction. The old Due
de Mayenne, whose age and experience rendered
him the spokesman of his family, presented him-
self before the Queen. He declared in the name
of his nephew that no harm had been intended ;
on the contrary, had the Duke met the Count he
would not have failed to render him the honours
due his quaHty.*
* Pontchartrain's Memoires,ed. MicliaudetPoujoulat, 307-
310. Richelieu Meinoires, p. 36 — Fontenay-Mareuil, 42 —
D'Estrees' Memoires, 384-385 — Mercure Frangois,^. II. 2-5,
Beaulieu to Truvibull, January, 1611, found in Memorials
of Affairs of State in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and
King James, collected chiefly from original papers of the
Rt. Hon. Sir Ralph Winwood, II. pp. 247-248.
28 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
The Regent pronounced herself satisfied, and
the Princes saw immediately that the victory had
been given to their foes. Conde turned on his
heel and left the council chamber. The Queen
did not lose a second, but despatched a messenger
to the Count. What was the argument which
Concini was charged to bring to bear upon the
angry Prince.'* If we knew the answer to this
question, what is now more or less well founded
conjecture would become certainty. But, as all
treaties between the Feudal leaders and the
crown savoured of sacrifice, and the ro3'al power
must appear to bend before its great vassals,
was there any concession which ]\Iarie de Medicis
might appear to make wliich would suggest a
triumph or a gratification.''
To answer these questions we turn our eyes to
the figure of the Due de Sully, whom Soissons
hated intensely because he checked his arrogance
and his avarice. His official head was probably
in the trencher which Concini presented.
All there remained to do was to gain Conde.
On the 17th of December, 1610, the Prince had
pres^QJtfjd a list of grievances to the council. He
Condi's Claims 29
claimed that the Queen could not deliberate upon
important questions unless he was present. He
demanded the first place in the council as well
as in the management of the war department. At
the death of the Constable de Montmorency he
claimed the sword of office. He desired that the
money which his father had spent in the service
of the late King should be returned, that the
government of Blaj^e and Chateau Trompette
in Guyenne should be given him, and that ]\Ion-
sieur de Thou should be made president of the
Parliament.*
Bribes were always the best means of dealing
with Conde, and when the Regent needed his sup-
port money was no object; so " the Queen, act-
ing by the advice of her ministers," says Pont-
chartrain, " gave the Prince 900,000 livres to
pay the debts contracted by his father, and
300,000 livres to buy the county of Clermont
and the city of Creil." f
All was now ready for the final onslaught ; but
* Beaulieu to Trumbull, December, 1610, Winwood's Me-
morials, III. p. 241.
f Pontchartrain's Memoires, p. 310. »4^^* f>*\
30 Regency of Marie de Medicis
Sully had seen the gathering cloud, and when
he was attacked in the council by one of his own
religion over the expenses for the artillery, there
was no doubt in his mind that his hours as
Comptroller were numbered.* He had offered
to accept his dismissal, once when the Queen de-
prived him of the power of making drafts with-
out the consent of the cabinet ; f equivalent to
shearing him of the privilege of making friends.
He tendered his resignation a second time on the
eve of the young King's coronation, but was re-
called,! for he alone could hold the Princes at a
distance. He knew that there was no longer
room for him at court; that his face and figure
typified a bygone era ; that Villeroy was secretly
mining the ground under his feet, and so, dis-
gusted with everything, he resolved to throW"
down the gauntlet for the supreme struggle.
One day, the following question came up in
* Matteo Botti, June 19, 1610, cited by Zeller in La Mino-
rite de Louis XIIL, Marie de Medicis et Sully, pp. 67-69 —
L'Estoile, Journal Registre de Louis XIIL, p. 607.
f Andrea Cioli, Ibid., p. 72. Sully had made friends with
Guise and Conde by paying their arrears in their pensions.
X Oeconomies Royalea, ed. Michaud et Poujoulat, p. 405.
Sully's Quarrel with Villeroy 31
the council; Should d'AUncourt, the Governor
of Lyons, place a garrison in the city, and use
for the purpose 1,200,000 livres, which had been
set aside to purchase the town as crown prop-
erty? Sully emphasised the point that both
Savoy and the Spaniards were now a long way
from Lyons; that Bresse formed a bulwark
against invasion, and that a garrison would only
exasperate the citizens. The Queen admitted
the first part of this, but added that she con-
sidered the Huguenots more dangerous than
strangers. The soldiers ^vould serve to keep
Lesdiguieres in check. The minister knew that
this was not the Queen's personal opinion, and
when the council was dismissed he accused Ville-
roy to the Regent, of wishing to throw sus-
picion on all the good servants of the crown,
including the Huguenots, so as to favour the
schemes of his son-in-law, d'Alincourt. " If his
words have had power enough over your IMaj-
esty's mind," concluded he, " to make you sus-
pect both Spaniards and Huguenots, I think
that he pud I had better join hands and leave
tb^ .ouncil together."*
* Oeconomies Royales, 408-409.
32 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
Here was Villeroy's opportunity to demand
the dismissal of his enemy. He retired to his
house at Conflans to give the Queen the oppor-
tunity to act.* With true Itahan dissimulation
the Regent waited a few days. The victory ap-
peared to hang in the balance. Then the Princes
played their part in the unworthy comedy, and
demanded Sully's retirement. A report began
to circulate that he was to be controlled in his
acts by a council of finance.t The minister
promptly resigned, and left Paris loaded with
honours, little dreaming that he was bidding
farewell forever to his official career. ]Marie de
Medicis had gained her point. She had purged
the council of all Huguenot taint without anger-
ing the party. The Comptroller had not been
dismissed, he had resigned ! Don Inigo de Car-
denas immediately informed his government of
what had happened. The King rephed that it
* RicTielieu 3Iemoires, p. 34.
^ Foscarini, January 11, 1611, and January 17, 1611,
cited by Zeller in La ]\Iinorite de Louis XIII.. IMarie de Me-
dicis et Sully, 213-215— Ranke, op. cit. . German text, II. 122,
citing a despatch from Pecquins, Beaulieu to Trumbull , Jan-
uary 13, 1611, and Edmondes to "^iVinwood, January 23,
1611, Winwood's Memorials, III. 247.
Spain's Influence 33
would be well to have Sully arrested and tried,
but Madrid was far from Paris, and Philip had
not calculated what the Huguenot party might
do in case his ideas were carried out. Villeroy
and the Queen knew perfectly well what they had
to expect, and they decided to await develop-
ments.
CHAPTER III
March, 1611, to November, 1612 — Henry IV. 's treatment
of the Huguenots — Their distrust of the Regent —
Demand for an assembly — Strained relations between
the parties — Sully's influence — Scheme of the minis-
ters to divide the Huguenots — Influence of the Due de
Bouillon — Election of Duplessis-Mornay— Assembly
of Saumur — Act of Union — Championship of SuUy's
cause — Demands of the Protestants — The Queen's
policy — The dissolution of the Assembly — Disillusion-
ment of the Due de Bouillon — His influence on
Conde — Story of La Descomans — Coolness between
the Queen and the Guises — Eise of Concini's influence
— The proposal of marriage between his family and
that of Soissons — Influence of the cabinet— Its an-
tagonism to Concini— Alliance between Conde and
Soissons at Fontainebleau — Publication of the Span-
ish marriages — Anger of the Princes— Negotiations —
Plot of the Feudal party against the ministers —
Quarrel between the Queen and the Guises — The
Moisset case — Anger of the Guises.
The Calvinists lost much more by the death
of Henry IV. than by his abjuration. The late
King had made a plain statement regarding the
privileges of the Huguenots in the Edict of
Nantes, and, instead of treating them according
to the letter of the law, he put an extremely leni-
34
M/aor
>i*»^V^
.f-r^"
MAXIMILIKX I)K liKTlIlNK, DlC UK Sll.lA
l''rt.iii a ii.iiniiiii; !iy dii Moiistitr. in ilie l.oiiMc.
Attitude of Protestants 35
ent construction upon the proclamation, adding
new concessions continually until a feeling of
security had replaced their uneasiness. But the
Protestants regarded the Regent with appre-
hension, and immediately after the death of her
husband demanded an assembly.
Marie de Medicis could not refuse, for con-
sidering the proposed revolt of the Feudal party,
to anger the Huguenots at such a moment would
have been suicidal ; and so the parchment author-
ising the meeting was sent from Reims itself, as
an offset to the young King's oath to put down
heresy in his dominions. The place selected was
Chatellerault, but it was changed to Saumur, for
the ministers were afraid of Sully, who governed
Poitou.
A feeling of distrust pervaded all parties.
Seeing the strong Catholic tendency of the gov-
ernment, the Huguenots feared to be dispos-
sessed of their charges ; many fortified them-
selves as if the religious wars were about to burst
forth afresh. The cities in the vicinity of
Saumur manned their walls and drew up their
drawbridges, for Sully's attitude was far from
36 Regency of Marie de Medicis
reassuring. He had published a letter in which
he begged " the gods " not to trouble the peace
of France again, hinting darkly that a resort to
arms might be possible in the near future.
The ministers saw that unless the Protestants
could be divided, a great deal of trouble might
arise from the assembly. With consummate ad-
dress they selected an emissary in the ranks of
the Reform itself, and despatched him to Saumur
to oppose the influence of Sully. This mission
was given to the Due de Bouillon, who hoped to
obtain one of the great state offices by means of
the party. As a sower of discord he had no
rival; and he was to scatter it broadcast among
the Protestants, and to have himself elected
president of the assembly.
But Sully and his son-in-law, the Due de
Rohan, came in person to Saumur, and put for-
ward the candidacy of Duplessis-Mornay, upon
whom their adversaries chiefly relied. Duplessis
was one of those old patriarchs whose ideas of
the rights of his party surpassed his desire to
enforce them. He could not forget his King,
and kept the strength of the Reform in leash.
Huguenot Union 37
His election, which was brought about without
delay, meant that all the arguments of concilia-
tion would be used before an appeal to arms.
The first step of the assembly was to establish
an act of federation which, after citing the
necessity of an agreement between the churches,
finished with these ominous words : " We are
ready to seal the aforesaid union with our blood,
and to employ our fortunes, authority, or our
lives in its service."*
Sully then hurled the bolt which he had been
preparing ever since his disgrace. He made a
statement of his grievances, and demanded ad-
vice. Should he exact his re-establishment, or
should he simply accept the rewards which the
court had promised.'* There had been rumours
that the ex-Comptroller was to be arrested and
tried for mismanagement, and this speech may
have been a measure of personal safet\^ but if
the Queen had any such ideas, the prompt ac-
tion of the assembly left no room for doubt as
* Acte de V Union Generale des Egh'xes Pretendues Re-
f&rmees, 1611, cited by Capefigne in Richelieu-Mazarin, la
Fronde et le R§gne de Louis XIV., T. I. p. 126.
38 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
to its intentions. In spite of the Due de Bouil-
lon, the deputies united with Sully to demand
his safety and honour from the court ; requested
that he should not resign the offices he still held,
especially that of chief of the artillery, and
promised to assist him if anything was under-
taken to his advantage.*
Then the assembly drew up a list of demands,
the last of which was little short of an infringe-
ment upon the power of the crown. The choice
of governors for their strongholds was hence-
forth to be made from a list of names submitted
by the provinces ; all Catholic processions were
to be abolished in towns held by the Huguenots ;
the priests were to be forbidden to speak of the
damnation of those who attended the Huguenot
meetings for the purpose of hearing exhorta-
tions. The Reformers refused to recognise the
Catholic festivals, demanded schools, academies,
and an increase in the subsidies paid to their
pastors, also special burial places. Besides this,
they resolved to draw the money for maintain-
ing their fortresses from the royal coffers, de-
* Rohan Memoires, 496. Mercure Franfois, II. 77-78.
Policy of the Queen 39
manded permission to keep the artillery which
was in their hands, and completed their exax;-
tions by voting to hold an assembly every two
years.*
This was almost a declaration of war, but the
ministers, who knew the strength of their op-
ponents, preferred to win them by bribery rather
than by an open attack. Sully, whose self-
esteem was never proof against pecuniary
favours, was called to Paris. The Queen brought
the whole of her talents for cajolery into play,
and the old minister fell a victim to her flattery
and to her judicious giving.
The Regent's object was to dissolve the as-
sembly before returning an answer to its exac-
tions. She had very little to fear from the Prot-
estants if they dispersed, even though some of
their demands might be refused, and so the gov-
ernment insisted that the deputies should name
the five officers who were to reside at court, in
accordance with the Edict of Nantes, and sep-
arate before the complaints of the Huguenots
could be considered. The Regent cunningly
* MSS. deBethune, vol. cot. 8681, fol. 57, Bib. Nat., Paris.
40 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
added that she wanted a signal proof of their
devotion to her son at the beginning of his reign,
and that none more convincing could be expected
than that the Huguenots should trust their en-
tire future to his clemency and justice. But
the majority of the assembly saw the pitfall
wliich such specious words concealed, and refused
to acquiesce.
Then the crafty Bouillon saw his opportunity,
and advised the court secretlj^ to authorise the
minority to hold the election. The majority
was forced to yield on pain of being considered
rebels hj the King ; and the assembly separated,
the Duke returning to Paris with the air of a
conqueror. He expected to reap the reward he
coveted, but the ministers could not make room
for such a schemer, and he began to believe that
he had been deceived. He resolved to be re-
venged, and began to influence the Prince de
Conde to make all the trouble he could.*
Conde needed no urging. The success of the
Queen's Intrigue against Sully had invited its
own reaction. The instant all the influences
* Rohan Memoires, p. 42.
Conde's Arrogance 41
which had worked the minister's downfall found
themselves without further occasion to exist as
a coalition thej began to fall apart. The two
Princes of the Blood thought they could hold the
Regent in tutelage, and their arrogance in-
creased to such dimensions that Conde, having
found some difficulty in obtaining permission to
visit his government of Guyenne, declared openly
that she might give it or not, just as she pleased,
but that he intended to go nevertheless.*
The fall of Sully had likewise reacted on the
power of the Guises, owing to the Marquis
d'Ancre, whom the intrigue had thrown into the
Bourbon camp. When the object of the rival
factions had been attained they were left face
to face. Guise and Bellegarde had protested
against the Comptroller's retirement,! but re-
ceived a reprimand for their pains ; for Marie
de Medicis knew well enough that the Duke was
too much her debtor to make trouble, although
his conduct annoyed and displeased her. Urged
by Concini, who began to look upon Guise as his
* UEstrees' Memoires, 386. Pontchartrain Memoires, 313.
I D'Estrees' Memoires, 386.
42 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
rival, she allowed an Increasing coldness for him
and his friends to appear in their Intercourse.
This disposition was not lost on Concini and
his abettors, and it was with the intention of
furthering the ruin of their rivals that Conde is
supposed to have started the accusation against
the Due de Guise, the Marquise de Verneuil,
and the Due d'Epernon, of having conspired
with Ravalllac to kill Henry IV.* This is
the famous story of " La Descomans," which
made such a stir at the time. The woman was
the wife of a soldier, and had served two sen-
tences in the Chatelet, and the Hotel Dieu, for
dissolute living. These facts militated against
her conslderaably In the eyes of the court which
had charge of the affair ; her accusation wa^ de-
clared unfounded and she was condemned to per-
petual confinement.
Conde then started for Guyenne, where he re-
mained during the assembly of Saumur, inspect-
ing the fortresses with great ostentation and in-
dulging in acts of senseless bravado.f
* Scipione Ammirato, cited by B. Zeller in La Minorite
de Louis XIIL, Marie de Medicis et Sully, 201-202.
t Venetian Ambassadors, cited by B. Zeller in La
The Marshal d'Ancre 43
But his arrogance was by no means alone. A
personage of low birth and extraction had ap-
peared who bade fair to carry his head as high
as any Prince of the Blood. The Marquis
d'Ancre had become a great factor at court. By
the liberality of his patron he had built up a
vast fortune in the short time which had elapsed
since the death of Henry of Navarre. He had
drawn enough from the royal coffers to pay for
the government of the towns of Roye, Mont-
didier, and Peronne ; he had assumed the title of
Marquis, had bought the office of chamberlain
from the Due de Bouillon, possessed the govern-
ment of the citadel of Amiens, and had already
begun to assemble that train of devoted followers
which later on he used, in his m.oments of reck-
less raillery, to call " les gardes de mon cul."
The gro\\i;h of Concini's influence had not
escaped the Comte de Soissons nor his immediate
circle, who thought that the Italian should be
definitely attached to them by an alliance, and
there was a serious intention between the parties
Minorite de Louis XIII., Marie de Medicis et Sully,
p. 298.
44 Regency of Marie de Medicis
of marrying Concini's son to a Princess of the
House of Bourbon.*
But another influence had arisen parallel to
that of the Marquis, keeping pace with his ad-
vancement, but with less ostentation. This was
the council of the ministers.
Tliis body of grave men, whom Concini used
to call " les Barbons," held great authority over
the Regent, for it consisted of the only persons
capable of giving advice on aff^airs of state.
Villeroy was its most important member, for, be-
sides being a clever diplomat, he held the pre-
cedence over his colleagues from the fact that he
was a duke. The others were councillors of the
robe ; men like Jeannin, who had risen from the
upper class of the people. The combination
which they brought into play was a strong one.
Villeroy's family contained the ]\Iarquis d'Alin-
court, governor of Lyons, and the ]\Iarquis de
Villeroy. The Chancellor Sillery, who was like-
wise a great figure in the cabinet, and his son-
in-law, Puysieux, the under-secretary, were dip-
* B'Estrees' Memoires, pp. 385-389. Richelieu Memoires,
Concini versus Cabinet 45
lomats of the first order. Associated with these
two men was the Commandeur de Sillery, the
Chancellor's brother, who derived his title from
the Knights of Malta. At this time he was Am-
bassador to Spain, the importance of which post
sufficiently proves the worth of the man. These
" grey-beards," whom the Italian despised, were
so necessary to the Queen that they balanced
his authority and, as a matter of course, if Con-
cini was to rise higher still, it must be at the
expense of some combination.
The struggle between the cabinet and the
Marquis d'Ancre began on the subject of the
marriage proposed between the families of Con-
cini and Soissons. The ministers could not
allow the powerful favourite and a Prince of
the Blood to join forces, so they seized on an im-
prudence which the Marquis committed at
Amiens, as a pretext for stopping his rising for-
tunes. Concini had replaced the King's soldiers
in the citadel with hirelings of his own, and not
having money to satisfy the demands of the mer-
cenaries, he had borrowed from the government
coffers on his own note.* .<^ ..J'^.
* Richelieu Memoires, p. 44. Wi ¥^§*^ ''^
46 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
The Queen, who had not yet reached the point
m her infatuation when she could no longer see
the faults of her favourites, was extremely
angry. She refused to allow the negotiations
for the marriage to go on, and the Count, who
had had the baseness to listen to the proposal,
was obliged to accept the excuses of the Italian.*
Concini knew perfectly well whom he had to
thank for the Regent's anger and the destruction
of his hopes, and resolved to remain united to the
Princes and ruin the ministers, if he could.
It was now late in the autumn, and the return
of the Prince de Conde was momentarily ex-
pected. The Queen thought the time propi-
tious for publishing the agreement between
France and Spain, which had been the object of
her diplomacy since the time of her accession.
She needed the good will of Conde in his quality
of First Prince of the Blood, and so she selected
her emissaries among his closest friends and sent
them to meet the escort not far from Fontaine-
bleau. Her choice was unwise, for she gave the
commission to Soissons and Concini, both of
• D'Estreea' Memoires, p. 390.
Quarrel with the Queen 47
whom she had just reprimanded, and charged
them to obtain Conde's consent;* but the Count
thought the occasion for negotiating his own
affairs too good to be lost, and, far from exe-
cuting his instructions, he probably showed
Conde the advantage of refusing his approval.
The Prince made a short appearance at court
and retired almost immediately to Valery,t while
Soissons went into Normandy.
When the council asser.ibled on the 26th of
January, 1612, the Chancellor read the agree-
ment between the two crowns. Neither Conde
nor his uncle spoke a word ; Soissons allowed
some vague sign of approval to escape him. The
Regent addressed the Prince, and asked for his
opinion : " When a thing is already done," an-
swered Conde tartly, " there is no need of giving
advice." " You see," exclaimed the Count, ad-
dressing his nephew, " that we are treated like
slaves." The Queen grew red with anger, but
* Matteo Botti, cited by Zeller in La Minorite de Louis
XIII., Marie de Medicis et Sully, p. 312. Richelieu Me-
mmres, p. 44.
f Histoire des Princes de Conde, Due d'Aumale, III. p. 17.
48 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
checked herself, and the Chancellor changed the
subject.*
The Princes immediately left Paris, but
neither the Regent nor the ministers were to be
daunted by a show of bad temper, and they were
allowed to sulk while the capital gave itself up to
rejoicing. A tournament was announced for
the end of ]\Iarch. Never had such preparations
been made. Bassompierre, the Due de Guise,
Nevers, the Prince de Joinville, and Monsieur
de la Chatteignerai held the lists for two days
against all comers. The occasion cost them
50,000 crowns each, for equipments alone. f
Immediately after the festival the Regent's
anxiety overcame her prudence, and she opened
negotiations with the Princes, who, the one at
Valery, the other at Dreux, were showing signs
of a very bad temper. Marie de Medicis was
more eager for their good will than she was will-
ing to admit. Her choice of envoys shows this,
* Ubaldini, January 31, 1612, cited by F. T. Perrens in Les
Mariages Espagnols sous le Regne d'Henri IV. et la Regence
de Marie de Medicis, 373.
t Bassompierre Memoires, I. pp. 304-308. Mercure Fran-
cois, II. pp. 334-357.
Agreement between Bourbons 49
for she sent Villeroy and Concini, men in whom
she had impHcit confidence.* She had cajoled
Soissons once before, and she succeeded again.
He was allowed to believe that the only part of
Normandy which was not already liis, the citadel
of Quilleboeuf, would soon be placed under his
control.
The Count and his nephew agreed to return
to Paris, and the era of good feeling seemed to
have revived, though the Queen procrastinated
continually about the surrender of the fortress.
The INIarquis d'Ancre also began to renew the
project of an alliance with the Count, and the
affair was carried on secretly through the ]\Iar-
quis de Coeuvres. But such a situation could
not last long, and the ministers were finally
driven into a corner by the Princes. It became
at once clear that Soissons was not to have Quil-
leboeuf, nor was the ^Marquis d'Ancre to be
allowed to realise his project.
A plan for overthrowing the ministers was the
outcome of this discovery, but this time the plot
* Edmondes toWinicood, June 4, 1612. Winwood's Memo-
rials, III. 368.
50 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
was far more serious than it appeared at the first
glance. It involved Lesdiguieres, who was dis-
satisfied because the Queen would not give him
his patent of duke; Rohan, who had seized the
fortress of St. Jean d'Angely, Concini,
Coeuvres, Conde, the Comte de Soissons, and the
Due de Bouillon. Lesdiguieres promised to
bring 100,000 men to the gates of Paris if neces-
sary, and Rohan offered the resources of the
Huguenots.
To make a bad situation worse, the influence
of Concini had estranged the Queen from the
only people able to give her support. The
favour of the Guises was ebbing fast; the Due
de Vendome had been forbidden to go into Brit-
tany to preside over the meeting of the Estates
General of that province. The Due de Guise
took this as a personal affront, and retired to
Provence. He was soon called back in all haste
by the Due de Bellegarde.
A charge of the most fantastic kind had been
launched against him by a Spanish adventurer
whom nobody knew. This man accused a mer-
chant named Moisset of having attempted, in
Condi's Influence 51
concert with Bellegarde, to influence the Queen
by means of an enchanted mirror.* In those
days such an accusation was enough to put any
man's life in jeopardy. The Due de Guise was
absolutely certain that the tale was an inven-
tion of his enemies, and he complained to the
Queen with great passion that it had been
started to ruin INIonsieur de Bellegarde, simply
because he was his friend and relative. He fin-
ished by declaring that they should know how to
die sword in hand when the time came.f The
Duke had guessed correctly. The story was the
work of some person of exalted station. Bar-
tolini, the Florentine Ambassador, writing to the
Grand Duke, laj^s the blame at Conde's door.
Moisset was rich, and the object of the conspira-
tors was to seize his goods as well as to ruin
Bellegarde. It was proved at the trial that the
Marquis d'Ancre had applied to the Queen to be
* Venetian Ambassadors, January 8, IG13, cited by Zeller
in La Minorite de Louis XIII., Marie de Medicis etVille-
roy, 93. Richelieu Metnoires, 51-53. D'Estreea' Memoir ea,
397.
f Edmondes to Winwood, September 21, 1612. See Win-
wood's Memorials, III. 396.
52 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
allowed to take the man's property in case he
should be convicted. Conde was to keep one-
half of the culprit's estate, and Concini to hold
the remainder. In spite of Marie de Medicis'
personal efforts (for some reason or other she
hated Moisset) the Parliament dismissed the
case,* and Bellegarde was exonerated, but the
iron had entered the soul of the Guises, and they
resolved to be revenged.
♦ Bartolini, October 26, 1612, cited by Zeller in La Mino-
lite de Louis XIII., Marie de Medicis et Villeroy, p. 71.
CHAPTER IV
Kovember, 1612, to November, 1613 — Deatb of the
Comte de Soissons — Murder of the Baron de Luz —
Reasons for this act — Anger of the Queen — Prepon-
derant influence of Conde— His exactions — Revulsion
of the Regent's sentiments — Rehabilitation of the
Guises — Reinstatement of the ministers — Surprise of
Conde — He leaves the court— The Yilleroy-Concini
marriage — Coldness between Yilleroy and Sillery —
Villeroy's disposition in regard to the marriage —
His influence against Concini— The Maignat case —
Its settlement — Disillusionment of Villeroy— The sig-
nature of the marriage contract — Surprise of the
Feudal party — Resolution to try force.
The moment chosen bj the Feudal party for
action against the ministers was after the return
of the Comte de Soissons from Normandy,
whither he had gone to preside at the annual
meeting of the Estates General of the province.
Concini and his associates were so eager to begin
that they could hardly wait, but Soissons de-
layed, owing to the advice of the Marquis de
Coeuvres, and fate willed that he should never
return to Paris at all, for the news suddenly
burst over the astonished capital that the Count
53
54 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
had died at one of his country places of small-
pox.
Conde was left comparatively alone by the
death of his uncle, and the Parisians hoped that
the troubles to which that turbulent Prince had
given rise would be forgotten, now that a less
irascible man had taken his place. But the year
1613 had scarcely begun before the House of
Guise, which had been more or less eclipsed by
the Bourbons, reappeared upon the scene in a
tragedy which took place before the very thresh-
old of the palace.
On the 5th of January the Duke's younger
brother met the Baron de Luz in the rue St.
Honore, and shouted to him to get out of his
carriage for a moment's conversation. It would
have been better if the Baron had refused, for
his foot was scarcely on the ground before the
Chevaher whipped out his sword and plunged
it into his body.
Viewed in a dispassionate light this was simply
a murder, but historians do not agree on the mo-
tive, for some say that the Baron was killed as
a sacrifice to the ill-will and power of the Guises,
"T
Olari. o^'i^'-A"- , io"^ '^- S^tMOMJ ,
LOUIS DK r.tHRBON. CC-MTK OK SOlSSONS.
Kiom a painting by .lu MoustKi. in the Louvre.
Reasons for Luz's Murder 55
while others maintain that the Chevalier was in-
sanely jealous of his victim on account of a love
affair.*
The real cause of the crime was political, and
not sentimental; the intrigue against Monsieur
de Bellegarde did not abate with the settlement
of the Moisset case, but Concini attempted to
take the government of Burgundy from him and
give it to the Due de Mayenne.f The Baron de
Luz was especially active in this affair, and the
Guises began to entertain a mortal hatred for
him. He had been one of their party, and was
regarded as a traitor for siding with Conde and
the Marquis d'Ancre. They blamed him for the
Queen's coldness and for the position she had
taken in regard to Bellegarde, who, having left
Paris after the Moisset trial, was forbidden to
return.^ The death of Luz was resolved upon,
* G. B. BartoUni, January 17, 1613, cited by Zeller in
La Mnorite de Louis XIIL, Marie de Medicis et Villeroy
91. Malherbe to Piiresc, January 5, 1613, found in the
works of Boileau Despreaux. Precedes des Oeuvres de
Malherbe Suivies des Oeuvres Poetiques de J. B. Rousseau.
+ This was the son of the Due Charles, who had died on
October 3, 1611.
X Bassompihrre Memoires, I. 312. Pontchartrain, 323.
56 Regency of Marie de Medicis
and the execution was given to the Chevalier.
Tliis role was not new to him, for he had at-
tacked the Marquis de Coeuvres a few months
before, when the latter was negotiating the af-
fairs of the Comte de Soissons at the expense
of the Chevalier's family.*
If the Guises had been playing the hands of
the Bourbons they could not have done anything
more to accomplish their own disgrace. The
Queen's anger knew no bounds. She talked of
having the culprit tried for murder, and to all
appearances the party in whose hands the power
had rested since her accession was about to fall,
involving the ministry in its ruin.
The Prince de Conde might have been master
of the situation had he been able to grasp it, but
he was not made of the material which is usually
found in great leaders. Never were the words
of Le Vassor, that " he preferred to enrich him-
self like an avaricious and quarrelsome country
squire " more true than in this instance. The
Prince had swept all the Regent's partisans into
his own camp, for the Due de Guise had put
* D'Estreea' Memoires, 391. Richelieu Memoires, p. 44.
Demands of Cond6 57
himself under Conde's protection. The Due
d'Epernon had likewise joined the cabal, and the
Queen stood alone against the Feudal leaders who
at once began to demand concessions.
Six days after the death of the Baron de Luz,
the Due de Nevers, the Due de Mayenne, and
the Marquis d'Ancre demanded an interview with
Marie de Medieis. Nevers, as spokesman, laid
before her, after a long preamble, in which he
enlarged upon Conde's se'i^ices, a demand from
the Prince for the government of Chateau Trom-
pette, the citadel of Bordeaux.*
Henry IV. used to say that unless he held
the Chateau he was not Duke of Guyenne, and
this idea probably suggested itself to the Queen
at this moment with double force; her face
turned crimson. She answered that she would
think about it, and rising at the same time from
her seat in the council chamber, she retired to her
own apartments, followed by Nevers and his
companions. Bassompierre, who was present,
infers that the Regent's anger and annoyance
* Bassompierre Memoir es, I. 318. Pontchar train, 328.
Richelieu, 56.
58 Regency of Marie de M6dicis
were visible, but Marie de Medicis did not bear
her name in vain, and by the time she reached
her own boudoir her mind was made up.
" I heard a tale about Bassompierre's love
affairs," she said with the utmost nonchalance.
" If I should tell it, he would be overwhelmed
with confusion."
" You must tell it him. Madam," answered
Nevers, falling into the trap. He made a sign
to Bassompierre to approach, but the Regent,
acting her part, refused to enlighten them until
the Count himself, his curiosity being thoroughly
aroused, begged her to tell him what she meant.
The Queen took him into the embrasure of a
window and said : " I do not wish to speak to you
on that subject at all, but I want to ask you if
Monsieur de Guise has said anything more about
the return of de la Rochefoucauld."*
" Madam," answered the Count, " he spoke of
it three days ago, and begged me not to men-
tion the subject again to Your Majesty, adding
* Rochefoucauld had been expelled from the court for
not wishinsT to leave the Hotel de Guise when ordered to
by the Queen's messenger, Chateauvieu, on the day of
de Luz's murder.
The Queen and Bassompiferre 59
that he should treat with j'ou by means of Mon-
sieur le Prince, with whom he should henceforth
be on such good terms that he (the Prince)
would no longer be the rod for you to beat him
with when you were angry. He thinks he makes
no mistake in attaching himself to the Prince's
party because the Marquis d'Ancre, your favour-
ite, belongs to it."
" Ah ! Bassompierre," replied the Regent,
" evil councillors got me to forsake the Princes
of the House of Guise and scorn them. They
also oblige me to abandon and neglect the min-
isters, and then, seeing me without assistance j
they want to attack my authority and ruin me.
They have just made a most insolent demand for
the Chateau Trompette, and are not inclined to
be satisfied even with that, but if I am able I
shall find some means of stopping them."
Bassompierre, who, notwithstanding his airy
manners and apparent lightness, was really a
clever man, saw in the determination an occa-
sion to play a part which he enjoyed, and for
•which he was perfectly calculated. He told the
Regent not to despair; she could win back the
6o Regency of Marie de M6dicis
Guises and the ministers whenever she saw fit,
and that she ought to find the means. The Queen
understood the hint and asked him to come to her
after dinner, and the better to hide her game
she turned to the Prince's followers and showed
so much gaiety that Bassompierre wondered at
her marvellous power of dissimulation.*
After dinner she had fully decided how much
she would pay the Guises. She instructed her
emissary to offer the Duke 100,000 crowns, and
the oflSce of lieutenant-general of Provence for
his brother the ChevaHer, whom only a few days
before she wanted to hang; to the Princess de
Conti she offered the continuance of the Abbey
of Saint-Germain in case the Prince, her hus-
band, died, and besides all this, she held out the
olive branch to the Duke, by offering to allow
La Rochefoucauld to return to court. The re-
call of the ministers was Bassompierre's own
suggestion, and he offered to talk to Villeroy
himself, adding that the Commandeur de Sillery
would be the best person to approach the others.
" You are right," assented the Regent, " and
* Bassompierre Memoiret, I. 319-330.
The Queen's Diplomacy 6i
I shall send for the Chevalier de Sillery at once ;
see the others and decide what I ought to prom-
ise. I, for mv part, am brave enough to run
any risk to uphold my authority against those
who wish to deprive me of it."
Men are always more easily managed by the
women of their family than by the friends of the
sterner sex. And it was very clever of Bassom-
pierre to approach the Due de Guise through
his mother and the Priacess de Conti on one
side, and through his wife on the other. Queen
Marguerite, the divorced wife of Henry IV^., re-
ceived the task of managing the Due d'Epernon,
who, to his undying credit, did not require bribes
to make him act according to his conscience. It
was just as easy to win the Due de Guise, for the
gifts he received and pardon for his brother dis-
sipated all his ill-feeHngs. The ministers were
glad of this apparent victory over the Prince
and the Marquis d'Ancre, and only asked to be
reinstated. They presented themselves therefore
on Sunday the 13th of January, and remained
closeted with the Queen three hours. At ten
o'clock the Prince came to the Louvre and was
62 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
refused an audience because the Queen was talk-
ing with the ministers. Bassompierre, who was
in attendance, noticed the Prince's anxiety. His
half -smile must have caught Conde's eye, for he
said " do you know that those old ' barbons *
have been conferring with the Queen for an hour,
and that I am not admitted ? " The Count ap-
peared surprised, but made the Prince see that
his demand for the Chateau Trompette had
worked the marvel. Like a careful diplomat he
threw suspicion on the Due de Bouillon, saying
that perhaps he had seen how the Regent took
the request for the citadel, and fearing to ruin
himself had made overtures to her through Vil-
leroy.*
The Feudal party lingered in Paris a few
days after the end of this intrigue, and then they
left the court one after another ; the Prince went
to Berri, and the Due de Nevers to Italy,
whither he escorted jMlle. de Mayenne, who was
engaged to the Duca di Sforza. The Marquis
d' An ere retired to Amiens.
The ministers now held the situation in their
* Bassomyierre Memoires, I. pp. 333-339.
Quarrels in the Cabinet 63
hands, but the same reaction which had occurred
to disrupt the Catholic party for a time now
took place in the cabinet. When there seemed
to be no foe to face, and no cabal to overthrow,
they began to look askance at each other. Ville-
roy and the Chancellor quarrelled. The cause
for their difference was, say the Memoires, a mar-
riage which the former tried to arrange between
his granddaughter and the son of the Marquis
d'Ancre. The Chancellor was hurt because the
negotiations were begun without his knowledge.
The authors of this information appear to me
to have taken an appearance for a fact, and to
have given Villeroy the credit for an affair which
was not of liis seeking. There is no doubt that
such a proposition was made to the Marquis
d'Ancre, and that an alliance with an old and
noble family, which was the last step towards
wiping out the epithet of " etranger," under
which he laboured, must have been very agree-
able to him. But the proposal came through a
third party, and not by the volition of either of
the principals, for had it come from Villeroy we
should not have seen him making as a candition
64 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
of the match, that Monsieur de Souvre's charge
of gentleman-in-waiting should pass to his son-
in-law Courtenvaux.*
It seems to me that the marriage was the idea
of the Chancellor, and that Villeroj yielded with
a very bad grace to a step which was proposed to
him as a political necessity, but which he looked
upon as a ruse of the Sillerys to ruin him. He
feared to draw down upon himself the ill will
which the Princes were beginning to feel for the
Italian, and his disposition is sufficiently evident
from the exorbitant demands he made in the
marriage settlement, and in the term of years
he fixed before the realisation of the match.
Then also it is worthy of note that some power-
ful influence must have been at work near the
Regent against the Marquis d'Ancre at this very
time, for he was never nearer disgrace than dur-
ing the spring of 1613. A war cloud gathered
on the frontier of Savoy, and the Queen decided
to send an army into Italy.f Concini wished to
* Richelieu Memoir es, p. 61.
f The Duke of Mantua died ou the 22d of Decemher,
1612, leaving no male heirs. Mantua, being a masculine
fief of the Empire, reverted to the Duke's brother. The
*<
'*.*
•V'
Concini's Peril 65
command this force, but his design was thwarted
by someone in the cabinet.* Then a scandal
arose, of the kind which was often the ruin of
people in those daj's. One night a man named
Maignat, a poor defoi'med wretch, half priest,
half spy, was caught putting into the post a
packet containing information of the most valu-
able kind. The letter was addressed to agents
of the Due de Savoie, and named the Marquis
d'Ancre, his wife, and Dole as the people from
whom the items were gathered. The accusation
we can see was most serious, and had it been
levelled at an^^one but Concini his head would
have paid the penalty. The Marquis d'Ancre
did not misjudge the gravity of his peril, but
passed many hours of the most poignant anxiety
Due de Savoie immediately said that his daughter, who was
Duchess of ^lantua, might be pregnant, and the succes-
sion should not be decided until this point was cleared up.
The Duchess bore a daughter, and the troops of Savoy-
crossed the border, under the pretext that the Duke was
guardian to his granddaughter, and seized several places
in Montferrat. The court of France could not look indif-
ferently on Savoy's act, for the Cardinal Duke was a
nephew of Marie de 3Iedicis.
* O. B. BartoUni, May 4, 1613. cited by Zeller in La Mi-
norite de Louis XIII., Marie de Medicis et Villeroy, p. 128.
66 Regency of Marie de Medicis
pacing up and down the long gallery at Fon-
tainebleau, tearing his hair and swearing to
Bassompierre, in a mixture of bad French and
Italian, that the Ministers had invented the
story to ruin him.*
The settlement of the case must have been a
terrible revelation to Villeroy. Maignat was put
to death, his trial being conducted by two com-
missioners, one of whom, Claude Mangot, will
appear again in this narrative, and nothing
transpired to hurt Concini, who received orders
to retire to his government. During his absence
the contracts for the proposed marriage were
drawn up. Their signature, on the 10th of Oc-
tober, took the opposition completely by sur-
prise; one thing appeared which was unmistak-
able. The Feudal party would have no share in
the management of affairs now that the Queen's
favourite and the craftiest among the diplomats
were allies. One card remained to be played.
They resolved to risk everything, and try force
at the first opportunity.
* D'Estrees' Memoires, 401. Richelieu Mermiret, 61.
Bassompierre Memoires, I. 348-355.
CHAPTER V
November, 1613, to October, 1614 — Keckless behaviour of
the Queen — Death of de Fervaques — Appointment of
Concini to his oflBce — The Marshal d'Ancre— Anger of
Conde —Further extravagance of Marie de Medicis —
The revolt — Negotiations — Seizure of Mezieres —
Conde's manifesto — Struggle between Villeroy and
SUlery — The Due de Rohan- -Negotiations— Death of
Montmorency — Influence on the Due de Bouillon —
Treaty of St. Menehould — Conde's attempt on Poic-
tiers — His Failure — Louis XIII. 's expedition to Poic-
tiers — His popularity — Results of the journey — Sur-
render of Conde — The election — Influence of Concini
— His party — Influence of Barbin and Richelieu —
Resolve to change the ministry.
The truth of the Greek proverb, that those
whom the gods wish to destroy they first make
mad, was well borne out by the Queen's conduct
during the closing days of 1613. The combina-
tion between the favourite and Villeroy seemed
so powerful that the Regent appears to have
thrown caution to the winds ; she gave the signal
for the impending revolt herself by an act of the
purest folly.
The death of ^larshal de Fervaques, who com-
manded Quillebceuf, occurred during the first
67
68 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
week of November. There were many candi-
dates for the vacant dignity, and the military
experience of men like the Due de Sully, or
Montbazon, or Souvre, could not be denied, but
to the astonishment and chagrin of the postu-
lants, and the anger of the court, the Queen pre-
ferred to give the office to a man of no experi-
ence, at whom the discontent of her opponents
was beginning to be aimed. She chose a
stranger for the post, and without more ado gave
the baton to the Marquis d'Ancre, who was also
made governor of Normandy. The Regent
would likewise have given him Quilleboeuf, if
Montbazon had not shown a patent from the late
King which gave him the citadel at the death of
the old Marshal.*
The Prince de Conde was profoundly dis-
pleased, but the Queen added fuel to the flame
by sending the Infanta a bracelet worth 150,000
crowns as a Christmas present, at a time when
there was no money in the treasury.f
* Scipione Ammirato, November 21, 1613, cited by Zeller
in La Minorite de Louis XIII., Marie de Medicis et Ville-
roy, p. 160.
f Ubaldini, December 3, 1613, cited by Perrens in Les
■:. .. ' "5^
Revolt of Feudalism 69
The moment had come to try force, and so
during the month of January, 1614<, the Feudal
leaders disappeared one by one from Paris.
Conde, Nevers, Longueville, Mayenne, and the
Due de Bouillon, left in rapid succession ; and it
was not until Vendome was ready to follow that
the government awoke to a sense of its danger.
He was arrested and confined to his apartments
in the Louvre, but cleverly deceived his jailers
and escaped. When next heard from he was in
Brittany.*
The Regent was face to face with a serious
crisis. Feudalism held the north-east of France
with the towns of Laon, Sedan, Noyon, Soissons,
and the castle of Pierrefonds. Vendome had
promised to make a diversion from Brittany, and
the Due de Bouillon was treating with the
Protestants.
The leadership of the Huguenot forces had
Manages Espagnoles sons le RSgre d'Henri IV. et la Re-
gence de Marie de Medicis, p. 483. Scipiove Ammirafo, Jan-
uary 16, 1614, cited by Zeller in La Minorite de Louis
XIII., Marie de Medicis et Villeroy, 169.
* Beaulieu to TrumbnU, January 27, 1614, Winwood's
Memorials, Vol. III. p. 492. Malherbe to Pih-esc. February
20, 1614— Ife;-cwr« Francois, III. pp. 305, 307, 359, 360.
70 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
passed entirely into the hands of the Due de
Rohan, whose qualities of statesman and general
rendered him especially fit for the post. Profit-
ing by the dissensions at court, he had employed
his time in seizing and fortifying St. Jean
d'Angely, and in perfecting the organisation of
the churches as a political body modelled upon
the system of the Austrian Empire. Then he
called a meeting of the Circle de la Rochelle at
a time when the Regent was in a bad position,
and had managed to wring from her the con-
cessions which she had refused to grant to the
assembly of Saumur. He was now watching the
way events might turn, but his distrust of the
Due de Bouillon made him very unwilling to
join hands blindly with the conspirators.* He
saw well enough that the war was one of private
interests, and tliis keen insight saved the Regent.
No vigorous measures could be expected from
the council, for Villeroy and the Chancellor had
begun the struggle for supremacy which was to
result so disastrously for both, and each was try-
ing to advise against the other. Villeroy had on
* Rohan Memoires, pp. 501-502.
Nevers Seizes Mdzieres 71
his side the Due de Guise, who expected to com-
mand the army, but it was not surprising that
Sillery's policy carried the day, for he was sup-
ported by the newly created Marshal d'Ancre.
Concini, who was afraid of the Due de Guise,
kept sending courier after courier from Amiens,
to his wife, to bring the affair to a peaceful con-
clusion.*
But hotheads like Nevers could not brook de-
lay. He moved directly on Mezieres, a city
which connected Sedan and Soissons, and when
the governor, who had shut the gates by order
of the Regent, refused to open them, Nevers had
cannon brought and acted as if he was going to
blow them down.f This action took the Queen
completely by surprise. Procrastination was no
longer possible. A policy had to be adopted,
and that of bribery prevailed ; money was sent to
Lesdiguieres to keep the Huguenots quiet, an
officer was despatched to Mezieres to take com-
mand of the fortress, and Concini received in-
• Richelieu Memoires, p. 67.
\ Mercure Frangois, III. pp. 313-316. Pontchartrain
Memoires, 329. Fontenay-Mareuil Memoires, 73.
72 Regency of Marie de Medicis
structions to keep the Princes apart as much as
possible.* Nevers refused to give up Mezieres,
and the King prepared for war, while Conde so
far forgot his nationality that he demanded
passage for 6000 mercenaries from the Due de
Lorraine.
Under these ominous conditions the Queen re-
ceived a letter from the Prince. It was a mani-
festo in which he pointed out the disorders ex-
isting in the state, complaining that the great
dignitaries had no share in the government.
Affairs were managed by three or four who fo-
mented quarrels among the nobles, scattered the
public funds, and gave citadels to strangers who
were incapable of guarding them. He finished
by demanding the postponement of the Royal
Marriages, until the King should be of age, and
that the Estates General, the last resort in times
of minority and of weakness, should be con-
voked.f The Queen was willing to treat, and the
* Venetian Ambassadors, February 5 and 8, 1614 — Scipi-
one Ammirato, February 18, 1614, cited by Zeller in La
Minorite de Louis XIIL, Marie de Medicis et Villeroy,
p. 178.
f Mercure Francois, IIL ZVI-Z%1— Richelieu Memoires, 67
— Rohan Memoires, 502.
Bouillon's Influence 73
month of April was spent in negotiations.
Couriers sped back and forth between Soissons
and Paris. The President de Thou, whose
friendship for Conde and Bouillon was of the
closest, received permission to approach the mal-
contents; but at this juncture the Constable de
Montmorency died, and this event contributed
a great deal towards making the Queen's over-
tures to the Princes acceptable, for it influenced
the Due de Bouillon to second the efforts of de
Thou. Bouillon, as a matter of fact, had been
the soul of the conspiracy ; he flattered Cond^
and urged him on, promising him an army and
the support of the cities, especially of the
Huguenot towns, which were full of stores and
cannon. He likewise pointed out to the nobles
how they were kept out of the government while
Concini, " a foreign valet," got all the honours.*
But the tune changed when Rohan refused to
move and the office of Constable became vacant.
The Duke hoped to succeed Montmorency, and
not only grew immediately lukewarm in the cause
* Ubaldini, February 13, 1614, cited by F. T. Perrens in
Les Manages Espagnoles, p. 492.
74 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
of war, but soon became eager for a substantial
peace.* Conde's objections were not hard to
overcome. IMoney was poured into his greed}'
hands, and an important fortress was given him
in guarantee of the Regent's good faith.
The treaty was signed at St. Menehould on the
15th of May. Conde obtained enough to satisfy
all his followers, but notwithstanding, he re-
fused to return to Paris. Only the Dues de May-
enne and de Longueville appeared at the capital.
The latter paid a short visit to the Queen, f
The Due de Vendome refused to lay down his
arms. In a word, the Princes thought their
battle won at the time when the struggle was
only just beginning; they expected to control
the Estates General, and were already discount-
ing its support. $ One of the greatest mysteries
of the period is that the Feudal leaders made
such a mistake. Neither the Prince nor any of
his associates except the Due de Rohan had pene-
tration enough to read the signs of the time.
* Richelieu Memoires, p. 68. Hist, des Princes de Conde,
Due d'Aumale, III. 25-27.
f Malherbe d Monsieur de Pieresc, June 1, 1614.
X Rohan Memoirea, 503.
Attack on Poictiers 75
They did not seem to realise that the disorders
of the League, and the period of rest in Henry
IV. 's reign, had shown the people the evils of
civil strife. The masses were in favour of the
King, and when Feudalism sounded the call to
arms not a soul had moved hand or foot. A
wiser man than Conde would have recognised
this and have been warned. But he was lost in
the eager pursuit of another scheme. He wished
to establish himself firmly in the south-west in
order to command the road to Spain, and already
he held enough towns to form a strong line of
defence. The provinces of Berri and Guyenne
were his. Amboise had been placed in liis hands,
his favourite Rochefort was lieutenant-governor
of Poitou, and another devoted follower gov-
erned Poictiers. It was on this last stronghold
that Conde cast his eye, for it completed his line
of communication. The citizens were about to
hold an election. The mayor was to be chosen,
and the Prince attempted to have him named out
of his own party. The plan to gain control of
the city was a good one, but Conde was foiled
by that feehng mentioned a few lines above.
76 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
The Spirit of Loyalty manifested itself in the
person of Bishop Chasteigner de la Rocheposay,
whose father had fought in the religious wars
on the side of Henry of Navarre.
One night, by the instigation of la Roche-
posay, Conde's agent de la Trie was attacked,
and left for dead in the streets. The tocsin was
rung, Poictiers shut her gates, and the citizens
manned the walls, the Bishop himself donned a
steel cap and breastplate, buckled a sword by his
side, and appeared at the gate carrying a pistol
in his mailed fist. When Conde rode up to the
walls he was told to retire or take the conse-
quences. He beat a hasty retreat and wrote to
the Regent, complaining most bitterly. The in-
sult was so great, he said, that unless she would
revenge him, he would be obliged to seek re-
prisals himself.*
This was a semi-official declaration of war.
The promptness with which the Regent acted
shows the real ugliness of Conde's attitude.
* Venetian Ambassadors, July 8, 1614, cited by Zeller in
La Minorite de Louis XIII. , Marie de Medicis et Villeroy,
p. 235.
Royal Journey to Poictiers 77
She could not afford to allow Poictiers to fall
into the Feudal leader's hands, so she decided to
go in person to the seat of the trouble. She
acted by the advice of Villeroy, and no one, not
even Concini, was able to turn her from her pur-
pose.* The Marquis d'Ancre thought that he
was ruined as well as the rest of his party, and
returned to Amiens, having broicen definitely
with the minister.f
It is needless to go into the particulars of the
King's journey if we grasp the full importance
of its result. The people were dehghted to see
their monarch, whom the majority had regarded
more as a myth than as a reality. They all knew
his father, the man with the great nose and the
glance of fire, and the announcement of the prog-
ress of the son through the lands was hailed as
a millennium. The King was very skilful at all
sorts of games, and horse exercise was one of his
specialities. The burghers loved to see the
sovereign bowing to them from the back of his
charger, or mingling with their sport in the
market places.
♦ Richelieu Memoires. p. 71.
f D'Eatrees' Memoires, p. 404.
78 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
The expedition was a long ovation, the fac-
tions disappearing like magic. At Blois the Due
de Mayenne presented the submission of the
Prince de Conde, and a few days later Vendome
announced that he surrendered the towns he had
seized to the Marquis de Cceuvres. At Tours
the Queen saw the Bishop of Poictiers, whom she
received, says Fontenay-Mareuil, in a way pro-
portional to the great service he had rendered.
The reward was well merited, for he had started
the wave of loyalty which swept over France,
leaving the Prince de Conde stranded higher and
higher by the receding tide of his imaginary
popularity. What doubt had hitherto existed
about the control of the Estates General disap-
peared. The court had too much at stake to al-
low any but its partisans to be elected. The
whole influence of the government was thrown
into the voting,* and an assembly was obtained
in which all the strong supporters of the Bour-
bon dynasty and the Catholic party were repre-
sented. This was a measure of safety on the
* Memoires de Comte de Brienne, ed. Michaud et Pou-
joulat, T. XXVII. p. 3.
Troubles at Amiens 79
Queen's part, for the Feudal leaders had made
no secret of their intention of substituting an-
other Regent for Marie de Medicis. Another
subject which had formed a part of their mani-
festo was also to receive attention ; this was Con-
cini's position as governor of the citadel of
Amiens, to say nothing of his charge of Marshal
of France.
The Italian had made an enemy in the ranks
of the Feudal barons. His position in Amiens
had brought him into contact with the young
Due de Longueville, governor of Picardy, and
the friction had become greater and greater until
in October, 1614, the Duke returned from his
province with an immense suite, and proposed to
challenge the Marshal d'Ancre. The cause of
the quarrel was that certain citizens of Amiens
who favoured de Longueville, had shown him
that a drawbridge between the city and the
citadel was raised at night. This was the only
way to reach one of the gates of the town, which
was without defence when the bridge was closed.
One Sunday morning the Duke went to hear
mass at a church near the bridge, and sent a
8o Regency of Marie de Mddicis
squad of smiths to detach the chains. The quar-
rel of the leaders was always sustained by their
men in those days, and in this case Concini's re-
tainers levelled their guns at the governor's
people, and ordered them off the bridge. But
the citizens espoused the Duke's cause, for one of
Concini's Italian mercenaries had killed a soldier
of the town guard, and the mob was eager to
capture the citadel, hang the murderer, and raze
the place to the ground. The personal exer-
tions of de Longueville alone saved the fortress
from being stormed by his infuriated sympa-
thisers, but nevertheless he started for Paris de-
termined to have satisfaction.* A duel was pre-
vented, but the Duke never forgave the Italian,
and he resolved to have the favourite ejected
from Amiens, though the Marshal's fortune was
so great, and his influence so preponderant, that
the task would have staggered a less resolute
man.
Concini's power had outstripped that of Ville-
roy. We can hardly believe our eyes when we
see the man by whose advice the Regent had just
* MaUterbe d Monsieur de rUreaz, October 5, 1614.
Hl-.CruR D OKl.KAN.s. Die I > !• l.()N( ; I tA 1 1, t.K
From a painting by chi Moiistier. in the l.ouvre.
Revival of Concini's Influence 8i
made her journey to Poictiers neglected in his
country house at Conflans, and our ears appear
to fail when we hear the Queen complain bitterly
that he dela^'ed the accomplishment of the
King's marriage.*
The Regent was now entirely under the influ-
ence of Concini and his wife. The Marshal had
surrounded her with a select number of his own
friends. Rucellai, a churchman from Florence,
an adept at intrigue, clever and unprincipled,
was one of the circle ; another was Henry, Mar-
quis de Richelieu, one of the most accomplished
cavaliers of the time ; a third was Barbin, a law-
yer from Melun, who had been clever enough to
win Leonora Galigai's regard before she became
Marquise d'Ancre.f Still another was that
Claude ]Mangot, " maitre des requettes," who
helped the Marquis in the Maignat affair ; and
last, and perhaps greatest of all, the Bishop of
Lu9on, of whom Concini used to say that he knew
a stripling who was capable of teaching a thing
* D'Estrees' Memoires, 405.
\ Memoires de Mine, de Monglat, ed. Michaud et Poujou-
lat, p. 10.
82 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
or two to the old ministers. The favourite
judged his young friend correctly; the young
man whose pointed beard and moustache were so
strangely at variance with the peaceable purple
of his gown, was one day to weld France into a
homogeneous mass, and to be known to posterity
as the Cardinal de Richelieu.
Concini had learned that it was impossible for
him to live and wield the power he coveted with-
out overthrowing the old ministers. It is scarcely
credible that he wished to rule, but he loved
power for power's sake ; the glitter and pomp of
his dignities fascinated him ; two members of his
clique, Barbin and Richelieu, kept urging him to
be rid of Villeroy and his colleagues who opposed
his advance, and the IMarshal had made up his
mind to follow their advice. Sillery's official life
was lengthened only to allow him to manage the
Estates General, and because Concini was allied
to him against the Due de Guise. No favourable
occasion for breaking with him had appeared,
but the doom of the others became only a ques-
tion of time.
CHAPTER VI
October, 1614, to February, 1615— Diplomatic victory
for the Queen over Conde — Proclamation of the Es-
tates General — The King's majority — The Prince de
Conde — Opening ceremonies of the Assembly — Jeal-
ousy of the Nobles for the Third Estate — La Paulette
— Quarrel between the privileged orders of the lower
house — Conde's new role — The Galilean party — Its
quarrel with the Clergy — Influence of Conde against
the Nobles — Settlement of the dispute — Insults to the
Parliament — The financial system — Quarrel between
the deputies and the court — The Queen appears to
yield — Appointment of commissioners — Comedy of
auditing the accounts — Desire of the ministers to
finish the Assembly— Orders from the King — Effect
of the Estates upon the deputies — Closing scenes.
Long before the time appointed for the meet-
ing of the Estates General, the Prince de Conde
realised that in diplomacy he was no match for
Marie de Medicis. The treaty of St. Menehould
had fixed the date of the assembly for August,
and the meeting place at Sens, but when the
Queen became sure of her position, she changed
the time to the autumn, and called the deputies
together in Paris.
83
84 Regency of Marie de M6dicis
Conde feigned a lack of interest which he was
far from feehng, and informed the Regent
secretly that neither he nor the Feudal leaders
cared whether the deputies came together or not.
But Marie de Medicis and her advisers were not
to be caught in so poor a snare; they judged
that, unless the assembly took place, the Princes
would be the first to make trouble on the ground
that the deputies had not been allowed to meet,
though the treaty bound the Queen to summon
them. When at length the delegates began to
gather, the autumn was well advanced.
The King was declared of age a day or so be-
fore the opening of the Estates. He said a few
words to the assembled officials of the crown, and
implored his mother to continue to govern. The
ceremony seemed unimportant to the onlookers,
but in reality the assumption of the royal dig-
nity by the Prince meant much, especially to
those who were striving to wield his power. The
Queen lost her title of Regent, which did much
to weaken her authority, since everything hence-
forth depended on the will of her son.
The Prince de Conde cut a sorry figure at the
The Estates General 85
King's majority. He said nothing, and kept in
the background; in fact he had no reason to
speak. Everything had been done according to
his desire. The assembly which he had called
was about to meet, and he no longer had any
ground to stand upon. The Queen's cleverness
had made it impossible for him to criticise, yet
the deputies were her firmest partisans. He was
forced to wait until circumstances should offer
him a chance of interfering ; meantime he placed
Amboise, which had been given him as a pledge
until the meeting of the Estates, in the hands of
the King.
Then the proclamation of the assembly was
made throughout the city. The deputies were
to meet on the 20th of October in the Salle de
Bourbon at noon. The intervening time was to
be employed by each chamber in regulating mat-
ters of etiquette which usually involved consider-
able friction, and it was not until the 26th
that the real opening of the assembly took
place. The first act of the comedy was in accord
with the religious idea of the times. The depu-
ties went in a body to Notre Dame to return
86 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
thanks for the blessings they hoped to reap.
The people, unused to such sights, crowded every
point of vantage, wondering at the show, and de-
lighted with the uniforms of the soldiers who
lined the streets along which the procession was
to pass. The arrangement of the pageant was
as follows : According to an ancient usage a
motley crowd of beggars and the four orders of
the Mendicant Friars preceded the members of
the Third Estate. The lawyers wore their long
black robes and square bonnets; the clerks ap-
peared in the traditional short cloak and gown
opening at the sides, wearing a toque for head-
gear. The degree of honour conferred on each
deputation was shown by its proximity to the
Holy Sacrament which was placed in the middle
of the procession. The Nobility, glittering with
jewels, resplendent sword hilts, and gorgeous
clothing, marched next to the Third Estate, their
nodding plumes forming a sharp contrast to the
sombre garments of the preceding delegation.
Then came the Clergy, each wearing the insignia
of his degree ; the simple clerk with folded hands
and downcast eyes, the priors, abbes, bishops.
The Procession 87
archbishops, and the three cardinals, de Sourdis,
Bonzj', and La Rochefoucauld, gorgeous in their
scarlet and gold. Beliind them the archbishop
of Paris carried the Eucharist, and four of the
greatest men in the kingdom bore the dais under
which he walked. The King followed, his white
clothing and sprightly bearing throwing into
sharp relief the dark figure of the Queen, whose
widow's weeds appeared to weigh her down as
she moved. Marie de Medicis was followed by
the Princes, while the Parliament and the various
officials of the courts of justice brought up the
rear.* The procession took seats in the nave of
Notre Dame by orders ; the King and the Queen-
Regent sat in the middle of the church, under a
dais of purple velvet sprinkled with fleur-de-lys.
Mass was celebrated by the archbishop of Paris,
and the Cardinal de Sourdis preached, his theme
being " Deum timete, regem honorificate."
The next day all the delegates came together
* Recueil tr^s-exact et curieux de tout ce qui s'est fait et
passe de singulier et memorable en L' Assembles Generale
des Etats, tenus a Paris en L'Annee 1614 et particulierement
en chaque seance du Tiers Ordre par, M. Florimond Rapine,
MDCLI, pp. 42-43. Mercure Francois, III. , part II. 44-46.
88 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
in the vestibule of the Salle de Bourbon at noon ;
but a delay of three hours ensued before the ap-
pearance of the herald, who, standing in the box
over the main door of the hall, called off the
deputies. Immediately there arose a great confu-
sion, because the names were read without order
and each one crowded in to get a seat wherever
he could. A great many people were present
who had no business in the hall, the lords and
ladies filled the boxes " as if they had come to see
a comedy," says Rapine, whose lawyer's pride
was piqued by this want of respect, but the
author of the remark had no notion of how near
tliis stray shaft was to the truth.
The King opened the session with a few words
exhorting the deputies to help the poor people,
and promising to carry out all the reforms sug-
gested by the assembly ;* but he had no idea of
what he was undertaking, and the Queen had no
intention of his keeping his contract. The
Chancellor spoke after the monarch had ceased.
He talked for an hour and a half, but no one got
a very clear idea of his speech, for his voice was
• Heroard, II. 163-164.
Miron's Warning 89
lost in his ermine and velvet robes and he deliv-
ered his address seated, instead of in a standing
posture. Then the archbishop of Lyons spoke
for the Clergy, and when he had finished, the
Baron de Pont-Saint-Pierre addressed the King
on behalf of the Nobles ; his speech, though halt-
ing and full of mistakes, is an example of the
jealousy which the orders felt for each other in
general, and which the Nobles especially enter-
tained for the lawyers who represented the
people. The Provost of the Merchants, kneeling
on a velvet cushion, spoke for the Third Estate.
He took up the gauntlet which the Nobles had
thrown down ; his words became darkly prophetic
when he declared that " the people were weary of
being the anvil, let others have a care lest they
become the hammer." The Revolution of 1789
was still a great way off, but its shadow already
lay upon the path of the French Monarchy.
Of the three chambers, the Clergy was most
favourable to the crown, and the bishops
promptly took the initiative, leaving the honours
to their superiors. Among the cardinals and
archbishops there were two classes ; men like
go Regency of Marie de Medicis
Bonzy, La Rochefoucauld, and Joyeuse, who
cared little about statecraft, while on the other
hand du Perron, the Chrysostom of the church of
those times, was looked up to as the mouthpiece
of the order. His position of Grand Almoner of
France gave him the leadership in the chamber.*
A great tension between the Nobles and the
Third Estate was evident, as soon as the assem-
bly was fairly under way. The pride of the
plebeian was beginning to oifend that of the
gentleman. The lawyers and rich burghers had
made themselves a position through their offices
when Henry IV., in need of money, had by the
advice of the councillor Paulet, sold the charges
of the department of justice. The men who
bought them thought that, as long as they paid
the government a yearly tax, they had a right to
their position, and might pass them on to their
families. This system was known as " la Pau-
lette," and we shall refer to it often in these
pages. It virtually closed to the Nobility the
dignities held by the people, for the Nobles, al-
ways poor, had no money to pay out when the
* Eanotaux, Histoire du Cardinal de Richelieu, II. 18-19.
Pretension of Classes 91
offices were put on the market. The Burghers,
on the other hand, had the money, and seized the
opportunity^ to rise a step by means of a charge
which introduced a new word into the vocabulary
of their class.* That word was " hereditary,**
and it annoyed the Nobles beyond expression,
for they saw that slowly, but surely, a privileged
order was being created whose birthright was
cleverness, and education only, and which might,
therefore, supplant them in the council. The
eradication of the system became their first care,
and they strove to hide their envy under the
phrase " the good of the kingdom." The pro-
posal was made to the Third Estate in a most
offensive way. The Nobles and the Clergy sig-
nified their intention of asking for the suspen-
sion of the " yearly payment," as the tax was
called, and hoped that the lower house would
concur. But if the chamber would not, they
added that the privileged orders would do with-
out its support. t Here was a pretension which
the people could not allow, for it set a precedent
* Hist, de Louis XIII., Michel de Vassor, II. p. 30.
■j- Rapine, 103.
92 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
for unwarranted interference in their affairs.
Cut to the quick, they gave the Nobles threat
for threat, by voting the suspension of the pen-
sions, and the reduction of the taxes twenty-five
per cent.
The pensions of the Nobility were another in-
vention of the great Henry to compensate those
who, having been faithful to him in his struggle
for the crown, had lost their possessions in the
turmoil of the League. The proposal of the
people struck at the very existence of the upper
orders, and it created a tempest in the assembly ;
but the Third Estate refused to recede from its
position, and the quarrel grew so bitter that the
council had to interfere. Each side maintained
its rights before the King, and the misunder-
standing began to threaten the success of the
assembly. At this juncture Conde reappeared
in a new role. He championed the cause of the
people, and indicated a line of policy to the
president of the chamber which brought about a
settlement ; but the quarrel was scarcely smoth-
ered when another broke out between the Third
Estate and the Clergy.
The "Article" 93
This time the point in dispute was a principle^
and the controversy had a national, not a selfish
character. At the death of Henry IV., a deep
feeling pervaded the members of the Sorbonne,
and the Parliament of Paris, that the Galilean
Church and the Law should speak against the
people who had murdered one king of France
and instigated the assassination of another. Im-
mediately after the execution of Ravaillac, the
Parliament entered the lists, with the entire sym-
pathy of the people, and passed an edict reviv-
ing an old decree of the year 1413. This stat-
ute, which had been approved by the Council of"
Constance, condemned as heresy the doctrine
that " a tyrant may be slain by one his vassal or
subject, by ambuscade, treason or other plots,
without waiting for the sentence or command of
any judge." The Sorbonne confirmed this de-
cree, adding on its own account, " that it was a
seditious, impious and heretical action to lay
hands upon the sacred persons of Kings or
Princes, no matter what pretext subject, vassal
or alien might allege." An oath was exacted
from the doctors and bachelors of divinity to
94 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
teach the truth of this doctrine in their classes,
and to instruct the people by their preaching.*
The book of the Spaniard Mariana was immedi-
ately seized and burned by the hand of the pub-
lic executioner, despite the indignation of the
Pope's legate. The controversy reached its
height when Cardinal Bellarmine published his
reply to Barclay ,t whose two theses, on " The
Power of the Pope " and " The Royal Power,"
were attracting considerable attention. The
Parliament seized the work on the ground that
*' it contained a false and detestable proposition
tending to subvert sovereign powers established
by God."$ The whole Ultramontane party
showed its displeasure, and the Papal Nuncio
threatened to leave France, but this was not
necessary, for the Queen herself annulled the
edict, and the power of the crown was brought
into direct conflict with the Parliament.
In tabulating the requirements of all the rep-
* Mercure Francois, I. pp. 457-461. Richelieu Memoires,
p. 25.
f The book was called "The Power of the Pope over
the Temporal."
X L'Estoile, Journal Registre de Henri III. , etc., p. 642.
The "Article" 95
resentatives, the Third Estate had resolved to
adopt as a basis the list of grievances submitted
by Paris and the Isle de France, which contained
as its very first article a statement that the King
held the kingdom from God alone ; and no power
on earth, be it spiritual or temporal, had any
right to violate his sacred person or dispense or
absolve his subjects from their oath of fidelity
for any cause or pretext. This was nothing
more nor less than a plain statement of the creed
of the Gallican party, in the face of all envoys,
both ordinary and extraordinary, that the King
was a sacred being against whom the Pope should
not fulminate, and whom they intended to put
out of the reach of the re^cide. This was the
fruit of the seed which Ravaillac had sown, and
the growth of which the invectives and agitation
against the Jesuits had foretold ; it was the draw-
ing of the sword by the Gallicans, who not only
drew their weapons but threw away the scab-
bards.
The Clergy was much moved at this turn of
affairs. To acquiesce would be to desert the
Roman Church, while to oppose the article would
96 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
mean declaring themselves anti-national, if not
altogether Jesuits and regicides. They tried to
parry the blow and sent the archbishop of Aix,
a distinguished orator, to see if the article was
reaUy under consideration by the Third Estate.
The archbishop approached the subject warily
by intimating to the chamber that, if it had any-
thing to ask which had to do with the church,
the Clergy should know before the mass of the
nation. Miron replied shortly that if any point
came up which bore on faith or doctrine, the
Clergy would receive due notice. The arch-
bishop was forced to return to his brethren
with this unsatisfactory answer, but the church-
men knew the drift of the article in spite of
the reticence of the burghers, and they resolved
to send the cardinals to the Regent to beg her
to suppress the subject of contention at its
birth,* and at the same time the bishop of
Montpellier appeared in the chamber of the
* Proces-verbal contenant les propositions deliberatives et
resolutions prises et regues en la Chanibre Ecclesiastique
des Etats Generaux, Recueilli et dresse par M. Pierre de
Behety, un des Agents du Clerge et Secretaire de ladite
Chambre, 44-45.
Revolt of Clergy 97
Third Estate to beg the delegates to communi-
cate the exact wording of the article in question.
A long, bitter debate ensued among the deputies,
who were much moved by the able appeal of the
bishop, and the wording was finally copied and
borne triumphantly to the Clergy.*
Nothing more was heard from the churchmen
for a week, but the order had resolved neverthe-
less to make the greatest struggle in its power
against the schism which threatened it. On the
31st of December the cardinal du Perron ap-
peared before the nobles. He denounced the
Third Estate for attempting to place the church
of France in the dilemma of breaking away from
its creed if it subscribed to the article, or of being
guilty of treason if it refused. He went on to
show that the resolution itself would not pro-
tect the sovereign, and finished by declaring that
the Clergy would rather die than subscribe.
The Nobles refused to interfere and left the man-
agement of the quarrel in the hands of the
church. But the dispute suddenly assumed a
still more national character by the entry of the
* Proch-verbal du Clerge, 188-194. Rapine, 267.
98 Regency of Marie de Medicis
Parliament into the lists. Servin, the attorney-
general, issued an order condensing the article
in question, and the printers immediate]}^ began
to fiood the country with copies of the decree.*
The action of the judiciary was bitterly resented
by the church, and the clergy construed it as an
attempt to interfere with the liberty of the as-
sembly. Remonstrances were sent to the cabinet
and the Nobles, but owing to the influence of
Conde the majority in the chamber was very
small.
The Queen's decision was looked for by the
assembly with great anxiety ; a decree in council,
forbidding all discussion of the question, failed
to satisfy the Clergy, who threatened to with-
draw from the Estates unless the subject of dis-
pute was so completely wiped out that no men-
tion of it should appear in the records. The
chamber then suspended its work. But the
Queen was bound to give the Clergy satisfaction ;
she was the Sovereign Pontiff's debtor already,
for having silenced the claims of Conde to the
throne. There had been some talk about the
* Mercure FranQoit, III., part II. pp. 337-328.
Disposition of Court 99
validity of divorce in the Roman Church, and
the Prince contended that Henry IV.'s children
were illegitimate. Spain had offered to help
Conde, but the Pope placed his veto on the
scheme. Marie de Medicis' advisers showed her
that the standard of Gallicanism could not be
raised in France, or else the very validity of the
papal dispensation, upon which her marriage
was grounded, would be jeopardised.* Besides
this, the Third Estate had shown a disposition
for initiative which worried the court, and the
Chancellor had already rebuked the burghers
for their headlong zeal;t the Regent was not
sorry to check them again. The King's order
gave the victory to the church, and the article
was not only suppressed but withdrawn ; the
Queen notified the Third Estate that the subject
must be left out of their pamphlet ; she thanked
them for their solicitude and promised to reply
favourably to their demands. This ought to
have been sufficient, and had the Queen stopped
there she would not have fomented the feeling
* Eanke, Franzosiche Geschichte, French translation, I
p. 39.
f Rapine, 224.
loo Regency of Marie de M6dicis
among the Galileans which impelled the party
to join the Prince de Conde. Satisfaction such
as they required was given the Clergy. It was
overwhelming; the Parliament was bowed in the
dust before the angry ecclesiastics, their printers
were imprisoned, their decree was torn from the
register, and a copy of these orders was sent to
every township in the kingdom. But the will
of the people could not be so easily put down,
and had the vote in the chamber been taken by
bailiwicks instead of provinces, the result would
undoubtedly have been a revolt against the arro-
gance of the Queen; but the lower house was
full of the Regent's tools. The president, Miron,
was one, and he managed to take the vote by
provinces. The great counties were thus equal-
ised by those of smaller representation, and the
minority carried the day amid great excitement.*
Those who had voted against the motion rushed
to the tables where the secretaries sat, to register
their nam.es in order to present a memorial to the
court.
The quarrels over the temporal power of the
Pope and the reduction of pensions had made
* Rapine, 364.
Complete Discord loi
it impossible for any of the orders to agree, and
there only remained for the Nobles to quarrel
with the court to make the result of the confer-
ence completely abortive. To contribute as
much as possible towards this result, the Regent
used the tactics which had served her so well
against the Assembly of Saumur. She refused
to answer any demand until after the deputies
had ceased to sit. There was one point, how-
ever, upon which she was forced to make a show
of yielding. One of the curses of the old regime
was the secrecy which surrounded the finances.
The three orders had agreed, before their quar-
rels began, to demand a chamber for the super-
vision of the " tax farmers " and others who
managed the money of the kingdom. Again the
Queen refused, and the Nobles met her more than
half-way by suspending their work until she
acquiesced.* The cabinet had too much interest
in keeping the deputies from uniting not to make
concessions. The temper of the Nobles was too
alarming to permit the Regent to hold out; she
feared that the Prince de Conde might draw
* Mercure Fi-an^t, III. , part II. p. 190.
I02 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
them into an alliance with the lower house, whose
champion he had already shown himself. She
announced through the president Jeannin, on
the 20th of December, that the auditing chamber
would be established, and the Third Estate was
requested to appoint commissioners to examine
the accounts.* They were named on the 16th
of January, 1615, but their cold reserve so dis-
concerted the ministers that the latter began to
wish most devoutly that the deputies might hand
in their papers and disperse as soon as possible,
for they feared that the wholesale waste of
Henry the Great's treasure might become gen-
erally known. It soon became evident that the
court did not intend to have the state of the
finances ventilated at any price, for although a
great show was made of allowing the deputies
to inspect the balance sheets, so much was put
in their way that the examination really
amounted to nothing. The figures were neither
to be copied nor discussed in public. t Itemised
accounts were refused, and the commissioners
* Rapine, 229-237.
t Mercure Fi-angois, III., part II. p. 200.
Beaufort 103
were forced to be content with falsified state-
ments.
Then a man named Beaufort suddenly ap-
peared and presented a scheme to the chambers
for buying back the offices held by the Third
Estate. The Clergy and the Nobles at once saw
an opportunity of putting the lawyers in a di-
lemma between the good of the state and their
own selfish interests. We can imagine with what
eagerness they accepted the proposal and re-
ferred him to the lower house, but, strange to
say, he refused to explain his methods, and the
Commons rejected the plan to the great delight
of the other two orders, who pointed to this
action as an indication of sincerity.*
The discord among the deputies was now at
its height. Mutual distrust reigned in all the
chambers; the court had carried the day, and
the only remaining step was to compel the as-
sembly to dissolve. The personal command of
Louis XIII. was sent to the deputies ; the Estates
were finished; they acknowledged their power-
* Proch-verbal du Clerge, p. 261. Mercure Francois, III.,
part II. pp. 100-110. Eapine, 377.
I04 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
lessness and prepared to end their work. The
dispositions of the delegates had undergone a
great change during the four months of bicker-
ing and disappointment which marked their stay
in the capital ; they had come singing the praises
of the Queen, ready to lend their hands to the
reforms which they had fondly hoped she would
inaugurate; they returned to their homes dis-
satisfied. The Regent had deceived them as she
had deceived everybody. They had given their
assent to her rule, but she herself had sown the
seeds of revolt in their breasts, and the spark to
fire the train of discontent was the only thing
necessary to plunge the kingdom into civil war.
The last act of the Comedy of the Estates Gen-
eral took place in the Salle de Bourbon, where
the deputies, crowded together between the pikes
and halberds of the soldiers, listened to the long
harangues of their representatives.
Rapine, in the bitterness of his heart, says
severely, " it was right that the closing scene
should be in the place where, four months before,
the Estates had begun with the same noise and
disorder."
CHAPTER VII
March, 1615, to June, 1616— Popularity of Cond6— Re-
establishment of "laPaulette" — The Queen and the
Pariiament — Its alliance with Conde — Declaration of
its position — Conde leaves for St. Maur — Quarrel be-
tween the Queen and the Gallicans — Approaching re-
alisation of the King's marriage — Villeroy's change of
attitude — Ultimatum to the Prince, and his reply —
Arrest of le Jay and departure of the court for Bor-
deaux— Rupture between the Marquis d'Ancre and the
Chancellor — Agreement between the Assembly of
Nimes and Conde — Arrival of the King at Bordeaux —
The marriages — Peace negotiations — Conde aspires to
the Regency — His demands — Inter\iews between the
Queen and Villeroy — Signature of the Treaty of
Loudun — Fall of the old ministers.
The influence of the Prince de Conde in-
creased during the Estates General as the
Queen's popularity diminished, and his alliance
with the Gallicans rendered him more redoubt-
able than ever. The court realised this and
tried to offset it by a show of alacrity. The
commissioners were promptly summoned to dis-
cuss the measures suggested by the assembly,
but when the means of reimbursing the King
105
io6 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
for the suppression of the " yearly revenue tax '*
was approached, it soon became evident that they
would never agree. The privileged orders
would not hear of a reduction of the pensions,
but proposed an increase of the salt tax. The
Third Estate refused this proposition, because it
overwhelmed the people, who were already suffi-
ciently burdened. The deputies preferred to
demand the continuance of " la Paulette."* This
was just what the court wanted, for the re-es-
tablishment of the tax left it optional whether
the pensions should be reduced, and so the entire
labour of the deputies was brought to naught
when, on the 19th of May, 1615, the King con-
tinued Paulet's pernicious invention, and after
montlis of travail the mountain brought forth
nothing.
The edict put an end to the hopes of relief,
the drama assumed a new phase. The Parlia-
ment, which had been assiduously courted by the
Prince dc Conde, entered the lists and threw down
the gauntlet to the court. This august body,
which had been appealed to as sponsor of the
* Mercure Francois, III. , part II. pp. 421-425.
Cond6 and Parliament 107
Regency, was displeased at the victory of the
Catholic party in the assembly, and turned nat-
urally to the Feudal leader as the only person
strong enough to vindicate its cause. Conde
himself was only too willing to let the Parliament
play his hand for him; its dissatisfaction gave
him a constitutional pretext for rebellion, and
he urged the councillors into an open declaration
of their position. Taking as a pretext that the
complaints of the orders had had no result,
the Parliament issued an edict summoning the
princes, dukes, peers, and officers of the crown
to meet and deliberate upon the reforms which
were necessary.*
The men of law justified this infringement on
the rights of the sovereign by saying that the
Queen had appealed to them for counsel at the
beginning of the Regency, and that this was all
they proposed to offer in the present instance.
As soon as the Pr.rliament had taken this stand,
Conde left Paris and retired to St. Maur, a safe
place from which to watch the development of
* Fontenay-Mareuil Memoirea, 34 — Mercure Franffoia, T.
rv. p. 26.
io8 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
his plans. He was promptly joined by the Due
de Bouillon, the Comte St. Pol, and the Due
de Longueville, whose hatred for the Marquis
d'Ancre had not diminished. The action of the
Parliament should have given Marie de Medicis
plenty of food for reflection, but the Regent was
not apt to ponder long when her pride or author-
ity was in question. The situation was all the
more difficult from the fact that she and the
councillors were both pursuing an entirely dif-
ferent line of thought. Her entire policy had
been to bring the Spanish marriages, as they
were called, to a definite conclusion. The affair
was fast drawing to its final stage, and, under
the circumstances, perhaps she did not give suffi-
cient heed to the signs of discontent which were
so evident ; nor did she appear to realise that,
both in her treatment of the Parliament and
in her resolve to accomplish the marriages, she
was playing into the hands of Conde. She for-
bade the meeting of the court, and she sum-
moned the attorney-general, whom she rated
soundly, and commanded him to forbid his col-
leagues to approach a question which was not in
The Gallican Quarrel 109
their sphere of action. But Servin might as
well have attempted to stop the flow of the sea.
The Galileans were too exasperated, and too much
in sympathy with reform, to be checked. They
resolved to present a memorial to the King in a
body. But, instead of being diplomatic, the
Regent took a high hand with the Parliament
when they waited on her, chiding them like im-
pertinent children, and working herself into such
a fury that anger choked her voice. The Chan-
cellor was obliged to finish her remarks. The
presence of the most influential members of the
Catholic party at the intemdew aggravated the
situation ; the Dues de Guise and d'Epernon
found the Parliament's action insolent, and the
councillors received a severe reprimand for their
pains; the King ordered their remonstrances to
be erased from the registers. To make matters
still worse, the Protestants, who had always been
hostile to the marriages, were holding a meeting
at Grenoble under the direction of the Due de
Rohan, and at the time when an experienced
statesman should have had control of affairs,
Villeroy's credit had not been proof against the
I lo Regency of Marie de Mddicis
attacks of his enemies, and the minister received
notice to retire to Conflans.* But it soon became
necessary to negotiate with the new cabal, and no
one knew the tricks of diplomacy better than
this old intriguer. He was recalled, much as
Sully had been reinstated on the eve of the
King's coronation, to treat with the Princes.f
This mission marks a point in Villeroy's career
when he seems suddenly to have become closely
allied with the Feudal party. Did he realise the
ruin of his influence and strive to re-establish
himself by means of the Prince de Conde ?
No one knows the answer to this question
exactly, but such a conclusion might be drawn
from the reasons which the Feudal leader alleged
for his dissatisfaction. He demanded that the
remonstrances of the Parliament should be heard,
that the marriages should be postponed, and that
the Council should be reconstructed. The last
* Villeroy had written a falsehood to the Cabinet of
Madrid, saying that the delay in the execution of the mar-
riages was wholly due to the Queen, who was unwilling to
start for Guyenne. See Richelieu Memoires. p. 96.
f Hist, de J. A. de Thou. Lettre de de Thou a Boissite,
T. XV. p. 545.
Condi's Answer 1 1 1
point was considerably amplified when the Re-
gent summoned Conde to follow the King on the
expedition to Guyenne, the object of which was
the fulfilment of his marriage. To this ulti-
matum the Prince replied by an absolute refusal ;
he judged the journey ought not to be under-
taken hastily, nor before the monarch had regu-
lated the affairs of his kingdom. Eight months
in Paris had been sufficient to show him the way
the country was managed; the Parliament had
been insulted for having wished to serve the
King ; the letter ended by naming the authors of
the evil counsels given to His Majesty. They
were Concini and his wife, the Chancellor and
his brother the Commandeur de Sillery, Dole,
and Bullion ;* in other words, the enemies of
Villeroy in a body, with the exception of Barbin
and Richelieu, who, having no political employ-
ment as yet, had escaped notice.
This letter opens a new phase of the struggle
between the parties. The Feudal leaders, long
at a loss what excuse to make for their rebellious
* Lettres et pieces relatives a la Conference de Loudun.
Bouchitte, pp. 179-183.
1 12 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
disposition, at last had hit upon one which would
touch a responsive chord in the hearts of the
people. Hatred of the foreigner has ever been
a French trait, and the Princes seized it as their
best weapon against the Queen and Concini.
Military glory was always the greatest foible
of the Marquis d'Ancre, and this bait was
dangled before him as soon as it became evident
that war would result if the Regent insisted on
taking the King to Guyenne. Concini always
objected to violence, but in this instance he was
allowed to believe that he would command the
army which was to operate against Conde.* The
Due de Guise, whom he feared, was to accom-
pany the court. The deception which the
Chancellor practised on the Marquis d'Ancre in
this instance was at the cost of his official life.
The Marshal de Bois-Dauphin remained to
guard the capital, and Concini retired to Amiens,
vowing not to return until Sillery and his brother
were hanged.^
The court left Paris on the 17th of August,
* Richelieu Memoires, p. 96.
f Richelieu Memoires, pp. 96-99-140. Bassompihre Me-
moires, II. 8.
Assembly of Ntmes 1 13
taking the President le Jay, one of Conde's
firmest supporters, as a hostage. The revolt
had reached such proportions that this step was
deemed necessary. The Protestants, who were
holding a meeting at Grenoble, under the sur-
veillance of Lesdiguieres, suddenly withdrew to
Nimes; the whole party was angered at the ad-
vantages gained by the Catholics, and clamoured
for war. This disposition was encouraged by
Rohan and Sully ; delegates were named and sent
to treat with Conde. The gravity of the situa-
tion was appreciated by the leader of the King's
escort; Louis XIII. traversed France by forced
inarches, and arrived at Bordeaux on the 7th of
October. There had been no battles; it seemed
as if neither side wanted to strike a blow. Bois-
Dauphin, whose army was much the larger,
dogged Conde's movements without making an
attack. The Princes crossed the Loire without
opposition. On both sides the excesses of the
soldiery were awful ; much of the destruction was
of the most wanton kind ; in many instances the
noses and mouths of the captives were filled with
gunpowder, which was then lighted, blowing the
1 14 Regency of Marie de M6dicis
poor wretches into atoms. The King's merce-
naries were infinitely better soldiers than those of
the Princes, and perhaps this is why Louis was
allowed to march the entire length of France un-
molested. The marriages took place immedi-
ately after the royal party arrived in Guyenne,
the Due de Guise representing the Prince of
Spain. The next day, the Princess Anne mar-
ried the French monarch at Burgos. The Duca
da Lerma represented the bridegroom.
The Queen-mother's diplomacy was now real-
ised; the malcontents were deprived of their ex-
cuse for rebellion, and the King's proximity to
the Protestant strongholds in Beam and
Languedoc must have exercised a calming in-
fluence on the bellicose disposition of the party.
The war had been a farce. Among the Feudal
leaders, Conde and de Longueville were really
the only ones who wanted to fight, and the
Prince in this, as well as in all the disturbances
in which he had a part, aimed at his own advance-
ment, while de Longueville demanded the ejec-
tion of his rival, the Marshal d'Ancre, from
Amiens. In spite of all he could do, Conde's
War and Negotiations 115
money was running low, and the negotiations
which he had attempted to open with James I.
had failed.* It was now in the autumn; the
troops marched and countermarched over the
rain-soaked fields, sleeping at night under the
inclement sky. Such campaigning did not
please the volatile tempers of the cavaHers who
had joined the Prince; they shivered, growled,
and longed for peace. No thought of punish-
ment was entertained by the government and the
time was ripe for treating. Under these cir-
cumstances, the Due de Nevers appeared in Bor-
deaux. He had not declared for either party,
though favouring the Princes secretly, and
from his seemingly neutral standpoint he offered
his services to open negotiations. f And the real
struggle, that of diplomacy, began on the 11th
of January, 1616. Villeroy, whose role the Re-
gent does not seem to have suspected, was ordered
to treat with Conde's representative and choose
a place for the conference. Loudun, which later
* Mercure Francois, IV. p. 366.
f De Thou a Boissise. Hist, de J. A. de Thou, XV. p.
649. Bouchitte, p. 253. Riclielieu Memoires, p. 104. F<m-
tenay-Mareuil Memoires, p. 101.
1 1 6 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
was to witness the martyrdom of Urbain Gran-
dier, was selected. The Huguenots were sum-
moned, and Conde asked that Edmondes, the
English Ambassador, should be present also, but
Villeroy refused this senseless and humiliating
request.
Both sides prepared for the struggle. The
Feudal party, preferring to be on the ground,
installed itself at Loudun, while the court re-
mained at Tours. From the outset the battle
was to decide how far Conde should go in his ex-
actions ; he was more formidable than ever before,
because the Galilean party and the Protestant
leaders had joined his standard, and, on this ac-
count, the article of the Third Estate concern-
ing the life of the King came into great prom-
inence and proved a stumbling-block to the
speedy conclusion of a treaty. The Queen could
not give way now any more than at the time of
the Estates. She stood her ground, jdelding on
points which Conde desired most, until finally
her tactics weakened the opposition and the arti-
cle was referred to the King, as it had been in
"the assembly.
"V,
Condd's Aims 117
The Prince appears to have resolved to obtain
from the treaty of Loudun what he could not
get from the deputies of 1614. He insisted on
reforming the council, revising the finances,
and hunting down the authors of the death of
the late King.* He hoped by these measures
to sweep from his path the Chancellor, Dole, and
Bullion; also the Dues de Guise and d'Epernon,
who were popularly believed to be connected in
some way with Ravaillac. It is clear, also, that
before the meeting of the Estates General, Conde
had said that, if the Regency was to be continued,
he was the only person fit to exercise the power;
perhaps he hoped to involve IMarie de Medicis
in the net which was to catch the regicides and
take the cares of government upon himself.
With this object in view he formulated two de-
mands, the first of which practically put the
Queen's authority in his hands. He was to sign
all the decrees of the council, none of which were
to be valid without his seal. Secondly, the Due
de Longueville obtained the ejection of the
Marshal d'Ancre from Amiens. f The Regent
* Bouchitte, pp. 194-214.
\ Richelieu Memoires, 107-108.
3 '.rfiise^i «*_
1 1 8 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
yielded on both these points by the advice of
Villeroy, and it was natural that her grief and
chagrin should recoil upon him. Barbin, the
arch plotter, made the most of his opportunity ;
perhaps he suspected the minister of complicity
with the Princes, and we must acknowledge that
his conduct had given ample ground for doubt ;
at all events Barbin was ready and eager to dis-
miss him and to deal with Conde himself.
Bassomplerre has faithfully reproduced the
interview at which the Queen decided to grant
the Prince's demands; Vllleroy's duplicity is
shown in such a strong light that we had better
allow the writer to speak to us in his own fashion.
He had gone early one morning to see the
Queen, being charged by the cavaliers of her
army to complain because she did not admit them
to the council, but preferred men of the robe.
Bassomplerre found the Regent making her
toilet while talking to Barbin. Marie de Medlcis
had just learned through the secretary, Pont-
chartraln, that Villeroy had kept back certain
articles which might break off the negotiations,
until the time for signing the treaty of peace.
Barbin's Advice 119
" She complained that after she had granted
Monsieur le Prince everything, he had intro-
duced two new demands, namely, that when he
was at court he should have the pen . . . and,
secondly, that their Majesties might be pleased
to remove the Marshal d'Ancre from Picardy in
order to keep the peace (this was impossible
otherwise), seeing the incompatibility which ex-
isted between him and Monsieur de Longue-
ville.
" The Queen knew perfectly well that this bolt
came from the hand of Monsieur de Villeroy,
and was intended to harm the Marshal d'Ancre,
whom he hated. Barbin confirmed this and said
all he could against Villeroy, who, at that very
moment, sent in word that he was in the ante-
chamber and desired an audience. Barbin ad-
vised the Queen to hear him without any ap-
parent irritation, and then to ask his advice.
" ' If he induces you to grant these two last
demands he will show the double dealing (of
which he has been guilty ) , and which he has hid-
den until now,' said he. ' If, on the other hand,
as I think likely, he advises you not to grant
1 20 Regency of Marie de M6dicis
them you can tell the council later on, most em-
phatically, that you refuse by the counsel of
Monsieur de Villeroy. He will not dare to deny
it, for Your Majesty will call Monsieur de Bas-
sompierre and me to witness the truth of what
you say. You will thus turn the dart he has shot
at you into his own breast and will discredit him
with his dear friend Monsieur de Bouillon.'
" The Queen agreed to do as Barbin advised,
and when Villeroj' was ushered into the room her
face gave no clue to what was going on in her
heart. * Poor man,' said she, with the kindly
smile she could assume when she chose, ' what
trouble you take travelhng to and fro so often,
and it may be to no purpose in the end.' During
this short speech she had drawn gradually nearer
the window in which her fellow plotters stood,
and signing them not to go, she turned sud-
denly on her companion and said, ' Well, Mon-
sieur de Villeroy, you have come to bring me my
desert. The Prince wishes to become Regent
and wield the pen. Monsieur de Longueville de-
sires absolute control in Picardy, and demands
the withdrawal of the Marshal d'Ancre. This
The Queen and Villeroy 121
is your message. I know it, for Phelipeaux has
already warned me.'
" This attack disconcerted the minister, who
replied with a few commonplaces, and the Re-
gent, seeing the advantage she had gained, con-
tinued :
" ' What do you think of the situation your-
self? Ought I to grant this for peace sake, or
ought I to refuse this impertinent request ? Tell
me your advice frankly, so that later I may be
in a position to speak to the council.'
" Villeroy was very much embarrassed by
these searching questions, and at first he refused
to express himself, but the Queen was not to be
put off by a lot of empty phrases, so she returned
to the attack.
" ' No, I want your advice immediately,' she
cried.
" When he saw that he could not retreat any
farther he suddenly threw off the mask and
promised to speak frankly, if the Queen would
allow him to go on uninterrupted to the end.
" * I always believed, Madam,' he began,
* that the Prince and his associates were keeping
122 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
back something which they meant to propose
only after all the rest had been agreed upon, to
place Your Majesty in the dilemma of yielding,
or, if you refused, of making the people believe
that you considered your own interests more than
the good of the state ; but I did not suppose
that you would get off for so little as these last
two articles, which you already know have been
proposed to your commissioners, and which I
bring for your approval. God willing, they will
not keep us from making a treaty beneficial to
the country and the King. The first (demand)
is the pen, which concerns the Prince and appears
to infringe your authority. The other is prej-
udicial to the Marshal d'Ancre . . . and is to
Monsieur de Longueville's advantage. I coun-
sel Your Majesty to accept this, for you can
establish (the Marshal d'Ancre) in some other
province as well, or better, than in Picardy, and
3^ou will be able to remove those who are not de-
voted to your interests, and at the same time
you can give his charge to some other good ser-
vant who will check IMonsieur de Longueville as
completely as he. The IVIarshal will be praised
Villeroy's Duplicity 123
for having sacrificed his own interests to those
of peace, and Your Majesty will have shown, at
very little cost, that your servants and favourites
are not as dear to you as the repose of the state.
This is my advice upon this matter. As to the
right of signing the decrees and the financial re-
ports which the Prince demands, I advise you,
Madam, to grant this also, without regret or
feeling. (I do not think) it can touch you, or,
if it does, only to your advantage, and this is
what I base my opinion upon. The Prince will
either come to court or stay away ; if he remains
away, he will demand nothing and you will grant
nothing ; if he comes, and I am prepared to con-
sider this other dilemma likewise, he will either
depend entirely upon you and strive to obey and
carry out all your commands, in which case you
will gain the advantage of having the First
Prince of the Blood, a clever man used to busi-
\iess, at your orders as a good friend, not as an
enemy; or else he will persist in his bad inten-
tions, will continue his schemes, and will try to
assail and monopolise your authority. In that
case you ought not to he afraid to put the pen
124 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
in the hand of a man whose arm you might con-
trol: "
As Villeroy finished speaking, Bassompierre
was astonished to see Barbin stride forward and
seize the Queen's arm, exclaiming, " Madam,
this is the greatest piece of advice you could get,
and it is given by the greatest personage you
could find. Act upon it and seek no other."
His quick mind and energetic nature had seized
upon the minister's meaning and had resolved
to follow it out to the letter. If Conde could
not be wheedled and cajoled, the restraining hand
might become the bars and fetters of a dungeon.
The Queen herself was very much surprised at
Villeroy's duplicity; ' Veramente, Monsieur de
Villeroy,' she said, ' you have given me a very
good piece of advice, like a good servant of the
King and state. I thank you, and will follow
it.' "*
All was now ready for the treaty of peace,
but during the negotiations Conde had fallen
dangerously ill, and the commissioners suspended
their sittings until his recovery; this was de-
• Bassompierre Memoires, II. pp. 67-71.
Conclusion of Peace 125
layed until the spring was nearly over. When
finally he recovered sufficiently to resume busi-
ness, the signature of the treaty followed almost
immediately. On the 3d day of May, 1616, a
gathering of all parties took place in the Prince's
apartments. The treaty was read, and Conde,
who was lying in bed, took the pen to write his
signature. " Those who love me will follow my
example," he said ; " those who do not will be
forced to." He meant by this to impose silence
upon the murmurs rising on every side; having
become Regent, he cared little whose interests he
sacrificed. It was ever thus with Conde ! Catch-
ing sight of the huguenot d'Aubigne, whose
dissatisfied mien attracted his eye, he called out,
" Adieu, d'Aubigne, go to Dognon," — a small
fortress in the marshes of the Charente which
d'Aubigne commanded. — " And you, to the Bas-
tille," replied the latter, making his way out.*
The Prince laughed, but he might have done so
less heartily had he heard Villeroy's advice to
the Queen.
* Histoire des Princes de Conde, Due d'Aumale, III. pp.
66-67.
126 Regency of Marie de Medicis
The court moved to Blois immediately after
the signature of the treaty, and it was there that
the first act in the change of the ministry, which
Concini and his party had contemplated so long,
took place. The Chancellor yielded his place to
Du Vair,* the president of the Parliament of
Provence. The reason why Barbin and his asso-
ciates chose this man was soon apparent, Du
Vair had a nephew whom he was trying to push
into office, and the new Chancellor could be
counted upon, when the time came, to dismiss
Villeroy. As soon as the court returned to Paris
the members of the old cabinet fell, one after
the other. First Puysieux, then Jeannin, was
superseded by Barbin in the control of the
finances. At this appointment Villeroy appears
to have had the first inkling of what fate was in
store for him, and retired to his house at Con-
flans ; Claude Mangot, who had done so much for
the INIarquis d'Ancre in the IMaignat case, as-
sumed the portfolio which Puysieux had sur-
rendered.
* D'Estrees' Memoires, 411. Mercure Frangois, IV., part
II. p. 79.
Villeroy's Fall 127
The time was now ripe for Villeroy's fall. Du
Vair, as Barbin had calculated, lent himself
readily to the task of urging the Queen to dis-
miss her old servant. The minister retired from
court, though his enemy allowed him to keep his
place at the council board.
CHAPTER VIII
June to September, 1616 — Delay of the Prince in return-
ing to Paris — The Queen's desire to have him come
back — Richelieu's mission — Condi's decision — His in-
terview with Sully — His arrival — Arrogance of Con-
cini — Barbin and the Prince— Plot against the Marshal
d'Ancre — Arrival of the English Ambassador — Conde's
power— Desire of the Princes to kill Concini — Cond6
advises him to leave Paris — Seizure of Peronne —
Anger of the Queen — Influence of Richelieu — Inter-
view between the Regent and Sully — Resolution to
arrest Cond§— The coup d'etat.
The signature of the Treaty of Loudun made
the line of demarcation between the opposing
forces still more distinct. Conde's position was
something like that held by the Due de Guise at
the time of the Estates General of Blois. He
had succeeded in wresting the power from the
Queen, and perhaps he might have met the same
fate as his predecessor, had he been living under
the rule of the other Medicis. He seems to have
had an idea that his position was not particu-
larly safe, for he delayed his reappearance in
Paris week after week. It was impossible for the
128
Richelieu and Cond^ 129
new cabinet to judge of its power, or to carry
out the changes required by the treaty, unless
the Prince returned to the capital. Du Vair, the
new Chancellor, was entirely under the control of
the Due de Bouillon, and kept insisting upon the
reform of the council, proposing the names of
many persons whom the Regent could not have
near her as advisers. The Prince alone could
stop these intrigues, and the Queen resolved to
persuade him to return. If his presumption
forced her to show strength, the ministers were
entirely prepared to act. The bishop of Lu^on
was sent to Conde. He made short work of the
Prince's hesitation. The customary bribe was
bargained for and granted; the Marshal de la
Chatre, whose presence in Berry seemed to be-
little Conde's authority, was removed. Lu9on
promised that the Marshal d'Ancre and his wife
would do all in their power to maintain an under-
standing with the Queen, and Conde on his side
approved the choice of Barbin and Mangot, on
condition that if Villeroy had suffered any
pecuniary prejudice he should be compensated.*
♦ Richelieu Memoires, p. 112.
130 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
The new government thus secured the recogni-
tion of its validity, and at the same time the
Prince announced his satisfaction, but an event
which is coincident with the bishop's visit seems
to show that the cabinet did not propose to rely
absolutely on the Prince's word; the Comte
d'Auvergne, Montmorency's son-in-law, in whose
veins the blood of the Valois flowed, was set at
liberty after twelve years of incarceration.*
The addition of this person to the ranks of Marie
de Medicis' supporters was important.
Conde passed through Sully's province on his
way. The old Huguenot, whose political eye
had lost none of its penetration, saw the risk the
Prince was running, and gave him so dark a pic-
ture of his future that he nearly lost heart, but
nevertheless he pressed on and arrived in Paris
on July 27. The Queen received him well,
and the people, who hated Concini, were over-
joyed to see the person upon whom they looked
as the master of the situation.
We have now come to the opening of the last
stage in the remarkable career of the Marshal
d'Ancre, to the moment when the Feudal Icad-
* Heroard, II. 199.
The Picard Incident 131
ers, seeing in him the true instigator of the
changes which had taken place in the cabinet,
and the person who appeared to resist their
designs, resolved to get rid of him. Concini's
opportune arrival at the capital on the 26th of
June had overthrown a scheme proposed by the
Dues de Bouillon and Maj'enne to attack him in
his stronghold of Lesigny; but even this stroke
would not have done him so much harm perhaps
as a broil which followed his arrival. One night,
the Marshal attempted to enter the Porte de
Bussy without a passport. A shoemaker named
Picard, who was captain of the watch, refused to
open the gate, and the Italian caused him to be
nearly beaten to death by his lackeys. A tre-
mendous uproar arose over this affair, and the
Marshal begot the undying hatred of the popu-
lace.*
Concini's alliance with Conde appears to have
turned his head. He adopted more and more the
habits of one to the manner born, and showed so
much contempt for the peers who composed the
* RicTielieu Memoires, p. 119. UEstrees' Memoirei, 4121.
Mercure Francois, T. IV., part II. pp. 137-139.
132 Regency of Marie de Medicis
Prince's partj-, that the Due de Bouillon com-
plained to Barbin, who warned the Marshal in
vain. The cold, impassive Richelieu, who was re-
cording the course of events, says that the Flor-
entines were so blinded by success that they could
not see the plainest facts. They drove every-
body to despair by refusing to reward the good
servants of the kingdom, and b}' recompensing
those who did not deserve gratifications. They
were wrong in thinking that Conde's devotion
could last, and wrong in putting themselves in
his power. The struggle Avould soon narrow
down to a duel between the Prince and the Mar-
shal, and in that case it was clear on whose side
the victory would be, unless Concini and his
friends could persuade the Queen to commit her
fortune entirely to them and remove Conde
either by crime or by arrest.
The first of the two concessions which the
Queen had granted, to Induce the Prince to sign
the treaty of Loudun, brought events rapidly to
a climax. The management of affairs fell almost
entirely to Conde. The Louvre was deserted,
and his house besieged at all hours by people who
Plot against Concini 133
came with decrees for him to sign. His natural
arrogance asserted itself, and he carried things
with a high hand, " paying very Httle attention
to the advice I had given him, to use moderation
with the Queen," says the bishop of Lu9on.*
The Prince was entirely under the control of the
Dues de Guise, de Maj^enne, and de Bouillon, who
kept urging him to demand annoj^ing and per-
plexing things, and among others to insist upon
the reconstruction of the council. The clever
Barbin, morally certain that the Feudal leaders
would never agree, acquiesced readily in allow-
ing them to manage this affair themselves. The
Princes were amazed. " That man," said Bouil-
lon, when Barbin left the council, " will always
give us thirty in three cards, but will keep thirty-
one for himself." Recognising that they were
overmatched, they resolved to overthrow the new
cabinet as they had ruined the former one.
Feudalism has always been brutal, and the quick-
est way to cut the Gordian knot was to kill Con-
cini, whose creatures the ministers were supposed
to be. Secret meetings at the Hotel de Mayenne
♦ Richelieu Memoirea, p. 115.
134 Regency of Marie de Medicis
and at the Due de Bouillon's house marked the
progress of the conspiracy, but the gatherings
were not concealed carefully enough to escape
the keen eyes of Richelieu and his colleagues,
who began to approach the Due de Guise and de-
tach him from the cabal.*
On the 1st of August, James Ha}", who be-
came afterwards the Earl of Carlisle, arrived in
Paris. His mission was to ask the hand of a
French princess for the Prince of Wales. f
Though a diplomat, he entered into all the in-
trigues of the court, and his house became the
centre of the plots against the Marshal d'Ancre.
One night, Concini and thirty followers appeared
at the Hotel de Conde. A banquet was being
given to the English ambassador, and all the
Feudal party was assembled. The guests were
eager to kill the Italian there and then, but were
restrained by the Prince, who was loath to commit
such an act in his own house, and contrary to his
pledged word.t
* Richelieu Memoires, p. 119.
t Matteo Bartolini, Ancrust 12, 1616, cited by Zeller in
Louis XIII., Marie de Medicis, clief du Conseil, pp. 295-296.
X Bassompierre Memoires, II. 75. D'Estrees' Memoires, 413.
Seizure of P^ronne 135
The next day the Marshal d'Ancre sent word
to Conde to ask him whether he could still count
on his protection. The message was carried by
the archbishop of Bourges, who, working hand
in glove with Barbin and Richelieu, brought
back an answer so ambiguous that Concini, ter-
ror-stricken, began to make preparations to leave
Paris.* Scarcely had he turned his back on the
capital when the Due de Longueville seized
Peronne, the only stronghold which the Marshal
had left in Picardy.
This was the last straw. The Queen was be-
side herself; never had her authority received
such a blow ; her servant was dismissed, and the
Feudal party seemed to triumph. The rej)ort
that the Princes were about to place Conde on the
throne began to be whispered in the city. The
Due d'Aumale traces this to an incident which
occurred at one of the dinners given to Lord
Hay. The President Le Coigneux, one of the
most talkative of the Prince's guests, in a mo-
ment of exaltation stood up and read a parody
* BassompUrre Memoires, II. 75-76. Richelieu Memoires,
pp. 115-116. Hist, des Princes de Conde, Due d'Aumale,
III. 76-77.
136 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
on some decree which had been signed that morn-
ing substituting at the end the word " Barra-
bas," for Barbin. " Errat autem Barrdbas
latro! " shouted Conde. The guests greeted
this sally with a shout of laughter, and the next
day the report was current in Paris that they
had shouted " Barre-a-bas " ; seeing that the
coat of arms of Conde were the lilies of France
surmounted by a bar, this was readily misinter-
preted.*
The illustrious author of the " History of the
Condes " implies that this futile excuse was used
by the government to lay hands on the Prince's
person, and that the conspiracy was grounded
more in the fears of the Queen's servants than in
actual fact, but the despatches of the Florentine
ambassador give us a picture of the situation,
and leave no room to doubt the intentions of
Conde's supporters. f The Prince's indecision
saved the situation; he spent his time shedding
tears, and seeking the advice of Barbin, the man
* Hist, des Princes de Conde, Due d'Aumale, III. 78-79.
•j- Matteo Bartolini, September 10, 1616, cited by Zeller
in Louis XIII., Marie de Medicis, chef du Conseil. Ap-
pendix, for account of the conspiracy.
Sully's Advice 137
of all persons whom he ought to have trusted
least.
The Queen had to choose her line of action,
and she hearkened to Richelieu, who kept urging
her to arrest her opponent.* The decision was
reached at the suggestion of the Due de Sully.
On the 26th of August he demanded an audi-
ence, to confer upon subjects important to the
lives of Their Majesties. The ministers, Barbin,
Mangot, and Richelieu himself, were present.
The Duke showed Marie de ]\Iedicis that it was
not possible for affairs to remain a week longer
in their present position. Either the Queen must
fall or preserve her authority, if she knew Iww.
Two such powerful combinations could no longer
exist, face to face. The nobles and the people
were favouring the Prince more and more every
day. The Due de Longueville's seizure of
Peronne had weakened her authority-, which the
departure of the ^Marshal d'Ancre had reduced
to the lowest level. The Prince was all-powerful
in the council. Sully thought it was his duty to
* La Vie d' Armand-SQa.u, Cardinal Due de Richelieu.
Le Clerc, I. 16.
138 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
warn her, and offered to sacrifice his life if, by
so doing, he could save her and the state.* He
then took his leave, but hardly had he crossed the
door sill when, turning with one foot and half
liis body thrust into the room, he said, " Sire,
and you, INIadam, I implore Your Majesties to
think well about what I have just said. I have
cleared my conscience. Would to God that you
were in the open country, in the middle of twelve
hundred horsemen. I can see no other way."
The Queen made up her mind to arrest Conde.
When once the decision had been reached. Bar-
bin was not long in finding the instrument.
Themines, a Gascon, undertook the responsibil-
ity. The Prince, Mayenne, Vendome, and Bouil-
lon were nearly caught in the Louvre on the 30th
of August. Barbin saw the four enter, fol-
lowed only by their valets, and judged the op-
portunity a good one to arrest them all at one
stroke, but the Queen lacked the courage, and
they went away unmolested.f Everything was
ready for the next day, however; arms had
* Richelieu Memoires, p. 119. Bassompihrre Memoires,
II. 7ft-79.
f Bassompierre Memoires, II. 84-85.
Arrest of Cond6 139
been bought and introduced into the Louvre in
packages of stuffs for the Queen-mother.* The
men of the Royal Household had renewed their
oath of fidelity. Bassompierre, who had been
making a night of it with Crequy, was waked
early on the morning of September 1, by an offi-
cer from the Queen, who called him to the Louvre.
There he found Marie de Medicis sitting with
Mangot and Barbin. When the Count entered
the Regent rose and began to walk up and down
as if she were labouring under great excitement.
After a few moments she told Bassompierre that
her plan was to arrest the Prince and his friends
when they came to the council. Everything had
been prepared for flight in case of failure, and
she desired the Swiss to be ready to escort her to
Nantes.
The Prince came at eight, in spite of all the
warnings he had received. Mayenne sent to beg
him not to go to the council that day, but
Thianges, the messenger, did not see him until
after the meeting broke up. He warned Conde
as he came out ; the Prince turned pale, but real-
* Richelieu Memoires, p. 133.
140 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
ising that it was too late, kept on to the Queen's
apartment, where the Council of State was gener-
ally held. He found two guards at the door,
but entered, and asked for the King and Queen.
The King, who was in the room, advanced and
said : " You won't hunt with me, then ? " Conde
apologised for refusing, and Louis, saying his
mother was coming, retired by one door as
Themines and his assistants entered by the other.
" Monseigneur, the King has ordered me to seize
your person ; " those words close Conde's politi-
cal career during eight long years. He offered
no resistance and was led to the quarters of the
Swiss guard, where he asked for a priest, so
thoroughly sure was he that his last hour was at
hand.
The populace stood unmoved, although the
Prince's mother rode around Paris crying : " To
arms, good people! The Marshal d'Ancre has
assassinated Monsieur le Prince." She succeeded
in raising a small mob which sacked Concini's
hotel in the faubourg St. Germain.
CHAPTER IX
September, 1616, to April, 1617 — The Feudal party leaves
the Court — Negotiations — Revolt of Nevers — Resig-
nation of Du Vair — Appointment of Richelieu— En-
ergetic measures of the Cabinet — Albert de Luynes —
His influence on the King — Arrogance of Concini —
His imprudence — His presentiment of death — His
recklessness — Luynes' duplicity — Concini's ambition to
become Constable — He raises troops — His letter to
the King — Louis' anger — He is persuaded that a plot
exists against his life— His resolve to kill Concini —
The plot — The murder — The end of the Regency.
The arrest of the Feudal chief was followed
by the flight of his party. Mayenne and Bouil-
lon started immediately for Soissons, whither
they were followed by the Due de Guise. His
support of their cause was only lukewarm, for he
lost much more in leaving the court than he could
gain in serving the Princes ; among other things
he lamented that his prestige as commander of
the royal army was gone.
The ministers saw in the Duke the probable
agent of accommodation, and his subsequent ac-
141
142 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
tion shows how keenly they judged the man.
Three weeks later he reappeared charged with
the demands of his party ; they were a recapitu-
lation of the Treaty of Loudun. Mayenne, who
now assumed the post of leader, demanded that
two hundred men should be added to each of his
garrisons, and that the King should pay for his
soldiers. Vendome requested permission to hold
the Estates of Brittanj-. This accommodation
had been proposed by the Duca da Monteleone,
and the court made no objection. All seemed to
be tending smoothly towards an amicable settle-
ment when the Due de Nevers suddenly assumed
an offensive attitude. The news of Conde's ar-
rest reached him on the frontier of his duchy,
and he sent the King letters on the subject, which
were tantamount to a declaration of war. The
Queen replied by forbidding him to enter any
of the fortresses in his province, and the Duke
sent a courier to Soissons with his adhesion to the
coalition.
The Queen did everything in her power to
calm Nevers' bad temper. The bishop of Lu9on
tried to soothe him with specious words, and the
CONCINO CONCINI, MARKCIIAI, DAMKF..
Kroiii a painting l>y cUi Moustier, in the Lonvre.
Du Vair-Barbin Quarrel 143
ministers seized the opportunity which these
negotiations gave them to raise troops. The
Comte d'Auvergne received the command of the
army which was to operate in Champagne, and
other soldiers were enrolled, who, under the
guidance of Praslin, Schomberg, ]Montigny, and
Bassompierre, were to march against Soissons.
During the second week in November the
Duchess de Nevers appeared before Reims. The
governor, fearing that she came to carry out a
plot to seize the town, refused her admittance.
The Duke retaliated by seizing Siz, a country
house belonging to La Vieuville,* which he pre-
tended to confiscate as feudal lord in default for
men and arms due him since the death of the
governor's father. f When this subject came be-
fore the council, the Chancellor thought the
Parliament should look into it, but Barbin, on the
contrary, said that, since the feudal seizure had
been made several days after the occupation of
Siz, Nevers was entirely wrong, and the affair
* Charles de la Vieuville, governor of Reims, afterward
Prime Minister.
t Mercure Francois, I. , IV. , part II. pp. 305-309, Riche-
lieu Memoirea, 130.
144 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
was not in the Parliament's jurisdiction, but
ought to be treated by the council. The Duke
was a rebel, and the minister wished to treat him
as such. Du Vair refused to coincide with Bar-
bin's views, and the Queen promptly demanded
his resignation. Mangot became Chancellor,
and Richelieu, bishop of Lu9on, assumed the
portfoho of war and of foreign affairs.*
The Regent was now surrounded by men of
the firmest character ; the resignation of Du Vair
had removed the last weak spot, and the cabinet
faced the Princes with a new strength. They
resolved to crush the rebels absolutely, and began
to equip the King's troops with the grim deter-
mination to overthrow Feudalism once for all.
Had they been allowed to carry out their pro-
gramme, France, as Villeroy often said later,
would have been at peace for one hundred years. f
But the force which was once more to alter the
government had already been long at work, in
* Richelieu Memoires, p. 131. Bassompierre Memoires,
II. 105. D'Estrees' Memoires, 41%. Pontchar train Memoires,
377. Mercure Francois, T. IV., part II. p. 309. Brienne
Memoires, pp. 10-11.
f Richelieu Memoires, p. 161.
Luynes 145
the person of a young man whose father had
come to court as an archer in the guards. Al-
bert de Luynes had been placed near Louis XIII.
as royal falconer, by the Marshal d'Ancre, who
thought that the great difference in their ages
would render any intimacy unlikely, and that he
was creating an ally for himself in the King's
suite. But Concini was patronising his most
subtle enemy and literally signing his own death-
warrant. The young King had grown from an
obedient, unobstrusive little boy, into a silent,
melancholy young man, capable of great dis-
simulation and of greater hatred. He saw Con-
cini assuming more and more every day the
manners of a tyrant, and he felt neglected, a fact
out of which Luynes, who had all the instincts
of a courtier, immediately made capital. Their
intercourse, which had begun with the ordinary
relations of master and servant, ripened grad-
ually into a great friendship.
As early as 1611 Louis, in his dreams, pro-
nounced the name of de Luynes. In November,
1614, he had a quarrel with Souvre because the
latter had forbidden the falconer to enter the
Q'JuiBihii.
146 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
King's bedroom. A lively explanation took
place in the Queen's apartments, and Luynes re-
mained master of the situation. Shortly after,
he was appointed governor of Amboise, and in
September, 1615, he entertained the King there.
This was at the time of the expedition to
Guyenne; Luynes accompanied the King from
Amboise to Bordeaux, and was the bearer of the
letter which Louis wrote his wife upon her ar-
rival in France. From that time on their in-
tercourse became more intimate. The King was
either with his favourite, or Luynes with his
sovereign, and in this increasing familiarity, the
falconer began to see that great things were not
impossible for him, so completely was he master
of the King's spirit. He began by undermining
the authority of the Queen, dexterously showing
the son the weak points in his mother's admin-
istration.
The Queen, who already feared her son's com-
panion, tried to ward off these strokes by taking
the situation by storm. She offered to resign
her authority, though she knew that the King
would not take her at her word. She was not
Luynes' Duplicity 147
mistaken, for neither Louis nor his falconer was
yet prepared to assume control. Luynes made
all sorts of protestations, and the Queen appeared
satisfied. At the time of Conde's arrest she tried
to give the King another chance to assume the
government, but the situation was too embar-
rassed. The Princes had withdrawn from Paris,
and Luynes was not bold enough to face the
coming storm. He begged her to keep her place,
and followed his prayer with so many protesta-
tions that the Queen yielded again, but to be sure
of her ground she boldly reproached him with
what he had told the King about her administra-
tion. She said that she was willing to bear the
brunt of business if the King would only take the
glory. She was anxious to share her authority
with her son, and begged him in future to make
appointments to charges which might fall
vacant. If he wished to reward Luynes for his
zeal he had only to command, and the more frank
he was the more she should believe in his satisfac-
tion. Luynes, of whose subtle ability no one
ever dreamed, appeared to be won by these ex-
pressions of good will,* but in reality his object
* Eichelieu Memoires, p. 111.
148 Regency of Marie de Medicis
was to lull suspicion until he was ready to mounb
to power upon the ruin of the Queen's authority.
The fate of the Marquis d'Ancre seems to have
willed that he should be charged for crimes of
which he was not guilty. If the firmness of the
new cabinet can be called a crime he certainly
assumed the responsibility ; he became the figure-
head of the party whose policy was the concen-
tration of the royal power. Luynes' antagonism
placed the King on the side of the Feudal
leaders, in arms around Soissons,but the monarch
and his vassals had the same object in view,
though they took different means of obtaining
their ends. The Queen and Concini, on their
side, had resolved to get rid of the falconer, but
the King protected his friend and Luynes main-
tained his place.*
Aware of the desperate game he was playing,
Albert showed the monarch that the kingdom
was really in the hands of the Marshal d'Ancre
and his creatures ; that they exercised the royal
* Monteleone to Cirica Archives de Simancas cot A lA^,
cited by Capefigue in Richelieu-Mazarin, la Fronde, etc.,
II. 288.
Plot against Concini 149
power, only the smallest shadow of which re-
mained to its legitimate possessor. An illness
which the King had near the 1st of November,
1616, proved a great help to the favourite's
malicious schemes. Louis, to all appearances,
had an epileptic fit and lost consciousness.* All
sorts of conjectures were formed about tliis inci-
dent. Some said that the hardships of the
journey to Guyenne had been too much for him,
others attributed it to melancholy and annoy-
ance. Many were moved by graver doubts, and
among them was Du Vair, who, speaking to the
Queen one day, said significantly that he was
afraid the fit might return in the spring, and
from this it came about that Marie de INIedicis,
in her conversation with Heroard, the King's
doctor, referred several times to the subject.
Luj'nes seized this opening, and began to suggest
to the King that there might be a plot against
his hfe, which was to be carried out in the
spring. t Louis, whose melancholy always led
him to look on the dark side of life, was readily
* Heroard, II. 203. Pontchartrain Memoires, 373. Fonte-
nay-Mareuil Memoires, 113.
t Richelieu Memoires, p. 133.
150 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
persuaded that Concini and Marie de Medicis, in
order to have the weakness of another minority
to direct, would not scruple to put him out of
the way. His imagination was plied with all
sorts of fears, and the suspicion that Charles IX.
was poisoned by his own mother added to his
nightly horrors.* He was shown daily how the
Princes were persecuted on account of the IMar-
quis d'Ancre, who, it was generally believed, was
making war to enrich himself and keep his hold
on the government. Every report calculated to
excite Louis was carefully repeated to him: one
day it was that Themines had been removed from
the command of the Bastille and had been re-
placed by one of Concini's creatures; another
time the report that the IMarshal had carried off
the King was current. Things were gradually
going from bad to worse, and the Marquis
d'Ancre seemed to invite the attacks of his ene-
mies. In spite of his unpopularity he continu-
ally committed acts of imprudence. In Paris
no one spoke to the Queen except through him,
the citizens were closely watched, and no one
* BassompUrre Memoires, II. 138-139.
King's Dissimulation 151
went in or out unnoticed. The suspects were
clapped into prison without triah* This savours
of Richeheu, but Concini shouldered the blame.
One day in December the King was in the
long gallery of the Louvre, standing in one of
the windows overlooking the river. Three at-
tendants only were with him. Suddenly the
Marshal d'Ancre entered, followed by over
a hundred persons, and without going near
the King, placed himself in another window ;
he knew perfectly well that Louis was there,
for he had enquired for him in the ante-
chamber.f The King's heart was filled with dis-
pleasure, and he went to the Tuileries brooding
deeply over the insult. Nevertheless his dissim-
ulation was so perfect that no one suspected what
was going on, and even the keen penetration of
Richelieu was at fault when the young monarch,
a few days later, with seeming eagerness, signed
the declaration against the rebel dukes.J
The Marshal d'Ancre also aspired to the
* PontcTiartrain Memoires, p. 380.
f Her oar d, II. 204.
X Correspondance et papiers d'etat du Cardinal de Richs.
lieu, d'Avenel, I. 317.
152 Regency of Marie de M^dicis
Constable's sword, and to show how well qualified
he was for the office, he offered to serve the King
for three months with three thousand Liegois,
as many French troops, and seven hundred horse
at his own expense.* He went to Normandy to
oversee the equipment of this force, and one day
he wrote the King a letter offering to lend the
soldiers to the monarch, adding that, if every-
body acted as well as he, the King would be very
well served. Not content with this piece of
bravado, he had the letter printed and sent to
all parts of the Kingdom.f
When next the Marshal saw the King the
royal displeasure could no longer be concealed.
Louis glowered at Concini whenever they met.
" Alberti, Alberti, my friend," the Italian used
to say to Luynes, " the King looks at me with a
furious eye. You will answer to me for it."
And the falconer remembered his words. t
The Marshal seems to have had a feeling that
his ruin was only a question of time, and the
* PontcJiartrain Memoires, p. 382.
f Mercure Francois, T. IV., part III. pp. 155-156.
X Memoires de Castelnau, cited by Capefigue in Riclielieu-
Mazarin, la Fronde, etc., II. 311.
Arrogance of Concini 153
death of one of his children awoke all his super-
stition. He regarded this misfortune as an
omen, and one day he had a long conversation
with Bassompierre about the advisability of re-
tiring while there was still time. He said that
he himself was only too willing to leave France,
but that his wife could not be persuaded. A
long list of portents pointed clearly to his death,
but the Marquise would not go, in spite of
prayers and entreaties.* Absolutely convinced
of the uselessness of trying to retreat, the INIar-
quis threw caution to the winds and, risking
ever}i:hing, began to act with greater arrogance
than ever. He quartered his troops on the lands
of his friends, seized the passports which the
King had given to the Dutch ambassador, and
acted as if France was his by right instead of by
chance.f
One day the King asked for six thousand livres
to defray some paltry expense. The money
was refused, owing to the exigencies of the times
and the cost of the war. While the King, with
* Bassompierre Mermires, II. 105-110.
f Avenel Correspondance, I. 361.
154 Regency of Marie de Medicis
tears in his eyes, was brooding over this new
insult, the Marshal d'Ancre, surrounded by his
usual escort, came to find him. Hat in hand he
apologised because the money could not be got,
and offered to give it to the King out of his own
pocket.* Louis's entire nature revolted at the
insult.
Concini had hkewise begun to quarrel with the
ministers because Richelieu had refused to be his
tool.f At another time the favourite sued the
Due de Montbazon for 50,000 crowns, which the
latter owed liim^ for the arms and accoutrements
in the citadel of Amiens. At the instigation of
the ministers the Queen wrote to forbid the suit.
The Marshal, who was at Caen, in Normandy,
came post-haste to Paris on receipt of the letter,
breathing nothing but vengeance against the
cabinet and particularly against Barbin, whom
he thought responsible. " By God, sir," he
wrote to Richelieu, " I complain of you, you use
me too badly ; you treat for peace without my
* Pontchartrain Memoires, 383. Richelieu Memoiret.
p. 153.
f Richelieu Memoires, 151.
King's Apprehension 155
knowledge, you influence the Queen to write me
to drop the suit I have begun against Monsieur
de iVIontbazon for her sake. What do all the
devils, or you, or the Queen think I am going to
do ! Anger gnaws at my bones."* Such inso-
lent behaviour gave Luynes every pretext for in-
citing the King to hate the foreigner who was
usurping the royal power. Louis was easily per-
suaded that a plot existed against his life.
Forged letters from Barbin were shown him,
which spoke of seizing the royal person. The
Marshal d'Ancre's sudden return from Nor-
mandy on account of the Queen's letter seemed
to him the most ominous occuiTence, but when
the Regent one day gave orders that her light
horse regiment, which was about to go to Sois-
sons, was to be kept in Paris, Louis became cer-
tain that Concini intended to seize him, and he
resolved to get rid of his enemy.
It was no easy matter to find a man bold
enough to undertake the arrest, for Concini never
moved abroad without a strong following. Spies
surrounded the King, and his most faithful ser-
* Richelieu Memoires, p. 152.
156 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
vants had long since been removed. In this un-
certainty Luynes selected the Baron de Vitry,
who hated Concini, and boasted that he was the
only person who did not bow to him in the palace.
He was approached by hints and innuendoes,
hypothetical cases were put to him : " If the
King desired your services in a very difficult en-
terprise, would you obey ? " asked Luynes,
cautiously feeling his ground. Vitry could not
imagine a task he would not undertake for his
sovereign. A meeting was arranged between
the conspirators. Vitry was astonished to find
himself allied to five men, three of whom were
nobles of Luynes's calibre, and the other two,
Deagent, Barbin's secretary, and the gardener
of the Tuileries. If the Baron was surprised
he soon saw that he was dealing with persons
in authority, when the baton of ^Marshal of
France was offered him if he took Concini, dead
or alive.* From the conversation which ensued
Vitry gathered that death was the alternative
preferred, and he made up his mind to it ; he took
* Relation de la mort du Marechal d'Ancre. M. et P.,
2e Serie, T. V. p. 453. Pontchartrain Manoires, II. 38&
The Murder 157
into his confidence men of his own family, who,
desperate like himself, did not flinch at murder,
and whose relationship secured their good faith.
The 20th of April was fixed for the execution
of the plot, but no opportunity off'ered and the
King was unwilling to have his enemy killed in
his presence. At ten in the morning of the 24th,
the Marshal left his rooms, which were situated
on the battlements of the Louvre near the river,
and came on foot towards the main entrance.
The doors were thrown open and shut again as
soon as he had entered, while Vitry, who had
been warned, advanced to meet him, followed by
his men, each carrying a loaded pistol under
his cloak.
The conspirators passed their man, and Vitry
was obliged to ask for him. He then walked up
to the Marshal and, pointing at him with his
stick, said : " The King has ordered me to seize
your person."
" Arrest me? " cried Concini, laying his hand
on his sword. " Yes, you! " answered Vitry ; but
his reply was lost in the report of firearms. When
the smoke cleared away the INIarquis d'Ancre lay
158 Regency of Marie de Mddicis
on his left side a corpse.* With him ended the
reign of Marie de Medicis. Louis XIII., nearly
wild with excitement, shouted : " Now I am
King," when he knew that his enemy was no
more. This exclamation sounded the knell of
the Regent and her supporters.
All the old ministers were recalled. Villeroy,
Sillery, and Jeannin reappeared as if by magic,
while Barbin, ^langot, and Richelieu were
blotted out. Peace was made with the Feudal
lords, who came crowding to Paris to hail Luynes
as their dehverer. But they found that they
had a new master. The Due d'Epernon summed
up the situation in one of those sa^'ings for which
Frenchmen are famous : " It is still the same
bottle," he said ; " the cork is the only thing
which has been changed."
* Richelieu Memoires, p. 156. Pontchartrain Memoires,
387. Mercure Francis, T. IV., part III. pp. 196-199.
INDEX
Aix, Archbishop of. One of
the orators for the clergy,
96
AHncourt, Marquis d'. Son-
in-law of Villeroy; Gov-
ernor of Lyons ; schemes
for control of that city
lead to Sully's fall, 31 ; his
relation to the cabinet. 44
Amadeus, Prince Victor. Son
of the Due de Savoie ; pro-
posed as husband for one
of the Florentine prin-
cesses, 14
Amboise. Stronghold on the
river Loire ; placed as
guarantee in hands of
Conde, May, 1613, 75 ; sur-
rendered to King byConde,
1614,85; Luynes appoint-
ed governor ; entertains
the King, 146
Amiens. Citadel capital of
Picardy ; governed by the
Marquis d'Ancre, 43 ; rash
act of Concini committed
there, 45
Ancre, Marquis d'. Also
Marshal ; (see Concino-
Concini), 9
Anne of Austria. Wife of
Louis XIII., 1 14
Arnault. Member of the
" conseil du petit escri-
toire," 9
Aubigne, d". Huguenot man
of letters, repartee to Con-
de, 125
Aumale, Due d'. Historian
of the Condes ; his opinion
on Conde's position, 135
Auvergne, Comte d'. Ille-
gitimate offspring of the
Valois, imprisoned for
complicity in Biron's con-
spiracy, 19; released from
prison in July, 1616 : put
in command of the King's
army, 143
B
Barbin. A lawyer friend of
Concini, placed near the
Regent by his patron, 81 ;
he sees his opportunity of
harming Villeroy, 118; his
eagerness to deal witii
Conde, 118; his part in
advising the Queen, 119-
124; his resolve to arrest
Conde, 124; reason for
choice of Du Vair, 126;
supersedes Jeannin, 126;
has Villeroy dismissed,
126; approved by Conde,
129; Cond^ complains of
Concini ; Barbin warns
him, 132; diplomacy with
the Princes, 133; the
" barre-a-bas " incident,
135-136; Conde asks ad-
159
i6o
Index
vice of him, 136; inter-
view with Sully, 137; urges
Queen to final step, 138;
considers Nevers a rebel,
143 ; forged letters bearing
his signature shown to the
King, 155
Barbons, les. The ministers;
rise of their influence, 44
Barclay, James. Wrote
" Power of the Pope over
the Temporal," 94
Bartolini, Matteo. Floren-
tine Ambassador; his
opinion on the Moisset
case, 51 ; his opinion about
Conde's aspiration, 136
Bassompierre, Marshal de.
Also Comte de ; posts
guards in Paris after the
murder of Henry IV.; con-
versation with Sully, 7 ;
takes part in rejoicings
over the publication of the
Spanish marriage contract,
48 ; conversation with the
Regent in reference to the
demands of Conde, 57; con-
versation with the Prince,
62 ; his call on the Regent :
reproduction by him of her
talk with Villeroy, 118; his
astonishment at Barbin's
behaviour, 1 24 ; sent for by
the Queen before Conde's
arrest, 139 ; interview with
theQueen, 139; commands
royal troops, 143 ; conver-
sation with Concini, 153
Bastille. Fortress on the rue
St. Antoine ; provisioned
for a siege by Sully, 8
Beam. County where Henry
IV. was born, 114
Beaufort. A financier intro-
duced into the assembly of
1614; his proposal, 103
Bellarmine, Cardinal. Neph-
ew of the Pope : wrote two
books, which precipitated
controversy with Barclay,
94
Bellegarde, Due de. A friend
and relative of the Guises ;
Grand Ecuyer de France ;
quarrel with Concini, 23 ;
reprimanded by the Queen,
41 ; accused of sorcery, 50 ;
exonerated, 51-52; his con-
nection with death of de
Luz, 55
Biron, Marshal, Due de. Ex-
ecuted by order of Henry
IV. for conspiracy, 19
Blaye. Citadel demanded by
Conde, 29
Blois. City on the Loire,
Headquarters of the Court
in May, 161 6, 126
Bois - Dauphin, Marshal.
Commanded army operat-
ing against Conde, 112-
113
Bonzy, Cardinal de. His ap-
pearance at opening of Es-
tates General, 87 ; cares
little for statecraft, 90
Botti, Matteo, Marquis di
Campiglia. Heard by the
Regent concerning mar-
riage between French and
Spanish heirs, 13
Bouillon, Henri de la Tour,
Due de. His ability ; Riche-
Index
i6i
lieu's estimate of him ;
Henry IV. fears him ;
strength of his position, i8;
his frivolity keeps him from
becoming a great leader,
i8 ; his advice to Conde,
October, 1610, 18; sent as
an emissary of the gov-
ernment to Assembly of
Saumur, 36 ; his advice to
the Queen ; his desires
thwarted ; joins Conde, 40 ;
sells office of King's cham-
berlain to Concini, 43 ;
joins plot to ruin the min-
isters, 50; leaves Paris
January, 1613, 69; treats
with the Protestants, 70 ;
Rohan distrusts him, 70;
influence of Montmoren-
cy's death upon him, 73;
his influence on the war,
and his turn for peace, 73 ;
joins Conde at St. Maur,
108 ; his influence on Du
Vair, 129; plot to attack
Concini in Lesigny, 131 ;
influence on Conde, 133;
estimate of Barbin, 133;
plot to kill Concini, 133 ;
Barbin desires to arrest
him, 138 ; leaves for Sois-
sons, 141
Bourbon. The royal house ;
jealousy of the family for
the Guises, 17 ; Louis de
Bourbon, Comte de Sois-
sons (see Soissons), 3 ; co-
alition of the Princes, 19 ;
broil with the Guises, 24;
the Guises play into the
hands of the Bourbons
by the murder of de Luz,
56
Bourges, Archbishop. Friend
of Richelieu and Barbin ;
carries message to Con-
cini, 135
Brussol. Treaty between
Henry IV. and Charles
Emanuel of Savoy, 5 ; ab-
solutely disregarded by the
Regent, 13
Bucquoy, Comte de. Span-
ish envoy interviewed by
Conde at St. Maur, 12
Bullion, Member of finan-
cial administration, named
as a bad Councillor in
Conde's manifesto, iii;
Conde hopes to sweep him
from his path, 117
Calvinists. Their loss in the
death of Henry IV., 34 ;
(see Protestants), 3
Cardenas, Inigo de. Spanish
Ambassador, member of
the inner council, 8 ; in-
forms his King of Sully's
fall, 32
Catholic Party. Begins in-
trigues against Sully; its
members, 8-9; its plan of
attack, lo-ii ; Villeroy as-
sumes the leadership, 15 ;
Concini acts as its agent,
24; accomplishes dismis-
sal of Sully, 33 ; its influ-
ence on the Huguenots,
35 ; imminence of ruin, 56 ;
influence on election of
1 62
Index
1614,78; quarrel withThird
Estate, 94 ; influence on
the Queen, 98 ; victory over
the people, 99 ; attitude of
the Parliament, 106 ; opin-
ions of leaders of party,
109; anger of the Protes-
tants, 113
Chantilly. Country seat be-
longing to the Constable
de Montmorency ; confer-
ence of the Princes there
October, 1610, 19
Charente. River in south-
west of France, 125
Charles IX. King of France;
one of the Valois ; died
after the massacre of St.
Bartholomew; supposed to
have been poisoned by his
own mother, 150
Chatellerault. Town in Poi-
tou, selected for the Prot-
estant assembly, 35
Chatillon. One of the Prot-
estant nobles ; sides with
the Guises in their quarrel
with Soissons, 26
Chatteignerai, de la. One of
the " tenants " in the tour-
nament of March, 161 2 ;
one of the Queen's guard,
48
Chatre, Marshal de la. Re-
moved from Berrito please
Conde, 129
Clergy. (See Estates Gen-
eral), 83
Clermont. City in the Beau-
voisis, given to Conde, 29
Coeuvres, Marquis de. Mar-
shal d'Estrees ; negotiates
Concini-Soissons marriage,
49 ; joins plot to ruin the
ministers, 50 ; delays the
return of Soissons to Paris,
53; attacked by the Cheva-
lier de Guise, 56; receives
the surrender of Vendome,
78
Concini, Concino, Marquis
d'Ancre. Also Marshal ;
member of inner coun-
cil, 9; marries Leonora
Galigai ; great influence
on the Queen, 9; increas-
ing good fortune, 10 ; nego-
tiates Sully's fall, 23 ;
carries government of
Normandy for Soissons,
24 ; carries on intrigue
against Sully, thinking to
obtain his offices. 24; his
agreement with Soissons,
24; settles the Bourbon-
Guise difficulty, 28; his
predominant position at
Court, 43; his great wealth;
buys office of Chamber-
lain ; made governor of
Amiens, 43 ; negotiates
marriage for his son, 44 ;
his rise at the expense of
the cabinet, 45 ; begins
struggle for supremacy,
45 ; his imprudence at
Amiens, 45 ; interruption
of marriage negotiations;
his resolve to ruin the Min-
isters, 46 ; sent to treat
with Conde at Fontaine-
bleau, 46; sent to Dreux
and Valery to treat with
the Princes, 49; renews
Index
163
project of alliance with
Soissons, 49 ; joins plot to
ruin the ministers, 50 ; es-
tranges the Queen from
the Guises, 50 ; his con-
nection with the Moisset
case, 50-52 ; his influence
on the death of de Luz,
55 ; demands interview
with the Regent, 57 ; re-
tires to Amiens ; renewal
of marriage negotiations,
63 ; loss of the Regent's
favour, 65 ; his desire to
command an army, 65 ; ac-
cused in the Maignat case,
66 ; appointed Marshal of
France and Governor of
Normandy, 68 ; backs
Chancellor against Ville-
roy, 71 ; instructed to keep
the Princes apart, 72 ; ha-
tred of him influences the
Princes ; the Due de Bouil-
lon's estimate, 73 ; fears
the Due de Guise ; retires
to Amiens, ']'] ; quarrel
with the Due de Longue-
ville, 79-So ; increased in-
fluence over the Regent,
81 ; attacked in Conde's
manifesto, ixi ; his desire
for military glorj', 112; de-
ceived by Sillery ; retires
to Amiens, 112 ; De
Longueville's hatred of
him, 114; Conde demands
his ejection from Picardy,
117-118-122; forces resig-
nation of Sillery, 126; ha-
tred of the people for him ;
plot to attack him ; arrival
in Paris ; broil at the Porte
de Bussy, 131 ; his arro-
gance, 133 ; struggle to be
between Prince and Mar-
quis, 133; resolve to kill
him, 133 ; his visit to
Conde, 134; Cond6 warns
him ; his precipitate de-
parture, 134-135 ; riot at
arrest of Conde; Concini's
house burned, 140 ; pa-
tronises de Luynes ; his
arrogance gives Luynes his
opportunity, 145; he shoul-
ders all the blame for the
government, 148 ; resolves
to get rid of Luynes, 148 ;
rendered odious to the
King by Luynes, 149-150 ;
his rash actions ; his gov-
ernment, 150; aspires to
Constable's sword, 152;
his bravado ; the King's
anger ; Concini's presenti-
ment of death ; wishes to
leave France ; unwilling-
ness of the Marquise, 153 ;
throws caution to the
winds ; new insult to the
King ; quarrel with the
ministers, 154; anger at
the Queen, 155 ; insults the
King, 155 ; the plot to kill
him, 156-157 ; the 24th of
April ; death of Coneini,
157-158
Conde, Henri de Bourbon,
Prince de. Goes into vol-
untary exile, 1 1 ; returns
to Paris ; becomes leader
of the opposition ; inter-
views the Comte de BuC'
164
Index
quoy, 12 ; his schemes dis-
avowed by Feria, 14. ; Sully
buys his friendship, 15;
receives Order of the Holy
Ghost ; figures at the coro-
nation as the Due de Bour-
gogne ; begins to plot
against the Regent; retires
to Valery, 17 ; visits the
Due de Bouillon, 18; Bouil-
lon advises him to come to
terms with Soissons, 19;
sides with Soissons in his
quarrel with the Guises ;
overreached by the Queen,
25 ; anger of Conde, 27 ;
bribes offered to Conde for
his consent to Sully's fall ;
he demands Blaye and
Chateau Trompette, 29 ;
advantages gained by Con-
de, 29; he defies the Queen,
41 ; he starts for Guyenne,
42 ; his return expected,
46 ; the Queen needs his
good will ; interview of
Fontainebleau ; retires to
Valery; his attitude toward
the Spanish marriages, 47 ;
approached by the Queen,
47 ; joins plot to ruin the
ministers, 50 ; his connec-
tion with the Moisset case,
51-52 ; his isolation by the
death of Soissons, 54 ; his
inability to grasp political
advantages, 56 ; death of
de Luz ; Conde master of
the situation ; demands the
Chateau Trompette ; takes
Guise under his protection,
57 ; Regent refuses him an
audience, 57 ; his conver-
sation with Bassompi^rre,
62 ; goes to Berri, 62 ; his
displeasure at the Queen's
actions, 68 : hires merce-
naries ; writes his manifes-
to, 72 ; influence of Bouil-
lon, 73 ; negotiations and
bribes offered to Conde, 74;
refuses to return to Paris ;
his lack of penetration, 74 ;
plot to seize Poictiers, 75 ;
his defeat and complaints
to the Queen, 76 ; his sub-
mission presented at Blois,
78 ; he realises he is no
match for the Queen, 83 ;
his feigned lack of interest
in the assembly, 84 ; his
insignificant part at the
ceremony of the King's
majority; resigns Amboise,
85 ; champions cause of
the Third Estate, 92 ; his
influence against the
Clergy, 98 ; question of the
Queen's marriage, 99 ; in-
crease of his popularity,
105 ; alliance with the Gal-
ileans; urges Parliament
to declare its position ; re-
tires to St. Maur, 106-107 ;
Queen plays into his hands,
108 ; Villeroy joins him,
no; his demands, no;
refuses to go to Guyenne,
in ; receives deputies
from Nimes, 113; operates
against Bois-Dauphin, 114;
his desire to go on with
the war, 1 14 ; failure of ne-
gotiations with James I.,
Index
165
115; asks to have Ed-
mondes included in the
negotiations, 116; his de-
mands, 117; the Queen's
diplomacy, 118; his aims in
the Treaty of Loudun, 117;
he desires to be Regent ;
demands ejection of Con-
cini from Picardy, 117;
Barbin's anxiety to deal
with him, iiS ; the Queen's
review of his demands,
1 19-120; arrest the last
resort, 123 ; his illness,
124; signature of the
treaty, 125; Villeroy's ad-
vice to the Queen, 125 ;
hisposition after signature
of treaty; delays return,
128; his influence desired
by the Queen, 129; inter-
view with Lugon ; decides
to return ; his visit to Sully;
arrival in the capital ; ap-
proves new cabinet, 129-
130; complains of Concini
to Barbin, 132 ; idea of his
arrest or murder, 133 ; he
controls affairs, 135 ; he is
loath to kill Concini; warns
him, 134-135; report that
he is to be made a King,
135-136; the " barre-a-
bas" incident, 136; his
plans, 137 ; asks advice of
Barbin, 136 ; his arrest de-
cided upon, 138 ; the ist of
September, 1616 ; arrest of
Conde, 140
Conflans. Villeroy's coun-
try seat, no
Conti, Prince de. One of the
Bourbon family ; figures at
the coronation as Due de
Normandie, 17 ; dispute
over the government of
Normandy renders him in-
accessible to negotiations
from the Princes in Octo-
ber, 1610, 19 ; rival of Sois-
sons for government of
Normandy, 22 ; quarrel
with Soissons, 25 ; Abbey
of St. Germain offered to
the Princess de Conti, 60
Conti, Marguerite de Lor-
raine. Princess de. Her in-
fluence on her husband, 19
Cotton. Confessor to Marie
de Medicis ; member of
the secret council, 9
Creil. City given to Conde
as bribe for his agreement
to the overthrow of Sully,
29
Crequy. Afterward Marshal;
friend of Bassompierre,
D
Deagent. Barbin's secretary;
corrupted by Luynes, 156
Descomans, La. Woman
who accused the Dues de
Guise and d'Epernon of
having conspired with Ra-
vaillac ; condemned to per-
petual confinement, 42
De Thou, Jacques Auguste.
President of the Parlia-
ment and friend of Conde
chosen to treat with the
Princes, 73
Dognon. Fortress com-
1 66
Index
mancled by d'Aubignd ; sit-
uated in marshes of the
Charente, 125
Dole. Member of the " con-
seil du petit escritoire," 9 ;
involved in Maignat case,
65 ; named as bad council-
lor by Conde, in ; Conde
hopes to sweep him from
his path, 117
Dreux. Town near Paris,
seat of the Comte de Sois-
sons, who retired there in
January, 1612, 48
Du Perron, Cardinal. Arch-
bishop of Paris, Grand Al-
moner of France ; his posi-
tion as leader of the
Clergy, 90 ; his speech to
the Nobles, 97
Duplessis-Mornay. Elected
president of the Assembly
of Saumur, 36
Duret. The Queen's physi-
cian ; a member of the in-
ner council, 9
Du Vair. President of Par-
liament, of Provence ; be-
came Chancellor in place
of Sillery, May, 1616 ; in-
fluenced by Bouillon, 129;
his stand on the Nevers
case ; his resignation, 144 ;
opinion about the King's
illness; construction put
upon this, 149
Edmondes. Representative
of James I.; Conde asks for
his presence at Loudun,
116
Elboeuf, Due d'. A relative
of the Guises, 20
Emanuel, Charles, Due de
Savoie. Deserted by
France, 13
Epernon, Due d". Becomes
the Queen's adviser ; sta-
tions guards about Paris,
and harangues Parliament
at time of Henry I V.'s mur-
der, 6; member of inner
council, 9; his connection
with the Guises, 20 ; op-
poses Soissons in suit for
Mile, de Montpensier, 21 ;
accused by La Desconians,
42; won over to the Queen's
cause afterdeath of de Luz,
61; thinks Parliament's ac-
tion insolent, 109; Conde
hopes to sweep him from
his path, 117
Estates General of 1614.
Change in the place and
the date for the Assembly,
83; opening proclamation,
October 20, 1614, 85 ; real
opening, October 26, 85 ;
procession of the Orders,
86 ; the opening scene, 88 ;
speeches of the Orders, 89;
Clergy most favourable to
the Crown, 89 ; tension be-
tween Nobles and Third
Estate, 90 ; Nobles ex-
cluded from offices held
by Third Estate, 90; feel-
ing among the Nobles, 91 ;
the Nobles propose toabol-
ish the yearly payment,
91 ; quarrel with the Third
Estate over the pensions,
92 ; interference of the
Index
167
council, 92 ; Third Estate
assistedbyConde,92; quar-
rel between Third Estate
and the Clergy, 92; adop-
tion of basis for pamph-
let of the Third Estate,
95 ; article concerning life
of the King, 95 ; emotion
of the Clergy, 95 ; Arch-
bishop of Aix sent to the
Third Estate, 96; Mont-
pellier sent to the Third
Estate ; his success, 96-
97 ; Du Perron appears be-
fore the Nobles, 97 ; the
position of the Clergy ; the
Nobles refuse to interfere ;
entry of Parliament into
the discussion, 97 ; Clergy
resent this, 98 ; threaten to
withdraw, 98 ; suspend
work, 98 ; Third Estate
worries the Court ; repri-
manded by the Chancellor,
99 ; suppression of the
Article ; indignation of the
deputies. 99-100 ; impossi-
bility of agreement be-
tween the Orders, loi ; the
auditing chamber ; refusal
of the Queen ; Nobles sus-
pend work ; the Queen ap-
pears toyield, 102; auditing
the accounts ; Beaufort ;
fresh quarrel of the Orders,
103; closing of the Estates,
103 ; inability of orders
to agree on a programme,
104
Feria, Due de. Spanish Am-
bassador ; arrives in Paris
and disavows Conde, 14
Fervaques, Marshal de.
Commander of Quille-
boeuf; died November,
1613, (i"]
Feudal Party. Its formation,
12 ; Philip III. disavows
the Feudal chiefs, 17 ; its
connection with the fall of
Sully, 28 ; proposed revolt
of the party, 35 ; time set
for action against the min-
isters, 53 ; withdrawal of
the party from Paris, 62;
rout of the Feudal leaders,
66 ; the revolt ; party con-
trols the northeast of
France, 69 ; opposition of
the masses. 75; idea of con-
trolling the Estates Gen-
eral, 84; hatred of Concini
made the keynote in policy
of the party, 112; negotia-
tions of Loudun, 116;
murder of Concini decided
upon, 131 ; his flight, 131 ;
apparent triumph of Feu-
dalism, 135 ; arrest of
Cond6 and flight of the
party, 141 ; Relation of
the King and the nobles,
148; death of Coticini and
peace with the King, 157
Galigai, Leonora. Wife of
Concini, 9; Regent's foster
sister; her unusual influ-
ence over the Queen ;
Henry IV. hates her, 9-10
Galilean, or National Party.
i68
Index
Its birth, 93; stand made
against regicide, 95; Queen
cannot allow it to raise its
standard in France, 98 ;
exasperation of the party,
109 ; alliance with Conde
makes him more redoubt-
able, 116
Grandier, Urbain. Of Lou-
dun; burned for witchcraft,
116
Grenoble. Seat of Lesdi-
guieres ; Assembly of;
moves to Nimes, 109-110
Guise, the family. House of
Lorraine ; jealous beha-
viour at the coronation, 17;
won by the Montpensier
marriage, 20 ; allies and
friends of; dislike for the
Bourbons, 20; quarrel with
Soissons, 25 ; they refuse
to apologise, and threaten
to withdraw from court,
27 ; effect of Sully's fall on,
41 ; their hatred of the
Baron de Luz, 54
Guise, Due Charles de. Be-
comes the Queen's adviser
at the death of her hus-
band ; assists the Due
d'Epernon in posting
guards around Paris and
in establishing the Regen-
cy, 6 ; befriends the Due
de Sully, who pays his ar-
rears in his pension, 15 ;
desires to marry Mme. de
Montpensier, 20 ; his oppo-
sition to Soissons ; chosen
umpire between Soissons
and Conti ; his misgivings ;
quarrel with Soissons, 25 ;
accused of conspiracy, 42 ;
takes part in rejoicings at-
tending the publication of
the Spanish marriage con-
tracts, 48 ; estranged from
the Queen by Concini, re-
tires to Provence, 50 ; the
Moisset case and resolve to
have revenge, 52 ; places
himself under Conde's pro-
tection, 56 ; his support
bargained for by the Re-
gent, 59-60; supports Vil-
leroy against the Chancel-
lor, 71; thinks Parliament's
action insolent, 109 ; mar-
ried to Elizabeth of France
as proxy, 1 14; Conde hopes
to sweep him from his
path, 117; influence of
Conde, 133; approached
by the Cabinet, 134 ; leaves
for Soissons ; lukewarm in
support of the Princes ;
approached by the Minis-
ters ; return to Paris, 141
Guise, Chevalier de. A
younger brother of the Due
Charles ; attack on the
Baron de Luz, 54; attacks
the Marquis de Coeuvres,
56 ; dangerous position
after the murder; offered
the office of lieutenant-
general of Provence, 60
Guise, Due Henri de. " le
Balafre." Father of the
Due Charles ; murdered
by order of Henry HL at
Blois, 6
Guyenne, province of. In
southwestern part of
P' ranee, under the govern-
Index
169
ment of Conde ; he retired
there during the Assem-
bly of Saumur, 41
H
Hay, James, Earl of Carlisle.
English Ambassador ; ac-
tive in plots against Con-
cini, 134
Henry III., King of France.
Last of the Valois ; mur-
dered by Jacques Clement
at St. Cloud ; ordered the
murder of Henri, Due de
Guise, at Blois, 6
Henry IV., King of France
and Navarre. Murdered
by Ravaillac ; his intention
of appointing Marie de
M6dicis Regent, 3 ; prep-
arations for war against
Spain ; secrecy observed
by him ; effect on the pop-
ulace; stabbed by a fanatic,
5 ; destined Mile, de Mont-
pensier for the Due d'Or-
leans, 21 ; interpretation of
Edict of Nantes, 34 ; in-
ventor of " la Paulette," 90
Heroard. The King's phy-
sician, 149
Holy Ghost, Order of the.
Founded by Henry III.;
decoration offered to Con-
de, October, 1610; refused
by the Cardinal de Joy-
euse, 17
Huguenots. (See Protes-
tants), 3
J
James I. of England and VI.
of Scotland. Approached
by Conde with offers of
alliance ; failure of the
scheme, 115
Jeannin, Pierre. One of the
presidents of the Parlia-
ment ; member of the Re-
gent's cabinet, 4; member
of inner council, 9 ; his po-
sition in the cabinet, 44 ;
announces the granting of
an auditing chamber, Jan-
uary 20, 161 5, 102; super-
seded by Barbin, 126
Joinville, Prince de. Took
part in the tournament,
March, 1612, 48
Joyeuse, Cardinal de. One
of the Guise faction ; re-
fused Order of the Holy
Ghost because Conde re-
ceived it before him, 17 ;
his relation to the Guises,
21 ; opposes Soissons' suit
for Mile, de Montpensier,
21 ; cares little for state-
craft, 90
Juliers. City in Germany,
besieged by the Protestant
Princes in 1610, 10
Languedoc. Southern part
of France, 114
Laon. Town in northeast of
France, held by the Feu-
dal leaders, 69
La Trie, de. Conde's agent
in Poictiers, ']6>
La Vieuville, Charles de.
Governor of Reims, 143
League, Associationsof cities.
Founded for the object
of preventing Protestant
lyo
Index
succession to the throne
of France, i; the King
makes no allowance for
fanaticism of its par-
tisans, 5 ; influence on
the people of Louis XIII.,
75
Le Coigneux. One of the
Parliament ; supporter of
Conde ; the " barre-a-bas "
incident, 135
LeGay. One of Conde's sup-
porters ; president of the
Parliament ; arrested and
carried to Guyenne, 113
Lernia, Duca da. Prime
Mmister of Philip III.;
acted as proxy for Louis
XIII.. 114
Lesdiguieres, Marshal de ;
also Due. Army disband-
ed, 14; joins plot to over-
throw the ministers, 50;
money sent him to keep
Huguenots in check, 71 ;
watches Protestants at
Grenoble ; they withdraw
to Nimes, 113
Lesigny. A stronghold be-
longing to Concini, 131
Longueville, Due de. An ille-
gitimate descendant of
Dunois; Feudal leader in
1613 ; leaves Paris with his
party, 69; returns and sees
the Queen, 74; quarrel
with Concini, 79 ; chal-
lenges the Marquis d'An-
cre, 80; hatred for Marshal
d'Ancre; joins Conde, 108;
desires to go to war ; to
eject Concini from Picar-
dy, 114; Conde demands
this, 117-118; seizure of
Peronne, 135
Lorraine, House of. (See
Guise), 17
Loudun. City in Poitou ;
Treaty signed here May 3,
1616; chosen for confer-
ence, 116; effect of the
Treaty, 128
Louis XIII., King of France
and Navarre. Lit de Jus-
tice; journey to Reims, Oc-
tober, 1610, 16; journey to
Poictiers, "jl ; implores his
mother to govern for him,
84 ; takes Amboise, which
is surrendered by Condfe,
85 ; his appearance in pro-
cession of the Orders, 87 ;
address to the deputies,
88 ; orders them to dis-
solve, 103 ; re-establishes
" la Paulette," 106 ; orders
remonstrances of Parlia-
ment erased, 109; march
across France and mar-
riage at Bordeaux, 113;
Article of Third Estate re-
ferred to him, 116 ; his dis-
simulation on day Conde
was arrested, 140 ; his
change of character; quar-
rel with Souvre about
Luynes ; his fondness for
Luynes, 145 ; sides with
the Nobles ; protects
Luynes ; his illness, 148 ;
his imagination plied with
all sorts of fears, 149 ; in-
sults of Concini, 151; his
anger, 152; new insult by
Concini, 153; resolves to
kill him, 155
Index
171
Lugon, Armand du Plessis
de Richelieu. Bishop of.
Friend of Concini, who
places him near the Re-
gent, Si ; sent to Conde;
success of his arguments,
129-130; estimate of Con-
cini, 132 ; Concini pays no
attention to his advice,
133; negotiations with the
Due de Guise, 134; urges
the Queen to arrest Conde,
137 ; interview with Sully,
137; tries to pacify Nevers,
143 ; becomes Secretary of
War and of Foreign Af-
fairs, 144; rigourof his gov-
ernment, 1 50 ; his penetra-
tion at fault, 151 ; quarrel
with Concini, 154; death
of the Marshal d'Ancre ;
reinstatement of the old
ministers, 158
Luynes, Albert de. Falconer
to Louis XIII.; patronised
by Concini ; his ability as
a courtier, 145 ; entertains
King at Amiboise, 146 ; his
protestationstothe Queen;
his aspirations, 146; he lulls
the Queen's suspicions,
147 ; works on the King's
fearsand jealousy, i4S;sug-
gests idea of plot tomurder
the King, 149 ; Luynes
and Concini, 152; inso-
lence of Concini his pre-
text, 154; he shows the
King forged letters from
Barbin, 155 ; approaches
Vitr\-, 156
Luz, Baron de. Attacked
and killed by the Chevalier
de Guise, January 5, 1613,
54-55
Lyons, Archbishop of.
Speaks for the Clergy, 89
Maignat. A spy of the Due
de Savoie, 65
Mangot, Claude. Conducted
trial of Maignat ; placed in
the Regent's circle by Con-
cini, 81 ; appointed secre-
tar)- in Puysieu.x's place,
126 ; approved by Conde,
129; interview with Suliv.
137; urges arrest of Conde;
present at tinal decision,
is named Chancellor, 144
Marguerite de "V'alois. Di-
vorced wife of Henn,- IV.;
her task in winning the
Due d'Epernon. 61
Mariana. Spanish monk,
whose book was burned
immediately after the
death of Henry IV., 94
Mayenne, Due de. Charles.
Oldest of the Guises; for-
mer foe of Henr)' IV., 20 ;
arranges quarrel between
Guises and Bourbons, 27
Mayenne, Due de. Son 01
the former; his connection
with the death of de Luz,
55 ; demands an interview
with the Regent, 57; leaves
Paris with Feudal party,
69; returns to Paris, 74;
presents submission of
Conde, 78 ; plots to attack
Concini, 131 : influence on
Conde, 133 ; shares in plot
to kill Concini, 133 ; his ar-
172
Index
rest aimed at by Barbin,
138; leaves for Soissons;
assumes leadership of the
Princes ; his demands, 142
Mayenne, Mile. de. Married
the Duca di Sforza, 62
Medicis, Marie de. Queen
Regent. Appointed Re-
gent and crowned at St,
Denis, 3; antagonism to
Sully, 6 ; influenced by Le-
onora Galigai, 9; assumes
authority in the council,
11; gives audience to Botti,
Florentine Ambassador,
13 ; decides to remove
Sully, 14; dawn of her
troubles with Conde, 17 ;
refuses to release the
Comte d'Auvergne, 19;
needs the support of the
Guises, 20 ; negotiates
marriage of Guise, 21 ; de-
ludes Soissons with hopes
of the Montpensier mar-
riage ; arrays him against
Sully, 22 ; quarrel between
Conti and Soissons, and
difficulty of her situation,
24-26 ; she decides to sat-
isfy the Guises, 27 ; ar-
rangement made with
Soissons and Conde, 28-
29; her quarrel with Sully,
30-31 ; she retires Sully,
purging the council of all
Huguenot taint, 32 ; au-
thorises Huguenot as-
sembly at Chatellerault ;
changes place to Saumur,
35; connives to circumvent
the Assembly, 39 ; repri-
mands Guise and Belle-
garde, 41 ; her anger at
Concini for his action at
Amiens, 46 ; resolves to
publish Franco-Spanish
marriage contracts, 46-47 ;
sends Soissons to meet
Conde, 47 ; quarrel with
Conde and Soissons ; un-
daunted by bad temper of
the Princes; opens nego-
tiations with them, 48 ; her
anxiety to win them ; her
procrastinating policy, 49;
dissatisfaction of Lesdi-
gui^res ; estranged from
her supporters, 50 ; atti-
tude on the Moisset case,
51-52 ; anger at the death
of de Luz, 56 ; interview
with the Due de Nevers,
57 ; effects of this ; conver-
sation with Bassompi^rre,
58; her offer to the Due
de Guise and the Princess
de Conti, 60; her offer to
the Chevalier de Guise ;
rehabilitation of the minis-
ters, 60 ; her short-sighted
policy in the last days of
1613, 67 ; makes Concini
Marshal, and would have
given him Quilleboeuf, but
is frustrated by Montba-
zon, 68; she faces a serious
crisis ; concessions wrung
from her by the Due de
Rohan, 69; he, however,
refuses to join the conspir-
ators, 70; her surprise at
attack on Mezieres, 70-71 ;
receives letter from Conde,
and opens negotiations,
72-73; bribes offered to
Index
173
Conde, 74; Conde's attack
on Poictiers ; her prompt
action, 75; she receives the
Bishop of Poictiers, 78 ;
complete ascendency of
Concini, 80 ; outwits Con-
de; too clever to be in-
duced to put off the As-
sembly ; the King's major-
ity ; she is still to govern,
84; lays down her title of
Regent ; influence of this
on her authority, 84 ; her
appearance in the proces-
sion of the Orders, 87 ; an-
nuls edict of the Parlia-
ment, 93-94; Cardinals
sent to her, 96 ; her deci-
sion of quarrel between
Clergy and the people, 98 ;
influence of Gallicanism,
99 ; she is not slow to
check the Third Estate ;
satisfaction given the Cler-
gy, 100 ; how'she quashed
remonstrance; her policy
in dealing with the Estates,
loi; her fear of Conde, loi;
she yields to the Nobles ;
influence of her actions on
the deputies, loi; decrease
of her popularity, 104 ;
plays into hands of Conde,
108 ; arbitrary conduct
with the Parliament, 108 ;
anger at the action of
Parliament, 109 ; sum-
mons Conde to follow
her to Guyenne, in ; re-
alisation of her diplomacy,
114; treating for peace;
she cannot yield on article
of the Third Estate ; her
diplomacy, 116; Conde
hopes to involve her in the
prosecution of the regi-
cides ; yields by the advice
of Villeroy ; influence of
this on her regard for him,
117; learns of his duplic-
ity, 1 18; complaints against
Conde, 118; interview with
Villeroy, 1 19-124; her sur-
prise at his duplicity, 124 ;
the dismissal of the minis-
ters, 126-127 ; her desire
for Conde's return, 129; re-
leases Comte d'Auvergne,
130; influence of the treaty
of Loudun, 132; seizure of
Peronne, and her anger,
135 ; listens to Richelieu,
who urges her to arrest
Conde, 137 ; decision to ar-
rest Conde, 138 ; the ist of
September, 1616 ; arrest of
Conde, 139-140; forbids
Nevers to enter any for-
tress in his duchy, 142 ; de-
mands resignation of Du
Vair, 144 ; the strength of
the new cabinet, 144 ; ap-
prehension of Luynes, 146;
suspicions lulled, 147 ; re-
solve to get rid of Luynes,
148; conversation with He-
roard about the King's ill-
ness, 149 ; Luynes throws
suspicion on her, 150 ; for-
bids Concini to sue Mont-
bazon, 154; sinister con-
struction put upon her
actions, 155; murder of
Concini, and end of the
Regency, 157
Menehould, St. Town in
174
Index
northeast of France where
treaty was signed, May 15,
1613,74
Mezieres, City establishing
connection in the north-
east of France, between
Sedan and Soissons; seized
by Nevers in 1613, 71-72
Miron, Robert. Provost of
the merchants, president
of the Third Estate; replies
to the Baron de Pont-
Saint-Pierre, 89; is assisted
by Conde in settling dis-
pute with the Nobles, 92 ;
reply to Archbishop of
Aix, 96 ; becomes the Re-
gent's tool, 100
Moisset. A wealthy mer-
chant, accused of sorcery ;
50-52; connection of his
trial with the death of de
Luz, 55
Montbazon, Due de. His
qualification for post of
Marshal ; prevents the
Queen from giving Quille-
boeuf to Concini, 68 ; sued
by Concini, 154
Montdidier. Town bought
by the Marquis d' Ancre, 43
Monteleone, Ducada. Span-
ish Ambassador ; a friend
of Richelieu's ; suggested
an accommodation with
the Princes, 142
Montigny, Marshal de. Com-
mands King's troops, 143
Montmorency, Constable
Anne de. Unites Princes
against the Regent, 19; his
death in 1613, 73
Montpellier, Bishop of. His
arguments prevail over the
Third Estate, 96-97
Montpensier, Mme. d'e.
Widow of the Due de
Montpensier ; married to
the Due de Guise, 20 ;
wealth of her family at-
tracts the Comte de Sois-
sons, 21 ; influence of the
Guise-Montpensier match
on fall of Sully, 24
N
Nantes, Edict. Promulgated
by Henry IV. in favour of
the Huguenots, 34
Nantes. Stronghold on the
southwest coast, 139
Nevers, Due de. Takes part
in the tournament held in
Paris, March, 1612, 48 ; his
interview with the Regent,
57; goes to Italy, 62; leaves
Paris with the Feudal lead-
ers, 69 ; attacks Mezieres,
71-72 ; opens negotiations
for peace, 1616, 115; re-
volt of, 142-143; his at-
tempt to seize Siz, 143
NImes Assembly. (See Gre-
noble and Lesdiguieres),
109-1 10
Nobles. (See Estates Gen-
eral), 86
Normandy. Province bor-
dering on the Channel ;
Princes quarrel over it, 19 ;
Soissons retires to, 47
Notre Dame de Paris. An-
cient cathedral in which
opening ceremony of Es-
tates General was held, 85
Index
175
Noyon. Town held by Feu-
dal leaders, January, 1613,
69
Papal Nuncio. Files protest
against helping the Prot-
estants, 10 ; threatens to
leave France, 94
Parliament. The high court
of justice, 57 ; action on
the Moisset case, 52 ; its
appearance in procession
of the Orders, 87 ; its feel-
ing against the Jesuits, 93 ;
seizes works of Bellar-
mine, 94; edict annulled
by the Queen, 94-95; takes
part in discussion of Arti-
cle of Third Estate, 98;
punishment meted out by
the Queen; influence of
this, 100; alliance with
Conde, 106 ; declaration of
its position, 107 ; treat-
ment by the Queen ; repri-
manded by the Queen,
108-109 ; Conde demands
that its complaints should
be heard. 1 10
Paul v.. Pope. Rumours
that Henry IV. intended to
attack him, 6 ; silences
Conde's claim to the
throne, 99
Paulette, la. Yearly revenue
tax invented by Paulet, 90;
re-established in May,
1615, 106
Peronne. Town bought by
Concini, 43 ; seized by
Due de Longueville, 135
Philip III., King of Spain.
Warns the French cabinet
of intended rebellion of the
Princes, 13 ; declares his
policy, 14 ; desires to have
Sully tried, 33
Picard, a shoemaker. Cap-
tain of the watch at the
Porte de Bussy, 131
Pierrefonds. Castle near
Compeigne ; destroyed by
Richelieu ; held by Feudal
leaders in January, 1613,
69
Poictiers. Stronghold of
Poitou, 75
Poutchartrain, Phelippeaux
de. Secretary of State ;
gives account of bribes
given Conde, 29 ; warns
the Queen of Villeroy's
double-dealing, 118
Pont-Saint-Pierre, Baron de.
Speaks in behalf of the
Nobles, 89
Pope, Paul V. Rumours that
Henry IV. intended to at-
tack him, 6; silences Con-
de's claim to the throne,
99
Praslin, Marshal. Com-
mands King's forces, 143
Protestants. Sully their
leader ; prominent in 1610,
4; oppose Catholic party,
6 ; reappearance of fac-
tions, 7 ; fall of Sully. 14,
26, 30-33 ; loss at death of
Henry IV.; demand an as-
sembly. 35 ; distrust of the
Queen ; division of the
party, 35-36 ; champion-
ship of Sully's cause; exac-
176
Index
tions, 38 ; election of depu-
ties ; separation of the
Assembly, 39; join the
Feudal party, 50 ; recog-
nise Rohan for leader, 70 ;
he refuses to aid Conde,
73 ; Assembly at Grenoble,
109; withdraw to Nimes ;
treat with Conde, 113; ne-
gotiations of Loudun, 116
Provence. County in south-
ern France governed by
Due de Guise; lieuten-
ancy offered to the Che-
valier de Guise, 60
Provost, of the Merchants.
(See Miron), 89
Puysieux. Under-Secretary
of State ; son-in-law of the
Chancellor de Sillery ; his
position in the cabinet, 44 ;
dismissed from office,
May, 1616, 126
Q
Quilleboeuf. Citadel in Nor-
mandy ; quarrel between
the Regent and Soissons
over this city, 49 ; death of
Fervaques ; Queen at-
tempts to place Concini in
command, 68
R
Rapine, Florimond. Anchor
of a work on the Estates
General of 1614, at which
he was present as a dele-
gate ; his opinion of the
opening, 88 ; his opinion of
the Estates, 104
Ravaillac. Murderer of
Henry IV,; confessed his
motive, 6 ; death of the
King benefits Concini, 10 ;
influence of his death on
the Parliament, 93 ; con-
nection of Guise and
d'Epernon with him, 117
Reims. The chief town of
Champagne, in which the
cathedral stands ; all the
French Kings were crown-
ed there, 16
Richelieu. (See Lucon), 81
Richelieu, Henri, Marquis
de. One of the Regent's
intimate friends, 81
Rochefoucauld, Cardinal de.
One of Guise's followers ;
banished from court for
insubordination ; recalled,
60; position in pageant of
the Estates, 87 ; cares
little for statecraft, 90
Rochefort. Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor of Poitou ; great
partisan of Conde, 75
Rochelle. Town in lower
Poitou ; important Hu-
guenot stronghold ; influ-
ence of meeting of the
Circle de la Rochelle on
the Queen, 70
Rocheposay, Chasteigner de
la, d'Abain. Bishop of
Poictiers; influence against
Conde in 1613, '](>
Rohan, Due de. Son-in-law
of Sully; his regiment
ordered to Paris, 8 ; sides
with the Guises in quar-
rel with Soissons, 26 ;
goes to Assembly of Sau*
mur, 36 ; seizes St. Jean
Index
177
d'Angely and joins plot
to ruin the ministers, 50 ;
recognised leader of the
Protestants ; distrusts the
Due de Bouillon ; his
keen instinct saves the
Regent; his influence on
the Princes, 69-70 ; his
keen political vision, 73-
74; directs assembly of
Grenoble, 109; favours
war, 113
Roye. A town bought by
Concini, 43
Rucellai, Abbe de. A Flor-
entine churchman, one of
Concini's friends and
member of the Queen's
circle, 81
S
Saumur, Assembly of. Con-
vened at Saumur, 35 ; act
of union, 37 ; demand of,
38 ; dissolved by the in-
trigue of the Regent, 39-
40
Saumur. Town in western
centre of France near
mouth of the Loire ; as-
sembly of the Huguenots
was held here, 161 1, 35
Savoy. State in the north
of Italy. (See Emanuel,
Charles), 13; War threat-
ened over Mantuan suc-
cession, 64-65
Schomberg, Comte de.
Commands royal troops,
H3
Sedan. Principality belong-
to the Due de Bouillon ;
held by the Feudal leader
January, 1613, 69; Sedan
and Soissons connected
by Mezi^res, 71
Sens. City at which the
Estates General was call-
ed to meet, August, 1614,
83
Servin, Attorney-General.
His action concerning
article of the Third Estate,
98; summoned by the Re-
gent ; his powerlessness
to stop the reform move-
ment, 108-109
Sforza, Duca di. Italian po-
tentate, ruler of Milan ;
marries Mile, de Mayenne,
62
Siller}', Brulart de. Chan-
cellor of France. Mem-
ber of the cabinet, 4;
member of secret council,
9; his importance among
the ministers, 44 ; incident
at reading of the Spanish
marriage contracts, 47 ;
quarrels with Concini and
Villeroy, 63 ; his connec-
tion with Viileroy-Concini
marriage, 64 ; his speech
at the opening of the Es-
tates General, 88 ; he re-
bukes the Third Estate,
99 ; named in Conde's
manifesto as a bad ad-
viser, III; his deception
of Concini, last one of his
ofificial career, 112 ; Cond6
hopes to sweep him from
his path, 117; resigna-
tion of, 126
Sillery, Commandeur de, also
Chevalier de. Brother to
178
Index
the chancellor ; member
of the inner council, 9;
Ambassador to Spain ;
associated in the govern-
ment with his brother, 45 ;
his title, 45 ; used as an
emissary by the Regent,
60 ; named as a bad coun-
cillor by Conde, 11 1
Soissons. City of ; impor-
tant post held by the
Feudal party in January,
161 3, 69; meeting of the
Princes there, 143
Soissons, Louis de Bourbon,
Comte de. Quarrel with
Henry IV., 3 ; figures as
Due d'Aquitaine at the
coronation of Louis XIIL,
17 ; plan to obtain wealth
of the Alontpensiers, 21 ;
negotiations with him for
Sully's fall, 22 ; approach-
ed by Concini ; his obli-
gation to Concini, Belle-
garde- Concini quarrel;
chosen umpire, 22-23 '>
agrees to compel Sully to
retire, 24 ; quarrel with
Guise, 25 ; in the settle-
ment he is overreached by
the Queen, 27 ; his rea-
sons for hating Sully, 28 ;
the Soissons-Concini mar-
riage ; struggle with the
Ministry begun, 43-44 ;
Concini withdraws from
the match, 46 ; chosen by
the Queen to interview
Cond6 at Fontainebleau ;
his influence on the Prince;
withdraws to Normandy ;
attitude at the reading of
Spanish marriage con-
tracts January, 161 1, 46-
47 ; is won over again by
the Queen, who dupes him,
49 ; plot to ruin the min-
isters, 49-50 ; death of,
53-54
Sorbonne, The College of
France. Part of the Gal-
ilean party, 93-95
Sourdis, Cardinal de.
Preaches at the opening
of the Estates General, 87
Souvre. Instructor of Louis
XIIL; his fitness to hold
rank of Marshal, 68 ;
King quarrels with him
about Luynes, 145
St. Pol, Comte de. Joins
Conde, 108
Sully, Maximilien de Be-
thune. Due de. Friend and
confidant of Henry IV.,
2 ; member of the Re-
gent's cabinet, 4 ; be-
comes antagonistic to the
Queen, 6 ; his hesitation
after the death of Henry
IV.; beginning of his fall,
8 ; it is decided to re-
move him, 14 ; move to
deprive him of allies, 20 ;
Soissons arrayed against
him, 22 ; refuses Soissons
the government of Nor-
mandy, 22 ; plan to re-
move him agreed upon
between Concini and Sois-
sons, 24 ; step leading to
his dismissal, 24 ; sides
with the Guises against
Soissons. 26; Soissons'
hatred of him, 28 ; sees
Index
179
the coming storm ; offers
to resign ; resolves to
make a final struggle ;
quarrel with Villeroy and
the Queen, 29-31 ; his
resignation ; the King of
Spam desires to have him
tried, 32-33 ; attitude at
time of Assembly of Sau-
mur, 35 ; goes to Saumur
and makes statement of
his grievances, 37 ; the
Assembly protects him,
38 ; wheedled by the Re-
gent, 39 ; his eligibility to
Marshal's post, 68; fa-
vours war, 113; his inter-
view with Conde, 130;
interview with the Queen ;
his advice, 137
Themines, Marshal de. Ar-
rested Conde, 138-140
Thianges. Mayenne's mes-
senger to Conde, 139
Third Estate. (See Estates
General), 85
Tours. City in Touraine ;
headquarters of the Court,
116
Trompette, Chateau. Cita-
del of Bordeaux, demand-
ed by the Prince de Conde,
57
U
Ultramontane party. A
branch of the Catholic
party, 94
V
Valer}'. A country place
belonging to Conde;
Conde goes to see his
wife there, 18 ; retires to,
47
Vendome, Caesar, Due de.
Illegitimate son of Henry
IV.; forbidden to hold
Estates of Brittany, 50 ;
arrested and confined in
the Louvre ; escapes, 69 ;
promises diversion from
Brittany, 6g ; refuses to
return to Paris, 74 ; sur-
renders to Marquis de
Coeuvres, 7S ; Barbin de-
sires to arrest him, 138;
demands permission to
hold Estates of Brittany,
142
Verneuil, Henriette d'En-
tragues, Marquise de.
Mistress of Henrj- IV.; in-
trigue with Due de Guise,
21 ; accused of conspiracy
against Henry IV., 42
Villeroy, Charles de Neuf-
ville. Due de. Minister
of Henry IV.; one of the
Regent's cabinet, 4; mem-
ber of inner council, 9;
assumes authority in the
council, II ; arranges re-
moval of Sully, 15-20;
dupes Concini in intrigue
leading to fall of Sully,
23-24 ; quarrel with Sully ;
accomplishes his ruin, 31-
33 ; his fear of angering
the Huguenots by trying
Sully, 33 ; his importance
in the cabinet, 44 ; his
precedence, 44 ; sent to
treat with Soissons and
Conde, 49 ; quarrel with
i8o
Index
the Chancellor, 63 ; his
idea about the Villeroy-
Concini marriage, 64 ;
struggle with the Chan-
cellor, 70 ; advises the
Queen to go to Poictiers,
77 ; beginning of his fall,
82 ; his failing influence,
109-110; joins Conde, 110;
his enemies named in
Conde's manifesto as bad
councillors, in; ordered
to choose a place for con-
ferring with the Princes,
115 ; refuses to allow pres-
ence of Edmondes, 116;
advises the Queen to yield
to Conde's demand ; in-
fluence of this on him,
118; Barbin plots his ruin,
118; his own duplicity
119; interview with the
Queen, 120-124; influ-
ence of his advice on
Conde's future, 124; Du
Vair contributes to his
fall ; his resignation, 126 ;
Conde bargains to have
him paid for his offices,
129; opinion of the new
cabinet, 144
Villeroy, Marquis de.
Grandson of the Minister ;
proposed for husband to
Concini's daughter, 44
Vitry, Nicholas del'Hopital,
Baron de. Approached
by Luynes ; meeting with
the conspirators, 156 ; re-
ward offered him for cap-
ture of Concini, 156; mur-
der of Concini, 157-158
THE END
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123 The regency of Marie de
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l86
1904
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